Gaming Influence: Thoughts - Xbox Developer Direct 2026

Hello everyone,

Welcome to Gaming Influence, a reboot of the same name I created in WrestleCorp. However, I will not only be giving my thoughts on certain video games and video game series but also on video game movies, video game anime, video game digital presentations, etc.

For this edition of Gaming Influence, I'll share my thoughts on the Xbox Developer Direct on January 22, 2026.

Anyway, let's get started!

For those who are wondering, what is Xbox Developer Direct? You can check out what it is through my thoughts on the Xbox Developer Direct last year here: Gaming Influence: Thoughts - Xbox Developer Direct 2025

Anyway, let's get to it!

Forza Horizon 6 is a racing game developed by Playground Games and published by Xbox Game Studios. The game is set to be released on Xbox Series X and PC on May 19, 2026.

We've seen this game in the Xbox Games Showcase last year, as we finally got a release date for the game, and it's looking incredible. Really love the idea that this game will take place in Japan, as the environments that they created for this game looked astounding. The amount of customization for the cars is very impressive, too, and the fact that there'll be over 550 cars at launch is awesome. Not only that, a lot of accessibility features and ways to play multiplayer locally and online, which is also great. This looks to be the biggest Forza game yet, and we'll see how the game turns out once it's released in four months.

Beast of Reincarnation is an action role-playing game developed by Game Freak and published by Fictions. The game is set to be released on Xbox Series X, PC, and PS5 in Summer 2026.

When we first saw this game back in the Xbox Games Showcase last year, I was stunned as I didn't expect Game Freak to develop a game like this, but I'm here for it. Really love the art style that this game has, and the combat looks like a lot of fun as it's looking to combine a lot of different action games' combat into one with its own twist, which is cool to see. The character designs are looking great, the story seems intriguing, and the music is beautiful to listen to. Plus, you have a dog companion to fight with you, so who doesn't love that?! Can't wait to see more of this game, and I hope it delivers once it's released this summer.

Kiln is an online multiplayer pottery party brawler developed by Double Fine Productions and published by Xbox Game Studios. The game is set to be released on Xbox Series X, PC, and PS5 in Spring 2026.

Okay, I didn't expect a game like this from Double Fine, but this is a welcome surprise regardless. Love the idea where you get to create your pots, and the pots you create will have certain abilities that will help players in battles. The amount of customization in creating these pots is awesome to see, and it looks to be a fun game to play online with other people. I'm very curious to see how this game will turn out overall and hope to see more of it once it's released this spring.

Fable is an action role-playing game developed by Playground Games and published by Xbox Game Studios. The game is set to be released on Xbox Series X, PC, and PS5 in Fall 2026.

After seeing this game back in 2020, it's finally coming closer after six years in development. It seems like Playground Games is respecting what Lionhead Studios did with the original Fable trilogy, but also doing their own thing as well, which is awesome to see. The amount of customization is awesome, and the choices you make on how it will affect the game overall are also quite interesting as well. I'm very curious to see how the final product will be overall, and we won't have to wait much longer, as it'll be released this fall.

Overall, this was a good presentation from Xbox. As usual, Xbox does a good job of having a balance of giving the developers time to speak on their designs and ideas for the game, as well as showing a good amount of gameplay. Even though I still have issues with Xbox in terms of their business decisions, I can't deny that they still put out good-to-great digital video game presentations, as this was another one of those. Very curious to see what else Xbox has in store for the rest of the year.

You can catch the whole presentation of the Xbox Developer Direct yourself with the link below:

What are your thoughts on the Xbox Developer Direct 2026?

What were your highlights, and what games do you really want?

Let me know in the comments below, and thank you for reading.