Over the weekend, we saw quite a few video game showcases across the globe, with multiple big names appearing and giving fans glimpses of new games, updates to existing titles, and first looks at new gaming hardware. This is in keeping with the annual tradition of the summer being one of the busiest periods where gamers receive a lot of news about what they can expect from their favorite publishers and developers over the rest of the year and beyond.
Among the bigger names to hold such exhibitions were Xbox, Ubisoft, and Summer Game Fest, yearly epicenters of some of the most significant news the industry can offer. There was also the Future Games Show Summer Showcase 2024 and a couple of other events where fans were glued to their screens over the weekend in anticipation of any useful information they could get their hands (and ears) on.
With such a catalog of companies being present to promote their properties, it was hardly surprising that quite a few prominent franchises and games were given air time. This included Diablo 4, Doom, Starfield, and Metal Gear Solid, with a new digital Xbox Series X console with additional storage capacities also revealed.
However, the biggest announcement was reserved for a legendary franchise that begins a new chapter. With Activision now under Xbox, fans were treated to a gameplay reveal trailer of the hotly-anticipated shooter, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 — whose campaign is set in the early 1990s — with a release date of October 25, 2024, also confirmed.
This was backed up by the Twitch chat activity, where this upcoming shooter was mentioned the most by fans among all the showcases held between Friday and Monday. There were as many as 152.7K messages shared by 85.4K users about this upcoming title which will apparently require a 300GB download when launched.
It will be set against the backdrop of multiple tumultuous geopolitical scenarios from the early 1990s, including the fall of the Soviet Union, the transition of the US presidency from George Bush to Bill Clinton, and the Gulf War. With continual online access even for the single-player mode and no platform exclusivity, it is no wonder fans are excited to see what Microsoft has to offer in its maiden outing for a COD game.
The second-most mentioned game among viewers on the purple platform was Doom: The Dark Ages. It was also the only other entry to get more than 50K mentions, with this prequel to the critically acclaimed 2016’s Doom and DOOM Eternal slotted for a 2025 release.
Doom Eternal, released in early 2020, opened to pretty positive reviews the world over, largely thanks to the COVID-19 virus beginning to show its effects and the world slowly shutting down. It reached 141K PV in its first week, and if fan anticipation is anything to go by, the upcoming venture is set for a large player base upon release.
Readers must keep an eye out for Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater and Gears of War: E-Day, new titles of classic franchises that always find dedicated gamers and viewers when streamed online. Both were among the ten most mentioned games between Friday and Monday, so it will be interesting to see how well they can maintain this momentum when launched.
Moving to viewership comparisons, the Xbox Games Showcase & Call of Duty Black Ops 6 Direct 2024 ended as the second-most-watched and third-most popular event in this series. The most successful one remains the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase E3 2021, where fans finally got a look at one of the most awaited games of the last decade, Starfield.
It was also by far the most watched and most popular video game showcase held this year, with no other exhibition crossing 4M HW or 2M PV. Interestingly, another event we have discussed, the Summer Game Fest 2024, is second by both metrics.
The Future Games Show Summer Showcase 2024 also set a viewership record for the series, becoming the most successful among the five iterations held so far. Four games were revealed in total, with Bogdan’s Cross, Starship Troopers: Extermination, and Nobody Wants To Die being the noteworthy names to come out.
The Ubisoft Forward 2024 may not have hit the largest numbers, but considering this was a low-key affair compared to the usual razzmatazz, such figures are decent. Of course, we have to mention the gameplay reveal of New Star Wars Outlaws, its upcoming action-adventure game set in the legendarily popular universe.
Fans also saw a teaser trailer for the remake of a highly acclaimed game, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, although no footage was shown. The French developer also disclosed that it is set for a 2024 release, with another entry in the franchise, The Lost Crown, also receiving a DLC reveal.
There's lots to look forward to for gamers over the next two years and the second half of 2024. There are sure to be more reveals of their favorite games and franchises and Streams Charts will keep readers updated regarding any such developments.
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