Summary
Multiple sources believe that a majorXboxevent will be held in January 2025. As 2024 comes to an end, waves of new game releases are on the horizon, andXboxmay be preparing to show off everything it’s bringing to the table in 2025.
The idea of Microsoft’s gaming arm holding an event in January isn’t too far-fetched, as an Xbox Developer Direct was held in both January 2023 and January 2024. The most recent showcase highlighted many of the year’s most anticipated titles, from Square Enix’sVisions of Manato the recently releasedIndiana Jones and the Great Circle. The2024 Xbox Developer Direct focused heavily onAvowed, which was eventually delayed out of 2024 and is currently slated for release on June 20, 2025. With the new year approaching, many believe that Xbox is preparing to highlight what fans can look forward to over the next 12 months.
In anew Bluesky post, Tom Warren of The Verge expressed his belief that an Xbox showcase would be coming sometime in January 2025. “Feels like Microsoft has finally hit a good cadence withXbox Game Pass releases, especially with recent drops likeIndiana Jonesand what’s ahead in 2025,” he wrote. “Avowed,South of Midnight,Doom,Towerborne,Fable,Outer Worlds 2, and more are coming next year. I’m also expecting an Xbox event in January.” Warren isn’t the only one who is expecting something big from Xbox next month, as Jez Corden, the Executive Editor of Windows Central,previously mentionedthat The Game Awards 2024 wouldn’t feature many first-party announcements from the company, instead writing that Xbox may hold its own event in Q1 2025.
An Xbox Developer Direct May Be Coming in January 2025
As noted by Warren, 2025 is proving to be a stacked year for Xbox, with many first-party titles headed to PC and Xbox Series X/S imminently. Of the aforementioned games, onlyAvowedhas a concrete release date, with all other titles simply slated to drop sometime within the year. Industry insider Jeff Grubb recently mentioned thatone of Xbox’s major titles had been delayed until 2026, though which title he was referring to has not been disclosed. Many fans believe thatFableis the unlucky title, as very little of its gameplay has been detailed thus far.
Going forward, Phil Spencer has made it known that Xbox exclusivity is no longer a major priority, with the CEO claiming that first-party titles could make their way to PlayStation and Nintendo consoles down the line. Recent comments imply that titles once thought of asXbox exclusives could launch simultaneously on PlayStation 5in the future, as Xbox seeks to branch out and bring in new fans. According to Matt Booty, the president of game content and studios at Microsoft, the decision to release first-party titles on other platforms will be made on a “game-by-game basis.”
Xbox Series X
Microsoft’s ninth-generation console, the Xbox Series X is a powerful machine that can support 4K resolution and 60 fps, depending on the game. Released alongside the Xbox Series S, the Series X has a Custom AMD Zen 2 CPU, a Custom RDNA 2 GPU, and 16 GB of RAM.
