Xbox and Calm have announced probably one of the weirdest collaborations I’ve ever heard of: meditations in video games.
Like, not some VR experience where you strap a headset on and try to act calm in a 3D environment (this is somehow a real thing), but instead meditations via the Calm app.
This involves video game-themed soundscapes and environments, inspired by two Xbox exclusives: Halo Infinite and Sea of Thieves.
You can rest assured that the Halo soundscape won’t include the ambient sounds of the famous Blood Gulch map, set to the voice-over of a 12-year-old shouting the most disgusting things over the crunchiest microphone ever. Actually, the included soundscapes seem quite relaxing.
Both sessions are available with a subscription to Calm Premium, which costs $15 per month or $70 per year.
- The Halo Infinite session includes ambient alien sounds of Zeta Halo from Halo Infinite
- The Sea of Thieves session involves the sounds of whirling waves and chattering birds
You can find similar ambient sounds online on YouTube (here’s one for Halo Infinite and one for Sea of Thieves), but calming experiences optimised around meditation and self-care is, well, Calm’s whole beat.
The app was given Apple’s App of the Year award in 2017, and in August this year, Calm laid off 20 per cent of its staff amid a growing wave of tech industry layoffs.
On top of the collaboration, Xbox has announced a new Game Pass Ultimate perk: three months of Calm Premium for free, and then 50 per cent off the first year of subscription (both of these are exclusive to new Calm Premium members).
The Calm and Xbox collaboration is part of a push to promote mental health awareness for gamers, which, to be honest, seems to be sorely needed.
If you play online games regularly, you’re probably all too familiar with some of the… Well, the not-so-great things that can be said over a microphone.
So, yeah, I like this collaboration. Care about your mental health, gamers.