Report: Microsoft planning Xbox showcase event for late January
According to Windows Central's Jez Corden, Microsoft is planning to have a showcase for Xbox games on January 25 via Twitch and YouTube. Reportedly known as Xbox Developer_Direct, the aim of the event is to highlight the first-party 2023 titles from Xbox Game Studios and subsidiary Bethesda.
If true, it would mark the first Xbox-specific reveal event from the publisher since 2019's X0 showcase. In more recent years, Microsoft has relied on venues such as E3 or the Game Awards to reveal its Xbox exclusive titles.
Nintendo and Sony have had their own respective Direct and State of Play events for years wherein (primarily) first-party studios unveil their upcoming games. Microsoft doesn't reveal its games at the consistent pace as those two publishers, something that's been noted by audiences in recent years. Follow through on releasing those exclusives has also been spotty.
Granted, Microsoft has recently been busy acquiring studios, and bringing Xbox Game Pass to audiences every conceivable way possible. Now that it's added as many players into the Xbox ecosystem as it can, a showcase such as this is a good way to retain that userbase and help it further grow.
The Developer_Direct, per Windows Central, will feature information on exclusive games such as Minecraft Legends and Arkane's Redfall. One supposed omission, though, may be Bethesda's Starfield; that game is reportedly skipping this event for a larger reveal sometime later.
In December after the Game Awards, Xbox Games' marketing VP Aaron Greenberg said that 2023 would "be exciting" for the Xbox brand. Shortly before Windows Central's report was published, Greenberg tweeted that the week would be "fun," potentially indicating a reveal of the Developer_Direct was
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