Summary

• Out now on Xbox Series X|S and PC with XPA.
• Try to rebuild your life facing serious family problems and deteriorating mental health.
• How working with psychologists informed our approach to mental health without resorting to simple horror tropes

When people think about psychological horror, they usually think about abandoned buildings, monsters, strange rituals, or someone being chased through a dark corridor.

With Corner Shop: NightShift, I wanted to begin somewhere much more ordinary.

A job.

Adam Callahan works the night shift in a small convenience store. He receives deliveries, puts products on shelves, cleans the floor, scans groceries, checks the cameras and deals with customers. Most of these things are not frightening by themselves. They are things thousands of people do every night.

And that was exactly the point.

Adam is trying to do a normal job while the rest of his life is anything but normal. His relationship with his wife has fallen apart. He has lost contact with his daughter. His financial situation is bad, his mental health is deteriorating, and at the same time he still has to get up, go to work and somehow make it through another shift.

This contrast became one of the most important parts of the game.

Horror Between Completely Normal Things

We did not want Adam’s problems to exist only in cutscenes and then disappear when gameplay starts.

You can have a difficult conversation and, a few moments later, a customer is waiting at the counter. You still have shelves to refill. Something needs cleaning. A delivery arrives. The store does not stop because Adam is having a bad night.

That happens in Real Life Too.

People dealing with serious mental health problems, family conflict, separation or financial pressure very often still go to work. They still talk to customers and coworkers. They still pay bills. From the outside, their day can look completely ordinary.

That idea became more interesting to me than simply creating another horror game where everything around the player is obviously dangerous.

In Corner Shop: NightShift, sometimes something really is wrong. There are blackouts, alarms, disturbing customers and events that should not be happening. But other times, Adam himself is no longer certain what happened.

Did something move on the security camera?

Was somebody actually standing there?

Did Adam remember that conversation correctly?

Or is stress changing the way he understands what is happening around him?

That uncertainty is where much of the horror comes from.

Getting the Conversations Right

Once we decided that Adam’s mental health and family situation would be important parts of the story, we also knew that we had to be careful with them.

It is very easy to write a dramatic conversation about mental illness. It is much harder to write one that sounds like two actual people talking.

During development, we discussed the subject with psychologists experienced in serious mental health conditions as well as specialists familiar with difficult family situations. This was especially important for scenes involving Adam’s psychologist and conversations with his wife. Dialogues and cutscenes touching these subjects were developed and reviewed with specialist input. We did not do this because we wanted the game to feel like a medical textbook. It is still a fictional psychological horror game, and at times we deliberately exaggerate situations to create tension.

What we wanted to avoid were the easiest shortcuts.

A psychologist should not simply appear to explain the plot to the player. A wife dealing with a collapsing family should not exist only to make the protagonist feel guilty. And Adam should not become nothing more than a collection of symptoms. He is a person before he is a horror protagonist.

He can be tired. Angry. Funny. Defensive. He can make good decisions and terrible ones. He can misunderstand somebody, or somebody can misunderstand him.

Mental illness itself was never supposed to be the monster.

The frightening part is losing confidence in your own situation while still being expected to function normally.

You’re Still Doing the Night Shift

We also wanted the simulation side of the game to remain important. You still need to run the store. Customers need serving. Deliveries need handling. Security can be improved with cameras, alarms and stronger locks. Money matters, and Adam’s decisions matter.

As the story develops, these ordinary systems start mixing with what is happening to Adam. A security camera is useful because you need to protect the store, but it can also make you question what you saw.

Working longer gives you money you need, but exhaustion has consequences. Something as simple as finishing another shift can start feeling like an achievement. The story does not stop the simulation. The simulation becomes part of the story.

Adam’s Story is Not Only About Falling Apart

There are dark parts of Corner Shop: NightShift, but Adam’s story is not simply about watching someone collapse. You make choices throughout the game, and those choices influence what you discover and which of the game’s four endings you reach. For me, that was important.

You cannot magically solve every problem Adam has, because people do not work that way. But you can decide how to react to them. This was part of the real human experience we were looking for. Sometimes psychological horror works best when the strange part is surrounded by something completely familiar.

A fluorescent light above a checkout. The sound of a refrigerator at 3:00 AM. An empty CCTV screen. A phone call you do not want to answer.

And then another customer walks through the door, and you still have a job to do.

Corner Shop: NightShift is available now on XBOX Series X|S and PC, with XBOX Play Anywhere support.

Corner Shop: NightShift

PlayWay S.A.

☆☆☆☆☆ 3

★★★★★

$19.99 $17.99

Get it now

Take a night shift job in a place that runs on habit, not purpose. Restock shelves, take deliveries, clean the mess, and try to make it till morning. Not everything feels right and you’re never quite alone. Something waits in the dark. Corner Shop: Nightshift is a first-person narrative horror sim set in a failing convenience store. Play as Adam Callahan and try to put your life back together. Story Mode: ~15 hours at an average pace, with 4 endings based on player choices. Endless Mode: Infinite gameplay focused on growing and managing the store, with ongoing horror elements. A night shift and a broken life. Blackouts, alarms, and unsettling customers pull you into a puzzle you can’t escape. Find the truth, manage your stress, and don’t let paranoia win. Take your meds. Keep going. Stock shelves, clean up, take deliveries, scan items, and serve customers with snacks, sandwiches, and kebabs. Upgrade the store with cameras, alarms, and stronger locks. Manage your time, your money, and your sanity. Meds don’t pay for themselves. You play as Adam Callahan. His wife is gone, his daughter was taken, and his life is falling apart. He works the night shift to prove he can start over, but the store keeps dragging his past back to the surface, out of order and out of his control. Your choices shape what you uncover and which ending you reach.

The post Corner Shop: NightShift How we Built Horror Around an Ordinary Life appeared first on XBOX Wire.

Available Today

Football Manager 27 (PC)
Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass

Available on day one with XBOX Game Pass! Flow from the tactics board to the touchline in Football Manager 27 as foundations evolve to deliver greater control, smoother discovery and a more enticing football world.

Pit of Goblin (Cloud, XBOX Series X|S, and PC)
Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium, PC Game Pass

In this online horror co-op, you play as a scrappy goblin, scavenging dungeons, dodging traps, and fleeing monsters to feed the Goblin King-Queen. Team up with goblin pals, or go rogue, as you dive deep and cause chaos! Fail to feed them, and you might be the next meal!

Coming Soon

Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard from Vampire Survivors (Cloud, XBOX Series X|S, Handheld, and PC) – November 4
Now with Game Pass Premium; joining Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass

From the creators of Vampire Survivors, Vampire Crawlers turns the thrill of Survivors into a hyper turn based, rogue-lite card driven blobber. Build busted decks, explore familiar dungeons, and unleash world ending combos. Either take your time and be tactical or play turns as fast as you humanly can: The outcome is always accurate!

Void/Breaker (Cloud, XBOX Series X|S, and PC) – November 4
Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium, PC Game Pass

Now available on XBOX Series X|S and Cloud Gaming! Launching in its 1.0 full release, Void/Breaker is an adrenaline-fueled roguelite FPS where you must fight to break free from an endless cycle driven by a hostile AI. Battle relentless machines, craft infinite weapon variants via deep gun modding, and forge deadly synergies to tear down the simulation and destroy everything in your path.

Escape Academy 2: Back 2 School (Cloud, XBOX Series X|S, Handheld, and PC) – November 5
Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass

Available on day one with XBOX Game Pass! Escape Academy 2: Back 2 School evolves the escape room format into a whole new genre: This is the first open world escape room game! Featuring online and local two player co-op.

Firefighting Simulator: Ignite (Cloud, XBOX Series X|S, and PC) – November 5
Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium, and PC Game Pass

Face unpredictable dangers, fight perilous fires with your crew, and save lives in Firefighting Simulator: Ignite, an immersive firefighting simulation. Step into the boots of a U.S. firefighter and play with up to three friends or with the help of your NPC-controlled crew members.

MySims Cozy Bundle (Cloud, Console, and PC) – November 5
Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass

Now available on console and Cloud Gaming! Make adorable friends and discover creative adventures across retro re-releases of two lovable games in MySims: Cozy Bundle. Step into a town that’s yours to customize in MySims and a cute fantasy world in need of help in MySims Kingdom. There are puzzles to solve, locations to discover, and a whole lot to build, paint, and decorate!

Football Manager 2027 Console (Cloud, XBOX Series X|S, and PC) – November 10
Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass

Available on day one with XBOX Game Pass! Choose your club. Shape your squad. Define your style. Every decision could be the one to change everything in Football Manager 27 Console. Make The Call.

Warhammer Survivors (Cloud, XBOX Series X|S, Handheld, and PC) – November 10
Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass

Available on day one with XBOX Game Pass! Unleash devastating barrages of bullets, blades and magic in the addictive bullet-heaven action of Warhammer Survivors – an officially licensed game from Auroch Digital in partnership with Vampire Survivors developers, poncle. Experience Warhammer’s epic champions, enemy factions, weapons and more, meticulously handcrafted in animated pixel glory.

Tanuki: Pon’s Summer (Cloud, Console, and PC) – November 10
Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass

Available on day one with XBOX Game Pass! The Tanuki Festival is coming, and you only have one month to repair the shrine! Play as Pon as you deliver packages, make friends and help the townsfolk with anything they need… all on your BMX! Help out at the local bar, become a sushi chef – even a sumo wrestler – to get the shrine ready for the big festival.

Hope in the City (Cloud, XBOX Series X|S, and PC) – November 11
Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass

Available on day one with XBOX Game Pass! Seventeen-year-old Hope Song thought the national exams were her biggest worry… until she got home to a ransacked apartment and two missing parents. In this mystery adventure, investigate through the eyes of an artist, turn sketches into evidence, and watch Hope’s family’s secrets grow stranger and darker with every answer

Thronefall (Cloud, XBOX Series X|S, Handheld, and PC) – November 11
Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium, PC Game Pass

Welcome to the minimalist strategy game where you build a humble kingdom by day and defend it by night. Balance economy and defense by fortifying walls, recruiting troops, and charging into battle yourself to protect your stronghold from relentless waves of attackers.

John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando (Cloud, XBOX Series X|S, and PC) – November 12
Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium, PC Game Pass

In John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando, up to four players cooperate in this action survival game set against a world overrun by zombies, with one goal: saving humanity. Gameplay involves navigating multiple missions across semi-open environments while engaging in combat against large swarms of zombies.

Aphelion (Cloud, XBOX Series X|S, Handheld, and PC) – November 17
Now with Game Pass Premium; joining Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass

Aphelion is a third-person sci-fi adventure developed by Don’t Nod (Jusant, Lost Records: Bloom & Rage). After crash-landing on a frozen planet, astronaut Ariane must traverse harsh terrain and shifting realities to save her injured partner, Thomas. Players control both characters in a story rooted in real-world science, created in partnership with the European Space Agency.

Paw Patrol: Dino World (Cloud, Console, and PC) – November 17
Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium, PC Game Pass

Embark on a dino-sized action adventure in Paw Patrol Dino World! Explore Dino Island, rescue dinosaurs, overcome obstacles using the Pups’ unique skills and put a stop to Mayor Humdinger’s chaos. Take on the adventure solo or team up with a friend in two-player co-op.

Coming to Game Pass Essential

Looking for even more games? Here’s what’s coming soon to the Game Pass Essential library on November 15:

• Banjo Kazooie (Cloud and Console)
• Banjo Tooie (Cloud and Console)
• Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts (Cloud and Console)
• Gears of War: Judgement (Cloud and Console)
• Halo: Spartan Assault (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Perfect Dark (Cloud and Console)
• Viva Piñata (Cloud and Console)
• Viva Piñata: TIP (Cloud and Console)

In Case You Missed It

Gravhounds (Game Preview) (Cloud, XBOX Series X|S, and PC) – Available Now
Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass

Look, the job’s simple: you and up to three buddies drop onto a planet that wants you dead. Build and grab every shiny thing that isn’t nailed down. The swarm’s gonna get meaner the longer you stick around, but so does the payout. Oh, and you’re a bio-engineered space dog, which means you’re loyal, obedient, and very replaceable. Now get to work.

Game Updates

League of Legends (PC) – Available Now

This season, ARAM Mayhem: Journey to Stardom, features all of your favorite music artists, including K/DA, True Damage, Heartsteel, and Pentakill! Complete missions for your favorite group, climb the charts, and unlock powerful new augments as you become a bona fide superstar.

In-Game Benefits

Valorant (Console and PC) – Available Now
Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium, Game Pass Essential, and PC Game Pass

Valorant is releasing a new Agent! Game Pass subscribers have access to all agents with Game Pass Benefits. Chinese operative Hush uses her telekinesis to close the most classified cases. Fighting with precision and finesse, she redirects her combat utility in midair to disrupt and displace the enemy team before suspending them helplessly for the killing blow.

Microsoft Sudoku (PC) – November 10
Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium, Game Pass Essential, and PC Game Pass

Game Pass subscribers can enjoy Microsoft Sudoku ad-free, earn twice the XP across all game modes, and receive more Coins in Daily Challenges. Put your skills to the test with six difficulty levels, fresh themes, Daily Challenges, Achievements, and more. Game Pass Ultimate subscribers can keep the benefits going on mobile, too!

The First Descendant– Legacy Bundle (Console and PC) – November 17
Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium, Game Pass Essential, and PC Game Pass

Season 4 Episode 2 ’Legacy’ has arrived! This in-game bundle equips you with an exclusive Back Attachment and Spray. Express your own style with 10 paints — Matte Jelly Blue, Gloss Dolphin Gray, and Metal Matte Peach Purge. Power through with Golds, Kuiper Shards, Crystallization Catalysts, and EXP boosts.

Leaving November 15

The following games are leaving the Game Pass library soon. Don’t want the fun to end? Save on these games now before they leave Game Pass!

• 1000xResist (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Barbie Horse Trails (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Firefighting Simulator – The Squad (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• GoldenEye 007 (Cloud and Console)
• Great God Grove (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Moonlighter (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Pigeon Simulator (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Police Simulator: Patrol Officers (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Relic Hunters Legend (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Total Chaos (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Winter Burrow (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Wreckfest (Cloud, Console, and PC)

That’s a wrap for now! So, get cozy, gather your co-op crews, and be sure to stay tuned to @XboxGamePass for what’s coming up next. Until next time, happy gaming!

_{Note: Games with a ‘Handheld’ designation represent those that are optimized for handheld play.}

The post Coming to XBOX Game Pass: Escape Academy 2: Back 2 School, Thronefall, Warhammer Survivors, and More appeared first on XBOX Wire.

The idea is simple: an alligator swallowed an XBOX Series X whole. And yes, it still works.

Measuring more than five feet from snout to tail, the console sits inside a meticulously crafted alligator, visible through an illuminated XBOX Nexus in its body. A custom XBOX Wireless Controller with bite marks rests between its jaws, complete with XBOX-green irises and Nexus-inspired pupils, making the XBOX Series X-BITE ready to play some of the biggest games of the year. The result is part-XBOX Series X, part-creature fabrication.

Bringing XBOX Series X-BITE to Life

Turning the idea into something real required serious craft.

Creature animatronics specialists John Nolan Studio brought the XBOX Series X-BITE to life through 3D modeling, sculpting and fabrication. The studio has created creatures and animatronics for ‘The Witcher,’ ‘Jurassic World Dominion,’ and HBO’s upcoming ‘Harry Potter’ series.

Every detail was considered, from the texture and finish of the alligator to the custom XBOX Wireless Controller and illuminated console within. At the center of it all is a functioning XBOX Series X.

Only one exists. It could be yours.

Only one XBOX Series X-BITE exists. Starting today, one person will have the chance to own it.

Want a bite at the prize? The score is simple, there are 3 ways to enter: X, Instagram or TikTok.

1. Follow @XBOX on your platform of choice.
2. Repost the designated XBOX sweepstakes post.
3. Manually add #XbiteSweepstakes to your repost.

Keep your account public so we can see your entry. That’s it. Choose your platform, make your move and you’re in for a chance to win.

Keep your notifications on and your eyes open after entering. If you’re the potential winner, you’ll have 48 hours to make your move and claim the prize. Miss the window, and this gator makes a clean getaway.

The XBOX Series X-BITE Sweepstakes runs from 9:00 a.m. PT on November 3, 2026, through 11:59 p.m. PT on November 10, 2026.

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Open only to legal residents of the 50 U.S. and D.C., 18+. Sweepstakes ends 11/10/26. For Official Rules, https://rules.XBOXpromotions.com/xbite.

The XBOX Series X-Bite is a custom fabrication. No actual alligators were used or harmed in the making of this console. Best as display only.

The post An Alligator Swallowed an XBOX Series X – You Can Win It appeared first on XBOX Wire.

Summary

• The Silver Seas, the latest expansion for Age of Wonders 4, is out now and is loaded with pirates, sharks, and more things our players have been asking to see.
• Community reactions to the game have helped shape the new things we’re adding today and in the future.
• Also, there is a sea shanty, because why shouldn’t there be a sea shanty?

Ahoy there, folks! I’m the Captain of Age of Wonders 4, a game we’ve been sharing with you for either four years or twenty-seven years, depending on how long you’ve been playing the series. Everyone here at Triumph Studios has spent a lifetime coming up with fantastical ideas to add to our games, but now that Age of Wonders 4 is entering its fourth year and kicking off its fourth set of expansions, it’s officially the longest-running title in the franchise in terms of ongoing support.

It makes me proud to work on a game whose players are still hungry for more new stuff, from dragons to vampires to otherworldly terrors beyond comprehension. It makes me even more proud to have players who are so enthusiastic that we have enough great suggestions and ideas from all of you that we can make entire expansions themed around your requests, which is what The Silver Seas is all about. It’s out today, and it’s loaded with goodies that you’ve asked to see!

Let’s start with Pirates. Age of Wonders 4 is a game where your empires and armies sprawl across forests, deserts, underground caverns, on land and at sea, but our players have been asking for more seabound gameplay since launch. Of course, you all made it very clear that you didn’t want to expand onto the sea without being able to build your own swashbuckling pirate fantasies in the process, so we started there. The heart of The Silver Seas is the new Mercantile Culture, which allows you to place cities at sea, and transform them into floating fortresses to rule the waves. We built around two different “flavors” of piracy, adding the Cartel, who grow through smuggling and secrecy, and the Barony, who use their lavish fortunes to place bounties on their enemies and import whatever their empire needs.

Of course, we couldn’t do an aquatic expansion without adding some watery new forms for your people to take. The Silver Seas comes with Sharkkin and Aqualon, two seafaring people who are both, believe it or not, based on player suggestions in their own ways. The Aqualon made their debut (sort of) as a piece of concept art that we shared with our community while working on the Eldritch Realms expansion. So many of you commented that it was a unique and intriguing design that we decided to dive back in and explore what they might become! As for the Sharkkin, every time we’ve asked players what sort of new people we ought to add to the game, there has always been a healthy portion of “Sharks!” in the responses.

Now that we can see how that looks, yeah, fair enough; you were right. Just look at these smiling faces.

Once we had all of these ideas to build out The Silver Seas, the rest came together with designs that just made sense. If we’re going to play out in the water, we ought to add a Magic Tome that uses water magic, and ice magic is a natural progression for water magic. We didn’t add any vapor magic this time around, but who knows? We also added new Pirate Dwellings and pirate-themed stories, terrifying sea creatures to battle, and so much more.

I especially want to thank all of our players for these ideas because it’s not just all of you who get to enjoy playing your Inner Pirate selves. We’ve been indulging in all things buccaneer and swashbuckler here at Triumph, and it’s finally given us an excuse to write a Sea Shanty for work. As you sail The Silver Seas, may this tune keep your compass straight and your sails full. We’ll be seeing ye, me hearties!

Age of Wonders 4

Paradox Interactive

☆☆☆☆☆ 587

★★★★★

$49.99

Get it now

Rule a fantasy realm of your own design in Age of Wonders 4! Explore new magical realms in Age of Wonders’ signature blend of 4X strategy and turn-based tactical combat. Control a faction that grows and changes as you expand your empire with each turn. Triumph Studios’ award-winning strategy series has emerged into a new age, evolving the game’s iconic empire building, role-playing, and warfare to the next level. A new storytelling event system and hugely customizable empires provide an endlessly replayable experience, where each game adds a new chapter to your ever-growing saga. Powerful Wizard Kings have returned to the realms to reign as gods among mortals. Claim and master the Tomes of Magic to evolve your people, and prepare for an epic battle that will determine the ages to come. Create the Empire of Your Wildest Fantasies Craft your followers by combining bodily forms, societal traits and arcane powers. Build anything from a clan of cannibal halflings to mystic moon elves, or recreate your favorite fantasy tropes Seek powerful tomes of magic to enchant your armies and evolve your people! See your people physically change as they morph into angelic beings or scions of chaos to face their enemies. Seek glory through brutal domination, cunning alliances, or ultimate arcane knowledge, and write your legacy into the very fabric of the realm itself! Strategy Meets Role-Playing Like Never Before Every choice opens up new possibilities and tactical advantages; deep, multilayered strategy allows you to try new tactics or explore new powers at every turn Tactical turn-based battles bring your armies to life, showcasing their power in an environment shaped by your decisions. From skirmishes with roaming monsters to vast sieges with dozens of units on each side, with the addition of a morale system and more features, every battle brings a fresh challenge Tremendous variety in empires, units, and environments keep the game endlessly replayable. Age of Wonders is more moddable and open-ended than ever in the series’ history Make Your Mark on a Vast, Reactive World Explore a new realm with each game – or create your own! Challenge new variations and combinations of locations and features, from frozen wastelands ruled by ice queens to desolated ruins where dragons roam A new event system provides unexpected levels of storytelling for 4X games. See your decisions shape the world around you, from growing cities and roaming armies to world-warping magic effects Guide your empire to greatness – but the story doesn’t end with your victory or defeat! Ascend your rulers to an in-game pantheon and unlock ways to further customize your experience. Encounter your own creations as potential rivals or allies in subsequent games, and experience the next chapter in your own story! Paradox Account required for certain features of the game. You have to be 16 years or older to create a Paradox Account. See https://legal.paradoxplaza.com/eula for details.

The post The Silver Seas and How We “Ship” New Features for Age of Wonders 4 appeared first on XBOX Wire.

This taps into one of the many things that makes World of Warcraft great, in that Blizzard wants to make sure there’s a WoW experience that suits everybody. Whether it’s through PC hardware support, innovations in battle mechanics like Single-Button Assistant, and rolling out numerous accessibility features such as Text to Speech, the game constantly hits it out of the park for creating a world for so many players to access and enjoy.

This is one of the things that has made me excited for World of Warcraft: Forever, in that Blizzard can now take all the years of learned knowledge of creating a welcoming Azeroth and return us to an age when it still felt fresh and unknown; like an adventure every time you logged in – and now we’ll be able to play with a controller in our hands thanks to Gamepad (Alpha) support.

Vanilla Ice Cream

I suppose I should back up just a bit to give you a refresher on what World of Warcraft: Forever is and why it’s a pretty big deal. Essentially, we’ll  return to a version of the game’s world that is very similar to the WoW that arrived in 2004, but with many new stories, locations, and improved features that work to strike that middle ground between that Classic feel, mixed with added improvements to make the experience welcoming for newcomers. And it’s going to stay that way, hence the Forever in the game’s title.

What does that mean lore-wise? We’re back to the two main continents, Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor, and the classic races featuring humans, orcs, elves, trolls, dwarfs, and others. But don’t expect a 1:1 experience as there will still be a lot of new to explore. The most significant are the Skyborne, a new race of elves that occupy the recently uncovered floating Zephras Isle.

Back on the ground, there will be new areas to discover in the Riverglades and Mount Hyjal, improved lighting and graphics to make familiar locations feel new, as well as revamps to class combos, like being able to roll with a Forsaken Paladin.

Think of Forever as filling the gaps of Azeroth with denser content to keep the Classic vibes in play. And it’s all included in your current subscription, so there’s no additional purchase required to experience this old-new world. And one of those new ways to experience Azeroth will influence not only how to play but also where.

Couch Surfing

My personal PC gaming rig is about the size of a game console, which occasionally finds a home next to my XBOX Series X|S in the living room; I’m rocking an AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D and ASUS Prime Radeon RX 9070 all in a small form factor Fractal Ridge case. Now with World of Warcraft: Forever and its Gamepad (Alpha) support, I’m as close as I’ve ever been to a console-like Warcraft experience – and it’s awesome.

Enabling the controller support is seamless from the main menu – just go into Options and check the box for “Gamepad (Alpha)” support. That will change your on-screen icons to match your controller’s buttons and from there you can start adventuring. I would recommend a modern XBOX Wireless Controller to use since every on-screen button icon maps perfectly.

The first thing I wanted to work out with the Gamepad (Alpha) feature was accessing my normal routines – how to access Bags; where are my Quests; how do I look at my character? This has come together over time. I haven’t found anything that I can’t access through just the controller, and that’s a good thing for this feature’s future support.

Like learning the controls of any new role-playing game, there’s a certain rhythm you’ll become accustomed to with combat. For those who have already been playing World of Warcraft for a long time, you’ll have the added benefit of understanding how character progression, buffs, order of attacks, and additional skills will unlock. I will say that combat in Forever feels more rhythmic than modern Warcraft, which leans in the controller support’s favor, giving you a little bit more time to think through your next attack.

Combat itself involves cycling through actions tied to the controller’s Triggers and Bumpers, which when pressed alternate the actions that are mapped to your controller’s buttons. Once I got that hang of it, I was really moving into a nice combat flow, triggering enemies, casting spells, running away, and more.

What I’m still working on is interacting with other players with just the controller. There is a ping system tied to holding down the right analog stick that can help you nudge others in your party on with commands like, Attack, Warning, On My Way, and Assist, but having a keyboard and/or voice chat still feels like the way to go. Having my wireless keyboard next to me on the couch is a good fallback option.

Warcraft Forever, Wherever

Another fun piece of PC gaming hardware I’m fortunate to have on hand is an ASUS ROG XBOX Ally. As fellow owners know, it features a lot of customization options to get most modern games running on it in some capacity. And since it runs Windows 11, apps like Battle.net can run on it too. So that got me thinking – could I get World of Warcraft: Forever running on it too? Yes, I could.

There is a bit of a caveat though, in that it takes some patience to get there. And it isn’t officially supported yet, but by using a mix of the system’s touchscreen and onscreen keyboard, you can navigate to the main menu to toggle the Gamepad (Alpha) controller support feature.

I’d also recommend taking a few minutes to go into the UI’s Edit Mode and reduce the size of the Chat Frame and lowering the Player and Targeting Frames to the bottom of the screen to give you some more visibility to the action on the screen. The default positioning of the Gamepad Action Bar is pretty good, but consider checking the box to use Compact Action Bar to free up some more of that screen space from the UI. After that it’s a pretty seamless gameplay experience in your hands comparable to my time playing Forever on my couch.

Throughout the beta leading up to launch, I would swap between playing on desktop, couch, and handheld with Forever and it has been a delight in experimenting with first-party controller support for one of my favorite games. I never thought I’d be able to lay back in bed with a handheld and play World of Warcraft, or lounge back on the couch while running a dungeon, but here we are!

Excitement around World of Warcraft: Forever is palpable. On November 4, PC players can return to a nostalgic world many grew up with – and others will discover for the first time – now with the freedom to play wherever and whenever they choose with the addition of Gamepad (Alpha) support. Forever has reimagined a way for us to explore Azeroth in more ways than one, and I can’t wait to dive in. Again.

The post World of Warcraft: Forever – How Controller Support Reimagines the Way We Can Play in Azeroth appeared first on XBOX Wire.

Summary

• Chaotic new take on hockey out now on Xbox Series X|S.
• Brutal fights, ridiculous takedowns and riveting action within a unique narrative.
• How we imagined a game inspired by childhood hockey playing and storytelling.

What happens when five Finnish developers take the hockey they grew up playing on frozen ponds and turn it into a story about the greatest underground hockey player who ever lived?

When I think about my childhood, some of my best memories aren’t from school, holidays or birthday parties.

They’re from the ice.

Growing up in Finland, I spent enormous amounts of time on frozen outdoor rinks and ponds, playing hockey with friends. You didn’t need to organize it weeks in advance or check everyone’s calendar. You just went to the rink. Games happened. Friendships happened. Some of the people I met through hockey back then are still my friends today.

There was something special about those games. The rules could be flexible, teams could change, and somebody would inevitably try something ridiculous. That feeling became one of the starting points for Puckoff.

When we created Puckoff: Reloaded, we wanted to bring some of that feeling back. Many of the game’s rinks are frozen outdoor ponds inspired by the places where we grew up playing.

Then we asked ourselves a simple question: What if winning didn’t mean scoring more goals?

A Different Kind of Hockey

In most hockey games, you know what you’re supposed to do: Get the puck. Score goals. Win the game. In Puckoff: Reloaded, there are a few more options. You can score. Set up a teammate. Make the perfect pass. Or you can knock someone out.

And nobody in this world seems particularly bothered by that last option.

That’s the world we wanted to create: a story-driven hockey game where fighting isn’t a random side activity, but part of the sport and its strange underground culture. I’ve played a lot of the big hockey games over the years. They’re great at what they do, but I always found myself thinking: “Why can’t I just do that?”

You know the feeling. An opponent does something you don’t like, and you want to give them a little… extra attention. But the game tells you no. That’s when I realized one of the things I love about games. They let us experiment, cause chaos and do things we wouldn’t necessarily do in real life. So, I thought: what if a hockey game actually embraced that? That’s how Puckoff: Reloaded began.

In our version of hockey, scoring goals is still useful. It’s just not the only way to win.

We’re Not Just Making a Hockey Game

I’ve always loved storytelling, and for years I’ve had a particular dream: What would it be like if a big hockey game actually had a real story? Not just a career mode where you play a season and upgrade your player. I mean a proper story. Characters you care about. Mysteries. Rivalries. Friendships. A reason to wonder what happens next. That’s what we wanted Puckoff: Reloaded to be.

Between matches, the game uses a visual-novel-inspired presentation to tell a larger story. The hockey games aren’t disconnected challenges. They’re part of a journey. And that journey is about finding a legend.

The Search for Dominator

At the heart of Puckoff: Reloaded is a hockey legend named Dominator. He’s been playing underground hockey matches for decades, and nobody really knows how he’s managed to keep going for so long. What everyone does know is that he has never lost a game.

For the player character, Dominator isn’t just another hockey player. He’s the reason to keep playing. The dream is simple: find Dominator and eventually play alongside him. Getting there means meeting the people who inhabit this underground hockey world and proving you’re good enough to belong in it. Eventually, that leads to the Cage.

Welcome to the Cage

The biggest fights in Puckoff: Reloaded don’t happen in a traditional hockey arena. They happen underground.

The Cage is where some of the game’s most dangerous opponents are waiting. These boss matches are different from ordinary games: you’re not simply facing another team and trying to score more goals. You’re facing a character with their own identity, abilities and way of playing. And if you’re going to get closer to Dominator, you’ll have to get through them.

Our Dream is Bigger Than This Game

I’m proud of what our five-person team has created, but I also see Puckoff: Reloaded as the beginning of something. My dream has always been to make story-driven hockey games with the scope and production values of the big-budget games. I want hockey games where you remember the characters as much as the matches. Stories that make you care who wins. I want a game where you can spend an evening playing hockey with your friends, laughing when somebody gets knocked out—and then come back the next day because you genuinely want to know what happens to the characters.

We’re not a huge studio. We’re five people in Finland making the game we wanted to play. For me, that’s what Puckoff has always been about. It started with the frozen ponds where some of my best childhood memories were made. Now we’re taking those memories, adding a ridiculous amount of fighting, creating a hockey legend who hasn’t lost in decades, and turning the whole thing into a story.

We just have to find Dominator first.

Puckoff: Reloaded launches on Xbox Series X|S today.

PUCKOFF: RELOADED

Kuura Playhouse Oy

☆☆☆☆☆ 9

★★★★★

$14.99

Get it now

PUCKOFF: RELOADED is the latest, and greatest, version of the (in)famous game, PUCKOFF, previously available only for personal computers. Enter the world of no-rules hockey as a total newbie and work on your skills and attitude to meet with the mythical terrorizer, Dominator. Build your team of has-beens and legends while learning different playstyles to defeat a plethora of colorful characters around the globe. Team up with the ever cheerful Sarah, the best beer-league goalie Eddie, and the ever grumpy seen-it-all Coach. So grab you skates and PUCK OFF!

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