So, without further ado, here's a look at what we've got to look forward to over the coming months. Let's jump in!
It's been a good old while now since EA took to the fairways for a round of digital golf. Indeed, we have to look all the way back to 2015 and Rory McIIroy's turn as the cover star for the last effort from the studio.
EA Sports PGA Tour sees a return this April, however, and it's looking set to be an all-encompassing effort that utilises the Frostbite engine to deliver fantastically realistic courses and player models. What we've seen so far looks photo-realistic in all honesty and, if the gameplay can match the graphics - and EA has a fair bit of experience in knocking out a golf game - then we could be in for a cracker in just a few weeks time.
- Release Date? 7th April 2023
- Xbox Game Pass? No
Frogwares returns to its excellent Sherlock Holmes series of games with this remake of 2007's detective adventure.
Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened has, we're sure, been a difficult endeavour for the studio. This is a project they've worked on under tough conditions given the war in Ukraine, but from what we've seen so far it looks like a slick reworking of a thoroughly entertaining slice of Holmes action that sees the famous detective embroiled in all manner of Lovecraftian antics as he's drawn into the world of Cthulhu. There's an expanded storyline, completely rebuilt game world and surprises aplenty for players to jump into here, and we're excited to don our deerstalker and jump into action very soon.
- Release Date? 11th April 2023
- Xbox Game Pass? No
Tango Softworks' supernatural action adventure, Ghostwire: Tokyo, released on PlayStation consoles last year and finally makes the jump to Xbox this April. This slick and stylish slice of action sees players investigate a fantastically atmospheric Tokyo that's been overrun by ghostly forces as the entire population disappears in the wake of a mysterious fog.
Fleshed out with lots of interesting lore and tons of details from Japanese folklore, Ghostwire's world has an authentic lived in vibe that's full of interesting side stories to engage in as you deal with the game's main threat through flashy first person magical attacks. It doesn't hurt that the whole thing looks so spectacular either.
- Release Date? 12th April 2023
- Xbox Game Pass? Yes
Let's face it, an action strategy game set in the iconic Minecraft overworld is gonna be excellent, innit. This single player action game sees players defend the Overworld from invading Piglins and, judging from the trailer, the battles have a sweet cel-shaded vibe to them and feature some wonderfully chaotic action against an impressive number of foes. With all our favourite mob types and heroes making cameos and plenty of lush biomes to explore and conquer, we reckon this is gonna be a highlight of this year if Blackbird Interactive can land it properly.
- Release Date: 18th April 2023
- Xbox Game Pass? Yes
Dead Island finally returns in 2023, and this time the madcap zombie-slaying action takes place in L.A. as players hack and slash and mutilate hordes of foes making full use of Dead Island 2’s unique gore tech, F.L.E.S.H, (Fully Locational Evisceration System for Humanoids) to paint the City of Angels a wonderfully violent shade of red. Gameplay trailers for this one show off the game's shockingly detailed dismemberment animations alongside plenty of slapstick humour and some impressively destructible environs, making for a brutal playground that we can't wait to wade into once release day rolls around.
- Release Date: 21st April 2023
- Xbox Game Pass? No
If you're the kind of person whose ears prick up when you hear the words "fantastical Lovecraftian Metroidvania", well, we believe Plot Twist may just have the very game for you. Yep, we got really excited about The Last Case of Benedict Fox when its trailer was revealed back at the Xbox & Bethesda Showcase in 2022, as it's right up our street with its ultra stylish world full of demons and death and twisted terrors. Here you play as Benedict Fox, a detective on the brink of sanity as he dives into his very last case, a case that brings him face to face with secret organisations, forbidden rituals and cold-blooded murders. Benedict must explore the memories of deceased victims and fight shadowy demons as he explores Metroid-esque environments packed full of puzzles and secrets. It looks great, it sounds great, fingers crossed it's gonna be great when it lands on Game Pass in the spring of 2023.
- Release Date: 27th April 2023
- Xbox Game Pass? Yes
Cal Kestis returns in this highly anticipated sequel to Respawn's original 2019 outing, and we're anticipating a bigger, bolder and more action-packed affair this time around. The official trailer certainly shows off plenty of cool new tricks and combat manoeuvres, alongside some stunning looking environments, and really, as long as Star Wars Jedi: Survivor can provide a good story whilst tidying up a few of the rougher edges of its predecessor, we could be looking at a Star Wars all-timer with this one. May the force be...etc etc.
- Release Date? 28th April 2023
- Xbox Game Pass? No
We've seen this game in action a few times over the past few months, and it's continued to build up plenty of hype in that time, especially considering it's slated for an Xbox Game Pass release at launch! Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn is described as a new action-RPG open-world adventure, developed by the team behind Ashen, and everything we've seen so far suggests it's going to be one to look out for when it arrives on Game Pass in the near future. It looks like we might be playing this one in the first half of 2023 as well!
- Release Date: Spring 2023
- Xbox Game Pass? Yes
Planet of Lana is a Studio Ghibli-inspired adventure puzzle game from Swedish dev Wishfully that, judging by its trailer, also has a little bit of the Ori games about it. This is sumptuous looking, hand-painted puzzler that sees you play as Lana, a little girl accompanied by a black sootball companion as you venture across stunning vistas and through dark and dangerous forests, battling machine foes and solving environmental headscratchers in order to proceed. It certainly has the atmosphere and look of things nailed down, so let's hope the gameplay matches the presentation when it launches on Game Pass in the spring of 2023.
- Release Date: Spring 2023
- Xbox Game Pass? Yes
Yep. We had Arkane Austin's Redfall in our list of games to look forward to in 2022, and here we are again. We know much more about the game now at least, we've got ourselves some sweet gameplay footage to drool over, it's been confirmed you can play through the whole thing co-op or solo, and what we've seen of the action confirms this is a title that sticks closely to Arkane's strengths within narrative, world-building, level design and meshing supernatural powers with lots of fun traversal options. In short, it's looking like a bit of a banger, and is definitely one of our most anticipated Xbox exclusives of 2023. We're looking forward to getting down to some sick four player vamp-slaying business in the mid-section of this year!
- Release Date: 2nd May 2023
- Xbox Game Pass? Yes
