The first Xbox Partner Showcase popped up out of the blue and went just as fast. Xbox’s take on the Nintendo Direct format showcased roughly a half hour of reveals and new trailers for indie games and blockbuster AAA projects alike, including Dungeons of Hinterbeg and Metal Gear Solid 3 Delta. While there wasn’t a whole lot of actual new information, we did get some pretty big reveals for a few games, most of which are set to launch in the next six months or so.
Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth's Dondoko Island mode
RGG is giving Infinite Wealth the cozy life-sim treatment with the new Dondoko Island model the first of its kind for the long-running action game series. We covered it in full detail in our Dondoko Island announcement breakdown.
Manor Lords release date announcement
Sometimes, you get the feeling that a piece of media was made just for you, and that’s exactly what I thought when I saw Manor Lords. It’s medieval Cities Skylines with real-time strategy as you give your silly little villagers a nice place to live before sending them off to die. There’s politics, invasions, weather, city management, pointy metal helments, and pretty much anything you could ask for if you love medieval history and grand strategy games.
Manor Lords launches on PC and Game Pass for PC in April 2024.
Ikaro Will Not Die announcement
PowerWash Simulator maker Futurlab is teaming up with Thunderful for Ikaro Will Not Die, a super-stylish action roguelike game set for release sometime in the future.
Still Wakes the Deep gameplay trailer
The Chinese Room gave us a quick look at the first gameplay for Still Wakes the Deep, their upcoming psychological horror game about a man trapped on an oil rig where something terrible is going on. The trailer shows our scared, lonely hero cautiously making his way through the rig, as a maniacal voice pursues him in the dark.
It looks pretty gripping, though there’s still no release date yet.
RoboCop trailer
If RoboCop is your thing, you can get a short look at the upcoming RoboCop game in a new trailer ahead of its release date in November 2023.
Dungeons of Hinterberg social simulation trailer
We saw a bit of hacking and slashing when Microbird revealed its upcoming Dungeons of Hinterberg during Xbox’s summer showcase. Now we get a taste of Hinterberg’s quieter side, gorgeous visual direction, and the relationships you can forge with your fellow adventurers and business owners. The vibes are strong with this one.
Spirit of the North 2 announcement
Infuse’s adorable red fox hero is back in Spirit of the North 2, exploring the myths and legends of Iceland with his trusty raven companion. Spirit of the North 2 doesn’t have a release date yet.
Metal Gear Solid 3 Delta gameplay trailer
MGS3 Delta‘s summer reveal trailer showed practically nothing from the game itself, but the latest trailer fixes that problem pretty well. Snakes, Snake, trenches, Snake with a knife, swamps, stealth kills – yep, it’s Metal Gear Solid 3 all right.
The Finals open beta announcement
The Finals looks like what you’d get if you set The Hunger Games in a high-tech future with explosives and a panda with a mean right hook. I have no idea what’s going on, but it looks like I’ll find out soon. The Finals open beta goes live on Oct. 26, 2023.
ARK Survival Ascended trailer
ARK Survival Ascended surprise launched on PC during the showcase. It’s not actually on Xbox (or PlayStation) yet, but you can get a brief look of what’s to come in a new extended trailer.
Alan Wake 2 gameplay trailer
The showcase closed with a short gameplay segment featuring new protagonist Saga Anderson. There’s a tense mix of Resident Evil and Remedy’s signature psychedelic design on display, and it looks brilliant.
Alan Wake 2 release times are just around the corner, too, so you won’t have to wait long to see more.
Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF
