[Discussion] best Xbox Show formula!

Gaming
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It’s been so long since Xbox fans asking for a proper show that’s cover all sort of Xbox news, similar to Nintendo Direct/ State of Play shows from Nintendo and Playstation. Hopefully Xbox will have it’s own show sooner or later, otherwise thousands of developers work from both XGS & Betheasda will stay in the shade. In this thread I’m going to share my vision about the best formula for Xbox Show, and I’m going to name it in this thread as “Xbox Show” so please don’t bother with it, and LET’S Start!

1st, We can’t put Xbox in the same boat with Playstation or Nintendo when it comes to a news show. Most of Xbox content is about GaaS, it’s projects stay for years before gets new sequels and it’s the opposite with Nin/ PS content which is mainly about sequels and less GaaS. Thanks to our friend @Klobrille I used his work “and modded it” to give an approximate idea about Xbox content since the last years.

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As we can see above, we are in the Blue line. Before that, Xbox released 7 GaaS games which are ( Grounded, Halo Infinite, Forza H5, AOE4, AOE3, Flight Simulator, Minecraft Dungeons ) and before 2020 other 7 GaaS games ( Minecraft, Sea of Thieves, Fallout 76, TES online, AOE2, Halo MCC, State of Decay 2 ) total 14 game you can see them in the red box at the bottom. All these games are getting new content/ patches till this year and if we remember well, those games were made an appearance nearly at all Xbox showcases in the last years.

It save to add most of the blue line games to the 14 GaaS and can’t expect how much the number well reach by adding the Orange line games especially if ABK games jumped in later this year. So now after we got this quick look at Xbox content it’s hard to ask for a Nintendo Direct level show or SOP from Playstation. That’s why the show needs some different formulas to satisfy all fans and here what I think it’s the best vision for Xbox Show.

In my opinion, the show must divided into several types of episodes like this example:

  • Xbox “Indie” show

  • Xbox “Live” show

  • Xbox “Grand” show

1- Xbox “Indie” Show: covers all ID@Xbox games and indie developers similar to Nintendo Direct “indie World” episode.

2- Xbox “Live” Show: covers all GaaS content from both 1st/ 3rd party. We’ve already explained how much HUGE amount of GaaS content Xbox has.

3- Xbox “Grand” Show: covers the new games, sequels, from both 1st/ 3rd party. This episode shouldn’t air too many, two episodes per year are more than enough but the level should match Nintendo Direct or SoP biggest episodes.

Note: Deep-dive episodes can be titled: Xbox Show + name of the game as a subtitle.

Note#2: Annual events (E3, GC, TGS, Comic-Con, TGA … etc) stay the same.

I don’t know what’s Xbox marketing team has in store for the future or whether they are gonna have gaming shows or not? but I’m happy that I shared my vision about what I’m thinking is the best way in terms Xbox planned to make Gaming Shows. Thanks for passing.

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In my opinion, Microsoft should do the following on a yearly basis -

  • Xbox Games Showcase in June during E3 (120 minutes maximum)

  • Xbox Games Showcase in August during Gamescom (60 minutes maximum)

  • Xbox Games Showcase in September during the Tokyo Game Show (60 minutes maximum)

  • Xbox Games Showcase in November known as X023 (60 minutes maximum)

  • Xbox Direct mini-showcase in January (30 minutes maximum)

  • Xbox Direct mini-showcase in April (30 minutes maximum)

  • Xbox presence at The Game Awards in December (2 games maximum)

  • Inside Xbox: (insert individual game title here) which would be a 20-30 minute overview that goes in depth into the respective game. This should be done for every AAA first party title. For smaller AA first party titles such as The Wandering Tower should simply be shown at each showcase or direct until released. I know some may not want to see the game “repeated” but it’s the smaller titles that should be shown repeatedly so those who missed a previous show or just forgot about it can hopefully see it or remember it.

If Microsoft were to do this on a yearly basis, if anything, it’s probably too much but oh well. Give me what Sony and Nintendo give me on a regular and more consistent basis and I will be extremely happy!!! :joy:

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Do Activision and Blizzard stay outside of Microsoft with their own COD showcase/BlizzCon or do they become part of the Xbox Grand show?

Bethesda has already been incorporated into MS’s show, unless they keep those other 2 separated but still show some of their content in the main MS shows.

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I think if they stick to 12 months, everyone just rolls into the Xbox show. ABK has typically not done their own show, unlike other major publishers.

Think Blizzcon would continue to exist (like Quakecon) as well though.

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I would like Xbox to have a show in late January/early February focused on the first half of the year(max of 60 min). The e3 showcase where they show 1st party and gamepass games for the next 12 months but also should have AAA third party games that don’t have to follow that time frame(max of 2 hours). Shows for gamescom and tgs that are around 30 minutes. Shows focused on individual AAA games. Get rid of twitch gaming shows. And no show at Keighley events.

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I think Diablo, CoD, WoW, Overwatch categorize as GaaS games but it’s ok to Reveal the game and show the First gameplay on the Xbox Grand Show episode, but when it comes to new updates, balances, Esports announcements it should be in Xbox Live Show episode which is dedicated for these type of news.

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Xbox could after the acquisition clears for all intents become their own sub industry trade shows but have a counterance to all the established shows with e3 being at their start point and brand all as XO events (spring, summer, fall, winter)

What do I mean?

Host a tgs style event in q1 for eastern game engagement and signing deals for gamepass (XO Spring)

E3 show in the middle q2 around e3 but have all your zenimax / ABK / studios show out for personal showings and demos over 4 days (XO Summer)

Q3 go to Europe after gamescom and do your follow ups especially on the PC side and any other things that didn’t make the cut (XO Fall)

Q4 come down to Australia to escape the snow and give a shout-out to the talented teams in the southern hemisphere, take subsequent shows to Brazil / Indonesia / India / Korea and other underserved markets south of the equator (XO international)

Leave quakecon and blizzcon as they are. Maybe start a spartancon aswell just to have your pillars for live service updates at these shows. Outside halo and sea of thieves most live service stuff is under the partner publishers anyways

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It isn’t much about the showcase as much as it is about lack of information

Fans are simply starve of games and information for the games coming in 6 months

Showcase won’t solve these issues

  1. E3 in June with 12 months theme is the right approach to keep expectations in check and hype up game pass without giving any room for speculation

  2. We simply need !Go (Forza Horizon 5 show) type studio talk about game near the launch. Maybe 3 months before actual launch will be great

  3. Case by case basis: We do have 6 games aligned for release this half of the year. So a smaller showcase is viable at this point. But it may not be the case in every other quarter or half in the future. So a permanent solution doesn’t make sense to me

We simply want release dates and proper gameplay reveal of 10-15 minutes. I think Xbox will do that very close to the launch of games but a mini showcase is possible to release all the launch dates of these games coming in first half of the year

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With ActiBlizz included MS will have enough shows/content:

  • Jan/feb: BlizzCon
  • June: E3
  • August: QuakeCon & Gamescom
  • September: Tokyo Game Show
  • November XO
  • December: The Game Awards

Just, this year they didn’t show anything at The Game Awards and didn’t have a fan event. Which created a big gap between september and june. In the future with BlizzCon added, that’s gonna be less of a problem.

I do hope they continue with these game focused ‘directs’ like we had for Age of Empires and Sea of Thieves in 2021 and 2022.

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Why no Keighley events? I think he puts together pretty good shows for the most part. The Game Awards 2022 was an enjoyable watch.

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To strengthen your own show by keeping your games there.

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I hope some day this grows out of being the “5 years ago’s greatest hits” show.

If they ever did this

I’d like to see new games/announcements there (Doesn’t need anything -huge-, more so similar to the “Japan focused” State of Plays that have happened), an unexpected “never on Xbox before/not been on Xbox for a long time” developer have a game there, and then the usual “old ports coming to Xbox”

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If someone noticed last year Nintendo Direct formats, the team parted the episodes into number of of segments such:

  • Major announcement (start)
  • Dev word
  • Remake ( 3 announcements )
  • Dev word
  • Ports ( 3 announcements )
  • Dev word
  • Big games ( 3 announcements )
  • Dev word
  • GaaS updates ( 3 announcements )
  • Major announcement (end)

I think it’s the best presentation method, but it needs a balanced content unlike Xbox which already has too many live games, so I think 3 type of the same show suit Xbox.

Also make an Asian version of the same episode can attract high number of users at those regions into Xbox news & ecosystem.

1 Like
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I see that logic but here’s a pretty potent counterpoint: The 2022 Keighley Awards got 103 million livestreams. Contrast that to 16 million viewers for the 2022 Oscars.

That’s even slightly more than last year’s Superbowl that got 99 million viewers.

And while many of us would think that a Superbowl ad would be smart, not every Superbowl viewer would play games or are familiar with the industry, whereas every single person watching TKAs would be.

The Xbox and Bethesda showcase last year got an estimated 1.8 million viewers.

I do realize that some of these viewership numbers for live streams could be off because you’re not sure if reaction streams are counted. Or if they are counted but overestimated. But if you look at the numbers in a relative sense it demonstrates how the Keighley awards are pretty substantial in viewership.

I mean, I get it, he gets a freaking console reveal on his show and he reacts to it as if someone just announced expansion DLC for The Sims. If it was the PS5 announce, he would have excitedly commented on how the hardware and controller looked and how he’s proud to have the next generation of gaming announced on his show…and I think that reaction would be completely warranted. That’s honestly a fair reaction to an epic reveal and I find it puzzling that there was next to no reaction for the Series reveal especially when it was the first NextGen console to be revealed.

Anyways, my point is that there is some warranted skepticism on using him as a vehicle for marketing but the reality is that the viewership is undeniably substantial.

2 Likes
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I believe with Game Pass, they have enough content to create at minimum one Nintendo Direct style show a month.

Something like:

  • Game Pass announcements for the month
  • Announcements of smaller first party titles, DLC, etc. (save the big stuff for E3)
  • Announce release dates for first party (announce year at E3, finalize dates at directs)
  • Announce / highlight third party & indies

With this, you have a solid monthly direct. You also have the option to turn this into a bi-weekly show, should they want to keep the bi-weekly Game Pass drops.

Also, for games that require a deep dive (Redfall, Starfield, etc.) they could also do game-specific directs.

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I don’t really know. 12 directs a year does seem a little excessive. I’d prefer to only have 3-4 directs and have those directs be full of content instead of 12 directs that won’t really have anything of note.

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We have Blizzcon, we have Quakecon, but where is Xcon? I mean, I know we had the X0 events, but how about a global event where they get a convention center, hold it at the same spot every year, and make it a 3 day event? That’s kind of like what they are trying to do with the fanfest at E3, but we need a more global/huge scale event. Pretty sure Sony used to hold these events in the past as well. I remember the videos of that event from the 1up show, was with Bestbuy I think, in the desert for the 360’s launch, the “oasis” or whatever they called it. I always wish I had gone, so a mix of that plus a bunch of gaming annoucements, tournaments, name it! That could be their big event of the year. Although I guess at that point, especially with E3, they’d have so much going on that they would probably have to drop some other stuff in order to make it relevant.

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Just show the games and make it very clear what system the gameplay is captured on.

I do have to say I love MS E3 shows but their showcases during the year leave a lot to be desired. I’m hoping in a couple of weeks, it be put right.

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All I want from their shows, both big and small, is for them to remove the bloat and idolization of people like celebs and influencers. One of the worst parts of the Inside Xbox shows were covering what people were saying on Twitter or putting on white gloves to show off a stupid new controller. Also while it sometimes works out to their benefit, like we saw with Keanu at E3, the vast majority of the appearances from celebs or influencers has been cringey or or outright eye roll inducing.

It all just adds bloat to the presentation, kills the pacing, and sometimes does a disservice to the games they are trying to promote. The stars should be the devs and games, period.

All that said, I’m really glad with the direction of developer_direct. I hope it works out for them and they keep the format, assuming it turns out to be good.

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