Microsoft kicked off the year with its Xbox Developer Direct 2024, which turned out to be a massive hit with fans, having some great announcements.
The Xbox Developer Direct 2024 featured a ton of exciting content. Fans were particularly thrilled about the Machine Games’ Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and the innovative concept of Avowed. The show also included exciting announcements, such as the release date for Hellblade 2.
Fortunately, none of the announcements let fans down, delivering exactly what they were hoping for. Check out the following piece for a closer look at all the announcements and trailers showcased during Xbox Developer Direct 2024.
Xbox Developer Direct 2024 Announcements
In case you missed the Xbox Developer Direct 2024 showcase, which even included a surprise appearance by Square Enix showcasing this year’s Visions of Mana, here’s a quick summary for you.
Avowed
At the Xbox Developer Direct 2024, Obsidian Entertainment shared exciting news about their upcoming game Avowed. They said it will be out in Fall 2024 and you can play it on Xbox Series X|S, Windows 10/11, and Steam. Plus, it will be on Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass from day one.
Avowed is set in the world of Eora, just like Pillars of Eternity. In the game, you get to explore the Living Lands, which is like the wild, unexplored part of the world. Your mission is to stop a strange spiritual sickness and uncover a hidden secret. The Living Lands have all sorts of places, from green forests to hot, volcanic areas.
In the game, you’ll have conversations where you get to choose what to say and face tough decisions. You’ll also have to decide when to use your special abilities, like strong attacks and defensive moves, during the game.
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2
The Xbox Developer Direct 2024 event showed us a new glimpse of Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 and shared that it will be released on May 21, 2024, for Xbox Series X/S and Windows.
This game from Ninja Theory is expected to be really great and might even compete for Game of the Year on Xbox. Senua, the main character, is back and has come to terms with her past. She explores 10th-century Iceland in a way that the game developers promise to make as real as possible. In a video, we see Senua battling Draugar, and we get to witness how someone with psychosis handles scary situations both in their mind and in the world.
The game will also have special audio features, like binaural and spatial audio, to make the experience super realistic. These features will make it seem like players are inside Senua’s head, going through the story themselves. Ninja Theory is partnering with Heilung, a Scandinavian folk band, to create the music for the game.
Visions of Mana
Visions of Mana is coming out in the summer of 2024. It’s an action game with magic and swords, and it’ll be on Xbox and PC. This is the first time a game from the Mana series is coming to Xbox!
They’re making a big deal about the game’s music. The people who made the game really want you to enjoy the soundtrack. It’s also the first Mana game in 15 years, so that’s exciting.
The game will have fights on the ground and in the air. That means you can battle bad guys while flying around. The game will have some creatures you might recognize from the older games, and some brand-new ones too.
ArA: History Untold
Ara: History Untold is an exciting game that Xbox revealed at their Xbox Developer Direct 2024 conference. It’s a special kind of game called grand strategy, created by Oxide Games. The game lets you make important decisions on a unique Earth called the Living World.
What’s cool is that your choices affect the game world in real-time, and the world gets better based on what players add to it. You don’t have to wait for others to take turns – it’s all happening at once.
In this game, you’ll encounter dangerous wildlife and other threats. The game will come out for PC in the Fall of 2024 and will be available on Xbox Game Pass. However, we don’t know the exact day it will be released yet.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Finally, Xbox Developer Direct 2024 revealed a new Indiana Jones game called “Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.” The cool part is that we got to see thirteen minutes of the game in action during a presentation.
In the game, Indiana Jones looks exactly like Harrison Ford, and he’s going to be voiced by Troy Baker. The story takes place between the events of “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and “The Last Crusade.” You’ll get to explore famous places like The Vatican and the Pyramids of Egypt.
What’s really neat is that the game is mostly in a first-person view, like you’re Indy himself. But sometimes, especially during certain scenes, it switches to a third-person view. There’s a mix of puzzle-solving, too, to keep things interesting. Besides Indy, we also saw a character named Gina, who is an investigative reporter, and a new villain named Emmerich Voss. Of course, Indy’s iconic whip is in the game, along with other cool weapons like torches and guns.
The game will only be available on Xbox X/S and PC. They didn’t tell us the exact release date yet, but it’s confirmed to hit the shelves in 2024.
And that completes all the announcements that were made at Xbox Developer Direct 2024.
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