We know you’re busy and might miss out on all the exciting things we’re talking about on Xbox Wire every week. If you’ve got a few minutes, we can help remedy that. We’ve pared down the past week’s news into one easy-to-digest article for all things Xbox! Or, if you’d rather watch than read, you can feast your eyes on our weekly video show above. Be sure to come back every Friday to find out what’s happening This Week on Xbox!

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds Passes 3 Million Players on Xbox One
Since PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) launched on Xbox One through the Xbox Game Preview program, it’s been awesome to see the excitement and passion on display from the Xbox community. Whether you’re streaming in the HypeZone on Mixer or battling for a chicken dinner with your squad, players on Xbox are helping build and improve the game on console. Today, PUBG Corp. and Xbox are excited to share that through the end of 2017 the PUBG community on Xbox One has already grown to over three million players… Read more

Xbox Play Anywhere Title Little Triangle Arrives February 7, Available to Pre-order Today
Finally, after more than two years of hard work, it’s with great excitement and nervousness that we’re glad to announce that Little Triangle, a game from Shanghai, will officially be released as an Xbox Play Anywhere game on February 7 — and you can pre-order it today! Little Triangle is a polished, fun to play platformer that also features a mini battle royale mode. The game offers more than 60 cute and funny triangle skins, countless NPCs, a bunch of bosses, and amusing level… Read more

Play Halo 5: Guardians for Free This Weekend with Xbox Live Gold
Halo 5: Guardians, the most expansive Halo game ever released, will be free for Xbox Live Gold members from Thursday, January 11 at 12:01 a.m. PST until Sunday, January 14 at 10:59 p.m. PST. During this time, players can download the game and experience the latest chapter in the Halo saga spanning multiple worlds and a journey that will change the course of history and the future of mankind. Fans can enjoy this grand campaign solo or with up to three friends via online co-op… Read more

Puzzle Platformer Albert & Otto Available Now on Xbox One
I am super excited to finally see Albert & Otto make it on Xbox One. This game was my first entry into the world of video game development, so the mechanics and puzzles evolved over time rather than being designed from the start by an experienced developer, which I think gives it a unique feel. Originally a filmmaker, I was always fond of telling stories and I continue to be surprised at how similarly powerful the two mediums are… Read more

Sea of Thieves Closed Beta Coming January 24-29!
Happy New Year, everyone! We’re back working hard on Sea of Thieves after the holidays and a December chock-full of announcements. We revealed March 20 as our launch date and made a star of an unsuspecting chicken with a swashbuckling trailer, kicked off pre-orders, revealed how you progress through the world of Sea of Thieves, and showed off our haunting Limited Edition controller. All that and we hosted our biggest ever Technical Alpha play session… Read more

Uncover the Sci-Fi Mystery of The Station on Xbox One and Windows 10 Next Month
Hi everyone! I’m incredibly excited about our upcoming launch of The Station on Xbox One and Windows 10 on February 20. To give more insight into the experience, we pulled our most commonly asked questions we’re receiving on our social channels, like our Twitter account @TheStationGame. What’s the premise of The Station? The Station is a first-person mystery game set on a space station that was sent to study a sentient alien civilization… Read more

Dragon Ball FighterZ Open Beta Coming January 14 to Xbox One
Hello again, fellow FighterZ! We hope you’ve been keeping your fighting skills sharp because on January 26 they will be put to the test when Dragon Ball FighterZ is unleashed on Xbox One. Before the release of the game, we’ll bring you an Open Beta to hone those Kamehamehas and Destructo-Discs. Here are the details of the Dragon Ball FighterZ Open Beta…. Read more

Eclipse Games has revealed that it is updating its Wii U title Tachyon Project for the Switch.

Described as the definitive edition of the dual-stick shooter, the Switch version will include improved graphics, local multiplayer support in story mode, improved enemy creation effects to avoid annoying deaths and some redesigned levels.

Taking place across 10 stages, the game features 6 different weapons, 9 secondary weapons, and 7 perks, all of which allow you to customise your ship. There are 30 different enemy types to kill as well as 4 bosses. Up to 4 players can take part in local multiplayer.

Tachyon Project will cost $9.99/€9.99/£7.99 when it launches on January 25th. Interested? Let us know with a comment.

Video games and movies often make uncomfortable bedfellows; just look at the Super Mario Bros. movie from 1993 and Jean-Claude Van Damme’s equally risible Street Fighter flick. However, sometimes the combining of these two mediums can yield positive results; King of Kong is one notable example. Jim Miskell’s Going for Golden Eye has a lot in common with that 2007 cult smash, but it’s a “mockumentary” rather than a straight documentary and also takes a large dollop of inspiration from Rob Reiner’s seminal 1984 movie This is Spinal Tap, the film that arguably birthed the genre.

The film follows the (fictional) 20th annual GoldenEye World Championships, an event which has slowly seen its importance and popularity wane since the glory days of the Nintendo 64 as competitive gaming has embraced online play, and Rare’s ’90s classic has been superseded by the likes of Halo, Call of Duty and Overwatch. Clive (Terence J. Corbett), the ageing and rather unsettling organiser of the championships, laments the lack of interest and falling attendance in one of the film’s genuinely emotional moments. “Why don’t people care about GoldenEye anymore?” he forlornly utters to camera, articulating the sentiment of a many a Nintendo fan, we’re sure. Despite diminishing returns, the 20th anniversary event is arranged in earnest, and we’re introduced to Ethan (Daniel Bruce), dubbed “The Golden Child” thanks to his incredible skill with the N64 controller. He’s the winner of the 19 previous GoldenEye World Championships and clear favourite to scoop the title again.

Ethan’s character has clear parallels with real-life gaming champion Billy Mitchell, who was portrayed in a less-than-positive light in the aforementioned King of Kong. Ethan is arrogant about his talent, boastful of his achievements and – most importantly – totally oblivious to the fact that the world has moved on from GoldenEye. He has his own fitness video (on VHS, of course) and posters at the event proclaim that he was voted “Sexist Gamer” back in 1999. Ethan is a superb comic creation whose self-important speeches provide many of the biggest laughs. “The annals of history only remember winners…” he says in one scene, before naively challenging the camera crew to name the leader of Nazi Germany in World War II.

We’re also introduced to Ben (David Burnip), who assumes the Steve Wiebe role of the hopeless underdog; still living with his parents at the ripe old age of 33, he’s obsessed with the N64 to the point where he has put the rest of his life on hold (“These games don’t let you down like people do. Apart from sometimes when they don’t work and you have to give them a little blow”). While his friends have moved on to get married and have families, he remains locked in the past and looks to Ethan as a role-model and hero; he has followed his career over the past 20 years with awe. He is convinced to leave the comfort of his bedroom and enter the 20th GoldenEye World Championships in an attempt to make something of his life and step out of the shadow of the villainous Duncan (Brendan Barclay), who bullied him at school and is now dating Ben’s childhood sweetheart. Ben is accompanied to the championships (which are set in a small Yorkshire pub) by his larger-than-life friend Tom (James T. Daltry), who sees the trip as a means of escaping his family life; he also covets Ben’s beloved painted N64 controller, “Goldie”.

If all of this sounds a little too straightforward, it’s worth pointing out that scenes are peppered with hilarious dialogue, visual gags and impeccable one-liners which appear out of nowhere and leave you in stitches – just like Spinal Tap, in fact. There are countless quotable lines on offer here (many of which feature language which isn’t fit to publish here – this isn’t a kid’s movie, that’s for sure) and one moment which is equal in its comic impact to the infamous “tiny Stonehenge” in Spinal Tap (no prizes for guessing what the gag is, as it’s in one of the photos on this page). Ben’s parents (Ben Blackwood and Susan Woodard) and butch younger brother (Steven Hooper) also supply some amusing lines and throughout the film we’re given chucklesome soundbites from characters named after members of the original GoldenEye team at Rare.

Produced on a small budget by Miskell’s own independent production company, Going for Golden Eye is one of those rare (no pun intended) projects which is borne out of love for a particular moment in time yet manages to entertain regardless; even if you have absolutely no idea what GoldenEye is and have zero interest in gaming, the humour on offer here is universal. King of Kong pulled the same trick a decade ago, presenting what was a very niche subject – video game high-score chasers – and dressing it in such a fashion that even those who had never picked up a controller could watch and appreciate it. Going for Golden Eye plays things for laughs but is no less successful when it comes to providing accessible entertainment.

Granted, the film’s tiny production budget does become glaringly apparent at points and there will be those who are irked by the fact that emulation is used for gameplay (let’s face it, straight capture from the N64 would have looked terrible) but the witty script, excellent comic acting and tight pacing (it’s under an hour long) allow it to overcome these limitations. Fans of the game will love it – there are loads of in-jokes which will instantly chime with anyone who remembers playing Rare’s classic all those years ago – but gamers in general will pick up the rich humour, too; everybody knows an Ethan in real-life, a player who takes themselves far too seriously. There’s plenty here for those who know nothing about ’90s gaming too, and who knows, those individuals may even seek out the original game off the back of this movie.   

Going for Golden Eye won’t get a major cinema release or attain the widespread global acclaim that King of Kong did, but that doesn’t make it any less deserving of your attention; we’ve not laughed so much during a film about video games since we watched Uwe Boll’s House of the Dead (only with this film, the laughs are intentional).

Going for Golden Eye will be available on DVD, Blu-Ray and video on demand later this year.

Hyper Universe is Now Available on Steam!

Leave the grind and start the brawl. Hyper Universe deftly combines action-packed combat and team-based strategic gameplay. With an outrageous cast of characters assembled from every corner of the galaxy, prepare for a gaming experience that’s out of this world!

As North American Launch Partner for the Overwatch League, the automaker looks forward to collaborating on behind-the-scenes content for league fans

IRVINE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Following a thrilling opening week for the Overwatch League that drew more than 10 million viewers worldwide, a major new brand-marketing partner has signed on to support the league during its inaugural season: multinational automotive manufacturer Toyota.

Toyota will be a North American Launch Partner for the Overwatch League, and is looking forward to future collaborations around bringing behind-the-scenes content to fans. The automaker plans to have additional broadcast integrations, as well as a vehicle presence at Blizzard Arena Los Angeles.

“Toyota is excited to be a launch partner of the Overwatch League,” said Steven Curtis, vice president, media & engagement marketing for Toyota Motor North America. “We love the passion of esports fans, and the goal of our partnership is to help take the Overwatch League and the fan experience to the next level.”

“We’re thrilled to welcome Toyota to the Overwatch League,” said Pete Vlastelica, president and CEO of Blizzard Entertainment’s MLG division. “When we were building the league, our desire was to create a premium experience for players and fans, and partners like Toyota are helping us do just that.”

The Overwatch League is further supported by sponsors HP® and Intel®, with players competing on cutting-edge gaming hardware including HP’s OMEN gaming PCs, powered by the latest Intel® Core™ i7 processors.

About the Overwatch League^™

The Overwatch League^™ is the first major global professional esports league with city-based teams across Asia, Europe, and North America. Overwatch® was created by globally acclaimed publisher Blizzard Entertainment (a division of Activision Blizzard—Nasdaq: ATVI), whose iconic franchises have helped lay the foundations and push the boundaries of professional esports over the last 15 years. The latest addition to Blizzard’s stable of twenty-one #1 games,^[1] Overwatch was built from the ground up for online competition, with memorable characters and fast-paced action designed for the most engaging gameplay and spectator experiences. To learn more about the Overwatch League, visit www.overwatchleague.com.

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in the U.S. and North America for 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands. During that time, Toyota has created a tremendous value chain as our teams have contributed to world-class design, engineering, and assembly of more than 33 million cars and trucks in North America, where we operate 14 manufacturing plants (10 in the U.S.) and directly employ more than 46,000 people (more than 36,000 in the U.S.). Our 1,800 North American dealerships (nearly 1,500 in the U.S.) sold almost 2.7 million cars and trucks (2.45 million in the U.S.) in 2016—and about 85 percent of all Toyota vehicles sold over the past 15 years are still on the road today.

© 2018 Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. OVERWATCH, OVERWATCH LEAGUE, BLIZZARD and BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT are trademarks of Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. MAJOR LEAGUE GAMING is a trademark of Major League Gaming Corp.

[1] Sales and/or downloads, based on internal company records and reports from key distribution partners

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements: Information in this press release that involves Blizzard Entertainment’s expectations, plans, intentions or strategies regarding the future, including statements about the sponsorship arrangements for Overwatch esports, are forward-looking statements that are not facts and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause Blizzard Entertainment’s actual future results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements set forth in this release include unanticipated product delays and other factors identified in the risk factors sections of Activision Blizzard’s most recent annual report on Form 10-K and any subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. The forward-looking statements in this release are based upon information available to Blizzard Entertainment and Activision Blizzard as of the date of this release, and neither Blizzard Entertainment nor Activision Blizzard assumes any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements believed to be true when made may ultimately prove to be incorrect. These statements are not guarantees of the future performance of Blizzard Entertainment or Activision Blizzard and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond its control and may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180118005540/en/

Overwatch League
Mark Van Lommel, 949-955-1380 x61147
MVanLommel@overwatchleague.com
or
Toyota Motor North America
Zachary Reed, 214-316-1128
zachary.reed@toyota.com

Source: Overwatch League

News Provided by Acquire Media

This week at Bungie, the factions have returned. 

Faction Rallies closes out next week. Whichever faction you deem most worthy will be selling their weapon in the Tower as the first offering of Season 2. 

Evolving

A lot of the feedback we have been receiving is centered on weapons and abilities. The feel of Destiny 2 and what makes a Guardian a Guardian. We’re taking the feedback to heart and Sandbox Design Lead Josh Hamrick has some thoughts of what the Sandbox team has planned. 

Josh Hamrick: Hi everybody!  Sandbox here…

We just wanted to drop in for a moment to verify that we’re already hard at work and making progress on various improvements Christopher Barrett outlined last week. 

Additionally, I wanted to give you all better insight as to how the next several months are shaping up.

As with any plans, the first items on the list are the clearest and well defined.  For most of these, we are already hard at work and making good progress on them. The Exotic pass is moving forward nicely with Jon Weisnewski at the helm. The team has also been talking about things we want to see in the next balance pass, coming to you in Season 3, for the last several weeks. Also, Grant MacKay has put together a really exciting plan for Mods 2.0 that will open their requirements up significantly allowing them to be more potent in ways that you’ll end up feeling directly in your ability uptime and therefore total power output. The rest of the crew you ask?  Oh, they’re just hard at work on super exciting new content to put smiles on all your faces before the year is out… And that’s just the beginning. 

Items further down the list need more planning or more time to actually implement…  Most need both.  On top of that, some need groundwork that we will be laying with earlier changes.  In all these cases though, the team is already discussing and planning for them in one way or another.  As usual, we are excited to work on building something that you’ll love and that feels great to play…  Because Sandbox loves you.

2018 is shaping up to be a huge year for all of us and there is plenty of Sandbox improvements and changes coming your way.  As we move closer to realizing all of the new efforts being made, we’ll continue to show up here to share many more details about how it’s all shaping up and how it will all work.  We expect you to keep showing up and sharing your feedback and passion for the game.

Talk to you again soon,

– Hamrick

Showing Support

Destiny Player Support is your one-stop shop for all things support. They have important info on resolving errors and upcoming bug fixes. 

This is their report. 

Error code: Beaver

An issue occurred on Wednesday, January 17, causing some players to encounter BEAVER error codes when attempting to play Destiny 2 on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

While this issue was quickly resolved, players were required to fully log out of Destiny 2 in order to circumvent the error impacting their ability to connect. If you are continuing to receive BEAVER error codes, please fully close the Destiny 2 game application.

If you continue to receive BEAVER errors, please post a report to the #Help forum.

Ikora Waypoint

Since the release of Curse of Osiris, we have been tracking an issue where players receive an errant waypoint over Ikora. A solution to the issue is currently being tested, and on track for the January 30 Update. 

Until the issue is fully resolved, completing Meditations or Milestones to earn Vanguard Research tokens can temporarily remove the waypoint from Ikora.

Red Carpet

Movie of the Week: It has Begun!

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Honorable Mention: ATLAS

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Last week, we gave you some of our plans for the future. We are currently working hard on implementing those in-game. We will keep you informed on our progress. We understand you are more interested in updates than promises of updates. 

We’re on it. 

<3 Cozmo

InnerSpace is Now Available on Steam!

InnerSpace is an exploration flying game set in the Inverse, a world of inside-out planets with no horizons. Soar through ancient skies and abandoned oceans to discover the lost history of this fading realm, where gods still wander. Your greatest journey is within.

“There are just some moments in the game where the animators were able to have her face, like the emotion on her face, the emotion on some of the characters, be realized in a way that find to be—I was really stunned.”

– Narrative director John Gonzalez tells Noclip how animators used micro-expressions to enhance both the narrative and the game. 

Noclip has shared an extended cut of one interview from its earlier Horizon Zero Dawn documentary to shed some additional light on some of the challenges faced when writing for a massive, open-world game.

The interview in question features Guerrilla Games’ narrative director John Gonzalez and touches both on his past work with Fallout: New Vegas and, more recently, Horizon Zero Dawn. 

The interview itself features some quality insight from Gonzalez on the often complicated process of creating narratives for open-world games and offers a peek at some of the interesting solutions Guerrilla Games came up with when doing so.

For example, Gonzalez says that he had fought for the game’s main character Aloy to find her ‘Focus’ as an adult rather than stumble across the augmented reality device as a child. While that may have worked from a narrative standpoint, Gonzalez says the idea got a significant level of complaints from other developers who were unhappy that a major mechanic would be locked behind hours of play.

“There was a lot of pushback from design, saying ‘look, that’s basically saying that you want to not have our user interface until like hour three or something like that, are you insane?’ And I really resisted it,” recalls Gonzales. “It’s just one of these examples of how wrong I can be and, really, the importance of collaboration across the disciplines.”

“They really pushed really hard to say like ‘this needs to be something she’s getting at the beginning of the game,” he says. “It was just the right choice.” 

As an added bonus, Gonzalez says that decision to have Aloy stumble across the device as a child allowed an opportunity to show her early emotional response to one of the ancient recordings unlocked by the Focus, in a way meeting the team’s goal of weaving Aloy’s own story with the story of the long gone ‘modern’ world.

Noclip’s full interview with Gonzalez is well worth a watch if you’ve got 45 minutes to spare and aren’t afraid of the odd Horizon Zero Dawn spoiler. That video, and many, many more from the game documentary crew, can be found over on YouTube. 

Hello again, fellow FighterZ!

We hope you’ve been keeping your fighting skills sharp because on January 26 they will be put to the test when Dragon Ball FighterZ is unleashed on Xbox One. Before the release of the game, we’ll bring you an Open Beta to hone those Kamehamehas and Destructo-Discs.

Here are the details of the Dragon Ball FighterZ Open Beta:

When

Early Access to the Open Beta will be available for those who pre-ordered the game digitally from the Microsoft Store, starting on Saturday, January 13 at 12:00 a.m. PST. You can pre-load the Open Beta client starting on January 12 at 9:00 p.m. PST. You will need to download an additional DLC item in order to get in. Please search the storefront for “DBFighterzBETA” to find “Dragon Ball FighterZ Open Beta Early Access.” Download this DLC to activate your Early Access to the Open Beta.

The Open Beta will start on Sunday, January 14 at 12:00 a.m. PST and run for 48 hours, ending on Monday, January 15 at 11:59 p.m. PST.

Where

You can download the Dragon Ball FighterZ Open Beta from the Microsoft Store via Xbox Live.

What

Here’s all the content you can expect in the open beta:

• World Match
• Battle Tutorial
• Rankings
• Replay Channel
• Stamps (Limited Set)
• Lobby Avatar customization (Limited Customization)
• 7 Stages
• 11 Characters: SS Goku, SS Vegeta, Gohan (Adult), Frieza, Cell, Kid Buu, Krilin, Picolo, Nappa, Android 18, and Beerus
• 2 dramatic scenes that can occur before or after fights between Goku and Frieza under certain circumstances

Oh, you want some more info on Dragon Ball FighterZ? Let’s talk about some of the different modes available in the full game:

Arcade Mode

Fight waves upon waves of enemy teams to get the highest rank. You can ascend three different courses: the Snake Way, the Extreme Gravity Spaceship, and the Hyperbolic Time Chamber course. Each course will feature battles with a wide variety of enemy teams. Your route in each course is determined by your score in the previous battle. If your score is high enough, you can advance one rank above your previous one. Otherwise, you’ll continue a route of the same or lower rank. Your score after clearing the last stage determines your rank. If it’s your highest yet, it will be recorded as your best score. Once you’ve completed a course, you’ll gain access to hard mode.

Story Mode

In story mode, you’ll be traversing three original story arcs. As you progress, you’ll learn the basics of combat and help your characters get stronger, so this is the perfect place to begin your journey. During your travels, you’ll encounter old friends and deadly new foes. Encountering a boss will advance the storyline and rescuing an ally will grant you new playable characters. You can also increase your Link Level with your allies. The higher the Link Level, the stronger your allies become. When it reaches a certain point, you’ll see special Link Event cutscenes, so keep fighting on! Some characters will have unique dialog if they’re fighting alongside specific teammates. Try to group as many different characters together as possible for different conversations among your squad. You can leave and come back to the story mode whenever you like.

That’s all the info we have for now. We hope you’re ready to experience the next level of fighting games in Dragon Ball FighterZ on Xbox One January 26!