Why the return of Xbox Developer Direct matters - Indiana Jones and more to feature

2024 is days old and already Xbox is planning to set the agenda with the return of its Developer Direct showcase, which promises 10 minutes of footage for the highly anticipated Indiana Jones game from Bethesda and MachineGames.

The new Xbox Developer Direct will stream on 18 January and will also feature content from Ninja Theory and the technically astonishing Senua's Saga: Hellblade II, Oxide Games' Ara: History Untold and Obsidian's reveal of Avowed, which made our video game design trends list for 2024.

Bethesda's Todd Howard is executive producing MachineGames' Indiana Jones game and stated on Twitter how the team will demo "more than 10 minutes of game and developer insights". This will cover details of the game's story and setting, as well as in-game footage, likely running on Xbox Series X.

While the new Indiana Jones game is grabbing headlines, and rightly so, it's an Indy game after all, personally I'm keen to see what Cambridge developer Ninja Theory has been working on. This team are at the cutting edge of motion capture tech and dev tools, working closely with Epic Games on creating the Meta Human Animation workflow as well as new tools for Unreal Engine 5.

The return of Xbox Developer Direct matters because its a signal Microsoft is taking control of the agenda for 2024, but also leading the way on the state-of-the-art technology that could be helping other game developers going forward, and ahead of whatever new tech GDC reveals.

Below is the official description of what you can see next week, as posted on the Xbox Wire: 

• Indiana Jones game: MachineGames, the award-winning studio behind the recent Wolfenstein series, will reveal their upcoming Indiana Jones game, an action-adventure that puts players in the leather jacket of the legendary archaeologist. Developer_Direct will showcase more than 10 minutes of game and developer insights, including details about the game’s setting and story, how fans will actually play as Indy, additional details from his next globe-trotting adventure, and the premiere of the first gameplay trailer.
  
• Avowed: The team at Obsidian will share the first deep dive into the gameplay experience fans can expect in Avowed, their upcoming fantasy action RPG, set in the fantastical, vibrant Living Lands. Learn more about how Obsidian’s expertise in building worlds with deep themes, dynamic gameplay, and thoughtful reactivity come to life in Avowed where players will have agency to make choices to shape every step of their adventure.
  
• Ara: History Untold: Hear from the leads at Oxide Games – a studio founded by veterans of the strategy genre and the creators behind classic strategy titles including Civilization V – as they unveil exclusive new gameplay and share more details about the inspiration, key features, and road ahead for their upcoming historical grand strategy game.
  
• Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II: Ninja Theory take us behind the scenes at their studio in Cambridge to give us some insight on how they are crafting Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II. The team will speak to the ambition and meticulous care involved in creating Senua’s journey of survival.

The Xbox Developer Direct will take place at 3PM ET / 12PM PT / 8PM GMT on 18th January and will be streamed live on Twitch and YouTube. Shortly afterward, The Elder Scrolls Online 2024 reveal will take place at 4PM ET / 1PM PT / 9PM GMT.