As it is, Assassin’s Creed Black Flag is one of the greatest Assassin’s Creed games ever made. Buckling gameplay from bow to stern, Black Flag is the title that set a pirate craze in the world. To the point that Ubisoft spent well over a decade developing the cursed game Skull and Bones.

Even with the dastardly failure of the game, Ubisoft’s vision of a pirate game has crawled its way back in the form of the Black Flag remake, Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced. As a player who gained every single achievement in the original game, you can bet your coin that I had high expectations when it came to this remake.

I’m happy to say that a little over a dozen years after the original game, Resynced is back to claim the piracy title.

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced: The Story

You’re Edward Kenway, the ever-loving and charismatic privateer with a dashing Welsh accent. Driven by dreams of wealth for his wife and glory to boot, Edward sets sail for the West Indies in search of riches beyond measure.

From the start, Edward finds himself in turmoil under a naval encounter that sees his world unraveled and shipwrecked. A shady figure by the name of Duncan Walpole crosses paths with Edward, and an entire world beyond the realm of piracy unfolds before him. One of the shadow and ancient struggles between the Templars and Assassins. The fight between true freedom and control.

Within hours, players will find themselves commanding their very own vessel, the Jackdaw. A versatile ship under the command of a man with legendary pirate friends like Edward "Blackbeard" Thatch, Anne Bonny, Charles Vane, and more. With his trusty crew and mythical friends, Edward looks to create a pirate paradise free from the control of the outside world.

Along this path, Edward discovers the Observatory, Black Flag’s integral piece left behind by the First Civilization that both Assassins and Templars are fighting for. A device that could potentially locate any person across the globe, powers beyond Edward’s imagination begin to clash, with him caught right in the middle.

With everything at stake, Black Flag Resynced, like the game before it, does a wonderful job of depicting a struggle of self-discovery as Edward grapples with his own ambitions as they come at odds with protecting what truly matters in the world.

Unlike the original Black Flag, none of the original modern-day storyline is present. Instead, the entire game is set from beginning to end within the eyes and confines of Edward Kenway. No more will the player find themselves going through the motions of some Abstergo office.

On top of the original story, players can expect extra epilogue missions as well that add more to the world of Edward Kenway.

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced: Sail beyond the original

Everything you loved from the original Black Flag returns in Resynced, alongside a plethora of new activities to explore. From new locations to entirely new end-game missions that expand upon the original story, Resynced is more than just a remake, all while packing itself into a single game.

Modern-day stories have been replaced by Rifts, which are optional quests within the Animus that provide players with a unique “what-if” perspective shift. I won’t spoil anything, but a single one of these missions is far better than all of the modern-day experiences found in the original game, combined.

Alongside the main story, side-quests have also been expanded upon. With entirely new missions that give a better glimpse into some of the game’s most iconic characters, as well as other contracts that begin to number beyond what I’m willing to write about. Needless to say, even players who come fresh from the original will find tons of newly packed story content in Resynced!

With all the newly minted narrative pieces, Ubisoft also delivered the goods when it came to combat on foot and on the high seas. First, let’s talk about Edward’s expanded repertoire.

Edward’s melee capabilities have been expanded with perfect parries and heavy attacks. Now, when an enemy takes a parryable swing at Edward, a perfectly timed parry will open them up for a devastating finisher.

Players can also add heavy attacks to their swashbuckling swings to engage in melee beatdowns on enemies on their heels. These heavy hits are multi-enemy swings that apply to all melee weapons in the game.

Another fantastic “addition” is the rope dart, a mechanic that was part of the original, but many players felt was unlocked far too late in the game to be of any use. Correcting this mistake, Ubisoft has unlocked it for use within the first few hours of gameplay, as well as expanding on its combat capabilities.

Naval combat, as I said earlier, has also been heavily expanded. Each and every weapon on the Jackdaw now has an added secondary fire mode that drastically changes how the weapon performs. For instance, let's talk about the heated shot for the broadside cannons.

Rather than a single please-don’t-miss-shot, the heated-shot is a close-quarters monster. Enabling a rapid-fire “fire” shot that barrages the enemy with flaming cannonballs. The heated-shot is an up-close face melter when it comes to naval combat, and something I could never go back to the original without.

That’s just one of the added secondary weapons as well, with the upfront chain shots, swivel gun, mortars, and fire barrels all getting some fantastic additions to their arsenals. Open-water combat that was once perfection is now peak perfection.

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced: Looks and runs amazingly

Very rarely do I get to see a remake that captures the magic of the original while surpassing it in every way. Generally, there’s always something that seems to throw me off, something that the new team felt was needed but doesn’t quite fit the world of the initial creation.

Having played through the entirety of the original Black Flag in 2013, I went into Resynced immediately astonished. The world I had once known has been captured and enhanced in ways my nostalgia-driven mind thinks the original always looked.

Iconic cities like Nassau have been overhauled with incredibly new, detailed textures and meshes, all while triggering memory circuits in my brain I thought had been long lost. My first time on shore activated something in my head that I assumed I had completely forgotten. The buildings all fit perfectly in their places as I had once remembered them.

Even trees contain the same pathways I once ran through, while paths leading from ships initiate the same but greatly updated animations of the originals. The entire Resynced experience is absolutely breathtaking in terms of how closely the world has been reimagined while remaining faithful to its predecessor.

With that, you’d think a massive performance hit would come as well, but as someone playing on PC through Ubisoft Connect, it didn’t!

I’m happy to report that I achieved well over 120 frames per second on my build with a little DLSS Quality and Nvidia Frame Generation set to 2x. I know, I know, “frame generation sucks!” I’m here to tell you that as a competitive player, frame generation is perfectly fine in this case, given the native performance I was getting was well beyond 60 fps.

My current build is an RTX 5080, 9800X3D, and 64GB of DDR5 RAM. I was running the game on the Very High preset for most of my gameplay. I bumped it to Ultra settings with ray-tracing and field-of-view maxed, and Resynced still managed to maintain an average of 110+ frames per second.

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced: Should you buy it?

If you loved the original game, then yes, you definitely should. If you've never played it, but love that older-school Assassin's Creed formula, then yes, you should too!

For everyone else, it really comes down to what you're looking for in a game.

While Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced is massive, players can adhere to most of the mainline story without too much side-tracking. So if these larger-than-life open-world games aren't your cup of tea, just know that Black Flag Resynced can be played as a sort of linear experience.

For collectathon people like myself, Resynced isn’t quite as bad as the latest Legend of Zelda entries, but you’ll definitely be busy running around each and every island, crossing off the to-do checklist you’re presented with. Especially if you want to grab every cosmetic as I do.

Then there’s an added layer of their new Animus Hub that was originally introduced with Assassin’s Creed Shadows. More points mean more unlocks, which all just feels like an expanded version of their original Ubisoft Uplay Store.

At the end of the day, Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced is everything I’ve ever loved about the series, now dressed to the Blackbeard nines and bursting with new features to keep gamers busy for days. Sure, I’ve been overwhelmed by the treasure trove of things to do, but not once have I played without a grin plastered across my face.

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Toys for Bob, the studio behind revivals of the classic Crash Bandicoot series with a long-awaited 4th installment and doing the same with Spyro the Dragon with "Spyro: A Realm Beyond", has recently expressed interest in reviving another classic platformer series, Banjo-Kazooie.

Toy for Bob confirmed its interest during an episode of the Kinda Funny Gamescast, in which the show's hosts approached them about Banjo-Kazooie. They replied: "It's a franchise we love. As platformer fans, Banjo's top of the heap."

"We have some huge, huge fans of that franchise on our staff – I'm talking, they've got the Jiggie as their profile pic, kind of a thing. They're that level of fan. If the opportunity ever arose, that would be amazing. We love the franchise."

They continued: "If you look at the through-line of the types of games we like to make, I can imagine that's part of that staple as well. I think of [those characters] as timeless. They're iconic, and I think the types of games we want to produce are ones that speak to a timeless place in the player as well, an ageless place – we call it the "inner child". So, I think they're wonderful games; we're huge fans."

While I never played Banjo-Kazooie growing up, I am fully aware of how much impact the original game had on 3D platformers, as it, along with Super Mario 64, helped set the standard for how the genre should be made for generations to come with their timeless cartoon charm and gameplay.

Unfortunately, despite popular demand, there hasn't been a new entry in the franchise since the controversial Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts from 2008, which traded the series' iconic platforming gameplay for open-world car racing and building.

Plus, the title characters themselves, Banjo & Kazooie, haven't made an appearance in a game since they were included in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in 2019. However, if there's any studio out there that can pull a miracle in bringing the lovable duo out from Microsoft's vault, I believe it's Toys for Bob.

Toys for Bob has done a fantastic job making platformers with their awesome remasters of the classic Crash Bandicoot and Spyro trilogies, as well as Crash Bandicoot 4, and the studio clearly loves the Banjo-Kazooie franchise, judging by how enthusiastic the developers were in the interview.

Plus, Toys for Bob fought tooth and nail to get the green light for a new Spyro game while winning back their independence at the same time, which shows they're willing to go to any length to make a new game for any franchise they cherish.

However, time will tell if Toys for Bob will be fortunate enough to be given the chance to take the reins of Banjo-Kazooie, but for now, I'll be looking forward to Spyro: A Realm Beyond because I can't wait to finally play a true sequel to the original classic Spyro trilogy I grew up playing on the PlayStation 1 during the 1990s.

How do you feel about the idea of Toys for Bob making a new Banjo-Kazooie game? Do you think they're fit for the job, or would you have another developer make a new game?

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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A new report suggested that Xbox plans to double down on exclusive games, as Microsoft explores paths to grow its ecosystem.

This week, Microsoft begun processes to eliminate 3,200 roles from its Xbox gaming division, with hundreds already laid off or leaving in divested studios. In a report in Bloomberg outlying what went wrong at Xbox, we potentially caught a glimpse at how Microsoft's thoughts are evolving around its gaming ecosystem.

At the Xbox Showcase, CEO Asha Sharma outlined plans to make Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution fully exclusive to Xbox consoles. Bloomberg suggests Microsoft is looking to add even more exclusive games to its lineup potentially, which echoes comments execs made to me at Summer Game Fest in LA last June.

Much like Xbox's "it's only four games" statement about going multiplatform previously, the "it's only two games" mantra applies here in reverse. Microsoft is looking at making even tentpole single player games, historically multiplatform, exclusive to Xbox hardware (at least on console.) Could this mean we eventually see the next mainline Fallout and Elder Scrolls go exclusive to console on Xbox?

Reaching the biggest possible audiences has been the best margin play Xbox has had in recent years. Microsoft was previously driving Xbox to chase a 30% profit margin, and an easy way to do that is sell software wherever you can. However, Asha Sharma is not operating under that mandate. Instead, Sharma is operating under an ecosystem growth mandate.

Sharma has spoken at length about how her initial focus will be on Xbox's core: the console gamer. Console gamers in the Xbox ecosystem represent 4 times higher lifetime spending than other types of users across Microsoft's vast gaming ecosystem. On PC, they compete with Steam for margins. On mobile, they compete with well-established and dominant Eastern titles, while handing away millions to Apple and Google for the privilege.

Despite Xbox's retreat from PlayStation in the recent term, there remains tens of millions of active users in the Xbox ecosystem. These users are disproportionately passionate and spendy. Indeed, I would posit that anyone left in the Xbox ecosystem after all the disappointments represent the least "casually-invested" consumers in all of gaming potentially. Sharma wants to grow that base.

It's more true than ever that Xbox represents discretionary spending, and console gaming in general. Next-gen (and even current-gen) consoles are going to be expensive, owing to the memory availability crisis, tariffs, and the rest of it.

Arguably, creating desire through exclusive content is more crucial than ever to maintain an ecosystem in this universe.

One way I've heard Microsoft is exploring achieving this is direct integrations between Xbox and Minecraft. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma restructured Minecraft to answer directly to her for the first time. Integrating Minecraft's features at a platform level into Xbox consoles will be one avenue of exploration her team will look into here. What that looks like remains to be seen. I don't think Microsoft will do anything to degrade the Minecraft experience on other platforms (especially PC and mobile), but there might be exclusive (albeit basic, but fun) integrations for Minecraft on Xbox consoles. I can see Microsoft leveraging Minecraft to sell Xbox Helix as well in some ways, with more aggressive co-marketing activations and bundles.

Longer term, Microsoft may explore doing this with Activision-Blizzard properties too, but there are currently regulatory restrictions preventing Xbox from leveraging things like Call of Duty in the same way.

PlayStation recently landed a massive (multi-million dollar) marketing deal for Grand Theft Auto 6. The marketing deal is so vast, that Rockstar can't even mention the fact there's an Xbox version. PlayStation rebranded its apps to match Grand Theft Auto branding, and you can expect billboards, ads, and other campaigns to follow — excluding Xbox from the conversation.

Under previous leadership, Xbox was strangely reluctant, even seemingly embarrassed, to associate some of its acquisitions with the Xbox ecosystem. Games like DOOM, Fallout, and indeed Minecraft, barely had any co-marketing with Xbox console hardware. And it has been to the console ecosystem's detriment.

The new leadership is taking the opposite view, and it might have no choice. If consoles are to be more expensive than ever, there needs to be more reasons than ever to buy one. If I'm going to drop $1000 on a PS6 or Xbox Helix, why would I buy the box that gets less content?

Asha Sharma hopes by leveraging some of Xbox's biggest franchises in co-marketing, co-integrations, transmedia content, and exclusivity regimes, she might be able to convert more gamers into core Xbox users.

Phil Spencer was transparent in thinking this wouldn't be possible, suggesting in a previous interview that even if Starfield was a mega-banger, making it exclusive wouldn't move the needle for Xbox hardware. Sharma is betting that maybe a steady stream of said bangers might do the trick.

It will take years to find out if she's right — but will Microsoft corporate give her years to implement this strategy? That's arguably an even bigger question.

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This week saw Microsoft and Xbox initiate the single biggest layoff wave in the gaming brand's history, with 3,200 Xbox and game development roles cut — 1,600 immediately, and another 1,600 throughout the next 12 months — as well as four studios divested from the Xbox Game Studios publishing division.

Alongside those teams and developers at ZeniMax and Bethesda, one studio that's been hit especially hard by the layoffs is id Software, the steward of the iconic and legendary shooter franchise DOOM. It's come to light that roughly half of the entire studio has been discharged, including both game devs and staffers working on its id Tech game engines.

Given the strong success of the DOOM 2016 reboot, DOOM Eternal, and last year's DOOM: The Dark Ages — which has a new Revelations DLC coming out today, one day after the cuts — the fact that id Software has been affected so significantly by the Xbox layoffs has come as a shock to many. Cuts to the id Tech team are surprising as well, as the studio's engine has historically run well and has been used for non-DOOM projects like the Wolfenstein games and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.

That shock extends to id's developers themselves, many of whom have taken to social media platforms to express their astonishment and frustrations with the layoffs. One such employee, gameplay animator Skai Chow, has reacted to them with a scathing message for both Microsoft as well as for those "celebrating and worshipping" the cuts as a "move in the right direction."

"For my friends and followers who don't work in game development celebrating and worshipping that the layoffs yesterday were 'necessary for change and a move in the right direction'...I sure hope the sixth round of layoffs is worth our pain and your pleasure," wrote Chow. "After all, things are gonna be different this time around. Right?"

Chow's post features an image that highlights five previous rounds of Microsoft and Xbox layoffs that have come down since early 2023, including 10,000 cuts in January of that year, 1,900 discharges at the start of 2024, the closure of several ZeniMax and Bethesda studios in May that year, and The Initiative and several projects being shuttered in 2025. "We hope our pain was worth it," it's captioned.

The new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma contends that these latest cuts were a difficult but necessary move as part of a "reset" for the brand after it "overextended" with lots of expansion and "overly complex" internal systems.

Regardless of how true that ultimately is or isn't, I can't blame Chow or any other developer for feeling angry and bitter. Throughout the last four years, several thousand layoffs have wracked both Xbox and the wider gaming industry at large following overinvestment in gaming during the pandemic, resulting in extreme volatility and repeated devastating losses of talent.

I don't know what the right path forward is, especially with tariffs and the RAM crisis further complicating matters, but it's clear that the business as it is now isn't sustainable — and Chow is correct to highlight that layoffs haven't yet solved the problem. We can only hope for brighter times as Xbox and the industry reorganize.

Do you believe Microsoft and Xbox have gone too far with the layoffs at id Software? Share your thoughts below, and vote in our poll.

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A massive wave of 4,800 layoffs hit Microsoft on Monday morning this week, with 3,200 of the cuts aimed at Xbox specifically for a "reset" of the firm's gaming business. The restructuring has seen countless game developers let go as well as four studios divested from Microsoft, and individuals working on the Xbox platform itself have been affected as well.

One such staffer is Kevin LaChapelle, Microsoft's vice president of Xbox Platform In a LinkedIn post on Tuesday morning, LaChapelle shared that "I will add my name to the list of people who were laid off today at Xbox," bringing an end to his lengthy 37-year tenure at the company.

LaChapelle has overseen development of Xbox platform software "across cloud, console, and PC" since 2023. Before that, he led the creation and advancement of Microsoft's Xbox Cloud Gaming service (previously known as xCloud), and before that he led the team of engineers that built the fan-favorite Xbox Backwards Compatibility Program.

Ever since it was unveiled at E3 2015 during what I'd say is indisputably one of the best moments in Xbox history, Xbox Backwards Compatibility — a feature that lets you play hundreds of Xbox 360 games and even some original Xbox titles on Xbox One or Xbox Series X|S through an emulation layer — has been a colossal hit with fans.

At the time of its release, it also gave the fairly unpopular Xbox One a notable edge over Sony's PlayStation 4 at a time when it sorely needed one. Longtime Xbox gamers were still able to enjoy a rich library of titles from past systems on the latest console natively, whereas the PS4 was incompatible with games made for older PlayStation consoles.

I can't stress enough that the impact LaChapelle has had on Xbox has been huge — and that makes the news he's been laid off all the more upsetting to hear, especially since the Backwards Compatibility Program he led has been revived this year, with many speculating the feature will be overhauled to work with Microsoft's upcoming PC-console hybrid system Project Helix.

"I will add my name to the list of people who were laid off today at Xbox. This ends my 37 years at Microsoft. I have worked in many different parts of the company, and I will say my fondest memories are of leading the team of very talented engineers who built the Xbox Backward Compatibility program," he wrote in his post. "Sitting in the auditorium when [Phil Spencer, former Xbox CEO] announced the program at E3 2015 was incredible. The audience's reaction was unbelievable."

"I followed that with leading the team who created our Cloud Gaming product. I am a firm believer that all entertainment will eventually become streamed to you wherever you are," LaChapelle added. "I look forward to watching how Xbox evolves going forward and I wish the team nothing but success."

Ultimately, I'm very sad to see LaChapelle cut from Microsoft and Xbox, and I hope that he's able to land a new position somewhere soon. I extend that sentiment out to everyone impacted by these mass layoffs that have added to an already-devastating total that's been growing since 2022.

How important is the Xbox Backwards Compatibility Program that LaChapelle led the development of to you? What about Xbox Cloud Gaming? Let me know in the comments, and vote in our poll as well.

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It feels like Xbox and questionable decisions are going hand in hand lately, especially as the company is set to lay off around 3,200 employees throughout FY2027, with roughly 1,600 of those layoffs already taking place yesterday.

I'm still of the opinion that Xbox needed to change and that restructuring was necessary. That doesn't make any of this easy, though, and I imagine experiencing these layoffs is far more painful than simply watching them unfold. I genuinely hope those affected are able to land on their feet.

Looking at id Software, and particularly id Tech, I can't help but feel there's been an enormous amount of wasted potential. Based on the reported layoffs, the new Xbox leadership seemingly saw little value in much of the studio, cutting roughly 50% of its staff, including members of its technology team.

Among those affected was senior programmer Michael Maynard, who spent 21 years at id Software. He took to LinkedIn, saying:

“We created arguably THE BEST first person engine technology in the industry… Yet today, Microsoft/XBOX decided half the team was deemed USELESS and needed to be let go; despite all the amazing work and effort from every designer, programmer, artist, audio specialist, level designer, fx, tech design, and on and on and on… Yes, I was part of the team (roughly 50% of the company) that was let go today. (I was there for OVER 20 years! RAGE through DOOM: Dark Ages) Sad but, I've been doing this (video games) for over 40 years so, not a huge surprise to me. Just really sad that this is how Id Software, the PIONEER/INNOVATOR of FPS action games is relegated to just another "reorganization" of assets.”

Taking to X, is also Skai Chow, Doom: The Dark Ages animator, who simply said:

"We hope our pain was worth it."

It's genuinely surprising to see id Software gutted like this. I've long believed the studio was underutilized, and I'd hoped to see it take a crack at something like Halo one day. Now, I don't even know how it's supposed to continue making DOOM, let alone take on other franchises.

In fact, I'd even have liked to see id Tech positioned to compete with the likes of Unreal Engine. It's a fantastic engine that's massively underused within Xbox, so making it publicly available, with Xbox taking a 5% royalty on game revenue similar to Unreal Engine, feels like it could have been a great opportunity.

Maybe Xbox has a plan that isn't immediately obvious, but from the outside looking in, it's hard to understand how cutting so much of a studio responsible for one of the industry's best FPS franchises sets it up for long-term success, especially since DOOM: The Dark Ages has a new expansion releasing today.

If you think this sucks, or maybe you think this is fine, let me know in the comments and be sure to take part in our poll above.

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CEO Asha Sharma has discussed the major restructuring currently underway at Xbox in a new interview with Fortune. It could be painful to watch, and even more so for those affected by the layoffs, but it was presumably all necessary. I'm still a bit shell-shocked that some Xbox studios reportedly had as many as 14 layers of management, an absurd number that Sharma is now capping at no more than five.

Sharma told Fortune: "In order to grow, we made a bunch of bets … and as we did that, we inherently didn't focus on the core business… The number one measure of your strategy is what you put your resources behind, and we simply spread ourselves too thin."

The interview also revealed new details about Xbox's strategy moving forward, as Fortune explains: "The unit's new plan centers on returning focus to its flagship Xbox console, which represents 80% of its business, funneling its content budget toward high-growth areas such as the Minecraft game, and stepping away from smaller studios."

Despite Xbox's efforts to broaden its audience through the "This is an Xbox" campaign, it appears the console remains the foundation of the business, accounting for 80% of Xbox overall. If anything, the latest restructuring suggests Microsoft is refocusing on the audience that has supported the brand from the beginning.

As I said, I think many of these changes were necessary, despite my own frustrations and what I still believe was a mistake in letting State of Decay 3 leave alongside Undead Labs. That said, Sharma revealed that Xbox was losing 64 cents for every $1 it invested in its studio strategy. In other words, it wasn't even breaking even, and that's simply not sustainable for any profit-driven company.

Xbox has, in many ways, backed itself into a corner. I always felt Sharma would eventually have to make some incredibly difficult decisions, as that's ultimately what she was brought in to do. As much as this situation is awful for everyone affected, I'm still hopeful Xbox can get back on track.

While the company itself appears to be stepping away from smaller studios, I hope it doesn't stop investing in independent developers. Some of the industry's most creative and successful games have come from indie teams, and they're clearly a gold mine of great content.

Do let me know your thoughts in the comments, and be sure to take part in our poll below:

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The dust is still settling over Xbox's "big reset" cuts, and will continue to settle for many weeks to come just yet.

Microsoft CFO Amy Hood has led a massive job culling across the firm, with almost 5,000 staffers set to lose their roles over the next fiscal year. 3,200 of those will be in Xbox alone, with some escaping as divestitures. Remaining studios have been "gutted" by some accounts, with massive reductions at Obsidian and id Software, despite success stories in Grounded 2 and DOOM: The Dark Ages.

The silver lining for some is that Xbox execs spent the past few weeks finding buyers for studios Microsoft's CFO lined up to otherwise shut down. One of those is Undead Labs, makers of State of Decay, who have been through hell and back to get to where they are today.

Undead Labs was founded in 2009 and acquired in 2018, as Xbox sought to bolster its exclusive content spread for Xbox. The integration was immediately met with problems.

Undead Labs leader, co-founder, and World of Warcraft alumnus Jeff Strain left the studio in 2019 not long after the acquisition, and then the firm was immediately hit with lockdown regimes heading straight into the Covid-19 pandemic. The disruption was palpable.

Unable to properly incubate State of Decay 3, Undead Labs worked on free updates for State of Decay 2 as Microsoft struggled to properly integrate the studio and teams. Despite State of Decay 3 being announced in 2020, it wouldn't actually enter full development until far later.

These should be mitigating factors when Microsoft's bean counters were looking at ways to reduce costs. But, in Microsoft's typical, disappointingly short-sighted fashion, Microsoft seems oddly unaware of the potential it has in the palm of its hands.

Indeed, as of writing, State of Decay 3 is presently the 28th most wishlisted game on Steam, and comes in higher than Halo Campaign Evolved and Gears of War: E-Day both. As far as Xbox games go, State of Decay 3 is second only behind big-budget blockbuster Fable.

State of Decay 3 was by far my most anticipated Xbox game this side of Clockwork Revolution. The early alpha glimpses we've gotten look incredible, and as an evolving multiplayer title, it has the painfully obvious potential alongside games like Grounded and Sea of Thieves.

It's utterly absurd and frustrating that Microsoft, for whatever reason, weren't able to give them just a bit more time and subsidize their own mistakes. Microsoft banks billions of dollars annually, and there's really no excuse for the disruption and havoc it is imparting onto its teams.

I'm not naïve. I know quite painfully well that in order to get paid, you have to have a business that makes money — at least eventually. But at the same time, Microsoft is also among hyperscalers chasing AI infrastructure expenditure based on theoretical growth, using the models of companies funded entirely by theoretical money.

Of all the cutbacks and nonsensical choices Microsoft has made this week, State of Decay 3 above all, for me, underpins how Microsoft's fiscal management policies all too often make for hasty self-defeating mistakes.

There are arguably projects at Xbox that shouldn't have been greenlit, and there are strategic decisions made that remain utterly questionable for sure — but Microsoft is making so many baffling choices to pay for those mistakes. For me, the fact Xbox has been forced to divest State of Decay 3 really represents the apex of Microsoft's generalized ignorance.

In the future, I look forward to writing about how studios like Undead Labs expanded and became success stories free of Microsoft. But there are many hundreds of developers who might not be so lucky.

Perhaps the thousands of employees that remain at Xbox will benefit from a more focused Xbox managerial structure not spreading themselves so thinly, but it remains to be seen. And perhaps I actually am being naïve here.

Microsoft has created an environment where every FY end in July, we're writing articles like this. Being reminded of missed opportunities, and the human costs of Microsoft's legendarily short-sighted impatience.

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Amid Xbox's restructuring efforts, which will see more than 3,200 jobs cut between now and 2027, with 1,500 layoffs happening immediately, the company has also outlined a bold vision for its future. That's not all, Xbox is also set to part ways with at least four studios, but unlike Sony's closures, these teams are being given a second chance, with some becoming independent and others finding new homes under different publishers. If you haven't caught up with the news yet, Compulsion, Double Fine, Undead Labs, and Ninja Theory are among those affected, while Arkane Lyon's future is a little more complicated. You can read more about Arkane here.

Within Xbox CEO Asha Sharma's statement, she said:

"These changes are about a bigger future for Xbox, not a smaller one... this year we'll invest as much in Xbox as we ever have, but we'll invest with greater focus, greater discipline, and greater clarity, all in service of making Xbox where the world plays and creates."

Alongside those comments, Sharma also stated:

"I want XBOX to be one of the few companies that entertains more than a billion people each day and gives everyone the opportunity to create and connect. I know we can achieve this goal. XBOX has many of the most beloved franchises in entertainment history, talented studios around the world, and we will return to growth in 2027"

To put that into perspective, Xbox currently reaches around one billion players annually. Meanwhile, Steam has roughly 147 million monthly active users, while PlayStation sits at around 125 million monthly active users. Reaching one billion players every single day would require Xbox to grow far beyond anything we've seen from the gaming industry so far.

I'm not entirely sure how Sharma expects to achieve that outside of expanding into regions where Xbox currently has little or no official presence. That includes parts of Africa, South America, and, believe it or not, large parts of Europe, including countries such as Romania. Xbox also doesn't officially operate in markets including Indonesia, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. There are, of course, legal and regulatory hurdles that make expansion into some of these regions difficult, but beyond reaching more countries, I'm struggling to see what else could realistically get Xbox anywhere close to that figure.

Another take would be that Sharma doesn't refer to "players" directly, but instead says that the goal is that Xbox "entertains more than a billion people each day." That reading could expand beyond gaming into other features that Xbox currently supports, like Netflix, YouTube, Twitch, YouTube TV, HBO Max, Jellyfin, PLEX, and the other dozen or so media apps that people use daily.

That more liberal reading of using an Xbox daily is certainly more achievable, at least once you cumulatively sell a billion Xbox consoles.

Maybe I'm missing something, though. If you've got ideas on how Xbox could realistically reach one billion daily players, let me know in the comments, and be sure to take part in our poll below:

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Xbox’s restructuring is here, and we’ve got all the details, which you can find here. I also recently covered reports that State of Decay 3 may no longer be destined for Game Pass, but today we’re talking about Marvel’s Blade, a project whose future is looking increasingly uncertain.

It wasn’t long ago that my colleague Jez Corden reported Arkane had new leadership under Jerk Gustafsson from MachineGames. While that change actually happened last year and was only made public recently, it initially seemed like a positive sign for the studio. Unfortunately, that optimism has faded.

Now, thanks to new reporting, we know Microsoft is in discussions with the French government "to try and figure out a path forward for the legendary Dishonored maker, with the goal of saving Arkane from closure," while also hoping to keep Blade in development.

Additional reporting from The Verge also claims that Blade is "running over budget." With discussions involving the French government potentially taking months, the future of both Arkane and Marvel's Blade remains very much uncertain.

It’s also revealed that Blade has been delayed, in addition to its budget issues, so it really isn’t looking good for the Marvel franchise.

Outside of State of Decay 3 from Undead Labs, which was my most anticipated game from the affected studios, which includes Compulsion and Double Fine, Blade was probably the project I was most curious about. I mean, it's Blade. Sony has Spider-Man, so Xbox having its own Marvel game always felt like a great fit.

This latest update is concerning, though. Blade has reportedly been in development for over five years, and if it's now running over budget, it's hard not to worry. Given the current state of the industry, it's becoming increasingly difficult to justify projects that spend years in development only to run into repeated delays and budget issues.

As difficult as all this news has been, I genuinely hope everyone affected across Xbox is able to land on their feet. I also hope Xbox can steady the ship and come out stronger on the other side. With that said, let me know your thoughts in the comments, and be sure to take part in our poll below:

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When the first rumors of Xbox's massive 3,200-role restructure started circulating weeks ago, just days after the Xbox Games Showcase, the Xbox community was awash with opinions on how Xbox should handle its lower-performing studios, and deserved criticism awaited the management that had allowed all of this mess to happen.

We've seen this play before: a spreadsheet-driven mega-corp consolidation normally means a beloved studio gets wiped off the map, and its intellectual property is discarded into a black hole, never to see the light of day again.

In a "best of a bad situation" twist, today Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has announced that in an effort to combat Microsoft's losses of 64 cents for every dollar invested in these teams, Compulsion Games and Double Fine are going independent. Ninja Theory and Undead Labs, on the other hand, will transition to new publishers.

No projects have been canceled (yet), no studio doors have been shuttered (yet). These studios now have a lifeline and a chance of survival outside the clutches and "14 layers of management" of Microsoft.

Following all this, I plead with the Xbox community: if you genuinely care about the survival of these studios beyond social media soliloquies, then it's time to put our money where our mouths are and support them.

RELATED: Xbox's big "reset" cuts: Compulsion, Double Fine, Undead Labs, Ninja Theory to leave Xbox — 3,200 roles to be removed

State of Decay 3 is not obligated to launch on Xbox Game Pass

Now, the true test of gaming consumers' loyalty is coming sooner than you think. As we recently shared, State of Decay 3 is no longer obligated to launch on Xbox Game Pass under it's new announced ownership terms. The same reality will likely apply to Ninja Theory's future projects.

This will change the entire equation for the average Xbox consumer. For nearly a decade, Xbox gamers have been conditioned to treat first-party titles as perks of the monthly subscription and haven't had to really weigh up the financials of each individual game purchase. Now this is a model I fully support, and it makes gaming so much more accessible for the majority, but clearly the math isn't mathing enough for Xbox.

Undead Labs could now be stepping out into the competitive wild west if they choose not to launch on Xbox Game Pass. Not giving the audience a chance to try your multiplayer game before buying it is a huge gamble, but if enough people buy it at retail price, it could pay off.

Whether studios decide to launch on Game Pass or not, we as players need to step up.

Vote with your wallet

I want to be clear: this isn't about virtue signaling in the way I see people do all the time about players choosing to use Xbox Game Pass as their main source of gaming entertainment. This is not a lecture. The current economic realities are brutal, and everyone should do what is best for their own budget.

Not every gamer has a disposable $70 (or whatever this game will cost) lying around to drop on a whim, and no one should feel guilty for protecting their own finances. That aside, my message is explicitly aimed at those who can afford it.

If you are a fan who spent the last year screaming on social media about corporate greed, demanding that Microsoft "let their studios cook," you now have a real chance to support those studios. Buying these games at retail on day one, whether on Xbox, PC, or PlayStation, is the clearest way to send a message to the rest of the industry that the work these studios does matter. (Note: State of Decay 3 is currently on the Steam Most Wishlisted games list and has already surged by 1,977 additions this week.)

It proves that mid-sized and experimental games have a viable commercial audience outside the protective bubble of Xbox's checkbook. Or, indeed, if nobody buys the games, it proves that Xbox ultimately made the right decision with these moves.

Xbox has made its new strategy crystal clear: they are slimming down their overly complex corporate structure, protecting their next-gen console hardware, and narrowing their focus to mega-franchises like Halo and Fallout. They want to be leaner, meaner and more profitable.

As for studios like Undead Labs and Ninja Theory, if we want these newly freed studios to flourish, we have to stop treating them like subscription padding and start treating them like creators worth paying for. If you can support them, you absolutely should.

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Microsoft Flight Simulator is a criminally underrated game, mostly because of the implied skill ceiling that realistic sims usually demand. However, it's actually extremely approachable thanks to a wide array of difficulty-tweaking options and a decent training segment that masquerades as a virtual flight school. Of course, a purpose-built controller can also help you feel immersed, but it's a confusing category for newcomers.

So, at the peak of last summer, I met with the engineers and peripheral designers at Honeycomb Aeronautical to see their latest entry-level flight sticks, HOTAS setups, and accompanying rudder pedals, with the mission of attracting new players. However, I was far more interested in a prototype Xbox-style joypad lying on a desk, covered with minuscule throttles and levers, instantly calling it "the coolest f—ing thing I've seen".

That great work-in-progress evolved into the game-changing Echo Aviation Controller, and one of my sole complaints was the lack of Xbox console support (though I knew it was planned for the future). Well, the future is now, as Honeycomb Aeronautical recently announced the Echo Aviation Controller XPC — compatible with XBOX Series X|S and, naturally, Windows PC — with plans to start shipping "from Fall this year".

Now, I usually wouldn't give much time to a standard press release — especially one without a concrete release date — but Honeycomb gets a pass for delivering exactly what I wanted. You'll get TMR and Hall-Effect sensors for drift-free inputs, alongside the strangely addictive experience of flying a replica plane with dedicated controls for landing gear, parking brakes, and flaps. It's more alluring than you might think.

It might look a bit strange at first glance, almost like two controllers fused together, but I warmed up to it extremely quickly, and I still use the original when I'm playing MSFS 2024 on PC over some of the best flight sticks. The only real downside to this XPC edition is that it could make the PC-only Echo somewhat defunct, depending on how much you crave Xbox-style face buttons. I've reached out to the company for any comments they may have on that.

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The dreaded Xbox layoffs have finally been confirmed, and they're pretty brutal. While the restructuring may have been necessary from a business perspective, seeing people lose their jobs is never easy. There's not much I can say other than hoping everyone affected is able to land on their feet.

One of the studios caught up in the restructuring is Undead Labs, the developer behind one of Xbox's most anticipated upcoming games, State of Decay 3.

State of Decay 3 is actually Xbox's most wishlisted game on Steam and currently sits among the platform's top 30 most wishlisted titles. As part of Xbox's restructuring, however, Undead Labs is reportedly being sold to a new owner. That's certainly better than simply shutting the studio down altogether, which is Sony’s go-to strategy, but I can't help feeling that Xbox has missed the mark with Undead Labs specifically.

Fans of Xbox Game Pass may also be disappointed by another reported detail. According to Game File, State of Decay 3 "will not obligate the game to any Xbox-controlling terms, such as having to be on Game Pass."

While that doesn't necessarily mean State of Decay 3 won't launch on Game Pass, it does mean the new owner won't be contractually required to put it there. Depending on who acquires the studio, that could have a significant impact on where and how the game is ultimately released.

As someone who grew up playing Call of Duty Zombies, I've always been a fan of zombie games, including the previous State of Decay titles. State of Decay 3 was certainly one of the Xbox games I was looking forward to the most.

While I'm glad the studio will still exist and, hopefully, get to ship the game, I can't help but feel Xbox has missed a huge opportunity here. Out of Compulsion Games, Double Fine, Ninja Theory, and Undead Labs, all of which are affected by the restructuring, Undead Labs was the studio that had the most promise, at least to me. Knowing it likely won't be part of Xbox going forward just feels like a massive missed opportunity.

Maybe that's just me, though. Let me know what you think in the comments, and as always, be sure to take part in our poll below:

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Amid a historic 3,200-person layoff across Xbox, starting with the 1600 initial layoffs today, our sources confirm the hardware team is seeing the fewest reductions, with a heavy focus on out-engineering the global tech supply crisis.

While today's brutal restructure at Xbox marks a devastating shift for the studios under its umbrella, we can report that at least for now, Microsoft's console ecosystem is surprisingly secure.

According to internal sources, Xbox's dedicated hardware division will see the fewest reductions in the multi-wave layoff event announced by CEO Asha Sharma today. Crucially, the highly anticipated next-generation console, codenamed Helix, remains entirely safe and on track.

RELATED: Xbox's big "reset" cuts: Compulsion, Double Fine, Undead Labs, Ninja Theory to leave Xbox — 3,200 roles to be removed

Rebuilding Xbox around the console players

In Sharma's directive to "rebuild the core", she has spoken plainly about the financial reality at Xbox. That Xbox's rapid software acquisitions and experimental Game Pass bets have failed to yield the margins expected.

To course-correct, Xbox is now pivoting back to its most reliable revenue generator: dedicated console users.

By shielding the hardware division from the brunt of these 3200 role cuts, Xbox hopes to ensure that the physical gateway to its ecosystem remains intact. If it intends to return to aggressive growth in the future, it needs competitive hardware as the foundation.

Battling the ongoing memory crisis

It's no secret that the road to Project Helix isn't without its significant hurdles. The consumer tech industry is currently gripped by a severe global memory availability crisis, which has sharply increased baseline manufacturing costs for next-gen silicon and storage solutions.

Rather than scaling back the console's scope or delaying its timeline, our sources indicate that Xbox’s hardware engineers are trying to tackle margin pressure through aggressive innovation to reduce the total cost of materials.

While the team is largely being spared the mass cuts hitting the software teams, they will still no doubt need to adapt to the operating model as laid out by Sharma, Divisions are being streamlined down to fewer than five layers of management, down from fourteen. Sharma has vowed "we will streamline how we work across our tools, with a cleaner code base, shared services, and 50% reduced vendor spend."

With Helen Chiang stepping into the newly created COO role to oversee end-to-end profit and loss, the hardware division now has a clear mandate: deliver a powerhouse next-gen machine that is financially viable from day one. If console is indeed the most profitable user base, it makes sense to focus here, but can they pull it off?

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Xbox's expected cuts are here, as CEO Asha Sharma delivers on previous warnings that "hard decisions" were on the way.

Microsoft's gaming division is joining broader cuts at the firm, which will see thousands of roles eliminated from across the company in the near to medium term. Preliminary sourcing suggests the initial wave will see 1,500 staffers impacted at Xbox alone, with a total of 3,200 through FY27.

In an email to staff, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma described how Xbox Game Studios are a whole is currently losing 64 cents for every dollar invested in the current climate.

"We are beginning the most significant restructure in XBOX history. After careful consideration, I've made the difficult decision to reduce our team by approximately 3,200 throughout FY27."

As part of the cuts, Microsoft has reached deals with four studios to either go independent or join new management, saving them from closure.

Compulsion, known for South of Midnight, will be acquired by management and go independent again. Double Fine Productions will also go independent, led by Tim Schafer. Undead Labs and Ninja Theory will be acquired by new publishers. Sources told us over the weekend that both Ninja Theory's Senua and Labs' State of Decay 3 will remain fully in production as part of the divestiture deals.

There's a question mark over Arkane and Blade, however. Microsoft is engaging the French government to try and figure out a path forward for the legendary Dishonored maker — with the goal of saving Arkane from closure, and keeping Blade in production. Right now, we can only hope Arkane finds a suitor to help keep the Dishonored and Blade maker afloat.

Beyond that, to meet the reductions Sharma has described every department at Xbox will see some form of layoffs and restructuring. Microsoft's executive layers want to reduce middle management across the board, in attempts to help Xbox move more quickly. Minecraft and Candy Crush's King will begin reporting in to Xbox's c-suite directly, for example, with a view of making them more competitive against incumbents like Roblox and things like Monopoly Go respectively.

There's also an effort to bring some of Xbox's remaining studios into closer collaboration, focusing on some of the firm's bigger franchises and potential. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has been transparent about wanting to focus on things like Halo and Fallout. We could see studios like Obsidian dust off their Fallout mantle, for example.

What about Xbox hardware? It has been suggested to me that Xbox's hardware team will see the least amount of reductions, with Microsoft still intent on shipping Xbox hardware and Xbox Helix.

Microsoft's next-gen Xbox Helix console has been in production for some time, although the structural equations have been hit hard by the memory availability crisis gripping all of consumer tech. Regardless, I'm told Microsoft will soldier on with Helix and Xbox hardware in general. Microsoft is still intent on following Xbox CEO Sharma's plan to "rebuild the core," with a focus on Xbox's most profitable users: those on console.

A sad day for Xbox, and the industry in general

It's painful to me that Microsoft's bean counters wouldn't let Xbox hang on just a bit longer with some of these studios. It's hardly Undead Labs' fault that their integrations were defeated by Covid lockdowns and previous management leaving. State of Decay 3 for example has more wishlists on Steam than some of Xbox's other tentpole projects. It easily, in my view, has potential to be even bigger than similar multiplayer titles like Grounded or Sea of Thieves. It has been a long and expensive road to get here for sure ... but the rewards were literally just around the corner. Couldn't Microsoft have stayed the course just a bit longer on some of this stuff? Microsoft's penchant for giving up at the last hurdle is ceaselessly irritating.

Xbox gave some of its studios freedom to explore new IPs and experimental titles, which while virtuous, potentially hurt their capability to return positive news to those higher-ups working the spreadsheets. It's also difficult to argue against Asha Sharma's notes to staff about not wanting to compete with indie developers. It is a strange universe where Microsoft, the juggernaut, is building games that would otherwise be produced by comparatively far, far smaller teams with non-existent marketing budgets.

It's hard to deny that Xbox has massively dropped the ball on things like Fallout and Halo. Hindsight is 20/20, but imagine if the Fallout TV show had a mainline Fallout game to complement its popularity? Cyberpunk 2077 just hit 40 million copies sold, and is seeing another player count bump from integrations in Wuthering Waves and Cyberpunk Edgerunners Season 2 on Netflix.

RELATED: Xbox, please let your studios cook
RELATED: Inside Xbox's margin crush

Some of these plans revolve around laying the ground work to take advantage of these squandered opportunities. It should lead to a stronger Xbox in the years to come. But at the same time, it's staffers paying the price for previous decisions — whether owing to managerial mistakes, evolving user behavior, or macro-economic factors that nobody could really predict. It's not fair, is it? For all those impacted, it's just another round of needless chaos in our cold, AI-funny-money-powered economy.

"These changes are about a bigger future for XBOX, not a smaller one," Asha Sharma noted to employees. "The next decade of gaming will be larger, more global, and more creative than anything we've seen before. This year, we'll invest as much in XBOX as we ever have, but we'll invest with greater focus, greater discipline, and greater clarity, all in service of making XBOX where the world plays and creates."

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Appreciate how hard it is to write the name Erling Haaland and literally anything nice. The World Cup star plays for Manchester City, whom I am programmed to despise, as well as England's next opponents, Norway.

But, I know a man of undoubted class when I see one, and Haaland fits that bill because, like us, he's an XBOX man. Some of the games he's playing won't be too surprising, but at least one of them might be.

The video below via yoxic on X walks us through Haaland's Xbox, some of his favorite games, and yes, as a man of class, he also has the Xbox Series X mini fridge.

I had a mild panic when I read the caption before seeing the video before calming down when "Modern Warfare 2" does, in fact, refer to the original Call of Duty: Modern Warfare trilogy, not the reboot. I've met plenty of people who would agree on the old game and essentially nobody who would pass such lofty praise on the newer one.

There's no surprise to hear GTA 6 is most anticipated, though, fun fact, Haaland was only 13 when GTA 5 was first released. In the time between games he's grown up and become the most feared striker on the planet. Puts it into perspective how long we've been waiting!

Shoutout for Minecraft, too, another of the titles taking its place on Haaland's XBOX alongside the extremely obvious EA FC games.

Reaction on social media is plentiful, but the replies tagging Xbox CEO Asha Sharma and marketing chief Aaron Greenberg feel valid. One of the best known football players on the planet is basically doing free marketing here. If XBOX has any sense, they'll reach out about a partnership. Lord knows we could use some positivity.

There's a precedent for that, too. Darts sensation Luke Littler is also a proud XBOX player, which was soon followed up by an official partnership. All the youngsters out there that love Erling Haaland need to know he loves XBOX. It's a no-brainer!

That's enough from me, though. Time to lock in on the World Cup Quarter-Finals. England vs. Norway. We've got to get the man back home and on his XBOX as soon as possible!

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