E3 2016 Predictions and Preview: Take-Two / 2K (UPDATED)

CaptMattSparrow
Games
Games

For today’s E3 2016 preview, we turn our attention to Take-Two Interactive and their subsidiary, 2K. This year, Take-Two inherits the space in the South Hall of the L.A. Convention Center formerly occupied by EA, so their wares will be on full display front and center once the show doors open on Tuesday, June 14. Most of what 2K will be showing is known at this point, but there could be a few surprise announcements, as detailed below.

What is Gearbox Software’s Next Project?

Matthew Allen, Executive Games Editor

Borderlands-2

Now that Battleborn is officially launched, other than live support for that title, it is unknown what Gearbox Software has been up to lately. Perhaps at this year’s E3 they will finally announce the official sequel to Borderlands 2. Considering the fact that Borderlands 2 was released back in 2012, and the last two Borderlands games were a prequel — or rather “pre-sequel” — and the excellent Telltale episodic story game, Tales from the Borderlands, Borderlands 3 is long overdue. A new Borderlands would have to be more than just a bigger, prettier Borderlands 2. Hopefully there are lessons learned from Battleborn that could be brought back into the Borderlands series.

XCOM 2 Gets a Console Version

Matthew Allen, Executive Games Editor

UPDATE: 2K confirmed today that the console edition of ‘XCOM 2’ will be released Sept. 6, 2016, in North America. There will be a standard edition and a Digital Deluxe Edition which also includes all of the paid ‘XCOM 2’ DLC.

When XCOM 2 was announced last year as a PC exclusive, fans were left scratching their heads as to why Firaxis would make such a decision. The last game, XCOM: Enemy Unknown and its upgraded version XCOM: Enemy Within seemed to be well-received on consoles, and the series set the standard for how to properly port a tactical RPG over to these systems. In an interview I conducted with XCOM 2 Lead Producer Garth DeAngelis, when asked about the possibility of seeing XCOM 2 on consoles any time soon, he responded that at that time the team was concentrating their efforts on PC. “Firaxis is a PC driven studio,” said DeAngelis, “We love consoles… but we’re focused on PC.” Now that we are several months out from the launch of XCOM 2 and several DLC packs have already been released, it would seem that Firaxis now has the time to turn their attention to console versions of the game, hopefully with all of the DLC packs included, à la Enemy Within.

Rockstar Announcement

Brett Bates, Staff Writer

Red-Dead-Redemption

There have been a number of rumors sprouting up about the next major announcement from Grand Theft Auto developer Rockstar — perhaps to be revealed at E3. NeoGAF posters recently uncovered that Rockstar recently renewed the trademark for Agent, a Cold War espionage title that publicly exists only as a logo and was originally unveiled as a PS3 exclusive at the Sony E3 press conference way back in 2009. But trademarks are renewed all the time, and considering it’s a new IP (always a risky bet) and we’ve heard zilch about the game in years, I’d peg this one as unlikely. Much more credible are rumors surrounding Red Dead Redemption 2, a sequel to the popular last-gen open-world western. Red Dead is a “permanent” franchise for Rockstar, and six years have passed since Red Dead Redemption — meaning gamers are due for a new entry in the series.

Civilization VI

Kim Deuel, Staff Contributor

2K has confirmed that they will be bringing Civilization VI to E3 2016. This game is the latest in the turn-based strategy Civilization franchise originally created by legendary game designer Sid Meier 25 years ago. This release will offer players many new features including new ways to engage with the world. Cities will now physically expand across the map, spanning multiple tiles, and active research will unlock boosts to speed the civilization’s progress through history. The game will also include a new tutorial system for new players, a new enhanced multiplayer mode and offers veteran players new ways to build and tune their civilization. The game’s release is set for Oct. 21, exclusively on PC.

Mafia III

Matt Hadick, Staff Contributor

Mafia III looks like it’s set to expand on the gameplay elements people love from the first pair of games, with a convincing world, an interesting cast of characters, and gunplay that’s equal parts Uncharted and Grand Theft Auto. The game is the debut effort from Hangar 13, 2K’s newest in-house studio. With Haden Blackman — a prolific writer best known for his work on the Star Wars extended universe — at the studio’s helm, we are almost certainly going to be treated to a well-written story.

NBA2K17

Doug Trein, Staff Contributor


The 2K Sports team will showcase the latest installment in the popular NBA2K series at E3 2016. Players can expect some enhancements to existing modes as well as balancing of particular gameplay systems. Developer Visual Concepts has already confirmed that the new game will include new balancing for particular players that can “break the game” with their skill, such as Steph Curry. A “Legend Edition” of the game has been confirmed, with Kobe Bryant as the cover athlete for the game. The release date for the game is confirmed for Sept. 20 2016, so the conference will certainly have playable versions of the game for attendees.

WWE 2K17

Matthew Allen, Executive Games Editor


During last week’s Monday Night RAW, 2K Sports announced that former WCW and WWE Superstar Bill Goldberg was the exclusive pre-order character for their upcoming wrestling title, WWE 2K17. This also served as the official confirmation of the latest game in the annual series, which releases this October.
While this pre-order bonus is sure to please hardcore professional wrestling fans (myself included), I am more anxious to learn about any gameplay changes to this year’s game. Last year’s WWE 2K16 addressed many of the issues fans of the series had with the previous entry, but I can’t help but feel that the series could really use a major overhaul to branch out and reach larger audiences. I won’t hold my breath, as the game is currently the only major wrestling game in town, and therefore doesn’t need to shake things up that much from year to year to sell to its core fans. However, I would love to see some major changes announced at E3 so even more fans could come back to the series and help Goldberg answer the question “Who’s next?!”