Highlights from today's ID@Xbox showcase: indies coming to Game Pass
Today's ID@Xbox showcase highlighted over twenty great indie games coming to Xbox Game Pass. Balatro, Lies of P, and Moonlighter 2 are among the featured games.
Today, IGN Fan Fest started off with a showcase of Xbox indie games in the ID@Xbox showcase. This has been a huge day for indie games, with this showcase, the Annapurna Interactive showcase this morning, and today being the official start of Steam’s first Next Fest of 2025. There are tons of demos on Steam right now for you to check out, and some of the games shown in this presentation are available too. This was a long presentation, lasting nearly forty-five minutes of IGN’s three-hour livestream, but it was packed with twenty-one featured games. Some of them are completely new, while others are updates on previously announced games.
ID@Xbox showcase reveals what indie games Game Pass subscribers have to look forward to
- ID@Xbox showcase reveals what indie games Game Pass subscribers have to look forward to
- Revenge of the Savage Planet
- Jump Ship
- Moonlighter 2, Blue Prince, Outbound, & Herdling
- The Lonesome Guild
- Balatro’s Next Big Collaboration
- RockBeasts
- 33 Immortals
- Lies of P: Overture
- Rapid Fire Highlights
Rather than take the time to dive into every single announcement, this article will focus on some of the highlights. If you want to watch the entire presentation, you can watch it on IGN’s YouTube channel. The ID@Xbox showcase starts at about the one-hour mark. Also, if it wasn’t obvious since this is an Xbox focused showcase, every game shown will be coming to Game Pass.
Revenge of the Savage Planet
Presented as an infomercial for the various tools that can be used during the game, the new trailer for Revenge of the Savage Planet kicked off the showcase. This is a sequel to Journey to the Savage Planet. Don’t let the different studio name fool you. Despite Typhoon Studios shutting down shortly after the launch of the first game in the series in 2020, some of the developers have returned in the form of Raccoon Logic Studios to create Revenge of the Savage Planet. This sequel maintains the original’s satirical humor and colorful alien landscape, as well as its optional co-op. The game is set to launch on May 8th for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PlayStation 4/5, and PC. Wishlist now on Steam!
Jump Ship
Jump Ship, from developer Keepsake Games, is a co-op mission-based FPS where up to four players pilot a spaceship and transition seamlessly to on-foot battles and planet exploration. Though, based on this new trailer, that transition might also include free-falling from space. It looks like players will need to land on planets to gather resources, fighting off robots in the process, all while maintaining their ship. At one point, a player is seen spraying a fire extinguisher as the interior of the ship burns. This could be a fun combination of elements from tense co-op games like Lethal Company and an FPS, but we’ll have to see how the game plays before making any calls on that. Fortunately, sign ups for the game’s closed beta on PC and Xbox are available now via the game’s website. Jump Ship is planned to launch in Early Access this summer.
Moonlighter 2, Blue Prince, Outbound, & Herdling
New gameplay was shown for Digital Sun’s upcoming sequel, Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault, sequel to the 2018 indie hit Moonlighter. Blue Prince, the mysterious mansion puzzle game from developer Dogubomb, got a release date for April 10th. Outbound, a travel simulation game about driving around a classic van will be coming to Game Pass in 2026. Herdling, a unique game where you care for mythological creatures from developer Okomotive, showcased a new trailer and revealed a release window for this summer. Plus, it’s great news that all these games will be coming to Game Pass.
The Lonesome Guild
Don’t Nod, the developer of the original Life is Strange series, and the more recent Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, announced a new game during today’s showcase. The Lonesome Guild is being developed by a studio called Tiny Bull and published by Don’t Nod. The player is a ghost but is able to build a team made up of various animal characters. Solve puzzles, fight enemies, and gather allies in a 3D, isometric world. As the ghost, you are able to temporarily possess your allies to aid in combat and with puzzles. You can also build up relationships with your allies to grow their strength. Somehow, it reminds me of if another Don’t Nod game, Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, was about cute animals instead of people. The game is planned to be released sometime this fall, but you can wishlist it now on Steam.
Balatro’s Next Big Collaboration
Teased ahead of the showcase, the next Balatro collaboration did not disappoint. Since launch a little over a year ago, the rogue-like poker game has rocketed to stardom, eventually earning itself a Game of the Year nomination at the Game Awards. Over the past year, the solo developer Localthunk has released several free “Friends of Jimbo” expansions that include cosmetic collaborations with various other video games. The first three generally only included four collaborations, but the fourth Friends of Jimbo pack announced today, included eight. This pack will include decks styled after the Civilization series, Fallout, Critical Role, Assassin’s Creed, and more. Not only that, but the highly addictive game is also available on Xbox Game Pass.
RockBeasts
A new game from publisher Team17 (Dredge, Overcooked 2, Blasphemous 2) and developer Lichthund has the player managing a rock band of animals. The animation style is reminiscent of the TV show Bojack Horseman, with anthropomorphic characters in a gritty, dark world. The narrative will be front and center in RockBeasts, and the player will have to make impactful decisions about how to manage the band and how to interact with other characters, whether friendly or not. RockBeasts is planned to launch sometime this year, but you can wishlist now on Steam.
33 Immortals
The long-awaited multiplayer game from Thunder Lotus (Spiritfarer), 33 Immortals finally has a release date for its Early Access launch. This game takes thirty-three players and pits them against waves of enemies and bosses as everyone attempts to fight their way to immortality. I have had the chance to participate in a few beta tests with this game, and jumping in with thirty-three strangers brought back an online experience I didn’t know I missed. This game is cooperative. The more players survive, the better everyone’s chance of survival. Even without voice chat, strangers would wait for me to gather loot and revive before we all moved on to the next area. Not everyone was jumping straight to the next thing, they knew if they waited for others they would have a better chance of success. This level of anonymous collaboration is not something I’m used to in modern gaming. 33 Immortals will launch into Early Access on PC via the Epic Games store and on Xbox Series X/S on March 18th, 2025.
Lies of P: Overture
The ID@Xbox showcase closed out with a new trailer for the upcoming Lies of P DLC, Lies of P: Overture. The new trailer did not show a release date or release window for the upcoming expansion, but its presence here certainly could indicate that the DLC will be part of Xbox Game Pass, since the base game is still part of the service. The DLC was originally announced just under two weeks ago at PlayStation’s State of Play presentation, and it will likely be some time before we learn more.
Rapid Fire Highlights
There were plenty more games showcased during this ID@Xbox presentation, ten more to be exact, but this article is already getting long. Here’s a few more rapid-fire highlights:
- The dark strategy game from last year, Buckshot Roulette, is coming to Xbox consoles and Game Pass.
- Tron: Catalyst, an isometric action game set in the world of Tron, has a release date for June 17th, 2025.
- A trippy 2D action-platformer called Hotel Barcelona is planning to release in 20205.
- The next game from Dungeons of Hinterberg publisher, Curve Games, will be about managing a record shop and interacting with unique customers called Wax Heads, set to be released in the summer of 2026, but has a demo available now on Steam.
- Descenders Next, a snowboarding, longboarding racing game and sequel to the original Descenders, also has a demo on Steam.
- Woodo looks like a charming puzzle game with an interesting visual design and story.
- Echo Weaver is a 2D metroidvania about perfecting a time loop from the same developers that made 2021’s The Wild At Heart.
- Ratatan is a roguelike rhythm game where you control a group of allies in battles by cheering them on. It reminded me of a 2D Pikmin.
- Another rhythm game,Tempopo, has a free demo on Steam now. Tempopo is a series of puzzles to guide musical flowers to safety on floating sky islands.
- And finally, Tanuki: Pon’s Summer lets you play as a bike-riding tanuki to deliver packages, play various mini-games, and bust tricks all over town.
There is a lot to look forward to if you’re a fan of indie games. Especially if you’re a Game Pass subscriber. This collection of games is exactly what the service needs to keep players interested in between the major big budget releases. You can check out a few great games on Steam now, but make sure to wishlist anything that looks interesting on whichever service you prefer. It goes a long way for these independent developers.
