Minecraft Dungeons is getting touch controls for Android launch

By Jon Silman Published September 15, 2020

Minecraft Dungeons comes to mobile with touch controls on September 15 through Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.

The mobile Minecraft Dungeons, an action-adventure title set in the Minecraft universe, will sport new overlays and custom layouts optimized for touch controls. This means that the most common in-game actions, including move, melee, ranged attack, and roll or dodge, will be easily accessible and located in intuitive spots on-screen.

Microsoft said it wanted Minecraft Dungeons to feel as though it was made specifically for phones and tablets to appeal to longtime mobile gamers, signaling a level of detail not always seen for other mobile ports.

“While most people will begin their cloud gaming journey by attaching a phone to a controller with a clip, many in the mobile gaming community have told us they want touch controls. Minecraft Dungeons will release via cloud gaming with fully optimized, native touch controls, and a redesigned UI to make it easy to navigate the inventory or in-game menu on a smaller screen,” David Nisshagen, executive producer for Minecraft Dungeons, said in a statement.

Using Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, players can use their mobile devices to play online co-op with friends on Xbox One. Later this year, Microsoft said, cross-platform play will be available and mobile users will be able to play with their friends on PC and other consoles.

“Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members in 22 countries will enjoy the freedom to play more than 100 games on their Android mobile phones and tablets via the cloud,” Microsoft said. “But as we think about ways to create a unique gaming experience for each individual, it’s about more than just the device they play on; we want to offer more choice in how the game is played.”

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate update allows subscribers to easily switch between an Android mobile device and their main console. In fact, Game Pass Ultimate players don’t need a console at all and can instead play exclusively on mobile. However, following a test run, Game Pass is not available on Apple iOS.

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Gaming

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 ending, explained: What happens to Senua?

Senua stares ahead wearing war paint.

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 was released on PC and Xbox Series X/S last week and stood out as a captivating narrative-driven adventure starring a character with psychosis. It’s a tale about Senua getting revenge on the slavers who destroyed her village and killed her partner, Dillion, prior to the events of Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice. After a shipwreck, though, she’s swept up on a quest to defeat the giants plaguing Midgard while continuing to learn how to live with her condition.

Because of how Hellblade 2 aims to portray Senua’s psychosis realistically, the game is intentionally a bit disorienting to play. You might have come away a bit confused by what exactly happened over the course of this seven-hour adventure. That’s why we're laying out what exactly happened over the course of Hellblade 2 and how the game literally and thematically wraps up.
How does Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 begin
Hellblade 2 starts an undisclosed amount of time after Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice. After defeating Hela, accepting the death of Dillion, and conquering the inner darkness represented by her father, Senua decides to take the fight back to Midgard and the raiders who destroyed Dillion’s village and sacrificed him. She got herself caught as a slave, The Northman-style, but at the start of the game, a fierce storm causes a shipwreck. Emerging from that, Senua slowly climbs and fights her way out of a rocky beach.

Gaming

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is coming to Xbox Game Pass at launch

A soldier squats in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 key art.

After days of speculation, Xbox confirmed that Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will come to Xbox Game Pass at launch. Xbox has not specified which platforms it will come to, though.

When Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 was officially announced last week, fans immediately began speculating about its Game Pass status. It's the first Call of Duty title released since Microsoft successfully acquired Activision Blizzard, so a Game Pass launch seemed likely. While the announcement was initially leaked by a Game Pass notification, Xbox has now officially confirmed that the game is bound for the service.

Gaming

3 Xbox Game Pass games to play over Memorial Day weekend (May 24-27)

Senua carries a torch in Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2.

This was a big week for Xbox as it received its first console-exclusive first-party game of the year in Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2. We're also approaching a holiday weekend where you'll have a lot more time to play video games if you so choose. As such, there's one really easy recommendation I can make to people looking for what to play this weekend. Hellblade 2 is a very dark and mature game that depicts what it's like to have psychosis, though, so my other recommendations are a little more lighthearted.

The first is an indie game that launched in Xbox Game Pass earlier this month, where players control a cat exploring a city. The other is a collection of classic Pac-Man games that is leaving Xbox Game Pass very soon. Those two are worth checking out if you want some more relaxing, gameplay-focused fun this weekend after the intense experience Xbox Game Studios' latest offers.
Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2