X-Box Developer Direct 2026

Another year, another great Developer Direct. First up was Forza Horizon 6 AKA ‘Shut up and take my money.gif’. Seriously though, this looks fantastic and I’ll be there day 1. I loved Forza Horizon 5 (which was my entry into the series) clocking nearly 200 hours.

I love the setting, and I really like the ‘you’re a nobody’ approach when it comes to the Festival. The building stuff doesn’t really interest me that much, but it might be fun to tinker with. Just give me lots of cool cars and races and a great map to explore and I’ll be happy.

Next up was Beast of Reincarnation which looked pretty interesting when it was first revealed last year but this showing left me feeling a little cold. It’s not that what I saw looked bad, more that it looked rather . . . derivative, I guess? Like the game was cobbling together lots of stuff I’ve already seen and played in other games – from visuals, to combat, to story and stetting, to music.

That said, there are some aspects of the combat that do look fun – utilising your wolf companion and triggering combined / support attacks for example. I also like that there’s a guy called ‘Brad’. This is still one I’ll keep an eye on.

Kiln was the surprise addition to the Direct and is a multiplayer focused game about creating and fighting with . . . pots? Okay, this really isn’t for me . . . and honestly, I’m not really sure who it’s for. It does look like fun, I can’t deny that. It’s colourful and weird and it’s the kind of game that I don’t want to see large publishers like Microsoft shy away from backing.

I’m sure expectations aren’t high as far as sales go, just as they probably weren’t for Keeper, but Keeper is a singe player experience that will remain playable forever. A multiplayer only pot based party brawler? Not so much, eh? Like I said – not for me, but glad it exists.

And finally we have Fable. Kind of nuts to think that Playground Games might be releasing two GOTY contenders in 2026. I never played the original Fable games but I always liked the concept of them. I just – based on what I saw of them – didn’t believe they lived up to that concept quite the way I hoped. That’s why I’m excited about this new Fable.

It really looks like they took the core concept of the original games and delivered on it in a way the originals never could. It clearly still needs some polish and optimisation, but with another eight or so months until release, they have plenty of time to knock it into shape.

I love the look of the world, the ‘fairytale’ approach, the fact that they’re not trying to be too ‘cinematic’ or realistic (even if that hurts their GOTY chances because we all know too many gaming publications don’t like things that look too ‘video gamey’ as ridiculous as that sounds). I really wasn’t expecting all the dynamic worlds stuff with the ‘living population’. Yeah, it looks great.

Now Playing: Moss (VR)

Moss is a VR adventure game that released way back in 2018, but unlike many other older VR titles that haven’t quite stood the test of time, Moss is easily one of the best VR games I’ve played.

You play as a ‘reader’ who guides the adorable little mouse Quill on a quest to rescue her Uncle from the evil Sarffog. Despite its age, the game still looks fantastic with a variety of environments, clever use of VR perspective and some wonderfully expressive animations for your furry little companion.

You control Quill like you would a character in a typical third person game, using the thumbstick to move as you explore, jump and fight your way to Quill’s Uncle. The game features a mix of platforming, puzzles and very simple combat.

As part of the story, Quill is aware of your presence and will interact with you as you guide her, using sign language to communicate or – most amusingly – asking for a high five whilst doing a fun little dance if you’ve overcome a particularly tricky challenge.

Your connection to Quill helps invest you not just in the story, but your progress through the game. The two of you are a team, and many puzzles will require you to work together if you want to progress. You’ll primarily be playing Moss sitting, but you can also stand to get a better perspective on the environment, peering over walls and helping you line up more tricky jumps.

It took me about four and a half hours to complete Moss, although I didn’t find every collectible. It felt like just the right length for a game that’s extremely well paced and designed. This is a very polished game where every aspect feels carefully considered and executed – from visuals, to music, to narration, to puzzle design.

Combat is probably the weakest part, however. It’s fine for what it offers, but I feel like they could have added a little more enemy variety to the game, and the combat certainly would have benefited from a Zelda style ‘lock on’.

Overall, I don’t have much more to say about Moss other than to recommend it if you’ve got a VR headset and haven’t tried it yet. It’s a clever, fun little adventure that even ends with a surprisingly satisfying final boss fight. I’ll definitely be picking up the sequel later in the year.

8/10

Suburban Killbot: Steam Replay 2025

In 2025 I played 22 games on Steam unlocking 773 achievements. 62% of these games were new releases, 38% were released in the last 1-7 years and 0% were released 8 or more years ago. This is an almost perfect reverse compared to last year in terms of release windows – 21 games, 486 achievements, 38% new, 62% recent, and 0% old.

0% of my total playtime was spent in VR games in 2025 compared to 4% last year, but that’s not to say I didn’t spend any time in VR – I was just playing stuff natively in my Quest 3.

39% of my time was spent playing games with a controller. The top 3 were Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Ghost of Tsushima and Stellar Blade. This was an increase from 32% last year.

My longest daily streak in 2025 was 77 days from Wed, April 23rd to Wed July 9th in which I played 13 different games. In 2024 it was 42 days and 9 different games.

My overall top 3 most played games by % of playtime were Battlefield 6 (14%) Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (10%) and Avowed (8%).

June was the busiest month with 15% of my total playtime, and September was the slowest with only 3%.

Now Playing: Red Matter (VR)

Red Matter is a puzzle focused sci-fi VR game that released back in 2018. You play as ‘Agent Epsilon’ who has been sent to a investigate a secret research facility on Saturn’s Moon, Rhea. As you explore the facility, you’ll learn about the small team that worked there and the dangerous discovery that they made.

From a narrative point of view, Red Matter is pretty decent. It’s set in an alterative Cold War style universe where a war was fought between the ‘Atlantic Union’ and ‘Volgravia’. Because you don’t speak or read ‘Volgravian’, you’ll use a scanner to translate text you encounter throughout the facility.

This gives you an insight into the researchers who lived and worked there, but also allows you to understand the controls of various machines you’ll need to operate in order to progress. There’s no combat in Red Matter. This is a puzzle game with some (very) basic platforming involved. You can use smooth locomotion if you wish, but there’s also a ‘teleport’ option of sorts, in the sense that you can choose a location on the ground and use your spacesuit to jet pack over to it.

The puzzles are simple but fun. Structurally, the game sees you move from one level of the facility to the next, and in each level you’ll have a puzzle to solve involving some kind of machine – opening an airlock, or reactivating a power generator, for example. There’s lot of knobs to pull, switches to flip and buttons to press providing a fairly tactile VR experience.

Visually, Red Matter still looks decent despite its age thanks to the simple but effective art direction of the facility environment. There’s a bit of a ‘horror’ angle to the game, but I certainly wouldn’t call it a horror oriented experience, and maybe the game would have benefited by leaning more into that aspect.

The real problem I have with Red Matter is the length. I completed it in about two and a half hours and that was with me being quite thorough when it came to scanning. Now, games should be as long as they need to be – length certainly doesn’t equal quality. But Red Matter is not as long as it needs to be.

The best way I can describe it is that I felt like I’d played a demo of Red Matter rather than the full game. The ending hit quite abruptly, just when I felt like the game was about to open up and become more complex and interesting. But no, it just ends. Maybe that was a budget issue? I don’t know. I just know that Red Matter doesn’t offer much of a substantial experience or a satisfying conclusion.

I can’t say I didn’t enjoy my time with it, and if you see it on sale for a few quid, it’s probably worth picking up. And I’ll probably give the sequel a shot in the future to see how they’ve built upon this fun but extremely limited experience.

5/10

Steam Winter Sale: Damage Report

I didn’t pick much up in last year’s Winter Sale, but this year I went a little mad. First up – VR games!

I played the demo of Hubris a year or so ago (?) and it seemed okay, so when I saw it on sale for only 6 quid, I figured it was worth a spin. As someone who likes the Metro games (but doesn’t love them) I thought Metro Awakening would be worth a try on sale.

And then we have Red Matter and Moss, two quite highly regarded (but older) VR games. And finally there’s Ghost Town a fairly recent release from the same people who made The Room VR which I liked but felt was rather limited, so I’m curious to see if this one builds upon that experience.

Next up is No, I’m Not a Human which I played a demo of during the Summer Next Fest and quite liked, so I’m curious to see how the full release shakes out. And during the same Next Fest I also played a demo of (and really enjoyed) Dispatch so this was an easy buy.

As a big fan of Doom: Eternal I wasn’t sure if I’d like the new approach to combat in Doom: The Dark Ages but I’m certainly willing to give it a shot.

RV There Yet? is something I picked up cheap to play with a friend. Has good reviews, but no idea if we’ll enjoy it. And finally we have Coral Island which my friend gifted me. I enjoyed Stardew Valley so I’ve been interested in trying this out for a while but I don’t know when I’ll have time to get stuck into it.

The Clayton Awards 2025

Game of the Year 2025 – Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Expedition 33 will keep you guessing, keep you engaged. You’ll quickly come to love and care about these characters. The ending – or rather endings – are brilliant. At its heart, Expedition 33 is a game about loss. About grief. About choosing to move on (or not). If you’ve not lost someone close to you it might not hit you in the same way, but it will hit you all the same.

And if you have, then . . . I lost someone very close to me earlier this year so it hit me hard. And in a way, playing Expedition 33 kind of helped me accept certain things I’d been resisting. It helped me . . . move a little closer to moving on, I guess you could say.

I won’t say any more about the story. It’s best experienced for yourself. But even if you’re someone who doesn’t care about a story or characters, then Expedition 33 still offers a fantastic experience in every other department. It’s great fun to play, to explore, to put together new builds and it will always find new ways to challenge, surprise or delight you.

Oh, and I can’t not mention the absolutely phenomenal soundtrack. The music – like the performances and the game as a whole – deserves recognition and awards. Expedition 33 is truly something special. Go play it. Now. (Full Review)

Most Disappointing Game of 2025 – Ghost of Tsushima

I can’t deny how striking the game looks. How polished it is. The visuals, the music, the VA, the animations, the UI – the production value is clear to see. And maybe that’s enough for some – but not for me.

Because I can’t overlook the bland, excessive combat, poor enemy variety, terribly paced player progression, the repetitive and dull side content, the lack of creativity of the missions, the lacklustre conclusion and the absence of emotion in the story. There’s nothing truly challenging or engaging here – neither narratively, nor in terms of gameplay. (Full Review)