Every Major Announcement From Xbox At The Tokyo Game Show 2023

The Tokyo Game Show, otherwise known as TGS, has been held in Japan every year since 1996, continually seeing the onset of new games, reveals, and announcements. The annual event has struggled to come back to full flight in terms of presentation ever since COVID-19 hit us all, but in 2023, TGS has regained its momentum in offering developers and publishers a grand platform to showcase what’s coming next. 

Xbox, of course, constituted one of the major parts of the event and came forth knocking with a number of enticing projects and unveilings. In one of the opening sequences of the show, Phil Spencer expresses his views on the Japanese gaming market, while also saying how this region holds a special place in his heart for always bringing innovative ways to play.  

All The Major Reveals At The Xbox Tokyo Game Show 2023 

In case you missed Xbox’s digital broadcast, don’t fret. We’ve gathered everything major from the industry giant’s presentation at the Tokyo Game Show 2023, so you can catch up to things in no time. 

Ori Crosses Over With Party Animals

The Xbox Tokyo Game Show kicked off with an overly adorable reveal of Ori from Ori and the Blind Forest and Ori and the Will of the Wisps coming to Party Animals, which is a physics-oriented party game with brawling mechanics in place as well. As per the shown gameplay footage, both Ori and Naru — the foster mother of Ori — will be playable. Since no release date was given, the crossover could be rolling out soon. 

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy Lands On Xbox Game Pass 

In the vast spectrum of visual novel adventure titles, the Ace Attorney series of interactive video games holds worldwide prominence. Thanks to the growing popularity of the franchise, the people up high have decided to launch three of the best Ace Attorney games in the name of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy on Xbox Game Pass, which was initially released back in 2012 for mobile operating systems. 

The collection will be available to play on September 26. Furthermore, another trilogy seems to be making its way to Xbox Game Pass as soon as that one releases too. Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy with a new frontal character is coming to Windows PCs, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S consoles at the start of 2024. 

Palworld Will Release For Xbox And Windows In 2024

Ever thought about mixing Pokemons with third-person perspective gunplay? That’s basically the gist of Palworld from what the Xbox Tokyo Game Show has shown us so far. It’s an open-world, crafting, and survival-centric multiplayer game with RPG elements and a whole lot of fanatical creatures to take down. If you head over to Palworld’s Steam page, you’ll note that it’s in the early access phase at the moment.

In addition, this isn’t the first time the game was revealed across the globe. Dating back to the Summer Games Fest, Palworld was treated to a reveal trailer, but it’s only in TGS, though, that a proper gameplay reveal has been unveiled. Feel free to check out the developer’s — Pocketfair —  YouTube channel for more videos spanning the various in-game characters.  

Octopath Traveler 2 Comes To Xbox

Thanks to the Tokyo Game Show, we now have an official release window for the Xbox release of Octopath Traveler 2—a game that has seemingly won the hearts of millions around the world with its classic JRPG setting and gameplay. Some even consider it a love letter to fans of the genre and a great improvement over its terrific predecessor. 

Dating its release back to February this year for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC, Octopath Traveler 2 will come to Xbox systems in January 2024. I presume this development arrives as a byproduct of what Phil Spencer said on stage to Yoshi-P at the Final Fantasy 14 Fan Festival in July that Xbox will now work closely with Square Enix from here on out. 

We’re really inspired by how you have made Final Fantasy XIV a global success, and we want to bring the Xbox community and your Warriors of Light together in a way that is safe, secure, and engaging, and above all, fun. And we also see this as a seminal moment in our relationship and the Final Fantasy team as we look to partner more closely together in the future.” 

Forza Motorsport’s Japanese Track Unveiling

October seems to be quite a month for new releases, with the latest Forza Motorsport being one of them. During the Tokyo Game Show, the Xbox executives expanded on what’s about to come with the life-life racing simulator. The Hakone Circuit with a subtitle that says, ‘Tackle the Turnpike” is observed in the official track reveal, with the ride being a 2020 Toyota GR Supra that’s racing across the pathway. 

In other news, Phil Spencer has confirmed that Forza Motorsport will be a live service title and get years of support. Moreover, the game seems to be packing an extended number of features this time around, including AI that will take over your race when you pause in multiplayer mode. The seventh mainline installment in the Forza Motorsport series will arrive day one on Game Pass on October 10, 2023. 

New Update For Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG)

Well, this one was fairly cryptic. Everybody knows the global phenomenon battle-royale slash live-service shooter that is PUBG, otherwise called Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds, and how it’s been around for years on end now. The Tokyo Game Show expands on the prominence of the shooter and reveals a new update that’s making its way to the title. 

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One of the game’s most popular maps Erangel is about to receive an update for Xbox platforms, and not just that, but the forthcoming patch seems to sport something secretive for players to get into. The release month of the update according to the footage is October, but no exact release date has been given. Stick around to see how it plays out. 

Atlantic City Patch For Fallout 76

The Xbox Games Showcase and Starfield Feature Double Direct saw the announcement of Fallout 76’s Atlantic City expansion, but it’s only now at the Tokyo Game Show that we’re receiving more information about the release of the add-on. The first-person shooter’s Art Director Jonathan Rush had this to say during the latest trailer for Atlantic City, 

Since we announced Atlantic City at the Xbox Showcase last June, we’ve upped the ante with so much great content that we’re splitting it into two releases. Atlantic City has stacked the deck with new content including new locations, new factions, new creatures, new missions, and new rewards. Plus, a flush casino where our Wastelanders can test their luck.” 

Rush also said that those who have the title purchased already and are playing on PC will get to try out the new expansion first-hand starting October 3 when the public testing server goes live, so aspiring players won’t entirely have to wait for December 3, which is the official launch date of Atlantic City for Fallout 76. The base game is online-only and was released by Bethesda in 2018.

Japanese Launch Of The Elder Scrolls Online

The Elder Scrolls Online, otherwise recognized as simply ESO, is one of the top-rated MMORPGs in the business right now, and thanks to the announcement at the Xbox Tokyo Game Show, its availability is expanding to the Japanese market as well going forward. Starting November 15, 2023, The Elder Scrolls Online will be playable in Japan with “full localization in Japanese.” Pretty solid news. 

Additionally, the Creative Director of the MMORPG Rich Lambert went over some of the new details regarding the Necrom DLC expansion—something that console players, especially the Japanese will also be able to benefit from come November. To date, The Elder Scrolls Online is held with positive words on Steam and has been on multiple best-selling lists over time.

Hotel Barcelona Arrives For Xbox In 2024 

Another prominent reveal that took place during the Xbox Tokyo Game Show is all about Hotel Barcelona—something that the devs are calling a “2.5D slasher film parodic action” title, coming in from the combined masterful work of two iconic developers, Swery65 and Suda51. The footage unveiled during the annual event went over some high-paced gameplay sequences of Hotel Barcelona. 

Moreover, during the live stream, both of the game designers at hand hopped on air to discuss what Hotel Barcelona is about and what led to the project’s development. It’s been said that Hotel Barcelona draws inspiration from Stanley Kubrick’s ‘The Shining,’ starring the legendary Jack Nicholson. Addressing the audience, Swery declared that both he and Suda began work on the IP together, but things got switched up rapidly from there on out. 

Then, all of a sudden, Swery completed tons of work on the development, and Hotel Barcelona materialized. Most of the time, when someone does lip service like that, the project never materializes… But Swery made this project a reality in order to deliver something to the fans.” 

While no official release date has been given, the stream on the Xbox Tokyo Game Show made it official that Hotel Barcelona will come to Xbox Series X|S sometime next year. 

Exoprimal Season 2 Content Reveal

Capcom’s latest live service shooter Exoprimal launched to good reception when it came out back in June this year, and it appears the the people up high have started to push out more content for it. During the Xbox Tokyo Game Show, the devs showed off multiple new details coming to the dinosaur-hunting multiplayer title, including a brand-spanking-new map called Ocean Platform and eccentric costumes.

Additionally, there’s another fairly exciting reveal that the second season of Exoprimal will manifest, and it’s all about crossing over with the Street Fighter franchise of fighting-based video games. As per the reveal, Chun-Li, Guile, and Ryu are all going to be a part of the title as playable exosuits, with each of them boasting a special ability. Exoprimal Season 2 will make landfall on October 18.

Persona 5 Tactica And Persona 3 Reload Make Appearances

Persona fans, rejoice! The Xbox Tokyo Game Show event showcased two Persona projects in depth, namely Persona 5 Tactica and Persona 3 Reload. To talk about the former, fans are already in the know that Tactica is a “tactical” reinvigoration of the critically acclaimed Persona 5, and during the occasion, the game’s producer Atsushi Nomura came live to go over the new Quest system featured in the title. 

Think of these as added challenges that may ask you to best your foe in one turn only, or perhaps, test your mettle by making you navigate through bombs in a puzzle-centric environment. It certainly appears to be a sure-fire way of instilling newfound thrill in this enticing new reimagining of Persona 5. The Xbox Tokyo Game Show confirmed that the title will be released for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC via Game Pass on November 17, 2023.

Persona 3 Reload, on the other hand, is a remake of Persona 3 and is headed toward Xbox consoles and PC Game Pass on February 2, 2024. During the showcase, fans got to see a brand-spanking-new Ultimate skill called Theurgy that will be exclusive to this new game, having Niitsuma — the producer on the project — calling it “a trump card for your battles.” 

New DLC For Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, Team Ninja’s latest work, has a fairly involved combat system with Souslike mechanics, including an overly increased difficulty level that puts players to their paces. The Tokyo Game Show has announced a new DLC expansion for Wo Long, called Conqueror of Jiangdong, which is the next step up from Battle of Zhongyuan—the previous expansion for the game. 

The unveiling of the DLC at the event has showcased that Conqueror of Jiangdong will see more enemy types and vicious bosses get added to Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, not to mention the added expanse of extra forms of weapons. It’s also worth noting that Lies of P, the newly released Bloodborne-esque RPG from Neowiz Games, is collaborating with the title to bring 2 new armaments to Wo Long. 

The Latest Like A Dragon Games Get Added To Game Pass’ Catalog

Two prominent Like a Dragon games, namely Ishin! and The Man Who Erased His Name, are coming to Xbox Game Pass, confirms Masayoshi Yokoyama, the Director at Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, during the Tokyo Game Show. Like a Dragon: Ishin!, for one, has been out for a while now already, tracing its release back to February 2023, but The Man Who Erased His Name, on the other hand, is yet to launch. 

The latter will be released on November 9, and that’s the same day as the arrival of the game on Xbox Game Pass. As for Like a Dragon: Ishin!, the devs haven’t given out a concrete launch of the title on the subscription service but is expected to arrive sometime later in the year. For the uninitiated, The Man Who Erased His Name had a gameplay trailer unveiling about 3 months ago. Better check it out if you haven’t. 

Conclusion – Xbox Game Pass Continues To Reign Supreme

From the way we see it, Xbox took to the Tokyo Game Show event to showcase how feature-filled and value-driven Xbox Game Pass is genuinely becoming as the days go by. Unlike Sony’s first-party titles, which, according to Jim Ryan, are never coming to their respective subscription service PS Plus on the day of their release, Game Pass hosts Xbox exclusives right out of the gate, no questions asked. 

And now, thanks to the event in question, we’ve got 7 different games (counting the Ace Attorney trilogy as one) heading straight to Xbox Game Pass according to their dedicated schedule. The titles include the likes of the juggernaut Forza Motorsport, Like a Dragon: Ishin! and Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, and plenty of others. 

Do let us know in the comments below what you thought of TGS this year. In the meantime, here’s a recap of the recent State of Play event held by PlayStation.