Microsoft has stepped on the gas pedal pretty hard.

The Redmond company sent a statement to Windows Central promising that the pace set in the fiscal year 2022 will be followed in 2023. Their fiscal year starts on July 1, and five exclusives released by Microsoft since last July (Age of Empires IV, Flight Simulator, Psychonauts 2, Halo Infinite, Forza Horizon 5), they have at least that many coming before the end of June 2023.

Bethesda has Starfield and Redfall coming in the first half of 2023, so that’s at least two. Forza Motorsport 8 might be coming towards the end of the year, so don’t include that. And from here, it’s guesswork: Obsidian’s fantasy RPG Avowed has been in playable alpha for over half a year and Pentiment, their Disco Elysium-like project, could be coming in 2022. Avalanche Studios is working on Contraband; Oxide Games is developing a 4X strategy game Project Indust; IO Interactive is building an RPG, Project Dragon, and a 2D action game with Ghibli-style visuals in Project Belfry. Fable and Project Dark are not expected to be released within a year.

Microsoft has also announced Project Moorcroft, which will be a new program. It will give Xbox Game Pass subscribers access to demos of games in the pipeline and will launch later next year. The focus will be on “providing independent developers from around the world more opportunities to build excitement for their games.” Those who participate in the program will be able to see their demos perform and receive money, “enabling them to bring their creativity to Xbox and reach new audiences with Game Pass.” No further details on this are available yet.

Samsung and Microsoft have announced that the Xbox app will be available on the former’s 2022 smart TVs (Neo QLED 8K, Neo QLED 4K and the 2022 Smart Monitor series), giving Samsung Gaming Hub users access to more than 100 games, and they will be able to play Game Pass content. Won-Jin Lee, President and Head of the Service Business Team at Samsung Electronics, said in a press release: “Xbox has been an integral partner for Samsung and shares in our vision and dedication to bring the ultimate game streaming experience to everywhere in the home. We are excited to deepen our partnership with Xbox by adding the Xbox app to Samsung Gaming Hub, which now gives Samsung Smart TV users access to hundreds of Xbox Game Pass games. With the same ease that our customers watch live sports and stream movies on Samsung Neo QLEDs and QLEDs, they can now play their favourite games.”

Phil Spencer, the head of Xbox, added: “We’re on a quest to bring the joy and community of gaming to everyone on the planet, and bringing the Xbox app to smart TVs is another step in making our vision a reality. That’s why we’re excited to partner with Samsung, a global leader in TVs, on bringing Xbox to more players. Working with Samsung has helped us provide more access to gaming and enabled us to welcome new players into our thriving community.”

Microsoft has a strong pace, and they haven’t even held their E3 replacement show yet…

Source: WCCFTech, WCCFTech, Gematsu