Amid The Game Awards hubbub, Xbox quietly announces a January Developer Direct featuring the Fable and Forza Horizon 6 studio

While The Game Awards 2025 soaked up all the attention in the gaming world, Xbox quietly announced that its annual Developer Direct showcase is returning next month, with Playground Games set to appear.

Speaking to Variety, head of Xbox Game Studios Matt Booty was tight-lipped about what exactly to expect from the usually quite pleasant showcase – except for the fact that the UK-based studio behind Fable's reboot and Forza Horizon 6 is going to be there.

"I can't share exactly what's there, but we've got a lot of stuff that we're shipping next year," Booty said. "In fact, usually Dev Direct is about highlighting what's coming up for the year ahead. This year, we've got more stuff coming up than we can fit in one show... We'll have more stuff next year to ship than we can fit into one Dev Direct show in January, which is a good place to be."

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Booty doesn't clarify whether Playground Games is showing up to shed light on Fable or Forza Horizon 6 – two very different games – but with both slated to come out next year, I'm betting we see everything the devs are working on. Of course, Fable is rebooting the iconic, folklorish RPG series known for its crude humor and colorful choices, while Forza Horizon 6 is instead taking the open-world racing formula that we all know and love to Japan.

What other upcoming Xbox Series X games could potentially fill out the show? Well, so far, the publisher has already announced that Halo: Campaign Evolved and Gears of War: E-Day are 2026 projects. Halo, Gears, Fable, and Forza seem like a pretty good way to usher in the console maker's 25th anniversary, although there's an outside shot we could see an unannounced game or something like State of Decay 3 show up as well.

To keep track of all the things, check out our new games of 2025 and beyond guide.