Timeline
Saturday1st Jul 2023
News Disney Speedstorm Goes Free-To-Play On Xbox This September
It arrived in "Early Access" form back in April
It's been announced today that Disney Speedstorm will be officially launching on September 28th across all platforms including Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, and as planned, it'll be a free-to-play release. Disney Speedstorm originally arrived back in April as a paid "Early Access" t
Friday30th Jun 2023
News Xbox Could Expect FTC Injunction Verdict As Soon As Next Week
Hopefully it won't drag out
It's been a crazy week, with all kinds of stories coming out of the highly publicised FTC hearing, but it's finally over! If you weren't aware, the FTC and Microsoft have been in court regarding the FTC's request for a preliminary injunction, requesting more time to make a decision on whether to approve Microsoft's...
Pick One What Was Your Favourite Xbox Game Pass Game In June?
Need for Speed? Amnesia? Bramble? Tell us!
We're kicking off our "Pick One" feature slightly earlier than usual this weekend, and this time around we want to know what your favourite Xbox Game Pass addition was in June 2023! Looking back at the month, it was at somewhat quiet few weeks for the service, but we did receive some great titles such as...
Random DOOM Composer Mick Gordon Wants A Remaster Of 'The Simpsons: Hit & Run'
We do too, Mick, we do too
We've seen a lot of games get a lot of remasters over the past few years, but for whatever reason, the original Xbox classic The Simpsons: Hit & Run has remained untouched - at least in an official capacity. The latest person to lend their support for a Hit & Run remaster is none other than the legendary DOOM and...
News Xbox Exclusive 'Towerborne' Will Get Its First Playtest This Year, Signups Now Available
"Join the Towerborne Insider Program today!"
The team behind the Banner Saga series officially announced Towerborne as part of the Xbox Games Showcase 2023 a couple of weeks ago, and you can now sign up for a chance to play it later this year. Towerborne isn't actually coming out until 2024, but the new
News Hogwarts Legacy Is Currently The Lowest Price It's Ever Been On Xbox
Thanks to a 20% discount
Hogwarts Legacy has remained a full-priced title on the Xbox Store ever since it launched in February, but as of today, it's reached an "all time low" - thanks to a 20% discount for Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members. That discount brings the price down from the usual £59.99 / $59.99 on Xbox One and £64.99...
News Xbox Series X|S Consoles Have Reportedly Passed 21 Million Sales Worldwide
According to new (official?) data
Microsoft typically doesn't like providing data about the sales of Xbox consoles these days, but it looks like we have some anyway, courtesy of an apparent [email protected] presentation over at the BIG Festival in Brazil. A snapshot from the presentation appears to reveal that over 21 million Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S...
News Double Fine Isn't Working On Psychonauts 3 Right Now, Confirms Tim Schafer
But something else is in the works
You may recall that a few weeks ago, the Xbox ANZ Twitter account fueled speculation that some kind of Psychonauts 3 announcement could be in the works, but according to Double Fine's Tim Schafer, that's not the case. Speaking to the "Cressup" YouTube channel this week, Schafer admitted that he didn't see the...
News Football Manager Dev Praises Xbox Game Pass, Announces Major Plans For FM24 & FM25
"It's all very sunny for us"
The team behind the endlessly popular Football Manager series has announced some exciting plans for the 2024 and 2025 versions of the game, with the 2024 version already confirmed to be coming to Xbox Game Pass at launch. Firstly, Football Manager 2024 will mark "the last of its kind", described as the "closing of this...
Reminder Six Games Are Leaving Xbox Game Pass Today (June 30)
They're all on sale right now!
Today marks the departure of six Xbox Game Pass titles, including some popular ones such as the fantastic Road 96, strategy title Empire of Sin, and the "overwhelmingly positive" Omori! Here's the full list of titles leaving Xbox Game Pass today, June 30th: Date
News Elder Scrolls 6 'Projected Release Is 2026', Claims Microsoft Lawyer
Phil Spencer said it was at least "five-plus years away"
The Elder Scrolls has been name-dropped once again during the Microsoft v FTC court battle. On the final day of the hearing, Microsoft's lawyer claimed the next Elder Scrolls game by Bethesda was projected to release much earlier than expected. Before you get too excited, it seems the lawyer...
Thursday29th Jun 2023
News 'Blade Runner' Is Getting Its First Brand-New Video Game In Over 25 Years
Developed by Annapurna Interactive
Annapurna Interactive has announced today that it's working on a brand-new Blade Runner game that will "bring the revered franchise back to games for the first time in 25 years" - being developed for consoles as well as PC! Blade Runner 2033: Labyrinth is an internally developed project from Annapurna, and...
News Multiple Games Announced For Xbox Game Pass At Annapurna Showcase 2023
New reveals, new dates and new trailers!
Today marked the return of the Annapurna Interactive Showcase for 2023, and as part of it, we were treated to a bunch of Xbox Game Pass reveals! We already knew about some of these, but others are totally brand-new. All of the following games from the Annapurna Showcase have been announced for Xbox Game...
News It's Official! Stray Launches On Xbox Consoles This August
Not Game Pass though
It's officially been confirmed today that the PlayStation mega-hit Stray is finally coming to Xbox consoles this August! The game will be available for Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S on August 10th, 2023. Sadly it won't be an Xbox Game Pass title though, so you'll need to fork out for this one. Stray is coming to...
News Baldur's Gate 3 Aiming For 2023 Xbox Release, But Series S Version Still Needs More Work
Microsoft is providing support
You may have seen today that Baldur's Gate 3 has received a PC release date of August 3rd and a PS5 release date of September 6th, but there's been no sign of an Xbox date. There's a good reason for that - the game's not ready yet! Speaking to IGN, developer Larian explained that the Xbox Series S version of Baldur's...
News June's Final Xbox Game Pass Title Is Out Now, And It's A 'Harvest Moon' Remake
A great end to the month
It's time for the final Xbox Game Pass game of June 2023! We're going out with a bang, because today's new title is a remake of the classic Game Boy Advance title Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town from 20 years ago.
News Are You Ready, Kids? SpongeBob SquarePants Arrives In PowerWash Simulator Today
"How did Bikini Bottom get so mucky?!"
Update (Thu 29th Jun, 2023): Today's the day! The SpongeBob Pack is now available to purchase on the Xbox Store.
News As Banjo Kazooie Turns 25, Xbox Is Still Keeping Us Waiting For A Revival
Some of the devs think it probably won't happen
Can you believe it's the 25th anniversary of Banjo-Kazooie?! The first game in the series released all the way back on June 29th, 1998 for the Nintendo 64 - and you can play it right now as part of Rare Replay on Xbox Game Pass. Sadly, it's been 15 years now since we last saw a new Banjo-Kazooie game,...
News Activision Boss Admits He'll Have To 'Agree To Disagree' With Microsoft Over Xbox Game Pass
It'll be a big part of the deal
There's been a lot of talk about Xbox Game Pass this week, with Sony's Jim Ryan suggesting publishers don't like the service (due to it being "value destructive"), and other publishers coming out publicly and expressing their praise for it. Someone who isn't so
Poll Are You Happy With July 2023's Xbox Games With Gold?
Survival horror and a point-and-click adventure
Microsoft has officially announced July 2023's Xbox Games with Gold, giving us a look at two more games we'll be able to play at no extra cost with our Xbox Live Gold memberships next month. <related ids="151991"> This month's selection includes the survivor horror game Darkwood, as well as the...
News Xbox Games With Gold For July 2023 Announced
The latest batch of titles
Microsoft has officially announced the new Xbox Games With Gold titles for July 2023! These games are available to download for free for Xbox Live Gold members (including subscribers to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate). <related ids="152002"> Here are July 2023's Xbox Games with Gold games, with more details and footage...
News The First DLC For 'Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty' Is Now Available On Xbox
With a discount for Game Pass members!
The fantastic Xbox Game Pass title Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty has been treated to its first DLC today in the form of the "Battle of Zhongyuan" expansion. It's available right now on the Xbox Store, and it's also included in the Season Pass. This DLC introduces a brand-new story chapter (which is detailed below),...
News SEGA Remains 'Very Close' With Xbox, But Isn't Open To Acquisition Talks Right Now
"Microsoft particularly has a high regard for us"
Back at the start of the week, it was revealed that Microsoft had once seriously been considering the acquisition of SEGA (back in 2021), and now SEGA's co-Chief Operating Officer, Shuji Utsumi, has responded to the news. Speaking to Bloomberg, Utsumi simply told the outlet that the company wasn't...
News DayZ Publisher Shows Xbox Game Pass Some Love 'For No Particular Reason'
Describes it as a "disruption" to the classic model
PlayStation boss Jim Ryan appears to have got on the wrong side of certain parts of the games industry since claiming in his pre-recorded deposition that publishers "unanimously do not like Game Pass because it is value destructive". One of the publishers now speaking up about this happens to be...
News LEGO 2K Drive Races Into Season 1 With 'Fast & Furious' Crossover
Here's what's included in the "Drive Pass"
The recently released Lego 2K Drive has entered its first "Drive Pass" season of content this week, which brings 21 tiers of free rewards and 101 tiers of premium rewards to the game including some Fast & Furious inspired vehicles. There are actually 10 vehicles in all that can be unlocked during...
News Polish Developer '11 Bit Studios' Signs Deal With Xbox Game Pass
Co-founded by former CD Projekt members
The Xbox Game Pass library will soon be expanded, with the Warsaw, Poland-based developer and publisher '11 Bit Studios' announcing it has signed on with Microsoft's subscription service. The studio's chief business development officer Paweł Feldman confirmed this via social media: "We have big news to...
News Microsoft's CEO Isn't A Fan Of Console Exclusives, Blames Sony
Sony has "defined market competition using exclusives"
Exclusives are arguably one of the main selling points of console gaming, but if Microsoft's boss had any say, he would apparently abolish them. During his testimony in the Microsoft v FTC hearing today, Microsoft's CEO Satya Nadella said he would do away with exclusives on Xbox consoles if it...
Wednesday28th Jun 2023
News Xbox Was Thinking About Acquiring Square Enix Back In 2019
The company said it would "provide valuable content assets"
Earlier this week, we learned of a long list of companies that Xbox had considered acquiring a couple of years ago including SEGA and Bungie, and now we know of another one - Square Enix! Documents from 2019 (revealed as part of the Activision Blizzard FTC hearing) mention that an...
News Here's The Email That Set Sony's 'Alarm Bells Ringing' Over Xbox ActiBlizz Deal
"I continue to stand behind the agreement I sent you..."
Update: Well, we don't need to speculate any longer! The Verge's Tom Warren has shared a couple of the emails in question, revealing parts of the exchange between Phil Spencer and Jim Ryan from back in mid-2022. The email from Ryan (dated May 26th, 2022) is extensive, suggesting in his...
News Lots Of Games Are Discounted By 90% On Xbox This Week (June 27 - July 4)
Including this former Game Pass hit for $2.99!
Looking for some cheap Xbox games from June 27th to July 4th, 2023? We've got quite a lot of games that have been reduced by 90% (or more) as part of this week's Xbox sales, with highlights including the former Xbox Game Pass title Mortal Shell: Enhanced Edition for just $2.99, the fantastic
