Next Week on XBOX: Age of Empires Mobile, EMPULSE, and 20+ New Games Drop June 22–26
Dave W. Shanahan 
XBOX players have a packed week ahead, with strategy epics, spooky adventures, puzzle platformers, and indie oddities all landing between June 22 and 26 across XBOX Series X|S, XBOX One, and PC. Whether you are into 4K strategy on mouse and keyboard, stylish fighters, or cozy word games, there is genuinely something new to download almost every day.
Next Week on XBOX: June 22–26
XBOX has outlined the latest wave of weekly releases in its regular “Next Week on XBOX” feature, spotlighting what is coming to XBOX Series X|S, XBOX One, XBOX on PC, and Game Pass. The June 22–26 slate leans heavily into variety, mixing big-name franchises like Age of Empires and DEAD OR ALIVE with experimental indies and atmospheric horror.
In the latest XBOX Wire post, editor Will Fulton walks through all the games launching over the week, complete with store links, platform details, and notes on which titles are optimized for XBOX Series X|S or support Smart Delivery and XBOX Play Anywhere. It is the kind of drop where you will probably find at least one “must try” game no matter what you usually play.
Strategy and Simulation Highlights
The biggest strategic release is Age of Empires Mobile: PC Edition, a mobile-first medieval war strategy game now properly tuned for PC play via the XBOX app and Microsoft Store. Built around the Age of Empires lineage, it adds PC-friendly UI, precise mouse-and-keyboard controls, 4K visual fidelity, and massive multiplayer warfare with alliances and story quests. If you want that classic build‑a‑civilization loop in faster, session-friendly bursts, this one feels designed for quick nightly sessions on your XBOX-compatible PC.
On the sim side, Rally Car Mechanic Simulator puts you in charge of a rally garage, juggling parts, budgets, and time limits as you repair and tune damaged rally cars before sending them back into competition.
Wild West Supermarket Simulator takes a different approach, handing you the keys to a struggling 1850s general store in a post–Gold Rush ghost town and asking you to claw your way back to prosperity in true frontier fashion. Both games are optimized for XBOX Series X|S, so you can expect smoother performance and better visuals on current-gen hardware.
Action, Horror, and Movement Shooters
If you are hungry for high-octane action, EMPULSE (Game Preview) is the standout new arrival. Developed by 1047 Games, the team behind Splitgate, EMPULSE is a fast-paced 6v6 movement shooter where wall-running, grappling, and Holojumps are just as important as your aim. Matches unfold across the post-utopian city of Freehold, and you can fight over control of mechs that help swing the tide for your crew, all while targeting up to 120 fps and 4K on XBOX SeBOX Series X|S with Smart Delivery and XBOX Play Anywhere support.
Fighting game fans are getting a refined package in DEAD OR ALIVE 6 Last Round, which brings the stylish, hard-hitting 3D fighter back with a full roster, five extra DLC characters, and a new Photo Mode for posing fighters and capturing your best combos. The game is optimized for XBOX Se Series X|S and should appeal both to lapsed DOA veterans and newcomers who want something flashy but accessible.
On the scarier side of the spectrum, GHOST at DAWN and The Backrooms: Forsaken lean into atmospheric horror. GHOST at DAWN casts you as private eye Ben O’Hara in 1947, exploring an abandoned hotel room by room, piecing together a disappearance while dealing with the living dead in a noir survival-horror setup. The Backrooms: Forsaken riffs on the viral backrooms lore with a two-hour first-person trek through endless, unsettling rooms, adding a companion character and a full narrative to raise the stakes.
Cozy, Cute, and Quirky Indies
If you prefer slower, cozier sessions, there is a rich lineup of smaller titles next week. Ashwood Valley lets you play as spellcasting siblings Luna or Draco after a magic mishap turns one of you into a cat and opens a portal to a vibrant enchanted world; your job is to rebuild a ruined cottage, befriend creatures, and break the curse.
Deer & Boy offers what is essentially a playable animated film, focusing on a wordless, emotional journey between a runaway boy and a fragile fawn across cinematic environments and a lush soundtrack.
Puzzle fans get a few unique spins. Chico’s Delivery casts you as an endlessly sliding pizza-delivery bird tasked with navigating clever, fast-paced stages where every move matters.
Damways and Kitsune Kaeru each take the sliding-movement idea in new directions: in Damways, you play as a beaver reshaping a lake with dams to find a route home, while Kitsune Kaeru puts you in a sumi‑e-inspired world as a small Kyubi who conjures boxes to build platforms and solve spatial puzzles.
Narrative and retro-inspired RPG players have a few standouts to watch. The Necromancer’s Tale is a gothic, story-driven RPG where you master forbidden rituals, raise undead armies, and push through diplomacy, blackmail, and seduction as you slide into madness.
Doki Monsters: Quest deliberately channels cartridge-era adventures, sending you on a quest to rescue a missing childhood friend by capturing monsters, battling in turn-based encounters, and exploring a dangerous open world.
Step into a first-person fantasy adventure with Alchemist: Journey of the Soul that you can play alone or with up to three friends in co-op. Channel powerful magic to crack environmental puzzles and find your way through mysterious locations.
In Mousebusters, you team up with a veteran rodent who calls himself “Chief” and take on the ghosts tormenting your neighbors one floor at a time. As you clear out spirits and uncover the stories behind each resident, you inch closer to breaking the curse and getting your old life back, making this a great pick if you are looking for a quirky, story-driven adventure that is easy to play in short sessions.
Top it off with Word Quest: Nature, a tranquil word search game themed around forests, lakes, meadows, and mountains designed to be a relaxing way to unwind.
Budget Picks and Party-Friendly Releases
Next week’s drop also includes several lower-priced and party-friendly games that could be easy impulse buys. Murder on the Disorient Express is a budget interactive murder mystery set on a world-famous train, where you interrogate passengers and race against the clock to identify the killer.
Acorn Avengers turns chipmunk heroes loose against space lizards in a platforming rescue mission, while Punch Monkey Revenge delivers slow-motion, over-the-top action about a tiny primate fighting through schoolyard bullies to reclaim a stolen toy.
If you just want something mechanically simple but addictive, Shoot The Wall lets you do exactly what it says: blast through walls, upgrade weapons, and chase faster break times just to see what’s on the other side.
Death Run – Round 1 frames its trap-filled gauntlets as a deadly sci-fi game show watched by billions, challenging you to survive brutal laser corridors for the entertainment of the masses.
For classic action-platformer fans, Axel Quest brings tight controls and fast-paced pixel-art combat, complete with bosses, secrets, and equipment upgrades inspired by 2D classics.
When a lab experiment gives an ordinary rat human-like intelligence and strength, things quickly turn into a science puzzle sandbox. Rat Protocol puts you in charge of guiding that rat through a series of increasingly tricky test chambers, using crates, laser blockers, switches, and explosives to create a safe path to the exit.
Each room becomes a compact logic puzzle about finding the right order of moves, so if you enjoy bite-sized, trial-and-error problem solving, this is one of the more interesting low-priced releases in next week’s Next Week on XBOX lineup.
Don’t forget to check out this weekend’s Free Play Days Event for some new games to try before you buy or check out some of the links below.
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