This year’s Xbox Game Showcase promises to be different, exec says

Microsoft is setting expectations for its big Xbox Games Showcase on Sunday, saying that the roughly two-hour show won’t overpromise the way that previous showcases and E3 keynotes have. But the company is also not tempering expectations about what’s coming from Xbox Game Studios and Bethesda Softworks — Xbox fans will be treated to “games, games, games, games, and Starfield,” vice president for Xbox games marketing Aaron Greenberg said on Twitter.

Greenberg also said that none of Xbox’s first-party games at the Xbox Games Showcase “are full CG trailers,” seemingly a response to a recent CG-heavy showcase from PlayStation maker Sony and some of Microsoft’s past showcases, where early-in-development titles like Fable, Perfect Dark, and Avowed were revealed. Greenberg pledged that “Everything is either in-game footage, in-engine footage, or in-game footage with some cinematics. Each of our trailers will be labeled so it is hopefully clear for our fans.”

The Xbox VP also confirmed, perhaps cheekily, that “there will be no movie trailers in our games show.” Sony showed a trailer for its live-action Gran Turismo movie during last month’s PlayStation Showcase, you’ll recall. And Microsoft used some of its time at The Game Awards in 2021 to hype up its Halo TV series.

And unlike last year, the Xbox team won’t promise that everything it shows this year will come out during the following 12-month window, Greenberg said. Microsoft made that commitment at the 2022 Xbox Games Showcase, a promise it couldn’t deliver on for games like the new Forza Motorsport, Ark 2, and STALKER 2.

Microsoft’s Xbox Games Showcase will air Sunday, June 11, starting at 10 a.m. PDT/1 p.m. EDT/7 p.m. CEST, and will stream on Xbox’s YouTube, Twitch, and Facebook channels. Immediately after the show, comes Bethesda Softworks’ Starfield Direct. The showcase for Starfield promises “new gameplay, developer interviews, and behind-the-scenes insider information” for the upcoming Windows PC and Xbox Series X game.