As was the case with the Summer Game Fest stream, the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase failed to reveal anything that hadn’t previously been rumoured or leaked within the echo-chamber of the gaming industry. With that said, it did provide some highly-anticipated details regarding a number of previously announced games. It also provided information on higher profile games than anything that was revealed during the Game Fest stream. You can check out our full recap of the 2022 Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase below.
Recap:
Redfall
The stream opened by giving us our first look at gameplay for Redfall. The footage shown was from an early mission in the game where the protagonist is tasked with investigating a creepy church basement. Suddenly the player is attacked by a group of ghoulish vampires and the action kicks off.
A story trailer for the game was then shown which gave us a better idea of Redfall’s characters and setting. The game takes place in a vampire infested American town on an island. Redfall will drop sometime in late 2023 and will likely be one of the biggest games to come to Xbox and Game Pass in the next year.
Hollow Knight: Silksong
Next up was another gameplay trailer. This time for Hollow Knight: Silksong. This title is highly-anticipated by fans of the genre and they will be glad to know that the game will launch simultaneously on Game Pass on day one. However, there is still no sign of a release date.
High on Life
What followed was a trailer for High On Life, an odd-looking first person shooter from the minds behind Rick and Morty. The game will feature sentient weapons, which the player can use to dispatch enemies. As you may have guessed, many of the weapons will feature the recognisable voice of Justin Roiland.
Riot Games
After that, a segment dedicated to the plethora of titles from Riot Games which are headed to Game Pass was shown. These include; League of Legends, League of Legends: Wild Rift, Legends of Runeterra, Teamfight Tactics, and Valorant.
A Plague Tale: Requiem
Next up was another gameplay trailer. A Plague Tale: Requiem is a sequel to A Plague Tale: Innocence. Although it will feature Amcia and Hugo, (the protagonists from the first game,) it will take place in a new location. The game will be set in the south of France and will be another title which will launch simultaneously on Game Pass when it releases later in the year.
Forza Motorsport
The new Forza Motorsport game was next up and the footage provided a fairly in-depth look at the upcoming racer. New aspects which have been added to this latest title include an overhauled damage modelling system and a new dynamic time of day rendering system.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 40th Anniversary Edition
After that came a trailer that was visually immense. Microsoft Flight Simulator is in fact Microsoft’s longest running franchise and will turn 40 this year. To celebrate, this new edition will be released in November and looks graphically stunning.
Overwatch 2
Afterwards, Overwatch 2 finally got its first trailer during the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase. Blizzard Entertainment’s follow up to the hugely successful first entry promises more online shooting fun and looks fairly promising in action too. Overwatch 2 will mark “a new era” in the team-based hero shooting experience.
Perhaps the juiciest piece of information revealed with regards to Overwatch 2, is the fact that it is going free-to-play. It will be interesting to see how this affects the game’s meta after the first game achieved enormous success as a paid title. It will be available in early access on the 4th of October 2022.
ARA: History Untold
What followed was a trailer for ARA: History Untold, which is a turn-based strategy game. It promises to bring with it the next evolution in the genre. If you are a fan of the Civilization games, then this will likely be right up your street. Personally I have never been a fan of this type of game, so this one really wasn’t for me. The game is expected to release at some point in the not-so-distant future.
ESO Online: High Isle
Unfortunately, there was no word of The Elder Scrolls VI during the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase. With that said, an Elder Scrolls game did appear on the roster in the form of ESO Online: High Isle. This expansion for The Elder Scrolls Online is due to release very soon, on the 21st of June.
Fallout 76 – Expeditions: The Pitt
There were whisperings of a Fallout 5 reveal during this stream, although I don’t think that anyone really expected a surprise reveal on that scale during this stream. Instead, the next thing shown was a content update for Fallout 76 was shown off called The Pitt.
This update will allow players to travel beyond Appalachia to new locations. The Pitt is an iconic location from Fallout 3 and your mission in this expansion is to answer a distress call from the titular Pitt. The update is set to drop on the 22nd of September 2022.
Forza Horizon 5: Hot Wheels
More Forza was then shown in the form of a Hot Wheels expansion for Forza Horizon 5. This is not the first collaboration between Hot Wheels and the Forza franchise. This specific expansion will bring with it a new map called the Horizon Hot Wheels Park and is expected to launch on the 19th of July this year.
ARK 2
The next trailer was odd. Seeing Vin Diesel’s face in a game about fighting dinosaurs will never not be an odd experience. ARK 2 is the sequel to the survival game; ARK: Survival Evolved and this time around it looks as though we are getting a full-fledged narrative to go along with all of the dinosaur slaying.
It seems that wherever Vin Diesel goes, the concept of family is never far behind. The story trailer shown revolved around Diesel’s character trying to protect his daughter in this dinosaur-infested world.
Scorn
This HR Giger inspired horror game has been in the works for some time now. Originally announced in 2014, Scorn finally has a release date of October 21st 2022. At the end of the gameplay trailer shown, it was also revealed that this title will also launch simultaneously on Game Pass when the game drops later in the year.
Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn
Although it was announced back in March, the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase gave us our first look at gameplay for Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn. It is a third person action-adventure game which features some really smooth-looking combat. In order to dispatch enemies, the player can switch between gunplay and melee combat on the fly. Flintlock is expected to release in early 2023.
Minecraft Legends
Following that, we got a Minecraft update and although some may argue that Microsoft haven’t done a great deal to expand the Minecraft franchise since they purchased it back in 2014. Well, those who feel that way would have been pleased to see Minecraft Legends be shown off during the stream. The game is described as, “a true next-generation block game,” and will be developed by Mojang Studios. It is slated for release in 2023.
Lightyear Frontier: A Fresh Start
After that, a trailer for Lightyear Frontier: A Fresh Start was shown, which will drop in spring of 2023 release and combines mechanics from games like Armored Core with those of Stardew Valley. That combination certainly makes it sound as though Lightyear Frontier will provide a unique experience.
Gunfire Reborn
Gunfire Reborn is a first person roguelite, which will come to Xbox and Game Pass this October. Whilst this title has been available on PC and mobile for a while now, the chaotic co-op shooter will make its console debut later this year.
The Last Case of Benedict Fox
The Last Case of Benedict Fox is a 2.5D side-scroller inspired by the work of H.P. Lovecraft. The trailer contained some gorgeously creepy environments and had a dark, noir vibe to it. The game will be available to play sometime in the spring of 2023.
As Dusk Falls
As Dusk Falls is a multiplayer story game, where you can experience the narrative along with 7 co-op companions. This is yet another title which will launch simultaneously on Game Pass upon its release on the 9th of July this year.
Naraka: Bladepoint
Naraka: Bladepoint is a 60-player PVP mythical action combat experience which released on PC last year. The game is now coming to Xbox consoles and will have a brand new campaign mode added to the previously online-only title. The game will release for Xbox consoles on the 23rd of June and will also come to Game Pass on that same date.
Pentiment
Pentiment is a narrative-driven role-playing game set in the medieval era which features a fairly unique style, similar to that of an ancient storybook. The game is being developed by Obsidian Entertainment. It releases this November on Xbox and PC and it will also come to Game Pass on day one.
Grounded
Have you ever wished for a video game adaption of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids? Well, apparently we are getting one. In Grounded, you play four shrunken teenagers as they battle the beasts of the back garden and attempt to learn how they were miniaturized. This title is set to release in September this year.
Ereban: Shadow Legacy
We then saw an announcement trailer for Ereban: Shadow Legacy, which gave us a look at aspects of the title’s gameplay and story. The gameplay looks similar to an Assassin’s Creed game with more supernatural elements. You will be able to get your hands on this cyborg-hunting simulator when it releases for Xbox and PC in 2023.
Diablo IV
Fans of the franchise would have been pleased to see more from Diablo IV. This footage gave us an extended look at the title’s gameplay features. The fourth mainline entry in Diablo series is set to arrive in 2023.
Sea of Thieves – Season 7
Next up was a trailer for the next Sea of Thieves major update. Season 7 of the pirate game will bring with it a plethora of new features to the online adventure title when it launches on the 21st of July.
Ravenlok
The next announcement trailer was for a game called Ravenlok, which will launch sometime in 2023. It is an action-adventure title inspired by classic fairytale stories.
Cocoon
Playdead then showed off their follow up to Inside and Limbo with a trailer for a game called Cocoon. Again, it is a dark, side-scrolling action-puzzle game with a similar aesthetic to their previous work. The game will come to Xbox at some point in 2023.
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty
Team Ninja’s next game will be called Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty. The trailer showed off elements of the game’s story, along with a few of the monster designs present in the game. The title will come to Xbox in early 2023 and will also come to Game Pass on day one.
Persona Series
Although it has always been a franchise associated with PlayStation, this trailer revealed that the Persona series was making the jump to Xbox. Persona 5 Royal, Persona 4 Golden, and Persona 3 Portable will all soon be available on Microsoft consoles and via Game Pass. The first to launch will be Persona 5 Royal on the 21st of October this year.
Hideo Kojima/Xbox Partnership
The second to last announcement came from the legendary video game mastermind; Hideo Kojima. He appeared in a video message to announce that Kojima Productions have entered into a partnership with Microsoft to develop a brand new game together.
No details on the game itself were given. It also wasn’t made clear if this project would be the heavily rumoured horror game called Overdose starring Margaret Qualley. Nor was any sort of a release window given. All that was said was that this game is something that Kojima has wanted to make for a long time.
Starfield
The final thing shown during the stream was an extended look at Starfield, presented by Todd Howard. This included our first look at gameplay footage from the game, along with the reveal of lots of the game’s features.
The scale and detail of the game looks impressive and the new engine being used looks much more graphically impressive than the Creation engine, which was used in Bethesda’s previous games. Not much was revealed in terms of the game’s narrative. Instead, the footage shown gave us more of an idea of how the game will look and play.
Every aspect of what was shown looked positive. Now we just need to hope that the thing actually works upon launch. We have still not had a new release date set for Starfield after the game got delayed from November of this year and this stream also failed to set a date. All that we know is that the highly-anticipated title will launch sometime in 2023.
Summary
Overall, the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase was a pretty strong showing. Whilst the stream did lack any huge blindsiding reveals, what was on display was certainly more impressive than what was shown during the Summer Game Fest stream.
The only thing that came close to a mind-blowing reveal was the partnership announced by Kojima. Even then, Kojima Productions developing a game for Xbox is something which has been rumoured for a while.
A new release date for Starfield would have nice, but the stream did contain a lot of fresh, cool-looking footage for games which are all releasing fairly soon.
