Microsoft is kicking off the week that would normally be E3 week with the Xbox Showcase. They’re are t the only publisher doing an event either as both Ubisoft and Capcom are doing their own showcases next week also. And to top it all off, Geoff Keighley will be hosting another Summer Game Fest which will feature its own announcements over multiple days. Oh, wait, sorry. It’s Geoff Keighley hyping up another event of his. So we will skip over it and only talk about the games shown after the fact. That’s assuming the games are worth talking about.
So for now let’s focus on Microsoft and their Xbox Showcase. What can they show at this event? Well, Microsoft owns more developers than Sony and obviously way more than Nintendo and that includes the internal teams. And yes this is before the Activision Blizzard purchase. However, the problem Microsoft has is that despite all these developers, they do seem to have struggled to really get a good regular lineup of releases out the door since… well, a good long while. So this year has to be the year to change that. Let’s just hope they’re of at least good high standards and not too many Redfall disasters.
Just to note that Microsoft has said there’ll be zero CG trailers for their first party game announcements. However that doesn’t mean they’ll necessarily be gameplay trailers either. Instead of being CG cinematic trailers, they could just be in-engine cinematic trailers instead.
Let’s kick things off with Indiana Jones. This month will see the latest and last instalment of the film series to star Harrison Ford, so it makes perfect sense to showcase something of whatever game it is coming from the Bethesda side of things. There’s a high chance this won’t be far enough in development to really show much more than an in-engine cinematic trailer but we do live in hope. It all depends how far along development the game was before it was initially revealed with that teaser CG trailer several years back. The problem this game is likely to face is, unless it’s somehow near completion, it’s going to release too far after the movie has come out and disappeared from cinema to perhaps get any real hype. But we will see how it all plays out.
Next up is Fable. There’s been rumours circulating that this game hasn’t had the smoothest time in development. In fact, some rumours suggest it may have had to restart development entirely. That would be deeply concerning if true so let’s try and stay positive and hope that an actual gameplay reveal is showcased this year. It’s a big franchise that’s been dealt some bad decisions so this needs to reverse previous fortunes.
There’s definitely going to be a sizeable focus on Starfield this year. It’s going to be the biggest game from Xbox and after the disaster that was Redfall, this needs to land to great reviews. So let’s move on, because it’s a given it’ll be there. Microsoft said so. Look, it’s even in their Xbox Showcase announcement picture.
Yes, there’s going to be a gameplay for Forza Motorsport so let’s not say any more about it. It’s a driving game. What more do you need to know?
What about that State of Decay? The third game was revealed with a CG trailer so we really know bugger all about it. Other than if you know anything about the previous instalments, you have a good foundation understanding of what it’ll be about.
I do hope to see something more from the Perfect Dark reboot that we last saw in that CG cinematic trailer. Hopefully now that Crystal Dynamics is on board with developing the game, there’s something more to show. Perhaps too soon for a proper gameplay trailer? Well, yeah perhaps. But an in-engine cinematic trailer is still doable.
What about the next Hellblade outing? It’s got to be shown with a real good gameplay trailer this year. Hopefully a release date is not too far off either. The first game was a surprise hit both review and sales wise so now, with a bigger budget, we hope this sequel goes further.
I’m no doubt there’s going to be big announcements of games never shown before and some that I have completely forgotten about. And I can’t wait to be proved wrong about everything I have said after the showcase. So, there’s going to be another article talking about everything shown.
