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Major Nelson announced yesterday that the Xbox One’s system update will be made available to all in April. This follows a preview of the system update that was made …
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Update: Following the publication of the original story below, Pocketwatch Games’ Andy Schatz responded to XBLA Fans’ requests for comment about working with Microsoft again. As he originally stated, Schatz hasn’t made any final platform decisions for Armada just yet.

“The deciding factor will be based on ho[w] closely we can interact with our fans and whether the platforms enable iterative development,” Schatz wrote in an email to XBLA Fans.

“We’ve been able to much better serve fans and interact with our community with the extremely easy process of rolling out updates through Steam,” he elucidated. “That’s not something I’ll be willing to give up for a game that may require constant balance changes and content additions!”

Gamers may remember that Microsoft was repeatedly lambasted by many in the independent game development community over the past few years due to its bug fix and game update policies. Those developers who complained were upset with issues surrounding costs, update sizes and certification processes and lead times. Some developers, like Uber Entertainment, went as far as to release subsequent games on platforms other than XBLA after feeling burned by Microsoft their first time releasing a digital game on Xbox 360.

Original Story: The next project from Pocketwatch Games, the two-man team behind 2013’s co-op heist title Monaco: What’s Yours Is Mine, is a real-time strategy game codenamed Armada. Pocketwatch’s Andy Schatz stated in a blog post that the success of Monaco, which sold more than 750,000 copies total despite only selling about 36,000 on XBLA as of last month, has put the studio in a position to create whatever it wants. What it wants is an RTS optimized for gamepad controls.

“With apologies to those devs who have tried, no one has ever made an RTS that played well on a dual analog gamepad. We’re gonna be the first to do it right,” Schatz promised. That does not, however, mean the game will be restricted to only a gamepad. Schatz goes on to write that playing Armada should be as enjoyable with dual analog as it is with a keyboard and mouse.

And there’s more to the game designer’s desire to create an RTS than just showing predecessors how it’s done with a controller. There’s his passion. Schatz has a love/hate relationship with the RTS genre and wants to put his own spin on it, which means designing a game in which “strategy is creative and complex and the micro is accessible and fun.”

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When Microsoft first revealed Games with Gold, which would provide Xbox Live Gold subscribers two free titles each month, users cheered it as a long-awaited answer to …
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Today at GDC 2014, Microsoft announced 25 games to be released as part of the ID@Xbox program. Major Nelson provides some further details in a blog post.

Xbox Wire released a brief rundown of the games that has been re-posted below:

• “1001 Spikes” by Nicalis – This hardcore side-scroller features precise controls and a degree of difficulty that means starting with 1001 lives is not at all a guarantee you can make it through the game! Every level is custom designed to be beaten… barely. The game also includes co-op and cutthroat multiplayer modes.
• “Calibre 10 Racing Series” by Bongfish GmbH – “Calibre 10 Racing Series” is a spiritual successor to “Harms Way.” The game is entirely multiplayer in a new experience that combines action-packed racing with fast-paced first person shooting.
• “CastleStorm” by Zen Studios – It’s Knights vs. Vikings in “CastleStorm,” a super genre mash-up of 2D physics destruction mashed with tower defense brawler! “CastleStorm” features a story-driven solo campaign, a custom castle editor, online multiplayer, co-op modes, and more.

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Zen Studios, most well known to XBLA gamers for Pinball FX2, is migrating a number of its titles to the Xbox One, including the well-known pinball franchise. In addition …
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It’s no secret that The Walking Dead Season 2 is off to a great start. The series is only two episodes in, and it’s getting loads of praise from critics and fans. A …
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Microsoft announced today the impending departure of Chief Product Officer and Corporate Vice President of Xbox Marc Whitten. Marc has been with Microsoft since 2000, and has been on …
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Max: The Curse of Brotherhood, the 2.5D puzzle platformer from Press Play, is going to be gracing the Xbox 360 on April 9, 2014. This announcement comes via Phil …
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Dungeon Defenders looks to be March’s Games with Gold offering. One of our favorite games of 2011, Dungeon Defenders offers a deep co-op experience merging tower defense with action-RPG …
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Well, it finally happened: someone has broken the 1,000,000 Gamerscore mark. Major Nelson offered warm congratulations to the dedicated gamer, Stallion83, through a tweet. Breaking 1 million is an …
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