July2024
News Diablo 4 Shares First Gameplay Footage Of New Expansion Class
The Spiritborn arrives this October
Ahead of the launch of the Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred expansion on Xbox this October, Blizzard has officially revealed the first gameplay footage of the new expansion class known as the Spiritborn. This class calls upon the unique strengths of "Jaguar, Gorilla, Eagle, and Centipede Spirit Guardians", as you can...
June2024
News Diablo 4 Season 5 Is Bringing A Wave-Based Horde Mode To Xbox Game Pass
"Slay the infernal hordes"
Diablo 4 has been out on Xbox Game Pass for a few months now, but as Blizzard's dungeon crawler is very much an ongoing game, you can expect it to change and evolve lots over time. One of those changes is a major new addition coming to the game in Season 5, with the team confirming that a wave-based horde mode will make...
News Xbox: 'You Are Going To See More Of Our Games On More Platforms'
"We just see that as a benefit to the franchises we're building"
In case you missed it, during a chat about DOOM: The Dark Ages with IGN, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer snuck in a brief comment about more of Xbox's games going to "more platforms" in the future. Unsurprisingly, it's raised some eyebrows on social media and other corners of the...
News Diablo 4's Xbox Game Pass Release An 'Incredible' Boost Ahead Of Expansion
The 'Vessel of Hatred' expansion will arrive this October
We've already heard a little bit about Diablo 4's growth since its debut on Xbox Game Pass at the end of March, and today during an IGN Live segment, the game's production director Tiffany Wat spoke about how Microsoft's subscription service boosted player numbers. She described it as...
News Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 Listing Further Hints At Huge ActiBlizz Xbox Game Pass Drop
We are READY
Okay, so, at this point we're all pretty much expecting a massive Activision Blizzard Xbox Game Pass drop to happen in and around the Xbox Games Showcase this weekend, and another few hints at such an event have cropped up online today. First off, as part of Microsoft's new 'Next Week On X
May2024
News Overwatch 2 Meets Porsche In Bizarre Xbox Custom Console Collaboration
"Is that an Xbox, a mech, or a Porsche?!"
We've seen some weird and wonderful custom consoles over the years, and while this latest design is quite modest in comparison to some, it's certainly not a collaboration we expected to see on a random Tuesday afternoon in May. But, here it is. Microsoft has detailed its latest Xbox Series X sweepstakes...
News Ex-Blizzard President On Xbox's Future: 'Xbox Can Find A Path To Great Success'
"For their teams and players around the world"
It's been a wild week for Xbox following the announcement of four studio closures, and while the video game giant is currently facing a lot of criticism, many ex-Microsoft and Xbox employees still believe the brand can overcome this difficult period. Following
News Xbox Reiterates Every First Party Title Is Coming To Game Pass 'Day One'
A recent report suggested Call of Duty could be excluded
Following a recent report claiming Xbox was considering not including new Call of Duty releases on Game Pass, it seems Microsoft's gaming division remains committed to "day one" releases. Xbox president Sarah Bond has mentioned at the Bloomberg Technology Summit this week how "day one"...
News Former Microsoft Exec Gives 'Two Reasons' Why Xbox Closed Bethesda Teams
"Neither of them have anything to do with Bethesda"
It's been a tumultuous time in Xbox land as of late, with news breaking throughout the week about job cuts - including four studio closures within Xbox's Bethesda division. At the time of writing Microsoft hasn't released a statement about all of these reports, but one former executive thinks he...
Reaction Xbox's Push Towards 'Microsoft Gaming' Looks More Drastic Than We First Thought
The price of ever-expanding growth
It's been a wild few years over at Team Xbox, with the brand being marked by vast change since the launch of Xbox Series X and S back in late 2020 - which is starting to feel like a lifetime ago now. Huge acquisitions like that of both Bethesda and Activision Blizzard have massively changed how the team now...
News Diablo 4's New Season 'Loot Reborn' Launches On Xbox This Month
"Season 4 is going to be the biggest update"
Following its debut on Xbox Game Pass in March, Diablo IV will soon be getting its "biggest update" since launch in the form of the Season 4: Loot Reborn update. This update will roll out on May 14th, 2024 and promises to overhaul many "core game systems" to refresh how items are earned, how they...
April2024
News Xbox's Gaming Revenue Is Up 51% YoY Following Activision Blizzard Acquisition
The FY24 Q3 results are in
Microsoft has today released its financial results for Q3 2024 and its Xbox gaming revenue growth is up by more than 51% year-over-year. Once again, this is mostly credited to Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which was closed on October 13, 2023. This latest figure factors in 55 points of net impact from...
News Blizzard Has Decided To Skip BlizzCon In 2024
"This is a Blizzard decision" not a Microsoft one
Blizzard's annual event 'BlizzCon' won't be taking place this year, and while there's been some speculation it could have been a decision made by a "higher up" at Microsoft, it's now been confirmed this is not the case. A Blizzard spokesperson informed Windows Central "this is a Blizzard decision"...
News World Of Warcraft For Xbox Is Still Discussed Internally At Blizzard
"Of course we still talk about it"
Can you believe that World of Warcraft is 20 years-old this year? Nah, us neither, and as it turns out - new versions of the title are still a hot topic over at developer Blizzard. Yep, two decades later the team still ponders a console release, and whether it's something worth pursuing. Talking to VGC, the...
News Blizzard Says It's Already 'Benefitting' From From Being A Part Of Xbox
"If anything, it’s just been helpful"
It's no doubt a pretty huge task to incorporate a team like Blizzard into your organisation - we've already seen evidence of this back in January when a studio shakeup resulted in a cancelled Blizzard project. However, things seem to have settled down since, and a new comment from one Blizzard dev suggests...
News Former Xbox Exec Likes The Idea Of 'Tipping' Developers After Beating Their Games
"Some games are that special"
The price of AAA games has been a hot topic recently, especially with the move to $70 releases, but one former Xbox & Blizzard exec has taken to social media to express that they'd actually like the option to give devs more money for their releases. Yep, Mike Ybarra — who left X
News NetEase Enters Into Agreement With Microsoft To 'Explore' Bringing New Titles To Xbox
As Blizzard games return to China
Blizzard has announced its games will be returning to China under a renewed publishing deal between Microsoft Gaming and NetEase. After discussions "over the past year", players in China will be able to once again access World of Warcraft, Hearthstone and many other titles across the Blizzard universe including...
News Xbox Could Be 'Gearing Up' For Call Of Duty Back Catalogue Announcement
"Gulf War might not be the only CoD-related announcement"
In case you missed our recent story about Xbox Showcase rumours for this summer, it's been claimed that an announcement about Activision Blizzard's library of older titles may be coming in the near future. This is according to Insider Gaming's Tom Henderson, who says Xbox could be "gearing...
News Diablo 4 Gets New Lease Of Life On Xbox Thanks To Successful Game Pass Launch
"Xbox has quickly become the #1 platform"
Microsoft finally graced us with its first ActiBlizz Xbox Game Pass addition at the end of March in the form of Diablo 4, and its arrival has given the Xbox platform a huge boost already. Xbox exec Sarah Bond has revealed that Xbox has become the biggest platform for Diablo 4 since it came to the Game Pass...
March2024
News Diablo 4 Adds Console Ray Tracing Ahead Of Xbox Game Pass Debut
"Patch 1.3.5. introduces Raytracing to all supported platforms"
Blizzard has detailed its big ray tracing update for Diablo 4, right on the eve of the title's Xbox Game Pass debut. Patch 1.3.5 "introduces Raytracing to all supported platforms", alongside a host of other graphical tweaks and improvements. Ray traced shadows and reflections have been...
News Xbox's Call Of Duty: Warzone Mobile Bringing In Plenty Of Cash Already
In its first four days on the market!
Xbox has been spotted promoting Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile on its console storefront lately, and the team's heavy advertising push seems to be paying off. Coming by way of PocketGamer, the new mobile CoD release has seemingly raked in $1.4m in its first four days on the
News Overwatch 2 Really Is Done With PvE, According To New Report
"Majority" of PvE team reportedly laid off
Remember how Blizzard announced last year it would no longer be delivering certain PvE content in its free-to-play shooter Overwatch 2? Well, in a new Bloomberg report from Jason Schreier, it's been revealed the "majority" of the team behind the PvE story content was laid off in January. B
News Diablo 4's Xbox Series X Ray Tracing Update Targeting Late March Release
A special blog will share more details next week
As you might recall hearing, ray tracing is on its way to Diablo 4, and during the latest campfire chat, Blizzard's development team confirmed this graphical update would be arriving next week on March 26th for PC. In a special blog next week, Blizzard will also touch on how "console players" will...
News Overwatch 2's Heroes Will 'No Longer Be Unlocked Through The Battle Pass'
"All future heroes will be free"
Blizzard's free-to-play team shooter Overwatch 2 has announced heroes will no longer be unlocked through the game's Battle Pass. In a new developer update, game director Aaron Keller announced this change would occur when the new hero Venture arrived in Season 10 (expected to launch in April). After this hero joins...
February2024
Guide Xbox And Microsoft Reveal Full GDC 2024 Schedule
"Microsoft and Xbox are here to help power your games "
The 2024 Game Developer Conference will take place next month in March and as part of this, both Microsoft and the Xbox team will be there to "engage and empower" developers, publishers as well as technology partners across the globe. "Our message is simple: Microsoft and Xbox are here to...