Xbox Series X event: What to expect from this week's Xbox Games Showcase

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Get ready for an hour of new Xbox games

Xbox Series X
(Image credit: 343 Industries)

We’re just days away from the biggest Xbox Series X event yet. After an exciting PS5 livestream in June that revealed new Spider-Man and Horizon titles as well as the console itself, it’s now Microsoft’s turn to answer back with a dedicated games showcase focused on its hot exclusives. 

Kicking off on July 23 at 9 a.m. PT / 12 p.m. ET, the Xbox Games Showcase promises to provide world premiere reveals for new games headed to Xbox Series X, Xbox One and PC, as well as a deeper dive on titles that Microsoft announced. Here’s what to expect from the Xbox Games Showcase — and what not to.

A whole lot of Halo Infinite 

Halo Infinite

(Image credit: Xbox)

The Xbox Games Showcase will be the big coming out party for Halo Infinite, the highly anticipated new installment in Microsoft’s flagship shooter series due to launch alongside Xbox Series X this holiday. In an Xbox Wire post, Xbox Games Marketing lead Aaron Greenberg says that we’ll get our “first-ever look at campaign gameplay” from the new Halo game.

We’ve gotten small teases of Halo Infinite since its original E3 2018 reveal, but have yet to see proper gameplay footage. A few weeks back, developer 343 studios posted a cryptic tease on Twitter, suggesting that the Banished faction from Halo Wars 2 could return in Infinite. Our money would be on Halo Infinite starting or closing the show with a significant amount of single-player action. Based on Greenberg’s statements, folks interested in Infinite’s competitive multiplayer may have to wait a bit longer. 

A solid hour of games — including new reveals 

(Image credit: Xbox)

A recent tweet from Greenberg suggests that the Games Showcase will be “about [an] hour long,” and will be entirely focused on games. Xbox hasn’t confirmed what other titles will be at the show, but we expect to see deeper dives on already announced Xbox exclusives like Hellblade 2 and Everwild, as well as third-party titles such as Madden NFL 21 and Marvel’s Avengers.

Greenberg noted that “Xbox Game Studios is pushing the industry forward with a huge variety of games,” in his post, so we expect to see some new exclusive reveals. A new installment in the nearly annual Forza racing franchise seems like a safe bet, and some new updates from the Gears of War universe are likely. But what else could be up Microsoft’s sleeves? 

Fans have been clamoring for Fable 4 for years, and some recent rumors and trademark filings suggest that a new installment in Microsoft’s popular RPG series could be in the works. Speculation around a new Perfect Dark title has also made the rounds, due to Microsoft registering placeholder Twitter accounts for the classic first-person shooter IP. These two reveals seem like a bit of a stretch for the Xbox Game Showcase, but we’ll know one way or another in just a few days. 

No Xbox Series X price or release date — or new hardware 

Xbox Lockhart concept design

(Image credit: Reddit - u/jiveduder)

Greenberg explicitly mentioned that there will be “no business, devices or similar news” at the Xbox Games Showcase. As such, we don’t expect to learn the Xbox Series X’s price or release date at this event.

That mention of “devices” suggests that we also won’t see the Xbox Series S, the long-rumored cheaper sibling of the Xbox Series X that could arrive as soon as this year. Eurogamer recently reported that the Series S reveal is set for August, so it’s possible that Microsoft could be planning a dedicated hardware event for next month.

Michael Andronico
Michael Andronico

Mike Andronico is Senior Writer at CNNUnderscored. He was formerly Managing Editor at Tom's Guide, where he wrote extensively on gaming, as well as running the show on the news front. When not at work, you can usually catch him playing Street Fighter, devouring Twitch streams and trying to convince people that Hawkeye is the best Avenger.