The Xbox Games Showcase is taking place in just a few short hours, with the presentation promising to give us our best look yet at first-party Xbox Series X games. 

Microsoft has confirmed that this hour-long (solely games-focused) showcase will give us our first look at Halo Infinite gameplay, while the rest of the presentation will primarily focus on titles from Xbox Game Studios – with some third-party games likely thrown in for good measure. So expect to get a closer look at both Hellblade 2 and Psychonauts 2, and maybe even a sneak peek at the rumored Fable 4.

The Xbox Games Showcase kicks off in just a few hours, beginning at 5pm BST/ 12pm ET/ 9am PT.

We’ll be following the action live right here, providing expert commentary and opinion on everything that’s revealed during the Xbox Games Showcase. If you want to watch the stream live alongside our blog, then check out our handy guide on how to watch the Xbox Series X games live stream.

All times are shown in Pacific Daylight Time (PDT)

7:30am – We’re expecting most, if not all, the Xbox Series X games shown today to utilize Xbox Smart Delivery.

What is Smart Delivery? It’s all about game ownership. Simply put, if you buy one version of an Xbox game that supports Smart Delivery, you’ll always have access to the best version of that game whether you decide to play on Xbox One or Xbox Series X.

That means if you buy Halo Infinite on Xbox One, then later want to play it on Xbox Series X (or vice-versa), you can. Your one-time purchase means you’ll have the best version possible of the game whichever Xbox console you choose to play on. 

But that’s not all. Save data will be compatible across both consoles, too. So you can pick up where you left off on the console of your choice.

7:15am – Just an hour and a half to go until the Xbox Games Showcase starts. Let us know in our Twitter poll which game you are most excited to see today:

7:00am – Let’s talk a bit about Fable 4. It’s been almost a decade since the release of Fable 3, but rumors have been rife that Playground Games (the developer behind the Forza Horizon series) is working on the next installment in the Fable series.

Playground Games is part of Xbox Game Studios so it’s entirely possible that, if these rumors are true, we will see Fable 4 make an appearance later today. 

Fable 4 may be a huge departure from the previous Fable games if one particular leak is to be believed. Back in 2019, Reddit user LagSwag 1 published details of an alleged Fable 4 leak which detailed allegedly detailed a few key features of the fourth installment, including both first and third-person perspectives, an in-depth character creator, no guns, the option to ignore the main quest, the option for players to build towns, multiplayer and the game apparently running on Unreal engine. 

If that wasn’t enough to throw your head in a spin, further details emerged from the leak which claimed that the land of Albion (where the game is set) could be no more, with players now having different worlds and planets to explore. And to access these planets? There could be a time travel element, via a Demon Door. 

This leak has never been confirmed, much like Fable 4 itself, and even if this was once the plan, we could see a totally different final product.

6:45am – Halo Infinite gameplay is definitely going to be the biggest part of this showcase, with 343 Industries finally giving us a look at the new Halo’s campaign mode. 

So far we’ve not had much in the way of solid details about Halo Infinite: a couple of brief trailers, and not much in the way of actual gameplay, though we do know that split-screen co-op multiplayer will be making a return. We also know the series’ protagonist, Master Chief himself, will be taking center stage, exactly where he belongs.

We also know Halo Infinite will be a cross-gen title, landing on Xbox Series X, Xbox One and PC at the same time – however, a release date hasn’t been confirmed yet.

We would be lying if we said we aren’t hyped to see what 343 Industries has in store for us today and how the developer will utilize the power of the Xbox Series X.

6:25am – The Xbox Series X’s likely release month isn’t the only detail that has dropped ahead of the presentation later today. Seagate has also revealed how its Xbox Series X expansion card boosts storage without sacrificing SSD performance.

6:00am – Microsoft has already confirmed today’s presentation will focus primarily on first-party Xbox Series X games (titles from Xbox game Studios) but we are expecting some third-party games to make an appearance. 

We know we’ll be getting our first look at Halo Infinite gameplay today, but also expect a closer look at the previously confirmed Hellblade 2. It’s also likely we’ll get confirmation that in-development games, such as Psychonauts 2 and Everwild, will be making their way to the new Xbox – alongside a release date.

In terms of Xbox Series X games which haven’t been confirmed, it’s likely we’ll see the announcement of a new Forza as well as news that Xbox big hitters such as Minecraft and Sea of Thieves are coming to Xbox Series X. We’re also hoping that the rumored Fable 4 will make an appearance at today’s event.

5:45am – What are we expecting to see from Microsoft today? It’s been confirmed that the Xbox Games Showcase will focus solely on (you guessed it) games. So don’t expect any news on the Xbox Series X price, hardware or the rumored Xbox Series S console today. 

However, it looks like the Xbox Series X’s release month has been confirmed by Microsoft’s CFO ahead of the event.

5:15am – We are live! There’s just under four hours to go until the Xbox Games Showcase begins and we are so excited to see what Microsoft has in store for us today.