The Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase in June 2022 offered viewers a look at plenty of anticipated titles under Microsoft's studio umbrella, with the promise that they would release within the following 12 months. A few have debuted including High on Life, Scorn, and Pentiment. However, many are still on the way, and today four of them were given the spotlight during a new event format called the Xbox & Bethesda Developer_Direct. Audiences also got their first look at a surprise new Tango Gameworks project, though this leaked ahead of the Direct.
News coming out of the tech conglomerate has not been particularly positive of late, with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announcing mass layoffs last week that extended to Xbox Game Studios likes 343 Industries. Though this may have dampened some fans' excitement for the Developer_Direct, the hard work of all five studios highlighted was on full display - including brief glimpses into their respective offices as devs headed each segment. Only one of the titles currently has a vague release window, shaping up more of the year for Xbox owners and Game Pass subscribers.
Minecraft Legends
Minecraft is such a blockbuster success to this day that it makes sense for Mojang to branch out into so many spin-offs. Minecraft Legends is a more narrative-focused action-strategy game being developed in collaboration with Blackbird Interactive, which previously assisted on the now-shuttered augmented reality mobile game Minecraft Earth. The Developer_Direct presentation honed in on Legends' PvP multiplayer component, which lets two teams of up-to four players battle on randomly generated maps.
Gameplay in Minecraft Legends is reminiscent of a free-roaming tower defense game, or even strategy titles like Clash of Clans, with players building bases to protect different structures as they gather resources to build siege weapons. This latest Direct trailer also highlights PvPvE elements as players can take on hoards of rogue Piglins to prepare for battle against their live opponents. Minecraft Legends releases on April 18 for all major platforms, and pre-orders are available now. There's also a Deluxe Edition package that includes additional character skins.
Forza Motorsport
If Minecraft Legends is ostensibly a game built for everyone, Forza Motorsport is a more niche racing experience that's aiming for authenticity above all else. Turn 10 Studios' portion of the showcase highlighted the team's intent to create its "most technically advanced and authentic racing game" yet. In fact, given the game is exclusively coming to PC and Xbox Series X/S (with a blanket 2023 release window), it is being described by Turn 10 as "a generational leap in fidelity, immersion, and realism."
What fans got to see of the next entry in this long-running Xbox franchise is certainly impressive. As creative director Chris Esaki took viewers to various departments, they got to see light-reactive shaders and paints for over 500 customizable cars, detailed soundscapes, dynamic weather, and more advanced driving and vehicle-degradation physics than what was possible in Motorsport 5, 6, and 7. Add in a variety of environments, including the series' first South African racetrack, and it's clear that racing enthusiasts have a truly next-generation experience to anticipate.
Hi-Fi Rush
Hi-Fi Rush was the biggest surprise of the Direct, both because it was not announced ahead of time and because of its departure from the expected norm. Tango Gameworks is known for horror-adjacent titles like The Evil Within series and 2022's Ghostwire: Tokyo, but Hi-Fi Rush is a 3D action-platformer with a quippy sense of humor and a cel-shaded art style that brings the work of teams like Telltale Games to mind. It also has a stylized, futuristic world that could easily fit alongside Sunset Overdrive or Jet Set Radio.
Tango Gameworks is also taking a huge departure in terms of mechanics, encouraging players to fight in a rhythmic fashion that boosts the music's tempo as they get better at the game. An Xbox Wire post describes Hi-Fi Rush as "something like the 'Baby Driver' of video games," driven by music in every respect and featuring artists like Nine Inch Nails to underscore protagonist Chai's journey to destroy Vandelay Technologies. Xbox further surprised audiences by announcing the newly revealed Hi-Fi Rush is available now on PC and Xbox Series X/S - including via Game Pass.
The Elder Scrolls Online
A new Chapter update for The Elder Scrolls Online, titled "Necrom," was announced during the Xbox & Bethesda Developer_Direct. However, this showcase was just a teaser for the standalone global reveal stream that took place afterward. Likely the most important details for players are that Necrom launches June 20, bringing them to the eastern regions of Morrowind with access to Elder Scrolls Online's third post-launch class, the Arcanist.
The upcoming Necrom Chapter will specifically bring fans to Telvanni Island and the titular city of Necrom, while tying in the Daedric Prince Hermaeus Mora from Skyrim's Dragonborn DLC through a focus on the Oblivion realm of Apocrypha. Two new companions will join players as they have the chance to test out Arcanist skills like portal traversal, though there will be no new dungeons given an Endless Dungeon activity is planned for later this year. Pre-purchases are available now, which grant players access to a new mount and pet as well as additional bonus item at launch. For an unspecified limited time, ZeniMax Online Studios is also making the game's previous Chapters and over 20 DLC packs free so that prospective players can catch up before June.
Redfall
​​​​​​​Finally, the Developer_Direct closed out with a deep dive into Arkane Austin's next venture: Redfall. Enough trailers and showcases have released thus far that fans know what they're getting into with this cooperative shooter, which features different character classes that have unique abilities to combat hordes of vampires and their specialized variants - not unlike the Special Infected from Left 4 Dead. Among the variants seen in this showcase were Shrouds, which surround the player in darkness; and all-powerful Rooks, summoned by the "Vampire Gods."
A variety of locales across Redfall island can be seen throughout the deep-dive, but the biggest insight to glean is Redfall's overall gameplay loop. Teams of up-to four players gather intel and reclaim sections of the map from vampires, looting customizable weapon parts along the way, until they gain access to a neighborhood's elite "Underboss" with unique powers. Gathering enough skulls from these bosses will open access to the Gods themselves for large-scale encounters teased at the end of the Xbox & Bethesda Developer_Direct. Redfall is also confirmed to be releasing May 2 for PC and Xbox Series X/S, with pre-orders including a "Bite Back Edition" that grants access to its Hero Pass.