Jez Corden

Microsoft has reportedly shut down its division for physical game releases as part of yesterday's mass layoffs. This comes as an increasing number of new releases opt to release digitally, skipping a physical launch entirely.

Around three months ago, a flurry of rumors suggested that Microsoft was preparing many Xbox exclusive games to go multiplatform, including heavyweights like Gears of War, Starfield, and the upcoming Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. Shortly after those rumors, Microsoft broadcast a 'business update event' where Xbox executives revealed that a few games were indeed making the jump to PlayStation and/or Nintendo Switch consoles. These games turned out to be Hi-Fi Rush, Pentiment, Grounded, and Sea of Thieves. Phil Spencer labeled this an experiment and warned it didn't mean other, bigger games would definitely appear on other consoles:

It’s been six years since Fallout 76 came out, and close to a decade since Fallout 4. Even if fervour surrounding the franchise wasn’t as high as it is right now thanks to the wild success of Amazon Prime’s Fallout series, demand for a new game would still be ravenous, but in the aftermath of the show, that feels doubly true. And even though it’s clearly going to be a while (to say the least) before that long-awaited new game releases, it seems like Bethesda might actually have two unannounced Fallout projects in the works in some capacity.

Rumors of an Xbox handheld console have been a thing for over a decade. There was, after all, the so-called Xboy, a project pushed internally by several groups within Microsoft's Xbox Leadership Team (XLT). However, it never panned out under the leadership of former Microsoft Xbox lead Robbie Bach.

From the Nintendo Switch and the Steam Deck to the many similar devices the latter in particular has spawned (including the likes of the Lenovo Legion Go, ROG Ally, and more), there’s been no shortage of evidence that there’s incredible demand within the gaming audiences for handheld devices. Interestingly, it seems like Microsoft is at least tinkering with the idea of such a device.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake and the recently released second part of the remake trilogy, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, won't be coming to rival platforms.

Microsoft's and Bethesda's Starfield isn't coming to PlayStation 5 anytime soon, according to journalist Jez Corden.

The first month of 2024 isn’t over yet, but it’s already been a brutal year for the games industry, with thousands of people having lost their jobs in a barrage of industry-wide layoffs. Microsoft recently added a significant chunk to that number when it announced that it would be cutting 1,900 jobs across its entire gaming division, and it seems those layoffs are also going to come at the cost of the company’s physical distribution.

Mass layoffs at Microsoft’s gaming division this week reportedly include the closure of departments dedicated to bringing physical games to market.

Microsoft's decision to cut 1900 staff members has reportedly seen the company's games retail teams reduced, prompting fresh questions over Xbox's future in the physical games business.

The recent layoffs across the various Microsoft studios include the vast majority of the customer service team at Blizzard. This means the multiple live service games run by Blizzard are currently operating with next to no moderators, game masters, and customer service representatives.

We’re approaching the four-year anniversary of the launch of Final Fantasy 7 Remake, and are far enough away from its release that even its sequel, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, is just a little over a month away from release. In all that time, however, the action RPG hasn’t released for Xbox, something that has seemed increasingly baffling as more time has passed.

It's been nearly four years since Final Fantasy 7 Remake launched on PlayStation 4, and according to Windows Central managing editor Jez Corden, it might finally be on its way to Xbox.

There is increasing reason to believe that Tango Gameworks’ 2023 shadow drop and instant hit Hi-Fi Rush is coming to the Nintendo Switch.

In an exclusive interview with Windows Central Managing Editor Jez Corden, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer discussed the future of Activision Blizzard, reviving dormant franchises, and tapping into nostalgic IP. Windows Central Interview with Phil Spencer While the Activision-Blizzard portions have been summarized below, we highly recommend reading the full article, which covers much more discussion with the head of Xbox; such as plans for Game Pass on other consoles, discussing Xbox Cloud Gaming, and the future of PC games streaming.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is now out and in the hands of players, which obviously means people are now wondering what the next game in the series is going to be. According to leaks earlier this year, Treyarch is set to take the reins once more with another Black Ops game set during the Gulf War, but a new report has backed up those leaks and revealed even further details about what we can expect when the next Call of Duty game rolls around next year.

The Game Awards are coming up on December 7, and with nominees having been revealed for all categories, over the coming days and weeks, we should start getting details on some of the announcements and reveals we’ll see at the showcase. And Microsoft, it seems, has something up its sleeve on that front as well.

Mass Effect developer BioWare is pulling back from Andromeda's open-world approach and plans to streamline its world for Mass Effect 4.

Dragon Age: Dreadwolf is the game that has BioWare’s full attention right now, but once the fantasy RPG is out (which might be as late as late 2024), the studio will turn its focus to the next instalment in the Mass Effect franchise. The sci-fi RPG is currently in pre-production, which means there’s plenty about it that we don’t know yet, but it seems some crucial details may have filtered through nonetheless.

The next Mass Effect game may move away from open-world exploration.

Starfield is just days away from launch and ahead of that the Bethesda RPG has seen several leaks. Copies of the game are currently in the hands of select reviewers and even some players who obtained it illegally, before sharing a plethora of screenshots and gameplay videos online. One such clip that's now causing concern for fans about Starfield's scope was first leaked on a Chinese forum, over the weekend, which suggested that a player could run non-stop in one direction for 40 minutes, before being met with a ‘Boundary Reached' message. The videos have since been removed, though players are now questioning the legitimacy of developer Bethesda's claims.

That a Nintendo Switch successor is in the works isn’t a secret to anyone at this point, though of course, with the Switch itself now deep into its seventh year, questions are being asked with greater frequency about when Nintendo will choose to formally unveil its next-gen console. Interestingly, the Japanese may already have taken the first steps on that front.

Rumors have been flying about Nintendo's next console for a while now, including recent claims that a release is planned for late 2024. At the time, it was claimed that development kits had already been sent out to some of Nintendo's key partners, but now the company may have given even more devs a look at the new console, as it was allegedly shown off at a "behind closed door" event during Gamescom.