Xbox Games Showcase 2023 Wishlist

Avowed, Fable, Everwild, the list goes on. Most of these games were revealed to us years ago, and yet we're still largely in the dark about them. We hear the occasional rumour and whatnot, but at the 2023 Xbox Games Showcase, hopefully that will change.

Just as we did for the Summer Games Fest 2023, we're compiling a list of what we're hoping will show up at the Xbox Games Showcase and what we're expecting to appear. Among the more measured expectations, we'll throw in a few wacky ideas in the hopes that we can get a couple of genuine surprises that make the show worth talking about.

To start, let's talk about the headlining act and get it out of the way. Starfield is technically getting its own show, but as it's an Xbox exclusive, it's best treated as part of the whole Microsoft presentation experience. We're getting a lot of time with Starfield here, much more than last year, and hopefully it'll be more than just Todd Howard and his mates making promises about what we may or may not see in the finished product.

In short, it would be good to simply see a lot of gameplay here. Looking at environments, characters, the stories we can get lost in and the galaxy we're able to explore. It's bound to be a dressed-up experience, but with the shocker that Redfall turned out to be, there's far too much riding on Starfield being a success for it to look like a let down. Hopefully Bethesda can give us a lot to talk about here, and really make those final months waiting for its release feel exciting rather than full of dread that it can all go wrong.

Moving away from the year's biggest stress test, there are plenty more major games that we're hoping to at least see as part of this year's Xbox Games Showcase. Going from the depths of the galaxy into the magical mystery of fantasy, Obsidian's Avowed still remains largely a mystery to us. It looks to be an interesting sword and spell action-RPG, and with it being helmed by Obsidian we can't help but be a little excited, however, in the case of Avowed as with most games we'll talk about Xbox hasn't shown us a lot. This should change, so that Xbox can have a big RPG for us to look forward to when Starfield is in our hands. A release window and even a touch of gameplay would be enough, really.

Still sticking with the fantasy theme, Xbox has recently teased that Fable will indeed be at the showcase. Rumours on Fable's development have been largely disastrous, but it seems that things have been getting somewhat back on track lately. Fable is an especially interesting title, as it was revealed in 2020, and so work hopefully has been going on for a while, but with that work getting muddled reportedly, we might not see it for a while even if there's a reminder it exists on the 11th of June. Phil Spencer has said that Fable will release before Elder Scrolls 6, but at this point that's like saying I'll be dead before the sun explodes.

Forza Motorsport recently revealed its cover cars, and with the racing game coming out this year, it's possible we could see a release date confirmed along with some gameplay to keep fans happy. We know that it will be making an appearance, and considering it's one of Xbox's major releases left for the year, all that's left to be seen is how much of it we'll get to look at.

Senua's Saga: Hellblade II is something we're definitely expecting to see more of. Since it was first revealed, we've seen more and more little titbits at big events, with the most recent showing being at GDC this year. With Xbox posting a tweet that pointed to Senua's Saga releasing this year, there is a chance we could see something related to a release window at the Xbox Games Showcase to clarify when we'll be carrying on with Ninja Theory's Celtic epic.

In what is hopefully the final game that we should have just heard more about by now, Rare's Everwild should make an appearance at the Xbox Games Showcase. The fact that the majority of the games listed so far have no release information and a cinematic trailer to their name alone is quite embarrassing for Xbox. It puts even more pressure on Starfield, a game that already has a decade of Bethesda hype behind it.

The above contains largely what we're expecting to see, but among those expectations there's certainly room for some surprises. There are rumblings of a new Wolfenstein game, so there's a chance that could make an appearance if it is being worked on. Machine Games is currently working on the Indiana Jones game announced in 2021 as well, so perhaps we could see that instead or both in a dream world.

Another game announced recently that we've heard next to nothing from is Perfect Dark. Now, by the rumours that game is nowhere near ready to release, but if Xbox has anything up its sleeve to show us on the Perfect Dark reboot, it would certainly be something worth talking about and would surprise a lot of fans who are beginning to lose faith in it seeing the light of day.

Looking at the monumental roster of developers Xbox has, and the IPs now under its control, there's no reason why we can't aim for the moon with our predictions, so if we're thinking outside the box, why not hope for some kind of new Battletoads title? It would certainly surprise a lot of people, and if Xbox went for a classic vibe with it then a new Battletoads would certainly differentiate itself from the other games coming to the green brand.

Killer Instinct is another classic franchise that could do with a little bump. The last Killer Instinct game was received incredibly well, and so why not try and bring that fighting game goodness to Xbox? With Mortal Kombat 1, Tekken 8, and Street Fighter 6 in this year alone, though, perhaps now is not the time to add in another fighting game to a stacked market.

This final one is really out there, but considering Obsidian's co-founder recently stated he'd love to work on Fallout again, there is the smallest chance there could be something within that, and to make the 10-year wait until Bethesda can get around to Fallout 5 a little easier, perhaps we could see Obsidian step in with another Fallout spin-off or a New Vegas remaster.

The Xbox Games Showcase simply can't be another lot of time spent looking at projects that have no release dates or proper gameplay shown. Sony's PlayStation Showcase was disappointing, but we at least had Spider-Man 2 gameplay to stop it being a complete disaster. With the standard set by other Xbox exclusives recently, we can't put that same faith in Starfield, at least not yet. So, we need to see more substantial showings from the green team this time around.