Xbox Games Showcase live blog: all the big announcements from Microsoft's event
We're covering all the biggest reveals from the Xbox Games Showcase 2025
🚨 We’re covering Microsoft’s Xbox Games Showcase live on The Shortcut!
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👏 The broadcast will run for an hour, and will be followed by a deep dive on The Outer Worlds 2
👀 Expect highlights of upcoming Xbox games and brand-new announcements
👉 The event begins at 1pm ET / 10am PT / 6pm BST / 7pm CEST
2:11 pm ET: And that’s it! The Xbox Games Showcase is over but you can continue watching The Outer Worlds 2 Direct to see more about the game and the recently revealed Grounded 2. Again, I’m stepping away now, but thanks for tuning in. Did you see anything you liked? Actually, I just thought. We didn’t see any Perfect Dark. Not even another look at Fable.
Ah well, 2026 is definitely stacked and that Xbox handheld is obviously something we’ll be covering in detail on The Shortcut. Just don’t call it a Switch 2 killer yet.
If you enjoyed my coverage (which hopefully didn’t have too many typos), please consider becoming a subscriber to The Shortcut. Right, I’m off back on Mario Kart World.
2:07 pm ET: One last trailer from Microsoft now before The Outer Worlds 2 Direct. Just a heads up, I won’t be live blogging that. It’s Sunday, okay? I have Switch 2 to play! Anyway, as for what we’re seeing now. All I can think is Quantum Break 2 but I don’t think it’s that. There’s a butterfly. Oh, and now it’s dead. Oh my god. It’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. Hahaha. I thought it was something completely different then. Yes, Call of Duty will sell a billion copies. I just haven’t been excited about one for years.
2:06 pm ET: Phil Spencer closing out the show. He looks really different? Not trying to be mean but it’s very noticeable. Oh, he’s holding the Asus Xbox Ally handheld. It’s BIG.
2:04 pm ET: A new game from Double Fine. It’s certainly been a while. This looks… interesting? i’m not sure what else to say. You seem to be playing as a giant lighthouse that’s alive or something. It’s called Keeper and it’s out October 15, 2025! Yay.
2:02 pm ET: It’s been 84 years… but Final Fantasy Remake Intergrade is FINALLY coming to Xbox. And so is Final Fantasy 15! This is great news for Xbox fans. Both are fantastic, especially FF7 Remake. Hopefully it doesn’t take forever for the other FF games to come to Xbox now. FF7 Remake is out this winter but FF15 is out… Today!
2:00 pm ET: A world premiere that came with a swear word. It’s an Invincible game. I’ve never seen this show, only the memes. Ah, it’s a fighting game. 3v3 tag fighting. You know the score. It’s called Invincible VS. We saw Sony announce a Marvel 4v4 fighting game at it’s event. The game is out 2026.
1:58 pm ET: Sea of Thieves now. I’ve had some truly fantastic experiences on that game. To think it started out as a lifeless, boring title with barely anything to do. But just look at it now. It’s excellent. Anyway, Season 17 is out August 2025.
1:57 pm ET: This one sadly leaked so I’m not as surprised as I should be. It’s a remake of the excellent Persona 4 Golden. And wow, that was a short trailer. No release date either.
1:55 pm ET: A remaster of Gears of War Remastered now. I know, it’s stupid but welcome to modern day gaming. I love Gears of War, at least the original. Will I play it again with fancier visuals? Maybe? I mean it would be like… the hundredth time. I can basically quote the game at this point. Anyway, it’s out August 26, 2026. And it’s coming to PS5 as well.
1:54 pm ET: World. Premiere. In-game footage. Ooo, a new title from the Spiritfarer team. I admittedly never finished that. This one looks quite different as there’s combat instead of looking after creatures on a boat. It’s called At Fate’s End. And yes, it’s 2026, because of course it is.
1:51 pm ET: Hey, it’s Tony Hawk! He’s talking about Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 which has 8-player multiplayer. It drops July 11, 2025. Yay, a game that’s actually out this year! I was obsessed with Tony Hawk’s 3 back in the day but never played 4. I’ll no doubt pick this up at some point. Plus, they brought back Bam Margera. A demo is available now.
1:50 pm ET: A cutesy, Pokémon-looking game now that’s bound to get Nintendo’s lawyers in a 9am meeting tomorrow. In fairness, it’s more like Palworld than Pokémon. It’s called Animo and it’s out… next year.
1:48 pm ET: Right, world premiere. We’re back on track. I’m glad I got a screenshot of this game’s name as it’s a long one that. It features four-player co-op, an anime art style, and lots of flashing effects. Is it out 2026 perhaps? Yes, yes it is.
1:46 pm ET: Like Elder Scrolls Online, we’re getting our obligatory Fallout 76 portion of the show. A chance for me to take a breather.
1:44 pm ET: A painterly side-scrolling co-op adventure now starring a little black creature. The game is called Planet of Lana II: Children of the leaf. Again, it’s out in 2026. Not many 2025 releases so far…
1:42 pm ET: This is intriguing. Mudang: Two Hearts is out 2026 and seems to mix two playable characters together: a young girl and a military specialist. It’s based in Korea.
1:40 pm ET: Age of Mythology Retold: Heavenly Spear is coming fall 2025. RTS fans are eating well these days.
1:38 pm ET: An interesting game next, where you renovate a hotel and a village using magical tools. But it sounds like you have an ulterior motive. There’s a talking cat, and lots of impromptu singing and dancing. It’s called There Are No Ghosts at the Grand and it’s out in 2026.
1:35 pm ET: World premiere time, that’s what we like to hear. It’s new game from Don’t Nod, the team behind Life is Strange. You appear to be trying to get off a frozen planet that you’ve crashed landed on. The game is called Aphelion and it’s coming in 2026.
1:33 pm ET: It wouldn’t be an Xbox Game Showcase without the classic Elder Scrolls Online push. Forgive me if I don’t have much to say on this one.
1:31 pm ET: A look at Bloober Team’s new game now. They’re the folks behind the Silent Hill 2 Remake. It reminds me of Dead Space, in a good way, with lots of over the shoulder shooting and some stamps thrown in. It’s called Cronos: The New Dawn and it’s out Fall 2025.
1:29 pm ET: Booty revealed that Obsidian are working on another game, and it’s out this year. It’s a sequel to Grounded, which was very well-received by those who played it. Clearly that was enough people, as Grounded 2 is out July 29, 2025.
1:26 pm ET: Matt Booty hyping up the work of Microsoft’s studios. Microsoft is pushing Xbox Play Anywhere harder than before, which is where is you buy a game on console you get the PC version for free, and vice versa. It’s a great scheme that’s been around for a while but never really got the backing. Sounds like that will change.
1:24 pm ET: Clockwork Revolution up next. We haven’t seen much about this other than some CGI teases, so it’s nice to get a better look at the game. It looks like another immersive sim, but I like the direction. Some nice British crassness. It also looks like you can create any sort of weapon you can imagine. There’s time-bending powers, too. In terms of the release date, it’s out… “in due time”. That’s a shame.
1:19 pm ET: Hold up, a title by Game Freak? That’s the Pokémon guys. And yeah, this isn’t Pokémon, not by a long shot. If anything, it looks like Black Myth Wukong, and that’s a big compliment. It’s out in 2026.
1:17 pm ET: Indy’s back, and he’s getting an expansion. It’s called Indiana Jones and the Order of Giants. It’s out September 25, 2025.
1:16 pm ET: Another look at Ninja Gaiden 4 now, which was revealed during Microsoft’s Developer_Direct show. Hack ‘n’ slash fans will eat this one up, especially as Platinum Games are involved. It’s out October 21, 2025.
1:14 pm ET: A new Super Meat Boy game! And it’s 3D! It looks rather lovely! It’s called Super Meat Boy 3D and it’s out early 2026.
1:13 pm ET: We saw a glimpse of this game last year. It’s made by ex-Witcher devs, which is immediately obvious from the vibes it’s giving off. The Blood of the Dawnwalker is out in 2026.
1:09 pm ET: Sarah Bond talking about Xbox’s strategy now. Says every game we’re seeing today will be playable on the ROG Xbox Ally. That’s true, whether that’s because they’re on one of the PC stores, or via Xbox Cloud Gaming. You still won’t be able to play your console library library natively, though.
1:08 pm ET: It’s an Asus ROG Ally! Actually, it’s the Xbox handheld! Well, sort of. It’s called the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X and it’s available this holiday. Specs wise, it’s got an AMD RYZEN AI Z2 EXTREME, 24GB Memory and 1TB of Storage. No price point yet.
1:06 pm ET: Lots of heavy breathing here. In the trailer, I mean. Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy is coming 2026. Seems to be taking quite a different direction to the last two games.
1:04 pm ET: A world premiere now. And oh, it looks like a sequel to High on Life, a game I really enjoyed. High on Life 2 is coming this Winter. Very nice surprise to get things started. And yep, it’s straight to Game Pass.
1:03 pm ET: And we’re off! We’re starting the show off with The Outer Worlds 2… a game we’re getting a deep dive on after the Xbox Games Showcase. Bit of an odd way to start but hey, the game looks a lot more ambition the first entry. The game is out October 29, 2025. Of course, it’s coming to Xbox Game Pass and is also a Xbox Play Anywhere title.
12:50 pm ET: Hello, and welcome to our Xbox Games Showcase live blog. Microsoft is (hopefully) saving the best till last when it comes to new reveals, after a fairly solid State of Play but rather disappointing Summer Game Fest.
The Xbox Games Showcase kicks off in less than 10 minutes, and will be followed by The Outer Worlds 2 direct. Expect most of the games shown today to be available on Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass, and don’t be surprised if they eventually make their way to other platforms like PS5.
Stay tuned to our live blog to get all the biggest announcements, and don’t forget to refresh the page regularly for new updates. Let’s see what team green has in store!
Up next: Best Nintendo Switch 2 settings: change these to get the most out of your console
Adam Vjestica is The Shortcut’s Senior Editor. Formerly TechRadar’s Gaming Hardware Editor, Adam has also worked at Nintendo of Europe as a Content Marketing Editor, where he helped launch the Nintendo Switch. Follow him on X @ItsMrProducts.