It’s Sunday, and Microsoft is taking the stage to unveil everything it’s got for the future of Xbox. It’s one of the largest showcases this weekend at Summer Game Fest in Los Angeles, and it’s certainly going to set the tone for Xbox moving forward into late 2024 and beyond.
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This showcase arrives amid a tumultuous time for Xbox as a whole. Though it’s finally secured its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Xbox has also gone through a streak of layoffs and studio closures in the last few months. And on top of that, the Xbox brand is looking to expand beyond its own box, moving some of its games to other platforms.
Today’s show is a unified showcase, almost easy to see as a solidification of the new face of Xbox. So what happened today? Here’s every game shown during the Xbox Games Showcase 2024.
- We start with a teaser for Call of Duty Black Ops 6, tackling clandestine operations and warfare once again. We’ll hear more about that later, during the CoD portion of the stream.
- Phil Spencer appears for the first time, to introduce the world premiere of Doom: The Dark Ages, a medieval-style Doom arriving in 2025. It’s got dragons! Honestly, Doomguy in the dark ages really works.
- Next up, Undead Labs shows a cinematic look at State of Decay 3. It looks to still prioritize the “surviving together” community aspects, as well as the little stories of survivors in the zombie apocalypse. No date, but day one with Game Pass.
- BioWare arrives with a look at the freshly renamed Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Formerly known as Dreadwolf, this look showed off a bunch of the companions we can expect to see, and likely romance. Plus, it’s got a Fall 2024 release window now.
- Starfield is getting its Shattered Space expansion sometime this year, and we got a little tease for that. But there’s also some additional content coming tonight, for those eager to explore new sights and sounds in space ASAP.
- Bethesda keeps the ball rolling with Fallout 76‘s Skyline Valley update on June 12. Love the rendition of “Oh Shenandoah”.
- It’s world premiere time once again. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 from Sandfall and Kepler might have just stolen the show for me, a fascinating new RPG with an intriguing style, combat system, and more. Plus, that was definitely Shadowheart VA Jennifer English. It’s planned for 2025, and I’m keeping an eye on it.
- Back to the Xbox studios, Compulsion Games is showing off a look at South of Midnight, its next game after We Happy Few. The southern folklore vibes are really something cool to see play out. It’s definitely a third-person action-adventure game, but I think the style and concept are really going to be what makes or breaks this, and I dig it so far. Its arriving sometime in 2025.
- Time for Blizzard, to talk about World of Warcraft. August 26 is when The War Within. It’s a big moment for WoW and the first expansion since the takeover. WoW-heads will certainly be looking to see what the MMO looks like under Microsoft.
- The Metal Gear Solid 3 remake shows up and shows off some gameplay. It looks decent, and though I think the original is still an incredibly playable game in the modern age, I’m curious to see how a remake approaches it. No date for that.
- Sea of Thieves shows off some of its 13th season, going live on July 25. Honestly, good for Rare. It’s nice to see this game still thriving.
- Flintlock The Siege of Dawn arrives on July 18, 2024. It’s an interesting-looking setting, and I’m curious to see how it’s received.
- Age of Mythology is an underrated part of the Age series, and its getting retold on September 4, 2024 for both Xbox Series and PC.
- Oh, it’s Perfect Dark, and we’re not just getting a cinematic. We’ve got a surprisingly in-depth look at the gameplay of this new entry in the series, from free-running to gadgets, and of course some guns too. It’s got a great spy-thriller vibe to it, almost reminding me of the modern Mission: Impossible run. No date, but it looks great.
- Head of Xbox Game Studios Matt Booty takes the stage to recap what we’ve seen so far, and then introduce Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred. We get to see the intro cinematic, which is frankly haunting. It arrives October 8, 2024.
- Here’s Playground Games, with a look at Fable. It’s looking pretty good so far, as the team shows off adventuring and a little bit of combat. It’s aiming for 2025.
- Fragpunk looks like a competitive shooter with some card-based world-shifting abilities. Seems neat? It’s a crowded market out there for shooters, but maybe the cards can be an X-factor. It’s aiming for 2025.
- Aw, a little mouse game! It looks adventurous but cozy, and is probably activating the neurons of anyone who ever read Redwall growing up. Winter Burrow is coming 2025 and looks delightful.
- Another tonal shift, to an adventure game with some summer vacation coming-of-age vibes. This feels like an attack on a generation, personally, with a host of incredible artists locked in. Mixtape is arriving in 2025.
- Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 arrives on November 19, 2024 and sure looks gorgeous. I’m happy for all the aircraft aficionados who are getting to live out their beautiful airborne dreams.
- Bethesda is back, with some Elder Scrolls Online news. All DLC is going to be free for a limited time. Neat!
- Oh hey, it’s Life is Strange! Double Exposure is a new Max Caulfield adventure arriving on October 29, 2024, where she solves the murder of her friend across two realities. It looks incredible, and I’m really curious to see how they handle returning to a protagonist like this.
- It’s Indy time. We’re getting a new look at Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, the MachineGames first-person adventure. It looks and sounds gorgeous, and they’re really nailing the feel of the movies. Still no date, but it is aimed for sometime in 2024.
- Here’s Mecha Break from Amazing Seasun Games, a mecha battler with tons of high-octane goodness. It’s arriving in 2025, though a beta is set for August 2024.
- Wuchang Fallen Feathers is a dark fantasy, Souls-y looking game. We’ve got a variety of looks and inspirations, and seems to be all about killing monsters. You can hunt some of your own monsters in 2025.
- Still hungry for more fantasy adventure? Obsidian’s Avowed is looking pretty good, and it’s still targeting 2024. Honestly, this was a much better showing than previous ones, and I’m starting to get drawn into this world.
- I’m not sure exactly how to describe Atomfall. Destructoid’s own Zoey Handley says of it: “it looks like absolutely everything.” It’s first-person, with a smattering of different visuals and ideas. It’ll hit in 2025, if you want to see what everything looks like.
- Here’s a teaser for Assassin’s Creed Shadows, which we’ll doubtless be hearing more about tomorrow at the Ubisoft Forward. I’m enjoying the dual protagonist concept though, and AC really feels at home in this Japanese setting. It’s set for November 15, and I’m down for it.
- STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl is showcasing some gameplay and looks excellent. This game has had a long and troubled development to the real-life situation in Ukraine, and it’s heartwarming to see them bring this project to life. It’s set for September 5, 2024.
- Xbox president Sarah Bond is here to announce new digital-only Xbox Series X, as well as expanded colorways for the Xbox Series line.
- It’s time for one more thing, and surprise, it’s Gears of War: E-Day. Seems like a prequel entry in the series.
That’s it for the Xbox portion, though the Call of Duty portion of the showcase is going live as I type this. Honestly, a solid showing, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see this touted as Xbox trying to right the ship after making so many cuts.
We’ll see how these games pan out as we head into 2025, but there are at least some big banner-bearing titles on the horizon for Xbox.
