Xbox Has A “Bunch Of Stuff” It Hasn’t Announced, & I’d Love To Think Its Learning Its Lesson
The Xbox brand is in a bit of an odd place, but it's nonetheless moving forward with plenty of unannounced projects. On the heels of disappointing console sales, Xbox-exclusive games are going by the wayside, though this isn't necessarily a shocking turn from the Microsoft gaming division. For years now, the term "Xbox exclusive" has been a misnomer, since all major Xbox console exclusives have also been released on PC. Amid this uncertainty, however, Xbox Game Studios head Craig Duncan has made some off-hand comments that may be reassuring to fans frustrated with the company in the past.
As Xbox transitions into a role more closely resembling a traditional game publisher, while presumably continuing work on the confirmed Xbox handheld, focus is turning almost entirely to the titles it will bring to a wider array of platforms. The home console market is poised to continue under Nintendo and Sony's dominance, but Xbox may find plenty of success thanks to its incredible suite of development studios. There are untold numbers of upcoming Xbox Game Studios releases, and I'm glad they've remained a mystery, as it means the company may finally be learning its lesson.
Xbox Has Unannounced Games In The Works
"A Bunch Of Stuff" Remains Unrevealed
On the Xbox Podcast (via YouTube), head of Xbox Game Studios Craig Duncan was asked during the closing remarks what games he was currently playing, perhaps something not under his purview. Dodging the question slightly, Duncan had the following to say:
I've got a Steam Deck that's full of [Xbox Game Studios] games, so I spend a lot of time playing our own games. We've got a bunch of stuff we haven't announced, so obviously I spend a bunch of time with that.
Following a very strong Developer Direct in January, which highlighted a number of promising day-one Game Pass releases, it's nice to hear that Xbox has "a bunch" of unannounced projects. Major Xbox releases have felt few and far between, even before the current console generation, but we're now finally seeing some of the fruits of Microsoft's Activision Blizzard acquisition, alongside other notable projects from studios under the Xbox banner, like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and Avowed.
Xbox Has Been Revealing Games Too Early
Many Announced Years Ago, Still With No Release Date
The refreshing aspect, though, is that Duncan didn't jump to teasing any of said unannounced projects, nor promise to relinquish more information any time soon. Xbox has gained something of a reputation for announcing projects far in advance. Avowed was teased in 2020, with its release coming nearly five years later. The new Fable was announced the same year, and was just recently delayed to 2026. Perfect Dark's upcoming revival is yet another game revealed in 2020, and it has yet to receive even a vague release window.
Most infamous, however, is Bethesda's 2018 announcement of The Elder Scrolls 6, which has yet to receive a second trailer. To be fair, this was before Microsoft acquired ZeniMax, Bethesda's parent company, but TES 6 remains a looming specter over Xbox's release schedule. It also stands out to me as an oddity, considering the same developer revealed Fallout 4 in June 2015, then released the game five months later in November.
Bethesda has reiterated that The Elder Scrolls 6 will be its next release now that Starfield shipped in 2023. TES 6 will then be followed by Fallout 5.
This is hopefully a shift in strategy from Xbox, but its early announcements remain an ongoing issue. There's the aforementioned Fable and Perfect Dark, but also plenty more examples, none of which have a release window: State of Decay 3, announced in 2020; Gears of War: E-Day, revealed last June; Clockwork Revolution, teased in 2023; Everwild was announced in 2019; and OD, a collaboration with Hideo Kojima, was first confirmed in 2022.
How Waiting On Announcements Could Help Xbox's Future
No Room For Hype To Die Down
From a business standpoint, it's understandable that Xbox wants to assure consumers (and investors) that exciting new games are on the horizon, but as one of those consumers, games being announced too early exhausts me. Oblivion was a watershed RPG for me, but I'm not really interested in just the idea of The Elder Scrolls 6. I'm a huge Gears of War fan, and Marcus and Dom coming back to headline E-Day is neat, but any initial excitement is already gone. The chance of creating any genuine buzz for an upcoming game is practically impossible when it's not given a reasonable release window.
The simple idea of "we guarantee you'll play this soon" goes a long way in rehabilitating a brand image. I want the excitement of knowing I'll be playing Fallout 4 later that year, and I'm sure many others feel similarly, but Xbox has continuously said some version of, "Remember Fable? Another one is coming out eventually." Another major Xbox Showcase is likely coming in June, and I really hope Craig Duncan's words are an indication that Xbox won't continue to string us along for years at a time.
Source: Xbox/YouTube
- Brand
- Xbox
- Original Release Date
- November 10, 2020
- Hardware Versions
- Xbox Series X/S, Xbox Series S
- Original MSRP (USD)
- Series X priced at US$499 and the Series S priced at US$299
- Weight
- 9.8 lb
Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S are two consoles Microsoft released in November 2020. Like most Xbox models, the Xbox Series X/S was the main competitor to the PlayStation 5. The consoles were the successors to Microsoft’s Xbox One line. While the PS5 and Xbox Series X are comparable interns of graphics, the Xbox Series S provides less powerful graphics around 1080p-1440p and does not contain a disc drive.
