In the early hours of this morning for us Aussies, Xbox held its follow-up to Monday’s huge Xbox Games Showcase, with the appropriately-titled Xbox Games Showcase Extended. It served to both give fans a deeper look at some of what was shown off on Monday as well as highlight even more new announcements and updates to some favourites.
Here’s everything you missed if you were (understandably) not awake at 3AM AEST for this one:
Xbox Games Showcase Extended 2023 Round-Up
Keanu Reeves And New Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty Gameplay
Presented by Pawel Sasko, Quest Director on the game, we got a new look at Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty via the Black Market location in Dogtown, a treasure trove of illicit cyberware and modifications. Keanu Reeves was also on-hand to talk about the new location, Johnny Silverhand and the expansion in general.
High On Knife Is An Upcoming Expansion For High On Life
Knifey is back, it seems, and in a very chilling and grotesque-looking experience “coming soon” to High on Life.
The Lamplighters League Has A Release Date
The people that brought you the Shadowrun Returns series and Battletech are back with a globe-trotting pulp adventure packed with scoundrels, thieves, cutthroats and exciting turn-based combat. It’s coming out on October 3rd for Xbox Series X|S and PC, with a day one release on Game Pass.
Avowed Developer Deep Dive
Game Director at Obsidian, Carrie Patel, takes us through the new trailer we saw earlier in the week for the highly-anticipated Avowed, explaining its connection to the Pillars of Eternity series, companions, abilities, playstyles and a heap more. It sounds very much like an Obsidian game, to sum things up succinctly. Also dual-wielding pistols are a thing. The game will be roughly as big as The Outer Worlds, apparently.
The First Descendant Is An Unreal Engine 5-Powered Looter Shooter
This isn’t a new game announcement, but it’s our first look at Xbox Series X gameplay of this “next-generation” looter shooter running on the Unrel Engine 5. It’s going to have cross-play between Xbox, PlayStation and PC, and a cross-play beta is coming in late August which you can apply for here.
The Towerborne Developers Describe Their Unique Game
The folks at Stoic explain the world of Towerborne, the Belfry, the gameplay loop and plans for seasonal content.
Fallout 76: Once In A Blue Moon Gets A Launch Trailer
Coming on June 20th, this free update will bring with it a heap of new content including new cryptids, public events, player rewards and more.
Hi-Fi Rush Is Getting Two New Game Modes
Tango Gameworks’ surprise hit is getting a pair of challenging new game modes with BPM Rush Mode, which puts players into a wave-based survival challenge where the BPM steadily increases over time, and Power Up! Tower Up! which puts a new twist on the Rhythm Tower challenge with Upgrades and Bugs between rounds. The update will also include new special attacks, challenges, t-shirts, poses and more when it hits on July 5.
More Of A Look At The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom
The creative director and art director on The Elder Scrolls Online took the time to talk about what sets ESO apart from other MMOs, as well as introducing the upcoming Necrom expansion and its incredibly unique atmosphere and visuals.
Phasmophobia Is Coming To Consoles
The hit 4-player online co-op horror game is headed to consoles, including Xbox, PlayStation and even PS VR2, in August this year.
The Capcom Showcase Is Back Again
Capcom rocked up to talk more Exoprimal, this time about a new game mode called Savage Gauntlet that sees players around the world compete for high scores in identical runs.
An ID@Xbox Montage!
Just a little sizzle reel promoting the ID@Xbox program, a nice reminder than indies rule.
The Ornithopter In Microsoft Flight Simulator Comes With Its Own Dune Locations And Gameplay
Paris Lilly meets with Head of Microsoft Flight Simulator, Jorg Neumann, along with Dune’s production designer, Patrice Vermette, to see real-life vehicle props from the films and talk about the tie-in content coming to Microsoft Flight Simulator
A Deep Dive Into Lies Of P
A new 10-minute gameplay showcase for the upcoming Pinocchio-themed soulslike action game, diving deep into its combat systems, characters, soundtrack, costumes and other mysteries. There’s a demo of this available too, so you can make your own gameplay showcase at home!
Go Mecha Ball
Whatever this is, it looks fun. It’s coming to Xbox consoles and PC in 2024 (and Game Pass!)
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II’s Performance Capture Is Incredible
Although I was hoping we’d maybe get a bigger look at gameplay than what we saw earlier in the week, it’s super interesting seeing just how in-depth the motion capture process is for this one in comparison to its predecessor.
A New Look At Lightyear Frontier
A fresh look at this mech-based multiplayer farming and adventure game, where we see some resource-gathering, alien crop farming, building and exploration. I really love the look of this game.
33 Immortals Looks Bonkers
Two of the developers from Thunder Lotus walk Phil Spencer through their ambitious 33-player roguelike, with 30 other players in tow. I’m super keen for this one.
Another ID@Xbox Sizzle Reel
This one shows off 10 exciting indie games all coming to Game Pass, including Galacticare, Techtonica, Another Crab’s Treasure, The Wandering Village, Neon White, Harold Halibut, Mineko’s Night Market, The Bookwalker, Sea of Stars and Little Kitty, Big City.
