Gaming showcases have become infamous for one thing over the years - a bunch of CG trailers that bear very little resemblance to the final game. Sure, it allows for titles much earlier in development to be shown off before there’s any gameplay ready, but with so many games getting revealed in this way, it’s hard to tell what they will actually look like. However,Xboxpromises that it will be doing things a little differently for its upcoming showcase.Aaron Greenberg, VP of marketing at Xbox, says that none of the games shown off during its livestream this weekend will be just CG trailers. Instead, he says that everything showcased by Xbox will feature some in-game or at least in-engine footage, giving us a better idea of what the games will look like. He adds that there will still be some cinematics, but that every game will still have to show something from the engine it’s being developed in.Related:In Video Games, There Is No Such Thing As Magic"None of our first-party games in the show are full CG trailers," says Greenberg. “Everything is either in-game footage, in-engine footage, or in-game footage with some cinematics.“Unsurprisingly, fans are incredibly happy with this news, having long complained of similar showcases relying on too many CG trailers - even when the game has already been announced. Of course, the wording makes it clear that this rule will only apply to first-party games, but given how many studios Xbox has under its belt, that’s a whole lot of games that will be shown off in the engine they’re being developed for.
While this alone is exciting news for Xbox fans, it also gives us some insight into what we can expect to see. Greenberg hasseparately confirmedthat Xbox is scrapping its rule from last year in whichevery game shown off would be planned for release in less than a year’s time. However, if we’re getting actual gameplay trailers, then it’s likely that the games won’t be far from release anyway, and will be titles that have already been announced. So don’t expect to see any games that we know are in the earlier stages of development.
This could also give us a better idea of whether or not Fable will appear at the showcase.It has been heavily hinted at over the past week, to the point where Greenberg had to ask fans tostop looking for clues literally everywhere. It had previously been reported thatthe next Fable game was in a rough spot, suffering from something of an identity crisis. With that in mind, it doesn’t seem very likely that there’s much gameplay to show off, and therefore, no place for it at the showcase. That being said, we might get an in-engine trailer, which would at least meet the requirements for the show.
In any case, we’ll find out for sure during the showcase this Sunday, June 11.
