FLAG DAY!

Yeah, it’s total speculation at this point, but I have a feeling about this one.

Bethesda announced Tuesday that they’ll be hosting their own E3 conference on June 14, 2015, in the style of Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, and the other giant publishers. They’ve never done this before, and their games are typically shown off at one of the other big player’s conferences. Sure, they have several games coming down the pipeline in the next few years, but what’s that big one that’s been weirdly absent? When might the time be to announce the company’s next, biggest project? Why might they choose now to split from the rest of the pack and host a show of their own?

The hype train keeps rolling.

Flag Day is a holiday meant to celebrate a country and its flag, and Bethesda’s conference happens to fall on the day we celebrate the American flag: June 14. Fallout is a series that saturates itself in American culture, and is always set in the post-apocalyptic wasteland of the United States. While this could all be a huge coincidence, and we might be celebrating Flag Day with Bethesda’s announcement of The Evil Within: 2 Evil, I’m skeptical. It’s been almost five years since we stepped into Bethesda’s hazardous, satirical, terrifying, and lovable Wasteland, and I can’t imagine a world where we’re another half-decade from heading back.

I’m excited to see the rest of Bethesda’s announcements at the event. Dishonored 2 will be great, and I’m ready to see more of DOOM. I just don’t believe they’re going to leave us hanging this time. The timing is too perfect, and this event is too perfect a venue. And come on, it’s just time.

This is either the perfect troll, leading to Fallout 4 joining Half-Life 3 and The Last Guardian in the “games that are better as ideas” camp, or this is the big one. Bethesda knows what we’re all expecting, and I really hope this is it.

They just might be ready to set the world on fire, and I’m ready to start that flame.