The Two ‘Launch Window’ Games I’ll Be Playing On Xbox Series X

Series X

MS

My Xbox Series X arrives later today, according to Amazon who would never, ever lie about something like that. I’m already sizing up my TV stand, trying to figure out how I’m going to jam both a Series X and PS5 in there by the end of the week, but more importantly, I’m really trying to figure out what I’m going to play on the thing.

The obvious answer a few months ago would have been Halo Infinite, but I won’t rehash that saga of its indefinite 2021 delay again. But between that and now The Medium being pushed to 2021 as well, Xbox Series X has few launch window exclusives that aren’t last-gen games.

So, what to play on it?

I’ve come down to two games that I think I’m going to dedicate my full time and playthroughs to on Series X, even if yes, both of them are also coming to PS5.

AC Valhalla

Ubisoft

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla

Well, Microsoft sort of forced my hand here because of their marketing deal with Ubisoft which got me an early Valhalla code on Xbox One, which through Smart Delivery, now translates to Series X. But in truth, I probably would have chosen to play Valhalla on Series X anyway, given that the release dates are lined up and it doesn’t matter which console I’ve played past AC games on (I’ve jumped back and forth).

From what I’ve heard, the next-gen version of Valhalla runs very, very well on Series X, and I am eager to try that out and solve some of the tech issues happening on the One X version, hopefully. Given the length of Valhalla, easily 50+ hours, this is a ton of time I will be dedicating to the Series X.

Cyberpunk 2077

We are stretching the definition of “launch window” here by a full month, but for no other reason than being somewhat arbitrary, I will be playing Cyberpunk 2077 on Series X on December 10 (barring further delays). At least so far, it seems like Series X loads games on average faster than PS5 (though we need more testing), and it has a horsepower edge to some extent. It may not be much, but it’s enough to convince me to hop over there for the duration of that game which will easily be 60-100 hours, I imagine. Again, maybe I’m falling victim to marketing here with Microsoft’s CDPR deal, but I do want to get use out of my Series X, even if it’s making somewhat random decisions to do so.

But after these two, that’s…pretty much it. Why am I not playing the rest of these games on Series X?

Watch Dogs Legion – If I ever do play this game, it will be on Series X probably, but with so many other games out, I am just not playing it at all until maybe next year if I have time.

Destiny 2

Bungie

Destiny 2: Beyond Light – The new Destiny expansion is free with Game Pass, and yet my main Destiny platform is PC, and my console friends are all on PS4, so there’s just no reason to go to Xbox.

Spider-Man, Godfall, Demon’s Souls – Sony has actual exclusives that you cannot play on Xbox, so there’s no choice to be made.

Genshin Impact Update 1.1 – I play on PC, and it’s only on consoles on PlayStation.

Call of Duty: Cold War – Again, this is dictated by my friends who I know will be playing on PS4-PS5, so there’s little point hopping over to Series X.

Borderlands 3 Designer’s Cut – I play on PC, and when I do play on console, my friends are on PS4. There’s no cross-save.

Yakuza – An Xbox console exclusive for now, but it’s just too low on the priority list, like Legion, so it’s just not getting played period.

So, there you have it. It’s just two games I’ll play on Series X, but it will be a lot of time spent with them. We’ll see how set-up goes later today, expect an update tomorrow.

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