This Month's ID@Xbox Showcase Is Exactly What Xbox Needs
Xbox has a great lineup of AAA games ready to launch in the coming months, but today's ID@Xbox showcase announcement is the exact supplement Game Pass needs.
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IGN Fan Fest kicks off this year with an ID@Xbox presentation on February 24th, which will showcase indie games from over a dozen studios. The presentation was announced today by IGN, and a list of studios that will take part in the showcase was revealed. Indie game publishers like Panic (Untitled Goose Game, Firewatch), Don’t Nod (Life Is Strange, Jusant), and Raw Fury (Sable, Star Trucker) will be taking part in the presentation. Smash hit of 2024, Balatro, is also rumored to unveil its “next big collaboration.”
Indie games are the exact supplement Xbox needs for its AAA lineup right now
Over the last few years, Xbox Games Studios have grown into a much larger group. The acquisition of Bethesda and Activision Blizzard made sure of that. Now, after a highly praised Developer Direct last month, it seems like Xbox fans will finally begin to see the rewards of their patience. Though are some major problems: PlayStation and Nintendo are outdoing the US gaming giant in terms of console sales. And to top it all off, Xbox Studios games are coming to PlayStation 5. But that might be ok, because in the final months of 2024, Xbox was the biggest video game publisher, comfortably ahead of another huge publisher EA (Dragon Age: The Veilguard, EA Sports FC 2025).
So while it may not be long before the physical Xbox begins to fade into the background, it isn’t all bad news. In the final few months of 2024, Xbox Game Pass managed to increase its user base by 30% on PC. This shows no signs of slowing down. Just in the next couple months, Xbox Game Pass subscribers have Avowed to look forward to on February 17th, South of Midnight and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 in April, and then Doom: The Dark Ages in May.
This is an impressive lineup, but these huge titles might not be a perfect fit for every player. This is where smaller games step in to fill in the gaps. Since they can’t reasonably add huge budget games every few weeks, a great way to prop up the value of the service is through indie games. This month’s scheduled ID@Xbox is their chance to show people that Game Pass is worth sticking around for, even when you’re done playing the big AAA release of that month.
Looking at the list of publishers and developers planned to take part in this showcase, Xbox is set up to have an impressive showcase. I am personally a huge fan of indie games, so I’ve been keeping tabs on many of the games that might be revealed in this showcase.
What to expect from the ID@Xbox presentation this month
Publisher Raw Fury has made a name for itself with a variety of games like Cassette Beasts (currently on Game Pass), Moonstone Island, Sable, and Star Trucker (also on Game Pass). They have two upcoming games that have been on my radar. Blue Prince is a combination puzzle and exploration game about building a mansion, exploring the rooms, and solving the mystery at the heart of it. Meanwhile, Knights in Tight Spaces is a tense, challenging tactical game that has already taken hours of my life through the demo available now on Steam.
11 Bit might be a name you recognize if you’re a fan of Frostpunk 2 (currently on Game Pass, and read our review), Creatures of Ava (currently on Game Pass), or Moonlighter (also on Game Pass). Clearly this is a publisher that is friendly with Game Pass. They have three notable games on the horizon. Death Howl, a self-described “souls-like deckbuilder” that challenges the player with tactical combat encounters. In The Alters (read our glowing preview), you create clones of yourself to survive and build a base on an alien planet, which is scheduled for Q1 205. And of course, if you’re a fan of Moonlighter, you might be excited to learn about Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault.
Panic, the publisher behind huge indie hits like Untitled Goose Game and Firewatch, has a few more games coming up as well. The devs behind Untitled Goose Game have announced their next game, Big Walk, which looks to be an odd multiplayer open-world puzzle game. Panic is also publishing Herdling, a unique game about returning strange fantastical creatures to their natural habitats. I was able to play a demo of Herdling at PAX West last year and it seemed like it had a lot of potential.
Two years ago, Thunder Lotus, the publisher behind Spiritfarer, showcased a new upcoming game at an Xbox Showcase. 33 Immortals is a co-op action rogue-lite with 33 players. Survive hordes of monsters and escape eternal damnation alongside a host of companions. There is currently a beta happening until February 7th where players can get a chance to try out the game for themselves. It would be surprising to see not see this game at this month’s presentation.
Don’t Nod is also planning to be a part of this presentation. You might recognize them if you are a fan of the Life Is Strange series, and if you are a fan, their upcoming game, Lost Records: Bloom and Rage, might be right up your alley. Part one, “Bloom,” launches this month, with part two, “Rage,” scheduled for April 15th. Also of note, Pocketpair, the developer of Xbox Game Pass hit, Palworld, recently got into the indie publishing business. They already have a partnership with Tales of Kenzera ZAU devs, Surgent Studios, so maybe this is the opportunity to share some of what they have been working on.
Finally, you can expect to see more from Curve Games, the publisher of Dungeons of Hinterberg (currently on Game Pass), Cult Games, the publisher of Galacticare (currently on Game Pass), and plenty more. Plus, who knows, maybe Balatro’s big update is that it will be coming to Game Pass, then every screen won’t just be an Xbox, it will also be a black hole that absorbs people’s free time.
All of these indie games could potentially launch on Game Pass this year. Most of them don’t have release dates, so this would be the perfect opportunity to share those updates with prospective players. 2025 was already shaping up to be an exciting year for Game Pass subscribers, and this upcoming ID@Xbox presentation makes it even better.
