When is the Xbox Games Showcase and what is the 'Redacted' Direct? Everything we know so far

Microsoft has confirmed its big summer show with the Xbox Games Showcase and 'Redacted' Direct arriving next month, and there's plenty of speculation as to what we can expect.

The Xbox Games Showcase is back again this year during the week of shows that have popped to replace E3 (kicking off with Geoff Keighley's

Summer Game Fest). Microsoft is the first of the big three to confirm an event, which will be taking place on Sunday, June 9 and follows last year's Xbox summer showcase format by being a double bill. Last year's show featured the Xbox Games Showcase and Starfield Direct (which included an extended look at Starfield following the main show). The main difference this year, however, is that Xbox is teasing us by keeping the second half a but of a mystery, announcing the 'Xbox Games Showcase and Redacted Direct'.

While we don't know what the 'redacted' portion refers to – with Xbox only saying it's a "special deep-dive into the next installment of a beloved franchise" in the blog post announcing the showcase – it didn't take people long to figure out that it's almost certainly the next Call of Duty game.

Even from a look at the mostly-obscured logo in the announcement, I had an inkling it was Call of Duty. The start of the redacted logo looks remarkably like the Activision logo, and the orange of the image above it is strongly reminiscent of the Black Ops series' logo, Everyone else seems to think so as well, offering more evidence to back that up.

Gaming website Gematsu highlighted how the logo is almost certainly Activision's in a very convincing tweet, and this was swiftly followed up by Call of Duty leaker @BobNetworkUK posting an image of the Cerberus logo which was datamined from the MW3 files and is also the codename for Call of Duty 2024, which we learned following the December 2022 Activision data breach (via Insider Gaming). The Verge's Tom Warren has added even more weight to this theory, citing inside sources that have confirmed that "that this is indeed Call of Duty" in his report.

As for the game itself, according to a Windows Central report, sources "familiar with Activision's plans" have said that the upcoming Call of Duty title is set to be Black Ops 6 and is set during the Gulf War.

What to expect in the Xbox Games Showcase

As we've already established, the 'redacted' Direct is undoubtedly going to be Call of Duty 2024, however, there's still an entire Xbox Games Showcase's worth of content to talk about. Warren confirmed that he had also heard of a few more titles outside of Call of Duty that are set to appear in the showcase. These include Starfield's Shattered Space DLC expansion, Avowed, and Indiana Jones and The Great Circle which he claims are aiming for September, November, and December 2024 release dates respectively.

Another game Warren says that is poised to appear is the next instalment in the Gears of War series; this is backed up by the voice actor for JD Fenix in Gears of War 4 and 5 – Liam McIntyre – who said on Twitter that there should be Gears of War news in June that confirms his character's fate following the end of Gears 5. While it was a given that Gears 6 would probably be on the way soon, considering Gears 5 turns five years old this year, the evidence is piling up that it'll be revealed next month.

Of course, there's also the question of what everyone else is bringing to the table. Last year's Xbox Games Showcase had reveals for Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, Metaphor: ReFantazio, Persona 5 Tactica, Persona 3 Reload, and Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess. Plus I'm desperate to see what InXile is cooking up with Clockwork Revolution. Thankfully we won't have to wait too much longer, and we may even have a PlayStation Showcase before then if rumours are to be believed.