Xbox And Bethesda Announce Joint E3 Games Showcase

Xbox and Bethesda have finally confirmed their plans for E3 2021, where they'll be holding a joint Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase on Sunday, June 13.

The announcement from Xbox Wire revealed that the broadcast will kick off at 6 PM GMT and promises a 90-minute show "packed with everything you want to know about the epic gaming lineup coming out of this partnership, the incredible games coming to Xbox this holiday, upcoming releases on Xbox Game Pass and more."

What we'll see at the show is currently unknown but Halo characters, Starfield, and some numbers were shown on the image announcing the date.

We can always speculate what will show up, which I'd assume a release date and multiplayer gameplay for Halo Infinite, Starfield finally showing some gameplay and I'd guess a new Forza of some sorts. (most likely the rumored Forza Horizon 5 set in Mexico)

I also think it's a safe bet to say that Psychonauts 2 will show up and might get a release date. There's a possibility we'll get some updates on Fable and Perfect Dark but I think that's dependent on how far those games are in development.

Lastly there’s a ton of studios that have been quiet for some time like Complusion games, Machine Games etc so we could get some surpise announcements like Wolfenstein 3.

I'm pretty excited for the show and think this is the time for Xbox to finally take their shot, i'm worried that they may miss the mark though.

Bethesda Officially joins Team Xbox

Xbox has announced that the Bethesda acquisition is completed, and confirmed some additional details on the partnership.

a statement from both parties was posted on the Xbox News Wire blog, with Xbox's Phil Spencer kicking things off by saying "Now that everything is official, we can begin working together to deliver more great games to everyone. At every step building toward this moment, I’ve been inspired and motivated by the creativity, insight, and community-first approach of the talented people at Bethesda. Our goal is to give these teams the best foundation for doing their greatest work and to learn from them as we continue to build Xbox into an inclusive platform for all players."

Spencer also reiterated his previous statements on the deal, saying that "Xbox consoles, PC and Game Pass will be the best place to experience new Bethesda games" and continued by saying "Some new titles in the future that will be exclusive to Xbox and PC players" but sadly did not confirm any exact games that these could possibly be.

on Bethesda's side, Pete Hines' posted his own statement on Bethesda's website saying "First, let me say that we’re not making any landmark announcements or changes right now. As we’ve all shared, the expectation is that Bethesda Softworks and our studios will continue as we have in the past, just with more support and resources than we’ve ever had before. Obviously, Game Pass has been an important initiative for Xbox, and we’ll be working on putting even more of our games into Game Pass than ever before. Beyond that? Stay tuned, we’re just getting started together."

Lastly, Spencer went on to say "We are bringing addition Bethesda games into Xbox Game Pass this week" and to "Stay tuned for more details"

Microsoft & Bethesda deal Approved By The EU Commission

Microsoft's $7.5 billion USD deal of Bethesda parent Zenimax is looking to be close to the finish line, as the EU Commission has finally cleared the deal with no concessions following a preliminary review process.

the agreement between the two companies has officially been approved as it "does not raise serious doubts as to its compatibility with the common market".

a similar ruling has recently come from the US Securities & Exchange Commission in which they published their own 'Note of Effectiveness' which assures both parties and investors that they've looked through the details of the deal, and have found no reason to say the acquisition cannot proceed.

It's looking like the deal is set in stone and hopefully, we'll hear more on it in the near future, fingers crossed that's sooner rather than later.

Indiana Jones game In The Works At Machine Games & Bethesda

Bethesda has announced that developer MachineGames (Wolfenstein Series) is working on a brand new Indiana Jones game.

Details on this project are super sparse apart from that it will be "an original story" not based on any of the films, and will be executive produced by Todd Howard. The game will also be created in collaboration with the newly-rebranded Lucasfilm Games.

a short teaser trailer was released on Bethesda Twitter, which also confirmed that it'll be a while before the studio has more information on the project. It's currently unknown what platforms we'll see the game come to but it'll probably be on Xbox, considering their recent purchase of Bethesda and all its studios.

On a personal note, I'm super excited to finally get an Indiana Jones game from a studio known for making great games. I'm pretty intrigued to see what type of game we'll get in the future.