X018 was a very exciting event that happened on 10th November 2018 in Mexico City. Well, it was incredibly exciting for the hordes of fans who packed the venue to celebrate all the new news from Xbox. There was screaming and shouting, and men waving their tops around their heads as if Mexico had just won the world cup! Anyhow, there were loads of new announcements handily recapped for you below.
Crackdown 3 – As detailed in our news post yesterday, Crackdown 3 will be arriving on February 15th 2019 and the new trailer featured more Terry Crews, which can only be a good thing! The original Crackdown is also currently free on Xbox One, and is enhanced for the Xbox One X,
https://youtu.be/ulPrpqAOA7U
Game Pass – A whopping Sixteen new games were announced as coming to Xbox Game Pass. As well as PlayerUnknown Battlegrounds coming to the service on November 12th and the incredible Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice on December 17th, we also have (deep breath) Void Bastards, Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Thief of Thieves: Season One, Kingdom: Two Crowns, Aftercharge, Supermarket S.H.R.I.E.K, Mutant Year Zero, Pathologic 2, Secret Neighbor, The Good Life, Agents of Mayhem, MXGP3 and Thomas Was Alone. All of these will enter the service over the course of November and December 2018.
Two new studios were added to the Microsoft stable – And two RPG studios as well. Matt Booty took to the stage at X018 to announce that Obsidian Entertainment and inExile Entertainment have both been purchased by Microsoft, which promises us a future of first-party RPG games. Obsidian have previously been responsible for Fallout: New Vegas, Pillars of Eternity, and South Park: The Stick of Truth, whilst inExile have not only given us Wasteland but also have the legendary Brian Fargo heading up the studio.
Backwards Compatibility – Final Fantasy fans will be happy as the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy is coming to the BC program on November 13th. Final Fantasy 13, Final Fantasy 13-2 and Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13 will all be playable on the Xbox One and will be enhanced for the Xbox One X. Also coming this week is an Xbox One X Enhanced version of Civilisation Revolution.
Forza Horizon 4 – The incredible Forza Horizon 4 is getting it’s first DLC content on December 13th as we all travel to Fortune Island, which contains some of the most extreme conditions ever seen in the Forza series. We can expect lightning storms, dirt roads and the best section of drifting tarmac that’s ever been created, all whilst hunting for treasure.
New Updates for first-party games – Sea of Thieves is getting a new multiplayer mode called ‘The Arena’ which promises frantic PVP combat whilst competing to see which team can collect the most loot. State of Decay 2 now has four million active players and is getting a free update called ‘Zedhunter’
Mouse and Keyboard – Mouse and keyboard is coming to Xbox in the next week and will initially be supported by eight titles, including Fortnite and Warframe isn the first week. Future November updates for Strange Brigade, Bomber Crew, Deep Rock Galactic, Warhammer: Vermintide 2, War Thunder, and X-Morph Defense will all add support.
Give with Xbox – From now until November 9th 2018, Microsoft will donate $5 worth of gaming equipment to one of four gaming charities (up to the value of $1 million), for every tweet with the hashtag of #givewithxbox. One of the charities is Thumbstix favourite Special Effect, who do amazing work here in the UK. Don’t delay, get tweeting!
More New Trailers – As well as all the above goodness we also had new trailers for Jump Force, Shadow of the Tomb Raider The Forge DLC, Winnie the Pooh in Kingdom Hearts 3, Just Cause 4, Void Bastards and Devil May Cry 5.