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2025 may very well be a make-or-break year for Microsoft's Xbox brand. Following a relatively slow start to the generation--the lack of killer first-party exclusives has been notable--Microsoft acquired Activision Blizzard, making Game Pass more enticing via yearly day-one Call of Duty launches. But as Sony continues pumping out first-party prestige games and Nintendo enters its next phase with Switch 2, it's less clear exactly what role Xbox will play.Below, we've outlined some of the biggest aspects of the Xbox brand to focus on as we move further into 2025, from the increased focus on cloud gaming to a shifting release strategy that puts far less emphasis on Xbox-exclusive games. Here's what you can expect from Xbox in 2025, including new releases, and be sure to check out 2025 upcoming game releases list for more information on your most-anticipated games. Everything is an XboxMicrosoft stopped releasing sales figures for its Xbox systems long ago, preferring to instead focus on engagement and Game Pass figures. However, we're going to see even less emphasis put on actual honest-to-goodness Xbox consoles in 2025, with Microsoft's "This Is An Xbox" campaign blurring the lines further. Everything from a phone to a TV can play games via Xbox Cloud Gaming, letting players enjoy the Xbox ecosystem without actually buying the Xbox Series X or Series S. Whether that approach is sustainable remains to be seen, but Microsoft certainly seems committed to it. Game Pass, Game Pass, Game Pass Microsoft's huge acquisitions of ZeniMax and Activision Blizzard were motivated, in large part, by a push for more Game Pass subscribers. The success of Game Pass points to the success of the Xbox brand, and slower-than-projected growth in subscribers are likely to be addressed in one way or another. Whether that means another price increase or some combination of new features or games remains to be seen, but Microsoft is past the point of no return with its gaming division--spending more than $70 billion to acquire an entire publisher tends to do that. Look for Game Pass to get more enticing, and maybe more expensive, in 2025. Hardware rumorsDespite the decreased emphasis on hardware, new Xbox hardware is still almost certainly coming. In fact, a brand-new Xbox console is rumored to be releasing in 2026, and we've heard rumblings about a dedicated handheld Xbox system, as well. This would, presumably, also be capable of accessing games via Xbox Cloud Gaming, though it's likely we'll have to wait quite a bit before we learn anything about it or any next-generation hardware. Fewer and fewer exclusivesIn a move that would have seemed shocking just a few years ago, in 2024 Microsoft moved to releasing several of its previously console-exclusive games to rival platforms like Nintendo Switch and PS5. Not every game has made the jump, but expect this to be more of a standard release strategy than a peculiar oddity moving forward. There are even rumors of a Halo game making its way to a PlayStation system, and though thus far we haven't seen Game Pass supported outside of Xbox and PC, making it available on other systems would seemingly be a pathway to more subscribers, should its competitors allow this. AvowedRelease Date: February 18, 2025 Obsidian has shed the shackles of being "that RPG sequel studio" over the past several years and established itself as one of the premier developers in Microsoft's roster. Avowed looks to be the next step forward for the developer, combining first-person sword-and-scorcery combat with plenty of exploration and lore-expanding quests. It's technically an entry in the Pillars of Eternity franchise, but Avowed looks to appeal to a wider audience with its The Elder Scrolls-like presentation, even with plenty of quirky elements that are undeniably Obsidian. See at Amazon South of MidnightRelease Date: TBD 2025Compulsion Games' We Happy Few was certainly a novel concept, but it didn't quite stick the landing across its story or survival-esque mechanics. For its next game, South of Midnight, the studio is going in a completely different direction. A third-person Southern Gothic action game, South of Midnight's combat should appeal to hack-and-slash fans, while its gorgeous art and setting are like if you combined Into The Spider-Verse with The Princess and the Frog. See at Microsoft Store The Outer Worlds 2Release Date: TBD 2025The Outer Worlds saw Obsidian combine the quirky characters and customization of Fallout: New Vegas with a healthy dose of BioShock, and perhaps its biggest flaw was ending right as it got really good. For The Outer Worlds 2, the studio is taking us on a brand-new adventure set in the Arcadia colony, complete with a new set of companions to recruit and plenty of choice in how you approach each situation. Go in guns blazing if that's what makes you happy, or find a more creative way to handle your conflicts. Just don't call it Outer Wilds 2. See at Microsoft Store FableRelease Date: TBD 2025The Fable series has been on ice for years, and with the death of Lionhead Studios, that could have been the end of the road. However, the open-world masters at Playground Games (developer of the Forza Horizon series) are now carrying the mantle, and the series is returning with Fable on Xbox Series X|S and PC. As with the original games, it looks to maintain a sense of levity despite the many dangers awaiting you in Albion. It remains to be seen if Playground Games can tackle an RPG like it can a racing game, but its aptitude for open-world exploration has never been doubted. See at Microsoft Store Sleight of HandRelease Date: TBD 2025In the mood for a classic noir-inspired adventure with a healthy dose of the occult? Sleight of Hand developer RiffRaff Games certainly hopes so. The stealth-action game sees you infiltrating a witch coven--one you used to belong to, mind you--with a deck of cursed cards to give you the edge on your enemies. While you'll move around the environment in real-time, you'll also make use of the cards to, well, stack the deck in your favor. You may find some Dishonored-like combo abilities that really shake things up, and your enemies will adapt to change their strategy based on your cards. See at Steam Orcs Must Die: DeathtrapRelease Date: January 28, 2025The Orcs Must Die series continues well over a decade after its first installment, and it returns in gloriously violent fashion with Orcs Must Die: Deathtrap, a day-one Game Pass title. The newest game is playable either solo or with up to four players, and it should scratch that classic orc-slaying itch that the series has been about for so long. With a variety of buffs and debuffs changing the course of every run, it should be a blast to play with friends at your side, and a deeper progression system than its predecessors will give you incentive to keep coming back for more. See at Microsoft Store Borderlands 4Release Date: TBD 2025Borderlands has been Gearbox's premier franchise for more than 15 years, and it looks to be kicking things up another notch with Borderlands 4. As with the previous games, you'll be able to play both solo or cooperatively as you shoot and loot your way across the new Kairos setting. Gearbox aimed for a more seamless exploration experience in Borderlands 4 following the several discrete destinations in Borderlands 3, and it'll be even more fun to explore than ever before thanks to the new grappling hook. It has to be better than the movie! See at Microsoft Store Assassin's Creed ShadowsRelease Date: March 20, 2025For years, it looked like Assassin's Creed was never going to go to Japan. That is finally changing with Assassin's Creed Shadows, which stars two very different protagonists with two very different gameplay styles. Whether you're a stealth master who wants to take out your enemies covertly or an all-out brawler who prefers to be a little louder, you can play Assassin's Creed Shadows your way. Parkour should also feel more seamless and fluid than in past Assassin's Creed games, and the addition of a grappling hook gives you more tactical opportunities. See at Amazon Doom: The Dark AgesRelease Date: TBD 2025The rebooted (sort of) Doom series has been a remarkable success for id Software, combining the frenetic, twitchy gameplay of old-school shooters with the depth and variety we expect from modern games. That looks to continue with Doom: The Dark Ages, a game that promises to show the origins of the legendary Doom Slayer--or Doomguy, as we all actually call him. With an aesthetic that's certainly taking some inspiration from Army of Darkness and plenty of medieval-flavored weaponry at your disposal, it looks like it'll be a ton of fun sending demons back to Hell while also being in Hell. See at Microsoft Store Elden Ring NightreignRelease Date: TBD 2025From Software's games often have some degree of cooperative functionality in them, but it's getting taken a step further with Elden Ring Nightreign. A multiplayer spin-off that lets you and two others take on some of Elden Ring's most dangerous enemies--and some enemies from the Dark Souls games--it's poised to be a very different experience from the standard Souls formula. It's very likely to lead to some arguments and maybe even some broken friendships, but if you can put your differences aside and destroy the Nameless King, perhaps you can patch things up. See at Steam Grand Theft Auto VIRelease Date: TBD 2025One of--if not the--biggest games to ever release, Grand Theft Auto VI is also one of the rare third-party AAA games to not also launch on PC (at least at launch). That could mean even more Xbox Series X|S players than it would otherwise get, and analysts have predicted sales of 40 million units in the first year alone--with potentially a higher-than-standard price. The long-awaited sequel takes us to Leonida, a fictional state that includes the famous Vice City. Despite a planned release date in 2025, we know remarkably little about Rockstar's next epic, but we can expect plenty of carjacking, murdering, and perhaps even some jaywalking. See at Rockstar JudasRelease Date: TBDAfter releasing the acclaimed BioShock Infinite, Ken Levine's Irrational Games was shut down and replaced by the much smaller Ghost Story Games, which promised an innovative new take on game narratives. That was many years ago, and we've only recently seen the first fruits of its labor: Judas. A first-person shooter that bears a pretty striking visual resemblance to BioShock--you'd be forgiven for thinking the screenshot here is from the BioShock series--Judas looks like it will focus more on player choice than Levine's past work. At least part of it will also take place in space, which is pretty much the opposite of Rapture's underwater "utopia." See at Microsoft Store Mecha BreakRelease Date: Spring 2025If you couldn't get enough of Armored Core but wish it had a little more high-energy anime explosiveness, then Mecha Break might be the perfect game for you. The mecha combat game sees humanity battling for limited resources on a dying Earth, which naturally takes the form of competitive multiplayer matches against fellow pilots. Heavy customization options allow for you to battle your way, whether that be up close with a laser sword or from afar with long-range ballistics, and Gundam fans will appreciate the highly detailed paint options. See at Microsoft Store ReplacedRelease Date: TBDA cinematic action-platformer that puts you in the shoes of an AI-controlled human, Replaced looks to tackle the always-relevant cyberpunk themes of capitalism and the limits of humanity's greed. It takes some clear influence from classics like Blade Runner, but its mix of pixel-art with fluid combat animations gives it a unique flavor. Replaced has been delayed far past its initial release window, with the team shifting locations from Belarus to Poland due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It has yet to get a concrete release date. See at Steam The Legend of BabooRelease Date: TBDA classic third-person action-adventure game reminiscent of the early 2000s--and the delightful Kena: Bridge of Spirits--The Legend of Baboo stars the titular dog and his pal Sepehr on a journey to save their island from "an ancient evil." Combat focuses on Sepehr's magic staff as well as Baboo's own attacks, and you can switch between the two characters. This will, naturally, be necessary to complete some of the game's challenges, and who wouldn't want to play as such a good, fluffy boy? See at Microsoft Store Winter BurrowRelease Date: TBD 2025Did you ever think about where the mice walking the streets of big cities came from? In Winter Burrow, we join a mouse as they're returning from their time in the concrete jungle to a cozy burrow for the winter, only to find that their aunt has disappeared. Naturally, it's up to you to find her, and developer Noodlecake calls its take on the survival genre "approachable," letting you move forward the story at a comfortable pace rather than constantly worry about resources. See at Microsoft Store Wuchang: Fallen FeathersRelease Date: TBD 2025If you love souls-likes and you hate buying games on launch day, then you're in for a treat with Wuchange: Fallen Feathers. The game, which launches on Game Pass this year, sees you taking on the role of an amnesiac pirate during the Ming Dynasty, and while there is definitely some historical influence here, Wuchange is very much a fantasy game. You'll be fighting giant monsters alongside the you-sized enemies, and you can make use of Sekiro-style parries to change the course of a battle. We expect some broken controllers, but at least you can buy a new one with the money you'd usually spend buying a game. See at Microsoft Store Split FictionRelease Date: March 6, 2025The cooperative-adventure experts at Hazelight have yet to deliver a bad game, and 2021's It Takes Two may have been the studio's best yet. With Split Fiction, Hazelight is going into even stranger territory. Protagonists Mio and Zoe each prefer a distinct fictional world--one likes fantasy, while the other likes science-fiction--and this means you'll sometimes see the screen split between the two settings. As a cooperative-only title, Split Fiction will also benefit from full cross-play across Xbox, PC, and PlayStation, along with the Friend's Pass feature, which allows two players to enjoy the game together without both people having to own it. See at Amazon Sniper Elite: ResistanceRelease Date: January 30, 2025The Sniper Elite series has long appeared on Xbox platforms, and the most recent game, Sniper Elite 5, launched on day one for Game Pass. That's also the case for the spin-off title Sniper Elite: Resistance, which takes place concurrently with Sniper Elite 5. For the first time, the series stars someone other than Karl Fairburne, but still sees you going behind enemy lines in Nazi-occupied France as you relieve them of their pesky brains or testicles. You'll also have the opportunity to play special French-resistance propaganda missions, doing your part to liberate the country from fascist rule. See at Amazon Call of Duty 2025Release Date: TBD 2025A mainline Call of Duty game has released every single year since 2005, and we don't expect things to change in 2025. Following Microsoft's purchase of Activision Blizzard, Call of Duty games now release as day-one launches on Game Pass alongside their traditional retail versions. We've heard reports that 2025's Call of Duty game will be a sequel to Black Ops 2, making the sub-series' timeline even more confusing than it was already. As Treyarch has always led development on the Black Ops series and just released its latest game mere months ago, this would apparently mean another studio would be in charge this time. State of Decay 3Release Date: TBDMore than six years after the launch of State of Decay 2--and more than four since its sequel was announced--we know almost nothing about State of Decay 3. It's unclear if it's going to get a release date in 2025, but we expect Microsoft and Undead Labs are at least going to pull back the curtain on the game before the end of the year. Its predecessors combined open-world zombie survival gameplay with base-management to create an immersive post-apocalypse. In State of Decay, much of your energy is focused on merely avoiding death, and losing a favorite member of your crew can be devastating. See at Microsoft Store Perfect DarkRelease Date: TBDAnother game announced years ago, the Perfect Dark reboot actually appears to be making progress, as shown during the Xbox Games Showcase last June. Our first look at gameplay showed off some immersive sim-like elements as Joanna Dark makes use of futuristic gadgets during an investigation, as well as parkour moves that let her quickly reach new heights and avoid detection. Of course, as a first-person shooter, there will be plenty of combat, and we know Joanna will have access to some serious firepower. Microsoft's previous attempt at Perfect Dark--Rare's Perfect Dark Zero--didn't exactly set the world on fire back in 2005, but its successor from The Initiative and Crystal Dynamics looks very impressive. See at Microsoft Store Gears of War: E-DayRelease Date: TBDThe first mainline Gears of War game since 2019, Gears of War: E-Day will finally let fans experience the opening moments of the war against the Locust Horde. The Coalition is staying tight-lipped on much of the game for now, but we do know that Marcus Fenix and Dom Santiago will both be featured, and it should give us a look at the more primitive weaponry humanity had at its disposal 14 years before the original Gears of War. Naturally, we expect robust cooperative and competitive multiplayer options, as well. See at Microsoft Store Clockwork RevolutionRelease Date: TBDAfter establishing itself as a modern CRPG powerhouse with the resurrected Wasteland franchise, InXile is pivoting to a very different kind of role-playing experience with Clockwork Revolution. At first glance, it's easy to think you're looking at a new take on BioShock Infinite, but Clockwork Revolution's cool twist lies in its title--you'll be venturing to different key moments in history, and the choices you make will alter your home city of Avalon. Naturally, you'll have access to some steampunk-inspired weapons to help you along the way, which look to be a far cry from the post-apocalyptic tools available in the Wasteland series. See at Microsoft Store 33 ImmortalsRelease Date: TBDSpiritfarer studio Thunder Lotus decided to go in a very different direction for its next game, 33 Immortals. A co-op roguelike featuring 33 players, 33 Immortals is designed to feel like an MMO raid without the need to level up your hero for hundreds of hours in preparation for the next content drop. Instead, you're free to drop directly into the action upon starting the game, though you will be awarded with permanent upgrades as you continue fighting--always a good way to keep struggling players from wanting to throw in the towel. See at Microsoft Store Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake EaterRelease Date: TBD 2025What a thrill! More than 20 years after Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater first released, the game is getting a full-on remake for current-gen platforms. The story looks to be unchanged, following Naked Snake (later Big Boss) on a Cold War-era mission that will bring him into contact with characters like Eva and Revolver Ocelot. The gameplay, however, has been completely overhauled to better fit with modern expectations for stealth-action, though the original controls are also available as an optional feature. Perhaps most impressive is that any wounds Snake receives will remain on his body for the remainder of the game. See at Amazon
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