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Summer Game Fest and the events surrounding it gave Xbox and other developers a chance to show off some of the best and brightest games on the horizon. For every twinkling North Star, however, there were a few conspicuous black spots in the sky: places where new games should’ve appeared but simply…didn’t. There are better reasons for some of these than others, but there’s no debate that the Xbox Showcase felt a bit off without their inclusion. These absences didn’t keep Xbox from having one of the best showcases of 2024 so far, however. Here are 5 weird no-shows from the Xbox Showcase.
Halo
Master Chief is as iconic a console mascot as Mario, and official Xbox events don’t feel right without the Spartan. 2023 was a turbulent year for Xbox, and Halo was no exception. With Halo Infinite sitting at Mostly Positive on Steam (despite 343 Industries’s efforts to right the ship), it seems Xbox is content to stay quiet about the franchise’s future for now. While there’s no doubt Halo will return, Xbox may wait until it has something more meaningful (and exciting) to debut, steering the conversation around from the last installment‘s shaky footing.
Forza Horizon 6
If Halo is Xbox’s most iconic franchise, Forza is surely its second. Motorsports games don’t get much bigger, prettier, or more refined. If you’re a racing fan, it doesn’t get much better than chewing up asphalt in a 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa in Forza Horizon 5. Unfortunately, Xbox has been keeping quiet on a lot of details about the next installment in the famed driving series. Which cars we’re getting and how the driving and exploration might change remain matters of speculation until Microsoft decides to give it some gas again.
The Outer Worlds 2
Avowed isn’t the only plate Obsidian is spinning. Clever (though too linear) sci-fi RPG The Outer Worlds is getting a sequel, but we didn’t get any new insights into what’s happening on Terra-2, Monarch, or anywhere else for that matter.
Despite the potential of the original game’s character creation and dialog system, The Outer Worlds didn’t strike a chord with many fans compared to the developer’s other IPs. Maybe the next Xbox showcase will give us more Moon Man to moon over.
Contraband
Avalanche Studios hasn’t shared much about co-op heist game Contraband. Other than knowing it’s set in the fictional world of 1970s Bayan, we don’t have a ton to go on so far. With the developer putting out games like Mad Max, Just Cause 4, and Rage 2, however, we can guess some of the over-the-top action to come. Payday 3 has struggled to keep its head above water since release, so there’s room in the heist game market for scrappy young competitor. Yet without word from Avalanche, it’s hard to say if Contraband will be the one.
Hollow Knight: Silksong
Another show, another day without Silksong. Few games have brewed up an anticipatory fever quite like that of Hollow Knight‘s sequel. Unfortunately, Silksong hopefuls now find themselves in the same camp as Beyond Good and Evil 2‘s patient fans. The transition from The Knight to Hornet is a big one, and that’s far from the only change that Silksong will bring to the franchise when it finally releases. It’s just unfortunate that we got zero word about the project, especially since the original was released way back in 2017.
