Did Microsoft Win Summer Games Fest 2023? (Spoiler Alert: It’s Very Likely)

June is one of the three times a year where gamers are legally allowed to celebrate. Alongside GOTY season, Gamescom, and the Summer Game Fest as hosted by Geoff Keighley. With an incredible opening day of reveals curesty of everyone's favourite Hideo Kojima fan, it was looking like the Big Three were gonna have to bring their A-game the next time they showed their wares. But Microsoft didn’t bring it’s A-game. It brought EVERYTHING. But was it enough? Let’s dive deeper, shall we?

The showcase came out swinging with a trailer for Playground’s upcoming reimagining of a British fantasy classic. Fable kicked off the show with a gorgeous trailer, showing off a stunning world, as well as that beautifully dry humour we all loved from the original Molyneux trilogy. 

Wow, this is so magical. I wish Britain was real…

That was followed up by South of Midnight, a new IP from the creators of We Happy Few. The trailer had a very unique style, almost stopmotion-esque. However, details seem to be pretty slim on this new Xbox exclusive for the time being.

You guitar seems a little dinged up.

We then took to space, with Ubisoft’s new RPG, developed with help from Lucasfilm Games - Star Wars: Outlaws, an underworld adventure, following what appears to be a smuggler in the Rebellion era. Nice to see the galaxy from a new perspective!

The devs of the critically acclaimed Spiritfarer then announced a new and very different project - a 33-player co-op roguelike, focused on raiding. From what we saw, it looks like the best parts of WoW raids, with a very fun twist. 33 Immortals releases in early access, early 2024. 

Squad up!

For those more criminally-inclined, we then got the first gameplay reveal for the highly anticipated PAYDAY 3. After a whopping 2,596 days since it was announced by Prime Matter back in 2016, the crime-fest that is the PAYDAY franchise takes New York by storm on September 21st 2023, oh, and if that’s not enough, you can play it day one on Game Pass. Now that’s a steal!

We also get to see the complete remaster of Persona 3, a new look at Obsidian’s next RPG, Avowed, and a long overdue crossover for Sea Of Thieves, where our band of Pirates will be exploring Monkey Island! We’ll be running into a few familiar faces along the way, too! Wonder how Guybrush is doing…

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 was up next, showing off some impressive updates to the formula, including missions and rescues. We then got an extended look at Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, alongside a very disturbing gameplay trailer that showed Senua continuing to struggle with her tormented mind. It was a truly anxiety-riddled story trailer, full of unsettling moments, especially if you were wearing headphones. It felt like those voices were in our heads, too! It still gives me shivers...

We then get a look at Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth, the next game in the formerly Yakuza and now Like A Dragon series. By the looks of things, this time, we’re heading westward, like all the way to Hawaii. Oh, and someone needs to find Ichiban some clothes… or at least a towel.

Just two sexy himbos with absolutely terrible haircuts.

Bethesda were up next with a song and dance, and a new DLC for Fallout 76, taking us to Atlantic City. More info to be revealed on that at a later date.

Turn10 is back at the Xbox showcase, with a release date and a new look at Forza Motorsport. Start your engines on October 10th.

Hermeaus Mora then took to the stage to reveal Necrom, the new expansion for Elder Scrolls Online, ready for release on June 20th.

We then get a PvE trailer for Overwatch 2, showing off Invasion, a new co-op event, story missions, and a hint at a new Support hero. Also announced here was that Xbox Game Pass users will get a headstart and get access to all the l new characters released so far. It’s time to be a hero on August 10th.

Starfield is looking great.

Persona 5 Tactica is heading to Game Pass on November 17th, Starfield got an amazing story trailer, ahead of the full direct at the end of the show, and Life is Strange developers, Don’t Nod reveal Jusant, a new action-puzzle game set to release Fall 2023, and playable day one with Game Pass.

We then got a glimpse at a thalassophobia-inducing horror game from The Chinese Room, titled Still Wakes The Deep.

Oh hi Keanu. Are you just going to show up every year now…?

Dungeons of Hinterberg was up next, a cel-shaded adventure set to release 2024. Keanu Reeves returned to the stage to reveal a longer look at Phantom Liberty, the first expansion for Cyberpunk 2077. Head back to Night City on September 26th, 2023.

Atlus returned, to show its new project, Metaphor ReFantazio, a beautiful fantasy RPG. Project Fantasy has been rumoured for a long time and we can’t wait to finally see more!

Atlus took a page from the Square Enix game naming book for this new series.

Towerborne is a stunning-looking new game from The Banner Saga creators, and Clockwork Revolution is a time-travelling steampunk adventure from inXile, coming to Steam and Xbox “In Due Time”, according to the trailer. 

Microsoft ended its showcase with a new Carbon Black SKU of the Xbox Series S. But it’s not just a colour update. The SSD has been upgraded to a massive 1TB, alongside a slight price increase. £349 for the new and upgraded Series S, releasing September 1st.

With such massive announcements, it’s hard to deny Microsoft hasn't won this year. A stacked selection of games in September, including the long-awaited Starfield. Sony is going to need to bring a lot more than Spider-Man to the table, if it wants to stand toe-to-toe come the end of the year.