Is Bethesda Planning On Another Major Surprise At This Year's E3?

Bethesda Software stole the show at last year's E3. Most people agreed they came away the winners (a time-honored tradition amongst hardcore gamers to determine who “won” E3). Well, it appears Bethesda has plans on making a return to the stage and bringing more big surprises at this year's E3.

According to PC Gamer, the official Bethesda Twitter account made the following announcement, with a time and date for the event.

The event will take place on June 12 at 7:00pm in Los Angeles, California, identical to the slot they filled last year.

Unfortunately they offer zero details on the actual plans for announcing anything, but the image itself reveals a lot. We see the Cacodemon from Doom, a game that's releasing in a couple of months for Xbox One, PS4 and PC. We see Corvo from Dishonored looming behind a giant robot. It appears as if the Doom Guy is guarding the rear of the group. A couple of Fallout characters are there, including some Power Armor standing in line behind the Dragon Born from Skyrim.

Since Fallout 4 is already announced, it's obvious that the game's appearance at E3 may have something to do with the creation kit or an expansion... perhaps? Last year, the game was the centerpiece of Bethesda's efforts, as the company announced that the game would be arriving during the fall season.

With Fallout 4 being the highlight of Bethesda's 2015 E3 conference, it leaves gamers to ruminate on the possibilities of this year's conference. The common consensus is that a lot of people are hoping for The Elder Scrolls VI on a brand new game engine. That's a pipe dream, though.

A more reasonable expectation is that there will be Fallout 4 DLC, along with actual gameplay and details shared for Dishonored 2, which may end up taking center stage at the event. New content for Elder Scrolls Online maybe? The company still has the Rage license and it's not impossible that they could revive the IP for a sequel. Besides, it's been five years since the id Tech 5 game came onto the scene with its mega-textures and streamlined loading. A more gameplay-oriented and less tech-demo reliant sequel to Rage wouldn't be a bad thing.

A few gamers are also hoping for a Morrowind remastered edition, which seems like a real long shot... but then again, who knows?

One thing is for sure, Bethesda is utilizing the platform of media reach and the pageantry of E3 to take hype by the horns and wield it to their will. They managed to successfully launch and live up to the hype of Fallout 4 for the most part and they're likely going to try and go two for two at this year's E3 now that EA has forfeited their position at E3 to do their own EA Play.

So what games are you most looking forward to from Bethesda/Zenimax? And what do you think they'll unveil at this year's big E3 showdown?