Xbox
has
announced
that
this
year’s
Xbox
Games
Showcase
will
take
place
on
June
9,
and
will
be
followed
up
by
a
Direct
focusing
on
a
mystery
game
which
will
most
likely
be
Call
of
Duty.

The
Showcase
will
be
livestreamed
at
6pm
UK
time
(10am
PT,
1pm
ET)
on
Youtube,
Twitch
and
Facebook.
The
event
will
feature
games
from
Xbox
Game
Studios,
Bethesda,
Activision
and
Blizzard,
along
with
third
parties.
Microsoft,
of
course,
acquired
Activision
Blizzard
at
the
end
of
last
year,
so
this
will
be
the
first
Showcase
event
to
feature
them.

Rumours
have
been
swirling
for
the
past
few
weeks
that
this
Showcase
will
see
the

return
of
the
Gears
franchise,
either
for
a
new
game
in
the
franchise
or
the
long-rumoured
remakes/remasters
of
the
first
three
games.

Even
JD’s
actor
from
Gears
5
seems
to
believe
Xbox
might
finally
announce
Gears
6
in
June.

Meanwhile,
Tom
Warren
of
The
Verge
is
reporting
that
the
showcase
will
“include
a
number
of
release
dates
for
upcoming
Xbox
games
like Microsoft
Flight
Simulator
2024, Avowed, and Indiana
Jones
and
the
Great
Circle.“

I’m
also
expecting
to
finally
see
something
from
State
of
Decay
3.
It
was
announced
all
the
way
back
in
2020,
clearly
long
before
it
was
really
ready
to
talk
about.
I
may
be
very
wrong,
but
it
feels
like
State
of
Decay
3
might
be
ready
to
show
off
to
the
world.

I’d
imagine
Fable
has
a
good
chance
of
popping
up
too,
along
with
Silksong.

As
for
the
Direct
that
Microsoft
is
hosting
after
the
Showcase,
all
they’ve
said
is
that
it
will
feature
the
“next
instalment
of
a
beloved
franchise.”
While
that
could
reference
anything
from
Gears
to
Fable,
the
orange
wolf-head
logo
they
showed
looks
a
lot
like
something
you
would
expect
to
see
in
a
Call
of
Duty
game.

Tom
Warren
of
the
The
Verge
agrees.
“….sources
familiar
with
the
company’s
plans
tell
me
that
this
is
indeed Call
of
Duty.”
he
writes.

Finally,
I
expect
us
to
get
a
release
date
for
Starfield’s
Shattered
Space
expansion,
which
Todd
Howard
recently
said
is
due
to
launch
this
Fall.

Should
these
rumours
all
prove
true,
Microsoft
will
have
an
impressive
showing
that
will
set
them
up
for
a
strong
2025.