Xbox Games Showcase 2025: all the news and trailers
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Final Fantasy XVI is out on Xbox right now, and FF7 Remake is coming too
You can play the latest entry in the Final Fantasy series, Final Fantasy XVI, on Xbox right now. Shadow dropped during today’s Xbox Games Showcase, players will be able to experience FFXVI’s slick-ass kaiju monster battles, incredible voice acting, and ho-hum story (because, hey, you can’t expect Square Enix to be perfect at everything). In addition to the base game, players will also get access to FFXVI’s two story DLCs The Rising Tide and Echoes of the Fallen which adds more story and a new Eikon (the game’s version of summons) Leviathan.
But that’s not all as the partnership between Xbox and Square Enix continues apace. Last year, Xbox brought the critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV to the system. Later it was rumored, due to Square Enix’s stated desire to expand their games beyond the PlayStation ecosystem, that it would bring the Final Fantasy VII remake project to Xbox as well. That rumor has been proven true. The absurdly titled Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade, which is the first entry in the FF7 reimagination project combined with the Yuffie-centric DLC, is coming to Xbox this winter.
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The Outer Worlds 2 will start at $79.99.
You can see the cost on the game’s Steam page. Microsoft had already said it would be raising the price of new first-party Xbox games to the $79.99 price, and here we are.
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Double Fine’s next game, Keeper, turns you into a walking lighthouse
Psychonauts developer Double Fine just announced a new game — and you’ll be able to play it soon. Keeper, a game where you play as a walking lighthouse with a seabird as a buddy, is launching on October 17th, 2025 on Xbox and PC.
Here’s a description from an Xbox Wire post about what you can expect from the game:
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Did Microsoft just tease a Halo CE remaster?
Xbox chief Phil Spencer just casually revealed Gears of War: E-Day is coming in 2026, 25 years after the launch of the original Xbox. It’s arriving alongside a “the next Forza,” according to Spencer, and “the return of a classic that’s been with us since the beginning.” That classic sure sounds like the Halo CE remaster I wrote about last year.
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Blops is back.
The big final reveal for the Xbox portion of the event was the next Call of Duty, which will be Black Ops 7. According to Activision, the new game will be set in 2035 and follows a story “where David Mason leads the Black Ops team against a manipulative enemy who weaponizes fear above all else.”
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Gears of War: E-Day is coming in 2026
Image: Microsoft Game Studios
Microsoft first revealed Gears of War: E-Day during its Xbox Games Showcase last year, and at today’s showcase it’s now putting a 2026 release window on the latest entry in the sci-fi shooter series. Developed by The Coalition, E-Day will release in a year that marks 20 years since the original Gears of War game debuted on the Xbox 360, and 25 years of Xbox.
E-Day is set 14 years before the first Gears game, and “tells the story of the first Locust emergence on Sera.” It’s being billed as an origin story, and once again stars Marcus Fenix. E-Day is the first title in the series since Gears 5 debuted in 2019.
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Older Windows handhelds are getting Xbox full-screen upgrades too.
If you already bought a Windows gaming handheld, you might not need to upgrade your hardware to get the overhauled Xbox app, Game Bar, and Windows OS that Microsoft and Asus just announced.
Xbox exec Roanne Sones:
The Xbox full-screen experience will first come to the ROG Xbox Ally and the ROG Xbox Ally X, and our next focus will be updating the in-market ROG Ally and the ROG Ally X. Similar full-screen Xbox experiences will be rolling out to other Windows handhelds, starting next year.”
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Persona 4 is getting a remake
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Cowabunga.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 launches on July 11th, and Activision debuted a new trailer at the Xbox Games Showcase that showed off TMNT’s Michelangelo as a playable character.
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We’ve got Pokémon at home.
With Palworld already a hit on Xbox, it’s no surprise other similar games are on the way. Next up is Aniimo, described as a “creature-catching open-world ARPG.” There don’t appear to be any guns, but the graphics sure look slick. It launches next year on the Xbox, PC, and mobile.
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Life is even stranger in space.
Don’t Nod, the studio behind the hella good adventure series, is going in a very different direction with a sci-fi survival game called Aphelion. It’s launching in 2026.
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Pokémon studio’s action RPG Beast of Reincarnation launches in 2026
Game Freak, perhaps best known for its work on the Pokémon franchise, is working on a new action RPG called Beast of Reincarnation that will launch sometime in 2026. It’s coming to PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X / S.
In the game, you play as Emma, who will be accompanied by a canine friend. “Survive a journey across an ominous, ever-changing world where dangerous forests can erupt in the wasteland,” according to the description from a new trailer shown at the Xbox Games Showcase 2025. “As Emma and Koo push deeper into the unknown, their bond strengthens—and with it, strange powers bloom.”
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Grounded (again).
Obsidian’s Honey I Shrunk the Kids-esque survival game is getting a sequel, and yes there are still lots of bug. It’s launching on July 29th.
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Why did it have to be giants?
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle came out just last year and the folks at MachineGames have been busy. During the Xbox Games Showcase we got a glimpse at a new DLC campaign, The Order of Giants.
In the trailer, it looks like Indy will be investigating the origins of the Nephilim, the mysterious giant-like men sworn to protect the Great Circle. I hope the DLC means we’ll get the chance to see Tony Todd’s character for one last time.
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Turn back the clock.
The time-bending steampunk shooter Clockwork Revolution looks like it will offer plenty of tools for chaotic combat, though it’s not clear yet when the game will be launching.
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Meaty.
Super Meat Boy 3D is a new, 3D take on the challenging indie platformer. It’s launching in early 2026.
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A bloody good time.
The latest trailer for Ninja Gaiden 4 gives a great idea of the brutal action fans can expect. But the most surprising bit might be how disturbing some of these monster designs are. Even better, we got a release date: it’s dropping on October 21st.
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Silksong spotted!
Xbox showed off some footage of the long-awaited Hollow Knight: Silksong on the new ROG Xbox Ally handheld. But we still don’t have a specific release date for the game: all Xbox president Sarah Bond said is that the game will be available “at launch and in Game Pass when the Ally releases later this year.”
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This is how Microsoft is combining Windows and Xbox for handheld PCs
Microsoft and Asus have just announced two ROG Xbox Ally devices that include a new full-screen Xbox experience for handhelds. After promising to combine “the best of Xbox and Windows together” for handhelds earlier this year, Microsoft is now revealing exactly how it is overhauling the Xbox app, Game Bar, and Windows itself to better compete with SteamOS.
Microsoft has needed to respond to SteamOS ever since the Steam Deck launched three years ago, and it has steadily been tweaking its Xbox app and the Xbox Game Bar on Windows to make both more handheld-friendly. But there was always a bigger overhaul of Windows required, and we’re starting to see parts of that today.
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Microsoft and Asus announce two Xbox Ally handhelds with new Xbox full-screen experience
Microsoft and Asus have been working together over the past year to create not one, but two new ROG Xbox Ally handhelds. Both of these Xbox Ally devices, part of the Project Kennan effort I reported on earlier this year, include a new full-screen Xbox experience on Windows that’s designed to be more handheld-friendly and hide away the complexity of Windows to focus on gaming instead.
The white ROG Xbox Ally is designed for 720p gaming, and the more powerful black ROG Xbox Ally X targets 900p to 1080p gaming on the go. Like the existing ROG Ally and Ally X, the new Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X share the same 7-inch 1080p screen, complete with a 120Hz refresh rate and VRR support.
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Higher on life.
One of the first reveals was for a sequel to the comedic shooter High on Life, which introduces a skater vibe to the experience. It’s launching “this winter” and doesn’t look like it will skimp on the jokes.
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Outerworldly.
Microsoft kicked off its Xbox Games Showcase with a gameplay of The Outer Worlds 2. The show will close with a direct focused on the game. It launches on October 29th for Xbox, PS5, and PC.
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And another one.
If you haven’t had enough of gaming events, Microsoft has one more. The Xbox Games Showcase kicks off at 1PM ET, and will be followed by a second event focused entirely on The Outer Worlds 2.
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Xbox’s next major games showcase streams in June
Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge
It’s looking like another busy summer of gaming news: Microsoft just announced its next Xbox Games Showcase livestream, which will take place on June 8th at 1PM ET. The company says that the event will include “a look at upcoming titles from across our first-party studios, in addition to incredible new titles from our third-party partners across the globe.” And after the event wraps up there will be a second stream focused entirely on The Outer Worlds 2, which is due to launch later this year.
Last year’s showcase included major announcements covering games like Perfect Dark, Doom: The Dark Ages, and Starfield. In addition to The Outer Worlds sequel, the 2025 edition will likely include more about the next Call of Duty and other holiday games; though we probably won’t see much, if anything, of Fable, which has been delayed to 2026. Doom: The Dark Ages, meanwhile, launches in May, so maybe we’ll hear about future updates or expansions for id’s dark fantasy shooter.
