Xbox Developer Direct Set for January 2026, But Expect Some Surprises Missing

Microsoft has revealed that the next Xbox Developer Direct is set for January 2026, but it won’t cover everything planned for Xbox’s 25th anniversary. In a conversation with Variety, Matt Booty, Head of Xbox Game Studios, mentioned, “We’ve got a lot of stuff that we’re shipping” in 2026. He confirmed that fans can look forward to seeing the new Fable and Forza Horizon 6 during the January Developer Direct. “But 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,” he added. Xbox marketing lead Aaron Greenberg also hinted that the team is “cooking something special up next year!” Booty teased that there are “a lot of other things that we’ll talk about soon,” all set to launch in 2026 for the anniversary. “So it’s going to be a real banner year for the brand and a banner year for some of our biggest franchises to show up across the industry,” he stated.

2026 is also significant as it marks the 40th anniversary of Bethesda, the 35th anniversary of Blizzard, and the 30th anniversary of the original Diablo. Additionally, it celebrates the 25th anniversary of Halo, with Microsoft set to release Halo: Campaign Evolved for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. There are also expectations for Microsoft to share new details about its upcoming console in 2026, though that remains uncertain. In other Xbox news, the console exclusive South of Midnight is slated to arrive on PS5 and Switch 2 in 2026.