It has been almost one year since Microsoft first announced Project xCloud. The service had a brief, closed test phase at E3 this year, which resulted in some positive impressions but now, a public beta is also on the way, giving us the chance to try Microsoft's cloud gaming tech …
Read More »Windows 10 reaches over 900 million devices milestone
Microsoft had an ambitious goal for Windows 10 at launch, with the company hoping for the OS to be on 1 billion devices within three years. That ship has since sailed but Windows 10 is still pulling in impressive numbers, with 900 million recorded installs worldwide. The new milestone comes …
Read More »Microsoft and Sony commit to making consoles more environmentally friendly
Back when the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 consoles first launched, both were found to have fairly high power draw when on standby and not fully switched off. Both console makers released more efficient hardware revisions over time but as we build up to next-gen, both companies are committing to …
Read More »Obsidian begins staffing up for its next Triple A RPG
Obsidian has been making headlines quite a bit over the last year. Not only are we all very excited for The Outer Worlds to launch in October, but we're also looking forward to seeing what the famed RPG studio will do next under Microsoft's ownership. Obsidian has already begun staffing …
Read More »Microsoft’s next Surface laptop may switch from Intel to AMD CPUs
Microsoft has been working closely with AMD for a good number of years now, partnering up on Xbox One and Project Scarlet console hardware. Now, Microsoft may be turning to AMD in other parts of its business, with the latest rumours suggesting that the next line-up of Surface laptops will …
Read More »Microsoft is gearing up to launch new Surface hardware
Microsoft has been building up the Surface line-up for a long time now, starting off with kickstand-equipped tablets and eventually spreading to all-in-one PCs, huge enterprise displays and laptops. Next month, Microsoft will be lifting the curtain on what’s next for Surface, although some leaks have already given us a …
Read More »Age of Empires 1 & 2 Definitive Edition are coming to Steam and Game Pass
Back at E3, Microsoft announced that Age of Empires II Definitive Edition would be releasing this year, across Steam and Xbox Game Pass for PC. We've been patiently waiting for more news since then and last night during the kick-off to Gamescom, we got a proper release date, alongside the …
Read More »Microsoft Flight Simulator Insider Program begins, development roadmap revealed
Microsoft Flight Simulator made a grand return to the spotlight earlier this year thanks to an impressive reveal at E3. Now, it won’t be long for the first enthusiasts to get their hands on it, as the Flight Simulator Insider Program has been taking sign-ups and is now ready to …
Read More »Microsoft also uses humans to listen to Skype and Cortana-recorded voice data
Earlier this month, Apple ended up suspending its Siri voice grading program due to privacy concerns. Apple was found to have been sending voice recordings from unsuspecting Siri users to contractors tasked with grading Siri on its voice recognition capabilities, but these contractors ended up hearing private conversations, which sparked …
Read More »Minecraft’s Super Duper graphics pack has been cancelled
A couple of years ago during E3, Microsoft announced that it would be releasing its own Super Duper Graphics Pack for Minecraft, a first-party, cross-platform graphics pack comparable to some of the mods that have been available on PC for years. Mojang has been quiet on the subject since its …
Read More »Age of Empires franchise still draws over one million players per month
Microsoft is preparing an Age of Empires comeback with remasters for the original trilogy and a long-awaited Age of Empires 4. At this point, we know there is a first-party studio entirely dedicated to managing the Age of Empires IP moving forward and now we have a better idea as …
Read More »Remedy has acquired the rights to Alan Wake from Microsoft
Since its release in 2010, Microsoft has owned the rights to Alan Wake and while Remedy has expressed interest in revisiting the series, the studio is currently focused on establishing itself as a multi-platform games maker. That could have potentially made an Alan Wake 2 less likely in the future, …
Read More »Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo band together to warn US gov against increased China tariffs
Many major tech companies have been contacting the US government regarding its proposed tariffs on products manufactured in China. Up to this point, we have mostly been hearing from PC hardware and OEMs like Apple, Intel etc. Today, Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo released a joint letter regarding these tariffs, strongly …
Read More »Microsoft is also interested in reviving Age of Mythology
Over the last few years, Microsoft has been increasing its efforts on the PC gaming side and is now in a very exciting spot, with all future Xbox exclusives also planned for PC. Aside from us getting franchises like Halo, Gears of War and Forza on PC, Microsoft is also …
Read More »Microsoft scraps plans for second next-gen console and will double down on Project Scarlett
Dating back several months, there have been rumours surrounding Microsoft's next-gen console plans. We know that there is a small army of first-party studios preparing new games and at one point, Microsoft was planning to launch into next-gen with two consoles at once, one being a higher power version at …
Read More »Microsoft rumoured to be launching a foldable Surface tablet hybrid in early 2020
Microsoft has been rumoured to be working on a foldable Surface device for quite some time. Initially, this was believed to be a Surface Phone, something that Microsoft has explored the idea of in the past. Now, it looks like the project has taken on a new form and will …
Read More »SEGA still owns Alpha Protocol IP but music rights expired
Yesterday we learned that Sega had pulled Obsidian’s cult classic espionage RPG, Alpha Protocol, from sale on Steam. This was a surprise move that came without warning. At the time, a Sega spokesperson said that this was due to the company’s publishing rights expiring but it turns out that they …
Read More »Platinum Games head isn’t too impressed with next-gen consoles
At this point, both Sony and Microsoft have confirmed some key details about their next-gen consoles. Sony has demonstrated its PS5 SSD speeds while Microsoft has released a Project Scorpio style teaser for its new hardware, which will be arriving in late 2020. Now, some developers are starting to share …
Read More »Xbox head doesn’t want Project xCloud to replace gaming consoles or PCs
Cloud gaming is a big topic of conversation within the industry once again. The concept went away for a while after OnLive went under but now heavy weights like Google, Microsoft, Amazon and more are all working on the technology. Google Stadia and Microsoft’s Project xCloud will be part of …
Read More »Microsoft sets up dedicated studio for Age of Empires
It has been a few years now since Microsoft first renewed interest in the Age of Empires IP. We know that the original three games are all getting remastered and released on Windows 10 and Steam. We also know that Age of Empires IV is being worked on. Unfortunately progress …
Read More »Gears 5 is launching in September on Xbox and PC
At E3 last year, Microsoft officially announced Gears of War 5 with an impressive looking gameplay trailer. Last night, we got to see a tiny bit more of the game, although the biggest news was the release date, with Gears 5 now set for a September launch. As previously leaked, …
Read More »Xbox Game Pass now available on PC alongside a much needed store upgrade
We've known for some time now that Xbox Game Pass will be coming to PC this year, in addition to various improvements to the Windows Store experience for gamers. Last night, Microsoft's new strategy became clear- Xbox Game Pass has now launched on PC, alongside a brand new app that …
Read More »Microsoft has acquired Double Fine and set up a new Age of Empires studio
Double Fine Productions has been floating around the gaming industry for almost two decades now and has delivered a bunch of cult classics. In recent years, the studio has turned to crowd funding platforms to fund new games but those days are now over, as Microsoft has acquired them. Double …
Read More »Microsoft will bring all future exclusives to Steam, Xbox Game Pass coming to PC soon
Since launching Xbox Game Pass around two years ago, Microsoft has been expanding on its revolving library with its own exclusives, in addition to some big third-party titles from the likes of Bethesda, Square Enix and more. We've been hearing about plans to launch a PC version of Game Pass …
Read More »Halo: Master Chief Collection PC beta tests unlikely to begin before E3
Back in March following the announcement of Halo: The Master Chief Collection for PC, there was a lot of optimism surrounding a swift release. Halo Reach, the first game in the collection to land on PC, was due to have its first public testing in April, but development roadblocks got …
Read More »Windows 10 May 2019 feature update begins rolling out
Microsoft has been testing out features and talking up its next major Windows 10 update for a few months now. While this update will increase the minimum storage requirements for the operating system, it will also add in plenty of good features, mainly giving users more control over future update …
Read More »Sony and Microsoft streaming tech partnership caught PlayStation team by surprise
We were all surprised last week when heads at Microsoft and Sony came together to jointly announce that the two companies would be working together on future game streaming technology and services. It turns out, the announcement may have also caught the PlayStation team off-guard too, who weren’t clued in …
Read More »Minecraft has sold 176 million copies to date
Sure, Grand Theft Auto V still sells millions of copies each year, and Fortnite is one of the fastest rising games of recent memory, but it turns out, Minecraft is still king when it comes to overall sales. As part of Minecraft’s ten year anniversary, Microsoft took the opportunity to …
Read More »Nintendo may also partner with Microsoft for streaming services
Just last week, we learned that Microsoft and Sony were partnering on a joint development effort for game streaming and services based on Microsoft’s own Azure datacentres. This was an interesting move that will see two of the biggest companies in gaming working towards a unified infrastructure to compete with …
Read More »Microsoft and Sony form unlikely alliance for next-gen game streaming efforts
An unlikely alliance has formed between Microsoft and Sony to jointly develop Azure for better AI and streaming services.
Read More »