Following Microsoft’s extraordinarily irritating no-show at The Sport Awards final month, the oldsters at Group Xbox kicked off 2023’s occasions calendar by asserting its first-ever Xbox Developer_Direct, aka Microsoft Is Lastly Stealing the Nintendo Direct Format Simply Like Sony Did With State of Play As a result of This Format Simply Works. The published is subsequent Wednesday, January 25, at 12pm PT/3pm ET, and we’ll have it stay on all of IGN’s channels. 4 video games will probably be highlighted, and one is not going to: Redfall, Forza Motorsport, Minecraft Legends, and Elder Scrolls On-line are in, and Starfield is out – with the latter getting its personal separate Direct someday sooner or later.
First, I have to commend Microsoft for messaging Starfield’s absence up entrance. The corporate has a historical past of tarnishing its otherwise-good showcases by failing to correctly set the Xbox neighborhood’s expectations up entrance. They’ve accomplished so right here, although they might be smart to be sure that the identical message is communicated immediately within the, um, Direct itself, to make sure followers who aren’t on social media or studying websites like IGN don’t find yourself disenchanted.
On that be aware, my first prediction for the Xbox Direct, as I and everybody else goes to name it endlessly, is that we’ll get a date for the Starfield Direct on this upcoming showcase. Xbox desperately wants launch dates proper now and if we’re not going to get that for Starfield at this occasion, then a date for a devoted Starfield broadcast – the place we most likely will get the discharge date – is the subsequent neatest thing.
Talking of launch dates, my second prediction for the January 25 Xbox Direct isn’t that we’re going to get launch dates for the brand new video games which might be going to be there. No, that half is clear. If we don’t get launch dates for Redfall, Forza Motorsport, and Minecraft Legends at this occasion, I’ll print off this column and eat it. Anyway, my prediction is the place these launch dates are going to land. I feel it’ll go: Minecraft Legends in March, Redfall in April, and Forza Motorsport in Could. As for ESO’s subsequent huge enlargement that’ll be featured on the Direct? Effectively, these at all times ship in June, so you may put that one in ink.
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Lastly, although the aforementioned 4 video games are promised to be featured on this broadcast and it’s finest to imagine that nothing else will probably be, I however suppose we’ll get one shock sport announcement. Not a serious factor, to be clear – the likes of Gears 6 and no matter id Software program’s subsequent sport is are going to have to attend till the newly resurrected E3 in June – however I do suppose we’ll get some smaller third-party unique and/or indie unique revealed.
Whether or not I’m proper or incorrect about these predictions, I’m, above all else, rooting for Microsoft to have occasion. Xbox followers have been dying of thirst in a desert for the previous year-plus, and getting launch dates and new gameplay for at the least three main new first-party exclusives will go a good distance in direction of turning the mirage we maintain seeing forward of us into an honest-to-goodness oasis. We’ll be doing Podcast Unlocked stay instantly following the top of the Xbox Direct, so be part of us to get our in-the-moment reactions!
Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s government editor of previews and host of each IGN’s weekly Xbox present, Podcast Unlocked, in addition to our month-to-month(-ish) interview present, IGN Unfiltered. He is a North Jersey man, so it is “Taylor ham,” not “pork roll.” Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.
