Xbox kicked off its 2024 with a jam-packed Developer Direct showcase, bringing reveals and updates on four upcoming releases from four studios, plus a bonus update from Square Enix. The 45-minute presentation, streamed live on YouTube and Xbox's other social channels late Thursday, took the covers off MachineGames' upcoming Indiana Jones game, provided a release date for the highly anticipated Senua's Saga, and revealed a release window for Avowed, Obsidian's next big fantasy RPG.
While 2023 was a quiet year for Xbox, the news is good this year for players on the platform — all games showcased at the Developer Direct presentation will launch across Xbox Series X/S, PC, Game Pass and/or cloud later in 2024. The four games, which saw deep dives and extended gameplay trailers along with release details, will also arrive as day-one Game Pass titles, Xbox confirmed. There were no surprise shadow releases like Hi-Fi Rush, announced at last year's Developer Direct on January 25, 2023, and released into the wild the same day, but with concrete information on upcoming titles, Xbox fans should have little to complain. Here's a handy rundown of everything announced at Xbox's Developer Direct 2024 presentation:
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle – MachineGames
When: 2024
Where: Xbox Series X/S, PC, Game Pass
Indy is back and he's on Xbox. After an eternity of speculation, developer MachineGames, the studio behind recent Wolfenstein titles, finally revealed Indiana Jones and the Great Circle at last night's Developer Direct. First things first: No, it is not a third-person action-adventure title; Indiana Jones will instead play out from the first-person perspective — an interesting choice that perhaps mirrors the initial surprise and disappointment of finding out that Cyberpunk 2077 would not be a third-person title. But on second thought, it seems to be a wise choice, not just from an artistic point of view, but also as a smart way to avoid inevitable comparisons with Uncharted and Tomb Raider games.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, set between Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade, will put you in the shoes of the iconic, whip-cracking archeologist and adventurer. And while Indy retains the facial likeness of Harrison Ford, he will be voiced by none other than Troy Baker in the game. The first-person action-adventure title promises arcane mysteries, hidden treasures, puzzle-solving, fist-fighting, whip-combat, first-person shooting, and more. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is arriving sometime later this year on current-gen Xbox consoles and PC.
Senua's Saga: Hellblade II — Ninja Theory
When: May 21
Where: Xbox Series X/S, PC, Cloud, Game Pass
Senua's Saga: Hellblade II finally received a release date at the Xbox Developer Direct presentation. The game, announced over four years ago, is coming May 21. We've already seen multiple gameplay and cinematic showcases from the game over the years and yesterday's segment provided a little more insight and details about the game's story, showing off some more gameplay and stunning visuals. Developers Ninja Theory also detailed some of the enhancements coming to the third-person action-adventure title compared to the first game, Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice.
Avowed — Obsidian
When: Fall 2024
Where: Xbox Series X/S, PC, Cloud, Game Pass
RPG veterans Obsidian provided a first gameplay deep dive into Avowed, first announced at Xbox Games showcase in July 2020. The fantasy RPG is in line with prior Obsidian RPGs, featuring an immersive world, deep questlines and dynamic combat. And of course, the choices you make in the game will leave a mark on the narrative, changing the course of the story later down the road.
The trailer showed off the vibrant world of Living Lands, where players are tasked with stopping a mysterious spiritual plague and uncover a big secret behind it all. It also provided a detailed look at the first-person melee and magic combat, both of which can be quickly swapped out. Avowed is launching sometime in Q3 or Q4 this year.
Ara: History Untold — Oxide Games
When: Fall 2024
Where: PC, Game Pass
The Developer Direct showcase also featured Oxide Games' upcoming strategy title, Ara: History Untold. The turn-based grand strategy game, made by a team of developers that includes veterans from the Civilization series, will arrive on PC and PC Game Pass later this year.
First announced at the Xbox and Bethesda Showcase in 2022, the game will focus on building up a nation from scratch and leading it through different periods of an alternate history. The trailer showed off expansive strategic combat, design features and other gameplay systems. The developers stressed on the fact that player choices will leave indelible impacts on the game world
Ara: History Untold is launching sometime later this year
Photo Credit: Xbox
Visions of Mana — Square Enix
When: Summer 2024
Where: PS4, PS5, Xbox Series S/X, PC
Amid all Xbox and PC exclusive titles from in-house developers, Square Enix popped in at the Developer Direct presentation to give a detailed glimpse at Visions of Mana, the first new mainline entry in the Mana series in over 15 years. Square Enix showed off cute, cartoony visuals, real-time combat and other gameplay details for the game, in addition to providing a detailed look at the colourful world.
Visions of Mana also showed off its varied monster design, evocative score and giant cat-like companions, the pikuls, which can be used as a mount to ride around the game world. Visions of Mana arrives on Xbox, PlayStation and PC sometime later this year.
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