Xbox Announces Exciting 2023 and Addresses No Presence at The Game Awards
Last week’s The Game Awards was a fairly big deal in the gaming world, so much so that Valve decided to give away a Steam Deck console every single minute of the show. That being said, it certainly wasn’t mandatory for companies to have a presence there, especially if their focus was on other things like new products and development. Microsoft definitely didn’t prioritize the ceremony, which was noticeable to viewers, but if they zoom out and see the bigger picture they’ll realize that it’s not a very big deal at all.
The ceremony is very useful because it allows publishers and developers to showcase their upcoming products. There are also some awards given out as well, but the focus is on the upcoming games and releases. In that sense, Microsoft did miss out on a good opportunity. However, they’ve been showcasing games all year long, including at the Bethesda showcase in June, so those paying attention know exactly what’s to come from Microsoft.
Starfield and Redfall, two of Microsoft’s most anticipated games next year, are still being left to the imagination at this point as they haven’t really given too much information on them, despite having chances to including at The Game Awards. Xbox fans took to social media, particularly Twitter, to question why Microsoft’s presence at the awards was lacking. Perhaps they didn’t value it as much as gamers themselves, or other less successful companies.
Their “too cool for school” attitude towards the ceremony disappointed a lot of Xbox and gaming fans that tuned in, but rest assured that doesn’t mean there’s nothing in the pipeline coming from Microsoft. They’ve assured fans that 2023 is going to be epic. They have a lot planned next year to share and to release, as confirmed by Xbox executive Aaron Greenberg. As with everything in business, the next stellar release by them will have everyone completely forgetting about their lack of presence at The Game Awards.
The reasoning behind Microsoft’s absence quite possibly could lie in their ongoing battle to secure and finalize the Activision Blizzard acquisition, which they’ve been entangled in recently. They’ve drawn scrutiny and attention from almost everywhere, including the FTC taking action to try to prevent it. The FTC’s voice basically represents Microsoft’s competitors, as they don’t want everything to be strictly Xbox exclusive. Unsurprisingly, other top companies like Sony have backed the FTC’s actions.
Regardless, no overreaction is necessary from the public about Microsoft essentially skipping the ceremony last week because historically they’ve always delivered, and that is very likely to continue. Their products are top-notch and market-leading, and we’ve been assured that we won’t have to wait very long for more information on what’s to come next. While The Game Awards is an important night annually for the gaming industry, continuing to develop and release new products and bringing them to market is significantly more important.