Minecraft developer Mojang was one of Satya Nadella’s first big acquisitions after the Microsoft veteran took the reins of the company back in 2014. In hindsight, this $2.5 billion deal was a brilliant move. Indeed, the software giant acquired what has since become the most popular video game of all time, with 180M copies sold and 480 million players as of November 2019.

Minecraft is available on all platforms today, and it’s also being used by teachers as a vehicle for learning. The game remains incredibly popular with kids, and you can also find tons of gameplay videos on YouTube, or gamers streaming it live on Twitch.

Still, there are probably a lot of consumers and gaming enthusiasts who never got into Minecraft. How could a game with such dated (some would say hideous) graphics remain so popular after all these years? Well, the Mojang’s game is finally getting ray-tracing support on Windows 10 this year (a beta is now available), but there’s no denying that Minecraft is still not a game for everyone. It’s quite difficult to get started without reading tutorials, and unlike other game genres, the sandbox game isn’t something that’s immediately fun and gratifying.

As you may know, Microsoft recently showed that it’s willing to push Minecraft in other directions, starting with the AR game Minecraft Earth last year. This one didn’t exactly set the world on fire as Pokemon Go did years ago, but Minecraft Dungeons, a new Minecraft-themed dungeon crawler to be released on May 26, could be a whole different story. We went hands-on with the closed beta this week, and it does seem to provide the immediate sense of fun that regular Minecraft still lacks.

The most accessible Minecraft game ever?

Minecraft Dungeons has often been compared to Blizzard’s Diablo series, and there’s definitely some truth to that. It’s a dungeon crawler, which is playable in solo or multiplayer with up to 4 people. During the campaign, you’ll have to complete different levels that are procedurally generated, and the world map in the beta includes 9 different biomes in total.

Except for the tutorial, only two missions are available in the closed beta, and they happen in two different biomes called “Creeper Woods” and “Pumpkin Pastures.” Before starting a mission, though, you’ll first have to create your character: There are no character classes in Minecraft Dungeons, so the only way to customize your character is by choosing a skin, and then finding loot.

Once you’ve chosen your character skin, you’ll start in a village where you can choose your mission, and you can also find merchants in the village for trading emeralds earned during missions in exchange for randomized loot. The two missions in the closed beta are pretty straightforward, and I finished them in a couple of minutes. You’ll be given mission objectives such as freeing villagers, and of course, you’ll find a lot of Minecraft-themed monsters along the way: zombies, spiders, and skeletons are all there, though the evil villagers (“illagers”) will probably offer a better challenge.

To be clear, there’s no building or crafting in Minecraft Dungeons. You’ll just have to kill monsters again and again and find better loot to upgrade your equipment and capabilities. You can also equip three artifacts that give you special abilities, with each of them having a cooldown period. As an example, I found a flaming quiver giving me burning arrows, as well as magic boots giving me a speed boost for a couple of seconds.

The progression system in Minecraft Dungeons is quite different from the one in Diablo: instead of unlocking new active and passive abilities with every new level, you’ll unlock enchantment points for your gear. As an example, I used an enchantment point to unlock a chain enchantment for my weapon, which gave me a 30% chance to chain close enemies and keep them bound for a short time. I also used another point to unlock a potion barrier enchantment for my armour, allowing me to take 90% less damage for a short duration when using healing potions. Moreover, I upgraded my bow with a multishot enchantment giving me 20% chances to fire five arrows at once.

Personally, I think a Diablo-like class system with clearly differentiated characters probably offers more depth and replayability, but the loot and enchantment system in Minecraft Dungeons should still provide lots of customization options and possibilities. Because Minecraft Dungeons has been designed as a family-friendly game (for ages 10 and up), the gameplay is quite easy to understand, and the game itself is pretty easy, too: there’s no game over, and when you die you’ll just respawn not far from the monster that killed you.

Is it fun to play?

I only played the Minecraft Dungeons closed beta in solo, and I did find the game more fun than regular Minecraft. Dungeons plays great with a controller (mouse and keyboard controls are also supported on Windows 10), and even though you often end up mashing the attack button and the right trigger for shooting arrows, killing monsters feels satisfying. The game uses the popular Unreal engine, and even though Mojang artistic direction may not please everyone, Minecraft Dungeons does look pretty unique.

Again, there are just two levels you can play in this closed beta, and you can complete them multiple times in higher difficulties to gain more valuable loot. Creepers, the common green mobs that follow you around and explode when they’re really close to you, are still as dangerous as ever, though unlike in regular Minecraft, their explosions won’t create huge holes into the ground.

The same can be said for TNT crates, which are pretty rare to find but very effective for quickly dispatching enemies. It’s pretty fun to see enemies flying around after a TNT explosion, but again, what would have caused a huge crater on the ground in regular Minecraft doesn’t affect the procedurally generated Dungeons levels in any way, unfortunately.

The lack of crafting and building mechanisms also seem to be a missed opportunity. A game like Fortnite made building a key element of the gameplay for protecting yourself from others and accessing special areas, but Minecraft Dungeons has none of that. It’s possible that the game could become repetitive pretty quickly, especially if multiplayer is only restricted to a co-op mode.

A promising casual game Xbox Game Pass

Overall, if you’re a hardcore Diablo III fan, it’s clear that Minecraft Dungeons doesn’t play in the same category. Keep in mind that this is just a $20 game, and for that price, it does seem to offer a decent amount of fun. Minecraft Dungeons should be great filler content for Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass service, and it already seems much more interesting than previous Xbox Game Studios titles such as Bleeding Edge or Crackdown 3.

Minecraft Dungeons will also be released on PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch next month, and Mojang plans to enable cross-play multiplayer at some point. Unfortunately, the Xbox One version won’t support Xbox Play Anywhere, so you’ll have to purchase the Windows 10 separately or play it for free with Xbox Game Pass for PC.

If you want to get access to the private beta on Windows, you can still sign up on this page. If you’re selected, you’ll also get three invite keys to send to your friends while the closed beta is still live.

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Minecraft Dungeons

Developer:
Xbox Game Studios

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Free

SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom: Rehydrated is now available for digital pre-order and pre-download on Xbox One consoles ahead of its June 24th release date.

The game is a remake of the classic SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom which originally came out on the original Xbox console way back in 2003. Versions were also released on Windows, PlayStation 2, GameCube, and the GameBoy Advance.

In addition to getting a massive graphical overhaul, this new Rehydrated version of the game will also feature 2-player multiplayer, extra game content, and a new horde mode.

Here’s the full game description and trailer:

Are you ready, kids? The cult classic is back, faithfully remade in spongetastic splendor! Play as SpongeBob, Patrick and Sandy and show the evil Plankton that crime pays even less than Mr. Krabs. Want to save Bikini Bottom from lots of rampant robots with your mighty bubbles? Of course you do! Want to underpants bungee jump? Why wouldn’t you! Want to join forces in a brand new multiplayer mode? The battle is on!

GAME FEATURES

• Play as SpongeBob, Patrick and Sandy and use their unique sets of skills
• Thwart Plankton’s evil plan to rule Bikini Bottom with his army of wacky robots
• Meet countless characters from the beloved series

REMAKE FEATURES

• Faithful remake of one of the best SpongeBob games ever created
• High-end visuals, modern resolutions and carefully polished gameplay
• Brand new horde mode multiplayer for up to two players, online and offline
• Restored content that was cut from the original game like the Robo Squidward boss fight and more

Were you a fan of the original or will this be your first time playing SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom? Share your thoughts with the community in the comments below and then follow us on Pinterest for more Xbox gaming content.

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SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated

Developer:
THQ Nordic

Price:
Free

If you’re just setting up your Office 365 or Microsoft 365 subscription, one of the steps towards completion will be to assign admin roles. Admin roles gives the people in your organization permissions to handle certain tasks in the admin center and control elements of your subscription.

Along with yourself, Microsoft recommends for you to set at least 2 to 4 global admins. There are also other roles too, including Helpdesk admin, Office Apps admin, and more. In our latest Microsoft 365/Office 365 guide, we’ll take a look a some of these roles, and explain what they mean for you.

Some notes on roles

Before getting into anything, we just want to mention a couple of notes. Admins in Microsoft 365 and Office 365 have access to sensitive data, so it’s recommended that you follow some guidelines to keep your data secure. Of note is the fact that you should only have 2 to 4 global admins.

According to Microsoft, this is because only another global admin can reset a global admin’s password, so having more than one will avoid account lockout. It’s also worth noting that since the global admin has access to all of the settings for Office 365, you should not have more than 4 to keep your account safe. Other tips can be seen below.

• Always assign the least permissive role: You’ll want to do this when you want to give admins the access to stuff they only need to get the job done. An example is giving someone a limited admin role instead of a global admin role if they need to access passwords for users.
• Require multi-factor authentication for admins: To keep an account of a user who has admin privileges out of the wrong hands, you should use multi-factor authentication on their accounts. This verifies their identity, which is especially important because some admins will have access to sensitive data.

To change roles in Office 365 and Microsoft 365 you’ll have to visit the Microsoft 365 admin center. Once you are there, you can click Roles in the sidebar. This will show you a list of roles, and a brief explanation of what each one does. You can edit the roles by clicking the downward-facing dots and then choosing Assign admins and then clicking the Add button followed by the user’s name.

The most commonly assigned roles

The list of roles in the Microsoft 365 admin center is quite long, but we will be discussing the most common ones first. These include Global, Exchange, Groups, and Helpdesk. In the admin center, you’ll see these as show suggested roles.

The Global admin is for the person you want to give the most privileges. Anyone with this role will have access to management features and data across Microsoft 365. They also have access to reset passwords for all users and add and manage domains. The person who signed up for Microsoft services automatically becomes a Global admin.

Next up, there’s the Exchange admin. This role can be assigned to users who need to view and manage users’ email mailboxes, Office 365 groups, or Exchange Online. If you want to have a user help someone recover deleted items in a mailbox, or set up “Send As” or “Send on behalf” delegates, this is the role for them.

Third, there’s the Groups admin. This role lets a person manage all group settings across Microsoft 365. They’ll be able to create, edit, delete, and restore Office 365 groups. They also can create and update group creation, expiration, and naming policies.

Also on the list is the Helpdesk admin. This role will allow a person to help users reset passwords, force users to sign out, manage service requests, or monitor service health. Just keep in mind that the Helpdesk admin can only help non-admin users and users assigned as Directory reader, Guest inviter, Helpdesk admin, Message center reader, or Reports reader.

Some of the other roles can be seen below. These include Office Apps, Service, SharePoint, Teams service, and User. We’ve included a summary of these below.

• Office Apps admin: Best assigned for users who need to use the Office Cloud Policy service, Create or Manage Office service requests, manage what’s new content in Office or manage service health.
• Service admin: Best assigned as an additional role to admins or users whose role involves opening and managing service requests, or view and share message center posts.
• SharePoint admin: Best assigned to users who need to access and manage the SharePoint Online admin center, create and delete sites or manage site collections and global SharePoint settings.
• Teams service admin: Best assigned for users who need to access and manage the Teams admin center. Users with the privilege can manage meetings, manage conference bridges, manage all org-wide settings, including federation, teams upgrade, and teams client settings.
• User admin: The user admin role is for users who need to assign licenses, add users and groups, manage user properties, create and manage user views, update password expiration values, or manage service requests.

Again, these are the most common admin roles. These cover most of the day-to-day operations in Microsoft 365. Our next section takes a look at some of the other roles you might come across.

Other roles

When looking through the Microsoft 365 admin center, you can click the Show all roles button to show additional roles. You also can use a search bar at the top to find a more specific role, if needed. There is even a filter option to help you separate out the roles between collaboration, devices, global, identity, or security. This is where you might find some of the other roles which we discuss below.

• Application admin: A user with this role will have full access to enterprise applications, application registrations, and application proxy settings.
• Authentication admin: Can require users to re-register authentication for non-password credentials
• Billing admin: A user that can make purchases, manages subscriptions, manages service requests, and monitors service health.
• License admin: Allows users to Assigns and removes licenses from users and edits their usage location.
• Security admin: Gives users the option to control the organization’s security. The user can also manage security policies, review security analytics and reports and monitor the threat landscape.

Again, the roles we’ve discussed here are not ALL the roles you can assign in Microsoft 365 or Office 365. These are just some of the most commonly assigned roles. You can check the full list here at Microsoft, under the All Roles section for more information.

One step in setting up your subscription

Setting up admin roles in Microsoft 365/Office 365 is just one step in setting up your subscription. There are still many other things you can do on the road ahead. Setting up Outlook, Teams are just some other steps you can take. We’ll be diving deeper into that later, so be sure to keep tuned to OnMSFT for all your Microsoft 365 news and information.

Microsoft India has announced that Microsoft Translator will now offer real-time translation in five additional languages – Gujarati, Marathi, Kannada, Malayalam, and Punjabi.

Microsoft Translator allows users to translate real-time conversations, menus and street signs, websites, documents and more using the Translator app for Windows, iOS, Android and the web. This takes the total number of Indian languages supported to 10, including Bengali, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu.

Language translation is a core part of Microsoft products and services. These languages are available now on all Microsoft Translator apps, add-ins, Bing Translator, Microsoft Office and through the Azure Cognitive Services Translator API for businesses and developers. Microsoft provides APIs on Azure that organizations can use in their products to conduct their business across the country and globally in different languages.

They will also be rolled out to the new Microsoft Edge browser and other Microsoft products, like the SwiftKey keyboard, in the coming days.

The incorporation of Deep Neural Networks into translating complex Indian languages brings more accuracy and fluency to translation. While Statistical Machine Translation is limited to translating a word within the local context of a few surrounding words, Deep Neural Networks has the capability of encoding more granular concepts like gender (feminine, masculine, neutral), politeness level (slang, casual, written, formal), and type of word (verb, noun, adjective). Using multilingual neural machine learning, the Translator team has leveraged data from languages belonging to the same family to build and refine these models and greatly enhance their quality.

Microsoft has been consistently working to provide local language computing in Indian languages for over two decades since the launch of Project Bhasha in 1998. Through its global Local Language Program (LLP), Microsoft provides people access to technology in their native language.

Microsoft claims that with the recent announcement, the service will now allow over 90% of Indians to access information and work in their native/preferred languages. Sundar Srinivasan, General Manager, Microsoft India (R&D) Pvt. Ltd. believes that the latest cutting-edge machine learning tech will help democratize access to information for everyone in India.

The Windows 10 Paint 3D app is the latest Microsoft app to gain a new app icon. The new app icon is now live within the Microsoft Store app store and has started rolling out to some users but isn’t live for everyone just yet.

The new app icon for Paint 3D (see above image) flips the old one so that the paint drop is falling down rather than upwards and uses four distinct colors rather than the gradient fill in the original.

Here’s the old version of the icon for comparison.

While the revamp of app icons has been happening for a while, this past month has seen Microsoft Whiteboard and several other apps finally pick up their new icon looks.

Do you like these new app icons? Let us know in the comments below and then follow us on Pinterest and Facebook for more Windows app news.

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Paint 3D

Developer:
Microsoft Corporation

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Free

By now, it is no secret that the NFL and Microsoft have a mutually beneficial business partnership going on as evidenced by the number of Surface Pro’s that are seen at the desks of commentators, sidelines and practice fields during the football season.

Despite the relative uncertainties of the National Football League’s 2020 season amid the COVID-19 pandemic, it seems the league is going full steam ahead with the use of another Microsoft product for its NFL Draft for the year.

In light of social distancing recommendations issued in the US, the NFL will be making use of Microsoft Team to help facilitate a remote draft for freshman players entering the league this year.

According to Peter King of NBC Sports, teams and players will make use of Microsoft’s new communications software by funneling trade decisions, player selections and conference calls all in real-time through Teams.

“Each team’s designated drafter will be connected to the league’s official Microsoft Teams private and encrypted draft channel, and will make the pick through that channel. There are two fail-safes: A GM can call [NFL’s vice president of player personnel Ken] Fiore or a member of his team directly by landline or cell with the pick. Also, there will be a conference call for the length of the draft with club officials muted; the club official designated to make the pick can unmute his/her line and announce the pick. If the pick is made through Microsoft Teams, Fiore or his representative will announce on the conference call that a pick has been made and the next team is on the clock.”

While Microsoft Teams will help facilitate a virtual draft, the degree of difficulty conducting a high stakes event like the NFL draft is not lost on the league and National Insider for the NFL Network Ian Rapoport lays out the details of a mock draft the league will commission leading up to the actual event to iron out any potential kinks.

Next week, there will be a “mock draft” of all 32 teams, which is really just a systems test. Picks will be submitted via Microsoft Teams — with several other redundancies in case of error. At worst, teams can unmute themselves on a league-wide call and simply say their pick. https://t.co/gnpsZMUueo

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 13, 2020

Microsoft Teams will do part of the heavy lifting for the league, but owners, players, and managers will need to work out how to handle rapid-fire phone calls and conference meetings amid 10-minute windows of draft selections and potential Wi-Fi issues.

Bloomberg released an article today confirming that the Defense Department’s watchdog has cleared Microsoft’s win over Amazon for the JEDI Cloud Computing contract and found that the White House did not play a role in the Pentagon’s decision to award Microsoft with the $10 billion contract.

The newly released 317-page Inspector General’s report was notable for several reasons. The Inspector General’s office found that awarding the JEDI contract to a single company was consistent with the Pentagon’s acquisition standards and that the DoD personnel who evaluated the proposals were not pressured in any way by senior leaders.

“We believe the evidence we received showed that the DoD personnel who evaluated the contract proposals and awarded Microsoft the JEDI Cloud contract were not pressured regarding their decision on the award of the contract by any DoD leaders more senior to them, who may have communicated with the White House.”

One potential concern raised by the Inspector General’s office is that the White House limited cooperation in the inquiry and that due to “presidential communications privilege” officials were not able to answer questions about communications pertaining to the JEDI contract between the DoD and White House.

The report says, “despite our investigative authorities and our assurances to safeguard the information, DoD Inspector General officials restated that they did not control the privilege and that the White House had not authorized the Secretary, Deputy Secretary, or other DoD officials to disclose to the Inspector General communications between the White House and DoD officials related to the JEDI contract.”

Since the announcement that Microsoft had been awarded the JEDI contract, Amazon has pursued legal attacks towards the U.S. Department of Defense including a lawsuit alleging that President Trump viewed Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos as a political enemy, which played a role in the Pentagon’s decision.  Amazon recently won an injunction to halt any future business between the Pentagon and Microsoft related to JEDI while the proposal process is reviewed, but today’s report, and an article by our friends at MSPowerUser, raises some other questions about how Amazon obtained the information used in their lawsuit.  The report indicates that Amazon received confidential information from the DoD and out of the 265 questions that were raised by Amazon in the legal filings, 114 of those questions came directly from Microsoft’s proprietary information.

DoD provided AWS with detailed information regarding the strengths, weaknesses, and deficiencies of the Microsoft proposal, which is inconsistent with the DoD Source Selection Procedures Debriefing Guide.

While the JEDI contract is reviewed, the Pentagon has continued moving forward with Microsoft, recently announcing the deployment of Microsoft Teams as part of the Department of Defense’s Defense Enterprise Solutions Contract.

For anyone interested in reading the report you can find it here.

If you’re a small, medium, or large business alike, productivity for yourself and your workers is essential. Even if you’re not, and you’re just a student or parent, or worker, you’ll also likely need to be constructive to get your assignments done and sort out your day.

With Office 365, soon to be known as Microsoft 365, you can do just that. The Microsoft subscription service offers a lot that can help you balance out your day, and get more work done. Here’s a look at the top five ways in which Microsoft 365 can boost your productivity.

Microsoft Teams to help you keep in touch with your coworkers

Our number one pick for how Microsoft 365 can boost your productivity relates to Microsoft Teams. Best known by many as Microsoft’s take on Slack, the popular cloud-based proprietary instant messaging platform lets you communicate with your coworkers remotely. It’s included for no added cost with most Microsoft 365 business and education subscriptions, and a consumer version is on the way, too.

Teams has become especially popular recently due to the Coronavirus, and there’s a good reason. When an office isn’t available, you can use Teams to chat and have fun with coworkers, host meetings, add apps to boost your productivity, and keep the workflow moving. Teams also plug in nicely with the rest of Microsoft’s products, which we discuss here and gives you one hub for all things productivity.  We’ve covered Teams extensively here at OnMSFT, so check out our dedicated hub for more ways in which Teams can help you be productive!

Collaboration features in Word, Excel

It’s one thing to work on your own on a particular document or assignment, but with Microsoft 365, there are collaboration features that can help you, too. Number two on the list are some features in Word and Excel.

With a Microsoft 365 subscription, you’ll be able to add comments to a document in Word to help simulate a meeting, and to get direct feedback from coworkers. You also can right-click cells in Excel to add comments to data sets. Outside of the dedicated apps, specific Word, Excel documents can also be “pinned” to a channel or a chat in Teams for quick access. Finally, If the document is uploaded to OneDrive, which we describe next, multiple people can even edit it at the same time.

OneDrive to share your files

Next up is OneDrive. Thanks to the power of OneDrive, you can store your files and share almost anything you work on with your coworkers instantly. When logged in with a Microsoft 365 account, you’ll be able to share a link to your file and allow your coworkers to download and share it, too. You also can get up to 1TB of space, with specific Microsoft 365 plans, which means anything is possible.  You can even back up your phone’s camera roll, save your email attachments to OneDrive, and back up your PC, too.

Outlook to organize your emails, calendars

Fourth on the list is Outlook. With Outlook, you’re able to manage your emails and calendars to stay productive. Included with most Microsoft 365 subscriptions, there’s the dedicated Outlook app on Windows and Mac. It allows you to add multiple email accounts, create contact lists, customize your calendars, and more. You also can use Outlook calendar from within the app to email calendars, print calendars, and more. All of this can help you manage your time and stay on top of your work when you need to.

And, if you have a Samsung Galaxy Watch or an Android phone, a dedicated app lets you extend the experience to your wrists. Of course, Outlook is not limited to just the app. There’s a web app, too, which gives you access to your calendars and emails. We’ve previously looked at some tricks for the web app, and some of our other tips and tricks for Outlook, too.

OneNote to take notes, drawings, and more

Last, but not least on our list is OneNote. A digital notebook, OneNote can be used to take notes, organizer thoughts in a journal, and a lot more. The desktop (non-Microsoft Store version), known as OneNote 2016, can plugin with Outlook and let you send emails to a Notebook so you can mark them up. You also can use OneNote to create Outlook tasks to help you manage your daily workflow. The Microsoft Store version of the app also has some added features like changing the paper color, solving math problems, and more.

Microsoft 365 has a lot of value.

We’ve just given a top-five look at how Microsoft 365 can boost your productivity. There are many other ways that we haven’t discussed. Feel free to check out our Microsoft 365 News Hub for more, and drop us a comment below to let us know how you are using Office 365.

Microsoft has just announced the next wave of games coming to Xbox Game Pass for Console and PC this month. This was already known, but the Xbox Game Studios title Gears Tactics will be available on Windows 10 on launch day, April 28. You may already have seen the game’s launch trailer that published two days ago, but here it is in all its glory.

Before Gears Tactics hits Xbox Game Pass for PC next week, the ID@Xbox game The Long Dark will be available for both Console and PC subscribers, tomorrow, April 16. This first-person survival game supports Xbox Play Anywhere, meaning that you can start playing on Xbox One and pick up where you left off on a Windows 10 PC.

More ID@Xbox games will be available next week on console and PC, starting with the Metroid-like Gato Roboto on April 21 and the sci-fi thriller Deliver Us The Moon on April 23. Two more ID@Xbox games will be available on Xbox and PC on April 30 with HyperDot and Levelhead, and PC gamers will get one additional ID@XBOX title with the adventure game Machinarium.

Several games will also leave Xbox Game Pass on April 30: The Banner Saga 2, Bomber Crew, Full Metal Furies, Ruiner, Silence: The Whispered World 2, and Smoke and Sacrifice will disappear from both the Console and PC catalogs. Lastly, Fallout 4, Wolfenstein: The New Order, Braid, and Metal Slug 3 will also leave Xbox Game Pass for Console on this same date.

If you have yet to subscribe to Xbox Game Pass, we remind you that you can get your first month of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for just $1. This bundle includes Xbox Game Pass for Console, Xbox Game Pass for PC, and Xbox Live Gold in a single package, and it’s really great value.

Fallout 76’s latest free update, Wastelanders, is now live on Xbox One and other platforms. This rather large update adds a new main story and quests, NPC factions and characters, new allies, events, and more.

Here’s the official list of highlights for the Fallout 76 Wastelanders update. You can read the full notes here:

• People Are Back!: Whether in search of rumored fortune, or mere survival, people have returned to Appalachia in droves. Get to know them through the new dialogue system.
• New Main Story: Experience the new story that Wastelanders brings to Fallout 76 by completing all-new main quests.
• Meet the Factions: Who will you side with: The Raiders at Crater, or the Settlers at Foundation? Aid them in their endeavors to earn Reputation and unlock new items.
• Recruit an Ally: Certain NPCs can come to live in your C.A.M.P., help defend it, and offer you daily quests. Some also bring story quests and romance opportunities.
• More Events and Dailies: Take on challenging new events, like Riding Shotgun and Radiation Rumble. There are also four new daily quests to explore.
• New Items and Enemies: Hunt down the monstrous Wendigo Colossus or a pack of Floaters, but don’t forget to pack your new Gauss Minigun!
• New and Updated Locations: New arrivals in Appalachia are certainly making their mark on the world. Discover new and updated locations as you quest and explore.

To help reinvigorate the playerbase, a new version of the game, named the Fallout 76: Wastelanders Deluxe Edition, has been released in the Microsoft Store with the latest update already added and a host of additional in-game content.

Here’s the extra content that players can expect:

• Mine Car Planter – A small planter for your crops when no dirt is available; buildable in your C.A.M.P.
• Raider C.A.M.P. – Change the look of your Vault-Tec C.A.M.P. deployable to give it a Raider edge
• Raider Stash Box – Raider-themed Stash box for the C.A.M.P
• Raider Faction Flag – New flag for a player’s C.A.M.P. that show their allegiance with Crater
• Raider Pathfinder Outfit – Look like another resident of Crater with this outfit; includes mask and bandanna
• Raider Conquest Loot Bag – Raider-style Loot bag, complete with skull
• Raider Pillager Backpack – A Raider-style backpack
• Raider Marauder Power Armor Skin -Unique appearance based on the Crater Raiders
• Garden Truckbed Trailer – A small planter for your crops when no dirt is available; buildable in your C.A.M.P.
• Settler C.A.M.P. – Change the look of your Vault-Tec C.A.M.P. deployable to give it a Settler appearance
• Settler Stash Box – Settler-themed Stash box for the C.A.M.P.
• Settler Faction Flag – New flag for a player’s C.A.M.P. that show their allegiance with Foundation
• Settler Mechanic Outfit – Look like another resident of Foundation with this outfit; included hat
• Settler Traveler Loot Bag – Settler-style Loot Bag; looks like a travel case
• Settler Relief Backpack – A Settler-style backpack
• Settler Vigilante Power Armor Skin – Unique appearance based on the Foundation Settlers

Do you own Fallout 76 and has this latest update encouraged you to jump back in? Share your thoughts with the community in the comments below and then follow us on Pinterest for more gaming content.

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Fallout 76: Wastelanders Deluxe Edition

Developer:
Bethesda Softworks

Price:
Free