Xbox Showcase 2025 preview: What I expect to see from Microsoft's big annual games blowout

It's that time again.

Gaming has changed immensely over the last few years, and for few more so than Microsoft and Xbox. No longer interested in enticing players with the promise of exclusive games, Xbox has pursued maximum returns by going fully multi-platform, bringing its exclusives like Forza, Gears of War, and soon, most likely Halo itself to arch rivals like PlayStation.

So far, despite shedding the promise of exclusive titles, the Xbox hardware ecosystem continues to march forward unabated. This past spring saw Xbox Game Pass' most packed quarter, potentially ever, with various Game of the Year quality titles like Expedition 33, Blue Prince, and others launching day and date in the service. Even as I write this, even more titles like Space Marine Remastered, Metaphor Re:Fantazio, and other heavy hitters are lining up to enter the service too.

At least on consoles (and for now) Game Pass is Xbox's best exclusive, and it'll no doubt feature heavily in this year's Xbox Showcase, set to sail on June 8, 2025.

Microsoft's Xbox Showcase has become something of a staple for the gaming industry following the death of E3 during the pandemic. 2025's showcase might be a little muted over yesteryear, with no fans invited to attend for the first time in years. Fans are instead organizing their own watch parties in L.A., with no financial support from Microsoft whatsoever — which could be interpreted as a sign of the times.

Microsoft now views Xbox as a core part of its business rather than a side project, with the Activision acquisition making it bigger than Windows itself. The oversight on Xbox has led to controversial decisions with some of the brand's oldest fans, but the extra cash flow seems to be powering a new quality bar for services like Xbox Game Pass.

Xbox is evolving, and at this year's June Showcase, we should get some extra insights into what it's becoming, for better or worse.

There won't be any hard spoilers in here, but here are some of my expectations for this year's show — based on strong rumors I've heard, things I know to be true, coupled with some personal hopes and dreams. Be sure to share some of your own expectations in the comments, too.

Xbox Showcase 2025: A recap on what we already know

The Xbox Games Showcase 2025 will be live streamed on various platforms at 10AM PT, 1PM ET, and 6PM UK BST. You'll be able to watch on YouTube.com/c/Xbox, as well as Twitch.tv/Xbox.

Sadly this year, as noted, there's no Xbox FanFest event or live viewing experience, although fans are putting together their own watch parties at their own expense.

The Xbox Showcase typically has a run time of around 45-60 minutes, and is generally used by Microsoft to show off upcoming Xbox games for Xbox consoles and Xbox Game Pass. However, this year will be a little different.

Microsoft said in recent interviews that they will no longer shy away or hide when titles are coming to competing platforms, such as PlayStation or the Nintendo Switch 2. Indeed, we could end up seeing announcements for more Xbox games going to PlayStation or Nintendo Switch, such as the recently announced Forza Horizon 5 or Gears of War: Reloaded for PlayStation. Microsoft will be keen to emphasize that these games will also be on Xbox Game Pass, of course, potentially saving heavy gamers hundreds of dollars a year.

The show will also precede an Outer Worlds 2 Direct event, which will offer a deeper dive into the sequel to Obsidian's cult hit sci-fi RPG shooter from 2019. I've heard that The Outer Worlds 2 is a significantly improved game from its predecessor, with boosted combat, roleplaying options, and overall quality. We should also grab a launch date announcement from this direct event as well.

That's what we know so far, let's get into more speculative territory.

Xbox Showcase 2025: Will we see the notoriously missing games?

Microsoft has a huge, huge array of studios to call upon when building content for showcases like this one. As well as a truly huge amount of previously announced games that have since fallen into obscurity, shrouded by secrecy and whispers.

Everwild is chief among these. Announced years ago by Sea of Thieves studio Rare, the game debuted only with gorgeous art and cryptic hints at what its gameplay might entail. Since then, the game lost its lead developer, but my most recent inquiries suggested that the game is now on track, and has strong confidence from Microsoft's producers. We could potentially see Everwild at this show.

There are various other titles, of course. Contraband, the mysterious heist simulator from Avalanche was supposed to launch years ago, but we haven't seen so much of a whisper of gameplay for it yet.

There's also State of Decay 3, whose photorealistic announcement trailer really set the expectation bar high. State of Decay as a concept and a franchise has truly limitless potential. So, so many games have tried and failed to deliver a truly essential co-op zombie apocalypse simulation experience. From what I've heard, State of Decay 3 could be launching as soon as 2026, so maybe now is the time to offer fans a deeper look at what could be one of Microsoft's biggest games of next year.

There are a variety of games we've seen a little more of. Perhaps we get a fresh look at Perfect Dark, as well as the sadly-delayed Fable. I have a good feeling we could see Clockwork Revolution at this year's showcase as well. The InXile shooter has been compared to the likes of BioShock, taking cues from InXile's RPG pedigree with a modern FPS twist. This could be an unexpected hit, so be sure to keep an eye out. Gears of War: E-Day is likely to appear as well, given that there have been rumours of it launching within the next calendar year.

What of Psychonauts studio, Double Fine? Tim Schafer's beloved outfit has been relatively quiet in recent years, but I've heard some rumblings that they might be ready to debut their next title soon. Could it be at the Xbox Showcase as well? My guess says "yes." Perhaps we'll also see the mysterious Xbox project from Toys for Bob, widely expected to be a new Spyro the Dragon title.

There's also plenty of room for third-party titles at these types of events as well. Long-suffering Xbox Final Fantasy fans should finally get their vindication at the Xbox Showcase, with titles like the Final Fantasy 7 remakes and Final Fantasy 16 being announced for Xbox. Perhaps there's room for Square-Enix to go a bit further and reveal upcoming projects like Dragon Quest 12 as well. We can only hope, right?

I'm curious if EA's next Battlefield title will show up at the Xbox event this year. Microsoft and EA have a deep partnership with things like EA Access in Xbox Game Pass, but Microsoft now owns Call of Duty, and thus competes directly with Battlefield. Perhaps Battlefield marketing reverts to PlayStation in that scenario, or maybe Xbox is eager to prove to third-parties that, despite owning Call of Duty, they can still be a good partner.

I'm expecting we'll get updates on some of Microsoft's service games this year as is tradition, with new stuff for Elder Scrolls Online, Fallout 76, Sea of Thieves, and others. I'm not expecting a ton from Blizzard at the Xbox Showcase, given that the Warcraft maker has a full in-person Blizzcon event planned for 2026, but perhaps we could get some updates on existing games as well.

In news that likely won't be a shocker, I'm expecting a variety of fully unannounced games to debut during the Xbox Showcase, both from Microsoft's own studios, as well as partnerships with external developers. Now that Microsoft is raking in huge amounts of cash from PlayStation and Steam in addition to Xbox and Game Pass, we should start to see some of that cash reinvested in interesting new projects and partnerships.

I'm expecting Microsoft to double down on Xbox platform-exclusive features, even if the games aren't necessarily guaranteed to be Xbox console exclusive. We could see an expansion of Xbox Play Anywhere titles and commitment, as more and more developers come around to Microsoft's thinking on the project.

What about a big gaming "megaton" though? What could close out the show?

Formerly 343i, Halo Studios has been totally and completely quiet since the misfire that was Halo Infinite. The studio has been totally reorganized to rebuild Halo for a new era. Could they be at the show? I haven't heard rumors to suggest it ... perhaps there's another flagship franchise that could appear instead.

Revealed in 2018, The Elder Scrolls VI has been utterly shrouded in mystery, as Todd Howard's Bethesda team poured their efforts into the controversial Starfield. With Oblivion Remastered reigniting passion for the classic RPG franchise, could The Elder Scrolls VI finally re-emerge from oblivion at this year's Xbox Showcase?

Court documents that leaked during the Activision-Blizzard trial suggested that The Elder Scrolls VI was targeting a "2026 or later" launch window. With all the hype surrounding The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, perhaps it would be a good time to strike the iron while it's hot? Who knows. It would certainly be a big moment.

Xbox Showcase 2025: What about next-gen hardware hints?

Microsoft Xbox Showcase events tend to focus entirely on games, but these are strange times, and the Xbox brand is in something of a transition.

With Project Latitude in full swing, the effort to bring every Xbox game to PlayStation is on-going, leaving Xbox fans, commentators, and onlookers alike wondering if Microsoft still has any commitment left to its own platform.

I think at this year's show, Microsoft may make some effort to reaffirm to its most committed fans that it remains faithful in Xbox hardware, in some way.

I think part of this effort will revolve around features like Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Play Anywhere, both of which are very powerful, if potentially underappreciated, exclusive aspects of the Xbox ecosystem. We could also see a glimpse of the elusive Project Kennan, which is Microsoft's partner handheld built by ASUS.

I doubt we'll see the new Xbox Series X|S successors in full at this year's show, or indeed perhaps not even Kennan itself, but Microsoft is going to be on the ground at Summer Games Fest talking about its ecosystem to press and creators as usual.

Around the showcase itself, perhaps we see Project Kennan revealed in full ahead of its launch, which I'm expecting for some time later this year. I also have it on good authority that Microsoft is working on a successor to the Xbox Elite Controller Series 2, assumedly called the Series 3, that will modernize and improve the offering leaps and bounds over the current model. Microsoft has revealed new controller models in and around their E3-styled showcases in the past, so perhaps now's a good time for the Series 3 to debut? Time will tell.

What do YOU want to see from the Xbox Showcase 2025?

Microsoft's controversial decisions over Xbox exclusives like Forza, Gears, Halo, and other titles has cast a bit of a shadow over the brand in recent years, and has left people wondering if Microsoft isn't gearing up for one of its "classic" hardware exit strategies. Some game journalists have gone as far as to claim that even publishers don't understand Xbox's strategy, and are left wondering whether or not to even build games for the platform.

The truth remains that Microsoft still enjoys tens of millions of users across its Xbox hardware ecosystem, and is raking in literal billions of dollars on Xbox alone. This is before you even begin to consider the subsidies it's getting from putting titles onto PlayStation, and its far larger install base. A lot of that money will be used to uplevel its existing studios, raising quality across the board. But will it be used to subsidize Xbox hardware as well?

As I've previously reported, sources have suggested to me that Xbox is working on an Xbox Series X successor, as well as some form of Xbox gaming handheld, all potentially for 2027. Xbox Game Pass has been on an absolute tear in recent months as well, delivering a quality bar that we haven't seen before for the service.

Still, I think Microsoft has a battle on its hands to convince some quarters of the Xbox hardware faithful that it's still committed in the long term. I'm curious how, or even if, Microsoft will seek to address some of those concerns during the Xbox Showcase.

This Xbox Showcase is going to be more platform agnostic than ever potentially — there should be more reasons than ever for Steam, PlayStation, and Nintendo users to tune in as well. I just hope Microsoft doesn't forget the concerns of classic console-only customers that helped put them into such a strong position for this new era.