Timeline
Thursday16th Oct 2025
News Waterpark Simulator Has Become A Viral Hit On PC, And The Devs Might Bring It To Xbox
"We plan to expand to other platforms"
In recent weeks, we've seen CayPlay's viral hit Waterpark Simulator popping up all over our YouTube and social media feeds - and to be honest, it's making us a bit jealous that we can't hop in and play on Xbox. Despite this being a Steam-only release for now though, the developer has hinted that other platforms...
News Digital Foundry Delivers Its Verdict On The Xbox Versions Of Battlefield 6
"A detailed breakdown of every mode"
Battlefield 6 has been out for almost a week now, which has given the folks at Digital Foundry plenty of time to dig into every version of the game for its latest analysis video - including the Xbox Series X and S versions which largely impress throughout. If you'd like to hear it straight from the DF team we've...
News Xbox Shocktober Sale 2025 Now Live, 200+ Games Discounted
A spooktacular sale for the rest of October!
It's time for the Xbox Shocktober Sale 2025! This year's version of the sale includes a list of over 200 discounted games, plenty of which are major AAA titles, including some recent releases such as Hell is Us and Killing Floor 3. Below, we've included just some of the major highlights from the Xbox...
News Mulitple Games Are Suddenly Getting Updated With ROG Xbox Ally Optimisations
Great to see!
Happy ROG Xbox Ally day! Both versions of the new ASUS and Xbox handheld are officially releasing today in many regions across the world, and therefore it's no surprise to see developers and publishers highlighting their support for it. In fact, some are actually rolling out additional support for the device, with Hogwarts Legacy...
News Xbox Indie Showcase Announced For October 2025
"Packed with exclusive trailers, new looks, and gameplay"
We have a new Xbox showcase coming this month! Yep, in partnership with IGN, ID@Xbox will be showcasing some of the platform's hottest indies on October 28th - and we're expecting some fresh Xbox Game Pass announcements here as well. IGN hasn't confirmed any XGP announcements just yet, but t
Wednesday15th Oct 2025
Roundup Ball x Pit Launches On Xbox Game Pass To Impressive Reviews
"A brick-breaking, ball-fusing, base-building survival roguelite"
Amidst all of the craziness regarding the ROG Xbox Ally today, don't forget that Ball x Pit is launching on Xbox Game Pass, and the first reviews have arrived! This game is a described as a "brick-breaking, ball-fusing, base-building su
News Sarah Bond Shows Off Where Microsoft Is 'Prototyping For The Next Generation Of Xbox'
"This is where the team is actually designing, prototyping and testing"
There's been a lot of talk recently about the next generation of Xbox and whether Microsoft might even cancel its next-gen console(s), but a new walkthrough of the hardware labs suggests Team Xbox is hard at work on whatever's next. As you can see in the clip below, Xbox's...
News Two More Games Announced For Xbox Game Pass In November 2025
A couple of fresh announcements for next month!
You may have seen this past weekend that we brought you an early look at what's coming to Game Pass next month - well, we now have two more November 2025 additions confirmed for the library. Both of these titles got fresh release date announcements today, along with accompanying trailers, so we'll...
News Ubisoft Missed The Xbox Kinect, So They Created An Ambitious Alternative
Specifically for Just Dance
Here's something interesting we came across this week - Ubisoft has been talking about an alternative to the Xbox Kinect (a device that was discontinued in the Xbox One era), with the catch being that it's specifically for Just Dance. They call this "Camera Controller mode", and it works pretty much the same way as the...
Report Battlefield 6 Sells Over 6 Million Copies, And A Good Chunk Of Those Are On Xbox
A solid split for Series X|S!
It's no secret that Battlefield 6 has had some hype behind it after years of the series not quite hitting the mainstream mark - but an early sales report shows just how well the game is doing right now, including on Xbox Series X and S consoles. The folks over at Alinea Analytics are back again this week with a big...
Feature A Quick Look At What It's Like To Unbox The ROG Xbox Ally X
First impressions count
It was all the way back in late 2020 that we did a little feature on unboxing the Xbox Series X, so we may as well do the same thing for the ROG Xbox Ally X, right? Nothing too crazy - let's just have a look inside and see what we get! So, the first thing you'll be greeted with is this very nice-looking box. The ROG Xbox...
Feature 10 Tips And Tricks For Your First Day With The ROG Xbox Ally
Some handy hints to make your day one experience even better
If you've already committed to buying a ROG Xbox Ally or ROG Xbox Ally X, or you're thinking about picking one up in the near future, we think there are a few things you need to know in order to get the best day one experience possible! I've been spending basically all of October with the...
News Here's What The Reviews Are Saying About The ROG Xbox Ally
A roundup of first impressions for both versions of the device
With just a day to go until the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X handhelds are released to the public, the first reviews have been going live at a variety of outlets across the web, and they make for some pretty interesting reading! Of course, we've got our own review of the ROG Xbox...
Feature ROG Xbox Ally X Battery Life: How Many Hours Do You Get Per-Charge?
Here's what we've experienced so far
With our big ROG Xbox Ally X review going live here at Pure Xbox earlier today, we thought we'd delve a little deeper into the battery life side of things - they only get a passing mention as part of the main review. During my time with the ROG Xbox Ally X, I've obviously been playing lots of games across...
Review ROG Xbox Ally X - An Amazing Handheld PC With Plenty Of Console-Like Potential
The future looks bright for Xbox's new handheld device
Well folks, the time has arrived. With the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X officially releasing on October 16th, ASUS was kind enough to give us rough two weeks of early access to the "X" version of the device (the most premium model) here at Pure Xbox, and I've been playing it every single...
News Upcoming FPS ARC Raiders Is Completely Free-To-Play This Weekend On Xbox
"This is a full-scale Server Slam"
ARC Raiders, an upcoming extraction shooter from The Finals dev Embark Studios, has been in the works for quite a while now - but launch is almost here! The full game releases at the end of this month, and ahead of time, the team is opening up a portion of the experience for a "full-scale server slam" this weekend...
News Three Games Are Moving Over To Xbox Game Pass Premium Today (October 15)
Along with a bonus fourth title!
With Microsoft's recent Xbox Game Pass overhaul, the new 'Premium' tier is a much more affordable option - and despite a lack of day one launches on there, plenty of games are still being added on a regular basis. Back on Monday,
News Xbox Begins Adding 'Handheld Optimized' Tags To PC Games Ahead Of ROG Xbox Ally Launch
A neat system for the new handheld
Back in August, Xbox unveiled a new feature known as the "Handheld Compatibility Program" that would help PC handheld owners (and particularly ROG Xbox Ally owners) understand how certain games will perform on their systems. Everything kinda went quiet on this immediately afterwards, but as shown off by The...
Rumour Halo Remake To Feature 'Modern Mechanics', Could Be Announced This Month
Keep an eye on the Halo World Champs
In recent months, we've heard little bits and pieces about a Halo: Combat Evolved remake potentially coming to Xbox next year - and now some new information has been shared that hints at the sorts of changes we can expect Halo Studios to make with its new version of the original Halo. Twitter account Halo Leaks...
Tuesday14th Oct 2025
News Xbox Reveals First Three Games Included In Big 'Shocktober Sale' Starting This Week
Maybe save some Xbox credit for Thursday!
We've got another big Xbox sale on the way in a couple of days' time! Yes, it's been announced that the Xbox Shocktober Sale for 2025 will begin on Thursday, October 16th and will last until the start of November, featuring "horrifyingly good savings on spooky titles across console and PC". The first three...
News Summer Game Fest 2026 Date Revealed With 'Spectacular Cross-Platform Showcase' Teased
Geoff is back, back again
Ahh, we're just about settling down after this year's showcase season, with the fall games rush about to begin here in late 2025. Well, as ever, this industry just keeps on ploughing forward - and today, The Game Awards host Geoff Keighley has revealed the date for their Summer Game Fest 2026 showcase. Yep, the de-facto...
News Assassin's Creed Franchise Lead Quits Ubisoft As New 'Vantage Studios' Label Takes Shape
He worked on some massive AC games
Right at the start of this month — buried in and amongst all of Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass news — Ubisoft announced that it had officially spun up its 'Vantage Studios' subsidiary to handle Assassin's Creed, Far Cry and Rainbow Six in the future - and today, the company has hit a bit of a bump in the road...
News The Outer Worlds 2 Is Bringing 'Big Sequel Energy' To Xbox Game Pass This Month
New live action trailer is very Obsidian
We're just about two weeks away from The Outer Worlds 2 at this point, and as the game's marketing cycle starts to ramp up, the team has dropped a new live action trailer that takes the mick out of sequels - and it's very tongue-in-cheek Obsidian. As usual, we've chucked this trailer up above for you to take...
Roundup Here's What The First Reviews Are Saying About NASCAR 25
A brand-new release from the iRacing team
We've got a new racing game releasing on Xbox this week in the form of NASCAR 25, and this one's being developed by the team at iRacing Studios - you know, the developer behind the ultra-popular iRacing simulation game on PC? NASCAR 25 boasts "laser scanned car models and tracks for a level of authenticity...
"An immersive stealth FPS"
One of the games we mentioned in our "coming to Xbox next week" article on Saturday was Blood West, which is described as "an immersive stealth FPS" that's received "Very Positive" reviews on Steam since its launch back in 2023. This game features open-ended worlds that'll take you around 20 hours to complete and 35 hours...
News Battlefield 6 Boss: 'The Only Reason COD Exists Is Because EA Were D*cks'
Vince Zampella speaks openly
Call of Duty vs. Battlefield has been a long-standing rivalry in the gaming biz; two FPS titans that often trade blows as publishers Activision and EA hope to reign supreme. With BF6 out in the wild, veteran developer Vince Zampella has now had a major hand in both of these franchises - and in a new interview, h
It's a good price as well!
Like single-player story games? Like survival first-person shooters? In that case, Beneath might be something to keep an eye on, as it's just been announced to be releasing on October 28th for Xbox Series X and Series S. The game is specifically described as a "Lovecraftian first-person survival horror adventure" that's...
Guide Keeper: Release Date, Launch Times & What To Expect From Xbox's Next First-Party Release
Double Fine is back!
Xbox Game Studios drops another release this week in the form of Keeper from Double Fine Productions - and so far, this one has been flying under the radar a little bit! Therefore, we're here with all the information you need ahead of its nearby launch - including the game's release date, exact launch times, Xbox download size...
News Ninja Gaiden 4 Devs Insist Game Needs To Be Challenging But Maintain A 'Sense Of Fairness'
"That’s something we talk about a lot at Team Ninja"
Ninja Gaiden 4 will be with us this time next week (look out for our review in the near future), and ahead of this big Xbox first-party release, a couple of developers have been speaking to Automaton about how challenging of a game it'll be. Directors Yuji Nakao (PlatinumGames) and Masakazu...
News Xbox Journalist Says Latest Rumours Are 'A Huge Challenge For The Brand Right Now'
"Some Xbox fans have been worried..."
Rumours about the imminent demise of Xbox are hardly a new phenomenon — they seem to start swirling around every time Microsoft makes a controversial decision — but we've seen them dialled up to 11 after the recent Game Pass price hikes - and journalist Tom Warren believes they're becoming "a huge challenge...
Monday13th Oct 2025
Talking Point How Often Do You Replay Games?
Loads? Certain titles? Never?
Earlier today, we got talking about Sunset Overdrive for one reason or another (it's almost the game's 11th anniversary, that's our excuse), and one of the subjects we touched on was getting around to replaying it. The Insomniac title is just one of those games where a replay continues to allude us (even though we think...
News Insomniac's Xbox Exclusive Sunset Overdrive Celebrates Its 11-Year Anniversary This Month
Time flies when you're downing Overcharge
Around this time last year, we reminisced about one of Xbox's best-ever exclusives when Sunset Overdrive officially hit 10 years of age - and while its 2025 anniversary isn't quite as important, we have seen the Xbox community talking about the game once again, and we don't really need much of an excuse to...
News Battlefield 6 Comparison Shows Difference Between Xbox Series X And Series S
Here's how both Xbox versions stack up
We're a little late to this one, but following our review of Battlefield 6 earlier today, we thought you might be interested in how the game is shaping up across both Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S! Fuzion Xbox Testing has become our go-to for stuff like this - we're not affiliated with the channel...
News Xbox Adds Multiple Dynamic Backgrounds On Series X|S, Including A Few First-Party Additions
All available now!
Since we last posted an update on Xbox's dynamic background collection for Series X|S, Microsoft has added a bunch more options for players to customise their console home screens, including fresh wallpapers for some of the team's biggest Fall 2025 titles. Up above is an example of the Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 background that's...
News New ROG Xbox Ally X Footage Shows Battlefield 6, Helldivers 2, Forza Motorsport & More
A first look at how these games perform
Welcome to the week of the ROG Xbox Ally launch! With just days to go until these new handhelds are in the hands of the public, more footage is creeping out onto the likes of YouTube and social media that suggests it's going to be an awesomely powerful system - at least in the case of the ROG Xbox Ally X...
Review Battlefield 6 (Xbox) - A Fantastic FPS, And A Great Base For The Future Of Battlefield
Back to winning ways
EA and the newly-rebranded Battlefield Studios had a lot to prove to me with Battlefield 6. The previous game in the series, Battlefield 2042, left a lot to be desired - and truth be told, I was losing a bit of faith in the series ever getting back to its glory days. With BF6 now here, backed up by a pretty smooth opening...
News The House Of The Dead 2: Remake Arrives On Xbox Later This Month
Update: We've got a release date!
It's been announced today by Forever Entertainment that The House of the Dead 2: Remake will be coming to Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S (along with PlayStation and Nintendo Switch) at some point in Spring 2025! This new version promises "modern graphics" along with remastered music, and it's playable...
News Five Games Are Being Added To Xbox Game Pass This Week (October 14-17)
Including an Xbox first-party title
Ready for a new week of new Xbox Game Pass additions?! With Microsoft trickling them out from Tuesday to Friday, we thought we'd gather them all up in one place so you know exactly what to expect over the next few days. We're kicking things off with Supermassive Games' The Casting of Frank Stone on Tuesday,...
News Everwild Screenshots Leak Online Several Months After Xbox Cancellation
Featuring gameplay & UI elements!
Back in July, as part of broader layoffs at Microsoft, Rare's Everwild was cancelled after more than five years in the making - and now a selection of in-development screenshots have been shared online; giving us an idea of what the Sea Of Thieves developer was looking to build with
News Microsoft Issues Statement Denying Target & Walmart Are Pulling Xbox Products
"Target and Walmart remain committed partners"
Over the weekend, there was a lot of rumour and speculation that both Target and Walmart might be pulling their Xbox products, with one particular Reddit post getting a bunch of attention after it was suggested that someone's local Target store had been "getting rid" of their Xbox section. Here's a...
Sunday12th Oct 2025
News Microsoft Rewards October Gift Card Sale Begins, Includes Discount On Xbox Credit
You'll need to be VERY quick though!
Last month, it was announced that Microsoft Rewards would be hosting a Gift Card Sale at some point in October, and that sale has now begun - it features up to 10% off select gift cards, and Xbox is included in the mix. If you go to the Microsoft Rewards dashboard on a browser (and you're in an eligible region),...
News Two More Ubisoft Classics Have Quietly Been Added To PC Game Pass
Not originally Ubisoft titles, but they are these days!
In addition to all the Ubisoft games that were added to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass earlier this month, the company very quietly trickled out two more late last week - both of which are exclusive to PC Game Pass. These are Heroes of Might and Magic 2 - Gold Edition and Heroes of...
Saturday11th Oct 2025
Poll Are You Buying Battlefield 6 For Xbox On Launch Weekend?
All aboard the hype train?
Battlefield 6 is here - after years of waiting, EA's big FPS series has made its grand return on Xbox Series X and S. We've seen a lot of hype for this one in all corners of the internet already — including in the comments here at Pure Xbox — and we want to know if you've been bitten by the Battlefield bug and are...
News Four Games Are Confirmed For Xbox Game Pass In November 2025 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 November 2025's Xbox Game Pass selection, with four titles having been confirmed for the service next month already. The next Call of Duty title is the big one confirmed so far; Black Ops 7 comes to the main Game Pass...
Feature These 30+ Games Are Coming To Xbox Next Week (October 13-17)
Including five new Game Pass titles!
Welcome to your Xbox games roundup for October 13-17! The big release of the next few days from an Xbox perspective is Double Fine's Keeper, while there are absolutely tons of new indie titles and five brand-new Xbox Game Pass additions to look forward to. Here's what's coming to Xbox next week: New Xbox...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (October 11-12)
Joining us on the Battlefield?
Welcome to another weekend! It's going to be a busy one here at Pure Xbox HQ as we get stuck into Battlefield 6 and plenty of other Xbox-related goodness - we're looking forward to getting some gaming time in over the next few days, to say the least! Here's what we're playing this weekend: Ben Kerry, Staff Writer:...
Friday10th Oct 2025
Talking Point As We Approach GOTY Season, What's Your Pick As Things Stand?
The votes for Pure Xbox GOTY will begin in two months' time!
We're getting closer and closer to Game of the Year season! We'll be opening up the votes for the annual Pure Xbox GOTY poll in about two months' time, but before we get there, we thought we'd reach out for your preliminary thoughts on what deserves the #1 spot in 2025 so far. I don't...
News If Your Battlefield 6 Crew Plays On Xbox, It'll Earn Less XP Than On PlayStation
Why is this a thing?
Battlefield 6 is out now, and after four years of waiting since 2042, thousands of players will be hopping into the game's vast multiplayer suite in the coming days - and for years to come, for that matter. Bringing a good squad with you is always recommended in Battlefield, but as it turns out, that squad will be benefitted if...
News New Rumours Suggest PS6 & Next-Gen Xbox Could Both Release In 2027
Another head-to-head year?
Yesterday, we covered the big Xbox 'Magnus' Leak and what it could potentially mean for Microsoft's next-gen console - and while some of that information admittedly goes a little over our heads, the rumoured release window is something that we can fully understand. Yep, that leak again suggests that the next-gen Xbox is...
News The Casting Of Frank Stone Looks Set To Prove Popular On Xbox Game Pass Next Week
"A haunting horror game that won’t soon be forgotten"
You've probably seen that Microsoft unveiled a bunch of new Xbox Game Pass titles earlier this week, and the one that seems to be getting most interest here at Pure Xbox (based on the stats we're seeing) is The Casting of Frank Stone. No surprises there! On paper, this game sounds absolutely...
