Xbox has been through some pretty hefty ups and downs in recent months, and the company could really do with a consistently excellent 12-18 months to really solidify what their place is in gaming's future.
Many of the concerns around Xbox's recent strategy come down to money. The rumoured price of their next console is significantly higher, which has drawn some criticism from players. and the price of Game Pass has gone up significantly in many territories, leaving it as a far less convincing deal for the budget conscious gamer.
With all of the business-facing stuff in mind, the company needs some of their first-party games to come in clutch, if only to restore faith in the overall direction of the Xbox project.
Fortunately, if their currently slated release dates are followed, there are some absolutely massive games on the way, that really could do all of that for Xbox, and more.
Halo, Fable and Gears of War All Return
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As pointed out by Kinda Funny creator Parris Lilly over on Twitter/X, there are four releases on the way that should be absolutely massive for the company, saying, "IF Xbox Game Studios can deliver on all of this for 2026, it will be biggest and best lineup in their 25 year history."
The games in question are Halo: Campaign Evolved, Gears of War: E-Day, Fable and Forza Horizon 6, all of which are highly anticipated AAA releases that should bring in huge audiences.
Halo: Campaign Evolved, as the name may suggest, is a full remake of Halo: Combat Evolved's campaign, rebuilt from the ground up with brand new HD visuals, a refined control system, three new missions and up to 4-player co-op.
Gears of War: E-Day is the sixth mainline installment in the series, set sixteen years before the events of the very first game, whilst Forza Horizon 6 is the latest in the storied racing series, finally taking players to the beautifully scenic setting of Japan.
Fable is the one of the four that fans will feel the most trepidation about. The game has been in development for a long time, and it was already pushed back to give the developers more time to work on it. There has been very little info on the game since, so if any of these were to not make the 2026 release window, it's likely Fable.
Fingers crossed they can all do it anyway, because more great games on the open market is always a good thing for us players.