Annapurna Interactive has confirmed that the gorgeous first-person puzzle game Maquette is going to be a July release for Xbox Game Pass. July is already packed with solid Xbox Game Pass releases, including Grand Theft Auto 5 and the day-one release of Exoprimal. That July lineup of Xbox Game Pass games is growing all the stronger with the confirmation of Maquette joining the subscription service. Maquette will fill the niche of narrative puzzle games that always seem to do well on Xbox Game Pass.
Maquette was first released in 2021 on PS4, PS5, and PC. It's a first-person narrative-driven puzzle game, with players manipulating camera perspective and scale to progress. Along the way, they'll find notes and dialogue that help provide context tying the puzzles to the relationship of the game's protagonists. While Maquette's reviews averages were mild, it was lauded for its presentation and concept. Maquette has since been released on Switch, earlier this year.
Developer Graceful Decay is now bringing Maquette to Xbox, a platform it passed over at launch in favor of a day-one PS Plus launch. Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S versions of Maquette are scheduled to be released on July 19. Alongside the announcement of Maquette coming to Xbox, it was also confirmed that Maquette will be launching on Xbox Game Pass the same day. Note that the announcement is for Xbox Game Pass, with no mention of PC Game Pass at this time.
Having the puzzle game join Xbox Game Pass is not a huge surprise. Annapurna actually announced the Xbox release of Maquette in 2022, even going so far as to say the game will be a part of Xbox Game Pass in winter 2022. Winter came and passed without Maquette's release, however. It seems that Maquette's Xbox launch was simply delayed, rather than outright canceled. Waiting an additional six months is better than not getting the game at all.
Maquette was the debut release of indie studio Graceful Decay. The team hasn't announced its next project yet, perhaps because it's continued to work on bringing Maquette to additional platforms. Given the critical reception of Maquette, Graceful Decay's next project will be highly anticipated.
There are a lot of exciting releases scheduled for Xbox Game Pass through the rest of the month, in addition to the release of Maquette on July 19. Exoprimal arrives tomorrow, July 14, followed by Techtonica and The Cave both on July 18. The Wandering Village is next, releasing on July 20, with Venba closing out the month on July 31. Don't be surprised if even more July Xbox Game Pass releases are announced in the weeks to come.
Maquette is currently available on PC, PS4, PS5, and Switch, and releases on Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S on July 19.