As one of the biggest video games in history, Minecraft has maintained a steady stream of content to keep old fans happy while enticing newcomers. Its annual Mob Vote al??so means players can decide which creature gets added next. However, some want to see this get tossed into lava.

A recent petition is asking the developer to "stop the Mob Vote," scrapping this ?voting system entirely. At the time of writing, 354,836 people have signed, with 500,000 being the eventual goal.

Mob voting for 2023 is said to begin October 13. It offers a chance for fans to have some say in what mob gets implemented into Minecraft's world. Last year??, it was the turn of the Sniffer. This year, people are being asked to choose between the penguin, the crab, or the armadillo.

Why is this petition happening?

The petition on Change.org �started by Holly Mavermorne �argues that, as part of the engagement and feedback, many i??deas are left "on the cutting room floor." They see this as "teasing content that will never be seen in the game."

On top of this, Mavermorne believes that Microsoft's ownership of Minecraft should see more content on a regular basis. Before the tech giant bought studio Mojang out in 2014, the game's popularity could be attested to its "regular updates and large amounts? of content."

Additionally, a thread on Reddit shows some feel choosing one mob to be added is not an adequate way to engage the community. User dfjh?gsaydgsauygdjh says fans "want all the mobs and all the features from the mob votes, because implementing just 1 and teasing us with the other 2 just�feels bad".

User TheCarina chimes in by a?dding that if "Mojang does not bring a losing mob from a previous vote into this year's update, I am firmly believing ever?y lost mob is gone for good."

Some may see the vote as a publicity stunt in which Minecraft becomes a focal point of con??versation in the? gaming world, perhaps to drum up hype for the Minecraft Live event.

On top of this, Mavermorne believes that the voting system can also encourage content ??creators to mobilize "their fanbases to vote for the least popular option for the joke of screwing over the other voters." As such, Mob Vote is inherently flawed, they argue.

The end result of this petition is to put a complete stop to the vote in its entirety. Instead, three new mobs added into Minecraft on a yearly basis wo?uld be preferable. As th??ey say:

If unpaid modders can add your mobs to the game within days after they're announced, the least you could do is keep up with the content frequency that made Minecraft famous.

And in the time it took me to write this article, the signature count has gone ??up by another thousand.

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The Xbox Series X version touts a wild-sounding '6K Supersampled mode at 60FPS outputting in 4K HDR'

Moon Studios updated Ori and the Will of the Wisps today in preparation for the Xbox Series X/S, and I have a feeling it'll be just the kick in the pants some people needed to check out one of the year's best video games. The team call?s it a "huge upgrade" for the new Xbox consoles. It's?? easy to see why.

Xbox Series X can pull off 4K HDR at 120FPS, and there's even a "6K Supersampled mode" that runs at 60FPS. On Xbox Series S, Will of the Wisps offers 1080p HDR at 120FPS and 4K at 60FPS. Beyond that boost, there are extra niceties like faster load times, high-fidelity audio??, and "instant input? response."

For anyone still struggling with lingering bugs or crashes, there are new performance and stability improvements "across all Xbox One SKUs," including extra p??olish "throughout the game experience."

Moon Studios updated the PC version of Will of the Wisps, too. You can dig into more graphics and audio modes (on both the super-high and low end) and benefit from some of t?hose same stability fixes.

Funny enough, I just started ?playing it this week. The buzz was legit.

Release?? Notes for Ori and the Will of the Wisps – Xbox Series X|S and More! [Moon Studios]

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The Xbox Series X version of Sea of Thieves will run at 4K and Xbox Series S will stay at 1080p

Sea of Thieves might not be your first order of business on Xbox Series X/S, but the next time you're in the mood for swashbuckling, yo??u'll benefit from some noticeable visual and perf?ormance gains.

As confirmed by Rare today, Sea of Thieves will reach 4K/60FPS on Xbox Series X and 1080p/60FPS on Xbox Series S. As expe?cted? I'd say so. I think we're bound to see?? similar results elsewhere.

That said, the real win – the thing I'm most excited about for backward-compatible games, in general – is spending less time waiting to actually start playing. Both consoles will "lead to significantly reduced load times" for Sea of Thieves, according to Rare. Th?e current slowness is a widely-held gripe.

Backing that claim up with some real-world testing, in its pre-release coverage, The Verge clocked the game's load time as 20 seconds on Xbox Series X and 1 minut??e and 21 seconds on Xbox One X.

"This optimized version of Sea of Thieves will be available to all players with Xbox Game Pass alongside ?the launch of both consoles [on Nove??mber 10], and via Smart Delivery for existing owners," said Rare.

When this game first released, I wasn't sure it woul??d still be kicking in 2020. What a turnaround.

Sea of Thieves on the Next Generation of Consoles [Rare]

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I can feel a hot one

The next Sea of Thieves update belongs on the cover of the cheesiest '80s metal album. Get ready to melt some faces -- not through the sickest of guitar riffs but through actual hot hot heat.

The Ashen Winds update is live and it introduces a new enemy type called the Ashen? Lords. They're a fiery bunch -- literally. Their presence is marked by a firenado. They're capable of turning their faces into flamethrowers. They summon meteor storms. Thematically, you get the idea.

There's a badass payoff for dealing with the sweaty temperature change. Ashen Lords will drop the Ashen Winds skull which is straight-up a skull the spits fire. It's a great way stop another buccanee??r dead in their tracks. It's an even better way of setting another crew's all-wood ship aflame. Wood, as I understand it, is extremely flammable.

It's not a permanent accessory, though. They burn hot and flame out quick. Th??e Order of Souls ?will buy skulls from you, but they're willing to pay a lot less if you've used up all the firepower. An empty propane tank is a worthless propane tank.

Here are the full patch notes for the Sea of Thieves Ashen Winds update.

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Halo Infinite sure did, but I'm still not sold on the Xbox Series X

The Xbox Games Showcase went down yesterday, revealing the return of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. (hell yeah), Forza Motorsport, Fable, and showcased some Halo Infinite gameplay.

H??owever, nothing has yet has convinced me I need actually to purchase an Xbox Series X. The thing is: I already have a decent enough gaming PC and have plans in the future to upgrade it. So, when Microsoft gobbled up all those new game studios in recent years, I hoped to see some genuine exclusive games for their next-generation system.

Clearly, that doesn't seem to be their priority anymore. Don't get me wrong, a lot of the g??ames they showcased yesterday have me excited to play them, but I can't justify buying the Series X over simply playing those games on my PC. Outside of price points (and who will reveal their price first), it almost feels like the competitive nature between PlayStation and Xbox has simmered down a ton. Nintendo is doing their own thing on Switch, Microsoft is focusing on Xbox Game Pass, and PlayStation is sticking with a strategy of first-party premium titles.

None of what I just mentioned is a bad thing (it's fantastic, really), but I can't help but wonder why Microsoft can't combine its Xbox Game Pass strategy and exclusive first-party titles? That would instantly sell me on the Xbox Series X. For now, though, it's just another case of "wait and see" for me, and I'm legitimately curious if that's the same case for a lot of other folks a??s well, so sound?? off below!

The post Did the July Xbox Games Showcase win you over? appeared first on Destructoid.

Dread not

It's all high waters and deep player counts for Sea of Thieves. That's probably a good sign whe?n you're trying to keep a giant ship afloat.

Xbox recently revealed that Sea of Thieves has surpassed 15 million looting, plundering buccaneers. June saw 3.3 m?illion active players, which is the biggest month in the game's history. The Steam release at the beginning of June ??????????????????????????has resulted in another 1 million sales.

Undoubtedly, Xbox Game Pass accounts for a good chunk of those 15 million players, but that's far from the whole story. Microsoft recently announced that Game Pass topped 10 million subscribers. Some of those have come and gone over the last two years, and not all subscribers downloaded Sea of Thieves. It's finding success on its own, and those St??eam sales are proof positive.

When Sea of Thieves launched in Spring 2018, it was a shallow game with a strong foundation. Years of new content from Rare has people sticking around and coming back?. This is post-launch support done right, and that dedication is paying off. 

Sea of Thieves passes 15?? million players since launch [Xbox Wire]

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You'll need an Xbox Live account for cross-play

It's exciting to see the name "Xbox Game Studios" pop up on Steam in any form, from Halo: The Master Chief Collection to Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition to Gears 5. I hope it keeps up.

Today, we've got another Xbox One and Windows 10 PC game for that also-available-on-Steam list: State of Decay 2. Undead Labs' co-op zombie survival game is shambling over to Steam. The best bit? There's cross-play support for co-op?.

With an Xbox Live account, State of Decay 2 players can partn?er with three other survi??vors across Steam, Windows 10, and Xbox One.

That's somethin?g I'd like to see even more of as we enter next-gen. Letting us play games with our friends, hassle-free, no matter where they are? That's the dre?am.

State of Decay 2 is coming to Steam! [Undead Labs]

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Lexus and Scion too

As it turns out, a driver's license isn't the most important license when you're making a racing game. The licenses with all the individual car manufacturers to represent them in-game is far more important. When Forza Motorsport 7 and Forza Horizon 4 launched, Toyota was con??spicuously missing. It was a gl??aring omission because Toyota has some of the more iconic street racing cars.

The reason for the absence is because Gran Turismo Sport inked an exclusive deal for the rights to Toyota's cars. That agreement appears to have expired because Playground Games  has just announced that Toyota is returning to Forza in December.

During today's Forza Monthly developer stream, it was revealed that Toyota, Lexus, and Scion are all coming back to Forza Horizon and Forza Motorsport. They're st??icking around too. The developers say this trio is back "for years to come."

It's starting with an absolute legend. As part of the Series 17 update on December 12, the 1998 Toyota Supra RZ is being added to Forza Horizon 4. The fourth generation Supra is ridiculously beloved because of its big inline-six twin-turbo engine; its ability to be tuned to a stupid amount of horsepower; and its relatively cheap pricetag, with new ones hovering around the $40,000 mark. The Supras from the 90s looked cool, were fast as hell, were well-built, and were affordable. Their legend doesn't wane either, as a 1994 Supra sold for more than $170,000 at auction earlier this year. 

It's an exciting day for the Forza diehards. Soon enough, some of the most recognizable and admired street racing vehicles will again be repr?esented in the best street racing game. And it's ??going to stay that way for the foreseeable future.

Toyota is Back!!!! [Forza Motorsport Forums]

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Urge to double dip... rising

The masterful metroidvania game Ori and the Blind Forest will be on Nintendo Switch before we know it. In the last week before launch, Moon Studios has put out a substantial Switch demo. It's a chance to see how well the port runs – in a word: beautifully – and remind yourself that "Damn, Ori is amazing."

It's wild seeing an official Xbox article talk about a Nintendo Switch title, and I'm thankful Ori and the Blind Forest is ??one of the very few Microsoft Stu?dios games to make it onto the system. It feels right.

If you manage to break away from The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (or whatever else you dig into this weekend), by all means, check out the demo. Like Hollow Knight before it, this deserves a warm reception – not just due to the game itself, but because of the care that went into thi??s port.

These past few years have been wonderfu?l to metroidvania fans.

Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition [Nintendo]

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Finish Line

Developer Turn10 has announced that Forza Motorsport 6 will soon be entering its "End of Life" status. As with other Forza games before it, this ??means the title will be getting delisted soon. On September 15, 2019, the game and its DLC will be remove?d from the Xbox Live Marketplace and users will no longer be able to purchase it digitally. If you've already bought the game and any of its DLC, you'll retain access to it.

If you've been holding out on getting the extra car passes, you'll be happy to know that Turn10 is now offering them at a massive discount. In a very simple move, you can nab the "Complete Add-ons Collection Pack" for a staggering 95% off on the Xbox Live Marketplace. This knocks down the $100 DLC to $5 and gives you everything released for Forza 6 over its l??ifetime. I'm not sure if you'll need half of the content here, but that's ce??rtainly a steal.

If you happen to be an Xbox Live Gold member, then you don't need to worry too much. Forza 6 is one of the current "Games with Gold" offerings for the month. You'll be able to downloa??d it free of charge and grab the $5 DLC pack to get the complete thing. You'll lose access if your subscription lapses, but wi??ll be able to redownload the game should you sign back up.

Forza Motorsport 6 - DLC a??nd Editions [Store End of Life Sept. 2019] [Forza Motorsport]

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One of these days I'm gonna cave

Fun traversal options are so critical to my enjoyment of open-world games. I've considered queuing Crackdown 3 on a few occasions, but each time, I ended up downloading something else from Xbox Game Pass instead. With the latest update, I'm one step closer. Crackdown 3 now has a wingsuit!

I'm not saying a humble wingsuit – and those standard racing challenges – will be enough to suddenly fix all of the game's problems, but there's a reason I hold the Prototype series in such high regard. Semi-mindlessly zipping through cities is my jam. That's Crackdown 3's best shot at winning me over.

Elsewhere in today's update, the developers have added the Clusterduck grenade, the Hellstorm Flare for air-strikes, the Agency Peacekeeper Beacon ?for calling in civilian backup, and the Elemental Forge. The latter opens up several melee weapons, ranging from an Electric Hammer to an Ice Mace.

With the new content comes new achievements, too. There are 16 extra achievements totaling 500 Gamerscore. I have to commend the team here – they're actually sticking with Crackdown 3.

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Do you wololo?

Last year, Microsoft released a ?remaster of the original Age of Empires from seemingly nowhere. Titled the "Defin??itive Edition," the port scaled the grap?hics up to 4K resolution, included every campaign ever created for the title, and cleaned up some rough edges to make for a smoother experience in the modern era. I don't think anyone expected the same treatment for Age of Empires II, if only because an HD version has been on Steam for close to six years now. While rumored for months and seemingly confir??med through?? press releases, Age of Empires II Definitive Edition got formally unveiled during Microsoft's E3 2019 co??nference??, to the delight of fans the world over.

 While a cause for celebration, the existence of this new version brought up a few questions. How would this improve over the HD version? Would all of the new content created for HD be brought into Definitive Edition? Would you still be able to wololo on command? In a behind-closed-doors demo, I met with Adam Isgreen (creative director at Microsoft Game Studios) and Bert Beeckman (project lead for Age of Empires) and got answers to all of those quest?ions and ?more.

Without hes?itation, I asked if all the various cheat codes from Age of Empires II would be retained in Definitive Edition. They were present in last year's re-release, so it only stands to reason that you can whip out the Shelby AC Cobra and lay waste to ancient c??ivilizations again. Sure enough, cheats do make a return and none of t??hem have changed from their classic incarnations. Beeckman typed in "How do you turn this on" and proceeded to steamroll the opposition to appease me.

In manners r?elating to actual game co?ntent, all of the currently released DLC for Age of Empires II HD will be present in Definitive Edition. A few new campaigns will also be included, bringing the total count to over 25. Three new civilizations are being added, as well, which bumps that count up to 35. This is a seriously content-dense game, which makes the $20 price point seem like a steal. I can't believe how much ??is actually included despite seeing it grow over the past few years on Steam.

Bringing up Steam, both?? Beeckman and Isgreen stressed that this and last? year's Definitive Editions will be present on Valve's storefront (you can actually wishlist both the first and second games right now). With Microsoft dropping the UWA requirement for applications on the Microsoft store and embracing different avenues for selling titles, you won't be limited in where you can purchase this new ?port. Multiplayer will even function between the two versions, so you won't have to mock your friend for sticking with one storefront while everyone else jumped on another.

If you're new to RTS games, you'll be happy to hear that som?e brand new tutorials and challenges have been incorporated into AoE II DE to bring you up to speed. The biggest struggle that new players have is learning how to properly micromanage, which can make or break a match in the blink of an eye. With specially curated challenges, you'll b??e tasked with completing small chunks of gameplay that familiarize you with top level tactics, even grading you on your performance so you can improve. ?Microsoft got feedback from pro Age of Empries II? players and used their results as the benchmarks for Platinum level challenges, whi??ch should make for some tricky achievements this time out.

The most dramatic change, though, has to be the overhauled AI. In c??lassic RTS titles and especially Age of Empires, the enemy AI is known for being a? cheating bastard on higher difficulty settings. Your villagers are also dumb as bricks, w?hich could lead to instances where they'll die while trying to hunt a boar. In Definitive Edition, you can put tho?se fears to bed, as Microsoft has fine tuned everything to feel more like you're facing human opponents instead of an omniscient overlord.

Isgreen explained that you will be able to watch replays from AI matches and learn new tactics since they'll be acting exactly like humans do. The AI i??sn't given access to any information that a human doesn't have from the start. They will need to send out scouts, manage farms, and potentially get their villagers killed by boars just like us. It should make for far more enjoyable campaigns, which could often become unwinnable thanks to the AI working at super human speeds.

A lot of new quality-of-life changes are present for amassing giant armies and upgrading buildings. The HUD, while inspired by the designs of the original, is getting additional information to make use of all the extra screen real-estate afforded by HD monitors. Queues for units will be listed in the top middle and will allow you t?o shift through them with keyboard shortcuts. Individual buildings will have progress meters hovering over them to show you how far along upgrades are. Buildings will also have new effects around them to indicate if they are in use or not (the demo showed the main castle sparkling, though that was a placeholder graphic). The idea ?is to keep the player informed at all times without having to do too much clicking, a problem that older RTS games suffered from immensely.

If you don't want any of these changes, you can choose to completely ignore them. Want the AI to continue being a pain in the ass? Revert back to the classic?? style! Want to micromanage anything and everything? Play with the original rules. As the title implies, this really is the "Definitive Edition" ?of Age of Empires II. Isgreen even said, "I want the E3 demo campaign to be present in the fin?al release." The??y are serious about getting everything right with this one.

They're certainly doing?? their best and it shows. The textures and sprites look magnificent in 4K, but ultra-wide monitor users won’t be left in the cold. Unlocked framerates aren't an option due to the nature of 2D artwork, but the general fluidity of everything has been kicked up a notch. Online matchmaking is being handled through Xbox Live, so you can count on getting a solid connection to opponents. Mixer is gettin??g integration with the game, allowing you to jump into streams straight from the main menu. This is one jam packed release.

Just writing about all of this, I'm getting anxious thinking about how much time I might lose to Definitive Edition. I played quite a bit of Age of Empires II as a teen and have managed to drop another 20 or so hours into the HD version. It may not be the most modern RTS game around, but something about the simple charm of what Ensemble Studios created nearly two decades ago is just as addicting today as it was b??ack then. Maybe it's because of how quaint the experience feels stacked against bombastic newer games, but I love returning to Age of Empires at random poi?nts to get my strategy and history fix at the same time.

There's still no firm rel??ease date for the remaster, but Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition will be available on Xbox Game Pass when it launches this Fall. I'd expect the St?eam version to also land at the same time.

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The boiled and punished crabs will have their revenge

Today on Impulse, Dan and Sam from over at Infinite Backlog sit down and discuss the current state of Sea of Thieves and whether or?? not it's still worth playing in 2019! From the early days and drama around the lack of content to going in-depth with what's been added since launch.

From tales of encounters with krakens and sharks, fighting off the terrifying skeletal creatures (that some say live inside each and every one of us), and how things got heated when we encountered a volcanic island! I think if you have the right mindset and a few friends hungry for an adventure on the high seas -- you'll be in for a good time with Sea of Thieves.

The post Today on Imp?ulse, we discuss whether or not Sea of Thieves is worth revisiting in 2019! appeared first on Destructoid.

iOS and Android versions to follow

The Forza series isn't a complete stranger to the realm of free-to-play, but today there's another wrinkle in the franchise's usual timeline: Forza Street. Developed by Electric Square and published by Microsoft Studios, Forza Street is a Windows 10 (and? soon to be iOS and Android) street racing game.

Rather than the typical driving considerations, here, the experience is meant to be "cinematic." You'll have to worry about when to accelerate, brake, and boost, but not much else. Forza Street has mobile-friendly one-minute Street Showdowns as well as an overarching story and a focus on upgrades.

The game builds off Miami Street, a free-to-play title from 2018, so if this all seems oddly familiar to you, there's a reasonable chance that's the cause. I wouldn't go so far as to call this Forza in name only, but Forza Street isn't the standard experience fans know and love from Motorsport and Horizon.

"With the game available today on Windows 10 devices, we will continue to add features and actively engage with and listen to our community to make Forza Street the? game our fans will want to take with them everywhere," noted director Andy Beaudoin. It's "rolling o?ut to iOS and Android starting this year."

I think they can make a stronger case on mobile. Forza Street is far more palatable as an every-so-often distraction while you're watching TV or waiting in line than it is a sit-down-and-play desktop game. If you're feeling totally turned off, rest easy knowing that more mainline Forza entries await us.

Free-to-play and racing don't tend to mesh well for me, but knock yourself out.

Turn 10 Studios Announces Forza Street f??or PC and Mobile Devices [Xbox]

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12 months going up a tenner

Microsoft has been informing UK Xbox owners that the price of Xbox Live Gold will rise in May. For new custo?mers the price hike will take effect from May ?8, while existing subscribers will have to stump up the extra cash from August 7.

"To ensure gamers have consistent pricing for Xbox Live Gold across Europe we are making changes to UK pricing from May 8th," clarified Microsoft to VG247. "Prices will rise by £1 a month for our monthly subscriptions, £3 for our quarterly subscriptions and by £10 a year for an annual membe?rship. This new pricing is aligned to the changes we made in the region in 2016 as we strive to offer our members premium gaming and entertainment services at a fair price".

The price adjustments described above will take monthly subscriptions to £7, thr??ee-month subscriptions to £18, and 12-month subscriptions to £50. An initial statement noted that the price changes have been made to "address changing ??market conditions".

Xbox Live Gold prices are going up in the UK [VG247]

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And other info about the games

343 Industries hosted an AMA on Reddit for the upcoming Halo: Master Chief Collection PC ports yesterday and clarified a bunch of info on the titles. For one, Windows 10 will not be required to run the games, which might be a huge boon for some users. As well as that, 343 is looking into the possibility of including mod support for the games, which is what has kept Halo: Custom Edition going all these years.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun has compiled a list of all the good and bad news, so I'll just summarize some of their points. In the good column, we have the Windows 7 support and the ability for Windows Store and Steam players to verse each other. Uncapped framerates will be available, though there may be a certain upper limit for particular game modes. Variable FOV sliders will be an option as well as ??support for different asp?ect ratios (including 21:9 ultrawide). New anti-cheat measures will be in effect, which should make for a smooth online experience.

In the bad column, Xbox versus PC support is not currently on the cards (which was discussed yesterday). Split-screen is apparently not coming either, which is a big bummer. While the majority of Halo games are coming to PC, Halo 5 is still absent and will not be included in these new ports. No dedicated servers are coming, but 343 is looking at incorporating those later down the line. Finally, ODST's "Firefight" mod??e won't be ava?ilable at launch but may come later.

Somehow, the s?ubject of pricing never came up. 343 did state that a complete bundle will be available once every port is ready, but there is no word on whether or not the ga?mes will cost significantly less to make up for their staggered releases. For that matter, there isn't a time frame for release, though I'd imagine at least a few games will make a 2019 window.

Even with those few drawbacks, it seems like 343 is taking these ports very seriously. If done correctly, these could be the definitive versions of the Halo titles that fans have been begging for. While I'm not exactly big on the series, I'm champing at the bit for Reach on PC. If 343 can get that right, I'll be happy.

Halo: Master Chief Collection to support Windows 7 and pos??sibly mods on PC [Rock, Paper, Shotgun]

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Launching alongside The Arena on April 30

As Sea of Thieves turns one year old today, Rare has shown off a huge update planned for the shared-world pirate adventure game. It might just be time to check back in. On April 30, we're getting the long-teased PvP mode The Arena, a batch of "story-rich"?? quests called Tall Tales, and the ability? to fish.

Along with those new sights, the Anniversary update will also bring more detailed combat destruction (you can topple a rival ship's mast) and a harpoon (perfect for fending off the megalodon). There are a handful of other hints as wel??l which we'll learn more about leading up to launch.

Rare will go more in-depth with streams focused on The Arena (April 10), The Hunter's Call (April 16), and Tall Tales: Shores of Gold (April 23), all of which will air at 9:00am Pacific. There's also a handful of in-game celebration goodies redeemable right now in Sea of Thieves for active players.

As much as I've moved ??on from the game in recent months, I'm still cur??ious to see what all the Anniversary update entails. Out of all the new features, the story quests sound the most appealing.

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Original collection launched before the program

One of the better initiatives to come about from Microsoft this generation was the "Xbox Play Anywhere" program. Through this, players that bought digital copies of compatible titles would be granted both the Xbox One and PC versions of games from a single purchase. Save data was also shared between both versions, allowing you to play the game however you felt whenever you wanted to. Online multiplayer between each version was also a big feature, though some restrictions applied (ranked matches were usually platform specific). With the recent announcement of the Halo: Master Chief Collection coming to PC, many were wondering ??i??f the Play Anywhere program would apply.

Sadly, that doesn't seem to be in the works. At the recent Halo Championship Series Invitational, 343 Industries' Brian Jarrad and Bonnie Ross got to talking about the PC ports and indicated they wanted to get them just right. Ross would then go on to say, "while MCC shipped before the XPA Play Anywhere [program], we are exploring ways to make sure we show our appreciation and recognition for the support we've had from the amazing fans on MCC. And we'll have more to announce once we get closer to la?unch."

While not a direct denial, it seems unlikely that the program will be extended to the upcoming PC version. This even encompasses cross-play, with Jarrad stating, "The real question on people's mind is can I play Xbox against PC? And truth be told right now, we are really focused on ?making sure that we can bring these games to PC in the right way. But the team would love to hear feedback on this and as we get further down the road." He did stress that Windows Store vs. Steam will be available, but that should have been a given.

Truth be told, I can see why the Master Chief Collection wouldn't have Xbox Play Anywhere for the PC port. As Ross said, the title came out years before that program was even a thing. Not including cross-play multiplayer, though, makes little sense. This is a premier Microsoft franchise that actually already has the feature with Halo 5: Forge on PC. You can't tell me including the option would seriously hurt the development of the PC ports. Make any argument you want about PC players having an advantage, you could simply go the Gears of War 4 route and disable ranked matches for?? competing platforms.

Whatever the case, if you were hoping to get free PC copies from your Xbox One purchase or play against your console brethren, y?ou may need to find another game for that.

Halo: The Master Chief Collection PC team talks cross-play, Xbox Play Anywhere [Windows Central]

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Friends don't let friends sail drunk

Rare is looking to maintain its recent momentum with a "friends play free" promotion for Sea of Thieves. From February 6–13, players can invite three pals to set ??sail with them on Xbox One o??r PC.

This promo includes Xbox Game Pass subscribers, meaning that as long as you have access to Sea of Thieves, you'll be able to generate and send out three codes. Folks who redeem a Friends Play Free code also have the opportunity to save 35 percent off the full version of Sea of Thieves until February 27.

As executive producer Joe Neate recently explained, Sea of Thieves has had a prosperous past few months. "When I look at all of our key metrics across the game, whether it's our watchable/sharable, or it's our sales, or Game Pass even, we've seen a marked increase across all of those metrics from Shrouded Spoils onward." It's the right time for an initiative like this to nurture word-of?-mouth.

Microsoft and Rare are also teasing "big? news" for the game's one-year anniversary on March 20.

The post Sea of Thieves launching ‘friends play free’ promo appeared first on Destructoid.

13 studios under one metaphorical roof

2018 was quite the eventful year for Microsoft Studios. The division ushered ??numerous high-profile game studios under its umbrella including Playground Games (Forza Horizon), inXile Entertainment (Wasteland), Ninja Theory (Hellblade ), and Obsidian Entertainment (Fallout: New Vegas).

Microsoft Studios stands at "13 distinct and diverse game development teams," and with this new lineup, a rebranding was in order. Going forward, the organization will be called Xbox Game Studios.

What's the reasoning? "As we've expanded our focus beyond the console, the Xbox brand has also evolved from its original roots," said corporate vi??ce president Matt Booty. "Today, Xbox is our gaming brand across all devices, no matter how? or where you want to play, or who you want to play with."

While it'll take years for us to se??e how all of Microsoft's acqu??isitions pan out, in general terms, it's encouraging to see the company invest more in gaming. I'm also a fan of the slightly shorter name.

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Rockstar strikes again

The NPD Group has shared its statistics for the whole of 2018 and some not-so-surprising outcomes have happened. Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption 2 was the best selling game of 2018 followed by Treyarch's Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. NBA 2K and Madden then chart in third and fourth with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate coming in fifth. Surprisingly, Smash beat out God of War, Spider-Man, and Monster Hunter: World in terms of overall sales while only?? being on shelves for a month.

The top 20 list for 2018 looks like this:

*Does not include digital sales
**Does not include PC digital sales

• 1: Red Dead Redemption 2
• 2: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
• 3: NBA 2K19
• 4: Madden NFL 19
• 5: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
• 6: Marvel’s Spider-Man
• 7: Far Cry 5
• 8: God of War 2018
• 9: Monster Hunter: World
• 10: Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey
• 11: Grand Theft Auto V
• 12: Mario Kart 8*
• 13: FIFA 19**
• 14: Battlefield V**
• 15: Super Mario Odyssey*
• 16: Call of Duty: WWII**
• 17: Dragon Ball: FighterZ
• 18: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
• 19: Super Mario Party*
• 20: Pokemon: Lets Go Pikachu*

As for the best selling console of 2018, that honor goes to the Nintendo Switch. It beat out the PS4 and Xbox One throughout the year but really drove it home in December. The release of Smash led to the Switch being, "the highest December-month hardware dollar sales for a single platform?? since the Nintendo Wii in December 2009." It even achieved the h??ighest unit sales for a single-platform since December of 2010.

As far as December was concerned, Smash may as well have been the only game on sale. It dominated the monthly chart along with six other Nintendo exclusives. "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate set a new launch-month dollar sales record for a platform exclusive in Video Game history," NPD analyst Mat Piscatella reports. "Packaged software launch month dollar sales of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate exceeded those of the previous best in franchise history, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, by over 70 percent." It has also become the ??fastest selling console exclusive t?o ever be tracked by the NPD.

December's top 20 list is as follows:

• 1: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*
• 2: Call of Duty: Black Ops 4**
• 3: Red Dead Redemption II
• 4: Battlefield V**
• 5: NBA 2K19
• 6: Mario Kart 8*
• 7: Madden NFL 19**
• 8: Super Mario Party*
• 9: Pokemon: Lets Go Pikachu*
• 10: Marvel’s Spider-Man
• 11: Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey
• 12: Pokemon: Lets Go Eevee*
• 13: Super Mario Odyssey*
• 14: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
• 15: Just Cause 4
• 16: FIFA 19
• 17: Grand Theft Auto V
• 18: Minecraft
• 19: Spyro Reignited Trilogy**
• 20: Fallout 76*

With all of that laid out, I'm mostly surprised at how ridiculously well Smash did. Both God of War and Spider-Man broke records for Sony, yet Smash still topped them without breaking a sweat. This isn't even including digital sales of Smash, which likely put it even higher. I gue??ss people were really clamoring for the latest entry in Nintendo's all-star brawler.

Console hardware sales may have been down, but 2018 seemed to push software sales for everyone. Madden broke August records, Monster Hunter: World quickly became Capcom's best selling title, and even Spyro ?dominated charts. Here's hoping 2019 continues some of that steam.

December 2018 NPD: Smash Bros. beats Spider-Man in exclusives battle [Venture Beat]

NPD 2018: The 20 best-selling games of the year [Venture Beat]

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Crafting is complete

4J Studios has done a terrific job with supporting Minecraft on legacy consoles. Originally launched in 2013 for PS3/Vita and 2015 for Wii U, the games have ?continuously been patched with new content and performance fixes to get the most out of each respective platform. At long last, 4J is putting a cap on that as it announces today's update will be the final patch for these older consoles.

Sending it off in style, the final update will include the "Nightmare Before Christmas Mash-up Pack" for players to dance around as Jack Sk?ellington an??d smash bricks. I guess it's never too late to start on a recreation of Halloween Town.

4J Studios [Twitter]

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Skills to pay the bills

Fortune Island signals a shift for Forza Horizon expansions. The add-ons for the previous game, Blizzard Mountain and Hot Wheels, created variation by fundamentally changing the experience of driving. The former put every car on ice and snow, and the latter confined them to relatively-thin orange tracks. They found novelty in mild subversion, just changing enough about Forza Horizon to warrant their own content packs.

The first expansion for Forza Horizon 4, Fortune Island, doesn't rely on similar methods. It whisks us away to a remote island that's said to hide untold riches??. In doing so, it turns a treasure hunt into a central mechanic. Impressively, it manages to be far more interesting than all?? the Hot Wheels loop-de-loops in the world.

Forza Horizon 4: Fortune Island (PC, Xbox One [reviewed])
Developer: Playground Games
Publisher: Microsoft Studios
Released: December 13, 2018
MSRP: $19.99

Forza Horizon 4: Fortune Island builds on the excellent foundation of the base game in a really smart way. There's a new island full of everything we'd expect -- a ton of races, a bunch of thrilling stunts, and some absolutely gorgeous vistas. (The nighttime aurora borealis is nothing short of majestic in its suffocating ethereal-ness.) All?? o?f this ties into a basic progression system. Do a bunch of it, whatever you like, to accumulate influence in order to open up more events.

There are 10 rounds to progress through, and each of them unlocks a new treasure hunt hint. This is, hands down, the most captivating aspect of Fortune Island. For instance, the first clue is "The massive truck stomps around like a T-ReX, roar through the speed zone at Festival's Apex." (No wor??ries about ?spoilers here, the game practically walks you through this one.)

The solution is to trigger the Festival's Apex speed zone while in the 2017 Dodge RAM 1500 Rebel TRX Concept truck. Doing so will reveal an area where the treasure is hidden, along with a picture of the chest?? to provide some context. It's a twist on Ba??rn Find Rumors, but one that's well worth the time. Each treasure is worth 1 million credits, meaning that there are 10 million credits up for grabs in the expansion. That will go a long way toward buying some of the super-expensive castles on the mainland.

At its most dull, Fortune Island is something of a microcosm of Forza Horizon 4. It's a smaller island (63 roads compared to 531 roads), with similar stunt events and races. It's more Forza Horizon 4 which certainly isn't a knoc??k against it. I never found myself bored when drifting around corners on the Needle Climb's perilously steep cliffs, all while surrounded by the grandeur of the northern lights.

Apart from the treasure riddles, Fortune Island has one notable new inclusion. It adds Trailblazer Gates, which are a type of stunt that only prioritizes getting from Point A to Point B as quickly as possible. Trailblazer Gates punctuate the freeform nature of Forza Horizon. The fastest route is always the best route.

Fortune Island also comes with 10 new vehicles, most of which are legitimately fun to drive. Although, it should be noted that some of them are progression locked and it'll require doing nearly everything in the expansion to earn them all. The new Fortune Island cars are: The 2019 Lamborghini Urus, the 2018 BMW M5, the 2017 Ram 1500 Rebel TRX Concept, the 2002 Koenigsegg CC8S, the 2018 Exomotive Exocet Off-Road, the 2012 Lamborghini Aventador J, the 2010 Saleen S5S Raptor, the 1953 Morris Minor Series II Traveler, the 2018 Funco Motorsports F9, and the 2015 Hoonigan GYMKHANA 8 Ford Fiesta ST R??X43.

It's more Forza Horizon 4, but Fortune Island has a hook that's worth its weight in gold. Turning an island into a giant scavenger hunt is the kind of allure that works perfectly with Forza Horizon. Elsewhere, completing events has its own intrinsic appeal; excelling at racing and stunts is rewarding because it's a racing and stunts game. In Fortune Island, progression brings about a sense of?? mystery and discovery. T??hat's a reward that's nearly as rich as the millions of credits scattered about the island.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher via the Expansion Pass that's included in the Forza Horizon 4 Ultimate Edition.]}

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Netflix Originals? Can't wait for Xbox Game Pass Originals!

In today's episode, me and Associate Editor Peter Glagowski discuss the recent purchasing habits from Microsoft, which lately has included a number of notable game studios. From Obsidian Entertainment (the fine folks behind Fallout: New Vegas) to even Ninja Theory and InXile Entertainment!

But, will this help them in the next generation of hardware? Personally, I think this has been a long time coming. Despite Phil Spencer's statements in the past in regards to exclusive games, I absolutely still think they're the reason why so many people buy the hardware itself. I just hope these new studios they've purchased don'?t end up down the same road as Rare did for nearly a decade.

Whether or not these studios will be making Xbox exclusive games is still anyone's guess, but, if anyone can do Fable IV -- Obsidian Entertainment sure as hell can.

The post Today on Impulse, we discuss if Microsoft’s spending spree will give it the advantage in the next generation appeared first on Destructoid.

Stop blowing holes in my ship!

Have you had your fill of Sea of Thieves' low-key and leisurely ways? I don't blame you. Rare's next major content update might just pull us out of retirement for the thrill of sweet competition. Dubbed The Arena, the upcoming expansion will bring crews togethe??r to face off in hectic PvP matches.

As announced during Microsoft's X018 event this afternoon, The Arena is a treasure-hunting challenge that'll?? give combat-hungry pirates another outlet for ??their bloodlust. It's set to debut early next year.

Along with the PvP game mode, Sea of Thieves will also land a much-needed new trading company. The Sea Dogs will have "new goals, r??ewards, and opportunities" for players seeking legendary status.

Slowly but surely, Rare has been fleshing out its gorgeous but not exactly long-lasting pirate adventure game. I'm still waiting for pets, but The Arena should slot nicely into the existing content base?.

The post What’s next for Sea of Thieves? A PvP-centric expansion called The Arena appeared first on Destructoid.

AGENT, GET READY!

With Microsoft's X018 stream coming up soon, we're likely to find out a whole lot of information on the upcoming Crackdown 3. I suppose as an act of celebration, the original Crackdown is now free on the Xbox Live marketplace. As a reminder, Crackdown is backward ??compatible on Xbox One, so you can make ??use of this deal to relive the original before the newest game comes out.

I haven't searched on my 360 just yet, but you can head over to the Xbox Live website and add Crackdown to your account. It will then show up on ??either of y?our consoles for download and you can even remotely start the download. No reason to not enlist now.

Crackdown is free to download righ??t now?, and it works on Xbox One [VG 24/7]

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Assassin's Race of the Battlefield

Dante's Inferno was quite a divisive game when it launched in 2010. Some people believed it spit on the legacy of a classic piece of literature and others were taken by how creatively weird Visceral's vision of hell was. It also copied the God of War formula, so at l?east it was aspiring to greatness. I've never personally played it, but? even I have to praise a developer willing to take one of the most well-known pieces of fiction ever written and tinker around with it.

You'll be able to grab Dante's Inferno next month if you're an Xbox Live Gold member. With it being backward compatible on Xbox One, you truly have no reason to skip over it this time. As for the other games, I guess someone will be happy. I don't know why you'd want to return to the original Assassin's Creed when Odyssey is out now and I can't see anyone bothering with Battlefield 1 when V is right around the corner.

Xbox One

• Battlefield 1 - November 1 - 30
• Race The Sun - November 16 - December 15

Xbox 360

• Assassin's Creed - November 1 - 15
• Dante's Inferno - November 16 - 30

Xbox Live Games With Gold For November 2018 [Major Nelson]

The post Dante’s Inferno highlights November’s otherwise meh Games with Gold selection appeared first on Destructoid.

Sounds good to me

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has announced that Microsoft intends to expand the "Xbox Game Pass" program to the PC platform. In its FY19 Q1 earnings report, Microsoft noted increased growth with gaming revenue rising by around 44%. Xbox software and services earnings increased by around 36%. This led to a discussion of the cross-platform presence of the Xbox brand and how Xbox Ga?me Pass has been very successful for the company.

With that, Nadella stated Xbox Game Pass will be coming to PC in the future. If that sounds familiar, it is because the service is sort of on PC at the moment. During E3 this year, Microsoft vowed to bring all first-party titles to Game Pass on launch day. With that announcement, a bunch of first-party titles were added to the service and many of those fell under the "Xbox Play Anywhere" label. Play Anywhere grants users access to the PC version with a digital copy, so a bunch of titles like Forza Horizon 3 and Gears of War 4 were included o??n PC with the $10 monthly subscripti?on to Game Pass.

I even tested it out with my friend, playing Gears 4 during a free trial period despite not owning an Xbox One. It only makes sense that Microsoft would expand the service to Windows 10, considering it operates the Windows Store by itself. Putting a bigger emphasis on PC gives someone like me a reason to take an interest since I was considering grabbing a year subscription to the service just to try Forza Horizon 4.

With all of that said, Nadella didn't give a timeframe for when Game Pass would be hitting PC. I would imagine it will be fully operable before the launch of Halo Infinite, whenever that is.

Microsoft CEO: Xbox Game Pass expanding to PC [Windows Central]

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