What to expect (and hope for) from Xbox in 2018

2017 turned out to be a good year for Xbox with the release of the most powerful console ever made, the Xbox One X. Microsoft clearly learned from the omnishambles that was the original Xbox One launch by pushing how much better games will look and play on the new hardware.

I’m expecting Xbox to be pushing exclusives in their line-up that are scheduled for release this year. Sea of Thieves, Crackdown 3, and State of Decay 2 look to be the most high profile of their exclusives which should be released in 2018.

SEA OF THIEVES

It seems like we’ve been waiting forever for Sea of Thieves to be released and having played it at Gamescom 2017, it seems the wait will be worthwhile. In Sea of Thieves, you can join pirate crews of up to 4 players and sail the high seas searching for treasure, fighting sea monsters and skeletons. Sea of Thieves currently has a released date of the 20th of March 2018. PC players can also enjoy the pirate hijinks because it’s a play anywhere title.

Rare recently released a video explaining how you can progress in the game and become a legendary pirate. Watch it below.

CRACKDOWN 3

Crackdown 3 has been one of the most hotly anticipated games for Xbox fans. It’s highly destructible environments which are only possible because of the processing power streamed from the Microsoft Cloud. However, after it’s recent showing at E3, fans have begun to question whether it’s really taking advantage of the extra power because graphically it honestly looks like a 360 game.

It was originally slated for release on the 7th of November 2017 but has now been moved to sometime in 2018. Perhaps, after the reception they received from their E3 showing they’ve gone back and tried to improve the overall look of the game. Like Sea of thieves, Crackdown 3 is a play anywhere title.

STATE OF DECAY 2

State of Decay 2 is the follow up to the cult classic State of Decay which featured on the 360 arcade service. State of Decay 2 involves trying to survive a zombie apocalypse by building a base and alliances with other survivors.

While State of Decay was kind of rough around the edges gameplay wise, having got a behind the scenes look of State of Decay 2 at Gamescom, you can rest assured that the problems of the first have been resolved by what I’ve seen of it. There’s no concrete release date yet but it is scheduled to release in 2018.

But with the power of the Xbox One X, it’s in 3rd party games that they could have a distinct advantage over the PS4 Pro. Games like Red Dead Redemption 2 and Metro Exodus if Microsoft can take advantage of the 6tflops of power then that’s a big win for Xbox.

What are you looking forward to in 2018? Let us know in the comments below.

Watch 9 minutes of Sea of Thieves 4K gameplay here.