April2023
Talking Point Next Month, It'll Be 10 Years Since The Xbox One Reveal Event
The Don Mattrick days are long gone
May isn't far away, and we'll soon be gearing up for a stacked summer of gaming announcements. In 2023, we have Summer Game Fest, we have the Xbox Games Showcase, and we'll probably see plenty of other smaller livestreams crop up over the next few months as teams begin to show off what's next for the industry...
Talking Point Would You Leave Xbox Game Pass If Microsoft Removed Its Exclusives?
Would the service still be worth it?
One Xbox talking point that's gained a lot of attention recently has been the rumour that Hi-Fi RUSH hadn't sold as much as expected, even though the game reviewed extremely well and seemed to create a lot of buzz at launch in January. Since then, Xbox exec Aaron Greenberg has chimed in on the rumour and its...
Rumour Xbox Exclusive Hi-Fi RUSH 'Didn't Make The Money It Needed To Make'
Update: Xbox's Aaron Greenberg chimes in
Update (Fri 21st Apr, 2023 16:55 BST): Xbox's Aaron Greenberg has responded to this rumour, which you can read elsewhere on Pure Xbox: <related ids="148395"> The host of the podcast, Jeff Grubb, has also provided further clarification in a tweet: Original story (Fri 21st Apr, 2023 11:45 BST):...
News Xbox Boss Phil Spencer 'Loving' New Spooky Indie Title
"Loving the setting, art style and pacing"
We know that Xbox boss Phil Spencer is a huge gamer himself — you only have to visit his Xbox gamertag to see that — and he often takes to Twitter to post about his most recent plays. Lately, it's looking like he's putting quite a bit of time into DREDGE, the new spooky fishing adventure from Black Salt...
News Microsoft Reportedly Invited To 'Showcase Its Products' At UK's 10 Downing St Next Week
At the same time the CMA delivers its verdict on ActiBlizz
Microsoft's protracted showdown with the UK Competition and Markets Authority is about to end after months of back and forth over Xbox getting its ActiBlizz deal closed. The CMA's investigation will be all wrapped up by next Wednesday, April 26, and it seems like Microsoft might be booking...
Talking Point Would You Like To See More 'Spin-Offs' From Xbox Game Studios?
Halo Wars 3 when?!
So, Minecraft Legends is officially here, and while these days the franchise has a very specific audience, we're glad that Xbox continues to make good on its acquisition of Mojang/Minecraft. We got Minecraft Dungeons back in 2020 and now Legends this year, so Xbox is seemingly still interested in building out the IP. However,...
News Xbox Co-Creator Thinks Microsoft 'Really Should' Have Made An Xbox Portable
"There should have been an Xbox portable"
We've seen various different versions of portable Xbox games in recent years, as the way of play becomes even more popular in the wake of Steam Deck and Nintendo Switch. A lot of these revolve around Xbox Cloud Gaming — like the Logitech G Cloud system pictured above — but what about a dedicated system...
News Halo's Longtime Franchise Director Has Left Microsoft
It follows Joseph Staten's departure earlier this month
Halo lead Joseph Staten only recently announced he would be leaving Microsoft, and now it seems another Halo veteran has moved on. According to Axios' Stephen Totilo, Microsoft has confirmed the departure of Halo franchise director Frank O'Connor. He contributed to Master Chief's journey for...
News Ex-Halo Lead Announces New Project After Leaving Team Xbox
Moving onto pastures new
Earlier this month, Halo veteran and long-time Xbox developer Joseph Staten revealed that he was leaving Microsoft, and he's not taken long to announce where he's heading. In a new social media post today, the Halo Infinite project lead has revealed his new destination. Staten is heading over to Netflix to direct something...
News Microsoft Is Starting To Advertise Its ActiBlizz Acquisition On Billboards In London
Call of tubey
Early last month, Microsoft increased its efforts to convince the UK that its Activision Blizzard deal would be a good one for gaming, when full-page ads started cropping up in newspapers. Well, those same ads (or very similar ones) have now been converted into digital billboards as the Xbox owner continues to push for positivity...
News Discord Improvements Now Live On Xbox, Starting With Insiders
Currently available to Alpha ring Insiders
Xbox's latest Insider update has been detailed by Microsoft, and it adds a neat feature to the Discord chat integration. Starting today for Alpha Insiders, Xbox gamertags will be more visible across the board when using Discord. This is because Xbox is now showing linked accounts within the Discord section...
News Ubisoft Says 'Great Content' Will Allow Its Subscription Service To Compete With Xbox Game Pass
"That's the point of differentiation that we bring."
Well, it finally happened! After months and months of leaks and speculation, Ubisoft Plus is now live on Xbox as the company brings its subscription service to console for the very first time. We've got a couple of handy breakdo
News Microsoft Seemingly Prototyping New Windows Mode For Handheld Gaming
Internal tests are a go
The success of Valve's Steam Deck device is starting to spawn a whole new market for handheld gaming PCs, and Microsoft is seemingly taking notice. A leaked Microsoft 'Hackathon' video (showcasing an internal project where employees pitch and test ideas) has revealed that 'Windows Handheld Mode' is one such project in the...
Talking Point Will We See New Xbox Hardware By The End Of 2024?
Series X|S sales are down in the UK
Sales figures for the UK gaming industry in Q1 2023 are now out in the wild, and they make for some interesting reading across the board. Hogwarts Legacy is of course absolutely killing it when it comes to sales, while the PS5 is also selling very well now that Sony is stocking it properly in most markets...
News Xbox Fans Spot Another 'Project Keystone' Appearance Thanks To Phil Spencer's Shelf
He's at it again
Yesterday, Xbox boss Phil Spencer made another on-camera appearance as he welcomed more of the world to the delights of PC Game Pass. While that was the sole focus of the short clip, fans have once again been scouring the man's shelves to see if they feature any more hidden Xbox secrets. To our eye we couldn't see much new, but...
News Xbox Design Lab Adds Even More Customisation Options For The Elite 2 Controller
An expanding palette
Shortly after announcing a PC Game Pass expansion, Microsoft has revealed that it's expanding another part of its gaming suite. Recently, the Elite Series 2 controller was finally added to Xbox Design Lab, and it's now available with even more customisation options! Xbox is adding "a new range of colours" to the Elite 2...
News PC Game Pass Is Now Available In A Whopping 40 New Countries Worldwide
Phil Spencer welcomes all
Following a seemingly successful preview program that kicked off in February, Microsoft's PC Game Pass program is now seeing a massive expansion. The service is now fully available in 40 new countries worldwide, as announced by head of Xbox Phil Spencer. Access to PC Game Pass in the following nations is rolling out today,...
Rumour Xbox Games Showcase 2023 Runtime Revealed By Microsoft Leaker
Starfield Direct included!
We have a rumour doing the rounds this morning about Xbox's big summer showcase for 2023! According to a regular Microsoft Store leaker who goes by the name of WalkingCat on Twitter, the Xbox Games Showcase this year is set to last roughly two hours in total. The leak also reveals a potential start and end time for the...
News Xbox Signs Yet Another 10-Year ActiBlizz Deal, This Time With UK Mobile Network
Kevin Bacon approves
As approval processes continue for Xbox's huge Activision Blizzard acquisition, Microsoft has signed another 10-year agreement in relation to its cloud gaming endeavours. This time, the Xbox owner has entered into a deal with UK internet and mobile phone provider EE. As expected, the agreement is focused on bringing Activision...
News Halo Veteran Joseph Staten Has Announced He Is Leaving Microsoft
"I'll have more info to share soon"
We've got some breaking news coming out of Microsoft about Joseph Staten. After recently exiting Halo Infinite and moving back to Xbox Game Studios Publishing, the Halo veteran has now announced he'll be leaving the tech giant. Microsoft didn't reveal where exactly Joe is off to but thanked him for his...
March2023
News Activision Won't Allow Sony's 'Disappointing Behaviour' To Impact Long Term Relations
Bobby Kotick says they're doing it for the players
The ongoing battle between Microsoft and Sony has been a long and difficult process with Activision Blizzard essentially caught in the crossfire. It's notably stalled Activision's own plans, and has evidently taken its toll on some of the company's key figures (with Sony refusing to sign the Call...
News Bethesda's New DOOM Title Tops Mobile Gaming Charts On Release
Little doom guy
Did you know that a new DOOM game launched this week? While it's not quite the next mainline entry from id Software, 'Mighty DOOM' is out now on mobile devices, and it seems to be performing rather well in its launch week. In fact, Mighty DOOM is now top of the free-to-play charts on both iOS and Android at the time of writing. Of...
News US Senator Takes Jab At Sony's '98% Monopoly' Of High-End Games In Japan
Xbox has a small footprint in the region
Xbox's ongoing pursuit of Activision Blizzard has been the centre of attention in the gaming sphere for months now, as Microsoft continues to try and secure approval for its huge deal. This has meant we've spent plenty of time following court proceedings as of late, and recent comments from a US senator mean...
News Four More EA Titles Will Close Their Online Servers On Xbox In 2023
Following DICE's recent announcement
Yesterday, EA DICE revealed that three Battlefield games would be going permanently offline in the coming months, as the team is "shifting focus towards current and future" titles. Following this announcement, we took another look at EA's 'Online Services Shutdown' support page and spotted four more games that...
News Microsoft Is Making Major Improvements To 'Subscription Management' On Xbox
More control from your console
Microsoft's latest Xbox Insider update notes have dropped information on a welcome change coming to subscription management on Xbox. Currently available to Alpha Ring Xbox Insiders, users can now fully access and change their subscriptions directly from Xbox consoles. Once the feature moves to the full Xbox dashboard,...