If you're looking for something to play this weekend and you own either a gaming PC or an Xbox One, it seems that Microsoft has you covered. Today, the company announced a "Big Gaming Weekend" in which it will unlock 10 games and allow anyone to play them. There are some big names on the list too, including Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Gears 5.
It seems it's a big month for Xbox Game Pass. Microsoft has revealed the games landing on the service this month, and there are a grand total of seven on the way. As always, there are some that are exclusive to the console version of game, but the majority of games for August will be available on both console and PC.
The next-generation gaming consoles are on the horizon and ahead of their release comes all of the details, as well as many questions. Among the top inquiries from gamers were questions about backward compatibility, including whether any accessories for the current-generation models will work for the upcoming Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 consoles. Here to reinforce the point is Microsoft with a subtle jab at Sony.
Today Microsoft announced that the Project xCloud beta will be launching as part of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate on September 15th. It sounds like Project xCloud will only be available on Android devices for the foreseeable future, which means those of you who who plan on streaming games for the service will need an Android phone or tablet and a controller to go along with it. Microsoft today detailed a number of upcoming controllers intended for Project xCloud gaming, which will all be available under the "Designed for Xbox" banner.
Project xCloud has been in testing for many months at this point, and last month, Microsoft finally started talking about the streaming service's eventual release. Later this year, Microsoft said, Project xCloud would launch as part of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, giving subscribers game streaming without raising the monthly cost of Ultimate. That all sounded great, but Microsoft didn't tell us when we could expect xCloud support to go live.
It looks like there's a big redesign for the Microsoft Store on the way to Xbox One users. Microsoft will begin testing this new store this week, and it's making some hefty promises about its improvements over the original store. As is usually the case with these Microsoft tests, only a few will be able to take it for a spin right away - the rest of us will have to wait until Microsoft rolls it out to more users.
The past few days have been great for fans of the Halo franchise. Of course, there's the shadow of Halo Infinite looming over the horizon but that's still a few months away at best. In the meantime, those fans can relive the good old days but with some slight twists. Thanks to the Master Chief Collection, the classic Halo titles are getting more than just a fresh coat of paint but new capabilities like crossplay between PCs and Xbox consoles.
Last week, 343 Industries gave us our first real look at Halo Infinite's campaign during Microsoft's big Xbox Series X game showcase. In the week since then, there's been a lot of discussion about Halo Infinite's graphics and a decent amount of that discussion has been negative. In short, many players were less than impressed by what they saw in that demo, and a number of them have voiced their concerns about the game through social media.
Today we've got official word that Battletoads will be released with Xbox Game Pass on Xbox One, Windows 10 PC, and Steam. To be clear, here, this is a NEW game called Battletoads. This is the first time Battletoads have appeared as the main heroes in new game in a whopping 26 years. The most recent release of Battletoads otherwise was the 1994 game Battletoads Arcade!
We're quickly closing in on the release date for Marvels' Avengers from Crystal Dynamics, and today, the company has shared its plans for the upcoming beta as well as detailing what will happen after launch. As previously announced, Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix will be hosting multiple betas throughout the month of August, and while access will be limited during some of the dates, the good news is that everyone will get a chance to check the game out.
Halo Infinite will be released attached to an array of gaming accessories made by Razer this holiday season. Razer announced their partnership with 343 Industries this week. Razer and 343 Industries did not yet reveal the specific products that'd be released in this collaborations, but we can make a few assumptions based on collaborations Razer's done in the past.
Yesterday, Sony revealed the PlayStation Plus free games lineup for August, and now Microsoft is following suit. Today the company revealed the Xbox Live Games with Gold for the month of August, and we've got something of a strange sight: not a single Xbox 360 game is included. It isn't often that happens, but nevertheless, August's Games with Gold lineup is comprised of two Xbox One games and two Xbox games.