Xbox Partner Preview reveals Subnautica 2, Firebreak, and… no Silksong

Microsoft’s new preview showcase didn’t have any major new revelations but there is a new Bloober Team horror game on the way.

The last couple of Xbox summer showcases have easily outshone the equivalent events from PlayStation, but the Xbox Partner Preview on Thursday evening wasn’t quite up to those standards.

It was announced out of the blue, only a few days ago, and while there was some faint hope that it might see a major revelation, with some whispers of Resident Evil 9, that proved not to be the case.

Instead, the event focused mostly on indie and lower budget titles, with an emphasis on horror- themed games, although despite it being Halloween soon most of the games featured aren’t out until next year. There was no indication any of them are Xbox exclusives either, although several are coming to Game Pass.

Alan Wake 2 developer Remedy bookended the livestream, with DLC The Lake House announced with an October 22 release date, i.e. next Tuesday. We found the parent game to be decided un-scary but this seems to be pushing the survival horror angle further and may actually hit the mark this time.

Remedy’s bigger reveal, which the event ended on, was FBC: Firebreak, a three-player multiplayer game with the same setting as 2019’s Control. We’re not sure that pointing out Remedy hasn’t made a multiplayer game before is something to shout about, but it looked interestingly manic.

Despite what you might imagine, there’s no sign of it being free, since it’s pointedly party of Xbox Game Pass, and Remedy even insist that it’s not a live service game – a clear sign that phrase is becoming toxic.

Another big reveal was Chronos: The New Dawn from Silent Hill 2 remake developer Bloober Team. Given the success of that game, this will be greeted with considerably more anticipation than would have been the case and it’s certainly an interesting trailer, with vibes that seem like a cross between Silent Hill and Dead Space.

The monsters look a bit generic but splitting the game between 1980s Poland and some kind of post-apocalyptic wasteland seems to suggest plenty of variety and intrigue.

Although you’d be forgiven for forgetting, Subnautica 2 was announced years ago but this was the first ever trailer – even though it was pre-rendered and didn’t tell you anything other than, yes, it’s still an underwater survival game.

Its big new idea is support for up to four-player co-op, but beyond that the only other thing the trailer said is that it’ll be in early access sometime next year.

After that it was mostly a collection of previously announced games, such as Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii, first person shooter Mouse P.I. For Hire, and the belated Xbox version of Animal Well.

Popular PC co-op horror game Phasmophobia was also confirmed for consoles, with early access on Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation beginning on October 29, including support for PlayStation VR2. The game has sold 20 million copies on PC and, as you can see, looks very much like the original Resident Evil.

Cycling themed game Wheel World also looked interesting, as did new announcement The Legend Of Baboo and Eternal Sands, although it was a shame the latter two looked so similar at times, with altogether too many Soulslikes across the board.

Mistfall Hunter claims to be a cross between Dark Souls and an extraction game, like Escape From Tarkov, which seems interesting, while Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, which had been announced before, was looking awfully similar to Black Myth: Wukong.

There’s nothing necessarily wrong with that, but while it was a decent line-up over this Xbox Partner Preview didn’t seem to fully justify its existence, although you can watch the whole thing here.

It may well end up being the final preview showcase of the year though, unless PlayStation or Nintendo have any surprises up their sleeve. If not then The Game Awards in December will be the next major event, when you can see new games of considerably higher profile.