Of course we already know that both Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Halo Infinite will leverage the power of Xbox Series X hardware for improved visuals, faster loading, and maybe some next-gen effects like ray-tracing. But we also know that both of those will see a release on current-gen hardware too. And so today, Microsoft details what the 'Optimized for Xbox Series X' badge means whilst providing the first official list of games that will carry the next-gen label.

"When you hear a game has been Optimized for Xbox Series X, you’ll know that the developer has either natively designed or fully rebuilt their game to take full advantage of the unique capabilities of our most powerful console ever," the post reads. "Games featuring the Optimized for Xbox Series X badge can showcase anything from virtually eliminating load times via the Xbox Velocity Architecture, heightened visuals and hardware-accelerated DirectX raytracing powered by our custom, next generation GPU, to steadier and often higher framerates up to 120fps."



Here's the list so far.

• Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
  
• Bright Memory Infinite
  
• Call of the Sea
  
• Chivalry 2
  
• Chorus
  
• Cyberpunk 2077
  
• Destiny 2
  
• DiRT 5
  
• FIFA 21
  
• Gears 5
  
• Halo Infinite
  
• Hitman 3
  
• Madden NFL 21
  
• Marvel’s Avengers
  
• Outriders
  
• Scarlet Nexus
  
• Scorn
  
• Second Extinction
  
• The Ascent
  
• The Medium
  
• Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2
  
• Yakuza: Like a Dragon

You may notice the game of the hour -- Cyberpunk 2077 -- is listed, but our understanding is that the full optimised for next-gen version of the game will not be available this year.

Some revelations have also been made available with this list of titles, namely the impressive indie Call of the Sea will support DirectX Raytracing and that Gears 5 on the Series X will have near-instantaneous loading.