South of Midnight creative director David Sears recently made a surprisingly candid admission in an interview, saying that if he had been responsible for Xbox's budget decisions, he "probably" wouldn't have approved funding for the project.
This bizarre (or perhaps expected) twist now links two Xbox-related studios with comments questioning whether their games should have been funded at all. Before this, online drama surrounded Double Fine (Psychonauts, Keeper) saying something similar, albeit in a more tongue-in-cheek way.
I literally told people, I was like, yeah, this is, wow, this could be terrible, because somebody is going to say one day, you know, the money tap, it was like, we're closing those floodgates, and that's going to have really traumatic results downstream.
David Sears, Creative Director
To which MinnMax's Ben Hanson asked: “You would not have funded it yourself? If you were actually running Xbox, you would have been like, ‘No, turn off that tap much quicker?’”
Sears replies, “Yeah, probably.”
Xbox's creative freedom came at a cost
Xbox logo in red (Image credit: Microsoft)
Sears went on to explain: “Yeah, I mean, I wanted to make it, no doubt, right? And obviously because we made it. Um, you know, would I have turned off, you know, someone else's money flow before South of Midnight? Yeah, cuz I'm not completely selfless.”
“But, you know, it just seems like in hindsight at least, it was unsustainable. So, of course, it was going to have a, you know, shocking outcome.”
Interestingly, Sears wasn't entirely critical of Microsoft. Earlier in the interview, he praised the company's support for South of Midnight, saying, “Microsoft encouraged everything,” while describing the creative freedom Compulsion Games enjoyed during development.
It’s a shame that things turned out the way they did. It’s hard to know who to fully blame, but Phil Spencer’s vision for Xbox of letting studios have complete creative freedom was fantastic on paper, yet in practice, it clearly didn’t work, especially for this era of gaming.
Who knows, maybe back in the Xbox 360 days, when games were regularly made on smaller budgets within a year or two, it might have been more sustainable. But given the bloated budgets for gaming that exist after 25 years of Xbox, and how development for major games can now span five-plus years, it’s difficult to see how that approach could continue indefinitely.
That said, let me know your thoughts on Sears’ comments. Are they shocking, or are you not surprised at all? Let me know in the comments, and be sure to take part in our poll!
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How many games, you ask? Well, via analysis from @KoreaXBOXnews on X, 210 Xbox games launched in October 2026, 95 of which supported Xbox Play Anywhere.
October 2026 was the biggest month of the year for Xbox releases, with 210 games launched.Of those, 95 games supported Xbox Play Anywhere, giving XPA a 45% share.Since June 2026, XPA has consistently hovered around 50%, meaning about half of all new Xbox releases support buy-once-play-anywhere functionality.I excluded "triple-stack" achievement games (separate Xbox One, Series X|S, and PC lists). Including them would push the XPA share well above 50%, potentially close to 70%.Interestingly, Xbox recently signaled that it wants these games to move toward the Xbox Play Anywhere model.https://t.co/650xGdGs5vNovember 1, 2026
That huge statistic highlights the general market challenge so far, as users debate market saturation. Gears of War: E-Day and its virtue as an "exclusive" game on Xbox has been under a microscope, with claims that the game hasn't delivered for Microsoft. Even if that was true, it was among many big high-quality releases actively competing with hundreds of other Xbox games at once for attention, and that's without mentioning the 187 Xbox games released in September 2026.
On the plus side, @KoreaXBOXnews's analysis shows that Xbox Play Anywhere is gaining more momentum, consistently hovering around 50% share since June 2026 (or 70% if you count "triple-stack" achievement games, otherwise known as shovelware titles. Microsoft is cracking down on this exploitative practice, where developers ship multiple versions of the same game to bait achievement hunters.)
This means Microsoft is focusing on encouraging more games adopt Xbox Play Anywhere going forward, as more people are liking the idea of buying an Xbox game once and then being able to play it on console, handheld, and Windows PC within the Xbox ecosystem.
Can't say I blame them because being able to buy and play a game on an Xbox Series X|S, and then being able to play on an Xbox Ally X while carrying over data with no extra charge is a pretty good deal.
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Microsoft's COO Helen Chiang was fired from Xbox a few weeks ago, after 27 years of top-level leadership spent across the org, most prolifically at Minecraft.
The removal was abrupt and somewhat confusing on the face of it. Chiang was widely respected across the Microsoft stack and is a trusted figure, described to me as "by the book" by our own sources. When it emerged that she had been fired for "policy violations," it added an unexpected twist that left us with more questions than answers, ultimately.
Now, Helen Chiang has responded to the incident on LinkedIn, titled "Clarity is Kindness," which is a comment Xbox CEO Asha Sharma made to the WSJ while discussing the health of Microsoft's gaming business recently.
There has been some speculation about my abrupt departure from Microsoft, including claims that I was “fired for a policy violation”. That’s not accurate," Chiang writes, "silence should not be mistaken for agreement. What has been said about my departure, and what has been left unsaid, has created a picture of me that I hardly recognize. It’s important to me to set the record straight."
In the full post shared below, Chiang denies that she leaked information, sought employment at Microsoft competitors, engaged in insider trading, bullying, or embezzlement, or that she left because she didn't get the CEO job. She says that she always hoped to stay at Microsoft and "keep building," and this departure wasn't what she envisioned.
"I share this because I don’t want my departure reduced to an inaccurate story about incompetence, ambition for the next big job, or a Nelson-level scandal."
As to not paraphrase, I've included the full text from the post below.
"Clarity is Kindness
There has been some speculation about my abrupt departure from Microsoft, including claims that I was “fired for a policy violation”. That’s not accurate and while I won’t turn this into a play-by-play, silence should not be mistaken for agreement. What has been said about my departure, and what has been left unsaid, has created a picture of me that I hardly recognize. It’s important to me to set the record straight.
First, I did not leak confidential company information to the press. I have never communicated with any journalist outside the limited, company-authorized interviews I’ve done as part of my job. That includes every journalist who reached out this week seeking my side of the story.
Second, I did not leave XBOX to join a competitor. You don’t spend two decades somewhere without developing a deep loyalty to the people, teams, and businesses you’ve helped build. XBOX was never just another stop in my career. My end game was always to keep building here.
Third, I did not engage in discrimination, bullying, harassment, insider trading, embezzlement, or other fraudulent activity. I stand by my record: both the results I delivered and the way I have treated people throughout my career. I won’t let speculation define my character or erase that record.
Lastly, I did not leave because I was passed over for a bigger role. Since having children, I’ve been intentional about how I define ambition and success. I haven’t actively sought out bigger roles or increased responsibilities, and the last time I interviewed for a job was in 2011. My reputation and results paved the way for the opportunities that followed. I went where the company believed I was needed and where I could have the greatest impact. I did not ask for my most recent role, either. I was promoted into it in July. I believe in fairness, accountability, and holding ourselves to the standards we expect of others. Those standards only mean something when they’re applied consistently. I have serious concerns about how they were applied in my case, and I believe those concerns deserve to be taken seriously. I share this because I don’t want my departure reduced to an inaccurate story about incompetence, ambition for the next big job, or a Nelson-level scandal. My story is about staying true to your core values, especially when it is hard. That’s the legacy I hope to leave behind. To everyone who has reached out with hugs, love, and support: thank you. So many of you have reminded me of the wonderful times we’ve shared over the past 20 years and the impact we’ve had on one another. Some of you I haven’t been in touch with for several years, yet you still took the time to check on me. Others are people I’ve never even met, but you reached out anyway. That speaks volumes about the care and humanity in our industry and the connections that transcend where we work. This is not how I ever imagined my story here would end. And it is not the whole story." — Helen Chiang, former Xbox COO.
Helen Chiang's somewhat unceremonious departure comes amidst widespread upheaval at Xbox as Microsoft restructures its gaming org, which has led to thousands of layoffs, divestitures, and studio closures. Microsoft managed to return some studios to independent ownership and has sold others to publishers, as it tries to rein in spending in general.
I suspect there'll be more disruption before things calm down ... as the industry in general reels from an overabundance of content, reduced consumer spending, and the AI-fostered RAMpocalypse.
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The integration of Call of Duty: Warzone with Modern Warfare 4 is happening on November 6 when Season 1 begins for this year's game.
While it also means the end of Warzone for players on Xbox One and PS4, it will be bringing a bunch of new content to the table. When the switchover happens, there will be two brand-new maps to play at first, alongside two returning classic maps at some point later in the season.
Besides access to all the new weapons from Modern Warfare 4, the battle pass, the leveling and prestige system, Camo challenges, and Calling Cards, there are also some quality-of-life improvements, too. Here's a brief overview of what's coming.
Two new Call of Duty: Warzone maps: Hajin and Zodiac
We've already seen the new Zodiac Resurgence map during the Modern Warfare 4 beta. (Image credit: Activision)
At the launch of Season 1 there will be two Warzone maps to play, and they're both brand-new for the Modern Warfare 4 year: Hajin and Zodiac.
Zodiac we've already seen during the Modern Warfare 4 beta period earlier this year. Set around a drone manufacturing facility in South Korea, Zodiac is the new Resurgence map and will be joined in the rotation by the returning Rebirth Island at some point during the season.
Hajin is the new "big map" for Battle Royale. Set across North and South Korea, anyone who's already jumped in to play DMZ will be familiar with the Hajin location. It appears to be the same physical map, so those players will already have a leg up on the terrain.
It's been a pretty good location for DMZ so far, and while there are areas with tall buildings, there are also plenty that are more open, and the terrain is quite varied. Also coming across from DMZ is the variable weather, so one match it might be sunny and clear, and another the map may be shrouded in fog. Hajin will also have two new Gulags.
The previous big map, Verdansk, will be joining the Battle Royale rotation at some point during the season, bringing some new POIs along with it.
New features and weapons for Warzone under Modern Warfare 4
Integrating with Modern Warfare 4 means access to all the new weapons from the main game. (Image credit: Activision)
Besides the new map, there are also some new features and just overall quality-of-life improvements for Warzone beginning with Season 1. These include:
Tactical Sprint will be available to all Operators without the need for a Perk, but its duration is slightly shortened.
Players can drag their allies while reviving them, pulling them out of harm’s way.
Additional weapon balance tuning.
Improved visibility and readability across all maps.
Improved footstep audio
Tactical Sprint is probably a big one for Warzone players, and while it doesn't sound like it will be overpowered, it will at least help in keeping that fast-flowing experience players have become familiar with.
Without it applied in multiplayer in Modern Warfare 4, you can feel quite slow, and that was never going to work in Warzone.
It'll be interesting to see what the weapon balancing looks like, though. Additionally, the time to kill (TTK). In DMZ, PvP encounters are often over before you even spot who's firing at you, so hopefully Warzone has found a balance here. There are definitely some weapons that already feel like everyone will gravitate towards them, but it'd be nice if there's a wider meta than there often is.
All of the weapons from Modern Warfare 4 and the new ones introduced in Season 1 will be available to Warzone players, as will their attachments, including Apex.
If you've been playing multiplayer or DMZ you'll already be familiar with the new weapons. (Image credit: Cole Martin for Windows Central, Activision)
Legacy weapons from as far back as Modern Warfare 2 will remain accessible in Warzone. These will be available as a five-attachment version, alongside any previously acquired legacy weapon blueprints.
Additionally, and what sounds quite interesting to me, is that on Hajin, Zodiac, and Verdansk, we'll now have movable interactive objects. These include fuel barrels, which will go boom, and apparently objects such as dumpsters and "pyramids" that can be used to create cover. Or roadblocks. So maybe keep an extra eye out when you're driving.
Players will also be able to get their hands on Elite Perks, which will add a fourth perk to their loadout. These are found in-match at Buy Stations, and more can be obtained through Supply Run contracts. But only one can be active at a time.
Oh, and the Aston Martin Dreadnought vehicle that we've been driving about in DMZ will also be joining Warzone.
Call of Duty: Warzone Season 1 game modes
There will be some special modes and events available to play right at the launch of Season 1. (Image credit: Activision)
Camo grinders will be delighted to hear that casual mode has returned for both Battle Royale and Resurgence and will be available on all maps.
Additionally, at Season 1 launch there will be three limited-time modes (LTMs):
Rally Point LTM
Loaded Resurgence
Massive Resurgence
Additional LTMs are promised throughout Season 1, including Rockets and Snipers, and Extreme Resurgence.
Rally Point is described as a casual mode designed to help new and returning players get to grips with the mechanics of Warzone, as well as check out the new Zodiac map and learn about some of the new features. 20 players will be in each lobby.
"Rally Point is a no-circle, infinite Resurgence, and Drop-In/Drop-Out mode, allowing players to come and go as they please."
For completing the challenges in this mode, there will be an exclusive weapon blueprint and two camos to unlock.
Loaded Resurgence will be across Zodiac and Rebirth Island and looks the same as we've known it before. Drop in with your preferred loadout and earn new perks with eliminations as you try to get to Specialist.
Massive Resurgence is Resurgence, but on the Hajin big map with 120 players. There aren't any special rewards listed for these modes right now, but that doesn't mean there won't be some.
Call of Duty: Warzone Mode Mastery camos arrive from Season 1
New Warzone, new Mastery Camo to grind for. (Image credit: Activision)
While much of the camo grind in Modern Warfare 4 is universal across multiplayer, DMZ, and now Warzone, like the others, there is a dedicated set of Mode Mastery challenges to complete. And now we know what we'll have to do.
Parallax: Get 5 kills in a match 300 times.
Damascus Reforged: Get 2 kills without plating 200 times.
Empyros: Place in the top 5 with at least 6 kills 75 times.
Presumably we'll still be able to do the Mode Mastery camos in casual mode, too, but even so, they're still going to be a pretty long process. The saving grace is that if you've been playing Modern Warfare 4, this year you at least already have a head start.
Nevertheless, I spent 65 hours doing last year's Warzone Mastery Camo, even using casual mode, and I feel like this year's is going to take longer than that. I'm not sure I have it in me. We'll see.
Additionally, there will be a "Return to Call of Duty: Warzone" event running with some additional camos to get your hands on. And who doesn't like some shiny camos?
Season 1 for both Modern Warfare 4 and Warzone goes live on November 6 at midnight ET (9pm Pacific) globally. Additionally, it will be available on the Nintendo Switch for the first time. Find the full details on the Warzone integration at the Call of Duty Blog.
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Over the weekend, YouTuber "P1REMAKE" uploaded a new video that has every Persona fan up in arms with excitement and speculation — a supposed gameplay trailer for a Persona 1 Remake that's coming to Xbox.
The video contains a gameplay montage of characters exploring a school filled with monsters, a visual-novel-style cutscene, and turn-based combat similar to that of modern Persona games like Persona 3: Reload, Persona 4: Revival, and Persona 5: Royal.
The video also shows that it's coming to Xbox (and/or PC) because the UI display during combat shows Xbox controller face buttons (Y, X, B, A) and an RB shoulder button.
Now it's very likely that this video could be a fake trailer made by fans, especially since Atlus hasn't been motivated to take this video offline yet.
Then again, this video, despite its low resolution, looks too well put together to be fake or AI-generated. Plus, Atlus did express a desire to remake Persona 1 and 2 last summer. So, there is a chance this trailer could, in fact, be real or, at the very least, a fan-made or leaked proof of concept of what a Persona 1 remake could look like.
Either way, it'd be cool to see remakes of Persona 1 and 2 finally happen, as they are vastly different and darker in terms of tone, story, and gameplay style compared to their more popular successors.
We'll have to wait and see if Atlus indeed plans to remake the games that kick-started its flagship franchise at either the upcoming Game Awards or at a future Xbox Games Showcase, since that's where they tend to reveal Persona games these days.
In the meantime, we'll have Persona 4: Revival (releasing on February 18, 2027, for consoles and PC) and Persona 6 to look forward to.
Travel to the rural town of Inaba and embark on a journey of self-discovery while catching a ruthless serial killer in the classic JRPG, Persona 4, now reborn as Persona 4: Revival with next-gen graphics, refined turn-based combat, and many more surprises.
We're just days away from World of Warcraft: Forever's launch on November 4, 2026, but it looks like Microsoft may have spoiled a major surprise: WoW may be coming to Xbox after all.
The rumor recently exploded on Reddit via u/hazedesunna, who spotted that Xbox UK's X account posted, "Don't forget to leave some space for these games coming to Xbox this November ⚔️" with images of Shrek 2: Remastered and World of Warcraft: Forever.
However, Xbox UK quickly took the post down and responded, "Hi there, this post was deleted as World of Warcraft: Forever will be available on PC and Mac via Battle.Net, and is not available on XBOX. This was our mistake so we needed to remove it and repost. We apologies[sic] for the confusion this may have caused."
Was this really a mistake or an accidental spoiler?
@mikescoates Hi there, this post was deleted as World of Warcraft: Forever will be available on PC and Mac via https://t.co/Uk38QkNSVc, and is not available on XBOX. This was our mistake so we needed to remove it and repost. We apologies for the confusion this may have caused.November 1, 2026
At face value, this was a genuine mistake on Xbox UK's part for placing the wrong game on a social post. But to entertain speculation for a moment, what if this post wasn't a mistake and Microsoft was hastily trying to cover it up to save face?
Plus, with World of Warcraft: Forever having Xbox controller support, it's only a matter of time before it gets ported onto consoles.
As World of Warcraft: Forever launches, Retail continues to fall
- Wheels don't spin when in motion- Front wheel is clipped into the ground- Gnomes sit halfway over the handlebarsThank you, Blizzard. Very cool. https://t.co/F3X3ctmBB0November 1, 2026
Whatever the future holds for World of Warcraft: Forever, it's certainly looking better than the Retail version right now, which continues to degrade in quality.
From around July, rumors began to swirl that Gears of War: E-Day had cost upwards of half a billion dollars, raising questions about the state of AAA game development.
I can confirm at my end that Microsoft's financial auditors have attributed upwards of $500 million to The Coalition between Gears of War 5 and Gears of War: E-Day. But through multiple sources, I have a clearer picture of how that money has been spread and allocated over the past 6-7 years, and why there are even some internal disagreements over how exactly attribution should be distributed.
The Coalition has cost Microsoft "$500 million~" but is that the full story?
Gears of War has been under a microscope first. (Image credit: Xbox Game Studios)
The reports of Gears of War: E-Day costing upwards of half a billion emerged first via Tom Henderson of Insider Gaming, and were later corroborated by Kotaku's Ethan Gach, with an extra $100 million on top.
I pushed back against the claims on my own show with preliminary information I'd received over the summer that The Coalition's budgeting situation is more complex than simply "Gears of War: E-Day cost half a billion dollars."
Multiple sources familiar with, but unauthorized to speak with us on, Microsoft's plans helped us flesh out a picture of why The Coalition has been hit with a $500 million price tag, and why, ultimately, debates over "how" the money has been allocated are ultimately academic.
Indeed, I am told by a variety of trusted sources that The Coalition has been contributing to a variety of other Xbox flagship titles that use Unreal Engine, including games like Avowed and State of Decay. Former senior Xbox staffer Derek Reese elaborated further recently on BlueSky, noting that The Coalition is "on the hook" for Microsoft's bespoke tools and pipelines for Unreal Engine.
So much of that cost is The Coalition being on the hook for the Microsoft branch of Unreal and one of the flagship titles.I should know, I tried to get leadership to support a plan to have other studios adopt it and write off the support costs.Same problem with Turn10 and ForzaTech.
However, the situation goes a bit further than tooling and collaborative work on first-party Xbox games.
The Coalition also spent a great deal of time working with Epic Games on the "Matrix Awakens" Unreal Engine demonstration, as well as the Alpha Point demo, both of which were intended to showcase the potential of UE5 on next-gen consoles and PCs. The tools and techniques developed for these demonstrations were later deployed across a range of other first and third-party products Windows Central understands, during the period between 2020 and 2021.
Rod Fergusson formally left The Coalition in early 2020, and during the transition, it put the studio into a bit of a dormant state for a period, while Microsoft figured out how best to move the studio forward. The pandemic was also in full swing, creating chaos for game development pipelines that were designed for office work rather than remote work.
During this time, The Coalition worked for over a year and a half on a prototype project for Xbox that Windows Central understands was ultimately canceled. The Coalition also worked on Avowed, Hellblade 2, Clockwork Revolution, State of Decay 3, Grounded and Grounded 2, and has even contributed to the upcoming StarCraft reboot. Eventually Mike Crump was solidified as the new studio head, and E-Day development began in earnest.
Gears of War: E-Day hasn't been a huge success story against what Microsoft auditors and spreadsheets deem to be The Coalition's budget today. It runs afoul of a common theme surrounding Xbox in the post-pandemic period with an unclear accounting structure for contributions towards other projects.
I've previously heard from studio heads at Xbox, both past and present, who didn't have clarity over how their team's contributions to Xbox Game Pass fed back into their costing structure and how it affected investment from the Microsoft mothership.
Either way, it's true that game dev in North America has become incredibly costly ... and times are hard for many consumers
What will Xbox do next? (Image credit: Microsoft | XBOX)
Either way, even if The Coalition didn't spend $500 million specifically on E-Day over the past half-decade — it's a lot of money to invest without a specific structure in place to explain why some of these costs were worthwhile to Microsoft auditors. A common theme in industry discussions revolves around the month-over-month cost of AAA game development in North America, vs. the willingness to spend on the part of core gamers therein. Competition from free-to-play titles, the sheer volume of content, and even non-gaming hobbies are thought to have reduced the opportunity.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella previously said Xbox had to become "sustainable" over the summer, while also stating that it will "always" invest in gaming as a company. Nadella lamented that video platforms like YouTube were doing a better job at monetizing Xbox than Microsoft itself. He's not exactly wrong, but I'd argue that's on Microsoft's lack of innovation at the top level, and tendency to cut and run rather than work through building up new businesses. The Xbox business is heavily constrained right now due to the component rout that Microsoft itself has had a hand in engineering. It doesn't bode well for the upcoming Xbox Helix, widely expected to be the most expensive retail video game console ever.
GTA 6 should be a huge moment for Xbox, but Microsoft says it can't get any stock to sell beyond its core U.S., UK markets. (Image credit: Windows Central)
I can't help but feel like the "$500 million" figure being shared around internally is being used to justify potential cuts, layoffs, or worse, a studio closure targeting The Coalition. Perhaps to "soften the blowback", should Microsoft target the studio. For what it's worth, I've not heard that Xbox is planning to close The Coalition. But Microsoft has already laid off thousands at Xbox, and has signaled plans to continue.
It's hardly a good look if Microsoft's first true, full Xbox exclusive in years results in mass layoffs at one of its core pillar studios. Gears of War has a TV show and a movie on the docket, and Gears of War: E-Day reviewed incredibly well. It's also true that Gears: E-Day is squashed beneath Call of Duty: MW4, GTA 6, WoW: Forever, and a variety of other major games that launched between August and now.
There's only so much $$$ to go around for one thing, and for many, even less free time to hit all these games.
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À moins de trois semaines de la sortie de GTA 6, Micromania relance sa reprise boostée sur les PS5 et les Xbox Series. Une PS5 Slim standard est reprise 475 €, en avoir comme en espèces. De quoi faire tomber la PS5 Pro à 424,99 € (si vous en trouvez en stock).
[Deal du jour] Les Joy-Con 2 font l'affaire en mode portable, mais une vraie manette change la vie dans le canapé. AliExpress vend la manette Pro de la Nintendo Switch 2 à 53,96 € au lieu de 89,99 €, avec le code promo FRD1108, à quelques jours de l'arrivée du remake de Zelda Ocarina of Time, ce jeudi 5 novembre.
Everyone is frothing at the mouth over Gears of War E:Day again, but this time it’s not the culture war.
It's the sensationalized reporting around it's budget and retail sales. Headlines claim the game cost an astronomical $500 million to make, while other reports suggest it "only" sold 400,000 retail copies. Predictably, the terminally online commentary machine is in full force, with some rather insanely blaming Xbox fans for this failure.
Xbox fans asked for exclusives, and yet when push comes to shove, "fans didn't put their money where their mouth was," making Gears of War: E-Day's reported failure "their fault." It’s a neat and tidy narrative for console warriors, but one that’s completely out of touch with modern gaming economics outside of the social media bubble.
First of all, that $500 million figure requires crucial context before anyone uses it as a stick to beat the game with.
As clarified by Derek Reese, former Senior Product Manager of Xbox Game Creator Services, that cost isn't simply the game's direct production budget. Much of that figure stems from broad operational overhead, with The Coalition essentially being on the hook for funding Microsoft's custom internal branch of Unreal Engine and supporting engine integration across the wider Xbox studio network (a tech-debt burden similar to Turn 10 bearing the operational costs for ForzaTech, on Fable and Forza Horizon). Conflating general engine-R&D operational overhead with the direct cost of a single game's development represents a misleading omission in the wider narrative.
Beyond the budget discourse, expecting Xbox players to subscribe to Game Pass Ultimate at $22.99 a month, and an annual commitment of over $275, AND drop $70 on day one for every first-party title just to prop up traditional sales metrics is both unrealistic and absurd. The suggestion that players need to pay twice to prove they support a studio fundamentally misunderstands why Microsoft built this system in the first place.
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is not free gaming
(Image credit: Xbox Game Studios)
For what many are spending on an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription, in standard retail that represents the cost of roughly four full priced $70 AAA games. When a player opts into the Game Pass ecosystem, they are effectively pre-paying for their gaming line-up up front. Expecting that same consumer to buy Gears of War E: Day at retail price to satisfy outdated quarterly sales charts ignores the basic economic contract of a subscription service. The entire value proposition of Game Pass is that you don’t have to shell out $70 every time a major title lands.
I too have pleaded with fans to “put their money where their mouth is” for Microsoft's divested teams like Undead Labs. There's a clear distinction between asking players to support a core Microsoft internal studio, whose quarterly profits are in the tens of billions, over supporting the newly independent Undead Labs. Players who are financially able, could buy State of Decay 3 to stick it to Microsoft's bean counters, and show Xbox what they had just given up.
Many players have reined in spending ahead of GTA 6's big launch. (Image credit: Rockstar Games)
The Coalition is a victim of Microsoft's structuring. Putting them on the hook for Unreal Engine support across multiple games, collaboration with Epic Games, while also building a multi-faceted multiplayer title squashed under Call of Duty: MW4, World of Warcraft: Forever, Grand Theft Auto 6, and various other heavy hitters this quarter is pure insanity.
In a single two-month span, gamers were asked to choose between massive titles across every sub-genre: Marvel’s Wolverine, Silent Hill: Townfall, Minecraft Dungeons 2, Ace Combat 8 and major remasters like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Dynasty Warriors 3 Complete Edition.
Expecting any single game to generate record-breaking direct $70 sales during one of the most crowded, wallet-draining launch windows in recent gaming history is wishful thinking. In a climate where players are already triaging their spending, a day-one Game Pass entry was an incredibly convenient and lower-cost way to play E-Day.
The $70 SKU is dead on Xbox, and $30 upgrades replaced it.
How much is the cost of a pint these days? (Image credit: Windows Central | Xbox)
Regardless, simply citing 400,000 unit sales, or focusing on Steam copies, vastly misrepresents the actual paying audience. Game Pass subscribers actually engaged with the game's revenue model in a massive way through the $30 Premium Edition Upgrade. That’s much easier to justify purchase-wise when you feel like you're already getting something of value with your subscription.
How many would have spent ANYTHING on the game without it being on Game Pass? How do we really predict that behaviour? There's no "alternative reality generator" to see how the game would've shored up in a universe without Game Pass, GTA 6, or the rest of it.
The $70 premium SKU is, for all practical purposes, functionally dead for first-party titles on Xbox console. But that isn’t because Xbox players refuse to spend money; it's because Microsoft has trained them to spend money on early-access add-ons rather than $70 on a standalone license.
The same people attacking Xbox Game Pass are likely the same kind of people happy to wait for Steam sales, which too have contributed to a rejection of the $70 retail model. This is before we even talk about free-to-play titles like Fortnite, Roblox, mobile games, and others which actually dominate the spend.
For many of these people, it represents a glaring double standard to mock players for using the exact monetization model Xbox has designed for them.
Exclusivity is a marathon, not a sprint.
Fixing Xbox will take years. I hope Microsoft's powers realizes this. (Image credit: Microsoft)
The second major flaw in the current discourse is the demand for seemingly instant gratification. Asha Sharma positioned Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution as console exclusives at this years Xbox Games Showcase as something of an olive branch to the community. A signal that platform exclusivity was still a core priority for Xbox. But one game was never going to turn around hardware sales overnight. The reality of today’s market comes down to demographics and household finances.
Just a short story from my own experience showing a colleague E-Day running on a Xbox ROG Ally X during a train ride for work. He was blown away by the visuals and fondly recalled buying an Xbox console specifically for the original Gears of War. But today, as he told me, he has a PS5, a mortgage, and a family. Knowing E-Day isn't on PlayStation was a bummer for him as he was genuinely interested in the game, but dropping significant cash on a secondary console for a single game simply isn't a justifiable household expense anymore for him.
Decisions like that aren't made on impulse anymore for the age and demographic of console users Xbox is targeting. Hardware momentum won’t be rebuilt with a single flagship release; it needs to be a slow and steady rebuild over years of consistent, uninterrupted hits. As a family, we have discussed buying a Nintendo Switch 2, driven in part by Ocarina of Time’s launch, but that alone isn’t a driving factor; we’ll get access to Pokopia, Mario Kart, Donkey Kong Bonanza, etc. – all exclusives that make it a more justifiable expense and one the whole family can benefit from.
Expecting E-Day alone to magically reverse years of shifting multiplatform strategy and hardware decline in a single month is incredibly short-sighted. One game will not persuade someone to switch ecosystems, but four or five over a two-year span might. Rebuilding brand confidence requires patience, something the internet commentary cycle lacks, and something Microsoft has notoriously lacked itself in the past.
The danger of short sighted pivots
Will Xbox stick it out? (Image credit: Windows Central | Jez Corden)
If Microsoft interprets the initial retail sales of E-Day as a failure of exclusivity rather than a predictable outcome of their own subscription strategy and timing, they risk making another premature course correction, so for their own sake I hope they are ignoring the current discourse.
Niche or brand-new IPs like Clockwork Revolution won't single-handedly move the needle either. What’s really needed, if they have the appetite for it, is exclusivity around massive, platform-defining pillars; the moments where a game like The Elder Scrolls 6 is kept strictly within the Xbox and PC ecosystem are what actually might be the thing that makes casual gamers re-evaluate where they play.
I don't even think something like Elder Scrolls 6 alone would do it, but if it is preceded by a bunch of other exclusives, it might.
Game Pass was designed to change how players consume games. Blaming the player base for using the service exactly as advertised is a bizarre double standard. Plenty of players paid out of pocket for E-Day premium upgrade on top of their subscriptions. If Xbox wants to prove that exclusivity still matters, it needs to give the strategy room to breathe.
And virtue-signalling pundits should stop expecting subscription-first, "wait-for-a-sale," players to buy into a $70 retail model have been repeatedly and explicitly told they don't need to.
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I've spent more than a decade testing gaming PCs, and even the best pre-builts usually have cables you simply can't hide. That made my first look inside Maingear's new Zero genuinely surprising, even after my previous Maingear MG-1 review.
There's almost nothing there. Power connections have been moved behind the motherboard, the panoramic glass is uninterrupted, and the components that normally compete with bundles of cabling finally get the spotlight. It's one of the cleanest pre-built PCs I've tested.
Clean doesn't necessarily mean better, though. After a few weeks of gaming, benchmarking, stress testing, and poking around inside, I wanted to know whether Maingear's cable-free approach actually improves the PC or simply makes for prettier photos.
Maingear sent Windows Central a review unit on loan for testing. It had no input, nor saw the contents of this review, prior to publication.
How much does the Maingear Zero cost?
The RTX 5090 has the only visible power connector in the Maingear Zero. (Image credit: Future)
My review unit is an extreme $8,676 configuration built around AMD's Ryzen 7 9850X3D and NVIDIA's RTX 5090 Founders Edition. Don't let that price scare you away from the Zero entirely, though. Here's what Maingear packed into my high-end loaner:
AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D CPU
NVIDIA RTX 5090 Founder's Edition (FE) GPU
32GB DDR5-6000MHz RAM
2TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD
TRYX Panorama SE AiO
MSI Pro B850M-A WIFI PZ motherboard
1,250W MSI MAG A1250GL PSU
Zero MK.II case
But you don't need to spend anywhere near $8,676 to get the Zero's signature design. Models start at $2,799, with the baseline configuration landing you the same Zero MK.II case, an Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus CPU, NVIDIA RTX 5070 FE GPU, 32GB DDR5-6000 RAM, 2TB SSD, and a 360mm AiO.
That starting price is more competitive than I expected. A comparable DIY build came to roughly $2,850 when I priced it out, putting it remarkably close to Maingear's $2,799 starting price. Component prices fluctuate, of course, but Maingear isn't asking for an enormous boutique-PC premium just to get the Zero's distinctive design and professional assembly.
Why is this Maingear PC called Zero?
The Maingear Zero keeps cables out of sight thanks to MG-RC motherboard connectors. (Image credit: Future)
Maingear's Zero steps away from the MG-1 with a more compact case. Rather than the MG-1's interchangeable front faceplate, panoramic glass extends from back to opposite front.
It's an immaculate look emphasized by customizable internal RGB lighting. I hate the look of exposed case LEDs, and this has none.
The motherboard hosts the majority of ports, and there's space for expansion inside the case. (Image credit: Future)
The case's foundational layout isn't too different from the average PC. Five slots on the back for expansion, dedicated spot for the PSU, side intake with three fans, AiO CPU cooler installed on top, and exhaust on the back.
You can use either the LEGO stand or a figure stand inside the Zero's case. (Image credit: Future)
Maingear makes good use of extra internal space towards the front. Leaving this open will interfere less with airflow, but it's designed to hold either a figurine stand or a "studded brick stand" for your custom LEGO creations.
I already use LEGO in my own PC to hold up my GPU, and I love this little Maingear addition.
For anyone who appreciates a minimalist approach, this is the ultimate design.
At the front of the case, dual USB-A (5Gbps) ports, one USB-C (10Gbps), and a 3.5mm audio combo are present for quick hookups. I'd like to see faster connections here, but they ultimately get the job done as is.
The MSI motherboard in use offers much better I/O. There's USB4, tons of USB-A, and audio connections. The PC also has cutting-edge Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4; no worries about future-proofing there.
Front ports on the Maingear Zero are pretty average. (Image credit: Future)
I also appreciate the way the case comes apart. The side and top panels are held in place with pressure points; you can pull them away without using any tools.
These panels have rather fine pinhole venting in all the right areas, and they seem to be doing a decent job of keeping out dust.
The panoramic glass panel is different. It's held in place with two screws, but once removed, you just grab two fabric pull tags to safely carry the glass. No more fingerprint smudges.
Yes, it requires a screwdriver to get into, but because of the reverse connectors, you should be spending a lot less time inside the front of the case.
The panoramic glass panel comes away as one piece. Pull tabs along the top make it easy to move without smudging. (Image credit: Future)
One other thing I want to call out is the massive bottom air intake covering practically the entire case, PSU included.
Best part? It has a removable dust screen that makes cleaning a breeze. If you live with cats like me, this is a nice addition.
Exploring the Maingear Zero's pristine internal layout
The Maingear Zero puts your hardware into the spotlight. (Image credit: Future)
Inside the Zero is where things really get interesting.
The only visible cabling runs to the RTX 5090 GPU, and that runs tight to the card. Exchange hoses run from the CPU to AiO cooler. That's it. For anyone who appreciates a minimalist approach, this is the ultimate design.
This rear connector fad hitting motherboards and cases lately was first patented as "MG-RC" by Maingear itself in 2011. It has taken a long time to get the recognition I think it deserves, but the industry seems to finally be coming around.
As far as I'm concerned, this is the best direction to take PC building. As you'll see below, this setup not only looks clean but also leaves air free to flow through the PC.
How is Maingear Zero's hidden cable management?
A look at the back side of the Maingear Zero and the rear motherboard hookups. (Image credit: Future)
Upon removing the steel side panel, I'm greeted by just about the cleanest cable management I've seen in a prebuilt PC.
Because the cables plug straight into the back of the motherboard, they can all be channeled together much more tightly.
Like the MG-1, the Zero uses plastic zip ties to hold the majority in place. Maingear has designed a PC around accessibility and cleaner cable routing, but then uses disposable cable ties that make servicing those hidden cables less convenient.
Velcro/reusable straps would fit the philosophy of the Zero better.
I clipped a couple of zip ties to check fan connections. I'll have to replace the ties with Velcro. (Image credit: Future)
The case has a second, lower compartment that hides the modular PSU. I've seen some real cable messes jammed into this space in some PCs; Maingear keeps everything clean and tidy.
Does Maingear's MG-1 keep cool with good airflow?
The Maingear Zero's Ryzen 7 9850X3D CPU and NVIDIA RTX 5090 GPU speak for themselves. This combination will run any game you want at high, smooth frame rates.
I grabbed some results from synthetic benchmarking software to help compare against other PCs we've tested.
FutureFutureFutureFutureFutureFuture
There are no surprises in these results. The CPU and GPU are performing as expected, right out of the box, with no additional steps required. I just unpacked, plugged in, and turned on.
What I'm more interested in is how this PC handles heat from the high-end components. If it keeps cool with this level of hardware, there should not be any issues with the more affordable configurations.
No big drops or spikes, which means you can game without worrying about what the system is doing.
I ran a 20-minute full-system stress test on the PC in a 21°C room. I made no changes to the stock fan curve that Maingear set up.
The PC got as loud as 50.5 decibels from about a foot away, and there was some coil whine to be heard, likely from the GPU. This is a common issue with NVIDIA's high-end GPUs.
Altogether, though, it runs fairly quietly, and there's lots of space for improvement if you don't mind adjusting fan curves.
The top and bottom of the case have plenty of cutouts for airflow. (Image credit: Future)
The RTX 5090 never went above 80°C, remaining steady throughout the stress test. The CPU remained at a cool 62.5°C for most of the test, but I was less concerned thanks to the beefy AiO liquid cooler.
Best part? Performance was super steady over the course of the stress test. No big drops or spikes, which means you can game without worrying about what the system is doing.
That was ultimately my experience with the Maingear Zero. It's all set up when it arrives, sans any bloatware, and it games like it should right out of the box.
Should you buy the Maingear Zero?
The Maingear Zero's panoramic glass provides an uninterrupted look inside the PC. (Image credit: Future)
You should buy this if ...
✅ You love a gaming PC with minimal visible cabling.
✅ You don't want to build your own rig and are OK with spending a bit more for the convenience.
✅ You want to be able to configure everything about your PC, right down to the cabling.
You should not buy this if ...
❌ You're looking for the most affordable gaming PC out there.
❌ You don't care about showcase aesthetics enough to pay for them.
The Zero feels like the clearest expression yet of what Maingear has been working toward with the MG-RC design (and I still recommend the MG-1). Moving the connections behind the motherboard doesn't just produce better photos; it makes the PC easier to admire, keeps the main chamber remarkably uncluttered, and does it without creating the thermal problems I was worried about.
Sure, there's room for improvement. The front I/O should be better at this price, and reusable cable straps would make servicing the beautifully hidden wiring less frustrating. My review unit also arrived with a loose fan connector that required some troubleshooting.
None of that changes my larger takeaway after living with the Zero. I've spent years looking through glass panels at increasingly powerful PC hardware surrounded by cables. After seeing how clean Maingear can make a high-end gaming PC without sacrificing cooling, performance, or practical access, I don't particularly want to go back.
No cables
Maingear
Zero
Aside from a couple of minor inconveniences, the Maingear Zero is an impressive PC with great airflow, strong performance, and an impeccable design that shows off your hardware (and more). I still like Maingear's MG-1, but the reverse connectors in use here are the future of PC building.
The official XBOX 25th anniversary is approaching fast, with November 15 flanked on both sides by plans for special hardware, celebratory merchandise, and a wave of themed cosmetics from Microsoft's gaming division.
It's almost hard to comprehend, given that I remember the much-anticipated launch of the original XBOX quite clearly.
But time marches on, and XBOX has proven it can iterate its hardware and innovate its experiences over the years.
So, in another mix of self-indulgent nostalgia and reflection on how far the technology has come, I'm looking back at how far performance has leaped across these console generations, from the original XBOX to the Series X and beyond.
XBOX (2001)
Unusual but influential, the original Duke controller feels strangely nostalgic these days. (Image credit: Getty Images | Joel Saget)
Microsoft's first console was comically gigantic and heavy, packed with parts that felt at home in a mid-to-high-tier desktop PC of the time. Its DVD drive sat alongside a 3.5-inch hard drive with 8–10 GB of space, connected via old-school IDE ribbon cables, and together they made up most of the heft. Some of my braver friends replaced their HDDs, requiring injected softmods to work.
Deeper inside, Intel provided a modified Pentium III x86 CPU built on a 180 nm process, which it has since scaled down incredibly far to the latest 18A process node used in its mainstream chips. Running at 733 MHz, the processor sat alongside 64 MB of DDR RAM (that's megabytes, not gigabytes) clocked at 200 MHz and an NVIDIA GeForce 3-based GPU at 233 MHz.
Looking back, it's fascinating how the OG XBOX resembled many of my friends' PCs at the time; we either paired Intel CPUs with NVIDIA GPUs or opted for AMD CPUs with ATI (later acquired by AMD) GPUs. It wasn't a permanent partnership for Microsoft, but it powered a compelling competitor to Sony's PlayStation 2, even if it remained out of reach for my teenage self.
XBOX 360 (2005)
The XBOX 360, still one of the most influential consoles. (Image credit: Getty Images | Koichi Kamoshida)
Design-wise, this slim console was a far cry from its behemoth predecessor. Sure enough, the XBOX 360 made an instant impression on me and an even faster dent in my first self-earned paychecks. This time, Microsoft opted for a 64-bit PowerPC-based CPU design from IBM, moving further away from traditional PC architecture, with a massive clock speed jump to 3.2 GHz in its tri-core chip.
This leap to a multi-core processor makes direct clock speed comparisons a little moot, but it's still impressive to see how far the XBOX jumped in one generation. Its unified memory moved from DDR SDRAM to 512 MB of GDDR3 RAM clocked at 700 MHz for eight times more capacity and triple the bandwidth, and the GPU swapped teams to the ATI-designed 'Xenos' at 500 MHz.
Storage space is where it gets harder to define, because Microsoft offered so many different models, redesigns, and expandable add-ons. The earliest XBOX 360 consoles I saw ranged from selling with no hard drive at all to a 'Premium' model with a 20 GB HDD in the box. For game discs, Microsoft kept DVDs, but increased the read speed and moved to a SATA-connected, dual-layer disc drive.
XBOX One (2013)
Kinect didn't take off, but the XBOX One was solid. (Image credit: Getty Images | AFP / Stringer)
Ah, the all-in-one entertainment unit. I bought into the XBOX ONE so eagerly because I wanted to play Quantum Break, but I was also intrigued by its appeal as a TV tuner with live programming snapped to the side of my screen. Of course, I'd never get the promised DVR function, and the Kinect 2.0 sensor did little more than collect dust, but the console still had its gaming appeal.
This is when Microsoft's consoles started resembling PCs again, with an octo-core AMD Jaguar CPU running x86-64 instructions, clocked at 1.75 GHz. It wasn't as mind-blowing as the XBOX 360's evolution, but the XBOX ONE came with 8GB of DDR3 RAM for a 16x generational memory capacity leap; all part of a new console that was generally easier for game developers to target.
This is also where Microsoft's modern AMD era began, building a GPU running at 853 MHz into its singular APU and delivering raw graphical compute performance about five times faster than the XBOX 360. Storage saw a huge jump to 500 GB to support game installations, and Microsoft finally adopted Blu-ray with a BD-ROM disc drive, but games were already going digital.
XBOX Series X (2020)
XBOX Series X as we know it; a Kubrik-esque monolith. (Image credit: Getty Images | Future)
Yes, the current generation is almost six years old. We're once again entering an age of speculation about what comes next, but the XBOX Series X (and Series S) remain the brand's primary focus. There's even a transparent green 'Xbox Series X25' special edition console and controller launching in November, though I'm still quite satisfied with my original Series X|S variants.
The specs have more nuance these days, but the AMD octo-core Zen 2 CPU runs at 3.66 GHz, paired with an AMD RDNA 2 GPU at 1.82 GHz in another custom APU. For unified memory, Microsoft moved up to 16 GB of GDDR6 RAM, while storage starts with a 1 TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD, depending on the model you choose. Proprietary external storage also returned this generation, up to 4 TB.
An Ultra HD Blu-ray drive was also standard at launch, but later 'All-Digital' models have dropped it, in keeping with an ongoing trend shift towards digital gaming. Some major releases are already launching without physical media, and it's reasonable to assume that the Series X could be Microsoft's last console to support them by default.
XBOX Project Helix (2028?)
Project Helix is just a codename, but it's hardly a secret. (Image credit: Microsoft | XBOX)
So, what comes next? We already know that Project Helix will be "powered by a custom AMD SoC", much like the APUs in previous XBOX consoles, and that high-end visuals are a focus for the brand. Ray-tracing technology, in particular, delivers incredibly realistic lighting, reflections, and shadows, but it's demanding on any hardware, which is where AI comes in.
(Project Helix will) likely be the most PC-like console yet, but at a severe cost.
Of course, the utterly gigantic elephant in the room right now is the ongoing memory crisis. Shortages have pushed up the cost of components and completely removed some of the highest-end consumer GPUs from sale, as major brands like NVIDIA focus on hardware for large-scale artificial intelligence platforms instead. It'll likely be the most PC-like console yet, but at a severe cost.
Its literal cost will continue to be the most pressing prediction posed by long-serving XBOX gamers. Both of the Series X|S consoles already suffered a price hike, which has many wondering what they'll have to pay for the next-generation console. Is $1,000+ a realistic expectation, or can Microsoft pull some favors to offset the inflated manufacturing costs? Let's see what 2027 reveals.
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Jason Schreier, a reporter from Bloomberg, offers his own take on why EA ended BioWare and canceled Mass Effect Universe — Star Wars. According to Jason Schreier's report, his sources claim one of the biggest reasons was that EA was presented with a deal by Walt Disney Cop's Lucasfilm to make a third Star Wars Battlefront game.
At the same time the deal was proposed, EA was facing financial pressure from the aforementioned Saudi Arabia buyout, which saddled the publisher with a $18 billion debt.
In this situation, EA decided to cancel development on the next Mass Effect so it could invest its money in Star Wars: Battlefront 3. Even though Star Wars: Battlefront 3 wasn't even in development when this deal was made, EA decided it would be a safer, more predictable bet than taking a risk with another Mass Effect, especially since EA always preferred shooters like Battlefield over RPGs.
Jason Schreier also mentioned in his report that other contributing factors in EA shutting down BioWare included:
2024's Dragon Age: The Veilguard missed sales expectations by 50%, which led to EA gutting and relocating BioWare's staff elsewhere within the company. By the time BioWare was shut down, only 50 employees were left.
Possible corporate politics when EA shuffled its executive ranks over the summer. During this time, EA promoted EA Sports veterans David Tinson and Cam Weber, while sidelining Laura Miele, who ran EA’s studios and advocated for BioWare and Mass Effect.
The Bloomberg report claimed that an EA spokesperson, when asked about EA's decision to axe BioWare, said the company “collectively reached this decision following months of planning, review, and analysis, including careful consideration of evolving business conditions, industry dynamics, and our long-term priorities”
While the spokesperson didn't offer more specifics on that statement, they did say, “While this is never easy, we ultimately have to make tough decisions to focus our teams on the biggest opportunities for our future, including investing in new projects across our portfolio.”
How cruelly ironic that the studio who made one of Star Wars' best games, was ultimate ended because of Star Wars
Jason Schreier concluded his report stating that the deciding factor in BioWare's shutdown is the same factor that's causing big game companies to cull their staff by the thousands over the past three years.
"Game budgets have grown exponentially while sales have not, driving game companies to shift development outside of North America and focus only on their biggest franchises moving forward." Jason then added, "And Star Wars is bigger than most."
It's quite a sad, cruel irony that BioWare, the studio responsible for one of Star Wars' best games, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and the Star Wars: The Old Republic MMORPG, was eventually forsaken by EA for the movie franchise it helped support.
Personally, all we can hope for now is a miracle that somebody buys BioWare's original IPs like Mass Effect and Dragon Age to give them the love they deserve, or, failing that, we turn to new developers who aim to carry on BioWare's spirit with their titles, like Owlcat Games' The Expanse: Osiris Reborn.
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Square Enix has concluded its Final Fantasy XIV FanFest Japan event with another Keynote preview of Final Fantasy XIV: Evercold, the latest expansion for Final Fantasy's most popular MMORPG.
During it, it showed new gameplay info, trailers, and a new release date for the expansion. Instead of releasing in January 2027, Final Fantasy XIV: Evercold will now release on February 23, 2027, for PC, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch 2.
Pre-orders for the expansion will go live on November 4, 2026, and anyone who pre-orders it will get early access to Final Fantasy XIV: Evercold on February 19, 2027.
Another major highlight from the Final Fantasy XIV FanFest Japan event is the reveal of a new player Job called Zephyr. This is a Ranged-DPS Class that peppers enemies from afar with a crossbow while calling forth a falcon companion to aid it in battle.
A new difficulty tier for 8-Man Raids called "Fierce", which is designed to be the middle ground between "Normal" and "Savage" difficulties.
New battle content called "Gauntlet of Power", which is a 4-player boss-rush dungeon.
A closer look at Final Fantasy XIV's cast of characters, new areas, and dungeons.
A preview of its branching narrative, which lets players tackle the Main Scenario Quests in different orders beyond a certain point in the story, with auto-scaling dungeons to accommodate it.
NA/EU tests for Same-Region Player Matching will begin on November 10, 2026, and China's tests will begin on December 1, 2026.
A preview of its Seasonal Gear/Raiding gear system, quality-of-life, and other miscellaneous features.
A Collector’s Bundle Edition containing an art box, a Reaper Figure, an Ethos metel keychain, Köttr mini plush, a tapestry of the Fourth, an in-game Valhallar Odin Mount, an in-game Entreat Crystal Emote, and an in-game Bastion Weapon: the Crystal Skyltborg.
All this sounds cool, but where's the "Evolved" combat mode?
Final Fantasy XIV got me quite interested in the game again with its awesome-looking Bastion Tank Job. However, Square Enix still hasn't shown us Evercold's new "Evolved" Mode, which is being hyped to breathe new life into the MMORPG's combat system by changing the abilities and rotations of all Player Jobs.
In my opinion, this will be the ultimate deciding factor if I decide to play Final Fantasy XIV, because after playing World of Warcraft's much faster and more chaotic combat system, Final Fantasy XIV's combat feels slow and sluggish by comparison.
Here's hoping we get an actual deep dive of Final Fantasy XIV: Evercold's "Evolved" Mode soon before it launches next February; otherwise, I'm afraid I'll be skipping this expansion because I'm going to get burned as I did with Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail.
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One of the lesser-appreciated aspects of Xbox Game Pass is Xbox Free Play Days, a feature that allows players to enjoy a select number of games for a brief period of time.
The selection of Free Play Days' games changes frequently, and this week's Xbox titles mostly fall in line with the spooky season of Halloween — WUCHANG: Fallen Feathers, Dead by Daylight, Darkwood, Spirttea, and Everspace 2 (the latter two of which are playable on console and PC).
WUCHANG: Fallen Feathers, Dead by Daylight, Darkwood, and Everspace 2 will be free to play for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, Premium, and Essential members between October 29, 2026 to November 1, 2026.
Dead by Daylight will be free to play for all Xbox players (no Xbox Game Pass plan required) between October 28, 2026, and November 2, 2026.
A fallen Soulslike and an unkillable multiplayer horror game are on the menu for this year's Halloween
Fight or die, make your choice. (Image credit: 505 Games)
Among the biggest titles of this line-up are WUCHANG: Fallen Feathers and Dead by Daylight.
WUCHANG: Fallen Feathers is an action-RPG Soulslike where you play as the titular pirate warrior, traveling the monster-infested lands of Shu to cure a horrific disease that's slowly turning you into an abomination.
Jason Voorhies is here to punish negligent summer campers. (Image credit: Behaviour Interactive Inc.)
Dead by Daylight is a popular asymmetrical multiplayer horror game where four players must survive the night before a player-controlled slasher villain murders them all in brutal, horror-movie fashion.
The game was released in 2016, and it is still active to this day, with tens of thousands of people playing it and constantly adding new playable Survivors and Killers. Dead by Daylight has even added playable characters from other franchises like Diablo, Silent Hill, Resident Evil, Stranger Things, Friday the 13th, Alien, Alan Wake, Nightmare on Elm Street, and many more.
Do you dare investigate the mysteries of Darkwood? (Image credit: Acid Wizard Studio)
To round up the horror titles is Darkwood, a top-down indie horror game where you must explore the titular forest to uncover its secrets whilst making gut-wrenching choices that may condemn human lives.
Of course, if you don't fancy being terrified this Halloween, you can always chill out with the cozy bathhouse simulator Spirittea or explore the universe while gunning down space pirates in the single-player space shooter, Everspace 2.
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[Deal du jour] Boulanger a lancé son Black Friday dès la fin octobre, et l'écran PC gamer ASUS ROG XG27AQWMG fait partie des premières baisses. Ce 27 pouces OLED à 280 Hz passe à 469 € au lieu de 599,99 €.
Microsoft has announced (via Xbox Wire) that Metro Redux has received a next-gen update on Xbox consoles along with Xbox Play Anywhere support.
This means that Metro Redux will be able to take full advantage of the Xbox Series X's hardware to run at 4K resolution at 60 FPS with improved graphics or at standard resolution at 120 FPS for smoother gameplay responsiveness.
Additionally, this Next-Gen update has TSR Upscaling and Anti-Aliasing to make each game's visual fidelity much sharper and more detailed.
With Xbox Play Anywhere, you will be able to own Metro Redux on a Windows PC by buying the Xbox version, and vice versa.
Plus, you will be able to play this game on handhelds like the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X, and continue your progress on any other compatible platform within the Xbox ecosystem.
For those unaware, Metro is a series of first-person shooters set in a post-apocalyptic future where you are struggling to survive in the Moscow underground filled with raiders, mutants, and other horrifying threats to the last scraps of humanity.
I never played this series myself, but my colleague, Jez Corden, is a huge fan of the series. Jez gave Metro Exodus a high 4.5 review score for its intriguing storyline and character writing, satisfying open-world survival gameplay, and excellent level design.
With Metro Redux's Next-Gen update, this will provide newcomers like me and long-time fans like Jez the perfect excuse to revisit the beginnings of this critically acclaimed series before its next entry, Metro 2039, drops on February 4, 2027, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC.
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Motorcycle racing games have been around for decades, but where four-wheeled titles have had support from wheel and pedal (and beyond) setups, bikes haven't seen the same support.
That's starting to change, though. At two SimRacing Expo events this year in Charlotte and Frankfurt that I've been to, both had interesting new products on display for bike fans.
The latest I got to take a look at is from Moza Racing, a brand we're already very familiar with for its excellent racing and truck simulator wheels. There's now an officially licensed MotoGP simulator designed to mimic a race bike's handlebars, and it can be used with existing Moza wheelbases. You don't need to have an actual bike simulator setup to use it.
The MotoGP collaboration is more than just a badge, too. It's been designed to closely follow MotoGP proportions and design.
You can either lean or countersteer, and it's designed to be used with a regular wheelbase either on a desktop or a rig. (Image credit: Windows Central)
I've checked out Trak Racer's full motorcycle simulator already this year, and while it's an incredibly impressive product, you need an immense amount of space (and a fairly large budget) to use it.
By contrast, Moza's can be used hooked up to your desk. It does work with dedicated motorcycle sim setups, but the beauty of it is that it's not required. You just need a wheelbase. Since it's a bike, you don't need pedals underneath you.
The handlebars are completely adjustable, so you're able to locate the throttle, clutch, and brake, exactly where it's most comfortable for you. The buttons on both sides are easily reachable without having to take your hand off the handlebars, and there's a D-Pad in the center for navigating menus and other such things you would do while you're not racing.
The whole thing is made of a magnesium alloy, so it's durable but also lightweight. The clutch and brake feature Hall Effect sensors, so they're accurate and will also stand the test of time. You're even able to swap out the brake and clutch with "compatible real motorbike components," which is remarkable. Score one for added realism.
The main controls can be adjusted in position to suit your personal preference.Windows CentralThe main controls can be adjusted in position to suit your personal preference.Windows Central
Admittedly I haven't been able to actually try it out; the unit I saw wasn't hooked up to an active wheelbase. But the thing I was most curious about is how you actually use it, because, unlike cars, motorcycle racers lean into corners rather than simply use steering alone. So how does that work?
Moza's system allows for two methods of input. The handlebars can be set up as such that you can use either Direct Lean Mode or Countersteering Mode for an immersive experience. This will also help in future games that are less focused on track racing bikes, giving you the flexibility to ride all kinds.
There are a few games already out with full support, not least MotoGP 26, which has full force feedback built in, but there are more in development.
I'll be the first to admit that I am hopeless at the MotoGP games. I love watching the real thing, but I've never ridden a motorcycle, and I struggle with the virtual ones, too. But I'm really excited to see this is a space getting more attention. The more people that can enjoy this hobby, the better.
Sim racing as a whole is a category that continues to explode, and frankly, our two-wheeled friends deserve as much attention as four-wheeled racing. It's hoped that Moza will have it on sale by the end of the year, but there's no pricing information at this time.
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Derrière la promesse de jouer aux jeux PS5 sur PC se cache un piège particulièrement sournois. De faux émulateurs repérés sur GitHub peuvent modifier les paramètres de Microsoft Defender et installer un logiciel soupçonné de voler des informations personnelles.
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