Xbox's long awaited disc-to-digital program is here, and I just went hands on.

Available now to Xbox Insiders in the Alpha Skip-Ahead and Alpha rings, users can immediately receive digital entitlement on hundreds upon hundreds of Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S titles without any additional effort or work.

The program formerly codenamed "Positron" leaked as part of code snippets from the Xbox Cloud Gaming web interface. It was later confirmed by Tom Warren at The Verge, and at the time, many thought it was too good to be true.

The way it works is incredibly simple.

1. Insert a compatible Xbox One or Xbox Series X disc into your Xbox Series X.
2. Select the disc tile with the menu button on your dashboard, and select "Claim Digital License." Alternatively, running the game from the disc will also automatically claim the license too.

3. If compatible, a toast message will inform you that digital entitlements have been unlocked, along with an explanation of how it works.
4. You can now remove the disc and put it back on your shelf!
5. You can now install the game from your library without the disc too, and it'll have a symbol on it denoting that it was claimed from a disc.
6. With the digital entitlement unlocked, you can now play compatible Xbox Play Anywhere games on devices like the Xbox Ally, or stream them from Xbox Cloud Gaming.
7. If you sell the disc or lend it to a friend, they will receive the digital entitlement after installing it for the first time. Then, your digital rights will be removed until you get the disc back or re-purchase it.

The process as you can see is incredibly seamless and intuitive. Simply inserting and installing the game immediately unlocks the rights, and the disc remains fully capable of transferring the license onwards if you ever decide to sell the game.

It creates a ton of added value specifically for Xbox discs, and so far, it doesn't seem like PlayStation is planning to replicate the feature.

It's a huge preservation win, too, because it seems that even many fully de-listed games are capable of providing a digital license as long as you own the disc. Users have noted the classic Deadpool game for Xbox One comes with a digital entitlement despite being no longer available for purchase.

Unfortunately, many publishers aren't participating in the program at the moment, including companies like Ubisoft, Sega, Bandai, and others. It could be that Microsoft is working with them to sort out the contractual minutiae, but it could also be that these companies are hostile to the idea of people being able to ... I dunno, actually own the content they paid for, which wouldn't be a shock.

Indeed, digital rights are very squarely in the consumer consciousness right now.

It's a nice bridge to the inevitable digital future, and a huge preservation win

PlayStation caused a ton of controversy when it announced that it will begin gradually phasing out discs completely by 2028, indicating that the next-gen PlayStation 6 will not have a disc drive at all.

Xbox hasn't offered an official alternative narrative yet, although there are some hopes among the disc-using faithful that Microsoft could seek to get a massive PR win over PlayStation by backing disc-based games. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma's tweet announcing the disc-to-digital program has a truly absurd 27 million views, with over 200,000 likes — giving you a sense of how passionate the user base is over this issue.

Speaking with Microsoft sources suggests that the future is bleak for disc-based games in general, and that, while no official decision has been made, the expectation is that the next-gen Xbox Helix will also follow in PlayStation's all-digital footsteps.

It's less about the discs themselves, but I've been told that the supply chain that produces optical disc drives like those found in the PS5 and Xbox Series X is effectively collapsing. Factories and assembly lines that produce lasers and lenses required for Blu-Ray drives are pivoting their floor space to industries that are growing and scaling. Practically the only use case for discs these days at any scale is PlayStation 5, with Xbox Series X offering a miniscule opportunity by itself.

The likelihood of Xbox maintaining the disc-based supply chain by itself is vanishingly small in my view. If PlayStation's own ecosystem wasn't enough, I'm not quite sure how Xbox's would be able to go it alone in any way, shape, or form.

Regardless, the whole "digitization" saga is once again shining a huge spotlight on the lack of digital rights we seem to have as consumers. Microsoft has at least been quite fair on this topic in the past, refunding Groove Music (formerly Zune Music) MP3 purchasers no questions asked. It's also maintaining licensing for users who purchased digital content in its defunct Xbox Movies & TV platform, too. But, we shouldn't have to rely on companies "doing the right thing," as many evidently simply won't if given the chance.

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Perhaps the big three will opt-in to another format to maintain the physicality many of us in the hobby enjoy. Perhaps Xbox and PlayStation will opt for key cartridges similar to what Nintendo Switch 2 offers. Perhaps Microsoft will revive Activision's Skylanders and slap the games on cute and collectible toy figurines via NFC chips. Who knows.

What I do know at least is that Xbox's disc-to-digital program is real. It works, and it's fantastic.

Once the testing period is over, it should roll out more broadly to all Xbox Series X owners in the coming weeks ahead.

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Getting to attend Gamescom and play upcoming blockbusters can be a double-edged sword, at least for someone multitask-challenged like me.

Moving from station to station at a breakneck pace, trying to memorize control schemes while a developer watches over your shoulder, always breaks me out in a sweat. I’ve never really been someone who can juggle multiple games at once. I tend to pick a title, lock in, make it my personality, and obsess over it until completion. Simply because my brain can't easily process competing control systems. So, doing that fifteen times over at Gamescom... you can imagine my anxiety.

That being said, the moment I sat down with Fable, any lingering panic was quashed with the first swing of my oversized hammer.

Playground has absolutely nailed the combat

The combat system could not have been more intuitive or frictionless; I don’t think I glanced at the controller guide once. I simply followed the sardonic Humphrey (played by Matt King) through a series of abandoned caves, wildly weaving my hammer, calling lightning bolts from above, and firing a rapid-fire crossbow with abandon against the hordes of skeletal enemies.

Transitioning on the fly between melee, ranged, and spellcasting was a piece of cake to navigate, and I felt the impact with each ABXY input. And the utterly ridiculous Befoul spell, which turns foes into chickens, was abused on every cooldown. I made sure to kick each and every chicken I created, though I later found out you could also cook them in a flame bath.

The combat was so much fun that I genuinely didn’t want the session to end, despite it being the last appointment of my day and knowing a cold beer was waiting for me on the other side.

We played through the same demo twice with two very different character builds, and on two different difficulties. I would have happily gone for 3 more rounds. The ultimate test, of course, will be whether that loop holds the same novelty and feel across an entire campaign. But the foundation is absolutely rock-solid.

Playgrounds vision and staying true to a classic

Following my hands-on session, I sat down with the developers at Playground Games to discuss how they are steering the franchise during their tenure, specifically regarding their combat philosophy and approach to player progression.

One of the core design pillars of the reboot is to give players “total freedom of expression.” While your active combat loadout must consist of the set triple combo, a melee weapon, a ranged weapon, and a set of spells, you are completely free to mix, match, and swap components to craft a playstyle that feels entirely personal to you.

The action flows organically, allowing you to string disparate moves together in any order you want (cooldowns aside). Whether you prefer a sluggish, heavy-hitting warhammer or a swift, sharp sword, momentum remains smooth, responsive, and deeply satisfying.

The devs were emphatic about their approach to progression. It shouldn’t be about passive stat increases where "numbers simply go up." Upgrades need to feel transformative during gameplay.

Players earn experience through combat and exploration, spending skill points on a dedicated tree to upgrade spells and abilities multiple times. Weapons also get their own upgrade paths; in my second playthrough of the demo on a harder difficulty, I shot at enemies with a crossbow that fired so fast it might as well have been a machine gun.

An example we played was the Lift spell. Initially, it would levitate a single enemy, but a later upgrade would let you slam down that enemy into a violent, crowd-clearing area-of-effect style blast.

The team leaned hard into clever interactions between the spells and weapons too. Turn an enemy into a chicken, clip them with a fireball, and watch them transform into a temporary ghost chicken. If an enemy recovers from a suspension or chicken state, they will briefly stagger and flap their arms, leaving them completely wide open for a punishing counterattack.

Honoring the dark and gritty wit of the original Albion

Rebooting a beloved, legendary franchise is no small feat, and the team is acutely aware of the delicate tightrope they are walking. Balancing modern designs with the unique British charm and underlying darkness that defined the original Lionhead games is a massive task, but it’s one they clearly understand, and that fuels much of their decision-making.

The physical comedy so integral to the series' DNA extends directly into the mechanics. Shoot a skeleton's head off, and it will flail around blindly; shoot a leg off, and it will still desperately crawl toward you.

The dynamic reactions aren't just reserved for your enemies, either. The whole world of Albion responds directly to your actions. If you decide to test out your gravity-suspension spells or chicken cooking magic on innocent townsfolk in the capital of Bowerstone, you will be judged accordingly by the locals. Yet, the system's nuance shines through its reputation mechanics: NPCs form varied opinions based on their individual moral compasses, meaning a ruthless display of power might disgust some citizens while quietly impressing or intimidating others.

Under the shadow of the "Xbox Tax"

If you are just as excited for Fable as I am, this will be one of many previews you read (and thanks for reading mine too!). No doubt, many of them will sound remarkably similar, given we all played the exact same vertical slice of the game. But what has struck me since arriving home and looking at reactions is a familiar sense of foreboding about Playground’s release.

It’s hard not to notice the toxic undercurrent surrounding the game already. Long before anyone even touched a controller, the internet was already dissecting trailers frame-by-frame just to complain that the female protagonist wasn’t attractive enough…now I’m seeing an eye-roll-inducing wave of bad-faith takes cropping up online regarding Fable’s gameplay, based on a tiny boss fight clip. Unfortunately, I’m not surprised, given the current trend of spicy takes getting attention, but I also firmly believe these criticisms are a direct consequence of the game being developed under the stewardship of Microsoft.

The "Xbox Tax" has become a bit of a meme in recent years, but whether you believe it’s a real thing or not, it does represent a widespread frustration with Microsoft's recent corporate missteps. Missteps that lead people to put its first-party output under a hyper-critical microscope that is undeserved for the individual teams. There’s a worrying number of people who seem eager to sharpen their pitchforks for Fable right now. Not enough stagger animations? Campaign length too short for a long development cycle? I’ve seen it all already, and it's mainly from people with no intention of ever playing the game.

I worry that when the game finally launches, players won't judge Playground Games on their own merits. I’ve seen this exact thing play out before with major releases like Starfield and Avowed. I'm not here to argue those games are amazing by any means; they certainly had many faults, but the rabid appetite from internet fanbases to tear them down was completely out of proportion to their actual flaws. Genuine, constructive critique gets completely drowned out in a sea of toxic internet point-scoring.

Even with Fable launching on PlayStation 5 alongside Xbox and PC, I don’t think it will be entirely safe from the bad-faith warriors out for blood. I genuinely worry for the incredible team at Playground Games, who have poured their hearts into crafting something special and completely outside their usual Forza fare. But sitting here fresh off a tiny 30-minute slice of the game, I am rooting for it harder than ever. Fable deserves to be a hit, and it’s exactly what Xbox needs to shine as a flagship franchise. I just hope the Xbox tax collectors don’t bang too hard on the doors while we are all having fun.

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Hey Copilot, what's the definition of ironic?

I'm not sure Microsoft Copilot would feed me this post from LinkedIn and Office EVP Ryan Roslansky, but maybe it should.

Earlier in the year, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella bemoaned the term "AI slop" and hoped 2026 would be the year everyone started lying down and accepting AI as inevitable. So far, that hasn't happened. And what's worse, Microsoft's own senior employees seem increasingly annoyed by the tech.

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We've seen Xbox CEO Asha Sharma repeatedly use the phrase "AI slop" to describe subpar experiences like Microsoft's ill-fated "gaming Copilot," and LinkedIn itself deleted its "enhance with AI" post button, and replaced it with an "AI slop" report feature to try to boost the "quality" of its miserable, self-aggrandizing content algorithm.

Speaking of the hellscape that is LinkedIn, former CEO now Microsoft EVP Ryan Roslansky recently dropped this musing that I found to be particularly comical given what Microsoft has unleashed on the world.

Roslansky lamented, "AI slop isn't happening just on social networks ... it's happening in the day to day of work. Someone sent me what was clearly an AI generated doc. I read it, realized it was AI, had my AI summarize it, and ended up with nothing that brought new thinking to the idea ... This is a doom loop."

The phrase "no shit" comes to mind. Roslansky is speaking to a workplace irritation, but unwittingly touched on one of the AI industry's most self-destructive problems. One of the hilarious consequences of Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT, Gemini, and other content-theft platforms is that they're trained entirely stolen human-made content. AI data sets post 2023 are doomed to rely on cannibalizing AI-generated content, creating an incestuous data "doom loop" Roslansky spoke of here. Researchers have described this as "model collapse" previously, as human content creators get put out of business by Google's AI summary box. Reddit is reportedly thinking of cancelling its AI training contracts with Google, after realizing that Google's content theft engines are killing Reddit's entire business. Reddit recently blocked ChatGPT from accessing its content, as the platform seeks to insulate its business from theft.

"If we're not careful, we'll end up with a very expensive way to avoid writing and reading in an ocean of sameness, genericness ... Let's not do that." Roslansky pleads, "Let's go another way where AI helps us to do things, to learn things, to create things, but in ways that we enhance and advance with our distinct perspectives and unique experiences!"

Lol. Lmao even.

The post was liked by Microsoft President Brad Smith, who I've noticed has been desperately trying to whitewash Microsoft's data center expansionism across his own LinkedIn recently. Microsoft, unlike other big tech firms, seems far more concerned with how badly AI is battering its public image. Microsoft's data centers are increasingly dealing with protests across the world. The destruction of local communities is uniting regular folk across the political spectrum in ways we haven't seen in years.

Microsoft unleashed this mess. Perhaps take some responsibility?

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has been instrumental in turning around Microsoft's gaming brand in recent months, boosting perception of the platform with a flurry of consumer-friendly features and promises. It doesn't seem like other Microsoft departments got the memo, yet.

Linux adoption among consumers is gradually increasing, as gamers, tech enthusiasts, and even nation states seek to escape Microsoft's poor handling of Windows. AI buttons everywhere, unwanted bloatware, poor performance, and a collapse in trust has made Windows look more vulnerable than ever — and competitors are lining up to take advantage.

Microsoft is the undisputed monarch of AI slop. Watching its execs cry about the technology they themselves foisted on the world is a master class in obliviousness and responsibility avoidance. Microsoft isn't fooling anyone, except perhaps themselves, and it's miserably sad.

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I got into this business inspired by the innovations Microsoft was exploring a decade ago. Microsoft led cloud convenience and digital platform synergy, its hardware innovations across Surface even gave Apple pause. But it has become consumed by AI psychosis in recent years, and while shareholders are undoubtedly happy, consumers in Microsoft's "legacy" business are looking for the exit.

Whether it's data centers destroying local communities, AI bull cluttering up Windows, or Microsoft's harvesting of tech components blowing up consumer prices ... perhaps Microsoft's senior execs need to read the room, sit down, and take some responsibility for the chaos they've unleashed on the world.

A crazy idea — that didn't require any input from AI, by the way.

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If you’ve already played in Neon Giant’s isometric cyberpunk world in The Ascent, the studio’s follow-up, No Law is going to blow your socks off. Now backed by Krafton, the Swedish developer is moving away from 2D action toward a first-person perspective rich in frankly insane detail and tackling something way more ambitious. No Law is a deeply systemic, immersive cyber-noir shooter set in the brutal, overgrown coastal metropolis of Port Desire, and I got a detailed behind-the-scenes look at Gamescom 2026.

Walking me through an early game mission, what I saw was far from just another by-the-numbers cyberpunk shooter, and the world-building and old-school immersive sim design were reminiscent of the original Deus Ex. No Law should definitely be on your radar for your 2027 gaming lineup.

Welcome to Port Desire (you’ll need an umbrella)

Port Desire wasn’t quite the typical dystopian aesthetic I expected in a futuristic setting. Gone are the endless sterile concrete jungles of traditional sci-fi; this city drips with lush foliage that looks even more striking at night. Carved into towering ocean cliffs at a neutral border shared by 3 rival nations, the city is choked by relentless creeping green vegetation. Every night, chemical agents are sprayed to beat back the overgrowth, and if that stops, nature wins. But it makes for a breathtaking backdrop. It was raining heavily throughout the demo too, adding to the vibes!

You play as Grey Harker, an ex-military veteran who just wanted a quiet life tending to his plants (kind of a John Wick origin story) until he was dragged rudely out of retirement. As Harker, you’ll tear through Port Desire’s criminal underworld with a thirst for vengeance.

Neon Giant has built Port Desire with an insane level of attention to detail. The city can be explored vertically, featuring authentic street addresses, floor numbers, and mailboxes that actually correspond to the NPCs living within.

All the shops have dynamic pricing, physical inventory shelves you can load by hand, and products with readable nutrition facts on the back. You can steal everything from groceries to the doorbell, though if you rob a gun store or rack up a high enough bounty, you’ll be shot on sight.

Every single character in the game can be killed too. If you murder a shop owner, their store will remain permanently shuttered for the rest of your playthrough, or if you kill a crucial receptionist who was supposed to check you into a mission location, they won’t be at their desk when you need them, leaving you to figure out the objective on your own. You can’t break the story progression by ending someone's life, but you can make it a lot more difficult for yourself if you accidentally take out someone of importance.

Zero hand-holding if that's what you wish

The most notable takeaway from the developers' presentation was Neon Giant’s commitment to player freedom and progression.

Port Desire can be explored entirely on your terms. If you want to be guided around with UI markers and waypoint arrows, you can do so, but the game can be flipped into full immersion mode. No hand-holding; you are simply given an address, and you’ll have to walk around checking house numbers and street signs to find your target. The city lives and breathes like a real city.

No Law also rejects the ethos of giving the player “busywork”. You won’t get extra XP for headshots, lockpicking, or hacking your way in. The devs explicitly said they wanted to avoid directing the player to a specific playstyle. For example, if you need to get into an apartment, whether you sneak or yippy-ki-yay your way in is up to you; there is no “best way”. The XP is rewarded simply for getting to the end destination, not how you got there.

There’s also no need to waste time selling inventory. Neon Giant wanted to eliminate tedious, immersion-breaking inventory management, so no more hoarding junk to vendor for cash. Use what you find, or leave it behind.

Choices in the game are meaningful; augmentation canisters and skill trees force you to pick a path. Respeccing isn’t a frictionless safety net for the player; choices are designed to make you feel the weight of your decisions. During the demo, the developers demonstrated two completely different approaches to the same mission. The first playthrough leaned heavily into stealth, lockpicking, and sneaking around sleeping targets. In the second run, the player had invested skill points into heavy rifles, which threw any subtlety out the window as he went in on an all-explosive, gung-ho assault. The level of detail wasn’t sacrificed, however, as an explosion in one room caused items to fall off a shelf 2 rooms away.

Both paths were entirely valid and led to the same XP reward at the end, but both felt completely organic to the world of Port Desire.

For the people who wanted 'Cyberpunk GTA', this may be your game.

No Law is targeting a release window of 2027 on PC, Xbox Series X|S and PS5, and its shaping up to be a monumental triumph for Neon Giant.

In our chat, the team humbly acknowledged the comparisons to Deus Ex and Cyberpunk 2077, but while elements are an ode to both of those titles, this is very much their own living, breathing sandbox where destruction, reactive AI crowds powered by Unreal Engine 5, and uncompromising player choice take center stage.

If you’re hungry for a mature and deeply interactive first-person RPG that respects your intelligence, lets you break its sequences and deal with the consequences, put No Law firmly on your radar.

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Back in 2023, HP released the Envy Move, an all-in-one (AIO) PC with a clever quirk: It could run wirelessly on battery power. The average lifespan was around 4 hours, but it was enough to watch a movie, join a video call, or have a playful family interaction with its touchscreen on whatever app or website you wanted.

To make it even more portable, HP included a built-in handle attached to a flexible loop on its top side, pop-out feet on its underside, and a rear pouch that held a keyboard with an included touchpad. It was genius; a 24-inch touchscreen PC with great speakers that moved wherever you needed it.

Its design could have used some tweaks, but its downsides didn't feel at all severe, resulting in a perfect score in my Envy Move review. It was the most remarkable sample I'd ever tested, but it quickly became evident that consumers weren't interested enough to choose it over a traditional laptop or desktop.

This portable PC deserved more

Following my review in 2023, the Envy Move was later discontinued from HP's official storefront and third-party retailers across the world, while the broader Envy range itself was dropped alongside the Spectre, Pavilion, and Dragonfly names, in favor of a major HP portfolio overhaul that introduced 'Omni' and 'Elite' PCs to replace them.

HP all-in-ones now sit alongside higher-end models like the impressive OmniStudio X, but nothing replaced the Envy Move, leaving any remaining stock with its already modest Core i7-1355U mobile processor from Intel's 13th generation. It was never intended to be a high-performance machine, but I'm sure modern, efficiency-centric Intel chips would have supercharged it perfectly.

Then again, if previous-generation components could maintain the ~$900 price tag on an Envy Move with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, I'd let it slide. Frankly, I doubt many customers in HP's target audience would care to scrutinize its specific choice of processor, especially when the experience is great nonetheless, but future models could have been even better.

Too quirky to live, too clever to die

In the following summer, HP's Envy Move made a few appearances at my family gatherings and various parties, watching UEFA Euro 2024 matches in a shaded garden during BBQs in the best weather. At one point, I even connected an old Guitar Hero controller to its built-in Bluetooth receiver and turned it into a type of arcade machine; it was so much fun.

Everyone who would listen was impressed by what I could demonstrate, but nobody was particularly interested in replacing their long-lasting laptops or self-built desktop PCs. Its appeal should have been clear; anyone looking to share a family PC with their children would surely love its touchscreen and a general theme of collaboration, but it still fizzled out.

It's just the way she goes. Sometimes, brands take a risk and let something unusual escape the concept phase, but it never comes with a guarantee that enough people will buy it. I've seen plenty of oddities at conventions like CES, but they usually come with the understanding that it's just brands flexing their manufacturing muscles, showing what they could do if they wanted to.

The Envy Move felt different, but it ultimately doesn't matter how much I admired it, at least not compared to the sales figures that PCs need to pull in to stand a chance. Instead, I just keep my fingers crossed that it could make a comeback someday, or that the people who helped the Envy Move earn a Good Design award would at least know how much I admired what they made.

To be clear, the only reason I suddenly felt all nostalgic and bubbly about an AIO PC is that I started seeing bizarre knockoffs popping up on TikTok and Instagram Reels. Strange, Android-based screens lampooning the same kind of unique selling point as the Envy Move, pulling in frustratingly positive comments about how good the idea is — I know it's a good idea.

Laptops are great, and custom-built desktop PCs are even more rewarding when you can afford it, but all-in-one PCs still have their place. HP tried something unique with the Envy Move, and it's something I'll still praise in the hopes that it tries again when the timing is right (if that ever happens). Let's see what turns up at CES in 2027.

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A major Windows 11 update is just around the corner. Microsoft just shipped Windows 11 version 26H2 to the Release Preview Channel and general rollout of the update starts in a few weeks.

The upcoming update to Windows 11 includes UI changes such as the ability to move the Taskbar and under-the-hood improvements. It's a more substantial change than we've seen in previous years, which begs the question, "Where is the Surface to showcase all these improvements to Windows 11?"

Microsoft appears serious about its push to improve Windows 11 and listen to feedback about the operating system. The first real wave of improvements is essentially here, so why isn't there someone on stage showing them on a Surface?

Biggest News of the Week

Microsoft is a gigantic company and its teams often don’t talk to each other enough to create full unity of design. I talked about this last week in the Windows Wrap when discussing the app situation on Windows 11. While Microsoft is working to fix many of its inbox apps, it's not addressing the same inconsistencies across Microsoft 365, Teams, and other apps.

Microsoft has shuffled things around over the years, combining Surface with Windows and changing how leadership is structured. But right now it feels like Windows and Surface are distant. Microsoft does not have a unified marketing push to highlight all the changes to Windows 11. There isn’t an announced event or upcoming device that would showcase the major Windows 11 improvements that will ship to PCs in only a couple of weeks.

Surface is supposed to show the best of Windows and Microsoft will miss an opportunity unless it has an ace up its sleeve. Microsoft used to announce Surface hardware in April and October. I’d love to see Microsoft surprise us with something that showcases Windows 11.

Windows and Snapdragon

Microsoft did a good job pairing Windows 11 and Snapdragon developments. At one point the Surface Pro X showed that a Snapdragon-powered PC can be fanless. Microsoft later shifted away from that, instead emphasizing the power efficiency and unplugged performance offered by Snapdragon PCs.

But the principal remained the same; Microsoft used it’s flagship hardware to highlight improvements to Windows 11 on Arm. Microsoft's faith in Snapdragon also pushed other PC manufacturers to make laptops powered by Qualcomm's chips. Snapdragon PCs are sold side-by-side with laptops powered by Intel or AMD chips.

Of course, it’s easier to use Windows 11 to show hardware improvements when there are concrete examples such as improve battery life or better unplugged performance. Microsoft has more of a mountain to climb when it comes to marketing the ability to move the taskbar and improved start menu. Under the hood improvements are tricky to show off.

That challenge is why I asked earlier this month if the next major Windows 11 update should be Windows 12. But that’s precisely why Microsoft needs to use Surface to highlight the improvements to Windows 11. Without a major marketing push about an OS upgrade, Microsoft needs to use its other resources to make sure shoppers know that this isn’t the same old Windows 11.

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I've used Windows PCs for most of my life, and I've tested some of the latest laptops from the most reliable brands for the last half-decade. Even before that, I worked in retail, specifically advising on laptops and helping people spend their money where it makes the most sense. So, despite spending most of my time on desktop PCs, I'm savvy with laptops.

For the most part, my criteria for choosing a laptop relate to how well it travels with me. I take regular trips by plane, train, and car to work from hotels and conventions, all with their own limitations and considerations, which has narrowed my list of must-haves to seven non-negotiables. If you're considering a new Windows laptop, this is what matters the most to me.

1. An OLED display for better contrast

I was a skeptic for a long time, but OLED laptops have won me over when I'm looking for a new daily driver. Offering better contrast with deeper blacks than traditional IPS screens, many of these color-rich panels also deliver higher-than-average max brightness, though I generally keep mine at around 250 nits. Most of my apps are in dark mode, too, so my average experience looks great.

You can go even more advanced with a mini LED screen, such as the one I tried in Lenovo's Slim Pro 9 a few years ago that reached an incredible 615 nits, but it's far and above anything I've ever needed. OLED is a noticeable improvement over LCD, and many, myself included, will find that anything beyond that yields diminishing returns if you aren't a professional image or video creator.

2. 14-inch chassis (and lightweight)

It sounds unusually specific, but after traveling with laptops, I found that 14-inch models with 16:10 ratio displays offered me the best experience. They fit perfectly in cramped travel environments with tray tables and tiny tables, yet still feel spacious enough in a hotel room when I can connect an external mouse. A 13.8-inch Surface Laptop 7 with a 3:2 screen also passes.

Anything around or below 2.65 lbs (1.20 kg) is a bonus, as I'm regularly throwing these compact laptops into rucksacks or whatever carry-on I'm lumped with at the time. However, the lightest laptops are rarely the most affordable, as Lenovo's Yoga Slim 7i Ultra Aura Edition I tested clearly demonstrated with its 2.15-lb (975 g) chassis. The trick is to find something within that ideal window.

3. At least 512GB of storage

Plenty of Windows laptops are listed by major retailers with 256GB of storage, particularly in budget models. That kind of entry-level drive is aimed firmly at casual users who mostly stick to web browsing, but it's never enough for me. Images and video files build up in my workflow, and I'm often hovering around half capacity on a 512GB drive.

To be transparent, my desktop PC has twin 1TB drives, but that's mostly for games and other gigantic software that I'd never need on the road. Plus, if I tried hard enough, I'm sure I could offload some of my largest files onto external drives, but I'd rather not travel with extra gadgets if I don't have to. 512GB has been perfect for years, and I don't see that changing.

4. At least one USB-A port

My dinosaur bones are showing. This is mostly about me hanging on to hardware for as long as possible, including my most-used flash drives and dongles for an older mouse. USB-C variants are out there and becoming quite common, but I have too many USB-A accessories that show no sign of wearing out, and I'm keeping them.

If you narrow your search to the absolute thinnest possible laptops, you'll find that USB-A ports disappear. Not a big deal if you have modern peripherals compatible with USB-C ports using popular standards like Thunderbolt 4 and USB4, but at least one full-size offering is a traditional mainstay that I'll always look out for. Wired headphone jacks are a bonus, too.

5. Legitimately all-day battery life

Leaving my house without an AC adapter in my carry-on became a realistic option when Intel's impressive "Lunar Lake" mobile processors, more officially known as Core Ultra Series 2, launched in 2024 as part of a new wave of "AI PCs". Putting aside the initial hype around NPUs, Intel's chips made a much more impactful efficiency improvement over their "Meteor Lake" predecessors.

Essentially, the major x86-64 chip manufacturers escalated a back-and-forth rivalry over battery-life claims around the time Qualcomm launched its first-generation Snapdragon X processors, and consumers have generally been better off for it in recent years. Testing ASUS' Zenbook S 14 proved to me that all-day battery life is now a reasonable expectation that doesn't cost the Earth.

6. Backlit keyboard

Typing in the dark has become a pretty regular occurrence at trade shows, whether I'm seated for a glorified PowerPoint presentation in a dim theater or traveling to the event itself on a red-eye flight. To be clear, I've been able to touch type since I was a teenager, but the nuances of switching between US and UK keyboard layouts can still catch me out.

At home, I have desk lamps and plenty of other comfortable light sources, but since my laptops are primarily for travel, I always prefer a backlit keyboard. This generally isn't a difficult criterion to meet, as only entry-level laptops would be likely to sacrifice the backlight to save money, though using the Surface Laptop Go 2 for a few years really made me realize how much it matters.

7. No proprietary chargers!

I've seen a huge improvement in this area since USB-C chargers became more mainstream, and I have a growing collection of 65W plugs suited for various countries. Even the 45W AC adapter from my Steam Deck is a reliable backup in a pinch, and I don't mind that it charges my laptops more slowly. It's much better than a proprietary barrel jack.

Gaming laptops often sit in limbo between USB-C, tethered to a gigantic power brick, and the old-school barrel jack, because they draw so much power. It's similar with higher-end laptops for creators, as the more powerful CPUs and GPUs inside thirst for the extra juice. I just want to travel with a single USB-C adapter that charges my laptop, phone, and everything else.

My perfect laptop is quite common, actually

So, my ultimatum isn't actually that unreasonable, as plenty of brands offer all of the above. Then again, some might start disappearing soon, since USB-A ports and headphone jacks will probably be seen as fossils in a few years. At least those two aren't too difficult to adapt to, as I've owned pairs of wireless headphones that can connect to multiple Bluetooth devices simultaneously.

Still, these are all problems that can only be solved by spending money, which is a big ask when the laptops themselves are creeping up in price, snared by the ongoing memory crisis affecting RAM and storage availability. As it stands, my taste traps me into a laptop price bracket of at least ~$1,000. Any less than that, and I start to notice some parts of my list disappearing.

For now, it's easy to recommend an ASUS Zenbook 14 ($1,199.99 at Best Buy) in one of its Intel/AMD configurations, or a Zenbook A14 ($1,349.99) for a Snapdragon X2 Elite variant running Windows on ARM. Storefronts regularly offer filters for my favorite features, which also makes it easier to search for laptops from other brands, and I'm always looking out for discounts.

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The debate over whether or not Xbox should make Elder Scrolls VI exclusive or not isn't letting up, and the UK's BBC News recently turned up the heat.

Ahead of the next-gen Xbox Helix, many are wondering how Microsoft can maneuver here. Xbox's hardware fortunes have been strained to say the least, as Microsoft grapples with strategic mis-steps and an AI-induced memory shortage of epic proportions. The Xbox Series X|S is more expensive than ever, and Xbox Helix threatens to be even more so.

This year, Xbox will return to exclusive content to try and shore up interest in its hardware platform. As sales into its ecosystem collapsed, Microsoft hasn't been able to grow Xbox Game Pass or third-party sales as much as competitors. This year, Microsoft will ship Gears of War: E-Day exclusively on Xbox, after a few years of ditching exclusivity entirely to sell more content via PlayStation. The move dismembered the brand's identity arguably, and the lack of confidence planted a question mark over Microsoft's commitment to remain in the business all up.

On the topic of exclusivity, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma spoke to Laura Cress at the BBC about Elder Scrolls VI. Sharma noted, "every platform needs some form of exclusive experiences and content. We shared Gears [of War: E-Day] and Clockwork [Revolution]. We're going to do the best we can to continue to do that, all in the context of the business being healthy. We have to balance that."

Laura pressed Asha to discuss Elder Scrolls VI exclusivity, Asha smiled and replied "it's a beautiful game ..."

Indeed, Sharma has repeatedly cautioned the state of Xbox's expenditure. Microsoft has blown hundreds of millions on failed projects, such as Avalanche's open-world vehicular service game Contraband, which I'm told was a particularly expensive write-off for its publishing arm. Microsoft has also spun off a variety of studios like Undead Labs, Ninja Theory, and Double Fine, which also weren't able to ship quickly enough to even come close to meeting costs.

Some of Microsoft's pillar gaming franchises like Call of Duty have also seen a downturn in recent years, many of which have been subsidizing parts of the Xbox business that haven't performed as well. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 failed to resonate with fans at the same clip as earlier games. Minecraft has also faced stiff competition from Roblox, and Candy Crush Saga has seen its user base chipped away by other casual games like Block Blast and Monopoly Go.

Elder Scrolls VI skipping PlayStation would be potentially putting hundreds of millions of dollars on the shelf in the short term — but keeping it multiplatform could also be just as risky in the long term.

Will Xbox blink?

For Elder Scrolls VI to be exclusive, Microsoft would have to view it as some form of "loss leader" specifically with boosting Xbox's own platforms in mind. It could be that there simply isn't enough opportunity to justify the risk in Microsoft's view.

In my view, Xbox Series X|S and Steam should be enough. For PlayStation and Nintendo, having a smaller addressable audience is worth it to ensure they don't hollow out their core platform. Asha Sharma has repeatedly emphasized the need to strengthen Xbox's core, as users who own multiple consoles increasingly defaulted away from Xbox due to a collapse in confidence in Microsoft's strategy.

Despite mass layoffs earlier in the summer, Xbox is enjoying some positive momentum with consumers right now. Huge marketing deals with Ikea and McDonalds just dropped, for example, and Microsoft's X20 anniversary celebrations are in full swing. Xbox also just announced a disc-to-digital game preservation program which is a direct shot at PlayStation, who is enduring widespread anger from its vocal decision to end support for physical media. If there was ever a time for Microsoft to double down on Xbox, it's probably right now.

I feel like people will show up on other platforms to buy Elder Scrolls VI if it's good enough, whether that's PCs people already own, Xbox Cloud Gaming, or perhaps even buying an Xbox Helix or Series X|S as a companion console. The goal should be getting users into Xbox's ecosystem, creating a flywheel for third-party developers, and Xbox Game Pass subscriptions — the latter of which will never be allowed on Nintendo or PlayStation.

Whether or not Xbox is willing to give Elder Scrolls VI some form of exclusivity will be a sign post for how much faith Microsoft has in its gaming brand in my view. I think Sharma's refusal to commit either way suggests Xbox is still in deep debates and analysis about which way to go ...

The Xbox platform would benefit immeasurably from a longer term commitment to highly visible exclusives, but Microsoft of 2026 revolves around short-term thinking and quarterly returns for shareholders. What might be best for Xbox third-party developers and customers is probably in direct opposition to what is best for shareholders, unfortunately.

Time will tell.

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Microsoft gives and Microsoft takes away. The latest update to Microsoft Edge adds the ability to sign in to the browser using an Apple account. It also adds a feature that automatically unsubscribes you from notifications related to scams.

But the same update also marks the official end of several Microsoft Edge features, including Edge Drop and real-time video translation.

Here are all the new features and changes that ship with the latest version of Edge, as detailed by Microsoft:

• Automatically unsubscribe users from notifications sent by scam and malicious sites. Microsoft Edge now helps further protect users from malicious web notifications. When a notification leads users to a site that Microsoft Defender SmartScreen blocks as a scam, phishing, or malware page, Edge automatically stops that source from sending users further notifications. Edge lets users know when this happens. Users can review and restore any of these sites anytime under edge://settings/privacy/sitePermissions/allPermissions/notifications. Note: This is a controlled feature rollout. If you don't see this change, check back as we continue the rollout.
• Sign in to Edge with an Apple account. Users can now sign in to Microsoft Edge using an Apple account in addition to the Microsoft account from the profile menu and Edge sign-in screen. Available for Windows and macOS devices. Admins can control availability to this feature using the NonMicrosoftAccountSignInEnabled policy. Note: This is a controlled feature rollout. If you don't see this change, check back as we continue the rollout.
• Real-time video translation retirement. Real-time video translation is being retired through a gradual rollout. Availability may vary across environments during the rollout. The LiveVideoTranslationEnabled policy will be deprecated in a future update.
• Enhanced Key Icon with Credential Details, Copy Actions, and Notes. The key icon in Edge's address bar now lets users click into any saved credential to view a detailed panel. From there, users can copy a username, reveal and copy a password, and add personal notes to each login. Keep track of security questions, account purpose, or recovery details right alongside credentials, without opening Settings or the full password manager. Note: This is a controlled feature rollout. If you don't see this change, check back as we continue the rollout.
• Drop is retired. We're simplifying Microsoft Edge. Drop is retired in Microsoft Edge version 152.
• New Copilot Cowork policy. Copilot Cowork may perform tasks such as creating tabs, taking screenshots, and interacting with web pages. Admins can now control availability of this feature using the CopilotCoworkToolActionsEnabled policy, which corresponds to the Allow Cowork to take actions on your behalf setting in edge://settings/ai. This policy applies only when Cowork Browsing is enabled at the tenant level in the M365 admin center.
• Clarification of WebView2 DowngradeVersion policy. The DowngradeVersion policy allows admins to temporarily roll back specific applications to a previous WebView2 Evergreen Runtime version (N-1 or N-2). The policy requires an exact 4-part numeric WebView2 Runtime version, for example 151.0.2178.0. Admins can find the exact 4-part version number in the Microsoft Edge release notes for Stable Channel. Major-version-only values are not supported. If no exact matching folder is found, the policy has no effect and the runtime defaults to the BrowserExecutableFolder policy or the Evergreen runtime, which is the default auto-updating runtime.
• Update for LocalNetworkAccessRestrictionsTemporaryOptOut policy. The planned removal of the LocalNetworkAccessRestrictionsTemporaryOptOut policy has been updated. The policy is now scheduled for removal after Microsoft Edge version 156; previously it was version 152.
• Updated Copilot policy. Admins can now control availability of the video transcription feature using the EdgeEntraCopilotPageContext policy, which corresponds to the Allow Copilot to transcribe your video setting in edge://settings/ai.

I was always a fan of Edge Drop and will be sad to see it go. The feature let you send messages, files, and photos to yourself. All of the content you sent through Edge Drop lived in a single thread. The feature was powered by OneDrive, making it easy to find backups of the content.

But Edge Drop lived in the Sidebar of Edge, meaning it competed with Copilot for space within the browser. Microsoft never officially confirmed Copilot was a factor in the retirement of Edge Drop, but I suspect the AI tool was at least a small factor.

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In addition to a plethora of new AAA Xbox games revealed at Gamescom 2026, there were just as many indie titles unveiled, aiming to innovate the medium in ways never seen before in terms of gameplay and artistry.

One such indie title that caught my eye was a survival horror game called Holstin, which is set to launch in 2027 for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC, Xbox Cloud Gaming, and Xbox Game Pass (Day One), with Xbox Play Anywhere support, along with PC via Steam and GOG, Nintendo Switch, and PlayStation 5.

Holstin also has a free playable demo available right now on its Steam page.

In this game, you have come to a small eastern Polish town called Jeziorne-Kolonia in search of your missing friend Bartek, whose trail was last seen there.

Unfortunately, Jeziorne-Kolonia has been possessed by a demonic force that is turning the buildings into pus-filled flesh and its inhabitants into disgusting, mindless abominations that attack anything in sight.

To survive, you will need to scavenge for supplies, solve mind-bending puzzles, seek information from the few sane locals left in the town, and find guns to defend yourself with before the horrors of this town eat you alive.

What makes Holstin stand out from the crowd is its 1990s Polish setting, an absolutely gorgeous and grim pixel art style that seamlessly blends 2D and 3D graphics, and most of all, the ability to change top-down and third-person perspectives during gameplay.

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Resident Evil 9 sort of tried this with the alternating first-person and third-person perspectives, but Holstin takes it a step further by letting the player switch perspectives at the push of a button instead of having to fiddle around with in-game menus.

This creates a dynamic system where one moment you will be exploring decrepit city streets from a top-down perspective, switch to a third-person perspective to shoot guns at monsters, then flip back to the top-down perspective so you can have a better view of where to safely dodge an attack without getting stuck in the environment.

Windows Central's take

I'm not normally a fan of survival horror games, as I suck at ammo and medkit conservation, but Holstin has me intrigued with its sublime pixel-art design, grotesque creatures, and interesting gameplay mechanics.

If you enjoy scaring yourself on the go with retro-style horror games with Xbox Play Anywhere like the critically-acclaimed Signalis, you will want to keep an eye out for this title when it drops in 2027, as it could be a potential ID@Xbox sleeper hit.

Or you could find out now for yourself if it's up your dark alley by its demo on Steam.

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Over 41,000 people have signed a petition to prevent the construction of Microsoft's hyperscale data center in Leeds, England. The petition was started by a collective of 100 people but has since garnered support from thousands of people, including local residents.

Microsoft received the go-ahead to build the data center in April when the Leeds City Council unanimously approved the project, though a final decision requires permission from the local Chief Planning Officer. In total, three data center buildings totaling around 424,000 sq ft and the required power and water infrastructure will be built.

The data center will stand on the former Skelton Grange power station site, which used to have two coal-fired power stations. Those stations have since been demolished.

Those in favor of the project cite that 740 jobs will be created during the building phase and that over 350 permanent roles will come as a result of the new data center being built. A piece from the Leeds Times focuses largely on the potential positive outcomes of the project.

People opposed to the project highlight the potential environmental impact of the data center.

"There is overwhelming evidence that this site would pose a risk to the health and wellbeing of local residents, and the surrounding environment," reads the petition to prevent the construction of the data center.

The petition flags the large amount of water needed to cool the chips in the data center any time outside temperatures rise above about 29 degrees Celsius (84.2 degrees Fahrenheit). England is at the tail end of one of its hottest summers on record.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella spoke on water requirements for data centers earlier this year. Nadella claimed that "the daily water usage over the course of an entire year is roughly equivalent to what a single restaurant would use."

The Microsoft CEO's remarks were general and did not specifically address concerns about the future data center in Leeds.

Microsoft is working on new cooling technologies to reduce how much water data centers require.

Power usage is also a concern raised by the petition:

"The site would use truly vast amounts of energy to power, making it by far the single biggest carbon emitter in Leeds. Over its planned 60 year lifetime it is projected to release more than 200,000,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide. This is almost the equivalent of one year of the UK’s entire emissions."

Microsoft reportedly used more power than 100 nations in 2024. The growing use of AI will require more power going forward as more data centers are built.

The Leeds Planning Committee has already approved the construction of Microsoft's data center in Leeds. The final decision on the project will come from Chief Planning Officer Martin Elliot.

The petition claims there was "insufficient scrutiny of the project’s impacts" before the project was approved. The makers of the petition hope to prevent the final approval of the project and suggest potential legal action could follow to challenge the construction.

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During Gamescom 2026 Opening Night Live, we got a new trailer for the popular Diablo-like ARPG, Path of Exile 2, showcasing a new Duelist class and the long-awaited addition of the Sword weapon type (which has been absent since the game's early access launch on December 4, 2024).

The trailer also confirmed that the game will be leaving early access and launch its full 1.0 version that's free-to-play on December 11, 2026, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

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Then, a day afterwards, Path of Exile 2's developer/publisher, Grinding Gear Games, released an extended gameplay overview video.

It covered the many insane abilities of the Duelist class and Sword weapon, what kind of endgame builds you can make with them, and a new 'Forbidden Rites' Event League to keep players busy until the release of the game's 1.0 launch.

Here's everything you need to know about the Duelist class coming soon to Path of Exile 2.

The Duelist is a melee-focused class designed to cleave enemies with one-handed or two-handed swords through a series of lightning-fast slashes and parry incoming attacks to catch enemies off guard.

The Duelist's main game plan revolves around slicing enemies with basic attacks while transitioning into combat stances to perform modified versions of your attacks with area-of-effect or status effects like Bleed to drain enemies' life away.

Other notable abilities include creating sand discs to cleave groups of enemies, sand drills to pierce single targets, blasting blood waves to bleed enemies to death, dash attacks to close distances, summoning swords out of the ground that explode, augmenting your attacks with electricity, turning your two-handed sword into a giant greatsword that can split the earth in two, and much more.

When combining these abilities, the Duelist can become a literal whirlwind of destruction as they decimate hordes of enemies with sand discs before beheading bosses with a magically-empowered greatsword the size of a car, and that's just its basic gameplay loop.

Once you start acquiring endgame gear and abilities for the Duelist class, they can turn entire rooms into meat grinders where not even the toughest enemies will survive being melted by non-stop sand discs, exploding swords, bleed effects, lightning bolts, and other insane abilities, as demonstrated in the gameplay overview video.

What's more is that all this carnage and mayhem can be done with just the base Duelist class alone, before being upgraded into its Ascendancy subclasses, of which the Duelist will have two.

However, details on the Duelist's Ascendancy subclasses will be revealed at Exile Con on November 7, 2026.

Windows Central's take

I tried Path of Exile 2 a couple of times last year, but I could never seem to get into it for long before moving on to something else. However, with the addition of the Duelist class and Sword weapon type, my interest in the game has been renewed because they look so dang cool.

The classic sword & shield playstyle has always been my favorite in action-RPGs, and Path of Exile 2's take on it looks nuts, what with being able to shower the screen with exploding swords, parrying boss attacks to stagger them, and briefly channelling Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII by cleaving enemies with a Buster Sword-sized Greatsword.

If this is what the base form of Duelist can do, then I can't imagine how destructive the class will get when it unlocks its Ascendancy subclasses, one of which looks to be a Paladin subclass.

In short, this game is now on my wishlist, and I can't wait to play the full version of Path of Exile 2 when it launches on December 11, 2026.

In the meantime, Path of Exile 2 will keep fans busy with a new 'Forbidden Rites' Event League starting on September 4, 2026, which will feature eight new challenges, exclusive rewards, a major overhaul to the Trial of Chaos, and many more changes to endgame systems.

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Microsoft has began rolling out the next version of Windows 11 to testers in the Windows Insider Release Preview Channel, which is the very last phase of testing before general availability begins. With version 26H2 now in the Release PreviewChannel, the company is signalling that this new version is just about done, and testing of the final bits can begin.

Windows 11 version 26H2 is similar to version 25H2 in scope. It's based on the same platform release as both 25H2 and 24H2 before it, which means it's not a major OS upgrade and won't be making major changes to the OS core. Instead, 26H2 serves to reset the support clock for Windows 11 users, with 26H2 offering a refreshed 24 months of support for consumers, and 36 months for commercial customers.

That's good news for users who usually dismiss new versions of Windows 11 for being unstable or buggy. 26H2 shares the same core OS, feature stack, and security updates as 25H2, meaning there are no compatibility or software quality concerns to be worried about. If it works on 25H2, it'll work on 26H2 also.

"As Windows 11, version 26H2 shares the same servicing branch as Windows 11, version 25H2, the update is implemented through an enablement package (eKB). This means your device will be updated to the next version through a single restart – providing a familiar, fast, and reliable update experience."

There may be some instances where 26H2 gets new features first, but for as long as 25H2 (and 24H2) are supported, they should get the same features also. For now, version 26H2 is at feature parity with version 25H2, which is expected to receive the same Windows K2 improvements such as the more customizable Start menu and new Windows Search pane at the same time.

Now that Windows 11 version 26H2 is now in the Release Preview Channel, that typically means we're just a few weeks away from general availability beginning. Bits that are flighted to the Release Preview Channel are production ready, and so now it's just a matter of ensuring the final bits don't have any last minute bugs or issues.

Should everything go according to plan, I expect we'll begin hearing about version 26H2 general availability in the next few weeks. Microsoft usually aims to begin rolling out new versions of Windows 11 towards the end of September and into October, and I expect the same to happen this year.

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Microsoft's Link to Windows app for Android may soon support restarting or shutting down a computer or putting a PC to sleep. Code within the app was discovered that suggests the functionality is on the way, but nothing has been confirmed by Microsoft at this time.

Windows Latest found evidence suggesting that a pairing of Link to Windows and Phone Link will soon gain greater control of your PC. It's already possible to lock your PC from your Android phone, but the code suggests support for other actions is on the way.

I occasionally forget to turn off my PC, especially since I work from home and can get distracted after my work day ends. Being able to shut down my PC remotely without having to set up a Remote Desktop would be a nice option.

The feature could also come in handy if you need to leave your PC running unattended for a while. The other day I had to download a bunch of large files and knew my PC had to run for a while. If the new Link to Windows feature had been available, I could have shut down my PC after I knew the files were downloaded.

Putting your PC to sleep through Link to Windows will work a bit differently, according to Windows Latest. A warning message discovered by the outlet states, "After it’s asleep, it will be disconnected from this device. You need to go to your PC to wake it up."

Separate warnings appear when you try to restart or shut down your PC in the middle of an update.

Microsoft continues to work on integrating the smartphone and PC experience. The tech giant expanded the connection between devices by adding a section to the Start menu on Windows 11. Microsoft is also testing several flyouts and menus that will make it easier to connect your phone and your PC.

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Today was supposed to be an opportunity for "fans" to get a chance to pre-order the new, limited edition Xbox Series X25. Yet it's questionable as to how many genuine fans may have actually got their hands on one.

Reddit is filled with bad experiences, people talking about having a console in their cart and it was gone before they could check out. That stock evaporated in "milliseconds."

And yet almost instantly they were cropping up on eBay. The highest listing I saw was for a ridiculous THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS.

To its credit, eBay seems to be taking action and shutting these listings down, as three I've already seen have been ended due to the "item no longer being available", not "sold". It was never available in the first place, and frankly, handing over thousands on a promise of getting a thing in the future is the dumbest idea anyway.

Obviously this is a limited edition, with each console uniquely numbered, and was always going to be in hot demand. But while eBay might be taking listings down, more are popping up across the globe.

Scalpers are going to scalp. They're not going to cancel their order, and they're going to try somehow to move it on for a premium price. It's the Pokémon card fiasco all over again.

My advice is clear: Do not buy a console from a scalper. In fact, if you can't get one directly from a retailer, don't buy one unless you actually see it and can pick it up with your bare hands. These people have no morals; don't hand over your money and trust that you'll actually even get the thing.

I was never going to try and get one myself, as I don't have a spare $899 to throw at a console I already have in a different body. But scalpers really make me angry. It's a constant battle in trading card collecting, especially. There's reselling and then there's just existing to rip people off by using your bots to scoop up stock from legitimate buyers.

Anyway, rant over. If you did manage to secure an Xbox Series X25 let us know in the comments. Unless you're a scalper.

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Physical media is present in the news cycle quite a bit of late, what with the latest news from Xbox about its disc-to-digital program. Then there's PlayStation's double whammy of removing digital content from libraries and then announcing it will be stopping new game discs from 2028.

The move to all-digital has been on the cards for some time, and PC gamers have already long embraced that future. But in a bizarre twist of fate, it seems some are reversing this process and actually starting to make their own physical copies of digital PC games.

I stumbled across a YouTube video by Archades Games (which is embedded below) that's been up for many months, but nevertheless, its subject matter made me click. On PC there's quite often a way where there's a will, and with GOG especially, it's actually pretty easy to create your own physical installer for your game library.

Of course, it requires having the necessary hardware to do it, and Blu-ray drives (like everything else) have been getting more expensive in recent years. But if you have a drive and some discs, there's little else to stop you.

There's a wider discussion that is ongoing regarding game preservation and generally good data backup habits. But in this specific instance, GOG will offer DRM-free offline installers, and the right Blu-ray discs can last at least your own lifetime, and potentially many more besides.

The process itself seems pretty straightforward, though the video and a follow-up, which goes into more depth, including multi-disc scenarios, walk you through every step. Multi-disc is certainly something you'd need for Cyberpunk 2077.

Essentially you need a Blu-ray or DVD drive capable of writing to discs, the right discs, a copy of MakeMKV (which, as the site is currently offline, you'll have to grab from an archived version of the page), and ImgBurn to both create an ISO file and burn it to the disc.

Archades Games goes one step further and even creates a nice-looking label for the discs, just to add a finishing touch. Though that's entirely optional.

You can also write your own autorun file to add to the disc so that when you insert it into a PC, it will immediately open up the installer. Just like in the old days when you'd buy a big box PC game.

I haven't tried this yet, and I'm not necessarily sure I will. But recent events have certainly made me start to think about "ownership." I don't own anything in my Steam library; I don't own any of the digital movies I've bought over the years from Apple, Google, and Amazon. Long-term rentals are only fine as long as the rights holders say so.

I've been buying up physical copies of movies I only have digitally on Blu-ray and creating a digital copy of those Blu-rays to store on my NAS. I'm not suggesting it's practical to create a full library of PC games on disc, and in many cases, you can't get new releases on GOG or anywhere else with an offline installer.

But preservation is something we should all care about. I've thought more and more about it as my children are growing up and I'm able to enjoy content with them. My son is absolutely loving being able to play games on Xbox from before he was born, and much of that is thanks to backwards compatibility.

But we also have an Xbox 360 running every day right now, with physical copies of games that we can use for as long as the disc lasts.

The idea of "cold storing" important data on Blu-ray discs is something I've been toying with, too. With the right discs, such as M-Discs designed for archiving, that data can be preserved for centuries. So long as you have a way in the future of actually reading them, of course.

It might be a fun project for game installers, but for treasured memories, photo libraries, and things that are irreplaceable, having a copy that could stand the test of time is looking more important. Good backup processes are something we should all be doing.

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One of the more unsung announcements from this year's Gamescom that has me personally excited is that Shadow of the Road, an upcoming CRPG published by Owlcat Games of Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader fame, has revealed that it's releasing on November 12, 2026, for PC via Steam, Epic Games Store, and GOG.

This game has you command a group of ex-samurai and Shogun retainers traveling with a child gifted with mysterious powers, his mother, and their massive bodyguard on a quest to put an end to a bloody civil war that's tearing Japan apart.

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Shadow of the Road will have you explore a gritty, alternative history version of Japan in 1868 where Steampunk technology reigns supreme, manage a team of powerful warriors in intense tactical turn-based battles, make tough dialogue choices that will determine the course of the story and your party's friendships, and obtain the dark power of being able to transform into horrifying yōkai in battle.

I previewed Shadow of the Road's alpha test back in 2025, and I was rather enthralled by its Japanese setting, in-depth turn-based combat, and unique take on dialogue choices in RPGs, as it allowed the entire party, not just the main character, to have dialogue options during conversations based on who the player wants to speak first.

So I can't wait to finally play the full version when Shadow of the Road launches on PC this November.

Although I'm sad that there's no word of Shadow of the Road releasing on Xbox anytime soon, as this game would be cool to play on Xbox Ally via Xbox Play Anywhere, like Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader was.

But who knows? If this game does well on PC, maybe it will release on consoles at some point later? Only time will tell the answer.

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The Microsoft 365 Roadmap is gone. This week, the site was rebranded as the "AI at Work Roadmap." The baffling change raises questions about what's going on at Microsoft and why its leaders think they can label anything as AI.

The roadmap lets you track features and updates to a variety of apps and services from Microsoft. Microsoft justifies the name change by highlighting that the roadmap now includes features from Dynamics 365, Power Platform, and Dataverse as well.

But the AI at Work Roadmap still details plans for thousands of features that have nothing to do with AI.

Neowin's Usama Jawad shared an editorial on Microsoft's latest rebrand already, and I'll echo some of the same thoughts. But some decisions are so astonishingly stupid that they require editorials from multiple outlets.

The name isn't even accurate

Microsoft is so eager to push AI that its decision makers have not even considered if the new name of the Microsoft 365 Roadmap is accurate. Yes, the roadmap includes AI features across the Microsoft 365 suite. It also now outlines changes to Dynamics 365, Power Platform, and Dataverse.

But there are a massive number of features discussed in the roadmap that do not use AI in any way. Let's look at the entries that appear on the "AI at Work Roadmap" when filtered to list anything new or updated within the last week.

• Microsoft Teams: Coordinated meetings support on Teams Rooms on Android
• Outlook: Manage multiple inbox rules at once.
• Microsoft Teams: Hide organizer name in the calendar view on Teams Panels and MTR-A
• Microsoft Teams: Breakout room support on Teams Rooms on Android
• Microsoft Teams: Report a message or an external user for security concerns in Gov clouds.

As far as I can tell, none of those are AI features. Perhaps there's some AI-written code in there or AI working in the background, but I doubt anyone would refer to breakout rooms support as an AI feature.

Microsoft, what are we doing here? Have we reached a point of desperation so extreme that the option to hide an organizer name needs to fall under the AI umbrella? I suppose if every single feature to ever ship to Microsoft 365 is considered AI, that metrics measuring AI use will trend upward.

A history of bad branding

Microsoft already had an established brand name recognized around the world in "Office." But the tech giant decided to rebrand its productivity suite as Microsoft 365. While that decision drew criticism, it at least made sense because Microsoft 365 includes several pieces of software that are not Office apps.

In 2025, Microsoft announced the baffling decision to rebrand Microsoft 365 as "Microsoft 365 Copilot." Our Executive Editor Jez Corden took Microsoft to task for that, and rightly so:

"The rebrand of Microsoft Office was dumb to start with, trampling on a legacy spanning decades. The second rebrand attaching Copilot is even more dumb, and follows the Copilot+ PC thought process of firmly putting the cart several miles before the horse. Copilot hasn't earned the right to be showcased alongside [technological] cultural milestones like Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Word."

Microsoft went on a spree in which it renamed a bunch of services to include some form of Copilot. The company had so many types of Copilots that it had to merge Copilot and Microsoft 365 Copilot.

That obsession with Copilot begs another question: If Microsoft needs to rename the Microsoft 365 Roadmap to mention AI, why not call it the Microsoft 365 Copilot Roadmap? I'd still hate the change but at least it would be somewhat consistent.

The idea of slapping "AI" onto anything is still silly, but at least Microsoft would be reusing a name that appears elsewhere.

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Fable is not skimping out on any details at this year's Gamescom, as it provided a metric ton of new gameplay information through an 18-minute gameplay demo, accompanied by a gameplay preview write-up at Xbox Wire.

There's a lot to unpack here, so let's not waste any more time and get into the nitty-gritty of what Playground Games has in store for this highly anticipated reboot of the Fable series.

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The demo begins with a recap of Fable's life-sim elements, where you can mingle with NPCs to potentially start a family, buy a home, or start a business. The player then sets off on a quest to save their grandma and village, which have been turned to stone by the mysterious hero-turned-villain, Isabel.

Throughout the demo, we see the player engaging in dialogue choices that determine how NPCs feel towards them, some funny cinematics that play off like a fantasy version of the iconic sitcom, 'The Office', exploring the city, developing skills in the skill tree, and most of all, beating the stuffing out of bandits with the game's combat system.

Judging from the footage shown in the Gamescom demo and from Xbox Wire's preview write-up, this game's combat system is shaping up to be the most in-depth one any Fable title has had to date.

You can parry and dodge enemy attacks, blast enemies off of cliffs using fireballs, catch incoming arrows and throw them back at enemies, trip or knock weapons out of enemies' hands using bows and crossbows, stun enemies by filling their stagger gauge before performing melee finishers on them, turn enemies into chickens using magic, and so much more.

And all this is done without messing about in menus or loadout bars, so you can focus on the action intuitively without immersion-breaking menu micromanagement.

You will need to master this evolved take on Fable's combat quickly, as you will contend with more dangerous foes than bandits throughout the game, including reanimated skeletons, wraiths, Cockatrices, and tough mini-bosses like the ghostly Lantern Keeper, to name a few.

Windows Central's take

I admit it's been a LONG time since I played the original Fable from 2004, but I do remember combat not being the most in-depth thing in the world, as it mainly amounted to whacking enemies once, moving back to shoot fireballs, rinse and repeat.

So to go from that to this new Fable where we're catching arrows to throw them back in enemies' faces, parrying attacks Sekiro-style, and blasting enemies with magic doesn't take forever to cast anymore is a massive improvement.

If Playground Games can continue polishing this promising combat system to be more speedy and perhaps show off more destructive spells, Fable could be a massive shoo-in for a 2027 Game of the Year contender.

We will have to wait to find out if the combat system, as well as its other gameplay aspects, live up to the hype when Fable launches on February 23, 2027, on Xbox Series X|S (with Xbox Play Anywhere support), Xbox on PC, Xbox Cloud Gaming, Xbox Game Pass (Day One), PlayStation 5, and Steam.

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Perhaps one of the biggest challenges facing Xbox CEO Asha Sharma is what exactly to do with Halo.

Halo used to be synonymous with Xbox. It was to Xbox what Mario is to Nintendo, but after years of painful mismanagement, corporate inertia, and hundreds of millions of dollars ... Halo is arguably at its lowest point ever.

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Halo Campaign Evolved arguably didn't resonate as well as it perhaps should've done. Selling yet another re-master of the original Halo game, albeit this time without even competitive multiplayer, doesn't seem to have been a hugely worthwhile endeavour. You could even argue it did more harm than good to Xbox, given the fact Microsoft released it on PlayStation too, but that's just my opinion.

What is perhaps less of an opinion is that Halo has absolutely mountains of untapped potential. It's a known quantity, the fanbase is clamouring for a new high-quality Halo game, and the transmedia opportunities are painfully clear. It's always been about execution.

Perhaps the answer to getting Halo back towards firing on all cylinders again is looking towards the alumni who made it great in the first place. Co-creators of the original games such as Joseph Staten have been reminiscing about the game lately, with Staten wondering what more Halo ODST-like spin-offs and expansions might look like.

"I often think about what it would have been like if we’d kept building on Halo 3 with ODST-like expansions — new stories, innovative mechanics, etc. Would have been great fun."

There has been a lot of rumors and conjecture about what it's like working at Halo Studios right now, with some arguing that Microsoft and Xbox leadership isn't running it all too well.

Others have suggested Halo's slide is frustrated by its location, or Microsoft's creativity-stifling corporatism. Many others have expressed hopes that maybe some OG Bungie or 343i alumni could return to the franchise, such as Marcus Lehto.

I really enjoyed Halo Wars 2, and Halo Infinite's campaign gameplay was decently fun, but there was always this sense of untapped potential across the franchise. Many of Halo Infinite's story beats connecting it to Halo 5 were shunted into books and out of the game, as 343i repeatedly reworked story beats only to subsequently abandon them and leave them unfinished. And let's not discuss the disastrous Halo TV show on Paramount.

With Gears of War, Fable, and Forza enjoying an incredibly strong showing throughout Gamescom and this year in general — Halo has oddly become the runt of the litter, which is an absolutely wild thing to say.

What would you like to see Asha Sharma do with the Halo franchise? Is it worth saving? Can it be saved? Would you like to see Joseph Staten return to lead? Let me know your thoughts.

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The next-gen Xbox Helix is gradually appearing on the horizon, but there's very big question marks over how it will actually show up.

Microsoft's attempts to disrupt the gaming industry ended mostly with it disrupting itself, harming its own Xbox console business as well as third-party developers in its ecosystem. As Xbox's hardware footprint has shrank due to poor marketing and lack of exclusive games, so too has its relevancy on the general gaming stage. The turmoil has been turbo charged by the AI-driven RAMpocalypse, which has seen consumer electronics prices soar due to RAM shortages.

New CEO Asha Sharma has been tasked with reviving Xbox's gaming fortunes, starting by bringing back exclusive games (including the amazing-looking Gears of War: E-Day), and delivering a barrage of fan-requested features.

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Fans are increasingly wondering how Xbox will respond to PlayStation's own PR nightmare right now. PlayStation inexplicably announced a gradual phase out of disc-based games on its platform, with discs going away entirely by 2028. Microsoft has moved in the opposite direction, revealing today that Xbox discs will now grant digital entitlements for gamers in that ecosystem, including Xbox Cloud Gaming access and Xbox Play Anywhere.

In conversations with BBC reporter Laura Cress, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma acknowledged the backlash to Sony's physical phase out.

"I know players love physical media, and I know there's a lot of benefits in digital media, and I want to make sure people have a choice," Sharma said. "There are stacks of games on everybody's shelves. We're announcing the ability for players for 1,000 titles with physical discs to be able to have a digital entitlement."

"We've long pioneered backwards compatibility and so you'll continue to see that as we go forward in the generations. This next generation, we have to be thinking about efficiency and affordability alongside performance."

Will Xbox give disc-loving gamers the lifeline PlayStation won't?

Speaking to my own Xbox hardware sources, I was told that it's less about the discs themselves and more about the supply chain around optical disc drives collapsing. Factories and assembly lines previously oriented around making optical disc drives are moving towards other, more lucrative and more scalable industries, such as camera lenses and the like. Demand for optical disc drives revolves entirely around Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 right now, with laptops, Blu-Ray devices, and other formats essentially phasing out the tech.

Consumers opted overwhelming for digital-only in the last few years, although the downsides are becoming increasingly apparent. The lack of rights consumers have over digital content has come into focus, as licenses can be revoked remotely at any time potentially. At least with a physical game or Blu-ray movie, it's definitively yours in perpetuity.

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It's ironic perhaps given the revival of vinyl records in recent years, as more of us seek ownership and hobby-oriented collecting. Digital games, books, and movies don't create the same sense of participation, and lending games and sharing content with families is obviously much harder generally speaking when the content is tied to a specific account.

Xbox doesn't have strong family-sharing systems like Steam yet, nor does it come with the ability to re-sell digital games as some have called for. There's also no legislation in place to refund users when digital games are sunset or revoked.

It'll be interesting to see how Microsoft and the next-gen Xbox Helix navigates this impending reality for optical disc drive manufacturing, given the widespread backlash to PlayStation's vocal policies on it.

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The Division 2 is one of my favorite games for a number of reasons. One of those is how it's been treated by Ubisoft, a company that faces its fair share of well-founded criticism.

The original plan would have seen new content end long ago, but it was so popular with such a dedicated community that it's still here today. There's an absurd amount of content in this game, and now we're getting another DLC expansion.

Following on from last year's Battle for Brooklyn, which took us literally back to where it all began in the first game, we're now going to a previously unseen part of New York City in "Echoes of Central Park."

One of the city's most iconic locations hasn't been part of The Division to this point, but it will be the central focus in the next expansion, announced for the first time as part of a Ubisoft The Division 2 panel at Gamescom in Cologne.

Naturally there will be an expanded story with new missions, but we're being promised something a little different this time around.

The summary that's been shared with me prior to the panel certainly gets my attention. With this new location we're promised that the Upper West Side is petrified with fear, and that fear is going to be an underlying element that our Agents will be dealing with in this expansion.

That's particularly interesting because all through The Division franchise, Agents have felt like superheroes. Equipped with wild tech and insane weapons to take down the worst that the post-Dollar Flu apocalyptic world has to offer.

That fear itself is going to be an enemy is a different approach. Echoes of Central Park, we're told, is going to follow a darker tone to previous content in the franchise, with horror themes taking us down a very different path.

It'll start in a familiar manner; Division Agents will receive a distress call from inside Central Park and will be dispatched to answer it with no idea what's there or what's been happening since the outbreak.

Other tidbits include a warning that we'll have to prepare and untangle the mysteries before finally finding out what lies within the park. Mysterious indeed.

Ubisoft also says that Echoes of Central Park isn't just another story expansion. They really wanted to focus on the gameplay, and it certainly sounds like it'll be something a little different to what we're used to.

A full reveal of Echoes of Central Park is slated for a special presentation on September 24, where we'll also get our first look at the new map and gameplay. Given what happened so far in New York City across the two games in the series, I always assumed Central Park would have been turned into some kind of mass grave, but I guess I'm wrong on that.

Bring on September 24.

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Gamescom continues to steamroll ahead with tons of more exciting game announcements, this time with the Future Games Show showcase, which has just recently concluded after kicking off on August 26, 2026, at 10:00 am PDT / 1:00 pm EDT / 6:00 pm BST.

This event featured new gameplay trailers, deep dives, and developer interviews on over 40 Xbox and PC titles, along with revealing 13 brand new games.

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With so many games getting the spotlight, we've rounded up all the biggest announcements from the event as they go live in one convenient place to save you the trouble of finding and remembering them yourself.

Where and how you can watch Future Games Show at Gamescom 2026

To watch Future Games Show at Gamescom live or rewatch its VOD if you couldn't make it, you will have to tune into the Future Games Show's YouTube, Twitch, X, and Steam platforms.

All Xbox and PC games shown at the Future Games Show at Gamescom 2026

This is where we have compiled all the major game announcements from the Future Games Show at Gamescom 2026, with links to their trailers and short descriptions of their premises, release dates, platforms, and more.

Worms: Galactic Tactics

The show kicks off with a new trailer for Worms: Galactic Tactics, a turn-based tactical spin on the classic Worms franchise with roguelike elements where you'll be blasting enemy worms to kingdom come with rocket launchers, bombs, and explosive sheep, to name a few.

Worms: Galactic Tactics will be releasing in 2027 for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 1/2, and PC via Steam.

Onimusha: Way of the Sword

Capcom makes an appearance to show off a new cinematic trailer for Onimusha: Way of the Sword, an upcoming action game where you travel the land of Japan to rid Kyoto of the evil demons known as Genma.

Onimusha: Way of the Sword is scheduled for September 4, 2026, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store.

The Walking Dead: Streets of Survival

The Walking Dead: Streets of Survival is a side-scrolling beat 'em up in the grim universe of The Walking Dead franchise, but with a Streets of Rage-style twist.

Your goal is to play as one of the iconic survivors of the franchise like Rick Grimes, Daryl Dixon, Michonne, and Negan, and beat the undead snot out of any zombie standing in your way.

Walking Dead: Streets of Survival is set to launch on September 18, 2026, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store.

Dioxide

Dioxide is an upcoming tactical FPS with Soulslike elements where you are tasked with forging the last sanctuary for humanity in a dying, dystopian plagued by industrial decay, and infested with ravenous beasts and maniacs.

Dioxide is scheduled to release sometime in the future on PC via Steam.

Wolcen 2

Wolcen 2 is an upcoming ARPG set in a dark fantasy world where you must fight to survive being destroyed by hordes of monsters, giant spiders, and other evil creatures of the night.

Wolcen 2 is scheduled to release into early access during 2027 for PC via Steam.

Serious Sam: Shatterverse

Serious Sam: Shatterverse is an upcoming roguelite FPS where you play as multiple alternate versions of the iconic Serious Sam and blast your way across the multiverse in chaotic shootouts solo or with friends in 5-player co-op.

Serious Sam: Shatterverse is scheduled to release on August 31, 2026, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

SPINE - This is Gun Fu

SPINE - This is Gun Fu, is an upcoming cyberpunk action game where you play as a rebellious street artist named Redline searching for her brother, who's been captured by a tyrannical AI regime.

Together with your sentient combat implant named Spine, you will shoot and kick your way through bad guys in over-the-top battles using a unique combat system that makes you feel like you're living in a gun-fu martial arts movie.

SPINE - This is Gun Fu is set to launch in 2027 for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

STAR WARS: Galactic Racer

STAR WARS: Galactic Racer is an upcoming racing game set in the Star Wars universe, and the developers stopped by with an interview trailer to talk about the game's systems, vehicles, and more.

STAR WARS: Galactic Racer is set to launch on October 6, 2026, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store.

Alkimya: House of Wisdom

Alkimya: House of Wisdom is an upcoming survival horror game set in Baghdad, 1258, where you must explore the titular library for an elixir to save your dying daughter while avoiding being murdered by Mongolian invaders and eldritch horrors.

Alkimya: House of Wisdom is set to release sometime in the future for PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store.

Hieronymus 

Hieronymus is an FPS set within a world inspired by the surreal and terrifying artworks of the famous painter Hieronymus Bosch. As the young Helena van Aken, you must master the art of alchemy, magic, and combat if you hope to survive encountering the bizarre creatures and horrors of this world as you uncover your family's darkest secrets.

Hieronymus is set to release sometime in the future for PC via Steam.

Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault

Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault is an upcoming action-RPG where you explore dungeons for ancient treasure and sell it off to help your shop prosper while helping out your local community.

The game leaves early access on September 2, 2026, and will launch on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox Game Pass, PC Game Pass, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam and Windows.

Sword Sage: Awakening

Sword Sage: Awakening is an upcoming hack-and-slash set in a world inspired by Chinese mythology. In this game, you are tasked with mastering a diverse combat system to fight ancient evil monstrosities let loose by a mistake made by your ancestors a thousand years ago.

Sword Sage: Awakening is set to release sometime in the future for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

Tides of Annihilation

Tides of Annihilation is an upcoming action-adventure where you must embark on a dangerous quest to restore a fractured London to its original form after otherworldly invaders destroyed it.

The Future Games Show gives us a deeper look into its story, gameplay, and dark fantasy setting inspired by the legends of King Arthur with a developer deep dive trailer.

Tides of Annihilation is set to launch sometime in the future for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store.

Guns of Eschaton

Guns of Eschaton is a soulslike FPS where you are travelling through an apocalyptic Wild West to find your way back home. Along your journey, you will be getting into firefights with cultists, demons, and other unspeakable monsters that require dark magic and a ton of lead to put down.

Guns of Eschaton is set to launch sometime in 2026 for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

Everwind

Everwind is a sandbox survival game where you and your friends work together to build fantastical airships to explore the world and fight dangerous foes using swordplay and magic spells.

It was released into early access on March 17, 2026 for PC via Steam, but its latest trailer at the Future Game Show has confirmed it will ported onto home consoles in 2027.

Resonance: A Plague Tale

Resonance: A Plague Tale is an upcoming action-adventure game where you must uncover the mysteries of your past by solving the puzzles of the enigmatic Minotaur Island while keeping ahead of an army looking to collect your head.

Resonance: A Plague Tale is set to release tomorrow on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store.

If you want to learn more about this game, check out our review of Resonance: A Plague Tale, where we gave it 4.5/5 Stars.

Last Ditch Effort

Last Ditch Effort is a dark fantasy brawler with a slick, pixel art style and insanely over-the-top side-scrolling combat gameplay. Your goal in this game is to fight through an apocalyptic world as the long warrior Igor Emmerich to find an ancient gate that can grant any wish, no matter how times you must die to reach it.

Last Ditch Effort is set to release sometime in 2027 for PC via Steam.

Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Deathmaster

Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Deathmaster is a side-scrolling stealth platformer where you play as a member of the rat-like Skaven race, working your way up the food chain to become the ultimate Deathmaster assassin of the Clans Eshin.

Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Deathmaster is scheduled to release in 2027 for Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

Escape from Playtime

The main show concludes with a trailer for Escape from Playtime, a co-op horror game set in the Poppy Playtime universe where you play as misfit toys desperately trying to escape a decrepit factory before being dismantled by horrifying freaks of nature.

Escape from Playtime is set to launch into early access on PC via Steam sometime in the future.

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2

The FGS portion of the show kicks off with a new gameplay trailer for Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2.

This game is an upcoming FPS set in the grim dark Warhammer 40,000 universe where you must purge the universe of heretics as the indomitable Space Marine, Malum Caedo, or the unstoppable Sister of Battle, Nyra Veyrath.

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 is set to release on October 14, 2026, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

Crimson Moon

Crimson Moon is an upcoming hack-and-slash where you are on a crusade to cleanse the fallen city of Gildenarch of vampires, undead, and demons with holy fire in an epic campaign that can be undertaken solo or in 2-player co-op.

Crimson Moon is set to launch on September 1, 2026 for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store.

Amphibian 

Amphibian is a cute-looking yet deceptively serious, pixel-art RPG where you play as humanoid frogs on a quest to save their pond from a terrible drought while fending off beasts and invading toad armies in turn-based battles.

Amphibian is set to release sometime in the future for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 1/2, and PC via Steam.

Apart

Apart is an action-adventure set in a zombie apocalypse where you play as a zombie yourself. You play as undead girl who has formed a bond with a severed hand, and you must work together to survive in this hostile world where not being a member of the undead will exempt you from being hunting by mindless infected.

Apart is set to launch sometime in the future on PC via Steam.

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I’ll admit it, I’m the guy who side-eyes sequels and especially prequels. Maybe it’s childhood trauma from sitting through the first three Star Wars movies, but prequels and I have never really gotten along.

I don’t know what it is specifically, but the prequels I come across tend to be pointless. Adding nothing to the existing story, or go off in different directions that have no relation to the original stories. That’s where Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy is different.

The deeper I got into the game, the more I realized just how good it really is. The story doesn’t just tag along for the ride; it actually builds on the Plague Tale universe. And Sophia? She plays nothing like Amicia de Rune, which is something I didn’t know I needed so much of.

Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy is like the best recipe from Asobo Studios, mixing in the action vibes of the Tomb Raider reboots and tossing in a dash of early Assassin’s Creed storytelling. The result is that Resonance easily becomes the best Plague Tale game so far.

From the stillness of silent trekking to open-area sword combat, Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy is both similar yet an entirely reenergized overhaul of the Plague Tale we’ve grown to love in all the right ways.

This review was conducted using a pre-release code of Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy provided to Windows Central by Asobo Studios. The company had no input or prior knowledge of its content.

Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy — Story

As I said in the beginning, prequels are very hard to get right. One of the many repeated mistakes I see with prequels is the lack of ties into the story of the main entries. Something substantial has to be there, not just a hook where both main characters once ate at the same diner or some other crap. While I obviously am not the one who’s going to spoil a single second of Resonance’s fantastic storytelling, I will say that the tie-ins are more than sufficient to warrant a prequel.

From the jump, you can feel the Plague Tale DNA pulsing through the game. You step into the shoes of young Sophia, darting through crowds with a frame not much bigger than Hugo de Rune. Her childhood wasn’t great, as growing up in a house of God wasn’t exactly a blessing. The Nuns put her through a gauntlet of injections, sparking nightmares of a mysterious island that sends her father, and eventually herself, on a quest for the reasons behind the dreams.

The deeper she dives, the further her connection with the island grows; a reimagined story of the ancient Greeks’ Minotaur island. The contraptions of Daedalus, Minoan civilization, and the myth of the Minotaur all blend beautifully and terrifyingly with that of the Prima Macula, the main “antagonist” of the Plague Tale series.

That same connection with the island grants her a unique ability to see into the past of Theseus, legendary hero of Greek mythology. These sequences offer a glimpse of new details she may have missed, or of a puzzle that went missing centuries ago.

Both stories unfold over the 10+ chapters of the game, and I was absolutely hooked. I’m an absolute sucker for ancient mythology, and when you add a new take on top of it? Sign me up!

The pacing of Resonance never once felt dull, not even for a moment. Tension was high nearly throughout the game, with quieter moments offering a much-needed respite. Honestly, by and far this is one of the best narrative-driven games I’ve ever played.

My only major plothole was the random intervals of enemies you come across in the game. You’ll enter locked areas that no one has entered for centuries, and that your friends have tried to enter for years.

Finally, with the right equipment, you get inside, only to be met by an army of men that followed you to the island. Their constant invasion into spaces that are otherwise sealed felt beyond odd, but at least I got to kill them all!

Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy — Gameplay

The big kicker with Resonance is the newly added gameplay mechanics that nearly overhaul those of the previous games. Gone are the days of knocking guards out with stones; in are the split-second parry moments of Sophia.

Sophia gets her hands on a bunch of different swords, each with its own twist that bolsters some talent of hers. She can block, and if you time it right, pull off a parry that fills up the enemy’s stun meter. Once that’s maxed out, you can land some seriously heavy hits through the use of Critical Strikes.

Sure, these mechanics don’t sound astonishingly new, but what’s there is incredibly polished. I don’t usually see developers that nail that feel from stealth jump to melee combat with any success, as there always seems to be a specialty that they’re better at. But Asobo Studio has disregarded that notion and succeeded.

They nailed the flow of combat in a way that feels responsive and intuitive throughout the campaign. I never once thought, “Wow, I really wish this worked better, or it wasn’t like this,” which is a rarity for someone like myself who prides their gameplay on Soulslike adventures.

That’s not to say Resonance is some game-changing masterpiece, but it’s very refreshing to see a developer who can deal with opposite genres so well. Some small things that could be improved? Absolutely, but they won’t break the game for anyone.

Things like Sophia’s rope hook feel a little pre-programmed. Like, I know this isn’t Naughty Dog we’re talking about, so I don’t expect Nathan Drake levels of swinging, but I also didn’t expect every rope interaction to be static.

Climbing walls is straight up and down, while swinging from rope hook placements above your head, which there are plenty of, is also fairly static. I feel like this mechanic alone could have been spruced up just a bit, and the world expanded as a result of it.

Take, for example, the puzzles. Clearly, a lot of refinement and effort went into making the puzzles of Resonance more so than any before. Partly because the scope of said puzzles has expanded beyond fire and into the use of more directional-based lighting mechanics.

As you progress, more puzzle mechanics are unlocked, and with that, the equivalent level of difficulty. Resonance does a very good job of providing environmental clues as time goes on without being completely blatant about the solutions (although there’s a clever amount of that as well).

Mirror usage, for example, is pretty frequent, but the ways in which you use mirrors develop over time. Subtle yet noticeable hints lead you in directions of these mechanics without some massive text tutorial spelling it out for you. Even puzzles that aren’t so obvious will see Sophia using her notebook to jot down answers or clues that players can make use of to solve things that aren’t so obvious.

With that said, it wasn’t always perfect. I did think some of the puzzles were either too simple or relied too heavily on using the notebook. For me, it felt like the notebook couldn’t decide whether it wanted to be optional at times or mandatory to use. This makes sense early on (if you play the game, it makes even more sense), but as you progress, it becomes narratively weirder to rely on.

Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy — Performance, graphics, and the world

Yet again, another stellar showing from Asobo Studios. While the worlds of Plague Tale have always been nothing short of beautiful, what the developer has done between the interwoven worlds of Sophia’s present and her linked past is none other than masterful.

The Plague team has always had a special way of depicting worlds on the brink of collapse, but it’s always a pleasure to watch them distribute beautiful environments as well. Much of the Ancient Greek portions are gorgeous to look at, and more often than you’d think, I found myself taking a moment to pause and look over my 4K OLED screen to get a better look at each individual thing on screen.

All of this beauty surely comes at a cost, right? Well, yes, at least if you’re looking to run it at native 4k Ultra settings. But if you’re willing to run things with a little DLSS Quality or Balanced, you’ll be just fine.

The two builds I used were my laptop with a 4060 mobile chip at 1080p, and my main rig, an RTX 5080, 9800X3D, and 64GB of CL30 DDR5 RAM at 4K. For each, I ran at Ultra settings, with DLSS set to either Quality or Balanced, and I don’t recall ever dropping below 60 frames per second. In fact, I played most of the game well above 100 when mixing in a little frame gen.

Yes, I know, “Boo, frame gen sucks!” and I hear you, but hear me out too. Frame gen works rather well when a game is already pushing past 60, and even better when it’s not a twitch shooter. On third-person action games, the difference in smoothness far outweighs the precious sadness over “fake AI frames.”

Note: I did not get a chance to test the Xbox version, but I've been told it targets 60 fps with a dynamic 4k resolution.

Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy — Should you buy it?

Short answer: yes. Long answer: yes. Fully summarized answer: this game isn’t for your normal everyday Call of Duty or Madden player. Games like these are meant to be played by those who are drooling for gorgeous vistas, well-planned puzzle mechanics, and a story that forces you to feel.

Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy is beyond a shadow of a doubt the best entry in the series. Every new title showcases just how far Asobo has come in terms of quality and talent on their team.

I can’t believe I’m already saying this cause this game hasn’t even technically released yet, but I absolutely need a sequel to Plague Tale: Requiem with Amicia, Sophia, and crew. That, or whatever this studio decides to make.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Gamescom 2026 Opening Night Live is over, but the fun is getting started, as Gamescom has tons more video game announcements to make through the Future Games Show livestream.

This event will feature trailers and news updates on over 40 Xbox and PC games like Tides of Annihilation, Onimusha: Way of the Samurai, and much more.

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Here's how you can tune into the Future Games Show at Gamescom so you don't miss out on the reveals live.

Future Games Show at Gamescom 2026: watch times and platforms

Future Games Show at Gamescom will go live on YouTube, Twitch, X, and Steam at the following times:

• August 26, 2026, 10:00 am PDT
• August 26, 2026, 1:00 pm EDT
• August 26, 2026, 6:00 pm BST
• August 26, 2026, 7:00 am CEST

What can we expect to see during the Future Games Show at Gamescom 2026?

The Future Games Show will be showcasing over 40 games (including world premieres on 13 unannounced titles) with several gameplay trailers and developer interviews.

Some of the games confirmed to appear include Capcom's upcoming revival of its classic Onimusha series with Onimusha: Way of the Sword, the indie action-RPG Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault, and the original character-action game based on Arthurian lore, Tides of Annihilation.

Once the Future Games Show concludes, it will be followed by FGS Live, which will feature additional reveals, trailers, and developer interviews on smaller titles like Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2, the sequel to one of my favorite first-person shooters of 2023.

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Frankly I have no idea why it didn't always work this way, but better late than never eh?!

Speaking at Gamescom, Microsoft confirmed that the long-expected disc-to-digital program is going live on Monday for Xbox Insiders, and it works exactly as you would've hoped and expected.

First detailed by Tom Warren at The Verge following datamining leaks, codename "Positron" is a new feature that will be available across Xbox One and Xbox Series X consoles with a disc drive. Simply insert your Xbox physical game disc into a console, and you'll be prompted to redeem a digital version of the game too.

Naturally, it needs to be a game that actually works on Xbox One or Xbox Series X|S. OG Xbox and Xbox 360 discs aren't compatible, since they were never manufactured with digital identifiers in mind.

The digital version will have all the same benefits as any other digital Xbox copy of a game: Xbox Play Anywhere support, meaning access on an Xbox Ally handheld or Windows PC and support for Xbox Cloud Gaming. If you console share with a family member, they'll also get access to the license via your account. Once you've activated the digital version, you won't need the disc to play the game. However, the disc you used doesn't become inert — it still contains the digital license, too.

Just like sharing a physical game in the real world, if you sell or give the disc away, the digital license will then transfer to the Microsoft Account of the new user, and off your account.

The system will go live for Xbox Insiders on Monday will support for "thousands" of games, sources tell me. Microsoft plans to roll out support for more discs over time as it refines and polishes the service, although it seems that some discs may be incompatible due to how they were manufactured at the time.

It's unclear if PlayStation will be able to replicate this feature on PS4 and PS5. Indeed, it's an awkward discussion right now potentially, given that Sony recently announced that it is phasing out disc-based games entirely to a visceral backlash.

Microsoft still hasn't really put its mark on the debate, although sources tell me it's less about the discs and more about the disc drives themselves; the entire supply chain for the components required to make optical disc drives is collapsing, with assembly lines pivoting away from the tech as users actively opt for digital-only.

Microsoft has also been actively building out Xbox game emulation on PC as well, with planned support for all Xbox 360 games, and potentially Xbox One and above in the future too. It's great, in my view, that Xbox is offering some sort of exit for those with digital collections — it remains to be seen if those on other platforms will be so lucky.

It'll be interesting to see how they navigate the inevitable phase out with the next-gen Xbox Helix as well, as users call on Xbox to take a different path to PlayStation.

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Microsoft Whiteboard is a popular tool for collaboration and jotting notes. Soon, some users will lose access to the app, but the exact cutoff date has shifted.

This week, Microsoft sent a message outlining the new timeline for the retirement of legacy whiteboards:

"Microsoft Whiteboard is retiring legacy whiteboards and the standalone app. Migration to OneDrive-backed whiteboards must be completed by September 25, 2026. Legacy whiteboards will be deleted October 16, 2026, and the standalone app deprecated November 30, 2026. Users must migrate or export content before these dates."

Microsoft is moving storage for Microsoft Whiteboard to OneDrive for Business. Because of that migration, those using personal accounts will lose access to any saved content. Microsoft gave people a short period to upgrade to Microsoft 365 for Business, migrate to other tools, or back up content, but personal users now have a bit more time to make a decision and act.

The new key dates were emphasized by Microsoft:

• September 25, 2026
  • Migration tooling for legacy enterprise whiteboards is retired.
  • Users with personal Microsoft accounts can no longer create or edit whiteboards.
• October 16, 2026 - Legacy whiteboards are permanently deleted.
• November 30, 2026 - The standalone Microsoft Whiteboard app is deprecated.

Retirement of personal accounts and the migration of business accounts were originally set for August 22, 2026. Viewing and exporting was going to be supported until September 5, 2026. Microsoft has pushed back the deadlines significantly.

Early voting in our poll about whiteboard apps suggests that Microsoft Whiteboard is quite popular. Currently, 54 percent of participants list Microsoft Whiteboard as their preferred whiteboard app.

With Microsoft forcing out personal users of the app, many will have to look elsewhere. If you need a whiteboard app that focuses on offline use, I recommend Markerpad. Miro is a better alternative for those who need to collaborate.

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After Xbox's controversial 'reset' that laid off over 3,000 people and rumors of State of Decay 3 not coming to Xbox Game Pass flying about, fans of the long-awaited zombie survival game were starting to panic and think State of Decay 3 was going to be canceled.

Thankfully, Microsoft has laid all the doom and gloom to rest as it has announced on Xbox Wire that State of Decay 3 is still coming to Xbox Game Pass.

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On top of that, Microsoft has also announced that State of Decay 3 will be hosting closed beta tests before the end of 2026, which players can register for right now on the official State of Decay 3 website.

It will feature the largest map in a State of Decay game to date with untethered multiplayer, allow more people to join than the previous alpha tests, and incorporate gameplay improvements based on feedback players made during the alpha tests.

Windows Central's take

State of Decay 3 is the latest entry in the popular State of Decay series, where players band together in online multiplayer to survive the zombie apocalypse by scavenging for weapons and building settlements to hide in.

While I never played these games myself, I know my colleague, Jez Corden, absolutely loved State of Decay 2 despite its launch-day issues and has been waiting for its sequel for nearly a decade now.

So I'm betting he and many other zombie game fans are happy to see State of Decay 3 survive Xbox's recent mass culling and is continuing to press on for its eventual release in 2027 for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox Game Pass, Xbox on PC, and Xbox Cloud Gaming with Xbox Play Anywhere support.

Stay tuned for further updates as we continue this highly anticipated zombie survival game that refuses to die before it sees the light of day.

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Are we on the cusp of a turn-based tactics renaissance? After playing Star Wars Zero Company on Xbox for a few dozen hours over the past couple of weeks, I absolutely want to believe it.

Star Wars Zero Company is from Bit Reactor, made up of XCOM and Firaxis alumni. The studio partnered with Respawn and EA, who are stewarding the Star Wars license for Disney through the oft-treacherous universe of gaming. Respawn and EA, I would argue, have more than done the license justice over the years. Jedi Fallen Order, Battlefront 2, and even Star Wars: The Old Republic have all performed incredibly well, even as Disney itself struggles with the universe on the silver screen.

Indeed, I admit I've had some of my own "Star Wars fatigue" given Disney's handling of some of the movies and shows. Disney spent a ton on the property, but in their haste to capitalize on it, they've probably done more harm than good.

It was my fandom of XCOM rather than Star Wars that drove my intrigue in Zero Company. If Take-Two no longer wants to make XCOM games, then Bit Reactor spun up a new studio to carry the torch. And Force be damned, carry it they did.

Star Wars Zero Company is truly phenomenal. Bit Reactor threw a lot of the rules out of the window building this game, delivering a cinematic "AAA" experience that is rarely associated with the isometric turn-based tactical genre. You can expect an authentic Star Wars experience here, complete with a crew of interesting characters from all sorts of galactic species, wrapped in an original plot that runs concurrent to the famed Clone Wars.

Here's why Star Wars Zero Company is an essential play for fans of turn-based tactics, and something well-worthy of consideration for Star Wars stalwarts.

Star Wars Zero Company launches on August 27, 2026, for Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and PC. This review was primarily conducted on Xbox Series X with a code provided by EA.

Star Wars Zero Company: Art and Performance

Star Wars Zero Company follows a familiar formula for those who have played XCOM, given the pedigree of those who worked on both properties. The gameplay primarily revolves around isometric turn-based battles, with a grid-based cover system and squad-oriented combat mechanics. However, Zero Company goes a little bit further than most within this genre.

Given the Star Wars property, Bit Reactor has poured a ton of work into making Zero Company seem truly cinematic. This required ditching the rulebook to some degree, and giving the player the ability to explore the environments up close and personal. It also required a similarly cinematic story, with detailed character models that meet modern expectations.

Typically XCOM-style games straddle a stylized presentation, given the de-emphasis on story content and zoomed-out camera, but Zero Company defies this convention. The environments and lighting are immaculate and authentically Star Wars, with impressive explosion and smoke effects, in heavily destructible, dynamic combat spaces.

The game runs at a solid 60 FPS on Xbox Series X even with many, many units on screen. You'll see some dips at times when there's huge amounts of volumetric smoke popping off, but there's rarely an issue.

My only real complaint on the performance front pertains to calculation glitches that seem to be a staple of the genre in some ways. Sometimes the enemy AI can get stuck in loops in some scenarios, unable to actually take their turn. It's an issue that I've seen in various incarnations of this genre, whether it's XCOM, Gears Tactics, WH40K: Mechanicus, and beyond. Usually these kinds of issues get patched out over time, and Zero Company does have a turn-based autosave function, but it's not ideal in situations where you can lose progress. I also did have a couple of hard crashes even after the day one patch, so more polish is probably warranted. But it's hardly a deal breaker, and issues are definitively rare.

Overall, Zero Company is a generally technically impressive game. The art delivery is exactly what you'd expect from Respawn Entertainment's era of Star Wars games, with tons of little details and easter eggs Star Wars fans will appreciate. The digital acting is excellent, and the explorable environments between battles are also engaging and immersive. I would argue Zero Company has raised the bar and expectations for the genre as a result.

Star Wars Zero Company: Story

I did not expect to be sitting here thinking of comparing a turn-based tactics game to the likes of Mass Effect for story delivery, but here we are.

Star Wars Zero Company absolutely rose to the occasion with regards to story treatment, given expectations around the legendary sci-fi license.

Players take the reins of Hawks, a disgraced former Republic captain, dishonorably discharged in a military stitch-up of sorts. Hawks sets up a mercenary band to make ends meet, although his team, Zero Company, has fallen upon hard times. And hard debt, owing thousands of credits to the Hutt clan.

It's only when an exiled noble, Jae, and a Republic Intelligence officer show up on his doorstep that things begin to look up. At least, comparatively speaking. Early on, Hawks finds himself running afoul of a new galactic faction, known as The Coil. Infected with some mysterious, psionic space virus, Coil members form into some sort of hive mind, intent on spreading their deadly cult. The Coil has already threatened various planets in Republic space, but the Clone Wars are in full swing, and resources are stretched thin. Perhaps some outsourcing might help?

Republic Intelligence offers Hawks' band a deal he can't refuse, but the investigation into The Coil quickly becomes personal.

Without spoiling too much, the early stages of the game really did give me a Mass Effect vibe, particularly so in Mass Effect 2, in the most complimentary way possible. You're chasing a mysterious threat that kidnaps citizens, all while gathering a menagerie of mercenaries from all walks of alien life, with all sorts of different motivations. There are even loyalty-style missions that offer deeper insights into the various characters, complete with unique scenarios and unlockable story sequences that can also boost character prowess in combat.

Typically, I play these types of games for the infectious tactical gameplay and gradual sense of progression, but Zero Company was the first where I found myself playing specifically for the story.

I would've liked Zero Company to have been a little bit on the more "mature" side, given the espionage angle and coming off the back of Star Wars: Andor, but that's perhaps just personal preference. The Coil is a genuinely interesting threat, and the adjacency with the events of the Clone Wars is woven expertly in such a way that it doesn't interfere with established lore, but still makes for nostalgic moments and fan-service scenes that are truly delightful.

Thankfully, the gameplay itself is also top-notch.

Star Wars Zero Company: Gameplay

The last pure XCOM-style tactics game I played before this was Gears Tactics, and as much as I did enjoy it, it was clearly limited by the scope of the Gears in-universe tech. Given the diversity of weapons, technology, abilities, and enemy types in the Star Wars universe; Zero Company absolutely does not have this issue. There are so many options in Zero Company that you're often too spoiled for choice.

In Zero Company, you create your own character with a variety of alien races, clothes, and cosmetics to choose from; you're then able to choose a basic archetype class. These seem deceptively simple to start with, stuff like highly-ranged Sniper, advantage-seeking Scoundrel, and general-purpose Assault-type classes, and so on. However, as you level up, unlock focus points, equip different mods, weapons, accessories, and bond skills — depth ramps up quickly. And that's before we talk about hero character-specific abilities.

Indeed, beyond the basic archetypes and custom-created mercs you can make, Hawks will meet some very powerful characters along the way, fitting famed Star Wars roles. A Jedi padawan deserter signs up, alongside a jetpack-wielding Mandalorian. A Disney-approved new alien named Kabb is always on task to uppercut enemies across the map, too. Each of these heroes has unique and powerful abilities that can set up satisfying kill zones when the right conditions align.

Many XCOM-style staples return, such as overwatch scanning zones, melee knockback attacks, and so on. Star Wars Zero Company changes it up with advantage points, which allow squaddies to use more powerful abilities. As you rack up kills, you'll be able to spend advantage points on things like a powerful Jedi area knock back shockwave, an extreme-range guaranteed crit sniper shot, and an electrifying taser stun gun.

You can switch between party members at any time, too, so you'll want to make sure they're positioned to complement each other well. Some passives let characters take extra shots in some conditions, for example. So you'll want them in line of sight to take advantage of that. You're also able to do things like Force-push enemies off ledges and into overwatch fields for extra shots, and call upon allies to back you up when you attack with their own follow-up shots.

Zero Company also tasks you with upgrading and maintaining your mercenary "den" between missions. Ensuring that you have a proper arsenal of powerful weapons, complementary equipment like grenades, and facilities like a med bay for healing injuries is paramount.

I've been playing through on normal difficulty so far, and have found the game to be a decidedly addictive experience. It doesn't reach the stakes of XCOM's panic-inducing time-limit mechanics, but you can ramp up the difficulty and turn on character perma-death and "beskar mode," which is Zero Company's ironman no-save scumming mode. Every decision is final. And yes, even major story characters can die here.

Star Wars Zero Company is simply a top-shelf XCOM-styled game, well worthy of the genre's legacy, and arguably the best we've seen from the medium in a very long time.

Star Wars Zero Company: Conclusion

Star Wars Zero Company is one of those rare games where I found myself grinning ear-to-ear (something I rarely do these days, frankly). Whether it was the nostalgic nods to Clone Wars events and even obscure Star Wars lore, pulling off kill sequences that made me feel smart (even though I'm not), or the various surprises and little details Bit Reactor weaved throughout the game — Star Wars Zero Company is a true delight.

If you don't like XCOM-style games like Gears Tactics, Final Fantasy Tactics, Midnight Suns, and so on, Star Wars Zero Company likely isn't going to do much to change your mind. It leans into that genre incredibly hard, at least on the gameplay side.

Where Zero Company changes it up is in the cinematic, character-driven story that feels every bit as deserving of a place among some of Star Wars' greatest video game tales. The characters are as interesting as they are fun to be around, making it all the more painful if you find one of them perma-killed by an ill-thought-out plan.

There's perhaps more Zero Company could've done to mitigate the genre's long-standing foibles. My attention-addled mind is less tolerant of things like waiting for the AI to catch up, or turn-based tooltips and messages to play out. I'm not sure why some abilities can't run concurrently, or enemies can't take attacks more quickly at times.

I also think Zero Company could've benefitted from leaning more towards Andor's darker tone rather than the family-friendly Clone Wars movies, given the likely age range of the turn-based tactics demographic (we're old, guys). But none of my personal preferences undermine what Bit Reactor has crafted here: Star Wars Zero Company is a banger, and I absolutely hope we see more of Hawks' squad in the future.

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Stop me if you've heard this before: The latest PowerToys update adds a utility that should be baked into Windows 11. It's one of those features that feels like a natural extension of your PC. Using it is so seamless, in fact, that after a while you may forget that the utility is part of PowerToys rather than just part of Windows 11.

The above situation happens a lot with PowerToys. Tools like Color Picker, CursorWrap, and PowerDisplay integrate perfectly with Windows 11 and offer features millions of people would benefit from. The latest addition to PowerToys, Window Hopper, falls into the same category.

PowerToys just received an update that adds a new utility and improves what was already one of the best apps on Windows 11. PowerToys v0.101.2362.0 adds Window Hopper, a feature that's basically Alt + Tab but for switching between instances of a specific app.

You can activate Window Hopper by pressing Alt + backtick (that's the ` in the upper-left corner of your keyboard). Holding Alt and pressing backtick again cycles you through any open windows of the same app you're already in.

You can also customize the shortcut for Window Hopper through the settings page in PowerToys.

For example, if you live in your browser and keep a bunch of windows open, you can swap between them without having to Alt + Tab across all of your other apps. Window Hopper works with any app that can have multiple windows open, including File Explorer.

I use separate browser windows for research, writing, Airtable, and Slack. I often have to snap these side-by-side or group them together. But being able to cycle between just the browser windows through a keyboard shortcut changes my workflow.

As is usually the case, the full change log for the latest PowerToys update is massive. It details Window Hopper, the improvements to the update experience, the compact version of Command Palette, and much more.

Rather than rehash that all here, I'll point you to the official GitHub page for PowerToys. I wanted to specifically highlight Window Hopper because it's one of those utilities that I used once and immediately knew would be a part of my workflow.

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Gamescom 2026 Opening Night Live was packed with non-stop gameplay trailers. One of the longest was an extended gameplay reveal for Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons, set to launch in 2027 for Xbox Series X|S (with Xbox Play Anywhere support), PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store.

This upcoming action-RPG is, as you might expect, set in the Dungeons & Dragons universe. After watching this intriguing trailer, it's shaping up to be the biggest AAA video game adaptation of the franchise since Baldur's Gate 3.

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Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons has you assume the role of Kaatri, a Warlock who made a dark pact with an ancient witch named Tasha to gain the power to find someone precious to her that she lost.

To accomplish her mission, Kaatri must feed on raw magic throughout the forgotten realms, discover and master forbidden spells, rituals, and weapons, and battle her way through hordes of monsters infesting the Mists of Darkon.

As seen in the trailer, you will have a ton of magic spells at your disposal, and you will decide which ones are best employed for exploration, puzzle solving, and combat.

Windows Central's take

As someone who spent many years playing the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop RPG, Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons is looking promising even in its early stages of development.

Most of the iconic spells of the Warlock's kits from the tabletop RPG have been faithfully recreated in this game, from the laser-spewing Eldritch Blast, the telekinetic Mage Hand, and the shadowy Tentacle of the Deeps, to name a few.

It even shows a sequence where the player is casting a ritual to summon rain by sacrificing rare materials to make the environment and enemies more susceptible to lightning attacks.

If the developers can polish up its graphics and performance, and show off more insane spells from the Warlock's kit, this could be a great game for action-RPG and D&D fans alike, especially for those who like playing games on the go on the Xbox Ally since this game is getting Xbox Play Anywhere support.

Games getting Xbox Play Anywhere support seem to be happening more often these days, as twelve games shown at the Gamescom 2026 Opening Night Live event are receiving it (as confirmed by IdleSloth at X), including The Witcher 3, which is getting a free remaster upgrade.

Either way, we'll keep an eye out for future developments on Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons to see if the final product's performance earns the Xbox Play Anywhere blessing.

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Gamescom 2026: Opening Night Live has wrapped up, and one of its biggest announcements was the reveal of a new trailer for Final Fantasy VII: Revelation, the final chapter of the Final Fantasy VII Remake series.

This trailer was a cinematic and gameplay montage showcasing the terrible might of the Weapons, a group of giant monsters created to defend the planet from dire threats and serve as the game's ultimate challenges both in the story and end-game content.

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The trailer also shows gameplay footage of the Job class 'FITS' system in action as Tifa uses Black Mage powers to fire fireballs and summon a called Typhon, grappling hook and chocobo mounts, open-world exploration, and even the return of the Submarine battle mini-games from the original Final Fantasy VII.

Windows Central's take

When I was a kid watching my brother play the original Final Fantasy VII in the 1990s, one of the things that left the biggest impression on me was the Weapons.

They were the first Godzilla-sized monsters I've ever seen in fiction, and they looked so much cooler to me as a kid than Sephiroth ever was (and to some extent still do as an adult), despite having no personality beyond smashing humans to pieces for ruining the planet.

Not to mention they served as the hardest boss fights in the original game that required insane party compositions, builds, and strategies to defeat. So I'm hoping that these new versions in Final Fantasy VII: Revelations will end up being just as hard or even harder to compensate for the new action-RPG combat system.

Either way, I can't wait to fight these monstrosities again when Final Fantasy VII: Revelations launches during the Spring of 2027 for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 1/2, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store.

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Gamescom 2026 is in full swing, and there's already a bunch of big wins emerging for Xbox.

My Gears of War: E-Day campaign preview just went live (and it looks amazing), a metric ton of Gamescom titles just got revealed for Xbox, and we have even more goodies being announced throughout the week (stay tuned for tomorrow ...). But, here's a personal big win that I'm very excited about.

The Witcher 3 is inarguably one of the best games ever made, and it's getting a big remaster version on September 29, 2026, and is also COMPLETELY FREE for users who own the existing game.

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"Remastered is a free upgrade for players who own The Witcher 3 on GOG, Steam, Epic Games Store, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S, and includes both Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine expansions. It is also available for pre-purchase on Battle.net and Nintendo Switch 2."

Update: I missed this part on the initial write up, but yes, The Witcher 3 is also coming to Microsoft and Blizzard's Battle.net. It's part of a wider initiative to open up Battle.net to third-party developers so I'm told, which we should hear more about at BlizzCon 2026 in September. Stay tuned for that one.

Furthermore, CD Projekt RED revealed in the small print that it also grabs Xbox Play Anywhere support, finally bridging the gap between Xbox Series X|S and Xbox Ally versions. It'll also get FSR 4.0 support on the Xbox Ally X, giving it massively improved performance.

Here's just some of the changes you can expect in the free update:

• Improved combat flow, with new finishing moves and skills.
• Boosted traversal with more intelligent and dynamic vaulting, platforming, etc.
• Overhauled visuals, with improved lighting and spell effects.
• Improved monster AI, giving them new moves of their own.
• Revamped horse riding.
• A complete Cyberpunk 2077-style overhaul of the skill tree.
• Armor transmogrification.
• Improved photo mode.
• A variety of other smaller enhancements, such as boosted looting systems, UI interactions, tutorial modernization, HDR improvements, lighting overhaul, Xbox Play Anywhere, and more.
• DLSS 4.5, AMD FSR 4.0 (great for Xbox Ally), Path Tracing on high-end systems, raytraced hair (wtf?), and more visual features.

Witcher 3 expansion "Songs of the Past" gets teased, too!

CD Projekt RED also recently announced that The Witcher 4 is slated for 2028, with yet another Witcher 3 expansion slated for later in 2027.

Additionally, CD Projekt RED also showed off the first teaser trailer for the third and final Witcher 3 DLC, titled "Songs of the Past."

"This full-fledged third expansion takes the White Wolf on a new adventure to the peaceful realm of Letten, where dark secrets lurk beneath the surface… Coming in 2027."

In the trailer, we catch a glimpse at a new hook-like tool Geralt has for pulling in enemies, as well as twisted nature-oriented enemies.

CD Projekt RED has been over-delivering almost none-stop since Cyberpunk 2077's launch, which disappointed users on PS4 and Xbox One owing to its performance. Fast forward half a decade, and Cyberpunk 2077 was fully revived and revamped, it had an award-winning TV show, and now we're getting an absolute mountain of free content for Witcher 3, the game that helped CD Projekt RED claim its top spot at the RPG pile.

Witcher 4 and Cyberpunk 2 are deep in development as well, and there's every reason to think they too will continue CD Projekt RED's path towards legendary status.

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Gears of War is having something of a renaissance right now, as The Coalition go all out to put the franchise back on the map.

Gears has been one of the most consistent Xbox staples in the brand's history, popularizing the third-person shooter genre with its gritty storytelling and bleak world. Gears 4 and 5 experimented away from the formula a bit, and perhaps got lost in the weeds in some ways as they sought to give the franchise new footing. After a successful Gears of War: E-Day beta event, increasingly it's looking like the key to Gears' future may, in fact, lie in the past.

Recently, I was lucky enough to go hands-on with two missions from Gears of War: E-Day's campaign, set during the initial attacks from the vile Locust swarm.

E-Day follows a younger Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago, worn down already from a major civil war that society had only just begun to recover from. Then, subterranean horrors emerged from the ground, bringing with them a whole host of terrifying war beasts and brutal makeshift weaponry in a legendary surprise attack that would eventually leave humanity on the brink of extinction.

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E-Day is about those early years, and if the full game is even close to as good as what I experienced last week, Gears of War: E-Day could cement its place as the best Gears of War story in history.

A painstakingly detailed, reactive world

The original Gears of War is very much a product of its time, but also its setting. The game is essentially post-apocalyptic, taking place years after E-Day, with much of civilization already reduced to grey-brown ash and ruins.

Given that Gears of War: E-Day takes place at the very start of the war, The Coalition had to approach it like it is: a very different beast, ultimately. The stakes are far higher; there are still survivors running around, trapped in their homes, and The Coalition weaves that bleak reality into every pixel of E-Day's presentation and gameplay.

Taking place in the town of Kalona, the levels I experienced are right up there with the most painstakingly detailed urban environments I've experienced this gen. It feels less like it's designed specifically as a gameplay canvas, and more like it's designed to feel lived in. The Coalition absolutely delivered here, while still sneakily dotting the map with chest-high (and now shin-high) walls to hide behind with its dynamic cover system.

If you played Gears of War's Siege mode beta, you might already have some idea of what I'm talking about with regard to environmental detail. Car tires puncture and deflate under gunfire, windows shatter, and cover deforms, giving E-Day a sense of life that was missing from the older games.

The town is full of storefronts and interiors, without even a whiff of copy-and-paste. Gears' campaign seems to connect linear segments into wider areas, complete with a mapping tool that was reminiscent of Silent Hill's own. Marcus will sketch notes and routes on the map as you move, which opens up exploration opportunities and side objectives for unlocking weapon mods and equipment for your loadout, as well as lore-enriching collectibles.

It's still unmistakably Gears, complete with a rough prototype chainsaw lancer machine gun, canned execution animations, atop a more dynamic cover system. But it also feels fresh in a way that many franchises struggle with several games deep. I dare say The Coalition cooked here.

A darker, more desperate tone

Gears of War: E-Day is every bit as violent as the previous games, although I feel like we're getting more up close and personal with the reptilian Locust than ever before.

I mentioned stakes in the intro, but there's a keen sense of vulnerability for a C.O.G. that has been caught with its collective pants down — NPCs are seen fleeing the warzone, being gunned down (or worse) in cold blood, as wretches screech through, devouring up the remains.

This first wave of Locust is chaotic and visceral, armed with the ballistic equivalent of axes and clubs intent on murdering anything and everything with a human pulse. The top brass have no idea what's going on. One day, everyone woke up to murderous, hungry monsters writhing out of the ground, and E-Day leans hard into that dark fantasy.

Marcus' self-assured stoicism hasn't fully hardened in E-Day; that sense of inexperience is oddly exposing, giving E-Day a tangible sense of vulnerability. The Coalition uses the game's side objectives to tell short stories within the game's world as well, giving you opportunities to see how regular civilians are being slaughtered en masse in the Locust feeding frenzy. It's an extension of the side-objectives system The Coalition seemed to explore a bit in Gears 5, although I'd argue it makes a lot more sense in E-Day's dense urban climbs. It doesn't rely on vehicular traversal, which arguably tripped up the game's pacing a bit in 5, and there are fewer engine limitations on injecting new areas on the fly.

Speaking of the engine, I think Gears of War: E-Day is probably the most visually impressive game I've played so far this gen. The Coalition are without a doubt the masters of Unreal Engine, perhaps surpassing Epic Games itself. The visual density, the lighting quality, the detailing, all while running at 60 FPS in an inexplicably crisp resolution, demand wonder and immersion like few other developers can muster.

The visuals and music delivery make Gears of War: E-Day's darkly cinematic presentation all the more evocative as you scrape through the blood-soaked streets of cities that are undoubtedly in the process of total destruction.

The Coalition takes Gears to the next level with total and complete confidence

There's little room for hope in Gears of War: E-Day. We all know the conclusion. But for the first time, we're going to experience that hopelessness firsthand.

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Right after playing through the E-Day campaign preview, I loaded up the original Gears of War to do a direct comparison. It's easy to forget sometimes just how far we've come in terms of visuals, presentation, gameplay fidelity, and general polish. It's also easy to fill in the blanks with your imagination — that's practically what we had to do back in the day, playing games at 480p.

The Coalition and other developers working on legacy franchises have some of the toughest jobs in the business. How can you deliver experiences that compete with our nostalgia-tinted imagination? How can you exceed expectations that are, in part, misremembered through fragments of fading memories?

The Coalition's answer seems to be: "you have to over-deliver."

If Gears of War: E-Day's full campaign offers the kind of quality I experienced last week throughout — I'm confident it'll not only be remembered as the best entry in the franchise ... Gears: E-Day could also represent the starting point for a new decade of an Xbox dominated by The Coalition.

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Microsoft has published a new blog post celebrating significant progress around the Windows on Arm platform over the last year. The company is excited to welcome NVIDIA to the Windows on Arm family with its RTX Spark SoC later this year, joining the Qualcomm Snapdragon X platform and solidifying the Windows on Arm platform as here to stay.

"The market is sending a clear signal: more silicon providers and more OEM partners are investing in Windows on Arm because customer demand is growing for these powerful and efficient Windows devices and experiences," says Klaus Diaconu, Partner Director at Microsoft. "In the fall of 2026, devices from Microsoft Surface, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and MSI will be available [with RTX Spark.]"

In addition to highlighting silicon and hardware makers bringing Windows on Arm to market, Microsoft is also excited to spotlight Windows apps that are now available on the Arm platform, including STEM and education apps, security apps, productivity apps, creativity apps, entertainment and media apps.

"Productivity apps remain the cornerstone of how people get work done on Windows. Whether managing projects, collaborating with teammates, organizing information, or communicating across teams, these apps are essential to our customers’ daily work. The growing list of productivity apps now available reflects both customer demand and increasing momentum from developers building with Arm as a first-class Windows platform."

Some of the highlights include apps like Sharex, Proton Mail, Signal, Discord, FxSound, and more. In fact, Microsoft says there are now over 7,000 compatible Windows on Arm apps being tracked on the "Works on WOA" website, which the company recommends as a comprehensive source for app compatibility information.

While most mainstream apps are now natively supported on Arm, there are still Windows apps that don't yet have an Arm native version. With the Windows Prism emulation layer, these apps still run on Windows on Arm, and on the latest Arm PCs they feel native thanks to improvements to performance from both the silicon and software.

"Windows on Arm is no longer defined by potential, but by a rapidly expanding ecosystem of devices with apps available across workloads that customers depend on most," Microsoft states. "As developers continue to invest in Arm-native experiences and compatibility, customers gain more choices, flexibility, and confidence in adopting the next generation of Windows devices."

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Gamescom 2026 has arrived, and it's bringing with it a tidal wave of exciting Xbox and PC game announcements, courtesy of its Opening Night Live ceremony.

The event has just concluded, so we're rounding up every major new game reveal, gameplay demonstration, cinematic trailer, and news update for upcoming games shown at the ceremony for your viewing convenience.

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Where and how you can watch Gamescom 2026 Opening Night Live

To watch Gamescom 2026 Opening Night Live or rewatch its VOD, you will have to tune into Gamescom's YouTube and Twitch channels.

All Xbox and PC games shown at Gamescom 2026 Opening Night Live

Here is where you will find all the game announcements from Gamescom 2026 Opening Night Live, with links to their trailers, short synopses of what they are, and what we know of their release dates, platforms, and more.

We'll be updating this post live as the event happens so be sure to keep refreshing to stay on top of the latest announcements.

Nodus Fall

The show kicks off with Nodus Fall, a new co-op action game produced by Genshin Impact creators, Hoyoverse. In this game, you and three other players take on the role of Weavers and set forth on a perilous journey to defeat mythical gods and monsters in a ruined world.

Rainbow Six Tactics

Rainbow Six Tactics is an XCOM-like tactics game where you dispatch the iconic Operators of the Rainbow Six franchise across the world to dispatch terrorist threats.

The game is set to release in 2027.

Gears of War: E-Day

Gears of War: E-Day shows more cutscenes of its highly anticipated single-player campaign in a new cinematic trailer. This latest chapter in the iconic third-person shooter series launches exclusively on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC, and Xbox Game Pass on October 6, 2026.

Ananta

Ananta is an upcoming open-world urban RPG with an anime art style where the player must protect humanity from destruction by the forces of Chaos.

It showed off a new gameplay demo trailer at Gamescom, which confirms that the game will release on January 15, 2027, for PC, PlayStation 5, and mobile devices.

Silent Hill: Townfall

Next up we have a new, cryptic trailer for Silent Hill: Townfall, a new entry in the legendary survival horror series where the player must navigate through the island of St. Amelia to uncover dark mysteries and avoid getting killed by horrifying monsters.

Silent Hill: Townfall is set to release on September 24, 2026, for PC and PlayStation 5.

Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy

Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy, an upcoming action-adventure game, shows off a new trailer of the main character struggling to survive and unravel the secrets of the Minotaur island.

This game is set to release on August 27, 2026, for Xbox Series X|S, PC, and PlayStation 5.

Sea of Remnants

Sea of Remnants is an upcoming, free-to-play action-RPG where you roam the seas as puppetfolk pirates in search of glory and treasure.

The game is set to release in 2026 for Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5, and it's latest gameplay trailer confirms that the game is open for pre-registering.

Crimson Desert

The hit open-world RPG, Crimson Desert, has announced a new Enhanced Edition, which will feature all of the game's post-launch updates, expanded voice-overs and subtitles, and new story moments.

The game is available for purchase on Xbox Series X|S, PC, and PlayStation 5.

The Blood of Dawnwalker

The Blood of Dawnwalker, the upcoming open-world action-RPG made by former CD Projekt Red developers, has released a new launch trailer ahead of its September 3, 2026, release on Xbox Series X|S, PC, and PlayStation 5.

In this game, you play as Coen, a Dawnwalker vampire struggling to control his hunger for human blood while protecting his family from evil vampires. You will explore a dark fantasy world, make tough choices, and battle enemies in visceral combat using vampiric powers.

Lofsong

Lofsong is a brand new and strange puzzle-adventure game where you explore a post-apocalyptic Earth to uncover the last remnants of our fallen civilization without the aid of dialogue or a map.

Lofsong is currently scheduled to release on Xbox Series X|S, PC, and PlayStation 5.

Tides of Annihilation

Tides of Annihilation is an upcoming character-action game based on Arthurian legend. Its latest trailer shows off more of its story and gameplay, where Gwendolyn must travel with the Knights of the Round Table on a quest to restore a ruined world to its former glory.

The game is set to release sometime in the future for Xbox Series X|S, PC, and PlayStation 5 and is now available for wishlisting.

Mega Man: Dual Override

Mega Man: Dual Override is a brand new entry in Capcom's classic side-scrolling Mega Man franchise, and we've gotten a glimpse of its gameplay in a new trailer as the iconic Blue Bomber once again strives to save the day from the evil Dr. Wily.

Mega Man: Dual Override is set to release in 2027 on Xbox Series X|S, PC, Nintendo Switch 1/2, and PlayStation 5.

Rayman Legends Retold

The upcoming remake of the critically-acclaimed Rayman Legends shows off its insane platforming gameplay with a trailer showcasing its Macarena Music Level.

Rayman Legends Retold is set to launch on October 1, 2026, for Xbox Series X|S, PC, Nintendo Switch 1/2, and PlayStation 5.

Game of Thrones: War for Westeros 

Game of Thrones: War for Westeros is an upcoming real-time strategy game based on the long-running Games of Thromes book series where you be commanding the setting's various faction to dominate the land in an epic single-player campaign or intense multiplayer PVP skirmishes.

Game of Thrones: War for Westeros is set to release in early 2027 for PC.

Control Resonant

The hack-and-slash follow-up to the critically acclaimed action-adventure game, Control, has released a new gameplay trailer showcasing more of its otherworldly setting and bombastic combat system set to music by the classic electronic band, The Prodigy.

Control Resonant is scheduled to release on September 24, 2026, for Xbox Series X|S, PC, and PlayStation 5.

Exodus

Exodus is an upcoming action-adventure where you are tasked with exploring the galaxy for Celestial technology to help ensure mankind's future after they fled a dying Earth.

Its latest trailer showcases its third-person gunplay, sci-fi setting, and an intriguing party named Salt, who is literally an octopus riding a mech suit.

Exodus is set to release on April 7, 2027, for Xbox Series X|S, PC, and PlayStation 5.

Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons

Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons is an upcoming third-person action game set within the universe of the legendary Dungeons & Dragons universe. This Gamescom trailer gives us a 6-minute extended gameplay demo how the player will wield the dark powers of a Warlock to explore the world and slay the monsters of the Forgotten Realms.

Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons is set to release in 2026 for Xbox Series X|S, PC, and PlayStation 5.

1001 Threads of Mizan

1001 Threads of Mizan is a brand new, original 3-player co-op action game where the players must work together to defeat towering beasts and monsters in a world inspired by One Thousand and One Nights (a.k.a. Arabian Nights).

1001 Threads of Mizan is set to launch sometime in the future for Xbox Series X|S, PC, Nintendo Switch 1/2, and PlayStation 5.

Metro 2039

Metro 2039, the latest entry in the grimdark Metro franchise, has revealed more of its gritty setting, its tough-as-nails survival gameplay in the first-person, and some of the horrifying men and monsters you will encounter in this post-apocalyptic world.

Metro 2039 is set to launch in February 2027 for Xbox Series X|S, PC, and PlayStation 5.

Silver Palace - House of Greed

Silver Palace is an upcoming action-RPG where you play as a detective solving mysteries in a Victorian-like setting while battling ancient horrors and mysterious beings. It will also feature a survival horror-like multiplayer mode called House of Greed.

Silver Palace is set to release sometime in the future for PC and PlayStation 5.

Gravhounds

Gravhounds is a 4-player co-op action builder where you play as humanoid dogs fighting on hostile worlds to extract their resources and fight off any pesky aliens looking to stop your mining operations.

Gravhounds is set to release via early access in 2026 for Xbox Series X|S and PC.

No Law

No Law is a first-person shooter where you play as Grey Harker, an ex-soldier struggling to survive in a dangerous, dystopian cyber-noir city where no laws exist.

No Law is set to launch in 2027 for Xbox Series X|S, PC, and PlayStation 5.

Cinder City

Cinder City is a new tactical shooter where the player must explore a ruined, near-future version of Seoul and protect humanity from ravenous monsters and maniacal villains.

Metro 2039 is set to launch in February 2027 for Xbox Series X|S, PC, and PlayStation 5 and is now available for wishlisting.

ONTOS

ONTOS is a new dark sci-fi adventure game made by the creators of classic horror games such as Amnesia: The Dark Descent and SOMA. In this game, you are exploring a repurposed moon hotel called Samsara to uncover your father's past while making sure you don't lose your mind as reality has begun fracturing within this hotel.

ONTOS is set to launch in 2027 for Xbox Series X|S, PC, and PlayStation 5.

DUST: Origins

DUST: Origins is a top-down action-horror game where you must fight to escape a prison platform before its inmates, security guards, and invading monsters murder you.

DUST: Origins is set to launch in 2027 for PC and has launched a Kickstarter campaign for players to help fund and improve the game's development.

Showa American Story 

Showa American Story is an upcoming action game set within an alternate version of America that's been reshaped by Japanese culture. In this game, you must fight to survive against hordes of gangs, zombies, and monsters in over-the-top hack-and-slash battles while partaking in insane mini-games to make a living in this absurd take on post-apocalyptic settings.

Showa American Story is set to launch in 2027 for PC and PlayStation 5.

Crazy Taxi World Tour

Crazy Taxi World Tour, the long-awaited sequel to Sega's classic Crazy Taxi racing game, has shown off its multiplayer gameplay in a crazy new trailer.

Crazy Taxi World Tour is set to launch in 2027 for Xbox Series X|S, PC, Nintendo Switch 1/2, and PlayStation 5.

Turok Origins

The classic dino-slaying shooter series, Turok, is back with a new AAA entry called Turok Origins. In this game, you will blast killer dinosaurs and reptilian villains with over-the-top weaponry while harvesting your enemies' DNA to become stronger.

Turok Origins is set to launch in Spring 2027 for Xbox Series X|S, PC, Nintendo Switch 1/2, and PlayStation 5.

Path of Exile 2

The popular upcoming ARPG, Path of Exile 2, has announced it's finally leaving early access and will be releasing its 1.0 update on December 11, 2026, for Xbox Series X|S, PC, Nintendo Switch 1/2, and PlayStation 5, while still being free-to-play.

To celebrate, Path of Exile 2 released a new trailer showcasing gameplay of the new and long-requested Sword weapon type and the Duelist class.

Exterminauts 

Exterminauts is a co-op shooter where you play as astronauts dispatched to colonize worlds while dispatching all kinds of nasty alien monsters blocking your path by blowing them up with insane laser guns and explosive weaponry.

Exterminauts is set to launch sometime in the future for Xbox Series X|S, PC, Nintendo Switch 1/2, and PlayStation 5 and is now available for wishlisting.

Zoopunk

From the creators of F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch comes their new third-person action game set in the same universe called Zoopunk. You play as a group of anthropomorphic warriors fighting to survive in a dieselpunk world filled with killer robots and savage villains.

Zoopunk is set to launch sometime in the future for Xbox Series X|S, PC, and PlayStation 5.

Heroes of Might & Magic 3 Remake

One of the most critically-acclaimed turn-based strategy games of all time, Heroes of Might & Magic 3, is being remade for the modern era with brand new graphics, compatibility with fan-made maps, an expansive campaign, and much more.

The Heroes of Might & Magic 3 Remake will launch sometime in the future for Xbox Series X|S, PC, Nintendo Switch 1/2, and PlayStation 5 and is now available for wishlisting.

Final Fantasy VII: Revelation

The last chapter of the Final Fantasy VII: Remake series shows off a new gameplay trailer showcasing the terrible might of the Weapons, a group of powerful boss monsters that will give the player their biggest challenges yet outside of finally confronting the villainous Sephiroth before he destroys the planet.

Final Fantasy VII: Revelation is set to launch in Spring 2027 for Xbox Series X|S, PC, Nintendo Switch 1/2, and PlayStation 5.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered

The beloved open-world action-RPG, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, will be receiving a Remastered edition that will include all of the game's post-launch updates and DLC expansions, along with updated visuals, an expanded photo mode, gameplay enhancements, Xbox Play Anywhere support, and much more.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered will launch on September 29, 2026 for Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, PC, and PlayStation 5. If you own a digital copy from previous console generations, you will receive the Remastered edition's upgrades and features for free.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Songs of the Past

The show then concludes with the world premiere of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Songs of the Past, the last DLC expansion for The Witcher 3. In this expansion, you will travel to a new Continent to uncover its secrets, encounter new and familiar characters, face off against new terrifying monsters, and be forced to make tough moral decisions.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Songs of the Past is set to launch sometime in the future for Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, PC, and PlayStation 5.

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Just before the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 beta early access weekend started, I wrote an article based on my brief initial play test prior to it going live. It was simply titled "I might have been wrong about Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4."

I'm not going to go over too much old ground, but the tl;dr was that I expected not to enjoy this year's game at all based on past experience from the Modern Warfare reboot series.

But I am going to follow up after putting some hours in during said early access weekend on whether or not I was actually wrong. And yes, I was. Mostly. It's not perfect by any stretch, but from what I've seen so far, I am actually looking forward to playing this year's Call of Duty after all. But there's still some stuff I don't like.

The good about Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4

Everything I said previously I liked about Modern Warfare 4 still stands. Possibly more so having shifted from playing on console initially over to PC.

It's easily the best-looking Call of Duty game in recent memory, for starters. The Silkworm map, especially, looks absolutely glorious if you turn up the graphics settings a bit.

But it's the campaign I think that'll really benefit here. We've only had a single mission, Entrenched, to play so far, but the visual appeal is clear, and it's absolutely filled with atmosphere.

The most competitive players will always turn the graphics right down, but for the rest of us, it's nice to be playing a Call of Duty that actually looks like a modern game.

The movement is also, I think, spot on. It doesn't feel as crazy fast as Black Ops 7; you can't jump up walls here, but it's fast enough. And it's only taken players a couple of days to figure out how to exploit it as best they can, be that positive or negative.

But combine the movement with the excellent gunplay, an aim assist that doesn't feel like it's doing all the work for you (at least in my opinion), and some solid weapons, and the core experience is very enjoyable.

I'm also a fan of the way Modern Warfare 4 handles its attachment unlocks. Once you get an attachment, it's automatically unlocked for all of the weapons you can use it on.

The Apex attachments you unlock when you reach max level are also an interesting addition. It's similar, I guess, to the prestige unlocks in Black Ops 7, except you don't lose an attachment slot to use them. They go on top of everything else.

The menu design is also excellent, and overall it's just a really solid player experience. Of particular note is more clarity on the server you're connected to, and I've been seeing low ping across the board.

The bad about Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4

As good as the gameplay is, I'm not so much of a fan of the maps. There will be more at launch and in subsequent seasons, of course, but I don't think what they've given us in the first beta is the best way to show off this game.

If I have to play Transit 213 again, I'm going to lose my mind. It's another of those Call of Duty maps that are really small, where you're constantly on top of each other, and it falls into what I call the brainrot category.

Think Stakeout from Black Ops 6, Shipment from previous Modern Warfare games. It's not as bad as Shipment, but its only purpose in existing is for people to pad their stats and probably for camo unlocks. Otherwise it's horrible.

Silkworm, while looking amazing, isn't overly fun either. The middle lane is essentially a long open street, so you force yourself down the outer lanes, which both have lengthy open runs, too.

Rooftops feels like it should be a good map, with a mix of external and internal sections paired with elevation changes. But there's something about the way it plays right now that feels a little off.

Of the debuting maps, Cachette is a decent challenge, I feel, and I enjoyed Lotus the most by far. Both feel like they play more into a properly competitive, tactical way of playing rather than just running full speed at the opponents.

The meta also has not and will not change (outside of Ranked Play at least) from UAV spam. They're so easy to get; you'll be spammed constantly with multiple UAVs, and since they give away your positions, you become easy pickings. It also forces you to buy into that meta or be on the backfoot, and I'd rather use my streaks a different way.

I'd love to see Infinity Ward change the UAV so it's harder to get, but I don't see that happening. Add in the Personal Radar Field Upgrade and you may as well just walk around with a glowing beacon on your head inviting your opponents to take you down.

There's also a healthy round of weapon balancing that needs to happen, and I'm sure it will, as it always does. Snipers are obviously strong, but they're way too strong right now and too easy to use. Spawns are also pretty bad right now, but Infinity Ward is already working on that ahead of the second weekend of the beta.

Overall, though, I'm a lot happier with Modern Warfare 4 than I expected to be. Lots would say the last two Black Ops games were bad, and that's their opinion they're entitled to, but I've really enjoyed Black Ops 7 in particular. I usually do when it's a Black Ops game.

But I've gone from trepidation and expecting not to play this year's game (in part thanks to GTA 6 looming) to back on board the Call of Duty train. It's a shame we're not getting to see DMZ in the beta, as that's the mode I'm most excited for, but I am curious to see how Warzone will be. At least we can try that out in the open beta, which begins on Friday, August 28.

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We're mere hours away from Gamescom 2026's epic Opening Night Live ceremony, set to commence on August 25, 2026, at 11:00 am PT / 2:00 pm ET / 8:00 pm CEST / 7:00 BST.

The event will be packed with all kinds of insane game announcements from the likes of CD Projekt Red, Xbox Game Studios, Capcom, Square Enix, and much more.

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Here's where and how you can watch the Gamescom 2026 Opening Night Live ceremony unfold, along with a recap of what kind of game announcements you can expect to see there.

Gamescom 2026 Opening Night Live watch times and platforms

Gamescom 2026 Opening Night Live will premiere on Gamescom's YouTube and Twitch channels and will start at the following times per time zone:

• August 25, 2026, 11:00 am PST
• August 25, 2026, 12:00 pm MDT
• August 25, 2026, 1:00 pm CDT
• August 25, 2026, 2:00 pm EDT
• August 25, 2026, 3:00 pm BRT
• August 25, 2026, 7:00 pm BST
• August 25, 2026, 8:00 pm CEST
• August 26, 2026, 2:00 am CST
• August 26, 2026, 3:00 am JST
• August 26, 2026, 4:00 am AEST
• August 26, 2026, 6:00 am NZST

What can we expect to see during Gamescom 2026 Opening Night Live?

The games confirmed to receive new trailers and announcements during the event include:

• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Songs of the Past
• Final Fantasy VII: Revelation
• Gears of War: E-Day
• Ananta
• Tides of Annihilation
• Metro 2039 
• Game of Thrones: War for Westeros 
• Warlock: Dungeons and Dragons 
• Silent Hill: Townfall
• Path of Exile 2
• Monster Hunter Outlanders
• Cinder City
• EXODUS
• AION2
• Pony Island 2
• Valor Mortis
• Showa American Story
• ONTOS

Of course, like all these high-profile gaming events, Gamescom 2026 will potentially feature world premieres of some unannounced video games and new trailers for upcoming Xbox and PC games and their DLC expansions still in development.

Here's hoping some of my most-anticipated games get new info and trailers at Gamescom 2026, like Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendence, Spyro: A Realm Beyond, Warhammer 40,000: Dark Heresy, and Persona 6.

🗨️ Over to you

Which confirmed game announcement are you looking forward to the most? Are there any surprise game reveals you want to see, no matter how unlikely they are?

If you have any thoughts on the matter, please let us know through the poll, the comments section, or our Reddit community.

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ASUS has officially opened pre-orders for the ROG Xbox Ally X20, confirming that the company's 20th anniversary handheld gaming PC will be available both as a premium standalone device and as part of a bundled package when it launches on October 15.

In the United States, customers can now pre-order the ROG Xbox Ally X20 standalone model for $1,299.99 MSRP, while the fully loaded ROG Xbox Ally X20 Bundle is priced at $2,499.99 MSRP.

Both versions will be available through Best Buy (today) and the ASUS Store (Sept 24th).

While ASUS originally introduced the X20 as a special anniversary edition, the more time we've spent learning about the device, the clearer it becomes that this isn't simply a commemorative refresh. The ROG Xbox Ally X20 is effectively a significant mid-generation upgrade to the existing ROG Xbox Ally X, bringing meaningful hardware, display, thermal, and control improvements that go well beyond a new paint job or limited-edition branding.

A true upgrade, not just an anniversary model?

At first glance, the X20's translucent-inspired design and special 20th anniversary touches may suggest that this is primarily a collector's edition. Under the chassis, however, ASUS has made extensive engineering changes compared to the existing ROG Xbox Ally X that directly impact the gaming experience.

The most obvious upgrade is the display.

The ROG Xbox Ally X20 moves from the current model's 7-inch screen to a larger 7.4-inch OLED panel, while also delivering substantial improvements in brightness and HDR performance. The display now supports 600 nits SDR brightness, up to 1,400 nits peak HDR brightness, and includes Dolby Vision support alongside ASUS' ROG Nebula HDR technologies.

For handheld gaming, display quality is often one of the most noticeable aspects of the user experience, and the move to OLED alone represents one of the largest upgrades ASUS has made to the platform since launch.

Major internal redesign improves cooling and airflow

The display isn't the only part of the handheld receiving attention.

According to ASUS, the X20 features a completely redesigned PCB, allowing engineers to rethink the internal layout of the system. Surface-mounted USB4 ports enabled the motherboard to be repositioned, creating additional airflow opportunities within the chassis.

ASUS has also upgraded the cooling solution with revised fan and heatsink fin designs, while shifting motherboard placement by several millimeters to further improve thermal efficiency.

That may sound like a small change on paper, but thermals have become one of the defining factors of modern handheld gaming PCs. Better airflow and improved cooling can translate into lower temperatures, quieter operation, and more consistent performance during extended gaming sessions.

A better handheld for competitive gaming

ASUS is also targeting enthusiasts who play fighting games, shooters, and other genres where input precision matters.

The ROG Xbox Ally X20 introduces hybrid metal dome switches for a more tactile D-pad feel, along with what ASUS calls a Transforming D-pad. The mechanism allows players to rotate the D-pad configuration to better align diagonals, providing an experience specifically designed with fighting games in mind.

The thumbsticks have also been upgraded to TMR magnetic induction sticks, offering Hall-effect-style benefits while reducing power consumption. ASUS says the sticks deliver roughly a 3% dead zone and improved precision compared with traditional alternatives.

From a visual standpoint, ASUS has doubled the RGB lighting count around the sticks, increasing from two LEDs to four LEDs per joystick.

Taken together, these changes may end up being just as important as the display improvements, especially for players who spend hundreds of hours with a handheld in their hands.

What's unchanged?

Interestingly, ASUS has resisted changing several of the core specifications that already made the ROG Xbox Ally X one of the strongest Windows gaming handhelds available.

The ROG Xbox Ally X20 retains:

• AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme processor
• 24GB LPDDR5X-8000 memory
• 1TB PCIe Gen4 SSD storage
• 80Wh battery
• USB4 connectivity with Thunderbolt compatibility
• Wi-Fi 6E support

That's probably the right decision. The current Ally X platform already delivers excellent battery life and class-leading handheld performance, so ASUS appears to have focused on enhancing areas that users interact with directly rather than chasing specs for the sake of a marketing bullet point.

And to be fair, there is no newer AMD handheld chip on the market, so there's that!

Goodbye microSD, hello microSD Express

One notable hardware change involves expandable storage.

The traditional microSD slot has been removed and replaced with a microSD Express card reader, supporting dramatically faster storage speeds. ASUS cites support for microSD Express cards capable of approaching 1 GB/s transfer rates, bringing removable storage much closer to SSD-class performance

As game install sizes continue growing, that could become a more meaningful upgrade than many users initially realize.

Two ways to buy

For buyers who only want the handheld itself, the new standalone version offers a straightforward path into the X20 experience.

ROG Xbox Ally X20

• MSRP: $1,299.99
• Available at Best Buy and the ASUS Store
• Launches October 15

Meanwhile, ASUS is also offering a premium bundle aimed at enthusiasts and collectors, because of course.

ROG Xbox Ally X20 Bundle

• MSRP: $2,499.99
• Available at Best Buy and the ASUS Store
• Launches October 15

And what's in that bundle? I'm glad you asked:

• ROG Xbox Ally X20 handheld
• ROG XREAL R1 Edition 20 AR glasses
• dbrand Killswitch case and custom skin
• dbrand joystick covers
• Custom Pelican Protector Case with 20th anniversary badge
• 68W charger

That's a lot of stuff in that bundle, and it's cool to see dbrand officially teaming up with ASUS here for its famed Killswitch case (see our previous review). As far as that steep price, much of that comes down to the inclusion of the ROG XREAL R1 Edition glasses, which are currently sold separately, while these are, of course, matching in the 20th anniversary gold and black motif.

I've written about the current ROG XREAL R1's before, noting their crazy 240Hz micro‑OLED panels, letting you experience a portable (virtual) 171-inch screen. Along with their included dock, they cost $849.99.

ASUS now has one of the strongest handheld lineups on the market

What's perhaps most impressive about the X20 launch is what it does to ASUS' overall handheld portfolio.

The company's lineup now spans three clear price tiers (assuming we don't see price increases):

• ROG Xbox Ally — $599
• ROG Xbox Ally X — $999
• ROG Xbox Ally X20 — $1,299

That's a remarkably clean progression that gives buyers meaningful upgrade options at every budget level.

The X20 occupies a premium position without completely abandoning value-conscious enthusiasts. Even at $1,299.99, it remains roughly $500 below the eye-watering prices we've seen attached to some ultra-premium handhelds, including MSI's difficult-to-find Intel-powered Claw 8 EX AI+ configurations.

More importantly, the X20 differentiates itself with tangible quality-of-life improvements rather than simply adding more RAM or storage. The OLED display, revamped controls, enhanced cooling design, microSD Express support, and internal engineering changes all combine to create a device that feels genuinely evolved from the existing Ally X.

For a product marketed as an anniversary edition, that's arguably the biggest surprise of all.

The ROG Xbox Ally X20 may celebrate two decades of Republic of Gamers history, but its real significance is that it represents the most refined version of ASUS' handheld gaming platform yet—and now, for the first time, buyers can purchase it without needing to opt for the collector-focused bundle.

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On August 24, 2001, Microsoft released Windows XP to manufacturing (RTM), shipping its finished product to brands (OEMs) to begin implementing it in brand-new PCs. General availability wouldn't begin until October of that same year, when most of us had the chance to try the operating system previously known as "Neptune" "Whistler" (thanks, T. Colley) for the first time.

25 years later, Windows XP's influence is still felt worldwide, even internally, as Microsoft repeatedly referenced its style in ugly holiday sweaters with its logo and, again, with a follow-up featuring its legendary "Bliss" wallpaper of rolling green hills and a blue cloudy sky. XP was the best-selling version of the operating system to date and had a cultural impact that will likely survive for decades.

Official social channels haven't thrown any specific celebrations (yet), with @Windows and @Microsoft presumably remaining quiet to treat the later October release date with more significance. Nevertheless, the impact of Windows XP can't be overstated, and enthusiasts (including myself) still feel nostalgic for the colorful OS as it becomes a relic with a quarter-century legacy.

My family-owned desktop PCs started with Windows 3.1, followed by an upgrade to Windows 95 and a later migration to Windows 98 SE. I remember the fascination of seeing the likes of Program Manager being replaced with Explorer and its teal-colored default desktop, but none of it compared to the leap to Windows XP when we finally paid for an internet connection at home.

Suddenly, MSN Messenger became my most-used program as our household set up proper profiles for each family member, all customized with our own icons and themes that were even better than everything I'd seen on "Microsoft Plus!". Indeed, Windows XP was my gateway to the internet, and it certainly made the PC feel like more than a simple word processor with games.

Still, I'm fully aware of what nostalgia does to me, and my rose-tinted glasses surely make Windows XP seem so much better simply because it arrived during my most formative years. Then again, I know many feel the same way, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that October comes with a real celebration from Microsoft, so we can collectively look back and compare notes.

For now, I'm reminiscing about grouping up for games of Counter-Strike and Unreal Tournament via mIRC, between posting in opinionated threads on phpBB forums while diving into the fascinating world of Macromedia Flash animations. It might seem outdated and overrated now, but Windows XP was special to me, and I often miss reading Encarta instead of browsing Wikipedia.

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Antonline is hosting a limited-time Intel Gaming Days sale, offering massive discounts on Intel-powered PC components to boost graphical fidelity and gaming performance for less, along with more savings on gaming laptops and desktops.

One of the biggest highlights of this sale is a range of Intel Core Ultra 200S CPUs, modern desktop processors that offer superb performance, energy efficiency, and thermal stability for gaming and productivity. One of our favorites from the line-up, the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus, is currently discounted from $469.97 to $329.99 at Antonline.

As a bonus, all these Intel Core Ultra CPU deals at Antonline include free pre-order digital PC codes for STAR WARS: Galactic Racer (which launches on October 10, 2026) and Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis (which launches on February 12, 2027).

If you're wondering what kind of laptops or computers would benefit from being upgraded with these CPUs, here are a couple of discounted examples from Antonline's Intel Gamer Days sale.

FAQ

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The big AI era isn't going as some might've hoped.

OpenAI and other big companies are losing billions chasing artificial intelligence technology, and it's only clever accounting and circular investments keeping the entire industry afloat. OpenAI specifically is in hot water, with spending commitments through to 2030 coming scarily close to $1 trillion dollars, and is operating purely on the basis of handouts from the likes of SoftBank, NVIDIA, Oracle, and Microsoft. OpenAI is looking to spend $50 billion in compute alone in 2026 on roughly $25~ billion in revenue, revenue which is also made up at least in part with IOUs.

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Despite the scary numbers, OpenAI is trucking along on faith and fumes alone, as companies' belief in the tech keeps the firm alive, for now.

Yet, even Sam Altman is having doubts about the impact of large language models. In a new podcast, Altman lamented "economic inertia" for the lack of adoption, and also called out the AI industry for making the tech seem "scary."

"A lot of the people building AI have been off saying there's a 25% chance we're going to destroy the world ..."

Altman effectively blamed those pesky humans for not adopting ChatGPT and other AI products, lamenting that "people keep using their tools in the same way" they had previously been using them.

"I thought when we got to [ChatGPT]-4, which was back in 2023, I thought very quickly after that there'd be much more disruption, with the software business up for grabs right away. I was wrong about a few things, one of them, in terms of the speed ... the economy just has so much inertia. People keep doing the same things they're doing, they keep buying from the same company, they keep wanting to use their tools in the same way ..."

Altman implied that the "slow" pace of change would make the "transition" to AI "smoother." Elsewhere in the podcast, Sam Altman remarked that AI leaders had "not done a very good job" explaining AI tech, referring to the broad backlash to the technology.

"I also think a lot of the people building AI have been off saying there's a 25% chance we're going to destroy the world ... and yeah, we're going to race ahead and do it because otherwise those bad guys will do it first. Or it's like, 'man, this thing is going to be really terrible, and 50% of the jobs are going to go away in the next year, and we hope you are all okay,' but it seems really scary.

We have not, as a field, done a very good job of explaining to people what the benefits are and how the downsides can be mitigated. We certainly have not done a good job ... even if people have had answers like, 'well, there's going to be universal basic income, or work will be optional', or whatever. There's been very little discussion from people about how and why it's important that people have more power and freedom in the world, not less."

My take: Altman just doesn't get it

I think the key issue with this AI tech is that most people just don't find it very useful. I work in an industry that, at least on paper, should benefit from some kind of automagical writing tool. The problem is that it loses so much nuance and accuracy that, even if I wanted to use it for work, I literally can't.

I think a lot of these very technical, mathematically-inclined dudebros pushing this format have little knowledge or understanding about how and where this technology should be applied. Spotify, YouTube, Instagram, gaming platforms, and other services are actively trying to filter out AI content, as it is repeatedly proven to decrease engagement — users actively hate it. Companies that are using tokens to try to boost productivity are finding that they're actually just boosting costs, and that they're simply finding a new bottleneck in the finite amount of addressable customers.

LLMs undoubtedly have uses, but when 90% of the compute is being spent on utterly unproductive use cases, the economics simply seem primed to implode. If you're spending tokens for the sake of spending tokens, and it doesn't lead to any discernible increase in sales — what is the point? You could use AI to make hundreds of slop video games, but people already have more than enough to play built by an ironically more affordable human workforce.

RELATED: Ed Zitron talks to us about Microsoft, OpenAI, and the future

In the future, I think we'll find AI probably ends up as a tool of governments in things like law enforcement and medical fields. Specific industries will benefit from tools that can parse and summarize large, complex data sets, albeit with the unfortunate knowledge of LLMs' penchant for hallucinations and outright lies. Just yesterday I asked Copilot to find some links to some old Windows Central articles I did. It just straight up lied and gave me some completely made-up links instead. Extrapolate these simple mistakes to medical fields or military applications, where lives are literally at stake ... is it worth the risk?

Perhaps the issue is that AI's inaccuracy renders it only viable in low-stakes businesses ... and those low-stakes businesses simply won't see a real return over doing things the "old way," which Altman describes as economic "inertia."

Perhaps it's not inertia. Perhaps the AI business model is just not the disruptor it was cracked up to be.

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Michał Nowakowski, the Joint-CEO of CD Projekt Red, has announced on Twitter that the company plans to release the highly-anticipated open-world RPG, The Witcher 4, sometime during the year 2028.

That is a long time to wait (The Witcher 3 came out in 2015, for reference), but CD Projekt Red will keep fans busy in the meantime with new Witcher content, such as The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt's next DLC expansion, Songs of the Past, which is set to launch sometime in 2027 for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC.

We've been teased about this expansion for months, but now the wait is nearly over as we'll be getting our first glimpse of Songs of the Past's gameplay tomorrow during Gamescom 2026's Opening Night Ceremony on August 25, 2026, 11:00 am PT / 2:00 pm ET / 8:00 pm CEST.

After the ceremony, CD Projekt Red will show off more of this DLC expansion for the general public in Hall 8 at the Gamescom venue in Cologne, Germany, for the rest of the event.

For those who can't attend Gamescom 2026, CD Projekt Red will host special 'Redstreams' every day this week showing off footage of the DLC expansion online, along with a couple of surprises.

Not much information has been disclosed about the 'Songs of the Past' DLC expansion other than that the volume of its content will be on par with the award-winning 'Blood and Wine' expansion.

In fact, its content is apparently so grand in scope that it will drop support for Windows 10 and Xbox One, as the outdated hardware of the previous console and PC generations will be unable to handle it.

Making a DLC expansion on par with the 'Blood and Wine' expansion is no easy feat, as that expansion was so beloved by critics and fans that it won the award for Best RPG at the 2016 Game Awards, managing to beat full-fledged games like Dark Souls 3 and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided.

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Personally, your guess is as good as mine as to what kind of insane and dark adventures await us and Geralt of Rivia in The Witcher 3's next DLC expansion because I have no idea what to expect.

But we won't have to wait anymore for the answers, as tomorrow night Gamescom 2026 will finally pull back the curtain on The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt's 'Songs of the Past' expansion.

One thing's for sure. Whatever this expansion turns out to be, it will be one heck of a good time to kill before The Witcher 4 arrives in 2028.

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Last July, Xbox users finally got their hands on one of the most viral games of the past couple of years. The celebrations were shortlived.

Wuthering Waves is a free-to-play gatcha RPG, similar to the likes of Genshin Impact. Wuthering Waves is available on every platform now, including Xbox, consoles, mobile, and PC, complete with a high-quality story and decent combat depth.

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The game is incredibly popular and has amassed a global audience across every platform, landing itself 30 million~ players across its versions. It won the Player's Choice award at last year's Game Awards, and continues to find growth owing to large free content updates.

Unfortunately, though, the Xbox version is broken.

Wuthering Waves (affectionally nicknamed WuWa by the community) recently got a sizeable content patch, adding new story beats and features to the game. The update has, however, once again put a spotlight on the Xbox version, which seems more broken than ever.

"The situation has worsened as I’ve progressed through the game. I’m currently in Lahai-Roi, and it’s been impossible to play for 40 minutes without the game closing unexpectedly," one user wrote on Reddit. "I play on Xbox Series X, but the same bug persists even on Xbox Cloud Gaming, where high local processing power isn't required. Other players have reported similar issues."

The most recent video showcases new visual glitches introduced in this week's patch, where textures get stretched infinitely across the playspace until the game crashes.

Users have been tracking Wuthering Waves' lack of quality on Xbox since the game launched, and had hoped it would be improved in subsequent updates. Sadly, things have gotten worse rather than better.

There are theories that Wuthering Waves on Xbox is a port of the iOS and Android version of the game, owing to a lack of shadows, foilage, and other post-processing improvements. The PlayStation 5 version is is far far better looking, far less crash-prone, and generally more performant than the Xbox Series X version. This absolutely shouldn't be the case in a game designed to run on low-end mobile phones.

We've reached out to Wuthering Waves' developer Kuro Games via their PR firm to get a comment, but I would be surprised if they offered one up.

If they thought the Xbox audience wasn't worth providing a high-quality port for, I'm confused as to why they bothered spending the money to deliver a port in the first place. Genshin Impact and other HoYoverse gatcha games like Zenless Zone Zero run incredibly well on Xbox. HoYoverse also did dedicated launches for Xbox, complete with bonuses and freebies for new players joining the ranks via Team Green.

Wuthering Waves' treatment of the Xbox audience by comparison has been a sad joke.

There's also some blame to be levied at Microsoft here I would argue. PlayStation demands that developers create visual parity with their multiplatform versions within reason. Xbox's certification processes are also notoriously strict compared to other platforms — what's the point of those apparent strict rules if they allow games like Wuthering Waves to launch in such a lamentable state? It makes Xbox look inferior for one thing, and treats Xbox customers like second class citizens in the other.

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Either way, it sucks for Wuthering Waves fans on Xbox that Kuro Games doesn't seem to consider them worthwhile. I would recommend players stick to HoYoverse options instead. Hopefully Honkai Star Rail makes its way across to Xbox in the future too. PerhaHoYoverse' next big games come to Xbox on day one as well, further reducing the need to consider Wuthering Waves as an option.

If Kuro replies, I'll be sure to update this piece, but I wouldn't hold my breath. They don't seem to care about the Xbox version even slightly.

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