Microsoft announces a Xbox Winter Game Fest demos event for next week

Microsoft continues to collaborate with large industry events for the benefit of consumers unable to attend. Last year was the beginning of this initiative with the Summer Game Fest and Xbox Winter Game Fest events. These programs allow people at home to download early demos of games that would otherwise not have received firsthand exposure outside of the press.

This year’s ID@Xbox Winter Game Fest runs from December 7 to December 21. A total of 35 demos will be playable across the two-week period, giving consumers a chance to try many titles in a much earlier stage of development than most demos that release on digital storefronts today. While some publishers may choose to republish these demos, you should expect the majority of them to disappear after December 21. Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S consoles are able to take advantage of this opportunity, leaving PC behind as with all of the previous demo events.

Microsoft will announce the full list in the coming days, but five titles have already been disclosed. The first five confirmed playable demos are Loot River, Death Trash, Blacktail, The Tale of Bistun, and Nobody Saves the World. This current list includes a healthy mix of genres ranging from a top-down roguelike dungeon crawler to a first-person game centered around archery combat. If the previous events are any indication, the final list should have something for everybody.