With the PlayStation State of Play done, Nintendo and Xbox still have yet to show their hand during this summer of gaming. Next up, Microsoft kicks off its Xbox Games Showcase on June 8, followed immediately after by a big reveal for the next Call of Duty. While we already know the next Call of Duty is set to be Black Ops 6, there’s plenty from the main show that remains a mystery and rife for speculation.
It feels like every year is a make-or-break year for Xbox and, well, this year is make-or-break for Xbox. With the dust from the Activision Blizzard acquisition settling down but closures of high-profile studios like Tango Gameworks and Arkane Austin still fresh in everyone’s minds, it’s a summer for Xbox to find its center, take a breath, and share what the future looks like.
As such, here are some big announcements we hope to see at the Xbox Games Showcase that I think could help get Xbox back on track.
Return to Your Roots: Gears 6
With the acquisition of Activision Blizzard and many other studios over recent years, Xbox is now home to tons of iconic franchises. But the Xbox brand was built on the likes of Master Chief and Gears of War.
If rumors are true, we are likely going to see a new Gears of War game announced this weekend, and it’ll be a welcome return to one of Xbox’s most iconic franchises. The over-the-top gore lost a bit of favor a few years ago when everyone was trying to make realistic, cinematically-inspired games, but I believe we’ve rounded the corner and are back to wanting a little fun with our sadness. Who needs existential dread when you can have a chainsaw attached to a gun?
Furthermore, it’s never been a better time to revisit a series known for its popular online multiplayer. What’s the biggest genre of games today? It’s online PvP gaming. Games like Apex Legends, Valorant, and Fortnite dominate the gaming landscape and Gears of War could be for Xbox what Helldivers is for PlayStation.
A new Gears of War game has been heavily rumored as has a Gears of War collection, which should hopefully bridge the gap during the wait for the newest Gears game.
The Xbox Handheld
Rumors of a handheld Xbox have been circling for months and Xbox boss Phil Spencer certainly loves talking about the possibility of one. And as we approach this weekend’s showcase, it certainly seems like some kind of official announcement is looming.
But what will the Xbox handheld be, apart from the obvious (it’s in the name, right?)? Our best guess is something akin to the Steam Deck, offering high-end portable gaming so you can play everything in your Xbox collection – and everything on Game Pass too, if you’re a subscriber – any time, any place. Sony recently tested the waters with the PlayStation Portal but that’s really a half-step than a full-fat portable, and with Nintendo’s Switch 2 on the horizon I wonder if Xbox is attempting to get ahead of the competition by offering a home console experience – high-definition graphics and a control pad setup that feels as natural and comfortable as a traditional Xbox controller – before Nintendo makes its move.
An Xbox handheld might not be the magic bullet for Xbox – that all depends on the capabilities of the machine itself and, more importantly, its price – but it will instantly become the Xbox Game Pass device the Xbox Series X and S currently are not. The idea of a high-end portable device capable of running Xbox games seems custom-built to combine with a subscription to Xbox Game Pass. Add in xCloud’s streaming capabilities, and the success of expensive hardware like the Steam Deck, and it feels like the time is right for Xbox to finally make a handheld game device.
Doom: The Dark Ages
Remember when I said we’re back to enjoying mindless schlock? 2016’s Doom helped pave the way for that. While returning to the big Xbox titles of yesteryear will go far in reminding audiences of the iconic brands under the Xbox banner, it’s also time to bring back a beloved franchise from one of the acquired Xbox Game Studios flagships.
2016’s Doom and its follow-up Doom: Eternal are some of the best first-person shooters of the modern era. While opinions are divided on which is better (I still prefer 2016 over Eternal, but that’s just me) what we can all agree on is it’s time for another Doom murder-fest. Word on the street is id Software is preparing Doom: The Dark Ages, a heavy metal-like dark fantasy Doom game with big swords and bigger demons.
New Xbox Console
Okay, so a new gaming hardware model actually isn’t that high on my list of things I’d like to see from Xbox but, based on various reports, it sounds like we’re fast approaching a mid-gen refresh from both PlayStation and Xbox. So far this gen, Xbox has beaten PlayStation to the punch when it comes to hardware reveals so if a pro is indeed coming, I feel it’ll be announced by Xbox first.
Rumors are abound that Xbox has a few different consoles currently in development, including a new all-digital console as well as a next-gen system. Sony, meanwhile, seems intent on launching a PlayStation 5 Pro with the release of Grand Theft Auto 6 specifically in mind. If true, I wouldn’t be surprised if Xbox also launches a ‘pro’ device and if Xbox is first out of the gate to announce a new system, it could give us a clear idea of what to expect from both Sony and Microsoft when it comes to their mid-gen refresh plans. True ray-tracing and more power seem to be the name of the game, but we need to see it in practice to grasp what this means in terms of practicality for the average gamer who already spent half a grand on the soon-to-be-kind-of outdated systems.
What About All the Other Xbox Games?
So far for the remainder of 2024 we’ll have Avowed, the new fantasy RPG from Obsidian, to look forward to as well as MachineGames’ Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and Bethesda’s Starfield Shattered Space expansion. That’s three, but Xbox has announced then hidden away tons of other games including Blade, Fable, The Outer Worlds 2, Perfect Dark, State of Decay 3, and more. Where are they?
Fable from Playground Games and Blade from Arkane top my personal list of anticipated Xbox titles we haven’t heard from in a while. But even without those there’s still Everwild from Rare and The Initiative’s Perfect Dark reboot. Plus there’s a lot of Fallout chatter for Bethesda despite publicly announcing Elder Scrolls 6 as its next game. It’s a good time to double-down and triple confirm what Bethesda RPG we should all expect to see next, or maybe announce a change of plans (I really want a new Fallout)?. Either way, Xbox doesn’t just have a bunch of irons in the fire, it has the entire mill on the burner.
These are the big announcements we’re hoping to see at the Xbox Games Showcase on June 9 at 10 am PT / 1 pm ET. You can watch the whole show as well as our pre- and post-show right on IGN.
Matt T.M. Kim is IGN’s Senior Features Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.
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