Summary

• Five new historic NBA legends on the roster.
• New gameplay cameras, licensed music and more.
• Free update available now on XBOX Series X|S.

Today,Wave One – 2000s Legends arrives as NBA The Run’s first seasonal update, the biggest one yet since launch in June. The update is free for all players and adds five historic NBA stars, two new gameplay cameras – Drive Cam & Drive Flip Cam, the Championship Belts to showcase your mastery, Licensed music, Practice Mode & Custom Match, New Courts, Dunks, Taunts, Alternate Jerseys and a host of community-requested gameplay additions and improvements.

NBA The Run brings 3v3 streetball together with a roster spanning today’s NBA stars, this year’s top rookies, rookie variants of select players, unique Street Legends and now some of the players who helped shape basketball history. All of that comes together in Knockout Tournaments, where you take a Squad of three through a series of quick must-win games with different rulesets and win conditions on the way to the Finals.

Wave One adds so many significant layers that truly change the way you will prepare for matches and compete for as many Finals wins as possible.

Five Legends. Two Ways to Unlock Them

2000s NBA Legends Allen Iverson, Kevin Garnett, Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady and Dirk Nowitzki join the roster, each bringing their Hall of Fame skillsets and signature moves to legendary courts around the world. Each of them even have an alternate jersey that’ll turn back the clock for basketball fans.

You can unlock each Legend individually for 5,000 Cred, the game’s in-game currency earned by progressing through the game. To get the complete lineup instantly you can also purchase all five Legends together as DLC for $9.99 in the Microsoft Store.

Two New Views of the Action

Wave One introduces Drive Cam and Drive Flip Cam, two new camera options that give you a better way to see the floor and see full passing lanes easier. Style moves also look great with these camera options.

Drive Cam places the camera behind your player and looks toward the basket you’re attacking, while Drive Flip Cam switches between your offensive and defensive ends of the court. Depending on how you play, the new perspectives can help with everything from reading passing lanes and positioning yourself on defense to judging how open you are.

It’s another way to experience NBA The Run and find the view that best fits your style of play.

Turn it up: Licensed Music Arrives with “Run Anthems”

Introducing   Run Anthems, 11 carefully curated licensed tracks featuring artists from locations where we have courts in the game – New York, Philly, Chicago & Los Angeles. We wanted to build a playlist that felt authentic to the 2000s, those courts, and more importantly authentic to the culture.

This collection wasn’t built by simply chasing the biggest names of the era. We dug through hundreds of artists and songs to find tracks that felt authentic to the time, the cities and the culture of NBA The Run, with the playlist also vetted with Bobbito Garcia, NBA The Run’s announcer and creator of one of the most legendary underground hip-hop radio shows ever, “The Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito Show.”

And if you want to keep running with our original score, you’ll have the option to choose between licensed, original or a blend of both in Settings. There’s more than just a playlist of songs, there’s a whole new vibe to the game we think you’ll enjoy!

Here’s the RUN Anthems:

Championship Belts: a New Challenge for Masters

The new Championship Belts give you another reason to experiment with the entire NBA The Run roster. You can earn a Belt by winning with individual players, creating a new long-term challenge for anyone looking to master more than just their favorite lineup. Want to truly know the roster? The Belt gives you another reason to keep switching things up and putting different players to the test.

The Knockout Squads and Knockout Solos modes each have their own unique belt. Watch your belt count rise in the Main Menu so you can compare against your Friends as you stack them up! Can you win them all in each of those modes?

Practice Mode and Custom Matches

Wave One gives you a whole new way to play NBA The Run, with the ability to play single-round games on the courts and rulesets of your choice, with and against friends.

Practice Mode lets you play against the CPU on any court and ruleset, making it easier to learn the game, test new players and experiment with different lineups. Custom Matches let you invite up to five friends for private games online in either Knockout Solos or Knockout Squads. Neither mode affects progression or awards Cred, giving you a place to get reps in and try new things without pressure.

Both modes also help make it easier to learn the game, test new ballers and experiment with different lineups to prepare for that next epic Run. 

More Gameplay & Customization

Wave One adds new driving layups, standing dunks, alley-oops and advanced dunk animations, alongside gameplay tuning based directly on player feedback – including significantly reduced goaltending, one of the key areas our community asked us to address.

You can also look forward to new courts, Dyckman (two versions – Day and Tournament) and Spring Garden Elementary, being added into the Knockout Tournament mix. New Taunts, Advanced Dunks, Banners, Badges and Alternate Jerseys and new ways to customize their NBA The Run experience.

Built Alongside the Community

Player feedback has been a backbone of NBA The Run since launch, helping shape what we prioritize, what we improve and where we take the game next. Just like the decreased goaltending and the feedback for more camera actions, community feedback has always been very important.

That conversation isn’t stopping with Wave One. We’ll continue listening to our players as we roll out more updates and evolve NBA The Run over time.

And there’s more on the horizon, including the Campaign, currently targeted for Spring 2027, which will give you a whole new way to experience the world of NBA The Run.

Come Run with us. Wave One Patch Notes are available at www.nbatherun.com/news.

2000's Legends

Play By Play Studios

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

$9.99

Get it now

The NBA THE RUN 2000s Legends DLC pack unlocks and gives you instant access to 5 iconic NBA icons from the early 2000s. Take Vince Carter, Kevin Garnett, Allen Iverson, Tracy McGrady, and Dirk Nowitzki to iconic streetball courts around the world to face off against today's NBA superstars. Each Hall of Famer brings their unique, signature style of play, from Vince's high flying jams, KG's ferocious D, AI's mad handles, T-Mac's slashing to the rim and Dirk's smooth fadeaway, to NBA THE RUN's fast-paced, over the top brand of 3v3 streetball. *NBA THE RUN 2000s Legends DLC requires base game and internet connection.

The post NBA The Run Kicks off its First Season with a Major Update appeared first on XBOX Wire.

Starting today, XBOX Insiders can get an early look at Mythic Achievements, a new way to celebrate the games you’ve completed and the milestones you’ve earned along the way.

Whether you’ve spent years chasing every achievement, or are simply proud of the games you’ve finished, Mythic Achievements recognize some of the biggest accomplishments in your XBOX history.

You earn a Mythic Achievements when you complete all original achievements for a game. Achievements added later through DLC or updates aren’t required, and once you’ve earned Mythic status, it’s yours to keep.

And your history comes with you. Mythic Achievements have already been added to eligible games you completed in the past, including XBOX 360 titles. So, the next time you visit your profile, you may discover that some of your favorite games have already reached Mythic status.

Celebrate Your History

We’re making it easier to see and celebrate what you’ve accomplished on XBOX, and what challenges are waiting for you next.

Your profile now includes a new Gaming tab, where you can see your achievements, track your next Gamerscore milestone badge, and revisit the games you’ve completed. Mythic Achievements stand out in your achievement history with a heroic frame, making it easy to see how many you’ve already earned.

You can also visit your friends’ Gaming tabs to see what they’ve accomplished and discover which games they’ve taken to Mythic.

See Your Path to Mythic

When you’re working toward a Mythic Achievement, we want it to be easy to see what’s left.

A new progress bar at the top of each game’s achievement list shows how close you are to Mythic status, with an option to focus on the original achievements you still need. Achievement added later are clearly tagged as “add-on,” so you’ll always know what counts toward Mythic.

You’ll see similar progress information across XBOX, including in Guide and Achievement details, making it easier to pick up where you left off and keep chasing your next Mythic Achievement.

Gears of War: E-Day will be available on XBOX Series X|S, XBOX on PC, Steam, and is available day one with Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass. Players can pre-order today at GearsofWar.com.

How to Get XBOX Insider Support and Share Your Feedback

Thanks to XBOX Insiders for all of the feedback. You can also visit aka.ms/XBOXplayervoice to share what you think.

If you’re an XBOX Insider looking for support, please join our community on the XBOX Insider subreddit. Official XBOX staff, moderators, and fellow XBOX Insiders are there to help. We recommend adding to threads with the same topic before posting a brand new one. This helps us support you the best we can!

If you aren’t part of the XBOX Insider Program yet and want to help create the future of XBOX and get early access to new features, join the Program today by downloading the XBOX Insider Hub for XBOX Series X|S & XBOX One or Windows PC. For more information on the XBOX Insider Program, follow us on Twitter at @XBOXInsider and keep an eye on this blog for all the latest news.

Other resources:

• Get the XBOX Insider Hub app
• XBOX Insider FAQ
• How to provide feedback as an XBOX Insider

For more information: follow us on X/Twitter at @XboxInsider and this blog for announcements and more. And feel free to interact with the community on the XBOX Insider SubReddit.

The post Available for XBOX Insiders: Mythic Achievements, One of our Most Player-Requested Features appeared first on XBOX Wire.

Summary

• How social deduction games function through clarity.
• We improved clarity by adding new languages.
• Customize your localization at a granular level.

The last thing you want in a game about lying is to look suspicious just because you didn’t understand what exactly was happening.

Forest of Deceit, the social deduction party game created by Ghost Camp and Thomas Mackinnon (The Corridor, It Takes a War) and narrated by Sylvester McCoy (“Doctor Who”, “The Hobbit”) is now localised in six new languages!

When we released Forest of Deceit earlier in the year, one of the most common questions we received was, “Will the game eventually be localised?” This is a feature we really wanted to include, and we’re so happy to be able to say the update is out now.

The new languages included in the update are:

• German
• French
• Spanish
• Brazilian Portuguese
• Simplified Chinese
• Italian

Forest of Deceit is a party game built entirely around conversation and language. In the game, you play with four to eight players (either locally or online via screen share, using your mobile web browsers to control the game) and are trying to guess who amongst the group are “Innocents” or “Traitors”. The fun of the game comes from talking to each other, and so making sure there is as little friction as possible between players understanding the game and being able to communicate their position in it to one another is really important.

For example, if you don’t understand what a specific button does or exactly what your choice in the game means, it could mean you act in a way that leads to you looking far more suspicious than you intended. It’s never fun when you lose due to a misunderstanding rather than your own mistake, so having the game be playable natively in other languages and working closely with translators to make sure Forest of Deceit has been translated accurately was of high importance for us. Making sure the difference is noted between getting lost in the woods randomly and getting forcibly ousted by your friends is quite important, for instance.

Another element of why localising the game was a priority on our end was because for many players, this is the type of game they will want to play with their friends and family. The more people playing the game, the higher the chance someone playing won’t speak English. It’s a bit like having a vegetarian option at a restaurant – it doesn’t just make the restaurant accessible for vegetarians, but also entire groups of people that happen to have a vegetarian in them can enjoy eating together. There might be a group where most people speak English, but they have a friend who only speaks Italian. Not only could they now play the entire game in Italian, if desired they could even set just the main game to English and have only that specific person’s mobile controller in Italian. The game is now much more accessible for that group even though the language barrier only affected one person!

Gaming is better when everyone can play. It costs money and takes time, but we believe localising games to as many languages as possible (especially ones as word-based as ours) is worth it, and makes the space better for everyone.

Forest of Deceit’s localisation update is out now on XBOX Series X|S, XBOX One, and Windows PC. The game supports XBOX Play Anywhere.

Forest of Deceit

PolyCrunch Games

☆☆☆☆☆ 1

★★★★★

$9.99

Get it now

A STORM IS COMING Forest of Deceit is a Jackbox-esque social deduction game for 4 to 8 players. You are part of a group lost in a dark, treacherous forest that seems to go on forever and ever. You can’t find any escape, and there’s a storm brewing on the horizon – a storm so massive that you all will surely perish if you can’t build a solid shelter before it arrives. Every day you explore the forest to gather resources with which to build your shelter. But the forest itself is cursed, slowly driving people into a traitorous madness; it’s surely already got a hold on some of your friends’ minds… or maybe even yours. If you don’t figure out who’s sabotaging the efforts to build a shelter, you all are going to be swept away. On the other hand, if you happen to be the Traitor and they find you, you could get kicked out of the group – for good. A FOREST OF LIES AND BETRAYAL From the minds of Ghost Camp and Thomas Mackinnon (creator of THE CORRIDOR and It Takes a War) comes Forest of Deceit, a back-stabbing experience about trying to survive a storm and betraying your friends. With a beautiful hand-drawn art style and a focus on casual play and social interaction, this party game is perfect for all kinds – from teenagers to grandpas, hardcore players to someone who’s never played a game in their life. Each day, gathering parties are assigned to go deep into the forest for resources. Innocents will try to gather useful resources whereas Traitors will try to hinder the group’s advances with bad resources and try to get other players lost in the accursed woods. When the results of the day’s gathering are revealed, the group can discuss what happened – and after a few days there will even be a daily vote to expel suspected Traitors from the group. If the Innocents can build the shelter in time, they win! If not… it’s a victory for treachery. Focusing on casual play and social interaction, Forest of Deceit is fun for all kinds of players – from a family experience to group meetings; from non-gamers to hardcore players! FEATURES • Gather resources to build a shelter against the upcoming storm. If you are a Traitor, you will try to get other people lost in the forest, and hinder the group’s efforts by collecting bad resources. • Discuss what happened, and eventually start voting suspect Traitors out. If the Traitors can prevent the Innocents building a shelter in time, they win. • Create your own house rules: An endlessly replayable party game, with fully customisable game options. • Use your own phones, tablets, or computers for each player to play right from their very own web browser. • Fantastic for both local multiplayer and online play. Works great with screen-sharing for online play! NOTE: No generative AI was used in the making of this game or its associated assets.

The post Forest of Deceit: Why Localisation Matters When Everyone is Lying appeared first on XBOX Wire.

Built for the day everything changed, the Emergence Pie stacks spicy vodka sauce and fresh mozzarella beneath a heavy layer of ground pepperoni and sausage, then closes with the new Carbone Fine Food Aglio e Peperoncino Italian Chili Crisp. Rugged, relentless, and built to hit hard, it’s the kind of pie that doesn’t go quietly. Fans can gear up at any Prince St. Pizza location in the U.S. or Toronto, Canada from now until November 1 for a chance to devour the limited-edition pie.

With every purchase of an Emergence Pie or slice, fans will receive a unique code to unlock a Gears of War: E-Day in-game pizza emblem.

The lineup also extends to a limited-edition pizza cutter modeled after the Prototype Lancer from the game. The pizza cutter inspired by that legendary design is available for purchase at shop.princestreetpizza.com starting today.

“Gears fans and pizza lovers have been the same crowd for a long time,” said Lawrence Longo, CEO of Prince St. Pizza. “Working with XBOX gave us a way to build for that overlap instead of putting two names on a box and calling it a day. The pie, the emblem, the cutter, all of it started with what the fans would actually want.”

Gears of War: E-Day will be released on October 6, 2026 for XBOX Series X|S, XBOX on PC and Steam. Pre-order now.

For more information, visit the official website.

Gears of War: E-Day Pre-Order

Xbox Game Studios

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

$69.99

Pre-order

Emergence Begins Pre-order Gears of War: E-Day, get an XBOX gift card and unlock the Exfil Dom Character Skin and the Exfil Weapon Skin Set in-game at launch.* more details here https://aka.ms/Gears26 Experience the horror and brutality of Emergence Day. Fourteen years before the original Gears of War, join Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago in a gripping origin-story campaign as the Locust Horde first erupt from below, igniting a desperate fight for survival. Rally your squad and fight on in multiplayer with a reimagination of Gears’ iconic PvE mode, Horde Siege, or go head-to-head with a refined Versus PvP.* Built from the ground up in Unreal Engine 5, Gears of War: E-Day delivers the most immersive Gears yet. The Story of E-Day Fight through the chaos of Emergence Day in a gripping origin story campaign. Battle alone, side by side in two-player split-screen, or rally up to four players online across Campaign, Horde Siege, and Versus.* Horde Siege PvE – Back and Bigger Than Ever Survive a city under siege in an evolved take on Gears’ iconic co-op wave survival mode built for larger maps, more players, and bigger battles. Choose your class – Assault, Marksman, Medic, or Breacher – then drop in as a 4-player squad to fight back the Locust. Team up with multiple squads to conquer shared objectives and take down world bosses. Survive to earn rewards, unlock customization and improve your loadout for the next match. Versus Returns – Refined and Focused PvP Battle across all-new maps and refined fan-favorite 4v4 modes. Choose your level of competition. Lock in and climb the ranks in Ranked or jump into Social playlists for a more relaxed match. Modernized controls and movement make combat feel more fluid while retaining Gears’ signature cover-based feel. Jump, vault, slide, and flank with intent. A Terrifying Threat from Below  A darker, grittier tone and reimagined enemies restore fear and dread to the series. Atmosphere and detail are pushed further than ever. The world feels more grounded, believable, and dangerous. Familiar enemies are more threatening, joined by all-new creatures and villains that reestablish a true sense of horror. Feels Like Gears. Plays Like New. Iconic cover‑based combat returns, enhanced with modernized movement and traversal that add freedom and verticality. Fan‑favorite weapons return and are reimagined, alongside all‑new weapons built for brutal, close‑quarters combat. Rebuilt in Unreal Engine 5 A new technical foundation for Gears. Built for modern performance with 4K resolution and up to 60FPS across Campaign and Multiplayer.* *Important Information Pre-Order Offer: valid with pre-orders made before October 6, 2026 (7:59 am PT). At participating retailers while supplies last. Pre-order benefits may require redemption of a single-use code. Consult your retailer for details. Limit: 1 offer per person/account. Online Multiplayer: Online campaign co-op, Horde Siege, Versus and other multiplayer features require a Game Pass subscription that includes online multiplayer, sold separately. 2-Player Split-Screen: is available for console only. 4K and 60FPS: require a compatible display. Game requires initial download. May require future updates (additional storage may be required). All downloads and updates require significant storage and broadband internet connection (ISP fees apply). You must accept the Microsoft Services Agreement (microsoft.com/msa). May require additional hardware and subscriptions. Content, features, services, online play (if applicable), and support not available in all regions (xbox.com/regions) and may vary, change, or terminate. Microsoft Account required. WARNING: Some people may experience a seizure when exposed to flashing lights or patterns in video games. (xbox.com/healthandsafety).

The post Gears of War: E-Day and XBOX Unleash “The Emergence Pie” with Prince St. Pizza appeared first on XBOX Wire.

Going hands-on with Minecraft Dungeons II ahead of its global launch, we sampled some of its new additions including the deeper character builds, more detailed gear, and the ability to jump(!). Yet the feature that impressed me most was its massive, interconnected world: a landscape filled with distinct biomes, side quests, and dungeons for you to explore and uncover that makes it a huge part of the adventure.

What’s Over There?

Where the original game sent heroes on missions with clear beginnings and ends, Minecraft Dungeons II has turned the journey between quests into part of the fun. Its connected regions encourage detours, discoveries, and shared exploration that allow you to navigate through the forest-filled Howling Woods, to the icy Frozen Highlands, all the way down to the muddy Rainy Plains with no loading screens to break up the journey.

Not only does that let me get my steps in but also lets me appreciate just how great Minecraft Dungeons II looks – now powered by Unreal Engine 5 – as I walk through its world. The series’ classic block design aesthetic has never looked better with incredible lighting and detailed characters that help to make the entire world pop – especially once you enter the Sift. Its unique hues and pastel-infused design make it stand apart from anything we’ve seen in Minecraft before.

I also appreciated being able to explore freely, discover side quests, or take on enemy encounters as they appeared on my own time. And of course, getting my battle on while facing off against zombies, creepers, skeletons, spiders, and other foes makes the world feel alive and more immersive, just like core Minecraft.

Put It on Repeat

Repeatable events deepen that loop, giving you a reason to return to the underground caverns of the Deep Dark and other locations in pursuit of better loot. One of my favorite spots to come back to early on was the Witch boss encounter in the northern part of the Howling Woods. Interacting with the nearby Boss Totem reactivates the fight, giving you a second, third, or 10th attempt at its loot drops. These rematches were useful for not only learning the combat and testing different builds, but also for chasing rare equipment to outfit my adventurer.

The same is true for the Rifts and Dungeons. These encounters are packed with foes and loot chests and are great deviations from the mainline story. Rewards can also include Enchantment Books, which fuse unique abilities to your equipment, as well as Echo Shards, which are used to upgrade Merchants, Blacksmiths, and equipment. Loot is one of Minecraft Dungeons II’s central pillars, so it is encouraging to see multiple, easy-to-access paths to acquire better gear spread across the world map.

A quick note on the Enchantment Books – they’re absolutely worth your time to track down, opening a whole new world of character customization and upgrades as the game progresses. Some of my favorites to infuse in equipment include Healing Smite, which gives a chance to produce a healing circle around you after defeating an enemy; Ender Mines that deploy exploding crystals; and Somersault (which can be stacked) to allow you additional dodge rolls. So, make sure you spend some time building your library with repeated dungeon runs you find on the world map.

I Get Around

Speaking of the map: it’s huge. After roughly a dozen hours, I still feel as though I’ve only scratched the surface of both the Overworld and the Sift. Thankfully, each realm offers generous fast-travel options through Minecart Stations and Teleport Statues, keeping that scale exciting rather than exhausting.

Another player-friendly feature I leaned on often was the Guidance Trail, a temporary line that points toward your active quest when you click down on the left thumbstick. It was especially helpful when I needed to navigate around steep cliffs, broken logs, and deep valleys as I got further into Minecraft Dungeons II with multiple side quests in my back pocket. And, of course, you can always ignore it if you see something shiny off the trail…

Respawn Shrines are also scattered across the map, typically near Dungeon entrances or Boss Totems. If you fall in battle against foes in the Overworld or the Sift, you resurrect back at Brave Haven. From there, interacting with the Teleport Statue sends you back to the nearest Shrine you previously passed, saving you from retracing the entire route on foot.

I can’t tell you how often I found myself leaning on all these player-friendly features during my time with the game, usually after my arrogance had gotten the best of me, thinking “I could take ’em…” when I absolutely could not. At least not yet. But the ease in which I could swiftly get back into the fight with no penalty and get back to my adventure? That’s a great player-focused feature I’d like to see in more ARPGs.

Compared with the first game’s streamlined, chapter-driven adventure, Minecraft Dungeons II has really opened its world to players. Now every trip, whether it leads to a new route, a sudden encounter, or an unexpected discovery, makes the journey itself feel like part of the adventure.

Minecraft Dungeons II arrives on September 29 and will be available for XBOX Series X|S, XBOX on PC, cloud, and included with Game Pass. Play it on both console and PC at no additional cost with XBOX Play Anywhere. Also available on Steam, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2.

Minecraft Dungeons II Deluxe Edition

Xbox Game Studios

☆☆☆☆☆ 159

★★★★★

Get it now

Drop the pickaxe, grab a sword, and charge into a thrilling new adventure in the Minecraft Dungeons II Deluxe Edition, featuring unique cosmetics, pre-order cosmetics, and DLC 1+2 (when released)! Journey through unexplored lands in a quest to stop a new evil from causing chaos in not one, but two worlds. Clash with menacing foes in explosive encounters and fight your way through hordes of mobs that will do everything in their power to stop you from saving the day. The challenges will be tougher than ever, so face them solo or with up to 4 players in online or couch co-op. With a crisis upon us, will you and your friends rise to meet it?  Includes the Minecraft Dungeons II base game and the Deluxe Edition, featuring 4 hero skins, the Soul cape cosmetic item, the Blub pet companion, and DLC 1 & 2 (available as released) 

Minecraft Dungeons II

Xbox Game Studios

☆☆☆☆☆ 158

★★★★★

Get it now

Drop the pickaxe, grab a sword, and charge into a thrilling new adventure in Minecraft Dungeons II. Journey through unexplored lands and mysterious locations, in a quest to stop a new evil from causing chaos in not one, but two worlds! Clash with menacing foes in explosive encounters and fight your way through hordes of mobs that will do everything in their power to stop you!  The challenges will be tougher than ever, so face them either solo or with up to 4 players in online or couch co-op. Pre-order today to get 2 hero skins, the Twisted cape, and the Twisted chicken pet! With a crisis upon us, will you and your friends rise to meet it? 

The post How Minecraft Dungeons II’s Interconnected World Makes Every Journey an Adventure appeared first on XBOX Wire.

Summary

• The Sift is Minecraft’s first new dimension in over 14 years.
• It will be introduced in Minecraft Dungeons II, launching September 29.
• The Sift will become part of Minecraft in 2027.

We’ve visited the Overworld, the Nether, and the End. Now, prepare yourself for a journey to the Sift.

First announced at Gamescom and showcased in more detail at Minecraft LIVE today, The Sift is the first new dimension in Minecraft in over 14 years, and players will be able to visit it in just a few days, when Minecraft Dungeons II launches on September 29.

But on top of that, Mojang Studios confirmed that the Sift will come to Minecraft in 2027, offering an entire new dimension for you to explore, survive, and create within.

What Is the Sift?

In the opening stages of Minecraft Dungeons II, players will realize something is amiss. Strange events begin to upend the natural order of the Overworld, new enemy types appear, and souls begin to fly through the world. You’ve stumbled on the Sift.

This new reality brings an entirely different, colorful new look, new mobs (both companions and threats, all unique) and, once you enter, new rules to learn. Shifting tides within the Sift can affect your character and those around you; hazardous new blocks will alter how you approach exploration; new environments will put your skills to the test.

The Sift contains new biomes – including Meadows and Carapace – but Mojang are keeping other areas a secret for players to discover when they play Minecraft Dungeons II.

The Sift Comes to Minecraft

All of this will get seasoned players thinking about how Minecraft itself will change once the Sift arrives. While Mojang isn’t talking too much about how to access the Sift, or how it will stand out from Dungeons II’s expression of it, we did get a brief in-development look at the new dimension running.

Suffice it to say, if you want a sneak peek at how the Sift will work, the best way to find out more is to play Dungeons II, which will give us a taste of mobs, blocks, and biomes. And make sure to tune in for future Minecraft LIVE events to learn more about the Sift, and when it will arrive.

Minecraft Dungeons II launches September 29 for XBOX Series X|S, XBOX on PC, and will be included with Game Pass. Play it on both console and PC at no additional cost with XBOX Play Anywhere. Also available on Steam, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2.

Minecraft Dungeons II

Xbox Game Studios

☆☆☆☆☆ 158

★★★★★

Get it now

PC Game Pass

Xbox Game Pass

A new threat descends upon the Overworld… Minecraft Dungeons II is here with more action, more loot, and more adventure. Step through the rift and fight where no hero has been before: the Sift, an uncharted dimension teeming with threats, mysteries, and breathtaking beauty. Gear up and customize your playstyle to face your toughest enemies yet in explosive battles. Brave the unknown as a lone hero, team up with friends in couch, online and mixed co-op, or find allies through matchmaking. The illagers’ plot is already underway, and their cruelty is only matched by their power. Stop them – or lose the Overworld to their corruption. *Requires initial content download. Online console multiplayer/co-op requires a platform-specific online subscription (sold separately).

Minecraft

Microsoft Studios

☆☆☆☆☆ 2413874

★★★★★

$19.99 $15.99

Get it now

Xbox One X Enhanced

Xbox Game Pass

CREATE Build whatever you can imagine in your own infinite world that’s unique in every playthrough. EXPLORE Discover biomes, resources and mobs, and craft your way through a world filled with surprises in the ultimate sandbox game. SURVIVE Experience unforgettable adventures as you face mysterious foes, traverse exciting landscapes, and travel to perilous dimensions. PLAY TOGETHER Have a blast with friends, whether you’re sitting on the same couch in split screen or miles apart in cross-platform play for console, mobile and PC. Connect with millions of players on community servers or subscribe to Realms Plus to play with up to 10 friends on your own private server. VIBRANT VISUALS Vibrant Visuals is Minecraft’s biggest official visual enhancement – delivering a dazzling cosmetic upgrade with a new modern graphics pipeline and an array of visual improvements. Sunrises are more vivid, water reflects, forests become shaded, and more! EXPERIENCE MORE Get creator-made add-ons, thrilling worlds, and stylish cosmetics on Minecraft Marketplace. Subscribe to Marketplace Pass (or Realms Plus) to access 150+ worlds, skin & textures packs, and more – refreshed monthly. To switch to Vibrant Visuals on Xbox One and Xbox One S, players need to select "Vibrant Visuals" in the Video menu using the Graphics Mode drop-down. Performance may degrade for these consoles. Marketplace Add-Ons, Skins, and Persona items will work with Vibrant Visuals, however, Worlds and Texture Packs are not compatible with the new mode at this time. Splitscreen multiplayer is not supported with Vibrant Visuals and the game will switch to Fancy or Simple rendering if multiple players are joined locally.

The post Minecraft Dungeons II’s New Dimension Coming to Minecraft Java & Bedrock Edition appeared first on XBOX Wire.

TRANSCRIPT

SPEAKER 1: Games in this podcast range from E to M.
[ XBOX Sound ]
MALIK PRINCE: What is going on, everybody?
Welcome back to the Official XBOX Podcast.
It’s the only podcast coming to you from inside XBOX.
I’m your host with the most Malik Prince, and I’m so excited to be talking about Minecraft Dungeons II, which is out September 29th on XBOX Series X and S, PC, Cloud, and other platforms.
I’m not doing it alone today, though.
I have the design director at Mojang, Laura De Llorens.
Laura, how’s it going?
LAURA DE LLORENS: Hello, it’s going very well.
So happy to be here.
MALIK PRINCE: Let’s get into Minecraft Dungeons II because this is a very exciting time.
As I mentioned, we’re just days away.
Tell me where the team is because I can only imagine what that’s like just days before launch.
LAURA DE LLORENS: Yes, it is a balance between trying not to panic and trying not to be very hyped.
It’s keeping the emotions cool until the 29th, which is now very, very close.
MALIK PRINCE: It’s going to be so good.
I’m so excited for you all.
I’ve gotten a chance to play it over the past few days and I’m very excited to talk about — LAURA DE LLORENS: Oh that’s good.
MALIK PRINCE: Yeah.
Oh, spoiler alert: It’s incredible, so let’s just jump into it.
LAURA DE LLORENS: Glad to hear.
MALIK PRINCE: Oh, you’re going to hear a lot from me.
For those who know Minecraft, right, but maybe they’ve been living under a rock and they don’t know what Minecraft Dungeons is, can you tell us a little bit about what Minecraft Dungeons is as it relates to Minecraft and just walk us into Minecraft Dungeons II?
LAURA DE LLORENS: Yeah, Minecraft Dungeons is a dungeon crawler adventure RPG set in the world of Minecraft.
You can play multiplayer.
You can play by yourself.
You can play from anywhere and any platform, and together, you can set off on an adventure to, hopefully, save the world.
MALIK PRINCE: “Save the world” is what we need to do.
I noticed when playing the game over the past few days, just how approachable it was.
I want to ask you, as the Design Director at Mojang, what’s it like when you sit down after making such an incredible game in Minecraft Dungeons, and you’re, okay, we want to make a sequel?
How do you all even begin to tackle that task?
LAURA DE LLORENS: It was a bit the other way around.
We finished Minecraft Dungeons I, and we felt like, “Oh, you know what would be super cool?
If we did this, or if the world was more like this other thing.” Then we realized that, eventually, we were talking about a whole other game altogether.
It made a lot more sense to start anew.
It’s like we now know how to do it.
We’ve now done it once, and we believe we can make it better, basically.
That’s a bit of the feeling we started the project with, and I think it’s carried us through till now.
MALIK PRINCE: Yeah, and I can only imagine.
I feel like the Minecraft community is — and I’m not just saying this because you’re here.
I feel like it’s one of the most passionate communities in the entire world.
LAURA DE LLORENS: Oh, yeah.
MALIK PRINCE: I’m sure player feedback and requests were a huge part of what you ended up tackling for the sequel.
LAURA DE LLORENS: Yeah, we had so much — an avalanche of community feedback — and we had to make sure to, you know, take some of it in, be more mindful of other things, and it’s been very, very interesting to see how engaged everybody has been.
MALIK PRINCE: I love that.
All right.
Tell us about what players can expect when they jump into the sequel.
LAURA DE LLORENS: Oh, so many things.
MALIK PRINCE: I know, yeah.
LAURA DE LLORENS: I feel, and so far people have been telling me, that it is really a worthy sequel.
There are so many new things, but jumping is probably the thing that people got most excited about.
The world is now interconnected, meaning that you can go from the beginning of the world to the end of the world, just walking.
There are a lot of ways of fast traveling.
There are quests.
There’s a whole new item array and new gear systems to level up and make combat even more yours and your style.
We really tried to expand in each direction that the first one tackled, basically.
MALIK PRINCE: I want to tell you about my journey in discovering the jump, okay?
Like I said, two days ago, I got access to Minecraft Dungeons II.
This game, by the way, dumps you right into combat.
It’s part of the story that we’ll get into a little bit, but as soon as you start the game, you’re in combat.
I’m, like, oh, there are some enemies.
I have my sword.
Let me just go ahead and press the A button on XBOX.
I’m like, whoa, hold on.
Hold on.
What just happened there?
You start to jump, and it’s so interesting.
As the Design Director, when you add jump, I’m assuming that there are other things that you want to include in the game for jump that make it feel like a worthy addition, including traversal and other things.
Can you tell me a little bit more about what that unlocked for you?
LAURA DE LLORENS: Yeah, absolutely.
In the first game, since you couldn’t jump, it enabled us to be a lot more free in terms of how the level was played because we knew you couldn’t escape from it.
Adding jump made that more complicated, but it also enabled us to have more verticality, to have more hidden spaces, things to discover, things to explore.
We felt like that was an obvious thing to add when making a world that is big and expansive.
There’s so, so many things to discover, and jumping is what enabled that to happen.
MALIK PRINCE: This is such a great addition from a gameplay perspective, and it’s just clear that you all, to your point, just went back and just really went for it.
Another thing, you mentioned making a connected world where you can walk from one end to the other.
Why was that such an important addition for you all?
LAURA DE LLORENS: We felt like, first of all, the Minecraft universe is one big, expansive sandbox of a thing, so it felt natural for what Minecraft is.
Also, we wanted the world to feel alive and to feel like the player was influencing the happenings in the world.
Yeah, that felt a lot stronger when the world was one connected thing and the inhabitants were going through things that you could help them with, and you can see spaces change.
You find shortcuts, so the world feels more like you have an influence in it this way, which is also a big part of Minecraft as a game and as a universe, so it was kind of a no-brainer.
We were, yeah, this is how it needs to be.
MALIK PRINCE: Yeah, and I felt that immersion and that connectivity of this one land that you could just walk across.
It felt like a very deliberate choice that, to your point, brought it alive.
It was just so incredible and such an incredible addition and design direction.
I loved it.
LAURA DE LLORENS: Nice.
MALIK PRINCE: Any game that has a “II” in the title, as someone who’s never developed a game, I immediately think about what the dev team must be thinking in trying to serve two audiences, which is, on the one hand, the faithful who played the original game, while on the other hand, making sure that players who maybe didn’t jump into the original, they feel like it’s a game that they can just jump into.
How did you all balance that as you’re adding these new features and as you’re building on what you built from the first game, making sure that you serve both of those audiences?
LAURA DE LLORENS: I’ll give you another one, which is the Minecraft community, people that expect us to be a worthy expansion of the Minecraft universe, so it’s been a complex problem.
When we designed Minecraft Dungeons I, we thought, you need to recognize the world of Minecraft in Minecraft Dungeons.
In the second one, we tried to make sure you recognized Minecraft and Minecraft Dungeons I, but that there was also enough new and enough different for you to feel like you could discover this world for the first time, and it was still going to be an amazing experience.
That’s why we brought The Sift into the game.
We wanted to make sure we expanded on the world of Minecraft, so that was a big part of honoring vanilla Minecraft but also Minecraft Dungeons, as well as doing our own thing, yeah.
MALIK PRINCE: It’s one of those games that I think anyone can jump into, but yeah, you will see those things for the players who really love the original game.
I think that they’re going to be served really well.
Like I always say, the story is the motivation, so tell me a little bit about where we left off in Minecraft Dungeons I and where the story is picking up for the second.
LAURA DE LLORENS: In Dungeons I, there’s this camp where you come back every time you finish a mission.
So you would go out, adventure a little bit, and then have to come back into the camp.
In Minecraft Dungeons II, that camp gets completely destroyed.
It’s the first thing that happens in the game, setting the heroes up for a whole array of problems.
We wanted to make sure that it didn’t feel completely detached from Minecraft Dungeons I.
You recognize the space, but now you have the space to move on and into the world of Minecraft Dungeons II.
The Illagers are up to no good, as always, but there are much bigger problems this time around.
MALIK PRINCE: The Illagers and the Illager Council that is showing up, tell us a little bit about who they are, and why are they so evil?
LAURA DE LLORENS: It’s in the nature of Illagers.
We wanted to make sure that there was a very big problem, which is an environmental crisis, but also, that there was a clear thing you were fighting against.
The Illager Council just came naturally, and yeah, they are three Illagers that got supercharged and decided to take that power and do bad things with it.
MALIK PRINCE: Is there a little bit of that how do we make them a little bit interesting, not just really bad?
Maybe something happened to them.
Maybe their story is a little bit more complicated than it appears.
LAURA DE LLORENS: Yeah, we tried to make sure that there was quite a lot of that through some of our side quests.
The main quest is a lot more a clear-cut narratively, but there is a lot more of that investigation through exploring the world, so that’s a bit of a reward for being involved in the world, and basically, talking to our NPCs and discovering things.
Yeah, we definitely have some of that.
MALIK PRINCE: Yeah, it just adds to the experience, but earlier you mentioned The Sift.
This is huge for Minecraft.
LAURA DE LLORENS: Yes.
MALIK PRINCE: Can you tell me a little bit more about The Sift and how it fits into the overall world of Minecraft Dungeons?
LAURA DE LLORENS: Yeah, when we set up to make Dungeons II, we really wanted to bring something new to the table and new to the world of Minecraft, so we set off to make a new dimension, and it has been a very involved process.
There have been a lot of people who have partaken in it, and we wanted part of the world of Minecraft that didn’t feel necessarily threatening or necessarily very benevolent.
It’s just its own independent thing that you just have never encountered before.
The world has its own independent ecosystem.
There’s mobs that thrive through things that hurt the player, for instance, but the mobs live there.
They’re adapted to that.
So that was a bit what we were trying to look for, and we also wanted to look for an aesthetic that was brand new to the world of Minecraft, so it felt immediately like something different that you could explore.
MALIK PRINCE: The aesthetic part is beautiful.
It looks like somewhere I go when I’m sick and I take NyQuil or something like that.
Oh my God, this is a whole new world.
LAURA DE LLORENS: I have to say, there’s darker parts to it as well.
I saw a lot of comments online being, like, “Oh, this is like Willy Wonka’s Factory,” or whatever, but it also has its mysterious parts, so it’s a bit of everything.
MALIK PRINCE: I love that.
That’s what we call, in the business, a tease.
I’m only an hour and a half in, so I’m excited to discover what mystery awaits.
Isn’t it the first new dimension in 15 years, right?
LAURA DE LLORENS: Yep.
MALIK PRINCE: Did you feel that pressure of like, hey, it’s always been these are the dimensions, but now we’re about to add something, and it’s all on me, and we’ve got to make this interesting?
LAURA DE LLORENS: We were a big team of people making sure that this was the best fit that it could be, and we had been discussing the possibility of a fourth dimension for quite a while.
These things take a lot of time.
Then we had a team of people that made sure that it all fit within the lore and the mythos of Minecraft.
I know when I say the word “lore,” everybody gets very hyped, but we also had concept artists bringing the aesthetics together.
We reviewed it a lot, and we had people come up with mobs, and we had all this concept for what the ecosystem could feel like.
It’s been a long process of a lot of collaboration between many teams, people with different expertise and crafts.
It was a lot of pressure, but also, it never felt like it was a thing that was very concentrated on one person or a few people.
It was a labor of team — MALIK PRINCE: Of love, yeah.
LAURA DE LLORENS: — collaboration and love.
MALIK PRINCE: I have two more things I want to chat with you about, the first one being multiplayer.
Of course, Minecraft Dungeons, you could play it solo if you have no friends, like me, or you could play it together.
Obviously, that was in the original game.
Tell me a bit more about why that’s so important for Minecraft Dungeons.
LAURA DE LLORENS: The world of Minecraft is a world that thrives with interaction and collaboration with other people, so we wanted to make sure that no matter where you were or in what platform you played, you could play together.
To your point, you say you don’t have any friends, we have matchmaking, so you can make friends in Dungeons II.
MALIK PRINCE: There you go.
It’s a friend maker, and I’m assuming that it scales as you add players to the difficulty, and that probably evokes a little bit more emotion of working together as a team and ensuring that you’re all on the same page.
LAURA DE LLORENS: Yeah, exactly, the game is very flexible, so if you would join in the middle of my session, the session would adapt to us being two people.
Then if you have to leave and I still was there, it will adapt back to being one player.
We’ve tried to make it as flexible as possible so people can play however they want.
One thing that is new that we didn’t have in Dungeons I is that you can now mix couch co-op and online play, meaning that you can be here playing with your friend on the couch and your other friends are somewhere else, and you can play with them.
MALIK PRINCE: Oh, love that.
LAURA DE LLORENS: So yeah, as sprawling and flexible of a multiplayer experience as we could offer is what we tried to do.
MALIK PRINCE: Oh, love that.
Love that.
The last thing that I want to chat about is hero customizations.
Can you tell me a little bit more about what’s new as far as customizations go?
LAURA DE LLORENS: We’ve separated the armor into four armor pieces, like in Minecraft vanilla, again, to go closer to the Minecraft universe.
We also added talismans, which are passive boosts.
The enchantment system works differently now.
There are effects.
There are rarities.
It is very funny because me and the Game Director are very opposite types of players.
I’m the type of player that gets to dungeons, puts on whatever looks funnier at the moment, and then just goes.
He’s the type of person that will go in and hone in on every single number and every ability, and the game enables us both to play however we want, which I think has been very good.
The fact that we have that yin and yang has helped us a lot in making it as clean, simple, and approachable, but also with all this depth and all the stat screens.
You can read about what everything does, so I think it’s been very good give-and-take.
MALIK PRINCE: I love that.
I mean, you literally have developed a game that reflects the way that multiple people on your team enjoy playing.
I think that players want to hear that.
They want to hear that they’re not jumping into a game that is necessarily forcing them to do one thing or customize in one way.
I’m probably more like you.
I would just put on whatever is cool and funny.
I’ve already put on some hats and stuff like that.
As we wind things down, as I mentioned, Laura and I got to chat a little bit earlier in preparation for this.
I always like to ask, hey, what’s a question that you don’t get asked enough?
Laura, I don’t know if you remember your answer, but it was about the team, the team who has spent years building this game, putting sweat and tears — hopefully not blood — but so much into this game, and now building this thing from a creative perspective and being able to put it out into the world — how much it must mean to you all.
Can you tell me a little bit more about why that was your answer?
LAURA DE LLORENS: Well, we started building Minecraft Dungeons I with a tiny, tiny team.
We became a success that we didn’t fully expect, so the team grew much larger, and with that came a whole bunch of people that were super passionate about the world of Minecraft, that were very, very driven to make the new dimension as good as possible, which was super-lucky for us because I think it came out super-good.
Especially in the last year, it’s been hard work, and the team is still very driven and very excited about the release of the game.
So yeah, I feel we have such a passionate team and I’m very proud of them, and I’m very proud of how far we’ve gotten.
MALIK PRINCE: You should be.
You know, after only playing an hour and a half of the game so far and can’t wait to jump back in to play more of it, you should feel incredibly proud of the work that you’ve done, and I’m so certain that players, when they jump in, are going to feel the same way about the team.
With that, let’s just roll out the red carpet for you, Laura.
Final words for the community ahead of them jumping in.
LAURA DE LLORENS: Please go play Minecraft Dungeons II.
It’s coming Tuesday, September 29th, and we believe you really, really will love the game, so go for it.
MALIK PRINCE: I love it.
Laura said it best, but I’ll say it one more time: Minecraft Dungeons II releases on XBOX Series X and S, on PC, and on Cloud September 29th.
Laura, thank you so much for joining us today.
LAURA DE LLORENS: Thank you so, so much for having me.
MALIK PRINCE: Yes.
Thank you all for watching and listening.
Until next time, with the Official XBOX Podcast, I’m Malik.
We’ll see you next time.
[ XBOX Sound ]

The post Minecraft Dungeons II: The Sift, New Mechanics, Better Exploration, and More | Official XBOX Podcast appeared first on XBOX Wire.

Summary

• Out Now on Xbox Series X|S.
• Inspect, negotiate, repair, customize, resell.
• Five tips for smarter deals, exploration, and bringing the chaos.

Buying a cheap car is easy. Figuring out whether it is actually a good deal takes a little more work.

In Used Cars Simulator, every vehicle can be an opportunity – or a collection of dents, missing parts, and unexpected expenses waiting to eat into your profit. Growing your business means learning which cars are worth your money, what needs fixing, and when it is better to walk away.

And that is only the business side. Outside the shed, there are quests to complete, places to explore, physics to experiment with, and a few considerably less respectable ways to acquire your next vehicle.

Whether you plan to become a careful car trader or embrace the unpredictable side of the sandbox, these five tips can help you get started.

1. Inspect First, Then Plan the Repair

The most important part of a profitable flip happens before the car belongs to you.

Take the time to check its condition, look for the damages and missing parts, and think about how much work it will take before the vehicle is ready to sell again. A low asking price does not automatically make something a bargain. The cheaper car may end up becoming the more expensive project once you start ordering parts and fixing everything you missed.

And do not forget to negotiate. Money saved before the car reaches your shed gives you more room for profit when it leaves.

Once you have made the deal, resist the temptation to immediately reach for the paint. Start with the problems that actually need attention. Fix dents, replace missing parts, and get the vehicle back into good shape before focusing on washing, repainting, and customization.

A freshly restored car can look dramatically different from the wreck you started with, but remember that you are still running a business. The goal is not necessarily to make every car perfect – it is to make smart improvements that help turn your purchase into a profitable sale.

2. Keep Your Money Moving

You begin with limited money and an old shed, so every early purchase matters.

A useful rhythm to keep in mind is simple: find a deal, buy the car, repair it, sell it, and reinvest the money.

It can be easy to become attached to a vehicle after replacing its parts, fixing every dent, and giving it a fresh coat of paint. But selling successful projects is what gives you the freedom to look for better cars and continue growing your business.

3. Leave the Shed Once in a While

Your business may revolve around cars, but there is plenty happening beyond the workshop.

Drive around the different locations, meet characters, complete quests, and explore the surrounding world. If you want a change of pace, you can even head into the desert with a metal detector and see what you uncover. Exploring gives you a reason to step away from the repair loop and discover other activities and opportunities along the way. If you have spent the last hour staring at dents and replacement parts, going out from the shed for a while might be exactly what you need.

4. Remember That Cars are Also Physics Toys

You can carefully restore your cars.

You can also jump them.

The physics-driven sandbox lets you drift around corners, hit jumps, experiment with vehicles, and chase scores on the leaderboards. There is only one small problem: the beautifully repaired car you just finished preparing for sale may not be the ideal choice for testing how far you can launch something from a ramp. If profit is your priority, it might be wise to keep your business inventory separate from your physics experiments. Your repair budget will probably appreciate it.

5. Decide How Much Chaos Your Business Can Handle

Negotiating with an owner is not the only way to get your hands on a car. Some methods are considerably less respectable.

Illegal activities and police interactions are part of Used Cars Simulator, which means a shortcut to your next vehicle can quickly become an attempt to escape the cops. You can build your business around careful inspections, good negotiations, and properly restored cars. Or you can discover what happens when one of the vehicles in your inventory still has an owner who would very much like it back.

But you also do not have to spend every minute maximizing your profit.

One session might be all about finding a damaged car, negotiating a good price, repairing it, cleaning it, and putting it up for sale. The next might involve exploring the abandoned city, searching the desert, completing quests, drifting for leaderboard scores, or finding out how quickly one questionable decision can attract police attention.

Whether your next project is a cheap used car, a wreck that needs serious work, or a vehicle whose previous owner would probably like it back, the fundamentals stay the same: inspect carefully, spend wisely, repair with a purpose, and know when it is time to sell. What happens between those steps is up to you.

Used Cars Simulator

PlayWay S.A.

☆☆☆☆☆ 15

★★★★★

$19.99 $15.99

Get it now

Welcome to the world of trading used (or stolen) cars! Got little money and nothing to lose? We were waiting for you! In Used Cars Simulator, you’ll fix up cars, put them up for sale, grow your business in an old shed, drive around an abandoned city, drink beer, and wander the desert with a metal detector. And it all starts when you meet a beautiful woman in a red dress at your favorite bar… Are you in? Find a good offer: In Used Cars Simulator, you'll learn how to make money by trading cars. First, find a good deal. Check the car’s condition, negotiate the price, and if everything looks good – just buy it. Fix the car: Fix the dents, order and install missing parts, wash the car, repaint it, and put it up for sale. If it wasn’t yours, you’d probably want to buy it yourself! Be bad: In Used Cars Simulator, there are many ways to get cars. Are they all legal? Sure – as long as the cops don’t catch you.

The post Five Ways to Build a Better Used-Car Business in Used Cars Simulator appeared first on XBOX Wire.