Tag Archives: microsoft

BlizzCon made its grand return in 2023, after a four year hiatus. Unfortunately, it looks like the event is on the ropes once again, with plans for BlizzCon 2024 being scrapped.  BlizzCon is by no means a cheap event to run, but it has been a core part of the …

Recently, new rumours have surfaced claiming that Xbox studio, The Coalition, is ramping up to reveal the next Gears of War game. Now, it would seem that those involved in the series are putting out some teasers of their own. Liam McIntyre, the voice actor who plays the role of …

In a surprise announcement this week, Meta revealed plans to open up its OS to third parties, allowing other hardware makers to create their own ‘Quest' headsets. One of the first partner on board appears to be none other than Microsoft, just shortly after abandoning its Windows Mixed Reality efforts. …

Over the last console generation, MMOs began becoming increasingly popular on consoles, with games like The Elder Scrolls Online and Final Fantasy 14 showing that these types of games can play well with a gamepad rather than a mouse and keyboard. With that in mind, the idea of World of …

In 2023, Microsoft officially did away with Xbox Live Gold, replacing it with a new entry-level version of Game Pass. At the time, Microsoft confirmed plans to update the Game Pass Core library with new games every few months. Now, we've got our first update of 2024, bringing in three …

In 2022, the relationship between Activision Blizzard and its Chinese publishing partner, NetEase, began to rapidly deteriorate, leading to NetEase being dropped as the publisher for Blizzard titles in China and thus making those games inaccessible in the country. Now after acquiring Activision last year, Microsoft has mended fences. Microsoft …

There has been quite a bit of Xbox news this week. We recently learned a lot more about Hellblade 2, which lands on Xbox and PC next month, and we've also recently heard rumours that Gears of War 6 is due to be announced this Summer. Now to cap off …

June is just around the corner and studios/publishers are beginning to lock in their summer announcement plans. We've recently heard several rumours about upcoming announcements from the Xbox team. Recent reports have claimed we'll be getting our first look at Gears 6 this year and as it turns out, we …

As part of Microsoft’s recent shift toward a more multiplatform approach with its first-party games, the console manufacturer has released Pentiment and Hi-Fi Rush to the PlayStation 5. Next up is Sea of Thieves, with the team at Rare confirming cross-play, cross-progression, 120fps and more. Publishing an FAQ of sorts …

We've been hearing rumours about The Coalition's development plans for quite some time now. While a small, new IP was in development at one point, this was scrapped to focus all efforts on the next Gears of War game. Now, the time to reveal Gears 6 might be just around …

Ninja Theory co-founder, writer and director, Anteem Antoniades, has left the studio, ahead of the highly anticipated launch of Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2.  This move does not immediately spell cause for concern at Ninja Theory, as the studio is filled with many creative people, many of whom are currently leading …

Despite being by far the best selling videogame of all time, Minecraft has for the past 3 years been running on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S with last-gen equivalent settings. Following a stealth update to the Xbox’s beta release, Minecraft looks set to finally get official current-gen ports. …

We've been hearing about a new all-digital version of the Xbox Series X for a while now. While previous leaks pointed to a more comprehensive refresh, with an all-new design and 6nm chip at the centre, more recent photos point to a simpler design tweak, showing the Xbox Series X …

Toys For Bob have had an interesting few weeks. Following the completion of Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision-Blizzard, the studio announced their intentions to go independent. Microsoft obliged, though are still working with Toys For Bob on their next game. According to one insider, this game is Spyro 4. Releasing a …

Earlier this week, new rumours surfaced suggesting that Xbox is working on a new gaming handheld to rival systems like the Steam Deck and Windows-based alternatives. Having been down this road before, I didn't put much stock in those rumours. However, a newly published interview with Phil Spencer is making the Xbox handheld seem inevitable. 

Ray tracing has become a critical component in the gaming industry. However, this technology often comes at a severe performance cost, especially when GPUs have limited VRAM capacity. As a result, developers have been exploring ways to optimise ray tracing for GPUs with limited memory. Microsoft's new patent (via Tom's …

The handheld console market has been on the rise since the launch of the Nintendo Switch back in 2017. Things have improved further in the last couple of years thanks to the emergence of handheld gaming PCs like the Steam Deck. Now, after literal decades of handheld Xbox rumours, it …

Following the acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft, one of the publisher’s dozen+ studios – Toys for Bob – expressed their desire to be independent. Microsoft obliged late last month, freeing the Crash/Spyro devs from their new owners. The positive outcome with Microsoft has now led to a 2nd-party relationship, …

Sea of Thieves will be one of the first titles from Xbox Games Studios to come to PlayStation – following in the footsteps of Pentiment and most-recently Hi-Fi RUSH. Ahead of this, the team at Rare have shared some of their plans for the game’s next 3 Seasons worth of …

Overwatch 2 has not had the best trajectory since its launch, with the free-to-play title losing many of its promised features over time. Following the announcement last year that one of the game’s primary selling points – its PvE campaign – was cancelled, its replacement is now reportedly also on …

Currently, developers have to implement DLSS, FSR and XeSS separately, a situation that can sometimes lead to one of the three major GPU upscalers being left out of a game. Soon, Microsoft will simplify the process with DirectSR, allowing developers to easily enable multiple upscaling technologies from multiple vendors for broader support.

Toys for Bob were one of Activision's hidden-gem studios, having done fantastic work on the Spyro and Crash Bandicoot remakes, before launching new games like Crash Bandicoot 4 and Crash Team Rumble. Now, following Microsoft's acquisition of Activision, as well as a round of layoffs, Toys for Bob is going …

Microsoft is gearing up for the Graphics Developer Conference (GDC), where it plans to make some exciting announcements. One of the primary focuses of the conference will be DirectSR, a new super-resolution technology that Microsoft is reportedly unveiling. DirectSR aims to establish a standardised solution for graphics cards operating at …

Sea of Thieves has proven to be one of Xbox’s most successful console exclusives. Launching all the way back in 2018, the game has gone from strength to strength, selling millions of copies on Steam alone and promising a decade’s worth of support from the team at Rare. Following reports …

Prior to Microsoft’s Xbox Business podcast (in which they revealed that 4 of the console’s titles would be going to other platforms), leaks and datamines suggested that Hi-Fi RUSH would be one of the games – and that it would come to PS5 and Nintendo Switch. The game has now …

Earlier this month, Microsoft confirmed plans to bring a few of its exclusive games to other platforms. We're getting four games in all, thought to be Sea of Thieves, Hi-Fi Rush, Pentiment and Grounded. To kick things off, Microsoft will be shipping both Pentiment and Grounded for Nintendo Switch.  As …

With the Switch soon to be on its way out, there remain a small number of Nintendo Directs left before focus shifts towards the company’s next generation device. With that, the Switch maker has now announced a 25-minute Nintendo Direct: Partner Showcase – where we might see the official announcement …

We already know through court document leaks that Microsoft is already well into planning its next generation Xbox console. Surprisingly, Microsoft is now talking about its next-gen plans openly.  We should be at least four years away from the next console, according to documents leaked through the court system during …

Yesterday during the Official Xbox Podcast, Phil Spencer announced plans to bring four Xbox games to rival consoles. While this is happening, Xbox, PC and mobile will continue to be the only places with Xbox Game Pass access, and soon, Microsoft will finally start bringing Activision Blizzard titles over.  During …

Just as promised, today Microsoft uploaded the official Xbox podcast, with Phil Spencer, Sarah Bond and Matt Booty all sitting down to discuss 'updates on the Xbox business'. Ignoring how odd it is to see something like this from a console maker like Xbox, we do get some much needed clarifications on recent rumours. Kicking off with the games exclusivity discussion, Spencer confirms that four first-party Xbox games will be going to PlayStation and Nintendo.