Details have seemingly been leaked about two new Xbox exclusives from Compulsion Games (We Happy Few) and Obsidian Entertainment (The Outer Worlds), the former of which is described as a single-player "southern gothic adventure."
According to Windows Central, Compulsion's first game with Microsoft is codenamed Midnight. It is reportedly a third-person game set in a dark and fantastical world. The protagonist, seen below in the middle section of the concept art, is a dark-skinned woman with braided hair. The picture on the right shows a harpy creature going through various stages of transformation. The picture on the left looks like it could be a harpy nest.
Midnight apparently draws its inspirations from America's deep south and is a "coming of age" story. It is also a solely single-player game. It apparently won't be ready for an official reveal or launch until the next few years, however. Last month, the We Happy Few developer mentioned that it was working on a new third-person, story-driven title and Midnight certainly seems to fit the bill.
The second game comes from Obsidian Entertainment, codenamed Pentiment. A 12-person team is developing this game and is led by Josh Sawyer, who previously worked on Fallout: New Vegas and Pillars of Eternity. GamesBeat's Jeff Grubb said that Pentiment draws inspiration from games like Disco Elysium and will be a narrative RPG rather than a combat-focused one.
The game is reportedly a murder mystery set in the 16th Century in which players will be able to investigate and accuse other characters in the game. However, these accusations have consequences; if you're wrong, then a snowball effect occurs. The game will slowly unfold into a full-blown conspiracy. The team is also reportedly experimenting with several different gameplay mechanics, but some might not make it into the final product. Grubbsays Pentiment is aiming for a 2022 launch.
If correct, it means Obsidian is very busy right now – the studio is also working on Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2.
George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @yinyangfooey