Xbox has once again launched its year in review for 2024, and it comes with an entirely new look, a bunch more stats and will tell you all about your year on gaming across PC, Console and Cloud.

The round-up will show you how much time you spent gaming, your most-played games, how high-up the list you were for your gaming stats and also a bunch of relevant stats for the games played as well.

Here’s what is new this year:

• A customized look based on your most-played game.
• A personalized gamer profile just for you, based on the games you love to play! If you’re into epic quests with a sprinkle of magic, you’re a “Knight Owl.” More of a sports champ? You’re a “Real MVP,” always leading the pack.
• Multiplayer fans can see the friends they played with most.
• Dedicated recap sections for Game Pass and Rewards.

How to access your 2024 Xbox Year In Review

You can access the website HERE and then just login with your account details, and then you can choose to either share them online or keep them to yourself.

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In news that’s hotter than a castle under siege, the release date for Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is being brought forward by a week.

Announced in April 2024 for a release later in the year, developers Warhorse Studios later solidified the game’s launch date as 11th February 2025, arriving on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.

After over 8 million copies sold for the first game, Plaion and Warhorse Studios are now treating us to an earlier launch date of February 4th, 2025 – a week earlier than anticipated.

We recently had the opportunity to chat with Tobias Stolz-Zwilling, the Global PR Manager for Warhorse Studios, where we discussed all things KCD; including just how far they’ve come since the early days, and what Henry’s journey looks like in the sequel.

The new launch date came alongside a new trailer that showed Henry being haunted by the ghosts of his past, as the lands of Bohemia begin to shift with political unrest and bloodshed.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is now set to launch on 4th February 2025 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. You can read our interview with the team HERE.

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Ubisoft has today announced that it will discontinue development on XDefiant, it’s free-to-play first person shooter title that launched earlier this year.

Starting today, the game will no longer be downloadable. For those still playing, Season 3 will be released in the near future and the servers will remain active until June 03, 2025. Despite the game having over 15 million people login to play and it being the fastest Ubisoft game to surpass 5 million users, unfortunately that wasn’t enough to sustain it long-term.

Unfortunately as a result of this, almost 300 people will lose their jobs with some of these coming from the Sydney studio (134 from Osaka/Sydney). This is obviously a massive loss to our local industry, which has already faced a tough time over the last 12 months. Whilst the Osaka and San Francisco studios are being totally closed, it’s said that the Sydney studio will be “ramped down”.

“Today, Ubisoft announced that it will discontinue development on XDefiant, its free-to-play first-person shooter title. As a result, half of the XDefiant team worldwide will be transitioning to other roles within Ubisoft. This decision also leads to the closing of our San Francisco and Osaka production studios and to the ramp down of our Sydney production site, with 143 people departing in San Francisco and 134 people likely to depart in Osaka and Sydney.” said Ubisoft in a statement. 

You can read the full blog post over on the Ubisoft website HERE.

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Popular FromSoftware president Hidetaka Miyazaki has addressed the PlayStation Partner Awards about the future of the Elden Ring brand.

The relentlessly punishing director of both Elden Ring and it’s DLC attended to receive an award for Shadow of the Erdtree, Elden Ring’s hefty expansion released earlier this year.

In a statement reported by IGN Japan, Miyazaki confirmed that the From team is not currently considering developing Elden Ring 2.

That being said, he also confirmed that multiple teams at FromSoftware are working on projects, some of which he’s working on directly.

But while Elden Ring 2 isn’t in FromSoftware’s immediate future, Miyazaki did not rule out a return to the Lands Between, saying “the IP could develop in some form in the future”.

It remains to be seen whether that manifests as another game, a film or TV adaptation, or something else entirely.

Elden Ring and Shadow of the Erdtree are, without a doubt, the most successful projects to come out of FromSoftware.

Both games have received Game of the Year nods in their respective The Game Award nominations, though the latter has proven to be controversial.

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With only a few days to go, Bethesda and Xbox have released the final launch trailer for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.

The trailer features everything you’d come to expect from an Indiana Jones epic – guns, whips, Nazis and, of course, a giant boulder.

It’s looking better than I’d have ever thought it would, and you can check it out for yourself here:

With the release of the Launch Trailer, Bethesda and Xbox have also added a new dynamic theme for Xbox Series X|S players, depicting Indy as he appears in the box-art for The Great Circle. It’s available right now.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is out fo Xbox Series X|S and PC on December 9th 2024. If you pre-order the Deluxe, the game is available three days earlier.

The game is included with most tiers of Game Pass, and a PS5 version is coming sometime in 2026.

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Activision has today announced that yet another Crash Bandicoot game will be making its way to Xbox Game Pass. This time it’s Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled which will be hitting Xbox Game Pass on December 5th.

If my memory serves me correctly, I believe this is one of the last Activision games to makes its way across to Xbox Game Pass joniing the likes of Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy and Spyro Reignited Trilogy.

Start your engines and get ready to race in 3…2…1…

CRASH TEAM RACING NITRO-FUELED IS COMING TO @XboxGamePass DECEMBER 4! ?? ? pic.twitter.com/IdrFeWHabF

— Xbox (@Xbox) December 2, 2024

We gave the game an 8/10 in our original review and said: “This is the definitive Crash Team Racing experience. Nitro-Fueled is everything I hoped it would be, a faithful recreation of the classic game with added flair and personality. A lack of custom race settings and some superficial gripes are not enough to dissuade me that this is among the best kart racers available. Crash is absolutely back, baby!”

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Ahead of launch later this week, five new heroes have been revealed for Marvel Rivals. This includes Wolverine, Black Widow, Cloak & Dagger, Iron Fist and Squirrel Girl who will be fully detailed through the week in the lead-up to launch.

A new map in Klyntar: Symbiotic Surface was also announced which is based around the Symbiote and heavily features Venom. You can watch the new heroes and the new map over on the launch trailer below.

MARVEL RIVALS AUSTRALIAN LAUNCH TIMES

Marvels Rivals is set to launch at 11:00am AEDT on Friday, December 6th for PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC (Steam/Epic Games Store). It’s totally free-to-play and includes cross-play across all platforms as well.

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8BitDo has announced the latest mechanical keyboard in its classics range following the release of the Famicon and Genesis models, and this time, the OG Xbox gets the keyboard/mouse treatment.

Both the keyboard and mouse have that translucent green goodness, and for the first time, they have RGB backlighting to shine through the clear keys. Just like the other models, it also comes with two super buttons (no software needed) which allow you to set hotkeys easily.

There’s also a dedicated integrated Xbox button that not only lights up, but allows you to quickly activate Windows Game Bar and coloured arrow buttons to match the original Xbox controller.

As far as the mouse goes, it has a charging dock so that you can keep it charged at all times, customiseable side buttons which are inspired by the original Xbox controller, compatibility for left/right hand and three connection modes (wired, bluetooth, dongle).

Both of these products will launch at the start of January for $119.99 USD (~$184 AUD) for the keyboard and $59.99 USD (~$94 AUD) for the mouse. We’ll keep you posted on Australian information once we have it.

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The final season for Rainbow Six Siege Year 9 was revealed  and we got an early glimpse of what’s coming in December’s update including the long awaited Shield nerfs. Here’s the notable updates coming in Operation Collision Point:

Crossplay between consoles and PC

A big notable change in this update is the crossplay compatibility between the consoles and PC opening up the matchmaking pool even further. Players can now party up with their friends on other platforms, including PC, which wasn’t possible before. Players also have the option to limit their playlist pool if they don’t want cross play on.

With crossplay, Ubisoft has also stated there will be relevant ant-cheat parameters involved with the update such as detecting PC players attempting to switch from the PC to the console only platform pool.

The long awaited Shield nerf

Shields have impacted the meta all year, and Ubisoft has vowed to put an end to that with this update. Shields will be receiving a nerf across the board making them less viable as an offensive weapon. Shield melee attack won’t do any damage anymore making that smoke melee push with Blitz utterly useless. Opponents will still go down however but instakills have been taken off the board.

Defenders have a stronger chance of taking a shield operator head on now with melee attacks and increased suppression. The more you melee a shield operator, the more exposed and unstable they get, allowing you to easily take them out now.

With this nerf, the shields will be more utilised as a support tool rather than a full offensive one. So don’t expect anymore Blitz smoke rushes or Montaigne frustratingly holding the only path into site.

The Blackbeard Rework

With the shield nerf coming into play, Blackbeard gets a rework giving him a more viable choice for attackers.

Blackbeard is given a new shield rather than the small anti-headshot one he had since year one allowing him to be protected even more than before. The shield has a glass panel that goes down and allows you to fire while being in cover – basically a wall panel with a gun out the front. The shield also allows you to penetrate soft walls meaning pushing into site and creating rotates will be easy.

The new rework allows Blackbeard to serve a bigger role in entry fragging with the new shield and ability to create breaches in soft walls.

It’s quite an interesting move adding the rework for Blackbeard now considering the shield nerfs but I’m keen to see how the combination of the two switches up the gameplay. There’s plenty more updates coming to Rainbow Six Siege with Operation Collision Point, check out the reveal livestream below:

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I’ve been banging on about how good Xbox’s ecosystem is for the last few years now, with the fact that not only saves go across both Xbox and PC seamlessly, but also the fact that you can play Xbox games on the likes of Samsung TVs/Monitors and Amazon Fire Sticks with nothing but a controller is fantastic.

Clearly Xbox agrees, because it has just launched a new marketing campaign really highlighting all the platforms that can be considered an Xbox now, outside of the obvious Xbox Series XS|. This includes the likes of mobile phones, laptops, the ASUS ROG Ally, the Fire TV Stick and Samsung TVs.

The campaign does get a little bit naff as it goes on to compare other boxes like a Kitty Litter and a Bento Box by saying these things aren’t an Xbox, but I am happy to see Xbox really singing the praises of the ecosystem it has built out over the last few years, as I think it works really well and opens up gaming to more people.

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Machine Games has dropped a 15 minutes gameplay deep dive for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.

This is our greatest look at the game yet, and covers many aspects of what we went hands-on with last month including a bunch of puzzle solving, melee combat, the infamous whip in use, and some absolutely gorgeous locations.

The game is absolutely stunning and throughout all of the locations shown in the footage, whether it be day, night, dark or bright there’s an impressive amount of detail that I can’t wait to expore.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circles launches on December 9th for Xbox Series X|S and PC with the game being on Xbox Game Pass. It will launch net year on PS5.

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Grand Theft Auto Trilogy: The Definitive Edition had a weird and rocky release schedule coming out quite underdone on consoles and PC, before releasing for mobile last year on Netflix with that release having better lighting and other gameplay improvements that the console versions didn’t get.

Rockstar has now dropped an update for the game on consoles that significantly improves visuals as well as a bunch of other fixes. This includes a new Classic Lighting Mode that can be toggled on, but there’s also a heap of other improvements that haven’t yet been detailed officially, that fans are noticing.

GTA SA Defintive Edition after the New Patch
Left old Right New pic.twitter.com/kxBij35K4z

— Besk (@BeskInfinity) November 12, 2024

Visual effects for rain, fire and fog have all been improved, and animations for the game including when you’re running with a gun has also been totally fixed, and there’s a bunch of other little fixes including the ability to view your position on the world map.

Rockstar hasn’t detailed these changes yet, but the below image/videos show off how different the classic lighting mode is, totally capturing the look of the original game, rather than what was presented originally.

I can't believe I'm saying this but with the new Classic Lightning and the GTA Trilogy DE Patch

I'm on Vice City and it looks absolutely gorgeous. pic.twitter.com/EjI4YRqE07

— Besk (@BeskInfinity) November 12, 2024

GTA DE New Patch has FINALLY fixed the aiming running animations across all guns in GTA 3 and VC DE which used to be extremely broken. This is by far the best fix for me.

Left Old Right New pic.twitter.com/PnG6LJX7m8

— Besk (@BeskInfinity) November 12, 2024

I highly recommend heading to the Beskinfinity Twitter page who has highlighted a bunch of other minor changes that most people probably won’t notice but still can be appreciated regardless.

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Blizzard has announced that Overwatch: Classic will bring many of the original elements of the original game back in a series of events.

The first event will take place on November 12th until December 2nd taking it all the way back to the original 1.0 release from May 2016, including many abilities that haven’t been seen in years.

This will bring the original 12 Overwatch maps back to modes such as Assault, Escort, Hybrid and Control. The full update that can be read on the Blizzard website says that the heroes will be grouped in their original four classes but you will not be required to only play as attackers when on attack or defendeers when defending, instead being able to pick the best hero that works for you.

For the first few days there will be no limits on picking heroes, so there will be able to be the same six heroes on the one team, but this will be turned off a little bit into the event.

Overwatch: Classic will appear as a mode within Overwatch 2, and I highly recommend checking out the the FAQ on the Blizzard website for more information.

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Following its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Xbox has announced that another huge property is coming to Xbox Game Pass.

This times it Spyro The Dragon, with the Spyro Reignited Trilogy making its way to Xbox Game Pass, PC Game Pass and Xbox Cloud Gaming tomorrow.

The Spyro Reignited Trilogy includes Spyro The Dragon, Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage as well as Spyro: Year of the Dragon which have all been remade with some stunning improvements.

We gave the game a 9/10 and said: “Taking off the nostalgia goggles for a moment, Toys For Bob have done a brilliant job in revamping a classic trilogy of games. In updating the visuals and tweaking the controls, they’ve stayed true to the source material and crafted an experience so involving that you’d be forgiven for thinking this was a brand new game. Initial viewings had me concerned that they might not be able to live up to the hype; but on playing the game, for the briefest moment I was eight years old again – and I enjoyed every minute of it.”

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Warner Bros has today provided an update on Hogwarts Legacy 2. Whilst in the past, the company had confirmed that the game was a priority as it has now sold over 30 million copies, this has been reiterated and further information provided by the President.

In an interview with Variety, President David Haddad said that the game is “a very big priority” and that the game will share some big picture storytelling elements with the upcoming Harry Potter reboot which is set to hit HBO in 2026.

Interestingly enough, the HBO series is set to re-tell the story of the movies, which means that the next Hogwarts Legacy game could feature some more well-known characters, or maybe it ties into in other ways.

It’s probably a year or two before we hear about the next Hogwarts Legacy game, but we do suspect that we’ll be hearing about the Hogwarts Legacy: Director’s Cut in the very near future. 

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You probably don’t know this about me, but alongside Ape Escape, my other favourite thing in life is Scream, so when it was announced that Ghostface was coming to Mortal Kombat 1, I was extremely excited and after seeing the first gameplay drop below, I’m even more excited by how well they’ve captured the iconic character.

In the brief gameplay tease, we get a look at Ghostface fighting Johnny Cage, complete with his iconic voice. It’ll be interesting to see if Ghostface is a character from within the MK franchise or otherwise, with the iconic horror character being a different person within each of the Scream films.

Ghostface!
Ghostface!

Here is a peek at Ghostface coming #MortalKombat1 early access on Nov 19! pic.twitter.com/7DBZgA7xgC

— Ed Boon (@noobde) October 31, 2024

Ghostface will launch in early access on November 19th with the full release coming on November 26th. After Ghostface, we still have Terminator 2’s T-1000 and Conan the Barbarian.

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The first beta Monster Hunter Wilds is taking place starting this week. It will be happening in two phases with PlayStation Plus members able to access the beta three days early before it opens up on all platforms.

MONSTER HUNTER WILDS PLAYSTATION DOWNLOAD LINK

• You can download and pre-install the Monster Hunter Wilds beta HERE.

MONSTER HUNTER WILDS OPEN BETA AUSTRALIAN TIMES

Those that are PlayStayStation Plus members will be able to take part in the beta from 2pm AEDT Tuesday 29th of October until 2pm on Thursday October 31st exclusively on PS5.

Then from Friday, 1st of November at 2:00pm AEDT until Monday, 4th of November at 2pm AEDT all gamers on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC (Steam) will be able to join the open beta even if they don’t have a PlayStation Plus or Xbox Game Pass subscription.

MONSTER HUNTER WILDS OPEN BETA DETAILS

The Open Beta will have three pieces of content, the Character Creator which will be identical to the final game with your character able to be carried across, a story trial as well as the Doshaguma Hunt which includes a tutorial to the game as well.

It’s also said that there will be bonuses to those who participate, so no doubt if you want to play the game.

You can watch a new trailer for Monster Hunter Wilds below as well which reveals a new location and new characters:

Monster Hunter Wilds launches on February 25, 2025. The cheapest copy is at Amazon for $109 with free shipping HERE. 

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Playtonic has today revealed the release platforms for the Yooka Laylee remake, Yooka-Replayee, and it’s coming to PS5, Xbox Series X|S and “Nintendo platforms”.

This marks the second time in recent months that a game has been revealed for not just the Nintendo Switch but an undisclosed future Nintendo Switch console.

The game will have its art and animations overhauled, new and improved challenges, a new collectible currency, a brand new world map as well as challenge trackers and a bunch of new Tonics, in addition to a revised controls and camera which should give this game the second chance it deserves.

As far as timings go for the next Nintendo console, we know that it will be revealed before the end of the Japanese financial year, so by the end of March, 2025. 

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A few weeks ago was announced that Assassin’s Creed: Shadows would now release on February 14th, with a change to its structure, mostly meaning that there would be no season pass and that early access for the game would be scrapped.

Ubisoft has now announced that the collector’s edition will now be $30 cheaper due to the removal of the season pass as well as the early access.

The Assassin’s Creed: Shadow’s Collector’s Edition is now $329.95 AUD ($359.95 previously) and will release on February 13th. It now includes the below:

• Assassin’s Creed: Shadows Base game.
• Additional digital content
  • Sekiryu Dual Pack
  • Sekiryu Hideout Pack
  • Five mastery points

• Naoe and Yasuke dual character statue (about 40 centimeters / 15.7 inches).
• Unique SteelBook case.
• Collector’s art book (76 pages).
• Naoe’s katana tsuba (life-sized).
• World map.
• Creed wall scroll (70×30 centimeters / 27.6×11.8 inches).
• Two sumi-e lithographs (13.5×19 centimeters / 5.3×7.5 inches).

Those that pre-order the game will also get an upcoming expansion and a Thrown to the Dogs bonus quest.

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Capcom has announced that an open beta for Monster Hunter Wilds is taking place in the next few weeks. It will be happening in two phases with PlayStation Plus members able to access the beta three days early before it opens up on all platforms.

MONSTER HUNTER WILDS OPEN BETA AUSTRALIAN TIMES

Those that are PlayStayStation Plus members will be able to take part in the beta from 2pm AEDT Tuesday 29th of October until 2pm on Thursday October 31st exclusively on PS5.

Then from Friday, 1st of November at 2:00pm AEDT until Monday, 4th of November at 2pm AEDT all gamers on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC (Steam) will be able to join the open beta even if they don’t have a PlayStation Plus or Xbox Game Pass subscription.

Pre-downloading will begin on October 27th with it said that about 18GB of storage will be required to play the game.

MONSTER HUNTER WILDS OPEN BETA DETAILS

The Open Beta will have three pieces of content, the Character Creator which will be identical to the final game with your character able to be carried across, a story trial as well as the Doshaguma Hunt which includes a tutorial to the game as well.

It’s also said that there will be bonuses to those who participate, so no doubt if you want to play the game.

You can watch a new trailer for Monster Hunter Wilds below as well which reveals a new location and new characters:

Monster Hunter Wilds launches on February 25, 2025. The cheapest copy is at Amazon for $109 with free shipping HERE. 

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Xbox has revealed an updated version of its wireless headset that released in 2021 (review here). It’s available now from the Microsoft Store and will cost $159.95 (a $10 increase).

• Xbox Wireless Headset – $159.95 AUD

The new wireless headset has a 20 hour battery life (up from 15 hours), the microphone has been upgraded with auto-mute and voice isolation, and it now has Bluetooth 5.3 as well for PC connectivity. It also can utilise the Dolby Atmos codec at no additional cost as well.

As far as the design goes, it looks fairly similar, but it has dropped the green on the sides, which makes it look more premium. It’s also retained the volume dials on both cups which I absolutely loved on the original set.

At $160, you’ll struggle to find a better wireless headset. In my review of the original, I said: “For $150, The Xbox Wireless Headset is a great headset that I’d easily recommend to any Xbox owner. The design is premium, the sound pops and features such a dual connectivity, the easy to access volume wheels and auto mute take it to the next level at this price point. I really wish I could use this headset on my other consoles, because it’s that good.”

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Unknown Worlds took to the Xbox Partner Showcase this morning to reveal Subnautica 2, the sequel to Subnautica and Subnautica: Below Zero.

It’s coming to early access in 2025 for Xbox Series X|S and PC with it releasing on Xbox Game Pass on day one.

For the first time in the franchise, you’ll travel beyond Planet 4546B and you’ll have the chance to do it alone or with up to 4 friends which is something that was hugely requested for the original game.

You can find the rest of the Xbox Partner Showcase announcements over at our round-up HERE. 

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Remedy took to the Xbox Partner Showcase this morning to finally reveal its first multiplayer game.

It’s called FBC: Firebreak, and Remedy were very clear to say that whilst this is set in the wider Remedy world, it is not Control DLC and not a Control Sequel although it is its own fully-fledged thing.

It’s a three-player co-operative first-person shooter that will be super easy to get into and allow for hectic co-op missions that showcase the iconic Remedy creativity.

Within the game you will play as one of the first responders of the Federal Bureau of Control and whilst the description sounds like most other multiplayer games in this genre, it definitely has Remedy’s unique spin going off the first trailer below.

FBC: Firebreak will launch in 2025 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. It will launch on Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus Extra day one.

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Fresh off smashing it out of the park with Silent Hill 2, Bloober Team has announced its next game.

It’s called Cronos The New Dawn and it’s a third-person survival horror game set in a world where Eastern European brutalism meets retro-futurist technology. It will release on PS5, Xbox Series XS and PC in 2025.

You can find out a bunch more about the game at the Steam listing HERE. It’s giving Dead Space vibes in the screenshot, and the reveal trailer is super moody, so hopefully this one turns out to be good.

You can find the rest of the Xbox Partner Showcase announcements over at our round-up HERE. 

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Xbox has announced its next Xbox Partner Preview and it’s happening on Friday morning at an early time for Aussies.

The stream will give us a look at new and upcoming games from Remedy, Sega, 505 and more lasting about 25 minutes. It’ll bring new gameplay footage for Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, Alan Wake II: The Lake House as well as Wuchang Fallen Feathers.

ALL THE AUSTRALIAN TIMES FOR THE XBOX PARTNER SHOWCASE

The Xbox stream is happening early on Friday, October 18th at the below times:

• 04:00 AM AEDT (Melbourne/Sydney/Hobart/Canberra)
• 03:30 AM ACDT (Adelaide)
• 03:00 AM AEST (Brisbane)
• 02:30 AM ACST (Darwin)
• 01:00 AM AWST (Perth)

WHERE TO WATCH THE OCTOBER XBOX PARTNER SHOWCASE

You can watch on YouTube HERE or at the below embed.

We’ll have all the new announcements on Friday morning as the showcase happens.

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Xbox has announced official accessories for the upcoming Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6 including two controllers and an Xbox Series X console wrap.

All three items in the collection are clearly heavily inspired by Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 with the layered pattern of redacted documents, hidden coordinators and Black Ops symbols.

When it comes to the Xbox Series X|S controller and the Xbox Series X|S Elite controller, these will be available on Xbox Design Lab where you’ll be able to customise your controller.

• Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6 Xbox Series X|S Controller – Starting at $139.75 AUD 
• Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6 Xbox Series X|S Elite Controller – Starting at $239.90 AUD 

The console wrap is available exclusively on the Microsoft Store and includes a 1 hour 2XP token for Black Ops 6 as well. It’s available for $79.95 HERE.  

• Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6 Xbox Series X Console Wrap – $79.95

These will launch on October 23rd for the wrap and you can order the controllers now. Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6 launches on all platforms on October 25th. Amazon has the cheapest price at $88 with free shipping HERE. 

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Xbox released two new Xbox Series X consoles in the discless model and the Galaxy Black model (better look at that from us here), and whilst I wasn’t game enough to do any teardowns, thankfully, YouTuber Austin Evans has and there’s some significant differences.

The chip has a new 6nm design down from 7nm, and the motherboard and cooling system for the console has been totally redesigned. Many of the components on the motherboard have been moved around, and there’s no longer a vapor chamber cooling system, with it featuring a more traditional copper heat pipe design instead.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Shannon Grixti (@shannongrixti)

Whilst the heat and noise hasn’t changed a heap, Evans found that both Xbox Series X models use less power both when idling and also whilst gaming in comparison to the original model. This might not mean a lot for the average gamer, but it’ll mean a bunch for Xbox’s cloud servers as they use actual Xbox Series X hardware to run these servers.

You can read more about the Xbox Series X Galaxy Black edition over at our review HERE or watch the unboxing video below:

The new Limited Edition Galaxy Black Xbox Series X which includes at 2TB SSD and a custom console and controller design. It will cost $999 AUD and it’s available HERE.

There’s also the first all-digital Xbox Series X and that comes in White with a 1TB SSD and will cost $699 AUD and that can be purchased HERE. 

Lastly, the Xbox Series S now comes in a 1TB white model to join the previously released black model. This costs $549 AUD and it’s available HERE.

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Xbox has revealed even more Xbox Game Pass games for October. Obviously, the big one is Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, but the classic South Park: The Fractured But Whole is also coming to the service as well as indie titles Donut Country and Ashen.

OCTOBER 2024 NEW XBOX GAME PASS GAMES FOR ULTIMATE SUBSCRIBERS

• South Park: The Fractured But Whole (Cloud/Console/PC) – October 16th
• Donut Country (Cloud/Console/PC) – October 17th
• MechWarrior 5: Clans (Cloud/Console/PC) – October 17th
• Call Of Duty Black Ops 6 (Cloud/Console/PC) – October 25th
• Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (Cloud) – October 25th
• Call Of Duty Warzone (Cloud) – October 25th
• Ashen (Cloud/Console/PC) – October 29th
• Dead Island 2 (PC) – October 31st

GAMES LEAVING XBOX GAME PASS ON OCTOBER 31st

• Frog Detective: The Entire Mystery (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Headbangers (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Inkulinati (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Lonely Mountain’s Downhill (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Mineko’s Night Market (Cloud, Console, and PC)

The post Even More October Xbox Game Pass Games Have Been Revealed appeared first on Press Start.

The three new Xbox Series X|S consoles that were announced in June have landed in Australian stores today.

The three consoles are:

The new Limited Edition Galaxy Black Xbox Series X which includes at 2TB SSD and a custom console and controller design. It will cost $999 AUD and it’s available HERE.

There’s also the first all-digital Xbox Series X and that comes in White with a 1TB SSD and will cost $699 AUD and that can be purchased HERE. 

Lastly, the Xbox Series S now comes in a 1TB white model to join the previously released black model. This costs $549 AUD and it’s available HERE.

@shannongrixti

Three new Xbox consoles were just announced and here’s a closer look at them #Xbox #XboxSeriesX #XboxShowcase #XboxGameShowcase

? original sound – Shannon Grixti | Gaming & Tech

XBOX SERIES X GALAXY BLACK EB GAMES TRADE DEALS

If you’re looking to upgrade to the Limited Edition 2TB Galaxy Black Xbox Series X or from an Xbox Series S to the Xbox Series X Digital Edition, EB Games has a few trade deals.

If you’re a Level 4 member trading in an Xbox Series X with 4 games, you can get the Galaxy Black model for $399 and if you’re trading in an Xbox Series S toward the digital Xbox Series X, you can get that for $459. You can find those HERE.

NEW XBOX SERIES X|S CONSOLE LINE-UP

You can find the new Xbox Series X|S lineup of consoles below in a handy graph. It includes

• Xbox Series S 500GB (White)
• Xbox Series S 1TB (White/Black)
• Xbox Series X Digital 1TB (White)
• Xbox Series X 1TB (Black)
• Xbox Series X 2TB (Galaxy Black)

The post Three New Xbox Series X|S Consoles Are Out Today And EB Games Has Trade Offers Too appeared first on Press Start.

Hogwarts Legacy was the best-selling game of 2023 and it appears that WB is looking to capitalise on that with a Definitive Edition that will add new content.

According to Insider Gaming, Hogwarts Legacy Definitive Edition will be sold as a seperate piece of DLC and will have 10-15 hours of additional content including a new main story quest, side quests, activities and outfits.

Release timing for the definitive edition hasn’t been detailed, but it’s expected that it could come in 2025 following the lacklustre performance of Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League.

Earlier in the year, Warner Bros CFO said that a successor to Hogwarts Legacy was one of the biggest priorities for the company’s gaming division, which wasn’t a huge shock to anyone.

We gave the original Hogwarts Legacy a 9/10 saying: “Hogwarts Legacy is the Wizarding World game that fans have dreamt of for years. It offers a dense and rich open-world to explore complemented perfectly by a surprisingly robust and engaging combat system unlike anything else. While the story does live in the shadow of its predecessors, and managing gear can be repetitive, Hogwarts Legacy is a truly magical experience and utterly bewitching from beginning to end.”

The post Hogwarts Legacy Definitive Edition Is Apparently On The Way With A New Story And More appeared first on Press Start.

Following in the footsteps of Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered, it’s been announced that Tomb Raider 4-6 Remastered is coming next year. It’s releasing on February 14th for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PC.

This collection will include Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation, Tomb Raider; Chronicles as well as Tomb Raider: The Angel Of Darkness.

This will bring the other three games in the OG core series back in upgraded glory including remastered visuals with the ability to toggle between them, both classic and modern controls, boss health feedback, a photo mode and over 150 trophies to collect.

We gave Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered an 8/10 in our review saying: “Tomb Raider I-III Remastered is the best example of a remaster I think I’ve seen in years. Where some titles have played fast and loose, with full overhauls of their game mechanics or visual styles, Aspyr has taken a classic trilogy and revamped it as a love letter to its origins, bringing memories of old back to life. As more and more titles get the reboot or reimagining treatment, it is refreshing to see an old classic come back in a new style”

The post Tomb Raider 4-6 Remastered Will Give The Rest Of The Core Games The Upgraded Treatment appeared first on Press Start.

It’s been long spoken about as a feature that would one day come, but according to The Verge Xbox Cloud Gaming will finally add the ability to stream games that you own starting in November.

This means that you’ll be able to at least stream part of the games library that you own, meaning that games won’t have to be on Xbox Game Pass for you to be able to stream them away from your library.

Obviously, this will likely only work for digital games that you have purchased, which makes sense given Xbox just updated its app so that you can purchase games directly through it. This would presumably allow you to buy a game on the app on either your phone or TV, then start streaming directly regardless of whether you own an Xbox or whether that game is already on Xbox Game Pass.

At the time of writing, it’s unclear whether it will be all games, or will start with a select number of popular games with the range expanding, but we’ll let you know when we have official word from Xbox on this one.

In my opinion this is another huge step forward for Xbox Cloud Gaming. I’ve been a big fan of it, and think it’s a great way to makes games more accessible.

The post Xbox Cloud Gaming Will Apparently Let You Stream Your Owned Games Soon appeared first on Press Start.

Xbox has announced that it has created an incredible looking gold Xbox Series X|S that comes complete with a leather look controller and it can be won in a really unique way.

Between November 12th and January 6th, those in Sydney (as well as London and New York) can visit their local Microsoft Experience Centres to try and solve a puzzle with the Xbox encased in a puzzle box that needs to be solved before you can enter the competition.

For those not in these locations, Bethesda will also be giving away a console on its social channels in due time. You can find more information about both giveaways HERE.

I have to say, the controller is super nice as well, and I do wish we saw more of these awesome Xbox controllers/consoles sold to the public as they look phenomenal, but understand they’re probably a bit more bespoke than the usual custom controller.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is launching on December 9th on Xbox Series X|S and PC and will also come to PS5 in 2025.

The post This Gold Indiana Jones Xbox Series X Is Absolutely Gorgeous And Aussies Can Win It appeared first on Press Start.

It’s Melbourne International Games Week which means that all things gaming are happening around the city (including PAX Australia).

Xbox has announced that Ryan Warden, Production Director of Avowed at Obsidian Entertainment will be doing a free talk at ACMI at Fed Square on Friday at 11:30am this week.

This exclusive talk will shed a light behind the scenes on the videogames industry. Join Ryan Warden, Production Director of Avowed at Obsidian Entertainment, for this intimate fireside chat as he discusses his journey to becoming a game developer, exploring the highlights of his developer career and offering valuable tips and tricks. Ryan will dive deep on his study and training path, his mentors and valuable learnings.

As well as Avowed, Warden has worked on Mass Effect, Dragon Age, League of Legends and more. You can register for a ticket HERE.

Avowed launches on Xbox Series X|S and PC on February 18th.

The post A Free Avowed Dev Chat Is Happening In Melbourne This Week appeared first on Press Start.

Sega has revealed that a sequel for 2014’s Alien: Isolation is in the works at Creative Assembly, the developer behind the original.

The announcement was made to coincide with the 10th anniversary of Alien: Isolation’s release, which originally came to consoles and PC before being porting to mobile devices a few years ago. The sequel is still in “early development” according to Al Hope, who’s returning to direct after helming the first game.

“Today, I’m delighted to confirm, on behalf of the team, that a sequel to Alien: Isolation is in early development.

“We look forward to sharing more details with you when we’re ready,” Hope said in the official statement.

The original game, which takes place fifteen years after Alien during an interesting time within the franchise’s canon, places you in the shoes of Amanda Ripley, Ellen’s daughter, as she sets out on a horrifying mission to unearth the truth surrounding her mother’s disappearance.

The rousing success of Alien: Romulus, which enjoyed a near $350 million cume at the box office against an $80 million budget, felt like a bit of a shot in the arm for the franchise, and news of an Alien: Isolation follow-up is guaranteed to delight fans.

The post An Alien: Isolation Sequel Has Been Officially Announced appeared first on Press Start.

Following on from yesterday’s announcement that Halo Infinite is getting a third-person mode, the future of the franchise has now been revealed in a seven minute video that provides our first look at where the franchise goes from here.

The big announcement is that 343 Studios is no longer and is being rebranded as Halo Studios as the company looks to hire the next talent for the franchise.

It’s also been confirmed that the game will leave the Slipspace Engine and all future projects will be developed in Unreal Engine 5. We got to see a 7 minute video with a bunch of tech demos that were the findings of Project Foundry, a project designed to show what a Halo game could look like using Unreal Engine 5.

We get to see Master Chief in all of their glory as well as some iconic locations from the game that look better than ever.

This change comes after it was well documented that 343 Studios had trouble with the Slipspace Engine throughout developing Halo Infinite, and this will no doubt lead to a less-troubled development as far as the engine is concerned.

With the team only just seemingly hiring for the next Halo projects now, expect it to be sometime before this eventuates into anything meaningful, but it’s still great to see Microsoft committed to its main franchise.

The post Our First Look At Halo Running In Unreal Engine 5 Has Arrived As 343 Studios Changes Its Name appeared first on Press Start.

It’s something that’s been hoped for for quite a long time, but it’s been officially announced that Halo Infinite is getting a third-person mode.

The update will come in November and will allow for players to play the game with an over-the-shoulder third-person viewpoint which is the first time that this has been possible in a Halo game.

It appears that this will be specific to certain modes rather than allow people to switch back and forth, and it’s also coming to Forge mode as well.

There’s not a heap of details at the time of writing outside of the below gameplay snippet, and going off what we know it doesn’t seem like it’ll come to the campaign at least at launch, but it definitely feels like a huge turning point for the franchise.

Experience a new way to play!

3rd Person Mode is coming to Halo Infinite this November ? pic.twitter.com/WkDkGLx8fF

— Halo (@Halo) October 4, 2024

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It’s been revealed that a new action-RPG Avatar: The Last Airbender game is in the works by Paramount Game Studios and Saber Interactive (Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine 2). It will be the first AAA game to exist in the Avatar: The Last Airbender franchise.

The game is early in development and will put players in the role of an all-new, never before seen Avatar and take place thousands of years into the past. It’s said that players “can expect to be immersed in a vibrant world, master all four elements, engage in dynamic combat alongside companions, and experience the challenges and decisions that come with being the keeper of balance in the world.”

it’s said that it’ll feature elements both new and familiar to fans of the franchise when it comes to the story of the game.

Right now, details of the game are slim given it’s still early in development, but you can read a little bit more over on IGN who had the exclusive announcement.

The post A New AAA Avatar: The Last Airbender Game Has Been Announced appeared first on Press Start.

The day after PlayStation Network went down for almost 8 hours, it’s now Xbox’s turn with Xbox Live being down for most users.

Xbox tweeted out that it is aware of users experiencing issues with sign-in, launching games and joining parties and that technicians are looking into it.

We are aware users are experiencing issues with sign-in, launching games, and joining parties. Support teams currently are looking into this, and we will provide an update here and on our status page. https://t.co/PzAdjUXo7T

— Xbox Support (@XboxSupport) October 2, 2024

“We are aware users are experiencing issues with sign-in, launching games, and joining parties. Support teams currently are looking into this, and we will provide an update here and on our status page.” said Xbox in a Tweet.

The Xbox Status page shows red (major outage) for account and profile, friends and social activity, cloud gaming and remote play, and yellow (limited) for games and gaming.

Down Detector, one of the main websites for tracking website outages in Australia, had its first report at about 8:49pm with 1500+ people reporting an outage in the next hour or so.

The post Xbox Live Is Currently Down appeared first on Press Start.

Xbox has revealed the first games for Xbox Game Pass in October, including a few games that are making their way over to the new, lower standard tier in October as well.

This month is headlined by the likes of SIfu and Inscryption which are both fantastic games that everyone should be playing.

OCTOBER 2024 NEW XBOX GAME PASS GAMES

• Sifu (Cloud/Console/PC) – October 2nd
• Mad Streets (Cloud/Console/PC) – October 7th
• Inscryption (Cloud/Console/PC) – October 10th
• Legend Of Mana (Cloud/Console/PC) – Out Now
• Trials of Mana (Cloud/Console/PC) – Out Now
• We Love Katamari ReRoll+ (Cloud/Console/PC) – Out Now

OCTOBER 2024 NEW XBOX GAME PASS STANDARD GAMES

• MLB The Show (Console) –  Now On Standard Tier – October 2nd
• Open Roads (Console) – Now On Standard Tier – October 2nd

GAMES LEAVING XBOX GAME PASS ON OCTOBER 15TH

• Dyson Sphere Program (PC)
• Everspace 2 (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• From Space (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• F1 Manager 2023 (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Scorn (Cloud, Console, and PC)

The post October’s Xbox Game Pass Games Have Been Revealed appeared first on Press Start.

Over the course of Xbox’s Tokyo Game Show presentation, a bunch of new games were confirmed at coming to their Game Pass services for both PC and console.

Here’s a list of all of the new Game Pass titles coming and when to expect them.

All You Need Is Help

This game looks very cute, and it’s coming today to Game Pass on both PC and console.

Overwatch 2 x My Hero Academia

Overwatch is becoming well known for its crossover content, and this one is no doubt exciting for My Hero Academia fans.

This is coming to Game Pass on October 17.

StarCraft: Remastered and StarCraft II

In what was undoubtedly one of the coolest announcements of Xbox’s Tokyo Game Show presentation, both StarCraft campaigns are coming to PC Game Pass in just a couple of months.

If you’re a real-time strategy nerd and you’ve slept on StarCraft, be sure to check these out November 5.

We Love Katamari: Reroll+ Royal Reverie

Another absolutely adorable title and a delight to boot. We Love Katamari is coming to Xbox Game Pass today.

To close out the event, Sarah Bond announced a slate of Square Enix games coming to the service.

And although hopes were high that we might see either Final Fantasy XVI or Final Fantasy VII Remake, what we got was still exciting, albeit a bit more classic.

Plus, Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster was confirmed to be coming to Xbox, although it’s not on Game Pass.

Trials of Mana

First up was Trials of Mana, which is available today.

Legend of Mana

Next up was Legend of Mana, which is also out today.

The post A Heap Of New Xbox Game Pass Titles Were Revealed At Tokyo Game Show appeared first on Press Start.

During Xbox’s Tokyo Game Show presentation, CEO of Microsoft Gaming Phil Spencer opened the showing with a recap of the year the team are having, as well, as the one to come.

At the end of his brief, as a bit of a surprise, Spencer announced that both StarCraft Remastered and StarCraft II are making their long-awaited return on November 5.

Although the multiplayer suites for both games are free-to-play, StarCraft Remastered and StarCraft II: Campaign Collection will be made available to any PC Game Pass or Game Pass Ultimate subscriber.

Originally releasing in 1998 and 2010 respectively, the StarCraft titles have made an undeniable impact on the real-time strategy genre and we’ve no doubt this news will be more than welcome to series fans.

The post StarCraft Remastered And StarCraft II Are Both Coming To PC Game Pass appeared first on Press Start.

Xbox has announced that it will be doing another TGS broadcast this year focusing on content from Xbox Game Studios, Activision, Blizzard And Bethesda.

ALL THE AUSSIE TIMES FOR THE XBOX TGS STREAM

• AEST (Melbourne / Sydney / Brisbane / Canberra) – 08:00pm Thursday, September 26th
• ACST (Adelaide / Darwin) – 07:30pm Thursday, September 26th
• AWST (Perth) – 06:00pm Thursday, September 26th

WHERE TO WATCH THE XBOX TGS STREAM

You can watch the Xbox TGS stream over on YouTube HERE or on the below embed.

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THE TGS XBOX STREAM

It’s always hard to know what to expect from TGS streams as they typically appeal to a Japanese audience which doesn’t always translate to other parts of the world in terms of the games shown, but there’s been some pretty big rumours circulating about what we could expect to see with Final Fantasy XVI being the main one that we’re expecting to see on Xbox.

There’s been rumours floating around about an Xbox handheld, which would go over quite well in Japan, but I’m not quite sure if this is the right event to see it, but that’s always a possibility.

The post Xbox’s TGS Stream Is Happening Tonight And Here’s All The Aussie Times appeared first on Press Start.

Ubisoft has today announced that Assassin’s Creed Shadows has been delayed from its November release date and will now release on February 14th, 2025.

Whilst it says that the game is feature complete, it will use the learnings from Star Wars Outlaws to provide additional time to polish the title and also change some of the decisions made around its release model.

The game will no longer have a traditional Season Pass model, with all players able to play the game on February 14th, and those that pre-order the game will get access to the first expansion for free.

The game is also now releasing on Steam on Day One, which seems like it’ll be the case for all Ubisoft games going forward.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows will now release on February 25th, 2025. The cheapest copy is $89 with free shipping on Amazon. 

Assassin's Creed Shadows will now release February 14, 2025. pic.twitter.com/J2ah7kkytW

— Assassin's Creed (@assassinscreed) September 25, 2024

The statement about the game on Twitter reads:

“Assassin’s Creed Shadows is a dream project for us; finally bringing the series to Feudal Japan with many features developed with our community in mind, such as parkour or the renewed stealth, brought by new technology, all set in a beautiful and immersive world. This is an ambitious addition to the franchise, a rich experience that can be lived through the eyes of two unique protagonists – but we realize we need more time to polish and refine the experience, pushing further some of our key features.

As such, we’ve made the decision to postpone the release date to February 14, 2025. The game will release on a broad range of platforms, including Steam at launch. Additionally, preorders will be refunded and all future preorders will be granted the first expansion for free.

We understand this decision will come as disappointing news, especially to those who’ve been waiting patiently for an Assassin’s Creed game inspired by Feudal Japan, but we sincerely believe this is in the best interest of the game, and ultimately your experience as a player. Rest assured we are looking forward to the moment you will embark on a memorable adventure with Naoe and Yasuke.

Until then, we thank you for your ongoing support.Marc-Alexis Côté, on behalf of all teams working on Assassin’s Creed Shadows.”

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During the PlayStation State of Play we got confirmation that Monster Hunter Wilds will release on February 28th for PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.

The new three minute trailer gave us a bit of everything with a taste of everything including combat. Whilst the gameplay was shown on a standard PS5, it still looked fairly gorgeous.

The post Monster Hunter Wilds Just Got A Release Date appeared first on Press Start.

It seems that Rocksteady might be going to the franchise that put them on the map.

According to Shpeshal Nick, Rocksteady is working on a new Batman game, with it also being reported that Sony is making a play for some kind of exclusivity deal.

Rocksteady developed three mainline single-player Arkham games (the last being Arkham Knight in 2015) before moving on to the recently released live service game Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League.

It’s unclear if the next Batman game would be an exclusively single-player game or would try and take Arkham into the online space as well.

Obviously, this would be great news, and until we get any kind of official announcement, we can wait to see how the upcoming Meta Quest exclusive, Batman: Arkham Shadow turns out.

The post A New Batman Game Is Apparently On The Way From Rocksteady appeared first on Press Start.

The latest Like A Dragon game has been revealed and it’ll take the franchise to the seas in Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii.

The game will release on February 28th, 2025 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, Xbox One and PC. It’s an action adventure game starring Goro Majima following on story-wise from Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth.

The game will let you go between locations such as Hawaii, an isolated island called Rich Island and a ship graveyard called Madlantis. It will let players jump for the first time in battles and it wouldn’t be a LAD game without minigames, and there’s a karting minigame called Dragon Kart as well as another Crazy Delivery mini game.

Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii collector’s edition

A Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii Collector’s Edition was also revealed with a number of physical and digital items including the below:

• Majima Acrylic Standee (6″)
• Pirate Flag (12″ x 18″)
• Eye Patch (3″ x 4″)
• Treasure Coin Pin (2″)
• Legendary pirate crew pack
• Legendary Outfit Pack
• Ship special customization pack
• Extra karaoke and CD pack

The post Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii Has Been Revealed Alongside An Epic Collector’s Edition appeared first on Press Start.

THQ Nordiq has announced that Darksiders 2 is coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X|S in a new Darksiders 2: Deathinitive Edition.

It will release on October 15th and those that own the game on PS4/Xbox One will get a free upgrade to the PS5/XSX version. The new versions will include 4K graphics, ray tracing, enhanced lighting and shadows as well as take full advantage of the haptics in the DualSense controller.

This version of the game content-wise isn’t new. When it released on PS4/XB1 it contained all of the DLC and also had improvements to the game balancing and loot distribution.

You can find the next-gen features below:

• Stunning Visuals – Experience this feature and content-rich action adventure in beautiful 4K. Enhanced by the use of ray tracing and delivering vastly improved lighting and shadows.
• Haptic Feedback – Each one of Death’s attacks and abilities are felt in your hands with the immersive haptic feedback of the DualSense wireless controller
• Fast Loading – Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition takes advantage of fast loading, using ultra-high speed SSD.

The post Darksiders 2 Is Coming To PS5 And Xbox Series X|S With 4K Graphics And Ray Tracing appeared first on Press Start.

In addition to the Xbox Game Pass games that have already dropped in September, Xbox has dropped a handful more that will be coming over the next few weeks.

SEPTEMBER XBOX GAME PASS GAMES

• Wargroove 2 (Cloud/Console/PC) – September 19th
• Frostpunk 2 (PC) – September 20th
• Ara: History Untold (PC) – September 24th

A bunch more games are leaving as well and you can find that list below:

• Gotham Knights (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Let’s Build a Zoo (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Loop Hero (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• My Time At Portia (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• PAW Patrol Grand Prix (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Pheonix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• The Walking Dead: The Complete First Season (PC)
• The Walking Dead: Season Two (PC)
• Valheim (Cloud, Console, and PC)

The post The Next Batch Of Xbox Game Pass Games For September Has Been Revealed appeared first on Press Start.

Respawn co-founder Vince Zampella (the current overseer of the Battlefield franchise) has taken to IGN to reveal the first details about the next Battlefield game and show off the first piece of concept art.

The next game in the series will take place in a modern setting with the concept art showing land, sea and air combat.

Speaking to IGN about the game, Zampella detailed how the game will be going back to some of the older Battlefield games, striving to incorporate what made those games great.

More specifically, it’s said that the game will ditch 128 player matches as well as the specialist system that was featured in Battlefied 2042, and largely not loved by players of the franchise. It will go back to a more traditional 64 player style and class system.

“I mean, if you look back to the peak or the pinnacle of Battlefield, it’s that Battlefield 3… Battlefield 4 era where everything was modern.. And I think we have to get back to the core of what Battlefield is and do that amazingly well, and then we’ll see where it goes from there.” Zampella said.

“So we are designing something that is more akin to previous Battlefields,” Zampella said. “I’d rather have nice, dense, really nice, well-designed play spaces. Some of them are really good. I can’t wait for you to see some of them.” he continued. “Specialist will not be coming back,” he added. “So classes are kind of at the core of Battlefield, and we’re going back to that.”

It’s not been confirmed when the next Battlefield will be releasing although he went on to say that players be able to sample the game in some form next year and get the community involved.

It’s also been confirmed that a large chunk of EA studios are working on the game including Motive, Dice, Criterion and Ripple Effect.

The post The Next Battlefield Game Will Take Place In A Modern Setting And Ditch Some Unpopular 2042 Mechanics appeared first on Press Start.

The latest Assassin’s Creed Shadows trailer has been released and shows off the stunning landscapes of the game.

Taking place in Feudal Japan, the game looks to featured the most varied and dynamic landscapes of any Assassin’s Creed game to date.

With it being one of the upcoming games confirmed to have PS5 Pro improvements, no doubt it’s going to look even better on that console.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows releases on November 15th for PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. The cheapest copy is currently $89 on Amazon. 

We got an extended look of the game in June and said: “Assassin’s Creed Shadows feels like a statement that these big, enormously scoped role-playing games aren’t going anywhere soon. It is evident that, through its dual protagonists, a large focus for the team has been player agency and freedom to play your way, but whether it’s going to respect your time in a way I feel Valhalla didn’t is still a question I’ve got.”

The post The Latest Assassin’s Creed Shadows Trailer Shows Off The Game’s Stunning World appeared first on Press Start.

Ubisoft has committed to creating an offline mode for both The Crew 2 and The Crew Motorfest after the original game was taken offline.

To celebrate the news of the game reaching 30 million players, the company has made the game 98% off on all platforms bringing it down to $1.50 and under at the below links:

• PlayStation Store – $1.39
• Steam – $1.50
• Xbox – $1.40 

The Crew Motorfest is also discounted at a humble 70% off bringing it down to $29.98.

You can watch The Crew Showcase with a bunch of other content update reveals below:

The post The Crew 2 Is 98% Off On All Platforms And Will Get An Offline Mode Alongside The Crew Motorfest appeared first on Press Start.

Dead Island 2 fans are going to be eating well with a brand new Ultimate Edition being revealed as well as two new game modes that will come in a free update to the base game.

The Dead Island 2: Ultimate Edition will include the base game, as well as both story expansions (Haus and SoLA) on the disc with a special weapons pack that includes a Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 pack. This will release on October 22nd.

In more exciting news, two new modes were revealed that will come to the base game as a free update on the same day.

Neighbourhood Watch is a new game mode that sees a group of college kids taking on horde of enemies across a five day period with new ways to take on the undead and a New Game + mode will crank up the action with an increased level cap, an additional sill spot and an increased difficulty.

Dead Island 2 is available on Amazon for $47 and will get the free updates on October 22nd.

The post Dead Island 2: Ultimate Edition Has Been Revealed Alongside A New Free Co-Op Horde Mode And New Game+ appeared first on Press Start.

10:10 games has revealed that Colonel Sanders will join characters from the likes of Jurassic World, Back to the Future, Jaws, The Thing, Five Nights at Freddy and more in Funko Fusion.

There will be several outfits for the Colonel with a few of them being exclusive to US KFC app members. There’s Chef Colonel as well as Mecha Colonel, which is absolutely insane, but it’s hard to deny that it’s iconic.

Funko Fusion launches on September 13th for PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC and November 15th on PS4 before launching digitally on Switch in December. The cheapest copy is currently $69 with free shipping on Amazon. 

We recently previewed the game saying: “Based on just a few hours of play, Funko Fusion definitely seems like it has the right stuff to please a mix of gamers, whether you’re in it for the endless barrage of IP worship or the solid action and collectathon puzzle-platforming. If the thought of a Funko Pop! is enough to make you roll your eyes, I doubt it’s going to set them back straight, but so far I reckon it’s made of just the right bait to hook the crowd of millennial gamers it’s clearly angling for.”

The post KFC Icon Colonel Sanders Will Be Playable In Funko Fusion appeared first on Press Start.

This is one that I didn’t see coming. If you were like me you probably spent your school years playing point-and-click classic Carmen Sandiego, and she’s back in a new game that is being worked on by Gameloft Studios in Brisbane.

It’s a single-player puzzle-adventure based on the recent Netflix animated series, and it will launch on Netflix in Q1 2025 before coming to PC, PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch in the same quarter.

It will have a story-driven campaign and classic modes, but interestingly, you’ll play as Carmen Sandiego this time around, using high-tech gadgets to defeat an evil organisation.

I must say, when I saw that a new Carmen Sandiego game was on the way, I had fairly low expectations, but watching the trailer, it looks pretty fantastic both from an artistic direction but also the gameplay looks like a genuinely fun time.

The post A New Carmen Sandiego Game Has Been Revealed And Looks Surprisingly Fantastic appeared first on Press Start.

Warner Bros. Discovery spoke at the Bank of America conference earlier today, and mentioned the importance of a Hogwarts Legacy successor for its video game business, with the company planning to release it in the next few years.

“Obviously, a successor to Hogwarts Legacy is one of the biggest priorities in a couple of years down the road,” chief financial officer Gunnar Wiedenfels said at Bank of America conference on Wednesday (thanks, Variety).

“So there is certainly a significant growth contribution from that [games] business in our strategic outlook here.” continued Wiedenfels.

The original game was 2023’s best selling game with over 24 million copies sold, selling more than other heavy hitters such as Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Obviously, with other WB games such as Suicide Squad not performing well, and notably being a loss for the company, it’s not a huge surprise that a Hogwarts Legacy sequel would be a major priority for the publisher.

It’s been reported previously that Rocksteady had moved on from Suicide Squad to help develop an unannounced Hogwarts Legacy Director’s Cut, so it’ll be interesting to see if that’s revealed in the near future.

Quiddich Champions, another Harry Potter game also dropped this week. That’s available as part of PlayStation Plus as well. 

The post Releasing A Hogwarts Legacy Sequel Is A Massive Priority According To Warner Bros appeared first on Press Start.

Xbox has revealed the first games coming to Xbox Game Pass in September 2024. This is headlined by Age of Mythology: Retold and Rider’s Republic, but the full list of games is below.

XBOX GAME PASS GAMES SEPTEMBER 2024

• Star Trucker (Cloud/Console/PC) – Today
• Age of Mythology: Retold (Cloud/Console/PC) – September 4th
• Expeditions: A MudRunner Game (Cloud/Console/PC) – September 5th
• Riders Republic (Cloud/Console/PC) – September 11th
• Train Sim World 5 (Cloud/Console/PC) – September 17th

XBOX GAME PASS GAMES LEAVING ON SEPTEMBER 15TH 2024

• Ashes of Singularity: Escalation (PC)
• FIFA 23 (Cloud, Console, and PC) EA Play
• Payday 3 (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Slime Rancher 2 (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• SpiderHeck (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• You Suck At Parking (Cloud, Console, and PC)

It’s an interesting month, so it’ll be interesting to see what else comes to the service later in the month.

The post September’s Xbox Game Pass Games Have Been Revealed appeared first on Press Start.

It’s the 25th anniversary of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater later this month, and the socials for the game (created for the release of the 1+2 Remake a few years back) have all been updated to reflect a 25th anniversary celebration.

This change was spotted by Wario64, and are visible on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook accounts. This includes a brand new profile picture as well as a banner commemorating the 25th anniversary of one of the most iconic gaming franchises.

On the Facebook page, the company also updated a story saying that they’d be celebrating the anniversary all month long. Fans are speculating and hopeful that we’ll see a new Tony Hawk game or remasters of the later games.

It was confirmed by Tony Hawk himself that 3 and 4 were due to be remade but these were scrapped after Vicarious Visions merged with Blizzard. This was two years ago, so things could have most certainly changed, so it’ll be interesting to see what eventuates from this.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 remasters were in the works but they were scrapped after Vicarious Visions was merged into Blizzard. ?

Source: Tony Hawk.https://t.co/84rlYDgvUQ pic.twitter.com/oWR70xTOYv

— KAMI (@Okami13_) June 20, 2022

The post The Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater Socials Are Celebrating The 25th Anniversary Creating Hope For A New Game appeared first on Press Start.

In an out of the blue announcement, WB Games has announced that a remastered LEGO Harry Potter collection which includes Harry Potter Years 1-4 and Years 5-7 is coming to PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC with improvements.

The game will release on October 8th with enhancements to both the graphics and gameplay including 4K/60 FPS graphics, haptic feedback and high-resolution shadow maps. Those that own the PS4 version of the game will be able to upgrade at a discounted cost.

You can watch the trailer below:

“What better way to go back to Hogwarts than with the remastered LEGO Harry Potter Collection? Experience the adventure all over again as you battle the basilisk, compete in the Triwizard Tournament and take part in the Battle of Hogwarts with enhanced graphics and 4k resolution. Available Tuesday 8th October, 2024 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and Steam.” reads the trailer description.

We’ll keep you posted as we hear more about this remastered collection, as it’ll be interesting to see what other gameplay changes have been made.

The post A LEGO Harry Potter Collection Remaster Is Coming To PS5/Xbox Series X With Enhanced Graphics And Gameplay appeared first on Press Start.

If there’s been one game more than any other that I see people sad about being stuck in the PS3 era, it’s Metal Gear sold 4, but that all looks set to change with Konami hinting that it could be coming in the next collection

Speaking to IGN about Metal Gear Sold Delta: Snake Eater, Konami producer Okamura tested MGS Master Collection Vol 2 as well as the inclusion of Metal Gear Solid 4.

“We definitely are aware of this situation with MGS4. Unfortunately we can’t really say too much at the moment with Vol. 1 containing MGS 1-3 dot dot dot… you can probably connect the dots!” said Okamura.

Obviously, whether this means that MGS 4 will come to modern consoles on its own or part of a Vol 2 collection remains to be seen, but it does seem likely, especially after Snake voice David Hayer posted with Snake from MGS 4 recently and said “had a pretty cool meeting the other day”.

Had a pretty cool meeting the other day…#MGS pic.twitter.com/By8XNFcdqi

— David Hayter (@DavidBHayter) November 18, 2023

Outside of this, MGS Peace Walker would be the only other game not to be playable on modern consoles, so we could see this along with 4 and 5 included on the next collection.

In our MGS Master Collection Vol 1 review, James said: “Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 does precisely what it claims to do – bring the first three Metal Gear Solid games to all major platforms after a much-felt absence. While the technical updates given to each game are scarce, this still represents a great way to get into one of the most important and prolific series in video games. Could there be some more touch-ups to modernise these games? Absolutely. But it’s hard to ignore the quality of the games included in this package, and it’s a testament to their strengths that, even with slight improvement, they’re still as compelling as ever.”=

The post MGS: Master Collection Vol 2 Will Almost Certainly Include Metal Gear Solid 4 appeared first on Press Start.

Razer has today announced the Wolverine V3 Pro, a wireless esports controller that is officially licensed by Xbox meaning it’s also the company’s first wireless Xbox controller.

It has advanced customisation, ultra-responsive inputs and superior ergonomics with the most impressive feature is the new back buttons that are mouse click back paddles that should allow for fantastic responsiveness. There’s also 2 claw grip bumpers, Razer Pro HyperTriggers, hall effect thumbsticks and the previously mentioned HyperSpeed wireless connectivity.

In terms of other things included in the box, you get a custom carrying case, 2 replaceable thumbstick keycaps, a wireless dongle and a 10ft cable as well.

RAZER WOLVERINE V3 PRO AUSTRALIAN PRICE AND RELEASE DATE

The Razer Wolverine V3 Pro is out in Australia today and it’s available from Razer’s website for $349.95 AUD. 

The post The Razer Wolverine V3 Pro Is Razer’s First Wireless Xbox Controller appeared first on Press Start.

Argonaut Games, the developer behind the original Croc game has revealed that the studio is back and their first game is a Croc Legend of the Gobbos remaster.

The game will come to consoles and PC later this year with the first trailer for the remaster being shown off this morning as well. It includes high-definition graphics, updated modern control mechanics as well as the addition of the Crocipedia which is a digital museum containing long-lost development assets for the game.

The trailer for the game definitely brings all the feels. I can’t say that I thought we’d ever see Croc again, but it’s such a staple of 1990s gaming.

It’s said that Argonaut Games has more games to be revealed in the near future as well, so it’ll be interesting to see if that means that we’ll be getting new Croc games or maybe a few other classics.

The post A Croc: Legend Of The Gobbos Remaster Has Been Announced appeared first on Press Start.

A brand new Tetris game has been revealed in Tetris Forever that is coming to the Nintendo Switch, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PC.

The collection will include more than 15 playable games with several of these being released outside of Japan for the first time. This includes the first version of Tetris, as well as games such as Tetris Battle Gaiden, Super Tetris 2 and Bombliss.

There’s also a brand new Tetris game included called Tetris Time Warp. This game allow allow you to warp between different eras of Tetris in real time.

There will also be a documentary with over 90 minutes of footage and an virtual museum with an interactive timeline.

For the rest of the Double Nintendo Direct announcements, you can head to our round-up HERE. 

The post Tetris Forever Is A New Collection That Includes Classic Tetris Games And A Brand New One appeared first on Press Start.

One of the more surprising announcements at this morning’s Nintendo Direct was the announcement of a new Spongebob game called The Patrick Star Game.

This is a sandbox adventure game where you take to Bikini Bottom and can use any object to alter the world. There will be missions set by Spongebob, Mr Krabs, Sandy Cheeks and Plankton with many iconic locations such as Glove World, The Dump and Demolition Derby.

It’s releasing on PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and PC on October 4th, so not long to wait at all.

For the rest of the Double Nintendo Direct announcements, you can head to our round-up HERE. 

The post The Patrick Star Game Has Been Revealed Starring Everyone’s Favourite Spongebob Character appeared first on Press Start.

A bunch of previews for Metal Gear Sold Delta: Snake Eater just dropped and along with them came a heap of new screenshots that show off a number of elements from the game including combat and more.

The most notable improve comes in the way of the battle damage system which shows Snake’s wounds as he gets injured during battle. This extends to the Camouflage Index System that shows off Snake’s different uniforms, face paints and more in stunning new detail.

Another big element is the UI overhaul, with it now overlapping the gameplay with a transparent overlay, rather than being totally seperate.

We still don’t have a release date for Metal Gear Sold Delta: Snake Eater, but we know that it’s coming to PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC later this year. It’s available for $109 from Amazon HERE.

The post A Bunch Of New Metal Gear Sold Delta: Snake Eater Screenshots Just Dropped appeared first on Press Start.

It’s been long rumoured that a new Crash Bandicoot was in the works, and we now have our first details on what was seemingly the game in the series by gaming historian YouTube, Liam Robertson.

It’s claimed that the game was to be a direct sequel to Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time with one of the concepts seeing Crash teaming up with Spyro following an interdimensional threat. It’s said that both Crash and Spyro were intended to be the two playable characters.

This also follows the rumours that a new Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater game was pitched, but show down in favour of Activision wanting to go in the direction of live service games.

The entire video lasts about an hour, and as all of other of Robertson’s videos, is a fascinating watch full of concept art and other little tidbits, so I highly recommend going and watching it below:

Now that Xbox owns Activision, I definitely think we’ll see another Crash/Spyro game in the future as it just makes sense, but for now, it seems to be unfortunate news.

The post A New Crash/Spyro Crossover Game Was Apparently Cancelled In Favour Of Live Service Games appeared first on Press Start.

Obsidian has confirmed that upcoming RPG Avowed will run at 30 frames per second on the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S.

Speaking to the Iron Lords Podcast, Art Director Matt Hansen said that Obsidian is “targeting a baseline of 30FPS” for the RPG. He followed this up by saying that “you don’t necessarily need that 60 frames” because Avowed is a first-person, single-player game.

“It’s a first-person, single-player game, you don’t necessarily need that 60 frames. And that allows us to get a lot juicier with VFX and lighting and all this other stuff. It’s a trade-off we opted to make relatively early, and we’re really happy with that. The game’s running pretty smooth for how visually dense it is, and that was always our goal.” said Hansen.

Obviously, whilst this could be the current baseline for Avowed, you’d think that there’s enough time especially with the delay to look at 40/60FPS options, so we’ll see how this one plays out.

Avowed will release in February 2025 on Xbox Series X|S and PC. This comes after the game was delayed to make way for other Xbox Game Pass games that are set to release this holiday such as Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and STALKER 2.

The post Avowed Will Run At 30FPS On The Xbox Series X appeared first on Press Start.

To go with the release date announcement for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, a collector’s edition has also been revealed

It includes an 11-inch globe that comes with a plane magnet that attaches to locations on the globe, as well as a hidden storage compartment.

There’s also a New Adventure journal, an Allmaker relic replica and a jumbo Steelbook. Also included is 3 days early access, as well as access to The Order of the Giants DLC as well as a digital art book and some iconic Indy looks.

It’s available for pre-order exclusively at JB Hi-Fi for $329 and you can grab it HERE.

INDIANA JONES AND THE GREAT CIRCLE COLLECTOR’S EDITION CONTENTS:

• Allmaker Relic Replica with Game Code (Digital Premium Edition)
• The Great Circle 11” Globe with Hidden Storage
• New Adventure Journal
• Jumbo SteelBook® Case
• Up to 3-Day Early Access**
• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle: The Order of Giants Story DLC†
• Digital Artbook
• Temple of Doom Outfit

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is releasing on Xbox Series X|S and PC on December 7th and will release next year for PS5.

The post An Indiana Jones And The Great Circle Collector’s Edition Has Been Revealed And Includes An 11-Inch Globe appeared first on Press Start.

Xbox has revealed the prices and release dates for the previously revealed new Xbox Series X console iterations.

Both consoles will release on October 15th with the 1TB Robot White all-digital Xbox Series X costing $699 AUD and the 2TB Galaxy Black costing $999 AUD. The 1TB White Xbox Series S will cost $549 AUD (same as the black version).

• White All-Digital 1TB Xbox Series X – $699 AUD
• Galaxy Black 2TB Xbox Series X – $999 AUD
• White 1TB Xbox Series S – $549 AUD

This means that you’re essentially saving $100 for buying a console without a disc drive, or paying $200 more for an extra TB and the special edition consoles.

Both consoles are available to pre-order HERE. 

The post The Discless And 2TB Galaxy Black Xbox Series X Prices And Release Dates Have Been Revealed appeared first on Press Start.

This morning saw a brand-new edition of Geoff Keighley’s annual Gamescom Opening Night Live showcase, kicking off the massive Gamescom show in Cologne, Germany with a couple of hours of new trailers, updates, world premiere announcements and more.

One of those updates was a long-awaited update for Starfield’s first big DLC expansion, oddly tucked away at the back of a promo for a new vehicle dropping into the game with an update today, with the release date for Shattered Space revealed as September 30th for Xbox Series X|S and PC.

As we already know, the expansion will include a new quest line centred around House Va’ruun, the interstellar government formed around the worship of the Great Serpent. It will also include new weapons, new planets to explore, new spacesuits and new gear. We’ll no doubt hear more about Shattered Space over the coming days of Gamescom.

Check out the trailer for the REV-8 land vehicle (and the expansion’s release date, I guess) below:

The post Starfield: Shattered Space Is Launching Next Month appeared first on Press Start.

Xbox has now revealed the second batch of games headed to Game Pass/Game Pass Ultimate subscribers for the month of August 2024, continuing a slim month with few (though pretty decent) additions to the library.

Along with a handful of new titles including Atlas Fallen, Core Keeper and the day one launch of Star Trucker (technically in September) for members of the main tiers, Game Pass Core subscribers also get a smattering of new titles.

Take a look at everything coming and going:

XBOX GAME PASS AUGUST 2024

Creatures of Ava (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S) – Available Now
Let your empathy guide you as you play an exciting action-adventure, creature-saver game. Understand and tame the creatures of Ava and let them lead you through a variety of ecosystems – all in the hopes of saving the planet from a life-consuming infection.

Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy (Cloud, Console, and PC) – Available Now

Your favorite marsupial, Crash Bandicoot, is coming to Game Pass! He’s enhanced, entranced and ready-to-dance with the N. Sane Trilogy collection. Spin, jump, wump and repeat as you take on the epic challenges and adventures through the three games that started it all, Crash Bandicoot, Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back and Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped. Relive all your favorite Crash moments in their fully remastered graphical glory and get ready to put some umph in your wump!

Mafia: Definitive Edition (Cloud, Console, and PC) – Available Now

Mafia: Definitive Edition is a cinematic third-person shooter that tells the story of Tommy Angelo, a hardworking cab driver who becomes embedded in the brutal world of organized crime in 1930s America.

Atlas Fallen (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S) – August 22nd
Unleash the storm in this open world action-RPG adventure, enriched by the recently released major free update, Reign of Sand! Enjoy new voice acting, a reworked campaign, and face even more formidable creatures armed with new Essence Stones. Challenge the gods with the long-awaited “New Game +” difficulty mode.

Core Keeper (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S) – August 27th
Dive into Core Keeper, an underground adventure where you shape your journey. Craft, build, and explore in a dynamic world. Develop your character, uncover ancient secrets, and engage in thrilling co-op or competitive play. Embrace the challenge and unearth the mysteries that await!

Star Trucker (Cloud, Console, and PC) – September 3rd
Hop into the driver’s seat of your rocket-powered big rig as you haul cargo, scavenge for salvage, and interact with an eclectic cast of star-hopping truckers in this Americana-infused journey on the ultimate open road – space!

Games Coming to Game Pass Core on August 21st

• Cities: Skylines
• Control: Ultimate Edition
• SnowRunner

Leaving Game Pass on August 31st

• Atomic Heart (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Guilty Gear -Strive- (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• NBA 2K24 (Cloud and Console)

The post The Next Batch Of Xbox Game Pass Games For August Has Been Revealed appeared first on Press Start.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard was fully revealed overnight and we now know that it’s coming to PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC on October 31st.

For the biggest fans of the series, a Collector’s Edition for the game has also been revealed. It’s definitely one of the cheaper collector’s editions that I’ve come across in the last few years, but it also looks a bit lighter on content as well:

It’ll set you back $229.95 AUD and it includes the below:

• Dragon Age: The Veilguard Deluxe Edition Game
• Exclusive SteelBook® Case
• ICONART Metal Print and magnet wall mount
• Notebook
• Collector’s Rigid Outerbox

It’s available to pre-order now at EB Games and JB Hi-FI.

The post A Dragon Age: The Veilguard Collector’s Edition Has Been Revealed And Is Up For Pre-Order Now appeared first on Press Start.

Xbox has revealed the first bundle of games headed to Game Pass/Game Pass Ultimate subscribers for the start of August 2024, and thanks to early leaks and official confirmations there are sadly few surprises here. It’s also an unusually small list with just three titles – a day one launch in Creatures of Ava, a new Activision joint in Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy and the very decent Mafia: Definitive Edition.

There are actually more games leaving than arriving in this batch, but take a look in more detail below:

XBOX GAME PASS AUGUST 2024

Creatures of Ava (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S) – August 7
Let your empathy guide you as you play an exciting action-adventure, creature-saver game. Understand and tame the creatures of Ava and let them lead you through a variety of ecosystems – all in the hopes of saving the planet from a life-consuming infection.

Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy (Cloud, Console, and PC) – August 8

Your favorite marsupial, Crash Bandicoot, is coming to Game Pass! He’s enhanced, entranced and ready-to-dance with the N. Sane Trilogy collection. Spin, jump, wump and repeat as you take on the epic challenges and adventures through the three games that started it all, Crash Bandicoot, Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back and Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped. Relive all your favorite Crash moments in their fully remastered graphical glory and get ready to put some umph in your wump!

Mafia: Definitive Edition (Cloud, Console, and PC) – August 13

Mafia: Definitive Edition is a cinematic third-person shooter that tells the story of Tommy Angelo, a hardworking cab driver who becomes embedded in the brutal world of organized crime in 1930s America.

Leaving Game Pass On August 15

•  Airborne Kingdoms (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Offworld Trading Company (PC)
• Shadow Warrior 3 (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (Cloud, Console, and PC)

The post The First Batch Of Xbox Game Pass Games For August Has Been Revealed appeared first on Press Start.

Update: After early rumblings from The Verge’s Tom Warren, Xbox has officially acknowledged a delay of Obsidian’s Avowed while also firming up its release date, pushing the game back from its tentative 2024 release window to a precise launch of February 18th, 2025.

“So many games coming! As such, we’re moving Avowed to February 18th, 2025 to give players’ backlogs some breathing room,” the company wrote in a tweet.

“Stay tuned for more from our games across Activision, Blizzard, Bethesda and Xbox Game Studios at gamescom, including our August 23rd livestream for a look at Avowed.”

So many games coming! As such, we're moving Avowed to Feb 18, 2025 to give players’ backlogs some breathing room.

Stay tuned for more from our games across Activision, Blizzard, Bethesda & Xbox Game Studios at gamescom, including our Aug 23 livestream for a look at Avowed:… pic.twitter.com/3RnyVwlHRa

— Xbox (@Xbox) August 2, 2024

The news means that the only remaining Xbox console exclusive games planned for the end of 2024 are Age of Mythology Retold (which is out on September 4), Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 (November 19), Towerborne (2024 TBC) and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle (2024 TBC).

It sounds like Obsidian’s anticipated, upcoming Microsoft-exclusive RPG, Avowed, may be delayed out of its originally-planned 2024 release into a 2025 date. That’s according to The Verge’s Tom Warren, who wrote in a (paywalled) piece that development is going just fine, but shuffling release dates of other titles in a stacked back quarter of the year could see Microsoft push the game’s launch out a little.

“I’m hearing that Obsidian is about to announce an Avowed delay to early 2025,” Warren writes. “Obsidian accidentally revealed earlier this year that it was targeting a November launch, but with Xbox exclusive S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 delayed to November, things are getting stacked for Xbox games in the all-important holiday season. I understand Avowed is in good shape, this is more a matter of wanting to give the game breathing room outside of a very busy period for Xbox Game Pass.”

Extending out to also include content coming to other platforms, Xbox does have a busy few months ahead beginning with Age of Mythology Retold and Ara: History Untold, and then Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred, Call of Duty Black Ops 6, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, and somewhere amongst it all Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and Starfield: Shattered Space, among others. It’s a lot to promote and for Game Pass subscribers to consume, and so giving Avowed some breathing room in the early part of next year might be the right move.

Avowed’s Art Director, Matt Hansen, recently described to us the advantages of having not just a bigger potential audience for the game on Game Pass but also a broader pool of players, saying, “We see the reaction from a much wider swathe of perspectives and people than we normally would and we can respond to for the future and grow that much faster as a result…”

“…We can pick and choose what of those things we want to experiment with, but it’s a really wonderful opportunity and I think it’s unlike anything this industry has had the chance to work within before—that broad of an audience. So it’s been very satisfying. Scary, but satisfying.”

The post Avowed Has Officially Been Delayed Into February 2025 appeared first on Press Start.

Xbox has revealed its plans for gamescom 2024 show floor, where fans in attendance at the event in Cologne, Germany from August 21st to 25th will be able to check out its “biggest booth yet.”

There’ll be over 50 games available for fans to try at the Xbox booth, along with photo ops, theatres, experiences and more. First-party games that will be playable at the show include Age of Mythology: Retold, Towerborne, The Elder Scrolls Online: Gold Road, Ara: History Untold and more, while third-party titles include Star Wars Outlaws, Space Marine 2, Atomfall and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl.

Attendees will also have the opportunity to check out exclusive theatre presentations of Avowed, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and Starfield: Shattered Space.

And in the event that you can’t make it out to gamescom this year (I get it, us either), Xbox is going to be running livestreams throughout three show days where it’ll spotlight different games each day, along with dedicated Bethesda streams following.

The countdown to @gamescom begins!

? 50+ Games
? Theatre Presentations for Avowed, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle & Starfield: Shattered Space
? 3 days of live broadcasts
? FanFest

And more! Aug 21-25. Get the rundown: https://t.co/Us3C6WRCDH | #xboxgamescom pic.twitter.com/WmkcZ3qc92

— Xbox (@Xbox) August 1, 2024

Here’s when you’ll be able to catch each one and what will be on show:

Wednesday August 21 

• Xbox @ gamescom 2024
  • Start: 11PM AEST / 10.30PM ACST / 9PM AWST
  • Featuring S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, Atomfall, Age of Mythology, plus others

• Bethesda MainStream 
  • Start: 10PM AEST / 9.30PM ACST / 8PM AWST

Thursday August 22 

• Xbox @ gamescom 2024 
  • Start: 11PM AEST / 10.30PM ACST / 9PM AWST
  • Featuring Star Wars Outlaws, World of Warcraft: The War Within, Towerborne plus others
• Bethesda MainStream 
  • Start: 10PM AEST / 9.30PM ACST / 8PM AWST

Friday August 23 

• Xbox @ gamescom 2024
  • Start: 11PM AEST / 10.30PM ACST / 9PM AWST
  • Featuring Avowed, Ara: History Untold, plus others

• Bethesda MainStream 
  • Start: 10PM AEST / 9.30PM ACST / 8PM AWST

The post Xbox Has Revealed Its Gamescom 2024 Plans With Over 50 Playable Games appeared first on Press Start.

Look, I’m usually quick to roll my eyes at yet another special edition Xbox Wireless Controller design (recent butt-trollers excluded), but every so often the folks running their accessories department just nail it. The last example I can think of is the Remix Special Edition, which was an instant-buy and is my regular controller for anything Game Pass-related.

But damn it, it’s happened again. Although I still can’t fathom why we don’t see more companies cashing in on millennial nostalgia for transparent tech, Xbox has gone and done just that, revealing the Xbox Wireless Controller – Sky Cipher Special Edition.

This all-blue, mostly-see-through number is honestly a looker, combining an transparent outer face and handles with the metallic interior features including visible rumble packs in the handles to really great effect. The top and rear are a darker blue plastic, while the triggers are a metallic blue and the thumbsticks a two-tone vibe. Finally, the rubberised grips under the handles are a lighter blue. It all comes together real nicely.

The Sky Cipher controller also sees the debut of a new packaging design for Xbox controllers does away with single-use plastics and a paper manual (which has been replaced with a QR code linking to a digital quick start guide). The packaging is also now 22% smaller and 21% lighter than before, making for an overall reduction in materials used.

The Xbox Wireless Controller – Sky Cipher Special Edition is available for pre-order right now for an RRP of $99.95, and will launch on August 30th, 2024. You can find pre-order links for local retailers below:

• Xbox Store – $99.95
• JB Hi-Fi –$99
• EB Games – $99.95 ($29 when trading in two selected PS5, Xbox Series X or Switch games)

The post Okay Xbox, You Got Me With The Transparent Special Edition Controller appeared first on Press Start.

Microsoft has revealed a couple of small updates to Discord integration on Xbox, as the hugely-popular social platform continues to be deeper embedded into modern consoles.

These new features, which are currently exclusive to Insider users but should eventually be rolled out widely, allow players to see their Discord friends and channels directly from the console interface and jump into chat, as well as stream their gameplay or watch others’ streams through Discord directly from the Xbox console.

The announcement didn’t provide any indication of when these updates might be rolled out to the general public, but if you’re interested you can find out more about the Insider programme here. Below you’ll find the full descriptions of these additions as per the Xbox Wire blog:

Xbox Insiders – It’s Easier than Ever to Watch, Chat, and Play with Your Friends on Xbox and Discord

See your Discord friends and channels from your Xbox

It’s now easier to see when one of your Discord friends is playing, chatting, or streaming, and you can jump into voice chat with them or watch their stream – all on your Xbox console, without having to use the Discord app on PC or mobile. If your Xbox and Discord accounts are linked, you can opt-in to have your Discord friends included in your Friends list on the Xbox guide by re-linking your accounts. Once you relink your Xbox and Discord accounts, head to the Friends list of the Xbox guide. Your Discord friends will show up on the right side under “Happening now” whenever they are playing a game or chatting in Discord voice.

Watch Discord streams on your Xbox console

You can now watch anyone who is streaming directly on your Xbox console when you’re connected to a Discord call or in a voice channel! Are you having an epic moment you want to share? You can stream your own gameplay to your Discord friends too.

The post Xbox Is Improving Its Discord Integration On Console Including Streaming Support appeared first on Press Start.

Xbox has officially lifted the lid on at least one of the games coming to Xbox Game Pass next month, stopping short of announcing its usually first full batch but pretty much solidifying early leaks of August’s initial line-up.

The confirmed game is Mafia: Definitive Edition, the 2020 remake of the iconic 2002 original, helmed by Hangar 13 and 2K. Mafia: Definitive Edition is going to arrive for subscribers on August 13th.

a re-made classic is on its way@mafiagame Definitive Edition is coming August 13! pic.twitter.com/SubPnun6Kp

— Xbox Game Pass (@XboxGamePass) July 30, 2024

Probably more interesting, is this lends a ton of weight to a series of leaks of potential Game Pass games for August, which included this game along with the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy and a handful of others. Here’s what those games are believed to be (via Reddit).

• Sopa: Tale of the Stolen Potato – August 6th
• Creatures of Ava – August 7th
• Crash N Sane Trilogy – August 8th
• Mafia: Definitive Edition – August 13th
• Wargroove 2 – August 15th
• Atlas Fallen – August 22nd
• Core Keeper – August 27th

No doubt we’ll have confirmation soon enough of the full, official first batch of Game Pass games for August, and we’ll update when we do!

We gave Mafia: Definitive Edition a healthy 8/10 in our review back at launch, with Toby saying, “Hangar 13’s remake of Mafia is great. The story is as interesting as ever, and only minor technical issues take away from what is otherwise a welcome reintroduction to Tommy Angelo and the Salieri crew. “

The post The First Xbox Game Pass Game For August Has Been Revealed appeared first on Press Start.

Update 29/7: Today’s the day, folks. The Xbox 360 digital store’s final hours are here, and so very soon it will no longer be possible to buy a hefty chunk of digital-only, backwards incompatible Xbox 360 games.

While we don’t have an exact time for the store’s shuttering, if we’re conservative and base it off the US’ commonly-used Pacific Time and the stroke of midnight as it crosses over into July 29th, we’d be less than eight hours from the end at time of writing.

In other words – buy anything you’d like to retain on your account to be able to download and play on any Xbox 360 console you might have (or find collecting dust in a garage in ten years). You’ll still be able to re-download anything you own later, just the ability to browse and buy things on the store will be lost to time. Games that are compatible and playable on Xbox One/Xbox Series X|S will remain available on the modern storefronts.

It’s a bitter occasion for many, with the Xbox 360 arguably playing a pioneering role in giving visibility to smaller, digital-only games bringing bedroom developers out into the spotlight, kickstarting an indie revolution with titles like Braid, Castle Crashers, LIMBO, Shadow Complex, Super Meat Boy and so many more.

Update 17/7: Xbox has revealed even more Xbox 360 titles on sale in the lead-up to the close of the Xbox 360 digital store later this month. With the end of the Xbox 360 digital store impending, Microsoft has been working with publishers and developers to slash the prices on a heap of the games that will otherwise be lost to time after July 29th.

These are typically games that are currently available to buy and play via an Xbox 360 console (or to buy via the web store) but are not on the backwards compatible list and therefore won’t be available on the newer Xbox consoles and stores after the shutdown.

There’s some pretty good stuff in here, and up to 95% off in some cases, so if you’re looking to grab anything to add to your account (you’ll still be able to re-download things after the shutdown) now is the time to do it.

Here’s what’s discounted right now:

The post It’s Almost Over – The Xbox 360 Digital Store Is Closing Today appeared first on Press Start.

Update: And it’s available now! Everyone on a Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass or Game Pass for Console subscriptions can now download and play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PC (where applicable).

You can find it here.

ok it’s OFFICIALLY GO TIME pic.twitter.com/jTPVngEIVK

— Xbox ANZ (@XboxANZ) July 25, 2024

Featuring a high-octane single player campaign, energetic multiplayer and the series’ first open world Zombies experience, this game offers something for every type of CoD player,” reads the official announcement celebrating the launch of the 2023 title into the Game Pass catalogue.

Original Story: It’d been rumoured for a hot minute, but Xbox has officially revealed via a post on the Xbox Wire news blog that last year’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III is headed to Game Pass very soon.

The game is slated to arrive into the service on July 25th AEST, which is less than a day away, and will be available to those on Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass or Game Pass for Console subscriptions.

COD: MW3 didn’t exactly light the world on fire when it launched late last year, but it’s a significant moment given this is the first Call of Duty title to be offered up to Game Pass members as part of Microsoft’s takeover of Activision Blizzard and rolling out of its catalogue to the subscription.

As previously revealed, October’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will be the first brand-new entry to be included with Game Pass.

It's (almost) go time

Play @CallofDuty_ANZ: Modern Warfare III with Game Pass 25th July pic.twitter.com/CMITBLvRQn

— Xbox ANZ (@XboxANZ) July 24, 2024

We gave Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III a soft 6.5/10 in our review last year, with Toby saying, “This year’s Call of Duty is a mixed bag. Series veterans looking for a great multiplayer experience will find a lot to love thanks to the game’s faithful recreation of some of the franchise’s best maps and excellent gunplay. However, Modern Warfare III’s campaign is one of the worst in the series’ history.”

The post Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Is Out Now On Xbox Game Pass appeared first on Press Start.

Taking the whole “Xbox releases more controllers than games” thing even further than ever, Xbox has revealed it’s releasing a Wolverine controller before PlayStation and Insomniac have released their Wolverine game.

Yep, not to be outdone by his co-lead in the upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine film, Hugh Jackman’s portrayal of the iconic character is also getting a super limited edition arse controller courtesy of Xbox and a global sweepstakes giveaway.

The details on how to enter and secure an Xbox Wireless Controller modelled on Wolverine’s sweet can are yet to be fully detailed, but you’ll apparently need to be keeping an eye on the @Microsoft Instagram account and #MicrosoftCheekySweepstakes to stand a chance at owning this affront to all sensibilities.

You’ll no doubt be able to find all of the usual info, terms and conditions and anything else at the official Xbox Wire blog, but for now we just have this teaser post complete with the reveal of a whole billboard advertising the Wolverine controller erected in Alberta, Canada.

And in case you missed Deadpool’s caked-up moment in the Xbox Wireless Controller spotlight, it’s all to promote the upcoming launch of the new Deadpool & Wolverine film, which hits theatres next week on July 25th, and Xbox has gone ahead and crafted another of its super-limited console and controller dealios to give away to one lucky winner in a sweepstakes.

The console itself looks exciting enough for anyone with a strong enough passion for Deadpool to have it out on display, with a wrap themed on the antihero’s suit and a pair of katana strapped to its back, and of course it comes with that controller.

You can see the controller in more detail in the video below:

The post Of Course There’s Also A Wolverine Version Of The Xbox Arse Controller appeared first on Press Start.

More new Xbox Game Pass subscription tiers may be on the way, including a cloud-only tier and a much-request “family” pass, according to Windows Central’s Jez Corden.

Citing unnamed sources, Corden suggests that Microsoft is working on introducing a cloud-only version of Game Pass that would be cheaper than Game Pass Ultimate and allow players to access Xbox Cloud Streaming from relevant devices. Given the recent debut of its cloud gaming services on Amazon’s Fire TV devices, which significantly lowers the barrier to entry for those wanting to play on a telly, it would make sense that the company would look to offer a cheaper cloud-only subscription to match.

Interestingly, Corden also claims that users on this tier would be able to purchase games outright and play them via the cloud – a feature that is poised to launch later this year – perhaps the two will coincide.

So, what's next for Xbox Game Pass?

After making fundamental changes to the service, @JezCorden offers some insights on what Microsoft is exploring next.

READ: https://t.co/xY5QM22DvR#Xbox #XboxGamePass

— Windows Central (@WindowsCentral) July 22, 2024

Finally, the report on Windows Central points to (admittedly tenuous) rumours that the company is still considering a “Family” style plan for Game Pass. This is something that Xbox has looked into before, running some early tests in years past where users in a very select few regions could sign up a Game Pass Ultimate plan for up to five users for just $24.99 USD. Given the cost increases since, it’s safe to say a newly-introduced family plan wouldn’t be quite that cheap, but it would certainly be a very welcome move for multi-user households and those hoping to divvy up the costs of a subscription.

It remains to be seen what portion of these reported changes to the Game Pass service winds up coming to fruition, if any, but it’s clear that Microsoft is continuing to experiment with and reshape its offering to attempt to get as many eyeballs and hands on Game Pass as it can while it struggles to add new players to its traditional console user base.

The post Xbox Is Reportedly Considering More New Game Pass Tiers Including Cloud-Only appeared first on Press Start.

Following Microsoft’s much-derided recent decision to once again revisit its Xbox/Game Pass subscription model and introduce a new mid-tier membership option while scrapping Game Pass for Console and hiking the price of Game Pass Ultimate to accommodate the addition of day one Call of Duty releases, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has once again jumped back into the conversation with a big ol’ “We told you so!”

The agency, which is still in the midst of appealing the court’s decision last year to allow Microsoft’s $69 billion USD acquisition of Activision Blizzard, wrote in a letter to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, that these changes to Xbox Game Pass represent product degradation and are “exactly the sort of consumer harm” that it had warned about in its case against the merger.

“Product degradation—removing the most valuable games from Microsoft’s new service—combined with price increases for existing users, is exactly the sort of consumer harm from the merger the FTC has alleged,” the letter reads.

“Microsoft’s price increases and product degradation—combined with Microsoft’s reduced investments in output and product quality via employee layoffs, are the hallmarks of a firm exercising market power post-merger.”

“Importantly, Microsoft’s actions are inconsistent with Microsoft’s representations below,” it goes on to add. “Microsoft promised that ‘the acquisition would benefit consumers by making [CoD] available on Microsoft’s Game Pass on the day it is released on console (with no price increase for the service based on the acquisition).’”

the FTC is calling Microsoft's new Xbox Game Pass Standard tier a "degraded product" in a filing with the US Court of Appeals for the 9th circuit. The FTC claims Microsoft is "exercising market power post-merger" of Activision Blizzard pic.twitter.com/Q5tYMAKoN2

— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) July 18, 2024

In a statement, shared here by Verge’s Tom Warren, Microsoft has hit back at the FTC’s comments, saying that it’s wrong to call Game Pass Standard a “degraded” version of the now-discontinued Game Pass for Console subscription. The company argues that despite the lack of day one releases, having multiplayer rolled into the Standard tier still represents a saving and better overall value compared to subscribing to both Game Pass for Console and Game Pass Core/Xbox Live Gold – though I’m not convinced anyone was doing that.

Microsoft also argues that the FTC is only now focusing on subscription, and that its original case was based around the idea that the company would withhold Call of Duty from its competitors. It takes some time out for a bit of thinly-veiled shade as well, saying that “Sony’s subscription service continues to thrive, even as they put few new games into their subscription day-and-date, unlike Microsoft.”

Microsoft has responded to the FTC’s filing about Xbox Game Pass price increases. It calls the FTC’s letter a “misleading, extra-record account of the facts” and says the FTC is wrong to call Game Pass Standard a “degraded” version because it includes multiplayer https://t.co/ocS9yfwSix pic.twitter.com/QXUoViUpoL

— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) July 19, 2024

The post The FTC Has Hit Out At Microsoft Over Xbox Game Pass Price Hikes appeared first on Press Start.

Amazon Prime Day has kicked off once again, with big discounts across just about every category imaginable. Naturally, that includes games, gaming tech, collectibles and a heap more, so we’ve begun scouring the store for anything particularly juicy to bring it to you.

One of the more enticing deals is a pair of discounts on the Fire TV Stick 4K and Fire TV Stick 4K Max, both of which recently gained access to Xbox Game Pass via cloud streaming and both of which are half price in the Prime Day sales.

Given that one month of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate now costs $22.95 after the recent price increase, getting it along with a Fire Stick 4K for $39 (or the Max version with WiFi 6E, faster performance and 16GB storage for $59) is an absolute steal.

This deal is exclusive to Amazon Prime Customers: If you haven’t been a Prime member before, you can get a 30 day trial right now which would take you through to the end of the Prime Day 2023 event. 

• Amazon Prime membership – $9.99 per month (30 day trial)

Amazon is also giving new members a bonus $10 off their next purchase. Find out more here.

You can grab either of them from the links below:

Fire Stick 4K and Fire Stick 4K Max With 1 Month Bonus Game Pass Ultimate

• Fire TV Stick 4K with BONUS 1 month subscription to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate – $39
• Fire TV Stick 4K Max with BONUS 1 month subscription to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate – $59

Both the Fire TV Stick 4K and the Fire TV Stick 4K Max now have access to the Xbox app, allowing Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members in over 25 supported regions to access the library of available games from just about any TV or monitor.

The app can be downloaded now and will work a number of different Bluetooth-enabled wireless controllers aside from an official Xbox Wireless Controller, including the PS5’s DualSense or the PS4’s DualShock 4. For our money, we’d go the more powerful Fire TV Stick 4K Max which also has better networking and should mean a smoother cloud gaming experience, but either of the current Fire TV Stick 4K devices will work.

WE LOVE BRINGING YOU THE BEST GAMING AND TECH BARGAINS. WE MAY GET A SMALL PERCENTAGE OF THE SALE THROUGH AFFILIATE PARTNERSHIPS.

The post The Fire Stick TV 4K & 4K Max Are Half Price With Free Xbox Game Pass For Prime Day appeared first on Press Start.

It’s become a bit of a joke by this point, the whole Xbox releasing dozens of new special edition controllers before it releases a new game thing, but it seems that whoever’s in charge of designing these bits of kit at least knows a golden opportunity when they sit on it.

To promote the upcoming launch of the new Deadpool & Wolverine film, which hits theatres next week on July 25th, Xbox has crafted another of its super-limited console and controller dealios to give away to one lucky winner in a sweepstakes. The console itself looks exciting enough for anyone with a strong enough passion for Deadpool to have it out on display, with a wrap themed on the antihero’s suit and a pair of katana strapped to its back, but it’s the controller that’s really caught folks attention.

In an effort that would make Sir Mix-A-Lot blush, this one-of-a-king Xbox Wireless Controller is putting its best asset… behind. Baby might not have back buttons, but it’s certainly got back. If an Xbox Wireless Controller wore jeans, how would it get all of that in them?

It’s got a big butt, is where I’m going with this.

The appropriately-named Cheeky Controller (I would’ve called it the Bumtroller but that’s just me) along with the limited edition Deadpool & Wolverine Xbox Series X can be won in the usual fashion, by following Xbox on social media and reposting this post. Aussie fans are eligible to enter, although the competition is restricted to folks 18 and older.

You can find all of the usual info, terms and conditions and anything else at the official Xbox Wire post here, and see the controller in more detail in the video below:

The post Xbox’s Latest Limited Edition Controller Is Truly Caked Up appeared first on Press Start.

Remember the Xbox 360? Good time, that. I’m reminded of some of my favourite titles like Viva Pinata, Lost Odyssey and Gears of War 2 whenever I catch a glimpse of the iconic “Blades” that made the console’s early system UI so memorable (and usable!).

Now, with the closure of the Xbox 360’s digital store looming on July 29th, Xbox has brought back the Blades one last time with a new dynamic background for the Xbox Series X|S consoles’ main menu. It’s got that familiar green-and-grey look with the curved tabs peeking out at the sides, suggesting more fun just a slide-transition away, although the background’s “dynamic” nature sadly doesn’t take these into account and simply offers up some faint and mildly-animated circles to embellish the vacant middle lot.

Still, it’s a bit of free nostalgia for those that want it. More importantly, perhaps, it coincides with a final run of discounted digital Xbox 360 games for fans to snap up before the ability to purchase them is taken away entirely. You can find the full list of those right here.

Takes you back, doesn’t it?

Enjoy some sweet nostalgia with the new Xbox 360 Blades dynamic background, available today. pic.twitter.com/AYElkktM9K

— Xbox (@Xbox) July 16, 2024

To get the Xbox 360 Blades background, follow these simple steps:

• Press the Xbox button on your controller to open the guide.
• Navigate to Profile & system > Settings > General > Personalization > My background > Dynamic backgrounds.
• Choose Xbox 360 Blades under Featured or Xbox dynamic backgrounds
• Select the background art you want using the A button.

The post You Can Get The Xbox 360’s Iconic Blades As A Dynamic Background On Series X|S appeared first on Press Start.

Xbox has now revealed the second batch of games headed to Game Pass/Game Pass Ultimate subscribers for the month of July 2024, and it’s one of the smallest and least surprising updates we’ve had – though that’s far from a bad thing. Although it’s not new information, the three new games in the line-up are all day one launches of titles that are unique and compelling in their own way and emblematic of the kinds of experiences that thrive on Game Pass.

Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn is a new action RPG from New Zealand’s own A44 Games, Dungeons of Hinterberg splices Zelda with Persona and the Austrian Alps, and James wrote that Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess “succesfully brings together elements of the tried-and-true strategy and action genres to offer up something truly unique,” in his review.

Take a look at everything coming and going (please play Venba and A Short Hike while you can!) this month:

XBOX GAME PASS JULY 2024

Journey to the Savage Planet (Cloud, Console, and PC) – Available Now
Making a return to the Game Pass library! As an employee of Kindred Aerospace, the 4th best interstellar exploration company, explorers are dropped onto an uncharted, far-off rock filled with danger, mystery and many smelly alien creatures. You’ll have to explore, fight, jump, scavenge, craft and explode your way across an uncharted world to determine if this strange planet is fit for human habitation.

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 (Cloud, Console, and PC) – Available Now
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 lets you duke it out with the biggest and best fighting character roster yet! Choose your favorite brawlers, master their unique move sets, and use all-new powerful Supers to land the finishing blow with friends or across a unique, roguelike player campaign!

Cricket 24 (Cloud, Console, and PC) – Available Now
Cricket 24 is the culmination of a decade of Cricket video game development and includes teams from every corner of the globe. Players will be able to take on major cricket nations including Australia and England in the official courses at Ashes, West Indies, New Zealand, Ireland and more, plus for the first time ever, professional Indian T20 teams, all set in over 50 detailed official stadiums.

The Case of the Golden Idol (Cloud, Console, and PC) – Available Now
Mayhem, magic, and murder most foul! Examine clues and use your powers of deduction to solve the twisted mystery of a family’s cursed inheritance and a series of grisly deaths in this point-and-click detective adventure game.

Neon White (Cloud, Console, and PC) – Available Now
A lightning fast first-person action game about exterminating demons in Heaven. You are White, an assassin handpicked from Hell to compete with other demon slayers for a chance to live permanently in Heaven. The other assassins seem familiar, though… did you know them in a past life?

Tchia (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S) – Available Now
Climb, glide, swim, and sail your boat around a beautiful archipelago as you explore a physics-driven sandbox. The Xbox version includes the game’s latest update which includes eight new soul melodies, new outfits, and additional perks for wearing matching cosmetic items.

Magical Delicacy (Cloud, Console, and PC) – Available Now
A wholesome pixel art platformer. Cook magical delicacies from a vast collection of ingredients in your own shop. Explore an unfamiliar town and deliver tasty treats to the townsfolk. Learn new ways to traverse, discover secrets, and experience a unique witchy world.

Flock (Cloud, Console, and PC) – Available Now
Flock is a multiplayer co-op game about the joy of flight and collecting adorable flying creatures with your friends. Soar through beautiful landscapes, seeking out rare and elusive creatures to add to your flock.

Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S) – July 18
Kill all gods in the upcoming action-RPG from the developers of Ashen! Step into the boots of Nor Vanek, an elite member of the Coalition army, joined by Enki, a fox-like companion, in their quest for vengeance against the Gods. Weave in melee, gunpowder, and magic in rhythmic battles where combos chain together to create a deadly dance.

Dungeons of Hinterberg (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S) – July 18
Welcome to Hinterberg, a new tourist hotspot in the idyllic Austrian Alps! There are plenty of dungeons to find and adventures to be had in Hinterberg – will you be sent packing on your first day, or remain to become a Master Slayer? Master magic, solve puzzles, slay monsters; all this and more await you in Hinterberg!

Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess (Cloud, Console, and PC) – July 19
A unique Japanese-inspired, single player Kagura Action Strategy game. The game takes place on a mountain covered by defilement. During the day, purify the villages and prepare yourself for sundown. During the night, protect the Maiden against the hordes of the Seethe. Repeat the day and night cycle until you cleanse the mountain of defilement and return peace to the land.

Leaving Game Pass On July 31

• A Short Hike (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Train Sim World 4 (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Venba (Cloud, Console, and PC)

The post The Next Batch Of Xbox Game Pass Games For July Has Been Revealed appeared first on Press Start.

Xbox Game Pass is about to undergo even more changes to its subscription models and prices, only a year or so after Microsoft dropped Xbox Live Gold and introduced the Game Pass Core tier, and just weeks after confirming that the service would be getting a massive shot in the arm with the next Call of Duty title launching into the service on day one.

Now, the company is axing the Game Pass for Console tier as of today, and rolling out a new Xbox Game Pass “Standard” soon which includes back catalogue titles and online multiplayer but doesn’t cover day one releases like the current Console/PC and Ultimate tiers do. On top of this, a number of tiers are getting price increases.

The reporting on changes first came from Windows Central and has been since been verified by Microsoft, with support pages now reflecting the new pricing structure for each region. Here’s what’s changing as of today, July 10th:

• Xbox Game Pass for Console is being removed. Existing users still subscribed will get to keep their subscription but no new sign-ups will happen.
• Instead, the mid-range option will now be Xbox Game Pass Standard which includes “back catalogue” Game Pass content with no Day One releases, and no Xbox Cloud Gaming, but does include Xbox Live multiplayer. It’ll cost $14.99 USD per month (Aussie pricing TBD) and be introduced “in the coming months.”
• Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is getting a price increase to $22.95 per month, up from $18.95.
• PC Game Pass is increasing to $13.95 per month, up from $10.95
• Xbox Game Pass Core is getting an annual price increase to $89.95 per year, up from $79.95.
• It will no longer be possible to stack Game Pass subscriptions for longer than 13 months. If you currently have more time stacked it will remain that way.

While the price increases will occur for new subscriptions starting today, existing members will see their rates update on September 12th provided their membership is still current.

We’ll continue to update this story as we hear more, but one quick and easy recommendation for current Game Pass enjoyers is to take advantage of the current pricing and stack up time while you can. You can get pre-paid cards for Game Pass Ultimate from Amazon with instant digital delivery below:

• Xbox Game Pass Ultimate 1 Month Subscription – $18.95 (will soon be $22.95)
• Xbox Game Pass Ultimate 3 Month Subscription – $56.95
• Xbox Game Pass Core 12 Month – $79.95 (will soon be $89.95)

The post Xbox Game Pass Is Getting Price Increases Along With A New “Standard” Tier appeared first on Press Start.

After announcing the feature late last month, Xbox has launched its app for Amazon’s range of Fire TV sticks, enabling an incredibly affordable entry point to Xbox Cloud Gaming on any HDMI-capable device for Game Pass Ultimate subscribers.

Both the Fire TV Stick 4K and the Fire TV Stick 4K Max have access to the Xbox app , allowing Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members in over 25 supported regions to access the library of available games from just about any TV or monitor. It is, essentially, what Xbox’s scrapped “Keystone” streaming device (early concept images of which just started circulating online) would have done only it’s ready for a device that’s affordable and that millions of people already have.

The app can be downloaded now and will work a number of different Bluetooth-enabled wireless controllers aside from an official Xbox Wireless Controller, including the PS5’s DualSense or the PS4’s DualShock 4. It’s clear that Xbox is intent on breaking down as many barriers as possible to get Game Pass and cloud gaming onto every screen imaginable, and this is definitely looking like the most attainable version of that yet.

Here’s everything you’ll need to get going and instructions on how to get started:

How To Get Xbox Cloud Gaming/Game Pass On Amazon Fire TV Devices

To start playing the huge library of Xbox games available on the Xbox app for select Amazon Fire TV devices, you’ll need the following:

A compatible Amazon Fire TV device:

• Fire TV Stick 4K (available here for $79)
• or the Fire TV Stick 4K Max (available here for $119)

A compatible, Bluetooth-enabled wireless controller:

• Xbox Wireless Controller (available here from $75)
• Xbox Adaptive Controller (available here for $129.99)
• PS5 DualSense Wireless Controller (available here from $89)
• PS4 DualShock 4 Wireless Controller (available here from $72)

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Subscription (available here for $18.95)

Once you’ve got these, simply do the following:

• Set up the Fire TV device (if not already)
• Install and launch the Xbox app from your Fire TV
• Sign in with your Microsoft account to play (or create one if you haven’t) and ensure you’ve subscribed/redeemed a subscription to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate
• Connect a compatible wireless controller, including but not limited to Xbox Wireless Controller, Xbox Adaptive Controller, PlayStation DualSense, or DualShock 4 controller
• Get playing!

The post Xbox Cloud Gaming Is Now Available On Amazon Fire TV Sticks appeared first on Press Start.

Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy is reportedly the next game in Activision Blizzard’s library to come to Xbox Game Pass after the debut of Diablo IV back in March, and could also be followed by Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 and the Spyro Reignited Trilogy.

That’s according to leaker “eXtas1s” on eXputer, whose Game Pass catalogue leaks in the past have proven to be accurate. They say that Crash is set to appear in August’s line-up, while the timing of the other two games is less certain.

While Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is officially confirmed to be coming to Game Pass when it releases later in the year, eXtas1s is also unclear on legacy CoD titles appearing along with this reported next batch of ABK games.

“The first Activision games will arrive on Game Pass in August,” their note reads.

“Since the closing of the ABK purchase in October 2023, we have only received Diablo IV on Game Pass and confirmation of Black Ops 6 arriving Day 1 on Game Pass in October 2024.

“According to our sources and certain graphic evidence, I have been able to find out the arrival window to Game Pass for what appears to be the first (or one of the first) Activision games coming to Game Pass. The name is Crash N’Sane Trilogy, and it will land on Game Pass sometime in August (I do not know if it can be played through xCloud).

“Logically, I’m also looking forward to the arrival of Tony Hawk 1+2 and Spyro Reignited Trilogy, which I know are coming very soon but I cannot guarantee their arrival to the service in the same month. Regarding the arrival of some Call Of Duty games, I currently have no information about whether they will arrive in August, or whether we’d have to wait even longer.”

Xbox just revealed the first batch of games coming to Game Pass for the month of July, which includes a couple of new day one releases.

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Update 10:49: Microsoft has confirmed that Xbox Live services and sign-in should now be up and running as usual, following an outage that lasted more than six hours. At the time of writing, the Xbox status page still shows a major outage in progress, so some things may still be wonky, but it seems that for the most part everything is back to normal!

Users should no longer be encountering issues signing in to Xbox Live and services. Thank you for your patience, game on! https://t.co/jw7EOmyyoL

— Xbox Support (@XboxSupport) July 3, 2024

You’re not alone if you’ve tried to log onto your Xbox console, Xbox Cloud Gaming or the Xbox App for PC and been met with errors and blank pages. The service is currently suffering a major outage and Microsoft is continuing to investigate.

According to Down Detector and Xbox’s own status page, the issues have been going since about 4AM and the most recent update from Microsoft simply states that a fix is “taking longer than expected.”

The issue looks to be with Xbox’s user sign-in service, which is naturally critical to performing most functions. The status page message reads, “You may not be able to sign-in to your Xbox profile, may be disconnected while signed in, or have other related problems. Features that require sign-in like most games, apps and social activity won’t be available.”

We are aware that some users have been disconnected from Xbox Live. We're investigating! Please follow here and on our status page for updates. https://t.co/kQKp1MgssY

— Xbox Support (@XboxSupport) July 2, 2024

We’ll endeavour to give you an update when things return to normal.

The post [UPDATED] Xbox Live Is Currently Down appeared first on Press Start.

Xbox has now revealed the first bundle of games headed to Game Pass/Game Pass Ultimate subscribers for the start of July 2024, and it’s another somewhat slim start to the month, but definitely an improvement over June’s opener. Neon White and The Case of the Golden Idol are great gets though, and the day one launches of both Magical Delicacy and Flock should prove good news to some, especially the latter which proved to be “a shear joy” in our early hands-on preview.

Notably, there are some absolute bangers leaving the service on the 15th, so make sure you get around those while you can.

Take a look at everything coming and going so far this month:

XBOX GAME PASS JULY 2024

Journey to the Savage Planet (Cloud, Console, and PC) – July 3
Making a return to the Game Pass library! As an employee of Kindred Aerospace, the 4th best interstellar exploration company, explorers are dropped onto an uncharted, far-off rock filled with danger, mystery and many smelly alien creatures. You’ll have to explore, fight, jump, scavenge, craft and explode your way across an uncharted world to determine if this strange planet is fit for human habitation.

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 (Cloud, Console, and PC) – July 3
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 lets you duke it out with the biggest and best fighting character roster yet! Choose your favorite brawlers, master their unique move sets, and use all-new powerful Supers to land the finishing blow with friends or across a unique, roguelike player campaign!

Cricket 24 (Cloud, Console, and PC) – July 9
Cricket 24 is the culmination of a decade of Cricket video game development and includes teams from every corner of the globe. Players will be able to take on major cricket nations including Australia and England in the official courses at Ashes, West Indies, New Zealand, Ireland and more, plus for the first time ever, professional Indian T20 teams, all set in over 50 detailed official stadiums.

The Case of the Golden Idol (Cloud, Console, and PC) – July 9
Mayhem, magic, and murder most foul! Examine clues and use your powers of deduction to solve the twisted mystery of a family’s cursed inheritance and a series of grisly deaths in this point-and-click detective adventure game.

Neon White (Cloud, Console, and PC) – July 11
A lightning fast first-person action game about exterminating demons in Heaven. You are White, an assassin handpicked from Hell to compete with other demon slayers for a chance to live permanently in Heaven. The other assassins seem familiar, though… did you know them in a past life?

Tchia (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S) – July 11
Climb, glide, swim, and sail your boat around a beautiful archipelago as you explore a physics-driven sandbox. The Xbox version includes the game’s latest update which includes eight new soul melodies, new outfits, and additional perks for wearing matching cosmetic items.

Magical Delicacy (Cloud, Console, and PC) – July 16
A wholesome pixel art platformer. Cook magical delicacies from a vast collection of ingredients in your own shop. Explore an unfamiliar town and deliver tasty treats to the townsfolk. Learn new ways to traverse, discover secrets, and experience a unique witchy world.

Flock (Cloud, Console, and PC) – July 16
Flock is a multiplayer co-op game about the joy of flight and collecting adorable flying creatures with your friends. Soar through beautiful landscapes, seeking out rare and elusive creatures to add to your flock.

Leaving Game Pass On July 15

• Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Figment 2: Creed Valley (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion (PC)
• TOEM (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• The Wandering Village (Cloud, Console, and PC)

The post The First Batch Of Xbox Game Pass Games For July Has Been Revealed appeared first on Press Start.

Xbox has just announced a brand-new way to access Xbox gaming without a console, and it’s also one of the simplest and most attainable solutions yet – Amazon’s range of Fire TV sticks.

Both the Fire TV Stick 4K and the Fire TV Stick 4K Max will get access to the Xbox app , allowing Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members in over 25 supported regions to access the library of available games from just about any TV or monitor. It is, essentially, what Xbox’s scrapped “Keystone” streaming device (early concept images of which just started circulating online) would have done only it’s ready for a device that’s affordable and that millions of people already have.

The app will be available for the two Fire TV sticks “soon,” and will work a number of different Bluetooth-enabled wireless controllers aside from an official Xbox Wireless Controller, including the PS5’s DualSense or the PS4’s DualShock 4. It’s clear that Xbox is intent on breaking down as many barriers as possible to get Game Pass and cloud gaming onto every screen imagineable, and this is definitely looking like the most attainable version of that yet.

Here’s everything you’ll need to get going and instructions on how to get started once the app is available:

How To Get Xbox Cloud Gaming/Game Pass On Amazon Fire TV Devices

To start playing the huge library of Xbox games available on the Xbox app for select Amazon Fire TV devices (once available), you’ll need the following:

A compatible Amazon Fire TV device:

• Fire TV Stick 4K (available here for $79)
• or the Fire TV Stick 4K Max (available here for $119)

A compatible, Bluetooth-enabled wireless controller:

• Xbox Wireless Controller (available here for $69)
• Xbox Adaptive Controller (available here for $129.99)
• PS5 DualSense Wireless Controller (available here for $79)
• PS4 DualShock 4 Wireless Controller (available here for $78)

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Subscription (available here for $18.95)

Once you’ve got these, simply do the following:

• Set up the Fire TV device (if not already)
• Install and launch the Xbox app from your Fire TV
• Sign in with your Microsoft account to play (or create one if you haven’t) and ensure you’ve subscribed/redeemed a subscription to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate
• Connect a compatible wireless controller, including but not limited to Xbox Wireless Controller, Xbox Adaptive Controller, PlayStation DualSense, or DualShock 4 controller
• Get playing!

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Xbox’s scrapped cloud streaming device, which would have allowed users to access Xbox Cloud Gaming/Game Pass via any display with a HDMI port, has resurfaced after a filed patent with early concept images was found and shared by Windows Central.

Known under the prototype name of “Keystone,” it was essentially a streaming box for Xbox games that would’ve made Game Pass accessible to players without the need for a console or PC (or compatible device like Samsung TVs and Meta Quest headsets). Phil Spencer confirmed that the company had ultimately shelved the idea after it realised a price point of around $99-129 USD wasn’t achievable.

Now thanks to the the patent, which was filed back in 2022, we can get a better idea of what the Keystone would’ve actually looked like. The sketches show something that essentially looks like someone sliced a bottom portion off of an Xbox Series X console and then skinned it to match the Series S. We even have a good indication that it would’ve come in the same white colour as the Series S thanks to Spencer’s shelf-loving leaks previously giving us a look at the unit in the real world.

Image: United States Patent and Trademark Office

We can see via the images that the Keystone would’ve featured a simple layout with the Xbox logo/power button and a USB-A port on the front, a power connector, HDMI port and ethernet jack on the back, and a wireless controller sync button on one side.

The patent doesn’t divulge any info around the device’s internal hardware, operating system or capabilities, but it’s easy to assume that it might have been a basic Android device configured to only run a custom Xbox interface giving access to cloud gaming services, similar to something like the PlayStation Portal.

The company has stated multiple times that its vision is to turn every screen into an Xbox, so it’s doubtful this is the last we’ll see of this idea.

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In the still-developing space of live games and digital storefronts, it definitely feels like we’re starting to see more and more games being removed from sale for one reason or another.

For some, like the impending closure of the Xbox 360 digital store, it’s a matter of balancing upkeep with return on older platforms. For others, like the news that Forza Horizon 4 is soon to be removed from the Microsoft Store and Steam, it’s a matter of licensing and agreements and can affect games that could very much still be considered “current.”

After six years, Playground Games has announced that Forza Horizon 4 is being delisted and removed from sale on Xbox and PC, as well as removed from the Xbox Game Pass library. This means it will no longer be possible to purchase the game, though anyone who already owns it or purchases it before the removal date of December 15th, 2024, will still be able to access the game from their library.

In the post announcing this new, Playground also detailed a number of changes happening ahead of the sunsetting of FH4, including changes to the game’s Festival Playlists. The game’s DLC is being removed right now, leaving the Standard, Deluxe, and Ultimate versions of Forza Horizon 4 available to purchase ahead of the delisting, and various discounts will be made available between now and then.

The studio also notes that anyone who played the game via Xbox Game Pass, but separately purchased DLC, will receive a token to redeem the full game to their account before its removal.

Of course, Forza Horizon fans will be used to this song and dance by now, with previous games all eventually reaching “End of life” status thanks to things like music and car licensing. Forza Horizon 4’s six years on digital shelves actually eclipses the mere four years that the third game enjoyed, so that’s something, I suppose.

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Xbox, along with one of its high-profiled owned studios, Blizzard, has confirmed it’ll be in attendance at Gamescom 2024, following the news that neither Nintendo or PlayStation will be at the show.

The company revealed the news via a post on X (formerly Twitter), confirming that it’ll be bringing its “biggest booth yet” to this year’s event, which runs from August 21st to August 25th.

Attendees can expect to see Age of Mythology: Retold, Avowed, Ara: History Untold, Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred, Diablo Immortal, The Elder Scrolls Online, Fallout 76, Towerborne and World of Warcraft: The War Within, though more titles are reportedly to come.

But you want to know about the games, huh?

Just a few you can expect to see: Age of Mythology: Retold, Avowed, Ara: History Untold, Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred, Diablo Immortal, The Elder Scrolls Online, Fallout 76, Towerborne & World of Warcraft: The War Within. More to come!

— Xbox (@Xbox) June 20, 2024

Blizzard Entertainment says it will have “a robust footprint” alongside other Xbox studios in the Xbox booth.

“We are incredibly excited to bring Warcraft, Diablo, and Overwatch to our European community at gamescom,” said Johanna Faries, President of Blizzard Entertainment, in a statement.

“It’s wonderful to be able to travel to Cologne alongside some of our talented developers so that we can gather with players and celebrate the special connections that continue to be forged within our universes together.”

German website “Games Wirtschaft” reported a statement recently from Sony Interactive Entertainment confirming that it has no plans to exhibit at this year’s event, effectively ruling PlayStation out of the picture unless it decides to take part in some other way (a sponsorship or some other marketing activity around the event). The company simply said, “Sony Interactive currently has no plans to exhibit at Gamescom 2024.”

Nintendo had also already confirmed it won’t be at the event for 2024, despite having just shown off a pretty exciting slate of games for the coming months. Xbox hasn’t made any confirmations yet, but the company usually has a pretty big presence at Gamescom so it would make sense for that to continue.

Last year’s Opening Night Live showcase wasn’t a huge show for brand-new-announcements but did bring some pretty exciting looks at then-upcoming titles like Starfield, Alan Wake 2, Assassin’s Creed Mirage, Tekken 8 and Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty to name a few.

The post Xbox And Blizzard Have Confirmed Their Gamescom 2024 Attendance appeared first on Press Start.

Xbox has revealed the rest of the games coming to Game Pass for the month of June, adding half a dozen new titles for the back half of the month. The new additions include the excellent SteamWorld Dig and its sequel, as well as cosy post-apocalyptic town sim, My Time at Sandrock, EA Sports FC 24, Keplerth and Robin Hood – Sherwood Builders.

Take a look at everything already added this month, coming soon, and leaving at the end of June:

XBOX GAME PASS JUNE 2024

Octopath Traveler (Cloud, Console, and PC) – Available Now
Making a return to the Game Pass library today! Embark on an epic journey across the vast and wondrous world of Orsterra and discover the captivating stories of each of the eight travelers. Use each character’s distinctive abilities in and out of battle and make decisions to shape your path.

Octopath Traveler II (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S) – Available Now
In this critically acclaimed second title in the Octopath Traveler series, eight new travelers venture forth into an exciting new era in the land of Solistia. Step into their shoes and explore the land as you see fit, using their unique talents to aid you along your journey in this role-playing adventure.

Depersonalization (PC) – Available Now
A tabletop role-playing game inspired by Call of Cthulhu with rich branching narratives. Depersonalization consists of multiple story modes, each of which has multiple endings and branching routes, striving to build a diverse, themed world.

Isonzo (Cloud, Console, and PC) – Available Now
Ferocious Alpine warfare will test your tactical skills in this authentic WWI first-person shooter. Fight high-altitude battles among the scenic peaks, rugged valleys and idyllic towns of Northern Italy. The Great War on the Italian Front is brought to life and elevated to unexpected heights!

The Callisto Protocol (Cloud, Console, and PC) – Available Now
Survive to escape the horrors of Callisto. Use a unique blend of shooting and brutal close-quarters melee combat to fight your way through the maximum-security Black Iron Prison. Battle evolving inhuman creatures, scavenge for new weapons and uncover the conspiracy lurking on Jupiter’s Dead Moon.

Still Wakes the Deep (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S) – Available Now
From the award-winning developers at The Chinese Room comes a terrifying tale of isolation. You are trapped on an oil rig in the North Sea, running from an unknowable horror that has come aboard. With no escape and no way to fight back, all you can do is survive.

My Time at Sandrock (Cloud, Console, and PC) – June 19th
Just like My Time at Portia, My Time at Sandrock takes place in a wholesome post-apocalyptic world 300 years after the Day of Calamity destroyed most modern technologies. Gather resources to build machines, befriend locals, and defend Sandrock from monsters — all while saving the town from economic ruin!

Keplerth (PC) – June 20th
Try to survive on a hostile alien planet in this 2D sandbox RPG, where you can choose to live alone or fight side-by-side with your friends in the online multiplayer mode. Survive, build, farm, fight, and explore your way to victory in this open-world adventure!

EA Sports FC 24 (Cloud, Console, and PC) EA Play – June 25th
Welcome to the Club – EA Sports FC 24 is coming to PC Game Pass and Ultimate via EA Play on June 25, just in time for UEFA EURO 2024. Lead your nation against the best and challenge for international glory as champions from across The World’s Game go head-to-head to become Champions of Europe.

SteamWorld Dig (Cloud and Console) – June 26th
A platform mining adventure with strong Metroidvanian influences. Take the role of Rusty, a lone mining steambot, as he arrives at an old mining town in great need. Dig your way through the old earth, gaining riches while uncovering the ancient threat that lurks below…

SteamWorld Dig 2 (Console and PC) – June 26th
SteamWorld Dig 2 is making a return to the Game Pass library, taking you on a platform mining adventure forged in Metroidvania flames. When an old trading town is struck by mysterious earthquakes, it’s up to a lone steambot and her unlikely companion to uncover what trembling terrors lie beneath.

Robin Hood – Sherwood Builders (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S) – June 27th
Join Robin Hood and his unwavering band of outlaws in 12th-century England on their mission for a free Nottingham, as you travel across various regions and build up a secret hideout village and help the denizens of the surrounding lands. Complete quests, construct various builds, craft a broad range of items, and freely explore locations inspired by both myth and history in this open-world RPG with base-building features.

Leaving Game Pass On June 30

• FIFA 22 (Console and PC)
• F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Stranded Deep (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Sword and Fairy Together Forever (Cloud, Console, and PC)

The post The Next Batch Of Xbox Game Pass Games For June Has Been Revealed appeared first on Press Start.

You know the drill. There was an Xbox Showcase tonight (or this morning) (or even yesterday), and a whole bunch of information was revealed about Xbox’s first-party offerings.

While Starfield wasn’t my favourite game, the promises made by this upcoming expansion, titled Shattered Space, certainly position it to earn some more favour with myself.

The expansion will include a new quest line centred around House Va’ruun, the interstellar government formed around the worship of the Great Serpent.

It will also include new weapons, new planets to explore, new spacesuits and new gear.

You can check out the new trailer for Starfield: Shattered Space below:

Despite releasing this year, the Shattered Space expansion does not have a release date. You can play Starfield right now, however, either by buying the game or playing it on Game Pass.

The post Starfield’s Shattered Space Expansion Will Explore The Game’s Most Interesting Faction appeared first on Press Start.

This morning saw the annual Xbox Games Showcase return, full of new game announcements, fresh trailers and updates for existing or already-announced titles and an exciting surprise or two.

One huge point of excitement was the “one more thing” moment of the showcase, which saw the reveal of a brand-new Gears of War game, titled Gears of War: E-Day. No release window has been announced just yet, though.

As the name might imply, the game will be a prequel story starring younger versions of the iconic Marcus Fenix and Dom Santiago, and depicting the very beginning of the Locust invasion on “Emergence Day.”

Developer The Coalition says it’s “working to recreate and improve the series’ trademark third-person action, charging between cover in life-or death situations, all set within an explosive campaign that combines satisfying gameplay and emotive, character-led storytelling,” and that it’s aiming to present a classic Gears of War game via truly next-gen tech.

“It’s going to feel like a new Gears game, because that’s what it is,” says Creative Director Matt Searcy. “It’s us revisiting the tone and the feeling of what makes Gears great, but we’re tapping into new techniques, new processes, and new technology that’s going to make the gameplay feel better than ever. It’s going to be awesome, a game that feels both truly new, and authentically Gears.”

Naturally, the game is going to be a visual showpiece for Xbox, with the small in-engine glimpses in the debut trailer already being very impressive.

“With the advancements in Unreal Engine 5, the leap in technical capabilities is tremendous,” explains Kate Rayner, Studio Technical Director at The Coalition. This includes over 100 times more environment and character details than Gears 5, hardware raytraced lighting, reflections and shadows, next generation destruction and gore, and cutting-edge animation technology, to name just a few of the countless improvements that will make Gears of War: E-Day an unrivalled visual experience.

You can see the debut trailer for Gears of War: E-Day below:

The post The Next Gears Of War Has Been Revealed And It’s A Prequel appeared first on Press Start.

Hot off the heels of a rather packed Xbox Showcase, Compulsion Games have revealed the first-ever gameplay of their next game, South of Midnight.

The team who brought us Contrast, and We Happy Few have gone to great lengths to give us something different to what they’ve ever done before.

South of Midnight is an action-adventure game that follows Hazel, who is pulled into a Southern Gothic world following a hurricane in her hometown of Prospero.

Here, she discovers that fantasy and reality are interwoven as ancient creatures from folklore emerge and make themselves known to Hazel. In the newest trailer, she speaks to a catfish before jumping into action-packed gameplay.

It’s not the strongest-looking action, but it does look unique enough for me to give it a look.

You can check out the trailer for it here:

South of Midnight is out on Xbox Series X|S and PC in 2025. It’s also launching on Game Pass.

The post The First South Of Midnight Gameplay Trailer Has Been Revealed appeared first on Press Start.

This morning saw the annual Xbox Games Showcase return, full of new game announcements, fresh trailers and updates for existing or already-announced titles and an exciting surprise or two.

One small surprise, although something that had leaked earlier, was the reveal of an all-new, all-digital Xbox Series X console that comes in a slick, white colourway – along with new versions of the Xbox Series S and disc-based Xbox Series X, all launching later this year.

The digital Xbox Series X will be a 1TB version which looks pretty much the same as the current one, albeit in a Robot White colourway. There will also be a new “Galaxy Black Special Edition” disc-based Xbox Series X console with 2TB of storage and a very cool silver, grey, and green celestial effect with matching Xbox Wireless Controller. Lastly, there’ll be a new 1TB version of the Robot White Xbox Series S console.

Xbox also reiterated that it’s hard at work on the next generation of its hardware.

You can see the reveal video below:

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This morning saw the annual Xbox Games Showcase return, full of new game announcements, fresh trailers and updates for existing or already-announced titles and an exciting surprise or two.

One update and new look we were hoping for and expecting came for MachineGames’ very exciting, upcoming Indiana Jones first-person action adventure, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.

The new trailer gave us a look at new scenes from the game, with plenty of the video game’s Harrison Ford/Troy Baker combination Indy and that very distinct MachineGames flavour to boot, but unfortunately still hasn’t revealed a release date outside of a 2024 window (which is still exciting). Naturally, the game is coming to Game Pass on day one.

You can see the new trailer for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle below:

The post Here’s A New Look At Indiana Jones And The Great Circle appeared first on Press Start.

This morning saw the annual Xbox Games Showcase return, full of new game announcements, fresh trailers and updates for existing or already-announced titles and an exciting surprise or two.

One game we were hoping to see more from and did get a new look at is Playground Games’ new entry in the iconic Fable franchise, which came by way of a new trailer showing off some small glimpses of how the game should look and play.

Told by Humphry, Albion’s “greatest hero” and what seems like the protagonist’s mentor in-game, the trailer shows off that classic Fable conceit of making players feel like their very own hero, making choices that affect how the people see them and how their adventure progresses.

Sadly, we still don’t have a release date, but the trailer confirms the game is coming to Xbox Series X|S and PC in 2025, and of course will be a day one release on Game Pass.

Check out the trailer below:

The post Fable Is Coming Next Year And Here’s A Gorgeous New Trailer appeared first on Press Start.

This morning saw the annual Xbox Games Showcase return, full of new game announcements, fresh trailers and updates for existing or already-announced titles and an exciting surprise or two.

One pretty significant surprise was a big, first-ever look at gameplay of the new Perfect Dark game, which genuinely looks nothing like what I was expecting but very cool.

The trailer doesn’t waste time going right into a bunch of first-person gameplay footage with Joanna using all manner of weapons, gadgets and parkour skills to take on her mission. Despite taking place in a very sunny, urban environment there are also some glimpses at much darker moments elsewhere in the game.

There’s no release date yet, but of course the game is coming to Game Pass on day one.

Take a look at the trailer below:

The post Xbox Just Dropped A First Look At Perfect Dark Gameplay appeared first on Press Start.

This morning saw the annual Xbox Games Showcase return, full of new game announcements, fresh trailers and updates for existing or already-announced titles and an exciting surprise or two.

One very exciting update came for the recently-retitled Dragon Age: The Veilguard (formerly Dragon Age: Dreadwolf), with a flashy new trailer that sets the game’s tone and also revealed a release window of Spring 2024 – which is surprisingly soon for a game that’s been pretty quiet for some time.

The trailer also introduced the game’s new companions, which are:

• Harding: The Scout
• Neve: The Detective
• Emmrich: The Necromancer
• Taash: The Dragon Hunter
• Davrin: The Warden
• Bellara: The Veil Jumper
• Lucanis: The Mage Killer

Here’s what Bioware has to say about the game:

“Rally the Veilguard and defy the gods in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, an immersive single player RPG where you become the leader others believe in.

“When corrupt gods break free from centuries of darkness, the odds will be stacked against you. You can’t do this alone.

“Rally a team of seven companions, each with rich lives and deep backstories. These are characters to befriend, and even fall in love with. Among them, an assassin, a necromancer, and a detective will each bring their own expertise and unique abilities to the fight. You are never alone; decide who to take into battle and together face down demons, dragons and even ancient gods.”

A full gameplay reveal will be coming on June 12th, but for now you can check out the new trailer below:

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This morning saw the annual Xbox Games Showcase return, full of new game announcements, fresh trailers and updates for existing or already-announced titles and an exciting surprise or two.

One announcement that did leak early but was no less impactful for it is DOOM: The Dark Ages, a brand-new entry in the modern DOOM games that takes place in an ancient world of gods and castles and brimstone and things of that ilk.

The debut trailer at the Xbox Games Showcase revealed the game is coming to PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC in 2025, and is coming to Game Pass on day one, but aside from a few seconds of flashy gameplay we didn’t get a whole lot else in the announce.

The accompanying blog post does reveal more, so here’s what it says:

Vile forces push a kingdom to the brink. Fangs gnashing, their fury is emboldened by the flames of Hell’s own malevolence. No mortal blade cuts their masses down. No bulwark stays their advance. No army dares match them in the battlefield.

But you will. You are the super weapon primed to destroy evil.

For when Hell is at the gates, the DOOM Slayer answers.

Wage war as one man matched against Hell’s legions in a dark fantasy setting expanding the DOOM universe. Witness the origin of the Slayer’s rage and his rise from a kingdom’s last hope to Hell’s greatest fear in this pulse-pounding, cinematic prequel to DOOM (2016) and DOOM Eternal.

Go medieval on battalions of demons, made up of all-new threats as well as familiar foes reforged from DOOM’s classic bestiary. Bring their malicious forces to heel with heavy duty shooter combat in a heroic story of epic proportion, powered by the latest idTech engine.

Blast, bludgeon, bisect and break through the enemy ranks using the Slayer’s superhuman strength, lethal arsenal and unmet tenacity. Supplement your trusty Super Shotgun with The Dark Ages’ new weaponry, including the face-shattering Flail and revved-up, throwable Shield Saw.

Inspired by the original DOOM (1993), players overcome the odds in The Dark Ages in firmly grounded, heavy-hitting clashes featuring destructible demons, vicious melee strikes and more. With the right combination of ranged bombardment & melee aggression, anyone stepping into the Slayer’s boots will make Hell quiver in theirs.

DOOM: The Dark Ages’ cosmic-scale conflict calls for the heaviest ordnance possible, and the Slayer heeds. Enter the cockpit of your Atlan – a daunting skyscraper-sized mech capable of toppling Hell’s behemoths with titanic metal fists – and reclaim the skies aboard the Slayer’s Mecha Dragon, strapped to the jaws with jet engines and overwhelming firepower.

Take a look at the debut trailer below:

The post DOOM: The Dark Ages Has Been Revealed And It’s Coming Next Year appeared first on Press Start.

During the Summer Game Fest showcase earlier this week, Warner Bros. announced that Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions will be coming to most major platforms before the end of the year.

While it was announced a year ago, and playtests have since been and gone, the title has since been dated with a new official reveal trailer.

The footage showcases a brand new art style, different from last year’s Hogwarts Legacy, and will feature extensive character customisation and allow you to select from up to four positions to play on the field.

Of course, the game will also feature online competitive play as well.

The game will be released on September 3rd for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch, and PC.

You can check out the release date trailer below:

The post Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions Has A Release Date And New Trailer appeared first on Press Start.

Earlier in the week at an IGN Live event, Nightdive Studios, known for their stellar remasters of games yearned for in the past, revealed that they will be bringing back The Thing.

The game served as a sequel to the original film starring Kurt Russell, and sees players stepping into the frozen boots of Captain Blake, the leader of a team sent to investigate the events that transpired in the film.

When it was released all the way back in 2002, the game was unique in that it had a trust system in play. If you acted strange, your squadmates would distrust you and behave erratically. Alternatively, if you distance yourself from your squad too often, they, too, may become infected. The big kicker here is that testing kits are limited, so keeping an eye on your squad is important. It’s a unique system that’s never been in a game since.

The remaster is an upgraded version that will run at up to 4K resolution at framerates of up to 120FPS. Nightdive has also made improvements to the character models, textures and animations. You can expect improved lighting, too, to better hammer home that atmosphere that the original game was known for.

The Thing: Remastered will hit PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC later this year.

You can check out the official reveal trailer below:

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