Skip to main content

A beloved Xbox Game Pass indie is getting an ambitious sequel

A player in Descenders Next moutainboards.
No More Robots

Descenders, an indie sports game from RageSquid and No More Robots, is quietly one of the best games on Xbox Game Pass thanks to its engaging bike-riding gameplay and endlessly playable, procedurally generated levels. Now, it’s getting a sequel called Descenders Next that trades in biking for snowboarding and mountainboarding.

In Descenders Next, players can choose from a variety of handcrafted parks or procedurally generated level “nodes” across several different biomes. Players are then free to snowboard or mountainboard down the mountain, performing tricks and building up their reputation along the way.

Descenders Next fully embraces multiplayer too, so it’s possible to play every level with friends. With its only real competition being Steep, Descenders Next looks like it will fill a disappointing void that currently exists in the extreme sports genre.

The developers are planning to offer many more customization options for riders and their gear, and the game will feature gear from unspecified “real brands.” Other promised features include an in-game way to edit gameplay, a reputation system tied to game progression, and a soundtrack by Monstercat. On X (formerly Twitter), Mike Rose, No More Robots company director, teased that Descenders Next will “start life with boarding sports, before adding more and more extreme sports over time.”

Descenders Next will be released on PC via Steam and Xbox Series X/S sometime in 2025. It will be available as part of the Xbox Game Pass catalog from day one as well, building off the success its predecessor found on the subscription service.

Tomas Franzese
Tomas Franzese is a Staff Writer at Digital Trends, where he reports on and reviews the latest releases and exciting…
3 new Xbox Game Pass games to play this weekend (August 16-18)
Crash Bandicoot runs forward in the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy.

Xbox has only received five new games so far this August, but three of them share a theme. The connective tissue between all of these additions is that they're new versions of older classics. With collections for some bombastic first-person shooters and cartoony platformers, and a remake of a crime action game, Xbox Game Pass' classics catalog has just been fleshed out with some excellent titles that come easily recommended. If you're looking for something to play on Microsoft's subscription service this weekend, consider checking out one of these three games.
Mafia: Defintive Edition

Mafia: Definitive Edition is a full-on remake of the 2002 mafioso crime action game Mafia. It's a Grand Theft Auto alternative set in a fictional 1930s city based on Chicago that follows the Italian mob in control of the city at the time. While Mafia never reached the heights of GTA, all the games in that series are creative and interesting in distinct ways. When it comes to the first Mafia specifically, the city of Lost Haven is an intricately detailed setting and provides a solid backdrop for a mob story that fans of movies like The Godfather or Goodfellas will enjoy. A fourth Mafia game is in development too, so now is a good time to get a better idea of how the series started. Mafia: Definitive Edition is available to play across PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Cloud Gaming via Game Pass Ultimate. It's also available on PS4.
Doom + Doom II

Read more
Don’t expect Grand Theft Auto 6 to launch on Xbox Game Pass
A man drives away in a boat with stolen money in Grand Theft Auto 5 art.

If you were hoping Grand Theft Auto 6 would launch day one on Xbox Game Pass, you're out of luck. Take-Two Interactive execs have been hesitant to launch the company's games on subscription services on Xbox Game Pass, and that will continue to be the case, according to the CEO's recent comments.

In an interview with Gamesindustry.biz ahead of the company's latest financial report, CEO Strauss Zelnick candidly said that while he believes the addition of the Call of Duty franchise will push players to the service for a bit, it won't affect Take-Two's release strategy.

Read more
Xbox Game Pass’ new creature-collecting game is a cozy Palworld alternative
The player hugs a horse-like creature in Creatures of Ava.

While a lot of the hubbub around day-one Xbox Game Pass games centers around first-party titles (or lack thereof), Microsoft’s subscription service has been surprisingly consistent when it comes to snagging quality indie and AA games for the service the day they release. These are often some of the best, most creative games on the entire service, whether that’s because they experiment with gameplay mechanics or just tell a really good story.

This year alone, games like Another Crab’s Treasure, Dungeons of Hinterberg, and Palworld all were on Xbox Game Pass the day they were released and offered up some of the year’s most memorable experiences. Creatures of Ava from Inverge Studios and 11 bit Studios is the latest enjoyable third-party game that you can add to that lineup, as it uniquely blends several elements from different games to create a special, nonviolent sci-fi adventure.

Read more