E3 might be sleeping in a bed that’s six feet deep, but that hasn’t stopped the showcases from kicking on and the announcements from rolling in. Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen events from PlayStation, Meta Quest, Summer Game Fest and Devolver Digital, to name just a few. Now it’s time to turn our attention to the Xbox Games Showcase + Stafield Direct in hopes of seeing more exciting announcements and reveals. As the name suggests, we’ll obviously be getting a substantial look at Bethesda’s next major title in Starfield, but there’s sure to be plenty more on offer. Xbox needs to hit this one out of the park, especially after the less-than-stellar reception for Redfall (we gave it a 4.5), so let’s collectively cross our fingers and head in with some optimism.
Here are all of the announcements from The Xbox Games Showcase + Starfield Direct 2023:
Fable
Well, damn. The showcase opened with a big one. Richard Ayoade, in all of his awkward glory, talks through the first trailer proper in-engine trailer for Playground Games’ Fable. Kicking chickens and romping around a fantasy world, we see the protagonist do plenty of very Fable things before it’s revealed that Ayoade is a giant in this world that wants to grind your bones to make bread or something. The trailer is very Fable and very short, but I’m sure people will appreciate the humourous first look.
South of Midnight
Despite being nothing more than a cinematic reveal trailer, this first sneak peek at South of Midnight caught my attention in a big way. We’ll have to wait for more info, but we do know that it’s a third-person action-adventure game set in the American deep south.
Star Wars: Outlaws
We knew that Massive Entertainment was working on a Star Wars game, and here it is. Titled Star Wars: Outlaws, you’ll play as Kay Vess as she makes her way across the galaxy, fighting back against galactic syndicates in the first open-world first-person action game set in the Star Wars universe.
33 Immortals
A co-op roguelike with a sweet art style, 33 Immortals has a player count of, well, 33 players. This one is hitting Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PC in 2024.
Payday 3
Cops & robbas hun! Payday 3’s gameplay snippets looked exactly as we expected, with our ragtag group of masked robbers doing their heist shindig.
Persona 3 Reload
The previously leaked remake of Persona 3, Persona 3: Reloaded, has officially been shown off. Hitting Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PC in 2024.
Avowed
Coming to us by way of Obsidian Entertainment and first revealed back in 2020, Avowed has finally shown off new gameplay, and it looks…the way it looks. A first-person, open-world fantasy RPG with some very bright and colourful creatures, Avowed is slated for release sometime next year
Sea of Thieves: The Legend of Monkey Island
Initially teased in 2021, Sea of Thieves is getting a Lucasfilm Games crossover event with The Legend of Monkey Island series. Players can travel to the titular island and chat it up with a bunch of series favourites. The content is spread across three updates, with the first launching on July 20.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024
Search and rescue, emergency response planes and shit, cargo transport, construction, air racing, hot air balloons, DUNE thropters! Is 2024 to be a new instalment in the series? The Dune update is set for later 2023.
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II
Still. No. Release. Date. While I’m bummed out that we don’t know when we can play it, outside of a general 2024 release window, we did get a pretty new trailer. Mostly setting the scene, we get a brief look at Senua continuing her journey.
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
Ichiban in the nude! Letsa’go! Full frontal crab, baby! Surfs up, and our current Yakuza protag finds himself waking up nude on the beach. We have been shown that the latest title in the series, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, will be released in 2024. Other than naked Ichiban and a release window, not much else to go on.
Fallout 76: Atlantic City Expansion
Do you want more Fallout 76? You’ve got it. An expansion will be bringing Atlantic City to the game, but we don’t have any further info just yet.
Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess
Forza Motorsport
Announcing a partnership with General Motors to bring Forza Motorsport to the next level. Lots of cars, lots of vrooms. You can start your engines (on Xbox Series X|S and PC) on October 10.
The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom
Shows off a few cutscenes from the newest expansion. Releasing for consoles on June 20, 2023. It is already out for PC and Mac.
Overwatch 2: Invasion
While a lot of folks are rightfully disappointed that Overwatch 2 has dropped a lot of its planned content, there is more Overwatch on the way. Invasion will introduce story missions, a new Flashpoint game mode, a co-op event, hero mastery and more. This is coming to the free-to-play game on August 10.
Persona 5 Tactica
Although it’s not its first time around, Persona 5 is getting the Chbii treatment in a tactics reimagining/sequel to the seminal Persona 5 game. Not much to glean from this trailer other than an assumedly turn-based battle structure. Strangely, we get some historical Japanese settings pop in. Will this game be a Gaiden side-story like Person Q 2, a follow-up to Persona 5 Royal, or a canon sequel to the Phantom Thieves’ exploits?
Starfield
Our first not completely terrible look at the game. We were shown various environments, some more of the moment-to-moment gameplay and even some of the dogfighting combat. Also just announced that the game is coming on September 6, 2023.
Jusant
Coming from DON’T NOD, Jusant is an action-puzzler that focuses on climbing and exploration. A gorgeous art style and acute little companion character, combined with some cool gameplay has me looking forward to this one.
Still Wakes the Deep
The Chinese Room, makers of Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs and Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, has been quietly working on its new title, Still Wakes the Deep, for a hot minute now, and today we got a look at the horror title. There’s an oil rig! What more do you need?
Dungeons of Hinterberg
We got another look at the colourful action-adventure RPG, Dungeons of Hinterberg. The exploration and combat continue to look solid, so we’ll eagerly await the game’s 2024 release date.
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
Keanu Reeves took to the stage to bring us some new details on the Cyberpunk 2077 expansion, Phantom Liberty. Slated for release on September 26th, the new story will follow your Night City citizen on a quest to rescue the president of the New United States.
Cities: Skylines II
Oh hey, an excuse to lose my partner for another six months. Manage your dense urban sprawl by getting lost in the minutiae of your civil economic engine. From roads to homes, transport to energy, the discerning player will have a prettier opportunity to craft a city that thrives upon their savvy whim. Get planning and design the cityscape that fulfils your utopian metropolis under the most pragmatic of real-world conditions. Cities Skylines 2 is coming to Xbox Series X|S and, assumedly, PC on October 24.
Metaphor: ReFantazio
The latest upcoming game from Atlus’ Persona team is not, as we assumed, Persona 6. Instead, it is a mashup of magical fantasy with a steampunk-adjacent Shin Megami Tensei sensibility. That is angels and demons in the apocalypse. This is one of the titles to rouse the very enthusiastic murmur among the JRPG enthusiasts on the WellPlayed team. We cannot determine much about the context of this footage outside of the theme and a Persona 5-heavy user interface. Sign us up for more; we’re overdue more Atlus original IP. We shall see more of what this metaphor has in store in 2024.
Towerborne
A new action-adventure title from Stoic, the team behind Banner Saga, Towerborne, has a really cool style with some interesting design and decent combat. This one is coming to Xbox Series X|S in 2024.
Clockwork Revolution
A steampunk first-person shooter by the way of Inexile Entertainment, Clockwork Revolution is a new IP with some cool designs and lofty ideas. The combat features some cool, time-bending mechanics and pretty crazy weapons.
Xbox Series S Carbon Black
Coming out on September 1, this new version of the Series S has a 1TB SSD, and it comes in black.
Starfield Direct
This was a very healthy dose of Starfield. If the earlier trailer was an entree, this was the main course. We got a deep dive into almost every aspect of the game, from character creation and exploration to combat and base-building. If I went over everything word-for-word, we would be here all day, so those keen on Starfield are eating well.
The scale of the game is certainly impressive, and so too is its ambition, so hopefully, this direct shows you what you want to see. Over 1000 worlds to explore, fully-customisable ships, various abilities and weapons to use, numerous approaches to gameplay, it’s all feeling very Bethesda RPG…in space. Some will dig this, and others might bounce off it, but we’ll all find out once it launches on September 6 on Xbox Series X|S and PC.
Oh, oh, oh, they also revealed a limited-edition themed Xbox controller and headset that both feature cool designs.
Furthermore, we got a sneak peek at the game’s collector’s edition contents. Those keen on physical goodies will be able to get their hands on a Chronomark watch, a watch case, a Constellation patch and a steelbook, as well access to the game’s first story expansion.
There we go, Xbox’s big showcase is in the books. A huge look at Starfield and a bevvy of other announcements rounded out a pretty solid showcase.
If you want to watch the entire showcase, you can get your eyes around it here:
What did you think of The Xbox Games Showcase + Starfield Direct? What was your highlight from the show? Let us know in the comments or on our social media.
