Tag: Xbox

It’s summer time and we’ve got another scorching hot line-up of game demos ready just for you! This will be our third [email protected] Summer Game Fest Demo event as part of Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest promotion. Starting June 21^st and running through June 27^th, you’ll be able to play over 30 demos of upcoming unreleased games for Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One!

A few things to keep in mind:

• These demos will only be up on the Xbox Dashboard for a week. Some might be re-published to the Demo channel later, but many will simply disappear at the end of the week, so check them out while you can.
• The developers would love to hear what you think. Hit them up on social media or through their websites. If you like the game – tell them! If you have constructive criticism, they would love to hear that too.
• These “game demos” are not the norm. Typically, the demos you see in our Demo channel are created after the game is completed (or nearly completed) and represents an almost final to final version. Think of these as akin to “show floor demos” and not necessarily indicative of the final product. What that means is that you’ll get to experience these games early – some way early – which is awesome since you’ll have the chance to provide your feedback! You should also note that these games will continue to evolve and be polished as they near release.

We’ll announce the full list closer to June 21^st, but here are some titles you’ll want to keep in mind:

Batora: Lost Haven

The physical and mental powers of a naive and reckless girl who lost everything are the only weapons to save the Earth from oblivion. Jump on a journey across colorful and mesmerizing planets in this fast-paced adventure where your conscience will carry the weight of your decisions.

Broken Pieces

Broken Pieces is a psychological thriller taking place in a French coastal village somehow outside the flow of time. Solve the mysteries by putting the pieces of the story back together by figuring out the enigma behind this mystical place.

Severed Steel

A stylish single-player FPS featuring a fluid stunt system, destructible voxel environments, loads of bullet time, a unique one-armed protagonist, and a dark electronic soundtrack.

Tinykin

Catch hundreds of tinykin and use their unique powers to bring Milo back to his home planet and back to normal size!

There will be so many unique games to discover and enjoy! When you get the chance to check it out, we’d love to hear what you think. Connect with us on Twitter, Instagram, Discord, Twitch, and YouTube. Stay tuned to Xbox Wire to learn more about what Team Xbox has planned and as always, have an amazing summer of gaming!

Last Sunday, we showcased a massive lineup of games targeted to come to Xbox and Game Pass over the next twelve months. Today, Erin Ashley Simon and Malik Prince sat down with the teams at Bethesda, Mojang Studios, Obsidian Entertainment, Playground Games and many more talented game creators from around the world to unpack the news we shared during the Xbox & Bethesda Showcase.

We also unveiled never-before-seen gameplay for Oxide Games’ Ara: A History Untold, revealed Microsoft Flight Simulator’s release of World Update X: United States and Beechcraft Model 18, a New Aircraft in Local Legends Series. What’s more, we announced that Valheim will come to Xbox and Game Pass later this year, shared a first look at gameplay for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and gave fans a glimpse of the Blunderdome and Halo worlds colliding in Fall Guys.

Here are some of the highlights from today’s Xbox Games Showcase: Extended show…

First Gameplay reveal of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

Coming day one to Xbox and Windows PC with Game Pass, fans saw the first gameplay of the third-person asymmetrical horror experience The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Based on the groundbreaking and iconic 1974 horror film, players will take on the role of one of the notorious Slaughter family to seek out, track down, and stop their guests from escaping. Alternatively, players can take on the role of the Slaughter families victims and use their wits and stealth to stay out of the Family’s reach and find the tools needed to reach freedom. Experience the mad and macabre for yourself in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

Valheim coming to PC Game Pass in 2022, Xbox in 2023

Coming to Xbox and Game Pass on day one, explore a beautiful, procedurally generated world as a battle-slain Norse warrior whose soul has been ferried to Valheim to slay Odin’s ancient rivals. Build, conquer, craft and survive solo or cooperatively with friends as you endeavor to bring order to the world of Valheim.

Microsoft Flight Simulator Releases World Update X: United States of America and US Territories Today and the Beechcraft Model 18, a New Aircraft in Local Legend Series

Microsoft Flight Simulator announced that World Update X: United States of America and US Territories is available free today for all players. World Update X was built with the latest high-resolution satellite and aerial imagery available. The World Update includes four handcrafted airports, 87 new points of interest, three new landing challenges, three discovery flights, and three bush trips. The update will also feature brand new 3D cities such as San Diego, CA, Albany, NY, Key Largo, FL, Seattle, WA, Olympia, WA and more. Paired with the launch of World Update X: United States, Microsoft Flight Simulator released the fifth plane in the “Local Legends” series – the Beechcraft Model 18. It is a low-wing, twin-engine utility aircraft produced by American aviation manufacturer Beech Aircraft Corporation. For more information, visit our Xbox Wire post here, and for the latest information on Microsoft Flight Simulator, stay tuned to @MSFSOfficial on Twitter.

Available now for Xbox Series X|S and Windows PCs, with Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass, and via Xbox Cloud Gaming.

Fall Guys welcomes the world of Halo to the Blunderdome

Fall Guys and 343 Industries are partnering to bring Master Chief and so much more to the Blunderdome with The Spartan Showdown event from June 30-July 4. With new challenges, fancy cosmetics and legendary items hitting the store as part of this event, Beans around the world can grab the goods and get into the action to raise their wardrobe levels to elite.

If you missed the Xbox Games Showcase: Extended 2022 you can still catch it on demand on here.

Our mission at Xbox is to bring the joy and community of gaming to everyone on the planet. We are committed to achieving this vision by delivering great games and services and enabling more people to play than ever before. That’s why we created Xbox Game Pass and continue expanding Cloud Gaming to new devices – so that we can open up the ways people can play across the devices they already own: PC, console, mobile, tablet devices, and now Smart TVs.      

Last June, we shared our vision for bringing Xbox to more gamers by working with global TV manufacturers to embed the Xbox experience into Smart TVs. Today, the Xbox team provided an update on our approach and vision, which included how we’re making last year’s vision a reality by bringing the Xbox app to Smart TVs, starting with our partner Samsung, the global leader in TVs.

Together, Samsung and Xbox partnered to bring Xbox Game Pass to the millions of Samsung Galaxy phones around the world, and now we are partnering again to bring our Xbox gaming experience to their 2022 Smart TVs. I’m excited for you to experience cloud gaming on Smart TVs on June 30 in 27 countries.

Xbox app now on Smart TVs

Playing Xbox games on 2022 Samsung Smart TVs gives Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members easy and instant access to over 100 high-quality games, including Xbox Game Studios titles on the same day they release. And as we recently announced, you can also play Fortnite without a membership through cloud gaming.

The Xbox app on Smart TVs presents new opportunities to play:

• If you are getting a new Samsung 2022 Smart TV, you will now have more ways to play games in your house.
• If you’re new to gaming, this is an easy way to get into the fun without needing to buy a PC or console and also to join a thriving community of over 25 million Game Pass members worldwide.   

We are bringing the Xbox App to Samsung Smart TVs first, and our intent is to explore other TV partnerships as part of this next evolution in our vision.  

How it works

Playing Xbox games on 2022 Samsung TVs will be a seamless experience, similar to using other streaming apps on your TV. Simply launch the app, connect your favorite controller, and start playing. Here’s the step by step:

• Access the Xbox app from the Samsung Gaming Hub and log into your existing Microsoft account. If you’re a Game Pass Ultimate member, you’ll have access to hundreds of cloud-enabled games or you can check out Fortnite without a membership.
• If you are new to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, join or upgrade today for just $1, or you can sign up directly in the app.
• Connect your favorite Bluetooth-enabled controller like the Xbox Wireless Controller, Xbox Adaptive Controller, Elite Series 2 Controller, or the DualSense controller. Start playing over 100 high quality games, from the cloud including A Plague Tale: Innocence, Hades and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Extraction.

We’re super excited by what this next step means for all you gamers out there. With this rollout, we’re making it easier than ever to play games on the devices you already own. With Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and a controller, you can easily jump into the world of gaming and connect with your friends and communities on Xbox.

For more details on today’s update from Xbox leadership, read here.

In a little less than a week, gamers across the globe will come together to watch the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase, featuring the latest on games from Xbox Game Studios, Bethesda, and our partners from around the world.

The show will include everything you want to know about the gaming lineup coming to Xbox and PC, including upcoming releases on Xbox Game Pass, and more.

Wherever in the world you may be, if you have a screen and internet access, you’ll be able to join in on our biggest moment of 2022 so far. Now, how about some specifics?

When is the event? Sunday, June 12 at 10am Pacific Time.

How do I watch? The showcase will be streamed out live on official Xbox channels, including Twitch, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and, for the first time, TikTok.

The show will also be streamed out simultaneously on regional Xbox and Bethesda channels around the globe, as well as on Steam, China’s Bilibli, and media outlets.

Important note: the show will be streamed in 1080p at 60fps. For a more representative look at the visuals contained in the showcase, we recommend watching the 4K / 60fps rebroadcast of the showcase on the Xbox YouTube channel, which will be available after the conclusion of the premiere. We will be sure to post on @Xbox social when the 4K / 60fps version is ready to view. 

Is the event available in languages other than English?  We will be providing subtitle support and/or audio dubbed translations in the following languages: Arabic, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Norwegian, Persian (Farsi), Polish, Portuguese, Portuguese (Brazilian), Russian, Slovak, Spanish (Castilian), Spanish (Latin America), Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukranian, and Vietnamese. We expect to have all languages available with the show’s live broadcast but it is possible that select languages may need to be added in the days following the broadcast if they have not finished translating.

The easiest way to find your preferred language is to check out your country’s Xbox page on Facebook or by viewing on the official Xbox YouTube channel and clicking the gear icon in the lower right corner.

Is the show going to be Accessible to those with low/no hearing or low/no vision? There will be a version of the show with Audio Descriptions (AD) in English on the Xbox YouTube channel, and American Sign Language (ASL) on Xbox’s YouTube channel and the new /XboxASL Twitch channel.

I’m not going to be able to watch, where can I find out what was announced? As announcements roll out during the broadcast, the Xbox Wire team will be publishing detailed blog posts containing key announcements right here at news.xbox.com (including localized versions in Brazilian Portuguese, French, German, LATAM Spanish, and Japanese).

Xbox FanFest Watch Parties: There is no better way to celebrate this year’s Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase than with friends around the world! That is why we are inviting all Xbox fans to join us at the Xbox FanFest Virtual Watch Party. To get access, sign up as an Xbox FanFest fan at www.xbox.com/fanfest and opt-in to the virtual event.

Xbox FanFest is also hosting in-person watch parties around the world. Select Xbox FanFest fans won tickets to attend watch parties in Los Angeles, California; Madrid, Spain; Toronto, Canada; and Melbourne, Australia. Become an Xbox FanFest fan to unlock access to exclusive events, offers and more. Sign up as an Xbox FanFest fan at www.xbox.com/fanfest.

Notes for co-streamers and creators: We at Xbox greatly appreciate any co-stream efforts and aim to ensure you have a smooth experience if you choose to do so.

However, due to forces beyond our control, we cannot guarantee that glitches or disruptions by bots and other automated software won’t interfere with your co-stream.

Video on Demand (VOD): For those planning to create full post-show breakdowns in the form of VOD coverage, we recommend you do not use any audio containing copyrighted music to avoid any action by automated bots, and to also consult the terms of service for your service provider.

Will there be an Extended Stream? Yes! Stay tuned for the Xbox Games Showcase Extended on June 14^th at 10am PT where we will share new trailers, take deeper looks at the news from the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase and speak with some of your favorite game creators. This all-new broadcast is approximately 90 minutes in length, and will be broadcast live in English, Latin America Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, German and French, and the additional languages we offer will be available within a week. Audio Descriptions and American Sign Language will be offered live.

YouTube.com/Xbox
YouTube.com/Bethesda
Twitch.tv/Xbox
Twitch.tv/XboxASL
Twitch.tv/Bethesda
Twitter.com/Xbox
Facebook.com/Xbox
Facebook.com/Bethesda

See you on Sunday!

Xbox has called upon cosmic forces to create a custom Xbox Series S console and wireless controller inspired by “Ms. Marvel,” an original series from Marvel Studios, streaming June 8 on Disney+.

From June 2 through June 23, 2022, fans can enter for a chance to win the exclusive Xbox Series S and matching Xbox Wireless Controller by retweeting the official Xbox Sweepstakes tweet.

The console features Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) as Ms. Marvel, a Muslim American teenager who unexpectedly develops superpowers, with designs influenced by the murals and street art of Kamala’s own hometown of Jersey City. Marvel Studios’ “Ms. Marvel” follows Kamala as she struggles to feel like she totally fits in at home or at school. That is, until she gets superpowers like the heroes she’s always looked up to. A megafan at heart, Kamala’s unique outlook on life can be seen in her creative doodling. Though her parents would insist that she should be studying, Kamala can’t help but let her mind wander, brainstorming ideas for her next fun-filled super hero fan-fiction story.

In addition to the console, Xbox has paired it with a custom Xbox Wireless Controller, detailed with the “Ms. Marvel” logo and other distinctive features and color schemes inspired by the teenage super hero.

Don’t forget to visit the official sweepstakes terms and conditions for more information and check out “Ms. Marvel,” an original series from Marvel Studios, streaming June 8 on Disney+.

About Marvel Studios’ “Ms. Marvel”

Marvel Studios’ “Ms. Marvel” is a new, original series premiering exclusively June 8 on Disney+. “Ms. Marvel” introduces Kamala Khan, a Muslim American teenager growing up in Jersey City. An avid gamer and a voracious fan-fiction scribe, Kamala is a super hero megafan with an oversized imagination — particularly when it comes to Captain Marvel. Yet Kamala feels like she doesn’t fit in at school and sometimes even at home — that is, until she gets superpowers like the heroes she’s always looked up to. Life gets better with superpowers, right? 

The series stars Iman Vellani, Matt Lintz, Yasmeen Fletcher, Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur, Saagar Shaikh, Rish Shah, Fawad Khan, Laurel Marsden, Arian Moayed, Adaku Ononogbo, Alysia Reiner, Azhar Usman, Laith Nakli, Nimra Bucha and Travina Springer, with Aramis Knight. 

Directors for the series are Adil & Bilall (Adil El Arbi & Bilall Fallah) [Episodes 101 and 106], Meera Menon [Episodes 102 and 103] and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy [Episodes 104 and 105]. Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Brad Winderbaum, Adil & Bilall, .Bisha K. Ali and Sana Amanat are the executive producers. Bisha K. Ali is also the head writer.

As part of our mission to bring the joy and community of gaming to players wherever they are and to make gaming more accessible to people around the world, I’m excited to announce that we’ve partnered with Epic Games to make Fortnite available on supported browser-enabled devices for free with Xbox Cloud Gaming (Beta) in 26 countries.

This means, starting today, if you love Fortnite you only need two things to play in cloud-supported markets:

• A Microsoft account
• An iOS, iPadOS, Android phone or tablet, or Windows PC with internet access

With no installation or memberships required, all you need to do is go to Xbox.com/play on your web browser and sign-in with your Microsoft Account to party-up with friends or earn your next Victory Royale in Fortnite.

Whether you want to play Fortnite with native touch controls or a supported controller, it’s easy to jump into Fortnite with Xbox Cloud Gaming.

It’s an important step to add a Free-to-Play title to the cloud gaming catalog as we continue our cloud journey. We’re starting with Fortnite and will look to bring more Free-to-Play games people love in the future. At Xbox we want to make gaming accessible to the 3 billion players around the world, and cloud has an important role in that mission. Quite simply we want you to have more choice in both the games you play and the way you choose to play them.

For more information on how to play Fortnite via browser with Xbox Cloud Gaming, visit Xbox.com/play or check out the Support Page here.

It’s our mission at Xbox to bring the joy and community to gaming by putting players at the center of everything we do. We want to empower everyone around the world to play the games they want, with the people they want, on the devices they already own. We call this Xbox Everywhere.

As we look to make gaming more accessible to even more people, and reach the three billion players globally, we’ve invested heavily in the cloud – both for players so they can play the way they want, and for creators so they engage new, larger audiences and build, run and manage their games using best-in-class cloud tools and services. We’ve built this in partnership with Azure, which reaches more people than any other cloud provider.

Since launching in 2020, we’ve seen tremendous growth: So far, more than 10 million people around the world have streamed games through Xbox Cloud Gaming (Beta) as part of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.

Today we reach another key milestone as we expand our business model to make cloud available to more people in even more ways, going beyond Xbox Game Pass to provide our first free-to-play title. In partnership with Epic, Fortnite is available via Xbox Cloud Gaming so fans can play on an iOS device, Android phone or tablet, or Windows PC through web browser. This is just the beginning for us – we’re going to learn, implement feedback, and in time look to bring even more free-to-play titles to players through the cloud.

Our continued growth and ability to enable new business models has been driven by the way we’ve evolved cloud to make it part of the Xbox ecosystem. We started off on Android only running off Xbox One S servers in our datacenters. Since then, Cloud Gaming upgraded to Custom Xbox Series X servers, and launched on Windows PCs, Apple phones and tablets, Xbox One and Xbox Series S|X, and we’ve even started rolling it out on Steam Deck. We’ve also seen the community load it up on some unconventional devices via browser, although it looks like they were having a lot of fun. In total, players across all 26 countries have played on more than 6,000 types of devices, from various flavors of Android phones to a range of PCs and iPhones from all generations.

We’ve also enabled Cloud Gaming in more places, like Mexico, Japan, Australia, and Brazil. The gaming community has been phenomenal in all these new countries, and Brazil in particular has blown away our expectations. Adoption was so overwhelming in the first couple weeks that the demand from fans exceeded our server capacity to the point we had to quickly move to deploy more hardware to keep up with demand. The support we’ve seen going to new countries, paired with making more games available on more devices, has led to encouraging results. In the months ahead, you should expect cloud gaming to become available in even more places – we can’t wait to share more.

None of this would be possible without great content. We are in a unique position of not only having a first-party cloud that can deliver the games, but a rich history in gaming inclusive of expansive studios making titles across genres. Since launching under two years ago, we’ve worked with over 125 developers to make more than 350 games from the Xbox Game Pass catalog cloud enabled. We’ve also seen the power of cloud as a discovery mechanism by reducing the time to simply try out and play new games. On average, Xbox Game Pass players who use cloud, discover and play nearly twice as many games as Xbox Game Pass members who don’t play on cloud.

The way games are being delivered to devices has also evolved – when we began all of our games followed a lift-and-shift model to make it as easy as possible for studios to make games playable on cloud. Without the need to make any code changes, games would simply just work on our cloud platform. This has been a great way to build up the catalog with hundreds of games, and many games play wonderfully this way.

We’ve evolved over time and are also making it possible for games to be Cloud Aware; simple changes from the developer can enhance the whole experience. They may choose to add touch controls – either a basic overlay to fully custom controls like you see with Hades – or optimizing font size based on the device being streamed to. We launched cloud gaming with one cloud aware game: Minecraft Dungeons with custom touch controls. There are now more than 150 cloud-aware games featuring touch, and we’ve found games with touch controls lead to more engagement. On average, we see 2x increase in play for games that have touch controls, and 20% of Xbox Cloud Gaming users use touch exclusively.

Cloud aware titles also extend to more intensive games, making it possible to play Gen-9 titles on Xbox One via the cloud. A great example of this is Microsoft Flight Simulator. It became available via cloud on March 1, and quickly became the most played cloud game on phones, tablets, PCs and consoles for the month of March. Players who otherwise wouldn’t have access to Gen-9 titles now have the opportunity to jump in on the devices they own.

I’ll never forget the first time I played a console game on my mobile phone powered by the cloud; it was quite simply a magical experience. That was many years ago as we’ve been on this cloud journey for some time alongside a wonderful and engaged player community and incredible content partners. Together, we believe we have a bright future ahead for all players and creators.

What kind of sorcery is this!? Xbox has teamed up with Marvel Studios’ “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” in U.S. theaters May 6, to create a limited-edition custom Xbox Series S console and Xbox Wireless Controllers inspired by key characters from the film.

The customized Xbox Series S console features Gargantos, the giant, green, one-eyed octopus from another dimension who is one of the film’s most dangerous villains. In addition to the console, Xbox is revealing wireless controllers modeled after four of the upcoming film’s main characters: Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and The Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), as well as Wong (Benedict Wong), and America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez). Each controller will feature distinctive and recognizable components and textures from the characters’ costumes.

Fans can enter for a chance to win the exclusive custom Xbox Series S and all four Xbox Wireless Controllers by retweeting the official Xbox sweepstakes tweet. Visit the official sweepstakes terms and conditions for more information.

In addition, fans can enjoy the action with Fortnite Chapter 3: Season 2’s Battle Pass which includes Master of the Mystic Arts, Doctor Strange. With the Chapter 3 Season 2 Battle Pass, you can unlock Doctor Strange and the Conjure Weapon Emote, Spellwork Scimitar, and more!

About Marvel Studios’ “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness“

In Marvel Studios’ “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” the MCU unlocks the Multiverse and pushes its boundaries further than ever before. Journey into the unknown with Doctor Strange, who, with the help of mystical allies both old and new, traverses the mind-bending and dangerous alternate realities of the Multiverse to confront a mysterious new adversary.

“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong, Xochitl Gomez, with Michael Stühlbarg, and Rachel McAdams.

The film is directed by Sam Raimi, and Kevin Feige is the producer. Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Eric Hauserman Carroll, Scott Derrickson, and Jamie Christopher serve as executive producers. The screenplay was written by Michael Waldron. “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” releases in theaters on May 6, 2022.

Today, we are excited to announce that the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase will stream on Sunday, June 12 at 10 a.m. PT. This show will feature amazing titles coming from Xbox Game Studios, Bethesda, and our partners around the world.

The Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase will include everything you need to know about the diverse lineup of games coming soon to the Xbox ecosystem, including upcoming releases to Game Pass on Xbox and PC.

The Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase will be streamed on a variety of outlets, in over 30 languages. You can choose where you want to tune in from:

We’ll see you on Sunday, June 12 at 10 a.m. PT.