The Xbox went out of the last console generation with a whimper and has commenced this one with much of the same approach. There have been some gems, predominantly of the indie variety and those that involve driving or piloting, but overall, Xbox exclusives haven’t been enough to shift consoles. What early and even mid-term adopters have been able to clutch, though, are the straws of long-awaited games announced quite some time ago.
On June 9, 2024, the Xbox Games Showcase should be able to deliver on many of those hopes. It’ll be the first since Microsoft gobbled up Activision Blizzard, so the redacted Direct added-on will almost certainly be a Call of Duty showcase, and their Xbox Game Studios have been allowed to keep cooking for years. So, let’s see what we’re almost certain will be previewed and what will hopefully be included as well.
Hellblade II Could Be a Hit and Get an Add-on.
Launching during the same week on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and the Nintendo Switch, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice was the surprise hit of 2017. Made by Ninja Theory, the indie game with significant backing coaxed players in with its crossover of a Celtic protagonist venturing into the realms of Norse. Then it held them there with its poignant, atmospheric gameplay that explored dread, anxiety, and death.
During its month of release, Hellblade topped Europe’s PlayStation Store in sales and broke even in just three months. Superb word of mouth was a great help, but so was the setting. Norse remains a very popular theme right now, from video gaming to casino gaming. As the Stake Casino description details, there are over 350 slots on the highly-rated platform. Yet, the popularity of Norse and Vikings has enabled it to host a whole horde of games in that theme. The platform features the Vikings TV show slot alongside Olaf Viking, Viking Clash, Viking Forge, the Story of Vikings series, Power of Thor, and Valkyrie, among many others.
So, a return to the setting with Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II combined with the excellent reception of the first looks to be a clear-cut winner for Xbox when it arrives on May 21, and with the showcase coming a few weeks later, perhaps it’ll also get a DLC announced to expand the Game Pass release.
The Many, Many Other Games Promised by Xbox
There’s a lot said to be on the slate by Xbox, and it looks as though some of them are getting near their long-awaited release dates. Hellblade II is one of them, followed by the first-person fantasy RPG from acclaimed creators Obsidian Entertainment, Avowed. If it reaches its potential, Avowed has the makings of nearly a new Skyrim and will arrive in 2024.
On to the post-apocalyptic setting, Xbox has two very promising games in the works. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl from Ukrainian studio GSC Game World will take players back to the nature-defying, mutant-loaded alternate landscape of the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 arrives on September 5 this year. Many Xbox fans will also be hoping for the third game in the State of Decay series, which was announced in 2020.
Undead Labs hit the big time with their much-loved Xbox 360 game from 2013, State of Decay, which went from strength to strength with subsequent DLC. Being able to explore, build bases, flee from zombies, collect resources, and grow a community by finding fellow survivors offered what was essentially The Walking Dead experience. State of Decay 2 didn’t land as well but became respected by the final updates to the 2018 release.
State of Decay 3 has a lot of promise, and most are expecting it to get a look in 2024, and hopefully a release date. On top of these near-guaranteed hits, there could be a preview of a sixth Gears of War game, the new Microsoft Flight Simulator, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Fable 4, Clockwork Revolution, ARK 2, Perfect Dark, and whatever Activision, Blizzard, and the remaining Bethesda studios are cooking up.
Needless to say, there’s a lot of potential for the upcoming 2024 Xbox Games Showcase, and hopefully, it’ll feature some new reveals alongside confirmation of much-craved titles announced years ago.
