It looks as though Xbox is planning to be a much more visible presence in 2023 than it arguably was in 2022. After yesterday’s Developer Direct showcase, Microsoft has shared an update as to when fans can expect to see another Xbox event this year.
As revealed at the end of the Developer Direct blog post, which has outlined all of the launch dates and game news for the upcoming titles Redfall, Minecraft Legends, Forza Motorsport, The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom and its surprise launch of Hi-Fi Rush, Xbox has confirmed that it will be putting on a physical showcase of its titles this coming summer. The event will be hosted in Los Angeles, as has been the case in previous years, although Xbox has been notably absent from the summer presentation stage for the last couple of years. The last physical showcase that Xbox took part in was back in 2019, with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic saw many mainstream gaming events and showcases switch to an online model.
As well as recapping everything announced during the Developer Direct yesterday, the blog post explains that “our teams are working hard and look forward to sharing even more of what is next for our fans when we return to Los Angeles for our yearly Showcase this summer.”
At the moment it’s not clear whether the planned showcase will be part of the also returning E3 event that’s set to take place in Los Angeles once more in June. It might be that Microsoft is planning its own standalone Xbox showcase event, but we’ll have to wait for further clarification on this in the coming months. Alternatively, Microsoft could be considering making its Xbox return to physical events as part of this year’s Summer Game Fest, which also takes place in June. We’ll just have to watch this space to see what Xbox’s return to in-person events actually looks like later this year.
Either way, Xbox will be getting the opportunity to showcase one of its most anticipated upcoming titles fairly soon. As previously announced, Bethesda’s space epic RPG Starfield will be getting its own standalone presentation event at some point soon, although we’re still waiting on an exact date for when this will take place.
E3 is confirmed to be making a return this year and will take place in Los Angeles from June 13 to June 16. It’ll be interesting to see what other announcements Xbox has in the pipeline in 2023, aside from the titles we already know about. As demonstrated yesterday, the company is more than capable of dropping a surprise launch on us, as it showed with the surprise release of Tango Gameworks’ new rhythm game Hi-Fi Rush. We’ll just have to wait and see what else Xbox has up its sleeve in the summertime.
