Xbox teases first Indiana Jones gameplay, plus Avowed and Hellblade 2 showcases for first Developer Direct of 2024, coming this month

Xbox is kicking off 2024 with a Developer Direct showcase, and it looks like hotly anticipated Obsidian RPG Avowed will make an appearance alongside long-awaited sequel Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2. Not only that, we'll finally see much more of MachineGames' Indiana Jones game, which has been radio silent for ages.

The January 2024 Xbox Developer Direct will air on Thursday, January 18 at 12pm PT / 3pm ET / 8pm UK. In a blog post, Xbox confirms that the still-untitled Indiana Jones game is the headliner, with MachineGames developers attending to show off "more than 10 minutes of game and developer insights," concluding with "the premier of the first gameplay trailer."

Obsidian's next RPG, Avowed, is close behind, paired with a "behind the scenes" look at Hellblade 2. Rounding out the lineup, Ara: History Untold, the strategy game in the works at Oxide Games under the watchful eyes of former Civilization creators, will show off "new gameplay and share more details about the inspiration, key features, and road ahead."

A press release from Microsoft notably specifies that "while this show won’t have updates on games from Activision Blizzard, you can look forward to news from those teams later this year." This lines up with a previous announcement that, following the Activision Blizzard deal, the company's catalog won't be integrated into Xbox Game Pass until later in 2024. Game Pass reveals will likely precede or come paired with potential new projects from Activision Blizzard.

After the big Developer Direct, ZeniMax Online Studios will host its own show, The Elder Scrolls Online 2024 Global Reveal, "to preview 2024's biggest update."

The last we heard about the Wolfenstein dev's Indiana Jones game was a broad assurance from Bethesda boss Todd Howard in August 2023. Howard, who's been pushing for an Indiana Jones game "for over a decade," said the game is coming along well. Frankly, it's a surprise to see MachineGames jump straight to a gameplay premiere after such a long, quiet wait, but it's a very welcome one.

Avowed and Hellblade 2, meanwhile, feel much more immediate and have both been positioned as key releases meant to maintain the momentum of the "baton pass" of Xbox games, which was started by Starfield. Last month, Xbox boss Phil Spencer assured Hellblade fans that "we don't have much longer to wait."

Obsidian design director Josh Sawyer recently explained how the studio's smaller projects, namely Grounded and Pentiment, have informed the studio's approach to its next mega-RPG. We previously learned that the RPG was once meant to be multiplayer before the studio doubled down on "the things it's best at." Just this week, Obsidian released a surprise update to its beloved 2015 CRPG Pillars of Eternity.

Austin has been a game journalist for 12 years, having freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree. He's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize his position is a cover for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a lot of news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.