Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. News

Microsoft’s ID@Xbox stream reveals over 20 new indies coming to Xbox Game Pass

Giovanni Colantonio
By

Over 20 new indie games are coming to Xbox Game Pass. The news comes from Microsoft’s ID@Xbox showcase, which spotlighted several unannounced indies and gave updates on games like Second Extinction.

The lengthy Twitch presentation focused exclusively on indie games coming to Microsoft’s platforms through its ID@Xbox program. As part of the show, Microsoft revealed a long lost of games that will release on Xbox Game Pass when they launch.

Recommended Videos

Most notable is the news that dinosaur shooter Second Extinction is finally coming to Game Pass on April 28. The multiplayer game was one of the first next-gen games shown during Microsoft’s early Xbox Series X broadcasts.

ID@Xbox Game Pass Spring Showcase

The collection of games features some notable standouts that were announced during the show. Moonglow Bay is a relaxing fishing RPG that features a distinct voxel art style. Guacamelee developer DrinkBox Studios showed off its next project, Nobody Saves the World, an action RPG that uses a top-down visual style that evokes the original Legend of Zelda games. The much-anticipated shooter S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 will come to the service as well at launch, though only on PC and Xbox Series X/S.

Related

That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Here’s the full list of ID@Xbox games coming to Xbox Game Pass. Several of the games do not have release dates at the moment, but will be day one releases on Game Pass.

  • Art of the Rally (console, cloud)
  • Astria Ascending (console, cloud)
  • Backbone (console, cloud)
  • Boyfriend Dungeon (console, PC)
  • Craftopia (console, PC)
  • Dead Static Drive (console, PC)
  • Edge of Eternity (console, cloud)
  • Hello Neighbor 2 (console, cloud)
  • Library of Ruina (console, cloud)
  • Little Witch in the Woods (console, cloud)
  • Moonglow Bay Recompile (console, cloud, PC)
  • Narita Boy (console, cloud)
  • Nobody Saves the World (console, cloud)
  • Omno (console, cloud)
  • Recompile (console, cloud, PC)
  • Sable (console, PC)
  • Second Extinction (console)
  • She Dreams Elsewhere (console, PC)
  • S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 (console, PC)
  • The Ascent (console, cloud, PC)
  • Undungeon (console, cloud, PC)
  • Way to the Woods (console, cloud)
  • Wild at Heart (console)

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Giovanni Colantonio
Giovanni Colantonio
Section Editor, Gaming
Giovanni is a writer and video producer focusing on happenings in the video game industry. He has contributed stories to…
Play Xbox Game Pass’ weirdest game before it leaves on September 30
weird west leaving game pass september 2023 art

Earlier this year, Arkane Studios disappointed on Xbox Game Pass with Redfall, a game that dropped much of the studio’s immersive sim expertise for an underbaked multiplayer adventure. But what if I told you that the person who founded Arkane and helped create series like Dishonored had left the studio prior to Redfall and made an excellent immersive sim that is also available on Xbox Game Pass?
Well, that actually happened, and the game in question is Weird West.
In March 2022, former Arkane Studios founder Raphaël Colantonio released Weird West under the newly formed WolfEye Studios. While it swaps out a third-person perspective for an isometric one, Weird West is a joyfully odd supernatural Western game that manages to tap into the immersive sim design philosophy that made many of the games Colantonio worked on excellent.
Unfortunately, Weird West is leaving Xbox Game Pass on September 30, so we recommend you give it a shot before it’s gone.
Embracing the weird
Surprisingly, there aren’t a lot of games set in the Wild West, and even fewer that lean into creepy, supernatural elements like Weird West does. The game’s world is full of supernatural cults, magic, and creatures like pigmen, zombies, and werewolves. Its story is told across five distinct campaigns, starting with one about a retired bounty hunter whose child is killed and husband kidnapped, setting her off on an adventure to get them back.
The individual stories of all five of Weird West’s playable characters are emotionally captivating and quite distinct from each other. That’s very noticeable as soon as you jump over to the second story, which follows a human turned into a Pigman. Still, it’s a living and reactive world, so decisions made and characters killed in an earlier character’s journey do have an impact on subsequent characters’ adventures; you can even find and recruit characters that you previously played as.

It’s here where Weird West’s immersive sim roots start to shine, as a lot of emergent narrative moments with impact feel crafted by the player. This carries over into gameplay, which is done from an isometric perspective. Like Arkane’s best games, there are always multiple solutions to any objective, and going in with guns blazing isn’t always the best option. Instead, players are encouraged to stealth around, sweet-talk characters, and even use some magical abilities if the playable character can learn them as they progress through a character’s journey.
With these more dynamic elements, the isometric perspective, and the narrative focus, Weird West can feel like as much of a CRPG as an immersive sim at times. As such, it might be an enjoyable follow-up to Baldur’s Gate 3 for players finally coming off that lengthy RPG. At the very least, if you enjoy games that emphasize player freedom and also find novel ways to make it influence the game’s broader narrative, then you’ll enjoy Weird West.
The game had some technical issues and rough edges when it was first released, so it has flown under the radar. Most of those have all been smoothed over by now, though. Post-launch updates have fixed most of the major bugs and improved the character progression, aiming, and companion and stealth systems by adding more depth and UI clarity to them. Weird West is in the best state it has ever been in, but still feels as distinct and strange as ever.

Read more
The best Xbox Series X games for 2023
Key art for Starfield

After an uneven console cycle with the Xbox One, Microsoft's latest consoles are aimed at getting the ship back on course. The Xbox Series X is a next-generation powerhouse that rivals gaming PCs, while the Xbox Series S is an affordable stopgap for those who are curious about trying new games.

There's no shortage of games to play on either console thanks to Xbox Game Pass, which gives players immediate access to a library of titles old and new. That built-in catalog is an extra value on top of all the new games available on the system that take advantage of its impressive technical specs. When it comes to first-party exclusives, the Series X is still growing. Halo Infinite and Forza Horizon 5 gave a good boost to the console's library following a somewhat sparse first year. More games are also on the way. Microsoft's Bethesda acquisition will bring exclusives like Starfield and the potential addition of all Activision Blizzard games would further bolster that list, but the console's real strength lies in third-party support.

Read more
The best games on Xbox Game Pass for right now (September 2023)

As the Xbox Game Pass program has grown, so has our list of the best games on Xbox Game Pass. After the launch of the Xbox Series X, Microsoft has doubled down on Game Pass, now offering well over 350 games on the console alone. To help you through option paralysis, we rounded up the top games on Microsoft's subscription platform.

Many titles are available across Xbox and PC, and some of them even have cross-save support. Most of the games are available for streaming on mobile too, as long as you have Game Pass Ultimate. The Game Pass library is also constantly changing, so check out our monthly guide for addition and removal announcements.

Read more