Timeline
Thursday2nd Oct 2025
News Xbox Users Seeing Game Pass Dashboard Ad That Mentions Price Hike & New Benefits
And a new date existing subscribers might find useful
Yesterday, Microsoft dropped some megaton news with its complete overhaul of Xbox Game Pass, and literally the day after this big switch happened, folks are beginning to see new pop-up dashboard ads that give an overview of the service's price and feature changes. As first spotted by Tom Warren...
News 180+ Titles Were Added To Xbox 'Stream Your Own Game' In September
Including plenty of major new releases
We've spoken already about how Xbox is putting a lot of attention into its "Stream Your Own Game" program at the moment, and that's been very evident over the past few weeks as almost 200 titles have been added to the list. There have been plenty of new AAA releases in the mix here as well, including the likes...
Roundup Here's What The Reviews Are Saying About Digimon Story Time Stranger
There's a free demo as well!
In and amongst the madness of this week's Xbox Game Pass news, we've got a big new release from Bandai Namco on the way in just a few hours' time - a monster-taming RPG in the form of Digimon Story Time Stranger. This game has been getting good feedback for a while now thanks to its
Guide How To Download The Black Ops 7 Beta On Xbox
It's not as simple as you might think!
So, the Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 beta kicks into gear later today - and we've detailed all of the release times, rewards, content included and other information in our full BO7 beta guide. However, pre-loads are now live, and that brings us on to installing the beta on Xbox. As has become the norm with Call...
News Three Games Are Leaving Xbox Game Pass In Early October 2025
Update: Microsoft says it's just three rather than four
Microsoft has just quietly revealed the next batch of four games set to leave Xbox Game Pass in early October, with all of them showing on the official Xbox mobile app as of this morning. The highlight for us is probably Cocoon, which is a great puzzle adventure title that you should...
Poll What Are Your Plans For Xbox Game Pass After This Week's News?
Signing up? Changing tiers? Cancelling? Tell us!
In case you've been living under a rock, Microsoft dropped a huge Xbox Game Pass overhaul yesterday which involved new tiers, new names, new games and new price changes, and it's fair to say the overall reception hasn't been great. The reason for the negativity stems from the price increases, which...
News Free Play Days: Try These Xbox Games For Free (October 2-5)
Update: Ready or Not has been removed
Welcome to another round of Xbox Free Play Days! Microsoft is keeping the program running as part of its fresh Xbox Game Pass plans - and they're kicking off this new era with a big week of free games to try. Mega-popular shooter Ready Or Not is definitely the headline act here; VOID Intera
Wednesday1st Oct 2025
News Rock Band 4 Is Getting Delisted This Weekend Along Some Of Its DLC
Time to spend some Xbox credit
We've got some very bittersweet news to bring you today, as although Rock Band 4 is celebrating its 10th anniversary in just a few days' time, it's going to coincide with the game being delisted and some of its DLC suffering the same fate. The anniversary is on October 6th, but a day earlier on October 5th, the...
News Ubisoft Forms 'Vantage Studios' To Work On Some Of Its Biggest Franchises
Including Assassin's Creed, Far Cry & more
After several months of planning and seeking other forms of investment, Ubisoft's move to create a spin-off games company to work on some of its biggest franchises is now up and running. Coming straight from the company itself, Ubisoft and Tencent have now created 'Vantage Studios' to develop and distribute...
News Xbox Cloud Gaming Expands With 'Unlimited' Usage & Special Perks For Game Pass Members
The higher the tier, the better the service
In the midst of all the craziness about new tiers, price changes and a bunch of new games for Xbox Game Pass, you may have missed that Xbox Cloud Gaming is getting some significant improvements across all tiers of the service. Firstly, Xbox Cloud Gaming will now be available in "unlimited" fashion to...
News Xbox Reveals New Conversion Rates For Game Pass Premium & Ultimate
Here's a look
With Xbox announcing an overhaul to Game Pass today which involves new tiers and prices, there's inevitably been a change to the conversion rates that apply when you jump from one tier of the service to another. These conversion rates have often proved popular as a method for buying cheap memberships and converting to a higher tier,...
News Xbox Game Pass Premium May Be The Best-Value Tier Right Now, With Almost 50 Games Added
Is this the new go-to?
Well, the dust is sort of settling on all of today's fresh Game Pass news, and while the list of new benefits afforded to Ultimate subscribers is no-doubt cool, we reckon XGP Premium might now be the best-value tier for Xbox console players. <related ids="188807"> Coming in at $14.99/£10.99 a month (compared to...
News Fortnite Crew's $11.99 Subscription Is Heading To Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Members
As part of the new offerings for XGPU
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is about to get some major benefits as a result of a sharp price increase and general overhaul to the Game Pass service, and one of those benefits will soon be an included subscription to Fortnite Crew. For those who don't play it very often, Fortnite Crew is a service that gives you...
News Here's A Breakdown Of All The New Prices For Xbox Game Pass As Of October 2025
Specifically the UK, US, Canada, Europe and Australian prices
You've probably already heard today that Xbox Game Pass is getting a major overhaul with new names, games and price changes, and it's that last bit we want to highlight in this article specifically - what's changing, and by how much? As we've mentioned, Xbox Game Pass Essential and...
News 40+ Games Are Available Today With Xbox Game Pass Ultimate (October 1)
An absolute MEGA drop
As you may have already seen by now, Microsoft has announced some massive changes to Xbox Game Pass including a complete overhaul of the service's tiers - and that's brought us a big refresh to the main Ultimate library starting today, October 1st. The bulk of these new additions are from
News 'Ubisoft+ Classics' Joins Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, Hugely Expanding The Library
A massive new perk for GPU members
As part of today's massive overhaul to Xbox Game Pass, Microsoft has integrated the 'Ubisoft+ Classics' library into its Game Pass Ultimate tier, in a similar fashion to EA Play. Just like that EA Play library, Ubisoft+ Classics focuses on the company's back catalogue, with more than 30 Ubisoft titles featured...
News Xbox Game Pass Is Getting A Major Overhaul With New Names, Games & Price Changes
Say hello to "Essential, Premium, and Ultimate"
Microsoft is announcing today that Xbox Game Pass is getting a major overhaul, with the service now being split into "Essential", "Premium" and "Ultimate" tiers. In the process, we're getting new games and some price changes. Essential is now the new name for Xbox Game Pass Core, and it's the...
News Fallout 76 Is Bringing Its Largest Update In Years To Xbox This December
It's called "Burning Springs"
The amazing Fallout 76 isn't slowing down anytime soon, as Bethesda has announced today that it's getting its largest update since 2020 this December in the form of something called "Burning Springs". Burning Springs is a free update that'll allow players to "explore post-nuclear Ohio, meet new characters and factions,...
News Four Games Are Available Today With Xbox Game Pass Essential (October 1)
Update: Microsoft has changed things around a bit
Welcome to your latest Xbox Game Pass update! Today's refresh focuses purely on the Xbox Game Pass Core library, which grows by three new titles as Microsoft builds out the service. These are three excellent games as well, with the always-popular Disney Dreamlight Valley jo
News Sarah Bond Says Fans Will Soon Be Able To Play PlayStation Studios Games On An Xbox Device
She's talking about ROG Xbox Ally, of course
Much has been said recently about Microsoft's push to put Xbox games onto rival platforms, including PS5, and with the recent announcement of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 moving over, the team clearly isn't slowing down. However, we now know that the definition of 'Xbox' is changing, and Sarah Bond has...
Guide Call Of Duty: Black Ops 7 Beta: Release Date, Launch Times & Game Pass Early Access Details
Everything you need to know
The Black Ops 7 beta is upon us! Yep, ahead of the next Call of Duty worldwide launch on November 14th, developer Treyarch is unleashing a pretty extensive free beta for the game across all platforms this month. Xbox Game Pass users get benefits relating to this beta as well, and there are a selection of rewards you can...
News Grounded 2 Gets Its First Major Update On Xbox Game Pass
Say hello to our hairy and scary friend
Obsidian Entertainment has just dropped its first major content update for Grounded 2 in early access, and this one is for you fans of our eight-legged friends out there. The team's new 'Hair and Scary' update introduces AXL; the "giant tarantula boss" who's made made their way into Brookhollow Park this...
News Xbox Rewards Is Buffing Its Points In Some Cases, And Nerfing Them In Others
Xbox Game Pass users getting the biggest benefits
A new month has kicked off for Microsoft and Xbox Rewards, and alongside the news that Xbox Game Pass redemptions are apparently being taken away from the service soon, people are noticing that the points have been buffed for the Xbox Rewards service specifically! This seems to apply to various...
News ROG Xbox Ally X Owner Shares Their 'Quick Review' After Receiving It Two Weeks Early
We're not jealous at all
The ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X aren't releasing until October 16th, but it seems a few people have managed to get one early - and Amazon France appears to have been the culprit in a specific case that's getting attention. Yesterday, the likes of Windows Central reported on someone who had taken to the ROG Ally...
Tuesday30th Sep 2025
Review EA Sports FC 26 (Xbox) - A Fresh Take On The Series Thanks To Its 'Authentic' Twist
Two ways to play = a better game for everyone
When Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer series closed its doors in favour of a free-to-play Ultimate Team alternative called eFootball a few years ago, I have to admit I was gutted. It's not like I didn't play FIFA as well, but I felt like PES gave me a more authentic-feeling game of football on the pitch -...
News Xbox Exec Questioned About Elite Series 3 Controller, Offers Slight Tease For The Future
We'll take what we can get
We've been waiting such a long time for Xbox to finally reveal the Elite Series 3 Controller (the last one came out in 2019!), and Xbox's Sarah Bond might have teased its existence as part of a new interview at Tokyo Game Show 2025. We say "might" because she specifically shuts down the question about whether the Elite...
News Microsoft Rewards Set To Remove 'Direct' Xbox Game Pass Redemptions From October 1st
Update: Now in effect
It feels like we're getting a lot of Microsoft Rewards news at the moment, and this is a particularly interesting development - various MS Rewards users are getting told that direct Xbox Game Pass redemptions are about to end! They're seeing this when going to the standard Microsoft Rewards dashboard on a browser, but it's...
News Three New Games Confirmed For PC Game Pass Over The Next Few Months
Starting mid-October!
Xbox has quietly announced a small batch of new additions to its PC Game Pass library recently, with the first of these coinciding with the ROG Xbox Ally release on October 16th! We haven't heard much chatter about these online thus far, so we thought we'd gather up all of these recent announcements down below and let you know...
News Avalanche Closing UK Studio Following Cancellation Of Xbox Exclusive Contraband
"In light of current challenges..."
We've got some sad news to bring your way this afternoon, folks. Avalanche Studios, the team behind Just Cause and the now-cancelled Xbox exclusive Contraband, will close its UK branch imminently amidst widespread layoffs at the company. The developer shared a short message about this today, Sep
News Xbox Boss Names Four Franchises That Fans Keep Asking To See Revived
Any guesses?
In a recent interview at Tokyo Game Show 2025, Xbox boss Phil Spencer talked to IGN Japan about a number of different gaming-related topics - naming four classic Xbox franchises that fans often ask to see revived by Team Green along the way. In the fairly freeform chat which saw Phil answer a few laid back question
News Oblivion Remastered Is Getting A Physical Release For Xbox Series X
Update: Release date set as October 13th
Good news, everyone! It's been confirmed today that Oblivion Remastered will indeed be getting a physical release for both Xbox Series X and PS5 in October, and pre-orders have actually begun over at The Game Collection in the UK. The Game Collection was the company that broke the news a few hours ago, and...
News Sandisk Reveals Details & Prices For Its Initial ROG Xbox Ally Accessories
"Certified, tested, and engineered specifically"
A few days ago, we mentioned how Microsoft had highlighted a few of the early accessories that have been designed for the ROG Xbox Ally handheld, and now Sandisk has gone into greater detail on some of them. The company is specifically talking about two different storage options for the ROG Xbox Ally...
News Halo Studios Will Talk More About Future Projects At World Championship Next Month
"We’ll be on the Main Stage to talk about it"
In a new blog post titled 'Road to HaloWC 2025', the newly-rebranded Halo Studios has confirmed that it will once again talk about future projects during its World Championship event next month. The team hinted at this back in June when it said it was "looking forward to continuing the conversation"...
Feature All New Games Coming To Xbox In October 2025
Release dates for every October Xbox launch
Welcome to our roundup of all new Xbox games coming out in October 2025! Below, we've listed every Xbox game with an October 2025 release date, including all confirmed Xbox Game Pass titles for October 2025 so far. If you're interested in what other new Xbox games are scheduled for the rest of the year,...
News LEGO Party! Is Getting Some Excellent Reviews Ahead Of Its Xbox Launch
The best Mario Party clone ever on Xbox?
Back at the start of August, we mentioned how Xbox was getting a Mario Party clone in the form of LEGO Party! in late September, and now we've finally reached that point - and perhaps surprisingly, the first reviews are very good! As things stand, LEGO Party! is sitting on an impressive
News Microsoft Adds Xbox 360 Title To Game Pass Today (September 30)
Featuring Lara Croft
Welcome to your latest Xbox Game Pass update! We have a bit of a strange one today, in that Microsoft and Square Enix are bringing 2010's Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light to the library, more than 15 years after its initial release. Due to the age of this Tomb Raider spin-off, the console version of the game is actually an...
Monday29th Sep 2025
News Hogwarts Legacy Gets Surprise Xbox Play Anywhere Support, Over Two Years Since Release
One of the best XPA additions yet?
Well, well, well! It's been well over two years since Hogwarts Legacy first arrived on Xbox Series X and Series S back in early 2023, and yet it's suddenly just received Xbox Play Anywhere support - one of the biggest surprises the program has ever seen. As you probably know, Xbox Play Anywhere is the name of the...
Feature If You're Dying To See Forza In Japan, Xbox's Latest Motorsport Track Is Well Worth A Try
A taste of what to expect
Last week, Xbox brought us the announcement of Forza Horizon 6, as the series heads to Japan for the very first time in 2026. However, that's not the case for the Forza Motorsport series, where one of its most-famous courses is Japan-based - and if you're keen to sample the region in Forza, we reckon 2025's Forza M
News Xbox Adds 'Unified Digital Wallet' To Console, Making It Easier To Track Offers & Redeem Codes
"Offer Wallet is now available on console"
As part of Microsoft's bumper September 2025 update, the team has detailed a new 'unified digital wallet' feature that aims to streamline the way we track offers and redeem Xbox codes. Live now for console users, this 'offer wallet' is directly connected to your Xbox profile, and allows you to "easily find...
News The Xbox Rewards Hub Is Getting Some 'Major' Improvements On PC & Mobile
It's even been optimised for the ROG Xbox Ally!
You know we love to keep you up to date with the latest Microsoft Rewards news here at Pure Xbox, and the folks over at Team Xbox have some exciting updates for us on the PC and mobile front. Firstly, let's talk PC. In preparation for the ROG Xbox Ally's launch in October, they've decided to give the...
News Four New Games Added To Xbox Retro Classics In September 2025
More classics to play on Game Pass!
In today's overview of the Xbox September Update, Microsoft has detailed four new additions to its Retro Classics library, following the seven games that were added in August 2025. Although this a slightly shorter list than what we've become used to since
News Here's What's Included In The Xbox September 2025 Update
"We’ve introduced several new Xbox features..."
The Xbox September 2025 update has just been highlighted by the folks over at Team Xbox, and they've stacked it full of new features this time around, although some of them have been available to Insiders for a while now. For example, they're talking about the public rollout of Steam and other...
Report AAA The Lord Of The Rings Game In Development With Third-Person Gameplay
Embracer seemingly involved
If a major new Lord of the Rings game is something that'd get you excited, then you might want to keep an eye out on the gaming news cycle in the coming weeks. According to outlet Insider Gaming, a new third-person LOTR game "is in development and has been for some time" - and if you're wondering about the game's scale,...
Roundup All The Xbox Reveals From The PC Gaming Show Tokyo Direct 2025
Yes, there were Xbox games in this PC show!
The Tokyo Game Show 2025 concluded on Sunday with a special PC Gaming Show Tokyo Direct 2025 event, and it actually featured a bunch of games that are also coming to Xbox - so let's take a look at what was revealed! You won't find anything too crazy here, but we did get some brand-new announcements...
News First ROG Xbox Ally Unboxing Appears Online Prior To Release
Available to the public next month
Now that pre-orders have been locked in and the full launch details have been shared by Microsoft, we're full-speed ahead towards the ROG Xbox Ally next month - and ahead of the device's October 16th release, an early unboxing of th
News EA To Be Acquired By Consortium Of Investors For $55 Billion USD
"I am more energized than ever about the future we are building"
We've got some major acquisition news coming out of Electronic Arts today, with EA announcing that it's set to be acquired by a consortium of investors for approximately $55 billion USD. Those investors are PIF (the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia), Silver Lake (a...
News Xbox Game Pass Adds First-Party Game To 'Leaving Soon' Section, But Don't Panic
Update: It's since been removed
If you've woken up today and checked your Xbox app to see that a first-party game is leaving Xbox Game Pass soon, don't worry! This is almost certainly just an error, and we're assuming Microsoft will fix it in the very near future. The game in question is Age of Mythology: Retold, which is showing up alongside all...
News Silent Hill F Hits Impressive Sales Milestone Just One Day After Multiplatform Release
Xbox return met with positive sales
Konami dropped its first multiplatform Silent Hill title in years last week in the form of Silent Hill F, and developer NeoBards has shared a positive update on the game's sales after a very brief time on the market. By September 26th — just one day after the game's main release — Silent Hill F had sold one...
News Xbox Series S Handles Dying Light: The Beast's Open World Well, Despite Lack Of 60FPS
It performs solidly, shows Digital Foundry
Digital Foundry has just dropped its tech review for new open-world zombie adventure Dying Light: The Beast, and the results are welcome ones for console players - despite them being fairly predictable. The upshot of it is that this new Dying Light spin-off has solid performance across pretty much every...
Rumour Microsoft & ASUS Wanted To 'Further Subsidise' The Price Of The ROG Xbox Ally
"They obviously couldn't do it for whatever reason"
Back in August at Gamescom 2025, we found out the official release date for the upcoming ROG Xbox Ally handheld(s), but Microsoft chose to avoid revealing the price or beginning pre-orders at the time during to a "challenging" macro-economic climate. This decision was seemingly made at the last...
