microsoft: Last News

Sony has confirmed that it won’t share any PS6 details with Activision Blizzard if Microsoft successfully purchases the company.Speaking to the US Federal Trade Commission (via Eurogamer) PlayStation boss Jim Ryan confirmed that it would not take the risk of sharing console details with its competitor.“[Sony] simply could not run the risk of a company that was owned by a direct competitor having access to that information,” he explained.His comments were received by the FTC in April after he was quizzed about statements submitted by Sony that explain the company’s position on Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard.In an FTC v MS/ABK deposition, PlayStation chief Jim Ryan said that, if deal closes, Sony couldn't tell Activision about its next consoleIs then asked about Sony working with Mojang (Minecraft) after MS bought them.

Microsoft is teasing a new look at PlayGround Games‘ Fable at the Xbox Games Showcase 2023 on June 11.A recent tweet from Xbox teasing the upcoming Xbox Games Showcase looks like it could be getting ready to share a brand-new look at the fantasy role-playing game Fable.The video shows an Xbox controller covered in glitter, with the person behind the camera following the colourful trail until it reaches a computer monitor teasing the upcoming event. All the while, whimsical music can be heard, leading fans to believe the mystery game will be Fable.You can check out the teaser below:Do you love ✨ GAMES ✨ as much as we do? Then you won’t want to miss the Xbox Games Showcase: https://t.co/YSurRjtzpn | #Starfield #XboxShowcase pic.twitter.com/O1qSlXHNmY— Xbox (@Xbox) May 30, 2023The teaser ends with the caption “seems important” and asks fans to tune in on June 11 to see what the news will be.Fable was announced back in 2020 with a cinematic trailer, and will be coming to Xbox Series X and PC.

Microsoft president Brad Smith has described yesterday (April 26) as the company’s “darkest day in our four decades in Britain,” after its proposed £55billion purchase of Activision Blizzard was blocked in the UK.Yesterday, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced that it was blocking Microsoft’s proposed acquisition, over concerns that ownership of Activision Blizzard‘s catalogue — which includes the likes of Call Of Duty, Overwatch and World Of Warcraft — would harm competition in the cloud gaming market.Speaking on the BBC‘s Wake Up To Money podcast (via GamesIndustry.biz), Brad Smith accused the decision of being “bad for Britain,” and claimed it will “discourage innovation and investment in the UK”.“Microsoft has been in the United Kingdom for 40 years and we play a vital role, not just supporting businesses and non-profits but even defending the nation from cyber-security threats,” said Smith. “But this decision, I have to say, is probably the darkest day in our four decades in Britain.

Halo Infinite‘s former head of creative, Joseph Staten, has joined Netflix Games after leaving 343 Industries earlier in the year.On Twitter, Staten revealed that he would be serving as creative director “for a brand-new AAA multiplatform game and original IP” at Netflix Games.“In my work life, there’s nothing I love more than collaborating with others to build worlds filled with iconic characters, deep mysteries, and endless adventures,” shared the Halo veteran.While Staten was involved with Microsoft’s Halo series since Halo 2, recent layoffs and restructuring saw him moved from 343 Industries to Xbox’s publishing division in January. However, Staten ultimately left Microsoft this month to join Netflix.So today, I'm thrilled to announce that I've joined @Netflix Games as Creative Director for a brand-new AAA multiplatform game and original IP.

Microsoft president Brad Smith has claimed that Russian intelligence groups are trying to “penetrate” gaming communities to spread information.

Sega has joined a number of other game publishers in missing E3 this year, leading to the game industry questioning whether the Los Angeles convention will still go ahead.As reported by IGN, Sega said that “after careful consideration, we have decided not to participate in E3 2023 as an exhibitor. We look forward to sharing more information on announced and unannounced projects in the future.”IGN found that Tencent will also be skipping E3 2023, and claimed that more publishers will not be attending but are yet to make an announcement.The news comes just days after Ubisoft confirmed it would not be attending E3, with the Assassin’s Creed developer deciding to “move in a different direction” and host its own live event in June.Both companies join Xbox and Nintendo in skipping E3 2023, while it’s been reported that Sony will also miss the convention.

Microsoft president Brad Smith has said the company doesn’t “see a viable path” to buying Activision Blizzard without its Call Of Duty series, warning regulators that any concessions of the like could “kill” the deal.Currently, the proposed £50billion acquisition is facing resistance from European, US and UK regulators, with a number of watchdogs pushing for Microsoft to make concessions for the deal to pass. One concession suggested by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) was for Microsoft to sell the Call Of Duty series to another buyer.As reported by Eurogamer, Smith attended a press briefing in Brussels yesterday (February 21), where Microsoft defended its attempts at acquiring Activision Blizzard.“We just don’t see a viable path to sell the Activision studio or Call Of Duty game to someone else,” Smith told press.

Mojang has revealed a first look at the sniffer, an “ancient mob” that’s being added to Minecraft in version 1.20.The Minecraft developer shared images of the sniffer in a blog post published yesterday (February 13), where it also outlined how players can get their hands on the mob.Sniffers will arrive in Minecraft as part of the game’s 1.20 update, which is planned to launch at some point in 2023. Players will first encounter them in egg form in suspicious sand, a new block type that will be used in the game’s upcoming archaeology feature.After helping it hatch, snifflets eventually grow into a sniffler, which is “not only huge, but helpful” for sniffing out unique seeds that can be planted for new decorative plants.Mojang has also shared a number of images of the sniffer exploring Minecraft‘s various biomes, which you can check out below.Though an exact release date for sniffers is yet to be confirmed, Mojang says they will be tested in Minecraft‘s creative mode snapshots before they arrive in the full game.Sniffers were the winner of 2022’s mob vote, in which players select a new creature to be added to Minecraft.

With the release of Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 COD has gone back to its roots by limiting movement and making it more skill-based. MW2 was launched at midnight on October 28th it would then lead to a record-breaking weekend by racking up a whopping $800 million.These numbers absolutely destroy any other Call Of Duty before the new MW2 and Activation is very happy about it. Fans of the COD franchise are loving this game and its mechanics.

Microsoft has confirmed that the Lunar Shift special edition Xbox wireless controller is the second entry in the Shift series for Xbox Series X|S, and it’s on sale now.The Lunar Shift Xbox controller retails at around £63.32 ($69.99) and features a smokey colour scheme that shifts between gold and silver depending on how the light hits it. The grips have a grey and black swirl design, whilst the buttons are bright white.The media share button for the newer generation Xbox controllers features on the front, and it also has a USB-C port as well as a 3.5mm stereo port.

Microsoft’s Game Pass service has been somewhat shrouded in secrecy regarding its financials – until now, anyway, as a document has revealed just how much money it generates a year.Game Pass’ revenue has been revealed as part of Microsoft’s ongoing acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Brazil’s Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE), who has approved the deal, has released a document outlining its rationale – which also includes a lot of data on gaming companies.According to the document (spotted by Tweaktown), Xbox Game Pass generated £2.6bn ($2.9bn) in the fiscal period ending January 2021 – though even this doesn’t offer the complete picture, as it only covers console revenue and PC Game Pass is not included.Still, that revenue makes up around 18 per cent of Microsoft’s total yearly Xbox revenue at £14.7bn ($16.28bn), or almost 30 per cent of its games and service revenue £11.3bn ($12.581).Microsoft has been inconsistent about revealing just how many subscribers Game Pass has – but went from 15 million to 18 million subscribers between August 2021 and March 2022.Though as Eurogamer notes, it’s not exactly clear how they’ve arrived at this figure, as it could include discounted game sales through Game Pass and DLC sales from games on the service, or indeed it might not.For context, it is revealed elsewhere in the document that Nintendo Switch Online generated £843million ($932million), and EA Play brought in £322million ($356million).The document has been released following substantial scrutiny of the proposed Activision Blizzard merger.

Microsoft and Activision Blizzard’s rivals with regards to their proposed £50billion merger.That’s according to a leaked document seen by Reuters, in which the EU is asking developers if Microsoft would be incentivised to block rivals’ access to Activision Blizzard’s biggest titles – most notably Call of Duty, as well as the recently-released Overwatch 2.The questionnaire, which features around 100 questions, also asks developers, publishers and and distributors if the deal would impact their bargaining power with regards to selling console and PC games on the Xbox platform, or via Game Pass.Additionally, the leaked document also asks if, given the enormous popularity of their games, Activision Blizzard’s user data would give Microsoft a competitive advantage in the industry.

Microsoft Flight Simulator has received a new update which introduces a multitude of improvements, including the long-awaited DLSS support for PC.DLSS, which stands for deep learning super sampling, is a collection of real-time image enhancement and upscaling technologies developed by Nvidia. It looks to boost framerates by rendering at a lower resolution than displayed and using deep learning, a type of AI, to then upscale the frames to look as sharp as expected.

EA CEO Andrew Wilson has shared that Call Of Duty becoming an Xbox-exclusive series would be a “tremendous opportunity” for EA’s Battlefield series.As Microsoft‘s acquisition of Activision Blizzard continues, the purchase has come under scrutiny over the possibility of Microsoft potentially making Call Of Duty an Xbox-exclusive. While Microsoft says it will continue to launch Call Of Duty on PlayStation, PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan has slammed Microsoft’s three-year offer as “inadequate on many levels.” Speaking at last week’s Communacopia + Technology conference (via Gamespot), Wilson addressed the speculation surrounding Call Of Duty‘s future.“In a world where there may be questions over the future of Call Of Duty and what platforms that might be on or might not be on, being platform agnostic and completely cross-platform with Battlefield, I think is a tremendous opportunity,” reflected Wilson.However, Wilson also acknowledged that EA’s latest Battlefield releases haven’t lived up to players’ expectations. “I don’t think we delivered in the last two iterations of that in the way that we should have,” said Wilson.

Microsoft has confirmed that it has “no plans” to bring online multiplayer to GoldenEye 007 on Xbox, although the feature has been confirmed for Nintendo Switch versions.Yesterday (September 13), Rare and Nintendo announced the return of GoldenEye 007, a fan-favourite shooter from the Nintendo 64 that will be making its way to Nintendo Switch and Xbox consoles.While Nintendo has advertised the port as having online play, allowing players to compete with their friends over the internet, the same feature will not be available on Xbox versions.In a statement, Microsoft confirmed that online play will not be a part of GoldenEye 007 on Xbox.“Xbox is excited to bring GoldenEye 007 to Xbox Game Pass for the very first time – a faithful recreation of a much-loved and iconic title,” reads the statement. “While there are no plans to include online multiplayer as part of GoldenEye 007 on Xbox Game Pass, Xbox is focused on bringing this title to players in the way they fondly remember, including local multiplayer mode, allowing up to four players to take to the couch in a battle of wits and skill.”Elsewhere, Rare has confirmed that the Xbox version will include “achievements, 4K resolution and a smoother framerate – even in split-screen local multiplayer!”More Nintendo 64 games are on the way!Pokémon Stadium, Mario Party, Pilotwings 64, 1080° Snowboarding, Excitebike 64, & more will be gradually added to the Nintendo 64 library on #NintendoSwitchOnline + Expansion Pack.

Microsoft‘s ongoing acquisition of Activision Blizzard may “harm rivals” and “damage competition.”In a statement released today (via VGC), the CMA said that it is “concerned that if Microsoft buys Activision Blizzard it could harm rivals, including recent and future entrants into gaming, by refusing them access to Activision Blizzard games or providing access on much worse terms.”The report added that the CMA has “received evidence about the potential impact of combining Activision Blizzard with Microsoft’s broader ecosystem,” which it believes could be used to “damage competition” in console, cloud and PC markets.Due to this, the CMA is considering “an in-depth Phase 2 investigation,” following on from the probe it launched in July.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 40th anniversary update is adding a number of vehicles and enhancements later this year.Announced yesterday (August 25), the anniversary update is set to drop on November 11. It will add helicopters and gliders, the “most requested enhancements” from the game’s community, new airplanes and six historically significant aircraft.The six historical aircraft include the “903 Wright Flyer, the Curtiss JN-4 Jenny from 1915, the beautiful Grumman G-21 A Goose, and the famous Hughes H-4 Hercules, also known as the Spruce Goose,” there will also be true-to-life airliner the Airbus A-310.That means the Wright Brothers plane, which had the first sustained flight from a manned heavier-than-air powered aircraft, will be in Microsoft Flight Simulator.Check out the trailer for the update below.When the anniversary update takes flight on November 11, the game will have 12 new aircraft, 12 heliports, 12 glider airports, six classic commercial airports and 20 historic franchise missions.The Microsoft Flight Simulator update will also be free, and included with Xbox Game Pass at launch. This update will thus be joining the Top Gun: Maverick expansion, which adds a number of jet planes from this year’s Tom Cruise film.Elsewhere, Microsoft has confirmed that it will not be raising the price of the Xbox Series X|S at this time, after Sony abruptly did so for the PS5 this week. “We are constantly evaluating our business to offer our fans great gaming options.

Xbox‘s principal product manager Harrison Hoffman has said that streaming games on a TV should be just as easy as watching a Netflix film.During a discussion with GamesIndustry.biz at Gamescom 2022 yesterday (August 24), Hoffman spoke about Xbox’s recent partnership with Samsung which will bring Xbox Game Pass to its Smart TVs without the need for a console.The product manager explained that while bringing Microsoft‘s games to mobile devices is still a focal point for the company, putting emphasis on the fact that cloud gaming is “a core part of our long-term gaming strategy,” TV is just as important.“Different people have different types of behaviour, certain games lend themselves to quick gaming sessions or gaming on a smaller screen,” Hoffman explained.“But one of the reasons I’m particularly excited about the TV app is that our games really shine on the big screen, they’re made for the big screen, so this seems like such a logical next step for us.”Hoffman added that he thinks streaming and playing games through a TV should be just as simple as watching a film through a streaming service.“People have really gotten used to streaming their movies and TV through the Netflix app or Disney+ app. We want to make it as easy for people to stream a game as it is to stream a movie from Netflix.

Sony has stated that it had no involvement in getting Death Strandingon PC Game Pass.Despite Sony owning the intellectual property of Death Stranding, the company was not involved in the licensing deal with Microsoft for its PC Game Pass service.In Sony’s statement, a spokesperson outlined the company’s relationship with the deal, stating that “matters relating to the PC release of Death Stranding are managed by Kojima Productions and 505 Games. [Sony] has no involvement in this promotion” (via Push Square).The version of Death Stranding coming to PC Game Pass is not the Director’s Cut which released on PC in March of this year, with the service only receiving the base gamewhich was first released on PC in 2020.As Sony owns the intellectual property for the game, it is currently a console-exclusive for the PlayStation group of platforms.Death Stranding coming to PC Game Pass was teased via some cryptic tweets from the official Game Pass Twitter account before being confirmed by the same account earlier in the week.

1989 hit “Rhythm Nation” is too much for some laptops to handle. Microsoft’s principal software engineer Raymond Chen revealed on his blog Tuesday that the song has the same frequency as some older model laptops’ hard drives — called a resonate frequency, which is the natural frequency of an object. And, unfortunately, it can cause laptops to shut off.

Microsoft has alleged that Sony has a practice of paying developers “blocking rights” to stop games from being launched on Xbox Game Pass.The statement has been filed in response to Sony’s recent comments on Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Speaking to a Brazilian regulatory body, Sony claimed  Microsoft acquiring Call Of Duty would make it challenging to rival; which would in turn have an effect on what console gamers chose to play their titles on.Now (via The Verge), Microsoft has argued that Sony is still large enough to rival the company, and claims ongoing business practices show Sony is actively doing so.“Microsoft’s ability to continue expanding Game Pass has been hampered by Sony’s desire to inhibit such growth,” claimed the company, explaining that “Sony pays for ‘blocking rights’ to prevent developers from adding content to Game Pass and other competing subscription services.”Microsoft went on to say that Sony’s concerns over the acquisition are “incoherent,” and says it reveals “a fear about an innovative business model that offers high-quality content at low costs to gamers.”How Microsoft’s ongoing acquisition of Activision Blizzard will affect the games industry has been under scrutiny since it was announced.