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This Week on Xbox: Ghostwire: Tokyo and Ubisoft+, Come and Get It!

Next Week on Xbox: New Games for April 17 to 21

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!

Ayre and the Crystal Comet – April 17
Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Smart Delivery

The open skies await as you take on the role of a wandering dragon rider in search of a lost civilization. Presented in a nostalgic low-poly art style and allowing total freedom of flight from the beginning of your journey, Ayre and the Crystal Comet is a chill experience designed for exploration and discovery, without the pressures of combat or complex stat management. Search a vast open world from atop your dragon, or land and investigate locales on foot.

God of Rock – April 17
Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Smart Delivery

The mysterious God of Rock has revived the souls of the universe’s greatest musicians to clash for his entertainment. Blending rhythm-based gameplay with fighting game mechanics in tense 1v1 matches, choose from a dozen unique fighters, each with their own design, mechanics, and harmonic attacks. Soften up your opponent by executing normal moves and building meter by hitting notes to the beat of the song, then spend your meter to unleash EX and special moves do damage and add complexity to their tracks.

Disney Speedstorm (Early Access) – April 18
Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Smart Delivery

Disney Speedstorm is the ultimate hero-based combat racing game, set on high-speed circuits inspired by Disney and Pixar worlds. A thrilling arcade racing experience where players will need to master each character’s unique skills on the racetrack and claim victory. Available for pre-order across three Founder’s Packs: Standard, Deluxe, and Ultimate.

Minecraft Legends – April 18
Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Smart Delivery / Game Pass

Available on day one with Game Pass: The piglins are threatening to consume the Overworld. Are you the hero this gentle land needs? Explore lush biomes to make alliances with new friends and familiar mobs, then face the piglins in epic battles. But be warned – they always fight back. Playable on Cloud, Console, and PC.

The Mageseeker: A League of Legends Story Box Art Asset

The Mageseeker: A League of Legends Story – April 18
Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Smart Delivery

In the kingdom of Demacia, the Mageseekers hold the power to oppress magic-using citizens in the name of public order — by inducting and indoctrinating them, locking them away, or driving them into hiding. As Sylas, a spell-stealing mage who has just broken free of his unjust captivity, you will wield the chains that once bound you and liberate your homeland from tyranny, one Mageseeker at a time, in this action RPG that takes place in the League of Legends universe.

Secret Agent: Cold War Espionage Box Art Asset

Secret Agent: Cold War Espionage – April 18
Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Smart Delivery

Get ready for a wild ride, spy-lovers! As a top-secret agent, you’ll embark on thrilling mini missions to stop an evil mastermind’s plan for global domination! With seven pulse-pounding missions to complete, you’ll jet-set to exotic locations all over the globe, from luxurious hotels to swanky casinos, all while hot on the trail of the infamous Royale Diamond.

Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus and Butterfly Box Art Asset

Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus and Butterfly – April 19
Xbox Play Anywhere / Game Pass

It’s time to revisit your favorite late-night coffee shop and reconnect with your fantasy friends over a warm drink or two. You are a barista, and your customers aren’t always humans, listen to their stories and influence their hearts with a warm cup of coffee or two.

Tin Hearts – April 20
Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Smart Delivery

Guide a troop of mischievous tin soldiers through a magical toy-filled world using a variety of whimsical and inventive contraptions to bounce, shoot and glide them to their goal. March through 40+ levels of time-bending, soldier-routing riddles, forge new paths for your toys to follow, and solve increasingly elaborate puzzles to unravel the emotional, thought-provoking story, of Albert J. Butterworth, a genius inventor of Victorian times. Try the demo here.

Dead Island 2 – April 21
Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Smart Delivery

The much-loved zombie saga is back with a unique formula of horror, dark humor, and over the top zombie-slaying, spanning an epic pulp adventure. Dead Island 2 is a thrilling first-person action RPG that’s stylish, vibrant, and flooded with zombie infection. Explore iconic, gore-drenched Los Angeles. Meet larger-than-life characters. Slay countless foes in exquisitely bloody detail. And evolve to become the ultimate zombie slayer!

Homestead Arcana – April 21
Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Xbox Play Anywhere

Become an all-powerful witch and wield nature’s magic to heal the world. Tap into the strength of nature to craft spells and ready yourself for the mysterious challenges ahead as you work with your friendly cat familiar, Huckleberry, to beat back the deathly Miasma that’s corrupting the land.

Flashbulb Games Takes Trailmakers to the Skies with Airborne DLC

At Flashbulb Games we have built on the success of Trailmakers by making a DLC titled Trailmakers: Airborne — a mission-based campaign bringing the biggest map in the Trailmakers universe, new parts, NPCs and enemies, launching April 27th, 2023

Before jumping into the new and exciting Airborne world let us give a brief explanation of what Trailmakers is to those unfamiliar with the title.

Trailmakers is a block-based vehicle building game. Vehicles can be used in many ways: to complete the main campaign, ”Stranded in Space” – to fool around in sandbox-mode – to battle each other in PvP, or just to be uploaded to the public workshop for everyone to download and use.

Trailmakers: Airborne

With Trailmakers: Airborne we are preserving the element of creativity and engineering that made the base game succeed, while at the same time introducing a full fledged single player campaign complete with friendly NPCs, enemies and a grand world to explore.

In Airborne you will be transported to the Chirpo homeworld that is undergoing a devastating invasion by Robot Pirates. It will be your job to fend off the invaders and restore peace.

Meet the Chirpos

NPCs named Chirpos occupy vast areas of the new Trailmakers map. They are friendly, they are fuzzy and ironically they are flightless.

They hold up in villages. Each village has a Mayor who will ask you to bring back the local Chirpos that have been kidnapped by Robot Pirates. By doing so, the Mayor will reward you with new parts you can use to make an even bigger, badder and more agile aircraft that you will need in your challenging endeavors.

From ground speeders to blimps, agile dogfighters and flak cannons — they will use anything at their disposal to ground you and maintain their iron grip on the Chirpo Homeworld.

In a Nutshell

Trailmakers: Airborne is a natural step for our most beloved title. Our community’s top engineers will have new parts to use for their increasingly impressive workshop builds and those who thirst for adventure are in for a treat.

Fight Robot Pirates

What’s more intimidating than Pirates? Robot Pirates, obviously. Unlike their human, wooden-legged predecessors, these guys have a vast range of technologically advanced and equally dangerous weapons. Get ready to save the Chirpos planet and live a unique adventure on April 27th!

Trailmakers Deluxe Edition

Flashbulb Games

☆☆☆☆☆
719

★★★★★

$37.99

$30.39

Get it now

Trailmakers Deluxe Edition includes:
– Trailmakers – The full Game
– Trailmakers Hat Pack
– Trailmakers Skin Pack
– Trailmakers Skin Pack 2

Build a car, a plane, a boat or maybe a… carplaneboat? With Trailmakers intuitive builder, it is as easy as snapping together real building blocks. Take your machines on dangerous exploration missions, breakneck rally races, or go to the sandbox and build that hovercraft you have always dreamt about.

Build intuitively with modular blocks – it is easy to get started, and the possibilities are almost infinite.
Explore a vast open world and escape the planet in the survival game mode “Stranded in Space”
Go on breakneck rally races with vehicles of your own making.
Create without constraints in two sandbox maps full of jumps, half pipes, an aircraft carrier, catapults and other crazy obstacles.
Compete on the global leaderboards in rally and race mode.
Four player drop in drop out multiplayer game modes.
An active and growing community with tons of premade vehicles ready to test.
There is always something to do: Join the Trailmakers Rally, take on challenges, play in the sandbox, race your friends or shoot each other to bits.

If you want to know more about our plans and what the current players are thinking then check out our discord server: http://discord.gg/trailmakers

How Immortals of Aveum Melds Modern With Magic to Forge a Unique New FPS

Summary

Get a first look at Immortals of Aveum, a new single-player magic shooter launching July 20th
Dig into what inspired the world of Aveum with Art Director Dave Bogan and Associate Art Director Julia Lichtblau
Learn how Ascendant Studios is drawing from its Call of Duty background to craft a compelling first-person combat system

The moment you virtually step into the vibrant, mysterious world of Aveum, everything feels simultaneously new but extremely familiar. It looks like a landscape that you’ve stepped into, the characters talk to you in a way that feels commonplace, but this fantasy setting is nothing the worlds you’ve experienced before. In a recent preview, we got to take a first look at Immortals of Aveum, and chat to two of the game’s designers about the inspiration behind this magical new realm.

Immortals of Aveum is an upcoming single-player magic FPS set in the titular land of Aveum. You’ll assume the role of Jak, a Battlemage learning to harness the magic coursing through his world. As an Unforeseen, Jak discovers his abilities later in life, and Aveum’s most powerful kingdoms are at war. It’s up to Jak to unlock his power, and work alongside the Immortals to help save Aveum from destruction.

What makes Immortals of Aveum feel unique at first glance is the combination of two things. First up is the studio’s backstory; Ascendant Studios is led by Bret Robbins, Creative Director of Dead Space, and former Creative Director at Sledgehammer Games on several Call of Duty titles. This best-in-class FPS design shines through Immortals of Aveum’s combat; it’s a first-person shooter but the weapon that you wield is magic. We’ll delve more into that in a bit.

The second component is that Immortals of Aveum is inspired by a seemingly endless smorgasbord of magical realms, but it’s this dense mixture of inspiration from countless places that makes it stand out. Dave Bogan, Art Director at Ascendant Studios, tells us that from the very get-go, the team set out to create a “new look” for fantasy.

Bogan cites a handful of the creative influences he grew up with, including Dungeons and Dragons, Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica and “cartoons with cool Japanese robots” to name a few. The team starts by selecting several references from their own preferences — visual inspiration that they would like to bring into the game, and examples of ideas that they don’t want to include.

“It’s really about subconsciously drawing inspiration and influence from all those things, and letting it come out in interesting shapes and languages, while keeping an eye on things that exist out there and trying not to replicate anything,” he says.

Julia Lichtblau, Associate Art Director at Ascendant Studios says that Immortals of Aveum’s unique feel comes from the juxtaposition of old and new. A lot of the structures in the world are inspired by oppressive, medieval forts of old, and the villages are brimming with rustic, pastoral charm often seen in old Europe. This design is mixed with the presence of magic, which allows the inhabitants of Aveum to combine antique settings with advanced crafting.

“Magic is essentially their technology,” Lichtblau explains. “They’re able to use it to bend the rules of architectural design, so you’re seeing big sweeping shapes and giant white skyscrapers that could have been built by advanced magic users of that time. That dichotomy makes it feel a bit unexpected.”

This combination of familiar and futuristic goes beyond the world design, seeping into character styling, dialogue and language, giving the inhabitants of Aveum a unique edge. Bogan points to Jak’s design, the cut of a motorcycle jacket giving sci-fi vibes with chainmail stitched to it for an medieval fantasy flavour.

“Aveum is always binding elements from different worlds and times that are helping it feel otherworldly,” he adds.

Ascendant Studios’ background in Call of Duty shines prevalently through Immortals of Aveum, but the team has opted to embrace those elements rather than shy away from it. Robbins asks a simple, but idea provoking question in the preview: “What if instead of a helicopter, you’re fighting a dragon?”, and it’s that line of thinking that has allowed Immortals of Aveum to feel familiar to FPS players, but fresh and exciting to fantasy fans too.

The shooting mechanic in Immortals of Aveum consists of three main types of magic. Jak harnesses his powers through his Sigil, and can fire Force (blue), Chaos (red) and Life (green) magic. Each of these types have different ranges and fire rates, giving you the opportunity to mix it up depending on your playstyle. There’s over 25 spells and 80 Talents to unlock throughout the game, so combat can be deeply customised for every brawl and battle.

Bogan explains that there’s a lot of direct correlation between the Sigils and a regular FPS with guns. The Sigils all have crystals, which allow the spells themselves to act like projectiles with different properties, similar to traditional weapons.

“It was important for people that play first person shooters to feel the relation and to understand, ‘oh, this is the type of weapon I use for this or that’,” Bogan says. “But it’s a little bit more unhinged in visual design, which is cool.”

Lichtblau adds that this framework means anyone that loves first-person shooters will be able to jump into Immortals of Aveum, and says that the combat is “really easy to pick up and really satisfying to master.”

Immortals of Aveum promises a unique new magical world to explore and a robust combat system that allows for much more freedom than your standard shooter, but Lichtblau says that it’s the game’s story that sets it apart from games of its ilk.

“The way the characters are written, the way they interact with each other, it feels incredibly fresh,” Lichtblau says. “It’s hard for me to even pick a favourite because they all have such nuance, and that’s something I haven’t seen in a long time.”

Immortals of Aveum is set to launch on Xbox Series X|S July 20th. Preorders for the game will go live on EA’s website tomorrow, so stay tuned for details.

Gundam Evolution Season 4 is Dropping a New Game Mode, Character, and Map – Here Are Some Tips to Get You Started

It’s go time! Take up arms in Season 4 – Ballista, now available for Gundam Evolution! This newest season celebrates the half year anniversary of the game and includes a new mode, character, and map.

New Mobile Suit: Gundam Dynames

Mobile Suit Gundam 00 fans may recognize this notable mobile suit from Season 1 of the anime. Gundam Dynames, piloted by none other than Gundam Meister Lockon Stratos, is joining the Gundam Evolution roster! Just like in the anime, Gundam Dynames will utilize its excellent marksmanship skills using both the GN Sniper Rifle and GN Beam Pistol on the battlefield. You’ll be able to provide your team cover from a variety of ranges – perfect for a shifting battlefield!

Let’s go over the skills of the newest addition to the team:

Weapon Swap – Swap between your GN Sniper Rifle and GN Beam Pistol – with the weapon in reserve reloading automatically!
GN Missile – Fire a missile that explodes for damage and pulls nearby enemies towards the impact point – even pulling them out of cover!
Recovery Gun – Inject repairs directly into your allies from a distance and ensure they don’t fall!
G Maneuver: Trans Am – Activate your GN Drive’s hidden potential to hyper-charge your next few shots!

You’ll be able to unlock Gundam Dynames by purchasing Evo Coins or completing challenges to earn Capital in-game.

New Game Mode: Headquarters

A new game mode just dropped with Season 4 – Ballista. Headquarters is a fully dynamic, multi-stage game mode that truly tests your team’s coordination and abilities. Teams who can do this and keep up the momentum will be rewarded with sweet, sweet victory. Check it out!

New Map: Buried City

A new area to hone and show off your skills is here! This new map will be in rotation for both Casual and Ranked matches. Buried City has a variety of corridors and pathways for you to intercept your opponent and surprise them with an attack! It also has sections for your team to take advantage of the high ground and relentlessly assault the enemy with a barrage of projectiles.

We’re excited to see how you play on this new map!

Prepare for success!

With such a huge roster of Mobile suits you may be asking, what’s the best start? While we can’t give you the win, here are a few pointers to give you the edge on this new battlefield.

The first point has multiple routes.

To start, you can slip around or underneath the first objective to take your enemy from behind or hit them on an exposed flank. This is great for fast units who can quickly cause confusion, such as Zaku Ranged or Heavarms Custom. Maybe you’re more of a ranged player who wants to make the most of the distance. On one side of the first objective is a lift with a window that gives you the height advantage, which is perfect for preventing a capture or holding down the line. Sounds perfect for a unit like Gundam Dynames that just released as part of Season 4.

Use your full armaments.

When you eventually reach the core, take note of the multiple entry points to keep your enemy on their toes. Certain Mobile Suits like Asshimar have Active Skills with an area of effect that can also harm the core while keeping the enemy at bay. Guntank has a cannon that can be used to deal extra damage to the core. Make use of each Mobile Suits’ strengths to chip away and get yourself those extra points.

As always, support your team!

After dealing enough damage, a mobile suit will be in a broken state before it eventually destructs. The walk back to the objectives can mean the difference between getting that last percentage of damage, so do your best to provide your team with a quick pick-me-up so they can get back into the fight and win the round.

Time to Jump In, Pilots!

Gundam Evolution is an immersive, fast-paced 6v6 team shooter where you’re able to pilot iconic Mobile Suits from the smash hit “Mobile Suit Gundam” anime series. Jump into combat as Gundam Dynames, Heavyarms, and more from this expanding roster.

Gundam Evolution now has four different game modes that allow you to show off your teamwork and tactical skills: Point Capture, Domination, Destruction, and Headquarters. Coordinate with your team and align your G-Maneuvers to come out on top!

Season 4 is out now! Can’t wait to start piloting your own Mobile Suit? Download Gundam Evolution for free on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S now and experience these exciting Mobile Suit battles firsthand.

GUNDAM EVOLUTION

Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc.

☆☆☆☆☆
295

★★★★★

Get it now

GUNDAM EVOLUTION is an online FPS title in which players take control of mobile suits from the hit Gundam anime and fight other online players in six-versus-six battles. Features fast-paced action and immersive controls. Switch between mobile suits with their own unique characteristics and cooperate with teammates to win matches.

*This title features random in-game items in exchange for in-game currency.

Introducing Farworld Pioneers: an Open World, Sci-fi Sandbox

Hey there, I’m Rho Watson, the lead developer behind Farworld Pioneers. This 2D adventure galaxy sandbox is a hybrid of many genres. More than that, though, it’s the game I’ve always wanted to make. Let me tell you why!

As a teenager, I played Infiniminer and was one of the first people to try the online version of Minecraft. The online sandbox genre captured my imagination, but it never really achieved what I hoped it would. Once I finished building my grand projects, there was no real reason for them to exist. My gigantic bases sat there, dormant and unused, because there was no one besides me to use them. My friends would come, check it out momentarily, and inevitably go off to do their own thing.

After many years of playing these games and being part of developing some, I decided to bite the bullet and try to do what no one else had done: make an online sandbox game with the excitement of building and creating, but with AI residents to actually give a reason for those things to exist. I wanted to give players a reason to build besides simple curiosity and showing off to often-reluctant friends!

Farworld Pioneers represents two major parts of my life as a gamer: playing old MS-DOS (For those who don’t know, it’s how you played games before Windows!) classics as a kid and then the rise of the online sandbox genre as an adult. That’s how Farworld Pioneers was born! Like many games, this game is a cross-section of the journey my career in video games took and a tribute to the games that are responsible for it.

But Farworld Pioneers isn’t just an online sandbox game. It’s a 2D adventure sandbox with managerial elements. Imagine an RTS where you were one of the guys running around and could help out at any time. Your residents need to be kept happy, fed, and safe, which means it matters how your base is designed. Poor design will lead to your residents becoming unhappy and leaving the base, which further compromises its functioning. Accumulating wealth will make your base a target for raiders and pirates, making defenses and tactics a must when designing a colony. Confusing supply lines will disorient your residents and disrupt supply; power sources need fuel to run; residents need food, the list goes on.

The beauty of AI-controlled residents is that they provide a way to delegate tasks you don’t want to do. Instead of painstakingly building a giant house yourself, you can place the plans down and have your team of guys do it while you go adventuring. Tired of mining? You can drag out an area, and your guys will do it for you. What’s more, they’ll then haul off the materials to be processed so they’re ready for use. And at any time, you can join in and help them, and it won’t disrupt the process; the option’s there if you feel like it. Once you’ve achieved all the things you’d like to do on one planet, you can build a ship with your colonists and launch into space to explore and find new resources, biomes, and technology. There are bosses, secrets, a full tech tree to unlock, and many more features, including a huge multiplayer mode with up to 32 others that I don’t have time to explain here! I’m super excited for everyone to be able to play when it launches on Xbox and with Xbox Game Pass on May 30th!

Where We’re Going, We Don’t Need Coins: King of the Arcade is Available Now on Xbox

Summary

A nostalgic gaming experience that transports players to an 80s-inspired arcade world.
Play as Mac McCormick and save Castle’s Arcade from a hostile takeover.
Over 40 retro-inspired games, an open-world environment, and epic boss battles.

Are you a fan of retro gaming, the golden era of pixel art, and some of the most memorable arcade games in history? If you’re like me, you’ve probably spent countless hours reminiscing about the good old days of joystick adventures. Well, my fellow arcade enthusiasts, the time has come to step into a neon-lit, retro-inspired world with King of the Arcade, a nostalgic gaming experience that pays homage to the vibrant and unforgettable classics.

In King of the Arcade, you’ll take on the role of Mac McCormick, a former arcade champion who’s seen better days. Now, Mac faces his greatest challenge yet: saving Castle’s Arcade from a hostile takeover by the heartless landlord, Jimmy Joysticks, and his gang of seven arcade goons. It’s up to you to help Mac reclaim his title and protect the beloved arcade from falling into the wrong hands.

With over 40 games spanning multiple genres, you’ll be treated to hours of retro-inspired entertainment. Get ready to dive into classics like Retro Invaders, After School Beat Down, Virtual Enforcers, Space Ravager, Shotgun Princess, High-Speed Racing, and many more. King of the Arcade offers a truly immersive arcade experience that channels the spirit of the 80s in all its pixelated glory.

But it’s not just about the games—King of the Arcade also boasts an engaging open-world arcade environment for you to explore. Battle Jimmy’s goons in epic boss fights, and defend your turf as you work your way back to the top. With eye-catching, 80s-inspired visuals, an adrenaline-pumping soundtrack, and non-stop arcade action, King of the Arcade is the ultimate trip down memory lane.

So, dust off that arcade controller and prepare to experience the excitement of the 80s in this vibrant, neon-lit tribute. The arcade needs you, and it’s time to show Jimmy Joysticks who’s boss. Are you ready to reclaim your throne and become the King of the Arcade once again?

King of the Arcade

Super Villain Games

☆☆☆☆☆
13

★★★★★

$7.99

$6.39

Get it now

Step into the neon-lit world of King of the Arcade, where the 80s never died. Take on the role of Mac McCormick, a former arcade champion who has fallen on hard times, as he fights to save Castle’s Arcade from a hostile takeover by the ruthless landlord Jimmy Joysticks and the seven members of his arcade gang.

With over 40 games and multiple genres, including classic-inspired games like Retro Invaders, After School Beat Down, Virtual Enforcers, Space Ravager, Shotgun Princess, High-Speed Racing, and many more, you’ll have hours of nostalgic fun.

King of the Arcade is an arcade experience that will transport you back to the 80s. Explore the open-world arcade, defend it against Jimmy’s goons in epic boss battles, and reclaim your title as the King of the Arcade. With nostalgic visuals, a pulse-pounding soundtrack, and endless arcade action, King of the Arcade is the ultimate arcade gaming experience.

The arcade needs you. So grab your arcade controller and get ready to become a true arcade champion. Are you prepared to be the King of the Arcade once again?

Crafting a Replayable Murder Mystery in Murderous Muses

Summary

A devs-eye-view revealing some of the design decisions that went into the making of this infinitely replayable murder mystery.
Procedurally generated 3D environment with a layered murder mystery narrative to make every playthrough different.
Murderous Muses arrives on today on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One.

Hi, I’m Lynda, one of the writers and game designers at D’Avekki Studios. Almost two years ago, we started developing our supernatural whodunit Murderous Muses with a very clear vision: to make a murder mystery you could solve again and again. In this article, I’m going to talk about some of the things we’ve done during development to make every playthrough unique!

Frame by Frame

Solving a murder mystery is usually a one and done affair and if you know whodunit, there’s really no reason to replay. But in Murderous Muses, like our previous games (The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker, The Shapeshifting Detective) the killer is randomised at the start of every game. That means that the murderer can be any of the six suspects every time you play – the undertaker, the clockmaker, the burlesque dancer, the tennis player, the criminologist or the ventriloquist.

This time we wanted to vary the mystery even more, so we decided to create nine different pieces of evidence that could be shuffled and shown as clips from a late night TV show, “Mirlhaven’s Unsolved Mysteries”.

In every playthrough, you’ll be able to solve the murder using just three of these evidence ‘frames’. That means in one game you might focus on the time of the murder, trace evidence left at the scene and the antique murder weapon, while in another you could be investigating a mysterious phone call, a piece of rope, and an occult symbol drawn in blood!

A big part of your detective work involves unlocking police interviews, which you can only do by outsmarting the gallery to reveal three specific clues for each suspect. We also shuffle these clues so the steps you take to find the killer will be different in every game.

It’s Alive!

In Murderous Muses, you play as the security guard working the night shift in a haunted art gallery. We decided early on that we wanted to exploit the supernatural theme to help make each playthrough different. Not only do the paintings come to life, but new rooms and corridors spawn every night in unpredictable ways, so it feels like the gallery is constantly shifting and changing around you.

It’s not just the walls that move either. The “open-world” gameplay lets you hang suspect portraits on various plaques in the gallery to reveal FMV clues about the murder. Early versions of the gallery had static keywords but we quickly realised during testing that it wasn’t really challenging enough, so we added a “clockwork” mechanism to change the keyword after you hang a painting. That means you’ll need to hunt for keywords and manipulate the plaques to use them – so each new gallery becomes one big environmental puzzle.

Layers of Story

Of course, before we got to any of this, we needed to make sure we had a good story. And just as importantly, we needed to work out how to reveal the story gradually, so more and more layers could be revealed each time you play.

The evidence that I’ve already talked about covers the nitty gritty of the case, but uncovering the suspects’ full motives requires a bit more digging. Every time you hang a suspect portrait you’ll reveal a bit more about what was going on between them and the victim, and why they might have wanted him dead.

You’re revealing these secrets in a non-linear fashion, so one of our concerns during development was that you might lose track of the story threads – especially if you left at some time between playthroughs. To combat this, we took inspiration from Double Fine Productions’2012 adventure The Cave, which used cave paintings as backstory summaries. So now, after you’ve seen a set of videos that reveal an important part of a suspect’s story, you’ll unlock a new “character lore” painting that ties all those threads together into one neat narrative package.

There’s so much more I could talk about – replayable puzzles, collectibles, the over-over-arching story! – but this article is long enough already. Hopefully, you’ll discover those for yourself as Murderous Muses launches on Xbox today!

Murderous Muses

D’Avekki Studios

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

$14.49

Get it now

It’s been a year since controversial artist Mordechai Grey was murdered.

Now, a new exhibition is opening on the anniversary of his death, featuring six of his most famous portraits – each one a potential suspect in his murder.

You play as a security guard, exploring the gallery in the echoing hours to uncover clues about the crime. Solve puzzles and use the Eyes of Mordechai to bring the portraits to life, restoring the past to find his killer…

From the creators of The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker, The Shapeshifting Detective and Dark Nights with Poe and Munro, Murderous Muses is an infinitely replayable supernatural whodunit where choosing how to investigate is an art form…

Play the Ghostwire: Tokyo Spider’s Thread Update Today!

Everything You Need to Know About Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0’s New Recruit A Friend Program

Summary

Earn unique in-game rewards by recruiting and completing challenges with your friends.
Unlock rewards each time you complete some of the various challenges in Warzone 2.0 and earn 2XP Tokens just for signing up.
Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 is available to play for free on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One. Download here.

Lots of things are better with friends. Pizza. Movies. Games. On that latter point, a new Recruit A Friend program that will be kicking off in Season 03 of Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0, where players can enjoy some awesome in-game rewards, including some Double XP tokens, just for signing up!

The Recruit A Friend program will be running throughout the entirety of Season 03 in Warzone 2.0 and we’ve got a bunch of the details outlined below. And make sure you check out the official Call of Duty Blog for all things related to the upcoming Season 03.

Who Can Play?

The Recruit A Friend program will be available to all players who are at least 18 years old and have an Activision account in good standing (players in Austria, Argentina, New Zealand, Belgium, Peru, Czech Republic, Denmark, Norway, Ireland, Philippines, and Poland cannot participate in this program).

Players will be grouped into two categories: Recruiters and Recruits. Recruiters must have at least three hours of total gameplay completed in Warzone 2.0 and an Activision account that’s at least 60 days old; Recruits must have an Activision account that’s less than 7 days old and must not have played Warzone 2.0 for more than 60 days.

Recruiters and Recruits

Recruiters will have the opportunity to recruit up to three eligible players to join them during this program. Also, after accepting the invite, Recruits will automatically be connected as Activision friends with their Recruiter making it easier in the future to team-up on future deployments together.

If you signed up for the program after receiving and accepting an invite from another player, you will officially be marked down as a Recruit; Recruits can only participate in the program alongside their Recruiter. Also, you may only participate in the Recruit A Friend program once, either as a Recruit or Recruiter. Finally, once you’re recruited, you cannot be recruited by another player.

How do I Invite Friends to the Recruit A Friend Program?

First, visit the Recruit A Friend official website (link coming soon) once it goes live starting on April 14 and select “Get Started.” Log in with your Activision account and you’ll then be taken to the program’s dashboard. From there, copy your link on the dashboard and share it with up to three friends you want to recruit. Once accepted, you’ll see their usernames on the Recruit A Friend dashboard. Now comes the best part…

How to Complete Challenges and Earn Rewards

Now that you’ve recruited a friend (or have been recruited), it’s time to party up and jump into Warzone 2.0 and complete the specific “Recruit A Friend In-game Challenges” listed in the game. You can also find these within the in-gameRecruit A Friend dashboard to check and track your challenge status – Recruits can earn up to three free rewards while Recruiters can earn up to nine. Both will be eligible for the 2XP sign-up bonus.

All this news is following details around the next big free content drop with the start of Season 03 for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II and Warzone 2.0. Jump in and experience the return of Gunfight, launching with four small maps that are perfect for 2v2. Also get ready to experience five new Multiplayer maps, gear up for Raid Episode 03, deploy as rival Operators Alejandro and Valeria, and more! You can get full details on Season 03 for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II and Warzone 2.0 here on the official Call of Duty Blog.

Call of Duty®: Warzone™ 2.0

Activision Publishing Inc.

☆☆☆☆☆
2431

★★★★★

Get it now

Welcome to Warzone™ 2.0, the massive free-to-play combat arena which now features the brand-new map, Al Mazrah.

Turn the Heat Up
Join forces with your friends and jump into a sprawling battleground in the metropolitan area and rural outskirts within the Republic of Adal.

Loot For Rewards
Discover supply boxes and complete contracts to build your arsenal and gain a tactical advantage.

Battle Across Epic Modes
Drop into the all-new sandbox objective-based mode to choose your own experience within the warzone and collecting gear to keep in your Call of Duty®: Warzone™ 2.0 inventory.

Purchase the Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® II Vault Edition and get the Red Team 141 Operator Pack, FJX Cinder Weapon Vault*, 10 hours of 2XP, 10 hours of Weapons 2XP, Battle Pass and 50 Tier Skips** – also usable in Warzone™ 2.0.

An Xbox Live Gold subscription is not required to play the Warzone™ 2.0 game mode. All other online modes still require Xbox Live Gold.

*Weapon Vault design limited to Weapon Vault contents at launch.

**Battle Pass redemption applies to one season of Modern Warfare® II Battle Pass only.

For more information, please visit www.callofduty.com.

© 2022-2023 Activision Publishing, Inc. ACTIVISION, CALL OF DUTY, MODERN WARFARE and CALL OF DUTY WARZONE are trademarks of Activision Publishing, Inc. All other trademarks and trade names are the properties of their respective owners. This product contains software technology licensed from Id Software (‘Id Technology’). Id Technology © 1999-2023 Id Software, Inc.

Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® II – Cross-Gen Bundle

Activision Publishing Inc.

☆☆☆☆☆
2483

★★★★★

$69.99

$45.49

Get it now

Includes:

– Cross Gen Bundle of Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® II
— Includes Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S versions of the game

Welcome to the new era of Call of Duty®.

Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® II drops players into an unprecedented global conflict that features the return of the iconic Operators of Task Force 141.

Infinity Ward brings fans state-of-the-art gameplay, with all-new gun handling, advanced AI system, a new Gunsmith and a suite of other gameplay and graphical innovations that elevate the franchise to new heights.

Modern Warfare® II launches with a globe-trotting single-player campaign, immersive Multiplayer combat and an evolved Special Ops game mode featuring tactical co-op gameplay.

You also get access to Call of Duty®: Warzone™ 2.0, the all-new Battle Royale experience.

For more information, please visit www.callofduty.com.

Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® II – Vault Edition

Activision Publishing Inc.

☆☆☆☆☆
4062

★★★★★

$99.99

$74.99

Get it now

Available for Xbox consoles exclusively on the Microsoft Store.

The Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® II – Vault Edition includes the Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S versions of the game.

Includes:

– Cross Gen Bundle of Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® II
— Includes Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S versions of the game
– Red Team 141 Operator Pack:
— 4 Operators: Ghost, Soap, Farah and Price
– FJX Cinder – First-Ever Weapon Vault*
– Battle Pass (1 Season) + 50 Tier Skips**
– 10 hours of 2XP and 10 hours of weapons 2XP

Welcome to the new era of Call of Duty®.

Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® II drops players into an unprecedented global conflict that features the return of the iconic Operators of Task Force 141.

Modern Warfare® II launches with a globe-trotting single-player campaign, immersive Multiplayer combat and an evolved Special Ops game mode featuring tactical co-op gameplay.

You also get access to Call of Duty®: Warzone™ 2.0, the all-new Battle Royale experience.

*Weapon Vault design limited to Weapon Vault contents at launch.

**Battle Pass redemption applies to one Season of Modern Warfare® II Battle Pass only.

For more information, please visit www.callofduty.com.