Quite a few updates showed up this week with fixes for a number of Windows 10 versions (including 1809), an interesting teaser for Obsidian’s next RPG, and a lot more. Be sure to catch up below.
To nobody’s surprise, another week went ahead and poofed out of existence, bringing us closer to the end of the year. Until that happens though, there’s plenty more news left to look through, from games and gaming onesies to different hardware news and the always present updates. Find all that and a tiny bit extra in your Microsoft digest for the week of November 24-30.
Christmas isn’t too far away, so this week’s selection of game updates and announcements should tide folks over nicely until the aforementioned holiday.
We start with Shrouded Spoils, the latest free update for Sea of Thieves, which brings in a good helping of gameplay fixes and additions. Weighing in at 3GB for the Xbox One and 4.22GB for PC players on Windows 10, the patch rebalances a number of encounters, adds a ton of customization options to ships, and makes it so loot – which now drops from both the Kraken and Megalodons – glints in the water. That way, you won’t miss any of that valuable treasure you fought for.
If you’re a Game Pass subscriber, you should check out The Gardens Between which was just added to the service, and be on the lookout for Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden and Strange Brigade which will be playable on December 4 and 6, respectively.
In other game addition news, the Backward Compatibility list has grown by another three titles. These are Sonic Unleashed, Aliens vs Predator, and Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. On the off chance that you don’t have your original discs, the trio of games is also available to buy outright.
Microsoft’s other subscription, Xbox Live Gold, will net you four games this December. For the Xbox One, you can get Q. U. B. E. 2 between December 1-31 and Never Alone from December 16 to January 15. As far as the previous-gen console is concerned, Dragon Age 2 is yours to claim between December 1 – 15, and Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction can also be yours between December 16 – 30. Remember, thanks to Backward Compatibility, the last two titles can also be had on Xbox One. Be sure to go grab Q. U. B. E. 2 and Dragon Age 2 as they’re both now available .
Since we mentioned an RPG, we should also acknowledge the existence of an as of yet untitled roleplaying game from newly first-party studio Obisidian. Keep in mind that because this was being developed before the Microsoft acquisition, it isn’t subject to the platform exclusivity (Xbox, Windows 10) we usually see for the in-house projects. The adverts that have been seen poping up on the developer’s site have a hint of BioShock ’s Art Nouveau aesthetic, and it’s been speculated that this might in fact be a previously started title dubbed Backspace. Initially developed on Bethesda’s Creation Engine, it was apparently shelved, but the newest iteration of it has kept the space setting. No matter though, as more details are set to be revealed at The Game Awards on December 6. The event starts at 6pm PT / 9pm ET, which is 2AM UTC on Friday, December 7.
On the off chance that you’re in the market for mixing and matching consoles and controllers, you’ll be able to use the Xbox Adaptive Controller with the Nintendo Switch. No, it unfortunately isn’t supported natively, but via a third-party adapter. Nevertheless, it’s still cool to see.
Finally, earlier this year, Microsoft launched a store specifically dedicated to Xbox merchandise with caps, hoodies, and the like. A particular item of clothing that folks expected to show up was the rather good Xbox Onesie, which was unfortunately missing in action. Earlier this week, Larry Hryb (Major Nelson) announced that you’d be able to buy it on Friday, but that day came and went. As it turns out, a flaw in the manufacturing of the item forced the company to push back the date of availability. A revised ship date is supposedly going to be revealed in “the coming weeks”.
Microsoft has been in the business of making devices for a long time, though specifically focused on peripherals like mice, keyboards and webcams. Even if it got into making its own PCs a mere six years ago, the company isn’t planning on stopping just yet.
