After losing everything — his Order, his friends, his Republic — Cal survives by hiding who he is and living a solitary life, but that can only protect him for so long from the Empire’s Jedi-hunting Inquisitors.

Racing across distant worlds, exploring the ruins of a long-lost civilization, and fighting the Empire at every turn, Star Wars fans will experience what it’s like to be a Jedi on the run. To survive, you’ll need to master your Force abilities and learn new ones that will help you keep the Imperial forces at bay while working with a team of unlikely allies, including your droid companion BD-1.

We’ll have more to share about Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order throughout the year here on Xbox Wire.

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is available for pre-order today on the Microsoft Store for Xbox One and will release on November 15, 2019. Click here for additional details.

Microsoft Store Spring Sale: Great Deals on Games, Consoles, and Xbox Game Pass
The Microsoft Store Spring Sale kicks off today, so now is the perfect opportunity to score great deals on all things Xbox including the best deal of the year on Xbox Game Pass. Take advantage of Spring deals on Xbox and PC games, Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Live Gold… Read more

The Freedom Update for Furi is Available Now on Xbox One
Hello, fighters! We’re happy to launch a free update today to Furi we’re calling the Freedom update. If you haven’t played Furi yet, it’s an all-boss fighter with a unique mix of fast-paced sword fighting and dual-stick shooting. You face one guardian after another… Read more

Dangerous Driving Brings Aggressive Racing Back to Xbox One
I just got home after spending the past week showing off Dangerous Driving on Xbox One at PAX East. It was incredible to meet all the hardcore arcade driving game fans that stopped by our booth to get some hands-on time with our game. We had a huge 4K TV… Read more

Tune-In to Sea of Thieves at Twitchcon Europe
This weekend, the crew from Rare will be dropping anchor in Berlin for TwitchCon Europe. We’d love to meet up with as many fellow pirates and streamers as possible, so if you’re heading to the Berlin City Cube be sure to visit stand number F25 to say hello… Read more

Strategic and Hardcore RPG For The King Lands on Xbox One May 10
Hello, Xbox Wire readers! I’m incredibly excited to let you know that our smash hit strategy game For The King is coming to Xbox One on May 10! Chaos has befallen Fahrul and the kingdom is on the brink of disaster. Avenge the murder of your King and restore order… Read more

Talking About Farming, Pink Cats, and Relic Hunting with Team Behind My Time at Portia
Are you ready to start a new life in a charming post-apocalyptic land? My Time at Portia, coming to Xbox One on April 15, gives you the opportunity to do just that. Fulfill commissions, grow crops, raise animals and befriend the quirky inhabitants of the enchanting town of Portia… Read more

April’s Inside Xbox Has the Scoop on E3 2019
Tune in to an all-new episode of Inside Xbox on Tuesday, April 16, at 2 p.m. PT / 5 p.m. ET for the latest news on E3, including Xbox FanFest and more. Our hour-long April episode will explore some exciting Xbox Game Pass news, new details on the much anticipated… Read more

Make Your Own Video Game at Free Microsoft Store Summer Camps
Summer Camps don’t all have to be the same! If your child likes Fortnite just as much as crafts and enjoys Rocket League as much as going camping, then Microsoft Store has the camp for you. And it’s free! This year, Microsoft Store is announcing two new gaming camps… Read more

Coming Soon to Xbox Game Pass: Monster Hunter: World, Prey, Life is Strange 2: Episode 2, and More
If you read our IRL patch notes on Twitter, you’ll note that it’s Spring and with that, it’s starting to rain and we’re not really a fan of that. Every day we go into a closet, pull out the yellow rain boots we promised our moms we’d use, and bike uphill in the early morning… Read more

Introducing the Amazing Underwearriors of Brief Battles, Coming Soon to Xbox One
On behalf of our two-person crew at Juicy Cupcake, I’m excited to announce that Brief Battles will be released May 7 on Xbox One! Before you embrace the power of the butt next month, we wanted to introduce you to the Underwearriors and crossover skins… Read more

The Prison Island of Alcatraz is Now a Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Blackout Map on Xbox One
Ready yourself for intense and constant gunplay: Alcatraz island is now a new standalone Blackout map available for free today on Xbox One as part of the Blackout Free Access. After descending from your sky portal onto the notorious prison in San Francisco Bay… Read more

Creating New Horizons in the World of Skyforge
When designing new things for the ever-expansive world of Skyforge on Xbox One, we strive to observe all aspects of what we know in real life, to give it a much more personal touch. We want to give players a chance to, when logged in, feel awe and see expert… Read more

Frostpunk: Console Edition – A Tale of Society at the Brink of Extinction
There was a long journey from a tale about harrowing life of civilians in war – This War of Mine – to a game of society survival and city-builder in Frostpunk. Why am I mentioning the first game in a story about the latter? Because creating the first one was a great lesson for us… Read more

Next Week on Xbox: New Games for April 15 to 18
Welcome to Next Week on Xbox, where we cover all the new games coming soon to Xbox One! Every week the team at Xbox aims to deliver quality gaming content for you to enjoy on your favorite gaming console. To find out what’s coming soon to Xbox One… Read more

The Frostpunk: Console Edition story begins in late XIX century during the peak of the rapid industrial revolution of the times. For reasons not understood by scientists, Earth is getting colder and colder until governments have collapsed, organized communities are put to an end, and humankind faces the threat of extinction. You play as a leader of possibly the last society on the planet, trying to recreate a functioning civilization able to survive the unforgiving cold.

First thing you do is gather resources to start a heat generator (loads of coal are going to be needed!) and build a circular city around the huge heat-distributing machine. As people in Frostpunk often say, “Heat is life!” You’ll build streets, tents, houses, cooking houses, coal mines, steam-powered heaters, and lots of other facilities. You’re going to construct hunters’ huts and order workers to hunt down wild animals. The bigger your city grows, the more it will need to consume while sustaining the life of its inhabitants.

City-building is one of the first layers to discover and get you thrilled for the game. And then there’s me and the team of designers’ vision to be realized in Frostpunk – all that morally grey area when you make decisions unsure about consequences. The idea that you can actively rule the citizens by introducing laws and customs that would make them more efficient, better prepared or, ultimately, obedient to your orders. You shape the society accordingly to your will. You’ll learn the hard way if it’s right or wrong to force children to work. If you think that is wrong, what would be your decision when lacking hands to work while people are freezing to death and coal supply is insufficient? When Frostpunk’s story drags you in, you’ll be faced with such morally ambiguous choices.

We also knew that the game’s world had to be larger than the ice crater in which you build the city of New London, as we called it. We knew players would feel a need to seek for knowledge about what happened to the world. Large spaces of frostland have been designed, filled with places to explore and discover. And so, sooner or later, you’ll realize what you have in the city might not be enough to ensure survival. There will be a moment to leave the city and send scout teams to explore and investigate the frozen lands. There will be plenty of things to discover, perhaps other remnants of civilization, groups of survivors or deserted mines.

Now, creating a strategy game for consoles had us rethink how the game’s flow should work. Great efforts have been made to re-design interface and enhance gameplay flow to make all have natural and intuitive feel when played on a controller. We wanted to make sure that gamers not only received the same experience, but one adapted to consoles to make it work smoothly. I believe that had to be done (that’s why it took some time for our team) because the game has huge potential to keep you thrilled and immersed in its world. Follow the news here to learn more about Frostpunk: Console Edition!

In the update, we introduce a brand-new world: Terra. Many areas in Skyforge are densely populated and urbanized, such as the capital city of Aelion. The outlying lands contain beautiful scenery and landscapes, but with Terra, we wanted to take it a step further.

When we first put Terra on the table, our teams worked hard to explore what we have in real life. Creating a planet home to dense jungles and acknowledging every detail is no easy feat. In the end, we needed a staging ground suitable to introduce Aelion’s newest enemy: the Draconids.

In Skyforge, we explore every avenue from real life, to pure fantasy to create something mesmerizing. To pinpoint what would be the perfect scenery for the battles to come, we had many different ideas in mind. Drawing from our studies of the flora and fauna of our very own planet Earth, we finally decided on how we would bring this concept to life. Thus, we proudly present to you the planet Terra! Get ready to explore this new space giant full of mysteries and adventures for you, the immortals.

The enemies of Aelion have been introduced to the world of Skyforge a long time ago. This time, we decided to turn the tables. With the new Draconid race, we explore a totally new, fresh approach to the clash between foes. What if the player is the invading force? As the player gains access to the planet, they also meet a familiar foe, the Phytonides, who are locked in battle with this new enemy. Why are they there? What are they fighting for? Why are they fighting our enemies? You will be tasked to discover the facts; what is this new amphibious race?

Taking from the creatures we have currently, such as bearded dragons and other reptiles, we paid attention to every aspect of detail and transformed them into a humanoid form. You will find their behavior to be like what you would encounter in any dense undergrowth; deadly, adaptive and dangerous. Almost primitive, but with a technological advantage.

We hope you will enjoy all this, and everything else to come in New Horizons. Please don’t forget to leave your feedback on our Facebook and Discord channels!

See you star side.

DETAILS:

• OS version released: 19H1_RELEASE_XBOX_DEV_1904\18362.2018.190410-1845
• Available: 6:00PM PDT 4/12/19
• Mandatory Date/Time: 3:00 AM PDT 4/13/19

Fixes:

My Games and Apps

• Additional fixes for an issue in which switching from media apps such as Youtube/Hulu to a game or from a game to a media app would crash the console

Known Issues:

Audio

• Some users are experiencing no audio with headsets and we are investigating
• Some users are encountering no audio on their Xbox console after boot (no shell audio, no game audio, no app audio), then have CSS ask them to perform the following steps:

1. Cold reboot the console

OR

2. Go to Audio settings on console
3. Change their HDMI audio settings to the highest supported uncompressed channel count for their equipment
4. Switch back to the desired format
5. Audio should be restored

Profile Color

• Sometimes users may encounter the incorrect Profile color when powering on the console.

Beginning today Xbox Insiders are invited to playtest Minion Masters!

In Minion Masters there are many different Masters with unique hero abilities and you collect awesome minions ranging from: Fierce demons, cute creatures, devastating spells and much more. Utilize your minions to destroy the enemy Master! When a minion has been summoned they can no longer be controlled, so place them wisely to win!

Engage in epic 1v1 or 2v2 battles in this fast-paced strategic minion brawler that’s easy to pick-up but hard to master.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE:

1. Sign-in and launch the Xbox Insider Hub on Xbox One (or install the Xbox Insider Hub from the Store first if needed).
2. Navigate to Insider content > Minion Masters.
3. Select Join.
4. Wait until the registration completes to be redirected to the Store and install Minion Masters!

Limited space is available and will be offered on a first-come first-served basis. More opportunities to participate may become available at a later date.

NOTE: This playtest is not available in Japan, Korea, or China.

If you encounter any issues while participating in the Minion Masters playtest, please submit feedback via Report a problem (hold down the Xbox button on your controller and select Report a problem from the power menu).

Thanks for being an Xbox Insider!

There are plenty of reasons to do so – the chance to meet the dev team (including members of our own weekly stream team), grab some swag and be among the first to watch and play The Arena, the new competitive game mode coming as part of our Anniversary Update on April 30. So drop by to get yourself a (temporary) Sea of Thieves tattoo and check out our shockingly expensive big screen.

For those of you who can’t join the fun in person, we’ll be streaming The Arena gameplay live from the show floor. Tune in to our Twitch and Mixer channels on the hour, every hour between 12 p.m. and 7 p.m. Central European Time (3 a.m. to 10 a.m. PT) to see The Arena shenanigans featuring some very special guests.

We’re looking forward to having you with us, whether it’s on the show floor or on our streams. See you soon!

Save on up to 65% select Xbox games

This Spring there are more than 500 deals on Xbox digital games and add-ons including popular titles like The Division 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, Red Dead Redemption 2, FIFA 19, NBA 2K19, and more. There also are first-time discounts on Metro Exodus, Jump Force, and Crackdown 3 as well as even deeper discounts on best-selling titles like Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and Grand Theft Auto V: Premium Online Edition. Additionally, there’s a wide selection of discounted family content games, game bundles, and add-on content, plus 95 Xbox One games priced at $10 or less.

Don’t forget that Xbox Live Gold members save up to an additional 10% more on Xbox digital games.  Not Gold?  During Spring Sale, join Xbox Live Gold and get your first month for $1 plus  1,000 coins of Apex Legends virtual currency.

Get the best deal of the year on Xbox Game Pass – 3 months for $1

Not an Xbox Game Pass member?  Had Xbox Game Pass and took a break?  Now is the time to score the best deal of the year on Xbox Game Pass.  Get 3 months for just $1 and immediately enjoy unlimited access to over 100 games including new first party releases.

Don’t forget that if you haven’t gone Gold yet, Spring Sale is the perfect time to join. Get your first month of Xbox Live Gold membership for $1 plus you also get 1,000 coins of Apex Legends virtual currency on us.*  Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Live Gold promotional $1 offers not valid for existing members. Sign in to save.

Save on Xbox Consoles and accessories 

• April 14-27: Save up to $100 in the US ($130 CA) on select Xbox One consoles, plus get digital codes for Apex Legends Founds Pack and Gears of War 4
• April 13-22: Add some color to your controller collection and save $5 US ($10 CA) when you customize an Xbox Wireless Controller with Xbox Design Lab
• April 14-20: Save $10 ($15 CA) on select Xbox Wireless Controllers
• Ready to upgrade your Xbox headset? Save $10 US ($15 CA) on the Turtle Beach Stealth 600 (April 12-20) or get the Kingston HyperX CloudX Stinger Core for $29.99 US ($39.99 CA) (April 12-25)
• April 12-22: Saver up to $20 ($25 CA) on Seagate Game Drive for Xbox SSD

Deals for PC Gamers

April 12-22: Save up to 50% on popular PC Games like the Forza Motorsport 7 & Forza Horizon 3 bundle, Sea of Thieves, Age of Empires: Definitive Edition, Crackdown 3, and more

• April 12-22: Save $300 ($400 CA) on the Dell XPS 15 9570 laptop with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 graphics card
• April 12-22: Save $200 US ($250 CA) on the Dell Inspiron 5680 Gaming Desktop with Intel Core-i5, 8GB memory, 1TB HDD, and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (monitor not included)
• April 12-22: Save $200 US ($250 CA) on the Samsung HMD Odyssey+ Windows Mixed Reality Headset with Motion Controllers

Save big on popular Movies & TV Shows and Apps

• Save up to 40% on select hit movies and TV shows including Bumblebee, Ralph Breaks the Internet, and There’s also deals on new releases, bundles, classic favorites, and more.
• Spring Sale means deals on top apps for Xbox including VUDU, Dolby Access, Karaoke One, and more

Spring Sale deals are available on console, online at Microsoft Store and Xbox.com, as well as Microsoft Store retail locations, so take advantage of the great deals before they end on April 22, 2019 (or as otherwise noted above).  Availability and pricing varies by location. May not be combinable with other offers. Other limitations may apply. Not valid on prior orders or purchases. See webpage for each offer’s specific details.

DETAILS:

• OS version released:  19H1_RELEASE_XBOX_DEV_1905\18362.3023.190410-1904
• Available: 6:00PM PDT 4/12/19
• Mandatory Date/Time: 3:00 AM PDT 4/13/19.

New Features:

This first update is meant to lay the groundwork for what’s to come in 1905, so while you’ll find fixes and known issues listed below, please keep an eye out for feature announcements as they’re ready to be previewed.  Thanks, as always, for your passion for helping make Xbox One system updates the best they can be prior to release to GA!

Fixes:

My Games and Apps

• Additional fixes for an issue in which switching from media apps such as Youtube/Hulu to a game or from a game to a media app would crash the console

Known Issues:

Audio

• Some users are experiencing no audio with headsets and we are investigating
• Some users are encountering no audio on their Xbox console after boot (no shell audio, no game audio, no app audio), then have CSS ask them to perform the following steps:

1. Cold reboot the console

OR

2. Go to Audio settings on console
3. Change their HDMI audio settings to the highest supported uncompressed channel count for their equipment
4. Switch back to the desired format
5. Audio should be restored

Profile Color

• Sometimes users may encounter the incorrect Profile color when powering on the console.

DETAILS:

• OS version released: 19H1_RELEASE_XBOX_DEV_1904\18362.2018.190410-1845
• Available: 6:00PM PDT 4/11/19
• Mandatory Date/Time: 3:00 AM PDT 4/12/19

Fixes:

My Games and Apps

• Additional fixes for an issue in which switching from media apps such as Youtube/Hulu to a game or from a game to a media app would crash the console

Known Issues:

Audio

• Some users are experiencing no audio with headsets and we are investigating
• Some users are encountering no audio on their Xbox console after boot (no shell audio, no game audio, no app audio), then have CSS ask them to perform the following steps:

1. Cold reboot the console

OR

2. Go to Audio settings on console
3. Change their HDMI audio settings to the highest supported uncompressed channel count for their equipment
4. Switch back to the desired format
5. Audio should be restored

Profile Color

• Sometimes users may encounter the incorrect Profile color when powering on the console.

We’re happy to launch a free update today to Furi we’re calling the Freedom update. If you haven’t played Furi yet, it’s an all-boss fighter with a unique mix of fast-paced sword fighting and dual-stick shooting. You face one guardian after another to regain your freedom and each of them has a unique combat style that requires focus and skill to defeat. Furi has been called “supremely stylish and intensely engaging” and “genre-bending” by the gaming press and garnered overwhelming positive reviews from players.

The Freedom update includes a new boss fight against Bernard, the Invincible mode, the opportunity to speedrun the game in Furier difficulty, a new control scheme, and many improvements.

Bernard

Creative Director Emeric Thoa and Combat Designer Benjamin Le Moullec carefully designed each of the boss fights. They chose the weapons and special attacks, patterns, variations, phases, etc. To test the fights they used a prototype arena and boss, that the team nicknamed Bernard. As they were looking for a way to create an extra boss fight for the community, they thought about Bernard. They took inspiration from the best of all the bosses and designed a mashup boss fight using the prototype arena and character. Bernard might not look good, but he certainly will give you a good fight!

Invincible Mode

Furi‘s been called difficult, but it’s also been praised for its visual universe, meaningful story or high energy soundtrack. Some players told us that the game was too difficult to master for them, and that they regretted to miss out on the story and the universe. That’s why we designed the Invincible mode. The Invincible mode is a set of commands that can be used to become invincible, skip a fight, skip or lock a certain phase in a fight, or weaken a boss. It enables anyone to enjoy the audiovisual and narrative experience that is Furi. But the Invincible mode also proves handy for the most hardcore players who want to practice their fight, especially speedrunners looking to improve their record.

Speedrun in Furier

After you speedrun the game in Furi on normal difficulty, you can now try to speedrun it in Furier (hard) difficulty — it takes less than 45 minutes for the best in the world to beat the game in Furier difficulty! Will you add your name to the top of the leaderboards?

We’ve also added a new control scheme that helps dodging or parrying while shooting/slashing and was designed based on discussions with the game community and the update includes several improvements and minor fixes.

Hope you enjoy those additions to Furi!

Furi is available now for purchase from the Microsoft Store on Xbox One. The Freedom update is live and is free for all owners of the game on Xbox One.