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Xbox News is a site that brings you the very latest Original Xbox, Xbox 360 and Xbox One news, the latest games and releases, Part of the
DCEmu Homebrew & Gaming Network.
THE LATEST NEWS BELOW
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November 12th, 2020, 09:40 Posted By: wraggster
It may not be the biggest reason to grab Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, but Microsoft has added yet another perk for those who subscribe to the service. Starting today, anyone who is signed up for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will be able to redeem a free 30-day trial to the Disney+ streaming service. Usually retailing for $6.99, Disney+ currently doesn't offer free trials in any form, so this deal stands out. As with most trials, you can cancel anytime prior to the renewal if you don't want to keep the subscription. If that's not enough for you, don't forget that EA Play games are also coming to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for no extra charge, tomorrow, November 10th.
 Source
https://gbatemp.net/threads/microsof...disney.576941/
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November 11th, 2020, 20:09 Posted By: wraggster
Microsoft's foray into lower-priced gaming hardware with consoles like the Xbox Series S is far from over, according to Xbox head Phil Spencer.
In an interview with Stratechery (via The Verge), Spencer indicated that even cheaper hardware -- such as TV streaming sticks like a Roku device -- might one day be in the cards to facilitate gaming services like xCloud.
"I think you're going to see lower-priced hardware as part of our ecosystem when you think about streaming sticks and other things that somebody might want to just go plug into their TV and go play via xCloud," Spencer said.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...-our-ecosystem
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November 11th, 2020, 20:04 Posted By: wraggster
With its pending acquisition of Bethesda, Microsoft is preparing to bring its Xbox Game Studios roster to 23 -- but the company appears to be far from done.
Speaking to GameReactor, Xbox boss Phil Spencer acknowledged that during the early Xbox One and late Xbox 360 years, the company did not invest enough in its studios' creative capabilities to its long-term detriment -- but that change has been in the works for some time now.
"Now, the thing with game production is that it takes a lot of time, so if you underinvest it actually doesn't show up next year or even in the next two years. It's maybe three, four, or five years down the road.
"I had this feeling or belief that we were underinvesting and I was head of first-party, so I felt it directly. I wanted to invest more, and we weren't able to. So when I got into this job, I needed to put the business in a good space while getting the support of the company. And then we built a business model that prioritized investing in content knowing that we would have to invest early and wait a while for those investments to pay off."
Spencer added later in the discussion that he feels the "chink in the armor" in the current line-up of Xbox first-party content is a lack of E-rated content, or "casual content with a broad appeal," saying that filling that gap is at the forefront of his mind when considering expanding the company's current offerings.
Spencer also was asked about Game Pass' potential expansion onto other platforms, and while rumors of Game Pass coming to Switch have been floated for some time now, Spencer said that other console platforms weren't the top priority for expansion of the subscription.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...-its-portfolio
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November 11th, 2020, 19:58 Posted By: wraggster
Microsoft closed Q1 of its 2021 fiscal year with plenty to say about the ongoing financial success of its cloud offerings, but not much of note on the gaming front.
For Q1 ending September 30, 2020, the company's 'More Personal Computing' business segment saw $11.8 billion in revenue, up 6% year-over-year.
This segment includes gaming and a few other categories such as Windows and Surface revenue, though gaming was one of two stated major revenue drivers this quarter.
Xbox content and services revenue was up 30% or $649 million, which Microsoft says was driven mainly by third-party, first-party, and Game Pass -- essentially everything but hardware, which is both unsurprising due to it being the final quarter before the next console generation but also notable due to Microsoft's explicit mention of a 49% year-over-year rise in hardware revenue last quarter.
In fact, per Microsoft's 10-Q form filed shortly after the results, Xbox content and services revenue drove an increase in overall gaming revenue, but was offset by a 27% drop in hardware revenue.
It is worth pointing out while Xbox Series S and X pre-orders opened just prior to the close of the quarter, the sales have not yet been completed and thus would not be factored into revenue calculations until next quarter.
Gaming revenue grew $550 million, or 22%, year-over-year, which when calculated using numbers from the company's 10-Q for the previous year brings total gaming revenue for the quarter to approximately $3.1 billion.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...n-a-quiet-note
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November 11th, 2020, 19:53 Posted By: wraggster
All Xbox, Xbox 360, and Xbox One games that are currently playable on Xbox One consoles will also be playable on Xbox Series X and S at launch -- except games that require Kinect.
This is according to a tweet by director of product management JasonRonald, who said that Mirosoft conducted over 500,000 hours of testing to determine this.
Previously, Microsoft had said that the next-gen consoles would be compatible with "hundreds" of Xbox 360 games, and some select franchises from the original Xbox.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...eries-hardware
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November 11th, 2020, 19:51 Posted By: wraggster
During an episode of the Dropped Frames podcast, released yesterday, Xbox head Phil Spencer discussed Game Pass' business model and how developers perceive the subscription service.
He highlighted that some developers do have concerns about Game Pass and Xbox's long term goals, which led him to reiterate the platform holder's commitment to retail. This echoes Microsoft's recent announcement that it will share digital revenues with retailer GameStop on every Xbox it sells.
"I have conversations with a lot of these developers about what are our real long term goals. We get questions about: hey is this some kind of way [to] secure a bunch of players and then rack the price up to a new level? And I say: there's no plan for us to do anything like that. We like the value that Game Pass is today and from a business model it's completely sustainable the way it is. And I mean that."
Some of the questions developers have been asking him revolve around the value of titles on Game Pass in the long run, Spencer said, and whether or not that value diminishes if people aren't paying for a game.
"It's not like I've got a crystal ball and I can tell somebody what GamePass is going to look like in five years. What I can say is that our motivation is not to turn everybody into a subscriber. We think it's an option for people. We're not pulling our games out of retail. In fact, we've expanded. We put them on Steam. We have some games in the [Epic Games Store]. We are out there to give more options to go buy our games. We obviously support free-to-play games, which don't have a big role today in Game Pass."
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...o-a-subscriber
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November 11th, 2020, 17:21 Posted By: wraggster
Some Amazon customers who have pre-ordered the Xbox Series X won't see their order fulfilled until December.
Several Twitter users have shared an email sent by Amazon in the past day or so concerning their pre-order, indicating that the retail giant may be low on stock.
"We expect to ship your console in the coming weeks as we receive more inventory in November and December," one of the messages shared on Twitter read. "At this time we anticipate that you will receive your Xbox Series X by [December 31] or before."
Amazon Help replied to that message -- and to many others complaining about the same thing on Twitter -- saying that this is due to "high demand" for the console and repeating that inventory is due to continue to arrive throughout November and December.
The extent of the issue and how many customers are impacted is unclear at this point. It also doesn't seem to be impacting the Xbox Series S. GamesIndustry.biz has reached out to Xbox for comment.
The Xbox Series X and S launch today. In our Critical Consensus for the platforms, we noted that the reception from critics has generally been positive for both versions of Microsoft's console. Reviewers liked the hardware's quality-of-life improvements, but recommendations came with big caveats, most notably the lack of key games.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...until-december
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November 11th, 2020, 17:19 Posted By: wraggster
The early sales of Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 will not be indicative of their true popularity, according to Microsoft's Phil Spencer -- whichever company takes an early lead will be a matter of supply rather than demand.
In a long interview with ShackNews, Spencer addressed the tendency for people to look at sales of the new Xbox and PlayStation consoles this year and declare "a winner and... a loser."
"I just disregard that," he continued. "Frankly, this holiday, supply is going to dictate how many consoles are sold more than demand.
"That battle is not going to be a reflection of demand -- it'll be a reflection of supply."
When asked about the apparent plan to have Halo Infinite ready for the launch of Xbox Series X|S, Spencer confirmed that Microsoft had planned around that being the case.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...tion-of-supply
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November 11th, 2020, 17:18 Posted By: wraggster
Microsoft has shared more on the decisions behind launching its entry-level next-gen console, the Xbox Series S.
Launching yesterday alongside the more powerful Series X, the $299/£249 digital-only console is not too far off the now discontinued Xbox One X in terms of performance, albeit with next-gen features like Quick Resume and the faster loading times enable by a solid state drive.
Given the smaller differences in technology, Microsoft could have retained the Xbox One X as its entry-level device, but system architect Andrew Goossen told Digital Foundry why the platform holder pushed forward with a new low-end console.
One factor is that Xbox One X would have lasted a long time through the new generation, but would lack aspects Microsoft believes defines its new devices, such as the Xbox Velocity Architecture and graphical features such as ray tracing and variable rate shading.
"We wanted to make sure that there was an entry level at the right price point so that we could really advance the generation rather than hold it back," said Goossen.
"I've heard that Series S is going to hold back the next generation but I actually see Series S advancing it because by doing Series S we'll have more games written to the characteristics of the next generation."
The price point was another crucial element, and reflects "a big change in how consoles are designed." While silicon cost reductions mean consoles have historically become cheaper over the course of a generation, this effect has become less pronounced.
"Previous generations were kind of easy because at the beginning of the generation, you make something really expensive -- put as much silicon and as much performance as you could into it -- then you would just ride the cost reduction curves down to mass market prices," Goossen said. "That's not there anymore."
He added: "The ironic thing is that we did look at Xbox One X and we couldn't get it down the price point we wanted to get, so I look at the Xbox Series S and it's cheaper than Xbox One X."
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...it-advances-it
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November 11th, 2020, 17:15 Posted By: wraggster
Traditionally, the start of a new console generation is a hard reset.
You bring home your expensive new game box with, at most, a handful of launch titles. Your previous console and all its games begin to collect dust -- assuming you haven't already traded them in. Out with the old, in with the new.
Compare that to when you upgrade your phone. Everything is backed up to your computer or the cloud, you swap SIM cards, go through the usual setup process, download that backup -- and pick up exactly where you left off. Your photos, music, podcasts and apps are all present. Yes, there are a couple of shiny new features to get excited about, but your new phone has essentially replicated your old one rather than completely replaced it.
Setting up my Xbox Series X felt exactly the same -- especially using the Xbox smartphone app to do the set-up while updates were downloading. As soon as that's done, it was like I was playing my Xbox One X. Same settings, same library of titles, same everything. Even the UI is the same -- although that's mostly because Microsoft, like mobile platform holders, iterates on its interface separate from hardware releases and did so just ahead of launch.The 'next' of this next-gen machine is far more subtle and offers a sense of continuity never experienced with any previous console
So, thanks to cloud saves, I could just dive into the game I was playing on my previous Xbox the day, week, or even year before and continue where I left off. Just with a bigger box and a slightly tweaked controller.
The 'next' of this next-gen machine is far more subtle and offers a sense of continuity never experienced with any previous console.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...tions-analysis
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August 23rd, 2020, 21:27 Posted By: wraggster
Microsoft has partnered with gaming apparel brand Meta Threads to create Halo face masks to help health care workers.
The limited edition Halo mask launched yesterday on Meta Threads for $19.95, with the profit being used to manufacture two more masks that will be donated to MasksforDocs.
The California-based organisation, run by volunteers, helps distribute protective supplies to frontline workers fighting the COVID-19 pandemic in hospitals and healthcare facilities.
This partnership with Xbox is part of Meta Threads' #GamersMasks4Masks campaign, which has already led to the donation of 55,700 masks, Windows Central reported.
The 3-ply polyester Halo face masks are registered with the FDA, include an adjustable aluminium nose insert, and are washable and reusable.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...ntline-workers
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August 15th, 2020, 00:09 Posted By: wraggster
Amid stay-at-home orders and higher demand for all sorts of technological services, Microsoft closed its FY20 with continued strength across a number of sectors -- including gaming.
For Q4 ending June 30, 2020, Microsoft's 'More Personal Computing' segment, which includes gaming and a few other categories such as Windows and Surface, the company saw $12.9 billion in revenue -- up 14% year-over-year largely due to the strength of its gaming business.
Overall gaming revenue for the company was up $1.3 billion or 64%, largely driven by Xbox content and services revenue, which made up $1.2 billion of that increase. Per Microsoft, this was primarily due to record engagement and strength of third-party titles amid stay-at-home orders.
The jump in Xbox content and services revenue is a marked difference from previous quarters, with the category's revenue down 3%, steady, down 11%, and up 2% in each of the last four quarters, respectively. This quarter, it was up 65% year-over-year.
It's possible that this is due in part to the category no longer fighting with a "high prior year comparable, primarily from a third-party title" impacting its revenue increase or decrease year-over-year. This line has appeared in financial reports for the last three quarters, but the unknown title no longer appears to have a significant impact on the results.
Xbox hardware revenue was up 49% year-over-year, with Microsoft attributing the rise to an increase in volume of consoles being sold.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...oing-lockdowns
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August 15th, 2020, 00:05 Posted By: wraggster
Today during its Xbox Games Showcase, Microsoft showed or teased a total of 21 games from nine of its internal studios and 11 third-party studios that are planned for release on the Xbox Series X in the coming months and years.
The showcase led with the first look at gameplay for Halo Infinite, which is still planned for launch around holiday 2020 as a launch title for the Xbox Series X, and closed with a tease for Fable -- which does not yet have a release date.
Other Xbox Games Studios showing off their work included Undead Labs with State of Decay 3, Turn 10 with a new, next-gen Forza Motorsport, Rare with Everwild, Moon Studios (through Xbox Games Publishing) showing an optimized Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Ninja Theory with a tease of Hellblade 2, DoubleFine showing Psychonauts 2, and Obsidian with three titles: Grounded, its RPG Avowed, and DLC for The Outer Worlds.
Among these, Microsoft also showed a number of third-party debuts, including a new trailer for Dontnod's Tell Me Why, the first look at Interior Night's project As Dusk Falls, a new trailer for Bloober Team's The Medium, and Tetris Effect Connected -- an optimized version of Tetris Effect coming this holiday with a new multiplayer mode.
Bungie was also present with Destiny 2, which is coming to Game Pass this fall. Game Pass members will be able to play the game with all DLC, and Game Pass Ultimate members will also get access to the game on mobile via Xcloud. A version of the game optimized for Xbox Series X is also coming later this year.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...infinite-fable
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August 14th, 2020, 23:52 Posted By: wraggster
Microsoft managed to eke out a slight increase in its overall gaming revenues year-over-year for fiscal 2020 thanks to strong Xbox content and services revenue, and unsurprisingly no real help from hardware sales.
The company published its full-year financials earlier this month, but just recently released its 10K form offering more detail than its initial financials initially had for the full-year results of its gaming segment specifically.
The 10K revealed that gaming revenue was up $189 million, or 2%, year-over-year for the full year ending June 30, 2020.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...or-fiscal-2020
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August 14th, 2020, 23:51 Posted By: wraggster
Halo Infinite's multiplayer mode will be free-to-play, Microsoft has confirmed.
The company made the announcement ahead of its apparent schedule, after details were leaked by the Irish toy retailer Smyths Toys Superstores.
In a since deleted blog post -- spotted by The Verge -- Smyths teased "a groundbreaking free-to-play multiplayer experience." Microsoft confirmed that detail in a tweet on July 31, stating "Halo is for everyone."
Microsoft promised more details in the future, and there is a great deal more to learn about exactly how Halo multiplayer will function -- and monetise -- as a free-to-play service.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...e-free-to-play
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August 14th, 2020, 23:42 Posted By: wraggster
Microsoft has announced that it will be bringing cloud gaming to Xbox Game Pass on September 15 in 22 countries across North America, Europe, and South Korea.
The service will launch in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States -- with more countries to follow over time.
Microsoft will bring over 100 titles from Game Pass at launch to its cloud services, making them playable on Android devices via an app and carrying over achievements, game saves, progression, and all other player data from existing accounts.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...n-september-15
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August 14th, 2020, 23:21 Posted By: wraggster
Apple users are no longer able to test the iOS version of Microsoft's Project xCloud game streaming service.
The current mobile preview of the service was due to end on September 11, but The Verge reports that Microsoft has ended the xCloud test on iOS and will only continue with it on Android devices forward.
The iOS test app was considerably limited compared to its Android counterpart, with only one title -- Halo: The Master Chief Collection -- and the capacity for 10,000 testers.
Microsoft has said this was "to comply with App Store policies," although it's unclear which policies impose these restrictions.
Similarly, Google's Stadia app for iOS only allows users to manage their account and Valve spent a year appealing Apple's rejection of its Steam Link streaming app.
In a statement to The Verge, a Microsoft spokesperson said: "Our Project xCloud preview TestFlight period has ended on iOS and we are focused on delivering cloud gaming as part of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate to Android customers beginning September 15."
However, they added that it remains the company's ambition to "scale cloud gaming through Xbox Game Pass available on all devices."
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...project-xcloud
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