Xbox Confirms First 2026 Games Showcase With Huge Promise

Another Xbox Developer Direct is planned for January, a senior Microsoft official has confirmed, in addition to name-dropping one of the studios that will be featured at the event. The upcoming livestream will mark the first Xbox games showcase of 2026.

The first Xbox Developer Direct was held in early 2023. Since then, Microsoft turned it into an annual event that always takes place in January, offering a preview of various first-, second-, and third-party Xbox games that are nearing completion. That trend is now set to continue for the fourth consecutive year.

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Fourth Xbox Developer Direct Confirmed for January 2026

In a recent interview with Variety, Head of Microsoft Studios Matt Booty confirmed that the company has another Xbox Developer Direct planned for January 2026. As was the case with the first three editions of the show, the event will be focused on previewing various Xbox titles set to be released over the course of the year ahead. However, the circumstances are slightly different this time around, as Microsoft is dealing with a good problem to have. “This year, we’ve got more stuff coming up than we can fit into one Dev Direct show,” Booty explained, suggesting that Xbox’s generational run of games is set to continue into 2026.

Xbox Developer Direct 2026 Will Feature Forza Horizon 6, Fable, Or Both

Aside from sharing that big 2026 content promise, the Microsoft executive has also revealed one of the studios that will be featured during the January showcase: Playground Games. Given the event’s focus on soon-to-be-released titles, this suggests that the next Xbox Developer Direct will feature Fable, Forza Horizon 6, or both. Fable was delayed to 2026 this February, whereas Forza Horizon 6 was announced with a 2026 release window in September. If only one appears at the showcase, the new Forza Horizon title seems the more likely candidate, as it is already rumored for a first-half 2026 release, whereas there’s still no word on a specific launch window for the Fable reboot.

Xbox Developer Direct 2026 May Take Place on January 22

The past two iterations of Xbox Developer Direct were held on the penultimate Thursday of January. If this pattern holds up, the 2026 showcase will take place on January 22. In that case, Microsoft would be expected to officially announce the showcase with a concrete date between January 8 and 13, based on its typical communication cadence. The announcement may also include confirmation of some of the games that will be featured at the event, which was the case in previous years. Most—if not all—titles that will be shown during the 2026 Xbox Developer Direct are likely to be day-one Xbox Game Pass releases.

Microsoft Has No Shortage of Candidates to Showcase at the Next Xbox Event

While the first three Xbox Developer Directs featured plenty of games from Microsoft-owned studios, third-party titles have also regularly appeared at the annual event, ranging from smaller indies to more ambitious projects. For instance, one of the highlights of the Xbox Developer Direct 2025 was the release date announcement for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which turned out to be one of the most critically acclaimed, commercially successful, and universally beloved games of the year. The same event featured the reveal of Ninja Gaiden 4, while its previous two editions showcased everything from Visions of Mana to Ara: History Untold, indicating that the 2026 Xbox Developer Direct may also offer notable content variety.

First- and Second-Party Xbox Games Currently in Development

Looking at the slate of high-profile first- and second-party Xbox games currently in development, several titles appear to be strong candidates for the January showcase. In addition to Fable and Forza Horizon 6, which Booty himself hinted at, inXile Entertainment’s Clockwork Revolution and The Coalition’s Gears of War: E-Day are both expected to launch in 2026. The new Gears of War entry has already been officially confirmed for that release window, while inXile’s steampunk RPG is only rumored for a 2026 debut, based on its recent mention on the LinkedIn profile of one of the developers.