Xbox

cross-posted from: https://sopuli.xyz/post/22301454

Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 officially makes its way to Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S tomorrow (February 4th), and based on the reviews we're seeing so far - including ours here at Pure Xbox - it's an early Game of the Year contender!

The Metacritic and OpenCritic averages are bound to change as more reviews roll in, but they're currently sitting around the high 80s and low 90s depending on which platform you look at - there are a lot of very high scores floating around.

So, let's take a look at what some critics have been saying about Kingdom Come Deliverance 2:

Push Square (10/10)

"Fortune favours the brave, the family motto of the noble Capon line and the creed of developer Warhorse Studios. In daring to deliver its singular vision for a game, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 transports even the most grizzled genre veterans back to a time of truly immersive video game experiences. Challenging, uncompromising, and thoroughly engrossing, it's in a league almost entirely of its own."

TheGamer (5/5)

"In an age where games are fighting harder than ever just to succeed, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 should not be one to pass you by, as a return to form for the RPG genre. It’s not just a game about history - it’s a game that feels like it’s making history."

Pure Xbox (9/10)

"With top-notch writing and voice acting, one of the most convincingly real worlds we've ever roleplayed in, and an absolutely filthy line in humour, violence (and foul language), this is every bit the sequel fans of Henry's first outing will have been hoping for."

"Armed with excellent melee combat and an exceptional story, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is one part sequel and one part coronation, bringing a lot of the original's ideas to fruition."

GameSpot (9/10)

"Not everyone will vibe with its slow-paced and oftentimes tedious approach, but those willing to meet it on its own terms will find a compelling open-world RPG that relishes in player agency and the consequences of your actions."

TheSixthAxis (8/10)

"Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 continues to fulfil the uncompromising vision of the first game. It weaves together a world of lords, knights, peasants and bandits in medieval Europe, with poor Henry of Skalitz caught somewhere in the middle just trying to cope. It's grand in scale whilst being full of fine details and it sometimes gets in its own way a little bit, but if this is your kind of game it'll be one that you don't want to end because there's nothing else quite like it."

GamesRadar (4/5)

"Provided you have the patience with its pacing and are willing to put in the hours to get deeper into its systems rather than just trying to min-max your way out of a problem at optimal speed, it's a thoroughly absorbing RPG that's quite unlike anything else."

Eurogamer (3/5)

"Like the original, this isn't an RPG designed to make you feel good - you continue to be little more than a passenger in this historical tapestry, following along behind the horse tails of Henry's betters, and clearing up the mess they leave behind. Some will revel in that work, but I for one won't be chomping at the bit for another sequel any time soon."

If you're interested in checking out Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, it's available to pre-order on the Xbox Store right now starting at £59.99 / $69.99, with a more expensive 'Gold Edition' also available to purchase if you wish.

Keep in mind that the original game occasionally gets discounted by 90% in the Xbox sales as well, so you may be able to grab it for an extremely low price at some point this year. Both come highly recommended if you're up for a time sink!

Will you be getting Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 on Xbox? Let us know down in the comments below.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard might have sold more copies and made more money for EA if it had been a live-service game, the publisher's top brass appear to have suggested.

Speaking to investors last night following the release of EA's latest quarterly results, both EA boss Andrew Wilson and the company's chief financial officer suggested the game's offline, one-and-done nature was to blame for it not meeting the publisher's sales expectations.

"In order to break out beyond the core audience, games need to directly connect to the evolving demand of players who increasingly seek shared world features and deeper engagement alongside high-quality narratives in this beloved category," Wilson said.

"Dragon Age had a high-quality launch and was well reviewed by critics and those who played. However, it did not resonate with a broad enough audience in this highly competitive market."

After a long and bumpy development, Dragon Age: The Veilguard finally emerged last year as a single-player game. But, of course, an earlier iteration of the project had been intended to include online play and live-service features.

The length of the project's development is in large part due to the fact that EA flip-flopped on the game initially being single-player, then live-service, then single-player again - a decision taken after the high-profile flop of BioWare's actual live-service effort Anthem.

Now, EA appears to be suggesting the game should have stayed as a live-service after all.

"Dragon Age: The Veilguard underperformed icing the competitive dynamics of the single-player RPG market," EA's chief financial officer Stuart Canfield said - leaving little wiggle room for how EA sees the genre's future.

"Historically, blockbuster storytelling has been the primary way our industry bought beloved IP to the players," Canfield continued. "The game's financial performance highlights [the] evolving industry landscape and reinforces the importance of our actions to reallocate resources towards our most significant and highest potential opportunities."

The big, unspoken question here now, of course, is what this means for Mass Effect 5. Currently, BioWare has given no indication that the game will be a live-service. But these fresh comments by EA execs certainly raise the question of whether it is going to bankroll another single-player BioWare game once more.

Alternatively, perhaps we've seen the evidence that EA will support a single-player Mass Effect - albeit via the newly slimmed-down BioWare that has emerged this month after many staff were moved elsewhere, and some sadly lost their jobs.

Mass Effect 5 lacks a release date, of course, and appears to still be several years away.

I swear to the holy RNG Gods if they fuck with my Mass Effect I'll nut punch them!

BioWare is reportedly now down to fewer than 100 employees after a round of layoffs and staff exits following the release of Dragon Age: The Veilguard and a restructure to focus on the next Mass Effect game.

Bloomberg reported that BioWare was more than 200 people two years ago, when Dragon Age: The Veilguard was in the thick of its production.

Last week, EA restructured BioWare to focus on Mass Effect 5 only, meaning some who worked on Dragon Age: The Veilguard were moved to projects at other EA studios. Game Developer reported that John Epler, Veilguard's creative director, was sent to work on Full Circle's upcoming skateboarding game Skate. Dragon Age: The Veilguard senior writer Sheryl Chee, meanwhile, was moved from BioWare to work on Iron Man at Motive.

The decision followed EA’s announcement that Dragon Age: The Veilguard had underperformed on its expectations for the long-awaited action RPG. EA said Dragon Age "engaged" 1.5 million players during its recent financial quarter, which was down nearly 50% from the company's projections.

According to Bloomberg, these staff “loans” to other studios are now permanent relocations, and the staff working elsewhere at EA are no longer BioWare employees who were temporarily on assignment.

Others, however, revealed they were laid off and were now seeking work. Following the announcement, a number of BioWare developers took to social media to say they had been laid off. Editor Karin West-Weekes, narrative designer and lead writer on Dragon Age: The Veilguard Trick Weekes, and editor Ryan Cormier all said they were looking for work, with producer Jen Cheverie and senior systems designer Michelle Flamm also confirming their exit.

BioWare already suffered a round of layoffs in 2023, and Dragon Age: The Veilguard director Corinne Busche announced her departure from the studio last month.

IGN asked EA for specifics on how many individuals at BioWare were being impacted by this latest change, how many face potential layoffs, and how many remain at the studio, but EA’s response was vague:

"The studio's priority was Dragon Age. During this time there were people continuing to build the vision for the next Mass Effect. Now that The Veilguard has shipped, the studio's full focus is Mass Effect.

"While we're not sharing numbers, the studio has the right number of people in the right roles to work on Mass Effect at this stage of development."

Bloomberg said the layoffs affected around two dozen people at BioWare. According to Jason Schreier, the author of the report at Bloomberg, BioWare staff believe it was a miracle Dragon Age: The Veilguard released a complete game “after EA forced live-service into it, then reversed course.” IGN has chronicled some of Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s development challenges already, including layoffs and the departure of several project leads at different stages.

With Dragon Age fans now fearing the worst for their beloved series, one former BioWare writer said: “Dragon Age isn't dead because it's yours now.”

As for Mass Effect, EA said a "core team" at BioWare is developing the next Mass Effect game under the leadership of veterans from the original trilogy, including Mike Gamble, Preston Watamaniuk, Derek Watts, Parrish Ley, and others.

The game director of MultiVersus has called out “threats to harm” developers on the game have received following the announcement of its impending shutdown.

Last week, Player First Games announced that Season 5 of the Warner Bros. brawler would be its last, with the MultiVersus servers going dark this May, just one year after it relaunched. Players will still be able to access all earned and purchased content while offline via the local gameplay mode and training mode.

While real-money transactions for MultiVersus are no longer available, fans can still use Gleamium and character tokens to access in-game content until support ends on May 30. MultiVersus will also be delisted from the PlayStation Store, Microsoft Store, Steam, and Epic Games Store at this time.

Following the announcement, and without word of a refund policy, MultiVersus players who bought the $100 premium Founder's Pack hit out at Warner Bros. and Player First Games, with some saying they felt “scammed.” Based on online reports, there are a number of disgruntled customers who have character tokens that are now rendered useless, given they had already unlocked all playable characters in the game. Predictably, MultiVersus is also getting review-bombed on Steam.

Tony Huynh, co-founder of Player First Games and game director of MultiVersus, tweeted to address player concerns and call out threats of violence directed at the team.

Here’s Huynh’s statement in full:

Hey all, I wanted to say a few words as I reflect on the recently announced news about MultiVersus. While I'm sad about the outcome, I will forever be grateful for the opportunity given to us by Warner Bros. Games and to each and every developer on the Player First Games and WB Games teams. Also to every IP holder thank you for entrusting us with your babies, we hope we made the characters true to themselves and felt authentic to your fans. I couldn’t be prouder of the work the PFG team did. Their endless creativity and passion never ceased to inspire and amaze me. And of course I wanted to thank every player who has ever played or supported MultiVersus. Delighting and serving players is Player First Games objective.

I apologize for not addressing things sooner, there’s been a lot going on and I’ve been focused on the game and the team, but now more-so the team. Thank you for sending us all the great fan art, character ideas, and personal stories. They were the highlight of every day and always excited the team. I’m sorry if we couldn’t get to your favorite character. I do think Aquaman and Lola are really cool and I hope you all check them out. Character selection comes down to bunch of things including development time, listening to what the community wants, working with IP holders and approvals, if there is a cross-marketing opportunity available to support, and of course if the team is inspired to make the character. So a lot goes into to it.

For instance BananaGuard came about because the team was enthusiastic about making it and on their own produced it over the weekend as a fun, quick-to-make character. When inspiration and enthusiasm spark we want to reward that and we got BananaGuard because of that. It wasn’t at the expense of another character. It was because the team was excited about making the character. I don’t have the power some you think I do. PFG is a highly collaborative team and ideas are encouraged and can come from anyone and we promote delivering value to players. I also hope that the community notices that we try to listen and act. Like any developer we’re limited by time and resources.

I know that this is painful for everyone, and I know every member of PFG feels it too, but I have to call this out, you’re entitled to what you say and think, but when there are threats to harm it’s crossing the line. I hope that you can take a step back and realize that this is an extremely sad time for the team. I am in deep mourning for the game. Nobody wanted this outcome and it wasn’t from lack of caring or effort.

I sincerely hope that Season 5 is enjoyed with the time we have left and that you will all continue supporting other platform fighter and fighting games as these games have impacted me in many positive ways. I’ve made so many friends and created so many great memories because of these games, and a big reason why we worked so hard at PFG was to share that with you. I hope that we played a small part and that you can look back on MVS and find some joy in the friends you made and the memories you shared.

Thank you for allowing this dream to become a reality even if for a briefer time than we would have wanted. I don’t know what the future holds for any of all of us, but I just wanted to say thank you. It has been an honor to work alongside the team at PFG to serve our community and players.

Player First Games community manager and game developer Angelo Rodriguez Jr. took to X/Twitter to defend Huynh, stressing: “Receiving threats of physical harm against him is not and will never be the way.”

“I've legitimately been losing sleep over the past few days watching as all of these has been happening to Tony,” he said.

“The man who would stay up past midnight with us watching streams and listened for fun ideas from the players. The man who took the time to read so many messages and respond to so many people when he didn't have to. The man who spent countless hours working with every department to try and improve things we could in the weeks we had to do it. The man who went out of his way to hire so many of us from the community and gave us a shot at being involved in something so special. Tony is not who he is being painted out to be.

“I know things aren't the best right now and everyone is looking for answers. Receiving threats of physical harm against him is not and will never be the way.

“PFG poured their heart into this game and we still hope everyone enjoys season 5. We never stopped pushing for improvements and again you will see 50 pages worth of them this season. I hope everyone can take the time to read through what Tony has to say, and I hope you will all think things through.”

MultiVersus’ demise is the latest high-profile failure for Warner Bros. Games, following Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s disastrous launch last year. Last month, the departure of Warner Bros. Games boss David Haddad was revealed after what had been a troubling 12 months for the company.

Parent company Warner Bros. Discovery has said Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s failure contributed to a $200 million hit to its business, and MultiVersus added another $100 million on top. Warner Bros. Games' only new game release during the third quarter of 2024 was Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions, which failed to make an impression.

Speaking in a financial call, Warner Bros. Discovery President and CEO David Zaslav said: "We recognise [the games business] is substantially underperforming its potential right now.”

Since then, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League post-launch content has come to an end with the delivery of its year one roadmap. Warner Bros. has yet to announce Rocksteady’s next game, but it is reportedly helping out on a director’s cut of Hogwarts Legacy. The legendary British studio has suffered a number of layoffs in recent months.

There are also question marks over Mortal Kombat 1’s financial performance, although NetherRealm chief Ed Boon recently announced over five million sales and teased future DLC following the release of the T-1000 Terminator guest character.

During the same financial call, Zaslav said Warner Bros. was doubling down on four games: Hogwarts Legacy (a sequel is already in the works), Mortal Kombat, Game of Thrones, and DC, "in particular Batman." Warner Bros. recently published the VR game Batman: Arkham Shadow exclusively on the Meta Quest 3, and has a Wonder Woman game in the works at Monolith Productions.

"We are focusing our development efforts on those core franchises, with proven studios to improve our success ratio," Zaslav added.

Mass Effect 5 is "still in pre-production" says director as BioWare shifts full focus to the sci-fi RPG amid dev reshuffles and reported layoffs GamesRadar+ / by [email protected] (Catherine Lewis) / Feb 3, 2025 at 6:42 AM

Amid changes at BioWare as the studio shifts its focus to Mass Effect 5, while shuffling some devs to other EA studios and reportedly laying some off, the project director of the upcoming sci-fi RPG has clarified that the game is "still in pre-production."

Last week, BioWare general manager Gary McKay said that considering Mass Effect 5's current "stage of development," the team doesn't "require support from the full studio," noting that "many colleagues" had been matched up with other EA teams with open roles. In a statement sent to IGN, a BioWare spokesperson confirmed that with Dragon Age: The Veilguard now shipped, "the studio's full focus is Mass Effect." The spokesperson didn't provide comment about the reported layoffs, however – Bloomberg has since claimed that less than 100 employees are left at BioWare.

In a Twitter thread responding to this news, the project director of the upcoming Mass Effect game, Michael Gamble, has clarified what stage of development the RPG is currently at and it sounds like it's still quite a ways off being completed. "As the notes have said, we are still in pre-production," Gamble writes.

Considering how little we know about the game, it makes sense. Hell, we still don't know if it'll pull a Witcher 4 or Switch 2 and be given the "unofficial" name that everyone's been using for it – Mass Effect 5 – or be called something else entirely.

As for the current team size, this lines up with comments made by former BioWare executive producer Mark Darrah, who claimed in a video after The Veilguard's release that Mass Effect 5 "isn't ready to suddenly have a team of 250, 300 people working on it." In the same video, he said that he believed that since the project wasn't "up and running at full speed" yet, "there is a need to find other work for them within the rest of the EA organization while the Mass Effect team figures out what Mass Effect is going to be, figures out the structure, and then gets ready to ramp up to a much bigger team size."

Xbox boss Phil Spencer has reiterated the importance of Xbox hardware and says that the team wants that hardware to "win based on the hardware capabilities that we have." He also emphasizes that Microsoft is keen to "embrace allowing someone to be a member of Xbox on whatever screen they want to play on." We've heard plenty already about Microsoft's future plans for the brand, and how an Xbox handheld is on the way (even if it is still a few years out), but Spencer's comments help to elucidate the current mindset at Xbox HQ.

"It's not lost on me; I've said over and over that 'box' is in the name of our brand," Spencer says

Xbox boss Phil Spencer has commented on the importance of innovative Xbox hardware Xbox doesn't aim to "gatekeep" games away from other platforms The team wants to allow players "to be a member of Xbox on whatever screen they want to play on"

"I want people to pick hardware based on the capabilities of that hardware, and how that fits into the choices they want to make about where they want to play. And we want our hardware to win based on the hardware capabilities that we have," Spencer says in a recent Gamertag Radio interview.

"I think the difference that we've seen in the last 20 years, and I think this is good because I come from building games, is it's really game first, not platform first." Spencer says that the most successful games are often those that can be found "across so many different platforms," adding, "I want to build a platform that services those creators — those creators that are trying to meet people on every screen.

"But let's say, like our own hardware, I think it's fundamental to what Xbox is. It's not lost on me; I've said over and over that 'box' is in the name of our brand. The position I'm in, I look at hardware as a critical part of what we do, but not trying to gatekeep the games off of other places for the benefit of — let's go build innovative hardware that people want to use to play, whether that's in their hands, whether it's on their television, or even other places."

Spencer often reiterates the wish for "people to be able to experience the games that we build, the services that we offer, on as many devices as we can," and elaborates on this. "Obviously some of the devices out there, some of the platforms are closed, they don't allow everything that we do to show up on those platforms. The thing that I've learned, and continue to learn when I'm listening to creators, not only our own studios but other teams building games, is every creator out there wants to build a game that can find as many players as they want.

"And frankly there aren't many platforms out there that try to build connections to people on so many different screens. It's almost like single platform, single device, single game, and that's kind of the history of our business, and we're really taking an approach of, we want people to be able to play Xbox on many, on many different screens. Now, not every experience will be the same. We obviously love the native experience we have on our own platform and our own hardware, and that's something that will continue for us."

Xbox exclusives have been a major topic in recent years — specifically, Microsoft's decision to take certain Xbox exclusives to other platforms. Spencer touches on this, too, saying, "We're not going to put walls up around where people can engage with the great games our studios are building, or where they can experience Xbox through different forms, whether it's Cloud, whether it's on PC, whether it's on handheld PCS, whether it's on phones. I want everybody to be able to play on Xbox. And it does mean more of our games shipping on more platforms, not just PlayStation.

"We love the work that we do with Nintendo, we love what we do with valve on Steam, and that's going to continue. We'll just continue to do more of it. Because what we learned is put the games first. Make sure the games can be as great as they can — we love the experience on our own hardware, our own platform, but our games will show up in more and more places, no doubt."

Elsewhere in the interview, Spencer touches on Xbox's line-up of games, saying, "I've never been more excited about our portfolio." We do have some major upcoming Xbox exclusives on the way, with the Xbox Developer Direct confirming a fantastic Game Pass line-up for early 2025. What do you think of Xbox's gaming horizon, and Phil Spencer's discussion about Xbox hardware? Let us know in the comments!

"We have always been passionate about the series".

We've got some fresh Gears of War: E-Day news to report! It's been announced today by development studio People Can Fly that the company is partnering with The Coalition on the upcoming prequel that's set to arrive in 2025 or 2026.

You may remember the name "People Can Fly" because of the 2022 Xbox Game Pass title Outriders, or perhaps 2011's Bulletstorm... but it's most likely because the studio developed Gears of War: Judgment back in the day.

Here's what the team had to say in a statement following today's announcement:

"We are honored to return to the world of Gears of War, a franchise deeply embedded in our studio’s history. As lead developer of the iconic Gears of War: Judgment and co-development partner on Gears of War 1-3, we have always been passionate about the series and its legacy."

This sounds like a very exciting prospect to us, and the only thing that would have made it better is a hint of when to expect more details on the game... but alas, that wasn't to be. We probably won't hear much until the summer.

In terms of a release date, we mentioned earlier how Gears of War: E-Day has been rumoured for a 2025 launch in the past, but it feels unlikely now considering how busy the Xbox first-party slate appears to be. You never know though!

Following a bit of a false start yesterday, Baldur's Gate 3's Patch 8 stress test is now officially underway on Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC, giving select participants the opportunity to explore a range of new features ahead of its full release - with split-screen co-op support for Xbox Series S being the surprise (and long-awaited) inclusion.

Ubisoft is set to close its UK studio based in Leamington, as it sheds 185 jobs across the business.

A small number of Leamington staff will be retained under remote contracts. Additionally, Ubisoft offices in Düsseldorf (formerly Blue Byte), Stockholm and the Newcastle-based Ubisoft Reflections will be downsized.

"As part of our ongoing efforts to prioritise projects and reduce costs that ensure long-term stability at Ubisoft, we have announced targeted restructurings at Ubisoft Düsseldorf, Ubisoft Stockholm and Ubisoft Reflections and the permanent closure of Ubisoft Leamington site," a Ubisoft spokesperson said in a statement to Eurogamer.

"Unfortunately, this should impact 185 employees overall. We are deeply grateful for their contributions and are committed to supporting them through this transition."

Founded in 2002 as FreeStyleGames by a group of former Rare and Codemasters veterans, Ubisoft Leamington had most recently worked as a support studio on the Tom Clancy's The Division series, and also assisted development on games such as Star Wars Outlaws, Skull and Bones and Far Cry 5.

In its heyday, under its previous ownership by Activision, Leamington was best known for its DJ Hero games, before it was put to work on the publisher's Guitar Hero and Call of Duty franchises. Ubisoft then acquired the firm in 2017.

As for the teams that have been downsized, Ubisoft Düsseldorf is best known for developing Anno and The Settlers, while Ubisoft Stockholm most recently worked on Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora with Massive Entertainment. Ubisoft Reflections, the veteran team originally founded in 1984 and acquired by Ubisoft in 2006, had been working closely with Leamington supporting AAA game development.

Ubisoft's latest layoffs come as the company continues to try and cut costs after a string of disappointing game launches including the failure of big budget bet Star Wars Outlaws, the shutdown of live-service shooter XDefiant, and repeated delays to Assassin's Creed Shadows amidst wider concern for the firm's future.

Ubisoft has repeatedly reduced its headcount since 2022, when it employed 20,279 people. By the end of September 2024, Ubisoft employed 18,666.

Earlier this month, Ubisoft said it was "taking decisive steps" to reshape the company, in order to "review and pursue various transformational strategic and capitalistic options to extract the best value for stakeholders".

Reports previously suggested Ubisoft was keen to take the company private via investment from Chinese giant Tencent, although company boss Yves Guillemot wanting to retain overall control has allegedly proven a sticking point. All eyes now turn to the upcoming launch of Assassin's Creed Shadows on 20th March, whose success has never seemed more vital.

"We're just really happy with the decision".

Xbox and Bethesda developer id Software this week shared a proper reveal of DOOM: The Dark Ages and more details about it are beginning to emerge.

One thing, in particular, highlighted in the first round of previews - is the fact this game is a "strictly campaign" affair. In other words - don't expect multiplayer to feature. Here's exactly what Marty Stratton had to say about this (via Eurogamer):

Read the full article on purexbox.com

Xbox boss Phil Spencer said its brand identity is "evolving" now keeping first-party games exclusive to its own platform is no longer "a path for [Xbox]".

When asked by independent games journalist Dustin Legarie if, like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Starfield would continue to have an "exclusivity window" on Xbox systems, Spencer replied with a strikingly simple: "No."

"There's no reason for me to put a ring fence around any game and say this game will not go to a place where it would find players, where it would have business success for us," Spencer explained.

"Our strategy is to allow our games to be available.

"Game Pass is an important component of playing the games on our platform, but to keep games off other platforms?" Spencer added."We don't think is the path… that's not a path for us. It doesn't work for us."

"What we're doing now we think really enables us to build the best platform for the world's best games. 'Cos the world's biggest games are available in multiple places, and more and more creators are asking us, how do we stay connected when our game might be playable in all these different places, and we want Xbox to be absolutely the platform that enables that.

"We think that makes us unique. Most of the other platforms out there are single platform on single device, whether that's PC, whether that's mobile, whether it's a console.

And we want Xbox to be a platform that enables creators across any screen that people want to play on."

When pressed on whether Xbox's change in strategy means it may lose its identity, Spencer was firm about that, too.

"I hear them. I'm pretty active in our playerbase, and I'm active in the community. I listen. I think our identity will continue to evolve, which, frankly, it always has. But when I hear concerns, I hear concerns about is: my library of games safe. Am I still going to be able to play the games. And I think over the years, I'm proud of the commitment we've shown to respecting purchases on our platform through back compat, through cross entitlement, Xbox Play Anywhere, through crossplay. Things that we've done to enable people to continue to play, so I hear that.

"I see the investments we're making in platform and how we want Xbox to show up in multiple places, and your library to be available there. When I think about buy-to-stream - so when if I buy a game, I'll be able to stream it to devices - this is all about making sure that your library of games that you own on Xbox are playable in multiple places, so I'd say it's in evolution of our identity. But I believe it's an identity that this industry needs.

"When you think about where this industry is now and you see the challenges, the business challenges that are out there for many companies, I think us making games more accessible to more people has just gotta be front and centre for us as an industry so we continue to see great games that we've seen over the years."

The comments echo Spencer's position at the end of last year, when he said there were "no red lines" over any Xbox game coming to Nintendo Switch or PS5.

Assassin's Creed Mirage is cheaper in Deluxe edition.

Clair Obscure: Expedition 33 was an unexpected highlight at last year's Xbox Games Showcase. I was already intrigued, and the big info dump at today's Xbox Developer Director has me downright excited, especially since it looks like French developer Sandfall Interactive is about to deliver the turn-based AAA JRPG that Square Enix refuses to make with Final Fantasy.

You'll be able to pick up Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 on April 24, 2025 across PS5, PC, and Xbox Series X. As you might expect from a game so heavily marketed at Xbox events, it will be available day one with Game Pass, as well.

Expedition 33 takes direct inspiration from the JRPGs its developers played in their youths, and that inspiration is plain to see in everything from the turn-based combat system to its apocalyptic plot and varied cast of characters. Maybe the most telling part is that there's a full world map here, which you explore in miniaturized form, just like in the RPGs of yore.

"Since the day I started working on this project in Unreal engine, I wanted a world map," Guillaume Broche says on the Xbox Wire. “I feel like it’s such a cool thing that has almost completely disappeared from the face of the gaming industry. Like, nobody does that anymore, and for me it was such a crucial and important part of what made the old-school JRPGs unique. It’s this sense of travelling and [indicating that] we are an expedition… and we wanted the player to feel like they’re going on a grand journey."

I'm just glad a game that looks this good and plays this old-school is coming our way in 2025. I've enjoyed most of the modern Final Fantasy games to at least some degree, but you can count me among the many who are disappointed that the series has seemingly fully abandoned turn-based combat in favor of action-based or hybrid systems.

Final Fantasy 16 producer Naoki Yoshida said that turn-based combat can be a poor match for graphically detailed games, but I'd argue the success of Baldur's Gate 3 suggests that's not really the case. Regardless of the direction Square Enix goes from here on out, I'm beyond excited that a game that looks as good as Expedition 33 is willing to stick with such old-school game systems.

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment president David Haddad is stepping down after 12 years in the role, with his departure following a rocky period for Warner's game division that's been marked by a number of high-profile flops.

As reported by Variety, Haddad will stay on with the company for the next three months, while Warner seeks his replacement. "David has thoughtfully and purposefully chosen a time when our release schedule is lighter," Warner's global streaming and games president JB Perrette wrote, "which will help minimise disruption to our ongoing projects and strategic plans and allow this team to smoothly prepare for its next record-breaking title."

News of Haddad's departure comes almost exactly a year after the disastrous release of developer Rocksteady's Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, which was enough of a flop that it resulted in a $200m loss for Warner Bros. Free-to-play platform fighter MultiVersus also failed to find an audience despite almost a year of downtime for extensive retooling, resulting in a further $100m hit for the publisher.

And while 2023's Hogwarts Legacy was a significant financial win for Warner Bros., last year's Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions failed to replicate that success, with the publisher later admitting the title had "underperformed".

As to what's next for Warner Bros. Games, the publisher has yet to share much in the way of its future plans. The only game currently left on its announced slate is Monolith Productions' open-world Wonder Woman title - which Warner Bros. has denied is a live service title, despite a job listing sighted in 2023, and despite company CEO David Zaslav's previous ambitions to transform its biggest gaming franchises from traditional console and PC releases into "always on" live service games.

See you in the bayou.

Compulsion Games has today announced the launch date for South of Midnight, its upcoming southern folklore inspired adventure for Xbox Series X|S. We're finally getting hands on with this one on April 8th, 2025, and we're glad - because it looks bloody beautiful!

As part of the team's extended deep dive at Dev Direct, we've got another good look at the team's gorgeous stop-motion world here. This one looks like a rather unique action-adventure title for Xbox, and one we can all jump into day one on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.

Read the full article on purexbox.com

An interesting Xbox job post has been spotted online today, leading to questions about whether this role is for an unannounced team or project over at Xbox Game Studios. Microsoft is looking for "an experienced Executive Producer" to "lead a game team" - but what that team is within Xbox remains a mystery at this time.

Furthermore, Microsoft isn't accepting applications for this role until late February, which hints that this is a project being spun up and prepared for an Executive Producer to come aboard and lead. The post also mentions "the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area" as potential work areas for this role.

Read the full article on purexbox.com

As promised, Microsoft unveiled a new, unannounced game during its Xbox Developer Direct on Thursday: Team Ninja’s Ninja Gaiden is back with a new mainline entry, a revival of a franchise that’s been dormant since 2012’s Ninja Gaiden 3. In a surprise reveal, Ninja Gaiden 4 is being co-developed by Team Ninja and PlatinumGames, developer of the Bayonetta franchise and Nier: Automata.

Ninja Gaiden 4 will be released in fall 2025 on PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X, and it’ll be available through Game Pass.

The game will be set after the events of Ninja Gaiden 3 in a largely abandoned Tokyo that has been overwhelmed by demons and other servants of the Dark Dragon. Players will once again assume the role of master ninja Ryu Hayabusa, in addition to a second, new protagonist: Yakumo, a new master ninja and a member of the rival Raven clan.

Yakumo will employ two play styles: the Raven style and the Nué style, the latter of which will let the ninja take on multiple enemies at once using far-reaching attacks. Developers from Team Ninja and PlatinumGames say that classic Ninja Gaiden moves and combat will be part of the game as well, so get ready to Inazuma Drop fools over and over again.

Despite the new protagonist and speedy new play style, developers said that Ninja Gaiden 4 will preserve the dark, hardcore atmosphere of the series.

That’s not the only Ninja Gaiden-related announcement Team Ninja had to share during Thursday’s Xbox Developer Direct, however. The studio also stealth-dropped Ninja Gaiden 2 Black, a new version of Ninja Gaiden 2 that offers a massive visual upgrade of the original 2008 Xbox 360 game, rebuilt in Unreal Engine 5. In addition to protagonist Ryu Hayabusa, the Black re-release lets players battle as Ayane, Momiji, and Rachel.

Ninja Gaiden 2 Black is available now on PS5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X.

As announced during Xbox’s latest Developer Direct, Doom: The Dark Ages, the next main installment in the demon killin’ franchise, is launching on May 15 for Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC.

During today’s Xbox event, Microsoft showed off four upcoming games coming to Xbox and Game Pass, including the surprise reveal of a new Ninja Gaiden remake and a long-awaited sequel. And as part of the Developer Direct, Id Software and Xbox showed off more gameplay and shared more details about the upcoming medieval-themed, Hell-based prequel, Doom: The Dark Ages.

The newest Doom, announced last year, is a prequel to all the other games in the franchise, including 2016's Doom semi-reboot and 2020's Doom Eternal (and its DLC). Now, we get to see the Doom Slayer during the wars in Hell that happened eons ago in the franchise’s timeline. (Yes, the series has lore, its not all super shotguns and demons.)

In Dark Ages, the iconic Doom Slayer will face more enemies than ever before in Serious Sam-like battles in large battlefields. Thankfully, he has a dragon mount and shield saw to help even the odds. And this time around, Id Software wants you to feel like a big, heavy tank instead of a high-flying jet fighter. The studio really wants players to “stand and fight” in this entry. To help really sell the fantasy of being an unstoppable warrior, Dark Ages features three melee weapons with upgrades and finishers. Oh but don’t worry, there are plenty of wild medieval-themed firearms, too. And yes, you get a fully drivable mech, something teased in past games.

It ain’t all killing and blasting, though, as Id Software promises a lot of exploration and secrets to find. Large open levels, described by Id as “Doom sandboxes,” will include platforms and puzzles, and if you complete these challenges you’ll unlock upgrades to make the Doom Slayer a stronger murder machine. (Okay, I guess it does all come back to killing.)

Dark Ages also features a bunch of difficulty sliders that will let you change how fast and hard the game is, making it easy for everyone to hop in and kill demons.

What if the next Witcher game starred a vampire instead of Geralt? That’s one of the selling points behind The Blood of Dawnwalker, a new RPG from some of the masterminds behind The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077. Rebel Wolves, formed in 2022 by a bunch of ex-CD Projekt Red developers, revealed the game this week in a new teasertrailer. It looks pretty legit.

The first game in what the studio hopes will be an entire new RPG saga, The Blood of Dawnwalker is a narrative-driven, single-player, open-world, dark fantasy action-RPG. It’s being made in Unreal Engine 5 for PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S, and PC. The game is currently in alpha with more updates promised later in the year. That’s another way of saying it probably won’t be out for a while.

Players will step into the shoes of a young warrior-turned-vampire named Coen who uses otherworldly powers, including teleporting around like Nightcrawler, to fight off enemies and navigate a world where monsters come in all different forms. Like I said, The Witcher with vampire powers. Here’s the cinematic trailer with a quick look at gameplay near the end:

Rebel Wolves was originally formed by Witcher 3 director Konrad Tomaszkiewicz after he left CDPR following an investigation into workplace bullying, which he told Bloomberg ultimately found him not guilty of the charges. Speaking to the same outlet last year, he said he started the new studio out of a desire to go back to working in smaller teams where developers aren’t as pigeonholed into specific roles. He also said he’d be working on his empathy and prioritizing the well-being of the team.

Alongside its game announcement, Rebel Wolves also announced the hire of The Blood of Dawnwalker’s creative director: Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz. The CDPR veteran was a quest designer on multiple Witcher games, including the card-based spinoffs Gwent and Thronebreaker. He was also in charge of Cyberpunk 2077's quests before later departing after the game released to do narrative consulting for other companies.

“Throughout all my years in game development, story-driven role-playing adventures have always been something I was most passionate about,” Tomaszkiewicz said in a press release. “For me, nothing beats being able to fully immerse myself and discover handcrafted stories and worlds. There are so many fantastic RPGs out there today, however, I feel that there’s not only enough space but also a hunger among players for more captivating stories.”

Fresh details of Bethesda's long-rumoured - but as yet unannounced - Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion remake have surfaced in a new leak, alongside word it could well be arriving this June.

An Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion remake - supposedly being developed in Unreal Engine 5 - was first rumoured in July 2023, when a former Virtuos employee posted to Reddit claiming it was in the works at the Chinese studio. Curiously, references to an Oblivion remaster then emerged later that year, spotted in an internal Microsoft document from 2020 that was leaked during the company's court battle with the FTC, lending at least some credence to the earlier claim.

But that wasn't the end of it. Earlier this month, a Virtuos technical art director updated their LinkedIn profile to highlight their work on a mysterious "unannounced Unreal Engine 5 remake", and now another former employee has - seemingly unintentionally - shared more explicit details of a Virtuos-developed Oblivion remake on their own website.

As reported by MP1st, the unnamed employee - who is said to have worked on the project between 2023 and 2024 - described the game as a "fully remade" version of The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, developed (as previously rumoured) in Unreal 5. The former Virtuos employee is also said to have referenced six gameplay systems reworked for the remake: stamina, sneaking, blocking, archery, hit reaction, and HUD.

The new blocking system, as summarised by MP1st, supposedly takes inspiration from games including Souls-likes, to replace an original system considered too "boring" and "frustrating", while archery has been improved to make it "more playable and modern" in first- and third-person views. The new stamina system, meanwhile, is described as being "less frustrating", with the knockdown that occurs when stamina is depleted now less frequent.

As for the Oblivion remake's updated sneaking, it'll apparently feature highlighted Sneak icons and reworked damage calculations, and that's alongside the introduction of hit reactions to improve the response to damage inflicted on the player and NPCs. Additionally, MP1st says the former employee referenced an updated HUD intended to be "easier to understand and more aesthetically appealing to young players."

MP1st's report follows recent claims by reliable leaker NateTheHate that an Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion remake would be launching this June. Before all that, of course, developer Bethesda will actually need to announce the thing - and with Microsoft's Xbox Developer Direct currently scheduled for next week, an opportunity is looming.

Hope it's true. Loved that game.