Xbox
Hardware, storefront and ecosystem news for Xbox.
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The King is Watching Review | TheXboxHub
The King is Watching is a clever city-management roguelike that challenges players to manage their city only when observed, similar to a boss watching. Despite some control quibbles on console, the game offers deep strategy, varied builds, and a sadistic yet rewarding gameplay loop, making it a standout title for PC and now available on Xbox with additional content.
Ubisoft is letting owners of its Xbox games play select titles for free on PC as part of a new partnership with Microsoft
Ubisoft and Microsoft have partnered to allow owners of select Ubisoft digital titles on Xbox to play them on PC via Ubisoft Connect at no additional cost. This initiative includes games like Assassin's Creed Mirage and Far Cry 6, with previously purchased titles expected to appear by August 4th. While DLC transfers, consumable items and in-game currency may not. Additionally, premium editions of several Ubisoft games are now available on the Xbox app for PC.
"Across the industry, we don't think enough about how we match the scope to what we're making" – Mike Bithell on why the world needs an im-slim
Mike Bithell discusses the challenges faced by indie developers, including the recent downsizing of Bithell Games. He introduces his new experimental immersive sim, Vampirium 1997, which adopts a minimalist, tile-based approach to reduce development scope and cost. Bithell advocates for better matching project scope to market potential, criticizing the industry's risk aversion and reliance on established IPs.
Xbox is back online, tech lead pledges "we'll do better" so similar failures "can't ruin your night again" after outage stopped fans playing digital and physical games
Xbox's Chief Technology Officer Scott Van Vliet has apologized for a recent service outage that prevented players from accessing their game libraries and digital titles. He pledged to improve services and transparency following the incident, which was caused by a failure in an external licensing service. The outage lasted several hours and has reignited concerns about the shift towards digital-only games.
Quarantine Zone: The Last Check Review | TheXboxHub
Quarantine Zone: The Last Check is a simulation game where players act as a guard at a zombie apocalypse checkpoint, deciding whether individuals are infected or healthy. The game combines inspection gameplay with light base management, offering a campaign and endless mode. While praised for its atmosphere and clever premise, the repetitive nature of the core gameplay loop may eventually lead to waning interest for some players.
Delad glädje är dubbel glädje
The author reflects on their journey from a solitary gamer to someone who highly values multiplayer experiences. Initially preferring single-player games due to limited controllers and competitive anxieties, their perspective shifted with the advent of the Xbox 360 and its co-op-focused titles. Now, shared gaming sessions, both local and online, are the source of many of their fondest gaming memories, reinforcing the idea that shared joy is indeed double joy.
Xbox CTO explains what caused the Xbox outage, apologises to players, and outlines what's being done going forward
Xbox experienced a major server outage on Monday, impacting game purchases, downloads, and offline play due to a failure in an external licensing service. Xbox CTO Scott Van Vliet apologized and explained that the issue has been resolved, with the company initiating a full review to prevent future occurrences and improve transparency with the community.
Xbox explains outage preventing players from accessing games, CTO says it will "do better"
Xbox's CTO Scott Van Vliet explained that a failure in a shared internal licensing service caused a widespread outage, preventing players from signing in and accessing their games. The issue also impacted publishing and store partners. Xbox is conducting a review to prevent similar failures and improve recovery times, with service restoration occurring unevenly across regions.
Xbox ber om ursäkt för gårdagens strul och avbrott
Xbox has apologized for a widespread service outage that prevented players from logging in, accessing their game libraries, and launching games. Scott Van Vliet, CTO for Xbox, explained the issue stemmed from a licensing service and promised improvements in error detection and communication. The company plans to share more details on platform improvements in the coming weeks.
Xbox CTO pins Xbox Network downtime on external “licensing service”
Xbox Chief Technical Officer Scott Van Vliet explained that a recent Xbox Network outage was caused by an external licensing service failure, impacting game sign-ins, library access, and purchases. The company is implementing changes to prevent single points of failure and improve transparency during future incidents. The outage also highlighted ongoing concerns about restrictive DRM policies affecting game access.
Issues and Activism
The new Xbox remake of Halo has quickly become a focal point for culture war debates. This article examines the issues and activism surrounding the game's release and reception.
Evening Patches
Forever Skies has received its latest update, The Final Echoes (Version 1.3.0), which is now available on Xbox. This patch signifies the game's official release and includes new content and improvements.
Game Guidance
This article provides survival tips for navigating the toxic clouds in Forever Skies on Xbox. It also includes a guide for The Crew Motorfest, offering settings to improve gameplay instantly.
Evening Postmortems/Retrospectives
Discussions surrounding the evolution of Halo's campaign and the discovery of cut Zombies content in Call of Duty: Black Ops highlight ongoing community engagement with classic titles. These conversations reflect on the development processes and player experiences within these established franchises.
Evening Consolidation
Xbox platforms are currently experiencing a major service outage, according to Game Informer. The extent and cause of the disruption have not yet been detailed.
Ubisoft is Providing Free PC Copies of 13 Games to Players Who Own Them on Xbox
Ubisoft and Xbox are offering free PC copies of select Ubisoft games to players who own them digitally on Xbox One or Xbox Series X/S. To claim the PC version, players must link their Ubisoft Connect account to their Xbox account. This promotion applies to a list of modern titles, and while it doesn't work in reverse, add-on content for owned games is also included.
Ubisoft Gives Free PC Copies to Xbox Owners of Select Games
Ubisoft is offering free PC copies of select games to owners of those games on Xbox platforms. This promotion aims to provide PC access to players who have already purchased titles on an Xbox console.
13 Ubisoft games go free on PC if you own them on Xbox
Ubisoft has launched a program allowing players who own select digital Ubisoft titles on Xbox to also receive the PC version for free. This initiative includes 13 games such as Assassin's Creed Mirage, Far Cry 6, and Rainbow Six Siege. While cross-progression is supported for earned content, in-game currencies and consumables will not transfer between platforms.
Xbox grants PC versions of select Ubisoft games to digital copy owners
Xbox and Ubisoft have partnered to grant PC versions of select Ubisoft digital titles to players who own them on Xbox. This program includes franchises like Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six. The PC versions are still rolling out and will continue until August 4, with in-game content like Season Passes also transferring.
Cyan reveals abandoned prototype for new Myst game, confirms different Myst game is in development
Cyan Worlds has confirmed a new Myst game is in early development, codenamed Mudfish, while also revealing an abandoned prototype called Project Anglerfish. The studio also announced physical editions of its Myst and Riven remakes for PlayStation 5, Xbox, and PC. Separately, game optimization firm CodeDev, also known as The Performance Guys, has launched a new division focused on Unreal Engine optimization, having previously worked on titles like Mafia: The Old Country.
