For those of us who joined us for the ID@Xbox Showcase at IGN Fan Fest, how's your poker game going? For everyone else, this is your "in case you missed it" announce that we shadow dropped Balatro into Game Pass—now you have another game to add to your install list. For now, we have Mullets, Monster Trains, and (33) Immortals (sound it out with me, it works), so let's get to everything else that's coming soon!

Available Today—Monster Train (Cloud, Console, and PC)
Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, Game Pass Standard
Returning to the Game Pas library, Monster Train brings a new strategic layer to roguelike deckbuilding, with three vertical playing fields to defend. Hell has frozen over and only you can protect the final burning pyre from the forces of heaven and restore the inferno.

Get ready to add Rockbeasts, the narrative band-management RPG, to your most anticipated albums of 2025. Welcome to a world that puts you in the shoes of a manager in the age of MTV, rock anthems, and bad haircuts. Featuring the iconic Iggy Pop, with a story written by Jakub Szamałek (senior writer of The Witcher 3, Principal Writer of Cyberpunk 2077, and upcoming The Blood of Dawnwalker), prepare for a tragicomic tale of the highs and lows of an up-and-coming band in the 90s.

As the manager of "one of the most controversial bands" of the era, you'll help a group of rising stars as they navigate the highs and lows of the music industry in pursuit of fame and fortune. Along the way, you'll meet a colorful cast of anthropomorphic animals, some inspired by real world rock legends. Pick the venue, prep the set and make sure it all goes according to plan. Pull it off and the band might just finally take those first steps to fame and glory. Sure, this one was in a grimy basement, but even the rock legends had to start somewhere, right?

At Tiny Bull Studios, we wanted to create a game that reflects the deep human need for connection, which emphasizes the power of friendship and collaboration in overcoming adversity. While combat and exploration are key elements of The Lonesome Guild, the game places relationships at the heart of its experience. Making a game about friendship and connection is very important to us. The Lonesome Guild was conceived in 2020, which was a period of isolation for a lot of us. It highlighted how much loneliness can affect mental health, relationships, and even self-identity. We saw an opportunity to create a game that doesn't just entertain but inspires people to reflect on the importance of reaching out, supporting others, and ultimately finding strength in companionship.

We believe that what truly sets our game apart from other ARPGs is its unique relationship system, which directly impacts gameplay. Instead of characters being mechanically interchangeable, the bond between them shapes their abilities, interactions, and progression—so you won't just assemble your party for their skills, but you'll nurture them and unlock new powers and quests based on their emotional growth.

For those of you that have been exploring the Living Lands in Avowed, thank you for taking a break to check out the latest Game Pass news! We have some exciting new reveals and exclusive Perks to tease your install buttons. Also, mark your calendars and check out the ID@Xbox Showcase during IGN Fan Fest 2025 on Monday, February 24 at 10am PT for even more Game Pass announcements. Let's get to the games!

Available Today
Avowed (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S) - February 18. Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
Available on day one! Welcome to the Living Lands, a mysterious island filled with adventure and danger. Set in the fictional world of Eora that was first introduced to players in the Pillars of Eternity franchise, Avowed is a first-person fantasy action RPG from the award-winning team at Obsidian Entertainment. Check out Xbox Wire for Starting Tips to Help You on Your Adventure in the Living Lands.

As GDC, the world's largest game developer conference, returns to San Francisco, Microsoft and Xbox will be there to engage and empower developers, publishers, and technology partners across the industry. We are committed to supporting game developers on any platform, anywhere in the world, at every stage of development. Our message is simple: Microsoft and Xbox are here to help power your games and empower your teams. From March 18 - 22, the Xbox Lobby Lounge in the Moscone Center South can't be missed—an easy meeting point, and a first step toward learning more about the ID@Xbox publishing program, the Developer Acceleration Program (DAP) for underrepresented creators, Azure cloud gaming services, and anything else developers might need.

GDC features dozens of speakers from across Xbox, Activision, Blizzard, King and ZeniMax who will demonstrate groundbreaking in-game innovations and share community-building strategies. Microsoft technology teams, with support from partners, will also host talks that spotlight new tools, software and services that help increase developer velocity, grow player engagement and help creators grow. See below for the Conference programming details.

A Survival Shooter Like No Other. Innovation often comes from blending distinct genres to create a new, engaging experience for players. Geometry Survivor is a testament to this creative process, merging the fast-paced shooting action of Geometry Wars with the addictive progression and survival elements of Vampire Survivors.

The Origin of the World of Geometry Survivor
The idea for the game originated from a desire to combine the high-adrenaline gameplay of classic arcade shooters with the strategic depth and character progression found in modern survival games. Geometry Wars provided the perfect template for the game's intense shooting mechanics, renowned for its vibrant visuals and dynamic enemy patterns. Meanwhile, Vampire Survivors offered a blueprint for incremental progression and survival against overwhelming odds, where players enhance their character's abilities over time to withstand hordes of enemies.

The story of the MSX platform, as it celebrates its 40th anniversary, is one of the games industries remarkable journeys that has left a powerful imprint on the world of technology and entertainment. Born in June 1983, the MSX, an acronym for "Machines with Software eXchangeability", emerged as a pioneering force that not only connected continents but also people through the magic of computing.

The birth of the MSX was a momentous event, an ambitious undertaking that materialized through the visionary partnership of Microsoft and ASCII Corporation. Their shared vision was clear: to create a standardized computing platform that would foster compatibility and ease of software development across a myriad of hardware manufacturers. What began as an idea soon evolved into a global phenomenon, revolutionizing the way people interacted with computers and forever altering the course of gaming history.

A new trailer for Hellboy Web of Wyrd was unveiled yesterday during the IGN x ID@Xbox Digital Showcase, giving us a brand-new glimpse at the upcoming action title. The trailer showed new locations, a look at some of Hellboy's fighting moves, and some of the characters he'll likely be throwing his very large fists at. All of this came wrapped up in a traditional comic-style setting, with inspiration heavily drawn from Hellboy comics creator Mike Mignola.

We had the chance to chat to two developers from Upstream Arcade, Adam Langridge and Patrick Martin, about how the art direction of Hellboy Web of Wyrd, how Mignola's presence is felt throughout the game, and the work put in to craft a fresh story while remaining faithful to the Hellboy series.

Calling all heroes, Saturday Morning Cartoons are back! Deep in the land of Eldryth, a kingdom of magic and power, there's more that lies in wait than simple quests for our brave heroes. Beyond the castle ruins in the old forest, a vampire of blackest heart calls upon his sorceress, Hexstar, to raise the dead armies and ready them for war. Who will stand and face these perils? Who will claim victory over their foes… through the power of teamwork?

As you might have seen in today's IGN x ID@Xbox Digital Showcase, we debuted a brand-new villain (Hexstar) and announced the inevitable release date of our upcoming title for September 12, 2023, for Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. Inspired by beloved Saturday morning cartoons, MythForce unites swords and sorcery with gripping first-person combat in a new roguelike adventure.

We're back! What's summer without new game demos to entertain you during those hot days and nights? Starting July 11 and running until July 17, you'll be able to experience over 40 game demos on your Xbox console.

A few things to keep in mind—these demos will only be up on the Xbox Dashboard for a week. Some might be re-published to the Demo channel later, but many will simply disappear at the end of the week, so check them out while you can! The developers would love to hear what you think. Hit them up on social media or through their websites. If you like the game - tell them! If you have constructive criticism, they would love to hear that too.

Microsoft has normally kept its Xbox console sales figures out of public view—many industry experts reckon that this is due to the One and Series generations consistently lagging behind Sony's equivalent PlayStation offerings—but attendees of the BIG Festival in Brazil last week were surprised by "player count" data appearing during an official presentation. An interesting slide was put on display as part of an ID@Xbox Developer Accelerator Program segment—it revealed that the Series X|S consoles have an accumulated userbase of around 21 million, since launching back in November of 2020. Microsoft also emphasized that 48% of its Series S customers are new to the ecosystem.

The older generation also got a mention—with some subtraction (from their grand total of One + Series) the technology giant has divulged that its entire Xbox One lineup (consisting of the original model and S plus X variants) has sold roughly 58 million units since the late 2013. Microsoft has been fairly transparent about its Xbox One generation losing out to Sony's PlayStation 4—the latter has done business in the region of 117.2 million units, and the latest data (again) reaffirms that the PS4 outsold Xbox One by a 2:1 margin. Sales figures for Series X|S seem to be quite healthy—so far—when compared to the predecessor, but PlayStation 5 is still ahead (38.4 million units sold as of March 2023) and Sony is confident that it will sell close to 20 million consoles this fiscal year. Shortages are said to be a thing of the past—production and distribution issues have been resolved and the PS5 can be pumped out at an admirable rate.

This weekend, at Xbox Games Showcase and Starfield Direct, we showed the exciting future for players and game creators - dozens of new games, a new 1 TB Series S console and new ways for players to get their games anywhere with PC Game Pass coming to NVIDIA GeForce NOW later this year. After our double feature, Head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, Head of Xbox Creator Experience, Sarah Bond, Head of Xbox Game Studios, Matt Booty, and Game Director at Bethesda Game Studios, Todd Howard also addressed the future of gaming at Microsoft in our What's Next for Gaming event.

Players are discovering and playing games like never before - we have reached new records for monthly active users and monthly active devices, and just last quarter we saw a 46% increase year over year in people playing PC games on Game Pass. Game Pass continues to grow - our revenue from subscriptions overall reached nearly $1 billion last quarter. We're excited about the future of Xbox, and we see the opportunity to grow not only our own business, but the entire industry as a whole - through creating groundbreaking new games, inviting creators to build their dream projects on our platform, and opening gaming up to everyone, no matter where they are in the world. These are our key pillars to help continue that growth.

Global Accessibility Awareness Day is an exciting moment for Xbox to recognize the importance of accessibility, celebrate the players and developers with disabilities that are part of our vibrant, global gaming community, and highlight recent accessibility work at Xbox. To meet the needs of over 427 million players with disabilities, and create a platform where everyone feels welcome, safe, and represented, we know that accessibility awareness and support is something that has to happen every day and has to be part of the community culture. What this support resembles will vary based on the player, but ultimately, accessibility at Xbox is all about creating gaming experiences that everyone can enjoy.

Gaming is all about the power of connection and play. And it has been incredible these last several months watching the energy our community has put into learning about game accessibility, especially as we continue our own accessibility journey and push for a more inclusive games industry. On Global Accessibility Awareness Day 2023, we're excited to share with you some of the work we've been doing in support of our Gaming & Disability communities, including updated accessibility support pages, new accessibility features on PC, and recognizing the achievements of thousands of Xbox Ambassadors who are showing how easy and fun it can be to learn about game accessibility by completing over one million Accessibility Explorer Path missions!

Explore the world of Ospolis and discover fabulous treasures in this comic book style FPS. The Explorator is a game inspired by oldschool FPS with a cell shading visual style, as an explorer you take your courage in both hands to set foot on the most dangerous island of the known world, Ospolis.

Legends say that the legendary city of Atlantis lies beneath this island, which has been suddenly overrun by goblins and monsters that have emerged from the bowels of the underground tunnels drilled by unwary explorers confident of finding this famous city. Explore mysterious counter-zones and brave dangers to discover priceless treasures buried beneath the ruins of Atlantis.