Microsoft unveiled Sunday a batch of new titles for Xbox at the world's premier video game trade show, including award-winning sensation "Hades" and long-time hit "Halo".

The Xbox maker showed off 30 new games coming to its console, which in November will celebrate two decades on the market.

"Our team strives to make Xbox a place where you'll find the greatest games, the most dedicated developers, and the most passionate community," unit chief Phil Spencer said during a streamed event on the second day of a virtual Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3).

Microsoft revealed a coming take of beloved "Halo", along with new creations such as science-fiction action title "Starfield" and a vampire-battling adventure called "Redfall" from Bethesda Softworks.

Microsoft recently-acquired Bethesda Softworks, the maker of hits including "Fallout" and "Elder Scrolls."

As trailers depicted tense battles and the games' rich graphics, Microsoft stressed that all but a few would be available for play at its subscription Xbox Game Pass service.

The company also highlighted titles that will be exclusive to Xbox, which competes with rival consoles Sony PlayStation and Nintendo Switch.

Award-winning "Hades" from San Francisco-based Supergiant is coming to Xbox as well as PlayStation, the independent studio said Sunday.

"Hades" has so far only been available for play on personal computers and Switch.

"Hades", which snagged five honors this year at Britain's prestigious BAFTA Games Awards, is a "dungeon crawler" that challenges players to fight their way through the underworld.

The line-up of new titles comes as Microsoft works on software and a plug-in device to let people play Xbox video games on internet-linked televisions without need of consoles.

"As a company, Microsoft is all-in on gaming," chief executive Satya Nadella said in introducing the plan last week.

Microsoft has been playing on the strength of its Xbox unit as it vies with Luna and Stadia cloud gaming services run, respectively, by Amazon and Google.

In coming weeks, cloud gaming with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscriptions will be possible through internet browsers Chrome, Edge and Safari, according to Microsoft.

Many are expected to tune in on the closing day of E3 on Tuesday for a Nintendo streamed event at which it may reveal a new version of its coveted Switch consoles along with showing off new games.

Premier E3 video game show kicks off with 'Avatar'
San Francisco (AFP) June 13, 2021 - The world's premier video game trade show, E3, kicked off online Saturday, celebrating play that "kept us sane" during the pandemic, celebrating fantasy worlds with Ubisoft's new offering "Avatar," and promising a real-world gathering next year.

The Electronic Entertainment Expo that each year turned the Los Angeles Convention Center into a players' paradise was cancelled in 2020 because of Covid-19, and went virtual this year with a streamed event.

"During the pandemic that prevented us from being with so many family, friends and colleagues, video games connected us, entertained us and brought us together," said Entertainment Software Association chief executive Stanley Pierre-Louis.

"Games kept us sane," he said.

The association has hosted E3 annually since 1995, most of those years in Los Angeles.

"It's an opportunity to convene and celebrate as a community," Pierre-Louis said during an opening presentation.

Video game play has surged during the pandemic, as people turned more than ever to the internet for entertainment.

Overall consumer spending on gaming in the United States totaled just shy of $15 billion in the first quarter of this year, up 30 percent from the same period in 2020, according to industry tracker NPD Group.

"We've been amazed by the role games have played in our everyday lives," Pierre-Louis said.

Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti joined the pre-recorded presentation to reveal E3 will return to the city next year, and that he is eager to see it back in action.

"We look forward to seeing you in person, here in the City of Angels in 2022," Garcetti said.

What had long been an industry-only event has opened to fans in recent years, as the world of gaming has expanded beyond consoles to smartphones and play hosted in the internet cloud.

- 'Amazing journey' -

This year's virtual event is spread over four days, and features presentations by major game studios along with console titans Microsoft and Nintendo.

French video game powerhouse Ubisoft opened the show with a look at fresh additions to its diverse line-up, including a new game based on the blockbuster film "Avatar."

"Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora" is a first-person, action-adventure game developed by Ubisoft in collaboration with Disney, according to the company.

A trailer for the game, set for release next year, showed an open world in which players take on the role of the tall, blue Na'vi characters from the film that won an array of Academy Awards in 2010.

"It is a glimpse of the amazing journey that awaits you in one of the most beautiful but dangerous places of all," Ubisoft chief executive Yves Guillemot said of the Avatar game teaser.

Ubisoft also showed off its latest collaboration with Nintendo combining the beloved Mario character with its impish Raving Rabbids.

Keenly awaited Ubisoft games spotlighted included additions to the popular Assassin's Creed and Far Cry franchises as well as Rainbow Six.

E3 continues on Sunday with an event by Microsoft's game unit Xbox and recently-acquired Bethesda Softworks, the maker of hits including "Fallout" and "Elder Scrolls."

US telecom operator Verizon will hold its first E3 media event on Monday, focusing on how superfast 5G networks will influence gaming.

Many are expected to tune in on Tuesday for a Nintendo streamed event at which it may reveal a new version of its coveted Switch consoles along with showing off new games.

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