E3 2018: All the dates, times and events

The E3 week now spans six full days of gaming fun in Los Angeles and we thought we'd give you all the details about the press briefings and showcases, as well as the expo itself. Useful regardless of whether you're either flying in for the event or planning on following it from afar. As always Gamereactor will be on site with a big crew to cover all the major events, games, and activities throughout the week. First up here are the press conferences and brieftings lined up for E3 week:

EA

The first press conference during E3 week, as it has been the last couple of years, is the one hosted by EA. We expect a heavy focus on the new Battlefield, Anthem, and FIFA, but there could also be one or two surprises, a new EA Originals title and perhaps even Respawn's Star Wars title. EA is due a big E3, so might 2018 be the year?

Saturday, June 9 11:00 AM PT / Saturday June 9 7:00 PM (BST)

Xbox

Microsoft has a lot to prove with Xbox One and we expect fireworks from their press briefing. Big first-party revelations? Major third-party scoops? A new Forza seems a certainty, but beyond that we're curious as to what Microsoft will reveal. Might we see a certain Chief perhaps?

Sunday June 10 1:00 PM PT / Sunday June 10 9:00 PM (BST)

Bethesda

Bethesda has done a pretty good job so far of keeping their reveals for E3 secret. We always hope to see a new Elder Scrolls title, but perhaps that's just wishful thinking given the numerous occasions it's been said the sixth chapter is far away. Something from Bethesda Game Studios (Skyrim, Fallout 4) is expected though, perhaps something entirely new, we might even see two new games from the studio considering its been a while since Fallout 4.

Showcase: Sunday, June 10 6:30 PM PT / Monday, June 11 2:30 AM BST

(We're not sure this is when the actual "conference part" begins.)

Devolver Digital

Devolver's "Big Fancy Press Conference" was a bit of a hit and miss comedy piece aiming to poke fun at the sometimes overly serious press conferences we're treated to during E3. In between the comedy bits they showed off some games, and we suppose the format will be largely the same this year. It's a big year for Devolver with Serious Sam 4 and survival game Scum among the likely titles featured...

Sunday, June 10 8:00 PM PT / Monday, June 11 4:00 AM BST

Square-Enix

Square-Enix has a lot on their plate with big titles like Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Kingdom Hearts III scheduled for release later this year. Add to that anticipated projects like the Final Fantasy VII Remake and the Avengers game from Crystal Dynamics and you'll realise that it makes sense for them to have their own press briefing this year.

Monday June 11 10:00 AM PT / Monday June 11 6:00 PM BST

Ubisoft

Ubisoft look poised for another big E3 showing. The recently announced The Division 2 is likely to feature, and there's that Avatar game on the horizon, but most of all we are excited at the prospect of Sam Fisher making a comeback. We've also learned to expect the unexpected from the French publisher, so who knows what kind of surprises they're going to have in store for us.

Monday June 11 1:00 PM PT / 9:00 PM BST

PC Gaming Show

There's no exact time announced for the PC Gaming Show yet, but we expect it to air either just prior to Ubisoft or soon thereafter. It may not have the star power as some of the other press briefings, but if you're looking for news on the PC side of things it tends to deliver whereas most of the E3 festivities are more focused on consoles.

Monday June 11 3:00 PM PT / 11:00 PM BST

Sony

Last year Sony surprised us with an excellent yet very succinct press conference and we expect something similar this year. There are lots of games that ought to be part of the show, Last of Us: Part II, Death Stranding, and Days Gone immediately come to mind, but we also expect a few big new announcements such as the seemingly inevitable Bloodborne 2.

Monday June 11 6:00 PM PT / Tuesday June 12 2:00 AM BST

Nintendo

Nintendo will air their E3 Direct on the morning just prior to the doors of the expo opening for the first time. We already know that the main focus will be on the new Smash Bros. that's hitting Switch later this year, but we're also hoping to learn more about Metroid Prime 4, Fire Emblem, and potentially a new 2D Mario. We also want to see more third-party support.

Tuesday June 12 9:00 AM PT / Tuesday June 12 5:00 PM BST

That's it for the press conferences, showcases, briefings or Directs, whatever they may be called, but there are also actual events where lucky visitors will get to play games in Los Angeles during E3 week.

EA PLAY

Much like the last couple of years, EA is doing its own thing up in Hollywood just prior to the rest of E3 kicking off proper. The venue is the same as last year, with much of the event taking place outside the Hollywood Palladium. We expect the big games to be Anthem (confirmed to be playable) and the new Battlefield, as well as this year's new sports titles, and we could also see new content for Battlefront II being playable somewhere.

Saturday June 9 2:00 PM PT-8:00 PM PT
Sunday June 10 10:00 AM PT-8:00 PM PT
Monday June 11 10:00 AM PT-8:00 PM PT

If you're in the LA area and want to register, do so over here.

XBOX FANFEST

Microsoft is doing things a bit differently this year. Sure Mixer will have some space on the E3 showfloor, but their main focus will be the Xbox Fanfest outside of the LA Convention Center at the nearby Microsoft Theatre at LA Live. The move is similar to EA Play as the Fanfest will be open a couple of days prior to the actual E3 Expo, and as the name suggests its focus will be to let the public get their hands on upcoming Xbox titles. However, admittance will be more limited than at EA Play and the ticketing raffle has already closed. The Microsoft Theatre at LA Live (formerly known as Nokia Theatre) has been used by Nintendo for past press conferences, so it's not virgin ground for E3 activities.

We expect the Microsoft event to feature the next Forza playable (Forza Horizon 4), as well as current releases like Crackdown 3, key ID@Xbox titles (Below and DayZ come to mind), big third-party titles with marketing deals, and perhaps one or two first-party surprises. And Minecraft, of course. There's always a Minecraft presence at these events.

Begins: Sunday, June 10 10:00 AM PT
Ends: Monday, June 11 11:00 PM PT

EXPO

Last year saw the public officially being allowed into E3 for the very first time, something that was met with mixed reactions from both the industry and the gamers paying for the rather expensive tickets. This has meant some changes to the format for this year's show, most notably giving the industry visitors a bit of alone time on the showfloor on Tuesday and Wednesday, but the floor is also open an hour longer each day, allowing the public a bit of extra time to make it to the front of the lines and actually get to play some games.

Tuesday, June 12 Industry Hours: 11:00AM-7:00PM PST Public Hours: 2:00 PM-7:00 PM PST
Wednesday, June 13 Industry: 9:00 AM-7:00 PM PST Public: 12:00 PM-7:00 PM PST
Thursday, June 14 Industry: 9:00 AM-6:00 PM PST Public: 9:00 AM-6:00 PM PST

Note: PT stands for Pacific Time and is the local time in Los Angeles, add 8 hours for UK time (BST) and 9 hours for Central European Summer Time.

To get you in the mood we thought we'd share our video highlights from E3 2017 below. Enjoy!

Bonus note: We'll update this article with more details as and when they become available.