Micron to Buy Powerchip Fab for $1.8 Billion, Shares Surge Nearly 10% 
China Considers New Rules to Limit Purchases of Foreign AI Chips Amid Growing Demand 
Taiwan Issues Arrest Warrant for OnePlus CEO Over Alleged Illegal Recruitment Activities 
Federal Judge Clears Way for Jury Trial in Elon Musk’s Fraud Lawsuit Against OpenAI and Microsoft 
Alphabet Stock Poised for Growth as Bank of America Sees Strong AI Momentum Into 2026 
TSMC Shares Hit Record High as AI Chip Demand Fuels Strong Q4 Earnings 
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Plans China Visit Amid AI Chip Market Uncertainty 
China’s AI Models Narrow the Gap With the West, Says Google DeepMind CEO 
South Korea Seeks Favorable U.S. Tariff Terms on Memory Chip Imports 
Tesla Revives Dojo Supercomputer Project With AI5 Chip at the Core 
AFT Leaves X Over AI-Generated Images of Minors 
Publishers Seek to Join Lawsuit Against Google Over Alleged AI Copyright Infringement 
U.S. Lawmakers Raise Alarm Over Trump Approval of Nvidia AI Chip Sales to China 
Global DRAM Chip Shortage Puts Automakers Under New Cost and Supply Pressure 
South Korea Sees Limited Impact From New U.S. Tariffs on Advanced AI Chips 
One of the recent announcements for Xbox Games Pass focused on the addition of upcoming games developed by independent studios. Some of the most recognizable titles include “Boyfriend Dungeon,” “Sable,” and “S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2,” all confirmed to be available on the subscription-based service at launch.
What’s new on Xbox Games Pass
In the latest ID@Xbox presentation last Friday, Microsoft announced that more than 20 upcoming games from its indie studio partners would be available through Xbox Games Pass on launch day. The list includes some highly anticipated indie titles such as “Boyfriend Dungeon” from Kitfox Games, “Sable” from developer Shedworks, and “S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2” from GSC Game World.
These games do not have specific release dates yet, but they are also slated to launch sometime in 2021. Also included in the list of upcoming indie titles with day-one availability on Xbox Games Pass include “Astria Ascending,” “Craftopia,” “Dead Static Drive,” “Recompile,” “Little Witch in the Woods,” fishing-themed RPG “Moonglow Bay,” “Narita Boy,” “Nobody Saves the World,” and “Omno.”
Other games being added to Xbox Games Pass already saw previous launches through different platforms, such as “Art of the Rally,” “Backbone,” “Hello Neighbor 2,” and “Library of Ruina.”
Xbox Games Pass helps indie studios and gamers get to know good indie titles
The marketing of new video game IPs is understandably one of the most challenging works an independent studio has to go through. But having their games launch on services like Xbox Games Pass helps developers immediately increase their game’s exposure considering the growing subscriber-base of the platform.
Finding good indie titles is also made a little easier for Microsoft since it has the ID@Xbox program allowing indie developers to self-publish their games on Xbox and Windows PC platforms. It is then not surprising that Xbox Games Pass also benefits from such an established partnership through this program.
No More Robots founder Mike Rose previously told Eurogamer how Xbox Games Pass has been helpful to them as an indie studio. “What more does a developer or publisher need than a s***load of players and a s***load of money?" On a more serious note, Rose also revealed that No More Robots’ latest Game Pass agreement allowed them to fund three new games launching in 2021.
Featured photo by Nicolas J Leclercq on Unsplash
