As the month of video game reveals, trailers, and announcements continue we now move on to the Xbox and Bethesda showcase, where Microsoft got to show everything it has coming to the world of video games over the next 12 months. This was one of Microsoft’s most streamlined presentations yet with a little over an hour and a half of games to look at. What made it particularly enjoyable was how it cut out a lot of the fluff that slowed down previous presentations. There were fewer people talking, fewer trade show-like announcements, and more video games.
As for the video games themselves, there were very few weak points or games that felt like they might not be up to snuff. Everything seemed like something that was worth checking out, and considering Xbox’s policy of releasing games day one on Game Pass it’s hard to argue against playing any of the games shown. With that in mind, we’re focusing on what we felt were some of the bigger or more important announcements that were shown during the presentation.
Starfield
This was the elephant in the room throughout the presentation. Everyone knew an update for Starfield was coming and after its recent delay we all wanted a big hook to tell us why we should still be interested in the game. There are always going to be people who play a game made by Bethesda Game Studios no matter what it is, but the rest of us definitely needed something to prove that Starfield wasn’t going to be the next big AAA flop.
They delivered. This doesn’t mean that the game is going to be good or that it’s going to release in a perfect state, but Xbox and Bethesda did a great job in showing why it is that Starfield is going to be interesting. Yes, the big hook of a “massive universe to explore” has burnt many of us before, but the idea of exploring space in the universe that is being shown off sounds really enticing. The space travel is intriguing, the space combat looks fun, and every sci-fi element is hitting the right notes. Obviously, we need to see how the game looks when it launches to make any final judgments, but after the delay, we’re happy to see a potentially exciting game.
Activision Blizzard
It has been quite a two years for Activision Blizzard. Not only has their release of new games and content slowed down to a crawl, but internal misconduct allegations, the company being sold, and multiple leaders leaving the company has made development on games a challenge.
Despite this, they were still able to get two major announcements out there during the showcase. Overwatch 2 has an early access release date and Diablo IV has one set for 2023. After having so many of their games feel like they were in endless development it has to feel great for those developers to finally have some game releases on the horizon. Especially when those two releases in particular are from highly anticipated franchises like Overwatch and Diablo.
Redfall
The other major delay from Bethesda/Xbox, Redfall, led off the entire showcase with a gameplay trailer of its own. The game is a hero shooter where the enemies are vampires and cultists. That may sound basic, but the gameplay didn’t feel that way with the start of the trailer being a really intense gunfight between one of the major characters and some hard-to-kill vampires. The cultists provide an opportunity for some more traditional shooter action, but it looks like gunplay is going to be more than the usual pump bullets into the enemy until they stop moving type games we’ve seen in the past.
The big selling point of the game is that instead of being a multiplayer hero shooter, which is everywhere these days, it’s a story-focused one instead. That said, it doesn’t look all that fun to play on your own. This feels like one of those games where it’s going to be at its most fun when with a group of friends. That said, Arkane Austin is the studio behind it and their work on games like Prey and Dishonored tells us this is a team capable of making a strong single-player game. It has a 2023 release date so we shouldn’t have to wait too much longer to check it out.
Persona and reaching out to Japan
It is hard to put into words just how shocking it was to see Persona, a franchise that has been pretty much a guaranteed exclusive on the PlayStation, finally appearing on the Xbox. It also is a sign of a very important step for Microsoft and the Xbox, and that’s trying to fix the issues they’ve been having in Japan ever since their first console launched there in 2002. Microsoft has struggled to make much headway among Japanese gamers, for a variety of reasons, but one of the big ones is a lack of Japanese developed video games.
During the presentation, not only did Microsoft announce that Persona 3 Portable, Persona 4 Golden, and Persona 5 Royal, are all coming to the Xbox but they’re also entering a partnership with legendary Japanese developer, Hideo Kojima.
Xbox Game Studios & Kojima Productions are partnering to create a video game for Xbox like no one has ever experienced before, leveraging the cloud.
Hideo Kojima is one of the most innovative minds in our industry, and we can’t wait to share what our teams will create #Xbox pic.twitter.com/44TtOQxB08
— Xbox (@Xbox) June 12, 2022
None of this is going to fix their relationship with Japan overnight, but Microsoft has been getting trounced in sales over there for two decades. When the Series S outsold the PS5 in Japan, it was the first time that had happened in eight years. Any type of outreach is necessary and it’s good to see they haven’t abandoned the region.
Game Pass
One thing that was notable throughout the presentation was how often Microsoft mentioned that these games were available on Game Pass day one. It’s been made clear many times before, so we don’t need to rehash it, but this is the business model Microsoft is going to continue moving forward with. The ability to play these games immediately through a service is always going to be extremely appealing because even someone that was not interested in a single game shown today will have a way to try them out. That is always going to be a strong sell for developers to continue putting their games on the service.
The next step for Xbox and Bethesda will of course be releasing their games. Microsoft has spent years buying development studios and promising new games, but so far their track record of consistent releases is spotty at best. They’ve had some absolute gems make no mistake about it, but with so many delays it’s made them inconsistent. Game Pass is a great service and will continue to be the reason to own an Xbox, but that doesn’t make the delays any less frustrating.