Plenty of Xbox owners are stunned that Microsoft had nothing to show at The Game Awards (pic: Microsoft)
After skipping The Game Awards, Microsoft swears it has big things coming for 2023, but Xbox fans are sceptical.
Despite a welcome variety of new game announcements across the board, at this year’s Game Awards, there was one glaring omission: Microsoft.
Sony had plenty to show off, such as a release date for Final Fantasy 16 and first looks at the Horizon Forbidden West DLC and Death Stranding 2. Even Nintendo, which rarely partakes in The Game Awards, had more of a presence with the Fire Emblem Engage DLC and the Bayonetta prequel.
Given The Game Awards is the best place for the industry to drum up hype for next year’s releases, the lack of any major Xbox titles – brand new or otherwise – has upset and worried many Xbox fans, forcing Microsoft to try and assure them that it has plenty planned for the coming year.
In the wake of The Game Awards, Aaron Greenberg, vice president of Xbox games marketing, tacitly acknowledged Microsoft’s absence from the show and suggested that the lack of announcements was simply due to timing.
He also promised that 2023 will be an ‘incredibly exciting year’ and that fans won’t have to wait much longer to hear about what Microsoft has in store.
‘We have a lot planned to show and share about an incredibly exciting year ahead for 2023,’ he wrote on Twitter.
‘Appreciate folks are eager to learn and see more. Timing is always key, but don’t worry you will not have to wait too long for what’s next from us.’
He also retweeted a short trailer highlighting games that are currently available or coming to Xbox Game Pass, as well as a blog post recapping the most notable announcements from The Game Awards.
Although it says a lot that, of all the games it highlights, only two of them – indie games Replaced and Party Animals – are Xbox console exclusives, and neither are being published by Microsoft.
At the time of writing, Microsoft has six exclusives scheduled for 2023, with the most notable being Bethesda’s Starfield. However, of those six, two of them are console ports of PC games – Age Of Empires 2: Definitive Edition and Age Of Empires 4 – and only the former has an exact release date.
The rest – Starfield, Redfall, Forza Motorsport, and Ara: History Untold (no, we’ve never heard of it before either) – currently have a Q1/Q2 release window, meaning they could release anywhere from January to June.
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There’s also Minecraft Legends and the current gen update for Fallout 4, but those lack release dates and, while Microsoft is publishing them, they are multiplatform titles.
Obviously, Microsoft isn’t going to say that it has nothing to show but the promise that major announcements are just around the corner is one that it’s been making for several years now, as pointed out by many fans responding to Greenberg’s tweet.
So let me get this straight: Redfall, for one, is (internally) slated for March and we still haven’t gotten a definitive release date, or a reveal at TGA. You could’ve shown ONE game yesterday. Baffles me how Xbox managed to miss the biggest gaming event of the year.
— Jeffers (@RealArbiter) December 9, 2022
I was an Xbox guy from the og Xbox, up until Xbox One X. Decided to buy a PS5 instead of Series X. Best decision I’ve made, you guys always promise but never deliver.
— Majury (@majury23) December 9, 2022
With so many praises and awards your team gets for marketing, sometimes you guys pull the strangest moves.
Skipping an event that is seen by everyone in the industry? There’s nothing until June to talk about Starfield, Redfall, Minecraft, Forza. I don’t understand.
— Catarina ‘CAT’ Ferreira (@CATpt93) December 9, 2022
You all supposedly have 6 1st party games launching by June 2023 yet we have 0 dates for anything other than AoE 2. Game award would have been perfect time for a release date on Redfall or starfield. Starting to think these six games aren’t all going to land by June
— me right here (@blitz9942) December 9, 2022
I don’t understand how you guys who have 20+ development studios and buying up third party publishers like they’re Candy had nothing to show last night
— yosonimbored (@yosonimbord) December 9, 2022
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After skipping The Game Awards, Microsoft swears it has big things coming for 2023, but Xbox fans are sceptical.
