Xbox tells fans not to expect ‘world premieres’ events in the immediate future

Xbox’s marketing boss has told fans not to expect events with “world premieres” or game announcements in the immediate future.

The comment was made in response to a press article speculating that Xbox could reveal a new Elden Ring trailer this month. Reliable Microsoft reporter Paul Thurrott claimed last week that Microsoft would hold an event on March 23.

“Just to set expectations: this is not happening,” Xbox’s Aaron Greenberg said of the Elden Ring speculation. “There are always things we have in the works, but nothing coming soon that would feature game announcements or world premieres like this.”

Despite the denial, more than one high-profile games reporter suggested last week that publisher Bandai Namco Entertainment would soon lift the lid on Elden Ring, the From Software title that hasn’t been shown publicly since 2019.

GamesBeat reporter Jeff Grubb said on Friday that he’d heard the title was being planned for an unveiling soon. Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier echoed the comments, claiming there was “strong evidence” the game would be shown “relatively soon”.

UPDATE: A leaked Elden Ring trailer is being actively circulated online, showing a significant amount of off-screen footage from what appears to be a planned gameplay trailer.

ORIGINAL STORY CONTINUES:

Announced at E3 2019, Elden Ring is a fantasy action-RPG described as From Software’s largest game to-date.

The title takes place in a world created in collaboration with A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin, who was tasked with creating Elden Ring’s lore, rather than working on the game’s story.

Director Hidetaka Miyazaki has said Elden Ring represents “an evolution” of the Dark Souls series he created. While Dark Souls spiritual successors Bloodborne and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice brought new ideas to the table, Miyazaki said From Software’s upcoming game goes much further.

“With a larger world, new systems and action mechanics inevitably become necessary. In that sense, I think that Elden Ring is a more natural evolution of Dark Souls,” Miyazaki told IGN in June 2019.

“While the narrow and complex dungeons of our previous games were indeed interconnected, Elden Ring’s environments will be much more open and vast,” Miyazaki said.

“The more extensive world will form the base of Elden Ring’s gameplay, and its mechanics are designed with that type of environment in mind.”