Microsoft has rolled out the option for PC users to gift digital games and DLC through the Microsoft Store. The feature first hit Xbox One late last year and has now been extended to cover the PC side of the company’s offerings.

Other PC-based game storefronts like Steam and Humble have offered game gifting for some time, so Microsoft’s decision to enable the feature for its platform brings it in line with both its PC competitors and its own digital Xbox One game store.

Additionally, Microsoft has expanded the Xbox One’s gifting features to include all Xbox One titles, though Xbox 360 and Xbox Classic games on the store are still unable to be gifted.  

From the PC Microsoft Store itself, players can choose to buy a game either for themselves or as a gift at the moment of purchase.

Many of the same restrictions from the Xbox One gifting system still apply. Preorders and free games are ineligible to be gifted, as are things like loot-boxes or in-game currencies. Each user can only gift two discounted games in a 14-day period and any gifted title is bound to the region of the purchaser, not the recipient. 

Starting at 2:00 p.m. PDT today, members of the Xbox One Preview Alpha Ring will begin receiving the latest Xbox One system update (1805.180430-1920). Read on for more about the New Features, fixes and known issues in the latest system update.

New Features:

The following new features are active in this build:

120Hz – Support for More Video Output Options

In this build Gamers with monitors and televisions that support a 120Hz refresh rate can now turn on 120Hz support for 1080p and 1440p output resolutions on Xbox One S and Xbox One X. This high refresh rate option means you can now take full advantage of displays with 120Hz capabilities. High refresh rate support can provide a smoother gaming experience and lower latency on some displays, and games may benefit from reduced tearing and stuttering via 120Hz output.

Connect with Gamers Across Xbox Live and Discord

You can now easily link your Xbox Live account to your Discord account from a Discord app (PC, mobile) and from the “linked social accounts” Setting menu on Xbox One. When you link Discord to your Xbox Live account, your Xbox Live presence will be shared across Discord, enabling friends and users in your same Discord servers to see what you are playing on Xbox Live. Keep in mind that your Presence will be shared with anyone on Discord, independently of your Privacy Settings on Xbox.

Please note for this feature to work you to do the following on an Android or iOS device.  Currently the Beta version of the Discord app on Android and iOS supports the account linking (the PC app in coming soon from the Discord team):

What you need to do on the console:

1. Go to Settings > Accounts > Linked social accounts
2. Select “Link” under Discord
3. Follow the instruction in your screen to start the account linking process:
4. Say ‘yes’ to the MSA consent dialog, allowing Xbox to share your information with Discord
5. A 6 digit PIN code will show up in your console
6. Go to your Discord app and insert the 6 digit code that shows up in your screen
7. Accounts should now be linked and your Xbox presence will start being displayed in Discord
8. If you say ‘no’ to the consent you’ll go back to settings, account won’t be linked

Improvements to the Xbox Accessories App

In this build we’re also modernizing the Xbox Accessories app to make it easier to navigate, and to look and feel more consistent with the rest of the Xbox One dashboard.

More Privacy Options

You will notice a change to the Login flow on the console that only occurs once when you first login. In the privacy settings menu, you can now also specify whether to send crash dump data for games and apps to Microsoft. We’ll also let you know about scenarios where we need to share your data with game developers, publishers, and other third parties so that you can play online. Finally, we’re giving you a way to close your Microsoft account, which will also remove you from others’ friends lists.

Trim Clips Directly in the Guide

Last month, we added a new sharing feature that helps gamers upload their captured screenshots and videos directly to Twitter. In this build, we’re improving on the sharing experience even further; you can now trim your recent game captures directly from the Guide, so you won’t need to switch to Upload Studio to make a quick cut to your saved clips.

Fixes:

Apps

• We have fixed launch and activation issues in certain apps such as Hulu, Spotify and Microsoft Edge.

Games

• We have fixed launch and activation issues in games when the user was playing a title and signed out to show the correct message when launching the title again that they must be signed in.

Guide

• We have fixed an issue where the button prompt to move Pins in Guide was incorrect.

Microsoft Edge

• Fixed issues with Microsoft Edge failing to load multiple tabs and the problem when the cursor would disappear when using the browser.

Navigation and Selection in Menu’s

• Users can now select an action in menus.  This means we have fixed issues to allow users to now:
  
  • Move/copy content in Network transfer or locally from the internal HDD to an external HDD
  • Set a default disk to install content if they have more than one drive attached
    
    • Therefore you are now able to set external HDD as default install location if your internal HDD is set

Networking

• Work has been done to improve the Wi-Fi connectivity when resuming the console from the Instant on mode and a network was not detected until a reboot.
• Users should no longer be seeing a “Local cache is full” message when powering on their console.

Profile

• We have fixed the issue in which some users noticed the Gamerscore icon is missing in their profile when using the Light Theme or Theme schedule.

Known Issues:

Audio

• Some users may experience intermittent loss of Audio with certain configurations of AV receivers with ATMOS or with changing audio configurations during console use.
• Some users may experience loss of Audio playing Final Fantasy XV Workaround to allow audio : Change audio settings to Stereo uncompressed, 7.1 uncompressed or Dolby Atmos for Home Theater and play the game

Pi-hole

• Pi-hole users may encounter issues signing in, creating, or recovering accounts upon downloading the 1804 update. This is due to a new configuration file which is downloaded from a URL Pi-hole blocks by default.
• Workaround: Add clientconfig.passport.net to the Pi-hole allowed IP address list.

Profile Color

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

Networking

• Work continue on the stability of the Wi-Fi connectivity.  If you see any issues please report the problems for investigation.

YouTube

• Some users are encountering an issue where their YouTube account is being signed out whenever they launch the app.
  
  • Workaround: Uninstall/re-install the app and sign in with your account again.

Back in September, we reported on a mod for Super Mario 64 created by Kaze Emanuar which allowed players to play the game online with up to 24 players at once. The project’s videos and the creator’s Patreon account were soon taken down by Nintendo, although the mod continued to live on through online distribution.

Now, eight months later, the project has been revived under the new name of ‘Net64 2.0’, acting very similarly to the previous edition with a few new additions such as playable Sonic and Knuckles options. The video above shows off this new build and describes how it all works should you be interested. The new version also enables players to search for open servers to join, adding new multiplayer possibilities like this capture the flag minigame.

Speaking to Kotaku, Emanuar says that he is hopeful that this version will stay around online for longer than the original.

“I don’t know if [Nintendo will] go after Net64 too, but I believed that they only took down SM64 Online because it got so super popular and came out right before Odyssey anyway. I think this client will stay up for a little longer than the SM64 Online one.”

It seems that this is only the start of Emanuar’s ambitions, too, with other N64 projects such as a version of The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask that makes use of Super Mario characters and powerups, as well as a Super Mario Sunshine mod that makes use of the original ‘SM64 Online’ engine, both in his mind.

Do you like the idea of playing classic Nintendo games online with friends? Do you think this is something Nintendo may create itself alongside the upcoming NES game multiplayer features? Let us know your thoughts down below.

The International 2018 Battle Pass, all new content for Dota 2 is Now Available on Steam!

The International Battle Pass is here to tap into the heart of the Dota summer season. Packed full of exclusive features and rewards, the Battle Pass is sure to unearth a hoard of treasures for your stash as we approach the culmination of this year’s Dota Pro Circuit and the climactic showdown in Vancouver.

More information about The International 2018 Battle Pass can be found HERE.

25% of all Battle Pass sales go directly to The International 2018 prize pool.

Two free new apps — the Steam Link app and the Steam Video app — are preparing for launch in the coming weeks, both designed to extend Steam’s suite of services and accessibility.

The Steam Link app, slated to launch the week of May 21st, allows gamers to experience their Steam library of games on their Android (phone, tablet, TV) and iOS-based (iPhone, iPad, Apple TV) devices while connected via 5Ghz network or wired Ethernet to a host system (Mac or PC), with Android access initially offered in beta. The Steam Link App will feature support for the Steam Controller, MFI controllers, and more across both platforms.

Later this summer, the Steam Video app is targeted for release, allowing users to enjoy the thousands of movies and shows available on Steam directly via their Android and iOS devices over Wi-Fi or LTE. In direct response to customer feedback, it will offer the ability to enjoy content in offline and streaming modes.

Steam is a leading platform for digital entertainment, offering thousands of games, movies, and films to millions of people around the world. For more information, please visit www.steampowered.com

© 2018 Valve Corporation. All rights reserved. All trademarks are property of their respective owners in the US and other countries.

The passionate community of gamers on Xbox are our inspiration. As we get ready to share a fantastic lineup of new games for Xbox players at E3 2018, we want to take a moment to thank them for a record-setting start to the year.

Today, we’re witnessing a record-setting number of players, playing at record levels, and engaging in new ways. Xbox Live players are up 13 percent and Xbox One sales are up 15 percent over the same period last year, but that’s not all. We’ve seen more than 600,000 friendships forged with the Looking For Group feature and there are now more than 1.2 million Clubs on Xbox Live.

We’re seeing tremendous engagement of mega-hits like Fortnite and Far Cry 5, both of which play best in 4K Ultra HD on Xbox One X, joining the more than 200 games that now feature Xbox One X enhancements. But we’re also seeing fantastic engagement with Xbox One console exclusives like Sea of Thieves, the fastest-selling Microsoft Studios new IP of this console generation, and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, whose new desert-themed map is now available to play on a dedicated test server ahead of its launch in Xbox Game Preview later in May. We also reached a couple milestones recently with players having enjoyed over 4 billion hours on games released through our ID@Xbox program and nearly 1 billion hours on games in our Xbox One Backward Compatibility library.

Xbox Game Pass has been a great contributor to growth in players and engagement. With over 100 great games available for one low monthly price and new games added every month, including new games from Microsoft Studios the same day as their global release, Xbox Game Pass is all about introducing you to new genres, franchises, and games. It’s been incredible to see the growth in the service and the growth of engagement in franchises made available in Xbox Game Pass. We’re next looking forward to bringing State of Decay 2 to Xbox Game Pass members on May 22^nd, the same day as its global release, as we continue to work to deliver the ultimate gaming membership for our fans.  

It’s also been amazing to see what the passionate Mixer community has achieved in such a short period of time. Late last year, Mixer exceeded more than 10 million active users in a month for the first time – a milestone we’ve since eclipsed, and then some, each month to start 2018. HypeZone channels for Fortnite and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds are now among the most popular on Mixer, introducing you to a range of streamers in the midst of the most intense Battle Royale moments. Creative new channels have been started for game developers sharing their work-in-progress games, as well as cooking, music, and art, as just a few examples. Mixer will continue to grow thanks to you all, staying true to remaining a positive and fun space for gamers, streamers, and viewers.

It’s a great time to be a gamer and to be a part of Team Xbox. We’re hard at work on exciting plans for E3, from what will be a great briefing filled with new games to the fan experience at the Microsoft Theater. This is our biggest E3 yet, and we look forward to a great week for gamers. Again, thank you to the amazing Xbox community.

Stoic, an independent game development company, and Versus Evil, one of the leading independent video game publishers, have revealed that indie role-playing strategy hit The Banner Saga is coming to Switch eShop on 17th May.

The Banner Saga is an epic single-player driven Viking saga, where a player’s choice in travel, conversation and combat determines the outcome of their own personal story as well as the survival of an entire civilisation. The game features stunning 2D animation and art, a unique tactical combat system and a cast of unforgettable characters, all of which drive this epic journey forward.

Here’s what Steve Escalante, General Manager of Versus Evil had to say about this impending release:

“Launching The Banner Saga on Nintendo Switch is an exciting moment for us, as we gear up in 2018 to enter the third and final chapter of the series it’s only fitting we give Nintendo players an opportunity to enjoy this award-winning Viking inspired saga where the journey begins.”

John Watson, Technical Director at Stoic added to this:

“We’ve always strived to share this epic series and the narrative of the saga across a variety of platforms and we are thrilled to now bring the Banner Saga to a whole new community of console players on the Nintendo Switch.”

Well it all sounds rather lovely. Let us know if you plan to pick up The Banner Saga for your Switch when it arrives on 17th May.