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 Luke Westaway and Ellen Rose. The group is best known for video games commentary, journalism, and gameplay. The channel also hosts the Oxventure, a real-play TTRPG tabletop role-playing game series primarily encompassing Dungeons & Dragons but occasionally others such as Blades in the Dark and Deadlands and featuring fellow YouTuber Johnny Chiodini 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.[2]
Members
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)
Johnny Chiodini - Dungeon Master and role-player (2017–present)
History
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.[5][6] The group expanded in 2016 to include a second channel, Outside Xtra, to cover the wider games industry beyond Xbox.[7] 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.[8][9][10]
Outside Xbox reached one million subscribers in July 2015.[11]
In February 2018, OutsideXbox and the rest of the Gamer Network, was acquired by ReedPOP, a subsidiary of RELX Group.[12] In 2019, Douglas was named as one of the 100 Most Influential Women in the UK games industry for her work at OutsideXbox.[13]
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 SinsDLC content, specifically Act 3: Season of Sloth.[14][15][16]
Outside Xtra reached one million subscribers in June 2023.[19] 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 Entertainment, a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, in May 2024.[20]
Oxventure
Both OutsideXbox channels began the Oxventure Dungeons & Dragons campaign in 2017, with Johnny Chiodini as Dungeon Master.[21][22] 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.[23] 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.[22][24][25] On 8 January 2021, the Oxventure began a Blades in the Dark series, DM'd by Westaway.[26]
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.[21][27] 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.[21][28] 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.[21] All proceeds from the single and its live-streamed premiere were donated to the UK mental health charity Mind.[28][29]
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
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.
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
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
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
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.