Private Division and Roll7 today announced that Rollerdrome, the imaginative third-person shooter-skater, is now available on Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC. Rollerdrome is a thrilling single-player game which pits you in intense arena combat. Melding fluid movement, visceral combat, and technical tricks, the title aims to create an experience described as "flow-state mayhem." Can you battle your way to the top and become the next Rollerdrome champion?

"Looking back to the conception of the game, we wanted Rollerdrome to be fast, fluid, and exciting - we were shown an early gameplay prototype by the Creative Director Paul Rabbitte, and seeing the potential, we quickly assembled an incredibly talented team to turn what was a promising concept into a visceral and stylish game," said Tom Hegarty, Founder and Studio Head at Roll7. "I'm now super excited that we are able to share it, once more, with a whole new group of Xbox and PC players."

Beware do-gooders of the Overworld, for war is on the horizon. Publisher Kalypso Media and in-house developer Realmforge Studios have unleashed The Absolute Evil upon the Overworld with the official launch of Dungeons series' highly anticipated sequel, Dungeons 4.

Sound the alarm and prepare your traps, because Dungeons 4 is now available day one on Xbox Game Pass for console and PC and is available in Standard or Deluxe Editions on Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, and PlayStation 5. The Deluxe Edition provides hellish extras for the most daring minions, including the Digital Artbook, exclusive Dungeons 3 Evil Hand Legacy Skin, Thalya Legacy 'Evil and Good' skin, remastered Storming of Dollaran Map from Dungeons 3, and the Official Dungeons 4 Soundtrack. Ensuring victory over the heroes of the Overworld. With larger dungeons, an expansive Overworld, enhanced co-op play, more evil critters, and the addition of the infuriating Dwarves, Evil has never looked this good!

HyperX, the gaming peripherals team at HP Inc. and brand leader in gaming and esports, today announced the release of the HyperX Clutch Gladiate RGB Gaming Controller. Designed specifically for Xbox gamers, the new Clutch Gladiate RGB delivers precision and comfort in a transparent design, unleashing next-level customization with full body RGB lighting options.

The Clutch Gladiate RGB provides an immersive gaming experience with robust dual rumble motors and tactile grips, ensuring games equipped with vibration feedback provide an engaging gameplay experience. The controller also boasts impulse triggers that offer variable tactile feedback, allowing gamers to connect to the game in unmatched ways. Integrated with impulse rumble motors, this feature provides haptic feedback for an elevated gaming experience.

Unlock the rich history and stories of two remarkable civilizations—The Mountain Royals is now live! The exciting next expansion is available now on Steam, and the Microsoft & Xbox Stores. There so much to delve in to with two new civilizations, three new, fully-voiced campaigns, plus the newly updated Persian civilization.

Prepare to embark on a legendary journey as we introduce the "The Mountain Royals" DLC for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. Unlock the rich history and untold stories of two remarkable civilizations, the Armenians and Georgians, and immerse yourself in three captivating new campaigns: Tamar, Thoros the Great, and Ismail. Lead the Charge! Forge Empires! Get "The Mountain Royals" DLC Now and Conquer History Anew!

Apparently if you say "day one with Game Pass" three times in front of your mirror nothing actually happens, and you did that for nothing. But we do happen to have a bunch of day one games coming soon (and available today), so let's dive in!

Available Today
Headbangers: Rhythm Royale (Cloud, Console, and PC)—Available on day one with Game Pass: Headbangers puts you and 29 others into the eye of the Pigeon while you battle it out in rhythmic challenges to find out who is the ultimate Master Headbanger. Compete against each other in mind-bending musical minigames, screw over your competitors with powerups, and collect Crumbs to customize your very own Pigeon!

If you're looking to build a city, build a team, or build a to-play-next list of games, we have updates for you. Some games you'll remember from seeing at gamescom or at our Xbox Games Showcase, and we have a few new announcements - excited to get to the game play!

Available Today:
Like A Dragon: Ishin! (Cloud, Console, and PC)
Take up the sword as Sakamoto Ryoma and venture to Kyoto to find your father's killer, clear yourself of a framed murder, and restore your honor. In doing so, you will bring an end to the samurai era and forever change the future of Japan. Draw your blade and join the revolution in this heated historical adventure.

Gaming allows us to experience worlds beyond imagination, share our stories and forge friendships with people across the world. At Xbox we believe that gaming is for everyone, including the over 429 million players with disabilities, and it is our responsibility to create a place where everyone feels welcome, safe, and included to experience the joy and community of gaming.

Each October we take a moment to celebrate the disability community, and earlier this month Xbox celebrated its partnership with Special Olympics in the form of Gaming for Inclusion, a hybrid, multi-day tournament that aims to showcase the power of inclusion through gaming, break down barriers and empower Special Olympics athletes through technology. Prioritizing accessibility in gaming invites more people to experience gaming, by empowering all gamers to play in the way that is true to them.

Team Xbox is so excited to see the initial response to the Xbox Mastercard with the first group of Xbox Insiders! We're happy to announce that we're opening up the Preview to all eligible Xbox Insiders in the US starting today. You can find the Xbox Mastercard Preview in the Xbox Insider Hub under the Previews section. If you are not an Xbox Insider, you can join the Xbox Insider Program for free by downloading the Xbox Insider Hub on console or Windows PC. Keep the feedback coming!

How to get Xbox Insider support and share your feedback
If you're an Xbox Insider looking for support, please join our community on the Xbox Insider subreddit. Official Xbox staff, moderators, and fellow Xbox Insiders are there to help. We always recommend adding to threads with the same issue before posting a brand new one. This helps us support you the best we can! Don't forget to use "Report a problem" before posting—the information shared in both places helps us understand your issue better.

After almost two years, Microsoft has finally closed the $68.7 billion deal and acquired Activision Blizzard. Confirmed by Phil Spencer, head of gaming at Microsoft, the deal comes after the final approval from UK's Competition and Markets earlier today. The acquisition puts Activision Blizzard, developers Infinity Ward, Raven Software, Sledgehammer Games, Treyarch, Toys for Bob, Beenox and High Moon Studios, as well as the mobile game maker King, which is known for its Candy Crush game, all under Xbox Game Studios.

In case you missed it, Microsoft announced its intention to acquire Activision Blizzard back in January 2022, after which it started its battle with various regulators, including UK's CMA, the European Commission, the US Federal Trade Commission, and others. In its extensive statement, Phil Spencer, head of gaming at Microsoft, once again confirmed that they will continue to make more games available in more places, as it promised to the European Commission, and they can now start the work to bring all those franchises to Game Pass and other platforms. Earlier this week, Activision Blizzard confirmed it expected to start adding titles to Game Pass in 2024, if the aforementioned deal goes through.

The gates of the Burning Hells have opened once more, welcoming more of Lilith's children home. Diablo IV is a game about slaying nightmarish creatures and acquiring powerful gear, but also about forging memories with new and old friends. We want to break down barriers to make it easier for wanderers everywhere to defend Sanctuary. Which is why we're honored to announce…Diablo IV will be available to play on Steam starting October 17! The Diablo IV Steam page is live now, and the game is available to wishlist.

Diablo IV's presence on Steam is in addition to Battle.net, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, and PlayStation 4, so wanderers playing the game on any existing platform need not make any changes. Those wanting to play on Steam will need to first purchase the game on that platform, then connect Diablo IV to a Battle.net account (as we require for all platforms). This enables cross-platform play and more. Players using Steam will have access to features specific to that platform, such as Steam achievements, their Steam friends list, and the option to invite those friends to play in-game. We're looking forward to seeing more defenders of Sanctuary band together and welcome any feedback you may have.

Included in the Forza Motorsport Premium Edition and Premium Add-Ons Bundle, you can play the full game and begin your racing career up to 5 days early on Xbox Series X|S, Windows and Steam. On Xbox and Windows, Forza Motorsport Early Access rollout is region dependent. At 12:01am local time in your country, the game will be available to play. On Steam, this unlock happens globally at 12:01am EDT on October 5.

Upgrade to the Premium Add-Ons Bundle with Xbox Game Pass and enjoy a 10% discount with up to 5 days early access to Forza Motorsport and all the additional content included with the Premium Edition. Forza Motorsport Early Access has started to unlock around the world! Here is the time you can play the game in your country:

From the shadows, the Xbox Wireless Controller - Gold Shadow Special Edition is making its grand debut in the spotlight. A homage to Xbox One's fan-favorite Shadow series designs, this controller sports a sophisticated gold-to-black metallic finish on the top case. Aside from the top case and D-Pad, the rest of the controller is draped in carbon black, allowing the gold elements to shine. This controller is a statement piece, perfectly suited to be your new favorite, and the crowning gem of any collection.

This elegant piece comes with all the key features players love in our current generation of controllers. The metallic gold hybrid D-Pad provides a smooth touch for your thumb to expertly glide on. The rubberized black diamond patterned side grips and textured grip on the triggers, bumpers and back case provide that extra support needed to stay in control of high-pressure gaming moments.

If you're looking for some spooky games, some fast ways to drive away from anything spooky, or just some great games to load up and dive into the story… have I got some recommendations for you! We've got some games available today for you to check out, some more coming soon, and even a reminder on some you might have missed that we snuck in last month. Let's get to the games!

Available Today:
Gotham Knights (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S)—Batman is dead. A new expansive, criminal underworld has swept the streets of Gotham City. It is now up to the Batman Family - Batgirl, Nightwing, Red Hood, and Robin - to protect Gotham, bring hope to its citizens, discipline to its cops, and fear to its criminals.

The Lamplighter's League (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S)—Available on day one with Game Pass: Sneak, steal, and shoot your way through a world of pulp adventure in The Lamplighters League! Globetrot across a variety of exciting locales around the world and outwit your enemies in strategic turn-based combat and, if you play your cards right, you might just save the world.

At Xbox, we believe that gaming is for everyone. You hear it a lot, but it's absolutely true. The Xbox community is at the center of everything we do, every decision we make. This month we're recognizing the 400+ million players who make up the gaming and disability community. In their own words, we're inviting Elle Vance, Software Engineer II for Xbox Player Services, to share their story on how being part of the gaming and disability community has impacted their life:

"I understand the world through a different perspective. Unlike most neurotypical people, who understand the world from a top-down perspective; I start with a bottom-up approach, focusing first on the details. Sometimes my perspective is advantageous in my work as a Software Engineer II, and in other areas of my life, too, as I am able to troubleshoot problems at a granular level before processing it from a broader framework which could potentially create bias in attempting to solve that problem.

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) rejected a previous draft of Microsoft's proposed deal to merge with Activision Blizzard (to the tune of $69 billion). The expected summer completion date was missed due to this sole case of opposition—all of the other international regulatory bodies had approved a conglomeration of Xbox and Activision portfolios. Ubisoft later emerged as an unlikely knight in shining armor, since the UK CMA has provisionally approved freshly revamped conditions—it turns out that Microsoft had agreed to sell its cloud streaming rights to the French video game publisher. The Financial Times sat down with one of the company's co-founders—CEO Yves Guillemot—and discussed how cloud gaming will revolutionize the industry.

Guillemot was not asked to comment on how much his firm has agreed to spend—allegedly a one-off fee—on purchasing Activision Blizzard's cloud streaming rights (from Microsoft). He did discuss the inherent risk of embracing a relatively immature market technology: "When Netflix first said it was going to go into streaming, their shares fell a lot and they were widely criticized. Today, we see what they have become. It's going to be the same with video games, but it will take time. But when it takes off, it will happen very quickly...We strongly believe in the next five to 10 years, many games will be streamed and will also be produced in the cloud. That's what pushed us to go forward with the Microsoft deal." This looks to be an unusual move for Ubisoft, considering the rumors of a recent strategy shift in reaction to downturns in sales.

Haruhiro Tsujimoto, Capcom's chief operating officer, spoke to Bloomberg during last week's Tokyo Game Show. The discussion touched upon several subject matters, but the key takeaway was his refusal to accept any outside bid for complete ownership of Capcom's development and publishing arms. Sony and Microsoft have been hoovering up studios over the past three years, but the COO stated that any approach or bid for Capcom would be "gracefully declined." Tsujimoto was presented with a hypothetical situation: "How would Capcom respond to an acquisition offer from Microsoft?" A continuation of their existing relationship was his preference going forward: "I believe it would be better if we were equal partners."

He revealed that offers were made in the past: "There was a time (when) we were a target." Capcom desires internal "organic growth," rather than rapid expansion through acquisitions. It will occasionally rely on the third parties to develop games: "I also believe we can utilize external partners...but we have no intention of acquiring companies." Returning to the subject of growth—Capcom has not yet implemented a major price hike for its AAA titles, unlike other (rival) publishers—gamers are now paying up to $70 for (base/standard edition) big-budget interactive experiences on the latest-gen consoles and PCs. The house of Resident Evil and Street Fighter is seemingly ready to follow suit—as reported by Nikkei; Tsujimoto-san stated: "Development costs now are about 100 times more than they were during the Famicom era, but software prices haven't gone up to that extent...There's also a need to raise wages in order to attract talent. Seeing as wages are rising in the industry as a whole, I think raising unit prices is a healthy business model."

Microsoft's gaming division has historically had a hard time with the expansion of its Xbox console userbase in Japan, due to the continued dominance of rival Sony PlayStation and Nintendo systems. The Series X and Series S have bucked past trends to some degree (maybe not all that impressive)—the higher-ups at Microsoft probably consider Japan to be an emerging/growth market, so Phil Spencer & Co. were recently dispatched to 2023 Tokyo Game Show. Xbox's Chief and Sarah Bond (Corporate Vice President) participated in an IGN-organized Q&A panel, where they were asked about reviving dormant first or third party franchises.

Bond was nudged into answering first—her choice was Blizzard Entertainment's sci-fi RTS series; StarCraft. She based this selection on fan feedback—apparently Japanese gamers have expressed plenty of interest in a potential threequel. Microsoft could have a major say in goings-on at the Californian development studio, once their acquisition of Activision Blizzard goes ahead. Spencer had more time to mull over his pick—in his opinion, MechAssault deserves a revival—with emphasis on it being a personal preference rather than any indication of an official announcement. The more action-oriented spin-off of FASA's MechWarrior series (set in the BattleTech universe) debuted exclusively on the original Xbox console back in 2002—Spencer was working as general manager of Microsoft Game Studios at the time. A sequel, Lone Wolf, was released in 2004.

Forza Motorsport will expand with new cars, tracks, career tours and online events. Here's how we're building an evolving racing platform to give players a steady flow of new challenges and gameplay experiences. Forza Motorsport launches on October 10 with over 500 cars, 20 completely rebuilt tracks and our new career and online racing modes. It's a massive game from day one and it'll continue to grow over time.

We want to ensure you always have something new to play in Forza Motorsport. That's why we built the game to be an evolving racing platform. Once the game has been released, we expect to regularly add new content with monthly content drops that will help you fall in love with cars through skill and competition, as well as tweaks to gameplay and systems.

This marks an incredible week for PC Game Pass members - on the heels of Starfield, highly anticipated titles Lies of P, Payday 3, and Party Animals all arrive this week - and October is shaping up sterling as well with the likes of Forza Motorsport and The Lamplighter's League. That's on top of well over a hundred more PC games available at your fingertips; sometimes the question is: where to start?

To help players find the right game for them, we asked one of our favorite variety streamers, Bruce Greene, to pick some of his favorites from the PC Game Pass library. Why him? "I've been playing PC games for 25 years and I'm super impressed by what's on PC Game Pass," he told me, as he shared his list. "When I was asked to pick games from PC Game Pass that you would recommend, I picked like 40 or 50 cause like there were so many good games on there and I had to pare them down which is hilarious. Being a curator, it's perfect for me."

Microsoft Gaming's chief, Phil Spencer, has issued a public-facing response to the recent leak of potential upcoming Xbox products (2024 to 2028): "We've seen the conversation around old emails and documents. It is hard to see our team's work shared in this way because so much has changed and there's so much to be excited about right now, and in the future. We will share the real plans when we are ready." The information dump (in part) consisted of presentation material prepared for (internal) April 2022 meetings, so it is possible that the Xbox division has changed direction in the meantime. Spencer was also involved in an August 2020 discussion with Microsoft marketing executives, regarding a possible buyout of Nintendo—according to leaked FTC legal case material. It should be noted that Microsoft has made attempts to acquire Nintendo in the past—but their approaches were "laughed off."

The Verge has managed to obtain an email distributed to Microsoft employees, as sent out by an embattled Spencer—he reiterates his public messaging of "real plans" in the company memo: "I know this is disappointing, even if many of the documents are well over a year old and our plans have evolved...We all put incredible amounts of passion and energy into our work, and this is never how we want that hard work to be shared with the community. That said, there's so much more to be excited about, and when we're ready, we'll share the real plans with our players."

A comprehensive leak of documents—from a FTC versus Microsoft case—has exposed short and long-term plans in the world of Xbox. It seems that a relatively mild refresh of current generation Xbox Series X and S is lined up for the second half of 2024, but presentation material (dated April 2022) also reaches far into the future with strategies for next-gen gaming hardware. The bigwigs at Xbox were projecting a "full convergence" of their proprietary "xCloud" gaming platform and physical console hardware to deliver "cloud hybrid games" for 2028—schemes and priorities could have shifted in the interim, given various legal challenges and takeover bids.

One of the slides points to Microsoft getting the technical nitty-gritty sorted by CY2023—with two main options presented for consideration: a licensed ARM 64 design or a "Zen 6-based" AMD 64 processor. The next-gen Xbox's GPU aspect could incorporate a Navi 5 design (RDNA 5)—weighing up either a co-operation with AMD, or an IP license of said graphics architecture. VideoCardz theorizes that: "the latter option seems more likely if the ARM 64 chip is chosen over the Zen 6 APU." A key goal in this area seems to be an implementation of "Next-Gen DirectX Ray tracing" and "ML-based Super Resolutions" features. A Neural Processing Unit (NPU) is marked as a key provision for the 2028 console—granting some nice-to-have perks including: latency compensation, frame rate interpolation and various enrichments of the user experience.

If you're looking for the latest games coming to Game Pass, you've come to the right place. Maybe you're looking for a Soulslike, or mysterious adventures. Maybe you're looking to solve crimes, or even do crimes (maybe please keep that in the context of video games). Either way, we've got something for you!

Available Today—Lies of P (Cloud, Console, and PC)
Available on day one with Game Pass: Lies of P is a thrilling soulslike that takes the story of Pinocchio, turns it on its head, and sets it against the darkly elegant backdrop of the Belle Epoque era. You must adapt yourself and your weapons to face untold horrors, untangle the unfathomable secrets of the city's elites and choose whether to confront predicaments with the truth or weave lies to overcome them on the journey to find yourself.

Piranha Games revealed MechWarrior 5: Clans today, a new stand alone MechWarrior game coming to PC, Xbox and PlayStation consoles next year. MechWarrior 5: Clans, while retaining the MechWarrior 5 designation, represents a transformative step forward in the MechWarrior 5 franchise. MechWarrior 5: Clans linear campaign will be an evolution of gameplay and storytelling in the MechWarrior series, experienced from the perspective of Clan Smoke Jaguar in the pivotal conflict known as the Clan Invasion starting in the year 3050.

MechWarrior 5: Clans follows Piranha's 2019 hit, MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries, which was a campaign-based, open ended, procedural experience, selling more than 1.5 million units with a current 9/10 Very Positive ranking on Steam from more than 7,500 user reviews.

A screaming goat once told me that October is the BEST month. Not just because it's full of pumpkins (yum!) or because all the skeletons in my save file finally fit in (aww!), but because Minecraft Live is back on October 15, and this year it's bigger and blockier than ever! If you've never watched our epic, once-a-year livestream before, then you are in for a treat. Not only do we spend an hour talking about Minecraft (our favorite topic), but we dive into news from Minecraft and Minecraft: Legends; share snippets of what you can expect in the future, and reveal the winner of the hotly anticipated mob vote!

Minecraft Live returns on October 15! Tune in at 1pm EDT for news, sneak peeks, the mob vote, and more! Once the mobs have been revealed, you'll be able to cast your vote via the Minecraft Launcher, Minecraft.net, or the special event server on Minecraft: Bedrock Edition from October 13. You can even challenge yourself to mob-tastic mini-games while you're there!

We're almost there - tomorrow we're excited to bring to life all our updates for Xbox Game Pass Core! As we shared last month, this is our latest evolution of what was previously known as Xbox Live Gold. Same great online experience, new name, and an added library of games! When we announced Xbox Game Pass Core, we shared that this membership would come with more than 25 high quality games from the Xbox Game Pass library - we're thrilled to share that there will be 36 games available to play on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One starting tomorrow! We'll get to the full list - starting with some truly iconic multiplayers, games with incredible storytelling, and influential indies.

Check out the most recent single player Fallout game, Fallout 4, and use your continued access to multiplayer in Fallout 76. Traverse the backyard in Grounded or explore Tamriel in The Elder Scrolls Online. Play the absolute mind trip that is Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice (get some headphones for this one!). These are only a few of the Xbox Game Studios games for you to dig into tomorrow.