Microsoft today dropped a giant bomb on the balance of game development: the company announced the acquisition of ZeniMax Media, parent company of Bethesda Softworks, and all its related IP. The purchase, which is expected to close for a tidy $7.5 billion, will carry over all ZeniMax Media subsidiaries. This includes Bethesda (The Elder Scrolls, Fallout), id Software (DOOM), Arkane Studios (Prey, Dishonored, upcoming Deathloop), MachineGames (Wolfenstein), among others.

The deal is the costliest acquisition for Microsoft (to date) in its push to increase the number of in-house development studios (up to 23 from 15 prior to this deal). Microsoft has announced that as part of the deal, games published by ZeniMax Media and subsidiaries (and in the future, by Microsoft) will be available on its Xbox Games Pass subscription service for Xbox and PC gaming. Microsoft is acquiring some of the most iconic gaming franchises ever with this deal, including all in-development IP. It's a huge boon for the company; it remains to be seen exactly how will this evolve over the years. But one thing is for certain: Microsoft isn't slowing down on its doubling down on game development.

Dolby have recently announced that the Xbox Series X and Series S will support Dolby Atmos games at launch and Dolby Vision games later in 2021. This will be the first time a generation of consoles have supported the standards in-game. Dolby Vision creates the best HDR experience with a compatible screen as it offers per scene metadata adjustments and 12-bit color depth. Dolby Vision is already available through Netflix on Xbox One but this will be the first time both technologies are offered for console games. Dolby Atmos support will be included at launch, however, a 15 USD license fee will be required if you don't own Atmos speakers.

Microsoft and EA have recently announced that Xbox Game Pass Ultimate & Xbox Game Pass for PC members will soon be receiving an EA Play membership at no additional cost starting this holiday. EA Play formally EA Access & Origin Access is the game subscription service from Electronic Arts which grants access to a library of over 60 EA games along with providing a variety of perks such as early access and discounts on new games. This means Ultimate members can enjoy EA Play on Xbox One, Xbox Series X and S, and Windows 10 PCs, while Xbox Game Pass for PC members get EA Play on Windows 10. Microsoft seems to be going all-in with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate with the launch of next-generation consoles with the recently announced console/subscription bundles and the android xCloud support.

Microsoft today surprised us with the Xbox Series S announcement. The Xbox Series S offers "next gen performance" and is the "smallest Xbox ever." The company promised to share more details, but when it goes on sale, it will cost just USD $299 (ERP). The announcement teaser had a pretty clear image of the finished product, revealing it to be barely more than two controllers in volume. A large fan intake makes up one of its side panels. It retains the general design of the larger Xbox Series X. Microsoft stated it will share more details about the new console.

Activision today announced the worldwide launch of its much-anticipated Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 and 2, a remaster of the first two successful titles in the iconic, billion-dollar Tony Hawk video game franchise. In one game package, players will experience all the levels, tricks, and pro-skater characters from the original blockbuster hits from 1999 and 2000, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, fully remastered in 4K resolution and bolstered with new ways to play, new pro-skaters to choose from and new music. In addition, the game includes features that allow players to customize their own skate parks and outfits and share them with friends.

"I'm thankful for the quality and care that Activision and Vicarious Visions have put into the remaster to revive the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series in the best way possible," said Tony Hawk. "For years, fans have asked me about bringing these games back, and I'm proud to say that we finally have a game that delivers on the expectations that nostalgic fans want, while inspiring a new generation to pick up a controller, and perhaps even a real skateboard."

Today, we announced updates to Halo Infinite's launch timing. Our vision at Xbox and 343 Industries has always been to deliver the most ambitious Halo game ever for our fans, while also balancing the team's well-being. To do that, we will need some more time to finish the critical work necessary to launch Halo Infinite, which will come in 2021.

We have plenty to keep you busy until Chief arrives: there will be thousands of games to play, spanning four generations, when Xbox Series X launches globally this November and over 100 optimized for Xbox Series X titles, built to take full advantage of our most powerful console, are planned for this year. And with brand new console features like hardware-accelerated Direct X raytracing, framerates up to 120 frames per second, faster loading times, and Quick Resume for multiple games, playing will look and feel better, no matter which games you choose to play on day one.

Microsoft Project xCloud is set to officially launch next month on the 15th of September however Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers can access an early beta version starting today. The beta will only be available on Android devices via the Google Play Store or Samsung App Store due to Apple banning the program as we've previously reported.

Microsoft Project xCloud beta includes over 100 launch titles that can be played with an Xbox Wireless Controller or supported Bluetooth gamepad. A select number of games including Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice and Gears 5 can be played via touch control and Microsoft expects more games to receive touch support over time. Microsoft Project xCloud beta is now live in 22 countries and will run for one month until xCloud is officially launched.

We reported on rumors about the cheaper next-generation Xbox console back in June, and after this latest leak we can be sure it will be called the Xbox Series X. Twitter user Zak S has obtained images of the Xbox Series X controller and packaging, which confirm compatibility with the Xbox Series S. The packaging details that the controller will work with both Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S consoles along with Xbox One consoles, Windows 10, Android, and IOS.

This Xbox Series S is expected to be announced by Microsoft in the coming weeks, the console is designed to complement the Xbox Series X as a cheaper alternative for casual gamers and media consumption. The console is rumored to feature 7.5 GB useable memory compared to the 13.5 GB useable on the Xbox Series X along with graphics power of 4 TFLOPs or roughly 3x worse then the Xbox Series X at 12 TFLOPs.

Cloud gaming is the next step in mobile gaming, with services like Microsoft project xCloud aiming to bring AAA titles right to your mobile phone. Microsoft has already been testing its xCloud application on Android and iOS devices for some time, and the application was supposed to launch sometime in September. However, it seems like Microsoft is only going to serve the customers on Android, as Apple says that these types of applications violate App Store guidelines. This doesn't only apply to xCloud, but also Google's Stadia gaming platform. When developer uploads application to App Store for iOS, the application goes through a review by Apple, for security reason and for Apple to check if it meets its guidelines.

Being that xCloud and Stadia are types of applications which offer a way to access many more applications (games in this case), this is against Apple's policy as they can't control the applications these services offer.

Microsoft has recently announced a completely rebuilt store for Xbox One. The new Microsoft Store on Xbox has been designed to be run twice as fast as before with launch times of under two seconds. The store has gained a new navigation system which makes it easier to find specific content along with a revamped search feature that offers more filter options. The wish list and checkout features have been updated to increase transparency and help keep track of game pricing. The new store also incorporates advanced safety features which ensure potentially inappropriate content is hidden for child and content restricted accounts. The new Microsoft Store on Xbox will be progressively rolling out to Xbox Insiders starting August 5 before a complete rollout this fall.

Data miners have reportedly found a new piece of information about the very popular game World of Warcraft. Inside the game code for the new Shadowlands expansion pack, few data miners spotted support for gaming controllers, which lead to rumors that WoW is coming to next-generation consoles. With PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X coming soon, it is now a hot topic to see which games are coming to the new platform. However, Blizzard has issued an official response to those rumors saying the following:

We currently have no plans to bring World of Warcraft or Shadowlands to Xbox Series X. The platform was listed on the Brazil Ministry of Justice rating website in error, and the entry has since been updated to reflect that the game is coming only to PC

Today, Microsoft held a long-awaited reveal for many upcoming games that the company hopes will justify bringing players into their ecosystem. Whether via their existing Xbox devices or through the next-generation Xbox Series X and gaming PC, the company put on a show showcasing the future of games as they envision them - but many more games from even Microsoft's first-party studios weren't showcased - yet.

The star of the show and opening opus was Halo Infinite, the much-awaited next installment in the Halo saga. The showcase revealed a part of the campaign, with cinematics and gameplay, and it does seem to be another step in the right direction for the franchise. The 8-minute gameplay video showcased the gorgeous environments, particle and sound effects made possible by the new Splipspace Engine in the new Halo game, with a number of impressive new weapons and game mechanics (that grappling hook does seem sweet, doesn't it?). A look at the map reveals an open-world-esque approach to game design, with 343 industries promising the game to be many times bigger than their two previous games, Halo 4 and Halo 5: Guardians, combined. A smooth 60-frames per second and 4K resolution is promised in what will definitely be the Xbox Series X's crown launch jewel. No multiplayer was shown - yet. We expect 343 Industries to start launching Sprint videos on the development of the game in the coming months, and also new game trailers showcasing the mechanics of the game.

When we set out to design the Xbox Series X, we aspired to build our most powerful console ever powered by next generation innovation and delivering consistent, sustained performance never before seen in a console with no compromises. To achieve this goal, we knew we needed to analyze each component of the system, to push beyond the limitations in traditional console performance and design. It was critical in the design of the Xbox Series X to ensure we had a superior balance of power, speed and performance while ensuring no component would constrain the creative ambition of the world's best creators, empowering them to deliver truly transformative next gen gaming experiences not possible in prior console generations.

After Sony has showcased Unreal Engine 5 capabilities on the new PlayStation 5 console, there was a counterpart event missing from Microsoft. However, Microsoft has announced today that the company will host a live stream event on July 23rd. That is the date when Microsoft will host the event on YouTube and Twitch. Starting at 9 am PT time, the company will showcase the capabilities of the new Xbox Series X console. Possibly, Microsoft will show ray tracing and all the latest technology advancements with AMD's RDNA2 graphics card found inside the new console. What we can expect in terms of games is Halo Infinite and maybe new Forza and Gears of War games. Either way, we have to wait and find out on July 23rd.

ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) today announced the release of new Electro Punk peripherals with a striking black-and-pink color scheme. First introduced in April, the Electro Punk colors can now be found on the ROG Strix Go 2.4 gaming headset, ROG Strix Scope TKL gaming keyboard, ROG Strix Impact II gaming mouse and other gaming and lifestyle accessories.

ROG Strix Go 2.4 Electro Punk is a USB-C 2.4 GHz wireless headset that enables stable, lag-free audio on smart devices, PC, Sony PlayStation, Microsoft Xbox or Nintendo Switch (in Handheld mode). The Electro Punk edition features pink piping in and around the headband, ear pads, and ROG logo to give it that a special touch, while the rest stays bold black to prevent stains. Strix Go 2.4 has a detachable boom mic powered by AI Noise-Canceling technology that intelligently eliminates unwanted background noise for clear voice communication for work or play.

In a recent report by the Verge, Microsoft is reportedly planning a budget console to go along with the Xbox Series X known as the Xbox Series S. The Xbox Series S will be a successor to the popular Xbox One S, codenamed Lockhart it's set to feature the key next-generation improvements found in the Xbox Series X and provide them at a lower price point.

Sources say that the Xbox Series S will target 1080p 60FPS and 1440p 6̶0̶F̶P̶S̶ 30FPS gaming performance, this will be achieved with roughly 1/3rd of the GPU power at 4 TeraFLOPs, and 10 GB of GDDR6 RAM. The Xbox Series S console is rumored to share the same 7 nm AMD Zen 2 SoC a̶t̶ ̶a̶ ̶l̶o̶w̶e̶r̶ ̶c̶l̶o̶c̶k̶ and the same ultra-fast PCIe 4.0 SSD. The console may not feature a disc drive like the Xbox One S All Digital Edition. Microsoft is yet to publicly say anything about the console, so take these rumors with a grain of salt.

Update Jun 30th: Sources tell Eurogamer that Microsoft is planning to unveil the console at an event in August.

Bandicoots get ready fur it, Crash is moving 4-ward into 2020 with a brand-new game that's built from the ground up and "It's About Time." No, literally! Activision Blizzard, Inc., and developer Toys for Bob, are giving fans the true sequel to the original trilogy with Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time. Our lovingly absurd marsupials are back and putting a fresh spin, jump and wump on conflicts of cosmic proportions, discovering expansive new worlds, unexpected allies, larger-than-life boss battles and powerful new Quantum Masks that must be united to restore order to the multiverse. Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time will be available for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 4 Pro, Xbox One and Xbox One X on October 2, 2020. Pre-orders are available now.

Microsoft is preparing to launch a competitive product to Google's Stadia and Amazon's Project Tempo, which are both game streaming services. To Microsoft's advantage, the company has experience in building gaming systems and using cloud technology to integrate them. While both Google and Amazon are cloud providers and have the infrastructure to implement game streaming services, Microsoft has its Xbox division, which has been in the gaming industry for a long time. Despite already owning the infrastructure, Microsoft wants to use the hardware from its Xbox consoles as a base of the upcoming game streaming service called Project xCloud.

According to sources of Tom Warren, senior editor at Verge, Microsoft will be re-using the Xbox SoCs found in their consoles. According to the source, in the beginning, Microsoft is going to use Xbox One S blades to power its game streaming service. After that, the company will upgrade its servers with more powerful Xbox Series X SoC. As a reminder, the Xbox Series X SoC has 8 Ryzen CPU cores based on "Zen 2" µarch, RDNA 2 GPU capable of delivering 12 TFLOPs, 16 GB of GDDR6 memory and a mighty fast SSD. This will be enough to satisfy game streaming service demands and power all of the AAA titles users will be playing once it is available.

During Electronic Arts Play 2020 event, Respawn, the maker of popular battle royale Apex legends, has announced that Apex Legends is getting cross-play support. Not only that, but Respawn is now launching Apex Legends on Steam and Nintendo Switch platforms so the cross-play can be bigger than ever. Now, players that use either PC (Steam or EA Origin), Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, can be brought together and play against each other. However, Respawn didn't just announce the cross-play support. Along with it, they have announced a new seasonal event called the "Lost Treasures Collection". In this event, players get a new game mode called "Armed and Dangerous Evolved". This game mode allows for new player abilities and resurrection of knocked out players. You can find more about it in the video below.

When it comes to competitive gaming, sound is survival - and JBL knows great sound. Today, the company announced the launch of first-ever JBL headset range in India designed exclusively for gamers, featuring the JBL QuantumSOUND Signature. The JBL Quantum Range delivers immersive audio quality and pinpoint accuracy to provide a true competitive advantage. From the thrill of tracking enemies in FPS games, to engaging in epic MOBA battles, the JBL Quantum Range amplifies victories with a sound experience that transforms each headset into a crown for the everyday champion.

The launch follows an exciting announcement of the JBL's association with lifestyle power brand and gaming organization "100 Thieves" bringing on board some of the top competitive global gamers in the industry. The exciting new range will cater to a burgeoning gaming industry in the country. The online gaming segment was estimated to be a $1.1 billion opportunity by 2021, according to a Google-KPMG report in 2017, which is now expected to increase at much faster pace. With one of the world's largest youth population, India is poised to become one of the world's leading markets in the gaming sector.

The purpose of this new collaboration is to create a new audio proposition to cater for the high-end segment within gaming by leveraging on Bang & Olufsen's core capabilities of sound, design and craft. This will include "Designed for Xbox" functionalities, which will ensure seamless connectivity and an enhanced user experience. Vice President and Head of Product Management at Bang & Olufsen, Christoffer Poulsen is excited about the new collaboration and the long-term commercial potential for Bang & Olufsen.

Xbox Digital Direct is a new program that allows you to instantly redeem any games, subscriptions, and exclusive content bundled with your Xbox during the setup process. When setting up a new console the content and offers attached to the console will appear, ready to be added to your Microsoft account. The content can also be redeemed after the fact via the the accounts setting page under 'Included with this Xbox' along with 'My games & apps' under 'Full Library'. This will be a welcome change to new Xbox users who can avoid the hassle of code entering, but was likely implemented to stop code reselling.

In a recent interview with wccftech, Ebb Software's Game Director Ljubomir Peklar explained why the Scorn trailer for Xbox Series X was labeled as 'in-engine footage representative of expected Xbox Series X visual quality'. Ljubomir Peklar revealed that the trailer was actually run on a high-end system featuring an RTX 2080 Ti paired with a Ryzen processor. The game is set to target 4K 60 FPS with high graphical fidelity on Xbox Series X but a 2070 Super with a mixture of settings is adequate to run the game at 4K 60 FPS on PC.

Microsoft today announced that when it launches sometime in Holiday 2020, the Xbox Series X next-generation entertainment system will support "thousands of games" at launch. This is thanks to the console retaining compatibility with all older Xbox generation, not just the Xbox One, but also the Xbox 360 and the very fist Xbox. This is thanks to translation layers that let you play the older games on the latest hardware. In some cases, the Xbox Series X can add HDR, and turn up frame-rates to 120 FPS on some of the older games. The Xbox Series X will have several Microsoft Studios exclusives at launch, with the company reporting that all its 15 studios are busy developing exclusives. Several games launched in the past few years for the Xbox One X could receive content upgrades to the Xbox Series X to leverage its hardware.

Xbox Game Pass for PC and Xbox will receive some new big-name games in the coming days, besides the games released earlier this month such as Red Dead Redemption 2 and Final Fantasy 9. The biggest title set to join the program is Minecraft Dungeons a new dungeon crawler spinoff game from Microsoft's Mojang Studios. Minecraft Dungeons will be available through Xbox Game Pass on PC and Xbox from tomorrow the 26th of May.

The classic Alan Wake has been added to the platform for both PC and Xbox users along with the return of Cities Skylines. Golf with your friends was also added earlier this month for Xbox. Finally PC users will also receive Plebby Quest: The Crusades later this month.