Xbox Games Showcase And Starfield Direct Live Blog

And that's a wrap. Starfield's direct is over, with the RPG coming out on September 6th, 2023 across Xbox Series S|X and PC. What did you think? Excited, still cautiously optimistic?

Let us know in the comments below.

Starfield's combat is much improved over previous Bethesda titles, according to the devs the animations are more fluid and fast compared to their previous library.

Starfield's weapons have more mods and combinations than any other weapon system in any previous Bethesda game.

Outposts are your home in the stars and the Starfield Direct team highlighted the builder in-game, from the top down isometric view showing how you can place each segment, to establishing links for cargo runs between your specific outposts. You can even assign crew and companions to work at the Outpost.

Set up your home amongst the stars.

?? Assign Crew and Companions
?? Set up Extractors to harvest resources
?? Establish cargo links to move resources between outposts
?? Add crafting and research stations#Starfield pic.twitter.com/A67JsnC700

— Bethesda Game Studios (@BethesdaStudios) June 11, 2023

So Starfield is using lighting and color to make the RPG feel more "filmic," cinematic, just adding so much depth to the atmosphere.

 

The team broke down a bit of its procedural system, which builds the terrain and life on the planet, moon, asteroid as the player approaches. Despite many of these planets being in the game across players, these procedural planets are unique, so players will have different stories to tell, regardless of whether they were on the same planet in their games.

Explore, harvest resources, or simply take in the views. #Starfield pic.twitter.com/UIhbWv3YBC

— Bethesda Game Studios (@BethesdaStudios) June 11, 2023

The team at Bethesda wants players to feel like explorers, checking out a brand galaxy full of wonder, find new stories, explore new worlds and just getting absolutely lost in the fun.

Oh, and like they did with Fallout by releasing the Pip-boy, Starfield is also releasing the Constellation smart watch, the same one you'll use in game for your UI and more.

Ships are also home to crew, which you can select the crew yourself. These members can act as quest-givers, companions, and more to help you in your adventure.

Ship combat is a dance between piloting skills, ship control from your thrusters to knowing when to throw on your Grav Drive to start getting out of Dodge as well. Your skills also come into play when fighting, such as the Combat Targeting skill which lets you target specific sub systems on the actual ship itself.

When you've won an encounter, you can take control of an enemy ship, board it, turn it to scrap and even loot right from your cockpit.

You can customize and upgrade any ship you get in the game, through a simple preset system, or go full-blown on the ship using its custom ship builder. You can set the layout, color palette, and more. You can make your ship look almost any way you want. Like a giant mech?

Starfield has, um, a lot of skills. Like, many of the skills. Unique skills. From physical skills, combat, science and more.

We spent a lot of time playing around with what unique Skills you could have. The results are... there are a lot. #Starfield pic.twitter.com/IwYnyCC5aa

— Bethesda Game Studios (@BethesdaStudios) June 11, 2023

You know you want to...ever since Oblivion....

New Atlantis is the biggest city and the first major city in the United Colonies, but Starfield will have multiple cities - and factions - in civilized space, such as Cydonia, a mining city on Mars, as well as Akila City.

Also, the team takes a dive into the character creation tool, which they call the biggest, yet simplest one they've ever built.  

Starfield's ship design language is meant to look advanced, yet familiar. So it has a sort of retro, aged vibe to it.

The team showed off travel in space using the star map, which unlike a game like No Man's Sky or Elite Dangerous you won't be flying directly yourself, but using your Grav Drive to jump to the system itself.

 

Starfield is using Real Time GI to light each world based on the type of Star and the atmosphere of the planet you're on.

The gameplay starts off showing off some gameplay of where you can explore, gather resources and more. But in the end the combat just devolves into guns in space. Like, that's not a bad thing, and the jetpack allows for some interesting verticality when in combat.

A new Xbox Series S Black was announced by Phil Spencer whilst wearing a Hexen shirt...what does it mean, Phil?

Coming September 1st. The new Series S, not Hexen. That was in the 90s.

Now for Starfield Direct.

Cities Skylines 2 is bringing its incredible city builder to console again this October 24th. Build, manage, and create every roundabout that ever round abouted.

From the makers of the Persona series, Metaphor Re Fantazio looks incredible. And I'll here for it. Coming in 2024.

Keanu Reeves is back as Johnny Silverhand i the new expansion for the expansive and incredible Cyberpunk 2077. CDPR released their trailer for the upcoming RPG's content drop, Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty. Coming September 26th, 2023.

 

Justant showed off some in-engine gameplay in a new trailer, which mostly consisted of climbing and exploring a desolate desert landscape. Coming this fall.

Dungeons of Hinterberg - the next game from Curve Games, showcased some puzzle and dungeon crawling gameplay. Hopefully, we'll hear more closer to its launch.

Bethesda's ambitious new title that is "25 years in the making" got a new gameplay and story trailer, highlighting some of what you'll be doing and who you'll be visiting in the space epic. Also, a reminder, there is an entire Starfield Direct right after this showcase.

Overwatch 2: Invasion is coming on August 10th, giving access to all six of its new heroes, story missions, and more. 

Persona 5 Tactica is doing a Fire Emblem, bringing the Phantom Theives of Heart on an all-new adventure. Coming this November.

Overwatch 2: Invasion is coming on August 10th, giving access to all six of its new heroes, story missions, and more. 

Persona 5 Tactica is doing a Fire Emblem, bringing the Phantom Theives of Heart on an all-new adventure. Coming this November.

Path of the Goddess was premiered a beautiful trailer showing some combat gameplay. Not much was revealed otherwise.

Also, The Elder Scrolls Online Necrom made an appearance to remind players that while it might be on PC now, it'll be on console on June 20th. Check out our review in progress here.

 

15 million players have left the vault to inhabit Fallout 76's version of Appalacchia, and a new little trailer showcased the next major update coming to the survival MMO: Atlantic City.

We hope you like this little ditty,
See you soon in Atlantic City!#Fallout76 pic.twitter.com/lGgWHDe7Kd

— Fallout (@Fallout) June 11, 2023

Like a Dragon's next title, Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth gave us a...look...at some of the humor you might expect when you check out the long-running, over-the-top series. Coming Early 2024.

Flight Simulator 2024 got announced with new features such as search and rescue operations. Coming...well...2024. 

Additionally, there is an upcoming Dune crossover with the flight sim, giving players the chance to fly the iconic fighters on Arrakkis.

Hellblade II: Senua's Saga finally got some new gameplay and a release window: June 2024. And my GOD does it look insanely good.

While this one was spoiled earlier in the week by Atlus themselves, Persona 3 Reloaded is coming in 2024

Obsidian's Avowed got a new trailer, showing off some gameplay footage from the first-person medieval RPG. Giving some real Oblivion meets Pillars of Eternity vibes. Coming in 2024.

That’s a lot of power you got there. What are you gonna do with it?

Play Avowed day one in 2024 on Console, Cloud, and PC with @XboxGamePass: https://t.co/g3W3QC3mKB | #XboxShowcase pic.twitter.com/WTiQLKrMae

— Xbox (@Xbox) June 11, 2023

Sea of Thieves is doing a full story cross over with Lucasfilm Games' legendary series, The Legend of Monkey Island. The new story is available for free on July 20th.

Thunder Lotus, the makers of the beautifully hand-drawn Jotun are back with their next game, with 33-player co-op!

There is a...lot...going on as players face the wrath of a god as the trailer says in 33 Immortals. Coming 2024

Also, it looks like a new Payday title is coming, bringing the first-person heist goodness to with the next istallment: Payday 3 on September 21st.

A creepy dude playing a great guitar showed up to announce Compulsion Games' next game, South of Midnight.

Then of course, Massive comes out with its upcoming Star Wars title, which looks like it takes place in the bowels of Tatooine. And it doesn't look like you play a Jedi in this one, instead a scrappy bounty hunter. However, we do know a name; Star Wars Outlaws. More tomorrow during Ubisoft.

Richard Ayoade in video game form kicks off the show debuting playground Games' Fable. Also, Richard is a giant now. No release window was given, however.