As a member of the Xbox Insider Team, I can say with certainty that we’re looking forward to 2018 and all the content we hope to share here and in the Xbox Insider Hub in the coming months. But we also think it’s important to look back on last year’s successes, which were pretty exciting from our point-of-view. To better celebrate together, we’ve compiled a “Best of 2017” list so you can see the changes we made last year, the content we shared in our app and everything you, as Xbox Insiders, helped us accomplish!

New Features Guided by Xbox Insider Feedback 

This year, Team Xbox introduced a ton of new features to the Xbox One with the help of our Xbox Insider community. Throughout the summer and fall of 2017, we received feedback from you on features like the new Home, an updated Guide, Light Theme, Arena and more – all of which contributed to some of our biggest updates this year.

Not only did our community try out and impact new system features, but Xbox Insiders also took part in the Xbox Game Pass Beta and helped Team Xbox successfully launch both Xbox Game Pass and new Store features like Digital Gifting.

More Game Content Offered Than Ever Before

We want to make sure our Xbox Insiders have early access to and the ability to provide feedback on all things Xbox, so we’ve spent the past year partnering with game studios to offer our community early playtests and content updates. In 2017 alone, we brought you the Minecraft Better Together Beta on Xbox One and Windows 10, which became our largest playtest ever, as well as early access to Paladins, Dragon Ball FighterZ and more.

Improvements to Xbox Insider Hub Give You More Choices

2017 saw many improvements made to the Xbox Insider Hub, all focused around giving our community more options. Last August, we expanded our Xbox One Update Preview Rings and clearly defined how Xbox Insiders gain access to each. Alongside these changes, we improved our tools to ensure that enrolling in and switching between the various Preview Rings available to you is a nearly instantaneous process.

We didn’t stop at simplifying our Xbox One Update Preview Rings, however. We also fine-tuned console management to allow Xbox Insiders to unenroll a console previously enrolled in “Insider content” (like the Xbox One Update Preview or game-related content) by another user without contacting support.

Xbox Insider XP Rewarded for Bug Reports

This summer, we started rewarding XP to Xbox Insiders who told us about a bug that was later fixed by Team Xbox. We plan to continue this effort in 2018 and would invite you to continue letting us know about any unexpected behavior you encounter via the “Report a problem” tool. We’ll let you know by Xbox One system message if you receive XP for your reports.

Xbox Insider Program Appears in New Places

Another big goal for us this year was to create more opportunities and visibility across our program. To achieve this, we expanded the Xbox Insider Hub to PC so you can complete Quests and Surveys for PC-specific games and features on your Windows 10 device. We also launched our Xbox Insider Blog, partnered with the Windows team to include “Gaming and Xbox” as a category in the Windows Feedback Hub and appeared on “Tips & Tricks.”

If you’re able to drag yourself away from the Nintendo Direct hype, you’ll notice that there’s another fun packed European Nintendo Download to enjoy!

Let’s see what’s on offer this week:

Switch eShop

Furi (The Game Bakers, €19.99 / £17.99) – Fight your way free in this ultra-responsive, fast-paced sword fighting and dual-stick shooting game. Feel the tension and adrenaline of one-on-one duels against deadly adversaries: you will need absolute focus and skill to defeat each of the guardians. Do you have what it takes to reach the last gate? Find out more in our Furi review.

Super Meat Boy (BlitWorks, €12.99 / £11.99) – Super Meat Boy is a tough-as-nails platformer where you play as an animated cube of meat who’s trying to save his girlfriend (who happens to be made of bandages) from an evil fetus in a jar wearing a tux.

The Escapists 2 (Team17 Digital, €19.99 / £19.99) – Bust out anywhere, with anyone on the Nintendo Switch. Team up with another inmate for local two player split screen mode, taking a Joy-Con each to either team up to break out, or work against one another to determine who’s the quickest convict to make an escape. Risk it all to breakout from the toughest prisons in the world. Find out more in our The Escapists 2 review.

Moorhuhn Knights & Castles (Young Fun Studio, €29.99 / £26.99) – Finally, Moorhuhn strikes back! Get set, aim, fire… and never neglect your own cover. Fight against the AI, your friends… or your enemies!

Never Stop Sneakin’ (Humble Hearts, €12.99 / £11.69) – Can you believe it? That madman, Amadeus Guildenstern, just traveled through time and kidnapped all the U.S. Presidents! Yes, all of them! Even the bad ones!

Energy Invasion (EvgeniyKolpakov, €2.99 / £2.69) – Energy Invasion – an arcade game inspired by the classic Breakout. Unlike the original game, your ball does not break blocks on its own, but can launch missiles in a chosen direction. Features: – A lot of bonuses (both useful and harmful) – Bright graphic effects – Levels with dangerous enemies – Soundtrack from Nick R 61 – 25 levels in “Invasion” mode, 25 levels in “Linear” mode, ∞ levels in “Endless” mode

ACA NEOGEO Art Of Fighting 2 (HAMSTER, €6.99 / £6.29) – “ART OF FIGHTING 2” is a fighting game released by SNK in 1994. Twelve fighters compete to be crowned as the strongest one in the “King of Fighters” ultimate fighting championship. We didn’t quite feel that the game lived up to its immense promise when we reviewed it back in 2008 when it landed on the Wii Virtual Console, but we’ll take another look now that its made the jump to the Switch.

Of Mice and Sand (ARC SYSTEM WORKS, €9.99 / £8.99) – “Of MICE and SAND -REVISED-” puts you in charge of a desert craft and its rodent crew. Brave an alien planet, and turn your squeaking subordinates into first-class shipmates, all in the name of adventure!

Azkend 2: The World Beneath (10tons, €7.99 / £6.99) – Enjoy amazing match-three gameplay and discover one of the most astonishing worlds ever imagined. While traveling from Liverpool to New York, your ship was pulled down into a massive maelstrom. 

Switch Pre-Orders

Bayonetta (Nintendo, Conditional discount: €10.00 / £10.00 for purchasers of Bayonetta 2 on the Nintendo eShop Regular price €29.99 / £24.99) – In a coffin submerged at the bottom of a murky lake, a witch is reborn. Discover or relive the epic Bayonetta anytime, anywhere on Nintendo Switch! 

Bayonetta 2 (Nintendo, Conditional discount: €30.00 / £25.00 for purchasers of Bayonetta on the Nintendo eShop Regular price €49.99 / £39.99) – In this climactic sequel to the critically acclaimed Bayonetta action game, players will be on the edge of their seats from start to finish.

Dragon Quest Builders (Nintendo, €49.99 / £39.99) – The goddess Rubiss has spoken – and you have been chosen. Dragon Quest Builders is destined for Nintendo Switch. The game is a big hit in Japan, mixing the fun of building with an overarching story and the combat of an action-RPG. You’ll master the art of construction, build your own towns however you want, defend them from monsters, and rescue townsfolk in need. Succeed and you may just rebuild Alefgard, the very same world where the series began. A separate free build mode allows you to build to your heart’s content with unlimited resources. And a Nintendo Switch exclusive Great Sabrecub will boost your speed and grant you special material by defeating enemies.

Kirby Star Allies (Nintendo, €59.99 / £49.99 for pre-orders until 15.03.2018, 23:59 local time Regular price €59.99 / £49.99) – Game description : The pink puff is back – in HD – and he’s not alone. Kirby is back – and he’s finally on the Nintendo Switch console in HD! But this time, he’s not alone. Recruit enemies by hitting them with hearts, and gather helpers for a party of up to four characters.

Wii U eShop

Breakout Defense 2 (nuGAME, €6,99 / £5.99) – Breakout Defense is a breakout game for one or two players. Play single player against the AI and aim for a high score or two player mode competing against a friend. Supports Off-TV Play mode.

Jolt Family Robot Racer (Cooply, €5,99 / £4.99) – JOLT is a fast paced, racing party game. The game at its core is a competitive platformer thatst a friend.n controls (slash attack and heavy blow) to destroy your enemies.le suits made and defend your people!ost, powerful energy source before it’s too late an array of different objects in the environment; your goal is to outperform or outright sabotage the other racers.

Special Offers

Nintendo Switch

• Black the Fall (SandSailorStudio) now €13.41 / £10.79 until Tue 23rd Jan, normally €14.90 / £11.99
• Nuclien (SPRINGLOADED) now €2.59 / £2.24 for pre-orders until Thu 18th Jan, normally €3.49 / £2.99
• Death Squared (SMG Studio) now €9.37 / £8.99 until Mon 15th Jan, normally €12.50 / £11.99
• GoNNER (Raw Fury) now €6.99 / £6.29 until Mon 15th Jan, normally €9.99 / £8.99
• Graceful Explosion Machine (Vertex Pop Inc.) now €8.99 / £6.99 until Mon 15th Jan, normally €12.99 / £9.99
• INVERSUS Deluxe (Hypersect) now €7.79 / £7.14 until Mon 15th Jan, normally €11.99 / £10.99
• Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime (Asteroid Base) now €9.99 / £7.99 until Mon 15th Jan, normally €14.99 / £11.99
• Semispheres (Vivid Helix) now €6.99 / £6.29 until Mon 15th Jan, normally €9.99 / £8.99
• Severed (Drinkbox Studios) now €9.99 / £8.99 until Mon 15th Jan, normally €14.99 / £13.49
• Thimbleweed Park (Terrible Toybox) now €14.99 / £11.24 until Mon 15th Jan, normally €19.99 / £14.99
• Thumper (Drool LLC) now €13.99 / £10.71 until Mon 15th Jan, normally €19.99 / £15.99
• Tactical Mind (QubicGames) now €2.69 / £2.42 until Wed 31st Jan, normally €2.99 / £2.69

Wii U

• Severed (Drinkbox Studios) now €10.49 / £8.39 until Thu 18th Jan, normally €14.99 / £11.99

Nintendo 3DS

• Severed (Drinkbox Studios) now €10.49 / £8.39 until Thu 18th Jan, normally €14.99 / £11.99

DLC / Add-On Content

Nintendo Switch

• Pokkén Tournament DXBattle Pack (Nintendo) – €14.99 / £13.49

Bundles, Demos and Themes

Nintendo Switch

• Pokkén Tournament DXBundle (Nintendo, Bundle) – €74.98 / £63.48
• Dragon Quest Builders demo (Nintendo, Demo) – Free
• Forma.8 Demo (MixedBag, Demo) – Free
• IMPLOSION (Flyhigh Works, Demo) – Free

Nintendo 3DS

• Pokémon Crystal Version (Nintendo, Virtual Console) – €9.99 / £8.99
• A super GO.ZY. family! (Rainbow, Theme) – €1.99 / £1.79
• Let’s fly to Rapunzel Castle! (Rainbow, Theme) – €1.99 / £1.79

That’s everything for this week – let us know what you’ll be downloading in the comments below.

DUSK is Now Available on Steam Early Access!

Battle through an onslaught of mystical backwater cultists, possessed militants & even darker forces as you attempt to discover just what lurks beneath the Earth in this retro FPS inspired by the ’90s legends.

We’re seeing the first signs of serious vulnerabilities’ impact on game developers and their games.

Epic Games’ Fortnite team in a Friday evening forum post briefly outlined how the “Meltdown” vulnerability is affecting its popular online multiplayer game.

A spokesperson addressed recent login and instability issues, saying, “All of our cloud services are affected by updates required to mitigate the Meltdown vulnerability. We heavily rely on cloud services to run our backend and we may experience further service issues due to ongoing updates.”

Meltdown has been confirmed to affect the past 20 years-worth of Intel-based systems, meaning potential wide-ranging impact on game development and online services. Security patches to protect these systems from attack cause notable slowdowns that reportedly amplify in correspondence with the CPU workload, which means cloud services are especially affected.

You can see the significant jump in CPU workload below on one of the game’s hosts following the implementation of a Meltdown patch:

For Fortnite and countless other software and services, developers will continue with the patches to mitigate vulnerabilities for the foreseeable future.

More on Meltdown and its cohort “Spectre” here.

Watch the Paladins World Championships live on Steam.

The first-ever Paladins World Championship takes place at Hi-Rez Expo, and will bring top teams from the Paladins Premier League to face off against teams from China, LATAM, Brazil, SEA, Oceania, and CIS.

Welcome to Next Week on Xbox where we bring you the latest details on upcoming games coming soon to Xbox One! This coming week we have two new games coming to Xbox: The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing III — available as a Games with Gold title — and the survival horror game Outbreak: The New Nightmare. Read on below for more details on these games and we’ll see you back here on Next Week on Xbox.

Games

January 01, 2018

Games with Gold Title Return as the legendary monster hunter one last time in The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing III. This time, Van Helsing will take up arms against his most dangerous foe yet in this explosive final chapter in this classic gothic horror third-person ARPG.

Games

January 03, 2018

Trapped in a dying city with only a few remaining survivors after a deadly virus outbreak, you’ll have to scavenge the environment for supplies, fight off the undead, and do whatever it takes to survive in this unforgiving survival horror experience.

Just when you thought that games couldn’t get any weirder – or any more awesome – here comes Pato Box. This brawler is developed by Bromio and has been on Steam Greenlight for a while, but now it’s headed to the Switch eShop, too.

Pato Box is an adventure and fighting game inspired by the Punch-Out!! series, taking place in the building of a corrupted corporation. Judging from the video above there is also a bit of a MadWorld vibe going on too, which we just love.

In the game you play as none other than Patobox himself, a boxing champion with a special distinction of having a duck’s head in a man’s body. He has been betrayed by members of Deathflock, the same company that has been sponsoring him during his career. Patobox will find retribution by finding Deathflock’s henchmen while discovering the dark secrets the company hides and the truth behind his treason one fight at a time.

Well it all sounds rather intriguing to us. Let us know if this will be on your instabuy list when it pops up on the Switch eShop to buy later this year.

Hamster is taking a break from fighting games next week to bring to the Switch a game of volleyball. If you have worn out the ARMS volleyball mini-game, Video System’s (of Aero Fighters fame) 1994 Power Spikes II might just be up your court. 

This sequel brings several features from the Super Nintendo Hyper V-Ball game to the Neo Geo system, with the biggest addition being the futuristic Hyper League joining with the more traditional male and female competitions. 

Instead of traditional points, in Hyper League you must use your special shots to take energy out of the opponent’s team before they do the same to you. Consider Power Spikes II the 2020 Super Baseball or Soccer Brawl equivalent for volleyball games.

All these futuristic sports games just remind us how insanely good Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe still is. If you are looking for more traditional alternative and are taking a cue from Alex’s latest GameCube video, Sega’s Beach Spikers remains a solid option.

Any volleyball fans out there in the comments section? What are your favourite volley video games of all time? Will you pick Power Spikes II on January 18th? Jump serve your comments below.

Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet is Now Available for Pre-Purchase on Steam!* Pre-purchase now to help unlock additional pre-purchase rewards, including packs of in-game items and the final reward tier of a free copy of SWORD ART ONLINE RE: HOLLOW FRAGMENT. Check out the store page for more details.

In Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet, experience an original story where you are the protagonist in the world of Gun Gale Online. Create your own avatar and explore devastated lands while experiencing exciting third person shooting in this action RPG.

*Offer ends February 23rd at 10AM Pacific Time.

First major global professional city-based league opens new era in eSports

Overwatch League to be broadcast on Twitch, in addition to OverwatchLeague.com, MLG.com, the MLG app, and the new Overwatch League companion app

IRVINE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– The inaugural season of the Overwatch League^™ kicks off today, beginning an epic showdown between teams from some of the world’s top sports and esports leaders—and the best Overwatch players on the planet.

As the first major global professional esports league with competition organized by cities, the launch of the Overwatch League is one of the most hotly anticipated moments in esports. For the first season, 12 franchises are representing major cities in Asia, Europe, and North America. The full list of teams and owners is:

• Boston Uprising (Kraft Group)
• Dallas Fuel (Team Envy)
• Florida Mayhem (Misfits)
• Houston Outlaws (OpTic Gaming)
• London Spitfire (Cloud9)
• Los Angeles Gladiators (Stan and Josh Kroenke)
• Los Angeles Valiant (Immortals)
• New York Excelsior (Jeff Wilpon and SterlingVC)
• Philadelphia Fusion (Comcast Spectacor)
• San Francisco Shock (NRG eSports)
• Seoul Dynasty (Kevin Chou)
• Shanghai Dragons (NetEase)

The teams met in combat for the first time during the preseason, December 6-9. The first regular-season games will be played later today, with the Pacific Division teams facing off: San Francisco Shock vs. Los Angeles Valiant, Shanghai Dragons vs. Los Angeles Gladiators, and Dallas Fuel vs. Seoul Dynasty. The Atlantic Division teams take the stage at the Blizzard Arena Los Angeles on Thursday.

“Connecting and engaging the world through epic entertainment is our mission,” said Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard. “The launch of the Overwatch League will provide our very best professional players the chance to inspire our engaged, connected audiences around the world. January 10th is an historic day for esports and we are so grateful to our team owners, our media partners, our sponsors, and most of all our players for their pivotal role in the establishment of the Overwatch League.”

“The Overwatch League was created to deliver an awesome and unique experience for players, teams, and fans,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “With 12 first-class teams representing major cities from Asia, Europe, and North America, we’re confident that the inaugural season of the league is going to redefine what people expect from esports—and be a giant celebration of the Overwatch^® community as a whole.”

Viewers can tune in to catch all the action on Twitch, MLG.com and the MLG app (on iOS and Android), OverwatchLeague.com, and the Overwatch League companion app, which launched Monday for iOS and Android. Blizzard players also will be given easy access to the Overwatch League’s web presence via a new Overwatch League tab in the Blizzard Battle.net Desktop App.

ZhanQi TV, NetEase CC, and Panda TV are expected to be the official broadcasting platforms of the Overwatch League in China, providing livestreams, VODs, feature programs, and other exciting esports content to Chinese audiences.

The first season of the Overwatch League will run until June, with playoffs and finals scheduled for July. For the inaugural season, all games will take place at Blizzard Arena Los Angeles, a state-of-the-art live-event venue in Burbank, California, custom-renovated for Blizzard Entertainment esports events. Fans can purchase tickets to attend matches, which will be played each Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. A full schedule and information about ticket sales can be found at https://overwatchleague.com/.

The Overwatch community also will have new ways to join in the fun around the league. Overwatch League team uniforms are now available to purchase as in-game skins, giving fans a fun way to show their support for their favorite teams. All players who log in between now and February 13, 2018, will receive enough League Tokens to obtain a team uniform of their choice free. Skins are available for all 12 teams, and all 26 Overwatch characters, with 50% of the revenue from every Overwatch League skin sold going toward a shared revenue pool for all league teams.

The Overwatch League is supported by sponsors HP® and Intel®, with players competing on cutting-edge gaming hardware including HP’s OMEN gaming PCs, powered by the latest Intel® Core™ i7 processors.

About the Overwatch League^™

The Overwatch League^™ is the first major global professional esports league with city-based teams across Asia, Europe, and North America. Overwatch® was created by globally acclaimed publisher Blizzard Entertainment (a division of Activision Blizzard—Nasdaq: ATVI), whose iconic franchises have helped lay the foundations and push the boundaries of professional esports over the last 15 years. The latest addition to Blizzard’s stable of twenty-one #1 games,^[1] Overwatch was built from the ground up for online competition, with memorable characters and fast-paced action designed for the most engaging gameplay and spectator experiences. To learn more about the Overwatch League, visit www.overwatchleague.com.

© 2018 Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. OVERWATCH, OVERWATCH LEAGUE, BLIZZARD and BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT are trademarks of Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.

[1] Sales and/or downloads, based on internal company records and reports from key distribution partners

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements: Information in this press release that involves Blizzard Entertainment’s expectations, plans, intentions or strategies regarding the future, including statements about the dates, events and features of the Overwatch League, are forward-looking statements that are not facts and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause Blizzard Entertainment’s actual future results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements set forth in this release include unanticipated product delays and other factors identified in the risk factors sections of Activision Blizzard’s most recent annual report on Form 10-K and any subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. The forward-looking statements in this release are based upon information available to Blizzard Entertainment and Activision Blizzard as of the date of this release, and neither Blizzard Entertainment nor Activision Blizzard assumes any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements believed to be true when made may ultimately prove to be incorrect. These statements are not guarantees of the future performance of Blizzard Entertainment or Activision Blizzard and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond its control and may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations.

Source: Overwatch League

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180110005414/en/

Overwatch League
Mark Van Lommel, 949-955-1380 x61147
MVanLommel@overwatchleague.com

Source: Overwatch League

News Provided by Acquire Media