Microsoft News Articles
Monday11th Aug 2025
News Three New Demos Have Been Added To The Xbox Store Already In August
Update: And we're getting more!
Xbox doesn't really talk about demos these days, so it's our job to sort through them and look for hidden gems every now and again - and we've spotted three from August already that are highlight-worthy additions to the Xbox Store. The first of these is the demo for Gothic 1 Remake, and this demo serves as a prologue...
Saturday9th Aug 2025
News Here's What Might Leave Xbox Game Pass In September 2025
Some early predictions!
What's leaving Xbox Game Pass in September 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...
Friday8th Aug 2025
News Grounded 2 Is Off To An Impressive Start On Steam & Xbox Game Pass
Early sales & players numbers are in
Microsoft's latest first-party release, Grounded 2, launched at the back end of July on Xbox and PC — including Game Pass — and the early signs are suggesting that it's been a successful Early Access launch for Obsidian & co. First off, as pointed out by Klobrille, the game has infiltrated the top 10...
Thursday7th Aug 2025
News Free Play Days: Try These Xbox Games For Free (August 7-10)
Playable with any Game Pass tier
Free Play Days has officially landed on Xbox! This weekend, we have four games to get stuck into across Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S - including Bethesda's The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited. Here's your full selection of Free Play Days titles this week: Cassette Beasts (two-hour trial) The Elder Scrolls...
News Assassin's Creed Mirage Is Available Today With Xbox Game Pass (August 7)
Another AC title hits the library!
Welcome to your latest XGP roundup! Today's a big one - with another of Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed games joining the lineup almost two years after its initial launch in October 2023. Here's what to expect from Assassin's Creed Mirage on Xbox Game Pass: Assassin's Creed Mirage (Console, PC, Cloud) - Later Today
Wednesday6th Aug 2025
News 10+ Ubisoft Games Added To Microsoft PC Store Ahead Of ROG Xbox Ally Launch
But they're not Play Anywhere compatible...
Ubisoft has today revealed another batch of games that are now available on Microsoft's PC storefront, as the Xbox owner continues to improve combability ahead of its upcoming ROG Xbox Ally launch. Previously, these games would have only been accessible on PC via the likes of Steam or Ubisoft's own...
Rumour Starfield Could Be Getting Interplanetary Travel Ahead Of Expansion 2 On Xbox
What has Bethesda been working on?
Last week, we shared a report that Starfield could be getting a new expansion alongside a PS5 release in 2026 - and a new game update from Bethesda hints that more big features could be coming in the meantime. Basically, last night, a tiny Starfield patch went live on Xbox and PC - containing some changes to the...
News Xbox Dev Turn 10 Goes Dark As Questions Remain Over The Future Of Forza Motorsport
FM Social media has gone very quiet
Just over a month ago now, Microsoft's sweeping layoffs affected Xbox studios around the globe, including Forza Motorsport developer Turn 10. According to reports, Xbox's premiere racing studio was hit particularly hard by job cuts — seemingly losing around 50% of staff — and the team's lack of
News Four Games Are Available Today With Xbox Game Pass Standard (August 6)
Another library refresh
Welcome to your latest Xbox Game Pass roundup! Today, Microsoft is adding four games to its mid-tier 'XGP Standard' library, including the likes of Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders and Citizen Sleeper 2. Oh, and before we round all of these up, the ma
News Gears Of War: Reloaded Preload Is Now Live On Xbox Series X|S
Install now with Xbox Game Pass!
Well folks, The Coalition's latest Gears title is almost here in the form of Gears of War: Reloaded - and the game's full preload is now available to download on Xbox Series X|S. Clocking in at just north of 68GB on Series X, the team's upcoming Gears of War remake can now be installed on console, including via Xbox...
Tuesday5th Aug 2025
News A Month After Xbox Layoffs, Call Of Duty Dev Raven Software Officially Unionises
It took nearly 3 years of negotiation
Raven Software, the team behind the campaign portion of last year's Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, is this week celebrating a fresh union contract that guarantees improved working conditions over at Xbox. Per a post from the Communications Workers of America (CWA), the group of Raven employees who voted to unionise...
News These 9 Games Are Coming To Xbox Game Pass (August 5-14)
Your latest batch of new titles
Microsoft has revealed a new batch of Xbox Game Pass titles for the first half of August 2025, which includes the previously-confirmed Hellblade 2 Enhanced, as well as some surprises like Assassin's Creed Mirage and Aliens: Fireteam Elite. Here's what's coming to Xbox Game Pass from August 5 through August 14
Monday4th Aug 2025
News Xbox Adds New Dynamic Background & Gamerpics For Rare's 40th Birthday
Rare's big day
As we just unveiled elsewhere on Pure Xbox, we have some goodies being announced today to celebrate the 40th anniversary of developer Rare - and those goodies also include a batch of fresh gamerpics and a new dynamic background on Xbox Series X|S. <related ids="185925"> Yep, to celebrate 40 years of the famous Xbox studio,...
Friday1st Aug 2025
Report Starfield PS5 Port Planned For Spring 2026 Alongside New Expansion
But don't expect a shadow drop
Things have been a little quiet on the Starfield front as of late, but a new report suggests that might be about to change. Outlet MP1st is today reporting that the game's second expansion — alongside a PS5 port — is due out in Spring 2026, and we could be hearing about it all much sooner than that. The site says...
Thursday31st Jul 2025
News Xbox Is Predicting A Revenue Decline For The Start Of Fiscal Year 2026
Setting expectations for Q1
Despite some positive news for the company's most recent financial quarter — including content & services growth and record Game Pass revenues — the outlook isn't so hot for next quarter. As part of this update on how Microsoft and Xbox are doing financially, the team has predicted a revenue decline for Q1 of its...
News Free Play Days: Try These Xbox Games For Free (July 31 - August 3)
Included with Xbox Game Pass
Welcome to your latest Free Play Days promo on Xbox! This weekend, we've got four games in the lineup, including three titles that just released earlier on in 2025 - with the pictured Dynasty Warriors: Origins being one of those titles. Here's the full Free Play Days lineup this week: The Ascent Dynasty Warriors:...
Wednesday30th Jul 2025
Reminder The Xbox Summer Sale 2025 Ends This Week
This is your last chance!
It's almost time for Xbox's big Ultimate Game Sale for Summer 2025 to wrap up, with the current list of deals expected to expire late on Friday, August 1st (that's just two days away!). So, we're here to remind you that whatever you've had your eye on over the last week or two is probably worth picking up now. Of course,...
News PlayStation's Q2 2025 Sales Charts Are In, And Xbox Is Dominating The List (US)
Six of the top 10 are Xbox games
Much has been said about Microsoft's pivot to put Xbox games on PS5 in recent months, but the numbers don't lie, and the team continues to shift copies on the Sony platform. This week, Circana has put out fresh data that gathers up the top 10 best-selling games on PlayStation (physical and digital) for Q2 2025 - and...
Tuesday29th Jul 2025
News ROG Xbox Ally Pre-Orders Will Reportedly Go Live Next Month Ahead Of 2025 Launch
All eyes on Gamescom
It's looking like August will be when we find out lots more information on the ROG Xbox Ally, folks. Yesterday, we found out that the Xbox handheld will be available to the public at Gamescom 2025, and a new report suggests pre-orders will open up next month as well. According to the ever-reliable billbil-kun over at
News Grounded 2 Early Access Impressions Are In Ahead Of Xbox Game Pass Launch
Xbox's latest release is almost here
Microsoft's newest first-party title Grounded 2 launches in Xbox Game Preview in just a few hours here - and ahead of that imminent Game Pass release, a bunch of early impressions and reviews have started to hit the web. If you're yet to be totally convinced by Grounded 2, these write-ups might just change that...
News Two Destiny 2 Add-Ons Get Insane 'Just For You' Discounts On Xbox
Including a major expansion!
With Xbox's big summer sale still ongoing for the rest of this week, the team's usual selection of Tuesday deals is pretty slim - but we have spotted a couple of fantastic 'Just For You' offers if you're into your Destiny 2. <related ids="185499"> Presumably on the back of Bungie's big free access period that...
News Call Of Duty's File Size Is Getting Reduced As Xbox Prepares To Launch Black Ops 7
MW2 and MW3 content is moving
Anyone who plays modern Call of Duty will know that file sizes can get ridiculous these days, but thankfully, the upcoming release of Black Ops 7 is prompting the Activision team to remove some older content from the main COD launcher. Later today, the recent iterations of Modern Warfare 2 and Modern Warfare 3 will...
News Xbox Introduces Controversial Age Verification Process In The UK
Age verification needed for certain features
Those who reside in the UK may have seen lots of attention being put on new online age verification rules recently - some amusing, some not-so-much. Well, Microsoft has now detailed how it will implement its own age verification process across Xbox devices in the region. Starting now, Xbox users have...
Monday28th Jul 2025
News Here's What's Included In The Xbox July 2025 Update
Some big updates for PC & Xbox Cloud Gaming
The Xbox July 2025 update has begun rolling out to all users on Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC and beyond this week, introducing a bunch of updates that are pretty significant across console and PC in particular. Here's a short overview of the Xbox July 2025 update, with more details available...
PSA Expect To See Lots Of ROG Xbox Ally Impressions Next Month
Hollow Knight: Silksong too!
It's safe to say that here at Pure Xbox, we've been pretty high on the ROG Xbox Ally since it was unveiled at the Xbox Games Showcase last month. Plenty of questions about the nature of the device still remain though - some of which are likely to be answered in less than a month at Gamescom 2025. Yep, as part of today's...
News Xbox Announces Gamescom Livestream Schedule For August 2025
Get a detailed look at upcoming Xbox games
Xbox has today detailed its plans for Gamescom 2025 - next month's mammoth gaming convention taking place in Cologne, Germany. The big news is that Microsoft is hosting two livestreams straight from the Xbox booth, featuring detailed looks at upcoming first and third-party releases. Some of the games...
Report Two Of Xbox's Upcoming First-Party Titles Are In Development For PS5
And they could be coming on day one
Microsoft's multiplatform plan is now in full swing, with two more of its big games making their way to PS5 next month in the form of Hellblade 2 and Gears of War: Reloaded. While those two titles are both locked in for August 2025, we're now hearing that another pair of Xbox games are being developed for PS5 as...
News Two Games Are Available This Week With Xbox Game Pass (July 29 - August 1)
Including a new Xbox first-party title
Welcome to your latest Xbox Game Pass update! At the time of posting, two titles are scheduled to join the Game Pass library this week - including day one first-party release Grounded 2. So, we're going to give you a quick summary of these two new Game Pass drops down below, along with a couple of trailers so...
Friday25th Jul 2025
News Wuchang: Fallen Feathers Gets First Update On Xbox Game Pass, Here Are The Full Patch Notes
Update 1.3 now live
Despite Wuchang: Fallen Feathers getting decent reviews and some incredible Steam player numbers already, the game hasn't been without its issues at launch. PC players in particular aren't happy with the game's day one performance - and in response, the developer has put out its first patch for the
News Microsoft CEO Comments On Recent Xbox Layoffs, Doubles Down On AI
"These decisions are among the most difficult"
Now that the dust has somewhat settled on the masses of job losses that recently occurred over at Xbox, and as the company moves towards a new fiscal year, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has put out a fresh statement on moving forward. The Microsoft boss starts out by mentioning the company's recent...
