While E3 officially starts on Tuesday and the real news at E3 happens with the Big Four pressers on Monday, the 2015 edition of the Electronic Entertainment Expo will kick off on Sunday when Bethesda has their first E3 press conference.

As part of our week-long E3 coverage on et geekera, we start with a preview of the first of the week’s seven major press conferences and tell you what to expect from Bethesda and what rumours suggest they have up their sleeve.

After managing to badly cover up the existence of the game and its details for years, Bethesda finally confirmed the existence of Fallout 4 with a reveal trailer. E3 is likely to confirm some details like the timing, location, characters and some new mechanics. We’re also expecting actual gameplay footage to debut.

While details about platforms and release dates are going to be announced, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the obligatory post-conference press releases to include info on pre-order bonuses and DLC. Of course, that’s going to be standard for every game with a release date so take that cynical assumption as a given for everything at E3.

After being initially announced back in 2008, Doom (formerly known as Doom 4) has been in development hell ever since. Trailers were shown at E3 in 2014 and at QuakeCon 2014 and this past May saw a teaser trailer confirming that a gameplay trailer would debut during Bethesda’s E3 press conference. This would be a logical way to start or end the press conference considering that the wait has been longer and the footage more sparing than for Fallout 4.

It’s also worth mentioning that people who pre-ordered Wolfenstein: The New Order got beta access to Doom 4. The only problem is that there’s no Doom beta on the horizon. I wouldn’t be shocked to see a beta and full release dates announced at the presser.

One of the hottest rumours around Bethesda that’s been running so rampant that most are taking it as fact is the expected announcement of Dishonored 2. Arkane Studios hasn’t released anything since Dishonored dropped to critical acclaim in 2012 so one would assume that their next project will be revealed soon and it’s expected that Dishonored’s sequel would make for some great revealing at E3.

To go along with that rumour, I’ve seen a few reports that Arkane is also working on an HD/Remastered version of Dishonored for the current generation of consoles. One would assume that such a game would be released ahead of Dishonored 2 but they could always try pulling a Bayonetta 2 and package the two together. I doubt any publisher would pass up the extra money but someone could surprise me. I’m just not expecting that generosity.

You may have missed it but The Elder Scrolls Online was finally released on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 last week. Given the recent release and the move away from the subscription model, one would assume that TESO’s presence at this presser is marketing for the console release.

That being said, the game has been out on PC for 14 months. I’m not saying that it’s time for an expansion but something to shake things up and get people interested in the game again wouldn’t be out of place here. Even if it doesn’t come out until the fall, the buzz around TESO seems to need a huge boost and an expansion would certainly help.

BattleCry was revealed at E3 2014 and looks to get some featured time in 2015. It’s a 32-person free-to-play team-based combat game. The quick comparison is said to be Team Fortress 2 without firearms but swords, crossbows and other non-gunpowder powered weapons. Maybe Chivalry: Medieval Warfare is the better comparison.

That being said, Bethesda talked a big game about how their game was going to be different from other games in this genre. Apart from the look being different from the competition, I’m not sure what they could do to set themselves apart. Hopefully there’s some steak to back up the sizzle.

Finally, nobody has pegged the big attention-stealing closing announcement for Bethesda’s first E3 presser but everyone’s expecting something big. There will be about 13 hours of headlines they can dominate before Microsoft opens Monday with its press event.

Current speculation has landed on Bethesda teasing The Elder Scrolls VI. While it would be logical that the recent launches of Dragon Age: Inquisition and The Witcher 3 would have Bethesda itching to reveal its top of the last-gen RPG, Bethesda’s main dev team is working on Fallout 4 so one would assume that TES6 is the team’s second priority if it’s on their radar at all. If Fallout 4 is a late 2015 or early 2016 release, I would expect a little teaser for TES6 before a bigger reveal at E3 2016.

The other possible big surprise is the next game in either the Wolfenstein or The Evil Within series. Considering how popular The New Order was, I would expect a Wolfenstein teaser to be a bigger deal but the fact that Bethesda has another old school FPS on its way out in Doom might give me pause on that possibility.

Of course, the big surprise reveal could be an “HD” version of Skyrim for PS4 and Xbox One. Wouldn’t that disappoint everyone?

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