Clockwork could be #10 possibly, afterall it has been in development since 2020 (longer than Gears E-Day which seemed to start in 2021 after Coalition finished their work on the Gears 5 XS port and the Matrix UE5 Tech demo) and had gameplay footage ready Summer 2023, not in-engine, but actual gameplay clips in that reveal trailer. Could also be Contraband maybe, but alot depends on if it was fully rebooted or just partially rebooted. 

Edit: Oh yeah, we can't forget Project Mara, the original vision for that game was a 2 hour or so long experience set primarily in a single penthouse apartment, an apartment which was already fully modeled like 3 years ago. Maybe since then the game has been cancelled, or maybe the decision was made to expand it into a larger game, but if it's still small surely they can get it out within a year and a half of Hellblade 2, especially since a significant chunk of work was already done before Hellblade 2 released. 

As great as it would be for Double Fine to surprise us all with their new game, I'm doubting it's them. That "surprise location" is throwing me off. San Francisco, where Double Fine is based, isn't exactly what I would consider a surprising location lol

Of course would love to be wrong, but I just highly doubt one of the most famous cities in the world would be considered surprising.

I think surprise location just means a studio they aren't revealing now because it's as brand new announcement. The Xbox Wire article makes a point of noting where each of the 3 announced studios are located, Richardson Texas, Montpelier France, and Montreal Canada. The goal is to show how diverse Xbox is, offering games from a variety of locations and cultures. By surprise location they could mean the location itself will be surprising (somewhere in Asia of course being the most surprising thing possible for Xbox), but it could also just mean the game/studio/where the studio is located is a surprise because it is being saved for the actual direct.

I mean obviously I hope they have some 2nd party Asian game to announce, but I'm very skeptical of it, Phil dangled that carrot on a stick in front of my face for far too long with no payoff. Double Fine feels far more likely to me with them going back to multiple smaller projects and having 3 and a half years almost to develop a game since Psychonauts 2, in the past Double Fine could churn out smaller games in less than 2 years per team, so taking into account development being slower now, almost 3.5 years of development seem plenty for their smaller projects. 

Square_Enix is also 11 long, Lol.

After a few TV Shows it's time to get back into gaming, I need to alternate between the two, Lol. But for January I'll probably take it slow and focus on shorter titles or more relaxing titles, before the Feb+ bombardment. That being said I've added a few Game Pass titles that I might be interested in so does anyone have any thoughts on the following.

• Still Wakes The Deep
• Firewatch
• Tunic
• Powerwash Simulator
• Journey To The Savage Planet
• Gris
• Immortals Fenyx Rising
• Control
• Botany Manor
• Lightyear Frontier
• Roboquest

Probably going to wait for Kena: Bridge of Spirits, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Remake, House Flipper 2 to hit Game Pass. Still not even played Gears of War: Ultimate Edition but I kind of don't want to bother if Gears 2/3 won't receive remasters, I've obviously played Gears 1-3 before already but I don't want to bother again unless the entire series is remastered and I'll do it again with my old Gears buddy.

I got this.

Gris is one of my favourite games of all time, it’s a beautiful game about the five stages of grief. Has one of the best OSTs in indie gaming and is a joy to play. I bought it 5 times. Botany Manor is a lovely thoughtful game, very peaceful. I’m waiting for the PS5 releases to rebuy it. Firewatch is a non game, I’ve soured on it through the years, it’s barely a game and you can easily skip it. Tunic is a little longer than most on that list and quite a bit harder too, there’s a god mode that I personally used and generally enjoyed the game. It’s very old school like. Powerwash Simulator is probably the longest game on that list, that’s easily a 70+hr game of well .. power washing. Control or discount Quantum Break is pretty up its own ass like most Remedy games, I played it on launch and it was outrageously hard for the type of game it is. I will admit replaying it a few years back with 1 hit mode on I greatly enjoyed it and my opinions have easily improved. If you like QB then you’ll like Control. 

Versus out. 

Xbox 2025 Predictions: Gears E-Day in 2025, FF7 Remake, BIG Switch 2 & PS5 Games, Oblivion & More

Maybe there's something more to Tom Henderson saying Gears is 2025? Lol.

Listening to it now, I'm interested in Nate's predictions.

Only thing I disagree with is your Firewatch take. It's story driven game like, What Happened to Edith Finch which are great games if you like this genre. I play games like Firewatch after some long big AAA game as a palette cleanser since it's a short and easy experience. 

Nate - "2025 may be one of their best years in a long time."

• Prediction: South of Midnight in April.
• Prediction: Doom: The Dark Ages in May.

Doesn't think Oblivion makes sense for the Developer Direct. He did say though that last year there was a rumour/plan to put Oblivion in the Developer Direct and it was going to be a shadow drop but then heard a lot of different information. He is certain Oblivion is coming out for 2025 and has heard it is currently slated for June. Think they will announce it in March (Prediction) for the anniversary of Oblivion's release date.

• Prediction: Square Enix at the Developer Direct - Announce FF16 and FF7 Remake and Rebirth for Xbox

He can confirm that FF7 Remake and Rebirth will come to Xbox, FF7 Remake will be released in 2025 and Rebirth in 2026.

===

Nate is dropping a few bombs so I'm splitting this post up instead of waiting for the entire video!

Nate believes Gears E-Day will be released in 2025 and could be the title to kickstart their Holiday line-up (Septemberish). Curiously, Tom Henderson yesterday tweeted Gears E-Day is 2025 but then deleted the tweet.

Prediction - The Outer Worlds 2 > Gears E-Day > Call of Duty > Fable (Release Order) but he doesn't sound certain about this.

Nate also believes a Gears of War Collection will be released in the Summer but not really sure if that is insider knowledge, it seems more like vague speculation, I'm trying to be careful to clarify what is speculation and what is leaks, Lol. I think this prediction is just hopium with no insider knowledge. It has been something that has been rumoured before.

Rand makes a good point that a Gears Collection MP would clash with Gears E-Day MP so why release them in the same year? The only way it would make sense is if they removed the MP from Gears 1-3 Collection or Gears E-Day didn't have MP otherwise you're compositing with yourself. I kind of agree with Rand here, I don't think a Gears Collection will be released in 2025.