Latest Xbox Game News &amp; Updates

World Cup Star Erling Haaland Shows Off His Gaming Setup, Wants Xbox To Sponsor Him, And Is Excited For GTA 6

If you've been watching the World Cup or soccer in general, you're surely familiar with Norwegian striker Erling Haaland, and now he's provided a deeper window into his life and specifically his gaming habits. In a "day in the life" video on his YouTube channel (via PureXbox(https://www.purexbox.com/news/2026/07/i-want-them-to-sponsor-me-world-cup-star-erling-haaland-reveals-his-love-of-xbox)), Haaland began by saying he's a big fan of Xbox, so much so that he even owns the Xbox minifridge(https://www.gamespot.com/articles/psa-the-xbox-mini-fridge-is-loud-and-annoying/1100-6498294/) and it's not just for show. As you can see in the video, he has it stocked with MTN Dew and Coke. "One day, Xbox, I want them to sponsor me," he said. Now might not be the time, though, as Xbox is facing its own string of major issues(https://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-layoffs-studio-closures-and-spin-offs-everything-announced-today/). For what it's worth, there was also a DualSense controller sitting on his gaming table, so he seemingly plays games on PlayStation as well. Haaland also showed off his gaming space where he has LAN parties with friends. Additionally, he singled out 2009's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 as one of the top three games ever. He said he's also a big fan of Minecraft and Grand Theft Auto, calling both of those his "desert island" games. Naturally, Haaland also talked about how excited he is for GTA 6. "I can't wait for the new one," he said. In a fun moment from the video, Haaland showed that one of the games in his Xbox library is FC 24, which features... himself on the cover. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtHoTKk9iM The next Norway World Cup game is a big one, as Haaland and his squad will face off with England on July 11 in a quarterfinal matchup that should be exciting.

🎮 GTA

🎮 PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, Xbox, Multi-platform

Brigandine Abyss preview: A cult-classic series returns with Fire Emblem flavor

Brigandine Abyss is a new strategy RPG developed by Happinet and published by NIS America that mixes complex battles with Fire Emblem-style narrative.

🎮 Brigandine Abyss

PolygonNewsabout 1 month ago

🖥 PlayStation, Xbox, Steam Deck, PC, Multi-platform

The Steam Machine fits my TV, my desk, and my life

For the last couple weeks, I've been in an extremely lucky position: I've been spending a lot of time playing games on Valve's Steam Machine. We gave the Steam Machine a 6, and I don't disagree with my colleague Sean Hollister's review. But even though I already own a PS5 and an Xbox Series X, &8230;

TheNewsabout 1 month ago

🖥 PlayStation, Xbox, Mobile, VR, PC

Haze Seas codes

!(https://assetsio.gnwcdn.com/haze-seas-0.webp?width=690&quality=85&format=jpg&auto=webp) Haze Seas is a One Piece-inspired Roblox(https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/games/roblox) RPG that’s packed with plenty of rare fruits to discover. As you explore a massive world, you’ll battle your way through challenging quests, improve your build, and maybe even team up with allies or crews. Read more(https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/roblox-haze-seas-codes)

RockGuides / Walkthroughsabout 1 month ago

Former Elder Scrolls Online designer laments the destruction of layoffs: 'There’s really no one left and no changing it now'

ZeniMax Online Studios reportedly lost half its employees in yesterday's Xbox layoffs.

🎮 Elder Scrolls

Xbox layoffs hit accessibility leadership, calling into question Microsoft's continued commitment to accessibility initiatives

Accessibility efforts have been some of Microsoft's biggest wins—but that didn't stop it from cutting accessibility leads.

Bernie Sanders is mad about the Xbox layoffs

The senator from Vermont is pretty chapped about the price hikes, too.

🎮 Bernie Sanders

GameNewsabout 1 month ago

Doom Developer id Software Reportedly Loses Roughly Half Its Staff To Layoffs

!Game Informer News(https://www.gameinformer.com/sites/default/files/styles/bodydefault/public/2025/05/14/69706085/doomthedarkages1.jpg.webp) In the wake of Xbox’s planned layoffs across its gaming division(https://gameinformer.com/2026/07/06/xbox-parts-ways-with-five-studios-over-3000-layoffs-announced), which will impact 3,200 employees, with 1,600 of those workers immediately let go yesterday, Doom developer id Software has been hit particularly hard. A new report suggests the legendary studio has lost roughly half of its staff. Game Developer(https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/report-around-half-of-the-id-software-team-have-been-laid-off) reports that, per its sources, id’s headcount has been reduced by around 50 percent. An affected senior employee corroborated this figure in a LinkedIn post(https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7480085627364114432/). The studio’s QA department was hit particularly hard, according to one of Game Developer’s sources. Most of id Software’s employees unionized last December(https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/id-software-workers-form-wall-to-wall-union-in-response-to-mass-xbox-layoffs), but it’s unclear how many of those employees were affected by the layoffs. id's most recent release is 2025's Doom: The Dark Ages(https://gameinformer.com/review/doom-the-dark-ages/believe-in-the-shield), which was released to positive reviews. It received a narrative expansion today called Revelations(https://gameinformer.com/xbox-games-showcase/2026/06/07/doom-the-dark-ages-is-getting-an-expansion-called-revelations-in). The Texas-based studio, founded in 1991, is one of the most prolific in video games for innovating and popularizing the first-person shooter genre, dating back to Wolfenstein 3D and series such as Doom and Quake. id was acquired by ZeniMax in 2009; ZeniMax was then purchased by Xbox in 2021. id co-founder John Romero shared his condolences(https://bsky.app/profile/johnromero.bsky.social/post/3mq2gpttmek2i) on social media, writing, "I know what it feels like to leave id while id goes on. It’s a strange and painful thing to step away from a place that holds so much of your work, friendships and history. The people at id have done a great job moving that legacy forward. DOOM, Quake, and Wolfenstein are not easy names to carry on, especially in today’s industry. The last few games showed real care, skill and respect for what those worlds mean to people." > I’m so sorry for everyone at id Software affected by these layoffs. > I know what it feels like to leave id while id goes on. It’s a strange and painful thing to step away from a place that holds so much of your work, friendships and history. 1/5 > > image or embed(https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:wdcs33d6dsvzvo4oytnlxcxs/post/3mq2gpttmek2i?refsrc=embed) > > — John Romero (@johnromero.bsky.social(https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:wdcs33d6dsvzvo4oytnlxcxs?refsrc=embed)) July 7, 2026 at 6:51 AM(https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:wdcs33d6dsvzvo4oytnlxcxs/post/3mq2gpttmek2i?refsrc=embed) The layoffs from Xbox's massive restructuring have impacted Bethesda/ZeniMax as a whole, from Bethesda proper to its subsidiary Arkane Studios being spun off from the company entirely. Xbox has also divested from Compulsion Games, Double Fine Productions, Undead Labs, and Ninja Theory. Some have gone independent (Compulsion, Double Fine) while others have been sold to new owners (Ninja Theory, Undead Labs). Game Informer has contacted Bethesda/ZeniMax for comment and will update this story should we receive one. Source: Game Developer(https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/report-around-half-of-the-id-software-team-have-been-laid-off)

🎮 Control🎮 College Football 27

College Football 27 Is Pissing Everyone Off

Ask players what their favorite mode is in EA's revitalized College Football series, and most will tell you it's Dynasty or Road To Glory, which give players control of an entire school football program or a created player, respectively. Unlike Ultimate Team, EA's long-standing pay-to-win mode seen in all of its sports games, these modes have largely been untouched by microtransactions. But College Football 27 has crossed a line, according to many players who have voiced their frustrations online. Dynasty and Road To Glory now each allow you to pay to instantly improve your coach or athlete, rather than improve them over time through play. To hit the coach level cap of 100, players would need to spend 12,000 points, which equates to $100 if bought in bulk(https://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/store/ea-sports-college-football-26-12000-college-football-points/9NSKQHHSGH54). The early-access Ultimate Edition of the game includes 4,600 points, meaning even the most expensive version of CFB 27 seems designed to ask players to fork over more money or else trudge through a remarkable grind, as one player on Twitter explained. You can see that breakdown below. https://twitter.com/SatStudiosGG/status/2074290001978769615 Infusing modes like these with optional microtransactions isn't unheard of. It's an annual pain point in my NBA 2K reviews(https://www.gamespot.com/articles/nba-2k25-is-an-incredible-game-hurt-by-pay-to-win-tactics/1100-6526407/) and regularly annoys that community, too. Even Madden has begun letting players pay to upgrade their "Superstar," but CFB 27 takes this a step further by significantly changing the series' customizable XP settings. In the last two College Football games, players could adjust XP sliders for their coach or player to level up faster. This was a welcome touch, since some players don't want to play the mode for many seasons. Some players get their fill after just one or a few seasons, but still want to experience the full coach progression arc in that span. But tied to these new pay-to-level options in Dynasty and Road To Glory is the glaring absence of these options. Players can no longer tweak settings to level up "faster" or "fastest"; the speediest option is now the default in both modes, while slower options still exist in Dynasty. You'd have to be pretty naive to think these changes happening together are a coincidence. It seems in order to drive more in-game purchases, EA has slowed progression in CFB's most beloved modes, and players are responding as you'd expect. On Twitter, a popular CFB streamer is mobilizing players to boycott the in-game pay-to-level options using the hashtag(https://x.com/bordeauxyoutube/status/2074539816356565446?s=46&t=hTJu4Nj5n5bITjyAt004Hg) CFBPlayDontPay. At the time of writing this article, the hashtag is trending at 8 on the website. Meanwhile, on Reddit, some players are promising to skip the game(https://www.reddit.com/r/NCAAFBseries/comments/1uq2uir/notbuyingthenewgame/) because this new in-game-purchase scheme has rubbed them the wrong way. GameSpot has reached out to EA for comment, and I'll update this article if or when the company responds. With the game not even officially out yet--the basic version launches on Thursday--it seems likely the team will address the noise soon.

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma points the finger at Phil Spencer's strategy for yesterday's sweeping layoffs: 'We simply spread ourselves too thin'

Sharma didn't mention Spencer by name, but said Xbox is struggling because it neglected its "core business."

Microsoft Spent $80 Billion On Its Bet For Xbox Game Pass. It Did Not Work.

A new report sheds more light on the situation at Xbox that led to the big news this week that Microsoft was cutting 3,200 jobs(https://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-layoffs-studio-closures-and-spin-offs-everything-announced-today/) at the gaming company, divesting from studios, and making other cutbacks to "reset" the business. Bloomberg reported(https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-07/behind-xbox-s-big-layoffs-a-streaming-strategy-that-failed?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc4MzQ0MTQ5NiwiZXhwIjoxNzg0MDQ2Mjk2LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUSFJPNVNUOTZPU0wwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJGRUIzODlCNUI2ODI0RTY0QjY5MENEODE1RTBDREZGRCJ9.pMbt4znt88aoSYKf-Vt1xxM2iZlpT-ehYpDmvBB-kJk&leadSource=uverify%20wall) that Microsoft spent "nearly $80 billion" in the past 10 years on deals to help revitalize Xbox and realize its dream for Xbox Game Pass, but those plans did not pan out the way Microsoft envisioned. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma said this week that the big bets made under previous leadership--including Game Pass, acquiring studios, and putting its games on rival platforms--"did not grow at the pace we expected."(https://www.gamespot.com/articles/new-xbox-ceo-admits-game-pass-bet-has-not-worked-out/) Sharma said these efforts drove "meaningful value," but that wasn't enough with the growth piece. To that end, Microsoft said in a filing from the Microsoft-Activision acquisition proceedings that it was aiming to have 77 million Game Pass subscribers by the end of fiscal year 2026. That was on June 30. What was the number of subscribers? 30 million, a source told Bloomberg, following reporting by The Wall Street Journal(https://www.wsj.com/tech/microsoft-layoffs-xbox-59e7f6df) of the same number. That's 4 million fewer subscribers than Microsoft itself reported in 2024. "Growing concerned" According to Bloomberg's sources, Xbox employees "had been growing concerned" that Game Pass subscriber numbers had peaked. Xbox chief strategy officer Matthew Ball revealed in June this year that "millions"(https://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-game-pass-lost-millions-of-subscribers-after-massive-price-hike-in-2025/) of people canceled their Game Pass subscriptions after the 50% price hike was announced in October 2025. Sharma brought the price down to $23/month, but that was still higher than it was a year ago ($20/month), and it's not actually the discount you think it is(https://www.gamespot.com/articles/game-pass-price-cut-isnt-the-discount-you-think-it-is/1100-6539531/). So what happened with Game Pass? One theory is that the Netflix model of paying one price to access a huge library of content didn't work in the context of gaming due to documented player behavior. Data from Circana shows that the majority of US gamers buy a maximum of two games per year(https://www.gamespot.com/articles/majority-of-us-gamers-buy-a-max-of-two-games-annually-analysts-say/1100-6535300/). The suggestion here is that consumption patterns are very different between Netflix and Game Pass. To be sure, Microsoft never billed Game Pass as the "Netflix of games." Strauss Zelnick, the head of Take-Two, pointed out the difference between linear and interactive consumption in comments he made in 2021(https://www.gamespot.com/articles/take-two-ceo-doesnt-want-new-games-on-game-pass/1100-6494686/). “Consumers who are involved with interactive entertainment have different consumption patterns than those involved with linear entertainment. Linear entertainment consumers consume something like 150 hours of programming a month. That’s probably well over 100 different titles. In the case of interactive entertainment, consumers are consuming something like 45 hours a month, and that may be one, two, three, four titles. But it’s certainly not 100 titles. So from a consumer point of view, it’s not clear that a subscription model really makes sense, for the bulk of consumers,” he said. Zelnick said it makes no sense(https://www.gamespot.com/articles/take-two-ceo-says-launching-new-games-into-a-subscription-service-like-game-pass-makes-no-sense/1100-6509015/) to release new games directly into a subscription service like Game Pass. "Outside of the enthusiast core, few cared" Circana analyst Mat Piscatella weighed in(https://bsky.app/profile/matpiscatella.bsky.social/post/3mq3b62c4ck2f) on the Game Pass situation, writing that Game Pass "failed" because Fortnite and other so-called "black hole games" taking up so much time, money, and attention. Beyond that, Piscatella observed that Game Pass was not appealing enough to the mass market audience. "The problem with Game Pass wasn't the service itself but rather the goal of selling subs and services, as Microsoft was aiming for across its business at the time," he said. Call of Duty launched on Game Pass and did not significantly boost subs, and had little impact on hardware. And that was that." $1 billion annually on third-party game deals Also in the Bloomberg piece, it was reported that former Xbox president Sarah Bond was the leader of Xbox's Game Pass strategy. The report said Microsoft was spending $1 billion annually for third-party game deals to help convince people to sign up for Game Pass. Other efforts to expand Game Pass, like offering it to the massive PC player userbase and streaming markets, failed to catch on as well(https://x.com/ZhugeEX/status/2074183838662578319). Regarding the $80 billion in spending in the past decade, this came from Microsoft's blockbuster acquisitions of Activision Blizzard ($75.4 billion) and ZeniMax ($7.5 billion), as well as the purchases of developers like Ninja Theory, Obsidian, and Double Fine. The idea, spearheaded by former Xbox executive Phil Spencer, was to ramp up the studio base to create more games that Game Pass members could play as part of their membership fee. !(https://www.gamespot.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/GamePass-2.webp) What's next for Game Pass? But people inside and outside of Xbox questioned the economic realities of this approach(https://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-game-pass-is-a-new-paradigm/1100-6498307/). Sources speaking to Bloomberg said some Xbox staffers feared that putting popular, expensive-to-make games into Game Pass at launch "could devalue them and cannibalize individual, higher-priced copies." While there were some success stories of developers seeing a lift in full-game sales after coming to Game Pass, that wasn't always true. Black Ops 6, the first new Call of Duty game to launch into Game Pass, reportedly missed out on $300 million in sales(https://www.gamespot.com/articles/call-of-duty-lost-300-million-in-sales-due-to-game-pass-report/1100-6535256/) due to its inclusion on Game Pass. Piscatella pushed back(https://bsky.app/profile/matpiscatella.bsky.social/post/3mq3bf4kqis2f) against this number, saying it is "piracy math." "That anyone that played via Game Pass was a lost sale--which isn't true--just as every pirated copy is not a lost sale and does not take into account sub revs. But whatever, minor quibble," he said. Black Ops 7 launched into Game Pass in 2025, but this year's game, Modern Warfare 4, will be "windowed" for about a year. If people want to play it at launch, they have to buy it outright before it comes to Game Pass during the next holiday season. Divesting studios In terms of Microsoft saying goodbye to five development studios, Sharma said it is "neither possible nor desirable to own every great independent studio." She added that Microsoft has come to realize that, "We are not the best home for every type of studio." To make her point, she said that in a typical year, Microsoft lost 64 cents for every dollar it invested. Going forward, Microsoft has pledged that its spending on games will not decrease, but the company will instead re-focus and shift its spending to higher-priority areas(https://www.gamespot.com/articles/bethesda-tells-workers-the-company-needs-to-change-course-and-focus-on-games-with-greatest-potential/) with the highest likelihood of capturing a positive return on investment. Double Fine and Compulsion Games are regaining their independence, while Ninja Theory and Undead Labs have been sold to unnamed buyers. Arkane Lyon, meanwhile, has entered into "consultation," pursuant to local labor laws in France, and this process will decide the fate of the studio and its new game, Marvel's Blade(https://www.gamespot.com/articles/heres-whats-going-on-with-marvels-blade-and-its-developer-amid-xbox-reset/). Microsoft laid off 1,600 Xbox employees this week, with another 1,600 people set to lose their jobs in the next year. The cuts were part of a wider pullback at Microsoft, which includes 4,800 total layoffs, amounting to about 2.1% of Microsoft's total global workforce.