Xbox and PC Game Pass: What to expect in 2023

We’ve said many times that 2023 promises to be a year of fundamental importance for Xbox, especially in terms of this new generation that struggles to access the equipment and can find the right titles to anchor itself in this old fashioned. Thus, this also applies to Xbox Game Pass, since the service works hand-in-hand with the Microsoft ecosystem and is now a deeply distinctive element of Xbox. On the other hand, the importance of 2023 also stems from the problems encountered in 2022: the postponement of Starfield and Redvale dramatically changed the scenario of the end of last year, greatly enriching the start of the new year, with a large concentration of exits already in the first half of 2023.

We are still awaiting some more accurate announcements about plans for the new year, with various rumors speaking of a possible presentation event in these first few months and possibly even in January. However, we can already make a preliminary assessment of 2023 from Xbox Game Pass Since there are so many games already announced that they are hitting the service and based on this data already, we can consider the next few months to be very rich in the subscription catalog. However, this could also be a time for significant changes to the platform, which could include organizing the service as well as offering simple gameplay.

Changes on the horizon?

Xbox Game Pass is now a mature service, heading into its sixth year of activity, but having begun as a pioneering experiment on the video game front, it still has plenty of room for adjustment. Some ads It could appear during 2023, amid undoubtedly positive prospects for users but also the possibility of less pleasant anomalies, such as a possible upward revision of the price. There are many who believe that the service costs too little for what it offers, and with internal production ramping up, it is possible that Microsoft may decide to increase subscription prices, as has already been announced with regard to individual games.

On this front, the famous acquisition of Activision Blizzard could play an important role, which could have different effects on the Game Pass situation. On the other hand, it is clear that the introduction of a huge publisher of this caliber would bring very positive effects on the catalog of the service, and this is clearly a far-reaching reflection and also one of the main reasons why Microsoft went through the process.

On the other hand, an increase in the value proposition could correspond to a new regulation of the service and possibly a revision price. In any case, regardless of the assumptions, we can focus above all on the massive expansion of the offer in both quantitative and qualitative terms, in the event that all Activision and Blizzard series become part of Game Pass.

From a distribution and service usage standpoint, we’re starting to see some significant innovations especially on the Xbox front clouds, which has expanded greatly, even reaching Samsung Smart TVs through a dedicated application, but we can expect more developments in this sense. It is possible that the application will be expanded to TVs and other operating systems, while the idea of ​​some kind of mini-console developed specifically for cloud gaming remains on the horizon, possibly restoring the “Keystone” project that at the moment seems to be shelved by Microsoft.

First party games

With 23 studios in the works, it’s clear that Microsoft has quite a few projects in the pipeline to enter Xbox Game Pass, but in 2023 we’ll only see a few of them. but me First party games coming soon On the service, these are basically all titles released by Xbox Game Studios, given that the rule is direct entry of Xbox exclusives into the catalog. Because of this, our Game Pass predictions for 2023 essentially match what we’ve made for Xbox in general and game play. It’s a matter of knowing which titles will actually be able to arrive in 2023, but in the meantime, we can have (almost) certainty: based on what was reported during the 2022 Xbox & Bethesda Showcase, Starfield should arrive by the first half of the year, Redfall and Forza Motorsport, for games developed in-house by Xbox Game Studios.

In this sense, an interesting first arrival will indeed take place in January with Age of Empires 2, followed by Age of Empires 4 at a date to be determined, both of which will hit consoles for the first time after the PC launch. The main triptych will remain the one pictured above, with Redfall likely to arrive around May, Starfield in the first half of 2023 and Forza Motorsport in the spring. If this is expected for the early part of the year, there is still six more months left to be filled in with other titles and we can indulge in many predictions around these. Perhaps the main suspect is Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2, which could be the most advanced title compared to the others from the Xbox squad, while less likely but still possible is Obsidian’s Avowed. Then there are the in-house non-exclusive productions, like Minecraft Legends and Ghostwire Tokyo, while other announced products like Everwild, Fable, Perfect Dark and State of Decay 3 could all arrive well after the end of 2023, even if it’s clear We don’t rule anything out first.

Third party exclusives

when it comes to b “Exclusive” third parties On Game Pass, you can find yourself encountering a certain interpretation of the concept: agreements often do not exclude release on other platforms, perhaps because they are cross-platform titles, but launch on day one within the service. In many cases these are just classic exclusives, but there will be an increase in agreements that instead offer simultaneous releases on competing platforms, with the big advantage, however, being the ability to play them directly on Game Pass at launch, and so on. . It happens with Hollow Knight Silksong, with Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty and with Monster Hunter Rise. For the foreseeable future, the increase in first-party releases will likely reduce high-level third-party exclusives on Game Pass, although in 2023, high-level games have already been announced for the year.

Game Pass exclusive deals are usually more inclined to cover smaller productions, and belong more to the indie or mid-range like Lies of P and Ara: History Untold, leaving the task of triple-showing Xbox Game Studios A’s games in the catalog. However, there are still very important releases for this year in store such as STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl and Ark 2, among the titles already announced. There are already several indie games scheduled for 2023, as there have always been in the service’s catalog: among the most popular of all time in the field are Replaced, Amnesia: The Bunker, Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn, Planet Lana and The Last Case of Benedict Fox. .

The list of Game Pass games is already expected in 2023

We close with the classics List of games already announced As for Game Pass in 2023, which alone is enough to say what kind of year lies ahead with Microsoft’s service. We already have over 50 titles and obviously still a very partial list, waiting for the individual announcements that will, as usual, mark the new monthly introductions.

January:

• Persona 3 Portable – January 19th
• Person 4 Golden – January 19th
• Monster Hunter Rise – January 20th
• Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition – January 31st
• Inkulinati – January 31st
• Roboquest

February:

• Atomic Heart – February 21st

March:

• Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty – March 3
• Amnesia: The Crypt
• The way to the forest
• GhostWire Tokyo

2023 TBD:

• golden eye
• Minecraft Legends
• Redfall
• Age of Empires 4
• Go motorsports
• starfield
• Humanity
• light year boundary
• Oraiban: Shadow Heritage
• Hot Wheels Unleashed GOTY Edition
• Flintlock: Siege of Dawn
• The suitors are thirsty
• Stalker 2: The Heart of Chernobyl
• pattern
• Exumicha
• F lies
• Warhammer Darktide
• Hollow Knight: Silksong
• railway 2
• Bounty Star
• Slime Rancher 2 (full version)
• Valheim
• cocoons
• Ara: The history is untold
• Party animals
• ARK2
• has been replaced
• The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
• Wool planet
• Ravenlock
• Another case of Benedict Fox
• BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle Special Edition
• Guilty Gear -Strive-
• Ni no Kuni II: The Revenant Kingdom
• Eodeyn Chronicle: One Hundred Heroes
• solar ash
• maquette
• bathroom simulator
• Crazy streets
• Big Con
• Infinite Guitars
• Turnip boy robs a bank