Xbox’s Partner Preview Offers A Glimpse At New Games And Long-Awaited Titles
by Sage Ashford
Recently, Xbox appeared with a surprise Partner Preview showcase, where they showed off twenty different titles coming to Xbox in the near future. While the showcase featured some ports that honestly should’ve already been on the platform like Hades II and Dispatch, there were also some long-awaited titles they gave us a glimpse at, including The Expanse: Osiris Reborn and RGG Studio’s Stranger Than Heaven, both shown off last year. Beyond that, a handful of new titles made their appearance as well, resulting in a packed show for those looking for new games to check out. Here’s just a handful of the show’s highlights:
Owlcat Games finally gave fans a deeper look at The Expanse: Osiris Reborn, offering a lengthier gameplay trailer. Here, players will take on the role of a former Pinkwater Security mercenary looking to create a team that can fight back against the Protogen Corporation.
Considering this is a studio that’s never tried a proper action RPG before, this game looks surprisingly polished. There’s also a beta being made available for some players who are willing to purchase the game’s Collector’s Edition or Miller’s Pack. The beta will be available on the 22nd of April, while the game’s planned to release in Spring 2027.
RGG Studios finally offered more for Stranger than Heaven, but it’s still just a taste to whet viewers’ appetites. Still, we did learn one more thing about the game: that it will be set in five different timelines and five different cities. While they explained the times are 1915, 1929, 1943, 1951, and 1965, it’s unclear what the cities are just yet.
Still, we won’t have long to wait to find out. They’ve promised an Xbox Presents special that will focus entirely on Stranger Than Heaven, coming May 6th. For now, we can just enjoy more of this game’s crunchy combat and the free-form jazz.
Another highlight from the show was GSC Game World’s S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Cost of Hope, the new expansion for the original title. The expansion takes players back to the Zone, where they’ll deal with a new set of factions in Duty and Freedom.
More than that, they’ll be adding new regions to expand the world a bit more, each coming with their own hub, quests, activities, and new weapons. ‘Cost of Hope’ is being described as the middle chapter of the game, meaning there’s already plans for the next installment soon. For now, players can look forward to ‘Cost of Hope’ releasing in the summer.
Developer Lost Lake Games revealed Vaunted for the first time at the Partner Preview. A sci-fi RPG that mixes action and turn-based combat, Vaunted takes place in a world where the only source of order collapsed ages ago. All that’s left now are people looking to make as much money as they can.
The game puts the player in control of three scoundrels looking to survive after a mission gone wrong sends the mob after them. Along the way, players will be able to bring in new characters to give them more of a chance to take down the syndicate and escape.
Tactical RPGs are hard to come by these days, particularly with this level of polish to them. There’s no release date currently, but its scheduled to be out in Early Access sometime in 2026.
The show closed with the announcement of new title Artificial Detective, an action-adventure from new studio VIVIX. This new game takes place in a world where humanity has mysteriously vanished. As the robot detective AD 2846, the player has fractured memories, but has still chosen to take on the task of finding out what happened to humanity along with his allies, a robot dog named DAWG, and the last human girl, Mowgli.
Promising a captivating story, exploration, and cool combat, Artificial Detective … doesn’t look anywhere near done. However, it does look surprisingly creative in an era where all people want to release are more live service games.
