The year 2022 was a relatively quiet one for Xbox, with the Xbox Game Studios brand releasing a handful of games like Interior Night’s As Dusk Falls, Playground Games’ Hot Wheels expansion for Forza Horizon 5, and Obsidian’s Pentiment. But as 2023 rolls on, Xbox fans should expect a busy year full of new releases to play. As a prelude to a year that promises to be special for the American company, Developer Direct will provide updates on Xbox Game Studios and Bethesda games that will be released in the coming months, such as Redfall. Xbox doesn’t usually do many game presentations outside of events like E3, so this Developer Direct is a fresh concept that seems like Microsoft’s own version of the Nintendo Direct or State of Play formula.
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A Lack of New Reveals at Developer Direct
Xbox’s fans should keep their expectations in check with the direct. Though there may be a major improvement with this new format, the Redmond company’s events have never stood out for their dynamism, usually taking the form of developer interviews. This Direct may do the same, being a little slower than the Nintendo or PlayStation shows but hopefully still bringing some enjoyable content for Xbox owners to get excited about.
In general, 2023 promises to be a historic year for video games. While Nintendo wants to go all out with Zelda Tears of the Kingdom, and Sony is preparing the launch of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 as the big exclusive of the year, Microsoft has no shortage of games coming to Xbox, Windows PC, and Game Pass in 2023. In spite of this, the presentation will only focus on four releases that are already very close to coming into existence: ZeniMax Online Studios’ The Elder Scrolls Online, Arkane Studios’ Redfall, Mojang’s Minecraft Legends and Turn 10 Studios’ Forza Motorsport. In the Xbox Wire post announcing the event, Microsoft has made it clear that the presentation will consist primarily of extended gameplay showcases rather than a barrage of new game reveals.
Developer Direct’s Games
In the case of Redfall, Bethesda announced that players will see several minutes of gameplay, both single-player and multiplayer, and will be shown more footage of combat, customization, bosses and the open world, among other things. For Forza Motorsport, it has only been revealed that more gameplay and some new details will be presented. There will also be exclusive images of Mojang Studios and Blackbird Interactive’s Minecraft Legends, where the PvP mode will have great prominence.
The Elder Scrolls Online will be showcased in a big way at the event, as the Xbox Wire post announces that the showcase will cover the game’s biggest update to date. Featured aspects of this game will include the latest regions of Tamriel that will be playable in ESO, as well as a major new feature that has not yet been revealed. For fans of The Elder Scrolls Online, an ESO Chapter Reveal Event will also be streamed after the Developer Direct. The stream will further detail the announcements made during Xbox and Bethesda’s show.
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Starfield, The Big Absentee
No release dates were mentioned for any of those games, but it makes sense that Xbox Game Studios and Bethesda will finally reveal them during the event, as this announcement reaffirms that Redfall, Forza Motorsport, and Minecraft Legends will launch in the coming months. In addition, the event will feature short interviews with Arkane Austin, Mojang, Turn 10 Studios, and ZeniMax Online Studios developers.
The big absentee from the event will be Starfield, Microsoft’s next big exclusive after Halo Infinite and Bethesda’s first original IP in 25 years. Xbox Game Studios and Bethesda Game Studios have confirmed that the highly anticipated sci-fi RPG will not be present at the January 25 Developer Direct, but it will be the star of its own standalone presentation at a later date. This can be interpreted as a bad omen for those who are looking forward to playing it soon, as the game may not be coming until much later in the year.
The first Developer Direct from Xbox Game Studios and Bethesda will be streamed live and free of charge on Wednesday, January 25 at 3 p.m. ET / 12 p.m. PT. At the moment, it has been confirmed that Bethesda and Microsoft will officially live stream the Developer Direct presentation via their respective Twitch and YouTube channels. Of course, other sites such as IGN and Gamespot will also be streaming it. Microsoft has not disclosed the length of the stream, but all indications are that it will not be as dense as the green company’s previous events.
Xbox Game Studios also has a long list of announced but mostly unaccounted-for projects in the pipeline, including Avowed, Everwild, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2, State of Decay 3, The Outer Wilds 2, and reboots of Fable and Perfect Dark. Xbox’s fans may have to wait until E3 2023 or later for news about these games, though, as none of these games are included in the lineup for the first Developer Direct.
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