Summary

• Out now on Xbox Series X|S with XPA, achievements, and cloud saves.
• How we sought to create a learning experience from each death.
• The physical and psychological consequences of time in a 15-minute time loop.

When I began working on Fear The Timeloop, I wanted to make time feel physically important. It could not be a timer that simply sits in the corner of the screen. Every minute needed to be something you could lose, earn, or spend too early.

On September 4, Fear The Timeloop comes to Xbox Series X|S. You play as Sheriff James Cooper, who wakes up in Saint Heritage Hospital with a severe abdominal wound. He is slowly bleeding out. If James cannot find a way to keep himself alive within 15 minutes, he dies, and the loop begins again.

Time is Health

In Fear The Timeloop, the countdown is inseparable from survival. James’ health and remaining time are one resource. Every minute takes him closer to death from blood loss.

Blood bags, first aid kits, bandages, and other medical supplies do more than repair the damage from an enemy attack. They buy James more time. A familiar survival horror item can change an entire attempt. Do you use it now to cross a dangerous corridor safely? Save it in case a fight becomes unavoidable? Or risk those precious minutes to explore a room that may reveal a new path?

The 15-minute loop grew out of that idea. I did not want a timer only to create pressure. I wanted it to shape every decision while staying grounded in the game’s world. James does not die because of an arbitrary rule. He dies because he is bleeding out.

Death as Part of Progress

I also wanted death to be more than a punishment. When James dies, he returns to the beginning of the current chapter, marked by a VHS tape he has found. But he does not return to absolute zero.

After every attempt, the notes you have discovered, your map data, and unlocked abilities remain. Your inventory does not. You can remember a code, discover a hidden route, or unlock a new ability, but you must still rethink your resources and survival plan in the next loop.

That changes how the loop feels over time. The first attempts are frantic: you need to understand what is happening, find medical supplies, and avoid the creatures inside the hospital. Later, a familiar door may offer a new route, a previously useless note may tell you where to go, and a decision that felt wrong can be reconsidered in the next cycle.

A Hospital Built for Returning

Saint Heritage Hospital was designed as one interconnected place rather than a sequence of separate levels. I wanted you to return to familiar corridors while noticing new opportunities within them.

At first, some routes are closed, certain areas are unreachable, and many answers remain hidden. As James unlocks abilities and discovers new routes, you gain more reasons to revisit places you already know. This is where exploration, nonlinearity, and survival horror meet. You are not just running from danger. You are gradually learning how to read the hospital itself.

Deputy Sheriff Rose Watters is James’ only ally inside Saint Heritage. Through their conversations and the choices you make, more of the hospital’s secrets and the events that brought James there begin to emerge.

Fear Without Frustration

Balancing enemies and bosses was one of the hardest parts of development. In a game where death sends you back to the beginning of a chapter, every challenge has to remain tense without making a failed attempt feel like wasted time.

After a mistake, I wanted you to think, “Now I know what to do differently,” rather than, “I was just unlucky.” Maybe this time you bring more healing supplies, take a different route, or save a blood bag for a fight. Each attempt should give you a reason to return and a chance to progress through knowledge rather than luck. For the XBOX release, we also focused on optimization and making gamepad controls feel precise and natural, especially in moments when every second truly counts. Fear The Timeloop launches on XBOX Series X|S today. Get the most out of your time with the decisions you make to survive.

Fear The Timeloop

PlayWay S.A.

☆☆☆☆☆ 6

★★★★★

$14.99 $13.49

Get it now

Chasing a relentless serial killer, you wake up in a hospital you've never seen before. Your body bears a grievous wound that will kill you in fifteen minutes if you do nothing. Yet even in death, you rise again, carrying the memories of everything you've endured. Gain experience, adapt, and survive the time loop in this third-person survival horror – Fear the Timeloop. Despite your critical condition, you must face an even greater threat: bloodthirsty monsters. The hospital is surrounded by mysterious figures, ready to kill anyone who steps outside. The only person who can help you is Sheriff’s deputy Rose Watters. But neither she nor you know what horrors lurk in the dark corners of Saint Heritage Hospital – or which memories from the past might come rushing back. Key Features: – A time loop at the core of both story and gameplay mechanics. – A flexible ability system that can be tailored to your preferred playstyle. – A branching dialogue system that reacts to your early choices and the path you take through the loop. – Metroidvania-inspired elements that let you revisit previously inaccessible areas to unlock new abilities and discover valuable items.

The post Fear The Timeloop Brings a Deadly 15 Minute Loop to XBOX appeared first on XBOX Wire.

Even better, we are thrilled to announce that Once Human is available Day One with XBOX Game Pass, complete with exclusive membership benefits! To celebrate our launch today, we’d like to give you a behind-the-scenes look at how we brought our surreal, strange worlds to life, and give you a sneak peek at what’s coming next.

The Strange Worlds of Once Human: Meet The ‘Strange’ Within the ‘Familiar’

Once Human is set in a post-apocalyptic world where the outburst of a cosmic being known as “Stardust” has altered the planet into a supernatural landscape. In this world, players – known as Meta-Humans – must battle grotesque anomalous creatures called “Deviants,” establish personal territories, and uncover dark conspiracies.

When establishing our visual identity, we drew heavy inspiration from the “New Weird” genre. New Weird is a literary genre that blends fantasy, science fiction, and horror through surreal, grotesque, and biological weirdness, often transforming the everyday into the uncanny. Key examples include Jeff VanderMeer’s “Annihilation” (part of the Southern Reach trilogy) and China Miéville’s “Perdido Street Station.”

From the very beginning of Once Human‘s game design, we have strongly aligned with this style, extending it from creature concepts to the shaping of diverse, anomalous worlds. Our core philosophy for designing anomalies and monsters is not simply to create bizarre shapes, but to “strange within the familiar” to evoke a deeper psychological resonance. Creatures like the Devourer (a massive biomechanical worm disguised as a subway train) and the Wanderer (a bus walking on giant human arms) turn ordinary, everyday objects into living anomalies. This highlights the residual beauty and horror of being “once human,” as seen in the Mother of Life: a hybrid retaining human traces, like a tattered white dress, fused with an alien jellyfish head.

Furthermore, this New Weird aesthetic profoundly shapes our environments and gameplay. The Stardust Pollution Zones were designed to mirror Area X’s transformative Shimmer, where reality itself mutates. Beyond that, anomalous environments like the Dream Zone, which plunges regions into twisted, surreal nightmares during the Endless Dream scenario and the Blood Moon – a dynamic global atmospheric and combat event that mutates the world and empowers its monsters – deeply alter the open-world atmosphere and its underlying gameplay rules. We are also constantly expanding this New Weird style in our level design. In areas like the Securement Silos, players encounter mind-bending spatial dislocations and illusionary reflections, offering a rich, surreal visual experience that continually pushes the boundaries of the genre. In our world, nothing is quite what it should be.

Where Cthulhu Meets Creature-Catching

Survival goes beyond traditional crafting. Players can catch and tame anomalous beings known as “Deviations” to assist in combat and survival. Some can provide levitation abilities for rough terrain, while others act as defensive tools for your territory. By combining New Weird strange worlds with creature-catching mechanics, whether you are exploring, building, fighting, or taming anomalies, every moment offers something unexpected.

Re-engineered for the Couch: The XBOX Experience & First-Person Perspective

We’ve optimized Once Human from the ground up for XBOX Series X|S to deliver a flawless living room experience with seamless controller integration and stunning 4K resolution. To give you complete control over how you brave the horror, we’ve officially brought the highly requested First-Person Perspective (FPP) to consoles. You can dynamically toggle between First- and Third-Person at any time. Switching to FPP on a massive display brings you eye-to-eye with the strange chaos!

Exclusive XBOX Game Pass Benefits

For our XBOX Game Pass members, we’ve prepared some exclusive perks to kickstart your journey. Subscribers can claim an Exclusive Avatar, a METAPASS Benefit Card (which includes 300 star sources, 30-day benefits, and allows you to try 14+ outfits), a Discount Voucher Bundle, and Battle Pass XP Cards. It will also include free outfits with monthly updates.

What’s Next: The Ocean Expansion

Currently, Once Human offers over 300 hours of content, but we are just getting started. This October, we will be launching our biggest content update to date: the Ocean Expansion. This expansion delivers a revolutionary survival experience spanning islands, the ocean surface, and the deep sea. The ocean is a living entity where you will encounter gazing lighthouses, ghost ships, and mechanical behemoths. You’ll be able to build your own Exclusive Sea Fortress, starting from a simple wooden raft and upgrading it into a mobile maritime sanctuary.

Rally your teammates, claim your Game Pass benefits, and prepare to enter the anomaly. We’ll see you in the wasteland on XBOX TODAY!

Once Human

NETEASE INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT PTE.LTD

☆☆☆☆☆ 1809

★★★★★

Get it now

PC Game Pass

Ultimate Game Pass

Once Human is a multiplayer survival game set in the strange worlds. Join forces with friends to fight for survival, construct your sanctuary, and conquer terrifying aberrations to unravel the truth behind the apocalypse. Do you still hold the answer to what it means to be human? ·EXPLORE A SUPERNATURAL OPEN WORLD The world has fallen. An extraterrestrial substance called Stardust has infected everything—plants, animals, even the air we breathe. Most humans couldn't survive… but you're different. You're a Meta-Human—one of the few who can harness Stardust's power instead of being destroyed by it. With your abilities, you can fight back, rebuild, or even rule this broken world. ·CHALLENGE YOUR SURVIVAL INSTINCTS The Starfall has reshaped everything on the Nalcott. You, as a surviving "Meta," must fight to survive across a vast 256 km² seamless map. Traverse frozen tundras, scale active volcanoes, cross raging rivers and treacherous swamps, or journey through deserts and oases. Whether you hunt, farm, build, or wage all-out war—your only goal is to survive. ·TEST YOUR SKILL IN BATTLE AGAINST MONSTROUS FOES You're not alone in your fight against the ancient horrors. Team up with others to explore the unknown and outsmart your rivals. Face thrilling battles where strategy, teamwork, and quick thinking decide who survives. Work together, share your strengths, and fight for the last remaining resources—because only the strongest will make it out alive. ·FIGHT FOR THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY Stardust turned people, animals, and objects into monstrous creatures, and now these horrors have taken over the world. But the tables have turned—we are the hunters now, and the Deviants are the prey. ·FORGE YOUR BASE, UNLEASH YOUR CREATIVITY Build your base anywhere in the wild! Customize your hideout however you want—add a patio, kitchen, garage, and more. Store your loot safely and defend it with deadly traps and weapons. Get creative and build the ultimate survival fortress! ·DEVIATION PALS ALWAYS BY YOUR SIDE! From a gun-toting alpaca to a tiny blue dragon chef, or even a hardworking mining buddy, these strange and powerful creatures are everywhere, ready to join your team. They'll fight by your side, help gather resources, and keep your territory running—but don't forget to take care of them! Give them a cozy home, check in often, and keep them happy… or they might just rebel. With Deviants around, surviving the apocalypse just got a whole lot less lonely.

The post Survive Together in the Strange Worlds: Once Human (F2P) Is Available Now on XBOX Series X|S With Game Pass! appeared first on XBOX Wire.

1. It Turns the Entire World into Your Own Adventure

Rather than pushing you through a fixed sequence of races, HOT WHEELS Infinite Rush encourages you to shape your own journey. The game was designed to foster exploration and high-speed fun, creating four toy-scale islands packed with races, free-roaming activities, hidden collectables, and unexpected discoveries that reward curiosity.

2. Every Vehicle Category Has A Purpose

With more than 150 vehicles at launch divided into four unique classes, everyone can find the perfect HOT WHEELS to suit their way of racing. The events across the islands are specifically designed around distinct vehicle categories: whether you prefer sliding around tight corners, blasting down long straights, or mastering heavy-duty power, you’ll always find the right match for your playstyle.

3. One Rush Squad, Free Exploration

Beyond the structured races, your Rush Squad comes to life during free-roaming exploration. You can build a roster featuring one vehicle from each of the four categories and seamlessly switch between them with a single button press. This lets you freely adapt to any challenge you encounter across the archipelago and tackle the open world using whichever vehicle you prefer at any moment.

4. Progression Drives Collection

Every ride across the islands can potentially add another piece to your collection. Win races, try special activities, beat rival crews and discover hidden opportunities like the Secret Dealership to unlock new vehicles. This way, you’ll be building your garage up as you move toward becoming the ultimate Rush Master – the final goal of the single-player campaign.

5. Bring Your Own Style to the Ride

The fun doesn’t stop when the campaign ends. With the Sticker and Livery editors, you can customize your vehicles to look exactly how you want them to. Moreover, the adaptive ground-snapping system and AI action markers, two advanced tools featured in the Track Builder, allow you to create custom tracks that naturally blend into the environment while enabling virtual opponents to race against you. Whether you’re building impossible stunt courses or competitive circuits, you can keep creating new adventures and sharing them with the community, extending the action for as long as you wish.

Ready to start your journey? HOT WHEELS Infinite Rush is available now in Early Access on XBOX Series X|S, and XBOX on PC, and is handheld optimized for ROG XBOX Ally.

HOT WHEELS Infinite Rush

Milestone S.r.l.

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

$49.99

Pre-order

Get off to a flying start! Pre-order HOT WHEELS Infinite Rush now and, in addition to the full game, get the HOT WHEELS Infinite Rush – Boost’n’Slide Pack, featuring the Driftsta and Power Pipes vehicles. Race beyond the orange track and jump into a Hot Wheels-sized world with four islands to explore, each with its own vibe and challenges. Roam freely through a world full of adventures, smash obstacles, discover secret items, and take on epic activities. BECOME THE RUSH MASTER Each island is ruled by a Rush Master – the ultimate boss to defeat. Complete events to unlock their challenge, and beat them to claim their car and title. Once you've conquered all four, be crowned the one true Rush Master! PICK YOUR RIDE Master four unique vehicle types: all-out Versatiles, massive Titans, agile Drifters, and lightning-fast Speeders. Each offers a different way to race. Choose your favorite rides, build your Rush Squad, and get ready for any challenge. And don't stop there: show off by customizing your car, right down to the wheels! A COLLECTION LIKE NO OTHER Discover and collect 150+ vehicles through events, activities, and challenges. Unlock rare models, fill your garage, and hit the road with some of the most iconic Hot Wheels out there. MAKE THE WORLD YOUR TRACK With the new Track Builder, create next-level tracks using the world around you. Attach modules to the ground, build around buildings, or race above the city, weaving around towering skyscrapers. ENDLESS FUN Take on a variety of game modes including single-player, split-screen with up to four players, and online multiplayer with full cross-play*. Climb the leaderboards, prove your skills, and race your way to the top! *Nintendo Switch 2 excluded

The post Five Reasons to Race into HOT WHEELS Infinite Rush, Out in Early Access Today appeared first on XBOX Wire.

Summary

• Special tips and strategies to help clear the game and rack up points.
• Expanded version of Railbreak, out now.
• Upgraded graphics, expanded cast and diversified play modes.

Hello and welcome to the highest-octane arcade experience of your life!  I’m Julia Wolbach, and I’m stoked to tell you all about Railbreak DX, a gore-geous on-rails shooter releasing today on XBOX Series X|S & XPA today with support for XBOX Cloud Streaming.  Read on for some secret developer tips to help up your zombie-blasting game.

The Many Mysteries of Story Mode

In Railbreak DX‘s main Story, you’ll step into the shoes of the scrappy detective Lydia Daniels and the off-the-wall mercenary Hank.  In this unnerving adventure through Cypress Ridge in the midst of a zombie apocalypse, you’ll find a variety of helpful supplies scattered about the city and a bevy of breakable objects.  This is also the only mode where you can pick up special weapons in the environment to change up your gameplay.  Lydia really is an expert markswoman!

As the game’s camera control is automated, you’ll need to pay close attention and keep your reflexes sharp to find powerful and hidden weapons in each level.  While you’ll always have your trusty handgun, you can find a variant of that armament in Act IV in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment.  As you’re strolling through the park, keep your eyes peeled on the benches for the magnum, a pistol that offers heavily increased damage.  There are even more classified instruments of destruction to find in Story mode: rumor is you might find a plasma-infused SMG to try on for size!

A Diverse Cast with Equally Diverse Play Styles

Beyond the hilarious Story mode, a whole variety of playable Survivors await, each with their own load-outs, specific firing and damage rates, and other quirks.  In the original Railbreak, there were nine characters to control, but in Railbreak DX, there are now a total of 18 magnificent mortals to experiment with in the quest for the best score.

Character Extremes – Pros and Cons

If simply living is the most important thing to you, trying out Michael could be a great option.  Enemies can’t inflict Poison or Bleed effects on him, so you’ll have no need to seek out Blue and Red sprouts to cure yourself of those life-sucking ailments, but in return you’ll find a that your primary weapon is a very ammo-hungry shotgun.  While you’ll never need to worry about your weak pistol running out of bullets, your shotgun being so inefficient can make attempts on higher difficulties very dangerous.

On the opposite end, playing as Rin will up your score game at the risk of a premature death.  Her special handgun offers a decent chance to freeze your undead foes with its ice bullets, but any damage she deals is significantly neutered if she isn’t landing headshots.  Here, your accuracy matters more than ever!  Rin also comes equipped with a katana, and it isn’t just any ordinary sword.  If you hit an adversary with one of its sword beams, a special state activates where you can rake in the points and inflict greater damage for a short period of time, but it also has a side-effect where a random, negative condition will simultaneously trigger.  Playing as Rin is not for the faint of heart, especially since she can’t even dismember zombies to balance the playing field!

More Tricks of the Trade

Searching for more intel?  Here are some more helpful tips to help you conquer Railbreak DX!  The city may be in a state of disarray, but that’s no excuse to empty your clip on hapless townsfolk!  Hurting an innocent civilian will result in a harsh penalty; make the city-slickers bleed and you’ll incur a health deficit yourself!  Don’t worry though: if you toss a screen-clearing grenade or make a special infected creature explode, you won’t be punished if any of Cypress Ridge’s denizens are caught in the crossfire.

Get the Most Bang from your Grenades

While they’re useful in a sticky situation, grenades reward a pittance of points.  Only look to use them as a last resort.  One of the best ways to boost your score is to target enemy limbs and heads.  Extra damage and points are granted when you fire precise headshots.  On most normal zombies, unleashing on a limb can break it off entirely, which will limit their attacks and mobility.  You can’t get smacked if your foe doesn’t have an arm to swing at you!  Last, when you encounter monsters like the Boom Boom or the Kunoichi, prioritize defeating them for a crowd-clearing explosion.  Who doesn’t love a little extra pandemonium?

Rich Content to Round Off a Deluxe Package

There is so much to talk about when it comes to Railbreak DX, like the ability to add dinosaurs to the mix, an endless challenge to take on in Onslaught, and unpredictable ‘Glitch’ effects that throw your quest into chaos.  Additionally, you can take advantage of XBOX Cloud Streaming to play Railbreak DX over the internet without even needing to download the game; or continue your adventure on PC or on handheld with XBOX Play Anywhere so your progress and achievements are always synced no matter where you play.

Purchase Railbreak DX today to experience the best classic arcade action infused with modern graphics and twists.  Stay tuned for future content updates and paid DLC that’ll be sure to expand on this truly ridiculous rollick.  Until next time, don’t get caught with your pants down and an empty magazine! Meta: The creator drops a few tips to help maximize thrills, plus new features in the revamped Railbreak DX.

Railbreak DX

Dead Drop Studios LLC

☆☆☆☆☆ 14

★★★★★

$24.99

Get it now

NOTE: Please be aware the original legacy Railbreak title will be removed from individual direct sale in September 2026. Railbreak DX is designed to be supported long-term as an expanded experience alongside new graphics, polish, gameplay, and much more. Railbreak DX also fully supports XBOX Play Anywhere unlike the legacy title. The most exciting game in the Cypress Ridge Arcade has received a big glow up! Select your survivor and blast your way to safety as the city burns around you in this on-rails survival horror shooter, now enhanced with new features and better visuals. Oh, and don't forget to bring a friend for zombie fodder, er, we mean a multiplayer experience! Railbreak DX melds a classic on-rails arcade experience with the cutting edge Unreal Engine 5. In this prelude to Outbreak: Shades of Horror, you'll get an opportunity to see the sights and sounds of Cypress Ridge and get chomped on by a zombie or four! Face the city alone, or bring a friend along with optional 2-player co-op supported across the entire game. Featuring a wide cast of survivors each with their own loadouts and traits, you'll find plenty of replayability in this absurd take on a survival horror game within a survival horror game. A full story mode experience awaits across six scenarios. Bonus modes include Score Attack, the endless Onslaught Mode that keeps ratcheting up the difficulty until the undead finally seal your fate, and Glitch Gauntlet, a rogue-like experience where anything can happen. New to Railbreak DX are nine new playable characters with unique weapons, full game rebalancing, a practice mode, and a major graphical upgrade! In addition, you can remix the experience by choosing between facing the classic undead, the terrifying dinosaurs of DINOBREAK, or mixing the undead and dinosaurs together! Check your couch cushions for quarters, snag a fizzy soda, and take a trip back to the 1990’s arcade. Features: – Nine new playable characters and a full remix and rebalancing of all characters including different weapons, clip sizes, fire rates, and much more. – Destructible environments allowing you to uncover new items and weapons to survive the onslaught. – Classic undead are joined by the dinosaurs of DINOBREAK allowing you to remix the carnage and fight either just the undead, just the dinosaurs, or mixing the two enemy types together. – A full practice mode to allow you to try out new characters with unlimited health and no barriers. – Greatly improved player and enemy animations, including fully animated weapons. – Next-generation arcade experience with cutting edge graphics powered by Unreal Engine 5, now upgraded with the latest bells & whistles including Ray Tracing. – Multiple ways to face the undead – Story Mode, Score Attack, the endless Onslaught Mode, the rogue-like Glitch Gauntlet, and more. – Intense gore and dismemberment as you tear apart the undead with a massive arsenal of powerful weapons. – The cheesiest dialogue and voice acting ever featured in an on-rails shooter. – Optional 2-player co-op across the entire game.

The post Rack up Points in Arcade Hit Railbreak DX, Out Now on XBOX Series X|S & XPA appeared first on XBOX Wire.

This free playtest is open to everyone on XBOX Series X|S. You don’t need to own Wreck Runners to play. Bring up to three friends, climb aboard the ORCA, and help us test an unreleased build featuring content planned for the September Update.

During the playtest, crews can get an early look at:

• Temples, an entirely new type of location to explore and salvage
• Runner color customization
• A dangerous new underwater enemy hunting beneath the surface
• Paranormal Progression, creating new choices as crews push through a run
• Trustwell Lost Salvage, rewarding exploration beyond familiar areas
• New hazards, interface improvements, and more

The build includes support for 15 additional languages:

Arabic, German, Latin American Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, Kazakh, Korean, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Turkish, Ukrainian, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese.

If one of these is your preferred language, we would particularly appreciate hearing about anything that feels unclear, unnatural, untranslated, or difficult to read.

This is an unreleased development build, so players may encounter bugs and content may change before the September Update launches. Your feedback will help us improve the experience before release.

Playtest Schedule

Start: Friday, September 4 at 10:00 AM PT (17:00 UTC)
End: Wednesday, September 9 at 10:00 AM PT (17:00 UTC)

How to Join

1. Sign-in on your XBOX Series X|S console and launch the XBOX Insider Hub app (or install the XBOX Insider Hub from the Store first if necessary)
2. Navigate to Previews > Wreck Runners
3. Select Join
4. Wait for the registration to complete and be directed to the Store and install Wreck Runners Playtest!

We Want your Feedback!

If you experience any issues while playing Wreck Runners, don’t forget to use “Report a problem” so we can investigate:

• Hold down the home button on your XBOX controller.
• Select Report a problem.
• Select the Games category and Wreck Runners Playtest subcategory.
• Fill out the form with the appropriate details to help our investigation.

Be Part of the Community

The September Update is still taking shape. To stay up to date on Wreck Runners development, future playtests, and community discussions, follow Disruptive Games on the channels below.

• TikTok
• Instagram
• Bluesky
• YouTube
• Discord

Round up your crew, preview what is coming in September, and help us prepare for the next expedition into the Triangle.

The post Play the Wreck Runners September Update Early with XBOX Insiders appeared first on XBOX Wire.

EA SPORTS NHL 27 brings the identity of every NHL team to life on the ice, in the arena, and through the broadcast. Get a taste of life on the ice with the EA Play 10-hour early access trial. If you decide to buy, your progress carries over to the full game, and you can get back to leaving your mark on the league.

Members can also save 10% on EA digital purchases, including the full version of the game, NHL Points, game downloads, and more. Plus, members can skate with seasonal rewards like 3,000 Chel Coins, WOC Season Pass XP Multiplier Tokens, and more rewards across your favorite EA titles every month.

What’s New in NHL 27?

Face Off Against Friends

Create a league with friends, build your roster, manage your team, and compete head-to-head across a full online season with up to 32 human-controlled teams. With flexible and customizable league settings, roster management, scheduling, and commissioner tools, Connected Franchise gives you the foundation to run your league your way.

Embrace the Atmosphere

Experience all 32 NHL arenas rebuilt to capture the energy, traditions, and identity of each home team. From authentic goal songs, crowd chants, and signature arena details to dynamic lighting, jumbotrons, and team-driven presentation, every building reacts to the story of the game as it unfolds.

Feel Closer to the Action

A completely refreshed broadcast package brings a cleaner, more modern presentation to every game. New broadcast graphics, updated camera work, and improved on-screen storytelling deliver more context before the puck drops, between whistles, and through in-game highlights.

The rink is ready. Lace up for the EA Play early access trial and experience life on the ice in NHL 27 for yourself.

September is stacked. Claim the latest EA Play rewards for Battlefield 6, Apex Legends, and more!

• Apex Legends
  • Make some noise with your arsenal and grab the Gold Tiny Tunes Weapon Charm starting September 1 through October 4.
• EA Sports Madden NFL 27
  • Start your next season with a September MUT Pack through September 30, and an EA Play Welcome Pack to spruce up your Ultimate Team.
• EA Sports NHL 27
  •  Ice the competition with WOC Season Pass XP Multiplier Tokens and Chel Coins, available until November 19.
• EA Sports College Football 27
  • Feel that Saturday rush with a College Football Ultimate Team Pack available until September 30, and an EA Play Welcome Pack.
• Battlefield 6
  • Get ready for the frontlines with the Season 4 EA Play Pack, available until October 12.

To learn more about EA Play, check out X and Instagram, or visit here. For more details on all the EA Play member benefits this month, visit the EA Play Member Benefits site. Conditions, limitations and exclusions apply. See EA Play Terms for details.

Members can experience the world of EA with unlimited access to a collection of top titles, trials of select new games, in-game member rewards, 10% on EA digital purchases and more.

The post Start Your EA SPORTS NHL 27 Season Now With EA Play appeared first on XBOX Wire.

TRANSCRIPT

Speaker 1: Games in this podcast range from E to M. [ XBOX sound ]

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Hello and welcome to “The Official XBOX Podcast”, the only podcast coming to you from inside XBOX, or inside the XBOX booth. We are here in Cologne at gamescom, and I’m pleased to be joined by members of the coalition who are here showing off “Gears of War: E-Day” to everybody. Matt Searcy, Creative Director for “Gears of War: E-Day”. Thanks for joining us here today. And Raul Figueroa, the Campaign Design Director. It’s great to have you on the show here for the first time.

RAUL FIGUEROA: Thank you very much for having me.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: And I think actually I kind of want to start off with the trailer that you all debuted during Opening Night Live with Geoff Keighley. That’s sort of the kickoff for gamescom. People often talk about “Gears” as being brutal, but this is almost like, I would say, a new standard.

MATT SEARCY: I think the brutality and that “Gears” edges on horror sometimes. We wanted to bring a bunch of that into “E-Day” obviously, and really connect to it. Whenever we make a trailer, it’s sort of a labor of love for us to try to pull out what’s awesome about our game and about “Gears”, and there’s no better way to start than introducing our new big, bad Vraahk in the most brutal way possible.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: What do we need to know about Vraahk?

RAUL FIGUEROA: I mean he’s a blight commander, he was injured in the Lambent War.

MATT SEARCY: Yeah.

RAUL FIGUEROA: And he came up here to destroy humanity. That’s his goal. And so that’s why we went so brutal with him. We wanted to really show that they just want to go up there, eliminate humanity completely.

MATT SEARCY: He basically embodies the brutality of the Locust. And what’s cool about the trailer, too, is you can see around him these other elite units, the Scorched Legion, that’s his legion. They kind of have spikes sticking out of them, the self-mutilation, so that brutality is embodied in them as well. So in the game, even when you’re not facing him, when you’re facing his elite troops, you’ve got all the vibes of Vraahk coming through in the brutality that you face. The other awesome thing we get to do with our story trailer is peek into not only the story moments themselves, but “E-Day” has a ton of characters in it. It’s the story of Bravo Squad, but there’s so many more soldiers in the city that you’re crossing paths with. They all have their own stories, their own history. And what’s really cool about “E-Day” is you’re part of this larger brotherhood that’s facing this impossible threat. So we’re getting to see new characters in here, just a fraction of the people you’re going to meet. We get to see the mayor and the colonel who are two figureheads in the city at odds with each other while we’re fighting the Locust. And I think the story trailer just does an awesome job of weaving just glimpses of the amount of tension and stress you’re going to see in this game.

RAUL FIGUEROA: And you can see that we really made a lot of effort into making it feel like there’s that feeling of camaraderie and brotherhood, where people are helping each other to figure out what is happening here. This is a completely new threat. They’ve never seen anything like it.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: It feels like there’s still some little semblance of hope. People don’t know at this point just how bad things are going.

MATT SEARCY: We know how hopeless it is.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Yeah.

MATT SEARCY: Yeah. An interesting thing about “E-Day” is setting it, well, we set it all in Kalona, and the reason was to make this very intimate battle inside the larger event. It’s such a huge event on Sera. Two-thirds of the population are wiped out. It’d be easy to look at this and be like, well, we know what happens. We know most of the population dies. We know all this stuff. But by placing it in a single city and following these people, we do get to play with what does it mean to try to pull out some sort of victory on the first two days, to have some sort of hope. Obviously, there’s so much loss in this game. But to do it in a way that touches on themes about loss and brotherhood and loyalty was really important to us.

RAUL FIGUEROA: And one of the things that we really managed to do here is that you get a chance to see a little bit of the before, the during, and a little bit of the aftermath. So as the campaign progresses, we’re going to see a little bit more of that and it’s going to be really interesting.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: And because “Gears” 1 through 5, the world’s already destroyed, you don’t necessarily feel the loss. But because you see the world as it was and things that are familiar to us in society, then maybe it’s just a little bit more poignant.

RAUL FIGUEROA: That’s exactly it. Yeah.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Did I take your line? I’m sorry.

MATT SEARCY: No, that’s great. Somebody else can say our line. That means we’ve done our job, right?

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Exactly. We also, just throughout this trailer, we see the biggest of the big bad of the Locust that we’ve seen throughout the years.

MATT SEARCY: Yeah, I think for us, without getting into spoilers too much, I think it’s kind of obvious the cool thing we get to do with “E-Day” is every time an enemy shows up, it’s the first time, right? It’s the first time Marcus and Dom have seen them. It’s the first time these people have seen them. So, we get to go from seeing the first wretch in the game to the first drone, and up and up and up, until you’re seeing Brumaks with armor. And you’re getting a little bit of that scale here of just, as we go through the few days of “E-Day”, it goes from this block-by-block monster attack to this overwhelming, holy shit there’s an army underground coming to get us. And really, goes from an invasion to it’s gears, it’s a war, it’s “Gears of War”. Takes us into what the franchise is.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: So as we’ve been seeing a ton of coverage, a lot of the conversation is about the city where this takes place, in Kalona. So, what do you want people to get out of and take away from their experience in this environment?

RAUL FIGUEROA: Well, from the get-go, one of the most important things for us was that Kalona was a city that people were going to connect with and it was going to be a character. So, we spent a lot of time actually building it from the ground up as a real city. We want people to feel for it. We want people to understand what it is to live in that city. What it was to live in that city, the loss, as you’re progressing through the campaign, and nothing better than actually allow people to connect to it by exploring it and as the game progresses and you see that city fall apart, the people in it dying, being able to save whoever you can save. It actually makes a big impact. We have some really awesome set pieces and landmarks that you will remember, and those landmarks change as the game progresses.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Some of the folks were talking about some side activities where they’ve run into other groups who were scattered and just doing the best they can. Can you talk about some of the types of things you might, if you seek it out, you might be able to find as a player?

MATT SEARCY: The game is a linear game overall, and it weaves back and forth between sections like the bridge, which is what people are playing here, and places where we give you access to a few city blocks at a time. You’re still on mission, but as you go to your mission, it’s kind of up to you how you get there. And when you look around the corners, you can come across another squad trying to fend off the Locusts, maybe a family that’s trapped in a building. And each of those gives you a little narrative reward. If you decide to help them, it’s up to you. We also expand our gameplay sandbox, so for the first time in a campaign game, you can mod your weapons. Some of the things people have seen in Horde, they come into the campaign as well, and so it really pays to explore. There’s tons of narrative storytelling. There’s tons of environmental storytelling. We have these side objectives you can do if you choose. We have hard cases you can find that kind of give you additional gameplay progression and stuff. And I think what Raul was talking about, about exploring the city and feeling the loss, it’s all tied together with our gameplay mechanics, our level building. And also, “Gears” plays great in the city. Cars, buildings, debris everywhere. When what you do is build a cover shooter, it’s the best. There’s just cover options all over the place, tons of variety. It’s great.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: The team has come way beyond waist-high cover.

MATT SEARCY: That’s right, yeah.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: You’ve got a lot more ability.

MATT SEARCY: I mean, it exists. It’s just not all boxes.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Yeah, exactly. The players, and this is something that’s been talked about quite a bit, have much more agency, much more ability to climb. There’s a jump button. It also seems in a lot of what I’ve been reading and viewing is the intelligence of the Locust has been way ramped up. Is that sort of like two sides of the coin? You made the player, gave the player much more ability, now we’ve got to make the enemies have more ability as well?

RAUL FIGUEROA: Yeah, absolutely. You can do these things, now they can do it as well. And one of our goals from the beginning was that we really wanted to make the Locust feel dangerous. We wanted them to feel smart and threatening. So, you feel smart by climbing on top of a truck to outflank one of them? Well, they can do the same thing to you. And sometimes you get surprised by a grenadier coming on top of one of those vehicles and then jumping behind you, and just hitting you with a Gnasher. And it feels great because you really understand that, hey, I have to be careful, cover his life. And yeah, I have to adapt.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: One of our writers was even talking about one of the Locusts using smoke to cover up some of their moves.

MATT SEARCY: I think that’s one of the moments that’s caught people out in the demo a bunch is the grenadiers that Raul was talking about, the shotgunners, they’ll drop a smoke between you and them. And then they will walk through the smoke so that you can’t see them come in until they’re in close range. That kind of, the “Gears” formula is your cover position, the weapons that you have available to you, and the enemy combinations that we put together. That’s what makes that “Gears” magic. And then when the enemies have a few more tactics each, those combinations just expand like crazy, and that’s where we get a bunch of our gameplay challenge, our weapon variety, or sorry, our encounter variety. And I think it’s also why when you turn the difficulty up on “Gears”, it turns into this really cool puzzle. It’s not just can you play whack-a-mole faster. It’s like, you have to think. You have to be good at it, but you also get to use your brain, which makes it feel a little bit different from other games.

RAUL FIGUEROA: Look around and see your options.

MATT SEARCY: Yeah.

RAUL FIGUEROA: There’s so many options, but maybe if you’re playing casual, you might not see them, but as you’re starting ramping that up, you have to see them.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: This feels like a game where if you don’t have a surround sound, you’re going to want to wear headphones, so you’re going to need all your —

MATT SEARCY: Audio design in this game is awesome. It was so great to see people in our beta start to call out the audio design. Because I think our team is exceptionally talented, rebuilding it all from scratch, let them really push into what makes “Gears” sound special, and it’s, yeah, it’s top tier.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: You don’t have to take these guys’ word for it, although you should, because there’s tons of media out there, things you can read. Creators’ content you can watch about all of these things and about the chapters we’ve talked about, a lot of video out there as well. One thing you do have to take our word for right now is how cool these controllers are. These were just announced this week. There’s two different versions. This is the Special Edition “Gears: E-Day” controller. And then this will be going into Design Lab, so you’ll be able to customize various elements of it. Can you just talk about some of the partnerships and the art and the things that went into this?

MATT SEARCY: Yeah, when we get to work with the team at XBOX that creates controllers, it’s so cool. They come with all these amazing ideas, and this one especially, that’s got these etched E-hole breaking out, like concrete texture on it. The transparency, the omen inside of it. And then we were able to really, like even the textures on this thing. I think as people pick it up, they realize it feels amazing because it’s got these rubberized textures in the back. And we tucked all sorts of little secrets in in here as well. So this, I think, people, this looks awesome, and when people pick it up, it feels incredible because it’s just built really well. It’s got all these really cool elements to it. And then Luke, we love Luke Preece who did the art here. He’s, back of our shirt. He’s been working with us I think since “Gears 5”. And this should be very familiar, this style. But by putting it on an XBOX Design Labs, you get to use his art and then combine it with whatever you want, whatever colors you want, the button types, the textures, all that stuff. And he was here, I think last night he was signing controllers for people and stuff. “Gears” fans love the way the brand looks and the symbolism inside of it. And this was just a way for us to put it in your hands. And they’re awesome. We’re super proud of them.

RAUL FIGUEROA: I’m going to tell you, I was at the booth.

MATT SEARCY: Yeah.

RAUL FIGUEROA: All the booths have these controllers.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Oh, really?

RAUL FIGUEROA: And they’re a little bit hidden under the monitor, right? So people come in, look at the screen there, they grab the controller, and the first thing they do is like, “Whoa Whoa!” And they just look around it and take pictures of it, right? So, it’s really awesome to see that people really connect with it just by holding it.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Yeah, “Gears” has always had, I want to say since maybe “Gears 4”, there’s been a number of really cool “Gears” controllers and this one may take the cake.

MATT SEARCY: Yeah.

RAUL FIGUEROA: It’s amazing. It’s pretty great.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Any last thoughts here from gamescom? When are we going to hear from you all next? Because we’re coming down the final stretch.

MATT SEARCY: Yeah, I mean, as we come up to launch, I’m sure we’re going to have a ton of, our last push, we will have things that we put online. There might be another trailer coming at some point. But we’ve had so much, we’ve been able to share so much since Showcase. It was amazing getting to go deep with the Dev Direct, sort of have our reveal to people of how the gameplay had changed, get deep into “E-Day”, and then we had —

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: The beta. We didn’t bring that up.

MATT SEARCY: Yeah, we had the multiplayer preview in the beta, which was, hey everybody, come play it. We showed it to you, and it was awesome getting to watch people play, playing with them ourselves, PVP. Seeing people sweat again.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Yeah. Yeah.

MATT SEARCY: But with our new mechanics and especially “Horde Siege”, which was something we’ve been secretly working on, just this epic version of Horde on these big maps with multiple squads, and seeing the engagement there and seeing how people kind of got all of the elements, the gameplay, the new gameplay mechanics. The new maps we’re able to build, the way they’re all set in Kalona, the tone we have, that was awesome. So this has been a really exciting couple of months, because we had these three beats showcase, multiplayer, now campaign here. People seem hyped. We’ve been super hyped as well. We’re really proud that we’ve been able to show off the team’s work so fully in the last little bit. But everybody’s still only seeing like this much of what the game is. So, launch is coming up soon.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: October 6th.

MATT SEARCY: October 6th, I think early access is October 1st, so we’re just over a month away. So I don’t know, next time you see us, we might just be playing the game.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Yeah, it might be at home for you, which is great. Raul, Matt, thank you again for taking time out. I know you’ve got a lot more people that you’ve got to show “Gears of War: E-Day” to, so I will let you get back to it. And you should check out all of the “Gears of War: E-Day” content that is on the XBOX YouTube channel. We also have more shows coming here from gamescom. In fact, we just put live a great “Persona 4 Podcast” as well, and we’ve got another one that we’re working on as well. So, make sure you check all of that stuff out. But in the meantime, thanks for watching us on “The Official XBOX Podcast”.

RAUL FIGUEROA: Thank you, everybody. [ XBOX sound ]

The post Gears of War: E-Day Campaign – Brotherhood and Hope in a Hopeless World | Official XBOX Podcast appeared first on XBOX Wire.

NHL® 27 XBOX Series X|S

Electronic Arts

☆☆☆☆☆ 139

★★★★★

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Free Trial

EA SPORTS NHL 27 – September 11
Optimized for XBOX Series X|S

EA SPORTS NHL 27 brings the identity of every NHL team to life on the ice, in the arena, and through the broadcast. Experience Authentic Atmospheres across all 32 NHL arenas, each designed to capture the sound, spectacle, and identity of its home team. Real-world goal songs, new pregame introductions, and a fully overhauled crowd bring every building closer to its real-world counterpart.

The Royal Writ

Yogscast Games

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

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The Royal Writ – September 10
Game Pass – Optimized for XBOX Series X|S / XBOX Play Anywhere

In The Royal Writ, you don’t just play cards – you command them on the battlefield. Place your loyal subjects strategically as they advance toward the enemy, dealing damage. But beware: any card that reaches the enemy base before victory is permanently destroyed and removed from your deck for the rest of your run. Sacrifice isn’t just a risk – it’s an essential strategy that creates memorable sub-stories with each run. Will you honor the subjects who gave everything for your cause? Every fallen card tells a tale, and their glory lives on in the legacy you build.

Halloween: The Game

IllFonic Publishing, Co-Publisher: Gun Media

☆☆☆☆☆ 178

★★★★★

Get it now

Halloween: The Game – September 8
Optimized for XBOX Series X|S

It’s Halloween night, 1978, the unsuspecting families of the quiet suburban town of Haddonfield are making holiday preparations, and evil has made its way home. Take The Shape of Evil as Michael Myers or save your neighbors as a Hero of Haddonfield in Halloween, the ultimate asymmetrical horror sandbox. As Michael, players wear the mask, become the Boogeyman, and stalk innocent residents with relentless obsession. Utilizing a nightmarish array of abilities, Michael leverages shadows and stealth to satisfy his bloodthirst. This doesn’t mean Haddonfield is going down without a fight. Frightened townsfolk will call the local authorities and even fight back when threatened, incentivizing Michael to avoid detection.

Mewgenics

Nicalis Inc.

☆☆☆☆☆ 8

★★★★★

$39.99

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Mewgenics – September 8
Optimized for XBOX Series X|S

Build the ultimate cat army through tactical breeding and send them into deep, challenging turn-based adventures. Draft abilities, collect items, and manipulate genetics across generations in this roguelike tactics game from the creators of The Binding of Isaac and The End is Nigh.

HOT WHEELS Infinite Rush

Milestone S.r.l.

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

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HOT WHEELS Infinite Rush – September 9
Optimized for XBOX Series X|S / XBOX Play Anywhere

Race beyond the orange track and jump into a Hot Wheels-sized world with four islands to explore, each with its own vibe and challenges. Roam freely through a world full of adventures, smash obstacles, discover secret items, and take on epic activities. Each island is ruled by a Rush Master – the ultimate boss to defeat. Complete events to unlock their challenge, and beat them to claim their car and title. Once you’ve conquered all four, be crowned the one true Rush Master!

Train Sim World® 7: Deluxe Edition

Dovetail Games

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

$79.99 $71.99

Pre-order

Train Sim World 7: Deluxe & Ultimate Editions – September 10
Optimized for XBOX Series X|S / Smart Delivery / XBOX Play Anywhere

Find Your Way in Train Sim World 7! Embark on a new journey as you explore 3 iconic routes aboard an array of easy-to-learn, hard-to-master locomotives: Head for the quaint hills of Yorkshire with the AIREDALE & WHARFEDALE NETWORK, featuring the Northern BR Class 331 & more. Make a splash with extra EMU variety as you wade across the rails in the NORTHERN BR CLASS 333. Wind your way around the low peaks of Bavaria on thrilling long-distance & regional services with BAHNSTRECKE NÜRNBERG – WÜRZBURG in the DB BR 440 & more.

Bus Simulator 27

astragon Entertainment

☆☆☆☆☆ 11

★★★★★

$34.99

Get it now

Bus Simulator 27 – September 8

Look forward to the most comprehensive and advanced bus fleet in the history of the series so far. More than 45 officially licensed buses from 13 world-famous manufacturers, such as Solaris, Mercedes-Benz, MAN, IVECO BUS, Scania, and Volvo, are waiting for you to drive. Whether you are interested in classic rigid, articulated, and double-decker buses or in new electric buses – Bus Simulator 27 has got you covered. And for the first time ever in the series, you can get behind the wheel of impressive coach buses and enjoy long-distance journeys!

Culdcept The First Saturn Tribute

Clear River Games AB

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

$29.99

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Culdcept The First Saturn Tribute – September 8

The original Culdcept was released in 1997; a combination of digital board game and deck building, it saw numerous sequels, but that very first game never left Japan, until now! Humanity was prosperous on the continent of Bablashca. But when mysterious stone tablets appear – fragments of the powerful ancient book, Culdcept – chaos and conflict follow. A lone youth arises to bring peace to the land, and you get to follow along!

Hole in Many (Xbox Series)

Afil Games

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

$4.99 $3.99

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Hole in Many – September 8
Optimized for XBOX Series X|S

Get ready to put your aim and logic to the test in Hole in Many, a fun puzzle game that combines the strategy of moving pieces with the excitement of golf. Here, every shot matters, and finding the perfect route can be just as satisfying as sinking an impossible putt.

Honeycomb: The World Beyond

Snail Games USA

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

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Honeycomb: The World Beyond – September 8
XBOX Play Anywhere

EON Corp appreciates your contribution to Earth’s survival and would like to kindly remind you that all data you procure should remain strictly confidential. Prepare for the unknown in the lush meadows and deep caverns of Sota7, the planet where we hope you can find the key to humanity’ survival. Harness your bioengineering knowledge and make use of the extensive training provided by EON to navigate a world brimming with wonders and mysteries.

SPRAWL zero

Kwalee

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

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SPRAWL Zero – September 8
Optimized for XBOX Series X|S / XBOX Play Anywhere

Sprawl Zero is a first-person shooter inspired by 2000s console FPS games. Both the aesthetics and design sensibility call back to the Golden Age where the genre evolved from shooting in corridors to building worlds. You play as FIVE, a cybernetically enhanced super soldier controlled by the Junta. Your directive is to eliminate SILAS, leader of the radical techno-religious group IMAGO-DEI. The city will plunge into chaos as all factions known and unknown grasp for the reins. Reconcile your truths or succumb to the SPRAWL.

Barbarian Saga: The Beastmaster

Selecta Play

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

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Barbarian Saga: The Beastmaster – September 9
Optimized for XBOX Series X|S

Be the hero that Arborea needs… or put an end to centuries of wars… Barbarian Saga: The Beastmaster will transport you to a future land of magic and sword, make your way through this action Metroidvania and discover with your Heart-Eater sword an epic outcome in a decadent world where they want to eradicate all non-human creatures.

Cats Around Us: Black Cat

Silesia Games Sp. z o.o.

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

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Cats Around Us: Black Cats – September 9
XBOX Play Anywhere

This black cat has mastered the art of camouflage! Can you spot him? Cats Around Us: Black Cat is the second part of the series where you search for hidden furballs inside a five-page silent comic. Follow a super sweet story about a man and his sneaky black kitty who just loves blending into the shadows!

Jewel Match Solitaire X

Ocean Media LLC

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

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Jewel Match Solitaire X – September 9

Explore a fantastical world in this new Solitaire adventure! Play more than 500 levels, including the new Sliding level type, while unlocking classic and additional solitaire variants such as Carlton, Fanny, or Daisy Garden! Immerse yourself in Supersize and Challenge levels, as well as Mahjong and Match-2 levels.

The Alighieri Circle: Dante's Bloodline

Entalto Publishing

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

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The Alighieri Circle: Dante’s Bloodline – September 10
Optimized for XBOX Series X|S / Smart Delivery

Hell is not a place of fire; it is a mirror of your soul. In The Alighieri Circle, you are Gabriele Alighieri. You are not a soldier, nor a hero. Only a man crushed by a legacy you never asked for. Every 33 years the barrier between our reality and the Hell fades. To protect your family and the world you know, you must perform The Ritual, returning to your ancestral home and accept a destiny you have spent your life running from. In first-person psychological thriller focused on atmosphere, exploration, and story. There is no combat; only the tension of the unknown. Immerse yourself in a dark, modern interpretation of the Divine Comedy, where the Inferno is a shadow waiting to consume you.

BrokenLore: DON'T LIE

Wired Productions

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

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BrokenLore: Don’t Lie – September 10
Optimized for XBOX Series X|S / XBOX Play Anywhere

BrokenLore: DON’T LIE is a Japanese psychological horror game exploring trauma, isolation, and a fractured reality where perception becomes increasingly unreliable. Step into the life of Junko, a hikikomori whose carefully controlled world begins to unravel as the past resurfaces in ways she can no longer ignore.

Deconstruction Simulator

GAMES INCUBATOR

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

$19.99 $17.99

Pre-order

Deconstruction Simulator – September 10
Optimized for XBOX Series X|S / XBOX Play Anywhere

Deconstruction Simulator is the ultimate demolition simulator, offering you complete freedom of action and a wide array of contracts to complete. Get ready for spectacular destruction. Find the contract of your dreams. Demolish and dismantle. Recover building materials and valuable items, then sell them for profit or recycle them. Every contract presents a new challenge and opportunities to earn money.

Dumb Ways to Build

Dumb Ways to Die

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

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Dumb Ways to Build – September 10
Optimized for XBOX Series X|S

Welcome to Dumbville’s least reputable construction company! Dumb Ways to Build is a physics-based co-op game filled with deadly construction jobs that no sane crew would touch. Safety violations are likely, survival is optional, and your co-workers are the real occupational hazard. It is time to rally your crew and put your building skills (and friendships) to the ultimate test!

Fresh Tracks

Buffalo Buffalo Labs Inc.

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

$24.99

Pre-order

Fresh Tracks – September 10
Optimized for XBOX Series X|S

Will you unite the splintered pantheon of Norwyn to defeat Mar, the Queen of Terror? Fight, jump, and dodge obstacles and menacing enemies as you ski further into the darkness that has befallen the snow-covered land of Norwyn. As you conquer each new trail, you will unlock new abilities, new divine companions, and new tracks of pulse-pounding original music.

Lost in Loss

Soroka Games

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

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Lost in Loss – September 10
Optimized for XBOX Series X|S / Smart Delivery / XBOX Series X|S

Hey, Detective! Ready for a strange case? Citizens are forgetting who they are — their true selves are slipping away. Will you help bring them back? Explore beautiful hand-drawn locations, search for unusual hidden objects, and uncover the secrets behind each person’s story. What will you discover inside an old suitcase? Or behind a forgotten bookshelf? Solve puzzles, meet charming characters, and dive into a world full of mystery and surprises.

Mole Mine Boom (Xbox Series)

Afil Games

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

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Mole Mine Boom – September 10
Optimized for XBOX Series X|S

Get ready to venture deep underground in Mole Mine Boom, a fun logic puzzle where every move can completely transform the path ahead. Take control of a lovable miner mole, push ore carts onto their loading stations, and use sliding demolition charges to destroy cracked rocks and open new routes.

RIN: The Last Child

Ultimate Games S.A.

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

$19.99 $15.99

Pre-order

RIN: The Last Child – September 10
Optimized for XBOX Series X|S

Enter a mystical world shaped by ancient myths and forbidden magic. Play as RIN, the last child of the Creator, on a journey to restore balance to a broken world. Craft powerful spells, collect magical aspects and runes, and confront your transformed siblings in intense boss battles where every choice matters.

Warshift 2: Machines of Madness

FORTELL GAMES

☆☆☆☆☆ 28

★★★★★

$19.99

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Warshift 2: Machines of Madness – September 10
Optimized for XBOX Series X|S

Warshift 2: Machines of Madness is a unique mix of Strategy, Action, and RPG gameplay elements. You can build a base, manage troops, mechs, battleships, and carriers, and then come down to keep your enemy at gunpoint in the dynamic battle and customize your Heroes (combat avatars).

Dino Odyssey

Ratalaika Games S.L.

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

Get it now

Dino Odyssey – September 11
Optimized for XBOX Series X|S / Smart Delivery / XBOX Play Anywhere

Extinction is not an option. The fate of your entire species rests in your claws! In Dino Odyssey, you control a brave dinosaur on a dangerous journey to rescue the eggs of your kind, ensuring the survival and birth of new generations. Run, jump, and use your wits to explore a world full of threats. Every egg collected is a breath of hope to save your species from disappearing forever!

Dominus Mahjong Arcana (XBOX SERIES)

YUME GAME STUDIO

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

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Dominus Mahjong Arcana – September 11
Optimized for XBOX Series X|S

With 40 carefully designed levels and progressively increasing difficulty, the game offers a smooth and relaxing journey suitable for players of all ages. Its soothing soundtrack and charming visuals create an immersive atmosphere, perfect for those looking to unwind while staying focused.

Liquid Cats (Xbox Series)

AVGAM

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

$3.99

Pre-order

Liquid Cats – September 11
Optimized for XBOX Series X|S

Meet the cat who fits anywhere – as long as you plan the path. Liquid Cats: Cozy Line Puzzle is a warm, one-line logic game with one wonderfully simple goal: guide a stretchy cat across the grid and fill every empty tile. Choose each direction carefully. Every move extends the cat across the board, and one wrong turn can leave a tile out of reach. Restart in an instant, rethink your route, and enjoy the satisfying moment when the final space is filled.

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Simply the genre of this game had me excited – this is a true throwback to choice-based action-RPGs of the past; stuffed with morality systems, crunchy, synergistic abilities, mouthy companions and weighty combat. But it’s what I didn’t go in waiting to play that leaves me most intrigued – there’s a serious, galactic-scale, hard-sci storyline here, but it’s willing to go full ’70s cosmic freakout amid all that.

Exodus presents a universe with celestial powers, science-indistinguishable-from-magic locations and, yes, highly evolved, talking animals. It was around the time that one of my companions was screaming “There’s still time to negotiate!” into the face of a charging war-bear (who we’d upset by killing her human friend) that I realized, despite drawing on an established genre, quite how different Exodus is aiming to be.

At gamescom 2026, I played a mission set several hours into the game – the game’s hero, Jun sets off on a rescue mission to save a space station (manned by hyper-intelligent frogs) from an invading force, alongside two of the game’s companions. Suliman is a reserved, slightly spiky individual, and Elise is a far more happy-go-lucky mercenary who tends to her combat duties in a combat-ready exosuit.

It’s an action-heavy slice of the game, and what struck me first was the weight and optionality of combat. Jun’s primary weapon is actually many weapons in one – the Recycler can shift form into anything from a burst-fire battle rifle to a shield-annihilating energy weapon, with the common thread being that it feels good to fire. This genre isn’t particularly known for its responsive gunplay, but the opening skirmishes – a tight mix of cover shooting and flashy ability use – were enough to convince me that this was anything but an afterthought in this game.

But beyond that, Jun can also use crafted or scavenge items like hovering, drone-like grenades, as well as an array of Celestial powers that act like cooldown timer spells in combat – letting me send eruptions of energy under enemy feet from the other side of the arena, or petrify enemies for my companions to deal with.

And speaking of those companions, Elise and Suliman also gave me a taste of how your chosen team can fundamentally alter how you choose to play. While your squad will fight autonomously, each comes with abilities that can be easily accessed and unleashed mid-fight, as well as “ultimate”-like attacks that can shift the course of a battle.

Suliman errs towards stealth, with the ability to phase behind enemies and take them down with melee, or to take down multiple enemies in a single attack. Elise, on the other hand, is far more noticeable, firing rocket salvos that can do massive area of effect damage.

It’s clear that these two companions have been chosen to provide a sense of how you can tailor your squad to your needs. While both were useful in any given situation, I found myself reflexively reaching for Suliman’s abilities before a full-scale fight broke out, letting me thin the ranks, and Elise during fights that had gotten out of hand, letting me retreat and take a breather. With the number of companions we know are going to be in this game, it’s clear that there’s as much a tactical reason to bring someone along as there is the classic “I want to be their friend!” element so familiar from the likes of Mass Effect.

Another shift from the expected is this game’s take on morality – other games in the genre had already moved away from “good or evil” into something might be better termed as “individualist vs. egalitarian”, but Exodus goes even further towards letting you define the exact kind of personality you want Jun to have. Traveler Oaths subdivide the usually binary choice – here called Paladin and Immortal – into even more honed takes on your character’s personality. Adding even more complexity, your companions will react differently to different Oaths, meaning you’ll need to go some way to keep them onside while ploughing your own chosen path.

Everything from the above has clearly been chosen to deepen the action-adventure RPG genre – combat is more diverse and choice-oriented, companions are more specialized, morality is more rich and complex. And surrounding all this is that sense that if we can take a near-FTL trip to save a bunch of frogs, anything could happen – it might be coming in a familiar package, but Exodus is promising something truly new.

Exodus arrives for XBOX Series X|S and XBOX on PC on April 7, 2027. Play it on both console and PC at no additional cost with XBOX Play Anywhere.

EXODUS

Wizards of the Coast

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

Get it now

EXODUS is a cinematic single-player action RPG set in a new, far-future sci-fi universe. You are Jun Aslan, a salvager fighting for the future of your homeworld. Explore ancient ruins, blast your way past hostile Celestial enemies and rival human factions, and recover powerful Remnants to reshape your civilization. Discover your destiny and lead a crew of unforgettable companions as you search for the key to humanity’s survival across the most dangerous reaches of space. Unravel an Epic, Cinematic Story •Rise from a survivor of a Rot-infested world into someone capable of shaping the future, as choices of virtue or ambition shape the legacy you leave behind. •As heir to the Aslan Dynasty, you must prepare the next generation of Travelers to embark on Exodus to save your world, knowing years will be lost before you return. Lead Your Crew, Build Your Dynasty •Assemble a crew of sharp-edged specialists — soldiers, smugglers, mercs, scholars, and Awakened animals — whose skills and chemistry shape every fight and decision. •Build bonds with your companions — fight beside them, fall for them, save them, or lose them. Explore the Ruins of Forgotten Worlds •Descend into the wrecks of ancient civilizations, derelict alien ships, and forgotten tombs few have ever laid eyes on. •Salvage powerful weapons, lost technology, and artifacts the universe was meant to forget, and humanity was never meant to possess. Make Hard Choices with Real Consequences •Your decisions will affect your crew, your missions, the people who stay behind, and the fate of your entire world. •Because of Time Dilation, your actions will echo across generations as you adventure across the distant frontiers of time and space. Fight for Humanity’s Future •Wield the Recycler—a special weapon that, once upgraded and modified, can morph into what you need, when you need it. •Command the Gauntlet — a one-of-a-kind weapon and tool only you can wield, fusing scavenged alien tech into devastating new abilities. Survive a Hostile Galaxy •Take down monstrous creatures, ancient war machines, rival salvagers, and the universe's apex predators: the Celestials. •Tear through encounters your way — guns blazing, slipping through unseen, or sometimes talking your way past the trouble. Play Within a New, Sci-Fi Universe •Embark on an adventure 40,000 years from Earth, where Time Dilation brings the true cost of interstellar travel to life. •Discover a rich universe that has expanded into a tabletop RPG, a novel duology by award-winning author Peter F. Hamilton, and an episode of Amazon Prime’s Secret Level series.

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