Xbox and Bethesda fans rejoice! The publishers have announced the Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase 2022 will take place on June 12, and with so many developers now part of the Xbox Game Studios family, we’ve been busy salivating over what could possibly show up during the big livestream.
Down below, you’ll find our six predictions for things we’d expect from the Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase, and then 5 games we’d love to see show up in one form or another. We’ve taken a stab at predicting how these might appear, but a brief cameo would be enough for us in most cases. So, without further ado, let’s dive into the good stuff.
Starfield Gameplay Reveal
Things to Expect from the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase 2022
If there’s one game that feels more or less 100% guaranteed to show up at Xbox and Bethesda’s Games Showcase next month, it’s Starfield. Bethesda Games Studios’ ambitious space RPG is set to release in November and we’ve yet to see any significant chunk of gameplay. We’ve had a gradual drip-feed of information over the past couple of months about its sound and music, the factions you’ll meet, and even your robotic companion, but it feels about right for the blowout of information ahead of it hitting Xbox and PC at the end of this year.
This would fall in line with what Bethesda did with Fallout 4 back in 2015, which built hype in a perfect timeframe prior to the game’s release towards the end of that year, too.
We’d expect a good 30 minutes or so spent on the game… probably at the very end to round the showcase off nicely.
Wishlist: An Update on Fable
Things We Hope to See at Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase 2022
The Fable series was beloved by many in its Xbox 360 haydays, but during the dark, early days of the Xbox One, Fable Legends came and flopped, and then the series remained dormant ever since. That was until the Xbox Games Showcase in 2020 when it was announced a new Fable was in development, coming to Xbox Series X|S and PC sometime in the future. It was a brief teaser, but the news the series was to return was enough for fans to erupt in celebration.
Fast forward two years and all has been very quiet. Given this is assumed to be a rather hefty open-world RPG, chances are that the game’s not going to be ready anytime soon, but a quick trailer showing off the world, a bit of plot, and most importantly, the return of our doggo companion would be welcomed with open arms by Xbox fans around the world.
Footage of The Initiative’s Perfect Dark
Things to Expect from the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase 2022
The Initiative is a Santa Monica-based developer founded in 2018 and led by Crystal Dynamics veteran Darrell Gallagher. At the time of its founding and announcement, there was a big fanfare made about it, and then for a couple of years, we heard nothing. Fortunately, the ambiguity around its upcoming project was broken at The Game Awards in 2020 when a teaser was shared for a Perfect Dark reboot, developed by The Initiative in partnership with Crystal Dynamics.
Two years later, we’ve still not seen or heard anything about the project. Surely, the Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase this year is the perfect time to at least give fans a glimpse of how the reboot is shaping up. Expect some sort of trailer, even if it’s just a brief gameplay clip. A release date seems unlikely, outside of a vague 2023 window.
MachineGames’ Indiana Jones Game Shown
Things We Hope to See at Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase 2022
At the very beginning of 2021, the official Bethesda Twitter account announced that a new Indiana Jones game with an original story was in development from MachineGames. Executively produced by Todd Howard and in collaboration with Lucasfilms Games, the teaser accompanying the announcement appears to suggest that the game will see Indi embarking on a quest to the Vatican to seek out some sort of Holy relic or treasure.
Alas, that’s all we’ve had to speculate on — and speculate we did — about the game, and so nearly 18 months later, we’re still eagerly awaiting the next tidbit of news about Indi’s adventure.
It’s difficult to see a release date getting announced this early, but some sort of gameplay trailer feels a little more realistic. However, given Microsoft and Bethesda have a wealth of studios and third-party partners to fill the circa 90 minutes runtime (if past years are anything to go by) of the showcase, it may be held onto a little longer to give the development team more time to polish it up.
More Footage of Everwild & What Exactly it Is
Things to Expect from the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase 2022
While rumors have swirled in the past 12 months or so that Everwild has been rebooted and won’t launch until 2023, that serves as reason enough that Rare’s upcoming title will show up during the Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase this year.
Exactly what the game even was prior to the ‘reboot rumors’ was a little unclear. The game certainly looked beautiful in the trailers developer Rare did show, but it was difficult to tell what players would be doing in its fantasy world.
If nothing else, we’d expect to see Everwild get a trailer and a proper explanation of what players will be doing in its world.