Xbox will air Developer_Direct on January 22, 2026 at 10am Pacific / 1pm Eastern / 6pm UK, bringing extended gameplay and developer segments for several high-profile projects.
The program features two segments from Playground Games, including the first extended look at Fable and a gameplay-first presentation for Forza Horizon 6, which takes the series to Japan. Playground’s technical work on recent projects helped shape the studio’s approach to building Tokyo, and readers can get more context on that effort in a recent piece about the studio’s Hot Wheels tech and how it informed Forza Horizon 6.
Game Freak will offer a deep look at Beast of Reincarnation, the studio’s one-person, one-dog action RPG. Developers will show protagonist Emma’s plant-manipulation moves and the gameplay chemistry with her canine partner Koo. The game was first shown at Xbox Games Showcase 2025, and that earlier reveal is available on the Xbox site here.
Xbox positioned this January Developer_Direct as a major showcase for the year ahead, and the platform previously signaled a busy 2026 and confirmed Playground Games would appear in the presentation, which adds to expectations for substantial gameplay time on January 22. For more background on Xbox’s plans for the broadcast, see a prior overview of the announcement.
For live coverage of Developer_Direct and the segments for Fable, Forza Horizon 6, and Beast of Reincarnation, follow CPG on X, Bluesky, YouTube, and Instagram.
