Ubisoft E3 2018: Star Fox in Starlink, Beyond Good and Evil 2, Assassin's Creed Odyssey and more
The French game maker said it's working with Nintendo to bring its popular Star Fox characters to a new game.
There's a new game for fans of Nintendo's Star Fox space shooter games.
French game maker Ubisoft is teaming up with Nintendo to use the characters from the decades-old franchise in its upcoming game Starlink: Battle for Atlas that marries real-world toys with games. The Star Fox addition, which had fans screaming at Ubisoft's press conference at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles Monday, will be available for players using Nintendo's Switch console when the game comes out in October.
"This is only possible because of our partnership with Nintendo," Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said after announcing the new addition to the game.
The announcement was one of several high-profile moves from Ubisoft. The company also said it's partnering with the actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt (who, among other things, was featured on the cover of CNET magazine for his movie Snowden) and his startup HitRECord to encourage gamers to submit music and art that could find its way into Ubisoft's upcoming space exploration epic game, Beyond Good and Evil 2.
Gordon-Levitt, speaking before the press conference, said the initiative matches up well with his company's goal of helping people "make things together." Now, he said, "This is the first time we're going to make assets that can go into a video game."
The music and art people create could end up in the game as a mural in a city, or a piece of music playing on the radio, Ubisoft said. The game doesn't have a release date yet.
"If you're someone who loves Beyond Good and Evil 2, you can have a part in it," Gordon-Levitt added.
Note: Ubisoft's presentation usually includes adult language and content. Parental discretion is advised.
Ubisoft also announced a new installment in its The Division post-apocalyptic online shooting game, which is due in March of next year. And it said its Rainbow Six Siege title, which was first released three years ago, has tallied 35 million players, including professionals who compete against one another in e-sports tournaments.
Ubisoft also showed Assassin's Creed Odyssey, the latest installment in its time traveling alternate-history series of games. The game, which is the 11th installment over the past 11 years, has been set in ancient Egypt, the Italian renaissance and the American revolution. The next game will take place in Ancient Greece, starring decedents of Leonidas, the warrior-king of Sparta who was portrayed in the 2007 movie 300.
One new feature Ubisoft is building will allow players to choose what their characters say throughout the game, potentially affecting the story. The game will take place during the Peloponnesian War.
E3 2018 news so far
Saturday, June 9
- Electronic Arts announced that its upcoming Battlefield 5 game will take on Fortnite. It also unveiled a new Star Wars game, called Jedi Fallen Order, and a release date for its Anthem online epic. [Read our recap here.]
Sunday, June 10
- Microsoft said it's building a new Xbox, as well as creating a game streaming service. It also announced highly anticipated games like the space dramas Halo Infinite and Gears 5 and more. [Read our recap here.]
- Bethesda showed off a bunch of new installments to its most popular franchises, including the alternative-history Nazi shooting game Wolfenstein Youngblood, a new game in the industry-defining Doom series, a sequel to the post-apocalyptic shooter Rage and a new Elder Scrolls game. Probably the most popular announcement of the evening though was Fallout 76, the latest in its post-nuclear war series of games. [Read our recap here.]
Monday, June 11
- Ubisoft got a lot of cheers from fans when it made announcements around Star Fox and Beyond Good and Evil 2. The French game company also discussed The Division 2, a sequel to its popular post-apocalyptic online shooting game. It also discussed Assassin's Creed: Odyssey, the 11th major game in that series, this time set in Ancient Greece. [Read our recap here]
- The PC Gaming Show returned for its fourth year as an offsite alternative to E3. In a world where everything seems to revolve around PS4, Xbox One and Switch, this event lets PC gamers geek out to their hearts' content.
- Sony showed what it hopes will be a slate of upcoming hit games. It also gave shorter glimpses of other games including the follow-up to its samurai game Nioh, a remake of the zombie shooter Resident Evil 2 and a look at an action game called Control. [Read our recap here]
Tuesday, June 12
- Nintendo (livestream only) -- 9 a.m. PT (12 p.m. ET), How to watch the livestream
First published June 7 at 4:52 p.m. PT.
Update on June 11 at 2:01 p.m. PT: Adds details from Ubisoft's press conference; 2:16 p.m.: Adds details about Star Fox in upcoming Starlink game; 2:35 p.m.: Adds details about Assassin's Creed.
Update on June 12 at 8:13 a.m. PT: Adds details about other press conferences.
E3 2018: What to expect: All the rumors and early news from the year's biggest gaming show.
E3 2018 coverage at CNET: All of our E3 2018 coverage in one place.
E3 2018 coverage at GameSpot: Wall-to-wall coverage of the show from our sister site, GameSpot.
E3 2018 coverage at Giant Bomb: Still more commentary and news from E3, from our colleagues at Giant Bomb.