Gamescom 2019: Don’t Miss These 5 Amazing Xbox Announcements
Xbox is making big announcements ahead of the next console war. | Source: YouTube/Xbox
By CCN.com: The Inside Xbox team takes to the stage at Gamescom 2019 to make several major announcements. Gamescom, which takes place annually in Germany, is one of the biggest games industry events and has given Microsoft and Xbox a huge platform for hardware and game reveals.
1. Gears 5 Horde Mode
Gears 5 is one of the most hotly anticipated Xbox One games, and Horde is one of the series’ most popular modes, so put the two of them together and you have a fan reaction not unlike a lit fuse to a powder keg.
The co-op game made will be back, allowing five players to team up and take on hordes of enemies, using ultimate abilities to take down incredibly powerful enemies and erecting fortifications to hold them off. The makeup of a team will be important as characters have their own abilities such as Kait’s invisibility cloak and Fahz’s X-Ray which allows him to see and fire at enemies through walls.
2. Vigor
Xbox One players have seen a wave of brilliant loot shooters hit their platform this year, from Apex Legends to The Division 2. Vigor is a free-to-play game that hopes to join their great ranks, taking players to Norway where they must find resources, craft shelter and defend themselves in a fallen society. There are “encounters” of between eight to 12 players, making scavenging for “precious” resources difficult.
Having only just launched its version 1.0 on Xbox One, it’s difficult to say whether Vigor will be a success. However, the game is being developed by Bohemia Interactive which also developed the loot shooter DayZ and that experience could help make a popular title.
3. New Xbox Controllers
There is a huge culture around Xbox One controllers, and at Gamescom 2019, Microsoft showed that it knows it. Fans were very happy to see Night Ops Camo Special Edition and Sport Blue Special Edition revealed on Inside Xbox at Gamescom 2019.
Launching on September 17, 2019, the new pieces of hardware look great and will likely feel great too. Night Ops Camo’s gold, gray, and black gives it a rugged luxury feel, while Sport Blue is a good choice for fans of the Baltimore Ravens, Detroit Lions, Golden State Warriors, San Diego Padres, or one of the other many blue sports teams in the US. Microsoft has just confirmed that Xbox One controllers will work with the next Xbox console, Project Scarlett, too, making the $69.99 price tag for the new hardware seem more affordable.
4. Gears 5 Halo: Reach Character Pack
Microsoft spent good time talking about Gears 5 at Gamescom 2019, and the other big reveal was that of the Gears 5 Halo: Reach character pack. The character pack adds Emile and Kat as playable characters, as well as Halo: Reach cosmetics such as the Halo: Reach Noble Team Jack skin, the Halo: Reach Noble Team Blood Spray and more.
The Gears 5 Halo: Reach character pack is only available with the Gears 5 Ultimate Edition or to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers. So, anyone who wants to get their hands on the content will have to pay a bit extra.
5. PUBG Crossplay
Sony has dragged its feet with allowing cross-platform play, or crossplay, between PS4 and other consoles. Just a handful of games support the feature, with Fortnite and Rocket League being among them. That’s why it was such a big deal when Microsoft announced that PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) would be getting crossplay between Xbox One and PS4 later this year.
No release date was given for the crossplay update other than “later this year.” Fans seem delighted by the news, though, as it will allow them to play with friends who aren’t on the same console as they are.
