Microsoft News Articles
Friday25th Jul 2025
News Two Xbox First-Party Games Now Shipping On Disc In 2025, Says Retailer
Another great Microsoft reversal
Shortly after Microsoft lifted the lid on Ninja Gaiden 4 and The Outer Worlds 2 during its 2025 Xbox Games Showcase, it was revealed that both of these games would get code-in-a-box physical releases - but the team has now reversed that decision and the two games will ship on-disc here in 2025. Hurrah! News of this...
Thursday24th Jul 2025
News Xbox Will Apparently Announce More PS5 & Switch 2 Ports 'In The Coming Weeks'
Starfield? Halo? What next!
We're all well aware at this point that Microsoft is willing to take its full slate of games to other platforms, including PS5, and a fresh comment from The Game Business writer Chris Dring suggests that more announcements could be imminent. In a post that breaks down the current state of the US games market with...
News Xbox Celebrates Grounded 2 Launch With Bonkers '10-Foot Ant' Giveaway
You've got to be in it to win it
Obsidian's Grounded 2 Early Access launch is upon us, with the team's co-op backyard experience hitting Xbox Game Pass next week - and Team Green has just the accessory to get you settled in with the upcoming sequel. Basically, you can now enter to win a "Wild 10-foot Red Ant Plush" to ride while you master the...
Wednesday23rd Jul 2025
News Microsoft Reverts Price Increase For The Outer Worlds 2, Will Launch For $70 On Xbox
"In line with current market conditions"
Not so long ago now, Microsoft announced sweeping price increases for some of its Xbox products, including plans to release future AAA games at $80. In turn, October's The Outer Worlds 2 was set to be the company's first $80 release, but those plans have now changed. In a statement provided to
News Forza Horizon 5 Is Seemingly The Best-Selling New PS5 Game Of 2025 So Far
Very impressive results
Earlier this month, we brought news that Forza Horizon 5 was about to surpass three million sales on PS5, and now it's done just that - seemingly becoming the best-selling new PS5 game of 2025 in the process. These figures are again coming from Alinea Analytics, who've provided an update for us on how FH5 is doing
News Xbox's Next First-Party Title Gets 'Story Trailer' Ahead Of Game Pass Release This Month
Staying grounded
It's been a busy year so far for Xbox first-party, but despite us being in the slower summer months here, the team isn't stopping there. Nope, the productive folks over at Obsidian are about to drop another big release this month in the form of Grounded 2 - with the game's early access story trailer now live. You can check out this...
Monday21st Jul 2025
News Microsoft Is Adding A 'Play History' Tab To The Xbox Dashboard
Unifying Xbox, PC and Cloud gaming
Microsoft has today announced an intriguing update for Xbox players, in another move towards unifying its gaming experience across console, PC and cloud. Rolling out now for Xbox Insiders, a new 'Play History' tab is being introduced on console and PC that makes it easier to browse your recently played games -...
Friday18th Jul 2025
Rumour Xbox Has Locked In A November Release Date For Call Of Duty: Black Ops 7
Shock?
The word on the street is that Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 will launch this November. Shocked? Nah, probably not, but considering last year's entry arrived in October, it's looking like Xbox and Activision are taking a few extra weeks to get Black Ops 7 out the door. The official release date is set for November 14th, 2025, according to...
Thursday17th Jul 2025
News Free Play Days: Try These Xbox Games For Free (July 17-20)
Included with Xbox Game Pass
Free Play Days is here on Xbox once again, and today's selection is headlined by Ubisoft's pirate adventure Skull & Bones. The 2024 title is joined by four other games to round out Microsoft's full FPD offering this week. Here's everything you can play with Xbox Free Play Days this weekend: Atomicrops Blades of...
Wednesday16th Jul 2025
Rumour Xbox Is Working On Next-Gen Cloud Gaming, Including PC-Based Streaming
"Here's what we expect to see"
Despite questions about Xbox's next-gen hardware plans, one thing that's for sure is the team's continued focus on cloud gaming, which is quickly becoming a core feature of the ecosystem. This week, Microsoft began rolling out the 'Stream Your Own Game' cloud service to PC, and it sounds like the Windows platform could...
Tuesday15th Jul 2025
News Starfield DLC Reportedly Still In The Works Alongside The Elder Scrolls 6
An update on Bethesda from Jez Corden
One notable absence from this year's Xbox Games Showcase was Bethesda's Starfield, despite an update from the team back in March stating that "a lot of exciting things are planned for the game this year". While those things clearly weren't ready to be shown off this summer, it's claimed that Bethesda Game...
Report Activision Blizzard's King Team Sees Axed Job Roles 'Replaced' By AI
200 jobs have been cut at the studio
We apologise in advance for bringing another AI story to you today, but a fresh report from MobileGamer suggests that Activision Blizzard's King team is a part of the Microsoft Gaming business seeing human job roles shift to AI. It had previously been reported by the likes of Bloomberg that
News Xbox's Full Black Ops 7 Reveal 'Kicks Off' Gamescom 2025 In August
"Kicks off Gamescom in a massive way"
Following its prestige slot as the show closer for Microsoft's Xbox Games Showcase last month, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 will officially blow the doors off Gamescom 2025 in August. Opening Night Live host Geoff Keighley has announced the news on
Monday14th Jul 2025
News Xbox Fan Shares Fresh Dashboard Concept That Cleans Up The Home Screen
We want it!!
Every now and then, certain corners of the Xbox community decide to have a go at redesigning the console dashboard in an attempt to clean things up a little bit - and a fresh version posted over at Reddit is looking pretty darn sweet if we may say so ourselves. User JoeRasp96 has shared a selection of screens from their new 'Xbox...
News Xbox Hardware Isn't Dead But 'Big Changes' Are Coming, Says Digital Foundry
"No, Xbox hardware isn't dead."
In recent weeks, and in the wake of the ROG Xbox Ally, there's been lots of speculation about the future of Xbox hardware and where Microsoft is taking things - and over the past few days, the folks over at Digital Foundry have had their say on proceedings. The DF team believes that Xbox is still taking hardware...
Saturday12th Jul 2025
News Two Games Are Confirmed For Xbox Game Pass In August 2025 So Far
An early look at next month
As we always do around this time of the month, we're taking a look today at what's ahead for August 2025's Xbox Game Pass selection, with two titles having been confirmed for the library next month so far. As it stands, two Xbox first-party releases are the only games we know about for now - including the...
Thursday10th Jul 2025
News Microsoft Spends Up To $50m On Xbox Game Pass Partnerships, Says Former Manager
"Deals ranging from $50k to over $50m"
Microsoft's own first-party titles are a big draw with Xbox Game Pass — particularly these days with this many studios under its belt — but that's not to say that big partnerships with third party teams aren't also needed. In fact, some of these partnerships are pretty darn huge, with deals going all the...
News Xbox Fan 'Shocked' That Latest First-Party Release Ships Completely On Disc
No download required!
In recent months, there's been a bit of controversy surrounding physical Xbox releases and the amount of data stored on-disc, with both Indiana Jones and DOOM: The Dark Ages requiring big downloads before being able to play. However, the company's latest first-par
Wednesday9th Jul 2025
News Former Exec Says He's 'Not Sure Xbox Would Be Around' If Microsoft Didn't Fix 360 RROD Issue
"This was, for us, a defining moment"
Former Microsoft exec Peter Moore has been getting all nostalgic again recently in his new chat with outlet The Game Business; touching on the Xbox 360 era when Moore helped lead the team. While we've heard some of this chatter before, he did make
Saturday5th Jul 2025
News Here's What Might Leave Xbox Game Pass In August 2025
Some early predictions!
What's leaving Xbox Game Pass in August 2025? 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...
Friday4th Jul 2025
News Xbox Series S Compared To Switch 2 In Hogwarts Legacy Analysis, And The Results Are Surprising
Series S provides a much better experience!
Nintendo Switch 2 is now out in the wild, and after a month or so on the market, the system has seen mixed results with it when it comes to third-party experiences. While developers like Koei Tecmo recently came out and said that the hybrid console is pretty close to Xbox Series S, the results so far haven
Thursday3rd Jul 2025
News PlayStation Is Publishing Helldivers 2 On Xbox, Signalling A Shift In Strategy From Sony
Will more PlayStation games move over?
We got some big news today in the form of Helldivers 2 making its way over to Xbox; a super well-regarded multiplayer shooter from the folks over at Arrowhead Game Studios. In isolation this is big news, but with extra context this is massive news - as it's the first-ever PlayStation Publishing release to...
News DOOM Co-Creator Has Funding Pulled For AAA Title, Seemingly By Xbox
Another Microsoft casualty
At this point, we know that Microsoft's latest round of layoffs has affected lots of projects at Xbox's internal studios, but the casualties seemingly don't stop there. Romero Games, the studio being helmed by DOOM co-creator John Romero, has just had funding pulled on its next title "along with several other unannounced...
Wednesday2nd Jul 2025
News Microsoft Is Seemingly Cutting Back On Its Quality Assurance Efforts With Xbox
"The Xbox user research team has been hit hard"
As we're sure you're all aware by now, Microsoft has been cutting staff like nobody's business this week, and their efforts are in-part due to 'streamlining' the business - or as Xbox exec Matt Booty says: "to adjust priorities and focus resources". Well, it seems as though these adjustments will be...
News Phil Spencer Isn't Retiring Anytime Soon, Says Xbox In Response To Rumour
Xbox's head of communications chimes in
As if today hasn't been enough of a whirlwind for us at PX HQ — and everyone else closely following Xbox right now — fresh rumours are doing the rounds that long time boss Phil Spencer may step down from his role in the near future. Call of Duty insider TheGhostOfHope has gone public with this, claiming...
News Forza Motorsport Team Reportedly Loses 'Nearly 50% Of Staff' In Xbox Job Cuts
Brutal losses for Turn 10
Microsoft's current round of layoffs is starting to feel particularly brutal, with Forza Motorsport developer Turn 10 Studios reportedly losing almost 50% of its entire staff as part of these ongoing Xbox job cuts. This latest news is coming from
News Xbox's Everwild Gets Cancelled As Layoffs Hit Sea Of Thieves Developer
Update: It's now official
We told you folks to brace yourselves today and that's exactly what's needed. Following news earlier that fresh Microsoft layoffs were starting to hit Xbox teams, it's being reported that Rare is now one of the studios affected - and its Everwild project has seemingly been cancelled as a result. This is coming from outlet
News Xbox Has Briefly Taken Down A Bunch Of Classic COD Games For 'Maintenance'
Are they being prepped for Game Pass?
We have an intriguing development in the world of Call of Duty today, folks. As part of what appears to be quite a hefty maintenance effort from the Activision team, a big batch of COD titles have gone offline for roughly four hours today - including some Xbox 360 classics like Modern Warfare 2 and the original...
Tuesday1st Jul 2025
News These Seven Games Are Coming To Xbox Game Pass (July 2-15)
Your latest roundup of new titles
Microsoft has just revealed the next batch of titles coming to Xbox Game Pass in July, featuring some newly-announced additions alongside its next first-party release in the form of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3+4. We also saw two new additions to the library today, remember, including the fantastic
Monday30th Jun 2025
News Ex Blizzard Boss Thinks Microsoft Should Pick Its Xbox Strategy And 'Stick To It'
"Tough to see Xbox confused"
Over the last year, year and a half, Microsoft has certainly changed things up in terms of its Xbox strategy - mainly by focusing more on software and launching some of its biggest in-house games on other platforms. This took some time getting used to at the beginning, and even though things are much clearer now, some...
