'Forza Horizon 5' has been named the Overall Most Anticipated Title at the Official E3 Awards. Courtesy XBox
'Forza Horizon 5' has been named the Overall Most Anticipated Title at the Official E3 Awards. Courtesy XBox
'Forza Horizon 5' has been named the Overall Most Anticipated Title at the Official E3 Awards. Courtesy XBox
'Forza Horizon 5' has been named the Overall Most Anticipated Title at the Official E3 Awards. Courtesy XBox

E3 2021 Awards: 'Forza Horizon 5' named Overall Most Anticipated Game


Evelyn Lau
  • English
  • Arabic

Microsoft's Forza Horizon 5 has been named the Most Anticipated Game at the Official E3 2021 Awards.

The photo-realistic racing game, which will be released on Xbox One and PC on November 9, allows players to race in supercars around incredible Mexican landscapes complete with active volcanoes and quaint towns.

The virtual awards ceremony closed this year’s online-only E3, with editors from IGN, PC Gamer, Gamespot, Game Bonfire, GamesRadar+ and IGN China choosing the winners on the night.

They also chose their best presentation from the four-day event, which went to Microsoft for the Xbox and Bethesda showcase. The acquisition of Bethesda, the video game publisher behind hit gaming titles such as Fallout and Doom, was one of the biggest industry stories of the year.

First held in 1995, the E3 event is highly anticipated by the gaming industry. Short for Electronic Entertainment Exhibition, last year's trade show was cancelled due to the pandemic.

E3 only opened to the public in 2017 after being an industry-only occasion for years, and now hosts some of the world’s biggest video game and console creators who use the platform to unveil new titles and offer other gaming updates.

The full list of other Most Anticipated titles from E3 2021:

Overall Most Anticipated: Forza Horizon 5, Xbox Game Studios

Best Presentation: Microsoft's Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase

Capcom: The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles

Gearbox Software: Tiny Tina's Wonderlands

Indie Games: Falling Frontier

Intellivision: Asteroids

Nintendo: Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2

PC Gaming Show: Songs of Conquest

Freedom Games: Airborne Kingdom

Future Games Show: Immortality

Square Enix: Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy

Ubisoft: Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope

Xbox / Bethesda: Halo: Infinite

Yooreka Studio: Loopmancer

The Perfect Couple

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor

Creator: Jenna Lamia

Rating: 3/5

Avatar: Fire and Ash

Director: James Cameron

Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana

Rating: 4.5/5

Jordan cabinet changes

In

  • Raed Mozafar Abu Al Saoud, Minister of Water and Irrigation
  • Dr Bassam Samir Al Talhouni, Minister of Justice
  • Majd Mohamed Shoueikeh, State Minister of Development of Foundation Performance
  • Azmi Mahmud Mohafaza, Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research
  • Falah Abdalla Al Ammoush, Minister of Public Works and Housing
  • Basma Moussa Ishakat, Minister of Social Development
  • Dr Ghazi Monawar Al Zein, Minister of Health
  • Ibrahim Sobhi Alshahahede, Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Environment
  • Dr Mohamed Suleiman Aburamman, Minister of Culture and Minister of Youth

Out

  • Dr Adel Issa Al Tawissi, Minister of High Education and Scientific Research
  • Hala Noaman “Basiso Lattouf”, Minister of Social Development
  • Dr Mahmud Yassin Al Sheyab, Minister of Health
  • Yahya Moussa Kasbi, Minister of Public Works and Housing
  • Nayef Hamidi Al Fayez, Minister of Environment
  • Majd Mohamed Shoueika, Minister of Public Sector Development
  • Khalid Moussa Al Huneifat, Minister of Agriculture
  • Dr Awad Abu Jarad Al Mushakiba, Minister of Justice
  • Mounir Moussa Ouwais, Minister of Water and Agriculture
  • Dr Azmi Mahmud Mohafaza, Minister of Education
  • Mokarram Mustafa Al Kaysi, Minister of Youth
  • Basma Mohamed Al Nousour, Minister of Culture
PROFILE

Name: Enhance Fitness 

Year started: 2018 

Based: UAE 

Employees: 200 

Amount raised: $3m 

Investors: Global Ventures and angel investors 

Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015

- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”