Xbox had some pretty good exclusives in 2023. Forza and even Starfield were huge – even if the latter didn’t quite have the impact Bethesda and Microsoft might have hoped for. We do believe though that Starfield has the potential to get much better going through 2024. It’s not something that we are overly thinking about for this list, but it’s worth bearing in mind it may be worth revisiting in the quieter periods.
But what’s new? What can we expect? Well, you never know if Microsoft is just going to pop out for lunch and acquire another massive publisher, so 2024 may well have some more surprises in store. We can assume it is going to continue to double down on its policy of pumping games into its Game Pass subscription service, continuing to make that unbeatable value for Xbox and PC gamers alike.
In terms of games, let us look at some of the more exciting additions – in no particular order – coming to Xbox Series S and X in 2024.
Xbox Game Studios
2024
Believe it or not, people bought Xboxes just to play Microsoft Flight Simulator when it first arrived on the console in 2022. Peripheral makers made console-compatible flight controls and it was a way for more gamers to experience the genre, without needing a beast of a gaming PC to get the best out of it. Fast forward a couple of years and the new, gorgeous-looking next-gen version will soon be with us.
We do fear a bit for how this will actually work if you are packing an Xbox Series S. The quality looks pretty intense, but Microsoft has not yet released a game that will only work on its higher-end console, so we can take a guess that there may well be a slightly hobbled version for the S.
Ubisoft
16th February
Xbox has already done well with pirate games with the enchanting Sea of Thieves from Rare on the platform for many years now – almost as long as Skull and Bones has been in development in fact.
Skull and Bones however looks as though it will bring a whole new level to pirate games with its huge open seas and the opportunity to lead your band of merry men (or was that Robin Hood, getting our thieves mixed up).
If Ubisoft gets this right there is definitely buried treasure here and hopefully a game we can enjoy for a long, long time.
Xbox Game Studios
2024
The first game in this series Senua’s Sacrifice blew a lot of people away. It was wonderfully well thought out and with the lead character, Senua, suffering from a severe mental illness in the form of psychosis, could be both harrowing and touching to play.
We have waited a long time for this sequel. If you were to point a finger at the original it might only be to say that it was a little ahead of the technology that was available to it. Now with more grunt behind the Xbox and more capable GPUs in our PCs, we are expecting something special.
If they nail the story and combine it with the graphical power at their disposal, this could be a game that really does well as an Xbox exclusive.
Bandai Namco
26th January 2024
It’s been a decent year for fight games. We had the return of the Mortal Kombat franchise, the Excellent DNF Duel, not to mention Street Fighter 6. Tekken 8 should continue that streak into the opening months of 2024. One of the oldest fighters since back in the day of the original PlayStation in the ’90s, it is now on its 8th iteration, and boy does it look good in Unreal Engine 5. Put this one on your list whether you are a tried and tested fight fan or a hopeless button basher.
Ubisoft/Lucasfilms
2024
Not much is known about the forthcoming open-world Star Wars game, other than it is the first time it has been attempted, and it’s set somewhere in the timeline between The Empire Strikes Back and the Return of the Jedi movies.
Ubisoft obviously has form for creating gorgeous-looking worlds – we have seen that plenty of times with the Assassin’s Creed series, and everybody is hoping they can pull off this Red Dead Redemption in space. We will be keeping a close eye on the progress of this one.
What else can we expect on Xbox in 2024
That is merely a handful of the good stuff we can expect on Xbox next year. We already know that 2024 won’t be as huge a year for gaming as 2023 was, but don’t write it off yet. There are plenty of good things on the horizon for those that wait. Keep abreast of it all as we continue to build our gaming section, here on readwrite.com
Featured Image: Pexels
