Xbox: over 60 indie games incoming

As many as 20 of those joining Game Pass from day one, Microsoft confirms

Among Us is just one of the indy game development community darlings making its way to Xbox later this year. (Image: Innersloth)

It's fair to say that, for the longest time, the Xbox brand was strongly associated with shoot'em ups, racing games and sports games, as its core demographic tends to prefer those genres. But if Microsoft is to make Game Pass "the Netflix of video games" - with multiple entry points through multiple devices, offering "something for everyone" - then it needs variety the kind of which only independent developers can provide. The Redmond giant had established the ID@Xbox program for these developers back in 2013 but, truth be told, that did not help much either them or the Xbox One.

Times are different now, though, and Microsoft is playing the long game with Game Pass, so it's nice to see that indies are very much a part of the overall Xbox picture. The company's showcase of no less than 60 upcoming indie games coming out for Xbox proves that. Of those, 20 highlights (in bold in the following listing) will be joining Microsoft's subscription service library the day they are released, adding to its already extremely high value. There's a relevant video, of course, but a list with those 60 games might be more helpful to people looking for specific productions or development teams making the cut.

The high production values of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 do not really align with the “indie game” status, but its cult following does. (Image: GSC Gameworld)

Adios (Mischief)
Aerial_Knight’s Never Yield (Headup Games)
Airport for Aliens Run By Dogs (Strange Scaffold)
Alba: A Wildlife Adventure (Plug In Digital, ustwo games)
Alchemic Cutie (PM Studios, Viridian Software, Vakio)
Among Us (Innersloth)
Art of Rally (Funselektor)
Astria Ascending (Dear Villagers, Artisan Studio)
Atrio: The Dark Wild (Isto)
Backbone (Raw Fury, EggNut)
Blaster Master Zero (IntiCreates)
Boyfriend Dungeon (Kitfox Games)
Chivalry 2 (Koch Media, Tripwire Interactive, Torn Banner Studios)
Cloud Gardens (Noio Games)
Clouzy! (TinyMoon)
Craftopia (Pocketpair)
Dark Alliance (Wizards of the Coast, Tuque Games, ForwardXP)
Dead Static Drive (Team Fanclub)
Death’s Door (Devolver Digital, Acid Nerve)
Demon Turf (Fabraz)
Despelote (Solimporta)
Echo Generation (Cococucumber)
Edge of Eternity (Dear Villagers, Midgar Studio)
Enlisted (Gaijin Distribution, Darkflow Software)
Exo One (Future Friends Games, Exbleative)
Exomecha (TwistedRed, Nail AKINCI)
Griftlands (Klei Entertainment, Skymap Games)
Hello Neighbor 2 (tinyBuild)
Iron Corbo: Kung Fu Janitor (2DOS Games)
Knight Squad 2 (Chainsawesome Games)
Lake (Whitethorn, Gamious)
Last Oasis (Snail Games, Donkey Crew)
Lawn Mowing Sim (Curve Digital)
Library of Ruina (Project Moon)
Little Witch in the Woods (SKT, Sunny Side Up)
Loot River (Straka Studio)
Lost Eidolons (Ocean Drive Studio)
Mad Streets (Craftshop Arts)
Moonglow Bay (Coatsink Software, Bunnyhug)
Narita Boy (Team17, Studio Koba)
Nobody Saves the World (Drinkbox Studios)
Omno (Studio Inkyfox)
Onsen Master (Whitethorn, WakingOni)
Princess Farmer (Whitethorn, Samobee Games)
Recompile (Dear Villagers, Phigames)
Rust (Double11, Facepunch Studios)
Sable (Raw Fury, Shedworks)
Second Extinction (Systemic Reaction)
She Dreams Elsewhere (Studio Zevere)
Song of Iron (Escape)
Soup Pot (Chikon Club, Chryse)
Spaceline Crew (Coffeenauts)
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 (GSC Gameworld)
Super Space Club (Graham Of Legend)
The Ascent (Curve Digital, Neon Giant)
The Big Con (Skybound Games, Mighty Yell Studios)
The Forest Cathedral (Whitethorn, Wakefield Interactive)
The Last Stop (Annapurna Interactive, Variable State)
The Riftbreaker (Exor Studios)
The Wild at Heart (Humble Bundle, Moonlight Kids)
Twelve Minutes (Annapurna Interactive, Luis Antonio)
Undungeon (tinyBuild Games, Laughing Machines)
Voidtrain (HypeTrain Digital, Nearga)
Way to the Woods (One Pixel Dog)
We are the Caretakers (Heart Shaped Games)

Art of Rally is the perfect example of a quality game perfectly capable of winning the hearts of mainstream and hardcore gamers alike. (Image: Funselektor)

There are some obvious hits-in-waiting here - such as S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, The Ascent, Sable or Hello Neighbor 2 - as well as some already acclaimed games that will be making the jump to Xbox, such as Among Us or Art of Rally. Most importantly, though, both the variety and quality Microsoft needs of these independent productions in order to appeal to the mainstream is definitely there.

It's worth noting that not all of the games joining Game Pass will work on all of its supported platforms - Xbox, PC and xCloud - so people interested in specific games should probably check up on that. There are no release dates attached to any of these games, of course - the pandemic has made development difficult for every big publisher, let alone small teams of indies - but the general feeling is that most of those will be coming out in 2021. Fingers crossed!