Try one of gaming’s best trilogies before it leaves Xbox Game Pass next week

The Official Xbox Podcast episode dropping later this week is going to be a big one. Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer, President of Game Content and Studios Matt Booty, and Xbox President Sarah Bond will finally address rumors that have been tearing the Xbox community apart for the past week. After leaks and rumors indicating that titles like Hi-Fi Rush, Sea of Thieves, Starfield, and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle would come to Nintendo Switch or PlayStation 5 began to circulate, people got very confused about what this all means for Xbox as a platform going forward.

The survival crafting game genre is in the middle of a renaissance. Players have been drawn to mainstays like Minecraft and Terreria for well over a decade at this point, but the last couple of months have seen plenty of new contenders enter the market. Lego Fortnite, Palworld, and Enshrouded all recently launched and became some of the biggest surprise hits in the industry in recent months. Now, Nightingale is launching and aims to ride this genre popularity wave to success.

Palworld took the world by storm following its early access launch on January 19. It peaked at over 2.1 million concurrent players on Steam, selling over 12 million copies on that platform alone and amassing at least 7 million more purchases via Xbox Game Pass. That means you’ve probably played it at this point, even if you aren’t playing many other video games right now. Thankfully, the melting pot — or derivative, depending on who you ask — design of Palworld makes it a gateway game to several other amazing titles.

Xbox Game Pass subscribers have yet another day one game to look forward to, as the upcoming Botany Manor has been confirmed for release on April 9. Botany Manor was first confirmed for Xbox Game Pass last December, with a handful of other 2024 Game Pass titles confirmed on the same day.

Mobile game controller maker Backbone is releasing a limited-edition version of its Backbone One controller themed around Kojima Productions’ Death Stranding. If you pick one up, you’ll get a free code for the iOS version of Death Stranding: Director’s Cut, will launch alongside the controller next week.

Fortnite is set to come back to iOS in Europe sometime in 2024. This will mark the first time a natively running version of Fortnite will be available on iOS since Apple removed the game from the App Store in 2020.

Hi-Fi Rush, one of Xbox Game Pass' biggest hits during 2023, received a new update on Thursday, January 25. Hi-Fi Rush's recent update gives users new cosmetics, fixes various bugs, and improves controller support for PC players.

Apple is easing up on its App Store guidelines so that it’s now possible to “provide access to mini apps and games” within other apps.

The January 25 Xbox Game Pass update is adding a new day-one title in the form of Go Mecha Ball. This hectic indie release promises to add to the already sizable collection of high-quality roguelike games on Xbox Game Pass.

Microsoft is laying off around 8% of its Gaming Workforce, affecting game developers across Xbox, ZeniMax Media, and the newly acquired Activision Blizzard.

Frontier Developments, the British developer-publishers behind Elite Dangerous, Planet Zoo and Warhammer games including Warhammer 40,000 XCOM-a-like Chaos Gate: Daemonhunters and last year’s Age of Sigmar RTS Realms of Ruin, will host a new monthly developer showcase starting next week.

We’re in the middle of a Nintendo DS renaissance on Nintendo Switch, which is fitting as that classic handheld turns 20 in 2014. Coming off the excellentGhost Trick: Phantom Detective re-release from last year, more DS classics are coming to Nintendo Switch this month. First, Another Code Recollection contains a full-on remake of the cult classic Another Code: Two Memories, and it’s out now. In a few days, on January 25, Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney will remastered as part of a trilogy collection that also bears its namesake.