Two of Xbox's most highly anticipated upcoming titles have been teased by VP of Games Marketing Aaron Greenberg on Twitter. Xbox has its annual Summer Games Showcase set for June 11 with a Starfield presentation following right after.
Xbox was set up to crush 2023 with the releases of Starfield, Redfall, and Forza Motorsport. After a red-hot start with Hi-Fi Rush getting shadow dropped to high praise in January things began to slide downhill, with Redfall releasing to mostly negative reviews. With its annual Xbox Games Showcase just about a month away Xbox has a chance to turn the year around with looks at some of its next big games. Titles like Fable, Perfect Dark, Avowed, Indiana Jones, and Hellblade 2 among others have been revealed several years ago at this point and many Xbox fans feel like it's high time to finally start seeing these games in action with release dates attached.
VP of Xbox Games Marketing Aaron Greenberg has updated his profile picture on Twitter with a new variant of the Xbox logo that features imagery referencing both Ninja Theory's Hellblade 2 and Obsidian's open world fantasy RPG Avowed. At the center of the Xbox logo sits a large tree with roots running underneath it and several bodies hanging from the branches. Those who've played Hellblade or have seen the trailers for the upcoming sequel know that this grim depiction is a clear hint toward the dark Norse world of Hellblade 2. Additionally, above the Xbox logo are several airborne arrows, a potential reference to the Avowed reveal trailer which followed a multitude of fire arrows as they soared through the sky.
Out of all the upcoming titles Xbox Game Studios has announced over the past few years it would seem like both Hellblade 2 and Avowed are the most imminent. It's been six years since Ninja Theory shipped the original Hellblade in 2017 before joining Xbox in 2018. As for Obsidian, its multi-team setup allows for several projects to be worked on simultaneously, meaning Avowed was likely in the early stages of pre-production around 2019 when The Outer Worlds was rolling out.
After the long-awaited Starfield lands in early September, Xbox doesn't have anything else set in stone for the final three months of the year as of now, apart from a wandering Forza Motorsport. It's very possible that either Hellblade 2 or Avowed, perhaps both, could set sights on Q4 2023 release dates if appearances are made next month at the Xbox Games Showcase. There's been a ton of speculation in the Xbox world surrounding the potential late-2023 releases of Hellblade 2 and Avowed and fans may not have to wait much longer to find out if it's true.
Hellblade 2 and Avowed are currently in development.
Source: Aaron Greenberg