Category: Xbox News

Announcing Warhammer Skulls, the annual festival of all things Warhammer video gaming, is returning Wednesday, June 1 and running for 7 days!

To kick off the launch, there will be a special Xbox specific Warhammer Skulls Showcase live streamed to Xbox’s Twitch and YouTube channels on Wednesday, June 1 at 10 a.m. PDT / -6 p.m. BST, introduced by none other than Clive Standen, the voice of Titus in the upcoming Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2. The showcase will feature world premieres, reveals, and announcements from leading studios and titles including Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, Warhammer Vermintide 2, plus Windows PC and PC Game Pass games Total War: Warhammer III and Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector.

As well as the Warhammer Skulls Showcase, the festival will also provide new content and updates to fan favourite games and will feature weeklong discounts and promotions on Warhammer video games across Xbox and Windows online stores.

Skulls will be happening on Xbox in a big way. Along with new content for Vermintide 2 and Battlesector with the brand new Necrons faction DLC, there’ll be news on Warhammer 40,000: Darktide too which is coming day one with Xbox Game Pass, PC Game Pass, and Cloud Gaming. There’s also going to be a weekend-long Free Play Days takeover celebration – with Mechanicus, Vermintide 2, and Chaosbane all available to try for free over the weekend for Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members.

Like Xbox, Windows Store is also massively into Skulls with great discounts and new releases, including Warhammer 40,000: Lost Crusade launching and new content and updates to games such as Warhammer: Chaos and Conquest, Horus Heresy: Legions and Warhammer Combat Cards. You can find it all on the dedicated Warhammer Skulls page on Windows Store come June 1.

Now in its 6th year it is the ultimate festival of Warhammer video games. Be sure to join us on the Xbox Twitch channel and Xbox YouTube, and right back here on Xbox Wire for all the news, excitement and reveals on Wednesday, June 1 at 10 a.m. PDT / 6 p.m. BST.

The team at Redstart Interactive recently launched two new games: grapple-heavy platformer Get-A-Grip Chip and its edutainment successor Get-A-Grip Chip and the Body Bugs, on the Xbox One X|S and Xbox Series X|S.

Double the fun by getting both games: first, explore Roboco Mfg. and save Chip’s robotic friends from impending doom by grappling your way through a suspiciously unsafe factory in Get-A-Grip Chip; then flex those grappling skills while you explore every nook and cranny of your gooey digestive system in Get-A-Grip Chip and the Body Bugs – free for anyone who purchases Get-A-Grip Chip.

More about Get-A-Grip Chip and the Body Bugs

Trusty grappling robot Chip is sent into the body as a synthetic cell whose mission is to rally the body’s own white blood cells. Together they can fight off the Body Bugs and get things flowing again. The Body Bugs are your classic allergens, bacteria, and viruses. Find all three and take them out before they take over your body!

Body Bugs was created in partnership between Redstart Interactive and Games for Change to bring an educational spin to Get-A-Grip Chip. The team brought teachers and game designers together to create a new world to explore, three new bosses to chase down, and a series of bonus levels that take place in Chip’s highly advanced microprocessing mind. You’ll need to connect the digestive knowledge that the white blood cells are storing in Chip’s brain to activate new areas: the more white blood cells you connect, the more flow your body will experience, but you’ll also need to maneuver around increasingly intricate intestinal hazards. It may sound gross, but Chip makes microscopic immuno-combat look good!

Traverse the entire digestive system, starting in the mouth, plunging down into the esophagus, dodging the acidic pits of the stomach, and flying high through the intestines. If you get that far, you know how this ends… It’s gooey and it’s dangerous, but the depths of your digestive tract is Chip’s happy place.

Get-A-Grip Chip and the Body Bugs is available now on Xbox One X|S and Xbox Series X|S for free with Get-A-Grip Chip, or $2.99 as a standalone title.

Check out Get-A-Grip Chip,and Body Bugs, both on the Xbox store. For more information about the Get-A-Grip Chip universes, visit the official website.

Get-A-Grip Chip and the Body Bugs

Redstart Interactive

☆☆☆☆☆ 2

★★★★★

$2.99 $2.39

Xbox One X Enhanced

Get Digested with Get-A-Grip Chip and the Body Bugs
Unclog your insides with a new form of medicine, the synthetic white blood cell, Get-A-Grip Chip. Traverse the digestive system to wake your dormant white blood cells to help fight off the Body Bugs. When piloting Chip, you can’t jump, but you can sail over pits of bodily fluids, battle the Body Bugs invading your insides, and unlock the knowledge hidden in the body’s white blood cells that Chip needs to get things flowing again! Fun to Master — Even More Fun to Learn
Chip moves side-to-side, grapples to anchor points, and then launches off of them – in addition, Chip learns! To clean out the insides, Chip must build understanding on the escalating complexity of the digestive system’s parts and functions. You’ll build a truly masterful degree of knowledge and dexterity through the digestive system. Scoop Out Secret Cells
Survive the onslaught of bodily fluids and you’ll be rewarded with an army of neurons and white blood cells to get the digestive system flowing again. The more cells you seek, the sooner they’ll unlock new levels, bringing Chip closer to the ultimate goal: re-opening the digestive system and sploosh! Take Over the Leaderboards Compete with your friends to take over the game’s arcade-style leaderboards! Hook, launch, and dodge your way through all twelve areas of the digestive system to get your initials on the top times of each leaderboard.

In the days leading up to Dolmen‘s release today on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S, we had the opportunity to talk in more detail with the community about the choices we made on this project. One of the most interesting and controversial points, given the number of opinions we found, was the decision to implement a multiplayer mode only available for boss fights.

At first one might think that this choice is a safe way out or that it would require less work on the part of developers, but this is not the case. When we’re talking about a horror game, one of the most important elements that needs to be considered is loneliness. This feeling is a commonly used catalyst to amplify a person’s fear and apprehension.

Imagine, for example, that you hear a strange noise in your home while eating dinner with your family. It’s concerning for sure, but hearing those strange noises at home when alone is even worse, and real fear begins to set in. The same thing applies to horror games. Venturing into an alien, hostile world with strange creatures, sounds and events can be scary, but when that same adventure is done with three friends, the immersion and fear is suppressed, and it becomes a walk in the park – especially if they’re a much higher level than you and decked out in epic equipment!

Wouldn’t it be easier, then, to simply take out multiplayer and make the experience a true test of resilience and skill? Well, yes, that would be easier for sure… but it wouldn’t be good.

One of the things we learned years ago during an Xbox meeting at the BGS (Brazil Game Show) was the importance of creating a community around our projects. Xbox, as part of Microsoft, has a policy that aims not only to offer services, but to create inclusion and interactions that are healthy for everyone.

Keeping blogs, partnerships with journalists, developers, professional players, distributors, representatives and, of course, multiplayer games, are examples of how to bring people together. What would basketball or football be if they couldn’t be broadcast to a much larger audience than the one playing? What would these sports be if there were no competition and collaboration between players? Likewise, what would the gaming industry be if they weren’t multiplayer games to help build amazing communities around them?

We embraced this concept and thank Xbox for sharing this vision. We hope to contribute to the growth of the community without diminishing the horror to come in Revion Prime. See you soon!

Dolmen

Prime Matter

☆☆☆☆☆ 26

★★★★★

Dolmen casts players onto a hostile alien world known as Revion Prime.
Your job? Bring back samples of a crystal with particularly unique properties; the so-called “”Dolmen””.
These crystals are capable of allowing interaction between realities, revolutionising space exploration and changing the known world forever. DYNAMIC COMBAT
In Dolmen you will grow stronger with each battle!
Experience a rich combat system with various weapons and moves at your disposal.
Switch natively between melee and ranged combat to overcome the most challenging enemies Revion Prime has to offer. ENERGY MODE
Energy management is key to victory in Dolmen.
Energy is not only used for ranged weapons, but also for activating “”Energy Mode””. “”Energy Mode”” imbues your melee weapons with elemental status effects, letting you take full advantage of your enemy’s weaknesses. DISCOVER A MYSTERIOUS PLANET
A devastated, darkly beautiful world is waiting to be explored.
Will you find all the secrets that Revion Prime has to offer? Or will this cruel world push you to the brink of death? A CHALLENGE AWAITS
Surviving is the last thing this world wants you to do.
Will you see your timeline erased or will you overcome the challenge that awaits you? ENCOUNTER GRUESOME BOSSES
Revion Prime offers a plethora of gruesome monstrosities that will put your skills to the test.”

It takes a strong stomach to face the monster in Vesper’s second Mirror of Mystery, available now in Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands! Trouble is brewing as Imelda, the Sand Witch, unleashes her latest culinary creation — a potion that imbues her with a voracious appetite (and fearsome strength to boot).

To disrupt her devious dinner party, you’ll need to retrace her steps, collecting ingredients for her latest recipe while trouncing shrooms, crabs, and the skeletal Gingerdead! Prepare to pepper baddies with bullets, flambé your foes with fireballs, and sink your teeth into a feast of chaotic fantasy combat!

Four Weeks of Boss Battles and New Loot

As with the other Mirrors of Mystery, Glutton’s Gamble can give you a chance to face a more difficult dungeon and farm higher-tier loot to help you complete the main story. By gaining access to Glutton’s Gamble, either through individual purchase or owning the Season Pass (sold separately and as part of the Chaotic Great Edition), you can test your mettle with this challenging, replayable gauntlet while Vesper shares the self-contained story of Imelda’s origins.

Vesper and her Mirrors of Mystery are in the Dreamveil Overlook, just outside of Brighthoof in the Overworld. The enemies within have a baseline level of 13, and will scale to your Fatemaker’s level beyond that, making the Mirrors of Mystery a worthy, repeatable endeavor whether you’re still early on in your Fatemaker’s quest or you’ve forged yourself in the flames of the most difficult Chaos Levels. But tread carefully, because dying within a Mirror of Mystery will kick you out of the looking glass; you’ll have to start over if you want to show Imelda who’s boss.

For three consecutive weeks following the launch of Glutton’s Gamble, Imelda will cook up a new potion transforming her into an ever-more voracious beast! With each progressively tougher form, new Legendary gear will be added to the loot table, giving you good reason to return for some rematches. Those new items are in addition to the wide array of fresh cosmetic items you can collect, whether as random drops from enemies within the Mirrors of Mystery or when spinning Vesper’s Wheel of Fate using the Lost Souls you’ve collected during your mirror-dimension battles.

Below is a planned schedule for when Imelda takes on new, deadlier forms, along with the planned loot additions for each difficulty level (dates and times subject to change). You’ll have to beat each form consecutively, even if you’re playing Glutton’s Gamble after the following dates have passed. Vesper will reveal unique insight into Imelda’s motives with each difficulty level; beat all four to hear the full story.

• First Form: May 19 at 9:30 a.m. PT
  • New Garlic Breath Legendary spell and Precious Jamstone Legendary ring
• Second Form: May 26 at 9:30 a.m. PT
  • New Salt and Battery Legendary melee weapon and Lich’s Augur Legendary ward
• Third Form: June 2 at 9:30 a.m. PT
  • New Boltlash Legendary spell and Miasmic Chainmail Legendary armor
• Final Form: June 9 at 9:30 a.m. PT
  • Two new Legendary guns (Oil & Spice and Butterboom) and Barboload Legendary amulet

If you can successfully complete Glutton’s Gamble at least once, its five unique level layouts and the Imelda boss fight will be added to the pool of Chaos Chamber possibilities for even more endgame dungeon variety. Combined with the ongoing series of limited-time mini-events and weekly Featured Runs that are constantly being added to Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, there’s lots to be gained from besting Imelda’s new forms each week. Good luck defeating Imelda and her cauldron full of culinary chaos!

Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands: Glutton’s Gamble

2K

☆☆☆☆☆ 107

★★★★★

It takes a strong stomach to face the monster in Vesper’s second Mirror of Mystery! Trouble is brewing as Imelda, Witch of the Sand, unleashes her latest culinary creation—a potion that imbues her with a voracious appetite (and fearsome strength to boot). To disrupt her devious dinner party, you’ll need to retrace her steps, collecting ingredients for her latest recipe while trouncing shrooms, crabs, and the skeletal Gingerdead. Prepare to pepper baddies with bullets, flambé your foes with fireballs, and sink your teeth into a feast of chaotic fantasy combat!
• New boss Imelda, Witch of the Sand, with four powerful forms that unlock over time
• New loot to collect, including weapons, gear, and cosmetic items
• Additional environments that, once beaten, can show up in the randomized endgame dungeons of the Chaos Chamber Access to Glutton’s Gamble and other Mirror of Mystery content is granted by the Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands Season Pass or individual purchase. The Season Pass itself is included in the Chaotic Great Edition and can also be purchased separately.

Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands: Season Pass

2K

☆☆☆☆☆ 458

★★★★★

Take on outlandish new challenges with the Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands Season Pass! Delve into four distinct dungeons and battle formidable bosses within. Discover all-new weapons and gear, wield the power of an additional seventh class included with the fourth dungeon, and rock the cosmetics of the Butt Stallion Pack! On the outskirts of Brighthoof lies the eerie Dreamveil Overlook, where the enigmatic, affable fortune teller Vesper awaits an audience. Peer into her Mirrors of Mystery and you’ll be whisked away to illusionary environments with fearsome new boss encounters, fighting for your life as Vesper regales you with fantastical fables. Each time you successfully vanquish the boss’ increasingly powerful forms, you’ll earn Lost Souls that let you spin Vesper’s Wheel of Fate, rewarding you with Legendary weapons and gear, as well as unique cosmetics. Completing a story also adds its contents to the pool of possibilities in the Chaos Chamber, the endlessly replayable endgame of Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands! – Fight your way through four replayable dungeons, guided by the mysterious Vesper
– Create even more Multiclass combinations with an additional seventh class, complete with two fresh Action Skills and a unique skill tree
– Test your skills against new boss encounters with scaling difficulty and optional challenges
– Collect a bevy of new Legendary weapons, gear, and cosmetic items
– Expand the pool of randomized content and rewards in the Chaos Chamber endgame mode
– Flaunt the cosmetics included in the Butt Stallion Pack: – Diamond Guard Armor Presets (3 items) – Crystal Glitter Makeup Pack (5 items) – Adamant Throne Banner Set (2 items) – Diamond Hero Statue Material

Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands

2K

☆☆☆☆☆ 262

★★★★★

Embark on an epic adventure full of whimsy, wonder, and high-powered weaponry! Bullets, magic, and broadswords collide across this chaotic fantasy world brought to life by the unpredictable Tiny Tina.
Roll your own multiclass hero and loot, shoot, slash, and cast your way through outlandish monsters and loot-filled dungeons on a quest to stop the tyrannical Dragon Lord. Everyone’s welcome, so join the party, throw on your adventuring boots, and be Chaotic Great! AN UNPREDICTABLE FANTASY WORLD
Tiny Tina is your disorderly guide through an extraordinary tabletop realm where rules rarely apply. Explore a vast overworld spanning majestic cities, dank mushroom forests, foreboding fortresses, and more! GUNS, SPELLS, AND MORE
Blast baddies with powerful guns and devastating spells in frenetic first-person battles. Use your firepower to vanquish legions of enemies, including smack-talking skeletons, land-roaming sharks, and colossal bosses. Then delve deeper into dangerous dungeons for a shot at epic loot! PARTY UP TO DEFEAT EVIL
Joining you at the table are headstrong captain Valentine and rule-obsessed robot Frette. During your quest to defeat the Dragon Lord, you’ll meet a cast of lovable misfits like a lute-wielding Bardbarian and your very own Fairy Punchfather. PERSONALIZE YOUR HERO
Create the perfect hero with deep customization, including a multiclass system that lets you mix and match six unique character skill trees, all with their own awesome abilities. Level up, refine your build, expand your arsenal, and become the ultimate adventurer. BAND TOGETHER IN CHAOTIC CO-OP
Enjoy the story solo or start a party with up to three friends in seamless online multiplayer or local split-screen. Share the spoils or rush to get the shiniest loot—how you play is up to you!

Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands: Chaotic Great Edition

2K

☆☆☆☆☆ 898

★★★★★

Embark on an epic adventure full of whimsy, wonder, and high-powered weaponry! Bullets, magic, and broadswords collide across this chaotic fantasy world brought to life by the unpredictable Tiny Tina.
Roll your own multiclass hero and loot, shoot, slash, and cast your way through outlandish monsters and loot-filled dungeons on a quest to stop the tyrannical Dragon Lord. Everyone’s welcome, so join the party, throw on your adventuring boots, and be Chaotic Great! This Edition Includes:
-Full Game
-Optimized for Xbox Series X|S
-Show off your evil side with the Dragon Lord Pack Bonus Content!
-Season Pass AN UNPREDICTABLE FANTASY WORLD
Tiny Tina is your disorderly guide through an extraordinary tabletop realm where rules rarely apply. Explore a vast overworld spanning majestic cities, dank mushroom forests, foreboding fortresses, and more! GUNS, SPELLS, AND MORE
Blast baddies with powerful guns and devastating spells in frenetic first-person battles. Use your firepower to vanquish legions of enemies, including smack-talking skeletons, land-roaming sharks, and colossal bosses. Then delve deeper into dangerous dungeons for a shot at epic loot! PARTY UP TO DEFEAT EVIL
Joining you at the table are headstrong captain Valentine and rule-obsessed robot Frette. During your quest to defeat the Dragon Lord, you’ll meet a cast of lovable misfits like a lute-wielding Bardbarian and your very own Fairy Punchfather. PERSONALIZE YOUR HERO
Create the perfect hero with deep customization, including a multiclass system that lets you mix and match six unique character skill trees, all with their own awesome abilities. Level up, refine your build, expand your arsenal, and become the ultimate adventurer. BAND TOGETHER IN CHAOTIC CO-OP
Enjoy the story solo or start a party with up to three friends in seamless online multiplayer or local split-screen. Share the spoils or rush to get the shiniest loot—how you play is up to you!

Hi everyone! Today, we’ve pleased to announce that Deadcraft is available worldwide on your Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S consoles!

Coming from Marvelous’ First Studio, creators of Daemon x Machina, Deadcraft is a new deadly and daring game where you must farm the dead to stay alive!

In Deadcraft, you take on the role of Reid, a half-human, half-zombie protagonist, as you slice through hordes of foes on a quest for righteous vengeance. You must wield inhuman powers to fend off enemies while fighting to stay alive in the wasteland.

In your quest, you must build fantastical new armaments, conjure curious concoctions, or even grow and harvest your own zombie soldiers to stand by your side against whatever the apocalypse throws at you.

Collect and plant the corpses of your enemies to grow your very own undead workers, and scrap and scavenge for materials to create an unholy amalgamation of survival items that will keep you and your zombie army going!

Help out other survivors to learn new abilities and recipes or take what you want by shaking down a local and getting money and supplies to keep you going. Use your death-defying powers but take care to maintain your humanity as you searching through the apocalyptic chaos for an ally and exact justice on those who seek to capture you.

Deadcraft is available today for Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S so go out there and start your zombie adventure, but remember in order to stay alive, you’ll need to take full advantage of the dead!

DEADCRAFT

Marvelous Inc.

☆☆☆☆☆ 18

★★★★★

$24.99 $22.49

*The main game is also included in the Deluxe Edition. Please be careful not to purchase the same product twice. Welcome to DEADCRAFT, a new twist on the zombie survival-action genre! In a world ravaged by a deadly virus, half-zombie Reid must survive not only by taking an axe, weedwhacker— anything he can get his hands on—to hordes of the undead, but by growing some zombie followers of his own. Choose your allies and enemies wisely as you try to make it through the apocalypse alive! ■Undead Action
Use Reid’s half-zombie side to unleash devastating powers in battle. Whether your targets are human or undead, crush all who stand in your way! ■Zombie Crafting
Collect and plant the corpses of your enemies to grow your very own zombie workers, then scavenge for materials to create all manner of weapons, tools—even some post-apocalyptic cuisine. Don’t stop until you’ve built an unstoppable undead army! ■Survival at Any Cost
You won’t survive a day in the wasteland without food and water—earn your living by helping others, or simply take what you want by force.

Rabbids: Party of Legends brings the Rabbids back in a new multiplayer party game, coming to Xbox One on June 30. After an accidental spin in their washing machine, the Rabbids are transported to a world inspired by Chinese legends, where you can join them on a hilarious journey full of chaos and colorful characters as they try to find a way to return home.

Developed by Ubisoft Chengdu, Rabbids: Party of Legends marks the Rabbids’ return to party games, offering up a light-hearted experience that is fun for the whole family. Up to four local players can join in on the action with a multitude of madcap minigames or a journey through incredible lands with Adventure Mode. The game can be played solo or multiplayer: choose 2v2 or make it a wild free-for-all!

Team up and face off across 50 mini-games where you can strike silly poses, topple your opponents, chow down on chili peppers, or show off your best dance moves. Plus, you can build custom playlists of your favorite minigames to produce the perfect party night.

You can also go beyond Party Mode and take part in an epic quest with the Monkey King and his cohorts across four story-driven chapters. Playing this Adventure Mode will unlock new playable characters, mini-games, and collectable treasure items.

With intuitive controls and customizable difficulty levels, anyone can get in on the action! As fun to watch as it is to play, Rabbids: Party of Legends will take game nights to mythical levels.

Get ready for an exciting adventure with Rabbids: Party of Legends, available on June 30 on Xbox One (and available on Xbox Series X|S via backward compatibility).

Rabbids®: Party of Legends

UBISOFT

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

Embark on a legendary journey with the Rabbids in this hilarious party game! Join them on an incredible quest, filled with hilarious moments! Gather with friends and family and enjoy a multitude of ridiculously fun mini-games in the most epic Rabbids party yet. – Jump into multiplayer mayhem with up to four players locally.
– Team up and face off across 50 fun mini-games.
– Build a custom playlist of your favorite mini-games.
– Anyone can get in on the action with customizable difficulty levels and intuitive controls.
– Discover a legendary story filled with colorful characters, played across four chapters.

Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) is a great time to bring visibility to the importance of digital access and inclusion and to celebrate the over 400 million players with disabilities playing and creating across the globe. Today, I am excited to share some of the work Team Xbox has done in partnership with the disability community, to bring the power of play and connection to more people. For it is only when we all come together, are intentional about our focus on accessibility throughout the year, and push for more representation in our games and people creating them, that we can truly make Xbox a place where everyone can have fun and experience the joy of gaming. To us this means,

• Foster inclusive communities, connections, and support. Gaming has the power to bring people together and share experiences they may not have otherwise had. We want to make it easy to find and connect with a community, to partner with game creators so you can influence the next game and to provide support on accessibility features.
• Enable accessible design and development. Including accessibility and partnering with the disability community from the start of a project results in experiences that more people can enjoy. But sometimes it is hard to know where to start or what resources to consider. We want to make it easy to include and understand gaming accessibility by sharing what we learn, so that we and others can do more.
• Continual investment in accessibility. Accessibility features help players with disabilities play, create, and connect in their own way. We are committed to continually innovating and partnering with the community to consistently deliver accessibility features and innovation into our products, games, and services.

Nothing should come between players and the games they love, which is why we are dedicated to finding accessibility solutions that help eliminate barriers to play and make it easier to connect with others. In celebration of Global Accessibility Awareness Day, Xbox is thrilled to share some ways players can connect with the community and creators, new resources for game creators and more accessibility features available for players.

Join us in celebrating GAAD and celebrating the creators and players with disabilities that are part of our community.

Foster Inclusive Communities, Connections, and Support

Minecraft: Education Edition Accessibility

New this month, BuildAbility launches in Minecraft: Education Edition, a new accessibility themed world made in collaboration with the Peel District School Board in Ontario, Canada. Students explore barriers experienced by people with disabilities by meeting an array of characters who reflect our real world and learn how to identify and eliminate accessibility barriers in their school and community. The Minecraft learning experience promotes inclusive design thinking and problem solving rooted in empathy and social emotional learning. Check out full details on the new Minecraft: Education Edition world.

American Sign Language (ASL) Xbox Twitch Channel

We have launched an American Sign Language (ASL) Xbox channel on Twitch at /XboxASL! Every day, the Xbox Plays team goes live on the Xbox Twitch channel, playing the latest and greatest titles from the world of Xbox. In April, they, in partnership with Sorenson, a communications company with the largest interpreter base in the world, launched a new ASL Xbox channel featuring interpretation for approximately 25 hours of livestreams each week. Visit the new channel here and learn more about Xbox’s partnership with Sorenson here. 

Xbox Accessibility Insider League (XAIL) + Windows Insider Program partnership

The Xbox Accessibility Insider League (XAIL), which has grown to more than 163K members since its launch last May, is a streamlined way anyone who self-identifies as a person with disability or ally can provide accessibility feedback directly to Xbox engineering or game development teams. The Xbox team is now partnering with the Windows Insider Program to share new accessibility features in Windows 11 preview builds. We encourage XAIL members with Windows 11 to check this out and provide feedback! Get started today by joining XAIL and watch for announcements via the Xbox Insider Hub on Xbox or PC.

Enable Accessible Design and Development

Xbox Accessibility Guidelines (XAGs) 3.0 Update including new mental health guidelines

Based off community and developer feedback, the latest Xbox Accessibility Guidelines (XAGs) update published this month includes a brand new mental health guideline, in addition to guidance on reducing motion sickness, on-screen text legibility, contrast and input guidelines. New examples and implementation details have also been updated in this release.

New Gaming Accessibility Resource Hub

In partnership the Gaming and Disability community and subject matter experts at Unity, Unreal & Coherent, the Gaming Accessibility Resource Hub recently launched providing an extensive resource of gaming accessibility guidance in one spot. Covering training, talks, testing tools, and popular game engines, this resource was created to help game creators in all stages of their game’s accessibility journey. Content will be updated regularly in partnership with the community.

Gaming Accessibility Fundamentals Learning Path

Launched in November 2021, the Gaming Accessibility Fundamentals Learning path is a free 5-module course that introduces a wide array of topics, including basic accessibility fundamentals, how to collaborate with the disability community, assistive hardware and software technologies and best practices for developing gaming hardware. The course was designed for those who are new to learning about game accessibility, and when finished, participants get a badge to celebrate their newfound knowledge. Go earn your badge today and share on social to celebrate GAAD2022!

Continual Investment in Accessibility for Players

Making it easier to find accessible games

Last fall, Xbox announced the addition of Accessibility Feature Tags for games in the Xbox Store, making it easier for players to find games that have one or more of the 20 accessibility tags that were defined in partnership with the disability community and user research. Now with over 400 titles tagged and over 100 with 5 or more tags, we are excited to share players can now search and then filter by one or more tags to find their next game! This feature was based on community feedback, and we look forward to continuing to incorporate suggestions in the future.

Console and platform accessibility features

Console and platform accessibility features make it easier to play by creating customization for your gameplay experience. Over the past few months this has included features like Console Silent UI to mute additional audio, ability to remap the share button to over 22 commands, and ability to increase size and add tooltips for remapping on the Xbox Adaptive Controller, which is especially helpful if a user has shift buttons remapped on the controller.

Forza Horizon 5 – Addition of ASL/BSL and other accessibility features

In partnership with the disability community, Playground Games added American Sign Language (ASL) and British Sign Language (BSL) support into Forza Horizon 5’s in-game cinematics. The team leveraged the Xbox Accessibility Guidelines and feedback from the disability community to incorporate additional accessibility features in Forza Horizon 5 including game speed modifications, high contrast mode, color blindness mode, screen reader narrator, ability to disable moving backgrounds and more. For more information check out the accessibility features in Forza Horizon 5.

Play. Connect. Impact.

Xbox is proud to celebrate Global Accessibility Awareness Day and will continue to support the power of play and make gaming accessible and welcoming to everyone. Today we share one example of how we are supporting the community and how you can too.

Play Forza Horizon 5 to Earn and Donate Microsoft Rewards Points

During the month of May, earn Microsoft Rewards points by unlocking any achievement in Forza Horizon 5. Use the Microsoft Rewards app on Xbox to claim the rewards with the option to donate them to SpecialEffect, an organization that supports people with physical disabilities through the innovative use of technology, and Players Outreach, who empowers hospitalized children through video games.

A whole new branch makes its appearance as early access ships. European destroyers sport powerful torpedoes and solid artillery, along with Repair Party consumable starting from Tier IV, thus compensating for the lack of Smoke Generator. Lead by two new officers, Conrad Helfrich and Stig Hansson Ericson, this line is ready to set sail. Those can be found, along with Jerzy Świrski, in European or regular Commander containers, or obtained for 900,000 Commander XP in the Store. Helfrich, however, being the starting Commander for Pan-European ships, will be awarded to players with their first such ship obtained.

The branch is going to be available through European regular or Big crates, with Guarantee system active for the latter, dropping Tier III-VI ships of the branch and the co-star of the Element of Choice campaign, Tier VII Premium destroyer Friesland, at certain amounts of containers opened (20 for Early Access ships, and 30 crates for Friesland). Friesland is also going to be available for purchase, for 750,000 Global XP points. Tier I Gryf and Tier II Romulus, on the other hand, will be unlockable for credits, while Tier VII Östergötland will be available with the start of the next update, simultaneously with the branch becoming researchable. Each Early Access ship (thus not including Gryf and Romulus) comes with a personal mission, rewarding in-game items.

The Pan-European destroyers content drop is also reinforced by a couple ships, precisely the famous and coveted Tier VI Premium destroyer Błyskawica coming back to the Store and the all-new Öland of the same Tier and type, that packs a punch as well!

Back to Belfast Campaign

Versatility is her second name: meet Belfast ’43! She’s a British Premium cruiser of Tier VII, sitting at the newest campaign peak. That’s a new variant of the famous cruiser, but the powerful ability of running Smoke Generator, Radar and Sonar consumables at the same time is still there. Prepare for agile playstyle, that is pretty much different from what you’re accustomed for while riding the waves in the original version of Belfast!

Belfast ’43 is obtainable with Admiralty Backing active after 100 milestones in 5 weeks with catch-up mechanic enabled. Alongside her players will be able to earn a ton of in-game items, such as crates, boosters, camouflages, and more.

3 Arena Seasons

A perfect opportunity to win some prizes, have fun, and test your skills: Arena seasons are here! Battles of 4 3-players teams (ship tiers are IV, V, and VI, respectively) with bonuses scattered around the map (no HP regeneration among them this time) and no carriers allowed: it sounds as good as it is.

Prizes are awarded after each season end, with the participants separated into six categories, depending on their results. The prize range includes Commander Progression items, crates, Steel and more in-game goods.

Auction Debut

This update also serves as a testing ground for a new feature: the Auction. Players with at least 25 total games across all modes under their belts will be able to participate in blind bidding for exclusive lots with their doubloons or credits. The earlier the bid is made and the bigger it is, the bigger chance to get the desired item. Each bid may be revoked, and the funds remain locked until that happens or auction ends with awarding the winners with the items they bid for and returning the bid to all the other participants.

This time the lots include a set of Insignias, the rare Golden flag to fly proudly, and an all-new ship: German Tier III Premium battleship König Albert. The Auction is going to run for 4 days, from June 2 to June 6.

Spend the spring on the seas and turn the tide!

World of Warships: Legends

Wargaming.net

☆☆☆☆☆ 406

★★★★★

Experience epic naval action in World of Warships: Legends, a global multiplayer free-to-play online game in which you can master the seas on the decks of history’s greatest warships! Recruit Legendary Commanders, upgrade your vessels, and stake your claim to naval domination alongside and against players from around the world. FREQUENT UPDATES
New content in the form of ships, Campaigns, Bureau Projects, events, and more arrive regularly! Each update brings new features to shake things up in-game. FEATURE RICH
Develop Legendary warships such as Yamato from the ground up in the Bureau, compete in Ranked Battles seasons for exclusive patches and extra rewards, and finish epic Campaigns to gain powerful new ships! CHOOSE YOUR COMBAT STYLE
Take control of over 120 destroyers, cruisers, and battleships—a range that’s perfect for every playstyle, whether it be an all-guns-blazing approach, more careful and methodical attacks, or tactics that are unique to you. TURN THE TIDE IN EPIC 9V9 BATTLES
Join forces with friends to challenge players around the world, and work together across consoles to devise strategies and plan attacks via voice chat. Cooperate to outgun your opponents and Turn the Tide of battle! World of Warships: Legends features loot boxes known as “containers” and “crates.” These provide various items to boost your in-game progress

Join us this weekend for the next Indie Live Expo where we’ll showcase a great batch of indie games for fans worldwide. You can check out the livestream on May 21 and 22 on two shows, simulcast in English, Japanese, and Chinese on YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, and other platforms to be announced. To celebrate the event, we are also setting up a sale on great ID titles with the Indie Live Expo Sale on the Xbox Store.

Indie Live Expo is a digital showcase series connecting indie game fans worldwide which has a combined more than 42.5 million viewers across four shows to date.

The live streaming event will take place across two shows, simulcast in English, Japanese, and Chinese on YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, and other platforms to be announced. Day1: Let’s Play will spotlight current indie games that fans can play today, including information and a focus on gameplay footage. Day2: Premiere will feature world premieres of brand-new, unannounced games, and new information on previously announced games, along with an “Indie Studios Around the World” feature with live performances.

Also, from now until May 23, you can save up to 60% on over 40 of the games from the publishers and the developers who participated in the event during the Indie Live Expo Sale on the Xbox Store.

Here’s a sample of what we have on sale.

Deeer Simulator: Your Average Everyday Deer Game: Take on the role of your average, everyday deer. Use your stretchy neck, your stabby horns, and everything a deer has in its arsenal to tear through the city. Frolic and play with the other animals or decimate the city till there’s nothing left in this “slow-life town destruction game.”

Imagine Earth: A real-time planet simulation and a build-up strategy game. Your job as a space colony manager is to explore and populate distant planets. Build thriving and profitable colonies on a global scale and trade resources and goods into space.

Coffee Talk: A game about listening to people’s problems and helping them by serving up a warm drink out of the ingredients you have in stock. It depicts lives as humanly as possible, while having a cast that is more than just humans. Immerse yourself in the stories of alternative-Seattle inhabitants, ranging from a dramatic love story between an elf and a succubus, an alien trying to understand humans’ lives, and many others modern readers will find strongly echo the world around them.

Bright Memory: A lightning-fast fusion of the FPS and action genres, created by one-man development studio Fyqd using Unreal Engine. Combine a wide variety of skills and abilities to unleash dazzling combo attacks.

This is the first sale in collaboration with a Japanese indie game event. Please check out the Indie Live Expo official site for more information. Stay tuned until the day of the event on May 21 and 22, playing the games participating in this sale!

Immerse yourself in realistic combat gameplay and the vast terrain of the idyllic island of Everon, or even create your own! With Arma Reforger (Game Preview), players experience a fight for supremacy over 51 km² of stunning landscape in an authentic Cold War setting.

Live the thrill and intensity of Arma’s realistic battle on Xbox for the very first time. This standalone, multiplayer sandbox serves as a steppingstone on the road to Arma 4 and offers a sneak peek of what’s to come.

Powered by Bohemia Interactive’s proprietary Enfusion engine, Arma Reforger showcases exhilarating gameplay while offering powerful modding tools that enable players to create assets, design scenarios, change gameplay mechanics, and alter battles in real time. Console owners can download unique content from modders around the world, allowing them to play an infinite variety of scenarios.

Multiplayer, Military Careers, and Persistent Player Profiles

Arma Reforger (Game Preview) offers a seamless multiplayer experience via two distinct game modes. The first is Conflict, which enables players to join others online and experience realistic Cold War combat, fighting for the island of Everon in a massive, open-world terrain as a soldier of the US or Soviet Army. Capture strategic positions, dominate the battlefield, and work in tandem with others to secure objectives in a dynamic and unforgiving environment that features weapons and vehicles authentic to the period, recreated in meticulous detail.

The second multiplayer game mode is called Game Master, which is as powerful as its name suggests. Game Master is an easy, user-friendly tool that allows players to create various scenarios, manage events as they unfold, and guide other players through curated experiences via Reforger’s real-time scenario editor.

Enjoy Shared Content and Help Shape Arma’s Future

As mentioned above, Game Master mode offers access to a dynamic, no-holds-barred editor that can create and / or manage in-game scenarios in real time. Designed for newcomers and Arma veterans alike, this curative, mod-compatible game mode offers a responsive battleground where anything can happen. You also can enjoy other people´s mods! Play their scenarios or deploy assets from them. Players can explore the Workshop and filter created content using various criteria like rating, content type, genre, and more. There’s no need to reload the game if you want to join a modded server; simply join the server where your desired mod is located and enjoy!

Arma Reforger (Game Preview) is just the beginning for Bohemia Interactive and its renowned series; a platform that serves as a steppingstone on the road to Arma 4 and offers an exciting glimpse of the bright future ahead. It’s a tremendous opportunity for Arma’s players: the chance to test Arma’s approach, gameplay, and infrastructure and to shape what comes next for Arma 4 and the series as a whole.

Arma Reforger (Game Preview)

Bohemia Interactive a.s.

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

Free Trial

This game is a work in progress. It may or may not change over time or release as a final product. Purchase only if you are comfortable with the current state of the unfinished game. Powered by the new Enfusion engine, Arma Reforger lets you fight for supremacy over 51 km2 of incredible island terrain in authentic Cold War setting, or create unique scenarios in real-time with the Game Master curation mode. Return to Everon, the war-driven microstate from the hit game that started it all, Arma: Cold War Assault. Arma Reforger is a first step towards Arma 4 and a versatile platform, offering a glimpse of things to come. Everon
Return to Everon, a 51 km² mid-Atlantic island in the Malden archipelago. Revisit familiar locales from Operation Flashpoint and revel in the natural beauty of a massive open-world; a stunning landscape of pine and broadleaf forests, flowing rivers, ponds, idyllic towns, and austere mountains, surrounded by pebble beaches and rocky coastlines. Conflict
Join players online and experience realistic Cold War combat as a US or Soviet Army soldier. Capture strategic positions, dominate the battlefield, and work with others to secure objectives in a dynamic, unforgiving environment. With a selection of period-authentic weapons and vehicles, recreated in meticulous detail, Arma Reforger’s multiplayer game mode returns you to war. Game Master
Control events, create unique missions, and guide players towards victory in Game Master — or submit yourself to the challenges devised by all powerful creators and fight your way through a responsive sandbox where anything can happen. Workshop
Expand the game with original modded content from other creators! Download mods from the The Workshop, Bohemia Interactive’s own integrated, repository service, and enrich your game with new assets or scenarios. Multiplatform
Deploying on both Xbox and PC for the very first time in the Arma series, Arma Reforger’s modded content is now available to all and can be downloaded by console owners from the Workshop, a content creation sharing repository, exclusive to the game. Multiplayer
Curate events for friends behind the fog of war as Game Master in Arma Reforger’s real-time scenario editor or team up and go head-to-head with others across a sprawling island terrain in Conflict.