The upcoming Xbox Direct will allegedly feature a new entry in a “legendary Japanese IP”

Microsoft recently announced a new Xbox Developer_Direct, set to air on January 23, 2025. According to the company, it will reveal brand-new information about some of the most anticipated upcoming games of the year, but it seems it also has a special surprise prepared for its viewers…

We know that the Xbox Developer_Direct will feature three video games, DOOM: The Dark Ages, South of Midnight, and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. But, according to Windows Central, there’s also going to be a fourth mysterious game, and it’s “a new entry in a legendary Japanese IP which has decades of history, and should make a lot of fans happy.” This changes everything because, while the Developer_Direct already sounded quite exciting, this has the chance to attract an even broader audience.

The Xbox brand always had a hard time resonating with Japanese audiences. Because of this, Microsoft has partnered with many famous Japanese studios over the last few years – like Sega, Atlus, Square Enix, and Capcom – in order to appeal to gamers in their home country. So naturally, everybody is now speculating on which Japanese franchise will reveal a brand-new entry in the upcoming Developer_Direct.

Which legendary Japanese IP will appear in the Xbox Developer_Direct?

Needless to say, Windows Central’s sources were very secretive on which Japanese franchise is going to appear in the Developer_Direct, so there are a lot of different possibilities that fit with that description. One of them is Resident Evil, which currently has a new mainline entry in development that fans have been waiting for Capcom to reveal for months. It could also be any of its classic IPs, like Mega Man or Devil May Cry, but many fans believe that Resident Evil is the most likely one (myself included).

Sega and Atlus are one of the Xbox brand’s closest associates, so it also wouldn’t be surprising if either of them revealed a new game during the Developer_Direct. Persona fans have been waiting for the inevitable announcement of Persona 6 for years, so many fans believe this presentation could finally be the place in which Atlus reveals that long-awaited title. On the other hand, people have discovered that Sega filed trademarks for Ecco the Dolphin in December. Could this iconic aquatic hero be finally making a comeback? Can we even consider it a “legendary” IP in the first place?

Lastly, there’s Square Enix, a company that recently disclosed its intentions to stop making PlayStation 5 exclusives so that it can offer its games to as many players as possible. Maybe this Xbox Developer_Direct will feature new information about an entry in the Final Fantasy series (like Final Fantasy 17 or the third game in the Final Fantasy 7 Remake project) or a new Dragon Quest game. There’s also Kingdom Hearts 4, a game that Square announced 2 years ago and has completely disappeared from the public eye ever since, so maybe it will resurface during Microsoft’s January 23 presentation.