Talking Point: What Would You Like To See From Xbox's 'Developer_Direct' Livestream?

Goldeneye and FH5 Expansion 2 release dates would be the biggest hopes. I doubt the games they mentioned are the only ones in the Direct given that AoE 2 is still not available for preorder in the Xbox store.

Release dates! Release dates! Release dates!

Release dates are pointless because they can always be changed.

A solid March release date for Forza Motorsport, please. Oh and a surprise or two would be aces!

I’m really hoping Ghostwire Tokyo gets a release date for game pass

Yeah, i never really cared about release dates. I just want them to show off new and upcoming games that they haven't shown off yet. I just want something to get excited about. All we hear about is Starfield, Forza & Redfall... I'm sick of hearing about these 3 games every day. Tell us about new games that have not been shown off at all yet.

Gameplay only.

Absolutely no more prerendered BS.

Some updates for Sea of Thieves and Halo Infinite but this is for new releases so I doubt that’ll happen.

Believable release dates for big games like Redfall. Starfield as well at its own event which is hopefully February. Those two plus a couple of other things sprinkles in like Forza could restart some momentum for Microsoft (from my own perspective of course.)

Viva Pinata 3 or Grim Fandango 2.

A concrete release date for Redfall and a date for when we can expect Starfield's showcase.
And what i don't like to see anymore?
More damn delays.
Give us some clarity for god's sake.
Though if they actually deliver their promises and don't delay things anymore, 2023 will a year to remember for xbox.
Also i really hope to get my hands on hellblade 2 sometime around holidays, that would be AMAZING!

I wish for Gameplay about Everwild and Perfect Dark. Maybe a Wolfenstein 3 announcement. Or something completely new

@MrN0vmbr I suspect they won't announce the release date for Ghostwire Tokyo until the end of March at the earliest. With Deathloop, they didn't talk about the Xbox version until the 1-year exclusitivity window had ended. I suspect they'll do the same again here, although I'd be interested to see if they add any new content to it for the Xbox release.

Game Pass reveals. Don't care too much about new games if we still have to wait a long time.

Redfall release date, that’s it.

I'm not really interested in Redfall, so I'm mostly just expecting to find out more about FM8. It's been a long time, and FH5 really kind of set a high bar that the track simulator could really have to do a lot to push past. I've been enjoying GT7 far more than I expected especially after the disappointment of GT:S. I'm hoping for a seriously impressive graphics showcase that only racers can do, and mostly hoping for a great career/single player progression mode. GT7 did a great job on that, but FM7 was lacking there.

@Kaloudz 7 was definitely a weird title. It seemed like it kind of landed quietly, then vanished quietly, and didn't really have much in the way of single player, just setting up races and playing them. Great physics, amazing physics, but absolutely didn't feel like it upped the ante. Then again it was up against GT:S that felt like it rolled backwards down a hill and crashed on a stack of PS3s.

Dates for all the titles they mentioned for the show are a must along with gameplay. Some dates or initial announcements for some gamepass titles would be a bonus

Confirmed release dates, more gameplay of Forza Motorsport and Game Pass announcements.

I’d love to see Xbox’s answer to PSVR2 seeing as the VR business seems to be growing rapidly as opposed to fading away

Jet Set Radio Future

Fable Please

@Kaloudz Haha, yeah, I mean GT was decent back in the day and then, they decided to get weird with the PS4 entry and it was an ONLINE ONLY racing game!! Not only did the physics and handling feel off but the whole thing was centered around the always online GaaS thing....it was more Matrick than anything Xbox had, lol! No campaign, no progression, just.....online racing. It was fairly awful. I'm kinda shocked GT7 is actually good. It still feels less realistic to me than FM, IMO it leans more arcade despite it's sim obsession, but it's pretty fun.

The one thing wrong with GT7 though is the money. It's Sony's one monetized mtx game and it was really blasted at first with the pricing. They fixed that, somewhat, but IMO, in its current form, and the tuning kits required to advance in races, it still is a bit heavy handed in encouraging paying for currency to avoid grinding races. I'm hoping FM8 avoids going that route, but, look at Halo....

Games.. just games

This is going to sound utterly trivial BUT an FOV slider in Motorsport would just about make my head explode with joy.

Having been playing a silly amount of Asseto Corsa Competizione this year and having the correct FOV for my distance and TV size is a game changer.

In comparison FM7 feels like playing a fisheyed super speed sonic game.

some GP announcements. yes i know p3/4 and MHR (very much looking forward to) but 3 games and few in Dec, seems a poor showing,

esp when they are retailing around 30quid to buy outright

@Kaloudz It's an easy one to remember by description "Sony's racing series, but, the bad one." . You just didn't hear the name often because after launch nobody remembered it existed and that was the end of Sony racing for the remainder of the generation.

Yeah I do worry about Microsoft with the mtx at times. Though gt7 on ps was hilarious. The car prices were outrageous to "make it more realistic with the actual car prices"lol. They did correct that down but the car tuning in the game takes a lot of currency, and earning currency by racing isn't all that fast so it genuinely has a bit of a grind to it which I don't love. Though they called it a "carpg" but I was thinking more dragon quest with cars than demons souls with cars lol. Edsel the Destroyer just destroys you until you can get enough souls to craft the Muffler of Eternal Hunger.

I don't think FM7 made it to steam, but fh4 and 5 have so expectations are that it will. But don't worry, I'm sure cat ears for your Lambo will only be $20. Maybe you can dress it as the Oscar Meyer Wiener Mobile for $45 😂

Though so better than feeling the need to pay real money to buy racing tires and turbocharger to get a 600 cp value in a VW Beetle to have a chance at a race.... I do think the gt7 game economy remains questionable though I otherwise love the progression in it.

We already know the show is specific about 4 games, so without going out wishing for things they didn't promise, I want to see release dates and some representative gameplay slice for Red Fall. Specifically, since the game was compared to Far Cry 2, I want to see some world navigation, and starting some combat and world activities.

I don't expect them to say anything about Starfield, but do hope they do tell us at least "and join us in February for a deeper look at Starfield" (no date needed but give us a month window.)

@Kaloudz Once in a while, every publisher and platform holder announce something that turns out to be "premature." Premature nature might not always be intentional, it just happens.

Of the top of my head, Metroid Prime 4, Bayonetta 3, The Last Guardian, Final Fantasy 7 Remake, The Last of Us 2, TLOU2 2 Factions, Breath of the Wild 2, all of these got ridiculous premature announcements, and that's just announcements made by platform holders (even if its a third party game in the case of FF7R.)

It just happens. Sticking to only showing stuff that is coming in the next year is not going to be viable, some games are too large not to start the hype cycle 2 years in advance.

The real issue is that we give both, Sony and Nintendo, a pass because they have a longer history of delivering some big big games every few years, while XBox (thanks to Don Mattrick, whom disassembled their first party operations) had a huge window of nothing offered, so we grow more and more pessimistic when we keep seeing the extra-large titles slip into the future. But, if anything, this actually means Xbox needs the hype more than Sony or Nintendo, and they should more than anyone hype what's coming, even if it's not coming for another 2 or 3 years.

Figured I'd compare how long Sony tends to take between announcement and release of their "big" titles (or at least the titles they seem to be the most proud of) and compiled this list:

3.5 years - Death Stranding
2.8 years - Ghost of Tsushima
2.6 years - Uncharted 4
2.3 years - TLOU2
2.2 years - God of War Ragnarok
1.9 years - God of War 2018
1.9 years - Gran Turismo 7
1.8 years - Nioh 2
1.8 years - Horizon Zero Down
1.7 years - Horizon Forbiden West
1.4 years - Nioh (being extremely generous, this game was first announced for PS3 in 2004)
0.9 years - Returnal
0.8 years - Bloodbourne

Median: 1.9 years

Note none of these are based on dev cycles, nor rumors, but on official announcement dates.

1. Redfall Gameplay and Release Date
2. Game Pass announcements, specifically Cult of the Lamb

***** release dates

Oh, Microsoft, we can talk about whatever you want. I'm just so glad you're ready to talk again. It's been lonely.

I'll take anything I can get really. Game pass reveals would be cool.

redfall
starfield
avowed
fable
perfect dark
forza
outer worlds 2
indiana jones game
wolfenstein ?
Gears ?

It's very easy for me, a breakdown of the Games we can expect to play between now and E3 and the roadmap of dates. Anything beyond the 'next' 6months, keep until E3.

What I don't want is CGi trailers, in-game engine rendered cut-scenes/projected Game-Play targets etc of games more than 6-12months away. Unless you have 'actual' Game Play in a state that is 'ready' to show, even if its not quite perfect 'yet', don't show anything.

Revealing games like Fable and Perfect Dark when they did was a BIG mistake. Apart from the fact that these games are years away, just means that people get overly excited and then 'disappointed' with every show that comes up until its 'released' demanding info and criticising the 'time' its taking, pressuring Devs/publishers etc.

Therefore, just keep to the next 6months, with at most a handful of 'small' teasers for the games coming 6-12months on.

I need to see Perfect Dark, Avowed, Indiana Jones, Contraband, Fable, new announcements of exclusives, new Gears etc.

I would like to see actual release dates. And then, those games actually coming out on those actual release dates. And let's have those dates be sooner rather than later, otherwise, don't even bring the game up.

• Roadmap for Xbox 2023 + roadmap for Game Pass 2023
• Also projects we can expect within 6-18 months (released) + confirmation of titles that are too far away to talk about (again = so we can lower expectations = +18 months away)
• Def more about features we can expect in FM8 + premium DLC plans (my most anticipated game on Xbox)
• DLC 2 FH5
• Some release dates (def expecting one for HellBlade 2)

Looking forward to seeing Motorsport, that's bound to look the part. Redfall I'm a little skeptical of, but maybe they can convince me. Minecraft legends is when I go to make the tea

I'm certain we will get some Gamepass releases at the show.
We didnt get a second drop of titles in December, and we've had only three for this month. That would be a historic low point for gamepass (?), but I suspect its because they want to have several titles they can shout "available to download right now on GP" at the show. That's my hope anyway!

@Tharsman Interesting figures thanks.
Not sure why Nioh is in there as its not a Sony game?

Also you forgot Returnal which is 11 months (announced June 2020, released April 2021)
and Ratchet and Clank Rifts Apart which is 13 months (announced June 2020, released June 2021)

Surely you are not trying to skew the figures? lol jk

@Titntin it’s a Sony contracted game that you won’t ever see on another platform, similar to Bloodburne.

I didn’t forget Returnal, it’s in the list. It’s sorted by time from announcement to release. I am measuring in years so it’s 0.9 years, near the bottom of the list.

Didn’t include Rarchet and Clank because it’s neither the kind of game Sony is renowned for, nor the kind of game that they pride the most about. Their niche are the high budget third person adventure with realistic visuals and stuff, at least that’s the stuff that moves consoles.

@Tharsman
Nioh. Its a team ninja game that's always been available on steam?

Sorry, I missed where you included Returnal, my bad!

I guess opinions will differ on if Sony is known for Ratchet and Clank. Personally I feel its one of their more widely known IPs, it won several industry awards and sold 1.1 million in a few weeks when the install base was only 10 million sold. 10% of the player base is good numbers. Its also a 3rd person action adventure with astonishing visuals. I guess we will have to agree to disagree on that one.

Its all interesting numbers though, so I welcome your post which put some real metrics to the point under discussion. Thanks again.

@Titntin I was also aiming for the Triple-A stuff, I own the latest Ratchet and Clank, but that is not a triple-A game.

As for Nioh, I am not sure how the IP ownership stands, but Death Stranding is also on Steam and not because Sony published it, yet they own the IP. My understanding, though, is that Nioh is a permanent PlayStation console exclusive that you wont ever see on XBox or Nintendo consoles. There is a lot more I could add to the list, The Order 1886 and Infamous Second Son come to mind, but I also tried to focus on their top earners.

Point was to come up with an idea of how is "too early" to announce the big punch titles you know will make you the big bucks.

Everywhere on the web and anyone I have ever spoken to sees that title as AAA. I own it too and its one of the most AAA titles we've ve seen this gen in my opinion. Oh well, happy to agree to disagree again, its hardly important! 😁

Triple A is usually about budget. Anyways, semantics aside, updated list (I cant believe I actually missed Spider-Man from my list)

7.7 years - The Last Guardian *
3.5 years - Death Stranding
2.9 years - Days Gone *
2.8 years - Ghost of Tsushima
2.6 years - Uncharted 4
2.3 years - TLOU2
2.3 years - Spider-Man *
2.2 years - God of War Ragnarok
2.0 years - Concrete Genie *
1.9 years - God of War 2018
1.9 years - MediEvil *
1.9 years - Gran Turismo 7
1.8 years - Nioh 2
1.8 years - Horizon Zero Down
1.7 years - The Order 1886 *
1.7 years - Horizon Forbiden West
1.4 years - Nioh
1.0 years - R&C Rift Apart *
0.9 years - Returnal
0.9 years - Ratchet and Clank PS4 *
0.8 years - Bloodbourne
0.8 years - Infamous Second Son *
0.8 years - Knack 2 *
0.8 years - Knack *
0.4 years - Spider-Man Miles Morales *
0.4 years - Uncharted Lost Legacy *

*are games that I added to the list.

The median vaguely dropped from 1.9 to 1.8.

This list can easily be split into two lists, Family-friendly games and "the rest." If we split it as such, family friendly games have a median 0.9 years from announcement to release, and the rest a 1.9 year median.

Miles Morales and Legacy of Thieves might be the quickest turnaround there, but they both are way smaller games, think the dev cycle on Legacy of Thieves was literally just one year.

I would love to see Microsoft step into the area dominated by Sony, first party exclusive with a heavy emphasis on story telling. I love my Xbox but Sony handily stomps them in narrative driven games like Spider-Man, Uncharted, Last of Us, Ghost of Tsushima, and Horizon: Forbidden West.

Starfield is going to be a step in the right direction, I just want to see more of that.