X018: Microsoft Acquires Obsidian and InXile Along With More Details on Upcoming Titles

Written by Brandon Hofer on November 10, 2018

News: Two new studios have joined the Microsoft family, 16 new titles are headed to Xbox Game Pass, Crackdown 3 has a release date and more.

Microsoft has concluded their special episode of “Inside Xbox” at X018 and it showed a number of things that Xbox fans can look forward to, both in the near future and in years to come. The biggest news to come out of the conference for a lot of people will probably be the reveal that Microsoft has acquired two new studios: inXile Entertainment and Obsidian Entertainment. These are two studios that have been highly regarded in their past for their role-playing games. In the past inXile Entertainment has released the Wasteland series, The Bard’s Tale, and more. Obsidian is also a studio that has developed some titles that gamers really enjoy with Fallout: New Vegas and South Park: The Stick of Truth immediately coming to mind. Now that both inXile and Obsidian are part of the Microsoft family, hopefully, they will develop some new role-playing games that we can all enjoy for many years.

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In addition to the studio announcements, there was some new content shown for existing titles and some big additions revealed that will be coming to Game Pass. There were 16 new titles revealed for Microsoft’s popular service. The new titles revealed include:

PUBG

Void Bastards

Hellblade (December)

Ori and the Blind Forest

Ori and the Willow of the Wisps

Thief of Thieves (Available now)

Kingdom Two Crowns (Mid-December)

Aftercharge - January 2019

Supermarket Shriek - 2019

Mutant Year Zero

Pathologic 2

Secret Neighbor

The Good Life

Agents of Mayhem

MXGP3

Thomas Was Alone

Crackdown 3 has been in development for a number of years at this point and judging by the footage that was shown today, the wait should definitely be worth it. They showed off a new multiplayer mode titled “Wrecking Zone” which will have two teams with five agents each in fully destructible battle arenas. Using the Azure cloud services and Xbox Live, this will ensure that the fully destructible multiplayer will play well on an Xbox One X and the earlier Xbox One models. They announced two new maps with “Blackout Zone” and “Nova Station” and I’m assuming more will be revealed leading up to launch. In regards to the launch of Crackdown 3 we also finally have a release date. Before today it was just February 2019, however, we now know you can play Crackdown 3 beginning February 15, 2019. Even better, Game Pass members will be able to download for free on day one, just like they were able to do last month with Forza Horizon 4. Additionally, the original Crackdown is backward compatible on the Xbox One and is available right now as a free download until November 30. Crackdown is on the list of Xbox One X Enhanced titles so it should look even better than you remember if you decide to go through it again (or for the first time!) as you prepare for the release of Crackdown 3. If you want to download the original Crackdown, click here.

Square Enix was on stage at one point during the show and talked a bit about Kingdom Hearts 3 and the Final Fantasy franchise. There was a new Kingdom Hearts 3 trailer that was shown off and they talked a little bit about the Hundred Acre wood being in the game from Winnie the Pooh. In addition to that Kingdom Hearts news, Square Enix also revealed that the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy will be backward compatible on Xbox One beginning next week, and, it will join the list of Xbox One X Enhanced titles.

Other titles that were shown there include Devil May Cry 5 and its new Void mode where you can hone your skills before jumping into the story, Just Cause 4 and the new weather system that will wreak havoc in Rico’s new adventure, Jump Force and how the fighting is going to work in that game, Shadow of the Tomb Raider and the new challenge tomb that will released soon, and more.

On the first-party side of things, we saw brand new content for Sea of Thieves with an expansion titled, “The Arena” where you will fight it out against other players for bragging rights and, of course, treasure. State of Decay 2 has some content coming that will make it easier for you to be quieter when eliminating the zombie horde. Forza Horizon 4 showed off a little bit of the first big expansion that will take place at a location called Fortune Island. Here you will see massive and thundering lightning storms, as well as the Aurora Borealis. Additionally, there will be five custom-built Ford vehicles from the GymkhanaTEN video series. Minecraft was also shown on stage with a new Cats & Pandas feature coming, along with some more add-on options.

Microsoft also revealed official keyboard and mouse support for the Xbox One and that they have partnered with Razer who release a line of products that will take full advantage of this partnership. Of course, you can use any keyboard or mouse with your Xbox One, but the products Razer is currently developing sounds like it could be pretty cool and we will get some more definitive details during CES 2019 in Las Vegas. The games that will be getting keyboard and mouse support beginning on Wednesday include the following:

Bomber Crew

Warface

Children of Morta

Minion Masters

DayZ

Warframe

Strange Brigade

Deep Rock Galactic

Warhammer Vermintide 2

Moonlighter

Wargroove

Vigor

War Thunder

X-Morph: Defense

Fortnite

Another announcement that was made during the press conference is that they are bringing back a promotion they used to run, but with a twist. The Winter of Arcade is going to be taking place during December and they said we will begin to learn about the titles involved next month at the Game Awards which will broadcast on December 6.

During all of this Microsoft also revealed that they are working to make the lives of some people better, working with four different charities over the holiday season. The way it works it that you take a picture that shows what gaming together means to you. Share that picture on your Facebook, Twitter and your Instagram with #GiveWithXbox. Microsoft will donate money for every post that follows that criteria, up to one million dollars. The four charities that they are working with include Child’s Play, Gamers Outreach, OSD, and Special Effect. If you want to try and give back over the holiday season please consider participating in this promotion.

Microsoft had quite a bit to show today. Be sure to check out all of the trailers and pictures that are embedded in this story and then tell us what you think. What were you the most excited to see? Was it the new studio acquisitions? The Kingdom Hearts 3 trailer? New games arriving on Game Pass? Let us know in the comments below.