Xbox confirms Series X reveal event for May 7

Microsoft has announced an Xbox Series X gameplay reveal event for Thursday, May 7 at 8am PT / 11am ET / 4pm UK.

A special Inside Xbox episode will show the first next-gen gameplay from Xbox’s global development partners, it said on Thursday.

Ubisoft subsequently confirmed it’s set to debut the first Assassin’s Creed Valhalla gameplay at the event, while an Amazon listing for the newly announced title suggests it will support Microsoft’s upcoming Smart Delivery scheme, which lets players buy a game once and play it across multiple Xbox generations.

Microsoft will use Smart Delivery for all exclusive Xbox Game Studios titles and has said it’s available for all developers and publishers if they want to use it. Cyberpunk 2077, which is also the subject of various Xbox One product promotions, was the first confirmed third-party game to support Smart Delivery, and an appearance for the RPG at next week’s event wouldn’t come as a surprise.

Xbox Game Studio boss Matt Booty said in November 2019 that the company has “more [unannounced] games than we know what to do with,” but a new tweet from Aaron Greenberg, GM of Xbox games marketing, suggests it’s unlikely we’ll see much in the way of first-party titles on show at next week’s event.

“So pumped to see our partners showing us a first look at Xbox Series X gameplay next week!” he said on Thursday. “Also know the Xbox Game Studios teams are hard at work on some big summer plans. More details soon!”

Unannounced Xbox Game Studios titles potentially in line to be revealed over the summer include a new entry in RPG series Fable, which is understood to be in development at Playground Games, and the debut project from The Initiative.

California-based The Initiative is reportedly making a game with “weapons, gadgets, and a camera surveillance system” built using Unreal Engine 4, and Xbox boss Phil Spencer has previously suggested that the studio could be working on a legacy IP, long speculated to be Rare’s spy shooter Perfect Dark.

Prior to today’s official announcement, May’s Xbox Series X event had been reported on by various media outlets, with one suggesting Microsoft could use it to reveal the long-rumoured Series S console.

Xbox head Spencer has said the platform holder will continue to be “bold” and “different” with its Series X reveals in the run-up to the console’s launch.

He took the unconventional decision to reveal the next-gen Xbox console at The Game Awards in December, instead of at a bespoke media event or trade show.

Since then Microsoft has delivered regular news and media on its Xbox Series X plans, as it prepares to attempt to wrestle back market share from PlayStation.

The Xbox Series X logo was revealed in a trademark listing this month and the console is scheduled to launch during the 2020 holiday season.