Was Xbox Live support dropped for Tetris Blitz on Windows Phone? [Updated]

This has been a terrible year for Xbox games on Windows Telephone. Microsoft has all but dropped support for the Xbox branding on phones, developers have stopped releasing Xbox games en masse, and new Xbox games are basically a rare occurrence present. Don't you wish the Windows Telephone team cared a lick about gamers?

The latest sign of the inevitable demise of Xbox on Windows Phone comes with last week'south Tetris Rush update. The game launched in a bug-ridden state (see our review). But to Electronic Arts' credit, the publisher has released a steady stream of updates to improve its product. The latest update certainly packs some improvements, but it sort of looks like it removes Tetris Blitz's Xbox branding. Could this be the terminate of EA's Xbox support or just a snafu?

Update: EA'due south official response afterward the pause!

Tetris Blitz version ane.four release notes

• New Tournaments Way – Compete against other players in express-time events, each with its own unique rules and leaderboards
• Player Profiles and Avatars – Create your own Tournament identity
• Updated News Section – Stay informed of new Tournaments and challenges
• Holiday Content – Get festive this holiday season with surprise content

This update basically catches the Windows Phone 8 game up with the iOS version, which received the update on November 26.

This update totally revamps the game's menu organisation. Several functions like the Bonus Blitz, Settings, and Achievements are tucked away under the orange button with 3 lines at the top-left corner of the screen. Actual game types are selected by swiping left or right in the main window beneath. The Pro Scoring Strategies button at the lesser of the menu leads to several YouTube strategy videos.

The update adds a couple of new powerups that players can buy: Blitz'n and Bulldozer. It also fixes the mismatched prices on the Ability of the Calendar week. Or mayhap they stock-still that in the previous update; I forget.

I haven't managed to notice the vacation content yet. Maybe it'south hidden away in Tournament style or something?

Tournament Mode

Equally for the new Tournament way, unfortunately information technology doesn't unlock until the thespian reaches level 11 (I'thousand at eight). At that place newly redesigned menu system has a push button labelled "UNLOCK Level 11" right at the superlative of the screen. Presumably this is intended to allow players to unlock Tournament Mode straight away by making an In-App Purchase. However, the button doesn't exercise annihilation.

We do know that Tournaments are timed worldwide competitions. The top three participants win truckloads of coins. That could never be me because unfortunately, I'1000 too wearisome to excel at Tetris Blitz.

Live no more?

The reason many are fearing the game has dropped Xbox support: the Xbox banner has disappeared from its tile on the Windows Telephone Store! Indeed that is highly unusual; I can't think of some other game to have washed then in this fashion. Run into, Xbox has never been patched out of a Windows Telephone game – the existing Xbox version usually gets delisted while a new non-Xbox version appears on the Shop.

Tetris Rush version 1.4 is definitely not a separate version, and information technology still appears under the Xbox section of the Games hub. The Store page all the same lists Xbox Alive in the description. What's more than, the Achievements continue to announced under the in-game Achievements menu under the new "Xbox" header. The Achievements carte du jour likewise lists Challenges and non-Xbox Achievements as well now.

To my eyes, information technology looks like Tetris Blitz still has the aforementioned Xbox Achievements it ever had – plus some actress ones that don't award GamerScore. And a couple of readers have reported that they earned genuine Xbox Achievements later the update. If my optical receptors and those guys are to be believed, Tetris Blitz has not dropped the 'box.

My best guess is that the removal of the Xbox imprint from the game's Store tile is simply in mistake. Nosotros contacted EA but haven't received a response all the same. If they provide an official explanation, nosotros'll update and let you lot know.

• Tetris Blitz – Windows Phone 8 – 42 MB – Gratuitous – Store Link

Update

Electronic Arts has issued a statement on this issue:

"We're not removing XBOX Live functionality from this title; rather, our distribution squad accidentally uploaded the wrong icon and is in the process of changing information technology, but the cert process takes a couple of weeks.  That said, we're definitely working on correcting the issue, and in the meantime, Xbox Live functionality should exist working equally normal."

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Source: https://www.windowscentral.com/could-tetris-blitz-have-dropped-xbox-live

Posted by: ayalasafteph.blogspot.com

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