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Ending the Xbox Summer Game Fest Showcase with COD: Black Ops 7 was a terrible decision, even though it no doubt made perfect sense
Why end with Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, Microsoft? The Xbox conference was going so well until then.
Phil Spencer, CEO Microsoft Gaming, appeared on the pre-recorded showcase to wrap things up, tantalisingly teasing 2026 releases for Gears of War E-Day, a new Forza (presumably Horizon), and the next Halo. I understand that Call of Duty is a game series so huge a large portion of people are going to want to see a trailer for the next entry, and that from a business perspective it might seem ludicrous to not give it top billing, but it honestly sucked all the air out of the room. If we go back just a couple of days to PlayStation's pre-SGF State of Play (a lower stakes event, but still a presentation of new games), it ended with Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls.
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