The Game Awards 2022 has now come and gone, with long-time host Geoff Keighley delivering another huge in-person event following the digital efforts of the pandemic times. While the show itself brought some great early looks at some of our now-most anticipated games (Judas, we're looking at you), there's no denying that things were a little quiet when it comes to Team Xbox.
Over the last couple years, we've gotten used to Xbox showing up in a big way at TGA. Remember back in 2019 when the team first revealed the Xbox Series X at Keighley's show? How about 2020's Perfect Dark reveal or last year's incredible Hellblade 2 demo? Whichever stands out the most to you, gaming's annual December show has been a sure-fire avenue for some big Xbox news in recent times.
However, Xbox broke the mould this year by basically ghosting the entire show. As we've mentioned, we saw some solid third-party games that will come to Xbox, and the team used the show to further push Game Pass of course, but no grand Xbox Game Studios reveals were present this year - which was disappointing for sure.
The whole ordeal does throw up a question though: is it time for Xbox to start creating its own dedicated showcase format? We've seen plenty of (very long) Xbox indie shows on Twitch over the past few years, along with the E3-replacement presentations as well, but it all feels a bit scattershot and the showcases scarcely follow the same format. Nintendo nailed its 'Direct' shows years ago, with Sony quickly following suit with its 'State of Play' format, so, should Xbox make it three out of three?
We can certainly see good reason for doing so. This year, Xbox clearly wasn't ready to reveal anything huge at The Game Awards, but if it created its own showcase format — to be delivered as and when the team is ready — Xbox can reveal whatever it wants, on its own terms. Neither Nintendo or Sony seem to stick with a set timing schedule for their direct shows, and Microsoft could definitely benefit from such flexibility.
In recent years, Microsoft has appeared to enjoy sticking with an E3-time show and something big for The Game Awards, with odd other reveals sprinkled throughout the year at consumer shows like Gamescom or even its old 'X0' events. However, it's starting to feel like that approach is being stretched thin, with an 'Xbox Direct' format seeming like an obvious move to shore things up after the company's disappointing TGA 2022 return.
It's not all bad news in the aftermath of this month's awards show though. Xbox's Aaron Greenberg has already said the team has "a lot planned" for 2023, even if things are still pretty vague at the time of writing.
We think it's about time those plans started becoming a little more focused, as Xbox has felt a bit all over the place in recent months. We know Starfield, Forza Motorsport and Redfall are all set to launch in 2023 - how about a lovely 'Xbox Direct' presentation to show them off early next year?
What do you think about all this? Should Xbox start delivering its own 'Direct' showcases?
Vote in the poll and let us know!
Comments 27
It all comes down to having something to show off. You can't have directs if there's no content.
They should try, why not, something new is good.
Absolutely, I'm all in for no filler pure content approach. Unfortunately, it has been mostly opposite with cinematics and hype propaganda.
@ParsnipHero Even if they're struggling with first-party content, they've still got third-party titles, ID@Xbox games, Xbox Game Pass reveals, etc.
I'll never understand why they choose to hide their indie showcases behind a multi-hour stream on Twitch every few months... it's a terrible format with only about 10 minutes of actual reveals.
Not a knock on MS but I would say no as they don't have enough first party content to show, and 3rd parties do a decent job of advertising in other spaces.
Nintendo Directs work in part because of the first party content that Nintendo has but also because Nintendo isn't often put at the forefront of marketing for multiplats or late ports and this gives Nintendo a space to do that instead. So as they say it sends Nintendo info "Directly to You" (when others wont otherwise). A lot of games that are on the switch most users wouldn't know about because they aren't really advertised elsewhere. But the Direct takes care of that (and I suspect also keeps their marketing budget lower as a result. They have TV ads but only for their first party titles really). MS and Sony simply have a different marketing workspace. So the Direct would almost be redundant unless it is about first party or some new MS feature. (same with Sony's State of Play).
I think Microsoft did well with Inside Xbox and X0 pre-pandemic (2018/2019) in terms of style but usually didn't have the content to support it. If 2023 is a strong lineup for Xbox, a return to multiple announcement events per year would work very well.
As a couple others said, only if they have good content to show us. With the lack of big releases this year a direct would be pretty bare.
Well they got 3 big AAA before end of June 2023
So we need some communication and hype building to start soon, in whatever form it takes.
To be honest I don't really care how we learn of games, as far as we have new cool games though.
No. Just no.
Not if it's just going to be them showing trailers for games that are years and years away, have no solid release date at ALL, or don't even have a solid genre nailed down (I'm looking at YOU, Everwild). I don't need more promises of games that are going to come out someday lol
I like the big e3 style show once a year personally. Really glad it's back next year!
I would love more shows from them throughout the year. Yes they didn’t show at the game awards. Waiting till E3 to see something new or updates on games takes forever. More shows would be awesome, but they need to be careful not to show too much or too soon. They had some CGI trailers for many games before the series systems launched. Because many of those games didn’t come out, many feel like Xbox is bad at managing games or that they were delayed. Keeping the cards close and revealing them at appropriate times in multiple shows a year would excite a lot of gaming fans.
I'm surprised at the support. I enjoy the E3 style show, and more importantly, while I liked the Nintendo Direct originally in Iwata's original format, the modern Directs and State of Plays are the most bland pre-recorded dry infomercial nonsense, I might as well be watching an ad for the Pocket Fisherman. They have zero energy and personality, they're literally just a commercial, not a presentation.
I think directs are a bad idea for Xbox at the current time. Last gen was a sales disaster. This gen has not gotten off to a great start for Xbox, with the lack of exclusives, barren 2022, and troubled launches like Halo Infinite. Playstation continues to be the market leader — even by MS's own admission — and Nintendo has found an excellent niche that generates excitement. That's why they've found success with their own directs.
More than anything, I'd argue MS needs to fix the narrative around "Xbox doesn't have any games" which is done by A) Actually releasing exclusives and B) promoting those on broader platforms that have the highest visibility. Directs are fine but they're inevitably preaching to the choir, whereas something like E3 and The Game Awards drives larger viewership. Especially of those who aren't Xbox owners yet but might be.
What's done is done, but showing off something during last week's TGA would have been more effective at driving hardware and GP sales than a direct that's catering to an install base that's already so eager for exclusives that they'll show up regardless. At the very least, they need to balance directs with larger stage events. Maybe big events for announcements and trailers that generate hype, then follow with directs for gameplay deep dives.
I prefer a huge E3. No issue with skipping keighleys shows, he's a hack.
If you want. As long as more and more games are announced:)
Nintendo Direct and PlayStation State of Play are a lot better than E3 type showcases, in my opinion. They are short, sweet, and to the point. I'd like to see Xbox do something similar.
I feel like with the flack they get for the one show (too long, too much cgi, no gameplay, games are too far away, only showing next 12 months means nothing new, etc) they should just focus on perfecting that show first.
In the near future they should start getting regular releases from the array of studios so maybe they will eventually have enough to show at multiple showcases but for now I think the one show plus random spots is all they need.
@BBB One of the issues MS/Xbox ran into this time was that the big 2022 were delayed. Now that they are months away, Spencer/Bond/Howard want to be the ones to debut these games in near finished status. This trio has been involved in pretty much every Xbox show or reveal for the last few years.
@FraserG indies generally dont create excitement.
your average (non gaming site visitor) gamer. dont want to watch budget titles.
they wanna see those AAA blow your socks off bangers.
plus if all you can show are indies, then it shows gaming on your system is poor.
I'm a big fan of Nintendo's style. Only showcase games that are coming out within the next 6ish months. If Fable isn't coming out for 2+ years, I really don't even want to know that it exists.
I've wanted this from Microsoft for a while and somewhat surprised it hasn't happened.
they do poor job promoting stuff games just get dumped on gamepass and they are never heard of again
I'd rather they put out teasers when games are truly close to release. Don't try to tease me for months on end for a game clearly not ready yet.
I'd like to think they learned to wait and not over promise.
As well as needing to publicise what is coming in 2023 and beyond, MS has a really bad track record with marketing. They should be pushing the games they do have even if it is a bit weak right now. Additions to gamepass should be publicised everywhere, same with making things like ID@Xbox more accessible. Not just for people like us who frequent pure xbox, ign, kinda funny etc but let the masses know about exclusive or AAA games on Xbox.
I'd love to see it, if only to highlight Game Pass and ID@Xbox titles a little more.
X/S could be 4 or 5 years old by the time they get a decent cadence of 1st party games. GamePass is good but I didn't pay for a console and a fast storage card just for indies and 3rd party stuff I could have played on a Playstation. Really enjoyed Guardians of the Galaxy though, not gonna lie.
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