ICYMI: Xbox Series X First-Party Games Showcase Date Announced

Microsoft has announced the date for their upcoming Xbox Games Showcase. Revealed on the Xbox Twitter page, the event will be happening on July 23 at 9AM PT/ 12PM ET. This new showcase was first announced in May and will be focusing on the titles that Microsoft’s first-party studios have been working on for Xbox Series X.

The last time Microsoft held a game showcase for the Xbox Series X, it was a short showing that focused entirely on third-party titles. This brought a new look at Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 and the reveal of games such as Dirt 5 and psychological horror game The Medium. Unfortunately, the event was a disappointment to a number of gamers who were expecting more gameplay from the games that were shown.

Microsoft has a large number of first-party studios under their umbrella, so there’s a large number of different games that we can see. As of now, the only game that we can guarantee to appear in the showcase is Xbox’s flagship title, Halo Infinite. We haven’t seen anything from the game since the cinematic trailer that debuted last year at E3 2019, but recently an audio teaser was released for the game, so the team at 343 Studios is building up to something.

It also stands to reason that a new entry in the Forza franchise will appear during the event. Forza typically alternates between the Motorsport and Horizon sub-series’ each year and the last one to be released was Forza Horizon 4 in 2018, so it’s likely that we’ll see a new Forza Motorsport.

Ninja Theory’s Hellblade II: Senua’s Saga was announced for Xbox Series X during The Game Awards last year, so perhaps we’ll see more of it at this event as well. There have also been rumors that a new Fable is in the works as well. That franchise has been rumored to be returning for years now, and Microsoft recently applied to renew its Fable trademark. Maybe we’ll also see the project that Microsoft’s newly formed studio The Initiative is working on. We’ll find out in a few weeks.

Microsoft is also holding a weeklong demo event for Xbox One owners later this month. Perhaps some of the games that appear in the showcase will be available as part of the event.