Xbox’s packed week: 25 games drop Jan 12-16 – here’s what’s coming

Table of Content

Microsoft’s weekly “Next Week on Xbox” roundup sets out a dense launch window for January 12-16. Across simulators, horror, action-platformers and casual puzzlers, most titles list Series X|S optimizations and in several cases Xbox Play Anywhere or Smart Delivery. Below are the confirmed dates and key gameplay beats pulled from the official blurbs. Release timing remains subject to change per platform holders.

To help plan your play queue, the quick calendar groups each day’s arrivals. Detailed highlights follow with gameplay specifics and platform features where provided.

Release calendar at a glance

This table groups launches by date for the January 12-16 window. It’s a quick reference before you dive into individual game details.

January 12 – Simulation behind the wheel

Bus Driving Simulator: Evo – Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Xbox Play Anywhere. A bus sim spanning three cities – Rio de Janeiro, Munich and Los Angeles – with realistic physics and visuals. Single-player includes career and freeride modes and multiple vehicle models.

January 13 – Loans, locomotives and late nights

• Loan Shark – Optimized for Xbox Series X|S. A narrative about an indebted angler who drags up a talking fish (Cagliuso) and enters a cycle of deals with dire consequences. Expect time pressure, looming threats at sea and choices that tighten the noose.
• SimRail – The Railway Simulator – Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Xbox Play Anywhere. Train simulation with realistic driving physics, environments based on geodetic data and an extensive multiplayer suite. Features roughly 500 km of real routes across modern European high-speed, long-distance and suburban lines, plus a 1980 steam experience on Upper Silesia’s sand railway in Poland.
• Tavern Manager Simulator – Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Smart Delivery. Rebuild, expand and run a tavern, choosing different management approaches while adapting to outside-world challenges to shape a unique narrative.

January 14 – Horror collections, pixel hops and arcade throwbacks

Horror and mystery

• DreadOut Remastered Collection – A bundle including DreadOut and DreadOut: Keepers of the Dark. Third-person supernatural horror starring Linda, a high schooler in an abandoned town using a smartphone and SLR to face entities and solve puzzles. The standalone chapter deepens the universe with added dangers.
• The Last Case of John Morley – Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Xbox Play Anywhere. A first-person narrative set in the 1940s: detective John Morley reopens a 20-year-old murder at the request of Lady Margarette Fordside, uncovering forgotten places and long-hidden truths.

Action and arcade

• Direction Quad – Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Xbox Play Anywhere / Smart Delivery. Top-down 2D action-adventure in pixel art where Quad hops diagonally through swamp stages, collecting coins and bugs while avoiding terrain and trap collisions to reach each finish.
• Ninja Nightfall – Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Xbox Play Anywhere / Smart Delivery. A fast-paced platformer across 10 stages in a city overrun by hostile AI – navigate neon rooftops, stealth past traps, and find hidden zones and relics.
• Bob the Brick Breaker – Arcade-inspired brick buster with escalating waves, minions and bosses, local duo play or versus, and online leaderboards.

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Casual and visual novel-leaning

• Cats Around Us: Giant Cat – Hidden-object search across four illustrated comic pages with hundreds of cats to find plus relaxing jigsaw puzzles in a storybook art style.
• God Bless, or Goddess – Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Handheld Optimized / Xbox Play Anywhere / Smart Delivery. A cultivation-themed tale about Lin Fan and the path to immortality complicated by seven formidable women, testing resolve through trials of love, jealousy and thunder.

January 15 – Club tycoon, quantum puzzles and time loops

• Cassette Boy – Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Smart Delivery. A mysterious puzzle RPG built on the idea that the world only exists when observed, folding quantum concepts into exploration and problem-solving.
• Disco Simulator – Optimized for Xbox Series X|S. A tycoon about building and managing a nightclub: lay out rooms, furnish, staff up, plan events and host artists.
• Dreamscapes – Nightmare’s Heir – Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Smart Delivery. Laura returns to confront the Sandman when a resort trip ends in disaster and Tim falls into a coma. Players explore dreamscapes and solve puzzles to resist the Sandman’s influence.
• Kejora – Hand-drawn, environmental platformer about a village caught in a time loop. Party-inspired gameplay features two supporting characters with unique skills aiding traversal and puzzle routes.
• Mel the Space Cat – Optimized for Xbox Series X|S. Guide Mel across alien worlds through 40 handcrafted levels, dodging energy traps, lasers and hazards – with zero-gravity twists.

January 16 – Big drop of horror, action and puzzle hybrids

• Apartment No 129 – Optimized for Xbox Series X|S. A single-player, first-person horror inspired by a 2009 incident in Turkey involving alleged rituals and a mysterious death.
• Baking Time – Xbox Play Anywhere. A casual kitchen sim about stacking baked goods, managing oven-to-display flow and serving a steady queue efficiently.
• Battle Puzzle 2048 – Queens of the Abyss – Optimized for Xbox Series X|S. A 2048-style tile slider with combat twists against witches, vampires and demons, each altering the grid via unique abilities.
• BrokenLore: Unfollow – Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Smart Delivery. A first-person psychological horror exploring the dark side of social media through Anne’s trauma and a surreal confrontation with past bullying.
• Grimoire of Dominance – Optimized for Xbox Series X|S. A 2D action-platformer where a high mage wields a legendary grimoire to oppose Bahg’Val. Magic is earned through dominance – you become what you defeat.
• Milo’s Dream – Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Smart Delivery. A family-friendly adventure starring Milo the dog on a quest to topple King Big Flea, featuring four branching locations, puzzles, combat, bone-collecting for abilities and local co-op.
• Neural Requiem – Optimized for Xbox Series X|S. A shooter set after an AI takeover – as John Veyron, a soldier remade by experiments, push through strongholds and confront AI champions.
• Super Farming Boy – Optimized for Xbox Series X|S. A blend of action, puzzle and farming sim built on chain reactions and combo harvesting, wrapped in a story of fighting back against KORPO®©TM to rescue friends and family.
• Zumba – Marble Candy Rush – Optimized for Xbox Series X|S. A marble-shooter where you fire candy to match three or more, trigger explosive combos and aim for up to three stars per stage.

The bottom line – a varied slate with clear platform notes

Why it matters: This window leans into simulators and horror while sprinkling in retro arcade riffs and family-friendly platformers. Clear labels like Optimized for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox Play Anywhere and Smart Delivery help set expectations. If you track genres or features, this calendar lets you plan the week and prioritize installs accordingly.