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Microsoft has restructured Xbox Game Pass into four tiers—Essential ($9.99/month), Premium ($14.99/month), PC Game Pass ($13.99/month) and Ultimate ($22.99/month)—each offering different game libraries and features. Throughout 2026, Microsoft adjusted subscription prices and altered cloud gaming access, including new streaming limits, changing what subscribers get at each price point.
Microsoft has begun testing Xbox Mythic Achievements, a new badge awarded when a player unlocks every original achievement in a game, mirroring Sony's Platinum trophy system. The company says Mythic status is being retroactively applied to eligible games already completed, including Xbox 360 titles, and profiles will get a new tab and progress bar to track them.
YouTube modder Devran Cosmo Uenal demonstrated an experimental Xbox port of KytyPS5, an open-source PlayStation 5 emulator, playing titles like Quake 2, Gex Trilogy, Hellboy Web of Wyrd and Marvel Cosmic Invasion on a Series X. He also showed the PS5 interface running with an option to launch the PS5 version of Grand Theft Auto 5, though he says compatibility remains limited.
Microsoft has cut close to half the staff at World's Edge, the studio behind the Age of Empires franchise, as part of a reorganization placing it under Activision. Former employees say the studio's next project was canceled during the transition. The cuts are part of 268 job losses across Xbox, contributing to Microsoft's planned 3,200 layoffs this financial year.
Current-gen consoles including all PlayStation 5 models and the Xbox Series X and Series S are engineered to operate in either vertical or horizontal orientation. The key consideration is airflow, along with placing the units on stable surfaces, away from walls, and out of cramped cabinets to avoid overheating and dust buildup.
Reddit users have reported redeeming Microsoft Rewards and Xbox Mastercard points to pre-order Grand Theft Auto 6 at no extra cost. One user, Financial_Specific24, used points earned from Xbox Mastercard purchases, while another, Automatic_Ad1665, accumulated Microsoft Rewards through routine daily tasks. GTA 6's Standard Edition costs $80 and the Ultimate Edition $100.
Microsoft-owned King has agreed to a collective bargaining agreement covering its Swedish staff, signed with Unionen and Engineers of Sweden just a day before a planned strike. The deal, effective April 1, 2027, follows negotiations that began in May 2025 after King removed a private doctor benefit in 2024, prompting employees to unionize.
Microsoft laid off 268 employees across its gaming division this week and restructured major studios and franchises, including cutting most of Halo Studios' staff while keeping a small team to support existing titles like Halo Infinite. According to sources cited by the reporter, the next mainline Halo game was years from release, prompting Microsoft to shut it down rather than continue development.
Leaker Kepler_L2 says Sony and Microsoft have already taped out the graphics chips for the PlayStation 6 and the next Xbox (codenamed Helix), citing theoretical figures of 40 TFLOPs and 56 TFLOPs respectively. Both chips are expected to use AMD's RDNA 5 architecture, though the leaker raised the claims specifically to warn against comparing consoles by TFLOPs alone.
At Meta Connect 2026, Meta detailed its first VR glasses, a 100-gram, tethered headset priced at $1,300 and slated to launch next spring. The device uses a magnesium alloy frame, pancake lenses, a 5K display, full-color passthrough, and runs on Qualcomm's Snapdragon Reality Elite chip housed in a separate puck that also holds battery and storage, offering up to three hours of playback. It launches with 75 games, compatibility with existing Quest titles via Touch Plus controllers, Xbox Cloud Gaming streaming, PC/Mac productivity features, and holographic avatar video calling on apps like WhatsApp and Zoom.
Microsoft filed a patent in June describing a generative AI system that would adjust a game's content based on how an individual player explores, interacts with characters, and reacts—potentially even using facial expression tracking. The system could generate new quests, lore, or NPCs around areas a player favors, remove less-engaging content, and decide whether to fold AI-generated material into the main storyline.
According to The Mobile Report, T-Mobile is preparing to add new subscriber perks that could include Apple Music, YouTube, SiriusXM, Paramount Plus, ESPN Plus, Xbox Game Pass, Google AI, and DoorDash's DashPass. The launch was originally expected on September 23 but has reportedly been delayed to October 1, and T-Mobile has not officially confirmed the plans.