FraserG

@Fiendish-Beaver Yeah, exactly. I'm keen not to read too much into the stock stuff because it can be affected by so many variables - just thought it was interesting to mention though.

@Titntin I'm sure it will. The key thing is that they get the hardware right for launch, and then they can build on the software over time.

@Janek_bug Updated, thank you.

@BacklogBrad Beat me to it! Article is now updated.

Sesame Street. Obviously.

Quick update to confirm (according to The Verge) that the email is genuine and is being received in the likes of Austria, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Korea, Poland and India.

@Oneluckyfarmer I believe multiple people have reached out - we'll update the article again if there's a statement about it.

@PsBoxSwitchOwner No, but to be honest I don't think we'd get an answer through the channels we use (the people we talk to are focused on Xbox first-party games and features rather than Microsoft Rewards stuff).

This is going to be a decision that's bigger than Xbox because it applies to all of Microsoft Rewards.

@LiamR Ah, my bad! I still need to watch it

@BacklogBrad I wonder if they pivoted after this and just said "let's buy timed exclusivity for Rise of the Tomb Raider and then it's essentially the same thing".

@PartyMarty Excellent! Enjoy

@Markatron84 Thank you!

@lumothesinner Yeah, it's good but they really need a "recently added" section to show what's new.

@PartyMarty You're welcome! They really should make it easier to see what's been added to the program.

@lumothesinner It is, but they keep saying it's only "select" games that are supported without going into specifics.

Hello folks! With Microsoft now overhauling Xbox Game Pass and changing Xbox Game Pass Core to Xbox Game Pass Essential, we've also overhauled this guide and provided some extra details on what's included with the new service.

Here's a bit more information on the Game Pass changes in general:

https://www.purexbox.com/news/2025/10/xbox-game-pass-is-getting-a-major-overhaul-with-new-names-games-and-price-changes

@MKCustodial We'll look at putting something together on this for Pure Xbox, but in the meantime you'll find it on the Xbox website:

https://www.xbox.com/xbox-game-pass/games#all-games

Scroll down and then look for the toggles on the left that let you switch between Ultimate, Premium, Essential, Console and PC.

@GeeEssEff Oh, well thank you very much!

I don't mind if people want to give me "sh%t" as long as it's constructive! Always happy to take feedback or listen to the community venting about situations like today.

Thank you again, that was a very kind comment.

@JaffeGaffe I work for Pure Xbox. We have no affiliation with Microsoft.

@Porridge2215 Thanks for dropping in!

We're going to let the dust settle a little bit as we're VERY tired and there's a lot of information for everyone to get through, but tomorrow we'll probably start putting some polls and talking points together to see how everyone feels after sleeping on it.

@huroma Of course, yeah! But who knows what the future holds in any regard - I'm just focusing on the present and controlling what I can control.

It feels like the pendulum is swinging all the time with Microsoft these days and we never know what's coming next.

@MinervaX76 Yep, you're right. Sorry! It's been a hectic afternoon.

Thanks for letting me know.

@Martsmall I've found that it's all over the place with indie games when it comes to the Standard (now Premium) tier. Sometimes they're day one on there, other times you're left waiting.

@Fiendish-Beaver You can, but I'm not sure how it works when you've stacked it already. I actually don't think it's possible in that case.

Have a look here (I would help more, but very busy at the moment - apologies!):

https://support.xbox.com/help/subscriptions-billing/manage-subscriptions/change-xbox-subscription

@Sindayl Don't say that I like it here!

The thing I don't get is, if they'd have asked Game Pass Ultimate members whether they wanted Ubisoft+ Classics, Fortnite Crew and some cloud improvements OR to keep the price as it was, I bet the vast majority would have sided with the price.

Why do those features have to be forced on us for a higher fee?

@FatGuyInLilCoat Altered to make it clearer

@Sveakungen PC tier remains but is going up in price to $16.49.

@GeorgeKal UK prices are £6.99 / £10.99 / £22.99.

We'll have a breakdown on the site soon.

@Balaam_ The ROG Xbox Ally is still an "Xbox device", even if it functions more like a handheld PC than what we've traditionally referred to as an "Xbox".

I understand how it could be misleading based on text alone, but that's why we purposely put the Ally in the image.

@Gabrie I think we'll see more PlayStation Studios titles getting native Xbox versions eventually (on the Xbox Store itself) considering how well Helldivers 2 has performed.

Surely just a matter of time?

@Pigrotto Thank you very much!

@BaldB3lper78 This is the beauty of having two gameplay styles! They can finally cater to everyone

@Nexozi Yeah, we covered this yesterday:

https://www.purexbox.com/news/2025/09/microsoft-rewards-set-to-remove-direct-xbox-game-pass-redemptions-from-october-1st

@Fiendish-Beaver Yes, confirmed! Everything on this list has been confirmed for Xbox

@Jenkinss Yeah, I think you're right.

Thanks for sharing it - obviously it didn't meet the criteria for the roundup, but it's worth a mention for sure.

Thanks everyone! Your latest submissions have been added, and I've also added a bunch myself that have been confirmed by Xbox.

@BaldB3lper78 No idea on that just yet unfortunately. We'll only find out when they start appearing on the Xbox Store / when the publishers reveal that information.

@Medic_alert The authentic gameplay style is good. Much slower, scorelines are more realistic, requires you to be more thoughtful in terms of passing, finding space and marking.

Definitely not perfect, but an improvement. Playing Ultimate Team afterwards feels like a farce.

@ButterySmooth30FPS Yeah, we covered this when it was first doing the rounds the other day:

https://www.purexbox.com/news/2025/09/major-retailer-seemingly-clearing-out-xbox-series-stock-in-certain-regions-right-now

That said, I'd be hesitant to call it a full-blown announcement. Someone from the company told a journalist they're not planning to stock Xbox consoles right now, but there's been no formal announcement from Costco or Microsoft at the time of writing (not that I'm expecting one!).

@BaldB3lper78 Yeah, I've noticed. Those links are just examples of where you can buy either model. Don't think they've made the Ally X available at many UK retailers at all.

@DirtABXY Thank you, early reports were suggesting it was $799 (no idea why Xbox didn't just state the price when pre-orders began!).

This has now been fixed.

@Banjo- Yes I did 🤦‍♂️Apologies and thank you!

@Lup Thank you! Unfortunately didn't appear until the middle of the morning UK time 🤦‍♂️ Has been added now.

@SaltySpitoon957 Thanks, that's been fixed.

@Coletrain Ah, thank you! Fixed

@Fiendish-Beaver I only know so much about it, but apparently you can use the Cronus Zen to plug a mouse and keyboard into your Xbox console, and make your console think it's a controller.

The bigger problem seems to be stuff like the increased aim assist though. There are thousands of scripts that you can implement across lots of different games to give you an advantage.

@EvenStephen7 Ah, that's very cool! Thanks for sharing

@TrollOfWar Yeah, that's apparently what the documentation said (seemingly from 2020), although obviously there's no longer an absence of Metal Gear and James Bond these days 🤷‍♂️

@Kaloudz Yeah, it kinda crept onto the scene! I'm enjoying it.

Haven't played Moonlighter to be honest! It's on the backlog, maybe I'll get to the sequel instead.

@RetroMan71 Told ya! Everyone seems to have that response when they first play Hades

@CallMeDuraSouka Thank you for the kind words about our reviews!

So, to be transparent, it's a bit of both - some of our team are busy working on Nintendo Switch 2 stuff at the moment, but we also found that many of our reviews just weren't delivering the kind of results we needed in order to make a 20+ / 30+ / 40+ hour playthrough worth it.

We'll still keep doing reviews when we can, especially for the big first-party stuff, but yeah - we'll be quieter on the review front for the time being. Instead, we're doing more review roundups, "Hands On" impressions where possible, and just generally trying to highlight more games (like Earthion) that might have otherwise been overlooked.

@Nintendo4Sonic Yeah, it's definitely Forza Horizon IMO.

Makes sense to announce on the Thursday and then keep the hype train going all week.

@RetroMan71 Yep, that's the idea. Hades is amazing, you should definitely give it a try.

@CrispyMango92 Thank you! Not sure what happened there, should be correct now.