Xbox Marketing Chief Aaron Greenberg Says No Full CGI Trailers At Upcoming Showcase, Just In-Game Footage

Video Games

Jun 6

With E3 seemingly a thing of the past now, just one of the many effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic, most of the big-name developers in gaming have pivoted to a Nintendo-esque approach. Bypassing the stage and convention hall for a direct-to-fans stream, companies like Sony and Microsoft are following in their rival’s footsteps, who hasn’t done a major convention showcase in some years.

This year’s Microsoft Summer Showcase, featuring a direct about Starfield, is set to run about two hours, and in response to fan criticism of the Sony Showcase not long ago, there will be no CGI trailers, just game footage. For first-party games at least. According to Aaron Greenberg, nothing under Microsoft’s banner will be just CGI trailers. Each first-party game shown will mostly feature in-game footage, in-engine footage, or a mix with some CGI.

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Fans were pretty critical of Sony’s latest showcase for being almost entirely a stream of CGI trailers and little, if any, in-game footage of upcoming IPs. Greenberg also added, almost as a little jab at Sony, that there will be no TV or movie trailers in the Showcase. He also said Xbox will not make the same mistake it did last year, when it promised all games shown will be playable within the year, famously broken by Hollow Knight: Silksong missing that promise.

Microsoft is facing high pressure from fans and the industry after a lackluster release of Redfall at the beginning of May, and with Starfield their biggest IP of the year, everyone is looking to its release with anticipation to see if Microsoft and Xbox can recover and stay relevant in this generation.

The Showcase will stream live June 11 at 1pm Eastern, with the Starfield Direct to follow immediately.

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