Feature These 20+ Games Are Coming To Xbox Next Week (November 27 - December 1)
Including three Xbox Game Pass titles!
News These 10 Games Are Coming To Xbox Game Pass (December 1-14)
Update: The leaked lineup is now official!
News These 1400+ Games Are Included With Antstream Arcade On Xbox
The full list of retro titles
Feature These 30+ Games Are Coming To Xbox Next Week (November 13-17)
Including three Game Pass titles!
Reminder Three New Xbox Releases Are Launching On Game Pass Next Week
It's been a quiet few days, but there's good stuff ahead!
Feature These 10+ Games Are Coming To Xbox Next Week (November 20-24)
Including a new Jurassic Park release!
News - November, 2023
Thursday30th Nov 2023
News These 10 Games Are Coming To Xbox Game Pass (December 1-14)
Update: The leaked lineup is now official!
Update: Microsoft has now confirmed these 10 games for Xbox Game Pass along with their December release dates, so we've updated the table below. Turns out the leak was 100% correct in the end! Original story: Ahead of the official announcement, it appears that Xbox's December 2023 Game Pass lineup has...
News Microsoft Rep Issues Statement In Response To MS Rewards Concerns
"We evaluate every change for consistency and fairness"
There's been a lot of talk about Microsoft Rewards in the Xbox community and beyond over the past few weeks and months, and sadly it's not always been for the best reasons. Those who use the program regularly have noticed that many ways of earning points have been reduced, and that's been...
News Xbox Game Pass Adds Two Surprise Releases Today (November 30)
Remnant 2 & Remnant: From the Ashes available now
In some surprising news, Remnant 2 and Remnant: From the Ashes have both been made available on Xbox Game Pass today. If you haven't kept tabs on this series, Remnant 2 by Gunfire Games has been one of the video game highlights of this year, offering up a quality solo and co-op Soulslike experience...
News Stalker 2 Set To Feature Two Performance Modes On Xbox Series X
Here are the details
Since Gamescom 2023, things have been a tad quiet on the Stalker 2 front, however a new interview has now popped up from Chinese outlet Gamersky that gives us some juicy info on this upcoming Game Pass release - including how it's going to perform on Xbox Series X. When asked about Stalker 2's graphics and frame rate on Xbox...
News Another Two Titles Are Joining Xbox Game Pass Core This December
The service formerly known as Xbox Live Gold
Back in September, the historic Xbox Live Gold service was officially replaced with something called Xbox Game Pass Core, taking away the multiple "free" games per-month and replacing them with a library of Game Pass titles instead. <related ids="155359"> Xbox Game Pass Core began with a total of...
News Free Play Days: Try These Xbox Games For Free (November 30 - December 3)
Included with Game Pass Core and Game Pass Ultimate
Following a break last week for Thanksgiving, Xbox's Free Play Days promotion has returned with four titles to try out this weekend. We already knew about the inclusion of Hell Let Loose in this week's lineup, which is now live alongside three other Xbox titles. Here's the full Free Play Days...
News Four Games Will Leave Xbox Game Pass In Early December 2023
Here's what departs in mid-December
Microsoft has today revealed the first batch of titles leaving Xbox Game Pass for the early part of December 2023. We have four games in total for this batch, and thankfully, there aren't any huge hitters in here although we'll miss them all the same! Anyway, here's what's leaving Xbox Game Pass on December 15th,...
News The UK's Best Tea Brand Has Created A New Xbox Controller
In partnership with PopeArt!
There's nothing better than sitting down after a long hard day with a cup o' Yorkshire Tea and an Xbox game to play, right? Well, how about combining the two with the tea maker's brand-new Xbox controller! That's right, you can now actually buy a Yorkshire Tea-themed Xbox controller - created in partnership with the...
News Xbox CFO Explains Why Microsoft No Longer Reveals Console Sales
It's all about the bigger picture
Xbox hasn't officially revealed console sales figures for years at this point - since early on in the Xbox One generation. During that time, Xbox sales were clearly behind the likes of PlayStation 4 so that surely played a part in Microsoft being sheepish over hardware figures back then, however these days it's not...
News Xbox Would Like Game Pass On 'Every Screen' Including PlayStation & Nintendo
Update: Phil Spencer says there are "no plans" for it though
Update: Just to confuse things further, Xbox boss Phil Spencer has told Windows Central this week that there are "no plans to bring Game Pass to PlayStation or Nintendo". We've covered this elsewhere on Pure Xbox: <related ids="159126"> Original story: Xbox is constantly talking...
Deals Get 10% Off Xbox Game Pass Subscriptions, Gift Cards And More In Our Black Friday Sale
Update: Deal ends today!
Update: Today is the final day of our huge sale on Xbox Game Pass, Xbox Gift Cards and more! Make sure to add everything you want to buy to your baskets today to take advantage of the discounts! Original Article: The Black Friday sales are well and truly underway – have you spotted the early
News Payday 3 Unveils 'Truly Massive' 1.02 Update, Full Patch Notes Revealed
Now live on Xbox Game Pass!
Right at the start of November, the team behind Payday 3 delivered a "massive" update for the Game Pass title - and now we're getting into "truly massive" territory. Yep, version 1.02 of the co-op shooter has just been detailed, and it adds two classic heists from Payday 2 alongside a huge list of new features and...
News Incredible Custom Console Unveiled To Celebrate 'Jusant' On Xbox Game Pass
"Calling all DON'T NOD and Jusant fans!"
Jusant developer DON'T NOD is running a competition to win a brand-new custom Xbox Series X - and this console is a sight to behold. "Decked out like the tower" and complete with handholds, ropes and nets, this is a pretty elaborate piece of Xbox hardware up for grabs here. There's only one to win of course,...
News Minecraft Legends Scores 'Biggest Update' Ever, Here's What's Included
Froggy mounts and more...
This year's Xbox first-party release of Minecraft Legends has just received its biggest update ever! This is the second title update for the game so far, and it includes a whole bunch of new features and improvements. Those new features include a Frog Mount, Witches and Witch Huts, a new Piglin Clanger and Air Chopper, and...
Wednesday29th Nov 2023
News Xbox Exec Sends Fans Into A Frenzy With Random Social Media Post
But we don't think it means anything
Last night, Xbox's Sarah Bond managed to cause a bit of a frenzy amongst the Xbox community on social media, as she took to Twitter to post a single image of the Xbox 360 style logo - with nothing else alongside it whatsoever. Here's a look at what she posted, which has racked up around 250,000 views so far:...
News Capcom Has Officially Raised Its Prices With The Arrival Of Dragon's Dogma 2
Pre-orders are now live on Xbox Series X|S
The team at Capcom delivered an official launch date and some more juicy details on Dragon's Dogma 2 yesterday, but one unfortunate bit of news has surfaced since. After considering the bump just a few months ago, the Japanese company has decided to raise its game prices - starting with Dragon's Dogma 2...
News Xbox Users Appear To Have Spotted More 'Nerfs' For Microsoft Rewards
More points being permanently taken away?
It feels like Microsoft Rewards is getting hit hard at the moment with various "nerfs" to the way you can earn points using the program, and we might have another nerf to add to the pile - the removal of Microsoft Edge exclusive points. Basically, in the past, Microsoft Rewards users in certain regions...
Feature The Biggest Xbox Games To Look Forward To In December 2023
All the release info you need to know
Welcome to our roundup of all new Xbox games coming out in December 2023! Below, we've listed every Xbox game with a December 2023 release date, including all confirmed Xbox Game Pass releases so far. In the video above (as well as in the list below) we've also highlighted some of the biggest new Xbox games...
News Xbox & Activision Blizzard Are Merging At A 'Really Impressive Speed', Says Xbox CFO
"The speed at which we've worked together is really impressive"
Xbox and Activision Blizzard have only been one entity for a little over a month, at least officially, but the two companies seem to be coming together at speedy pace so far. Speaking at a recent summit, Xbox CFO Tim Stuart talked about the team integrating with ActiBlizz, and how the...
News Here's What's Included In The Xbox November 2023 Update
Including a "Compact Mode" for handheld devices!
The Xbox November 2023 update begins rolling out to all users on Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S very soon, and we've got new features coming to the PC version of the Xbox app as well. The highlight of these is arguably a new "Compact Mode" targeting handheld devices like the ASUS ROG Ally...
Talking Point Will We Ever Get Another 'Special Edition' Xbox Series X?
Or have those plans wrapped up?
Earlier today we spotted some neat-looking console wraps for Xbox Series S, and that got us thinking about the future of limited edition consoles from Microsoft. Sure, these Series S wraps are totally unofficial, but Microsoft's Series X ones are official - and their very existence could spell the end for limited...
News Digital Foundry Looks At Unreal Engine 5's 'Mixed' Start On Xbox Series X|S
"The early results have been mixed"
Unreal Engine 5 has been one of the most prominent game engines of the current generation so far, with Epic's well-known toolset powering lots of recent AAA titles. While some projects, such as The Matrix Awakens, have been impressive - some have failed to deliver on what we'd expect from a 'next-gen' title. And...
News Beyond Good & Evil 20th Anniversary Edition Xbox Listing Appears On Microsoft Store
Update: Ubisoft confirms an early 2024 release!
Update: Ubisoft has now confirmed the existence of this special 20th Anniversary Edition, revealing that it was accidentally made downloadable earlier today and won't actually be releasing until some point in early 2024. Here's the full statement from the company: "Well, looks like the cat’s out...
News 'Halo 3 Refueled' Maps Added To Standard Matchmaking In Halo Infinite
The classic playlist also remains
Halo Infinite has been hosting a classic 'Halo 3 Refueled' playlist for a few weeks now, and the mode is going to be sticking around for a bit longer than initially planned. Rather than wrapping up yesterday, Halo 3 Refueled will be live in Halo Infinite for an additional week; through December 5th. What's more,...
News Call Of Duty: MW3 Players 'Grinded More Than A Full Plate' On Thanksgiving Holiday
Hours per player rival CoD's 2019 success
Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 might not have experienced the best reception at launch, but it doesn't appear to be impacting the game's popularity. After Activision revealed last week that the latest entry had set new "engagement records", the official Call of Duty social media account has now highlighted...
News Xbox Opens In-Person 'Audio-Visual Experience' Featuring Hellblade 2
Get immersed into Senua's twisted world
Xbox has announced some pretty cool in-person events happening in the UK and Germany right now - and they both feature an "Immersive Audio-Visual Experience" based on some of the team's biggest games. Hosted at the Charing Cross Road Outernet Store in London and The Lighthouse of Digital Art in Berlin, Xbox...
News These Xbox Series S Console Wraps Look Sweet, But They're Not Official
Series X only gets the Microsoft treatment
Back in August, Xbox announced its 'Console Wraps' for the Series X - right ahead of Starfield's big launch the month after. Sadly, we've not seen anything similar for Xbox Series S yet, however a third-party company has decided to take matters into its own hands. The UK-based '
Tuesday28th Nov 2023
News Three Games Are Available Today With Xbox Game Pass (November 28)
Update: There's a surprise late addition!
Update: We've got a surprise third addition! Killer Instinct: Anniversary Edition is also now available with Xbox Game Pass (as documented elsewhere on Pure Xbox), so we've added it into the list down below. <related ids="158876"> Original story: Microsoft is closing out its
Talking Point Will Fallout 4's Next-Gen Upgrade Be Delayed Into 2024?
Did you forget about it?
Today, outlet Vanity Fair dropped some new shots of Amazon Prime's Fallout TV show, and while it's nice to get another look at the upcoming adaptation, the news got us thinking about one thing in particular. Where is our next-gen upgrade for Fallout 4? That's right, if you cast your mind back to just over a year ago,...
News Xbox Series S Accidentally Bundled With Physical Game At Dutch Retailer
"There was indeed a mistake in the store"
We've seen some game store fumbles in our time but this is a good one! Dutch retailer MediaMarkt recently made a huge error when trying to promote the Xbox Series S - one of the company's stores actually bundled the all-digital console with a physical game. Imagine it, you're a kid excited as all heck for...
News Xbox Teases 'News You Don't Want To Miss' At The Game Awards 2023
What have you got for us, Microsoft?
The Game Awards 2023 is now just over a week away, taking place on the evening of Thursday, December 7th, and Xbox is formally teasing "important announcements and other Xbox news that you don't want to miss" for the event. This is apparently being sent out in an email across the world, and it reads as follows:...
News Bethesda Has Started Responding To Negative User Reviews Of Starfield
They've taken notice of the game's 'Mixed' rating
Last week, we spotted that Starfield had dropped down to a 'Mixed' user rating on Steam after spending a good while in the 'Mostly Positive' category - and it seems that some of the negative reviews have got Bethesda's attention. Doing the rounds on social media are various Bethesda responses to...
News Baldur's Gate 3's Massive 'Patch 5' Will Be Included On The Xbox Disc
"Which is really good news"
We're still counting down the days until the release of Baldur's Gate 3 on Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S - the release date for which will be revealed at The Game Awards 2023 - and bits of new info are still coming out in the meantime. A couple of weeks ago, pre-orders went live for the physical Deluxe Edition o
News Killer Instinct: Anniversary Edition Update Goes Live This Week
Update: It's also included with Xbox Game Pass!
Update: Killer Instinct: Anniversary Edition is now officially available on Xbox, and it's also included with Xbox Game Pass as we'd hoped! That means that if you're a subscriber, you can now access it at no extra charge whatsoever. <related ids="158891">
News Xbox's Phil Spencer Still Insists This Is The 'Best Video Game Soundtrack'
It's almost a decade old now!
Which game has the best soundtrack? That's the question that the official Xbox Twitter account posed to over 1.8 million viewers yesterday, and it spawned a massive number of replies including from the Xbox boss himself. Phil Spencer's pick has remained the same for years now - it's 2016's survival adventure, The Flame...
News Dragon's Dogma 2 Sets March 2024 Release Date For Xbox Series X|S
Revealed as part of today's DD2 showcase
We've finally got a date for Dragon's Dogma 2, and it's only a few short months away! Yes, the game was revealed as coming to Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S (along with PC and PS5) on March 22, 2024 as part of today's special livestream, which also included a closer look at gameplay from the upcoming...
Deals 100+ Games Added To This Week's Xbox Sales (November 28 - December 5)
Just as the Black Friday sale comes to an end!
The Xbox Black Friday Sale is almost over for 2023, but we do at least have another 100+ games that have been added to the "Deals with Game Pass Ultimate and Game Pass Core" selection - all of which are available until December 5th. There's some good stuff here too, including excellent deals on a...
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...
News It's Official, Destiny 2's Next Expansion Has Been Delayed
The Final Shape will now arrive in June
After a press release suggested the next Destiny 2 expansion might still make its February release window, Bungie has now officially confirmed it's been delayed. "The Final Shape" will now arrive on 4th June 2024, which will allow the team to deliver an "even bigger and bolder vision". In a post on its...
Monday27th Nov 2023
Reminder Xbox Game Pass Is Losing Seven Games This Week (November 30)
Three of which are turning off their servers in December
We're just about to enter the final month of 2023, and therefore we've got a few games leaving Xbox Game Pass this week! As we mentioned recently, seven of them will be departing the service this Thursday, November 30th. This is a particularly interesting batch, as three of the games - all...
News Open World Survival Shooter 'SCUM' Confirmed For Xbox Alongside 1.0 Release
Scummy business
Popular Early Access survival game SCUM is nearing its 1.0 launch after years of updates from developer Gamepires, and we have an update on the console version ahead of the full launch. When a fan asked about an Xbox version on Twitter, the official dev team confirmed that is it "coming with the 1.0 release!" SCUM has flown under...
Hands On Gangs Of Sherwood Brings Arcadey Robin Hood Action To Xbox Series X|S
Robin Good
We've been donning our hoods and tackling some Gangs of Sherwood this past weekend ahead of its full release on Xbox later this week (the "Lionheart Edition" is actually out today), and we've been having a good time doing so! GoS is a co-op action game from developer Appeal Studios, and while it definitely feels 'AA' in many ways, it's...
Review SteamWorld Build (Xbox) - Thunderful Drops A Stellar Steampunk Adventure Onto Xbox Game Pass
Dig It
Thunderful (an amalgamation of Swedish indie devs Image & Form and Zoink) has been delighting us with its clunkety, clankety retro-futuristic SteamWorld series since SteamWorld Tower Defence on the Nintendo DSi all the way back in 2010. While that particular game may not have been the most explosive of starts - it's definitely the weakest...
Talking Point Remember When 'Project Milo' Was The Next Big Thing For Xbox?
The hype levels were incredible for this Kinect project
Hands up, who remembers Project Milo? If you do, you probably had a keen interest in the world of gaming back in mid-2009, as that's when Xbox and Lionhead Studios unveiled Milo to the world for the first time at E3 of that year. When Project Milo was first demonstrated alongside the original...
News The Game Awards Host Reminisces About 'Special' Moment With Phil Spencer & Rival Execs
"It was a special time when we did that"
It's been five years since Xbox boss Phil Spencer joined PlayStation's Shawn Layden and Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aimé on-stage at The Game Awards 2018 - delivering a lovely speech about unity across the gaming industry. Half a decade on, as part of a recent Q&A session ahead of this year's awards show, TGA...
Talking Point How Many Microsoft Rewards Points Do You Have Right Now?
And what have you been spending them on?
Microsoft Rewards has become an extremely popular part of Xbox over the past few years, allowing you to collect a significant amount of free credit every month for completing a variety of tasks on your console and beyond. Once you get into the routine of doing these tasks daily, it doesn't take long to rack...
News Halo 3's Entire Opening Mission Has Been Recreated In Halo Infinite
Dropping into Sierra 117
Halo Infinite's Forge toolset is a mighty impressive piece of kit, especially since the team added AI into the mix; allowing for more in-depth user creations. Well, it's spawned a pretty in-depth one here - as one fan has recreated the entire opening mission of Halo 3 in Infinite's Forge mode! As you can see up above, Rebs...
News State Of Decay 3 Developer Seemingly Working On Another Project At Xbox
Multiple 'projects' are being developed at Undead Labs
It's been a while since we've heard anything official on State of Decay 3, hasn't it? The open world zombie-slaying sequel was unveiled in 2020, before basically going into hiding ever since. Well, a new LinkedIn update from an ex-Undead Labs developer could hint at why things are progressing...
Soapbox 'Xbox Developer Direct' Needs To Return In Early 2024
TGA is good, but Dev Direct is better
The Game Awards 2023 is right around the corner at this point, with Geoff Keighley's big show landing on December 7th this year. While I enjoy what TGA brings to the table most years, it is a bit bloated these days, and its impending arrival is making me yearn for another
Roundup Here's What The Critics Are Saying About SteamWorld Build
December's first Game Pass addition!
The first game in December's Xbox Game Pass lineup is the brand-new release of SteamWorld Build, which officially arrives for console, PC and cloud on Friday, December 1st. Ahead of that date, the reviews have begun rolling in over the past hour, including here at Pure Xbox where we gave the game an "Excellent"...
Saturday25th Nov 2023
Feature These 20+ Games Are Coming To Xbox Next Week (November 27 - December 1)
Including three Xbox Game Pass titles!
Welcome to your Xbox games roundup for November 27 - December 1! We're slowly quietening down as we approach the Christmas period, but we've still got some big games on the way including Gangs of Sherwood and the Turok 3 remaster, along with three major
News These Are The Top-Selling Games In The Xbox Black Friday Sale 2023
The hottest deals right now
The Xbox Black Friday Sale 2023 has been live for a little over a week on the official Xbox Store, which means the "Top Paid" Xbox charts are now revealing some of the most popular purchases in the sale so far. As we usually do with these roundups, we're focusing on the US version of the Xbox Store to produce a list of...
Pick One Which Of These Xbox One Launch Titles Is Your Favourite?
10 years on, there are still some great games here!
Earlier this week, we celebrated ten years since the Xbox One's launch back on November 22nd, 2013, and therefore we thought we'd use our weekly "Pick One" feature to focus on the launch lineup that shipped alongside that console. Looking back, there were some genuinely great games you could...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (November 25-26)
How about some Teardown?
Welcome to yet another weekend! It's our last one before December, and we've got plenty of great games to enjoy on Xbox including the new releases of Teardown and ARK: Survival Evolved (amongst many others), more Free Play Days offerings, and the Xbox Black Friday Sale is still ongoing for a few more days as well. Here's...
Friday24th Nov 2023
News Xbox Series X & S Receive Massive Price Drops In Latest Black Friday 2023 Sales
Huge discounts to take advantage of!
Update (Fri 24th Nov, 2023): Welcome to Black Friday 2023! If you're looking for an Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S, most of the deals below are still live, and we've also added a few more into the mix that we've found across the web. If you've got any other great deals to share with us, drop them in the comments...
News A Couple Of New Free-To-Play Games Are Now Available On Xbox
One of them is proving particularly popular!
If you haven't been checking the free-to-play section on Xbox lately, you may have missed a couple of new releases that have cropped up on the Store - one of which is actually the third most popular F2P title in the UK right now. That game is known as Pool Blitz, which is developed by Cherry Pop Games of...
News Is Dave The Diver Coming To Xbox? Here's Everything We Know So Far
This would be a great fit for Xbox Game Pass!
It was a year of amazing games across all platforms in 2023, but one of the great releases that didn't make its way to Xbox is Dave The Diver, which for now remains exclusive to PC, Nintendo Switch, and as of April 2024, PlayStation. In this indie-style adventure, you play as a mix of a diver and...
Video Halo 3 Comparison Shows Difference Between Original Maps & Infinite Versions
As part of the Halo 3 Refueled playlist
Earlier this month, a bunch of Halo 3 maps were made playable in Halo Infinite as part of the Halo 3 Refueled playlist, and we've been having a great time in recent days getting stuck into some of these classics. If you weren't aware, there are seven fan-made maps that have been incorporated into the Halo 3...
News Phil Spencer Thanks Xbox Community For 'Opportunity And Support'
A Thanksgiving message to everyone
It's Thanksgiving in the US today and Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer has taken a moment out of his busy schedule to thank everyone. This includes the Xbox team as well as the gaming community in general. Phil mentions how these people in his life have helped make work "meaningful and fun" through both ups and...
News Xbox Reveals First Addition To Next Week's 'Free Play Days' Lineup
After we didn't get anything this week
You may have noticed that we haven't received any Xbox Free Play Days titles for the next few days, and that's probably because they're usually announced on a Thursday - which happened to coincide with Thanksgiving this week. Nevertheless, we already have a confirmation for next week's Xbox Free Play Days...
News Call Of Duty: MW3 Gets Surprise 48-Hour Xbox Discount For Black Friday
A slight saving if you're interested
As you're probably well aware, over 1000 games were discounted for Black Friday 2023 on the Xbox Store last week, but we've had a few more since then - including a surprise discount for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Yes, even though this wasn't advertised ahead of time, Call of Duty: MW3 is currently 15% off...
News Four Years Since Its Announcement, Rare Continues To Hire For Everwild
It's not dead, it's resting
Happy 4th anniversary to Everwild! Well, it's kind of an anniversary anyway, as this month marks exactly four years since Rare's new IP was first announced back at X019 in London during November of 2019. We haven't heard much about the project in 2023 aside from a couple of social media posts, but Rare is clearly still...
Talking Point What Kind Of Reveals Are You Hoping To See At The Game Awards 2023?
Will we get anything special from Xbox?
So, we're now less than two weeks away until The Game Awards 2023 puts a bow on a fantastic year for gaming on Xbox and beyond, and as always, the show is expected to deliver plenty of great announcements for us. Back in 2019, we saw Hellblade 2 and the Xbox Series X being announced at The Game Awards, while...
Talking Point As December Draws Near, How Excited Are You For The GTA 6 Trailer?
Do you think it'll live up to the hype?
Just a few weeks ago, Rockstar Games confirmed that after a decade of waiting, we were finally going to be treated to the first trailer for Grand Theft Auto 6 (or whatever else it's called) at some point in early December. At the time of writing, there's still no confirmation on what that date will be, but...
News 'Technical Error' Led To Mid-Game Advert In Assassin's Creed, Says Ubisoft
It's apparently been addressed now
Yesterday, we highlighted a video that showed an Assassin's Creed advert popping up mid-game in certain titles on Xbox and even PlayStation and PC, and now Ubisoft has responded to the backlash it's been receiving online. According to the company, this advert was a "technical error" that wasn't supposed to show up...
Thursday23rd Nov 2023
Reminder Three New Xbox Releases Are Launching On Game Pass Next Week
It's been a quiet few days, but there's good stuff ahead!
It's been one of those rare weeks where we've seen nothing arrive on Xbox Game Pass whatsoever, but don't forget that November 2023's Game Pass lineup isn't finished just yet - and December's is about to begin too! Next Tuesday (November 28th) sees the arrival of Dune: Spice Wars and
News Xbox Fans Repulsed By Mid-Game Ubisoft Advert For Assassin's Creed
Update: Ubisoft says it was an error!
Update: Ubisoft has since responded to this, calling the mid-game advertisement a "technical error". You'll find more details in our separate story elsewhere on Pure Xbox: <related ids="158812"> Original story: It's pretty rare that we see adverts cropping up mid-game in paid releases, but there's...
News Xbox Might Be Losing Its Microsoft Rewards App (And Weekly Streaks)
The end of an era?
We've seen Microsoft Rewards suffering from a lot of reductions on Xbox over the past few months, and sadly it looks like that's set to continue in December 2023, as the old Microsoft Rewards app is seemingly being shut down. This is according to a message that a Microsoft Rewards user has received in Brazil, which also appears...
Reaction Should We Really Be Surprised By 'Declining' Xbox Console Sales?
Europe's figures have dropped off in 2023
Well, there's been some mad drama surrounding Europe's recent console sales figures, hasn't there? Gamesindustry.biz released some info on this earlier in the week, strongly suggesting that Xbox Series X|S sales are "struggling" in the region. While there are certainly other factors in play here — like the...
News Killer Instinct: Anniversary Edition Announced For Xbox And PC
An upgrade is on the way
The new look logo This week marks 10 years since Killer Instinct landed on the Xbox One and to celebrate this milestone, a new version of the game Killer Instinct: Anniversary Edition has been announced. There's no release date just yet. This includes an Xbox Series X|S upgrade. The Definitive Edition (currently on sale...
News Xbox Mini Fridge Gets Huge Price Reduction For Black Friday 2023
If you still want one, now's the time!
Anyone still interested in an Xbox Mini Fridge? If so, now's probably the best time to grab one! For Black Friday 2023, we've seen the Xbox Mini Fridge discounted in a big way in both the UK and US over the past few days, bringing it down to just £39.99 in the UK and $39.97 in the US. This is for the 8-can...
Report Call Of Duty Black Ops To Return With 'Gulf War' Setting In 2024
Longtime developer Treyarch at the helm
It's only been a matter of days since Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 launched on Xbox, and we have a new report about the next CoD game already! 2024's release is set to be led by developer Treyarch, and the rumours are that it's another Black Ops title - this time set in and amongst the first Gulf War. That...
News South Park: Snow Day! Gets Its First Gameplay Trailer, Out On Xbox In 2024
Four-player co-op fun
Following the initial reveal back in August, South Park: Snow Day! has now received its very first gameplay trailer (warning: contains swearing). As a reminder, this four-player co-op game will be making its debut on Xbox Series X|S and multiple other platforms for € 29.99 / $ 29.99 / £ 24.99 in 2024, with pre-orders now...
News Starfield's Latest Bit Of Merch Is Getting A Lot Of Attention On Social Media
"Drift off into dreams of space exploration"
In case you didn't know, Bethesda has its own online Gear shop featuring some really great merchandise, and a new addition to that lineup has been getting major attention on social media - the Starfield Duvet Cover Set! Yes, for the price of $75, you can get your very own Starfield-themed duvet cover...
News Killer Instinct Is Getting Its First Update In Five Years, And The Patch Notes Are Huge
To coincide with the upcoming Anniversary Edition
Earlier today, we brought news of the Killer Instinct: Anniversary Edition, a brand-new upgrade for existing owners of the already-released Killer Instinct: Definitive Edition. The upcoming version adds Series X|S support and repackages existing DLC (which you can read all about down below) but it...
News Modern Warfare 3 Analysis Highlights 'The Least Stable' Call Of Duty On Xbox Series S
It's struggling to hit 60FPS
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 was reportedly developed in a super short time frame compared to other CoD titles, and it looks like the Xbox Series S may have suffered as a result of Activision getting the game out by the end of 2023. Outlet
News Bonkers FPS Atomic Heart Looks Weirder Than Ever In New DLC
What on earth is a 'Limbo Ecosystem'?!
Developer Mundfish has started teasing its second DLC add-on for Atomic Heart, and just as we thought the team's robot-laden Soviet FPS couldn't get any weirder, we've been introduced to its 'Limbo Ecosystem'. Looking more like a first-person parkour experience than a shooter, the game's second expansion is...
Wednesday22nd Nov 2023
News Ark: Survival Ascended's Performance Is Getting Mixed Feedback On Xbox Series X|S
The Unreal Engine 5 remake provides interesting results
After some very last-minute delays, Ark: Survival Ascended finally landed on Xbox Series X|S this week - but its initial reception has been a bit mixed so far. This is a next-gen remake of sorts for Ark: Survival Evolved — now running on Unreal Engine 5 — and it seems the new tech is...
News It Might Be Bad, But TWD: Destinies Is Already Storming The Xbox Charts
There's clearly interest in it
Just the other day, we highlighted the release of The Walking Dead: Destinies and how it could potentially be a contender for the worst game of 2023, but it's still been a popular launch according to the "Top Paid" Xbox charts! If we look at just the UK, TWD: Destinies is actually fifth on the list in terms
Feature 10 Years Since Its Release, Let's Celebrate The Biggest Turnaround In Xbox History
The launch was EXACTLY ten years ago today
Believe it or not, today marks exactly ten years since the release of the original Xbox One back on November 22nd, 2013! The console arrived for most regions on that date, followed by the likes of Japan and China in 2014. Much has been said about the botched release of the Xbox One, and to call that time...
News 'Against The Storm' Added To December 2023's Game Pass Lineup
"Reclaim the wilderness in the face of apocalyptic rains"
Literally this weekend we posted that just one Game Pass title was confirmed for December 2023, and well, we now have another game announced! For now, this will only be available on PC Game Pass, but nevertheless, Against the Storm is joining the Game Pass library on December 8th. Truth be...
Feature Xbox 360 Took The Gaming World By Storm 18 Years Ago Today
A massive Xbox anniversary
November always brings around some famous anniversaries in the Xbox world, and perhaps none are quite as famous as this one. 18 years ago today, Microsoft launched the Xbox 360 in North America, and there really hasn't been a more appropriate time to wheel out the old 'rest is history' trope, has there? This is...
Feature How Xbox Redefined Console Gaming With Halo, An Ethernet Port And Xbox Live
Check out this sample chapter from The Console Chronicles
This feature is taken from The Console Chronicles, an upcoming book that we're working on in conjunction with Lost in Cult. If you like what you see, you can pre-order a copy using the link below. <products id="24929"> Before the PC juggernaut Microsoft entered the market in 2001,...
News Call Of Duty: MW3 Sets 'New Modern Warfare Engagement Records'
A "historic launch" under the Xbox banner
Although Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 didn't have the best reception at launch and reportedly had a rushed development cycle, it's still performed like no other game in the series before, setting all-new records. According to a
News Teardown On Xbox Series X|S Has 'Stunning Physics & Destruction', Says Digital Foundry
But some performance issues do crop up
It's safe to say we were rather impressed by Teardown and its open-ended, destruction-laden sandbox when it launched on Xbox Series X|S last week - granting the game a 'Great' 8/10 in our full review. Well, as it turns out, the tech experts at Digital Foundry have been pretty impressed with the game's console...
News Steam Black Friday Sale Now Live, Get Up To 88% Off Xbox & Bethesda Titles
Including Starfield, Redfall and more
We have another round of Black Friday gaming deals now live, thanks to Steam's sales going up this week. Technically, Valve calls this its 'Autumn Sale', but it coincides with with the industry's range of Black Friday discounts so it's basically a Black Friday sale. Anyway, technicalities out of the way, you can...
News Former Gears Of War Narrative Director Joins PlayStation's Santa Monica Studio
"ALL RIGHT, let's do this..."
We've got some interesting industry news to share today, as it's been revealed that the former "Franchise Narrative Director" on the Gears series, Bonnie Jean Mah, has joined Sony's Santa Monica Studio - again as a Narrative Director. Bonnie revealed the news on Twitter last night, stating how "beyond thrilled" she was...
News Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time Remake Hits 'Important Development Milestone' At Ubisoft
"We look forward to sharing more in the future!"
As Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time passes its 20-year anniversary, the team at Ubisoft has provided an update on its much-delayed remake of the 2003 original. The new project was first announced more than three years ago, before development was halted and restarted in 2022
News Plague Tale Publisher Confirms Renewed Collab With Asobo On 'Another Exciting Project'
Could Requiem be getting a sequel?
Following the release of A Plague Tale: Requiem last October, Focus Entertainment and Asobo Studio have now announced the same title, which also debuted on Game Pass, has been experienced by 3 million players. As part of this, Focus has seized the moment, and revealed a "renewed collaboration" with Asobo for...
Tuesday21st Nov 2023
Guide Ark: Survival Ascended Xbox Release: Everything We Know So Far
Update: We've got a release date!
Ready for Ark: Survival Ascended on Xbox? Us too! It was actually supposed to arrive a little while ago, but a couple of delays postponed its release ever so slightly. Instead of bombarding you with constant updates about this, we wanted to gather all the latest information into an "Everything We Know" guide about...
News These 10+ Xbox Games Are Shutting Their Servers This December
Enjoy playing them online while you can!
Every now and again, we learn of a bunch of Xbox games shutting their servers, and it just so happens that over 10 of them will be doing just that in December 2023, giving us just a few weeks left to enjoy their online features. We've already reported on some of these in the past, like the multiple...
News Starfield Update 1.8.86 Now Live, Here Are The Full Patch Notes
DLSS support and much more
Earlier this month, Bethesda lifted the lid on its next update for Starfield. As you might recall, one of the major highlights is the fact the game now has Nvidia DLSS support on PC. There's also a "Chunks" update and beyond this Bethesda has added all sorts of fixes and improvements to enhance gameplay, graphics,...
News Xbox Fans Call On Microsoft To 'Pick Up' Troubled Star Wars: KOTOR Remake
"KOTOR began on Xbox, it only feels right"
If you've been following the progress (or lack thereof) on the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake recently, you may have seen a few comments from journalist Jeff Grubb on the current state of the game's development. Sadly, it's not good news. Speaking on a recent episode of the Giant Bomb "Game...
News October Sales Data Suggests Xbox Series X|S 'Struggled' In Europe, But There's A Catch
It still doesn't make for great reading though
You may have seen some news today about Xbox "struggling" in Europe, and it comes from some GSD data (via the website GamesIndustry.biz) pointing out that the Series X and Series S were down 52% year-on-year in October 2023 compared to October 2022, while the Nintendo Switch dropped 20% and the PS5...
News Cyberpunk 2077 Ultimate Edition Has On-Disc DLC For Xbox, PS5 Misses Out
Get Phantom Liberty on-disc!
Last month, we caught wind that Cyberpunk 2077's 'Ultimate Edition' was due to drop on Xbox before the end of the year - as picked up by the PEGI ratings board in October. Six weeks or so later, this bumper edition of Cyberpunk 2077 has been confirmed, and the Xbox version gets a much-welcome bonus. As revealed by the...
Deals Five More Backwards Compatible Games Added To This Week's Xbox Sales (November 21-28)
Loads of Black Friday discounts are still available too!
Xbox's huge Black Friday digital sale is still live, featuring around 100 backwards compatible titles, but the team has just added another five classic games to the discount pile - and there are some good ones in here too. So, we've gathered up all of the newly-discounted backwards compatible...
News It's Finally Time! Ark: Survival Ascended Launches On Xbox Today
"We know it's been a long wait"
Fans of Ark: Survival Evolved on Xbox will be glad to know that the Unreal Engine 5 "reimagining" known as Ark: Survival Ascended is officially launching for Xbox Series X|S today following some recent unexpected delays. Now that the game has passed certification on Xbox, the plan is to release for Xbox Series X and...
News Jusant Adds Multiple New Features In Free Xbox Game Pass Update
How are you finding this one so far?
Anyone for a free Jusant update with multiple new features?! That's exactly what we're getting today, as developer Don't Nod is specifically targeting accessibility improvements with its new adventure title on Xbox Game Pass. As a result, these new features are based around things like "simplified climbing" and...
News Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League Closed Alpha Test Announced
Goes live later this month
Following last week's insider episode, Rocksteady has now announced a Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League 'closed alpha tech test' for Xbox and other platforms to help test the game's online infrastructure. You can sign up for this closed alpha tech test on the official game website, but registration does not guarantee...
Soapbox After Finally Playing 'Rally Adventure', I Want To See More Of This From Forza Horizon
I've enjoyed my time with its linear campaign
A little over six months since Playground Games launched Forza Horizon 5: Rally Adventure, I finally got around to playing the add-on this past weekend thanks to its big Black Friday discount. Another Pure Xbox racing fanatic in Liam reviewed the DLC pack when it first arrived in March, but I wanted to...
News Bethesda Still Has 'About 250' Developers Working On Starfield
Even months after launch!
By now we know that Starfield was a gargantuan development effort for everyone working on the game at Bethesda Game Studios - it took the team almost a decade to make this thing happen. However, we weren't aware of just how many folks are still working on the title after it's shipped! Thanks to a new interview with Wired,...
News Dead Island 2, Saints Row Publisher Confirms Massive Layoffs In 2023
The Saints Row dev has been completely shut down already
For a while now, we've heard several reports and rumours about unfortunate closures at some of Embracer Group's development studios, and a new financial update from the gaming giant has laid bare the scale of these cutbacks. In an official statement from the group, it's been confirmed that...
News The Texas Chain Saw Massacre Is Getting A New Free Map On Xbox Game Pass
Welcome to Nancy's House
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre has revealed its first DLC map - coming to the game next week for absolutely free! Yep, 'Nancy's House' marks the first post-launch map for this Xbox Game Pass slasher, and subscribers can jump in and try to escape the madness on November 28th. There are a couple of new characters coming on that...
Monday20th Nov 2023
News There's A Potential New Candidate For 'Worst Xbox Game Of The Year'
Although to be fair, its Xbox Store rating isn't that bad!
There was a time in 2023 when we thought that nothing stood a chance at beating The Lord of the Rings: Gollum to the "Worst Game of 2023" award, but in recent weeks we've seen two possible new candidates crop up on Xbox. The first of these was Skull Island: Rise of Kong back in October, and...
News Xbox Dev Explains Major Design Challenges Caused By The 1TB Xbox Series S
"We had actually pretty much every type of cosmetic issue"
It's only been a few months since Microsoft first released the 1TB version of the Xbox Series S onto the market, and it seems like it's been a hit so far. However, the actual design of this model was seemingly a major headache for the developers over at Microsoft, and that's simply because...
News Microsoft Is Offering 20% Discounts & Free Engraving On Xbox Controllers For Black Friday
The offers are now live!
What has slowly become 'Black Friday week' is now in full swing, as we can see by Xbox's latest console offers and the ongoing digital game sale now live on the Xbox Store. Well, the team is making it three-for-three with some accessory offers now live on the Microsoft Store as well. For the next week, you can get 20% off...
News Xbox Will Apparently Show Up At The Game Awards 2023
"I pretty much know that Xbox is there"
There's been a bit of controversy surrounding Xbox and this year's The Game Awards show, especially with Starfield failing to make the Game of the Year nominee list this year. However, despite this omission, it's looking like Xbox will be at the show in some fashion. Yep, according to Windows Central's Jez...
News Bethesda's Starfield Drops To 'Mixed' User Reviews On Steam
The game's overall rating is now classed as 'Mixed'
The long-awaited Starfield finally released on Xbox and PC back in early September, and the consensus around launch was largely positive - including here at Pure Xbox where we scored the game 9/10. However, despite a decent Steam reception on release (the game sat at a 'Mostly Positive' rating for...
News Xbox Revenue Would Overtake PlayStation With ActiBlizz On Board, Says Data Firm
Looking at 2023 figures so far
Microsoft's huge Activision Blizzard deal has always been seen as a bit of a money-maker for the Xbox owner, especially with such valuable franchises in-play across Activision, Blizzard and indeed King. Series' such as Call of Duty, Candy Crush and World of Warcraft will bring in lots of additional revenue for Xbox,...
News Spirittea's Xbox Game Pass Launch Was 'A Ridiculously Good Experience' For The Team
"Over 100,000 people have played the game on Game Pass"
Spirittea's launch earlier this month marked another day one Xbox Game Pass arrival, and its publisher is again singing the praises of Microsoft's subscription service. Frequently a fan of the model, No More Robots founder Mike Rose has taken to Twitter to say that its latest Game Pass deal was...
Talking Point Have You Splashed Out On Any Big Black Friday Purchases Yet?
We've seen some great gaming deals across all platforms!
Here at PX HQ, we've done our best to inform you of any Xbox Black Friday deals that have gone live so far - we've seen lots of good discounts across the digital Xbox Store, the Microsoft Store,
News Xbox Is Investing In More Indie Games Than Ever, Says Program Director
"Independent creators have never been more important to Xbox"
We all know how important indie games have become to Xbox over the past decade, particularly following the formation of the ID@Xbox program back in 2013, and even though Microsoft will now be focusing a lot of attention on Activision Blizzard moving forward, it sounds like there are no...
News Disney Speedstorm Races Into The World Of 'Frozen' On Xbox Next Week
New characters, tracks and more!
It's been a couple of months now since Disney Speedstorm launched as a free-to-play game on Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, and now it's ready to transition to a brand-new season known as "Let It Go" on November 30th. This season of Disney Speedstorm will focus on all things "Frozen", which means the...
Sunday19th Nov 2023
News Just One Game Is Confirmed For Xbox Game Pass In December 2023 So Far
It could be a quiet month for XGP
It's been another fairly busy month for Xbox Game Pass in November (with more still to come!), but as we start to look ahead to what's next, we've only got one game that's been announced for Xbox Game Pass in December 2023 so far. That game is SteamWorld Build, which will be arriving day one with Xbox Game Pass on...
Saturday18th Nov 2023
Feature These 10+ Games Are Coming To Xbox Next Week (November 20-24)
Including a new Jurassic Park release!
Welcome to your Xbox games roundup for November 20-24! Things are looking a lot quieter than usual next week as the new releases begin to slow down, but we've still got some interesting titles on the way including the 2D platformer Worldless, the Jurassic Park Classic Games Collection and maybe even
News Lots Of Games Reduced By 90-95% In The Xbox Black Friday Sale 2023
HUGE discounts for great games!
Looking for some cheap Xbox games during the Xbox Black Friday Sale 2023? There are over 1000 games included in the Xbox Black Friday Sale this year, and out of those, over 40 of them have been discounted by 90% or even 95%, bringing them down to some seriously bargain prices! We're talking huge dis
Talking Point Three Months Since It Ended, Are You Missing Xbox Games With Gold?
Or are you perfectly happy with Game Pass Core?
Believe it or not, it's been three months since Xbox Games With Gold came to a close! The service was replaced with Xbox Game Pass Core back in September, bringing an end to the monthly "free" games given away by Xbox. The final selection of GwG titles arrived back in August in the form of Blue Fire...
News Gabe Newell Reflects On Exiting Microsoft To Go Make Half-Life
"On the surface, we should have failed"
Valve is currently celebrating the 25th anniversary of its iconic first-person shooter Half-Life, and as part of this, it's released a lengthy documentary discussing the entire history of the project. It also happens to have a segment touching on the co-founders' departure from Microsoft. This includes both...
News Call Of Duty: MW3 Teases 'Massive Free Update' For Season 1, Out Early December
A "first look" at new maps, modes & more
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 launched just a few weeks ago, and already Sledgehammer Games and co. are planning to bolster the experience with some exciting new content. In fact, a "major free update" is on the horizon, and it's launching as part of Season 1 in "early December". Multiplayer will be adding...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (November 18-19)
Have you tried Coral Island yet?
Welcome to the weekend! There's plenty to enjoy on Xbox over the next few days including more November Xbox Game Pass additions, a few Free Play Days titles, and of course, the huge Xbox Black Friday Sale is now live! Here's what we're playing this weekend: Fraser Gi
News Xbox Leadership Features In TIME's Top 100 Climate List For 2023
Phil Spencer thanks director of gaming sustainability
Xbox has been taking all sorts of action to improve gaming sustainability, and one of the people driving this change within the company is the Director of Gaming Sustainability, Trista Patterson. In celebration of her efforts, she's now made TIME's top "100 climate" list - highlighting the "most...
Friday17th Nov 2023
News Xbox Expansion Card Sales Begin As 1TB Drops In Price For Black Friday 2023
Hopefully a few more sales to come too!
We know that a lot of Xbox fans are anticipating some price drops for the Xbox Expansion Cards this Black Friday, and we've already begun to see a few deals cropping up. These aren't huge discounts, but they're discounts nonetheless! Over in the US, we've noticed Amazon and Best Buy selling the 1TB model of...
News EA Dev Partner Says Xbox Series S Is 'A Very Different Beast' To The Other Consoles
"It's not a surprise, it's a less powerful machine"
We've heard numerous developers come out in recent months to say they've struggled somewhat with developing for Xbox Series S; Microsoft's less-powerful current-gen console. The latest of these is Immortals of Aveum developer Ascendant Studios, whose CEO discussed the topic on a recent episode of...
News Xbox Series X Heavily Reduced In UK For Black Friday 2023, Multiple 'Free' Games On Offer
Update: Series S also now down to £199!
Update (Fri 17th Nov, 2023): Since we first published this article, more offers have been unveiled that bring the console down to as low as £379! We've added more product links down below as a result. In addition, the Xbox Series S "Starter Pack" has dropped to as low as £199.00 over at EE: <products...
News SEGA Exec Responds Once Again To Idea Of Potential Xbox Acquisition
"We feel honoured"
Earlier this year, documents from an FTC hearing revealed that Phil Spencer and his Xbox team were seriously considering a potential acquisition of SEGA back in 2020 and 2021, but obviously that never ended up materialising. Nevertheless, SEGA has been asked about this on multiple occasions since, and this latest example comes...
Deals All 100+ Backwards Compatible Games In The Xbox Black Friday Sale 2023
One of the biggest Back Compat lists ever!
Black Friday is nearly upon us! To celebrate the year's biggest discount day, Xbox has unleashed a huge digital sale on the Microsoft Store, featuring over 1,000 games in total. Mixed in there is a good selection of backwards compatible classics from the OG Xbox and Xbox 360 eras, so we've rounded up all of...
Feature These 2023 Games Have Hit Record-Low Prices In Xbox's Black Friday Sale
Some big discounts on recent AAA titles
Xbox's massive 2023 Black Friday sale is underway - and we've highlighted some great deals in our initial sales roundup already. However, there are tons of games to go through here, and we've noticed that loads of 2023's biggest games have hit record-low prices on the Xbox Store in this sale. So, we've picked...
News Crash Bandicoot Dev 'Excited' About New Chapter With Team Xbox
As it reflects on the launch of Crash Team Rumble
Toys For Bob, the developer behind the revival of Crash Bandicoot and also the Spyro Reignited Trilogy, has issued a brief message on social media, revealing how "excited" it is about its "new chapter" under the Xbox banner. The same studio released its new game Crash Team Rumble earlier this year...
News Need More 'Bluey' In Your Life? Xbox Reveals Custom Series X Console
To go alongside today's release of Bluey: The Videogame
Of all the custom consoles you might have thought Microsoft would create, "Bluey" probably isn't one of them! Nevertheless, there's now an official Bluey: The Videogame Xbox Series X that's being given away by Xbox on Twitter. If you're interested in winning this, all you need to do is follow...
Poll What Do You Think Of Like A Dragon Gaiden On Xbox Game Pass?
Are you a fan?
It's now been just over a week since we were treated to one of the biggest titles in November 2023's Xbox Game Pass lineup in the form of Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, so we thought we'd take this opportunity to find out what you think of it so far! Here at Pure Xbox, we had great things to say in
News Assassin's Creed Mirage Is Getting Two New Modes On Xbox This December
One for you masochists out there!
Assassin's Creed Mirage dropped last month, and as you'd expect with Ubisoft, the team is already planning its post-launch support pipeline as we speak. More details on the game's next update are coming "soon", but for now, two new modes of play have been revealed. The first is a New Game+ mode for folks who've...
News Immortals Of Aveum Free Trial Launches For Xbox Alongside Major 'Echollector' Update
Play the first three chapters for free!
EA's Immortals of Aveum went under the radar a little bit earlier this year, but we had a good time with it in our review here at Pure Xbox, and now you can check it out for yourself with a totally free trial on the Xbox Store. The trial can be accessed by going to the Immortals of Aveum game page on the Xbox...
News Xbox Account Syncing Update Begins Rolling Out On Nvidia GeForce Now
There's also a limited-time PC Game Pass offer
Earlier this year, Microsoft entered into a 10-year agreement with Nvidia to bring Xbox's catalog of cloud titles to GeForce Now. Since then, all sorts of first-party games have been added to the streaming service. In an update today, it's been announced Nvidia is rolling out its newest GeForce Now...
News Call Of Duty: MW3 Gets First Post-Launch Update, Here Are The Full Patch Notes
Not all scheduled changes were able to be released
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 has now been out for a week, and to follow up the launch, it's received a new update. This should be a few GB or so on Xbox, and the patch notes have also been made available. The team has also issued the following notice, mentioning how not all changes scheduled were...
News Persona 5 Tactica Is Available Today With Xbox Game Pass (November 17)
Jump into a brand new Persona title!
More Xbox Game Pass, you say?! Today, Atlus and Microsoft are bringing Persona 5 Tactica to Xbox One & Xbox Series X|S consoles - and it's launching day one in the Game Pass library. So, here's an introduction to your latest Xbox Game Pass title. We reviewed this one recently ahead of release, so we'll also...
Thursday16th Nov 2023
Guide Baldur's Gate 3 Xbox Release: Everything We Know So Far
It's coming to Xbox in 2023, but when?
Ready for Baldur's Gate 3 on Xbox? We are too. The game has proven one of the biggest hits of 2023 on PC and PlayStation 5 so far, and it'll soon be coming to Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S as well. The question is, when will Baldur's Gate 3 actually release on Xbox? Here's what we know so far: Baldur's Gate...
News Digital Foundry Thinks 60FPS Starfield Is Now 'More Viable' On Xbox Series X
"A performance mode on console could be much more viable now"
Around the launch of Starfield, there was a lot of talk about the game's performance on Xbox Series consoles. Of course, in the end the game released at 30FPS with no performance mode on either of Microsoft's current-gen systems, but outlet
Deals Xbox Black Friday Sale 2023 Now Live, 1000+ Games Discounted
Including deals on MAJOR new AAA games!
It's time for the Xbox Black Friday Sale 2023! This year's version of the sale features discounts for over 1000 games in all, many of which are AAA titles and have been released at some point throughout 2023. Below, you'll find some of the major highlights from the Xbox Black Friday Sale 2023. If you want the...
News Alan Wake 2 Seemingly Struggled To Make An Impact On Xbox In October
"Alan Wake II did not rank among the top 150 titles"
Alan Wake 2's critical reception was pretty amazing when it launched last month on Xbox; probably better than we expected here at PX HQ to be honest! However, that doesn't always translate to sales & player engagement - and Alan Wake 2 seems to have had a little more trouble in that...
News Baldur's Gate 3 Is Getting A Gorgeous Three-Disc Deluxe Edition For Xbox
And you can pre-order it right now!
Another day, another bit of Baldur's Gate 3 Xbox news! Today's reveal is that Baldur's Gate 3 is getting a physical Deluxe Edition for Xbox, PS5 and PC, which is available for the pretty fantastic price of $79.99 and live for pre-order right now on the official Larian Studios website. This includes a three-disc...
News Xbox Live 1.0 Replacement 'Insignia' Now Supports 150 Games
And it's just celebrated its first birthday!
Remember Insignia? This is a free replacement for the original version of Xbox Live on the OG Xbox, and since the last time we talked about it here at Pure Xbox, it's continued to add countless new supported titles to its library. In fact, with its first birthday taking place this week, Insignia now...
Review Teardown (Xbox) - A Slick And Addictive Slice Of Voxel Destruction
Appetite For Destruction
Blasting into Tuxedo Labs' Teardown for the first time, we felt as though we had a pretty good idea on how the experience was gonna go. This is a game that's all about destroying stuff, it's about destroying stuff that's made in a stunning voxel art style so that destroying that stuff looks incredible, and we were fairly...
News Redfall Update 3 Now Live On Xbox & PC, Here Are The Full Patch Notes
Improvements, fixes and a new weapon!
Surprise! It's time for Redfall Update 3 on Xbox and PC! Bethesda has today rolled out the latest update for the game across all platforms, introducing a bunch of improvements along with a new UV-powered Unrivaled Sniper Rifle. Known as the "Basilisk", this weapon is said to "charge the first bullet in a full...
News Arma Reforger Gets Surprise 1.0 Launch, Bringing 'A Whole New Dimension' To The Xbox FPS
They sprung that on us!
Remember Arma Reforger? Bohemia's MilSim FPS came to Xbox Game Preview last year - in fact, we had a good go with its early access version back in May 2022. The game's had a number of updates since, but now — seemingly out of nowhere — the team has unleashed the full 1.0 version on Xbox and PC. Arma Reforger 1.0 adds...
News Todd Howard Reflects On Morrowind's 'Huge Success' On Xbox, Admits It Kept Bethesda Going
"It became the second best-selling game behind Halo"
Industry legend Todd Howard recently got the chance to discuss the entire history of his video game career right up until the release of Starfield. He goes through Bethesda's many milestones over the years and also shares some extra insight about all of the projects he's worked on. One segment,...
News Free Play Days: Try These Xbox Games For Free (November 16-19)
Included with Game Pass Core and Game Pass Ultimate
Xbox Free Play Days has landed! This week, the team at Xbox HQ is offering up three titles to try out for free this weekend, including Codemasters' latest F1 title in F1 23. Here's the full list of games you can play this weekend: Deceive Inc. F1 23 Stray Blade As normal, you'll need Xbox Game...
Talking Point Overall, How Successful Has 2023 Been For Xbox?
Has it lived up to expectations?
We're gradually counting down to the end of 2023 now, and although we've still got a few big things on the way such as The Game Awards and Baldur's Gate 3's release, most of the big announcements should finally be finishing up. With that in mind, it's time to look back. 2023 has been a much busier year for Xbox than...
News Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League Pre-Orders Unlock 'Classic' Character Outfits
Unveiled during the "story & gameplay" insider ep
Ahead of the launch of Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League next February, Rocksteady has started a brand new video series revealing what players can expect when this team-based blockbuster does arrive. The first "insider" video is an introduction to the story and gameplay, sharing a sneak peek of...
News Killer Instinct 10th Anniversary Dev Stream Airs Later This Month
"The latest news on the upcoming changes"
The Xbox fighter Killer Instinct is celebrating its 10th anniversary later this month and as part of this it will be hosting a special Twitch livestream on 22nd November. During this developer stream, the team will be sharing "the latest news on the upcoming changes" to the game. This ties in with the...
News Team Green Reflects On 22 Years Since The Birth Of Xbox
"Thank you to everyone who has been party of this journey"
Yesterday we celebrated Xbox's 22nd birthday - yep, the big green machine is now 22 years of age, as is the Xbox brand as a whole! As you'd probably expect, some of Xbox's public-facing execs have commented on the big anniversary too, and we're feeling all warm and fuzzy inside thinking back...
News Remnant 2's First DLC 'The Awakened King' Is Now Live
Adds a new storyline, area and much more
Update [Thu 16th Nov, 2023 03:00 GMT]: Following an announcement earlier this month, Gunfire Games has now released its first expansion for Remnant 2. As part of this, it's also released full patch notes for the new update. Here's the full rundown: Remnant 2 - The Awakened King DLC (14 November...
Wednesday15th Nov 2023
News Xbox Reveals Full List Of 1000+ Games In The Black Friday Sale 2023
Here are some of the highlights!
We've been predicting that the Xbox Black Friday Sale 2023 would begin this week for a while now, and that's been officially confirmed by Microsoft, with the start date scheduled as Friday, November 17th. Microsoft has also revealed some other Xbox Black Friday deals that are on the way, such as $50 off the Xbox...
News Forza Motorsport's First DLC Track Now Live, Here's How It Compares To The Forza 7 Version
Trackside details gets a big bump
Forza Motorsport's first post-launch track is officially here, with the returning 'Yas Marina' circuit making its Xbox Series X|S debut. The course has featured in several Forza titles before, including Forza Motorsport 7, so we were curious as to how the new version stacks up. As usual, the community has delivered...
News Baldur's Gate 3 Xbox Release Date To Be Revealed At TGA 2023
"The game is on track for a December release"
It feels like we're getting news about Baldur's Gate 3 for Xbox on a near-daily basis at the moment, and the latest statement from the team at Larian Studios confirms we'll be hearing about a release date at The Game Awards 2023. The team says the game is "on track" for a December 2023 release on Xbox...
News Forza Motorsport Update 2 Now Live, Here Are The Full Patch Notes
Yas Marina and much more
Following on from another teaser last week, Forza Motorsport Update 2 is now officially rolling out on the Xbox Series X, Series S and PC. Once again, this update contains the addition of the new track "Yas Marina" along with career mode updates, new spotlight cars, new events for featured multiplayer and rivals events, and...
News 'Microsoft MakeCode Arcade' Now Allows You To Create Your Own Retro Xbox Games
Play the games you code on Xbox!
Have you ever wanted to create your own Xbox game, but you have no coding experience? There's a new option for you in the form of Microsoft MakeCode Arcade, which is a free, student-focused tool for making basic retro-style 2D games. You can access Microsoft MakeCode Arcade via its official website, where you'll...
News Microsoft Unveils Console Discounts For Black Friday, Including $50 Off Select Bundles
"Includes everything you need to play right out of the box"
Microsoft has announced its full suite of Xbox Black Friday sales for 2023, including discounts on its pair of current-gen consoles. The company will be offering up $50 discounts on both Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S systems, and the sales sound pretty widespread - at least in the US...
Reminder Seven Games Are Leaving Xbox Game Pass Today (November 15)
Your last chance to try these titles
It's that time again, folks! We've got seven games leaving Xbox Game Pass by the end of today, including Gungrave G.O.R.E, Coffee Talk, last year's Football Manager title (which has since been replaced with FM 2024) and more. Here's everything leaving Xbox Game Pass on November
News Lies Of P Update 1.3.0.0 Makes Balance Changes, Adds Extra Content On Xbox Game Pass
New hats and masks for all
Lies of P's latest update has landed today on Xbox Game Pass, and there's quite the list of changes and improvements here! The team has added some extra little bits of content in the form of some new apparel, alongside making a lengthy list of balance tweaks and bug fixes in update 1.3.0.0. Anyway, we'll drop the full...
Talking Point Today Marks 22 Years Of Xbox As OG Console Celebrates A Big Birthday
Happy birthday to the big green machine
The big 22! Yep, Xbox is now 22 years of age as Microsoft launched its first ever gaming console on November 15th, 2001. We still remember the days of the OG Xbox very fondly, and what came after has been an amazing ride for Xbox fans around the world. It's always weird to think that whenever we talk about...
News This Nostalgic Xbox Home Video Footage Now Has Over 4 Million Views On YouTube
It's a great excuse to watch it again!
Today marks the 22nd anniversary of the original Xbox's launch, and therefore we're once again thinking about this incredible bit of home video footage from YouTuber My Retro Life which first surfaced a few years ago. In the video, you can see Tyler of My Retro Life opening up the original Xbox on November...
News Forza Customs Is A New Car-Themed Puzzle Game Out Now On Android & iOS
Here's a look
Back in June, it was revealed Hutch Games was working on a Forza mobile title focused on car customisation. Now, in an update, Forza Customs has officially launched on Android and iOS devices and we've got a whole trailer to go with it. The title actually mixes car customisation with Match-3 puzzle gameplay - requiring players to...
News Larian To 'Push Many Boundaries' With Next Big Game After Success Of Baldur's Gate 3
Larian CEO: "I'm very excited about it"
Following a Baldur's Gate 3 update earlier this week, Larian CEO Swen Vincke has shared some insight about what's next for the Belgian video game developer. In response to the Baldur's Gate 3 Game Awards nomination, he mentioned how he was excited to "push many boundaries" with the company's "next big game"...
News Elder Scrolls Online's Free PvE Base Game Update Launches On Xbox
Infinite challenges await
Earlier this year, ZeniMax lifted the lid on The Elder Scrolls Online Endless Archive and Update 40, and it's now live across all platforms including Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and Windows. The Endless Archive, a PvE activity that's a free base-game addition, allows players to discover "an unending challenge" as they battle...
Roundup Here's What The Critics Think Of Xbox Game Pass RPG 'Persona 5 Tactica'
It's coming to the service this week!
The back half of November 2023 is a little light when it comes to Xbox Game Pass releases, but Persona 5 Tactica is certainly a major day one launch for the service - dropping on November 17th. However, early reviews have already arrived for this upcoming JRPG, so we wanted to give you a general idea on what...
News Age Of Empires 4 Gets 'Major Update' & New Expansion Launches On Xbox
"Our update is stuffed with goodies!"
It's a good week for Age of Empires 4 fans, as in addition to the new "Sultans Ascend" expansion that's just launched across all platforms, we've also got an entirely free update which is now live on Xbox and PC as well. The latest build is now known as Update 9.1.176, which specifically features the new Canal,...
Tuesday14th Nov 2023
News These Three Games Are Coming To Xbox Game Pass (November 17-28)
The latest official roundup of new titles
Microsoft has announced the second batch of Xbox Game Pass titles for November 2023! This new roundup includes previously confirmed Game Pass titles such as Persona 5 Tactica, along with a surprise in Dune: Spice Wars. The latter is already available on PC Game Pass, but is now making its console debut on...
News Another Seven Games Will Leave Xbox Game Pass Soon (November 30)
Including a batch of EA departures
Microsoft has revealed another seven games leaving Xbox Game Pass in the latter part of November 2023, and it includes a few pretty big departures from EA and others. Since April, three classic Battlefield titles have been unavailable to purchase as EA removed them from digital storefronts. Ahead of their online...
News Hogwarts Legacy Isn't Fully Open World On Switch Compared To Xbox
The Nintendo version looks vastly different
Hogwarts Legacy has no-doubt been one of the biggest releases of the year - initially arriving on Xbox Series X|S back in February before the Xbox One version landed in May. While the cross-gen versions ended up pretty well-matched, the Nintendo Switch version is out today, and there are some major dif
Reaction Looking Back, Xbox Has Had Some Strange GOTY Omissions Over The Years
Or are we just salty about Starfield?
Yesterday, Geoff Keighley & co. unveiled this year's Game of the Year nominees for The Game Awards 2023 - and we noted that Bethesda's brand-new IP Starfield failed to make the GOTY cut, despite being nominated for Best RPG. This GOTY omission has got folks talking (and us thinking) about Xbox's history with...
News Seven Halo 3 Maps Join Halo Infinite Today Alongside Free 20-Tier Pass
Classic maps recreated in Forge
Halo Infinite has gone through a lot over the course of its live service, but Season 5 has arguably been one of the best updates yet with not only plenty of new multiplayer content but also the addition of AI in the game's Forge mode. Now, to add to the excitement, the new event Operation: Combined Arms goes live...
Deals 100+ Xbox Games Discounted Ahead Of This Week's Big Black Friday Sale
Including some Rockstar classics!
It's almost time for the big Xbox Black Friday Sale 2023, during which hundreds of great games are expected to be discounted for a couple of weeks, but before then, we've got around 100 new offers to take advantage of as well. The light selection suggests the Black Friday Sale will begin later this week as we'd...
News Coral Island 1.0 Launches Today With Xbox Game Pass (November 14)
The title has a "Very Positive" rating on Steam
Ready to lose yourself in another colourful, cutesy farming sim? Well, Xbox Game Pass is delivering the goods! Today, Coral Island officially leaves early access, and the 1.0 version is available day one with Xbox Game Pass. So, here's an introduction to this new Xbox Game Pass addition, along with...
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...
News RoboCop: Rogue City Is Solid On Xbox Series S, But It's Missing Some Next-Gen Features
Rogue ray tracing
Digital Foundry is here with its latest tech breakdown - this time for Teyon's recent shooter Robocop: Rogue City. We actually covered the Series X version's impressive performance gains last week from another analysis, so it's the Series S version that's caugh
News Xbox's New FM24 Achievement Challenge Includes Real Paid Job As A Prize
Live out your dreams
If you've been enjoying Football Manager 2024 on Xbox Game Pass since it arrived earlier in November (we certainly have!), you may be interested in a new challenge that's been set by the folks at Xbox, SEGA and Sports Interactive. Basically, your task is to win a domestic league title in FM24 on Game Pass for PC or console,...
Review Persona 5 Tactica (Xbox) - A Successful Switch To Slick Tactical Action For Joker & Company
Love that Joker
Atlus games' phenomenal Persona 5 has already provided us with a couple of successful spin-offs in the form of Dynasty Warriors crossover Persona 5 Strikers and the rhythm action effort Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight. Now, the Phantom Thieves return for yet another side gig in the form of Persona 5 Tactica, a tactical turn-based...
News Ubisoft's Open World FPS 'Avatar: Frontiers Of Pandora' Has Officially Gone Gold
The title launches on Xbox next month
The release of Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora seems to be creeping up on us a little bit - it often feels that way when games launch in December! The good news is that it will definitely be out on Xbox next month anyway, as the dev team has announced that the title has officially gone gold. Yep, Ubisoft's open...
News Grounded's New Forge-Like 'Playgrounds' Update Is Out Now On Xbox Series X|S
Director: "We are definitely going to be adding more"
Here's your reminder that the huge Playgrounds update for Grounded is now available. In case you missed it the first time, this new mode comes with 300 world props, 400+ items, over 100 harvestables and much more. This mode also supports multiplayer, so you can play with your friends and family...
News The Talos Principle 2 Continues To Get Rave Reviews Following Recent Xbox Launch
Another "Overwhelmingly Positive" puzzle adventure
We often like to highlight new releases at Pure Xbox that may have gone under the radar a little bit but are nevertheless attracting a particularly positive reception, and November 2nd's The Talos Principle 2 is definitely one of those. This "thought-provoking first-person puzzle experience" is...
Monday13th Nov 2023
News Starfield Fails To Make Shortlist For 'Game Of The Year' At The Game Awards 2023
In fact, nothing from Xbox is in the list
The nominations for The Game Awards 2023 are here! Geoff Keighley revealed the full list this afternoon as part of a stream over on YouTube, including the Game of the Year award which doesn't include Starfield as we'd expected. Instead, here are the full nominees for Game of the Year at The Game Awards...
Random Xbox Fan Shows Ridiculously Dusty Series X Console After 3 Years Of Use
Xbox Series Xscrement
Xbox Series X|S just passed three years on the market this month, which means all of our launch-era consoles have had plenty of time to get dirty, full of grime, and load up on huge stacks of dust. While one of our very own Series X consoles has gathered plenty of dust in just a couple of years (pictured up above is our Halo...
News Ark: Survival Ascended Suffers Minor Last-Minute Delay For Xbox
It'll hopefully still be this week
We recently included Ark: Survival Ascended in our roundup of games coming to Xbox this week, and while that may still be the case, it sadly won't be happening on Tuesday (November 14th) as originally planned. The team behind Ark: Survival Ascended has confirmed the game is still going through the certification...
News Xbox's Antstream Arcade Loses 27 Games As Warner Bros. Partnership Ends
But a Namco collection is coming soon...
We've been big fans of the retro gaming collection Antstream Arcade on Xbox so far, but the team had some sad news to share this past weekend, as Warner Bros. was announced to be leaving Antstream - at least for the time being. As a result, 27 titles have departed the cloud streaming service over the past...
News Baldur's Gate 3's Xbox Reveal Seems Imminent As Developer Shares New Update
"It's going to be a busy week"
Larian Studios has once again shared an update on the progress of Baldur's Gate 3 for Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S today, and it sounds like we could be hearing about a release date very soon - maybe as soon as this week! In a message posted on Twitter, the company told Xbox fans (and fans of physical media) to...
Poll Which Call Of Duty Title Will You Be Most Excited To Play On Xbox Game Pass?
Microsoft is working on bringing them over
Eventually, lots of Call of Duty games will head to the Xbox Game Pass library thanks to Microsoft's mammoth Activision Blizzard deal. The team is still working behind the scenes to get CoD on Game Pass, but it'll happen eventually once everything is worked out by Xbox, Activision and al
Rundown on new ideas
Call of Duty 2023 is here, with Modern Warfare 3 taking the mantle this time around as the franchise's first 'back-to-back sequel' in its 20-year history. This year's game contains three main components: campaign, multiplayer and for the first time in the MW series, Zombies. But, how do they all stack up? And how does Zombies...
Black Friday Xbox Series X + MW3 Refurb Bundle Slashed To Less Than £380 In UK
Straight from the Microsoft Store itself!
The Black Friday console deals for the Xbox Series X began in some regions last week, and we noticed that the UK received some great offers across a wide variety of retailers for the Series X complete with various "free" games. Over the weekend, this only improved further! Microsoft has now decided to slash...
News Vapor World Is Bringing Its 'Sekiro' And 'Bloodborne' Inspirations To Xbox Game Pass
Surely Lies of P is an inspiration too?!
Anyone for another Xbox Game Pass announcement?! Vapor World: Over The Mind has been confirmed to be heading to Game Pass at some point in the future, and it's definitely coming to Xbox Series X and Series S as part of that. You'll probably notice that Vapor World: Over The Mind has an artstyle that's very...
News 'Spirittea' Is Available Today With Xbox Game Pass (November 13)
A new cosy life sim heads to Xbox Game Pass
After a new Xbox Game Pass title to dig into? We have a new addition to the library today! The Stardew Valley-inspired Spirittea is heading to the service as Microsoft continues to build out its November 2023 Game Pass library.
News Xbox's Latest Custom Console Bundle Features An Edible Chocolate Controller
Wonkalicious
We have another custom Xbox console unveiling today, and this is certainly a unique bundle if nothing else! To coincide with the upcoming Wonka film, Microsoft has created a new custom Xbox Series X console package that's themed on all-things chocolate - including an actual edible controller. As you've probably guessed already, you...
Interview Spirittea Publisher On Why Xbox Game Pass 'Very Much Works For Us'
"We're really enjoying subscription services"
Today marks the arrival of Spirittea as part of the Xbox Game Pass November 2023 lineup, taking the form of a rural-life RPG in which restless spirits have overrun a cosy mountainous town - and it's your job to fix their issues. "This is- well... used to be a nice town, but there have been some strange...
Saturday11th Nov 2023
Feature These 30+ Games Are Coming To Xbox Next Week (November 13-17)
Including three Game Pass titles!
Welcome to your Xbox games roundup for November 13-17! We've got some very intriguing stuff coming to Xbox over the next few days including Teardown, Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin and much more, along with three Xbox Game Pass titles in the form of Coral Island, Per
Guide When Will The Xbox Black Friday Sale 2023 Be Revealed?
We're hopefully just days away!
The Xbox Black Friday 2023 sale is almost upon us, during which hundreds of Xbox digital titles are expected to be discounted for a couple of weeks, possibly even extending into December 2023 as well. The official date of the sale hasn't been announced at the time of writing, but it should be just a few days away at...
News Robots At Midnight Announced Exclusively For Xbox Series X|S Consoles
Windows release also confirmed
During the Golden Joystick Awards earlier on, the indie Toronto studio Finish Line Games (Cel Damage HD, Skully) unveiled its new action-adventure RPG Robots at Midnight. It's been announced for Xbox Series X|S consoles and will arrive alongside a PC release (including the Microsoft Store). Here's a bit about the...
News Xbox Celebrates New Series X Wraps With Free Dynamic Backgrounds
Here's what they look like
Earlier this year, Microsoft announced special Xbox Series X console wraps, which are able to give the higher tier model a new look at an affordable price. While the Starfield design was the primary focus at the time, alongside this was actually the reveal of an 'Arctic Camo' and 'Mineral Camo' design. These other themes...
Poll Which Has Been The Best Generation Of Xbox So Far?
Is it the current one?
November marks a big time for celebration in the Xbox community, as we've got anniversaries for multiple consoles along with the brand itself! Yesterday marked the third birthday for the Xbox Series X and Series S, November 15th will be the 22nd birthday for Xbox as a whole, and the Xbox One will celebrate its 10th birthday on...
News Call Of Duty: MW3 Removes Some Maps Due To Unfavourable Spawns
The team is investigating the issue
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 arrived on the Xbox and various other platforms this week, and it seems there have been some teething issues. One, in particular, that has created some problems for players is a multiplayer spawn glitch, where players restart in the same location over and over again. Activision and...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (November 11-12)
How about some Wild Hearts?
Welcome to the weekend! We've got so many Xbox Game Pass titles to enjoy over the next couple of days, along with another batch of Free Play Days titles, some major new releases including Call of Duty: MW3, and a big sale as always! Here's what we're playing this weekend: Fraser Gilbert, Editor: I'm hooked on Football...
Friday10th Nov 2023
Poll Will You Be Buying Baldur's Gate 3 For Xbox Series X|S?
Is it in the plans?
We're getting closer and closer to the arrival of Baldur's Gate 3 on Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, and it feels like the most recent breakthrough with the Series S version means we'll hopefully still be playing it before the end of 2023. Xbox is late to the party though, and both PC and PS5 owners have had the chance to enjoy...
News Starfield Wins Xbox GOTY At Golden Joystick Awards 2023
Baldur's Gate 3 crowned the "Ultimate" GOTY
The Golden Joystick Awards 2023 took place earlier today, and Starfield took home the Xbox Game of the Year award! Bethesda's epic RPG managed to beat Dead Space, Hi-Fi RUSH, Planet of Lana, Chants Of Sennaar and Pentiment
News Xbox Teams Up With BTS's Jungkook For Surprise Performance In Times Square
A custom Series X was created for the occasion too
Last night was pretty spectacular for fans of BTS superstar Jungkook, as Xbox partnered with the singer to help deliver his surprise performance in Times Square, as well as putting together a beautiful custom Xbox Series X design. That custom Series X (seen below) was given away as part of a Twitch...
Talking Point Xbox Series X|S Has Been Out For Three Years, And It's Now Hitting Its Stride
Happy third birthday, Xbox Series X|S!
We're officially three years into the current generation of Xbox gaming! Yep, Xbox Series X|S hit the market three years ago today, bringing super-fast SSD speeds and plenty of 120FPS gaming to Xbox fans around the world on November 10, 2020. We must admit though, it's been a bit of a weird generation so far,...
News Xbox Rolls Out 'Experimental' New Feature To Microsoft Edge App
Available now for some Xbox Insiders
We've actually found ourselves using the Microsoft Edge app on Xbox quite a lot over the past few years, as it's still a good way to access video content that doesn't yet have an official app on Xbox - in my case, it's FITE for AEW in the UK. However, it's definitely not perfect. I've personally had to deal with...
News Former Xbox Boss Reflects On His Famous Tattoo As Halo 2 Turns 19
"We at Xbox changed blockbuster gaming marketing forever"
This week marks 19 years since Bungie's global hit Halo 2 arrived on the original Xbox. While we're not quite at the two-decade milestone just yet, there are already some celebrations going down. Former Xbox boss Peter Moore has used it as an opportunity to reflect on that famous Halo 2...
War never changes (but it could at least have tried)
A brand new re-release of a bunch of Metal Gear Solid games that take in the series' history from 1987 right up to 2004 should, you would think, be cause for much celebration. Hideo Kojima's jaw-dropping stealth spectaculars remain as vitally important as ever, absolute must-plays for any student...
News My Time At Sandrock Climbs Into 'Top Paid' Xbox Chart Following Popular Launch
The follow-up to My Time at Portia
Last week saw the release of My Time at Sandrock on Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, serving as a sequel to the current Xbox Game Pass title My Time At Portia - and it seems to have proved popular so far. Although reviews have been poor for the Nintendo Switch version (our sister site Nintendo Life gave...
News Steam Deck Dual-Boot Windows Support Is Still A High Priority For Valve
A new Steam Deck OLED has just been announced
Valve has just lifted the lid on the Steam Deck OLED, the next iteration of its portable handheld gaming hardware. As part of this, it's now reassuring fans native dual-boot support for the system is "high on the list" of priorities. As highlighted by The Verge, Valve designer Lawrence Yang recently...
News Xbox Wants 'All Of The Games' In Its Portfolio To Matter, Not Just Huge IP
Matt Booty: From Halo to Psychonauts "and everything in between"
Following its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Microsoft and Team Xbox now have more studios (and games) than ever. If there was any concern about how all this is going to be managed or if certain franchises will be overshadowed by others, there's apparently no need to worry...
Report Modern Warfare 3's Campaign Had 'Shortest' Dev Time For A New Call Of Duty In Years
It was assembled in "roughly 16 months"
Alongside the launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 today, Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier has published a story about the game's rushed development. One bit of information, in particular, is the mention of the campaign's development cycle. Prior to the "harsh reviews", developers were "forced" to finish...
News Warhammer 40K: Darktide Anniversary Update Arrives For Free On Xbox This Month
First part in November, second part in December
If you've been enjoying your time with Warhammer 40K: Darktide on Xbox Game Pass so far, you'll be glad to hear we're getting a free two-part update - the first portion arriving later this month, and the second arriving in December. Known as "The Traitor Curse", this update celebrates the first...
Thursday9th Nov 2023
News Three Games Are Available Today With Xbox Game Pass (November 9)
Including a brand-new AAA release!
Welcome to your biggest Xbox Game Pass drop of the month so far! We have three titles heading to the library today, including a major AAA launch in Like a Dragon Gaiden and your latest addition to the EA Play selection with Wild Hearts. Here's an introduction to each of today's new Xbox Game Pass arrivals:
News New 'Taxi Life' Game Features 286 Miles Of Roads, Coming To Xbox In February 2024
This could be another hit simulator
It's been a pretty fun generation so far if you're a fan of simulator games, with the likes of Police Simulator: Patrol Officers and even Lawn Mowing Simulator often finding their way into the "Top Paid" Xbox games list. Developers certainly aren't slowing down when it comes to creating new sims for the platform,...
Review Wild Hearts (Xbox) - Koei Tecmo & EA's Monster Hunter-Like Arrives On Xbox Game Pass
How does it hold up?
Update (Thu 9th Nov, 2023): With Wild Hearts arriving on Xbox Game Pass as part of EA Play today, we thought we'd re-share this review from earlier in the year so you can get an idea of what it's like, and whether it's worth a download. Keep in mind the game has also received multiple patches since release, as documented on the...
News Free Play Days: Try These Xbox Games For Free (November 9-12)
Included with Game Pass Core & Game Pass Ultimate
Xbox's latest set of Free Play Days titles is now live - with four games making up this week's promotion. We do have a few Xbox Game Pass titles in here this weekend, but none are available on Game Pass Core - so there are some good options here for members of Microsoft's entry-level subscription...
News Microsoft Signs Deal To Bring Paramount Plus To Xbox In Many More Countries
It's coming to an "expanded audience"
Well, this is pretty cool if you're a fan of Paramount Plus! It's been announced today that Microsoft and Paramount have teamed up to bring the service to Xbox in many more countries around the world. Specifically, Paramount Plus will be accessible on Xbox in Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Germany,...
News Xbox Series X Drops To $449.99 With Free $75 Gift Card In The US
The Black Friday deals have begun!
So, you want a good deal on the Xbox Series X this Black Friday? Even though we've got a couple of weeks to go until BF officially starts, there's already an excellent offer for the Series X courtesy of Dell Technologies. Dell has reduced the Xbox Series X by $50 to just $449.99 right now, and you also get a $75...
News Microsoft Appoints Former Forza Boss As New Xbox Game Studios Head
Matt Booty recently moved into a new role
Last month, Xbox revealed a company reshuffle with multiple executives moving into new roles. One of these individuals was Matt Booty, who is now 'President of Game Content and Studios' overseeing Bethesda and leaving behind his old role as Xbox Game Studios head. If you're wondering who is replacing this...
News Xbox's Matt Booty Suggests Hellblade 2 Will 'Come Later' In 2024
Possibly after Ara: History Untold and Towerborne
We've been waiting for the arrival of Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 ever since it was first announced back at The Game Awards 2019, and it sounds like we've still got a while left to go until it finally releases for Xbox Series X and Series S. In a new interview with Matt Booty (Xbox President of Game...
News Alan Wake 2 'Update 10' Now Live On Xbox, Includes 100+ Fixes In Total
Hopefully no more audio issues on Series X|S
Remedy continues to be hard at work on pushing out updates for Alan Wake 2 across Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S (along with PS5 and PC), and the latest patch - "Update 10" - is now officially available to download. The big Xbox-specific highlight here is the improvements to audio, which hopefully means...
News 'Clockwork Revolution' Dev inXile Talks About Benefits Of Working Under Xbox
"They trust us"
It's well-known how Microsoft likes to let its studios within Xbox do their own thing nowadays, and it seems it's no different for Wasteland developer inXile Entertainment, who is currently working on its RPG-inspired game, Clockwork Revolution. In an appearance on 'The Fourth Curtain' podcast recently, the studio head of InXile,...
News 2K Reveals New, Astronomical Sales Figures For GTA & Red Dead Franchises
Two incredibly successful series
The grand reveal for GTA 6 is finally upon us, with developer Rockstar officially confirming that an announcement trailer is coming next month for the hotly-anticipated sequel. In the wake of this GTA tease, IP owner Take-Two has revealed some new sales figures for its most popular series. We've known for ages now...
News Overwatch's League Shutdown Might Cost Activision Blizzard (And Now Microsoft) $120m
Update: Blizzard seemingly confirms "new direction"
Update [Thu 9th Nov, 2023 02:00 GMT]: A Blizzard rep has now told Engadget it's "transitioning from the Overwatch League" and evolving "competitive Overwatch in a new direction". "We are grateful to everyone who made OWL possible and remain focused on building our vision of a revitalized esports...
News Return To The Skies In Flight Simulator's Free Content Update
Nordics & Greenland available now
Ahead of the launch of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, the existing release Microsoft Flight Simulator has received a new content update 'World Update XV'. This new update focuses on the Nordics & Greenland and adds 90 "hand-made" points of interest, 10 triangulated irregular network cities, 5 hand-crafted...
News TimeSplitters Studio Free Radical Reportedly At Risk Of Closure
Another Embracer Group shutdown could happen
The first-person shooter series TimeSplitters was meant to be making a comeback after UK developer Free Radical Design was revived in 2021. Unfortunately, in a new update, it seems the studio is now at risk of being closed down by its parent company Embracer Group. According to VGC, Embracer is still...
Video An Introduction To 'Persona 5 Tactica' Ahead Of Its Xbox Game Pass Launch
Here are 15 things to know about the upcoming Persona title!
Persona 5 Tactica has been one of our most anticipated Xbox Game Pass titles for ages - Atlus's upcoming spinoff heads to the library on November 17th, 2023. Ahead of that day one Game Pass launch, we've been hands-on with the new JPRG - and have come away with 15 neat details to tell you...
Wednesday8th Nov 2023
News Bethesda Reveals What's Coming To Starfield Update 1.8.83 This Month
The Steam Beta now live on PC as well!
The next Starfield update is on the horizon! Bethesda has today revealed what'll be included with Starfield Update 1.8.83 when it arrives later this month, and PC players can even start accessing it today with the Starfield Steam Beta. In terms of highlights, the biggest is probably DLSS support on PC, while...
Guide How To Enable 2FA For Added Security On Xbox
Protect your account
Something we're big advocates of here at Pure Xbox is using two-step/two-factor authentication (or 2FA) to protect your Xbox account (and other accounts, such as your Fortnite Epic Games login), with additional security. It's actually really easy to do, and only takes five or ten minutes to set up. So, how do you turn on...
News Xbox Players Urged To Use '2FA' Security After Account Gets Hacked
"Honestly my heart is broken"
As the years roll on and our Xbox accounts get more and more precious to us, it becomes imperative to make sure they're as secure as possible. Sadly, some Xbox owners don't find that out until it's too late. Case in point, a new story that's been posted to the Xbox subreddit in which the OP shares their sad response...
News Larian Achieves Breakthrough With Baldur's Gate 3 On Xbox Series S
"I think this will benefit all platforms too"
We're still waiting on that all-important release date for Baldur's Gate 3 on Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, and we're keeping our fingers crossed that it's not too far away at this point - especially after today's news. Larian Studios CEO Swen Vincke took to Twitter a few hours ago to reveal the BG3...
News Xbox Users Left Disappointed As Microsoft Rewards Suffers Another Big Setback
This is a major drop in potential points
Microsoft Rewards continues to be an amazing way to earn free credit for things like Xbox Game Pass and even Ticketmaster codes, but over the past few months, we've started to see a decline in the number of points you can earn. This has continued over t
News RoboCop: Rogue City Analysis Shows Big Performance Gains On Xbox Series X
A new Unreal Engine 5 game tested
Robocop: Rogue City launched last week as an actual current-gen only game - partly down to it being built on Epic's latest Unreal Engine 5 technology. Despite being somewhat rudimentary in nature, UE5's Rogue City seems to be pushing the consoles quite a bit - and Xbox Series X is handling it quite well. As you can...
News Multiple Xbox Games Are Reduced By 90-95% This Week (November 7-14)
From as low as $0.99!
Looking for some cheap Xbox games in this week's Xbox sales from November 7th to 14th? There are some pretty interesting 90% and 95% discounts on Xbox this week in the form of ultra-cheap indie titles such as American Fugitive, Bomber Crew and Hotshot Racing, all of which are definitely worth such a small fee. Below, we've...
News Microsoft Adds New Feature To Help Track Games Leaving Xbox Game Pass
This could come in pretty handy!
For a good while now, Microsoft has typically updated us all on what's leaving Xbox Game Pass through its regular Xbox Wire roundups. These roundups are clear and concise enough, but they don't give players much time to find such info before the titles leave the library - usually around two weeks or so. However, the...
News Xbox Game Pass Leads To Huge 'Player Engagement' Spike For Gotham Knights
"The initial surge on PS+ did not match that of GP"
Gotham Knights was a pretty major Xbox Game Pass drop last month - sure, the game didn't get the best reception at launch, but a relatively new 'Batman' game is always going to make a splash on Game Pass - and that it seemingly has! As posted out by Circana's Mat Piscatella (NPD), 6% of all...
News Xbox Reiterates It Will Have Stronger Relations With Square Enix Going Forward
Final Fantasy 14 Online arrives on Xbox "Spring 2024"
Square Enix and Xbox's partnership appears to be blossoming once again following the announcement earlier this year that Final Fantasy 14 Online would be coming to the green machine in Spring 2024. At the time, Phil Spencer mentioned how Microsoft and Xbox would be "partnering closely" with...
News Rockstar Confirms GTA 6 Trailer Will Be Revealed In Early December
It's happening!
Update: It's official! Rockstar Games has confirmed today that the first trailer for GTA 6 will be revealed in early December 2023, and we're guessing it could be part of The Game Awards showcase on December 7th. Bring it on! "We are very excited to let you know that in early December, we will release the first trailer for the next...
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...
News Xbox's New AI Partnership Is Stirring Up A Heated Debate On Social Media
Are you "for" or "against" the idea?
Back on Monday, Xbox and Microsoft announced a new partnership with Inworld AI as part of plans to create a multi-platform AI toolset that will "assist and empower creators in dialogue, story & quest design". As you can probably imagine, there have been some negative reactions to this. Over the past couple...
News BioWare Celebrates N7 Day 2023 With New Mass Effect Teaser Trailer
"There are answers, but you'll have to wait"
It was the Mass Effect series' N7 Day earlier this week and as part of this, legendary developer BioWare has shared another teaser. In a brief blog update wishing the community a "Happy N7 Day", franchise director and executive producer Mike Gamble mentioned how the team was approaching the "future of...
Talking Point Xbox's Influential Gears Of War Sequel Is Now 15 Years Old
Happy belated birthday, Gears 2!
Ahh, the original Gears trilogy - one of our absolute favourite collections in the Xbox library. We had so much fun on these games back in the day, and this week, the second game in the series celebrated a rather substantial birthday. Gears of War 2 is now 15 years of age, and it was a pretty influential game for its...
News Xbox Boss Makes Time To Help Mentor Game Critics In New York
"Spencer was honest, self-deprecating and offered sage advice"
It's safe to say that Phil Spencer has been busy as of late, right? The Xbox boss has been doing his fair share of travelling and meeting dev teams recently as Microsoft wraps up its ActiBlizz purchase, but as we've come to expect from the main man, he's also made time for a less...
News Ubisoft Axes 124 Jobs As Part Of Company Restructure
Assassin's Creed dev Ubisoft Montreal impacted
Following the news last week Bungie had cut "an estimated 100 jobs", the French video game publisher Ubisoft has now axed 124 employees to "streamline" its operations and enhance the company's "collective efficiency". This company restructuring will remove 98 positions in Canada, which is reportedly...
News Lords Of The Fallen Dev Shares 'Free Content Plan' For 2023 On Xbox
The dev has big plans for its new soulslike
Lords Of The Fallen launched last month on Xbox to a somewhat mixed reception, but that hasn't slowed the team down at all. In a new developer update, Hexworks & CI Games have provided a brand-new DLC roadmap for the rest of the year, and it looks stacked with new content for the soulslike action-RPG...
Tuesday7th Nov 2023
News These 1400+ Games Are Included With Antstream Arcade On Xbox
The full list of retro titles
Update: This list of Antstream Arcade games on Xbox is now up to date as of December 11th, 2023. Original story: This week marks the release of Antstream Arcade on Xbox, which serves as the "biggest content drop in Xbox history" with over 1400 retro games arriving as part of the cloud-streaming service on Friday, July...
Guide Call Of Duty: MW3 Release Date, Release Times & Preload Details On Xbox
Everything you need to know for the Xbox launch
Your latest Call of Duty game is almost here with the release of Modern Warfare 3, although with Activision's new method of offering an early access window for the game's campaign, knowing exactly when to play can get confusing. So, we've gathered up all the details you need to know for accessing MW3...
News Xbox's 'Buy Two, Get One Free' Sale Contains Really Random Selection Of Games
From Starfield to, err, Pure Farming 2018?!
Xbox's latest set of deals is now available, with more than 300 offers live for at least the next week or so across various Xbox promotions. However, we have another sales promo that expires later this week (on November 10th), and it features a very random selection of titles. Yep, it's one of those 'buy...
News Forza Motorsport Update 2 Launches Next Week, Here Are The Patch Notes
Includes a brand new track
Following a sneak peek of the Forza Motorsport Update 2 late last month, Turn 10 Studios has now released the full outline of what to expect. As previously mentioned, this update includes an additional track location (Yas Marina) along with four unique layouts to master. Apart from this, there's a bunch of other new...
News Elon Musk Is Getting Involved With Xbox & PlayStation's Twitter Troubles
"I will look into this"
Back in April, Microsoft announced that it was disabling the ability to share Xbox GameDVR images and clips to Twitter from consoles and Windows PCs, which was presumed at the time to be a result of Twitter's new API pricing structure. Now, Sony has essentially done the same thing, announcing that PlayStation's Twitter...
News Blizzard Open To StarCraft Revival Under Microsoft, New Idea Requires 'Vision And Passion'
Blizzard president: "I'll bet on that team"
Now that Microsoft and Xbox's acquisition of Activision Blizzard has gone through, there are many fans out there calling for the return of series like StarCraft. Believe it or not, but the last entry released was the remaster of the original title back in 2017, so what are the future plans for this famous...
News Antstream Arcade Unveils New Games Coming To Xbox, Including An Unreleased SNES Title
And a first look at its "biggest update ever"
The cloud-streaming retro paradise known as Antstream Arcade is continuing to go from strength to strength across all of its platforms including Xbox right now, with a bunch of new games and major features on the way. We highlighted a lot of these features in our last roundup about Antstream, such as a...
Deals 300+ Games Included In This Week's Xbox Sales (November 7-14)
Including Sifu and lots of simulator games!
Ready for another week of Xbox deals? We've got just over 300 games on sale for the next week across a variety of sales including "Publisher Spotlight", "Sales & Specials" and "ID@Xbox Simulator" promotions! You'll find some of our handpicked highlights in the table below, but if you're interested in...
News 'The Finals' Had An Extremely Successful Beta Ahead Of Its Full Free-To-Play Launch On Xbox
"An unforgettable week for us"
The Finals' open beta has now officially wrapped up, and it looks like it's been a very successful week or so for the team at Embark Studios. After a bumpy first day or two while the team smoothed over some launch issues, the open beta managed to bring in 7.5 million players while it was live on Xbox, PlayStation and...
What's the story, Morning Glory?
If there's one group of gamers who've been eating better than most lately, it's definitely Like A Dragon/Yakuza fans. Over the past few years we've seen Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio fully invest in revisiting, remaking and remastering important parts of its long-running RPG series, continuing to add stunning new entries to...
News Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 Hailed As 'True Smash Bros. Rival' Amidst Impressive Reviews
"The sequel takes so many steps beyond its predecessor..."
Today marks the release of Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 on Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S (along with various other platforms), and considering the first game only racked up a Metacritic score of 65, we're very pleasantly surprised to see the sequel faring much better than that...
News Alan Wake 2 Dev Working Towards 'Full Fix' For Audio Issues On Xbox Series X|S
A "workaround fix" is now live
Alan Wake 2 got its first big patch last week; an update that attempted to rectify some of the audio issues that players have experienced so far, along with applying a bunch of other bug fixes and gameplay changes. Well, it seems that this patch didn't fix everything audio-related, as Remedy has announced its next set...
News Blizzard Excited To Have More Independence Under Xbox
A "new era" has begun
During BlizzCon 2023's opening ceremony, Blizzard's president Mike Ybarra mentioned how it was a "new era" for the company under Xbox and Microsoft Gaming, so what exactly does he mean by this? In a new interview with The Verge, Ybarra elaborated on how this essentially translates to more creative freedom and empowerment -...
News Assassin's Creed Mirage Update Out Today, Here's What's Included
Chromatic aberration options & more
Assassin's Creed Mirage took the series back to its stealth roots when it arrived on Xbox Series X|S last month, and with the game's launch now out of the way, Ubisoft is focused on improving the experience with updates. According to the official social media account, the highlights include the ability to switch...
News Roboquest 1.0 Launches Today With Xbox Game Pass (November 7)
The full quest is here
We have a new Xbox Game Pass launch today in the form of Roboquest's full 1.0 release! The early access version of RyseUp's shooter has been available in the library for a while now, but the team is now ready to fully launch into Game Pass. Here's a bit more about the full version of Roboquest as it arrives on Xbox Game Pass...
Roundup Here's What The Critics Are Saying About Like A Dragon Gaiden
Out this week on Xbox Game Pass!
We're busy with all sorts of game releases as of late, and one of the newest ones to arrive on the scene is Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name. It stars the once-legendary yakuza Kazuma Kiryu who has gone into hiding but is thrust back into conflict by a mysterious figure. Multiple reviews for this...
Monday6th Nov 2023
News Blizzard On The Possibility Of WoW On Xbox: 'We Are Microsoft Now'
"Of course we're talking about that"
There's been a lot of conversation previously about whether or not Blizzard's legendary MMO World of Warcraft could one day come to consoles, so is there a chance now that the Microsoft acquisition is complete? During an interview at BlizzCon 2023, World of Warcraft vice president and executive producer Holly...
News Microsoft Says 'No' To Horror Game That's Apparently 'Too Crazy For Xbox'
"Only PlayStation will allow it"
It's not very often we hear about games that Microsoft has literally blocked from appearing on the Xbox Store, but that's apparently what's happened in the case of Christmas Massacre, which arrives for PlayStation on November 17th. The horror game, which originally launched back in 2021 for PC and has since received...
News Football Manager 2024 Is Available Today With Xbox Game Pass (November 6)
Both 'Football Manager' and 'Football Manager Console' are included!
Ready to put your footie management hats on? Today, Football Manager 2024 enters the Xbox Game Pass library in two forms - both the full-fat PC version and 'Football Manager 2024 Console' are in available in the library from November 6th. Here's a bit more about this year's...
News Ark: Survival Ascended Set To Make Console Debut On Xbox Next Week
Featuring PC and (eventually) PS5 crossplay
It was announced back at the Xbox Partner Preview event last month that Ark: Survival Ascended would be coming to Xbox in November, and now the development team has revealed that November 14th is the targeted release date. In a community update, it was explained that the Xbox vers
News Phil Spencer: We Will Think Of Nintendo & PlayStation Users As 'Part Of The Xbox Community'
Phil talks the future of Xbox
Phil Spencer has been busy in the wake of Xbox's Activision Blizzard deal finally being approved last month, but that hasn't stopped the Xbox boss from sitting down for another lengthy interview. This time, Phil talked to Japanese outlet Famitsu about plenty of different aspects of the Xbox brand, including its future...
Poll What Do You Think Of Warhammer 40K: Darktide On Xbox Game Pass?
Did it live up to the hype?
Last month was stacked for Xbox Game Pass, with the likes of Forza Motorsport and Dead Space stealing the spotlight in terms of the big hitters, but another game that also arrived on Xbox Series X|S was Warhammer 40K: Darktide. This is a release that had been hyped up
News BG3 Dev Responds To Latest Xbox Release Date Leak: 'News To Me'
"The plan is still before the end of the year"
Over the past few days, there was a supposed "leak" via eXputer revealing Baldur's Gate 3 would be arriving on Xbox Series X|S systems on 6th December. Larian's director of publishing Michael Douse has now responded. Taking to social media, he mentioned how this was the first he had essentially heard...
News Halo Infinite Dev Posts Lengthy Response To 'Increased' Bundle Prices
"I understand this isn't necessarily what everyone wants to hear"
Halo developer 343 Industries has finally begun implementing a long-promised Halo Infinite feature - customisation items that work across different 'Spartan Cores' within multiplayer. While this feature's addition is certainly welcome, it's brought an unfortunate consequence that's...
Guide Xbox Adds More Perks For Game Pass Ultimate Members (November 2023)
Ready for battle
It's time for another batch of Xbox Game Pass Perks for November 2023! We haven't got too many to shout about so far, but Battlefield 2042 fans will find a Season 6 Field Kit to enjoy, and we're also highlighting the Fallout 76 5th Birthday Bundle that technically arrived back in October, but only at the tail end of the month. Here...
News Xbox's Dynamic Background Collection Grows With New 'EA Sports WRC' Effort
Kickin' up dust
EA is back again with another dynamic background for Xbox Series X|S - the company seems to be one of the biggest supporters of the feature so far! Following last week's UFC 5 addition comes a new effort for Codemasters' brand-new racer; EA Sports WRC. As is becoming the norm, we'd like it if this one was a bit more 'dynamic', but...
News Xbox Signs New AI Partnership To 'Assist And Empower' Game Creators
"Our goal is to deliver state-of-the-art AI tools"
Xbox has announced today that it has entered into a partnership with the company "Inworld AI" in an attempt to "empower game creators with the potential of generative AI" in dialogue, story and quest design. Inworld describes itself as the "leading Character Engine for AI NPCs", and Microsoft...
News Xbox Fans Turn Up In Numbers As Fortnite Sets Astonishing New Records
"We're blown away by the response"
This past Friday saw the arrival of the "Fortnite OG" mini-season, bringing the original map from Fortnite's battle royale back into the fold for the first time in years, and it's safe to say it's been an absolute smash hit for Epic Games so far. According to analyst Mat Piscatella of Circana (formerly NPD), 38%...
Sunday5th Nov 2023
News Here Are The First Impressions Of The Call Of Duty: MW3 Campaign
What do the critics think?
As you likely know by now, "early access" for the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 campaign is now underway and we've even got some early reviews from a number of outlets, sharing their first impressions. Unfortunately, it's not going down very well so far, with some critics now beginning to reveal their own thoughts on the...
Saturday4th Nov 2023
Feature These 20+ Games Are Coming To Xbox Next Week (November 6-10)
Including another big week for Game Pass!
Welcome to your Xbox games roundup for November 6-10! The big release of next week is obviously Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, but we've also got a big week coming up for Xbox Game Pass with the arrivals of Football Manager 2024, Dungeons 4
News Here's What Might Be Leaving Xbox Game Pass In December 2023
Some early predictions!
What's leaving Xbox Game Pass in December 2023? Well, Microsoft hasn't confirmed anything just yet, but based on some games that were added to the service this time last year, we can at least make a few predictions ahead of time. We know that a lot of Xbox users want more advance notice of games leaving Xbox Game Pass, but...
Guide BlizzCon 2023: Every Diablo, Overwatch & Warcraft Announcement
Everything from the opening ceremony
It's BlizzCon this weekend and in case you somehow missed it, Blizzard is now operating under Microsoft and Xbox. This means all of Blizzard's offerings are now technically a part of the Xbox brand, so there could potentially be all sorts of exciting announcements in the future. On day one of BlizzCon 2023, Xbox...
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...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (November 4-5)
Any of you jumping into the MW3 campaign?
Another weekend is here folks, and we want to know what you're playing for the first weekend of November! October was a busy one when it came to new releases, not to mention this week's arrival of the Modern Warfare 3 campaign, so there's plenty to be playing on Xbox this weekend. Here's what we're getting...
News Fortnite Revives Chapter 1 In Its New 'OG Season'
A blast from the past
Epic's popular battle royale is returning to its roots this season with the launch of Fortnite 'Chapter 4: Season OG'. This season will allow players to drop into 'Chapter 1 Season 5' with each major update to follow bringing in a different phase of the battle royale's past. This includes Shopping Carts, ATKs, assault rifles,...
News New Overwatch 2 Tank Hero 'Mauga' Unveiled At BlizzCon 2023
Try him out this weekend in a "limited-time trial"
As part of the BlizzCon 2023 celebrations, the class-based free-to-play shooter Overwatch 2 has unveiled a brand new hero. Introducing Mauga - a brand new tank hero. He'll be available in a "limited-time trial" this weekend before his release in Season 8. Here's a bit about him, courtesy of...
Friday3rd Nov 2023
News Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 Is 'Anything But Masterful', Says Digital Foundry
"The execution leaves much to be desired"
Digital Foundry's initial look at Konami's new Metal Gear Solid Collection is here, and the results aren't great if we're totally honest. While the team working on this collection has put effort into the front end menus, cramming in some nice bonus features, the games themselves get subpar treatment overall...
News Activision Explains Larger File Sizes For Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
"Due to the increased amount of content"
If you're struggling to find space for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 on your Xbox, you're probably not alone. In fact, Activision has now issued a statement via social media addressing the game's file sizes across all platforms. The reason it's so much "larger than last year" is tied to the "increased...
News Microsoft Employees Will Reportedly Lose 'Free Xbox Game Pass Ultimate'
Update: Phil Spencer confirms this won't be happening
Update [Sat 4th Nov, 2023 11:00 GMT]: Microsoft is now reportedly "reversing" the decision to remove a free Xbox Game Pass Ultimate employee benefit after complaints (via The Verge). Phil Spencer investigated the situation himself and issued the following update to all employees via the...
News Vampire Survivors Is Bringing A New Story Mode To Xbox Game Pass
In the form of 'Adventures'
Hot on the heels of its winter update, developer Poncle has announced another major content drop for Vampire Survivors - with an entirely new game mode in the mix for version 1.8. 'Adventures' will debut in the game's next big update, "coming soon" to the Xbox Game Pass title
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,...
News Metacritic Data Suggests 2023 Has Been The Best Year In Gaming For 20 Years
"2023 is one of the best years ever for video game releases"
There's no denying it's felt like a fantastic year for video games so far. 2023 has delivered some absolute bangers such as Alan Wake 2, Resident Evil 4 Remake and Baldur's Gate 3, alongside other platform exclusives like Nintendo's Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Data from Metacritic
News 'Massive' Payday 3 Update Hits Xbox Game Pass, Here Are The Full 1.01 Patch Notes
"The first patch for PAYDAY 3 is finally here"
Payday 3 launched on Xbox Game Pass back in September, and the dev team was fairly quick to address some major server issues that plagued the game around launch. However, a broader patch was delayed multiple times through October, but it's now finally here as we move into November. Payday 3 update 1.01...
News Some Xbox Fans Aren't Happy About 'Intrusive' Call Of Duty: MW3 Ads
Boot up your Xbox and take a look
The marketing for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is well and truly underway, and now that Microsoft has finalised the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, it seems it's even getting in on the action. Today, alongside the "early access" preload and campaign launch of Modern Warfare 3, Microsoft is running large ads...
News PlayStation Studio Bungie Knows It's 'Lost' A Lot Of The Destiny 2 Community's Trust
"This has been one of the most difficult weeks"
Earlier this week, Bungie confirmed it had to say goodbye to many colleagues after a report revealed the PlayStation-owned studio had axed 8% of its workforce (around 100 jobs). Bungie higher-ups had also revealed just weeks before to staff that the company was running at 45% below its revenue...
News Xbox Developer MachineGames Opens Up New Studio In Sweden
Feed the machine
Wolfenstein developer MachineGames came under Xbox ownership when Microsoft acquired Bethesda in 2021, although we haven't seen the team produce a game of its own since the purchase. Still, we know they're working on a new Indiana Jones game, and they've just opened up a new studio to help that project progress. As rev
News IO's Upcoming James Bond Game Reportedly 'A More Scripted Experience' Than Hitman
The studio describes it as "the ultimate spycraft fantasy"
Things have been a little quiet on the upcoming 007 game from Hitman team IO Interactive, but more details have surfaced after a new developer interview with EDGE Magazine (thanks, GamesRadar). The project is still s
Pick One What Was Your Favourite Xbox Game Pass Game In October 2023?
Forza Motorsport? Dead Space? Tell us!
Well, another month of Xbox Game Pass is done and dusted! November is already looking excellent, but we thought we'd take one last opportunity to glance back at a very busy October 2023 for Microsoft's excellent subscription service. The big highlight of October was the first-party release of Forza Motorsport,...
News Xbox Adds Another New Dynamic Background For Xbox Series X|S Owners
Celebrating the arrival of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
To celebrate the arrival of Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 this month, a new MW3-themed dynamic background is now available to Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S owners. To apply it, you'll need to head over to the Settings menu > Personalisation > My Background > Dynamic Backgrounds...
News Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's Campaign 'Early Access' Is Now Live
"The next chapter in Modern Warfare is here"
Update [Fri 3rd Nov, 2023 00:05 GMT]: The campaign "early access" for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 has officially gone live. You can choose between the Vault Edition and cross-gen / standard edition. Original story [Thu 2nd Nov, 2023 01:00 GMT]: The release of Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is...
News Exoprimal's Major Monster Hunter Crossover Hits Xbox Game Pass In January
A new monster emerges
Capcom has released more details on Exoprimal's big Monster Hunter Crossover, ahead of the event kicking off on January 18th, 2024. The collaboration will bring a new MH-themed mission, a collection of Monster Hunter skins and more to the Game Pass title early next year. You can catch a glimpse of the action in the trailer up...
News Mortal Kombat 1 DLC Fighter Omni-Man Gets Brutal Gameplay Trailer
Available in early access next week
If you're a fan of Amazon's hit animation Invincible, you're going to want to check out the DLC for Mortal Kombat 1, which features Omni-Man. Following a teaser trailer, NetherRealm has now dropped an extended gameplay trailer for this upcoming character. It provides a full showcase of his move set, his...
Thursday2nd Nov 2023
News Two Games Are Available Today With Xbox Game Pass (November 2)
Update: One release has been delayed
: Unfortunately, PlateUp! has been delayed on console, and is now set to launch on Xbox sometime in 2024. Therefore, today's Xbox Game Pass update only includes Thirsty Suitors. [Original Article]: As we tick over into November, Xbox Game Pass adds two more titles to its library! Game Pass members have a couple...
News New Xbox Policy To Block Unauthorised Accessories
Update: Microsoft issues official statement
Update #2 [Thu 2nd Nov, 2023 03:00 GMT]: Microsoft has provided another update to the same source, confirming connections via the USB and 3.5mm ports on the Xbox Adaptive Controller will not be impacted by this new policy. Third-party devices designed for accessibility should also continue to work through...
News Free Play Days: Try These Xbox Games For Free (November 2-5)
Included with Game Pass Core and Game Pass Ultimate
Xbox Free Play Days is back! After a somewhat pointless promotion last weekend which only featured Fallout 76 (a title that's included in both Game Pass Core & Ultimate anyway), Microsoft has delivered four games this weekend. So, here's your full Free Play Days selection for the coming...
News Xbox Series X|S Sales Had A Strong Week In Japan, Rarely Beating Out PS5
The pair of Xbox consoles had a solid week in the region
Japanese outlet Famitsu has released its latest hardware and software sales figures for the region, revealing a solid week for Xbox Series X|S sales - at least in comparison to PS5. According to the outlet (via VGC), Xbox Series X and S sold a combined 3,301 units last week, while PS5 and PS5...
News EA CEO: 'Microsoft & Activision Is A Great Thing For Our Industry'
"One of the world's largest companies is going to continue to invest"
Xbox's huge Activision Blizzard deal has now gone through, and its successful completion has led to questions of other potential acquisitions in the gaming industry. Of course, EA is one of the big names left on the table (either in terms of EA picking up other teams, or a...
News Halo Infinite's Networking Is Being 'Fundamentally Changed' To Address De-Sync Issues
"We decided to pursue fundamental changes"
Pretty much since the launch of the game in late 2021, the Halo Infinite community has been very vocal about player de-sync issues in online multiplayer. Well, it looks like our prayers are being answered as 343 provides a huge update on the future of its under-the-hood multiplayer tech. Taking to Twitter...
News Zombie MMO 'The Day Before' Re-Emerges With Steam Release Date
The console version is coming with the 1.0 launch
This game sure is becoming a roller coaster ride, eh? And that's before it's even out! Yep, open world zombie MMO The Day Before is back again with a brand-new Steam release date - roughly 10 months after its developer lost the rights to the game's name back in January. Well, they have t
News Immortals Of Aveum Gets 'Performance Boosts' On Xbox, Free Trial Coming Later This Month
The EA shooter is getting multiple updates in November
EA and developer Ascendant studios have announced multiple new updates for the magic-based shooter Immortals of Aveum - with the first of these patches arriving today. The team has been vague on details for today's patch — simply stating that it "provides performance boosts on consoles and PC"...
News Alan Wake 2's First 'Big Update' Fixes Audio Issues & More On Xbox Series X|S
Version 1.0.0.8 is now live
Alan Wake 2's first update dropped earlier this week, fixing a few small issues, but developer Remedy is already back with another patch - and this one is a biggie. The team is calling patch 1.0.0.8 its first "big update", and it fixes quite a few issues that fans have noticed since launch. These include various audio...
News Starfield Adds Nvidia DLSS Support In Steam Beta Update Next Week
AMD FSR3 also coming in a "future update"
Starfield got off to an incredibly strong start when it landed in September - breaking all sorts of records, but this hasn't stopped the team from working around the clock to improve the game on all fronts. The next update is exclusively for the PC version of the game. It will feature Nvidia DLSS support...
News Xbox App Dev Gets WebView2 Support, Includes 'Better Performance'
And some other "significant improvements"
Microsoft has today announced WebView2 for Xbox is now available to developers. It's been a "top" request from both WebView2 and Xbox media app developers. As highlighted by Windows Central, Microsoft had already released Chromium-based Edge support to improve the performance on Windows, but developers were...
Wednesday1st Nov 2023
Historic games for a legendary console
Looking for the best Xbox 360 games? Crazy as it may seem, the Xbox 360 is now seventeen years old and, flipping back through the history and back catalogue of Microsoft's amazing 7th gen console, there's an absolute feast of great games to choose from. From excellent Xbox indie titles to fresh new franchises,...
Reaction Forza Motorsport Should Be Feeling The Pressure After New Gran Turismo 7 Update
The PlayStation dev is improving a feature that's missing from Forza
We played lots of Forza Motorsport around the time of its launch on Xbox Game Pass last month, and we made no secret of the fact that we felt it needed more features to feel truly ready to cross the finish line. One of Forza's big missing features is local split-screen play, and a...
News PlayStation Studio & Former Halo Dev Bungie Cuts Staff After Game Delays
Update: 8% of staff reportedly gone
Update [Wed 1st Nov, 2023 00:00 GMT]: Following the initial announcement of layoffs at Bungie, a new report by Bloomberg has now revealed the the decisio
News Baldur's Gate 3 Xbox Release Still On Schedule For 'This Year', Larian CEO Confirms
Release date to be announced when it's "done"
Baldur's Gate 3 is still expected to arrive on the Xbox Series X and Series S before the end of 2023. The team at Larian Studios has already reassured Xbox fans on a number of separate occasions, and the latest update comes from studio founder and CEO Swen Vincke. In a post on social media, Vincke gave...
News Xbox's 'Series S Starter Bundle' Is Now Available
"Just in time for the Holiday season"
In case you didn't catch the original announcement, here's your reminder that Microsoft has this week launched a brand new Xbox Series S 'Starter Bundle'. It includes the 512 GB Robot White Xbox Series S model, a wireless controller and three months of access to Game Pass Ultimate for £249.99 / $299.99. It...
Roundup Here's What The Critics Think Of Day One Game Pass Release 'Thirsty Suitors'
Coming to the Xbox Game Pass library tomorrow!
Thirsty Suitors will mark one of our very first November 2023 Game Pass drops - it hits the library on launch day tomorrow, November 2nd. Just ahead of release, some early reviews of the game are starting to live, so we thought we'd round up some initial impressions of this upcoming Game Pass indie...
Deals All 10+ Backwards Compatible Games In This Week's Xbox Sales (October 31 - November 7)
Here are this week's back compat discounts
Xbox's latest round of digital deals went live yesterday, with more than 300 titles discounted across various different promotions. As per usual, those deals include a set of backwards compatible classics on offer via Xbox's digital storefront. <related ids="157710"> So, we've gathered all of those...
News Grounded Set To Be Transformed By New Forge-Like 'Playgrounds' Update
"Build a whole new game yourself"
It's fair to say that Grounded has evolved quite a bit over the years, especially in the run up to its big 1.0 launch just over a year ago. While Obsidian has continued to add to and improve the title since, the team's upcoming 1.3 update might be its most transformative yet. Basically, the Grounded developer is...
News 'Shooter-Skater' Rollerdrome Gets Xbox Game Pass Release Nov 28th
"Enter the Rollerdrome"
Private Division and Roll7 have announced they'll be releasing Rollerdrome on Xbox Game Pass via Xbox, PC and cloud later this month on 28th November. The title was released last year on other platforms and is described as a "hybrid shooter-skater", where players participate in the new brutal blood sport of Rollerdrome...
News Remedy 'Excited' About Max Payne 1 & 2 As Remakes Reach 'Production Readiness Stage'
"We are excited about the project"
Alan Wake 2 may have only just landed, but developer Remedy is already full steam ahead on future projects. Control 2 is in the works over at the Finnish developer, but it's the Max Payne remakes that seem to be progressing quickly as the team provides a fresh update on the project. Remedy is going back and...
News Xbox Game Pass Hit 'Lies Of P' Gets First DLC Tease, New Update Coming This Month
Sitting down with the game's director
The Lies of P development team has just dropped a new 'director's letter' on its YouTube channel, discussing upcoming plans for the Xbox Game Pass soulslike. Alongside a new balance-focused update arriving later this month, the team has shown off some teasers for its first DLC pack. It looks like we may be...
News 343 Adds New Big-Team Infection Mode To Halo Infinite
As an "experimental" playlist
343 Industries has been doing good work with Halo Infinite over the last few seasons, adding plenty of new maps, modes, weapons and more into the multiplayer mix in recent months. Sometimes, the team gets a little experimental with its new modes, and that's exactly what it's done with the new 'Workshop BTB Infection' m
News 'The Finals' Dev Responds To Criticisms About Use Of AI Voiceovers
"Making games without actors isn't an end goal"
Embark Studios' new arena-battle FPS The Finals has been getting a lot of attention recently, but it's not all good news. During a recent podcast, the game's audio designers Carl Strandberg and Andreas Almström mentioned how AI and text-to-speech were used on commentary and other vocalisations in the...
