The Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase may well be the place where this year's biggest gaming announcements of the season happen. Microsoft Game Studios and all the associated developers have multiple projects on the go that have gone without any updates for some time.
With Starfield and Redfall delayed into 2023, this will hopefully be where we get a glimpse of what the Xbox gaming line-up looks like for the end of this year.
Here's how to watch the E3 2022 Xbox and Bethesda Games showcase
This is just one of the events taking place as part of the E3 2022 schedule, so stay tuned for more reveals, news, and more from E3 2022.
With the Xbox and Bethesda Game Showcase just a few hours away, let's take a look at the slew of upcoming Xbox Series X games that are confirmed to be in development that may well feature in today's showcase.
Aside from confirming it'll run for approximately 95 minutes, Xbox has been quiet on what exactly it will feature.
In an official Xbox Wire blog post, it stated the showcase would be "featuring the latest on games from Xbox Game Studios, Bethesda, and our partners from around the world."
"The show will include everything you want to know about the gaming lineup coming to Xbox and PC, including upcoming releases on Xbox Game Pass, and more."
Here are our own Xbox and Bethesda Game Showcase 2022 predictions
STARFIELD
If Starfield doesn't make a showing at the Xbox and Bethesda event, we'd be incredibly surprised. Initially pegged to launch in November before its delay into 2023, it feels prime for a gameplay reveal later today.
After all, since that debut reveal trailer at E3 2021, which featured alpha in-game footage of a Constellation employee making their way through some sort of space base, before boarding a ship called Frontier NG 1350, we've only had three episodes of the Into the Starfield video series. These have shown off one of the companions, more concept art, and further details about the game, but as of yet, we've not actually seen any gameplay.
Hopefully, a large chunk of today's showcase will be dedicated to letting us know exactly what we'll be doing in Bethesda Game Studios first new IP in 25 years. Thankfully, Todd Howard recently said that Bethesda is "putting the finishing touches on Starfield", so it definitely feels like the perfect time for a fresh look.
REDFALL
The same goes for Redfall, the open-world co-op FPS from Arkane – aka the teams responsible for Prey and Dishonored. It'll see you play as a group of survivors trying to escape the titular town of Redfall, in Massachusetts, which has been locked down by vampires who have blocked out the sun and cut the island off completely.
Again, a cinematic trailer for the game was revealed at last year's E3 with an initial 'Summer 2022' release window, which has since moved into the first half of 2023. That didn't come as too much of a surprise though, as we've literally seen nothing of the game since. Today may well be the time to change that.
AVOWED
It's been two years since we first got a glimpse of Avowed – the brand new first-person RPG from Fallout: New Vegas and The Outer Worlds developer, Obsidian. Since then, both Microsoft and Obsidian have been radio silent on the title, leaving us with no more than that original teaser trailer in the two years since E3 2020.
What we do know is that it's a fantasy RPG set in the same universe as Pillars of Eternity, and combat will include rune-based magic powers and swordplay. Job listings posted back in 2019 initially talked about the title having branching narrative too. Whether we see anything of the intriguing game today is a bit of a mystery.
NEW PERFECT DARK
Joanna Dark is making a comeback, with Perfect Dark getting a reboot from the teams at The Initiative and Crystal Dynamics. Originally announced at The Game Awards back in December 2020, it's another Xbox title that has remained elusive. You'll no doubt be sensing a theme here…
It's set to be an FPS that really leans into the super-spy fantasy, although developer The Initiative has said it wants to keep it feeling fast-moving with an emphasis on physicality. The teaser trailer showed off a world wrought by ecological disasters, a sci-fi futuristic aesthetic, and camera shots that look like they came from an in-game drone. We're all desperate to see more!
90 MINUTES TO GO
We're just an hour and a half away from things kicking off! Set your alarms folks!
SLIME RANCHER 2
Still set to launch in 2022, developer Monomi Park has been slowly drip-feeding new screenshots and tidbits about the game on its social media platforms about Slime Rancher 2, but we're still only rocking the trailer from last E3 2021.
Slime Rancher 2 is a hotly-anticipated sequel that takes our hero Beatrix LeBeau to a new locale known as Rainbow Island. It's still brimming with slimes, as you'd hope, including a handful of new species that you won't have seen before. LeBeau will be taking residence in a new home too, a glorious conservatory that'll let her appreciate the colors of this land through its glass dome. Hopefully we'll get a little release date love today.
SENUA'S SAGA: HELLBLADE 2
Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 is one of those games where we're a little in the dark about exactly how far away its release date could be. Although it was originally announced back at the Game Awards in 2019, as of June 2021 it was revealed that Hellblade 2 had yet to enter "full production" – and that was according to a teaser reel from developer Ninja Theory itself.
We've had a few trailers that show off the progress Ninja Theory is making with Unreal Engine 5, but no confirmation of a release window for Senua's next adventure, or really what the story will be. We're definitely due an update on Hellblade 2.
EVERWILD
As for Everwild, the brand new IP from Rare, what's happening here is anyone's guess. Not only have we not seen the game since 2019, rumor has it that the game has since been completely rebooted with a new creative director at the helm.
From the trailer that was originally debuted though, it's a game that will explore our connection to the natural world through characters known as Eternals. From what we've seen so far, combined with dev comments, it looks to be an emergent MMO similar to other Rare title, Sea of Thieves. But, with the rumors of a reboot and lack of any additional updates it could very well be a different game to what we originally saw.
CONTRABAND
Contraband is a new open-world, co-op heist game from Avalanche Studios and another evasive upcoming Xbox title. It made its debut at E3 last year with an alluring teaser trailer, which was stylish but detail-light.
What we do know is that it's set in the fictional locale of Bayan during the 1970s. From the CG teaser trailer, we got a look at the crew's next heist – the Sun River Job – which seems to involve nabbing a safe from a private storage facility and then getting it across the border. Avalanche Studios is calling this its "most ambitious and spectacular game to date" so we can't wait to see more of this one.
1 HOUR TO GO
The Xbox Games Showcase will start in just one hour!
FABLE
Ah, Fable. I've lost count of how many times I've watched the teaser trailer for this hoping to see something I've not seen before, so I definitely need some more details. We've not seen anything beyond that trailer since its debut in 2020, but it's a "completely fresh start" for the series. In the works with Forza Horizon developer, Playground Games, it's still an RPG but it will be something new rather than Fable 4 in the truest sense.
Phil Spencer mentioned the game right at the end of last year's E3 showcase, but only to confirm that it's still in development. Maybe it's this year is its time to shine.
FORZA MOTORSPORT
The eighth entry in the Forza Motorsport series, currently in development at Turn 10 Studios, will simply be called Forza Motorsport, rather than Forza 8. By skipping its usual two-year release cycle, Turn 10 has taken time to overhaul its ForzaTech engine to create what will hopefully be a truly next-gen experience.
In a development update at the end of last year, Turn 10 revealed it would have more to reveal in 2022, so it feels prime for a full reveal at the Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase later today.
THE OUTER WORLDS 2
Revealed last year, developer Obsidian Entertainment is working on a sequel to its 2019 release. The Outer Worlds 2 will give us a new crew to get to know as they traverse an entirely new star system. But, apart from that we don't really know much about it! The teaser trailer, whilst brilliant, merely poked fun at video game trailers and the various cliches, but didn't give much away about the game itself. In fact, it almost boasted that "the developers haven't finished the [main character's] design. Or finished the story. Or finished any gameplay that's actually ready to show. In fact, the only thing they have finished is the title."
Of course, a lot can happen in a year so may be a contender for a little update today.
STATE OF DECAY 3
Another title that may get a little showcase is State of Decay 3, although it's not likely. The upcoming zombie survival game from developer Undead Labs was initially announced at E3 2020, but since then reports have suggested that the studio is trying to work through a toxic culture and the game is subsequently stuck in pre-production. So we may well not see anything of this one for quite some time.
Source: Sun Co
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