Xbox ‘Developer_Direct’ reportedly scheduled for later this month

After almost entirely opting out of the Game Awards hype train at the end of last year, it appears Xbox is once again ready to talk about the games it’s launching in 2023, starting with a new showcase later this month, according to a recent report.

According to Windows Central, Xbox plans to host a new “Developer_Direct” showcase on January 25th at 12 p.m. PT that will include appearances from Redfall, Forza Motorsport, and Minecraft Legends, as well as “content from ZeniMax Online Studios.” The report from Jez Corden states that the Developer_Direct “won’t be a full-blown E3-scale kind of show” but “a more intimate look at some upcoming exclusives.”

One of the most obvious exclusions from the above list of games is Starfield, which was supposed to launch last year until Bethesda delayed it to the first half of 2023. However, Corden states that “Starfield may even be skipping this show for a bigger marketing beat later on.”

If successful, the Developer_Direct “may be part of a new initiative from Microsoft and Xbox to offer information on upcoming games more frequently.” That would be welcome news for Xbox fans in 2023, who didn’t have many exclusives to celebrate in 2022 beyond Obsidian’s one-two punch of Grounded and Pentiment, and new content for Halo Infinite and Sea of Thieves. Game Pass might have had some choice additions like Tunic, PowerWash Simulator, Slime Rancher 2, High on Life, and of course Vampire Survivors, but they also felt somewhat like consolation prizes after Redfall and Starfield got delayed.

Update: Aaron Greenberg, Xbox’s VP of Games Marketing, just tweeted that this “should be a fun week” and that he’s “excited for the days to progress!” While we’re still expecting the Developer_Direct to take place at the end of the month, Greenberg could be hinting at an announcement for the event in the coming days.