Category: Xbox

My name is Eric Angelillo, I’m the Creative Director and Co-Art Director for Convergence: A League of Legends Story. I also co-founded Double Stallion games 10 years ago with a mission to create vibrant & transcendent experiences with players all around the world. I love making bold action games with vibrant stylized visuals inspired by the very best of animation and comics.

Convergence: A League of Legends Story, is our new, story-driven, single-player 2D action platformer featuring dynamic combat and unique exploration, and it gave us an incredible opportunity to use our strengths as a studio adapt a myriad of Zaun and Piltover Champions from the original League of Legends MOBA. With Ekko as our lead, it was difficult to narrow down the list of other Champs we wanted to include in the cast, but we settled on Warwick, Camille and of course, Jinx the Loose Cannon!

For Ekko, development really started with one key drawing I made of him grinding on a rail. I knew that a game about Ekko had to double down on not only his time rewind abilities and boy genius aspects, but also on his punk-inspired fashion sense. The concept in question had a strong graffiti aesthetic and pushed Ekko into a neon soaked post-punk skater vibe. This became the basis for which we built the whole game’s art direction.

We opted to stick close to Ekko’s classic design from League, but adapted his design shape language to include a lot of triangles and sharp angles. Astute observers will even notice that his silhouette is based on an hourglass shape. His shoes were slightly modified to allow for strong arches allowing him to grind. Mechanics-wise, we adapted Ekko’s entire kit of abilities and then some!

Building a single-player game free of PVP balancing allowed us to really leverage Ekko’s ability to rewind time, so this naturally became our core mechanic. But players will be thrilled to see his MOBA abilities – the Timewinder, Parallel Convergence, Phase Dive and Chronobreak – are also integral parts of the game. In addition to faithfully adapting these moves, we also expanded on them by making them useful outside of combat as well. The Timewinder can be used to power electrical sockets, Parallel Convergence can time-freeze collapsing platforms and Phase Dive can be used to teleport through walls!

A story about Zaun wouldn’t be the same without a visit to the Sump… and a visit to the Sump wouldn’t be complete without its resident Uncaged Wrath; Warwick. Warwick was one of the first Champions we explored through concept art as his biomechanical wolf profile is just so fun to draw. His sheer sprite size and complexity made him one of the most intensive characters to animate in the game, but we knew it would be worth the extra effort.

Moveset-wise; our animators referenced the look of his abilities like Jaws of the Beast and Primal Howl. We even adapted his leaping Ultimate; Infinite Duress, but instead of slashes, we had him grab Ekko and throw him against a wall! Of course, Ekko can just rewind it every time… provided he has enough Rewind Charges in his Zero Drive left.

Camille the Steel Shadow is an integral part of Convergence. She represents Piltover in the game, and acts as an unlikely ally to Ekko as they are both seeking to take down the malicious Chembaron family known as the Poingdestres. Although Camille eventually becomes an ally, things initially start on the wrong foot between her and Ekko… Fans will be thrilled to know they will have to face Camille in hand-to-hand combat.

Part of why we chose to adapt Camille is that her moveset from League of Legends had so much potential in a side-scrolling game. Camille’s signature hookshots are used in League to quickly move laterally, however, in an action-platformer like Convergence, we were able to use the hookshots to allow Camille to have incredible aerial abilities. As a result, her battle encounter requires Ekko to really dodge deftly, as Camille dominates the arena with both horizontal and vertical high mobility.

In addition to the speed and agility afforded by her hookshots, League players will notice we also adapted Camille’s Precision Protocol roundhouse kick. And of course, who could forget Camille’s Ultimate attack; The Hextech Ultimatum. While we had to adapt the Ultimatum’s barriers to function vertically, the essence of capturing her opponents in a Hextech matrix remains the same. For Camille’s art, we really pushed her key features; deadly, tall, bladed legs and refined Piltovan elegance. As previously mentioned, we used triangular shapes as a motif for our character designs, and this is especially evident with Camille’s sharp figure.

Jinx’s role in Convergence is unique in that she essentially plays a distraction role in Ekko’s quest to save Zaun. As an agent of chaos, she doesn’t help nor directly impede Ekko, but her manic hijinks force Ekko to have to stop her before he can continue on his adventure. Jinx has so many fans in the real world, so we felt that even within Runeterra, she would probably have a lot of fans as well. In Convergence, Ekko discovers there’s a new chempunk gang in town; the Inx. The Inx are like an unofficial fanclub for Jinx, only as Ekko finds out, Jinx isn’t too happy about the idea of a bunch of chempunks ripping off her style… As an agent of good, Ekko is forced to step in to stop Jinx from wreaking havoc on the Inx and in so doing blowing up Zaun and Piltover!

With all the bosses in Convergence, we put a lot of thought into making them distinctive, and part of that was focusing each one on either melee or bullet-based ranged attacks. Jinx naturally fell into the latter camp. All of her weapons from League make an appearance; Zapper, Chompers, Fishbones, Pow-pow and of course the Super Mega Death Rocket! We also added a few extra surprises like a full-screen missile shower! For Jinx’s character design, we based it on her Wild Rift design, but then added on our signature cell-shading and sharp lines.

While it wasn’t feasible to include all the Zaun champs, we did include easter eggs for each one of them. Players may even spot references to other Champions from outside Zaun as well. We’re incredibly proud of Convergence and can’t wait for players to experience it firsthand.

Convergence: A League Of Legends Story will be released on May 23, 2023. for Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One Game Pass members: Receive the Convergence Jinx emote in League of Legends. If you haven’t already, simply link your Riot Games account to your Game Pass subscription and play League of Legends by 11:59 PM PST on June 2nd to receive it.

CONVERGENCE: A League of Legends Story™ Deluxe Edition

Riot Forge

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

$39.99

Pre-order

Pre-order the Deluxe Edition of CONVERGENCE: A League of Legends Story™ to receive the Pre-Order Bonus Golden Ekko skin

The Deluxe Edition of CONVERGENCE: A League of Legends Story™ includes:

– Star Guardian Ekko Skin
– Ruined Ekko Skin
– CONVERGENCE Digital Comic and Art Book

Rewind the Past, Control the Future

Traverse the sprawling city of Zaun as Ekko, a young inventor with a device to rewind time. He and his friends must work together to keep their city safe, but as danger looms and secrets come to light, Ekko realizes he can’t trust anyone—not even himself.

Developed by Double Stallion Games, CONVERGENCE: A League Of Legends Story is a story-driven, single-player 2D action platformer featuring dynamic combat and unique exploration opportunities thanks to Ekko’s ability to travel through space and time. Rewind your actions to learn from your mistakes and outsmart each new enemy. Will it be enough to save Zaun’s future?

CONTROL TIME
Activate Ekko’s Zero Drive to turn back time. Then, use your knowledge of the future to adapt your approach to any challenge and get the jump on your enemies. Fluid, dynamic combat rewards precise timing and positioning.

DISCOVER ZAUN
Run, leap, and slide your way through the streets of Zaun. Meet champions, face down enemies, and locate never-before-seen sides of the Undercity.

BATTLE CHAMPIONS
Encounter League of Legends champions like you’ve never seen them before. Unlock new abilities and face rivals in a series of explosive battles to learn who’s with you, and who’s against you.

Seize every moment in CONVERGENCE: A League of Legends Story.

CONVERGENCE: A League of Legends Story™

Riot Forge

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

$29.99

Pre-order

Pre-order CONVERGENCE: A League of Legends Story™ to receive the Pre-Order Bonus Golden Ekko skin

Rewind the Past, Control the Future

Traverse the sprawling city of Zaun as Ekko, a young inventor with a device to rewind time. He and his friends must work together to keep their city safe, but as danger looms and secrets come to light, Ekko realizes he can’t trust anyone—not even himself.

Developed by Double Stallion Games, CONVERGENCE: A League Of Legends Story is a story-driven, single-player 2D action platformer featuring dynamic combat and unique exploration opportunities thanks to Ekko’s ability to travel through space and time. Rewind your actions to learn from your mistakes and outsmart each new enemy. Will it be enough to save Zaun’s future?

CONTROL TIME
Activate Ekko’s Zero Drive to turn back time. Then, use your knowledge of the future to adapt your approach to any challenge and get the jump on your enemies. Fluid, dynamic combat rewards precise timing and positioning.

DISCOVER ZAUN
Run, leap, and slide your way through the streets of Zaun. Meet champions, face down enemies, and locate never-before-seen sides of the Undercity.

BATTLE CHAMPIONS
Encounter League of Legends champions like you’ve never seen them before. Unlock new abilities and face rivals in a series of explosive battles to learn who’s with you, and who’s against you.

Seize every moment in CONVERGENCE: A League of Legends Story.

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‘Conceptual Opera’ After Us Breaks Game Design Rules By Introducing Emotions
Start A Riot With The Callisto Protocol’s New DLC

Hey, Xbox fans! The Callisto Protocol’s all-new Riot Mode is launching tomorrow, an exciting new player experience that’s all about defeating as many enemies as possible. In Riot Mode, you will take on wave after wave of enemies, while facing increasingly difficult challenges. To add to the fun, you can earn credits that you can use to buy upgrades and loot from crates scattered throughout the arena. I recently had a chat with Level Designer Kevin Jaszanovits and Senior Systems Engineer Philip Greene, some of the folks behind The Callisto Protocol’s all-new Riot Mode, to learn more about this exciting new mode.

Riot Mode brings a different flavor to The Callisto Protocol’s core elements. To achieve this, the developers had to break some rules from the main game and push their pre-existing designs in different directions.

“We wanted to make this mode more like an arcade game rather than a horror game to have more fun with it,” Jaszanovits explains.

Jaszanovits’s goal as a level designer was to create an environment where players could run from room to room, feeling constantly chased and surrounded by enemies. “We tried to remove or adjust gameplay elements that slowed the player down,” he says.

Greene adds: “Our goal was to achieve a simple, entertaining gameplay loop, but with a secondary value that lets players come up with new strategies over multiple play sessions. This leads to multiple different systems that grant players power over time to let them find their style and power through waves of infected.”

Riot Mode features enemy behavior and wave composition that keep players on their toes. As you progress through the game, you’ll need to adapt your strategies to overcome each new challenge. With only two weapon slots available, you’ll also need to spend credits wisely to upgrade and change weapons and to open health, GRP, and fuse containers. And when things get really tough, activate rampage mode for a temporary buff with unlimited ammo, GRP usage, and enemy insta-kill.

“We wanted to dig deep into just having a fun time murdering,” Greene says. “So, we went with as many features as we could put into the game that drove those feelings of fun combat. Powering up the player with strong weapons [and] giving them additional perks that allow them to take combat to a new level.”

To add to the arcade-like feel, Riot Mode includes a scoring system based on kills and dismemberment, with an overall score keeping track of the player’s progression throughout the game. “I can get to the 30s pretty consistently, but some of our QA testers have broken 100 waves. It’s fun seeing our team members post their high scores in our internal chats. You have to show the receipts if you want bragging rights,” says Jaszanovits.

Riot Mode is a challenging and entertaining experience that will keep you engaged for hours. The focus on keeping the fight constant and flowing, while also introducing fun sub-systems and a simple gameplay loop, makes it a great addition to The Callisto Protocol. It’s available on May 23, 2022, as part of the Riot Bundle, included with The Callisto Protocol Digital Deluxe Edition, Season Pass, or available for purchase separately. The Riot Bundle also includes eleven new enemy death animations and The Prospector Skin Collection. Are you ready to start a riot?

* The Riot Bundle requires The Callisto Protocol base game to play.

The Callisto Protocol™ for Xbox Series X|S – Digital Deluxe Edition

KRAFTON, Inc.

☆☆☆☆☆
1248

★★★★★

$89.99

Get it now

In this narrative-driven, third-person survival horror game set 300 years in the future, the player will take on the role of Jacob Lee – a victim of fate thrown into Black Iron Prison, a maximum-security penitentiary located on Jupiter’s moon, Callisto. When inmates begin to transform into monstrous creatures, the prison is thrown into chaos. To survive, Jacob must battle his way to safety to escape Black Iron Prison, while uncovering the dark and disturbing secrets buried beneath the surface of Callisto. Using a unique blend of shooting and close-quarters combat, Jacob will need to adapt his tactics to combat the rapidly evolving creatures while scavenging to unlock new weapons, gear, and abilities to outrun the growing threat and escape the horrors of Jupiter’s Dead Moon.

HORROR ENGINEERING
The Callisto Protocol is a next-generation take on survival horror from the mind of Glen Schofield. Blending atmosphere, tension, and brutality with terrifying moments of helplessness and humanity, The Callisto Protocol immerses players in a pulse-pounding story where unspeakable horrors lurk around every corner.

UNCOVER THE SECRETS OF THE UNITED JUPITER COMPANY
Set on Jupiter’s dead moon Callisto in the year 2320, The Callisto Protocol casts players as Jacob Lee, an inmate in Black Iron Prison. When a mysterious outbreak throws the moon into chaos, Jacob must face his darkest fears to defeat the bloodthirsty creatures that stalk him as he unravels the dark mysteries at the heart of the powerful United Jupiter Company.

MASTER BRUTAL, STRATEGIC COMBAT
The Callisto Protocol challenges players to master a thrilling blend of hand-to-hand and ranged combat, including a unique gravity weapon once used by Black Iron guards to control the prison population. Players will be forced to get up close and personal with their grotesque opponents, hacking off limbs, blasting off legs, and getting creative with whatever is at their disposal to survive each life-or-death encounter.

EXPERIENCE THE ISOLATION OF JUPITER’S DEAD MOON
One of the most hostile, isolated environments in the universe, Callisto looms large over Jacob’s desperate struggle to survive. Players must not only contend with the horrors of Black Iron Prison, but also the centuries-old secrets that plague Jupiter’s long-dead moon, both above and below the surface.

Pre-order now to get the following digital content:
– Retro Prisoner Character & Weapons Skin
– Season Pass

The Season Pass includes:

Outer Way Skin Collection: Bear the armor of the Outer Way, an underground insurgency pitted against the UJC, as you fight to survive the horrors of Callisto.

Contagion Bundle: Discover the ultimate survival horror experience with a new mode, Contagion. With reduced ammo and health drops, a customized difficulty and permadeath – there are no second chances to escape Black Iron Prison or the horrors lurking beneath the surface of Callisto. The Contagion Bundle also includes thirteen new Jacob death animations and the Watchtower Skin Collection.

Riot Bundle: Venture into a previously undiscovered area of Black Iron Prison and battle through waves of brutal enemies. Gather credits to upgrade your weapons, or forge new ones, and survive the onslaught as long as you can in Riot, an all-new mode. The Riot Bundle also includes twelve new enemy death animations and the Engineer Skin Collection.

Story DLC: Dig deeper into the horrifying secrets of The Callisto Protocol.

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We’re continuing to deliver on our promise to bring high-quality, immersive PC games from Xbox Game Studios and Bethesda to more people in more ways. Today, we’re announcing that Deathloop, Gears 5, Grounded and Pentiment will be available to play for Boosteroid members beginning June 1. This is another step to ensure players worldwide have access to great content on their terms. 

Boosteroid customers in the Ukraine, the United Kingdom, countries across the European Union, and the United States will soon be able to jump in as Kait Diaz to take on the Horde in Gears 5, team up with friends to survive and explore the backyard of Grounded, attempt to escape a seemingly never-ending timeloop in Deathloop, or experience life in an illustrated world with Pentiment. These four titles are just the start — we’ll regularly add more hits and fan favorites from our extensive catalog of PC games. Boosteroid members will be able to access games purchased through Steam or the Epic Game Store (for eligible titles) to start, with support for games purchased through the Microsoft Store coming soon.

It remains our goal to empower people to play the games they want, with the people they want, where they want, on the devices they want. For those who subscribe to Boosteroid, they can play PC games from Xbox across a wide range of platforms, including Windows, Linux, Android, Android TV, and macOS through an app, and even more devices through browsers and webOS.

This moment builds on our recent announcement that PC games from Xbox are available to NVIDIA GeForce NOW members, and is one of our many partnerships planned globally with a variety of cloud gaming providers, including Ubitus and Nware, and EE in the future. We are committed to enabling players to stream games from Xbox Game Studios and Bethesda, as well as future Activision Blizzard PC games once the acquisition closes, through the cloud gaming service of their choice.

We’ll continue to put players and game creators at the center of everything we do, and we are proud to work with Boosteroid so their members have the choice to find and play their next favorite game from Xbox.

Related:
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Coming Soon to Xbox Game Pass: FIFA 23, Planet of Lana, Railway Empire 2, and More
Minecraft Trails & Tales: Camels, Bamboo Sets & Armor Trims

Welcome to Next Week on Xbox! In this weekly feature we cover all the games coming soon to Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows, and Game Pass! Get more details on these upcoming games below and click their profiles for further info (release dates subject to change). Let’s jump in!

CONVERGENCE: A League of Legends Story™

Riot Forge

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

$29.99

Pre-order

Convergence: A League of Legends Story – May 23

A story-driven, single-player 2D action platformer featuring dynamic combat and unique exploration opportunities thanks to Ekko’s ability to travel through space and time. Rewind your actions to learn from your mistakes and outsmart each new enemy. Will it be enough to save Zaun’s future?

Kingdom Rush Origins

Ironhide Game Studio

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

$14.99

Pre-order

Kingdom Rush Origins – May 23
Xbox Play Anywhere

Take a trip back to the beginning, before Vez’nan ever thought to threaten the kingdom with the gem of power, and experience even more of the lightning-fast, exceptionally captivating gameplay that made the franchise a cornerstone of essential tower defense games.

Planet of Lana

Thunderful Publishing

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

Get it now

Planet of Lana – May 23
Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Smart Delivery / Xbox Play Anywhere

Available on day one with Game Pass: Planet of Lana is coming soon to Xbox Game Pass for PC, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox One. In this cinematic puzzle adventure, Lana and her companion Mui go on a voyage of discovery that will take them across the strange and magical world they call their home. Playable on Console and PC.

Star Trek: Resurgence

Bruner House

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

$39.99

Pre-order

Star Trek: Resurgence – May 23
Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Smart Delivery

A narrative adventure game featuring dialog choices, relationship building, and exploration. Alongside dialog-driven role playing and rich branching storylines, you will also engage with the Star Trek universe in a variety of other gameplay styles, including shuttle piloting, phaser fights, tricorder scanning, stealth, and micro-gameplay mechanics.

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun

Focus Entertainment

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

$21.99

$19.79

Pre-order

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun – May 23
Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Smart Delivery

Load up your Boltgun and plunge into battle headfirst! Experience a perfect blend of Warhammer 40,000, classic, frenetic FPS gameplay, and the stylish visuals of your favorite ‘90s retro shooters. Play a battle-hardened Space Marine on a perilous mission across the galaxy, as they battle against the Chaos Space Marines and daemons of Chaos in glorious boomer shooter style.

Wobbledogs Console Edition

Secret Mode

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

Get it now

Wobbledogs – May 23

A 3D pet simulation where you raise your own personal hive of rapidly mutating dogs, physically simulated all the way down to their guts! It’s a casual and chill sandbox experience for players of all ages who want to care for their very own virtual pets in a surprising, unique, and stress-free environment.

Bat Boy

X PLUS Company Limited

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

$14.99

Pre-order

Bat Boy – May 24

Bat Boy pits the titular hero against the former allies of his sports team with heroes such as Racket Girl, Shinai Guy, Aquaria and Mr. Blitzer, among others as he travels through the many worlds beyond Lord Vicious’ dimensional gateway.

Danger Gazers

Desert Water Games

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

Get it now

Danger Gazers – May 24 – Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Smart Delivery

A post-apocalyptic, roguelite, top-down shooter where you pave your own path. The choices you make will decide your fate, either turning you into the new ruler or… the ashes to be windswept away. Unlock new heroes and relics as you try to conquer the wasteland, master the skills, decisions, and patience. Luck is not on your side.

Dark Quest 3

Brain Seal Ltd

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

Get it now

Xbox One X Enhanced

Dark Quest 3 – May 24 – Xbox One X Enhanced

A rogue-lite tabletop that mixes card-based exploration with turn-based combat. Create your party, draw adventure cards, roll dice, and fight monsters to defeat the sorcerer and his magic.

Evil Wizard(Xbox)

E-Home Entertianment Development Co., Ltd

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

$19.99

$17.99

Pre-order

Evil Wizard – May 24
Optimized for Xbox Series X|S

A humor-filled action RPG featuring metroidvania elements and carefully crafted pixel art environments. As a defeated villain who barely survived a tough fight, you’ll have to face an army of so-called heroes to recover what’s rightfully yours.

Lost Artifacts 5: Frozen Queen

8floor ltd

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

Get it now

Lost Artifacts: Frozen Queen – May 24

Embark on an incredible journey through various countries in a world filled with ancient monuments and mysterious artifacts, in an exciting casual strategy game. After an archaeological expedition turns into disaster, Claire and her friends discover a cave in which a mysterious Ice Queen was immersed in a strange dream. When found, the spell fell off and the queen, believing that she had been robbed, decides to find her treasures and freeze the whole world. Now it’s up to you to save the world!

Railway Empire 2

Kalypso Media

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

$49.99

$44.99

Pre-order

Railway Empire 2 – May 24
Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Smart Delivery / Game Pass

Available on day one with Game Pass: All aboard the express train to riches and fame in Railway Empire 2! Grow your company into the largest railway company of the continent and outsmart your competitors as you connect cities and companies with an ever-expanding network of rail lines, bridges, and tunnels. Available on Cloud, Console, and PC

TORINTO

Eastasiasoft Limited

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

Get it now

Torinto – May 24 – Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Smart Delivery

A run ‘n’ gun with a medieval twist. Blades take the place of bullets as the heroes traverse side-scrolling stages, from forests and fields to castle walls, quelling the heartless fiends that now roam the land. Watch for enemy projectiles like axes and hurled boulders, leap across scaffolds and over spiky pitfalls, run headlong into danger and come out victorious.

Cassette Beasts

Raw Fury

☆☆☆☆☆
2

★★★★★

Get it now

PC Game Pass

Cassette Beasts (Console) – May 25
Game Pass

Bring your cassette player and get ready to press play! Collect awesome monsters to use during turn-based battles as you adventure into the open-world RPG, Cassette Beasts. Get ready to experience an incredible retro vibe with unique innovations to the genre.

Home Sheep Home: Farmageddon Party Edition

Greenlight Games

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

$10.99

$8.79

Pre-order

Free Trial

Home Sheep Home: Farmageddon Party Edition – May 25

Join Shaun the Sheep and his friends Timmy and Shirley on this epic adventure journeying through underground caverns, negotiating the busy streets of London and teleporting through outer space, all in search of the green, green grass of home.

The Lord of the Rings: Gollum™ Pre-order

Nacon

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

$59.99

Pre-order

The Lord of the Rings: Gollum – May 25
Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Smart Delivery

Taking place in parallel to the events described in “The Fellowship of the Ring,” The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is an action-adventure game and an epic interactive experience. You play as the enigmatic Gollum on his perilous journey and find out how he outwitted the most powerful characters in Middle-earth.

Miracle Snack Shop

CFK

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

$19.99

Pre-order

Miracle Snack Shop – May 25
Optimized for Xbox Series X|S

A frozen treat of a story that will make your heart pound. After facing some big upsets in his life, Seolhwa Cha ends up owning a small snack shop. There is just one problem: business is dead. But he doesn’t have time to sing the blues because a magical portal has just appeared in his attic and a queen from another world as appeared demanding fresh shaved ice. What are you waiting for, Ice Sculptor?

Pirates Pinball

Super PowerUP Games

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

$2.99

Pre-order

Pirates Pinball – May 25
Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Smart Delivery / Xbox Play Anywhere

Prepare for an amazing adventure fighting the king’s armada and trying to reach Tortuga island, to take the biggest treasure of them all. A perfect reproduction of a pinball machine, with all the graphic details and sounds.

Chronicles of 2 Heroes

Catness Game Studios

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

$24.99

Pre-order

Chronicles of 2 Heroes: Amaterasu’s Wrath – May 26
Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Smart Delivery

An intense 16-bit action platformer featuring Metroidvania elements, Japanese mythos, and gorgeous pixel art. Switch between the protagonists, Ayame and Kensei, who have unique, surprising combat styles that you will need to master to save feudal Japan from Amaterasu’s wrath.

Dice Legacy Definitive Edition

DESTINYbit, Amplifier Game Invest

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

Get it now

Dice Legacy Definitive Edition – May 26
Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Smart Delivery

In this dice-based survival city builder, you roll and use your dice to gather resources, construct buildings, expand your settlement and face the menacing threats of a mysterious ringworld. Dice Legacy Definitive Edition includes all the content from the original Dice Legacy release plus the three major updates.         

Drill Deal – Oil Tycoon

UltimateGames

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

Get it now

Drill Deal – Oil Tycoon – May 26

Embark on this fun adventure and build your own oil rig! Start with a small platform and expand it to a large, interconnected complex. Optimize your designs for more efficient production, increase cash flow, and keep your employees happy and safe.

REPLIKATOR

Ratalaika Games S.L.

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

Get it now

Replikator – May 26

A top-down shooter with roguelike elements, set in an abandoned space science complex. In the role of a galactic mercenary, you will have to fight against hordes of crazed robots and ectoplasmic monsters. Explore a mysterious scientific complex and uncover the secret of the Replikator project.

Supraland: Six Inches Under wasn’t really meant to exist—at least not like this.

Initially conceived as a DLC pack for the puzzle-filled sandbox adventure Supraland, creator David Münnich and his team improvised, experimented, re-scoped, and re-envisioned Six Inches Under into a bigger, fully standalone follow-up designed for anyone to dig into, whether they’ve played the first game or not. What’s even better, that creation is available to play starting today on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and through Xbox Game Pass!

If you’re wondering whether Supra Games’ latest little big adventure is for you, here are five facets of Six Inches Under’s design that should help you decide.

It’s a Connected Underworld

Like the original, Six Inches Under is a first-person 3D “metroidvania”—a unified world filled with paths to discover, and secrets or sub-areas that can only be accessed once you return with a new ability or item.

Unlike the original, Six Inches Under takes place underground, and as such, the vibe’s a little different. Paths are more defined and distinct: caves and corridors connected by a central hub called Cagetown, where all the toy-people survivors of the dreadful Rakening dwell.

The developers characterize the game as “55% exploration, 40% solving puzzles, and 5% combat,” to give you a breakdown. Now on to that other 45%…

Puzzles Permeate Everything

In the world of Six Inches Under, you’re always on the lookout for puzzles—and you’ll quickly find yourself thinking of the environment, your abilities, and even physics itself as a puzzle-solving tool. To help with the design of the puzzles, creator and lead dev David Münnich concocted 13 rules as a guideline, which doubled as a 13-point “checklist” to help him and his team determine whether a puzzle was good or not.

David awards points for puzzles where players set the goal themselves without being told it directly, or puzzles that use a mechanic players are familiar with in an unexpected new way. The puzzle gets more points if players can quickly execute the solution once they have their  “Aha!” moment, or if the result is more interesting than a door opening or an elevator turning on. For David, a good puzzle scores around 8–10, and anything above that is rare. (And he’s a stickler; the best puzzles in Six Inches Under top out at 12.)

That 5% Combat…It’s Over There!

In another directional shift from the original game, you’ll encounter enemies to fight in Six Inches Under, but here they’re hanging out away from the puzzles—that way, they won’t get in your way when you’re focused on figuring out how to fix that lever to connect that battery to power that machinery behind that fence that you’re not quite sure how to get through yet.

And sometimes, the combat is a puzzle of its own too, as you use your pickaxe and other combat tools and abilities in creative ways—but as with any good puzzle, it’s more fun if you figure those out for yourself.

The End is Just Getting Started

You can make it to the finish line of the “main quest” pretty quickly—but once the end credits roll, that signals a whole new beginning. Whole new areas open up to explore full of secrets and surprises. In fact, some of Six Inches Under’s most challenging and rewarding puzzles are entirely optional…including at least one of the team’s rare 12-point-ers. (Hint: Look for the showerhead on the beach.)

It’s a proving ground

Six Inches Under began its life as a project intended to get the Supra Games team up to speed for Supra Games’ next major now-in-development game (and full-on sequel) Supraworld. It quickly turned into a place to experiment, test, and run ideas through the wringer. The result was something unexpected: a content-packed game worthy of standing on its own as something not quite an expansion, not quite a sequel, and infused with the creative spirit indie-developed games are known for.

Supraland: Six Inches Under is out today. Buy it for Xbox One or Xbox Series X|S, or play it on Xbox Game Pass.

Supraland: Six Inches Under

Humble Games

☆☆☆☆☆
8

★★★★★

$19.99

Get it now

PC Game Pass

Xbox Game Pass

Dig into the biggest smallest adventure

Unearth what’s beneath the surface in Six Inches Under, a new first-person Supraland adventure full of puzzles, exploration, fun secrets to discover, hundreds of gags, and two funny ones!

In the miniature world, the dreaded Rakening has scattered the townspeople of Superland six whole inches below the surface of the sandbox! Fulfill your toybox fantasies as a brave Blue Plumber and use your skill and ingenuity to survive and rescue your fellows. You may be small—but this is bound to be one big adventure.

Underworld exploration
Unearth a connected underworld of toys who’ve survived past calamities. The caverns are filled with secrets to discover and new areas to uncover—once you’ve acquired the right tools and abilities to access them.

First-person puzzling
Solve problems in the environment with brains (and occasional brawn). Use skillful platforming to find secrets and hard to reach areas, and harness the power of physics to find creative ways to overcome obstacles.

It’s a small world
For the people of Supraland, little things make a big difference. Turn a matchstick into the lever that opens a door or a torch that ignites an obstacle. Power mighty machines with the latest AAA battery technology, cross cracks the size of chasms, and walk (literally!) on the razor’s edge.

A great place to dig in
Six Inches Under is a content-packed standalone follow-up (and not quite a sequel) to the original Supraland, designed for everyone! You can delve straight in and have a blast without having played the original.

More Supraland to love
If you dug the original Supraland, you’ll discover tons more of the puzzle-solving, metroidvania-style exploration you loved—plus more skills, a novel new approach to combat, more optional activities, and an original new soundtrack.

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Global Accessibility Awareness Day is an exciting moment for Xbox to recognize the importance of accessibility, celebrate the players and developers with disabilities that are part of our vibrant, global gaming community, and highlight recent accessibility work at Xbox. To meet the needs of over 427 million players with disabilities, and create a platform where everyone feels welcome, safe, and represented, we know that accessibility awareness and support is something that has to happen every day and has to be part of the community culture. What this support resembles will vary based on the player, but ultimately, accessibility at Xbox is all about creating gaming experiences that everyone can enjoy.     

Gaming is all about the power of connection and play. And it has been incredible these last several months watching the energy our community has put into learning about game accessibility, especially as we continue our own accessibility journey and push for a more inclusive games industry. On Global Accessibility Awareness Day 2023, we’re excited to share with you some of the work we’ve been doing in support of our Gaming & Disability communities, including updated accessibility support pages, new accessibility features on PC, and recognizing the achievements of thousands of Xbox Ambassadors who are showing how easy and fun it can be to learn about game accessibility by completing over one million Accessibility Explorer Path missions!

A Community Dedicated to Accessibility

Xbox Accessibility Ambassador Explorer Path  –  1 Million missions completed!

The Xbox Ambassador program is home to a group of global Xbox players where each member celebrates the uniqueness of everyone who loves to play, promotes a safe gaming environment, and above all else, makes gaming more fun.  Last year, when Xbox asked Ambassadors if there was interest in learning more about accessibility, the answer was a resounding yes! This inspired the team to create the Xbox Ambassador Accessibility Explorer Path, a gamified experience that allows Ambassadors to learn more about accessibility in gaming, as well as try out new gaming accessibility features across PC and console. Through the Explorer Path, Ambassadors are given specific quests and missions to complete, all while leveling up and having fun.

Since the Xbox Ambassador Accessibility Explorer Path’s launch just 7 months ago, over 110 quests were posed to the group and today we are excited to announce that Ambassadors collectively completed over 1 million missions centered around accessibility, with over 18,000 individual Ambassadors contributing. Check out some stories from Ambassadors below:

ctrlaltcraft

How would you describe the experience of following the Accessibility Explorer Path?

Highly informative! And very exciting. It’s exciting to see a business like Microsoft and Xbox taking accessibility so seriously. It draws from a myriad of resources and articles. It wasn’t just slapped together like a business faking interest in accessibility to seem on-trend. You can tell the team that put all this together actually really cares about this cause.

ItsMileyGirl

What impact did the Accessibility Explorer Path have on how you think about accessibility in gaming?

Before I started the Accessibility Explorer Path I was just starting to learn and advocate for accessibility in gaming, but reading more about accessibility options and how they work and the importance they have in gaming and media made me appreciate them even more. Now I’m an even fiercer advocate! 

If you haven’t done any of the Accessibility Explorer Path missions yet, all I can say is do it! You’ve got nothing to lose but a ton to gain. You get sweet XP, a new badge for your profile, get the tools to be an effective accessibility advocate and you learn more about accessibility options and their importance. It’s a win-win-win!

Check out more Ambassador stories here, and join Xbox Ambassadors today!

New Accessibility Updates from Xbox

Updated Accessibility Support Pages

Late last year, Xbox unveiled a redesigned, easier to navigate support hub for players to learn about all the accessibility features available on console and Windows devices. In support of Global Accessibility Awareness Day, we are pleased to share support pages now cover more than 150 accessibility controls across PC and console, including new articles like: Adjusting the controller stick settings in the Xbox Accessories app | Xbox Support  and Accessibility controls for Xbox for PC and Xbox Store apps.

Players can access the full list of support pages via the support.xbox.com accessibility site, within the accessibility tab on Xbox App on PC, Xbox.com, and coming soon to Game Bar.

New Accessibility Settings on Xbox App on PC

In March, the Xbox App on PC rolled out a new accessibility settings menu that features two brand new settings: Disable background images and Disable animations. These settings are designed to help players reduce visual components that could cause disruption, confusion, or irritation. Links to additional accessibility settings and a link to learn more about accessible gaming are now also available in the new settings menu.

Check out a YouTube video that gives an overview of the new settings and features of the Accessibility settings menu in Xbox app on PC.  

Improved Xbox.com Experience

It’s easier than ever to find your next favorite Xbox games! A new update on the Microsoft Store on Xbox.com now allows users to filter and search games based on their accessibility needs and preferences, as well as search for games based on their Supported Language, with over 17 supported languages. For example, let’s say a player is looking to find Action & Adventure games that have adjustable difficulty settings and spatial audio support. The improved Xbox.com experience allows users to do just that – and more – by applying different filters, including 20 accessibility filters, to find their next great game across Console, PC, and Cloud. Try it out here.

 Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Xbox Plays Livestream

Cal Kestis and the Mantis crew are back to stand against the Darkness in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. Tune in to the Xbox Twitch channel on May 18th at 11 AM PT to watch Lead UI/UX Designer Jordan DeVries and Tara Voelker, Sr. Accessibility Lead at Xbox, play Jedi: Survivor and delve into the game’s accessibility features and how the team strived to ensure that as many players as possible could embrace the fantasy of being a Jedi Knight in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.

Viewers will have a chance to win a collector’s edition of Star Wars: Jedi Survivor.

Progress Made on Existing Accessibility Offerings at Xbox

Microsoft Game Accessibility Testing Service (MGATS)

In February 2021, Xbox launched the Microsoft Game Accessibility Testing Service (MGATS), a program developed for publishers and developers to validate the accessibility of their games, and since launch, Xbox has added information for developers around how to validate Accessibility Feature Tags in their games. To make it easier for developers to understand the criteria behind those tags, Xbox has added 119 test steps and 124 examples to Accessibility Feature Tags – Microsoft Game Dev | Microsoft Learn. Guidance includes screenshots from As Dusk Falls, Flight Simulator, Forza Horizon 5, Grounded, Halo Infinite, Minecraft and Sea of Thieves to provide examples of meeting criteria.

In addition, since launch, MGATS has added a ‘Player with Disability’ offering with focused feedback on core game and communication features. We are excited to share that over the past year, players with disabilities have logged over 13,000 hours of testing across the program, all in an effort to make games more fun and accessible for everyone.

Game Accessibility Feature Tags

Microsoft’s Game Accessibility Feature Tags were created to make it easier to find games that have accessibility features players need to enjoy a game. At launch two years ago, games with over 4 tags were showcased at our Accessibility Spotlight, a location on the Xbox store where customers can find games that include a variety of accessibility features. Since then, more and more developers have tagged their games, raising the bar for what it takes to be featured in Accessibility Spotlight. Now, games must have 6+ tags to be spotlighted, due to the sheer number of titles with multiple tags. In addition, we have added new features on the Xbox App on PC that allows players to discover Game Accessibility Feature Tags for different games, as well as filter options.

Xbox Celebrating Accessibility Around the World

Xbox partners with Korea’s National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art

From May to September, Xbox will partner with Korea’s National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) for an art exhibition titled “Game Society”, showcasing contemporary visual art works embodying games’ imagination and realism. One of the exhibitions will spotlight game accessibility and will include the installation of the Xbox Adaptive Controller for visitors to use.

For the latest information, click here.

XboxNL and HiPerks Foundation spotlight the Xbox Adaptive Controller

In 2018, Xbox launched the Xbox Adaptive Controller as part of our mission to empower gamers around the world to play the games they want, with the people they want, on the devices they want. In honor of GAAD, Xbox Netherlands is excited to partner with Paul Van Der Made, a player with a disability, and the HiPerks Foundation to release a new video series showcasing the impact the Xbox Adaptive Controller continues to have for players with disabilities.

Check out the video series at the following links:

• TikTok: XboxNL
• Instagram: xbox_nederland
• Facebook: XboxNL

Xbox is meeting athletes at the Special Olympics World Games Berlin 2023

For the past two years, we’ve had the pleasure of partnering with Special Olympics to showcase the power of inclusion in two epic Gaming for Inclusion esports tournaments. This year, we’re excited to continue our support of athletes and Unified partners at the Special Olympics World Games Berlin 2023. In June, Xbox and the inclusion specialist Humanelektronik will be providing Xbox gaming stations in the athlete’s lounge in Berlin. Athletes and Unified partners will be able to sit back, unwind from competition, and try different Xbox accessibility features and games while connecting with other participants from around the world through the universal language of play.

For more information, check out our Xbox Wire DACH content series and the official website of Special Olympics World Games Berlin 2023.

More Ways to Play: Increasing the Accessibility of Our Games

Forza Motorsport

Last month, Turn 10 Studios shared how they are creating their most accessible Forza Motorsport ever, which includes an innovative accessibility feature set called Blind Driving Assists (BDA), built for players who are Blind or have Low Vision. Blind Driving Assists work by providing a set of supplemental audio cues designed to help Low/No Vision players navigate the tracks of Forza Motorsport. The features were built in close partnership with the Disability community over two years, including Accessibility Consultant and Blind gamer, Brandon Cole.

Other notable accessibility features in Forza Motorsport include one touch driving, a customizable narration system, Colorblindness Modes, and more. For more information on the accessibility features in Forza Motorsport, click here.

Minecraft Legends (Available with Xbox Game Pass, Cloud, Console, and PC)

Minecraft Legends is a new action strategy game, where players must lead their allies in heroic battles to defend the Overworld from the destructive piglins. The game, released last month, includes a host of  accessibility features, including:

• Text to Speech (both natively as well as within game menus)
• Controller Options
  • Swap AB buttons
  • Swap XY buttons
  • Wrap toolbar navigation.
  • Other controller features include adjusting the placement, aiming sensitivity, and toggle modes for building and sprinting.
• Text size options
• Including the ability to set text at 100%, 125%, or 150%
• Colorblindness Mode, including:
  • Deuteranopia
  • Protanopia
  • Tritanopia
• Subtitles
  • Available both in-game and in pre-recorded video files (FMVs) used in the video game.

Hi-Fi Rush (Available with Xbox Game Pass, Cloud, Console, and PC)

In January, Xbox released Hi-Fi Rush where players star as wannabe rockstar Chai, fighting back against a sinister robotics enhancement conglomerate using rhythm-amplified combat where everything – from the motion in the environment to the blows of combat – is synced to the music.

Hi-Fi Rush was designed to provide as many players as possible with the opportunity to live out their own rock star fantasy through game customization and accessibility features. This includes Rhythm Visualization, which allows players to visualize the beat pulse in the environment and UI, allowing the game to still be completed when playing without sounds enabled, an Auto-Action Mode for users that have difficulty performing complex button, four different difficulty settings, the option to adjust font size and subtitles, and more. Check out Hi Fi Rush’s full accessibility guide.

Deathloop (Available with Xbox Game Pass, Cloud, Console, and PC)

In Deathloop, two rival assassins are trapped in a mysterious timeloop on the island of Blackreef, doomed to repeat the same day for eternity. The game, released last year, comes with a slew of accessibility features, which can all be found within a dedicated Accessibility category within the options menu. These include gameplay settings that allow players to further customize combat in Single-Player Mode, such as increasing or decreasing combat difficulty, adjusting the number of Reprises, and slowing game speed.

The game also includes a new HUD and subtitle options, including the ability to change the size, opacity and color of various text and graphical elements. Check out Deathloop on Xbox today.

Elder Scrolls Online (Available with Xbox Game Pass)

In Elder Scrolls Online, players are invited to experience limitless adventure within the Elder Scrolls world. In February, Elder Scrolls Online was updated on Xbox to include a screen narration tool which allows the majority of the game’s menus to be narrated and can be automatically enabled when the game is put into Accessibility Mode. Players can also control both the speed and volume of narration.

Other quality-of-life additions were implemented, including a highly requested feature that allows users to hide their character’s shoulder cosmetics. Check out all the accessibility options available and Elder Scrolls Online on Xbox today.

Adios (Available on Console and PC)

Adios is a cinematic first-person game centered around a pig farmer in Kansas who decides he no longer wants to work for the mob. A partner of the ID@Xbox Developer Acceleration Program, the game was created by GB ‘Doc’ Burford, a disabled game developer whose lived experiences ultimately inspired parts of the game.

“I remember when I was working on Adios, I designed all of the scenes to accommodate people with ADHD,” Burford shared. “(For example,) there’s a scene in Adios where you actually play a game of horseshoes while having a conversation at the same time.” Because so much of the game involves dialogue, Burford wanted “things you could fidget with, things you could do, things that keep you acting while (dialogue is happening), but not so intense that you can’t pay attention to both at the same time.”

As a game developer with a disability, Burford shares that he frequently experiences chronic pain, but “when I make a game, I get to go somewhere else. I get to be somebody else. Writing is one of the few jobs that is completely disability-friendly. It’s perfectly suited for me.”

Check out Adios on Xbox today.

Related:
Xbox Celebrates the Gaming and Disability Community for Global Accessibility Awareness Day
Xbox Celebrates Global Accessibility Awareness Day

We’re thrilled to share that starting today, NVIDIA GeForce NOW cloud gaming members in the U.K., the U.S., the European Union and around the world can stream Gears 5, and on May 25 will be able to enjoy fan-favorites Deathloop, Grounded, and Pentiment. This is just the beginning stage of our forward-thinking 10-year partnership with NVIDIA to make PC games from Xbox Game Studios and Bethesda available to their GeForce NOW members. Together, we’re accelerating access to players around the globe by letting them choose how and when they game.

The initial slate of launch games spans our catalog, providing players high-quality, immersive titles with a little something for everyone–single player campaigns, story-driven experiences, and opportunities to play with friends and family through multiplayer. Following this initial release, we’ll continue to add more content from our portfolio on a regular basis to ensure players can always find a new and exciting game. News and release dates will be shared via GFN Thursday updates.

Members will be able to stream PC hits from Xbox Game Studios and Bethesda purchased through Steam or Epic Games Store (for eligible games) on PC, Mac, SHIELD TV, and Android devices – or by visiting play.geforcenow.com on Chromebook and iOS Safari. Our teams are also working to bring support for games purchased through the Microsoft Store in the coming months.

This is the first in a series of partnerships we’re activating to make our PC games available to players globally through a variety of cloud gaming services, starting with NVIDIA GeForce NOW, and with Boosteroid, Ubitus, EE and Nware in the future. We remain committed to releasing current titles from Xbox Game Studios and Bethesda, and future Activision Blizzard PC games once Microsoft’s acquisition closes.

Delivering our content through more partners and cloud gaming services puts players at the center, empowering them to play the games they want, with the people they want, on the devices they want. NVIDIA has been an outstanding partner for team Xbox over the years, and we can’t wait to see their devoted fans discover and play their next favorite PC games from Xbox.

Related:
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I normally don’t discuss my military service, but in the mid-2000’s I deployed to the Middle East, like so many others had before me. After landing in country at the international airport, I sat there on the hot and dusty tarmac with dozens of other service members, waiting for transportation to the base to begin my one-year tour of duty. I continually scanned my surroundings, not knowing what to expect from this place. One thing was for certain, I was a stranger in a strange land. Amidst all the hustle and bustle consistent with any airport, I heard these two service members talking. They looked to be in their early twenties, one had just arrived in theater and the other was preparing to leave. It was obvious they were friends, catching up in the minutes they had until they were once again separated. One commented on this being his third tour in two years, the other said this would also be his third. And then their conversation changed to happier thoughts. The one asked the other about the latest video game releases back home since he had been away for so long, and what the other had been playing. The other responded, “Call of Duty”.

I’ll never forget this moment, these two young kids sitting in the middle of a warzone having already completed a couple tours, and they’re bonding and laughing and sharing stories about Call of Duty. There was something encouraging about this moment that put me at peace, like everything was going to be okay. I didn’t know them or whatever happened to them, but my hope is they both made it home okay and are once again playing Call of Duty together.

Call of Duty has always been an important video game series for me, and not just because they are amazing games with these epic single player campaigns and insanely fun multiplayer modes, but perhaps just as importantly because of their efforts to support military veterans transitioning to the civilian world by helping them find employment opportunities through the Call of Duty Endowment program.

Since 2009, the nonprofit Call of Duty Endowment has helped more than 118,000 veterans find meaningful careers after their military service (that’s a group of vets more than half the size of the US Marine Corps). The Endowment seeks to help U.S. and U.K. veterans find high-quality careers by supporting groups that prepare them for the job market and by raising awareness of the extraordinary value veterans bring to the workplace. For more information about the Call of Duty Endowment, please visit www.callofdutyendowment.org

Dan Goldenberg, Executive Director for the Call of Duty Endowment, discussed the program with us, including how it has helped service members since its inception and this year’s activities during Military Appreciation Month. My first question was why this program and why this approach.

“Every veteran needs a job when they return from service. The data shows that if a veteran finds high-quality employment upon re-entry into civilian life, the other challenges they face become much more surmountable,” explains Goldenberg. “A good job means a roof, the ability to raise children in a healthy environment, access to healthcare, social interaction, and, perhaps most importantly, purpose.”

The Call of Duty Endowment ensures success by monitoring results through rigorous quality controls and periodic performance reviews. “We have developed a great, scalable model for finding and funding the highest performing nonprofits that place vets in jobs,” states Goldenberg. “Our model, launched in 2013, is called the Seal of Distinction. In short, it helps us find the needles in the haystack and turn them into spears.”

Military Appreciation Month and C.O.D.E.

Every year, Activision Blizzard and the Call of Duty Endowment support Military Appreciation Month through various activations providing gamers the opportunity to proactively support the endowment. Earlier this month, they hosted the Loot for Good campaign culminating in a substantial donation to C.O.D.E.

“Each Military Appreciation Month, the Endowment launches an in-game activation to engage the community in our work. We have been blown away by the response – last year we launched the first-ever in-game charity run – Call of Duty Veterans. This year, we launched Loot for Good and the response from our community was incredible,” says Goldenberg. “The Loot for Good campaign was the first of its kind charity extraction challenge and was a way for players to extract in-game loot and be credited with a real-world cash contribution. We raised $1,000,000, which will help fund the placement of more than 1,600 veterans into high-quality jobs.”

One of the other ways Activision Blizzard offers gamers the opportunity to support this program is through the purchase of special C.O.D.E. packs. This year’s pack is a bit different than previous packs, and Goldenberg discusses how and why.

“This month, we are launching the Call of Duty Endowment Valkyrie Pack, which has the Endowment’s first-ever female operator skin. These content packs have proven highly successful with our community, raising more than $27 million for veteran employment to-date while also raising awareness about the cause,” explains Goldenberg. “We also try to embed the cause with the content. This latest pack highlights female veterans and the major contributions they make every day in our armed forces.”

The Call of Duty Endowment was created after I left the military so I couldn’t use the services it provides, but since then I have reviewed the program so I could assist friends and fellow service members as they prepare to leave the military, and there are some great resources available. I asked Goldenberg if he had any advice for transitioning service members looking for employment.

“Our research shows that veterans who reach out for professional help with resume writing and interview preparation are 2-3 times more likely to land high-quality employment. Veterans should reach out for this help and should never pay for these types of services,” says Goldenberg. “Getting help translating military experience into civilian hiring language is critical to getting hired. The best place to find world-class support is at our website.”

For more information about this program, check out this week’s Official Xbox Podcast with Major Nelson interviewing Dan Goldenberg, Executive Director, Call of Duty Endowment.

In addition to the new Call of Duty Endowment Valkyrie Pack launching on May 17, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II and Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 recently launched Season 03 Reloaded on May 10. The latest season includes a new raid and mission; new 6v6 map; new modes, equipment, and ranked play for Warzone 2.0; and much more! Stephanie Snowden, Director of Communications at Infinity Ward, provided us with more details about a few of the features from Season 03 Reloaded.

Step Into the Shoes of the Basketball MVP – Kevin Durant

We’ve witnessed some spectacular operators added to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II and Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0, but perhaps never one as unique as basketball MVP Kevin Durant. “Kevin is a huge Call of Duty fan, which made scanning and designing his operator and items a ton of fun for us at Infinity Ward,” says Snowden. “While making the operator as realistic as possible is always a priority, it was important for us to be sure the feel of the items matched KD’s swagger both on and off the court. We can’t wait to see players easy money sniping.”

New 6v6 Multiplayer Map – Alboran Hatchery

Maps are one of the most talked about features, especially anytime we are near a new season. There are always lengthy discussions online about fan-favorite maps from previous Call of Duty games and speculation about what map might be added with each new season. But in Season 03 Reloaded, we already know this new map is Alboran Hatchery.

“Alboran Hatchery is set in Galicia, Spain, which was a featured locale in the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II campaign in the Recon By Fire mission. The map can be broken down in 4 overall sections: Fishery Warehouse, Containers, Main Entrance, and Storage Building,” explains Snowden. “Prepare for close-quarters action in the Warehouse, while rooftops may offer a vertical advantage. Containers can provide key defensive cover for your team in 6v6 modes.”

For more details about Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II and Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 Season 03 Reloaded, check out the official site and follow @CallofDuty on Twitter.

As a veteran, I’d personally like to thank Activision Blizzard for their tremendous efforts with the Call of Duty Endowment. It’s worth noting the company funds all operating costs for this program and has donated over $38M to the endowment, with 100% of all player contributions going straight to providing employment support to veterans with the goal of finding them high-quality jobs that fully leverage their experience, character, skills, and education. Read more about the program here.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II is available for Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S, and Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 is available for free on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.

Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® II

Activision Publishing Inc.

☆☆☆☆☆
1966

★★★★★

Get it now

Welcome to the new era of Call of Duty®.

Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® II drops players into an unprecedented global conflict that features the return of the iconic Operators of Task Force 141.

Infinity Ward brings fans state-of-the-art gameplay, with all-new gun handling, advanced AI system, a new Gunsmith and a suite of other gameplay and graphical innovations that elevate the franchise to new heights.

Modern Warfare® II launches with a globe-trotting single-player campaign, immersive Multiplayer combat and an evolved Special Ops game mode featuring tactical co-op gameplay.

You also get access to Call of Duty®: Warzone™ 2.0, the all-new Battle Royale experience.

For more information, please visit www.callofduty.com.

© 2022-2023 Activision Publishing, Inc. ACTIVISION, CALL OF DUTY, MODERN WARFARE and CALL OF DUTY WARZONE are trademarks of Activision Publishing, Inc. All other trademarks and trade names are the properties of their respective owners. This product contains software technology licensed from Id Software (‘Id Technology’). Id Technology © 1999-2023 Id Software, Inc.

Call of Duty®: Warzone™ 2.0

Activision Publishing Inc.

☆☆☆☆☆
2573

★★★★★

Get it now

Welcome to Warzone™ 2.0, the massive free-to-play combat arena which now features the brand-new map, Al Mazrah.

Turn the Heat Up
Join forces with your friends and jump into a sprawling battleground in the metropolitan area and rural outskirts within the Republic of Adal.

Loot For Rewards
Discover supply boxes and complete contracts to build your arsenal and gain a tactical advantage.

Introducing DMZ Mode
Drop into the all-new sandbox objective-based mode to choose your own experience within the warzone and collecting gear to keep in your Call of Duty®: Warzone™ 2.0 inventory.

Purchase the Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® II Vault Edition and get the Red Team 141 Operator Pack, FJX Cinder Weapon Vault*, 10 hours of 2XP, 10 hours of Weapons 2XP, Battle Pass and 50 Tier Skips** – also usable in Warzone™ 2.0.

An Xbox Live Gold subscription is not required to play the Warzone™ 2.0 game mode. All other online modes still require Xbox Live Gold.

*Weapon Vault design limited to Weapon Vault contents at launch.

**Battle Pass redemption applies to one season of Modern Warfare® II Battle Pass only.

For more information, please visit www.callofduty.com.

© 2022-2023 Activision Publishing, Inc. ACTIVISION, CALL OF DUTY, MODERN WARFARE and CALL OF DUTY WARZONE are trademarks of Activision Publishing, Inc. All other trademarks and trade names are the properties of their respective owners. This product contains software technology licensed from Id Software (‘Id Technology’). Id Technology © 1999-2023 Id Software, Inc.

Related:
Xbox Partners with USO to Support Military Service Members and Their Families
Everything You Need to Know About Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0’s New Recruit A Friend Program
It’s Time to Party with Modern Warfare II

Alongside armored knights or Viking raiders, the king’s court endures as one of the most popular public images of the Middle Ages. We all have pictures of a royal throne at the center of a tapestry decorated hall in our mind, with peasants and petitioners seeking justice from a mighty ruler, or bringing gifts to cultivate favor with the royal power.

So, Royal Court is a natural jumping off point for an expansion to Crusader Kings III, our role-playing strategy game about the Medieval world. This expansion puts players in the seat of majesty, dealing with the problems that a king or emperor would face, while leveraging the grandeur of their court for diplomatic and strategic goals.

First of all, it’s important to note that the royal court in Royal Court is aspirational. Only player characters with the rank of king or emperor get to hold court; the court is intended as a kind of reward and distinctive attribute of these higher titles. Lower ranked characters can, however, pay homage to their liege at court.

Second, your court is kind of a superbuff for your character and realm. Beyond the obvious role-playing elements of making decisions whenever a vassal or courtier asks you for a favor, spending money on your court and decorating it with relics and artifacts will convey bonuses on your character, realm or dynasty.

Decorating your Royal Court with artifacts fits into two of the new features in Crusader Kings III for console – Inventory and Inspirations.

Inventory works a lot like a traditional role-playing game. You have your character model, and you can outfit them with weapons, armor, jewelry and so on to make them more impressive or powerful. So how do you get these special items? You find special people, of course.

Inspirations are when you, as the ruler, hire a craftsperson to make something special for you and your castle. It can be a special tapestry, a new weapon, a shiny crown, and so on. Each of these, as said above, can give bonuses to you and your realm. But, sometimes, master crafters will approach you with their own inspiration and ask that you hire them. The more impressive your Royal Court is (better food, better lodging, a better calibre of people), the higher the quality of crafter you will attract. They can make better weapons and better decorations, which can further increase the reputation of your Royal Court.

In many ways, Royal Court accentuates one of the core strengths of Crusader Kings III. Even if you choose to play as a personal story of a specific family, all of the seemingly minor cosmetic decisions – decoration choices, money invested in your court, selecting which relics to put on display – can have repercussions for your realm. It’s like the old nursery rhyme about the horseshoe nail – small things can have big consequences.

A lot of this comes down to the fact that in Crusader Kings III, gold isn’t the only currency that matters. You will need gold, of course. Soldiers cost money, titles cost money, bribes and ransoms cost money. Gold is certainly important.

But gold is, in Royal Court, an investment in other major currencies, like Prestige, or the odds of success in certain activities. Any gold you spend to increase your grandeur will, as your grandeur increases, give your certain advantages. For example, if you have a court with a fashion focus (maybe in Milan), higher grandeur can mean a hefty Prestige bonus. A court that emphasizes good servants can add power to your spymaster’s schemes. You can even reduce the effects of bad food or unlock special actions for your council with enough grandeur.

So, the Royal Court is not simply a fun place to act out little medieval plays. Carefully managed, the court can be the hub of activity from where you plan a long term theme for your dynasty. It can even serve as a center for short-term activity if you redecorate the throne room with artifacts and relics that enhance a specific skill you need right now.

Royal Court is the first major expansion for Crusader Kings III, and we hope you find it a challenging and diverting way to make your royal family the greatest in history.

Crusader Kings III: Royal Court

Paradox Interactive

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

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There is but one true center for power and prestige: a ruler’s court. Step into your own fully immersive throne room with Crusader Kings: Royal Court, and get ready to impress vassals and courtiers with your splendor and treasure on display. Watch visitors pay respect or family members squabble as you pass judgment in royal audiences, establishing the vital link between your people and your realm.

In Crusader Kings: Royal Court, you can commission great works of art from inspired craftspeople. Impress your rivals with the grandeur of your court, or awe them with your noble house’s heirlooms and relics. An enhanced Culture system lets you guide your people to novel cultural understandings as they merge or splinter off, embrace their heritage, learn languages, or acquire new traditions.

A Royal Court on display
● As King or Emperor, watch as your personal throne room comes to life with the vast range of drama and intrigue of your court. Step into a fully 3D realized space, available in one of four major cultural visual styles, and fill it with regalia and majesty.
● Harsh or benevolent, pass judgment on those seeking arbitration. Hold court and watch as your courtiers scheme and vie for your attention.
● Match yourself against your greatest rival with your court’s grandeur. Or fail to impress them and suffer the sad diplomatic consequences of bad taste.

A true treasure
● Show off your exquisitely crafted relics, or focus on your noble house’s history with your family heirlooms. A whole range of new artifacts can be admired in the series’ return of the inventory system.
● Talented craftspeople, from jewelers to weavers, can be employed on special projects, adding even more unique items to your domain.
● Commission special great works of art or win artifacts in battle. Be careful, as they can just as easily be lost in a botched duel or rival’s scheme.

Culture and the people
● A greatly overhauled Culture system lies ready at your fingertips. Major new Cultural Traditions allow you to significantly change the way you play, from choosing the right benefits due to your realm’s terrain to giving your military new bonuses. Determine your heritage through Cultural Pillars or have your subjects learn new languages.
● Create a truly dynamic melting pot through the new Hybridisation feature, mixing and matching the defining traits of your people into a unique cultural fusion. Become a great Bedouin conqueror who merges with freshly subjugated people or follow the adventurous Norse ruler who came to adopt the local Sri Lankan ways.
● Witness your realm’s culture evolve with the new Divergence feature, with the hands of time subtly transform a single cultural strand into smaller sub-cultures. Shape it as you see fit, or sow the seeds of change, and watch as one monolithic culture grows into a collection of many different people.

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