With the recent release of the Xbox One S, and the impending launch of Project Scorpio, Xbox fans have plenty to look forward to this year. Additionally, with Microsoft “very focused” on first-party titles, it seems Xbox is giving gamers plenty of reason to pay attention.
At the upcoming E3 event, Phil Spencer and the rest of the Xbox crew are planning to give plenty of stage time to the games coming for the Microsoft console. And while not every game coming out this year has yet been revealed, there are plenty that have already been announced and are set to arrive in the coming months. In that vein, here are five Xbox One exclusives on the horizon that look poised for success.
6 Sea of Thieves
First announced back in 2015, the swash-buckling action title Sea of Thieves looks to serve up plenty of daring adventure on the high seas later this year on Xbox One. While developer Rare has revealed quite a bit about the game already, there are still quite a few details still under wraps at the studio.
That said, the gameplay and information that have been released has many gamers excited for the possibilities coming in Sea of Thieves. There will be a strong focus on cooperative gameplay between players, plenty of customization with ships and activities, and engaging player-versus-player battles that will undoubtedly rival any multiplayer title currently available. Oh, and of course players will have to battle Scurvy, that wonderful sea disease brought on by a lack of vitamin C.
5 Crackdown 3
Like many titles announced in the last few years, Crackdown 3 has experienced numerous delays, with the latest information saying the game will release later this year, with Project Scorpio support. That said, player excitement for the massively destructive action game has waned very little, if at all, since the game was revealed.
Despite experiencing a “rough” development process, Crackdown 3’s development finally seems on track for a 2017 release. The game’s explosive nature will rival that of Just Cause 3, and finally give Crackdown fans the open-world sequel they’ve been begging for since the release of Crackdown 2 back in 2010.
4 Cuphead
Not every highly-anticipated Xbox exclusive is a triple-A title. One game that has caught the attention of many gamers is Cuphead, the platform indie title coming this year from Studio MDHR. In fact, Cuphead will be the first title from the developer, so a lot is riding on this game for creators Chad and Jared Moldenhauer.
For those who aren’t aware, Cuphead is a “run-and-gun platformer” created in the style of 1930s cartoons. Players will enjoy a single-player campaign, along with multiplayer action. Like the other games on this list, there is still plenty of details yet to be shared about Cuphead, but needless to say, gamers are already lining up to grab this unique indie title.
3 Below
Below is another highly-anticipated indie title, except this one comes from a small developer that has already garnered plenty of respect in the industry. Capybara Games, the developer working on Below, previously released Super Time Force, the action shooter title that received rave reviews from both gamers and critics with it released in 2014.
Below will challenge players with a mysterious, randomly-generated island where exploration, discovery, and survival are at the forefront of the experience. The game is said to offer a Dark Souls level of danger and intrigue with its combat, which by itself will continue to garner incredible attention until the game’s release later this year.
2 State of Decay 2
Finally, there’s State of Decay 2, the sequel to Undead Labs’ smash hit State of Decay. Like its predecessor, State of Decay 2 will throw players into a world full of zombies and task them with making it to the end with a group of struggling survivors. And of course there will be permadeath.
Undead Labs has revealed that it plans to release new details about State of Decay 2 at this year’s E3, but in the meantime has released a handful of screenshots and a reveal trailer that show how much the developer has learned these last few years. It’s obvious the sequel will incorporate many of the features gamers loved about State of Decay, while also injecting new features that players have been asking for since the first game in the series released. There’s little doubt State of Decay 2 will be one of Xbox’s most successful exclusives this year.
1 More Exclusives Inbound
With E3 coming up next month, there will undoubtedly be many more Xbox exclusive titles revealed. As mentioned above, Xbox has committed to offering plenty of first-party games, which means Xbox fans have a lot to look forward to both now and in the coming years.