Xbox

Sea Of Thieves Update Will Cut Down On File Size

Sea of Thieves is a constantly evolving game with an expanding roster ofmonsters to battle and islands to explore. In a blog post yesterday, Rare announced that it’s nerfing a dangerous foe: file size. Executive Producer Joe Neate announced the changes in an official blog post. Following an update on February 6, Sea of Thieves’…

Xbox Game Pass Quests Give You Money For Earning Achievements

Today, Microsoft announced a new slate of quests for Game Pass games in January. Earning certain achievements in particular games available through the monthly subscription service will net you rewards points. It’s a small but interesting new development in how the company has been trying to gamify how people play games on Xbox. Announced over…

Celeste Headlines January’s Xbox Live Games With Gold

I’m not the best at Celeste, but my colleagues’ love of it sure makes me wish I were. If you’ve been meaning to give this platformer a shot, it’s part of January’s Xbox Live Games with Gold lineup. As always, these games are only “free” if you have an Xbox Live Gold subscription. January’s Xbox…

Dumb Kids Will Try Anything To Get Out Of An Xbox Live Ban

Back in the earlier days of Xbox Live, while the Xbox 360 was still in its prime, the platform’s support forums used to allow users to complain about bans they’d received, and Microsoft staff would actually reply. Even if the users were being racist little shits. It seems a universe away from how platforms are…

Here’s December 2018’s Xbox Live Games With Gold Lineup

I’ve been encouraging my sister to play Never Alone with her kids since they got an Xbox, so I’m excited to see it in this month’s Games with Gold lineup. As always, these games are only “free” if you have an active Xbox Live Gold subscription. December’s Games with Gold are: Xbox One Q.U.B.E. 2…

The World Record For Highest Xbox Gamerscore Is Now Two Million

Ray Cox, known in the gaming world as Stallion83, previously held the world record for being the first person to get 1 million points in Xbox achievements. Yesterday, he beat his own record by bringing his Gamerscore to 2 million. Cox streamed the achievement on Twitch, which he completed by playing Halo 2 from the…

Void Bastards is a strategy-shooter inspired by BioShock and System Shock 2. In it, you guide a group of prisoners through “derelict spaceships and myriad dangers.” You plot a course, study ship layouts, infiltrate ships, and fight/sabotage/distract your way through them. Also, your distraction tool is a kitty. Oh, and if the aforementioned stew of…

Microsoft’s New Studio Acquisitions Show How Much Xbox Has Changed

It came as a mild surprise when Microsoft announced Saturday that it was purchasing not just one but two mid-sized studios with a focus on role-playing games. But as strange as it seems on the surface, the deal makes perfect sense for all three parties. At the end of a relatively uneventful Xbox showcase in…

Sea of Thieves will get a competitive mode, Arena, in early 2019, Rare announced today at XO18. Crews will compete to get the most treasure.

The original Crackdown is free on Xbox this month, Microsoft announced today at its X018 event in Mexico City.

Battlefield 1 Headlines November’s Xbox Live Games With Gold

In November’s Games with Gold, I’m personally most excited about indie racer Race the Sun, but Battlefield 1 is good too I guess. If you’re out of things to do in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, you can go back to the start of the series with Assassin’s Creed As always, these games are only “free” if you have…

Microsoft Co-Founder Paul Allen Has Died

Paul Allen, who along with Bill Gates founded Microsoft in 1975, has died at the age of 65 of complications associated with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Allen—who also owned the Seattle Seahawks and Portland Trailblazers—first overcame Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 1982, before also beating non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2009 until its recurrence earlier this month. He was one of…

Sources: Microsoft Is Close To Buying Obsidian

Microsoft is finalizing a deal to acquire the independent development studio Obsidian Entertainment, according to three people briefed on the negotiations. We don’t know if ink is on paper yet, and plenty of major acquisition deals have fallen apart in the final hours, but those close to the companies believe it is all but done.…

X018—a “global celebration of all things Xbox”—will be held in Mexico City on November 10-11. There’ll be thousands of fans in attendance, but announcements will be streamed online as well.

Xbox One Getting Mouse + Keyboard Support

FPS games (and…strategy games?) are about to get a lot more precise on the Xbox One, with the announcement today that Microsoft is “enabling mouse and keyboard support on Xbox One for select Xbox Insiders in the coming weeks.” It’s a game-by-game thing, with developers free to choose whether they implement the added compatibility or…

Here’s October 2018’s Xbox Live Games With Gold Lineup

Xbox announced October’s Games with Gold lineup during its Inside Xbox presentation this afternoon. I’m excited to see Hitman: Blood Money because it’s a chance to play some Hitman before I get to play more Hitman next month. As always, these games are only “free” if you have an active Xbox Live Gold subscription. October’s…

Microsoft’s Custom Charity Consoles Are Great

Xbox and Make-A-Wish are teaming up again for their Consoles For Kids charity drive, and the 2018 batch of custom-designed celebrity consoles are looking very pretty. How pretty you find them may depend on your feelings towards a particular celebrity, since many of them just have someone’s face plastered over the front, but there are…

Gaming peripheral maker Hyperkin is releasing another Duke replica, this time in green. The black version was surprisingly ergonomical for being a $70 nostalgia trap, but if you like a splash of color to go with your ginormous hands, the green Duke has you covered. It’s currently available at Gamestop and Amazon.

Here’s September 2018’s Xbox Live Games With Gold Lineup

My editor-in-chief cheered “LEGO Stars Wars III!” at this month’s Xbox Live Games with Gold lineup, and his excitement made me excited, so maybe this is a good month for Xbox games. You also get some classic Sega action RPGs and the grim management sim Prison Architect. As always, these games are only “free” if you have…

New Xbox All Access Program Lets You Pay Monthly For An Xbox, Game Pass, And Xbox Live

Microsoft has a new monthly financing program for the Xbox One called Xbox All Access, according to a blog post over at the Xbox website. The program allows users to commit to a two-year plan where they pay monthly for either an Xbox One S or an Xbox One X and subscriptions to both Xbox…