Why the Blizzard Showcase Was the Just the Beginning of a Massive 2026
Joe Skrebels, Xbox Wire Editor-in-Chief
For the last few weeks, Blizzard has been going big. Blizzard Showcase brought together the four key titles – Overwatch, Diablo, World of Warcraft, and Hearthstone – and gave the space to bring their updates, announcements (and some surprises!) in their own ways. It’s all a part of the road to BlizzCon 2026: the year of Blizzard’s 35th anniversary, not to mention the 30th anniversary of Diablo, and the 10th anniversary of Overwatch. This is the perfect space in time to look back at the universes that have brought us together and look forward to the future.
For Blizzard President, Johanna Faries – speaking on the Official Xbox Podcast – the Showcase has been a combination of careful planning and happy serendipity:
“We’ve been really thoughtful about [giving] our players what they’re hoping for, and hopefully delight them and surprise them in some big ways. I think those have landed. And we’ll just continue to sort of prime what we hope to be a very, very big year as we continue on here in 2026.
“Our franchise teams, and our game teams within those franchises, think a lot about, ‘What do we want to do next year? What do we want to do five years from now?’ Maybe, ‘What do we want to do 10 years from now?’ And we’ve organized our thinking and our strategic planning to make sure that comes together in a really thoughtful way. It’s very intentional how we’ve slate planned into the future.
“At the same time, the inorganic part was we sat back well over a year ago, and I said, ‘Look, there’s something bigger going on here, and I think we can marry this. I think we can make this a party on behalf of all of Blizzard Entertainment.’ And hopefully if you’re a fan of Blizzard, you’re gonna feel something bigger than just, ‘Oh, I got what I needed from Overwatch’ or, ‘I got what I needed from Diablo.’”
That idea – that this is a celebration of momentum across Blizzard, not just a series of game announcements – comes with a key extra detail: this is going to be a massive year. Showcase represents what Blizzard has to show us now, but its 2026 is far from over – not least with a return to the legendary BlizzCon later this year.
“Right now, we have a huge swath of announcements that our games have just brought forward. And why I say that is I think we’re pretty excited to say: There’s still BlizzCon coming in this calendar year, right? Imagine what else we’re stacking up.
“We’ve got to execute on that. We’ve got to make sure we’re delivering in a big way. But I think the teams are cooking. They’re very excited to bring some major announcements, maybe some surprises.”
We certainly haven’t seen everything Blizzard, and its games, will have to offer this year – but the wider point of this moment is to set the table for the future of the company. Blizzard is celebrating 35 years of existence by preparing for the next 35 years.
“I think there’s just an energy around this moment and how this is sort of a launching pad for a big future. It’s very fulfilling to be able to come into work and feel busy in that way, pressure in that way, stakes in that way. I think we’re all really proud of being able to try and pull it off. But again, it’s many years in the making.”
As Faries makes clear, that long-term thinking is being applied per-franchise, and per-game – making sure that it’s not just Blizzard’s future being considered, but how each individual title can thrive:
“What do we want the next 35 years to look like? What’s the vision? What’s the direction? We’ve set a lot in motion with respect to that, making sure we’re clear on it, making sure we’re coordinated on it, making sure that every year from this moment forward, there’s sort of a reliability that players can depend on us to launch in big ways, launch in surprising ways. Maybe take some zags!
“Not everything’s going to hit. That’s gaming. But in many ways, let’s understand where we are going – not only as a company, but by franchise, by game, right? I think at minimum, if you were to ask any of our major teams right now, ‘Hey, what’s your plan for the next three-, four-plus years?’, they have a very clear answer.
“I think this is just very much the beginning – I know you often kind of hear that – but I think ’26, in many ways, really represents a long road ahead of us in terms of things to be excited about.”
You can hear much more from Johanna Faries about Blizzard Showcase, BlizzCon, and Blizzard’s games on the Official Xbox Podcast right now
Welcome to Next Week on Xbox! In this weekly feature we cover all the games coming soon to Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Xbox on PC, and Game Pass! Get more details on these upcoming games below and click their profiles for further info (release dates subject to change). Let’s jump in!
Star Trek: Voyager – Across the Unknown Deluxe Edition
Star Trek: Voyager – Across the Unknown is a story-driven survival strategy game in which the fate of the iconic starship is in your hands. Take the helm, manage the ship and resources, and make difficult decisions. Will you be able to bring home the ship and its crew?
You play as Styx, a cunning goblin with a caustic sense of humour who has mastered the art of infiltration. Your goal? To get your hands on Quartz, the most precious – and dangerous – resource in a world on the brink of a war between elves, humans, and orcs. Styx: Blades of Greed takes the proven formula of the first two games and perfects it by putting freedom and creativity at the heart of the experience. Explore vast vertical environments and master new tools and skills. Whether you’re discovering Styx for the first time or you’ve been a fan from the beginning, greed has never been so much fun!
Aerial_Knight’s Dropshot is a fast, stylish action shooter that throws you straight out of a plane and into the chaos. Take out enemies, dodge wild traps, and make it to the ground first. Filled with finger blasting, Dragons, Powerups, and a bunch of stuff trying to take you down midair. Don’t let anything get in your way of becoming a legend! Just try to look cool and land in one piece!
Welcome to Hex Park—a colorful playground of brainteasers where every move matters. Rotate and align arrow tiles to guide directions, pop obstacles, and clear the board in as few moves as possible. It’s easy to pick up, delightfully tricky to master, and impossible to put down.
HeadHunters is a chaotic platform fighter for up to 4 players, online or on the couch. Blast, bash, and body-swap your way through explosive arenas in fast-paced, no-rules mayhem. It’s all about dodging, blasting, and making your mates scream “no way!”. Heads will definitely roll!
In a place in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA, a strange accident occurred on October 27, 1986. Everything was recorded on a VHS tape. Enter the eerie world of Backrooms Level X, a first-person horror game that immerses you in an endless labyrinth of desolate and surreal spaces. After a freak accident, you find yourself trapped in the Backrooms, a place where logic and reality vanish. Explore endless corridors of yellow carpet, empty rooms and areas of flickering light as you try to find a way out. But beware: you are not alone. Mysterious entities lurk in the shadows, and every sound may be the last you hear.
Death Match Love Comedy!
KEMCO in Japan & Asia, PQube in North America & Europe
Heartfelt confessions – explosive consequences! From the creators of Raging Loop comes a wild ride of a visual novel, full of slapstick comedy, occult experiences, and romance! First year Kei Yagi is about to receive a love confession from not one, but two classmates, when he suddenly explodes! Although this initial incident was an illusion, he discovers that due to a mysterious curse put upon him, the next time he receives a confession of love he will truly explode and die!
Harvest Cafe gives players the opportunity to manage and farm their own farms. Players grow their farms by growing vegetables, fruits and other crops. They feed and care for animals to produce food such as milk, eggs and meat. They can also use the materials they gather from the environment to create new farmland and improve their farm. Players sell the produce grown on their farms in their own restaurant in the village center. In the restaurant, players cook delicious food and serve it to customers. Players can diversify their menu by trying different recipes and prepare special dishes to increase customer satisfaction.
The most dangerous criminals are convicted and sent to Kletka. Your sentence is to descend into the depths of the Gigastructure while maintaining a living and hungry elevator. Never forget to feed it if you don’t want to end up being eaten alive. Kletka is omnivorous, be ready to feed it both fuel and flesh. The Gigastructure is an endlessly expanding building. Traps and anomalies fill the corridors. Any stop you make could be your last.
Taking Satisfactory, Forager and the gratifying gameplay loop of clicker/idle games as references, Outpath would be just that. Exploit your environment, craft, build and automate your base in this 3D first-person platformer! Gather. Craft. Build. Explore. Relax. No time limits, no pressure, play at your own pace and style.
In a dystopian future where corporations rule, a brutal reality show is the hottest entertainment property in town! You play as Scarlett Martillo, a contestant out for revenge. To win, you must navigate dangerous urban arenas packed with lethal traps and face off against hordes of heavily-armed psychopaths.
Become an Envoy of Death, able to unleash the incredible powers that will make you the most dangerous soul in Limbo. Upgrade your character’s abilities to become the ultimate Soulslinger and take on thrilling challenges in a bloody war against the criminal cartel of the afterlife!
Start a scary adventure and be the first to solve all the mysteries of this horror game! You’ll have to immerse yourself in a thrilling and exciting adventure together with the main characters! Children have been missing for a long time in Lakewitch, and you are destined to solve this creepy mystery. Who is the kidnapper, and why is he doing it? Where are the children disappearing to, and how to save them? You can solve all the puzzles and find out the answers…if you don’t get scared!
Liquor Store Simulator is a simulation game about developing your own store. You start your business in a small shop that you bought on credit. Buy goods, manage your store, hire staff. Who knows, maybe you will be able to make a real alcohol empire out of a small store. At first, it won’t be easy—you’ll have to work at the checkout yourself, accept deliveries, keep records, and maintain order in the sales area. But hard work and smart decisions will help you turn a modest retail outlet into a thriving store with a wide selection and satisfied customers.
Designed as a new way to experience the franchise, Ascendance stays true to Legacy of Kain’s tone and characters while introducing a bold new format.
Legacy of Kain: Ascendance is available on March 31 on Xbox Series X|S and will be cloud playable via Xbox Cloud Gaming.
Legacy of Kain: Ascendanceexplores a new gameplay and stylistic direction for the franchise. Built as a fast-paced 2D action platformer, Ascendance blends tight combat, traversal, and a fully voiced, character-driven narrative that feels both familiar and unexpected within the Legacy of Kain universe.
Ascendance is designed around momentum. Combat and movement are closely intertwined, pushing you to constantly stay in motion as you fight, jump, fly, turn into a swarm of bats, and climb through Nosgoth’s dark, crumbling environments. Encounters often flow directly into platforming challenges, creating a rhythm that keeps the pace moving forward.
Combat and Movement in Constant Motion
Moment to moment, Ascendance asks you to think about how you move just as much as how you fight. Each playable character brings their own combat style and traversal tools, including aerial movement, gliding, special abilities, and evasive dashes. These mechanics are governed by a stamina-like resource that fuels nearly every action, from attacking to flying, forcing you to manage your momentum carefully.
Stamina management is the connective tissue between combat and platforming. Overextending in a fight or misjudging a jump can quickly leave you vulnerable, whether that means falling into a pit or being caught off guard by enemies. Defensive options like dodges reward timing and awareness, encouraging you to learn enemy behaviors rather than relying on button-mashing. The result is a gameplay loop that feels fast and reactive.
A New Format, A Familiar Identity
Visually and structurally, Ascendance represents a significant change from previous Legacy of Kain games. Despite the shift in format, Ascendance stays rooted in the franchise’s gothic tone. The world remains bleak and oppressive; the themes are heavy with fate, power, and consequence. The game’s narrative unfolds across multiple eras, connecting familiar characters and moments from the series’ history while expanding on ideas that were previously only implied.
Crucially, Ascendance does not sacrifice storytelling for speed. Mainstays of the franchise, including Simon Templeman as Kain, Michael Bell as Raziel, Anna Gunn as Ariel, and Richard Doyle as Moebius, return to provide fully voiced dialogue. Frequent narrative beats ensure that the game feels like more than a pure action experience. Story sequences are carefully paced, providing breathing room between bursts of combat without disrupting the game’s overall momentum.
A New Legacy
Ascendance’s 2D side-scrolling presentation and pixel art aesthetic immediately stand out, evoking the era when the series first emerged. That approach is paired with PS1-era-inspired 3D sequences and anime-influenced cinematics, bringing major story moments to life while nodding to the franchise’s first leap into 3D with Soul Reaver. The experience centers on combat and atmosphere, challenging you to master movement, read enemy patterns, and stay in control under pressure.
What to Watch for Early On
During the first hour of play, Ascendance quietly teaches its systems through action. You’re encouraged to experiment with movement, learn when to push forward, and pay close attention to story details. Like many Legacy of Kain entries, Ascendance does not spell everything out immediately. Clues are embedded in dialogue, environments, and character interactions for willing to listen closely.
The pacing is intentionally brisk. Most of the game is designed to be completed in relatively focused play sessions, with the story unfolding quickly and combat encounters arriving in steady succession. The story brings the gravity you expect from a Legacy of Kain game and amplifies the experience throughout.
A New Way to Experience Nosgoth
Legacy of Kain: Ascendance stands apart from the rest of the series in both form and feel, yet it remains unmistakably part of the same lineage. By combining fast 2D action, demanding traversal, and a story deeply tied to Nosgoth’s mythology, Ascendance offers you a new way to experience the franchise without losing what made it memorable in the first place.
Whether you’re a longtime fan or discovering Legacy of Kain for the first time, Ascendance delivers a focused, momentum-driven experience that reimagines the series while honoring its gothic roots.
Legacy of Kain: Ascendance is available on March 31, 2026, on Xbox Series X|S and will be cloud playable via Xbox Cloud Gaming.
The Heart of Darkness Collection is the ultimate Legacy of Kain experience, bringing together Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered Deluxe Edition and Legacy of Kain: Ascendance in one definitive bundle.
Return to the dark world of Nosgoth and relive the climactic struggle between Kain and Raziel in Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered Deluxe Edition, updated with modern enhancements and exclusive bonus content. Then step into Legacy of Kain: Ascendance, a fast-paced 2D action platformer that brings you Nosgoth in a brand new way.
Legacy of Kain: Ascendance will be available to play on March 31, 2026.
Legacy of Kain: Ascendance is a fast, 2D action platformer built around vertical movement, fluid combat, and skill-driven play.
Nosgoth’s dark fantasy world is brought to life through animated cutscenes and beautifully crafted pixel art gameplay. Each level is filled with environmental challenges and puzzles that flow seamlessly into combat. Fly, fight, and unravel the past in a world of collapsing kingdoms, haunted ruins, and shattered timelines.
2D Action Platformer
Chain melee strikes, evasive dashes, and supernatural attacks in fluid, vicious combat.
Multiple Protagonists
Overwhelm the battlefield with Kain’s vampiric powers. Play Raziel before his fall as a human Sarafan knight, then take flight for the first time in his vampiric form. The Vampire Elaleth introduces an aggressive playstyle focused on fast, relentless offense.
Original Score
Ascendance delivers a powerful original score by Celldweller.
Returning Voice Talent
Reunites iconic Legacy of Kain voice actors – Michael Bell, Simon Templeman, and Anna Gunn.
Chromagun 2: Dye Hard Splashes onto Xbox Featuring a Robust Accessibility Mode
Harrison Floyd-Marketing Manager PM Studios
Summary
Available now for Xbox Series X|S.
Robust accessibility system for those who are colorblind.
Wield your Chromagun across dimensions and parallel universes, each with unique physics, style and tone.
Color isn’t a barrier. While ChromaGun 2: Dye Hard is built on the language of color, it refuses to let color become a barrier. A unique symbol overlay system designed for color blind players earned ChromaGun 2: Dye Hard a Horizon Award for Technical Innovation at GG Bavaria 2025. It is a colorblind accessibility system that reimagines how players read and combine hues. Instead of relying solely on visual color differences, every color is paired with a distinct symbol: clean, intuitive shapes that overlay directly onto surfaces, objects, and even blended colors. When players mix hues, those symbols merge and stack in real time, creating a clear visual shorthand for every combination.
The result is a puzzle language that stays readable no matter how the player may see the world. Whether the player is navigating a monochrome chamber or juggling multiple color interactions at once, the symbol system ensures that every solution remains just as clever, challenging, and satisfying. With the goal that every player can experience the game on equal footing.
ChromaGun 2: Dye Hard features include:
A One-Of-A-Kind Tool – The ChromaGun: Wield the titular “ChromaGun,” a versatile paint-gun used to shoot primary colors onto surfaces and objects, mixing them to manipulate the environment and outsmart puzzles. Mastering the color wheel is essentially to success. Mix and fire primary colors to bend environments to your will! Rewiring doors, redirecting drones, and unraveling puzzles that twist in increasingly clever ways. Every puzzle hinges on how well you can mix, match, and manipulate hues under pressure. Fire blue at a red block and watch it shift instantly into a purple, opening new paths or triggering mechanisms you couldn’t reach before. The deeper the game gets, the more the game asks you to think and juggle multiple color combinations on the fly. With deeper color physics, sharper puzzle logic, and environments that react in surprising layers, the sequel delivers its most ambitious, brain‑stretching 3D challenges yet.
Magnetoid Chromatism: Master the proprietary core mechanic of Magnetoid Chromatism, a system where color isn’t just visual, it’s magnetic logic that governs how the entire world behaves. WorkerDroids, platforms, switches, and even environmental hazards react to color‑charged polarity, pulling toward or repelling away from whatever hue is applied. A single color can shift the flow of a room. ChromaGun 2: Dye Hard reimagines puzzle realities with ever-changing rules and visual styles, from comic-book labs to sci-fi facilities, keeping each challenge inventive and unpredictable. You interact with WorkerDroids, beams, tools and switches in flexible systems.
Multiverse Puzzles: Set in the dangerously pristine world of ChromaTech Industries, the game’s stylized presentation and humor blend clever problem-solving with off-beat charm. Travel through time and space across five different dimensions and parallel universes, each with new physics, visual style and narrative tone. Inside the comic‑book dimension, every action explodes with over‑the‑top flair. Each shot from the ChromaGun triggers a burst of hand‑drawn onomatopoeia – Wham!, Boom!, Pow! – that pop in like a comic book. Then there’s the chicken universe, an entirely different flavor of chaos. Poultry-based problem solving. Here, puzzles revolve around a flock of hyper‑aggressive, feather‑ruffling chickens who charge the player on sight. Instead of traditional switches or drones, progress depends on coloring these furious birds mid‑attack, using their reactions and movement to trigger mechanisms, open paths, and of course solve puzzles.
Welcome to ChromaTec, the universe’s leading producer of the ChromaGun (patent pending)! Here at ChromaTec, colors are magnets! Well, not exactly. Magnetoid Chromatism—a physical property of the pandimensional realm—is a bit more complex than that. In layperson’s terms: Walls attract objects of the same color. All kinds of objects! Like large boxes. Or small boxes. Or medium boxes! Or super-safe, friendly, decidedly non-murderous WorkerDroids*. (List not exhaustive)
Use your refined painting and color-mixing skills to voluntarily solve intricate puzzles on the ChromaTec Testing Track for ChromaGun Research Purposes, Mark II — aka ChromaGun 2.
Please note the following are not valid reasons for non-participation:
– Not having participated in the Testing Track Mark I
(aka ChromaGun 1; no prior knowledge necessary)
– Color-blindness
(A color-blind accessibility mode is available at no extra charge)
– Fear of birds**
– Fear of magnets (They’re colors, not magnets)
– Fear of being involuntarily forced to perform tests on an experimental color-based firearm (this will never happen)
ChromaTec would like to remind you of the following important disclaimer:
Not solving tests as instructed is not advised.
Breaking the ChromaGun is not advised.
Activating a portal to a parallALTERNATEel uniREALITYverse is not ADVISEDadvised…
ChromaLABS would like to remind you of the following disclaimer:
ChromaLabs is the universe’s foremost—and only—manufacturer of the patented ChromaGun. Our world-class engineers are all [redacted] free [redacted] and [redacted] motivated [redacted] to [redacted] ensure that our testing grounds meet the following criteria:
– Unbreakable tests: No constant restarting of test chambers necessary
– Removable paint: Painting and mixing is fine, but undoing it is even better
– Advanced puzzles: Physics challengPUZZLes, clever paintPAINT mechanics, and even [redACTED] oh TWO i [REDacted] UNIVERSES have a CANNOT EXIST bad IN feeling THE SAME about REALITY this.
We hope you enjoy your brief, pleasant, VOLUNTARY participation in the ChromaLabs CHROMATEC Testing TRACK.
* WorkerDroids may be less non-murderous than implied.
** Except chickens
How High On Life 2’s Skateboarding Kickflips the Shooter Genre on Its Head
Summary
Chief Design Officer Erich Meyr shares with us how the High On Life 2 team brought skateboarding to their hilarious first-person shooter.
The team cites their experience working on games like Sunset Overdrive and playing Tony Hawk games to help capture the feeling of riding on a board.
High On Life 2 launches February 13, 2026, for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC, and available on day one with Game Pass Ultimate with support for Xbox Play Anywhere.
When I first got my hands on High On Life 2last year, I was blown away by how well it captured the essence of skateboarding. Yes, it’s a video game, so there are some liberties taken with it, but it felt right in a way that feels familiar to skating game fans – even in a totally different perspective and genre. With large, skateable objects meticulously placed, paired with some great first-person shooting thanks to the hilarious Gatlians, it’s a mechanical change that gives High On Life 2 a truly one-of-a-kind feature, something we’ve genuinely never seen a developer try before.
This also makes High On Life 2 feel like a much faster game than its predecessor. By essentially swapping it out for your sprint button, and increasing your overall agility, the skateboard feels like an extra limb you never knew you needed – one that allows you to grind on rails, jump over objects, or even as a projectile against enemies.
Now, with release nearly here, I was able to connect with Chief Design Officer Erich Meyr to talk more about how the idea behind having skateboarding as a traversal (and combat) mechanic within a first-person shooter came about – and it turns out it was something the team had been noodling on since before the first game arrived.
“The earliest inspiration for the skateboard came back on High On Life when Concept Artist Sean McNally drew the bounty hunter riding a roly-poly type of alien,” Meyr tells me. “Unfortunately, a level-specific mechanic like that wasn’t in our timeframe on the first game, but good ideas tend to haunt us forever. When we were brainstorming for High On Life 2, the idea scuttled its way from our collective unconscious, and we thought it would be even better as a normal skateboard that helps ground your character as an Earthling.”
Parkour!
Skateboarding has embedded itself into the world of gaming over the years – there have been countless Tony Hawk games; Skate has returned in force; indie games like Session or Skate Bird bring their own flare to the skate video game genre. Now High On Life 2 is building this out as a first-person experience and is taking cues from games from both the past and the present to help it really feel distinct. But one of the big inspirations isn’t technically a skateboarding game at all:
“Three of us on the dev team were lucky enough to work on Sunset Overdrive at Insomniac Games, and while doing first-person skating is a bit different then Sunset’s grind-heavy parkour, I really wanted to capture a similar environmentally driven flow,” Meyr explains. “While working on Sunset Overdrive I was addicted to traversing across Sunset City; I’d often travel all the way across the city to play my work, instead of using developer shortcuts, just to explore and enjoy the traversal team’s amazing job. When we started seriously considering having a skateboard in High On Life, I knew deep in my cobwebbed soul we should strive for that feeling, even if it inflated the skateboard into something much larger.”
As far as digging into the classics, the team went back and analyzed a lot of Tony Hawk games to figure out what would work (and not work) for first-person skateboarding. For example, Tony Hawk’s controls don’t work as an FPS, but served as a baseline inspiration for what skating should feel like: “It really got me thinking about layering in vert ramps, half pipes, and grinds. I played a ton of Session as well, though as much as I love it for being insanely technical, we were going for a much more simplified control scheme and couldn’t fit in something like their awesome trick system.”
Finding Inspiration from Indies
During the research and conceptualizing phase of High On Life 2, Meyr was surprised to find that there were practically no first-person skating games available, beyond some mods for Skate. Then he stumbled upon an indie game called Griptape Backbone. “It’s very chill and dreamy and got us thinking about how to cheat the board placement so it’s more visible in first person and helps ground you.”
“When we were near the last year of development, [open world FPS] Echo Point Nova came out – I had a blast playing it and loved how they simply replaced sprinting with a hoverboard. We applied that same philosophy to our game (choosing what button to put the skateboard on was giving us no end of grief) and it really made combat on and off the board feel seamless. So, we pulled inspiration from a lot of different games along the whole process. The inspirations were all great references, but it really came down to some very clever engineering, solving a lot of wild design problems, tuning the controls, and a lot of playtesting.”
Once it was settled that skateboarding was going to be a key feature for the next game, the team began to tackle High On Life2’s more unique challenge – mixing both skating and shooting and making them feel fun to play. One of the largest debates that Meyr tells me about on the team was whether your aim should be independent of your movement direction while on the skateboard.
“For a long time, you could look in any direction while skating, which felt very natural and let you do some crazy moves like circling around enemies while shooting and skating backwards while still fighting,” Meyr says. “However, in playtesting, it meant we kept having to make larger and sparser arenas so you wouldn’t be running into stuff constantly because you’re not looking where you’re going!”
In the end, the team decided to lock the player’s movement to their viewpoint while skateboarding but allow free look while grinding objects – effectively, skating is all about getting to the right place, and grinding is about unleashing hell once you’re there. This simple change made navigating spaces and the overall usability of the skateboard in combat feel much better. Having navigated through a few levels in my time with High On Life 2, I get the trade-off here, as I no doubt would have bumbled into numerous walls and objects if I wasn’t looking in the right direction.
In part, that’s because of how fast the skateboard lets you travel – this is far more than a fancy sprint button, letting you cross huge swathes of a level in a way most FPS games don’t. It adds a major new dimension to combat but, given that the game has a compelling and hilarious story to tell, with tons of performances to capture, it’s also entirely possible for you to accidentally skip past a character or line of dialog if you’re not facing the right way. I asked Meyr how the team tackled this challenge, even in the moments where there wasn’t a narrative beat to adhere to.
“Well, firstly it made storytelling harder as players can now fly past everything as fast as they want! We had to get clever about how we funnel you into important moments to give players time to notice them,” Meyr tells me. “But aside from that, it was also a fun challenge to figure out what kinds of city objects make natural skate elements. One of my favorite moments was when someone put a big octopus mascot in the middle of the city, and we were like, ‘Hey, this is great, but it needs to work with the skateboard because every single player is going to grind on that shit.’ And then we exposed its brain as a bouncer to launch you crazy high. There’s no real story there I guess… we just love making stupid things fun.”
Ride, Shoot, Have Fun, Repeat
Matching that fun with a well-paced game is another element the team tackled when deciding how much influence skateboarding should have on the overall design and pacing of High On Life 2.
“In the first game we typically paced gameplay to cycle between traversal, combat, and narrative beats. The skateboard fit pretty easily into the traversal piece of that formula,” Meyr explains. “Skating has a large influence on the combat aspect of the game, but we didn’t let it take over. In the end, we wanted the game to still have a lot of what makes a traditional shooter feel fun. We didn’t want the skateboard to muddy the FPS experience by having to blow out aim assist or let you move so fast enemies have to do crazy things to keep up with you.”
The game wastes little time in getting me on the board and it isn’t long until I’m unleashing this tandem of skateboarding and shooting in High On Life 2, like sliding across powerlines as I dispatch a variety of alien goons in the opening zoo level. The skateboard never feels like it gets in the way of the shooting; it amplifies it, nudging me to mix it into my newfound ability to reach alien foes on rooftops who would otherwise be inaccessible without it.
The first game already featured a lot of verticality and unique traversal elements thanks to the Gatlians like Knifey and their grapple ability – but the skateboard only intensifies that ambition. Grinding, riding in sewer pipes, and wall riding all create opportunities for unexpectedly complex riding options in the environment. Every level features unique opportunities to test your skills, like navigating across a mix of floating rails and pools, giant balloons to bounce on, and other zany obstacles while traversing the planet ConCon as one such example.
Board riding can also be vital, as highlighted in some of the boss fights so far. With the bounty hunter Sheath, it took place in a large room with slanted, quarter-pipes that run up the walls, making for plenty of opportunities to remain on the move while dishing damage. Or fighting against Brutakis, the mini-boss of MurderCon, the entire zone felt like a skatepark with plenty of ramps, rails, and stairs to navigate. This all feels designed with purposeful intent to keep you moving to help bring a natural fun and flow to the battle.
Letting Go of Your Hands
It’s always a balance to teach a new mechanic to a player while making it not feel like you’re holding up the momentum of the game. Initially, the team did a lot of “hand holding tutorial” tests for the skateboard and found it made for a terrible experience. In the end, they pared the tutorials back until they were just hitting the essentials and letting the player grasp and play with the mechanics on their own time.
“There are elements to the skateboard we don’t teach up front and let you discover on your own, then reinforce in later levels,” Meyr says. “By that point you may have already figured them out and won’t even notice the tutorial, or you will learn them there and think, ‘Holy crap I could have been doing this the whole time, I need to go back and try this in the city!’”
Meyr tells me that, during playtesting, he was relieved to see the concept embraced by the internal team. “I was worried if we leaned fully into skating, it meant we’d need to sacrifice some of the core FPS, but it turned out when the skateboard was treated as an extension of sprinting it really helped naturally juggle between the two. I was also delighted at how much people wanted to do with the skateboard in combat. We came up with bailing on your board and having the board fly and hit enemies, and immediately playtesters wanted to bounce on enemies’ heads and bash into them. So, we made all that work! I’m curious if players will be able to beat the game just using the skateboard once you obtain it.”
Through constant iteration and driven by a passion for skateboarding, the team at Squanch Games have not only built upon the success of their first game but pushed themselves to bring something wholly unique to its sequel – while doing a kick-flip over a bunch of aliens. We can’t wait to get on our board on February 13, 2026, when High On Life 2 launches for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC, and available on day one with Game Pass Ultimate with support for Xbox Play Anywhere.
Pre-order High On Life 2 now to get a “I PRE-ORDERED HIGH ON LIFE 2” hat for select weapons! It doesn’t do anything but if you don’t pre-order you’ll never be allowed to have it! (And the weapons in our game can feel real emotions so if you don’t get the hat they’ll remember it and resent you for it!)
Offer ends at launch.
You’ve done it. You’ve taken down an intergalactic cartel, brought humanity back from the brink of extinction, and hunted dangerous bounties to the far corners of the galaxy. Bounty hunting has brought you fortune, fame and love; but when a mysterious figure from your past reappears and puts a price on your sister’s head, your cushy life gets thrown into chaos.
Do you have what it takes to risk it all and bring down an intergalactic conspiracy that once again threatens your favorite species (humans)?
High On Life RETURNS as you and your beloved rag-tag team of alien misfits shoot, stab, and skate your way through gorgeous, dangerous worlds all across the galaxy to blow up the EVIL pharmaceutical conglomerate hell-bent on putting price tags on HUMAN LIFE!
Of all the action-RPG franchises to make you work for an epic moment, Monster Hunter is up there among the ones that push you hardest, and the Monster Hunter Stories series is no exception to the rule. You take on the lowest rank Monsters, you get pummelled into the dirt until you learn how to beat them, and then you excitedly hurry back home to build a new weapon and a cool set of armor from the creature you’ve just murked, ready to go through the entire process again with a slightly harder monster. It’s a rewarding battle, but a tough one, and Monster Hunter’s greatest secrets are often reserved for those that take the time to fully embrace its many systems.
Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection shows you right from the start that things are going to be a little different around here. In the first minute of my hands-on session with the game, my Rider (not a Hunter, but we’ll get into that later) is sprinting down a cliff at warp speed before leaping right off the edge, only to be caught mid-air by her pet Rathalos and, together, they soar across a glittering lake, in what may be the most breath-taking introduction to a Monster Hunter game I’ve seen yet, inviting you, the player, to immediately take the reigns of this majestic creature – who, for once, at isn’t a foe to be conquered, but a friend. It’s a stark contrast to the opening of Monster Hunter Stories 2, in which you carry a Rathalos egg around for hours before it hatches. This introduction feels like the culmination of a spin-off that’s ready to step out of the shadow of its mainline series, and show us exactly what it can do.
A Brand New Story
To set the scene, Monster Hunter Stories ditches the mainline series’ traditional fast-paced, unforgiving third-person combat for a turn-based system, riffing off the likes of Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Pokémon, and other similar monster-packed RPGs. Instead of a Hunter, you are a Rider, able to befriend and battle alongside monster companions (Monsties).
In this third instalment, set a long time after the events of Stories 1+2, your character is the heir of Azuria, the kingdom in which our adventure begins. In the first few story missions, we meet and are partnered up with Eleanor, the princess of the adjacent kingdom Vermeil. The two are on the brink of war, and it’s up to you to figure out how to resolve each kingdom’s needs and put a stop to it. Meanwhile, a phenomenon called the Crystal Encroachment is threatening to destroy the ecosystem, turning Monsters feral and driving some close to extinction.
Your character is also a member of the Rangers, a team of Riders assembled to research Monster ecology and help protect it. It’s a super compelling setup that sees your created character grappling between their royal responsibilities and goals as a Ranger, crafting a darker, stronger narrative than the previous instalments. You don’t need to be familiar with the previous stories, either, just jump right on in.
The World of Azuria
This setting is also new to Monster Hunter Stories 3. Azuria serves as a vibrant, sprawling starting ground that feels effortlessly inviting – almost Ghibli-esque in style – and you begin the game equipped with Monsties that enable basic traversal right away. Ratha (your Rathalos) can’t maintain unlimited flight, but he can catch updrafts to get a boost of height for travelling long distances quickly, as can many other Monsties with the flying ability. Monsters roam the world freely, and you can choose to battle them or leave them be.
Stories’ turn-based combat system is simple to grasp in its basic form – a rock/paper/scissors setup where one move type beats another. Stories 3 is much more tutorialized than predecessors; you’ll quickly get to grips with what move type monsters use, as well as more in-depth mechanics like elemental attacks, and behaviour that shows where they’ll change up their strategy. However, do not mistake guidance for ease – despite its turn-based presentation, there are meticulously crafted systems at play that mean you’ll need to come extremely prepared for every fight. My hubris quickly got the better of me while moving through story missions, thinking I could push through one more mission, only to be flattened by a new Feral Monster. It pays to take your time, fully explore the world, level up your Monsties, and plan out your approach.
The world has Monster nests scattered around, which contain eggs. This is your primary method of collecting new Monsties, and each one is a surprise. Some contain rarer eggs, some contain multiple eggs, and some will have a Monstie ready to jump out and defend the eggs you’re trying to run off with. This mechanic comes from the previous games, but it’s much more simply presented, at least in the early game – you don’t need to run through a winding maze of caves as in previous games, just dip in, grab the eggs you want and dip out before a Monstie comes to get you – another example of how Stories 3 is streamlining to build a smoother experience for newcomers.
Managing the Ecosystem
The more eggs you collect, the more Monsties you’ll end up with in your stable. As with previous Stories games, you’ll be able to ‘release’ a Monstie you don’t want to keep, but Stories 3 introduces another brilliant mechanic – Habitat Restoration.
With this, you can actually change the ecology of different areas of the map by intentionally introducing different monsters to the ecosystem. For example, the early game invites you to release a Rathian into the starting area, and shortly after, you’ll see Rathians appear in that part of the world. As you release more Rathians, its rank in the ecosystem will rise, which means you’ll find more powerful Rathian eggs hidden in nests surrounding the region the creature lives in. In previous Stories games, finding powerful eggs relied on pure luck when scrabbling through nests, but this time, you can effectively engineer a powerful version of the Monstie you want by creating a home for it, which is absolutely brilliant, truly rewarding your careful thinking (or just letting you buff the monster type you happen to love).
Monsters also have the opportunity to mutate, offering an even more powerful variant. By releasing Rathians into the wild, I was able to unlock Pink Rathian, build up their rank, and eventually leading to unlocking a Dreadqueen Rathian – the most powerful version of the Monster – in my first few hours of play.
Beyond that, the ecosystem can also affect the element of a Monster, which is an exciting new first for the series. Very early on in the game, I ended up finding a green dual-element Anjanath, able to deliver its trademark fire attacks alongside less expected lightning abilities. It’s such an interesting evolution for these beloved Monsties, without changing up their core dynamic, and another area in which Stories 3 feels like it’s growing to meet the complexity of mainline Monster Hunter games, without losing its own identity and charm.
With this entry, Monster Hunter Stories no longer feels like the franchise’s quirky distant cousin, this is a fully-fledged, magnificently designed adventure that can stand proudly on its own. With a striking new world and a mature, promising new narrative that gives your adventure purpose from the start, you’re no longer an unknown Rider making their way through the world or riding the coattails of another legend – you’re a royal heir, a renowned Rider, and a Ranger that from the off says “I’m here, and I’m ready”. Not unlike the game itself.
The third entry in the Monster Hunter Stories RPG series is here!
Twin Rathalos, born in a twist of fate.
Monster Hunter Stories is an RPG series set in the Monster Hunter world, where you can become a Rider, raising and bonding with your favorite monsters.
The Story
Azuria and Vermeil: two countries, on a path to destruction.
When all hope seems lost, an egg is found. Inside is a Rathalos, a species thought to be extinct.
But this quavering light of hope is quickly extinguished, giving way to the darkness of despair.
Born from the egg is not a single Rathalos, but twins, bearing the Skyscale marking that hearkens back to the disastrous civil war of 200 years prior.
The natural world teeters on the verge of destruction, with countless monster species facing extinction. In the shadow of these dark times, the flames of war rekindle.
Two countries, and two Rathalos.
A Rider and their trusted Rathalos, buffeted by the winds of fate, set out on a journey for the truth.
*There are other bundles that include this product. Please be careful of duplicate purchases.
Agreement to the End User License Agreement is required to play this title. (https://manual.capcom.com/eula/game/)
Quirky Indie Games We’re Crushing On: Indie Selects for February
Amy Connors, Oscar Polanco, Steven Allen, Deron Mann, Raymond Estrada – ID@Xbox Floral Department
Every Wednesday, dive into the Indie Select Hub — your gateway to a fresh, curated indie collection plus four themed spotlights that rotate weekly! You can always find this collection hub in the Xbox Store and on Xbox.com/IndieSelects.
The ID@Xbox team felt February’s peculiar sparkle in the air, so we curated 6 offbeat adventures that match that delightfully strange charm. From a hand‑drawn British comedy to a psychological race against time to save a plague‑stricken town, this slate delivers bold hooks for every mood. Fight fairytale capitalism, settle into a magical farming life, brave a dread‑tinged fishing odyssey, or command a retro JRPG party through dungeon‑delving action. Whether you crave calm, comedy, chaos, or a fight for survival, we’ve got something uniquely – and unexpectedly – perfect for you this month (in no particular order):
Humor in video games is notoriously difficult to pull off, but the team at Panic may have cracked the code with Thank Goodness You’re Here! a comedy adventure game that lands joke after joke with remarkable confidence and impeccable timing.
Thank Goodness You’re Here! is a lively, hand-drawn comedy adventure game in the art style reminiscent of Terry Gilliam’s Monty Python’s and other surreal British animation from the 1960s and 70s, and it pairs this visual with sharp distinctly British humor. The result is a game that appears crude on the surface, but it’s clearly well designed with genuinely laugh-out-loud moments.
From the opening cutscene, the game establishes its bizarre premise and rarely lets up. You play as a small, mostly silent salesman wandering the fictional Northern English town of Barnsworth. Progress is driven entirely by interaction: poking, pulling, slapping, and getting into increasingly absurd and strange situations. The game rewards curiosity, timing, and the willingness to lean into the absurd.
The voice acting is superb, including the unmistakable presence of Matt Berry who delivers the game’s tone perfectly. Thank Goodness You’re Here! trusts you to find the humor without over-explaining and handing you the control to let the comedic timing do the work.
Charming, strange, confident in its own silliness, and never overstaying its welcome, Thank Goodness You’re Here! stands out as one of the most memorable comedy games in recent years. Ta-ta for now. – Oscar Polanco
After arriving early for a big meeting with the mayor of a bizarre Northern English town, a traveling salesman takes the time to explore and meet the locals, who are all very eager to give him a series of increasingly odd jobs…
“Thank Goodness You’re Here!” is a comedy slapformer, which unfolds over time as the players’ exploration and antics leave their mark on the strange town of Barnsworth. With each completed odd job, new areas of the town open up, stranger and stranger tasks become available, and the clock ticks towards our salesman’s big meeting. The town’s colorful inhabitants are brought to life with vibrant hand-drawn animation, fully voiced dialogue, and wall-to-wall double entendres.
Pathologic 3 is a game that lingers long after you put the controller down. The cult-classic psychological survival series from Ice-Pick Lodge returns with a new entry that reimagines its haunting world for modern hardware, while staying true to what makes Pathologic so distinct. This isn’t survival-horror built on reflexes or fear alone. It’s about pressure — the kind that builds quietly as time moves forward and the town refuses to wait for you. From the moment you arrive, the world feels hostile in subtle ways. Conversations are uneasy. Information is fragmented. Even simple decisions feel loaded. Playing Pathologic 3, I was constantly aware that every choice — where I went, who I helped, what I ignored — carried consequences I wouldn’t fully understand until much later.
You play as a doctor navigating a plague that can’t simply be cured. Resources are scarce, and the town’s residents feel less like quest-givers and more like people trying to survive alongside you. Saving one life often meant neglecting another, and there were moments where doing “the right thing” only made the situation worse. Combat is not the focus here. Survival comes from managing hunger, exhaustion, infection, and trust, both your own and the town’s. The tension doesn’t spike; it simmers. More than once, I found myself hesitating before making a decision, knowing the game wouldn’t stop me from making a mistake — it would just remember it.
On Xbox Series X|S, Pathologic 3 benefits from faster load times and enhanced lighting and environmental detail, keeping the experience uninterrupted and deeply immersive. The town feels oppressive, alive, and uncomfortably close. Pathologic 3 is a game that trusts players to sit with discomfort, ambiguity, and consequence. The plague is back on Xbox — and it’s watching how you choose to face it. – Steven Allen
REBIRTH OF AN AWARD-WINNING STORY
Bachelor Daniil Dankovsky is a young doctor from the capital. His search for the secret of immortality brings him to a remote town, gripped by a mysterious plague that will destroy it in 12 days. Now it’s up to him to explore the town itself, its past, present, and future — to find answers to his numerous questions and try to stop the relentless epidemic.
(At least… that’s what he thinks this story is about. What it’s supposed to be about. What it’s always been about.)
PAVED WITH GOOD INTENTIONS
You are a real doctor. Your tools are knowledge and science. Examine patients and diagnose diseases. Cross-check symptoms and prescribe treatments. Enforce your rules: impose quarantines, confiscate medicine, vaccinate the population, deploy patrols, and impose curfews. See how your choices change the town, even if it means being hated along the way.
TIME IS RELATIVE
You have only 12 days to stop the lethal plague. But in your hands lies the most valuable resource—time. Travel into the future to witness the worst outcomes. Correct mistakes in the past to change them. Bend the fates of people around you to save or condemn you—in search of answers.
(How is it possible? What *is* time?)
TOWN ON THE EDGE
Delve into the darkest corners of the Town-on-Gorkhon to fight the disease. Face the Plague head-on. Cleanse the infected streets. Burn what can no longer be saved. What was lost in the fire will be found in the ashes.
THINK, THINK, THINK!
Dankovsky is a sharp mind in search of the truth, willing to do anything to find it. Anything you see can tell a story and become a piece of your mental map of the world. Explore the town for new insights, notice details, and connect the dots. Uncover the secrets of the town’s inhabitants. Shape their stories, decide their fates, and talk to their shadows.
Escape from Ever After is a cozy, whimsical experience that proudly wears its inspirations on its sleeve. What begins as an atypical hero-goes-to-slay-the-dragon story quickly shifts into a buddy-cop-esque journey about capitalism, evil conglomerates, and climbing the corporate ladder to destroy a company from within. It’s very unserious and silly — yet somehow the most genius thing I’ve played in a while.
The premise is centered around hero Flynt Buckler, villain Tinder the Dragon, and their temporary truce to thwart Ever After Inc. — a “real-world” conglomerate bent on infiltrating beloved fairytales and folklore to farm resources and characters for labor. As a result, you’ll find Pinocchio working a desk job, Red Riding Hood manning a receptionist’s desk, the Three Little Pigs as an evil construction company, and Dracula as a… tailor. You’ll also see things like printers as save points, gold coins referred to as “wages,” and coffee as your mana pool. I love how much it plays into the theme of the corporate world blending into fantasy, and it left me eager to see what stories would be included and how they’ve been impacted by Ever After.
As for the core gameplay, it’s an approachable RPG with platforming, puzzles, and exploration balanced into the mix. The combat is turn-based but leverages timing-based mini games to enhance actions. Historically, I’ve never really been a big turn-based RPG person, so this helped keep the combat engaging and definitely felt satisfying to pull off. There’s also a bit of party management as you recruit characters from different stories, a leveling system, abilities to unlock, and mild customization through costumes and such.
This game is awesome, and I had an absolute blast playing it. Through its story, gameplay variety, and approachability, this feels like a game I can easily recommend to anyone. – Deron Mann
Escape from Ever After is an adventure RPG inspired by the classic Paper Mario games, where fairytale and storybook characters must fight back against capitalism!
When Flynt Buckler, a classic fairytale adventurer, storms the castle of his evil dragon arch-nemesis Tinder, he finds the once intimidating fortress has been converted into… corporate offices? The villainous dragon is nowhere to be found and her castle is full of mindless coffee-sipping, report-filing drones. What happened?
It turns out that storybooks are an untapped market ripe with valuable resources, cheap labor, and profit to be had—so naturally, real-world conglomerate Ever After Inc. found a way to intervene! With Tinder’s Castle as their new corporate headquarters, Ever After Inc. is hellbent on taking over every storybook they can. With no choice but to get a job, Flynt Buckler must team up with his former nemesis Tinder in order to climb the corporate ladder and take down Ever After Inc. from the inside!
Dive into storybook worlds packed to the brim with colorful characters, captivating locales, and electrifying secrets! One moment you’ll be fleeing Lovecraftian terrors while solving a noir murder mystery, and the next you’ll be up against villainous versions of The Three Little Pigs as they try to bulldoze a fairytale forest for their real estate developments. The rules are always changing!
Face off against hordes of wacky enemies in snappy turn-based gameplay! Perfectly-timed action commands allow Flynt to finish off his foes with style, and an assortment of items, badges, and partners ensure there’s always a trick up his sleeve.
Fight in a fun, fast-paced battle system that rewards experimentation and strategy
Build and customize your party—every character has unique skills that can be equipped and upgraded throughout your journey
Engage in office banter, help your storybook coworkers, and decorate your office as you climb the corporate ladder
Explore vast storybook worlds brimming with sidequests, treasures, and secrets
Stories within stories: experience a charming and lively narrative where the rules are constantly changing
A jazzy, big-band soundtrack that keeps the energy pumping throughout
Wylde Flowers is a standout farming life sim that breaks from genre norms with its fully voice‑acted cast and story‑driven approach. Instead of creating your own avatar from scratch, you step into the shoes of Tara, who returns to her quiet island hometown after twenty years to help care for her grandmother’s farm. It doesn’t take long before Tara learns that her grandmother is actually a witch and that she may actually share the same abilities.
The gameplay blends farming, daily chores, witchcraft, and socializing with the townsfolk, delivering a satisfying loop that stays approachable but rewarding. You’ll harvest resources, upgrade tools, craft practical and magical components, and unlock new potions and spells. One especially clever design choice is the way seasons advance: they don’t run on a timer but instead shift only when you decide. That small twist removes a lot of pressure, giving you all the time you need to gather materials and finish tasks before moving on.
But the real magic of the game lies in its cast of unique characters. The town is filled with everyday villagers as well as a few supernatural‑leaning residents, all of whom initially see you as an outsider which means you will have to win them over. Each character has distinct stories, quirks, secrets, and requests, and the more time you spend with them, the more your relationships deepen, with some even blossoming into romance. These connections aren’t just optional side flavor; they actively push the story forward as you piece together what’s truly happening in the community and who’s genuinely on your side.
If you’re an Animal Crossing fan craving something with richer narrative layers wrapped in cozy farming gameplay, this one is absolutely worth your time. – Raymond Estrada
Wylde Flowers is a cozy life and farming sim with a witchy twist! Escape to a cute world of diverse folks, and magical spells, as you and the coven unravel a mystery!
Play as Tara, as she arrives at a cozy rural island to help out her grandma and the family farm.
Explore a wholesome world of magical realms, beautiful beaches, secretive forests and the friendly town of Fairhaven.
Meet a charming cast of fully voice acted characters, with intriguing back stories to reveal. Find friendship or maybe even romance?
Transform the Wylde family farm into a productive haven bursting with fresh vegetables, fruit trees and cute baby animals!
Wield your wand and broomstick as you nurture your magical abilities to tend the farm, control the weather, turn the seasons or transform into a cat!
Create hundreds of recipes for yummy food or artisanal goods to sell. Between fishing, mining, crafting and farming (plus a little magic) you’ll have lots to do.
Connect with the coven, fall in love and enjoy your cottagecore life as you uncover the mysterious goings-on in the heart of Fairhaven.
Reveal the hidden darkness which is affecting the town and discover how to bring everyone together.
Quite possibly the most indie game to ever indie without being in voxels or 2D, in Loan Shark you play as a sad sack fisherman who owes a lot of money to a loan shark just waiting onshore to do serious damage to you and your loved ones if you don’t meet the payment deadline. To make a dent in a seemingly impossible debt ceiling, you just have to keep fishing like your life depends on it… because it does. Because this is a horror fishing game.
As a hapless fisherman desperate to pay off a debt, you’ll have to fish, fish, fish stuff out of the ocean from your ramshackle boat, gut your catch, and toss it in a chest for a payment that slowly chips away at an enormous bill you’ve racked up with the local crime-lord-slash-loan-shark. The waters are dark, the visuals are murky in a PS2 kind of way, and the controls are both simple and clunky at the same time. Don’t dive into this one expecting to marvel over technical gymnastics or pristine presentation – this is a game about making choices, being accountable for them, and of course, a creepy talking fish who offers you some potentially easy answers (which is also a choice for you to make). And that’s really it. Each run lasts around 45-ish minutes and, depending on how you handle yourself, can result in very different endings. I don’t really want to dish out any more info in order to avoid spoilers, as you kind of have to go into this one with an open mind, a willingness to persist with little to no guidance, and a robust imagination (to make up for those technical rough edges). But please do, fish away!
You’re an indebted angler, trapped in a vicious cycle of borrowing and desperation. One dark, endless night at sea you haul up something unnatural: a talking fish named Cagliuso. It promises you riches — but its bargains come with terrifying strings.
In LOAN SHARK, the nets you cast bring more than fish. They pull you toward sacrifice, secrets, and a deadline you may never meet. The “loan shark” isn’t just metaphoric — something is stalking the waters, your time is running out, and every deal you strike pushes you deeper into the unknown.
This game hits me with all the nostalgia dopamine. Late‑’90s and early‑2000s turn‑based JRPGs were absolutely my thing, and Hero Seekers takes that classic formula and elevates it with a clever premise, strong characters, and stylish presentation. Memory drives both the story and gameplay: you awaken in a world where humans have been enslaved by demons, and major historical events have been rewritten. You’re the only one who remembers the true past, and it’s up to you to recover forgotten heroes, restore what was erased, and save humanity.
Combat is turn‑based and built around smart party choices and resource management. You can field up to five unique heroes, and while most battles are straightforward, tougher enemies and status effects occasionally demand more strategy. Routine encounters can be handled automatically.
Where the game really shines is in its hero collection. You gain access to a wide roster early on, encouraging experimentation as you mix and match characters, build unique parties, and optimize skills so they complement one another. Along the way, you’ll meet several standout heroes with distinct backstories that unfold as you help them reclaim their memories.
Hero Seekers scratches that old‑school JRPG itch with intuitive gameplay and strong presentation, while adding its own twist through its hero‑collecting focus and memory‑driven narrative. I’d recommend it to anyone who loves memorable, classic‑style JRPGs. – Raymond Estrada
The world has been rewritten, and the very name of “Hero” erased from memory. Once, three brave warriors defeated the Demon King and brought peace to the land—but now their deeds are lost to time. Lunette, the only one who remembers the true history, sets out on a journey to restore it by summoning the forgotten souls of heroes and reclaiming the light once stolen from the world.
Experience a full-fledged fantasy JRPG filled with classic turn-based battles, dungeon exploration, and strategic party building. Form teams of up to five heroes, combining unique traits and skills to create powerful synergies. Strengthen your allies through training, gear up at shops, and master the art of command battles where every move counts. With features like high-speed combat, dungeon escape spells, and smooth progression, enjoy an adventure that blends nostalgic JRPG charm with modern convenience.
We’re excited to invite all Xbox Insiders on Xbox Series X|S to join the Reforj playtest starting today, February 11. Limited space is available, so join now to secure your spot!
About the Game:
4J Studios – the Scotland-based team that brought Minecraft to consoles alongside some of its most memorable content additions – are inviting you to step into the world of Reforj! Have your say in the future of this community-focused pre-alpha title, currently exclusive to Xbox Insider.
Explore, sculpt, build, and survive in this open-world, voxel-based, survival sandbox. Journey through exotic, procedurally-generated biomes, establish settlements with advanced building capabilities and unlock the secrets of a lost civilization spanning multiple worlds.
Become an Expansion Pioneer and start forj-ing the future of Reforj’s development, today!
*Reforj is in early development – join the Reforj Discord to keep up with any news and updates or to provide feedback/suggestions. Similarly, you can visit the Reforj website for further information about the game.
How to Participate:
Sign-in on your Xbox Series X|S console and launch the Xbox Insider Hub app (or install the Xbox Insider Hub from the Store first if necessary)
Navigate to Previews > Reforj
Select Join
Wait for the registration to complete and be directed to the Store and install Reforj Pre-Alpha
NOTE: Limited space is available and offered first-come first-served.
NOTE: This playtest is only available on Xbox Series X|S consoles.
How to Provide Feedback:
If you experience any issues while playing Reforj, don’t forget to use “Report a problem” so we can investigate:
Hold down the home button on your Xbox controller.
Select Report a problem.
Select the Games category and Reforj Pre-Alpha subcategory.
Fill out the form with the appropriate details to help our investigation.
For more information: follow us on X/Twitter at @XboxInsider and this blog for announcements and more. And feel free to interact with the community on the Xbox Insider SubReddit.
2025 was an incredible year for gaming and, before we run full-tilt into 2026, we wanted to take a moment to celebrate the titles that Xbox players made a part of their year, across all devices – from console, to PC, to handheld, to cloud. Today, we’re announcing the recipients of the 2025 Xbox Excellence Awards.
Introduced last year, the Xbox Excellence Awards celebrate games – and the teams behind them – based on how you engaged with Xbox over the last year. As such, we’ve picked out four key categories, which represent players’ enthusiasm, passion, engagement, and love. Those four categories are:
Store Rating: The highest-rated content across our stores released in 2025, with a minimum of 500 ratings.
Player Engagement: The games with the highest average hours per-player within the first six weeks of release.
Daily Active Users: Games, expansions, or major updates with the highest single-day active users in 2025. You may notice games that weren’t released in 2025 in this list – that’s because they got a significant update last year.
Units Sold: Top-selling content across Xbox and Microsoft stores.
The final list represents a diverse collection of titles produced by studios of wildly varying sizes. You’ll find 55 total games, with 16 currently available through Xbox Game Pass. It features 48 unique developers hailing from 13 countries, and brought to you by 24 publishers, alongside 19 self-published titles. Taken as a whole, it’s an encapsulation of development on Xbox – we want gaming to reach you wherever you are, and for the teams making those games to find you from wherever they are. You can find the titles for each category – listed alphabetically – below.
Crafting Speed: The Technology, Creativity, and Art Behind Ride 6’s Track Design
Paolo Bertoni, Game Director, Ride 6
Hello to all bikers out there! The wait is finally over: Ride 6 is out tomorrow, and it’s time to rev up and start a new adventure. Over the past two years, we’ve poured our hearts into creating an experience that celebrates every aspect of motorcycle culture. Today, we’re excited to pull back the curtain on one of the pillars of this new chapter: how we brought over 40 tracks to life in the game.
As you know, Ride 6 features both real-world and fictional tracks, each crafted with utmost care. Our teams worked hard to recreate iconic locations that have shaped motorcycling history, while also designing completely original tracks that are just as memorable and fun to ride.
For real tracks, the process starts on location. We map the entire circuit from above using drones, capturing anywhere from 2,000 to 2,500 photos depending on the size and complexity of the track.
Before flying, we set up 20–25 Ground Control Points (GCPs). These are PVC panels marked with an “X”, and we record their exact positions with high-precision GPS antennas. Once the photos are taken, we link each GCP to every image it appears in, attaching the corresponding GPS coordinates. This method allows us to generate point clouds with an impressive margin of error of just 2.5 cm.
A recreation of Mugello Circuit, a real motorsport race track in Florence, Italy.
The resulting point clouds don’t just capture the asphalt, curbs, and paddock; they map everything inside and around the track. This detail is crucial for faithfully recreating vegetation, run-off areas, asphalt, and structures like grandstands. Once the point cloud is ready, it’s handed to the Art Team, who use it as the foundation for building the 3D model.
Creating fictional tracks is a whole different story. Here, imagination takes center stage. The design process begins with the experience we want to deliver and the type of bike that suits the track best. The Design Team works closely with the Physics Team to ensure each track highlights the bikes’ strengths while also challenging riders in the right ways, striking the perfect balance between fun and skill.
Some tracks are designed to be fast and flowing, ideal for newer players eager to unleash the full power of their bikes. Usually, these tracks feature long straights, wide corners, and generous lanes to help players get comfortable with the gameplay. In this sense, the Kapadokya Rally is a great example: a gift to off-road enthusiasts, offering a nearly rally-like experience.
Other tracks are tighter, more technical, and aimed at experienced players. The environment we choose plays a key role in this sense, as it strongly affects the overall feel of the track. A circuit winding through a dense forest, for example, gives a far stronger sense of speed than the same layout in an open area. This is something we consider from the very beginning of the design process.
Once the design is finalized, we move on to practical testing. This is a unique phase: the Gameplay Team rides on a completely empty environment, a strip of asphalt floating in space with no reference points. The goal is to give the Design Team feedback on how to refine the layout and make the track as enjoyable as possible. Reference points like a house, a road sign, or a curb are now added to help players find racing lines, learn braking points, and fully immerse themselves in the ride. From here, the Art Team takes over to bring the track to life in 3D.
Thanks for stopping by. I hope you learned something interesting. See you on the track when Ride 6 launches February 12!
Hop on your bike and pre-order RIDE 6 now. You will get the full game and the Made in Japan Bikes Pack, with two bikes from the most iconic Japanese manufacturers.
Live the RIDE
RIDE 6 isn’t just about riding – it’s about who you become on your bike. It’s where passion turns into identity, and every race becomes a statement. It’s time to prove what it really means to be a rider – to yourself and to the world.
Beyond the asphalt
Collect and ride 250+ bikes from various categories, including Baggers and Enduro. Leave the asphalt behind and feel the thrill of the dirt on new off-road tracks for an even more complete riding experience.
Join RIDE Fest
Celebrate your passion for two wheels: start your career in the atmosphere of a motorcycle festival, choose your path, and challenge 10 legendary champions, from Casey Stoner to Guy Martin. Each will push your skills to the limit, testing you across different disciplines, bikes, and tracks.
Do you have what it takes to claim your place among those legends?
Ride your way
Whether you want to master the basics or you’re looking for the ultimate challenge, RIDE 6 adapts to your gaming style. The Arcade Experience gives you the thrills of instant riding, while the Pro Experience delivers full control and simulation depth. And with the new Bridgestone Riding School, you’ll be ready to face every challenge at your best!
Online, no limits
Race online in full cross-play, claim your spot at the top of the leaderboard, and show off your custom bikes, suits, and helmets.
found a way to intervene! With Tinder’s Castle as their new corporate headquarters, Ever After Inc. is hellbent on taking over every storybook they can. With no choice but to get a job, Flynt Buckler must team up with his former nemesis Tinder in order to climb the corporate ladder and take down Ever After Inc. from the inside!
