Timeline
Monday5th Jan 2026
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 Resident Evil 4 Remake Cut Level Surfaces Online, Three Years After Launch
'Chapter 0' was axed by Capcom
A cancelled Capcom level from the team's 2023 remake of Resident Evil 4 has surfaced online in recent days, showcasing an incomplete 'Chapter 0' from the acclaimed title that was ultimately removed from the final product. You can see evidence of this cancelled mission in the YouTube video up above, where channel...
Sunday4th Jan 2026
News Three Casual Xbox Games Arrived For 'Free' Over Christmas, Easy Achievements On Offer
Perfect for cheevo hunters
One of the things we low-key hate about the Xbox Store is that some games will be advertised with a release date ahead of time, and others will just randomly appear on there without warning — no marketing whatsoever! That was seemingly the case with three new "free" games that popped up over Christmas in Puzzle Galaxy...
Saturday3rd Jan 2026
Talking Point What Are Your New Year's Resolutions For Gaming In 2026?
Anything you're hoping to achieve this year?
As a new year rolls around, now's the time to start setting some New Year's Resolutions — goals that we strive to achieve (but often struggle to keep up) over the next 12 months. And of course, we can have those for gaming as well! There are plenty of common ones, like trying to complete a certain...
Feature These Games Are Coming To Xbox Next Week (January 5-9)
The first batch of the year
Welcome to your Xbox games roundup for January 5-9! It's still very early days for new releases this month, but we've got a handful of indie titles coming our way, along with hopefully some Game Pass titles that are yet to be revealed. Here's what's coming to Xbox next week: New Xbox Releases (January 5-9): I Am...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (January 3-4)
The first weekend of 2026!
Welcome to the first weekend of the year! Hopefully you've had time to play some games over the past few days, and there's still a bit longer to go until the work / school grind kicks back in on January 5th (at least for some people). Team Xbox has clearly been taking the week off, so we haven't got any new Xbox Game Pass...
Xbox console exclusive games you can enjoy in 2026
What are the best Xbox exclusives you can play in 2026? The Xbox ecosystem has been home to some truly stellar Xbox exclusives over the years, top-notch titles that you'll only find on Microsoft's family of consoles and PC. What's more, the vast majority of these titles are now available via Xbox...
Friday2nd Jan 2026
News Tributes Pour In For Xbox Veteran Albert Penello, Who Has Sadly Passed Away
"Devastated by the loss of my close friend"
We're saddened to share that Xbox veteran Albert Penello, who worked on Team Xbox from 2000 until 2018, has reportedly passed away from cancer. Former Blizzard president Mike Ybarra shared the news on social media a few hours ago, as seen below: "I found out today that Albert Penello passed away from...
News ASUS Sparks Fears Of Potential Price Increase For The ROG Xbox Ally
Another casualty of the rising RAM costs?
We've had an absolute blast with the ROG Xbox Ally since it released a few months ago, but there's no doubt it's an expensive handheld, and there's a chance it could be getting even more expensive in the near future. This is according to a statement from ASUS that was shared by Digitimes and
News Two Xbox Game Pass Titles Lead The Way In Eurogamer's Best Games Of 2025
Another win for Game Pass
We've seen Xbox Game Pass title Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 racking up so many Game of the Year awards over the past few weeks (including here at Pure Xbox), but that's not the case everywhere, including at Eurogamer. In fact, Eurogamer's massive list of the top 50 best games of 2025 features Expedition 33 in second place,...
Feature Xbox Developer Direct Has Always Had A Surprise, But What About January 2026's Showcase?
Could we get another shadow drop?
We're pretty hyped for the return of the Xbox Developer Direct showcase at some point later this January (a date hasn't been announced yet), as it's one of our favourite events of the year — and this is a particularly special year! As part of Xbox's 25th anniversary celebrations, we're getting Halo: Campaign...
Talking Point How Much Would You Be Willing To Spend On The Next Xbox Console?
What's your limit?
There's every chance 2026 could be the year that a new Xbox console is announced. It's been rumoured before that Xbox might be targeting a 2027 launch (although recent rumours have suggested it could be delayed), and with the 25th anniversary of Xbox landing this November, it makes sense to have a big unveiling on that date -...
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 Halo Infinite Is Giving Away Seven Free Items To Celebrate The Start Of 2026
Available to every single player
This year not only marks the 25th anniversary of Xbox, but the 25th anniversary of Halo as well. To celebrate, Halo Infinite has received a special 25th Anniversary bundle of content that's free for all players, and it's available now! As long as you log into Halo Infinite between now and December 31st of 2026,...
News Five Games Are Leaving Xbox Game Pass In Early January 2026
Our first departures of the year
Microsoft has quietly revealed the first batch of five games leaving Xbox Game Pass in early January 2026, with all of these being highlighted as "leaving soon" on the official Xbox mobile app. There are quite a few notable departures here, including Game Pass mainstays Road 96 and The Ascent, along with 2024's big...
Thursday1st Jan 2026
Feature Five Reasons Why 2026 Is One Of The Most Important Years In Xbox History
Get set for a busy 12 months
Ah, January 1st. A clean slate! A chance for everyone to start afresh and see where the next 12 months takes them. That's particularly important in the case of Xbox, as following an up-and-down 2025 which featured plenty of highs and plenty of lows, we're now entering a milestone year that promises historic moments...
Feature Xbox Release Dates In 2026: A List Of New Games Coming Out This Year
Your month-by-month guide to all Xbox releases
Looking for a list of all the games coming to Xbox in 2026? You're in the right place! Below, we've provided a month-by-month guide to all the Xbox releases that have been announced for 2026 so far - with many more to come of course! Don't forget that we've provided separate guides for every Xbox Game...
Feature A Year Later, Microsoft Remains Highly Committed To Its 'This Is An Xbox' Campaign
Getting the message out there
It was all the way back in November of 2024 that Microsoft first introduced us to the idea of "This is an Xbox" — an ambitious marketing campaign that spelled out the company's intentions for the brand in the years to come. In reality, we'd known for ages that Xbox was going down this path, putting a greater focus on...
Welcome to the 25th year of Xbox
Happy New Year! 2026 has officially begun, which means we're now entering the 25th year of Xbox's existence, set to be filled with all kinds of celebrations over the next twelve months. This could end up being one of the biggest years of all time for the brand, with Fable, Halo: Combat Evolved, Gears of War: E-Day,...
Wednesday31st Dec 2025
News Sword And Fairy 4 Remake Likely Coming To Xbox, But The Studio's Still Waiting On Dev Kits
"We joined ID@Xbox early this year..."
Earlier this week, Sword and Fairy 4 Remake received a ton of attention when a new trailer revealed that it was the spitting image of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and there's inevitibly now a lot of hype surrounding its release. The game was only announced for "PC and consoles" when the trailer arrived, but...
Feature The Top 10 Xbox Game Pass Titles Of 2025, As Determined By Your Votes
You voted, we've got the results!
A few days ago, we asked you to vote on your favourite Xbox Game Pass titles of 2025, made up of a list of 74 games plus an "other" category where you could tell us about any additional games you wanted to vote for. The response was significant, with almost 3,000 votes in all, so we thought we'd give you the...
News 50+ Games Added To Xbox 'Stream Your Own Game' To Finish Off 2025
It's been a ridiculously busy year for the program
It's been a while since we last talked about Xbox's Stream Your Own Game program here at Pure Xbox, but rest assured that it continues to grow at a rapid rate, with over 50 games added in the past month alone! Xbox doesn't do a good job at highlighting the latest additions to the program, but...
News Xbox Gives 'Huge Shoutout' To Obsidian For Their Multiple First-Party Releases In 2025
"They really locked in"
As we come to the end of what's been a busy year for Xbox first-party releases, one company in particular is getting special praise for their output in 2025, having released three separate (and major!) games over the past 12 months. That company is Obsidian, which gave us Avowed back in February, Grounded 2 back in July, and...
Guide Xbox Game Pass In 2026: The Full List Of Everything Announced So Far
The complete list of all games
Xbox Game Pass is already starting to fill up for 2026, and if you're looking for a list of everything coming to Game Pass in 2026, you've come to the right place! Below, we've picked out the complete list of games announced for Xbox Game Pass in 2026 so far, and we'll keep updating this as more are announced...
Tuesday30th Dec 2025
News Xbox 360 User Shows What'll Happen When It Reaches Date Limit On December 31st, 2025
The final date you can set the console clock to
Did you know that you can't manually set the Xbox 360's console clock to anything later than December 31st, 2025? That technically means we're all doomed when 2026 rolls around then, right? It's the Y2K situation all over again! We've come across numerous concerned Xbox 360 owners as a result of this...
News Stalker 2 Team Shares 'Atmospheric Teaser' Ahead Of Major Unreal Engine Upgrade In 2026
"Something to look forward to"
It's been a busy year for the team at GSC Game World, with Stalker 2 not only receiving a whole bunch of updates and patches over the past twelve months, but also getting released on PS5 in November. Looking ahead to 2026, they've just shared a special New Year's Message hinting at what's to come, including a "major...
Talking Point If You Were Releasing A Game, Which Month Of The Year Would You Pick?
It's a tough one for Xbox to answer in 2026!
We've already talked quite a lot recently about Xbox's stacked first-party lineup for 2026 and how they'll need to work around the release of GTA 6 in November along the way, and we've seen plenty of discussion from the Pure Xbox community about which months you'd personally choose to release a game in...
News The First Gaming Showcase Of 2026 Has Been Revealed, And It's As Soon As Next Week
Say hello to the New Game+ Showcase
We're assuming January 2026 will turn out to be quite busy for gaming showcases, with the Xbox Developer Direct showcase set to be the main event over the coming weeks, but we've also got a new show happening next week. This is known as the "New Game Plus" showcase, which is said to be bringing 45 games our way...
News Xbox Is Sending Out Forza Horizon 6 Gift Packages Ahead Of Its 2026 Release
Only to influencers though
Next year will obviously mark the release of Forza Horizon 6, and it sounds like Xbox is gearing up to share more news on the title very soon, with multiple influencers receiving special gift packages over the past few days. These packages contain various goodies like a custom numberplate, "Greetings from Japan" postcard...
News 'Nintendo Buying Xbox' Begins Trending After Hoax Goes Viral On Social Media
You wish, Mario
You won't be surprised to hear that we're always tracking the latest trends related to Xbox, and one that totally caught us by surprise over the past 24 hours was that Nintendo was "buying Xbox". Naturally, we had to do a bit of research into this and figure out what was going on. It turns out that a Facebook page known as Nintendo...
Monday29th Dec 2025
News Latest Sales Estimates Suggest Xbox Sold Over Two Million Series X|S Consoles In 2025
Despite the price increases
With just a handful of days left of 2025, the folks over at VGChartz have shared their latest console sales estimates today (that go up to November), and they suggest that Xbox has sold over two million Series X|S consoles this year. Compared to 2024, this is said to be a -45.1% decrease on the previous figure of 4.79...
Report Xbox & PlayStation Could Delay Next-Gen Consoles Due To RAM Price Increases
"The industry as a whole is concerned about RAM availability"
Back in November, we shared a report from Moore's Law Is Dead on YouTube that suggested Xbox Series X|S prices could increase again soon due to RAM shortages, and there's concern that it might delay the next Xbox console as well. Well-known ins
News Halo 2's E3 Demo From May 2003 Has Leaked Online, And Here's A Look At Some Footage
Incredible stuff!
Bungie's Halo 2 unsurprisingly proved a smash hit when it arrived on the original Xbox in November 2004, but over a year prior to that, the company showed off the game at June's E3 2003 event. To mark the appearance, the company built a special E3 demo that would mark the first gameplay footage of Halo 2 to be seen by the public,...
News Xbox Owner Thinks They've Found A 'Major Design Flaw' That Impacts Game Performance
Related to having lots of friends and messages
Over the weekend, a pro Halo player known as Brett Leonard (or "Naded") took to social media to highlight what they think is a "major design flaw" on Xbox consoles that's actually hurting performance in games. Leonard first posted about this on December 18th, suggesting that "Xbox messages are tied to...
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...
Saturday27th Dec 2025
Poll What Were The Best Xbox Game Pass Additions In 2025?
It's been a busy old year for XGP!
Phew, what a busy year it's been for Xbox Game Pass in 2025! We've seen so many great games being added to the service over the past 12 months, a few of which have been Game of the Year contenders including Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Blue Prince, Hollow Knight: Silksong and a whole lot more. And of course, it's...
Feature All New Games Coming To Xbox In January 2026
Release dates for every January Xbox launch
Welcome to our roundup of all new Xbox games coming out in January 2026! Below, we've listed every Xbox game with a January 2026 release date, including all confirmed Xbox Game Pass titles for January 2026 so far. Without further ado, here are all the new games coming to Xbox in January 2026: The...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (December 27-28)
Any Christmas presents to get stuck into?
It's the final weekend of the year! Not a whole lot is going on right now when it comes to Xbox, but we're betting you've got a massive backlog to get stuck into this weekend, including any Christmas presents you might have received! Here's what we're playing over the next few days: Fraser Gilbert, Editor:...
Friday26th Dec 2025
Talking Point Which Xbox Games Have You Managed To Finish In 2025?
Reaching the credits
So, with Christmas out the way and just a few days left of 2025 to go, we thought this would be a good opportunity to ask about the games you've played this year - and more specifically the games you've managed to finish. It's not uncommon for many of us to play tens if not hundreds of games without finishing them in a calendar...
Feature Pure Xbox's Game Of The Year 2025: The Results You Didn't See
Including how many votes Expedition 33 got!
Yesterday, we published our Pure Xbox Game of the Year results for 2025, and the winner was crowned as Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 by a huge margin (no surprise!), followed by Xbox first-party titles Avowed and DOOM: The Dark Ages. The GOTY feature is always focused on the games themselves rather than...
Thursday25th Dec 2025
Feature Pure Xbox's Game Of The Year 2025
Another expedition comes to an end
Here we go, it's officially time for the Pure Xbox Game of the Year 2025 roundup! A couple of weeks ago, we asked the Pure Xbox community to vote on your favourite Xbox releases of the past twelve months, and you responded with over 1,000 more votes than we saw last year (5,597 compared to 4,209). We thank you...
News Merry Christmas And Happy Holidays From The Pure Xbox Team!
And thank you for your constant support
Today's the day, folks! If you're celebrating Christmas, we hope you have a wonderful day filled with joy and hopefully some Xbox presents, maybe even including a console or two for some members of the PX community! We're naturally slowing down a little bit in terms of content at the moment, but you'll still...
Wednesday24th Dec 2025
Feature Nobody's Really Heard Of It, But This Is One Of My Xbox Games Of The Year For 2025
A hidden gem
When we asked you to vote on your Pure Xbox Game of the Year a couple of weeks ago, the game that received the least votes out of everything was Despelote (with two). That's not a reflection of the game itself, but rather that not many people have come across it — on the Xbox Store, for example, it doesn't even have enough scores to...
Poll How Many Xbox Games Have You Actually Bought In 2025?
A few? A dozen? How about over 50?!
It's been an amazing year for top-quality games in 2025, with multiple Game of the Year candidates releasing on Xbox over the past 12 months, but there's only so much money and spare time to go around — we can't go buying all of them! Xbox Game Pass is always a big factor in this as well, with many of those...
News YouTuber Thinks They've Found More Evidence Of Xbox Making A New Spyro Game
To be developed by Toys for Bob
It's been rumoured for almost two years now that developer Toys for Bob might be working on a new Spyro game, especially since the company entered into a formal agreement for Xbox to publish its next title. Back in March of 2024, YouTuber 'Canadian Guy Eh
News Multiple Games Are Releasing For Xbox On Christmas Day, Including An All-Time Classic
Terrible idea, or secretly genius?
At the start of every week, we often like to highlight some new releases from our "Games Coming To Xbox Next Week" article the previous Saturday, but truth be told there wasn't a lot to get excited about this time around. That said, we've since learned about Taxi Chaos 2, which shadow dropped on the platform...
News Marvel's Blade Director Shares Brief End Of 2025 Update On The Game's Progress
"It will be a special game"
It's been a long time since we last heard anything about Bethesda's upcoming Xbox first-party game Marvel's Blade, but one of the game's directors has shared a brief update on its progress as we come to the end of 2025. Responding to someone on social media, director Dinga Bakaba advised that the development team is...
Tuesday23rd Dec 2025
News 007 First Light Suffers Delay, Will Now Release When GTA 6 Was Supposed To
It's taken over the old May 2026 window from Rockstar Games
We've been eagerly awaiting the release of 007 First Light on Xbox next year, so we're a little saddened (but not too surprised) to hear it's been pushed back slightly from March to May of 2026. Specifically, 007 First Light will now launch on May 27th, 2026. This is one day after the date...
News Hell Let Loose Unveils Huge Roadmap Of Content For 2026, But There's A Catch On Xbox
This might be the time to buy it
It's been a very successful six and a half years for Hell Let Loose since its initial release on PC back in mid-2019, and it sounds like the game is going to evolve substantially once again in 2026 according to a new roadmap. As shared on social media yesterday, Hell Let Loose is scheduled to add multiple new maps,...
News Xbox Exec Pays Respects To Beloved Influencer And 'Incredible Human', Lamarr Wilson
"Rest In Peace Lamarr"
If you've followed Xbox closely over the past few years, you may have come across an extremely popular influencer known as Lamarr Wilson — he's even appeared on the Xbox YouTube channel before, as you can see below. The tech world was rocked over the weekend when it was revealed that Wilson had passed away last month,...
