{"id":385600,"date":"2025-10-29T03:27:54","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T03:27:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/xbox-solidifies-its-first-party-holiday-lineup\/"},"modified":"2025-10-29T03:27:54","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T03:27:54","slug":"xbox-solidifies-its-first-party-holiday-lineup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/xbox-solidifies-its-first-party-holiday-lineup\/","title":{"rendered":"Xbox Solidifies Its First-Party Holiday Lineup"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Moving into the holiday shopping season, Microsoft has solidified its list of big first-party releases. In a blog<\/a> this morning, Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty shared what he\u2019s calling \u201cthree epic months of back-to-back blockbuster game launches in Game Pass.\u201d<\/p>\n

First on Booty\u2019s list is the impending release of Age of Empires 4<\/a>, the long-awaited new installment to the historical real-time strategy franchise. That\u2019s due out on PC Game Pass and Steam on October 28. Continuing the PC news, a few days later will be the addition of Minecraft to PC Game Pass on November 2. You read that right, Minecraft hasn\u2019t been a part of Game Pass outside of consoles yet, but those who don\u2019t own the adventure\/creation juggernaut can download it in a few short weeks. Additional Minecraft Dungeons content and the Caves and Cliff: Part II update for Minecraft will be dropping sometime later in the year.<\/p>\n

Next is Xbox\u2019s flagship release for the month of November, Forza Horizon 5. Players can race around an open world set in Mexico during this new iteration of the Forza Horizon Festival. Expect fast cars, beautiful scenery, and some hot air balloons. Check out our recent preview<\/a> of the game to see how it\u2019s shaping up before release. Forza Horizon 5 will be available on November 9, but those who have purchased the Premium Edition, or Premium Add-On Bundle get early access to the game on November 5.<\/p>\n

November 18 brings an update to Microsoft\u2019s high flying simulation series, Microsoft Flight Simulator: Game of the Year Edition. This GOTY package is a free update for the existing game and includes \u201cfive new aircraft, eight new airports, new Discovery Flights and tutorials, and highly requested community features like DX12 support.\u201d There\u2019s also Reno Air Races, an aerial motorsport coming to the game with this update.<\/p>\n

Finally, Microsoft\u2019s holiday releases will cap off with the king of Xbox shooters returning to its throne. Of course, we\u2019re talking about the December 9 release of Halo: Infinite. After years of being pushed back for retooling and polishing, both the campaign and free-to-play multiplayer modes will see the light of day. There\u2019s not much else to say<\/a> about Halo: Infinite other than we can\u2019t wait to get our hands on it.<\/p>\n

Just to recap, here are the dates for the Xbox Game Studio\u2019s holiday lineup, all included in Xbox Game Pass or Game Pass for PC:<\/p>\n

Age of Empires 4 \u2013 PC on\u00a0October 28<\/strong><\/p>\n

Minecraft on PC Game Pass \u2013 PC on\u00a0November 2 (Caves and Cliffs: Part II later this year)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Forza Horizon 5 \u2013 Xbox Series X\/S, Xbox One, PC on November 9 (early access on November 5)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Microsoft Flight Simulator: Game of the Year Edition \u2013 PC on\u00a0November 18<\/strong><\/p>\n

Halo: Infinite \u2013 Xbox Series X\/S, Xbox One, PC on\u00a0December 8<\/strong><\/p>\n

Matt Booty also talks about 2021 being the 20th anniversary of Xbox and Halo. There will be \u201ca fun, digital broadcast for fans around the globe\u201d on November 15 to celebrate the occasion, but do not<\/strong> expect any new game announcements.<\/p>\n

\n

What do you think about the first-party lineup Microsoft has planned through the end of the year? Will Halo and Forza keep you busy for the foreseeable future or do you feel something extra is missing? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Moving into the holiday shopping season, Microsoft has solidified its list of big first-party releases. In a blog this morning, Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty shared what he\u2019s calling \u201cthree epic months of back-to-back blockbuster game launches in Game Pass.\u201d First on Booty\u2019s list is the impending release of Age of Empires 4, the long-awaited new installment to the historical real-time strategy franchise. That\u2019s due out on PC Game Pass and Steam on October 28. Continuing the PC news, a few days later will be the addition of Minecraft to PC Game Pass on November 2. You read that right, Minecraft hasn\u2019t been a part of Game Pass outside of consoles yet, but those who don\u2019t own the adventure\/creation juggernaut can download it in…<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":385601,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-385600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-game-informer"],"yoast_head":"\nXbox Solidifies Its First-Party Holiday Lineup | Arcader News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Moving into the holiday shopping season, Microsoft has solidified its list of big first-party releases. In a blog this morning, Xbox Game Studios head\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/xbox-solidifies-its-first-party-holiday-lineup\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Xbox Solidifies Its First-Party Holiday Lineup | Arcader News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Moving into the holiday shopping season, Microsoft has solidified its list of big first-party releases. In a blog this morning, Xbox Game Studios head\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/xbox-solidifies-its-first-party-holiday-lineup\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Arcade News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-10-29T03:27:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/xbox-solidifies-its-first-party-holiday-lineup.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"320\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Arcade News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Arcade News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/xbox-solidifies-its-first-party-holiday-lineup\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/xbox-solidifies-its-first-party-holiday-lineup\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Arcade News\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839\"},\"headline\":\"Xbox Solidifies Its First-Party Holiday Lineup\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-29T03:27:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/xbox-solidifies-its-first-party-holiday-lineup\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":557,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/xbox-solidifies-its-first-party-holiday-lineup\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/10\\\/xbox-solidifies-its-first-party-holiday-lineup.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Game Informer\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/xbox-solidifies-its-first-party-holiday-lineup\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/xbox-solidifies-its-first-party-holiday-lineup\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/xbox-solidifies-its-first-party-holiday-lineup\\\/\",\"name\":\"Xbox Solidifies Its First-Party Holiday Lineup | Arcader News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/xbox-solidifies-its-first-party-holiday-lineup\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/xbox-solidifies-its-first-party-holiday-lineup\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/10\\\/xbox-solidifies-its-first-party-holiday-lineup.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-29T03:27:54+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839\"},\"description\":\"Moving into the holiday shopping season, Microsoft has solidified its list of big first-party releases. In a blog this morning, Xbox Game Studios head\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/xbox-solidifies-its-first-party-holiday-lineup\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/xbox-solidifies-its-first-party-holiday-lineup\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/xbox-solidifies-its-first-party-holiday-lineup\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/10\\\/xbox-solidifies-its-first-party-holiday-lineup.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/10\\\/xbox-solidifies-its-first-party-holiday-lineup.jpg\",\"width\":480,\"height\":320,\"caption\":\"Xbox Solidifies Its First-Party Holiday Lineup\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/xbox-solidifies-its-first-party-holiday-lineup\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Xbox Solidifies Its First-Party Holiday Lineup\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"Arcade News\",\"description\":\"Free Arcade News from the Best Online Sources\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839\",\"name\":\"Arcade News\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Arcade News\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cricketgames.tv\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/author\\\/arcade-news\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Xbox Solidifies Its First-Party Holiday Lineup | Arcader News","description":"Moving into the holiday shopping season, Microsoft has solidified its list of big first-party releases. In a blog this morning, Xbox Game Studios head","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/xbox-solidifies-its-first-party-holiday-lineup\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Xbox Solidifies Its First-Party Holiday Lineup | Arcader News","og_description":"Moving into the holiday shopping season, Microsoft has solidified its list of big first-party releases. In a blog this morning, Xbox Game Studios head","og_url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/xbox-solidifies-its-first-party-holiday-lineup\/","og_site_name":"Arcade News","article_published_time":"2025-10-29T03:27:54+00:00","og_image":[{"width":480,"height":320,"url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/xbox-solidifies-its-first-party-holiday-lineup.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Arcade News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Arcade News","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/xbox-solidifies-its-first-party-holiday-lineup\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/xbox-solidifies-its-first-party-holiday-lineup\/"},"author":{"name":"Arcade News","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839"},"headline":"Xbox Solidifies Its First-Party Holiday Lineup","datePublished":"2025-10-29T03:27:54+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/xbox-solidifies-its-first-party-holiday-lineup\/"},"wordCount":557,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/xbox-solidifies-its-first-party-holiday-lineup\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/xbox-solidifies-its-first-party-holiday-lineup.jpg","articleSection":["Game Informer"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/xbox-solidifies-its-first-party-holiday-lineup\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/xbox-solidifies-its-first-party-holiday-lineup\/","url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/xbox-solidifies-its-first-party-holiday-lineup\/","name":"Xbox Solidifies Its First-Party Holiday Lineup | Arcader News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/xbox-solidifies-its-first-party-holiday-lineup\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/xbox-solidifies-its-first-party-holiday-lineup\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/xbox-solidifies-its-first-party-holiday-lineup.jpg","datePublished":"2025-10-29T03:27:54+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839"},"description":"Moving into the holiday shopping season, Microsoft has solidified its list of big first-party releases. In a blog this morning, Xbox Game Studios head","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/xbox-solidifies-its-first-party-holiday-lineup\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/xbox-solidifies-its-first-party-holiday-lineup\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/xbox-solidifies-its-first-party-holiday-lineup\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/xbox-solidifies-its-first-party-holiday-lineup.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/xbox-solidifies-its-first-party-holiday-lineup.jpg","width":480,"height":320,"caption":"Xbox Solidifies Its First-Party Holiday Lineup"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/xbox-solidifies-its-first-party-holiday-lineup\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Xbox Solidifies Its First-Party Holiday Lineup"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/","name":"Arcade News","description":"Free Arcade News from the Best Online Sources","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839","name":"Arcade News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Arcade News"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/cricketgames.tv"],"url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/author\/arcade-news\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=385600"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385600\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1373634,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385600\/revisions\/1373634"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/385601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=385600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=385600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=385600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}