Microsoft has announced the return of its Developer Direct showcase, and confirmed what fans can expect to see.
Developer Direct is set for Thursday, January 23 at 10am Pacific / 1pm Eastern / 6pm UK. In a blog post, Microsoft said fans “will get an inside look at a selection of highly anticipated games coming to Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Game Pass players this year.” That confirms a focus on 2025 games only.
Microsoft also teased that it will “visit a surprise location to see another studio’s brand new game.”
What is that brand new game? There’s a lot of speculation right now that Bethesda may be ready to reveal the much-rumored The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion remaster, which was listed in documents accidentally published as part of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) versus Microsoft trial over the buyout of Activision Blizzard.
Neither South of Midnight, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, nor Doom: The Dark Ages have release dates yet, so perhaps we’ll get those during the Developer Direct. Either way, Microsoft is set to firm up its 2025 lineup of games at the show.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
A long, long time ago I became obsessed with watching people play rally games beautifully. It was a blessing to see those disembodied hands sling virtual cars around with grace and precision, kicking up dirt in a way I could only dream of.
Now, though, I am going through a different phase. A less blessed phase. One where I watched the popular streamer and influencer Ludwig attempt to climb to Platinum rank in League Of Legends, all because he wanted to prove another popular streamer, who thought he couldn’t do it, wrong. I know I’ve already put you off, so I don’t blame you if you stop reading. Just know that I couldn’t stop watching his streams, even as it conjured up terrible memories of a time spent doing the exact same thing at uni.
Currently slated to release on 20th March 2025, the game is an enhanced version of the Wii U classic, boasting improved visuals and brand new story content. Clocking in at just over 3 and a half minutes, the new trailer sheds light on the game’s plot, backstory, and characters to bring you up to speed before its release. There’s also a small hint at some of the additional content that returning veterans can look forward to.
It’s time to get a look at what’s next – Developer_Direct is back. On Thursday, January 23 at 10am Pacific / 1pm Eastern / 6pm UK, fans will get an inside look at a selection of highly anticipated games coming to Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Game Pass players this year.
Presented by the game creators themselves, Developer_Direct offers an in-depth look at upcoming titles, how they’re being created, and who’s creating them. We’ll visit Compulsion Games in Montreal, Canada to learn more about South of Midnight, head to Montpellier, France to see Sandfall Interactive for a look at Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, stop by the legendary id Studios in Richardson, Texas to check in on DOOM: The Dark Ages, and visit a surprise location to see another studio’s brand new game.
Fans should tune in on Xbox channels at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm UK, January 23 to see all the latest on:
DOOM: The Dark Ages – Developed by id Software, DOOM: The Dark Ages is the prequel to the critically acclaimed DOOM (2016) and DOOM Eternal that tells the epic cinematic origin story of the Doom Slayer’s rage. In this third installment of the modern DOOM series, players will step into the blood-stained boots of the Doom Slayer in this never-before-seen dark and sinister medieval war against Hell. Learn more during the full game reveal at Developer_Direct.
South of Midnight – Compulsion Games, the creators of Contrast and We Happy Few, will share a deep dive on South of Midnight, a third person action-adventure game set in the American Deep South. As Hazel, you will explore the mythos and confront mysterious creatures inspired by Southern Folklore to unravel her family’s hidden past in this dark, modern folktale.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 – Sandfall Interactive will take us behind-the-scenes at their studio to shed some light on the development of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, this debut studio’s incredible new RPG. The team will share more about the game’s creation and how they plan to deliver an incredible story in a gorgeous fantasy world.
Stay tuned to our official social channels for more from Developer_Direct, airing on Thursday, January 23 at 10am Pacific / 1pm Eastern / 6pm UK.
There are few modern video game icons as influential and well known as Lara Croft. Blasting her way onto PlayStation back in the polygonal era of 1996, gaming was never the same after Tomb Raider launched.
Since then, PlayStation has been in lockstep with the British archaeologist-adventurer, with every mainline canon game getting its time to shine. And with Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered coming to PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 on February 14, now’s the perfect time to revisit them.
Introducing the young British aristocrat to the world, Tomb Raider set the scene with a quest to discover the three pieces of an ancient artifact known as the Scion.
The result is a global and twisting trek across locations such as Greece, Egypt, and Atlantis, with what was then a revolutionary blend of 3D levels, gun-toting action, puzzle solving and acrobatic traversal. And who can forget that heart-stopping T-Rex encounter?
Tomb Raider II – 1997 – PlayStation – Eidos Interactive, Core Design
Now a more seasoned adventurer, Ms Croft began the search for the mystical Dagger of Xian, said to possess the power to transform its bearer into a dragon. In an attempt to claim it before the dangerous cultists of the Fiamma Nera, Lara blasts her way across Venice, Tibet, and even back at her mansion in England.
Expanding in every way on the already massively successful formula, with new weapons, the ability to climb walls and larger levels, Tomb Raider II also introduced controllable vehicles such as boats and snowmobiles, marking the start of a beautiful relationship between Lara and practically anything with a motor (and even some without).
Tomb Raider III: The Adventures of Lara Croft – 1998 – PlayStation – Eidos Interactive, Core Design
Four fragments of an ancient, power granting meteorite. Grisly experiments. Nods to the movie classic, The Thing. Lara’s third outing went big, pitching her across Nevada, the South Pacific Islands, and Antarctica to get the job done – with the novel option to play the middle locales of the game in any order.
As with Tomb Raider II, this sequel featured smarter enemies and equipped Lara with an even wider move set such as monkey swings and a stamina limited sprint. It also introduced dynamic lighting, weather and smoke effects, giving the series a serious visual punch.
Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation– 1998 – PlayStation – Eidos Interactive, Core Design
Compared to its self-assured prequels, The Last Revelation carried a more tentative tone as Lara’s attempt to claim the Amulet of Horus accidentally unleashes the malevolent Egyptian God, Set, who possesses her former mentor.
Saving humanity from Set has Lara journey through a greater variety of indoor and outdoor areas as she fights across the streets, ruins and canyons of Cairo and Alexandria, as well as the Pyramids of Giza.
Along with a less polygonal looking Croft, her fourth outing introduced more new moves and the ability to combine items in her inventory to craft puzzle pieces or create enhanced weapons. We’ll come back to this element later…
Coming soon to PlayStation Store as part of Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered.
Presumed dead after the events of The Last Revelation, Chronicles featured Lara’s nearest and dearest reminiscing over her past, revealing her hunt for the Philosopher’s Stone in Rome, searching for the Spear of Destiny off the coast of Russia, fending off Hellspawn in Ireland as a teenager, and infiltrating a high-tech facility in New York – complete with cyborg assassins.
Coming soon to PlayStation Store as part of Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered.
PlayStation 2 era
Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness – 2003 – PlayStation 2 –Eidos Interactive, Core Design
Having survived the events of The Last Revelation, Lara eventually resurfaces in Paris, only to be framed for the murder of her former mentor.
True to its title, The Angel of Darkness featured a more tonally sinister story compared to previous games in the series, with PS2 powered visuals to match its new style and revamped controls. It also introduced a dialogue system, an upgradable stamina bar, and a second playable character in antagonistic partner Kurtis Trent.
Coming soon to PlayStation Store as part of Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered.
Rebooting the entire series and balancing Lara’s bold sense of adventure with a more grounded emotional core, Legends saw Ms Croft searching for the mythical sword Excalibur as a way to help find her missing mother.
Increasing the locations that Lara typically explored (from Japan and Peru to Nepal and Kazakhstan) but taking a back-to-basics approach to her weapons and gear, Legend reformatted the series’ controls, combat, enemy AI, and even crafted a custom physics engine to give the gameplay a fresh yet familiar feel.
By this point the series had hit a great balance between series reverence and new mechanics, remixing the very first Tomb Raider’s story while following the events of Legacy, in an enhanced engine.
Lara’s weapons cache was given a bump, while the iconic style of the first game was preserved as much as possible, albeit with more contemporary considerations across the puzzles and level design to help integrate elements from Legend, such as the grapple to traverse the environments.
Rounding off the Legend timeline, Underworld saw Lara search for Thor’s hammer in order to enter the Norse underworld, Helheim, and discover the truth of her parents’ ultimate fate. The game smartly used real world analogues for the mythological locations, taking Lara to places such as Jan Mayen Island and the Arctic Circle.
Underworld took advantage of the powerful PS3 hardware with more expansive environments, motion captured animation (via Olympic gymnast Heidi Moneymaker) and a raft of new moves and weapons, including… Thor’s hammer. Oh yes.
The series’ storytelling style took a more grounded and filmic focus with this second reboot of Lara’s adventures, tracking her development from a frightened young traveller to a steel nerved survivor. Stranded on a mysterious island off the coast of Japan, Lara has to find her friends and escape before the violent Solari Brotherhood cult murders them all.
Starting off with rudimentary weapons that can eventually be upgraded (fulfilling the promise of The Last Revelation’s early crafting style system), Tomb Raider is all about stealth and survival in a savage, more open environment, complete with changeable weather effects and dramatic lighting.
Tomb Raider also became the first game in the series to feature an online competitive multiplayer mode, so can you expand the hunt to your friends, too…
Rise of the Tomb Raider – 2015 – PlayStation 4 –Square Enix, Crystal Dynamics
The leap to PS4 meant the sequel to 2013’s Tomb Raider remains one of the series’ most aesthetically impressive entries, with improved motion capture technology to include facial animation.
Seeking to finish her later father’s research on the mythical city of Kitezh and its immortality granting artifact, Lara finds herself in Siberia in a fight for her life, not just against the paramilitary organisation Trinity, but more hostile wildlife, too. The guerilla style combat was developed further, albeit with a wider weapons and skill set selection for Lara to utilise.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider – 2018 – PlayStation 4 –Eidos-Montreal, Crystal Dynamics
Capping off the Survivor trilogy, Shadow of the Tomb Raider saw Lara attempting to prevent a Mayan apocalypse she unwittingly unleashed. Set mostly in Mexico and Peru, the story covers a more philosophical awakening for Lara, exploring the cultural impact of her actions as she evolves into the more recognisable version of her character.
As the beautiful visuals took another step forward, so did the game’s stealth elements, with the ability to hide in the undergrowth from enemies, or camouflage Lara with mud. Not that she’s hiding anymore – animated series Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft picks up from where Shadow of the Tomb Raider left off in the series’ continuity.
With Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered rappelling onto PS4 and PS5 by February 14, the world doesn’t have long to wait before Lara returns once more. Dust off your inexhaustible twin pistols and grab an uncommonly rugged backpack – it’s time to go adventuring…
One for Obra Dinn and Golden Idol fans, this, although also for anyone who just loves a gorgeous map of an alien environment. Locator is a detective puzzler where you play an interstellar cartographer tasked with tracking down a missing archeologist named Abigail Lidari on an alien world. It takes inspiration from browser geography game Geoguessr. You’ll be studying sets of photos and comparing them with notes from Abigail’s journal, then pinpointing her location on a series of lovely maps.
Marvel Rivals fans now have their first official look at upcoming playable character Blade and even an idea of when he’ll be playable, via a fresh leak.
First revealed by X/Twitter user Miller Ross, the Blade image is lifted from an in-game gallery card set to launch alongside Season 1. The image also features Ratatoskr, a giant Asgardian squirrel beast. Developer NetEase Games has yet to announce Blade as an upcoming playable character.
In the lead up to #MarvelRivals#EternalNightFalls, Dracula subdues the two greatest threats to his Empire of Eternal Night—Blade and Ratatoskr. But the #FantasticFour won’t let New York fall to the undead without a fight, and they prove to be formidable foes in Blade’s absence. pic.twitter.com/eIceN8rX97
According to the in-game lore, new villain Dracula “subdues” Blade and Ratatoskr, but the Fantastic Four, set to arrive with the launch of Season 1 this week, are ready to save the day.
Based on this image and lore, fans are speculating that by the end of Season 1, the Fantastic Four will have defeated Dracula and saved Blade, making him available as a playable character for the launch of Season 2.
Blade was leaked as an upcoming playable character ahead of this official first-look. The vampire hunter is part of a list of leaked characters that popped up even before Marvel Rivals launched in December. That list included Mister Fantastic and Sue Storm, both of which are due out with Season 1’s launch on January 10.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
Marvel Rivals Season 1 is about to begin, adding the Fantastic Four to the free-to-play hero shooter’s roster so that they can beat up Dracula, who has swamped the Earth in eternal night. It launches January 10th at 1 am PT / 4 am ET / 9 am GMT, and developers NetEase are paving the way in the traditional manner by rebalancing the character line-up so as to simultaneously win the adoration of certain player groups, while plunging others into apoplectic fury.
Do you like running rampage as Hela, goddess of death? Was that you who shot me full of crows on Klyntar last night? Well, how does 25 points off your base health suit you? Yeah, that’s what I thought. Screw you too.
Over the Christmas break, I took a brief hiatus from reporting on every time a Total War developer breathes or spills tea on their shirt. The year ended, the world did not, and no Thanquol DLC was announced, but I did miss what I reckon is the strongest hint they’ve yet freely given that strategy gameTotal War: Warhammer 40,000 is both real and due an announcement very soon. Here’s the skinny.
This is a warning to all those who are yet to play Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club and want to work through the mystery unspoiled: do not watch Nintendo’s latest trailer for the game.
Yesterday, Nintendo uploaded a new trailer for the 2024 mystery entitled ‘What Lies in the Past’ (we’ve linked it in that last sentence but won’t be embedding it for obvious reasons). It’s an innocent-looking title and, without any form of warning at the start, bar the age certification the Nintendo of America upload, you would be forgiven for thinking it’s just another promo. Perhaps, at a stretch, the reveal of some upcoming DLC. But no, it’s actually loaded with late-game content that you might want to avoid.
