Watch today's Xbox and Starfield showcase right here with us
With the PlayStation Showcase and Summer Game Fest Opening Showcase out of the way, attention now turns to Microsoft and Bethesda's dual-purpose Xbox Showcase and Starfield Direct later today.
This, remember, is a show broken into two halves and it all begins at 6pm UK time (BST) or 7pm CEST / 1pm EDT / 10am PDT. I'll replace the image above with a live stream embed when they're available. It's showing on Twitch and YouTube, if you're wondering.
I'll be keeping tabs of everything that happens right here in a live report, while also chatting with you and pulling in your keen observations and witty remarks. We'll play guess the game! It's going to be so much fun you won't even believe it.
So, what to expect? Well Starfield, obviously, and there's a lot riding on this showing. Remember, Starfield is due out 6th September, which is less than three months away. And yet, we still haven't seen much of it in action. We haven't played it, either, and I don't think it's playable out in LA this week. Should we be worried? Sunday's showing should provide an answer one way or another.
As for the Xbox half of the show, Microsoft could do with generating some excitement. Cyberpunk 2077 expansion Phantom Liberty was conspicuous in its absence at the Summer Game Fest opening show, which I expect means it will be on Microsoft's stage on Sunday. CD Projekt Red and Microsoft have a history of working together on big announcements - remember Keanu Reeves' "breathtaking" appearance? That was on Microsoft's stage. Maybe Idris Elba, who stars in Phantom Liberty, will be there on Sunday. Maybe Keanu will be there, too!
What else? Fable 4, potentially. Microsoft dropped an Xbox Showcase tease recently, showing a trail of glitter leading from an Xbox controller to a screen, with jaunty music playing in the background - the whole atmosphere being very reminiscent of Fable. It's not ironclad confirmation we'll see Fable 4, but we can't think what else it could be.
The Forza Motorsport reboot will certainly feature, too, and this time we hope with a release date. Apparently, it's still a 2023 game.
We wonder, too, what Rare is up to. Our Sea of Thieves correspondent (doesn't that sound flashy?) Matt Wales tells me Rare pulled everyone off developing their monthly adventures at the start of 2023, so something appears to be brewing there. Could it be another brand crossover event, or might we finally see something more of Rare's other game, Everwild?
Elsewhere, look out for a Persona 3 remake subtitled Reloaded, and another game called Persona 5 Tactica, both of which leaked ahead of what is implied to be an Xbox Showcase airing.
It could be an exciting show.
Our live coverage of this event has finished.
11:28 am UTCGood afternoon! I'm currently swanning around in Dublin but I'll be with you half-an-hour before the show so we can build up to kick-off.
What are you hoping to see this evening?
Robert Purchese 13:43 pm UTCMade it to Dublin safe and sound! About to go taste my first proper Irish Guinness. What can go wrong?
Rumours swirling that Obsidian's Avowed - the first-person RPG we saw years ago now - will be there this evening. Excited to see more of that!
Robert Purchese 13:45 pm UTCStartlinglyOkay says: Is the glowing "Live" icon a new thing on the EG site or just the first time I caught it?
First time you caught it! It's been there for a little while now.
Robert Purchese 16:52 pm UTCHello! I'm here! We're nearly ready to go.
So I'm actually coming to you live from Larian Dublin - I've got permission to tell you that.
I've also - let it be known - been at a drag show this afternoon, unexpectedly, and I've been doing karaoke. Total Eclipse of the Heart and Wannabe Be, if you're asking.
Robert Purchese 16:53 pm UTCSo yes! I am by the river in Dublin, in Larian's temporary office, in their meeting room, watching the Xbox stream. They're all congretating from the PC Gaming Show later, not that that infers anything of course.
Robert Purchese 16:54 pm UTCWeebleman says: Mr Purchase! I cannot express my envy at you being in Dublin. Hope you enjoy the Guinness and take in some of the live music. Its a wonderful place. Get yourself in temple bar and we can watch you live, while you report live, on their webcam 😂
I am in the Temple Bar district right now! Not actually in the Temple Bar though.
Robert Purchese 16:57 pm UTCHow are you all doing?! Are you excited?
Robert Purchese 16:59 pm UTCWistfullyAnalogue says: Looking forward to potentially hearing about: Indiana Jones, Hellblade 2, Avowed (and Outer Worlds 2), Fable, Forza, Perfect Dark. I'm hoping Redfall was an anomaly they were lumbered with. There's a lot of potential talent and opportunity, I just hope we're past the worst of it.
Hellblade 2 is a great shout actually. I forget sometimes that Microsoft has vacuumed up a load of studios, Ninja Theory being one of them.
Robert Purchese 17:00 pm UTCJC T says: My guesses: Perfect Dark, Forza Motorsport demo today, release Sep/Oct, Indiana Jones from MachineGames, Hellblade in-engine footage and release date, Outer Worlds 2, Fable+release date, State of Decay 3, Xbox Porsche Design, accessibility controllers, Discord promo. And a crazy wild guess: New Gears and a very very brief teaser of a more powerful Series X :))
Bold! I wonder!
Robert Purchese 17:01 pm UTCUrineTrouble says: Should be some good stuff here. Hoping for Elder Scrolls news personally. I wonder if they'll block other platforms being announced for third party stuff again. Was it 48 hours for Persona last time?
Whew! Not sure about Elder Scrolls!
Robert Purchese 17:01 pm UTCHere we go!
Robert Purchese 17:02 pm UTCOh my god it's Fable!
Robert Purchese 17:02 pm UTCRichard Ayoade narrating and CGI-d for the occasion.
Robert Purchese 17:03 pm UTCTotally speaks to the tone of Fable, this, but what about the actual gameplay of it all?
Snapshots of gameplay! Is he actually in it?! Is Ayoade a villain?
Robert Purchese 17:04 pm UTCHang on, are you shrunk in the game? Is it like It Takes Two?
Robert Purchese 17:04 pm UTCThis is Compulsion, the team behind We Happy Few.
Robert Purchese 17:05 pm UTCSeems like there's a deliberate frame-rate thing with this, to give an animated feeling to it.
Robert Purchese 17:06 pm UTCSouth of Midnight, that's called. Not sure what it actually is though.
Robert Purchese 17:07 pm UTCBlueLiving says: Puss in Boots meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer?
Ha - could be!
Robert Purchese 17:07 pm UTCUbisoft Massive now and Lucasfilm - Star Wars of some kind.
Robert Purchese 17:07 pm UTCchrisdeku says: BTW I'm ashamed to admit but I'm actually a big fan of The Division 😅
Now everyone knows!
Robert Purchese 17:09 pm UTCA rancor!
Not much, um, gameplay. Hard to work out what this actually is.
Star Wars: Outlaws.
Coming 2024. Not day-one GamePass, notably.
Robert Purchese 17:10 pm UTCWeblaus says: So much for not showing trailers that don't give any impression what the game actually is supposed to be like/about?
Right?
Robert Purchese 17:10 pm UTCI wonder if they owned that green dress already or if they bought it especially.
Robert Purchese 17:11 pm UTCThunder Lotus now, the developer of Spiritfarer, with a co-op action game that's "uniquely theirs", which, um, isn't every game that?
Robert Purchese 17:12 pm UTCI like the vibe - I'm getting Hades vibes from it. "Pick up and raid" is a line they're using with this. Wow, okay, so dozens of people in co-op, which looks quite messy.
It reminds me of Diablo 4 raids, only with more people.
Robert Purchese 17:13 pm UTC33-player co-op, in fact. 33 Immortals is the name, coming 2024.
Robert Purchese 17:13 pm UTCPayday 3! Probably.
Robert Purchese 17:14 pm UTCPayday 3 coming 21st September.
Robert Purchese 17:15 pm UTCOh I wonder what this could be! These Persona games already leaked. It's a Persona 3 remake and a Persona 5 tactics kinda game.
Persona 3: Reload, early 2024.
Robert Purchese 17:16 pm UTCXbox Game Studios. It's a pirate sort of vibe. Obsidian. This must be Avowed!
Robert Purchese 17:18 pm UTCIt's got... guns?!
OK, now it looks more like we remember. It's Skryim-ish but with some big magic.
It is Avowed, but when? 2024.
Robert Purchese 17:18 pm UTCLucasfilm and Rare? It's a new crossover. Is it Monkey Island?!
Robert Purchese 17:19 pm UTCIt IS Monkey Island. There's a lot of love for this right now in the Larian office. Adam Smith, formerly of Rock, Paper, Shotgun, is particularly lovling it.
Robert Purchese 17:20 pm UTCMatt Wales was right - Rare has been up to something!
20th July.
Robert Purchese 17:20 pm UTCXbox Game Studios again. Asobo. It must be Flight Sim.
Is there a single-player mode?
Robert Purchese 17:21 pm UTCBlueLiving says: Okay, turning Flight Sim into an actual game is interesting.
:D
Robert Purchese 17:22 pm UTCThis looks really good!
"They're giving it purpose." That's Adam Smith.
Robert Purchese 17:23 pm UTCThis looks like a Dune collab for Flight Simulator. It's not as exciting. I mean, I don't know if I want to fly around in a big dragonfly. Do you?
Robert Purchese 17:23 pm UTCHellblade 2!
Robert Purchese 17:24 pm UTCThey are the Senua actor, by the way.
Will we get a release date - will it be this year?
Robert Purchese 17:25 pm UTCH1ppyDave says: Please give us a date for HB2. Ideally this year.
I'm crossing my fingers for you Dave!
Robert Purchese 17:27 pm UTCI assume this is gameplay - well, a cinematic within the game. Loving the atmosphere of this, again.
Robert Purchese 17:28 pm UTCOk so no actual gameplay. Oh and only a vague 2024 date. That's a shame.
Robert Purchese 17:29 pm UTCYakuza studio!
Is this the first time the series has been set outside of Japan?
Robert Purchese 17:30 pm UTCOh dear, he's showing everyone his secrets. How did he not realise until now?
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. Early 2024.
Robert Purchese 17:32 pm UTCSpeaking of Fallout 76, you should read Emma's piece about making a fashion boutique in the wastelands there - it's very good.
Robert Purchese 17:32 pm UTCCapcom! Is this Onimusha?
Robert Purchese 17:34 pm UTCPath of Goddess. Our stream is a little behind I think. We'll speed it up.
Robert Purchese 17:35 pm UTCCommoJaws64 says: I’m not trolling, I’m genuinely perplexed given the tweet that Xbox put out earlier throwing shade at the PS showcase. This has been little better and it pains me.
I think it's started pretty strongly. But we'll see how it goes from here.
Robert Purchese 17:36 pm UTCForza love of Forza. Lovely cars. Martin would have loved this bit. Where is Martin?!
Robert Purchese 17:37 pm UTCForza Motorsport reboot coming 10th October.
Robert Purchese 17:37 pm UTCThe Elder Scrolls Oline, this looks like. Keeps going, that game - does anyone play?
Robert Purchese 17:39 pm UTCSave Tamriel! What, again?
It's the Necrom expansion coming 20th June.
Robert Purchese 17:40 pm UTCOverwatch 2. Such a shame about the PvE cut. But maybe this a salvaged update?
Robert Purchese 17:41 pm UTCHero Mastery - that sounds like a salvaged thing. A new co-op event. Firing Range?!
Story missions. This really feels like what they couldn't make a full game out of.
Robert Purchese 17:42 pm UTCAtlus. This must be the Persona tactics game - the other one that leaked.
Robert Purchese 17:42 pm UTCBennyjj81 says: CBeebies Persona.
Haha - very good!
Robert Purchese 17:43 pm UTCBethesda. This has to be Starfield right?
Robert Purchese 17:43 pm UTCSirPhipps says: For this trailer, all can I think of is tim curry - SPACE
Ha!
Robert Purchese 17:44 pm UTC25 years in the making? I'm not sure that's true.
Robert Purchese 17:45 pm UTCIt's hard to capture something as broad as I assume Starfield is in a snapshot like this - hence the Starfield Direct afterwards.
Robert Purchese 17:46 pm UTCnew game - a climbing game. A nice vibrant style. Reminds me of the Rime studio, Tequila Works...
Robert Purchese 17:47 pm UTCDontnod!
Robert Purchese 17:48 pm UTCI like the look of this! Vertical, fantastical, climby - that's a technical term.
Jusant, it's called, and it's coming this autumn.
Robert Purchese 17:49 pm UTCSecret Mode and The Chinese Room now. An oil rig at sea. A spooky, deserted oil rig.
Robert Purchese 17:49 pm UTCStill Wakes the Deep, coming early 2024. They've announced this already.
Robert Purchese 17:50 pm UTCSable vibes from this one. A kind of hack-and-slash. Dungeons of Hinterberg, I think.
Robert Purchese 17:51 pm UTCYou're breathtaking!
Cyberpunk 2077 expansion Phanton Liberty.
Robert Purchese 17:51 pm UTCExpect "plenty of stuff to do". Thanks Keanu!
Reading those prompts like a pro.
Robert Purchese 17:52 pm UTCCommoJaws64 says: What’s with the distortion on his voice?
Yeah, he did sound a bit like he had cotton wool in his mouth. Strange!
Robert Purchese 17:53 pm UTCIdris Elba is in this, remember. That was his voice in fact!
Half-surprised he wasn't on the stage with Keanu. Maybe Keanu wouldn't share the stage with him.
Robert Purchese 17:54 pm UTCBut when is it coming out? That must be what we're building to.
Phantom Liberty coming 26th September.
Robert Purchese 17:55 pm UTCslowdog1976 says: cities skylines 2!!!
Love this excitement!
Robert Purchese 17:56 pm UTCCities Skylines 2 coming 24th October - that's my birthday!
Robert Purchese 17:58 pm UTCAtlus again. Studio Zero. "What if the world we live in today is their utopia?"
I don't know!
From the creators of Persona - can you believe it?
Metaphor re Fantazio.
Robert Purchese 18:00 pm UTCTowerborne, that, a co-op hack-and-slash adventure.
Robert Purchese 18:01 pm UTCOoh, inXile!
This looks quite BioShock-y.
Robert Purchese 18:02 pm UTCMalek86 says: Inxile making a first person shooter?
It does seem that way. But it must be an RPG, right?
It's an interesting one to see as the studio's first proper Microsoft project.
Clockwork Revolution. "Coming in due time." Crikey.
Robert Purchese 18:03 pm UTCHere is Frank Spencer - I mean Phil Spencer!
Robert Purchese 18:03 pm UTCSpencer did just say that was an all-new Flight Simulator, so perhaps that wasn't an expansion? Maybe it's a standalone expansion.
Robert Purchese 18:04 pm UTCMalek86 says: Is that an Hexen shirt??
It is! I wonder what it means.
Robert Purchese 18:05 pm UTCThat looks like a new Xbox Series S! With 1TB memory.
Robert Purchese 18:06 pm UTCThat new S model is coming 1st September. And it costs $349.
Robert Purchese 18:06 pm UTCAnd now we're cruising into Starfield...
Robert Purchese 18:07 pm UTCThere's Todd! I met Todd once. He seemed nice.
Robert Purchese 18:10 pm UTCBethesda/Todd is so good a selling the concept of a game. I remember him promoting Fallout 76 - I was allllll in.
Robert Purchese 18:10 pm UTCSirPhipps says: Please don't let this be a polished no man's sky
It does look quite similar, doesn't it? With Isaac Clarke's laser.
Robert Purchese 18:12 pm UTCOk, so your robot pal says your name - out loud. So, if I call myself Captain Bertie, which I obviously will, will it actually say "Captain Bertie"? I'd give it maximum marks for that.
Which is why Chris Tapsell will never let me review it.
Robert Purchese 18:12 pm UTCHang on, was that the Mass Effect 2 mining game?
So there are barren planets that you can't do anything on, basically, but you can remote mine.
Robert Purchese 18:14 pm UTCIt's a bit dreary in terms of sci-fi? The ship and the mining interface looks a bit spreadsheety.
This huge city though, with the pointy spire - that's cool. It's the biggest city they've ever built apparently.
Robert Purchese 18:16 pm UTCfabio78 says: Brings back the "my face is tired" meme.
Ha!
Robert Purchese 18:18 pm UTCCall Fallout moment there! Very Firefly kind of sci-fi.
Robert Purchese 18:18 pm UTCthe_sas_man says: Can you imagine what modders are going to do with this?!
Everything, I imagine!
Robert Purchese 18:19 pm UTCPhew, it's got Mass Effect's galaxy map.
I worry that no one has actually played this game outside of BGS, though. It's out in three months!
Robert Purchese 18:20 pm UTCI love a character creator. This looks like it's going to take me hours to get through. Still can't do hair though, can they?
Robert Purchese 18:21 pm UTCDigitalTwisted says: It can be as much like Mass Effect as it like's Rob........just not Andromeda :D
Ha! Hey, leave poor Andromeda alone! Tom Phillips will come and have a word with you.
Robert Purchese 18:24 pm UTCfabio78 says: Man, it looks so rough and dated.
It does, but another way of looking at that is it also looks real? Granted, though, I'm not wowed visually by what I'm seeing, but the scope presumably hopes to make up for it.
Robert Purchese 18:25 pm UTCDigital Foundry will be watching those frame dips with interest, I'm sure. I can feel their glare from here.
Robert Purchese 18:25 pm UTCCommoJaws64 says: Skyrim was janky but it had soul. I loved it. Fallout 3 was janky but it had soul. I loved it. Fallout 4 was janky. I… I hope Starfield is like Skyrim and Fallout 3. Bad facial animation doesn’t matter when I’m completely enthralled in a game.
Yeah, I think this is a good thing to remember.
I'm loving the sense of mystery we're seeing now in the vastness of space.
Robert Purchese 18:27 pm UTCI can't help but think of - don't say it - Star Citizen while watching this. But not as impressive?
Robert Purchese 18:29 pm UTCA good point overheard here - who is the baddie? What's the shape of the game? We're getting a lot of 'this will last you forever' vibe. How live servicey will it be?
The spaceship customisation looks satisfyingly drag and drop, though. I can imagine tinkering with that for a long time.
Robert Purchese 18:30 pm UTCthe_sas_man says: Oh I hate the dumb Lego ship builds
I liked the look of that!
Robert Purchese 18:31 pm UTCThe12thMonkey says: I am strongly reminded of Kingdom hearts Gummi ships, and I don't know if that's good or bad
A few people have said this!
Robert Purchese 18:32 pm UTCWe're seeing lots of complex parts, but I worry a bit about how all of those parts come together.
Robert Purchese 18:33 pm UTCSeanyUK says: Personally I’m gonna make my mind up once I have played the game!! If history is anything to go by this game will be a massive hit. Games from this studio have always been criticised from a technical standpoint but that’s never distracted from the playability and choice given to the player as to how they want to complete the story. However I would like the option to play at 60fps?!
Wise words. But as for 60FPS, at launch? Whew - I don't know about that. I'd be surprised if it did.
Robert Purchese 18:36 pm UTCSpace sandwiches!
It's so hard to make a call on what this is like from this distance. It would have been nice to see a slice of what the gameplay is like before this. Like, what's an hour in Starfield like? What are two hours in Starfield like?
I'm still fascinated by it.
Robert Purchese 18:38 pm UTCThey've got a watch! They've made an actual watch.
I thought they were going to show Elder Scrolls 6. But it's a watch. A watch. It comes in a really lavish case. They're talking about a case. It's got a patch in it. The watch links up to your game. You get the watch in the game too.
Robert Purchese 18:38 pm UTCWe've seen this custom peripherals before - there's a controller and a headset. It's quite a nice a nice logo and paintjob though.
Robert Purchese 18:39 pm UTCUrineTrouble says: Todd going full Alan Partridge!
Haha - very good!
Robert Purchese 18:40 pm UTCJesus Christ there's more.
We're hearing about the landscapes now.
It's a presentation to remind you how much work has gone into a game like this, like that's what you should judge it on.
It is very No Man's Sky, isn't it?
Robert Purchese 18:42 pm UTCThere are some really cool vistas. I love the idea of walking on planets people haven't been to, and it is stunning in the right light.
Robert Purchese 18:43 pm UTCSo there's some base-building - outpost building - you can do on planets you visit. A bit like No Man's Sky.
Robert Purchese 18:44 pm UTCjmfcao says: It really is impressive what that small team did with no mans sky, how many hundreds of people went into making this
I love the No Man's Sky turnaround story.
Robert Purchese 18:48 pm UTCThat's a lot of detail on a lot of guns. That's a lot of detail on everything in general. That's a very detailed game.
Oh hang on - are those special powers too?!
Robert Purchese 18:49 pm UTCjmfcao says: Space magic!
Space magic! Space magic! Space magic!
Ahem.
Robert Purchese 18:49 pm UTCNo Man's Skyrim. Giggle. Not my original work, that!
Robert Purchese 18:50 pm UTCSBandy says: They promsied a deep dive and they delivered it.
They did, they did.
Robert Purchese 18:51 pm UTCAnd that's Starfield, coming out in three months. The date hasn't changed. I still have some big questions! But I feel like I know a lot more about it now at least.
Robert Purchese 18:52 pm UTCthe_sas_man says: It came out 2 days ago!
Hah - that always confuses me!
Robert Purchese 18:59 pm UTCMalek86 says: There's still the PC Gaming show coming up in one hour, right?
There is! The Larian team here - I am at their Dublin office (one of them), in an odd twist of fate - are excited for it. Not that that means there's anything Baldur's Gate 3 in it, no sirree wink wink.
That'll do us for now here, though. Have a lovely evening all!
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