No gameplay. Damn. Still, glad to have SOMETHING more on Cyberpunk.
Overall, I'll give this conference a C+. Better than EA's D-, but that's a low fucking bar. It was well put together, well paced, and well presented - I can't fault Micrsosoft's use of the stage. And the first party acquisitions were good to see, but - as with everything Xbox this gen - it's mostly promises for the next year, the next console, the next gen, without delivering.
Grabbing new first parties should've been something they did when their brand imploded at reveal, and certainly something they should've done when Sony took back their market share with thunder and flourish. Falling back on Forza, Gears, Halo, etc., has worn out its impact. I'm just not excited for new entries in these franchises. Tunic felt more interesting to me than Gears 5, and it's on a fraction of the scale and budget. Their new purchases won't start paying off for three or more years, which puts them firmly into next gen. This entire generation has been a bust for Xbox - we went nowhere fast in glorious 4K. Xbox desperately needs to prove it's relevance. Where's Xbox's God of War? It's Horizon Zero Dawn? It's Mario, it's Zelda, it's big, proud, confident statement that says "This is why we matter", that shows us all why developers want to work with Microsoft, and why we all need to own an Xbox. On Playstation, we've got an embarrassment of riches. On Xbox, they've got both kinds of games - Gears and Halo. Hopefully Microsoft can deliver on this stuff next gen, and learn from the beating they've taken for this one.
See you all at the Bethesda conference!