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.

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.

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.

Lost Judgment Announced By SEGA

Ryu Ga Gotaku Studio has announced a sequel to Yakuza spin-off Judgment in the form of Lost Judgment coming in September.

The game will follow the main character from the first game detective Takayuki Yagami as he is thrown into a new murder investigation that begins on the streets of Kamarocho but will eventually take him to the Ijincho distrct of Yokohama. (the location of Yakuza Like Dragon)

Players will have to search for clues, chase down criminals and deliver the delicious dish of justice in the form of Tak's Fist.

Investigations return with the usual tailing, chasing and cross-examining suspects, however, Tak gets some additional tricks that include new stealth moves, wiretapping, and acrobatic skills.

On the punching side of things, Tak has gained a brand new fighting style in the form of the Snake, where it's described as using the foes moves against them. Crane and Tiger style also both return but let's be real, we're all gonna use the new fighting style.

In regards to the story, players will go undercover at a local high school, and it looks to be where you'll get to experience the side missions which have formerly been renamed in Lost Judgment to School Stories. They will apparently be just as wacky as prior games with mini-games that range from dancing to controlling battle robots.

Lost Judgment will be launching globally on September 24, 2021, on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, and PlayStation 4

Halo Infinite confirms multiplayer cross-play

Xbox has announced that the upcoming Halo Infinite will have multiplayer cross-play and cross-progression on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC.

in a post on the Xbox Wire which is titled 'Continuing Our PC Gaming in 2021 and Beyond', they announced that cross-progression will allow players to have access to their unlocks/customization regardless if you're playing on a console or on the PC. The PC version of Halo Infinite will also include support for ultrawide and super ultrawide screens, triple keyboards, a "wide variety of advanced graphics options" and more.

Later on in the post, Xbox's Matt Booty also confirmed that the company plans to bring several Xbox Series X|S enhancements to the PC, including DirectStorage technology which means games can load faster, and even the console's Auto HDR feature which has given developers the ability to bring graphical upgrades that weren't possible for "1000s" of older DirectX based titles.

Lastly, Microsoft announced it will be making changes to the developer revenue share for games sold in the Microsoft Store, and from August 1, the net revenue developers will earn from sales will increase from 70% to 88%.

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order to get dedicated Xbox Series X|S and PS5 releases

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is going to be getting a full Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 release later on in the year.

The news was announced on the official Star Wars website during the reveal for the annual Star Wars Day celebrations on May 4. Details on the game are planned to be revealed at a later date, it looks like that these versions will include a more improved upgrade to the previously released "optimisation" patch that the game recently recieved. The new versions will be a free upgrade to those that own the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions.

I personally hope that the game comes with something more than just a makeover, maybe a DLC expansion or the prospect of addtional content coming to the game at a later. It's a fantastic game that deserves some cool add-on content, so hopefully EA and Respawn Entertainment are on it.

Fall Guys Ultimate Knockout's Xbox And Switch Versions Delayed

Mediatonic has announced that the upcoming release for Xbox and Nintendo Switch versions of Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout will no longer launch in the Summer.

the announcement came from the game's official website, where the studio discussed its recent purchase by Epic Games by saying it offered "so many new opportunities" but also they said, "We've realized that our previously announced Summer 2021 Switch and Xbox release schedule is unfortunately just too soon for us to include all of the tasty new features we're working on."

on a positive note, the team confirmed that the delay will give them the chance to add additional features, which they promised would include crossplay so that Xbox and Nintendo Switch players can play with those on PlayStation 4 and PC.

Knockout City coming to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate And EA Play

EA has confirmed that the upcoming dodgeball game Knockout City will be available via EA Play and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate at launch in May.

in a post where EA celebrates the beta hitting one million downloads for the recent open beta weekend. They confirmed the game will be coming to EA Play and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate tier subscription, this also means it'll be available for players on PlayStation and PC via a standard EA Play membership as well.

I played the recent demo and I came away from it lukewarm, I enjoyed aspects of the game but I also found the matchmaking overly frustrating. Every match I played over the course of the beta weekend had one team with fewer players than the other which made it extremely one-sided.

Knockout City will be available on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and PC on May 21.

Additionally, the game will have access to cross-play across all platforms.

Xbox Games With Gold Games For May Announced

Microsoft has revealed the upcoming games Games with Gold lineup of games for May but they're just okay again.

The games go as followed:

Starting May 1st

Armello (Xbox One)

Lego Batman (Xbox 360)

Then on May 16

Dungeons 3 (Xbox One)

Tropico 4 (Xbox 360)

If you haven't redeemed the games from April, they'll still be available until April 30th but then will be replaced on the 1st with the May games.

Dragon Quest Builders 2 coming to Xbox Series X|S via Xbox Game Pass

Dragon Quest Builders 2 is coming to Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S according to a Microsoft Store listing.

The listing confirms that the Xbox version will come with all the DLC and will also be available via Xbox Game Pass on the console.

Dragon Quest Builders 2 launches for Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One and will be available via Xbox Game Pass on May 4, 2021.

Apex Legends Season 9 Legend Is Called Valkyrie

Apex Legends is mere weeks away from dropping season 9 to the game and Respawn entertainment is ramping to the release with the announcement of their next legend.

in a newly released episode of 'Stories from the Outlands' short, the developer introduced its next character Valkyrie, who has a strong connection to Titanfall.

Valkyrie is the daughter of Titanfall 2 character Viper, who's the pilot behind the NorthStar Titan. (Boss fight in Titanfall 2) In the short, titled 'Northstar' Valkyrie is out to take revenge against her father boss, and leader of the Apex Legends in the form of Kuban Blisk.

The short provides a great introduction to Valkyrie for players and adds some interesting lore and backstory to both Titanfall and Apex Legends. interestingly enough, the new season isn't numbered but instead is just called Legacy.

In regards to Valk abilities, it looks like she'll have some form of flight with the short showcasing Rampart taking apart NorthStar with a shadow engulfing Valkrie with the Jetpack wings of the titan.

Apex Legends Legacy (Season 9) will begin on May 4 on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and PC. Additionally more details and announcements for the upcoming season will be available in the coming weeks.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 Remaster is Coming To Nintendo Switch And Xbox Series X And PS5

Activision has finally announced that Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 will be released on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch this year.

The next-generation versions will arrive on March 26, with the Switch edition currently not having a specific release date but is confirmed for 2021.

Activision has promised a "variety of upgrades," which includes 120FPS/1080p and 60FPS/4K visuals, spatial audio, and other enhancements coming for the next-gen versions. Sadly the Nintendo Switch edition won't have the same frame rates and graphics upgrades.

Players who already own a digital copy of the game for PS4 or Xbox One or the disc version on PS4 will be able to upgrade to the same console family with all of your progress at no cost, except for residents of Japan where this will cost 100 Yen. This apparently only applies to the deluxe edition of the game and the disc version on Xbox One is seemingly left out too.

Activision will also be selling a "Cross-Gen Deluxe Bundle" that costs $10 more. This will come with a new skater called Ripper, along with retro gear for the Create-A-Skater mode, along with retro skins for Tony Hawk, Steve Caballero, and Rudney Mullen.

Apex Legends Season 8 Mayhem Details Revealed

Respawn Entertainment has announced the date for Season 8 of Apex Legends, as well as revealing some details on its latest Legends to join the apex games.

The new season which is entitled Mayhem will see the introduction of Fuse in an explosive way. Respawn Described him as "The Champion of Salvo" and as a "blow-up-first-ask-questions-later kinda guy".

The season will also bring changes to the Kings Canyon map, which respawn is calling Obliterated King's Canyon, more details were promised to come later in the week. Lastly, they showcased a brand new weapon in the form of a bolt action rifle called The 30-30 Repeater.

A few more details on the upcoming season are available on the Apex Legends website.

Season 8: Mayhem will be dropping into the world of Apex Legends on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and PC from February 2.

Hogwarts Legacy delayed into 2022

Warner Bros has announced that Hogwarts Legacy has been delayed into 2022.

a statement posted to the official Twitter account said: "Creating the best possible experience for all of the Wizarding World and gaming fans is paramount to us, so we are giving the game the time it needs."

This year is currently looking to go one of two ways for me, either a ton of upcoming games get delayed due to working at home situation or there are so many games coming that this delay will only end up being a good decision all round. I'm still currently playing 2020 games and the game train isn't stopping with Yakuza 3, 4, and 5, Hitman 3, Scott Pilgrim VS The World The Game: Complete Edition and that's just the games I'm excited for that’s launching in January.

Hogwarts Legacy is now launching on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC in 2022.

January 2021 Video Game Releases

January 2021 is looking to be a fantastic start for players of all kinds. This month will see the release of some of my favorite video game franchises such as Hitman and Yakuza. I'm really looking forward to those two in particular, especially since i'm currently playing through Yakuza Like A Dragon and loving it.

Below is a list of all the upcoming games releasing in January 2021:

8th January

Iris Fall (PS4, Xbox One, Switch)

12th January

Five Nights at Freddy’s: Core Collection (PS4, Xbox One, Switch)

14th January

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game – Complete Edition (PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch, Stadia)

MXGP 2020 (PS5)

20th January

Hitman 3 (PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PS5, PS4, Switch)

21st January

Ride 4 (PS5, Xbox Series X)

22nd January

Bladed Fury (PS4, Xbox One, Switch)

26th January

Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy (PC, PS4, PS5, Switch)

Stronghold: Warlords (PC)

Cyber Shadow (PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch)

28th January

Ar Nosurge DX (PC, Switch, PS4)

Ciel Nosurge DX (PC, Switch, PS4)

Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny (PS4, Switch)

Märchen Forest: Mylne and the Forest Gift (PC, PS4, Switch)

The Medium (PC, Xbox)

Sword of the Necromancer (PS4, Xbox One, Switch)

The Yakuza Remastered Collection (PC, Xbox)