Xbox Developer_Direct - Indiana Jones/Avowed/Hellblade 2/Ara/Visions of Mana. Summary (p1)

Xbox Developer_Direct: All the News and Announcements

It’s going to be a good year for Xbox players. At today’s Developer_Direct show, we provided deep-dives into five new games launching across Xbox Series X|S, PC, Game Pass and/or cloud – all of which will arrive later in 2024. Development teams at Xbox, Bethesda, and even one of our third-party partners invited you into their studios to showcase extended gameplay, reveal key information, and more.

During the show, we visited the studios behind Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Avowed, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, and Ara: History Untold to find out more about each one. Members of each development team gave us a look into their creation, with new information, and offered a tantalizing glimpse of what’s to come this year. All four of these games will arrive on day one with Game Pass, and will contribute to what’s going to be another huge year for members, delivering incredible games throughout 2024.

Plus, in a special surprise, we heard from the team at Square Enix to learn a lot more about Visions of Mana, the first new mainline entry in the Mana series in over 15 years, and its debut on Xbox platforms. With participation from developers on 3 continents, it was a truly global show.

Here’s a summary of everything we announced and covered during Developer_Direct:

Avowed – Launching Fall 2024
Xbox Series X/S, PC, Cloud – Joining Game Pass on Day One



Avowed Game Director Carrie Patel gave us a first deep-dive into the gameplay in Obsidian’s upcoming fantasy action RPG, from its dynamic combat, to its thoughtful reactivity, to its “colorful, vibrant, strange” world set in the Living Lands. Avowed continues Obsidian’s signature style of creating games with deep themes and player choice at the forefront.

Not only will you make narrative decisions that can impact changes in the game down the line, but Avowed is also looking to offer choice in combat. Gameplay Director Gabe Paramo discussed not only how varied your weaponry will be – with melee weapons, ranged guns and bows, and magic-based wands (even dual-wielded wands!) to name a few – but how flexible combat can be, allowing you to quickly change loadouts for enemy encounters. Swappable loadouts mean you can approach combat however feels right to you.

Art Director Matt Hansen then explained how the Living Lands is a mysterious island made up of wildly varied regions offering visually diverse backdrops and intriguing settings to explore. With secrets hidden throughout the regions, you’ll take in barren deserts, verdant forests, blighted wastes, volcanic biomes, and more.

That’s not all for Avowed, however – make sure to tune in to the Xbox Podcast on Monday, January 22 for an exclusive interview with some of Obsidian’s developers, offering even more information on the gameplay reveal.

Get ready to carve your own path through Avowed when it launches this fall for Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Cloud – and arrives with Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass on day one. For more information please visit the Avowed website.

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II – Launching May 21
Xbox Series X/S, PC, Cloud – Joining Game Pass on Day One

Ninja Theory took us behind the scenes at their studio in Cambridge to take a look at Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, meet some of the team and learn more about the craft behind their new title, which is now in the final months of development.

In the video we learned more about Senua’s new journey, which leads her to Iceland, a harsh and brutal land ravaged by myth and tyranny. We were given a new look at Senua’s experiences of the world, seen through her eyes as someone who experiences psychosis, and saw some of Senua’s visceral and violent battles with the Draugar. We also heard more detail on what players can expect from the game’s story and how binaural and spatial audio will sink player’s deep into the world of Hellblade.

With a studio mission of crafting life-changing art with game-changing tech, Ninja Theory are pushing the boundaries of fidelity, richness and immersion. You can join Senua on her new quest, May 21. Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II is available to wishlist on Steam and pre-install on Xbox Game Pass now.

Visions of Mana – Launching Summer 2024
Xbox Series X|S, PC

In a surprise appearance, Square Enix joined the show to present Visions of Mana, the first new mainline entry in the series in over 15 years, and its debut on Xbox platforms. Series producer Masaru Oyamada presented a sneak peek at the gorgeous new RPG, sharing gameplay and behind the scenes footage before its launch in Summer 2024.

Koichi Ishii – father of the Mana series and creator of many of its iconic monsters – discussed the implementation and design of the enemies in Visions of Mana, and introduced the adorable new animal companions, “pikuls” and explained the design process behind them.

Oyamada then shared some details regarding the game’s score and revealed that the tracklist for Visions of Mana contains 100 songs in total, including works from musical talent who worked on previous Mana games. Oyamada also shared details of the adaptive music system that allows seamless transition from map exploration to battles, demonstrating a snippet of the background music changing as you enter or leave combat.

Oyamada also revealed that in Visions of Mana, The Elementals will assist the player in battle in the form of specialized items, which will each have a different effect in combat. Combined with aerial combat that allows for weapons and magic to be used in mid-air, the combat is fast-paced and flexible.

Visions of Mana launches Summer 2024 on Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC!

Ara: History Untold – Launching Fall 2024
PC – Joining PC Game Pass on Day One

The key leads at Oxide Games debuted an all-new look at gameplay and shared an overview of the key features coming to Ara: History Untold during today’s Developer Direct. Viewers learned more about Ara’s crafting system, unique approach to simultaneous turns, and more.

You can learn more about this innovative new historical grand strategy game with our in-depth interview with Design Director Michelle Menard and we will have more to share in the coming months leading up to Ara’s launch this fall on PC and with PC Game Pass. For the latest breaking news follow the Ara: History Untold social channels (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram/Threads) and wishlist the game on Steam.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle – Launching 2024
Xbox Series X/S, PC – Joining Game Pass on Day One

The official reveal of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle was debuted during Developer_Direct with over 13 minutes of gameplay footage and developer insights. This new journey starring the legendary archaeologist comes from the award-winning team at MachineGames – the minds behind Wolfenstein: The New Order and Wolfenstein: The New Colossus – in collaboration with Lucasfilm Games and executive produced by Bethesda Game Studios’ Todd Howard. Find out more on Bethesda.net.

Xbox to Present Developer_Direct, Returning on January 18

You’re about to get an exciting look at some of the incredible games ahead with Xbox, as we present a new edition of Developer_Direct. On Thursday, January 18 at 8pm UK, fans will get an inside look at a selection of highly anticipated games coming to Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Game Pass. Shortly after, ZeniMax Online Studios will host The Elder Scrolls Online 2024 Global Reveal at 9pm UK to preview 2024’s biggest update.

Presented by the game creators themselves, Developer_Direct offers an in-depth look at upcoming titles, how they’re being created, and who’s creating them. We’ll visit MachineGames in Sweden to check in on their Indiana Jones game, swing by Obsidian’s Irvine offices to see more from Avowed, head to Oxide Games’ Maryland home to learn about Ara: History Untold, and take a trip to Cambridge, England to see Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II from Ninja Theory. Please note that while this show won’t have updates on games from Activision Blizzard, you can look forward to news from those teams later this year.

The show will be a celebration of just a selection of our slate of upcoming games from Xbox. It’s also another part of our commitment to consistently bringing Xbox players can’t-miss experiences. 2024 kicked off with a bang for Game Pass members, and you can expect that line-up to include more incredible games from Xbox and our partners as the year goes on.

Fans should tune in on Xbox channels at 8pm UK, January 18 to see all the latest on:

Indiana Jones game: MachineGames, the award-winning studio behind the recent Wolfenstein series, will reveal their upcoming Indiana Jones game, an action-adventure that puts players in the leather jacket of the legendary archaeologist. Developer_Direct will showcase more than 10 minutes of game and developer insights, including details about the game’s setting and story, how fans will actually play as Indy, additional details from his next globe-trotting adventure, and the premiere of the first gameplay trailer.

Avowed: The team at Obsidian will share the first deep dive into the gameplay experience fans can expect in Avowed, their upcoming fantasy action RPG, set in the fantastical, vibrant Living Lands. Learn more about how Obsidian’s expertise in building worlds with deep themes, dynamic gameplay, and thoughtful reactivity come to life in Avowed where players will have agency to make choices to shape every step of their adventure.

Ara: History Untold: Hear from the leads at Oxide Games – a studio founded by veterans of the strategy genre and the creators behind classic strategy titles including Civilization V – as they unveil exclusive new gameplay and share more details about the inspiration, key features, and road ahead for their upcoming historical grand strategy game.

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II: Ninja Theory take us behind the scenes at their studio in Cambridge to give us some insight on how they are crafting Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II. The team will speak to the ambition and meticulous care involved in creating Senua’s journey of survival.

Shortly after Developer_Direct has concluded, ZeniMax Online Studios will host The Elder Scrolls Online 2024 Global Reveal at 9pm UK, a standalone presentation where the development team will unveil the game’s next major Chapter, including the new zone, storyline, and other major features coming in the game’s biggest update this year.

Stay tuned to Xbox and Bethesda’s official social channels for more on Developer_Direct, coming on Thursday, January 18 at 8pm UK.

DarkRula wrote:To be fair, the game itself was a surprise, but we knew something was being revealed from Tango Gameworks. If I remember right.

Should be good to tune into even if I don't have that much investment in any of the games.

twitter.com/InsiderGamingIG/status/1744739499891167658

twitter.com/machinegames/status/1744736379106701777

Cheeky Devlin wrote:Really think a Metroid Prime style game could work quite well with Indiana Jones.
It would be well within Machine Games wheelhouse given their FPS pedigree.

Excited to see it whatever it turns out to be though.

ITSMILNER wrote:Yeah I’m excited to see the Indy game in action, Avowed as well. Are both confirmed
For PC?

Photek wrote:

ITSMILNER wrote:Yeah I’m excited to see the Indy game in action, Avowed as well. Are both confirmed
For PC?

All Xbox exclusive games launch on PC at the same time, in fact ARA is PC only at launch.

Tomous wrote:

Cheeky Devlin wrote:Really think a Metroid Prime style game could work quite well with Indiana Jones.
It would be well within Machine Games wheelhouse given their FPS pedigree.

Excited to see it whatever it turns out to be though.

I'd be genuinely surprised if it isn't a 3rd person adventure game in the Uncharted style.

twitter.com/gematsu/status/1747711992838729903

Edd wrote:I hope it comes full circle and Indy is a straight up clone of Uncharted/Tomb Raider.