May 7th sees the addition of Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 for all three platforms and tiers alongside Dungeons of Hinterberg, Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn, and Metal Slug Tactics for consoles on Game Pass Standard. Revenge of the Savage Planet arrives on May 8th for Ultimate and PC Game Pass alongside Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants Unleashed, which is also playable for Standard subscribers.

Warhammer: Vermintide 2 launches for cloud and consoles on May 13th, followed by DOOM: The Dark Ages on May 15th. Subscribers can purchase the Premium Upgrade to start playing two days early.

Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo is next on May 16th followed by Firefighting Simulator: The Squad and Police Simulator: Patrol Officers on May 20th.

Of course, some titles will also leave the service on May 15th. These include:

• Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Chants of Sennaar (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Hauntii (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• The Big Con (Cloud, Console, and PC)

April 16th sees the arrival of Neon White (Standard) and SpongeBob SquarePants: The Patrick Star Game (all tiers), followed by Crime Scene Cleaner and Tempopo on April 17th for Ultimate and PC Game Pass. On April 24th, Sandfall Interactive’s Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 will be playable on PC Game Pass and Ultimate as a day-one release.

April 29th sees Stoic’s Towerborne, or at least the Game Preview, going live on April 29th, months after launching into Steam Early Access. The month concludes with Far Cry 4 for all three tiers. Starting May 1st, Anno 1800 will be available for Ultimate, Standard and PC Game Pass alongside Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2022). On May 6th, all three tiers can play the Lovecraftian-esque fishing title Dredge.

Of course, several titles will be leaving the service on April 30th. Check out the list below:

• Have a Nice Death (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Kona 2: Brume (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Sniper Elite 5 (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• The Last Case of Benedict Fox (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Thirsty Suitors (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• The Rewinder (Cloud, Console, and PC)

Available at any time during the story, the premise involves working with Ironhaven Corporation on its oil rig. However, things go wrong, impacting previous areas with a dark liquid originating from the “primordial depths.” Players must revisit previous areas, collecting over 50 new fish to assess the damage and save the region.

As you build up the new base, a new tier of fishing equipment is available alongside gadgets, abilities and more. There are also new characters, hazards and world events to experience, with two to five hours of playtime in total.

Team17 has also announced that pre-orders are available for a physical Collector’s Edition of the game on PS5 and Nintendo Switch, including all the DLC and a special box for $99.99. Extra goodies include a Sign of Ruin replica, a poster, a compendium of the many fish and variants, a doubloon coin, a map and a message in a bottle. Pre-orders are limited to specific countries, but more are coming soon.

Dredge

Described as a single-player fishing adventure with a sinister undercurrent, Dredge is one of the most unexpectedly exciting indie games to release this year. Players act as trawlerman, furrowing nautical depths and selling their catch. Cash leads to better fishing equipment, and soon enough players are trawling the depths of deep sea, but the deeper the water the bigger the threat. Fog pervades the mysterious open ocean, with a dark history lurking beneath the water surface. If you’ve played Dredge, you’ll know how enveloping it is. For everyone else, there’s mysteries to unravel in them there seas.

Viewfinder

A mind-bending first-person puzzler in the vein of Manifold Garden or Superliminal, Viewfinder challenges perception, reshapes reality, and redefines the world, all through the lens of an instant camera. The premise is simple enough: place captured photographs and camera roll images into your immediate vicinity to alter the environment and overcome obstacles. The image-warping escapism also evokes Gorogoa but play through Viewfinder and you’ll quickly realise it’s very much its own thing, a towering achievement for its one-man studio. Hopefully Viewfinder’s nominations for best indie and best debut indie at The Game Awards bring it to a wider audience.

Football Manager 2024

Yes, you’ve probably heard of Football Manager, and yes, you’re likely to have let this iteration pass you by. But do so at your peril, because if you have hundreds of hours to spare Football Manager 2024 is the most engrossing entry in years thanks to new features such as the set piece creation wizard, improved player animations, and more visible feedback on whether your team’s formation and tactics are working as anticipated on match day. Football Manager’s uncanny ability to attach emotion to a barrage of stats and spreadsheets is still it’s forte, but its 24’s new additions which promote this entry to a must play for anyone even remotely interested in the ruthless world of football management.

Rusted Moss

Rusted Moss is a metroidvania with compelling twin-stick shooting and traversal mechanics; grapple hooks give players ability to swing through the game’s deftly designed zones whilst thumb-sticks turn levels into precise, 360° shooting galleries. It’s a skill that’s tricky to learn initially but becomes masterfully intuitive the longer you play. Rusted Moss was hyped on release last April, but chatter has since petered out. It’d be great to see this niche indie project on more platforms as its twin-stick mechanic is made for consoles.           

Gravity Circuit

A slick 2D platformer evoking classics, in Gravity Circuit players assume command of the Mega Man alike Kai, a lone wolf war hero who must channel mysterious powers into devastating punches, kicks, and combos in a rip-roaring soar through a sentient robot inhabited retro future. Like any other year, 2023 has seen its fair share of fantastic platformers – offerings from Mario and Sonic notwithstanding – but as one of the year’s best Gravity Circuit doesn’t deserve to be overshadowed.

Space Wreck 

This bite sized post-apocalyptic space explorer packs an awful lot of RPG into a tiny package. Developer Pahris Entertainment SIA have crafted something they say is ‘intentionally short yet surprisingly deep’, opting to focus on replayability. In Space Wreck, with numerous traits to plough into your character, every decision harbouring consequence, and up to eight possible solutions for each of the game’s quests there’s plenty of variation and playstyle on offer. Fans of games at the cerebral end of the RPG spectrum like Disco Elysium shouldn’t sleep on this one.   

Season: A Letter to the Future

A meditative bike ride through verdant valleys and quaint townships, Season: A Letter to the Future encourages players to capture the essence of life – the smell of a flower, the sound of a meadow breeze, the late-afternoon light cascading down the face of a statue – to distil the significance of our relationships and to find meaning in minutiae, all before an inevitable apocalypse wipes the slate clean. Season: A Letter to the Future reminds us that the value is in the voyage, not the destination.

Ugly

A reflective platformer in more ways than one, Ugly utilises a creative mirror mechanic to solve challenging puzzle rooms, creating a shadowy replica of yourself to swap and change the world around you. The mirror isn’t just for platforming though, its activation can reveal hidden secrets and past trauma – the game takes place in the recesses of a tormented nobleman’s mind. A hidden gem in every sense, Ugly hasn’t received much fanfare which is a shame because away from the innovative platforming there’s a stirring narrative to unravel.

Hi-Fi Rush

Surprise released to immediate fanfare by The Evil Within developer Tango Dreamworks, Hi-Fi Rush continued rhythm-action games’ renaissance with its stylish gameplay synced to a pumping soundtrack. The month following its release concurrent Steam players dropped off a cliff with 65% moving onto something else, and despite a resurgence in the early Autumn following its Arcade Challenge update it seems Hi-Fi Rush has been largely forgotten. However, it’s hybridisation of genres, killer mixtapes, memorable characters, and pulsating action is worth a go for anyone even slightly interested.

El Paso, Elsewhere

Exuding all the style and power of Max Payne, El Paso, Elsewhere is a third-person neo-noir shooter taking place inside the shapeshifting confines of a strange hotel. Hunt werewolves, evil puppets, and a host of damned creatures in vivid slow motion, all whilst on a meaningful mission to destroy the villain you once loved. There’s more to El Paso, Elsewhere than cinematic gunfire, but of course any fan of shooting games should take note.

Jusant

Jusant is a meditative action-puzzle climbing adventure in which players scale an impossibly tall tower in command of an androgenous climber. As the altitude increases, so does the repertoire of climbing tools and techniques; players must use their wits to best scale the tower’s diverse biomes, uncovering a deep history with every foot of elevation. Don’t Nod’s latest effort is contemplative, challenging, but ultimately, a beautiful experience that’s not to be missed.

OXENFREE II: Lost Signals

You’d be forgiven for not realising the sequel to one of indie games’ most confounding entries released this year, but OXENFREE II: Lost Signals did indeed step into the light this past July. Set five years after its predecessor, Lost Signals follows Riley as she investigates mysterious electromagnetic waves disturbing TV signals and aviation radar that’re emanating from her hometown. A mind-bending, supernatural thriller, with meaningful conversation choices shaping the story as Riley uncovers more than she bargained for.

The extent of the new content and whether Dredge will see anything from Dave the Diver is unknown. However, some aberrations include a hammerhead shark with demonic eyes, a translucent fish that can munch on Dave and much more. You’ll also explore from a unique perspective that channels Black Salt Games’ title, adding to the spookiness.

The free content update goes live on December 15th for Nintendo Switch and PC. Stay tuned for more details next week, and check out our review of Dave the Diver here. You can also read our review for Dredge, which is available for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, PC and Nintendo Switch.

The story involves investigating the previous crew that ventured into the biome. You’ll meet some familiar characters (like the Photographer) and unlock four new equipment pieces, an icebreaker-style boat and ice blocks for preserving catches. There are also 11 fish and crab species, a menacing Narwhal to flee from and eight Achievements to earn.

The Pale Reach is estimated to add one to three hours of new content for $5.99. Dredge has another paid DLC, The Iron Rig, launching in 2024, so stay tuned for more details. The cosmic horror fishing game has sold over one million copies since launching in March and garnered critical acclaim. Check out our review here.

To say that this went beyond internal expectations would be an understatement. “We hoped to maybe sell 100,000 copies in our first year. That would have been amazing. That was a top estimate when we were setting our expectations. We smashed through those targets,” per Thorne.

Back then, selling one million copies within a year felt like a “crazy” target. When Dredge launched, it sold over 100,000 units in the first 24 hours. Bastiaens revealed, “We actually had our launch party on a boat,” says Bastiaens, “and we were just refreshing the [sales page] going ‘oh my god, oh my god.'”

Black Salt Games’ next major update for Dredge is a paid expansion, The Pale Reach. It’s out on November 16th and introduces a new icy biome with 11 fish and crabs with new aberrations. As for The Iron Rig, it’s planned to release in 2024. Stay tuned for more updates and check out our review for the base game, which is available now for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS4, PS5, PC and Nintendo Switch.

Dredge: The Pale Reach is the first bit of paid content being released for the game, and brings quite a bit of new content to Dredge, including a new biome that will need players to invest in additional equipment. The new biome will be an icy expanse, and players will have to deal with traversing freezing depths and crystalline canyons.

When it comes to the core fishing gameplay of Dredge, The Pale Reach will bring with it 11 new fish and crab species to catch, as well as new aberrated counterparts for the new targets.

Dredge was slated to get The Iron Rig DLC later this year, but the studio announced back in September that it will be delaying the expansion to some time in 2024, stating that it needed more time with the next expansion.

Check out our review of Dredge.

“We were genuinely disheartened because we had committed to all our dedicated players, but we firmly believed there was only one path forward and that was to delay ‘The Iron Rig’ until next year.”

The good news is that fans can still expect additional content, with details coming soon. It also seems to be paid content, with availability and pricing to be revealed. “We understand this isn’t what we had originally promised, but we hope you understand. Your support means the world to us.”

Dredge released earlier this year for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, PC and Nintendo Switch to critical praise (check out our review here). It’s received three free updates so far, which added map markers, a Passive Mode, Photo Mode, boat customization, and new Aberrations. As for what the upcoming DLC could entail, stay tuned for more information in the coming months.

Of course, there’s more for fearless fishers to hunt, including 13 new Crab Aberrations or Craberrations (who unlock new ship cosmetics) and new shipwrecks. You can also filter out Crabs in the Encyclopedia. The patch also brings new adjustments, like slight buffs to the values of some fishing rods and an aberration catch bonus on all crab pots.

Check out the full patch notes below for more details. Dredge is available for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, PC and Nintendo Switch. Check out our official review for more information. Paid DLC is slated to release in Q4 2023, so stay tuned.

DREDGE Update: v1.3.0

Patch Notes:

Features

• Added Boat Customization
  – After you’ve acquired your dredge crane as part of the main story, a new character will set up shop at Little Marrow – The Painter! He’ll be able to make adjustments to your boat’s appearance.
  – The Painter starts with some basic options available, but you’ll be able to discover additional paint ingredients and flag designs.
• Added crab aberrations (craberrations).
• Added a new filter to the Encyclopedia to display Crabs.
• Added a number of new shipwrecks around the world.

Adjustments

• Equipment tooltips now display the previously hidden “Aberration Catch Bonus” statistic.
  – Slightly buffed some of these values on some rods.
• Rebalanced crab pots slightly.
  – All crab pots provide some aberration catch bonus, with higher tier / special pots offering a larger bonus.
  – Mouth of The Deep catch rate and duration reduced to make progressing the crab pot tech tree more meaningful.

Fixes

• Fixed an issue where in very rare cases, the game would take longer than expected to save. Losing power during this time would cause save files (and in some cases, backup save files) to become corrupt.
• Added a new font which should handle Japanese characters better and prevent them from falling back to use Chinese characters in some scenarios.
• Fixed an issue where clicking on the boat upgrade purchase button too quickly could cause the screen to get stuck.
• Fixed an issue where some areas of the sea floor reported that they were 100m+ deep when they clearly were not.
• Fixed an issue where some achievements would not trigger immediately if the last thing they required was for you to catch a crab.
• Fixed an issue where players could get stuck on the map screen if it was switched to another screen while a marker was being placed.
• Fixed some small animation issues.