Usually reserved for an "end on a high note" event-closing finale, Microsoft instead decided to kick off its big E3 press conference with its headlining title, one of the most popular franchises of all-time: Halo. In the upcoming Halo 5: Guardians, again, you get to play head to head against more than two dozen others online, but this time around, will you be a good guy? A bad guy? You will have to play through story mode to find out.
"Master Chief, hero or traitor? Spartan Locke friend or foe? Epic worlds, epic battles," says Bonnie Ross of 343 Industries.
Microsoft showed off a bunch of title exclusives, among them, Rise of the Tomb Raider, and a new franchise Recore. In addition, there were some hardware announcements, like a new Xbox One customizable Elite controller.
For longtime XBox fans, in particular, those who will not jump to the Xbox One because they still want to play all their Xbox360 games - later this year, that will no longer be a concern.
"I'm pleased to announce Xbox One backwards compatibility. Our goal is to deliver the largest game catalogue ever on Xbox and Xbox One backward compatibility allows us to do just that," says Phil Spencer of Microsoft.
For sheer wow factor, it's unlikely a single person in the crowd didn't actually utter or at least think the word "wow" when shown the demo of Microsoft's personal hologram making HoloLens taking on Minecraft.
"From playing Minecraft on your wall to an entire world right on your table, Microsoft HoloLens gives the community a different way to play in the worlds they already love," says Lydia Winters of Mojang.
If you're thinking this is too futuristic to happen in your lifetime, think again. The HoloLens is expected to launch at some point this year alongside Windows 10, though exact date and price have not been announced.