Microsoft’s Xbox Summer Showcase proved more exciting than expected, bringing together a mix of visually striking games from well-known franchises as well as several brand-new releases. Even with lingering worries about where the Xbox brand is headed and a somewhat underwhelming first look at the new hardware, the actual games on display were compelling enough to make the event feel like a win. For that reason, the Digital Foundry crew is back for a DF Direct special that covers both the best moments and the weaker spots.
In the 102-minute episode, John, Alex, and Oliver mention quite a few of the titles—among them Doom: The Dark Ages, Perfect Dark, Gears of War: E-Day, and Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater—but I’ll skip running through every entry and instead spotlight a few personal highlights, beginning with Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl. The first Stalker, which launched on PC in 2007, was strange in the most memorable ways—odd, unpredictable, and completely absorbing—so it’s genuinely impressive to see a real sequel approaching completion. The reveal looked phenomenal, showing more refined cinematics, improved storytelling, tighter shooting mechanics, and stronger technology, all while keeping the original’s grimy mood. From unexplained anomalies twitching and fading in the distance to a group of stalkers playing guitars around a campfire, it clearly aims to stay true to what made the first game special. Heart of Chornobyl wants to keep the series’ emergent AI, fairly broad areas to explore, and the verticality that defined its predecessor, but it delivers all of that with far higher fidelity.
This upcoming entry is one of many games featured in the Xbox Showcase running on Unreal Engine 5. Nanite and Lumen global illumination are both easy to spot in the trailer—though it’s still not clear whether Lumen is using dedicated hardware or software rendering, with Alex leaning toward the hardware path for better scalability. The entire trailer also appears to be presented in native 4K. As a result, the Series X version may look notably different, and even PC users could need fairly high-end equipment to hit that resolution without leaning on upscaling options like DLSS, XeSS, or FSR.
- 0:00:00 Introduction
- 0:01:17 Doom: The Dark Ages
- 0:11:05 Perfect Dark
- 0:20:42 Gears of War: E-Day
- 0:28:53 Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater
- 0:40:39 Fable
- 0:49:43 S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl
- 0:59:18 Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
- 1:07:17 Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
- 1:15:54 Other games – Mixtape, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, South of Midnight, Atomfall, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, State of Decay 3, Age of Mythology: Retold
- 1:24:36 Updated Xbox Series consoles
- 1:31:35 Phil Spencer: more Xbox games are coming to other platforms
More details will likely follow once system specifications are revealed ahead of the game’s September 5th release, which is planned for Xbox Series X as well as PC Game Pass, Steam, and the Epic Games Store. Keep an eye out for Alex to dig into the game in detail soon!
Along with showcasing a strong lineup of standout games, Microsoft also finally laid out its upcoming Xbox hardware revisions. The update includes two new models: a $449 white disc-less Xbox Series X, a $349 1TB Xbox Series S variant, and a $599 “galaxy black” disc Xbox Series X featuring 2TB of storage. The latter two options also provide double the storage capacity compared with the original models.
John and the Digital Foundry team have repeatedly pointed out that Microsoft’s quickly growing “adorably all-digital” direction isn’t ideal for people who care about archiving games—especially since platform holders can remove titles from customers’ libraries. The same reasoning applies here. Still, it’s encouraging to see that disc-based models aren’t being eliminated. These new versions appear to sit alongside the older ones, at least for the time being.
Based on the pricing, it’s clear Microsoft isn’t trying to shake up the market by pricing below competitors like Sony. That said, it remains to be seen whether these refreshed units include a die shrink intended to improve power efficiency—potentially translating into small performance gains as well. Microsoft’s press release promises “the same speed, performance and features”, but it would be nice to see reduced power draw similar to what Sony has done with PS5 revisions, or even a discreet One S-style GPU overclock to eke out slightly better frame rates.
What we didn’t find was anything truly different from the current lineup, either in design or day-to-day use (including the rumored Xbox handheld). I agree with John that this comes from Microsoft’s understanding that a thorough mid-generation update probably wouldn’t have moved hardware sales much, so their efforts are better spent elsewhere. Ideally, that means focusing on a handheld that’s genuinely compelling—distinct from Sony’s offering and also clearly different from what’s already on the market in the PC handheld space.
With game announcement season being as busy as ever, the latest DF Direct Weekly #166 recently focused on what was revealed during Summer Game Fest. John, Alex, and Oliver discuss the biggest takeaways, including Lego Horizon Adventures, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, Black Myth: Wukong, Civilization 7, and more—be sure to watch that episode too, which is included below.
- 0:00:00 Introduction
- 0:01:20 News 01: Summer Game Fest: Lego Horizon Adventures
- 0:13:44 Metaphor: Refantazio, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2
- 0:25:17 Sonic X Shadow Generations, Alan Wake 2: Night Springs, Phantom Blade Zero
- 0:40:53 Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind, Slitterhead, Killer Bean
- 0:50:14 Black Myth: Wukong, Civilization 7
- 1:03:59 News 02: Sony drops 8K support from PS5 packaging
- 1:22:49 News 03: PS VR2 PC adapter specs unveiled
- 1:32:58 News 04: Microsoft rolls out Auto SR upscaling technology
- 1:46:20 Supporter Q1: How can you improve Windows text rendering on WOLED displays?
- 1:50:03 Supporter Q2: Why do some people recommend holding your frame rate a little under the display refresh rate when using VRR on PC?
- 1:53:24 Supporter Q3: Would John point you toward a PS VR2 or a Meta Quest 3 for PC VR?
- 1:55:33 Supporter Q4: Do you recall the first game that truly blew you away with its visuals—so much so that it’s hard to picture anything surpassing it?
- 2:04:30 Supporter Q5: Are consoles restricting how much ray tracing you can use on PC?
- 2:10:25 Supporter Q6: Which games do you wish you’d been able to play on more powerful hardware?
I also found the PC-focused questions from supporters in this episode especially worthwhile, since they highlight John’s thoughtful guidance for VR setups—comparing PS VR2 with Meta Quest 3—plus a discussion on why frame rate can be intentionally capped and how W-OLED text rendering works in Windows.
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