One thing we haven't had so much of with the Xbox Series X|S compared to previous generations is limited edition consoles. There have been some, like the Halo Xbox Series X and some competition specials, but compared to the Xbox 360 and Xbox One especially, it's been a pretty dry time.

Some of the older limited editions command a pretty penny on the used market these days, and obviously there's a finite supply of them. Later this year we'll also see the Xbox Series X25, with its classic translucent green shell. Though unfortunately, a vastly increased price, now.

But over on the Xbox subreddit there's a thread rolling right now where folks are talking about these consoles, so I thought I'd bring it on over here, too. So what's your favorite limited edition Xbox console of all time?

What’s your favorite limited edition console(s)? from r/xbox

There are some incredible choices on the Reddit thread, from the classic Crystal Green OG Xbox through the Halo 4 Xbox 360, the Titanfall Xbox One, and some others that folks like myself based in the UK might not even have known existed.

I didn't know there was a Taco Bell Xbox One X, for example, nor a green Mountain Dew OG Xbox. Granted, neither of these were actually sold, but they still exist, and I'd definitely go for a Mountain Dew Xbox if I could get my hands on one without selling a kidney.

I've never actually owned a limited edition console myself. The closest I've come so far is the Project Scorpio launch edition Xbox One X, which I still have in my office looking pretty.

DEAL: Get Surfshark VPN 86% OFF with Windows Central 🦈

If I had to pick, it'd be between two. The Xbox console I always coveted the most was the Crystal Green first-generation. I wish I'd chopped in my standard black console to get one, but given I'd already spent a whole paycheck from a part-time job on one at the age of 17, I decided against it lest I risk the wrath of the parents.

The other might be one most wouldn't pick given some of the wild designs, but as a massive fan of the franchise, I always wanted the blue Forza Edition Xbox One. It didn't help that a friend of mine actually had one, taunting me every time I went over.

So, those are my picks, but I'm more interested in yours. There's no shortage to choose from, so hit the comments below and share your own favorite limited edition Xbox console design from the last 25 years!

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

My favorite Xbox feature is having a bit of a moment in the sun.

The Xbox ecosystem is a lot better than people give it credit for in my view. Xbox Game Pass is still a fantastic deal for those who want to graze a large library of content. Xbox Cloud Gaming is more viable than ever for single-player games, and things like cloud saves remain free, while paid on other platforms.

DEAL: Get Surfshark VPN 86% OFF with Windows Central 🦈

My favorite feature however is Xbox Play Anywhere. The ability to buy once, and take my games across Windows PCs, cloud, my laptop, Xbox Series X|S and Xbox Ally X handheld is a cornerstone of how I want to access games now. It's a vastly underrated feature, and something I think Microsoft could do a lot more to promote.

I was over the moon when I saw Larian announce Baldur's Gate 3 for Xbox Play Anywhere this week, in what has been a pretty great sprint for the service.

I sent Larian publishing lead Michael Douse a message and asked for comment on why Baldur's Gate 3 ended up hitting Xbox Play Anywhere, almost three years after its initial launch.

"We just did it because it's a pretty cool part of the Xbox ecosystem and it would mean a lot to the players who enjoy that ecosystem," Douse explained. "We had the resources & time and figured it would make a few folks happy."

Indeed, there's been a huge sprint of fantastic AAA games hitting Xbox Play Anywhere recently, including 007: First Light, Beast of Reincarnation, Hell is Us, Palworld 1.0, Dispatch, Subnautica 2, and many more. Upcoming we also have things like Blood of the Dawnwalker and Onimusha: Way of the Sword. Historically, games only hit Xbox Play Anywhere via Xbox Game Pass, but increasingly, developers are dropping Xbox Play Anywhere on a discretionary basis.

I also asked Sascha Reuter from Fullset about Project Neon, a classic SHMUP that originally launched on the Neo Geo. Project Neon has now been ported to Xbox Series X|S and other platforms, and is launching straight into Xbox Play Anywhere.

"We always love to give players as much bang for for their buck as we can," Reuter explained. "So adding all the versions was pretty much a no-brainer, so was to allow players to switch between their systems however they like."

Reuter told me that developing for Xbox Play Anywhere is as simple as "using a Dropbox folder," as developers can deliver app packages that target multiple platforms via Microsoft's developer back end. Reuter said that Xbox's API for designating a save folder is simple to set up for cross-platform saves, and prevents overwriting and handles syncing via Azure.

Microsoft last year revealed new APIs for cross-platform save syncing for developers who want to take their games even further afield beyond the Xbox ecosystem, as more and more of us go cross-platform.

Increasingly, it feels like developers are actively opting into Xbox Play Anywhere by default, but challenges remain.

The future of Xbox is PC

Microsoft is doing a lot of work to bridge the gap between its Xbox and Windows ecosystems. Xbox Play Anywhere helps developers target Xbox customers regardless of platform, and Microsoft has long suggested games with Xbox Play Anywhere see higher sales and boosted retention.

Still, it's difficult to retroactively set up Xbox Play Anywhere. If codebases diverge too much across separate versions, applying Xbox Play Anywhere can create errors when synchronizing progress. Games like Fallout 76 have never received Xbox Play Anywhere support for that reason — although it's not unheard of. Resident Evil 8 gained Xbox Play Anywhere support several years after launch too, just like Baldur's Gate 3.

Some publishers perhaps simply don't seem to see the value in it. Ubisoft has begun offering free versions of some of its PC games to owners who already own the Xbox version, but Xbox achievements aren't supported on PC. EA doesn't offer any form of synchronicity at all between its Xbox and PC versions either.

Recent data suggests that Xbox Play Anywhere is seeing more organic adoption than ever, consistently hitting a 50% compatibility rate for newly released games. Microsoft's impending Xbox backward compatibility emulator on PC could see even more Xbox games hit PC via Play Anywhere by default, by virtue of the fact they're already Xbox games regardless.

I love this feature, so it's great to see more developers opt-in. Hopefully, we're starting to see

Baldur's Gate 3 and Project Neon are available to buy now on Xbox Play Anywhere, across Xbox PC and Xbox Series X|S.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Players of Dovetail Games' popular train simulator, Train Sim World 6, on Xbox One and PS4 have unfortunate bad news to endure.

Currently the game and all DLC content have been made available on last-gen hardware, but that is now coming to an end.

The announcement was made on the developer's blog, alongside information on exactly what it means for players on Xbox One and PS4.

"Train Sim World titles and new TSW Add-on releases developed from this date onwards will only be available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC platforms (Steam, Xbox for PC and Epic Games).

This change is essential for allowing the teams that create TSW content freedom to take advantage of current-gen hardware, prioritising the best performance possible, and improving the visual quality as much as they can."

The good news is that this change doesn't affect content you've already bought up to now. It's still there, it's still playable, and it's still supported. The cancellation only applies to any further DLC content for Train Sim World 6 and for future games in the franchise. To play any of that, you'll need to be on PC, Xbox Series X|S, or PS5.

It's sad news for players still on the last-gen consoles, for sure, but credit to Dovetail Games for holding out as long as it has.

Even Xbox has finally had to take the plunge with Call of Duty, with Modern Warfare 4 not releasing on Xbox One or PS4, either. It's particularly bad timing for those still holding onto their older consoles given that both Xbox and Sony have recently increased prices on the new consoles, too.

If you are on Xbox One with Train Sim World 6, you do at least have options. It supports Xbox Play Anywhere, for one, so if you can move to PC, you can take all of your existing content with you so long as you use the Xbox App. You can't transfer your content to Steam or Epic Games. Content does transfer between Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S as you would expect, and PS4 players can also carry over to PS5.

Train Sim World 6 is also supported by Xbox Cloud Gaming, so even though your console may not be up to scratch going forward, you can still keep playing through the cloud if you're unable to move natively to supported hardware. PS4 owners don't have that luxury, as cloud streaming on PlayStation is limited to owners of the PS5 version.

While the timing might not be great, it's understandable. Games are more demanding than ever, and ultimately no experience at all is better than paying for something and having a bad experience.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Another month into the scorching summer season, and things have just heated up for Xbox Game Pass as we have a couple of major highlights coming in its latest batch of new games dropping in the first half of August 2026.

Some standout highlights include the cozy Power Wash Simulator 2, the hit open-world survival game Grounded 2, and the chaotic roguelike action game Ball x Pit.

However, the star of the show is the first Gears of War: E-Day multiplayer beta test, which is scheduled to run from August 6, 2026, at 12:00 pm PT to August 10, 2026, at 10:00 am PT for people who pre-ordered the game on Xbox Series X|S or Steam or people who are subscribed to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass.

Here's August's first wave of Xbox games coming to and leaving Xbox Game Pass.

Games leaving Xbox Game Pass (August 15)

• Menace (Game Preview) (PC)
• Atlas Fallen (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Aliens: Firesteam Elite (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Firewatch (Cloud, Console, and PC)

Windows Central's take

To be frank, this isn't the greatest batch of new Xbox Game Pass titles in the world (unless you're really into Grounded 2 or PowerWash Simulator). It's quite clear that, right now, Xbox is dedicating all its marketing power to hyping Gears of War: E-Day by including its upcoming early-access multiplayer beta test in this line-up.

Which, to be fair, is totally fine with me because Gears of War: E-Day's multiplayer looks insane. It features an epic 12-player PvE mode called "Siege Horde" where you must fight off never-ending waves of Locust grunts while completing objectives, and occasionally content MMORPG-style raid bosses that require every player to take down.

The classic PvP 4v4 Versus mode also makes a comeback, but with new match types, maps, and new weapons to help you rip and tear your enemies apart.

DEAL: Get Surfshark VPN 86% OFF with Windows Central 🦈

So, if you have Xbox Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass, you're in for one heck of a weekend this week. If you want to find out more about how to enter the Gears of War: E-Day multiplayer beta tests, you can check out our FAQ on the subject.

Additionally, you can also check out my colleague, Jez Corden's preview of Gears of War: E-Day's Siege Horde mode to see if its large-scale carnage and 12-player co-op insanity is up your alley and enticing enough to make you pick up the full game when it launches on October 6, 2026 for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox Game Pass (Day One), and PC via Windows and Steam.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

If you use a Steam Deck, then the first thing I would always recommend is to install Decky Loader. From there, one of the first plugins I'd recommend is SteamGridDB, because let's face it, the box art isn't always the best artwork you can have in your games library.

Now, though, SteamGridDB is also on Windows 11. We first covered SteamGridDB for Windows 11 a while ago, but until recently I hadn't really given it much notice.

I've started using the Xbox App on Windows 11 as my go-to launcher since I'm in there a lot for Game Pass games, anyway.

But while it's convenient having the Xbox App launch games also from Steam, Epic Games, Ubisoft, etc., one thing made me twitch; the artwork pulled in was awful. Low-res icons mostly rather than full artwork.

This is where SteamGridDB comes in. Just as on the Steam Deck, you can use it to select custom art for your games, and in this case, bring your non-Xbox titles up to the standard of those you're getting directly through the app.

SteamGridDB is not an app, as such, but instead a Game Bar widget. So to make your changes you have to go through Game Bar, but I actually think I prefer it this way. It can't hook into the Xbox App like it can hook into SteamOS, so it's probably the next best thing this way.

These days you can get it directly from the Microsoft Store, and once it's installed, you may just need to launch it from the Widgets Menu on the Game Bar.

But it's as simple as selecting a game, hitting the search icon, and compatible artwork will show up. The selections in my experience aren't quite as plentiful as they are on SteamOS, but there's not been a game I've come across where there isn't something that's a whole heck of a lot better than a crummy low-res icon.

Once you choose your artwork, the next time you go to your library in the Xbox App, it'll have been applied, and it won't make your eyes bleed any longer.

I'm using it on my desktop PC, but it's particularly useful if you're on a handheld gaming PC such as the Xbox Ally or Lenovo Legion Go series. Clean library, clean mind!

Game Bar is one of those features I use a lot without really exploring what it can do, and SteamGridDB is now a permanently pinned widget. It only takes seconds to make a change, and it's so worth it.

It's a must-have if, like me, you're using the Xbox App to launch games from elsewhere.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

If, like me, you were wildly impressed by Gears of War: E-Day's insane multiplayer gameplay showcase and want to play it as soon as possible, then you're in luck. E-Day is holding two beta test weekends for players to try out its multiplayer modes and help the devs polish it ahead of its October 6, 2026 launch.

The first beta test will run from August 6, 2026, at 12:00 pm PT to August 10, 2026, at 10:00 am PT for players who pre-ordered the game on Xbox Series X|S or Steam, and/or subscribed to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass.

The second beta test will be open for all players on all eligible platforms and will run from August 13, 2026, at 12:00 pm PT to August 17, 2026, at 10:00 am PT, regardless of whether a player has pre-ordered the game or not.

DEAL: Get Surfshark VPN 86% OFF with Windows Central 🦈

To download the beta for the early access weekend, search for it on your respective platform's digital storefront or library for "Gears Beta" if you pre-ordered the game digitally, or redeem an email code sent to your account if you pre-ordered the physical edition.

Accessing the open beta test is easier, as you simply need to search for "Gears Beta" on the Xbox digital storefront, Xbox PC app, or Steam's storefront and download accordingly.

Xbox users will need at least an Xbox Game Essentials subscription to access the Gears of War E-Day multiplayer beta tests.

Steam users won't need an Xbox/Microsoft account to play the Gears of War E-Day multiplayer beta tests, but they'll need to link their Steam account to an Xbox account (which is done via the multiplayer beta test's main menu) if they hope to play with Xbox players via cross-play.

Multiplayer beta content

Here's a list of what content you can expect from Gears of War: E-Day's multiplayer beta test versus what content will be available in the full version, sourced from the official Gears of War: E-Day page.

Multiplayer beta exclusive rewards

Additionally, completing certain challenges within the beta tests will net you some exclusive in-game rewards you can use in the beta and in the full game, which include:

• Epic Blast Damage Mags Character Skin – Hit Player Level 20 
• Rare Crush the Bug Weapon Skin Set – Extract from Horde Siege 8 Times on Infantry difficulty or higher. 
• Crush the Bug Banner – Get 25 Headshots 
• Crush the Bug Emblem – Perform 10 Revives 
• Crush the Bug Icon – Perform 5 Prototype Lancer Chainsaw Executions 
• Open Beta Medal & First in the Fight Title – Launch the Multiplayer Beta 

PC spec requirements

If you're planning on playing Gears of War: E-Day on PC, here is a list of recommended specs by The Coalition for you to determine if your rig can run it.

Do note that these specifications aren't reflective of the full game, and The Coalition will update this list with the final PC spec requirements ahead of the game's launch.

Also, make sure you update your NVIDIA Driver to GeForce Game Ready Driver 610.74 before launching the game; otherwise, it won't run.

Minimum requirements

• CPU — AMD Ryzen 5 2600X / Intel i7-6850K / Intel i5-10400.
• GPU — NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 / NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 / AMD Radeon RX 9060 / AMD Radeon RX 6600
• RAM — 12GB
• Storage — 80GD (SSD required)
• Windows Version — Windows 10 / 11 (minimum 22H2)
• Graphics Preset — Medium
• Performance Specs — 1080p, 60fps, Super Resolution: DLSS / FSR / TSR / XeSS

Recommended requirements

• CPU — AMD Ryzen 5 5600 / Intel i5-11600K.
• GPU — NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 / NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti / AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT / AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT
• RAM — 16GB
• Storage — 80GD (SSD required)
• Windows Version — Windows 10 / 11 (minimum 22H2)
• Graphics Preset — High
• Performance Specs — 1440p, 60fps, Super Resolution: DLSS / FSR / TSR / XeSS

Windows Central's take

I can't wait to get stuck into a Gears of War game again after all these years, especially after reading Jez Corden's preview about how epic Gears of War: E-Day's "Horde Siege" mode is shaping up to be.

Not to mention its story campaign, as shown in the Gears of War: E-Day Direct in June, which is also building up to a nostalgic thrill ride for players who grew up playing the original trilogy while also bringing in new newcomers with new mechanics and weapons to make it more fast-paced and brutal than previous titles.

But what about you? Are you looking forward to playing the Gears of War: E-Day multiplayer beta tests, or are you waiting until the full game comes out to play the campaign solo or with co-op?

If you have any thoughts on the matter, please let us know through the poll, the comments section, or our Reddit page.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Despite the massive damage Xbox Game Studios took during its controversial 'reset', it's still alive and ready to continue celebrating the 25th anniversary of the original Xbox, which would help change the video game landscape forever.

In honor of this momentous occasion, Microsoft has several announcements to help the Xbox fan community join in on the festivities while giving them presents as thanks for their support over the years.

Community-Created XBOX Designs and profile badge

To start, Microsoft is partnering with two popular Xbox content creators, Klobrille and Ben Kenobi, to publish new gamerpics, backgrounds, and a dynamic theme for Xbox consoles custom-made by the Xbox community.

DEAL: Get Surfshark VPN 86% OFF with Windows Central 🦈

Additionally, Xbox is also willing to publish your custom-made Xbox designs if you send them on X and @XBOX with #XBOX25.

Speaking of Xbox customization. Starting today until the end of 2026, players who log into their Xbox account on console, PC, or the Xbox mobile app will obtain the Xbox 25th anniversary profile badge that they can put on their profile pics.

Xbox Game Pass

Next up, Xbox Game Pass is curating a collection of classic Xbox games that helped define the brand on each console generation from the original Xbox all the way to Xbox Series X|S, all playable on console or PC.

Some of these iconic titles will include, but are not limited to: Fable Anniversary, Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Fallout 4, Psychonauts 2, Grounded, and more.

Xbox FanFest Tour dates

Finally, Microsoft has announced more dates for the Xbox FanFest Tour, which kicked off during the Xbox Games Showcase in June 2026.

The Xbox FanFest Tour is a global series of events where Xbox fans come together to connect, play games, and have fun.

Here's where and when you can expect the tour to happen next:

• Cologne, Germany — August 26, at gamescom
• Tokyo, Japan — September 17, during Tokyo Game Show
• London, U.K. — September 26
• Mexico City, Mexico — October 17
• Sydney, Australia — October 17
• Toronto, Canada — November 6
• Seattle, U.S. — More info coming soon!

Tickets for each stop of the tour will be handed out to people through city-specific sweepstakes.

If you wish to enter the sweepstakes for a chance to win a ticket and keep up on all the news updates for this tour, you will need to visit the XBOX FanFest Tour webpage.

If you want to keep up to date on further announcements regarding Xbox's 25th Anniversary celebrations, products, and exclusive content, visit the Xbox 25th Anniversary webpage hub.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Those of us old enough to have played Halo: Combat Evolved when it was first around (I think we're boomers now?) will have probably done so with the most legendary of all Xbox controllers.

The Duke.

The absolute goliath of a controller that back then, in my teenage hands, felt like a dinner plate. But what a thing. Hefty, sturdy, a real piece of equipment. I adapted pretty quickly, having been used to the equally sizable Dreamcast controller, and have many fond memories of one of Xbox's most iconic franchises.

I hadn't even thought of digging out my Hyperkin Duke for Halo: Campaign Evolved until I came across a thread on Reddit simply calling it a "nostalgia rush."

It just feels right.

Hyperkin Duke + Campaign Evolved from r/xbox

The only trouble is that if you don't already have one of Hyperkin's remade controllers, they're not as plentiful as they once were.

Right now you can only buy the white Xbox 20th anniversary edition, with the original black and the crystal green ones no longer in stock (unless you hunt a used one down.)

The Hyperkin Duke is a perfect recreation of the original, except you can use it on modern Xbox consoles and your PC. The icing on the cake is the OLED panel in the giant center button that shows the OG Xbox boot-up screen when the controller is connected.

As my colleague, Jez Corden, wrote when first trying it out, this controller is built for nostalgia. Playing backwards compatible games with it just feels right. Halo: Campaign Evolved may be shiny and new, but it's as classic an Xbox game as you can get.

After all, the original incarnation of the game was the console seller back then. I'm not a massive Halo fan these days, but the original is the game that got me to buy an Xbox. The first time I played it at a friend's house with a Duke, all of my next paycheck from my part-time job was used to buy a console and a copy of Halo.

I haven't played Campaign Evolved yet, but suddenly I have the urge to dig out my green Duke from the box of many things in the attic and get to it. Better still, I guess, now we're also getting original Xbox backwards compatible games on PC, too.

Oh, and if the Duke is a little too big, you can still buy the smaller Duchess from Hyperkin, too. Same nostalgia, smaller size.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Something I said on our Xbox Two Podcast this weekend was taken a little bit out of context by some news aggregates, and it led to rumors that Microsoft was exploring quitting Steam. They are absolutely not exploring that (right now), but there is good reason to think Microsoft is evaluating how it engages with Windows gaming all up.

Someone superchatted in during the live show and asked if there was a scenario where Xbox would ever quit Steam. Microsoft has been re-engaging with exclusive content as of late, with Gears of War: E-Day being the tip of that spear. It'll be exclusively on Xbox Series X|S on console, removing PlayStation from the equation. It is, however, still launching on Steam on PC, in addition to Xbox PC.

DEAL: Get Surfshark VPN 86% OFF with Windows Central 🦈

PC gaming seems to be core to Xbox's future. Xbox Helix is going to be a gaming PC in essence, and component prices are making the Xbox Series X|S a non-starter for many. At least for the duration of the memory crisis, Microsoft likely isn't expecting to sell a ton of its own hardware. So, targeting users where they already are, without completely exiting the hardware landscape, is likely the play for now.

So, given that Microsoft literally owns Windows, how are they hoping to corner a bigger piece of the lucrative PC gaming market, even if it doesn't mean undermining Steam directly?

Xbox will continue to support Steam, but it's planning to expand its PC business too

Xbox Game Pass remains core to how Microsoft plans to show up on PC. Game Pass is designed to capture a separate audience from Steam, targeting users who are perhaps more inclined to otherwise stick to free-to-play titles or seek savings in as many ways as possible.

Xbox is still investing a ton in improving the Xbox PC app, which now sports Xbox Mode on Xbox handhelds and Windows 11 PCs, turning your desktop environment into a more optimized, controller-focused interface. The Windows 11 team wrote just last week about how it intends to further boost the OS for gaming and optimization in general. We live in a world where Linux and SteamOS seem to offer significant gaming performance gains by simple virtue of not being Windows — Microsoft absolutely wants to solve that gap.

But furthermore, I've received information from multiple trusted sources that Microsoft and Blizzard have been planning to open Battle.net up to third-party developers. It's unclear if that's still the plan under new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma, but so far, I'm not yet seeing evidence that the plans here were canceled.

Battle.net boasts enormous monthly active users in its own right, and technically has its own "exclusives" in the form of World of Warcraft, Heroes of the Storm, and some other Blizzard classics.

Microsoft already tested launching some Xbox games through Battle.net, including Avowed, The Outer Worlds 2, and DOOM: The Dark Ages. It seems Battle.net is being redesigned to offer more third-party content beyond the Microsoft ecosystem in the future, while still acting as the primary delivery platform for Blizzard games like Diablo IV and Overwatch.

Battle.net and the Xbox PC app already form a "bridge" of sorts via Xbox PC's plugins section. Microsoft is also working with publishers like Ubisoft and EA to integrate their own PC stores to give publishers the opportunity to deliver their content directly while integrating Xbox Series X|S, Xbox Cloud, and Xbox PC ecosystems and features. Ubisoft announced last week that owners of some Xbox Series X|S console games will receive their Xbox PC versions for free, for example, and it's likely the program there will expand over time.

There's a lot of unknowns here, of course. There are some gaps and pitfalls when it comes to third-party titles on the Xbox PC store. Diablo IV, for example, doesn't support Xbox Play Anywhere, meaning users have to buy DLC multiple times for multiple platforms. Ubisoft games on PC don't support Xbox achievements either, even though you can sync your progress on some games to Xbox Series X|S devices.

Just how seamless the synchronicity between platforms will be remains to be seen, but the core of it is pretty simple: it's about giving developers more options for selling games, and putting more games in front of users where they already are on PC. The PC market is pretty fragmented given its open nature, with different launchers, stores, and platforms competing for attention. Xbox is trying to make it more seamless for PC players who want the integrations using its plug-in systems, while also leveraging the platforms it already has to create more opportunities for developers in general.

Blizzard games are generally seasonal in delivery, so it's a potential win for Xbox if, during typical patch cycles, Blizzard gamers pick up another game inside the ecosystem rather than leave for something external on the Riot Client, Epic Games Store, HoYoverse launcher, or wherever else.

Positron and Xbox emulation on PC

Microsoft is also known to be creating a bridge between console and PC with its Positron platform.

Xbox "Positron" is a system designed to help gamers convert disc-based games into digital licenses. If those games support Xbox Play Anywhere (and up to 50% of new releases currently do these days), then you will also get the PC version of any Xbox Series X|S disc-based game you connect to your Microsoft Account.

Sources suggest to me that Positron is expected to be revealed some time in August as Microsoft works out some of the finer details. It won't support every single game on Xbox 360, Series X|S, and Xbox One, but it will support a significant amount of titles pending licensing hurdles and agreements with publishers.

Another tool Microsoft is using to grow its presence on PC is the unassuming backwards compatibility emulator we saw ship a few weeks ago.

Xbox has arguably been a leader in the digital preservation space, ensuring games from decades ago still function on modern systems. In some cases, the only way to play certain old school games has been on Xbox consoles via backward compatibility. But Microsoft is planning to expand that even further to include PC gamers in the mix as well.

For now, the Xbox backward compatibility emulator on PC includes four OG Xbox games, including Conker, Blinx, and Crimson Skies. Future plans also include Xbox 360 games, which could light up some major classics that have, in some cases, up to now, been completely locked to consoles.

It would help Microsoft close some big gaps in its PC ecosystem, which came in pretty late and is sadly still missing out on mountains of classic games. It would also help Xbox gain access to a wealth of new content that would potentially perform better on lower-end handheld devices, such as the Xbox Ally S, in a universe where hardware prices have become truly insane.

Lots of potential, but polish is paramount

Xbox's history with PC gaming has been checkered, to say the least. PC gamers of a certain age still call back to the dark days of Games for Windows Live. Even those who might've dabbled more recently lament Xbox PC's feature and app gaps when compared to Steam.

On lower-end devices especially, the Xbox PC store is still not as performant as it probably should be, especially on that initial load. The Xbox PC store search functionality isn't particularly great either, and curation is a mixed bag. It's hard to find new games at times, and many games to this day still skip the platform, even though Xbox PC offers a far more generous cut than Steam does.

The Xbox PC store has improved by a huge amount, and now probably represents roughly 50% of my play time. I'm currently bouncing between Xbox Series X|S and Xbox Ally X while playing Hell is Us, for example, and many upcoming major AAA titles like Blood of the Dawnwalker and Onimusha from Capcom do support Xbox Play Anywhere.

Indie developers still aren't huge fans of the Xbox PC platform either, sadly, with long certification times and difficult policies making shipping on Xbox PC needlessly complex. Without some form of Game Pass deal, it seems many indie developers simply don't think it's worth the effort.

It'll be interesting to see what Xbox does to continue improving adoption on their end, and particularly how Battle.net handles some of this stuff in the future (if plans don't change under new CEO Asha Sharma). None of it means Xbox will walk away from Steam; there's simply too much money to be left on the table. PC has long been a place of platform plurality, and Xbox is seemingly embracing that aspect of Windows gaming in a big way.

RELATED: Xbox Helix and Steam — does it still make sense?

If it works, could Microsoft look to a future where it focuses on its own platforms rather than Steam or Epic Games? It's perhaps a window at best, but not likely in the medium or even long term. But given how Microsoft is pressuring Xbox to deliver bigger margins at all costs, I suspect today's incarnation of Xbox would be less philosophically inclined towards supporting Steam if it felt it didn't have to. But that's just my (potentially cynical) opinion.

As far as I know, Xbox has no plans whatsoever to quit Steam, even as it doubles up on Xbox PC and potentially Battle.net as store destinations for its developer ecosystem.

All of this is before we learn more about Xbox Helix, and how Microsoft plans to bridge the console and PC ecosystems with its own hardware ... More competition should be good for consumers, at least in theory. Ideally, whether you're on Steam or not, Microsoft's boosted attention towards Windows should improve PC gaming in general.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

In the UK, Summer used to mean a few fleeting days of mild sunshine, scoffing a melted choc ice in my Nan's backyard and still needing to put a cardigan on in the evening. Thanks to climate change however, British Summer is rapidly turning into a crash course on how to survive 6 weeks in Mount Doom.

We're now regularly seeing temperatures soaring to 38°C (that’s a blistering 100.4°F for our American readers across the pond), which alone probably doesn't sound that dramatic, but as everyone over the age of 40 says, IT'S THE HUMIDITY THAT GETS YOU.

Anyway, to my point, for anyone living in a classic heat-retaining UK brick house built to withstand the winters and middling summers of the past, sitting indoors and trying to game in this heat feels like trying to play Diablo 4 from actual Hell.

It's put me off turning my Xbox on at all and pushed me further into the arms of handheld gaming.

Gaming is so hot right now, literally.

Under full load, both the Xbox Series X and S I have in my living room act like electric radiators at best, but during Summer it's absolutely unbearable.

The Xbox Series X draws around 160 to 200 watts of power when rendering demanding games, dumping nearly every single watt of that electricity straight back out into the room as pure thermal exhaust. Naturally, this raises the question: is Microsoft doing anything to help us out?

It's worth noting that Microsoft’s revised Xbox Series X models (including the all-digital white edition) have a smaller chip, and I'm still rocking the old disc model. The new chips pull roughly 10 to 15 watts less from the wall and are more power-efficient, but I doubt that 10-watt difference has a dramatic enough effect on heat output.

In my case, I play mainly on a Series S anyway, which, while about half as powerful as the Series X, also dumps every watt it generates out the vent as heat.

The Xbox Toaster might be a real, actual kitchen appliance, but I'd argue you could fry an egg to go with it on my Series S. Though disclaimer: I didn't actually risk breaking my console to try this; the picture is a joke. Have you seen how much the Xbox costs nowadays?

Retreating to the cold arms of the ROG Ally X

I've had a love-hate relationship with my ROG Ally X, but faced with giving up gaming for the summer or melting into my couch, I've been pushed willingly back into its arms as my device of choice.

Sure, it also generates some heat of its own, but it's more akin to holding a Dyson hairdryer than having full-force hot winds blowing into my living room. That being said, there are plenty of ways I can lower the impact, like dropping the TDP and playing in Silent mode.

I've also leaned a little harder into Xbox Cloud Gaming during these hot spells. Using the cloud, I can play the more graphically heavy titles on a lower-power screen without melting my lap away.

Granted, using the Cloud is environmentally ironic

While handhelds and cloud gaming save my immediate space from an unbearable meltdown, I do need to acknowledge that cloud gaming doesn't actually eliminate heat entirely. It's simply displacing it elsewhere, namely to Microsoft's massive server infrastructure.

Data centers require colossal amounts of electricity to run high-end server blades and even more energy to power the massive industrial chillers keeping those racks cool. As climate change continues to drive extreme weather across Europe and North America, relying on cloud infrastructure simply shifts the burden elsewhere. I'm saving myself from sweating today, but streaming high-bitrate video from a rack of server GPUs miles away and outsourcing my discomfort to Microsoft carries its own heavy carbon footprint.

Big tech is wrestling with this environmental paradox, and Microsoft has faced intense scrutiny over its climate impact, with reports highlighting how data center water usage could double or even triple by 2030 due to intense cooling demands.

The company is more than aware of the backlash. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella recently touted new closed-loop liquid cooling technologies, claiming their revamped data centers can drastically cut water consumption down to what a single restaurant would use per year. But whether closed-loop cooling fixes the issue or not, the sheer electrical demand of running hyperscale infrastructure isn't disappearing. Every time I stream a game to keep my bedroom cool, Microsoft's servers are working overtime and sweating on my behalf.

Surviving the new normal

Until air conditioning becomes standard in British housing, summer gaming will remain an uncomfortable and sweaty juggling act for me.

For now, my Series S is taking an extended summer break, staying firmly switched off. You'll find me sat next to an open window begging for a slight breeze and relying on my gaming handheld to get me through the heatwave.

Or you know, I could just read a book...

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

I have become one of the world's only Xbox Ally-first gamers, and as you might expect, I'm a big fan of Xbox Play Anywhere.

For those who don't know, Xbox Play Anywhere is a truly remarkable program by which Xbox Series X|S and Xbox PC players get both the PC and console version of a game on a single purchase. In an era where digital rights and preservation have become central, the fact a huge chunk of my Xbox console library is playable on any Windows PC is something that is probably critically overlooked.

It's a great service in particular for the Xbox Ally handheld range, but it's true that many, many games simply don't support the feature. Support has been generally inconsistent, despite some big wins throughout the past couple of years.

New data shows that Xbox Play Anywhere support is still improving, but there's still a ton of work to be done here.

Korean Xbox resource @KoreaXboxNews has been manually tracking the ratio of games that support Xbox Play Anywhere throughout 2026, and the general trend has been pretty impressive.

Microsoft lists new games on the Xbox Store page and lets you filter games by the features they support. KoreaXboxNews' data shows that Microsoft is steadily approaching a ~50% ratio for new games launching that allow users to buy once and then play anywhere.

Microsoft indeed landed some big AAA wins in this regard recently. IO Interactive's 007: First Light was particularly notable. Typically, Microsoft requests that Xbox Game Pass partners deliver titles with Xbox Play Anywhere in exchange for the funding deal. 007: First Light was notable for the fact it was a rare AAA game that opted for Xbox Play Anywhere without any form of discernible incentive.

Other major Xbox Play Anywhere wins recently include Hell is Us, Palworld 1.0, Subnautica 2, Arc Raiders, Cronos: The New Dawn, STALKER 2, Persona 4 Revival, Final Fantasy Resonance, Valor Mortis, Control Resonant, Onimusha: Way of the Sword, Blood of the Dawnwalker, Beast of Reincarnation, and many more. Although there have been some downsides too.

Ubisoft continues to be a particular frustration in this area. Ubisoft+ Classics is an Xbox Game Pass benefit, but the PC versions come with no achievements, inconsistent cloud save support, and a Ubisoft Connect PC app requirement that offers no discernible benefits to the player. Some games that were formerly Xbox Play Anywhere, including Resident Evil 7, and Mortal Shell, have irritatingly dropped Xbox Play Anywhere for their sequels. Although sometimes support has arrived post-launch or post-announcement. Aliens Fireteam Elite 2 was certified for Xbox Play Anywhere recently, despite not initially including it.

There's also no real benefit for developers to offer Xbox Play Anywhere on older games. We have seen older games arrive on Xbox Play Anywhere with a Game Pass deal, such as Resident Evil Village, but there are so many classics and new games alike that may likely never arrive. Even many of Microsoft's own back catalog have never been ported to Xbox Play Anywhere, and if Xbox itself doesn't think it's worth it — why should third-party developers?

Xbox Play Anywhere is one of the best features of the Xbox ecosystem in my view, and it's great to see more upcoming titles adopt it out of the box.

RELATED: Best Xbox Ally accessories

Clearly more work needs to be done to convince third-party developers that it's worthwhile. Games sold on Xbox PC deliver more revenue to developers than Steam does, and longer term, building up a credible PC store alternative to Steam would benefit creators in the industry in the long run. I'd argue Microsoft should continue to invest in shouldering some of the burden to support developers willing to support Xbox PC, but Xbox already has its work cut out with a variety of other problems.

It's unclear if hoping developers will "organically" support Xbox Play Anywhere and Xbox PC in general will be enough in the long term.

Do you use Xbox Play Anywhere? What games are missing from the platform? What could Microsoft do to improve adoption? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Gears of War: E-Day's much-anticipated multiplayer gameplay reveal is finally here, as The Coalition has released a 10-minute gameplay overview covering its various PvE and PvP content.

If you're a fan of multiplayer in past Gears of War titles, then buckle up because this gameplay overview has a lot to unpack.

First of all, the gameplay overview gives us details on "Horde Siege", a 12-player PvE co-op mode that looks to take Gears of War's classic Horde Mode and give it an epic evolution to convey the true horrors of Emergence Day.

In this mode, three squads consisting of four players are tasked to complete multiple objectives across large-scale maps while fighting off hordes of Locust until you've completed enough goals to call a helicopter to pick you up.

Each player will take up character classes, customizable weapons (a first for the series), armor mods, and tactical gear mods to help them survive. These classes include the sniping Marksman class, the shotgun-berserking Breacher class, the versatile Assault class, and the supportive Medic class.

You will need to master these classes and gear, and get along with your teammates if you hope to live through the day, as not only will you be dealing with Locust grunts, but giant Locust monsters too.

These Locust monsters function like MMORPG raid bosses that will require every squad to come together to defeat, as they have a ton of health and hit harder than a runaway train on fire.

Next up, The Coalition gives players a taste of Gears of War: E-Day's PvP modes — Team Deathmatch, Conquest, Demolition, and Crucible, each of which will be 4v4 skirmishes.

• Team Deathmatch — This is a simple mode where players must rush to kill the enemy team until they run out of lives.
• Conquest — This is a 'king of the hill' style mode where players must take and hold objective markers on a map to rack up points.
• Demolition — Players must run to obtain a bomb planted on a map and then take it to one of their rival team's bomb sites to blow them up.
• Crucible — A unique mode where players must obtain a Power Core to accumulate points for their team whilst keeping it away from enemies and a shrinking scoring zone.

The Coalition says they plan to add more new game modes, maps, and events after the game launches.

During this gameplay overview, the developers also highlighted some miscellaneous features like training modes to test out weapons, customizable control schemes, casual and Ranked playlists, and tons of new unique character and weapon skins that can be earned purely by playing the game.

The only paid pieces of cosmetic gear this game will have will be Premium Edition content, charity content, and partner content, like the unique weapon skin pack created in collaboration with the legendary heavy metal band Metallica.

Additionally, the developers will be adding new characters, new weapon skins, poses, customization items, challenges, medals, and events through post-launch seasons, all of which will have no battle passes or pay-to-win elements holding them down.

Windows Central's take

When I played Gears of War when I was younger, I usually stuck to the main campaign in two-player co-op, but this may be the first time I'll give multiplayer a go because the mountain of content Gears of War: E-Day is displaying is bonkers, especially at launch.

PvP looks so fast-paced and brutal, while the new PvE Horde Siege mode is beyond epic. Taking on classic Gears of War monsters like Brumaks and Corpsers with 12 players at once sounds like one heck of a great time, and judging by my colleague, Jez Corden's glowing preview of Horde Siege mode, this is probably going to be the most amazing game mode a Gears of War game has ever had.

Gears of War: E-Day was already high on my wishlist, but this multiplayer overview has pretty much sold me on the game. I can't wait to play Horde Siege mode with my friends when the game launches for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox Game Pass, and PC via Windows and Steam on October 6, 2026.

In fact, I might even sign up for Gears of War: E-Day's early-access multiplayer beta starting on August 6, 2026, which, by the way, you can only access by having an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate/PC Game Pass subscription or pre-ordering the game.

But what do you think? Has Gears of War: E-Day impressed you with its multiplayer reveal

If you have any thoughts on the matter, please let us know through the poll, the comments section, or our Reddit page.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Yesterday, Microsoft unveiled its fiscal performance for the past year, and most segments were up, save for Windows and Xbox.

Microsoft's consumer-oriented segments saw material declines, albeit coming in slightly ahead of expected guidance. The memory crisis has weighed on PC shipments as we all know, and Xbox has seen an immense amount of disruption in various ways.

Microsoft was up overall, buoyed by demand for its Azure AI service delivery. Where does that leave Xbox in a world where shareholders are demanding more of Microsoft than ever? Here's what Xbox CEO Asha Sharma and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella had to say on the matter.

Microsoft's c-suite promises Xbox will return to growth by the end of FY27

In comments on X (Twitter), Xbox CEO Asha Sharma remarked upon Xbox's journey, noting that it now had "200 million" active players, although it's hard to quantify exactly what that means in real terms. Xbox's platform is incredibly confusing and fragmented; does 200 million include players on PlayStation 5? Does it only include players on Xbox Series X|S, One, and Xbox PC? Does it include Candy Crush Saga players on Android? Who knows.

Either way, 200 million is nothing to scoff at, but she hinted at a core issue: Xbox isn't monetizing those players as well as they perhaps could or should be.

"Regarding Xbox, we are making the necessary decisions in our portfolio, platform, and operations to restructure the business and ensure sustainable long-term growth," Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told investors. "We have the best titles in the industry along with highly talented studios around the world. We trust in our ability to unite these assets and leverage them, and we expect Xbox to return to the path of growth during fiscal year 2027."

I've seen some try to pin blame on last year's Game Pass u-turn for Xbox's decline this year, but the timeline doesn't really add up. Game Pass did lose a ton of subscribers in the short-lived price hike, but it would've also monetized remaining users more heavily. In fact, subscription services remain a bright spot in an otherwise pressured industry.

"US non-mobile subscription video game spending grew 16% in the first half of 2026 when compared to the same time a year ago, to $3.6 billion," Circana Senior Director Mat Piscatella told us. "Total video game content spending across, PC, console, mobile, VR and cloud was flat, at $24.3 billion. Non-mobile subscription spending includes everything subscription, from service like Xbox Game Pass, Switch Online, etc. to the MMOs and everything in between."

What's the real culprit for Xbox's decline here?

Xbox insiders point to Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 as the primary driver of this past year's decline, although the lack of major tentpole AAA titles is also worth pointing the finger at as well. The previous fiscal year saw a pretty huge amount of content hit Xbox's coffers, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 was touted as the biggest in franchise history. Exceeding that expectation simply didn't come to bear.

Call of Duty had some unprecedented competition last year from a resurgent Battlefield 6 and incumbents like Arc Raiders. And debates around Call of Duty's cartoony skins impacted perceptions around the game in general.

There are also other major titles at Xbox seeing pressure right now. Minecraft saw a huge explosion on the back of the 2025 movie in the previous fiscal, and hasn't really had a comparable boost in 2026. Roblox is likely doing more damage to Minecraft than Microsoft is willing to publicly admit right now, as Asha Sharma brings Mojang in-house as a direct report to her.

Candy Crush Saga is an absolutely monstrously huge franchise that core gamers often ignore, and even that has seen immense pressure on mobile from similar casual games, like Monopoly Go.

Xbox Game Pass has seen disruption from its ill-advised price hike last year, and Xbox hardware is under strain from the memory rout. But they're a drop in the bucket compared to the mega franchises Xbox now governs.

The challenge facing Xbox is tough, but is NOWHERE near insumountable

Despite challenges, there are already green shoots of recovery worth pointing towards. Call of Duty Black Ops 1+2's unexpected bare-bones (i.e. very cheap) ports to PlayStation 5 has seen it inexplicably claim the top spot on PS5, beating out Fortnite itself. It could open up a very big opportunity for Call of Duty "Classic" ports that nostalgic millennial cohorts are eager to re-experience, without the ridiculous skins and pop-culture bloat the modern games often tout.

Xbox is also returning to exclusive games to try and boost its hardware visibility. The memory crisis will likely prevent real growth in this area for at least a year or more, but Xbox Helix is around the corner — there's an opportunity for Xbox to innovate on the traditional console business model here.

Microsoft insiders have reiterated to me that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and CFO Amy Hood are giving Asha Sharma some breathing space on accountability margin expectations, in order to let the new strategy play out. The price of this has been absolutely massive layoffs, the biggest in Xbox history, as the brand resets various studios to staffing levels seen pre-Covid.

Xbox has become an enormous and unwieldy operation, though. Ensuring each part of the business is delivering on the opportunities ahead of it represents a massive and complex undertaking that Xbox arguably has struggled with. Since it acquired Minecraft, Activision, Blizzard, ZeniMax, and others over the past twelve years, Xbox has solidified itself as arguably the biggest content house on Earth this side of Disney. Maximizing the opportunities therein will take real investment, innovation, and risk-taking that I'm not sure Microsoft (or its shareholders) have the stomach for.

It should be clear how much potential there is here. The Fallout TV show, the Minecraft movie, and other big wins have proven beyond all doubt that Xbox can create a cohesive content portfolio that spans mediums and devices. But can it achieve this without sacrificing the core of what Xbox is?

It'll be interesting to see how Asha Sharma navigates all of these challenges in the coming years ahead. Asha Sharma arguably has the biggest business challenge in all of gaming right now.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

This is my first foray into the world of 8BitDo accessories, happened upon only as the entire range of classic Xbox retro green accessories caught my eye last year. The full range, which consists of a keyboard, mouse, and controller, makes for quite a collection for fans of the original Xbox, especially as we wait for Xbox to make its own 'X25' gear, which I'm sure will be considerably more expensive.

First up on my testing docket was this 8BitDo Ultimate 3-mode Xbox Controller in Jade, and while I'm a bit bummed that not one of those 3 modes includes true wireless for Xbox, this is still a fine piece of kit for PC players (especially if you are also looking at that sexy keyboard and want to match).

8BitDo Ultimate 3-Mode Controller: Price, availability and specs

The 8BitDo Ultimate 3-Mode (Jade Edition) comes in at an MSRP of $69.99 (frequently on sale around $54.99–$59.99 at major retailers like Best Buy).

Here's what you get under the hood:

• Tri-mode connectivity: 2.4GHz wireless, Bluetooth, and USB-C wired connection
• Compatibility: Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows 10/11, Android, and iOS
• Hall Effect anti-drift sticks & Hall Effect analog triggers
• Membrane ABXY buttons and traditional D-pad
• Two remappable pro back paddle buttons
• 4 integrated rumble motors (impulse trigger rumble + grip vibration)
• Custom Profile Switcher: Holds up to 3 custom configurations via 8BitDo Ultimate Software
• Included charging dock: Houses the 2.4GHz USB receiver

8BitDo Ultimate 3-Mode Controller: What's good

First off, we have to talk about the obvious aesthetic pull of this controller. As a bonafide millennial, obviously the translucent green hue speaks to me. I gravitate toward translucent tech, as it reminds me of when tech was less boring and more prone to black-and-white combos. Combined with the matching green Xbox guide button, it’s one of the cleanest-looking controllers I’ve put on my desk in a long time. Overall, this controller would make a fantastic pairing with the 8BitDo retro green keyboard and mouse if you want to build out a complete, cohesive PC desktop setup with those lovely Xbox retro colors.

Ergonomically, despite being smaller than what I usually reach for, it feels wonderfully crafted in the hand. I tend to grimace when I see anything outside the standard Xbox controller shape and layout, but this is a little more compact and surprisingly comfortable; your experience may vary if you have huge hands. The general weight and size are a bonus for me, though, as I've packed the controller on a couple of hotel trips now for use with my laptop, and even with the charging dock, it takes up so little room.

The build quality feels tight, sturdy, and light, featuring a very subtle textured grip on the back (though a little too subtle for my preference).

The sticks use Hall Effect technology, meaning stick drift shouldn't be an issue down the line, a massive upgrade over Microsoft's stock controllers that still refuse to incorporate this.

Connecting it to the official 8BitDo Ultimate Software app directly on your Xbox or PC is also seamless. The app gives you full control to remap the face and rear paddle buttons, fine-tune trigger sensitivity, and adjust stick dead zones with ease, saving up to 3 custom profiles on the fly.

Then there is the charging setup. 8BitDo was ahead of the game when it came to including bundled charging docks with budget controllers, and has been doing it long before other brands. Dropping the pad onto the cradle at the end of a session so it’s fully charged and ready to go for the next day, without messing with external play-and-charge kits or AA batteries, is a convenience feature I never get tired of. I'm always impressed to see it in a sub-$100 controller.

You do also get a code for 1 month of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate in the box, though it's only for new customers (I couldn't stack it on my existing subscription booo!)

8BitDo Ultimate 3-Mode Controller: What's bad

I feel like I've repeated this same point now on many a third-party controller, but it really grinds my gears when they are advertised as for Xbox, complete with the logo, to be wired only for the console. It often catches me out, and I imagine it would the average consumer too who doesn't understand the stranglehold that Microsoft keeps on their wireless technology.

This only works via a wired USB-C connection when playing on an Xbox console. The 2.4GHz wireless dongle and Bluetooth modes are strictly reserved for PC, Android, and iOS devices. Having just experienced the true wireless couch freedom of the GameSir T7 Pro on my Xbox, being tethered to my console with a long cable here just means this is a non-starter for me when I'm playing on my console. There are other better options now.

Speaking of that cable... 8BitDo decided to bundle a standard black cable and black charging dock with this edition. When you buy a special translucent Jade controller, having it sit on a plain black dock with a plain black cord hanging out of it does look a little jarring, especially when 8BitDo has made beautifully color-matched accessories for their other special editions; look at the Rare 40th Edition and Lavender Dusk, for example.

On the gameplay front, the controller lacks features that are fast becoming standard at this price point. There are no physical trigger stops, meaning shooter fans can't shorten their trigger pulls for rapid firing, and like I've previously mentioned, the texture on the grips is far too subtle, and I'd prefer a rougher texture, if not rubber.

8BitDo Ultimate 3-Mode Controller: The competition

At $69.99, the Jade 3-mode controller is being squeezed from both sides of the controller price wars, and I'd say for just $20 more you'd get more connectivity (wireless for Xbox) with the following two options...

The GameSir T7 Pro Sugar Whirl costs a little more at $79.99, but you're also getting the benefit of it working wirelessly with Xbox, the more up-to-date TMR stick tech, and those trigger stops that are missing from the 8BitDo option. It's an acquired taste when it comes to the design, but its value for money can't be beat.

For those who bleed green and just have their heart set on the OG Xbox colors, it could well be worth waiting until November for the official Xbox Series X25 controller to be released. However, the price is still unknown, and it will not have the bells and whistles of an included charging dock and Hall Effect sticks.

8BitDo Ultimate 3-Mode Controller: Should you buy it?

You should buy this if ...

✅ You want that full retro green PC setup

This will pair stunningly well with the green keyboard and mouse 8BitDo provides, so it will be a no-brainer for collectors

✅ You like more compact hardware

It may be a little smaller than your standard pad, but this makes it great for travel and those with smaller hands.

✅ You want a controller primarily for PC and mobile

If you jump between PC, Steam Deck, or mobile devices, the wireless 2.4GHz dongle and Bluetooth toggles work like a charm.

You should not buy this if ...

❌ You want a wireless controller for your Xbox console

IHaving to plug a wire across your living room floor to play on Xbox completely defeats the point of buying a "wireless" pad.

❌ You play competitive shooters or racing games

The lack of physical trigger stops and tactile micro-switch buttons means it's not built for ultra-fast response times.

As my very first experience with an 8BitDo controller, the Ultimate 3-Mode (Jade Edition) is a bit of a heartbreaker. On one hand, it’s a compact, perfectly formed pad that easily stands out as one of the prettiest third-party controllers on the market. If you are building out a dedicated PC setup alongside 8BitDo's retro green keyboard and mouse, it’s a match made in heaven.

However, arriving right after I tested the GameSir T7 Pro Sugar Whirl — which proved that budget-friendly controllers can give us true wireless Xbox gaming — being tied down by a cable on console is a real bummer. If you pick it up on sale for around $55 for PC or casual desktop play, you’ll undoubtedly love it. But for pure Xbox console players who want couch freedom, there are simply more feature-packed wireless options sitting on shelves right now.

I always liked me some Gears of War Horde mode, but nothing prepared me for how ambitious the new Siege mode turned out to be.

Gears of War: E-Day is slated for launch on October 6, exclusively on Xbox Series X|S and PC, marking Xbox's official return to exclusive console games for the first time in a couple of years. There's potentially a lot riding on Gears in that context, but we're not here to talk about that aspect of the launch today.

Last week, I had the opportunity to go hands-on with Gears of War: E-Day's new Horde Siege mode, which extends the old-school PvE offering with bigger, sharper teeth.

Gears of War: E-Day is set in the early days of humanity's fight against the subterranean Locust swarm. The humans of Sera just ended their own bloody civil war, and all hope for peace is shattered under the reptilian fist of this horrific new threat.

Horde mode has long been a staple of the Gears franchise, pitting small groups of players against endless waves of Locust monsters in a shooter-meets-tower-defence hybrid game mode. But Siege mode is a bold reimagining of the formula, now pitting 12 players in huge maps with dynamic objectives and defensible locations, complete with raid boss style events and biting extraction climaxes.

Gears of War: E-Day's Horde Siege is the most fun I've ever had with Gears multiplayer, and I think it could be a big deal.

The sheer chaos of 12-player Horde is sublime

Gears of War's Horde mode was a key innovation from the franchise's early days, and spawned a variety of copycats over the years. The key premise is pretty simple: teams of friends bunker in, collect energy from fallen monsters, build turrets and other traps, and defend points from an increasingly difficult assault of Gears of War monsters.

Siege mode evolves the formula, taking inspiration from some of the biggest PvE games of the current era. It'll now rock up to 12 players, split into squads of 4 soldiers, complete with soft class roles to enhance tactical play and reward cohesion.

12 players means a bigger play space. The area for the demo was absolutely huge, and was once again represented a new bar for visual fidelity for Unreal Engine — a tradition that The Coalition and the Gears of War franchise seems to have on some form of uncanny lockdown.

I didn't get a ton of breathing space to admire the apocalyptic locales, though. Gears of War: E-Day is utterly chaotic and frantic in the best possible ways. The game drives your squad from objective to objective in a near-constant fight for survival as you move through the rubble of Jacinto's cities.

Siege Mode brings in classes from previous Horde versions, promoting unit cohesion and tactical play. I picked up a basic Assault class for my sessions, giving me access to a stimpack healing ability on a beefy cooldown. Great in a pinch, but not particularly helpful for other squad mates. Other classes got boosts to energy collection, used for building defensive facilities, while others got improvements to healing and squad support. It's easy to imagine how The Coalition could extend Horde Siege mode with post-launch class additions, similar to what we've seen in games like Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2 and the like.

The classes aren't as deep as some other games, though. The emphasis is entirely on combat in keeping with the typical Gears tradition. And the combat is as brutal, cinematic, and spectacular as you'd hope.

Evolving objectives, insane weapons, and raid bosses?!

Emergence Day is a particularly brutal and violent time in Gears' long, bloody canon. Humanity was caught completely unawares and unprepared for the Locust, and that disarray is reflected well in the barrage of objectives Horde Siege mode throws at you.

As you move around the map, event recommendations pop-up spawning a variety of objectives, including defending a point, taking down a bigger enemy, a certain amount of smaller enemies, and so on. You can pick from a variety of difficulty settings (higher was way more fun and brutal), and also match lengths. You can jump in for a quick 15-minute session, up to 45-minute gauntlets of increasingly difficult and increasingly epic challenges.

The bigger play areas designed to accommodate more players are also perfectly suited for creating set piece events that feel a bit more sensical than Horde has occasionally felt in previous games. For example, the central area of the map is a huge circular courtyard, with a raised monument in the middle for taking cover. The outer area is perfectly sized to accommodate some of Gears of War's largest and most iconic threats, such as the spider-like Corpsers or T-Rex-like Brumaks.

The Brumaks now have a truly obscene amount of health in Siege mode's higher difficulty settings, really forcing all three squads to come together to take it down effectively. The battle feels far more spectacular and cinematic as a result, seeing 12 COG soldiers desperately unload their clips while getting swarmed by smaller minions on the flank. The threat level felt far more in-line with battles depicted in Gears' books and cinematics — reflecting Gears' true scale and horrors for the first time.

One thing I was hoping to see more of in the game revolves around progression layers and Siege mode gadgets. We didn't get a ton of toys to play with in the beta, which is fine — more surprises for later. But I didn't get a good sense of what to expect from the energy collection gameplay.

In typical Horde fashion, players can pick up energy from downed enemies, and then spend that energy at specific vendors for ammo and other gadgets. The only ones available in the beta were explosive decoys, spike traps which slow enemies down, and smoke grenades. I suspect the full game will offer a lot more in this area, but it would've been nice to catch a glimpse at what those might look like.

The game did give access to some of the new weapons. The early Locust Horde have incredibly primitive and inelegantly brutal weapons. The heavy boomshot was particularly effective, firing out a cluster of explosions that can gib large contingents of enemies in chokepoints.

The biggest question mark I'm left with pertains to server performance, though. Playing from Europe at present, the game was very laggy, although I doubt I was in there with many other content creators from the EU. I imagine I was connecting to U.S. servers here, it's hard to know for sure.

Hopefully, when populated properly, the latency won't impede the fun for you as it did me. You'll get the chance to try for yourself on August 6 when the Early Access beta goes live for those who have pre-ordered Gears of War: E-Day.

A potentially powerful canvas for post-launch support

It's a strange time for the game industry. PlayStation has killed Destiny, which at one point seemed like it would be an utterly invincible industry staple. Fortnite was just dethroned on PS5 by a bare bones Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 port of all things. More games are launching than ever, but there are also more layoffs than ever.

I'm curious what kind of unique pressure that puts on Gears of War: E-Day and The Coalition, who are launching Xbox CEO Asha Sharma's well-publicized return to Xbox console exclusive games. Can E-Day sustain itself without PlayStation's mega audience? Does it even need to? Is it enough for Gears of War: E-Day to be an amazing, albeit transitory experience? Or does Microsoft hope for it to have a lengthy post-launch content regime?

I'm not sure what the future will hold for Gears of War: E-Day overall, but one thing I can say for sure is that Gears of War: E-Day Horde Siege mode is a metric fuckton of frantic, frenzied fun, wrapped in some of the best visuals the franchise has ever produced. I can see myself playing this for a really long time across Xbox Series X|S and particularly the Xbox Ally X.

If both Versus mode and Campaign mode land anywhere near as hard as Siege Horde, it could end up being remembered as the best Gears of War ever.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

In just a month from now, Gamescom 2026 will commence, offering the public early hands-on previews of highly anticipated Xbox games, along with reveals of brand-new gameplay footage or even entirely new games.

This year's Gamescom is already stacked with some heavy hitters, with the likes of Gears of War: E-Day's first playable demo and the premiere of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt's 'Songs of the Past' DLC expansion already confirmed to show up.

I've already curated my own list of upcoming Xbox games that I'm most looking forward to seeing at Gamescom, along with other Xbox games that haven't been confirmed for Gamescom — but I still hope they'll show up with surprise trailers.

Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance

Capcom has confirmed it will be at Gamescom this year (via its European X account), bringing playable demos for Onimusha: Way of the Sword, Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen, Mega Man: Dual Override, and Street Fighter 6.

While we won't be getting a playable showroom demo this year, I'm still hoping for more gameplay trailers or info on Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance.

This DLC expansion to the latest mainline entry in the Monster Hunter series, just from its initial reveal trailer, has me stoked with its new beautiful floating island locale, new and classic monsters, and new Boost Bracer mechanic that aims to add completely new moves and ways to play every weapon type in the game.

I'm hoping for at least a new gameplay trailer and, at most, a gameplay deep dive describing not only its new content but how it will change or improve the base game content of Monster Hunter Wilds.

Granted, the base game is in a much better state than it was at launch, but I feel there's still plenty that could be done to fix the fundamental gameplay issues I have with it, which I hope the DLC expansion will address.

Gears of War: E-Day

One game that shot up my wishlist recently was Gears of War: E-Day, which is confirmed to have a playable demo at Gamescom, so we'll definitely be getting more info on it for sure.

Seeing the initial reveal trailer and its E-Day Direct filled me with waves of nostalgia for the original Gears of War trilogy with Marcus and Dom, not to mention how hyped it made me for the new modernized mechanics that make its classic cover-based gunplay more fast-paced than ever.

So I can't wait to see more footage of its gameplay (hopefully co-op) in action at Gamescom. Though thankfully we have its multiplayer gameplay showcase to look forward to first to whet our appetites.

Gears of War: E-Day is set to launch on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox Game Pass, and PC via Windows and Steam on October 6, 2026.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Songs of the Past DLC

In what is possibly one of the biggest pleasant surprises of 2026, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is getting another DLC expansion over a decade later after the release of its Blood & Wine expansion.

Little is known about this 'Songs of the Past' expansion other than CD Projekt Red confirming its content will be on the same level of scale as the Blood & Wine expansion, which was so gigantic and well-done that it won the award for "Best RPG" at the 2016 Game Awards, so I can't imagine how 'Songs of the Past' plans to top it or how it lead into Witcher 4.

Many years ago, I went through a marathon of The Witcher series, and I concur with Jez Corden's review that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was the best of the bunch. Just the base game alone was packed to the brim with dozens of hours of epic branching stories, engrossing character writing, varied character builds, and enticing combat.

So I can't wait to see what CD Projekt Red's swansong to this legendary game will look like when it debuts at Gamescom 2026.

Spyro: A Realm Beyond

My inner child leaped with joy upon seeing that Spyro the Dragon will be coming back with a new game called Spyro: A Realm Beyond, made in the same gameplay style as the original PlayStation 1 trilogy.

Not to mention that it will be made by Toys for Bob, which has proven it can make solid platformers with its fantastic Spyro Reignited Trilogy, Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, and Crash Bandicoot 4.

We've only gotten a brief look at its gameplay within its reveal trailer, and it's already got me intrigued with the addition of being able to fly whenever we want now, because in previous Spyro games, flight was only limited to certain boss fights and the Speedway levels.

So I'm hoping that Spyro: A Realm Beyond shows up at Gamescom 2026 so we can see more of this free-flight mechanic, other gameplay elements, and its mysterious new bad guy for Spyro to torch.

Spyro: A Realm Beyond is set to launch on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox Game Pass with Xbox Play Anywhere support, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam sometime in the future.

Persona 6

After over a decade of Persona 5 content, we're finally getting a new mainline entry in the Persona series with Persona 6, and it's already having me intrigued with the dark, gothic vibes it's giving off compared to previous games, at least from its teaser trailer.

While Atlus is focusing all its attention on Persona 4: Revival, which looks amazing in its own right, I'm more interested in seeing what Persona 6 is going to look like as it's new, and I already played the original Persona 4 back on the PlayStation 2.

Now, chances of a new trailer showing up for Persona 6 are very unlikely since we're so early in development. But it would be nice to at least have an interview with Atlus on Persona 6 (as they're confirmed to be at Gamescom via X) on how it will evolve the series' trademark gameplay loop of living a double life as a high school student and an otherworld dungeon crawler fighting Shadows in turn-based battles.

Persona 6 is launching on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox Game Pass with Xbox Play Anywhere support, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam sometime in the future.

Wo Long 2: Wings of Ember

One game I was not expecting to exist but glad it is is Wo Long 2: Wings of Ember, a sequel to the underrated soulslike action-RPG, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty. I played the original Wo Long years ago to help my colleague Brendan Lowry with guide coverage (particularly with killing Lu Bu), and I loved every minute of it.

I loved its dark, deranged take on the Romance of the Three Kingdoms setting, its endless array of weapons and spells to create insane character builds with, and its fast-paced and brutal combat system comparable to that of Team Ninja's Nioh series.

So I'm hoping to see more of Wo Long 2: Wings of Ember at Gamescom 2026 and how it plans on topping its predecessor because, judging from its Xbox Showcase reveal trailer, it's looking nuts with the addition of aerial combat mechanics.

Wo Long 2: Wings of Ember is launching sometime in 2027 for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC, Xbox Cloud Gaming, and Xbox Game Pass with Xbox Play Anywhere support. It's also releasing on PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam.

Final Fantasy Resonance

One of the biggest surprises this year that I did not see coming was Final Fantasy Resonance, the first game in the Final Fantasy series to adopt Octopath Traveler's HD-2D graphical art aesthetic and the first game in decades to have turn-based combat.

As a fan of the turn-based era of Final Fantasy games (Final Fantasy 1-10), Final Fantasy Resonance has been impressing me every time I see it. Its blending of 2D pixel art sprites with HD backgrounds looks gorgeous, and its insane, fast-paced turn-based combat system looks like a glorious return to form for the franchise that I hope the mainline follows suit someday.

While plenty of information and gameplay for Final Fantasy Resonance has been shown off already, I'm still hungry for more because I haven't been this excited for a Final Fantasy game in decades, and I hope we'll get it at Gamescom 2026.

Warhammer 40,000: Dark Heresy

Last month, I played the beta of Warhammer 40,000: Dark Heresy, an upcoming sequel to one of the best Warhammer 40,000 games and best CRPGs I've ever played, Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader.

In the short time I played the beta, I was taken in by its dark storyline, in-depth investigation system where you can sentence important NPCs for crimes they committed or frame them, streamlined character progression system, and its engrossing turn-based combat system where you will need to plan things out carefully; otherwise, you'll get stomped, even on lower difficulty levels.

I'm hoping to see more of Warhammer 40,000: Dark Heresy if it shows up at Gamescom, so we can see more of its potential companions and enemies, and find out when its release date is, as it's currently unknown.

Honorable mentions

To close out, there's a small list of honorable mentions of Xbox games that aren't too high on my wishlist priority, but I would be happy to see more gameplay of at Gamescom 2026:

• Castlevania: Belmont's Curse
• Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate – Deathwatch
• Total War: Warhammer 40,000
• Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2
• Minecraft Dungeons II
• Persona 4: Revival
• Fable
• Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Deathmaster

And there you have it: my top Xbox games that I'm hoping to see more gameplay of at Gamescom 2026. Do you have any games you're looking forward to seeing, or are you hoping to find something completely new?

If you have any thoughts, please let me know through the poll, the comments section, or our Reddit page.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

On July 27, 2026, Xbox suffered quite possibly the worst outage to its live services in recent memory. The outage lasted nearly a whole day and prevented people from signing into their profiles and launching their downloaded games and apps.

After the debacle was over, Xbox's CTO (Chief Technology Officer), Scott Van Vilet, came online to apologize to Xbox fans and explain how this technical catastrophe happened.

However, on July 29, 2026, Scott revealed in an interview with The Verge that the damage caused by this outage was worse than most people thought, as he had reports of physical discs of Xbox games not working during this time either.

Scott says, “We’re looking into reports that some players were unable to access games using discs as expected during the service interruption. Disc-based entitlement checks should not prevent players from accessing their games, and this is by design.”

He mentions that Xbox's tech engineers discovered that there was an issue that prevented certain Xbox consoles from, and I quote, "correctly using saved entitlements during the outage" and that “Offline mode is also designed to rely on those saved entitlements.”

Windows Central's take

Scott says the Xbox's tech support is working on an update to Xbox consoles to prevent this issue from happening again, but it goes to show that investing entirely in a digital-only future for games is not viable in the long run.

Having game discs just be "entitlement" tokens to grant a player digital rights access to a game you download from stores instead of actually having the game on the discs just proves you don't actually own them, and they become glorified paperweights if Xbox Live's servers pull another outage like this again.

Even Microsoft's upcoming disc-to-digital "Positron" program that creates digital copies of physical discs won't matter if online servers fall apart or companies delisting games prevent people from truly owning and playing them.

So how do we get around this? Well, investing in GOG to get access to DRM-free games with dedicated launchers that you can safely download onto your internal or external data storage units without being beholden to online servers to play them sounds like a good idea.

But that's for preserving and owning games on PC; console players don't have the luxury of GOG. All they get right now is either Sony discontinuing game discs for future PlayStation systems or Microsoft blocking people from their Microsoft accounts if they get hacked, cutting off access to thousands of dollars' worth of games.

Honestly, I feel like if Microsoft, Sony, or any other game company wants to keep our good graces without forcing all of us to resort to piracy for true game preservation, they need to go back to basics and have games just be on the discs with no DRM or "entitlement" strings attached.

But what do you think? Do you think we should eliminate "Entitlement" checks and DRM encryption on video games?

If you have any thoughts on the matter, please let us know through the poll above, the comments section, or our Reddit page.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

One thing I've been thinking about a fair bit recently is Microsoft's original pitch for Xbox Helix.

Former CEO Phil Spencer was teasing for years before Project Helix was revealed that it would run PC games. He talked about platforms like the Epic Games Store on Xbox Helix, for example, opening up the platform to new business models and aligning more closely with traditional PC gaming — albeit designed for the living room.

In 2026, we're in a very different universe, though. The memory crisis has made consumer tech less affordable than ever. The console market has traditionally been the "affordable, simple" alternative to PC gaming. Several price increases later, it increasingly looks less like the "affordable" option and more like the "nerfed" version of PC gaming.

As an "open" PC, Xbox Helix could end up being absurdly expensive

As an open device, Xbox Helix would likely be far too expensive to justify purchase for the vast majority of traditional console gamers, and parents raising the next generation of potential console gamers as well.

Users are already stretched on affordability, and gravitating towards cheaper experiences. Free-to-play titles are eating into legacy core gaming paradigms, and parents are putting their kids on Roblox and old iPads instead of considering increasingly expensive consoles. Roblox is bigger than Steam and PlayStation combined right now ... driven in large part by Gen Alpha and younger Gen Z audiences.

By making Xbox Helix an "open" device, that traditional software sales subsidy goes out of the window. Microsoft would have to price Helix as a high-end PC, profiting on the hardware, rather than the software, if it couldn't guarantee users would remain in its ecosystem. This is one reason why the Steam Machine ended up being so expensive. If you can install Windows on it and ignore Steam, why would Valve ssell the hardware at a loss? It simply isn't viable.

So ... if Xbox Helix is to come in at a reasonable console-like price point, doesn't that mean it has to be a closed box, subsidized by software sales rather than hardware profitability? These are the questions Xbox CEO Asha Sharma and Xbox CSO Matthew Ball are likely grappling with right now.

PlayStation has pulled out of PC, eliminating one potential major advantage

Under former CEO Phil Spencer, Xbox began putting their games on rival platforms, including PlayStation. This did a huge amount of brand damage to Xbox, leading customers current and potential to think that Xbox was preparing to exit its ecosystem all together.

I've written extensively on why Xbox ditching all forms of exclusive content seemed like a terrible idea, but the crux is ultimately why would you choose an Xbox when you can choose a PlayStation which will ultimately have both Xbox and PlayStation's games?

New CEO Asha Sharma is pulling Xbox games off PlayStation in the future, though, bringing Xbox in line with other major industry players again. But where does that leave Xbox Helix?

PlayStation announced internally a short while ago that it was planning to drop Steam and PC ports for its single player titles entirely. It experimented putting some PlayStation classics like God of War and The Last of Us on PC. But Sony clearly feels (rightly, in my view) that they're simply training users to ignore PS5, and maybe consoles in general.

Obviously, in a world where Xbox wasn't going to have any form of console-exclusive content, Xbox rocking up with Steam and Epic Games Store would incidentally impose the same limitation on PlayStation.

Even if Sony wasn't going to offer Xbox users its games, at least you could open up Steam and play Sony's back catalog there instead. I doubt Sony considers Xbox Helix to be a big threat to PlayStation, but the idea of an "Xbox branded" device having carte blanche access to Sony "exclusive" games probably felt at least a little uncomfortable to them.

Now PlayStation has pretty much officially jumped ship, and Xbox is also doubling down on its own exclusives, it disrupts at least one long-term major selling point of Xbox Helix's previously planned model.

But the truth is, PlayStation games on PC have hardly moved the needle. PC has reams of Windows-exclusive titles that haven't ever come to console, and in some cases likely never will. Factor in mods, big-hit indie titles, and other PC franchises that aren't even on Steam like World of Warcraft ... well, perhaps PlayStation ditching PC isn't even a big deal in the Helix model.

... But, what about money?

The memory crisis breaks the economics: open consoles would be priced like high-end PCs

The current-gen consoles are now the most expensive video game consoles in decades thanks to the RAMpocalypse. Demand for AI infrastructure has pushed prices of memory chips to historically high levels, decimating consumer electronics across the board. PC shipments are down, smartphones are getting ever more expensive, and lower-volume systems are also getting hard hit.

Nintendo Switch, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S consoles are far more expensive than they were at launch, marking a historic first. Typically prices come down over the course of a generation, but no longer.

For Xbox Helix and the PlayStation 6, this presents a huge dilemma. Next-gen consoles are usually expected to be more powerful than their predecessors, not less powerful. Price increases have historically been expected, but nobody expected, much less wanted, a $1000+ video game console.

The Steam Machine represents a scary vision of what next-gen could look like for Xbox Helix. This is a "console" that behaves like a PC, is fully open, and thus not subsidized by closed-ecosystem software sales. Because of that, it costs over $1000 for the base model, while simultaneously being less powerful than a much cheaper PS5 or Xbox Series X.

If Xbox Helix is indeed an "open" PC, Xbox would have no choice but to price it like an "open" PC. The Xbox Ally also costs $999.99 because ASUS cannot make their money back on the software sales, given that they have no real distribution platform of their own.

Thanks to the RAMpocalypse, those wafer thin margins get even trickier. I've been told Xbox is losing around $150~ per Xbox Series X|S sold recently due to memory price increases, and will continue to lose money per device even after the planned August 2026 price hike. Now imagine 50% or more of those Xbox Series X|S users bypassed the Xbox ecosystem and went straight to Steam to buy games. The margins would be even worse, without any form of software sales subsidy. Xbox wouldn't have a business at all.

Indeed, internal Xbox documents from around last winter received and verified by Windows Central offer some insights into how Microsoft's Xbox Ally gaming PC is going on that front.

Around 75% of Xbox Ally owners also own Xbox Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass, which is an impressive figure. But the purchasing behavior of non-subscription holders offers a bleak picture for the Xbox PC store attach rate — an insight into how Xbox Helix could go if it were "open."

Of non-subscribing users: If an Xbox Ally user was also an Xbox console owner, around a quarter of those users also made purchases on the Xbox PC ecosystem. However, if the Xbox Ally owner was not an Xbox console owner, that figure dropped to a measly 2%. Suggesting that almost 100% of non-Xbox owning, new Xbox Ally owners simply went straight to Steam.

If Xbox Helix simply became a defacto "Steambox" for new users, the profitability would have to come out of the upfront hardware cost, otherwise Microsoft stands to potentially lose millions on the hardware ecosystem in general. With the RAMpocalypse and user behavior data from the Xbox Ally experiment, Microsoft might be reconsidering this aspect of the box. Otherwise, it stands to just accelerate another generation of users to free-to-play games, Steam, and mobile slop.

But ... Asha Sharma has professed that Xbox Helix WILL support PC games ...?

But ... the contracts for AMD's Xbox "Magnus" PC-console hybrid chips are already in place. The silicon is already being pressed, the whole platform has been costed up and approved.

Indeed, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma reiterated fairly recently that Xbox Helix will "play your PC games." Although, Xbox CSO Matthew Ball did say that "aspects" of Xbox Helix were being re-evaluated.

In light of the constraints outlined above, how might this end up going down?

• Option 1: Some kind of paywall or subscription to open up to third-party stores?

This one seems fairly unlikely to me frankly, but I've seen some suggest that Xbox could set up some kind of paywall to trigger access to Steam and other storefronts.

If we assume that Microsoft doesn't want to make a box that is straight up unaffordable, one way it could ensure it still has a software subsidy and make the margins work on the other side is by having users pay for a "Pro" version that actually is open.

Perhaps they could do two separate versions, similar to Windows RT or "S Mode" which was locked to the Microsoft Store, and offer a premium version that is fully like a PC, but comes with PC-style price tag.

I suspect that would be difficult to market and explain, particularly given how Asha has suggested that Xbox Helix will play "your PC games," ... but they've never explicitly said Steam would be on it.

• Option 2: Semi-open, revenue sharing model with Epic Games' on PC or other strategic partners.

One thing that struck me as odd is, when Phil Spencer talked about the next-gen Xbox having other stores, he actually never did mention Steam. He mentioned things like GOG, and the Epic Game Store, but he never actually did say Steam itself would be on the box to my knowledge.

Indeed, maybe Microsoft's plan has been to work with partners directly in a more curated fashion. On the Xbox PC store for example, we see platforms with extensions plug-in to Xbox PC, such as Battle.net and Ubisoft Connect.

Perhaps it was never really about Steam, but more about giving platforms the option to work directly with Microsoft on some sort of revenue-sharing model, which would keep the hardware subsidized but give platform holders more control, and a bigger cut of the profits.

Xbox PC sales do pay out at 90% to developers, rather than the console-oriented 70%. But ... we get into hardware subsidy problems again when we talk about some of this stuff.

• Option 3: Fully open, absurd price point and all?

The third and final option ... perhaps it will simply sport a PC-style price tag. Perhaps the plan is for Xbox Series X|S to have an unnaturally long life span, and for Xbox Cloud Gaming to do some heavy lifting for those who can't afford the Unaffordable-Console-Future.

I find it hard to imagine an Xbox console with a >$1000 price tag. I'm not sure how Xbox can achieve a

If Xbox has to make a profit on the hardware, and is effectively making a Steam Machine in all but name, nobody will buy it. But Asha has promised access to PC games on Xbox Helix ... but then, surely that does mean it'll have Steam, right? Could it be a half-way house with direct partnerships with Epic Games and other platform holders? Or will it have some kind of paywall "Pro" option to remove an artificial, arbitrary block, like Windows "S Mode"?

I'm sure these discussions are happening at a high level at Xbox right now ... what do you think should happen? Hit the comments, lets discuss it.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.