Microsoft News Articles
Thursday30th Oct 2025
News Microsoft Highlights 50+ Xbox Play Anywhere Titles Added To The Program Last Month
Hollow Knight: Silksong, Silent Hill F and lots more!
As part of the Xbox October 2025 Update, Microsoft has highlighted more than 50 Xbox Play Anywhere titles added to the program last month - including major games such as Hollow Knight: Silksong, Silent Hill F,
News Free Play Days: Try These Xbox Games For Free (October 30 - November 2)
A new batch of free titles
Xbox Free Play Days has arrived! As we roll into November, Microsoft has added seven games to the program this week - including a longer trial of its 2024 shooter Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. Here's your full list of Free Play Days titles this weekend: Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Catan Dead by Daylight
News Here's What's Included In The Xbox October 2025 Update
"We continue our quest to add improved innovation..."
The Xbox October 2025 update has just been highlighted by the folks over at Team Xbox, with ROG Xbox Ally, the Handheld Compatibility Program and fresh PC and Console updates making up the full list of new features. We're going to gather up everything included in the Xbox October 2025 update...
PSA The Next Few Months Could Be Very Busy With Xbox-Related Showcases
Showcases for six months straight? Why not!
If it feels like we're getting Xbox showcases pretty much every month at the minute, that's because, well... we basically are! Aside from July (which makes sense given June's Xbox Games Showcase), we've had monthly showcases in the back half of 2025 so far - including August's Gamescom Opening Night Live,...
Wednesday29th Oct 2025
News Xbox Content & Services Revenue Sees Slight Increase In Q1 2026, Hardware Drops Almost 30%
Microsoft's latest fiscal report is in
Microsoft has released its financial results for Q1 of the 2026 fiscal year - and just like recent quarters, content and services are on the up, but hardware sales are drastically down. The Xbox owner says that its content and services revenue increased by 1% year-over-year, while its hardware sales dropped...
News Is Xbox Down? Huge Azure Server Outage Causes Issues Across Microsoft Services
Update: things are slowly returning to normal
We're seeing reports online that a huge Microsoft Azure server outage is causing issues across Xbox, Windows and other Microsoft services that are connected to the web. As shared by The Verge, Microsoft has confirmed Azure Portal issues on the service's status page, while Microsoft 365 has addressed the...
News Xbox Confirms Its First Two Game Pass Titles For December 2025, And They Both Look Brilliant
We could be in for a strong end to the year!
Prior to yesterday's Xbox indie showcase, Microsoft hadn't confirmed any Game Pass titles for December 2025, and while 12 XGP additions were shown off in total during the event - we want to focus on the first two games now confirmed for the service in December. Arriving first — on December 4th — is
News Microsoft CEO Says Xbox 'Wants To Innovate' With Its Next-Gen Console
"We want to do innovative work..."
Another Xbox exec has been out chatting about next-gen gaming this week - with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella the latest to chime in on the company's plans for gaming post-ROG Xbox Ally. In an interview with tech show
Tuesday28th Oct 2025
News Xbox Announces 12 Titles Coming To Game Pass At October's Indie Showcase
Including some big additions for this year!
Today's Xbox Indie Showcase treated us to a bunch of new reveals for upcoming Xbox Game Pass titles, including Darkwood 2, Planet of Lana 2, Aphelion, Routine and loads more be
Roundup All The Reveals From October 2025's Xbox Indie Showcase
Missed the event? Here's a recap
Weren't able to catch October 2025's Xbox Indie Showcase earlier today? No worries! You can always go back and watch the on-demand version for yourself, which you'll find elsewhere on Pure Xbox. If you don't want to watch it all the way through, we've also detailed all the important reveals in this article - with...
News Four Games Are Available This Week With Xbox Game Pass (October 28-31)
One being a huge first-party release!
Welcome to your latest Xbox Game Pass roundup! We're gathering up everything coming to XGP this week, including Xbox's big new release in The Outer Worlds 2. Here's everything coming to Xbox Game Pass from October 28th-31st: Halls of Torment (Series X|S, PC, Cloud) - PC, Premium, Ultimate (October 28):
Monday27th Oct 2025
News Digital Foundry Impressed By Halo: Campaign Evolved, But Worried About Unreal Engine 5
"Some unfortunate Unreal Engine 5 issues..."
In its latest weekly podcast episode, the folks over at Digital Foundry have discussed last week's Halo: Campaign Evolved reveal - and the team's thoughts are mixed on the title despite being impressed by Halo Studios' vision thus far. The gist of DF's discussion revolves around two main things: Halo...
News Microsoft Reportedly Still Has Plans To Make Its Own Xbox Handheld
After shelving it to develop ROG Xbox Ally
This afternoon, we shared a huge report from Windows Central that breaks down a bunch of what Microsoft is working on for the next-generation of Xbox - and in that report, we've spotted a little tidbit that hints Team Green still has plans to make its own handheld console at some stage. That's right,...
News Huge Xbox Report Details 'Ambitious' Next-Gen Console With Free Online Play
Microsoft seemingly has big plans for next-gen
Chatter about Microsoft's next-gen console has been on the rise recently, with multiple execs — including Xbox president Sarah Bond — coming out and talking about future plans as of late. Now though, Windows Central has put out a huge report giving us fresh details and crucia
News Xbox Journalist Says Microsoft Has Another Showcase Planned For November 2025
Following this week's indie event
This week, we have an ID@Xbox showcase confirmed for Tuesday, October 28th - but that may not be the final Xbox showcase for 2025, looking at a new report. According to Windows Central's Jez Corden, Microsoft has an Xbox Partner Preview event in line for next month. Corden says that the show is planned for...
Sunday26th Oct 2025
News Xbox Has More Competition From TikTok Than PlayStation, Claims Microsoft Exec
"Our biggest competition isn’t another console"
In the wake of Microsoft's announcement of Halo: Campaign Evolved heading over to PS5 next year, Xbox executive Matt Booty reckons that the platform has more competition from the likes of TikTok than another gaming console these days. Speaking in a new interview with The New York Times, Booty talked...
Friday24th Oct 2025
News Xbox Details All Of The New Content Packed Into Its Halo: Campaign Evolved Remake
There's a lot of new stuff!
Halo: Campaign Evolved has been announced as a major remake of the first Halo game coming in 2026, which of course means that the bulk of this Halo experience will be overhauled content from the OG release. However, Halo Studios is using the opportunity to also add a bunch of new content to the first Halo - and it's...
News Halo: Campaign Evolved Officially Announced, Coming To Xbox In 2026
"A faithful yet modernized remake"
It's official, a Halo: Combat Evolved remake is coming in 2026! Yep, as part of today's Halo World Championship event, the newly-rebranded Halo Studios has announced its first project - titled Halo: Campaign Evolved. Halo: Campaign Evolved is a "faithful yet modernized remake of Halo: Combat Evolved’s campaign",...
News Black Ops 7 Season 01 Revealed Before The Game's Even Out, And It's Absolutely Stacked
10 maps confirmed for Season 01
Black Ops 7's Xbox launch is exactly three weeks away, with the latest Call of Duty title set to grace Xbox Game Pass on November 14th. However, fans aren't even being given time to digest what's in the base game right now - as Activision reveals an absolute shedload of content coming to the game as part of
News Phil Spencer Addresses AI & Developer Creativity At Xbox Game Studios
"I really leave it up to the teams..."
In a new panel at the Paley International Council Summit, Phil Spencer sat down with Double Fine Studio Head Tim Schafer to discuss a whole host of gaming-related topics - and the Xbox boss had some interesting things to say about AI use and developer creativity over at Microsoft's gaming division. Despite the...
News Two Games Are Available Today With Xbox Game Pass (October 24)
Featuring a shadow drop!
Welcome to your latest Xbox Game Pass roundup! Initially, today was going to just be a one game update - but we got an awesome shadow drop late last night in the form of driving survival game Pacific Drive - so we're going to include that one in today's roundup as well. Without further ado, here's what's new on Xbox Game...
Thursday23rd Oct 2025
News The Outer Worlds 2 Comparison Shows Difference Between Xbox Series X And Series S
Here's how both Xbox versions stack up
Following our hands-on impressions of The Outer Worlds 2 earlier today, we thought you might be interested in how the game is shaping up across both Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S! Fuzion Xbox Testing has become our go-to for stuff like this - we're not affiliated with the channel whatsoever, but it's a great...
News Microsoft's 'This Is An Xbox' Ad Evolves As Holiday Marketing Ramps Up
"This is an Xbox - yup!"
Almost a year ago now (yep, it's been that long), Microsoft unveiled its 'This is an Xbox' marketing campaign which defined a huge shift in messaging for the company - and this year the whole thing has evolved, as Microsoft tweaks its advertising strategy for Holiday 2025. You can check out the new advert up above, which...
Roundup Here's What The Reviews Are Saying About Xbox's The Outer Worlds 2
Early access starts tomorrow!
The Outer Worlds 2 is almost here! Yep, Obsidian's next title goes live for early access players tomorrow, before the standard edition lands on Xbox Game Pass next week. So, is the team's next big RPG worth playing? Well, for what it's worth - we've enjoyed our opening few hours with the game. We haven't played ne
Report Xbox Has Been Asking Its Studios To Hit 'Higher Profit Margins' Since 2023
Right as the Activision Blizzard deal closed...
Bloomberg's ever-reliable gaming journalist Jason Schreier (along with colleague Dina Bass) has today put out an extensive report on Xbox, and how Microsoft is now asking the division to deliver "higher profit margins" in the wake of its massive acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The report says that...
News Free Play Days: Try These Xbox Games For Free (October 23-26)
Your latest roundup of free titles
Free Play Days is here! This weekend, Xbox has five games playable as part of the program - including the latest EA Sports FC release, ghost-hunting sim Phasmophobia and multiplayer horror title The Outlast Trials; right as the game gets its brand-new 'Invasion' update which we've showcased up above. Here's...
News Two Games Are Available Today With Xbox Game Pass (October 23)
Two new additions to the Ultimate library!
Welcome to your latest Xbox Game Pass update! Today, we have two new additions to the library - both being day one releases including the hotly-anticipated PowerWash Simulator 2. Here's some more information on FuturLab's sequel, alongside your other new Game Pass title for October 23rd: Bounty Star...
Wednesday22nd Oct 2025
News Digital Foundry Analyses ROG Xbox Ally X In New Review-In-Progress
Games tested, thoughts shared
We — along with lots of other gaming and tech outlets — delivered our ROG Xbox Ally review last week, and despite us having a great time with the system - opinions on the device(s) are certainly mixed across the board. Now though, the tech experts at Digital Foundry have shared some of their initial thoughts on the...
News Two Games Are Moving Over To Xbox Game Pass Premium Today (October 22)
Just announced by Microsoft!
With Microsoft's recent Xbox Game Pass overhaul, the new 'Premium' tier is a much more affordable option - and despite a lack of day one launches on there, plenty of games are still being added on a regular basis. Today, two major additions to the Premium library have been announced by Xbox, including first-party title
News These 11 Games Are Coming To Xbox Game Pass (October 22 - November 4)
Your latest roundup of new additions
Microsoft has today unveiled its latest roundup of new Xbox Game Pass titles, a few weeks on from overhauling the service with an Ultimate price bump and two refreshed tiers in Essential and Premium. Before we get into the full list of titles coming to XGP over the next few weeks, we want to remind folks to be...
