Xbox Magazine, Play Apart Together, and Closed Beta

The Official Shut Down of Xbox Magazine

After close to two decades the long running Official Xbox Magazine comes to an end as reported by Eurogamer. The magazine had its final day last week with the last of its staff to be let go. A statement released from the publishers of the magazine Future says, “Like many organisations right now, we find ourselves being forced into making difficult decisions. We have a duty of care to all our staff during this time and our focus is on protecting the business for them and for our customers.” The end of Official Xbox Magazine happens to be in the same year as Microsoft release their new console, so it’s not all doom and gloom, hopefully the magazine will be able to release its content again in the future.

Gaming Companies and W.H.O. Coronavirus Guidance Come Together

A large group of big named companies are teaming up to help encourage players to stay at home. Those companies are Activision Blizzard, Riot Games, and streaming platform Twitch, they are all part of a campaign called ‘Play Apart Together.’ This campaign will see 18 gaming entertainers help incentivize players to engage with special events, exclusives, activities, and of course rewards. Whilst engaging with all this content platforms are adding important self-protection messaging around COVID-19. All this is designed to help bring people together during the pandemic. Blizzards CEO Bobby Kotick says, “It’s never been more critical to ensure people stay safely connected to one another. Games are the perfect platform because they connect people through the lens of joy, purpose and meaning. We are proud to participate in such a worthwhile and necessary initiative.”

Valorant The New Stylised Shooter From Riot Games Has Their First Closed Beta.

Fans are super excited to have a play and get a feel for this new FPS. The closed beta begins on the 7th of April internationally, unfortunately, Australia is not on the list. This beta only includes the US, Canada, Europe, and Russia. A statement from the Executive Producer of Valorant Anna Donlan states, “Our plan was to bring the Valorant closed beta to as many people as possible around the world as quickly as possible, but the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted those plans, compromising a wider global rollout. For now, we have to focus on the regions where we feel most ready, with more regions following in the months to come.” So, don’t worry if you felt like you were missing out hang in there, Australia will surely end up on that list soon enough.

Guerrilla Games’ Horizon Zero Dawn Is Getting Its Very Own Comic Book Series

The series will take place after the events of the game so don’t pick it up until you’ve played it all through. The comics will be launching the same time as the game comes to PC in the summer of 2020 which I assume is winter down under. Be sure to keep your eyes out for that.