What to Expect at E3 2018: Bethesda’s VR Games

This year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) is rapidly approaching, and one question that’s on everybody’s mind is exactly how Bethesda Games Studios intend to follow-up 2017’s virtual reality (VR) success. Rumours on the matter are currently abundant, but what comes next is still shrouded in mystery. VRFocus however, decided to take a look at the likelihood of each currently believed scenario.

DOOM VFR screenshot

New VR Games

Well, yes. It’s more than likely that Bethesda Games Studios will have some new VR titles in the pipeline, and a potential launch in time for the 2018 holiday season is an easy bet to go with. However, will we be seeing more adaptations of past videogames, or perhaps something entirely new? The rumour mill suggests the former, but with a sprinkling of more modern outings, too.

Fallout 3 VR for PlayStation VR

The hugely popular Fallout franchise made its leap into VR last year with Fallout 4 VR for HTC Vive. Following the official PC launch for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR including Oculus Rift compatibility, we could assume that Fallout 4 VR will eventually follow suit, especially given the subdued announcement that support for more SteamVR compatible head-mounted displays (HMDs) is on the way. However, the PlayStation 4 is yet to receive a VR edition of Fallout.

One could suggest that the PlayStation 4 hardware would struggle with Fallout 4 VR, given that it’s a huge visual leap and massive expanse over The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR, and so the current rumour doing the rounds is that we’ll see a version of its predecessor heading to the PlayStation VR. Whilst VRFocus would love for this to happen – and it’s not entirely out of the question – it feels less likely to have the demand amongst the core audience of, say…

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind HD

Arguably the most popular title in the series amongst fans, The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind has been tipped for a high-definition (HD) remake for some time. With Bethesda Softworks known for loving the opportunity to re-release existing works and the high probability of finding a large audience ready to repurchase The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind – and with no further The Elder Scrolls news anywhere insight – it’s a credible story that we might hear something at this year’s E3.

What’s more, the idea of packaging the potential remake with a VR edition (though this seems unlikely given Bethesda Softwork’s efforts to ensure VR players purchase both Fallout 4 and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim as VR-only editions) would undoubtedly endear new people to this classic title as well as fans of the original to the medium of VR. A win-win, if ever there were one.

Rage 2 VR

While the original Rage has undoubtedly been judged more harshly than was ever considered fair, id Software’s work on a sequel was never in question. The recent rumours that Rage 2 may support VR however; that seems a little more far-fetched. Rage as a franchise has been inherently designed to push the visual envelope, with the original title being arguably the best looking videogame on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The sequel is likely to position itself with graphical fidelity as a selling point once again, and so a visual downgrade allowing for the 90 frames-per-second and stereoscopy required for VR is perhaps not implausible, but highly unlikely.