News Articles
Friday4th Oct 2024
Roundup Diablo 4: Vessel Of Hatred Gets Great Reviews Ahead Of Xbox Launch
Base game on Xbox Game Pass
Diablo 4's huge Vessel of Hatred DLC expansion arrives next week, and the team's review embargo is now up, which means a selection of early impressions are becoming available online. We'll run through a bunch of these early reviews and round them up down below, but the general gist here is that folks are liking this...
Friday20th Sep 2024
News Blizzard's Diablo 4 Gets Extensive Free Trial On Xbox This Weekend (September 19-23)
Completely free up to level 20!
Despite an absolutely massive Free Play Days week that contains 10 games to try out in total, Xbox and ActiBlizz are unleashing yet another free trial this weekend - Diablo 4 is completely free-to-play across all platforms until Monday, September 23rd. Now, there is a level 20 cap on the team's free trial (meaning...
Wednesday21st Aug 2024
News Blizzard's New Diablo 4 Expansion Trailer Welcomes Back Mercenaries
The requested feature returns
Diablo 4's new expansion 'Vessel of Hatred' will introduce mercenaries to help you out on your quest, and at Gamescom Opening Night Live, Blizzard shared a new trailer featuring these helpers. Here's a bit more about these recruits via Blizzard's official website: "Discover and recruit new Mercenaries to join you on...
Wednesday7th Aug 2024
News Diablo 4's 'Season Of The Infernal Hordes' Now Live On Xbox, Here's What's Included
It's available to Game Pass subscribers, too
Ahead of the launch of Vessel of Hatred in October, Blizzard has launched a new season for the Xbox, PC and Game Pass title Diablo 4. In case you missed it, it's officially titled 'Season of the Infernal Hordes', and comes with new features, new powers, a new questline and new micro-dungeons. Here's the...
Saturday3rd Aug 2024
News Xbox Shares Updated Release Schedule For Major Upcoming Games
Here's what's launching in 2024 and beyond
As you've likely already seen, Obsidian's new RPG Avowed has now been officially delayed until 2025. Alongside this, Xbox also shared a look at the rest of its release schedule for 2024 as well as everything that's locked in for next year. In the immediate future, some of the first party titles on the way...
Friday19th Jul 2024
News Diablo 4 Shares First Gameplay Footage Of New Expansion Class
The Spiritborn arrives this October
Ahead of the launch of the Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred expansion on Xbox this October, Blizzard has officially revealed the first gameplay footage of the new expansion class known as the Spiritborn. This class calls upon the unique strengths of "Jaguar, Gorilla, Eagle, and Centipede Spirit Guardians", as you can...
Monday24th Jun 2024
News Diablo 4 Season 5 Is Bringing A Wave-Based Horde Mode To Xbox Game Pass
"Slay the infernal hordes"
Diablo 4 has been out on Xbox Game Pass for a few months now, but as Blizzard's dungeon crawler is very much an ongoing game, you can expect it to change and evolve lots over time. One of those changes is a major new addition coming to the game in Season 5, with the team confirming that a wave-based horde mode will make...
Monday10th Jun 2024
News Diablo 4's Xbox Game Pass Release An 'Incredible' Boost Ahead Of Expansion
The 'Vessel of Hatred' expansion will arrive this October
We've already heard a little bit about Diablo 4's growth since its debut on Xbox Game Pass at the end of March, and today during an IGN Live segment, the game's production director Tiffany Wat spoke about how Microsoft's subscription service boosted player numbers. She described it as...
Friday3rd May 2024
News Diablo 4's New Season 'Loot Reborn' Launches On Xbox This Month
"Season 4 is going to be the biggest update"
Following its debut on Xbox Game Pass in March, Diablo IV will soon be getting its "biggest update" since launch in the form of the Season 4: Loot Reborn update. This update will roll out on May 14th, 2024 and promises to overhaul many "core game systems" to refresh how items are earned, how they...
Friday26th Apr 2024
News Blizzard Has Decided To Skip BlizzCon In 2024
"This is a Blizzard decision" not a Microsoft one
Blizzard's annual event 'BlizzCon' won't be taking place this year, and while there's been some speculation it could have been a decision made by a "higher up" at Microsoft, it's now been confirmed this is not the case. A Blizzard spokesperson informed Windows Central "this is a Blizzard decision"...
Monday8th Apr 2024
News Diablo 4 Gets New Lease Of Life On Xbox Thanks To Successful Game Pass Launch
"Xbox has quickly become the #1 platform"
Microsoft finally graced us with its first ActiBlizz Xbox Game Pass addition at the end of March in the form of Diablo 4, and its arrival has given the Xbox platform a huge boost already. Xbox exec Sarah Bond has revealed that Xbox has become the biggest platform for Diablo 4 since it came to the Game Pass...
Thursday28th Mar 2024
News Three Games Are Available Today With Xbox Game Pass (March 28)
Our first ActiBlizz game is finally here
March is going out with a bang when it comes to Xbox Game Pass! Three games are coming to the service today, including our very first Activision Blizzard game in the form of Diablo 4. Here's an introduction to all of today's new Xbox Game Pass titles, along with some handy links to our Pure Xbox reviews of...
Wednesday27th Mar 2024
News Diablo 4 Adds Console Ray Tracing Ahead Of Xbox Game Pass Debut
"Patch 1.3.5. introduces Raytracing to all supported platforms"
Blizzard has detailed its big ray tracing update for Diablo 4, right on the eve of the title's Xbox Game Pass debut. Patch 1.3.5 "introduces Raytracing to all supported platforms", alongside a host of other graphical tweaks and improvements. Ray traced shadows and reflections have been...
Thursday21st Mar 2024
News Diablo 4's Xbox Series X Ray Tracing Update Targeting Late March Release
A special blog will share more details next week
As you might recall hearing, ray tracing is on its way to Diablo 4, and during the latest campfire chat, Blizzard's development team confirmed this graphical update would be arriving next week on March 26th for PC. In a special blog next week, Blizzard will also touch on how "console players" will...
Saturday17th Feb 2024
News Xbox Scoops Up Two D.I.C.E. Awards
Congratulations, Xbox
The 27th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards took place this week and there were multiple Xbox games nominated for all sorts of awards. As previously mentioned, Starfield and Hi-Fi RUSH were nominated across multiple categories, but in the end, went home empty-handed. Fortunately, for Xbox, it still picked up a few awards on the night. The...
Thursday15th Feb 2024
News Activision Blizzard's First Game Pass Release Has Been Confirmed By Xbox
Arriving next month!!
Update [Fri 16th Feb, 2024 04:30 GMT]: The Verge's senior editor has reached out to Microsoft and confirmed Diablo 4 "won't" be available to Xbox Game Pass Core subscribers. "Diablo IV is coming to Xbox Game Pass on March 28th, with the exception of the Xbox Game Pass Core catalog,” says Kari Perez, head of communications...
Wednesday24th Jan 2024
News Diablo 4's New Seasonal Update Is Out Now, Here Are The Full Patch Notes
The Season of the Construct has arrived
Diablo 4 admittedly had some struggles in its first season, but Blizzard was able to improve the overall experience relatively quickly. This now brings us to the game's third season - 'Season of the Construct'. In brief, this latest (and free) seasonal update focuses on a legend of ancient treasure deep in...
Thursday11th Jan 2024
News Starfield And Hi-Fi RUSH Nominated For Multiple D.I.C.E. Awards
Activision Blizzard games are also in the running
Starfield has already picked up some awards, including our own Game of the Year award here at Pure Xbox, and now it's received even more nominations from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. At this year's 27th annual D.I.C.E. Awards, Starfield is in the running for "role-playing game of...
Wednesday13th Dec 2023
News Microsoft's Gaming CEO Spent 917 Hours Playing Xbox Games This Year
His most played game was Starfield
Although Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer is in charge of a huge video game division, he still finds plenty of time to game throughout the year. If you are wondering just how many hours he's racked up in all things Xbox this year, he's now shared his official 'Year in Review' data for 2023. All up, Phil put in...
Tuesday12th Dec 2023
Random Xbox's Phil Spencer Shows Off His Diablo 4 Level 100 Druid
The new holiday event starts this week
If you're wondering what the Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer has been up to during this time of year, apart from a trip to the snow, it seems he's been busy working on his character build in Diablo 4. In a brief post on X (formerly known as Twitter), Phil shows off his level 100 "poison shred" Druid, which...
Wednesday6th Dec 2023
News Xbox's Latest 'Buy Two, Get One Free' Offer Includes COD: MW3 & Diablo 4
Along with various other COD & Diablo titles
Xbox seems insistent on sticking with these "Buy XX, Get XX Free" offers that have begun hitting the Microsoft Store, and the latest one has been getting some particular attention as it features various Call of Duty and Diablo titles. As you can see below, it's a "Buy Two, Get One Free" offer including...
Tuesday28th Nov 2023
News Xbox Encourages Fans To Vote For First-Party Games At TGA 2023
"What a great chance to support some of your favorites"
The Game Awards 2023 is upon us, and votes for the show's 'Players' Voice' award are now open. Unlike the rest of TGA's awards, this one is a purely-fan voted category - and Xbox is pushing its audience to vote for some first-party favourites. Among the 30-strong shortlist are four Xbox-owned...
Tuesday14th Nov 2023
News Microsoft Gaming CEO Congratulates Xbox's Game Awards Nominees
"Proud of the work delivered by our teams this year"
The Game Awards nominations have now been revealed, and unfortunately, Xbox and Bethesda's space RPG Starfield hasn't made the shortlist for 'Game of the Year'. Despite this, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer has congratulated the teams at Xbox as well as other nominees on social media. In this...
Wednesday8th Nov 2023
News Blizzard President Says 'Players Have No Patience' And 'Want New Stuff Every Day'
So it aims to serve up "more content" in a "responsible" way
Blizzard's president Mike Ybarra is currently doing the press rounds, and in the same interview with The Verge, he touched on content delivery in modern games, noting how challenging it can be to find the right balance to satisfy everyone in the community. Ybarra, who leads massive...
Saturday4th Nov 2023
News Diablo 4's First Expansion Vessel Of Hatred Announced, Coming 'Late 2024'
Featuring a class "never-before-seen" in Diablo
Diablo IV got off to a strong start when it was originally released earlier this year - quickly becoming Blizzard's "fastest-selling game of all time" and biggest launch ever - bringing in more than 10 million players in the first month. Since then, there have been some teething issues with the game's...
Friday3rd Nov 2023
News Phil Spencer Says 'The Future Of Blizzard Is Brighter Than Ever' Under Xbox
As he welcomes Blizzard fans to BlizzCon 2023
On day one of BlizzCon, Microsoft's Gaming CEO Phil Spencer appeared at the very beginning of the show to discuss the future of Blizzard under Xbox. In a nutshell, the company's gaming boss believes "the future of Blizzard is brighter than ever" under Xbox. Phil went into a bit more detail about this,...
Thursday19th Oct 2023
News Diablo 4 Is Getting A Free Trial For Everyone On Xbox This Weekend
It actually starts today!
We've got a surprise addition to the Xbox Free Play Days lineup! It's been announced today that a special 10-hour free trial for Diablo 4 will be available from October 19-22 for all Xbox members - even non-Game Pass subscribers! The news was confirmed on the
Wednesday18th Oct 2023
News This Diablo 4 Custom Console Is So Epic It Doesn't Even Look Like An Xbox
It doesn't work like one either, weirdly
Just as Microsoft finally acquires Diablo 4 developer Blizzard, the team announces another custom Xbox Series X console, and not only does this thing look hellish in its design - it also functions like its been plunged into the depths of hell too. Yep, weirdly, this latest Xbox Series X custom console...
Monday24th Jul 2023
News Blizzard Addresses Fan Complaints About Controversial Changes To Diablo 4
"We want to acknowledge everyone's feedback"
If you're in the loop with Diablo 4, you probably know about Blizzard's recent patch that made sweeping changes to the balance of the game. The changes didn't exactly go down well, with many fans feeling like too much was nerfed, so the team has come out and addressed this fan feedback. <related...
Wednesday19th Jul 2023
News Diablo 4 Patch 1.1.0 Suffers Criticism Ahead Of Season 1 Content Drop
'Season of the Malignant' begins this week
Diablo 4's first big post-launch content drop is inbound in the form of 'Season of the Malignant' arriving this week, and ahead of time, Blizzard has applied a new patch to the game on Xbox. The update makes absolutely tons of changes to the core game, including adding new Unique items and Legendary...
