Xbox exclusive games we hope to hear about in 2024
The outside worlds 2
It was almost exactly three years ago when The Outer Worlds 2 was announced during the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase. The first thing to mention here is how brilliant that announcement trailer was. Sticking with The Outer World’s sense of humor, it was thankfully honest about the fact that nothing in the game had ended yet. The narrator explained, frame by frame, what kinds of things they added to make the trailer impressive: “Suddenly, and for no reason, people are running away. These pointless, slow-motion shots make everything look cool and should boost pre-sale numbers.” It was a great trailer, which was very honest about the fact that The Outer Worlds was still in its early stages: “Now we see our hero, but only their silhouette, because the developers haven’t finished the design and story yet. , or have completed some gameplay that is actually ready to show. In fact, the only thing they have finished is the title.” That title is of course The Outer Worlds 2, which indeed does a good job of clarifying what this game is.
Obsidian is also working on Avowed, which we saw a lot more of at the 2024 Xbox Games Showcase, with new gameplay information and trailers. Since Avowed is expected to launch this year, it stands to reason that Obsidian will already have its hands full. That announcement trailer for The Outer Worlds 2 was three years ago, though, so perhaps we can still hope to hear some sort of update on that front this year – even if, again, “the only thing they’ve finalized is the title.” If there was another great tongue-in-cheek trailer like the first one, that would be more than enough for now.
Always wild
This was one of my predictions for the Xbox Games Showcase 2024 that was decidedly unsuccessful. I feel like I’ve written a lot about this game since there hasn’t been an update in a while, but I can’t help but hold out hope of seeing Everwild at every Xbox event simply because it looked so good back then it was released. announced (and in the few glimpses we’ve seen since).
On the one hand, it seemed possible that Everwild would appear at the Xbox showcase simply because it’s been so many years since that X019 announcement. Then again, we’ve pretty much had radio silence on Everwild since then. A 2021 report suggested that Everwild’s targeting was for a 2024 release after it was “completely rebooted,” but the only official word we’ve had about Rare’s new IP was when the Everwild team noted last year that they “heat up”. .. for our next year.” That said, a sign of life from the beautiful Everwild this year would be very welcome, although I certainly wouldn’t say no to some more definitive information about what this game will actually look like. looks incredibly beautiful, but how will it play? Knowing that we will play as an Eternal, empowered by a mystical connection with nature, but what is the story there?
Contraband
Contraband was another surprise reveal from Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase 2021. As with The Outer Worlds 2, the announcement didn’t tell us much, but what it did tell us was enough to keep us eagerly awaiting more about the game. Contraband is an open-world action-adventure game from Avalanche Studios and “a co-op smuggler’s paradise set in the fictional world of 1970s Bayan.” The announcement trailer was actually a bit reminiscent of the reveal of the next Indiana Jones game. Both did not reveal their protagonists, but showed tables filled with maps and adventuring equipment, with Contraband clearly more focused on smuggling: maps, escape routes and hints at a plan for the ‘Sun River job’.
It’s difficult to judge how far along in development Contraband is based on that announcement alone, but with three years between us and that first reveal, we hope to see more Contraband news soon.
Ark 2
Ark 2 is placed much more firmly on Xbox’s horizon, with a current release date of late 2024 (which wasn’t initially set to launch in 2023). “Late 2024” seems a lot closer now that we’re on this side of the Xbox Games Showcase, and after several trailers showing Vin Diesel taking good care of his dinosaur-filled world, we’re hoping to see more from Studio Wildcard about what you’ll get this years of Ark 2. We already know quite a bit – check out our overview of everything we know about Ark 2 for more!
These are just some of the Xbox exclusives on the horizon that we hope to hear more about this year. There are many more on the list, but most are either way too far away or already have a release date or window. For example, there’s OD, but Hideo Kojima only teased OD as an upcoming Xbox horror game late last year, and given how long we had to wait before we knew anything for sure about what was going on in Death Stranding, it’s hard to say when maybe we’ll see more about this specific project. Then there’s Clockwork Revolution, which was also announced last year. inXile indicated at the time that the steampunk time-traveling first-person action RPG was still “early in development,” so it will likely be a while before we hear more about that.
Then there’s Ninja Theory’s Project Mara, which was announced in 2020 as a “representation of mental terror” and which we’ve barely seen since. Ninja Theory has of course been busy with the excellent Hellblade 2 that’s out now (Sean loved it in his Hellblade 2 review), but even if this meant a greater focus on Project Mara, it seems like that’s still a ways off. Another mysterious project is Project Maverick, which was only announced again last year. Then we have the juggernaut of The Elder Scrolls VI, which only seems to be mentioned in reference to how far away it is.
However, things are looking very good on the Xbox exclusives front. That Xbox Games Showcase was excellent (Sean thinks there was only one thing missing) and we’ve still got games like Gamescom coming up, so we’ll be on the lookout for exclusive news. Which of these are you hoping to hear from this year?