Xbox is undergoing a significant shift in strategy. While it once seemed destined to lead the home console market, its share has been decreasing in recent years. PlayStation and Nintendo Switch consistently sell more units, and last year, even a lesser-known family gaming device called the Nex Playground surpassed Xbox in sales.
Xbox hasn’t sold as many Series consoles as hoped, and at the same time, many games that used to be exclusive to Xbox are now available on other platforms, like PlayStation. Even major franchises like Gears of War, Halo, and Forza are making the switch. This is more than just competition between console brands; by releasing its own games on other platforms, Xbox is reducing the reason to buy an Xbox console in the first place. It seems Xbox is not only losing exclusive titles, but also seeing fewer games being developed for the platform overall, suggesting the brand may be losing its importance. We’ve already seen several examples of this trend this year.
1348 Ex Voto
- 1348 Ex Voto PC and PlayStation 5 release date: March 12, 2026
1348 Ex Voto is a story-driven medieval adventure where you play as Aeta, an Italian knight searching for her beloved Bianca after she’s kidnapped during a city raid. The game draws inspiration from authentic medieval history and combat, similar to Kingdom Come: Deliverance, but offers a more focused experience with a narrower scope of content and less open-ended freedom.
Dear Villagers, the publisher of 1348 Ex Voto, recently shared an update on Twitter about the game’s planned release on Xbox.
Hey everyone, I’ve got some tough news. We originally planned to release the game on Xbox, but unfortunately, that’s no longer happening. As we get closer to launch, we’ve been re-evaluating things as a small indie team, and we need to make sure we’re doing everything we can to deliver the best game possible. That means we had to make the difficult call to cancel the Xbox version so we can really focus our energy on the PC and PS5 releases. It wasn’t an easy decision, but we think it’s what’s best for the game and all of you who are excited to play!
Who’s That Character? 
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
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Nickelodeon Splat Pack
- Nickelodeon Splat Pack PC, PS5, and Switch release date: January 30, 2026
The upcoming Xbox version of Nickelodeon Splat Pack has been cancelled. Splat Pack isn’t a new game itself, but a collection of older, beloved games from the 90s originally released on SNES and Genesis, all based on popular Nickelodeon shows. It’s similar to other classic game collections, playing like the originals but with a few modern improvements, like the ability to save your progress anytime. The bundle features three games from the 90s based on Nickelodeon properties.
- GUTS
- Rocko’s Modern Life: Spunky’s Dangerous Day
- AAAHH!!! Real Monsters
The game Nickelodeon Splat Pack came out on January 30, 2026, but its planned release on Xbox Series X|S was canceled shortly before. While Dear Villagers offered a somewhat unclear explanation for the Xbox cancellation of Ex Voto 1348, Limited Run Games, the publisher of Splat Pack, hasn’t said much at all. A company representative simply told the gaming website Gematsu that there wouldn’t be Xbox versions of Splat Pack, without giving a reason.
Cleaning Up!
- Cleaning Up! PC, PS5, and Switch release date: April 15, 2026
The newest Xbox game to be cancelled, Cleaning Up!, was a charming, top-down cleaning game similar to PowerWash Simulator, but with a more playful and imaginative style. Players would have cleaned different locations, ranging from everyday apartments to spooky haunted libraries, by vacuuming, mopping, and scrubbing.
Similar to what happened with Nickelodeon Splat Pack, we don’t currently know exactly why Cleaning Up! was cancelled on Xbox. While it’s possible the game could come to Xbox in the future, there are no current plans to do so.
What Do These Canceled Xbox Ports Mean, If Anything?
Online, you’ll find many gamers saying these canceled games aren’t a big deal because they’re smaller, independent titles or re-releases. I get why they feel that way, but that’s not the real issue. This isn’t about Xbox players missing out on award-winning games; it’s about publishers currently seeing Xbox as a platform they don’t want to invest in.
Creating versions of a game for different platforms costs both time and money, and developers need to earn that investment back – and ideally make a profit – when the game is released. For instance, if a game is initially made for PlayStation 5 and there’s a chance to bring it to Nintendo Switch, developers will usually do so, but only if they believe enough Switch players will buy it to cover the additional development, marketing, and distribution costs. Recent game cancellations hint that publishers and developers may be prioritizing other consoles over Xbox Series X/S, possibly because the number of Xbox owners is relatively small and many players use the Game Pass subscription service instead of buying games outright.
The move of these smaller games away from Xbox is actually concerning for its future. It suggests that even new and promising titles don’t necessarily need to be on Microsoft’s platform, even though being widely available would likely help them. Only time will tell if Xbox eventually gets these games or others, but their current absence is definitely a sign of trouble.
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2026-02-24 06:05