microsoft: Celebs Rumors

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Xbox is making decisions to appeal to Gen Z

Xbox boss Phil Spencer has explained that the company’s focus is on attracting “younger audiences”.Over the past few months, Spencer has spoken at length about making Xbox-exclusive games available on “rival” platforms. Last weekend, while at the Game Developers Conference he spoke to Polygon about the possibility of an Xbox handheld console as well as having digital storefronts like Itch.io and the Epic Games Store available on Xbox, alongside their own store.“This notion that Xbox can only be this one device that plugs into a television isn’t something we see in the Gen Z research because nothing else is like that for them,” he explained.“Some of them will have an iPhone, some will have an Android, but all the games and everything is the same [for both of them].
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Bethesda defends ‘Starfield’ from “boring” criticism in Steam reviews
Starfield has already vanished from many people’s collective consciousness, but Bethesda has begun defending the game from criticism in Steam reviews by replying to certain users.As spotted by YouTuber JuiceHead on X (formerly Twitter), Bethesda has started replying to Starfield reviews using the handles Bethesda_FalcoYamaoka and Bethesda_Kraken.In a reply to one review that criticised the number of loading screens in the game, a Bethesda developer wrote that “while there may be loading screens in between fast travelling, just consider the amount of data for the expansive gameplay that is procedurally generated to load flawlessly.”In a reply to another review, which called the game “wide as an ocean- shallow as a puddle”, the same developer wrote that “if you feel that things are getting boring, there is so much more to do than just the main mission! There are many side missions where you can learn more about the people and story of Starfield.”There’s currently no word from Bethesda as to why they’ve suddenly decided to reply to Steam reviews, however.Starfield launched in September of this year, releasing on the same day as the PS5 version of Baldur’s Gate 3, to fairly positive reviews. The game is currently sitting at 83 on Metacritic, with an 85 on Opencritic.NME’s own review of Starfield was positive, writing that “Starfield promises so much, but comes up short of perfection.
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Xbox blocking third-party controllers is a “step backwards”, say disabled gamers
Xbox controllers and accessories will no longer work after November has concerned disabled gamers who use their own controllers.Error “0x82d60002” has popped up for those using an unauthorised controller to play on the Xbox One or Xbox Series consoles, stating that the controller “will be blocked from use on [November 12]”.Microsoft provided a statement to clear up the confusion, saying that “unauthorised accessories can compromise the gaming experience” and this new policy is part of maintaining “quality standards for performance, security, and safety”.Yet, disabled gamers who play with controller and accessory combinations that use third-party technology have aired their aggravation at the announcement.“Xbox I urge you to give a statement on if this will affect the disability community and if so, how is this in line with your vision for accessibility in gaming,” said streamer Elisabeth “Arevya” Sivertsen in a post to X.Another said it was a “step backwards in inclusivity” for Xbox, as the release of the Xbox Adaptive Controller in 2018 won it several awards for the innovation in its design.“For a company that touts their accessibility and inclusion efforts so hard, this move by Xbox is really confusing and disappointing,” added X user and game developer jasonthinks.Fortunately, it appears that conversations about the impact of this policy on disabled players are occurring.
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‘Call Of Duty’ will drop PlayStation-exclusive bonuses
Microsoft‘s Phil Spencer has shared that special Call Of Duty content or events on Xbox would exclude the rest of the “Call Of Duty nation”, and therefore is not a part of the company’s plans for the series.On October 13, the acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft was finalised, passing on properties like Crash Bandicoot, Diablo, Overwatch and World Of Warcraft as well as the immensely popular shooter series to the corporation.In spite of repeated insistences from Microsoft that it would not exclude players on other platforms from the future of Call Of Duty, there were still some concerns from fans.Spencer addressed these in the latest episode of the official Xbox podcast, reiterating that exclusive content for Xbox is not in Microsoft’s vision for the series (via Video Games Chronicle).“For Call of Duty players on PlayStation, and in the future Nintendo, I want you to feel 100 per cent a part of the community,” said the CEO.“I don’t want you to feel like there’s content you’re missing out, skins you’re missing out, there’s timing that you’re missing out on… that’s not the goal.”Historically, the series has prioritised those on PlayStation – Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 offered players exclusive monthly double experience point events, weapon bonuses when playing in parties with other PlayStation players, and additional loadout slots, to name a few features.This will not be replicated in future entries on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.
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‘Call Of Duty’ could come to Ubisoft+ in new Activision-Microsoft agreement
Activision Blizzard games like Call Of Duty, Overwatch 2 and World Of Warcraft could be added to Ubisoft’s streaming service soon according to a new announcement.In response to another rejection from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) regarding its proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Microsoft tried to rectify the regulator’s point of contention in this move to sell streaming rights to those games to Ubisoft+.“To address the concerns about the impact of the proposed acquisition on cloud game streaming raised by the UK Competition and Markets Authority, we are restructuring the transaction to acquire a narrower set of rights,” it said in a statement (via Video Games Chronicle).“This includes executing an agreement effective at the closing of our merger that transfers the cloud streaming rights for all current and new Activision Blizzard PC and console games released over the next 15 years to Ubisoft Entertainment SA, a leading global game publisher. The rights will be in perpetuity,” it explained.As a result, it imagined that the CMA would have enough time to review the new transaction and finalise it ahead of its own imposed deadline of October 18.“Under the restructured transaction, Microsoft will not be in a position either to release Activision Blizzard games exclusively on its own cloud streaming service – Xbox Cloud Gaming – or to exclusively control the licensing terms of Activision Blizzard games for rival services,” concluded Microsoft.Chris Early, senior vice president of strategic partnerships and business development at Ubisoft, expressed the developer and publisher’s enthusiasm to offer “a large library of beloved and classic titles as well as the newest releases” through Ubisoft+.
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Cult classic Microsoft game ‘SkiFree’ is getting a 3D revival
SkiFree Extreme – Mountain Guide – an arcade adventure game inspired by the original SkiFree from 1991 – is now in development for mobile and PC.DevRatGames submitted the game in the Fireside Jam on itch.io where all developers had to use the theme of “guide” to determine the type of game that would be made.“The thing that instantly popped in my head was some kind of mountain guide, and the game I came to think about was the classic SkiFree that came with computers back in the ’90s,” explained the developer in one of the devlogs on YouTube.SkiFree was included in the Microsoft Entertainment Pack 3 and became a fast favourite for countless young children playing on their PC. The Abominable Snowman popped up to chase the player when they surpassed the 2,000 metre mark and theories on how to outrun the monster prevailed even into the 2010s.While DevRatGames final product on itch.io isn’t visually very polished owing to the jam’s time constraints, the entry received a lot of praise for offering an entertaining challenge and an ability to compete with other players for the highest score.Buoyed by that, the developer decided to take the concept forward into a fully-fledged game using the feedback they had gathered as well as their own ambitions for the game.DevRatGames referred to Superhot, Baba is You and Hollow Knight as examples of beloved and successful games that were previously an entry into a game jam.DevRatGames explained in the second devlog update that SkiFree Extreme – Mountain Guide will offer missions for the player to complete like rescuing stranded skiers and an overarching lore to the world.
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