It’s going to be a great 12 months for Xbox gamers. At at present’s Developer_Direct present, we supplied deep-dives into 5 new video games launching throughout Xbox Series X|S, PC, Game Pass and/or cloud – all of which is able to arrive later in 2024. Development groups at Xbox, Bethesda, and even considered one of our third-party companions invited you into their studios to showcase prolonged gameplay, reveal key data, and extra.
During the present, we visited the studios behind Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Avowed, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, and Ara: History Untold to search out out extra about each. Members of every growth staff gave us a glance into their creation, with new data, and supplied a tantalizing glimpse of what’s to return this 12 months. All 4 of those video games will arrive on day one with Game Pass, and will contribute to what’s going to be one other large 12 months for members, delivering unimaginable video games all through 2024.
Plus, in a particular shock, we heard from the staff at Square Enix to be taught much more about Visions of Mana, the first new mainline entry in the Mana sequence in over 15 years, and its debut on Xbox platforms. With participation from builders on 3 continents, it was a very world present.
Here’s a abstract of every thing we introduced and coated throughout Developer_Direct:
Avowed – Launching Fall 2024
Xbox Series X/S, PC, Cloud – Joining Game Pass on Day One
Avowed Game Director Carrie Patel gave us a primary deep-dive into the gameplay in Obsidian’s upcoming fantasy motion RPG, from its dynamic fight, to its considerate reactivity, to its “colorful, vibrant, strange” world set in the Living Lands. Avowed continues Obsidian’s signature model of making video games with deep themes and participant selection at the forefront.
Not solely will you make narrative selections that may affect modifications in the recreation down the line, however Avowed can be seeking to provide selection in fight. Gameplay Director Gabe Paramo mentioned not solely how diversified your weaponry might be – with melee weapons, ranged weapons and bows, and magic-based wands (even dual-wielded wands!) to call a couple of – however how versatile fight could be, permitting you to rapidly change loadouts for enemy encounters. Swappable loadouts imply you may strategy fight nevertheless feels proper to you.
Art Director Matt Hansen then defined how the Living Lands is a mysterious island made up of wildly diversified areas providing visually numerous backdrops and intriguing settings to discover. With secrets and techniques hidden all through the areas, you’ll soak up barren deserts, verdant forests, blighted wastes, volcanic biomes, and extra.
That’s not all for Avowed, nevertheless – ensure to tune in to the Xbox Podcast on Monday, January 22 for an unique interview with a few of Obsidian’s builders, providing much more data on the gameplay reveal.
Get able to carve your personal path by way of Avowed when it launches this fall for Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Cloud – and arrives with Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass on day one. For extra data, please go to the Avowed web site.
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II – Launching May 21
Xbox Series X/S, PC, Cloud – Joining Game Pass on Day One
Ninja Theory took us behind the scenes at their studio in Cambridge to try Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, meet a few of the staff and be taught extra about the craft behind their new title, which is now in the last months of growth.
In the video we realized extra about Senua’s new journey, which leads her to Iceland, a harsh and brutal land ravaged by fable and tyranny. We got a brand new have a look at Senua’s experiences of the world, seen by way of her eyes as somebody who experiences psychosis, and noticed a few of Senua’s visceral and violent battles with the Draugar. We additionally heard extra element on what gamers can count on from the recreation’s story and how binaural and spatial audio will sink participant’s deep into the world of Hellblade.
With a studio mission of crafting life-changing artwork with game-changing tech, Ninja Theory are pushing the boundaries of constancy, richness and immersion. You can be a part of Senua on her new quest, May 21. Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II is offered to wishlist on Steam and pre-install on Xbox Game Pass now.
Visions of Mana – Launching Summer 2024
Xbox Series X|S, PC
In a shock look, Square Enix joined the present to current Visions of Mana, the first new mainline entry in the sequence in over 15 years, and its debut on Xbox platforms. Series producer Masaru Oyamada offered a sneak peek at the attractive new RPG, sharing gameplay and behind the scenes footage earlier than its launch in Summer 2024.
Koichi Ishii – father of the Mana sequence and creator of a lot of its iconic monsters – mentioned the implementation and design of the enemies in Visions of Mana, and launched the cute new animal companions, “pikuls” and defined the design course of behind them.
Oyamada then shared some particulars concerning the recreation’s rating and revealed that the tracklist for Visions of Mana comprises 100 songs in complete, together with works from musical expertise who labored on earlier Mana video games. Oyamada additionally shared particulars of the adaptive music system that enables seamless transition from map exploration to battles, demonstrating a snippet of the background music altering as you enter or go away fight.
Oyamada additionally revealed that in Visions of Mana, The Elementals will help the participant in battle in the type of specialised objects, which is able to every have a distinct impact in fight. Combined with aerial fight that enables for weapons and magic for use in mid-air, the fight is fast-paced and versatile.
Visions of Mana launches Summer 2024 on Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC!
Ara: History Untold – Launching Fall 2024
PC – Joining PC Game Pass on Day One
The key leads at Oxide Games debuted an all-new have a look at gameplay and shared an summary of the key options coming to Ara: History Untold throughout at present’s Developer Direct. Viewers realized extra about Ara’s crafting system, distinctive strategy to simultaneous turns, and extra.
You can be taught extra about this modern new historic grand technique recreation with our in-depth interview with Design Director Michelle Menard and we may have extra to share in the coming months main as much as Ara’s launch this fall on PC and with PC Game Pass. For the newest breaking information observe the Ara: History Untold social channels (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram/Threads) and wishlist the recreation on Steam.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle – Launching 2024
Xbox Series X/S, PC – Joining Game Pass on Day One
The official reveal of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle was debuted throughout Developer_Direct with over 13 minutes of gameplay footage and developer insights. This new journey starring the legendary archaeologist comes from the award-winning staff at MachineGames – the minds behind Wolfenstein: The New Order and Wolfenstein: The New Colossus – in collaboration with Lucasfilm Games and government produced by Bethesda Game Studios’ Todd Howard. Find out extra on Bethesda.internet.
Other Streams
Blizzard held a Diablo IV Developer Update Livestream earlier at present that dug into the horrors ready for you beneath the sands of Kehjistan in Season of the Construct, launching January 23, and launched the aggressive leaderboard exercise referred to as The Gauntlet. Associate Director of Community Adam Fletcher, Game Design Manager Daniel Tanguay, Quest Designer Madeleine James, and Lead Class Designer Adam Jackson spoke about the new Seneschal companion, Hazard-filled dungeons referred to as Vaults, a brand new Questline, and extra – all of which surfaces in Season of the Construct. Additionally, the group gave a fast have a look at The Gauntlet leaderboards and wrapped up the livestream by answering questions from the neighborhood in a Q&A session.
Shortly after Developer_Direct, ZeniMax Online Studios kicked off The Elder Scrolls Online 2024 Global Reveal, unveiling the recreation’s subsequent main Chapter, together with the new zone, storyline, and different main options. You’ll have the ability to learn extra about what was revealed on Xbox Wire and Bethesda.internet as quickly as that present concludes.
Looking Ahead
Today marks only a small number of the video games coming to Xbox this 12 months. With our personal studios and our unimaginable companions bringing a various set of unimaginable experiences to Xbox consoles, PC, Cloud, and Game Pass, there’s going to be one thing new for each sort of participant. To discover out extra, ensure to return to Xbox Wire later this month, once we publish a round-up of a few of the most enjoyable video games coming to Xbox platforms in 2024.
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