Cast your mind back to 2023 and you might recall a lot of PC players getting very excited about a bearded fellow named Dave and his adventures deep below the waves. Well, following Dave the Diver‘s steady arrival on other platforms, it’s finally Xbox’s turn; the peculiar exploration and bar management hybrid hits Xbox Series X/S today, and there’s also confirmation Dave’s long-promised Into the Jungle DLC arrives “early” next year.
If you’re unfamiliar with its charms, Dave the Diver is brilliant thing – so good, in fact, that Eurogamer awarded it five stars back when it originally released. The gist is it whisks you – in the role of the titular Dave – to tropical climes for an adventure of two distinct halves. On the one side, you’ve a glorious ocean to explore, diving deep to, yes, admire the sights, but also to gather a whole shopping list of ingredients – fish, vegetations, and whatever else you can get your hands on – to turn into food as you scramble to satisfy the whims of your patrons at the aforementioned sushi bar.
Both sides are pretty tense, but a satisfying loop of upgrades means you’re soon able to tackle deadlier creatures, or carry more ingredients back to the surface, or explore further into stranger territories without the constant panic of your depleting oxygen. And you can hire more help at the restaurant, or perhaps indulge in a bit of fish breeding, to ease the bar management chaos.
That, though, barely scratches the surfaces; Dave the Diver is constantly throwing new twists and ideas into the mix, and it’s all buoyed along by an endearingly ludicrous story campaign featuring some wonderfully memorable characters, plus it’s beautifully presented too. “Wholesome, harmonious and completely unwilling to settle,” is how Eurogamer contributor Christian Donlan put it in his five star review, “this is one of the most generous games in years.”
So yes, Dave the Diver is good stuff, and it’s finally available to play on Xbox Series X/S from today. As for that Into the Jungle DLC, it was originally announced at the end of last year, promising a new jungle setting, new freshwater fish, and more. Following a bit of a delay, we now know it’s due to arrive for all platforms – PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, and PC – “early” 2026.
