Latest News
TodaySun, 18th May 2025
News Five Games Are Leaving Xbox Game Pass In Late May 2025
Including this popular co-op shooter
Microsoft has revealed the list of five games set to leave Xbox Game Pass in May 2025 today, with the big highlight of the bunch of being Remnant 2 - a popular co-op shooter that attracted great reviews at launch a couple of years ago. All of these are expected to depart on May 31st, although there's always a...
- Xbox
- Xbox Game Pass
- Leaving Soon
- Microsoft
- May 2025
YesterdaySat, 17th May 2025
News Some Fantastic Games Are Discounted By 90-95% On Xbox This Weekend
Including a couple of all-time classics!
Looking to pick up some cheap Xbox games this mid-May weekend? As usual, we've got a good selection of 90% and 95% discounts on the Microsoft Store via this week's mid-May Xbox sales, including for some incredible all-time classics in the form of The Witcher 3 and Mass Effect Legendary Edition. We actually...
- Xbox
- Deals
- Discounts
News Xbox Is Adding Three New Ways To Personalise Your Console's Home Screen
Rolling out now to some Xbox Insiders
It's been announced today that your Xbox console's home screen is getting three new personalisation options in the near future, and two of them are actually rolling out to Alpha and Alpha Skip-Ahead Xbox Insiders this week. Team Xbox says it's responding to direct feedback with this update: "We’ve heard...
- Xbox
- Dashboard
- UI
- Xbox Insider
- Xbox Series X
Poll What Do You Think Of DOOM: The Dark Ages So Far?
Xbox's latest first-party release is here
As you're probably well aware at this point, DOOM: The Dark Ages is now completely playable with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate - and has been for a few days as id Software unleashes its latest epic to XGP players. We've had very good fun with this one already - in fact, we deemed it a fantastic follow-up to id's...
- Xbox
- Polls
- Features
- DOOM: The Dark Ages
- Xbox Game Pass
Feature These 30+ Games Are Coming To Xbox Next Week (May 19-23)
Including two new Xbox Game Pass titles!
Welcome to your Xbox games roundup for May 19-23! We've got plenty of exciting new releases on the way including the Stalker trilogy's Enhanced Edition, Fantasy Life i,
- Xbox
- Features
- Weekly Roundup
- Xbox One
- Xbox Series X
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (May 17-18)
We're all DOOMed
Another weekend is upon us, folks, which hopefully means a little spare time to squeeze some gaming in wherever we can. It's been another busy old time on Xbox this past week, with yet another major first-party release arriving in the form of DOOM: The Dark Ages - a title we suspect quite a few of you will be trying out this...
- Xbox
- What Are You Playing
- Features
- Talking Point
Friday16th May 2025
Feature The Best Xbox Soulslike Games NOT Made By FromSoftware
And whether or not they're on Game Pass
Yes, we all know that FromSoftware make reasonably decent soulslikes - they're fairly good at it, we'd go so far as to say. You know the sorts of things, Dark Souls, Sekiro. Oh, and that Elden Ring business. And Demon's Sou...you get the gist. When faced with the work of the masters who went and invented the...
- Xbox
- Features
- Best Soulslike Games
News Multiple Xbox-Related Showcases Officially Confirmed For Next Month
Get ready for a busy SGF 2025
It's almost that time of the year again! The Xbox Games Showcase 2025 is just around the corner, and it's set to be joined by a barrage of other showcases at the same time - many of which will feature Xbox-related reveals as well. This is all part of Summer Game Fest season, previously known as E3 season, with pretty...
- Xbox
- Xbox Showcase
- Xbox One
- Xbox Series X
- Xbox Series S
Report Red Dead Redemption 2 Next-Gen Upgrade Could Launch On Xbox Later This Year
Before GTA 6?
Red Dead Redemption 2 is still an absolute looker on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S, but with that 30FPS frame rate cap still in place, we've always been up for Rockstar improving the experience on current-gen consoles. And, it sounds like that could be happening in the next few months. According to the folks over at GameReactor,...
- Xbox
- Red Dead Redemption 2
- Xbox Series X
- Xbox Series S
News Xbox's 2027 Handheld Expected To Include Nintendo Switch-Like Docking System
"There will be a true Xbox handheld made by Microsoft"
Alright, this Xbox handheld stuff is getting a bit confusing, but stick with us here! You've seen us talking about the 2025 Xbox handheld recently (the one that's being made by ASUS), and that's expected to essentially serve as an ASUS ROG Ally w
- Xbox
- Xbox Handheld
- 2027
- Nintendo Switch
News Step Aside Stray, 'Copycat' Brings Its Own Feline Adventure To Xbox This Month
Name on-point
Since Stray announced itself on the world stage, cat games have become all the rage, and a new alternative from developer Spoonful of Wonder certainly doesn't shy away from that fact - with it's aptly-named adventure Copycat. Copycat is a "poignant narrative-driven game about rejection, belonging and the meaning of home"; all of which...
- Xbox
- Copycat
- Stray
- Xbox Series X
- Xbox Series S
News Two Intriguing New Releases Get Free Demos For Xbox Series X|S
Including one from the Metroid Dread developer!
Every now and again, we like to highlight some free Xbox demos that have appeared on the Microsoft Store, and there are two recent ones in particular to bring your attention to - both for some very intriguing new indie releases. The first demo is for Blades of Fire, which is a new action-adventure...
- Xbox
- Demos
- Xbox Series X
- Xbox Series S
- Blades Of Fire
News 8BitDo Unveils 'Paper Thin' All-Button Arcade Controller For Xbox
They Call Me 'Captain Combos'
We are big fans of 8Bitdo's various controllers and accessories for Xbox consoles here at PX HQ, and they've just gone and released another one! Yep, the peripheral wizards have just issued details of their upcoming, and very swish-looking, 8BitDo Arcade Controller for Xbox. With a 'paper thin' design, according to the...
- Xbox Series X
- Xbox
- Xbox One
- News
Talking Point Xbox Fans, How Are You Getting On With Microsoft Rewards In 2025?
How many points have you got right now?
It was around this time last year that we asked Pure Xbox readers how you were getting on with Microsoft Rewards in 2024, so it's time to do it again - especially now that the service has changed quite considerably in 2025! As you may recall, back at the start of the year, the Xbox Game Pass Quests portion of...
- Xbox
- Microsoft Rewards
- Talking Point
- Features
News Gears Of War's Netflix Movie Gets Update As Director Reportedly Chosen
Leitch to be the fall guy
Things are picking up in the world of Gears of War again with Xbox's announcement of Gears of War: Reloaded, and now it seems as though the series' Netflix adaptation is also stepping up a gear in 2025. As shared by The Hollywood Reporter, Netflix and Gears dev The Coalition have landed on David Leitch as director for the...
- Xbox
- Gears of War
- Netflix
- The Coalition
News Helldivers 2 Dev '100%' In Control Of Where Its Next Game Launches
"We'll call 100% of those shots"
It's no secret that Helldivers 2 has been an absolute smash hit since it launched just over a year ago on PlayStation and PC. Its success has even led to fan petitions to bring the game to Xbox, and although that seems unl
- Xbox
- Helldivers 2
- Arrowhead
- PlayStation
- Microsoft
News Xbox L4G Users Frustrated Over Constant Spam From Bot Accounts
"The feature is so broken right now"
It's been a long time now since the Xbox "Looking For Group" (otherwise known as L4G) feature was first introduced, and unfortunately it's suffered from constant spam and bot issues over the past few years. For those who aren't aware of it, L4G allows you to find other players to team up with in multiplayer...
- Xbox
- L4G
Roundup Here's What The Reviews Are Saying About Capcom Fighting Collection 2
Bring the fight to Xbox
This week marks the launch of the Capcom Fighting Collection 2 on multiple platforms and this latest one has thankfully arrived at the same time on Xbox. Obviously, there was a delay with the previous Marvel vs. Capcom release. The reviews are now beginning to roll in, so we've put together the first lot of impressions so...
- Xbox
- Round Up
- Capcom
- Xbox Series X
- Xbox Series S
Thursday15th May 2025
News Avowed Update 1.4 Now Live, Full Roadmap For 2025 Also Revealed
Lots to look forward to
The latest update for Avowed has gone live today on Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S and PC in the form of update 1.4, which brings some cool new features to the game including an Aracnaphobia Mode for spider-haters like me! Before we get there though, we also need to mention that the full roadmap for Avowed in 2025 has been...
- Xbox
- Avowed
- Obsidian
- Updates
- Patch Notes
Talking Point Do You Feel You've Had Value For Money With Your Xbox Series X|S?
Has it been worth what you paid for it?
We're getting close to five years since the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S first hit the market, and although they've clearly struggled in comparison to the PS5 and Nintendo Switch, they've still proved very popular consoles overall. There's an argument in some circles that because of Microsoft's new "this...
- Xbox
- Talking Point
- Xbox Series X
- Xbox Series S
- Features
News The Witcher 3 Drops To 'Lowest Price Ever' In Unbelievable Xbox Deal
If you haven't bought it yet, now's the time
The Witcher 3 is arguably one of the greatest games we've ever seen on Xbox, but if you've yet to play it for whatever reason, now's surely the time - it's dropped to its lowest price ever as part of an incredible new Xbox deal. Included via this week's new batch of mid-May Xbox sales, The Witcher 3 is...
- Xbox
- The Witcher 3
- Deals
- Xbox One
- Xbox Series X
News Mortal Kombat 1 Fans Disappointed As Definitive Edition Launches On Xbox
"I am not going to preorder the next MK because of it"
Mortal Kombat 1 made its debut for Xbox Series X and S (as well as other platforms) back in September of 2023, and there's a lot of disgruntlement over the decision to release a Definitive Edition by surprise over the past few hours. Mortal Kombat 1: Definitive Edition includes the base game...
- Xbox
- Mortal Kombat 1
- Xbox Series X
- Xbox Series S
News 32 Years Later, 'Ridge Racer' Is Finally Getting Released For Xbox
It's Ridge Racer! Riiiiidge Racer!
32 years ago, a little game called Ridge Racer made a huge splash - firstly in the arcades, but then very notably on the original PlayStation as a launch title a year later in 1994. It's certainly a bit dated and lacking in features by today's standards, but it's an undoubtedly important part of gaming history, and...
- Xbox
- Rider Racer
- Xbox Series X
- Xbox Series S
News DOOM: The Dark Ages Is Now Playable With Xbox Game Pass
Jump into a medieval war against hell
Microsoft is closing out its first half of 2025 release schedule with an absolutely massive effort from Bethesda & id Software - yep, DOOM: The Dark Ages is here and playable with Xbox Game Pass on day one. We're sure you'll have seen and heard plenty about this next entry in the legendary FPS series...
- Xbox
- DOOM: The Dark Ages
- Xbox Series X
- Xbox Series S
- Xbox Game Pass
News Xbox Free Play Days: Try These Games For Free (May 15-18)
Included with an Xbox Game Pass subscription
Xbox Free Play Days is back once again - and today we have three titles making up Microsoft's free-to-play program, including the pictured Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin. Without further ado, here's the full list of Xbox Free Play days titles this week: House Flipper 2 Stranger of Paradise...
- Xbox
- Free Play Days
- Xbox Game Pass
- Microsoft
News Stalker 2 Patch 1.4 Makes Loads Of Changes On Xbox, With A Focus On AI Improvements
Live now on Xbox Game Pass
Stalker 2 developer GSC Game World has today detailed its next big patch, and there's absolutely loads of fixes and improvements tucked into this latest update for the Xbox Game Pass title. The team says that this patch has a strong focus on "big improvements to the combat AI", which is good news, because it's something...
- Xbox
- Stalker 2
- Xbox Game Pass
- Xbox Series X
- Xbox Series S
News Everyone's Going Nuts For 'Cookie Clicker' As Xbox Port Gets Announced
We'd nutever heard of it!
Okay, forgive us for a moment but the majority of folks here at Pure Xbox HQ had never heard of Cookie Clicker until two hours ago - but large swathes of the internet seem to be going mad at its newly-announced console version. This basic 'cookie clicking sim' was first released as a browser game back in 2013, and has also...
- Xbox
- Cookie Clicker
- Xbox One
- Xbox Series X
- Xbox Series S
News Square Enix Shares A Bunch Of New Kingdom Hearts 4 Screenshots
And provides an update on development
If you’re looking forward to the next Kingdom Hearts game and have been waiting on a project update, you’re in luck. Square Enix’s development team behind Kingdom Hearts 4 has today provided a new update mentioning how they’re currently hard at work on the new title and want it to be a game that lives...
- Xbox
- Kingdom Hearts
- Square Enix
News Lost In Random: The Eternal Die Joins Xbox Game Pass Lineup For June 2025
Release date locked in!
First announced to be joining Xbox Game Pass at Gamescom last year, the folks behind Lost in Random: The Eternal Die have revealed the upcoming roguelite's full release date. You can expect to be playing this one on June 17th, 2025, day one on the service. In this Lost in Random sequel, "players will journey as Queen Ale
- Xbox
- Xbox Game Pass
- Lost in Random: The Eternal Die
- Xbox Series X
- Xbox Series S
News Want A Piece Of Forza Motorsport In Real Life? This Charity Auction Could Be For You
If you have a spare half a million bucks
SpecialEffect, the UK charity, has today listed a rather interesting bit of Xbox history via the online auction platform Bring a Trailer. Yep, a very rare Ford GT vehicle is up for grabs over there - with links to Microsoft, Turn 10 Studios, and Xbox's famous Forza series. Basically, this particular GT model...
- Xbox
- Forza Motorsport
- Turn 10 Studios
- Microsoft
Wednesday14th May 2025
Feature 12 Xbox Game Pass Titles To Get Excited For In The Second Half Of 2025
Gears of War, Hollow Knight and so much more!
What an unbelievable year it's been for Xbox Game Pass in 2025 so far! We've seen one of the best ever months for Game Pass in April, while May and June are both stacked with some awesome-looking additions as well. Now that we've highlighted everything from January to June on Xbox Game Pass here at Pure...
- Xbox
- Xbox Game Pass
- Features
- Xbox Series X
- Xbox Series S
News Switch 2 Tech Specs Revealed, Here's How They Compare To Xbox Series X|S
Big differences, obviously
The big news of today concerns the Nintendo Switch 2 and Digital Foundry's reveal of the key tech specs for the console ahead of its launch in June, so we thought we'd take this opportunity to compare the Switch 2 alongside the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S. It's not a fair fight, of course, and Nintendo isn't trying to...
- Xbox
- Nintendo Switch
- Xbox Series X
- Xbox Series S
- Comparison
News Square Enix Doubles Down On Plans To Release More Xbox Games
Come on then, it's Final Fantasy time
It was this time last year that Square Enix announced an "aggressive" new multi-platform strategy that would see more games being released on more platforms (including Xbox), and the company has doubled down on this again today. In the latest Square Enix financial report, there's once again a reference to this...
- Xbox
- Square Enix
- Industry
- Xbox Series X
- Xbox Series S
News 16 Ubisoft Titles Now Available On Microsoft's PC Store, Adding Fuel To The Xbox Handheld Fire
"For the first time ever..."
Last week was stacked with yet more Xbox handheld news - first through leaked images & details of the system itself, followed by some curious preparations that Microsoft seemed to be making for the device's upcoming launch. One of those preparations was a bunch of Ubisoft PC titles being brought over to the Microsoft...
- Xbox
- Ubisoft
- Xbox Handheld
- Xbox PC App
- Microsoft Store
News All 30+ Backwards Compatible Games In Xbox's Mid-May 2025 Sales
A great selection of Xbox classics!
This week, Xbox has dropped another batch of digital deals across multiple mid-May promotions - and we actually have quite a good selection of backwards compatible offers tucked in here this time around. So, we thought we'd share with you all of the Xbox back compat deals for this week, May 13-20. Here's your...
- Xbox
- Microsoft
- Deals
- Backwards Compatible
- Xbox One
News Microsoft Discounts 'Refurbished' Xbox Series X|S Consoles In Some Countries
A way to avoid the new price increases
Back at the start of the month, Microsoft announced that it was increasing prices on Xbox consoles, accessories and games, but when it comes to consoles in particular, there are definitely ways to reduce those increases. If you haven't familarised yourself with the new Xbox console prices, we've listed them...
- Xbox
- Xbox Series X
- Xbox Series S
- Console
- Prices
News 'Fantasy Life i' Gets Fantastic First Review Ahead Of Series Debut On Xbox
Fantasising about this one
Back in February, we shared the news that Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time would mark the series' first Xbox entry after almost three decades of waiting - and now the game's first review has dropped, and it's looking like the new Fantasy Life title could be a bit of a banger. Courtesy of our friends over at...
- Xbox
- Fantasy Life I
- Level-5
- Xbox Series X
- Xbox Series S
News Stalker: Legends Of The Zone Trilogy Gets Free Xbox Series X|S Upgrade Next Week
The Enhanced Edition enters the zone
After landing on Xbox consoles a year ago, Stalker: Legends of the Zone Trilogy is finally getting its free Xbox Series X|S upgrade next week - bringing a host of current-gen console enhancements to the first three Stalker games on Xbox. Those console enhancements include native 4K and both 60FPS / 1
- Xbox
- Stalker: Legends Of The Zone Trilogy Enhanced Edition
- Xbox Series X
- Xbox Series S
News GSC Game World Reveals Stalker Trilogy Tech Specs For Xbox Series X And S
Loads of options on both consoles!
Earlier today, we brought the news that Stalker: Legends of the Zone Trilogy gets its proper next-gen patch next week - and now developer GSC Game World has provided some more information on how the new-gen version will run across Xbox Series X and S. We're getting loads of different performance modes on both Xbox...
- Xbox
- Stalker Legends of the Zone Trilogy Xbox Series X
- Xbox Series S
- GSC Game World
News Activision Files Lawsuit Against COD Hackers As It Aims To Clean Up Black Ops 6
Hack Ops
Xbox's Activision Blizzard team has been pursuing hackers a whole bunch since Black Ops 6 launched late last year, and now the company has filed a lawsuit against two of the most prominent hacking groups in the Call of Duty scene. As seen by
- Xbox
- Call Of Duty
- Activision
- Black Ops 6
- Lergware
PSA A Minecraft Movie Is Now Available To Rent Or Buy On Digital
Chicken jockey... in your living room!
The Minecraft Movie made its debut last month and if you were holding out to watch it at home, you'll be pleased to hear the digital version is now available. This means you can rent or buy the movie right now in select locations! This version also includes some "behind-the-scenes footage". "Like grains of...
- PSA
- Minecraft
- Xbox
- Movies
News Capcom Has Made Record Profits Again, For The 8th Year In A Row
Eight times' a charm
In recent times, it feels like we've been singing Capcom's praises fairly often - and in an industry that seems intent on consistently delivering bad news, we're going to carry on doing just that. This week, as part of its most recent financial results, the Japanese game maker has announced record profits for the eighth year in...
- Xbox
- Capcom
- Financials
- Monster Hunter Wilds
Tuesday13th May 2025
News Three Games Are Available This Week With Xbox Game Pass (May 13-16)
Including a massive first-party release
Welcome to another Xbox Game Pass update! Today, we're covering all of this week's new XGP additions arriving between now and Friday, including id Software's massive new shooter DOOM: The Dark Ages. Let's take a look at the full Xbox Game Pass lineup for this week (May 13-16): Warhammer: Vermintide 2...
- Xbox
- Xbox Game Pass
- Microsoft
- Xbox One
- Xbox Series X
News 'Huge' Number Of People Cancelling DOOM Pre-Orders Over 'Botched Physical Release'
Negative feedback for the disc version
Back at the end of last week, we reported how DOOM: The Dark Ages' physical version seemingly had a tiny amount of content on the disc, and apparently that's leading to a "huge" number of people cancelling their boxed pre-orders. This comes courtesy of the game preservation-focused Twitter account "Does it...
- Xbox
- DOOM: The Dark Ages
- Physical
- Disc
- Boxed
Roundup Here's What The Reviews Are Saying About The Precinct
"I genuinely enjoyed prowling the city for procedural crimes"
There's been a fair bit of interest in today's new Xbox release of The Precinct, and the reviews have been going live to coincide with its release on Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S and various other platforms over the past few hours. Here at Pure Xbox, we provided our "Hands On" /...
- Xbox
- The Precinct
- Review Roundup
- Xbox Series X
- Xbox Series S
Hands On The Precinct (Xbox) - An Addictive Blend Of Police Sim & GTA
Woop-woop! That's the sound of da police!
I've had my eye on The Precinct ever since we reviewed the team about it in 2024, describing the game as "a mix of Police Simulator and old-school GTA". Now that I've had a chance to play a few hours, I think that's the best description we could have landed on - it's just like those classic GTA games, mixed...
- Xbox
- The Precinct
- Hands On
- Previews
- Review In Progress
News Xbox Seemingly Affected As Microsoft Announces Thousands More Job Cuts
"Across all levels, teams and geographies"
We always hate reporting news like this, but it's got to be done - Microsoft is announcing more job cuts today, spanning 3% of the company "across all levels, teams and geographies" according to a report by CNBC. In a statement, Microsoft said the cuts would "best position the company for success in a...
- Xbox
- Microsoft
- Industry
News Xbox Discounts Over 500 Games Across Multiple New Mid-May Sales
Including an Xbox Game Studios sale!
Welcome to Tuesday, and welcome to another batch of Xbox sales! We've got multiple new sales for the mid-May period on the Xbox Store, including for Xbox Game Studios, ID@Xbox Simulator titles and the usual Game Pass weeklies. There's actually supposed to be another Xbox sale that's just started as well (a...
- Xbox
- Deals
- Sales
- Xbox One
- Xbox Series X
News The Sinking City Remastered Out Now On Xbox, Comparison Footage Revealed
"Fully rebuilt in Unreal Engine 5"
Just over a month ago, we brought you the news that The Sinking City was getting a remastered version built in Unreal Engine 5, and the team has shadow dropped that game on Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S today! It's officially called The Sinking City Remastered, and it includes all of these new features: Game...
- Xbox
- The Sinking City Remastered
- Xbox Series X
- Xbox Series S
- Remasters
News The Texas Chain Saw Massacre Becomes 'Fully Realized' As Dev Ends Support On Xbox Title
Gun Interactive takes the safety off
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre multiplayer game, which was once a day one Xbox Game Pass title, is basically being killed off this month as studio Gun Interactive moves on from development. To be clear, the game will remain playable and purchasable for the time being, but May's update will be the final one, and...
- Xbox
- The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
- Gun Interactive
- Xbox Series X
- Xbox Series S
