Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #1131) - today's words

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• NEEDLE
• INK
• JET
• DOT MATRIX
• TONER
• POINT BREAK
• LASER
• CHARCOAL
• PEEL
• PITCH
• PERIOD PIECE
• BULLSEYE
• SPOT REMOVER
• EYE CREAM
• CLOCKWORK
• CLAY MASK

NYT Connections today (game #1131) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: Cosmetics
• PURPLE: Small beginnings
• BLUE: Seeking perfection
• GREEN: The darkness

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #1131) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: SKINCARE PRODUCTS
• PURPLE: STARTING WITH TINY MARKS
• BLUE: ASSOCIATED WITH PRECISION
• GREEN: SHADES OF BLACK

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #1131) - the answers

The answers to today's Connections, game #1131, are…

• YELLOW: SKINCARE PRODUCTS: CLAY MASK, EYE CREAM, PEEL, TONER
• PURPLE: STARTING WITH TINY MARKS: DOT MATRIX, PERIOD PIECE, POINT BREAK, SPOT REMOVER
• BLUE: ASSOCIATED WITH PRECISION: BULLSEYE, CLOCKWORK, LASER, NEEDLE
• GREEN: SHADES OF BLACK: CHARCOAL, INK, JET, PITCH

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 1 mistake

Looking at today’s game after I completed it, I don’t understand why I failed to see SHADES OF BLACK as it is the only group that I could have actually got right.

The other three groups were the result of muddled game play and lucky guesses — particularly STARTING WITH TINY MARKS, which I didn’t get because I spotted dot, period, point and spot, but because all the tiles were made up of two words.

Before that, though, I made the mistake of putting together what I thought were four different types of printer. Hopefully I wasn't the only player to fall into that trap, but in truth it doesn't take much to catch me.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Wednesday, July 15, 2026, game #1130)

• YELLOW: TERMS FOR THE LEGAL SYSTEM: BAR, BENCH, COURT, TRIBUNAL
• GREEN: THINGS WITH LACES: BASEBALL GLOVE, CORSET, FOOTBALL, SHOE
• BLUE: KINDS OF SPORTS: EXTREME, MOTOR, RACKET, WATER
• PURPLE: WORDS BEFORE "ROOM" TO INDICATE EXTRA SPACE: BREATHING, ELBOW, HEAD, WIGGLE

Wuthering Waves is a fairly popular gacha game that first launched on PC and PlayStation before eventually making its way to Xbox. Unfortunately for fans, the Xbox release hasn't quite lived up to expectations. Players have been calling on developer Kuro Games to address a range of technical issues, with one user, @ClebsAlexandre on X (formerly Twitter), showcasing just how rough the game looks on an Xbox Series X.

The footage highlights severe texture pop-in, graphical glitches, missing shadows, and what appears to be very low-quality settings, leading some fans to speculate that the Xbox version may have been built using the game's mobile version as its foundation.

I must admit, I'm not particularly into gacha games myself, but seeing just how poor the game looks on Xbox is genuinely disappointing, especially when the PlayStation version appears to run and look far better, at least according to some users.

I highly doubt this is an Xbox hardware issue. We know the Xbox Series X, and yes, even the Series S, are more than capable machines. Instead, I suspect something has simply gone wrong with the port, and hopefully it's something Kuro Games can address in a future update.

Fans on X are understandably frustrated. One user wrote, "Thank you so much for the experience of a mobile game running on low settings on the Xbox!" That said, while looking into the issue, I did come across a handful of PlayStation 5 players reporting similar problems, suggesting this may not be entirely isolated to Xbox.

Even so, I hope Kuro Games is able to get these issues sorted. As things stand, the Xbox version looks and performs well below what you'd expect from a modern title, especially on the Series X.

If you've been playing Wuthering Waves on Xbox, let me know how it's been running for you. Are you happy with its performance, or are you just as disappointed as many of the players posting online? Be sure to leave a comment below, and as always, don't forget to take part in our poll!

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After months since its Xbox port was announced back in March 2026, the wait to play the hit superhero game Dispatch will soon be over, as Adhoc Studio has announced its Xbox release date.

On July 29, 2026, players will get to enjoy Dispatch on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC, Xbox Cloud Gaming, and Xbox Play Anywhere. However, there's no word of it coming to Xbox Game Pass as of yet.

For those unaware, Dispatch is a narrative-adventure superhero game created by writers and directors who worked on the critically acclaimed The Wolf Among Us and Tales from the Borderlands games.

It follows the tale of Robert Patterson, a.k.a. Mecha Man, a superhero who gets taken out of action after his mech-suit gets destroyed while fighting a supervillain.

Robert then gets a job as a dispatcher at a superhero dispatch center designed to rehabilitate former supervillains into heroes. Your goal as Robert is to manage your dysfunctional former villains to quell ongoing crises (while keeping them from killing each other), build relationships with colleagues, and rebuild your mech-suit to get back at the villain who forced you into semi-retirement.

Windows Central's take

This game exploded in popularity in 2025. It sold over a million copies across PC and PlayStation 5 alone in just 10 days, won three British BAFTA awards (in the Best Animation, Audio Achievement, and Performer in a Supporting Role categories), won an award for the best Outstanding Story-Rich Game at the 2025/2026 Steam Awards, and scored two nominations at The 2025 Game Awards despite having only four episodes being released at the time.

Even one of my former colleagues, Samuel Tolbert, loved Dispatch for its humorous and subversive take on the superhero genre, well-written characters, superb voice acting, gorgeous art direction, and intriguing story.

I unfortunately didn't have time to play Dispatch when it first came out due to being interested in other games and being swamped with work.

But now that all of Dispatch's episodes are available and that my wishlist is empty, perhaps I will finally give Dispatch a shot once it lands on Xbox on July 29, 2026, as I enjoyed the developers' previous work on The Tales of the Borderlands series.

But what about you? Will you be playing Dispatch on Xbox, or have you already completed it multiple times on PC, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch 2?

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

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Xbox and Activision have broken with tradition and partnered with Fanatics Fest to show off one of the most innovative new maps heading to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 when it launches this October.

Multiplayer map reveals are typically reserved for the annual Call of Duty NEXT event, but a date for the celebration of all things Call of Duty has yet to be confirmed for 2026. Rather than waiting until closer to launch, Infinity Ward will give the public their first look at the new map, "Kill Block", during Fanatics Fest in New York City from January 16-19.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 will be playable for those who have purchased tickets to Fanatics Fest at the Javits Center in NYC, and a panel featuring Kevin Durant, Inde Navarrette, Infinity Ward Studio Co-Head Mark Grigsby, and Tyler Bahl will take the stage for an exclusive panel on Call of Duty in Culture on Saturday, July 18.

The original concept behind Kill Block was dreamed up by Multiplayer Creative Director Geoff Smith, who was inspired by the Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid. The stadium is designed to have multiple arena floorings set on a rotating slab, allowing it to shift from a football stadium to a concert venue and back again while maintaining the various fields.

From concept to production, Kill Block eventually evolved into an adaptive training facility with a modular battleground that pieces together different slabs to create hundreds of unique map combinations. Designed to resemble a live-fire training environment, Kill Block is assembled from two end slabs with a central slab that pieces together map sections, both new and from iconic locations seen throughout Modern Warfare's rich history.

Infinity Ward shared an overview of how the engineering behind Kill Block works in a new blog post.

Engineering a dynamic map for Modern Warfare 4

While Call of Duty is a video game, the team at Infinity Ward takes great pride in the real-world inspiration beyond the pixels. It would be easy enough for the development team to shrug off the hows and whys of the mechanics powering Kill Block as "It's just a game" and hope that the players could suspend disbelief enough to enjoy themselves. But Infinity Ward doesn't work that way, and the team has taken the engineering behind Kill Block very seriously.

Kill Block, which is set within the West Bridge Advanced Military Training Facility, is flanked along the perimeter by eight concrete towers that house the electronics, motors, and pulley systems that make the dynamic arena function. The map is functionally the size of the popular Shoot House map from Modern Warfare past, though its continuously evolving layout keeps things fresh with each new round.

The map's three slabs sit upon a network of rail-mounted wheel assemblies, known as 'bogies', that travel along tracks embedded above and below the training area. The map changes at the end of each round of Gunfight. When the active slab decouples from the others, it is lowered to a storage chamber beneath the arena for safekeeping. The motor then selects the new Slab and winches it into position before raising it to the surface. How's that for combat evolved, Halo?

Each slab effectively takes up one third of Kill Block's play space, and each one is completely self-contained while maintaining all the necessary openings to flow seamlessly into each other. While each team spawns on their respective endpoint, movement across all three slabs in the combo is unrestrained (and encouraged.)

Some slabs add more than just new buildings, trees, or other obstacles. Some are also fitted with military-grade weather simulation systems — introducing snow flurries, fog, and other conditions that affect not just the look of the map but also weapons.

Kill Block's slabs are a new way to experience old favorites

Call of Duty as a franchise struggles to walk a tight line between feeding into the nostalgia of its long-time player base while allowing the developers the creative freedom to create fresh and new experiences that might lure new players in. One way the development teams have sought to bridge that gap is with remastered variants of once-popular multiplayer maps.

But leaning into an influx of remasters leaves players looking for something new out in the cold. After 5 different variants of Shipment and Shoothouse, both the fans and the players can find themselves struggling with the threat of Call of Duty fatigue. Kill Block is an interesting solution to that problem, introducing both the chaotic gunplay of a small map without leaning exclusively into the tried-and-true favorites.

Infinity Ward's multiplayer team has claimed that there are enough assets readily available for Kill Block to support up to 900 combos total, though at launch, players can expect roughly 500 to be live. The following slabs can be expected in the Kill Block rotation at launch, though some names may be changed:

• Ambush (Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare): A central slab featuring a convoy-clogged main road with blown-out pre-fab buildings on either side, with plenty of sniping opportunities.
• Blacksite (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II and III): An end slab featuring three prefabricated structures with open access between each of them. Players will find a mud and grass thoroughfare, a rusted van, an open cargo container, and stacked military gabions.
• Killhouse (Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare): Gabions corner prefab walls with some small gaps for mantling, while a central kill box dots the middle of the map, and small scenic cover opportunities cover the edge of the end slab.
• ME-Town: A central slab featuring a kill box dirt courtyard surrounded by prefabricated structures in each corner. Lots of interior and roof space for sniper nests. The main building is turquoise and features plenty of opportunities for close-quarter combat in its tight rooms and scramble points.
• Snow Block: The fortifications of open cargo containers and concrete blocks offer unique overwatch opportunities to would-be snipers, but there's a limit to how much cover you can find on this end slab.
• Trench: This central slab is a literal no-man's land of sunken mud walls and pill boxes with sandbags, tires, and wooden trusses that feel like they're going to collapse in on your squad without a moment's notice. This is a fraught middle ground with minimal cover, but good sight lines.

In addition to the confirmed Kill Block slabs, Infinity Ward also teased imagery showing off combos for the dynamic map featuring parts of Station, Shoot House, Woods, and Killhouse. Additional maps and supported modes for Kill Block are expected to be added to the game during Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4's seasonal content drops post-launch.

Hands-on impressions of Kill Block

Members of the press and content creators alike were invited to Infinity Ward's studio for an early hands-on preview of Kill Block in action. During the preview, we were able to play matches of 10v10 Gunfight on Kill Block. The match would begin with the player teams each infilling on their respective end slabs with a loadout that had been randomly assembled by the game.

Gunfight is a round-based, one-life per player core mode, and the first interactions with Kill Block were surprisingly intimidating. There's an urge to explore the undeniably creative design of Kill Block and to understand all the machinations behind it. But doing so certainly puts you at risk of other players who aren't so interested in the aesthetics willing to pick you off as an easy target.

When you do get over the desire to ooh-and-aww over what Infinity Ward has managed to create out of Kill Block and decide to focus on the game, you'll find yourself quickly flung into intense combat against enemy players. As a long-time fan of small map playlists that throw you immediately into the line of danger, I was excited to feel that rush of instant action from Kill Block.

Infinity Ward's willingness to give fans of small maps something to sink their teeth into had interesting effects on the player base in Modern Warfare 2 (2022). There were considerable complaints on social media by players who felt the time between matches was too long in standard map playlists as players flocked to small map rotations in order to complete grindy camo challenges.

And yet, at the same time, there was a subset of players who love small maps so much they were even requesting Treyarch to introduce IW's beloved tiny map, Shipment, to the Black Ops series. (They didn't, but they did take a risk and go even smaller with the chaotic GRWM limited map during April Fools.)

Kill Block feels fresh and exciting and new, but it's serving multiple purposes for the split fan base that pines for nostalgic gameplay and laments continuous remasters simultaneously. Personally, Kill Block is one of my most anticipated new additions for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare launches on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC, Battle.net, Steam, PlayStation 5, and the Nintendo Switch 2 on October 23, 2026. Players who preorder the game will unlock early access to the Open Beta and up to one week of early access to the Modern Warfare 4 campaign starting on October 16. Modern Warfare 4 is the first Call of Duty title to skip last-gen consoles, and the game will also not be included in Xbox Game Pass subscriptions until Holiday 2027.

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• A Steam user has found a way to store games on SSDs with an auto-navigation and auto-start script
• These are effectively physical 'game cartridges' complete with key art
• However, costly SSDs means this is a pricey endeavor (the Steam gamer was lucky enough to pick up used drives on the cheap)

Physical copies of PlayStation games are coming to an end from January 2028, and as the backlash around that continues, a restoration of physical media on PC has been discovered — and it's novel to say the least.

A Steam user on Reddit has managed to store games on 'cheap 2.5-inch' SATA SSDs, effectively acting as old-school 'game cartridges' with key art, and a script that auto-navigates Steam to each game's page. The user also notes that automatically starting games from each drive is possible.

This comes amid a significant uproar from gamers following the revelation of Sony's plan to eradicate physical game discs, supposedly by the time its next PlayStation console arrives. It's a very controversial move that has united gamers across all platforms to fight to retain discs and to ensure game ownership remains intact.

With that said, physical media for PC has been dead for a long while, since a modern desktop PC doesn't come with a disc drive, and there are hardly any publishers selling physical copies for the platform.

With most games only accessible digitally on PC, in theory those titles can be taken away from buyers at any time. The trouble is that consumer-friendly figures like Gabe Newell, who leads Valve, the owner of Steam, won't be in charge forever.

So in the future, under new leadership, it's possible more anti-consumer measures might be introduced, or other aspects of PC gaming that consumers dislike, such as DRM (like Denuvo).

Steam Game Cartridges from r/pcmasterrace

Imagine if this 'game cartridge' system was adopted by PC game publishers? It's a smart idea, and a nice thought, but clearly not a realistic one. For starters, it'd be a prohibitively expensive method of reintroducing physical PC game copies.

Of course, platforms like Epic Games and Steam require users to be logged in and have their app installed to play games, so it's still a long way off true game copy ownership, anyway.

However, this concept would be paired perfectly with GOG, a platform that is DRM-free and doesn't require the launcher to play purchased games — in other words, you fully own purchased games on GOG.

Admittedly, publishers releasing PC game cartridges in the form of SSDs is a pipe dream, especially with the current state of the hardware market, and the RAM crisis, complete with skyrocketing SSD prices.

The idea comes at the wrong time, then, but if the RAM crisis ever settles down, then maybe this is something we'll see more PC hobbyists doing — and perhaps even the odd publisher.

• EA Sports Madden NFL 27 is coming to Apple Arcade
• The exclusive Arcade Edition launches on August 6, 2026
• It offers full controller support and does not feature microtransactions

EA Sports Madden NFL 27, the next entry in the blockbuster football franchise, is just around the corner — but you won't need a pricey console to play it. That's because an exclusive version is coming to Apple Arcade that you'll be able to dive into right from your iPhone when it arrives on August 6.

Madden NFL 27 Arcade Edition is an exclusive version of the game designed specifically for Apple Arcade with zero ads or microtransactions. It features a range of teams and the latest NFL player rosters, with 11-on-11 gameplay on the field that's intended to be as authentic as possible while offering streamlined controls for mobile play. There's also plenty of franchise management, putting you in charge of trades, free agents, and more.

As you play through each season, a newly introduced 'Narrative Messaging System' will challenge you with new events with decisions that can impact player performance and force you to adapt to the consequences.

Aside from the flagship Franchise mode, you'll also be able to dive into Quick Play or try a selection of custom-themed franchises with their own handcrafted narratives that are changed on a monthly basis.

Regarding the announcement, EA vice president of franchise strategy and marketing Evan Dexter argued that "Apple Arcade is the perfect home for Madden" and "matches the complete, no-compromise experience we’ve built." He added: "the future of football is now in your hands.”

In addition to iPhone, the game will also be available on iPad, Mac, and Apple TV if you prefer to slump on your couch while you play. This is the first mobile Madden NFL game to offer full mobile controller support as well, giving you a truly console-quality experience if you have the compatible hardware.

The title joins a number of other sports games that are already available on the service, including NBA 2K26 Arcade Edition and Football Manager 26 Touch — a selection that senior director of Apple Arcade Alex Rofman said means "Apple Arcade delivers an unmatched lineup of sports games for every kind of fan".

The service is available for $6.99 / £6.99 / AU$9.99 or $49.99 / £49.99 / AU$9.99 a year or as part of all tiers of the pricier Apple One bundle.

Denshattack! is undoubtedly one of 2026's best indie games, providing endless amounts of fun. It takes clear inspiration from several fast-paced platformer classics, from its splashy and colorful art style, bombastic and intense OST, to its high-speed and intense levels.

Instead of the conventional control of a character, developer Undercoders has you taking control of a train. You focus on style mixing skills and speed across multiple theme park-like levels, and aim for the highest scores possible throughout to beat rival gangs, and fight to wreck a 'shady megacorp', known as Miraidō, in a 'Japanese dystopia'.

Frankly, the story wasn't my focus going in, but rather how the developers could keep the experience feeling exciting as you progress — and fortunately, it managed to do just that with each stage feeling like it was ripped straight out of an action-packed comic book.

This is a game that I can certainly see others coming back to over and over again for challenges to obtain higher scores, and most importantly, enjoy the intense atmosphere each level provides.

Denshattack! borrows from three huge platformer classics

From the off, the inspiration behind Denshattack! was clear as day. The incredibly fast-paced and intense train adventure sequences reminded me very much of my experiences with Sonic games, notably Sonic Unleashed and its first Windmill Isle level.

In Denshattack!, you'll be overwhelmed with how many combinations you may have to remember at such high speeds, and you'll need fast hand-eye coordination to pull off tricks and dodge obstacles. You'll have several objectives to hit in each level, some being main objectives, but others standing as optional, with the latter contributing to the final score.

One example is what I call the brake-to-boost mechanic; Denshattack! allows players to break at any given moment during a level, but will give you a heads-up when turning a corner on a track for a drift. If you hold down the left trigger and let go at the right time (when the meter is centered in the middle and fully green), you'll get a big boost to speed, which is often one of the optional objectives in levels.

The intensity of Denshattack!'s gameplay is incredibly high; avoiding crashes into walls, jumping to change railway tracks, and even timing perfect landings to increase your score add to the game's difficulty. It even encourages you to avoid obstacles at the very last second, with one aspect of each level's final score labelled 'dares', effectively testing your daredevil skills.

Many of these mechanics play a significant role in boss battles, which require faster reaction speeds. That might sound straightforward, as most boss battles in games are more difficult and require better timing, but with how rapid Denshattack!'s gameplay flow is, leaving you very little time to settle, it's absolutely worth noting.

Sometimes, it can even feel like the game is moving just a tad bit too fast when you're attempting to keep track of objectives — arguably an issue with modern-day Sonic games too — but getting the hang of controls and timing doesn't take very long, and once you do, there's plenty of fun to be had.

Jet Set Radio is another Sega classic, and a simialrly big inspiration. The art style in Denshattack! is very similar, with its cartoonish and colorful nature, even down to the very font across the game's UI in-game and within menus.

The soundtrack is phenomenal, and also much like Jet Set Radio's, which shouldn't come as a huge surprise, since some of Jet Set Radio's composers, like Richard Jacques, have collaborated on Denshattack!'s funky, disco-like, bass-centric, and synthwave-infused OST.

Those inspirations are combined to make an intense adventure come to life, but what gives Denshattack! its own identity is the vast amount of unique maneuvers, tricks, and even attacks (during boss battles), giving players a push for higher scores.

Many of the tricks reminded me of the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series, like grinding across rails at high speeds and air spins, but not on a skateboard. Instead, you're quite literally using a train to provide a great spectacle, in what I originally thought was an odd move, but perfectly highlights the chaotic nature of riding in Denshattack!.

There's also a fair amount of customization available for the train car itself, and plenty of levels and collectable items to look out for throughout the game's runtime — and seeing a significant portion of what you can do in Denshattack!, I have no doubts this will be a 2026 sleeper hit.

Xbox recently revealed a pretty impressive lineup of games coming to Xbox Game Pass, with Palworld 1.0 and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 among the biggest announcements. However, while Palworld 1.0 is still on the way, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 has since been removed, with Xbox updating its original announcement to include the following note:

"We've removed Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 from the list of titles coming soon to Game Pass."

As for why it was removed, your guess is as good as mine, but Tony Hawks is actually an IP Xbox owns, making its removal even more head-scratching, though some have speculated it could be due to music licensing. Rumors surrounding the long-term viability of Xbox Game Pass have been circulating online for a while now, with some reports claiming Xbox leadership views the service as unsustainable. Xbox is also in the middle of a major restructuring, with studios becoming independent and around 1,600 layoffs taking place so far.

It's impossible to say whether pulling a single game from the lineup means anything on its own, but it doesn't exactly inspire confidence either. At the very least, it leaves me feeling a little more cautious about what the future of Game Pass might look like.

I'm actually a big fan of Game Pass. It's given me the opportunity to play games I probably never would've tried otherwise, and I'm much more willing to take a chance on something new if it launches on the service.

That said, I feel like I'm in the minority. I think the average gamer is more likely to stick with the games they already know, whether that's Fortnite, Call of Duty, Roblox, Minecraft, or the latest sports title, and that’s all without mentioning the attention war with the likes of short-form content. Now, there’s nothing wrong with sticking to the games you know, but with Game Pass growth slowing, it doesn't exactly paint the most encouraging picture for the service's future. For context, reports suggest the subscriber count has fallen from around 34 million to 30 million active users.

Let me know how you feel about Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 being removed from the upcoming Game Pass lineup. Do you care, are you worried, or do you think it was simply a mistake?

As always, let me know your thoughts in the comments, and be sure to take part in our poll!

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Dozens of games were just made available to stream through Xbox Cloud Gaming. Those titles are now supported by the "Stream Your Own Games" part of Xbox Game Pass that lets you stream supported titles through the cloud.

As popular as playing titles that come with Xbox Game Pass is, many of the best Xbox games do not come with the subscription. Stream Your Own Games allows you to play many of your favorite titles to your phone, tablet, PC, or other supported devices.

This month's collection of newly supported games includes several popular titles such as Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced.

The folks over at True Achievements gathered together the complete list:

To use the Stream Your Own Games feature, you need to purchase a copy of the game and be subscribed to Xbox Game Pass. You can be subscribed to Game Pass Essential, Premium, or Ultimate to stream your games.

Originally, the Stream Your Own Games library only had 50 games. It's steadily grown since then and supported games now number in the hundreds. Over 70 new titles were added this May.

You can check out the complete gallery of supported games on Xbox's website.

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

Over the past year, a new upcoming indie horror game has been making waves on the internet by the name of Shift At Midnight. It's an asymmetric co-op horror game that was originally planned to release only on PC via Steam.

However, on July 10, 2026, the game's developer, Bun Muen, announced on Steam that it will also be making its way to Xbox consoles, Xbox Game Pass, and Xbox Play Anywhere alongside the PC version on July 22, 2026.

But what exactly is Shift at Midnight, you may ask? It's a detective horror game where you take up the job of managing a gas station at midnight in the middle of nowhere. You can do this job alone or bring your friends along in three-player online co-op with crossplay support between Xbox and PC platforms.

Your task will involve checking the store's inventory, cleaning it of messes, serving customers, etc. However, as the shift progresses, things take a dark turn as you quickly discover that some of the customers are actually demonic monsters in disguise, planning to murder you and consume your stock of food.

To combat this, you will need to check a customer's credentials and behavior to see if they're genuinely human or a demon that's snatched someone's ID. If they're legit, they can walk free, but if they're not, you must exterminate them with your store's stockpile of explosive firearms.

However, this tactic won't carry you forever, as the monsters will gradually forgo subterfuge and just invade the gas station directly. When these raids happen, you and your friends must prepare by barricading the station, laying down traps, and equipping yourself with firearms that hopefully will put them down for good.

Though sometimes hiding in closets or vents is a valid option if you encounter monsters that conventional weapons and traps won't put down or if you run out of resources to defend yourself with.

To top it off, each night shift is randomly generated so you can't rely on the same tactics twice to win, and your team will need to adapt to the chaos to survive.

Windows Central's take

The game will launch with a Story Mode with thirteen nights, multiple endings, and an Endless Mode that will be unlocked after completing Story Mode for those looking to see how long they can last the night shift.

The game has become a viral hit amongst the gaming community during its development, with famous YouTubers like Markiplier and MoistCr1TiKaL of Dispatch fame playing early versions of the game and drawing in millions of people to play it themselves.

My friends and I even played the multiplayer demo on Steam for a bit and found it to be a hilarious and refreshing take on the co-op horror genre. It's like a mixture of Papers, Please and Five Nights at Freddy's, except you are free to defend yourself by running, hiding, or shooting instead of being forced to sit at your desk, waiting for the monster to show up and eat you.

While it's a few months early for Halloween, that won't stop my friends and me from playing this fun horror game when Shift At Midnight launches on July 22, 2026, for Xbox and PC.

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These past couple of weeks have been beyond depressing for gamers.

From Sony killing off physical game discs and delisting 500 movies from people with no refunds, to Microsoft culling 3,200 Xbox game devs and repeatedly suspending gamers' accounts for no fault of their own, it's hard to feel optimistic when it feels like the biggest game companies are constantly stabbing their fans in the back while seemingly not giving a single care about preserving digital media.

However, not all hope is lost for legal digital preservation, thanks to GOG.com.

GOG is an unsung hero among digital storefronts, as it sells digital games without Digital Rights Management (DRM). By buying games from GOG.com, you will be able to download a standalone, offline installer for each title, granting you permanent ownership of them.

With this, you can play games offline, back up files, and install them on your hard drive without needing to log in to a store's launcher. Not to mention, you won't have to worry about a game becoming unplayable due to its publisher's dedicated launcher not working (e.g., Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced) or being permanently blocked if it's tied to a compromised Microsoft account.

Not to mention that, in some cases, having DRM restrictions lifted from a game will actually increase its performance so it can achieve higher frame rates for smoother gameplay.

On top of that, GOG states that you can even save the games you buy on their storefront to discs and trade them with your friends, should you wish.

You can download a game's offline installer from a GOG account, create a disc image, and then burn it onto a blank CD-R, DVD-R, or BD-R disc.

Windows Central's take

I was already a fan of GOG as it helped preserve some of my favorite childhood games on PC like Breath of Fire 4 and Dino Crisis 2, but it's now becoming my main go-to storefront for digital PC games in light of recent events.

I'm concerned that the thousands of pounds' worth of games could be taken by corporations who don't care for preserving games or respecting people's digital property. So being able to buy and back them up permanently on my computer or discs via GOG is beyond reassuring and gives me hope that we can still own the games we worked so hard to earn.

So, GOG, you've got yourself a new superfan in me, and I will happily support your "Preservation Program" so we can keep more classic and modern games free of DRM forever because I, for one, do NOT want a gaming future where we own nothing.

What do you think of GOG.com as a digital storefront? Do you think you will be using it more often from now on to permanently preserve your digital game collection, or do you still use other digital storefronts like the Xbox Store?

If you have any thoughts, 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.

A PC gamer has created and demonstrated a handy Steam Game Cartridge system. Over on PCMR, Jibril-sama introduced the system, which blends the old-school console convenience of cartridges with Steam’s awesome and agreeably flexible games library. Ingeniously, it upcycles a bundle of old SATA SSDs into Steam-ready game cartridges using a disk mount detect and execute script on the software side and a SATA dock on the hardware side. Icing on this already tasty cake is provided by Jibril-sama’s colorfully encased and custom-labeled Steam Game Cartridges. Nice.

Steam Game Cartridges from r/pcmasterrace

“Got a couple of used 2.5" SSDs for cheap so I decided to make a Game Cartridge system,” the Redditor casually informs the PCMR masses in the post embedded above. “Games are actually on those SSDs with a script to auto-navigate Steam to the game's page. Auto-starting the game right away is also possible.”

Further comments by the OP explain that all the drives bought for this project were 128GB in capacity, and €7 a piece ($8). That’s not bad in the current RAM and NAND crunch, and keeps these files off your built-in primary storage. As many readers will know, PC game libraries can easily grow to hog a lot of storage.

We reached out to Jibril-sama for some more background info about how the Steam Game Cartridge system is designed to work with as little user friction as possible. They informed us that the system in the video runs Linux and Valve’s Steam URL Protocol is leveraged to navigate to the game's page or launch the game.

“All it needs is a systemd template to check for a script on the SSD and launch it. And a udev rule to trigger the system,” Jibril-sama told Tom’s Hardware. “So basically: Plug in SSD -> udev rule sees the event -> triggers the systemd daemon -> systemd daemon looks into the SSD and finds the script -> execute the script.”

Commenters on PCMR have overwhelmingly welcomed the Steam Game Cartridge future teased by this system. Some want to see the system extended to include GOG game libraries. Others query how the system handles the inevitable hefty multi-gigabyte updates that are pushed (even to older games) from time to time. Jibril-sama told Tom’s Hardware that they didn’t plan to deal with updates often, as they didn’t use cartridges for ‘live service’ titles, and they are mostly used for the “games that I want to replay once in a while.” If and when updates have been flagged, “I just let Steam handle the updates and wait a bit before I can play,” they added.

I’ve had repeated firsthand experience with Steam Games libraries being fussy when moving across different PCs, so stretching the library system this way could reveal cracks and wrinkles as more games are tested. We shall see.

Hopefully, fuller implementation guides, scripts, and resources to help others purchase or 3D print their own Steam Game Cartridge shells will be shared in due course.

Nvidia's RTX Spark platform arrives later this year, and the company is hard at work building the partner ecosystem around the GB10 Superchip to ensure that Windows and applications are ready for its agentic AI PC vision. As part of that groundwork, the two companies announced today that Sega will support the RTX Spark platform with its upcoming Virtua Fighter Crossroads, coming in 2027.

The two companies also committed to RTX Spark support for "future Sega titles,” meaning that we might see official support for other evergreen franchises like the Yakuza series, the Persona games, and the upcoming Alien: Isolation 2 and Total War: Warhammer.

Although the companies didn’t go into detail about exactly what full support for the RTX Spark means for Sega games, one would expect that the developer’s titles will be natively compiled for Windows on Arm instead of relying on the Prism x86 emulator for compatibility.

It also seems safe to expect that future Sega titles will incorporate DLSS technologies like upscaling and Multi Frame Generation in order to deliver the best possible experience on RTX Spark systems. Despite having GPU compute capabilities similar to those of a desktop RTX 5070 on paper, the unified memory architecture and relatively limited memory bandwidth of the GB10 Superchip behind the RTX Spark platform present challenges for gaming performance that are likely to make the incorporation of DLSS tech important for the best experience.

The relationship between Nvidia and Sega spans over 30 years, tracing its roots to the ultimately abandoned development of the GPU for the Dreamcast console. Despite its eventual decision to use an NEC-produced PowerVR GPU for that system, Sega offered Nvidia a $5 million lifeline that gave the company the runway that it needed to develop and deliver the Riva 128, its first DirectX-compatible GPU.

That investment proved to be historic, as Nvidia now has a market cap of over $5 trillion and is in the process of shifting the very foundations of computing through its Grace Blackwell and upcoming Vera Rubin AI platforms for the data center.

Whether the RTX Spark platform reshapes the PC when it arrives in the fall of this year remains to be seen. But if you’re a fan of Sega’s IP, this partnership means that you can at least look forward to a first-class experience with its games on RTX Spark systems.

Reflecting on my time with Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis at Summer Game Fest 2026, I really can’t wait to fight more dinosaurs and solve more puzzles as Lara Croft once more — but I’m yearning to see more to get a better idea of the reimagining at work.

Playing one area complete with lush rainforest setting, puzzles, waterfalls, and dinosaurs, I, first and foremost, was instantly having a great time, and the experience scratched both my Tomb Raider and my Uncharted itch.

However, it was quite a self-contained preview, and my overwhelming emotion after finishing it — after basking in its beauty, at least — is that I really need to see more to get a better handle on the reimagining and the specifics of how that differs from a remake. I got a glimpse into Lara’s Peruvian adventure, but not much more.

Welcome to the jungle

What I can categorically say, however, is that this is a reimagination for the modern day, well and truly. The visuals are stunningly beautiful, and the rendition of the jungle that this iteration of Lara Croft finds herself in is exquisite.

The lush and verdant vegetation, beautifully detailed ruins, and fabulous water effects all combine to make for a really beautiful setting, and this may be the best-looking Lara Croft game ever once it comes out — which is saying something after the Survivor trilogy. Full of secret tunnels and routes, as well as overgrown passages to cut down and spectacular jumps to make across ruins and walkways, the game’s environments are set to be spectacular playgrounds.

The core of the segment I previewed involved Lara solving an ancient water and gear puzzle to progress past a giant gate, and presumably open a route to find treasure. The challenge itself was well done and featured a good mix of what I would call the b*****d-hard puzzles of older games, with some parts that were more intuitive. It felt well-balanced between giving you hints and giving you nothing.

Such was the attraction of the area and to explore all it had to offer, the inner looter in me took great glee in searching every nook and cranny for shiny ornaments, trinkets, and secrets, but I was left wondering whether these are just things to be found and stuffed away in a menu, or whether these, hopefully, are secrets that lead to something greater or play into side quests, or similar. One can only hope.

It’s got the moves

Lara herself is a joy to play again, and this version did not disappoint. Wonderfully voiced and acted by Alix Wilton Regan, I really felt like this version of the icon felt more ‘human’ than ever before.

Away from some gravity-defying jumps, this mainly came from a weightier, more realistic move set that felt more grounded. Even the flair moves and acrobatics felt believably human through my controller. She also feels more vulnerable, less of a video game behemoth with overpowered guns, and much more breakable, which adds a bit of peril too.

The modernization of Lara’s tools feels well done; gadgets are intuitive to use and helpful without spoon-feeding you too much, while they are also well implemented in terms of how they look on screen, with a scan’s net wrapping around ruins, for example.

Lara also has a new focus ability to add to her modern skillset that works a lot like bullet time from Max Payne and is satisfying to use — and to build up, by deploying well-timed dodges and acrobatic moves.

This all came to the fore toward the end of my preview when I encountered some iconic enemies: dinosaurs! Taking on three velociraptors with only Lara’s trusty handguns shone a light on how much skill you need to dodge and acrobatically move out of the way of attacks, but also how valuable it is to use the focus ability to gain an edge.

Finishing the preview with the famous Tyrannosaurus Rex chase scene was a thrill too, and in this new beautiful guise, the game managed to brilliantly capture the adrenaline-fueled, panic-ridden affair spectacularly. If this is a microcosm of the spectacle and adventure that’ll fill the entire game, then it’ll be a special ride; and as a result, it really does feel like the time is right to jump back into Lara's boots.

Having said all that, I really would like to see more to get a proper, meatier look at what this reimagining is going to look like on a grander scale. The mix of modern takes on gameplay, action, and combat mixed with some old-school approaches that hark back to the origins of one of gaming’s finest icons has got me incredibly keen and excited to see how more of it comes together.

Until we hear more, though, I’ll just have to wait until the game releases on February 12, 2026, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, and PC.

For years, the PS5 emulation scene has remained dormant, with updates few and far between as most projects become abandonware. However, Sony's recent decision to stop physical disc production and the impending release of GTA VI later this year have created an unprecedented demand in the market. All of a sudden, an influx of PS5 emulators has popped up online, and they're swiftly hitting development milestones, including actually being able to boot recent PS5 titles.

The most prominent name in the news cycle is SharpEmu, which serves as a PS5 emulator for Windows. It's written entirely in C# and works more like a translation layer since modern consoles and PC share the same x86 underlying architecture. SharpEmu allows the PC to execute CPU instructions natively while translating OS-specific API calls and graphics.

Since it's aiming for accuracy, only some 2D titles such as Dreaming Sarah are running on SharpEmu with solid performance and no hiccups. As far as 3D titles go, that's a different story since it's significantly harder to emulate those. At first, the PS5 remake of Demon's Souls successfully booted, but it didn't go past the startup screen. Then, in a major development, Discord user RShantila was able to boot Astro Bot, which is a PlayStation exclusive from 2024, on SharpEmu.

Getting such a recent game to run is extremely promising and shows that PS5 emulation is currently outpacing PS4 emulation at the same point in its life cycle. And SharpEmu is just one project among what's starting to seem like a sea of hopes and dreams.

The other emulator gaining traction is KytyPS5, which started as a cross-platform PS4 and PS5 emulator in 2021 but was abandoned in 2022. Fast forward four years and developer Nmzik has revived the project, creating their own fork that focuses only on PlayStation 5. According to reports online, within just a few weeks, KytyPS5 can boot commercial PS5 games running in Unreal Engine 4/5, Unity, and other custom engines.

KytyPS5 was able to boot and run Silent Hill: The Short Message till the menu screen. Remember, 3D games were previously limited to just their boot screens, so this is yet another major accomplishment. However, earlier today, the project's GitHub page was updated to show two new 3D games actually running with their graphics being properly rendered, shattering all expectations set thus far.

These two games are PowerWash Simulator and Pac-Man World, both of which are playable with functional gameplay, though we don't have any idea about performance or stability. Even more impressively, and perhaps more on-topic, the KytyPS5 version 0.0.3 successfully booted the commercial PS5 version of Grand Theft Auto V far enough to display the loading screens, main splash art, and actually navigate the in-game display settings.

KytyPS5 has also recently received updates to its shader compiler for better graphics, better memory management that leads to faster load times, and better audio support as well. The emulator works on Windows for now, but a Linux version is also planned for the future.

Finally, we need to mention RPCSX, which isn't exactly an emulator but rather just a research project dedicated to better understanding both PS4 and PS5 software. The devs are still working on being able to boot games from the user interface, but in a race like this, you need every hand on deck, and the team behind RPCS3 is one of the most experienced in the field.

The PS5 emulation scene has suddenly exploded, and the pace of these developments is astonishing. At this trajectory, it won't be unreasonable to expect GTA V to actually run on SharpEmu or KytyPS5 by next month. That being said, emulation is a marathon that takes a long time to perfect, so it's almost guaranteed that the official PC version of GTA VI will be out long before the emulated version becomes playable.

• PS5 user reports being locked out of Ghost of Yotei digital copy for 'half an hour' due to license verification
• License verification isn't new, but this case is important amid Sony's plans to axe physical game copies
• Once physical game copies are gone, access to games on PlayStation will be at Sony's disposal

Sony's plans to push for an all-digital future for games on PlayStation have come under major scrutiny since the announcement, and one case highlights just how dangerous those plans are to game access and ownership.

A Reddit user (in a now-removed post) reported being locked out of the digital copy of Ghost of Yotei on PS5 for half an hour, even after refreshing licenses. When attempting to open the game, the message reads: "Can't use this content. Your licenses are being verified. Try again later."

It's important to note that this type of scenario isn't exactly new; license refresh prompts can occur after a long period, especially when sharing a game with another user. However, this Ghost of Yotei license check example comes amid Sony's ongoing, controversial decision to end the production of physical game discs from January 2028.

Once the supposed digital-only PS6 arrives, this very example of a consumer being locked out of a game can happen at any time. Unlike physical game discs, access to digital PlayStation game copies is at Sony's discretion, and the same will soon apply to all game copies, which essentially means game ownership will be non-existent.

Comment from r/gaming

Comment from r/gaming

Since there has been no follow-up statement since the disc axe announcement, it seems Sony is waiting for the storm to subside so it can ultimately commit to its digital-only plans, despite pressure from consumers online.

Unlike Microsoft's decision to walk back on its 'always-online' Xbox One plans after backlash in 2013, it may take a tumultuous effort from consumers, game studios, and video game retail stores to make an impact.

It's also quite ironic that Sony, which previously mocked Microsoft for the ability to share physical game copies, is now responsible for eliminating physical game copies. In the same vein as the subscription-based PlayStation Plus, which is a requirement to play games online, if consumers don't continue to push back against digital-only plans, there will be no going back once the PS6 arrives.

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #1130) - today's words

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• RACKET
• FOOTBALL
• WIGGLE
• BAR
• HEAD
• BENCH
• ELBOW
• SHOE
• EXTREME
• BREATHING
• MOTOR
• COURT
• CORSET
• WATER
• TRIBUNAL
• BASEBALL
• GLOVE

NYT Connections today (game #1130) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: Tell it to the judge
• GREEN: All need to be tied
• BLUE: Types of competitive activity
• PURPLE: Add a word that rhymes with “boom”

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #1130) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: TERMS FOR THE LEGAL SYSTEM
• GREEN: THINGS WITH LACES
• BLUE: KINDS OF SPORTS
• PURPLE: WORDS BEFORE "ROOM" TO INDICATE EXTRA SPACE

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #1130) - the answers

The answers to today's Connections, game #1130, are…

• YELLOW: TERMS FOR THE LEGAL SYSTEM: BAR, BENCH, COURT, TRIBUNAL
• GREEN: THINGS WITH LACES: BASEBALL GLOVE, CORSET, FOOTBALL, SHOE
• BLUE: KINDS OF SPORTS: EXTREME, MOTOR, RACKET, WATER
• PURPLE: WORDS BEFORE "ROOM" TO INDICATE EXTRA SPACE: BREATHING, ELBOW, HEAD, WIGGLE

• My rating: Hard
• My score: Perfect

Despite not making any mistakes I am classifying this game as tricky, because I came close to an error in collecting four unrelated sporting things.

THINGS WITH LACES also favors anyone familiar with FOOTBALL, as my mind went to soccer balls — which haven’t had laces since the 1960s.

I also got lucky in spotting the purple group after thinking all of the things that WIGGLE could be connected to and saying “wiggle room” to myself. I hate the idea of being in tight, crowded spots, so wiggle room is always on my mind.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Tuesday, July 14, 2026, game #1129)

• YELLOW: CONTRACT: AGREEMENT, BARGAIN, DEAL, UNDERSTANDING
• GREEN: EDIT MENU OPTIONS: COPY, CUT, DELETE, PASTE
• BLUE: KINDS OF BASKETS: EASTER, GROCERY, LAUNDRY, PICNIC
• PURPLE: SYMBOLIZED WITH ARROWS: RECYCLING, SHUFFLE, THIS SIDE UP, U-TURN

It's been a long while since we last heard of Beast of Reincarnation, the upcoming action RPG by Game Freak of Pokémon-fame, but it's back in the media spotlight with a brand-new trailer.

Unlike the January Xbox Games Showcase trailer, which was a general overview of the game's systems, setting, and characters, this trailer is all about the Beast of Reincarnation's combat system, which combines real-time swordplay with command menu-based tactics.

In this game, you play as the cursed warrior Emma and her lighted dog Koo as they strive to save the world while fighting ravenous beasts and berserk machines.

For the most part, combat is a hack-and-slash where you slice, dodge, and parry your way through hordes of enemies and giant bosses. As you deal damage to enemies, you can build their stun gauge to leave them open for devastating finishers and generate a resource for yourself called FP.

Once you've gathered enough FP, you can slow down time and command Koo to unleash special Bloom Art attacks that will leave enemies debilitated with status effects that will leave them wide open for killing blows.

This mixture of real-time combat and command menuing with Koo will be essential in taking down the game's bosses, which are gigantic monstrosities that will no doubt kill you in no time if you don't time your sword parry deflections or Koo's FP skills correctly.

If you manage to master the combat system, though, the bosses will fall quickly before you and bestow upon you new Bloom Arts for Koo and skill points for you to spend on a skill tree that will let you unlock new skills for Emma in battle.

Windows Central's take

When I first saw this game, I was shocked and pleasantly surprised that Game Freak was capable of making a game that was such a radical departure from their usual Pokémon titles.

With every new trailer that comes out, my interest in Beast of Reincarnation is increasing more and more, to the point where I just want to get my hands on it to see how it feels in hand because the combat looks really fun, especially the parts where we turn into a half-plant, half-human samurai during some attacks.

Hopefully, this game will encourage Game Freak to branch into more unique IP if it's successful because, when it's off Nintendo's leash, this studio's creativity can truly live up to its name of making 'freaky' games, and I'm all for it.

Beast of Reincarnation is set to launch on August 4, 2026, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Windows and Steam. It will also be available on Xbox Game Pass (Day One), PC Game Pass, and Xbox Cloud Gaming, with Xbox Play Anywhere support.

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

Original Article (07/14/2026):

Recently, we've reported that Microsoft got sued by Xbox gamer Ordo_Liberal for blocking their entire digital Xbox games library after a 3-month court case.

You'd think Xbox would've learned its lesson after such a blunder and paying Ordo_Liberal $400 in damages in court, but sadly, it has not, because today, a gamer by the name of Joshua Khane has announced on social media that Microsoft has done the exact thing to him. Sadly, this kind of thing keeps happening, and it's nothing new.

According to Joshua, his Microsoft account had recently been hacked, and Microsoft's IT team responded by concluding that the account was unrecoverable, so they promptly suspended it permanently along with his entire Xbox games library and OneDrive account.

As a result, Joshua Khane lost over 25 years and thousands of dollars worth of data, Xbox games, and even his son's baby photos. As you can imagine, Joshua was furious, cursing Microsoft for such callous disregard for a person's property without finding a proper solution to the problem.

Microsoft: This is UNACCEPTABLE

Now, my faith in digital media has already taken a huge nose-dive recently after Sony delisted over 500 movies from people's accounts without recompense, killed off physical PlayStation discs, and announced the closure of the PlayStation 3 and PSVita's digital stores.

But after Microsoft's recent mistreatment of not only its employees and customers, it's hit rock bottom. What happened to Joshua was completely unjust and I hope stories like this eventually catch the eye of regulators, because it's utterly unacceptable. Microsoft should be paying out big fines for what they've done not only to Joshua, but likely hundreds, maybe thousands of others who weren't lucky enough to have their posts go viral.

As for me, I'm increasingly going DRM-free or full physical media from now on, while backing my work and personal files on external SSDs because I'm not letting Microsoft pull the same stunt on me if my account gets hacked.

These companies really need to start getting their act together to find legal and consumer-friendly means to preserve media; otherwise, it simply encourages users to resort to piracy, as it's looking more and more likely that it's "the only extant form of media preservation".

I can only hope that if Sony and Microsoft's blatant disregard for digital property and media continues, it may cause the European Union and other regulatory bodies of the world to get personally involved and force them to start taking digital preservation seriously.

But I guess only time will tell; right now, the future of gaming and digital cloud storage in general is looking like a dystopian nightmare none of us want to be a part of.

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

• Sony Santa Monica has confirmed God of War Laufey will be available on a physical disc
• The studio's comment come after PlayStation's announcement to retire physical game discs from January 2028
• This means God of War Laufey could release before the end of 2027

Following PlayStation's announcement to retire game discs, Sony Santa Monica has confirmed that God of War Laufey will be available on disc, suggesting the game could launch within the next year.

The studio's comment comes from X, where it shared its schedule for the God of War Laufey panel at San Diego Comic-Con.

In the thread, Sony Santa Monica added, seemingly in response to fans who have been asking for the past few weeks following PlayStation's announcement, that "We can confirm God of War Laufey will be available on disc."

Sony confirmed earlier this month that it would end the production of game discs starting from January 2028. Now that we know Laufey will get a physical disc, it suggests that the game will launch before 2028.

The new God of War entry was announced last month at Summer Game Fest 2026 and is set to star Kratos' wife, Faye. It would be great if the game launched in 2026; however, there are five months left in the year.

The latter half of the year is stacked with upcoming game releases, including GTA 6 in November and Marvel's Wolverine in September, so I find it unlikely that the new Laufey will release any time soon.

Given the studio's comment, it's more likely it will launch before the end of 2027, or, if we stretch it to the last possible moment, January 2028, before physical discs are retired.

Sony has faced overwhelming backlash since sharing its plan, with many fans hoping it will reverse its decision if there's enough support.

A petition has also been created, which now has over 310,000 signatures, urging Sony to back down, but for now, the PlayStation company has remained silent.

The Nintendo Switch 2 has been out for just over a year now, and it’s had a fascinating start to life.

It’s undoubtedly been a commercial success, becoming the second-fastest selling console in recorded US history, and it’s already seen its fair share of hits, whether that be the phenomenon that is Pokémon Pokopia or the 2025 Game of the Year nominee, Donkey Kong Bananza. But some are still unconvinced.

It’s not a stretch to say that, in spite of its high sales, the console has been highly contentious among gamers. While many speak with positivity about the Switch 2, there have been criticisms around the consoles battery life and performance, for instance.

Some gamers have also noted concerns around the lack of big first party hitters, such as a brand new 3D Mario, a new entry in the Legend of Zelda series (rather than a remake), and the system’s slightly patchy release schedule for 2026. Bundle that with some high-priced software and incoming console price rises, and I can see why some fans are yet to be won over.

My thoughts: a brief summary

In my personal opinion, though, the Switch 2 has had a pretty strong start. Growing up, I saw the messy launch of consoles such as the PlayStation 3, and the simply woeful launch titles for its successor, the PlayStation 4 and its counterpart, the Xbox One. Meanwhile, the Switch 2 has some great multiplayer fun in titles like Mario Kart World and Kirby Air Riders, some exceptional single player experiences like the aforementioned Donkey Kong and Pokémon games, and a healthy dosage of third-party support to boot.

What’s more, I’d argue that performance is pretty strong, and with a 1080p 120fps display for handheld mode, it no longer feels like I’m sacrificing too much quality just to play without my TV. Throw in 4K visuals in docked mode, far comfier Joy Con 2 controllers, and surprisingly good virtual surround sound, and I for one am happy with the hardware upgrade brought to the table by Nintendo’s new hybrid console.

I do wish that some games were a little more affordable — $79.99 / £74.99 / AU$119.95 for a physical copy of Mario Kart World definitely feels excessive, even with modern pricing standards. And I really wish the console’s battery life was a bit better too, even if I have found a workaround of sorts.

All in all, though, I’ve had a great first year with the Switch 2, and its prolific sales are there for all to see. But I’m not just here to share my view — there’s something else I’m far more interested in.

Tell us what you think about the Switch 2

That’s right: TechRadar Gaming wants to hear from you.

I’ve briefly spoken about some contentious points, but I want to gauge the thoughts and feelings of all of you out there. Do you think the Nintendo Switch 2 has been a hit or a flop?

Below, you’ll find a poll, where you can tell us what you think.

However, I’m also really keen to draw some specifics from our readers. If you’d like, you can comment below and make your voice heard — has the Switch 2 been a disappointment for you? Is it already among the console elite? We want to hear it all — and your comments may even feature in an upcoming article!

• The PlayStation and Xbox One versions of Dying Light: The Beast have been cancelled
• Techland says the game "was built from the ground up to take full advantage of current-generation hardware"
• The decision "reflected the technical realities of development and our commitment to delivering the best possible experience"

Techland has announced that Dying Light: The Beast will no longer be released for last-generation consoles.

The latest entry in the survival horror series launched in September last year for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, and PC, and it was Techland's plan to eventually bring the game to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One at a later date.

Now, in a statement shared on X today, the studio confirmed that it has "made the difficult decision" to cancel the ports "after careful consideration."

"Dying Light: The Beast was built from the ground up to take full advantage of current-generation hardware. Its open world, advanced visuals, and fluid combat and traversal all depend on processing power and memory that previous-generation consoles simply cannot provide," Techland said.

"As development progressed, it became clear that bringing the game to those platforms would require compromises that would prevent us from delivering the experience we set out to create."

It continued, saying the decision wasn't a "matter of choosing to leave those platforms behind" but rather one that "reflected the technical realities of development and our commitment to delivering the best possible experience."

"We know many of you were looking forward to playing on PS4 or Xbox One, and we are truly sorry for the disappointment this causes. Anyone who was expecting to play on either platform will be eligible for a refund. Thank you for your understanding and continued support."

In TechRadar Gaming's Dying Light: The Beast review, reviewer Christian Guyton said the game "went from potential expansion to a fully-fledged sequel, and although its origins are on full display in its narrative and protagonist, it never feels constrained by them."

"It’s not reinventing the wheel," Guyton wrote. "Techland has a solid formula that mixes traditional open-world action sandbox elements with a solid parkour-based movement system and high enemy density, so it’s understandable that The Beast wouldn’t be too much of a deviation from the norm. Still, the new setting is a breath of fresh air, and it still feels fantastic to dropkick a zombie off a roof."

A new edition of the game, Dying Light: The Beast Restored Land, was released earlier this year and included the base game, all post-launch content, and the 'Restored Land' survival mode.

• We can exclusively reveal The Fight of the Braves from the Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy soundtrack
• Composer Olivier Derivière describes it as 'one of the most epic tracks' on the whole soundtrack
• Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy releases on August 27, 2026

Action-adventure game Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy is the next game in the brilliant Plague Tale series, and we've got one of the tracks from its soundtrack to reveal exclusively right here.

It's the one track that composer Olivier Derivière describes as "the most contrasted score from [the] A Plague Tale series". The Fight for the Braves is an intense and pulsating song that goes big on percussion, crescendos, and haunting choral vocals. A cheery tune this is not.

Derivière says, "The Fight of the Braves is one of the most epic tracks on the OST. We needed something truly glorious to capture the spirit of the ancient Minoan warriors. Rather than relying on a full orchestra, the rousing energy of the magnificent Amalgamation Choir, combined with thunderous percussion, perfectly conveys the relentless challenge ahead."

Derivière goes on to say that, "The echoing musical phrases also beautifully depict the deep connection between Sophia and that distant era, a mystical resonance traveling across the ages."

The soundtracks to the first two Plague Tale games are some of my absolute favorites from recent years, and perfectly aligned with the games' bleak and dark stories. From what the composer says about the wider soundtrack, it sounds like we're in for something special.

“Resonance, although part of A Plague Tale universe, is a very different game and therefore needed a fresh musical approach without leaving the core emotions and musical traits of the franchise,” explains Derivière.

Using musicians and vocalists from Cyprus and Greece to get an authentic feel, the Amalgamation Choir were sought out to create a spell-binding score to accompany Sophia's adventure.

The Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy soundtrack will launch on music streaming services and be available for digital download alongside the game on August 27 this year.

• The Entertainment Retailers Association has slammed Sony's decision to kill physical discs
• The UK trade organization says digital games "should complement physical formats, not replace them"
• The ERA says, "Removing discs doesn’t represent progress – it simply removes choice"

UK trade organization, Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA), has criticized Sony's decision to end production of physical PlayStation discs.

The gaming company has received overwhelming backlash since announcing its plan to retire physical discs in 2028, and now, as reported by The Game Business, the ERA, which represents most major video game retailers in the UK, including Amazon, Game, Sainsbury’s and HMV, has condemned the plan, calling it "a triumph of corporate convenience over consumer choice."

"Every year, millions of gamers still choose to buy physical copies because they value true ownership," CEO Kim Bayley said in a statement. "A disc can be shared with family, traded in, collected, preserved and, crucially, still played years from now. A download licence often offers none of those freedoms."

Per NielsenIQ and market research firm GfK, The Game Business reports that 45 percent of all physical games sold in the UK in 2025 were for PS4 or PS5, which represents almost half of all physical game revenue during this period, and a majority of sales were made through the post as opposed to in-store pick-ups on release day.

The ERA also said that 25 percent of gamers under 25 use discs and the total UK disc-based games market was valued at over £300 million in 2025, "demonstrating that there remains a substantial and committed audience for boxed games."

"Retailers see this demand every day," Bayley said. "Physical games continue to bring people into shops and give consumers real value through gifting, collecting and resale. The industry should be embracing every legitimate way consumers want to buy games, not narrowing their choices."

The CEO continued: "Digital distribution has transformed gaming and is hugely popular, but it should complement physical formats, not replace them.

“Consumers deserve the freedom to choose how they buy their entertainment. Removing discs doesn’t represent progress – it simply removes choice. That’s bad for gamers, bad for retailers and ultimately bad for the long-term health and preservation of our games industry."

Since its announcement earlier this month, Sony has remained silent in the face of the backlash. Many fans have banded together to urge the company to reverse its decision, including signing a petition that now has over 310,000 signatures.

• Call of Duty: Black Ops Season 5 has been revealed
• The update drops on July 23, 2026
• Big additions include new weapons, maps, and modes

With Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 on the way, Activision has revealed the next batch of content coming to 2025's Black Ops 7 and the free-to-play Warzone battle royale.

As detailed on the Call of Duty blog, the major additions include five new multiplayer maps, three of which drop alongside the season's launch on July 23.

The one I'm most looking forward to is Jubilee, an all-new 6v6 environment set in a rural Japanese town. It's joined by Frequency, a remaster of a Black Ops 4 map, and a remake of Black Ops 2's iconic Dig (itself a version of World at War's Courtyard).

The two other maps, Tubro Tilt and Freerun: Descent, will be added in the subsequent Season 5 Reloaded update.

A wealth of new modes

Some new limited-time modes are dropping as part of the update as well: Overdrive Domination (a twist on the classic Domination mode that incorporates the power-up stars from Overdrive), Gauntlet Rush (which rotates between five distinct game modes), and, in the mid-season, the return of Cranked Moshpit.

It wouldn't be a new season without some fresh weapons and attachments, and the ones coming in Season 5 are some of the wildest yet.

At launch, you'll be able to unlock the FG42 assault rifle, a modernized version of the WW2 weapon with serious damage and almost no horizontal recoil, and the dual Gremlin SMGs, which trade the ability to aim down sights for extreme firepower and mobility.

Later in the season, the Mammoth LMG is being added and, true to its name, it's a massive gun with two high-power barrels that fire continuously in addition to a new mace melee weapon.

On the attachment side, completing weekly challenges will unlock the likes of the Jäger 45 Grid-Breaker Kit — a crazy pistol conversion that turns your side-arm into a portable EMP blaster — or the M34 Novaline Garand Conversion that transforms the futuristic burst-fire rifle into an old-fashioned top-loaded one.

If you're keen to dive in, Black Ops 7 is available now for PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X and Series S, and Xbox One.

Once Human first launched two years ago, initially just on PC, with a mobile version following in 2025. Now, finally, it's coming to console after a period of beta testing.

Once Human is officially set to launch on Xbox Series X|S and PS5 on August 25, 2026. Additionally, it will be coming to the Xbox app on PC on the same date.

It's not Xbox Play Anywhere, but it doesn't need to be, since it's a free-to-play game. It does have full cross-play and cross-progression, though, including account linking if you've previously played on PC or mobile.

Additional goodies include keyboard and mouse support on console, and while it is free to play, there will be a couple of paid packs you can buy if you so wish with some premium items in to help you on your way.

"Survive in a supernatural apocalypse where reality has fallen apart. As a Meta-Human, explore a vast, Stardust-infected open world where monsters are threat and key to your survival. Every expedition is risk and resource. Gather materials and build your ultimate territory, but be prepared to defend your home against relentless sieges."

Two years is a pretty long wait, and Once Human now is not Once Human as it was. But it's an interesting idea. There are aspects of looter games mixed with survival elements and both PvE and PvP gameplay, with the latter being an opt-in rather than forced upon players.

The console version doesn't appear to be up-to-date with the existing PC and mobile versions, at least at first. A Q&A on the Once Human website states that "in the future, the console version will catch up with the progress of other platform versions, and it is expected to remain consistent."

That all seems fair, at least for launch. For one, it's more important to get it out there and make sure it's actually all working as intended. Two years is a lot of content and updates, and I think it's a smart move. It should be less overwhelming, if nothing else.

The one thing that isn't listed in the Xbox version right now is any sign of achievements. For two years this has been a frustration of the Steam release, with multiple threads referencing the fact that the developers haven't added any.

Xbox console games should have achievement support, so maybe it's just an omission from the early listing. Conversely, maybe the launch on console may finally help bring achievements to Steam. In any case, we don't have long to wait and find out.

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

The Xbox camp's airwaves have been dominated by pessimism now for as long as I can remember.

For years and years, Xbox fans and employees alike have endured a rollercoaster of ups and downs for Microsoft's gaming brand. Whether it's layoffs, unpopular decisions, or external factors like the memory crisis — team Xbox can't catch a break. Things can't get any worse, right? Well ...

Much has been said about the callousness of this latest round of Microsoft layoffs, which hit the entire run of the company, as has become tradition almost every July now. It's painful knowing that these cuts and reductions won't solve the biggest problem facing Xbox, and traditional gaming platforms in general.

The eternal question: where will the next phase of real growth come from?

The attention economy is getting more saturated by the day

The uncomfortable truth for traditional video game platforms is that revenue is only growing by squeezing the existing user base. PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo, and even Steam are basically trading the same fixed amount of users back and forth. Some estimates predict a contraction in gaming this year, owing to the memory crisis pushing prices beyond people's means.

The memory crisis won't be forever, but even after that, therein lies an existential question: huge swathes of younger cohorts have side-stepped Xbox, PlayStation, and even Nintendo, in favor of Roblox.

The Robloxification of gaming demographics cannot be overstated. Roblox has more monthly active users than Steam and Xbox combined, and double that of Minecraft. It's only when you throw in casual games like Candy Crush Saga that Xbox really begins to approach similar figures, but it obviously becomes a faulty comparison at that point.

It's also true that Roblox hasn't made a penny (yet). They're in their growth phase, burning cash on changing user behavior before jacking up prices — effectively the Spotify and Netflix model. Eventually, creditors will want to see returns, by which point Roblox hopes to have become the default gaming development platform. For many, it already has.

Xbox and PlayStation have grossly under-invested in younger cohorts, and Nintendo's insistence on gatekeeping their franchises behind hardware has limited their ability to reach younger audiences. The fact that traditional core games also take exponentially longer periods of time to produce means that youngsters might completely age out of titles that target them before they even ship, by which point trends will have changed, and tastes will have evolved.

Indeed, in our attention-anemic, hyper-infotainment, insta-gratification society, Roblox's "quick and dirty" game delivery model is perfect for the era. Games come and go in a flash, devouring the latest memes and in-jokes that baffle older generations and celebrate youth culture in ways God of War or Halo simply cannot tap into now.

For sure, Roblox's rise to dominance is less about gameplay quality or visual fidelity, but more about the social value Roblox offers that has made it a juggernaut. The vibes.

The fact Microsoft looked to a former Meta executive to run Xbox is likely no coincidence.

Can Xbox become ... COOL?

One criticism I have of Phil Spencer and, honestly, Microsoft in general is their utilitarian approach to product design. Xbox and Windows both have become sterile in recent years, with fun and quirky features relegated to memes and memories. Indeed, trends are cycling more quickly than ever, turbo-charged by artificial intelligence and short-form social media. That's perhaps not ideal if you're a corporation that moves as slowly as Microsoft, which also has no culturally relevant social media layer.

Therein lies Xbox's core problem. Putting the legal troubles and safety concerns to a separate discussion for now, Roblox has amalgamated social media and gaming into this amorphous digital monster that seems inaccessible to Microsoft and Xbox in general.

How can Xbox hope to become culturally relevant in an era where culture is now a chaotic revolving door? It was barely relevant to begin with, but in ages past it had the advantage of an era where corporations had greater control over content and context. Modern internet culture spawns from a vast and increasingly artificial digital ooze which bubbles up an occasional banger only for it to almost instantaneously deteriorate when corporations get their tasteless claws in. The rise of independent creation has corporations like Microsoft and Xbox completely locked out.

But Xbox does have one cube-shaped trick up its sleeve here ...

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has stated that her short-term goal is to improve the situation for the core. Namely, older gen-z, millennials, and gen-x, who are pretty locked in their ways and want specific types of games and experiences. They aren't the future of the platform, though, nor are they the future of growth. We're aging out, getting old, having kids, and, ya know, dying to be blunt about it.

For Xbox to maintain competitive salaries against AI funny-money talent scouts and inflation, it needs to find new growth. This summer, that growth came from cuts and price increases. That's hardly sustainable, though. It's a short-term solution to hedge against a longer-term problem.

The big problem is Xbox's lack of new user acquisition. Xbox Game Pass, Xbox Cloud Gaming, and devices like the Xbox Ally haven't really helped. Most Xbox Cloud Gaming and Xbox handheld gamers are already Xbox Series X|S users. The trick is finding those elusive new users, which Microsoft describes as "NTX" internally (new to Xbox).

The crux of it will make for uncomfortable reading for Microsoft higher-ups: Xbox needs to become social media adjacent. It needs to be less sanitized. It needs to lean into that digital ooze I mentioned, and, perhaps even a little dangerous if it wants to succeed in an era where cultural capital is more important than pixel density.

I don't think Microsoft has the stomach for it ... but this is Asha Sharma's wheelhouse. It's probably no accident that she was specifically chosen for this job. It's probably no accident that she just bought Minecraft, Xbox's closest Roblox allegory, in-house. It's probably no accident that she hired Matthew Ball, who wrote the book on social media-adjacent games like Roblox as CSO.

It might take years to see the fruits of her ideas in this area ... and in the short term, she's going to focus on strengthening the core of what Xbox is today. But I believe she's also planting seeds for a social media revolution at Xbox — bringing Microsoft into an industry that it has long been too afraid to even touch.

What's your take? Let me hear it in the comments, down below.

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

• Former Rockstar Games producer John Ricchio thinks Grand Theft Auto 6 will be "monstrous" in scale
• He says the developer tends to make every game bigger than the last
• However, he wouldn't want to work on the game because of how ambitious it is

Former Rockstar Games producer John Ricchio believes Grand Theft Auto 6 will be a massive game and is glad he isn't working on such an ambitious project.

In a new podcast interview with Kiwi Talkz, where the developer discussed his time at Rockstar and the crunch culture that came with the role, Ricchio was asked whether there was any part of him that wanted to work on GTA 6, or if thinking about the project stressed him.

"I think the fact that every single time they do a GTA, it's like ludicrously bigger than before is like something that I think about," Ricchio said. "I can only imagine the size of GTA 6. It must be monstrous, or if not monstrous, it's probably way more detailed."

GTA 6 will have a much larger Vice City map, allowing players to explore several regions of Leonida. There will also be a ton of open-world activities and features to access, including car shops, clothing stores, hairdressers, safehouses, as well as boats that players can take on the water.

The developer suggested that if Rockstar "kept the same footprint as GTA 5, which was significantly bigger than GTA 4, significantly bigger than RDR [Red Dead Redemption] and continued to build upon that framework, GTA 6 will be a massive game.

"Between RDR and GTA, I think they were continually growing the size of the world, which is a big deal, right?" he said. "It's a lot more stuff to build. It's a lot more performance to deal with. There are a lot of considerations with going with a bigger world, but it really does make you feel like you're in a place, right? It makes you feel like you're in a huge place."

For this reason, Ricchio jokingly added, he's "pretty happy" he's not working on the game.

"Not that it wouldn't be cool to work with those people. I still think about my Rockstar teams all the time," he said.

"It is really difficult, and it's a hard period of your career when you're working that hard on something, and getting to the end and then getting to have people be really excited about what you've done is just magic, it is so rewarding.

"I'll never forget some of the play with the public events for Max Payne or for RDR, and even GTA, we were involved in very specific pieces, but just having people so excited about what you've made or being a part of something. It is so incredible. It is such a good feeling to make something, to spend a lot of time [on something] and have people appreciate it."

Ricchio continued, saying if he was still at the studio and working on GTA 6, he wouldn't be "amenable" to how things operate currently, which would "probably lead to an exit for me."

"I've learned a lot about different ways that you can do things and different ways to build successful, kind of hard projects, and it doesn't require that way to do it on the backs of burning people out," the developer said. "Clearly it works, and they make games that do really well, and I expect GTA [6] to do really well even at the higher price point."

• Future Games Show will return for Gamescom 2026
• The main showcase will begin on August 26, followed by the FGS Live, and the FGS Best Of Gamescom will air on August 30
• Future Games Show at Gamescom will feature world premieres, new trailers, and more

The Future Games Show will officially return next month for Gamescom 2026 with three digital showcases.

Future Games Show at Gamescom will air the same day the industry event kicks off, on August 26, and feature new announcements from "some of the industry’s most creative studios," including world premieres, exclusive trailers, developer deep dives, and brand-new game demos.

The recent Future Game Show Summer Showcase in June included 40+ games and 11 world premieres, and reached over 17.8 million live and launch-weekend views, so viewers should expect some more exciting game reveals.

FGS Live From Gamescom will immediately follow the main showcase on August 26, be hosted by the FGS editorial team, and feature more world premieres and exclusive trailers, as well as news and interviews from the Gamescom show floor.

To round out the event, the FGS Best Of Gamescom broadcast will kick off on August 30 and take viewers to the show floor to wrap up the best games of the event. Those tuning in can also expect exclusive booth tours, developer interviews, and a recap of Gamescom’s most exciting announcements.

All three digital shows can be watched on Future Games Shows' Twitch, YouTube, X, TikTok, Facebook, and GamesRadar+.

"The Future Games Show is the best place to discover new games, from indie gems like acclaimed-puzzler Blue Prince to AAA blockbusters such as sci-fi RPG Exodus," said Daniel Dawkins, Content Director of Future Games Show at Future. "Our Summer Showcase delivered 3.72 wishlists per live viewer, comfortably outperforming industry averages, thanks to our super-engaged viewers.

"Since launching in 2020, we have been proud to showcase the industry's most exciting titles alongside premier hosts like Troy Baker, Alix Wilton Regan and Ben Starr. This Gamescom, we are delivering three massive digital showcases packed with the latest news and world premieres for PC and consoles. Don’t miss it!”

A new Nintendo Switch dock shell has been designed to mimic the sleek undulating curves of the classic Nintendo 64 (N64). Dubbed the 64BITDOCK, this Switch accessory kit can be bundled with an 'N64 cart' that will help you keep your Switch Game Cards tidy. The 64BITDOCK is available now direct from the maker on Etsy, priced from $89.

In the assorted images of the 64BITDOCK from Nintendo Switch accessories specialist Krasivoe, you can see that the ‘N64’ cradles the Switch (Nintendo Switch / Switch 2 / LCD / OLED) horizontally, so the upper curves of the ‘N64’ are uninterrupted. Pleasingly, the ‘N64’ cart slot is actually useful here as a Nintendo Switch Game Card silo if you buy the optional magnetically secured storage receptacle (with 6 slots).

● Check out this product on Etsy

This is a cosmetic kit for your original Switch Dock

The 64BITDOCK is basically a snap-on cladding kit for your existing original Switch Dock. What you are buying is a set of “custom plates inspired by the iconic 64-bit console… [which] snap onto your Switch dock in seconds, transforming it into a nostalgic centerpiece while keeping all sides open to prevent overheating.”

The Krasivoe 64BITDOCK is available in light grey and ‘original’ charcoal finishes, with matching Game Card storage receptacles. For the dock plates alone, the Etsy store asks $89. If you want a Game Card cartridge holder, the price rises to $103. Worldwide shipping is $6.99.

This isn’t Krasivoe’s first retro-inspired Switch Dock makeover kit. It also sells the 8BITDOCK, 16BITDOCK, and CUBEDOCK. Fans of retro Nintendo consoles will surely know what those look like.

The market is overflowing with Nintendo Switch docks, so Krasivoe has cannily sought to offer some eye-catching differentiation in the form of this 64BITDOCK. Its $89 starting price is quite a premium offering, though, as it doesn’t even include docking hardware – it’s just a cosmetic 3D-printed shell for your original Nintendo Switch Dock. We see that you can get basic, fully functional Switch docks from $20 or $30 on Amazon, with original ‘toaster’ style replacements priced at about $40.

• A Reddit user's Zotac GeForce RTX 5090 GPU reportedly exploded during gameplay
• The power connector wasn't damaged, but a visible burn mark was present on the PCB gold finger
• It's yet another point of concern for RTX 5090 users

Nvidia's RTX 5090 has been the subject of controversy ever since its launch, with several well-publicised cases of melting power connectors causing malfunctions — and this time, it's arguably the worst case yet.

As reported by Wccftech, a Reddit user's Zotac RTX 5090 GPU has exploded, 'five minutes' into playing the tutorial for Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced. Interestingly, the 16-pin power connector (often the case of the RTX 5090's woes) wasn't damaged. Instead, the user claims they heard a loud pop and crackle, followed by a cloud of smoke.

The 16-pin power connector has been blamed for several RTX 5090s melting, either due to high temperatures or connectors that aren't properly seated. It also shouldn't be a surprise that these melting complications are effectively exclusive to Nvidia's flagship GPU, since it draws a significant amount of power (575W maximum).

Instead, the PCB gold finger (the part that goes into the motherboard's PCIe slot) on the user's Zotac RTX 5090 has a visible burn mark. The cause isn't exactly clear, but speculation suggests that a crack in the circuit board may have caused the GPU to short-circuit.

Comment from r/pcmasterrace

Comment from r/pcmasterrace

Comment from r/pcmasterrace

Perhaps the most concerning aspect of this case is the suggestion from fellow Reddit users that the supposed crack and short circuit may be the result of GPU sag — and if that's the case, it should be a major concern for high-powered GPU users.

Plenty of modern GPUs, notably from third-party Nvidia partners, are quite chunky, which leaves little clearance to fit in smaller cases and, most importantly, not enough space to use GPU sag brackets.

Fortunately, the RTX 5080, RTX 4080, and RTX 4080 Super (which is the GPU I use) aren't cards that draw nearly as much power as the RTX 5090, so there isn't too much concern in terms of power connectors melting. However, if GPU sag can lead to a short circuit, it raises concern for any GPU that's heavier than most, especially the high-powered RTX 5090, as it's an additional issue to be wary of alongside melting connectors.

A melting or exploding GPU in this current PC hardware market is possibly the worst-case scenario, particularly for RTX 5090 users (who are seemingly most at risk), as prices are completely out of the affordable range due to the ongoing RAM crisis.

Frankly, it makes me want to steer clear of high-wattage GPUs completely (or at least undervolt them). TechRadar has contacted Nvidia for a response.

Barely a day goes by without some retro system developer accomplishing a technical feat that beggars belief. OpenStrike is the latest mad project, creating a proof-of-concept reimplementation of the seminal Counter-Strike for the Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP), a 22-year-old system that arguably has no business running the game.

The port was made by Yifeng Wang (aka doodlestrike), who apparently created his own Rust-based 3D engine called Pocket3D for the affair, along with the PocketJS JavaScript engine for the game rules and UI. Despite the proof-of-concept status, Wang says that elimination matches with bots are already playable, though the game's famous buying stages aren't yet functional. The full set of eight original Counter-Strike maps have already been tested, and interested modders should easily be able to roll their own.

The engine manages to run the game with bots at a steady 60 FPS at the PSP's native 480x272 resolution, thanks to pre-processing graphical assets to directly bake lightmaps into vertex colors (as opposed to real-time or on-startup calculations). Interestingly, Wang kept the old-school BSP (Binary Space Partitioning) rendering method to cull non-visible areas rather than use a fancier modern algorithm, lending credence to the "don't fix what isn't broken" motto.

The game also runs on the PS Vita, a system with 4x the effective resolution of the original at 960x544, with native graphics, without upscaling of either 3D rendering or 2D assets. You should also be able to run the project as a standard desktop game, and naturally, it's playable on the popular PPSSPP emulator. To get the project going, you'll have to provide your own copy of the Counter-Strike asset data, similar to using Doom's original WADs in one of the many ports.

The project's entire technical architecture is impressive, as Wang went way beyond the scope of "make a 3D engine that load maps." Both the Pocket3D and PocketJS 2D engines are generic, and OpenStrike is merely the first "product" that uses them. The code runs on a server/client/event architecture, and the event handling (ex: shooting) is decoupled from the rendering core, preventing nasty FPS dips. The game is testable offline, and most everything is trivially moddable. You should check out the OpenStrike repo if you're interested.

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #1129) - today's words

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• U-TURN
• PICNIC
• CUT
• SHUFFLE
• LAUNDRY
• RECYCLING
• DEAL
• COPY
• BARGAIN
• GROCERY
• UNDERSTANDING
• THIS SIDE UP
• PASTE
• AGREEMENT
• EASTER
• DELETE

NYT Connections today (game #1129) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: A treaty or pact
• GREEN: Choices for changing text
• BLUE: Like a bucket, but with holes
• PURPLE: Graphics with a point

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #1129) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: CONTRACT
• GREEN: EDIT MENU OPTIONS
• BLUE: KINDS OF BASKETS
• PURPLE: SYMBOLIZED WITH ARROWS

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #1129) - the answers

The answers to today's Connections, game #1129, are…

• YELLOW: CONTRACT: AGREEMENT, BARGAIN, DEAL, UNDERSTANDING
• GREEN: EDIT MENU OPTIONS: COPY, CUT, DELETE, PASTE
• BLUE: KINDS OF BASKETS: EASTER, GROCERY, LAUNDRY, PICNIC
• PURPLE: SYMBOLIZED WITH ARROWS: RECYCLING, SHUFFLE, THIS SIDE UP, U-TURN

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 1 mistake

With PICNIC, LAUNDRY and GROCERY locked in I made the mistake of selecting BARGAIN instead of EASTER.

There was logic to my error. My parents used to run a grocery store and they would put items that were close to their sell-by date or damaged in a basket that became known as the BARGAIN basket. I thought it was a universal thing, but maybe not.

The next two groups came pretty easily, especially the four tiles that made up the yellow CONTRACT group, as they are words that seem to be constantly in the news in regards to negotiations surrounding the Strait of Hormuz.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Monday, July 13, 2026, game #1128)

• YELLOW: INTERROGATE: EXAMINE, GRILL, PUMP, QUESTION
• GREEN: THINGS WITH HANDLES: BUCKET, DRAWER, MUG, UMBRELLA
• BLUE: FICTIONAL CATS: FIGARO, PUSS, SALEM, TOM
• PURPLE: STARTING WITH SMOOCHES: BUSSIN, KISSER, PECKISH, SMACKDOWN

The Call of Duty: Black Ops and Black Ops 2 ports for the PS4 and PS5 were received to much hype and excitement. But guess what? They're a mess. Who possibly could have guessed?

Only everyone who's ever tried playing the backward compatible versions on Xbox consoles in recent memory. Collectively, it's an "I told you so," because we knew it would happen.

The only difference is that the 'shiny new' ports on PlayStation seem to be getting some kind of active support from Activision. Because Black Ops has had some of its playlists deactivated while "issues" are investigated.

The issues are simple: hackers. You think Black Ops 7 has a bad rep for hackers? Without modern anticheat technologies, the old games are like the Wild West.

It's taken absolutely no time at all for the new ports to be compromised, which really does show just how lazy they are. We're not just talking about wallhacks, either, though those are bad enough.

Players are being inundated with lobbies packed with players running exploits. Some are instantly max prestige, everything unlocked, ridiculous statistics, and perhaps worst of all for legitimate players, it's been reported a "negative XP" hack is dropping players back to level 1.

I love both of these games, but from the get-go, I saw nothing but a quick cash grab, cashing in on player nostalgia for the old games we loved so much, especially in a year when the new Call of Duty hasn't had the best reception. But they're not 'new,' are they? They're just the same old games we've been able to play on Xbox all along.

I saw a question on Reddit where, potentially linked to the recent hype, an Xbox player was asking if it was worth them buying Black Ops 2. At full price, the only answer is no. If you want to enjoy multiplayer, I'd also say the answer is no. If you can get a cheap disc to enjoy the campaign and Zombies? Sure.

But props at least to Activision for seemingly offering support on these ports. How long it'll last and how far they'll go, I guess we'll find out. But it's more than we've seen on Xbox with the existing versions in a long time.

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

One week after Microsoft and Xbox began a large series of "reset" 3,200 layoffs across the gaming brand that saw 1,600 devs let go immediately and four studios split from the company, Compulsion Games — one of the teams divested — has now signaled how it intends to move forward.

In a new post on LinkedIn, the studio behind the action-adventure games We Happy Few and 2025's award-winning Xbox title South of Midnight reaffirmed that it will continue on as an independent developer, while also announcing that it's "expanding opportunities to collaborate with studios across the games and entertainment industry."

"With Compulsion Games returning to its roots as an independent developer, we are expanding opportunities to collaborate with studios across the games and entertainment industry," reads Compulsion's statement.

"We invite partners to leverage the talent and creativity of the award-winning team behind South of Midnight, a game that was honored with a BAFTA Award, a Peabody Award, seven Canadian Game Awards, and recognized on multiple ‘Best Games of 2025’ lists," it continued.

Though it wasn't a massive success for Microsoft and Xbox commercially, South of Midnight reviewed quite well with critics and players, and took home several major awards as Compulsion highlights here. We gave it a 4/5 score in our own review, stating that it "delivers a story filled with trauma and beauty, with a gorgeous world that doesn't overstay its welcome."

Notably, in the past, Compulsion contributed to the development of games like Darksiders and Dungeons & Dragons: Daggerdale in the leadup to its debut puzzle-platform title Contrast. Now, the developer hopes to work with other studios once again.

"With deep experience in creating acclaimed original IP, we bring our artistry, technical expertise and collaborative approach to every project," the announcement adds. "We are excited to support the development of memorable experiences that engage and entertain players around the world."

The layoffs and divestment of Compulsion Games from Xbox came as part of a wider effort from Microsoft to reorganize its gaming business after it "overextended," with Xbox's new CEO Asha Sharma pushing for the brand to "move faster" with and focus on its largest properties such as Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, and Halo.

Games like South of Midnight that have less selling power than huge established franchises aren't going to mesh well with that strategy, which is ultimately why Microsoft and Xbox cut Compulsion loose. That departure is frustrating to see for many — myself included — as we know it came with layoffs...but, at the very least, I'm glad that the studio will live on.

As for what its developers will end up working on, either on their own or with other teams across the industry? Only time will tell. Whatever's next for Compulsion Games, though, I hope that it will be a project its workers are passionate about, and that it will succeed well enough to give the studio stability in what's become an extremely volatile time for game development.

What kind of game would you like to see Compulsion Games make next? What studio(s) should is partner and collaborate with? Let me know what you think in the comments.

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One of the biggest and most upsetting recent developments in the gaming industry was the sudden and shocking end of Destiny 2, with developer Bungie announcing its conclusion in May before delivering one last content update, Monument of Triumph, in early June. Despite players pushing to keep the series alive, publisher Sony ultimately ended support for Destiny 2 (though it remains playable) and laid off "most of the Destiny team" soon after.

The downfall of a franchise as massive and prominent as Destiny — reportedly caused by poor leadership and financial troubles — was a bombshell to many, including Rebecca Ford, the creative director of Warframe. Digital Extremes' 2013 live-service sci-fi action RPG, one of Destiny 2's biggest rivals, has now outlasted it...but Ford isn't celebrating.

On the contrary, she views the end of Destiny 2, and the way it ended, to be deeply concerning: "It's horrible news, because it shows that even if you care so much, the business side of this industry always gets the last remark," she told GamesRadar+ during an interview at TennoCon 2026.

"Those are the types of stories and experiences that, when you're in a position where you have your own game, your own IP, and you work as hard as you do on it...that's not the first time it's happened, and it'll happen again, where the business aspect of the video game economy makes the decision for you, and it is existentially threatening at every level, because the idea that we aren't in charge of our own goodbye is something I wake up thinking about every single day," she continued.

While this isn't something that private, independent studios have to worry about, these kinds of shutdowns, layoffs, and closures are undoubtedly things that developers operating under a publisher's wing have come to fear more and more in recent years.

One only has to look at last week's events at Xbox for a glaring example of why; Microsoft's gaming brand began a series of 3,200 ongoing layoffs, with 1,600 workers immediately let go and another 1,600 set to be cut over the course of 12 months. Four studios are being divested from Xbox Game Studios as well, and that number could rise to five depending on how negotiations about Arkane Lyon with the French government shake out.

As a result of what Xbox calls a "reset" for an operation that's "not healthy," over half of DOOM dev id Software and over 200 devs at The Elder Scrolls Online maker ZeniMax Online Studios have been discharged, with numerous other teams across Xbox also affected. Bethesda workers fear The Elder Scrolls 6 will be delayed and that Fallout 76 support may not continue, while its union fights back with a Save Our Devs protest this week.

The cuts at Xbox and Bungie are merely the latest in a devastating series of industry layoffs that have continued to pile up since 2022, initiated by overinvestment into gaming during the pandemic and worsened by the impact of tariffs, the hardware crisis, and other socioeconomic factors.

In an era where publishers dismissing thousands of devs and canceling or shutting down projects has become disturbingly routine, Ford is right to see what's happened with Destiny and Bungie as a grim reminder of the current state of the industry. We can only hope that a light at the end of the tunnel isn't too far away.

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• There's a new red light issue with the Steam Machine
• This time a solid red light is being displayed which indicates the device is running hot
• That isn't necessarily the case, and in fact the Steam Machine's temperatures can be normal, and a bug in the BIOS can cause the light to come on

If you're an early adopter who's been worrying about a red light being displayed by your Steam Machine while gaming, then there's not necessarily anything to panic about, as apparently this temperature warning light is being mistakenly triggered.

VideoCardz noticed a thread on Reddit where the original poster shares correspondence from Valve's support team about what's happening in terms of the red light coming on when the temperature is nowhere near the intended warning threshold.

As per Valve's FAQ on the Steam Machine's light bar, the red light comes on solidly (across the whole bar) when the device is deemed to be overheating, meaning the CPU temperature is over 95C or the GPU is over 90C (or indeed both).

The Redditor noticed that the red light was on when their Steam Machine was at temperatures of 75C and 81C for the GPU and CPU respectively, neither of which should have caused the warning light to appear.

As the message from Valve explains, there is a "known issue with the current BIOS" that means the red light comes on "much earlier" than it should.

The problem is entirely related to the temperature threshold for the light, and the Steam Machine is not overheating in any way in these cases, it should be noted.

The message from Valve informs us that a BIOS update will be coming to fix the problem soon. In fact, that update will increase the threshold to 100C for both the CPU and GPU, which is the point at which the Steam Machine will throttle the components to ensure they don't get any hotter.

In case you were wondering, if either the CPU or GPU does get any hotter than 100C, the device will then shut down to protect itself from any potential damage.

Analysis: false alarm

What this means is that if you're seeing the red warning light a fair bit, it's likely a symptom of this overkeen BIOS which is turning on the light way earlier than it should be. Odds are that your CPU and GPU are running cool enough, and you can check this using the Steam performance monitor or a third-party tool as the Redditor did.

In any case, even if you do see the red light and it's correctly indicating temperatures at Valve's threshold levels, this isn't going to damage the Steam Machine – it just means the components will be throttled back to run slower to prevent any such damage. If that doesn't work, and the component temps aren't brought back under control, as noted the PC will turn itself off to avoid any potential GPU or CPU-frying scenarios.

It's not a pleasant thought that your Steam Machine is throttling and not running as fast as it should, though, if this happens – but based on this (and other) reports of this incident, that isn't the case, and the only error is the light showing when it shouldn't. There's no actual overheating, throttling, or anything else going on under the hood.

If you're worried that Valve's new temperatures for throttling and the warning light seem high at 100C, this is in line with what's to be expected from AMD laptop parts (which are what's used for the Steam Machine's CPU and GPU).

For now, all those who have bought one of Valve's gaming PCs can do is wait until the next BIOS update which should hopefully fix this problem. It's also worth noting that the 'Red Line of Death' is a completely separate issue, and we've had some troubleshooting advice on that knottier problem since it was first highlighted.

• Ubisoft has revealed that The Crew Motorfest is coming to Nintendo Switch 2
• The port will release on October 8, 2026
• A physical edition is planned in addition to the digital version

With all eyes on the recently released Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, there's a strong chance that one of Ubisoft's most interesting announcements has passed you by. Last week, the company quietly confirmed that The Crew Motorfest is coming to Nintendo Switch 2.

In my eyes, this is pretty excellent news as the Switch 2 has been in serious need of some more quality racing games.

Sure, you have the excellent Mario Kart World (not to mention Kirby Air Riders), but if you want something a bit more realistic, your only real option so far has been Grid Legends: Definitive Edition, which focuses solely on track racing.

The Crew Motorfest is a proper AAA open-world experience that lets you drive anywhere in hundreds of officially licensed cars, plus a handful of planes and boats when you want to spice things up.

It's set in a massive recreation of Hawaii, with loads of real-world towns and landmarks represented, in the midst of hosting a huge international car festival. Yes, it's a very similar premise to the Forza Horizon games — but is that really such a bad thing?

It's a proven formula and, with no word of a Forza Horizon 6 Nintendo Switch 2 port yet, I think The Crew Motorfest will fill a very significant niche.

The port is set to arrive on October 8, with a physical retail version planned alongside a digital release.

During the week of Microsoft laying off 3,200 of Xbox Game Studios' developer staff, including a good chunk of id Software's staff, it was easy to forget that id Software launched the DLC expansion to DOOM: The Dark Ages around the same time.

Fortunately for gamers, it turned out to be the only good piece of news that week, as this DLC expansion titled DOOM: The Dark Ages | Revelations successfully launched with glowing critical and fan acclaim.

It's been praised for expanding the single-player campaign with a new, exciting story along with new levels, puzzles, enemies, weapons, the new Ripatorium 3.0 challenge mode, deeper customization, and more.

The DLC expansion currently sits at 90/100 on OpenCritic, with the likes of IGN, SECTOR.sk, and more giving it near-perfect review scores, while over 86% of 1,436 players have left positive reviews on its Steam Page.

Here's a round-up of what some of the critics had to say about DOOM: The Dark Ages | Revelations:

• IGN (9/10): "Doom: The Dark Ages - Revelations is not for the faint of heart. It demands mastery of the Slayer’s many tools of destruction, including exciting new options like the Chain Spear, and rewards that mastery with some of the most exhilarating combat rooms I’ve ever played fought my way through. The Dark Ages’ action was already among the best in the genre, and this DLC elevates it even further by fusing it with just the right amount of Doom Eternal to make the two feel similar, but still wholly distinct from each other. It’s a steep difficulty curve to climb, but it’s well worth the effort."
• SECTOR.sk (9/10, translated from Slovak): "DOOM: The Dark Ages | Revelations will put you to the test. And the main character, too. But it's a brutal action-packed ride that you'll really enjoy. It's an excellent expansion. Its difficulty and structure, which involves backtracking, might not be for everyone, but it's excellent."
• Hobby Consolas (85/100, translated from Spanish): "Revelations could be the end of the modern era of the DOOM saga, a franchise that returned from the depths of hell with the force of a thousand demons thanks to the superb work id Software has done for over a decade."
• Uagna (9/10, translated from Italian): "DOOM: The Dark Ages – Revelations is an exceptional expansion that enhances and transforms an already rock-solid combat system. The Chain Spear stands out as one of the modern series' most successful additions. The return of the dash, increased verticality, and the ability to switch between spear and shield bring the gameplay closer to the mobility of DOOM Eternal without sacrificing the weighty feel of The Dark Ages. While the story remains predictable and the controls require an adjustment period, these are minor flaws when weighed against the quality and volume of content on offer. At a time marked by uncertainty regarding id Software's future, Revelations once again demonstrates the studio's technical and creative prowess. It represents a near-perfect blend of the brutality found in The Dark Ages and the speed of DOOM Eternal."
• Powerup! (8.5/10): "DOOM: The Dark Ages – Revelations is exactly what a great expansion should be. It doesn’t reinvent the foundation established by the base game. Instead, it strengthens it, expands it and quietly fixes one of its biggest shortcomings by restoring the glorious speed that made DOOM Eternal so addictive in the first place."
• Digitale Anime (9.5/10, translated from Arabic): "A True Evolution, Not Just an Expansion" DOOM: The Dark Ages – Revelations succeeds where most expansions fail; it doesn't just add new content, it evolves the very foundations of the game. The Chain Spear system changes the rhythm of combat and brings back the speed and action that players loved in DOOM Eternal without abandoning The Dark Ages identity. There's clever enemy design, secret-filled levels, a strong ending, and exceptional music. Revelations is an excellent expansion that elevates the base game to a whole new level."

Windows Central's take

Overall, it seems like the consensus is that while the DLC expansion's emphasis on backtracking exploration may not be everyone's cup of tea, people are loving the improved combat system.

With the new Chain Spear weapon, the return of the dash ability, and increased verticality, DOOM: The Dark Ages's combat system now feels way faster-paced, comparable to older titles like DOOM: Eternal, without sacrificing the immersive weight and impact that earned it a perfect 5/5 review from us at Windows Central.

So, hearing that DOOM: The Dark Ages | Revelations plays more like DOOM: Eternal, my favorite game in the series alongside DOOM (2016), fills me with great joy, and I can't wait to play it myself when I have the time to do so.

I know that after last week's non-stop barrage of depressing news of Sony killing physical media and Xbox studios being culled, I can definitely do with some ripping and tearing of demons to vent my frustrations.

DOOM: The Dark Ages | Revelations is now available on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam. Do note that this DLC requires the base game of DOOM: The Dark Ages in order to be played.

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The idea of not owning our games and media to do as we wish with has flared up again in recent weeks, thanks to Sony announcing the death of discs for PlayStation. Now it's Ubisoft's turn to remind us that we are but a slave to the system.

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced launched just last week, and by all accounts, it was a success. It's reviewed pretty well across the board, with a high rating on Metacritic for both press and users, and Ubisoft reported 2 million sales on launch day.

But then over the weekend Ubisoft left players with a stark reminder of the perils of an all-digital future, especially where DRM is concerned, when the game's offline mode flat out stopped working on PC (via Eurogamer).

The issue stemmed from a Ubisoft Connect outage. No matter where you're buying from, Ubisoft requires Connect in order to function. Console games aren't quite so beholden to it, but on PC, Ubisoft Connect acts as a DRM tool.

Resynced is supposed to require a solitary online connection to validate, and then you'd expect to be able to use the offline mode, right?

Wrong.

The Ubisoft Connect outage didn't last long, but the duration isn't the issue. The fact that this outage took down the offline mode is. For players who have already validated their copy of the game, a Ubisoft Connect server problem should still allow folks to play offline.

Players quickly voiced their frustrations on Reddit and Steam's forums and with good reason. A game with an offline mode should not be taken down like this. Ubisoft promised to make an offline mode for The Crew 2 after the outrage when it shut down the original game in the series, but is this what we're going to expect to deal with?

Offline mode needs to be exactly that. Fully disconnected, no issues playing without a connection, and definitely not affected by DRM or proprietary clients going down. A one-time activation should do what it says. Ironically, there are comments that suggest pirated versions of the game weren't affected by the outage.

It's becoming increasingly attractive to skip these types of games entirely and spend time and money on titles that are DRM-free from somewhere like GOG. Software licensing has always been a thing, but there are other ways.

I recently bought a copy of Project Motor Racing that gave me the entire game's installation files directly from GIANTS Software to install offline, no questions asked.

This Ubisoft Connect debacle just leaves everyone with a bad taste in their mouth.

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One of the most contentious issues around Xbox in recent years is the management of the Halo franchise.

Halo was to Xbox what Mario is to Nintendo. For years, it was Halo that led the tip of the spear for Xbox's surge in the gaming industry. The innovation with multiplayer and console-oriented shooters in general helped Xbox drive a wedge into a very established gaming industry. Halo 3's launch was legendary, and Halo game launches in general used to be "events." Those times are long passed.

Halo hasn't recaptured the magic of yesteryear. Halo Infinite was well received, but its post-launch mismanagement put a dampener on proceedings. The Halo TV show was also an unmitigated disaster, representing the raw squandered potential in this storied franchise.

In 2026, we're now getting Halo 1 "again," in the form of Campaign Evolved. It's already mired with controversy from some Halo purists for liberties taken with the art, and on the Xbox side for its launch on PlayStation. Given the backdrop of Xbox's so-called "reset" layoffs, Halo has something of a microscope on it right now. Including its leaders, for less-than-positive reasons.

YouTuber Rebs Gaming has been reporting on Halo for a while. As a Halo fan, Rebs echoed community sentiment about the franchise's general decline, but has put a focus on the studio's leadership. In his latest video, Rebs shares allegations that studio lead Pierre Hintze has antagonized staff, while also being reportedly referred to HR "multiple times" for his apparent behavior — although from documents I've received, at least one of the complaints were not upheld by Microsoft upon investigation.

In Rebs' video, he quotes one source, "I was verbally blasted by Pierre. It's emotional and shocking, and to this day, I cannot believe Microsoft HR and Microsoft Legal did not give me the time of day. Pierre literally told me to 'get the fuck out of the studio.' It traumatized me."

Rebs' videos are heavily editorialized and interspersed with opinions on the fate of Halo overall, but I wanted to see if the actual claims against Hintze are credible. Rebs reported that Halo Studios was working on a multiplayer title known as Project Ekur, which was cancelled. I've verified that as 100% true. However, while I couldn't verify everything Hintze is accused of saying in Rebs' video, unfortunately, comments I've received lend weight to some of these allegations. Sources infer that harbors a capacity for creating friction between his team and Xbox more broadly, and it's suggested that he is a controversial figure internally.

Former Halo Art Director Glenn Israel has gone on the record previously alleging as though he was retaliated against by Pierre Hintze for raising concerns that Halo Studios had arbitrarily blacklisted potential candidates over personal issues.

"Hiring interference is an explicit Microsoft policy violation (Standards of Business Conduct, Global Hiring Principles, Anti-Corruption/Conflicts-of-Interest policies)," Israel recently wrote on LinkedIn. "Blacklisting is a civil and criminal offense in the state of Washington (RCW 49.44.010)."

In addition, I spoke to over half a dozen staffers past and present who had experience working with Hintze. Even though I couldn't verify some of the information in Rebs' own video, I was passed other criticisms (and also praise) of Hintze.

Some suggested that some present-day Xbox producers and managers refuse to engage with Hintze without supervision, owing to feeling antagonized and undermined. I was told multiple anecdotes from very separate sources about Hintze exhibiting vocal disrespect for other Xbox studios, teams, and projects, which didn't exactly paint him in a positive light.

I saw emails sent to Microsoft HR that alleged "bullying" on the part of Pierre Hintze, criticizing his treatment of staff. However, others did offer mitigating comments. One defended Hintze, emphasizing his passion and dedication to the product. They suggest that he's not necessarily ill-intentioned, but sports a "complete lack" of tactfulness and people skills, in their opinion.

A lack of "people skills" is potentially problematic as a studio lead, particularly one with such a high profile as Halo. It was suggested to me that Hintze might simply be too stretched as a studio head, lacking the correct attitude to steer a large team in a single direction. The Halo Studio is under tremendous pressure, and the chaos around Xbox's current "reset" is likely making things even more difficult.

What's next for Halo?

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma described a plan to focus on the firm's biggest franchises moving forward, naming specifically DOOM, Fallout, and Halo, among others.

Xbox's cuts have been broad and aggressive. Id Software of DOOM fame lost anywhere up to half of the studio, with ZeniMax seemingly bearing the brunt of this initial wave of cuts. Halo Studios seems to have avoided being targeted more broadly, given Halo's importance to Asha Sharma's plans. But it remains to be seen whether or not Xbox leadership will decide if yet another reorganization of Halo's management is required.

Halo Campaign Evolved launches on July 28, 2026, for Xbox Series X|S, PC, and PlayStation 5.

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After Sony announced that it's delisting over 500 movies from users' accounts with no refunds, discontinuing physical discs for PlayStation games, and closing down PlayStation 3 and PSVita's digital stores — people are increasingly skeptical of making all media digital-only.

Brazilian Xbox gamer, Ordo_Liberal, also found this out the hard way, as back on April 6 (via Reddit), 2026, his Microsoft account was hacked and promptly suspended by Microsoft as its IT team determined it was "unrecoverable" by policy, due to the account's security details being changed by the hacker.

This isn't the first time we've seen reports of this at Windows Central. Microsoft's policies for restoring accounts are often incredibly flimsy. Getting in touch with the right support services can be a Kafka-esque nightmare of AI bots and outsourced customer service layers.

As a result of being blocked, Ordo_Liberal not only lost his Xbox games but also lost all his OneDrive files.

Enraged that Microsoft took away his game library and insisted he buy them again, Ordo_Liberal then sued Microsoft in a digital library lawsuit. The court case dragged on until July 12, 2026, when Ordo_Liberal announced on Reddit that he had actually won.

According to (translated) comments, the Brazilian court ruled in favor of Ordo_Liberal under Brazil's strict consumer laws, and has ordered Microsoft to completely restore Ordo_Liberal's account, giving him his entire Xbox digital games library back, and pay him $400 in damages.

Digital preservation of games has become quite a hot topic in recent days, following Sony's culling of physical media to the point where some would argue that "piracy is the only extant form of media preservation" due to no viable, legal option being available.

However, Ordo_Liberal's court win against Microsoft for taking away his digital library for something that wasn't his fault proves that it is possible to find a legal means to protect and preserve digital games and a player's ownership rights over them, provided they have the courage, legal know-how, and careful planning to do so.

The European Union is also taking a more aggressive stance on digital preservation lately. As more and more of our data goes up to cloud services, consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the consequences when companies like PlayStation or Xbox pull the plug.

Microsoft needs to do better here, and if they refuse, maybe the courts will be able to force them to do so.

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• One of the original Xbox founders, Laura Fryer, suggests Sony is stripping away game ownership via an all-digital future
• It comes after PlayStation announced physical game discs won't be produced starting from January 2028
• Fryer claims Sony let Rockstar 'take the heat' by announcing a digital-only GTA 6 first

Sony is still under fire after its latest announcement of a future all-digital future for PlayStation games, as physical game copies are due to be axed — and not only are consumers livid, some gaming industry veterans are too.

As reported by Notebookcheck, Laura Fryer, one of the original founding members of Xbox, has recently condemned Sony's announcement ending physical game discs for future PlayStation games, and highlights the threat the move poses to game ownership.

The announcement from Sony has since resulted in major backlash regarding game ownership from thousands online, including a slight pushback (or support for physical media) from indie game developers like Astrolabe Games.

In this case, Fryer hasn't been shy about noting just how dangerous the end of physical game discs will be once 2028 arrives, especially since rumors suggest Microsoft may follow in a similar direction with its next Xbox console.

"Digital is convenient until someone else decides you've had enough, and there are some games and movies where I will never have enough of them," Fryer stated, which is arguably a valid statement since Sony recently removed over 500 purchased movies from users' libraries.

It's worth noting that Rockstar Games recently opened GTA 6 pre-orders, with the announcement that there won't be a physical copy of the game, which Fryer highlights as an important step to Sony's latest plans, stating: "Sony waited for Rockstar to make the first move, take the heat, and now they're going all in to make this the new normal."

Fryer even references Don Mattrick's infamous statement regarding an 'always online' Xbox One console experience, as she suggests that this is what Sony, Microsoft, and, frankly, Hollywood are doing today.

"When was the last time you put a disc in and the game just worked without a big download? All the major players, Sony, Microsoft, even Hollywood, they're all aligned here. Digital kills the used market, and it stops your old library from competing with new games on the next console."

That 'always online' future is closer than it ever has been, and with Sony also shutting down PS3 and PS Vita stores in 2027. That means whenever the PS6 (or future PlayStation consoles) eventually becomes a retro console like the PS3, there will be no way to play games on the system unless it's via digital means — and that directly eliminates game ownership completely.

iRacing makes much more than just its flagship sim racing platform these days, and hot off the heels of the first official NASCAR 26 news, we now finally have some information on its IndyCar project.

We've known of its existence for some time but little more. Now, we finally have something concrete to go on, as well as a tentative launch window that will, sadly, miss the previously hoped-for 2026 window.

IndyCar Racing The Game is coming to Xbox Series X|S, PC via Steam, and PS5, in "early 2027."

That makes the most sense right now, given that NASCAR 26 is already on track to launch this September. Any time after this is a terrible time to launch a game, given that the entire planet's attention will be fixed on GTA 6.

Or Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee Remastered.

“This is a project our team has been passionate about for a long time,” said Tony Gardner, iRacing president. “We’re bringing everything we know about authentic, immersive racing to consoles and PC, and creating an experience worthy of the INDYCAR name. 2027 can’t come soon enough.”

Other than early 2027, all we know is that IndyCar Racing The Game will "launch in the countdown to the 2027 Indianapolis 500." Next year's race is scheduled for May 30, so right now we can expect to see the game sometime before then.

Being made by iRacing means that, like NASCAR 25 and 26, the IndyCar game will be able to leverage some aspects of the sim while being built like a more traditional racing game. It uses an in-house engine, not Unreal as NASCAR 26 does, previously used in ExoCross.

There hasn't been an official IndyCar game in over twenty years, so fans have certainly had a drought. IndyCar has largely been ignored beyond iRacing, so it's certainly a long overdue but extremely welcome arrival.

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Microsoft did say it wanted to make more console exclusives, but perhaps this isn't what Xbox fans had in mind.

One of the best features on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S is the backwards compatibility program. It features hundreds of games from Xbox 360 and OG Xbox consoles, giving you the opportunity to dip into some nostalgia even on modern systems. Some games on there aren't available at all on any other platform, too.

Some of the older Call of Duty titles were simply never ported to modern PlayStation systems, meaning the only ways to access them on modern platforms is via either PC or a modern Xbox.

To plug the gap, Microsoft and Activision just did some very basic ports of Call of Duty: Black Ops 1 and 2 to PlayStation 5. And PlayStation fans are loving it. The games are beating GTA 6 on the PlayStation charts, which shows how much nostalgia there still is for some of these classic games. Xbox fans, however, are NOT happy — and it's not because they're gatekeeping.

Microsoft's purchase of Activision Blizzard gave it full control of the Call of Duty franchise. Classic Call of Duty games were already broadly available on Xbox backwards compatibility, complete with online matchmaking and the like. However, given the lack of security updates for Xbox 360 consoles, system hackers are prevalent, making some of them virtually unplayable.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 1 and 2 are as basic as ports can be. Activision has practically done nothing to enhance them besides a res bump, and it seems honestly intentional. I imagine the reason they haven't is because it would rub even more salt in the Xbox wound — it's almost like they're designed to mimic the Xbox 360 back compat versions as much as possible. Iron Galaxy also did the (very solid) ports for Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, so it's not a matter of skill here.

Even if they do offer some visual enhancements, the real issue is the prevalence of hackers on the Xbox back compat versions. The Xbox 360 security layers have been torn down over the years, allowing for cheaters to ruin the experience. Since the Black Ops 1 and 2 ports on PlayStation 5 are siloed away from older systems, they're far less susceptible.

As a result, what you have here is a de-facto PlayStation console exclusive, published by Xbox.

Usually I would gloss over a basic port of a Xbox 360 game, but as you can see from how hard the game is charting, these are very beloved titles. While players wait for September's sprint of heavy hitters, indulging in some innocent nostalgia would've been a nice bet. Clearly the PlayStation charts agree.

It's a pure oddity that Microsoft decided to leave Xbox fans out here, and the reactions on social media have been what you might expect. As a gesture, it seems like Microsoft has decided to make the Black Ops' DLC free on the Xbox Store, but the hacker-ridden base game is still a frankly absurd $40.

I've reached out to Microsoft and Activision to get comments on why they decided to leave the Xbox version of Black Ops 1+2 broken in light of this trending PS5 port. But I suspect they had no idea it would do so extremely well on PlayStation. Had they not trended, it probably wouldn't have shined such a bright light on the state of the Xbox backwards compatible versions either — although I've been receiving messages about it for quite a while now.

I suspect Microsoft and Xbox won't do much to resolve the situation. They've opened a can of worms here. The source code for the original games and their server infrastructure is likely on ice. Microsoft could ship new Call of Duty: Black Ops 1+2 ports that cut off the previous versions. The downside is, users on Xbox 360 (and yes, there are still tens of thousands of players on Xbox 360) and back compat would be left adrift.

It all just screams of lack of organization and forethought, but things are pretty chaotic at Xbox right now ...

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A Brazilian gamer who lost his Microsoft account and all his digital games has won a court order forcing the company to hand it all back, after support staff told him to simply repurchase his library. The user, who posts as Ordo_Liberal on Reddit, shared a screenshot of a small-claims ruling in the Xbox subreddit that gives Microsoft 15 days to restore access or face fines and roughly $400 (R$2,000) in damages. He said the account had two-factor authentication enabled when it was flagged and permanently suspended, and that none of Microsoft's recovery options allowed him to regain access before he filed his lawsuit.

According to the support emails he posted, Microsoft suspended the account after detecting what it described as unauthorized access, and said an investigation found the account's security information had been changed. The company treated the suspension as permanent and directed him to buy his games again rather than reinstating the ones already tied to the account.

Anyone with a large Microsoft account might want to take note here, because the suspension didn’t target a single game or console but the user’s entire account. Microsoft accounts can carry Xbox purchases, Windows licenses, store apps, 365, and OneDrive data, and a permanent suspension blocks all of it, even, as in this case, when you’ve got strong security and two-factor authentication set up.

Brazil's Consumer Defense Code and its small-claims track allow individuals to bring cases without a lawyer and without paying court costs, meaning Ordo_Liberal was able to take Microsoft to court without incurring any costs. If Microsoft misses the payment deadline, an additional 10% penalty will be imposed. While the damages awarded in this case are minor, it's notable that Microsoft has been compelled to restore the account and its contents, which runs counter to the standard platform position that customers license digital games rather than own them.

This, of course, is a first-instance small-claims judgment, not binding precedent, and it covers one account in one jurisdiction. Courts elsewhere have gone the other way. Chinese courts have recognized game accounts as inheritable property, while U.S. rulings generally treat games as revocable licenses. The case comes as both Microsoft and Sony push players away from physical media, with Xbox testing a way to convert discs into digital entitlements and Sony ending new PlayStation disc production in 2028. Microsoft hasn’t publicly commented on the ruling.

We all knew this day would come. Razer has spent the last decade spreading its glowing tendrils into every conceivable corner of the tech world, putting colorful lights on everything from mousepads to beverage coasters. A fully illuminated gaming chair was always a matter of when, not if.

Enter the Razer Soma Chroma, announced on June 25th. It is a product that answers a question absolutely nobody was asking, yet it manages to be completely awesome in execution. Is a neon-soaked headrest necessary to hit your headshots in Valorant? Not even slightly. Is it a hilarious, beautifully built piece of functional performance art? Absolutely.

While the minimalist crowd might scoff at the pure absurdity of a glowing chair, it is exactly this kind of unhinged commitment to a design identity that keeps me in this game. I love to see companies take genuine risks and lean heavily into who they are, and Razer did not blink here.

Razer had no input, nor did it see the contents of this review, prior to publication.

The Evil Throne Visual Aesthetic

Setting up the Soma Chroma is an absolute breeze. From cracking open the massive cardboard box to actually parking my rear end in the seat, the entire assembly process took me less than 10 minutes. The parts clear out easily, the bolts line up beautifully, and the 6 cm PU caster wheels pop right into the powder-coated steel base without throwing a tantrum. Once assembled, those wheels roll smoothly across both hard floors and rugs alike without any annoying stuttering.

When you finally stand back and look at it, the visual payoff is immediate. The standout feature is the pair of prominent RGB wings framing the headrest area.

Sitting in this chair makes you feel like an antagonist plotting world domination while waiting for your casual matchmaking lobby to fill up. As you can see in the above photos, the lighting strip is perfectly uniform, incredibly bright, and creates a spectacular glow that looks brilliant on a stream camera or reflecting off a dark wall.

Comfort for the Long Haul

Beyond the light show, a chair actually needs to work as a piece of furniture. I spent the last 10 days using the Soma Chroma as my daily driver, logging a punishing 8 hours a day for multiple days, and my back has been perfectly happy.

Razer opted for a dual-density cold-cured foam setup for the cushion. There is a noticeably softer outer layer that immediately contours to your body when you sit down, which sits directly on top of a much firmer base layer that keeps the chair from bottoming out over long sessions. The built-in ergonomic lumbar arch provides great passive support to your lower spine, encouraging a healthy posture without requiring constant manual adjustments.

Instead of the premium leatherette styling found on the Iskur line, the Soma Chroma utilizes a soft cloth fabric upholstery. You can see the distinct paneled layout of the fabric seat base. The material feels cozy, gentle, and broken-in right out of the box, though it does tend to collect a bit of back heat.

On particularly warm summer days, you might find yourself wishing for a bit more ventilation. It's also a magnet for pet hair, if you have furry friends as I do.

My biggest critique lands squarely on the armrests. The chair features basic 2D armrests that only allow for height adjustments and generic inward or outward angling. If you are moving over from a high-end chair with 3D or 4D armrests, the lack of forward, backward, or lateral sliding movements feels like an unfortunate omission on a $499.99 piece of hardware.

Controlling the Light Show

Connecting the chair to your PC is as familiar as any other Razer peripheral. You can use Bluetooth for a quick mobile hookup, or plug in the included 2.4GHz wireless USB Type-A dongle for a low-latency connection to your rig.

Once connected, the Synapse software gives you complete control over the 16.8 million colors. You can easily adjust the overall brightness slider, toggle power-saving sleep timers to dim the lights during inactivity, or launch Chroma Studio to synchronize your seating with game-reactive profiles.

You can see in the photo below how you can use multiple colors at once and use preset motion settings like Ripple, Starlight, Reactive, or Static to give the effect you want. In that photo, I went with Windows Central's colors, which is fun. Most of my photos here are static, simply because having Ripple or Wave enabled, which looks awesome, may be distracting if you're on a professional web call versus streaming on Twitch.

If you already own other hardware like my just-reviewed Seiren V3 Pro microphone, the Huntsman V3 Pro TKL, or the ultra-premium Huntsman Signature Edition, the ability to sync your entire room's theme together creates an incredibly cohesive ecosystem.

If you prefer to adjust things on the fly without minimizing your game, there is a physical control panel stitched directly into the fabric on the top of the headrest. The buttons are clicky and responsive, allowing you to turn the RGB on or off, cycle through effects, and tweak brightness.

The comedy here is that you cannot actually see or easily reach these buttons blindly while sitting down. You have to get up out of the chair to make physical adjustments, making Razer Synapse the vastly superior option for mid-game tweaks.

Powering Your RGB

Because dangling a long power cable off a spinning, rolling desk chair is an absolute recipe for disaster, Razer designed the Soma Chroma to run completely wirelessly via a clever hidden feature. There is a dedicated zipper pocket built directly into the rear of the seat base. This pocket allows you to tuck away a standard USB Type-C power bank (not included), keeping your setup clean and cord-free.

If you absolutely despise dealing with batteries, you can buy a Razer Type-C extension cable separately for about $19.99 on Amazon to plug the chair straight into a wall outlet. This gives you an always-on light show, but it obviously creates a massive trip hazard if you like to spin around or roll across your room.

Fortunately, running it wirelessly is shockingly viable. During my 10 days of evaluation, I hooked the chair up to a standard 49.6WHr battery pack. After two full, continuous workdays consisting of 16 total hours of use with the RGB strips cranked to absolute maximum brightness, the battery pack was only down by roughly 50%. That means you can easily expect a massive 30-plus hours of glorious neon illumination before you ever need to think about pulling the battery pack out to recharge it.

Missing Perks and Future Upgrades

It is worth noting that the standard Soma Chroma does not feature any internal haptic feedback. If you want your seat to rumble alongside your games, you will need to buy an additional add-on pad like the recently reviewed Razer Freyja cushion.

Knowing Razer's historic release patterns, I am completely confident that we will eventually see a premium Soma Chroma "Pro" down the line that integrates both the fancy lighting strips and full-body haptic motors into a single package. When that inevitably happens, it will likely cost a small fortune, which makes the $499.99 entry fee for this model feel relatively reasonable for the wild novelty and comfort it brings to the table.

Razer Soma Chroma review: My final thoughts

✅ You should buy this if ...

• You want peak gamer aesthetic (or like fun).
• You want a solid, comfortable gaming chair
• You already have a lot of Razer accessories to pair with it

❌ You should not buy this if ...

• You work in an office, or need something more professional
• You prefer leatherette materials
• You don't want to charge/power yet-another-accessory

The Razer Soma Chroma is an absolute blast of a gaming chair. It takes a ridiculous concept and executes it with high-quality materials, stable wireless connectivity, and genuine ergonomic support. It might not be a necessary upgrade for the casual office worker, but for the enthusiast who wants to lean completely into the ultimate battlestation aesthetic, it delivers exactly what it promises.

• Back to the top ⤴

id Software, the studio responsible for many beloved Xbox franchises like DOOM, Wolfenstein, Quake, and more, has seen a huge chunk of its staff laid off by Microsoft as part of the company's restructuring of the Xbox brand, resulting in over 3,200 people losing their jobs.

In the wake of this announcement, John Carmack, one of the founders of id Software (along with John Romero, Tom Hall, and Adrian Carmack), who also helped create the DOOM, Wolfenstein, and Quake franchises, has responded to it on social media with his thoughts on the situation.

Most responses to Xbox's mass layoffs, which were filled with anger and frustration, like former id Software animator Skai Chow's scathing message of "I hope our pain was worth it" or fear of the future, like Bethesda fearing that it will negatively impact the development of The Elder Scrolls 6, or even spell the end for Fallout 76 without help from an external studio.

However, John Carmack's response feels more neutral by comparison. While he was definitely sad (while admitting that his comment on Microsoft being a good steward of the brand isn't aging well), he couldn't bring himself to be angry or disappointed by these layoffs by saying, "I’m saddened, but I can’t muster anger or outrage over it. I don’t have access to the books, but I suspect that Id Software was a marginal business from Microsoft’s perspective. I believe the reports that Minecraft revenues have been carrying several other studios."

John Carmack then stated that at the end of the day, the gaming industry is a brutal business with tons of competitors vying for your time and money, and if you're not successful financially, you'll get left behind regardless of how beloved your creation is.

In addition, while it's easy to point the blame at Microsoft's higher-ups, John Carmack says that "You can’t rule out the possibility that executives are idiots, but that shouldn’t be your default belief. I don’t think there is any obvious path that would have doubled the revenue from Id games."

He asks what kinds of strategies id Software could've done to prevent this, like using a different pricing strategy, creating more things for fans to buy, or using a cost-effective marketing scheme to reach out to more players.

He ultimately has no answer for this conundrum, but John Carmack does know that it's not over yet, and he hopes that id Software bounces back from this grievous blow.

Windows Central's take

While I personally don't know the answer to this question myself, I do know that my colleague, Jez Corden, says that rumors of id Software's demise are greatly exaggerated.

While the job cuts have been brutal to the point where they put the kibosh on Id Software's pitches for a Perfect Dark reboot and a John Wick-style game, Microsoft has not announced any plans of closing id Software down any time soon.

In fact, Microsoft has even released a statement to us regarding the rumors of the job cuts putting id Software's lauded id Tech (an engine that has greatly optimized the performance of games like the modern DOOM games and Indiana Jones & The Great Circle) on ice, which says, "There are dozens of people working on id Tech across multiple locations. Reports that there’s only one person left in Texas are inaccurate."

Either way, I hope id Software does survive this tumultuous time in gaming. They produced some of the most awesome first-person shooters I've ever played, like DOOM (2016) and DOOM: Eternal, and it would be an utter travesty for the studio to close for good.

Stay tuned for more news as we keep an eye out for further developments regarding the damages caused by Xbox's company-wide "Reset".

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Of all the layoffs that came down on Xbox Game Studios developers this week as part of Microsoft and Xbox's 3,200 "reset" cuts and four studio divestments, the ones that hit the DOOM developer id Software were the most shocking to many given the popularity and success of its modern trilogy of games.

It's been reported that well over half of id was axed from Xbox, with 136 developers — 96 at its Texas headquarters and an additional 40 remote workers — let go from the studio. The cuts impacted nearly every department within the developer, including the teams building, maintaining, and improving its id Tech game engine used for a variety of ZeniMax projects.

Individual DOOM devs have shared reactions to the layoffs, though id Software itself hadn't yet shared a response until today. Now it has, with the studio posting a statement to the community on social media to assuage fears about its future under Microsoft and Xbox.

"Thank you for all the support this week. While our studio was impacted, those changes were spread across teams. We still have the crew we need to build the games and tech we're known for," reads id's letter. "The team today is about the same size we were when making DOOM (2016). We have always had a flat studio where everyone is a maker, and we will remain true to that philosophy moving forward."

"We are focused on supporting each other and team members impacted. We're going to keep building the great games and tech that have defined us for the past 35 years, and we're looking forward to seeing you at QuakeCon this August," it added.

Notably, this statement confirms our recent, earlier report that in the wake of the layoffs, id Software is now about the size that it was when it released the 2016 DOOM reboot ten years ago, and that the studio isn't in danger of being closed or split away from Microsoft and Xbox.

It also confirms that the developer will still move forward with new games, though it seems unlikely it will have a chance to explore some of its experimental ideas. Still, I expect that we'll see additional DOOM titles from the team, and that it will continue to iterate upon id Tech for the benefit of Wolfenstein dev MachineGames and other studios.

Ultimately, this news is quite relieving to hear from id Software — though to be clear, I'm not downplaying the severity of the cuts in saying that. On the contrary, I'm glad that the developer still has a future under Xbox's wing despite how significantly it was affected by the dismissals.

The layoffs at id represent a large portion of about 440 total cuts across all of ZeniMax and Bethesda, with other teams hit including Bethesda Game Studios (The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Starfield) and ZeniMax Online Studios (The Elder Scrolls Online).

Bethesda devs fear that The Elder Scrolls 6 will suffer crunch and delays because of the layoffs, and the reduction in force at ZeniMax Online Studios has led to "shifting" roadmaps for The Elder Scrolls Online. Bethesda's official union, OneBGS, plans to protest against the cuts next week with a "Save Our Devs" march.

What are your thoughts on the layoffs at id Software? Do you feel Microsoft and Xbox went too far with them based on everything we know? Share your take in the comments, and vote in the above poll.

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In response to this week's wave of mass Xbox layoffs from Microsoft that have cut 3,200 roles and four studios from the company, union workers at Bethesda Game Studios — the developer behind Skyrim, Fallout 4, and Starfield, among other titles — are organizing a protest to fight back.

Several public listings for the rally — titled "Save Our Devs" — have been spotted for Bethesda's various different locations, including its Rockville headquarters and offices in Austin, Dallas, and Montreal. These calls to action confirm that unionized OneBGS staffers are coordinating to march on July 15 next week.

"Microsoft and ZeniMax leadership have made the devastating decision to slash over 440 positions across BGS, ZOS, id, ZWU (QA) and ZeniMax corporate (including CTO and CSUR)," wrote the union. "Because we organized and certified our Unions, we have hard-won legal rights and protections that non-unionized studios simply do not have."

"The company wants us to accept this as a done deal and quietly disappear. We won't let that happen. Our next steps are to mobilize," it continued. "We need every single member visible and unified. To that end, we are announcing our Save Our Devs March across all studios on Wednesday July 15th."

In an email sent to union workers seen by Game Developer, OneBGS has reportedly stated that 35 Bethesda Game Studios devs have been let go in the US, with 12 also laid off in Montreal. This roughly lines up with a previous report that about 50 employees have been laid off from the studio.

Reportedly, "this has had a crushing effect on morale" at Bethesda, with devs fearing that The Elder Scrolls 6 will suffer delays and crunch as a result of the redundancies. There are also concerns that support for Fallout 76 may end.

Elsewhere under the ZeniMax and Bethesda banner, the cuts go even deeper. Over 200 developers were laid off from The Elder Scrolls Online studio ZeniMax Online Studios, and well over half of DOOM maker id Software has been axed as well — though it's been reported that the situation there isn't as dire as some say. A small comfort.

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma stated the layoffs are part of a "reset" for the Xbox business after it "overextended" with its ambitions; OneBGS claims that Microsoft referred to them as an "entrepreneurial change in the scope of business," which is a notion it's fighting against as it negotiates to have affected developers brought into open roles across Xbox Game Studios.

"While we push that legal fight forward, Microsoft is still legally required right now to sit down with us for 'Effects Bargaining.' This means we have the right to negotiate exactly how these layoffs impact our people, and we are heading to the table to fight for every single affected worker," it explained.

"We are going to be demanding preferential transfers to force Microsoft to place affected BGS workers into open roles across Xbox and Microsoft first, stronger severance and extended healthcare to ensure no one is financially abandoned, as well as recall rights to ensure our laid-off members are the first ones hired back when BGS expands."

"Stay strong, look out for one another, and we look forward to seeing us all marching together on the 15th," concluded the union. Whether next week's protest has a meaningful impact or not remains to be seen, but ultimately, I hope it helps laid off ZeniMax and Bethesda devs find new opportunities and get the best severance and healthcare packages possible.

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According to new research published by Alinea Analytics, Valve has grossed an estimated 11.1 billion dollars throughout the first half of 2026. If correct, the estimates would make it Valve's most profitable half-year on record, as digital storefronts become the norm throughout the games industry. Earlier this month, Sony announced that it would stop making new physical PlayStation discs by 2028, instead turning its efforts digital.

According to a Substack post from research firm Alinea Analytics, games sold on the platform accumulated $11.1 billion in revenue in the first six months of this year, which is a 14.5% jump compared to the first six months of 2025. Even more impressively, though, Steam's H1 2026 has posted 8% higher numbers than H2 2025, which includes the lucrative holiday season where most of the biggest sales happen. The store generated "only" $10.3 billion in revenue during the latter half of 2025.

Steam has been on a consistent incline for 10 years, boasting record revenue numbers almost every successive year. Even if it hits a slump, the data shows Valve has never had two bad years in a row; a recession is always followed by a boom. Alinea says five main factors contribute to the storefront's growth: a surge in Chinese players, higher prices, viral co-op hits, and smarter back-catalogue categories from big publishers.

The last one is rather ironic, as it involves third-party publishers quietly returning to Steam after their own launchers faltered. Some companies like Activision still inject their proprietary launchers between Steam and the game itself for titles like Call of Duty, but the situation has generally improved.

What display resolution do you use on your primary monitor?

Almost 10 years ago, in the first half of 2017, the platform made a little less than $2.5 billion, which means the H1 2026 revenue is 4.7 times higher, almost quintupling in a decade. Moreover, it's remarkable to believe that Steam also made more in the first six months of this year than it did in the entirety of 2020, when most of us were confined to our homes, free from responsibilities, and with a lot of time on our hands.

Alinea lists Forza Horizon 6, Resident Evil Requiem, and Crimson Desert as the top three games for Steam's explosive H1 2026 numbers — all of them made almost $200 million. Games from prior years also played a bigger role this time since 2026 releases only accounted for 21% of the $11.1 billion, while 27% of H1 2025's revenue came from 2025 launches; 29% of H1 2024's revenue was accumulated from 2024 releases.

Amidst all the data, a clear trend is forming. People are looking back in their libraries and appreciating older games more than ever before, while new releases still make an impact if they're universally acclaimed. With the highly anticipated GTA VI coming soon (with no current PC release date), it'll be interesting to see how these numbers change. Now, if only Valve could make more Steam Machines to play all those older games everyone seems to be playing.

The launch of Assassin's Creed Black Flag: Resynced, the highly anticipated (and high-scoring) remaster of one of the best games in the Assassin's Creed series, has been followed by 51 of its game designers from Ubisoft Barcelona being laid off, according to an exclusive report by Tom Henderson at Insider Gaming.

The report states that Ubisoft tends to assign teams to new projects long before they finish their current project (sometimes up to a year in advance, at least). The developers tried to raise their concerns with Ubisoft's higher-ups about not being given a new project back in 2025, yet in this case, they were never given a new assignment to work on before being laid off.

In fact, one employee who was affected by these layoffs (who wishes to remain anonymous) informed Insider Gaming:

The report then states that, in response to this, Ubisoft Barcelona's staff will go on strike every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon from June 30, 2026, to July 16, 2026.

Windows Central's take

To compound the severity of this depressing situation, these layoffs were announced shortly after Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced had a successful launch. It is currently enjoying a high overall Metacritic score of 84 — based on 84 critics — and fans are leaving mostly positive reviews on its Steam Page.

We even gave Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced a near-perfect 4.5 review score for improving upon the original Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag's already stellar naval combat, beautiful graphics redone from the ground up, and new content along with story-rewrites that has made the story more compelling (the fact they got rid of the modern-day segments from the original game already makes this remake superior in my book).

This will no doubt degrade the morale of Ubisoft's developers, knowing that even if a game launches to critical and fan acclaim, they will still be laid off before the official sales numbers even start to come in.

Will the strike at Ubisoft Barcelona convince Ubisoft to improve working conditions? Will we see more layoffs at Ubisoft on the level of Xbox's massive 'Reset' that has laid off over 3,200 people? We'll watch for further developments.

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced is now available for purchase on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

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Tobias Friedly, also known as Game of Tobi on YouTube, is quite the wizard when it comes to making the seemingly impossible happen on early Nintendo hardware. His latest venture is getting a limited version of Minecraft running on the Game Boy Color (GBC)... but in 3D. As an added bonus, he even got the game working on the original Game Boy in limited fashion, thanks to both machines' interoperability.

Friedly demonstrated his work in a short YouTube video, where it's plainly visible that he managed to coax the GBC's 8x8 sprites into something visually resembling Minecraft in a three-dimensional projection. Although there are no enemies, inventory, or game logic, the feat is exceedingly impressive given that the hardware was never meant to have 3D games.

This is a significant departure from existing Minecraft demakes for old Nintendo gear, seemingly all of which tried implementing the original game's mechanics in a flat two-dimensional space. Friedly's project appears to be an offshoot of his existing Minecraft 3D for the Gameboy Advance.

Even with the limited GBC hardware, he even went as far as adding a map generator that can create flat or bumpy maps. Blocks of various types (including portals) can be placed and removed, and he even added the Nether area of the game. Game saving and loading is included, and there's an option to enable block textures. Predictably the results are a bit iffy given the limited resolution of the display and the inherent difficulty in faking texture mapping with 8x8 tiles.

Despite running at different speeds and color levels, the Game Boy Color and original Game Boy are for the most part compatible, and Friendly even showed that his clone does run on the original black-and-green Game Boy. It's hard to distinguish blocks on that screen — but it works. If you're interested in trying it out yourself, download the cart files that Friedly published.

This week has mostly been a depressing affair for the gaming industry, what with Sony killing off physical PlayStation Discs and Microsoft laying off over 3,200 roles at Xbox.

We could all use some levity after this string of bad news, so we're going to do that by marveling at the creative ingenuity of YouTuber 'Game of Tobi'.

For you see, this clever tinkerer has managed to get a version of the legendary Minecraft running on two iconic portable consoles that helped pave the way for gaming handhelds as we know them today: the Game Boy Color from 1998 and the original Game Boy from 1989.

This fan-made game "3D Minecraft" isn't a lower-resolution port of Minecraft. It's a unique creation where the player can play on a flat map or a full 3D-generated world. Like in regular Minecraft, you can place blocks, explore the world, and even build.

Granted, the graphics, frame rate, and gameplay are limited compared to the real thing, especially when running on the original Game Boy, as it has no colors other than black and white. Yet the fact that this creator managed to get Minecraft working on a 1998 gaming handheld and an even older one from 1989 is nothing short of technical wizardry.

This isn't the first time 'Game of Tobi' got a modern game to work on retro hardware, as they made working versions of Minecraft on the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS in the past that more closely resemble and play like regular Minecraft (complete with Survival Mode!).

In addition, they also made a Nintendo DS version of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, a Nintendo 3DS version of Super Mario Odyssey, and more.

Personally, I like seeing people using their technical know-how to make games we love playable on platforms we wouldn't expect (look no further than DOOM being playable on Notepad.exe or even a pregnancy test), and these Game Boy ports of Minecraft are no exception.

It just makes you wonder what the gaming world would've looked like if Minecraft had been made in the 1990s instead of 2011, and whether it would've been as successful back then, when gaming was still niche.

Plus, having a physical, offline version of Minecraft that isn't beholden to online servers to keep it running sounds like a pretty good idea, especially in this day and age, when online games can be delisted at any time, at the whim of a corporation, for whatever reason.

Either way, Game of Tobi has my YouTube subscription for this invention, and I'm looking forward to seeing what they make next (here's hoping they make Minecraft playable on the Nintendo Virtual Boy just for the sheer, eye-bleeding hilarity of seeing the Nether rendered entirely in the system's Red and Black color scheme).

What do you think of 'Game of Tobi's' Game Boy Color and Game Boy versions of Minecraft? Would you like to play an offline version of Minecraft on older hardware for the nostalgic novelty?

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

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Xbox's cuts over the past week have been brutal; let's not mince words here.

Four studios divested with a possible fifth in progress, over a thousand jobs removed already, with a further 2000 planned. The atmosphere within Xbox right now is dire — a total 180 following the wave of optimism from new CEO Asha Sharma's appointment in spring.

As a result, there are tons of stories coming out about what the fate of Xbox's remaining studios might be. A lot of the discourse has fallen on id Software right now, the beloved maker of DOOM. The studio is an industry staple, and arguably one of the most important and influential brands in the modern gaming canon.

Cuts at id Software have been heavy and painful. Some have claimed the studio's lauded id Tech engine is effectively on ice, and that id is no longer large enough to produce its own games.

What's the truth here? I've been investigating Microsoft's plans for id. Despite the callousness of Microsoft's bean counters, I'm confident the studio will endure.

Microsoft has no plans to shelve id Tech

DOOM and other id Software games have long been powered by the id Tech engine. The engine was designed originally for Quake back in the 90s, and has since powered a huge variety of titles, including open-world games like RAGE, horror games like The Evil Within, Wolfenstein shooters, and, of course, the modern DOOM games. More recently, Machine Games' Indiana Jones and DOOM: The Dark Ages were built on the latest versions of id Tech.

It has a very different feel to Unreal Engine, particularly for first-person games. It's been lauded for its optimization on lower-end hardware stacks, as well as its general versatility.

The cuts to id Software have hit the teams that develop id Tech hard, with decades of expertise wiped out over night. But rumors that there's now virtually nobody working on the engine are false. Sources tell me that there remains a solid stack of expertise for id Tech across id Software itself, and Machine Games. I'm told Microsoft also has no plans to shift either studio forcibly to Unreal Engine, which seems to have become the default for Microsoft and many other core game makers.

Microsoft provided us this statement on the topic: "There are dozens of people working on id Tech across multiple locations. Reports that there’s only one person left in Texas are inaccurate."

In my view, Microsoft would have to be miserably short-sighted to deprecate id Tech. Handing even more power to Unreal Engine opens them up to monopolistic price increases down the line, which would be fiscally irresponsible. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma herself said in her memo to staff that she wants Microsoft to rely less on vendors for things like this. As such, I would argue that Microsoft should invest more in id Tech, not less.

But hey, quarterly thinking is Microsoft's M.O. these days. And it is true that generational talent and knowledge has been carelessly cast aside.

id Software's headcount is now similar to what it was for DOOM (2016)

The other rumor flying around is that id Software has shrunk to a headcount that is untenable for future self-made products, relegating them to "support studio" status. This too, is false.

While the cuts have been alarmingly callous, my understanding is that the remaining id Software core team is roughly the same as it was when DOOM (2016) shipped. DOOM (2016) is arguably the studio's best-ever game in my view, despite the comparatively smaller headcount that produced it. That's not too suggest in any capacity that we should expect the same quality bar without proof ... Microsoft removed mountains of incredible talent from the pool.

Still, I'm not sure exactly what id Software could be making next. There have been reports that id Software had a variety of pitches in the pipeline, including a Perfect Dark reboot and a Western-styled shooter dubbed Ironwood. It's unclear if any of these will be greenlit.

id Software just shipped DOOM: The Dark Ages Revelations, a sizeable story expansion for last year's DOOM prequel. What the studio builds next remains to be seen, but Xbox CEO Asha Sharma specifically called out DOOM and Quake as franchises to invest in.

Microsoft wants to grow its most staple and recognizable IP, which at least in the near term, likely excludes "new" franchise ideas. I'd still like to see what a modern Hexen would look like ... perhaps we'll learn more at Quakecon, which is still going ahead.

It's still been a needlessly brutal exercise

While rumors of id Software's demise have been greatly exaggerated, the layoffs have still been callous and brutal. Staffers with decades of expertise and tenure were let go, despite the success of the modern DOOM trilogy.

Microsoft's gaming aspirations have been heavily reduced over the past week, in what CEO Asha Sharma has been describing as a "reset." This has led to sizeable reductions in teams working on a variety of projects, from The Elder Scrolls to Xbox's social media delivery and platform features. Other studios, like Blizzard, seem to have emerged largely unscathed so far. And Xbox's hardware team building Helix has also been left intact.

Xbox has worked hard to save studios like Undead Labs from outright closure. But, it hasn't prevented Microsoft from expunging hundreds of jobs in other areas, inside Xbox and beyond. Microsoft's huge bets on artificial intelligence haven't really delivered meaningful returns, and the vast capital expenditure on data center buildouts is spooking investors.

At Xbox, the layoffs reflect a challenging time in traditional gaming. Core gaming has seen a contraction owing to increased costs and lack of investment in younger cohorts, which dropped consoles in favor of Roblox on mobile devices, alongside non-gaming activities. Microsoft's lack of investment in Xbox's platform and social features have prevented it from finding new users out of the Gen-X and Gen-Y cohorts, many of whom are starting to age out.

Where Xbox goes from here wholly remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure: DOOM is eternal, and it will outlive Microsoft's bad decision-making.

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Though it launched to scathing criticism and widespread controversy in late 2018 due to lackluster content offerings and severe technical issues, Fallout 76 — Bethesda Game Studios' multiplayer-focused MMO-lite take on the post-apocalyptic RPG series — grew to become fairly popular over time, with the title still enjoying regular content updates and a healthy community eight years later.

In the wake of this week's massive wave of 3,200 Xbox layoffs and four studio divestments, however, there are fears that support for the long-running Appalachian adventure may soon come to an end. Teams under the ZeniMax and Bethesda umbrella have been affected "significantly," including the game's steward, Bethesda Game Studios.

It's been reported that over 50 staffers have been cut from Bethesda across its headquarters in Rockville, Maryland and its office in Dallas, Texas — a reduction in force that has The Elder Scrolls 6 devs fearing crunch on and delays of the long-awaited RPG moving forward. Some also worry that a significant amount of time will have to be spent training contractors to use Bethesda's proprietary tools like the Creation Engine.

Notably, though, one Bethesda developer commented to IGN that they "have no idea how they'll continue updating Fallout 76 without hiring an external studio," which suggests development of the experimental Fallout title could end at some point in the near future.

Another possibility is that Fallout 76 support will ultimately continue, but with its updates and patches being reduced in size and cadence. This appears to be what's happening with The Elder Scrolls Online and ZeniMax Online Studios; content roadmaps for that game are "shifting" after its developer suffered over 200 cuts this week.

We may also see external support for Fallout 76 come, as in a letter sent to staff, Bethesda president Jill Braff emphasized the need for the studio to better support its "strongest franchises" — echoing recent sentiment from Xbox's CEO Asha Sharma that it needs to "move faster" with core IPs like Fallout.

Ending support for the most recent game in the series would arguably go against that goal — especially while the extremely popular Fallout TV show is bringing countless new eyes to the property. With that said, Fallout 76 is now eight years old and isn't massively popular, and with Obsidian now making a new Fallout game, Microsoft may not see much value in continuing to invest resources in the title.

In the end, it's impossible to say what will happen with Fallout 76 moving forward until we hear something official from Microsoft, Xbox, or Bethesda. Based on the aforementioned comment from a developer, though, I do think it's likely that the game's live-service development will change in some way.

Whether it ends up stopping completely or just slowing down remains to be seen, but I can't imagine that this week's cuts won't be reflected in Fallout 76's update cadence somehow.

In the wake of Microsoft's Xbox layoffs, should support for Fallout 76 continue? Or do you think Bethesda should move on from the game? Let me know in the comments, and in the above poll.

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While many different development teams were affected by this week's massive wave of 3,200 Xbox layoffs from Microsoft, studios under the Zenimax and Bethesda banner have reportedly faced some of the most brutal cuts of all. They're going through "a significant overhaul" in their wake, with well over half of DOOM dev id Software axed and over 200 roles removed at The Elder Scrolls Online maker ZeniMax Online Studios.

Bethesda Game Studios — the team behind Skyrim, Fallout 4, Starfield, and the upcoming The Elder Scrolls 6, among other titles — has also been hit, with reports of over 50 of its developers being let go. And according to a new report from IGN, that loss of talent will have a "substantial and cascading effect" on development of the next The Elder Scrolls RPG.

"Their loss will have a substantial and cascading effect on the game and morale of this studio," lamented one Bethesda staffer. "It's been a mix of every discipline: programmers, artists, and designers. One person who's been at the company since Morrowind [the third The Elder Scrolls game released in 2002] was cut," added another.

Those impacted by the layoffs include "key, high-performing people in the trenches" — and those who remain at Bethesda fear that their dismissal will lead to significant complications for The Elder Scrolls 6, including an extensive amount of time spent training contractors, unhealthy amounts of crunch and overtime, and delays for a title that's already reportedly two years away as it is.

"There is a fear that we are going to be replaced by cheaper, contracted labor, or we will hire folks to replace them that will need to be onboarded [due to proprietary tools] resulting in more delays, and we'll need to crunch to make up the time," one Bethesda employee told IGN. Another noted they've heard colleagues have been asked to train new contractors already.

"We've all been very excited and hyped for TES 6 and this has had a crushing effect on morale," said another worker. "We were already running a tight ship and are worried about this delaying the game."

Reportedly, the team working on the RPG will receive support from ZeniMax Online Studios, though it's unclear how extensive of a role the The Elder Scrolls Online studio will play. I can't help but think it will be minor, given the fact that that team just suffered over 200 cuts.

Developers still at Bethesda have been assured they're safe from the 1,600 layoffs of the 3,200 that are coming throughout the next 12 months, though team members worry they'll eventually be let go as well. It's a rational fear, given Microsoft and Xbox's layoff history.

"The 'survivors' were told they're safe from those next 1,600 but it's not entirely reassuring," one asserted. "Even if that's true, who's to say there's not another 1,600 next year after that? It's had the chilling effect of realizing you don't get to retire off your work at Xbox. Your time ends when you quit or are laid off, that's it."

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When Palworld first launched in early 2024, skeptics labeled it simply as"Pokémon with guns" that would surely fold the moment Nintendo's legal team caught wind of it.

Instead, over the proceeding 2 and half years, Pocketpair have built a legitimate survival-crafting funfest that has more than carved it's own path in the gaming industry.

Tomorrow, July 10, Palworld officially exits Early Access and launches version 1.0. Revealed just last month at the Summer Game Fest, the highly anticipated full release has been preceded today by an awesome new trailer, showing Palworld looking sharper and more expansive than ever before.

The scale of Palworld 1.0 is going to be massive

To give you an idea of the sheer scale of this launch, Pocketpair’s Community Manager, Bucky, has been teasing that he's nearly losing his mind trying to format the patch notes.

The update boasts 27 PDF pages totaling over 66,000 characters of changes and additions, so massive it actually broke Steam's standard 32,000-character post limit.

Palworld's rocky road to 1.0

Palworld's success is nothing short of legendary at this point. Launching into Early Access in January 2024, it became a viral hit and secured it's place as Xbox's biggest third party Game Pass launch in history by drawing in over 7 million players. Fast forward to today, and Pocketpair has just announced a mind boggling 40 million total players across all platforms. With 1.0 finally here, I'm hoping that number rises exponentially.

The milestone is made even sweeter as it was achieved against a backdrop of agressive attempts from Nintendo and The Pokemon Company to stamp out the game via patent litigation. Though through proactive changes to the game, like reworking the overworld monster catching mechanics and mounting systems, Pocketpair have successfully minimized the scope of the lawsuit (which is still ongoing in Japan). The case now stands to recover damages of equivalent $30,000 as a best case scenario, and is only relevant now to early access builds. Palworld will be entering 1.0 with it's head held high.

Pocketpair have also confirmed that despite the industry standard of Early Access games to bump up their price for a retail launch, Palworld will remain at $29.99.

"We are incredibly proud of how far Palworld has come. Thanks to the amazing support of our players, it has become a success beyond our wildest dreams."

Is Palworld worth a revist if I played at launch?

Palworld is absolutely worth going back to whether you haven't played since 2024, or even the most recent update.

While Pocketpair has confirmed that your old Early Access save files will still work, Bucky and the dev team strongly recommend starting entirely fresh. The early-to-mid-game progression has been completely overhauled to create a seamless, rewarding experience from the ground up.

Here is a breakdown of the biggest changes you can look forward to at launch:

Biome and world changes

• The Sky Island biome: A massive, beautiful floating island region suspended high above the Palpagos archipelago, serving as the focal point for endgame exploration.
• A new Sky Village: A friendly, inhabited settlement tucked away in the clouds of the new biome.
• Revamped map & story: Vast new areas have been stitched into the world, while older regions have received visual reworks and structural improvements.

Pal & System reworks

• Tower boss overhaul: The game's marquee boss encounters have been entirely redesigned with new mechanics and scaling.
• Wildlife Sanctuary remodel: Sanctuaries are now encased in massive, glowing shield bubbles. They are heavily guarded by flying drone-type defenders and prowled by dangerous, powerful bosses.
• Early-game progression: Brand-new Pals have been strategically distributed into the early stages of the game to make the initial leveling journey feel entirely fresh.

Base building upgrades

• Floating foundations: Say goodbye to land constraints; you can now build your structural foundations directly out onto the water.
• Expanded architecture: New roof variants and decorative statues allow for highly customized aesthetic designs.
• Streamlined expedition stations: The station has received a sleek visual redesign to look much less obtrusive when blending it into your custom bases.

New mechanics & gear

• The Wing pack: A traversal tool described as a "jetpack with wings," custom-built to help you navigate the vertical gaps of the Sky Islands.
• The Fish Sword: A hilarious and powerful new combat mechanic where you unsheathe the literal spine of a fish Pal to use as a sword, mirroring Foxparks' famous flamethrower ability.
• Advanced weaponry: A suite of un-named, high-tier weapons for players to craft.

And don't forget the new Pals!

Pocketpair is dropping more new Pals in this single update than in every prior patch combined. Here are the standout creatures and variants confirmed by trailers and community teasers.

• Ahri & The Crazy Dragon Serpent - The newest Sky Island Tower Boss, heavily tied to a massive, serpentine dragon seen in the cinematic trailers.
• Seekmet - Affectionately dubbed "Catgirl Anubis" by the community; a powerful addition to the roster.
• Soul Mora - A sleek fish Pal first teased in a comic strip. It is an exceptionally rapid swimmer that can curiously be ridden at high speeds on dry land.
• Lefan - A martial-arts-themed panda who serves as a direct counterpart to Mossanda.
• Hoodle & The Sleepy Pal - Hoodle looks like a hoodie possessed by a ghost child, and is constantly accompanied by a guardian Pal that looks like it desperately wants to go to sleep at 6:00 PM.
• Venusa - A wonderfully derpy, happy Gorgon/Medusa-themed snake lady.
• Tropica - A flightless, comical raptor-bird hybrid sporting a giant, floppy flower on its head.
• Dupin - A mischievous, rabbit-jester magician creature.
• Puff & Pikmi - Puff is a yappy, electric-type puppy, while Pikmi is a tiny ghost child Pal that lives to jump-scare players.
• Snock - An electric snail Pal, making its official debut after being hidden away as an official comic-strip exclusive.

Other notable additions to watch out for include: a Beetle-themed Egyptian warrior with arm-whips, and a mysterious silhouette waiting at the very top of the World Tree, and I'm sure many more that I've missed..

What time does Palworld 1.0 go live?

The launch drops simultaneously worldwide. Depending on where you live, you'll be jumping in either late tonight or early tomorrow morning. Here are the approximate global release times:

• Los Angeles: 8:30 PM PT (Thursday, July 9)
• New York: 11:30 PM ET (Thursday, July 9)
• London: 4:30 AM BST (Friday, July 10)
• Tokyo: 12:30 PM JST (Friday, July 10)
• Sydney: 1:30 PM AEST (Friday, July 10)

Get your Pal Spheres ready and clear your weekend schedule.

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Despite being one of the studios affected by Xbox's company-wide "Reset" and Xbox CEO Asha Sharma taking direct control of Minecraft with the goal of helping it compete with Roblox, Mojang Studios appears to be still going strong, as it has released a new update for its iconic survival-crafting game.

This update, titled Preview 26.40.30, is bringing with it a slew of gameplay changes, bug fixes, and a couple of new in-game items that felt like they should've been in Minecraft from the beginning: Cushions and a Straw Bed.

Cushions allow players to sit and rest after a long day's adventuring and crafting. They don't offer any statistical gameplay benefits but can make for fun roleplay toys when sitting by campfires or having sleepovers with your friends in co-op.

The Straw Beds are a new type of bed which players can sleep on to recover health without creating a new spawn point that overrides a previous one. This can be handy if you plan on adventuring but don't want to respawn in the middle of a Creeper-infested cave and want to go back home when you die.

The materials needed to craft these items, along with the rest of this update's gameplay changes, can be found in the patch notes below:

Drop 3 Experimental Features

• Cushion
  • The Cushion is an item that the player can place in the world and interact with to sit on
  • Can be crafted in 16 colored variants
  • Cushions are crafted using 3 Wool Slabs of the same color
  • Known Issue: Cushions aren't currently generating in the Abandoned Camps, but can be found in the creative inventory
• Cushion Placement Rules
  • A cushion can be placed on any flat surface
  • Cushions always align horizontally to the grid, but vertically sit on top of the supporting surface
  • Cushions cannot move
  • Cushions break if the supporting block is removed
  • Cushions do not have collision and can overlap with other objects (except other cushions)
• Straw Bed
  • Straw Bed is a new type of bed which can be used to sleep through the night without setting your spawn point
  • It can only be used once and will be destroyed after use
  • It can not be used in the Nether or The End and will be destroyed if you try to sleep on it there
  • It is crafted using 3 Hay Bales and will give you 4 Straw Beds
• Abandoned Camp
  • Abandoned camp now generates in Pale Garden and Flower Forest biomes (MCPE-230024) (MCPE-240045)
  • Straw Beds can now be found in Abandoned Camps
  • Updated Abandoned Camps to place procedural trees
  • Fixed wrong potion names in the loot tables for the Abandoned Camp
• Dappled Forest
  • Changed biome fog settings to match other forest biomes
  • Updated Orange, Red & Yellow Poplar Leaves MERS textures
• Sounds
  • Updated ambient sounds for Poplar leaf blocks
  • Added custom sound events for Red Shrubs and Poplar leaf blocks
• Graphical
  • Added opaque versions to the Poplar leaves to fix black background issue (MCPE-240020)
  • Added hinges to Poplar door icon. Also removed 3 pixels from top door texture that didn't match the palette
  • Fixed Poplar sign texture to follow other sign assets
• Gameplay
  • Added missing recipes for Wool Stairs and Wool Slabs (MCPE-240040)

Features and Bug Fixes

• Accessibility
  • Fixed the focus indicator on the "More options" button on the start screen so it no longer relies on color alone, adding an underline when the button is focused
• Blocks
  • Azalea and Flowering Azalea are no longer see-through when viewed from below (MCPE-217896)
  • Brown and Red Mushrooms can no longer be placed under the sky when it is dark
  • With the Minecraft Education features toggle enabled, it is possible to place charcoal again in the Lab Table (MCPE-240097)
  • Fixed a miscolored pixel in one of the Sulfur Spike textures
• Gameplay
  • Fixed an issue where structure loot would differ on the same seed (MCPE-239951)
• General
  • Brown and Red Mushrooms now generate on Crimson Nylium and Warped Nylium no matter the brightness
• Graphical
  • Fixed a rendering issue with Vibrant Visuals where some items and text could be invisible on certain Android GPUs
  • Updated supported devices for Vibrant Visuals on Android
• Items
  • Fixed issue where book and quill from pre-26.30 worlds freezes the game (MCPE-239753)
  • Arrows of Harming no longer bounce off entities and are now correctly removed on hit (MCPE-239756)
• Character Creator
  • Exiting the dressing room no longer automatically saves your character if you have an unequipped color change.
• Stability and Performance
  • Fixed a crash that could occur when spawning more than one Iron Golem
  • Game servers now attempt to self-repair some player connection issues
  • Fixed a crash that could occur during world generation when placing structures containing double chests
  • Fixed a potential crash issue related to Concrete Powder blocks converting into Concrete.
• User Interface
  • Fixed a bug where text formatting codes in a resource pack's name carried over into the rest of the toast notification when the pack was activated or deactivated (MCPE-182130)
  • Add missing preview image for the Desert flatworld preset (MCPE-194395)
  • Updated the network disconnection message to direct players to enable 'Use Mobile Data' in general settings instead of profile settings
  • Fixed a bug where button touch areas did not align with the buttons in windowed Android modes with a title bar, such as Samsung DeX and pop up view.
  • The Pause Game setting is now rendered in the Main Menu (MCPE-237101)
  • Show "Game unpaused" notification over all screens when the pause screen is open (MCPE-229796)
  • Fixed a soft-lock that prevented further join attempts after a party leader's Experience join was blocked by the party eligibility check
  • Fixed the "How to Play" button being missing from the Settings menu in Minecraft Education
  • Fixed Cloud sync storage banner to not show redundant information that storage is both full and almost full when cloud storage is full (MCPE-240036)
  • Fixed the Beacon screen displaying a duplicated header in the Pocket UI
  • Create New World list is loaded correctly after deleting world data through the "Manage Worlds" button (MCPE-239804)
  • Updated Nintendo Switch terminology for local wireless multiplayer
  • Fixed a problem that caused touch scrolling to be unresponsive in creative inventory. (MCPE-236783)
  • Fixed an issue that prevented splitscreen players from interacting with Game Settings. (MCPE-237830)
  • Updated Marketplace badges to use semantic Tag styling for bordered and spacious variants, with refreshed Tag documentation and tests
  • Fixed skin info button not working on expanded skin pack page
  • After entering the sidebar while spinning the character, it will no longer continue to spin by itself
  • Players with multiplayer-restricted skins can now enter worlds with multiplayer disabled
  • Removed space appearing between the chat tab and the social drawer (MCPE-239456)
• Marketplace
  • Updated Marketplace content cards with new pass and rating iconography, refreshed Minecoin visuals, and a notice badge treatment for surfaced states
• Storage
  • Updated old world conversion flows in the Storage Settings tab.

Technical Updates

• Commands
  • Allow self selection expansion when using commands (i.e. /tell) for non-operator players.
  • Fixed clone command cloning partial beds, both parts must be fully inside cloning volume
  • Fixed the /fill command from improperly placing blocks defined with the minecraft:multi_block trait
• Graphical
  • Tightened the anti-x-ray trigger box to avoid false-positive cases when riding a mob
  • Fixed custom blocks rendering a stray solid face that could bleed through textures when a model face was hidden by setting one of its UV size dimensions to zero
  • Fixed texture bleeding on custom blocks using automatic block face UV assignment with undersized textures
• Actor Components
  • Made schemas for the following components stricter when parsing and will fail to load an entity json that has invalid data in versions 1.26.40 and newer.
    • minecraft:cannot_be_attacked
    • minecraft:ignore_cannot_be_attacked
    • minecraft:floats_in_liquid
    • minecraft:wants_jockey
• AI Goals
  • Fixed a bug where the on_kill event in the following behavior components was incorrectly mapped to the on_attack field, causing the event to never fire when an entity killed its target. The fix applies to entity definitions with format version 1.26.40 and above.
    • minecraft:behavior.melee_attack
    • minecraft:behavior.melee_box_attack
    • minecraft:behavior.delayed_attack
    • minecraft:behavior.stomp_attack
    • minecraft:behavior.use_kinetic_weapon
• API
  • Fixed minecraft:hopper_minecart to fire EntityItemPickupAfterEvent and EntityItemPickupBeforeEvent for items above the cart.
  • Released LootItem.conditions in @minecraft/server v2.4.0 (moved from beta to stable)
• DDUI
  • Fixed Images in CustomForms not being centered in the form.
  • Added ImageOptions.onClick and ImageOptions.tooltip which allow for a callback on click of an image and a tooltip on images, for use with CustomForm.image.
• Blocks
  • N-way rotation on geometry components no longer requires upcoming creator features experiment
  • minecraft:sixteen_way_rotation state on placement direction block trait no longer requires upcoming creator features experiment
  • Align brightness sampling strategies between custom and vanilla blocks (MCPE-237493)
  • Jigsaw Block replacement will now log when an invalid final_state is encountered
  • Added new biome decoration feature "minecraft:multi_block_feature", which can be used exclusively to place blocks defined with the "minecraft:multi_block" trait
  • Released the minecraft:instrument_sound component from experimental.
• Crafting
  • "minecraft:recipe_smithing_transform" now accepts items tagged with "minecraft:transform_materials" in its "addition" field
• Editor
  • Fixed a bug where copying and pasting a double chest with the Paste Preview or Structure tool pasted it as two separate single chests instead of a single double chest
  • The Block Inspector tool now highlights the currently selected block with a bounding box, giving a clear visual indicator of which block is being inspected
  • Fixed the Primitives Tool preview and placement to follow the Fixed Distance cursor projection
  • The Flood Tool no longer errors when pressing Ctrl+D to remove a preview that has already been removed
  • Editor property pane items no longer display an empty tooltip when there is no tooltip text to show, such as the Flood Tool progress bar
  • The Dimensions tool now returns the player to their last-known position in the target dimension, or the origin on first visit
  • The Farm Generator tool now offers Pale Oak, Dark Oak, Nether Brick, and Mangrove fence options
  • Fixed a bug in the Biome Data Assignment tool where the Allow biome tag list was matched with a logical AND, so only biomes containing every allowed tag were eligible; allowed tags are now matched with a logical OR, so a biome is eligible if it has any of the allowed tags
  • Fixed a bug in the Vibrant Visuals color settings where dragging a timeline playhead no longer scrubbed the viewport time, so color and value keyframes could not be previewed across the day/night cycle
  • Fixed a bug that caused the sliders connected to any Vibrant Visuals "Enabled" checkbox to be manipulated with the checkbox toggled off
  • Fixed a bug that caused incorrect theme color to display for disabled text field
  • Added a Timeline panel to the Cinematic Tool for visualizing and editing keyframes along the camera path
  • Renamed "Control Points" to "Keyframes" throughout the Cinematic Tool to align with standard animation terminology
  • Removed all transaction recording and management functionality from the TransactionManager API and moved it to the PendingTransaction object. Transactions are now created through createPendingTransaction function, while staged changes are finalized using the submit and discard methods
  • Added pending transaction support for ClipboardItem.writeToWorld and BrushShapeManager APIs
  • Added a drag handle to the cinematics timeline so the timeline duration can be adjusted directly in the editor
  • Fixed a bug that caused placeholder string in text field to be incorrectly styled
  • The Navigation panel's minimap now uses the new minimap control
    • World locations are now stored per-dimension and shared across all clients
    • Lowered the Nether's minimap scan Y-level so the map skips the bedrock ceiling
  • Removed the "X" button from progress windows for the Custom Mesh, Primitive, and Flood tools
  • Fixed a bug that appears in Layout Template Manager during 'Copy Template' operation when copying a template with structures. The template is copied along with name and display name. The fix is that the name and display name metadata are set from the caller.
  • Fixed a bug where the custom cursor does not change from wait/load icon after canceling the flood operation
  • Fixed a bug that caused Collection Tree UI element width to be incorrect
• Entity Components
  • Made the should_bounce boolean field of the minecraft:projectile component into an enum:
  • no: the projectile never bounces (default)
  • if_invulnerable: the projectile bounces only when the target is invulnerable to the damage source (e.g. creative mode, shield blocking)
  • if_no_damage_dealt: the projectile bounces whenever no damage was dealt, regardless of the reason (invulnerability, damage sensor, invulnerability frames)
  • Content authored against earlier format versions is automatically upgraded when loaded in 1.26.40 or later: true becomes if_invulnerable and false becomes no
• Features
  • Fixed incorrect example json for Height Difference Filter documentation
• Graphical
  • The MERS textures for following baby mobs and Rabbits are now visible
    • Baby Humanoid Chainmail Armor
    • Baby Dolphin
    • Baby Fox
    • Baby Goat
    • Baby Hoglin
    • Baby Panda
    • Baby Warm Pig
    • Baby Zombie Piglin
    • Rabbits
    • Snifflet
• JSON Schema
  • Updated the generated Minecraft JSON Schema files to use a more granular schema layout instead of producing one self-contained schema file per registered type. This reduces duplicated schema content and makes the generated schemas easier to consume with external tools.
  • Added binary-protocol metadata to generated SharedTypes JSON Schemas, including ordinal index, control value type, underlying type, and serialization options. This gives tools more information about the binary layout of the objects described by the JSON Schemas.
• Mobs
  • The tamed baby Wolf's collar now has a proper MERS texture
• Sounds
  • Fixed the destroy block sound position to be at the center of the block instead of at the corner (MCPE-60799)

Experimental Technical Updates

• API
  • Added getShapes method on PrimitiveShapesManager.
  • Added interface PrimitiveShapeQueryOptions for use with getShapes.
  • Added AllowListEntry to @minecraft/server-admin with optional name and xuid properties in beta
  • AllowList changes in @minecraft/server-admin all in beta
  • Added entries: AllowListEntry[] property
  • Changed add() to accept either a Player or AllowListEntry and removed accepting string as parameter. Adds InvalidArgumentError to this function when AllowListEntry has both name and xuid properties set to undefined.
  • Changed remove() to accept either a Player or AllowListEntry and removed accepting string as parameter. Adds InvalidArgumentError to this function when AllowListEntry has both name and xuid properties set to undefined.
  • Changed contains() to accept either a Player or AllowListEntry and removed accepting string as parameter. Adds InvalidArgumentError to this function when AllowListEntry has both name and xuid properties set to undefined.
  • Added new beta enum CloneMode with values Copy, ForceCopy, and Move that specifies how blocks are cloned between regions
• Dimension
  • Added cloneBlocks method to beta that clones a region of blocks from one area of the dimension to another, with support for clone modes and an optional block filter
• Sound Duration Info
  • The playback position now reflects calls to SoundInstance.seekTo
  • While a sound is paused via SoundInstance.pause, the playback position no longer advances; SoundInstance.resume continues from where it was paused
• Editor
  • Removed and replaced uses of minecraft/server CompoundBlockVolume in the Experimental API with the beta minecraft/server-editor RelativeVolumeListBlockVolume
• Graphical
  • Fixed a performance issue when in the Nether
  • Added a system to dynamically scale per-point-light shadow resources
  • Increased the maximum number of point lights
  • Fixed a bug where point light shadows would flicker during dynamic scaling
• Sound
  • Added minecaft:sound block component
    • it requires format version 1.26.20 and Experimental Upcoming Creator Features
    • it can be used to assign a set of sounds to block and its permutations similar to sound field in blocks.json
    • blocks.json overrides values of minecraft:sound component, including values in all permutations

Stay tuned for more as we keep an eye out for news regarding all things Minecraft, including the upcoming Minecraft Movie sequel and Minecraft Dungeons 2.

What do you think of Minecraft's latest patch and the new Cushion and Straw Bed items it's providing? Are you looking forward to the second Minecraft Movie and Minecraft Dungeons 2?

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

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We have recently heard rumors saying that Zenimax and Bethesda will be 'significantly' impacted by Xbox's company-wide restructuring. So far, these rumors are coming true in depressing ways, as DOOM developer Id Software confirms it has lost over 136 staff, and now the team behind The Elder Scrolls Online, ZeniMax Online is next on the chopping block.

According to a WARN report released by the State of Maryland (via VGC), Zenimax Online has lost 213 employees thanks to Xbox's big "Reset". In addition, Zenimax Media Inc., the company that owns Bethesda Game Studios, has also lost 166 employees.

One of the game developers who previously worked at ZeniMax Online, Andrew Young, has reacted with anger and disappointment at this news, stating that "I’m just so angry today. People will never know the blood, sweat, and tears that went into making ESO or how we basically funded other failing projects while never getting enough resources to really keep up with our release cadence. The team deserved much better."

This news will no doubt fuel the flames of angry fans letting their harsh criticisms and opinions be known to Microsoft about this decision, spurred on by Bethesda's Union, which feels similar sentiments of frustration about the whole situation.

However, the good news is that there are no reports so far that The Elder Scrolls Online MMO is shutting down as a result of these layoffs, but whether or not ZeniMax Online will be able to bounce back from this loss as it did with 2025's layoffs that forced it to cancel its secret "Project Blackbird game" remains to be seen.

There's little doubt that more official reports of the exact damage done to Xbox's game studios will continue to be released as the company's restructuring goes on. So, we'll keep you posted on further developments regarding the ongoing situation at ZeniMax and Bethesda.

When do you think these mass layoffs will end? Do you think Xbox's game studios will be able to bounce back from these layoffs and continue making games? Do you think The Elder Scrolls Online will be able to survive now that ZeniMax Online has lost a considerable amount of manpower?

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

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Recently, Bethesda's Union expressed frustration that Zenimax and Bethesda, the studio currently in charge of award-winning Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, and DOOM franchises, among others, has suffered job cuts as part of Xbox's company-wide 'Reset', with reports from Bloomberg suggesting it was one of the studios hit the hardest with layoffs.

A day after voicing their displeasure, Bethesda's Union took to Bluesky to call upon gamers and ask them to voice their concerns regarding the biggest wave of layoffs in Xbox's history and the state of Bethesda's future games to Microsoft directly through the Xbox Player Voice feedback platform.

It stated, "Yesterday's layoffs at Bethesda Game Studios were not a cut of '14 layers of management. We lost dozens of programmers, artists, designers, and testers. Many of whom worked at BGS for decades. If Bethesda fans are worried this will harm the quality of our future games, like The Elder Scrolls VI, let Microsoft know!"

One way you can show Microsoft your concern is here through the XBOX Player Voice feedback platform: feedbackportal.microsoft.com/feedback/ide...

— @bethesdaunion.bsky.social (@bethesdaunion.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-07-10T10:29:10.778Z

Upon hearing this, players flocked to the platform in droves and unleashed all their pent-up frustrations and criticisms at Microsoft.

Comments ranged from scathing doomsaying, like "If Microsoft does not reverse course they will be destroyed." by Percy Hartley to constructive feedback, like the most upvoted comment (at over 2,500 votes) by Witt Yao, stating, "The layoff of 3,200 workers at XBOX (across Activision, Bethesda/ZeniMax, Blizzard, King, Mojang, Obsidian, id Software, and XBOX Game Studios) is unacceptable. This continues a pattern that has led to 10,000+ layoffs at XBOX in as little as two years."

Witt Yao continues, "Multiple studios have been closed or had their futures jeopardized (Compulsion Games, Double Fine, Undead Labs, Ninja Theory, Tango Gameworks, Arkane Austin, Alpha Dog Games, and Roundhouse Studios) and numerous games have been cancelled. The developers and players agree that This Can Not Continue. A true reset that meets the needs of the XBOX community looks like the following:"

He then advises on how Microsoft could potentially improve the Xbox brand with the following suggestions:

• Transparency for Players - Showcasing games from studios they intend to sell or close weeks later feels bad for players.
• Keep Teams Together - No layoffs for the next 2 years and end studio closures. Studio closures hurt the fans of that studio.
• XBOX is already profitable without reaching a billion people every day - Stop constraining XBOX by the unrealistic profit expectations of the Microsoft Accountability Margin. 
• Trust the Developers - Negotiate in good faith with unions and developers, so they can better represent the needs of both developers and gamers.
• Layoffs are a Failure of Leadership - No executive bonuses when there is a layoff.
• Invest in the Future of Gaming - Invest in the future generation of video game developers instead of unpopular technologies like AI that players don’t want. Game development expertise is the biggest asset of a video game company. 

Stay tuned for more info, as we can keep an eye out for developments and reactions regarding the biggest shake-up within the Xbox brand's history.

Have you voiced your opinions to Microsoft through the Xbox Player Voice Feedback? Do you have destructive or constructive criticisms regarding the Xbox brand's "reset" that has seen over 3,200 jobs terminated across many of Xbox's game studios?

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

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Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV continues to show more extended demonstrations of its real-time strategic gameplay with a new 15-minute video.

The last video focused on the Space Marine and Ork factions, but this time, we'll take a look at the Necron faction and the Adeptus Mechanicus faction facing off in a 1v1 skirmish mode game.

Here's how it went down.

The second gameplay demonstration kicks off with a look at the Adeptus Mechanicus (Admech for short), a faction of tech-worshipping cyborg cultists who are making their debut in the Dawn of War series in this game.

What makes this faction unique is that the buildings they use to produce combat units can be linked together with a Noosphere Network. The more buildings that are linked together within an Admech player's network, the cheaper the cost of creating combat units will be, and the stronger the turrets they make will be.

In addition, the Admech faction features a wide variety of combat units, from fast Skitarii Rangers who can run around the map to steal Control Points while sniping enemies to heavily armored tanks and walking mechs that bring the hammer down on even the most heavily armored enemy units.

After the Admech player establishes a base of operations, we cut to the Necron player. Necrons are an ancient alien race of robot mummies that are nearly impossible to kill due to their extremely tough metallic bodies, their ability to regenerate wounds, and being able to resurrect upon destruction if they're not destroyed completely.

In Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV, those abilities are faithfully represented with the Necron faction, as they can build buildings that will revive fallen combat units for free so the Necron player can divert resources towards producing endless hordes of Necron Warriors, advanced combat units like giant robotic insects called Canoptek Wraiths, or mobile flying fortresses called Monoliths, just to name a few.

Another unique aspect of the Necrons in this game is that they don't have to take and hold Control Points for resources. Instead, they draw resources by covering the map in a Power Matrix, which is spread by constructing Necron buildings.

On top of that, the Power Matrix can buff a Necron player's combat units with passive health regeneration and faster squad member replenishment, and allow the player to teleport defensive turrets where they want after they're built so they can defend any position at a moment's notice.

Speaking of teleportation, the Necron faction has access to buildings that can hold combat units in reserve and then deploy from their Headquarters to any Necron Tomb Pylon on the map. This tactic can help you deploy reinforcements in dire situations or simply help the Necron combat units move faster, as most of them are slower than a snail.

After both players have established footholds, the rest of the video becomes a mechanical bloodbath as the Admech players fights desperately to fight back the Necron forces who just simply refused to die.

However, after careful management of resources, strategic plays, and amassing an small army of tanks lead by giant mechs called the Knight Castellans, the Admech player was able to overcome the Necrons and achieve victory.

Windows Central's take

After trying out the Skitarii class in Warhammer 40,000: Darktide and enjoying using the Tech-Priest Manipulus Companion in Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader's 3rd DLC expansion, I've become quite a fan of the Adeptus Mechanicus faction in Warhammer 40,000 for how twisted their cyborg designs and complex lore are.

So seeing them in action in Dawn of War is a pretty cool sight to see, as they have access to some of the advanced weapons in the setting that would even give Space Marines a run for their money if pushed too far, which look so much fun to use in this game.

The Necrons also look pretty neat and somewhat nostalgic in this game, as their gameplay tactic of generating Power Matrix on the map to build buildings feels inspired by the Zerg's Creep mechanic from StarCraft.

Although I wouldn't expect any Zerg Rush tactics from the slow-moving Necrons any time soon unless a player masters their teleporting gimmick to deploy dozens of Necron Warriors behind enemy lines.

Either way, this game continues to impress me with every new extended gameplay showcase for its multiplayer skirmish mode, and I can't wait to see what the developers have cooking for its other modes, like the single-player campaign.

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV launches on September 16, 2026, for PC via Steam. Are you looking forward to this game? Have you played any of the earlier Dawn of War games?

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

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While the ZeniMax and Bethesda studio id Software is best known for its DOOM games — including both the classic titles as well as the modern installments DOOM 2016, DOOM Eternal, and DOOM: The Dark Ages — it's explored other properties and ideas in the past, and has reportedly been "toying around" with doing so again.

...That is, until the developer was slammed by layoffs this week that came as part of a larger "reset" for Xbox and its first-party teams that's seen 3,200 roles cut and four studios divested from Microsoft's Xbox Game Studios portfolio.

Early reports suggested that half of id Software was discharged from Microsoft and Xbox, with some follow-up digging indicating that the situation is even worse, as 40 remote employees have reportedly been let go as well.

Described as a "bloodbath" by one former dev, the cuts have seemingly made it extremely unlikely that id's ideas for non-DOOM projects will ever be developed (especially with Xbox directing ZeniMax/Bethesda to focus on core IPs). A new report from GamesBeat, though, gives some insight into what those concepts were.

Aside from a multiplayer-focused DOOM game with co-op, the studio was also considering a game heavily inspired by the John Wick films called Fury, a new entry in the Perfect Dark series, and a survival-focused Western game with robots called Ironwood.

Fury was a new original property pitched by id Software's studio co-director and game director Hugo Martin, with "elements of sci-fi, noir, and Louisiana and Chicago gangsters" and "a modern, cyberpunk-like feel." Notably, it had a "Gun Fu" gameplay style that blended gunplay with martial arts melee combat, and was intended to feel like a playable John Wick movie. It was never greenlit.

Allegedly, id was also exploring the possibility of making a Perfect Dark game. The Initiative's Perfect Dark reboot was canceled last year when Microsoft and Xbox shuttered the studio; with nobody else working on a new installment in the 2000s stealth-action shooter series, id considered doing so and reportedly even had concept art drafted.

Finally, there's Ironwood. Very little is known about it other than that it would be set in a Western environment with robots and survival gameplay, though it's been said it would be very similar to the popular HBO TV show Westworld.

Apparently, there were, and are, no plans for a new Quake — another iconic shooter series id created in the '90s.

Personally, I think the concept for Fury sounds incredibly cool, and I'd love to have seen the full id Software team make a Perfect Dark game. With over half the studio now gone, however, the chances of anything other than a DOOM title being made seem extremely slim.

Perhaps one day, several years into the future, id will be able to explore some of these concepts further. With Xbox CEO Asha Sharma aiming to "move faster" with its biggest franchises, though, I doubt that would happen anytime soon.

How are you feeling about Microsoft's mass Xbox layoffs, and the major impact they've had on id Software? I'm curious, so let me know in the comments below as well as in our poll.

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Earlier this week, Microsoft initiated a large wave of 4,800 layoffs that hit the firm's Xbox and gaming divisions particularly hard, with four studio divestitures and 3,200 cuts — 1,600 immediate, and 1,600 more coming in the next 12 months — striking in what's been called a "reset" for the Xbox business.

Though the redundancies have affected teams across all of Xbox, they've impacted certain game studios such as ZeniMax and Bethesda and Obsidian Entertainment quite disproportionately. Another developer that's experienced a severe reduction in force is id Software, the team that creates and oversees the modern DOOM games.

Initially, it was reported that half of the entire studio was laid off as part of Microsoft and Xbox's restructuring — a major and devastating loss of talent that shocked the community and upset developers at id, given the popularity of its games and the potential of the always-evolving id Tech game engine.

According to a new report, however, the total number of layoffs at the Texas-based developer is even larger. At first, it was believed that 96 roles were removed at id. Now, though, Game Developer writes that a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notifications (WARN) notice — obtained by the outlet from the Texas Workforce Commission upon request — has revealed that 40 remote workers at the studio have been let go as well.

That brings the total number of id Software cuts up to 136, meaning that the studio's workforce has been hit significantly harder than early reports indicated. Notably, the WARN document also confirmed that 22 staffers have been affected at Bethesda Game Studios' office in Austin, Texas, with 158 Texas employees laid off across both teams.

146 of these workers are reportedly represented by the Communication Workers of America labor union; Bethesda Game Studios has its own union, too, and it's been very vocal about its frustration with this week's redundancies.

With how concerning the news of the loss of half of id was, hearing that an additional 40 workers were laid off on top of that is extremely worrying. I can't help but be fearful about the studio's future, and that it no longer has a headcount sufficient for the efficient development of new DOOM games and other projects moving forward.

The painful irony of the situation is that these cuts have come at the same time id released its new Revelations DLC for its latest game, 2025's DOOM: The Dark Ages. So far, the new expansion has garnered strong reviews, and I'm glad to see it...but it's also heartbreaking to see that many of the creative minds responsible for it, The Dark Ages, and other modern DOOM titles are now gone.

Do you believe that Microsoft and Xbox went too far with the cuts made to id Software? Voice your feelings on the matter in the comments, and vote in our poll as well.

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I've managed to just about avoid the Steam sale relatively unscathed, but alas this insane deal from Green Man Gaming has just had me double dipping on some of my favorite family games. Right now, you can get 7 full Lego games and additional DLC for $9.00, and they are all Steam-verified.

It's worth $9 just for the Skywalker Collection

Before you've even looked at the other games available here, it's worth noting that the Skywalker Saga alone is worth the $9 many times over. In fact, the Galactic Edition advertised here on Green Man Gaming is currently $11.99 on Steam. You get all nine movies in one collection, with over 380 characters to unlock and most importantly, Lego lightsaber battles...

RELATED: 7 of the best Game Key websites

All of the Lego games are some of the smoothest co-op experiences I've ever had with my kids and I credit Lego games for turning my youngest son into a bona fide gamer. They have kept him away from the lure of Roblox, but in reality I end up playing most of these games myself. I've just grabbed this bundle for my ROG Ally, since I already own most of them on Xbox, but they are simply perfect for handheld.

But there’s an even better reason to pick this up: Green Man Gaming is using this bundle to support Breakthrough T1D, an organization dedicated to accelerating life-changing breakthroughs to cure, prevent, and treat type 1 diabetes.

This hits incredibly close to home for me. I've previously worked for a diabetes charity in the UK, and have seen firsthand how terrifying it is for parents dealing with a young child who has Type 1 diabetes. It's easily diagnosable, yet it is so frequently missed in young kids because the symptoms are often written off as other conditions, sometimes with fatal consequences.

A portion of this $9 purchase goes directly toward preventing diabetes related illness and funding a cure.

If you want to grab it while supporting a vital cause, here is another reminder of exactly what you get in the bundle:

• LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (Galactic Edition) (Includes 13 DLC character packs)
• LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Deluxe Edition)
• The LEGO Movie Videogame
• The LEGO Movie 2 Videogame
• LEGO The Incredibles
• The LEGO NINJAGO Movie Video Game
• LEGO Jurassic World (Plus 3 included DLC expansion packs)

Whether you're looking for a perfect couch co-op experience with your kids or just want some solo fun on your Steam Deck or ROG Ally, you won't find a better value than this right now.

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Shortly after it was reported that Xbox's RPG studio Obsidian Entertainment lost 25% of its workforce to Microsoft's mass Xbox layoffs earlier this week, it's come to light that the developer has moved on from other projects to work on a new Fallout game.

That news comes from a new Bloomberg report that Windows Central can corroborate with our own sources. According to those familiar with the situation at the storied Irvine-based studio, multiple planned projects — including a sequel to 2025's Pillars of Eternity action RPG Avowed — have been canceled to prioritize the Fallout title.

Notably, the team working on the new Fallout game will be led by Josh Sawyer, the game director of Obsidian's legendary 2010 title Fallout: New Vegas that was developed in partnership with Bethesda to fill the gap between 2008's Fallout 3 and 2011's The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim. New Vegas is widely considered by many fans to be the series' best RPG, lauded for its writing quality, reactivity to player actions, and deep, systems-driven gameplay design.

Bloomberg reports that previously, Sawyer was working on an RPG that was "similar structurally and thematically to Fallout," but wasn't actually part of the iconic franchise.

It's also been said that Bethesda Game Studios — the steward of the Fallout IP, and the developer behind the creation of Fallout 3, Fallout 4, Fallout 76, and the Fallout Shelter spinoff — will work with Obsidian on the new game. At the moment, it's unclear if this means the two studios will directly co-develop it together, or if Bethesda will merely provide support.

Demand for a new mainline Fallout entry is very strong right now, what with Amazon's extremely popular Fallout TV show, now filming its third season, driving significant excitement for and interest in the post-apocalyptic sci-fi property.

With Bethesda largely focused on The Elder Scrolls 6 after Starfield and Fallout 5 a long way off, I'm not surprised to see Microsoft and Xbox direct Obsidian to pivot over to the series. After all, given its experience working on it with New Vegas, you could argue there's not a team better suited for the task...though, Obsidian losing a quarter of its staffers — many of whom are reported to have been senior devs — makes me wonder how many of New Vegas' creators are actually still there.

As for the canceled Avowed sequel? Development on it was reportedly progressing smoothly and Obsidian was planning to announce it in 2027, but in the end, it didn't fit in with Xbox's new "reset" and plans to double down on its largest franchises. Its CEO Asha Sharma recently stated she wants the brand to "move faster" with core IPs like Fallout.

It's been said that some Obsidian devs will continue to work on the sequel with hopes that it will one day be fully greenlit again. Additionally, the studio will continue to develop planned DLC expansions for 2025's The Outer Worlds 2 RPG, as well as content for the Early Access survival game Grounded 2.

Are you excited for Obsidian to make a new Fallout, or would you have preferred it to finish its Avowed sequel? Let me know in our poll above, and in the comments below.

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Original article: This week's huge wave of 4,800 layoffs across Microsoft have brought the largest ever series of cuts to Xbox in the brand's history, with 3,200 roles axed and four studios split away from the company (and with Microsoft also reportedly in talks with the French government to try and find a path forward for Marvel's Blade dev Arkane Lyon as well).

Workers have been affected throughout Xbox teams and its first-party game development studios, with some affected more severely than others. Since news of the cuts came on Monday morning, it's become clear that staffers under the ZeniMax and Bethesda umbrella and at DOOM dev id Software have been hit particularly hard, with the latter losing half of its entire workforce.

Reportedly, another studio that's been battered by Xbox's efforts to "reset" is Obsidian Entertainment, the RPG developer best known for creating the beloved Fallout: New Vegas as well as the Grounded series, Pentiment, Avowed, and The Outer Worlds 2 for Xbox after it was acquired by Microsoft in late 2018. Though it's not shutting down as rumors suggested, it hasn't come through the mass layoffs unscathed.

According to sources in contact with Kotaku, roughly 60-70 employees were laid off from Obsidian — a number that constitutes 25% of the developer's headcount. Affected roles are stated to include "producers, artists, designers, programmers, QA testers, writers, and others," including many senior staff members and the only recruiter at the studio.

It's been said that most of these discharges were a part of the 1,600 immediate cuts that Microsoft made on Monday, with "a few" coming later this year as the firm lays an additional 1,600 Xbox workers off in the next 12 months.

One source told Kotaku that those who remain at Obsidian have concerns about how the studio will be able to proceed with further development on its "huge list of projects" after how steep these cuts have been. There's apparently been no guidance from Microsoft on the matter yet.

Reportedly, the developer plans to continue working on the Early Access survival game Grounded 2 and its two announced DLC story expansions for the open-world sci-fi RPG The Outer Worlds 2. Beyond that, though, it's unclear what Obsidian will do moving forward.

Notably, with Xbox CEO Asha Sharma recently commenting that she wants the brand to "move faster" with its core IPs and directly mentioning Fallout by name alongside The Elder Scrolls and Halo, I can't help but wonder if we'll see Microsoft bring Obsidian back to the post-apocalyptic RPG series. I would be quite excited for that...but a major portion of the studio's senior devs that helped create New Vegas were just let go.

I'll also highlight that these layoffs have come months after Obsidian confirmed it was going through some internal reorganization after recent games like Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2 failed to meet performance expectations. At the time, I hoped those changes would help the studio develop new games more efficiently. We can only hope that they will ultimately do so, and mitigate the impact of these redundancies.

How do you feel about Microsoft and Xbox reportedly laying off 25% of Obsidian's workforce? Did the firm go too far? Make your voice heard in the poll below, and drop me a comment with your thoughts, too.

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As the arcade racing video game genre is absolutely flying, EA, it seems, wants no part in it any longer. At least that's how it appears if you read between the lines of a recent report from IGN at the studio responsible for much of the series, Criterion.

UK-based Criterion is hitting a big milestone: its 30th birthday. While it hasn't just been responsible for Need for Speed over the years, racing is responsible for some of its biggest hits. Lest we also forget the monumentally fun Burnout series.

But as Criterion celebrates its birthday, there's a stark reminder that the future for these two beloved franchises looks as non-existent as it could be. It's now "Criterion: A Battlefield Studio."

This is such a boneheaded move, but then, this is also EA we're talking about. Thanks in large part to XBOX's Forza Horizon franchise, the thirst for arcade racers has never been higher.

Ubisoft's The Crew is on its third outing, with Motorfest still going strong and getting plenty of fresh content. Forza Horizon 6 has just arrived on the scene and will continue to draw players for years to come. Ex-Playground Games wizards went off and did their own thing and are due to drop Clutch in 2027.

Whether you think the most recent Need for Speed games were any good or not isn't the point. EA is a steward to one of the most famous brands in the space and seems content to leave it on the shelf.

I'm pretty mad, which doesn't usually take much doing from EA these days. I wasn't thrilled when the company gobbled up another British studio making racing games, Codemasters, which had itself previously acquired Project Cars maker Slightly Mad Studios.

EA has under its ownership the F1 franchise, Dirt's library of rally games alongside EA WRC, Need for Speed, Burnout, Project Cars, and Grid. Right now, only one of those is alive.

Development on any future rally titles is on hold; Project Cars is dead; Grid is soon to be dead, with the servers on Grid Legends being shut off later this year. Burnout hasn't seen any life since 2018, and now the studio that has most recently been looking after Need for Speed is all-in on Battlefield.

F1 25 is all that really remains with its live service platform in tow. All that greatness in the locker, and EA is chasing a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow it will never reach.

Battlefield 6 is fine; I don't really enjoy it, but it's doing well, and it's a perfectly good game. But I feel like EA is sacrificing some much-loved franchises to help chase that Call of Duty money. Which just isn't going to happen.

Everything has to be live service from the biggest publishers with the biggest budgets these days, and that's fine, too. It's not going away, so we may as well accept it. But Forza Horizon 6 and The Crew Motorfest are living proof that the model works for arcade racers and that generally we're happy and enjoying it.

PlayStation players jumped on Forza Horizon 5 in massive numbers. A game that was, at the time, four years old. The newest one is flying on Xbox and PC right now, and we're looking forward to Clutch. But I don't understand why Need for Speed, especially, has been put on the shelf.

In the golden age of The Fast and the Furious, Need for Speed: Underground arrived, and it was all my friend group was talking about. My 180mph orange Corsa packed with a ludicrous body kit and neon lights was just pure joy. EA could do anything with this franchise.

We are lucky that there are still studios out there making amazing games we can enjoy, but all of this is just another notch on the belt of ongoing disappointment I'm feeling with gaming as a whole of late.

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I know Xbox is currently amid the biggest restructuring in its history, and yes, it all sucks, even if it's probably a necessary change for the company's future. Instead, though, I want to take you back to days gone by, when the infamous Don Mattrick was at the helm.

By all accounts, Mattrick inherited a golden goose in the Xbox 360, only to smash it into a million pieces with the disastrous reveal of the Xbox One. That moment all but erased the goodwill Xbox had built throughout the Xbox 360 era, effectively handed the entire console generation to PlayStation, and created problems the brand is arguably still dealing with today.

Over on BlueSky, former Halo 4 developer Don Callan spoke out about a meeting that was held between 343 Industries at the time and Don Mattrick. Callan recalls it as follows:

“I have very distinct memories of having to demo Halo 4 for Don Mattrick and realizing that these people just live on different planes of reality... I was showing off my mission and when the Mantis showed up... he raised his hand and said to the group, 'Has anyone here played... Diablo 3?'... He then went on to suggest we should copy their idea of a real money auction house for campaign mech skins…”

Callan went on to explain that while everyone around Mattrick outwardly reacted as though it was a brilliant idea, they privately thought it was beyond stupid, especially considering Halo 4 was already around 90% complete. He ultimately summed up his experience by saying, "game execs remain stupid detached money grubbing idiots."

I must admit, as much as I dislike Halo 4 and its gameplay loop (don't worry, I enjoyed the campaign), this really would have been a baffling decision, and one I'm glad never became reality. It's also worth remembering that Diablo 3's real-money auction house was widely criticized at launch and was eventually removed from the game.

Hopefully, Xbox's new leadership has more sense than whatever Mattrick was thinking at the time. With the company still in the middle of a major restructuring, tensions are understandably high both inside Xbox and among fans watching from the outside. But let me know your thoughts. Would Halo 4 have been even worse with a real-money auction house? Leave a comment below and be sure to take part in our poll below:

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As it is, Assassin’s Creed Black Flag is one of the greatest Assassin’s Creed games ever made. Buckling gameplay from bow to stern, Black Flag is the title that set a pirate craze in the world. To the point that Ubisoft spent well over a decade developing the cursed game Skull and Bones.

Even with the dastardly failure of the game, Ubisoft’s vision of a pirate game has crawled its way back in the form of the Black Flag remake, Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced. As a player who gained every single achievement in the original game, you can bet your coin that I had high expectations when it came to this remake.

I’m happy to say that a little over a dozen years after the original game, Resynced is back to claim the piracy title.

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced: The Story

You’re Edward Kenway, the ever-loving and charismatic privateer with a dashing Welsh accent. Driven by dreams of wealth for his wife and glory to boot, Edward sets sail for the West Indies in search of riches beyond measure.

From the start, Edward finds himself in turmoil under a naval encounter that sees his world unraveled and shipwrecked. A shady figure by the name of Duncan Walpole crosses paths with Edward, and an entire world beyond the realm of piracy unfolds before him. One of the shadow and ancient struggles between the Templars and Assassins. The fight between true freedom and control.

Within hours, players will find themselves commanding their very own vessel, the Jackdaw. A versatile ship under the command of a man with legendary pirate friends like Edward "Blackbeard" Thatch, Anne Bonny, Charles Vane, and more. With his trusty crew and mythical friends, Edward looks to create a pirate paradise free from the control of the outside world.

Along this path, Edward discovers the Observatory, Black Flag’s integral piece left behind by the First Civilization that both Assassins and Templars are fighting for. A device that could potentially locate any person across the globe, powers beyond Edward’s imagination begin to clash, with him caught right in the middle.

With everything at stake, Black Flag Resynced, like the game before it, does a wonderful job of depicting a struggle of self-discovery as Edward grapples with his own ambitions as they come at odds with protecting what truly matters in the world.

Unlike the original Black Flag, none of the original modern-day storyline is present. Instead, the entire game is set from beginning to end within the eyes and confines of Edward Kenway. No more will the player find themselves going through the motions of some Abstergo office.

On top of the original story, players can expect extra epilogue missions as well that add more to the world of Edward Kenway.

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced: Sail beyond the original

Everything you loved from the original Black Flag returns in Resynced, alongside a plethora of new activities to explore. From new locations to entirely new end-game missions that expand upon the original story, Resynced is more than just a remake, all while packing itself into a single game.

Modern-day stories have been replaced by Rifts, which are optional quests within the Animus that provide players with a unique “what-if” perspective shift. I won’t spoil anything, but a single one of these missions is far better than all of the modern-day experiences found in the original game, combined.

Alongside the main story, side-quests have also been expanded upon. With entirely new missions that give a better glimpse into some of the game’s most iconic characters, as well as other contracts that begin to number beyond what I’m willing to write about. Needless to say, even players who come fresh from the original will find tons of newly packed story content in Resynced!

With all the newly minted narrative pieces, Ubisoft also delivered the goods when it came to combat on foot and on the high seas. First, let’s talk about Edward’s expanded repertoire.

Edward’s melee capabilities have been expanded with perfect parries and heavy attacks. Now, when an enemy takes a parryable swing at Edward, a perfectly timed parry will open them up for a devastating finisher.

Players can also add heavy attacks to their swashbuckling swings to engage in melee beatdowns on enemies on their heels. These heavy hits are multi-enemy swings that apply to all melee weapons in the game.

Another fantastic “addition” is the rope dart, a mechanic that was part of the original, but many players felt was unlocked far too late in the game to be of any use. Correcting this mistake, Ubisoft has unlocked it for use within the first few hours of gameplay, as well as expanding on its combat capabilities.

Naval combat, as I said earlier, has also been heavily expanded. Each and every weapon on the Jackdaw now has an added secondary fire mode that drastically changes how the weapon performs. For instance, let's talk about the heated shot for the broadside cannons.

Rather than a single please-don’t-miss-shot, the heated-shot is a close-quarters monster. Enabling a rapid-fire “fire” shot that barrages the enemy with flaming cannonballs. The heated-shot is an up-close face melter when it comes to naval combat, and something I could never go back to the original without.

That’s just one of the added secondary weapons as well, with the upfront chain shots, swivel gun, mortars, and fire barrels all getting some fantastic additions to their arsenals. Open-water combat that was once perfection is now peak perfection.

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced: Looks and runs amazingly

Very rarely do I get to see a remake that captures the magic of the original while surpassing it in every way. Generally, there’s always something that seems to throw me off, something that the new team felt was needed but doesn’t quite fit the world of the initial creation.

Having played through the entirety of the original Black Flag in 2013, I went into Resynced immediately astonished. The world I had once known has been captured and enhanced in ways my nostalgia-driven mind thinks the original always looked.

Iconic cities like Nassau have been overhauled with incredibly new, detailed textures and meshes, all while triggering memory circuits in my brain I thought had been long lost. My first time on shore activated something in my head that I assumed I had completely forgotten. The buildings all fit perfectly in their places as I had once remembered them.

Even trees contain the same pathways I once ran through, while paths leading from ships initiate the same but greatly updated animations of the originals. The entire Resynced experience is absolutely breathtaking in terms of how closely the world has been reimagined while remaining faithful to its predecessor.

With that, you’d think a massive performance hit would come as well, but as someone playing on PC through Ubisoft Connect, it didn’t!

I’m happy to report that I achieved well over 120 frames per second on my build with a little DLSS Quality and Nvidia Frame Generation set to 2x. I know, I know, “frame generation sucks!” I’m here to tell you that as a competitive player, frame generation is perfectly fine in this case, given the native performance I was getting was well beyond 60 fps.

My current build is an RTX 5080, 9800X3D, and 64GB of DDR5 RAM. I was running the game on the Very High preset for most of my gameplay. I bumped it to Ultra settings with ray-tracing and field-of-view maxed, and Resynced still managed to maintain an average of 110+ frames per second.

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced: Should you buy it?

If you loved the original game, then yes, you definitely should. If you've never played it, but love that older-school Assassin's Creed formula, then yes, you should too!

For everyone else, it really comes down to what you're looking for in a game.

While Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced is massive, players can adhere to most of the mainline story without too much side-tracking. So if these larger-than-life open-world games aren't your cup of tea, just know that Black Flag Resynced can be played as a sort of linear experience.

For collectathon people like myself, Resynced isn’t quite as bad as the latest Legend of Zelda entries, but you’ll definitely be busy running around each and every island, crossing off the to-do checklist you’re presented with. Especially if you want to grab every cosmetic as I do.

Then there’s an added layer of their new Animus Hub that was originally introduced with Assassin’s Creed Shadows. More points mean more unlocks, which all just feels like an expanded version of their original Ubisoft Uplay Store.

At the end of the day, Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced is everything I’ve ever loved about the series, now dressed to the Blackbeard nines and bursting with new features to keep gamers busy for days. Sure, I’ve been overwhelmed by the treasure trove of things to do, but not once have I played without a grin plastered across my face.

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

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

Toys for Bob, the studio behind revivals of the classic Crash Bandicoot series with a long-awaited 4th installment and doing the same with Spyro the Dragon with "Spyro: A Realm Beyond", has recently expressed interest in reviving another classic platformer series, Banjo-Kazooie.

Toy for Bob confirmed its interest during an episode of the Kinda Funny Gamescast, in which the show's hosts approached them about Banjo-Kazooie. They replied: "It's a franchise we love. As platformer fans, Banjo's top of the heap."

"We have some huge, huge fans of that franchise on our staff – I'm talking, they've got the Jiggie as their profile pic, kind of a thing. They're that level of fan. If the opportunity ever arose, that would be amazing. We love the franchise."

They continued: "If you look at the through-line of the types of games we like to make, I can imagine that's part of that staple as well. I think of [those characters] as timeless. They're iconic, and I think the types of games we want to produce are ones that speak to a timeless place in the player as well, an ageless place – we call it the "inner child". So, I think they're wonderful games; we're huge fans."

While I never played Banjo-Kazooie growing up, I am fully aware of how much impact the original game had on 3D platformers, as it, along with Super Mario 64, helped set the standard for how the genre should be made for generations to come with their timeless cartoon charm and gameplay.

Unfortunately, despite popular demand, there hasn't been a new entry in the franchise since the controversial Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts from 2008, which traded the series' iconic platforming gameplay for open-world car racing and building.

Plus, the title characters themselves, Banjo & Kazooie, haven't made an appearance in a game since they were included in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in 2019. However, if there's any studio out there that can pull a miracle in bringing the lovable duo out from Microsoft's vault, I believe it's Toys for Bob.

Toys for Bob has done a fantastic job making platformers with their awesome remasters of the classic Crash Bandicoot and Spyro trilogies, as well as Crash Bandicoot 4, and the studio clearly loves the Banjo-Kazooie franchise, judging by how enthusiastic the developers were in the interview.

Plus, Toys for Bob fought tooth and nail to get the green light for a new Spyro game while winning back their independence at the same time, which shows they're willing to go to any length to make a new game for any franchise they cherish.

However, time will tell if Toys for Bob will be fortunate enough to be given the chance to take the reins of Banjo-Kazooie, but for now, I'll be looking forward to Spyro: A Realm Beyond because I can't wait to finally play a true sequel to the original classic Spyro trilogy I grew up playing on the PlayStation 1 during the 1990s.

How do you feel about the idea of Toys for Bob making a new Banjo-Kazooie game? Do you think they're fit for the job, or would you have another developer make a new game?

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

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A new report suggested that Xbox plans to double down on exclusive games, as Microsoft explores paths to grow its ecosystem.

This week, Microsoft begun processes to eliminate 3,200 roles from its Xbox gaming division, with hundreds already laid off or leaving in divested studios. In a report in Bloomberg outlying what went wrong at Xbox, we potentially caught a glimpse at how Microsoft's thoughts are evolving around its gaming ecosystem.

At the Xbox Showcase, CEO Asha Sharma outlined plans to make Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution fully exclusive to Xbox consoles. Bloomberg suggests Microsoft is looking to add even more exclusive games to its lineup potentially, which echoes comments execs made to me at Summer Game Fest in LA last June.

Much like Xbox's "it's only four games" statement about going multiplatform previously, the "it's only two games" mantra applies here in reverse. Microsoft is looking at making even tentpole single player games, historically multiplatform, exclusive to Xbox hardware (at least on console.) Could this mean we eventually see the next mainline Fallout and Elder Scrolls go exclusive to console on Xbox?

Reaching the biggest possible audiences has been the best margin play Xbox has had in recent years. Microsoft was previously driving Xbox to chase a 30% profit margin, and an easy way to do that is sell software wherever you can. However, Asha Sharma is not operating under that mandate. Instead, Sharma is operating under an ecosystem growth mandate.

Sharma has spoken at length about how her initial focus will be on Xbox's core: the console gamer. Console gamers in the Xbox ecosystem represent 4 times higher lifetime spending than other types of users across Microsoft's vast gaming ecosystem. On PC, they compete with Steam for margins. On mobile, they compete with well-established and dominant Eastern titles, while handing away millions to Apple and Google for the privilege.

Despite Xbox's retreat from PlayStation in the recent term, there remains tens of millions of active users in the Xbox ecosystem. These users are disproportionately passionate and spendy. Indeed, I would posit that anyone left in the Xbox ecosystem after all the disappointments represent the least "casually-invested" consumers in all of gaming potentially. Sharma wants to grow that base.

It's more true than ever that Xbox represents discretionary spending, and console gaming in general. Next-gen (and even current-gen) consoles are going to be expensive, owing to the memory availability crisis, tariffs, and the rest of it.

Arguably, creating desire through exclusive content is more crucial than ever to maintain an ecosystem in this universe.

One way I've heard Microsoft is exploring achieving this is direct integrations between Xbox and Minecraft. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma restructured Minecraft to answer directly to her for the first time. Integrating Minecraft's features at a platform level into Xbox consoles will be one avenue of exploration her team will look into here. What that looks like remains to be seen. I don't think Microsoft will do anything to degrade the Minecraft experience on other platforms (especially PC and mobile), but there might be exclusive (albeit basic, but fun) integrations for Minecraft on Xbox consoles. I can see Microsoft leveraging Minecraft to sell Xbox Helix as well in some ways, with more aggressive co-marketing activations and bundles.

Longer term, Microsoft may explore doing this with Activision-Blizzard properties too, but there are currently regulatory restrictions preventing Xbox from leveraging things like Call of Duty in the same way.

PlayStation recently landed a massive (multi-million dollar) marketing deal for Grand Theft Auto 6. The marketing deal is so vast, that Rockstar can't even mention the fact there's an Xbox version. PlayStation rebranded its apps to match Grand Theft Auto branding, and you can expect billboards, ads, and other campaigns to follow — excluding Xbox from the conversation.

Under previous leadership, Xbox was strangely reluctant, even seemingly embarrassed, to associate some of its acquisitions with the Xbox ecosystem. Games like DOOM, Fallout, and indeed Minecraft, barely had any co-marketing with Xbox console hardware. And it has been to the console ecosystem's detriment.

The new leadership is taking the opposite view, and it might have no choice. If consoles are to be more expensive than ever, there needs to be more reasons than ever to buy one. If I'm going to drop $1000 on a PS6 or Xbox Helix, why would I buy the box that gets less content?

Asha Sharma hopes by leveraging some of Xbox's biggest franchises in co-marketing, co-integrations, transmedia content, and exclusivity regimes, she might be able to convert more gamers into core Xbox users.

Phil Spencer was transparent in thinking this wouldn't be possible, suggesting in a previous interview that even if Starfield was a mega-banger, making it exclusive wouldn't move the needle for Xbox hardware. Sharma is betting that maybe a steady stream of said bangers might do the trick.

It will take years to find out if she's right — but will Microsoft corporate give her years to implement this strategy? That's arguably an even bigger question.

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

This week saw Microsoft and Xbox initiate the single biggest layoff wave in the gaming brand's history, with 3,200 Xbox and game development roles cut — 1,600 immediately, and another 1,600 throughout the next 12 months — as well as four studios divested from the Xbox Game Studios publishing division.

Alongside those teams and developers at ZeniMax and Bethesda, one studio that's been hit especially hard by the layoffs is id Software, the steward of the iconic and legendary shooter franchise DOOM. It's come to light that roughly half of the entire studio has been discharged, including both game devs and staffers working on its id Tech game engines.

Given the strong success of the DOOM 2016 reboot, DOOM Eternal, and last year's DOOM: The Dark Ages — which has a new Revelations DLC coming out today, one day after the cuts — the fact that id Software has been affected so significantly by the Xbox layoffs has come as a shock to many. Cuts to the id Tech team are surprising as well, as the studio's engine has historically run well and has been used for non-DOOM projects like the Wolfenstein games and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.

That shock extends to id's developers themselves, many of whom have taken to social media platforms to express their astonishment and frustrations with the layoffs. One such employee, gameplay animator Skai Chow, has reacted to them with a scathing message for both Microsoft as well as for those "celebrating and worshipping" the cuts as a "move in the right direction."

"For my friends and followers who don't work in game development celebrating and worshipping that the layoffs yesterday were 'necessary for change and a move in the right direction'...I sure hope the sixth round of layoffs is worth our pain and your pleasure," wrote Chow. "After all, things are gonna be different this time around. Right?"

Chow's post features an image that highlights five previous rounds of Microsoft and Xbox layoffs that have come down since early 2023, including 10,000 cuts in January of that year, 1,900 discharges at the start of 2024, the closure of several ZeniMax and Bethesda studios in May that year, and The Initiative and several projects being shuttered in 2025. "We hope our pain was worth it," it's captioned.

The new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma contends that these latest cuts were a difficult but necessary move as part of a "reset" for the brand after it "overextended" with lots of expansion and "overly complex" internal systems.

Regardless of how true that ultimately is or isn't, I can't blame Chow or any other developer for feeling angry and bitter. Throughout the last four years, several thousand layoffs have wracked both Xbox and the wider gaming industry at large following overinvestment in gaming during the pandemic, resulting in extreme volatility and repeated devastating losses of talent.

I don't know what the right path forward is, especially with tariffs and the RAM crisis further complicating matters, but it's clear that the business as it is now isn't sustainable — and Chow is correct to highlight that layoffs haven't yet solved the problem. We can only hope for brighter times as Xbox and the industry reorganize.

Do you believe Microsoft and Xbox have gone too far with the layoffs at id Software? Share your thoughts below, and vote in our poll.

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

Xbox is having a tumultuous week, letting go of several studios and laying off over 3,200 people as part of a big company "reset".However, that has not deterred Microsoft from updating Xbox Game Pass, as it has announced the next batch of games coming and leaving the service for the first half of July 2026.

Two major highlights from this batch include Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2, a remake two-pack of the first games in the classic skateboarding franchise, and Gears of War: Reloaded, an enhanced remaster of the original game that kickstarted the Gears of War series.

Here is the full list of Xbox Game Pass titles from this batch as stated on Xbox Wire:

Games leaving Xbox Game Pass (July 15)

• JDungeons of Hinterberg (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• EA Sports Football Club 24 (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Stellaris (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Golf With Your Friends (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Minami Lane (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Powerwash Simulator (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Shadow of the Tomb Raider Definitive Edition (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Splitgate: Arena Reloaded (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Super Fantasy Kingdom (Game Preview) (PC)
• Techtonica (Game Preview) (Cloud, Console, and PC)

Windows Central's take

Of course, the biggest highlight of this batch is Gears of War: Reloaded.

This game takes the iconic 2006 third-person shooter and gives it a shiny coat of 4K resolution with 120 fps for improved graphical fidelity and all of the original game's post-launch content, such as a bonus single-player campaign act, multiplayer maps, cosmetics, and more, in one definitive package.

We reviewed Gears of War: Reloaded and gave it 4 out of 5 Stars for faithfully remastering Gears of War while incorporating cross-play and cross-progression for its multiplayer modes and some neat accessibility options.

So, if you're looking to kill time while waiting for Gears of War: E-Day to drop on October 6, 2026, then Gears of War: Reloaded is a great way to do it, as it proves the original game has held up significantly well and is, literally, a bloody-good way to catch new fans up to speed before the prequel arrives, especially in co-op.

What do you think of Xbox Game Pass' first batch of games for July 2026? Which titles are you looking forward to playing the most?

If you have any thoughts on the matter, please let us know in the comments, on Reddit, or in the poll.

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

The Nintendo Switch 2 is the fastest-selling console of all time—imagine waking up to that headline and kicking yourself for not getting one. But is it all hype?

I recently reviewed the Nintendo Switch 2, and I can tell you that it is not just hype, but there are a few caveats. If you’re rocking a Nintendo Switch OLED or considering buying one in spite of the Switch 2’s $450 price tag, there are some advantages over the Switch 2.

So, how much did Nintendo actually change with the Switch 2? Let me tell you why you shouldn’t count out the Switch OLED just yet, and why it might be worth upgrading depending on your needs.

What’s the same?

Despite some of the radical changes from afar, there are quite a few similarities between the Switch 2 and Switch OLED (for better and worse).

Thankfully, most Nintendo Switch games are compatible with the Nintendo Switch 2, including the game cartridges. However, some are incompatible, but I won’t fully count that against the Switch 2 just yet, as both Nintendo and developers are working to resolve that with future updates.

One of the most significant and disappointing similarities is the ergonomics of the Joy-Con controllers. For the most part, the layout of the Joy-Con 2 and Joy-Con controllers is the same. Not improving upon the ergonomics of the original Switch is a wild choice from Nintendo. If you’re using third-party Joy-Con controllers like I am, you know they're infinitely more ergonomic. Now, it’s great that Nintendo improved the process of attaching the Joy-Con to the Switch, but that means you’ll need to buy another third-party controller.

A majority of the operating system and UI are the same. I think that’s fine. It’s frustrating to learn a new UI, but at least the Nintendo eShop is improved on the Switch 2. My one criticism, however, for both consoles is that the Home themes are limited to white and black. Where are my cool PlayStation-esque backgrounds? Come on, Nintendo, get with the program.

Virtual Game Cards are a huge new addition for the Nintendo Switch 2 launch, but they also work on the Switch OLED. Essentially, you can let your friends borrow one of your games for up to two weeks. I have issues with how this process works when you’re trading with yourself (why is this a thing?), but overall, it’s a neat feature.

The difference: Where the Switch OLED wins

I've made it clear in my review of the Nintendo Switch 2 — no OLED is an absolute dealbreaker. Nintendo can't just give us the greatest handheld display out there and rip it from our hands.

The depth of color and contrast outpace all other LCD/LED displays, and that’s because OLED panels feature self-emitting pixels — when you see black, you’re looking at a pixel that’s turned off, thus you get virtually infinite contrast. The bezels are also considerably thinner.

Running around Hyrule in The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom looked breathtaking, from the crisp grass to the crystal blue ocean. It felt like gazing into a window of one of Nintendo’s most iconic worlds. Playing Echoes of Wisdom on the Switch 2 looked crisp, and while the screen displayed plenty of brightness, the depth of color didn’t capture the natural environments as well as the Switch OLED. It still looks great, but side by side? Switch OLED wins.

For those with longer commutes, the Nintendo Switch OLED is rated for longer battery life — 4.5 to 9 hours, compared to the Switch 2’s 2 to 6.5 hours.

Speaking of portability, the Switch OLED is smaller and lighter, coming in at 9.5 x 4 x 0.55~1.12 inches (Joy-Con attached) and 0.71 pounds (0.93 pounds with Joy-Con attached). Meanwhile, the Switch 2 measures 10.7 x 4.5 x 0.55~1.2 inches (Joy-Cons 2 attached) and weighs 0.88 pounds (1.18 pounds with Joy-Con 2). That’s a lot more weight to hold up when you’re using the same ergonomically unsound Joy-Con controllers.

Speaking of Joy-Con controllers, I use the Hori Split Pad Pro for my Switch OLED, which means I feel extremely comfortable playing games for hours. The Switch 2 will likely get some third-party controllers in the future, but we’re not there yet. At the very least, I’d wait until the Hori Split Pad Pro 2 gets released. (Hopefully, Hori will add haptics this time.)

The difference: Where the Switch 2 wins

Performance is where the Nintendo Switch 2 shines. With its new Nvidia T239 chip, Nintendo introduces frame generation into the Switch. That gives this relatively small handheld gaming console the power to run famously taxing games like Cyberpunk 2077. Nintendo Switch OLED cannot handle demanding AAA titles, as we’ve seen with its cloud-based ports of games like Control and Resident Evil Village. Of course, it also has 4x storage.

Then there’s the display. Yeah, I know I complained about the Switch 2 ditching OLED, but the overall specs in its display and connectivity are a massive improvement. It features a larger 7.9 display clocked at a 1080p resolution with a 120Hz refresh rate. And when you connect it to the dock, you can get 4K/60Hz. That puts the Nintendo Switch 2 into a more competitive ring with its rival consoles, which have offered these specs for years. It also crushes the Switch OLED’s 7-inch, 720p (1080p when docked), 60Hz display.

I previously mentioned that the Joy-Con 2 controller layout is the same, which is true, except when they’re used individually. The Switch 2 drastically improves upon its interior Joy-Con controllers by carving out larger buttons that offer a smoother, satisfying click. The original Joy-Con controllers made me feel like I needed to fight just to click the buttons. Additionally, the Joy-Con 2 controllers being bigger overall helps with the comfort, even though they’re still a bit awkward to use.

Of course, one of the biggest additions to the controllers and the console itself is GameChat. Clicking the C button brings up GameChat, which is exactly what it sounds like. Surprisingly, the previous Nintendo Switch did not have any party chat capabilities. So while it’s not a revolutionary feature, it’s a much-needed one. And you can also stream your game to your friends, which is pretty sick.

The Switch dock is also nicer — it looks and feels more premium, but that feels more like a cherry on top than a competitive quality, outside of its performance gains.

Which should you buy?

There’s no denying that the Nintendo Switch 2 is a superior purchase compared to the Switch OLED. Yes, I am distraught over the OLED display, but it is what it is. Yet, the Switch OLED still might be the best Switch for you.

Why? Well, the Switch OLED is $350. That’s $100 cheaper than the Switch 2, and $150 cheaper if you’re considering the Mario Kart World bundle. The truth is: There aren’t many Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive games out right now (although, Donkey Kong Bananza looks pretty darn good). Even some of Nintendo’s blockbuster titles like Metroid Prime 4: Beyond will be available for the original Nintendo Switch. Will new games run as well? Probably not. But if you’re not interested in new Nintendo exclusives, you probably don’t need to upgrade.

However, if you want all the latest games from Nintendo, and especially demanding AAA games on launch day, you’ll want to jump on the Nintendo Switch 2. But I still think most people can wait. I plan on purchasing a Nintendo Switch 2… OLED model, which Nintendo will hopefully launch relatively soon. Sure, it’ll be more expensive, but I’ll get my shiny new display. And if it seems too far away, I’ll try to get the Switch 2 on sale at the very least.

The age of new Xbox hardware is over. At least, according to a former executive at Xbox.

Laura Fryer, a member of the founding team for Xbox, says Xbox hardware may be on the way out, despite what Microsoft's marketing suggests.

In the aftermath of the unveiling of the Asus ROG Xbox Ally, Fryer shared her thoughts on the future of the Xbox as someone who helped get the brand off the ground.

Unfortunately for console fans, she has offered a harsh verdict.

Here's a look at what Fryer had to say about the future of the Xbox and how the ROG Xbox Ally could shape it.

See also: This month's best gaming laptop deals

"They are betting their entire business on Game Pass"

Fryer has been a leader in the video game industry for decades. While she is no longer affiliated with Microsoft, she shared her expert opinion on the future of Xbox hardware in a video posted on Sunday on her YouTube channel.

Unfortunately for console fans, in light of Microsoft's announcement of the Asus ROG Xbox Ally, Fryer thinks Xbox may be leaving the hardware market entirely, and it's part of a bigger shift across the brand that's leaning more and more on Game Pass and Xbox Anywhere.

Fryer called out the state of things at Xbox right now, saying, "They are betting their entire business on Game Pass and leaving the hardware innovation to their partners at Asus."

She went on to add, "I'll admit, it's a great message for gamers. Who doesn't want to play their games with their family and friends on any device and any platform? But that's all it is -- it's marketing."

While Fryer admitted that Game Pass "has a lot of value," she also pointed out the confusion surrounding which games can be played on Game Pass and Xbox Anywhere.

For instance, the ROG Xbox Ally is a Windows device, so it can't play native Xbox games; only native PC games are supported. The line between those is blurring, but it's still worth noting.

Similarly, the Core and Standard Game Pass subscription tiers for console specifically don't include the day-one releases that are one of the service's most significant selling points. In contrast, the PC version of the Standard Game Pass subscription does include day-one releases.

Fryer also called out confusing moves like this in her video, stating, "From my perspective, the Xbox strategy has been chaotic. So, it's hard to say what they'll do next."

Her prediction for the console's future was grim, to say the least: "Obviously, as one of the founding members of the Xbox team, I'm not pleased with where things are today.

"I don't love watching all of the value that I helped create slowly get eroded away. I'm sad because, from my perspective, it looks like Xbox has no desire or literally can't ship hardware anymore. So, this partnership [with Asus] is about a slow exit from the hardware business completely."

"Personally, I think Xbox hardware is dead."

Is the "future of Xbox" just... PC gaming?

Fryer's perspective on the state of things at Xbox doesn't bode well for gamers who prefer their console to a PC. While Fryer mentioned how cost-effective PC gaming can be when you build your own PC, she also praised the ease that comes with consoles.

They're often less expensive than a gaming PC and, at least historically, easier to use since you don't need to worry about things like driver updates.

With Xbox seemingly abandoning hardware, gamers who want the convenience of a console will likely switch to a PlayStation or even the Nintendo Switch 2.

Even if those gamers want to keep playing their Xbox games, Microsoft has, ironically, made it exceptionally easy for them to abandon Xbox hardware without losing access to their games.