Xbox Developer Direct Event Announced for January

After weeks of rumors, an Xbox Developer Direct has now been confirmed for the month of January. The presentation will take place on Thursday, January 23rd at 10 a.m. PT. This time around, the Developer Direct will focus on Doom: The Dark Ages, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and South of Midnight. In addition to those three games, Xbox is teasing that viewers will “visit a surprise location to see another studio’s brand new game.” That’s pretty vague, but it should give Xbox fans some incentive to tune in, even if the other three games might not appeal to them!

While the year is still very early in, all signs are pointing to a promising year for the Xbox brand. The company has a number of high-profile games that are currently slated to release in 2025; in addition to the three that will be shown during the Developer Direct, there are also big games like Avowed next month, and Fable sometime this year. Delays are a harsh reality of the video game industry, and it’s entirely possible that some of the games that are currently planned for 2025 could slip to 2026, or even beyond. Hopefully 2025 is the year we can expect to see a lot more reasons to buy an Xbox.

Out of the three games announced for the Developer Direct, Doom: The Dark Ages is probably the biggest. The game will act as a prequel to the 2016 Doom, and features more of a fantasy setting than we’ve seen in past titles. The game was one of the biggest highlights of the Xbox Games Showcase last summer, and there seems to be a lot of anticipation surrounding it. Xbox has already confirmed that Doom: The Dark Ages will be released on PlayStation 5 in addition to Xbox platforms. That’s not too surprising given the multiplatform strategy we’ve been seeing from Microsoft over the last year, but it also makes sense. After all, the previous two Doom games were released on PlayStation prior to Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethesda, so there’s an established player base on the platform.

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Leaks in the video game industry are a pretty common thing, so it will be interesting to see if Xbox manages to keep a lid on the fourth game that will be featured during this month’s Developer Direct. That mystery game is sure to pique the curiosity of a number of Xbox fans. It’s possible this could be a completely new IP, or something related to one of the many dormant franchises owned by the company; perhaps it’s already time to see what Toys for Bob has been working on over the last year! With the Developer Direct just two weeks away, we won’t have to wait long to find out.

Are you planning to watch the Xbox Developer Direct? What do you think we’ll see as the fourth game featured? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp, on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!