The Xbox One launched in 2013, and it’s coming up on a new phase of its life with Microsoft’s next-generation console, Project Scarlett, scheduled for release in Holiday 2020. Looking back on the Xbox One generation, we know now what the console’s best-selling games are, including exclusives.

NPD analyst Mat Piscatella shared the Top 10 lists for All Games and Exclusives today in celebration of the Inside Xbox stream. The lists contain few, if any, surprises.

Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto V is the overall best-selling game for Xbox One through August 2019, with Call of Duty titles and another Rockstar game, Red Dead Redemption II, rounding out the Top 5. In fact, Call of Duty games account for five of the top 10 best sellers. Also of note is that every title in the top 10 is a sequel of some kind and that no Microsoft-published exclusive is on the chart.

In terms of Xbox One exclusives, which includes PC, Halo topped the charts. Halo 5: Guardians is No. 1, with Halo: The Master Chief Collection sitting at No. 2. Sea of Thieves (No. 7) is the only new IP on the chart. Sunset Overdrive, which was released in 2014, did not make the chart.

You can have a peek at the charts below. Note, again, that these charts are US only and represent sales of physical and digital (in some cases) based on dollar sales instead of unit sales.

Microsoft’s latest exclusive, Gears 5, launched in September. It launched like a rocket, quickly becoming Microsoft’s biggest launch week for a first-party game in the Xbox One generation.

Looking to 2020, Project Scarlett’s release is scheduled for Holiday 2020 with Halo: Infinite as a launch title. The new system doesn’t replace Xbox One entirely, as Microsoft will continue to support that system. Additionally, Xbox One games (as well as Xbox 360 and OG Xbox games) will work on Project Scarlett through an ambitious backwards compatibility program.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/top-10-best-selling-xbox-one-games-and-exclusives-/1100-6470080/

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is already confirmed to feature the franchise’s biggest multiplayer mode ever with its 64-player Ground War. As suspected, the military shooter may offer multiplayer modes that are even bigger in scale.

In a press release, Activision said the previously discussed 100-player modes may be available at launch. “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare multiplayer is expected to support up to 100 players in select multiplayer experiences upon launch on October 25,” Activision said.

The wording here is important. The release specifically mentions “select multiplayer experiences” plural, which suggests there may be more than one 100-player mode. Additionally, the line mentions that these modes, whatever they are, are “expected”–but not confirmed–to be available upon release.

In August, Infinity Ward’s Joel Emslie told GameSpot that Modern Warfare is capable of supporting more than 100 players, though he didn’t have any more information to share at the time. It remains to be seen if the 100-player mode(s) will be battle royale or something else entirely.

2018’s Call of Duty game, Black Ops 4, features a battle royale mode called Blackout. Just this week, the mode introduced huge tanks to crank up the action.

Modern Warfare, which is a reboot of the 2007 game of the same name, launches on October 25 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. In a big change for the series, post-release DLC maps are free. Not only that, but the game supports cross-play and cross-saves. Just recently, it was also confirmed that PS4 players will have exclusive access to the Survival mode in Spec Ops.

The game launches with a huge amount of hype behind it, as the Modern Warfare beta was the franchise’s biggest ever in terms of total number of players and hours spent in the game.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/call-of-duty-modern-warfares-100-player-modes-shou/1100-6470077/

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Breakpoint is set to launch on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One this fall, and ahead of its October 4 release, developer and publisher Ubisoft has announced that the open beta is available to pre-load right now.

While the Ghost Recon: Breakpoint open beta doesn’t start until Thursday, September 26, Ubisoft is allowing you to get a headstart by downloading the open beta before it goes live. You can pre-load the open beta on PC, PS4, or Xbox One, and it’s scheduled to run from September 26-29 and is just shy of 15GB to download.

Open Beta Start Time

• Pre-load: September 24, 3 AM PT / 5 AM CST / 6 AM ET / 11 AM BST
• Servers Open: September 26, 3 AM PT / 5 AM CST / 6 AM ET / 11 AM BST
• Servers Close: September 29, 7 AM PT / 9 AM CST / 10 ET / 3 PM BST

Ghost Recon: Breakpoint’s open beta will let you experience five main missions across Auroa’s massive open-world, as well as a variety of side missions and daily Faction Missions. Further, you’ll be able to dive into the game’s Ghost War mode, with 4v4 Elimination and three maps available to test out. Ubisoft notes that your progress from the beta won’t transfer to the full game when it launches next month.

The Inside Xbox livestream is now underway, and includes an interview with Ghost Recon: Breakpoint start Jon Bernthal. We expect a few different announcements to come out of the presentation, including a look at The Outer Worlds and trailer reveals for Afterparty, Children of Morta, Felix the Reaper, and more.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/ghost-recon-breakpoint-open-beta-pre-load-now-live/1100-6470061/

During September 2019’s Inside Xbox, Xbox announced more titles are coming to Game Pass. Specifically, the PC version of the game-focused subscription service is getting new titles.

On PC, Dirt Rally 2.0, Saints Row IV: Re-Elected, Bad North, Cities: Skyline are all coming to Game Pass. Among the roster, Saints Row IV: Re-Elected is my personal favorite–pushing the ridiculous series to new heights as you jump into a Matrix-like simulation to battle an alien threat as the President of the United States.

Game Pass continues to be one of the best things to happen to Xbox, offering dozens of phenomenal titles for a fraction of their total retail cost on both Xbox One and PC. The past few months have seen several triple-A titles added to the service, including first-party games like Gears 5 and third-party ones like Jump Force. Lots of indie games have been added the day they release as well, such as Creature in the Well and Blair Witch.

Looking ahead, Game Pass is already scheduled to see more big-name titles added to the service. The Outer Worlds is probably the biggest name on the list, offering a space-focused variation of Fallout: New Vegas‘ formula that allows you to craft your own journey–even allowing you to become the villain of the campaign.

During Inside Xbox, Xbox also released new information about Microsoft’s upcoming game streaming service, Project xCloud, and featured interviews and presentations for Ghost Recon: Breakpoint, Atlas, DayZ, Hitman 2, Afterparty, Code Vein, Felix the Reaper, and Children of Morta.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-game-pass-ultimate-gets-four-new-pc-titles/1100-6470050/

The Last of Us Part II finally has a release date: February 21, 2020. The game’s director, Neil Druckmann, has revealed that it will be the longest game that Naughty Dog has ever made–though an exact number for how long it will take to complete has not been announced.

“We began working on this game over five years ago,” Druckmann wrote in a PlayStation blog post. “It’s hard to describe the immense pressure of following up the first game. We know how much you love this world and its characters–especially Ellie and Joel. Believe me, we’re fans as well. We love them. Which is why we spent years crafting a game that we feel will do them justice, telling a nuanced story that deals with the core question: how far would you go to exact justice against the people that hurt the ones you love? It’s a highly emotional story with complex themes that befit the world of The Last of Us. What we realized pretty early on is that we were putting together Naughty Dog’s most ambitious and longest game in our 35-year history. To tell this kind of story the game needed to be massive.”

For the sake of comparison, both Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and The Last of Us run for about 15 hours. So The Last of Us Part II is longer than that, but whether that’s closer to 16-20 hours or something much longer like 25-35 remains to be seen.

Druckmann concluded the post with the tease that The Last of Us fans can expect more in the next few days. “Inspired by the day the cordyceps fungus reached critical mass, every September 26 we celebrate The Last of Us community and we’ve got some exciting things planned,” he wrote.

During the September State of Play, PlayStation released a brand-new trailer for The Last of Us Part II which revealed further story details and showcased more gameplay. The Last of Us Part II looks exceptionally violent, with emotional moments between well-written characters sprinkled in between the combat. The game will release exclusively on PS4. However, with rumored plans of a PS5 console already circulating, a next-gen port or remaster might not be off the table just yet.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-last-of-us-part-2-is-naughty-dogs-longest-game/1100-6470072/