January2024
News Xbox Is Employing 'A More Focused Strategy' After Merging With Activision Blizzard
"Together we will continue to create amazing games"
Following the Microsoft and Blizzard layoff news posted earlier today, Xbox's Matt Booty has also made a lengthy statement on the company's reasoning behind such a huge round of job losses. Coming by wa
News Blizzard President Quits Microsoft, In-Development Survival Game Also Cancelled
"It’s an incredibly hard day"
After today's megaton news of almost 2,000 job losses over at Team Xbox, we have even more disruption amongst the ranks. Long-time Blizzard president and ex-Microsoft executive Mike Ybarra has announced his departure from the studio - and with it the cancellation of Blizzard's in-development survival game. Ybarra has...
News Microsoft Cuts 1,900 Jobs Across Xbox, Bethesda And Activision Blizzard Teams
"We have made the painful decision to reduce the size of our gaming workforce"
The move to bring Activision Blizzard into the Xbox ecosystem has largely been seen as a positive one, but unfortunately we have some bad news to share today. As part of a company restructure post-ActiBlizz deal, Microsoft has laid off almost 2,000 people. Shared by IGN...
News 'People Can Fly' Reportedly Cuts 30 Devs From Unannounced Square Enix Project
The same team has a new triple-A collab with Microsoft
People Can Fly, the Polish developer associated with titles like Outriders and Gears of War: Judgement, has reportedly axed 30 developers who were working on a new "unannounced" Square Enix title, codenamed Project Gemini. The company's developer director told Kotaku it was a result of "budget...
News Halo Infinite's New Multiplayer Map Channels OG Halo, Here's A First-Look
Multiple other updates are coming next week
Last week, 343 Industries announced it would be bringing multiple new features to Halo Infinite on January 30th, including a new Arena map called "Illusion". Now, as part of this, it's published an overview along with a first-look preview trailer. The map itself evokes "the feeling and design" of maps...
News Xbox Introduces New 'Indie Selects' Collection, Separate To Xbox Game Pass Lineup
"A new collection will go live every Wednesday"
Microsoft has announced 'Indie Selects', a new curation program that aims to showcase some of Xbox's best indie games available on the Microsoft Store. Every Wednesday, a new collection of titles will be showcased - front and centre under Xbox's new 'Indie Games' store tab. This week's lineup features...
News Halo TV Star Sends Blunt Message To Fans About No-Helmet Master Chief
"There's no point discussing it"
Paramount's Halo TV series has had its fair share of ups and downs so far, but one of the showrunner's most controversial decisions up to now has been revealing no-helmet Master Chief. Yep, Halo's main star goes helmet-free at t
Talking Point Do You Think Xbox Will Release Another Disc-Based Console?
Or could Xbox Series X be the last one?
Throughout this generation we've been very happy with where things are with Xbox Series X and S, but we're starting to wonder if Microsoft would ever go with a similar approach again. Of course, releasing two different consoles on day one isn't the 'normal' way to do things anyway, but more specifically -...
News Starfield Discs Could Be Removed From Sale At US Retail Giant Soon
Living in a digital world
It's not rocket science to suggest that Xbox is a digital-focused game seller these days - after all, Xbox Game Pass is a massive part of the company's overall strategy. However, even though the Xbox Series X still supports discs of course, it looks like one of the team's biggest releases isn't doing so well in physical...
Rumour Major Xbox Series X|S Controller Revision Still To Be Revealed This Year
"Ahead of June showcase"
Back in September, leaked FTC documents from the huge Activision Blizzard case revealed numerous bits of upcoming Xbox hardware, including an Xbox Series X console refresh and a brand-new Xbox controller revision. At the time of writing, neither of these have been officially announced by Microsoft, but The Verge's Tom Warren...
News 'Quake 6' Was Teased At Xbox Developer Direct, And We Didn't Even Spot It
You cheeky fellows
The dust is beginning to settle on Xbox Developer Direct 2024, but not before fans have managed to extract one final teaser from the showcase. During MachineGames' Indiana Jones and the Great Circle segment, Bethesda seems to have teased a new Quake game. Yep, during a section of Indiana Jones developer chit-chat, a whiteboard is...
Reaction Xbox Developer Direct 2024 Proved That Microsoft's New Format Really Works
Another home run
Well, that's it folks, another Xbox Developer Direct is in the bag after the 2024 event came to a close yesterday evening. It was a fantastic showing all-in-all, with four Xbox studios and one surprise Square Enix appearance packing out a neat livestream that never outstayed its welcome. We didn't get an unexpected shadow release...
News Xbox Game Pass Likely Surpassed 33 Million Subs Last Year, Claims Analyst
"We’re seeing slowing adoption of Xbox Game Pass"
It's been a while since we've had any official numbers on Xbox Game Pass subscribers. Back in early 2022 Microsoft announced that the service had hit 25 million members, but aside from a quietly-retracted 30 million milestone in September last year, we've not r
Guide Xbox Developer Direct 2024: Event Date, Start Times & Where To Watch
Everything you need to know
It's almost time for Xbox's 2024 Developer Direct event, where various teams will provide closer looks at their upcoming projects. Last year's event was Microsoft's debut effort, and we're expecting big things from its second outing. Here's everything you need to know about the Xbox Developer Direct 2024 event. What...
Poll Which Was Your Favourite Big Exclusive From Year-Two Of Xbox One?
2014 was a fantastic year for Xbox!
Somehow it's been a whole decade since we were all settling in with our Xbox One consoles! Yep, this time 10 years ago, we were becoming well-accustomed to Xbox One. The year after a big console launch is always a tough one, but we thought Microsoft handled year-two of the Xbox One's lifespan very well indeed. As...
News Microsoft CEO Says ActiBlizz Deal Helps Xbox Become 'A Good Publisher' On All Platforms
"On Sony, Nintendo, PCs and Xbox"
Microsoft's Activision Blizzard deal finally came to its long-awaited conclusion back in October 2023, with the two companies successfully merging late last year. While the deal makes the Xbox platform a much-more inviting one for gamers, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has been keen to point out that this benefits...
Report Hellblade 2 Release Date Set For This May On Xbox Series X|S
We should know for sure at Developer Direct
There's a lot going on in the world of Xbox as we head towards this week's Developer Direct, and a new report has just outed one of the featured game's release dates. Yep, outlet exputer is claiming that Ninja Theory's Hellblade 2 will launch on May 21st, 2024. Until tomorr
News Ubisoft Wants Players To 'Feel Comfortable Not Owning Games' In Future
"That's the consumer shift that needs to happen"
Here at Pure Xbox we're big fans of Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass subscription service, and as a result, we've definitely bought less games over the last six or seven years. Now though, even more services are cropping up on Xbox — such as Ubisoft Plus — and the team behind this particular...
Rumour Xbox In 'Discussions' With Square Enix Over Final Fantasy 7 Remake
The game launched on PS4 in 2020
It's been that long since Final Fantasy 7 Remake launched on PS4 that we'd almost given up hope on an Xbox release, but a new comment from Windows Central's Jez Corden has left us hopeful about the prospect once again. Speaking on a recent episode of The Xbox Two podcast, Corden had the following to say about it:...
Talking Point What Are You Hoping To See Over The Next Year From Xbox?
Developer Direct should be the start of another big year
Last year's Xbox Developer Direct event laid down a big marker for 2023 on the platform. The show focused on what Microsoft was hoping to put out that year, and by and large, the team stuck to its plan. However, as we near 2024's event later this week, the next 12 months still seem very up in...
News Xbox Insider Update Adds Controller 'Thumbstick Calibration' Tool
Usable on modern, official Xbox pads
Xbox has detailed its latest Insider update for Alpha Skip-Ahead users, and it contains a pretty useful-sounding feature for console players. The program's latest patch adds the ability to perform a 'Thumbstick Calibration' on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox Elite Series 2 controllers. For now, the team says that this...
Reaction PS5 60FPS Mods Have Us Wishing For More 'FPS Boost' Titles On Xbox
Red Dead 2 would be amazing!
So, the folks over at Digital Foundry have posted another interesting analysis today exploring some modded titles on PS5 - mods that manage to unlock frame rates in certain PS4 games. To be clear, these mods aren't official and can't be applied on normal PS5 consoles, however the results are interesting nonetheless - and...
News Phil Spencer Celebrates Another Birthday As Head Of Xbox
And we're glad to see it!
Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer celebrates another year on this big spinning rock of ours today - the man himself is now 56 years of age! Happy Birthday Phil, we're glad to see you continue to lead the Xbox team into 2024. Of course, this year also marks a big occasion for Phil in relation to his position at Xbox...
News Epic CEO Makes Outspoken Statement About Microsoft 'Empowering Developers'
"Congratulations to Microsoft on a well-deserved honor"
You may have seen in the news recently that Microsoft has overtaken Apple in becoming "the world's most valuable company", and Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has had something to say on the matter. Sweeney has congratulated the Xbox owner for its achievement, while making a not-so-subtle dig at...
News Halo TV Show Season 2 Trailer Lands Ahead Of Next Month's Launch
Prime time
The official trailer for Halo The Series: Season 2 has landed! Take a look at what's coming in the Paramount show's second season up above - arriving on the Paramount Plus subscription service next month. While the show's first series didn't quite live up to the hype, there's still lots of attention on how Season 2 will fare. Views on...