Xbox finally cracks the Summer Game Fest special - the cost is them owning everything

It feels quite apt that Xbox has really started to nail this summer showcase business these past few years. Those few years being right when the summer showcase as a concept is starting to look just a little out of date. Back in the heady E3 days, team green used to pack out their LA Live Microsoft theatre, just along from the main show floor, and then frequently go on to, most of the time, sort of biff it. In the post E3 years that moved to the slightly smaller-still-swanky Grammy Museum, as Xbox stubbornly refused to give up an inch of ground in a fight that had, actually, really ended quite a long time ago. Sony and Nintendo had long since moved to doing everything via some version of pre-recorded direct. And now this year, when it feels like it's finally cracked the summer game showcase formula for good, finally listened and learned and done all of that good stuff, it also clocked on that it might be time to follow its peers in sagely ducking out of the in-person wrestlefest at last. Read more

Jun 9, 2025 - 10:36

Xbox finally cracks the Summer Game Fest special - the cost is them owning everything

It feels quite apt that Xbox has really started to nail this summer showcase business these past few years. Those few years being right when the summer showcase as a concept is starting to look just a little out of date. Back in the heady E3 days, team green used to pack out their LA Live Microsoft theatre, just along from the main show floor, and then frequently go on to, most of the time, sort of biff it. In the post E3 years that moved to the slightly smaller-still-swanky Grammy Museum, as Xbox stubbornly refused to give up an inch of ground in a fight that had, actually, really ended quite a long time ago. Sony and Nintendo had long since moved to doing everything via some version of pre-recorded direct. And now this year, when it feels like it's finally cracked the summer game showcase formula for good, finally listened and learned and done all of that good stuff, it also clocked on that it might be time to follow its peers in sagely ducking out of the in-person wrestlefest at last.