The Xbox Series X | S Launch Line-Up Isn’t That Exciting

Ahead of their launches in November, Xbox have shared the launch line-ups for the Xbox Series X and S. It’s fair to say that there’s a Halo Infinite-sized hole in the line-up following its significant delay.

That’s not to say that there aren’t any games out of the 30 launch games to get excited about, of course. It’ll be good to visit ye olde England and then raid it to death in Valhalla, make the most chaotically dangerous theme park ever in Planet Coaster before finishing up with some air battles in The Falconeer. But the systems don’t really have a killer app on day one, the thing that might make convert the skeptics.

Here are all of those games that you will be able to play on Xbox Series X and S when the console launches on November 10th. The list comprises of brand new games and also games that have been optimised for the consoles.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (Smart Delivery)
Borderlands 3 (Smart Delivery)
Bright Memory 1.0
Cuisine Royale (Smart Delivery)
Dead by Daylight (Xbox Game Pass + Smart Delivery)
Devil May Cry 5: Special Edition
DIRT 5 (Smart Delivery)
Enlisted
Evergate
The Falconeer (Smart Delivery)
Fortnite
Forza Horizon 4 (Xbox Game Pass + Smart Delivery)
Gears 5 (Xbox Game Pass + Smart Delivery)
Gears Tactics (Xbox Game Pass + Smart Delivery)
Grounded (Xbox Game Pass + Smart Delivery)
King Oddball (Smart Delivery)
Maneater (Smart Delivery)
Manifold Garden (Smart Delivery)
NBA 2K21
Observer: System Redux
Ori and the Will of the Wisps (Xbox Game Pass + Smart Delivery)
Planet Coaster (Smart Delivery)
Sea of Thieves (Xbox Game Pass + Smart Delivery)
Tetris Effect: Connected (Xbox Game Pass + Smart Delivery)
The Touryst (Xbox Game Pass + Smart Delivery)
War Thunder (Smart Delivery)
Warhammer: Chaosbane Slayer Edition
Watch Dogs: Legion (Smart Delivery)
WRC 9 FIA World Rally Championship (Smart Delivery)
Yakuza: Like a Dragon (Smart Delivery)
Yes, Your Grace (Smart Delivery)

So, if you’re being cynical, there are very few new games that will launch with the console, and even fewer if you take away remasters like Observer: System Redux, though that teeters towards being a remake. Smart Delivery comes up a lot in the launch line-up, cross-gen games that you can get at no extra cost on next-gen when buying current-gen.

Here’s the list of games that launch on day one of both platforms as brand new games, remasters and ports not included:

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
Enlisted
The Falconeer
Yakuza: Like a Dragon (though technically it’s been out since January in Japan)
Tetris Effect: Connected 

It’s important to note that this isn’t technically the comprehensive list of launch games as the X and S will feature pretty robust backwards compatibility too. Also worth bearing in mind is that it will be just a few days until huge games roll onto the consoles with Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War on November 13th and a few other of November’s biggest hitters also following. The major console launch exclusive (meaning that it will come to PS5 at some point as well) for this year, The Medium, will hit the consoles on December 10th.

The main attraction, though, and the thing that Xbox are trying to push the most, is Game Pass. Brand new experiences or not, they make a compelling case to get Game Pass for next-gen, just due to how many games will be included, which isn’t without mentioning all the extra bells and whistles it provides. That’s exactly why I’ve pre-ordered the S: to be my Game Pass machine that I can use when a new Xbox exclusive launches. And hey, I am still massively looking forward to the X | S overall — a weak launch line-up didn’t exactly kill the PS2, did it?

So, while the Xbox Series X | S launch line-ups might not blow minds, they’re far from being terrible — they’re just not all that exciting. That said, I am looking forward to getting embarrassed by children in Fortnite in higher resolutions than ever and then questioning why I keep playing the cursed game. You are 28 years old, James.

READ NEXT: 13 Biggest Smart Delivery Games For Xbox Series X | S