Path of Exile: Ultimatum Expansion Available Now on Xbox

Greetings, Exile! What brings you here? If it’s a love of deep hack-n-slash games that are free on Xbox then we’ve got some news you’d like to hear! We’ve just launched our April expansion, Path of Exile: Ultimatum which you can play for free right now. 

In Ultimatum, you’ll meet the Trialmaster, a Vaal emissary of an entity known only as Chaos. The Vaal is Wraeclast’s most ancient civilization, known for their blood sacrifices, lost temples, and four-breasted queen, Atziri (yeah, you read that right – she’s a badass though). 

In Ultimatum, you will be tempted by an offering you can earn by completing the Trialmaster’s challenge. If you’re successful, the Trialmaster will present you with an ultimatum – leave now with what you have or risk it all for even greater rewards. You will have to make risky decisions, being thrown into increasingly difficult combat as the Trialmaster continues to up the stakes. 

Alongside the Ultimatum League, we’ve also introduced eight new gems that offer powerful ways to destroy your enemies at the cost of your blood. We’ve also massively revamped Path of Exile’s reward systems to make sure your hard work pays off. We hope to see you there! You can learn more about everything this expansion has to offer at https://www.pathofexile.com/ultimatum.

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But there’s more! We’ve got more Action RPG goodness to share. Alongside our reveal of Ultimatum, we also provided a first look at our upcoming sequel Path of Exile 2 since it was first announced at ExileCon in 2019. 

In our Livestream, we showcased a glimpse of Path of Exile 2‘s second act filled with the rich environments of the Vastiri Desert. We also showcased an updated gameplay demonstration that focused on how Path of Exile 2‘s combat is that of a true next-generation Action RPG: visceral, responsive, and powerful. We haven’t announced a launch date for Path of Exile 2 yet but we’ll continue to reveal its secrets alongside our quarterly expansions for Path of Exile. Find out more about Path of Exile 2

 at pathofexile.com/poe2.

Path of Exile

Grinding Gear Games

☆☆☆☆☆ 311

★★★★★

Get it now

XBOX ONE X ENHANCED

Earn devastating skills and valuable items as you fight your way through the dark continent of Wraeclast. With unrivaled character customization, Path of Exile is an award-winning online Action RPG created by hardcore gamers, for hardcore gamers.

Source: News.xbox.com

The Carlyle Group Acquires Jagex, the Creator of RuneScape

Acquisition announced as Jagex celebrates 20 years of RuneScape, making it one of the world’s longest-running and most successful online video game franchises

Global investment firm The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) today announced it has acquired Jagex, a leading developer and publisher of video games. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Headquartered in Cambridge, UK, and employing more than 450 people, Jagex is one of the largest and most successful British video game studios, developing and publishing video games on PC and mobile. The company is best known for its online role-playing living game franchise RuneScape, which has attracted almost a 300million player accounts since its launch 20 years ago. Jagex has grown its RuneScape titles to a $1billion franchise1. The titles, which are played by a vibrant community of millions all around the world, are currently enjoying peak global popularity. 2020 saw record numbers of subscribing players, more than half of which are in the United States.

The Carlyle Group is one of the world’s largest and most diversified global investment firms with $230billion of assets under management. Carlyle will leverage its global network, expertise and resources to support Jagex as it continues to drive growth by evolving the core RuneScape franchise through investment in R&D and increased content release rates, as well as launching new titles to diversify its portfolio and engage with an even wider community of players. Equity for the investment was provided by Carlyle Partners (CP) VII and Carlyle Europe Technology Partners (CETP) IV funds.

Phil Mansell, CEO of Jagex, said: “I am so proud that Jagex is teaming up with Carlyle, a prestigious investment group that believes in the potential of Jagex, our vision for growth, and will support us in accelerating our multi-year growth strategy. We will continue to expand our game teams to create and deliver more great content for RuneScape and Old School RuneScape. We will continue to create exciting experiences for our players, grow our global communities, build new games to expand and further explore the RuneScape universe, lend our expertise to publish third-party games from like-minded online game developers, and invest in the incredible tech and talent that powers this all.”

Patrick McCarter, Managing Director at Carlyle, added: “The global video games market is large and growing, and within this the global massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) sub-sector is particularly attractive. We have been impressed with Jagex’s market position, strong track record of revenue and market share growth, as well as the experience and passion of the team.”

Michael Wand, Managing Director at Carlyle, said: “RuneScape is one of the most enduring RPG franchises and has a fantastic and committed player base. We look forward to drawing on the full resources of Carlyle to support Phil and his team to continue to grow the existing RuneScape franchise as well as launching new, exciting ones. We believe with further investment and innovation, Jagex can build on its position as one of the most exciting video game developers for both existing and new generations of MMORPG players.” Read the full story here 

Top 10 Selling Xbox One Games of All Time

Since Xbox One released on November 22nd, 2013, 100’s of games have been played by avid fans of the console. While we have seen a mix of poor, ok, and incredible titles, today we compiled a list of the top 10 most sold games of all time for Xbox One. It will be interesting to see what new titles come out in the future that could potentially make this list. 

Contents

• 1. Grand Theft Auto V
• 2. PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG)
• 3. Call of Duty: Black Ops III
• 4. Call of Duty: WWII
• 5. Red Dead Redemption 2
• 6. Minecraft: Xbox One Edition
• 7. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
• 8. Battlefield 1
• 9. Fallout 4
• 10. Halo 5: Guardians

#1 Grand Theft Auto V

Description: Can you believe that the Grand Theft Auto franchise has been going strong since 1997? With rumors circulating that the newest GTA could launch in 2023, fans are always waiting for the latest updates from Rockstar and the gaming community. GTA V is the most polished version of the game, building upon all of the sandbox game systems and receiving a 10/10 by many critics such as IGN. 

•          Publisher:  Rockstar Games
•          Developer: Rockstar North
•          Release Date: November 18^th, 2014
•          Copies Sold: 8.72 Million

#2 PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG)

Description: PUBG is one of the most popular online battle royale games that took gamers and the streaming community by storm after its release at the end of 2017. This PVP shooting game allows up to 100 players to fight to the death in a last-man standing style deathmatch. Every game starts with the player parachuting from an airplane and scavenging supplies and locations when they land.

•          Publisher: Microsoft Studios
•          Developer: PUBG Corporation
•          Release Date: September 4^th, 2018
•          Copies Sold: 8 Million

#3 Call of Duty: Black Ops III

Description: COD Black Ops 3, is the 12^th entry in the Call of Duty Series and sold the most copy out of any Call of Duty Title. The story takes place 40 years after Black Ops 2 in the year 2065 with advanced weapons and technology. Up to 4 players can work together on the Co-Op campaign with customization and progression features included. The “Zombies” mode specifically garnered a lot of playtimes where players battle hordes of Zombies and try to unlock new features and weapons during the onslaught.

•          Publisher: Activision
•          Developer: Treyarch
•          Release Date: November 6^th, 2015
•          Copies Sold: 7.37

#4 Call of Duty: WWII

Description: The story is set in Europe and follows the 1^st Infantry Division battling the Axis on the Western front. You are in control of Ronald “Red” Daniels and his squad. World War 2 was an the event in history that always needs to be remembered and COD WWII does a great job bringing the events of history back to life.

•          Publisher: Activision
•          Developer: Sledgehammer Games
•          Release Date: November 3^rd, 2017
•         Copies Sold: 6.23 Million

#5 Red Dead Redemption 2

Description: If you are looking to live out your old western cowboy fantasy, then Red Dead Redemption II will not disappoint. It is actually a prequel to the original Red Dead Redemption launched in 2010 and takes place in 5 fictitious states in the U.S. The game received universal praise for being the biggest and most cohesive adventure Rockstar game ever created according to Gameinformer.

•          Publisher: Rockstar Games
•          Developer: Rockstar Studios
•         Release Date: October 26^th, 2018
•          Copies Sold: 5.77 Million

#6 Minecraft: Xbox One Edition

Description: Minecraft is a game that simply changed gaming forever. Any person of any age can jump into a game of Minecraft and start to explore and build the world of their dreams. There are so many modes to choose from for a player of any skill including hardcore, creative, adventure, spectator, multiplayer, and 100’s of game types made from the modding community. The possibilities are truly endless with Minecraft.

•          Publisher: Microsoft Studios
•          Developer: 4J Studios
•          Release Date: September 5, 2014
•          Copies Sold: 5.43 million

#7 Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare

Description: Of course, another Call of Duty title made the list of the top 10 most sold Xbox One games of all time. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is the 11^th in the series and the game is set during the Vietnam war. The main modes of gameplay include campaign, multiplayer, Exo Survival and Exo Zombies.

•         Publisher: Activision
•          Developer: Sledgehammer Games
•          Release Date: November 4, 2014
• ·         Copies Sold: 5.22 million

#8 Battlefield 1

Description: Moving away from Call of Duty but staying in the realm of first person shooters, number 8 is Battlefield 1. This is the 15^th installment of the series and emphasizes teamwork in a World war I setting. There are so many modes to choose from including Conquest, Domination, Rush, Operations, Team Deathmatch, War Pigeons, Frontlines, Supply Drop, Air Assault and Shock Operations.

•         Publisher: Electronic Arts
•          Developer: EA DICE
•          Release Date: October 21, 2016
•          Copies Sold: 5.13 million

#9 Fallout 4

Description: Bethesda launched Fallout 4 in 2015 and the fanbase went rabid over how great the game was and is still considered to be by today’s standards. The action-survival RPG places you in the year 2,287 (not so far away from the current day) 10 years after the events of Fallout 3. You have to explore and survive a nuclear wasteland with new laser weapons and gene manipulation technology.

•          Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
•          Developer: Bethesda Game Studios
•         Release Date: November 10, 2015           
•          Copies Sold: 5.03 million

#10 Halo 5: Guardians

Description:

It would not be a top 10 list without a halo game in there somewhere, right? Coming in at #10, Halo 5: Guardians is the 10^th overall mainline entry in the Halo Series. The game takes place in the year 2558 and places you in the battle between Covenant forces and Prometheans. The game was very popular on multiplayer and has had a long run with fans.

•         Publisher: Microsoft Studios
•          Developer: 343 Industries
•          Release Date: October 27, 2015
•          Copies Sold: 4.92 million

About the Author

Hello, I'm Yunus Emre Ozdiyar, the Editor in Chief of Corexbox.com. I’m a graduate from the Department of Physics at Istanbul University and interested in cinema, music, games, and technology. I love to discover and write about what’s new in gaming.