Microsoft says it plans to show updates on its first-party games some time in July and is still planning on launching Xbox Series X and Halo Infinite later this year.
The company shed more light on its plans for the rest of 2020 in a blog post today, including announcing a series of “monthly moments” in which it will share information about next-gen, starting with this week’s look at third-party games for the Xbox Series X on May 7. Updates on first-party games, meanwhile, will be shown during a July event, including announcements of new games and how current ones are being optimized for Series X.
“What was already going to be a once-in-a-generation year for gaming – a new generation of consoles, a wave of new next-generation games, and the launch of new ways to play with game streaming – 2020 has become the year that challenged us all and tested every commitment we’ve made in the face of COVID-19,” wrote Microsoft game marketing CVP Jerret West. “Difficult tests tend to reveal your true priorities, and for us they are the health and safety of our employees, our fans and partners.”
Despite these complications, the company said its “goal” is still to release Series X and Halo Infinite this holiday season. In addition, it re-affirmed plans for all major first-party games coming this year to be available on Xbox Game Pass for PC, as well as for Xbox Game Pass to become integrated with its Project xCloud streaming platform later this year.
What’s less clear is how many other next-gen games will accompany the Series X’s launch. “I’d say the bigger unknown is probably the game production,” Xbox boss Phil Spencer told CNBC last week when asked about how the ongoing pandemic might impact the new hardware. “Game production is a large scale entertainment activity now, you have hundreds of people coming together, building assets, working through creative.”
This week’s reveal of next-gen gameplay on Inside Xbox starts at 11:00 a.m. ET on May 7.