Category: Xbox News

We know you’re busy and might miss out on all the exciting things we’re talking about on Xbox Wire every week. If you’ve got a few minutes, we can help remedy that. We’ve pared down the past week’s news into one easy-to-digest article for all things Xbox! Or, if you’d rather watch than read, you can feast your eyes on our weekly video show above. Be sure to come back every Friday to find out what’s happening This Week on Xbox!

Games with Gold for June 2018
Welcome to another edition of Games with Gold for Xbox One and Xbox 360! This month on June 1, infiltrate and dispatch your enemies in Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: Russia, then on June 16, control the power of the pantheon with the Smite Gold Bundle with content exclusive to Gold members. On Xbox 360 – and Xbox One via Backward Compatibility – we’ll have the classic racer Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed and the brick-building action title LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues! All games will be available exclusively for Xbox Live Gold members for a limited time as part of Games with Gold. With Xbox Live Gold, you get the most advanced multiplayer, free games,… Read more

Xbox Game Pass Has a Remarkable First Year Creating New Opportunities for Gamers and Developers
It’s been one year since we launched Xbox Game Pass, a monthly membership built for gamers. From the very outset, our goal with Xbox Game Pass has been to provide you with more value and choice by delivering a diverse library of games reflective of the long history of Xbox, as well as create new opportunities for our industry partners that make a positive impact. Thanks to you, this last year has been remarkable – we’ve been humbled by your enthusiasm and support. Over the last year, we’ve achieved several… Read more

Xbox at E3 2018: Everything You Need to Know
With E3 less than two weeks away, we’ve got some new details on what Xbox has got going on for the biggest gaming event of the year! We’ll be kicking things off with our annual Xbox E3 2018 Briefing, which you can watch live beginning on Sunday, June 10 at 1:00 p.m. PDT. During the briefing, you’ll have a chance to check out everything from in-depth looks at previously-announced games to trailers for our unannounced titles coming in 2018 and beyond. You can watch the Xbox E3 2018 Briefing live beginning at 1 p.m. PDT on June 10 on the official Xbox Channel on Mixer, or on the Mixer app for Xbox One and mobile. Viewers logged into Mixer will be eligible for a special MixPot full… Read more

Robocraft Infinity Big Boom Content Update Launching Soon on Xbox One
Hello, Xbox fans! Over 200,000 of you have played Robocraft Infinity since launch and our robot building and battling game will receive its biggest content update to date in the coming weeks. The Big Boom update is the culmination of all the feedback the lovely Xbox community has given us since launch and includes optimizations to make load times faster, improved network connectivity, and we’ve squashed lots of annoying bugs which should mean that the whole experience feels much more polished overall. Fans have also told us that they want more options when it comes to capturing… Read more

The Force is Strong with Xbox Game Pass
Whether you prefer your Star Wars in the Old Republic, on the dark side, or small and plastic with a satisfying click, Xbox Game Pass has you covered as four amazing Star Wars games join the catalog today on June 1. Please welcome Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic, Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2. Where will you begin? Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic A classic Star Wars role-playing game, Star Wars: Knights of the old Republic puts the player in the midst of the battle to save the Republic. As the last hope for the Jedi Order, your every move — from dialog choices to big plot decisions — puts you… Read more

Open-world, Pinball, Platforming Adventure Yoku’s Island Express Available Now on Xbox One
I’m super excited to finally – after almost five years of development – bring you Yoku’s Island Express to the Xbox One! For those of you that don’t know, Yoku’s Island Express is an open-world pinball platformer. You play as Yoku, a dung beetle postman who’s just arrived on Mokumana Island as the new postman. Using flippers and bumpers over an expansive world you pinball your way across the island, delivering the mail, and hopefully unravel the mystery with the ailing island god. We’re a small indie studio located in Stockholm, Sweden, and this is our first game together. From the very beginning, we wanted to make something that felt innovative and radically… Read more

Embark on an Adventure in Moonlighter, Available Now on Xbox One
Moonlighter is the story of Will, a humble shopkeeper that dreams of being a hero, just like the customer visiting his shops. For us this was always a story very close to our hearts since, as game developers, we started working for other people. We developed games that were not based on our own ideas but, secretly, we always dreamt of developing our own worlds, telling our own stories. Just like Will, we dreamt of being heroic indie developers, while we humbly developed the games of others, to make a living. It all started with this idea about playing as the (always ready!) shopkeeper of your typical JRPG and, from there, it evolved into something that got inspirations from… Read more

Xbox One Storytellers: Big Bad Wolf on The Council
It’s hard to match the narrative scope and immersive experience that a compelling story-driven game has over other storytelling mediums, allowing players not only to fall into the world of a well-crafted story but to experience it firsthand. These types of games can empower someone with a new perspective or let us live a double-life as a superhero. Narrative-driven games allow us to become someone we’re not, which is perhaps the biggest reason we enjoy these experiences. Now, with the power of Xbox One X, creators can bring us even closer to their vision. With our Xbox One Storytellers… Read more

Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection Now Available on Xbox One
Celebrate the last 30 years of Street Fighter with Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection, now available on Xbox One! We’re honored to bring this collection to you, which contains three decades worth of history, music, and world-famous characters that changed the fighting game genre. The 12 titles included in Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection are Street Fighter, Street Fighter II, Street Fighter II: Champion Edition, Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting, Super Street Fighter II, Super Street Fighter II: Turbo, Street Fighter Alpha, Street Fighter Alpha 2, Street Fighter Alpha 3, Street Fighter III, Street Fighter III: 2nd Impact, and Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike. All 12… Read more

Get State of Decay 2 or Red Dead Redemption with Your Purchase of Xbox One X for a Limited Time
Starting now, we’ve got two weeks of Xbox One X deals to kick off your 4K Ultra HD summer gaming with State of Decay 2 and Red Dead Redemption. From May 27 through June 2, you’ll get a copy of State of Decay 2 with your Xbox One X purchase. And from June 3 through June 9, you’ll get a copy of Red Dead Redemption with your Xbox One X purchase. State of Decay 2 is the ultimate zombie survival fantasy, where it’s up to you to decide how to survive in an open, post-apocalyptic world. Play State of… Read more

Discover The Giant Megalodon Shark In Sea of Thieves – The Hungering Deep, Available Now
Last month, we shared our plans for how we intend to build on the core Sea of Thieves experience by regularly adding new content. We’re delighted to announce that the first of our three summer updates – The Hungering Deep – is now live and available to all Sea of Thieves players at no additional cost. While we’ve released patches for Sea of Thieves every week from launch to address the top community feedback points, this update is a little different. Not only does it feature a range of permanent new content including a fearsome new AI threat, new items and cosmetics, it also marks the first time we’ve run a time-limited campaign. Running for two weeks, The Hungering Deep… Read more

Birdcakes Available Now for Xbox One
Hello everyone! Greetings from Green Lava Studios. Located in lovely, sunny Costa Rica, we’ve been making games for about eight years now and with Birdcakes, we celebrate our second game on the Xbox One, along with Fenix Furia! It’s been a long, winding road for us, but hey! We made it! We started looking to create games for companies and dreamt to be able to create our own IP in the future. Now, we do whatever we want really, as long as it’s fun and entertaining for us and the end user. We’re proud to welcome Pancake and Cherry, the protagonists of Birdcakes, into our Green Lava Family, and for gamers to see! Birdcakes, like the name implies, is all about cupcakes that can… Read more

The Xbox Insider Team has been excited to watch the growth of the new Subreddit launched earlier this month. Not only has the growth surpassed our initial expectations, but the number of continued comments, upvotes, suggestions, reports, and updates has been incredible. To those of you who have been there and participated: Thank you! If you haven’t seen the new social space, head on over and check it out! 

Listening is key to helping Xbox deliver a great experience. It is because of that desire to listen that we knew we wanted a place for Xbox Insiders to record their ideas, suggestions, and requests for features that they want to see tested through the Xbox Insider Program, and we encouraged people to share them with us on the subreddit.  With such quick growth, however, a few things became clear to us very early on about how we organize this new space.  Soon after launch, we found the sub filled with these feature requests while other readers told us they wanted a faster way to get to the content that they came for, which included more than just ideas and suggestions. 

As a team with a culture of listening, we had an interesting challenge. Some Insiders wanted a place to share and be excited about their ideas. Xbox Staff members were reading, commenting, and envisioning how this would work on the platform. Still other Insiders found it difficult to find the news, information, and conversations that mattered to them. How do we balance each of these needs? 

Our partners at r/XboxOne gave us a remarkably elegant and simple solution that fits the goals of encouraging ideas and keeping the main page tidy.  Feature Friday was born. Feature Friday is a weekly thread, open every day of the week and refreshed on Fridays, that serves as the destination for all of the ideas that Xbox Insiders want to see tested through the Xbox Insider Program. Throughout the three weeks of Feature Friday that we’ve hosted already, we’ve collected over 200 distinct comments from Xbox Insiders and shared the top vote-getters from week to week.   

This change in the r/XboxInsiders subreddit becomes especially important as we also change the way we utilize UserVoice for ideas and votes.  As you may have already read, we’re taking a much more focused approach to how we collect feedback with UserVoice, in order to give your votes the most impact. On the new Xbox Ideas site, we’re asking you to submit, vote, and help us prioritize what you want to see within specific feature families of things we know we can go work on. Feature Friday becomes a supplement to this, offering a place for you to submit specific suggestions that may not be related to a current Idea Drive campaign. Because we allow and encourage the reposting of suggestions on Feature Friday from week to week, you can carry conversations through a weekly refresh and continue refining concepts. 

Xbox Staff are active in both places – checking up on the Idea Drive campaigns that their teams have at xboxideas.uservoice.com and scouring new feature requests and discussions in Feature Friday and the weekly recaps. We’re listening, because it’s key to delivering the experience that you want to have and because it’s a core part of our culture.   

Starting at 6:00 p.m. PDT today, members of the Xbox One Preview Beta Ring will begin receiving the latest Xbox One system update (1806.180524-1920). Read on for more about the features, fixes and known issues in the latest 1806 system update.

New Features:

Group Your Games and Apps

In this build we are enabling the Groups feature for all of the Preview BETA ring.  You’ll need to take the new system update once available, and then perform a full power reboot of the console before Groups will be enabled for you.

With so much content available, fans have asked for more options to organize libraries of games and apps.  Today, we’re introducing a powerful new enhancement to Pins, which we call “Groups.” With Groups, you can create multiple collections of content made up of anything from within My Games & Apps. You can also assign custom names to each Group, organize and order them, and add individual Groups to Home. Groups will appear across My Games & Apps, Home and Guide, so you’ll be able to access your Groups at a moment’s notice. Best of all, Groups are tied to your Xbox Live account, so they will automatically sync across multiple Xbox One consoles. We’ve started you off with a Group that should look very familiar — your Pins! To get started, open the Guide and click on the My Games & Apps button to access your Groups or start adding to them!

Improved Search Functionality

Searching for content is now even easier!  Now pressing the Y button anywhere in the dashboard will bring up the search dialog.  This process is found in many apps, but now you can do it anywhere within the dashboard.  Not seeing enough results for your search? Hit enter or click the “more results” button to view a full page for your search results.

Additional Accessibility Options

The Narrator feature on Xbox One now supports five additional languages, including Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, Swedish, and Dutch. We’re also adding an Australian version of English language for Narrator, so Australian users will no longer have to select US or UK English in order to use Narrator.

Mixer Broadcasting

• Users can now enable their camera to display full screen while broadcasting.

Experiments

A subset of Xbox Insiders may see some experimental features in addition to what’s listed above.  These are designed to gauge interest and solicit feedback from a more focused group.  For example, some users will be able to share game-specific stats amongst your friends right on your home page.  While others may find greater functionality within Clubs.

As always, thanks to all the Xbox Insiders for your feedback.  Your insight and input is both critical and crucial to making a better Xbox experience for gamers around the world.

Fixes:

GameDVR

• Fixed the issue in which some users did not receive pop up notifications for Game DVR captures and the guide did not update the number of new captures.

Microsoft Edge

• Fixed an issue in which switching Microsoft Edge tabs will cause PDF files to disappear from the screen.
• Stability and performance fixes for Microsoft Edge, specifically when multiple tabs are open.

System Performance

• • Misc. performance fixes in the platform.

Known Issues:

Groups

• Enabling Groups after taking the update: Groups may not appear for you on first sign in unless you do a full console reboot after taking the system update. This is being fixed in an upcoming build and should only affect having just taken this system update.
• The Groups tab in My games & apps may not show after sign in even though you can access Groups in Guide, or you may see “This group does not exist” on Home on first sign-in for your existing Groups.  Workaround: Sign in / out to refresh these pages.
• Some changes might not be reflected when editing Groups between multiple consoles after coming out of connected standby. Sign in/out to fix.
• Adding the Rewards app to Groups causes you to be unable to access your Groups. This is fixed for an upcoming build.
• Using special characters in Group names (e.g. &,”) causes issues during Group creation or using the “Add more” flow. Note: emojis are fine. This is being fixed in an upcoming build.
• You may see issues with Groups if you frequently switch between your non-Preview console and your Preview console. Workaround: Reset your Groups locally on the Preview console through “My games & apps” > Groups, then using the “Reset groups” button at the bottom of the page to resync from the service.

Profile Color

• Sometimes users may encounter an incorrect Profile color when powering on the console.

Networking

• Work continues on the stability of the Wi-Fi connectivity.  If you see any issues please report the problems for investigation.

YouTube

• Some users are encountering an issue where their YouTube account is being signed out whenever they launch the app.
• Workaround: Uninstall/re-install the app and sign in with your account again.

Starting now, we’ve got two weeks of Xbox One X deals to kick off your 4K Ultra HD summer gaming with State of Decay 2 and Red Dead Redemption.

From May 27 through June 2, you’ll get a copy of State of Decay 2 with your Xbox One X purchase. And from June 3 through June 9, you’ll get a copy of Red Dead Redemption with your Xbox One X purchase.

State of Decay 2 is the ultimate zombie survival fantasy, where it’s up to you to decide how to survive in an open, post-apocalyptic world. Play State of Decay 2 in 4K ultra HD and HDR with Xbox One, specially enhanced with higher resolutions, steadier framerates, and better effects. State of Decay 2 takes everything you loved about the first game and greatly expands on it, giving you more unique survivor characters, more backstories and skills for each member, more community and base management options, and bigger maps to survive in. State of Decay 2 also adds one of the most-requested features from the community: cross-platform co-op.

Play Red Dead Redemption like never before in stunning 4K ultra HD on Xbox One X, available to play through backward compatibility and included with your purchase of Xbox One X between June 3 through June 9. In Red Dead Redemption, the Wild West is dying. When federal agents threaten his family, former outlaw John Marston is forced to pick up his guns again and hunt down the gang of criminals he once called friends. Experience an epic fight for survival across the sprawling expanses of the American West and Mexico, as John Marston struggles to bury his blood-stained past, one man at a time.

Experience true power with over 100 Xbox One X Enhanced games optimized to take advantage of the world’s most powerful console. These enhanced games look their best with higher resolutions, improved details, and textures, better effects or other enhancements. Get top performance from your games with steadier framerates and faster load times.

Whether you’re playing games, watching your favorite shows through entertainment apps like YouTube, Netflix, or streaming gameplay on Xbox Live, the best community of games, the Xbox family of devices has you covered. Watch 4K Blu-ray movies and stream 4K video on Xbox One X with brilliant graphics, HDR technology, premium audio, and experience immersive true 4K gaming on the world’s most powerful console.

Welcome to Next Week on Xbox, where we cover all the new games coming soon to Xbox One! Every week the team at Xbox aims to deliver quality gaming content for you to enjoy on your favorite gaming console. This coming week we can return to the arcade in Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection, go on a pixel art adventure in Fox n Forests, or take on the role of a flying cupcake in Birdcakes — and these are just a few of the excellent games coming soon to Xbox One! Read more below and click on each of the profiles for pre-order details (dates are subject to change).

Games

May 29, 2018

After a picnic went horribly wrong, Pancake, the flying cupcake, will try to protect his girlfriend Cherry from hungry flies! Featuring randomly generated levels, colorful 2D art, tight shooting controls, and fluid aerial movement mechanics, you’ll be set for a wacky flight through the kitchen and beyond.

Games

May 29, 2018

A set of ancient gates have been discovered near the small village of Rynoka that lead to different realms and dimensions providing brave and reckless adventurers with treasures beyond measure in this ARPG with rogue-lite elements.  

Games

May 29, 2018

Over 50 titles across all genres from all-time classics like Sonic and Streets of Rage 2 to deep RPGs like the Phantasy Star series. New features bring modern convenience to the classics: save your game at any time, rewind those slip-ups, or customize your controls and earn bragging rights with online multiplayer and achievements.

Games

May 29, 2018

Celebrate 30 years Street Fighter, the series that revitalized arcade culture and paved way for the fighting game genre. This collection contains 12 arcade classics, including the iconic Street Fighter II and its highly competitive sequel Street Fighter III: Third Strike. Visit the game’s comprehensive museum to discover the vast history of the series, listen to nostalgic tunes, and learn more about the characters who have become known around the world.

Games

May 29, 2018

An ancient Island deity is trapped in a restless sleep and it’s down to Yoku to traverse the island using a unique blend of pinball mechanics, platforming, and open-world exploration to flip and bump his way around the stunning hand-painted island.

Games

May 30, 2018

When Quinn wakes up alone in a locked room with nothing but a computer hooked up to an internet chat room in which you’re present, you become his single ray of hope. Your choices will single-handedly shape his escape efforts… or lead him down the path to an untimely end.

Games

May 30, 2018

Embark on a quest that will lead you through strange lands where Norse Mythology collides with Lovecraftian mythos. Die for Valhalla! is an ARPG where you hack, slash, and crush your enemies. Possess and take full control of heroes, monsters, and other things to help Vikings save their realm.

Games

May 30, 2018

Fox n Forests is a 16-bit style action platformer with RPG and puzzle elements. Switch between seasons on the fly, shoot and slash with magic melee crossbow, collect valuable loot, and unveil the mystery of the fifth season in this pixel art fable.

Games

May 30, 2018

Take on the roles of in-game players taking on the roles of their characters in a traditional pen and paper RPG session in the ultimate meta roleplaying experience. As both the playing characters and the game master, players can choose which battles to fight, which class to play as which character to control and take on loads of quests and monsters.

Games

May 30, 2018

In the first chapter of The Journey Down, the search for a lost journal leads to forgotten secrets of the mysterious Underland. Follow Bwana and Kito as they puzzle their way forward and begin to uncover the true fate of their long lost father, Captain Kaonandodo in this point-and-click adventure.

Games

May 30, 2018

A mash-up of a twin-stick shooter and a tower defense, it’s up to you and a friend (with couch co-op) as space agents to exterminate hordes of bio mutants created by a mad scientist. Mix and match turrets, powers, and traps to find your preferred style of play, from close combat to long-range destruction.

Games

May 31, 2018

Someone wants you dead and you must use all your toughness to survive. Shoot, choke, and sneak your way through enemies and engage them in breathtaking car chases with an aesthetic inspired by the Italian crime flicks of the ’70s. Milanoir is a pixel-packed action game set in the violent city of Milan as you hunt for the truth and escape the ones who are chasing you through an unforgiving city.

Games

June 01, 2018

A side-scrolling shooter with a monster hunting gameplay, you must search and hunt down dreadful sea monsters and explore the post-apocalyptic underwater world of Earth Atlantis. Unlock multiple ships with special weapons and abilities for your journey and become a legendary hunter!

Games

June 01, 2018

In a land filled with Penguin Vikings, Wurst Zombies, and Hipster Ice Giants, survival is an art. Fortunately, an ancient champion with an elegant weapon has been summoned to please the Gods and restore balance to the universe. Grab your lightspear and traverse lands straight out of Germanic myths in this spear-throwing arcade game.

Games

June 01, 2018

Hop into your mine cart and drive at high speed along the railway track, getting through the mine to the exit and down to the valley. The track is steep, the curves tight, and forces will try to take your vehicle out of the bend. A good pilot knows how to shift the weight, tilt the cart, and manage every tricky part of the track.

Games

June 01, 2018

Play as one of many famous – but for legal purposes, slightly different – pop culture icons and verbally spar with other Hollywood elitists using a deep battle system. Oh…Sir! The Hollywood Roast is a spin-off to the surprise indie hit, Oh…Sir! The Insult Simulator. This time around the game is taking tinsel town down a few notches.

Attention movie lovers, this post is a sequel! Before reading, it’s advised to see the previous one here. But in case you didn’t, here’s a piece of unceremonious exposition: previously our hard rock anti-heroes under the band of Vile Monarch managed to get one step closer to world domination by creating a successful video game called Oh…Sir! The Insult Simulator. The Vile Monarch can rest now… or can he? Announcing Oh…Sir! The Hollywood Roast.

The Insult Simulator was a game where you could build absurdly rude sentences against a living or artificial enemy in unlikely conflict scenarios ripping-off inspired by Monty Python. What started as a fun 42-hour game jam experiment, eventually turned into a full-fledged, surprisingly successful game that conquered many platforms (Xbox One being among them) and hearts of millions of YouTube viewers. As we learned from the movie industry, this is when you should make a quickly glued together, direct-to-DVD, cash-grabbing continuation.

Which we didn’t do. Instead, we wanted to – firstly – improve the things we considered lackluster in the previous game and – secondly – refresh the setting, so the insult-based combat can be enjoyed by people with an allergy to tea and crumpets. So, using a movie jargon, it was meant to be more of a spin-off than a total sequel. And yes, all the insolent film-related vocabulary in this post is for a reason, as we ultimately decided to insult the movies and the movie industry.

Movie parody seems like the easiest kind of comedy, right? Everyone does that, including movies parodying other movies and millions of bad YouTube videos. But early on we realized there’s gonna be some hurdles. First of all, we didn’t want to get into trouble, being sued by movie studios. People to this day keep asking us, “How could you use Gandalf, Harry Potter, or Deadpool?” The answer is: we couldn’t.

The decision to stay away from real properties was made early on and it was an easy one. But then we realized it’s not a parody if you stop at turning famous characters to Gundalf or Herry Putter – this is a cheap knock-off. So, the idea was to squeeze some comedy out of not having these properties.

The first one to figure out was Gandalf, who at first was meant to be a mix of all wise wizards in the history of fiction. But this didn’t seem to lead to anything particularly funny. Then we made what we called internally “Gandalf The Pink” – Gandalf dressed as an elderly lady. Obviously, he needed a better name and… well, he wore pink and that’s it, the joke’s over.

Finally, it turned out that a good idea is to start with a story – what happened to Gandalf after his famous adventures? Maybe he moved to a normal neighborhood  Maybe he still wears a robe for the sake of the old times but thought that a bathrobe would allow him to blend in. This is how The Greasy Wizard was born – if Gandalf was your creepy old neighbor, he would be our man. Goes with a Hobbit-style basement, a full set of Tolkien-inspired innuendos and a booming voice of an amazing British actor Rosko Lewis.

The Greasy Wizard is still one of our favorite characters and he taught us how to build the rest of the cast. The key was to build each of them around a single, clear and hopefully humorous idea. Dirty Potter – what if Harry Potter’s story takes place in the wild west and he’s played by Clint Eastwood? Groan the Destroyinator – what if Conan and Terminator are really the same character? Nosferateen – what if Nosferatu became a vampire as a teenager and is even whinier than the pale dude from “Twilight?” This approach worked for most of the characters, but of course, some turned out better than the rest. Chop Sue E. is one that you might like if you get her, but we didn’t make it easy. She’s a combination of a lot of ideas related to Asian martial arts cinema but would probably find more fans if this mix had a clear dominating part. We did it the right way with Wisecrack – he represents all superhero blockbusters in one Frankenstein body, but with Deadpool as a centerpiece (although his earlier iteration wasn’t as clear – nor as good!).

This basically concludes the relatively unadventurous story of how we managed to get away with roasting Hollywood, while still having a lot of fun. We were sharing this fun across different platforms for a while now and are finally able to bring it to Xbox One. As a special treat for the boxiest of consoles, we added Mixer integration, that lets you watch other people insult each other while messing with the result by voting on the sickest burn.

We know you’re busy and might miss out on all the exciting things we’re talking about on Xbox Wire every week. If you’ve got a few minutes, we can help remedy that. We’ve pared down the past week’s news into one easy-to-digest article for all things Xbox! Or, if you’d rather watch than read, you can feast your eyes on our weekly video show above. Be sure to come back every Friday to find out what’s happening This Week on Xbox!

State of Decay 2 Breaks Record with Over 1 Million Players in First Two Days of Global Release
As we close out our first week of the zombie apocalypse, we wanted to welcome and say thank you to the over one million fans playing State of Decay 2, helping break the million player mark, and answering the question: how will you survive? Since Early Access for the Ultimate Edition on May 18 and the global release of the Standard Edition on May 22, we have had over a million survivors across the globe playing and creating their own zombie survival story. Throughout launch, there have been over six million combined hours of State of Decay 2 gameplay, and we’ve watched nearly 3.5M hours of gameplay across Mixer, Twitch and YouTube Gaming from over 41,000 unique broadcasts. Watching… Read more

State of Decay 2 Available Worldwide on Xbox Game Pass, Xbox One, and Windows 10 PC
Today, fans can test their zombie apocalypse plans as State of Decay 2 from Undead Labs launches worldwide in Xbox Game Pass and exclusively on Xbox One and Windows 10 PC. State of Decay 2 is the ultimate zombie survival fantasy, where it’s up to you to decide how to survive in an open, post-apocalyptic world. State of Decay 2 takes everything you loved about the first game and greatly expands on it, giving you more unique survivor characters, more backstories and skills for each member, more community and base management options, and bigger maps to survive in. State of Decay 2 also adds one of the most-requested features from the community: cross-platform co-op. You and up to… Read more

Five Game-Changing Features Coming to Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
It might be one of the most popular video game franchises in the world, but Call of Duty isn’t scared to take some risks. At a community reveal event in Los Angeles, Activision and developer Treyarch gave gamers their first good look at Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. The explosive shooter is going bigger than ever, capturing the zeitgeist with a battle royale mode and eschewing a traditional single-player campaign in favor of a narrative-driven approach to multiplayer. Here are the five biggest features coming to Black Ops 4. 1. Blackout mode gives fans the royale treatment. Games like PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds and Fortnite have ushered in the era of the battle royale. Black… Read more

Divinity: Original Sin 2 – Definitive Edition Available Now via Xbox Game Preview
If we’ve been doing our jobs correctly, you’ll have seen that Divinity: Original Sin 2 – Definitive Edition has been released in Xbox Game Preview with a fancy new artwork sitting pretty on the Microsoft Store. But what does this mean for you, new-comer of Divinity? Well, firstly, this means that you can play it. Not only can you play it, but you can play it for free. Because we think you’ll like it, we’ve given you three hours of the game so that you can try it, and you can tell us what you think! If you choose to buy it (thanks, that’s awesome!) your save games will carry across to the complete Act 1 experience during Xbox Game Preview, and then into the full game upon… Read more

Xbox Game Pass: Next Up Hero, MotoGP 17, Mega Man Legacy Collection 2 and More Coming in June
Hello, gamers! Welcome to your June Xbox Game Pass update. If you can stop playing State of Decay 2 long enough to read this, we’ve got some great additions to the Xbox Game Pass catalog this month to tell you about, like MotoGP 17, Mega Man Legacy Collection 2, The Technomancer, Wasteland 2: Director’s Cut, and Disneyland Adventures. They’re all coming to Xbox Game Pass on June 1, in addition to the over 100 more great games included in your subscription. Later in June, action-packed dungeon crawler Next Up Hero will join the catalog. And be sure to keep an eye out for more awesome game announcements coming soon. Let’s take a closer look at the new additions: Next Up… Read more

How Battlefield V Will Depict WWII as You Have Never Seen It Before
Fans of Battlefield, Just recently, we revealed that the setting of the next Battlefield will be World War II – the era where it all began for the series. When the original team and I wanted to create something special back in 1999, WWII was always our first choice. The result was Battlefield 1942. Since then, we’ve visited various eras, but we’ve always longed to return to WWII. For a period, there was a fatigue for this setting’s representation in games, and we didn’t want to recycle the same experiences you’ve already seen. We used our old Battlefield 1 mantra – “untold, unplayed, unseen” – in the development, which liberated us from expectations and… Read more

Age of Wonders: Planetfall Brings Tactical Turn-Based Strategy to Xbox One in 2019
We at Triumph Studios are very excited to finally announce Age of Wonders: Planetfall! The game has been in development for about three years now and runs on a new generation of our multi-platform Creator Engine. Let’s start with the basics. Age of Wonders: Planetfall is a turn-based strategy game in which you emerge from the cosmic dark age, created by the fall of a galactic empire, to craft a new future for your people. You’ll need to develop new technologies for your colonists to thrive on these hostile worlds, for you are not alone here. Other survivors will compete with you to rebuild the Star Union in their own way, and you will need both a carefully crafted arsenal and a firm… Read more

Build Your Deck of Cards and Crush Your Enemies in Monster Slayers, Available Now on Xbox One
I’m Sim Yih Chun, also known as Nerdook. I spent eight years making web-based games on weekends while working as an electrical engineer, then transitioned into full-time game development. Monster Slayers is my latest game and it combines two of my favorite genres: dungeon crawls and deck-building card games. Unlike card games such as Magic: The Gathering, where selecting the cards that go into your deck happen before the game even begins, deck-building card games usually start you off with a simple starting deck, and as you play, you add more powerful cards to your deck, upgrade your existing cards, or even delete weaker cards to make your deck thinner and increase the odds of… Read more

ID@Xbox Game Fest: Celebrating the Summer of Arcade 10-Year Anniversary
It has been 10 years since Summer of Arcade started. The program could be considered the precursor to the ID@Xbox program with a series of fun new releases. To celebrate the last week of ID@Xbox Game Fest we have decided to highlight some of our favorite Summer of Arcade games and their spiritual successors and put them on sale. If you missed out on these classic favorites now is a wonderful time to play them on Xbox One. Here are a couple suggestions to get you started: Limbo (80% off) – This black and white artistic puzzle-platformer took the world by storm when it released in 2010. Uncertain of his sister’s fate, a boy enters Limbo and sets out to explore the unique environment and… Read more

Celebrate Our Heroes in World of Tanks This Memorial Day
Memorial Day marks a time where we remember and pay tribute to the brave heroes who fought to protect the freedom and rights of all of us. Without the service and sacrifice given by our soldiers, the world wouldn’t be the same place it is today, and World of Tanks certainly wouldn’t be possible. To commemorate those who put their lives on the line while fighting for a better world for present and future generations, World of Tanks is hosting special events in-game on and around Memorial Day. You can enjoy enormous XP bonuses on May 28, and take advantage of special Ops and discounts for US vehicles from May 25 until June 1 in honor of America’s heroes. x5 XP on Memorial… Read more

Madden NFL 19 Coming to Xbox One August 10
After a thrilling draft and a loaded free agent market, it’s time to talk about the most important cog in the NFL offseason — Madden NFL 19 is coming to Xbox One August 10. Building on the success of last season, Madden 19 is set to provide a new level of control to more game modes to make this the best season in franchise history. The focus behind the enhancements in Madden 19 is the player and Madden community. We listened to Madden fans, and that feedback was at the center of everything when developing the game. One big addition gamers will see this season will be improvements to player control. Real Player Motion (RPM) allows Madden 19 to deliver a more authentic playing… Read more

Mothergunship Demo Available Now on Xbox One – The Gun Crafting Range
Hello, Xbox fans! It’s been a while since we were here last time, but we are back with some great news! We’re very excited to announce that the Mothergunship demo is now available on Xbox One for those who want to get a glimpse of the game before its launch. Mothergunship is a bullet-hell first-person shooter where you craft your own guns, fight gigantic bosses, play together with your friends, and defeat a robotic alien armada that conquered Earth. From the first time we showed Mothergunship publicly, experimentation with our crafting system was a key attraction, leading to long lines at trade shows and a lot of excited gamers showing off their creations to their buddies. This… Read more

Talking with Halo FFA and Community Champion Ryan “RyaNoob” Geddes
Heading into Halo World Championship 2018 last month, Ryan “RyaNoob” Geddes was one of the players Halo Waypoint pegged as a player to keep an eye on during the tournament. Ryan has competed at the highest level for many years, but this would be one of the biggest tournaments in his career as he would eventually go on to win the Halo Free for All (FFA) tourney and take home $6,000. Back home in Tampa, FL, Ryan recently attended a celebration in his honor at his local Microsoft Store, the same store that he rose through the ranks of qualifying for HaloWC 2018. “As a competitive Halo player, hearing that there were local tournaments at the Microsoft Store, I knew I had to… Read more

Rainbow Six Siege HypeZone Channel Launches Today on Mixer
On Mixer, we see more than 500 unique streamers every day chasing chicken dinner and victory royale glory in the HypeZone. The down-to-the-wire, 24/7 non-stop action is what makes HypeZone an engaging experience for viewers and an awesome discovery vehicle for streamers of all sizes. Today, we’re expanding HypeZone beyond the battle royale genre for the first time with Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege, a tactical first-person shooter with intense 5v5 team matches. In Rainbow Six Siege you will attack or defend with your choice of unique operators with an active community of over 30 million players. HypeZoneRainbow6 will be looking for streamers in Late Round, Overtime, and Match Point… Read more

New Desert Map, Miramar, Arrives for PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) on Xbox One is about to get a lot bigger and better! PUBG Xbox Game Preview players can now experience the vast, open desert of Miramar on live servers as part of our Spring update. Here are some of the highlights the update has in store: New Environments to Explore Miramar, the desert-themed map dotted with large, densely built towns, rocky hills, and wide-open expanses adds an all-new battle royale gameplay experience for players. Along with the new map comes an assortment of new weapons including the R45 revolver, the Win94 lever-action rifle, and the sawed-off shotgun, as well as vehicles specially designed for the barren terrain of… Read more

Creators Corner: Derelict Fleet
Xbox Live Creators Program empowers passionate developers everywhere to share their games with the world. In the Creators Corner series, Xbox Live Creators Program developers will share what inspires and motivates them to design and create their games, what challenges and creative solutions they pursue to bring their games to fruition, and how they leverage Xbox Live capabilities to enhance their games for Xbox. Today, we’ll be chatting with Jason Keiderling about their experience creating and bringing Derelict Fleet to the Xbox audience. Tell us about your developer journey — what inspired you to start developing games and what continues to motivate you? I originally had no… Read more

Free to Play MOBA Hyper Universe Coming Exclusively to Xbox One August 7
We are excited to officially announce that Hyper Universe will launch as an Xbox One console exclusive on August 7! Hyper Universe will be available to download and play for free with Xbox Live Gold upon release and starting today, fans of the game can pre-order the Ultimate Hypers Pack, which will instantly unlock all current and future playable Hypers in the game. This pack also includes a total of six Xbox One exclusive Aurora-themed cosmetic skins, and anyone who pre-orders the Ultimate Hypers Pack before August 7 will also receive a seventh limited edition additional bonus skin featuring Aurora’s Arrow for Celine. For those unfamiliar with the game, Hyper Universe is a 2D… Read more

I Hate Running Backwards Comes Running to Xbox One Today
It’s easy to surround yourself with so much work that you never really take the time to look at your game from a distance. But it’s important to take a moment with the team to see how far you’ve come with the project. Now that we’re at the release date for I Hate Running Backwards, we did just that. We looked back. Our game started out as a regular arcade shoot ’em down. But that wasn’t enough. We wanted to do something different, make something new. We sat down with Damjan Mravunac from Croteam and started brainstorming on this one thing that can make the game feel different but have a familiar feeling about it. We decided to use the one-liner that Sam Stone says in… Read more

Innovative Puzzle Game Gorogoa Available Now on Xbox One
If you’re wondering what Gorogoa is about, it’s a puzzle game where each tile or scene is interactive. As you advance through the story, you will need to solve progressively harder sequences between the tiles. Words don’t really do the gameplay justice, so check out the trailer above. The original 2012 demo of the game is also unlocked once you complete the full game, where you can see how the art style has progressed, as well as similarities and differences with a few puzzle mechanics. There are also achievements to unlock as you play the game. It has been rewarding to see Gorogoa win a few awards over the past few months, including a BAFTA, and we’re happy to bring it to… Read more

Memorial Day marks a time where we remember and pay tribute to the brave heroes who fought to protect the freedom and rights of all of us. Without the service and sacrifice given by our soldiers, the world wouldn’t be the same place it is today, and World of Tanks certainly wouldn’t be possible.

To commemorate those who put their lives on the line while fighting for a better world for present and future generations, World of Tanks is hosting special events in-game on and around Memorial Day. You can enjoy enormous XP bonuses on May 28, and take advantage of special Ops and discounts for US vehicles from May 25 until June 1 in honor of America’s heroes.

x5 XP on Memorial Day                                                                                                    

You won’t want to miss out on the massive bonuses available on May 28. To commemorate Memorial Day, first victories in all vehicles will earn x5 XP. This bonus is only available for a single day, so make sure you take advantage of it while you can!

On Track: Discounts and XP Bonuses on American Vehicles                                                          

Our On Track events shine a spotlight on the vehicles of certain nations in World of Tanks, and in honor of Memorial Day, we’re giving the American line the VIP treatment this time around! All regular American vehicles will receive an extra 25% XP from battles fought, win or lose, for the duration of the event.

If you still need to introduce some all-American heroes to your Garage, some generous discounts will be available during the American On Track. You can save 50% on the Silver value of Tier II-V regular tanks from the American Tech Tree, or 30% on the Silver value of Tier VI-X regular tanks which are also on the American Tech Tree. Head to the ‘Tanks’ tab in the Multiplayer menu to check out which tanks you can get for up to half their usual value!

Give your Crew a Boost with the War Brothers Op

There’s nothing quite as unbreakable and powerful as the bond between brothers in arms. Give it your all for your team, and break into the top five XP earners during battles to earn one x4 Crew XP Boost every day. You can get started with the War Brothers Op by activating it in the ‘Ops’ tab in the Multiplayer menu.

The Memorial Day specials will be active in World of Tanks on Xbox One and Xbox 360 from May 25 until June 1, while the x5 XP special will only be available on May 28.

Starting at 6:00 p.m. PDT today, members of the Xbox One Preview Alpha Ring will begin receiving the latest Xbox One system update (1806.180521-1920). Read on for more about the features, fixes and known issues in the latest 1806 system update.

NEW FEATURE FEEDBACK:

Updates for Groups based on Xbox Insider feedback:

We’re enabling Groups for the rest of Preview Alpha tonight! You’ll want to take the new system update once available and then start trying out Groups if you have not had access to the feature before. There’s also the existing Quest for Preview Alpha to give the team invaluable feedback on your experience using Groups.

How to find the Groups of games and apps feature:

• [Guide] If you were looking for the Pins button in Guide, instead click on the “My games & apps” button – we’ve combined Groups/Pins with “My games & apps” to put all your stuff in one convenient location for quick access!
• [My games & apps] If you go into “My games & apps” you will see a new tab on the left for your “Groups” – Pins will be your first Group and you can create more from there
• [Home] If you go to Home you will still have access to your Pins block and can add other Groups to Home after you create them
• Note: You may need to sign in/out again if you are not seeing Groups in “My games & apps” or your Pins block loading as expected after your first sign-in. If you do not see your Pins as the first Group, go to “My games & apps” > Groups and choose to reset your local Groups data

Fixes:

Guide

• Fixed an issue where some users were not seeing the currently active title in the list of Recently used games & apps.

Groups

• Fixed an issue where the “Add more” or “Create a group” page for Groups would not show all installed content when filtering
• Fixed some issues related to editing Groups not properly being reflected across multiple consoles that all have Groups enabled

Mixer Broadcasting

• Fixed an issue in which some users were experiencing issues with USB webcams while broadcasting.
• Fixed an issue where some users would not see the broadcast overlay or appear as broadcasting in the Guide.

 System Performance

• Misc. performance fixes in the platform.

Known Issues:

Groups  

• A few users are still experiencing the blank names for Groups. Workaround: You may need to rename these Groups if the local reset did not clear up the issue for you.
• The Groups tab My games & apps may not show after sign in even though you can access Groups in Guide. Workaround: Sign in / out to refresh these pages.
• You may see “This group does not exist” on Home on first sign-in for your existing Groups. Workaround: Sign in / out to refresh these pages.
• Some changes might not be reflected when editing Groups between multiple consoles after coming out of connected standby.  Sign in/out to fix.
• Titles hidden from Ready to install will show up as an item you can add through the “Add more” or “Create a group” page
• Choosing “Add to Home” for a game within a group will not add the block to Home
• You may see issues roaming between a GA console and preview 1806 console. Workaround: Choose to reset your Groups locally to resync from the service.
• Resetting Groups – local re-sync or reset everywhere: We’ve updated the reset button at the bottom of the Groups page in “My games & apps” so now you can delete your local Groups data and re-sync with the service. This will clear up a lot of issues that may have occurred due to bad states or if data is not showing up as expected. You can still delete from everywhere if you want a fresh start with Groups.
  • You may need to sign in / out for the pages to refresh afterwards.
  • Note: If you are still seeing issues after performing a local reset and/or sign in/out, please make sure to file a bug so the team can investigate

Profile Color

• Sometimes users may encounter an incorrect Profile color when powering on the console.

Networking

• Work continues on the stability of the Wi-Fi connectivity.  If you see any issues please report the problems for investigation.

YouTube

• Some users are encountering an issue where their YouTube account is being signed out whenever they launch the app.
  • Workaround: Uninstall/re-install the app and sign in with your account again.

We are excited to officially announce that Hyper Universe will launch as an Xbox One console exclusive on August 7! Hyper Universe will be available to download and play for free with Xbox Live Gold upon release and starting today, fans of the game can pre-order the Ultimate Hypers Pack, which will instantly unlock all current and future playable Hypers in the game. This pack also includes a total of six Xbox One exclusive Aurora-themed cosmetic skins, and anyone who pre-orders the Ultimate Hypers Pack before August 7 will also receive a seventh limited edition additional bonus skin featuring Aurora’s Arrow for Celine.

For those unfamiliar with the game, Hyper Universe is a 2D side-scrolling MOBA that combines fast-paced combat with easy to pick-up-and-play controls. At launch, players can choose from a diverse cast of 39 playable characters, called Hypers, each bringing their own unique personalities and skills to the battlefield.

There are six different classes of Hypers to choose from: Tank, Support, Specialist, Striker, Bruiser, and Assassin. Each class receives specific stat bonuses that both complement and amplify their strengths in combat, benefitting you and your teammates. That said, even within the same class, every Hyper has their own fully-developed move set and ability kit, so no matter what playstyle you enjoy you’re sure to find a Hyper that suits you perfectly.

Hyper Universe has all the gameplay elements players would come to expect from a traditional MOBA, including minions, towers, jungle camps, and (of course) lots of PvP combat. However, both new and veteran MOBA players will find that Hyper Universe also introduces many improvements to the genre as well. Unlike traditional MOBAs, matches in Hyper Universe are fairly fast-paced, lasting roughly 15-20 minutes each. Another one of the unique aspects of Hyper Universe is the noticeably lower learning curve of expectations set for newer players, particularly when compared with other MOBAs. There are no specific laning positions or metas players are required to learn before starting a match, resources are shared when killing monsters within the jungle, and all players start off with a generous learning curve buff to help them seamlessly get accustomed to the game.

​Hyper Universe also maps perfectly to the Xbox One controller, resulting in a gaming experience that is (quite literally) easy to pick up and play, while the diverse roster of Hypers simultaneously provides a rewarding and excitingly unique experience each time players queue up and enter a new match.

Hyper Universe will be free to play with Xbox Live Gold and the Ultimate Hypers Pack will be available for $19.99.

For more information about the game, please visit our website at http://hyperuniverse.nexon.net and stay tuned to Xbox Wire.

See you in the battlefield!