Yesterday at 4pm BST, the livestreamed reveal of a roster of third-party Xbox Series X games took place. For the first time, we got to see some real in-game footage and a list of titles set to appear on Microsoft's next-generation console.
Although Microsoft first-party studio titles like Halo: Infinite and Hellblade 2 didn't make the cut, the event was by no means a dud: we got to see games such as Assassin's Creed: Valhalla from Ubisoft, Madden NFL 21, Second Extinction, Call Of The Sea, The Ascent and many, many more. The in-engine rendered footage was nothing short of stunning.
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A brief glimpse of Second Extinction
So if yesterday's reveal marked only the third-party titles, when can we see the unveiling of some of Microsoft's biggest home-grown next-gen games?
Announced onstream during the third party gameplay reveal, the first party titles will be unveiled in a separate July stream. We can look forward to seeing more of 343 Industries' Halo Infinite, Ninja Theory's Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 and loads more first-party games yet to be announced.
More Senua's Saga details will be unveiled in July
But that's not all. A blog post from Microsoft marketing exec Jerret West revealed the livestream will be the first of a series of "monthly reveals".
West said: "These monthly moments will take place throughout the rest of the year and will be a way for us to engage, connect and celebrate with you about what’s in store for the next generation of gaming, including what’s next for Xbox Series X, Xbox Game Studios, Xbox Game Pass and Project xCloud. Every month will bring something different."
We know there will be no Xbox Series X exclusives until 2022, so all games revealed will land on either PC, Xbox One or other cross-platform consoles such as PS5 and Nintendo Switch.
In this way, this reveal also gave us a good indication of releases coming out on the PS5. Information on the PS5 is scarce right now, so the games on show today will demonstrate what next-gen gaming will look like, no matter your preferred brand.
The first-party Xbox Series X games reveal, in which we'll see more of Halo 2 (pictured), is coming in July
West also informed us of Microsoft's plans for the rest of the year, assuaging any fears the console would be delayed as a result of the global health crisis. It's still on track for holiday 2020, as is Halo: Infinite. Xbox Game Pass will run on PC, playing new releases such as Halo, Wasteland 3 and Minecraft Dungeons.
These regular, monthly reveals are bad news for PS5. As Microsoft pushes for further transparency, the wall of silence from the Sony camp is deafening. Microsoft continues to dominate the next-generation conversation.
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