Xbox Games Showcase and Starfield Direct reaction: Xbox is back, baby!

We’re a long way from the “who won E3” talks of the past, mostly because E3 is now dead and Summer Games Fest is dancing over its dead body. The downside of that is that there’s no collective place for our summer gaming news, the upside is that there’s no pissing-off contest between platform incumbents and publishers trying to outdo one another.

Instead, there’s room for each storefront to really stand out and get a bit of your face in the spotlight. Xbox proved, today, that this is a good thing: a bunch of great games, most of which will be released in the next 12-18 months, all given time to breathe. A nice blend of gameplay, cinematics, and insight, all topped off with some great production design and some standout moments (I’m looking at you, Keanu).

Let’s look at the statistics; 27 games were shown, 13 of which were from Microsoft’s internal teams, the own studios that form the core of MS production. On top of that, 21 were announced for Game Pass, day and date. That’s a pretty solid offer, right? A good set menu of what’s to come after we’ve been vacuuming leftovers off the floor for the past few years. Redfall’s de-nourished crumbles may have left a sour taste in your mouth, but we’re going to be eating well from Starfield in three months, through the crowded ‘early 2024’ window, and into the rest of the year.

Whether it’s the smaller bits and pieces on offer (Yakuza spin-off: Like a Dragon American Holiday looks brilliant), or the larger fantasy titles like Avowed and Fable, Xbox scratched a lot of bites here. If you want a graphic and technical showcase, Hellblade is for you. If you want something with depth and range, you have Avowed. If you want BioShock but don’t, you have Clockwork Revolution.

Because I’m a hideous secret web, the Persona 3 remake and Metaphor: ReFantazio scratched a very specific itch. The former gives gamers an updated look at one of Atlus’ best titles, and the latter seems to be rebranding Shin Megami Tensei for a more Persona-focused audience. While that sucks, MegaTen has a great identity and I hope the series lives on, more Atlus RPG goodness will always be a good thing.

However, there were some negative aspects; a new Microsoft Flight Simulator was shown, despite Microsoft’s promise to support the latter for 10 years. I’m already seeing conversations about this on Twitter, and I’m interested in Microsoft’s response to this. However, at least we’re getting a really cool tie-in to Dune. Sci-fi fans have a lot to look forward to.

Speaking of which, there’s the Starfield showcase – it’s very, very good. Since the press and media haven’t had a chance to play this yet, I reserve some judgment, but an hour-long deep dive into the game is just what the doctor ordered; seeing the space combat, the ship builder, how the NPCs work, the potential romances on offer, the cities, the wilds, the planets…it’s almost overwhelming. I don’t know how it’s going to feel when you play it, and I can’t wait to be upstaged by some downright incredible amount of content. This is the RPG Bethesda has been training for her entire life, and the fact that it’s almost here is… basically amazing. I hope I’m a horrible space pirate bastard.

So, quick thoughts on that? Very good. I am very excited to have an Xbox Series X again. I look forward to almost everything that was shown. Starfield is going to eat up months of my life. This is the point of these storefronts; giving us cool stuff to get excited about and presenting it with confidence and enthusiasm. When the windows are this good, everyone wins. It is a good time for you to like video games.