Where To Watch (And What To Expect)

Image: Bethesda

For Xbox, a lot hinges on its big non-E3 press conference. Right now, after a number of notable delays, the mega-publisher’s 2022 edition is devoid of any major exclusives. Along with required announcements of games coming to Game Pass and announcements about other devices you can stream those games on, Xbox might actually share news about, you know, real video games.

This article was originally published on June 11, 2022.

where to watch

The event begins at 1:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, June 12. You can stream it on Xbox Youtube and Tic canals. If you’d rather see it with cuts so heavy it looks like you’re looking through a kaleidoscope, it’ll also stream on Twitter. Bethesda will also co-stream on its Youtube and Tic canals. Xbox’s Aaron Greenberg said it will last 95 minutes.

Xbox will follow the showcase with an “extended” showcase at 1:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday, June 14. This stream will not feature any new announcements but will offer more details on the games featured during the main event.

What to expect

Ahead of Thursday’s Summer Game Fest kick-off event, publishers and developers – in a marketing act for even more marketing – openly stated whether their games would appear during the show; some surprises there. Many of the reveals during Sony’s big State of Play showcase, meanwhile, had been rumored beforehand; some surprises there too. The Xbox event, however, is a bit more of an enigma.

It’s a safe bet that something, anything, involving Halo Infinite will appear. Halo is Xbox’s Mario. And right now the latest iteration is the multiplayer shooter which also happens to be Microsoft’s big live service game, with a host of regular updates and a ton of previously announced additions planned for future releases. up to date. Halo Infinite still lacks multiplayer features, including support for a co-op campaign, as well as level-creating Creative Forge mode, which were in previous games and promised to be released later this year. . Last year, Microsoft trademark “The Endless”, an obvious reference to the events that occur at the end of Infinite’s campaign, heralding a possible expansion. Certain Affinity studio is also working on the game in an incalculable capacity; some fans believe it is developing a battle royale mode.

Fans are also convinced that some sort of Banjo-Kazooie revival is on the way. Via Achievements, some people spotted Xbox chief Phil Spencer play the Xbox 360 version of Banjo-Kazooie earlier this month. (Some say it’s a sign, others say he’s just playing a game he likes.) Yes, it’s the result of about three degrees of hearsay, but a developer claimed that something related to Super Smash Bros. fighters. Ultimate is on its way. spencer previously said Kotaku that any revival of the series is a call to action by original developer Rare, now an Xbox studio.

If nothing else, Everwild is very, very pretty. Screenshot: Rare

Speaking of Rare, the venerable studio has another game in the works that’s only been shown in screenshots and brief cinematic trailers: Everwild. Last June, after Everwild was absent from the Xbox presence at E3, VGC reported for the first time that the game had been rebooted internally and was now aiming for a 2024 release. Perhaps this year’s non-E3 show is when we finally learn of its deal?

Xbox’s slate has a bunch of other titles announced in the works. Many have been teased during last year’s Xbox E3 showcase but no information has been revealed in the meantime. A selection:

The Outer Worlds, Obsidian’s first-person sci-fi RPG that resembles Fallout in outer space, is getting a sequel. Obsidian is also developing a first-party fantasy RPG called Avowed. Horror game Scorn, inspired by the works of HR Giger has been repeatedly delayed. It’s currently slated for a wide release in October 2022 on Xbox and PC. The creators of Just Cause are developing Contraband, a cooperative game set in the 70s. Atomic Heart is another game like modern Fallouts, which takes place in an alternate timeline. version of the Soviet Union where the robotics industry proliferated. It looks crazy.Somerville is a Limbo-like game where you run away from aliens while being accompanied by a dog. Due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, GSC Game World has delayed its apocalyptic shooter STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl from April 28 to December 8, 2022.

Two long-dormant Xbox series are also resurrected. The Initiative, a new studio, is working on a reboot of Perfect Dark. Playground Games, which just released the gorgeous Forza Horizon 5 in November, has another entry in the Fable series of fantasy RPGs on the horizon. Anyone can guess whether either of these games will show up or not. (For what it’s worth, I wouldn’t be surprised if Playground shared some details about a Forza Horizon 5 expansion. Its predecessor, 2018’s Forza Horizon 4, saw Fortune Island DLC just months after the main game was released.)

But the bigger one, the only Microsoft-owned studio that shares billing for titles with Xbox, is Bethesda. Last month, Bethesda delayed its two biggest upcoming games: vampire shooter Redfall, developed by studio Prey Arkane, and open-world sandwich-hunting RPG Starfield. (Kotaku recently reported that Bethesda is no stranger to crunch and overwork, with development of Fallout 76 being particularly an arduous process.) Originally slated for release on November 11, 2022, Starfield is now slated for release in the first half of 2023. It has been in the works for years, however, and so far Bethesda has only shown…eight whole seconds of gameplay footage.

In fact, you know what? Let’s face it. We don’t see Starfield gameplay. Bethesda will likely announce another Skyrim port instead.