Category: Xbox News

Welcome to Next Week on Xbox where we bring you the latest details on upcoming games coming soon to Xbox One! This coming week we’ll get the epic fighting game Dragon Ball FighterZ, hunt ferocious monsters in Monster Hunter: World, and return to ancient Egypt in the first downloadable adventure for Assassin’s Creed Origins with The Hidden Ones. Read on below for more details on these games and more coming soon to Xbox One.

Games

January 23, 2018

Xbox One X Enhanced Set four years after the events of Assassin’s Creed Origins, The Hidden Ones puts Bayek in conflict with an occupying force of Romans as his fledgling Assassin Brotherhood continues to grow. This DLC expansion for Assassin’s Creed Origins adds the new Sinai region to the map, as well as a new storyline, new weapons and outfits, and more.

Games

January 23, 2018

Based on the hit Cartoon Network show, this game stars pint-sized hero K.O. in this story-driven adventure game meets action-packed cartoon brawler, as he punches, slide-kicks, combos and power-moves his way through hordes of evil Boxmore robots on a quest to save Lakewood Plaza Turbo from the maniacal Lord Boxman.

Games

January 24, 2018

Debuted 25 years ago, the Xuan-Yuan Sword series is an epic RPG set in the ancient Far East taking inspiration from Chinese mythology and historical figures and events. In Xuan-Yuan Sword: The Gate of Firmament, players find themselves in Huaxu, a sacred and mysterious kingdom that the Yellow Emperor once visited in his dreams.

Games

January 26, 2018

Take part in various types of competition to win cash prizes and reputation points needed to climb up the career ladder. Buy new cars, upgrade them, and drive the wheels off them across diverse tracks with the smell of burnt rubber and the roar of 500 bhp engines. Welcome to the world of drifting!

Games

January 26, 2018

Xbox One X Enhanced Dragon Ball FighterZ features high-end anime graphics and brings epic fighting gameplay to Xbox One. Build your dream team of fighters and sharpen your skills to master high-speed tag combinations. With thrilling online features like ranked matches, an interactive lobby, and 6-player party match, there’s something here for everyone.

Games

January 26, 2018

Xbox One X Enhanced Take on the role of a hunter and slay ferocious monsters in a living, breathing ecosystem where you can use the landscape and its diverse inhabitants to get the upper hand. Hunt alone or in co-op with up to three other players, and use materials collected from fallen foes to craft new gear and take on even bigger beasts in Monster Hunter: World on Xbox One.

Games

January 26, 2018

Help Madeline survive her inner demons on her journey to the top of Celeste Mountain, in this challenging platformer from the creators of TowerFall. Brave hundreds of hand-crafted challenges, uncover devious secrets, and piece together the mystery of the mountain.

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!

Age of Empires: Definitive Edition Launches on February 20
When we set out to create the Definitive Edition of the original Age of Empires, our goal was to deliver the best possible version of this classic, from a top notch audio-visual presentation to multiplayer to core game systems. Everything needed to be as good as you remembered it (or better!) to deliver a compelling RTS experience 20 years after its original release. …and that took us a bit longer than we’d originally planned. But, it was important for the team to treat the Age of Empires franchise with the respect it deserves, so we took the time we needed to get features like attack-move and the improved minimap exactly right, and even… Read more

Xbox Game Pass: NBA 2K17, WWE 2K17, Halo Wars 2 and More Available February 1
Hello, fellow gamers! Welcome to your February Xbox Game Pass update. February brings a mix of eight new titles to Xbox Game Pass, with something for absolutely everyone to enjoy in addition to the over 100 great games already included in your Xbox Game Pass membership. You can look forward to playing NBA 2K17, WWE 2K17, Halo Wars 2, Darksiders II DE, Fable Anniversary, RIME, Riptide Renegade GP, and Letter Quest: Grimm’s Journey all available February 1. NBA 2K17 Xbox Game Pass members loved the stunningly realistic, world-class simulation basketball and engaging Spike Lee MyCareer story that NBA 2K16 had to offer — it was one of the most-played games in Xbox Game Pass when we… Read more

Explore Unknown Territory with the ID@Xbox Artistic Adventure Sale
We’re going on an adventure! The ID@Xbox team has gone hunting for over 55 of our favorite indie adventure games and discounted them by up to 70% in the Artistic Adventure Sale. Now’s a wonderful time to shore up that game catalog with fantastic critically acclaimed games like: What Remains of Edith Finch (33% off). Winner of Best Narrative at The Game Awards and Best Adventure Game by Game Informer in 2017, What Remains of Edith Finch is a collection of strange tales about a family in Washington state. As Edith, you’ll explore the colossal Finch house, searching for stories as she explores her family history and tries to figure out why she’s the last one in her family left alive…. Read more

Console Launch Exclusive Full Metal Furies Available Now as Xbox Play Anywhere Title
Holy shlamboly, it’s actually happened. Full Metal Furies is coming out… today! To finally give gamers the chance to play a labour of love that we’ve spent nearly four years making is tough to put into words.  There’s a lot of pride getting to this point, and while the journey getting here was far from smooth, in the end, it was totally worth it. We honestly hope you enjoy playing Full Metal Furies. As the game approached release, we unveiled a lot of info about it and received a lot of feedback. One of the most interesting comments were from people who questioned whether Full Metal Furies even qualified as a brawler. It just seemed too unfamiliar to them, and outside what they… Read more

Drive Australia’s Open Roads in Native 4K with Forza Horizon 3 Xbox One X Enhanced
Since its release in 2016, millions of players have been exploring the world of Forza Horizon 3 on Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs, the highest-rated Xbox One exclusive. We are pleased to announce that, today, Xbox One X enhancements arrive for Forza Horizon 3, as a free download for players with an Xbox One X. Forza Horizon 3 on Xbox One X is powered by the same state-of-the art ForzaTech engine at the heart of the Forza franchise, also used to develop Forza Motorsport 7 for Xbox One X which brought native 4K resolution racing to the new platform. Forza Horizon 3 enhancements let players experience the game in native 4K along with a host of additional visual updates, including improved car… Read more

Assassin’s Creed Rogue Remastered Coming to Xbox One March 20 and Enhanced for Xbox One X
Assassin’s Creed Rogue returns for another voyage as Assassin’s Creed Rogue Remastered. Arriving March 20 for the Xbox One family of devices, it will be enhanced for Xbox One X, meaning you’ll be able to relive Shay Patrick Cormac’s Assassin-hunting adventure in glorious 4K. Giving players a chance to see the history-spanning Assassin-Templar war from the Templar side, Assassin’s Creed Rogue Remastered is an odyssey through 18th century America and the North Atlantic, where you’ll fight for law and order with a mix of nautical and on-foot gameplay. In addition to delivering native 4K resolution, Assassin’s Creed Rogue Remastered features new visual effects, better environmental… Read more

Fitbit Coach on Xbox Will Help You Achieve Healthy Goals
Whether you’re trying to lose weight, build muscle, or just plain feel better, experts agree that exercise should be part of your plan. But working out can be hard. Not only do you have to know what to do, you have to do it. And consistently, too. That’s where the Fitbit Coach app on Xbox comes in. This personalized training app delivers expert-designed dynamic bodyweight, run, and walk workouts that are tailored to your specific goals, making it easy to squeeze in a sweat session between rounds of NBA 2K17, just like Harrison Barnes. Here are some of the ways the Fitbit Coach app on Xbox will help get (and keep) you moving. Fitbit Coach meets you where you are. Upon joining… Read more

Inside Xbox One X Enhanced: Project CARS 2
Many of gaming’s most compelling stories come from those who’ve helped to create our favorite Xbox One games. In our Inside Xbox One X Enhanced series, these creators will share the behind-the-scenes accounts of the work involved in enhancing these epic games for Xbox One X, how they’ve helped chart the course of the world’s most powerful console, and what that means for the future of gaming. Today, we’ll be chatting with Kevin Boland, Lead Render Engineer at Slightly Mad Studios about enhancing Project CARS 2 for Xbox One X. What specifically is your development team doing to enhance Project CARS 2 for Xbox One X? We’ve worked hard to bring the authenticity and fun of… Read more

The Cartographer’s Fleet: The Alien Airframes of Inside Out Flying Game InnerSpace
Greetings, Cartographer. It is I, the Archaeologist, your creator, your companion, and fellow explorer of the Inverse. As you look at yourself, your wings and your fuselage, you may very well ask, “Can I be more than this?” The answer is yes, Cartographer. You absolutely can. I have just developed the technology that will allow you to transfer your AI consciousness from your current airframe into another. A brilliant breakthrough, if I say so myself. I’m envious, I admit. I only have the one submarine. Of course, I’ll need your help finding the parts to construct these new airframes for you. They can be found scattered across the Inverse, lost relics of technology from the Ancients… Read more

Learning the Basics in Kerbal Space Program Enhanced Edition for Xbox One
The countdown is over and Kerbal Space Program Enhanced Edition has arrived on Xbox One! This new version of Kerbal Space Program was built from the ground up with the help of the talented and experienced team at BlitWorks and includes a bunch of enhancements to the overall KSP experience on Xbox One. We have boosted performance, improved UI, and added three completely reworked controller presets designed specifically for consoles and optimized to be played on your Xbox One controller. We’ve also added features and content previously unavailable for KSP players on Xbox One. Rocket science seems overwhelming and difficult, but with Kerbal Space Program Enhanced Edition our goal is to… Read more

The Road to Victory in World of Tanks: TankBowl 2018
TankBowl has returned to World of Tanks for 2018! This clash of titans pits two mighty nations against each other, with tank commanders siding with either the USA or the USSR, and duking it out for honor, glory, and prizes. We know that going headlong into a battleground can be daunting, even when you’re backed up with a massive, heavy metal war machine. With that in mind, we’ve put together some tips to help you get the edge over your competition and dominate the battlefield during TankBowl. Here are five things to keep in mind before you join the fray in World of Tanks! Choose Wisely Whether you’re deciding to align with the USSR or the USA or just selecting your… Read more

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is Available Now on Xbox One
The first thing you see when you start The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is a black screen with only this message in the center: “This game is a narrative experience that does not hold your hand.” Pretty harsh, isn’t it? We always wanted to make a game about the excitement of discovery. The problem is, true discovery means it needs to be earned, and that the players need to be able to miss things. Imagine there’s something interesting to be found in a forest. It’s a different feeling if you reach that spot using an objective marker and a map where “X marks the spot,” or if you just stumble upon this discovery almost accidentally, exploring the forest, maybe even getting… Read more

Stay: a Story of Abduction, Loneliness, and Friendship Coming Soon to Xbox One
It gives me great pleasure to be able to reveal our first ever Xbox One title: Stay. It’s a branching adventure game in which you play as yourself, but you happen to have found your way into an internet chatroom populated with one other person: Quinn. Stay takes place in real-time, so every second you spend in the chatroom is logged, as is every second you spend away from it (whether your Xbox One is switched off or you’re using it for other activities). Oh, and there’s the small matter of Quinn having been abducted and left abandoned in a dingy room, with seemingly nothing but a creaky old PC and an internet connection for company. What happens next is entirely down to… Read more

Neo Geo Coin-Op Retro Classics Available Now on Xbox One
If you’re like me, you may have never owned one of the consoles but fondly remember gathering all available quarters to feed into the local convenience store’s Neo Geo arcade cabinet with cult games like the 2D fighting series classic King of Fighters, the never-ending and still challenging run-n-gun series Metal Slug, or the side-scrolling action-adventure game Top Hunter – Roddy & Cathy. During the original 14-year run (1990-2004), Neo Geo games like Metal Slug, King of Fighters, Fatal Fury, Pulstar and more consumed quarter after quarter without ever showing their end credits to most players. With these new ACA Neo Geo releases, Hamster Corporation has faithfully recreated… Read more

Starting at 2 p.m. PT today, members of the Xbox One Preview Update Alpha ring will begin receiving the latest Xbox One system update (1802.180116-1916). This update includes brand new features, such as expanded inactivity shutdown options and the “Do not disturb” option. Read on to learn more about these features (and features introduced last Sunday!) as well as fixes and known issues in the latest system update.

New Features:

Inactivity Shutdown Options

• We’ve added additional inactivity shutdown options to the Power mode & startup menu. In addition to shutting down the console after one or six hours of inactivity, you’re now able to select options for two, three, four and five hours. To enable the inactivity shutdown options:
  1. Under Options, select the “Turn off after” dropdown menu.
  2. Navigate to Settings > Power & startup > Power mode & startup.

Do Not Disturb

• Sometimes all you want to do is avoid all distractions and focus entirely on your game. We’ve included a “Do not disturb” online status, which will suppress notifications and let your friends know that you’re not available for another game or activity right now. To enable Do not disturb status:
  1. Open the Guide and select your profile icon to the far left.
  2. Select My profile.
  3. From the Appear online dropdown to the right, select Do not disturb.

Mini Game Hubs

• With Mini Game Hubs you can access great content for the games you’ve played recently from a Game Hub without ever having to leave the action. Mini Game Hubs provide an easy way to see friends who are currently playing, upcoming Achievements, Looking for Group posts, and more. To find the Mini Game Hub, launch the Guide and look for a new icon to the right of all Game tiles in the Home section.

Scheduled Themes

• You asked—we listened! We’re excited to announce that we’ve added the ability to put your themes on a schedule. In addition to choosing either the light or dark theme, you can now schedule a time to automatically switch between them. Simply follow these steps:
  1. Navigate to Settings > Personalization > Theme & motion.
  2. Select Scheduled from the “System theme” dropdown.
  3. Select the times at which you want the light theme to start and end.

Guide Enhancements

• A new icon will appear in the Guide.  The Guide Game Pass Discovery Tile (the “Surprise me with a random Game Pass Game tile”), now shows in Guide.

Fixes:

Home and Guide

• Additional fixes to address an issue which could cause Home and Guide to fail to display or crash.

Installation and Achievements

• Resolved an issue which caused the progress bars for downloads/installations and achievements to display incorrect information.

Known Issues:

System Update

• When downloading a system update, you may get stuck at a loading screen and only see the loading spinner. Workaround: If this occurs, please DO NOT try to factory reset or reboot the console—this is an issue with the update service and should eventually resolve on its own.

Guide

• The Guide may sometimes lose focus during navigation.

Party Chat

• Party chat sometimes crashes in the Guide.

Games Installation

• Games that are installed fail to launch. Workaround: If the games are installed to an external drive please copy the game to the internal drive or attempt to delete the title and redownload to fix the launch error.

Display

• We are investigating the inaccurate RGB colors that have been reported when displaying in 4K HDR mode when playing a UHD disc.

Avatars on Home

• Users can now represent themselves as an Avatar on Home by changing their settings. To do so, simply navigate to My profile > Customize profile > Show my avatar.

Tournaments

• The left and right navigation for selecting date and time during Tournament creation is currently reversed when the console language is set to Arabic or Hebrew.
• Left and right navigation in Tournament twists is reversed when the console language is set to Arabic or Hebrew.
• Left and right navigation in the bracket view of Tournaments is reversed when the console language is set to Arabic or Hebrew.

Hello, Xbox Insiders! 2017 has been a busy year for Team Xbox and the Xbox Insider Team (which now includes Mister Retr0 and the Xbox Feedback team). Our dedication to making Xbox the best place to play could not be done without the feedback and suggestions from the community.

Xbox Insiders are already familiar with the Xbox Insider Hub, Quests, Insider content, and how to report a problem. But in case you didn’t know, you can also suggest a new feature or change to an existing feature through Xbox Feedback. The feature teams working on Xbox One, Xbox on Windows, Xbox mobile apps, and Xbox Live regularly review the ideas you submit, incorporating them into their work to make your Xbox experience even better.

In 2017 we heard you, and we really liked some of the great features you voted for. We liked 274 of them so much, we implemented them! Of course some of the ideas we already had on our backlog, but your comments and explanations help us make these features in the way that you want.

Here are some highlights from some of the highest voted suggestions in 2017:

Xbox Platform Suggestions

Original Xbox backward compatibility!

24,375 Votes – Updated on 10/24
Original Xbox games are now part of Xbox One backward compatibility! Compatibility for Original Xbox titles launched with thirteen games; you can find the whole list of backward compatible games at http://www.xbox.com/xbox-one/backward-compatibility

Option to Sort Xbox 360 Games from Xbox One Games

7,192 Votes – Updated on 07/25
With the new Games & Apps, you can now sort and filter your games by platform! Open My Games & Apps, and in the Games section, use the drop down filter to choose Xbox 360 games only!

Customizable GamerPic for your Profile Picture

6,566 Votes – Updated on 07/24
Custom Gamerpics are now available for your Xbox Live profile! You can choose any image for your gamerpic (as long as you follow the Xbox Live code of conduct). You can see more details about customer gamerpics and other new features here: https://news.xbox.com/2017/07/13/custom-gamerpics-console-co-streaming-arena-updates-roll-xbox-fans-today/

Proper HD Audio Support

4,868 Votes – Updated on 04/04
Xbox One now offers the option to pass Blu-Ray audio via Bitstream directly to your receiver for decoding! This option supports DTS:X, Dolby ATMOS, and other HD Audio formats. You can turn this option on by going to Settings > Display & sound > Audio output and setting the Speaker audio to “Bitstream out.”

Remove the 5 minute cap on recording

4,641 Votes – Updated on 04/04
Users can now record up to 10 minutes at a time with the new improved GameDVR! While playing a game, press the Xbox button to bring up the Xbox Guide, then press the View button to see your recording options. Choose “Start Recording” and the GameDVR will record up to 10 minutes of gameplay.

Halo Wars 2 on the Xbox One

4,498 Votes – Updated on 04/20
Halo Wars 2 is available for Xbox One and Windows 10!

Automatic download and install for game updates

4,243 Votes – Updated on 06/26
Xbox One now offers the ability to automatically install updates for consoles. You can set updates for the Xbox or games & apps separately by going to Settings > System > Updates and checking “Keep my console up to date” and “Keep my games & apps up to date.”

Tell me when my console has been updated!

3,839 Votes – Updated on 04/24
Your Xbox One will not provide a notification on the dashboard if your console has been updated. Selecting the notification will bring you to a description of new features. More information about console updates can be found here: http://support.xbox.com/xbox-one/console/system-update-operating-system

Family Timer that Enables Play Limitations for Child Accounts

2,988 Votes – Updated on 04/04
Parents who have child accounts can now set limitations on screen time for Xbox One! When signed into your parent account, go to http://microsoft.com/family to view and set limits for any child accounts.

Add a number value to commands like “Volume Up”and “Skip Forward”

2,002 Votes – Updated on 05/30
When you ask Cortana to turn the volume up or down, you can now add a number to the end, and say “Hey Cortana, turn the volume up 5” for a more accurate change. You can also ask Cortana to fast forward or rewind faster or slow by simply saying “faster” or “slower.” You can find more details about how to use Cortana here: https://support.xbox.com/xbox-one/console/cortana-voice-commands

Backward Compatibility

You can also find the list of Xbox 360 titles that we have completed in 2017, and vote for more titles to come in 2018! In just the last year, we’ve shipped 133 backward compatible titles for the Xbox One (not counting OG Xbox!). Here are the Top 10 (by vote count):

• Call of Duty: Black Ops II – 217,119 Votes
• GTA IV – 87,951 Votes
• Assassin’s Creed III – 68,447 Votes
• Halo 4 – 59,051 Votes
• Battlefield 3 – 58,038 Votes
• Halo 3 – 57,241 Votes
• Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood – 51,760 Votes
• Far Cry 3 – 47,450 Votes
• Batman: Arkham Origins – 47,191 Votes
• Saints Row: The Third – 45,012 Votes

2018

Since we launched Xbox Feedback in 2014, we’ve completed over 900 ideas, and satisfied over 4 million users who voted! We’re looking forward to continuing to implement your ideas, and sharing some exciting changes for Xbox Feedback in 2018. Thank you!

-Nathan

Holy shlamboly, it’s actually happened. Full Metal Furies is coming out… today! To finally give gamers the chance to play a labour of love that we’ve spent nearly four years making is tough to put into words.  There’s a lot of pride getting to this point, and while the journey getting here was far from smooth, in the end, it was totally worth it. We honestly hope you enjoy playing Full Metal Furies.

As the game approached release, we unveiled a lot of info about it and received a lot of feedback. One of the most interesting comments were from people who questioned whether Full Metal Furies even qualified as a brawler. It just seemed too unfamiliar to them, and outside what they expected from a traditional beat ’em up. At first, that question seemed very strange. We’ve always been working on a brawler, how could it suddenly not be one? But as time went by and we played the game more we started to feel, for better or for worse, that nothing played quite like FMF.

Our goal has always been clear: we wanted to modernize the brawler genre. Whether it was making minor updates to slightly broken systems, or wide-sweeping changes that drastically alter the genre’s landscape, we set out to achieve this by any means necessary. By taking this direction it’s only natural that we start to diverge from expectations and end up somewhere else entirely. At first, not calling FMF a brawler was a bit insulting, but now we realize that may have been one of the best compliments we could receive.

Now we embrace and actively promote the difference that Full Metal Furies embodies. In fact, we now call it an Action RPG. It’s less specific and avoids acting on people’s expectations. We’ve worked so hard to differentiate FMF from other brawlers that nothing would be worse than someone looking for an old-school brawler and being disappointed because our game isn’t one.

We’ve been making games for a while now, and even though Full Metal Furies marks our 9^th title, its development was still an experience full of firsts for us. It was our first true multiplayer game, our first game with online functionality, our first attempt at a brawler, and our first game with a heavy narrative. Actually, one of our biggest firsts was holding a secret. We’ve hinted at it before, but there’s another side to the game that we think is incredibly special. We don’t want to spoil it (and we hope reviews don’t spoil it!), so when people play the game, hopefully, they’re pleasantly surprised.

If you think the game is clearly a brawler, that’s perfect. We hope you recognize the changes we’ve made, and feel we’ve done the genre justice. If you think that it is something different, that’s great too. Our goal was always to be different, to show that brawlers don’t have to be button-mashy, linear affairs. Either way, we hope it’s a game you can just sit down to and enjoy. Thank you to all our fans who have been patiently waiting to play Full Metal Furies. We hope we don’t let you down.

Greetings, Cartographer. It is I, the Archaeologist, your creator, your companion, and fellow explorer of the Inverse. As you look at yourself, your wings and your fuselage, you may very well ask, “Can I be more than this?” The answer is yes, Cartographer. You absolutely can.

I have just developed the technology that will allow you to transfer your AI consciousness from your current airframe into another. A brilliant breakthrough, if I say so myself. I’m envious, I admit. I only have the one submarine.

Of course, I’ll need your help finding the parts to construct these new airframes for you. They can be found scattered across the Inverse, lost relics of technology from the Ancients who came before. Collect all that you can, for nothing gets an old archaeologists heart racing quite like an ancient relic.

Below, you can see the airframes I have planned for you, should you find the missing relics required to build them.

Now then, the time has come. The knowledge we gather will light the way. Take flight, Cartographer! As always, I’ll be right behind you.

– The Archaeologist

InnerSpace is available today on Xbox One and we hope you enjoy your journey into the Inverse. Hit us up on Twitter (@PolyKnightGames) to let us know which airframe is your favorite. Enjoy your flight!

InnerSpace Airframes

Ah, the trusty Piano. A balanced airframe that should suit your needs in any biome within the vast reaches of the Inverse. It’s constructed of metal that has a musical resonance. As you fly, you may notice a lovely sound emanating from your wings. Depending on the chamber you’re in, you may even notice a change in tone.

InnerSpace Airframes

In the open air, I’m not sure any other creature, drone, or demigod could keep up with you. Be careful if you take it indoors, though. I put so much into its pure speed, I had to sacrifice its ability to turn. You’ll need to master the drift maneuver to get through tight spaces. If you need to move quickly, this is the airframe you want.

InnerSpace Airframes

This airframe excels underwater. I’d challenge you to a race, but I doubt my submarine would stand a chance. You’ll notice you have a great deal of control at all speed. If the boost gets you into trouble, the brake should get you out of it.

InnerSpace Airframes

This is built from an exotic, impressive material I’ve never encountered before. I was able to grant you increased control in this airframe. You’ll find turning to be a breeze. Navigating the narrow mazes of the Inverse should prove to be much less difficult. It’s in the narrow spaces where we find the most relics. Always be searching!

Welcome to Next Week on Xbox where we bring you the latest details on upcoming games coming soon to Xbox One! This coming week we’ll get the console launch exclusive Full Metal Furies, the beautiful inner-planetary flying game InnerSpace, and a new graduate from the Xbox Game Preview program in Mutant Football League to name just a few. Read on below for more details on these games and more.

Games

January 16, 2018

InnerSpace is an exploration flying game set in a mind-bending world of inside-out planets called the Inverse. Soar through skies and oceans to discover the true history of this realm. Featuring a brilliant art style and soothing electronic musical score, InnerSpace delivers a thoughtful, provocative flying experience unlike any other.

Games

January 17, 2018

It’s Neo-San Francisco, 2064 AD. Your life as a struggling journalist is interrupted by the world’s first sapient machine, a ROM (Relationship and Organizational Manager) named Turing. Together, you and the quirky robot will encounter a colorful cast of locals and overcome challenges as you uncover the city’s secrets behind the overlapping futures of technology and humanity.

Games

January 17, 2018

Console Launch Exclusive From the team that brought you Rogue Legacy, it’s time to work together to defeat enemies, string together combos to deal massive damage, and save a war-torn world battling itself to extinction in Full Metal Furies. With an emphasis on team play and a unique combat system where everyone is important, party up on the couch with friends or online with up to four players.

Games

January 19, 2018

As a government-installed landlord in a totalitarian state, your job is to spy on tenants, peep into their lives, eavesdrop on their conversations and profile everyone to ensure laws are beyond obeyed. Subversion or breaking any of the laws of the state must be reported… but will you report them? Buy Beholder Complete Edition between January 19 and February 2 to receive Dear Esther Landmark Edition for free.

Games

January 19, 2018

Leaving Xbox Game Preview Taking inspiration from over-the-top sports games like NFL Blitz , Mutant Football League (MFL) is the bloody-fun, next-gen, successor to arcade-style American football games. Featuring deep strategic 7-on-7 gameplay, bone-crunching, tooth-shattering, head splitting hits, and a roster of comical ghouls delivering tongue-through-cheek humor.

Games

January 19, 2018

A first-person story-driven mystery game focused on exploration and discovery, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter will place you in the shoes of Paul Prospero, an occult-minded detective, who aims to uncover the mystery behind a trail of corpses and a dark ancient force lurking within Red Creek Valley.

Games

January 19, 2018

Explore the ruins of humanity in this mesmerizing underwater action-adventure. As the sub-aquatic spaceship Argo9, discover thriving wildlife, monstrous beasts, and let curiosity guide you through a voyage of extinction across a frozen planet Earth thousands of years in the future.

Games

January 19, 2018

Join Vesta as she explores 36 levels full of obstacles and enemy robots in this unique action adventure game. She’ll need her brains and her faithful robot companion’s power to traverse this varied landscape to solve the numerous puzzles in her path and fight to survive.

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!

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds Passes 3 Million Players on Xbox One
Since PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) launched on Xbox One through the Xbox Game Preview program, it’s been awesome to see the excitement and passion on display from the Xbox community. Whether you’re streaming in the HypeZone on Mixer or battling for a chicken dinner with your squad, players on Xbox are helping build and improve the game on console. Today, PUBG Corp. and Xbox are excited to share that through the end of 2017 the PUBG community on Xbox One has already grown to over three million players… Read more

Xbox Play Anywhere Title Little Triangle Arrives February 7, Available to Pre-order Today
Finally, after more than two years of hard work, it’s with great excitement and nervousness that we’re glad to announce that Little Triangle, a game from Shanghai, will officially be released as an Xbox Play Anywhere game on February 7 — and you can pre-order it today! Little Triangle is a polished, fun to play platformer that also features a mini battle royale mode. The game offers more than 60 cute and funny triangle skins, countless NPCs, a bunch of bosses, and amusing level… Read more

Play Halo 5: Guardians for Free This Weekend with Xbox Live Gold
Halo 5: Guardians, the most expansive Halo game ever released, will be free for Xbox Live Gold members from Thursday, January 11 at 12:01 a.m. PST until Sunday, January 14 at 10:59 p.m. PST. During this time, players can download the game and experience the latest chapter in the Halo saga spanning multiple worlds and a journey that will change the course of history and the future of mankind. Fans can enjoy this grand campaign solo or with up to three friends via online co-op… Read more

Puzzle Platformer Albert & Otto Available Now on Xbox One
I am super excited to finally see Albert & Otto make it on Xbox One. This game was my first entry into the world of video game development, so the mechanics and puzzles evolved over time rather than being designed from the start by an experienced developer, which I think gives it a unique feel. Originally a filmmaker, I was always fond of telling stories and I continue to be surprised at how similarly powerful the two mediums are… Read more

Sea of Thieves Closed Beta Coming January 24-29!
Happy New Year, everyone! We’re back working hard on Sea of Thieves after the holidays and a December chock-full of announcements. We revealed March 20 as our launch date and made a star of an unsuspecting chicken with a swashbuckling trailer, kicked off pre-orders, revealed how you progress through the world of Sea of Thieves, and showed off our haunting Limited Edition controller. All that and we hosted our biggest ever Technical Alpha play session… Read more

Uncover the Sci-Fi Mystery of The Station on Xbox One and Windows 10 Next Month
Hi everyone! I’m incredibly excited about our upcoming launch of The Station on Xbox One and Windows 10 on February 20. To give more insight into the experience, we pulled our most commonly asked questions we’re receiving on our social channels, like our Twitter account @TheStationGame. What’s the premise of The Station? The Station is a first-person mystery game set on a space station that was sent to study a sentient alien civilization… Read more

Dragon Ball FighterZ Open Beta Coming January 14 to Xbox One
Hello again, fellow FighterZ! We hope you’ve been keeping your fighting skills sharp because on January 26 they will be put to the test when Dragon Ball FighterZ is unleashed on Xbox One. Before the release of the game, we’ll bring you an Open Beta to hone those Kamehamehas and Destructo-Discs. Here are the details of the Dragon Ball FighterZ Open Beta…. Read more

Hello again, fellow FighterZ!

We hope you’ve been keeping your fighting skills sharp because on January 26 they will be put to the test when Dragon Ball FighterZ is unleashed on Xbox One. Before the release of the game, we’ll bring you an Open Beta to hone those Kamehamehas and Destructo-Discs.

Here are the details of the Dragon Ball FighterZ Open Beta:

When

Early Access to the Open Beta will be available for those who pre-ordered the game digitally from the Microsoft Store, starting on Saturday, January 13 at 12:00 a.m. PST. You can pre-load the Open Beta client starting on January 12 at 9:00 p.m. PST. You will need to download an additional DLC item in order to get in. Please search the storefront for “DBFighterzBETA” to find “Dragon Ball FighterZ Open Beta Early Access.” Download this DLC to activate your Early Access to the Open Beta.

The Open Beta will start on Sunday, January 14 at 12:00 a.m. PST and run for 48 hours, ending on Monday, January 15 at 11:59 p.m. PST.

Where

You can download the Dragon Ball FighterZ Open Beta from the Microsoft Store via Xbox Live.

What

Here’s all the content you can expect in the open beta:

• World Match
• Battle Tutorial
• Rankings
• Replay Channel
• Stamps (Limited Set)
• Lobby Avatar customization (Limited Customization)
• 7 Stages
• 11 Characters: SS Goku, SS Vegeta, Gohan (Adult), Frieza, Cell, Kid Buu, Krilin, Picolo, Nappa, Android 18, and Beerus
• 2 dramatic scenes that can occur before or after fights between Goku and Frieza under certain circumstances

Oh, you want some more info on Dragon Ball FighterZ? Let’s talk about some of the different modes available in the full game:

Arcade Mode

Fight waves upon waves of enemy teams to get the highest rank. You can ascend three different courses: the Snake Way, the Extreme Gravity Spaceship, and the Hyperbolic Time Chamber course. Each course will feature battles with a wide variety of enemy teams. Your route in each course is determined by your score in the previous battle. If your score is high enough, you can advance one rank above your previous one. Otherwise, you’ll continue a route of the same or lower rank. Your score after clearing the last stage determines your rank. If it’s your highest yet, it will be recorded as your best score. Once you’ve completed a course, you’ll gain access to hard mode.

Story Mode

In story mode, you’ll be traversing three original story arcs. As you progress, you’ll learn the basics of combat and help your characters get stronger, so this is the perfect place to begin your journey. During your travels, you’ll encounter old friends and deadly new foes. Encountering a boss will advance the storyline and rescuing an ally will grant you new playable characters. You can also increase your Link Level with your allies. The higher the Link Level, the stronger your allies become. When it reaches a certain point, you’ll see special Link Event cutscenes, so keep fighting on! Some characters will have unique dialog if they’re fighting alongside specific teammates. Try to group as many different characters together as possible for different conversations among your squad. You can leave and come back to the story mode whenever you like.

That’s all the info we have for now. We hope you’re ready to experience the next level of fighting games in Dragon Ball FighterZ on Xbox One January 26!

The Xbox Insider Program had a great 2017, and we have even more great content planned for 2018. For newcomers and experienced Xbox Insiders, we’d like to go over a few tips for participating in playtests and previews through the Xbox Insider Program.

Join a Playtest or Preview via the Xbox Insider Hub

To join a playtest or preview, launch the Xbox Insider Hub and navigate to Insider content from the side menu.

Insider content displays all playtests and previews you’re eligible to participate in. At minimum you’ll always find Xbox Insider Program (which you’re automatically enrolled in) and Xbox One Update Preview (where you can register to preview system updates) in Insider content.

TIP: If you’re confident you meet the requirements for a playtest or preview and it isn’t displayed in Insider content, ensure you’re signed in to the Xbox Insider Hub with the correct Gamertag.

When you select a playtest or preview, it opens a details page where you can Join. After joining, content will appear (if available) in the tabs at the top of the details page. View Announcements, participate in Quests or Surveys, and read about bugs under Known issues.

The content that displays on the details page is always specific to the playtest or preview, while the content appearing on the Xbox Insider Hub’s landing page is from all previews and playtests you’ve registered for.

TIP: Quick Polls do not appear on the details page and are accessible by selecting Quick poll from the side menu on the Xbox Insider Hub landing page.

If for any reason you’d like to unenroll from a playtest or preview, return to the details page and select Manage (which replaces the Join button). From the available options, select Unenroll, then select Done.

TIP: For certain games and apps, after unenrolling it may be necessary to uninstall/reinstall the game or app to revert to the current public version.

FAQs

My friend has access to a playtest or preview, why don’t I?
Each playtest or preview has different requirements. Xbox Insiders will see different content on the Insider content page based on what they’re eligible to participate in.

How do I get access to more playtests and previews?
Participate in the Xbox Insider Program and earn XP; Xbox Insiders with the most XP often receive first access to new playtests and previews. Some playtests and previews may also have other requirements, such as signing up through a website, or participating in the Xbox One Update Preview. In addition, it’s a good idea to check the Xbox Insider Blog for more information about upcoming opportunities.

How can I earn XP to be eligible for more playtests and previews?
Complete Quests, Surveys, Quick Polls, and Ratings in the Xbox Insider Hub. A great way to earn fast XP is to join the Xbox One Update Preview, where you can rate system updates and participate in Quests or Surveys for new console features.