Marvel Exclusive

Rather than develop its own games in-house, Marvel Entertainment opted to leave it to the professionals and license its heroes and properties out to talented developers. Sony has Marvel’s Spider-Man on PS4, Iron Man VR on PSVR, and Spider-Man: Miles Morales releasing on PS5 at the end of the year; Nintendo has Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order; but what about Xbox? If Microsoft doesn’t go ahead with the Warner Bros. Games acquisition and start to focus on DC Comics characters like Batman, then Xbox needs to get its own first-party Marvel exclusive to bring fans into the ecosystem.

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Fable 4

As of October this year, it’s been a full decade since the release of Fable 3, the last mainline entry in the popular Xbox-exclusive fantasy series. To say that fans are eager for a new Fable game is putting it lightly and the launch of a new console generation is a perfect time for Microsoft to come out strong with a solid first-party exclusive RPG. The Fable trademark was recently renewed by Microsoft and the “Intent to Use” box was checked off, so it seems like a revival may be inevitable. Now that Microsoft has heavily bolstered its first-party games studios, Fable 4 is hopefully revealed sooner rather than later.

Ori 3

Moon Studios may not be one of Microsoft’s first-party Xbox Games Studios, but its 2015 Metroidvania, Ori and the Blind Forest, is a staple of the platform and a must-play Xbox series. A sequel, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, released earlier this year to critical acclaim with many believing it’s a far superior game to the original in almost every way. Moon Studios has got something special with the Ori series, and while it’s hard at work on a new action-adventure game, that doesn’t mean we won’t get a third entry on Xbox Series X down the line. It’s too soon to show gameplay or a real trailer for Ori and the Blind Forest 3, but some sort of short teaser to show its existence would go a long way.

Cuphead 2

From the moment it was announced, the video game industry was completely in awe of StudioMDHR’s Cuphead, a single-player run-and-gun with Dark Souls-like difficulty and a gorgeous 1930’s cartoon aesthetic. Microsoft released Cuphead on Nintendo Switch in 2019, The Delicious Last Course single-player DLC is on the way for release this year, and a Cuphead animated series is in the works at Netflix - the world simply wants more Cuphead. Like Ori and the Blind Forest, it’s unlikely that Cuphead 2 would be ready for release anytime soon but a short teaser to show it’s being worked on would be great for Xbox Series X.

Halo Infinite

Finally, Microsoft has one confirmed big gun: Halo. The Xbox Games Showcase is going to offer the world a first real look at Halo: Infinite, likely with a meaty campaign gameplay demo and a multiplayer tease with more coming further down the line. However, it can’t be overstated just how important the Halo reveal. Microsoft’s willingness to reveal new details could make or break the show, so it’s important it is confident in the game and don’t hold back. Explain the direction of Halo: Infinite so consumers understand what this game is, show off new campaign gameplay, and put the Master Chief’s story front and center because no one wants to see Locke again unless those accidental toy leaks were real.

Sony knocked it out of the park with its PlayStation 5 gameplay event last month, really setting the stage for what’s expected from these kinds of showcases. Revealing major first-party games like Horizon: Forbidden West and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, and promising more to come at a second event next month means that Microsoft needs to put all its eggs in one basket and go into the Xbox Games Showcase swinging. The only way that’s done is with exclusives, exclusives, exclusives, and any of these killer games would go a long way into making the Xbox Series X a day-one purchase.

The Xbox Games Showcase is scheduled for 9 AM PT on July 23, 2020.

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