Special Feature: The Biggest Announcements from X018

It’s been nearly four years since Sony established their own previously-annual show with PlayStation Experience (PSX for short), an event where Sony and third-party partners share announcements and let PlayStation fans play upcoming games. Upon seeing this, Microsoft realized they should have something similar, and that E3 conferences don’t have to be their only big events throughout the year. That’s why X018 happened this year, a conference outside E3 where they could announce new titles.

What’s funny is how this is happening in a year where Sony isn’t having PSX, presumably due to having little to announce. That’s likely because of competing with The Game Awards for exclusive reveals, which has occurred a couple of days before the event in previous years. This made it look like Microsoft is outdoing Sony this year, but while the X018 conference was nice to see, it wasn’t as packed with surprises as the typical E3 conference or several PSX conferences. I’ll highlight the biggest announcements here.

Crackdown 3 has been in development for a good while, a title announced way back at E3 2014 over four years ago, which Microsoft admitted they announced too early. After several delays, the game is looking polished now, as shown through a short gameplay trailer. The game previously received a release date of February 22nd, but it was moved up to February 15th, which makes sense given the number of other AAA titles stepping on each other’s shoes on that day — though Days Gone has since been delayed. The original Xbox 360 version of Crackdown is also now available as a free download.

Rare and Microsoft are giving Sea of Thieves a new gameplay mode known as “The Arena.” It will pit two crews against each other to determine which team can get the most treasure the fastest. It’s the latest update for an online title being improved over time, and this one will arrive sometime early next year.

Another game constantly receiving updates is State of Decay 2, whose next one will add new weapons of several varieties, gear, and enemies next week. More will arrive throughout 2019, one of which will include Trumbull Valley, its predecessor’s location.

Forza Horizon 4 will receive the Fortune Island expansion by the end of the year, where players can race alongside (or be distracted by) the backdrop of lightning storms and the aurora borealis. Sounds like it should be a treat for the many who are currently enjoying the game.

Minecraft is another game from Microsoft that receives constant updates, and the next one will add cats and pandas. No date was given, so they could detail more content that will come with the update between now and its arrival.

Square Enix had several announcements to share. A new Kingdom Hearts III trailer was provided, which we’re getting often now considering the game releases at the end of January. This one showed off the return of the Winnie the Pooh world for minigames, and returning characters like Kairi (who has a Keyblade), Axel, and Xeanort (who has a new voice thanks to Leonard Nimoy’s passing). It will release on January 25th.

The Final Fantasy XIII trilogy will be available as backwards-compatible titles next week, with Xbox One X enhancements. This means Final Fantasy XIII-2 and Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII should receive good performance upgrades — especially the latter. There was also a reminder that Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy IX, Final Fantasy X|X-2 HD Remaster, Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age, and World of Final Fantasy: Maxima are headed to the system, which were previously announced when they were confirmed for Switch on the last Nintendo Direct.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider will receive more content in the form of a challenge tomb called “The Forge,” where Lara and a new ally will venture through a lava forge that includes new enemies, weapons, and areas. It will come with a challenge tomb that can be played in single-player and multiplayer, and will include a Time Attack mode. The content will arrive in a couple of days on November 13th.

The last Square Enix title featured was Just Cause 4, which received a new trailer that previewed story scenes and showed its open world content, including devastating weather occurrences and effects. It will release on December 4th.

Not much was shown regarding Devil May Cry 5 here, but the Void Mode will be a lot of fun. It’s a practice mode where players can master multiple techniques the three playable characters will have, and string together combos and combinations many “normal” players will find difficult to execute. The next big gameplay showcase will happen at The Game Awards on December 6th, which might include the first look at V, the third playable character. The game will release on March 8th.

Several comparatively smaller games were announced, including Swery65’s The Good Life (mistakenly shown with a cover depicting the 2012 tropical simulator), and strategy-based first-person shooter Void Bastards. Microsoft will also bring the Winter of Arcade, a successor to the Summer of Arcade specials for digital games on Xbox 360. The games that will be part of this will be announced at The Game Awards next month. Keyboard and mouse support is also coming to select games starting on November 14th, with Fortnite being one of the first games supported.

A large trend among announcements at the conference? Games being announced for Xbox Games Pass — 16 of them, in fact. These included PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (which will also receive a physical release next month), both Ori titles, and the aforementioned The Good Life and Void Bastards.

The biggest announcement from the conference was how Microsoft acquired both InXile Entertainment and Obsidian Entertainment. The former of which was the biggest surprise, thanks to the latter being leaked a little more than a month ago; but Obsidian is a bigger deal thanks to the games they’ve been involved with.

There are several valid criticisms for this, since this purchase means games from the developers of the Wasteland titles (InXile) and those behind the likes of Alpha Protocol and the Pillars of Eternity titles (Obsidian) will stay off competing consoles. But it also means they won’t have to use crowdfunding for future projects, which is becoming more difficult thanks to increasing skepticism about scammers and developers promising too much with too little money — though that didn’t apply to these two. So, at least those working for these companies will have some good job security.

The X0 conference wasn’t on par with Microsoft’s recent Xbox E3 one, or even the best PSX conferences. Current-generation exclusives like Halo Infinite and Gears 5 were curious in their absence. But it was a good first start, and Microsoft is bound to have more to show as promotion for the next console generation starts — whether we’re ready for them or not.