Well, that's it folks, another Xbox Developer Direct is in the bag after the 2024 event came to a close yesterday evening. It was a fantastic showing all-in-all, with four Xbox studios and one surprise Square Enix appearance packing out a neat livestream that never outstayed its welcome.
We didn't get an unexpected shadow release like last year's excellent Hi-Fi RUSH drop, but we're more than happy with how this year's event turned out. Hellblade 2's release date has been a long time coming and was a very nice reveal, and that huge blowout for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle was absolutely brilliant!
However, the show's format is something that's really stuck with us this year as well. We think Xbox's approach in allowing the devs to talk directly to the fans is a great way to deliver this sort of thing - it feels a lot more personal than some of these showcases end up feeling. We love a packed E3-style show as much as anyone, but letting the games breathe and the devs talk candidly is a fantastic approach, we think.
This year's event has also taught us something else - that Xbox is open to inviting third-party teams to these events. Developer Direct 2023 was strictly Xbox first-party, but Square Enix's showing this year was a big surprise, and we now know that such a prospect is on the cards for future events. Any guesses for next year?
Of course, by the time 2025 rolls around Activision Blizzard should be well integrated into Team Xbox, so that's something to be mindful of for a potential future event. That probably wouldn't be a huge surprise, but still, an ActiBlizz-packed Dev Direct would be amazing next year!
With Sony and Nintendo doing their own thing for years now, Xbox Developer Direct has officially joined those over the last year or so - and we're very glad of it. We now have another way to sit down and celebrate all things Xbox, and with the sheer number of teams on board these days, we can't see why Developer Direct won't be here for years to come.
Agree that Xbox Dev Direct is just a fantastic format all-round? Tell us what you think down below.
Comments 31
Dang right it's a home run. The amount of content and value that xbox is bringing is staggering. The constant showcases with amazing games, the diversity, the road map, and the crazy thing is there's much more! And that sweet sweet game pass. It'd be nice if a certain other company would give the gamers a roadmap and an actually first party showcase instead of crickets, but here we are.
Yeah, I believe that Microsoft in definitely in the lead right now, when it comes to game announcements and Game Pass. Just my opinion. Please don't anyone attack me with any console sale stats. I own all three consoles and love all of them.
I'm not happy to be honest no new gears still and no Activision drop for game pass or even a mention about either one. Avowed looks decent Indiana Jones looks good but sweet f all to really be happy about
My only real complaint was that I think everygame should have had an exact release date when it's in the developer direct for this year.
I think what made it a success was showing games that are actually expected to release this year more than the format itself.
Don't get me wrong, it's nice to hear from developers and see footage, but if we got no new information, it would have been all for nothing!
This is what Microsoft should be doing from here on out: putting out presentations with games that are realistic expected to come in the next 12 months.
While I liked the look of a couple of the games on show, I found it to be an incredibly boring 50 minutes, filled with unlikeable people waffling on and on and on and on. That’s just my personal opinion, I can understand why others may appreciate it as it’s a well put together show without a doubt.
I enjoyed it. Some of the presentations did feel like too much talking. Gamers want gameplay and details that matter. It wasn't bad by any means. I'm waiting to hear about Towerborne. ActiBlizz announcements will happen in their own time, since it's a butt load of content and I think it'll all be dropped at once on to Game Pass when it's ready. With all these games and Assassin's Creed Red later this year, I may need 3rd job.
They just need to get rid of the talking heads nonsense now. It's so cringe, and MS is the last of the big 3 that use it the most.
Not to mention that a lot of it feels like back-patting and opportunities to drop buzzwords.
Show us the games, and let the games do the talking. This is just my take, so don't eviscerate me please. I enjoyed the presentation as a whole, but it should have been less waffle and more footage IMO.
For some reason that woman on a bike in the Ara presentation irritated me the most lol
@AhabSpampurse couldn't agree more. It's just waffle that gets a bit tedious. I'm not sure anybody really wants that in there, they should aim to make the focus as lean as possible. Talking heads are definitely fat than can be cut.
Definitely giving a huge spot to Square was relationship building and MicroSoft proving to Japanese game companies that Xbox will support them in the marketing. The deep dives and talking heads were what was needed as only Xbox could provide that theatre.
So 45 minutes of various people saying "there's going to be another Call of Duty game", while showing absolutely nothing on it or even telling us what it's called, because no way they're going to hype up Call of Duty 2025 in a January 2025 event when they've only been trying to sell you Call of Duty 2024 for 2 or 3 months? Sounds brill 👍
The sort of format is ok, but we should have more gameplay with the games.
I mean Hellblade 2 gameplay mechanics are a mystery and it’s out in May 24. I have not clue if I would like the game or not.
But overall a good format it’s just the games that need to be more appealing and make the masses go wow and take notice and I don’t think even INDY did that but came the closest.
It’s seems even Xbox in house studios can’t really produce a game like TOTK or GOWR.
Your in house studios should be making your console sing and hum the best. But it will never happen as Xbox studios cannot make a game for one console, it’s 2 consoles, pc and all other devices cloud wise.
So never expect a true amazing AAA from Xbox studios they are not set up like that and are not doing business like that.
The Avowed part was really bad IMO because the game just looked stilted and unimpressive and the talking felt like overselling what was shown like crazy.
The SE stuff felt like “we got paid for this but we won’t act comfortable”
But the other segments where great and well done IMHO. I also immediately installed hellblade 1 to beat that just before LaD8 releases because of the direct.
I thought the Hellblade section was just chaff, because they could have just shown that and given us a date at the Game Awards, but I liked the look at all the other games I hadnt seen, but without HB and Square Enix, you could have gotten that down easily to 30 mins
@BrianRGI2X they didn’t show much hellblade 2 in their 15 minutes, probably because it would have been half of the game.
@JustinSane Someone else pining for more Towerborne?
Been interested since they showed it off. Than absolutely nothing. 😭
I'm in a serious minority here, but it didn't quite work for me. End of the day, it's just 4 (5) games, when Nintendo chews through 20 games per show (understandably not first party).
It also didn't really get me excited for anything new, as developer-testifying marketing doesn't do it for me (close shot, talking to the camera about how your game is amazing piece of art).
I'll be checking Hellblade 2 and Indy, but I would have done that either way.
The games were great but the format is awful. To support my case - the highlight of the show was a trailer. Just showing trailers would be better.
@Cikajovazmaj
My favourite part of the showcase was when one of the Ninja Theory devs said something along the lines of "at Ninja Theory our aim is always to deliver works of high art" or some such nonsense, and I turned to my wife and said "what, like your last game, Bleeding Edge?"
@Markatron84 that shot is exactly why I mentioned that. I mean, do they think other developers are not proud of their work?
Great showcase and deepdive into games. A perfect way to excite fans for the new year. It’s cool to see the people who make these and hear their passion.
I actually really liked the show. It was a good mix of gameplay and dev insight. And there's so much more to come from Xbox Studios that I think they'll absolutely own this year. But that's just my opinion.
“Another home run”. Am I the only one who remembers the games featured at last years direct? Hi-fi rush was the highlight and everything else that came out was either middling or an absolute dumpster fire. This is why I don’t believe anything I see in trailers. You have to be drinking the kool aid like crazy to call last years direct a success and not question the games coming out of this direct.
Got no strong feelings on the format as a whole, but isn't it meant to be a showcase for Xbox exclusive games for 2024. I personally would have replaced Ara (PC only) and Visions of Mana (multi platform) with Towerborne and Dungeons of Hinterberg which are both due out this year.
Not much for me in the showcase as the games I'm most intrigued by are Clockwork Revolution and South of Midnight, hopefully they'll feature in the summer showcase.
I didn't mind the format. Indy was the highlight for me. Liked the look of Aras but I'm a console gamer. I think Hellblade is a bit overrated - the orginal was a good game but not strong enough build a brand around which they're trying too hard to do. Avowed looked a bit meh with Starfield levels of dialog. Not really interested in the Square Enix game.
I really don’t like the format at all. Only watched it this morning but I skipped past everything but gameplay, and even then I skimmed most of that. None of the games were of any interest to me. Really miss when the big 3 had amazing shows. It feels like it’s been ages.
Nothing blew me away. Indy looks promising but not totally convincing (yet). Although it’s the closest Xbox has come to a system seller so far. Mana looked pedestrian. Same with Avowed. Ara’s not for me. Feel like I’ve played Hellblade already at this point. And the earliest date we saw was end of May? Bit sad that we are 4 years in and nothing has truly wowed me yet except maybe Fable and Replaced.
The first Hellblade unexpectedly became one of my all-time top 5 games, so I was already happy just getting a release date for the sequel. The rest was the icing on the cake. I had no idea Indiana Jones was as far along as it appears to be and I had zero interest in Avowed until this presentation - now I'm really looking forward to it. My kid and I watched the Ara thing and both agreed it's more her thing than mine, but I applaud Microsoft and Xbox for having a little something for everything (sans the grumpy people above that apparently just don't like games at all? Can't help them)
I love the format. Don't love all the games but that's to be expected, MS is building an insanely varied stable of devs for better or worse.
@Jenkinss I'm Glad they are trying everything, at least it's not a 3rd person Machine like PS5, even though God Of War & Uncharted are very good lol
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