Summer Game Fest 2022: Starfield, Game Pass, Forza Motorsport… what to expect from the Xbox & Bethesda conference?

Game News Summer Game Fest 2022: Starfield, Game Pass, Forza Motorsport… what to expect from the Xbox & Bethesda conference?

A long look at Starfield and new Redfall details

Let’s start with what is safer because already announced (half-word) as part of the program. The two games made by Bethesda, Starfield and Redfall, both originally slated for release this year but ultimately pushed back to 2023, will be present at the event. Microsoft should show Starfield for quite a long time, a project for which Phil Spencer has great ambitions, who believes that Todd Howard’s RPG will be the biggest hit ever for Bethesda. This “skyrim in space” according to the development team will propel us adventurers into a small corner of the Milky Way galaxy located approximately 50 light years from our solar system. Thanks to his ship, the player will be able to visit several planets in order to unlock the secrets of the galaxy. As for Redfall, the Arkane Austin-crafted title that was the “one more thing” from the 2021 conference is an open-world co-op FPS set on a vampire-infested island. The characters to embody have different powers that make it easier to hunt bloodsucking monsters. Last year, the software was unveiled through a rather enigmatic CGI trailer. This year, Redfall like Starfield will show gameplay and bring many details.

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Do you want Game Pass? Here’s !

Without taking any risks, we can already predict that the winner of this conference will once again be Game Pass, as has been the case at Microsoft since E3 2019. The subscription service offering an extensive catalog of games ranges from talk about him again. Aaron Greenberg himself, the brand’s marketing manager, explained on Twitter that we will eat Game Pass all the way on Sunday. Last year, of the 30 games shown during the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase 2021, 27 were titles included in Game Pass. If Microsoft wants to make an impression in 2022, it will have to be stronger. As a reminder, at the beginning of the year, the service had 25 million subscribers. It remains to be seen whether the Redmond company will attempt to replicate the 2020 Showcase experience on a larger scale, as all of the games that were presented at this event have been announced as part of the service. It also remains to be seen if Microsoft will take advantage of this moment to announce a possible Family Sharing feature.

Update on the projects already announced and the service games…

Microsoft has a lot of projects in the making, some of which were unveiled almost three years ago now, like Everwild. Yes, the studios are numerous (23), the list of games is large (estimated at around thirty)it is therefore not easy to be sure to see this or that software this Sunday, especially since new productions will also be presented. Logic would dictate that we can see what Contraband, the Avalanche Studios (Just Cause) project published by the American giant, looks like. All the lights are also green for the coming of Avowed, Obsidian’s RPG set in the universe of Pillars of Eternity. The next-gen Forza Motorsport could also come out of its garage at the Showcase to show off its gleaming bodywork, as well as State of Decay 3. Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II having been shown at The Game Awards, we don’t expect it not necessarily for this Sunday. Maybe Project: Mara will take the opportunity to talk about him again? We’d love to hear from Playground’s Fable (reboot) and The Initiative’s Perfect Dark, but unfortunately the latest rumors left little hope for the possibility of seeing them. Will we have the opportunity to discover the future creations of Tango Gameworks, The Coalition and Double Fine? The future will tell. As for partners, we will surely have information on ARK II and Scorn (among others). Finally, all eyes are on Machine Games, the developers of the game Indiana Jones (announced at the very beginning of 2021). Will we see the famous adventurer on Sunday evening? Hopes are allowed.

The Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase 2022 will certainly highlight already released software that will host additional content. We are thinking of Fallout 76, The Elder Scrolls Online, Minecraft, or even Flight Simulator. With any luck, we will see the announcement of the arrival of Age of Empires IV on Xbox consoles. Also, future updates to Halo Infinite, Sea of ​​Thieves, and Forza Horizon 5 may be in the game.

And, of course, surprises!

A builder’s summer conference without surprises is like a birthday party without presents. With repeated leaks and the presence of often well-informed insiders, the most complicated thing for video game giants is to manage to keep surprises at large gatherings. There will of course be apps not yet announced that will be talked about for the very first time. Why not the InXile project? The studio has been very active on social networks lately, and is developing a project under Unreal Engine 5. Compulsion Games would also have enough to create the event with its still kept secret game. Unless Xbox Publishing talks about its new partnerships? Fans are waiting for a return of Wolfenstein, while some rumors are preparing us for the arrival of an HD version of GoldenEye 64. We are neither prophets, nor in the secret, nor in the head of Phil Spencer: we can’t predict what will surprise us on Sunday, and whether the Banjo and Kazooie duo will return from limbo. We just hope to see more gameplay than CGI trailers, and find some exciting stuff.

Japan as guest of honor?

As we explained in the previous paragraph, we cannot predict surprises. Nevertheless, we notice that Microsoft has been active for quite some time in Asia, and more particularly in Japan. Efforts that seem to be starting to bear fruit, with sales of Xbox Series X | S having been on a good dynamic for a few months in the land of the rising sun. Phil Spencer knows that fans of the American brand are in demand for strong partnerships with Japanese studios, they who, at one time, could be proud to play exclusive RPGs produced by Hironobu Sakaguchi (Final Fantasy). Xbox gamers who love Japanese games expect two things from this Showcase. The first is that titles such as Persona 5 and Final Fantasy VII Remake are finally coming to their console. The second is that Microsoft is directly founding Japanese projects, a bit like at the time of Mistwalker on Xbox 360, via partnerships, takeovers, or the creation of studios. It’s been several months that the indiscretions evoke the possibility of an Xbox project with Hideo Kojima. It is obvious that an announcement of this type could set the Internet ablaze.

There isn’t much time to wait until we see what the Xbox and Bethesda teams have cooked up for the event. Expectations are obviously high, especially after a particularly successful 2021 conference. As a reminder, the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase will take place on Sunday, June 12 at 7 p.m. It will last 95 minutes and you can, of course, follow it with us.