Microsoft Gaming head Phil Spencer made a huge announcement on the Xbox Game Showcase 2025, about what they have planned for 2026.
In the middle of the Showcase, Spencer came on to the screen to say this:
As we think about bringing a new generation of players to these iconic franchises, I’m excited to share that players will get to celebrate 25 years of Xbox with Fable, the next Forza, Gears of War: E-Day and the return of a classic that’s been with us from the beginning.
There’s a lot of speculation online that the last game that Spencer is alluding to is Halo, though we can’t really trace someone who specifically made this claim. It is easy to suspect that this was the game in question because it fits the description of one of Microsoft’s older games. Spencer also mentioned the other likely candidates in the same breath.
We will point out here as well there are still other games that fit this description, that gamers may not like as much. For example, the Age of Empires games and Microsoft Flight Simulator had been around for even before Microsoft launched the Xbox console. They could certainly still surprise us as well by bringing back something fans forgot about, such as Crackdown or MechAssault.
The case for Halo being the unidentified game is at least bolstered by rumors that Halo Studios is announcing a new Halo game soon, but the rumor was that it would be announced this year. So, that would be assuming that this rumored game got delayed just a little bit.
In any case, Microsoft is certainly in the enviable position of having so many games in the pipeline that they have to manage their release schedule. We reported on these games being announced and featured in the same Xbox Game Showcase:
- High On Life 2
- Ninja Gaiden 4
- Indiana Jones and the Great Circle DLC The Order of Giants
- Clockwork Revolution
- Gears of War: Reloaded
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 7
And, that’s not even everything that was on the show. It’s a reassurance to their fans, even those who aren’t on Game Pass or own an Xbox, that they have a healthy output of games in the near future to keep gamers happy.
We wouldn’t be surprised if Microsoft more or less has enough game launches and content to keep Xbox and Game Pass owners occupied for the rest of this console generation. It probably feels like a reward for those fans for their loyalty, so much so that it appears they no longer mind sharing.
