Microsoft drops monthly “Xbox 20/20” updates commitment and will share news “in a variety of ways”

Microsoft is no longer sticking to the monthly “Xbox 20/20 updates” formula it announced back in May. Indeed, the company has quietly updated its original blog post last week to say that the initial announcement suggested that there would be a monthly Xbox show every month, and there was indeed no big event in June between the May Inside Xbox livestream and the Xbox Games Showcase in July.

Little tidbit: Microsoft has quietly dropped the Xbox 20/20 phrasing last Friday and wants to be more flexible about releasing new information https://t.co/yK4SZBidFg pic.twitter.com/yf8DBmo3B8

— Nibel (@Nibellion) August 10, 2020

“After reassessing our programming for the rest of the year, we’ve decided to stop using the “Xbox 20/20” phrasing as it implied that we would be releasing information in one way only, through a dedicated monthly show,” the Xbox team explained. The first Xbox 20/20 update in May was focused on third-party games coming to Xbox Series X, and that show didn’t really meet the expectations of Xbox fans looking to see real gameplay on Xbox Series X. June passed without an Xbox 20/20 update, and the Xbox Games Showcase in July was also a disappointment for Halo fans after Halo: Infinite failed to blow everyone away.

“We’ve got so much more to share with news about Xbox Series X, new games like Halo: Infinite, and cloud gaming via Xbox Game Pass. We’re going to share that news in a variety of ways. It may sometimes be a dedicated show, YouTube videos, partnering with others, or sharing the latest via Xbox Wire. We want to stay flexible with how we connect with you,” the Xbox team said in the update published last week. The company is expected to finally unveil its Lockhart/Xbox Series S console this month, which is now the worst kept secret in the video games industry, but it remains to be seen how the Xbox team will do it.

After Sony aired a new “State of Play” livestream last week, it would be a bit disappointing to see the Xbox team not using a similar format this month. However, Microsoft announced its Surface Laptop 3, Surface Go 2 and Surface Headphones via a simple press release earlier this year, so it wouldn’t be completely surprising if the Xbox Series S getting the same treatment this month.