In the absence of Sony, which has decided for the third year in a row not to participate in the E3 show, Microsoft has had the free field to demonstrate its strategy in the video game.
His conference, Sunday evening, hammered two messages.
First of all, that its Game Pass subscription service will continue to grow, with at least one big release per month.
Then, that he did not acquire Bethesda for 7.5 billion dollars to show off.
The publisher's next two blockbusters,
Starfield
and
Redfall
, will be released exclusively on Xbox Series and PC.
Here are the main announcements from this conference.
Read also: E3 2021:
Avatar
, the sequel to
Mario and the Raving Rabbids
,
Far Cry 6
... Ubisoft's main announcements
Starfield
(November 11, 2022, Bethesda)
Its development was announced in 2019 at the Bethesda conference with a simple illustrative image.
Starfield
revealed a little more this Sunday, with a two-minute trailer.
It will be about space exploration in the XXIIth century.
Starfield
should be an open-world role-playing game in the tradition of the
Elder Scrolls
and
Fallout
, but we will have to wait to see what the game will look like in practice and what its gameplay will be.
Starfield
already has a release date of November 11, 2022. It will be released exclusively on Xbox Series and PC, and will be part of Game Pass.
Redfall
(summer 2022, Bethesda)
Microsoft closed its conference on a novelty signed by the studio Arkane Austin (
Prey
), which belongs to the publisher Bethesda.
Redfall
is presented as an open mode cooperative shooter, to be played in teams of up to 4 players.
The heroes must face an invasion of vampires on an island in Massachusetts.
Here again, it will take patience to find out more.
Redfall
will
be
released in summer 2022 exclusively on Xbox Series and PC, and will be part of Game Pass.
Forza Horizon 5
(November 9, 2021)
Microsoft's signature open-world car racing game license is making a comeback and tireing in Mexico, with graphics that showcase the power under the hood of the Xbox Series console.
Release scheduled for November 9, 2021 on Xbox Series, PC, and Game Pass.
Halo Infinite
(end of 2021)
Last year, Master Chief fans winced when they saw the first
Halo Infinite
gameplay video
, with very little “next gen” graphics.
Postponed for a year, the new episode of the Halo saga returns ripoliné and will be marketed at the end of the year.
Microsoft also announced that
Halo Infinite's
multiplayer mode
will be free with optional microtransactions (free to play).
This is the strategy that has worked perfectly with Activision's Call of Duty license.
A Plague Tale: Requiem
(2022)
The Bordeaux studio Asobo met with great success with its game A Plague Tale: Innocence, which took place in southwestern France during the great plague.
Its sequel,
A Plague Tale: Requiem
, was unveiled during the Xbox conference.
The game should also be released on PlayStation 5, but Microsoft has a trump card in its pocket:
A Plague Tale: Requiem
will be available on Game Pass from day one of its marketing.
Game Pass galore
The Game Pass service allows, against 12.99 euros per month, to play at will a hundred premium video games from your Xbox console, your PC, and soon any screen connected at very high speed.
If the service has more than 18 million subscribers, Microsoft intends to multiply this figure, and this requires a solid and regularly updated catalog.
Read also: Game Pass: Microsoft's "Video Game Netflix" will arrive on a myriad of connected screens
All the aforementioned games will be released on the “day one” Game Pass, ie from the first day they go on sale. In addition will be games created by Microsoft studios, such as
Psychonauts 2
(August 25),
Contraband
(release date unknown),
Age of Empire IV
(October 28), the console version of Flight Simulator (
July 27
), but also the indie games
12 Seconds
(August 19),
Somerville
(2022), or the shooting game
STALKER 2 - Heart of Chernobyl
(April 28, 2022).
Microsoft also announced the release this Sunday on Game Pass of the Japanese role-playing game
Yakuza Like a Dragon
, and on August 13 of the “rogue lite”
Hades
.
Because in addition to the new features, the service also hosts recent successes in video games.
The message was therefore clear: there will be something to do on the Game Pass in the weeks and months to come.