The Xbox Series X|S guide: every optimized game, future releases, Game Pass and more!

Gaming
725

Releases Update | March 30 2021

The following Series X|S game was released today:

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Tennis World Tour 2: Complete Edition ($49.99)
Developer: Big Ant Studios
Publisher: Nacon
Genre: Sports
Size: 12.62 GB
Tags: 4K Ultra HD; HDR; 60 FPS
Release date: March 30, 2021

726

Pre-Orders Update | March 30, 2021

The following Series X|S game was made available for pre-order today:

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Chivalry 2 ($39.99)
Developer: Torn Banner Studios
Publisher: Tripwire Interactive
Genre: Action & Adventure
Size: TBD
Tags: Smart Delivery
Release date: June 8, 2021

727

Releases Update | March 31 2021

The following Series X|S game was released today:

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C14 Dating ($19.99)
Developer: WinterWolves Games
Publisher: Ratalaika Games
Genre: Action & Adventure; Role Playing
Size: 0.43 GB
Tags: 4K Ultra HD; 60 FPS; Smart Delivery
Release date: March 31, 2021

728

Monthly Recap | March 2021

March was the month with the most releases since November, including next-gen versions for some of the best games released last generation:

  • 27 Series X|S games were released this month
  • If you decide to buy every game released this month you would spend $894.73
    • Thatā€™s a $33.14 average per game
  • If you decide to download every game released this month you would need 366.38 GB of storage
    • Thatā€™s a 13.57 GB average per game

Those were the Series X|S games released this month:

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Those were the best Series X|S games released this month according to OpenCritic:

Game Price Developer Publisher Opencritic
1. Overwatch $59,99 Blizzard Entertainment Blizzard Entertainment 91
2. Tony Hawkā€™s Pro Skater 1 + 2 $49,99 Vicarious Visions Activision 89
3. It Takes Two $39,99 Hazelight Electronic Arts 88
4. Crash Bandicoot 4: Itā€™s About Time $59,99 Toys for Bob Activision 85
5. Monster Train $24,99 Shiny Shoe Good Shepherd Entertainment 85
6. Stellaris: Console Edition $39,99 Paradox Development Studio Paradox Interactive 81
7. Samurai Shodown $59,99 SNK SNK 79
8. 3 out of 10: Season One $9,99 Terrible Posture Games Terrible Posture Games 77
9. Mortal Shell: Enhanced Edition $29,99 Cold Symmetry Playstack 75
10. DARQ: Complete Edition $19,99 Unfold Games Feardemic 73

Those were the biggest Series X|S games released this month:

Game Size (GB)
1. Marvelā€™s Avengers 107,06
2. It Takes Two 43,80
3. Samurai Shodown 27,86
4. Overwatch 23,25
5. Crash Bandicoot 4: Itā€™s About Time 22,21
6. Tony Hawkā€™s Pro Skater 1 + 2 21,75
7. Monster Energy Supercross 4 16,92
8. Balan Wonderworld 15,11
9. Hunting Simulator 2 14,63
10. Tennis World Tour 2: Complete Edition 12,62

Those were the Series X|S games added to the Game Pass catalogue this month:

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Football Manager 2021: Xbox Edition ($39.99)
Developer: Sports Interactive
Publisher: Sega
Genre: Simulation; Sports
Size: 4.00 GB
Tags: 4K Ultra HD; HDR; Smart Delivery; Play Anywhere; K&M
Release date: December 1st, 2020

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Monster Train ($24.99)
Developer: Shiny Shoe
Publisher: Good Shepherd Entertainment
Genre: Card & Board; Strategy
Size: 1.44 GB
Tags: Play Anywhere; Cloud Enabled
Release date: March 25, 2021

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Stellaris: Console Edition ($39.99)
Developer: Paradox Development Studio
Publisher: Paradox Interactive
Genre: Simulation; Strategy
Size: 8.78 GB
Tags: Smart Delivery; Cloud Enabled
Release date: March 25, 2021

Those were the Series X|S games added to the EA Play catalogue this month:

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Madden NFL 21 ($59.99)
Developer: EA Tiburon
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Genre: Sports
Size: 48.68 GB
Tags: 4K Ultra HD; HDR
Release date: December 4, 2020

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Star Wars: Squadrons ($39.99)
Developer: EA Motive
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Genre: Action & Adventure; Other; Racing & Flying; Shooter; Simulation
Size: 24.91 GB
Tags: 4K Ultra HD; HDR; Smart Delivery
Release date: November 25, 2020

3 Likes
729

Monthly Preview | April 2021

After the March Madness, April is at the moment the month with the least new games scheduled.

Those are the Series X|S games confirmed to be releasing next month:

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3 Likes
730

Funny that the month with the least games releasing for Series X|S is the month that has the most games that interest me. Outriders, Judgment, and NieR: Replicant (not optimized for Series X|S but still).

1 Like
731

Releases Update | April 1st 2021

The following Series X|S game was released today:

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Outriders ($59.99)
Developer: People Can Fly
Publisher: Square Enix
Genre: Action & Adventure; Role Playing; Shooter
Size: 49.4 GB
Tags: 4K Ultra HD; 60 FPS; Smart Delivery
Release date: April 1st, 2021

5 Likes
732

No new Series X|S games scheduled for another 19 days now until MLB 21 releaes on April 20. If Outriders hadnā€™t been delayed, April would have no news games for its first three weeks. We are starting to feel the delays a bit more now.

Probably a new Ratalaika game will be released on this time window, though lol

4 Likes
733

Pre-Orders Update | March 31, 2021

The following Series X|S games were made available for pre-order today:

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R-Type Final 2 ($39.99)
Developer: Granzella
Publisher: NIS America
Genre: Shooter
Size: TBD
Tags: 4K Ultra HD; Smart Delivery
Release date: April 30, 2021

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Subnautica: Below Zero ($29.99)
Developer: Unknown Worlds Entertainment
Publisher: Unknown Worlds Entertainment
Genre: Action & Adventure; Other
Size: TBD
Tags: 4K Ultra HD; 60 FPS; Smart Delivery
Release date: May 14, 2021

3 Likes
734

And yet I still wonā€™t have the console because the retailers in my country only know about Playstation. Wonā€™t someone please take my money

2 Likes
735

Bet the next Vera Blanc game is gonna be the first one to be 8K on the Series Xā€¦ with Dolby

1 Like
736

Since thereā€™s been a while without any new releases, I took my time to update the file size for every game (those damn patches!).

These are the 10 biggest games on the Series X:

  1. Call of Duty: Black Ops ā€“ Cold War (169.03 GB);
  2. Halo: The Master Chief Collection (125.98 GB);
  3. Ark: Survival Evolved (112.30 GB);
  4. Marvelā€™s Avengers (108.86 GB);
  5. NBA 2K21 (105.91 GB);
  6. Forza Horizon 4 (84.82 GB);
  7. Destiny 2 (76.06 GB);
  8. Assassinā€™s Creed: Valhalla (73.03 GB);
  9. Warhammer Vermintide 2 (66.57 GB);
  10. Tom Clancyā€™s The Division 2 (65.84 GB);

For comparisonā€™s sake, here is the old ranking:

  1. Call of Duty: Black Ops ā€“ Cold War (155.73 GB);
  2. Halo: The Master Chief Collection (121.77 GB);
  3. Ark: Survival Evolved (112.16 GB);
  4. Marvelā€™s Avengers (108.86 GB);
  5. NBA 2K21 (105.06 GB);
  6. Forza Horizon 4 (84.57 GB);
  7. Destiny 2 (75.29 GB);
  8. Warhammer Vermintide 2 (66.57 GB);
  9. Tom Clancyā€™s The Division 2 (65.84 GB);
  10. Borderlands 3 (62.50 GB);
  11. Dirt 5 (60.60 GB);

Valhalla went from the low 50ā€™s to the mid 70ā€™s! On the other hand, some games became smaller ā€“ including Observer, which received a patch to add Ray Tracing that somehow reduced the gameā€™s file size.

3 Likes
737

Releases Update | April 8, 2021

The following Series X|S games were released today:

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Enlisted (Free to Play)
Developer: Darkflow Software
Publisher: Gaijin Distribution
Genre: Action & Adventure; Shooter
Size: 15.23 GB
Tags: 4K Ultra HD; HDR; 60 FPS
Release date: April 8, 2021

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Zombie Army 4: Dead War ($49.99)
Developer: Rebellion
Publisher: Rebellion
Genre: Action & Adventure; Shooter
Size: 30.46 GB
Tags: 4K Ultra HD; HDR; 120 FPS; K&M
Release date: April 8, 2021

4 Likes
738

Oh cool ! Thanks for the reminder. Iā€™m going to try Enlisted, finally.

2 Likes
739

Releases Update | April 9, 2021

The following Series X|S game was released today:

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Skyland: Heart of the Mountain ($14.99)
Developer: Cordelia Games
Publisher: Artifex Mundi
Genre: Action & Adventure; Family & Kids; Puzzle & Trivia
Size: 1.34 GB
Tags: 4K Ultra HD; 120 FPS; Smart Delivery
Release date: April 9, 2021

740

Itā€™s really odd how some out of a sudden games lose the Optimized badge.

Overwatch, which was showing as a Series X|S game after the optimization patch, is now showing as an Xbox One game. Paladins also lost its ā€œoptimizedā€ status

3 Likes
741

Yeah, if you sort your games by console there also some Xbox one x enhanced games that just show up as regular Xbox one games. I hope they get this sorted soon

2 Likes
742

Is it weird that I get kinda bummed when they loose their badge?

1 Like
743

Not to mention the games that received some kind of optimization but still isnā€™t shown as optimized (Jedi Fallen Order, Hot Pursuit Remastered, The Outer Worlds)ā€¦

I mean, yeah, maybe they are running through some enhanced backwards compatibility, but Iā€™m sure many of the games that got the badge also are, like The Division 2, Rocket League and Star Wars Squadrons. Basically any game who was enhanced and didnā€™t receive a native PS5 version.

And yeah, imagine how bummed gets the guy who is trying to catalogue those games :sweat_smile:

2 Likes
744

:joy::joy: Sorry. I shouldnā€™t complain. What you do is really cool and helpful

1 Like