Id be in favour of say games which are hard to demo well being given deep dives instead of being overshadowed.
I think both approaches is nice. Keep the big show with trailers and then do deep dives approaching release.
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Well… We atleast know what it shouldn’t be 
See a lot of people dismissing an Xbox event like a State of Play. However this State of Play with mostly C or B tier games has gotten nearly 1 million views on just the official English stream with 30K likes to 3.6K dislikes. Also, despite 90% of the games being multi-platform they’re now seemingly associated with PlayStation. Xbox games and partnered/indie games for that matter, really only get a shot at that viewership once a year. I honestly cannot see how getting more eyes on Xbox-aligned games is seen as a “bad” thing.
If Xbox did an event like this, focused on Japan, I believe it could change a lot of the narrative around Xbox and Japanese games.
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Cool idea would be to have the show focused on gameplay, then have a aftershow which brings in some devs to talk over some more gameplay. I can’t remember which show it was but there was something like that before and I loved it and it seemed like a lot of people stayed after the main event too.
Hope maybe Godd’s showcase of Starfield will be in-person event too (in Microsoft Theatre for example)
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They just need to be more careful on the quality, because Xbox is not forgiven like PS or Nintendo, but overall these shows have more pros than cons, even when hardcores dislike them. Otherwise they wouldn’t keep doing them, both PS and Nintendo.
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That’s actually also true. The games that are shown during your showcase are always associated with the platform. Like for example if FF16 were to be shown on Xbox showcase, there would be meltdowns even with the fact that the game is multiplatform.
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Definitely, they need to have a certain quality level going into it. However, Xbox has an ace up their sleeve that no other platform has which is Game Pass. The blow of any “bad” event is instantly reduced as long as Game Pass games are announced. Some games at the event would be forgiven just because they’re on Game Pass so why not just check it out. Like that Exoprimal game from Capcom looks cool, but I do not care to pay full price for a co-op looter shooter from Capcom, if that was revealed during an Xbox event alongside Game Pass Day One, that would be a lot more hype.
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We should stop using movie/tv industry always as a good example to follow. I’ve always seen E3 and gaming showcases as a good example of how Disney, Netflix and other movies and streaming companies should announce their products.
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This also means another year with nothing to release at the first half of 2022.
Nothing we didn’t already expect…
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Just because the quality of state of play wasn’t that good doesn’t meant Microsoft should avoid more events. I do feel these type of shows are important due to marketing and multiplatform games being more associated with whoever showcases it.
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Microsoft needs a string of good shows before people start putting up with bad ones. If all you have is mediocre, people aren’t tuning it because they are going to expect mediocre.
That’s where the pipeline excuse comes in to play.
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Yep. Not to mention, publishers are probably more willing to align with Nintendo or Sony because they have these regular cadence of shows. Why would I as a publisher side with Xbox for one show a year unless Xbox is paying me for marketing rights? There are so many benefits to Xbox “Directs” that I’m dumbfounded there is so much opposition to it.
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I don’t think you should mistake “they’ll be ready for that in 2023” as opposition. Most of the people on the opposite side of the discussion think it’s an inevitability as they have more content, but not immediately.
I definitely don’t consider that opposition. Just the straight dismissal of Xbox doing more events in the future. It’s not like anybody is saying take away their big “E3” showcase, but they’re going to have so many games and hopefully more partnerships to justify more events. I think this year is already set in stone, but I really do hope they announce a “Direct” show next year.
Although… a Redfall dedicated show with maybe a few other announcements wouldn’t be too bad.
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Itll b interested to see what they come up with to handle their unique situation (quantity of content and Game Pass).
I personally get the feeling Redfall might be coming in hot so they are taking all the time they can get.
Yeah, its good for all parties involved to have these type of shows. I’m sure indie devs would love the extra exposure and I am sure it goes the same way with third party developers. I see no issue having these microevents to market your games and partnerships. Also having these shows doesn’t mean you won’t have your megatons for your summer showcase. Also, its great marketing for gamepass when people get to see more about games heading to gamepass because it might entice people to platform or sub to service.
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I think it’s their biggest strength IMO. These smaller shows like Sony’s State of Play can easily be saved by one big Game Pass announcement. Imagine if this last State of Play was Xbox but add on Guardians of the Galaxy was launching on Game Pass at the end of the show (of course, it wouldn’t have been announced beforehand in this scenario), I think that would’ve helped the show a lot. Eventually Xbox is going to have a ton of big first party games, which could be treated similarly to how Nintendo handled new characters in Smash the past couple years, no matter how bad a Direct was a Smash character reveal always generated a ton of views and hype around it… imagine having a new season of Warzone 2 or Halo announced at a show, they would carry.
Honestly, I think out of the big three… Xbox (hopefully starting next year) will soon be the best equipped to handle a high cadence of shows. I just hope they continue to expand their partnerships.
An Xbox Direct for first half of 2021 could’ve been announcing MLB The Show 2022 and Guardians of the Galaxy were hitting Game Pass soon, Soul Hackers 2 announcement, Sea of Thieves Adventures, that Trek to Yumi trailer that was shown at SOP because that game is launching on GP, a new look at Tunic… Those are just some of the ideas I could come up with but I’m sure there are many more, PlayStation just announced a bunch of multi-platform games that are coming in 2022 and most didn’t even have a release date, I’m sure Xbox could do the same alongside updates to their first party games and upcoming Game Pass additions. ID@Xbox games also deserve more time in the spotlight by Xbox and not just ID@Xbox.
I already marked off this year for a show like this, but I do believe Xbox has more than enough content and can acquire more announcements and partnerships with a Direct-styled show.
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