The event kicked off with some talk about there not being any Halo: Infinite or similar games here, and discussing what sort of things make up the indie scene before the event began.
Lightyear Frontier Revealed at Event
The first trailer of the Xbox Indie Showcase was Lightyear Frontier. This game by Framebreak and Amplifier Game Invest is an open-world farming game with crafting, resource management, and base building. One to four players can work together to explore an alien world, discover alien plants and animals, and build a home away from home. Lightyear Frontier has no release date yet, but will release in Early Access.
The Wandering Village is coming to Xbox
Previously shown off at E3, The Wandering Village is a game where you build a village on the back of a giant, wandering creature dubbed Onbu, which they are on to escape a world contaminated by mysterious toxic spores.. As the creature wanders across the lands, your people and the creature have to survive together in a symbiotic relationship. This trailer announced The Wandering Village will be coming to Xbox. There's no set release date for it yet.
Lab Rat Coming to Xbox
Lab Rat is a satirical adventure that will bring games like Portal to mind, where you complete over a hundred genre-bending puzzles while a metric-obsessed AI guides you. Don’t worry, everything is totally normal, and the AI totally won’t harm you. This game, which is also releasing on Steam, will be available in Spring 2022.
The Legend of Wright Release Date Set for This Winter
With an extremely unique sketch aesthetic, The Legend of Wright looks to be an RPG experience that mixes a variety of mechanics with drawings that look straight out of a fun-looking sketchbook.. Players will be able to see if this beauty is more than skin deep when it releases this Winter, following several delays.
OlliOlli World Character Customization Trailer
Simon Bennett from Roll7 got the chance to tell us more about his studio’s upcoming entry into the OlliOlli franchise of skateboarding games. Players will get the opportunity to make a fully customizable character and do flips and tricks in the colorful and vibrant world of Radlandia. Get your skate on when OlliOlli World releases this Winter.
Inked: A Tale of Love Xbox Release Date Trailer
“Memories haunt this paper,” warns the trailer to this narrative-driven puzzle game. Set in a world of beautiful pen-drawn landscapes, players will guide the Nameless Hero on his search for his love Aiko. The game was originally released on PC in April 2018 but was since removed from sale as they signed with a publisher to rework a lot of the game. Inked: A Tale of Love will release on August 28th, 2021.
Sam & Max Save the World Remastered Xbox Release Trailer
Sam & Max, the team of dog detective and hyperkinetic rabbity-thing that make up the Freelance Police, return in this remaster of their episodic adventure games. Originally releasing in 2006 and made by the late Telltale Games, this game collects their old adventures for the Xbox today.
Aeon Drive Shows off New Gameplay and Multiplayer
In Aeon Drive, players will get to run and jump through the cyberpunk city of Neo Barcelona with up to four players. Players will use their time and space-bending abilities in this action-platformer with a speedrunning twist. Multiplayer in this game can be played either co-operatively going through the game, or compete in a speedrunning laps competitive mode. It is set to release this Fall, and there is a demo available now.
The Big Con Is Available to Pre-Order on Xbox
The Big Con by Mighty Yell is a game set in 90’s America where players take the role of Ali, a curious and sarcastic high schooler voiced by Erika Ishii from Destiny 2 and Apex Legends, who goes on a cross-country road trip to save her family’s video store from loan sharks. To do this, she has to grift her way to getting the money her family needs. Also joining the voice cast is Dave Fennoy as a very rad ghost and Rockapella (best known for the theme song of Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego) performing the game’s theme song. The Big Con is releasing August 31 and can be preordered now on Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
Games Coming to Gamepass
Halfway through the event, we got to take a look at the games coming soon to Gamepass. This list is:
- Aragami 2 on September 17th.
- Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous on Xbox One on March 1, 2022, which would also seem to put an outside window on when its undefined console release
- Pupperazzi is also releasing on Xbox and Gamepass "soon."
- Evil Genius 2: World Domination in Q4 2021, marking the game's console release.
Stardew Valley Game Pass Announced
Eric Barone, also known as ConcernedApe, took the stage later in the Xbox Indie Showcase to talk to host Strawburry17Plays. The big announcement from this interview was that Stardew Valley will be making the jump to Gamepass this Fall for both PC and consoles.
Library of Ruina Coming to Game Pass Soon
This sequel to the SCP-management game Lobotomy Corporation is a card-based battle game where players battle guests to their Library in order to collect new cards and materials to improve the library. The game also mixes visual novel-like segments where they speak to library director Angela and the other librarians. The game is currently available on Steam in Early Access and will be arriving sometime soon to Gamepass.
Spacelines from the Far Out Xbox Trailer
Spacelines from the Far Out is a cosmic co-op adventure by Coffeenauts that mixes the golden era of air travel with a 60’s sci-fi aesthetic. Players work together to operate a spaceship while trying to keep their customers happy and dealing with all sorts of problems like cleaning vomit puddles, space hazards, and the dreaded health inspector. Spacelines will leave its gate sometime later this year, and a local multiplayer demo is currently available on the Xbox Store for the rest of the month.
The Artful Escape Gamepass and Xbox Trailer
In this upcoming action-adventure game published by Annapurna Interactive, a young guitarist, struggling with the expectations set due to being the son of a famous musician, embarks on a psychedelic journey to inspire a new stage persona and search for someone he isn’t. The Artful Escape features voice performances from folks like Michael Johnston, Caroline Kinley, Lena Headey, Jason Schwartzman, Mark Strong, and Carl Weathers. This psychedelic journey will begin on September 9th for PC and console along with Gamepass.
