Tim Stuart: Last News

This month, gamers have been in for an absolute treat, with the launch of not just one, but two new consoles.

Microsoft has confirmed that Diablo 4 will be the first Activision Blizzard title to come to Xbox Game Pass.Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard was finally approved in October 2023 after being announced in January 2022 via a deal thought to be worth £50billion.Now the first of Microsoft’s new franchises is coming to its subscription-based Game Pass service. Head of Xbox Sarah Bond confirmed the news during an official Xbox podcast last night (February 15).Diablo 4 will be available to play via Game Pass from March 28 and is said to be the first of multiple Activision and Blizzard-developed titles coming to the service.Elsewhere in the podcast, Xbox boss Phil Spencer announced that Game Pass now had 34million “fully paid” subscribers compared to 25million in 2022.

note sent to customers and displayed on their website, GAME wrote:“The Trade-In programme operated by GAME which offers customers the ability to trade-in unwanted consoles, games or gaming accessories in-store for credit will cease. GAME will also stop selling pre-owned games and consoles in-store and online at game.co.uk once stocks have run out.”“We haven’t taken this decision lightly and we are extremely grateful for your loyal custom throughout the years and remain committed to continue to give our passionate gaming fans the best customer experience,” they added.According to GAME, customers should still be able to sell or exchange games, consoles and accessories up until February 16 but stores “do have a right to refuse trade ins”.GAME was taken over by The Fraser Group in 2019, who have since shut down a number of standalone high-street shops and opened up concessions in larger department stores like House Of Fraser and Sports Direct.The news comes as Walmart, the largest retailer in the United States, has spoken about stopping the sale of physical games at some point this year.

Xbox boss Phil Spencer has confirmed the company has “no plans” to bring Game Pass to Nintendo or PlayStation.Game Pass currently allows gamers access to hundreds of PC and Xbox titles on a subscription-basis. In a new interview with Windows Central, Spencer confirmed that the company had spent over a billion dollars in 2023 (£780million) “supporting third-party games”.“What we see in Game Pass is a service that supports all kinds of games, from the biggest games, to the unknown indie games that you didn’t know you would love until you played it,” he continued (via Eurogamer).“Game Pass is an important part of the Xbox console identity.