Video Game Chat

Microsoft has announced that Xbox Game Pass will be streamed directly to your TV in the future through Cloud Gaming. While it reiterated that consoles remain the “flagship experience”, all that will be required to play Game Pass content on a compatible TV is a controller, without the need for additional hardware. The company is currently working with global TV manufacturers to embed the Xbox experience directly into internet-connected TVs, it told press this week. And it’s also building its own streaming devices to bring cloud gaming to any TV or monitor without the need for a console. That is likely to include a selection of fairly recent models, so Xbox will also release its own streaming devices that connect to a wider range of TVs and monitors. It sounds similar to a Chromecast with Google TV, as a dongle that smartens-up your screen. “Cloud is key to our hardware and Game Pass roadmaps, but no one should think we’re slowing down on our core console engineering. In fact, we’re accelerating it,” Xbox’s experiences and platforms boss Liz Hamren said during a video presentation. “We’re already hard at work on new hardware and platforms, some of which won’t come to light for years. “But even as we build for the future, we’re focused on extending the Xbox experience to more devices today so we can reach more people. And many of those devices won’t be built by us. For example, we’re working with global TV manufacturers to embed the Game Pass experience directly into internet-connected TVs, so all you’ll need to play is a controller. “Beyond that, we’re also developing standalone streaming devices that you can plug into a TV or monitor, so if you have a strong internet connection, you can stream your Xbox experience.” “We need to expand our audience beyond console, to new demographics and geographies we haven’t reached before, and provide meaningful value for that audience to choose to spend their money with us,” said CFO of Xbox Tim Stuart. Xbox confirmed Cloud Gaming will come to Xbox app on PC and web browsers this year. No timeframe was confirmed on when it would be integrated directly into TVs or when the streaming devices will be available.

It’s official: you no longer need an Xbox Live Gold account in order to play online multiplayer in free-to-play titles on Xbox consoles. Today, Microsoft is making online multiplayer in free-to-play games available on Xbox without an Xbox Live Gold membership. So, as of now, Xbox players will be able to access online multiplayer at no charge for a library of over 50 free-to-play games that support online multiplayer. The games that are now free-to-play online without Gold are listed below, and more will be added over time. 3on3 FreeStyle Aegis Wing APB Reloaded Apex Legends Armored Warfare Battle Ages Battle Islands Battle Islands: Commanders Bless Unleashed Brawlhalla Call of Duty: Warzone Crackdown Crackdown 2 Crimson Alliance Crossout CRSED: F.O.A.D. Darwin Project Dauntless DC Universe Online Dead or Alive 5 Last Round: Core Fighters Dead or Alive 6: Core Fighters Defiance 2050 Destiny 2 Doritos Crash Course Dungeon Defenders II Enlisted Eternal Card Game Family Game Night Fishing Planet Fortnite Galaxy Control: Arena Gems of War Happy Wars Harm’s Way Hawken Hyper Scape Killer Instinct Korgan Minion Masters Neverwinter Outriders (Demo) Paladins Path of Exile Phantasy Star Online 2 Phantom Dust Pinball FX2 Prominence Poker Realm Royale Rec Room Resident Evil Revelations 2 ROBLOX Rocket League Rogue Company Skyforge SMITE Spacelords Spellbreak Star Trek Online Techwars Global Conflict TERA The Four Kings Casino and Slots Too Human Trove Vigor War Thunder Warface Warframe World of Tanks World of Warships: Legends Yaris

Electronic Arts has announced its ‘next-gen golf game’, EA Sports PGA Tour, that will likely target PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S|X consoles. The game is currently in development over at EA’s Tiburon studio – you may recognize the name as the same studio behind the NBA Live and Madden franchises under the EA Sports label – and no launch date has been provided at the time of writing. In a new blog post uploaded by the publisher, it’s noted that the game will be built in Frostbite engine, which will allow the studio to bring “stunning fidelity, breathtaking immersive environments, and approachable, dynamic gameplay” to the title whilst taking advantage of the processing power of the new generation of console hardware. “EA Sports and the PGA Tour have created some of the most memorable golf video game experiences together, and we couldn’t be more excited to expand our sports portfolio with a new golf title on next-gen hardware,” EA Sports general manager Cam Weber says in the update. “Our team of passionate golf fans is meticulously recreating the world’s top courses such as Pebble Beach, and we can’t wait to give fans the opportunity to compete on some of the most iconic PGA TOUR courses and win the FedExCup.” “We’ve partnered with EA Sports to bring immersive golf video game experiences to fans of all ages for years,” continues PGA Tour’s licensing and merchandising boss, Len Brown. “We are thrilled to continue working with EA Sports on its golf franchise to authentically represent the PGA Tour for the next generation. The newest game will give golf fans another way to experience their favorite sport, or to discover their passion for it.” Though any actual information about the title is scarce right now, EA has promised more updates – including a release date – will be shared in the coming months. Platforms haven’t been announced for the game in the initial reveal, but it stands to reason that it’ll be coming to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S|X consoles, as well as PC.

ID@Xbox held its first-ever showcase on the Twitch Gaming channel yesterday (March 26). Over 60 games were spotlighted including over 20 games that will launch on Xbox Game Pass Day 1 when they release. The show featured new trailers, gameplay, new announcements, and developer interviews. Senior Director of ID@Xbox Chris Charla revealed that independent developers have earned over $2 billion dollars since the start of ID@Xbox. He also revealed that the program has released over 2,000 titles. Games showcased during the event include Adios, Aerial_Knight’s Never Yield, Airport for Aliens Run By Dogs, Alba: A Wildlife Adventure, Alchemic Cutie, Among Us, Art of Rally, Astria Ascending, Atrio: The Dark Wild, Blaster Master Zero, Chivalry 2, Cloud Gardens, Clouzy!, Craftopia, Dark Alliance, Death’s Door, Demon Turf, Despelote, Echo Generation, Enlisted, Exo One, Exomecha, Griftlands, Hello Neighbor 2, Iron Corbo: Kung Fu Janitor, Knight Squad 2, Lake, Last Oasis, Lawn Mowing Sim, Little Witch in the Woods, Loot River, Lost Eidolons, Mad Streets, Moonglow Bay, Narita Boy, Nobody Saves The World, Omno, Onsen Master, Princess Farmer, Rust, Second Extinction, Song of Iron, Soup Pot, Spaceline Crew, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, Super Space Club, The Ascent, The Big Con, The Forest Cathedral, The Last Stop, The Riftbreaker, The Wild at Heart, Twelve Minutes, Voidtrain, and We are the Caretakers. The games launching on Game Pass at launch are Art of the Rally, Astria Ascending, Backbone, Boyfriend Dungeon, Craftopia, Dead Static Drive, Edge of Eternity, Hello Neighbor 2, Library of Runia, Little Witch in the Woods, Moonglow Bay, Narita Boy, Nobody Saves the World, Omno, Recompile, Sable, She Dreams Elsewhere, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, The Ascent, Undungeon, Way to the Woods, and The Wild at Heart. The showcase highlighted several anticipated ID@Xbox games by speaking to the developers. Moonglow Bay is a wholesome fishing RPG set along the 1980s Eastern Canadian coastline. Players will explore the furthest reaches of the ocean as they learn to cast nets, set traps, and fish while documenting over 100 aquatic species. Soup Pot is a cooking game with a focus on creativity. The game aims to capture the open nature of home cooking, allowing experimentation across over 100 different dishes. Nobody Saves The World is a new twist on Action RPGs. Players can transform into different forms as they explore dozens of dangerous dungeons slaying horrendous monsters on the quest to save the world. Among Us is coming to Xbox later this year. The game is an online and local party game of teamwork and betrayal for 4-10 players. Death’s Door is a fantasy action-adventure set in a world where Crows are in charge of reaping the souls of the dead, operating from their headquarters known as the Hall of Doors. 12 Minutes is coming soon to Xbox. The game revolves around a husband caught in a 12-minute time loop where he and his wife get caught up in a violent invasion as a man breaks into the home, accuses the wife of murder, and beats the husband to death. Astria Ascending is a turn-based JRPG set in a world where chaos looms. Players will take control of the Demigods – eight heroes charged with the fate of the world. Each character has their own story, explored across 5 cities, 25 dungeons, and up to 50 hours of gameplay.

Microsoft has done some light rebranding of Xbox Live. Microsoft has officially confirmed that Xbox Live, the network in use by Xbox consoles and Windows 10, will be known as Xbox network (yes, with a lowercase ‘N’) going forward. The platform holder told The Verge that it’s doing this in order to “distinguish the underlying service from Xbox Live Gold memberships.” This follows Xbox users noticing the new Xbox network branding on their console’s dashboard. Microsoft updated its services agreement last August to refer to Xbox Live simply as ‘Xbox online service’, a move that some took to mean the company was getting ready to drop Xbox Live Gold and re-anchor its online offerings around Game Pass. Microsoft denied that at the time, and later went on to raise Gold prices in January. It didn’t take long for the overwhelmingly negative reaction to rise, forcing Microsoft to reverse course and announce that free-to-play games will soon no longer require a Gold subscription. This change is intended to arrive this year, though Microsoft hasn’t revealed any details on that since.

Slightly Mad Studios has released the Project Cars 3 update 1.09 December patch, or what the studio calls Project Cars update #3! This includes a bunch of fixes to the racing game, with the official patch notes listed below. Project Cars 3 Update 1.09 December Patch Notes: Online Issue with online players moving at different times during rolling starts fixed with automatic race delay countdown New lobby browse flow New post-race flow in MP Fixed host assist settings for all MP participants Fixed an issue that caused MP options to become inactive after reconnecting ethernet cable GUI Fix for Photo Mode vignette effect Fix for pressing the “Hide HUD” button during the post-race spectating sequence Fix for when you hit “0 attempts left” in Rivals Mode and the Race button wasn’t greyed-out Fixed button to toggle between loaner and owned cars being labelled as “0” in vehicle select Fix for decals being replaced while applying decals in certain slots and scrolling through decal placement options Fix for highlighting the GT Open tab causing the Road E class picture to appear Disabled the “Resume” button when Photo button pressed Changed sort order of proximity arrows Added number of attempts left in Rivals to pre-race menu and pause menu Fixed the track loading screen background flashing at the beginning of the “Welcome to” screen Improved framerate during video playback Fixed a crash exiting replays Updated to the latest Nissan logo Missing skip tutorial label in Brazilian Portuguese and Neutral Spanish added Career Fix for cars not unlocking when user levelled up without leaving post-race screen, interrupting Career progression (this fix retroactively corrects any profiles which were affected by this issue). Physics TrueForce initial implementation. Implementation uses haptic thread to provide high-frequency procedural waves for the rumble effects Modulated TruForce slip rumble based on surface wetness Fine tuned slide threshold for TrueForce Fixed TrueForce curb rumble at speed Fixed rolling start discrepancy when TC is enabled Characters Fixed female character 1 Environments Willow Springs Horse Thief Mile: Removed “rallycross” tag that was making cars pick the dirt tyre option in all-weather conditions Mojave: Fixed various holes in the terrain Fuji: Sponsor updates for the track Azure Coast Full: Fixed the AI turning abruptly after the finish line in the post-race screen Knockhill National: Fixed the AI contacting the edge of the barrier when attempting to squeeze past slow or stopped cars Sakitto National: Slowed AI lap times 2-3 seconds at Legendary Zolder: Fixed a flickering glass window issue Monument Canyon B: Fixed the 32nd grid spot being slightly in front of the 31st Yas Marina: Fixed various LOD popping on track Zhuhai: Fixed some tree rendering on the track Hockenheimring GP Classic: Fixed some trees popping Added Bahrain to the track list Vehicles Fixed crash when user applied a racing conversion kit to the last car in their garage 2015 Ford Mustang GT Racing: Made interior dark grey instead of white Honda Civic Racing: Made interior dark grey instead of white Mercedes A45 TCR: Made interior dark grey instead of white Caterham 620R + Racing: Tyre update to stop colour popping when selecting factory livery BMW M6 GT3: Tyre fix to stop logo popping at distance Removed exceptions for McLaren P1 GTR, now all custom rims can be chosen Honda 2&4: Fixed missing animation for accelerating and braking Audi R8 LMP900: Edited front suspension to avoid clipping with bonnet