Microsoft News, Tips, Tricks & Ideas

According to a source, a recent survey from Microsoft may prove that the tech giant is developing a handheld Xbox console to compete with the Steam Deck, the ROG Ally, and other portable handhelds. While Microsoft has not officially revealed any specifications or concrete information about a portable Xbox console, the new survey could indicate Microsoft is gauging interest in such a product.

Microsoft has announced an Xbox Games Showcase for its first-party titles for June, alongside a dedicated Direct event for an unnamed title. The showcase will be livestreamed on June 9, starting at 10am PT (10:30am IST) on Xbox's YouTube, Twitch and Facebook accounts. The event will feature an upcoming lineup of games from Activision, Blizzard, Bethesda and Xbox Game Studios, along with third-party titles on Xbox.

Microsoft has a stacked lineup of major first-party releases lined up for 2024, but while a number of them are officially confirmed for this year, not many of them have specific release dates. That, however, is going to change at the company’s summer showcase in June, as per a report published by The Verge.

Microsoft has announced that the Xbox Games Showcase will be returning on June 9, and given the many first-party titles the company has in the pipeline for 2024, it seems safe to assume that it’s going to be a packed show. In fact, according to The Verge, multiple upcoming first-party games are going to get official release date announcements.

A new batch of games have been announced for Game Pass in May, including five that are playable on PC. There are siblings, felines, reapers, and a Croft. I'm struggling to identify a theme.

Microsoft has announced that its Xbox Games Showcase will take place on June 9

Microsoft has revealed the time and date for its upcoming in June. As with last year, Xbox will follow the show with a Direct presentation focusing on a specific title. However, the company is being secretive about which game it will be.

Xbox announced the date of its upcoming June showcase and teased a special deep-dive to reveal a new installment of a “beloved franchise.” This announcement has led to a whirlwind of speculation among players, who are waiting for more information about which game Xbox will unveil during its next showcase.

Bethesda is now hoping to release new video games at a faster rate than it has in the past, especially with Fallout’s increased popularity. Bethesda is known for its massive RPG franchises like Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, and last year’s mega-hit Starfield. However, these titles can take an incredibly long time to develop, with Starfield suffering from several delays and being in production for nearly eight years before finally hitting stores in September.

Rare’s live-service action-adventure title Sea of Thieves is available now for PS5 players. First available on Xbox One and PC in March 2018 before receiving an Xbox Series X/S update, it’s the first game from the developer to release on a PlayStation platform. Check out the launch trailer below.

Xbox Games Showcase 2024 will air on June 9 at 10:00 a.m. PT / 1:00 p.m. ET / 6:00 p.m. BST, Microsoft announced. It will be immediately followed by a special deep dive “Direct” into the next installment of a “beloved franchise.” You will be able to watch it on YouTube, Twitch, and Facebook.

Microsoft has announced new titles coming to Xbox Game Pass in early May, which includes Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition, Kona II: Brume, Little Kitty, Big City, and more.

For all long as the Fallout franchise has been around, it has never been set outside of the United States. Of course, its over-the-top, retro-futuristic Americana satirization is a core aspect of what makes Fallout, Fallout, but on new few occasions, large chunks of the series’ fanbase have wondered how locations outside of the US are faring in Fallout’s post-apocalyptic setting, and whether they could fare as suitable settings for a future Fallout game.

Bethesda dropped the Next-Gen Update for Fallout 4 last week on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, adding native 4K support, free new Creation Club content and more. However, it was beset by issues and confusion, especially regarding who received the upgrade on PS5.

Earlier this year, multiple leaks and reports claimed that Hi-Fi Rush was headed to the Nintendo Switch, and though Tango Gameworks’ acclaimed rhythm action game has received a multiplatform launch, it’s only released for PS5, with there being no official word on it coming to Nintendo’s console.

As excited as some may be for new ship-building options or city maps in Starfield, there’s the ever-present question of when official mod support will go live. Director Todd Howard confirmed it would be this year, previously stating the sci-fi RPG would be a “modder’s paradise.” As it turns out, some new information will be dropping soon.

The Fallout franchise has been the center of attention despite the Next-Gen Update’s issues, but Bethesda continues supporting Starfield. The space-faring RPG will receive its first paid expansion this Fall with Shattered Space, and an update is coming up to add maps for cities and “some great stuff” for shipbuilding.

A new Fallout 4 mod has recently added the Fallout TV show’s “The Ghoul” character to the game. Fallout 4 has several excellent mods, and this new one will probably be a good pick for gamers who loved Amazon Prime’s new TV show.

Bethesda Game Studios has been promising new content and features for Starfield for a while now, and though updates for the space-faring RPG haven’t been as significant as many would have hoped, more new details have emerged on when to expect some of that. Shattered Space, for instance – which will be Starfield’s first paid expansion – has been given a narrower launch window.

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.

Fallout has been a massive success for Amazon Prime, while the show’s success has also resulted in resurgent sales and player numbers for Bethesda’s Fallout games. Last week, it was reported that the show had had more than 5 million views in its first full week, racking up over 2.5 billion hours of collective watch time. Now, updated figures have been revealed.

Jackbox has been a party game staple for some time and usually tries to keep things family-friendly. However, that’s changing with the announcement of the M-rated at the ID@Xbox Showcase on Monday.

A piece of artwork in the Halo subreddit from a user named ToastyGhostey, titled «WARTHOG RUN,» has sparked discussions among fellow fans due to its resemblance to a classic Star Wars show. Long-time Halo fans are reminded of the style of renowned animator Genndy Tartakovsky, the creator of «Samurai Jack» and animator of The Clone Wars, after seeing the fan art.

With Grounded, Pentiment, and Hi-Fi Rush, Microsoft has brought a number of its first-party Xbox titles to rival platforms in recent weeks, and though that’s set to continue with Sea of Thieves, which launches for PS5 on April 30, for now, that’s as much as we know about Microsoft’s plans for multiplatform releases. Interestingly, however, CEO Satya Nadella has suggested that more Xbox titles will be following in the aforementioned games’ footsteps.

Xbox Series X/S hardware sales have been consistently on the decline for a while now, and it looks like that continued to be the case in the quarter ending March 31 as well, as per Microsoft’s recently released quarterly fiscal report.

With Blizzard Entertainment having several major upcoming releases in the works, many had expected that the company would have a lot to say at BlizzCon later this year. Recently, however, it was announced that Blizzard had decided not to host the event in 2024. With Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard having gone through last year, there were some who wondered if it was Blizzard’s new parent company that made the decision to not go ahead with a BlizzCon event this year, but apparently that wasn’t the case.

With the launch of Fallout 4’s Next-Gen Update, players have faced several issues, from messed up save files to mods breaking. Recent reviews on Steam are now at 78 percent “Mostly Positive” as more negative reviews continue to pile up. However, there’s another baffling issue on Xbox Series X – even if you opt for Quality Mode (which offers native 4K/30 FPS), it will still run at 60 FPS.

Fallout is all the craze these days, especially off the success of Amazon’s recent TV show (recently renewed for Season 2). Though older titles like Fallout 76 and Fallout 4 have received impressive bumps in player numbers, the latter celebrating its Next-Gen Update launch, it wouldn’t be surprising if Microsoft is thinking of ways to capitalize on the show’s success.

A Starfield player has discovered a locked pile of dung in the game due to a hilarious glitch. While Starfield was one of Bethesda’s most bug-free releases, it’s still a massive game that is prone to weird glitches, and this bug is certainly among the most hilarious ones a gamer can run into.

A new report claims Xbox is aware of the hype surrounding theFallout franchise and is looking to expedite development of its next entry. After the release of the Amazon show, fan interest in the Fallout series has seen a significant boost, with player counts skyrocketing on every platform. Bethesda took advantage of this wave of popularity by releasing Fallout 4's free next-gen update on April 25.

A Minecraft player has impressed the gaming community by crafting a remarkable structure reflecting the soccer arena from the popular game Rocket League. Minecraft is an open-world sandbox game developed by Mojang Studios. It allows players to construct and explore virtual landscapes using blocks. With its limitless creativity and vast player base, Minecraft has become a platform for unique creations ranging from elaborate structures to entire virtual worlds.

Bethesda’s long-awaited Next-Gen Update for Fallout 4 went live yesterday, adding free Creation Club content for all players and native 4K support for Xbox Series X/S and PS5. However, there were several issues, like PlayStation Plus subscribers not getting the update for free. Game Pass subscribers don’t have this issue, of course.

Microsoft has released its latest financial results, showing significant growth in gaming revenues — thanks in no small part to the acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers can redeem three free Overwatch 2 skins until June 19. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is the most expensive tier of Xbox Game Pass, and Microsoft often adds various benefits for subscribers. These benefits allow subscribers to redeem in-game content across different titles like Overwatch 2 and free trials for several subscription services.

Microsoft's latest quarterly earnings call with shareholders has revealed that its Activision Blizzard acquisition has bolstered the company's gaming division revenue for Q3, offsetting a number of otherwise negative returns. The Microsoft Activision Blizzard acquisition has endured a series of legal challenges across several countries, but it would seem the Xbox parent company's persistence has more than paid off.

Video game developer and publisher Blizzard has announced that it won't be putting on a BlizzCon event for the 2024 calendar year. The news comes via a press release from the company.

The Fallout festivities continue. With Amazon Prime’s Fallout show having got off to an impressive start (and a second season already having been grenlit), the Fallout games, too, have been enjoying significant boosts in sales. That’s likely to continue for the foreseeable future, with Fallout 4’s long-awaited Next-Gen Update out now.

JD Fenix voice actor Liam McIntyre has teased the possibility of Gears of War 6 finally being revealed in June. It has been almost five years since the last game in the franchise was released, and there is reason to believe that Gears of War 6 may finally be on the way.

Britain's competition watchdog said on Wednesday it was seeking comments on the AI partnerships between Microsoft and Mistral AI, as well as between Amazon and Anthropic.

Microsoft may have shut down Bethesda France as part of the layoffs announced earlier this year. Multiple people have recently appeared online claiming that Bethesda France was closed, but Microsoft did not confirm these rumors at the time of this report.

NOTE: There are spoilers ahead for Gears 5.

May 30 is going to be a sad day for many fans of Xbox, as the company will begin deleting game captures on that date. The changes coming to Xbox will only be for content stored on the Xbox Network, so gamers storing their game captures through this will need to think of a backup plan.

Armadillos, the grumpy pistachio nuts of the animal kingdom, have been added to Minecraft in a recent mob update. You can brush them to harvest "scutes", the boney armour plating of the animal's back, which you can then use to craft armour for pet wolves. Speaking of wolves, this update also sees an explosion in canine diversity, with eight varieties of the wolf now appearing across different biomes. Awoooooo!

In a bold move, Microsoft has rolled out Phi-3, marking its smallest yet powerful open-source language artificial intelligence (AI) model to date. This latest offering underscores the tech giant's ongoing commitment to advancing AI accessibility and performance.

The Fallout series has exploded like a nuclear bomb over the last couple of weeks. Ever since Amazon Prime’s acclaimed eight-episode series premiered on April 10, both the show itself as well as the games it is inspired by have enjoyed roaring success.

Do you constantly rely on note-taking apps to stay on track with tasks and to-dos? Note-taking apps have become popular in recent years due to a plethora of features and ease of usage. One such feature-filled notes app is Microsoft OneNote which has been in the market for a long time. However, over the years it has included new features and AI-powered Copilot to provide improved user experience. The OneNote app comes with several hidden features, check out to effectively use the note-taking app and improve productivity.

Xbox and Marvel Animation have teamed up to create an X-Men 97 inspired Xbox Series X. The Xbox Series X console comes with a unique Xbox controller designed after Wolverine. X-Men 97 is an all-new series with 6 episodes currently on Disney Plus. The show continues the story of the original X-Men cartoon from the 90s with characters like Wolverine, Jubilee, and Magneto.

Reviews are in for the latest upcoming day-one Xbox Game Pass game, and they're largely positive. It looks like JRPG fans that are subscribed to Xbox Game Pass will be in for a treat when the newest addition to the catalog gets added on April 23. Microsoft has been on a bit of a roll recently when it comes to supplying subscribers with a steady stream of quality games, and this only continues that trend.

Kena: Bridge of Spirits, the acclaimed action-adventure title that launched exclusively on PC and PlayStation consoles in 2021, seems to be finally making its way to Xbox. While there's been no official announcement from developers Ember Lab or Microsoft, the game has seemingly been rated by the Entertainment Software Rating Board, or ESRB, in the US for Xbox Series consoles. Kena: Bridge of Spirits initially launched as a timed exclusive on PS4, PS5 and Epic Games Store on PC.

Helldivers 2 launched exclusively on PS5 and PC on February 8, quickly becoming a phenomenon and rising up the charts to become one of the most played games on Steam. The co-op third-person shooter, developed by Arrowhead Game Studios and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, broke the mould a bit when it launched simultaneously on Windows alongside the PlayStation platform. While it's not a first-party title, publishers Sony rarely release games under their banner on other platforms at launch. The overwhelming success of Helldivers 2, however, could be forcing the PlayStation parent to rethink its strategy. The game is now rumoured to be a subject of internal discussions over a possible Xbox release.

Fallout games have enjoyed considerable boosts in terms of sales and player numbers over the last week or so, thanks to the success of Amazon Prime’s Fallout series, and that continued over the weekend. Fallout 76, in fact, once again hit a new all-time peak of concurrent players on Steam on Sunday, surpassing its previous record of over 39,000 players (which it set last week), and nearly doubling it to land at 73,368 concurrent players (via SteamDB).

Microsoft has announced another edition of the ID@Xbox Digital Showcase, its annual event focused on indie games, which is returning a week from now, on April 29, at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET / 6 PM BST.

Microsoft will host an ID@Xbox Showcase in partnership with IGN on April 29 at 10:00 a.m. PT / 1:00 p.m. ET, the companies announced. You will be able to watch it on YouTube, Twitch, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and IGN.com.

Microsoft has announced that its ID@Xbox Digital Showcase will return next week on April 29. The showcase is a dedicated platform for highlighting upcoming indie games heading to Xbox consoles and PC, promising a smattering of new announcements as well as updates for existing ones.

As part of a new partnership, Microsoft is working on a «limited-edition» VR headset capable of running Meta's new Meta Horizon operating system. This new joint effort will see Meta and Microsoft work together to create a limited-edition Meta Quest device inspired by Xbox, meaning gamers could soon have their own Xbox VR headset.

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds has received a new update on consoles that adds destructible terrain to one map, weapon balance changes, a Ducati crossover, and more. PC PUBG users received the same update on April 9.

A talented artist has created two life-sized statues based on iconic characters from the Halo franchise. Developed by Bungie and released as an original Xbox exclusive in 2001, Haloestablished itself as an instant classic, one which many have cited as a game that redefined first-person shooters on consoles.

The current state of the PlayStation store suggests that Xbox doesn't need to worry about winning the console wars. On February 15, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer, Xbox President Sarah Bond, and Head of Microsoft Studios Matt Booty announced some of its Xbox exclusive titles would be coming to PlayStation and Nintendo Switch during an Xbox podcast, something that was welcomed by players on the other platforms, with titles such as being hugely successful on PlayStation, but was initially controversial with Xbox players.

The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has issued a critical vulnerability note (CIVN-2024-0129) regarding Microsoft Defender for IoT, a cybersecurity product aimed at safeguarding Internet of Things (IoT) devices. The warning highlights multiple vulnerabilities within the Defender for IoT software, posing a significant risk of remote attacks.

Microsoft has announced that the Xbox Mastercard is now available for everyone in the continental United States, Alaska, and Hawaii. The Xbox Mastercard launched back in September 2023 as an exclusive perk for Xbox Insiders.

This will not come as a surprise to anyone, given the widespread acclaim that Amazon Prime’s Fallout series has enjoyed since it premiered in full last week, but the show has now been officially greenlit for a second season.

The Anniversary Edition of Braid was originally announced almost four years ago, and originally meant to be out sometime in 2021. As such, the latest delay to Jonathan Blow’s time-rewinding puzzle-platformer - which sees its date pushed back two weeks into the middle of next month - feels like a relative drop in the hourglass.

Bethesda’s Fallout games are continuing to benefit from the ongoing resurgence of interest in all things Fallout, courtesy of Amazon Prime’s recently-released acclaimed adaptation.

Blizzard has spoken on the popular topic of whether its long-running multiplayer online RPG World of Warcraft might finally make its way to console platforms. The latest comments come from a leading member of the development team for the game, as the studio gears up to promote the latest World of Warcraft expansion.

EU antitrust regulators have concluded that Microsoft's $13 billion investment into OpenAI is not an acquisition, sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, signaling the deal will avoid a formal European probe that could have led to onerous remedies for the U.S. tech giant.

In a digital world, we have found several different ways to simplify and automate our tiring tasks. With tech companies offering new tools and features to reduce our workload, technology such as artificial intelligence (AI) has been the biggest provider. One such company is Microsoft which has been continuously upgrading its AI feature across all of its services. Recently, the company announced Copilot integration to its workspace app including PowerPoint which has brought some unique features to simplify presentation development. Know more about PowerPoint Copilot AI features. 

NOTE: There are spoilers ahead for Amazon Prime’s Fallout series.

Bethesda Game Studios has promised some significant updated for Starfield in 2024, from “new ways” of travelling to new gameplay features to the launch of its first expansion, Shattered Steel. Thus far, however, more than a quarter of our way into the year, details on those updates have remained scant, even if the space RPG has received a couple of patches.

officially acquired in October, closing a massive $68.7 billion deal. With the company now firmly integrated into Microsoft’s corporate structure, some might wonder how the software giant is influencing Blizzard. However, at least for now, it seems that Microsoft isn’t that interested in meddling with the developer’s affairs.

Braid: Anniversary Edition (or Braid, Anniversary Edition as it's officially styled) has been delayed by two weeks. The remake is now set to launch for PlayStation, Switch, and PC on 15th May, with Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One versions arriving a day later, on 16th May.

Sea of Thieves has turned into a juggernaut following a somewhat rough launch over the last six years, and it refuses to shed any of its momentum. In fact, developer Rare has announced that the game recently surpassed another major milestone where its player numbers are concerned.

Microsoft’s rollout of first-party titles on non-Xbox consoles is continuing. Hi-Fi Rush and Pentiment have been made available on rival platforms in recent weeks, and the next to join that list is Grounded. Obsidian Entertainment’s survival game has now launched for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and PlayStation 4, bringing with it support for full cross-platform multiplayer, as well as a host of new content and features.

Seven new games are joining in the second half of April, including four new releases. Xbox also announced three games coming to Game Pass Core. However, six games will leave Microsoft’s subscription service at the end of the month.

Microsoft has revealed the lineup of games that will be added to the Game Pass catalog over the next couple of weeks, and subscribers have some notable titles to look forward to. Most prominent among them is probably Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, Rabbit and Bear Studios’ long-awaited Suikoden spiritual successor, which launches April 23 and will also be available with Game Pass on PC, console, and cloud at launch.

A Minecraft player has recently stumbled upon a peculiar sight while exploring the legacy version of the game, a village with just one house. This discovery was shared with the Minecraft community, sparking intrigue and speculation about its existence.

Microsoft has announced new titles coming to Xbox Game Pass in late April, which includes Manor Lords, Another Crab’s Treasure, Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, and more.

Expanding its artificial intelligence (AI) push, Microsoft has announced that it will be investing $1.5 billion in United Arab Emirates-based artificial intelligence firm G42, giving the U.S. giant a minority stake and a board seat, allowing the two to deepen ties amid the global battle for tech dominance. AI has become the buzzword of the last few years, with companies around the world competing to leverage this technology.

Some currently restricted weapons may be coming to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 ranked play modes in an upcoming test. Developers Treyarch Studios and Sledgehammer games announced that a planned evaluation of various Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 weapons will take place to determine the weapons' viability in the competitive scene.

The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has issued a high-risk warning concerning various Microsoft services due to multiple vulnerabilities found in Microsoft products. These vulnerabilities affect a range of Microsoft software, including Windows, Office, Developer Tools, Azure services, Bing, System Center, Dynamics, and Exchange Server.