Summary
The 2025 Xbox Showcase revealed a lot of interesting announcements. There was news aboutBlack Ops 7, which seems to be returning to the weird sci-fi setting of its second and third entry, a new Xbox handheld in partnership with ASUS, and DLC forIndiana Jones and the Great Circle. There were also some new games introduced like Bandai Namco’s new vampire-themed RPGThe Blood of the Dawnwalker. While surprises are common at events like this, sometimes they can include announcements that really throw off players.
The 2025 showcase gave us some very good examples of that exact scenario happening. Many of the reveals were interesting, but some came as a shock to players. Whether it is because they defied expectations or revealed gamesso weird that nobody could have anticipated them, these are some of the biggest surprises from the showcase.
1Aphelion
Don’t Nod Does Sci-Fi
When people think of games by Don’t Nod, what usually comes to mind? Usually, character-driven stories centered around everyday life being disrupted by a weird supernatural mystery, withan emphasis on interacting with people and affecting relationships. An isolating sci-fi game isn’t the first thing people would think of. So imagine the surprise when Don’t Nod announcedAphelion.
While probably still character-driven, this one follows an astronaut stranded on an alien planet, seemingly alone while searching for her missing crewmate. The teaser implies a much more action-packed experience than Don’t Nod is normally known for, with a lot of gameplay centered around maneuvering a hostile environment and solving puzzles to move forward, and there might be a monster lurking in the shadows if the trailer’s last shot is anything to go on.
The first teasers ofClockwork Revolutiongot players excited about its chaotic time-bending mechanics. The Xbox Showcase finally revealed some more information about the game that revealed a few surprises both in terms of lore and gameplay. One detail of note is it’s more of an RPG than previously assumed. While the initial teasers seemed to imply a single hero as its lead, it actually has a pretty detailed character customization system, and there’s also a lot more interaction with other characters.
One of the weirder characters was showcased in the trailer — a foul-mouthed talking doll clad in Georgian attire, though what his role is supposed to be isn’t entirely clear. Players also found out the protagonist isn’t the only one with time travel. Apparently, the antagonist, Lady Ironwood, has been systematically altering the past to keep herself in power,so the time gadgetis more evening the playing field than getting an edge. This new information is making the game look really exciting and left some people frustrated that it didn’t come with a release date.
One would think Obsidian would have their hands full, withAvowedjust being released andThe Outer Worlds 2on the way (the latter of which was showcased in great detail during the event). Surprisingly, they’ve apparently managed to find the time and resources to work in a third game to release later this year: the follow-up to their popular co-op miniature survival adventure.
Grounded 2sees the same group of teenagers once again shrunk down and faced with danger at every turn from things that normally wouldn’t be noticed by regular-sized humans. This one also adds a new twist: insect domestication. Now players can tame and ride ants and even spiders, giving them mounts for exploring the surprisingly deadly underworld world of a public park.
4Keeper
There’s Always a Lighthouse, and it’s You!
Toward the end ofBioshock Infinite,players were famously given the line “there’s always a lighthouse, there’s always a man, there’s always a city.” What Ken Levine, and for that matter most players, could not have anticipated was a video game in which the lighthouseisthe man. Yes, this is a game about a lighthouse that somehow gains sentience (and legs) and goes on an adventure with its trusty bird companion.
The two of them apparently travel through a colorful dreamscape that includes encounters with clockwork tricicles, a flying alien whale with a forest on its back, and some sort of timey-wimey anomaly that causes the bird to turn back into an egg. It’s not entirely clear what the story is supposed to be, but gameplay seems to be centered around problem-solving where the lighthouse and the bird have to pull their respective abilities together.
There seemed to be two logical directions a follow-up toA Plague Tale: Reguiemcould go. The game’s endings suggested either a continuation of Amicia’s story centered around her quest to find the next carrier, or a shift to a new story in a different time period. The last thing fans expected was a prequel centered on one ofRequiem’s supporting characters. But to be fair, if anyone in the cast deserved their own game, it was fan favorite smuggler Sofia.
Resonancetakes place fifteen years earlier and follows a younger Sofia on a strange journey of her own. Information on the story is a bit vague at the moment, but it appearsResonancewill feature heavy influence from Greek mythology, and probably involves a lot of diving into ancient ruins, digging up secrets about the past. Interestingly, this decision seems to have led to one big gameplay change — melee combat seems to be given more focus, whereas previous entriesemphasized stealth supported by ranged combat and improvised weapons. It might not be what players expected, but it looks pretty exciting.
6Super Meat Boy 3D
The originalSuper Meat Boywas a 2Dplatformer centered on its titular character navigating a series of deadly obstacle courses in pursuit of his kidnapped girlfriend, and subsequent games took a similar approach. So it was a pretty big surprise when the XBox Showcase revealed plans to go into 3D. Even Meatboy himself is initially confused by the transition in the trailer’s opening scene.
While it may be a jarring change compared to previous games in the franchise, it’s not entirely without precedent, however. After all,Super Meat Boywas an homage to classic side-scrolling platformers like SuperMario Bros, which eventually made the jump to 3D themselves. And, it looks like everything that appealed to fans of the original is back. Meat Boy once again has to run through a death gauntlet full of spike pits, buzz saws, lasers, and other obstacles that can kill him in a gory fashion. Only now, it’s a bit more challenging because he’s got a lot more movement options.
7There Are No Ghosts at the Grand
A Musical Lovecraftian Hotel Management Spy Thriller Puzzle Game?
This is easily one of the strangest games included among the announcements. What initially looks like a cozy game about a man inheriting his father’s hotel and trying to get it into working order takes a weird turn when the caretaker starts singing. Apparently, this is a fairly common occurrence in this game, since players see at least one other person breaking into song later in the trailer. So maybe it’s amusicalcozy game about hotel renovation with rythmic elements? Well, not exactly — at least, not entirely.
That’s part of it, but then there’s another weird twist — apparently the player is actually a spy infiltrating the village for… some other objective they have to keep secret. And there’s some weird reality-bending going on, a talking cat who may or may not be trustworthy, and…Lovecraftian abominations threatening everything? Weird tentacled monsters from the deep apparently threaten all of existence or something. This is a really weird setup, and the trailer only leaves us with more questions than answers.
