On paper, Xbox’s Gamescom show doesn’t have much to offer.But show yourself the power of Game Pass

these years game show is a strange one. In the first year after the pandemic, many of the biggest game publishers decided to skip the show — which had the welcome effect of bringing more attention to many games and publishers that might otherwise have to compete with larger multinationals for attention games and publishers.French publisher Focus House Interactive, previously known for games like A Plague Tale and Vampire, has the show’s best lineup. But another beneficiary that didn’t show up was undoubtedly the Xbox.

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As the only one of the “Big Three” to appear, Xbox had “won” the Gamescom hardware makers’ competition before the show started. But even so, I frowned at its lineup. Is it this one? This is a small dedication. Not even the debris of the star field? But now I have to put my hands up. Fault – I was wrong. It’s a great lineup – for what it is.

Sure enough, it doesn’t have the big-name announcement you might want most. The biggest first-party games on the Xbox booth were simply updates to existing rolling service games such as sea ​​of ​​thieves and ground. The booth was occupied by eye-catching, distracting photo manipulations. And, frankly, there are a lot of ridiculous stations to play – if you can get anything in that stand during public visit hours, you’re really lucky.

But the lineup itself…good? It’s nice in a new way that’s different from what we’re usually used to. Traditionally, we measure these events in millions of tons; announcements and presentations are so large that they leave craters in your brain and in marketing plans against the platform. But here’s something a little different – more age-appropriate for subscriptions. Instead of serving up a big, fat marbled steak, Xbox rocked the show with a tasting platter. This is a damn good platter.

So, on the first-party side, for the first time, Xbox has two playable games on opposite ends of the Game Pass spectrum. high life is the brash and hilarious new shooter from the creators of Rick and Morty; the kind of game frat boys can install and laugh at while they’re pumping their chubby puffs. repentance Quite the contrary – it’s a thoughtful, slow-paced adventure RPG that’s all about reading, thinking, and choosing stories carefully. Honestly, though, that’s probably also high.

Not playable, but showcased through live play is the beautifully-looking Minecraft Legends, a game that looks like it could deftly weave between the family-friendly IP and the typically pretty hardcore genre, real-time strategy. Combine all of this with updates to existing releases and the fact that all of these come into Game Pass as part of a subscription (though not, as some outlets have written, “free” — you pay for the sub, fool) and it feels Like a pretty decent lineup of games.

Elsewhere, Game Pass has expanded with more third-party support, too.Games that have been released such as crazy street, grid legendand Hard Space: Shipbreakers are joining the service. One of Gamescom’s darlings, the newly released P’s Lies, will also be available for subscription on day one.

In a way, P’s Lies is the perfect Game Pass game for me: I haven’t had a chance to play it at Gamescom, but a lot of people describe it to me as “we have blood in the house” — and I don’t think it’s is a derogatory term. I like a good B- or single-A game distilled from the popular games of the day. If 50 Cent Blood on the Sand came out today, it would be a Game Pass game — and it’s quietly become one of the best B gems of this generation.

Yes. Coming to Gamescom, I’m not too excited about what the Xbox has to offer. But being there, seeing and playing with their stuff, I got it. I see. It suddenly became the focus. It’s all about Game Pass. As a Game Pass showcase, Gamescom is perfect.

That doesn’t mean you’re forgiven, though, Xbox: we still want to see Perfect Dark, Fable, Starfield, and something new. But, for now, this subscription tasting menu will do just fine.