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| 1 | +# MakeCode Arcade August 2026 Update |
| 2 | + |
| 3 | +**Posted on August 31st, 2026 by [Jaqster](https://github.com/jaqster)** |
| 4 | + |
| 5 | +Two updates in one year?! Well, what was supposed to be a simple default theme change turned into a "might as well cherry-pick this, and this..." and here we are at a full version update! |
| 6 | + |
| 7 | +We’ve got some nice things on the menu for this late summer release – |
| 8 | + |
| 9 | +## Default Theme change |
| 10 | + |
| 11 | +Goodbye Orange! The new default theme meets all web accessibility color contrast guidelines and matches the **Game** window a bit more. However, if you really want to keep the Orange theme, you can always select it from the **Settings** menu and if you are signed it, we will preserve that as your default theme. |
| 12 | + |
| 13 | + |
| 14 | + |
| 15 | + |
| 16 | + |
| 17 | +## Song Gallery |
| 18 | + |
| 19 | +We’ve been wanting to populate our **Song Editor** with a gallery of pre-existing songs that people could use to edit and include in their games. But we’ve never had the time or talent to do it ourselves. Finally, thanks to the musical genius of [Ricardo Pujol](https://www.ricardopujol.pro) we now have some super cool retro game music that you can sample in your projects! |
| 20 | + |
| 21 | + |
| 22 | + |
| 23 | +## Accessible Blocks |
| 24 | + |
| 25 | +We just couldn’t wait until next year to get this in! Following the [MakeCode for micro:bit release](https://makecode.com/blog/microbit/2026-release), we’ve also updated MakeCode Arcade with the latest Blockly library supporting both keyboard controls and screen readers. |
| 26 | + |
| 27 | +Keyboard controls are now on by default, so now you can switch seamlessly between the mouse and the keyboard to select, move and place blocks on the workspace. The keyboard shortcut menu can be accessed using `Ctrl` + `/` on Windows or `⌘` + `/` on Mac. |
| 28 | + |
| 29 | + |
| 30 | + |
| 31 | +The most common screen readers, including NVDA, JAWS, Windows Narrator, Mac Voice Over, and ChromeVox are also supported for block-based programming. Simply turn on your preferred screen reader and navigate around the MakeCode user interface to hear descriptions and actions you can take. |
| 32 | + |
| 33 | +Please note that this is still a work-in-progress, and not all MakeCode Arcade field editors are fully supported yet. We’re getting there...! |
| 34 | + |
| 35 | +## Home Page |
| 36 | + |
| 37 | +We’ve added a **Search** option to the Arcade Home Page which will hopefully make finding relevant content much quicker and easier. |
| 38 | + |
| 39 | + |
| 40 | + |
| 41 | +We’ve also cleaned up the **My Projects** view to include additional project metadata including project icons, tutorial progress, and cloud sync status. |
| 42 | + |
| 43 | + |
| 44 | + |
| 45 | +## Extensions Gallery |
| 46 | + |
| 47 | +For those of you using extensions in your projects, we’ve made the **Extensions Gallery** a bit easier to use by adding a label for currently installed extensions (we just removed them before) and allowing you to manage installed extensions (update, delete). |
| 48 | + |
| 49 | + |
| 50 | + |
| 51 | +## Piano Roll (Beta) |
| 52 | + |
| 53 | +We have a new music editor that is currently in beta. It’s brand-new, and we’d love your help to test it out and give us feedback. Install the **Piano Roll** extension in a project by typing in "microsoft/arcade-piano-roll" in the Extensions Gallery search bar, create a song with it and let us know what you think! |
| 54 | + |
| 55 | + |
| 56 | + |
| 57 | +## 3-in-a-row Skillmap |
| 58 | + |
| 59 | +We’ve got a fun new Skillmap available that uses the [Tile Scanner](https://arcade.makecode.com/pkg/riknoll/arcade-tile-scanner) extension. This extension makes it much easier to create jackpot or puzzle type games. The **3-in-a-row** Skillmap consists of 3 tutorials that build on each other to help you create a basic Bejeweled style game. Try it out [here](https://arcade.makecode.com/--skillmap#3-in-a-row)! |
| 60 | + |
| 61 | + |
| 62 | + |
| 63 | +## Tomato Cube hardware |
| 64 | + |
| 65 | +We have a new hardware partner! [Tomato Cube](https://tomatocube.com) has released two new MakeCode Arcade compatible devices. |
| 66 | + |
| 67 | +Their [MakeCode Arcade Console](https://tomatocube.com/product/makecode-arcade-console-v2) uses a Raspberry Pi RP2040 processor – the first of its kind! This means that it should be able to handle your most resource intensive games. It also has a nice joystick. The only thing to note with the RP2040 is that the download process is a bit different – you have to press down on the joystick to put the device in bootloader mode first before downloading your games. |
| 68 | + |
| 69 | + |
| 70 | + |
| 71 | +The Tomato Cube [micro:bit Display Shield](https://tomatocube.com/product/makecode-arcade-display-shield-for-microbit) has an innovative design with a built-in micro-USB connector for the micro:bit. This makes it nice since you only need one cable for downloading and charging the device. This is very convenient if you intend to keep the same micro:bit plugged in for most of the time. |
| 72 | + |
| 73 | + |
| 74 | + |
| 75 | +## Bug Fixes |
| 76 | + |
| 77 | +As with any release, we’ve also fixed a ton of bugs! Thanks to everyone who took the time to file an issue in GitHub. And special thanks to folks who have submitted PR’s to fix bugs! Like [@KohanMathers](https://github.com/KohanMathers) 🏆 who fixed the duplicate asset [issue](https://github.com/microsoft/pxt-arcade/issues/7589). |
| 78 | + |
| 79 | +Any new bugs you find in this release, please log them in GitHub: https://github.com/Microsoft/pxt-arcade/issues |
| 80 | + |
| 81 | +Any other questions, comments, suggestions, and feedback – please join the discussion at the [MakeCode Forum](https://forum.makecode.com). |
| 82 | + |
| 83 | + |
| 84 | +Happy Making and Coding! |
| 85 | + |
| 86 | +<br/> |
| 87 | +The MakeCode Team |
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