Tag: Industry
News Ubisoft IP Could Cost Buyers More Than The Company Itself, Says Report
A pricey endeavour
Earlier this week, we heard that Microsoft has seemingly held talks with Ubisoft about buying some of the French company's gaming IP - and a fresh report tells us that purchasing these franchises would likely cost a pretty penny for the Xbox owner, if they were to go ahead and pick anything up. By way of a new report from outlet...
News Microsoft Has Reportedly Discussed Acquiring IP From Ubisoft
As the French company looks for buyers
In recent months, we've seen that Ubisoft is still seeking investment from somewhere as it wrangles with game delays and general management difficulties - and a new bit of information has come to light today that suggests Microsoft has held discussions with the company over the future of its gaming IP. In an...
News Microsoft Is Reportedly 'Partnering' On An Xbox Handheld Device To Launch In 2025
But it won't be a full-on Xbox console
As per a new report from outlet Windows Central, Xbox is working on a handheld gaming device to launch this year - although it won't strictly be a 'traditional' portable console according to the site. Basically, WC says that it "seems" Microsoft is "working with a PC gaming OEM (think ASUS, Lenovo, MSI, Razer,...
News Former Xbox Exec Compares 360 Era To Microsoft's Current Multiplatform Strategy
"The industry has evolved"
Former Microsoft exec Peter Moore was one of the company's most public-facing figures during the Xbox 360 era, having moved over from gaming competitor SEGA in the early 2000s. These days, the industry is in a much different place to what it was when Moore was at Xbox - and the former exec has been talking about that...
News Xbox & PlayStation Owners Are Obsessed With Live Service Games Right Now
According to new US-based data
As we enter a new year during a time that's a difficult one for the games industry at large, it turns out that a certain portion of live service games are dominating the Xbox & PlayStation charts right now - at least in the United States. This is according to new data that's been shared by analysis firm Circana...
News Warner Bros. Cancels Wonder Woman, Shuts Down Three Studios
Including Monolith, Player First and WB San Diego
The games industry is already facing many challenges in 2025 and Warner Bros. Games has now confirmed it's shutting down three studios including Monolith Productions, known for its work on series' like Middle-earth. This also marks the end of the developer's Wonder Woman game which has been in...
News Xbox's New Strategy Is 'Right' For The Business And Needs To Be Embraced, Says Former Exec
"Play on what you enjoy playing on"
Former Blizzard president and Xbox exec Mike Ybarra has been weighing in on the brand's new multiplatform strategy over the past few days, advising in a string of social media comments that he feels it's ultimately the right move. Ybarra acknowledged that Xbox has taken a while to be clear on the strategy, but...
News Xbox Will Be 'Honest & Transparent' About Platforms In Future Showcases, Says Phil Spencer
"I just want to be transparent with people"
So far, Xbox's move towards putting games out on other platforms has felt hesitant at times, but that should change in future - according to Microsoft Gaming's CEO. In a recent interview with Phil Spencer himself, the Xbox boss mentioned that Team Green will be "honest and transparent" about the platforms...
News Phil Spencer Says Xbox Is Done Trying To Convince PS5 & Switch Players To Move Over
"I’m not trying to move them all over"
Over the weekend, a fresh Phil Spencer interview dropped where the Xbox boss talked lots about the future of Microsoft's gaming business - including what's next for the team and its desire to release games wherever players want to play. When asked about 'becoming SEGA' and effectively going third-party, Phil...
News EA Missed Out On Buying Blizzard & Some Big Activision Franchises, Says Former CCO
"EA saw all those first and passed"
Activision Blizzard has some absolutely massive game series' under its belt these days such as Call of Duty and World of Warcraft, but they weren't always guaranteed to be ABK franchises. Speaking in a new interview on the Grit podcast, former Electronic Arts CCO Bing Gordon claimed that EA passed on some huge...
Random Xbox Fan Shares Clip Of Microsoft's Console Factory Line From 2006
We miss you, Xbox 360
Look, we're not out here to ruin anyone's day or anything, but the Xbox 360 is officially 20 years old this year. You read that right, November 2025 marks two whole decades since Microsoft's seminal Xbox console first launched - which is a bit of a scary thought, if we're honest. However, we do have lots of nostalgia for that...
News New Financial Report Provides Estimated Xbox Series X|S Sales Figure As Of Late 2024
Take-Two drops new estimates
As we know by now, Microsoft no longer provides accurate sales figures for Xbox Series X|S consoles, meaning we often have to go off estimates to get an idea of how the systems are selling. As it turns out, it's not just us that has to try and work things out either - mega-publisher Take-Two has provided a fresh consoles...
News Killer Instinct Developer Iron Galaxy Axes Multiple Jobs As 'Last Resort'
A "measure" to ensure its long-term survival
There's some very sad news coming out of Killer Instinct developer Iron Galaxy today - with the US-based team announcing it's "parting ways" with "some" of its developers and support staff. This decision has been a "last resort" and it cuts the team down to just 66 people (it reportedly had over 250...
News Live Service Shutdowns Won't Be Further Scrutinised By UK Government
Shutting down the shutdown complaints
In recent years, there's been increased scrutiny around online video games abruptly shutting down, with WB's MultiVersus the latest casualty soon to be added to the list. This scrutiny recently led to a petition on the matter being put forward to the UK government - a petition that's now seen a somewhat...
News Former PlayStation Exec Says 'The Game Is Changing' As Xbox Goes Multiplatform
"They were Blockbuster, they became Netflix"
With the announcement of Forza Horizon 5 moving over to PS5, Xbox has planted another flag in its new multiplatform landscape, which started to take shape around a year ago. Things are definitely moving forward as we head into 2025 though, which is causing lots of industry folk to chime in on the matter -...
News Microsoft CEO Chimes In As Indiana Jones Surpasses Four Million Players On Xbox & PC
Satya seems pleased!
It's been almost a couple of months now since Indiana Jones and the Great Circle launched on Xbox and PC, and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has revealed that the game has surpassed four million players on those systems so far. Nadella was speaking as part of the earnings results that were announced last night, where he used the...
News Xbox Hardware Declines But 'Content & Services' Grows In FY25 Q2 Earnings Report
Microsoft calls the latter a "Business Highlight"
Microsoft has released its earnings report for the quarter ending December 31st, 2024 today (FY25 Q2), which highlights how the business performed during that quarter compared to the same period the year before. In terms of Xbox, Microsoft mentions that a "business highlight" is the 2% increase in...
News DOOM's OG Creator Praises Xbox Game Pass For Removing 'Barriers'
"I mean who doesn't want that?"
Xbox Game Pass has helped Microsoft's gaming division boom in recent years with its new titles available day one on the service, and while it's not necessarily everyone's cup of tea, there are still millions of fans out there. This includes industry legend and DOOM creator John Romero, who recently praised Xbox's...
News Xbox Is 'Evolving' Rather Than 'Losing' Its Identity, Says Phil Spencer
"I believe it's an identity that this industry needs"
With Team Xbox embarking on a major multiplatform push these days, there's been some concern in the community that without focusing on first-party exclusives, Xbox may essentially lose part of its identity and appeal in the process. This was brought up in Phil Spencer's couple of interview...
News Xbox Is Hiring For Someone To Lead An Unnamed Dev Team, Starting Next Month
Job post spotted
An interesting Xbox job post has been spotted online today, leading to questions about whether this role is for an unannounced team or project over at Xbox Game Studios. Microsoft is looking for "an experienced Executive Producer" to "lead a game team" - but what that team is within Xbox remains a mystery at this time. Furthermore,...
News EA Says Two Of Its Major AAA Titles 'Underperformed' In 2024
Announces lower financial forecast as a result
Publisher and game maker EA has dropped a new financial report as it looks ahead to 2025, and the results aren't exactly rosy for the team's late 2024 releases. CEO Andrew Wilson says that "Dragon Age and EA SPORTS FC 25 underperformed" last year, while the company "expects a return to growth" in its...
Report Majority Of Devs Expecting To Release New Games In 2025, Driving Industry Growth
Survey sheds positive light on 2025
Let's have a bit of Friday night positivity, shall we? Despite what's been a rough year-or-so for the gaming industry, the outlook seems a bit better for 2025 so far - and a new report backs that up, as a majority of game developers expect the industry to grow this year. Of 150 senior Unity game devs surveyed in...
News Xbox Reminds Us Engagement Is At 'All-Time High' Going Into 2025
Big milestones have been achieved recently
Earlier this week, Microsoft reached out to ourselves here at Pure Xbox (and seemingly a series of other outlets) aiming to provide some context about a report headlined "Microsoft’s Gaming Business Falls Short, Despite Activision" - by an outlet known as The Information. Now, we'll be honest... we...
News Xbox Series X|S Console Sales In Europe Dropped By Almost 50% In 2024
PlayStation & Nintendo also suffered last year
Throughout the year, we've been tracking multiple sales reports for Xbox Series X and S consoles, and unfortunately - the news hasn't often been very good for Microsoft. Well, a new look at the entirety o
Report Ubisoft Founders Considering A New Business 'Venture' Using Certain Franchises
Which franchises? We're not sure.
The latest twist in the ongoing Ubisoft drama has occurred today, with outlet Bloomberg delivering a fresh report on what's happening behind the scenes at the French game maker. According to this new report, Ubisoft's founders — the Guillemot family — along with major shareholder Tencent, are considering...
News Microsoft Has Announced More Layoffs In Its Gaming Division, Says New Report
Amount of job cuts not specified
During 2024, Microsoft made heavy job cuts across multiple divisions including Xbox, and a new report suggests that this culling of staff isn't stopping into the new year. First reported on by Business Insider (paywalled) and shared by GamesIndustry.
Rumour Microsoft Reportedly Chose Buying Studios Over 'Winding Down' Xbox In 2021
Update: The company provides some context
Xbox fans, buckle up. Today, a fresh report is circulating from outlet The Information that claims Microsoft thought about winding down its Xbox gaming business back in 2021. According to the report, which is unfortunately paywalled, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella "faced a choice" between buying studios to...
News Game Pass Titles 'Lose Around 80%' Of Sales On Xbox, Claims Reporter
"That’s the figure that gets thrown around"
A new Q&A has dropped today from former GamesIndustry.biz reporter Chris Dring, and it sheds some perhaps unfortunate light on Xbox Game Pass and how much it can hurt game sales. Although each game's specific number can vary, and this is just "anecdotal" information that's been passed around, Dring...
News Physical Game Sales 'Collapsed' In The UK Last Year, Says New Report
"The games market is expected to improve in 2025"
In what sure feels like another dagger to the heart of physical game fans, the UK market seems to have had a pretty rough year when it comes to physical game sales. According to Chris Dring over at VGC, demand for discs and cartridges "collapsed" in 2024 - with physical game sales dropping by a...
News Halo Veteran's New Studio Backed By NetEase Halts Work On Current Title
"Team members will be exploring new opportunities"
It's been a tough period for many game companies and it seems it might have got the better of the new team Jar of Sparks. This developer was formed by the ex-Microsoft, Xbox and Halo veteran Jerry Hook after he exited 343 Industries in 2022. Now, in an update on LinkedIn, he has announced the team...
News Call Of Duty's Crazy Development Budgets Revealed In New Report
Xbox will be spending a pretty penny
As game development budgets continue to rise, it's perhaps no surprise that churning out a big AAA shooter every year is a pricey endeavour. For well over a decade, Activision's Call of Duty has been the biggest AAA shooter of them all - and a new report details some of the eyewatering budgets that have gone into...
Rumour Microsoft's Next-Gen Console Dubbed 'Xbox Prime' Is Possibly Coming In 2026
Salt trucks at the ready
As Xbox Series X and S move past the four-year mark, we're starting to hear more and more about Microsoft's next generation console plans - both officially and coming from fresh reports and rumours. Well, today a new rumour is doing the rounds that gives us a possible next-gen Xbox codename and even a projected release...
News Xbox Series X|S Sales Estimates Show Consoles Lagging Far Behind Last-Gen
Just over 30 million units sold so far
Website VGChartz has provided its latest sales estimates for current-gen gaming consoles, and the roundup provides a fresh look at how Microsoft's Xbox Series X|S systems were getting on at the tail end of 2024. During the month of November last year, the data suggests that Series X and S shifted 767,118...
News Xbox Series X|S Console Sales Down Almost 30% In The US Compared To 2023
Fresh data from Circana
In what should no longer be surprising news to read, fresh US data from analyst firm Circana has revealed that Xbox Series X|S console sales are down almost 30% year-on-year. This latest set of figures looks at November 2024 hardware sales in comparison to November 2023, where Xbox Series X and S sales have dropped by 29%...
News Microsoft Boss Highlights Why He's Feeling 'Very, Very Good' About Xbox Right Now
"We feel fantastic about the progress we've made"
The big Xbox story of today has undoubtedly been Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's comments about "redefining what it means to be an Xbox fan", but he also had some other interesting things to share during that same interview. Speaking as part of the annual shareholders meeting, Nadella revealed that he...
News Gears Of War: Judgment, Outriders Dev Lays Off Huge Chunk Of Staff
More than 100 people affected
This week, the CEO of Polish developer People Can Fly has shared some unfortunate news about the Gears of War: Judgment and Outriders studio. As a result of "external market pressures", People Can Fly is "restructuring some supporting teams" - resulting in the loss of 120 employees overall. CEO Sebastian Wojciechowski...
News Ubisoft Buyout Rumours Swirl As Analyst Predicts 'Privatisation And Dismantling' In 2025
What's next for the XDefiant publisher?
A couple of months ago, we heard reports coming out of Bloomberg that Ubisoft was considering potential buyout opportunities on the back of Star Wars Outlaws' disappointing launch - and some fresh reports and predictions have arrived in recent days that hint at a similar future for the French game maker...
News Xbox Analyst 'Doesn't See' Microsoft Ditching Hardware Despite New Marketing Campaign
"I guess it could but I don't see that happening"
Since Microsoft unleashed its new 'This is an Xbox' marketing campaign earlier this month, there's been lots of speculation about what this means for the future of Xbox hardware - but a well-known industry analyst has played down the idea of Microsoft ditching consoles anytime soon. Circana's Mat...
News Microsoft Issues Statement As 'Hundreds' Of ZeniMax Workers Go On Strike
A one-day strike across four locations
Yesterday was a turbulent day in the world of ZeniMax Media, as hundreds of unionised workers at the company went on strike against Microsoft at four different locations in Maryland and Texas. As reported by IGN, this involves people who work on the likes of DOOM, Fallout and The Elder Scrolls, and is related...
News Microsoft's Xbox Gets Another Revenue Boost From Activision
But console hardware revenue declined
Microsoft has released its Q1 2025 financial results today and once again the company has received a significant boost from its acquisition of Activision Blizzard. This includes increases to its gaming revenue and 'Xbox content and services' revenue. The tech giant reported gaming revenue growing by 43%...
News Microsoft Boasts About Owning '20 Franchises That Have Generated Over $1 Billion'
Including ActiBlizz and Bethesda games of course
Microsoft's Satya Nadella has certainly been in the headlines today and not always in the most positive light, but one section of the CEO's recent annual company update at least talks about some of Xbox's more positive achievements in recent tim
News Satya Nadella's Huge Pay Package Generates Headlines Following Recent Xbox Layoffs
It's been a lucrative year for the Microsoft boss
We all know it's been a difficult year for Xbox at times in 2024, especially considering a bunch of people have been laid off along the way - and therefore a lot of industry folk are highlighting Satya Nadella's recently revealed pay bonus. Nadella, who is the boss at Microsoft, took home a base...
News Four Years Later, Xbox Series X Is Now Outselling Xbox Series S In The US
According to fresh sales data
Microsoft's decision to launch two completely different consoles as part of its current-gen gaming strategy was always a bold one, and for a long time, its been the cheaper console that's thought to have sold more units overall. However, according to new data from Circana (NPD Group), Xbox Series X is finally outselling...
News Xbox & Halo Veteran Leaves Netflix Games Following Closure Of AAA Studio
He was working on a major project that's now been shelved
A couple of years ago, Xbox and Halo veteran Joseph Staten announced that he was leaving Microsoft to embark on a new adventure, which ultimately ended up being a role on "Team Blue" at Netflix Games working on a new AAA project. Unfortunately, it's been confirmed to Game File this week that...
News Rare Boss To Become New Head Of Xbox Game Studios
The team's current leader is retiring
Rare boss Craig Duncan is set to become the new leader over at Xbox Game Studios, with current XGS head Alan Hartman set to retire, per GamesIndustry.biz. Hartman only took on the role in 2023 after leading Forza developer Turn 10 for a number of years. Duncan will go down a similar route, af
News Xbox Series X|S Now UK's Second Best-Selling Consoles In 2024 As Nintendo Switch Falls Away
Year-on-year console sales are down
Although Xbox Series X|S sales news hasn't always been the most positive in recent months, a new set of UK data from GamesIndustry.biz shows that the platform is now in 2nd place when it comes to console sales in 2024. Yep, the outlet reports that while PS5 is comfortably in pole position for sales in the region,...
Report Ubisoft Is Considering A Buyout From Tencent & Partners
The Guillemot family said to be involved
You may have read reports recently on the state of Ubisoft and its financials following the release of Star Wars Outlaws - heck, it all seems to have had an effect on Assassin's Creed Shadows and its sudden delay. Well, it sounds like the company could massively change course in the future, if a new
News Xbox Co-Founder Joins Amazon, Says He'll Be Working On 'New Ideas'
He's now VP of devices and services
One of the original Xbox co-founders, J Allard, has joined Amazon as the company's vice president of devices and services. He told The Verge it's "too early" to say what's on the way, but he'll be working on "new ideas" at the tech giant. Interestingly, Allard will supposedly report to the former Windows and...
Rumour Microsoft Employees 'Completely Confused' About New Xbox Strategy, Says Insider
"Most employees I have spoken to..."
Xbox seems to be chopping and changing its overall strategy quite a lot these days, with numerous multiplatform ports marking one of the biggest changes internally over at Team Green. While the almost-constant shifting is proving to be somewhat confusing for the fanbase, as it turns out, it might actually be...
News Annapurna Interactive Has Reportedly Lost Its 'Entire Staff' To Mass-Resignations
25 people are said to have walked away
A report concerning publisher Annapurna Interactive has hit the web this morning courtesy of Jason Schreier at Bloomberg, who says that the entire staff at the company have left - including president Nathan Gary. The reason for the departures is apparently because Annapurna Interactive had been exploring plans...
