Microsoft might get a lot of flack for the company's lack of exclusives but it isn't for the lack of effort. Microsoft reportedly had big plans for last year before things changed, and don't forget, both Redfall and Starfield were initially set to come out last year as well. But, all that is water under the bridge now and it's important to look ahead. If you're an Xbox Series S/X owner, Microsoft's plans for the first half of the year will surely excite you.
According to The Game Awards, Microsoft has at least ten exclusives that are "targeting for release by the end of June 2023", namely:
- Starfield
- Redfall
- Minecraft Legends
- Forza Motorsport
- ARK 2
- S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2
- Flintlock
- Replaced
- The Last Case of Benedict Fox
- Party Animals
Starfield, Redfall, and Forza Motorsport are the obvious standouts from the list, but two games, specifically, Replaced and Party Animals, are new entries that weren't included in last year's Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase.
At that time, Microsoft claimed that every game that was part of the event will be released within a year. So far, a handful of titles that were revealed at the time have come out like A Plague Tale: Requiem and Overwatch 2, among others. It stands to reason that Microsoft is fairly confident that the aforementioned games will be coming out within the next six months as well, it's just that it can't exactly figure out when they'll be available.
Redfall and Starfield are rumored to be out by May or June, respectively, which is a fairly good time to come out with minimal competition.
If Redfall is out in May, its biggest competition is going to be The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom with Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League coming as a close second. On the other hand, Starfield will contend with Final Fantasy 16 and Diablo 4 if it's out by June. The said projects are still heavy hitters, but at least neither Redfall nor Starfield will hit the store shelves around the same time as Forspoken, Hogwarts Legacy, Dead Space, Horizon Call of the Mountain, Resident Evil 4, and so much more.
More importantly, if Microsoft has such a stacked lineup for the first half of the year, then we're curious to find out what else it has in store for the second half.
