Hi-Fi Rush and Pentiment will be the first games from Xbox Game Studios to see a release on rival consoles as part of Microsoft’s new vision for the future of Xbox, according to a new report that explains how the $3.12 trillion company is readying an ambitious plan that aims to take the Xbox brand “everywhere.” Other first-party titles, which, according to ongoing rumors, would include Starfield and the new Indiana Jones game from Bethesda and MachineGames, are “also under consideration.”
Coming to non-Xbox platforms “later this year”:
- Hi-Fi Rush (Tango Gameworks)
- Pentiment (Obsidian Entertainment)
- Sea of Thieves (Rare)
Hi-Fi Rush description:
Feel the beat as wannabe rockstar Chai and his ragtag team of allies rebel against an evil robotics enhancement megacorp with raucous rhythm combat! From Tango Gameworks, the studio that brought you The Evil Within and Ghostwire:Tokyo (no, really) comes Hi-Fi RUSH, an all-new action game where the characters, world and combat stylishly sync to the music!
Pentiment description:
From Obsidian, this game is a historical narrative-driven game focusing on character development, heavily stylized art, and choice-driven storytelling in early 16th century Bavaria. Players will play as Andreas Maler, a clever illustrator caught up in a series of murders in Tassing and Kiersau Abbey over the course of twenty five years. Players will be responsible for conducting their own investigation to decide the fate of the community, but each decision will have lasting consequences and inexorably draws Andreas closer to the center of an underlying conspiracy.
Rumored titles include:
- Gears of War games
- Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
- Starfield
The Verge on why Microsoft is looking to expand its business:
…Microsoft hasn’t provided any update on [Game Pass] subscriber numbers to investors. It’s been more than two years since the 25 million figure was announced alongside the company’s Activision Blizzard acquisition, and some analysts estimate Microsoft is only at around 33 million subscribers.
If accurate, that’s around 33 percent growth in two years. Microsoft targeted a 73 percent growth rate for Game Pass subscriptions for a single fiscal year that ended in June 2022, but only managed 28 percent.