Skip to main content

Rocket League lets you get your car sports fix on the Xbox One on February 17

Announcing Rocket League for Xbox One
Rocket League was one of the biggest surprises in gaming of 2015, coming out of nowhere and pulling players into what is essentially soccer (or football, if you prefer) played with rocket-powered cars that wear hats. After months of only being available on the PlayStation 4 and PC, a release date has finally been revealed for the Xbox One version of the game.
Recommended Videos

The game officially arrives on the Xbox One on February 17, according to Xbox Wire. While Rocket League will sell for the same $20 price tag as it did on other platforms, gamers will get a lot more for their money. Not only does the game pack in some console-exclusive vehicles, but DLC released separately for the other versions of the game will be included right out of the gate.

The Supersonic Fury DLC adds two premium battle-cars, 12 decals, five paint types, two rocket trails, and two wheel types, while the Revenge of the Battle-Cars DLC adds two more vehicles, another 12 decals, and a host of other vehicle customizations. Finally, the Chaos Run adds two more vehicles and even more decals, toppers, antennas, and other customizations.  These are all included at no extra cost.

As for the Xbox One-exclusive bonuses, two more battle-cars are included. First is the obvious inclusion of the Halo Warthog — called the “HogSticker” here — while the other is the Armadillo from the Gears of War games. Several other Garage items from other console-exclusive games like Sunset Overdrive are also included with the release.

While the basic gameplay of Rocket League is of the easy-to-learn, difficult-to-master variety, it has seen major additions since its initial release. In November, the game received Unreal Tournament-style Mutators, allowing for drastic changes in the physics and driving mechanics.

Thanks to Mutators like “Moonball” and “Time Warp,” the already-addictive gameplay has become much more varied, and should give the game a long multiplayer lifespan on the Xbox One.

Kris Wouk
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Kris Wouk is a tech writer, gadget reviewer, blogger, and whatever it's called when someone makes videos for the web. In his…
Your Xbox is becoming carbon aware with new update
Official Xbox art promoting energy saving, carbon awareness, and collective action.

While many fans are waiting for Xbox to reveal the release dates of Redfall and Starfield, or to even hold another game showcase of its own, Microsoft's first significant Xbox-related announcement of the year is about something else entirely. Xbox Insiders will have access to multiple new options to make their Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S more carbon-aware starting today.
To start, the "Shutdown (energy-saving)" power option will be updated to reduce its power consumption even further while still supporting overnight updates; in fact, your Xbox console will now optimize those updates by doing them "when the console can use the most renewable energy in your local energy grid." According to Microsoft, for every two consoles that are in this mode for 20 hours a day for a whole year, the carbon equivalent of a tree that has been growing for over a decade will be saved.

That isn't the only energy-conscious addition in this update, though. A new "Active Hours" setting is coming, which will allow those who choose the "Sleep" power option to boot quickly and support remote waking during set active hours, rather than it always being available. Surprisingly, even Xbox One owners will see a carbon-aware update with the addition of the "Shutdown (energy saving)" power option today, although Microsoft is still in the user feedback stage for that platform.
These carbon-aware updates are available to Xbox Insiders with an Xbox One, Xbox Series X, or Xbox Series S starting today, although Microsoft says these additions will come to all current-gen console owners "soon." 

Read more
You can now customize your Xbox Elite Series 2 controller with Design Lab
A customized Xbox Elite Series 2 controller made in Design Lab.

Microsoft added the ability for people to design their own Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 in the Xbox Design Lab. Starting today, you can customize and order this kind of controller on Xbox Design Lab's website. 
Customize Elite with Xbox Design Lab
Colloquially referred to as the Xbox Elite Series 2 Controller, this enhanced gamepad first released in 2019. Unlike the standard Xbox One or Xbox Series X controllers, the Elite Series 2 features adjustable-tension thumbsticks and shorter hair-trigger locks on the trigger buttons in addition to interchangeable thumbstick toppers, paddles, and d-pads. Meanwhile, the Xbox Design Lab first launched in 2016 and gives people a way to design and order Xbox controllers with customized colors and engravings. 
While there was already a bit of customization with the Elite Series 2's buttons, players can now go to Xbox Design Lab and personalize the colors of the body, back case, d-pad, bumpers, triggers, thumbsticks, thumbstick base and ring, and buttons. You can even adjust the hue of the Xbox button on your controller with the Xbox Accessories App once it's in your hands. You can get the controller itself for just $150, but if you want all of the interchangeable accessories, the price jumps up to $210.
This announcement comes on the same day as the release date reveal for Sony's DualSense Edge, a customizable PS5 controller. It will cost $200 when it launches on January 26, 2023, though people will have to pay an extra $20 if they want to get replaceable stick modules. Whether you play on Xbox or PlayStation, you certainly don't have a lack of options when it comes to customizable controllers. 

Read more
Xbox performance indicator tells you if your PC is good enough to run games
The Master Chief with an assault rifle.

Worried about how your favorite Xbox game would fare on your PC? Microsoft has put your mind at ease by rolling out a new game performance indicator on the Xbox app on Windows.

Dubbed the Game Performance Fit Indicator, the new feature was released in the latest update on Thursday, giving you an idea of how certain Xbox games perform on your computer compared to other ones with similar specs before you download them. For example, if you want to play Sea of Thieves but want to know if it's suitable for your computer, you'll see a label that reads "Plays well on similar PCs," which predicts that the game will run perfectly on your computer as well. Other games may give you a different label that indicates otherwise because some features call for different spec requirements.

Read more