Xbox has announced it will host an Xbox Partner Preview event this week, highlighting games from the company’s partners, including Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio’s next project, Stranger Than Heaven, along with an update on STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl, another look at The Expanse: Osiris Reborn, and more.
The event will take place this coming Thursday, March 26, at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 5pm GMT, and will be livestreamed on YouTube and Twitch. An Xbox Wire blog post announcing the preview added that on top of the aforementioned titles, the event will include “brand-new reveals, world premieres and Xbox Game Pass announcements.”
It’s a notable event for fans of RGG Studio’s Yakuza series who are looking forward to seeing what Stranger Than Heaven has in store, but outside of the games being shown, it’s a notable milestone in the current new era of Xbox. It’s the first player-focused Xbox event in a post-Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond era of Xbox.
Yes, technically, the first Xbox events under Asha Sharma’s reign were the GDC 2026 keynotes that spoke about Project Helix, but those were for players and developers, and events like that don’t happen often. This is the first in what’s a more common kind of Xbox event that will be without Spencer and Bond, who would’ve potentially made an appearance, as they have previously.
Which also means this could be the first time we hear from Sharma at an event like this. It would be the first time she takes center stage to speak to Xbox players, rather than through her personal X (formerly Twitter) account or in select interviews as she has so far.
It’ll be interesting to see how Sharma does in her first time taking the reigns as the public face of the Xbox brand, and what the show has with regard to what we already know will be there and the unannounced reveals.
Xbox Partner Preview Announced for This Week, Will Showcase RGG Studio’s Stranger Than Heaven, a STALKER 2 Update, and More
