#this is about sable by shedworks

[moonssugar]

all i wanna do is live in a video game world where i can explore forever and meet cool people and never buy anything or work

[nintendowife]

I finally took the time to play Sable now that it is about to leave Game Pass. I’m very glad I did because I ended up enjoying the game enough to get all the achievements too. 

I liked the relaxed exploration and the sci-fi mystery narrative drove me forward in the game. The real star is the comic book style visuals - I ended up firing up photo mode frequently. Ambient audio and fitting music tracks made the experience even greater.  Definitely one of the finest indie games around and an amazing debut from Shedworks.

[nerdy-bits]

Sable: A World Worth Exploring

It feels like I've been climbing for hours. Each handhold bringing the next platform closer and closer, I keep a close eye on my stamina. What a tragedy it would be to lose all of this height if I miscalculated my ability to hold on until the next ledge. I glance over my shoulder at the towering fall beneath me, not afraid of dying, after all I have the Perpetual to slow any untimely decent, but while taking in the striated pillars of stone above the ocean of sand I can’t help but fret that I won’t make the climb. With a grunt I mount the ledge and pause briefly, letting my stamina return. The view above is daunting, I’m only halfway up this climb. I survey the possible routes, chose the most actionable, and make my way up another sheer rock wall. I’m immediately reminded of Shadow of the Colossus, though this is no living beast. Every movement a careful exercise of judgment and execution, I make my way, slowly, up to the top. At the summit lies a pair of stone silo-esque buildings adorning an abandoned courtyard. Birds line the wooden pegs jutting out from each tower. There’s a dilapidated cart, its canvas slouching between dry-rotted struts, the wheels long detached. Turns out there is nothing of material gain atop this precipice, but a short climb to the top of a silo, displacing the reposed birds, yields a different kind of award. In the distance I can see what I will later discover is the Eyrie, a collection of ancient buildings cresting the the finger-like towers of the Badlands. There is smoke emanating from one of the peaks, a telltale sign that someone has made camp there. The gently bobbing balloon tells me that someone is a Cartographer. The perilous trek to their balloon will have me traipsing the spine of a long dead titanic beast, climb at least a dozen more outcroppings, and likely glide across chasms so high above the Badlands floor that a fall would prove the end of my willingness to attempt again. Somehow, despite the risks, I make the journey. My hands aren’t sweaty, per se, but I feel my shoulders drop a good couple inches when I step up to the Cartographer. It’s a lot of work for a map and a badge, but in Sable, the stylish coming of age tale from Shedworks, the journey is literally the entire point. 

I first recall seeing Sable when it was announced in 2018. Like many others, I was immediately drawn to the Moebius influenced art and motorcycle-like gliders. In the three years since its announcement I would remember it occasionally, hoping its release was close. Video games and expectations mix like oil and water, generally. Though I would be the first to tell you it’s ok to be excited by something, in games that often culminates in disappointment. Sometimes that responsibility lies on the shoulders of the developers for talking up their project, but often it rests on the shoulders of fans. We are so prone to dumping all of our hopes and dreams into projects that catch our eye. Sable was in the middle for me. Never something I found controlling my thoughts, but a game I remained fiendishly curious about as more information dripped out of the small UK studio. 

In 2021, honestly for the majority of the history of games, one of the defining anchor points in games has been combat. Mechanically it is often what gives a game legs. Is the combat fun, is it repetitive, is it challenging? It’s far more rare to encounter a game that does away with this core mechanic entirely. Sable is not at a lack of things it could use to kill you. From giant beetles to gravity itself, yet it decided to do away with player mortality entirely. You are going to be killing anything here. And nothing is going to try to kill you. It’s refreshing. A respite from the day to day killing that possesses so many other titles. Sable isn’t about mastering the pattern of a bosses attack flurry or finding the right elemental damage to use against mobs or even jumping on enemy heads. It’s a game ostensibly about the coming of age for a young girl named Sable. It’s core mechanic: exploration. 

It’s not exactly a new premise. There are other games that put their emphasis on exploration. But where Sable differs, to me, is in its setting. Midden is a beautifully desolate place. From the Ewer, where your Ibexii tribe is settled, the the sprawling deserts that surround it: The centrally located Sansee, Redsee to the west, Hakoa to the southwest, The Wash, to the southeast, The Sodic Waste to the northeast, and the Badlands in the south-center. Each stretch of dust holds aesthetically unique elements. The Sansee is sprawling and wide, with rock outcroppings, plinths and plateaus. The Badlands a collection of towering geological formations. Redsee features deep and layered canyons. The Wash is pale, as its name would imply, and has a hauntingly foggy forest and a massive tract of titanic skeletons. Hakoa is dark-sanded and smog laden, with the incredible Crystal Plateau looming on the horizon. Finally the Sodic Waste is a graveyard of massive ship carcasses, their hollowed shells canyons of a different nature. All of these places bleed into each other with sand. The dunes of one region sweeping into the next, connecting every inch of Midden with a sense, not of loneliness, but of isolation. It’s not lonely because in your travels you will come across a smattering of settlements. In one instance, Eccria in the Redsee, you will find a full blown city. The people of Midden aren’t struggling, this isn’t a post apocalypse. Though in your crawling through fallen ships like the Dunboyne and Shadow of Neave, you will start to weave together a story that suggests these people are the survivors of a tragic and isolating event, interactions with the locals of each region suggest that life is fine. It may be tough at times, but people genuinely seem happy. This lends this almost whimsical nature to the interactions Sable has. I rarely caught myself worried or stressed about the tasks I undertook.

Sable is a coming of age story. It is imparted early on that the children of Midden, as they approach adulthood, venture out on what they call their Gliding. These young adults build (not make - an important distinction) their Gliders, hovering motorcycle-like craft, and set out into the desert to discover their life’s calling. The entire game is framed around Sable’s Gliding. Gliders are expected to explore the place that they inhabit in depth, interacting with and doing favors for the people they come across. As a plot device this works very well on its face, but the writing of Sable quickly lends more to the pull of the Gliding. As you venture out into Midden you will come across people wearing specific masks. Masks are equally utilitarian and identifying in this world. Cartographers wear masks that appear to be fashioned out of sextants and octants, Scrapper masks are shiny and fabricated from - you guessed it - scrap metal, Merchant masks are gold and opulent. There are fourteen masks in total to discover, and most of them require you to acquire badges from members of each guild. Help a Machinist, get a badge. Collect three badges and you can visit the Mask Caster and claim your mask. The cutscene that plays when you receive one of these masks from the Caster is strange and sort of uncomfortable and adds to the mysterious nature of these people. 

So off I went. I saddled up on Simoon, my glider (more on that later), and started wandering the arid drifts. 

The first thing you will notice playing Sable, as I mentioned before, is its art style. UK developer Shedworks drew heavily from the famous artist Jean Giraud (known also as Moebius). Well know for his peculiar and fascinating style, Moebius’s work is most easily compared when viewed through the lens of ligne claire (French for “clear line”), a style consisting of strong lines and bold colors with little to know hatching. Only vaguely familiar with his work I found myself looking into it more pointedly nearly eight hours into the game. It was so vivid and unique I had to see where it came from. It’s arguably an odd path to discovery, as I am sure many would have sought out the inspiring work first, but what my haphazard process prompted was a sense of awe at Shedworks’ ability to capture the Moebius style in such a large world. Dunes and canyons are painted in bold monotone when the sun is high. Bright oranges and reds punctuated by greens and yellows. As the sun sets the palette begins to bleed into itself as teals fade into deep blues and purples. Find yourself in an unsightly interior after nightfall and color will wash completely from the screen as grays become the dominating tone. There are many ways to beautifully portray an open, sandy world. What Sable does is unique and constantly gave me pause. Clearing a canyon wall to see undiscovered meandering mounds of sand and rock foregrounding a blue scale horizon is stunning. I never got tired of that experience. 

Honestly, given what I have told you so far, I had seen all I needed to see of Sable to enjoy it endlessly. Much to my surprise, what I got from the writing easily surpassed my expectations. 

Sable isn’t an exposition heavy game. In fact, most of the story that you encounter tells itself to you as you glide about the world. The enormous carcasses of ships and the AI remnant inside them tell you the story of how this population ended up where they are. The small towns and villages, each with their own merchants and Machinists tell you that these people aren’t struggling, they have adapted. The missions you go on will rarely tell a story to you in the dialogue boxes that bookend the quest. Rather, Sable tells you about its world by sending you into it. You start to become familiar with the topography, recognizing outcropping and plateaus, navigating around Kemble’s Cube, using the Bridge of the Betrayed as a reference point, or framing the world around you from the domed top of The Watch. I didn’t become as familiar with the world as I did, say, Night City from last year’s controversial Cyberpunk 2077, though forgoing fast travel for the first half of the game to better learn my surroundings paid off in similar ways. Each region in Sable carries with it a colored distinction, complemented of course by unique topography (a word I realize I am going to use a lot in this piece). With those environmental distinctions I started to piece together the “story” of the people I met. The traders at Burnt Oak Station lived a slow and easy life, soaking in the rolling amber horizon in the mornings and evenings, receding under their tents in the fire-gold afternoon. The citizens of Eccria bustled beneath their canvas sail awnings, the smell of merchant perfumes and fish wafting through the air. A tavern in the center of town, with a multileveled floor plan, the common place to drink the day’s stresses away. The dark and thunderous Seven Sisters Station, an outpost a short glide away from the ominous and beautiful Crystal Plateau, whose denizens deal with the Hakoan crystal miners, crack jokes in the dark at night over stewed pots of small game and warm drinks. None of this is explicitly stated. Still, the way that the creators of Sable constructed their world lends perfectly to the kind of storytelling I am the biggest fan of: Player-driven. 

It’s no obscured fact that I absolutely adore the XCOM games, and despite the mechanical differences between them and Sable, I love them largely for the same reason. There is a ton of diligent work put into creating an environment that, once the player is given the reins, allows them to fill it with their own little stories. Then, as you hunt down badges you learn that Machinists can hear the machines in the wilds. Not just the groan of aged and weathered metal humming in the wind, but actually hear the heartbeat of machines, attune to their souls, speak with them. There is a moment later in the game, where Sable mentions liking Simoon’s (her glider) sense of humor, and I was broadsided by this charming sense of discovery and joy. How amazing that their world works like this. To conceptualize that Machinists don’t “make” new machines, instead they find the separated parts of a machine destined to be put together and build them whole anew. It wasn’t far into my journey with Sable that I knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Machinist mask would be the one I chose at my Gliding’s end. I had become fully attached to Simoon, emotionally. As I found new parts for her I sought to find the parts that seemed to best bring forth her true voice. The moaning hum of Whale and crackle of Shock Crystal combination I settled on just felt, well, right. I had found her voice. I didn’t change her, I merely gave her the tools to speak freely. Truly an experience I have never felt such ownership of, nor pride in, from any other game. 

Then comes the timing of this game’s release in my personal life, something the developers could not have planned for, but nevertheless get to reap the rewards of. For the last three months I have battled sciatic nerve and lower back pain that, at times, proved to be nearly crippling. I’m not a terrifically mobile person day to day anyway, so initially I hadn’t worried about the smothering sense of immobility I was quickly confronted with. I’m a human, I like to move around. Being unable to do so without stabbing pain has been a trial of the most excruciating form. Couple that with an extremely isolationist 2020 and 2021 and sitting down to a game that asks you to simply explore and find the joy in that endeavor was nothing short of a spiritual experience. I know that may sound over exaggerated, but in truth, I really can think of no other way to put it into words. A diehard fan of Bourdain and his globetrotting lifestyle and the food experiences that came with it, I found myself relishing in the novelty of each new place on Midden. What was the food like here? I imagined savory smells wafting from merchant booths, condensation beaded glasses and sweet concoctions at the bars, the particular smell of percolated coffee in an enamel mug at campfires. I was freed by Sable to travel freely. To run and jump and climb and explore and solve and learn. 

Mark Twain is attributed with saying “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” Sable seems to have taken that sentiment and made it the core of this world’s ethos. Go out and see the world, experience what it and its many different people have to offer. Find your place among them, beside them, and then move forward into adulthood with this new appreciation for what is around you. It’s something all people should do. It’s something far too few people ever actually do. On Midden, for the young Sable, it is simply how life is lived. 

I try to write about games as personally as I can. This often leads to long breaks between written pieces because not every game speaks to me in a way I feel I have something unique to share. Sable gave me something to write about from its very first moments to its very last. A coming of age tale that has just as much to say about what it means to find your place in the world as it does reminding you to remember what it felt like to explore without fear. A world where learning is more important than fighting. A world where the remnants of the past are a guiding light to where we are going more than a reminder of how it used to be. What a tremendous way to think. What a wonderful thing to put in the hands of players. 

So to close, in the words of Sable herself, looking up at the Hakoan Crystal Farmer stooping over her, and as a reminder that what you take from this game is your own: “My reading is informed by the markers I see among my own people, the shorthands of a culture, and [you] are in no way beholden to my interpretation.” Though I imagine, if you enter with an open mind, you will find a similarly beautiful creation. 

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 6/22/2021

bought a subaru during pride month so i get +1 to any two of my Gay Stats. this comes to you from a mechanic’s shop where i am waiting for this thing to get inspected so fewer photos/links/the formatting is a little wack sorry

listening t r a n s p a r e n t s o u l feat. Travis Barker, by WILLOW. summer is pop punk season i dont make the rules. i don’t think i’ve heard “modern” pop punk sound so much like the pop punk i listened to in high school? more of a stripped-down paramore vibe but the Vibes are There

reading fallow week

watching the star war show The Bad B/atch is unfortunately starting to grow on me. maybe i have gotten used to the visuals? the last two eps have looked like...i mean filmy in a transparent hazy sort of way with details implied? the last two eps have had some killer backgrounds and are full of the classic star war YO THAT LOOKS SICK AS FUCKING SHIT scenes that i ADORE. this is what i’m here for. i like to say i’m here for the political intrigue and worldbuilding but i am very much “wow cool robot” at all times

playing Sable, by shedworks. i’ve been keeping an eye on this game for...a while bc i’m a fucking sucker for this art style. adore it already. love an open world explore-and-talk-to-people-and-go-fast game. but let’s get back to the art. the particle effects are, dare i say inspired? they charm and delight me as flat little orbs floating in mid-air instead of fuzzy twinkles (lookin at u, ubisoft). the extent of a campfire’s light is suggested by a quivering, thin black circle instead of a diffuse halo. god i fuckin love this shit even though i’ve only played about five minutes bc my personal laptop is deeply unhappy about running it and steam will not let me log in on the work computer. am i going to be able to repair my personal gaming pc before i move? almost certainly not, i’m going to have to juggle a bag of loose parts and hope things go well

making acquired a new robot son, an embroidery machine that runs on a gameboy color

[nvgotd]

Our favourite non-violent games of E3 Week 2021

Back in 2019, we ran a post listing every non-violent game shown during E3. Given this year’s array of E3 and E3-adjacent events produced 115 upcoming non-violent games (as you may have read somewhere), that just wasn’t practical. Instead, Rebekah and I have each picked out five our our faves. Enjoy!

- James

REBEKAH’S TOP 5

Pekoe

There is perhaps nothing cozier than tea and cats. Pekoe puts the player in the shoes of the newest resident and teahouse owner in a town of sentient cats. The cats want your tea, and you can learn to make it for them, learning about different tea varieties and tea making styles as you go while building relationships with the town’s inhabitants. You can upgrade and customize your teahouse, visit other teahouses for inspiration, and learn about different rituals, customs, and preparation styles for tea. Pekoe is developed by (appropriately) Kitten Cup Studio, and is planned for release in 2022.

Bear and Breakfast

Build and run a bed and breakfast in a tranquil wood...but also, you’re a bear! Startout with a rundown old inn, and build it up into splendor again while attracting and awing tourists who come to stay. Bear and Breakfast is a laidback management sim about growing a cozy woodland business, but with the added bonus of a forest mystery that unravels as your bustling breakfast nook grows. Developed by Gummy Cat, and planned for release later this year.

Behind the Frame: The Finest Scenery

Behind the Frame follows an artist living alone, preparing a masterpiece for a gallery submission. It’s a puzzle game focused on both her day to day activities, her interactions with a fellow painter and neighbor (and his cat!), and painting itself. You’ll use a painting and sketch mechanic to solve puzzles that explore memory and emotion, all of which takes place in a hand-animated world that looks like it was pulled straight out of a Ghibli movie. Developed by Akupara Games.

Bird Problems

There are a lot of unique ideas for non-violent games and mechanics out there, but one I had personally never seen before was modeling a game after a sitcom. Bird Problems follows a young bird named Tweeter Gregory who’s clumsy and awkward, but just wants to make friends and enjoy a nice boba tea. We haven’t seen much of this game from Lithic Entertainment just yet, but its trailer at the Wholesome Direct stood out due to its resemblance to the goofy sitcoms of the 90s. But with birds!

A Little to the Left

Many of the non-violent games shown over the recent E3 weeks were narrative-focused, but sometimes all you want is a pleasant little puzzle game. A Little to the Left is less complicated, and in that way seems straightforward and soothing: it’s about reorganizing, tidying up, and setting things right. You’ll spend it arranging objects into patterns that look pleasant, with occasional “help” from a mischievous interrupting cat. Developed by Max Inferno, it’s planned for launch this October.

JAMES’ TOP 5

Forza Horizon 5

If you know what Forza Horizon is, you’re likely already looking forward to this one and/or have pre-ordered it/subscribed to Xbox Game Pass. For those who don’t, here’s a quick crash course (pun absolutely not intended): Developed by UK studio Playground Games, Horizon is the open-world spin-off series from Microsoft’s acclaimed Forza Motorsport franchise. While Motorsport focuses on simulation racing, Horizon offers a slightly more arcade-like experience, letting players loose behind the wheels of some of the world’s most powerful cars. You explore the landscape (Mexico, this time) to find more race locations or other ways to raise your Influence. Doing so unlocks the Top Gear-esque showstopper challenge. New to the mix are Expeditions, which take you on guided tours of the most beautiful places of the map, and Horizon Arcade, which lets you create your own tracks, stunts and races. Forza Horizon 5 is due for release on November 9th.

Sable

This indie sci-fi exploration game has been in the works for several years, but it’s finally approaching release. Set on a desert planet, you play a young woman from a nomadic tribe sent on a ritualistic quest to explore the world - on a hoverbike. Akin to Luke Skywalker’s landspeeder, or more accurately the giant USB dongle Rey drove in The Force Awakens, your task is to discover more about the world as you learn more about yourself. Investigating the wreckage of old ships will help you find the components you need to upgrade your bike, and as you meet other tribes, you can complete side quests to help them and forge new friendships. Developed by Shedworks, Sable will be available from September 23rd.

Phantom Abyss

This game has a bit of an Indiana Jones meets Mirror's Edge kind of vibe. Players race through ancient temples, leaping chasms and dodging booby traps, in the hopes of being the first to reach the relic at the centre. You don't technically compete with other players in real time; instead, you race their ghosts, following their leads and learning from their mistakes. Each temple is randomly generated, but as soon as someone claims the relic, they are declared champion of that particular temple and the course is removed forever, cementing their victory. And yes, you have an Indy-style whip to swing across gaps. It’s developed by Team WIBY and launched in Early Access last week.

Lake

Most video game stories present the player with world-ending stakes, sending them on an urgent quest where the clock is always ticking. Lake is a much more personal and relaxed affair. Set in 1986, you take on the role of Meredith Weiss, a forty-something career woman taking a break ahead of her software company’s big launch. She heads back to the fictional lakeside town of Providence Oaks, Oregon, her childhood home, to rediscover old friends and see what (if anything) has changed. She also takes on her father’s role as a mail carrier, delivering letters and parcels each day while he is on holiday. During the two weeks, she can forge friendships, find love, or even choose to give up her career and make a new home for herself - the choice is up to you. Lake is developed by Gamious and is due for release by the end of the year.

Schim

This 3D puzzle platformer has a simple but wonderfully creative premise: jumping between shadows. You control a schim: the soul of a living creature or object. This particular schim has become separated from the human being it was attached to, and it’s up to you to reunite them. You can hop between shadows as if they were pools of water, and if a shadow is moving (for example, the shadow of someone walking about or a bird flying) that pool will move and take you with it. Working out the best route between shadows is the only way to navigate each level, set across various urban and rural spaces. Timing is the key, because as soon as you leap out of a shadow and land in the light, it’s game over. As you can see, all of this is presented in a beautifully distinct style. Schim is being developed by Ewould van der Werf, although a release window has yet to be decided.

[gaming]

Indie Game Spotlight: Sable

Pack your bags and get ready for an adventure with this week’s Indie Game Spotlight. Sable is an open-world exploration in which you play the titular Sable, a young girl who is leaving home for the first time. You’ll explore the desert world by travelling across its landscapes on your hoverbike, exploring ancient ruins, and meeting nomadic peoples.

We chatted with Gregorios Kythreotis, the lead artist and designer on the project at Shedworks, about the game’s origins, aesthetics, and the power of GIFs. Read on!

First of all, Sable looks GORGEOUS. How did the team come up with the game’s aesthetic, and what were some inspirations?

The art is inspired by our favourite 2D animation and graphic novel artists—Moebius, Francois Schuiten, Studio Ghibli, and Katsuhiro Otomo, among many others. We also looked to other visual media, like architecture, for inspiration as to how to create a believable and in-depth world that is interesting to explore. Star Wars: The Force Awakens was another big inspiration for us.

 Where did the idea behind Sable originate from?

The core concept comes from exploring ideas of scale and loneliness: seeing something gigantic on the horizon and creating a kind of ambient adventure of the journey through the desert towards it. One of the earliest references was The Force Awakens—particularly the opening scene—but we wanted to get away from the idea that this was the tale of a hero escaping their planet to save the galaxy. What if you weren’t the chosen one? What if you were just a normal person who lives in this land? We wanted to try to make that idea interesting, in and of itself.

Can you tell us about any ideas or concepts that were discarded during the development process?

Originally, I think we thought of it as being a sort of survival game, but it felt wrong for the tone we were going for. We wanted something more narrative-driven and accessible for players of all skill sets, so we’ve tried to keep the scope relatively tight when it comes to mechanical features. We might end up having to cut some of the world-building, but we haven’t had to do that yet.

How have you used Tumblr to tap into the community while creating the game?

We’ve been sharing GIFs mostly, we know that Tumblr likes GIFs and our game happens to GIF quite well, so that fits what we’re doing nicely.

What advice would you give to anyone wanting to create a game?

I find generic advice hard to give because it’s so situational; you have to apply critical thinking to any piece of advice you get. The thing I wish we had done earlier, is to play to our strengths as a team—we’re doing that now, and it’s working well for us, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s advice that applies universally.

Want to learn more about Sable? Check out their Tumblr over at @shedworksgames, or dive into their website for game updates and more. 

[newzzwired]

Sable open world adventure lands on PlayStation 5

Sable open world adventure lands on PlayStation 5

If you have been patiently waiting for the launch of the open world adventure game Sable. You will be pleased to know that it is now available to enjoy on the PlayStation platform and Gregorios Kythreotis Creative Director at developer Shedworks has taken to the official PlayStation blog to reveal more details about what you can expect from the “coming-of-age adventure“. “For those of you who are…

[spicynbachili2]

A Letter from Chris Charla: ID@Xbox Celebrates Release of 1,000 Titles Through the Program

Earlier than we introduced the ID@Xbox program, we did a listening tour in 2012 with greater than 50 builders to assist us form a program that basically labored for builders. On the time, it felt like lots of people! It’s nearly surreal that we’re now taking a look at 1000’s of proficient individuals working at greater than three,000 studios independently creating video games for thousands and thousands of gamers around the globe on Xbox One and Home windows 10 with the ID@Xbox program. It’s an incredible feeling to not solely see how a lot the unbiased improvement scene has grown through the years, but additionally to be a part of a program that empowers and helps unbiased builders proceed to do what they love.

Sixty-seven nations throughout the globe, over 4 billion hours performed by the group and greater than a billion in digital income later, we’re thrilled to share that 1,000 video games have been launched by way of the ID@Xbox program. Becoming a member of a few of our most memorable releases like Studio MDHR’s Cuphead, Fullbright’s Tacoma, playdead’s INSIDE, Chucklefish’s Stardew Valley, Matt Makes Video games’ Celeste and The Behemoth’s Pit Individuals, video games together with Group17’s Overcooked 2, Darkish Star’s Sinner: Sacrifice for Redemption and Pixel Journey Studios’ The Videokid launched this 12 months serving to push us to this new milestone.

Over these previous 5 years, we’ve seen the releases of unbelievable titles throughout each single style possible – and plenty of video games we by no means may have imagined after we acquired began! We’re stoked that ID@Xbox is constant to supply builders a spot to share their tales in a significant manner, serving to to extend unbiased sport discoverability and shaping Xbox One and Home windows 10 as platforms that anybody could make video games on and create with. We’re persevering with to have fun this momentum into the long run and produce much more rad experiences to gamers with upcoming titles like Gradual Bros.’s Harold Halibut, Capybara Video games’ Under, Aurora 44’s Ashen, Black Desert from Pearl Abyss and Sable from Shedworks.

The 1,000th launch this month marks an essential milestone for ID@Xbox, and we’re taking the chance to look again on the influence our improvement companions and followers have had on this system:

Above all, thanks to the followers which have proven unbiased builders an indescribable quantity of affection on Xbox since day one, and thanks to the builders that hold making superior sport and giving us nice suggestions every day about how we are able to enhance our program. We’re psyched to assist builders convey us extra surprises, extra outside-of-the-box considering and discovering new methods to push boundaries inside gaming.

Keep tuned to Xbox Wire for extra thrilling updates on superior video games coming from unbiased builders through ID@Xbox!

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from SpicyNBAChili.com https://www.spicynbachili.com/a-letter-from-chris-charla-idxbox-celebrates-release-of-1000-titles-through-the-program/

[newspress-fan]

Sable's Journey Of Discovery Doesn't Start Until 2019

Sable's Journey Of Discovery Doesn't Start Until 2019

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We saw Shedworks’ Sable at E3 and the game’s artwork immediately caught our attention. Today at Gamescom during Microsoft’s presentation, the dev announced that the game won’t come out until 2019. Late 2019.

We’re sure we’ll see and hear more about the title and the journey of its heroine before then, so be on the look out.

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[aion-rsa]

15 Best Xbox Game Pass Games Announced at E3 2021

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Xbox and Bethesda hit E3 2021 with an impressive lineup of games, including several first-party exclusives as well as day one launches for Xbox Game Pass. In fact, the growing list of games coming to the on-demand service was the major focal point of the presentation, with Xbox showing gamers just how much bang for their buck they’ll be getting in the next two years.

From Halo Infinite and Back 4 Blood to more classics from Bethesda’s backlog and Starfield (now officially an Xbox exclusive), Xbox Game Pass may have been the real winner of E3 this year. Just look at all of the high-profile games coming to the service:

Wondering which titles you really need to keep an eye out for, what you should be pre-installing as we speak, and which games are perfect to play with your friends? Here are the 15 best Xbox Game Pass titles announced at E3 2021:

A Plague Tale: Requiem

The very gim stealth survival game A Plague Tale: Innocence was one of the best (and most prescient) surprises of 2019, just as the Xbox One era was coming to a close. Requiem picks up where that heartbreaking, rat-filled story left off, with “Amicia and her brother Hugo on a perilous new quest, doing whatever it takes to survive a brutal, uncaring world,” according to a blog post on Xbox Wire. In the announcement trailer, we watch as a mass of rats overtake a medieval city’s streets, which can only mean there are very dark days to come.

Release Date: 2022

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Age of Empires IV

Real-time strategy fans have been waiting a very long time Age of Empires IV, which was announced in 2017. Set in the Middle Ages across 8 different civilizations at launch, Age of Empires IV is the first new installment in the series in 16 years. Fortunately, the game is finally out this year, letting players take control of some of the most powerful kingdoms in human history, including the English, French, Mongols, and the Dehli Sultanate.

Release Date: Oct. 28, 2021

Among Us

The addictive party game that took the world by storm last year when we were all still locked inside is finally hitting Xbox Game Pass this year. Inspired by sci-fi horror movies like John Carpenter’s The Thing, Innersloth’s Among Us puts you and up to 9 of your friends on a spaceship or space station to complete tasks pivotal to your mission. There’s just one problem: up to three of these “friends” are Impostors who work to sabotage your efforts and kill off the rest of the unsuspecting crew. You and your crewmates must work together to figure out who the Impostors are before your team is completely wiped out.

Release Date: 2022

Back 4 Blood

Left 4 Dead fans have a lot to look forward to in 2021. Not only is Back 4 Blood a spiritual successor to that classic co-op shooter series, it’s also being developed by the makers of the original, Turtle Rock Studios. But they’re not just making 1:1 nostalgic followup to their beloved Valve hit. They’re throwing in some new twists to the formula, including new enemy types, modes, and an intriguing roguelike card system that should make every playthrough feel exciting and unique. It’s a day one Xbox Game Pass launch title, so this should be a very easy game to flock to with your friends.

Release Date: Oct. 12, 2021

Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance

While Baldur’s Gate 3 was a return to the era of Forgotten Realms-set CRPGs for hardcore gamers yearning for a more complex experience, Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance is a bit more accessible, even as it nods to another beloved series from the past. Billed as a “third-person action brawler,” Dark Alliance lets you choose from four heroes to hack your way through a multitude of classic D&D monsters in order to find all of the epic loot in the Icewind Dale. A day one launch this month means you’ll be able to jump in ASAP.

Release Date: June 22, 2021

Hades

This roguelike dungeon crawler starring the prince of the Underworld, Hades’ son Zagreus, launched last year and quickly became an indie darling. At its core, Hades is a hack-and-slash game that follows Zagreus as he makes his way out of his father’s realm and to Mount Olympus. But since this is a roguelike, no two playthroughs are the same, with randomized rooms and encounters throwing twists at the player at every turn. This is the kind of game you will keep you coming back for more weeks and even months after it drops on Game Pass.

Release Date: Aug. 21, 2021

Halo Infinite

Halo Infinite has had a long, difficult journey since it was first announced at E3 2018. the game has faced a series of delays, reports of behind-the-scenes drama, and the fallout of a July gameplay unveiling so disastrous that the internet is still making memes about it. But it does look like 343 is turning things around. At E3 2021, the studio not only announced that the game will be out this holiday but that its multiplayer will be free for Xbox and PC owners. You shouldn’t have any trouble finding a lobby when this hits Game Pass at launch.

Release Date: Holiday 2021

The Outer Worlds 2

One of the best sci-fi RPGs of the last decade is getting a sequel. It’s a no-brainer. Obsidian Entertainment shared virtually zero details about The Outer Worlds 2 except that it’s happening at some point. Best of all, it’ll be a day one exclusive for Xbox Game Pass.

Release Date: TBA

Psychonauts 2

Double Fine fans have been begging Tim Schafer for a Psychonauts 2 update for a while, and they finally got one at E3 2021. Razputin Aquato will finally return this summer, along with his band of psychic spies, this time on a mission to…resurrect a mass murdering psychic named Maligula? Huh? Expect a few surprises from this long-awaited sequel.

Release Date: Aug. 25, 2021

Redfall

Xbox and Bethesda’s big surprise of E3 2021 is a new co-op action game called Redfall (previously rumored to be the title of The Elder Scrolls 6). When the quiet community of Redfall is invaded by a vampire cult with a plan to unleash Hell on Earth, a group of unconventional heroes with unique abilities decide to save the town. Oozing a dark sense of humor and some really spooky enemies, Redfall could be Dishonored developer Arkane’s first hit on the Xbox Series X.

Release Date: Summer 2022

Sable

Sable is by far the most visually stunning game featured at E3 2021 presentation. It’s an indie open-world exploration game from Shedworks, which also boasts a beautiful soundtrack from artist Japanese Breakfast. Heavily inspired by the movies of Studio Ghibli and the art of Jean “Moebius” Girard, the game stars a young girl named Sable who embarks on a rite of passage across her desert land. This is one indie you don’t want to miss.

Release Date: Sept. 13, 2021

Scorn

The visuals in Scorn are as horrifying as Sable‘s are cute. This horror shooter from Ebb Software exists in a dark world of meat, gristle, and bone, and stars a skinless protagonist who must fight his way through a gauntlet of grotesque monsters, while trying to solve the mystery of how he got to this awful world in the first place. The game is inspired by the art of H. R. Giger and Zdzisław Beksiński and it shows.

Release Date:

Stalker 2: Heart of Chernobyl

Stalker 2 has been a long time coming. The proper sequel to the cult-hit 2007 shooter takes players back to the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, a strangle place full of horrors and enemy factions out to kill you. We don’t know much about the game’s story except that you’ll be able to explore some familiar locations from the series’ past, while also discovering new corners of this universe.

Release Date: April 28, 2022

Starfield

Bethesda knew that there was no title in its lineup as highly anticipated as Starfield, so it opened the Xbox presentation with just that. Unfortunately, all the studio showed was an in-game cinematic trailer promising at 2022 release date, but it also included a few hints about the story. Plus, the biggest bombshell of all: the game is exclusive to Xbox and PC, including a day one launch on Game Pass. Basically, Xbox has secured next year’s flagship title.

Release Date: Nov. 11, 2022

Twelve Minutes

Annapurna Interactive has been quietly delivering some of the most creative and unique titles of the past few years, building out a portfolio of sometimes indefinable experiences that you won’t find anywhere else. The publisher that brought you What Remains of Edith Finch, Outer Wilds, and Kentucky Route Zero has a new Xbox exclusive in the works: the top-down mystery game Twelve Minutes from former Rockstar and Ubisoft artist Luis Antonio. Set in an apartment suite, the game’s protagonist is stuck in a time loop — every 12 minutes he’s forced to relive the death of his wife at the hands of a police officer. Your task is to help this man figure out how to stop his wife from being killed, while also solving an even greater mystery about time itself. Sounds like another banger to me.

Release Date: Aug. 19, 2021

What were your favorite Xbox Game Pass titles at E3 2021? Let us know in the comments!

The post 15 Best Xbox Game Pass Games Announced at E3 2021 appeared first on Den of Geek.

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Sable Gets A Narrated Trailer At Gamescom

Sable Gets A Narrated Trailer At Gamescom

Developer Shedworks gave a look at their upcoming title Sable at this year’s Gamescom. The gameplay footage talks about the open-world game and it’s focus on exploration, with the character having access to a customizable hover bike.

“Join Sable on her gliding, a rite of passage that will take her across vast deserts, through…

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Sable's Journey Of Discovery Doesn't Start Until 2019

Sable's Journey Of Discovery Doesn't Start Until 2019

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We saw Shedworks’ Sable at E3 and the game’s artwork immediately caught our attention. Today at Gamescom during Microsoft’s presentation, the dev announced that the game won’t come out until 2019. Late 2019.

We’re sure we’ll see and hear more about the title and the journey of its heroine before then, so be on the look out.

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E3 2018 PC Gaming Show Recap: Stormland, Maneater, Sable, and All Other Trailers and Reveals

Shacknews knows PC gaming, which is why we were standing at full attention during the E3 2018 PC Gaming Show presentation. During the briefing, players were treated to a number of massive reveals for all-new games as well as fresh DLC content, including new trailers for Just Cause 4, Stormland, Maneater, The Forgotten City, Sable, and many others.

Star Control: Origins

Stardock's director of production Patrick Shaw was on hand to discuss the latest details of the action RPG Star Control: Origins, which lets you visit thousands of different, unique planets in the galaxy.

Satisfactory

Coffee Stain studios took the stage during the PC Gaming conference at E3 2018 to talk about their newest game Satisfactory. Satisfactory is clearly influenced by recent simulation and building games, and has a pretty strong multiplayer component. If you missed the alpha earlier in the year, head over to the game's official site to register for the next alpha.

Mavericks: Proving Grounds

In 2018, every game seems to be a battle royale experience or an established franchise that is adding a comparable mode. Mavericks: Proving Grounds hopes to stand out from the crowd by offering a large map and seemingly insane player counts. The developers promise that up to 1000 players can compete in its take on the battle royale genre.

The Forgotten City

The Forgotten City mod came to be one of the most popular mods ever created for Skyrim, garnering over 1.6 million downloads and even earning a screenwriting award from the Australian Writer's Guild. Though the new standalone game is based around Skyrim, developer Modern Storyteller has crafted it as its own sort of adventure based around the Unreal Engine. Within, players will be able explore ancient Roman ruins and make use of mechanics like wall climbing that can't be found in Bethesda's RPG.

The Sinking City

At this year's PC Gaming Show, The Sinking City developer Frogwares Game Development Studio rolled out a gameplay trailer for their new Lovecraftian-influenced title.

Warframe: The Sacrifice

The Sacrifice is Warframes latest DLC, and will have players going toe-to-toe with the vengeful Umbra. The DLC is free to all and will become available after completing The Second Dream, The War Within, Chains of Harrow and the Apostasy Prologue.

Jurassic World: Evolution

Jurassic World: Evolution had a brief showing at the PC Gaming Show, complete with a trailer narrated by everyone's favorite Jurassic Park star, Jeff Goldblum.

Stormland

Stormland's big hook is a huge open world that's fully explorable in VR. You'll navigate a cloudscape in your robotic body, gaining new abilities by augmenting your body as you fly around the world. That world can change, however, thanks to gameplay elements that Insomniac chief creative officer Chad Dezern revealed at today's conference. One enemy, the Tempest, alters the world in various ways every week, giving you reason to return to areas you've already explored to see what's changed, and how.

Sega: Yakuza, Valkyria Chronicles, Shining Resonance, and More

Sega has plans to port some of Japan’s most popular games to the PC on Valve’s Steam platform. The announcement confirmed that Yakuza O, Yakuza Kiwami, Valkyria Chronicles 4, Shenmue 1 & 2, and Shining Resonance Refrain would all be coming to the PC via Sega.

Killing Floor 2: Treacherous Skies

The Killing Floor 2 crew is bringing the Summer Sideshow back with the Treacherous Skies DLC pack. The latest content will include the usual types circus freaks with a distinct steampunk style as well as new weapons and weapon modifications. The Doomstick four-barrel shotgun is one such weapon, as are the Static Striker gauntlets and new M99 sniper rifle. Players will also note the addition of Mrs. Foster to the available character roster. The Treacherous Skies DLC will be available tomorrow, and PC players will be able to enjoy it for free over the weekend.

Maneater

Tripwire president John Gibson came on stage to announce that Tripwire has begun publishing games, bringing their own experience to other developers in order to help with everything from marketing and promotion to long-term support. The first title under their new publishing efforts was also revealed: developed by Blindside Games, the game is called Maneater, and it's a shark-based RPG where players assume the role of a powerful aquatic menace.

Sable

Fans got a new trailer for Sable, a game that takes the focus off of combat and zooms in on themes of solitude and exploration. The game is being developed by the two-man team of Shedworks, which is composed of Daniel Fineberg and Gregorios Kythreotis. The game sports a beautiful art style inspired by French and Belgian comics, along with Studio Ghibli.

Telltale's The Walking Dead: The Final Season

Developers from Telltale joined PC Gaming Show Sean "Day9" Plott, the show's host, to tease story and gameplay details ahead of Telltale's The Walking Dead: The Final Season's August 14 release date. Fans can pre-order the game now.

Overkill's The Walking Dead

Today, during the PC Gaming Show 2018, we got a look at Overkill's The Walking Dead with a new gameplay trailer as well as a release date: November 6.

Don't Starve: Hamlet

Klei Entertainment’s Don’t Starve became an indie smash hit on Steam several years back thanks to its unique take on the survival genre and its endearing graphical style. The team upped the ante by adding multiplayer to the experience with Don’t Starve Together. Now, the team is preparing a new DLC expansion for owners of Don’t Starve called Hamlet.

Just Cause 4

The latest Just Cause news comes from developer Avalanche, who has taken to the stage at the PC Gaming Show to demonstrate the capabilities of the open-world Apex engine used in upcoming title Just Cause 4. The series' iconic Wingsuit and grapple hooks will make a return in Just Cause 4, but players will note that the development team has basically fine-tuned everything that fans have come to love about the Just Cause formula.

Hitman 2

Agent 47 travels to Miami in the newest Hitman 2 trailer, where he's up to no good. He's attending the Innovation Race in Miami as he works to eliminate two targets: Robert and Sierra Knox.

Two Point Hospital

Two Point Hospital, the new hospital management game from Sega, is nearing its official launch and some of the developers took the stage at the PC Gaming Show to give the crowd a quick look at how the business of fixing the sick works. A short snippet of gameplay footage was shown, giving players a sneak peak at some of the hilarious ailments and conditions that patients at the Two Point Hospital suffer from and how the staff handles them.

Rapture Rejects

TinyBuild Games' Rapture Rejects, a charmingly funny take that follows those who are doomed to miss out on eternity in paradise, is entering into an alpha test. The latest trailer shows off what players can expect from the newest version of the Cyanide and Happiness inspired game.

Realm Royale

The battle royale genre is hot right now, and for developers to break into the scene, they need to bring something fresh to the table. Luckily, it seems like Hi-Rez Studios has a few ideas. Taking to the stage during the PC Gaming Show at E3 2018, executive producer Rory "Drybear" Newbrough showed off the latest footage of Realm Royale, the team's latest battle royale experience.

This isn't the end of Shacknews' E3 2018 coverage — not by a long shot, so be sure to keep it tuned right here to stay on top of the latest video game news, previews, trailers, reveals, and hands-on impressions from this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo.

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