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@Sakai Oh, we'll definitely ask once they've been announced! This is just a bit of fun in the meantime during a quiet week.

@Fiendish-Beaver Happy New Year to you too!

This is a good idea, will look at doing something tomorrow if I can squeeze it in, otherwise next week

@SuntannedDuck2 We read comments all the time, but things just get busy and stuff gets missed. To be honest I saw this video a while ago as well, but it wasn't a top priority to cover amidst a sea of other news. Now that it's quiet and we've reached December 31st, we can properly get around to it!

@BaldB3lper78 Wasn't my intention to spin it! Just presenting the estimates as they are.

I wouldn't want to be too positive OR negative over stuff like this, simply because there's no guarantee of accuracy.

@Fiendish-Beaver You're pretty much on the money! We try and keep it as balanced as possible — highlight the good stuff but don't shy away from the negative stuff.

@Fiendish-Beaver Yep I agree, I think that would be very interesting to see. Unfortunately impossible without a more specific breakdown though

@M20B25 Yeah, I'm seeing that too. I've resubmitted the poll, let me know if you're still having issues (seems to be working for me).

Such a tragic situation. R.I.P.

Definitely in my top five for GOTY (spoiler alert: it's in the top five for PX Game of the Year based on everyone's votes as well )

@Fiendish-Beaver Too many games, too little time!

Absolutely horrendous news

R.I.P.

@Fiendish-Beaver It does!

"Bowl with or against up to 4 friends in couch local multiplayer"

@Cakefish Yeah, I agree. There was an expectation behind Split Fiction that it would be amazing, whereas It Takes Two didn't have that (despite how good A Way Out was).

@KlipKlop I know what you mean, but Jez basically sums up his "investigation" in the first tweet.

Says he's been investigating these reports for a year, determines that it's rare anyone gets their stuff back when banned (and sometimes when hacked too), and mentions that it includes everything linked to your OneDrive in addition to Xbox-related content.

@Jenkinss You do get five free games with the console (Fruit Ninja being one of them). Anything beyond that though, it's subscription only as you say.

@BacklogBrad Apologies, there was a PC desktop / laptop option but for some reason it disappeared.

Added back in now.

(If you've already voted and would like to pick the "PC" option instead, open this article in an incognito tab).

@Weebleman @Fiendish-Beaver I echo those sentiments! We have some truly wonderful people in this community who deserve nothing but the best.

@Fiendish-Beaver Nope, looks like it's not happening :/

Your comments about Steam reviews will be taken into account, folks! We normally try and highlight the rating along with how many reviews it's received on there, but we'll look into the percentage score moving forward as well.

@OorWullie Thank you too! Excited to try it

@Brigurugi Fair enough! I'd certainly prefer native over streamed games, but still find Retro Classics useful for discovering old titles I might never have played (although thanks for the Blizzard Collection recommendation, I'll have to check that out).

@Brigurugi Harsh! 😅

I dip into this now and again. It helped me discover "Rock n' Roll Racing" last month, which has an awesome soundtrack.

List has been updated with all of the following games:

Anno 117: Pax Romana
Colorful Boi
Compass of Destiny: Istanbul
Discounty
Golfing Aether
Mineral
Spell Disk
Techtonica
Tensei
The Coma 2: Vicious Sisters
Tiny Pixels Vol. 2 – Stormy Knights
Your Computer Might Be At Risk
Zombie Hill Racing
Zeus Quest: The Rebirth of Earth

Poll has been extended just a little longer for anyone who missed out. E33 is almost certainly going to win, but plenty of places still up for grabs in the top 10 (some of the votes are really close!).

Please submit your picks by 11:59pm GMT on the 17th — the poll will automatically finish at that point, and then we'll share all the results on the 25th and 26th.

@Coletrain Oops, thank you!

@Fiendish-Beaver Thank you! Yeah, it seems to be using Smart Delivery to determine which platform you're on, so players on Series X and S should be getting upgraded automatically.

Honestly, I can't see it being before 2029.

Maybe I'm wrong though!

@redgrave0 Thank you! Article updated

@ElectricWizard Updated, thank you!

@BacklogBrad They will. They've already said they've got too many games releasing in 2026 to even fit into the Dev Direct.

@BaldB3lper78 Not sure we'll get around to covering that (been a VERY busy 24 hours), but I'm glad to hear it!

@BaldB3lper78 Thank you! I've given the article a bump

@Rangers420 Good to know, thank you!

Strange that some people aren't getting it then...

@dskatter @EVIL-C I've seen other people say it's not just for people who have never subbed, so it's a confusing situation right now.

Keep commenting and letting us know what you find, folks!

@Cakefish Apologies! It is indeed a 1:30am CET start in Central Europe and even in the UK it starts at half-past midnight.

Come on Geoff, give us a better time next year 🥱

Buy Split Fiction, thank me later (just make sure you have a friend / family member willing to play it with you!).

@Fiendish-Beaver You certainly love your controllers! Sounds like a really nice collection.

@Fiendish-Beaver Haha, apologies!

Really appreciate the click, we will indeed get a little something back from you doing that 🙏

Hope you enjoy it! This and the DOOM one are my favourites of the Series X/S generation I think.

@FatGuyInLilCoat It's possible but history suggests we won't get a shadow drop there. We'll see!

@Fiendish-Beaver Yeah I've seen a lot of questions about this, but no sign of it yet and no word on when it's arriving!

Update: Full list now revealed! Should appear on the Xbox dashboard shortly with any luck.

@jesse_dylan Yeah, Xbox still isn't promoting them yet either. Shouldn't be long now, but perhaps there's been a delay.

I've just added a few more demos to the list that I've spotted, and will add even more when Xbox promotes them all.

@awp69 Yeah, you're not alone. Clearly there are some issues under the hood that need sorting out with these upgrades.

Hear! Hear!

Owning a ROG Xbox Ally X is making me realise this as well. I LOVE that handheld, but I'm really missing the backwards compatibility program on it!

@Fiendish-Beaver Haha I know, don't worry

@Fiendish-Beaver Nah, it's always this late! Secretly our most hated showcase of the year (ruins our sleep😅)

Thanks all! List has been updated.

@Fiendish-Beaver These days anything published by Xbox Game Studios (or even Bethesda / Activision Blizzard) seems to get referred to as "first-party".

There's definitely been a lot of debate about it though. Maybe we'll think about avoiding the term in the future where possible.

@joey302 Looks like it's working again now!

@eduscxbox Yeah I agree with you, but that's not when I was getting at with the "fuel to the narrative" comment.

What I mean is, even though Xbox had a good excuse for not selling many consoles during Black Friday (due to not having any deals for them), people are still using this data and how they were beaten by the NEX Playground to "fuel the narrative" that people aren't buying Xbox consoles anymore.

It's still a bad look for Xbox IMO, because people will spread this narrative regardless of the reasoning for the poor sales.

@Questionable_Duck Wouldn't it be nice if they just made this clear during the event itself? 🙃