Rockstar's complete western epic and every online bonus now arrive as an Xbox key at half the usual price.
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Grand Theft Auto 6 will finally launch on November 19, 2026, at midnight in your region. Technically, that means New Zealand gets it earliest, as 00:00 NZDT (New Zealand Daylight Time) aligns with 06:00 EST (Eastern Standard Time) on November 18, while the rest of us wait for our own clocks to tick over. Dedicated fans at GTAVice.net spotted the regional launch plans, but there's a catch.
The timestamps come from Sony's PlayStation Store listings, which is actually better news for Xbox fans. PS5 users can't change their console's region so easily to trick the system, while Xbox Series X|S gamers can still head to their Settings menu and change their Language & location settings to match New Zealand's kickoff of the rolling midnight launch.
PlayStation 5 owners can put extra effort into making a new account, but that also means finding a way to buy the game in the local NZ$ currency. If you already pre-ordered on Xbox in your own country, switching to a region on the furthest edge of the time zones should be a relatively simple trick for eager Xbox gamers looking to play GTA 6 early.
In theory, I can't think of any compelling reasons this shouldn't work on an Xbox Series X|S, as it has in the past for digital games with rolling midnight launches. However, that doesn't mean Rockstar Games and its publisher, Take-Two, don't have a trick up their sleeve to prevent GTA 6 from being playable a day earlier with the same region tweak we used on titles like Call of Duty.
Even though Grand Theft Auto VI doesn't have any multiplayer components planned for its launch, that doesn't mean it's a strictly offline experience. It's reasonable to assume that stat tracking will apply during the single-player campaign, presumably shared among players when their console is connected to the internet.
Otherwise, if the game verifies your previous purchase and confirms your new region is a valid location (and the game doesn't require a day-one patch to launch), we might be able to play the story of GTA 6 entirely offline. Personally, I'm not feeling the same level of excitement as many others, so I'm willing to wait, but I don't see why this wouldn't work for anyone who already pre-ordered in their local currency.
In XBOX's official messaging, the brand warns of regional caveats. For example, any local currency tied to your account will not transfer over, and Microsoft can't help with that. If you were planning to buy any GTA 6 "Ultimate Edition" add-ons, you'll need to do it before changing your region. Still, it's easy to revert your Xbox console to its original region, so it's certainly tempting.
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It was probably inevitable eventually, but Xbox Cloud Gaming is joining NVIDIA and other platforms in putting hourly limits on its streaming service.
Xbox Cloud Gaming is a platform tied to Xbox Game Pass right now, giving you unlimited access to stream games from Game Pass as well as hundreds upon hundreds of digital games you own. In fact, thanks to Xbox's disc-to-digital program, you can now even play disc-based Xbox games you own if they're included in Xbox Cloud Gaming.
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Many users use Xbox Cloud Gaming on Xbox One to play current-gen Xbox Series X|S games that aren't available natively on older systems. It's also great for running games on laptops, tablets, and other devices that aren't powerful enough to run said titles natively.
Up until now, Xbox Cloud Gaming was unlimited, but Microsoft just announced that it will begin introducing limits.
Xbox Game Pass Tier | Features | Resolution | Price (US) |
|---|---|---|---|
Essential | 5 hours per month, with 50+ games | Up to ~1080p | $9.99/mo |
Premium | 10 hours per month, with 200+ games | Up to ~1080p | $14.99/mo |
Ultimate | 15 hours per month, with 400+ games, and day-one Xbox titles | Up to 1440p | $22.99/mo |
"We recognize that introducing limits is a meaningful change, particularly for players who regularly spend more time gaming through the cloud," Microsoft said on Xbox Wire. "We expect this upcoming change to impact 4% of Game Pass subscribers. Once subscribers use their included hours, they will be able to purchase additional cloud playtime through the XBOX Store."
I'm told that the "additional cloud playtime" bundles will not have a "use by" expiry window once purchased, although Microsoft hasn't listed exactly how much these passes will cost as of yet.
Indeed, you will not need an Xbox Game Pass subscription to use these cloud playtime hours, which will grant you access to your own library of compatible Xbox Play Anywhere cloud games even if you don't fancy owning the Game Pass subscription.
"We’re introducing this model because the cost of providing cloud gaming grows as more people use it and play for longer," Microsoft explained. "Moving to monthly limits allows us to keep offering the service while continuing to invest in its reliability and performance."
"We understand that for some players the practical result is a higher cost. In November, we’ll provide more information about pricing, purchasing additional hours, eligible games, market availability, and how players can check their remaining time. We’ll listen closely to player feedback before and after the change takes effect and share any adjustments we make."
Microsoft has been long-rumored to be exploring an ad-based tier for Xbox Cloud Gaming and Xbox Game Pass in general. It's also true that the video ads business is incredibly tough, making me wonder if Microsoft decided to opt for this approach instead of trying to compete with Google / YouTube for video ad slots.
Indeed, many recent reports suggest that Twitch, despite being absolutely rammed with ads, is nowhere near profitable. What prayer would an ad-based Xbox Cloud Gaming tier have, given the monstrous amount of bandwidth required for Xbox Cloud Gaming video encoding?
The RAMpocalypse is impacting consumer electronics prices, but also cloud server prices too. Microsoft has reportedly joined NVIDIA and Google in earmarking 70% of Samsung's total DRAM output through to 2031. Unfortunately, I don't think a significant chunk of that memory is going towards gaming.
One advantage Xbox Cloud Gaming probably does have (at least in terms of Microsoft corporate politics) is that it does help keep cloud inference up — which in turn helps Microsoft justify infrastructure capital expenditure to shareholders. Xbox Cloud Gaming servers, while idle (at night, for example), can be used for training AI models potentially, which helps anchor Xbox's future in a corporation dominated by AI hype.
I suspect that introducing these limits now revolves around a plan to begin marketing Xbox Cloud Gaming more aggressively. If Microsoft ever did manage to find some form of mainstream breakthrough with Xbox Cloud Gaming, creating huge server queues (which we've seen in the past) wouldn't exactly represent a positive first-time experience for new players.
If Microsoft's goal is to form habits around Xbox Cloud Gaming in regions where console availability and affordability are low, ensuring a stable experience is obviously within their interests.
It remains to be seen if Xbox Cloud Gaming will ever be anything more than a niche kind of thing. It's useful for testing out games without installing them, but in most scenarios where you might want to use it, i.e., on a plane, on hotel Wi-Fi, or on a long-distance commute ... you're probably not going to have good enough internet speeds.
The laws of physics and the speed of light preclude Xbox Cloud Gaming from seeing any significant improvements from here, probably, but the upcoming direct-to-Wi-Fi Xbox controllers should offer a meaningful latency boost — if they ever actually come out.
It's a hot topic right now. With Xbox Helix and the PS6 threatening to be the most expensive consoles ever, perhaps even cloud gaming will end up too expensive to be worth it.
I'm tired of this AI stuff, mannnnnnnn.
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After two months of relative calm, Xbox's live services are once again suffering a major outage as of this writing.
This is confirmed by the official Xbox Status website, which states that Xbox's "Account & Profile" and "Games & Gaming" are currently unavailable.
Xbox Support's X account also confirms through an official announcement post that people are reporting they can't sign into their Xbox profiles, create new accounts, or play games that require a profile login.
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We are aware that some users are encountering errors when attempting to sign in or create an account. Thank you for your patience while we investigate this issue. We'll update as soon as we have more — keep an eye on https://t.co/MGxnmqdcis.September 2, 2026
Xbox Support states they are aware of the situation and are currently investigating this issue to find a fix as soon as possible.
We'll keep you posted on the case and let you know when Xbox's online services are fully fixed and operational again.
In the meantime, let's hope this Xbox outage isn't as bad as the last one, which lasted over 15 hours straight and disabled nearly all of Xbox Network's services.
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Xbox's disc-to-digital program was revealed in full last week, and at first, it seemed too good to be true.
Codenamed Positron, Xbox's disc-to-digital program lets Xbox gamers unlock digital rights to physical games, including things like Xbox Cloud Gaming for streaming on the go, and Xbox Play Anywhere for entitlements on Windows PCs and gaming handhelds like the Xbox Ally.
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There's somewhat insanely no downsides whatsoever: simply insert the disc, claim the entitlement from the disc tile's menu, and boom. The game is now digitally attached to your account. If you sell the disc or pass it on, the digital license will transfer from your account to the new owner. You could claim it back too if they return it.
I'm told this was ultimately how the original Xbox DRM was supposed to work back in 2013, before bad messaging confused the situation and triggered a massive ill-informed backlash (which was ultimately Microsoft's own fault.)
Fast forward to 2026, and people are far more accepting of digital convenience, even as debates over digital rights continue to swirl. PlayStation announced that it will sunset physical discs entirely by 2028, and collectors are not happy. At least Xbox's 2013 DRM has served this system in 2026, Microsoft's manufacturing process for its game discs means that it's able to track rights from physical discs. It's unclear if PlayStation can match it at this time.
Either way, you might be wondering exactly how many games are available. XCT.Live (via IdleSloth) is compiling a database of every disc that is currently compatible with the program, and the list is already quit exhausted. Over 200 completely de-listed games work too, which is phenomenal news for game preservation purposes.
The disc-to-digital program is currently available to Xbox Insiders in the Alpha and Alpha-Skip Ahead rings, and it already seems to be fully functional without any issues generally. I expect it'll roll out more broadly in the coming weeks, and then go live publicly probably by October 2026.
Some major publishers are currently not involved in the program, including Sega, Square Enix, Bandai Namco, and Ubisoft. Microsoft is likely working through the legalese with these publishers before some of them come online, but it's also possible that some of these publishers would rather you buy the game twice than enjoy benefits on content you already own.
Ubisoft in particularly has been painfully resistant to supporting things like Xbox Play Anywhere, opting instead to push its own Ubisoft Connect PC platform. It has given some Ubisoft games free licenses for Xbox owners on PC, but they don't come with Xbox Achievements and the like, which is irritating.
It's fantastic to see that Xbox is standardizing how physical discs should operate in the digital-first era ... it just came too little too late. Perhaps if this had been the default from 2013 onwards, disc-based gaming wouldn't be heading the scrapheap as quickly as it is now.
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Xbox has revealed the next batch of games for its vaunted Xbox Game Pass service coming soon in the first half of September 2026 (via Xbox Wire).
Sadly, there isn't much to write about this batch, as it mainly contains indie titles and lesser-known AA titles like RuneScape Dragonwilds and Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage, with the main headliner being Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War.
The worst news of this wave is that the hit sandbox RPG, Cyberpunk 2077, will be leaving Xbox Game Pass on September 15, 2026.
Here's the full list of Xbox games coming to and leaving Xbox Game Pass.
Game | Date Available | Available on (Game Pass versions) |
|---|---|---|
Shelldiver | September 1, 2026 | Cloud, Console, and PC (Ultimate, Premium, PC Game Pass) |
Speedrunners 2: King of Speed | September 3, 2026 | Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, and PC (Ultimate, PC Game Pass) |
Dice a Million | September 4, 2026 | Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, Handheld, and PC (Premium, Ultimate and PC Game Pass) |
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War | September 8, 2026 | Cloud, Console, and PC (Premium, Ultimate and PC Game Pass) |
The Royal Writ | September 8, 2026 | Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, Handheld, and PC (Premium, Ultimate and PC Game Pass) |
Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage | September 10, 2026 | Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, Handheld, and PC (Premium, Ultimate and PC Game Pass) |
RuneScape: Dragonwilds | September 15, 2026 | Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, and PC (Premium, Ultimate and PC Game Pass) |
Mio: Memories in Orbit | August 13, 2026 | Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, Handheld and PC (Premium, Ultimate and PC Game Pass) |
Sandustry (Game Preview) | August 13, 2026 | PC (Premium, Ultimate and PC Game Pass) |
Egging On | August 18, 2026 | Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, Handheld and PC (Premium, Ultimate and PC Game Pass) |
The biggest highlight of this batch is Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, a first-person shooter set during the height of the Cold War in 1981.
My former colleague, Samuel Tolbert, reviewed Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War back in 2020 and gave it a mixed score of 3.5 out of 5 stars.
While he enjoyed its thrilling campaign mode, meaningful gameplay changes, and immersive sim-lite levels, he criticized it for having a weak multiplayer mode compared to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, poor technical performance during Zombies mode, and low-quality gunplay and audio design.
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It was a hard sell at launch, but now that it's on Xbox Game Pass, it may find newfound appreciation among Call of Duty fans now that they don't have to pay full price for it, especially if they enjoy espionage thrillers set during the Cold War.
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Xbox's long awaited disc-to-digital program is here, and I just went hands on.
Available now to Xbox Insiders in the Alpha Skip-Ahead and Alpha rings, users can immediately receive digital entitlement on hundreds upon hundreds of Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S titles without any additional effort or work.
The program formerly codenamed "Positron" leaked as part of code snippets from the Xbox Cloud Gaming web interface. It was later confirmed by Tom Warren at The Verge, and at the time, many thought it was too good to be true.
The way it works is incredibly simple.
The process as you can see is incredibly seamless and intuitive. Simply inserting and installing the game immediately unlocks the rights, and the disc remains fully capable of transferring the license onwards if you ever decide to sell the game.
It creates a ton of added value specifically for Xbox discs, and so far, it doesn't seem like PlayStation is planning to replicate the feature.
It's a huge preservation win, too, because it seems that even many fully de-listed games are capable of providing a digital license as long as you own the disc. Users have noted the classic Deadpool game for Xbox One comes with a digital entitlement despite being no longer available for purchase.
Unfortunately, many publishers aren't participating in the program at the moment, including companies like Ubisoft, Sega, Bandai, and others. It could be that Microsoft is working with them to sort out the contractual minutiae, but it could also be that these companies are hostile to the idea of people being able to ... I dunno, actually own the content they paid for, which wouldn't be a shock.
Indeed, digital rights are very squarely in the consumer consciousness right now.
PlayStation caused a ton of controversy when it announced that it will begin gradually phasing out discs completely by 2028, indicating that the next-gen PlayStation 6 will not have a disc drive at all.
Xbox hasn't offered an official alternative narrative yet, although there are some hopes among the disc-using faithful that Microsoft could seek to get a massive PR win over PlayStation by backing disc-based games. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma's tweet announcing the disc-to-digital program has a truly absurd 27 million views, with over 200,000 likes — giving you a sense of how passionate the user base is over this issue.
Speaking with Microsoft sources suggests that the future is bleak for disc-based games in general, and that, while no official decision has been made, the expectation is that the next-gen Xbox Helix will also follow in PlayStation's all-digital footsteps.
It's less about the discs themselves, but I've been told that the supply chain that produces optical disc drives like those found in the PS5 and Xbox Series X is effectively collapsing. Factories and assembly lines that produce lasers and lenses required for Blu-Ray drives are pivoting their floor space to industries that are growing and scaling. Practically the only use case for discs these days at any scale is PlayStation 5, with Xbox Series X offering a miniscule opportunity by itself.
Your physical game library is more than a collection of discs. It holds years of memories and stories worth preserving. Starting next week, XBOX Insiders can unlock a digital entitlement for supported physical games. We’ll start with thousands of titles and add more as we can. pic.twitter.com/XATsa8sjBtAugust 26, 2026
The likelihood of Xbox maintaining the disc-based supply chain by itself is vanishingly small in my view. If PlayStation's own ecosystem wasn't enough, I'm not quite sure how Xbox's would be able to go it alone in any way, shape, or form.
Regardless, the whole "digitization" saga is once again shining a huge spotlight on the lack of digital rights we seem to have as consumers. Microsoft has at least been quite fair on this topic in the past, refunding Groove Music (formerly Zune Music) MP3 purchasers no questions asked. It's also maintaining licensing for users who purchased digital content in its defunct Xbox Movies & TV platform, too. But, we shouldn't have to rely on companies "doing the right thing," as many evidently simply won't if given the chance.
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Perhaps the big three will opt-in to another format to maintain the physicality many of us in the hobby enjoy. Perhaps Xbox and PlayStation will opt for key cartridges similar to what Nintendo Switch 2 offers. Perhaps Microsoft will revive Activision's Skylanders and slap the games on cute and collectible toy figurines via NFC chips. Who knows.
What I do know at least is that Xbox's disc-to-digital program is real. It works, and it's fantastic.
Once the testing period is over, it should roll out more broadly to all Xbox Series X owners in the coming weeks ahead.
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Getting to attend Gamescom and play upcoming blockbusters can be a double-edged sword, at least for someone multitask-challenged like me.
Moving from station to station at a breakneck pace, trying to memorize control schemes while a developer watches over your shoulder, always breaks me out in a sweat. I’ve never really been someone who can juggle multiple games at once. I tend to pick a title, lock in, make it my personality, and obsess over it until completion. Simply because my brain can't easily process competing control systems. So, doing that fifteen times over at Gamescom... you can imagine my anxiety.
That being said, the moment I sat down with Fable, any lingering panic was quashed with the first swing of my oversized hammer.
The combat system could not have been more intuitive or frictionless; I don’t think I glanced at the controller guide once. I simply followed the sardonic Humphrey (played by Matt King) through a series of abandoned caves, wildly weaving my hammer, calling lightning bolts from above, and firing a rapid-fire crossbow with abandon against the hordes of skeletal enemies.
Transitioning on the fly between melee, ranged, and spellcasting was a piece of cake to navigate, and I felt the impact with each ABXY input. And the utterly ridiculous Befoul spell, which turns foes into chickens, was abused on every cooldown. I made sure to kick each and every chicken I created, though I later found out you could also cook them in a flame bath.
The combat was so much fun that I genuinely didn’t want the session to end, despite it being the last appointment of my day and knowing a cold beer was waiting for me on the other side.
We played through the same demo twice with two very different character builds, and on two different difficulties. I would have happily gone for 3 more rounds. The ultimate test, of course, will be whether that loop holds the same novelty and feel across an entire campaign. But the foundation is absolutely rock-solid.
Following my hands-on session, I sat down with the developers at Playground Games to discuss how they are steering the franchise during their tenure, specifically regarding their combat philosophy and approach to player progression.
One of the core design pillars of the reboot is to give players “total freedom of expression.” While your active combat loadout must consist of the set triple combo, a melee weapon, a ranged weapon, and a set of spells, you are completely free to mix, match, and swap components to craft a playstyle that feels entirely personal to you.
The action flows organically, allowing you to string disparate moves together in any order you want (cooldowns aside). Whether you prefer a sluggish, heavy-hitting warhammer or a swift, sharp sword, momentum remains smooth, responsive, and deeply satisfying.
The devs were emphatic about their approach to progression. It shouldn’t be about passive stat increases where "numbers simply go up." Upgrades need to feel transformative during gameplay.
Players earn experience through combat and exploration, spending skill points on a dedicated tree to upgrade spells and abilities multiple times. Weapons also get their own upgrade paths; in my second playthrough of the demo on a harder difficulty, I shot at enemies with a crossbow that fired so fast it might as well have been a machine gun.
An example we played was the Lift spell. Initially, it would levitate a single enemy, but a later upgrade would let you slam down that enemy into a violent, crowd-clearing area-of-effect style blast.
The team leaned hard into clever interactions between the spells and weapons too. Turn an enemy into a chicken, clip them with a fireball, and watch them transform into a temporary ghost chicken. If an enemy recovers from a suspension or chicken state, they will briefly stagger and flap their arms, leaving them completely wide open for a punishing counterattack.
Rebooting a beloved, legendary franchise is no small feat, and the team is acutely aware of the delicate tightrope they are walking. Balancing modern designs with the unique British charm and underlying darkness that defined the original Lionhead games is a massive task, but it’s one they clearly understand, and that fuels much of their decision-making.
The physical comedy so integral to the series' DNA extends directly into the mechanics. Shoot a skeleton's head off, and it will flail around blindly; shoot a leg off, and it will still desperately crawl toward you.
The dynamic reactions aren't just reserved for your enemies, either. The whole world of Albion responds directly to your actions. If you decide to test out your gravity-suspension spells or chicken cooking magic on innocent townsfolk in the capital of Bowerstone, you will be judged accordingly by the locals. Yet, the system's nuance shines through its reputation mechanics: NPCs form varied opinions based on their individual moral compasses, meaning a ruthless display of power might disgust some citizens while quietly impressing or intimidating others.
If you are just as excited for Fable as I am, this will be one of many previews you read (and thanks for reading mine too!). No doubt, many of them will sound remarkably similar, given we all played the exact same vertical slice of the game. But what has struck me since arriving home and looking at reactions is a familiar sense of foreboding about Playground’s release.
It’s hard not to notice the toxic undercurrent surrounding the game already. Long before anyone even touched a controller, the internet was already dissecting trailers frame-by-frame just to complain that the female protagonist wasn’t attractive enough…now I’m seeing an eye-roll-inducing wave of bad-faith takes cropping up online regarding Fable’s gameplay, based on a tiny boss fight clip. Unfortunately, I’m not surprised, given the current trend of spicy takes getting attention, but I also firmly believe these criticisms are a direct consequence of the game being developed under the stewardship of Microsoft.
yes I know this is currently a big anti-woke talking point but I genuinely do wonder if Fable is changing its featured female lead's look in the final stretch ahead of launch here. The other one was essentially the "face" of the game for several years until this summer. Notable https://t.co/5csW6Yy1nG pic.twitter.com/oeMJ5lmP91August 23, 2026
The "Xbox Tax" has become a bit of a meme in recent years, but whether you believe it’s a real thing or not, it does represent a widespread frustration with Microsoft's recent corporate missteps. Missteps that lead people to put its first-party output under a hyper-critical microscope that is undeserved for the individual teams. There’s a worrying number of people who seem eager to sharpen their pitchforks for Fable right now. Not enough stagger animations? Campaign length too short for a long development cycle? I’ve seen it all already, and it's mainly from people with no intention of ever playing the game.
$300M budget for dogshit combat. rip. pic.twitter.com/rWrRk3haYkAugust 26, 2026
I worry that when the game finally launches, players won't judge Playground Games on their own merits. I’ve seen this exact thing play out before with major releases like Starfield and Avowed. I'm not here to argue those games are amazing by any means; they certainly had many faults, but the rabid appetite from internet fanbases to tear them down was completely out of proportion to their actual flaws. Genuine, constructive critique gets completely drowned out in a sea of toxic internet point-scoring.
Even with Fable launching on PlayStation 5 alongside Xbox and PC, I don’t think it will be entirely safe from the bad-faith warriors out for blood. I genuinely worry for the incredible team at Playground Games, who have poured their hearts into crafting something special and completely outside their usual Forza fare. But sitting here fresh off a tiny 30-minute slice of the game, I am rooting for it harder than ever. Fable deserves to be a hit, and it’s exactly what Xbox needs to shine as a flagship franchise. I just hope the Xbox tax collectors don’t bang too hard on the doors while we are all having fun.
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Fable booth at Gamescom
Fable booth at Gamescom
The debate over whether or not Xbox should make Elder Scrolls VI exclusive or not isn't letting up, and the UK's BBC News recently turned up the heat.
Ahead of the next-gen Xbox Helix, many are wondering how Microsoft can maneuver here. Xbox's hardware fortunes have been strained to say the least, as Microsoft grapples with strategic mis-steps and an AI-induced memory shortage of epic proportions. The Xbox Series X|S is more expensive than ever, and Xbox Helix threatens to be even more so.
This year, Xbox will return to exclusive content to try and shore up interest in its hardware platform. As sales into its ecosystem collapsed, Microsoft hasn't been able to grow Xbox Game Pass or third-party sales as much as competitors. This year, Microsoft will ship Gears of War: E-Day exclusively on Xbox, after a few years of ditching exclusivity entirely to sell more content via PlayStation. The move dismembered the brand's identity arguably, and the lack of confidence planted a question mark over Microsoft's commitment to remain in the business all up.
On the topic of exclusivity, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma spoke to Laura Cress at the BBC about Elder Scrolls VI. Sharma noted, "every platform needs some form of exclusive experiences and content. We shared Gears [of War: E-Day] and Clockwork [Revolution]. We're going to do the best we can to continue to do that, all in the context of the business being healthy. We have to balance that."
Laura pressed Asha to discuss Elder Scrolls VI exclusivity, Asha smiled and replied "it's a beautiful game ..."
Indeed, Sharma has repeatedly cautioned the state of Xbox's expenditure. Microsoft has blown hundreds of millions on failed projects, such as Avalanche's open-world vehicular service game Contraband, which I'm told was a particularly expensive write-off for its publishing arm. Microsoft has also spun off a variety of studios like Undead Labs, Ninja Theory, and Double Fine, which also weren't able to ship quickly enough to even come close to meeting costs.
Some of Microsoft's pillar gaming franchises like Call of Duty have also seen a downturn in recent years, many of which have been subsidizing parts of the Xbox business that haven't performed as well. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 failed to resonate with fans at the same clip as earlier games. Minecraft has also faced stiff competition from Roblox, and Candy Crush Saga has seen its user base chipped away by other casual games like Block Blast and Monopoly Go.
Elder Scrolls VI skipping PlayStation would be potentially putting hundreds of millions of dollars on the shelf in the short term — but keeping it multiplatform could also be just as risky in the long term.
For Elder Scrolls VI to be exclusive, Microsoft would have to view it as some form of "loss leader" specifically with boosting Xbox's own platforms in mind. It could be that there simply isn't enough opportunity to justify the risk in Microsoft's view.
In my view, Xbox Series X|S and Steam should be enough. For PlayStation and Nintendo, having a smaller addressable audience is worth it to ensure they don't hollow out their core platform. Asha Sharma has repeatedly emphasized the need to strengthen Xbox's core, as users who own multiple consoles increasingly defaulted away from Xbox due to a collapse in confidence in Microsoft's strategy.
Despite mass layoffs earlier in the summer, Xbox is enjoying some positive momentum with consumers right now. Huge marketing deals with Ikea and McDonalds just dropped, for example, and Microsoft's X20 anniversary celebrations are in full swing. Xbox also just announced a disc-to-digital game preservation program which is a direct shot at PlayStation, who is enduring widespread anger from its vocal decision to end support for physical media. If there was ever a time for Microsoft to double down on Xbox, it's probably right now.
I feel like people will show up on other platforms to buy Elder Scrolls VI if it's good enough, whether that's PCs people already own, Xbox Cloud Gaming, or perhaps even buying an Xbox Helix or Series X|S as a companion console. The goal should be getting users into Xbox's ecosystem, creating a flywheel for third-party developers, and Xbox Game Pass subscriptions — the latter of which will never be allowed on Nintendo or PlayStation.
Whether or not Xbox is willing to give Elder Scrolls VI some form of exclusivity will be a sign post for how much faith Microsoft has in its gaming brand in my view. I think Sharma's refusal to commit either way suggests Xbox is still in deep debates and analysis about which way to go ...
The Xbox platform would benefit immeasurably from a longer term commitment to highly visible exclusives, but Microsoft of 2026 revolves around short-term thinking and quarterly returns for shareholders. What might be best for Xbox third-party developers and customers is probably in direct opposition to what is best for shareholders, unfortunately.
Time will tell.
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Asha Sharma @ Gamescom 2026
Asha Sharma @ Gamescom 2026
In addition to a plethora of new AAA Xbox games revealed at Gamescom 2026, there were just as many indie titles unveiled, aiming to innovate the medium in ways never seen before in terms of gameplay and artistry.
One such indie title that caught my eye was a survival horror game called Holstin, which is set to launch in 2027 for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC, Xbox Cloud Gaming, and Xbox Game Pass (Day One), with Xbox Play Anywhere support, along with PC via Steam and GOG, Nintendo Switch, and PlayStation 5.
Holstin also has a free playable demo available right now on its Steam page.
In this game, you have come to a small eastern Polish town called Jeziorne-Kolonia in search of your missing friend Bartek, whose trail was last seen there.
Unfortunately, Jeziorne-Kolonia has been possessed by a demonic force that is turning the buildings into pus-filled flesh and its inhabitants into disgusting, mindless abominations that attack anything in sight.
To survive, you will need to scavenge for supplies, solve mind-bending puzzles, seek information from the few sane locals left in the town, and find guns to defend yourself with before the horrors of this town eat you alive.
What makes Holstin stand out from the crowd is its 1990s Polish setting, an absolutely gorgeous and grim pixel art style that seamlessly blends 2D and 3D graphics, and most of all, the ability to change top-down and third-person perspectives during gameplay.
Resident Evil 9 sort of tried this with the alternating first-person and third-person perspectives, but Holstin takes it a step further by letting the player switch perspectives at the push of a button instead of having to fiddle around with in-game menus.
This creates a dynamic system where one moment you will be exploring decrepit city streets from a top-down perspective, switch to a third-person perspective to shoot guns at monsters, then flip back to the top-down perspective so you can have a better view of where to safely dodge an attack without getting stuck in the environment.
I'm not normally a fan of survival horror games, as I suck at ammo and medkit conservation, but Holstin has me intrigued with its sublime pixel-art design, grotesque creatures, and interesting gameplay mechanics.
If you enjoy scaring yourself on the go with retro-style horror games with Xbox Play Anywhere like the critically-acclaimed Signalis, you will want to keep an eye out for this title when it drops in 2027, as it could be a potential ID@Xbox sleeper hit.
Or you could find out now for yourself if it's up your dark alley by its demo on Steam.
Your friend has gone missing in a town filled with horrifying monsters and dark secrets, and it's up to you to rescue them before they're lost forever in the pixel-art survival horror game Holstin.
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A man runs into a dark, decrepit kitchen that is a infested with giant, plant-like growths sticking out of the ground, conveying a disturbing, horror-themed atmosphere.
What horrors await you in the town of Jeziorne-Kolonia
Today was supposed to be an opportunity for "fans" to get a chance to pre-order the new, limited edition Xbox Series X25. Yet it's questionable as to how many genuine fans may have actually got their hands on one.
Reddit is filled with bad experiences, people talking about having a console in their cart and it was gone before they could check out. That stock evaporated in "milliseconds."
And yet almost instantly they were cropping up on eBay. The highest listing I saw was for a ridiculous THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS.
To its credit, eBay seems to be taking action and shutting these listings down, as three I've already seen have been ended due to the "item no longer being available", not "sold". It was never available in the first place, and frankly, handing over thousands on a promise of getting a thing in the future is the dumbest idea anyway.
Obviously this is a limited edition, with each console uniquely numbered, and was always going to be in hot demand. But while eBay might be taking listings down, more are popping up across the globe.
Scalpers are going to scalp. They're not going to cancel their order, and they're going to try somehow to move it on for a premium price. It's the Pokémon card fiasco all over again.
My advice is clear: Do not buy a console from a scalper. In fact, if you can't get one directly from a retailer, don't buy one unless you actually see it and can pick it up with your bare hands. These people have no morals; don't hand over your money and trust that you'll actually even get the thing.
I was never going to try and get one myself, as I don't have a spare $899 to throw at a console I already have in a different body. But scalpers really make me angry. It's a constant battle in trading card collecting, especially. There's reselling and then there's just existing to rip people off by using your bots to scoop up stock from legitimate buyers.
Anyway, rant over. If you did manage to secure an Xbox Series X25 let us know in the comments. Unless you're a scalper.
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Xbox Series X25
Today was the first chance for fans to get their hands on the Xbox Series X25 and it's been a disaster it seems.
One of the more unsung announcements from this year's Gamescom that has me personally excited is that Shadow of the Road, an upcoming CRPG published by Owlcat Games of Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader fame, has revealed that it's releasing on November 12, 2026, for PC via Steam, Epic Games Store, and GOG.
This game has you command a group of ex-samurai and Shogun retainers traveling with a child gifted with mysterious powers, his mother, and their massive bodyguard on a quest to put an end to a bloody civil war that's tearing Japan apart.
Shadow of the Road will have you explore a gritty, alternative history version of Japan in 1868 where Steampunk technology reigns supreme, manage a team of powerful warriors in intense tactical turn-based battles, make tough dialogue choices that will determine the course of the story and your party's friendships, and obtain the dark power of being able to transform into horrifying yōkai in battle.
I previewed Shadow of the Road's alpha test back in 2025, and I was rather enthralled by its Japanese setting, in-depth turn-based combat, and unique take on dialogue choices in RPGs, as it allowed the entire party, not just the main character, to have dialogue options during conversations based on who the player wants to speak first.
So I can't wait to finally play the full version when Shadow of the Road launches on PC this November.
Although I'm sad that there's no word of Shadow of the Road releasing on Xbox anytime soon, as this game would be cool to play on Xbox Ally via Xbox Play Anywhere, like Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader was.
But who knows? If this game does well on PC, maybe it will release on consoles at some point later? Only time will tell the answer.
The land of feudal-era Japan is embroiled in a terrible civil war waged with steampunk war machines and otherworldly sorcery. Journey with a band of heroes across this war-torn realm, battle hordes of villains and monsters, and decide Japan’s fate in Shadow of the Road.
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Six fantasy warriors in traditional Japanese-style attire stand on a wooden bridge in a lush, green forest setting, preparing for a potential battle.
Meet the heroes of Shadow of the Road.
Ce jeu, ou plutôt cette expérience, je vous le dis tout de suite, ça ne va pas changer votre vie. Au contraire, ça risque même d'aggraver vos PTSD en rapport avec les sports d'hiver. Moi, ça va, je ne suis jamais allé à la montagne en vacances l'hiver, parce que je n'étais pas assez richou étant + jeune, donc, c'est au moins un trauma que je n'ai pas !
Dans Line Rider , vous tracez une ligne à la souris, vous appuyez sur play, et un petit bonhomme en luge dévale la pente que vous venez de dessiner à pleine balle. Voilà c'est tout !
Alors, je pense que si vous êtes un ancien, vous connaissez forcément, parce que ce truc n'est pas de première fraîcheur. C'est sorti en 2006 sur DeviantArt . Ça a été créé par Boštjan Čadež, un étudiant de l'Académie des Beaux-Arts de Ljubljana, pour un devoir de son cours d'illustration. À l'époque, il y a eu quand même 10 000 personnes qui l'ont vu dans les 24 heures de la sortie du jeu. Et un mois plus tard, on en était à 4 millions de vues et 325 000 téléchargements du jeu.
Notez quand même que la toute première version n'avait même pas de gomme et c'était volontaire de la part de Boštjan. Sauf qu'aujourd'hui ce n'est plus le Flash de 2006 que vous lancez mais une réécriture complète pour le web moderne, signée David Lu avec Matthew Henry et Tobias Bessler.
Et la réécriture a pris du muscle puisque vous avez maintenant trois types de ligne (la bleue qui porte, la rouge qui accélère, la verte qui ne sert qu'au décor), des calques, une pelure d'oignon pour suivre la trajectoire, jusqu'à six lugeurs en même temps, et un moteur de scripts pour piloter la caméra ou la gravité.
Attention quand même : Ne lancez que des scripts dont vous connaissez la provenance ^^. Par contre, n'oubliez pas que les lignes ont un sens. Si vous les tracez de la gauche vers la droite, elles feront office de sol. Par contre, si vous les tracez dans l'autre sens, votre petit gugusse va s'y cogner par en dessous ou la traversera sans la voir s'il y arrive par le dessus.
Vous pouvez aussi glisser un fichier audio dans l'éditeur pour caler l'animation sur la musique. C'est comme ça que la communauté sort ses morceaux de bravoure, genre les 39 millions de vues de la piste que DoodleChaos a synchronisée sur "In the Hall of the Mountain King".
Ensuite, concernant l'export vidéo, le bouton sort bien un MP4, mais celui-ci sera muet. La musique que vous avez chargée sert uniquement à caler l'animation pendant que vous dessinez, et la synchro, vous devrez la faire ailleurs, dans OBS ou un vrai logiciel de montage.
Côté mobile par contre, c'est plus tristoune. L' application Android est à 2,99 € et n'a plus bougé depuis juillet 2023, et la fiche App Store vers laquelle le site pointe toujours renvoie un beau 404. Bof donc...
Le web reste donc le seul endroit où Line Rider est vraiment vivant.
Le code, lui, est fermé. David Lu n'a sorti que le moteur physique, dans un dépôt sans aucune licence et qui n'a plus évolué depuis 2017. Alors si vous voulez du libre pour de vrai, allez voir plutôt LROverhaul , un descendant de Line Rider Advanced sous GPL-3.0 qui tourne sur le bureau.
Merci à j0j0b4rj0 pour le lien !
Source : linerider.com
Fable is not skimping out on any details at this year's Gamescom, as it provided a metric ton of new gameplay information through an 18-minute gameplay demo, accompanied by a gameplay preview write-up at Xbox Wire.
There's a lot to unpack here, so let's not waste any more time and get into the nitty-gritty of what Playground Games has in store for this highly anticipated reboot of the Fable series.
The demo begins with a recap of Fable's life-sim elements, where you can mingle with NPCs to potentially start a family, buy a home, or start a business. The player then sets off on a quest to save their grandma and village, which have been turned to stone by the mysterious hero-turned-villain, Isabel.
Throughout the demo, we see the player engaging in dialogue choices that determine how NPCs feel towards them, some funny cinematics that play off like a fantasy version of the iconic sitcom, 'The Office', exploring the city, developing skills in the skill tree, and most of all, beating the stuffing out of bandits with the game's combat system.
Judging from the footage shown in the Gamescom demo and from Xbox Wire's preview write-up, this game's combat system is shaping up to be the most in-depth one any Fable title has had to date.
You can parry and dodge enemy attacks, blast enemies off of cliffs using fireballs, catch incoming arrows and throw them back at enemies, trip or knock weapons out of enemies' hands using bows and crossbows, stun enemies by filling their stagger gauge before performing melee finishers on them, turn enemies into chickens using magic, and so much more.
And all this is done without messing about in menus or loadout bars, so you can focus on the action intuitively without immersion-breaking menu micromanagement.
You will need to master this evolved take on Fable's combat quickly, as you will contend with more dangerous foes than bandits throughout the game, including reanimated skeletons, wraiths, Cockatrices, and tough mini-bosses like the ghostly Lantern Keeper, to name a few.
I admit it's been a LONG time since I played the original Fable from 2004, but I do remember combat not being the most in-depth thing in the world, as it mainly amounted to whacking enemies once, moving back to shoot fireballs, rinse and repeat.
So to go from that to this new Fable where we're catching arrows to throw them back in enemies' faces, parrying attacks Sekiro-style, and blasting enemies with magic doesn't take forever to cast anymore is a massive improvement.
For the first time, press and content creators are getting hands on with Fable's style-weaving combat at @gamescom 2026. Check out this article from @XBOXWire to find out more about how combat works in Fable: https://t.co/GIJ8EGUwY1 #Fable #FableTheGame #Gamescom2026 pic.twitter.com/nGD0wYnvyxAugust 26, 2026
If Playground Games can continue polishing this promising combat system to be more speedy and perhaps show off more destructive spells, Fable could be a massive shoo-in for a 2027 Game of the Year contender.
We will have to wait to find out if the combat system, as well as its other gameplay aspects, live up to the hype when Fable launches on February 23, 2027, on Xbox Series X|S (with Xbox Play Anywhere support), Xbox on PC, Xbox Cloud Gaming, Xbox Game Pass (Day One), PlayStation 5, and Steam.
The iconic Fable franchise returns with an epic reboot where you will embark on a journey to save the land of Albion from evil foes while changing the lives of everyone around you based on your choices.
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A warrior in silver armor casts a fiery spell at a group of glowing-eyed skeletons on a misty, dark path in a fantasy forest setting at twilight.
Burn spooky, scary, skeletons in the new Fable reboot.
The next-gen Xbox Helix is gradually appearing on the horizon, but there's very big question marks over how it will actually show up.
Microsoft's attempts to disrupt the gaming industry ended mostly with it disrupting itself, harming its own Xbox console business as well as third-party developers in its ecosystem. As Xbox's hardware footprint has shrank due to poor marketing and lack of exclusive games, so too has its relevancy on the general gaming stage. The turmoil has been turbo charged by the AI-driven RAMpocalypse, which has seen consumer electronics prices soar due to RAM shortages.
New CEO Asha Sharma has been tasked with reviving Xbox's gaming fortunes, starting by bringing back exclusive games (including the amazing-looking Gears of War: E-Day), and delivering a barrage of fan-requested features.
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Fans are increasingly wondering how Xbox will respond to PlayStation's own PR nightmare right now. PlayStation inexplicably announced a gradual phase out of disc-based games on its platform, with discs going away entirely by 2028. Microsoft has moved in the opposite direction, revealing today that Xbox discs will now grant digital entitlements for gamers in that ecosystem, including Xbox Cloud Gaming access and Xbox Play Anywhere.
In conversations with BBC reporter Laura Cress, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma acknowledged the backlash to Sony's physical phase out.
"I know players love physical media, and I know there's a lot of benefits in digital media, and I want to make sure people have a choice," Sharma said. "There are stacks of games on everybody's shelves. We're announcing the ability for players for 1,000 titles with physical discs to be able to have a digital entitlement."
"We've long pioneered backwards compatibility and so you'll continue to see that as we go forward in the generations. This next generation, we have to be thinking about efficiency and affordability alongside performance."
Speaking to my own Xbox hardware sources, I was told that it's less about the discs themselves and more about the supply chain around optical disc drives collapsing. Factories and assembly lines previously oriented around making optical disc drives are moving towards other, more lucrative and more scalable industries, such as camera lenses and the like. Demand for optical disc drives revolves entirely around Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 right now, with laptops, Blu-Ray devices, and other formats essentially phasing out the tech.
Consumers opted overwhelming for digital-only in the last few years, although the downsides are becoming increasingly apparent. The lack of rights consumers have over digital content has come into focus, as licenses can be revoked remotely at any time potentially. At least with a physical game or Blu-ray movie, it's definitively yours in perpetuity.
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It's ironic perhaps given the revival of vinyl records in recent years, as more of us seek ownership and hobby-oriented collecting. Digital games, books, and movies don't create the same sense of participation, and lending games and sharing content with families is obviously much harder generally speaking when the content is tied to a specific account.
Xbox doesn't have strong family-sharing systems like Steam yet, nor does it come with the ability to re-sell digital games as some have called for. There's also no legislation in place to refund users when digital games are sunset or revoked.
It'll be interesting to see how Microsoft and the next-gen Xbox Helix navigates this impending reality for optical disc drive manufacturing, given the widespread backlash to PlayStation's vocal policies on it.
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Blu-ray
Blu-ray
Frankly I have no idea why it didn't always work this way, but better late than never eh?!
Speaking at Gamescom, Microsoft confirmed that the long-expected disc-to-digital program is going live on Monday for Xbox Insiders, and it works exactly as you would've hoped and expected.
First detailed by Tom Warren at The Verge following datamining leaks, codename "Positron" is a new feature that will be available across Xbox One and Xbox Series X consoles with a disc drive. Simply insert your Xbox physical game disc into a console, and you'll be prompted to redeem a digital version of the game too.
Naturally, it needs to be a game that actually works on Xbox One or Xbox Series X|S. OG Xbox and Xbox 360 discs aren't compatible, since they were never manufactured with digital identifiers in mind.
Your physical game library is more than a collection of discs. It holds years of memories and stories worth preserving. Starting next week, XBOX Insiders can unlock a digital entitlement for supported physical games. We’ll start with thousands of titles and add more as we can. pic.twitter.com/XATsa8sjBtAugust 26, 2026
The digital version will have all the same benefits as any other digital Xbox copy of a game: Xbox Play Anywhere support, meaning access on an Xbox Ally handheld or Windows PC and support for Xbox Cloud Gaming. If you console share with a family member, they'll also get access to the license via your account. Once you've activated the digital version, you won't need the disc to play the game. However, the disc you used doesn't become inert — it still contains the digital license, too.
Just like sharing a physical game in the real world, if you sell or give the disc away, the digital license will then transfer to the Microsoft Account of the new user, and off your account.
The system will go live for Xbox Insiders on Monday will support for "thousands" of games, sources tell me. Microsoft plans to roll out support for more discs over time as it refines and polishes the service, although it seems that some discs may be incompatible due to how they were manufactured at the time.
It's unclear if PlayStation will be able to replicate this feature on PS4 and PS5. Indeed, it's an awkward discussion right now potentially, given that Sony recently announced that it is phasing out disc-based games entirely to a visceral backlash.
Microsoft still hasn't really put its mark on the debate, although sources tell me it's less about the discs and more about the disc drives themselves; the entire supply chain for the components required to make optical disc drives is collapsing, with assembly lines pivoting away from the tech as users actively opt for digital-only.
Microsoft has also been actively building out Xbox game emulation on PC as well, with planned support for all Xbox 360 games, and potentially Xbox One and above in the future too. It's great, in my view, that Xbox is offering some sort of exit for those with digital collections — it remains to be seen if those on other platforms will be so lucky.
It'll be interesting to see how they navigate the inevitable phase out with the next-gen Xbox Helix as well, as users call on Xbox to take a different path to PlayStation.
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A photo of Xbox One game discs for Rockstar Games' Red Dead Redemption 2 and GTA 5.
Soon, you'll be able to get digital benefits with these discs.
After Xbox's controversial 'reset' that laid off over 3,000 people and rumors of State of Decay 3 not coming to Xbox Game Pass flying about, fans of the long-awaited zombie survival game were starting to panic and think State of Decay 3 was going to be canceled.
Thankfully, Microsoft has laid all the doom and gloom to rest as it has announced on Xbox Wire that State of Decay 3 is still coming to Xbox Game Pass.
State of Decay 3's closed beta playtests are coming before 2026 wraps up. Learn more about what's next and sign up now for your shot at surviving early: https://t.co/dmUcHMr6c2August 26, 2026
On top of that, Microsoft has also announced that State of Decay 3 will be hosting closed beta tests before the end of 2026, which players can register for right now on the official State of Decay 3 website.
It will feature the largest map in a State of Decay game to date with untethered multiplayer, allow more people to join than the previous alpha tests, and incorporate gameplay improvements based on feedback players made during the alpha tests.
State of Decay 3 is the latest entry in the popular State of Decay series, where players band together in online multiplayer to survive the zombie apocalypse by scavenging for weapons and building settlements to hide in.
While I never played these games myself, I know my colleague, Jez Corden, absolutely loved State of Decay 2 despite its launch-day issues and has been waiting for its sequel for nearly a decade now.
So I'm betting he and many other zombie game fans are happy to see State of Decay 3 survive Xbox's recent mass culling and is continuing to press on for its eventual release in 2027 for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox Game Pass, Xbox on PC, and Xbox Cloud Gaming with Xbox Play Anywhere support.
Stay tuned for further updates as we continue this highly anticipated zombie survival game that refuses to die before it sees the light of day.
Band together with friends to withstand the zombie apocalypse in the biggest, darkest, and most brutal entry of the State of Decay 3 franchise to date, with more gore, bigger maps, tougher choices, and more challenging zombies to fend off.
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A person in a red jacket and camo pants holds a serrated blade, facing a group of ragged, mud-covered zombies on a train track at twilight.
Prepare to face zombie hordes in State of Decay 3's upcoming closed beta tests.
Gamescom 2026 Opening Night Live was packed with non-stop gameplay trailers. One of the longest was an extended gameplay reveal for Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons, set to launch in 2027 for Xbox Series X|S (with Xbox Play Anywhere support), PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store.
This upcoming action-RPG is, as you might expect, set in the Dungeons & Dragons universe. After watching this intriguing trailer, it's shaping up to be the biggest AAA video game adaptation of the franchise since Baldur's Gate 3.
Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons has you assume the role of Kaatri, a Warlock who made a dark pact with an ancient witch named Tasha to gain the power to find someone precious to her that she lost.
To accomplish her mission, Kaatri must feed on raw magic throughout the forgotten realms, discover and master forbidden spells, rituals, and weapons, and battle her way through hordes of monsters infesting the Mists of Darkon.
As seen in the trailer, you will have a ton of magic spells at your disposal, and you will decide which ones are best employed for exploration, puzzle solving, and combat.
As someone who spent many years playing the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop RPG, Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons is looking promising even in its early stages of development.
Most of the iconic spells of the Warlock's kits from the tabletop RPG have been faithfully recreated in this game, from the laser-spewing Eldritch Blast, the telekinetic Mage Hand, and the shadowy Tentacle of the Deeps, to name a few.
It even shows a sequence where the player is casting a ritual to summon rain by sacrificing rare materials to make the environment and enemies more susceptible to lightning attacks.
If the developers can polish up its graphics and performance, and show off more insane spells from the Warlock's kit, this could be a great game for action-RPG and D&D fans alike, especially for those who like playing games on the go on the Xbox Ally since this game is getting Xbox Play Anywhere support.
Games getting Xbox Play Anywhere support seem to be happening more often these days, as twelve games shown at the Gamescom 2026 Opening Night Live event are receiving it (as confirmed by IdleSloth at X), including The Witcher 3, which is getting a free remaster upgrade.
Either way, we'll keep an eye out for future developments on Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons to see if the final product's performance earns the Xbox Play Anywhere blessing.
Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons (Xbox):
Forge a dark pact with an ancient witch and carve a bloody path battling evil monsters throughout the Forgotten Realms to find your lost precious one in Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons.
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A dark-haired warrior in fantasy armor holds a sword, facing a floating, tentacled creature with a single glowing eye inside a ruined stone hall.
Kaatri the Warlock is preparing to fight a tentacled monster known as a 'Death Kiss'.
Xbox Series X25 costs $100 more than the standard Series X without adding performance. Here’s what the anniversary premium actually buys.
The post Xbox Series X25 vs Xbox Series X: Is the $100 Premium Worth It? appeared first on TechRepublic.
Gamescom 2026 is in full swing, and there's already a bunch of big wins emerging for Xbox.
My Gears of War: E-Day campaign preview just went live (and it looks amazing), a metric ton of Gamescom titles just got revealed for Xbox, and we have even more goodies being announced throughout the week (stay tuned for tomorrow ...). But, here's a personal big win that I'm very excited about.
The Witcher 3 is inarguably one of the best games ever made, and it's getting a big remaster version on September 29, 2026, and is also COMPLETELY FREE for users who own the existing game.
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"Remastered is a free upgrade for players who own The Witcher 3 on GOG, Steam, Epic Games Store, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S, and includes both Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine expansions. It is also available for pre-purchase on Battle.net and Nintendo Switch 2."
Update: I missed this part on the initial write up, but yes, The Witcher 3 is also coming to Microsoft and Blizzard's Battle.net. It's part of a wider initiative to open up Battle.net to third-party developers so I'm told, which we should hear more about at BlizzCon 2026 in September. Stay tuned for that one.
Furthermore, CD Projekt RED revealed in the small print that it also grabs Xbox Play Anywhere support, finally bridging the gap between Xbox Series X|S and Xbox Ally versions. It'll also get FSR 4.0 support on the Xbox Ally X, giving it massively improved performance.
Here's just some of the changes you can expect in the free update:
CD Projekt RED also recently announced that The Witcher 4 is slated for 2028, with yet another Witcher 3 expansion slated for later in 2027.
Additionally, CD Projekt RED also showed off the first teaser trailer for the third and final Witcher 3 DLC, titled "Songs of the Past."
"This full-fledged third expansion takes the White Wolf on a new adventure to the peaceful realm of Letten, where dark secrets lurk beneath the surface… Coming in 2027."
In the trailer, we catch a glimpse at a new hook-like tool Geralt has for pulling in enemies, as well as twisted nature-oriented enemies.
CD Projekt RED has been over-delivering almost none-stop since Cyberpunk 2077's launch, which disappointed users on PS4 and Xbox One owing to its performance. Fast forward half a decade, and Cyberpunk 2077 was fully revived and revamped, it had an award-winning TV show, and now we're getting an absolute mountain of free content for Witcher 3, the game that helped CD Projekt RED claim its top spot at the RPG pile.
Witcher 4 and Cyberpunk 2 are deep in development as well, and there's every reason to think they too will continue CD Projekt RED's path towards legendary status.
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The Witcher 3 Remastered logo
The Witcher 3
Connexion
