After multiple changes to US law that kept it copyrighted for nearly 100 years, 1928 Disney cartoon Steamboat Willie—which contains the first appearances of Mickey and Minnie Mouse—is now in the public domain.
14.12.2023 - 14:49 / ign.com / Xbox Game
Xbox has been surprisingly robust with its selection of post-Black Friday offerings, and continues to overshadow the competition when it comes to next-level discounts this close to the holidays. Xbox Series X consoles are officially on sale right now, alongside Xbox controllers, and even the new Call of Duty has been discounted as well.
The deal is simple, but notable, as Xbox Game Pass members can currently buy Call of Duty Modern Warfare III (2023) for $45.59, over $24 off the MSRP of $69.99. Activision is also running a free trial period for the game from Dec. 14-18 if you want to try before you buy.
This deal is also applicable to gamers in the UK with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 down to £45.59 for those with an Xbox Game Pass membership.
Let's work out the overall costs if you're currently buying into the Xbox ecosystem, or planning to buy an Xbox Series X as a gift for Christmas in the US. For starters, an Xbox Series X console will currently cost you $399.99 in the holiday sales (see here), which is $100 off the MSRP of $499.99. Retailers like Target, Amazon, and Walmart all have the console at this new promotional price at the time of writing.
Next up is Xbox Game Pass, a stable for anyone using an Xbox right now. If you're not currently a member, you can still sign up for Game Pass for just $1; another tremendous deal that will also grant you access to the Modern Warfare 3 discount. (Game Pass Ultimate will renew at $16.99/month).
We're at $400.99 so far with 14 days of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and an Xbox Series X. Adding on the $45.59 for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, you're coming out with a brand new game, console, and hundreds of titles on Game Pass for $446.58 in total.
Despite some negative reception and reviews (including from IGN - hi!) Modern Warfare 3 is, unsurprisingly, one of the best sellers of the year so far. But, it is also being rivaled by Hogwarts Legacy for the overall crown.
For new Xbox Game Pass members, it's worth knowing that Microsoft has announced all the games coming to Xbox Game Pass for December 2023, as well as the first new additions coming to the Game Pass Core library.
“This month, we’re going for a ‘let’s announce everything coming in Game Pass for December’ sort of vibe,” Microsoft said in a post on Xbox Wire earlier this month. “We’ll be back in early January after the holidays for more games coming soon to Game Pass."
Remnant: From the Ashes (Cloud, Console, and PC) and Remnant 2 (Cloud, PC, Xbox Series X|S) were also a surprise drop on Game Pass. IGN’s Remnant 2 review returned a 9/10. We said: “Where Remnant: From The Ashes was a strong first draft, Remnant 2 is a revolutionary sequel and a sterling manifesto for the looter-shooter soulslike.”
Robert
After multiple changes to US law that kept it copyrighted for nearly 100 years, 1928 Disney cartoon Steamboat Willie—which contains the first appearances of Mickey and Minnie Mouse—is now in the public domain.
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The former NPD Group (now named “Circana”) has released its full North American sales data for November, typically the biggest gaming month of the year, and surprisingly, the results weren’t that great. Players spent $5.9 billion on games, additional content, and hardware in November, a 9 percent year-on-year decrease. This was largely driven by a 24 percent drop in hardware spending, with all consoles being down double digits year-on-year. The PlayStation 5 was the #1 console, followed by the Xbox Series X/S, with the Switch really dropping off this season. It seems like inflation, and rumors that a new Switch is right around the corner, likely impacted hardware sales this year.
Video game analyst group Circana has released its November 2023 U.S. Video Game Market Highlights report and in it, the company reveals that, unsurprisingly, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III was the best-selling game of the month. It launched on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC on November 10 and is already the second best-selling game of 2023, behind Hogwarts Legacy.
Despite overwhelming criticism against its campaign length, not to mention reports of rushed development, Sledgehammer’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 topped US sales charts for November 2023, per Circana. Not only is it the fifth year that a Call of Duty title has topped US charts in November, but analyst Mat Piscatella also revealed that it’s now the second best-selling game of 2023 year-to-date.
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Modern Warfare 3 topped the UK software sales chart in November, but it fell significantly short of the launch enjoyed by last year’s Call of Duty game.
Those with an active Game Pass Ultimate subscription can now purchase the Deluxe Edition of Immortals of Aveum for only $7.99.
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