As someone who finally picked up their Xbox One this year, I can stand behind Microsoft when they say that 2015 has been the banner year for the Xbox One. The console has been lagging behind since its release, but the vast amount of improvements that were brought to the gaming platform this past year have served as a massive shot in the arm to the Xbox community. The continued flow of updates and improvements has given us all a good reason to believe the Xbox team when they tell us that 2016 is going to be “an even bigger year for gamers.”
The games lineup for the coming year is looking impressive, no doubt. Where 2015 was populated primarily by Halo 5 and Rise of the Tomb Raider, Xbox One exclusives are going to be much more plentiful in 2016. Going over the list of Xbox One exclusives that are coming out this year is baffling, considering they only account for the titles that have been announced up to this point.
Quantum Break is going to be coming out on April 4th, presenting Xbox fans with something they’ve been waiting for a long, long time – The game was announced alongside the Xbox One back during E3 2013, and has since gone through plenty of hiccups in development. Gears of War 4, the next entry in one of Xbox’s top selling franchises, will be introducing new characters and themes to the Gears of War franchise to rejuvenate it for the next generation.
Crackdown 3 and Fable Legends are both marking a return of beloved franchises from the days of the Xbox 360, offering a bit of nostalgia for people who have been on the Xbox train for a while. Halo Wars 2 is going to be a huge release, bringing back one of the cult classic titles that plenty of people (myself included) were worried that Xbox would confine to obscurity.
The list could go on and on – Cobalt, Sea of Thieves, ReCore, Gigantic, and so much more is going to be landing on Xbox One in 2016, guaranteeing us the biggest year that Xbox fans have had since the prime of the Xbox 360. As Microsoft tunes up features on the Xbox One – things like Cortana on Xbox are being worked on at this very moment – the entire Xbox experience will be revamped throughout the year.
