Microsoft will hold its major annual Xbox Games Showcase on June 7, with Gears of War: E-Day getting this year’s dedicated post-show Direct.
“Sunday, June 7 is locked in,” Microsoft’s new gaming boss Asha Sharma announced today on social media, alongside an image confirming that the action will kick off at 6pm UK / 1pm Eastern / 10am Pacific. “Xbox Games Showcase 2026 is almost here with a deep dive into Gears of War: E-Day Direct.
“In my first month, I heard clearly that our community values Xbox FanFest. As part of the return of Xbox, we made the decision to bring it back to LA to recognize the players who’ve been with us over the years. Looking forward to celebrating together!”
Microsoft still holds its traditional June showcase in the former timeslot of now-defunct video games trade show E3, and the confirmation that it will once again do this year is not a surprise. Its choice of Gears of War: E-Day for its annual spotlight is interesting, however, seeing as it had plenty of options for this year.
2026 will also see the launch of Microsoft’s new Fable reboot, as well as the return of Master Chief. Could one of those have already launched by then? It seems unlikely. Fable, however, did get a decent showing in this year’s early Xbox Developer Direct, when we learned it will arrive this fall and launch day one on PlayStation 5 as well as PC and Xbox consoles. Xbox’s plans for its upcoming Halo: Campaign Evolved remake feel more nebulous, meanwhile.
Xbox’s practice of spotlighting a specific game for around an hour after its main announcement show wraps up began in 2023, when it began the practice with a lengthy look at Starfield. 2024’s show was focused on Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, while last year featured The Outer Worlds 2 and Grounded 2.
Last year’s showcase included more than 30 games, as well as the Xbox ROG Ally handheld devices. There was no sign of Gears, Fable or Halo in last year’s show, which led to many fans feeling it landed fairly flat. However, the event did include more details of a game we’re still waiting to hear a release date for even now: Inxile’s Clockwork Revolution. Hopefully we see more of that this June as well.
More to follow…
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
