We know you’re busy and might miss out on all the exciting things we’re talking about on Xbox Wire every week. If you’ve got a few minutes, we can help remedy that. We’ve pared down the past week’s news into one easy-to-digest article for all things Xbox! Or, if you’d rather watch than read, you can feast your eyes on our weekly video show above. Be sure to come back every Friday to find out what’s happening This Week on Xbox!

New Games with Gold for January 2018
We’re counting down the days to the new year and preparing to celebrate with a great collection of games coming to the Games with Gold program in January 2018. On Xbox One, start your journey with the final chapter of the Van Helsing trilogy with The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing III launching with Games with Gold on January 1, 2018. Then later in the month… Read more

Xbox Game Pass: NBA Playgrounds, Injustice, Devil May Cry 4 and $1 Game Pass for Limited Time
Hello, fellow gamers! Welcome to your January Xbox Game Pass update. With the New Year just around the corner, we’re excited to share the latest catalog additions coming to Xbox Game Pass starting on January 1. At Xbox Game Pass, more is better, and to that note, we’re kicking off 2018 by adding 10 titles to the catalog! In addition to the over 100 great games… Read more

Celebrate the Season of Giving with Xbox
This holiday season is all about giving. Whether you’re giving time to loved ones, giving gifts to family and friends, or giving your stomach more food than it can handle, Xbox wants to make it easy to play together and give together. From December 21 to January 4, you can join Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Live Gold for $1 each! Also, you can share your love of gaming by gifting… Read more

Countdown to 2018 with the Biggest Deals of 2017
The countdown to 2018 officially starts today with the biggest sale of 2017. Microsoft Store online and Xbox.com has more than 650 deals for fans including savings of up to 65 percent on select Xbox One and Xbox 360 digital games, discounts on select Xbox consoles and accessories, up to 50 percent off select movies and TV shows, savings on select apps for Xbox up to 50 percent off… Read more

Life is Strange Before the Storm Season Finale Available Now
The season finale of Before the Storm is out now on Xbox One! In this third episode, the proverbial ravens come home to roost as the consequences of all your choices so far begin to come to a head. Chloe continues to struggle to deal with the difficult changes in her own life, while still needing to support her friend as Rachel’s world continues to be rocked and shaken… Read more

An Introduction to Vermintide 2
When making a sequel, you will eventually have to answer the question of how much to add and what to keep from the first game. Some improvements were easy to decide upon. More content being the most obvious one. The Warhammer world is immense and multifaceted and we have still only scratched the surface of all the places and creatures you may encounter in it… Read more

The Xbox Community Checks in with the Original PlayerUnknown
Last month, in the lead up to the Xbox Game Preview launch of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) on Xbox One, we paid a visit to the game’s Creative Director, PlayerUnknown himself, Brendan Greene at the PUBG Corp. studios in Seoul, South Korea for a quick chat powered by you – the Xbox Community – to find out more about the world’s most played… Read more

Modern Family’s Nolan Gould Joins Xbox Live Sessions to Play Fortnite Battle Royale on December 21
Hope everyone is getting ready for the upcoming holidays and has a great list of Xbox games they hope to receive! Xbox Live Sessions is back this week with Nolan Gould, widely recognized for his role as Luke Dunphy on “Modern Family.” He’ll join the interactive livestream hosted on the Mixer Xbox Channel on Thursday, December 21 at 7 p.m. PT to take on Fortnite Battle Royale… Read more

Xbox Play Anywhere and Cross-Play Support Comes to Ark: Survival Evolved on Xbox One and Windows 10
The wait is finally over, survivors. Ark: Survival Evolved has officially launched in the Microsoft Store on Windows 10 and is available for download right now if you already own the Xbox One version! Or, if you haven’t yet set foot in the world of Ark, now’s the perfect time to join in on the fun with all of your Xbox friends via Xbox Play Anywhere and cross play… Read more

Killing Floor 2: Krampus Christmas Seasonal Update Arrives on Xbox
Hi, I’m the new game director at Tripwire Interactive on Killing Floor 2. I’ve worked closely on this project from the very beginning as the creative director, so I’m excited to be heading up Killing Floor 2 content updates for the foreseeable future. Enough about me though — let’s talk about this amazing update arriving just in time for the holidays on the Xbox One family of devices… Read more

Xbox Savings in Time for the Holidays
Join the Xbox family for only $199, just in time for some holiday gaming! Xbox One S offers the best value in games and entertainment, with 500GB bundles starting at $199 for a limited time this holiday through the end of December 2017. Drive, explore, and race all over Australia with the Xbox One S Forza Horizon 3 Hot Wheels Bundle (500GB), featuring… Read more

JRPG-Inspired Regalia: Royal Edition Coming Soon to Xbox One
We started our adventure with Regalia a long time ago, and some of you might remember us from the successful Kickstarter campaign we did in 2015. Now we’re excited to bring our Polish JRPG to Xbox One in Q1 of 2018. Although we’re from Poland, we’re sure we knew how to recall that classic JRPG feeling to deliver a whole new take on fantasy storytelling… Read more

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds and Xbox Want to Send You on an Island Adventure
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is now available on Xbox One as a console launch exclusive through the Xbox Game Preview program! We love seeing our Xbox community parachuting onto the remote island of Erangel and duking it out for that delicious chicken dinner. To celebrate the launch of PUBG on Xbox One, we want to send you and a friend on an island adventure… Read more

‘Tis the Season for Roblox’s Holiday Event, Now Available on Xbox One
Season’s greetings, Robloxians! Today we’re bringing some yuletide fun to the Xbox community with the Roblox holiday event, featuring three jingle-bell-rockin’ free-to-play games and awesome virtual prizes! This year’s event is extra special because you can now play a brand-new Roblox game filled with all kinds of hidden surprises and joyful holiday activities… Read more

It feels like an age since the wonderful The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds landed on the 3DS. Back in 2013 the 3DS was really on a roll and we were spoilt for choice, but this sequel to the classic SNES The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past really hit the mark and we promptly awarded it 10/10 in our review at the time.

Reddit users recently allowed their imaginations to get the better of them when it was revealed that Nintendo PR reps have been contacting journalists and requesting permission to re-quote reviews of A Link Between Worlds:

We did think it was a bit strange when we got this request from PR ourselves, as for some time A Link Between Worlds has been available as a budget Selects release in Europe. Of course, the first thing which comes to mind is “could a Switch port of this wonderful game be in the works?”

Alas however, in North America the game hasn’t had a Selects release. It looks likely that a Selects release will be announced soon by Nintendo of America, which will be welcome news for 3DS owners who haven’t yet picked up this amazing game yet – and perhaps answers why Nintendo PR is asking for fresh review quotes.

Let us know your thoughts on this storm in a teacup with a comment below.

Global Adventures is Now Available on Steam!

Global Adventures is an MMORPG for Windows PCs. As a newly recruited agent for the Treasure Hunters Association, you must travel the world conquering dungeons, digging up treasure, and taking down bosses with your friends!

A portfolio is one of the most important things to perfect for those working in a creative industry. Trying to decide what to include can be daunting. How many pieces? How many different mediums, and in what format? With the Internet acting as a potential first impression for employers, should artists tweak their social medias accordingly? 

In this GDC 2017 session industry artists Greg Foertsch, Alison Kelly, Wyeth Johnson, Lisette Titre-Montgomery, Shawn Robertson and Gavin Goulden discuss what can make or break a creative portfolio. They offer advice on what artists should include in order to catch the attention of future employers, as well as how to present themselves online in-between posting their creations. 

The talk goes over crucial topics every artist should consider when putting together their portfolio. For example, Foertsch guides the conversation and asks artists to consider quality over quantity when picking out work. “Your portfolio is only as strong as the weakest piece in it,” adds Johnson. 

Artists interested in learning about what they can do to improve their portfolio can watch the talk completely free via the official GDC YouTube channel!

In addition to this presentation, the GDC Vault and its accompanying YouTube channel offers numerous other free videos, audio recordings, and slides from many of the recent Game Developers Conference events, and the service offers even more members-only content for GDC Vault subscribers.

Those who purchased All Access passes to recent events like GDC or VRDC already have full access to GDC Vault, and interested parties can apply for the individual subscription via a GDC Vault subscription page. Group subscriptions are also available: game-related schools and development studios who sign up for GDC Vault Studio Subscriptions can receive access for their entire office or company by contacting staff via the GDC Vault group subscription page. Finally, current subscribers with access issues can contact GDC Vault technical support.

Gamasutra and GDC are sibling organizations under parent UBM Americas

The Steam Winter Sale continues today, through January 4th!* Save big on thousands of games for Windows, Mac and Linux in the final day of the sale!

Thanks to all that voted in The Steam Awards!

The “Choices Matter” Award:
The Witcher® 3: Wild Hunt

The “Mom’s Spaghetti” Award:
PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS

The “Labor of Love” Award:
Warframe

The “Suspension of Disbelief” Award:
Rocket League®

The “The World Is Grim Enough Let’s Just All Get Along” Award:
Stardew Valley

The “No Apologies” Award:
The Witcher: Enhanced Edition Director’s Cut

The “Defies Description” Award:
Garry’s Mod

The “Cry Havoc And Let Slip The Dogs Of War” Award:
Just Cause™ 3

The “Haunts My Dreams” Award:
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

The “Soul Of Vitruvius” Award:
Rise of the Tomb Raider™

The “Whoooaaaaaaa, Dude! 2.0” Award:
The Evil Within 2

The “Best Soundtrack” Award:
Cuphead

The “Even Better Than I Expected” Award:
Cuphead

Check out the winners in all their glory here!

*Discounts end January 4th at 10am Pacific, unless otherwise indicated.

The countdown to 2018 officially starts today with the biggest sale of 2017. Microsoft Store online and Xbox.com has more than 650 deals for fans including savings of up to 65 percent on select Xbox One and Xbox 360 digital games, discounts on select Xbox consoles and accessories, up to 50 percent off select movies and TV shows, savings on select apps for Xbox up to 50 percent off, and Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass each for $1 for the first month.

Save on Xbox Digital Games

Save up to 65 percent on 470 amazing games and add-ons including Call of Duty: WWII, Star Wars Battlefront II, Cuphead, Middle-earth: Shadow of War and more. There’s also plenty of deals on Xbox 360 fan favorites, playable on Xbox One via Backward Compatibility, like Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Red Dead Redemption, Skate 3, Fallout 3 and more. Don’t forget that Xbox Live Gold members save up to 10 percent more on most deals.

Save on Xbox Consoles and Accessories

Save on popular Apps, Movies & TV Shows

• Save up to 50 percent on select hit movies and TV Shows including “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” “Kingsman: The Golden Circle,” “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” “Game of Thrones,” “The Shannara Chronicles,” and more.
• Save up to 50 percent on popular apps for Xbox including Nitrado, VUDU, Dolby Access, Karaoke One, and FandangoNOW.

Save on Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass

• Join Xbox Live Gold for $1: This holiday season, you can get your first month of Xbox Live Gold for $1. Go Gold for exclusive savings and join the best community of gamers on the most advanced multiplayer network.
• Get Xbox Game Pass, Play 100+ Games for $1: Get your first month of Xbox Game Pass for $1 and spend your holiday with unlimited access to over 100 Xbox One and Xbox 360 games on Xbox One. With new games added every month, there is always a new adventure waiting for you.

For every Xbox Game Pass or Xbox Live Gold membership you buy or gift, Xbox will donate $10 of Game Pass to hospitals around the world with our partners at GameChanger. Learn more about the Season of Giving with Xbox.

All of these deals are available on console and online at Microsoft Store and Xbox.com starting today, so take advantage of the great deals before they end on January 4, 2018 (or as otherwise noted above). Availability and pricing vary by location. May not be combinable with other offers. Other limitations may apply. Not valid on prior orders or purchases. See webpage for each offer’s specific details.

We’ve just got word from the Big N that the Nintendo Switch has become the fastest-selling home video game system of all time in the U.S. While this is obviously amazing news, this line in the press release about upcoming third party support really stood out to us:

This year, Nintendo Switch owners can look forward to Nintendo-published games like Kirby Star Allies, Bayonetta, Bayonetta 2 and a new game starring Yoshi. Fans can also expect continued support from major publishers such as EA, Activision, Ubisoft, Capcom, SEGA, Take 2 and Bethesda, plus a growing catalog of quality content from indie developers.

Which games those third parties could realistically consider porting to the Switch is another matter, but older games like Red Dead Redemption seem like likely candidates. Here are some of the key franchises from each of those publishers for your consideration:

• EA – FIFA, Madden, Star Wars, Battlefield
• Activision – Call of Duty, Overwatch, Destiny
• Ubisoft – Assassin’s Creed, Tom Clancy, Rayman, The Crew, Watch Dogs
• Capcom – Resident Evil, Monster Hunter, Street Fighter
• SEGA – Sonic, Persona, Yakuza
• Take 2 – NBA, WWE, Mafia, BioShock, GTA (Rockstar), Red Dead (Rockstar)
• Bethesda – Fallout, Elder Scrolls, Dishonored, Evil Within

Let us know what you think of this continued third party support for Switch with a comment below.

The Steam Winter Sale continues today, through January 4th!* Save big on thousands of games for Windows, Mac and Linux!

Be sure to vote in The Steam Awards! Come back every day through January 2nd to vote for each award, and find out the winners on January 3rd.

Voting continues today with The “Mom’s Spaghetti” Award. Here are the finalists:

Alien: Isolation

Outlast 2

PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS

RESIDENT EVIL 7

The Evil Within 2

Remember to check back every day to see the new category and cast your vote!

*Discounts end January 4th at 10pm Pacific, unless otherwise indicated.