Via XboxMicrosoft
E3 was canceled this year, but the summer of games continues thanks to Xbox. It delivered a ton of updates and announcements during itsXbox Games Showcase and Starfield Directtoday. Fans had been waiting for news on a lot of previously announced titles, and the company delivered with a first look at theFablereboot,a release date for theForza Motorsportreboot, the firstAvowedgameplay trailer,and a release window for the long-gestatingSenua’s Saga: Hellblade 2. Xbox Game Studios subsidiaries Compulsion Games and InXile Entertainment also showed off what they’ve been up to, with official announcements forSouth of MidnightandClockwork Revolution,respectively.
After the one-hour main showcase, Xbox dedicated a whole other hour to Bethesda’s upcoming RPGStarfield, with a ton of detail on planets, gameplay, characters, and so much more. Overall, the double showcase filled out a huge chunk of the company’s release slate for the rest of the year and into 2024. Even beyond first-party announcements, the Xbox showcase was packed with reveals, trailers, and footage. It’s tough to keep track of them all, so we rounded up everything Xbox showed off.
Fablereboot gets its first trailer
To kick things off, Xbox revealed the first trailer for theupcomingFablereboot, which was first teased in 2020. British comedian Richard Ayoade was on hand to introduce (and eventually star in) the trailer. It’ll be available on day one on Xbox Game Pass, but no release date has been revealed yet.
South of Midnighttransports us to the Bayou
Compulsion Games has been heads down working on its follow-up toWe Happy Fewsince it was acquired by Xbox Game Studios in 2018, and we finally got our first look.South of Midnightis a third-person action-adventure game set in the Bayou in the American Deep South. We play as Hazel, who’s seeking to repair a broken world while dealing with some mythical creatures you may or may not recognize.
Star Wars: Outlawstakes the franchise open world
We didn’t know much about Ubisoft’s upcoming Star Wars game — until today, that is.Outlaws, an open-world title starring scoundrel Kay Vess, is coming in 2024. We don’t have a ton of detailed information on it, but Vess wreaks havoc in a bar in the trailer, which you can watch above.
Persona 3 remake and Persona 5 tactics spinoff announced
Two Persona games were accidentally leaked a few days ahead of the showcase, but we got their official announcements today. Atlus first showed offPersona 3 Reload, a Persona 3 remake, which is set to hit Game Pass, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC in early 2024. The company also announcedPersona 5 Tactica, a tactics RPG spinoff, that’ll hit the platforms on November 17, giving fans something to tide them over ahead of the remake.
Avowedreceives its first gameplay trailer
Obsidian Entertainment made a big splash withPillars of Eternity, and it’s now building on that world inAvowed. The first-person RPG showed off a look at the Living Lands of Eora and one of your companions, Kai. It’ll be hitting day one on Game Pass when it launches on Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Steam in 2024.
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2finally gets a release window
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2has been a long time coming. It was teased with the reveal of the Xbox Series X|S at the Game Awards in 2019 after all! We haven’t seen a lot of it in the years since, but according to anew video released during the Xbox showcase, it’ll be released sometime next year. In the meantime, you can check out some new footage that highlights the game’s motion-capture capabilities.
Forza Motorsportis releasing on October 10
The lastForza Motorsportwas released in 2017, and while racing simulation fans got the excellentForza Horizon 5in 2021, they’ve been waiting for news onMotorsport. Turn 10 Studios has taken the reins on the reboot, which is being built from the ground up, and it shined when it was revealed at the Xbox showcase. Even more surprising is that it’s releasing on October 10.
Starfield, of course
There was no question aboutStarfieldbeing a huge part of today’s showcase, especially since it’s getting its own direct right after. But we got a new trailer during the showcase for the game as well.
Save the president in Cyberpunk2077: Phantom Libertyin September
Keanu Reeves made a surprise (and welcome) appearance at the Xbox showcase to introduce the first footage fromCyberpunk 2077‘s first major story expansion,Phantom Liberty. Details had been previously kept under wraps, but we have new story information on the campaign, which reunites V and Johnny Silverhand on a quest to save the president, and also adds Idris Elba to the cast. We also got a release date: September 26.
Xbox reveals first-party exclusiveClockwork Revolution
InXile’s first game sinceWasteland 3was revealed during the Xbox showcase.Clockwork Revolution, previously known as Project Cobalt, is a first-person shooter RPG with a steampunk-inspired, retro-futuristic flair and some time travel thrown in for good measure. No release window has been set yet, but the studio will share more “in due time.” We do know, though, that it’ll be an Xbox first-party exclusive.
New Xbox Series S model launching in September
Not only did Xbox Game Studios CEO Phil Spencer pop by at the end of the main showcase to mention the Xbox console supply, but he also announced anew Xbox Series S model. It’ll come in Carbon Black to match the Xbox Series X and will come with 1TB of SSD storage — up from 512GB. It’ll hit shelves on September 1 for $349.
