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Xbox Series X is scheduled to release in Holiday 2020. Ahead of its launch, Microsoft is hosting several Inside Xbox livestreams to discuss the upcoming next-gen console and games you’ll be able to play on it at launch. During the May 2020 Inside Xbox, Microsoft focused on games that are coming to Xbox (whether it’s Xbox One, Xbox Series X, or both), including the otherworldly-looking Call of the Sea, coming from developer Out of the Blue.

As part of the stream, Microsoft released a trailer for Call of the Sea, which is embedded below. Playing as Norah, you’ll explore a remote island in the South Pacific during the 1930s to search for her husband who was lost at sea. While exploring the island, you’ll uncover the remains of a failed expedition, and ancient ruins that reveal the island’s secrets. Taking cues from the works of H.P. Lovecraft, Call of the Sea is an introspective story, focusing on the protagonist’s time exploring the island while remembering moments from her past.

“Call of the Sea is a first-person adventure puzzle game set in the 1930s that tells the story of Norah, a woman on the trail of her missing husband’s expedition,” Microsoft writes in a press release. “The search takes place on a strange but beautiful island in the South Pacific, filled with secrets waiting to be unearthed. It is an otherworldly tale of mystery, adventure, and self-discovery.”

Call of the Sea is confirmed to support Smart Delivery. That means that if you buy the game for Xbox One, you’ll automatically own it for Xbox Series X too and vice versa.

Call of the Sea was far from the only game shown off during May 2020’s Inside Xbox. The presentation included several cool-looking indie and AAA games, the most notable of which was a gameplay debut for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, along with other reveals like Scarlet Nexus and Bright Memory Infinite.

Microsoft provided a first look at lots of Xbox Series X games during its inaugural Xbox 20/20 presentation, but you don’t have to upgrade your hardware right away to get the Series X versions of certain cross-gen games. As part of the presentation, Microsoft announced several games using its Smart Delivery feature, which allows you to download the version that matches your current hardware.

Nine of the 15 games that debuted during the presentation will utilize Smart Delivery, though some of those remaining games are Xbox Series X exclusive and couldn’t use the feature anyway. Microsoft also announced that all first-party games from Xbox Game Studios will use Smart Delivery, which would include games we already know about like Halo Infinite and Hellblade 2. CD Projekt Red has also already announced that the feature will be available for Cyberpunk 2077.

Smart Delivery is opt-in for third-party developers, but the consumer-friendly feature already appears to be getting adopted widely. It essentially ties the game to your account and upgrades your copy if you upgrade your hardware. For example, if you buy Assassin’s Creed Valhalla on Xbox One and then later buy an Xbox Series X, your new hardware will download the Series X version of the game.

Check below for the full list of Smart Delivery-enabled games so far, and check back as Microsoft reveals more heading into the launch of Xbox Series X.

• Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
• Call of the Sea
• Chorus
• Cyberpunk 2077
• Halo Infinite
• Hellblade 2
• Dirt 5
• Scarlet Nexus
• Second Extinction
• The Ascent
• Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2
• Yakuza: Like a Dragon

During the May 2020 Inside Xbox livestream, Microsoft revealed a trailer for a rather peculiar, but intriguing-looking Xbox Series X game: Second Extinction. Developed by Systemic Reaction, Second Extinction is a co-op shooter where you hunt down mutant dinosaurs.

The trailer showed a hostile snowy world filled with raptor-like beasts, being mowed down by soldiers with heavy firepower. The tagline invites you to “reclaim Earth.”

“Second Extinction is an intense three-player cooperative shooter, where your goal is to wipe out the mutated dinosaurs that have taken over the planet,” Microsoft wrote in a press release. “Teamwork is vital as you adopt the role of one of the survivors, using a unique combination of weapons, abilities and skills to take on the vast number of enemies. Fight through a maelstrom of bullets, bombs, teeth, claws and gore, it’s up to you to reclaim Earth.”

As part of the livestream, Microsoft announced that Second Extinction would support Smart Delivery, so whether you buy the game for Xbox One or Xbox Series X, you’ll be able to play it on both consoles.

From a metroidvania-inspired horror game to a space combat shooter, Microsoft had plenty of AAA and indie games to showcase during its May 2020 Inside Xbox. The highlight of the stream was a gameplay debut of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, the 2020 entry in Ubisoft’s popular history-based franchise.

As part of the Inside Xbox briefing, Microsoft confirmed that EA’s upcoming NFL game, Madden NFL 21, is coming to Xbox Series X. While we didn’t get to see much in the way of gameplay, the stream did reiterate that the game will support Xbox Series X’s Smart Delivery feature, so if you get it on Xbox One, you’ll automatically be entitled to the Series X version.

During the Madden 21 segment, Patrick Mahomes, cover star of last year’s entry, teased that more details about the game will be revealed “soon.” We didn’t get much more information beyond that, but Mahomes said this year’s installment will “focus on feel on the field.”

Madden NFL 21 will release for Xbox Series X following its initial launch on Xbox One, as well as PS4 and PC. The series typically debuts in early August, ahead of the start of the new NFL season.

Madden NFL 21 features Baltimore Ravens standout QB Lamar Jackson on its cover, a fact he seemingly leaked during a recent interview. The game will be joined by FIFA 21 and NHL 21 in coming to the Xbox Series X (and PlayStation 5) later this year.

As promised, Microsoft showcased a variety of Xbox Series X games during its latest Inside Xbox stream. One of the more intriguing titles highlighted during the presentation is The Medium, a new psychological horror game from Blair Witch and Observer developer Bloober Team.

The Medium is set in Poland in the late ’80s. The game casts players in the role of Marianne, a medium who is haunted by visions of a child’s murder. To unravel the truth behind this tragedy, she travels to an abandoned hotel and searches for answers. The trailer showed a woman, presumably Marianne, having horrifying visions.

According to Bloober Team, the theme of The Medium is “duality.” Marianne can see two worlds, the real one and the spirit one, and players will need to navigate both to discover the truth. Further reinforcing the theme, the game’s soundtrack is a collaboration between Blooper Team’s Arkadiusz Reikowski and Silent Hill composer Akira Yamaoka.

The Inside Xbox stream gave us a look at a number of other third-party games coming to Xbox Series X, including the first gameplay for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. Microsoft will showcase even more next-gen titles in the lead up to Xbox Series X’s launch. The company will air monthly 20/20 streams, with July’s focusing on first-party games.

Between Cyberpunk 2077, Cloudpunk, and Ghostrunner, 2020 is set to be a rather cyberpunk-heavy year isn’t it? Microsoft added another to the list with the reveal of The Ascent during the May 2020 Inside Xbox livestream.

Developed by Neon Giant and published by Curve Digital, The Ascent will support Smart Delivery. So whether you buy the game on Xbox One or Xbox Series X, you’ll be able to play the cyberpunk RPG on both consoles. You can see the game in action in the trailer embedded below.

“The Ascent is a solo and co-op action RPG set in a cyberpunk world,” Microsoft said of the game. “The mega corporation that owns you and everyone, The Ascent Group, has just collapsed. Confusion and chaos ensue, security and order are in disarray, and without protection, everyone is left to fend for themselves. Stop gangs and hostile corporations from taking over and discover what really happened in this explosive sci-fi shooter.”

The rest of the livestream looked at other games on the near horizon for Xbox, some AAA and others indie. The highlight of the show was a gameplay reveal for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, which will also support Smart Delivery.

Microsoft showcased a ton of third-party Xbox Series X games during its latest Inside Xbox stream, many of which take advantage of the console’s Smart Delivery feature. Another game we can add to that list is the upcoming Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2.

During the Inside Xbox presentation, Microsoft confirmed that Bloodlines 2 will support Smart Delivery. That means if you purchase the game on Xbox One, you’ll automatically receive the Series X version as well.

A trailer showed all sorts of horrific sights, like a man dancing in a room full of suspended corpses, a first-person vampire bite, and supernatural vampiric powers.

Although it’s been confirmed that Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 will be out on Xbox Series X, a release date for the game has still not been announced. It was originally slated to launch in the first quarter of this year, but publisher Paradox Interactive recently announced the title would have to be delayed to “late 2020.”

“There’s the responsibility to avoid some of the issues that plagued the first game, which was famously launched too early,” developers Andy Kipling and Brian Mitsoda wrote in a blog post explaining the delay. “Over the last few months, it became clear that to stick to our original date would risk repeating that mistake. We won’t do that. In the end, everyone working on this game wants to offer you the best Bloodlines 2 we can.”

We got to see a number of other Xbox Series X games during the Inside Xbox stream, including the first gameplay of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. Microsoft will reveal more Series X details and titles leading up to the console’s launch in its monthly 20/20 streams, with July’s focusing on first-party games.