10 Biggest Omissions From Xbox Games Showcase 2023

Many Xbox owners and gamers around the world have seemingly been wowed by yesterday’s Xbox Games Showcase, which lifted the lid on a variety of new games coming to the big green platform over the next year and a half. Exciting announcements like Clockwork Revolution, Star Wars Outlaws, Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess and Metaphor: ReFantazio, along with deep dives into games like Starfield, help ease the minds of those who were worried about the future of Xbox.

That being said, with their fingers in so many pies, Xbox naturally left some games and properties out in the cold, or there were certain aspects of what was already revealed that didn’t quite go the extra mile. With that in mind, we’ve decided to look at what the biggest omissions from the Xbox Games Showcase 2023 were.

 

1. Actual Gameplay For Hellblade 2 & Fable

Considering how long we’ve been waiting for more news and footage regarding Fable and Hellblade 2, seeing both games make an appearance during the Xbox Games Showcase was certainly welcome. That being said, both trailers were lacking in the gameplay department, with Hellblade 2 only showing an extended cutscene with main character Senua, while Fable quietly plonked a few seconds of possible gameplay towards the tail end of the trailer.

Considering how long it’s been since both of those games were initially revealed, it would have been nice to see more gameplay from Fable and Hellblade 2 instead of what we’ve got. This is especially true for Fable, as yesterday’s trailer was only the second glimpse we’ve seen of the game so far. The trailer we got might have nailed the sarcastic, British humour and tone that the series is known for, but it would have been awesome to see how the gameplay for this new Fable compared to the older games.

 

2. Contraband

Avalanche’s co-op heist game that reportedly features vehicular combat, Contraband is one of many upcoming Xbox console exclusives that only has a CGI reveal trailer to its name at the minute. The game was initially revealed during the Xbox Showcase all the way back in 2021, with no trailers or new pieces of news in the time since then, and not hearing anything about the game for two years is typically not a good sign.

This year’s Xbox Game Showcase would have been the perfect time to introduce some new footage of Contraband, but it wasn’t to be. Seeing some debuting games at this year’s Showcase is all very well and good, but there’s a huge library of games that have already been revealed which we’re still waiting on. Perhaps it would have been good to see those games addressed first.

 

3. Perfect Dark

Another in Xbox’s list of games that only have a CGI trailer to their name, the Perfect Dark reboot is currently being developed by Xbox’s so-called “AAAA” studio, The Initiative. According to various reports over the past two years, development of Perfect Dark over at The Initiative hasn’t been going too well, with Tomb Raider reboot trilogy and Marvel’s Avengers devs Crystal Dynamics drafted in to help co-develop the game.

Considering that Microsoft have designated The Initiative to be their AAAA studio, and Perfect Dark was only revealed two years ago, it’d probably be foolish to expect some extensive deep dive into Perfect Dark. That being said, it would have been nice to see The Initiative show something Perfect Dark related at this year’s showcase, just to put people’s minds at ease regarding the quality of the final product.

 

4. Machine Games

Less of an individual game omission and more about an overall developer, the Swedish based Machine Games were nowhere to be found during this year’s Xbox Games Showcase. Part of that is because they’re deep in development on an Indiana Jones game that was announced at the start of 2021, which we probably won’t see more of until next year at the earliest, but it felt like fans were hoping to see Machine Games regardless.

You see, Machine Games made their name with the Wolfenstein reboot series, with The New Order, The Old Blood and The New Colossus earning huge critical and commercial acclaim, though their most recent Wolfenstein game, Youngblood, wasn’t so well received. Many were hoping that their time with B.J. Blazkowicz wasn’t over though, so to see no Wolfenstein during the showcase was a bit disappointing.

 

5. State of Decay 3

State of Decay 3 is in a bit of a weird situation, as it’s another game in Xbox’s portfolio that was arguably revealed way too early. The original trailer was unveiled almost three years ago, but since then, we’ve had no updates or news regarding the game’s development, or even a timeline on when we can expect the game to launch. Seeing it completely skip this year’s Showcase is disappointing, no doubt.

However, what makes the situation with State of Decay 3 so confusing is that Undead Labs have still been diligently improving and refining the core experience of State of Decay 2, releasing free updates for the game over these past three years. Their most recent update, Heart Attack, released only a month ago, fundamentally changing how Plague Hearts work, a core mechanic in the game. It’s nice that players can still enjoy fresh updates for State of Decay 2, but at some point we need to look to the future with State of Decay 3.

 

6. Halo

Xbox’s former golden goose, Halo can’t seem to buy a win at the minute. You’d think that Xbox would devote some time to one of its flagship franchises at the Xbox Games Showcase, even if just to highlight what’s coming in the next seasons of Halo Infinite, but there was no mention at all of anything Halo related. Usually, you can’t move in these things without seeing Master Chief’s helmet popping up somewhere, so to see no Halo mentions is certainly surprising.

Meanwhile, Xbox made sure to devote time in this Showcase to highlight an upcoming free update to Sea of Thieves, which sees the co-op pirate adventure collaborate with the Monkey Island series for a whole new storyline. It’s clear that Xbox now views Sea of Thieves as its premier live service game, as it’s still going strong over five years later, while Halo Infinite’s active development is probably going to be mercy-killed within the next 12 months.

 

7. Gears Of War

The other flagship sci-fi shooter in Xbox’s huge collection of franchises, there was no real indication to believe that there’d be anything Gears related at this year’s Xbox Games Showcase. Still, we know that The Coalition have fully transitioned into developing Gears of War 6 after two unannounced projects were unfortunately cancelled, so it wouldn’t have been a surprise to get a small teaser for the future of the franchise at the showcase.

However, the bigger omission related to the Gears series this year was the long rumoured but still unconfirmed Gears of War “Remastered/Marcus Fenix” Collection, which would overhaul and compile the first three games in the series, much in the same way as The Master Chief Collection did for Halo. While the first Gears of War received the Ultimate Edition treatment in 2015, it would be nice to see the second and third games be improved too. Heck, throw Judgment in there too. Why not?

 

8. Everwild

We’ve already talked about how Rare made an appearance at the Showcase with another update coming to Sea of Thieves, but their AAA adventure Everwild was nowhere to be found at this year’s showcase. A mysterious game with a couple of CGI trailers under its belt, Everwild promises to be a beautiful game, but the questions of when we should expect to play it, and what it actually looks like, remain unanswered.

Despite its initial reveal in 2019, followed by another trailer in 2020, Everwild has gone dark when it comes to news and updates, and that’s reportedly because development on the game completely restarted back in 2021. According to that report, Rare are targeting a 2024 release date, though there’s no telling whether that’s been pushed back even further. Hopefully, we’ll hear more about this intriguing title soon.

 

9. Hi-Fi Rush DLC

One of the biggest surprise hits of the year has been Tango Gameworks’ Hi-Fi Rush, and surprise is the operative word there, as it was essentially hot-dropped during an Xbox presentation towards the start of the year. Critics and those who have played it seem to agree that it’s a potential game of the year nominee, with amazing rhythm-based character action gameplay, and a SteamDB update with new achievements seemed to suggest that a significant DLC is imminent too.

However, no mention of Hi-Fi Rush was made during the Xbox Games Showcase, though that might be because a DLC announcement is being saved for the Xbox Games Showcase Extended stream that’s happening tomorrow. Microsoft are promising some games and reveals that weren’t featured during the main event, which seems like the perfect time to announce Hi-Fi Rush is receiving a DLC campaign or some similar. Keep your eyes peeled, basically.

 

10. Killer Instinct 2

Less of an omission and more of an attack on me personally, the lack of any Killer Instinct 2 announcement during the Xbox Games Showcase is a real shame. Like the Gears of War Collection, rumours of a new Killer Instinct game have been floating around for years now, with the most persistent rumours suggesting that Bandai Namco are developing a sequel to the popular 2013 reboot.

What’s disappointing about the absence of Killer Instinct 2 during the Showcase is that we seem to be entering fighting’s next big boom period, with Street Fighter 6 earning great critical and commercial success. Meanwhile, games like Tekken 8 and Mortal Kombat 1 are set to wow fighting game players in the upcoming months, so you’d expect that Xbox would want a slice of that pie too. Fingers crossed we’ll see Killer Instinct 2 emerge from the shadows soon.

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