Pick One: What Was Your Favourite Gaming Showcase Of This Year?

The Xbox Games Showcase? Game Awards? Tell us!

by Fraser Gilbert Sat 9th Dec 2023

Pick One: What Was Your Favourite Gaming Showcase Of This Year?

We're all done for another year! The Game Awards marked the final major showcase of 2023 earlier this week, and we thought we'd take this opportunity to look back at what's been a pretty stacked year of events in the gaming industry.

For Xbox alone, there's been a lot to talk about. We kicked things off with the Developer Direct in January, followed by an ID@Xbox event in April, the massive Xbox Games Showcase in June, another indie event in July, a Tokyo Game Show presentation in September and the all-new "Partner Preview" showcase in October.

And of course, there have been the usual big blowout events as well. The Summer Game Fest Showcase brought us a whole bunch of announcements, as did Gamescom Opening Night Live and this past week's Game Awards event.

So, there's a lot to choose from! Thinking back, which of these events was your favourite? We''ll throw the biggest Xbox-related examples in a poll below, but feel free to choose the "Other" option and tell us if you have another!

Which showcase are you going to pick? Vote in the poll and let us know in the comments!

Which Was Your Favourite Gaming Showcase In 2023? (312 votes)

Xbox Developer Direct (January)12%
Summer Game Fest (June)7%
Xbox Games Showcase (June)51%
Gamescom Opening Night Live (August)3%
Xbox at Tokyo Game Show (September)1%
Xbox Partner Preview (October)1%
The Game Awards (December)21%
Other (tell us in the comments below!)4%

Fraser is the News Editor at Pure Xbox, where he spends his time reporting on the biggest stories in the world of Xbox and beyond.

1
Dimey
Sat 9th Dec 2023

another pointless article!

2
Widey85
Sat 9th Dec 2023

Developer Direct due to the shadow drop of Hifi Rush, the June showcase a close second

3
FraserG
Sat 9th Dec 2023

@Dimey Sorry you feel that way, but it's just a lighthearted poll! We've been running some variant of this every Saturday for the past few years - it's a good time to do it considering the PX team only work very limited hours on weekends.

We're also pretty shattered after The Game Awards this week, so you won't see much from us until Monday

4
K1LLEGAL
Sat 9th Dec 2023

Xbox June showcase. That triple opening of Fable-South of Midnight-Star Wars Outlaws was just awesome.

5
Lup
Sat 9th Dec 2023

The one with Starfield. Wasn't interested in the game and that one made me hyped about it.
I ended up not really liking it (I expected more RPG stuff) but the event was hype.

6
PsBoxSwitchOwner
Sat 9th Dec 2023

MHwilds aside.

The Xbox one over summer was the better one. By far.

7
somnambulance
Sat 9th Dec 2023

Voted for the Game Awards this year. I’m seeing a lot of hate for the Awards this year, but I honestly felt like it was one of the better ones that we’ve had, outside the timers on the speeches. What can I say though? I’m a Kojima and Remedy Stan, so you give me Herald of Darkness and a Kojima reveal and I love it.

The Summer showcase was also really good. From an Xbox point of view, both that and the Developer Direct were strong showcases for letting us know what’s going on for Xbox this year and next. Hopefully Silksong finally comes next year too! Honestly, I preferred Xbox’s marketing to Sony’s… but I’ve got to admit that the Nintendo Direct that revealed Super Mario Wonder is overall my favorite presentation of the year.

8
AlwaysPlaying
Sat 9th Dec 2023

Definitely the Xbox June showcase as it really was a snazzy presentation. TGA was a mess in terms of not really being an awards show - can really see it boycotted next time…

9
InvaderFromSpace
Sat 9th Dec 2023

The January Developer Direct was the best this year. It was an appropriate length, tightly focused, and 4 of the 5 games had release dates that they stuck to.

The summer showcase was good, and I enjoyed what was shown at the Game Awards too. But I prefer shows that focus on things that are closer to coming out. Hoping for a January/February direct with some new release information.

10
NintendoByNature
Sat 9th Dec 2023

The June showcase and the January direct were great

11
RentedPanda
Sat 9th Dec 2023

I never watch any of them, but enjoy coming here for the breaking news coverage during and after. I don't have a favorite

12
lechugajr
Sat 9th Dec 2023

I watched most, but don't really remember them. Whichever one dropped HI Fi Rush, definitely.

13
Boogaloo_Jenkins
Sat 9th Dec 2023

@Dimey I hear you, I do. That said, we’re all on an Xbox focused gaming site. It’s meant to be niche and fun! What’s pointed and valuable to you might not fit the Pure Xbox branding.

BUT - to ensure you don’t find this comment pointless, may I please direct you to some sites that have objectively valuable and worthwhile content? 🙂

Science Daily compiles a variety of worldwide scientific developments. It’s valuable for anyone hoping to keep in touch with the cutting edge advances of mankind.

C-Span offers a relatively unfiltered view into US politics! It’s valuable to anyone living in the US, but in case you find yourself outside of said country, I highly recommend doing some research into finding your nation’s C-Span equivalent.

14
K1LLEGAL
Sat 9th Dec 2023

@FraserG for what it’s worth I enjoy these sort of articles/polls as they are Xbox focused and fun without being console-war bait or anything. Like NintendoLifes Box Art Brawls.

Hope you guys enjoyed the awards!

15
Altaria_97
Sat 9th Dec 2023

The Game Awards for me. I just wasn’t interested in a whole lot from the Game Showcase and what did interest me, we saw very little of. For example, Star Wars Outlaws looks awesome but Ubisoft’s event showed over 10 minutes of actual gameplay while Xbox’s Showcase gave us a trailer with little to show.

The Game Awards surprised me with a lot of new announcements for games I am very excited for now.

16
Friendly
Sat 9th Dec 2023

January and June one.

Xbox had the best ‘directs’ this year out of the big three imo. Loads in the pipeline, let’s hope it’ll start delivering starting next year.

17
EvilSilentFrame
Sat 9th Dec 2023

They’ve had a lot of showings this year, it’s great to see. I voted for the Xbox Games Showcase, but it was hard to pick.

18
PartyMarty
Sat 9th Dec 2023

The Xbox Games Showcase was easily the best of the year.

19
Krzzystuff
Sun 10th Dec 2023

Xbox showcase in June was perfect. All games and no fluff with an OPTIONAL extended deep dive afterwards. That's how you do a show.

20
BBB
Sun 10th Dec 2023

I didn't watch any of them but I do appreciate the summaries that Pure Xbox do for each one.

I can quickly scan those and go straight to the bits that interest me without having to waste time on any off the filler or awkward padding interviews that usually pepper these events.

21
themightyant
Sun 10th Dec 2023

January’s Xbox Developers Direct was the perfect format for just a handful of games. A deeper dive into each game to see gameplay and not just a short flashy trailer. They set expectations appropriately (just 4 games) and then exceeded them with a Hi-Fi Rush shadow announcement and drop. More like this please.

The June not-E3 Showcase was also pretty good, and a better format for lots of titles, but it was saved by Starfield, without the deeper dive into that it wouldn’t have hit so hard. Too many games without gameplay, we have no idea what they are, even if the trailer was cool.

22
Cakefish
Sun 10th Dec 2023

Summer Games Fest wins. It was the one to feature Lies of P, which would end up being my GOTY, though I didn’t know it at the time. The surprise release of the free demo was the best thing to come out of the summer showcases.

Can’t really choose the Xbox June showcase as though a lot of the announcements looked good, they’re mostly 2025 and later. I highly doubt Fable, South of Midnight, and Clockwork Revolution are releasing next year. Also, too light on actual gameplay footage.

23
Daaan14
Sun 10th Dec 2023

Dev direct for me. Here’s the game, this is when it’s expected this year. I don’t need 2025 hype.

24
GiveMeMoney
Sun 10th Dec 2023

With the size of their publishing arm and studios (post ABK), they should present often and have a presence at everything. It’s easy publicity to show off their gaming brand and Game Pass. Ideally every couple months they’re showing a new trailer or announcement or developer deep dive into games they’re working on.

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