Update (Mon 6th July, 2020 15:50 BST): It's been a few weeks since we first posted this, but now the event has an official date! Let us know what games you're hoping to see later this month in the comments below.
Original story (Tue 23rd Jun, 2020 19:30 BST): We're sure you know about this by now - Microsoft is hosting a highly-anticipated Xbox Series X event in July, dedicated to the "incredible [first-party] games coming from Xbox Game Studios."
The company says that it will be sharing first looks at new gameplay, insights from development teams being optimized for Xbox Series X and brand-new game announcements, with Halo Infinite guaranteed to feature.
Aside from the odd tease, we're still very much in the dark as to what to expect. Rumours have suggested we may hear of a new Fable and even a Perfect Dark, but no guarantees - and we're sure we'll learn of a few surprises as well.
While the event doesn't have a definitive date yet, the month of July is fast approaching! With that in mind, we want to know what you want to see during Microsoft's big event in the comments.
Comments 58
All I want is to know what is The Initiative doing. It's what I'm most curious about.
Strong first party games, lots of gameplay and price.
Also dates, Sony got away with vague 2021 dates, and only hide two actual launch titles for launch (a half game and a pack in demo) I want Xbox to not only give dates for many of the games they show, but make it clear “PLAYABLE AT LAUNCH!”
As for titles, Xbox is heavily lacking in the RPG (both western and jrpg) areas as well as story focused third person adventures (think Tomb Raider, Uncharted, even Spider-Man fits here, it’s not about levels or open world but exclusive third person games with strong solid story telling.)
Shooters is something the platform does not need more of, already got the biggest two niches covered by Halo and Gears, but still would love a good solid Perfect Dark hard reboot with solid writing behind it.
I want the date for the event. The date. Give me the date. If I get covid and die before the event I'll haunt Xbox Live.
Anyone know the exact date for the Xbox event?
@Neri1037 It's not been announced to my my knowledge, sorry.... Early July I think..
As @BANJO mentioned, the July event doesn't have a date yet - we'll let you know when it's announced.
Such a great topic! As much as I would like for Xbox to announce a price, I also want us to undercut Sony's price after they announce theirs. I would love it if Phil Spencer played a little dirty and rubbed it in their face the way they did with the Xbox One reveal! I'm sure Phil has too much class for that though.
As far as games go, extended gameplay is a must. I think everyone is in agreement that a Perfect Dark and Fable reboot are very much welcomed and wanted. I'm excited to see these new types of games that Microsoft has mentioned. New IP's are expected, but I would also like to see some new backwards compatible games announced. I've been dying to play NFL Blitz and MK9 on my X1X! I'm hoping for some EA gameplay, maybe some FIFA, Star Wars, UFC, or even a Fight Night announcement! They didn't show much of anything at their EA Play event so hopefully Xbox has them saving some of their work for this event.
I think a release date will be announced. I really don't see them announcing the price unless they have insight on Sony's plans or unless they are just set on what they want to pull off that "mic drop". July can not get here soon enough!
I just want to see great games with a heavy focus on single player. Gameplay would be nice too!
@Tharsman Well the good news there is that MS bought up Obsidian and InXile. I'd love to see an Outer Worlds 2, and InXile are meant to be working on an action RPG with a dev who worked on the God of War games.
I want to see new IPs from Microsoft. I don't want to see Gears or Forza. It's about time they went head-to-head with Sony's first party games.
I want to see what Microsoft game studios are upto. They've snapped up loads of developers, and it'll be good to see what they have in store.
But Fable would be a good start. I miss Fable
New Fable
Perfect Dark
A few New IP
Gears 6 tease
It's hard to describe exactly but I just want some fresh new titles that seem polished and look like they're ready to push the industry forward.
It sounds a bit pointless to ask them to exactly copy what Sony have done recently, but something along the lines of a God of War, Horizon, TLOU or Uncharted would be brilliant.
I am going to repeat myself but...
In July's event, I expect more about Halo Infinite, Hellblade II, Everwild and Grounded that launches next month. I suspect that Forza Motorsport 8 will be revealed.
What would I like Microsoft to show?
Firstly, Banjo-Kazooie, because it's about time and Nintendo has Mario and PlayStation has Ratchet & Clank.
Secondly, Fable, because it could and should become an epic next-gen RPG adventure.
Something like Tomb Raider and Uncharted.
Viva Piñata which is wonderful and original.
This is what Xbox needs the most. Then they should get some RPG games including Japanese stuff like Final Fantasy VII Remake, a Dragon Quest collection and the new one (XI). And Project Zero/Fatal Frame although I know this is complicated.
Western RPGs will also appear eventually because of the profile of some Xbox Game Studios. Perfect Dark would be a great addition to Series X because although there's Halo, Perfect Dark like Goldeneye 007 is a combination of shooting, infiltration and James Bond style, so it's quite unique. Halo always reminds me of Metroid Prime because I played Metroid Prime first.
New stuff! I am quite sure that Halo and Hellblade will be great but Microsoft need to justify all the studio acquisitions.
@RonF they do, but I think mostly they will be working on new ips. They've rested on gears, Forza and halo for far too long. Bringing back games like Fable and perfect dark and banjo are all well and good, but they need new games to stay fresh.
I don't think those companies would have signed upto Microsoft if they weren't given the freedom to create what they want. They've already got one of the best developers in the world, Ninja Theory, once hellblade 2 is done I can't wait to see what they come up with
Price, be good to hear what the new studio's are upto but Xbox will be my multi plat console. same as the the one x is and I will also get a PS and have solid PC if I want close action so I'm happy to give MS time to get first party back on track. A long term commitment to game pass would be great though
@zane547 "MS coming out with a new survival horror IP would be perfect"
They're doing just that with The Medium I'd say, which looks quite promising.
Since they have a bunch of these coming I only want to see new games in this one. Don't get me wrong i'm looking forward to playing gears 5 again on the XSX but I don't need to be shown that again right now, I need the shiny and new
They've got 15 studios + their publishing arm but we only know what a handful are working on. Even if the games aren't ready to be shown let us know what's on the horizon.
I think one thing we can be sure of is they will have something for everyone, which is a double edged sword (people always complain about “boring” points in a conference if not every game is their specific type of genre) I say this because of the variety they’ve already started to show in recent years and the acquisition of new and different studios. Obsidian and InExile will give them the rpgs, coalition and 343 will give them the first person shooters with story and multiplayer. Turn 10 and Playground will give them racing (and if rumors are true a new Fabke rpg). Studios like Rare, Double Fine, and Compulsion will create new ips that are creative and range from adventurous to dark and sinister to goofy fun. Undead will make State of Decay 3 (one of my fav series but not for everyone). And finally Ninja Theiry and the Initiative will aim to make the third person single player epics to compete with Sony’s best. It will take some time to get there but that’s what they will be aiming to develop.
Microsoft is setting themselves up to be the perfect subscription service, with variety and creativity coming in a steady stream (multiple teams even within these studios).
I’m excited for the future, but what do I want to see at this specific event? The Initiatives game, Halo Infinite, Battletoads (where is it?), Fable, Psychonauts 2, and a couple other new and interesting ips. I’m really excited about what these studios can do with more money for development, and I’m hoping for both great new multiplayer experience (I have played a ton of Sea of thieves and State of Decay. Super underrated in my opinion but obviously because they are meant for multiplayer) and At least one great new single player focused game.
First off, I'm very excited to see Halo Infinite in action. Microsoft has acquiring a lot of new studios, and have been talking about making new games for a long time. It's about damn time we see what they have all been up to. A new Fable would be fantastic. That series desperately needs to be revived as it's one of the few great exclusive IP they have. I'm just really looking forward to seeing what all the studios are working on.
@Tharsman
Xbox will not be hurting for RPGs soon. We may get a Fable. And Obsidian & inExile are big time RPG developers.
I want Fable!!!! Mattrick ruined it years ago & now it’s time for it to come back. And a re-boot of Perfect Dark would be awesome.
And Halo: Infinite needs to be awesome.
I also wouldn’t mind seeing a new studio acquisition or two.
This is what Microsoft has got, if you want to guess what these studios are doing now or next... Of course, Turn 10 is making Forza Motorsport 8 but the others?
343 Industries: Halo Infinite
World's Edge: Age of Empires
The Coalition: Gears 5, Gears Tactics
Compulsion Games: We Happy Few
Double Fine: Psychonauts 2
Xbox Game Studios Publishing
The Initiative: High-profile new studio!
Inxile: Wasteland 3
Mojang: Minecraft
Ninja Theory: Hellblade II
Obsidian: The Outer Worlds
Playground Games: Forza Horizon 4
Rare: Everwild
Turn 10: Forza Motorsport 7
Undead Labs: State of Decay 2
@KelticDevil sure but that’s just WRPGs. Xbox still need answers for the likes of Dragon Quest, Xenoblade and Persona (managing to bring those over would also be cool but exclusives are always needed.)
A new entry on Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon would be a good start.
@BlueOcean don’t forget Bard’s Tale. I doubt the resurrection and inclusion into GamePass of the ARPG entry was just to monetize the backlog. I have a feeling that series specific game will get some sort of sequel, and even if it does not, the IP is there for use.
@xMightyMatt14x Great post, you hit the nail on the head. I also have played Sea of Thieves a lot, very underrated game.
@Tharsman I forgot it because I don't know that game...
Oh, didn't Microsoft suggest they might acquire a Japanese studio? That would be great and my choice is Koei Tecmo.
@BlueOcean if you want a good laugh, I suggest playing it now that it’s on GamePass.
@Tharsman Cool, another one for the huge backlog.😂
From Wikipedia:
"The Bard's Tale is a fantasy role-playing video game franchise created by Michael Cranford and developed by Brian Fargo's Interplay Productions (1985–1991) and inXile Entertainment (2004–present)".
More RPGs on Xbox, that's good.
@Tharsman
While I don’t prefer JRPGs, I do agree that it’s ridiculous that 3rd party JRPGs just go to PlayStation exclusively for......reasons?
Microsoft does need to do a better job bridging that gap for Xbox fans that do love those titles. Persona is a great example of that.
@BlueOcean thanks for the reply Blue! Gotta say this is a great community to be a part of (purexbox). Glad I joined recently.
@xMightyMatt14x You're very welcome!
@KelticDevil I think the reason is simply JRPG development tends to be very Japan centric, we get an extremely small chunk of their games, mostly the highest profile ones.
It makes sense, at current time, for Japan centric development to only consider either Sony or Nintendo platforms. XBox has an insignificant portion of the Japanese market. The cycle won’t change unless they try. They did try with the 360, and that at least got them 10x the console sales, compared to how much the One has sold there.
@BlueOcean there are technically two separate Bard’s Tale “series”. I have never played the more serious RPG games but this might be worth a read if you are intrigued about the ARPG that hit GamePass:
https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2020/06/18/the-bards-tale-arpg-available-now/
@Tharsman I'll give it a try.
Generally speaking, I love some RPGs but I tend to select just a few to play because sometimes I hate grinding. Same for open-world games, I love some (Assassin's Creed) but I select a few because they can also be quite boring (Breath of the Wild, Horizon Zero Dawn).
A good example of this is Xenoblade, I didn't like Xenoblade Chronicles because in spite of having great cutscenes and story, it is so repetitive and slow, combat is chaotic and the side quests so boring. However, I loved Xenoblade Chronicles X because it's much more enjoyable and I actually enjoyed the combat and the story that is more... relatable but also original. The side quests are also good. I loved everything about that game except most songs.
In short, I can play all the main Resident Evil games yearly and have a great time but I have to choose those RPGs and open-world games carefully.
@xMightyMatt14x
Welcome! Always nice to see another Xbox fan join the community! 👍🏻
@Tharsman
Exactly. The effort does need to be there. Even if Persona will sell way better on PS, there is no reason it can’t be on Xbox too. It’s ridiculous.
Like you said, Blue Dragon & Lost Odyssey were great examples of that.
@KelticDevil @Tharsman The good thing is that Square Enix has realised that with all Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts games coming to Xbox. I hope more will follow but just Square Enix is a huge deal.
I still have to play Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey.
@BlueOcean
Blue Dragon was very good, but not great....in my opinion. But Lost Odyssey is, easily, the best exclusive JRPG on the 360.
A restart of the fable franchise would be amazing
Amped 4 would be a hype reveal for me!
A varied lineup with lots of gameplay and plenty of release dates announced. While the PS5 reveal a few weeks ago was extremely strong in terms of the games themselves, you still don't really know what is coming to PS5 in the launch window apart from Spider-Man Miles Morales.
@KelticDevil there have been times when jrpgs have come to Xbox, but aside from something like final fantasy, by and large they just do not sell.
On PlayStation they do sell.
Also, and this is especially true for the jrpgs that are more catered to Japanese tastes than others (but not exclusively), they sell a lot in Japan. Xbox has no presence in Japan. PlayStation does, but jrpgs sell on PlayStation in the west too.
Wrpgs sell well on Xbox, but aside from the large ones like final fantasy they pretty much get ignored.
Hope for some news regarding BC, too! After the new, shiny games, of course!
Like the Sony presentation I’d like to see lots of games across a variety of Genres. Unlike the Sony Presentation I’d like to see plenty of actual Gameplay and Release Dates for lots of games. Oh and the price of the Console(s).
Everything seems to be in place for MS-the hardware, Game Pass, Smart Delivery, Backwards Compatibility. Just need the content now.
@SuperNintendoMii everyone says that but I’m not really so sure. I mean now sure with the Xbone, but to be fair the install base is basically loyal Gears, Forza, Halo fans and weird people like me.
But in 360 era, there were a lot of factors no one really looks at. Does anyone really have the data from the early years of 360? It seems to me they made a company shift and didn’t give it time to see it’s way through. They had a great start and then stopped trying. And at that time JRPGs were kind of struggling in the US anyway. I mean the fans had to fight for them on the Wii (Project Rainfall). The PS3 was getting its rear kicked and pretty much only had the Japanese install base.
Enter PS4 era and everything sales better on it. I just think RPG fans more than any other fan type require a lot more time to win over. And a number of JRPG fans also like games that in no way appear on the Xbox like visual novels and cute life sims. I mean look at Rune Factory.
The point is that MS could do it but they have too look at the fanbase as understand what makes it tick.
A Forza Motorsport 8 or Forza Horizon 5 reveal would be nice.
@zane547 That's a massive ask though. For me, it would be quite something if the much-rumoured new Silent Hill wouldn't be a PS exclusive and would also be available on the Series X, but I doubt that we'll hear anything about that anytime soon.
@mousieone yeah they published blue dragon, lost Odyssey, snapped up infinite undiscovery and the last remnant as exclusives, alongside star ocean as a timed exclusive. Tales of vesperia was exclusive. But none of them did particularly well. Star ocean came out on ps3 and outsold the 360 version, as an example.
I think they tried, but ultimately they must have decided it wasn't worth the effort since their sales in Japan were still terrible and in the west people were preferring the jrpgs on ps3.
I just think that xbox is a very American centric console, and wrpgs like Skyrim might sell well but tales of whatever will always sell better on PlayStation due to jrpg fans either being there on a Nintendo console as we are now seeing with the Switch
@SuperNintendoMii well maybe, I still think the lack of other sister genres make a difference. As I see it, you can’t try to win a fanbase with only half the games. A lot of JRPG fans also like games like Umineko, Rune Factory, Story of Season, etc. Sakura Wars has dating sim mechanics built into it. For that matter so does Fire Emblem. I mean technically so Dragon Quest but it’s not nearly as big of deal in 11 as 5 (I think that’s one). Why would a fan buy a system with only half the games they want?
And Quite frankly, Nintendo had to build that player base back as well, which they did with the Switch. Essentially, They had to win those fans back from Sony. Which was as big a hurdle as MS is facing.
I think there is room especially now with Sony kind of pulling away from Japan. No they aren’t going to be as popular but with Game Pass and xCloud, there is a huge opportunity. Japanese gamers won’t have to purchase a console they don’t want and can still enjoy the benefits. Westerners get more Japanese games. It’s a win win. Honestly it removes the biggest barrier Japanese fans had.
@Grumblevolcano Was Sony's event extremely strong? I though it was a bit underwhelming.
@mousieone Yes, that's right. I totally agree.
@BlueOcean I think starting with GTAV was a bad decision and it could've done with more 2020 announcements but in general I think it was a strong showing.
Fable reboot and NEW IPs. Come on Xbox!
I’m only just hoping to get a glimpse of Elden Ring :3
Something, anything, unexpected!
Surprise us MS and makes us go “Wow!”
(Date and price would be grand too)
Some exclusives, whether they are new or existing ips.
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