At Xbox, their mission is simple – bring the joy and community of gaming to everyone on the planet.

To achieve that, they aspire to empower everyone to play the games you want, with the people you want, anywhere you want.

Ahead of the first-ever Xbox and Bethesda Showcase on Sunday, when they will unveil their best and biggest games lineup of ever, Phil Spencer, Head of Xbox, and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella discussed the importance of gaming to Microsoft and in the world.

They also shared new updates on how Xbox Game Pass is changing the way we discover, connect, and play and how Xbox and all games from its 23 studios are coming to more screens.

“We believe that games, that interactive entertainment, aren’t really about hardware and software. It’s not about pixels. It’s about people. Games bring people together,” said Spencer. “Games build bridges and forge bonds, generating mutual empathy among people all over the world. Joy and community – that’s why we’re here.”

“Gaming is fundamentally aligned with our mission as a company,” said Nadella. “When you talk about Xbox’s mission to bring the joy and community of gaming to everyone on the planet, which I absolutely love, that is precisely aligned with Microsoft’s mission, which is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.”

“As a company, Microsoft is all-in on gaming. Gaming is the most dynamic category in the entertainment industry. Three billion consumers look to gaming for entertainment, community, creation, as well as a real sense of achievement, and our ambition is to empower each of them, wherever they play.”

“We believe that Microsoft can play a leading role in democratizing gaming and defining the future of interactive entertainment. There are really three key areas where we believe we have an incredible competitive advantage: First, our leadership in cloud computing. Second, the resources we have to build our subscription service, Xbox Game Pass. And third, our overall focus on empowering creators.”

Expanding on their quest to reach billions of players with Xbox, today we provided new updates on the success of Xbox Game Pass and what’s next for Xbox:

Xbox Game Pass is Changing the Way We Discover, Connect, and Play

• Xbox Game Pass members play 30% more genres and play 40% more games. And more than 90% of members said they played a game that they would not have tried without Game Pass.
• On average across the Game Pass library, partners see engagement go up by more than 8x when they enter Game Pass.
• Whether it’s purchasing games inside or outside of what’s available in the library, or purchasing additional content for the games they like, members spend 50% more than non-members.
• Xbox Game Pass has become a true discovery engine, a platform for connection and community, and is driving game sales. New insights we’re sharing today include:

o   Since they started their partnership with EA Play in Game Pass Ultimate, players have been engaging with EA’s subscription service in a significant way. Compared to before the integration, EA Play has seen record usage on Microsoft platforms, driving hours played on these platforms up by more than 200%. As a result, EA’s incredible portfolio of games has reached and gained millions of new fans on the Xbox platform.

o   The new Square Enix game Outriders is in Game Pass and was also the #1 selling digital game on Xbox during its launch week and a top 10 selling digital game on Xbox in the month of April. Game Pass helped introduce millions of players to the game.

o   During launch week, MLB: The Show 21 was the biggest sports game of the past year on Xbox and the second biggest sports game of all time on Xbox. Game Pass added millions of new fans and grew Major League Baseball’s player base significantly. MLB: The Show 21 was also the #1 selling paid game on Xbox for the month of April.

Xbox and Xbox Game Pass are Coming to More Screens

• Xbox is working with global TV manufacturers to embed the Xbox experience directly into internet-connected televisions with no extra hardware required except a controller.
• Xbox is exploring new subscription offerings for Xbox Game Pass so more players around the world can experience the most immersive and fun games across devices, geographies, and financial realities.
• Xbox is working with telecommunications providers on new purchasing models like Xbox All Access, which allows consumers to buy both a console and Game Pass for a low monthly price, rather than spending money up front.
• Xbox is building its own streaming devices for cloud gaming to reach gamers on any TV or monitor without the need for a console at all.
• Cloud gaming through Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will launch in Australia, Brazil, Mexico, and Japan later this year.
• In the next few weeks, cloud gaming on the browser will open to all Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members. With Edge, Chrome, and Safari support, players will be a click away from gaming on almost any device.
• They’re in the final stages of updating their Microsoft datacentres around the world with the latest generation of hardware, the Xbox Series X. This means gamers will see faster load times, improved frame rates, and experience Xbox Series X|S optimized games.
• Later this year, Xbox will add cloud gaming directly into the Xbox app on PC and integrate it into their console experience to light up scenarios like try before you download.

An Incredible Pipeline of Games

• With more than 23 studios worldwide creating games for Xbox, their goal is to release at least one new, first party game into Game Pass every quarter. Role playing games, shooters, strategy titles, adventure games, and more are all being built by first party teams to ensure that there is a steady stream of compelling exclusive content to explore.
• The independent developer program ID@Xbox has earned developers over $2B dollars since the program’s inception, with over 2000 titles launched and many more on the way. This model is now being used for ID@Azure, allowing independent devs to build cloud-based experiences. These programs bring new voices from diverse backgrounds into the world of game development.

As Phil Spencer noted when he opened the day, the team knows that achieving its mission is not going to be easy, and it has a long way to go. But he believes that only Microsoft can bring to bear the global scale, the vast wellsprings of technical innovation, the financial resources and the deep, decades-long legacy in video games required to truly bring the joy and community of gaming to everyone.

To learn more about the next, incredible wave of games you’ll be enjoying soon, please join the Xbox Team on Monday, June 14th 2021 at 05AM NZST for the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase.

The post Xbox Brings the Community of Gaming to Everyone appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Thanks to Xbox gamers, the Xbox team kicked off a new generation of gaming and can now share more about what comes next in 2021.

If the last year has taught us anything about the future, it’s that the joy of play and its power to connect us to family, friends and newly joining members of Xbox is something to be cherished and shared.

Xbox gamers overwhelming response to the launch of Xbox Series X|S has been staggering and heartening at the same time. The team can’t wait for everyone who wants to experience gaming on Xbox Series X and Series S to do so and are working with their retail partners to replenish stock as quickly as possible.

As the Xbox team look at how they define success at the start of a new generation for gaming, they can think of none better than more and more players connecting with their friends and discovering games they love. It’s the billions of hours and over 3,800 different games played in the last month that is the foundation for success at Xbox.

Xbox gamers are also getting the most out of the Xbox Game Pass library – compared to the prior year, in November 2020, Xbox Game Pass monthly engagement more than doubled.

The team also saw:

• Over 1.6 million seamless upgrades delivered to Xbox Series X|S owners with Smart Delivery.
• Over 40% of Xbox gamers joining Xbox for the first time are playing on Xbox Series S.
• One of the fastest selling Xbox Series X|S markets out of 40+ launch regions, Europe saw record sell-outs in a matter of hours across the UK, France and Germany.
• During November 2020, Xbox Game Pass members played more of their favourites, including, Destiny 2: Beyond Light, Rainbow Six: Siege, Tetris Effect Connected, and Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order with EA Play on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.

So, what’s next?

Cloud gaming (beta) with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate coming to iOS and PC in 2021.

Expanding Xbox to new players is central to the teams ambition of helping games and developers find an easy path to the world’s 3 billion gamers. The team are doing this by embracing multiple devices and providing a consistent Xbox experience wherever you log in, whether that’s on your Xbox Series X|S, PC, Xbox One, Android device or – starting in Spring 2021 – your Windows PC and iOS device from the cloud.

In Spring 2021, Xbox will take the next step in their journey to reach more players around the world by making cloud gaming as part of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate available on Windows PCs through the Xbox app and browser, and iOS devices through mobile web browser.

By adding over a billion devices as a path to playing in the Xbox ecosystem, they envision a seamless experience for all types of players; whether it’s playing Minecraft Dungeons with your Xbox friends using touch controls on an iPhone or jumping into a Destiny 2: Beyond Light strike on a Surface Pro when you have a break between meetings.

Whatever screen you choose, the Xbox team want to make it easy to continue your game and connect with your friends.

Finally, they will be bringing cloud gaming with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate to new markets, including Australia, Brazil, Japan and Mexico, where they recently began their limited Project xCloud preview program.

No matter the year, it’s always about the games. In 2021, creators around the world will tap deeper into the power of Xbox Series X|S and bring a massive variety of content to Xbox players.

From Xbox Game Studios, 2021 will see the Master Chief’s return in Halo Infinite, a new brain-bending odyssey in Psychonauts 2, and some surprises they haven’t announced yet. Your favourite games will also continue to grow with you, with 30 pieces of new content coming to several of their franchises next half, including Forza, Sea of Thieves, Grounded and much more. Looking further ahead, Xbox gamers will also hear more from the teams across Xbox Game Studios and Bethesda.

Next year the team also plan to officially welcome the Bethesda team, creator of critically acclaimed and best-selling gaming franchises like The Elder Scrolls, Fallout and Doom, to the Xbox family. With their help, Xbox will grow from 15 to 23 creative studio teams in 2021, all forging a future of games fit for a world of different players.

Xbox anticipate this to be the most exciting generation yet for developers and players alike, with something for every kind of gamer. While Xbox have so much more in store, both from their talented partners and creative teams at Microsoft, here’s a small taste of new games that have been announced as coming to Xbox in 2021, including those that will also be playable with Xbox Game Pass:

• CrossfireX
• 12 Minutes (console launch exclusive)
• Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
• Far Cry 6
• Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Quarantine
• Chorus
• Ruined King: A League of Legends Story
• Scarlet Nexus
• Balan Wonderworld
• Resident Evil Village
• The Artful Escape
• Echo Generation
• Songs of Iron
• Tunic
• Sable
• Bright Memory Infinite
• Way to the Woods
• Echo Generation
• Outriders
• Shredders (console launch exclusive)

Coming to Xbox with Xbox Game Pass

• Halo Infinite
• Psychonauts 2
• The Ascent
• The Medium (console launch exclusive)
• The Gunk (console launch exclusive)
• Warhammer 40K: Darktide (console launch exclusive)
• Exomecha (console launch exclusive)
• Scorn
• Skatebird
• Dead Static Drive
• The Good Life

As the year closes out, the Xbox team would like to thank all Xbox gamers again on behalf of Team Xbox – not just for giving Xbox Series X|S a strong start, but for supporting their belief that this generation of gaming does and should belong to you.

Stay tuned, starting with The Game Awards tomorrow, for more surprises.

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The post Xbox Expands Cloud Gaming to More Devices in 2021 appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

N-Dream AG — creators of the leading cloud-based virtual gaming platform AirConsole that brings friends and family together for same-room multiplayer enjoyment anywhere, anytime — invites fans to bring the soccer action of the 2018 World Cup off-pitch and into their living rooms with Final Goal, a new soccer title that blends realistic gameplay with retro-arcade action. With the simplicity of AirConsole, play Final Goal today from any web-browser supported device (“the console”) and up to eight mobile phones (“the controllers”) to shoot, tackle and pass, or switch players on the fly between you and up to seven of your friends. GOAL!!!

Available today exclusively on AirConsole in both a free and premium edition, Final Goal features family-friendly gameplay that even the most casual of players can pick up in a snap. Your favorite team didn’t qualify this year? No problem! With over 50 national teams to choose from with an AirConsole Hero subscription — including those that didn’t make the cut this year — Final Goal won’t be getting any red cards for lack of fun or content. Kicking out a few rounds of Final Goal for bragging rights during half time couldn’t be any easier with AirConsole either; all you need is a web browser, a mobile phone and some friends (or frenemies) to challenge.

“We’ve designed AirConsole to be a highly accessible gaming platform that delivers great quality content and keeps friends and family playing together. We couldn’t be happier to share Final Goal with football fans around the world, just in time for the 2018 World Cup,” said Andrin von Rechenberg, N-Dreams AG’s CEO. “It’s the perfect way to fill time between halves or matches, keeping the excitement of the game alive off-pitch.”

AirConsole is the most accessible way to game with friends and the ultimate platform for local multiplayer and party games. Start playing in seconds on either Windows PC, your Android TV, tablet, or via computer browser casted to a smart TV, and control the action with your Android or iOS mobile phone. AirConsole boasts a continually growing collection of over 100 first- and third-party games. A wide variety of titles and genres are completely free to play, with more games and additional content available through the AirConsole Hero subscription. With a former Googler at the helm, AirConsole offers a revolutionary low-latency cloud-based gaming experience without the need for proprietary hardware.

The post Football in the Cloud appeared first on Shane the Gamer.