As these five games illustrate, 2016 is shaping up to be another banner year for the Xbox One. While the system definitely had a rocky start thanks to a very misguided E3 2013 presentation, it now has a fairly extensive library of quality games, and many more are on the way. If the five games listed here all manage to avoid delay and live up to the hype, then 2016 could possibly be the best year for Xbox One to d

Contrary to the silence that surrounded the game after Sea of Thieves ' E3 2015 debut , Rare has made sure to hammer home the price model of the title this time to ensure no ill-conceived rumors float around Sea of Thieves this time. Microsoft has experimented with a number of free-to-play multiplayer business models with its own titles, but those have found varying levels of success, with enough commercial failures - like Project Spark and Lionhead's Fable Legends - that companies like Rare have likely taken notice and adjusted business models accordin

While the Sea of Thieves trailer was short, it did provide a few interesting details about the upcoming title. Players will explore an open world that includes big and small islands, ships to sail aboard, and people to interact w

Sea of Thieves looks to be the latest in the plethora of new and upcoming shared-world games. The shared world concept is still fairly new for console gamers, and seems to pull together the best of role playing games and massive multiplayer online games into a full online world that gives players the opportunity to interact with each other, work together, and fight one another in an epic wo

Even though Rare Replay was one of the most pleasant surprises of 2015, it's been far too long since Rare has made a game that feels truly aligned with its original development vision. Yes, the masterminds of yesteryear have moved on from the heralded development studio, but when we got a glimpse of Rare's next project, it's hard not to feel that awesome blend of nostalgia and novelty that this UK-based developer seemed to capture so well.

In traditional E3 fashion, Microsoft brought numerous game developers on stage to share and discuss their upcoming games on Xbox One. One of those developers, Rare, revealed a new set of classic Rare games coming in a new collection called Rare Repl

The developer also revealed a new game coming to Xbox One called Sea of Thieves ; a new shared open-world pirate game. While Rare only provided a small sample of the game during the event, it's definitely enough to spark excitement in pirate and shared-world game f

Rare was a legendary developer back in the golden age of gaming. When the beloved company was perfectly partnered with Nintendo, the partnership went as well together as peanut butter and jelly and through 1994-2001 everything was fine and dandy until game development cost began to gradually increase and Nintendo decided not to provide the company with more capital nor did they buy up the remaining stake that was leftover, forcing the company to search for a potential buyer to stay in the game. In the end we all know that Microsoft purchased the company for $375 million and from that day on Rare was a first-party developer for Microsoft.

After Microsoft acquired the rights to the Gears of War franchise , The Coalition (formerly known as Black Tusk Studios) quickly went to work on a fifth entry in the critically-acclaimed series. E3 2015 saw a stunning gameplay reveal of Gears of War 4 , which is looking to bring back the grimmer horror elements and 2-player co-op that helped make the original such a hit in the first pl

Other honorable mentions include the mention of mermaids being listed as enemies although they appear to be benevolent in the beta, and other fruits joining the banana as food available to players. The full list of data below also features new maps, landmark locations, NPCs and Shops that have not been seen bef

At E3, Head of Xbox Phil Spencer proudly declared 2015 as having the strongest lineup in Xbox history. With heavy hitters released such as Forza Motorsport 6 , Halo 5: Guardians , Rise of the Tomb Raider , and more, it's a claim that's hard to argue w

What Redditor m4rx hauled in from their dive into the Sea of Thieves DLC of Thieves data was pretty interesting. While many of the assets have yet to be decrypted, it turns out some the elements found were also present in the Pirate Legend video released previously by Rare. But there's also quite a lot m

Moreover, Microsoft also claims that 2016 will be even bigger for Xbox . As we look ahead to the biggest games that are in store for Xbox gamers next year, it becomes apparent that the execs at Xbox aren't just blowing smoke. These five games in particular have caught our eye as Xbox One exclusives that have the most potent

There are definitely some major questions about Sea of Thieves, especially when you consider that Rare is not a studio that has ever put together an online game that feels truly cutting edge, but if everything hits, Microsoft's investment in this legendary studio could be totally worth it. The real goal here should be to find a way to make a charming, deep online version of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag , considering that may be the best pirate game we've ever received.