E3 2016: Xbox Independent Games Montage Trailer
By Derek Nichols 26 June 2016
During the Microsoft E3 2016 press conference, a montage trailer for the [email protected] program reveals a ton of new games coming to the service including Cuphead, Yooka-Laylee, and more.
While the Microsoft E3 2016 press conference was filled with hardware reveals and major gameplay demos for headliner games like Gears of War 4, Microsoft wanted to make sure fans didn’t forget that the console is home to a ton of independent developers as well. As they did last year, a portion of the presser was devoted to the [email protected] program, as a short montage trailer revealed many of the upcoming indie games like Stardew Valley and Cuphead.
The minute and a half trailer quickly flashed through 18 upcoming games, highlighted by the phrase, ‘risk takers, rule breakers, and game changers.’ The impressive list had a number of notable names in the list including Playtonic Games, the former Rare developers creating a Banjo-Kazooie inspired platformer, Yooka-Laylee. In addition, former Konami developer and Castlevania creator, Koji Igarashi had his game, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, also prominently featured in the montage.
MercurySteam, the Spanish studio behind the Castlevania: Lord of Shadow series, were briefly featured as well with the title Raiders of the Broken Planet. Current indie darling, Stardew Valley was also featured in the trailer, which follows the its recent announcement that the title would be coming to consoles as well.
For many fans, the headliner in this montage is the visually stunning Cuphead which continues to look like a twisted nightmare from the brain of Walt Disney. The impressive title is unfortunately still without a hard release date, but the team at Studio MDHR did reveal new platforming gameplay late last week prior to E3. The mechanics almost have a Mega Man like feel to them, where quickly shooting and dodging multiple enemies on the screen while running to the end where a boss battle no doubt awaits.
The independent scene on the Xbox One hasn’t always been sunshine and rainbows however. When the console was first announced back in 2013, restrictive policies such as a launch parity clause turned many developers off, leading to a big indie rise on the PlayStation 4. Thanks to the efforts of Chris Charla and the [email protected] team, Microsoft has really managed to turn this around for the better and as fans can see in the montage trailer, independent developers appear to be thriving. Games like ARK: Survival Evolved, Ori and the Blind Forest, and Cuphead have been featured more and more at major shows like E3, which traditionally has been reserved for major AAA products.
What game intrigues you the most in the above montage trailer? Hit us up int he comments below.
Source: Xbox YouTube Channel
