Rumors have begun circulating that Microsoft will soon unveil another gaming event scheduled for April, on top of two other showcases the team already had planned for the weeks ahead.
On April 10, the Age of Empires team will host a deep dive on the future of the series, likely including another look at Age of Empires 4. The team is calling it the Age of Empires Fan Preview. Later this spring, Microsoft will also host its annual Build Conference, which is a developer-focused event. But recent reports from ZDNet journalist Mary Jo Foley, a reliable Microsoft insider, have stated there are rumblings of yet another show coming, focused on Xbox gaming.
The rumor has been repeated by Jez Corden of Windows Central on the Xbox Two Podcast, as well as on VGC. All three, including Foley, are not ones to typically share information that isn't reliable, so that lends credence to the rumor.
Several times in the past few months, there have been teases from the Xbox team that not all their first-party games coming in 2021 have even been revealed yet. A show in April, just weeks before things like Summer Game Fest and whatever E3 might look like this year could indicate Xbox wants to show off some of those games now, so it can focus on other projects in the summer.
The details of the show are totally up for speculation right now, but it would seem to be about time to release Psychonauts 2, which is reportedly done with development. The Double Fine project will launch across multiple platforms, though it's assumed future Double Fine games will be Xbox- and PC-only. Other possible updates if a show were to happen include the next Forza Motorsport, Hellblade 2, and perhaps the reveal of what's next for Compulsion Games, which is hard at work on the follow-up to We Happy Few.
As always with Xbox, we can expect any such show to also include Game Pass. If or when a show is revealed, we'll cover it here. Stay tuned.