With no E3 this year due to the pandemic, and new consoles launching this holiday season, what are companies to do? Do the Nintendo thing – announce a bunch of new games during a video event!
Microsoft hosted a 27-minute video stream, announcing and highlighting 13 upcoming games for Xbox Series X, which launches this holiday season. Unfortunately, nothing on the biggest Xbox Series X release, Halo Infinite. It’s slated for its own video event later this summer.
Although the video title teases gameplay, most of the videos were cinematic trailers. You can watch the whole thing above, and our breakdown of each game below.
Although the event focuses on upcoming Xbox Series X games, most of them are also compatible with Xbox One. With Microsoft’s Smart Delivery technology, you won’t have to re-buy a different version of the game should you upgrade consoles in the future.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
Both the least exciting and the most disappointing announcement. Valhalla was previously announced during a neat art live stream event last week. We thought we were going to get some more in-depth gameplay footage during this event. Instead it’s 90 seconds of “expected Xbox Series X gameplay.” Still, the AC series has been on fire for the last few years, and we expect more awesome things out of Valhalla.
Release: Holiday 2020
Smart Delivery: Yes
Bright Memory Infinite
One of the most intriguing new games shown during the event, Bright Memory Infinite looks like a slick, spiritual successor to Bulletstorm. As an agent of the Supernatural Science Research Organization, you have lots of near-future tools to take down enemies, including swords, guns, and an electro-whip. Would you believe this is an indie game by a one-person development studio? I sure didn’t!
Release: TBA
Smart Delivery: No
Call of the Sea
Call of the Sea takes place in the 1930s. You play as Norah, a woman searching for her husband, who has gone missing from an expedition in the South Pacific. Norah must explore islands and underwater secrets in a first-person adventure-puzzle format. Spanish developer Out of the Blue cites Myst among their inspirations. Fans of first-person puzzle-adventure Firewatch will be excited to hear the voice of Cissy Jones as Norah.
Release: Late 2020
Smart Delivery: Yes
Chorus
Spelled “Chorvs” in the banner art because that’s what the cool kids are doing, Chorus is a space combat sim starring Nara and her sentient starfighter, Forsaken. Nara and her ship must become one to survive a hostile universe and fight back against the Circle cult that she broke away from. Unique ship powers include teleportation, telekinesis, and extra-sensory perception.
Release: 2021
Smart Delivery: Yes
Dirt 5
Racing games are often the best-looking of any console generation, and Dirt 5 is no exception. The off-road racing series features a full career mode starring the voice talents of Troy Baker and Nolan North, and in-race Photo Mode, and 12-player multiplayer. It even includes four-player split-screen for some local multiplayer mayhem.
Release: October 2020
Smart Delivery: Yes
Madden NFL 21
There are three guarantees in life: death, taxes, and a new Madden game every year. For the last several years the series has focused on smaller iterations and improvements rather than sweeping changes or upgrades. Madden NFL 20 cover athlete and Kansas City Chiefs Quarterback Patrick Mahomes made the announcement, along with a montage of the stories series, from pixels to ray-tracing.
Release: Fall 2020
Smart Delivery: No, but if you purchase Madden NFL 21 on Xbox One before Dec 31, 2020, you can upgrade it to the Xbox Series X version for free, until March 31, 2021.
Scarlet Nexus
From Bandia Namco, Scarlet Nexus is an anime-infused action game starring creepy demon-monsters. You play as a psionic agent of the Other Suppression Force, an elite force that can tackle these otherwise unkillable threats, with psycho-kinetic abilities and fast-paced action.
Release: TBA
Smart Delivery: Yes
Scorn
I’ve watched the trailer for Scorn twice and still have no clue what’s going on. It’s described as a first-person horror adventure game, and seems to involve some creepy humanoid aliens, with maybe some pregnancy? It’s been in development for years and is partially inspired by the works of H.R. Giger, Franz Kafka, and David Cronenberg. In other words, fantastically creepy.
Release: TBA
Smart Delivery: No
Second Extinction
I’m a sucker for games with dinosaurs but I’d rather pet them, raise them, and occasionally run from them. In Second Exctinction, you and up to two friends will be mowing them down left and right. Mutated dinosaurs have reclaimed Earth, and it’s up to a few brave soldiers to clear them out in this mission based, co-op shooter.
Release: TBA
Smart Delivery: Yes
The Ascent
One of the few non-first person or third-person action games, The Ascent is an Action-RPG set on a cyberpunk metropolis on the alien world of Planet Veles. The Ascent blends tropes from the cyerberpunk genre as well as traditional sci-fi, as futuristic humans mix with aliens within a corporate-controlled city of the future.
Release: TBA
Smart Delivery: Yes
The Medium
The Medium is a psychological horror game – think Silent Hill, from the makers of Blair Witch and Layers of Fear. Marianne is the titular medium, haunted by visions into the spirit world. The Medium features a score composed by Silent Hill’s Akira Yamaoka.
Release: TBA
Smart Delivery: No
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2
A colon and a hyphen is asking a bit much in most titles, but I’ll allow it for this very long-awaited sequel to vampire-RPG series Vampire: The Masquerade, based on the tabletop RPG of the same name. You play as – surprise – a recently created vampire in modern-day Seattle. You’ll need to work with other vampire clans to gain access to new powers, explore side quests, meet characters, and decide if you’d rather get your blood from rats or something a bit meatier.
Release: TBA
Smart Delivery: Yes
Yakuza: Like a Dragon
Like a Dragon is the latest in the incredibly prolific Yakuza action series. Although part of the main series, Like a Dragon stars a new protagonist, Ichiban Kasuga, recently out of prison and bent on revenge. The combat system is also a major departure, transforming the real-time combat of previous entries into a turn-based RPG with up to four-person teams.
Release: TBA (Launch title with Xbox Series X)
Smart Delivery: Yes
