Tightly packed with new reveals, the Xbox Games Showcase was the closest Summer Game Fest has felt to recapturing E3's energy. It almost made you forget that just last month Microsoft published
Redfall, one of the worst games of the year. In my
Summer Game Fest Wishlist, I stressed that Xbox must give gamers reason to believe in the brand, stop keeping secrets, and spotlight the big games coming out in the relatively near future. Did Xbox execute? Sort of.
Xbox Games Coming Out in 2023
We now have a pretty clear picture of what to expect from Xbox for the rest of 2023. Existing games will get nifty DLC, such as the Elder Scrolls Online and Fallout 76 expansions. Microsoft doesn’t own Activision Blizzard (yet), but
Overwatch 2 is slated to receive long-awaited story missions in August.
Microsoft Flight Simulator will add aircraft and environments from
Dune to coincide with the new movie. Thanks to a partnership with Lucasfilm Games, Sea of Thieves gets a free Monkey Island expansion, which is a lot more exciting than the Jack Sparrow partnership.
We also got fresh looks at non-exclusive, third-party releases like the next Like a Dragon game (featuring a naked Ichiban on a beach), Cyberpunk 2077’s Phantom Liberty expansion coming this September (featuring Idris Elba and Keanu Reeves), Capcom's mysterious Path of the Goddess, and several Persona projects. Between the announcements and the various
Game Pass titles, Xbox has many games in its catalog.
Xbox has not always had many major first-party tentpole titles. Fortunately, two more are coming in 2023. The next mainline Forza Motorsport launches October 10, but Xbox’s heaviest hitter is the highly anticipated Starfield. After several
delays, the next Bethesda RPG arrives on September 6. In it, you can explore planets, form relationships, customize gear and starships, and travel the universe. We’re curious to see how the game performs, but so far it looks like an exciting blend of
No Man’s Sky and an epic Skyrim-style adventure.
