On Sunday, Microsoft released a packed Xbox Games Showcase 2024 that showcased new discoveries and game updates from its own studios and third-party partners. Father Xbox showcased games from Activision, Bethesda, Blizzard, Xbox Game Studios and more. The presentation started with a new campaign trailer for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and ended with the reveal of the next Gears of War game. Already announced titles such as State of Decay 3, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Perfect Dark, Avowed and South of Midnight also received new trailers.
The Xbox Games Showcase aired two days after Summer Game Fest and just a week after Sony’s State of Play live stream. In addition to its own games, the showcase also featured trailers for third-party games such as Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Metal Gear Solid Δ: Snake Eater, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, and more.
Microsoft also unveiled three new Xbox Series S/X variants, including the all-digital Xbox Series X. The Xbox games showcase was also followed by a Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Direct presentation. Here’s everything that was announced at the Xbox Games Showcase:
Gears of War: E-Day
The rumors were confirmed when Microsoft unveiled the next Gears of War at the Xbox Games Showcase. Gears of War: E-Day, the next main game in the series, takes place 14 years before the original Gears of War, during Emergence Day. The game received a cinematic trailer featuring in-game resources and a new instrumental version of Gary Jules’ “Mad World” that recalls the iconic Gears of War commercial from 2006. There is currently no word on a release period, but don’t expect E-Day to launch anytime soon.
Doom: The Dark Ages
Perhaps the highlight of the demo was the reveal of the next major game in the Doom series. Doom: The Dark Ages takes a medieval approach to monster slaying, placing the Doom Slayer in a dark fantasy setting. The epic trailer showed off brutal moves, a crazy skull-feeding gun, and a bladed shield saw that flies to slash demons and returns to your hands like Thor’s hammer.
The Doom Slayer will also be able to use his Atlan mech against colossal demons and fly a cybernetic battle dragon. Doom: The Dark Ages will arrive on Xbox Series S/X, PC and PS5 in 2025, with a day one release on Game Pass.
Perfect dark
At the Xbox Games Showcase, Perfect Dark received its first gameplay trailer, showing first-person combat and parkour. Developed by The Initiative and Crystal Dynamics and published by Xbox Game Studios, the Perfect Dark reboot was first officially announced at The Game Awards 2020.
The new trailer showcases the action of the game in Cairo and its main character, Joan of Arc. Gameplay includes melee combat, shooting, stealth and smooth parkour. Perfect Dark does not yet have a confirmed release date.
South of North
Compulsion Games’ South of Midnight, which was first shown at the Xbox Games Showcase in 2023, has received a new trailer that showcases the third-person action-adventure. South of Midnight has a distinct artistic style and elements of fantasy.
The trailer shows the main character, Hazel, and her companion Catfish traveling through a flooded desert and encountering magical beasts. Hazel can use her magic weaving powers in both combat and evasion. The game will be available on Xbox Series S/X and PC in 2025.
State of decay 3
State of Decay 3 presented a new trailer at the Xbox Games Showcase. The open-world zombie survival game is a sequel to 2018’s State of Decay 2. This game is set over many years in a zombie apocalypse and you are tasked with fighting the undead and reclaiming lost territories. There is no official release date or timeframe for State of Decay 3 yet.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
While the next Call of Duty received a special live presentation after the Xbox Games Showcase, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 was showcased with a campaign trailer at the showcase. Black Ops 6, developed by Treyarch and Raven Software, is set in the early 1990s and reveals a fascinating story of espionage.
The trailer brings back familiar characters, blockbuster action and intense gunfights. The first-person shooter is coming to PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X on October 25, with the first day of release on Game Pass.
Answered
Obsidian Entertainment’s Avowed received a new story trailer at the Xbox Games Showcase. A first-person RPG with a focus on melee and magical combat. The game will be released on PC and Xbox Series S/X in 2024.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
A new trailer for MachineGames’ Indiana Jones and the Great Circle debuted at the Xbox Showcase, showing off new gameplay and a story section of the game that features Indy chasing a mysterious artifact in the Himalayas. The game will be released on PC and Xbox Series S/X later this year.
Here’s everything else that was announced or updated at the Xbox Games Showcase:
- Age of Mythology: Retold (PC, Xbox Series S/X – out September 4, pre-orders available)
- Fable (PC, Xbox Series S/X – 2025)
- Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 (PC, Xbox Series S/X – November 19 release)
- Assassin’s Creed Shadows Gameplay Revealed (PC, Xbox Series S/X, PS5 – Released November 15)
- Atomfall (PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, PS4, PS5 – 2025)
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (PC, Xbox Series S/X, PS5)
- Dragon Age: The Veilguard (PC, Xbox Series S/X, PS5 – Fall 2024)
- Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn (PC, Xbox Series S/X, PS5 – out July 18)
- FragPunk (PC, Xbox Series S/X – 2025)
- Life Is Strange: Double Exposure (PC, Xbox Series S/X, PS5 – out October 29)
- Mecha Break (PC, Xbox Series S/X, PS5 – 2025)
- Metal Gear Solid Δ: Snake Eater Gameplay (PC, Xbox Series S/X, PS5 – 2024)
- Mixtape (PC, Xbox Series S/X, PS5 – 2025)
- STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl (PC, Xbox Series S/X – out September 5)
- Winter Burrow (PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X – early 2025)
- Wuchang: Fallen Feathers (PC, Xbox Series S/X, PS5 – 2025)
- Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred Expansion (PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, PS4, PS5 – Released October 8)
- Fallout 76 Skyline Valley Expansion (PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, PS4, PS5 – June 6 release)
- Starfield Shattered Space Expansion (PC, Xbox Series S/X – 2024)
- World of Warcraft: The War Within Expansion, PC – Released August 26)
