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!

The Story Behind Duo’s Family Friendly Party Game: Must Dash Amigos
“We should make a game together” – that’s what myself and Ant would say to each other on an almost weekly basis when we met in 2011, but we never did. In 2015 we finally bit the bullet, entering a game jam with no real coding skills between us, armed with a silly idea and a lot of passion… Read more

Metal Wolf Chaos XD Available Now on Xbox One
Since its original release in 2004, Metal Wolf Chaos has been a bit of a legend or peculiarity in FromSoftware’s stories history. While it was genuinely an attempt to appeal to gamers outside of Japan with a more arcade-style experience mech game, in a cruel twist of fate the game… Read more

Xbox Live Gold Free Play Days: Vigor
Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members can play Vigor for free on Xbox One during Xbox Live Gold’s Free Play Days! Experience an excellent opportunity to face the harsh-yet-beautiful backdrop of post-war Norway. The Free Play Days event begins Thursday, August 8 at 12:01 a.m. PDT… Read more

A Whole New Saga of Survival in Ark: Genesis on Xbox One
One of the most frequent questions I am asked is, “What’s next for Ark?” Approaching five years in development, Ark has grown far more than we had ever imagined, and it is clear the appeal of big, crazy new worlds filled with dinosaurs and fantastical creatures to tame and ride with… Read more

Bigger than Ever: Gears 5 Limited Edition Xbox One X Console & Accessories Available for Preorder Today
With Early Access beginning a month from today you don’t have long to wait to get your hands on the biggest Gears ever. To celebrate, we’re excited to announce a suite of custom Gears 5 hardware, including a stunning Limited Edition Xbox One X console and controller… Read more

Children of Morta: Designing a Game with a Family at its Core
Children of Morta, an upcoming story-driven action RPG coming to Xbox One on October 15, tells a story of a family struggle and uses its main theme as a foothold in the design process. In the initial design stage, we decided to stick to the rogue-lite genre because of high replay value that… Read more

Gears 5 Has Gone Gold – Celebrate with our Full Achievement List
Today, The Coalition and Xbox are proud to announce that Gears 5 has gone gold – a major moment ahead of its launch next month. This is significant for us as game creators, as it means the game disc has been released to manufacturing so that everyone can enjoy and play on September 6… Read more

Build Extraordinary Empires Today in Age of Wonders: Planetfall on Xbox One
Age of Wonders: Planetfall is now available! To prepare you for in-depth empire building in the new, sci-fi setting, we’re revealing intel on how to conquer your foes and build a future for your people. First comes first – choosing your faction. You’ll pick from six unique choices – from the militant Vanguard… Read more

Next Week on Xbox: New Games for August 13 to August 16
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. To find out what’s coming soon to Xbox One, read on below and click… Read more

Since its original release in 2004, Metal Wolf Chaos has been a bit of a legend or peculiarity in FromSoftware’s stories history. While it was genuinely an attempt to appeal to gamers outside of Japan with a more arcade-style experience mech game, in a cruel twist of fate the game was never released outside of FromSoftware’s home nation of Japan. And so, a legend was born and grew from there.

When it came time to bring the game to a whole new generation of FromSoftware fans and gamers in general that never had a chance to play the original, it was important to do it right. The game itself is a joy to play with arcade style combat and larger than life setpieces so we wanted to keep that all intact, as it was meant to be experienced.

But Metal Wolf Chaos has come to be known for all sorts of eccentricities so General Arcade painstakingly remastered the original files of the now famous voiceover, redrew the overzealous original UI, and upgraded some of the geometry in the backgrounds and landscapes so they’d read better on modern 1080p and 4K displays. The goal was to let fans enjoy the Xbox game they never got a chance to play, and to do so seamlessly on an Xbox One. Starting today everyone in the world can and we hope you agree that General Arcade and FromSoftware accomplished their goal.

A massive shoutout to the fans that have been following Metal Wolf Chaos’ developments since we announced it at E3 2018 and we hope you enjoy the work FromSoftware did to create the game in 2004 and the attention to detail that General Arcade has put into the 2019 re-release as Metal Wolf Chaos XD!

Metal Wolf Chaos XD is available now for Xbox One on the Microsoft Store. Click here for purchase details.

“We should make a game together” – that’s what myself and Ant would say to each other on an almost weekly basis when we met in 2011, but we never did. In 2015 we finally bit the bullet, entering a game jam with no real coding skills between us, armed with a silly idea and a lot of passion. This is how Must Dash Amigos – a loco-multiplayer battle racer packed with puns and piñatas – was born! This article is a small insight into our game development journey.

Ant: Hey! I’m Ant, co-founder of miniBeast Games and the Artist for Must Dash Amigos.

Ben: And as you could have probably guessed from the intro I’m Ben, the other half of miniBeast Games, and programmer for the title.

Ant: We met each other in 2011 whilst working in the RuneScape Quality Assurance team at Jagex. As Ben said, we would spend a lot of time talking about ideas and pitching games to each other, but we would never actually take the initiative to start building anything.

Ben: I think that was mostly down to the fact that neither of us could code, and we were quite intimidated by the thought of it. I left Jagex in 2014 to work briefly on Forza Horizon 2 at Microsoft, but returned in March 2015. It was in October that year that Jagex decided to hold their first game jam for staff, which would run for two days – Thursday and Friday – but you could use the weekend as well if you wanted to. This was when me and Ant decided to actually give this whole “let’s make a game” idea a go, and we entered as a two-man team.

Ant: Being 80s kids we both grew up with console gaming and the era of local multiplayer. I would spend countless hours battling against my brother and cousins all in the same room hurling abuse at each other. We wanted to keep that local multiplayer flame alight because that’s the type of game we were craving ourselves on current gen consoles. We wanted it to be as simple and intuitive as possible with no complex control systems, a true pick up and play experience.

Ben: For sure. Our main pillars for the game were definitely; keep the controls simple, get people playing and having fun as quickly as possible, and ensure it felt vibrant and colourful.

Ant: The feel of the game was going to have a lot to do with the art style, so I was naturally excited to get started on that. I wanted to reflect the fun vibrant party feel we envisioned for the gameplay and was almost immediately drawn towards a Mexican fiesta. Explosions of colour from popping piñatas, interesting & vibrant surroundings, and the upbeat feel-good music of a Mariachi band just felt perfect for the title.

Ben: We threw ourselves fully into the game jam for four days straight, I think we even slept in the office a couple of times! By Monday we had a prototype, and were really surprised at how well it went down with people. It was generally described as a feel-good party game with a lot of charm, exactly what we had aimed to achieve. We were extremely inspired by this and we knew we wanted to finish the game to the vision we originally had. We asked Jagex if we could do just that and they kindly agreed to release the IP to us.

Ant: Fast forward four years and many, many hours of development and we have released the game we created on Xbox One! I really can’t explain just how excited I am to be saying that!

Ben: I know, it’s incredible! I never imagined I would be able to do something like this, so I’m extremely proud. It’s amazing to me that something I’ve created can bring some laughter and joy to other people’s lives, I feel honoured to be able to do that. With regards to learning how to code, I wish I had broken through that intimidation barrier a lot sooner. My advice to anyone in a similar position; don’t be afraid to not “get it” straight away. Follow tutorials, copy and paste other people’s code, modify bits of it and see the effect of your tinkering. Things not working and things breaking are all part of the journey, you will learn from your mistakes!

Ant: And for those of you that give Must Dash Amigos a try, my insider top tip; don’t go spamming the “X” button to use items as soon as you get them! We threw in a booby trap called the “Bogey Bomb” to discourage exactly that. If you don’t discard it before the fuse runs down or you accidentally use it, it explodes causing you to slow down and lose momentum!

Must Dash Amigos is available now for Xbox One on the Microsoft Store

Starting at 6:00 p.m. PST today, members of the Xbox One Preview Alpha Ring will begin receiving the latest 1908 Xbox One system update (Build: 19H1_RELEASE_XBOX_DEV_1908\18362.6064.190806-1945).

Details:

• OS version released: 19H1_RELEASE_XBOX_DEV_1908\18362.6064.190806-1945
• Available: 6:00 PM 8/7/19
• Mandatory Date/Time: 3:00 AM 8/8/19

Build Notes:

• A new version of controller firmware has been released for certain controller models.  Users may be prompted to update the controller automatically when it is connected to the console. You can also go to Settings>Kinect & devices>Devices & Accessories with the controller connected, then select the ellipsis button to see if a firmware update is available.

Fixes:

System

• Fixed an issue where the console would sometimes power off when launching a game.
• Various updates to properly reflect local languages across the console.

Known Issues:

Audio

• Users who have Dolby Atmos enabled and console display settings set to 120hz with 36 bits per pixel (12-bit) are experiencing loss of Dolby Atmos audio in some situations.
  • Workaround: Disable 120hz or set Video Fidelity to 30 bits per pixel (10-bit) or lower.

Profile Color

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

Age of Wonders: Planetfall is now available! To prepare you for in-depth empire building in the new, sci-fi setting, we’re revealing intel on how to conquer your foes and build a future for your people.

First comes first – choosing your faction. You’ll pick from six unique choices – from the militant Vanguard, the dinosaur-riding Amazons, to the cyborg-zombies of the Assembly. Be sure to consider their secret technologies too, including human-computer symbiosis, developing new mental abilities, cybernetics, and fusion with alien parasites. This world is your playground, and if you want to ride into battle on genetically-modified dinosaurs with lasers against cyber zombies – that’s your call.

As one of the survivors of the Star Union, a shattered galactic empire, the future of the planet is yours for the taking. Start by scouting the surrounding sectors of land outside of your starting colony to search for unique natural features or valuable landmarks, such as biotech facilities. Once your colony grows and takes on more sectors, be sure to invest knowledge to research new technology to aid in your conquests. Rome wasn’t built in a day, but it sure would have helped to have orbital strikes, jet packs, or mind control abilities – a few of the many technologies that players can discover in Age of Wonders: Planetfall.

While your empire grows in size and influence, you’ll undoubtedly run into conflict with neighboring NPC factions and rival players. To win control over nearby sectors and the rest of the planet, carefully choose your friends (and foes) in the world and ensure your path to victory. Not all battles need to be won through conquest on the battlefield, though – players can also succeed through advanced technology or diplomatic means.

To fully reign their empire over the planet, factions can win with a few different types of victories:

• Last Man Standing Victory – Defeat all non-allied players by capturing their HQ and the Commander
• Territory Victory – Conquer a set percentage of the planet’s sectors
• Doomsday Tech Victory – Dependent on your choice of Secret Technology, race to build and deploy this tech worldwide
• Unifier Victory – Gain a set percentage of influence with the survivors on the planet

Now, you’re ready to set out and create your own vast empire! Prepare for world domination today!

Age of Wonders: Planetfall is available now for Xbox One on the Microsoft Store. Click here for purchase details.

Starting at 2:00 p.m. PST today, members of the Xbox One Preview Alpha Ring will begin receiving the latest 1908 Xbox One system update (Build: 19H1_RELEASE_XBOX_DEV_1908\18362.6060.190802-1945).

DETAILS:

• OS version released: 19H1_RELEASE_XBOX_DEV_1908\18362.6060.190802-1945
• Available: 2:00 PM 8/5/19
• Mandatory Date/Time: 3:00 AM 8/6/19

Fixes:

Narrator

• Various fixes when reading content on dashboard.

System

• Various updates to properly reflect local languages across the console.

 

Known Issues:

Store/Purchasing

• We are investigating an issue where users are reporting issues making purchases while in games & apps.

 

Audio

• Users who have Dolby Atmos enabled and console display settings set to 120hz with 36 bits per pixel (12-bit) are experiencing loss of Dolby Atmos audio in some situations.
  • Workaround: Disable 120hz or set Video Fidelity to 30 bits per pixel (10-bit) or lower.

 

Profile Color

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

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!

No Man’s Sky: Beyond to Launch August 14 on Xbox One
Hello Everyone, It’s hard to believe that it’s been a year since we welcomed the Xbox One fans to our community with the launch of No Man’s Sky with the Next update. It seems to have flown by, mainly because we’ve been hard at work ever since. At the end of 2018… Read more

Play with Fire in an Upcoming Skyforge Update on Xbox One
A brand-new Skyforge update is coming in September and we’ll be taking you further back into Aelion’s history than ever before. Prepare to delve deep into an ancient saga of powerful cults, evil warlords, and a magical catastrophe that set the planet ablaze thousands of years ago… Read more

The Bard’s Tale Trilogy and Wasteland Remasters Coming Soon to Xbox Game Pass
With The Bard’s Tale IV: Director’s Cut and Wasteland 3 on the horizon, it’s a fantastic time for Xbox Game Pass RPG fans to go back to where it all began with The Bard’s Tale Trilogy arriving August 13, and the original post-apocalyptic RPG — Wasteland 30th Anniversary Edition — later this year… Read more

Getting Up Close and Personal with Spiritfarer’s Gwen the Deer Spirit
Spiritfarer is a cozy management game about dying. You play Stella, ferrymaster to the deceased, a Spiritfarer. Build a boat to explore the world, then befriend and care for spirits before finally releasing them into the afterlife. Farm, mine, fish, harvest, cook, and craft your way… Read more

Free Play Days – Dragon Ball FighterZ
Get ready, FighterZ! We’re excited to announce that Dragon Ball FighterZ will be available to Xbox Live Gold or Xbox Game Pass Ultimate (with Xbox Live Gold included in your membership) members for free during Xbox Live Gold’s Free Play Days! Experience the spectacular battles… Read more

The Guest Writers of The Church in the Darkness
I’m pleased to say that The Church in the Darkness is finally coming to Xbox One on Friday, August 2! Our game has a dark narrative told through infiltration gameplay, as you try to get inside an extremist cult in the 1970s, looking for your nephew Alex. We use dynamic narrative… Read more

Fortnite Season X – Out of Time Available Today on Xbox One
Time is twisted and the Zero Point has become volatile in Fortnite Season X. Whether you’re nostalgic for the past or excited for the future, there’s plenty for you to discover. Locations once thought to be lost have begun to appear on the island, but they aren’t the same as they once were…  Read more

Challenge the Syndicate in Warface Battle Pass: Season 2 on Xbox One
If you enjoyed the first season of the new Battle Pass system for Warface on Xbox One, get ready for a new round of challenges to put your shooting skills to the test, plus a new set of incredible rewards! Battle Pass: Season 2 is now available and it’s bigger and better than before… Read more

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Multiplayer Premiere Reveal is Live on Mixer
See the ultimate multiplayer playground unveiled with the incredible Call of Duty: Modern Warfare multiplayer trailer. Tune in to the Call of Duty channel on Mixer and get all-new MP information straight from Infinity Ward. Learn about the upcoming beta dates and watch over 30… Read more

Tune-In Tomorrow to the ELEAGUE Gears Summer Series: The Bonds and Betrayals of Brotherhood Finale
Tomorrow night, ELEAGUE Gears Summer Series: The Bonds and Betrayals of Brotherhood concludes on TBS with the sixth and final episode of the docu series focused on the stories and players behind the world of Gears Esports. If you’d like to catch up with the entire series… Read more

The 7 Things We Learned While Playing The Outer Worlds
When it was announced late last year, Obsidian Entertainment’s The Outer Worlds made an immediate splash. After all, what’s not to love about a role playing game made by one of the industry’s most beloved developers, particularly one that allows them to flex their narrative chops… Read more

Puzzles and Team Gotham’s Creative Vision in Solo: Islands of the Heart, Available Now on Xbox One
Solo: Islands of the Heart is a game all about taking a moment to sit, think, and reflect on the place love holds in your heart. The heart can be a tricky puzzle to solve in and of itself, and Solo aims to give the player a clearer understanding of life and love… Read more

Coming Soon to Xbox Game Pass: Downwell, Slay the Spire, Pandemic, and More
Happy reprioritizing-your-backlog-of-games-because-we-just-added-more-to-Xbox Game Pass day! We seem to celebrate this totally made up not real holiday a lot around here. (Seriously, have you seen Major Nelson’s backlog of games? He must shuffle that list around all the time… Read more

Talking About the Challenge of Survival with Remnant: From the Ashes Development Team
Remnant: From the Ashes is a third-person survival action shooter set in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by monstrous creatures. Arriving on Xbox One later this month, challenge-seeking players looking for their game can look forward to 100+ unique enemies… Read more

Summer Spotlight 2019: The Season for Great New Games
Summer Spotlight 2019 has officially kicked off and we have a ton of great games on the way. We are releasing over 60 new games on Xbox One from July 30 to September 9. Not only are we bringing great content we are also rewarding you for getting it. During Summer Spotlight 2019… Read more

Behind-the-Scenes of the RPG GreedFall, Available for Pre-order Today on Xbox One
As GreedFall approaches its September 10 release on Xbox One, we at Spiders are pulling back the curtain to look at our inspirations and goals for GreedFall in a two-part web series. With pre-orders becoming available today, it’s now possible to secure your copy of Greedfall… Read more

New Games with Gold for August 2019
In August on Xbox One, fight the monstrous Swarm in Gears of War 4 and then experience the thrill of racing in Forza Motorsport 6. On Xbox 360, and Xbox One via Backward Compatibility, explore treacherous dungeons in Torchlight, then prepare to do battle with fearsome… Read more

5 Reasons to Play Madden NFL 20 Starting Today with Early Access on Xbox One
It’s a brand-new season of Madden on Xbox One and we couldn’t be more thrilled to share some of the most exciting reasons to pick up the sticks and play Madden NFL 20. Kansas City Chiefs superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes graces this year’s cover, the soundtrack… Read more

Feel Like an NFL Superstar: Buy an Xbox One Console, Get a Free Copy of Madden NFL 20
Just in time for pre-season to kick off (pun intended), fans can get a full-download of Madden NFL 20 when they purchase a new Xbox One console for a limited time. Between August 2 and August 17, gamers who purchase an Xbox One X, an Xbox One S or an Xbox One S All-Digital Edition… Read more

Play as a Boar with Stoneskin, a Duck with Moth Wings, and a Moose with Fire Breath in Mutant Year Zero: Seed of Evil
We’re expanding our tactical adventure game Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden with the all-new Seed of Evil DLC! Our game is based on the pen-and-paper roleplaying game Mutant Year Zero, where the Earth lies in ruins after nuclear war, deadly pandemics and global climate change have wiped… Read more

Next Week on Xbox: New Games for August 6 to 9
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. To find out what’s coming soon to Xbox One, read on below and click on each of the game profiles for pre-order details (dates are subject to… Read more

Details on Vigor 0.9 Update: Aid
Names. Why does everything need to have names? When we were discussing the name for Update 0.9 internally, we came up with Aid. There are two main reasons for that and they’re both you: the Community and the Outlander. The community, especially those playing the Xbox Game Preview… Read more

When it was announced late last year, Obsidian Entertainment’s The Outer Worlds made an immediate splash. After all, what’s not to love about a role playing game made by one of the industry’s most beloved developers, particularly one that allows them to flex their narrative chops and combine their love of biting wit with deep character building elements and top-notch combat? The Outer Worlds truly looked like the next evolution from the work they did on titles like Fallout: New Vegas.

That’s a big part of why I was so excited to spend a few hours playing The Outer Worlds at a recent event. Not only did I come away impressed by what a polished experience it already is, but I also learned a lot more about what’s shaping up to be one of the most exciting games of 2019.

The Story So Far

The Outer Worlds casts you as an unnamed hero who’s been adrift in space for over 70 years. Perhaps not surprisingly, that wasn’t planned. You were originally sent out to help colonize the galaxy in the name of a corporation, but a technical error resulted in you drifting through nothingness instead. Since my hands-on time with the game took place somewhere in the middle of it, I’m not exactly sure how you end up on the Halcyon colony where most of the game takes place, but it seems pretty clear that there’s quite a story behind it.

Who Are You?

As with any RPG, it pays to figure out what type of character you want to play when you’re starting out. For the most part, The Outer Worlds has three different types of character builds: Stealth, Combat, and Dialogue. Stealth characters are best if you prefer to avoid battling it out, Combat-centric characters are great if you prefer to let your guns do the talking, and Dialogue builds are perfect if you want your talking to do… the talking.

LOL = Laughing Out Loud

One of the first things I noticed in my time with The Outer Worlds was the fact that it’s legitimately funny. The game has a notably sardonic wit that has corporate life squarely in its crosshairs. From the dialogue to the posters and in-game collectables spread about, there are bunch of opportunities to poke fun at the world around us. It might be a bit much to say a AAA game like this has a subversive streak, but there are a number of jokes that could best be described as anti-capitalist. As the game told me at one point, “Work diligently, improve yourself, and you too can achieve middle management!”

Got the Time Tickin’ in My Head

One of the most interesting elements of The Outer Worlds is what the developers have dubbed the “Tactical Time Dilation” system, or TTD. In the game’s mythology, this is the result of the decades you spent in cryosleep, and it allows you to slow combat down to a crawl with just a press of the left bumper. This brings up a gauge that will very slowly tick down if you’re standing still or burn down faster when you move or attack. Similar to Fallout’s VATS system, it’s really helpful for those who prefer slower-paced RPGs to twitch shooters or who just want a leg up in combat. I found it was absolutely lethal when paired with a sniper rifle.

Friends with Benefits

Like many RPGs, The Outer Worlds allows you to build a party of sorts, bringing up to two companions with you as your traverse the world. During my time with the game, I had two badass women by my side, both of whom joined me after accepting missions. You can give your companions orders during combat, allowing you to position them for maximum efficiency. You can also direct them to use their abilities, in which they’ll use a devastating attack on whichever enemy you target. One of my companions opened fire with a Gatling-style energy gun, while the other smashed enemies with a giant hammer with shock damage. They’ve even got Skills that can enhance your Skills! According to the developers, you’ll add companions as you go, allowing you to swap them out depending on the situation you’re facing.

The Choice is Yours

As I mentioned above, The Outer Worlds offers players a number of different ways to play, as well as presents them with plenty of tough choices to make throughout the game. For instance, in one mission I was tasked by one of the game’s clans with infiltrating a captured area to return some supplies that were taken from them. While I could have gone in guns a-blazing or attempted to sneak in the backdoor, since there were over 10 enemies I decided to take a more tactful approach. I walked right on up to the gang’s leader and told him I was there to spray for vermin that had infested the area. After he and his whole gang hightailed it out of there and I got the supplies, I was faced with another choice: get data cartridges for the faction leader or get extra food and meds for his lieutenant to help the rest of the factions.

Skills to Pay the Bills

Don’t think there’s enough choices to make yet? Wait until you hear about all of the Skills and Perks you’ll be able to choose from. You’ll sink Skill points into 7 different areas: Melee (one- and two-handed), Ranged (handguns, long guns, and heavy guns), Defense (dodge and block), Dialogue (persuade, lie, and intimidate), Stealth (sneak, hack, and lockpick), Tech (medical, science, and engineering), and Leadership (inspiration and determination). Each of these seven base Skills unlock more options as you hit five different thresholds from Novice to Master. Got all that? Good, because now you need to think about your Perks, which include things like Slow the World (+25% Tactical Time Dilation), Cheetah (20% Sprint Speed), and Toughness (+50% health) amongst others.

With its unique blend of biting humor, deep RPG elements, and smooth combat, The Outer Worlds is already shaping up to be one of the most exciting and interesting role-playing games of this generation. My time with the game only made me want to play more, and it’s already got me clearing my calendar for October 25, 2019.

Starting at 2:00p.m. PST today, members of the Xbox One Preview Alpha Ring will begin receiving the latest 1908 Xbox One system update (Build: 19H1_RELEASE_XBOX_DEV_1908\18362.6058.190731-1920).

DETAILS:

• OS version released: 19H1_RELEASE_XBOX_DEV_1908\18362.6058.190731-1920
• Available: 2:00 PM 8/2/19
• Mandatory Date/Time: 3:00 AM 8/3/19

Fixes:

 

My Games & Apps

• Improvements to game updates for Fast Start titles.

Narrator

• Various fixes when reading content in messages.

Audio

• Fixed an issue with Windows Sonic audio delays while playing games.

Home

• Fixed an issue with navigating Home via USB keyboard

System

• Various updates to properly reflect local languages across the console.

 

Known Issues:

Audio

• Users who have Dolby Atmos enabled and console display settings set to 120hz with 36 bits per pixel (12-bit) are experiencing loss of Dolby Atmos audio in some situations.
  • Workaround: Disable 120hz or set Video Fidelity to 30 bits per pixel (10-bit) or lower.

Profile Color

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

A brand-new Skyforge update is coming in September and we’ll be taking you further back into Aelion’s history than ever before. Prepare to delve deep into an ancient saga of powerful cults, evil warlords, and a magical catastrophe that set the planet ablaze thousands of years ago. With Ignition, your new adventure will take you out of the frying pan… and into the fire!

The new trailer for Ignition introduces a mysterious group of fire performers. This is a brand-new playable class: Firestarters. They have an affinity with flames, which they have learned to control and wield as a tool and a weapon. For some time, they have been a nomadic people, travelling the planet and entertaining the inhabitants of Aelion with legends and stories of olden times.

The Firestarters’ ancestors worshipped a vengeful Fire God and warlord called Kir. He was a powerful magic user and established a mighty empire of fire with the Cult of Flame as his personal army and enforcers. After a long and bloody war, the mage wrought a great cataclysm that destroyed more than half of all life on Aelion (Thanos, eat your heart out). After centuries in exile, Kir is now free from his prison, and his return has reawakened the abilities of the Cult of Flame’s descendants!

The Firestarters are ranged damage dealers who fight with a uniquely fast and agile combat style. With their lithe motions, they have a great deal of control over their primary weapons: a fire torch in each hand which can be used to strike enemies from a distance. They can conjure fireballs, flamethrowers, and even rain down meteoric firestorms from the sky. The Firestarters are quite a theatrical class, so the chains attached to the torches allow them to show off a bit of flair with the occasional twirling moves too!

We wanted the Firestarters to have a truly unique and memorable design, and the harlequin-esque costume was born from the idea of the Firestarters being a theatrical group of storytellers. They are not entirely benign – some would even call them tricksters – so their ‘dark jester’ costume also bears some fiery demonic influence, and a touch of ancient depictions of the Norse god of mischief, Loki.

Our players have been asking for a fire class for a long time, and the introduction of this class is something that we really wanted to commit a lot of time and energy to in order to create high-quality, believable fire effects, and to ensure the game’s eighteenth class lives up to player expectations. There hasn’t been a whole lot of fire in Aelion since Kir’s reign, so we hope the fiery new effects will be a hot surprise for veteran players!

To determine how this class would move, attack, and behave in-game, we used real-life fire performers and dancers as a visual reference. Real fire performers skillfully wield this dangerous element with complete confidence and an assured sense of theatricality, and we’ve imbued the Firestarters with this same unusual and ethereal spirit to create one of the most unique classes in Skyforge yet.

Ready to play with fire? There are plenty more secrets hidden in the Ignition update, and we’re looking forward to inviting you to uncover them!

The free Ignition update is coming in September. Skyforge is now available to download for free from the Microsoft Store.