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Engage with Developers in Week 3 of the ID@Xbox Game Fest

We’ve arrived at week 3 of the ID@Xbox Game Fest, which runs throughout the month of May and is designed to show off some of the coolest Xbox One games from our ID@Xbox independent developer program. Each week, we’re highlighting a new batch of very special games that coincide with some very cool themes that we’ve chosen. For this week, which runs from May 17-23, we’re giving you the chance to engage with developers and help shape the next wave of awesome games, by way of all the awesome stuff that you can check out in our Xbox One Preview Program.

One of the most recent early-access darlings on PC, Unknown Worlds Entertainment’s Subnautica, is making its way to Xbox One. In this open-world survival game, you’re stranded on an aquatic alien world, and you must venture into the vast ocean – either by scuba diving or traveling in a submersible vehicle – to scavenge for food and supplies. You’ll steadily build up a bigger and bigger base to sustain your quest for underwater survival, but just remember that there’s always a bigger fish in the sea.

In Studio Wildcard’s ARK: Survival Evolved, you’re stranded on the shores of a mysterious island, you must learn to survive. You’ll use your cunning to kill or tame the primeval creatures roaming the land, and encounter other players in an effort to survive, dominate, and escape. More than 50 creatures can be tamed using a challenging subdue-and-protect process, and you’ll craft items and gather food and water in order to survive for as long as possible. On the 64+ player servers, your character – including everything you’ve built, and your pets – stay in-game even when you leave. So don’t let things go for too long, lest other players try to move in on your territory!

Next up, we have Teotl Studios and Grip Digital’s The Solus Project, a first-person survival adventure game that finds humanity on the verge of extinction. You are the last hope, tasked with finding a safe haven for your colony. But now, you’re stranded on a deserted alien planet, and every other member of your crew is dead. The fate of humanity rests in your hands, and you must survive. The Solus Project contains some of the most advanced environmental simulations ever seen in a video game, with plants that grow and rot, and weather that changes from scorching heat to chilling storms. It’s a true survival experience.

For something completely different, why not try running your own maximum security prison? Introversion Software and Double Eleven’s Prison Architect: Xbox One Edition lets you do just that. Will you build and manage a prison to create social order where it’s failed in the past, offering rehabilitation and peaceful coexistence amongst inmates? Will your prison disregard human rights, impose intentional harshness, and be devoid of any notions of well-being and freedom? The choice is yours – and in Prison Architect, you will see the impact of your grand design on the lives of your inmates.

Finally, we have Hinterland Studio’s The Long Dark, a thoughtful exploration-survival experience that challenges players to think for themselves as they explore an expansive frozen wilderness. Monitor your Condition, search for life-saving supplies, and master survival skills like fire-building, hunting, fishing, and landmark-based navigation. It’s just you, the cold, and everything Mother Nature can throw at you.

And if you’re curious about what the Xbox One Preview Program has resulted in thus far, we encourage you to check out a few of the program’s most successful graduates – including Unicube and Team17’s post-apocalyptic survival game Sheltered, Bloober Team’s psychedelic Victorian horror-adventure Layers of Fear, and Frontier Developments’ grand space exploration game Elite: Dangerous. Before long, we’ll be able to add a few more games to our growing list of graduates!

That pretty much wraps it up. Be sure to check out these up-and-coming games from some of the best independent developers in the world, and do your part to make them even more awesome. Check back on Tuesday, May 24 for ID@Xbox Game Fest’s fourth and final week – where we’ll spotlight some of the best ID@Xbox games around, and clue you in on some awesome deals!