Xbox Developer Direct Avoided a Major Trope That Most Video Game Showcases Heavily Rely On

Xbox just finished hosting the first Xbox Developer Direct of the year, and there were some cool announcements. We saw a surprise reveal for Ninja Gaiden 4 which is currently under development by Team Ninja and Platinum Games. We also saw an extended look at the upcoming Doom: The Dark Ages. But you know one thing that was notably missing?

Game Showcases like this are usually full of short, minute-long teasers for games that are barely in development and are years away from releasing. We got none of that in the Developer Direct and good riddance. We get the point of needing to hype up a game but these teasers don’t have a release date or even a year and they don’t even have gameplay either.

In recent years, the gaming industry has leaned heavily on teaser trailers to announce new projects. The main speculation and belief among the community is that these announcements serve the purpose of attracting investors, recruiting developers, or gauging interest. And while you’ll probably agree that it’s a valid thing to do, it also gives us fake hype for something that’s far down the line.

I hate games being announced a lot of years away or without a window
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Games like The Elder Scrolls 6 and Beyond Good and Evil 2 are the perfect example of this problem. Do you know how long it’s been since the first announcement of The Elder Scrolls 6? Seven years! We mock Rockstar Games for taking a decade for Grand Theft Auto 6 and it seems like Bethesda wants in on that action because it’s been far too long.

That is why the Xbox Developer Direct hosted yesterday was so great. We got concrete details for games with concrete release details. Ninja Gaiden 4 for example was a surprise reveal and it’s coming out in Fall 2025. South of Midnight is coming on April 8th, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is coming on April 24th, and Doom: The Dark Ages is coming out on May 15th.

– Ninja Gaiden 4
– Ninja Gaiden 2 Black
– South of Midnight
– Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
– DOOM: The Dark Ages
– All Day One on Xbox Game Pass

Nobody does it like Xbox 🔥🔥#XboxDeveloperDirect pic.twitter.com/Kdl3GYyUva

— 🌊🌴KG🌴🌊 (@XxiKGixX) January 23, 2025

We can afford to be actually hyped and excited for these games because they are mere months away from releasing. We’ve seen gameplay, story bits, and more which is exactly what’s driving the hype. By focusing on near-term launches, there’s no risk of overpromising and underdelivering.

While it was a refreshing change to see the Xbox Developer Direct break away from this trend, not every game announcement can follow this model. Big-budget projects often require years of development, and teasing their existence can help studios maintain visibility and see if players are interested early on. But it also has to come with transparency.

Insomniac Games, the studio that is currently making Marvel’s Wolverine for example finally gave us a small but needed update recently regarding the game’s development. Timely updates and meaningful reveals are what will foster a healthier relationship between developers and the gaming community. And we’re all for it.

Let’s hope we get more details of games that have been announced but have no updates soon. And let’s also hope that more Game Showcase programs follow this idea. It doesn’t matter if it’s Sony, Summer Game Fest, Gamescom, or even The Game Awards, we need more transparency.