Poll: How Would You Grade 2026's Xbox Developer Direct?

Fable alone makes it an A for me, amazing stuff.

8/10.

10/10 for fable and FH

But the multiplayer one I had no interest in.

Curious to see how the gamefreak one actually releases.

I enjoy the format, it works well, even for games I’m not as interested in.

It was only Forza and Fable that I was interested in but the presentation style is great, probably a B for me

A from me. Fable looks unbelievable and going in knowing nothing about Beast of Reincarnation I’m now very interested.

I thought it was pretty good. Looking forward to FH6 and Fable.

Fable looks so so good. Show otherwise wasn’t too memorable but the main event was worth the wait. Fable and GTA 6 should make for a crazy fun holiday season this year

Most of the games arent for me personally. Fable, on the other hand, is exactly the type of game I like.

The presentation overall, like the directs before it, was very entertaining. The format just works, and im glad it hasnt changed much over the years.

I was a little bummed there was no shadow drop though, as the previous January Directs have given us. Probably for the best though, my backlog still needs some working through.

C for me. Fable was the only game of any interest and they didn't really show very much of it and what they did show looked a bit off. I'm willing to keep an open mind but they need to show more to get me properly interested in it

Just Fable for me I'm afraid. Play on Xbox via Games Pass & probably buy a copy for my PS5 if progress transfers.

FH6 by itself made it an A. Kiln part was WAY too long and the other 2 just didn't do anything for me. Can't wait for May!!

Loved FH 6 and Fable. Happy to hear that Beasts of Incarnation is going to be on GamePass. Kiln could be fun but they spent way too much time in it. And that’s the only reason I dropped it to a B. Otherwise fantastic stuff!

"A" without a doubt, Fable and Forza Horizon 6 are amazing.

Solid A for me!

I'd grade it an A as I love the format and the way they show off the games. Not really interested in Kiln though.

Thanks to everyone in the live chat for the banter, was good fun!

Gave it a B was a really good show.
Also I know we sort of knew it, but really showed Xbox is a publisher now.

This one was an easy A.
Really glad I'll be able to self-insert in Fable. Minus the self.

The best developer direct so far. I was hoping for a secret 5th reveal to be a Crackdown remaster /4, or Halo/Gears Tactics 2.
I know these only exist in my mind.
Plus I know that these games are going to PS5 but I d like a 3 month exclusivity to XBOX. They might actually sell some consoles.

The Format itself is great, but Fable was the only game I was really interested in seeing and actually exceeded expectations - considering the IP's history and the fact its being made by a different development team.

Forza Horizon 6 did look good, but also didn't surprise. It seems like a typical sequel with typical game-play loop just in a new/different setting. I don't feel like I needed to watch this to know what the game would be, what it would offer etc. Of course that's not necessarily a 'bad' thing when Horizon is arguably the 'best' racing games series on the market right now but I had hoped they had surprised me with 'something' that freshened up the Game-play loop.

The other two games I have zero interest inn and won't even bother trying for 'Free' on Game Pass. If it wasn't for Playground Games, then this would have been a complete wast of my time, but I gave it a 'C' on the strength of Fable alone as FH6 was pretyy much predictable (but that isn't 'bad' in this case)

I found last year's developer direct to showcase games I was more excited to play than this one. There's a good chance I'll play all 4 games, I'm just not super psyched for any of them.

....but I love the presentation style.

Strong B. The main downside is the lack of release dates. Game wise everything looked cool. Horizon 6 is gonna be the monster hit without question. Thought beast of reincarnation looked really cook. Kiln seems like a fun side project. Fable seems like it’s finally the big AAA game that Xbox and in particular Xbox game studios should be putting out more often. Love seeing Fable come to ps5 day and date, would be ideal for horizon 6 as well but it’s not.

B.

Love the format, but I have no interest in Beast or Kiln. No "one more thing" or shadow drops was a bummer. But Fable and FH6 show a lot of promise. Would have loved to see a Gears update.

@Nic-Noc20th-C This is the first developer direct to only have four games, all the other ones had five games. Even last year, there was Ninja Gaiden 2 Black. It wasn't given it's own full section, like the other games, but it was at least shadow dropped.

B - only because Fable did not have a release date, and I worry it will slip into 2027 like Avowed did (2024 to 2025).

Only 4 games? This could have been an email.

@anxiouz These shows are always meant to be deeper dives on three or four games. They are not just to show a stream of trailers. Personally love the format that gives us a chance to see more and hear directly from the devs.

If you expect a bunch of trailers, don’t watch the Developer’s Direct.

@OldGamer999 MS has been a Publisher for a while now and it’s great to see. Games should be in more places to play and the money trail shows it works. Sony won’t sit back for the next 10-15 years and not look to more places to support. In fact they have said PC is more and more important to them. As it should be PC gaming is leading the way in software sales for most 3rd party games. Hell Divers 2 without PC would have been a mid selling game. PC carried that title. MS and other companies has given up on one platform games and while Nintendo kind of can’t do that if they want to stay in Hardware Sony can. Sony bringing its games to other platforms will not stop people from walking into a store and buying a PS console. The same way MS games going to PS won’t stop me from buying an Xbox.

This Show was all about Fable for me, i love the first 2 on 360 and while the 3rd was just ok, i played it and beat it to finish the Trilogy. But Playground games is a top tier dev team. I knew they would deliver with Fable but i still wanted to see what they were cooking and it looks stunning. I don’t buy many single player games at full price. No need to really. But this one is day one for me. I thought the open world and graphics were amazing and dare i say the first open world I’ve been super excited to explore since RDR2. That would be a lot to live up to but i am expecting Fable to wow me in many ways.

@HonestHick
I agree if Sony put some of their games on Xbox consoles say Uncharted 4 it would not make may difference to PS5 console sales at all. Maybe even new games day one or 6 months to a year later.
Nothing will stop the PS5 console selling machine now really.

I put this on Push Square a month ago, anyone think I had declared world war 3 over there.
They really don’t want Sony games on another console, even Xbox which is no threat to PS5 sales and puts games on PS5.

@OldGamer999 the only reason they don’t want those games on other consoles is so they can pretend to belong to someting only they and other PS players can enjoy. Thats not a gamer. Remember back in the day when us gamers used to go to the Arcade and put tokens in to play? Imagine a kid walking up to the machine and asking to join the game and you said NO. Thats not a good feeling and this comes off to me as a little bit of that and they would lose all their internet babble and banter to haggle other gamers. Thats it, thats the only reason they don’t want that. Cause otherwise they pretend to care so much for Sony’s bottom line and PS success. But not if it comes at their expense of being jerks online to other gamers on other platforms. Sorry but i don’t support that and while Nintendo is Nintendo they are going to be in a pinch this generation if RAM prices push the Switch 2 out of little Jimmies and Kimmies parents price range. Hard to sell Switch software sales numbers when no one can afford Switch 2. Owning physical hardware in the future is looking to be very expensive and that could change a lot of where we see games at in the future. I appreciate you a lot and you know that. I know you speak your mind on here and other sites. Nothing you are saying is coming from a place to take away from gamers or the platforms. Heck you own them all like me. But be very careful trying to get the PS kids to share their snacks. They don’t play nice. HAHAHA

The Xbox showcases/events now feels like a third party dev show, so it’s completely lost the charm it used to have.
As a result, the score I’d give it is pretty low now, sadly… even though I still can’t wait to play Fable… on Xbox… sigh

Beast of reincarnation was my top pick, really looking forward to seeing more and getting my hands on it. No doubt I’ll be getting FH6 and Fable too though!

@HonestHick
It’s definitely got worse on the other side since Xbox have put games on PS5, like the superior race type thing.

Don’t get me wrong I get some stick on here, but it is more a well thought out response and gamer lead than crash bang wallop response.

The other day I was trying explain the Sony TV thing and the TCL sort of buyout, I gave up as I got crazy responses and I was even praising current Sony Tvs and that I was concerned about the future quality of Sony TVs.