The next console generation is right around the corner, with both Microsoft's Xbox Series X and Sony's PlayStation 5 preparing to release next month. The Xbox Series X price and release date was announced early in September after multiple details leaked online, including the existence of the cheaper Xbox Series S, but it appears Xbox has a few more announcements to make before the official launch on November 10.
Xbox Wire released a post today commenting on the "exceptional" past year for Xbox Game Studios, which includes the release of ten new first-party titles in 2020: Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Bleeding Edge, Gears Tactics, Minecraft Dungeons, Grounded, Microsoft Flight Simulator, Battletoads, Tell Me Why, Wasteland 3, and the upcoming Age of Empires 3: Definitive Edition on October 15. The post says 2020 will get "better" with the release of its next-gen consoles that have the "largest launch lineup in the history of gaming."
The majority of this lineup is carried by backwards compatibility across four console generations and Xbox Game Pass, soon to have titles like Doom Eternal thanks to Microsoft purchasing ZeniMax Media and Bethesda, but Xbox Wire promises more details will be revealed about "every game being fully optimized" for the Xbox Series X/S launch. This showcase is said to be happening later this month with gameplay videos included, but no specific date is given.
This announcement makes up only a small portion of the otherwise celebratory, backwards-looking post. Xbox Wire lauds the success of games like Sea of Thieves, which just passed 15 million players, as well as Microsoft Flight Simulator users accruing over a billion miles flown thus far. It also reports that nearly seven million multiplayer sessions were logged in two months for Minecraft Dungeons, which just announced its Howling Peaks DLC.
This particular Xbox Wire post, which was written by Xbox Games Marketing General Manager Aaron Greenberg, was recently teased. The Game Awards Host Geoff Keighley suggested there would be Xbox news coming today during an interview with Greenberg yesterday as part of a fundraising livestream for the National Breast Cancer Foundation.
Microsoft appears to be shoring up everything it can to garner players' interest in the Xbox Series X/S, but also other services like Game Pass leading into the next console generation. It was recently announced that an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription will include Funimation Premium Plus free for two months, giving users access to anime as entertainment alongside their video games.
The Xbox Series X is set to launch on November 10, 2020.
Source: Xbox Wire