Xbox One’s Exclusive Lineup
The Xbox One started off 2017 a bit rough thanks to the cancellation of the highly-anticipated Scalebound from PlatinumGames. That left a rather large gap in its first-party exclusive lineup, leaving Sea of Thieves, Halo Wars 2, State of Decay 2, and Crackdown 3 as the only “big” titles left in that group. More worrying is the fact that of those four, only Halo Wars 2 has an actual release date, and Crackdown 3 has gone silent since its delay into this year. In fact, other than Halo Wars 2, the only other Xbox One exclusive that has a set release date is Rise & Shine, a side-scrolling action game that has you using guns to take out enemies and solve puzzles.
The upcoming lineup for the console is looking pretty sparse, which is very surprising when you consider that Microsoft is planning on launching Project Scorpio – a 4K, HDR, VR ready upgraded Xbox One – later this year. In fact, several of the upcoming games are titles (mostly indie) that were revealed quite some time ago. Two prime examples are Below, a game that seems part A Link to the Past, part Dark Souls, and Cuphead, a challenging action game with artwork that looks like it was pulled right off of a classic cartoon screen. Both look like they can be breakout hits, and Cuphead is set for a Q2/Q3 release (think spring or summer). Below, however, still doesn’t have a set date, but is expected to release some time within the next 12 months.
There’s no easy way to say this, but the Xbox One has a lot riding on just a few titles, some of which we haven’t received any word on in quite some time. Hopefully the lack of quantity doesn’t affect the platform, as any could end up being a stellar exclusive. Chances are that Microsoft has some big announcements for upcoming events that will likely make use of the Scorpio and add to the Xbox One’s offerings. How many of those would actually be able to make it out in 2017, though, only time can tell.
