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The Xbox Series X platform is still on track to launch this year, and Microsoft showed off 13 games that will be coming to its new hardware in the Xbox Series X “launch window” during a presentation on Thursday, May 7.
A launch window release means that not every game on this list will be available on the system’s launch day, but will instead be released within the first few months of the system’s lifecycle. Many of these games will also support Microsoft’s “Smart Delivery” system, which means there will only be one version of the game that will detect whether you’re playing on an Xbox One, Xbox One X, or Xbox Series X system and deliver the best possible performance on that hardware.
Here are the games that Microsoft has confirmed are coming to Xbox Series X:
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (Smart Delivery)
The latest Assassin’s Creed game focuses on Eivor, a Viking warrior who not only has to go on the adventures you’d expect from an Assassin’s Creed game, but will also build a grow a Viking settlement, adding a city-building layer to the familiar Assassin’s Creed formula.
Bright Memory Infinite
Bright Memory Infinite is an updated version of Bright Memory, a visually impressive PC game that mixes gunplay with Ninja Gaiden/Devil May Cry-style action that launched in early access on Steam before getting a “final” release in March of this year. Bright Memory Infinite will keep that game’s general feel, with a reworked story and updated levels.
Call of the Sea (Smart Delivery)
This first-person puzzle game follows a woman trying to track down her husband after his expedition goes missing. The adventure — set in the 1930s —will take place on a beautiful island filled with secrets.
Chorus (Smart Delivery)
Chorus is a single-player, space combat game starring a pilot named Nara and her sentient ship, named Forsaken. This is a genre that’s often underrepresented on consoles, so any space combat game is a welcome sight for fans.
Dirt 5
Codemasters is promising some new ideas in the Dirt franchise with this release, and racing games tend to be a good way for new consoles to show off what they can do. You’ll be able to choose between playing at 60 FPS in 4K mode, or at 120 FPS at lower resolutions, with very fast loading speeds on either options. The game’s career mode will also feature veteran voice actors Troy Baker and Nolan North.
Madden NFL 21 (Smart Delivery)
Football gets prettier in this next-generation sports game. We have few details about what else may change in this version of the yearly release, although the trailers gives us at least a small glimpse of how it will look.
Scarlet Nexus (Smart Delivery)
A game in which your goal is to become the sort of psionic warrior who rescued your character as a child. The trailer shows off the fast-paced combat and some interesting creature design, without giving away much else we can expect from this release.
Scorn
You’ll be thrown into a variety of new worlds and situations in this Giger-inspired first-person horror game, and it’s up to you to figure out what’s going on, and what to do next. New abilities will allow you to explore more of your mysterious environment, making this seems like something of a next-generation Metroid-style experience, with designs heavily reminiscent of H.R. Giger and Zdzisław Beksiński.
Second Extinction (Smart Delivery)
Mutated dinosaurs have taken over the planet, and it’s up to you and two friends to team up and wipe them out. You’ll need to learn each character, and how they best work together, if you hope to survive.
The Ascent (Smart Delivery)
The Ascent is a cyberpunk, solo or co-op RPG set during a time when a corporation that controlled the world has just gone under. With no central authority in power, and everyone fighting for their own survival, it sounds like things are about to get incredibly chaotic.
The Medium
Marianne is a medium traveling between the world of the living and the world of the dead in 1980s communist Krakaw, and visions of a child’s murder send her to an abandoned hotel. Get ready for some horror by the team behind the Blair Witch video game adaptation, as well as the Layers of Fear series.
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 (Smart Delivery)
The original Vampire: The Masquerade has long been a cult classic, with fans polishing up existing aspects of the game and in some cases adding their own content. But the sequel is finally on the way, giving players a chance to fight through the vampiric underworld of Seattle.
Yakuza: Like a Dragon (Smart Delivery)
The latest game in the Yakuza series, coming to both the Xbox One and Xbox Series X platforms. Yakuza: Like a Dragon has already launched in Japan on PlayStation 4, with American fans counting down the days until they’re able to play the game for themselves.
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