Introduction
Xbox brought a ton of titles to the Xbox 2023 Showcase, giving us a solid indication of what to anticipate for the rest of the year and beyond on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox Game Pass, and PC. There’s much to look forward to this year, from our first complete look at Playground Games’ Fable to a release date for Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty to unexpected revelations like inXile’s Clockwork. Continue reading to find out everything revealed during today’s Xbox event.
Highlights from the Show
Fable
The show began with our first look at Playground Games’ forthcoming Fable remake. The IT Crowd’s Richard Ayoade plays the narrator in the clip, preserving the series’ trademark cheekiness. We have yet to determine when the game will be released, but Xbox has confirmed that it will be available on Day One on Game Pass.
South of Midnight
Compulsion Games’ creators of We Happy Few have unveiled their new project: South of Midnight. The game will be available on Game Pass for Xbox Series X|S and Steam for PC. The teaser trailer for this game depicted a mystery character playing guitar on the river while the main character Hazel hungered for a monster with knife-like fangs.
Star Wars Outlaws
Massive’s Star Wars game, Star Wars Outlaws, has finally been announced. The teaser has a lot of Star Wars imagery, such as cantinas, Stormtroopers, and more. There’s also a cute animal buddy who appears to have been created for Star Wars toys. The game will be open-world and will release on Xbox Series X|S in 2024.
Forza Motorsport Reboot
The Forza Motorsport revival will be released on October 10th. The game is a sequel to Forza Motorsport 7, released in 2017. A new teaser was released, showcasing the stunning next-generation graphics.
ClockWork Revolution
The leading exhibition concluded with a glimpse at Clockwork Revolution, a new game arriving “in due time” from inXile. It looks like a first-person shooter with a steampunk flavor and a hint of time manipulation features. It will be available on Game Pass on Day One.
Phantom Liberty: Cyberpunk 2077
Phantom Liberty, the first Cyberpunk 2077 expansion, will be coming on September 26th. We got a significant trailer for the game, which showed off Keanu Reeves’ return and the appearance of Idris Elba. The missions and quests in Phantom Liberty will transport players to a whole new location of Night City.
Avowed
Avowed, Obsidian’s long-awaited fantasy RPG has a release date for next year. The game’s first big reveal included caverns, spiders, bears, spellcasting, sword fighting, and many other fantastical aspects. The game will be available on Xbox Series X|S Game Pass in 2024.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024
We received a new peek at Flight Simulator 2024, which brings many changes and enhancements to the game. In addition, the existing Microsoft Flight Simulator will also receive a Dune crossover on November 3rd, bringing the famous thopter to Flight Simulator.
33 Immortals
Thunder Lotus, the company behind Spritfarer, has introduced 33 Immortals, a new raid-focused action game. The top-down action game retains Spritfarer’s exquisite hand-drawn aesthetics and can handle up to 33 players at once. It will be available on Xbox Game Pass sometime next year.
Payday 3
We have a new look at Payday 3 gameplay, including all the expected bank heist hijinks. We witnessed a vehicle pursuit, rooftop gunfights, and a plethora of gear and gadgets to assist participants in obtaining their payday. for September 21st, the game will be available through Game Pass for Xbox Series X|S.
Persona 3 Reload
Persona 3 Reload has officially been confirmed and will be available on Xbox Game Pass in early 2024. The playtime gave us our first look at the remake, which seems to bring Persona 3 up to speed with Persona 5 regarding gameplay and visuals.
Persona 5 Tactica
Persona 5 Tactica, another game that Atlus mistakenly released early, was formally unveiled during the Xbox Games Showcase. The game is a Fire Emblem-type tactic that takes on Persona 5’s environment with a fresh chibi graphical style. The game will be available on Game Pass on November 17th.
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2
We now have a release date for Hellblade 2, which will be available sometime next year for Xbox Series X|S and PC. There was also a new trailer for the sequel, which displayed the stunning next-gen visuals again.
Cities Skylines II
The sequel to Cities Skylines has been given an October 24th release date and will be available on Game Pass.
New 1TB Xbox Series S
Xbox CEO Phil Spencer unveiled the new 1TB Xbox Series S in black, which will be available on September 1st. According to Spencer, with this new model, Xbox is reacting to criticisms that the Series S didn’t have enough storage. It will cost $349, or $50 more than the original 512GB Xbox Series S.
Starfield Direct
Following the Xbox Games Showcase, the long-awaited Starfield Direct came, giving us an in-depth look at Bethesda Studios’ highly anticipated title. The Starfield Direct lasted more than 40 minutes and was jam-packed with gameplay videos and devs detailing several of the game’s features, such as combat, exploration, space travel, character development, companions, outpost building, and much more.
There is little question that Starfield will be massive, especially since Bethesda has promised that there will be over 1,000 planets for players to visit. While not every world will be loaded with life-changing adventures, and some will be empty except for specific materials to acquire, Bethesda has created a galaxy that is brimming with locations to visit.
These planets will also look stunning since they will be teeming with alien flora and fauna, with lighting dictated by the kind of star in the system and the planet’s atmosphere.
Bethesda also wants players to have unique, handcrafted experiences, which means they may have different experiences than their friends who have visited the same planet.Â
Bethesda’s planet technology generates the world as procedural content, but the hand-crafted content comes as the player explores. This implies that Starfield will stitch together a block of terrain as players approach a planet. The game will add intriguing areas to explore, monsters to confront, and other features to keep things new and unique for each player. There will be primary plot tasks that all players will experience the same way, but exploring will be a whole new ball game.
Once on a planet, players can construct an outpost that can serve as a type of home base. These may be erected in almost any place worldwide and can be tailored to be the ideal location to rest amid the stars. Building has also been improved, and players may now design their outposts in a top-down isometric perspective for building placement and extensive alterations, as well as in first-person for more minor details.
Players may assign their crew and allies to work there, set up Extractors to gather materials, build up a mechanism to transfer freight between their outposts, and house crafting and research stations after they are established. As if that weren’t enough, players will be able to travel across the stars on their own ship, which may be customized in a variety of ways. The Starfield Direct showed someone designing a spacecraft that looked like Optimus Prime to demonstrate how versatile the ship creation mechanism is.
Ships can be obtained via various methods, including purchasing them like any good citizen or stealing them if you want to get your hands dirty. Once a spacecraft is obtained, players will be able to pilot it and fly to their next destination rather than merely pushing a button to fast-travel to a planet, which is already possible.
Bethesda games strive to immerse you as the main character in a world that seems as genuine as possible, allowing you to live out your childhood ideal of living in a wonderful universe. Living those virtual aspirations is fantastic, but it’s made much more special when you get to do it with a character you build that looks like you or a design you pick.
Starfield follows suit, boasting Bethesda’s “most in-depth and diverse character creation system yet.” Players will be able to pick from 40 pre-made templates as their starting point for character development, and the customization will only get more extensive from there.
Character creation is also “more than just how you look,” as players will be able to select their background and qualities, which will help define who they are in the universe of Starfield. The backgrounds provide you with a brief narrative as well as three talents.
The Explorer, for example, begins with the abilities of Lasers, Astrodynamics, and Surveying. Beast Hunter, Bouncer, Chef, Cyber Runner, Gangster, Pilgrim, and Ronin are among the others. Players will then have the option of selecting three more attributes to further personalize their character. These characteristics have pros and downsides, making the decision a little more difficult. Hero Worshiped is one of them, and it will lead an “adoring fan” to “show up randomly and jabber at you incessantly.”
Starfield also features talents that players can obtain through gaming, and accomplishing tasks associated with them will raise their rank and improve them. Picking locks, for example, may raise the Security Skill, and each rank obtained allows you to pick progressively tougher locks. Physical, Social, Combat, Science, and Technology are the five talent areas, and they all contribute to making your character the most personalized you can be.
Combat in Starfield has also been revamped and is quicker-paced than in Fallout. There is a ton of customization and possibilities in terms of weaponry, as is obviously a trend, and this is shown in a comprehensive mod system, energy and mag guns, different sorts of rounds such as the explosive variety, jetpacks you may utilize to your benefit in battle, and more.
Roundup
Overall, the Xbox Games Showcase was a solid showing for the future of gaming. Microsoft has many great games in the works, and it will be interesting to see how they perform when they release.Â
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Watch the full showcase below:
