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!

New Iron Throne Console Revealed for Xbox’s Game of Thrones Giveaway
Last week, we announced a new Game of Thrones sweepstakes featuring custom House Targaryen and Night King designed consoles, and you didn’t think we’d just stop there, did you? We’re thrilled to unveil this giveaway will also include a third… Read more

Enter the Hot Pink Apocalypse of Rage 2 on Xbox One
Rage 2 is what you get when you bring together two gaming studio powerhouses, one gigantic asteroid to wipe out 80% of the planet’s population, and a lot of turning things up to 11 (and in some cases, 12). One of our most hotly anticipated titles… Read more

Red Dead Online: World Updates, New Missions, Poker, and The Road Ahead
Today’s update to Red Dead Online on Xbox One brings a host of new gameplay including new cooperative story missions, Free Roam activities, and the addition of poker alongside a range of updates and improvements that strengthen and… Read more

Stay on Target with These Sniper Elite V2 Remastered Tips and Tricks
Sniper Elite V2 Remastered is out today on Xbox One, and we’re delighted to be bringing a classic back on Xbox. Its combination of stealth gameplay, sniping simulation, and advanced bullet ballistics is still a joy seven years on from its release on Xbox 360… Read more

Beware the Rat Swarm – A Plague Tale: Innocence Available Now on Xbox One
It’s time to steel yourself for a harrowing journey into the dark medieval past of France, where you will have to contend with the constant skittering of rat’s feet, hidden under the ground and in the walls, in A Plague Tale: Innocence on Xbox One… Read more

Undead Horde Rises on Xbox One
After over 1.5 years in development, Undead Horde is finally ready. The game is a necromancer simulator or a combination of ARPG and RTS with a lot of necromancy. The project started in late 2017. At that point we had done several top-down… Read more

May 2019 Xbox Update Brings Improvements for Friends List, Messaging and Sorting
Team Xbox is hard at work preparing for E3 and beyond, but we have a few new features that are rolling out broadly beginning today! The May 2019 Xbox Update includes improvements to your friends list, messaging, and better sorting in My Games & Apps… Read more

Free Play Days: Build a Red Planet Colony This Weekend in Surviving Mars
Greetings fellow Earthlings! I hope you’re just as excited as we are about building a new home on Mars now that Surviving Mars is free for Xbox Live Gold members this weekend. If you were waiting to try it out, you can start building your first colony… Read more

Samurai Shodown Returns This Summer on Xbox One
Samurai Shodown is considered one of the major fighting games that helped shaped the genre with its nail-biting weapon play. The newest installment coming June 25 in the US and June 26 in Europe will take players back to the battlefield where… Read more

Hidden Horror: The Essence of Layers of Fear 2, Coming Soon to Xbox One
All stories need to have a beginning and for Bloober Team, it was the creation of Layers of Fear. It was not the first game we developed, nor was it made during the first years of our existence. It did, however, become the hallmark for our company… Read more

How Rocket Arena Created its Blend of Explosive FPS Fun
We’re happy to announce that Rocket Arena, our unique 3-on-3 first-person shooter, that invites you to choose a unique competitor and rep your region in a variety of modes, is coming to Xbox One later this year — we can’t wait for you to play it… Read more

Join the Fishing Sim World: Pro Tour in July on Xbox One
The challenge of man versus beast, the thrill of the hunt, the adrenaline of competition, Fishing Sim World: Pro Tour lets you feel it all. Fishing Sim World: Pro Tour introduces a brand-new career mode where you can take part in carp, bass… Read more

Celebrating 10 Years of Minecraft
This is an incredibly exciting time for Minecraft. Ten years ago today, the game launched on PC. Now, Minecraft has sold more than 176 million copies to-date in virtually every country in the world. As a way to celebrate 10 years for the franchise… Read more

Next Week on Xbox: New Games for May 21 to 24
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… Read more

The challenge of man versus beast, the thrill of the hunt, the adrenaline of competition, Fishing Sim World: Pro Tour lets you feel it all.

Fishing Sim World: Pro Tour introduces a brand-new career mode where you can take part in carp, bass or predator tournaments (or all three) and progress through the ranks from amateur to elite angler. Not only will you need to overcome the challenge of finding and catching the fish, but you will also be up against over 100 professional anglers from across the world in your pursuit of glory. You will gain social media followers and career earnings as you progress which will trigger sponsorship opportunities from over 50 licensed partners featuring in game.

Having found your favourite technique and maybe some hotspots while playing in custom multiplayer, you need to decide what kind of angler you are. Are you going to play with your friends, share your secrets and work together to hone skills further or are you going to battle it out to see who is the best? You decide as you set the parameters of your online session! Customise even further with different rule sets for each round you set up.

If career mode hasn’t got the adrenaline pumping enough then online tournaments/Dovetail Fishing League will do. Take part in different tournaments each week where you compete against different players from around, all of you competing for vital global ranking points to be crowned ‘Angler of the month’. Not only will the sheer kudos of this be plenty to boast about but in-game rewards and real-world prizes should focus the mind like a giant bass preparing to strike your lure!

Don’t fish in real life? Fear not! In-game tutorials, tooltips and easy to master controls means you can go into freedom fishing and master your skills in no time. Talking of mastery, community and mastery challenge systems give you another reason to target the 29 species found in the game across 10 different venues and unlocks exclusive items.

Fishing Sim World: Pro Tour is ready to reel you in this Summer!

Starting at 2:00 p.m. PST today, members of the Xbox One Preview Alpha Skip Ahead Ring will begin receiving the latest 1910 Xbox One system update (19H1_RELEASE_XBOX_DEV_19H2HOLD_1910\18362.7113.190514-1920). This build has the same features and fixes that are coming in 1906 however we need valuable core recovery coverage and feedback as we skip ahead.

DETAILS:

• OS version released: 19H1_RELEASE_XBOX_DEV_19H2HOLD_1910\18362.7113.190514-1920
• Available: 2:00PM PDT 5/17/19
• Mandatory Date/Time: 3:00 AM PDT 5/18/19

New Features:

My Games and Apps – Download Queue Improvements

• We are adding new features in this build to the Download Queue in My Games and Apps today based on User feedback.  You will now see the Estimated time to finish downloads appears in queue and Allow users to move titles in the queue up and down, not just move to front.  Please test out these new features and provide feedback.

Fixes:

 

Audio:

• Fixes addressing the stability of audio when the console comes out of Instant on mode.

Settings

• Users are now able to open Settings – Video fidelity & Overscan in display settings

System

• Fixes to narrator bugs in Settings.
• Various UI alignment fixes to the Home and settings.
• Localization fixes.

Known Issues:

Audio

• Headsets are not being assigned to the users profiles and not working correctly.

Profile Color

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

Team Xbox is hard at work preparing for E3 and beyond, but we have a few new features that are rolling out broadly beginning today! The May 2019 Xbox Update includes improvements to your friends list, messaging, and better sorting in My Games & Apps. Here’s a rundown of what’s new:

  

Friends list now shows where your friends are playing
We know that your friends play games across many different devices, including Xbox One, Windows 10, and mobile. To make it easier for you to know what, and where, your friends are playing we are making an update to your friends list! With this feature, we are adding unique Xbox One, PC, or mobile icons next to each of your friends in your friends list showing you which device they are currently playing on.

Message Requests
Your messages are getting smarter. Xbox is adding a new Message Requests feature which will prioritize messages from your friends and anyone you want to communicate with while separating out messages from people you don’t know into a secondary message requests tab.

As part of this update, unfortunately all previous group messages will be lost in the transition and will require manual action to archive. If you want to back up any previous group messages, you can copy/paste them from Xbox.com for a limited time. Your messages with individual users will not be impacted. Please go here if you wish to review your messages.

Better Sorting in My Games & Apps
Our team has made it even easier to find the content you’re looking for in My Games & Apps. Articles such as “a,” “an” and “the” will no longer be used to sort titles when using the “Sort A-Z” and “Group by letter” views. For example, “The Witcher” will now be found under “W” instead of “T.” Thanks so much to our Xbox community for helping prioritize this change by voting in our recent “My Games & Apps” Idea Drive, and don’t forget to check the Xbox Idea Hub for other topics to which you can contribute.

These updates are available based on the input from our Xbox Insiders who have helped shape these features. Thank you to all of you for your valuable input and continued participation. If you’d like to help define the future of Xbox and get access to early features, download the Xbox Insider Hub app on your Xbox One or Windows 10 PC today and share your ideas at the Xbox Ideas Hub. You can also visit the Xbox Insider Blog here for the latest release notes and to learn more. Enjoy the May Update and happy gaming!

Starting today, Xbox Insiders in Preview Delta can join and test the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate plan before it launches later this year in current Xbox Game Pass markets.

NOTE: Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is currently available to English speaking Xbox Insiders in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia in Preview Alpha, Preview Alpha – Skip Ahead, Preview Beta, or Preview Delta.

When you join Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, we will apply any prepaid time you have on Xbox Live Gold and/or Xbox Game Pass toward Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, up to a maximum of 36 months. For example, if you have 3 months of Xbox Live Gold and 3 months of Xbox Game Pass already on your account when you purchase your first month of Game Pass Ultimate, you will have a total of 7 months of Ultimate on your account before you need to renew your membership.

Please note that if you redeem Xbox Game Pass or Xbox Live Gold tokens after joining Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, the information presented during the token redemption is inaccurate. This is a known bug and we are rapidly working on deploying a fix. During Xbox Insider testing, we recommend redeeming any Xbox Game Pass or Xbox Live Gold tokens prior to upgrading to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.

We look forward to your feedback and to bringing our members even more choice with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate this year and beyond.

For more information on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, please click here.

Sniper Elite V2 Remastered is out today on Xbox One, and we’re delighted to be bringing a classic back on Xbox.

Its combination of stealth gameplay, sniping simulation, and advanced bullet ballistics is still a joy seven years on from its release on Xbox 360. Now you can enjoy it on Xbox One with substantial graphical improvements, and numerous refinements and tweaks.

We’ve also added a photo mode that lets you pause and advance the action frame-by-frame for that epic X-Ray Kill Cam shot, and all the playable characters from Zombie Army Trilogy. And we’ve expanded the multiplayer for up to 16 players to make it online play even more intense. If you really want to the visuals to the next level, we’ve also got HDR support on Xbox One X and Xbox One S, and 4K support on Xbox One X.

Before you voyage back to 1945, we’ve put together six tips and tricks to help you negotiate the war-torn streets of Berlin.

1. Customize Your Loadout: Sniper Elite V2 Remastered includes all the content ever released for the game – so you’ve got plenty of guns to choose from. Experiment with what’s available to suit each mission.
2. Tag, You’re It: Use your binoculars to tag enemies. You can keep one eye on their movements while you use the other to line up your targets.
3. Loot FTW: Resources are scarce in Sniper Elite V2 Remastered, and you need every bullet – especially on harder difficulties. Keep an eye on your ammo and be sure to search your victims for any extra ammo.
4. Silent Killer: Your sniper rifle is powerful but it will often draw attention. The Welrod pistol is a powerful silenced pistol that won’t alert your foes.
5. Rock on: They may seem superfluous in your arsenal of fatal weaponry, but using rocks to manipulate the battlefield is vital. Throwing them can distract enemies and draw them away and into danger.
6. Survey the landscape: Strategy is vital to making your way through the ruins of Berlin. Get to higher ground to get a better perspective and take out enemies from long-range. Understand your enemy, what weapons they carry and exploit their weaknesses. You may be one man versus an army, but you have lots of ways to turn the tide in your favour.

Whichever way you play, we hope you have a fantastic time with Sniper Elite V2 Remastered on Xbox One.

Sniper Elite V2 Remastered is available now for Xbox One and Windows 10 on the Microsoft Store as an Xbox Play Anywhere title. Click here for purchase details.

Rage 2 is what you get when you bring together two gaming studio powerhouses, one gigantic asteroid to wipe out 80% of the planet’s population, and a lot of turning things up to 11 (and in some cases, 12). One of our most hotly anticipated titles is here and we hope you’re ready to embark on the wildest adventure of the year with Rage 2 on Xbox One. It’s time to party hard.

The culmination of taking as many crazy ideas as possible, and then throwing them into an open world first-person shooter blender, Rage 2 from id Software and Avalanche Studios brings us back to the wasteland established in the Xbox 360 classic, Rage (available now with Xbox Game Pass).

With a massive arsenal of modifiable weapons as your disposal, the ability to traverse the open world in a variety of vehicles from monster trucks to gyrocopters, and upgradeable powers that let you execute some truly ludicrous attacks, the “shooterverse” is ready for you to discover this wild adventure on Xbox One.

This time in the wasteland you’ll play as Walker, the last ranger who’s seeking revenge and to deliver his own lethal brand of justice. Having been robbed of his home and left for dead, he’ll seek to destroy the tyrannical Authority who desire to rule the world of Rage 2 with an iron fist.

Standing in your way are a variety of tyrannical factions and bloodthirsty gangs, each with their own group of madmen, monsters, and mutants that you’ll need to dispatch. Thanks to the wide variety of weapons and extraordinary Nanotrite powers, and Overdrive tech that lets you push your guns beyond their limits, you’ll have all the tools necessary for you to restore freedom in the apocalypse.

You can pick up Rage 2 today for Xbox One on the Microsoft Store. And as an Xbox One X Enhanced title, you can experience crisp 60fps gameplay on the world’s most powerful console, Xbox One X.

Last week, we announced a new Game of Thrones sweepstakes featuring custom House Targaryen and Night King designed consoles, and you didn’t think we’d just stop there, did you? We’re thrilled to unveil this giveaway will also include a third prize – an Iron Throne designed custom console! The fight to rule from the Iron Throne started nearly a decade ago and launched countless wars, battles and betrayals. It’s almost time to see who will reign victorious over the Seven Kingdoms, and it’s only right we made an epic custom console to honor this moment in television history.

Just like the Iron Throne that sits in King’s Landing, the console features the swords of enemies that surrendered to Aegon the Conquerer. This is only the third custom design created for the newest member of the Xbox One family – the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition. Built for disc-free gaming and entertainment, the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition comes bundled with Minecraft, Sea of Thieves and Forza Horizon 3. This Iron Throne console is truly fitting of the king or queen of Westeros!

Open until May 22, fans just need to RT our official Twitter post or “like” the official Facebook post announcing the giveaway. At the end of the giveaway, only three fans will be able to game with House Targaryen, the Night King or the Iron Throne at their side. What new heights will your gaming reach with “Game of Thrones” at your side? For full giveaway rules, see here.

Fans can also pre-order Season 8 of Game of Thrones on Xbox with Microsoft Movies & TV and receive an exclusive Iron Throne avatar with their purchase. For those who pre-order the “Game of Thrones” Seasons 1-8 Complete Series digital bundle, you’ll get the Iron Throne avatar plus two additional avatars. Full details here.

Don’t forget to tune in to the “Game of Thrones” series finale on May 19 to see what prophecies come to life, which characters will give their lives to their cause, or whom – if anyone – is left as the new ruler of the Seven Kingdoms.

Your favorite characters have killed, schemed, risen back from the dead and much more in their quest to ascend onto the Iron Throne. Don’t miss out, these custom consoles are the ultimate prize for gamers and “Game of Thrones” fans around the world!

Starting at 3:00 p.m. PST today, members of the Xbox One Preview Alpha Ring will begin receiving the latest 1905 Xbox One system update (19H1_RELEASE_XBOX_DEV_1905\18362.3055.190510-1845) Read on for more about the new features, fixes and known issues in the latest 1905 system update.

DETAILS:

• OS version released: 19H1_RELEASE_XBOX_DEV_1905\18362.3055.190510-1845
• Available: 3:00PM PDT 5/11/19
• Mandatory Date/Time: 3:00 AM PDT 5/12/19

Fixes:

Audio

• Some users may have been impacted recently by their Dolby Atmos for Home Theater audio setting reverting to another audio setting. We have made a fix recently and are looking to our Insider Audience to verify it.
  • If you intend to use Dolby Atmos for Home Theater, please check out your Audio Settings and make sure it is enabled. If you are continuing to have problems enabling it, please file a bug.

• We have fixed an issue in which Users who changed their Headset format settings (to enable/disable Dolby Atmos for Headphones, Windows Sonic For Headphones) did not have their intended setting take effect in the UI flow (even though it looks like it succeeds)

My Games and Apps – Video Apps

• We have fixed the issue with video corruption showing in apps such as Youtube and Netflix with 4k playback.

System

• Localization fixes.

Known Issues:

Audio

• Headsets are not being assigned to the users profiles and not working correctly.

Profile Color

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

Starting at 7:30 p.m. PST today, members of the Xbox One Preview Alpha Ring will begin receiving the latest 1905 Xbox One system update (19H1_RELEASE_XBOX_DEV_1905\18362.3054.190509-1730) Read on for more about the new features, fixes and known issues in the latest 1905 system update.

DETAILS:

• OS version released: 19H1_RELEASE_XBOX_DEV_1905\18362.3054.190509-1730
• Available: 7:30PM PDT 5/10/19
• Mandatory Date/Time: 3:00 AM PDT 5/12/19

Fixes:

 

Audio

• Some users may have been impacted recently by their Dolby Atmos for Home Theater audio setting reverting to another audio setting. We have made a fix recently and are looking to our Insider Audience to verify it.
  • If you intend to use Dolby Atmos for Home Theater, please check out your Audio Settings and make sure it is enabled. If you are continuing to have problems enabling it, please file a bug.

My Games and Apps – Video Apps

• We have fixed the issue with video corruption showing in apps such as Youtube and Netflix with 4k playback.

System

• Localization fixes.

Known Issues:

Audio

• Headsets are not being assigned to the users profiles and not working correctly.

Profile Color

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