Tag: Microsoft
News Perfect Dark Lead Actor Had 'Entire Chapters' Finished Before Xbox Cancellation
"I'd done entire chapters of this universe"
The whole Perfect Dark saga has been a pretty sad thing to follow since Xbox pulled funding and cancelled the game earlier this year - and now lead actor Alix Wilton Regan has given us some fresh insight into how far along the project actually was over at developers The Initiative and Crystal Dynamics...
Feature Xbox Game Studios: All Microsoft First-Party Developers & What They're Working On
Including Bethesda & Activision Blizzard
At this stage, Microsoft has lots of in-house development studios making Xbox games, including all those teams across Xbox Game Studios, Bethesda and Activision Blizzard. So, as we look ahead to another year of Xbox, we thought we'd gather up every Microsoft first-party developer and what they're working on...
News One Xbox First-Party Game Makes Newzoo's Top-10 'Releases By Revenue' For 2025
Only on PC, though
Data firm Newzoo has shared some detailed facts and figures about the gaming industry throughout 2025 in its new 'year in review', and the company's top-10 revenue lists have some interesting entries on there - including one Xbox first-party effort that Microsoft will no-doubt be pleased about. Before we dive into this, Newzoo's...
News Xbox's Blizzard Team Is Preparing For Its 'Biggest Year Yet' In 2026
What could we see?
We already know that Xbox Game Studios has a pretty big year planned in 2026 with the likes of Fable, Forza Horizon 6, Gears of War: E-Day and Halo: Campaign Evolved set to land next year, and now the folks over at Blizzard Entertainment sound like they're getting in on the Xbox anniversary party as well. Speaking with
News Free Play Days: Try These Xbox Games For Free (December 18-21)
More free trials for Xbox players
Welcome to your latest Xbox Free Play Days lineup! Microsoft has today revealed the full list of games available with the program for the coming weekend - including some Call of Duty and Fallout trials which we've covered elsewhere this week at Pure Xbox: Here's the full FPD lineup this week: Ark: Survival...
News 40+ Games Were Added To Xbox Play Anywhere In November 2025
Silent Hill 2 the headline addition
As part of the Xbox December 2025 Update, Microsoft has highlighted more than 40 Xbox Play Anywhere titles added to the program last month, including major games such as Silent Hill 2, Football Manager 26, Dave the Diver and more! Many of the
News Xbox Highlights Four Retro Classics Coming Soon To Game Pass
Big player milestone also announced
As part of the Xbox December Update, Microsoft has announced the next four titles coming to Xbox Retro Classics; the retro gaming collection that's been available to Game Pass subscribers since May 2025. Three of those titles are included in the image up above, and thankfully, Microsoft has also listed all four...
News Former Arkane Austin Director Was 'Shocked' That Xbox Closed The Studio After Redfall
"It is what it is."
In a new interview with former Arkane Austin lead Harvey Smith, the legendary game designer talks about his "shock" in learning that the team behind Dishonored and Prey was being closed down by Microsoft following the poor launch of co-op shooter Redfall. Speaking on an episode of the My Perfect Console podcast (via K
Rumour COD 2027 Will Be A New Sub-Series With 'Completely New Characters' On Xbox
A direct response to Black Ops 6 & 7?
Last week, Xbox's Call of Duty team put out a statement announcing that there'll be no more "back-to-back" Modern Warfare or Black Ops games in the series following poor sales for
News Microsoft Forces Removal Of Halo Multiplayer Mod In Counter-Strike 2
"It was fun while it lasted"
It's not often we see Microsoft taking action against mods for all sorts of popular games, but clearly the company feels a new Counter-Strike 2 mod overstepped the line, issuing a DMCA notice against something called "Project Misriah". The focus behind this mod was to bring a Halo 3-like experience to CS2's multiplayer,...
News Two Games Are Confirmed For Xbox Game Pass In January 2026 So Far
An early look at next month
As we always do around this time of the month, we're taking an early look today at what's ahead for January 2026's Xbox Game Pass selection, with two titles having been confirmed for the service next month already. Our headline game so far, simply by nature of the fact that it's coming for both console and PC players, is...
Talking Point What Do You Hope To See From Xbox Developer Direct Next Month?
Announced yesterday by Xbox!
Yesterday, in and amongst all of The Game Awards madness, Microsoft's Matt Booty came out and quietly announced Xbox Developer Direct 2026 - featuring Fable and Forza Horizon 6 developer Playground Games. We certainly expected this event to go ahead next mo
News Black Ops 7 Sales & Players Down Massively On Last Year's Call Of Duty, New Data Shows
"Player count has halved in 12 months"
GamesIndustry.biz has shared some new data from Alinea Analytics and Video Game Insights to show that Black Ops 7 is hugely underperforming Black Ops 6 right now, especially on Steam. According to data from Alinea Analytics, "Black Ops 7 sold 401,000 copies on Steam 26 days after launch, co
News Gears Of War: E-Day Confirmed For 2026 In New Xbox Game Pass Ad
"With Xbox Game Pass, play your way..."
Although it's been long assumed that Gears of War: E-Day was set to launch next year, the game hadn't gotten an official release window from Xbox - until now. Yep, a new Game Pass ad that premiered during The Game Awards has confirmed that Gears: E-Day is indeed coming out in 2026. You can see the tiny little
News Xbox's New Buy One, Get One Free Sale Includes A Selection Of Indie Titles
Live for the next week
Xbox has just set a new edition of its Buy One, Get One Free sales live on the Microsoft Store today - with this particular promotion revolving around a pretty slim selection of indie titles all-told. Yep, as these deals usually go, this isn't the most inspired list from Xbox here, but there are some standouts such as the...
News Romero Games Has Taken Its Cancelled Xbox Shooter And Made Something New With It
"We have a lot of stuff we can put in the game"
Since Microsoft pulled funding for its unannounced game back in the summer, Romero Games has been trying to salvage the project for a future release - and now it sounds as though the DOOM co-creator has managed that feat, but not in the way you might expect. Talking in a new p
News PlayStation Highlights Halo: Campaign Evolved As One Of Its 'Must-Play' Games For 2026
We're living in strange times
PlayStation has just dropped an overview trailer for what's coming to PS5 in 2026, and while we certainly wouldn't normally cover that here at Pure Xbox, one certain big green inclusion has made us reconsider. Sony is directly advertising Halo: Campaign Evolved as one of its "must-play games coming soon to PS5". We...
News Xbox & Activision Issue Statement On The Future Of Call Of Duty Following Black Ops 7 Backlash
"A message from the Call of Duty team..."
After what sounds like a disappointing launch for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, Xbox's Activision team has put out a frank and surprisingly open message about the future of the franchise moving forward. In an address to series fans, Activision has announced that it will no longer release back-to-back Black Ops...
News Take-Two Hires Former Perfect Dark Leads To Spin Up A Brand-New Project
A second take
Following Perfect Dark's cancellation back in July, we heard reports that GTA maker Take-Two had tried to take over the project before talks collapsed, but it sounds as though the mega publisher liked what it saw. The same so
News Four Games Are Available Today With Xbox Game Pass (December 9)
One of the biggest drops of the month!
Welcome to your latest Xbox Game Pass update! Today, we have four titles joining the main Game Pass Ultimate library - three across console and PC, and one PC-only addition. Here's all the info you need on today's Xbox Game Pass titles (December 9): A Game About Digging A
News Xbox Dev Reveals That Sony Asked About Microsoft Flight Sim Going To PS5 Years Ago
The 2024 edition hits PlayStation today
Back in September, we learnt that Microsoft Flight Simulator was jetting off to PS5 this year - and now an interesting interview with an Xbox developer talks about the series' interesting journey to PlayStation platforms. Speaking with XDA, Microsoft's Flight Sim lead dev Jorg Neumann talked about the...
News Seven More Games Set To Be Delisted On Xbox In December 2025
Update: The OG Yakuza 0 is disappearing as well
As the final month of 2025 draws closer, it's time to take a quick look at what's being removed from the Xbox Store before the year is out, with six games currently set to be delisted in December 2025. Four of these are from publisher Outright Games, although only the Steam versions are confirmed to...
News OD's Reveal Trailer 'Full Of Hints' As To How The Game Will Play, Says Hideo Kojima
Also says it's going to be a "challenging" game to make
Back in September, Kojima & co. finally showcased a gameplay teaser for OD — their upcoming Xbox title — and despite the trailer being typically cryptic, the legendary game maker says that it was "full of hints" as to how the game will actually play. Speaking with anaweb and translated by
News Netflix Is Buying Warner Bros. For Even More Money Than Xbox's ActiBlizz Deal
Update: WB confirms gaming division is included
In an announcement that's sending shockwaves throughout the entertainment world, streaming giant Netflix has announced its intentions to buy Warner Bros. - for a whopping $72 billion (or $82.7 billion as a "total enterprise value"). Going off Netflix's statement on this, the move doesn't mention...
News Clockwork Revolution Dev Shares New Message About Its Eagerly Anticipated Xbox RPG
"This is the most complex game I've ever worked on"
Clockwork Revolution has a bit of hype behind it within the Xbox fanbase - heck, even boss Phil Spencer sounds pretty excited about what inXile is cooking up. And, while info on the title remains scarce, the team has delivered a new message about the game as part of the latest PC Gaming Sho
News Free Play Days: Try These Xbox Games For Free (December 4-7)
New free trials now live on Xbox!
Xbox Free Play Days is here for the next few days! We've got six games playable as part of the program this week - with one of those in Destiny 2 bringing loads of premium expansions to the program as well. Here's your full Free Play Days rundown this week: Astria Ascending Bassmaster Fishing Descenders Destiny 2...
News Left 4 Dead Creator Is Making A New 'Four-Player Co-Op Shooter', But It Might Not Come To Xbox
Developer Bad Robot Games signs deal with Sony
Bad Robot Games has today announced a new "four-player co-operative shooter" being led by Left 4 Dead's original creator Mike Booth - but there's a chance this attempt to rekindle that L4D flame may not see the light of day on Xbox. Although this development studio has been working away for a number of...
News Three Games Are Available Today Across Various Tiers Of Xbox Game Pass (December 4)
Including a brand-new day one launch!
Welcome to your latest Xbox Game Pass roundup! Today, we've got three games coming to the service; one that's brand-new to Ultimate subscribers and two that are moving over to the Premium tier. So, we'll gather up these new XGP additions for December 4th down below: 33 Immortals (Console, PC, Cloud) - XGP...
News Two Games Are Available Today With Xbox Game Pass Premium (December 3)
Two more titles for Premium subscribers!
Welcome to your latest Xbox Game Pass roundup! Today's update focuses on Xbox Game Pass Premium, with two titles moving over to Microsoft's mid-tier service today (December 3). Here's a summary of your two new additions to Xbox Game Pass Premium: Monster Train 2 (Series X|S, PC, Cloud): "Monster Train...
News Xbox Teases 2026 Game Pass Lineup As It Delivers The Service's Final Update Of 2025
Game Pass is done with updates this year
Earlier today, Microsoft dropped its December Xbox Game Pass roundup - with 14 games coming to multiple tiers of the service in the next few weeks. The update stops at December 11th with the addition of Bratz: Rhythm & Style, and that's seemingly going to be our final XGP update for 2025 as the team begins to...
News These 14 Games Are Coming To Xbox Game Pass (December 2-11)
Your latest roundup of new titles
Microsoft has today revealed the next roundup of titles coming to Xbox Game Pass, with a batch of new additions arriving here in the first half of December 2025. We've got the day one launch of Routine to look forward to later this week, alongside Mortal Kombat 1 and more arriving later on in December. And don't...
Guide Xbox Game Pass Essential: Full List Of Games (December 2025 Update)
Here's everything you can play on Game Pass Essential
Back in 2023, Microsoft finally phased out Xbox Live Gold, replacing it with Xbox Game Pass Core as a new entry-level tier to its subscription service. Since then, it's been renamed to Xbox Game Pass Essential as of October 2025. Unlike Games with Gold, which
News New Microsoft Survey Suggests Five AI Features That Could Be Added To Xbox Game Pass
"Which of these would you be most likely to use?"
Whether it's a popular move or not, Microsoft is putting a big focus on the power of AI these days, and we've already seen Microsoft Copilot getting significantly integrated into the Xbox space over the past few months. It's very unlikely they're going to stop there, as suggested in a new Microsoft...
News Three Games Are Available This Week With Xbox Game Pass (December 1-4)
Starting today!
Welcome to your latest Xbox Game Pass roundup! So far, we've got three games coming to the library this week, including the recent surprise addition to the lineup in Marvel Cosmic Invasion - which arrives today! Here's a look at this week's Xbox Game Pass titles, all of which are new additions to the main Game Pass Ultimate library...
Guide Xbox Game Pass: All Games Coming Soon In December 2025
All the confirmed reveals so far
Looking for a complete list of games coming to Xbox Game Pass in December 2025? It can be pretty difficult to keep track of all the comings and goings in the world of Xbox Game Pass every month, so we've put together this handy guide to provide an overview of what's coming to Xbox Game Pass in December 2025. Here's...
News Black Ops 7 Gets Its First Xbox Discount Two Weeks After Launch, But You'll Have To Be Quick
A Black Friday weekend offer from Microsoft
Xbox's big Black Friday sale has been live for more than a week now, featuring some massive AAA titles from a broad range of publishers and developers. One game that seemingly missed the Black Friday boat — mostly due to its very recent release date — was Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, but Microsoft has...
Rumour Two Xbox First-Party Titles Get Leaked 2026 Release Windows
Big pinch of salt with these, folks
With next year (and beyond) on Xbox looking pretty darn stacked, Microsoft could be having some trouble knowing where exactly to place its first-party games in its 2026 release calendar. We know of four big titles landing next year at the moment - and some fresh rumours today are giving us a narrower window for...
News Xbox Says Cloud Gaming Is Up 45% With Game Pass & Console Users In 2025
"Players are streaming their games more than ever"
On the back of Xbox's November 2025 Update, Microsoft has given us some fresh figures on Xbox Cloud Gaming usage these days - with the service up across a bunch of different metrics year-on-year. First off, the team says that Cloud Gaming usage in general from
News Free Play Days: Try These Xbox Games For Free (November 27-30)
Including The First Berserker: Khazan!
Xbox Free Play Days has returned again for another week! There are some awesome titles in the mix over the next few days, including the hardcore action game The First Berserker: Khazan and the week-long free trial of Battlefield 6's multiplayer, and more might be revealed later today as well (we'll update this...
Talking Point Did You Expect More From Xbox 360's 20th Anniversary?
Red ring of meh
Well, that's it, Xbox 360's 20th birthday has come and gone. As you probably saw, over here at Pure Xbox we didn't forget about the anniversary - with multiple features and
News Xbox Play Anywhere Grew Substantially In October, With 60+ Games Added Last Month
Including ARC Raiders, Keeper & more
As part of the Xbox November 2025 Update, Microsoft has highlighted more than 60 Xbox Play Anywhere titles added to the program last month, including major games such as ARC Raiders, Keeper, Little Nightmares 3 and more! Many of thes
News Xbox Cloud Gaming Expands To New Regions & Adds 'User-Selected Resolution' Feature
"We continue to expand Xbox Cloud Gaming..."
As part of today's November 2025 Update, Microsoft has announced new features for Xbox Cloud Gaming, including a new 'User-Selected Resolution' option that brings "enhanced stream quality for select titles". Yep, following on from the likes of
Feature Six New Improvements Revealed For ROG Xbox Ally, With Lots More To Come In 2026
"This is just the beginning."
Today, we've seen Team Xbox highlighting a major new optimisation feature for the ROG Xbox Ally in the form of "Default Game Profiles", but this is far from the only improvement that's been added to the handheld device(s) recently. In addition to various updates that were implemented last week by ASUS, we've also got...
News Three Games Are Available Today With Xbox Game Pass (November 25)
Update: We've got a surprise third!
Welcome to your latest Xbox Game Pass roundup! Today, our final two November additions are here - including the underrated 2024 action-RPG Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden! Here's some more details on that one, alongside today's other XGP title: Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden (Console, PC, Cloud): "Hunt ghosts...
News Xbox Series X|S Could Go Up In Price Again Due To Potential RAM Shortages, It's Claimed
Is it all AI's fault?
Microsoft has implemented multiple price increases for the Xbox Series X and S over the past few years, and a new report suggests this might not be the end for current-gen Xbox price hikes. Coming from Moore's Law Is Dead on YouTube —
News Xbox Developers Are Reportedly 'Thrilled' To Release Their Games On PS5
It helps relieve sales pressure
Over the last 18 months or so, we've seen Microsoft pivot to releasing games on rival platforms - including PlayStation of course. While the reaction to this move has been mixed, shall we say, within the community, it sounds as though Xbox developers at large are pretty pleased with the decision. Talking with 404...
News Bethesda Wants To Do More Shadow Drops Following Hi-Fi RUSH & Oblivion Remastered
What next?
In recent years, Bethesda has employed the 'shadow drop' technique on multiple occasions; where the game(s) in question is simply released without any prior announcement or marketing. It's done this with 2023's Hi-Fi RUSH and 2025's Oblivion Remastered - and it sounds like the Xbox publisher wants to do it again. Speaking with
Poll Which Is Your Favourite Xbox 360 Launch Title?
The lineup is 20 years old today!
The Xbox 360 is 20 years old today, and we have some fantastic memories of Microsoft's sophomore system from way back in 2005. The console was incredible (RROD aside), the controller was an amazing evolution of the OG Xbox effort - and all-in-all, we we very happy with the experience back in the way. However, we...
News It's Official! The Xbox 360 Is 20 Years Old Today
We're celebrating the big day with a fond look back
20 years, eh, where does the time go?! Yep, Microsoft's Xbox 360 console launched on November 22nd, 2005 - which means the system has now hit the ripe old age of 20. To celebrate, we've been looking back at what made this gaming machine one of the very best - from the system itself to its launch...
Talking Point Do You Have Any Plans For Xbox 360's Big Birthday Weekend?
Dusting off the old machine? Playing some back compat classics?
This weekend, Xbox 360 will be 20 years old, and we've started the celebrations early here at Pure Xbox. I've been drifting about a lot in Project Gotham Racing 3,
