Long before I was a Games Journalist™ and thus required to watch just about every video game showcase, conference, and direct for my job, I was an eager video game fan doing the exact same thing but without, you know, a professional obligation. Regardless of whether these events required me to rise well before the sun (looking at you, Nintendo), for well over a decade I’ve been there, buzzing with excitement and ready to preorder things I certainly did not need.
Chances are that if you’re reading this, you too enjoy watching these events. Though you’d be correct in calling what’s shown at these conferences glorified commercials, I’ve often thought of it as us gamers getting our own little “Super Bowl commercial celebration” every month or so, which is pretty neat if you ask me.
Over the years of partaking in these often-solo watch parties, I’ve come to associate and expect certain things from certain studios and publishers. Devolver will always offer up a somewhat convoluted but high-value production that leans into the absurd, while Wholesome Direct pairs pastels with short-and-sweet sizzle reels, giving each one of the many indie games it’s highlighting a brief time to shine. Of the “big three” video game companies–PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo–Nintendo was the first, in my eyes, to really cultivate a strong, public facing identity. If it ever does away with its quirky voiceovers and charming segues, I’d be heartbroken, to say the least.
PlayStation, I’d then argue, was the second. When PlayStation comes to play, you know you are getting far more action than talk. Though its State of Plays might feature someone in a suit saying a few words between trailers, the company largely does not indulge in bells and whistles. Instead, you get trailer after trailer, with the company’s narrative-heavy prize jewels getting ample screentime. I get this approach and admire it: Sometimes we really should just let the games speak for themselves.
And that leaves us with Xbox. In more ways than one, Xbox has struggled with an identity problem for years. Is it the catalog of first-person shooters and multiplayer titles that makes it appealing? Should we see it more as a home entertainment ecosystem? Is it the fact that the console now allows you to play in a variety of ways–including not on the actual consoles–that sets it apart? Does the company’s greater emphasis on accessibility make it the best way to play? Is Game Pass truly the best value in gaming and a major selling point?
To be clear, this isn’t a dig at Xbox. I think it’s wondrous to be ambitious, well-rounded, and ever-changing–the current media and entertainment landscape demands it. But for a while, this led to the company not having a very clear identity. However, Xbox’s latest Developer Direct got me thinking about how far the company has come and how, over the past few years, it’s made great strides towards establishing a much-welcomed identity.
For the past few years, Xbox has been all about one thing in particular: the developers. Some of this, of course, has manifested in ways that I don’t particularly love, as both Xbox and PlayStation have been quick to identify and acquire seemingly any studio willing to sell. But whereas PlayStation outwardly focuses more on the games and franchises they are acquiring, Xbox feels quicker to highlight the studios and teams.
In its January 2025 Developer Direct, Xbox spent close to an hour highlighting just five games: Ninja Gaiden 4, Ninja Gaiden 2 Black, South of Midnight, Doom: The Dark Ages, and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. The company provided plenty of gameplay, allowing unfamiliar but interested audience members a chance to see what they were about, and kept the time spent on each game remarkably equal, despite certain titles having more mainstream awareness. But even more compelling to me was how they gave the studios behind these games ample time to actually talk about themselves.
As someone who is all about dark fantasy and gothic vibes, getting to hear the team behind South of Midnight wax poetic about these topics, and express their reverence for the American Deep South’s folklore, was delightful. Though Clair Obscura’s turn-based combat lends itself to JRPG comparisons, it was interesting to hear that the team’s decision to structure its RPG as such was born out of a deep attachment to the genre and their longing to make something that combined it with their own sensibilities and culture. And id Software–the studio behind Doom–focused on the company’s legacy and how they are incorporating the series’ staples, such as fast-paced action and metal music, alongside additions like new medieval-style weapons and the ability to control a mech. Lastly, as someone who, for some wild reason, has yet to play the Ninja Gaiden series, I appreciated hearing the developers explain the game’s world and what pairing up with Platinum Games means for Team Ninja.
Xbox has said time and time again that it is focused on supporting developers it acquires, not assimilating them into its own ecosystem and way of play. Unfortunately, we have seen the company not always stick to this, as it shuttered Arkane Austin, Alpha Dog Studios, Tango Gameworks, and Roundhouse Games just last year–it would frankly be disingenuous to not point this out and express my disappointment in this. However, this showcase still means a great deal to me and makes me hopeful that these closures will happen less and less going forward: that they will learn how to properly support studios and prevent what even Phil Spencer noted was a failure on the company’s part to properly aid developers in executing their vision.
Another part of why this is so important to me right now is because I firmly believe we are dealing with a large-scale dehumanization crisis. I recently saw a BlueSky post that really resonated with me, that essentially said that, because games are becoming increasingly affiliated with the tech sector, they are being treated in a more capitalistic way rather than as art. It’s plain to see, with one example of this being how many studios are instructed to follow certain trends–such as live-service games–rather than play to the strength of the developer.
Games are growing larger, more jam-packed, and more technologically impressive than ever before. But are we willing to sacrifice artistic vision and personality for that? This, alongside the push for greater AI usage in ways more ethically questionable than ever before, has me feeling that, in spite of certain game’s grand scale and presentation, we are somewhat regressing. When developers are being laid off left and right, and when those who remain’s voices feel silenced while others accept accolades off-screen, I can’t help but be irked by the way the people who make games are all too often forgotten or dismissed.
Xbox is by no means a perfect company. To be clear, none of these companies are. However, I do have admiration for the way it is tackling its showcases with more humanity and emphasis on developers. It is a trend I hope other studios, big and small, follow, lest we lose the innovation, humanity, and magic that makes my favorite hobby so incredibly special.