After Sony announced that it's delisting over 500 movies from users' accounts with no refunds, discontinuing physical discs for PlayStation games, and closing down PlayStation 3 and PSVita's digital stores — people are increasingly skeptical of making all media digital-only.

Brazilian Xbox gamer, Ordo_Liberal, also found this out the hard way, as back on April 6 (via Reddit), 2026, his Microsoft account was hacked and promptly suspended by Microsoft as its IT team determined it was "unrecoverable" by policy, due to the account's security details being changed by the hacker.

This isn't the first time we've seen reports of this at Windows Central. Microsoft's policies for restoring accounts are often incredibly flimsy. Getting in touch with the right support services can be a Kafka-esque nightmare of AI bots and outsourced customer service layers.

As a result of being blocked, Ordo_Liberal not only lost his Xbox games but also lost all his OneDrive files.

Enraged that Microsoft took away his game library and insisted he buy them again, Ordo_Liberal then sued Microsoft in a digital library lawsuit. The court case dragged on until July 12, 2026, when Ordo_Liberal announced on Reddit that he had actually won.

According to (translated) comments, the Brazilian court ruled in favor of Ordo_Liberal under Brazil's strict consumer laws, and has ordered Microsoft to completely restore Ordo_Liberal's account, giving him his entire Xbox digital games library back, and pay him $400 in damages.

Digital preservation of games has become quite a hot topic in recent days, following Sony's culling of physical media to the point where some would argue that "piracy is the only extant form of media preservation" due to no viable, legal option being available.

However, Ordo_Liberal's court win against Microsoft for taking away his digital library for something that wasn't his fault proves that it is possible to find a legal means to protect and preserve digital games and a player's ownership rights over them, provided they have the courage, legal know-how, and careful planning to do so.

The European Union is also taking a more aggressive stance on digital preservation lately. As more and more of our data goes up to cloud services, consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the consequences when companies like PlayStation or Xbox pull the plug.

Microsoft needs to do better here, and if they refuse, maybe the courts will be able to force them to do so.

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iRacing makes much more than just its flagship sim racing platform these days, and hot off the heels of the first official NASCAR 26 news, we now finally have some information on its IndyCar project.

We've known of its existence for some time but little more. Now, we finally have something concrete to go on, as well as a tentative launch window that will, sadly, miss the previously hoped-for 2026 window.

IndyCar Racing The Game is coming to Xbox Series X|S, PC via Steam, and PS5, in "early 2027."

That makes the most sense right now, given that NASCAR 26 is already on track to launch this September. Any time after this is a terrible time to launch a game, given that the entire planet's attention will be fixed on GTA 6.

Or Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee Remastered.

“This is a project our team has been passionate about for a long time,” said Tony Gardner, iRacing president. “We’re bringing everything we know about authentic, immersive racing to consoles and PC, and creating an experience worthy of the INDYCAR name. 2027 can’t come soon enough.”

Other than early 2027, all we know is that IndyCar Racing The Game will "launch in the countdown to the 2027 Indianapolis 500." Next year's race is scheduled for May 30, so right now we can expect to see the game sometime before then.

Being made by iRacing means that, like NASCAR 25 and 26, the IndyCar game will be able to leverage some aspects of the sim while being built like a more traditional racing game. It uses an in-house engine, not Unreal as NASCAR 26 does, previously used in ExoCross.

There hasn't been an official IndyCar game in over twenty years, so fans have certainly had a drought. IndyCar has largely been ignored beyond iRacing, so it's certainly a long overdue but extremely welcome arrival.

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Microsoft did say it wanted to make more console exclusives, but perhaps this isn't what Xbox fans had in mind.

One of the best features on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S is the backwards compatibility program. It features hundreds of games from Xbox 360 and OG Xbox consoles, giving you the opportunity to dip into some nostalgia even on modern systems. Some games on there aren't available at all on any other platform, too.

Some of the older Call of Duty titles were simply never ported to modern PlayStation systems, meaning the only ways to access them on modern platforms is via either PC or a modern Xbox.

To plug the gap, Microsoft and Activision just did some very basic ports of Call of Duty: Black Ops 1 and 2 to PlayStation 5. And PlayStation fans are loving it. The games are beating GTA 6 on the PlayStation charts, which shows how much nostalgia there still is for some of these classic games. Xbox fans, however, are NOT happy — and it's not because they're gatekeeping.

Microsoft's purchase of Activision Blizzard gave it full control of the Call of Duty franchise. Classic Call of Duty games were already broadly available on Xbox backwards compatibility, complete with online matchmaking and the like. However, given the lack of security updates for Xbox 360 consoles, system hackers are prevalent, making some of them virtually unplayable.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 1 and 2 are as basic as ports can be. Activision has practically done nothing to enhance them besides a res bump, and it seems honestly intentional. I imagine the reason they haven't is because it would rub even more salt in the Xbox wound — it's almost like they're designed to mimic the Xbox 360 back compat versions as much as possible. Iron Galaxy also did the (very solid) ports for Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, so it's not a matter of skill here.

Even if they do offer some visual enhancements, the real issue is the prevalence of hackers on the Xbox back compat versions. The Xbox 360 security layers have been torn down over the years, allowing for cheaters to ruin the experience. Since the Black Ops 1 and 2 ports on PlayStation 5 are siloed away from older systems, they're far less susceptible.

As a result, what you have here is a de-facto PlayStation console exclusive, published by Xbox.

Usually I would gloss over a basic port of a Xbox 360 game, but as you can see from how hard the game is charting, these are very beloved titles. While players wait for September's sprint of heavy hitters, indulging in some innocent nostalgia would've been a nice bet. Clearly the PlayStation charts agree.

It's a pure oddity that Microsoft decided to leave Xbox fans out here, and the reactions on social media have been what you might expect. As a gesture, it seems like Microsoft has decided to make the Black Ops' DLC free on the Xbox Store, but the hacker-ridden base game is still a frankly absurd $40.

I've reached out to Microsoft and Activision to get comments on why they decided to leave the Xbox version of Black Ops 1+2 broken in light of this trending PS5 port. But I suspect they had no idea it would do so extremely well on PlayStation. Had they not trended, it probably wouldn't have shined such a bright light on the state of the Xbox backwards compatible versions either — although I've been receiving messages about it for quite a while now.

I suspect Microsoft and Xbox won't do much to resolve the situation. They've opened a can of worms here. The source code for the original games and their server infrastructure is likely on ice. Microsoft could ship new Call of Duty: Black Ops 1+2 ports that cut off the previous versions. The downside is, users on Xbox 360 (and yes, there are still tens of thousands of players on Xbox 360) and back compat would be left adrift.

It all just screams of lack of organization and forethought, but things are pretty chaotic at Xbox right now ...

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We all knew this day would come. Razer has spent the last decade spreading its glowing tendrils into every conceivable corner of the tech world, putting colorful lights on everything from mousepads to beverage coasters. A fully illuminated gaming chair was always a matter of when, not if.

Enter the Razer Soma Chroma, announced on June 25th. It is a product that answers a question absolutely nobody was asking, yet it manages to be completely awesome in execution. Is a neon-soaked headrest necessary to hit your headshots in Valorant? Not even slightly. Is it a hilarious, beautifully built piece of functional performance art? Absolutely.

While the minimalist crowd might scoff at the pure absurdity of a glowing chair, it is exactly this kind of unhinged commitment to a design identity that keeps me in this game. I love to see companies take genuine risks and lean heavily into who they are, and Razer did not blink here.

Razer had no input, nor did it see the contents of this review, prior to publication.

The Evil Throne Visual Aesthetic

Setting up the Soma Chroma is an absolute breeze. From cracking open the massive cardboard box to actually parking my rear end in the seat, the entire assembly process took me less than 10 minutes. The parts clear out easily, the bolts line up beautifully, and the 6 cm PU caster wheels pop right into the powder-coated steel base without throwing a tantrum. Once assembled, those wheels roll smoothly across both hard floors and rugs alike without any annoying stuttering.

When you finally stand back and look at it, the visual payoff is immediate. The standout feature is the pair of prominent RGB wings framing the headrest area.

Sitting in this chair makes you feel like an antagonist plotting world domination while waiting for your casual matchmaking lobby to fill up. As you can see in the above photos, the lighting strip is perfectly uniform, incredibly bright, and creates a spectacular glow that looks brilliant on a stream camera or reflecting off a dark wall.

Comfort for the Long Haul

Beyond the light show, a chair actually needs to work as a piece of furniture. I spent the last 10 days using the Soma Chroma as my daily driver, logging a punishing 8 hours a day for multiple days, and my back has been perfectly happy.

Razer opted for a dual-density cold-cured foam setup for the cushion. There is a noticeably softer outer layer that immediately contours to your body when you sit down, which sits directly on top of a much firmer base layer that keeps the chair from bottoming out over long sessions. The built-in ergonomic lumbar arch provides great passive support to your lower spine, encouraging a healthy posture without requiring constant manual adjustments.

Instead of the premium leatherette styling found on the Iskur line, the Soma Chroma utilizes a soft cloth fabric upholstery. You can see the distinct paneled layout of the fabric seat base. The material feels cozy, gentle, and broken-in right out of the box, though it does tend to collect a bit of back heat.

On particularly warm summer days, you might find yourself wishing for a bit more ventilation. It's also a magnet for pet hair, if you have furry friends as I do.

My biggest critique lands squarely on the armrests. The chair features basic 2D armrests that only allow for height adjustments and generic inward or outward angling. If you are moving over from a high-end chair with 3D or 4D armrests, the lack of forward, backward, or lateral sliding movements feels like an unfortunate omission on a $499.99 piece of hardware.

Controlling the Light Show

Connecting the chair to your PC is as familiar as any other Razer peripheral. You can use Bluetooth for a quick mobile hookup, or plug in the included 2.4GHz wireless USB Type-A dongle for a low-latency connection to your rig.

Once connected, the Synapse software gives you complete control over the 16.8 million colors. You can easily adjust the overall brightness slider, toggle power-saving sleep timers to dim the lights during inactivity, or launch Chroma Studio to synchronize your seating with game-reactive profiles.

You can see in the photo below how you can use multiple colors at once and use preset motion settings like Ripple, Starlight, Reactive, or Static to give the effect you want. In that photo, I went with Windows Central's colors, which is fun. Most of my photos here are static, simply because having Ripple or Wave enabled, which looks awesome, may be distracting if you're on a professional web call versus streaming on Twitch.

If you already own other hardware like my just-reviewed Seiren V3 Pro microphone, the Huntsman V3 Pro TKL, or the ultra-premium Huntsman Signature Edition, the ability to sync your entire room's theme together creates an incredibly cohesive ecosystem.

If you prefer to adjust things on the fly without minimizing your game, there is a physical control panel stitched directly into the fabric on the top of the headrest. The buttons are clicky and responsive, allowing you to turn the RGB on or off, cycle through effects, and tweak brightness.

The comedy here is that you cannot actually see or easily reach these buttons blindly while sitting down. You have to get up out of the chair to make physical adjustments, making Razer Synapse the vastly superior option for mid-game tweaks.

Powering Your RGB

Because dangling a long power cable off a spinning, rolling desk chair is an absolute recipe for disaster, Razer designed the Soma Chroma to run completely wirelessly via a clever hidden feature. There is a dedicated zipper pocket built directly into the rear of the seat base. This pocket allows you to tuck away a standard USB Type-C power bank (not included), keeping your setup clean and cord-free.

If you absolutely despise dealing with batteries, you can buy a Razer Type-C extension cable separately for about $19.99 on Amazon to plug the chair straight into a wall outlet. This gives you an always-on light show, but it obviously creates a massive trip hazard if you like to spin around or roll across your room.

Fortunately, running it wirelessly is shockingly viable. During my 10 days of evaluation, I hooked the chair up to a standard 49.6WHr battery pack. After two full, continuous workdays consisting of 16 total hours of use with the RGB strips cranked to absolute maximum brightness, the battery pack was only down by roughly 50%. That means you can easily expect a massive 30-plus hours of glorious neon illumination before you ever need to think about pulling the battery pack out to recharge it.

Missing Perks and Future Upgrades

It is worth noting that the standard Soma Chroma does not feature any internal haptic feedback. If you want your seat to rumble alongside your games, you will need to buy an additional add-on pad like the recently reviewed Razer Freyja cushion.

Knowing Razer's historic release patterns, I am completely confident that we will eventually see a premium Soma Chroma "Pro" down the line that integrates both the fancy lighting strips and full-body haptic motors into a single package. When that inevitably happens, it will likely cost a small fortune, which makes the $499.99 entry fee for this model feel relatively reasonable for the wild novelty and comfort it brings to the table.

Razer Soma Chroma review: My final thoughts

✅ You should buy this if ...

• You want peak gamer aesthetic (or like fun).
• You want a solid, comfortable gaming chair
• You already have a lot of Razer accessories to pair with it

❌ You should not buy this if ...

• You work in an office, or need something more professional
• You prefer leatherette materials
• You don't want to charge/power yet-another-accessory

The Razer Soma Chroma is an absolute blast of a gaming chair. It takes a ridiculous concept and executes it with high-quality materials, stable wireless connectivity, and genuine ergonomic support. It might not be a necessary upgrade for the casual office worker, but for the enthusiast who wants to lean completely into the ultimate battlestation aesthetic, it delivers exactly what it promises.

• Back to the top ⤴

id Software, the studio responsible for many beloved Xbox franchises like DOOM, Wolfenstein, Quake, and more, has seen a huge chunk of its staff laid off by Microsoft as part of the company's restructuring of the Xbox brand, resulting in over 3,200 people losing their jobs.

In the wake of this announcement, John Carmack, one of the founders of id Software (along with John Romero, Tom Hall, and Adrian Carmack), who also helped create the DOOM, Wolfenstein, and Quake franchises, has responded to it on social media with his thoughts on the situation.

Most responses to Xbox's mass layoffs, which were filled with anger and frustration, like former id Software animator Skai Chow's scathing message of "I hope our pain was worth it" or fear of the future, like Bethesda fearing that it will negatively impact the development of The Elder Scrolls 6, or even spell the end for Fallout 76 without help from an external studio.

However, John Carmack's response feels more neutral by comparison. While he was definitely sad (while admitting that his comment on Microsoft being a good steward of the brand isn't aging well), he couldn't bring himself to be angry or disappointed by these layoffs by saying, "I’m saddened, but I can’t muster anger or outrage over it. I don’t have access to the books, but I suspect that Id Software was a marginal business from Microsoft’s perspective. I believe the reports that Minecraft revenues have been carrying several other studios."

John Carmack then stated that at the end of the day, the gaming industry is a brutal business with tons of competitors vying for your time and money, and if you're not successful financially, you'll get left behind regardless of how beloved your creation is.

In addition, while it's easy to point the blame at Microsoft's higher-ups, John Carmack says that "You can’t rule out the possibility that executives are idiots, but that shouldn’t be your default belief. I don’t think there is any obvious path that would have doubled the revenue from Id games."

He asks what kinds of strategies id Software could've done to prevent this, like using a different pricing strategy, creating more things for fans to buy, or using a cost-effective marketing scheme to reach out to more players.

He ultimately has no answer for this conundrum, but John Carmack does know that it's not over yet, and he hopes that id Software bounces back from this grievous blow.

Windows Central's take

While I personally don't know the answer to this question myself, I do know that my colleague, Jez Corden, says that rumors of id Software's demise are greatly exaggerated.

While the job cuts have been brutal to the point where they put the kibosh on Id Software's pitches for a Perfect Dark reboot and a John Wick-style game, Microsoft has not announced any plans of closing id Software down any time soon.

In fact, Microsoft has even released a statement to us regarding the rumors of the job cuts putting id Software's lauded id Tech (an engine that has greatly optimized the performance of games like the modern DOOM games and Indiana Jones & The Great Circle) on ice, which says, "There are dozens of people working on id Tech across multiple locations. Reports that there’s only one person left in Texas are inaccurate."

Either way, I hope id Software does survive this tumultuous time in gaming. They produced some of the most awesome first-person shooters I've ever played, like DOOM (2016) and DOOM: Eternal, and it would be an utter travesty for the studio to close for good.

Stay tuned for more news as we keep an eye out for further developments regarding the damages caused by Xbox's company-wide "Reset".

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Of all the layoffs that came down on Xbox Game Studios developers this week as part of Microsoft and Xbox's 3,200 "reset" cuts and four studio divestments, the ones that hit the DOOM developer id Software were the most shocking to many given the popularity and success of its modern trilogy of games.

It's been reported that well over half of id was axed from Xbox, with 136 developers — 96 at its Texas headquarters and an additional 40 remote workers — let go from the studio. The cuts impacted nearly every department within the developer, including the teams building, maintaining, and improving its id Tech game engine used for a variety of ZeniMax projects.

Individual DOOM devs have shared reactions to the layoffs, though id Software itself hadn't yet shared a response until today. Now it has, with the studio posting a statement to the community on social media to assuage fears about its future under Microsoft and Xbox.

"Thank you for all the support this week. While our studio was impacted, those changes were spread across teams. We still have the crew we need to build the games and tech we're known for," reads id's letter. "The team today is about the same size we were when making DOOM (2016). We have always had a flat studio where everyone is a maker, and we will remain true to that philosophy moving forward."

"We are focused on supporting each other and team members impacted. We're going to keep building the great games and tech that have defined us for the past 35 years, and we're looking forward to seeing you at QuakeCon this August," it added.

Notably, this statement confirms our recent, earlier report that in the wake of the layoffs, id Software is now about the size that it was when it released the 2016 DOOM reboot ten years ago, and that the studio isn't in danger of being closed or split away from Microsoft and Xbox.

It also confirms that the developer will still move forward with new games, though it seems unlikely it will have a chance to explore some of its experimental ideas. Still, I expect that we'll see additional DOOM titles from the team, and that it will continue to iterate upon id Tech for the benefit of Wolfenstein dev MachineGames and other studios.

Ultimately, this news is quite relieving to hear from id Software — though to be clear, I'm not downplaying the severity of the cuts in saying that. On the contrary, I'm glad that the developer still has a future under Xbox's wing despite how significantly it was affected by the dismissals.

The layoffs at id represent a large portion of about 440 total cuts across all of ZeniMax and Bethesda, with other teams hit including Bethesda Game Studios (The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Starfield) and ZeniMax Online Studios (The Elder Scrolls Online).

Bethesda devs fear that The Elder Scrolls 6 will suffer crunch and delays because of the layoffs, and the reduction in force at ZeniMax Online Studios has led to "shifting" roadmaps for The Elder Scrolls Online. Bethesda's official union, OneBGS, plans to protest against the cuts next week with a "Save Our Devs" march.

What are your thoughts on the layoffs at id Software? Do you feel Microsoft and Xbox went too far with them based on everything we know? Share your take in the comments, and vote in the above poll.

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In response to this week's wave of mass Xbox layoffs from Microsoft that have cut 3,200 roles and four studios from the company, union workers at Bethesda Game Studios — the developer behind Skyrim, Fallout 4, and Starfield, among other titles — are organizing a protest to fight back.

Several public listings for the rally — titled "Save Our Devs" — have been spotted for Bethesda's various different locations, including its Rockville headquarters and offices in Austin, Dallas, and Montreal. These calls to action confirm that unionized OneBGS staffers are coordinating to march on July 15 next week.

"Microsoft and ZeniMax leadership have made the devastating decision to slash over 440 positions across BGS, ZOS, id, ZWU (QA) and ZeniMax corporate (including CTO and CSUR)," wrote the union. "Because we organized and certified our Unions, we have hard-won legal rights and protections that non-unionized studios simply do not have."

"The company wants us to accept this as a done deal and quietly disappear. We won't let that happen. Our next steps are to mobilize," it continued. "We need every single member visible and unified. To that end, we are announcing our Save Our Devs March across all studios on Wednesday July 15th."

In an email sent to union workers seen by Game Developer, OneBGS has reportedly stated that 35 Bethesda Game Studios devs have been let go in the US, with 12 also laid off in Montreal. This roughly lines up with a previous report that about 50 employees have been laid off from the studio.

Reportedly, "this has had a crushing effect on morale" at Bethesda, with devs fearing that The Elder Scrolls 6 will suffer delays and crunch as a result of the redundancies. There are also concerns that support for Fallout 76 may end.

Elsewhere under the ZeniMax and Bethesda banner, the cuts go even deeper. Over 200 developers were laid off from The Elder Scrolls Online studio ZeniMax Online Studios, and well over half of DOOM maker id Software has been axed as well — though it's been reported that the situation there isn't as dire as some say. A small comfort.

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma stated the layoffs are part of a "reset" for the Xbox business after it "overextended" with its ambitions; OneBGS claims that Microsoft referred to them as an "entrepreneurial change in the scope of business," which is a notion it's fighting against as it negotiates to have affected developers brought into open roles across Xbox Game Studios.

"While we push that legal fight forward, Microsoft is still legally required right now to sit down with us for 'Effects Bargaining.' This means we have the right to negotiate exactly how these layoffs impact our people, and we are heading to the table to fight for every single affected worker," it explained.

"We are going to be demanding preferential transfers to force Microsoft to place affected BGS workers into open roles across Xbox and Microsoft first, stronger severance and extended healthcare to ensure no one is financially abandoned, as well as recall rights to ensure our laid-off members are the first ones hired back when BGS expands."

"Stay strong, look out for one another, and we look forward to seeing us all marching together on the 15th," concluded the union. Whether next week's protest has a meaningful impact or not remains to be seen, but ultimately, I hope it helps laid off ZeniMax and Bethesda devs find new opportunities and get the best severance and healthcare packages possible.

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The launch of Assassin's Creed Black Flag: Resynced, the highly anticipated (and high-scoring) remaster of one of the best games in the Assassin's Creed series, has been followed by 51 of its game designers from Ubisoft Barcelona being laid off, according to an exclusive report by Tom Henderson at Insider Gaming.

The report states that Ubisoft tends to assign teams to new projects long before they finish their current project (sometimes up to a year in advance, at least). The developers tried to raise their concerns with Ubisoft's higher-ups about not being given a new project back in 2025, yet in this case, they were never given a new assignment to work on before being laid off.

In fact, one employee who was affected by these layoffs (who wishes to remain anonymous) informed Insider Gaming:

The report then states that, in response to this, Ubisoft Barcelona's staff will go on strike every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon from June 30, 2026, to July 16, 2026.

Windows Central's take

To compound the severity of this depressing situation, these layoffs were announced shortly after Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced had a successful launch. It is currently enjoying a high overall Metacritic score of 84 — based on 84 critics — and fans are leaving mostly positive reviews on its Steam Page.

We even gave Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced a near-perfect 4.5 review score for improving upon the original Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag's already stellar naval combat, beautiful graphics redone from the ground up, and new content along with story-rewrites that has made the story more compelling (the fact they got rid of the modern-day segments from the original game already makes this remake superior in my book).

This will no doubt degrade the morale of Ubisoft's developers, knowing that even if a game launches to critical and fan acclaim, they will still be laid off before the official sales numbers even start to come in.

Will the strike at Ubisoft Barcelona convince Ubisoft to improve working conditions? Will we see more layoffs at Ubisoft on the level of Xbox's massive 'Reset' that has laid off over 3,200 people? We'll watch for further developments.

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced is now available for purchase on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

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This week has mostly been a depressing affair for the gaming industry, what with Sony killing off physical PlayStation Discs and Microsoft laying off over 3,200 roles at Xbox.

We could all use some levity after this string of bad news, so we're going to do that by marveling at the creative ingenuity of YouTuber 'Game of Tobi'.

For you see, this clever tinkerer has managed to get a version of the legendary Minecraft running on two iconic portable consoles that helped pave the way for gaming handhelds as we know them today: the Game Boy Color from 1998 and the original Game Boy from 1989.

This fan-made game "3D Minecraft" isn't a lower-resolution port of Minecraft. It's a unique creation where the player can play on a flat map or a full 3D-generated world. Like in regular Minecraft, you can place blocks, explore the world, and even build.

Granted, the graphics, frame rate, and gameplay are limited compared to the real thing, especially when running on the original Game Boy, as it has no colors other than black and white. Yet the fact that this creator managed to get Minecraft working on a 1998 gaming handheld and an even older one from 1989 is nothing short of technical wizardry.

This isn't the first time 'Game of Tobi' got a modern game to work on retro hardware, as they made working versions of Minecraft on the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS in the past that more closely resemble and play like regular Minecraft (complete with Survival Mode!).

In addition, they also made a Nintendo DS version of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, a Nintendo 3DS version of Super Mario Odyssey, and more.

Personally, I like seeing people using their technical know-how to make games we love playable on platforms we wouldn't expect (look no further than DOOM being playable on Notepad.exe or even a pregnancy test), and these Game Boy ports of Minecraft are no exception.

It just makes you wonder what the gaming world would've looked like if Minecraft had been made in the 1990s instead of 2011, and whether it would've been as successful back then, when gaming was still niche.

Plus, having a physical, offline version of Minecraft that isn't beholden to online servers to keep it running sounds like a pretty good idea, especially in this day and age, when online games can be delisted at any time, at the whim of a corporation, for whatever reason.

Either way, Game of Tobi has my YouTube subscription for this invention, and I'm looking forward to seeing what they make next (here's hoping they make Minecraft playable on the Nintendo Virtual Boy just for the sheer, eye-bleeding hilarity of seeing the Nether rendered entirely in the system's Red and Black color scheme).

What do you think of 'Game of Tobi's' Game Boy Color and Game Boy versions of Minecraft? Would you like to play an offline version of Minecraft on older hardware for the nostalgic novelty?

If you have any thoughts, please let us know through the poll, the comments section, or our Reddit page.

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Xbox's cuts over the past week have been brutal; let's not mince words here.

Four studios divested with a possible fifth in progress, over a thousand jobs removed already, with a further 2000 planned. The atmosphere within Xbox right now is dire — a total 180 following the wave of optimism from new CEO Asha Sharma's appointment in spring.

As a result, there are tons of stories coming out about what the fate of Xbox's remaining studios might be. A lot of the discourse has fallen on id Software right now, the beloved maker of DOOM. The studio is an industry staple, and arguably one of the most important and influential brands in the modern gaming canon.

Cuts at id Software have been heavy and painful. Some have claimed the studio's lauded id Tech engine is effectively on ice, and that id is no longer large enough to produce its own games.

What's the truth here? I've been investigating Microsoft's plans for id. Despite the callousness of Microsoft's bean counters, I'm confident the studio will endure.

Microsoft has no plans to shelve id Tech

DOOM and other id Software games have long been powered by the id Tech engine. The engine was designed originally for Quake back in the 90s, and has since powered a huge variety of titles, including open-world games like RAGE, horror games like The Evil Within, Wolfenstein shooters, and, of course, the modern DOOM games. More recently, Machine Games' Indiana Jones and DOOM: The Dark Ages were built on the latest versions of id Tech.

It has a very different feel to Unreal Engine, particularly for first-person games. It's been lauded for its optimization on lower-end hardware stacks, as well as its general versatility.

The cuts to id Software have hit the teams that develop id Tech hard, with decades of expertise wiped out over night. But rumors that there's now virtually nobody working on the engine are false. Sources tell me that there remains a solid stack of expertise for id Tech across id Software itself, and Machine Games. I'm told Microsoft also has no plans to shift either studio forcibly to Unreal Engine, which seems to have become the default for Microsoft and many other core game makers.

Microsoft provided us this statement on the topic: "There are dozens of people working on id Tech across multiple locations. Reports that there’s only one person left in Texas are inaccurate."

In my view, Microsoft would have to be miserably short-sighted to deprecate id Tech. Handing even more power to Unreal Engine opens them up to monopolistic price increases down the line, which would be fiscally irresponsible. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma herself said in her memo to staff that she wants Microsoft to rely less on vendors for things like this. As such, I would argue that Microsoft should invest more in id Tech, not less.

But hey, quarterly thinking is Microsoft's M.O. these days. And it is true that generational talent and knowledge has been carelessly cast aside.

id Software's headcount is now similar to what it was for DOOM (2016)

The other rumor flying around is that id Software has shrunk to a headcount that is untenable for future self-made products, relegating them to "support studio" status. This too, is false.

While the cuts have been alarmingly callous, my understanding is that the remaining id Software core team is roughly the same as it was when DOOM (2016) shipped. DOOM (2016) is arguably the studio's best-ever game in my view, despite the comparatively smaller headcount that produced it. That's not too suggest in any capacity that we should expect the same quality bar without proof ... Microsoft removed mountains of incredible talent from the pool.

Still, I'm not sure exactly what id Software could be making next. There have been reports that id Software had a variety of pitches in the pipeline, including a Perfect Dark reboot and a Western-styled shooter dubbed Ironwood. It's unclear if any of these will be greenlit.

id Software just shipped DOOM: The Dark Ages Revelations, a sizeable story expansion for last year's DOOM prequel. What the studio builds next remains to be seen, but Xbox CEO Asha Sharma specifically called out DOOM and Quake as franchises to invest in.

Microsoft wants to grow its most staple and recognizable IP, which at least in the near term, likely excludes "new" franchise ideas. I'd still like to see what a modern Hexen would look like ... perhaps we'll learn more at Quakecon, which is still going ahead.

It's still been a needlessly brutal exercise

While rumors of id Software's demise have been greatly exaggerated, the layoffs have still been callous and brutal. Staffers with decades of expertise and tenure were let go, despite the success of the modern DOOM trilogy.

Microsoft's gaming aspirations have been heavily reduced over the past week, in what CEO Asha Sharma has been describing as a "reset." This has led to sizeable reductions in teams working on a variety of projects, from The Elder Scrolls to Xbox's social media delivery and platform features. Other studios, like Blizzard, seem to have emerged largely unscathed so far. And Xbox's hardware team building Helix has also been left intact.

Xbox has worked hard to save studios like Undead Labs from outright closure. But, it hasn't prevented Microsoft from expunging hundreds of jobs in other areas, inside Xbox and beyond. Microsoft's huge bets on artificial intelligence haven't really delivered meaningful returns, and the vast capital expenditure on data center buildouts is spooking investors.

At Xbox, the layoffs reflect a challenging time in traditional gaming. Core gaming has seen a contraction owing to increased costs and lack of investment in younger cohorts, which dropped consoles in favor of Roblox on mobile devices, alongside non-gaming activities. Microsoft's lack of investment in Xbox's platform and social features have prevented it from finding new users out of the Gen-X and Gen-Y cohorts, many of whom are starting to age out.

Where Xbox goes from here wholly remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure: DOOM is eternal, and it will outlive Microsoft's bad decision-making.

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Though it launched to scathing criticism and widespread controversy in late 2018 due to lackluster content offerings and severe technical issues, Fallout 76 — Bethesda Game Studios' multiplayer-focused MMO-lite take on the post-apocalyptic RPG series — grew to become fairly popular over time, with the title still enjoying regular content updates and a healthy community eight years later.

In the wake of this week's massive wave of 3,200 Xbox layoffs and four studio divestments, however, there are fears that support for the long-running Appalachian adventure may soon come to an end. Teams under the ZeniMax and Bethesda umbrella have been affected "significantly," including the game's steward, Bethesda Game Studios.

It's been reported that over 50 staffers have been cut from Bethesda across its headquarters in Rockville, Maryland and its office in Dallas, Texas — a reduction in force that has The Elder Scrolls 6 devs fearing crunch on and delays of the long-awaited RPG moving forward. Some also worry that a significant amount of time will have to be spent training contractors to use Bethesda's proprietary tools like the Creation Engine.

Notably, though, one Bethesda developer commented to IGN that they "have no idea how they'll continue updating Fallout 76 without hiring an external studio," which suggests development of the experimental Fallout title could end at some point in the near future.

Another possibility is that Fallout 76 support will ultimately continue, but with its updates and patches being reduced in size and cadence. This appears to be what's happening with The Elder Scrolls Online and ZeniMax Online Studios; content roadmaps for that game are "shifting" after its developer suffered over 200 cuts this week.

We may also see external support for Fallout 76 come, as in a letter sent to staff, Bethesda president Jill Braff emphasized the need for the studio to better support its "strongest franchises" — echoing recent sentiment from Xbox's CEO Asha Sharma that it needs to "move faster" with core IPs like Fallout.

Ending support for the most recent game in the series would arguably go against that goal — especially while the extremely popular Fallout TV show is bringing countless new eyes to the property. With that said, Fallout 76 is now eight years old and isn't massively popular, and with Obsidian now making a new Fallout game, Microsoft may not see much value in continuing to invest resources in the title.

In the end, it's impossible to say what will happen with Fallout 76 moving forward until we hear something official from Microsoft, Xbox, or Bethesda. Based on the aforementioned comment from a developer, though, I do think it's likely that the game's live-service development will change in some way.

Whether it ends up stopping completely or just slowing down remains to be seen, but I can't imagine that this week's cuts won't be reflected in Fallout 76's update cadence somehow.

In the wake of Microsoft's Xbox layoffs, should support for Fallout 76 continue? Or do you think Bethesda should move on from the game? Let me know in the comments, and in the above poll.

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While many different development teams were affected by this week's massive wave of 3,200 Xbox layoffs from Microsoft, studios under the Zenimax and Bethesda banner have reportedly faced some of the most brutal cuts of all. They're going through "a significant overhaul" in their wake, with well over half of DOOM dev id Software axed and over 200 roles removed at The Elder Scrolls Online maker ZeniMax Online Studios.

Bethesda Game Studios — the team behind Skyrim, Fallout 4, Starfield, and the upcoming The Elder Scrolls 6, among other titles — has also been hit, with reports of over 50 of its developers being let go. And according to a new report from IGN, that loss of talent will have a "substantial and cascading effect" on development of the next The Elder Scrolls RPG.

"Their loss will have a substantial and cascading effect on the game and morale of this studio," lamented one Bethesda staffer. "It's been a mix of every discipline: programmers, artists, and designers. One person who's been at the company since Morrowind [the third The Elder Scrolls game released in 2002] was cut," added another.

Those impacted by the layoffs include "key, high-performing people in the trenches" — and those who remain at Bethesda fear that their dismissal will lead to significant complications for The Elder Scrolls 6, including an extensive amount of time spent training contractors, unhealthy amounts of crunch and overtime, and delays for a title that's already reportedly two years away as it is.

"There is a fear that we are going to be replaced by cheaper, contracted labor, or we will hire folks to replace them that will need to be onboarded [due to proprietary tools] resulting in more delays, and we'll need to crunch to make up the time," one Bethesda employee told IGN. Another noted they've heard colleagues have been asked to train new contractors already.

"We've all been very excited and hyped for TES 6 and this has had a crushing effect on morale," said another worker. "We were already running a tight ship and are worried about this delaying the game."

Reportedly, the team working on the RPG will receive support from ZeniMax Online Studios, though it's unclear how extensive of a role the The Elder Scrolls Online studio will play. I can't help but think it will be minor, given the fact that that team just suffered over 200 cuts.

Developers still at Bethesda have been assured they're safe from the 1,600 layoffs of the 3,200 that are coming throughout the next 12 months, though team members worry they'll eventually be let go as well. It's a rational fear, given Microsoft and Xbox's layoff history.

"The 'survivors' were told they're safe from those next 1,600 but it's not entirely reassuring," one asserted. "Even if that's true, who's to say there's not another 1,600 next year after that? It's had the chilling effect of realizing you don't get to retire off your work at Xbox. Your time ends when you quit or are laid off, that's it."

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When Palworld first launched in early 2024, skeptics labeled it simply as"Pokémon with guns" that would surely fold the moment Nintendo's legal team caught wind of it.

Instead, over the proceeding 2 and half years, Pocketpair have built a legitimate survival-crafting funfest that has more than carved it's own path in the gaming industry.

Tomorrow, July 10, Palworld officially exits Early Access and launches version 1.0. Revealed just last month at the Summer Game Fest, the highly anticipated full release has been preceded today by an awesome new trailer, showing Palworld looking sharper and more expansive than ever before.

The scale of Palworld 1.0 is going to be massive

To give you an idea of the sheer scale of this launch, Pocketpair’s Community Manager, Bucky, has been teasing that he's nearly losing his mind trying to format the patch notes.

The update boasts 27 PDF pages totaling over 66,000 characters of changes and additions, so massive it actually broke Steam's standard 32,000-character post limit.

Palworld's rocky road to 1.0

Palworld's success is nothing short of legendary at this point. Launching into Early Access in January 2024, it became a viral hit and secured it's place as Xbox's biggest third party Game Pass launch in history by drawing in over 7 million players. Fast forward to today, and Pocketpair has just announced a mind boggling 40 million total players across all platforms. With 1.0 finally here, I'm hoping that number rises exponentially.

The milestone is made even sweeter as it was achieved against a backdrop of agressive attempts from Nintendo and The Pokemon Company to stamp out the game via patent litigation. Though through proactive changes to the game, like reworking the overworld monster catching mechanics and mounting systems, Pocketpair have successfully minimized the scope of the lawsuit (which is still ongoing in Japan). The case now stands to recover damages of equivalent $30,000 as a best case scenario, and is only relevant now to early access builds. Palworld will be entering 1.0 with it's head held high.

Pocketpair have also confirmed that despite the industry standard of Early Access games to bump up their price for a retail launch, Palworld will remain at $29.99.

"We are incredibly proud of how far Palworld has come. Thanks to the amazing support of our players, it has become a success beyond our wildest dreams."

Is Palworld worth a revist if I played at launch?

Palworld is absolutely worth going back to whether you haven't played since 2024, or even the most recent update.

While Pocketpair has confirmed that your old Early Access save files will still work, Bucky and the dev team strongly recommend starting entirely fresh. The early-to-mid-game progression has been completely overhauled to create a seamless, rewarding experience from the ground up.

Here is a breakdown of the biggest changes you can look forward to at launch:

Biome and world changes

• The Sky Island biome: A massive, beautiful floating island region suspended high above the Palpagos archipelago, serving as the focal point for endgame exploration.
• A new Sky Village: A friendly, inhabited settlement tucked away in the clouds of the new biome.
• Revamped map & story: Vast new areas have been stitched into the world, while older regions have received visual reworks and structural improvements.

Pal & System reworks

• Tower boss overhaul: The game's marquee boss encounters have been entirely redesigned with new mechanics and scaling.
• Wildlife Sanctuary remodel: Sanctuaries are now encased in massive, glowing shield bubbles. They are heavily guarded by flying drone-type defenders and prowled by dangerous, powerful bosses.
• Early-game progression: Brand-new Pals have been strategically distributed into the early stages of the game to make the initial leveling journey feel entirely fresh.

Base building upgrades

• Floating foundations: Say goodbye to land constraints; you can now build your structural foundations directly out onto the water.
• Expanded architecture: New roof variants and decorative statues allow for highly customized aesthetic designs.
• Streamlined expedition stations: The station has received a sleek visual redesign to look much less obtrusive when blending it into your custom bases.

New mechanics & gear

• The Wing pack: A traversal tool described as a "jetpack with wings," custom-built to help you navigate the vertical gaps of the Sky Islands.
• The Fish Sword: A hilarious and powerful new combat mechanic where you unsheathe the literal spine of a fish Pal to use as a sword, mirroring Foxparks' famous flamethrower ability.
• Advanced weaponry: A suite of un-named, high-tier weapons for players to craft.

And don't forget the new Pals!

Pocketpair is dropping more new Pals in this single update than in every prior patch combined. Here are the standout creatures and variants confirmed by trailers and community teasers.

• Ahri & The Crazy Dragon Serpent - The newest Sky Island Tower Boss, heavily tied to a massive, serpentine dragon seen in the cinematic trailers.
• Seekmet - Affectionately dubbed "Catgirl Anubis" by the community; a powerful addition to the roster.
• Soul Mora - A sleek fish Pal first teased in a comic strip. It is an exceptionally rapid swimmer that can curiously be ridden at high speeds on dry land.
• Lefan - A martial-arts-themed panda who serves as a direct counterpart to Mossanda.
• Hoodle & The Sleepy Pal - Hoodle looks like a hoodie possessed by a ghost child, and is constantly accompanied by a guardian Pal that looks like it desperately wants to go to sleep at 6:00 PM.
• Venusa - A wonderfully derpy, happy Gorgon/Medusa-themed snake lady.
• Tropica - A flightless, comical raptor-bird hybrid sporting a giant, floppy flower on its head.
• Dupin - A mischievous, rabbit-jester magician creature.
• Puff & Pikmi - Puff is a yappy, electric-type puppy, while Pikmi is a tiny ghost child Pal that lives to jump-scare players.
• Snock - An electric snail Pal, making its official debut after being hidden away as an official comic-strip exclusive.

Other notable additions to watch out for include: a Beetle-themed Egyptian warrior with arm-whips, and a mysterious silhouette waiting at the very top of the World Tree, and I'm sure many more that I've missed..

What time does Palworld 1.0 go live?

The launch drops simultaneously worldwide. Depending on where you live, you'll be jumping in either late tonight or early tomorrow morning. Here are the approximate global release times:

• Los Angeles: 8:30 PM PT (Thursday, July 9)
• New York: 11:30 PM ET (Thursday, July 9)
• London: 4:30 AM BST (Friday, July 10)
• Tokyo: 12:30 PM JST (Friday, July 10)
• Sydney: 1:30 PM AEST (Friday, July 10)

Get your Pal Spheres ready and clear your weekend schedule.

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Despite being one of the studios affected by Xbox's company-wide "Reset" and Xbox CEO Asha Sharma taking direct control of Minecraft with the goal of helping it compete with Roblox, Mojang Studios appears to be still going strong, as it has released a new update for its iconic survival-crafting game.

This update, titled Preview 26.40.30, is bringing with it a slew of gameplay changes, bug fixes, and a couple of new in-game items that felt like they should've been in Minecraft from the beginning: Cushions and a Straw Bed.

Cushions allow players to sit and rest after a long day's adventuring and crafting. They don't offer any statistical gameplay benefits but can make for fun roleplay toys when sitting by campfires or having sleepovers with your friends in co-op.

The Straw Beds are a new type of bed which players can sleep on to recover health without creating a new spawn point that overrides a previous one. This can be handy if you plan on adventuring but don't want to respawn in the middle of a Creeper-infested cave and want to go back home when you die.

The materials needed to craft these items, along with the rest of this update's gameplay changes, can be found in the patch notes below:

Drop 3 Experimental Features

• Cushion
  • The Cushion is an item that the player can place in the world and interact with to sit on
  • Can be crafted in 16 colored variants
  • Cushions are crafted using 3 Wool Slabs of the same color
  • Known Issue: Cushions aren't currently generating in the Abandoned Camps, but can be found in the creative inventory
• Cushion Placement Rules
  • A cushion can be placed on any flat surface
  • Cushions always align horizontally to the grid, but vertically sit on top of the supporting surface
  • Cushions cannot move
  • Cushions break if the supporting block is removed
  • Cushions do not have collision and can overlap with other objects (except other cushions)
• Straw Bed
  • Straw Bed is a new type of bed which can be used to sleep through the night without setting your spawn point
  • It can only be used once and will be destroyed after use
  • It can not be used in the Nether or The End and will be destroyed if you try to sleep on it there
  • It is crafted using 3 Hay Bales and will give you 4 Straw Beds
• Abandoned Camp
  • Abandoned camp now generates in Pale Garden and Flower Forest biomes (MCPE-230024) (MCPE-240045)
  • Straw Beds can now be found in Abandoned Camps
  • Updated Abandoned Camps to place procedural trees
  • Fixed wrong potion names in the loot tables for the Abandoned Camp
• Dappled Forest
  • Changed biome fog settings to match other forest biomes
  • Updated Orange, Red & Yellow Poplar Leaves MERS textures
• Sounds
  • Updated ambient sounds for Poplar leaf blocks
  • Added custom sound events for Red Shrubs and Poplar leaf blocks
• Graphical
  • Added opaque versions to the Poplar leaves to fix black background issue (MCPE-240020)
  • Added hinges to Poplar door icon. Also removed 3 pixels from top door texture that didn't match the palette
  • Fixed Poplar sign texture to follow other sign assets
• Gameplay
  • Added missing recipes for Wool Stairs and Wool Slabs (MCPE-240040)

Features and Bug Fixes

• Accessibility
  • Fixed the focus indicator on the "More options" button on the start screen so it no longer relies on color alone, adding an underline when the button is focused
• Blocks
  • Azalea and Flowering Azalea are no longer see-through when viewed from below (MCPE-217896)
  • Brown and Red Mushrooms can no longer be placed under the sky when it is dark
  • With the Minecraft Education features toggle enabled, it is possible to place charcoal again in the Lab Table (MCPE-240097)
  • Fixed a miscolored pixel in one of the Sulfur Spike textures
• Gameplay
  • Fixed an issue where structure loot would differ on the same seed (MCPE-239951)
• General
  • Brown and Red Mushrooms now generate on Crimson Nylium and Warped Nylium no matter the brightness
• Graphical
  • Fixed a rendering issue with Vibrant Visuals where some items and text could be invisible on certain Android GPUs
  • Updated supported devices for Vibrant Visuals on Android
• Items
  • Fixed issue where book and quill from pre-26.30 worlds freezes the game (MCPE-239753)
  • Arrows of Harming no longer bounce off entities and are now correctly removed on hit (MCPE-239756)
• Character Creator
  • Exiting the dressing room no longer automatically saves your character if you have an unequipped color change.
• Stability and Performance
  • Fixed a crash that could occur when spawning more than one Iron Golem
  • Game servers now attempt to self-repair some player connection issues
  • Fixed a crash that could occur during world generation when placing structures containing double chests
  • Fixed a potential crash issue related to Concrete Powder blocks converting into Concrete.
• User Interface
  • Fixed a bug where text formatting codes in a resource pack's name carried over into the rest of the toast notification when the pack was activated or deactivated (MCPE-182130)
  • Add missing preview image for the Desert flatworld preset (MCPE-194395)
  • Updated the network disconnection message to direct players to enable 'Use Mobile Data' in general settings instead of profile settings
  • Fixed a bug where button touch areas did not align with the buttons in windowed Android modes with a title bar, such as Samsung DeX and pop up view.
  • The Pause Game setting is now rendered in the Main Menu (MCPE-237101)
  • Show "Game unpaused" notification over all screens when the pause screen is open (MCPE-229796)
  • Fixed a soft-lock that prevented further join attempts after a party leader's Experience join was blocked by the party eligibility check
  • Fixed the "How to Play" button being missing from the Settings menu in Minecraft Education
  • Fixed Cloud sync storage banner to not show redundant information that storage is both full and almost full when cloud storage is full (MCPE-240036)
  • Fixed the Beacon screen displaying a duplicated header in the Pocket UI
  • Create New World list is loaded correctly after deleting world data through the "Manage Worlds" button (MCPE-239804)
  • Updated Nintendo Switch terminology for local wireless multiplayer
  • Fixed a problem that caused touch scrolling to be unresponsive in creative inventory. (MCPE-236783)
  • Fixed an issue that prevented splitscreen players from interacting with Game Settings. (MCPE-237830)
  • Updated Marketplace badges to use semantic Tag styling for bordered and spacious variants, with refreshed Tag documentation and tests
  • Fixed skin info button not working on expanded skin pack page
  • After entering the sidebar while spinning the character, it will no longer continue to spin by itself
  • Players with multiplayer-restricted skins can now enter worlds with multiplayer disabled
  • Removed space appearing between the chat tab and the social drawer (MCPE-239456)
• Marketplace
  • Updated Marketplace content cards with new pass and rating iconography, refreshed Minecoin visuals, and a notice badge treatment for surfaced states
• Storage
  • Updated old world conversion flows in the Storage Settings tab.

Technical Updates

• Commands
  • Allow self selection expansion when using commands (i.e. /tell) for non-operator players.
  • Fixed clone command cloning partial beds, both parts must be fully inside cloning volume
  • Fixed the /fill command from improperly placing blocks defined with the minecraft:multi_block trait
• Graphical
  • Tightened the anti-x-ray trigger box to avoid false-positive cases when riding a mob
  • Fixed custom blocks rendering a stray solid face that could bleed through textures when a model face was hidden by setting one of its UV size dimensions to zero
  • Fixed texture bleeding on custom blocks using automatic block face UV assignment with undersized textures
• Actor Components
  • Made schemas for the following components stricter when parsing and will fail to load an entity json that has invalid data in versions 1.26.40 and newer.
    • minecraft:cannot_be_attacked
    • minecraft:ignore_cannot_be_attacked
    • minecraft:floats_in_liquid
    • minecraft:wants_jockey
• AI Goals
  • Fixed a bug where the on_kill event in the following behavior components was incorrectly mapped to the on_attack field, causing the event to never fire when an entity killed its target. The fix applies to entity definitions with format version 1.26.40 and above.
    • minecraft:behavior.melee_attack
    • minecraft:behavior.melee_box_attack
    • minecraft:behavior.delayed_attack
    • minecraft:behavior.stomp_attack
    • minecraft:behavior.use_kinetic_weapon
• API
  • Fixed minecraft:hopper_minecart to fire EntityItemPickupAfterEvent and EntityItemPickupBeforeEvent for items above the cart.
  • Released LootItem.conditions in @minecraft/server v2.4.0 (moved from beta to stable)
• DDUI
  • Fixed Images in CustomForms not being centered in the form.
  • Added ImageOptions.onClick and ImageOptions.tooltip which allow for a callback on click of an image and a tooltip on images, for use with CustomForm.image.
• Blocks
  • N-way rotation on geometry components no longer requires upcoming creator features experiment
  • minecraft:sixteen_way_rotation state on placement direction block trait no longer requires upcoming creator features experiment
  • Align brightness sampling strategies between custom and vanilla blocks (MCPE-237493)
  • Jigsaw Block replacement will now log when an invalid final_state is encountered
  • Added new biome decoration feature "minecraft:multi_block_feature", which can be used exclusively to place blocks defined with the "minecraft:multi_block" trait
  • Released the minecraft:instrument_sound component from experimental.
• Crafting
  • "minecraft:recipe_smithing_transform" now accepts items tagged with "minecraft:transform_materials" in its "addition" field
• Editor
  • Fixed a bug where copying and pasting a double chest with the Paste Preview or Structure tool pasted it as two separate single chests instead of a single double chest
  • The Block Inspector tool now highlights the currently selected block with a bounding box, giving a clear visual indicator of which block is being inspected
  • Fixed the Primitives Tool preview and placement to follow the Fixed Distance cursor projection
  • The Flood Tool no longer errors when pressing Ctrl+D to remove a preview that has already been removed
  • Editor property pane items no longer display an empty tooltip when there is no tooltip text to show, such as the Flood Tool progress bar
  • The Dimensions tool now returns the player to their last-known position in the target dimension, or the origin on first visit
  • The Farm Generator tool now offers Pale Oak, Dark Oak, Nether Brick, and Mangrove fence options
  • Fixed a bug in the Biome Data Assignment tool where the Allow biome tag list was matched with a logical AND, so only biomes containing every allowed tag were eligible; allowed tags are now matched with a logical OR, so a biome is eligible if it has any of the allowed tags
  • Fixed a bug in the Vibrant Visuals color settings where dragging a timeline playhead no longer scrubbed the viewport time, so color and value keyframes could not be previewed across the day/night cycle
  • Fixed a bug that caused the sliders connected to any Vibrant Visuals "Enabled" checkbox to be manipulated with the checkbox toggled off
  • Fixed a bug that caused incorrect theme color to display for disabled text field
  • Added a Timeline panel to the Cinematic Tool for visualizing and editing keyframes along the camera path
  • Renamed "Control Points" to "Keyframes" throughout the Cinematic Tool to align with standard animation terminology
  • Removed all transaction recording and management functionality from the TransactionManager API and moved it to the PendingTransaction object. Transactions are now created through createPendingTransaction function, while staged changes are finalized using the submit and discard methods
  • Added pending transaction support for ClipboardItem.writeToWorld and BrushShapeManager APIs
  • Added a drag handle to the cinematics timeline so the timeline duration can be adjusted directly in the editor
  • Fixed a bug that caused placeholder string in text field to be incorrectly styled
  • The Navigation panel's minimap now uses the new minimap control
    • World locations are now stored per-dimension and shared across all clients
    • Lowered the Nether's minimap scan Y-level so the map skips the bedrock ceiling
  • Removed the "X" button from progress windows for the Custom Mesh, Primitive, and Flood tools
  • Fixed a bug that appears in Layout Template Manager during 'Copy Template' operation when copying a template with structures. The template is copied along with name and display name. The fix is that the name and display name metadata are set from the caller.
  • Fixed a bug where the custom cursor does not change from wait/load icon after canceling the flood operation
  • Fixed a bug that caused Collection Tree UI element width to be incorrect
• Entity Components
  • Made the should_bounce boolean field of the minecraft:projectile component into an enum:
  • no: the projectile never bounces (default)
  • if_invulnerable: the projectile bounces only when the target is invulnerable to the damage source (e.g. creative mode, shield blocking)
  • if_no_damage_dealt: the projectile bounces whenever no damage was dealt, regardless of the reason (invulnerability, damage sensor, invulnerability frames)
  • Content authored against earlier format versions is automatically upgraded when loaded in 1.26.40 or later: true becomes if_invulnerable and false becomes no
• Features
  • Fixed incorrect example json for Height Difference Filter documentation
• Graphical
  • The MERS textures for following baby mobs and Rabbits are now visible
    • Baby Humanoid Chainmail Armor
    • Baby Dolphin
    • Baby Fox
    • Baby Goat
    • Baby Hoglin
    • Baby Panda
    • Baby Warm Pig
    • Baby Zombie Piglin
    • Rabbits
    • Snifflet
• JSON Schema
  • Updated the generated Minecraft JSON Schema files to use a more granular schema layout instead of producing one self-contained schema file per registered type. This reduces duplicated schema content and makes the generated schemas easier to consume with external tools.
  • Added binary-protocol metadata to generated SharedTypes JSON Schemas, including ordinal index, control value type, underlying type, and serialization options. This gives tools more information about the binary layout of the objects described by the JSON Schemas.
• Mobs
  • The tamed baby Wolf's collar now has a proper MERS texture
• Sounds
  • Fixed the destroy block sound position to be at the center of the block instead of at the corner (MCPE-60799)

Experimental Technical Updates

• API
  • Added getShapes method on PrimitiveShapesManager.
  • Added interface PrimitiveShapeQueryOptions for use with getShapes.
  • Added AllowListEntry to @minecraft/server-admin with optional name and xuid properties in beta
  • AllowList changes in @minecraft/server-admin all in beta
  • Added entries: AllowListEntry[] property
  • Changed add() to accept either a Player or AllowListEntry and removed accepting string as parameter. Adds InvalidArgumentError to this function when AllowListEntry has both name and xuid properties set to undefined.
  • Changed remove() to accept either a Player or AllowListEntry and removed accepting string as parameter. Adds InvalidArgumentError to this function when AllowListEntry has both name and xuid properties set to undefined.
  • Changed contains() to accept either a Player or AllowListEntry and removed accepting string as parameter. Adds InvalidArgumentError to this function when AllowListEntry has both name and xuid properties set to undefined.
  • Added new beta enum CloneMode with values Copy, ForceCopy, and Move that specifies how blocks are cloned between regions
• Dimension
  • Added cloneBlocks method to beta that clones a region of blocks from one area of the dimension to another, with support for clone modes and an optional block filter
• Sound Duration Info
  • The playback position now reflects calls to SoundInstance.seekTo
  • While a sound is paused via SoundInstance.pause, the playback position no longer advances; SoundInstance.resume continues from where it was paused
• Editor
  • Removed and replaced uses of minecraft/server CompoundBlockVolume in the Experimental API with the beta minecraft/server-editor RelativeVolumeListBlockVolume
• Graphical
  • Fixed a performance issue when in the Nether
  • Added a system to dynamically scale per-point-light shadow resources
  • Increased the maximum number of point lights
  • Fixed a bug where point light shadows would flicker during dynamic scaling
• Sound
  • Added minecaft:sound block component
    • it requires format version 1.26.20 and Experimental Upcoming Creator Features
    • it can be used to assign a set of sounds to block and its permutations similar to sound field in blocks.json
    • blocks.json overrides values of minecraft:sound component, including values in all permutations

Stay tuned for more as we keep an eye out for news regarding all things Minecraft, including the upcoming Minecraft Movie sequel and Minecraft Dungeons 2.

What do you think of Minecraft's latest patch and the new Cushion and Straw Bed items it's providing? Are you looking forward to the second Minecraft Movie and Minecraft Dungeons 2?

If you have any thoughts, please let us know through the poll, the comments section, or our Reddit page.

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We have recently heard rumors saying that Zenimax and Bethesda will be 'significantly' impacted by Xbox's company-wide restructuring. So far, these rumors are coming true in depressing ways, as DOOM developer Id Software confirms it has lost over 136 staff, and now the team behind The Elder Scrolls Online, ZeniMax Online is next on the chopping block.

According to a WARN report released by the State of Maryland (via VGC), Zenimax Online has lost 213 employees thanks to Xbox's big "Reset". In addition, Zenimax Media Inc., the company that owns Bethesda Game Studios, has also lost 166 employees.

One of the game developers who previously worked at ZeniMax Online, Andrew Young, has reacted with anger and disappointment at this news, stating that "I’m just so angry today. People will never know the blood, sweat, and tears that went into making ESO or how we basically funded other failing projects while never getting enough resources to really keep up with our release cadence. The team deserved much better."

This news will no doubt fuel the flames of angry fans letting their harsh criticisms and opinions be known to Microsoft about this decision, spurred on by Bethesda's Union, which feels similar sentiments of frustration about the whole situation.

However, the good news is that there are no reports so far that The Elder Scrolls Online MMO is shutting down as a result of these layoffs, but whether or not ZeniMax Online will be able to bounce back from this loss as it did with 2025's layoffs that forced it to cancel its secret "Project Blackbird game" remains to be seen.

There's little doubt that more official reports of the exact damage done to Xbox's game studios will continue to be released as the company's restructuring goes on. So, we'll keep you posted on further developments regarding the ongoing situation at ZeniMax and Bethesda.

When do you think these mass layoffs will end? Do you think Xbox's game studios will be able to bounce back from these layoffs and continue making games? Do you think The Elder Scrolls Online will be able to survive now that ZeniMax Online has lost a considerable amount of manpower?

If you have any thoughts on the matter, please let us know through the poll, the comments section, or our Reddit community.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Recently, Bethesda's Union expressed frustration that Zenimax and Bethesda, the studio currently in charge of award-winning Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, and DOOM franchises, among others, has suffered job cuts as part of Xbox's company-wide 'Reset', with reports from Bloomberg suggesting it was one of the studios hit the hardest with layoffs.

A day after voicing their displeasure, Bethesda's Union took to Bluesky to call upon gamers and ask them to voice their concerns regarding the biggest wave of layoffs in Xbox's history and the state of Bethesda's future games to Microsoft directly through the Xbox Player Voice feedback platform.

It stated, "Yesterday's layoffs at Bethesda Game Studios were not a cut of '14 layers of management. We lost dozens of programmers, artists, designers, and testers. Many of whom worked at BGS for decades. If Bethesda fans are worried this will harm the quality of our future games, like The Elder Scrolls VI, let Microsoft know!"

One way you can show Microsoft your concern is here through the XBOX Player Voice feedback platform: feedbackportal.microsoft.com/feedback/ide...

— @bethesdaunion.bsky.social (@bethesdaunion.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-07-10T10:29:10.778Z

Upon hearing this, players flocked to the platform in droves and unleashed all their pent-up frustrations and criticisms at Microsoft.

Comments ranged from scathing doomsaying, like "If Microsoft does not reverse course they will be destroyed." by Percy Hartley to constructive feedback, like the most upvoted comment (at over 2,500 votes) by Witt Yao, stating, "The layoff of 3,200 workers at XBOX (across Activision, Bethesda/ZeniMax, Blizzard, King, Mojang, Obsidian, id Software, and XBOX Game Studios) is unacceptable. This continues a pattern that has led to 10,000+ layoffs at XBOX in as little as two years."

Witt Yao continues, "Multiple studios have been closed or had their futures jeopardized (Compulsion Games, Double Fine, Undead Labs, Ninja Theory, Tango Gameworks, Arkane Austin, Alpha Dog Games, and Roundhouse Studios) and numerous games have been cancelled. The developers and players agree that This Can Not Continue. A true reset that meets the needs of the XBOX community looks like the following:"

He then advises on how Microsoft could potentially improve the Xbox brand with the following suggestions:

• Transparency for Players - Showcasing games from studios they intend to sell or close weeks later feels bad for players.
• Keep Teams Together - No layoffs for the next 2 years and end studio closures. Studio closures hurt the fans of that studio.
• XBOX is already profitable without reaching a billion people every day - Stop constraining XBOX by the unrealistic profit expectations of the Microsoft Accountability Margin. 
• Trust the Developers - Negotiate in good faith with unions and developers, so they can better represent the needs of both developers and gamers.
• Layoffs are a Failure of Leadership - No executive bonuses when there is a layoff.
• Invest in the Future of Gaming - Invest in the future generation of video game developers instead of unpopular technologies like AI that players don’t want. Game development expertise is the biggest asset of a video game company. 

Stay tuned for more info, as we can keep an eye out for developments and reactions regarding the biggest shake-up within the Xbox brand's history.

Have you voiced your opinions to Microsoft through the Xbox Player Voice Feedback? Do you have destructive or constructive criticisms regarding the Xbox brand's "reset" that has seen over 3,200 jobs terminated across many of Xbox's game studios?

If you have any thoughts on the matter, please let us know through the poll, the comments section, or our Reddit community.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV continues to show more extended demonstrations of its real-time strategic gameplay with a new 15-minute video.

The last video focused on the Space Marine and Ork factions, but this time, we'll take a look at the Necron faction and the Adeptus Mechanicus faction facing off in a 1v1 skirmish mode game.

Here's how it went down.

The second gameplay demonstration kicks off with a look at the Adeptus Mechanicus (Admech for short), a faction of tech-worshipping cyborg cultists who are making their debut in the Dawn of War series in this game.

What makes this faction unique is that the buildings they use to produce combat units can be linked together with a Noosphere Network. The more buildings that are linked together within an Admech player's network, the cheaper the cost of creating combat units will be, and the stronger the turrets they make will be.

In addition, the Admech faction features a wide variety of combat units, from fast Skitarii Rangers who can run around the map to steal Control Points while sniping enemies to heavily armored tanks and walking mechs that bring the hammer down on even the most heavily armored enemy units.

After the Admech player establishes a base of operations, we cut to the Necron player. Necrons are an ancient alien race of robot mummies that are nearly impossible to kill due to their extremely tough metallic bodies, their ability to regenerate wounds, and being able to resurrect upon destruction if they're not destroyed completely.

In Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV, those abilities are faithfully represented with the Necron faction, as they can build buildings that will revive fallen combat units for free so the Necron player can divert resources towards producing endless hordes of Necron Warriors, advanced combat units like giant robotic insects called Canoptek Wraiths, or mobile flying fortresses called Monoliths, just to name a few.

Another unique aspect of the Necrons in this game is that they don't have to take and hold Control Points for resources. Instead, they draw resources by covering the map in a Power Matrix, which is spread by constructing Necron buildings.

On top of that, the Power Matrix can buff a Necron player's combat units with passive health regeneration and faster squad member replenishment, and allow the player to teleport defensive turrets where they want after they're built so they can defend any position at a moment's notice.

Speaking of teleportation, the Necron faction has access to buildings that can hold combat units in reserve and then deploy from their Headquarters to any Necron Tomb Pylon on the map. This tactic can help you deploy reinforcements in dire situations or simply help the Necron combat units move faster, as most of them are slower than a snail.

After both players have established footholds, the rest of the video becomes a mechanical bloodbath as the Admech players fights desperately to fight back the Necron forces who just simply refused to die.

However, after careful management of resources, strategic plays, and amassing an small army of tanks lead by giant mechs called the Knight Castellans, the Admech player was able to overcome the Necrons and achieve victory.

Windows Central's take

After trying out the Skitarii class in Warhammer 40,000: Darktide and enjoying using the Tech-Priest Manipulus Companion in Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader's 3rd DLC expansion, I've become quite a fan of the Adeptus Mechanicus faction in Warhammer 40,000 for how twisted their cyborg designs and complex lore are.

So seeing them in action in Dawn of War is a pretty cool sight to see, as they have access to some of the advanced weapons in the setting that would even give Space Marines a run for their money if pushed too far, which look so much fun to use in this game.

The Necrons also look pretty neat and somewhat nostalgic in this game, as their gameplay tactic of generating Power Matrix on the map to build buildings feels inspired by the Zerg's Creep mechanic from StarCraft.

Although I wouldn't expect any Zerg Rush tactics from the slow-moving Necrons any time soon unless a player masters their teleporting gimmick to deploy dozens of Necron Warriors behind enemy lines.

Either way, this game continues to impress me with every new extended gameplay showcase for its multiplayer skirmish mode, and I can't wait to see what the developers have cooking for its other modes, like the single-player campaign.

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV launches on September 16, 2026, for PC via Steam. Are you looking forward to this game? Have you played any of the earlier Dawn of War games?

If you have any thoughts on the matter, please let us know through the poll, the comments section, or our Reddit community.

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While the ZeniMax and Bethesda studio id Software is best known for its DOOM games — including both the classic titles as well as the modern installments DOOM 2016, DOOM Eternal, and DOOM: The Dark Ages — it's explored other properties and ideas in the past, and has reportedly been "toying around" with doing so again.

...That is, until the developer was slammed by layoffs this week that came as part of a larger "reset" for Xbox and its first-party teams that's seen 3,200 roles cut and four studios divested from Microsoft's Xbox Game Studios portfolio.

Early reports suggested that half of id Software was discharged from Microsoft and Xbox, with some follow-up digging indicating that the situation is even worse, as 40 remote employees have reportedly been let go as well.

Described as a "bloodbath" by one former dev, the cuts have seemingly made it extremely unlikely that id's ideas for non-DOOM projects will ever be developed (especially with Xbox directing ZeniMax/Bethesda to focus on core IPs). A new report from GamesBeat, though, gives some insight into what those concepts were.

Aside from a multiplayer-focused DOOM game with co-op, the studio was also considering a game heavily inspired by the John Wick films called Fury, a new entry in the Perfect Dark series, and a survival-focused Western game with robots called Ironwood.

Fury was a new original property pitched by id Software's studio co-director and game director Hugo Martin, with "elements of sci-fi, noir, and Louisiana and Chicago gangsters" and "a modern, cyberpunk-like feel." Notably, it had a "Gun Fu" gameplay style that blended gunplay with martial arts melee combat, and was intended to feel like a playable John Wick movie. It was never greenlit.

Allegedly, id was also exploring the possibility of making a Perfect Dark game. The Initiative's Perfect Dark reboot was canceled last year when Microsoft and Xbox shuttered the studio; with nobody else working on a new installment in the 2000s stealth-action shooter series, id considered doing so and reportedly even had concept art drafted.

Finally, there's Ironwood. Very little is known about it other than that it would be set in a Western environment with robots and survival gameplay, though it's been said it would be very similar to the popular HBO TV show Westworld.

Apparently, there were, and are, no plans for a new Quake — another iconic shooter series id created in the '90s.

Personally, I think the concept for Fury sounds incredibly cool, and I'd love to have seen the full id Software team make a Perfect Dark game. With over half the studio now gone, however, the chances of anything other than a DOOM title being made seem extremely slim.

Perhaps one day, several years into the future, id will be able to explore some of these concepts further. With Xbox CEO Asha Sharma aiming to "move faster" with its biggest franchises, though, I doubt that would happen anytime soon.

How are you feeling about Microsoft's mass Xbox layoffs, and the major impact they've had on id Software? I'm curious, so let me know in the comments below as well as in our poll.

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Earlier this week, Microsoft initiated a large wave of 4,800 layoffs that hit the firm's Xbox and gaming divisions particularly hard, with four studio divestitures and 3,200 cuts — 1,600 immediate, and 1,600 more coming in the next 12 months — striking in what's been called a "reset" for the Xbox business.

Though the redundancies have affected teams across all of Xbox, they've impacted certain game studios such as ZeniMax and Bethesda and Obsidian Entertainment quite disproportionately. Another developer that's experienced a severe reduction in force is id Software, the team that creates and oversees the modern DOOM games.

Initially, it was reported that half of the entire studio was laid off as part of Microsoft and Xbox's restructuring — a major and devastating loss of talent that shocked the community and upset developers at id, given the popularity of its games and the potential of the always-evolving id Tech game engine.

According to a new report, however, the total number of layoffs at the Texas-based developer is even larger. At first, it was believed that 96 roles were removed at id. Now, though, Game Developer writes that a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notifications (WARN) notice — obtained by the outlet from the Texas Workforce Commission upon request — has revealed that 40 remote workers at the studio have been let go as well.

That brings the total number of id Software cuts up to 136, meaning that the studio's workforce has been hit significantly harder than early reports indicated. Notably, the WARN document also confirmed that 22 staffers have been affected at Bethesda Game Studios' office in Austin, Texas, with 158 Texas employees laid off across both teams.

146 of these workers are reportedly represented by the Communication Workers of America labor union; Bethesda Game Studios has its own union, too, and it's been very vocal about its frustration with this week's redundancies.

With how concerning the news of the loss of half of id was, hearing that an additional 40 workers were laid off on top of that is extremely worrying. I can't help but be fearful about the studio's future, and that it no longer has a headcount sufficient for the efficient development of new DOOM games and other projects moving forward.

The painful irony of the situation is that these cuts have come at the same time id released its new Revelations DLC for its latest game, 2025's DOOM: The Dark Ages. So far, the new expansion has garnered strong reviews, and I'm glad to see it...but it's also heartbreaking to see that many of the creative minds responsible for it, The Dark Ages, and other modern DOOM titles are now gone.

Do you believe that Microsoft and Xbox went too far with the cuts made to id Software? Voice your feelings on the matter in the comments, and vote in our poll as well.

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