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Play The World’s Game With FIFA 23, Arriving on The Play List Tomorrow

Soccer Fans: put your cleats on and get ready to hit the pitch – FIFA 23 is coming to The Play List tomorrow – May 16!

The most expansive EA Sports FIFA title to date, FIFA 23 hosts the next evolution of HyperMotion2 technology on current-gen platforms, setting the standard in realistic and immersive gameplay. In addition, and for the first time in EA Sports FIFA history, players now have the chance to play as their favorite women’s club team – so get ready to nutmeg opponents and get on the scoreboard with teams from the Barclays Women’s Super League, Division 1 Arkema, National Women’s Soccer League, and UEFA Women’s Championship League.

Take the pitch now in FIFA 23 to earn great monthly rewards, including the FIFA 23 Ultimate Team Supercharge Pack which features FUT content to help take your club to the next level. This month, members can also show their personality on the field with the Overdrive Lightning Head Tattoo, the FUT Hero Iván Córdoba Tifo Set, and more rewards.

Alongside FIFA 23, here are even more member-only content and rewards available now in EA Play:

Battlefield 2042 Dismemberer Weapon Skin – Now to June 1
Apex Legends Luxurious Wheels Weapon Charm – May 16 to June 12
Need for Speed Unbound Nissan Fairlady ZG 1971 Epic Custom – Now to June 6
PGA TOUR EA Driver & Utility Club Headcovers – Now to June 7
NHL 23 WOC May Bag – Now to May 31
FIFA 23 Pro Clubs Overdrive Lightning Head Tattoo – Now to June 7
FIFA 23 VOLTA Overdrive Blue Glasses – Now to June 7
FIFA 23 FUT Hero Hero Iván Córdoba Tifo Set – Now to June 7
FIFA 23 FUT Season 6 XP Boost – Now to June 7
FIFA 23 FIFA 23 Supercharge Pack – May 16 to June 16
Madden NFL 23 MUT May Pack – Now to June 5

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and Xbox Game Pass PC members receive EA Play at no additional cost with their Game Pass subscription. Members enjoy great player benefits, including in-game challenges and rewards, special member-only content, trials of select brand-new titles, access to a collection of EA’s best-loved series and top titles, and 10% off purchases of Electronic Arts digital content.

Visit the EA Play page for more details, and to stay up to date on the latest from EA Play, follow EA Play on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. Please see EA.com/EA-Play/Terms for terms and conditions.

EA SPORTS™ FIFA 23 Standard Edition Xbox Series X|S

Electronic Arts

☆☆☆☆☆
288

★★★★★

$69.99

$27.99

Get it now

Free Trial

EA SPORTS™ FIFA 23 on Xbox Series X|S brings even more of the action and realism of football to the pitch in The World’s Game, with advances in HyperMotion2 Technology driven by twice as much real-world motion capture helping to create more true football animation than ever before in every match.

Play the men’s FIFA World Cup™ now in FIFA 23, with the women’s FIFA World Cup™ coming later as a post-launch update. Plus play as women’s club teams – powered by dedicated HyperMotion2 animation – for the first time ever, and enjoy cross-play features that make it easier to play against friends*.

Enjoy a new way to play and build your dream squad with FUT Moments and a revamped Chemistry system in FIFA Ultimate Team™, or live out your football dreams in Career Mode as you define your personality as a player, or manage as some of football’s most famous names.

In VOLTA FOOTBALL and Pro Clubs, bring more personality to the pitch with new levels of customisation and enhanced street and stadium gameplay. However you play, experience The World’s Game with over 19,000 players, 700+ teams, 100+ stadiums, and over 30 leagues – including the UEFA Champions League, Premier League, new Barclays FA WSL and France D1 Arkema with unrivalled authenticity in FIFA 23.

This game includes optional in-game purchases of virtual currency that can be used to acquire virtual in-game items, including a random selection of virtual in-game items.

Conditions and restrictions apply. See https://www.ea.com/games/fifa/fifa-23/game-offer-and-disclaimers for details.
*Cross-play enabled in certain modes on same-generation platforms. More info on cross-play at https://www.ea.com/games/fifa/fifa-23/news/pitch-notes-fifa-23-cross-play-deep-dive.

©2022 Electronic Arts Inc. EA, EA SPORTS, and the EA SPORTS logo are trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. Official FIFA licensed product. © FIFA and FIFA’s Official Licensed Product Logo are copyrights and/or trademarks of FIFA. All rights reserved. Manufactured under license by Electronic Arts Inc.

EA SPORTS™ FIFA 23 Standard Edition Xbox One

Electronic Arts

☆☆☆☆☆
298

★★★★★

$59.99

$17.99

Get it now

Free Trial

EA SPORTS™ FIFA 23 brings The World’s Game to the pitch, with both men’s and women’s FIFA World Cup™ tournaments, the addition of women’s club teams, and new ways to play your favourite modes.

Play the men’s FIFA World Cup™ now in FIFA 23, with the women’s FIFA World Cup™ coming later as a post-launch update. Plus play as women’s club teams for the first time ever, and enjoy cross-play features that make it easier to play against friends*.

This game includes optional in-game purchases of virtual currency that can be used to acquire virtual in-game items, including a random selection of virtual in-game items.

The Return of Rome Expansion Turns Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition Into The Game From Your Nostalgic Memories

Summary

Return of Rome is a brand new DLC for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition that adds content from the first original game
Play with 17 new factions including the brand-new Lac Viet, and battle through three new campaigns in a self-contained expansion
We speak to executive producer on Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, Earnest Yuen, to learn more ahead of its May 16 release

Over the last 20 years, Age of Empires II has consistently been viewed as the cornerstone of this great RTS franchise. Praised for its myriad mechanical improvements over the first game, unique units and the addition of gates to stop yourself accidentally imprisoning your on-screen warriors, Age of Empires II ushered in an era almost as unforgettable as the in-game factions we love to roleplay.

But a groundbreaking sequel always has an origin story that started it all, and the first Age of Empires title is by no means being left behind. The latest expansion, Return of Rome, is set to bring integral parts of the game’s original content into Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition as its own self-contained offering, plus some brand new additions for fans to get stuck into.

“We are literally taking the Age of Empires gameplay and putting it… inside Age of Empires II.”

Earnest Yuen, executive producer on Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, tells us that the Age of Empires community is wholeheartedly at the forefront of the decision to craft this expansion, which is a nod to Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome, an expansion for the original game.

“It’s a different type of expansion pack that we have never done before,” Yuen explains. “We are literally taking the Age of Empires gameplay and putting it as a game within the game inside Age of Empires II.”

Return Two Rome

Return of Rome includes 16 ancient civilizations featured in the first Age of Empires, one brand new civilization, and three brand new campaigns. It’s not a bolt on for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, but a separate entity that operates with its own original rules and factions not included in the second remake of the game. You’ll be able to switch between the two with ease.

There is one exception to the faction exclusivity – Return of Rome would of course, not be complete without a Roman faction, but interestingly, this expansion introduces two different Roman civilizations to play as. The Roman faction that is playable in this expansion focuses on the earlier periods of history, but the empire being added to Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition actually covers a later period in Roman history, and it’s been created from scratch especially for the game.

This period dates back to around 395 C.E, making them contemporaries with the Goths, Celts, Britons, Persians and other factions from the Early Middle Ages. By this point, Rome was – as told by the experts on the Age of Empires team – considered a crumbling shadow of its former glory, unable to pay for its soldiers or fortify its home effectively.

“They say Rome wasn’t built in a day, but it also didn’t fall in one day either,” Yuen says. “So for those that love history, they can actually feel the differences between the earlier and later Roman factions.”

25 years of Rome in Age of Empires, from 1997, to 2017 to 2023

Yuen, who also served as executive producer on the first Age of Empires: Definitive Edition, tells us that the goal of the game was to recreate the ultimate updated experience of the title from 20 years prior. This included having it run on modern systems with better graphics, while still feeling like the original. However, doing so was quite the learning curve for the team.

“We wanted newcomers to actually see what the game is like, while letting fans experience it all over again, and we learned a lot from it,” Yuen says. “The learning was that while the hardcore fans of the original Age of Empires fans are very happy, it was hard for new players to join. It’s still very old school, and some players are very used to the innovation that has happened in other awesome RTS games over the last two decades.”

It was that inspiration that altered the team’s focus towards building the definitive version of the game that fans remember via subtle quality of life changes, not necessarily the exact original with all of its quirks. It’s now more like a merger of the two titles, optimized for a smoother all-round experience while retaining each game’s unique points.

“When we released the original Age of Empires: Definitive Edition, people remembered the game having gates, factions having formations, but no, it didn’t have any of that, only Age of Empires II had those,” Yuen says. “But now we’re in the Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition engine, we’ve been able to add these quality of life tweaks.”

“Instead of rebuilding the definitive edition of the original game as it was, we want to build a definitive edition of the game in your head,” Yuen says. “But at our core, we want to make sure the original Age of Empires fans feel at home.”

The Official D3 Ruleset

The Return of Rome expansion also includes a brand new D3 game mode, an in-game implementation of a long-running unofficial ruleset created by Vietnamese Age of Empires players. The ruleset restricts players to one military unit up until the bronze age, which limits rushing tactics and keeps all parties at an equal level. It also introduces a brand new faction, the Lac Viet, a Southeast Asian faction from the late Neolithic period.

“The Vietnamese fans have been keeping the original Age of Empires alive for the last 25 years,” Yuen tells us. “They still have local tournaments, they stream online, and we wanted to honor that community for keeping the game alive for all of that time.”

The D3 ruleset has long existed as a popular way for Age of Empires players to compete against each other, but it’s very much a handshake agreement with no actual in-game limitations. Now it’s an official mode, players can set up the game with the ruleset so everybody has to follow it no matter what – a much more pleasant and reliable D3 experience for those playing online.

“Ideally, it will spread internationally as well, so the Vietnamese fans can actually play with that ruleset against other people from all around the world,” Yuen says.”

The Lac Viet is a brand new faction for Age of Empires, built to honor the Vietnamese community

There’s a lot here to keep existing Age of Empires fans happy, but this offering isn’t just for those that enjoyed the classic games all those years ago. They’re smooth and modern, and designed to entice newcomers, whether they’re familiar with RTS games or not. Age of Empires is timeless fun for everyone, and now more accessible than it has ever been before.

“The franchise is 25 years old now, which means it’s cross generational,” Yuen says. “We have fans that played as a kid, that are now playing again with their own kids, and it’s fantastic.”

“One way that people describe Age of Empires that really resonates with me is that it’s kind of like real-time chess. That’s how people play it and think about it, and chess is timeless.”

Prepare for battle once more when Age of Empires: Return of Rome launches May 16 on Xbox Series X|S and PC.

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition – Return of Rome

Xbox Game Studios

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

$14.99

$12.74

Pre-order

Welcome to Return of Rome, a completely new type of expansion pack which brings Age of Empires, the title that started it all, into Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition as a brand new self-contained experience. This new expansion will allow you to challenge friends with the original sixteen Age of Empires civilizations — plus one brand-new Return of Rome exclusive civilization, the Lac Viet— and relive the triumph and trials of antiquity. Battle your way across the ancient world with three new campaigns featuring conquerors, empire-builders, and gifted tacticians fighting desperately against fate! As an additional bonus, the Romans will no longer be bound by time as they become a new playable civilization within Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, ready to battle in the new Age.

17 Ancient Civilizations:
• Assyrians
• Babylonians
• Carthaginians
• Choson
• Egyptians
• Greeks
• Hittites
• Macedonians
• Minoans
• Palmyrans
• Persians
• Phoenicians
• Romans
• Shang
• Sumerians
• Yamato
• And 1 entirely new, Return of Rome exclusive: Lac Viet — The ancient civilization of Southeast Asia

PLUS 1 new longtime fan-requested civilization for use in standard Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition:
• Romans — Rise to the throne of an empire dominating the Mediterranean Sea and defend your borders against countless barbarian invasions. The Roman unique units are the Legionary, a sturdy infantry unit, and the Centurion, a heavy cavalry unit that increases the power of nearby Militia-line units. Available in singleplayer and unranked multiplayer games.

New! A Rise of Rome exclusive Game Mode:
Introducing the D3 Game Mode, inspired by a ruleset made popular in Vietnam, is now an official part of the franchise!

3 New, Fully Voiced Campaigns:
Sargon of Akkad — An unlikely man rises to power in the city-states of Mesopotamia: Sargon is a simple cupbearer to the king, but everything changes when the war goddess Ishtar appears in his dreams. Under her guidance, Sargon leads the quarreling Sumerians into a new age, but the appealing nature of power forces him to choose between his divine destiny and his personal ambition. In this campaign, you will play as the Sumerians.
Pyrrhus of Epirus — As the Wars of the Diadochi saw Alexander the Great’s successors throw the Greek world into chaos, Pyrrhus of Epirus began as a small player among titans. Will he become worthy of the legendary Hannibal Barca’s judgment of him – a renowned general of the age – or will his constant uphill struggle prove insurmountable? In this campaign, you will play as the Macedonians.
Trajan — Marcus Ulpius Trajanus climbed the ranks of the legions while the Emperor Domitian’s tyrannical rule tarnished the Roman Empire’s glory. When circumstance elevates him to the throne as Emperor Trajan, he inherits a realm on the brink of disaster. Will resourcefulness, virtue, and military might be enough to save Rome and lead it to its historical zenith, or will the Roman Empire collapse four centuries before its time? In this campaign, you will play as the Romans.
Experience Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition Quality of Life improvements to Age of Empires gameplay:
• Gates
• Formations
• Trade carts
• Improved pathfinding
• UI improvements
• Visual improvements
• Spectator mode
• An enhanced AI for computer opponents
• And much more!

This Week on Xbox: Server Slams, A New Controller, and Tons of Updates

Size Matters is Available Now on Xbox

Summary

First person puzzle game.
Take a role of a shrunken scientist looking to make a cure.
Available in 14 languages.

You are shrinking – it’s a race against time to find a cure before you shrink out of existence!

In Size Matters you begin in a lab, with ingredients and recipes randomly scattered across the room on shelves and counters, in cupboards and drawers, and you need to find every one of them to reverse the shrinking process. Some may be hidden among or behind other decorative items such as water bottles or plastic bins. In addition to the clipboards, additional recipes can be found on whiteboards or chalkboards on the walls, depending on the laboratory you are located in.

You must Follow the recipes to use the chemical ingredients in a number of ways: mixing them with each other or with water (which you pour from the sink), processing them in a code combiner, or placing them in a microwave. If you ever make a mistake, you can put the result in a reverter to get your former ingredients back. If you spill or break your bottle (if the option is selected), you can recreate it and its content by using the restorer. You must follow the trail of recipes and end up with three key chemical components to place in your antidote producer. But hurry!

There are six different laboratories, ranging from a small office laboratory to an apartment loft to a workshop. Each offers a very different experience: the layout of the place you walk (or rather run!) across, the placement of the equipment, the spread and quantity of drawers and cabinets your ingredients and recipes could be hidden in, or even the presence of wall-mounted boards with recipes, influence the number of clipboard recipes you must find.

There are multiple difficulty settings available allowing you to customize and tweak your gameplay experience, you can slow or speed up the shrinking process, set the initial character size, set the jumping range, equipment processing time, moving speed and more.

Tips & Tricks

Moving is a lot harder when you’re smaller. Be sure to find all formulas before you’re too small.
Set up platforms for yourself as early as possible.
Change the difficulty settings and experiment at any time to select options that make the game harder or easier.

We’ve had the greatest joy in creating and sharing Size Matters with you. We hope you love it!

Size Matters

CheckMate Publishing

☆☆☆☆☆
2

★★★★★

$9.99

Get it now

In Size Matters you take on the role of a scientist who has unintentionally ingested a chemical which causes him to shrink every second!

As you shrink, getting around the laboratory gets trickier, with the game essentially turning into a platformer as you figure out ways to climb up onto where the equipment and ingredients are located! Using the equipment, you need to manage to make an antidote in a limited time, before you shrink completely! Go through the formulas you find and follow them accurately! Operate equipment such as: Chemical Processor, The Reverter, Code Combiner, Antidote Producer and more! But beware, your time is very precious – you need to process ingredients using lab equipment all while searching for missing components or rearranging the lab so you’re able to reach stuff when you’re smaller!

YOUR OWN PLAY-STYLE

Tweak all kinds of settings, such as the height at which you start, how many double jumps you can do, or how long it takes for the Chemical Processor to complete its process!
Breakable ingredients which can be restored using The Restorer, once they’ve been broken by handling them wrong!
– Randomize Equipment placement – randomly places lab equipment around the laboratory which makes the game even more unpredictable & adds more replay value!
– …set everything depending on how you want it & find your favorite way to play!

Next Week on Xbox: New Games for May 15 to 19

Welcome to Next Week on Xbox! In this weekly feature we cover all the games coming soon to Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows, and Game Pass! Get more details on these upcoming games below and click their profiles for further info (release dates subject to change). Let’s jump in!

Kargast – May 16

Kargast is a dark narrative exploration game with light RPG elements and branching endings. It tells a surreal and semi-satirical story of an unwell child on the brink of death and his adventures through his surreal, cryptic surroundings.

Tin Hearts – May 16

Behind every brilliant invention hides an incredible story. Guide a troop of tin soldiers through a magical toy-filled world in this immersive puzzle adventure game from members of the team that brought you Fable.

Warlander – May 16
Optimized for Xbox Series X|S

Sharpen your blades and ready your warhammers. Join an army of up to 100 players and battle each other in action-packed, player vs. player skirmishes and epic castle sieges with the ultimate goal of breaking into the enemy’s stronghold, destroying their core, and claiming victory for you and your allies.

Ratyboy Adventures – May 17

In this 3D platformer game where you play as a mouse living in a big house, try to collect the stars placed at certain points in the rooms of the house and overcome the challenging platforms.

Under the Warehouse – May 17

In an unnamed city, deep in the urban sprawl, lies a darkened building of brick and concrete filled with boxes, documents, appliances, and enigmatic workers. No one seems to question the mysterious, haunting atmosphere of the complex. In this first-person adventure game, take on the role of a worker who receives a phone call and a request for help.

Verdict Guilty – May 17

Neo Seoul has been hit with a wave of terrorist and crime attacks and only a few good officers remain willing to battle this new evil. Discover the dark secrets of Neo Seoul as you fight your way to uncover the truth as you battle your way to unmask the evil syndicate crime lord himself in this ‘90s style arcade fighter.

World Championship Boxing Manager 2 – May 17

An official sequel to 1991’s World Championship Boxing Manager, this iteration captures the essence of the original and expands upon it. Offering updated visuals, deeper gameplay, and new characters that extend the World Championship Boxing Manager franchise for grizzled veterans and lightweight fans.

Chasm: The Rift – May 18

Prepare for terror in this ground-breaking classic old-school FPS. Following the destruction of Time, you are left to battle in this horrific hellhole of multilevel interconnected missions populated by gruesome, grotesque creatures.

Infini – May 18
Smart Delivery

Exercise your mind on a psychedelic journey filled with puzzles and meaningful encounters with time, Poetry, Memory, Technology, War, and Fatality. Solve brain-busting puzzles with thought and skill. Manipulate the camera to change the perspective and what you can see and discover new mazes and abilities. Nothing is what it seems in this truly unique, mind-bending experience.

Nightmare Reaper – May 18

A dark and violent meld of retro and modern action games, inspired by the classic 2.5D first-person shooters of the ‘90s, with elements of modern looter shooters and roguelites featuring tons of enemies crammed in open-ended levels full of surprises, blood, and treasure.

No One Lives Under the Lighthouse – May 18
Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Smart Delivery

You’re alone on this rock, just a lighthouse and the seagulls to keep you company. Nothing else… at least you’re pretty sure that’s it… The previous lighthouse keeper has gone missing without a trace and you are the newest keeper tasked with keeping the lighthouse on every night. Keep your sanity from slipping on this desolate rock in the middle of the ocean, and don’t give in to hallucinations.

Undergrave – May 18

Welcome to the Void Realm, a place where danger lurks around every corner. From the creators of Red Ronin comes a new challenge that will test your strategic skills and tactical prowess. Undergrave is a thrilling rogue-like adventure that promises a new experience with every try.

Cyber Citizen Shockman – May 19

Everything was going great for Tasuke and Kyapiko until one fateful day when they woke up as the cybernetically enhanced Shockman! Thanks to the genius of the Doc, they have been given the opportunity to become cyborgs and heroes of justice tasked with taking down the Evil Group which had been terrorizing the town.

Death, Soul & Robots – May 19

Play as a kitty who is searching for the soul of Planet-42 to save the Earth. The game includes six large biomes to explore, seven types of weapons, and numerous quests. Fight unique enemies, solve captivating puzzles, and explore interesting levels to achieve your goal.

LEGO 2K Drive – May 19
Optimized for Xbox Series X|S

Welcome to Bricklandia, home of a massive open-world LEGO driving adventure. Race anywhere, play with anyone, build your dream rides, and defeat a cast of wild racing rivals for the coveted Sky Trophy! In LEGO 2K Drive, your awesome transforming vehicle gives you the freedom to speed seamlessly across riveting racetracks, off-road terrain, and open waters. Explore the vast world of Bricklandia, show off your driving skills, and build vehicles brick-by-brick!

Play Soccer While you Explore a Community in Despelote

Hi there. My name is Julián, and I’m the lead developer of Despelote – a slice-of-life adventure about childhood and soccer in Quito, Ecuador in the year 2001. Myself and the team are happy to stop by the Xbox Wire today to announce that our game is coming to Xbox Series X|S in 2024. We’re also able to announce today that Despelote will be part of Tribeca’s 2023 Festival Selection and that the game will be published by Panic, who helped bring Untitled Goose Game and Firewatch to the world.

While Despelote is very much a game about soccer, you won’t really find yourself playing a full soccer match or even needing to understand the rules. Instead,our game focuses on the inherent fun of being a kid, just kicking around a soccer ball with your friends while you’re out and about, talking about your day at school… and maybe annoying your neighbors in the process.

It’s the year 2001, and Ecuador is on the verge of qualifying for the World Cup. Ecuador had never qualified for the World Cup before, and as a country just recovering from a massive financial crisis, the idea of qualifying has filled the community with hope and optimism. Learning about the people of Quito as you play soccer with your friends, and feeling that energy from your community as you explore is what Despelote is all about.

Together with my friend and artist Sebastián Valbuena we set out to make a game that is not only visually distinctive, but also one that communicates a strong and specific sense of place. This is partly because Despelote is a semi-autobiographical game, as I grew up in Quito, Ecuador around this time, so it was important to me that we get it right. You also play as a young boy named Julian, but he’s not directly a one-for-one mirror of me!

To give players a true picture of Ecuador, we took photos and recorded audio during trips to Quito that are now used in the game for items such as building textures and conversations you’ll hear as you explore the streets. Sebastián is also doing an incredible job of hand drawing our characters, as well as the animals you’ll run into during your time in Quito. The game is also fully voice acted in Spanish, with localized subtitles depending on your preference.

So that’s Despelote: a bittersweet and sometimes dreamy semi-autobiographical tale about how soccer can impact a place and its culture. We hope you stop by and visit Quito when it is released on Xbox in 2024. ¡Garcias, y cuidense!

Sea of Thieves’ New Mystery Aims to Be ‘The Ultimate Treasure Hunt’, With a Real-Life Golden Skull on Offer

Summary

Sea of Thieves has kicked off its latest Mystery event, The Hoarder’s Hunt.
The four-week event will see players solving puzzles both in-game and elsewhere online, with real-life treasure to be won.
We spoke to the team behind the Mystery to discover how it was inspired, how it was made, and learn a little about what’s in store.

As the story goes, in 1730, Olivier Levasseur stood on the gallows, awaiting his execution for a lifetime of piracy – which had included the theft of an enormous treasure haul from a Portuguese galleon, subsequently buried on the Seychelles island of Mahé. Asked for any last words, Levasseur removed a necklace from his neck, shouted, “My treasure for he who can understand!”, and threw it into the watching crowd. That necklace was hung with a parchment featuring a 17-line cryptogram, seemingly offering the location of his hidden riches. For more than three centuries, treasure hunters have tried and failed to decode the message on that parchment, and the gold remains lost to this day.

It’s a fitting inspiration for Sea of Thieves’ new mystery, The Hoarder’s Hunt, which will take players both in-game and beyond in the hunt for a real-life treasure – a golden skull, which will be awarded to the first player that solves a multitude of puzzles (with more physical treasure for the next 110 players to reach the end of the process, and in-game rewards for others who take part). Those puzzles might not be quite as difficult to decode as Levasseur’s treasure, but it certainly won’t be a simple process.

For Lead Designer Chris Davies, the promise of the event is simple: “To deliver the ultimate treasure hunt. Sea of Thieves is five years old, and we’ve done a lot of allowing players to pursue that pirate fantasy of searching out treasure, and digging it up. [So,] how can we offer the ultimate version of that? Taking it outside of the game as well as in-game and actually offer real-world treasure for our community to search out.”

To do that, The Hoarder’s Hunt will feature out-of-game puzzles, spread out across the online world, which will lead you to otherwise-locked in-game Voyages, which in turn lead to more out-of-game clues to decode. All of this will be wrapped up in the story of a new character, H, who – for the next four weeks – will send players cryptic messages, helping direct them to their next goal, leading to a race to the prize (and you can sign up to receive H’s first message now). The first player to finish that final Voyage will receive the golden skull as their reward.

Aside from Levasseur’s gold, the event has been inspired by other treasure hunts, from Cadbury’s Conundrum promotion (which offered real golden eggs for those that could solve complex puzzle books), to Ready Player One’s story about an online hunt with enormous real-life rewards. But it’s also a reaction to previous Sea of Thieves events. Before release, Rare set up a quest to earn real-life golden bananas, and the game’s first Mystery event saw players cracking the case of who killed Sea Dog DeMarco. But The Hoarder’s Hunt aims to improve on both.

The hunt for the Golden Bananas saw fewer and fewer players able to participate until its end – The Hoarder’s Hunt will remain open to all right until its conclusion. Meanwhile, the Mystery of DeMarco was fairly open-ended, leading to a very long mystery, dominated by clues solely from Rare’s own social channels. This hunt will be far more open but it’ll be time-limited, giving players more interesting puzzles, but with an endgoal always in sight.

To do this, Rare has worked with real-life puzzlemasters, tasked with creating truly mind-boggling tasks that will send players all over the internet in the hunt for the next solution – with a view to creating a very interesting dynamic: this should be a collaborative effort, with multiple players working together to uncover solutions – until it transforms into an individual hunt for that final treasure.

“What we don’t want,” explains Davies, “is individuals, puzzle experts, to kind of squirrel themselves away and solve these individually. We want this to be something where the community needs to lean on each other, where they speculate on potential avenues of investigation to find the solutions. And by getting the community working together, that’s what makes it such an interesting dynamic shift, [until] people reach that point of, ‘Okay, this is actually a race with a cool prize at the end of it.’”

And that final race will be fascinating to see – the moment this becomes a true sprint for the end will be a test for players’ moral compasses as well as their brains. It’s truly the first player to solve the mystery that earns the reward – not their crew. The final golden skull comes with four detachable golden keys, allowing the victorious player to reward their crew – but they don’t have to. That’s very much by design:

“[This is] the ultimate test of the Pirate Code,” says Head of Brand and Licensing, Adam Park. “Because fundamentally as a crew you can go and win this prize but whoever proposed that voyage will be the actual winner. So that person could at that point turn around and choose to keep the prize for themselves, or it’s been made in such a way that it can be split with the keys – they can share their spoils but again, it’s going to be another fascinating test of how people actually behave. I know what I’d do… you’d never hear from me again.”

“That’s why I’d never crew up with you Adam,” laughs Davies.

All of this has led Rare to think in new ways about how it delivers this Mystery. For the out-of-game puzzles, the mantra has been that there’s no puzzle too difficult, as long as the clues have been provided fairly, and that at least a few players could crack the code and share it with the community. I won’t give anything away, but be prepared to look for clues in some very unexpected places.

Even the in-game Voyages are a new undertaking, though:

“We’re calling them Hunt Voyages,” says Davies. “Ultimately, you’re hunting for one of the keys that can be used to unlock the chests that have been added to every Gold Hoarders tent. It’s a unique Voyage, different to what we’ve done before. It’s going to send you throughout the locations in the game, island-hopping, to do a map-wide scavenger hunt for these keys. But obviously, after five years, our super-engaged players know these locations like the back of their hand. And what we actually want this to feel like is, even if you haven’t played the game as much, even if you’ve recently joined the game, you’ve still got a great chance of winning these.”

The key to that is the new character, H. Players have been solving in-game riddles for years, but H speaks to players in an entirely different way: “H will see things through a slightly different lens and describe things in a slightly different way. You can’t rely on how we usually describe these aspects of the scenes, you need to interpret H’s lexicon and how they talk about these things, try and understand what H was seeing when they were making these notes and following in their footsteps.”

In effect, H will be the game’s own version of the Mystery’s inspiration, Levasseur, offering inscrutable materials for players to puzzle over, discuss, and work together on – until they strike out on their own to receive the ultimate prize. But don’t dilly-dally; you have a lot less than 300 years to figure this one out.

The Hoarder’s Hunt begins in Sea of Thieves today. Sign up now to take part.

Sea of Thieves 2023 Edition

Microsoft Studios

☆☆☆☆☆
944

★★★★★

$39.99

$19.99

Get it now

Xbox One X Enhanced

PC Game Pass

Xbox Game Pass

Xbox Live Gold membership required to play on Xbox One; sold separately.

=========

2023 Edition Out Now
Celebrate five years since Sea of Thieves’ launch with this special edition of the game, which includes a copy of Sea of Thieves itself with all permanent content added since launch, plus a 10,000 gold bonus and a selection of Hunter cosmetics. The Hunter Cutlass, Pistol, Compass, Hat, Jacket and Sails will ensure you cut a formidable figure as you set sail for adventure!
About the Game

Sea of Thieves offers the essential pirate experience, from sailing and fighting to exploring and looting – everything you need to live the pirate life and become a legend in your own right. With no set roles, you have complete freedom to approach the world, and other players, however you choose.
Whether you’re voyaging as a group or sailing solo, you’re bound to encounter other crews in this shared world adventure – but will they be friends or foes, and how will you respond?

A Vast Open World
Explore a vast open world filled with unspoiled islands and underwater kingdoms. Take on quests to hunt for lost loot, forge a reputation with the Trading Companies and battle foes from Phantoms and Ocean Crawlers to Megalodons and the mighty Kraken. Try your hand at fishing, make maps to your own buried treasure or choose from hundreds of other optional goals and side-quests!

Sea of Thieves: A Pirate’s Life
Play the Tall Tales to experience Sea of Thieves’ unique narrative-driven campaigns, and join forces with Captain Jack Sparrow in Sea of Thieves: A Pirate’s Life, an acclaimed original story that brings Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean sailing into Sea of Thieves. These immersive and cinematic quests provide around 30 hours of the ultimate pirate adventure.

A Game That’s Always Growing
With each Season bringing in new game features every three months alongside regular in-game Events and new narrative Adventures, Sea of Thieves is a service-based game that’s still growing and evolving. Check back regularly to see what free content has been newly added, and see how far you can climb through each Season’s 100 levels of Renown to earn special rewards.

Become Legend
On your journey to become a Pirate Legend you’ll amass loot, build a reputation and define a unique personal style with your hard-earned rewards. Adventurer. Explorer. Conqueror. What will your legend be?

VShojo’s Anime VTubers Fight Gods in Smite’s Newest Crossover

Get ready for an epic adventure as VShojo’s legendary Vtubers make their way into the Battleground of the Gods! This WILD crossover will feature six new skins created alongside the VShojo cast – Vei, Ironmouse, Nyanners, Silvervale, Kson, and Apricot.

As a huge fan of both VShojo AND Anime, I couldn’t be more excited about getting these amazing personalities in Smite! Ahead of our full update show on May 11, I wanted to give y’all a sneak peek at the content and art coming in the VShojo Update – dropping May 16!

Featuring Vei as Nu Wa, Ironmouse as Persephone, Nyanners as Serqet, Silvervale as Skadi, Kson as Nemesis, and Apricot as Izanami, these skins are the perfect way to show off your love for VTubers while dominating the Battleground. Each skin reflects the personality of the VTuber, with unique and captivating designs that truly bring their virtual personas to life.

Plus, every VTuber voice acted for their skin, so it truly feels like you’re playing as your favorite VTuber! That’s not all – this massive crossover event also includes a multitude of gaming and anime-inspired cosmetics, one of which even features Zentreya! Fans of Smite and VShojo alike will love these skins – I can’t wait for everyone to get their hands on all this great content! My personal favorite is Silvervale Skadi – as an ADC main and anime enjoyer, this skin is the perfect combo for me, with its anime vibes, Sakura petal influences, and vivid colors!

Once the event starts, we’ll be kicking off a Smite x VShojo Twitch Drop Campaign, giving everyone the chance to earn and unlock VShojo content for FREE. That’s right! From May 16 – 30, you’ll claim up to 12 Voice Packs and Avatars just from watching Vei, Ironmouse, Nyanners, Silvervale, Kson, or Apricot – make sure to tune in so you don’t miss out. Check out the blog post on https://www.smitegame.com/ for more information on the Smite x VShojo Twitch Drop Campaign!

Now, here’s your exclusive first look at more of the Splash Art for the VShojo Crossover Event, starting with the Anime Demon Queen herself, Ironmouse! Let the chaos ensue!

MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

In addition to the new skins, the Smite x VShojo event also features Announcer Packs, allowing fans to hear their favorite VTubers cheering them on during the game. It’s a great way to add some personality to the game and connect with the VShojo community. Just imagine – you’re running it down mid, securing kills with Kson cheering you on!

Overall, the Smite x VShojo crossover event is a must-play for fans of Smite and VShojo alike. The skins are beautifully designed and capture the essence of each VTuber, providing a new and exciting way to experience the game. The event is sure to be a hit, so be sure to check it out when it launches on May 16!

SMITE

Hi-Rez Studios

☆☆☆☆☆
1541

★★★★★

Get it now

Xbox One X Enhanced

Enter the Battleground of the Gods

Join 40+ million players in SMITE, the world’s most popular action multiplayer online battle arena. Become a legend of myth, enter the Battleground of the Gods, and play FREE now!

100+ Gods
Unleash each deity’s unique strategies, legendary weapons, and earth-shattering powers. Rain lightning down upon your foes as Zeus, assassinate from the shadows as Loki, or transform and trick your foes as the Monkey King, Sun Wukong. Which God will you choose?

Unique Perspective
Unlike other MOBAs, SMITE puts you directly onto the battlefield with a third-person action viewpoint. From blind-side ambushes to aimed shots, a new pantheon of strategic possibilities awaits.

Become Godlike
Never played a battle arena before? Don’t worry. Auto-buy, auto-level, and the deathmatch-like Arena mode let you jump right into divine MOBA action. Aspiring pro? Top the ladders, join a competitive team, and you too could be playing at the SMITE World Championship.

Fall Guys Lets Players Craft Their Own Mayhem With New Creative Mode

Summary

Fall Guys Season 4 launches today, introducing Creative Mode for all players
Build custom levels with a robust suite of tools and share them with the community
Learn more about Creative Mode in an exclusive Q&A with Miguel Rafael, Lead Designer on Fall Guys Creative

Alongside the launch of Season 4, Fall Guys has introduced Creative Mode, giving players all the tools they need to create custom stages to play and share, and it’s available today!

Xbox Wire was lucky enough to take a peek at Creative Mode in action ahead of launch, and it looks like brilliant fun indeed. The tools are intuitive; you don’t have to be a master architect to build a challenging and chaotic level. Simply place a starting point and a finishing line, and then fill out the course with bouncy obstacles, steep ramps, and other wacky objects for your beans to overcome.

We also had the opportunity to speak to Miguel Rafael, Lead Designer on Fall Guys Creative, to learn more about how Creative Mode was built to be accessible without restrictions. If you do see Miguel in a lobby with you, make sure you definitely DON’T grab him, he’s let us know that he has a hard time getting Crowns as it is…

Now, onto the Creative stuff!

Xbox Wire: Why did bringing Fall Guys Creative to Fall Guys feel like a great idea?

Miguel Rafael: Players are hungry for Fall Guys content, and we felt that the best way to satisfy that voracious appetite was to release Creative into the wild. It is all about putting the power to shape the Fall Guys experience and universe directly into players’ hands.

How is Creative designed to grant players freedom, while respecting the limitations of a working level?

MR: We allow players to mix and match obstacles at will, place them where they want, rotate them as they wish, and change various attributes such as speed, strength, and size. As for respecting the limitations of a working level, our goal is to break free of them!

We want to expand the editor in ways that allow players to redefine what a Fall Guys level is all about! So stay tuned for updates. We are bringing some never-before-seen Fall Guys treats to Creative!

What kind of things have been made internally with the tool? Have any of the creations surprised you?

RM: All of the Rounds for the new season have been created by our level design team in Creative! This is the most levels we have ever shipped in a season. And yes, during every playtest, the team would say, “Wait, what? You can do that in Creative?!” There are some really unbelievable races this season.

Could a player’s mode become so popular that it gets added to the main game?

RM: Yes! Players’ levels selected by our team will make their way into the Show Selector! For more information on how your Round can get featured, check out the Fall Guys Creative FAQ!

Can you run us through the types of items that will be available in Creative, examples of what is included, and how to use them?

RM: In Fall Guys there’s only one item type that matters: OBSTACLES. Luckily, we’ve added plenty of them, including classic obstacles, fan favorites, and a brand new one for the season launch. Feel free to use them to your heart’s content – there’s no wrong way to be creative!

Can players add their own flair with custom palettes/changing the color and look of objects?

RM: You can change the colors of most obstacles and building blocks. In the future, we hope to expand the color selection to give creators even more freedom.

What can players look forward to in terms of ongoing updates?

RM: Are you trying to get me to spill top-secret information?

We will, of course, be bringing more classic obstacles to Creative as well as brand new ones. The same goes for Round types! That’s all I can say about that for now, but we can’t wait to show everyone the endless possibilities with Fall Guys Creative!

It’s time to get Creative!

You’ll be glad to hear that Fall Guys Creative is available to play now, and there’s even more goodies to enjoy as part of Season 4.

To keep up with all things Fall Guys, including updates on store items, collaborations and Limited Time events, check out the official Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. Never stumble alone and join the shenanigans on the official Fall Guys Discord. Make sure you use #FallGuysCreative when posting videos or screenshots of your level⁠—as this is a great way to get your Rounds seen and played by the community!

Fall Guys

Epic Games

☆☆☆☆☆
1088

★★★★★

Get it now

You’re invited to dive and dodge your way to victory in the pantheon of clumsy. Rookie or pro? Solo or partied up? Fall Guys delivers ever-evolving, high-concentrated hilarity and fun. The only thing more important than winning is looking as ridiculous as possible while doing it. Grab the silliest costume you can and fall in line—the show’s about to start!

Competitive & Cooperative: Tumble between competitive free-for-alls and cooperative challenges—or take on the Blunderdome with up to 3 friends!

Play with Friends: Fall Guys supports cross-play, cross-platform parties and cross-progression via your Epic Games Account.

Ever-Evolving Content: Play stays fresh with Limited Time Events and new game modes. Each Season brings with it new costumes, collabs, obstacles and ways to play.

Gloriously Customizable: Choose from a multitude of Colors, Patterns, Costumes and Nameplates. Relish wins with voguish Celebrations and share your flair with Emotes!

Items shown may require separate purchase from the in-game store and are subject to availability. Contains in-game purchases.

Creature Photographing Supernatural Puzzle Adventure Moonrise Fall Hits Xbox

Summary

Available now on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Windows.
Free-roaming atmospheric puzzle game about a boy lost in a supernatural forest.
Unravel the forest mysteries by photographing the strange cryptid inhabitants.

I’m excited to announce that Moonrise Fall, after years of development, is falling onto Xbox! A personal passion project of mine that draws from my real-life experience to inspire a fantastical world. A world filled with the strange and otherworldly.

The Game

Our protagonist finds himself lost in a supernatural forest after nearly dying in a car crash and losing both parents. Dazed and confused, the boy stumbles upon a few tools to aid him in his journey: A Pocket Watch with the ability to control the time of day. A lantern to light his path and alert him of nearby supernatural happenings. A journal to guide him and assist him in discovering the many mysterious creatures that reside there. A kalimba (musical instrument) with the power to control the weather and more.

During the boy’s journey into the unknown, he will discover ominous caves, abandoned lumber mills, mystifying temples, strange languages, enigmatic creatures, arcane spirits, and numerous secrets. Sleuth your way through puzzles and explore the supernatural world to find the true meaning behind its existence and ultimately discover the fate of the boy.

Tips & Tricks

Pay close attention to your lantern. When near a creature, collectible, or secret, the lantern will begin to shimmer and the faint sound of chimes can be heard.

Trust nothing your eyes can see. Use your camera and viewfinder to discover what is real and, more importantly, what is not.

The clues to discovering the many creatures in the game lay in the journal. Read each entry closely to decipher all the clues.

Some discoveries can only be made at certain times of day and/or during certain types of weather. Experiment to find out more.

The forest may be more alive than you think and may even work against you.

Moonrise Fall uses a unique music system. It generates multiple layers of music and mixes seamlessly to ensure no two play-throughs are the same, producing a dreamy alive feeling to the forest and its inhabitants. The music mixed with the subtle and detailed soundscapes creates an immersive feeling to draw you closer and get lost in.

It’s been a great pleasure of mine to create and share this world with you. I hope you find Moonrise Fall is worth falling for. Play it today on Xbox.

Moonrise Fall

CheckMate Publishing

☆☆☆☆☆
2

★★★★★

$9.99

Get it now

Moonrise Fall is an atmospheric exploration puzzle game about a boy who finds himself lost in a supernatural forest after losing both parents in a car crash. Put your detective skills to the test. Armed with a clue-filled journal, a camera, and a lantern he must unravel the mysteries of the forest and photograph the strange creatures that reside there. Moonrise Fall is a brain teaser-filled world mixed with classic adventuring, exploration, and collecting. A surreal understated experience about loss and finding new life inspired by real-life experiences. Uncover locations like caves, mines, a lumber mill, as well as otherworldly locales at your own pace. Discover why the boy has been trapped in this strange place and by whom.