Xbox exclusives we’re hoping to listen to about in 2024
The Outer Worlds 2
It was virtually precisely three years in the past when The Outer Worlds 2 was introduced on the Xbox & Bethesda Video games Showcase. Now, the very first thing to say right here is how sensible that announcement trailer was. Sticking to The Outer Worlds humorousness, it was fortunately truthful about how nothing was really completed within the recreation but. The narrator, going body by body, talked about the sort of issues they had been including to make the trailer spectacular: “All of the sudden, and for no purpose, individuals working. These pointless, slow-motion photographs make every thing appear cool and may bolster pre-sale numbers.” It was a fantastic trailer, which was very trustworthy about the truth that The Outer Worlds was nonetheless within the early phases: “Now we see our hero, however solely their silhouette, as a result of the builders have not completed the design, or completed the story, or completed any gameplay that is really prepared to indicate. The truth is, the one factor they’ve completed is the title.” That title is after all The Outer Worlds 2, which does certainly do a very good job of getting the purpose throughout about what this recreation is.
Obsidian can be engaged on Avowed, which we noticed much more of throughout 2024’s Xbox Video games Showcase, with new gameplay data and trailers. Since Avowed is anticipated to launch this yr, it is sensible that Obsidian will have already got its arms full. Nonetheless, that announcement trailer for The Outer Worlds 2 was three years in the past, so maybe we are able to nonetheless hope to listen to some form of replace on that entrance this yr — even whether it is, as soon as once more, “the one factor they’ve completed is the title.” If it got here with one other nice tongue-in-cheek trailer like the primary, that’d be greater than sufficient for now.
Everwild
This was certainly one of my Xbox Video games Showcase 2024 predictions that undoubtedly wasn’t profitable. It looks like I’ve written quite a bit about this recreation contemplating it hasn’t had an replace shortly, however I can’t assist holding out hope of seeing Everwild at each Xbox occasion, just because it seemed so good when it was introduced (and within the few glimpses we’ve seen since).
On the one hand, it appeared doable Everwild would possibly seem on the Xbox showcase just because it’s been so a few years since that X019 announcement. However, we’ve had radio silence about Everwild just about ever since. A report in 2021 prompt Everwild focusing on was focusing on a 2024 launch after being “restarted from scratch”, however the one official phrase we’ve had on Uncommon’s new IP was when the Everwild workforce commented final yr that they had been seeking to “heat up… for our yr forward.” All that to say, some signal of life from the beautiful Everwild this yr could be very welcome, though I additionally undoubtedly wouldn’t say no to some extra definitive data on what this recreation will really be like. It appears extremely lovely, however how will it play? We all know we’ll be enjoying as an Everlasting, empowered by a mystical reference to nature, however what’s the story there? And please, Everwild, when would possibly we see a launch window?
Contraband
Contraband was one other shocking reveal from Xbox & Bethesda Video games Showcase 2021. Like with The Outer Worlds 2, the announcement didn’t inform us a lot, however what it did share was sufficient to get us eagerly anticipating extra concerning the recreation. Contraband is an open-world action-adventure recreation from Avalanche Studios and “a co-op smuggler’s paradise set within the fictional world of Seventies Bayan.” Its announcement trailer was really a bit of harking back to the reveal of the subsequent Indiana Jones recreation. Each didn’t reveal their protagonists however confirmed off tables full of maps and adventuring tools, with Contraband’s clearly being extra smuggling-focused: maps, getaway routes, and hints of a plan for the “Solar River job.”
It’s exhausting to guage from that announcement alone simply how far alongside in growth Contraband could be, however with three years now between us and that first reveal, we’re hoping to see extra Contraband information quickly.
Ark 2
Ark 2 is far more firmly positioned on the Xbox horizon, with a present set launch window of late 2024 (having initially been down for launch in 2023). “Late 2024” is trying quite a bit nearer now we’re this facet of the Xbox Video games Showcase, and after a number of trailers displaying Vin Diesel doing a very good job of managing his dinosaur-filled world, we’re hoping to see extra from Studio Wildcard about what to anticipate from Ark 2 this yr. We do know a good quantity already — try our round-up of every thing we find out about Ark 2 for extra!
These are just some of the Xbox exclusives on the horizon which we’re hoping to listen to extra of this yr. There are lots extra on the listing, however most are both means too far-off or have already got launch dates or home windows. As an example, there’s OD, however Hideo Kojima solely teased OD as an upcoming Xbox horror recreation late final yr, and given how lengthy we needed to wait earlier than we knew something for sure about what was happening in Loss of life Stranding, it’s exhausting to inform after we would possibly see extra on this explicit challenge. Then there’s Clockwork Revolution, which was additionally introduced simply final yr. inXile did specify on the time that the steampunk time-traveling first-person action-RPG was nonetheless “early in growth,” so there’s probably a little bit of a wait earlier than we hear extra of that.
Then there’s Ninja Concept’s Mission Mara, introduced as a “illustration of psychological terror” again in 2020, which we’ve scarcely seen since. Ninja Concept has after all been busy with the superb Hellblade 2 which is out now (Sean cherished it in his Hellblade 2 evaluate), however even when this did imply extra of a concentrate on Mission Mara, it appears like that one’s nonetheless means off. One other mysterious challenge is Mission Maverick, which was once more solely introduced final yr. Then we’ve acquired the juggernaut of The Elder Scrolls VI, which appears solely to be talked about in reference to how far-off it’s.
Issues are, nonetheless, very a lot trying up on the Xbox exclusives entrance. That Xbox Video games Showcase was glorious (in truth, Sean reckons there was just one factor lacking), and we’ve nonetheless acquired the likes of Gamescom on the best way, so we’ll be looking out for any exclusives information. Which of those are you hoping to listen to from this yr?