What you need to know
- On Thursday, Annapurna Interactive hosted its 2023 showcase for upcoming indie releases and updates.
- During the event, 6 games were featured that are coming to Xbox Game Pass on day one.
- This includes a release date for highly anticipated COCOON, which lands on Game Pass on Sept. 29, 2023.
- The last few weeks have been packed with constant Xbox Game Pass announcements.
Annapurna Interactive is one of the most beloved indie publishers around, and its 2023 showcase was an excellent event for fans to see what's coming next from the company. Surprisingly, this also included a ton of announcements for Xbox Game Pass, which is already one of the best ways to experience a ton of creative, unique indie games on Xbox and Windows PC.
Not every game featured during the Annapurna Interactive Showcase 2023 is coming to Xbox Game Pass at launch, but there's certainly more than most people probably expected going into the event. The below 6 indie games are coming to Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Xbox Game Pass on day one.
- COCOON (Xbox Series X|S & Xbox One) — Sept. 29, 2023
- Thirsty Suitors (Xbox Series X|S & Xbox One) — Nov. 2, 2023
- Bounty Star (Xbox Series X|S & Xbox One) — 2024
- Ghost Bike (Xbox Series X|S & Xbox One) — 2024
- Flock (Xbox Series X|S & Xbox One) — Unknown release date
- to a T (Xbox Series X|S & Xbox One) — Unknown release date
I'm most excited for COCOON, a highly-anticipated indie game that has drawn a fair amount of attention since its initial reveal. We've known for a while that this game is launching onto Xbox Game Pass, but we finally have a release date of Sept. 29, 2023. Thirsty Suitors also looks hilarious and adorable, and that's coming on Nov. 2, 2023.
Will any of these games join our list of best Xbox games when they arrive? Annapurna has a great track record, but all of these games will be competing with the 22 upcoming Xbox indie games from Not-E3 that I personally cannot wait to play.
Even on Xbox Game Pass, Annapurna will be alongside the 20 Xbox Game Pass arrivals announced at the Xbox Games Showcase 2023, and the additional 10 Xbox Game Pass announcements from the extended Xbox Games Showcase. Microsoft's popular, value-driven gaming subscription service is getting wave after wave of incredible indie games from a variety of studios and publishers, making it a very exciting time to be a subscriber.
It can be difficult to keep track of it all, though, so be sure to bookmark Windows Central's guide to all games coming to Xbox Game Pass in the near future. Also, in case you missed it, Stray finally has a release date on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One (although it's not confirmed as coming to Xbox Game Pass).
