Next Week on Xbox is bringing a surprisingly stacked mix of sci-fi strategy, stealth, horror, and cozy sims between February 16 and 20, and Microsoft has laid it all out in a fresh Next Week on Xbox post. From a high‑stakes Star Trek survival strategy adventure to the return of cult stealth goblin Styx, plus couch brawlers, horror remasters, and a liquor‑store sim, there’s a little something for just about every Xbox player this time around.
Star Trek: Voyager – Across the Unknown puts you in the captain’s chair
The headline release next week is easily Star Trek: Voyager – Across the Unknown, landing on Xbox Series X|S on February 18. This is a story‑driven survival strategy game that hands you control of the iconic starship Voyager and asks you to do what Captain Janeway spent seven seasons trying to pull off: get the crew home in one piece.
Instead of playing as a single character, you’re managing the entire ship and its resources, making tough calls as you navigate deep‑space hazards and hostile encounters. Every decision you make can ripple through the crew’s fate and the ship’s condition, so there’s a strong emphasis on long‑term planning and trade‑offs. Will you divert power to shields and limp along with limited life support, or risk a bolder option that could backfire badly? For Star Trek fans, it sounds like a chance to live out the “what would I do in command?” fantasy rather than just watching it play out.
With a deluxe edition also up for pre‑order, Voyager’s Xbox debut is clearly being positioned as an event release, and it anchors the sci‑fi side of next week’s lineup.
Pre-order Star Trek: Voyager – Across the Unknown
Pre-order Star Trek: Voyager – Across the Unknown Deluxe Edition
Styx: Blades of Greed brings back everybody’s favorite foul‑mouthed goblin
On February 19, the cult‑favorite stealth franchise returns with Styx: Blades of Greed, optimized for Xbox Series X|S and available in both standard and Quartz Edition bundles. You once again play as Styx, the sarcastic goblin thief who’s all about infiltration, verticality, and creative problem‑solving in hostile territory.
Styx: Blades of Greed doubles down on what fans loved in the first two games while focusing even harder on player freedom and systemic gameplay. You are chasing Quartz, a powerful and dangerous resource at the center of a looming conflict between elves, humans, and orcs, which gives the story a higher‑stakes, almost heist‑movie tone. The game’s level design leans into vast, multi‑layered environments built for experimentation—whether you prefer ghost‑like stealth, sneaky sabotage, or setting up elaborate traps that cascade into chaos.
For returning fans, this looks like a refinement pass more than a reinvention, aiming to “perfect” the classic Styx formula; for newcomers, it’s a good entry point into a stealth series that’s always marched to its own (very goblin‑y) beat. Check out the Styx: Blades of Steel story trailer below.
Pre-order Styx: Blades of Greed
Pre-order Styx: Blades of Greed – Quartz Edition
Aerial_Knight’s DropShot drops you into chaotic midair shootouts
If you’re after something more arcade‑style and immediate, Aerial_Knight’s DropShot arrives February 17 with optimization for Xbox Series X|S, Smart Delivery, Xbox Play Anywhere, and even handheld‑optimized support. True to its name, DropShot quite literally throws you out of a plane and leaves you to fight your way to the ground.
The pitch is a fast, stylish action shooter where you’re juggling enemy fire, environmental traps, powerups, and even dragons while trying to be the first one to land alive. It leans heavily into flair and “just try to look cool” energy, which fits the Aerial_Knight brand of kinetic, visually punchy indie action. With its multi‑platform Xbox support, it also looks like a great pick for players who bounce between console, PC, and handheld form factors.
Hex Park brings puzzle‑brain energy between big releases
On the quieter but still compelling side of the lineup, Hex Park launches February 17 as a budget‑friendly, puzzle‑centric title optimized for Xbox Series X|S. It’s described as a colorful playground of brainteasers where you rotate and align arrow tiles to clear obstacles and guide directions across a hex‑based board.
The core appeal is that classic “easy to pick up, tricky to master” loop: every move matters, so you are always one misstep away from needing to rethink your entire approach. For players who like having a chill, low‑stress game to bounce into between bigger sessions of shooters or RPGs, Hex Park feels like a smart addition to the store next week.
HeadHunters turns party night into total chaos
February 18 brings HeadHunters, a chaotic platform fighter built for up to four players, both online and on the couch. It supports Xbox Series X|S and Xbox Play Anywhere, so you can take the rivalry from living‑room TV to PC and back without losing progress.
Matches are all about blasting, bashing, and even body‑swapping your way through explosive arenas in fast‑paced, no‑rules mayhem. The game is designed around those “Did that really just happen?” moments, with heads literally rolling and your friends yelling “no way!” as wild reversals play out. If you’ve been looking for a fresh party game to rotate alongside the usual suspects, this might be one to watch.
Backrooms Level X extends the viral horror mythos
The Backrooms mythos has become a full‑on internet legend, and Backrooms Level X leans into that with a first‑person horror experience arriving February 19, optimized for Xbox Series X|S with Smart Delivery. The game frames everything around a strange 1986 incident in Albuquerque captured on VHS, then drops you into an endless maze of yellow carpets, flickering lights, and empty rooms.
Exploration is central, but so is survival: mysterious entities stalk the Backrooms, and every sound could spell your doom. The atmosphere is deliberately unsettling, using repetition and liminal spaces to make you question where you’ve been and what’s hiding just out of sight. For fans of slow‑burn horror and the Backrooms aesthetic, this is a notable addition to the Xbox horror lineup.
From visual novels to farm‑to‑table sims and beyond
The rest of the week is packed with variety, covering everything from romance‑meets‑death‑curse visual novels to farm management and dystopian game shows.
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Death Match Love Comedy! (February 19) – A wild visual novel that mixes slapstick comedy, occult weirdness, and romance, with a protagonist who will literally explode and die the next time he gets a genuine love confession thanks to a mysterious curse.
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Harvest Cafe (February 19) – A farm‑and‑restaurant sim where you grow crops, care for animals, gather materials, and then turn your harvest into dishes served in your own village restaurant, chasing both efficient production and happy customers.
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KLETKA (February 19) – A grim descent into a towering “Gigastructure” where the deadliest criminals are sent; you manage and feed a living, hungry elevator named Kletka with both fuel and flesh while you try to survive traps and anomalies in an endlessly expanding building.
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Outpath (February 19) – A chill first‑person crafting and base‑building game inspired by Satisfactory, Forager, and idle clickers, all about exploiting your environment, automating production, and exploring at your own pace with no time pressure.
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Showgunners (February 19) – A tactical action game set in a dystopian reality‑show future where corporations rule; you play revenge‑driven contestant Scarlett Martillo as you navigate trap‑filled arenas and fight heavily armed psychopaths for the audience’s amusement.
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Soulslinger: Envoy of Death (February 19) – A stylish action title that casts you as an Envoy of Death in Limbo, upgrading your abilities and tools as you fight through a bloody war against a criminal cartel in the afterlife.
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Horror Tale 2: 4K Remaster (February 20) – A 4K remaster of a story‑driven horror adventure where you investigate a string of child disappearances in the town of Lakewitch, solving puzzles and uncovering the identity and motives of a mysterious kidnapper—assuming you don’t get scared off first.
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Liquor Store Simulator (February 20) – A detailed simulation of building your own liquor store from a tiny, loan‑funded shop into a thriving retail empire, handling everything from stocking shelves and working the checkout to hiring staff and expanding your product line.
It’s an unusually diverse slate for a five‑day window, hitting almost every corner of the Xbox audience, from hardcore strategy fans and stealth enthusiasts to party‑game groups, horror seekers, and cozy‑sim players.
A busy week no matter what you play on Xbox
Taken together, the February 16–20 window shows why “Next Week on Xbox” remains one of the most useful recurring posts on Xbox Wire for keeping track of what’s coming. Anchored by Star Trek: Voyager – Across the Unknown on February 18 and Styx: Blades of Greed on February 19, the lineup builds out around them with experimental indies, horror outings, and deeply niche sims that all have clear identities.
Whether you want to command a starship, sneak through massive stealth sandboxes, scream with friends in local brawls, or quietly optimize a virtual liquor business, next week on Xbox has you covered—and it’s worth keeping an eye on release dates and pre‑orders now so nothing you care about slips through the cracks.
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