OutsideXbox

OutsideXbox
Personal information
OccupationYouTubers · Journalists
Website
YouTube information
Also known asOxboxtra, OxBox, Oxtra
Channels
Associated channels
LocationLondon, United Kingdom
Years active2012–present
Genres
Subscribers3.74 million
Total views1.81 billion
NetworkGamer Network
Associated acts
100,000 subscribers2013, 2017
1,000,000 subscribers2015, 2023

Last updated: 17 November 2023

OutsideXbox, or Oxbox, is a British YouTube channel and group consisting of Jane Douglas, Andy Farrant and Mike Channell. The group also has a sister channel, Outside Xtra, or Oxtra, consisting of Ellen Rose. The group is best known for video games commentary, journalism, and gameplay. The channel also hosts the Oxventure, a real-play tabletop role-playing game series primarily encompassing Dungeons & Dragons but occasionally others such as Blades in the Dark and Deadlands, featuring fellow YouTubers Johnny Chiodini and Luke Westaway, and which was later launched as its own channel. The group has a combined 3.74 million subscribers and 1.81 billion views across all three channels as of November 2023.[1]

Members

[edit]

The following people are part of OutsideXbox and its associated channels:

Editors:

  • Andy Farrant – part of OutsideXbox (2012–present)
  • Jane Douglas – part of OutsideXbox (2012–present)
  • Mike Channell – part of OutsideXbox (2012–present)
  • Ellen Rose – part of Outside Xtra (2016–present)
  • Luke Westaway – part of Outside Xtra (2016–2024)

Producers:

  • James Hills – video producer[2]
  • Jon Garnham – video producer[3]
  • Zack Fortais-Gomm - producer (Oxventure)

Series regulars:

History

[edit]

OutsideXbox was launched in 2012 by the then EuroGamer Network (now Gamer Network) as a website focused on Xbox gaming and its community. The founding members all had previous games journalism experience: Andy Farrant was part of Inside Xbox in Europe; Jane Douglas was working with GameSpot; and Mike Channell previously worked for the magazine PC Format and was the UK deputy editor of the Official Xbox Magazine.[4][5] The group expanded in 2016 to include a second channel, Outside Xtra, to cover the wider games industry beyond Xbox.[6] New members included Luke Westaway, previously a CNET senior editor and contributor to Nintendo Life; and Ellen Rose, who worked for Attention Seekers' official Xbox channel Xbox On.[7][8][9]

Outside Xbox reached one million subscribers in July 2015.[10]

In February 2018, OutsideXbox and the rest of the Gamer Network, was acquired by ReedPOP, a subsidiary of RELX Group.[11] In 2019, Douglas was named as one of the 100 Most Influential Women in the UK games industry for her work at OutsideXbox.[12]

On 24 June 2021, Hitman 3 released featured contracts on the Dartmoor map curated by Farrant, Douglas and Channell focused on stealth, poison and explosions. This was part of the game's Season 3 Seven Deadly Sins DLC content, specifically Act 3: Season of Sloth.[13][14][15]

Douglas made cameo appearances as a Sixer in Ready Player One and a scientist in Jurassic World: Dominion.[16][17]

Outside Xtra reached one million subscribers in June 2023.[18] Westaway announced his departure from the channel on 10 April 2024, with his final video airing on 3 May. The Gamer Network was acquired by IGN, a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, in May 2024.[19]

Oxventure

[edit]
The Oxventurers Guild at MCM London Comic Con
The Oxventurers Guild at MCM London Comic Con October 2023

Both OutsideXbox channels began the Oxventure Dungeons & Dragons campaign in 2017, with Johnny Chiodini as Dungeon Master.[20][21] The Oxventure began a podcast in August 2020 hosted by Jane Douglas to replay old D&D sessions and chat with other members of OutsideXbox.[22] At New York Comic Con x MCM Metaverse 2020, the Oxventure did three virtual sessions of the TTRPG Lasers & Feelings on 14 August 2020, 10 October 2020 and 11 June 2021.[21][23][24] On 8 January 2021, the Oxventure began a Blades in the Dark series, DM'd by Westaway.[25]

The Oxventure released a Dungeons & Dragons appreciation music video and single "Literally Everyone Else in the World" on 27 November 2019. It also had elements reflecting the upcoming Christmas holiday.[20][26] The song's title is a reference to a Dungeon Master's role of being responsible for all NPC's in a fictional world, combined with DM Johnny Chiodini's introduction for themself to the audience.[20][27] Luke Westaway and Andy Farrant wrote the single, with Farrant playing bass guitar for the track. Vocals were provided by all five Outside Xbox and Xtra editors, with CNET editor Andrew Hoyle on the drum.[20] All proceeds from the single and its live-streamed premiere were donated to the UK mental health charity Mind.[27][28]

In 2022, OutsideXbox advertised that it was looking to hire a new producer with the aim of developing its Oxventure brand, hiring Zack Fortais-Gomm and in September that year the Oxventure was relaunched under its own dedicated YouTube channel 'Oxventure', moving all previously uploaded Oxventure videos to it and beginning a new season titled Legacy of Dragons. While Dungeons & Dragons remains the focus of Oxventure, it has continued to expand its scope to other TTRPGs such as Deadlands which received a full series under the banner 'Oxventure Presents' in the summer of 2023, as well as a number of other games through their 'One Shot Wonder' series.

Dungeons & Dragons

[edit]

The channel's flagship series featuring Johnny Chiodini as the Dungeon Master and the other members as the Oxventurers, premiered in September 2017. The fifth season, subtitled "Extinction", concluded in April 2023. In the series, Farrant plays as Corazón de Ballena, a rogueish pirate and arcane trickster with a cursed secret, Douglas portrays Prudence, a tiefling warlock serving Cthulhu who was abandoned by her parents, Rose plays as Merilwen, a wood elf druid with a love of animals and nature, Westaway plays as Dob, a half-orc bard initially searching for his long-lost sister, and Channell portrays Egbert the Careless, a dragonborn paladin who is seeking atonement for an unspecified crime.

Andy Farrant as Corazón de Ballena, the Human Rogue Pirate
Jane Douglas as Prudence. the Tiefling Warlock
Mike Channell as Egbert, the Dragonborn Paladin
Luke Westaway as Dob, the Half-Orc Bard
Ellen Rose as Merilwen, the Wood-Elf Druid
Johnny Chiodini, the Dungeon Master (Literally Everyone else in the world)
Season One
Episode Title Original Release Date
1 The Spicy Rat Caper 8 September 2017
2 15 September 2017
3 24 September 2017
4 Spot of Bother 29 December 2017
5 5 January 2018
6 12 January 2018
7 Wild Wild Woods 14 February 2017
8
9 An Orcward Encounter 23 April 2018
10 25 April 2018
11 Quiet Riot 18 September 2018
12
13 Plunder Siege 15 October 2018
14
15 A Fishmas Carol 27 December 2018
16
17 28 December 2018
18
19 Bad Chair Day 2 April 2019
20 Brawl of the Wild 3 April 2019
21 Heist Society 8 April 2019
22 Stop Hammer Time 15 April 2019
23 Spell Check 19 June 2019
Season Two
Episode Title Original Release Date
The Levelling 7 August 2019
1 Out of Order 14 August 2019
2 21 August 2019
3 28 August 2019
4 Ship Happens 1 November 2019
5 Mind Your Manors 8 November 2019
6 Rolling in the Deep 26 November 2019
7 Peak Performance 30 December 2019
8 31 December 2019
9 1 January 2020
10 2 January 2020
11 Exhibition Impossible 13 March 2020
12 20 March 2020
13 27 March 2020
14 Faire Trial 3 April 2020
15 Sect Appeal 17 April 2020
16 The Corn Ultimatum 1 May 2020
17 Hunter Pressure 15 May 2020
Levelling Up Special 22 May 2020
18 Elf Hazard 29 May 2020
19 Bone to Pick 19 June 2020
20 3 July 2020
21 Tower Rangers 17 July 2020
22 Watch Out! 31 July 2020
23 Gnome Alone 28 August 2020
24 Fast and Furriest 16 September 2020
25 Snow Mercy 2 October 2020
26 Mule Be Sorry 9 October 2020
27 Unreal Estate 16 September 2020
28 31 October 2020
29 Court in the Act 13 November 2020
30 Heir Superiority 30 November 2020
31 Silent Knight 28 December 2020
32 29 December 2020
33 Chart of Darkness 15 January 2021
34 Sail of the Century 29 January 2021
35 30 January 2021
36 Brine and Punishment 12 February 2021
37 13 February 2021
38 High Moon 26 February 2021
39 27 February 2021
40 Crawl Me Maybe 12 March 2021
41 13 March 2021
Season Three - The Orbpocalypse Saga
Episode Title Original Release Date
Season One + Two Recap 22 March 2021
The Levelling 19 May 2021
1 Sphere We Go 23 May 2021
2 Epic Jail 30 May 2021
3 Escaped Crusaders 6 June 2021
4 Wrangle in the Tangle 13 June 2021
5 Twin it to Win it 20 June 2021
6 Monky Business 27 June 2021
7 Party Fowl 4 July 2021
8 No Way Rosé 11 July 2021
9 Fools of Engagement 18 July 2021
10 Plandemonium 25 July 2021
11 Dine Hard 1 August 2021
12 Season Finale 8 August 2021
2021-2022 Specials
Title Original Release Date
A Fête Worse Than Death 31 October 2021
Tome Sweet Tome 7 November 2021
Wedded Redemption 14 November 2021
Let's Get Fiscal 5 December 2021
Hog Wild 27 December 2021
28 December 2021
Battle for Bardcon 9 March 2022
Big Deck Energy 10 June 2022
Bride or Die 17 June 2022
Season Four - Legacy of Dragons
Episode Title Original Release Date
1 Shell Shock 30 September 2022
2 Record Time 7 October 2022
3 Bad Altitude 14 October 2022
4 Carpe Idiom 21 October 2022
5 Parley Hard 11 November 2022
6 Mean Gulls 18 November 2022
7 Mist Opportunity 25 November 2022
8 Ballot Time 2 December 2022
9 Ready Lair One 9 December 2022
10 Corpse and Robbers 16 December 2022
2022-2023 Specials
Title Original Release Date
Snow Escape 30 December 2022
Knight Shift 6 January 2023
Grad Attitude 13 January 2023
Baking Bad 20 January 2023
Season Five - Extinction
Episode Title Original Release Date
1 Paddle Royale 24 February 2023
2 Life Finds a Dob 3 March 2023
3 Centaur of Attention 10 March 2023
4 Hag Reflex 17 March 2023
5 Below the Pelt 24 March 2023
6 In Dino Veritas 31 March 2023
7 Cursed Case Scenario 14 April 2023
8 Cavern a Bad Day 21 April 2023
9 Staff Wars 28 April 2023
2023-2024 Specials
Title Original Release Date
Play Fight 7 April 2023
Squid Pro Quo 23 June 2023
Halloween Special 31 October 2023
Clear & Present Danger 22 December 2023
Battle Royale 15 March 2024

Blades in the Dark

[edit]

The channel's Blades in the Dark campaign featured Luke Westaway as the Game Master and premiered in January 2021, ending in May and was followed by a Christmas special later in December. A second season began in July 2022 and concluded in September. Within the series, Channell plays as Barnaby Fortescue, a wealthy aristocrat, Farrant portrays Edvard Lumiere, a brilliant inventor, Chiodini plays as Kasimir Jones, a career criminal, Rose portrays Lilith Capellinaga, a scholar of ghosts and the supernatural, and Douglas plays Zillah Bruzaud, a former prize-fighter with a family to support.

Season One
Episode Title Original Release Date
Phase One
1 Dead Man's Debt 8 January 2021
2 9 January 2021
3 Ironhook's Bounty 22 January 2021
4 23 January 2021
5 The Cab-Con Caper 5 February 2021
6 6 February 2021
7 High Stakes at the Splintered Bone 19 February 2021
8 20 February 2021
9 The Dreadful Dimmer Sisters 5 March 2021
10 6 March 2021
Phase Two
11 The Gut Cutter Bargain 19 March 2021
12 20 March 2021
13 The Astor Gambit 2 April 2021
14 3 April 2021
15 First Flight of the Sparrowhawk 16 April 2021
16 17 April 2021
17 Murder at Volisport Academy 30 April 2021
18 1 May 2021
19 The Lampblack Wedding 14 May 2021
20 15 May 2021
21 The Big Score 28 May 2021
22 29 May 2021
Christmas Special
23 A Crimsnight Carol 17 December 2021
Season Two
Episode Title Original Release Date
1 The Marriage of Lady Fyengeh 15 July 2022
2 The Death of Cornelius Bagshot 22 July 2022
3 To the Depths 29 July 2022
4 The Wardens of Bellweather Crematorium 5 August 2022
5 The Horrors of Castle Wisenshire 12 August 2022
6 Into the Deathlands 19 August 2022
7 The Fate of the Dimmer Sisters 26 August 2022
8 Foundry No. 12 2 September 2022
9 Magic, Ghosts, Danger & Death 9 September 2022

Deadlands

[edit]

The channel's Deadlands campaign featured Andy Farrant as The Marshal and premiered in July 2023, concluding its first season in October. In the series, Douglas plays as Garnet Munro, a huckster card dealer turned demon hunter, Westaway portrays Delacy, a 13-year-old farmboy with a large, ornate gun named Rooster, Rose plays Edie Valentine, a saloon girl who works as a mercenary when money gets tight, Channel plays Silas Flint, a disillusioned lawman with a crippling fear of horses, and Chiodini portrays Nate Janssen, an elderly gravedigger traveling the rails. The first season focuses on the five "wild cards" coming together to answer a help wanted ad from a mysterious woman.

Season One
Episode Title Original Release Date
1 Running Them Down 28 July 2023
2 Dead Man's Worth 4 August 2023
3 11 August 2023
4 Forty Times a Killer 18 August 2023
5 25 August 2023
6 The Town That Dreaded Justice 1 September 2023
7 8 September 2023
8 More Wonders Than There Are in the Heavens 15 September 2023
9 22 September 2023
10 Chapter Ten: Amat Victoria Curam 29 September 2023
Season One Q&A 6 October 2023

One Shots

[edit]

These special episodes feature several guest players, including Josh Hayes, Jasper Cartwright, Liv Kennedy, Grant Howitt, and Aoife Wilson. Different episodes have different Game Masters; for brevity, they are listed alongside each episode.

Title Game Master Original Release Date
Dread Luke Westaway 28 October 2022
You Awaken in a Strange Place Johnny Chiodini 4 November 2022
Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen Johnny Chiodini 6 December 2022
Adventure Skeletons Luke Westaway 27 January 2023
Teatime Adventures Ellen Rose 8 March 2023
Blade Runner: The Roleplaying Game Mike Channell 30 June 2023
D&D But... Everyone's a Kobold Luke Westaway 8 March 2024
D&D But... Everyone Has Amnesia Luke Westaway 22 March 2024
29 March 2024

Discography

[edit]
Singles with year released
Title Year
"Literally Everyone Else in the World"[29] 2019

References

[edit]
  1. ^ See:
    • "outsidexbox's YouTube Stats (Summary Profile) - Social Blade Stats". socialblade.com. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
    • "Outside Xtra's YouTube Stats (Summary Profile) - Social Blade Stats". socialblade.com. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
    • "OxShorts's YouTube Stats (Summary Profile) - Social Blade Stats". socialblade.com. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
    • "icklenellierose's YouTube Stats (Summary Profile) - Social Blade Stats". socialblade.com. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
    • "keywest_away's YouTube Stats (Summary Profile) - Social Blade Stats". socialblade.com. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  2. ^ "EscherMedia". Twitter. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
  3. ^ "Jonathan Garnham - Video Producer - Outside Xbox". LinkedIn. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
  4. ^ Bramwell, Tom (15 August 2012). "Eurogamer welcomes Outside Xbox to the family". Eurogamer. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
  5. ^ "Outside Xbox". www.outsidexbox.com. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  6. ^ Welsh, Oli (19 October 2016). "Outside Xbox branches out with new channel Outside Xtra". Eurogamer. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  7. ^ "Outside Xbox launches multi-platform channel, expands team". GamesIndustry.biz. 19 October 2016. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
  8. ^ "Outside Xtra". www.outsidextra.com. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
  9. ^ "Outside Xbox expands, launches new channel to cover other platforms". VG247. 19 October 2016. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  10. ^ "1 Million Subscribers! Many, Many Thanks From Outside Xbox". YouTube. 9 July 2015. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  11. ^ Frank, Allegra (26 February 2018). "PAX organizer acquires USgamer, Eurogamer and more". Polygon. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  12. ^ "Meet 100 of the most influential women working in the UK games industry - F - J". GamesIndustry.biz. 5 April 2019. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  13. ^ "Chill Out with Hitman 3 Season of Sloth". Player.One. 17 June 2021. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  14. ^ "Hitman 3 – Season of Sloth Trailer Details New Escalation, Elusive Target, Featured Contracts, and More". GamingBolt. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  15. ^ "Hitman 3 Season of Sloth Begins with a Chilling Take on Dartmoor". PlayStation LifeStyle. 16 June 2021. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  16. ^ @penny_dreadful (23 July 2017). "I was an extra on ready player one, witness the judge dredd-esque chin acting" – via Instagram.
  17. ^ @penny_dreadful (14 July 2022). "doing a science in the background of jurassic world dominion 👩🏻‍🔬 ilu laura dern xxx" – via Instagram.
  18. ^ "1 Million Subscribers to Outside Xtra?! Our Best Moments (So Far)". YouTube. 14 June 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  19. ^ Webster, Andrew (21 May 2024). "IGN scoops up Eurogamer, Rock Paper Shotgun, and more". The Verge. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  20. ^ a b c d Burton, Bonnie. "Dungeons & Dragons game masters score their own tribute song". CNET. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  21. ^ a b "Every Tabletop & Video Game Panel At NYCC 2020: How & When To Watch". ScreenRant. 6 October 2020. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  22. ^ "Oxventure - A Dungeons & Dragons Podcast on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  23. ^ "NYCC x MCM Metaverse: Your Digital Destination for Dungeons & Dragons". New York Comic Con x MCM Comic Con Metaverse. 7 October 2020. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  24. ^ OutsideXbox. "coming next Friday". Twitter. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  25. ^ Outside Xbox (8 January 2021). "Coming today! Oxventure presents Blades in the Dark". Facebook. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  26. ^ OutsideXbox. "Join Oxventure for the premiere of the music video for the Oxventurers Guild charity single Literally Everyone Else in the World, live in 30 minutes!". Twitter. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  27. ^ a b "Outside Xbox charity single raises money for UK charity Mind". www.greenmangaming.com. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  28. ^ Phillips, Tom (28 November 2019). "Our friends at Oxventure have a brilliant charity single to raise money for Mind". Eurogamer. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  29. ^ "Outside Xbox & Outside Xtra Top Amazon music charts with charity single". VG247. 28 November 2019. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
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