Risk it All for One Final Crumb of Food!

It’s time to embrace your inner chaotic possum in this short and sweet arcade experience. An adorable mix of mischievous and wholesome, you hide and seek your way through the village alone or with a friend, using items and bushes to bamboozle the local patrolling guard dogs. Eat everything from a massive wheel of cheese to a whole cake in one gulp as you make your way to the top of the village, eat the massive pizza, and steal the crown from the dog leader’s head.

So, what are you waiting for? Pizza Possum is out now on Xbox Series S|X and it’s time to eat!

Short and Sweet, Filled with Bushes and Treats

Pizza Possum isn’t a particularly complicated game, and you will notice this quickly as you are tossed head-first into this vibrant village filled with goodies and treats. As you manage to shove more food into your mouth, your key meter will begin to fill, allowing you to gain and use a golden key to open the locked gate blocking your path. These gates are scattered across the island, so make sure you fill your meter so that you can make a quick getaway to a new district if you get chased.

You will also find bushes and caves with a distinct P printed over the entrance throughout the village. These are both fundamental tools in allowing you to progress and not get caught, as the bushes are your main means of hiding from oncoming patrols. As for the caves, or more accurately the possum boroughs, these act as checkpoints if you get caught. Simply run up to the one in the latest district you reach and plant the flag to ensure you can return there and keep planting them in the newest ones you find. If you don’t, it’s back to the beginning for you.

Items Can Make All the Difference

There is a high risk that at some point on the island, you will get caught. When you do, your key meter total will act as your high score for that run, and depending on how many points you got you might even unlock a new item to use. These items can make all the difference when navigating the village as they allow you to dodge guards in a smoother fashion.

The items themselves are split into three categories. The first are active usable items with a total set amount per item (e.g. energy drinks, dog bones). You can increase the stacked amount of your currently active item if you get lucky and collect the same item in any of the floating boxes spread throughout the village. The second is passive stacked items that increase your possum’s stats, like coffee for added speed or mints to make sure your bloated form doesn’t last as long. Lastly, you have wearable passive items which can give you different kinds of boosts, like the chef’s hat that lets you get more points from consuming food.

You will find all these types of items in the floating boxes scattered throughout the various districts though be warned that you can only have one active item in use at any time. This means that if you pick it up, your previously equipped one will be dropped, so select your tools carefully.

Climbing Your High Score and Stealing the Crown

The main objective of the possum’s travels throughout the village is to get to the top of the island, eat the gigantic pizza and through that act get the dog leader’s crown. However, the leader known as Bella Chonki is most persistent, so if you want to experience the Tasty Ending, you need to run up to them, eat their pizza and steal their crown not only once, not only twice but three whole times. And if you get caught, in your second and third run, the dog guards will reclaim all your stolen crowns.

There are other things you can do as well, such as challenge your past high scores in an attempt to see how high you can climb. You can also explore the village and find all the collectible zeppoles scattered across the island. Or maybe you just want to eat all the gigantic meals found in the various districts. The choice is yours.

Couch Co-op Mischief

You can play Pizza Possum alone or with an accomplice, who will take on the role of your fellow Racoon friend. Together, you and your couch buddy can maneuver around the guards and even help each other if one of you gets caught. All it takes is to run up to the guard and bonk them on the head, and they will drop their hold on their captive. Just make sure you don’t both get caught or it’ll be back to the last activated checkpoint.

Get to Eating

And that’s about it for now! With this information we hope we’ve managed to give you at least a few pointers on how to dive into Pizza Possum and we hope you enjoy unleashing your inner ravenous possum and manage to climb in your high scores. So, what are you waiting for? Let’s get to eating!

Pizza Possum

Raw Fury

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

$6.99

$6.29

Get it now

Life is good when you are a possum. You can eat all you want, and there is no one who can stop you. Well, except for all the guard dogs patrolling the village you’re in. But really, who are they to stop you. Besides, if you get chased, a quick hide in the bushes will often do the trick and get them off your scent. So what are you waiting for? Time to eat!

● Engage in adorable arcade-style hide-and-seek action
● Wreak havoc as an irresistible bloatable possum
● Escape or distract dog patrols using a wide range of tools, from smoke bombs to punching gloves
● Join forces with a playful friend and increase the chaos in the local co-op
● Embrace the chaos by screaming when you get chased or giggling when you get away with it
● Chase the frightened pig and goose neighbors long enough for them to drop more fruit for you
● Sink your teeth into the biggest cheese of wheel your possum eyes have ever seen
● Devour ice cream unbothered with a dog mask on
● Risk it all for one final crumb of food

In short, life is simple when you are a possum: Eat, run, hide, eat again.

The post It’s Time to Eat, Pizza Possum Is Out Now on Xbox Series X|S appeared first on Xbox Wire.

Since the first Forza Motorsport launched in 2005, the Forza franchise has been about falling in love with cars and building community. As a co-founder at Turn 10 Studios, I had the honor of working on the very first Forza Motorsport and have been with the studio for 20 years. In that time, we’ve grown considerably but, through it all, a constant has been our love for cars, pushing the limits of gaming technology, and creating a racing community for everyone. With less than two weeks to go before we release the brand-new Forza Motorsport globally on October 10, we wanted to share more of our vision for the game, explain how Forza Horizon titles have informed our racing sim, and share our approach for both new players and our core community.  

To start, we’ve been asked why we didn’t call this ‘Forza Motorsport 8,’ and it’s a fair question. From the beginning, we’ve designed the latest Forza Motorsport to be an evolving racing platform, with new content that adds to the experience of automotive entertainment through skill and competition. Last week we shared a little more about what players can expect with our evolving racing platform on forza.net. It’s due to this shift that we didn’t need a number in the title; we created a platform. 

On the Horizon 

In 2012, our studio partners at Playground Games released the first Forza Horizon, putting their signature twist on open world racing while building within our ForzaTech engine. It’s safe to say their work has made the Forza franchise even better. A lot has happened since our last Motorsport title, Forza Motorsport 7. Playground Games released two incredible games, Forza Horizon 4 and Forza Horizon 5, we moved into a new console generation with Xbox Series X|S, we’ve expanded our platforms across PC, Steam and Cloud Gaming, and Xbox Game Pass has become the best value in gaming and is synonymous with Xbox.  

We’re often asked about the difference between both titles within the overall franchise. Where Forza Horizon expresses its vision through freedom and exploration, Forza Motorsport focuses on competition and honing your skills – and both focus on accessibility, authenticity, and immersion in their own way.  

As Motorsport’s roots are within racing simulation, we wanted you to be immersed as soon as you start Forza Motorsport. You’ll experience the beautifully rebuilt Maple Valley track in the 2024 Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray, followed immediately by the exciting Hakone circuit in Japan in the 2023 Cadillac V-Series.R. You can check out almost 18 minutes of initial gameplay of Forza Motorsport here to see for yourself. 

Forza Motorsport has a rich history of championing accessibility in gaming, innovations like the driving line have opened racing to millions of players. Forza Horizon 5 focused on accessibility and inclusive design from the first stages of development. Their innovative support for American Sign Language (ASL) and British Sign Language (BSL) in Forza Horizon 5’s in-game cinematics was just one of their many accessibility features. All of us at Xbox embody the value that gaming is for everyone, and we’re proud that Forza Motorsport continues this tradition. Whether it’s the innovative Blind Driving Assists or One Touch Driving, thanks to the great work of our team and feedback from our incredible accessibility consultants, we’ve created our most accessible Motorsport ever.   

This is Forza Motorsport 

Let’s talk a little bit more about what Forza Motorsport is at its core. We’ve used the period since our last launch to innovate, redevelop, and refocus on the very core of the game. The entire experience of racing at the limit, improving your skill, building up your car, and competing on the track have been completely rethought. Our goal was to create a live, connected, immersive, accessible, and ever-changing competitive racing platform that will evolve and grow with our community. We’ve created a more competitive, accurate, and rewarding racing experience thanks to huge, foundational improvements in our physics and AI – more than all previous Motorsports combined. If you know Forza, you will feel the difference immediately.  

At launch we will have 20 tracks from around the world with multiple layouts, including 5 new-to-Motorsport tracks, and over 500 cars. And that’s just the start. All the cars, tracks, features, and innovations are highly focused on our larger vision. Our hope is that you find the 10 or so cars that matter to you, and that these cars change over time, evolving with you as you build them and hone your skills. Our game will grow as you grow your skills, and as you find your place in this competitive and creative community. In short, we hope that you will fall in love with cars through skill and competition.  

We can’t wait to see you at the starting line. To everyone, welcome to Forza Motorsport.  

Forza Motorsport is available October 10 on Xbox Game Pass, Xbox Series X|S consoles, Windows PC and Steam, and Cloud Gaming (Beta). Pre-order the Forza Motorsport Premium Edition in the Microsoft Store so you can pre-download the full game and play it up to 5 days earlier. 

Forza Motorsport Premium Edition

Xbox Game Studios

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

$99.99

Pre-order

• The Forza Motorsport Premium Edition includes the full game with 5 DAYS EARLY ACCESS, the Race Day Car Pack, Car Pass (30 cars delivered to your game weekly, one per week), VIP Membership and Welcome Pack. 
• Out-build the competition using more than 800 performance upgrades in the all-new, fun and rewarding single-player experience, the Builders Cup Career Mode. 
• Race alongside your friends in adjudicated multiplayer events with tire and fuel strategy, a race weekend inspired structure and new driver and safety ratings. 
• Compete with cutting edge AI opponents, advanced physics, powerful assists, new damage and dirt systems and photorealistic visuals with real-time ray tracing on-track. 
• Immerse yourself in over 500 real cars across 20 world-famous environments, including fan favorite locations and multiple track layouts, each featuring fully dynamic time-of-day with weather and unique driving conditions.

Race over 500 real-world cars including modern race cars and more than 100 cars new to Forza Motorsport. Make every lap count across 20 living environments with fan-favorite locations and multiple track layouts to master, each featuring live on-track scoring, fully dynamic time-of-day with weather and unique driving conditions that ensure no two laps ever look or play the same. 

Experience a cutting-edge simulation with incredible photorealistic visuals that deliver real-time ray tracing on-track, new damage and dirt accumulation systems, and massively upgraded physics featuring powerful assists and a 48x improvement in tire fidelity. 

Out-build the competition by earning over 800 performance upgrades and race our most advanced AI opponents yet in an all-new, fun and rewarding single-player campaign, the Builders Cup Career Mode. 

Compete the podium in Featured Multiplayer* events with a race weekend inspired structure or create the racing you and your friends desire in Free Play. Online racing is safer, more fun and more competitive with AI-powered Forza Race Regulations, tire and fuel strategy, and new driver and safety ratings.

Immerse yourself in an expanding world of motorsport. New career championships and online events will be regularly introduced offering unique challenges, incredible new cars and tracks, and exciting new gameplay experiences for years to come. Forza Motorsport Premium Edition includes the full game with 5 days early access, Race Day Car Pack, Car Pass, VIP Membership and Welcome Pack. 

Race Day Car Pack features 8, new-to-Forza cars built exclusively for the racetrack including high-performance machines; Car Pass delivers 30, new-to-Forza cars to your game weekly, one per week, for you to collect, build and race (available as released); Welcome Pack jumpstarts your career with 5 immediate car unlocks and $500,000 bonus credits that you can use towards purchasing the car of your dreams; and VIP Membership provides a PERMANENT 2x BOOST to BASE CREDITS, 5 Forza Edition cars reserved for VIP Members, VIP Driver Gear with 5 colorways to choose from, the VIP Player Card, VIP Crown Flair, VIP-exclusive events and more.

*(Online console multiplayer requires Xbox Game Pass Ultimate or Core, sold separately)

Forza Motorsport Deluxe Edition

Xbox Game Studios

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

$89.99

Pre-order

• The Forza Motorsport Deluxe Edition includes the full game and Car Pass (30 cars delivered to your game weekly, one per week).
• Out-build the competition using more than 800 performance upgrades in the all-new, fun and rewarding single-player experience, the Builders Cup Career Mode.
• Race alongside your friends in adjudicated multiplayer events with tire and fuel strategy, a race weekend inspired structure and new driver and safety ratings.
• Compete with cutting edge AI opponents, advanced physics, powerful assists, new damage and dirt systems and photorealistic visuals with real-time ray tracing on-track.
• Immerse yourself in over 500 real cars across 20 world-famous environments, including fan favorite locations and multiple track layouts, each featuring fully dynamic time-of-day with weather and unique driving conditions.

Race over 500 real-world cars including modern race cars and more than 100 cars new to Forza Motorsport. Make every lap count across 20 living environments with fan-favorite locations and multiple track layouts to master, each featuring live on-track scoring, fully dynamic time-of-day with weather and unique driving conditions that ensure no two laps ever look or play the same.

Experience a cutting-edge simulation with incredible photorealistic visuals that deliver real-time ray tracing on-track, new damage and dirt accumulation systems, and massively upgraded physics featuring powerful assists and a 48x improvement in tire fidelity.

Out-build the competition by earning over 800 performance upgrades and race our most advanced AI opponents yet in an all-new, fun and rewarding single-player campaign, the Builders Cup Career Mode.

Compete for the podium in Featured Multiplayer* events with a race weekend inspired structure or create the racing you and your friends desire in Free Play. Online racing is safer, more fun and more competitive with AI-powered Forza Race Regulations, tire and fuel strategy, and new driver and safety ratings.

Immerse yourself in an expanding world of motorsport. New career championships and online events will be regularly introduced offering unique challenges, incredible new cars and tracks, and exciting new gameplay experiences for years to come.

Forza Motorsport Deluxe Edition includes the full game and Car Pass.

Car Pass delivers 30, new-to-Forza cars to your game weekly, one per week, for you to collect, build and race (available as released).

*(Online console multiplayer requires Xbox Game Pass Ultimate or Core, sold separately)

Forza Motorsport Standard Edition

Xbox Game Studios

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

$69.99

Pre-order

• Out-build the competition using more than 800 performance upgrades in the all-new, fun and rewarding single-player experience, the Builders Cup Career Mode.
• Race alongside your friends in adjudicated multiplayer events with tire and fuel strategy, a race weekend inspired structure and new driver and safety ratings. 
• Compete with cutting edge AI opponents, advanced physics, powerful assists, new damage and dirt systems and photorealistic visuals with real-time ray tracing on-track. 
• Immerse yourself in over 500 real cars across 20 world-famous environments, including fan favorite locations and multiple track layouts, each featuring fully dynamic time-of-day with weather and unique driving conditions.

Race over 500 real-world cars including modern race cars and more than 100 cars new to Forza Motorsport. Make every lap count across 20 living environments with fan-favorite locations and multiple track layouts to master, each featuring live on-track scoring, fully dynamic time-of-day with weather and unique driving conditions that ensure no two laps ever look or play the same. 

Experience a cutting-edge simulation with incredible photorealistic visuals that deliver real-time ray tracing on-track, new damage and dirt accumulation systems, and massively upgraded physics featuring powerful assists and a 48x improvement in tire fidelity. 

Out-build the competition by earning over 800 performance upgrades and race our most advanced AI opponents yet in an all-new, fun and rewarding single-player campaign, the Builders Cup Career Mode. 

Compete for the podium in Featured Multiplayer* events with a race weekend inspired structure or create the racing you and your friends desire in Free Play. Online racing is safer, more fun and more competitive with AI-powered Forza Race Regulations, tire and fuel strategy, and new driver and safety ratings.  

Immerse yourself in an expanding world of motorsport. New career championships and online events will be regularly introduced offering unique challenges, incredible new cars and tracks, and exciting new gameplay experiences for years to come.

*(Online console multiplayer requires Xbox Game Pass Ultimate or Core, sold separately)

The post Welcome to Forza Motorsport: From Forza Horizon to Falling in Love With Cars appeared first on Xbox Wire.

New policy for storing game captures, plus a new easy way to back them up

Starting today we’re updating the way the Xbox network retains game captures. Game captures stored on the Xbox network will be deleted after 90 days. To back up any clips or screenshots you wish to keep indefinitely, follow the steps listed in our Back up your clips article. To double check the status of your game captures, go to the Captures app to view your game captures stored on the Xbox network to see if any are marked for an upcoming deletion.

Alongside this new retention approach, we’re making it easier than ever to back up all your game captures to either OneDrive or an external storage device of your choice.

You can move, manage, and bulk upload where you store your captures on your Xbox console. To do so, press the Xbox button, and then go to My games & apps > See all > Apps > Captures. You’ll see a “Tell me more” button where you can get started. You’ll also be able to set up future captures to automatically back up to OneDrive so you never have to wonder if everything is backed up.

Thanks to the built-in Microsoft Clipchamp video editor on your PC, you can also create videos of your epic gaming moments for the game captures you save to OneDrive. Trim, crop, add text, transitions, and other effects. Afterward, you can easily share these videos with your friends, family, and followers.

Find events for your favorite games 

Now it’s easier than ever to discover in-game events and new content that’s being launched for the games you love. From the top of Home, scroll down, and you’ll see the new Events channel that will show live and upcoming events. Plus, you can quickly click on each event you want to get all the details.

Find popular apps faster when setting up a new Xbox

We’re making it easier for players to find and download popular apps when setting up a new console. Now when you set up a new console either from the Xbox mobile app or directly on the console, you’ll get the option to download popular apps like Apple Music, AppleTV, Crunchyroll, Disney+, Hulu, Movies & TV, Peacock, Spotify, and Tubi. Downloading apps during setup saves you time later—your favorite apps will be ready to go when you are. Separate subscriptions may be required.

Watch and play your favorite fall sports

What’s your favorite sport? Football, soccer, hockey, basketball? All of them? This September and October, Xbox consoles in the United States will be able to try a one-stop-shop for sports fans to find your favorite sports games to play and to watch your teams on Xbox streaming apps. Navigate from your Xbox to the Store > Apps Home, and then scroll down to go check it out!

Help shape the future of Xbox

Stay tuned to Xbox Wire for future updates and all the latest and greatest Xbox-related news. For support related to Xbox updates, visit the official Xbox Support site.

We love hearing from the community, whether you have a suggestion for a new feature that you’d like to see added, or you want to give feedback on existing features that could use some improvement. From game capture and share improvements, to helping games load faster, new ways to connect with your gaming community, and so much more, we’re always listening and looking for ways to improve Xbox experiences for gamers around the world. If you’d like to help create the future of Xbox and get early access to new features, download the Xbox Insider Hub on your Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, or Windows PC today. Let us know what you think!

The post Bonus Xbox Update for September: A Simplified Experience to Back Up Your Game Captures to OneDrive and More appeared first on Xbox Wire.

In the realm of iconic cultural phenomenon, few have left a mark as indelible as Happy Tree Friends. These lovable yet crooked forest critters have been a source of macabre humor and fascination for fans worldwide. After a six-year hiatus, their return is not just a comeback; it’s a revival eagerly anticipated by legions of fans who have yearned for more mayhem and cuteness. This wacky woodland gang returns in the form of a brand new animated episode, and in a roguelite shoot’em up, The Crackpet Show.

But why do we, as humans, have this curious affinity for cruelty, even in the cutest of packages? It’s a question that has perplexed scholars and thinkers for ages. Perhaps it’s the stark contrast between the adorable appearance of Happy Tree Friends and the gruesome fates that befall them that keep us hooked. It’s a contrast of sweetness and cruelty that, against all odds, found affection in the hearts of people worldwide.

Enter The Crackpet Show, a post-apocalyptic world where the worst tendencies of humanity have run rampant, giving rise to a bizarre dystopia unlike any other. In this bleak and chaotic setting, Happy Tree Friends find themselves, and it’s a perfect match. The very essence of this show aligns with the darkest aspects of humanity, making it the ideal stage for our beloved characters to wreak havoc once more.

The Crackpet Show is not for the faint-hearted; it’s a world where violence and chaos reign supreme. Participants must embrace the mayhem, shooting, smashing, and ripping through hordes of enemies to emerge victorious. Within this nightmarish landscape, colossal bosses lurk, capable of turning your world inside out. It’s a challenging world, but for Happy Tree Friends, it’s a homecoming like no other.

As fans eagerly await their return, it’s not only the game that has them excited. A brand-new episode is also on the horizon, promising to capture the essence of the classic series while embracing the twisted reality of The Crackpet Show. Happy Tree Friends’ antics and gore-filled escapades will return to the beloved, crazy dimension, leaving fans both delighted and horrified.

The anticipation for this momentous return has been palpable. Happy Tree Friends fans have longed for more of the dark humor and iconic characters that have become a cultural touchstone. 

In a world where the line between gore and humor blurs, Happy Tree Friends’ comeback is a testament to the enduring appeal of this iconic cultural phenomenon. The Crackpet Show provides the perfect backdrop for their return, and fans couldn’t be more thrilled. 

The Crackpet Show: Happy Tree Friends Edition and the new episode premiere today on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. Chaos and laughter will collide in a way that only Happy Tree Friends can orchestrate, and fans can hardly wait for the mayhem to begin anew.

The Crackpet Show: Happy Tree Friends Edition

Ravenage Games

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

$19.99

Pre-order

Happy Tree Friends are back! Remember those rebellious days when parents forbade us from watching this cute cartoon, and we had to sneak around? Well, guess what? Now you can embrace the legendary cruelty and humor of the iconic cartoon as you play your favorite characters in The Crackpet Show: Happy Tree Friends Edition! Get ready to unleash chaos, earn fame, and have a blast!

Are you ready to get famous? If so, grab your gun and join the most violent TV show in the history of violent TV shows! Participants will have to shoot, smash and rip through hundreds of enemies on their way to victory!

Don’t be discouraged by THE GIANT BOSSES that are more than capable of turning your innards outwards – just grab the best perks and weapons along the way. Make your gun spew molten lava all over the floor, turn yourself into a berserker, and let your bullets bounce between enemies! All these things stack, so you have every opportunity to turn your furry warrior into a raging death machine.

You’ll still die, though. That’s just how life is, even for those who wield a rail gun. But who cares about death when your audience loves YOU? Unlike real life, here you can make good use of the likes you receive.

Use your new-found fame to help upgrade every item and every perk to deal even more damage when you head out again. Oh, don’t worry about getting bored: every episode of the show is randomized so you’ll never have the same run twice in-a-row.
And, when you are completely done with show business, invite your friends and party-up with co-op mode with up to four players! Play smart and synergize with the team or bash their teeth in when they will try to steal your power-ups: every dirty trick in the book is valid, and every strategy works as long as you are having fun.
So, are you ready to sign the contract?

Rogue-lite Shoot’em-up
There are tons of enemies, dozens of weapons, lots of perks and items, randomized drop and map layouts, as well as carnivorous bosses for you to test your ability to beat the game with in-game items

The most bizarre TV Show
It’s cute. It’s colorful. It’s everything you love about old-school gore cartoons. This is your only opportunity to make a pink rabbit into a harbinger of death. Do not miss it!

Play solo or co-op
Play the game solo or get your friends to play with you, create elaborate tactics or mess around and try to steal your friend’s items and power-ups. The goal is to have fun and get famous, not to sit down crunching numbers. Though it’s also a thing if you are into it.

The post Happy Tree Friends Is Back With A New Episode, And A Roguelite Shooter appeared first on Xbox Wire.

Terraformers: A Brief Overview

Hello space travelers! Mateusz Sadowski here, Content & Marketing Manager at Klabater. I’m happy to tell you a little bit more about our newest release – Terraformers. It’s a strategy 3x game that challenges players to take on the role of planetary engineers tasked with transforming Mars into a habitable world. Developed by a dedicated team of game designers, this title offers an immersive experience that combines strategy, science, and exploration.

Exploring the Martian Terrain

One of the most interesting aspects of Terraformers is its attention to detail when it comes to recreating Mars’ landscape. The game provides players with an opportunity to explore the planet’s unique geography, including its towering Olympus Mons, the largest volcano in the solar system, and the deep, enigmatic Valles Marineris canyon system.

Fascinating Facts About Mars

As you start your journey to terraform Mars in Terraformers, here are some interesting facts about the Red Planet that will deepen your appreciation for the game:

1. Tharsis Volcanoes: In Terraformers, you’ll encounter the massive Tharsis volcanic plateau, home to some of the largest volcanoes in the solar system. The real Mars boasts the largest volcano, Olympus Mons, which stands nearly 13.6 miles (22 kilometers) high, dwarfing Mount Everest.

2. Thin Atmosphere: Mars has a thin atmosphere composed mainly of carbon dioxide, making it inhospitable to humans. In Terraformers, you’ll need to tackle this challenge by introducing gases to thicken the atmosphere and raise temperatures, much like the real-life scientific proposals for terraforming Mars.

3. Mars’ Two Tiny Moons: Mars has two small moons, Phobos and Deimos. Phobos, in particular, is peculiar because it orbits Mars faster than Mars rotates on its axis. As a result, Phobos rises in the west and sets in the east, making it an oddity in the night sky. In Terraformers you’ll have chance to colonize both moons!

4. Martian Blue Sunsets: Due to the scattering of sunlight by fine Martian dust particles in the atmosphere, sunsets on Mars appear blue. This is the opposite of Earth, where our sunsets tend to appear reddish-orange due to a different scattering phenomenon.You’ll witness this sunsets in Tearrafomers.

5. The Search for Life: Terraformers also touches on the ongoing search for signs of past or present life on Mars. While there’s no evidence of life in the game and you can populize planet with animals, Mars has been a focus of scientific investigation for its potential to harbor life, past or present.

Life on Red Planet

Terraformers is more than just a game; it’s an exploration of the future of humanity and our potential to transform other worlds into habitable environments. With its rich attention to detail and realistic portrayal of Martian geography, it provides players with an opportunity to engage with the scientific challenges and possibilities of terraforming Mars.

Keep these fascinating facts about the Red Planet in mind. Who knows, your gaming experience might inspire you to learn more about Mars and our ongoing efforts to understand and potentially colonize this captivating celestial neighbor. So, grab your controller, start terraforming, and immerse yourself in the adventure of a lifetime on Mars.

Terraformers is out now!
Terraformers comes out today, September 26th, on Xbox One and Xbox Series S&X with special 10% discount on first week so don’t hesitate and start terraforming the Red Planet today!

Terraformers

Klabater

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

$24.99

$22.49

Get it now

Terraformers is an expansive turn-based colony builder and resource management game with roguelike elements. Explore the Red Planet, develop spectacular cities, spread life and terraform the planet with ambitious projects.

The post Transforming Mars, One Turn at a Time – Terraformers Lands on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One Today appeared first on Xbox Wire.

We at CD Projekt Red are so excited to finally deliver Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty into the hands of players — and to celebrate its release, we prepared the Official Launch Trailer, packed with moody, spy-thriller vibes and featuring an exclusive new track from Polish chart-topper Dawid Podsiadło. Imbuing the trailer with an atmosphere of mystery and tension that properly reflected the heart-pounding story players are in for was our top priority, which is why we took some time to meet with our video team and break down just how they brought it to life. Haven’t seen it yet? Take a watch before reading on for some exclusive insights.

We joined two of our CD Projekt Red employees, Video Artist Adam Dudek and Senior Video Artist Rafał Bieńko, to learn more about how they approached this final trailer. On paper, their titles may sound similar, but their roles naturally diverged. “In classic film terms, it could best be described that Rafał is the director and I’m the director of photography,” Adam explained. “But at the same time it’s much more than that. Our roles also include editing, designing shots, shotspotting, technical in-engine magic, and figuring out how to capture everything in the best way possible, story- and quality-wise.”

Creating a trailer also involves stages similar to a traditional film production, from ideas and moodboards to actually shooting and locking a final cut. At the idea stage, it’s important to decide on a tone, something that will carry the project all the way through. “Sometimes that can be dictated by the voiceover, but it’s equally important to know what we want to achieve with the trailer,” Rafał said. “Do we want to tease the narrative of the game, explore a certain character, showcase a game feature, or highlight a stunning environment piece? We prefer to do a few things at once because when it comes to trailers, every shot matters. What’s most important, however, is staying true to the game itself.”

And when it comes to the tone of the expansion versus the trailer, according to Rafał, “We like to think it matches perfectly. We played this expansion over and over since its development stages, and I think our awesome devs did such a great job in crafting a really beautiful, extremely engaging story full of twists and turns, a story that we fell in love with and basically sunk so much time into.”

Adam added, “Phantom Liberty has a really strong spy vibe since it was inspired by many classic noir movies and stories itself. So in our work, we wanted to highlight that at much as possible through pacing, music, VOs, framing, composition and lighting — basically, everything we’ve got. Our games have such a wide variety of topics, which means we can always approach the trailer’s narrative from multiple angles. In our previous trailers and teasers we set the stage of the story in Phantom Liberty, so this time around we wanted to make it more personal, more emotional.” And the best way to do that? “Dawid Podsiadło’s song was the obvious choice. It set up the tone we wanted instantly.”

Like every good spy film, Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty contains a closing track that plays over the credits — a melancholic, gripping tribute to the narrative that has just run its course. Dawid Podsiadło, who had previously recorded music for Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, was a natural choice to really bring the story home. Together with CD Projekt Red’s Senior Composer P.T. Adamczyk and Music Director Marcin Przybyłowicz, the trio — alongside the Prague National Orchestra — created their own take on a classic spy song.

Rafał noted that “Dawid’s song absolutely had an impact on the shots and scenes we chose. It’s melancholic and emotional at heart with a strong and energetic current, one that steered us to make the choices we did in the type of shots chosen and overall pacing of the trailer. It’s a track that touches your heart and encapsulates the vibe of the game incredibly well.” Players will have to wait a little longer before listening to the full song — it’s set to release on September 29, so the Launch Trailer may be the best place to get a sense of what’s in store. Unless, of course, you speed through your top-secret mission in Dogtown.

Once the tone and song for the trailer is chosen, “we move to in-game scouting of particular moments and places from the game,” said Adam. “At this stage, we record clips, take screenshots, build storyboards, and gather references to create the first raw prototype. The edit is considered locked when we have the timing and the general idea of each shot — only then do we decide on the framing, lighting, and technical way we want to capture each one. Then, every shot is polished step by step until we reach our desired quality. And that can lead to many iterations,” he said.

Every production process has its difficulties — and the hardest part of this one? “Not spoiling too much!” said Rafał. “There’s always an urge to show every amazing beat, and there are a lot of incredible scenes and moments to choose from in Phantom Liberty. But we’re very conscious about not spoiling important plot points or saving cool moments for gamers to discover themselves.” The good news is that players can rewatch the trailer as many times as they want without having to worry about spoiling any twists or turns waiting for them ahead!

Every video like this is a big challenge, with plenty of recording and tweaking to make each shot shine as much as possible. “Thankfully, we’ve been working together for some time now,” Adam said, “So we have a really good understanding of how to work together efficiently — and most importantly, how to have fun during the process!” That care and effort, and maybe even enjoyment, shines through every second. So kick back and give the Launch Trailer another watch, and then jump right into Dogtown — Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty is out now on Xbox Series X|S!

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty

CD PROJEKT RED

☆☆☆☆☆
44

★★★★★

$29.99

Get it now

ABOUT THE GAME

Phantom Liberty is a new spy-thriller adventure for Cyberpunk 2077. When the orbital shuttle of the President of the New United States of America is shot down over the deadliest district of Night City, there’s only one person who can save her — you. Become V, a cyberpunk for hire, and dive deep into a tangled web of espionage and political intrigue, unraveling a story that connects the highest echelons of power with the brutal world of black-market mercenaries.

Infiltrate Dogtown, a city-within-a-city run by a trigger-happy militia and ruled by a leader with an iron fist. With the help of NUSA sleeper agent Solomon Reed (Idris Elba) and the support of Johnny Silverhand (Keanu Reeves), unravel a web of shattered loyalties and use your every skill to survive in a fractured world of desperate hustlers, shadowy netrunners, and ruthless mercenaries. Built with the power of next-gen hardware in mind, Phantom Liberty offers brand-new gameplay mechanics, nail-biting courier jobs, gigs, and missions — and a thrilling main quest where freedom and loyalty always come at a price.

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