Tag: Microsoft - Page 5
Review EON XBHD - A Sleek OG Xbox Adapter That's Just Too Expensive To Recommend
High definition dollars
The original Xbox was an incredibly impressive bit of kit when it launched back in 2001, and at the time it was one of the most powerful gaming machines on the market. We've moved on a lot since then of course, but somewhat surprisingly, OG Xbox games actually hold up quite well in 2023. The biggest issue these days is...
News Xbox Makes Leadership Changes As Bobby Kotick Leaves Activision & Microsoft
Another big shuffle for Team Xbox
Update: Another change that's been announced during the day is that Jill Braff is becoming the new head of ZeniMax and Bethesda's studios. Jill has been the General Manager of Integrations & Casual Games at Xbox Game Studios since 2020, and has previously held roles at the likes of SEGA,
News Three Games Will Leave Xbox Game Pass In Late December 2023
Update: Make that three!
Update: Make that three! GTA V will also be leaving Xbox Game Pass on December 31st, 2023. Original story: It's been a busy old year for Xbox Game Pass, and now that Far Cry 6 has arrived on the service, we're starting to look ahead to what's coming to Game Pass in 2024. Before then, we've got a couple of games
News 'Xbox-Next' Rumour Suggests Microsoft Could Launch Another Console Before 2027
"Xbox-next isn't that far away"
A few months ago, a huge leak stemming from Microsoft's Activision Blizzard case outed a potential Xbox Series X console refresh for next year - we covered Xbox's 'all-digital' Series X plans when they first leaked back in September. Those plans seemed believable given that they came directly from FTC files, however a...
News Multiple Xbox Exclusives Nominated At BAFTAs, But None Make The 'Best Games' List
The nominees are in
Around a month ago we found out that Starfield wasn't going to be up for 'Game of the Year' at The Game Awards, and it's now the same case for this year's BAFTA ceremony. Although the winner won't be announced until next April, Starfield isn't in the running for 'Best Game' at the event - in fact, nothing from Xbox Game Studios...
News Three More Xbox Games Join Nvidia's GeForce Now Library This Week
Including Forza Horizon and Minecraft Dungeons
As part of the ongoing partnership between Xbox and Nvidia GeForce Now, three more Xbox Game Studios titles have today been added to the service. This includes Playground's Forza Horizon 4, Forza Horizon 5 and Minecraft Dungeons by Mojang and Double Eleven. These games arrive alongside 10 other titles,...
News Major Nelson Reveals The Next Chapter Of His Post-Xbox Career
He's now an advisor of a publisher backed by Microsoft
Earlier this year, Xbox legend Major Nelson (also known by his real name Larry Hryb) said goodbye to Microsoft after 20 years. He mentioned at the time how he would take a step back to work out the next chapter of his career, and now in an update, he's revealed he's joined the board of Midwest...
News Microsoft's Gaming CEO Spent 917 Hours Playing Xbox Games This Year
His most played game was Starfield
Although Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer is in charge of a huge video game division, he still finds plenty of time to game throughout the year. If you are wondering just how many hours he's racked up in all things Xbox this year, he's now shared his official 'Year in Review' data for 2023. All up, Phil put in...
News Former Sony Exec Says Japan Publishers 'Need' Xbox If They Want To Expand Business
Claims it would be tough to "do that just with the PlayStation"
Microsoft's Xbox business is booming thanks to services like Game Pass, but one market it's still trying to succeed in is Japan. After apparently "losing trust" with Japanese studios during the Xbox One era, earlier this year it appointed the former Sony executive Mena Sato Kato as the...
News It Looks Like Xbox Has Another Exclusive Aiming For 2024 Release
Alongside Hellblade 2, Avowed & more!
At the moment we have quite a few Xbox exclusives locked in for 2024, including Hellblade 2, Avowed and Towerborne - just to name a few! Now, it looks like we might have another big first-party to game to add to that list of 2024 releases. Compulsion Games' South of Midnight —
News Two More Dynamic Backgrounds Now Available On Xbox Series X|S
Power your dashboard dreams
Fancy an Xbox background change? If so, you're in luck! Microsoft has added a couple of fresh dynamic options recently, including a new 'Power Your Dreams' theme for all the dedicated 'Team Green' fans out there. As you'd expect, this latest background focuses on Microsoft's pair of current-gen consoles - all wrapped up...
News Xbox Series X|S Gets Huge UK Sales Boost Thanks To Black Friday 2023
Up 231% on the previous month!
It feels like it's been a big Black Friday this year, with Microsoft finally dropping the price of its Xbox Series X console at multiple retailers last month - and the move seems to have paid off handsomely in the UK. According to GamesIndustry.biz, UK sales data shows that Xbox Series X and S sales were up a whopping
News Phil Spencer & Co. Send Birthday Wishes To 'The Game That Changed Video Games Forever'
Happy Birthday, Marine
Few games are as influential to their respective genres as DOOM is to the first-person shooter, so it's hardly surprising to see lots of industry folks post online about the franchise's 30th birthday. Of course, the IP is now owned by Microsoft, and Phil Spencer & co. have hopped on social media to wish the first game a...
News Xbox's 'Wu-Tang Clan' Action-RPG Resurfaces After New Insider Report
It's apparently in Alpha stage right now
A couple of years ago, we woke up on an October morning to hear a very surprising report that Xbox was working on some sort of game in partnership with Wu-Tang Clan. Yep, you heard that right, Wu-Tang Clan - and a fresh Insider Gaming report has brought the project back into the limelight. Tom Henderson of...
News The FTC Is Continuing To Fight Xbox's Activision Blizzard Deal
There's an uphill battle ahead!
If you thought we were done with these Activision Blizzard acquisition articles, think again! The deal might have gone through on Microsoft and Xbox's end now, but that isn't stopping the US FTC from continuing to put up a fight. As reported by Reuters and CNN, the FTC appeared in front of a three-judge court panel...
News Xbox Series X|S Sales Have Now Surpassed Original Xbox In The UK
Roughly three years in
Xbox Series X and S have seemingly hit a new sales milestone in the UK this month. According to Christopher Dring of GamesIndustry.biz, Microsoft's pair of current-gen consoles have now sold more units in the region than the OG Xbox. Considering we're only three years into the gen, this seems pretty good going - although Xbox...
News Xbox Appears To Be Teasing New Game Pass Reveals For TGA 2023
What's in store for us this Thursday?
The Game Awards hype is kicking into gear now as we begin to learn more and more about the show for 2023, and yet again, Xbox is teasing its inclusion in the December event. After saying that the team will be there with "news you don't want to miss", Xbox is now bringing Game Pass into the fold. Ads for the...
News Postal 4 Dev Puts The Blame On Microsoft For Lack Of Xbox Version
"No, we didn't leave Xbox players..."
It's now been close to a year since Postal 4: No Regerts was released on the PS4 and PS5, but we've never heard anything concrete about an Xbox version - and that's apparently because Microsoft doesn't want it on the platform. We've heard this before, but it's been cropping up again this week thanks to a...
News Another Two Games Confirmed For Xbox Game Pass In Early 2024
One coming as soon as January!
Over the last few days, we've had a few new Xbox Game Pass confirmations as teams begin to lock in their launch dates for 2024. One of these titles was confirmed for Game Pass already and has now been fully dated, while another has a brand-new release window ahead of its day one arrival. Don't forget we've got a full...
News Microsoft Spends 'Over A Billion Dollars A Year' Bringing Content To Xbox Game Pass
And it's still profitable!
One of the biggest selling points of Xbox Game Pass is Microsoft's first-party input, but the team also puts lots of time, energy and ultimately money, into bringing valuable third-party content to the service. Some of Game Pass's day one coups are fantastic, and as it turns out, those coups cost quite a bit of money for...
News Starfield 'A Tremendous Hit' And One Of Xbox's Top 10 Most-Played Games, Says Phil Spencer
"Thank you everybody for all the support on Starfield"
Starfield is a purely single-player affair, but that doesn't seem to be stopping people from playing Bethesda's new RPG for months and months. Speaking in a new interview at Brazilian convention CCXP, Xbox boss Phil Spencer discussed Starfield and how the game has been performing so far. First...
News Two Games Are Available Today With Xbox Game Pass (December 1)
Kicking off the month in a great way!
It's time for December, and that means we've got two more games joining Xbox Game Pass today! One of them is a brand-new release in SteamWorld Build, while the other is the Icelandic-inspired adventure game Spirit of the North. Here's more information about what you can expect from these Xbox Game Pass...
News Incredible Custom Console Unveiled To Celebrate 'Jusant' On Xbox Game Pass
"Calling all DON'T NOD and Jusant fans!"
Jusant developer DON'T NOD is running a competition to win a brand-new custom Xbox Series X - and this console is a sight to behold. "Decked out like the tower" and complete with handholds, ropes and nets, this is a pretty elaborate piece of Xbox hardware up for grabs here. There's only one to win of course,...
News Xbox CFO Explains Why Microsoft No Longer Reveals Console Sales
It's all about the bigger picture
Xbox hasn't officially revealed console sales figures for years at this point - since early on in the Xbox One generation. During that time, Xbox sales were clearly behind the likes of PlayStation 4 so that surely played a part in Microsoft being sheepish over hardware figures back then, however these days it's not...
News Four Games Will Leave Xbox Game Pass In Early December 2023
Here's what departs in mid-December
Microsoft has today revealed the first batch of titles leaving Xbox Game Pass for the early part of December 2023. We have four games in total for this batch, and thankfully, there aren't any huge hitters in here although we'll miss them all the same! Anyway, here's what's leaving Xbox Game Pass on December 15th,...
News Minecraft Legends Scores 'Biggest Update' Ever, Here's What's Included
Froggy mounts and more...
This year's Xbox first-party release of Minecraft Legends has just received its biggest update ever! This is the second title update for the game so far, and it includes a whole bunch of new features and improvements. Those new features include a Frog Mount, Witches and Witch Huts, a new Piglin Clanger and Air Chopper, and...
News Xbox Would Like Game Pass On 'Every Screen' Including PlayStation & Nintendo
Update: Phil Spencer says there are "no plans" for it though
Update: Just to confuse things further, Xbox boss Phil Spencer has told Windows Central this week that there are "no plans to bring Game Pass to PlayStation or Nintendo". We've covered this elsewhere on Pure Xbox: <related ids="159126"> Original story: Xbox is constantly talking...
Talking Point Will We Ever Get Another 'Special Edition' Xbox Series X?
Or have those plans wrapped up?
Earlier today we spotted some neat-looking console wraps for Xbox Series S, and that got us thinking about the future of limited edition consoles from Microsoft. Sure, these Series S wraps are totally unofficial, but Microsoft's Series X ones are official - and their very existence could spell the end for limited...
News Xbox Opens In-Person 'Audio-Visual Experience' Featuring Hellblade 2
Get immersed into Senua's twisted world
Xbox has announced some pretty cool in-person events happening in the UK and Germany right now - and they both feature an "Immersive Audio-Visual Experience" based on some of the team's biggest games. Hosted at the Charing Cross Road Outernet Store in London and The Lighthouse of Digital Art in Berlin, Xbox...
News Xbox & Activision Blizzard Are Merging At A 'Really Impressive Speed', Says Xbox CFO
"The speed at which we've worked together is really impressive"
Xbox and Activision Blizzard have only been one entity for a little over a month, at least officially, but the two companies seem to be coming together at speedy pace so far. Speaking at a recent summit, Xbox CFO Tim Stuart talked about the team integrating with ActiBlizz, and how the...
News These Xbox Series S Console Wraps Look Sweet, But They're Not Official
Series X only gets the Microsoft treatment
Back in August, Xbox announced its 'Console Wraps' for the Series X - right ahead of Starfield's big launch the month after. Sadly, we've not seen anything similar for Xbox Series S yet, however a third-party company has decided to take matters into its own hands. The UK-based '
Talking Point Will Fallout 4's Next-Gen Upgrade Be Delayed Into 2024?
Did you forget about it?
Today, outlet Vanity Fair dropped some new shots of Amazon Prime's Fallout TV show, and while it's nice to get another look at the upcoming adaptation, the news got us thinking about one thing in particular. Where is our next-gen upgrade for Fallout 4? That's right, if you cast your mind back to just over a year ago,...
News Three Games Are Available Today With Xbox Game Pass (November 28)
Update: There's a surprise late addition!
Update: We've got a surprise third addition! Killer Instinct: Anniversary Edition is also now available with Xbox Game Pass (as documented elsewhere on Pure Xbox), so we've added it into the list down below. <related ids="158876"> Original story: Microsoft is closing out its
News Xbox Series S Accidentally Bundled With Physical Game At Dutch Retailer
"There was indeed a mistake in the store"
We've seen some game store fumbles in our time but this is a good one! Dutch retailer MediaMarkt recently made a huge error when trying to promote the Xbox Series S - one of the company's stores actually bundled the all-digital console with a physical game. Imagine it, you're a kid excited as all heck for...
News Xbox Encourages Fans To Vote For First-Party Games At TGA 2023
"What a great chance to support some of your favorites"
The Game Awards 2023 is upon us, and votes for the show's 'Players' Voice' award are now open. Unlike the rest of TGA's awards, this one is a purely-fan voted category - and Xbox is pushing its audience to vote for some first-party favourites. Among the 30-strong shortlist are four Xbox-owned...
Soapbox 'Xbox Developer Direct' Needs To Return In Early 2024
TGA is good, but Dev Direct is better
The Game Awards 2023 is right around the corner at this point, with Geoff Keighley's big show landing on December 7th this year. While I enjoy what TGA brings to the table most years, it is a bit bloated these days, and its impending arrival is making me yearn for another
News The Game Awards Host Reminisces About 'Special' Moment With Phil Spencer & Rival Execs
"It was a special time when we did that"
It's been five years since Xbox boss Phil Spencer joined PlayStation's Shawn Layden and Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aimé on-stage at The Game Awards 2018 - delivering a lovely speech about unity across the gaming industry. Half a decade on, as part of a recent Q&A session ahead of this year's awards show, TGA...
News State Of Decay 3 Developer Seemingly Working On Another Project At Xbox
Multiple 'projects' are being developed at Undead Labs
It's been a while since we've heard anything official on State of Decay 3, hasn't it? The open world zombie-slaying sequel was unveiled in 2020, before basically going into hiding ever since. Well, a new LinkedIn update from an ex-Undead Labs developer could hint at why things are progressing...
Reaction Should We Really Be Surprised By 'Declining' Xbox Console Sales?
Europe's figures have dropped off in 2023
Well, there's been some mad drama surrounding Europe's recent console sales figures, hasn't there? Gamesindustry.biz released some info on this earlier in the week, strongly suggesting that Xbox Series X|S sales are "struggling" in the region. While there are certainly other factors in play here — like the...
Feature Xbox 360 Took The Gaming World By Storm 18 Years Ago Today
A massive Xbox anniversary
November always brings around some famous anniversaries in the Xbox world, and perhaps none are quite as famous as this one. 18 years ago today, Microsoft launched the Xbox 360 in North America, and there really hasn't been a more appropriate time to wheel out the old 'rest is history' trope, has there? This is...
News Steam Black Friday Sale Now Live, Get Up To 88% Off Xbox & Bethesda Titles
Including Starfield, Redfall and more
We have another round of Black Friday gaming deals now live, thanks to Steam's sales going up this week. Technically, Valve calls this its 'Autumn Sale', but it coincides with with the industry's range of Black Friday discounts so it's basically a Black Friday sale. Anyway, technicalities out of the way, you can...
News 'Against The Storm' Added To December 2023's Game Pass Lineup
"Reclaim the wilderness in the face of apocalyptic rains"
Literally this weekend we posted that just one Game Pass title was confirmed for December 2023, and well, we now have another game announced! For now, this will only be available on PC Game Pass, but nevertheless, Against the Storm is joining the Game Pass library on December 8th. Truth be...
News Call Of Duty: MW3 Sets 'New Modern Warfare Engagement Records'
A "historic launch" under the Xbox banner
Although Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 didn't have the best reception at launch and reportedly had a rushed development cycle, it's still performed like no other game in the series before, setting all-new records. According to a
Deals Five More Backwards Compatible Games Added To This Week's Xbox Sales (November 21-28)
Loads of Black Friday discounts are still available too!
Xbox's huge Black Friday digital sale is still live, featuring around 100 backwards compatible titles, but the team has just added another five classic games to the discount pile - and there are some good ones in here too. So, we've gathered up all of the newly-discounted backwards compatible...
News Bethesda Still Has 'About 250' Developers Working On Starfield
Even months after launch!
By now we know that Starfield was a gargantuan development effort for everyone working on the game at Bethesda Game Studios - it took the team almost a decade to make this thing happen. However, we weren't aware of just how many folks are still working on the title after it's shipped! Thanks to a new interview with Wired,...
News Spirittea's Xbox Game Pass Launch Was 'A Ridiculously Good Experience' For The Team
"Over 100,000 people have played the game on Game Pass"
Spirittea's launch earlier this month marked another day one Xbox Game Pass arrival, and its publisher is again singing the praises of Microsoft's subscription service. Frequently a fan of the model, No More Robots founder Mike Rose has taken to Twitter to say that its latest Game Pass deal was...
News Xbox Revenue Would Overtake PlayStation With ActiBlizz On Board, Says Data Firm
Looking at 2023 figures so far
Microsoft's huge Activision Blizzard deal has always been seen as a bit of a money-maker for the Xbox owner, especially with such valuable franchises in-play across Activision, Blizzard and indeed King. Series' such as Call of Duty, Candy Crush and World of Warcraft will bring in lots of additional revenue for Xbox,...
News Bethesda's Starfield Drops To 'Mixed' User Reviews On Steam
The game's overall rating is now classed as 'Mixed'
The long-awaited Starfield finally released on Xbox and PC back in early September, and the consensus around launch was largely positive - including here at Pure Xbox where we scored the game 9/10. However, despite a decent Steam reception on release (the game sat at a 'Mostly Positive' rating for...
News Microsoft Is Offering 20% Discounts & Free Engraving On Xbox Controllers For Black Friday
The offers are now live!
What has slowly become 'Black Friday week' is now in full swing, as we can see by Xbox's latest console offers and the ongoing digital game sale now live on the Xbox Store. Well, the team is making it three-for-three with some accessory offers now live on the Microsoft Store as well. For the next week, you can get 20% off...
News Xbox Will Apparently Show Up At The Game Awards 2023
"I pretty much know that Xbox is there"
There's been a bit of controversy surrounding Xbox and this year's The Game Awards show, especially with Starfield failing to make the Game of the Year nominee list this year. However, despite this omission, it's looking like Xbox will be at the show in some fashion. Yep, according to Windows Central's Jez...