Microsoft News Articles
Thursday18th Dec 2025
News Xbox's Blizzard Team Is Preparing For Its 'Biggest Year Yet' In 2026
What could we see?
We already know that Xbox Game Studios has a pretty big year planned in 2026 with the likes of Fable, Forza Horizon 6, Gears of War: E-Day and Halo: Campaign Evolved set to land next year, and now the folks over at Blizzard Entertainment sound like they're getting in on the Xbox anniversary party as well. Speaking with
News Free Play Days: Try These Xbox Games For Free (December 18-21)
More free trials for Xbox players
Welcome to your latest Xbox Free Play Days lineup! Microsoft has today revealed the full list of games available with the program for the coming weekend - including some Call of Duty and Fallout trials which we've covered elsewhere this week at Pure Xbox: Here's the full FPD lineup this week: Ark: Survival...
Wednesday17th Dec 2025
News 40+ Games Were Added To Xbox Play Anywhere In November 2025
Silent Hill 2 the headline addition
As part of the Xbox December 2025 Update, Microsoft has highlighted more than 40 Xbox Play Anywhere titles added to the program last month, including major games such as Silent Hill 2, Football Manager 26, Dave the Diver and more! Many of the
News Black Ops 7 Was The Best-Selling Game In November, But Battlefield 6 Remains Top For 2025 (US)
Circana has all the details
We've heard a lot about how Battlefield 6 and Black Ops 7 have been performing in the sales department already, and now Circana has some fresh data on how both titan FPS titles have been getting on commercially in the US. First off, despite Black Ops 7 dropping off
News Xbox Highlights Four Retro Classics Coming Soon To Game Pass
Big player milestone also announced
As part of the Xbox December Update, Microsoft has announced the next four titles coming to Xbox Retro Classics; the retro gaming collection that's been available to Game Pass subscribers since May 2025. Three of those titles are included in the image up above, and thankfully, Microsoft has also listed all four...
News Call Of Duty: Black Ops 7 Free Trial Now Live On Xbox One & Series X|S
Here's how to get in
Xbox's Activision team has dropped its first free trial period for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, now live on all platforms including Xbox One and Series X|S. This first-ever free access period for this year's COD includes "a selection of Multiplayer and Zombies content including the fan-favourite 'Nuketown 2025'". Here's Xbox's...
Tuesday16th Dec 2025
News Two New Features Highlighted In The Xbox December 2025 Update
One mobile focused, one PC focused
Xbox is back again with its "December Update" of new features, and it's actually quite a small roundup this time around, highlighted by two new arrivals along with the usual set of new Play Anywhere, Stream Your Own Game (etc.) titles. The big feature is something we've already covered here at Pure Xbox, and...
Rumour COD 2027 Will Be A New Sub-Series With 'Completely New Characters' On Xbox
A direct response to Black Ops 6 & 7?
Last week, Xbox's Call of Duty team put out a statement announcing that there'll be no more "back-to-back" Modern Warfare or Black Ops games in the series following poor sales for
Saturday13th Dec 2025
News Two Games Are Confirmed For Xbox Game Pass In January 2026 So Far
An early look at next month
As we always do around this time of the month, we're taking an early look today at what's ahead for January 2026's Xbox Game Pass selection, with two titles having been confirmed for the service next month already. Our headline game so far, simply by nature of the fact that it's coming for both console and PC players, is...
Thursday11th Dec 2025
News Free Play Days: Try These Xbox Games For Free (December 11-14)
Three games to play for free this weekend!
As expected, Xbox Free Play Days has returned for the next few days! We've got three games in the mix this week, one of which requires a Game Pass membership (The Dungeon of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet of Chaos) with the other two being completely free for everyone on Xbox to try. Here are the Xbox Free Play...
News Digital Foundry Analysis Showcases 60FPS Versions Of Red Dead Redemption On Xbox
Parity, finally!
Red Dead Redemption for Xbox Series X|S is finally here, and now that most of you should have gotten your free upgrade if you were eligible, we're sure plenty of Xbox fans have been enjoying this Rockstar classic at 60FPS. Well, the folks at Digital Foundry are here as well to d
Wednesday10th Dec 2025
News Xbox's New Buy One, Get One Free Sale Includes A Selection Of Indie Titles
Live for the next week
Xbox has just set a new edition of its Buy One, Get One Free sales live on the Microsoft Store today - with this particular promotion revolving around a pretty slim selection of indie titles all-told. Yep, as these deals usually go, this isn't the most inspired list from Xbox here, but there are some standouts such as the...
News PlayStation Highlights Halo: Campaign Evolved As One Of Its 'Must-Play' Games For 2026
We're living in strange times
PlayStation has just dropped an overview trailer for what's coming to PS5 in 2026, and while we certainly wouldn't normally cover that here at Pure Xbox, one certain big green inclusion has made us reconsider. Sony is directly advertising Halo: Campaign Evolved as one of its "must-play games coming soon to PS5". We...
News These Two Games Are Your Final Xbox Game Pass Additions For 2025 (December 10-11)
2026 is upon us!
Welcome to your latest Xbox Game Pass update! Today, NetherRealm's Mortal Kombat 1 joins the XGP library - playable for Series X|S, PC and Cloud players across the PC Game Pass, Premium and Ultimate tiers. We also have one more addition for tomorrow at the time of writing; that being Bratz: Rhythm & Style. So, we're going to round...
Tuesday9th Dec 2025
News Xbox & Activision Issue Statement On The Future Of Call Of Duty Following Black Ops 7 Backlash
"A message from the Call of Duty team..."
After what sounds like a disappointing launch for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, Xbox's Activision team has put out a frank and surprisingly open message about the future of the franchise moving forward. In an address to series fans, Activision has announced that it will no longer release back-to-back Black Ops...
News Xbox & Bethesda Shadow Drop Another Switch 2 Game, And You'll Never Guess What It Is
How many times?!
Those of us who are enjoying Switch 2 right now are pretty intrigued to see which games Xbox brings to the platform in the near future; the team has plenty of recent games to move over, right?! Wrong, current-gen Nintendo players are being treated to The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim once again. Yep, Xbox's Bethesda team has today shadow...
News Take-Two Hires Former Perfect Dark Leads To Spin Up A Brand-New Project
A second take
Following Perfect Dark's cancellation back in July, we heard reports that GTA maker Take-Two had tried to take over the project before talks collapsed, but it sounds as though the mega publisher liked what it saw. The same so
News Four Games Are Available Today With Xbox Game Pass (December 9)
One of the biggest drops of the month!
Welcome to your latest Xbox Game Pass update! Today, we have four titles joining the main Game Pass Ultimate library - three across console and PC, and one PC-only addition. Here's all the info you need on today's Xbox Game Pass titles (December 9): A Game About Digging A
Monday8th Dec 2025
News Xbox Dev Reveals That Sony Asked About Microsoft Flight Sim Going To PS5 Years Ago
The 2024 edition hits PlayStation today
Back in September, we learnt that Microsoft Flight Simulator was jetting off to PS5 this year - and now an interesting interview with an Xbox developer talks about the series' interesting journey to PlayStation platforms. Speaking with XDA, Microsoft's Flight Sim lead dev Jorg Neumann talked about the...
Saturday6th Dec 2025
News Here's What Might Leave Xbox Game Pass In January 2026
Some early predictions
What's leaving Xbox Game Pass in January 2026? Well, Microsoft hasn't confirmed anything just yet, but based on some games that were added to the service this time last year, we can at least make a few predictions ahead of time. We know that a lot of Xbox users want more advance notice of games leaving Xbox Game Pass, but...
Friday5th Dec 2025
News Clockwork Revolution Dev Shares New Message About Its Eagerly Anticipated Xbox RPG
"This is the most complex game I've ever worked on"
Clockwork Revolution has a bit of hype behind it within the Xbox fanbase - heck, even boss Phil Spencer sounds pretty excited about what inXile is cooking up. And, while info on the title remains scarce, the team has delivered a new message about the game as part of the latest PC Gaming Sho
Thursday4th Dec 2025
News Free Play Days: Try These Xbox Games For Free (December 4-7)
New free trials now live on Xbox!
Xbox Free Play Days is here for the next few days! We've got six games playable as part of the program this week - with one of those in Destiny 2 bringing loads of premium expansions to the program as well. Here's your full Free Play Days rundown this week: Astria Ascending Bassmaster Fishing Descenders Destiny 2...
News Three Games Are Available Today Across Various Tiers Of Xbox Game Pass (December 4)
Including a brand-new day one launch!
Welcome to your latest Xbox Game Pass roundup! Today, we've got three games coming to the service; one that's brand-new to Ultimate subscribers and two that are moving over to the Premium tier. So, we'll gather up these new XGP additions for December 4th down below: 33 Immortals (Console, PC, Cloud) - XGP...
Wednesday3rd Dec 2025
News Two Games Are Available Today With Xbox Game Pass Premium (December 3)
Two more titles for Premium subscribers!
Welcome to your latest Xbox Game Pass roundup! Today's update focuses on Xbox Game Pass Premium, with two titles moving over to Microsoft's mid-tier service today (December 3). Here's a summary of your two new additions to Xbox Game Pass Premium: Monster Train 2 (Series X|S, PC, Cloud): "Monster Train...
Tuesday2nd Dec 2025
News Xbox Teases 2026 Game Pass Lineup As It Delivers The Service's Final Update Of 2025
Game Pass is done with updates this year
Earlier today, Microsoft dropped its December Xbox Game Pass roundup - with 14 games coming to multiple tiers of the service in the next few weeks. The update stops at December 11th with the addition of Bratz: Rhythm & Style, and that's seemingly going to be our final XGP update for 2025 as the team begins to...
News These 14 Games Are Coming To Xbox Game Pass (December 2-11)
Your latest roundup of new titles
Microsoft has today revealed the next roundup of titles coming to Xbox Game Pass, with a batch of new additions arriving here in the first half of December 2025. We've got the day one launch of Routine to look forward to later this week, alongside Mortal Kombat 1 and more arriving later on in December. And don't...
News New Microsoft Survey Suggests Five AI Features That Could Be Added To Xbox Game Pass
"Which of these would you be most likely to use?"
Whether it's a popular move or not, Microsoft is putting a big focus on the power of AI these days, and we've already seen Microsoft Copilot getting significantly integrated into the Xbox space over the past few months. It's very unlikely they're going to stop there, as suggested in a new Microsoft...
Monday1st Dec 2025
News Marvel Cosmic Invasion Impresses Critics As Arcade Beat-'Em-Up Lands On Xbox Game Pass
Out now on the service!
Marvel Cosmic Invasion is kicking off December on Xbox Game Pass in a big way - and the new Marvel brawler is out now, which means early reviews are starting to trickle in for the newly-released Xbox title. So, we're going to gather up some of those early reviews down below for you take a look at. Spoiler alert; Marvel...
News Halo: MCC Hit Its Highest Steam Player Count Since 2021 Over The Weekend
Masterworks
Halo: The Master Chief Collection has been a pretty steady Steam performer since it was introduced to the platform back in 2019; especially over the last three or four years where it regularly hits about 10k concurrent players at peak times. Over this past weekend though, the collection peaked a little higher than usual; hitting a Steam...
News Three Games Are Available This Week With Xbox Game Pass (December 1-4)
Starting today!
Welcome to your latest Xbox Game Pass roundup! So far, we've got three games coming to the library this week, including the recent surprise addition to the lineup in Marvel Cosmic Invasion - which arrives today! Here's a look at this week's Xbox Game Pass titles, all of which are new additions to the main Game Pass Ultimate library...
