Xbox News Cheat Sheet: What Xbox One Fans Need To Know Right Now

It’s not easy keeping up with every new trailer, announcement, gameplay reveal, and rumor in the gaming industry. This is especially true in the wake of E3, when the internet is flooded with news.

To help out any Xbox fans out there, we’ve compiled this cheat sheet on the most important news in relation to Microsoft or the Xbox One family of consoles. Don’t worry, cheat sheets for Nintendo and the Switch as well as Sony and the PlayStation 4 are in the works as well.

The information below is a general overview of the largest announcements from the past few weeks. That said, there are plenty of links in the text that will take you to articles that provide more in-depth analysis and information breakdowns.

14 First Party Games Detailed

In comparison to Sony’s PlayStation 4 and Nintendo’s Switch, Microsoft’s Xbox One has struggled to deliver as many quality first-party console exclusives. Microsoft aimed to flip the script by revealing information about 14 upcoming first party games at E3 2019. Though we still don’t have gameplay for many of them, the roster of titles looks like it will strengthen the game library of Xbox One.

Some of the games had already been announced, such as Gears 5 and Halo Infinite. But Microsoft’s E3 2019 press conference revealed new details about them. Gears 5 is releasing with a fun-looking PvE mode called Escape, for example, and Halo Infinite will be a launch title on Scarlett, Microsoft’s next-generation family of consoles (but it is still coming to Xbox One and PC).

Several new first-party titles were announced though. One of the more notable announcements came from Ninja Theory (a developer Microsoft acquired last year): the reveal of a new 4v4 melee combat-focused game it’s been working on called Bleeding Edge. A technical alpha for the game starts this month.

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New Xbox Hardware: Next-Gen Scarlett Console

Plenty of Xbox fans want to know what Microsoft has planned for its next-generation family of consoles. We learned a little bit more about it at E3, including confirmation that its codename is Scarlett, but Microsoft is still keeping some details close to the chest.

We do know that the console is currently scheduled for a Holiday 2020 release, that Halo Infinite will be a launch title, and that Microsoft claims it will be “four times” more powerful than an Xbox One X. Specifically, Scarlett contains a custom-engineered AMD processor capable of 8K resolution at 120fps, supports ray-tracing, comes equipped with a solid-state drive, and has a custom AMD Zen 2 CPU, Radeon RDNA architecture, and GDDR6 RAM. Details such as price point and hardware design are, for now, unknown.

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Massive Showcasing Of Third-Party Titles

Microsoft delivered an expansive E3 press conference with announcements, new trailers, and gameplay reveals for dozens of third-party titles, all coming to Xbox One. The showcasing was huge, with more than a few surprises.

The three major highlights were the gameplay reveals for Respawn’s Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (both at EA Play and Microsoft’s E3 2019 press conference), release date announcement of Obsidian Entertainment’s The Outer Worlds, and a first look at From Software’s Elden Ring–an open world Souls-like game designed in collaboration with George RR Martin. During Microsoft’s E3 press conference, the company also showcased new trailers for Cyberpunk 2077 and Tales of Arise, and also announced Phantasy Star Online 2 is finally coming to the West.

E3 was a pretty big showcasing for upcoming Xbox One indie games too. The most notable of the lot probably comes from Layers of Fear 2’s Bloober Team, which is making Blair Witch, a spooky-looking game based in the same world as the 2016 horror movie. 12 Minutes–a psychological thriller about a man stuck in a time loop–also looks very good, as does Afterparty and Spiritfarer (both of which tackle the concept of death in unique ways).

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Microsoft Acquires Yet Another Studio

After acquiring over half a dozen studios last year, Microsoft announced during E3 2019 that it’s acquired one more. The studio in question is Double Fine, which is responsible for Psychonauts and Grim Fandango. During E3, Double Fine CEO Tim Schafer showcased the first gameplay trailer for Psychonauts 2.

Game Pass Just Keeps Getting Better

Game Pass continues to be one of the best subscription-based game services out there. Over the past few weeks, Microsoft has continued to expand the service, launching a PC version, bundling it with Xbox Live Gold, and adding several stellar titles to its lineup.

Microsoft’s new Game Pass Ultimate combines Xbox Game Pass, Xbox Game Pass for PC, and Xbox Live Gold in one $15/£11 per month subscription. Both Game Pass and Xbox Live Gold subscriptions get you limited-time discounts on certain games, and Game Pass lets you freely download from a library of hundreds of titles which is expanding and shifting all the time. Recently, Microsoft added some incredible titles to Game Pass, including Metro Exodus, Thimbleweed Park, Guacamelee 2, Everspace, SteamWorld Dig 2, and Hollow Knight: Voidheart Edition.

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Microsoft’s Cloud-Streaming Future: Project xCloud

Google Stadia isn’t the only cloud-based game streaming service scheduled to launch this year. During E3 2019, Microsoft announced Project xCloud would release this October, a month before Google Stadia launches. Pretty much no other details have been supplied, so we’ll have to wait and see how exactly xCloud ultimately stacks up against Stadia.