Monster Sanctuary combines metroidvanias with Pokémon, and it's coming to Xbox this year

Xbox Monster Sanctuary Announcement
Xbox Monster Sanctuary Announcement (Image credit: Xbox)

What you need to know

  • Monster Sanctuary is a newly announced game being published through ID@Xbox.
  • It combines the monster raising and training of Pokémon with 2D visuals and metroidvania gameplay.
  • It looks incredibly interesting, and already has great reviews in early access on PC.
  • Monster Sanctuary is officially releasing on PC, Xbox, and PS4 on December 8, 2020.

ID@Xbox publishes tons of indie games for Xbox, recently hitting some incredible milestones, and they're not slowing down with the recent announcement that Monster Sanctuary is coming to Xbox later this year. If you weren't already (I wasn't), Monster Sanctuary is an intriguing game that marries pixellated 2D graphics, metroidvania gameplay, and the monster discovering, raising, and training that's commonly associated with Pokémon.

Monster Sanctuary has been in early access on Steam for over a year now, with great reviews all around, and is now in a place where it can fully launch. Not only is Monster Sanctuary officially releasing on PC, the quirky indie game is also coming to consoles with Xbox and PS4, slated for a December 8, 2020 release date. I know my interest has certainly been peaked, and it's always interesting to see developers tackle the classic Pokémon gameplay that millions of people are intimately familiar with.

Zachary Boddy
Staff Writer

Zachary Boddy (They / Them) is a Staff Writer for Windows Central, primarily focused on covering the latest news in tech and gaming, the best Xbox and PC games, and the most interesting Windows and Xbox hardware. They have been gaming and writing for most of their life starting with the original Xbox, and started out as a freelancer for Windows Central and its sister sites in 2019. Now a full-fledged Staff Writer, Zachary has expanded from only writing about all things Minecraft to covering practically everything on which Windows Central is an expert, especially when it comes to Microsoft. You can find Zachary on Twitter @BoddyZachary.