OutsideXbox

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.

Members

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

Editors:
* Andy Farrant – OutsideXbox
* Jane Douglas – OutsideXbox
* Mike Channell – OutsideXbox
* Ellen Rose – Outside Xtra
* Luke Westaway – Outside Xtra

Producers:
* James Hills – video producer
* Jon Garnham – video producer
* Zack Fortais-Gomm – producer (Oxventure)

Series regulars:
* Johnny Chiodini – Dungeon Master and role-player
* Luke Westaway – role-player

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''. The group expanded in 2016 to include a second channel, Outside Xtra, to cover the wider games industry beyond Xbox. 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.

Outside Xbox reached one million subscribers in July 2015.

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

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.''

Douglas made cameo appearances as a Sixer in ''Ready Player One'' and a scientist in '' Jurassic World: Dominion''.

Outside Xtra reached one million subscribers in June 2023. Westaway announced his departure from the channel on 10 April 2024, with his final video airing on 3 May, though he continues to appear regularly on the Oxventure channel. The Gamer Network was acquired by ''IGN'', a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, in May 2024.

Oxventure

Both OutsideXbox channels began the Oxventure ''Dungeons & Dragons'' campaign in 2017, with Johnny Chiodini as Dungeon Master. 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. At New York Comic Con x MCM Metaverse 2020, the Oxventure did three virtual sessions of the TTRP
Lasers & Feelings
on 14 August 2020, 10 October 2020 and 11 June 2021. On 8 January 2021, the Oxventure began a '' Blades in the Dark'' series, DM'd by Westaway.

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. 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. 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. All proceeds from the single and its live-streamed premiere were donated to the UK mental health charity Mind.

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 Oxventurer's Guild

The channel's flagship series featuring Johnny Chiodini as the Dungeon Master and the other members as the Oxventurers, premiered in September 2017. The final season, simply called "The Final Season", concluded in May 2024. 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.

Wyrdwood

Following the conclusion of the flagship Dungeons & Dragons series, Oxventure launched Wyrdwood, a new campaign created by Chiodini based on English folklore and folk horror media. The first season debuted on 13 September 2024 and concluded on 1 November 2024. In the series, Rose plays as Cressida Blackwater, a snobbish and shrewd banker and human/elf wizard, Westaway plays Happen, a human ranger who belongs to a cult that worships Cadence the Goddess of Luck, Channell plays as Lug, a kind and knowledgeable firbolg barbarian, Douglas plays Willowfine, an aasimar cleric and healer, and Farrant plays the dual roles of Robin Oatcake, a young and unremarkable human commoner, and Morven Hellwain, an impatient and powerful aberrant sorcerer who possesses Robin's body and takes control whenever he is asleep or knocked unconscious.

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.

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. The second season premiered on 21 March 2025.

One Shots

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

Discography

References

External links

Outside Xbox

Outside Xtra
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{{Video game journalism

British comedy YouTubers
Dungeons & Dragons
English video bloggers
English YouTube groups
English-language YouTube channels
Fantasy podcasts
English gaming YouTubers
Let's Players
Video gaming in the United Kingdom
Xbox
YouTube channels launched in 2012
YouTube channels launched in 2016
British YouTube vloggers
YouTubers from London