Clockwork Revolution is inXile Entertainment’s upcoming first-person action RPG set in Avalon, a Victorian-era steampunk metropolis, launching on Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Steam in 2026. When asked which upcoming Microsoft game stands out most, Xbox games chief Matt Booty didn’t hesitate: Clockwork Revolution. His simple observation—”It really is coming along”—carries weight. After two years of relative quiet since the game’s June 2023 announcement, the extended gameplay reveal at Xbox Games Showcase 2025 showed why Booty’s confidence is warranted.
Key Takeaways
- Clockwork Revolution is a steampunk first-person RPG from inXile Entertainment, coming to Xbox and PC in 2026.
- The core mechanic—a Chronometer device that lets players alter past events—reshapes the entire game world and story.
- Combat combines steampunk-themed weapons with time-manipulation abilities and deep character customization.
- Launching day one on Xbox Game Pass across console, PC, and cloud gaming.
- Compared to BioShock Infinite and Fallout 4, but distinguished as a full RPG with systemic consequences.
Clockwork Revolution’s Time-Bending Core
Clockwork Revolution centers on a mechanic that few games have executed convincingly: meaningful time travel. The Chronometer device doesn’t just rewind cutscenes or let you undo mistakes. It fundamentally alters Avalon’s past, creating ripple effects that reshape the present day. Change a political decision, and entire districts shift their allegiances. Help a character in 1890, and they become a faction leader in the present. This is systemic game design at its most ambitious—every time-travel choice echoes through NPC relationships, dialogue options, social conditions, and the physical layout of the world.
You play as Morgan Vanette, a customizable protagonist from the Tangle slums, part of the Rotten Row Hooligans gang. The game doesn’t lock you into a predetermined character archetype. Instead, inXile is building a full character creator, dialogue trees, and ideological faction systems that let you shape who Morgan becomes and what Avalon becomes as a result. This depth positions Clockwork Revolution closer to Fallout 4 or a BioShock Infinite successor than a straightforward action game.
Combat That Rewards Creativity
The combat system fuses steampunk aesthetics with player agency. You’ll wield period-appropriate weapons—revolvers, lever-action repeaters, modified Gatling guns, muskets—but customize them at weapon benches by swapping barrels, stocks, and other modular parts. Alongside gunplay, a time-manipulation glove lets you freeze enemies, rewind incoming bullets, or redirect projectiles mid-flight. Deployable gadgets and explosives add another layer of tactical choice. The gameplay shown at Xbox Games Showcase 2025 demonstrated visual reactivity that makes time manipulation feel tangible rather than abstract.
This combat design distinguishes Clockwork Revolution from pure action games. You’re not just shooting enemies—you’re solving encounters with time-bending tools, environmental manipulation, and weapon loadouts that feel like genuine decisions rather than cosmetic variations.
Why Clockwork Revolution Stands Out in Microsoft’s Lineup
Matt Booty’s endorsement matters because Xbox’s lineup in 2025 and early 2026 is crowded. Yet he singled out Clockwork Revolution, a game that was announced in June 2023 and had fallen quiet until the 2025 Showcase. His comment suggests internal confidence that the game’s ambition—systemic time travel, deep RPG mechanics, faction-based storytelling—will resonate with players hungry for player-driven narratives.
inXile Entertainment brings pedigree. The studio created Wasteland and Arcanum, cult classics known for systemic depth and player choice. Clockwork Revolution feels like the culmination of that design philosophy, built with modern technology and production values. It’s not trying to be BioShock or Fallout—it’s trying to be itself, a steampunk-themed RPG where your choices genuinely reshape the world.
The antagonist, Lady Ironwood, uses time travel to preserve the upper-class hierarchy and oppress the working class, setting up ideological conflict that will likely define your faction choices and moral alignment. This thematic core—class struggle in a mechanized society—gives the game narrative weight beyond spectacle.
Availability and What to Expect
Clockwork Revolution launches day one on Xbox Game Pass, available across Xbox Series X|S, PC, and cloud gaming. It also supports Xbox Play Anywhere, meaning a single purchase grants access to both console and PC versions. Steam will carry the game as well, expanding its reach beyond Microsoft’s ecosystem.
The 2026 release window leaves room for polish, and Booty’s comment suggests the studio is using that time well. After years of watching triple-A studios struggle with ambitious time-travel mechanics and systemic consequences, Clockwork Revolution’s extended gameplay footage at the 2025 Showcase proved the core loop actually works.
Is Clockwork Revolution worth waiting for?
If you loved Fallout 4’s character creation and dialogue trees, or BioShock Infinite’s atmospheric world-building, Clockwork Revolution merges those strengths with a genuinely novel time-travel system. The fact that it’s launching on Game Pass day one removes the financial risk—you can experience inXile’s vision without committing to a full purchase.
How does Clockwork Revolution compare to other upcoming RPGs?
Clockwork Revolution distinguishes itself through systemic time travel that reshapes the world, rather than a linear narrative. Games like Avowed offer rich fantasy settings and dialogue-driven storytelling, but Clockwork Revolution’s Chronometer mechanic creates branching consequences that few RPGs attempt. The steampunk setting and first-person perspective also set it apart from traditional fantasy RPGs.
When does Clockwork Revolution release?
Clockwork Revolution launches in 2026 on Xbox Series X|S, PC, Steam, and Xbox Cloud Gaming. Day One Game Pass availability means subscribers can play immediately upon release without additional cost.
Matt Booty’s quiet confidence in Clockwork Revolution reflects a studio and a game that has earned internal respect through execution, not hype. In an industry where time-travel mechanics often collapse under their own complexity, inXile is building something that actually works—a steampunk RPG where your choices reshape history and the present day reflects those changes. That’s not just ambitious. It’s the kind of systemic depth that defines generational RPGs.
Where to Buy
This article was written with AI assistance and editorially reviewed.
Source: Windows Central
