The annual Electronics Entertainment Expo is always a great source for exciting announcements and 2018 was no different. Fans were given looks at plenty of previously announced games like Spider-Man, Anthem, and The Division 2. Of course, developers and publishers use this massively popular event to make announcements as well, surprising viewers with unexpected news like the teaser trailers for Halo: Infinite and The Elder Scrolls 6, even if they didn't reveal much in the way of game details.
Unfortunately, rumors and speculation tend to drive a lot of fan discussion prior to the show causing expectations to rise for certain games to appear. While the following ten games were highly rumored to be at the show, they ultimately missed the cut and left fans waiting.
10 Splinter Cell
Even though it seems rumors hint that Splinter Cell is coming back every year, expectations were particularly high in 2018 thanks in large part to a Michael Ironside voiced Sam Fisher making a surprise and long-awaited return as downloadable content in Ghost Recon Wildlands. Not only that, a pair of online retail listing leaks from Walmart Canada and Amazon accidentally revealed pages for games called Splinter Cell 5 and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell 2018 respectively.
As we now know, Ubisoft didn't reveal the stealth action title at all, leaving fans both confused and disappointed. When asked about the lack of an announcement at E3 2018, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot wouldn't say if a new game was currently in development, but he did confirm that the company would return to the series but had nothing more to share at the moment.
9 Square Enix's Avengers Project
One of the more surprising announcements last year when Square Enix revealed it had partnered with Marvel to develop an Avengers game. Nearly nothing is known about the project, though having almost a year of development time on record, most fans believed Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix would be at E3 2018 to officially show off the game.
Unfortunately, that wasn't the case, as Square Enix's big E3 2018 showcase was light on major announcements and instead featured a line up of Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Just Cause 4, Kingdom Hearts 3, and a few other titles. Fans will have to continue to wait for any sort of news on the rumored Ulitmate Alliance-inspired reboot.
8 Rocksteady's Next Game
The next game from Rocksteady was arguably one of the most heavily rumored games going into the show. After launching Batman: Arkham Knight in 2015, the studio confirmed it was moving on from the Arkham series and has since been extremely quiet as to what it is working on. Leaks and rumors have attempted to fill the gaps, pointing to a variety of superhero games from the Justice League to a Silver Age version of Batman. Most recently, however, rumors zeroed in on a dedicated Superman game, so much so that most fans were convinced that it would get announced at one of the major press conferences.
As E3 2018 came and went, the hype and disappointment over the game not appearing caused Sefton Hill from Rocksteady Studios to post a message regarding its absence. While the developers appreciated the passion from fans, the game isn't quite ready to be shown off yet, though the studio is excited to show fans what it is they've been working on.
7 Metroid Prime 4
After getting teased last year by Nintendo at E3, most fans believed Samus would finally make her long-awaited debut. Technically, she did, though it was in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and not actually in Metroid Prime 4 as expected.
As it turns out, while the game is continuing to make progress, Nintendo is only interested in using E3 to show off games that are a year or less away instead of teasing out long term projects. As to why the company revealed the project last year, Nintendo marketing manager Bill Trinen explained that it was the first year of the Switch and Nintendo wanted to break normal tradition in order to get people excited about the future of the hardware.
6 Mortal Kombat 11
After its creation in 2010, NetherRealm Studios has followed a pretty specific pattern as to when it releases games and when it announces them. Since launching Mortal Kombat in 2011, the team has alternated between that franchise and its DC Comics fighter, Injustice. Many believed that it was Mortal Kombat 11 on deck for an announcement this year at E3, though the studio ultimately broke the cycle and fans' hearts as well.
With Injustice 2 having launched in the Spring of 2017 and wrapped up all of its DLC offerings earlier this year, many fans believed Mortal Kombat 11 would appear at E3 2018 through a flashy CG trailer, leading to an eventual Spring 2019 release window. This time, however, Ed Boon was at the show but didn't have anything to announce. Instead, he continued to troll fans with a pretty on point Twitter post about certain missing games at E3 2018.
5 Final Fantasy 7 Remake
While Final Fantasy games are known for long development cycles, Final Fantasy 7 Remake is a special exception. Revealed by Sony at E3 2015, the highly anticipated game has been largely kept out of the public eye since that time. Naturally, this has caused some fans to begin to worry, though Square Enix always seems to provide just enough information to keep fans content.
Three years since its original reveal, it was widely believed that the game would finally be ready for the E3 spotlight again, likely at Sony's press conference. Unfortunately, the show came and went without any sort of footage or news regarding the status of Final Fantasy 7 Remake. With E3 now over, the hope that the game is shown again now moves on to the next major show.
4 BioShock
Last appearing in 2013 with BioShock: Infinite, the once popular first-person shooter series has been on a long hiatus with almost no news at all. Unfortunately, the longtime franchise developer, Irrational Games, was significantly restructured in 2014, leaving the fate of the series up in the air. Although 2K has previously stated that the franchise will continue with a new studio at the helm, nothing has been announced since.
Beyond that, news has been few and far between. Fans have begun to speculate where the franchise could be, with many pointing the finger back at Ken Levine and his new Boston-based studio Ghost Story Games. Former BioShock level designer and associate producer, Shawn Elliott, has also returned to 2K working out of the Novato, California office on a new game that many remain convinced is a new entry in the series.
3 Skate 4
The return of the Skate franchise has been rumored for a while now thanks in large part to accidental retail listings. It started in 2017 when an EA community manager posted a Tweet with the Skate 4 hashtag, which only served to get the fanbase excited and then disappointed without an official reveal that year. Excitement once again reached a fever pitch this year when a retail listing for Skate 4 appeared on the Swedish retailer Webhallen, sparking hope that the series would finally make a return. Of course, for the second straight year, the series once again was a no show.
Not all hope is lost, however, as fans can get their skateboarding fix in 2019 with Session.
2 Bloodborne 2
While FROM Software did reveal a brand new game with Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, it wasn't the game many fans were expecting to see at E3 2018. Prior to the annual event, rumors indicated that Sony was preparing to announce Bloodborne 2, a fan favorite Souls-style title that's exclusive to the PlayStation 4.
As fans now know, Sony mainly showcased its four major first party games and only announced a couple of games with trailers including a newly remade Resident Evil 2 and Nioh 2. In fact, most of the rumored games on that list didn't come to pass, leaving fans to wonder if a follow up to one of the more popular PlayStation 4 exclusive games is actually in development at all.
1 Borderlands 3
With Gearbox's MOBA style shooter Battleborn failing to catch on and transitioning to free-to-play in 2017, the studio shifted quickly back to the wildly popular shooter-looter franchise, Borderlands. The Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford has previously announced development on Borderlands 3 as far as two years ago, most of the studio didn't actually jump to the new game until later in 2017.
Still, fans were hoping that some sort of trailer would be at E3 2018, teasing the existence of the new game and potentially revealing new details like classes, locations, and of course, loot. Unfortunately, it appears that fans will be waiting even longer as Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick hinted that Borderlands 3 may have been delayed into fiscal year 2020.
While many of these games are near guaranteed to be revealed, fans are left wondering as to exactly when that day will come. With many more gaming-centric events left in 2018, it's entirely possible that new surprises await at GamesCom, Paris Games Week, or perhaps another show later this year.
