Titntin

@Fiendish-Beaver Anyone who understands the nature of development knows that your take is completely correct. Which means she's feeding us lies, and I'm right to not trust any statements made as they clearly think we are stupid.
Nice to get updates though!

I was tempted to suggest the 'ex box' but I think the humour might wind some people up - I'd rather not.
I do think that this new era of hybrid as a PC should mean it has a different name and maybe including PC in that might get them more people interested in the product. Loads of people have been looking to move to PC, so making sure its known they can do so by buying the next box would be good optics I think. This is a new era of machine, so I'd like to think they could mark this by choosing a name that's obviously different. Boring as it sounds, something like 'PCbox' would probably do the job....

Up early for the F1 racing, but I intend to play a lot of the day.
I bought Monster Hunter Stories 3 last night, which should keep me going until we get Crimson Desert next week.

Whatever you are playing this weekend, I hope you have fun!

@FraserG Thanks Fraser, thats reassuring 😀 I've played all the Forza Horizon games at least three times. I had well over 220 hours on FH5 on series x and now 225 on PS5.... and now I'm retired I intend to do exactly the same with FH6 👍

Does anyone know if cross progression is mandatory?
I often like to start a game from scratch if I play on a new platform (Forza in particular).
This is a good initiative and will hopefully mean we see less games passing xbox over.

Finally finished Tainted Grail - if you want a Bethesda type rpg you should try this one!
I also completed Neva last night and loved it.
No idea what I'll start today, but there's a few titles on GPU worth my attention!

Whatever you are playing this weekend, I hope you have fun!

Other than its code name, this really hasnt given us much more info than we had gleaned already. However, it does cement the plans we did know and Im glad it seems to double down on ensuring backward compatibility with xbox games.
A decent performing PC is priced d very highly these days, so it will be interesting to see how they can make this at a competitive price to attract console buyers.
They also need to ensure windows is hidden and you never need to see it - I already have a £4k pc and a series X so I would like an OS thats a streamlined cosole front end and not just a window.
Looking forward to finding out more in the near future.

@Cakefish You can buy and keep this title for £8 less than a gpu sub... that might be the best way!

Nice. Maybe if I get stuck into this I can stop moaning that theres nothing I want on GPU 🤣
Pretty unlikely, but Ill get to play a good game....

What strange footage to release? Im all in on this title anyway, but if I wasnt, this would not convince me.
Where is all the traffic? Why are all the cities deserted like like the population has all left? Japan is characterised as having crowds of people and being very busy. This looks nothing like it.
Im sure I'll enjoy this but it looks like they've simply polished up what they were already doing and cut the traffic still further, and if thats the case, it will be dissapointing no matter how much I play it.

Sonys recently published sales results showed pc was a tiny fraction of sales at %2.
I cannot see they will have any issue foregoing those sales to keep their IP exclusive, though I expect multiplayer games to be the exception.
Sony value exclusivity and this is a clear move to stop their IP being used on the new xbox pc.

@Lup "They should start charging console users the same amount PC users pay for Game Pass, not more."

Absolutely this. I could not agree with you more.

Planet of Lana 2 is the only title Ill play here and Im happy to see it included.

@Globo Absolutely the same my freind. But adding a 5 year old game thats been on sale loads at a cheap price and been on 'the other' service since summer last year, makes it inevitable that most who had an intrest have played already.
My main point really is the tone of the article stating its 'very cool' and 'amazing'. Its just not that special an addition. KDC2 on the other hand is much more like it 😆

@Gemini53 To you mate... I was replying to #33. I realise now that the conversation had moved on a bit, I had an email when you replied to my comment and just hit 'reply' on the email 😃
As said, hope you enjoy the game.

I never thought getting rid of exclusives would be good for xbox, and its not been.
Its far too late now to try and pivot, the message is out there and trust in what MS promises has evaporated.

I would have preffered MS never did the Actiblizzard buyout, and had retained their exclusives. Im convinced we would then be looking at a true xbox console and not a pc with co poilot and teams installed.

We are where we are though, and if they can hide windows in the next console, Ill still bite, even at an inflated price. But keeping some exclusives now is not going to achieve anything except less income and putting more devs at risk of cost cutting...

KCD2 is a decent addition. Being only a year old, its much more likely that more people wont have tried it especially those like me who just are not sure they will click with it. I can now try with no cost though I suspect I may not enjoy it.
Its a far cry from the days we used to have new AAA titles on the service, day and date titles now seem restricted to indie releases and first party output.
But Ill take what we got and at least I can try KDC2 now and see if I missed out 👍

@Gemini53 I completely understand and accept that this addition may be be very benificial for you in particular. Im pleased for you, its well worth playing.
But the fact remains that your situation is not likely to be very common among GP subscribers. This article claims this is very cool for game pass, but its a 5 year old game thats been available for under £15 to actually own it, and was included on ps plus extra (july 2025), a service that costs %40 of gpu.
Its a decent addition for you, but its hardly 'very cool' for game pass and I suspect Im not the only gpu subscriber to whom this release means nothing.

Surely anyone who wants this has already played it? Far from being a 'big' game to add to the service its a game thats been sold for under £15 and played by the majority. Its addition is not big news.
Where are the fairly new AAA 3rd party games GP used to add?

I have to be honest, im not optimistic and rolling out a new face to make new promises seems like damage limitation to me.
That being said, I would want a new Xbox, just not sure I want one that boots windows. Changing the top team is clearly acknowledging they have got something wrong, so at least they are prepared to take action, and at least she has the ear of Nadella, so she may be able to pursuade him where Bond wouldnt have.
We have time to see how this unfolds. Series X has enough grunt to deliver current games and the studios have some top games in progress, so Im content to see what happens. I guess its easier for me as I enjoy and play on the other platforms, but I believe the industry is best served with a strong xbox doing things its way. Id hate it if we lost that.

@Fiendish-Beaver @Gemini53 I do wish her luck, but shes clearly Nadella's puppet and will not betray his vision. We can all hope shes able to guide him to a better future for xbox. The teams are all in place to produce some magic, so lets see it happen. I'd like an xbox console that doesnt boot windows. Is all hope of that gone?

Thanks Ben, great review. I'm not the biggest resi fan, but I think I might enjoy this one!

Its a real shame to see them in trouble, I like their accessories (I own the Nacon Fight stick) and Teyon has my full respect too.
I suspect the advertised Nacon event might be too little to late, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed for them 🤞🤞

TowerBorne looks like something I could enjoy.
Im on GPU, so Id be mad not to try it!

Still making my way through Tainted Grail. Im a bit ill so its taking me some time!
Cairn is calling me. I feel a need to try it so I may get to starting that this weekend too.
I retire next week (ill health retirement) so I should have more time to hit the backlog.

Whatever you are all playing, I hope you enjoy it!

I understand that Sony have been doing their best to offer some of the Bluepoint devs roles in other ps teams. Unless they stick together theres no studio. Having been working on a closed live service title, and then spending a year trying to pitch new titles which were ultimately rejected, I do wonder how many of the great devs that were part of this studio are left..

Theres no question that was at least partially written by AI.

"As monetization and AI evolve and influence this future"
and
"brave enough to change what does not."

These may be harmless statements tucked away in this statement, but they alarm me nonetheless.
Maybe shes gennuine, has the ear of Nadella and can genuinely improve xboxs fortunes. Maybe she will lead the transition from xbox games to MS gaming. Time will tell, but her background at meta and the AI division does not fill me with confidence. But I'll cling to hope.

I was never Phils biggest fan, but I really sympathised with how hard he worked to build Xbox gaming and its been very clear that he's been shuffled off the top table in the last few years and has been powerless to stop the change of direction weve seen more recently.
Goodbye Phil, you took xbox to new heights but the boardroom took what you built.

Like many, I worry about this new appointment of someone with no history with xbox and clearly someone who will be a puppet for the Nadella dominated ai obbsessed MS.

Better to get the release right than rushed.

@DennisReynolds Couldnt agree with you more. One of the very best open worlds this gen with tons of content.
Its very much playing by the ubi open word formula, but if you dont mind that, theres a lot of great game in Avatar.

Kcd2 is a great addition. I dont think its a title I will get on with, but now I get a chance to try without commitment. Excellent, and the reason I sub to these services...

@Questionable_Duck Nothing I thought would get the reaction it did. I saw the posts and even liked them, but maybe they were edited after I read them.
Either way, this whole article seems pretty 'bait' and has zero news. Sony have made it clear they develop their own ips to support their own system so theres no new information here imo.

I have this controller and its been good. Finally got the wife playing Xbox, so mission achieved 👍

Still grinding through Tainted Grail and still loving it.
When I get a chance I intend to finish Keeper, my wife finished it last week and was left really moved by it.

Whatever you are playing, I hope you have fun!

Unfortunately I have issues playing shooters with constant motion so the skateboard as shown in the trailer is a bit of a turn off. Its why I cant play car shooters like carmageddon and have difficulty with really fast moving shooters like doom eternal.
It will cost me nothing to try this on gpu, so Ill give it a try, but I might not be able to finish this one, which would be a shame.

That is so well deserved.The entire art direction for this title was sublime..

@Questionable_Duck We are literally in an article numbering the releases coming to xbox. It was 17, but is now 18. I believe this site and this article.
If you look at reply #36, Ive already commented that Im delighted to see many titles available on xbox. But its not "almost everything" unless you completely dispute the information in this article.
....and yes, project windless has been confirmed as coming, which is great news as I thought that title looked great!

I'd rather play something not so politically charged, so I'm not likely to try this. I'm not sure how you can make a game this divisive and expect it to be successful?
It's a shame as I'm sure many good devs poured their heart into making it.

I really liked the look of this game. Delighted to see a new main line Castlevania game and it cant come soon enough!

@FraserG According to reliable sources (sic), you are missing 12 titles in your list of 17 presented here. I guess you may wish to update your list?

Whilst I'm replying to you, it is worth stating that I see how hard you and Ben work to keep this site going and I genuinely appreciate what you guys do. Xbox may be very much my second machine, but pure has always remained my primary site, and thats in no small part due to the work you guys do.

It's great that those with an interest who haven't played it, will have a chance to play it now where they want. It's getting pretty old now so I doubt there's lots of new fans waiting for the chance, but still good news

The copium here is clear for all to see:
17 titles from over 30 is not "almost everything" no matter how much you struggle to count.

I'm delighted there's plenty of titles that we have to look forward to on Xbox. But pretending that 17 out of over 30 is 'almost everything' is quite clearly deranged. "Just over half" is the correct phrase.

Fantastic show if you play everywhere, so many titles to look forward to.
A lot of these are 3rd party titles so many of these are also going to be coming to Xbox, so something for everyone to enjoy.

I got to roll credits on the first game, but I wouldn't give it more than 7.5/10. Looks like this is similar, so maybe I'll give it a try - my backlog is full of games I'm more excited for though...
I think I'll leave this for a while and hopefully some of the issues will get patched.

@themightyant I get the same mate, despite having done it some time ago. Lets face it, we wont expect such glitches and issues to be less once its all on windows will we? One of my biggest concerns for the future...

There will be loads of 3rd party titles in the show, there always is.
I would expect at least half of everything shown will make its way to Xbox, so there's likely to be plenty to watch even if you only have an Xbox.
Looking forward to it, I love to see what's coming through the year.

I have to agree with others - this is a really weird list and there's little mentioned here that we have not seen before!
The horizon 'rush' events may be new, but I doubt the driving you need to do to complete them will be much different to the skill races you had FH5. The fact you have to complete them is more a negative than a positive if you value freedom in these games.
Proximity radar will be great for those that play in 1st person views. I'm a 3rd person player, so I'm not likely to benefit, but good for some.
The 'Build options may appeal. The chance to have a buildable base and to be able to customise your garage will be welcome, but not add a lot to the core experience.
This list seems to suggest they are struggling to pinpoint relevant difference between this and what's come before. I love what's come before so I can't complain, but it strikes me they have played this one pretty safe and seem pretty lost for ideas..

Stupid lists or not, I can't wait to play this soon!

I loved this game first time around, it felt fresh and different.
Reading this article makes wish I could play it for the first time again, but also excites me for the coming game 👍

@Fiendish-Beaver It starts with v sync off by default. As soon as you enable vsync its pretty smooth playing all the way. Im on a ps5 pro with VRR. As with many of these games, you can get some stutter as you first go to an area and the assets are loading and systems are catching up, and there can be a various stutters in the world, but they smooth out very quickly and Id say theres less issues than there is with Oblivion remastered for example.
I hope you give it a try, its pretty well written and exciting loring its world has been rewarding.

Tainted Grail. Its really scratching that Bethesda rpg itch and Im really enjoying it.

Whatever your playing, I hope you have a great weekend!