Xbox Games Showcase 2023 confirmed for E3 week

The Xbox Games Showcase for 2023 has officially been confirmed for Sunday, June 11, kicking off E3 week.

At the Xbox Developer Direct earlier this year, the publisher said that it was still planning to host its usual annual summer showcase. Today, they quietly confirmed the date for this year's showcase alongside the June Starfield Direct, taking to Twitter to invite fans to "join us for Starfield Direct following the Xbox Games Showcase on Sunday, June 11."

The E3 2023 schedule runs from Sunday, June 11 through Friday, June 16. The Xbox show has run on the Sunday before E3 for years, so there's some sense of normalcy heading into this year's big summer event - though it's worth noting that Microsoft has not said whether it has any official partnership with E3.

Reports have suggested that the Big Three console makers are skipping E3 this year, and Nintendo officially confirmed its absence a few weeks ago. PlayStation hasn't participated in the show for many years and is unlikely to return now, which means Xbox has been the big question mark. Even if the Xbox Games Showcase kicks off E3 week, we still don't know if the publisher will have a space on the show floor.

But if you're not attending E3, that's all kind of a moot point - there's still going to be a big presentation where we learn all about upcoming Xbox Series X games and upcoming Bethesda games. Notably, though, this event used to be called the Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase, and the name's quite a bit shorter now. Maybe Microsoft's just trying to avoid the nightmare of what might eventually be the Xbox and Bethesda and Activision and Blizzard and King Games Showcase.

We also learned today that Starfield is due out in September.