Every upcoming Xbox exclusive game for 2024 and beyond
It’s a pretty impressive lineup (even if some of our most anticipated games are likely still a painfully long way off). Some of the games on here have been a long time coming. Where possible, we’ve listed release windows, but this is a full round-up containing every upcoming Xbox exclusive that’s been confirmed, even if it’s still a long way away in the misty vagueness of a far-off future (looking at you, Elder Scrolls 6). Read on to check out the full list!
Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl
- Developer: GSC Game World
- Publisher: GSC Game World
Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl was announced in 2020 from GSC Game World as an open-world shooter and horror game. It’s seen a few delays, especially after global events such as Russia’s war on Ukraine, but the devs have kept fans updated throughout. The latest we heard was the good news that Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl is currently set to launch in Q1 2024.
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II
- Developer: Ninja Theory
- Publisher: Xbox Game Studios
After a long silence following Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II’s announcement back in 2019 (2019!), we’ve lately seen a little more of the long-awaited sequel. 2021’s first look at gameplay was followed by a new trailer last year, which gave us a 2024 release window (and shot Hellblade II straight onto our list of five Xbox Game Pass games for 2024 that we can’t wait for).
Another new trailer came at the end of last year, and while there wasn’t a release date in that one either, we are expecting to see more of Hellblade II at that Xbox Developer Direct.
Avowed
- Developer: Obsidian Entertainment
- Publisher: Xbox Game Studios
After an announcement back in 2020, we are at last seeing more of Avowed — the new first-person fantasy RPG from Obsidian Entertainment, set in the world of Eora. A first look at last year gave us a 2024 release window — and prompted one Obsidian dev to respond to player concerns about the trailer.
It is meant to pop up at Xbox Developer Direct, but in the meantime we do have some details about it. Avowed has you play as an envoy from the kingdom of Aedyr who heads to the Living Lands to investigate a plague, wielding everything from swords and guns to spells as you go.
Ara: History Untold
- Developer: Oxide Games
- Publisher: Xbox Game Studios
Ara: History Untold is another more recent announcement, with the historical turn-based strategy game having been revealed during Gamescom’s Opening Night Live in 2022. We won’t have long to wait for it, either — it’s expected to launch sometime in 2024, when it’ll see you expanding your lands, taking on rivals, exploring art and culture, and more.
Towerborne
- Developer: Stoic Studio
- Publisher: Xbox Game Studios
Banner Saga studio Stoic announced Towerborne last year as an action-adventure game which sees you ready to protect the people of the Belfry by taking on the monsters outside the tower. We don’t have a release date for this one, beyond a 2024 release window.
33 Immortals
- Developer: Thunder Lotus Games
- Publisher: Thunder Lotus Games
Thunder Lotus Games, the developer behind the excellent Spiritfarer, announced co-op action-roguelike game 33 Immortals last year, and gave it an Early Access release window of 2024. It sees you play as a damned soul fighting against monsters, bosses, and the judgement of God.
Replaced
- Developer: Sad Cat
- Publisher: Coatsink
Retro sci-fi 2D adventure game Replaced was announced back in 2021, and after a few delays and new trailers, is set to arrive in 2024 (Sad Cat Studios also suffered as a result of the war in Ukraine). It has you play as an AI, R.E.A.C.H, which has been trapped inside a human body.
Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn
- Developer: A44 Games
- Publisher: Kepler Interactive
Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn is a fantasy open-world action-RPG from A44 Games where you use guns, axes, and magic against the dead and the gods themselves. It’s been delayed a few times, but is expected to launch this year.
Sopa
- Developer: StudioBando
- Publisher: StudioBando
StudioBando’s Sopa is an intriguing narrative adventure game about Miho, who heads to the pantry on a simple errand to grab a potato for his grandma’s soup. This soon unravels into a journey into a strange land, where every time he returns to his Nana’s kitchen, things have changed. Sopa will be out in 2024.
Dungeons of Hinterberg
- Developer: Microbird Games
- Publisher: Curve Games
Another 2023 announcement was Microbird Games’ action-adventure RPG Dungeons of Hinterberg, which combines puzzles, magic, relationship building, and monsters. It sees Luisa, a law trainee, heading to a tourist town in the Austrian Alps to take on the Dungeons of Hinterberg. It’s set to launch this year.
Magical Delicacy
- Developer: Skaule
- Publisher: Whitethorn Games
Pixel platforming and cooking game Magical Delicacy was announced in 2023, and was actually the first confirmed Game Pass addition we had for 2024. In Magical Delicacy, a young witch named Flora heads to a far-off town to become a fully-fledged witch. She’ll be cooking and delivering things to the townsfolk, exploring the town itself, uncovering secrets, getting caught between covens, and more.
Dead Static Drive
- Developer: Reuben Games
- Publisher: Reuben Games
Dead Static Drive has been a long time coming. It started development in 2014, and was confirmed for Game Pass in 2019. The indie survival horror game is set in the 1980s and blends nightmares, Eldritch themes, exploration, fighting and all sorts of mysteries. It’s set to launch in Q3 2024.
Ark 2
- Developer: Studio Wildcard
- Publisher: Studio Wildcard
Ark 2 was announced in 2020 with a reveal trailer starring Vin Diesel. The survival game was delayed out of 2023 to the end of 2024, with the team also announcing Ark: Survival Ascended at the same time.
Ark: Survival Ascended is now out, and once the team deals with its launch issues, we hopefully won’t have long to wait for Ark 2.
Perfect Dark
- Developer: Crystal Dynamics, The Initiative
- Publisher: Xbox Game Studios
This one’s been on the way for a while. The Perfect Dark reboot was announced by The Initiative back in 2020 at The Game Awards, which since then hasn’t announced much beyond the fact that it’s co-developed by Marvel’s Avengers dev Crystal Dynamics.
Recent reports don’t all sound entirely promising — 2022 brought a report that Perfect Dark development was “painfully” slow as senior staff left The Initiative. Embracer Group’s restructuring program, meanwhile, prompted Crystal Dynamics to assure fans that “there will be no impact to our continuing efforts with our partners at The Initiative on Perfect Dark.”
All Xbox tells us is that Perfect Dark is “A secret agent thriller set in a near-future world.” Hopefully 2024 will bring us more news on this long-awaited game.
Indiana Jones
- Developer: MachineGames
- Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
The new Indiana Jones game was announced in 2021 as an original story from MachineGames, in collaboration with Lucasfilm Games, and executive produced by Todd Howard. The teaser didn’t give us much to go on — after all, Bethesda did say it would be “some time before we have more to reveal” — but we got a glimpse of all the necessary exploration gear before the clip ended on a shot of Indy’s famous hat and whip.
That’s all set to change this year, though, as we’ll see more of Indiana Jones at the Xbox Developer Direct later this month.
Project: Mara
- Developer: Ninja Theory
- Publisher: Xbox Game Studios
Several games on this list are shrouded in mystery, but few to the same extent as Project: Mara. Announced back in 2020, Ninja Theory described Project Mara as a “a real-world and grounded representation of mental terror.” We know from Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice that Ninja Theory is more than adept at conjuring up incredible atmosphere, but it’s still not clear what to expect from Project: Mara.
Ninja Theory co-founder Tameen Antoniades says it’s an experimental project with just one character and one location. We got a look at that incredibly realistic setting in 2021, when Ninja Theory showed the unbelievable level of detail put into recreating this real-life apartment. It’s not clear when we might hear more about this one, but we’ll keep an eye out.
The Outer Worlds 2
- Developer: Obsidian Entertainment
- Publisher: Xbox Game Studios
Obsidian Entertainment announced The Outer Worlds 2 in 2021, with the trailer’s narrator being completely honest in that the team “haven’t finished the design, or finished the story, or finished any gameplay that’s ready to show.”
It’s not much of a surprise that we haven’t seen much of the sci-fi RPG sequel since, but perhaps that will change this year.
Fable
- Developer: Playground Games
- Publisher: Xbox Game Studios
Playground Games’ Fable is another one we’ve been anxiously looking forward to since its announcement back in 2020. It’s an interesting concept, being both the next instalment in the Fable franchise and a reboot.
The fantasy action-RPG has given us a few gorgeous trailers over the years but no hint of a release date — for now, we’ve condensed all the info we’ve seen into our round-up of everything we know about Fable.
Everwild
- Developer: Rare
- Publisher: Xbox Game Studios
Oh, Everwild… we’ve been hoping for this one to crop up at every Xbox event that’s happened since the game was announced in 2019. It’s a brand-new IP from Rare, and sure, we’ve had a few trailers, but not really any concrete info on what the game is actually like. We do know it’s set in a magical world, and we play as one of the Eternals who share a connection with all of nature.
One report a few years back suggested Everwild was targeting a 2024 release (good news!) after being “restarted from scratch” (worrying!). On the plus side, a Rare job listing reiterated that Everwild is the studio’s next title. More news in 2024, hopefully…
State of Decay 3
- Developer: Undead Labs
- Publisher: Xbox Game Studios
Announced in 2020, Undead Labs’ State of Decay 3 doesn’t yet have a release date. Nor does it yet have any details available at all. That trailer we had in 2020 gave us just over a minute and a half of a glimpse at the game, but that was enough time to unsettle us all with a zombie deer feeding on a wolf.
It was also enough for Tom to put it down in his list of 15 upcoming Xbox horror games to scratch that post-Resident Evil itch. There’s no telling when we might hear more of this one, but we’ll keep a hopeful — and wary — eye out.
Age of Mythology Retold
- Developer: World’s Edge
- Publisher: Xbox Game Studios
In typical fashion, I waited years for this announcement and then missed the few seconds where it happened. Nevertheless, this is one to look forward to: it will be the Definitive Edition of 2002’s much-loved game. Compared to some of the other games on this list, Age of Mythology Retold was a recent announcement (it was revealed towards the end of 2022) and so it’s probably not so much of a surprise that we’re yet to hear more.
Contraband
- Developer: Avalanche Studios
- Publisher: Xbox Game Studios
Another more recent, if mysterious, announcement was Contraband, the “co-op smuggler’s paradise set in the fictional world of 1970s Bayan.” Announced in 2021 from Avalanche Studios (the Just Cause developers), we’re yet to hear anything more about Contraband.
The CGI reveal trailer was short and similar to the announcement of the new Indiana Jones game, in that it mostly focused on cluttered desks to hint at what the game might be about. Now we’re in 2024, perhaps we can at last hope to hear more of Avalanche Studios’ latest venture.
South of Midnight
- Developer: Compulsion Games
- Publisher: Xbox Game Studios
What an atmospheric trailer Compulsion Games had when announcing this third-person action-adventure game in 2023. Set in the American Deep South, South of Midnight incorporates aspects of magical realism, folklore, and southern Gothic elements.
It sees its main character Hazel becoming a Weaver, which Compulsion Games says means she is “a magical mender of broken bonds and spirits.” This was a very recent announcement, but hopefully we’ll see more of the intriguing South of Midnight soon.
Clockwork Revolution
- Developer: inXile Entertainment
- Publisher: Xbox Game Studios
Clockwork Revolution gave off some serious Bioshock vibes in its reveal trailer last year. It’s a steampunk action-RPG from inXile Entertainment, and sees you exploring key moments of the past of the city of Avalon.
InXile emphasised that Clockwork Revolution is “early in development,” so we might have a wait for this one too.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024
- Developer: Asobo Studio
- Publisher: Xbox Game Studios
After the hugely ambitious Microsoft Flight Simulator, Asobo Studio unveiled Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 last year. It looks, somehow, even more ambitious, offering players the chance to try out aviation careers such as aerial firefighting and search and rescue.
OD
- Developer: Kojima Productions
- Publisher: Xbox Game Studios
After the confusion of Death Stranding, which somehow managed to drop endless trailers without telling us anything about the game, we all know better than to expect to hear much about Kojima Productions’ OD until Kojima himself is good and ready.
For now, all we know is that OD is a horror game, that Kojima Productions is creating it in partnership with film director Jordan Peele, and that it’ll star Sophia Lillis from Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Hunter Schaffer from Euphoria, and Udo Kier from Flesh for Frankenstein. OD was announced late last year, too, so who knows when we could learn more about this one.
Project: Maverick
- Developer: People Can Fly
- Publisher: Xbox Game Studios
If some of the games on this list are a little shy with details, Project: Maverick is utterly mysterious. Absolutely nothing has been said about this one beyond the fact that People Can Fly has partnered with Microsoft to develop it. People Can Fly’s last projects include Outriders and Bulletstorm, so it’ll be interesting to see what they come up with for Project: Maverick.
The Elder Scrolls VI
- Developer: Bethesda Game Studios
- Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Let’s face it, we’ve all been waiting for The Elder Scrolls 6 long before it was announced in 2018, and we’ll probably be waiting a long time still. Bethesda’s Pete Hines only confirmed the game was in early development last year, and Bethesda had made it clear that Starfield was the priority at the time. Given how excellent Skyrim was, The Elder Scrolls 6 will likely be worth the (very long) wait.
Harmonium The Musical
- Developer: The Odd Gentleman
- Publisher: Netflix
Harmonium The Musical was announced just before the end of 2023 as a narrative adventure, interactive musical game, and sign language musical. It focuses on ten-year-old Melody Macato, a Filipina-American musician who became deaf when she was younger and is now working on an accessible debut show for all her friends. That’s not all: her music takes her to a strange land called Harmonium, and she can’t get home until she uses her music to defeat Cacophony.
Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector
- Developer: Jump Over The Age
- Publisher: Fellow Traveller
Action-adventure RPG Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector was announced last year and doesn’t yet have a release date. We play as an android, a Sleeper, fleeing our corporate owners after stealing a ship to escape. We need to upgrade a ship, find a crew, take on contracts, and attempt to survive a war between two corporations.
Routine
- Developer: Lunar Software
- Publisher: Raw Fury
This is an interesting one. Lunar Software announced Routine back in 2012, if you can believe it, and then went pretty silent. The sci-fi horror game was then re-revealed in 2022, and will have us exploring an abandoned lunar base and facing all the dangers within. No release date yet, but we’re just happy to see this one back in the daylight.
