Stoic Studios, developer of the acclaimed The Banner Saga trilogy, is working on a new project to be published exclusively by Xbox.

That's according to a round of reports from Windows Central and GamesBeat's Jeff Grubb, which have leaked details on the unannounced collaboration, currently codenamed Project Belfry.

Belfry will feature side-scrolling brawl combat like Dragon's Crown while keeping some of The Banner Saga's iconic art style. Princess Mononoke is also mentioned as another visual reference.

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Microsoft has announced a fresh batch of titles coming to its Xbox Game Pass subscription service this month, on both Xbox One and PC, including the likes of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, and Killer Instinct: Definitive Edition.

Working in chronological order, 17th July sees the arrival of intriguing "non-linear, narrative-driven noire investigation" mystery Night Call on PC. A day later, on 18th July, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain comes to Xbox Game Pass on Xbox One, and The Banner Saga 3 - the final entry in Stoic Games' critically acclaimed Viking series - arrives for Xbox One and PC.

Rounding off the month, on 25th July, are Shinji Mikami's survival horror classic Resident Evil 4 (Xbox One), superb tabletop RPG rogue-like For The King (PC), and Killer Instinct: Definitive Edition - which includes all 26 characters from Seasons 1-3 - for both Xbox One and PC.

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While the world outside beckons with summer sunshine, I have decided to return to the cold, faraway lands of Stoic Studio's The Banner Saga instead.

Since the last part of this series, which now finds its conclusion with The Banner Saga 3, an unexplained darkness has warped everything it touches. Having accompanied many different characters in their desperate search for safety from the race known as Dredge, it now increasingly looks like nothing short of Ragnarok, the apocalypse, is at hand.

The Banner Saga has always been my go-to out of the brand of games that make certain defeat an important part of their appeal. In many of them, such as Into The Breach or Telltale's The Walking Dead, you can't avoid death, and neither should you try to. Among all the games that want me to win, to emerge victorious in some capacity or other, The Banner Saga has, from its very beginning, merely asked that I hold on, somehow.

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Developer Stoic Studio has revealed that The Banner Saga 3, the final instalment in its critically acclaimed Viking series, will launch digitally on PC, Mac, Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on July 24th, with the latter two consoles also receiving a physical trilogy bundle.

The first Banner Saga released back in 2014, and its distinct blend of narrative-heavy role-playing and turn-based strategy, not to mention its striking visual style, quickly garnered praise.

Stoic's third and final series entry was, like the original game, borne from a successful Kickstarter campaign, raising more than twice its original $200,000 USD target. The studio initially anticipated that The Banner Saga 3 would launch in December 2018, but revealed that development was considerably ahead of schedule in an update earlier this year.

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