Tag: Xbox

For the fifth year in a row, ID@Xbox is hosting a Pre-PAX Open House on the Microsoft campus. Register here (the event is free) to start your PAX party a day early!

We’re super excited to host everyone on our home turf on campus in Redmond to play more than 50 super cool Xbox games from independent developers, including 8 new announces!

Join us on August 30 (the Thursday before PAX) from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. to play games, meet the wonderful developers who made ‘em, and maybe even win a prize in our raffle! Getting to hang out and play games with devs and Xbox fans makes this one of our favorite events of the year, so we hope you can make it!

Not only will you have the chance to check out more than 50 games releasing on Xbox One via the ID@Xbox program, you can also plan for the following:

• Meet and chat with other teams at Microsoft.
• Say hello to the Xbox Ambassadors and spin their prize wheel to win some swag!
• Head to the Mixer area to try out the latest MixPlay experiences and get a glimpse at the future of interactive gaming.
• Chat with the Microsoft User Research team to share your personal feedback and help them make better products for you and everyone.

But what about the games?

The following eight games haven’t previously been announced for Xbox One. We’re thrilled to reveal for the first time that they’re coming to Xbox One through the ID@Xbox program and you can try them out at this event:

• Bot Rods (Holy Cow Productions)
• La-Mulana2 (Active Gaming Media)
• Museum of Simulation Technology (Pillow Castle)
• Orphan (2Dimensions)
• Revenant Dogma (KEMCO)
• Super Retro Maker (Digital Dominion)
• Thunder Rally (Typical Entertainment)
• Where the Bees Make Honey (Whitethorn Digital)

In addition to those, we’ve pulled together a great variety of ID@Xbox titles for fans to try out:

• Aftercharge (Chainsawesome Games)
• Ashen (Annapurna Interactive)
• Bad North (Raw Fury)
• Below (Capybara)
• Bendy and the Ink Machine (Rooster Teeth Games)
• Black Desert (Pearl Abyss)
• Children of Morta (11 bit studios)
• Dead Cells (Motion Twin)
• Deathgarden (Behaviour)
• Desert Child (Akupara Games)
• Epitasis (Epitasis Games)
• Eternity: The Last Unicorn (1C Publishing)
• Exception (Traxmaster Software)
• FAR: Lone Sails (Mixtvision)
• For the King (Curve Digital)
• Generation Zero (Avalanche Studios)
• Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes (Steel Crate Games)
• Kingdom Two Crowns (Raw Fury)
• Mark of the Ninja: Remastered (Klei)
• Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden (Funcom)
• My Time at Portia (Team17)
• Nippon Marathon (PQube)
• Outer Wilds (Annapurna Interactive)
• Projection : First Light (Blowfish Studios)
• RAZED (PQube)
• RemiLore (Nicalis)
• Revenant Dogma (KEMCO)
• Rival Megagun (Degica)
• SINNER: Sacrifice for Redemption (Another Indie)
• Starbound (Chucklefish)
• Strange Brigade (Rebellion)
• Super Meat Boy Forever (Team Meat)
• Supermarket Shriek (Billy Goat Entertainment)
• Superweights (Pompaduo)
• Swimsanity (Decoy Games)
• The Blackout Club (Question)
• The Jackbox Party Pack 5 (Jackbox Games)
• The Occupation (Humble Bundle)
• The Videokid (Chorus Worldwide Games Limites)
• Tunic (Finji)
• Vigor (Bohemia Interactive)
• Wargroove (Chucklefish)
• Yuppie Psycho (Another Indie)

And as if that weren’t enough, you’ll also get a chance to play Ori and the Will of the Wisps and Forza Horizon 4, from Microsoft Studios, and The MISSING: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories, from Arc System Works.

Open to Everyone

Not only is this a free event, you don’t even need a PAX ticket! Though if you’re under 18, please come with a parent or guardian.

ID@Xbox Pre-PAX Open House

Microsoft Conference Center

16070 NE 36th Way, Bldg 33 – McKinley

Redmond, WA 98052

If you’re driving in, there’s free parking available. There will also be buses taking attendees directly to and from the event from the Washington State Convention Center. These buses pick up at the motor coach and shuttle bus loading area every 15-30 minutes beginning at 4:30 p.m., running every 15-30 minutes through 9:00 p.m.

We hope to see you there! Don’t forget to RSVP!

Inclusion. It’s more than just recognizing everybody. Instead, inclusion puts together the best of equality, representation, and integration. In NBA Live 19, you’ll get the chance to see female created players for the first time in NBA Live’s history. Not only will you be able to create your own player, but women will now also be included in the game and can embark on their own career mode in The Rise.

Creating Authentic Appearances

NBA Live offers a face scanning app. Through this, players get the opportunity to scan their faces into the game to make their created player as accurate as possible. This option used to only be available for men but now will be officially opened up for women. Once scanned into the game, you can then go ahead and choose from 30 different head shapes as well as hundreds of hairstyle options, stemming from different hair types, lengths, and colors.

Next, players will have the opportunity to select their position, height, and weight. There are no real limitations for height and weight other than those being shaped by natural position limits. For example, guards, regardless of gender, will sit in the five-foot-eight to six-foot-five range. Wings can be anywhere between six-foot-four to six-foot-ten, and bigs will range from six-foot-eight to seven-foot-two. This means that if you want to create a seven-foot dunking center and have her ball out, you absolutely can. If you want to create a six-foot point guard who will break some ankles, do it.

Where Can I Play with My Created Player?

As part of NBA Live 19’s featured mode, The One, you can complete the buildup to becoming The One, titled The Rise. In this mode, you travel the world receiving advice, feedback, and tips from a mentor, and WNBA and NBA players along the way. You’ll get the chance to play everywhere from Brazil to Paris and in the states as you take on the best and create your own legacy to rival that of the basketball’s elite.

In the newest feature to hit NBA Live, Build Your Squad, you’ll also get the chance to recruit players to play with you in The Streets after you beat their team. The NBA Live squad currently consists of Joel Embiid, Allen Iverson, and Candace Parker. With this feature, those are just three examples of players that you can roll out in your squad with but, beating them won’t be easy. Building the best possible squad and making sure that you can defeat your opponents is key!

Playing in the Streets with Candace Parker

Candace Parker is one of the greatest athletes to ever lace ‘em up. Doesn’t matter whether you’re looking at the basketball court, a football field, or anywhere else, she’s solidified herself as one of the greatest to ever play a professional sport. As an MVP, champion, and stone-cold competitor, Parker knows what it’s like to have to fight to build a legacy – she’s successfully done it. We sat down with her ahead of the announce of Female Create-a-Player to talk about what inclusion, and fighting for your reputation, means to her.

Candace says her main message would be that you can do anything you put your mind to. Her parents didn’t differentiate and gave her the same feedback as they gave her brothers if they didn’t play well or had a bad game. She feels the time is over when you say, “I can’t do it because I’m girl.”

She also spoke about growing up playing pick-up basketball where the first time, she would be last pick on a team. By the very next game, she was picking the teams because of how dominant she was. The WNBA has been growing and, with it, the spread of talent across the board from female ballers who are now hooping at a young age. Candace has been elated with the growth of hoops for young women and hopes to see it continue to grow.

“I think in order for it to grow, you need to see it and that’s what it’s doing now,” she started. “You see it on games, you see it on television, internet, social media, things like that. So, I think just visibility has helped our game so much and, obviously, the WNBA has been around for a very, very long time and I hope to make it better and leave it better than I came into it.”

Try Out Female Create-a-Player in NBA Live 19 Soon

On August 24, you’ll be able to go ahead and create your own female player and take her through the journey to becoming The One with the NBA Live 19 demo. With female-specific gear to unlock, and all-time greats to beat, your rise couldn’t start soon enough. The full release of the game is on September 7. Hop on the sticks and show that you have what it takes to become The One in NBA Live 19! You can pre-order the game now!

San Diego Comic-Con, the world’s largest comic and pop-culture festival, is coming soon and Xbox is bringing the fun with exclusive gear, panels, celebrity guests, and more! See below for details on everything Xbox at SDCC and join the fun from California or from the comfort of your own couch.

Xbox Booth (San Diego Comic-Con badge required)
Hall A, Booth #100

For the first time ever, Xbox will have exclusive gear available at SDCC! Stop by to pick up exclusive clothing and items from Xbox and your favorite games and then get them customized on the spot with your Gamertag. See some of the items available here.

Visit us on Thursday, July 19 and Saturday, July 21 for signing sessions with some of your favorite developers and designers, but get there early: only the first 100 people to receive passes will be eligible!

Signings (San Diego Comic-Con badge required):

• Brendan Greene (“PlayerUnknown”), Creative Director, PUBG Corp – Thursday, July 19 from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. PDT
• Joe Neate, Executive Producer, and Mike Chapman, Design Director, Sea of Thieves – Saturday, July 21 from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. PDT

Xbox Gear Comic-Con Sweepstakes

Can’t make it to the booth to pick up the exclusive gear? Retweet @Xbox to potentially win an Xbox Gear Comic-Con prize pack! Four winners will receive a collection of exclusive Xbox Gear, and one grand prize winner will receive the gear and an Xbox One X.

Follow @Xbox or @XboxCanada on Twitter and retweet the following tweet when it goes live at the start of San Diego Comic-Con: “RT and follow for a chance to win exclusive #XboxSDCC #XboxGear! NoPurchNec. Ends 7/22/18. #Sweepstakes Rules: bit.ly/2KV2DQ1.” You have until July 22 to enter. Click through for the Official Rules.

Sea of Thieves Panel (San Diego Comic-Con badge required)
Room 5AB, Saturday, July 21 from 1:30pm – 2:30pm PDT

Special guest and Sea of Thieves fan Freddie Prinze Jr. (“Star Wars Rebels,” “24,” “Scooby Doo,” “I Know What You Did Last Summer”) joins the Rare crew, Joe Neate, Mike Chapman, and Peter Hentze as they discuss the lore and expanded universe of Sea of Thieves. Attendees will also receive a limited-edition Sea of Thieves comic and time-limited exclusive in-game DLC!

Xbox Live Sessions

If you’re not in San Diego but still want to follow along with the fun, we’re hosting two action-packed Xbox Live Sessions that you won’t want to miss.

• PUBG featuring Brendan “PlayerUnknown” Greene: On Thursday, July 19 at 5:00 p.m. PDT, PUBG Creative Director Brendan Greene (@PLAYERUNKNOWN) and Microsoft Executive Producer Nico Bihary (@nico_bihary) will join Rukari Austin (@rukizzelrukizzel) to get their loot on in PUBG’s Miramar map live from inside of a PUBG Bus created by West Coast Customs. That’s right – Xbox, PUBG Corp., and West Coast Customs have teamed up to create a one-of-a-kind, tricked out PUBG Bus which will be home to the livestream and available to see in-person at The Experience at Comic-Con.
• Sea of Thieves with Freddie Prinze Jr.: On Saturday, July 21 at 5:00 p.m. PDT, Sea of Thieves fan Freddie Prinze Jr. (@RealFPJr) will sail the high seas with members of the Rare team and Major Nelson in an episode of Xbox Live Sessions that’s sure to test the sea legs of the seasoned actor. Fans at home can tune in and watch on http://mixer.com/Xbox  and http://twitch.tv/Xbox.

Xbox at “The Experience at Comic-Con”

Head over to Petco Park where you can play Xbox One games, earn free swag, and win awesome prizes! No Comic-Con badge required.

• Visit the Samsung truck at The Experience at Comic-Con, located in the Lexus Lot at Petco Park. Climb aboard the truck to compete in Forza Motorsport 7 on Xbox One X via Samsung’s 2018 QLED TVs. More information can be found here.
• Come visit the first stop of the Xbox One Summer of PUBG tour. Win prizes, check out the PUBG Bus, and stick around for the Xbox Live Sessions! More information can be found here

For all the SDCC details, visit the Xbox SDCC website. For more Xbox news, follow @Xbox on Twitter and stay tuned to Xbox Wire. See you at San Diego Comic-Con!

It’s a great time to be an Xbox gamer! Hot on the heels of our record-breaking E3 briefing, and the amazing reaction we’ve had from our fans, we’re excited to let you know that Xbox will be coming to gamescom in Cologne, Germany this August. We’ll be bringing a great line up of games from developers around the world that we can’t wait for gamers in Europe to get their hands on.

Here’s a quick overview of what we’ll be getting up to at the show this year:

Inside Xbox

This year at gamescom, we will be hosting a special episode of Inside Xbox, broadcast live from our Xbox booth in the Koelnmesse. Tune in on Tuesday, August 21, at 4:30 p.m. CEST (7:30 a.m. PDT) for lots of news, new Xbox One bundles and accessories, and features on upcoming titles that we can’t wait to tell you more about and perhaps even a few surprises!

You can catch the show on xbox.com, Mixer, Twitch, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter.

Xbox FanFest: gamescom 2018

Xbox FanFest will return to gamescom once again this year, this year on the Rhein River! FanFest will happen for one incredible night on Thursday, August 23.  More information on tickets and all the special activities happening on this day will be revealed very soon.   Be sure to track #XboxFanFest for all updates.

Xbox Booth

The Xbox booth will feature a fantastic line up of 25 games across a diverse range of genres – we’ll be making sure everyone has a way to play and have fun! If you’re coming to the show, do make sure you pay us a visit – we’re in Hall 8 of the Koelnmesse (North entrance).

This is the first time that European gamers will have the chance to jump in and try out many of our newest gameplay experiences including the open world freedom of driving through stunning beautiful historic Britain in Forza Horizon 4 or embarking on a journey to unravel Ori’s true destiny in this emotionally engaging, hand-crafted, story-driven adventure in Ori and the Will of the Wisps. Gamers will also have the opportunity to get the first ever hands-on with State of Decay 2’s Daybreak Pack, an all-new mode set to release in September.

And you won’t want to miss the PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds experience, featuring a new mode for Xbox One, playable for the first time at gamescom – and only in the Xbox booth.

Mixer Booth

Microsoft’s livestreaming service Mixer will also be at gamescom, located right next to the Xbox booth in Hall 8, where they will be bringing back the always popular HypeZone LIVE experience! Attendees will have the chance to earn victory in battle royale matches and even walk away with big prizes, while everyone at home can watch the turmoil unfold.  Get a head start on the competition by watching some HypeZone action on Mixer.com now.

Visit the Xbox Official Gear Shop

Making our European debut and in partnership with Game Legends, come and visit the Xbox Official Gear Shop in the Gamescom fanshop arena. Fly your gaming colors and show off your fandom for Xbox and award-winning franchises like Halo, PUBG, and Gears of War with all new apparel and collectibles. We will have more information on this exciting new initiative over the coming weeks.

Show opening times are as follows:

• Tuesday, August 21 – 9:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. CEST (press/trade only day)
• Wednesday, August 22 – 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. CEST
• Thursday, August 23 – 9:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. CEST
• Friday, August 24 – 9:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. CEST
• Saturday, August 25 – 9:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. CEST

Remember to keep your eyes on Xbox social channels all gamescom week for the latest – Mixer, Facebook, Twitter – we’ll keep you updated with all the great activity happening from the show. Can’t wait to see you there!

At last month’s E3 we gave players a tease of the upcoming Sea of Thieves content updates that we have planned for the summer. We’re thrilled to announce that the first of these summer updates – Cursed Sails – will be available for free to all Sea of Thieves players from July 31.

New Content To Include Skeleton Ship AI Enemies and the Brigantine Ship Designed For Three-Player Crews

As part of our ongoing commitment to deliver new Sea of Thieves content throughout the year, Cursed Sails will offer our biggest update yet at no charge for those who own the game or access it through Xbox Game Pass. Players will now be able to battle terrifying new skeleton ships, set sail in the new three-player Brigantine ship and form Alliances with other players to take on bigger challenges and share greater rewards.

This permanent new content will be introduced into the game through a special time-limited campaign, Cursed Sails. Offering players a range of unique rewards, this three-week campaign will see skeleton ships terrorise outposts and challenge pirates to do battle on the seas. A story-driven side quest will also allow players to investigate the source of the skeleton scourge. For a taste of what’s to come, watch our new trailer above.

This Cursed Sails campaign and content update will be available free and without charge to all Sea of Thieves players who have bought the game across the Xbox One family of devices or on Windows 10 PC, or who have access to it as part of Xbox Game Pass. Once it goes live from July 31, simply download and install the latest Sea of Thieves update to get access. And don’t worry, if you’re unable to take part in the time-limited campaign, all the features introduced with this campaign will remain in the Sea of Thieves world for everyone to see and experience.

New to Sea of Thieves? Join over four million players at xbox.com/seaofthieves, and visit the Sea of Thieves website at SeaofThieves.com to embark with the community. See you out on the seas.

Earlier today Inside Xbox Episode 5 aired, continuing to pull back the curtain on Team Xbox to celebrate our games, features, and fans. This episode was full of closer looks at some big upcoming games, including No Man’s Sky, We Happy Few, and Earthfall, as well as the announcement of a huge addition to Xbox Game Pass. So, without further ado, let’s take a closer look at some of the biggest news coming out of this month’s episode of Inside Xbox.

Rocket League and Warhammer: Vermintide 2 are Coming to Xbox Game Pass

The Xbox Game Pass catalog continues to grow this week, thanks to the addition of a couple of awesome titles. First up, the much-loved Rocket League, which blends elements of soccer, racing, and demolition derbies together to create a wonderful whole, hits Xbox Game Pass today. Then, tomorrow, Warhammer: Vermintide 2 brings its mix of over-the-top gore and first-person hacking and slashing to the service.

The Sport White Special Edition Xbox One Controller

Featuring beautiful, clean lines and a snazzy design, the latest addition to the Xbox One controller family is a looker. Inspired by sports and sneakers, the Sport White’s got mint green accents and grey and silver patterns to go along with its fresh white design. If you’re a sneaker head, you’ll definitely want one of these. You can snag this sporty beauty at the Microsoft Store and other retailers beginning July 31st in the U.S. and Canada, and then worldwide on August 7th.

A Closer Look at No Man’s Sky

The highly-anticipated space exploration game No Man’s Sky is hitting Xbox One on July 24, so we had Hello Games founder Sean Murray on to share a bit about how excited the team is to be bringing the game to our consoles. He also showed a new video created by the team that breaks down 11 new features, from freighters to alien sidekicks, added to the game since its initial launch, all of which will be available when the game launches on Xbox One.

We Happy Few Adds a Story Mode

The Inside Xbox team was joined by Guillaume Provost from Compulsion Games, the latest studio to join the Microsoft Studios family. Guillaume showed off We Happy Few’s new story mode for the first time, sharing that you’ll be able to see events in the game from multiple perspectives as you play. This is going to be one wild ride, and we can’t wait to see more when the game releases in August.

Surviving an Alien Invasion in Earthfall

Coming to join us from their studio just up the road in Bellevue, the team from developer Holospark gave us a closer look at the upcoming game Earthfall, which releases this coming Friday, July 13. Earthfall is a four-player co-op shooter that tasks players with surviving an alien invasion, and it looks like a blast. Even better, the guys announced that all maps and additions to the game will be absolutely free to anyone who purchases it. There will also be Mixer integration, so save up that Spark to help your friends!

Seasons Change in Forza Horizon 4

To close out the show, the team was joined by some familiar faces from Playground Games, who came on to give fans a closer at this highly-anticipated (and absolutely gorgeous) Xbox One racing game. This segment lead into a special live-stream on mixer.com/forzamotorsport , where the team at Playground Games highlighted the summer season, including interviews with the team and community Q&A.

Thanks to everyone who tuned in! We hope you enjoyed the show and we can’t wait to tell you all about next month’s episode in a few weeks.

Inside Xbox returns to the spotlight live on Tuesday, July 10 at 3 p.m. ET/12:00 p.m. PT on Mixer, Twitch, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter with interviews for Forza Horizon 4, We Happy Few, Earthfall, the latest news on Xbox Game Pass and a special story born from the Xbox Live Creators Program you won’t want to miss. Of course, we’ll also have a couple of secrets under wraps, and ready to reveal during the show as well.

Forza Horizon 4: Ralph Fulton from Playground Games will be on-hand to reveal more about Seasons in Forza Horizon 4, but better yet, Inside Xbox will transition to a special hour-plus long broadcast from Playground Games in the UK, where the team will reveal never-before-seen gameplay for the Summer Season in FH4.

We Happy Few: Our friends from Compulsion Games will also drop by with a fresh, in-depth look at the new Story mode they’ve brought to life in the tense, disturbing, and enthralling world of We Happy Few, including a first look at gameplay from a brand-new character’s perspective. Have you had your Joy today?

Earthfall: We’ll also be joined for by the team behind Earthfall, releasing July 13 in the Microsoft Store. We’ll have an exclusive, in-depth look at the action and strategy at the heart of this frantic four-player co-op FPS.

Xbox Live Creators Program: “How do I get into the games industry?” is a universal question always in need of a fresh answer. Inside Xbox traveled to Vancouver Canada to tell the story of one inspiring developer who combined their own hard work and ingenuity, with the access provided by the Xbox Live Creators Program to answer that question on their own terms.

Don’t forget to tune in for these stories and more on July 10 at 3 p.m. ET/12:00 p.m. PT on Mixer, Twitch, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. We’ll see you online!

E3 may be in our rear view like a fall leaf in Forza Horizon 4, but we’ve been busy updating the Xbox experience and adding features that you’ve requested.  The July Xbox Update adds features that make finding content even easier and offers a host of improvements to Mixer. Here’s what’s new:

FastStart Enabled for Select Titles
Announced back at E3 2018, FastStart is a new innovation from our Xbox Platform team that allows you to jump into your games twice as fast and play after downloading just a fraction of it. FastStart works by identifying which files are needed to begin playing and prioritizes the download of those files first, enabling you to quickly jump into full-fidelity gameplay while the remainder of your title downloads in the background. Simply find the FastStart-enabled title you want to play in our catalog, hit ‘Download’ and your console will take care of the rest. It’s that simple. What’s more, it’s now enabled for select English language titles in our Xbox Game Pass catalog, and will expand to more games in more languages over time. You can learn more about FastStart here.

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

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

Mixer Share Controller Improvements
We’ve made it easier to use Share Controller on the web. First, we’ve enabled full mouse and keyboard support for PC users, along with Share Controller Key Bindings.

Second, we’ve added multi-touch support for touch-enabled devices. This allows multiple controls to be used at the same time! For example, you can control the joystick and press A at the same time on your touch laptop.

And lastly, we’ve added a per-channel leaderboard that spotlights viewers who have contributed to a streamer’s channel the most during a Share Controller session.

Full Screen Broadcasting on Mixer
Mixer streamers can now go full screen with their webcam while broadcasting. You can switch to full screen webcam broadcasting at any time you want. While in this mode game audio is muted, making it perfect for talking to your audience while switching from game to game or setting up before you start playing. You can even do all IRL broadcasts!

For the best experience we recommend using one of these cameras:

• Microsoft LifeCam Studio
• Logitech HD Pro Webcam C922
• Logitech Webcam C930e
• Microsoft LifeCam HD-3000

Console broadcasting quality and stability improvements
We’ve made a number of changes and fixes to improve overall broadcast video quality.  You will now experience improved performance when broadcasting bandwidth-heavy multiplayer.

All of these updates are available because of the Xbox Insiders who have helped shape these features, so big thanks to all of you for your valuable input.  If you’d like to help create the future of Xbox and get access to early features, download the Xbox Insider Hub app on your Xbox One or Windows 10 PC.  You can also visit the Xbox Insider blog here for the latest release notes and to learn more. Happy gaming!

In advance of the 4th of July holiday, we are celebrating that the State of Decay 2 community now exceeds three million players. This, along with the recent news that fans made State of Decay 2 the best-selling game of May, puts us in a festive mood. To celebrate, we are revealing our first post-launch content, the Independence Pack. This pack gives you the opportunity to take on the zombie horde with style, grace and most importantly, colorful gunpowder. Available today on both Xbox One and Windows 10, the pack unlocks an array of fiery new versions of vehicles, weapons and gear for your community. State of Decay 2 wants you to show off with explosive awesomeness to the three million player strong community. Heck, even the zeds are dressed for the occasion in this pack, and there are few things as satisfying as taking out a Revolutionary War-themed zombie during a supply run. It’s like history that you can blow up…with fireworks!

What do you get in this firework-filled content? Glad you asked, patriot. The Independence Pack features three zombie-ready vehicles, access to a supply drop containing three new patriotic melee weapons, two unique ranged weapons and piles of single-use fireworks that are perfect for causing general havoc (or making blood plague elimination a much more festive occasion):

• Take the Pyrohawk, Burninator or Meatwagon out for a spin. With names like these, you know driving will be more entertaining.
• Step up to your station at the BBQ with The Freedom Ringer, Grillmeister and BBQ Fork – new hand-held zed-slaying solutions.
• Subtlety not your thing? Well we have the Pyro Launcher and Starshank Launcher so you can blast zombies with fiery explosives.
• Just like loud noises with pretty colors? You’re in luck! The Block Rocker, Reign o’ Fire, Bouncing Boris and XL Firework Shell offer even more options to turn a mission into a celebration.

If that’s still not enough boom, you can also use the new Fireworks Crafting Station facility mod to craft additional fireworks or ammunition for your fancy new fireworks launchers. Also keep an eye out for a new wandering trader hosting a fire sale on these explosive new goodies. That’s right, a good ole traditional fireworks sale.

Grab the Independence Pack today for $4.99 USD (or for free if you purchased State of Decay 2: Ultimate Edition); Xbox Game Pass members also receive a 10 percent discount on the Independence Pack. If that isn’t enough to get you jazzed, the team also added to the existing game with a new update that focuses on non-firework content. In Update 2.0, get ready for 20 FREE new missions, nearly 10 new weapons, a “Rare Books” trader for new skills and plenty of improved gameplay in honor of the Independence Pack for ALL players. Did we mention it’s free? To read more on that, please visit StateofDecay.com for the full patch notes and other things that aren’t fireworks.

But wait, there’s more! After wiping out the blood plague and celebrating your legacy with this festive pack, get ready for completely separate shenanigans in the upcoming Daybreak Pack this September. That all-new content lets you take the fight to the zombies, featuring an exciting new mode where you play as a well-equipped Red Talon soldier. You’ll work to complete a challenging objective while protecting your fortified position against waves of zombies and freaks to earn new rewards and weapons. The Daybreak Pack is also included in State of Decay 2’s Ultimate Edition.

If you haven’t joined the community just yet, now’s a great time to get in on all the action! In addition to playing it with an Xbox Game Pass membership, you can purchase the Standard Edition for $29.99 and the Ultimate Edition for $49.99., which includes both the Independence Pack and Daybreak Pack. As an Xbox Play Anywhere game, one digital purchase gets you both the Xbox One and the Windows 10 version of the game

Take a handful of fireworks, a new ride, some casual rocket launchers and ask yourself the one question that matters this 4^th of July – How Will You Survive?