The latest Xbox Developer_Direct will stream this week, on Thursday 22 January at 6pm GMT.
It has been confirmed to feature three major new games, that will all release on PS5 as well as Xbox and PC.
Xbox will host its first online showcase event of the year this week, with a Developer_Direct presentation to stream this Thursday (22 January). And as things stand, it is set to be just as important for PS5 owners as it is Xbox Series X/S and PC.
The stream will start at 6pm GMT (10am PT, 1pm ET) and be presented by development teams. They will talk about their forthcoming games, with all of them coming to PS5, PS5 Pro, Xbox consoles and PC – including the two being made by Xbox Studios.
Playground Games sits under the Xbox Studios banner and is responsible for the Forza Horizon series. It will therefore be showing gameplay of Forza Horizon 6 for the first time during the presentation.
That is planned for a day one release on PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Windows, so is as of interest as much to PlayStation fans as Xbox. It'll also be coming to the ROG Xbox Ally and Ally X handhelds, as well as other PC devices (Steam Deck and Lenovo Legion Go S, for example).
It's thought to be coming relatively soon, in fact, with a 19 May 2026 release date having leaked in recent times. We should hear more on that during the Developer_Direct.
And considering the PS5 Pro version of Forza Horizon 5 was arguably better than on Xbox Series X, Horizon 6 may well be of even more interest to owners of that particular rival console.
That could also be true of the second game coming from Playground Games this year. It is the studio behind the long-awaited, often delayed Fable reboot and will give us an update on that during the showcase, too.
Rumours claim that, as well as Xbox and Windows, the action RPG will release on day one for PS5. We'll find out more on Thursday.
And finally, it has been confirmed that Pokémon studio Game Freak will give us a deep dive into Beast of Reincarnation – another action RPG coming to Xbox, PS5 and PC. Although you play as a dog this time.
It'll certainly be an interesting show – available to watch on Thursday via the Xbox YouTube channel and other social accounts. And who knows? Perhaps there'll be a surprise or two, as well.
