Renowned Microsoft insider Paul Thurrott revealed in a tweet that the Xbox company will hold a ‘What’s New for Gaming’ event on March 23rd.
Microsoft is apparently holding a “what’s new for gaming” event on March 23.
To be followed by a “what’s new for Windows” event! No date yet.
— Paul Thurrott (@thurrott) February 26, 2021
Thurrott didn’t really follow up with any information on what kind of announcements might be featured in this event. However, this lines up with rumors from Jeff Grubb that Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethesda could be unveiled (unless this lawsuit holds it back) with a major event happening in the latter half of March.
Beyond the Bethesda news, here’s a recap of what Microsoft has in the works at its Xbox Game Studios and could make an appearance at this upcoming event.
| Studio | Known Projects |
| 343 Industries | Working hard on delivering Halo Infinite this Fall. |
| The Coalition | They helped with Gears Tactics last year. Still, a new mainline Gears game is probably not due until late 2022. |
| Compulsion Games | Released We Happy Few in 2018. Their next game (set in a brand new world/IP) was teased a few months ago by Phil Spencer, who cited it as one of the most exciting titles coming from Xbox Game Studios. |
| Double Fine Productions | Psychonauts 2 has been confirmed to be due this year. We have yet to hear about a concrete release date, though. |
| The Initiative | The studio is reimagining Perfect Dark, as announced in early December. It is likely way too early to show anything, though. |
| inXile Entertainment | They released Wasteland 3 not too long ago, though some DLC should be available this year. The developers are also already working on two new RPG projects. |
| Mojang Studios | They just released a new DLC for Minecraft Dungeons. |
| Ninja Theory | The developer recently showcased a bit of Project Mara. It’s been a while since we’ve seen Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, however. |
| Obsidian Entertainment | Finishing up DLC for The Outer Worlds while working on Avowed (which does seem still a long way off, anyway). |
| Playground Games | Rumored to be working on Forza Horizon 5, which could launch later this year. Also busy with the Fable reboot announced in July 2020. |
| Rare | Beyond the ongoing Sea of Thieves support, Rare is developing Everwild, though seven months ago they were apparently still ‘brainstorming gameplay ideas’. |
| Turn 10 Studios | Developing a new Forza Motorsport game that’s going back to the franchise’s roots. |
| Undead Labs | State of Decay 3 was in ‘early pre-production’ as of July 2020. |
| World’s Edge | After the release of Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition, all eyes are now on Age of Empires IV, which as of December 2020 was already in a ‘fully playable state’. |
