It’s no secret that Xbox is transforming sorts. The company, which was once so poised to dominate the home console space, has seen shrinking market share over the past few years, being consistently outsold by the PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, and, as of last year, even the Nex Playground, a niche family gaming device that many core gamers haven’t even heard of.
Underwhelming Xbox Series console sales have coincided with a mass migration of Xbox exclusives to other platforms: even Gears of War, Halo, and Forza, arguably Xbox’s “big three,” have made or will make the jump to PlayStation. The impact of this goes beyond console war posturing, as Xbox is clearly undermining its consoles’ value by nixing the practice of first-party exclusives. At any rate, it would appear that Xbox is not only getting fewer exclusives, but fewer games in general, as at least some developers appear to be leaving the platform behind, which might be seen as yet another manifestation of the brand’s dwindling relevance. This year alone contains several examples of this.
1348 Ex Voto
- 1348 Ex Voto PC and PlayStation 5 release date: March 12, 2026
A story-focused medieval adventure game, 1348 Ex Voto follows Italian errant knight Aeta as she searches for her “closest one,” Bianca, who is kidnapped during a raid on their city. 1348 Ex Voto is inspired by real medieval history and combat, not too unlike fellow grand medieval adventure Kingdom Come: Deliverance, although the former isn’t aiming for the same breadth of content and freedom.
In a recent Twitter post, 1348 Ex Voto publisher Dear Villagers provided an update on its previously-planned Xbox port:
“While we previously announced that the game would be released on Xbox consoles, we have the unfortunate news that this is no longer the case. As release approaches for the indie team, priorities are constantly evaluated and sometimes must shift to deliver the best experience possible. With this in mind, we made the difficult decision to cancel the Xbox version to focus efforts on the PC and PS5 versions of the game.”
Who’s That Character?
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Easy (7.5s)Medium (5.0s)Hard (2.5s)Permadeath (2.5s)
Nickelodeon Splat Pack
- Nickelodeon Splat Pack PC, PS5, and Switch release date: January 30, 2026
Something more lighthearted and instantly recognizable, Nickelodeon Splat Pack also recently canned its planned Xbox port. Rather than being a new IP or distinct spin on an existing one, Nickelodeon Splat Pack is a bundle of classic SNES and Genesis games based on Nickelodeon properties. Like other classic game bundles, Nickelodeon Splat Pack emulates the original titles while adding small quality of life features like modern save functionality. Splat Pack includes three 90s Nick games:
- GUTS
- Rocko’s Modern Life: Spunky’s Dangerous Day
- AAAHH!!! Real Monsters
Nickelodeon Splat Pack was released on January 30, 2026; the cancellation of its planned Xbox Series X|S port was announced just days before. While Dear Villagers’ comments about Ex Voto 1348’s Xbox cancellation are vague, Splat Pack publisher Limited Run Games’ explanation is mostly nonexistent: a representative from the company told gaming outlet Gematsu that Splat Pack would not be getting Xbox versions, though they did not specify why.
Cleaning Up!
- Cleaning Up! PC, PS5, and Switch release date: April 15, 2026
The most recent of the Xbox cancellations, Cleaning Up! is a cutesy, top-down cleaning sim in the vein of Power Wash Simulator, though with a greater focus on whimsy and the fantastical. Players are tasked with vacuuming, mopping, and scrubbing a variety of areas, from common apartments to haunted libraries.
As in the case of Nickelodeon Splat Pack, the specific reasons behind Cleaning Up!’s Xbox cancellation are unclear at this time. It’s possible that the game will make its way to Microsoft’s consoles at some point in the future, but there don’t appear to be any plans for this at the moment.
What Do These Canceled Xbox Ports Mean, If Anything?
A quick search for these aforementioned games online will return several claims from gamers fervently declaring that these cancellations don’t matter because the games themselves are indies and re-releases and therefore unimportant. I can understand where these people are coming from, but such arguments miss the point entirely. This isn’t about Xbox players not getting GOTY contenders. It’s about publishers, for whatever reason, not viewing Xbox as a platform worth investing in at the moment.
It takes time and money to develop different ports of a game, and it’s expected that these costs will be recouped, and then some, once the port is actually released. For example, if I make a PS5 game and later get the opportunity to bring it to Switch, I’ll do that, but only if I feel like I’ll get enough players on Switch to justify the extra development, marketing, and distribution resources. The aforementioned cancellations suggest that publishers and developers are starting to view Xbox Series consoles as lower-priority, as their small install base (not to mention reliance on Game Pass) could result in fewer players.
If anything, the fact that these smaller titles are pivoting away from Xbox could be viewed as actually more damning for Xbox’s future, as it suggests that even up-and-coming games, which would no doubt benefit from being as easily accessible as possible, don’t really need Microsoft’s platform at this stage. But like with everything, we will just have to wait and see how this shakes out: Xbox could wind up getting these games and more at some later date. But the immediate neglect of Xbox is still telling.
