Today, Xbox held the latest iteration of their Developer Direct Showcase. We knew going in that the game was going to focus on 3 core games, as well as offer a surprise 4th reveal.
The show kicked off, wasting no time and surprisingly jumped right into the surprise reveal. Giving us the announcement and behind the scenes look at…
Ninja Gaiden 4
Team Ninja are collaborating with the team at PlatinumGames to create the first new Ninja Gaiden game in over 10 years. Following the reveal trailer, the team’s from Team Ninja and PlatinumGames detailed the world, characters and creatures we’ll be encountering in the new title and showed off a lot of amazing concept art and gameplay for the upcoming game.
The game is currently set to release in Q3 this year and you can view the reveal trailer below.
That wasn’t the only Ninja Gaiden surprise that the Developer Direct had for us today though. Before ending their segment, Team Ninja revealed the graphically remastered version of Ninja Gaiden 2 Black, updated with Unreal Engine and best of all, it’s available today!
South of Midnight
Next up Compulsion Games gave us an updated look at their upcoming game South of Midnight. A third person action-adventure game set in America’s deep south. We got a chance to see a good look at a number of the game’s environments and creatures that are based on Southern folklore, along with a hint at some story beats and character interactions with the main character Hazel getting to interact with both human and non-human companions.
The game continues to have me excited and I’m a big fan of its interesting art direction.
Compulsion revealed that the game is set to release on April 8, 2025 on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox app for Windows PC, Steam, cloud, and play it on day one with Game Pass and will also have an Ultimate edition available that will come with a bunch of extras. Check out the new trailer below.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
This one was the standout of the show for me. I’ve loved both the idea and look of this game since its reveal last year. Developers Sandfall Interactive gave us a deep look at the inspiration behind Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, how the concept behind the game was born and a new look at the game’s world, characters and systems. This game continues to be my most anticipated game of this year, thanks primarily to it’s stunning art direction and it’s unique iterations on it’s systems which take a lot from JRPG titles I love to play.
It was also revealed that we don’t have to wait incredibly long to play it. The game is set to launch on April 24, 2025 on Xbox Series X|S, PC and PlayStation 5. Check out the new trailer below.
DOOM: The Dark Ages
Finally, the show closed out by taking us inside id Software for a new look at the highly anticipated DOOM: The Dark Ages. The game was detailed to be a prequel set before the events of DOOM (2016) and is a great jumping on point for new players, as well as a game that long time fans of the series should enjoy.
We got an extended look at what we can expect in the upcoming game including changeups to it’s combat, with this Doomslayer designed differently from a gameplay perspective compared to earlier entries and they showed off new features we’ll be using such as the sawshield, mech piloting and dragon riding. These new abilities, combined with the fast paced combat DOOM is known for, as well as the reveal of an actual in-game story has me very excited to see more of what DOOM: The Dark Ages is able to bring to the table.
Check out the latest trailer below.
For those looking to watch the Xbox Developer Direct in full, the archive is available on the Xbox YouTube channel and you can check it out below.
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