06 June 2023 , 08:58
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Microsoft's VP of Xbox Games Marketing Aaron Greenberg has confirmed that the upcoming Xbox Games Showcase will feature no CG trailers for first party titles.
The Xbox Games Showcase takes place at the end of the week, promising roughly two hours of upcoming Xbox titles as well as an extended look at Starfield – the next big RPG from Bethesda. Ahead of the show later in the week, the VP of Xbox Games Marketing Aaron Greenberg has announced on Twitter that the upcoming show will not feature any "full CG trailers" for first party titles, and that everything will be "in-game footage, in-engine footage, or in-game footage with some cinematics".
All trailer will be labelled appropriately so it's 'clear to fans'. However, this doesn't completely rule out CGI trailers for the show as Greenberg specifically mentions first party titles, and that first-party won't be "full" CGI trailers.
He also confirmed via another Tweet that Microsoft will be abandoning the 'games releasing in the next 12 months' concept from last year's show. Which makes sense considering some games like Hollow Knight: Silksong didn't make that 12 month window. Meanwhile other titles like Redfall probably shouldn't have made that 12 month window considering the state it released in.
Aside from those, Greenberg – perhaps in response to last week's PlayStation Showcase showing off a trailer for the upcoming Gran Turismo movie – confirmed that no TV or film trailers would appear at the show. So those looking for the upcoming Fallout TV series will leave disappointed.
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CG-Why
All I can say is good job Microsoft. Obviously every publisher is guilty of showing off CG trailers that tell you nothing about the actual gameplay – hell, one of the most infamous CG trailers of all time is PlayStation's Killzone 2 trailer – but a large majority of upcoming titles coming from Xbox have had a single CG trailer then no more info. Perfect Dark, Fable, State of Decay 3, The Elder Scrolls 6, Avowed, The Outer Worlds 2... the list goes on.
Xbox Series X|S – to put it politely – is lagging so far behind the PS5 it's becoming hard to see a future where Microsoft brings it back. We're almost three years into the generation and so far the only universally beloved platform exclusives are Psychonauts 2 (which also released on PS4), Forza Horizon 5 (which also released on Xbox One) and Hi-Fi Rush. It's now or never for the Xbox brand to finally show off the Xbox Series X|S killer app; gamers don't fall for CG trailers as easily as they did back when the original Dead Island trailer wow-ed us, and considering the state that titles like Redfall launched, in we need gameplay from new Xbox titles.
Obviously CG trailers have a use. It made sense to have a CG trailer for the likes of the then-early-in-development sequel like Marvel's Spider-Man 2 where we know already what the gist of the gameplay will be, or a remake like Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater where the game already exists (although even then it would be nice to have gameplay).
Xbox has coasted off of the back of CG trailers for a while now, using them to revive brands like Fable and Perfect Dark that it knows will get a huge reaction from gamers, but now it's time to see some actual gameplay if Xbox ever wants to catch up to the PS5.