Latest Xbox, multi-platform Game News & Updates
☁ Xbox, multi-platform News
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Xbox outage shouldn’t have affected games on disc, Microsoft confirms
After the recent Xbox outage even blocked people from playing offline disc-based console games, Microsoft is trying to soothe concerns that you don't truly own anything under Xbox's license system. In a statement to The Verge, Xbox technology chief Scott Van Vliet says that while physical game discs are subject to licensing inspections, that shouldn't &8230;
Double Fine lays off 23 after leaving Xbox Game Studios
Psychonauts 2 and Keeper developer Double Fine has laid off developers following its split from Xbox, founder Tim Schafer confirms.
A Chance To Get Behind The Wheel Of Crazy Taxi: World Tour Is Coming Soon
Those itching to take Crazy Taxi: World Tour(https://www.gamespot.com/games/crazy-taxi-world-tour/) for a test drive can now sign up for their chance, as developer Sega has announced a multiplayer closed network test. Crazy Taxi: World Tour's closed network test will run September 11-13 in the US. Those interested will need to sign up on the game's website(https://www.sega.com/crazy-taxi/crazy-taxi-world-tour?tab=closed-network-test) by August 31. The test will be available on all of Crazy Taxi: World Tour's announced platforms (Xbox Series X|S, PC, and PlayStation 5), though Sega states on its website that certain platforms "may have limited participant capacity." The announcement of the network test comes alongside a new trailer highlighting the game's West Coast, a location that will look familiar to fans of Sega's manic driving franchise but will be just one of its playable locations. It is called "World Tour" after all, though Sega has not yet announced additional locales as of yet. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XordDIexPAQ Crazy Taxi: World Tour was announced as part of the Xbox Games Showcase(https://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-game-showcase-2026-all-the-biggest-announcements-so-far/) in June, with its debut trailer featuring a classic song(https://www.gamespot.com/articles/new-crazy-taxi-game-revealed-using-that-classic-offspring-song/) from the original Crazy Taxi that is most often associated with the series, The Offspring's 'All I Want.' However, Sega quickly found itself in hot water after it was revealed by the game's Steam page that Crazy Taxi: World Tour was made in part with generative AI(https://www.gamespot.com/articles/crazy-taxi-world-tour-uses-generative-ai-sega-reveals/). A blurb on the Steam page states "We use generative AI as a support tool for developers, aiming to provide better content to our users and enable developers to focus on creative tasks." In a statement to Game Informer, Sega said it used gen AI to develop background assets. Franchise creator Kenji Kanno later defended the studio's use of AI(https://www.gamespot.com/articles/crazy-taxi-world-tour-dev-defends-genai-use/) in an interview, stating that the team used gen AI to generate ideas and as a reference, but that actual in-game assets were being created by humans. World Tour will be the first mainline entry in the Crazy Taxi franchise since 2002's Crazy Taxi 3: High Roller, and is slated to release in 2027.
Double Fine Announces Layoffs Following Split From Xbox
!Game Informer News(https://gameinformer.com/sites/default/files/styles/bodydefault/public/2026/07/28/27750a01/double-fine-logo.jpg.webp) Psychonauts developer Double Fine Productions was among the five studios spun off from Xbox(https://gameinformer.com/2026/07/06/xbox-parts-ways-with-five-studios-over-3000-layoffs-announced) as part of its ongoing restructuring, and while it (thankfully) avoided closure, the divorce has forced the team to make cuts. Specifically, the studio has announced the departures of 23 staff members. In a post shared on social media(https://bsky.app/profile/doublefine.com/post/3mrq3vfqkf22s), Double Fine head/founder Tim Schafer writes, “As a small, tightly-knit team, these actions are not taken lightly. Only the survival of our studio would ever make us consider such a painful action. Our transition to becoming an independent company also means becoming a size that we can sustain.” Double Fine states it is working with affected staff “as best we can” during their transition. > image or embed(https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:glsdjfik6engaeolekhvhqfb/post/3mrq3vfqkf22s?refsrc=embed) > > — Double Fine (@doublefine.com(https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:glsdjfik6engaeolekhvhqfb?refsrc=embed)) July 28, 2026 at 3:01 PM(https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:glsdjfik6engaeolekhvhqfb/post/3mrq3vfqkf22s?refsrc=embed) Double Fine was granted independence from Xbox alongside South of Midnight developer Compulsion Games earlier this month; both studios retained their IP and game catalogs as part of the split. Xbox also spun off three other studios; Ninja Theory and Undead Labs were sold to unspecified buyers, and Arkane Studios' fate remains up in the air as it undergoes mandatory consultation in France. Double Fine's most recent release is the pottery-themed multiplayer party game Kiln(https://gameinformer.com/xbox-developer-direct/2026/01/22/double-fine-announces-online-multiplayer-pottery-brawler-kiln), which launched in April. Under Xbox's ownership, the team shipped Psychonauts 2(https://gameinformer.com/review/psychonauts-2/psychonauts-2-review-well-worth-the-wait) in 2021 and Keeper(https://gameinformer.com/review/keeper/surreal-wonder) in 2025.
Xbox reveals Gamescom lineup including Fable, Alien Isolation 2
Microsoft is bringing quite a few heavy hitters to Gamescom 2026, including Xbox ggames Fable, Alien Isolation 2, and Stranger than Heaven.
Nobody remembers the Marvel game that quietly revealed the MCU’s next era
Firaxis and 2K's Marvel’s Midnight Suns is worth a revisit now that a Ghost Rider movie is on the horizon for the MCU
Sega announces Crazy Taxi World Tour network test dates and signups
2027's Crazy Taxi game will be playable in September for a select few on PC, PS5, and Xbox, thanks to a new closed network test from Sega.
Resident Evil 2 surpasses RE5 as series' best-selling game
According to Capcom's latest quarterly earnings report, Resident Evil 2 surpassed Resident Evil 5 in sales after reaching 19.75 million copies.
Microsoft’s Chaotic Server Outage Was Down To A Single Service Failure
This week got off to a rocky start for Xbox, as a server outage(https://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-network-is-down-right-now-microsoft-confirms/) saw players across the world unable to sign in, make purchases, or access their games for several hours. Those issues have since been fixed, and in a candid post online, Xbox Chief Technology Officer Scott Van Vliet spoke about what exactly happened to the Xbox network, how it was fixed, and what Microsoft will be doing to enhance its response times in the future. As Vliet explained, a licensing service that operates outside of Xbox began to fail, leading to the various problems that impacted not only the console's user base, but also publishing and store partners who rely on the same services. To fix this, Microsoft's engineers isolated the failing infrastructure, redirected traffic, and continued to work toward discovering the root cause behind the incident. Because service was restored "unevenly" across regions, this resulted in several territories having their full online functionality restored later than others. "We're running a full post-incident review," Vliet wrote online(https://x.com/scottvanvliet/status/2081892395218841974). "I care less about the one-line root cause and more about the real questions: Why a failure in one service was able to take down this much, why recovery took as long as it did, and what we change so a single point of failure can't ruin your night again." Vliet added that Microsoft will work toward "hardening the dependencies underneath sign-in and game launch," as well as improve the systems in place for detecting these problems sooner, which should allow for a quicker response when something breaks in the future. The outage was short-lived, but the incident has been a sobering reminder of the inherent risks in an all-digital gaming future. With Sony planning to kill game discs(https://www.gamespot.com/articles/sony-confirms-playstation-disc-production-will-end-in-2028/) in 2028--while also suffering a network outage(https://www.gamespot.com/articles/psn-is-down-2/) last week--and more recent releases having minimal data written onto physical media, this could be a glimpse at just how fragile these systems will be in the future.
Xbox will give GTA 6 players a major advantage over PS5
Rockstar's upcoming Grand Theft Auto game has region restrictions, but only on PlayStation 5
Halo's new Xbox remake is an instant culture war disaster
Halo: Campaign Evolved has become a culture war talking point due to the introduction of a character named Lt. Williams.
Update: Xbox Online Services Fully Restored After Hours-Long Outage
!Microsoft Gaming Xbox Series X/S CEO Asha Sharma Layoffs(https://www.gameinformer.com/sites/default/files/styles/bodydefault/public/2026/06/11/b14c2ec5/Xbox%20New%20Logo.jpg.webp) Update, 7/27/26, 7:24 p.m.: After suffering an outage that began late yesterday evening, several Xbox online services have been restored according to the Xbox Status page(https://support.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-live-status). The original story continues below... Original Story, 7/27/26, 3:03 p.m.: Xbox is currently suffering a major service outage, days after PlayStation was hit with a similar issue(https://gameinformer.com/psa/2026/07/24/update-the-majority-of-playstation-network-services-are-back-online). Services such as booting up digital games, logging into your account, and browsing the Xbox Store are said to be affected. The service was first reported last night, July 26, at 11:10 p.m. ET. As of publishing, Xbox is still working to resolve these problems, according to the Xbox status page(https://support.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-live-status), which was last updated at 2:48 p.m. ET. Four features are affected across Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and backwards compatibility. We've listed them below along with the official descriptions of their issues. Account & Profile: You may not be able to sign-in to your Xbox profile, may be disconnected while signed in, or have other related problems. Features that require sign-in like most games, apps and social activity won't be available. Store & Subscriptions: You might not see a game you're looking for in the Store right now. Games & Gaming: You may have problems playing your digital games right now. Apps & Mobile: You may have problems launching apps. These outages may not affect every person –or every game, for that matter – equally; to test the outage for this story, I logged into my Xbox account on my Series X and booted up several games, both owned and downloaded from Game Pass, without problem. Still, this situation is worth keeping an eye on if you’re planning to jump into your Xbox over the next couple of hours.