It’s June, so you know what that means: a week packed full of video game reveals and announcements. As ever, Microsoft will be at the heart of the action with its annual Xbox Games Showcase, showing off a range of its own first-party games, as well as a selection of third-party offerings. But how can you watch this packed stream? That’s what we’re here to tell you.
When Is Xbox Games Showcase 2026?
The Xbox Games Showcase 2026 will be held on Sunday, June 7. The event is a two-parter, starting with the Xbox-focused presentation that will showcase first and third-party Xbox games. Following that, there will be a dedicated Gears of War: E-Day Direct. The stream kicks off at the following times, depending on your region:
- US (West Coast) – 10am PDT
- US (Central) – 12pm CDT
- US (East Coast) – 1pm EDT
- UK – 6pm BST
- Europe – 7pm CEST
For our Australian readers, the Xbox Games Showcase begins early on the morning of June 8 at:
- Australia (Western) – 1am AWST
- Australia (Central) – 2:30 am ACST
- Australia (Eastern) – 3am AEST
Where To Watch Xbox Games Showcase 2026
You can watch the Xbox Games Showcase 2026 and the Gears of War: E-Day Direct right here on IGN. We show all the big summer showcases on the IGN homepage, so simply visit IGN.com to see it all happen. If you’d prefer, you can also watch it on our YouTube channel.
If you’d prefer to watch the stream on Microsoft’s official channels, head to Xbox’s YouTube, Twitch, or Facebook page. For those who wish to watch with American Sign Language, the stream will also be available on the Xbox ASL Twitch channel.
What Will Be at the Xbox Games Showcase 2026?
So far, Xbox has remained pretty tight-lipped about what we can expect to see in this year’s showcase, aside from the dedicated Gears of War: E-Day Direct. Following in the footsteps of Xbox’s previous two summer “Direct” shows, which focused on Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and The Outer Worlds 2, you can expect around 25-30 minutes of deep dive into the upcoming Gears of War prequel.
Beyond the Gears Direct, it seems sensible to expect news about the recently delayed Fable, as well as the remake of Halo: Combat Evolved (dubbed “Campaign Evolved”) which is due to land later this year. We wouldn’t be surprised to see updates for Forza Horizon 6, too. But beyond that, it’s all guesswork. You can read what we expect from the Xbox Game Showcase here.
It’s also worth remembering that Xbox’s showcases include many third-party developers working on multiplatform games, so it’s worth tuning in even if you don’t own an Xbox or PC (plus, many Xbox-developed games come to PS5 now.) Last year’s GOTY, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, was first shown as part of the Xbox Games Showcase in 2024, so there’s potential for another future game of the year to turn up here.
Other Summer Game Showcases
The Xbox Games Showcase is just one of many summer game showcases taking place in June 2026. In a post-E3 world there are now many different online shows that take place throughout the start of June, all hosting their own reveals and surprises. The ones still to come are:
- Latin American Games Showcase – June 4, 2pm PDT
- Women-Led Games Showcase – June 4, 4pm PDT
- Access-Ability Showcase – June 5, 8am PDT
- Summer Game Fest 2026 – June 5, 2pm PDT
- Day of the Devs SGF Edition – June 5, 4pm PDT
- Southeast Asian Games Showcase – June 6, 8am PDT
- Wholesome Direct – June 6, 9am PDT
- Story Rich Showcase – June 6, 10am PDT
- Green Games Showcase – June 6, 11am PDT
- Gayming Pride Parade – June 6, 12pm PDT
- Future Games Show Summer Showcase – June 6, 12pm PDT
- Frosty Games Fest – June 6, 3pm PDT
- Xbox Games Showcase – June 7, 10am PDT
- PC Gaming Show – June 7, 12pm PDT
- Deutsche Indie Showcase – June 7, 2pm PDT
- India Games Showcase – June 8, 10am PDT
Matt Purslow is IGN’s Executive Editor of Features.
