Xbox releases up to four new games, includes Diablo 4, Overwatch 2 and more

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From reports gathered, Microsoft Corp. makes public much of new games for its Xbox Game Pass subscription service, some of which are from several major publishers the company has acquired in recent years.

At a launch event in Los Angeles on Sunday, Microsoft began and ended with two big games coming next year from publisher Bethesda, which it acquired in 2020. Redfall is a first-person shooter in which players battle vampires; Starfield is an RPG set in space. Microsoft also highlighted Activision Blizzard’s Overwatch 2, which will offer early access starting in October with a free-to-play multiplayer competitive mode, and Diablo 4 coming in 2023. (Diablo IV).

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All four of these games will be available on Xbox Game Pass, the service at the heart of Microsoft’s gaming strategy and the main reason the company paid Bethesda $7.5 billion and bought Activision Blizzard for nearly $69 billion. Xbox Game Pass allows users to pay a monthly fee for unlimited access to all the games on the service, and the number of these games is growing.

Microsoft had high hopes for Game Pass and made a big bet. The company revealed in January that the monthly subscription game service had gained 25 million users, and users had to pay Microsoft at least $10 a month.

Rather than pitting Sony and Nintendo over hardware, Microsoft is committed to creating the Netflix of gaming, and in many ways, the company is close to doing just that. At the showcase, nearly every game ended with a note: “Use Game Pass and start enjoying the game right away,” underscoring the company’s strategy.

Microsoft’s Game Showcase is a traditional annual event for the company, usually during the E3 trade show, where the world’s largest video game publishers come together to showcase the latest and upcoming game projects.

But this year’s E3 show was canceled, and other publishers such as Ubisoft and Sony canceled their annual showcases, leading Microsoft’s event on Sunday to be particularly in the spotlight for media and gaming enthusiasts.

During the showcase, Microsoft also announced a new Minecraft spin-off called Minecraft Legends, as well as several colorful indie games, such as an action game called Ravenlok and a game called Ravenlok. For Cocoon’s adventure games, all of these games will be available to players on Game Pass on launch day.

A highlight of the showcase was Pentiment, a medieval narrative adventure game with a unique art style developed by Microsoft-owned developer Obsidian Entertainment. While the game doesn’t have a fight scene and probably won’t attract a lot of players, it could be a good fit for Game Pass, and many experimental games that don’t necessarily need a lot of sales are a good fit for the service.

Microsoft is also positioning Game Pass as a service that will benefit other free-to-play games. During the show, Riot Games said it would partner with Xbox to give Game Pass subscribers access to premium content for its games, including League of Legends and Valorant. All of these in-game heroes, which are usually sold separately, are available for free to all Game Pass subscribers.