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Xbox’s Game Showcase is being lauded as its best in close to a decade. More significant, is the fact that the majority of its offering is coming to Game Pass on day one. Microsoft’s vision of making gaming primarily subscription-based is finally taking hold.
Who saw that coming? My TV almost caught fire.
There were rumblings that Xbox had big plans for its Xbox Showcase 2024, which took place over the weekend, but the sheer feast we were provided took even the most senior of industry figures and miserable of critics by surprise.
Without the typical filler which has become customary of modern game conferences, Microsoft reeled off banger after banger. As a self-professed cynic and someone who’s come to expect disappointment – from Xbox in particular – I’m buzzing to say my excitement never plateaued throughout.
North of 30 announcements including a new Doom, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Perfect Dark, Diablo IV’s expansion, Gears of War E-Day, Fable: Return to Albion, STALKER 2, and new IPs Everwild, Aetherium, and Mythbound were dropped. The show was stacked wall-to-wall and executed with purpose and slickness.
It felt like a real moment in time. Microsoft has been greedily gobbling up major development studios, publishers, and properties for years without much to show for it, but the Xbox Showcase proved to be the company’s coup de grace – a culmination of all the groundwork and billions invested for this latest ‘generation.’
The stellar showing was underpinned by one significant phrase: ‘Play it day one with Game Pass.’ As many as 20 of the titles shown ended with this message, 13 of which are coming directly from studios owned by Microsoft.
While previous jibes about Xbox’s lack of quality exclusives were valid, the company has gone to crazy lengths with its rebut. They who laugh last…
The social media frenzy in the aftermath, which has yet to settle by the way, is indicative of a watershed moment for the industry. Xbox execs have long been emphatic about subscription services being the future of gaming, but this is the first time the wheels have really been in motion in that regard.
