Starting today, five iconic franchises celebrate milestone birthdays with six weeks of new content releases, community activities, and game discounts. From Microsoft Flight Simulator to Forza Horizon, each of these genre-defining franchises has taken us around the world or immersed us in the nuclear wasteland. We’ve captured major activities from each franchise so new and old fans can celebrate with us. Jump down to each section for more information.
- Fallout kicks off the celebration with its 25th anniversary, featuring a new retrospective, Free Play Days, and Xbox Store sale.
- Forza Horizon celebrates its 10th anniversary starting October 11 with the return of fan-favorite music and the adrenaline-fueled Midnight Battles mode where you can score cars by winning head-to-head races.
- Celebrate 10 years of Dishonored with a livestream, giveaways, Arkane Studios Sale and more.
- Age of Empires celebrates its 25th anniversary starting October 25 with a special Anniversary Broadcast and the release of Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition, which includes two new civilizations, the Ottomans and Malians.
- Microsoft Flight Simulator celebrates its 40th anniversary on November 11 with a 40th Anniversary Edition.
Fallout 25th Anniversary
Humanity’s come a long way since players were first introduced to the post-nuclear world of Fallout in 1998. Join the Fallout team as we celebrate the franchise’s legacy with special events, sales and community giveaways!
October 4
- Fallout 76 Free Play Week runs from October 4 – 11
- Fallout 25th Franchise Anniversary Sale begins
- Faction Quiz – Find out where you belong in the Wasteland
October 10
- Celebrate the game that started it all in 1997. Fallout 1 turns 25!
- Fallout 25th Social Shorts Retrospectives celebrating 25 years of Fallout
- Fallout 25th Spotify Playlist
October 11
- Fallout Shelter celebrates the 25th Anniversary with new content including quests, dwellers, and more.
October 18
- Our friends at Vault-Tec have a Fallout inspired controller for Design Lab
October 25
- Spooky Scorched returns to Appalachia until November 8.
Forza Horizon 10th Anniversary
On October 23, 2012, Forza Horizon introduced car and music fans across the world to the Horizon Festival in Colorado. As its 10-Year Anniversary approaches, Playground Games are getting ready to celebrate with the Forza community:
October 6
- Tune in to the Forza livestreams from 9am PT on the Forza Twitch and YouTube channels to see everything that’s coming soon to Forza Horizon 5 as the team reflects on the history and evolution of the series.
October 11
- Download the Forza Horizon 5: Horizon 10-Year Anniversary update on Xbox, Windows and Steam to experience the Horizon Origins Story, the return of fan-favorite music, the Midnight Battles mode, and much more.
- Look out for some unmissable discounts on the Microsoft Store from October 11 – and on Steam from October 13 – until October 24, including up to 67% off Forza Horizon 4 and up to 30% off Forza Horizon 5.
October 13
- Beginning October 13, the Festival Playlist serves up four weeks of anniversary themed events, challenges and rewards with each celebrating a previous entry in the Forza Horizon series.
Dishonored 10th Anniversary
This month is about celebrating you, our players. It’s because of you that Dishonored is so renowned and we are grateful. Help us celebrate 10 years of this award-winning franchise by sharing your memories with #Dishonored10 and join us on our social channels for giveaways and reminiscing. Check out the Arkane Outsiders community on Discord to continue the conversation!
October 7
- Listen as Harvey Smith and Dinga Bakaba reveal new details about Dishonored and Deathloop on the Major Nelson podcast.
October 9
- Download our new celebration art wallpaper.
- Take a journey through the Dishonored timeline and fill in your Microsoft Rewards Punch Card.
October 18
- Check out our Inspired by Dishonored controller from Xbox Design Lab.
October 20
- Watch our livestream, featuring gameplay, giveaways and all your best memories from Dunwall!
October 21
- Complete your game library during the Arkane Studios Sale.
From the decaying cobbled streets of Dunwall to the vibrant shores of Karnaca, we’re truly honored you’ve chosen to come along with us on the journey.
Age of Empires 25th Anniversary
October 25
- Tune into the global Age of Empires 25th Anniversary Broadcast at 10 am PT on Twitch.tv/Xbox, AgeofEmpires.com, or Age of Empires YouTube Channel or the Red Bull Gaming YouTube Channel for special announcements, interviews with the team, and some fun surprises.
- Play the all-new Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition on Steam, Game Pass for PC and Microsoft Store, featuring two new civilizations the Ottomans and Malians, as well as 8 new maps, 2 new biomes, new taunts, cheats and as well as a new ranked season. Existing Age of Empires IV owners will get the Anniversary Update for free — including the Ottomans and Malians, new mastery challenges, fresh achievements, eight new maps and two new biomes to explore and conquer.
- One year on from launch, there’s never been a better time to get started, come back to see what’s new or push forward your play in new ways.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 40th Anniversary
November 11
- The Microsoft Flight Simulator 40th Anniversary Edition launches as a free update on November 11, 2022, and will feature, for the first time since 2006, helicopters and gliders, the most requested enhancements by our community. This edition also introduces a true-to-life airliner — the sophisticated Airbus A-31 — where nearly every single button works just as expected.
- We are celebrating the history of aviation with the introduction of seven famous historical aircraft to the Microsoft Flight Simulator 40th Anniversary Edition. These aircraft include the 1903 Wright Flyer, the 1915 Curtiss JN-4 Jenny, the 1927 Ryan NYP Spirit of St. Louis, the 1935 Douglas DC-3, the beautiful 1937 Grumman G-21 Goose, the 1947 Havilland DHC-2 Beaver, and the famous 1947 Hughes H-4 Hercules (the largest seaplane and largest wooden plane ever made), known as the Spruce Goose.
- The update also includes four classic airports, including Meigs Field in Chicago, a traditional starting airport for the Microsoft Flight Simulator franchise.
- It is an exciting update celebrating our community, our history, and the beauty of aviation!
Massive thank you to all our fans who joined the celebrations. Find all of the titles involved in the celebration at Xbox.com and on Steam.