Tag: Microsoft - Page 21
News Sony Remains 'Extremely Sceptical' Of Reaching ActiBlizz Agreement With Microsoft
"The Transaction should be prohibited or subject to a structural remedy"
The Activision Blizzard drama has opened up once again today following newly published responses to the UK's Competition and Markets Authority from both Microsoft and Sony, although they're actually dated February 22nd, 2023 - this is just the first time we're getting to see...
News Yes, Halo's Joe Staten Really Has Rejoined Xbox Publishing
It's social media "official" now
At the start of this year when Microsoft announced mass layoffs and some changes within the Xbox division, it was also revealed Halo Infinite's Head of Creative Joseph Staten would be rejoining Xbox Game Studios Publishing. It's admittedly been quite hard for some fans to accept, but now it seems his move back to...
News Xbox Unveils Official 'Velocity Green' Controller, And It's Out Now
Team green
Although it leaked a few weeks ago, Microsoft has taken its sweet time in officially announcing the new Velocity Green Xbox controller. The company has done just that today though - and it's out now worldwide! This new pad is a part of the bright and brash flat colour lineup Microsoft has been building out since the launch of Xbox Series...
Deals 500+ Games Added To This Week's Xbox Sales (March 7-14)
There are LOADS of promotions this week!
Following last week's huge 'Super Saver Sale' on Xbox live, Microsoft has unleash five different promotions onto us for the week of March 7th through March 14th, alongside its normal set of Deals with Gold offers. These promos cover a couple of different publisher sales for Bandai Namco and Capcom, along...
Report Xbox Feels UK CMA Has 'Significantly' Overestimated The Impact Of COD Exclusivity
If it ever happened
The UK Competition and Markets Authority is one of the various regulatory bodies currently overseeing Xbox's Activision Blizzard deal, with the authority consistently hypothesising why the deal could, and possibly should, be blocked. One of those reasons is related to Call of Duty, with the CMA even suggesting that
News Resident Evil 4 Is Now Available To Preload On Xbox, And You Can Install Before You Buy
Via the Xbox app!
Resident Evil 4 Remake is fast approaching as Capcom puts the finishing touches on its latest Resident Evil overhaul following the recent RE2 and RE3 remakes. Although we may see some updates between now and the game's March 24th launch, the game is l
News Xbox Expected To Win Activision Blizzard Battle In EU, Suggests Report
"With its offer of licensing deals to rivals"
It sounds like Microsoft is getting closer to winning the Activision Blizzard battle in Europe, as Reuters is reporting today that the European Commission is not expected to request that Microsoft sells assets in order to complete the deal. In other words, the expectation is that the EU regulator will...
News Microsoft Granted Access To Certain Sony Docs As FTC Continues To Scrutinise ActiBlizz Deal
Some access granted, some denied
Many of you have probably been following Xbox's ongoing Activision Blizzard negotiations, with Microsoft still trying to secure regulatory approval for its mammoth deal. As was perhaps expected, Sony has become one of Microsoft's biggest obstacles for the deal going ahead, and it looks like the PlayStation owner will...
News Hitman Developer Announces Fantasy RPG Once Reportedly Pitched To Xbox
Project Fantasy or Project Dragon?
Long time Hitman developer IO Interactive has announced a new fantasy RPG — aptly named 'Project Fantasy' for now — as the team ramps up its hiring process to get the game made. While this is being treated as a brand-new game announcement (albeit in a very early form), some are beginning to speculate that this...
News Xbox Team Visits Kojima Productions To Kick Off 'Exciting Journey Ahead'
"Bringing engineering, cloud, marketing & production teams together"
One Xbox project that remains shrouded in mystery is the team's upcoming collaboration with Kojima Productions, of course headed up by famous developer Hideo Kojima. We know it's coming, we know it involves 'the cloud' in some fashion, but beyond that we've been largely left in the...
News Game Pass 'Instrumental' In The Development Of Xbox Exclusive The Gunk
The team loved working with Xbox
Xbox console exclusive The Gunk got quite a bit of attention around its launch in late 2020, likely in large part due to the title's Xbox Game Pass inclusion right around when Xbox Series X and S were brand-spanking new. As it turns out, Xbox's involvement in bringing The Gunk to market was "instrumental" in getting...
News Xbox Claimed Some Market Share From PlayStation In 2022, Suggests Analysis Firm
"Sony sheds market share to Microsoft"
Entertainment industry firm Ampere Analysis has posted a new report on the gaming market in 2022, and it makes for some pleasant reading for Xbox fans. The firm has updated its sales estimates for Xbox Series X|S consoles up to the end of 2022, while also claiming that Microsoft gained some market share from...
News Xbox Game Pass Expands To 40 More Countries With PC Preview Program
PC Game Pass is growing
Xbox has revealed that the PC side of its Xbox Game Pass coverage is growing, with a whopping 40 new countries gaining access to the service in preview form. The expansion begins today, with the following countries able to access the PC Game Pass library from February 28th: Albania Algeria Bahrain Bolivia Bosnia and...
Video Xbox Series S Turned Into 'Retro Gaming PC' Running Windows 98
What can't this console do?!
We've seen lots of emulation projects up and running on Xbox Series X|S, in large part thanks to the availability of the Universal Windows Platform (UWP) on the two consoles. YouTuber Modern Vintage Gamer is often keen to show some of these projects off, and his latest video attempts to basically turn an Xbox Series S...
News Fallout Creator Says New Vegas Remaster Would Be 'Awesome'
The studio behind the original is now owned by Xbox
Since Xbox's acquisitions of both Obsidian and Bethesda — the two companies behind 2010's Fallout: New Vegas — fans' wishes for a modern remaster of the Xbox 360 RPG have been rife. Having said that, the notion of 'New Vegas Remastered' clearly isn't just a fan wish either. In a new interview...
News Baldur's Gate 3 Devs 'Aren't Playing The Exclusivity Game' With PlayStation
Despite yesterday's 'State of Play' trailer
Update: It turns out the Xbox version of Baldur's Gate 3 has run into some technical issues during development, which is why it hasn't been announced as of yet. We've covered this story elsewhere on Pure Xbox: <related ids="145700"> Original story: One of yesterday's biggest 'State of Play'...
News Microsoft President Questions Whether Gaming Consoles Will Still Be Around In 10 Years
"There may be someone else standing here in 2033"
Microsoft's continued attempts to push its Activision Blizzard acquisition through are resulting in quite a few 10-year 'deals' being struck by the company. Xbox has agreed such deals with both Nintendo and Nvidia, with
News Xbox Boss Phil Spencer Comments On High-Profile Bethesda Departure
"Looking forward to our continued friendship"
Bethesda has officially confirmed that Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami is leaving Xbox studio Tango Gameworks, and the Xbox boss has swiftly commented on the team's high-profile departure. Phil Spencer has taken to Twitter to thank Mikami for his "leadership" and "guidance" since Xbox acquired the...
News Xbox Says It's Offering 'Better Deal' Than Sony's Current COD Contract, Which Expires In 2024
"It's a better deal for Sony than the one they have right now"
Microsoft has been very upfront about offering Sony 10 years of Call of Duty on PlayStation following Xbox's Activision Blizzard acquisition, an offer also extended to Nintendo this week. Even though the likes of Nintendo have now accepted the deal, the PlayStation owner is yet to accept...
Deals Over 40 Games Are Discounted By 85-95% On Xbox This Week (February 21-28)
Come grab a bargain
If you're in the mood to purchase some super cheap Xbox games from February 21st to February 28th, then we've got you covered! Below, we've picked out the games with the absolute biggest discounts in this week's sales. There are some amazing titles in this list, including XCOM 2 at a whopping 95% off, Agents of Mayhem, ONE PIECE...
News Phil Spencer's Xbox Series S Travelled With Him To ActiBlizz Court Hearing
"I love travelling with my Series S"
There may well be lots of serious business talk going down at these Activision Blizzard court proceedings, but it doesn't seem to be stopping Phil Spencer from playing games. The Xbox boss has made sure he can squeeze in some precious gaming time this week, by packing in his Xbox Series S and an xScreen...
News Microsoft And Sony Fail To Make Activision Blizzard Agreement At EU Court Hearing
The Xbox owner has a contract "ready for Sony to sign"
After today's EU court hearing regarding Xbox's purchase of Activision Blizzard, the landscape has changed significantly. Nvidia has agreed a deal with Microsoft, Nintendo has entered an agreement with Xbox - things are looking up. However, there's still the small matter of PlayStation owner...
News Microsoft Agrees Deal With Nvidia To Bring Xbox & ActiBlizz Games To GeForce Now
Phil Spencer has made a statement on the partnership
There's been another big acquisition-led showdown in the EU today, as Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo and other companies all meet to discuss Xbox's Activision Blizzard deal. One of those other companies is Nvidia, who've just agreed a deal with Microsoft relating to bringing Xbox games to the 'GeForce...
News 2016 Xbox Exclusive 'ReCore' Reappears With Cryptic Social Media Post
Remember ReCore?
ReCore was one of those weird exclusives from the Xbox One era, spawning from an unlikely partnership between Microsoft and a developer with experience working on Metroid Prime. Well, the game's official Instagram page has posted a rather cryptic message this week - its first post in more than five years. We have no idea what this...
News Xbox Series X And S Price Increases Begin To Affect Europe
Sweden is the latest nation to see a price hike
It's been a little under a month since Microsoft announced Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S console price hikes in Japan, and now the company has increased prices in another region. As spotted by Gaming Deputy, both the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S are now more expensive in Sweden. Both consoles...
News Three Rivals Feel Microsoft's ActiBlizz Deal Would Have 'Negative Impact On Competition'
The latest from the UK CMA's investigation
The UK Competition and Markets Authority is still investigating Xbox's Activision Blizzard deal, with the final report currently set to be published by April 26th. While we've heard plenty about Sony's clear objections to the merger, today the CMA posted new findings relating to other gaming competitors...
News Xbox Game Pass Launches Enable 'Secure Success', Says Indie Publisher
"But please gamers, continue to explain why it's bad for us"
Xbox Game Pass has been in the headlines again recently, mainly due to comments coming from the UK CMA's Activision Blizzard report, and following this, Mike Rose of Descenders publisher No More Robots has taken to Twitter once again to talk about how beneficial the service has been for...
News Microsoft Will Defend Its Xbox Activision Blizzard Deal In EU Court Hearing Next Week
Will the company see success?
Some of you may remember (unless you're as lost as we are at this point) that not too long ago, Microsoft reportedly received a 'statement of objections' from the European Commission in regards to the Xbox ActiBlizz deal. That statement basically included a bunch of things the commission wants to see altered for the...
Deals Xbox Anime Sale Continues With Second Wave Of Deep Discounts (February 15-28)
Up to 90% off!
The second wave of Xbox's 'Anime Month' sales promo has arrived, featuring a bunch of themed discounts across movies, TV, and of course, games. Earlier this month we highlighted some of the best deals from round one, and we're back for more with the second wave! We'll be sticking to the games here, with the majority of the following...
Talking Point Do You Buy Less Third-Party Titles Because Of Xbox Game Pass?
Or is it more of a first-party library to you?
The viability of Xbox Game Pass has once again been in the spotlight this week, as Microsoft continues to fight various authorities to pass its Activision Blizzard deal. While the company has seemingly admitted that Game Pass affects individual game sales (a point that seems obvious to us anyway),
Deals A Bunch Of Games Are Discounted By 85-90% This Week On Xbox (February 14-21)
Come grab a bargain
Looking for some super cheap Xbox games this week? We've got you covered. Microsoft has dropped the price on a nice little selection of Xbox titles over the next few days - at over 85% off across multiple promotions. A lot of these deep discounts reside across the ongoing indie and Spotlight sales on Xbox Live — including...
News Microsoft Says Xbox Game Pass 'Creates Another Option' For Devs To Make Money
Despite admitting the service can harm game sales
The UK CMA's recent report on the whole Xbox ActiBlizz deal contained plenty of standout comments, including one relating to Microsoft admitting that Xbox Game Pass can hurt game sales in the 12 months after titles are added to the service. Following this report, the notion that Xbox Game Pass can...
News Xbox-Owned Studio Double Fine Seemingly Has Two Projects In The Works
At least from the time of Psychonauts 2's launch
Late last week, Xbox studio Double Fine Productions uploaded a gargantuan documentary to YouTube detailing the whole development process on 2021's Psychonauts 2. While the 32-part doc is likely littered with tidbits of info on the studio's projects, episode 30 in particular drops a hint on what might...
Report More Xbox Employees Impacted As Part Of Microsoft's 10,000 Layoffs
Reductions in marketing and the Gaming Ecosystem Group
Bloomberg has reported that more Xbox employees have lost their jobs this week as part of Microsoft's ongoing plan to implement 10,000 layoffs throughout the company, while the Surface and HoloLens divisions have also been affected. According to the outlet, the Xbox reductions this time have...
News Sony Feels Microsoft Is Committing 'Obvious Harassment' In Relation To ActiBlizz Deal
What is going on?!
Not too long ago (although it all seems like a blur at this point), Microsoft ordered Sony to attend court to present its findings regarding Xbox's Activision Blizzard purchase. That court trial hasn't gone ahead yet — the hearing is currently planned for August 2nd — but it seems like Sony isn't too happy with Microsoft's...
News Analysts Predict Xbox's Activision Blizzard Deal Will Close Soon, Despite UK Objections
"We read today's release as a signal..."
We finally heard from the UK's Competition and Markets Authority on Microsoft's attempted acquisition of Activision Blizzard yesterday, and it wasn't good news, with the CMA provisionally finding that the takeover "could result in higher prices, fewer choices, or less innovation for UK gamers". However,...
News Microsoft CEO Suggests ActiBlizz Deal Would Help Xbox 'Compete' In Japan
Expanding territories
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella appeared on CNBC this week to talk about the future of the company, including what's next for the Xbox team. Of course, this discussion led to questions about the Activision Blizzard acquisition, and how Microsoft is responding to the current regulatory approval processes going on around the world...
News UK Authority Proposes Excluding Call Of Duty From Xbox Activision Blizzard Deal
Amongst other potential changes
The UK CMA has today published a new report on its ongoing investigation into Xbox's ActiBlizz deal, and there's a lot to unpack here in regards to the likelihood of the purchase actually going through. While there are plenty of wrinkles to this report, much of the focus is once again centred around Call of Duty. The...
News Xbox's Activision Blizzard Deal Could Be 'Harmful' To The Industry, Claims UK Regulator
The CMA gives its provisional verdict
It sounds like Microsoft and Activision Blizzard have got a tough task ahead in the UK over the next few months, as the UK Competition and Markets Authority has provisionally decided that Xbox's attempted takeover of ActiBlizz "could result in higher prices, fewer choices, or less innovation for UK gamers". In...
Poll What's Your Favourite Special Edition Xbox Series X|S Controller So Far?
They're all pretty stellar aren't they
As Xbox announces yet another special edition Series X|S controller, we've been thinking about our favourite gamepads of the generation so far. Despite the fact that we've seen lots of stock issues across the industry during the COVID-19 era, Microsoft has managed to put out a solid amount of unique controller...
Deals All 20+ Backwards Compatible Games Added To This Week's Xbox Sales (February 7-14)
Some 360 classics on the cheap!
As part of Xbox's digital discounts for this week, the team has included a selection of backwards compatible (Xbox 360) titles across various different promotions. An RPG sale and a 2K Publisher sale dominate this week's deals, along with the usual Deals with Gold and Spotlight offers. Don't forget that we've still...
News Microsoft Announces New Special Edition 'Stellar Shift' Xbox Controller
Lookin' stellar, launchin' today!
(Update): Well, it's now official! Immediately after we reported on the new controller leak, Microsoft formally announced the Xbox Stellar Shift Wireless Controller. The latest Xbox pad in the 'Shift' lineup launches today for £59.99 / $69.99, and this one comes with its own unique Xbox Series X|S dynamic...
News Call Of Duty 'Full Annual Premium Release' Set To Launch In 2023
Water is wet
Activision Blizzard's latest financial report is now out for public viewing, or at least a summarised version of it is via the company's investor website. New ActiBlizz financials means one surefire thing - plenty of talk about Call of Duty. Alongside lots of boasting about how much money last year's Modern Warfare 2 made — along...
News Xbox Marketing Budget Reportedly 'Reduced' In The Wake Of Microsoft Layoffs
Will we hear less from the company in the coming months?
While the team at Xbox have finally been a little more vocal about their upcoming slate of games recently — namely in the form of Xbox Developer Direct and future showcase announcements — it turns out that the platform's marketing push, generally speaking, could actually be reduced in...
News Xbox Reveals Release Dates For A Bunch Of New Game Pass Indies Coming In 2023
The future is bright
Recently, Pure Xbox was invited to a secret ID@Xbox event to check out a bunch of new gameplay and other details on some of the biggest indie titles coming to Xbox Game Pass in 2023. Not all of that gameplay is publicly available just yet, but we did get some brand-new release dates and release windows, so we thought we'd throw...
Rumour Gears 6 Development Has 'Begun In Full' Within The Last Year
Update: Other Coalition projects reportedly scrapped
Update: Jeff Grubb has since revealed more about what he knows regarding The Coalition's upcoming plans. In a discussion during Thursday's Game Mess Mornings show at Giant Bomb, Grubb stated that all projects aside from Gears 6 have been scrapped. There were apparently two others in the works...
News Free Play Days: Try These Xbox Games For Free (February 2-5)
Three titles to enjoy
Xbox's Free Play Days promotion returns this weekend, with a distinct twist to celebrate 'Amine Month'. Yep, two of the free play choices for this week are anime-themed, with one Ubisoft title rounding out the selection. Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising
Deals Xbox 'Anime Month' Sale Provides Deep Discounts On Japanese Titles
Monster Hunter, Mega Man & more!
Xbox is bringing the heat with some of these recent sales promotions, and another one has just gone live! Alongside this week's major Ubisoft sale — which has the potential to be even better thanks to a 'Just For You' bonus — the Microsoft Store has now set an 'Anime Month' sale live, featuring a selection of...
News All 25+ Backwards Compatible Games Added To This Week's Xbox Sales (January 31 - February 7)
A bunch of discounted classics!
It's Tuesday, which means it's time for another set of Xbox deals for the week ahead! This week, Ubisoft is running a publisher sale, which happens to stretch across a bunch of Xbox backwards compatible titles as well. Keep in mind that quite a few of the Xbox 360 games in this week's sales have Xbox One ports or...
News Xbox Is Offering Absolutely Crazy 'Just For You' Deals Right Now, Over 90% Off AAA Titles
Some of the best discounts we've ever seen!
We share plenty of Xbox deals with you lovely lot, including weekly roundups highlighting the biggest Xbox Store discounts at any given time. This week's Ubisoft sale seemed like your typical publisher promotion, until we started spotting 'Just For You' deals cropping up on our Xbox dashboards, offering up...
