Tag: Microsoft - Page 2
News StarCraft, Wolfenstein 3 & Fallout New Vegas Remake Could All Be In The Works Over At Xbox
With other big games also mentioned
As we shared earlier today in relation to Developer Direct, well-known Xbox reporter Jez Corden has put out a huge report/predictions piece on the future of Xbox in 2026 and beyond — and it namedrops some absolutely massive releases, even if they're still to be confirmed by their respective Microsoft development...
News Xbox Reporter Teases What Might Be Shown At Developer Direct, Including A Potential Surprise
Update: Microsoft confirms three games for the event
Xbox Developer Direct is right around the corner now, having been confirmed by Microsoft last month, and attention is quickly turning to predicting just what might show up at Xbox's annual January s
News The UK Games Industry Had Its Biggest Year Since 2020 Last Year
UK games revenue rose 7.4%
GamesIndustry.Biz has shared some news from the folks over at the Entertainment Retailers Association that suggests 2025 was a pretty big year for gaming in the UK. The ERA gathered data from multiple sources to show that UK customers spent £5.4 billion on gaming in 2025, which is up 7.4% on the year before. "This is the...
News Four Games Are Available Today With Xbox Game Pass Premium (January 7)
Four more titles make the jump from Ultimate
Welcome to your latest Xbox Game Pass roundup! Today's all about Microsoft's mid-tier service in the form of XGP Premium; where four games move over from the Ultimate library today, including some heavy hitters. Here's all four games available with Xbox Game Pass Premium today (January 7):
News These 11 Games Are Coming To Xbox Game Pass, Including Two Major Additions (January 6-22)
Your first official XGP roundup of 2026!
Microsoft has today revealed its first official roundup of Xbox Game Pass titles for January 2026, with 11 games joining the service from January 6-22, including two major additions in Star Wars Outlaws and Resident Evil Village! A couple of games have already arrived on Xbox Game Pass this morning in the...
News Two Games Are Available Today With Xbox Game Pass (January 6)
Two surprise additions to kick off 2026!
Welcome to your first Game Pass update for 2026! Today, we have two surprise additions to the library, including Little Nightmares: Enhanced Edition which delivers a new ray-traced version of Tarsier's classic to Xbox Series X|S and PC. Here's some more detail on that, alongside your other Xbox Ga
News Former Elder Scrolls Online Boss Says Xbox Cancellation Drove Him To Leave Bethesda
Project Blackbird was a new IP at the studio
Back in July, when Microsoft cancelled a bunch of projects amidst a huge shakeup for its Xbox division, The Elder Scrolls Online boss Matt Firor left the company — and now, roughly six months later, the former ZeniMax leader has gone into a bit more detail about why he chose to leave amidst this...
Talking Point What Have You Bought In The Xbox Countdown Sale This Year?
The promo ends in just a few days' time!
One of the biggest Xbox sales of the promotion calendar is about to wrap up this week with the conclusion of the Xbox Countdown Sale 2025, and we want to know what you've picked up during this particular edition of the Microsoft end-of-year promo. With lots of our gaming being done through Xbox Game Pass...
News Xbox Console Sales 'The Worst On Record' In 2025 As Microsoft Shifts Focus (UK)
"Sales of Xbox consoles were down 39%"
Over the last year or so, it's not been particularly positive news when it comes to Xbox console sales, with Microsoft continuing to focus its efforts on PC and ROG Xbox Ally in recent months. That trend has been felt here in the UK, where Xbox Series X|S sales are down almost 40% in 2025; leading to "the worst...
News Three Xbox Games Are Shutting Down Their Servers In January 2026
The closures we know about so far
A new year unfortunately brings 12 more months of server closures throughout the gaming industry, and as we look ahead to the rest of January 2026, there are three games confirmed to be shutting their servers on Xbox so far. The most notable of the three is undoubtedly BioWare and EA's Anthem, which was delisted on...
News Xbox & Microsoft Dominate The List Of 'Most Covered' Gaming Companies In 2025
But Nintendo still wins the individual category
The good folks at GamesIndustry.biz recently published their annual "Year in Numbers" roundup of the games industry for 2025, and the most interesting bit from an Xbox perspective relates to the "most covered companies" section. Over the past two years, Xbox has led this category with 308,834 articles...
Feature Xbox Game Pass Is Looking Great For 2026, But Only Six Games Have Release Dates So Far
A quick look at what's to come
With Xbox Game Pass getting a big overhaul a few months ago, all eyes are on Microsoft to deliver a big lineup in 2026 - particularly for Ultimate subscribers who are now paying $30 a month for the privilege of being subscribed. When it comes to Xbox first-party, we have some massive games planned for next year...
Talking Point Which Xbox Games Deserved More Love This Year?
Anything you wanna shout about?
With The Game Awards now wrapped up and lots of this year's releases getting their fair share of attention at the show (and elsewhere), we want to take a little time to discuss the Xbox games that deserved a bit more love throughout 2025. As is the case pretty much every year, many games tend to fall by the wayside...
News Microsoft Says It's 'Incorrect' That Xbox Division Is Now Targeting 30% Profit Margins
But the goals are still ambitious
Over the past couple of months, you may have come across this idea that Microsoft has placed a target of 30% profit margins on the Xbox division — and this stems from a report that first mentioned it back in October. At the time, Bloomberg noted how these profit margins were "well above the industry average" of...
Talking Point Will Any Of Xbox's 2026 Releases Become GOTY Contenders Next Year?
We have a huge 12 months ahead!
With The Game Awards 2025 now firmly in our rear-view mirrors and Xbox missing out on a GOTY nomination once again, we've started thinking about next year's event and whether anything that comes out of Microsoft HQ will earn a nomination in 2026. To be clear, we are talking about the Geoff Keighley December bonanza...
"I feel incredibly empowered for where we sit."
Blizzard president Johanna Faries has been speaking in a wide-ranging interview with Bloomberg today, discussing how the company has changed since she became president in 2024, as well as where it's heading in the future. The most notable bit from an Xbox perspective comes at the end of the chat, when...
News 10 More Games Set To Be Delisted On Xbox In December 2025
Update: Three additional indie titles added to the mix
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...
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 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...
