Microsoft has announced the return of its Xbox Developer Direct next Thursday, January 18. The presentation will provide updates on several of its most anticipated upcoming games.
The Developer Direct will air at 12 p.m. Pacific/3 p.m. Eastern. It will spotlight a few of Microsoft’s various third-party studios, which will provide an “in-depth look” at their games. Specifically, the Xbox Wire post lists Indiana Jones by Machine Games, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II by Ninja Theory, Avowed by Obsidian, and Ara: History Untold by Oxide Games as the highlighted projects.
Indiana Jones will receive its first gameplay trailer and feature 10 minutes of gameplay with developer commentary revealing the game’s story and setting. Avowed and Ara: History Untold will receive a deep dive into their gameplay as well. For Hellblade II, Xbox is touting a behind-the-scenes look at Ninja Theory’s Cambridge studio where the team will provide insight into how its bringing the sequel to life. It’s unclear if this will include any new gameplay footage.
Avowed
Microsoft also states that Direct will not include any updates on games from Activision Blizzard but to expect more news from those teams later this year. Microsoft officially completed its acquisition of Activision last year.
The Direct will run for one hour. Shortly after it concludes, ZeniMax Online will host The Elder Scrolls Online Global Reveal at 1 p.m. PT/4 p.m. ET.
Xbox has several big projects we haven’t seen in a while, so it’ll be nice to learn more about even some of them. Indiana Jones was announced in 2021 with only a teaser video and we’ve yet to see gameplay. Avowed, Obsidian’s first-person fantasy RPG, was revealed in 2020 and is slated to launch this year. The game’s latest trailer premiered at last year’s Game Awards.
Ara: History Untold is a turn-based strategy RPG that debuted during a 2022 Xbox Showcase. Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II was the first Xbox Series X/S game announced back in 2019 and most recently popped up during the last Game Awards.