It’s almost time to sit down and watch the long-awaited Xbox Games Showcase for 2023 – and we can’t wait. With the Starfield Direct date also falling on the same day, and Xbox promising “non-stop games”, we’re certainly in for a treat. However, looking back at last year’s showcase, you might be interested to know that over 25% of the games shown missed their release window – with quite a few of those still not having solid release dates.
With Xbox Wire confirming that “everything in [2022’s] Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase is targeted to launch in the next 12 months”, from when it took place in June 2022, we can now confidently say that 13 of the 50 Xbox games shown – if you don’t include Warhammer 40K Darktide, which is currently available on PC – are still not out. Yes, we know we have a Starfield release date to talk about now, and the Stalker 2 release date was delayed for understandable reasons, but that’s still a huge number when you consider the promise being made.
If you’re into your percentages, this means that 72.5% of the games shown at last year’s Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase were actually released – and, 27.5% of them haven’t hit the Xbox Store yet. When you make a claim that they’re all going to be available in the next 12 months, you’d like to think that they would all be available within the next 12 months – or, at least, all have actual release dates.
As you can see below, quite a few games were announced during last year’s Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase. Some of those, like Focus Entertainment’s A Plague Tale Requiem, became some of the best Xbox Series X games of the year. Others, not so much.
If you want a breakdown, here’s the list of games and content that did actually release within the 12-month period promised during the Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase in 2022:
- Diablo 4, released June 6, 2023
- Ravenlok, released May 4, 2023
- Redfall, released May 2, 2023
- The Last Case of Benedict Fox, released April 27, 2023
- Minecraft Legends, released April 18, 2023
- Resident Evil 4 remake, released March 24, 2023
- Valheim, released March 14, 2023
- Halo Infinite Season 3, released March 7, 2023
- Wo Long Fallen Dynasty, released March 3, 2023
- Atomic Heart, February 21, 2023
- Dead Space remake, released January 27, 2023
- Persona 4 Golden, released January 19, 2023
- Persona 3 Portable, released January 19, 2023
- Naraka Bladepoint, released December 22, 2022
- High On Life, released December 13, 2022
- Riot Games on Xbox Game Pass (benefits for Valorant, League of Legends, Teamfight Tactics, Wild Rift, Legends of Runeterra), released December 12, 2022
- Hello Neighbor 2, released December 6, 2022
- The Callisto Protocol, released December 2, 2022
- Pentiment, released November 15, 2022
- Somerville, released November 15, 2022
- Microsoft Flight Simulator 40th Anniversary Edition, released November 10, 2022
- Gunfire Reborn, released October 27, 2022
- Persona 5, released October 21, 2022
- A Plague Tale Requiem, released October 18, 2022
- Scorn, released October 14, 2022
- Overwatch 2, released October 4, 2022
- Grounded 1.0, released September 27, 2022
- Slime Rancher 2, released September 22, 2022
- Fallout 76 The Pitt Expansion, released September 13, 2022
- Sea of Thieves Season 7, released August 4, 2022
- Forza Horizon 5 Hot Wheels, released July 19, 2022
- As Dusk Falls, released July 19, 2022
- The Elder Scrolls Online High Isle Expansion, released June 21, 2022
You’ll find quite a few of these available on Xbox Game Pass, too – in fact, some of them are among the best Xbox Game Pass games available.
While it wasn’t announced during last year’s showcase, we should shout out Tango Gameworks’ Hi-Fi Rush, which did come out within the last 12 months as a stealth release, and you can find that on the service too.
However, on the flip side, quite a few games didn’t make their window. Here’s all the Xbox games we’re still waiting on, 12 months later:
- Hollow Knight Silksong, release date information here
- Forza Motorsport, release date information here
- Ara History Untold, scheduled to release June 30, 2023
- Ark 2, release date information here
- Flintlock Siege of Dawn, release date information here
- Lightyear Frontier, release date information here
- Erban Shadow Legacy, rumored to release in 2023
- Cocoon, rumored to release in 2023
- Starfield, scheduled to release September 6, 2023
- Party Animals, release date information here
- Stalker 2, rumored to release in 2023
- Eiyuden Chronicle Hundred Heroes, rumored to release in 2023
- Replaced, release date information here
If you’re worried about the 2023 Xbox Games Showcase facing the same problem, you’ll be pleased – maybe – to know that Microsoft’s vice president of Xbox Games marketing Aaron Greenberg has stated that Microsoft will not be stating specifically that the games shown during the showcase will be out in the next 12 months.
However, that does mean we could be waiting quite a while to play some of the games shown – which is a shame. You can get a run-down of what sort of things to expect from the coming month, though, right here:
There are a lot of exciting upcoming Xbox games we’re hoping we’ll see during the Xbox Games Showcase on June 11; but, ultimately, we’ll just have to wait and see what Microsoft is planning. We should be in for a surprise or two, though.