Darylb88

I think this is a 2027 title alongside Clockwork Revolution.

Even if you go by a logical route of business planning, the 4 AAA games(excluding COD) from May to October would be more than enough for Microsoft to deal with.

With the map location and this proposed new progression system, I feel a lot more invested in this Forza vs 5.

This is the year of Xbox. For the ecosystem and as a publisher, not for the console sales that they no longer care about.

Xbox Game Studios will deliver more games to more players than Sony and Nintendo will, and that is something that they should be congratulated on.

@LordDieALot Gears will be in the 2nd half of 2026 as it won't be at the dev direct, so expect August onwards or 2027. They wouldn't give gears a date until the June showcase.

@Titntin It's likely to be between 3-12 months. If you can wait that long, then the Pro upgrade should be worth it.

May has been rumoured for a few months now for Forza 6, but it's Fable's date that I am more curious about. Will they commit to a date for it, or will it get a vague "Fall 2026" launch date, which could easily get pushed into early 2027 because of GTA 6? I have been hearing from some people who work in the games space, whom I trust mention Fable will actually drop before Forza. It got its delay (Feb 2025) when GTA 6 will still meant for Fall 2025, so they could use the extra few months to polish and either shadow drop the game or get it out by April. I'm Curious how accurate that information is.

If they get out Forza, Fable, Gears of War and Halo in one year, I will be surprised and very impressed.

My guess if they all make it is based on information I have been given so far :

Fable - Jan - April

Forza - May

Gears - August -Sept

Halo - Early - Sept or early October if GTA 6 gets another delay announced by their summer earnings call.

COD - Late October or November if GTA 6 gets another delay announced by their summer earnings call.

Surprised this one is skipping consoles at launch considering there would be a healthy number of console players that would want to check this game out.

I enjoyed playing a bit of this when I had PS+ and will grab this for either my Xbox or the Switch 2.

Digital rising and physical declining as expected. The console market is also shrinking with the loss of Xbox players moving to PC rather than getting a PS5 (PS5 sales are barely in line with PS4 at this point of the gen). Xbox games and services revenues are up again, so the data shows the picture of the way the gaming industry is moving.

Given it's part of the show, there is now a greater confidence that it will hit in 2026. If they weren't ready to release it this year, they would have shown it at the summer or fall festivals. My guess is between March and September.

Halo and COD also are more likely to take the Oct/November spots, so that does make me think maybe Gears of War E-Day may get delayed rather than Fable.

Expect Fable a few months after the Xbox release, like Forza Horizon 6. Some games will come the same date, and others will be timed exclusives to drive Game Pass Subscriptions for a few months, which makes sense.

It's Kiln from double fine.

@Fiendish-Beaver All or most your Xbox purchases will move over to PC, but your PS5 purchases will be forever stuck on those consoles. PC is the future, so it's a safer long-term investment software-wise (especially digital games).

Looks to be a busy year for Xbox! And it's nice of them to provide PlayStation with some games again.

1. Fable
2. Forza Horizon 6
3. Beast of Reincarnation (will tap out if it has souls like combat)
4. Surprise looks to be Kiln game from Double Fine - and doesn't sound like my cup of tea.

Enjoyed this on Xbox last year. The updates are very surface-level level so unless that "much more" really is much more, it would not be worth going back for another playthrough, and PS users will be getting mostly the same game I got a year ago.

Surprised but happy to see that Fable is in the showcase - this gives me more confidence it will hit its 2026 date and maybe even before the summer.

I'm not expecting to see Fable until the Summer Showcase with a 2027 release.

@Fiendish-Beaver Fable looks locked in for 2027, and GTA 6 is 50/50 right now.

I hope Fable makes a 2026 release date, but I am not expecting it this year. Early to mid-2027 seems more likely.

Okay this looks pretty cool

It's clear as day that Xbox is moving to cloud/portable and PC at a pace, and leaving the antiquated business model of low margin consoles behind.

Gen Z and Gen Alpha won't obsess over console sales as a success metric like Gen X and Millennials do because they simply are not attached to consoles I have been.

MS gaming is struggling with PR and console sales, yet it is making more money than ever before. The logic here is that, outside the hardcore console bubble, most people have either moved on or simply don't care, as they are enjoying the games instead.

It's always been about the games.

Microsoft/Xbox negative articles will feed content creators and gaming media companies families for generations lol.

For a company that effectively does not care about console sales (and is actively exiting the space), that's rather impressive. Most anti-Xbox people would have us believe that Xbox sold 1000 for the whole year.

It's time for some people to let go of the antiquated console sales = success as a metric. Software and services are what drive the bulk of profit, and MS are making more money on the gaming division than they ever have in their almost 25-year history. Cloud and PC are the future. Steam never needed hardware to be as successful as it is because they knew others could do the razor-thin margin process of creating hardware for them.

Now, if we are looking at it purely from a console enthusiast point of view, yes, it's sad because consoles are slowly going away across the industry.

Anyone with business nous could see that a flat 30% profit markup does not work for any business. It will be structured depending on the profit percentage, cost of development/manufacturing and shipping. Consoles may be closer to 30% while something like games on 3rd party ports could be 15-20% as you have to deduct a % of development cost off of the 30% sales cut for day 1 launches. That's another reason why not all Xbox games will go to PS5 or Switch 2 day one, as it reduces to profit margin %.

The reality outside of our echo chamber most people don't care about profit margins if the upcoming games are good, services remain good (like free cloud saves), and the prices remain at a reasonable level (outside the US, which is an economic mess).

Having played Borderlands 4 on console, I don't know how it got a 90MC on Xbox.

I'm sorry, GT7 is a far deeper and more fleshed-out game than Forza Motorsport, and I love Xbox. Motorsport was a disappointment which is why it has not had a long tail.

@TheGameThrifter You sound like a bit of a fanboy there lol

I signed up for the true achievements one, and it's pretty good!

My most played game on Xbox was KCD 2 at 125 hours.

@Sindayl Microsoft have seen huge growth in their PC launcher and store across asian markets and solid growth in the US and EU. Like steam they don't need a console to sell software, just the PC launcher which they have and can continue to improve on and grow. The future hardware will be complementary alongside the millions of other Windows PCs that have/ can install the Xbox app.

Looks like a decent sale, there are, of course, the usual games, but some newer games from the last 6 months are usually the ones I watch out for.

The 3 I enjoyed were The Outer Worlds 2, Avowed, and Ninja Gaiden 4. I want to check out Doom: The Dark Ages and Oblivion remaster at some point.

@Stinkie The Series S has around 360 GB of install space, so the 90 GB install size should be fine for most people. The 90 GB on the 200 GB of usable space for Switch 2 is an issue, though.

Looks like a no-show for 2025, which is a shame

With the right optimisation, the CPU and power draw of the Series S can bring up some really great results for the price point. It's cheaper than a Switch 2 by £96 and £130 for the PS5 in the UK.

A lack of clear direction and QA during the game's development harmed the launch and let a lot of people down.

My top 5 games played/completed on Xbox this year

1. KCD 2 (10/10)
2. The Outer Worlds 2 (9.5/10)
3. Avowed (9.5/10)
4. Atomfall (8/10)
5. Mafia The Old Country (7.5/10) (Didn't like the ending though)

Played E33 and was hyped for it before, but the gameplay did not click for me, and I came away disappointed with the game after finishing it.

I have Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, but I have yet to play it, and I am only halfway through the never-ending AC Shadows so far.

I loved the game, and the linear environments were great too. I hope for more of the same, while adding to the great tech and optimisation they've done so far.

Waiting for the comments complaining about the lack of a console update lol

@Nighto4 Not Indie game or RPG, but it isn't either, but the others I can agree on.

The games I think we will see are:

Gears of War E-Day

Forza Horizon 6

Halo Combat Remake

And 2-3 3rd-party game pass games.

I hope to see Clockwork Revolution and Fable 6, but I think they might be 2027 games now due to Microsoft not wanting to over-congest the back end of 2026 and the year as a whole.

3 AAA releases is already quite a lot, considering November and December are potentially no-go areas for anything other than COD, and even that's debatable now.

The OG Tomb Raider game is the first ever PS1 game I played back in Christmas 1996 as an 8-year-old old so it will always hold a special place for me. The remake looks interesting.

@StylesT Agree, I played both, and I enjoyed them, but the insane overhype for E33 would have people believe this is the holy grail of media entertainment in the last century lol.

There is no way a non-RPG (turn-based action adventure) like E33 should have won over the most immersive RPG of 2025 in the "Best RPG" category.

Seems like a fair thing to say, considering MS is a for-profit company and should be viewed as such. They will always want to balance what the player wants vs profit, as you can only make profit out of gamers who buy things.

The ending was not good.

It's a big upgrade! Hopefully, they can update the web page now to be in line with the apps.

The Pragmata and Lego Batman release dates were the highlights for me, sadly.

There were a few games that looked cool, but they have little info attached to them and are far out.

I was also hoping for a Blood of Dawnwalker/Star Wars Zero Company release date, but it looks like it will be the second half of the year now.

I have been a regular subscriber, and my subscription just ran out. I chose the £1 option in the UK, and it worked! Previous subscribers can apply, but it may depend on your region and other specific things.

Dev Direct is always a great show and something to look forward to. Xbox has a lot of great games coming in 2026 and beyond.