Reaction: Xbox Games Showcase 2025 Was Just OK, But Next Year Should Be Amazing

Smells like salty behavior coming from Xbox having an incredible show

Obviously last year was unreal and this year was a bit more reserved, but honestly it was still a great showcase. Compared to state of play there was much more stuff to my taste here

It had a fair mix, Forza Horizon 6 pass, & with my hatred for GT7/Forza Motorsport 8/23's direction/the rest were a fair mix of good but many I'd play no. But creatively interesting, a few.

Outer Worlds 2 is cool for what it's expanding on but it's still very basic reactive stuff and won't change the world enough. It's still an RPG so it's still dull. Is the radio, perks/more cool, absolutely. I am glad to see it but it's not level design/moveset reactive.

The bridge part made me go this isn't reactive enough....

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(like me going why does Biomutant force a Jet Ski quest, why not animal traits to swim, fly, dig, any animal/fictional cool moveset ideas/other stuff, or perk/traits, oh right too much animation time, make it static, to me Biomutant or many games could have been so good but was just apocalyptic animals open world with generic stuff in it besides gas immunity part, it's not traits or moveset compelling at all, animals in 5th gen platformers have more not attempted again movesets yet we get cute animal games.

Same with Foamstars, I had more mode ideas still Splatoon unrelated and they made 2 modes off Splatoon/other games, I don't respect Foamstars blantant laziness of money then creative mode ideas to support multiplayer for because they were lazy).

Bland empty games. Sigh.

Phil Spencer or any others? Where is my hive mind organic/robots game for enemy AI? No where exactly. Learn, forget, copy, etc. possibilities. Nope. Too much to animate, program, procedural won't happen of movesets either.

Too much effort, reactive elements of player powers for level design or building a poison ice boulder or something stupid. not just boring RPG status effects.particles.

When co-op puzzle games like Lego Voyagers or others were more exciting/I like puzzle games but don't play many other then more 6th gen obstacle course ones and don't care for Tetris/Bejeweled ones yeah co-op ones are the closest I can get.

Most genres are pretty stagnant. I can think ambitious/not make them myself due to lack of skill in programming (web design or Java basics that's it, nothing great) or patience. Devs are boring with their safe ideas/comfort passion.

But I just laugh at the industry all the time/go retro for a reason, they inspire me retro games, modern ones show me how empty they are. They can't include everything but I wish they did enough of that with how bland they are in gameplay/etc. so generic fantasy/so on. I want gameplay passion not boring world design/dialogue emotion. Sigh human prioritizes I guess.

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The oh we have different paths, yeah but I could be offered an ice power to build a bridge or flood the water or do anything more reactively interesting, whether I alert them or not sure, but still way more interesting then 'look we are talking about things everyone still does for 10 years for outposts and saying how great it is' yeah no matter how you dress it up its the same mechanically. XD

So to me a 3/10 or 5/10 like State of Play. The other shows were hmmm Indie repetitive garbage that are too self inspired in the wrong direction so they were 1/10 or 3/10.

Yeah I'm sticking to my odd modern games, the few new that were good at some of these shows and mostly still 5/6th gen games mechanics we will never see again I find more exciting besides their jank.

Mechanics/mode rules variety over safe game ideas no matter realistic/cartoony artstyles, substance not style, we see too much style.

I understand that this is an event aimed at making it the Obsidian Year. However, I think The Outer Worlds 2 is a bit too much to be the highlight of this year.
I wish there had been a little more information about a big title like Call of Duty Black Ops 7.

It’s said every tear

If GTA6 is out when its supposed to

Who is watching it next year??? I will be be busy

Yeh it was alright, It’s interesting to see what’s being released later on this year and what people think. Probably the weirdest announcement for me was Black Ops 7. It’s nothing to do with being another COD, shock horror. But rather to do with it being another Black Ops already? Like they done with Modern Warfare 3 also.

That is until games are delayed to 2027 lol

It was an ok showcase but definitely not as good as previous years, we shouldn’t excuse it for tomorrow’s promises.

I thought it was good, even great. The best of the bunch this week.

It was a remarkable event, at least compared to the weak events we have seen this summer.

However I think there is still a lot of doubt about the roadmap of the Xbox platform, the future feels “weird”.

I feel like my vague prediction was pretty accurate. I said they would focus on their smaller titles and third party. I was pretty confident perfect dark, fable, gears e day,etc would not be there.

Overall, the show slightly exceeded my lower expectations. It was a solid B and the best of the weaker than normal summer shows.

@TapeLoader sorry we got no Fable or SoD 3 … I really felt one of those two would be there… 2026 will really rock with the 25th anniversary…

@Lucylu1983 Me me! I will be there all by myself 😃

The Xbox Games Showcase 2025 was pretty damn good if you ask me, especially compared the the awful PlayStation State of Play and the even worse Summer Games Fest. The Xbox showcase brought games that I'm genuinely excited to play.
The Outer Worlds 2,
Persona 4 Revival,
High on Life 2,
Beast of Reincarnation,
Super Meat Boy 3D,
Grounded 2,
Clockwork Revolution,
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle DLC

That list is of games that I'm genuinely excited to play. The Outer Worlds 2 looked fantastic & after I beat Avowed a couple months ago I can't wait to jump back into another Obsidian game. The Outer Worlds 2 looks like they went all in for the sequel making everything we loved about the original bigger, better looking and even upgrades a bunch of mechanics to make the game better.

Ninja Gaiden 4 also looks great. The gameplay on display was solid. After seeing it in action I just really wanted to play it lol.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Order of the Giants DLC looks so damn good. Indiana Jones is already my game of the year for 2024, I haven't finished the base game yet but it's still one of the most fun games I've played in many years. It feels like you're playing a movie only better because it's a game that allows players to fully immerse themselves in the world and story. The DLC announced today looks awesome and I'm planning on having the game beat by the time it releases lol.

Happy gaming ✌️

@Lucylu1983 What is GTA6?

To each their own, but you could have stopped at Persona 4 remake and two fairly modern Final Fantasy games and I would have still rated it as much higher than "okay".

It was pretty decent overall. I liked it, but let's be honest.. the ending was so stupid it actually hurt the rating.

Phil grins as he as reveals the last surprise for the showcase... it's just the yearly COD. OMG NO WAY WHAT!!!!!!

There are three constants in life: Death, taxes, and COD. The surprise would have been no COD. Ending the show with that, treating it like some major unbelievable reveal, was damn stupid. Clockwork Revolution being the show closer would have been the smart play. (It looks SO good.)

I'm saying this as someone who does play Blops 6 and likes COD. Come on, now.

I’m a PS and Switch fanboy.

Even I’m saying this was a good showcase. Clockwork Revolution and No Ghosts In… were very intriguing to me, and P4R had me shout YES as I was watching.

I’m content.Though that last COD reveal was just…utterly bleh.

@Elbow I agree, and the fact that it wasn’t immediately identifiable as a COD game made it even worse imho.

I was like “oh this looks interesting… nevermind it’s another COD” 😂

@AlwaysPlaying I'll be there too. I've not played a GTA since PS2... I'm likely the wired one of out of the bunch but i most likely won't be playing GTA6 at all.

@jFug I really thought it was Evil Within 3 for a few moments, or maybe a sequel to Quantum Break. I appreciate COD getting weird... but seeing that it was COD really was a letdown lmao

I wouldn't trust that next year is going to be any better. This year's wasn't terrible, but definitely not great..

It was OK. Clockwork Revolution looks a must play to me.

COD looks bland and I suspect a poor seller. Looks like they are just recycling the popular ‘Black Ops’ moniker rather than it being a Black Operations type game like the last 2.

Sounds like 2026 could be incredible if they do Gears, Halo and Forza. That will be like the golden era again. Crazy to think they will be on PS5.

It was ok. There was some quality in there.

But outside of what we knew - what was really in the show that was a ‘banger’? Mudang maybe? The game freak one?

I dunno the show was a bit meh? I’m not sure how to put my finger on it? I said elsewhere ironically it felt more like a state of play than a ‘showcase’.

Compared to MS last few it was weaker compared to SGF it was better - and perhaps for a change, ever so slightly weaker than Sony effort.

And as far as the headline/article is concerned please let’s not go down the NEXT YEAR WILL BE THE YEAR route.

@PsBoxSwitchOwner Mudang was the only thing that looked interesting to me. The rest didn’t appeal to me.

The announcement of a new Forza for next year was easily the highlight. Surely it’s Forza Horizon 6?

If I didn’t already own an ROG Ally, that would’ve been great too. I will wait to see if it’s any better than the current ROG Ally X, might upgrade if it is.

I’m trying to figure out how anyone thinks it was just an OK show? Especially considering the hit garbage shows the other team did? What are y’all smoking?? The only downside to me is ending with BO7, yes it’s a huge game and moneymaker but the people that sweat COD are not the ones watching this stream, give us some fan service. (Not that I won’t be playing it) but seriously you clowns are out of control saying this is not a great showcase.

@Ogrenator I thought it was a great show. Not the best they've had, sure, but pretty great either way if you ask me. Game after game (lots of diversity too) and game pass continues to be a killer deal in gaming.

The few I've seen patrolling the posts saying it was garbage and most of it was PS "hand me down" need to;

A) Understand there were only, what, 2 PS exclusives coming to Xbox announced - in a constant flurry of new and exciting games.

B) Take a look at what's been dominating the PS charts in UK and US... 😅

There's nothing wrong with an old game going multiplat. If there was, Forza Horizon and other MS games wouldn't be selling like hot cakes.

Either way, the showcase was solid if you ask me. Lots of new games coming out way and lots of Game Pass goodness.

Sadly, i was expected something new from HALO series... Or new trailer from Fable... Both will be launch titles for next gen console

I really enjoyed it lots a world premieres I can't see what people are moaning about it was a solid 8/10 for me there's a gears beta coming this weekend people ✌️

I’ve commented on other articles that they were hinting pretty damn hard that all the PC merging rumours are true. They were really emphasising the PC side of their business in this showcase and boasting about Steam support on their new handheld. To me that tells me so much about their vision for the future of Xbox brand - and it looks amazing! It’s basically just PC, but with XSX backwards compatibility and controller friendly UI. Sounds like a dream come true. That alone was exciting enough for me.

Then the game announcements were good. Nothing mind blowing, but Keeper is definitely looking super cool and my personal favourite of the show. Planet of Lana 2 is a nice surprise too! Also surprised by High on Life 2, nice to see it’s a Game Pass inclusion. That musical game that looked like power wash simulator on drugs with the talking cat was super unique and interesting, in a good way!

Nothing really got me excited as a lot of the games where already known about, there was a fair amount of DLC and a smattering of MMO / Live service updates. They should have shown the thing in reverse as it started far better than it ended which didn't help the showcase at all.

The most interesting game shown was Dawnwalker but they didn't really show much more than previous, and I am not fully convinced by what they have shown. The premise of proper slavic horror vampires should be good if they manage to make the writing and gameplay decent.

My main concern is there seems to be a lot hanging on the fact this studio has 4 ex Witcher devs so its being hyped up to surpass Witcher 3 quality and I don't think it will.

Honestly thought this was a great show, and the only one this year to have that old E3 feeling a bit. The games were diverse yet big and interesting, there was humor. Where the Sony show was their new sterile format that bored me and was filled with loads on undies, and keighley was just souls-copies, zombies, and online shooter expansions and wannabes, this had a variety of interesting looking games presented well!

@VoDaCZ Halo is coming next year, as is Fable. I think the reason they didn't do much on Fable and a few others is because we will be seeing a lot of them at Dev Direct 26.

I’ll be honest I far from an optimist but I thought this was a good show. At least 10 games on GP I’ll be playing in the next 12ish months.

2025 GamePass: Gears Reloaded, CoD, Keeper, The Outer Worlds 2, High on Life 2, Ninja Gaiden 4.

2026 GamePass: Fable, Gears E-Day, FH6, Halo, Plague Tale and more.

Coming in 2026 was certainly the theme of all the showcase this year including Xbox. Its also why I have rated all of them below average pretty much.

With Xbox specifically I was also disappointed with the lack of news about some of the previously announced big hitter such as State of Decay 3 & Fable among others.

Good job I have The Outer Worlds 2 to look forward to at least.

I thought the showcase started really well but perhaps slightly tailed off towards the end. For the first 20 minutes, it was hitting an S, but then maybe slipped into B or B+ territory. I don't think it was a weak showcase, but I feel they did better in the past couple of Summer showcases.

I would place the order of the showcases as follows:

1. Xbox Summer Showcase
2. Future Showcase
3. Sony Showcase
4. Summer Game Fest

I sat through all 4 of them live (roughly 8 hours!) and I can say without question that Geoff Keighley's was the worst show, which when you consider it is the most hyped one is kind of ridiculous...

What I will say though is that the game that really blew me away this weekend was Clockwork Revolution. That game looks so good, and surely cannot be that far away. It looks very polished indeed, and after that showing, I absolutely cannot wait...

Disappointed they never showed anything for State of Decay 3 or Fable but it was still pretty good.

Not many games, for my taste.
Ninja Gaiden 4 is the only one that excites me.

Is it just me, getting annoyed by the humor, in modern western developed games? Like the attempt of this in Outer World 2 and High on Life?

Like every Xbox showcase, it has been good but nothing mind blowing. That is perfectly fine, imo. Not everything has to be "the best" (which is statistically impossible anyway) to be enjoyable.

@Kaloudz I completely agree with everything you said!

We had Gears E-Day, Fable, Perfect Dark in the showcase a year ago, they haven't released, and nothing this year, so while last years was great, the games I was most excited for are now 2026 or later

I wish they would only shows games that are coming out SOON, not 2+ years away...

@SuntannedDuck2 what are you even saying

@Master_Cthulhu70 now I know you're a shill. Do tell what was the most engaging part of avowed? Was it the completely static, dead world? Or the uninteresting story? The bland mechanics? Avowed is by far the worst game obsidian has ever made. Hopefully outer worlds 2 will be better

@Wizzle8899 Segmented stuff about the showing, and other details about other things that are a bit off topic sure but still relevant.

I thought the show was "pretty great" for what was there if that wasn't clear.

Also the = equals parts were top/bottom on topic, in-between = off topic. That's why I put them there then separating to a second comment or cutting it entirely. But making a line to segment it was tricky to do. I have tried before but it can be a bit tough to do with the tools or options these comment boxes have.

I could cut some of them yes but can't help myself. I went from the show to somewhat creative mentality, so it went a bit off topic but can't help it.

I segment things, they don't always make sense but when read at a certain pace/notice the commas/periods (full stops) do make some sense.

Otherwise if you mean 'what are you even saying' 'It was a great show or a bad showing' as in like I'm wrong then yeah I probably am. XD

That and reactive, like many games such as Minecraft or other survival games or even some other types of games can be dynamic, or reactive, if you get what that means then sure.

Like I want a hive mind game with enemy AI learning movesets they see, forgetting them, copying others. Hence robots or insects or something. Or something less complex than that and to just like the radio response to player actions or other stuff such as things to shoot as an obstacle of sand covering them or something, or no QTEs but just act on a button press and it's going to go between 1 or the other not a forced QTE choice/list of choices.