Later this week, Microsoft will launch a series of monthly streams called Xbox 20/20 that will take a look at the future of its gaming projects throughout the rest of the year.
July’s Xbox 20/20 presentation will give the first glimpse into what many of its first-party Xbox Series X games will look like. Microsoft is promising new game reveals, gameplay footage, and its development teams discussing the new console. Other months will focus on Xbox Game Pass, its game streaming platform Project xCloud, and looks into Microsoft’s 15 internal development studios.
The new initiative will kick off with May 7’s Inside Xbox stream, which will air live across all major streaming platforms starting at 11 a.m. ET. The first Xbox 20/20 update will focus solely on third-party titles and will include a first look at the Xbox Series X version of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. Microsoft will confirm several games that will take advantage of its Smart Delivery feature, which will give players access to games they own on both Xbox One and its next-generation console.
Every game shown during the May Xbox 20/20 stream is running on Xbox Series X and optimized for the system. Developers are set to detail what work on the new console that will take advantage of its features such as hardware-accelerated DirectX raytracing to improve graphical performance and near non-existent load times.
The Xbox 20/20 streams are a major part of Microsoft’s rollout for Xbox Series X. The console maker still expects both the system and Halo Infinite to release later this year during the holiday season.
Microsoft says the coronavirus pandemic caused it to rethink how it will present its upcoming console. Xbox hopes its streams will help players come together and become excited for the future of gaming, even though they won’t physically be in the same place.
Xbox is also looking at expanding its current services by expanding Project xCloud and Game Pass. Later this year, Project xCloud will launch in unspecified new countries and on additional devices, while Xbox Game Pass will continue to have a cycling library of titles. Microsoft is also promising that its subscription and streaming services will come together later in 2020 to allow friends to “play together in more ways.” An Xbox 20/20 stream later this year will give additional details on the collaboration.
