June 2022 appears to be becoming Xbox announcement month as Xbox, seemingly not content with a large Xbox and Bethesda games showcase on the 12th of June and then a smaller showcase days later, has announced even more things to kick off their brand new fiscal year.
For those who don't know, a fiscal year (or financial year) refers to a 12-month period for businesses and is used for accounting or tax purposes to keep track of any profits. For some businesses, this is also where they will talk to investors and make announcements to try and impress them and the consumers buying into them, hence the weird timing of these announcements.
Here is everything Xbox announced.
Xbox Coming to Samsung Smart TVs
The first announcement made was one we already knew was on its way based on previous Xbox announcements and that's the planned expansion of devices where you can play Xbox games.
Now partnering with Samsung to bring the Xbox app to Samsung 2022 Smart TVs, Xbox games will now be streamable from your TV starting from June 30th using a Bluetooth controller.
Xbox Cloud Gaming Launches New Zealand and Argentina.
Cloud Gaming has become a massive part of Xbox's business plans going forward and from today, that's become more apparent as the regions of Argentina and New Zealand both can play games via cloud streaming.
Xbox is Trying to Get People to Use Microsoft Edge.
If you're a PC gamer, you're likely more than well acquainted with Microsoft Edge. If not, it's that browser you used to download your actual browser of choice and then never used again.
Microsoft has seen this trend and wants to fix that by making Microsoft Edge the choice of browser for gamers. Working with the Xbox team, Edge will be getting a personalized gaming home page with news, guides, live streams and access to the Cloud Gaming library.
Edge will also feature a clarity boose for cloud games to give players a sharper quality and will have a games menu for those of you who just want to rage at Solitaire instead of Fortnite.
It's not just Edge getting the updates, however as Windows 11 will also be getting some performance enhancements for gaming including further optimizations for windowed games and HDR calibration.
Xbox Announces Demos Coming to Game Pass
Perhaps the biggest announcement coming from Xbox is the reveal of an upcoming game demo program for Game Pass subscribers by the name of Project Moorcroft, a service set to roll out next year and features a set of demos for upcoming games.
This is a very similar move to PlayStation, which is including demos for their big releases within the brand new PS Plus Premium tier for those that wish to subscribe to it.
The demos seem to be focused on indie developers, providing them with an opportunity to send their demos out of the world so they can see how their game performs with players to help their development experience.
Xbox Design Lab Gets New Options
The final announcement was a brand new set of colours for gamers to create their own controllers as well as a ser of 11 countries that can now use the Xbox Design Lab to design a controller for themselves.
The countries that can now use Design Lab are:
- Australia
- New Zealand
- Japan
- Korea
- Singapore
- Czech Republic
- Greece
- Hungary
- Slovakia
- Switzerland
- Taiwan (Later in the summer)
The new colours available are:
- Soft Pink
- Soft Orange
- Soft Green
- Soft Purple
- Mineral Camo
- Arctic Camo
- Forest Camo
- Sandglow Camo
- Blaze Camo.