Thank You Xbox For 2o Years Of Gaming

2021 marks the 20th Anniversary of Xbox and I wanted to celebrate it, in a way that brings the greatest community together.

I reached out to a ton of creators from around the globe to ask them all the same questions and here's how they responded:

Gamertag: HelloGhostly

Preferred Social Media: instagram.com/HelloGhostly

What's your favorite Xbox Franchise: Gears Of War

Xbox Game Pass Recommendation: Yakuza Like A Dragon

Any Treasured Xbox Memorabilia: All The Gears Xbox Consoles

Dear Team Xbox: Thank you to all the fantastically talented people who have given us some of the most important gaming memories like meeting A fuzzy Kitty on Halo 3. Killed By A Fuzzy Kitty still makes my friend laugh to this day.

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Gamertag: Jobster

Preferred Social Media: instagram.com/Jobsterplaysxbox

What's your favorite Xbox Franchise: Halo

Xbox Game Pass Recommendation: Forza Horizon 5

Any Treasured Xbox Memorabilia: Homemade X019 Shirt Signed By Phil Spencer

Dear Team Xbox: Thank you for the past 20 years of countless memories,games, and worlds to explore To change the gaming world with Xbox Game Pass and all the exciting new hardware and controller designs. Here’s to another 20 years of gaming.

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Gamertag: angelofdeathWHV

Preferred Social Media: Instagram.com/angelofdeathWHV

What's your favorite Xbox Franchise: Gears Of War

Xbox Game Pass Recommendation: Shadow Warrior 2

Any Treasured Xbox Memorabilia: Xbox LED

Dear Team Xbox: Congratulations and all the best for the 20th anniversary. Looking forward to the next 20 years of great games, with many beautiful stories and a lot of great hours of fun with wonderful games.

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Gamertag: gamermombie

Preferred Social Media: Instagram.com/gamermombie

What's your favorite Xbox Franchise: Halo

Xbox Game Pass Recommendation: A Plague Tale: Innocence

Any Treasured Xbox Memory: reaching over 200K gamerscore was a milestone for me but also all the fun Halo multiplayer game nights with friends.

Dear Team Xbox: Congratulations to 20 years of Xbox! After all these years, it is still my favorite console to play on, and I look forward to another 20 years of awesome content. Greeting from Germany

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Gamertag: XboxBoycie

Preferred Social Media: Instagram.com/Xboxboycie

What's your favorite Xbox Franchise: Forza Horizon And Forza Motorsports

Any Treasured Xbox Memorabilia: Gears Of War 4 Elite v2 Controller

Dear Team Xbox: I've been there from the very beginning and I'm still here today. I've had some of the greatest times with both friends and my sons who grew up playing Xbox. You've made some of the hardest times easier and the good times better. Thank you for the last 20 years, keep up the amazing work!

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Gamertag: Ferntendo64

Preferred Social Media: Instagram.com/ferntendo64

What's your favorite Xbox Franchise: Sea Of Thieves

Xbox Game Pass Recommendation: Stardew Valley

Any Treasured Xbox Memorabilia: Design Lab Controller

Dear Team Xbox: Will there be an Everwild controller and if not. Can you make an Everwild controller?

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Gamertag: Shadow Elites

Preferred Social Media: Instagram.com/shadoweliteryze

What's your favorite Xbox Franchise: Halo

Xbox Game Pass Recommendation: A Plague’s Tale

Any Treasured Xbox Memorabilia: Halo 3 Limited Edition Helmet

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Gamertag: Marcusoft365

Preferred Social Media: Instagram.com/marcusoft365

What's your favorite Xbox Franchise: Gears Of War

Xbox Game Pass Recommendation: Hades

Any Treasured Xbox Memorabilia: Halo 3 Legendary Edition Master Chief Helmet

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Gamertag: xBRASKOx

Preferred Social Media: Instagram.com/gamingwithbrasko

What's your favorite Xbox Franchise: Halo/Gears/Ori

Xbox Game Pass Recommendation: The Artful Escape, Echo Generation and 12 Minutes

Any Treasured Xbox Memorabilia: Gears Of War Marcus Fenix CE Statue

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Gamertag: xeneriith

Preferred Social Media: Instagram.com/xeneriith

What's your favorite Xbox Franchise: Gears Of War

Xbox Game Pass Recommendation: Gears Of War 3 And Forza Horizon 5

Any Treasured Xbox Memorabilia: Gears Of War 4 Xbox One S

Dear Team Xbox: Thank you for all the gaming memories you’ve given me and for the best subscription service ever!

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Gamertag: I Faction I

Preferred Social Media: Instagram.com/xbox_faction

What's your favorite Xbox Franchise: Gears Of War

Xbox Game Pass Recommendation: Maneater

Any Treasured Xbox Memorabilia: Xbox Fanfest Merch from Cologne Germany

Dear Team Xbox: Love you all but please figure a solution to stop scalpers

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Gamertag: MysticalDoom

Preferred Social Media: Instagram.com/mystical_doom

What's your favorite Xbox Franchise: Gears Of War

Xbox Game Pass Recommendation: Moonglow Bay

Any Treasured Xbox Memorabilia: Xbox Design Labs Controller

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Gamertag: Swoosh 117

Preferred Social Media: Instagram.com/swoosh_tech

What's your favorite Xbox Franchise: Halo

Xbox Game Pass Recommendation: Forza Horizon 5

Any Treasured Xbox Memorabilia: Halo Master Chief Helmet

Dear Team Xbox: Keep up the momentum and i look forward to what Xbox Game Studio has in store for us next year.

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Gamertag: ChillLikeMe

Preferred Social Media: Instagram.com/unboxedwithjosh

What's your favorite Xbox Franchise: Halo

Xbox Game Pass Recommendation: Halo Master Chief Collection

Any Treasured Xbox Memorabilia: Xbox Fanfest dpad and Coin from 2019

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Gamertag: Frankauss

Preferred Social Media: Instagram.com/oldnorton

What's your favorite Xbox Franchise: Fable

Xbox Game Pass Recommendation: The Artful Escape

Any Treasured Xbox Memorabilia: Sealed Copy Of Mass Effect

Dear Team Xbox: Thank you for putting players first!

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Gamertag: GothamGames

Preferred Social Media: Instagram.com/gotham.games

What's your favorite Xbox Franchise: Sea Of Thieves

Xbox Game Pass Recommendation: Forza Horizon 5 And Sea Of Thieves

Any Treasured Xbox Memorabilia: All The Limited Edition Controllers

Dear Team Xbox: Thank you for two decades of the most amazing memories. Not only have I’ve met new people, we.ve gained friendships along the way. Explored endless worlds and battled to be the best we can. Here’s to plenty more to come, as you’ve rightly said before “ When everybody plays, we all win.”

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Gamertag: Hatouma23

Preferred Social Media: Instagram.com/xbox.collector

What's your favorite Xbox Franchise: Forza and Halo

Xbox Game Pass Recommendation: Flight Simulator, Sea Of Thieves and Forza.

Any Treasured Xbox Memories: Halo Lan Parties, 4 player local was so fun. I miss it a ton

Dear Team Xbox: Thank you for such a fantastic start to this generation of consoles, please can you do more split-screen games in the future. Nothing beats playing a game with a friend right next to you. I can’t wait for all the amazing games coming in the future!

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Gamertag: ImThimble

Preferred Social Media: Instagram.com/im_thimble

What's your favorite Xbox Franchise: Fable

Xbox Game Pass Recommendation: Fable 2

Any Treasured Xbox Memorabilia: Gold plated Xbox360 from Swedish launch

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Gamertag: Chantor x

Preferred Social Media: Instagram.com/chantor

What's your favorite Xbox Franchise: Fable (But I’m hopeful Avowed will join it)

Xbox Game Pass Recommendation: Deep Rock Galactic is fantastic and it has accessbility options to reduce flashing images for epiletic players. Back 4 Blood is really good too

Any Treasured Xbox Memorabilia: I lost my OG Xbox console in a house fire but i still have my women in gaming controller and a neon green light that was sent to me directly from Xbox.

Dear Team Xbox: Thank you for fostering such a beautiful community of collectors and passionate people.I’ve made lifelong friends due to Xbox and i can’t thank you enough for the ability you provide to connect people.Thank you for also being the most accessible platform, it means the world to the disabled community!

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Gamertag: Ratastrophe24

Preferred Social Media: https://www.instagram.com/the_gaming_anthologist

What's your favorite Xbox Franchise: Halo

Xbox Game Pass Recommendation: Carrion

Any Treasured Xbox Memorabilia: Hyperspace Controller

Dear Team Xbox: Thank you for all the invaluable work over the past twenty years, I can’t wait to see what the next twenty bring. Happy Anniversary!

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Gamertag: SegaManAU

Preferred Social Media: www.instagram.com/retrogamerx1987

What's your favorite Xbox Franchise: Halo

Xbox Game Pass Recommendation: Psychonaunts 2

Any Treasured Xbox Memorabilia: Dark Knight Xbox360 Console

Dear Team Xbox: Thank you for 20 years of amazing memories, I’m looking forward to the next 20!

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Gamertag: TheBigRogueBear

Preferred Social Media: www.instagram.com/thebigroguebear

What's your favorite Xbox Franchise: Halo

Xbox Game Pass Recommendation: Forza Horizon 5

Any Treasured Xbox Memorabilia: My OG Xbox Console

Dear Team Xbox: I love all the amazing work you do at Xbox, keep crushing goals and reaching the highest of heights!

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Gamertag: kimibombonica

Preferred Social Media: www.instagram.com/kimi.bombonica

What's your favorite Xbox Franchise: Halo

Xbox Game Pass Recommendation: Sea Of Thieves

Any Treasured Xbox Memorabilia: Xbox Shoe Laces

Dear Team Xbox: In a world where many things are possible, you have made it even more possible. Apart from the great consoles and games that you share with us, I think it's important to express my thanks to other aspects, such as acceptance, tolerance, diversity, and freedom. For me, it is always particularly important that a company represents certain values and that it accepts outwardly, which you do. Thanks for 20 years and i look forward to more. Happy Birthday, Xbox!

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Gamertag: x MonstaZicke x

Preferred Social Media: www.instagram.com/roberta_x143

What's your favorite Xbox Franchise: Halo

Xbox Game Pass Recommendation: Destiny 2/ Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order/ Halo Master Chief Collection

Any Treasured Xbox Memory: Metting Master Chief at Gamescom

Dear Team Xbox: Congratulations on 20 years of Xbox, you are awesome, and please keep up the great work! I am happy to be a part of this great community and I wish you all the best!

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Gamertag: LoyalRex

Preferred Social Media: www.instagram.com/loyalrex

What's your favorite Xbox Franchise: Halo and Fable

Xbox Game Pass Recommendation: Forza Horizon 5, Hellblade and Control

Any Treasured Xbox Memorabilia: Xbox Controllers

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Gamertag: CocoFatale

Preferred Social Media: www.instagram.com/cocofatale

What's your favorite Xbox Franchise: Halo

Xbox Game Pass Recommendation: Dragon Age Inquisition, A Plagues Tale Innocence, Fable 2, and Halo. I could keep going

Any Treasured Xbox Memorabilia: My special edition Xbox Controllers

Dear Team Xbox: Thank you so much for all that you do and for providing so much happiness in my life! You are paving the way for the future of gaming and I am so happy I get to be apart of it.

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Gamertag: fozzdike

Preferred Social Media: www.instagram.com/fozzdikes.world

What's your favorite Xbox Franchise: Hellblade

Xbox Game Pass Recommendation: It Takes Two, Bioshock and Hellblade

Any Treasured Xbox Memorabilia: Bioshock Statue

Dear Team Xbox: Thank you for working so hard to make xbox games so accessivle to everyone. Even without a console, players can now enjoy the games whether it's on there phone or computer.

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Gamertag: BravoSIX2020

Preferred Social Media: www.instagram.com/bravosix2020

What's your favorite Xbox Franchise: Forza

Xbox Game Pass Recommendation: Forza Horizon 5

Any Treasured Xbox Memorabilia: The OG Xbox console

Dear Team Xbox: Thank you for everything you've achieved in the past 20 years, I have enjoyed every second of it and I can't wait for what's coming. You've truly created a platform not just for gaming but for making friendships too. Here's to many more years and Thank You Again Team Xbox.

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Gamertag: Eightbitbeanzie

Preferred Social Media: www.instagram.com/eightbitbeanzie

What's your favorite Xbox Franchise: Halo

Xbox Game Pass Recommendation: Age Of Empire 4, Sea Of Thieves, and Forza Horizon 5

Any Treasured Xbox Memorabilia: The OG Xbox console

Dear Team Xbox: Thank you so much to the Xbox team for providing us with such amazing times. You do such fantastic things for the community and I can't wait to see what the future holds for Xbox.

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Gamertag: M3lzii6

Preferred Social Media: www.instagram.com/m3lzii6

What's your favorite Xbox Franchise: Halo

Xbox Game Pass Recommendation: Age Of Empire 4 and Forza Horizon 5

Any Treasured Xbox Memorabilia: The OG Xbox console and Halo 3 Legendary Edition Helmet

Dear Team Xbox: Continue being amazing Team Xbox. Every year they just keep surprising us with awesome additions to Xbox and Game Pass. They are always very interactive with their community and care about everyone in the Xbox family.

Proud to be apart of Team Xbox.

Gamertag: FurySevenSix

Preferred Social Media: www.instagram.com/furysevensix

What's your favorite Xbox Franchise: Halo or Forza, Can’t pick

Xbox Game Pass Recommendation: Fallout 76, Forza Horizon 5, Skyrim, Halo: The Master Chief Collection

Any Treasured Xbox Memorabilia: Star Wars Console signed by Carrie Fisher, Merch from Xbox 360 Biggest Water Balloon Fight or “I Made This” Launch Team E3 Xbox 360 Face plate.

Dear Team Xbox: Thank you, thank you so much for helping me connect with so many other people and make some incredible friends around the globe.

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Gamertag: Albahaaa182

Preferred Social Media: www.instagram.com/_albahaaa_

What's your favorite Xbox Franchise: Halo or Gears Of War

Xbox Game Pass Recommendation: Dishonored, Mirror’s Edge, Fable or A Plague Tales: Innocence

Any Treasured Xbox Memorabilia: Halo 3 and Halo 4 limited Edition Consoles

Dear Team Xbox: Looking forward to more BIG exclusives :)

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Preferred Social Media: www.instagram.com/dasretromaedel

What's your favorite Xbox Franchise: Gears Of War and Halo

Xbox Game Pass Recommendation: Battlefield V, DOOM, Jurrasic World Evolution and so many more

Any Treasured Xbox Memorabilia: Xbox Series X

Dear Team Xbox: Thanks for making our lives more fun with plenty of games and adventures to experience

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Gamertag: YTGEEKSTREET

Preferred Social Media: www.youtube.com/c/GeekStreet

What's your favorite Xbox Franchise: Forza

Xbox Game Pass Recommendation: Forza

Any Treasured Xbox Memorabilia: Razer Xbox Controller

Dear Team Xbox: 💚

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Gamertag: ReadyorNot

Preferred Social Media: www.instagram.com/fledermausexpress

What's your favorite Xbox Franchise: Halo

Xbox Game Pass Recommendation: All the Final Fantasy Games

Any Treasured Xbox Memorabilia: Xbox Controllers

Dear Team Xbox: Keep making such great games that we will have so much fun with. Looking forward to the next 20 years of great gaming experiences.

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Gamertag: Doomcut1e

Preferred Social Media: www.instagram.com/doomcutie

What's your favorite Xbox Franchise: Forza Horizon

Xbox Game Pass Recommendation: Forza Horizon 5

Any Treasured Xbox Memorabilia: Xbox T-Shirt

Dear Team Xbox: Thank you for always doing better than you have before. That’s the true meaning of winning!

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Thank you so much to everyone who sent their responses in for this, it was a metric ton of work to create but i'm exetremely happy with how it's turned out and i hope you like it just much as i do. Xbox has fostered one of the most loving communities on the internet and for that i want to not just thank you the community but all the hard working developers, studios and Xbox themselves.

Thank you for 20 years of gaming memories and friendships.

Happy 20th Anniversary Team Xbox!

Dolby Vision For Gaming Available On Xbox Series X|S Now

Microsoft continues to break ground when it comes to incorporating new technology into its platforms with the addition of Dolby Vision on the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series, It's also the first console this tech has come to.

The new feature will be available for over 100 next-gen titles, with it boosting visual enhancements on thousands of classic HDR10 and Auto HDR games.

Players will see an improvement with "incredible brightness, color, contrast, and detail" for applicable TVs. It will also work in unison with current Xbox Series X|S features, such as "DirectX raytracing, automatic low-latency mode, variable refresh rate, and up to 120FPS".

Here's a quote regarding the addition:

"Starting today, gamers with compatible Dolby Vision-enabled TVs will be able to enjoy full-spectrum visuals with the rollout of Dolby Vision gaming on Xbox Series X|S. With Dolby Vision, epic worlds – such as lush rainforests or neon futuristic cities – are brought to life in more vivid color.

Dolby Vision deepens your immersion into the experience by enabling you to see an enemy hiding in the shadows or spot hidden clues through expanded contrast and better clarity in both bright and dark scenes."

The easiest way to check if your setup is compatible is by doing the following steps on your Xbox:

Go to Settings

Select General

Select TV & Display Options

Select 4K TV Details.

From there, you'll be able to see if you can tick the option to enable Dolby Vision on your console.

This isn't something I've personally experienced myself but i don't have a huge infinity for Dolby products, specifically, I'm not a fan of Dolby Atmos for gaming. I personally prefer Stereo for competitive games such as Apex Legends or Halo Infinite but i know that's more down to a preference rather than the software not being very good.

Marvel's Avengers Coming To Xbox Game Pass

Xbox has announced that Marvel's Avengers is coming to Xbox Game Pass for console and PC on September 30.

The Xbox Game Pass version is described as the "complete Marvel’s Avengers experience", including all previously released free content which includes the recent War for Wakanda expansion which launched in August.

Depending on which platform you play on, you'll get access to the appropriate version, for example, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S will get the benefits of the next generation upgrade such as improved visuals, frame rates, and load times.

Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics had the following to say:

"We just launched our biggest expansion to date for Marvel’s Avengers – Black Panther: War for Wakanda. We’ve loved seeing your reactions to the new campaign, and today we’re excited to announce that we’re making the complete Marvel’s Avengers experience, including all previously released free content, available with Xbox Game Pass for PC, Console, and Cloud on September 30."

Lastly, the fine people at Square Enix will be holding a Quad XP event from September 30 to October 4 to help new players level up quicker.

I personally haven't played the game as I'm really not a fan of making Spider-Man an exclusive character from a third-party standpoint. I will be giving this game a chance when it launches on Game Pass but i will be playing with a heavy dose of skepitise as the addition is clearly due to the lack of playerbase and sales.

Persona Teases Seven Announcements To Celebrate 25th Anniversary

Atlus has revealed some plans to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Persona series with seven announcements over the course of the coming year.

The company announced a new website dedicated solely to the celebrations and the upcoming announcements where they thanked fans for their support in pushing the series to sell more than 15 million copies. The website continued on to promise that there will be seven announcements that will include “25th commemorative goods, various events, collaborations, and of course game information.” The celebrations will kick off in September and will run until Autumn 2022.

That's pretty much all the details they revealed on it but let's speculate a little on what they could possibly show.

I think it's highly likely we'll see Persona 5 Royal or Persona 4: Golden come to other platforms either this year or early next year. At least I could see P5R coming to PC with a possibility of it also hitting Xbox consoles or Nintendo Switch, look I've played Persona 5 three times so I'll probably play it again if it came to Xbox. Lastly, I could see them teasing a Persona 6 with a short trailer similar to how they originally teased Persona 5, so a non-discript trailer basically tells us nothing. Hopefully, they'll finally have some big game news to share with Persona and not just look here buy some merchandise.

Casey Hudson forms Humanoid Studios

Casey Hudson who previously worked on Mass Effect is now forming a brand new independent studio called Humanoid Studios.

Hudson announced the studio on Twitter by saying the following:#Today we are announcing a new independent videogame company built to unleash the creative freedom of developers – bringing innovation and artistry to players through an all-new IP.”

Little is known on what the new studio will be creating but the website states that the studio is still searching for key development roles such as Senior Gameplay & Level Designers, Environment Artists, and a Senior Creative Director.

It's always exciting to see a new studio’s form of known talent from the industry and I can't wait to see what the folks at Humanoid end up making.

id Software Unknown Project Rated By Aussie Classification Board

A rating has appeared online for an untitled project by id Software which was on the Australian Classification Board yesterday.

It was registered under the codenamed 'Project 2021B' but it's currently unknown what this game could possibly be. The code name is similar to a prior 'Project 2021A' which ended up being DOOM 3 for PSVR.

The listing was rated 'M' for Mature, has online interactivity, and is down as a multiplatform release. This is significantly different from Project 2021A which was rated as R18+ and was classified as a Virtual Reality game.

I personally don't think it's another DOOM game as I think it would have gotten the same rating as prior games. It's more than likely related to Quake, especially with QuakeCon being in August this year. Maybe it's along the lines of a collection of older games remastered or maybe a brand new reimagining of Quake. They did it for DOOM, so I trust them to be able to do the say for Quake. Either way, we'll probably find out more in the coming months.

Xbox Cloud Gaming Is Now Available on PC and Apple devices

Xbox has confirmed that Xbox Cloud Gaming is now available on PC and Apple devices via web browser for all Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers.

Announced via the Xbox Wire, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers in 22 countries can now access the service by going to Xbox.com/play on the compatible browsers that include Microsoft Edge, Safari, and Chrome with a connected controller. Then you'll be able to access the library of cloud-compatible games like Yakuza Like A Dragon, Minecraft Dungeons, and much more.

Lastly, the company has also confirmed it’s made improvements to the Xbox Cloud Gaming servers which are now powered by custom Xbox Series X hardware. Sadly due to bandwidth constraints, streaming-only goes up to 1080p and 60FPS. However, Xbox promise “going forward we’ll continue to innovate and add more features to enhance your cloud gaming experience.”

I've yet to use the service but plan to in the near future when it's possible to travel, I spend a lot of time at home as of late and i own an Xbox Series X. So it's not something I currently use but it'll definitely will bea service i'll use eventually.

Next Batch Of Games Coming To Xbox Game Pass In Late June

Microsoft has announced the next batch of games coming to Xbox Game Pass for the next two weeks, it's a bit of an odd list though.

The full list of games goes as followed:

Worms Rumble (Cloud, Console, and PC) ID@Xbox – Available Today

Iron Harvest (PC) – June 24

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered (Console and PC) EA Play – June 24

Prodeus (Game Preview) (PC) ID@Xbox – June 24

Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts (Cloud) – July 1

Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling (Cloud, Console, and PC) ID@Xbox – July 1

Gang Beasts (Cloud, Console, and PC) ID@Xbox – July 1

Immortal Realms: Vampire Wars (Cloud, Console, and PC) – July 1

Limbo (Cloud, Console, and PC) ID@Xbox – July 1

There's also one other game that will available earlier for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members via the perks section in the form of Space Jam: A New Legacy – The Game available on July 1st. However it will be free for everyone on the 15th, so it's kinda early access.

This batch of games is just okay in my opinion, Gangbeasts is great but that's about it. They did just add Yakuza Like A Dragon though and that game is absolutely fantastic, so go play that instead.

In other news, the Xbox Game Pass Twitter is seemingly hinting at the possible addition of Judgment to Xbox Game Pass in the near future. Judgment is a spin-off of the Yakuza series so it would make sense to drop in the game into the service before the launch of the squeal Lost Judgment in September. I personally think August would be a great time to add that game as it would give ample time to play through the 80 hours of amazingness.

Blizzard's Cross-Play Update Has Arrived In Overwatch

Blizzard has announced that the cross-play update is now available on Overwatch for all platforms.

To play with other platforms, you’ll need to link your console to your Battle.net account. Crossplay is sadly not available in the Competitive mode. it is however in Quick Play, Arcade, and Custom. All players that log in during 2021 will be gifted with a Golden Loot Box, which as you would guess gave me a skin I already own. Thanks for the currency I can't use until the next event.

Lastly, the update came with a new limited-time Ashe’s Deadlock Challenge event but they've made unlocking the skin take longer with it now being 27 played matches with a win counting as 2. Players can earn rewards such as player icons, sprays, and a Legendary Deadlock Ashe skin before the event ends on July 5.

The cross-play update is for Overwatch on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and PC.

Kim Swift joins Xbox Game Studios Publishing

Xbox Game Studios Publishing has announced that the creator of Portal Kim Swift will be joining the team.

Announced via Twitter, they said the following “Our team focuses on three pillars in our games: Community, Innovation and Inclusivity. Today, @K2TheSwift joins us in XGS Publishing to accelerate our Innovation and collaborate with independent studios to build games for the cloud.”

There’s no word on what specific games Kim Swift might be working on at Xbox Game Studios Publishing, but the focus of XGS Publishing includes games such as Microsoft Flight Simulator, Contraband and Tell Me Why.

All of the above-mentioned games have something in common, they're all third-party deals with other developers. Hopefully, this means that there will be a continued focus on making deals to get more game pass exclusives for Xbox.

Either way, the future of Xbox is looking super interesting and I can't wait to see how it all plays out.

Final Fantasy Origin Reportedly A PlayStation 5 Exclusive

A brand new Final Fantasy title called Final Fantasy Origin is apparently expected to be revealed at E3 and is being developed exclusively for PS5 by Team Ninja.

the rumored game will be an action RPG similar to Nioh and Dark Souls and could possibly take place in the same universe as the first Final Fantasy game.

The rumored title will also apparently be a PlayStation 5 exclusive, with a PC release "further down the road". Allegedly the game is possibly far enough along that it could also have an alpha demo this summer which is said to be entitled 'Stranger in Paradise.

As of writing, nothing has been confirmed by Square Enix or Team Ninja but E3 is mere weeks away so we'll find out shortly if it's true.

You could always just play Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade instead which is due to release on PlayStation 5 on June 10.

Gearbox Could Be Developing A New Franchise Releasing By April 2022 According To Take-Two

Take-Two has revealed some interesting details in its latest financial results earnings call and how it has plans to launch a new franchise from Gearbox Software during the next fiscal year.

the company announced it hopes to release 21 games during the current financial year from April 1, 2021, through until March 31, 2022. Out of the 21 games, there will be four "immersive core" games with two of them from already existing franchises. The other two games are completely new IP and CEO Strauss Zelnick comments seem to confirm that one of them is from Gearbox.

No more details were given on the project sadly, hopefully, we'll find out some more details shortly at E3 2021.

I'm personally not a huge fan of Gearbox games but I do hope they end up making some new and fresh and not another Battleborn or Borderlands spin-off game.

Next Batch Xbox Game Pass Games Announced For May

Xbox has announced the next batch of games coming to Xbox Game Pass in the next few weeks and there are some pretty great additions.

Here's the list of upcoming games:

May 18

SnowRunner - (console, PC, cloud)

May 20

Peggle 2 - (cloud)

Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville - (cloud)

Secret Neighbor - (PC)

The Wild at Heart - (console and PC)

May 21

Knockout City - (console and PC)

The Catch: Carp and Coarse Fishing - (console, PC, cloud)

May 25

Maneater - (console, PC, cloud)

May 27

Conan Exiles - (console, cloud)

Fuzion Frenzy - (cloud)

Joy Ride Turbo - (cloud)

MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries - (console)

Slime Rancher - (PC)

Solasta: Crown of the Magister - (PC)

Spellforce 3: Soul Harvest - (PC)

Games Adding Xbox Touch Controls:

Banjo-Tooie

Call of the Sea

Genesis Noir

Narita Boy

Nier: Automata Become As Gods Edition

Rain on Your Parade

Two Point Hospital

Sadly there will be some games Leaving the Xbox Game Pass service on May 31 and they go as followed:

Assetto Corsa - (Cloud and Console)

Broforce - (PC)

Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5+2.5 Remix - (Console)

Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue - (Console)

Surviving Mars - (Cloud, Console, and PC)

Void Bastards - (Cloud, Console, and PC)

I'm looking forward to checking out Maneater and Knockout City again, other than that I'd highly suggest playing Void Bastards before it leaves the service. It's a fantastic FPS Metroidvania-style game set in space,, it's pretty funny and the gameplay is awesome.

Starfield Possibly Exclusive to Xbox & PC

Bethesda's Starfield will apparently be an Xbox and PC exclusive, and won't be coming to the PlayStation according to recent reporting.

This comes from VentureBeat journalist Jeff Grubb, who said via Twitter that "Starfield is exclusive to Xbox and PC. Period. This is me confirming that."

Jeff Grubb later quote tweeted the following "@BlessingJr

You are right about Starfield release date." this is in reference to Blessing saying it would most likely release in Q1 of 2022, which in my opinion makes a ton of sense when you think about their game lineup for the next year.

My guess would be that Forza Horizon 5 drops in September/October followed by Halo Infinite in November and then have Starfield to kick-off 2022. They could also shadow drop Psychonaunts 2 around E3, that's a ton of Xbox games on Game Pass day and date and that's not including the possibility of third-party deals.

Jeff Grubb has a pretty great track record of being correct with these rumors though, where he previously reported on the Perfect Dark reboot and Mass Effect Legendary Edition before they were officially revealed.

Lastly, Grubb mentioned we should see more on Starfield during E3 2021 next month, hopefully, we'll get a confirmation of the release window and see some gameplay.

Xbox Will Celebrate 20 Year Anniversary With Virtual Fanfest Event

Xbox is celebrating its 20th anniversary and has announced it will be hosting a virtual Fanfest.

Announced via the Xbox Wire, the original Xbox was launched on November 15, 2001, in North America, so Xbox will be celebrating with the community via social media with the hashtag #Xbox20 and also launching a themed merch line.

Xbox Fanfest makes a return and will run between now and November but sadly details are a little slim. It'll probably include similar events and sweepstakes like last year which had chats with key Xbox members and developers, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S competitions and so much more.

In addition to this, Xbox has some Halo anniversary-themed wallpapers to download, a special 20 Year gamerpic, an Original Xbox Gamertag background, and The Original Xbox dynamic theme available in the Personalisation menu of the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S. Lastly there's a curated list of Xbox games called ‘20 Year Collection’ currently on the Xbox Store.

Xbox To Add Party Chat Transcription And Text-To-Speech

Xbox has announced that it will be introducing more useful accessibility options in its next dashboard update that include Party Chat Speech Transcription and Synthesis.

Announced on the Xbox blog, the Xbox currently already has the ability to transcribe in-game speech to text and reading similar to a screen reader, however, they will be adding this functionality to Party Chats with the next update. This will allow words spoken in Parties to be written on-screen on an adjustable overlay that can be placed in various places to make it more usable during gameplay.

Speech synthesis will allow users to type into Party Text Chat, and have the written text read out to the rest of the party in a synthetic voice. It will also have multiple voices to choose from per language.

As a disabled gamer myself, I get pretty hyped about the addition of new accessibility options and it's something Xbox has been championing over the past few years. I do hope more companies will add more inclusive accessibility options in the future.

Knockout City Is Free At Launch But Only For 10 Days

EA has announced that Knockout City will be going free for ten days from launch as a free trial their calling the Block Party.

the full game will be available on all formats for ten days starting from May 21, allowing players to check out all four of the game's launch modes that include Team KO, Diamond Dash, Party Team KO, and Face-Off. Additionally, every map will be playable and players will be able to start unlocking cosmetics for their character.

if you decide to purchase the game during the Block Party event, you'll get some bonus content and keep everything you've unlocked over the course of the event.

Knockout City Season 1 will launch on May 25, with the theme of "Welcome to Knockout City". It'll add a new location to the game, and a ton of Contracts for both Crew and Weekly Crew list. A new Playlists and League Play will also be unlocked where you can raise your Street Rank and unlock even more cosmetics.

Knockout City will be free for ten days from launch on May 21 until May 30 on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and PC.

Skull & Bones Is Delayed Into 2022-2023

During Ubisoft most recent earnings results last night, the publisher revealed that "Skull & Bones will now be released in 2022-2023" with the chief financial officer Frederick Duget elaborating on it further by saying: "We strongly believe in the team’s creative vision and they have been given an increasingly ambitious mandate for the game. Production led by [Ubisoft] Singapore has been advancing well over the past 12 months and the promise is better than ever. The additional time will allow the team to fully deliver on its vision."

on a positive note, Ubisoft seems to still be confident in the project, with CEO Yves Guilletmot saying: "What we have been doing to make sure they could really come strongly with Skull & Bones is we increased the associate studios that are working with them at the moment so there’s a good and big team now working on the game and the last 12 months have really been good in terms of the way things were coming along, so we are confident they can really bring something really exceptional for the market."

As someone who found the pirating aspect of Assassin's Creed Black Flag the worst part of the game, I'm personally not really interested in the game but it makes sense to continue development, especially after the success of Sea of Thieves. It shows there is a demand for this type of game, it's just not my cup of tea.

EA Teases Battlefield 6 reveal for June

EA and DICE are seemingly teasing a reveal for Battlefield 6 coming next month according to the game's official Twitter account.

In an extremely brief teaser, they tweeted "Words that rhyme with Soon: June. Boom." My guess would be that the game will show up at E3 2021 and i think it'll be available on Xbox Game Pass. Notable the EA Play addition on Game Pass Ultimate shows on the app to claim by 02/06/2021 which could mean when EA Play leaves the service but that's speculation. Hopefully, I'm wrong on that one but it wouldn't surprise me if EA Play was removed from Game Pass Ultimate and then Ubisoft Plus is added.

Ubisoft Games Are Now Known As "Ubisoft Originals"

Ubisoft will now be branding all it's games made by internal studios as "Ubisoft Originals".

when Ubisoft announced Tom Clancy's The Division: Heartland last week the new name was attached but now we know exactly what that means.

a Ubisoft spokesperson told Eurogamer today that, "Moving forward 'The Ubisoft Original' mention is attached to all of Ubisoft's games created in-house by our talented developers."

This brand-new change could be a way to define Ubisoft made games from other games they publish, maybe it's just publishing games from outside studios or a way to make games in collaboration with other companies like they did with Nintendo for Mario X Rabbids Kingdom Battle.