Xbox One Year-Starters: Leaked SDK Hints At Individual Developers; Microsoft Extends Weekly Deals

Xie Enwei, General Manager Of Management And Operations Of Microsoft In China, Speaks During The Presentation Of The Xbox One — IN PHOTO: Xie Enwei, general manager of management and operations of Microsoft in China, speaks during the presentation of the Xbox One by Microsoft as part of ChinaJoy 2014 China Digital Entertainment Expo and Conference in Shanghai July 30, 2014. Reuters/Carlos Barria

Fans of the Xbox One and Xbox 360 have dealt with connection issues for most of the holiday season, which isn't such a festive event at all. Good thing Microsoft is responsive to Xbox fans' needs, as it has offered an extension on its weekly deals.

Major Nelson has announced via his blog some of the New Year Deals, meaning that the Countdown to 2015 deals that have been ongoing throughout the holiday season will be extended. There is quite the long list that's ripe for the picking, with discounts of up to 50% n Xbox One games and up to 75% on Xbox 360 games. Some major titles offered on the Xbox One include the following:

- Destiny

- Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare

- NHL 15

- FIFA 15

- Tales from the Borderlands Season Pass

- Game of Thrones Season Pass

- The Walking Dead Compete Season 1 and 2

- GTA V and Bull Shark Cash Card

- Sleeping Dogs Definitive Edition

- Alien Isolation

- Forza Horizon 2 Day One Edition

The Xbox 360 has more or less similar titles. But for those who want to go retro on some games, there are some old but still worth buying titles included in the list. Some of these are "Red Dead Redemption," "Max Payne 3," "Dead Island Riptide" and "LA Noire."

Xbox One hacker group H4LT, on the other hand, has an interesting way of celebrating the New Year. The Verge reports that the hacker group has leaked a rather impressive new feature that may be coming to Microsoft's next-gen console. According to the source, Microsoft may be grooming the Xbox One to enable even smaller groups to develop games without having to register as a developer.

However, this is still part of the ID@Xbox clause, so even if you are not registered as a developer, you will still have to go through the process and meet all the criteria to be able to develop for the Xbox One. On the one hand, it does allow for more diverse games and apps coming to the Xbox One. There does not seem to be any downsides to this yet, as the ID@Xbox has been positively received by fans.