Xbox Games Showcase Reveals Abundance Of Next-Gen Titles, Internet Reacts With Mix Of Hype, Disappointment And Memes

Yesterday, Microsoft held its Xbox Games Showcase event with an estimated 2.5 million viewers tuning in to the livestream on Twitch and YouTube. As one of the last few opportunities for the company to show off its upcoming next-gen console and convince potential buyers to purchase it ahead of the holiday season, the end result was a bit of a mixed bag.

Much like nearly any other gaming event, reactions after the fact ranged from intense hype to dismal disappointment, with plenty of people falling in-between simply creating memes or cracking jokes.

Xbox fans after watching the Xbox Games Showcase. #XboxGamesShowcase pic.twitter.com/cbOikd5gHE

— Average Smore (@Okpizzawhy) July 23, 2020

Although the official price of the Xbox Series X remains to be seen, Microsoft did provide plenty of information on what games people can expect to play when the new console releases later this year. Announced or revealed alongside the unsurprising flagship title, Halo Infinite, most of the games were sequels and expansions, including State of Decay 3, Phantasy Star Online 2, Hellblade 2, Psychonauts 2, Tetris Effect Connected, Forza Motorsport, Destiny 2 Beyond Light, Hello Neighbor 2, Outer Worlds Peril On Gorgon DLC and Watch Dogs: Legion.

today's Microsoft Xbox games showcase event had millions of people watching from around the world1.5M+ on Twitch1M+ on YouTube300,000 watching Twitch watching YouTubeand with hundreds of millions of Microsoft dollars pissed into the wind, 0 viewers on Mixerjust incredible

— Rod Breslau (@Slasher) July 23, 2020

For the more unique titles shown off, we got a glimpse into As Dusk Falls, Avowed, Everwild, The Gunk, The Medium, Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, CrossfireX, Tell Me Why, Balan Wonderfall, Echo Generation, ExoMecha and a brief teaser for the untitled reboot of the Fable franchise.

Xbox fanboys after this underwhelming event : pic.twitter.com/CHocuKoQem

— Mohamed Enieb (@its_menieb) July 23, 2020

Obviously, the main reveal during the event surrounded Halo Infinite, which featured an eight-minute demo and some commentary from developers. While the game is undoubtedly going to be well-received by hardcore fans of the franchise, elsewhere online the reception seemed to revolve primarily around the graphics.

According to IGN, the Halo Infinite demo shown at the Xbox Games Showcase was “a work-in-progress build running on a PC comparable to the Xbox Series X,” so exactly how accurate the footage will be on the end result remains to be seen. Nonetheless, a quick search on just about any major social media platform reveals countless memes and reactions to the quality of the title’s graphics. These reactions rapidly developed into a full-blown meme phenomenon, giving birth to “Craig the Brute” in less than 24 hours, which has swarmed places like Reddit (as well as our own site).

Other titles presented over the course of the hour-long event were similarly received, but the more unique games appear to have piqued the interest of many, such as Fat Shark’s Warhammer 40,000 Darktide (the devs behind the Warhammer: Vermintide series). On Reddit alone, the game’s trailer and ensuing memes garnered tens of thousands of upvotes between multiple posts.

Perhaps the most interesting tidbit to come from the showcase was the announcement that every single game shown off will be available for Xbox Game Pass members, including several for Ultimate members who prefer to game on PC. Normally this type of event would’ve been a part of the annual E3 convention, but just as Sony did last month with its similar PlayStation 5 event, it seems as though these types of digital events are here to stay for the time being. When exactly all of these games and the Xbox Series X will get an official release date (or price) remains to be seen, but for now, you can check out the full event and judge it for yourself.