ID@Xbox brings new games to Game developers conference; Black Desert, Starbound & more

Microsoft’s Xbox indie program, ID@Xbox, is bringing new games to the platform and showcasing them at GDC this year, including Black Desert and Starbound.

It’s not that Microsoft’s ID@Xbox program hasn’t been getting games released in recent years, but rather that they just seem so quiet about it. The Xbox One isn’t known as a huge platform for indie games, even though those partnerships do exist and one was even shown during the mostly dull Inside Xbox show last week. But at major industry events, ID@Xbox rolls out the red carpet for its upcoming titles, and that’s what they’re doing at GDC this year with 17 titles announced for the platform. Some of these are new announcements, some will be available for Xbox One Play Anywhere, and some are getting the Xbox One X “enhanced” treatment. I’ve marked the games that were newly announced for Xbox One in bold:

• Arrow Heads (OddBird) – Xbox One X Enhanced
• Backslash (Skeleton Crew Studio)
• Black Desert (Pearl Abyss) – Xbox One X Enhanced (Developers update quietly missing since last E3)
• Bomber Crew (Curve Digital & Runner Duck)
• Brief Battles (Juicy Cupcake)
• Can’t Drive This (Pixel Maniacs) – Xbox One X Enhanced, Xbox Play Anywhere
• City of Brass (Uppercut Games) – Xbox One X Enhanced
• Claybook (Secord Order) – Xbox One X Enhanced
• Conarium (Iceberg Interactive & Zoetrope Interactive) – Xbox One X Enhanced
• Dead Ahead: Zombie Warfare (Mobirate)
• Descenders (No More Robots & RageSquid)
• Earthfall (Holospark) – Xbox One X Enhanced
• Exception (Traxmaster Software)
• Flipping Death (Zoink Games)
• GoatPunks (StudioCanvas)
• Harold Halibut (Slow Bros.) – Xbox One X Enhanced, Xbox Play Anywhere
• Huntdown (Coffee Stain Publishing AB & Easy Trigger AB)
• Jump Gunners (NerdRage Studios)
• My Time at Portia (Team17 & Pathea)
• Once Upon a Coma (Serenity Forge & Atmos Games) – Xbox One X Enhanced
• One Finger Death Punch 2 (Silver Dollar Games)
• Pig Eat Ball (Mommy’s Best Games)
• Pinbrawl (Northern Heart) – Xbox Play Anywhere
• PLANET ALPHA (Team 17 & Planet Alpha) – Xbox One X Enhanced
• R.B.I. Baseball 18 (MLB)
• Remothered: Tormented Fathers (Darril Arts & Stormind Games)
• Russian Subway Dogs (Spooky Squid Games)
• Shape of the World (Plug In Digital & Hollow Tree Games) – Xbox One X Enhanced
• Sinner: Sacrifice for Redemption (Another Indie & Dark Star)
• Squadron 51 (Loomiarts) – Xbox Play Anywhere
• Starbound (Chucklefish) – Console Launch Exclusive, Xbox Play Anywhere
• Strange Brigade (Rebellion) – Xbox One X Enhanced
• Super Meat Boy Forever (Team Meat)
• Supermarket Shriek (Billy Goat Entertainment Ltd) – Xbox One X Enhanced, Xbox Play Anywhere
• Thief of Thieves (Rival Games)
• Tormental (Croteam & Gungrounds)
• Trailmakers (Flashbulb) – Console Launch Exclusive, Xbox One X Enhanced
• Treadnauts (Topstitch Games)
• Virgo Vs The Zodiac (Moonana) – Xbox Play Anywhere
• Wargroove (Chucklefish) – Xbox Play Anywhere

That’s a dang line-up right there. Even if the new announcements are mostly titles I haven’t heard much about, it’s still great to see so many indies making their way onto major consoles and getting attention at a major event. It’s also nice to see other games we’ve known were coming to Xbox One highlighted. I’m especially happy to see Starbound up there, which has been in the works for ID@Xbox for awhile and its appearance at GDC may herald a release date sometime soon. Other titles, like Super Meat Boy Forever, Black Desert, and My TIme at Portia have been celebrated at different points in the last year and have more than earned their spot.

I want to see more indies on consoles, even if the Xbox One would rather pride itself on power and visuals than on what developers can do on a smaller scale. I don’t think this is any kind of major turnaround; I’m just happy for the games in ID@Xbox.