Taking place after both Sony’s State of Play and Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest had already inundated gamers with announcements and trailers for new games to be excited about, this year’s Xbox and Bethesda Showcase had a lot to live up to if it was going to create more of a splash than both of those shows.
Luckily, in the eyes of many, it did just that. An emphasis on gameplay made for a newsworthy show that offered first looks at what players delving into games like Redfall, Forza Motorsport and the highly anticipated Starfield will be treated to.
Also featured in the broadcast were a trailer for Overwatch 2 and a cameo from Hideo Kojima, who announced that his studio is collaborating with Xbox Game Studios on a new title.
Fans of RPGs and Appearances by Beloved Gaming Figures Get Exactly What They Want From Show
Beginning with the game that had social media buzzing with activity following its lengthy exhibition at the end of the showcase, Bethesda Game Studios’ interstellar RPG Starfield, due to arrive in 2023, had its gameplay shown off for the first time by Todd Howard, to a rather mixed online reaction.
Meanwhile, another Bethesda-published game recently pushed back to 2023, Redfall, kicked off the show with an in-depth look at its vampire-killing shootouts, setting the tone for the rest of the broadcast, which you can watch in its entirety below.
Also occupying spots relatively early in the running order were Forza Motorsport, which was heavily pushed via an in-game demonstration highlighting its ray racing and day/night cycle and Overwatch 2, which received a fresh trailer revealing a new hero, Junker Queen.
Arguably the only segment not to feature gameplay of any kind was Metal Gear and Death Stranding creative force Hideo Kojima’s appearance towards the end, which saw him announce an unnamed new game to be developed by Kojima Productions in collaboration with Xbox Game Studios.
The former took to Twitter after the showcase to allay fan fears regarding what the collaboration with Xbox could mean for its established relationship with Sony and PlayStation, reassuring concerned players that it still plans to have “a very good partnership” with the latter.
Other highlights of the showcase included the reveal of strategy title Minecraft Legends, a new trailer for Diablo 4 and, as speculated beforehand, a considerable presence from Obsidian Entertainment via looks at survival game Grounded and RPG Pentiment.
Make sure to follow us for coverage of what, for now, looks to be the final event in gaming’s summer of silliness, the extended portion of the Xbox and Bethesda showcase, which is set to take place tomorrow.