game pass

The last Windows Weekly episode landed like a mixtape of outrage, optimism, and technical quibbling — a brisk tour through Microsoft’s week that touched on a campus lockdown, Windows 11 change-management headaches, Microsoft 365 and OneNote transitions, a sweep of AI news, several...

Asus and Microsoft have taken the wraps off the ROG Xbox Ally family — two Windows 11 handhelds that marry ASUS’ ROG hardware design with an Xbox‑layered, controller‑first Windows experience — and they arrive on store shelves on October 16, 2025, positioning themselves as direct rivals to...

Microsoft is widening the testing ring for Xbox Cloud Gaming: Xbox Insiders who subscribe to Game Pass Core and Game Pass Standard can now stream cloud-playable titles — including a selection of owned games and, for the first time on those tiers, select PC versions — through Xbox Cloud Gaming...

This week’s Xbox calendar (August 25–29) reads like a high-stakes festival for players: a canonical remaster of a defining shooter, a long-awaited console arrival for a runaway multiplayer hit, a faithful -- and controversial -- remake of a PlayStation-era classic, and a stylish Shinobi revival...

The ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X arrive as a decisive pivot for handheld PC gaming: ASUS hardware meets Xbox branding and a newly consolized Windows 11 experience, with both devices slated to reach stores on October 16, 2025. Background / Overview The ROG Xbox Ally family is the product of...

Paul Thurrott’s latest Windows Weekly episode—titled “Backing Up the Intel Truck”—is a compact but consequential briefing on where Microsoft’s Windows strategy is headed, and it reads like a roadmap: AI-first user experiences, multimodal interactions that make voice and vision first-class...

Microsoft and ASUS have set a firm retail date for their jointly developed handhelds — the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X — and they arrive not as simple third‑party devices but as the first mainstream proof that Microsoft intends to use Windows 11 as the foundation for a console‑like...

Windows Weekly’s latest episode landed like a speedboat through the shallow end of Microsoft’s current strategy pool — equal parts product update, platform pivot, and cultural commentary — and its most consequential thread is simple: Microsoft is barreling hard into on‑device AI, multimodal...

Pac‑Man’s 45th anniversary is getting a proper party: Bandai Namco’s year‑long “Make imPACt” campaign has been joined this weekend by an Xbox Free Play Days spotlight that lets Game Pass members jump into three Pac‑Man titles for free while limited‑time discounts make ownership tempting...

Microsoft’s new handheld-first layer for Windows 11 — the full‑screen, Xbox‑centric “home app” experience shown on the ROG Xbox Ally family at Gamescom — is the clearest signal yet that Redmond intends to stop treating handheld gaming as an afterthought and start treating it as a first-class...

ASUS and Microsoft have locked in October 16, 2025 as the global ship date for the ROG Xbox Ally family — two Windows‑based, controller‑first handhelds (the ROG Xbox Ally and the higher‑end ROG Xbox Ally X) that promise a full‑screen Xbox experience on a compact, purpose‑built chassis...

Microsoft and ASUS’ ROG Xbox Ally gives the clearest look yet at what a purpose‑built, console‑inspired Windows gaming UI feels like on a handheld — a full‑screen Xbox experience that boots into a game‑first shell, ties deeply into Game Pass and Xbox services, and pairs with ASUS’ Armoury Crate...

Microsoft’s Xbox Cloud Gaming service is officially being discussed as a candidate for a lower‑cost, more widely available tier — possibly ad‑supported — even as Microsoft simultaneously pushes forward on next‑generation hardware, AI features, and a deeper partnership with AMD that will shape...

Microsoft’s Xbox cloud ambitions appear to be entering a new phase: executives are publicly acknowledging that many subscribers use Xbox Cloud Gaming primarily for streaming, and Microsoft is actively exploring a lower-cost, cloud-only entry point that would decouple xCloud access from the full...

Microsoft has begun rolling out an Insider-stage update to the Xbox PC app that finally lets eligible Arm‑based Windows 11 PCs download and run selected PC titles locally instead of being restricted to cloud streaming — a practical, incremental shift that ties new Xbox app behavior to deeper...

Carl Ledbetter’s short, reflective note about the Xbox Series X and Series S is less a farewell than a bookmark: an acknowledgment that one clearly defined hardware era is closing even as Microsoft’s ambition to expand “what Xbox means” accelerates into new form factors and a Windows‑centric...

Microsoft confirmed that five titles will leave Xbox Game Pass at the end of August, with Borderlands 3 Ultimate Edition and Sea of Stars among the most notable removals — players have until August 31 to finish, download, or buy these games before they disappear from the service. Background Xbox...

Microsoft’s Windows 11 reveal marked a clear stylistic and strategic pivot: a softer, more mobile‑friendly desktop that folds touch, cloud, and cross‑platform access into the classic PC ecosystem, anchored by a redesigned, centered taskbar and an app store renewed with developer‑friendly...

Microsoft has quietly unlocked one of the most consequential features Windows on Arm owners have been waiting for: the Xbox PC app can now — in preview — download and run compatible games locally on Arm-based Windows 11 devices. Background Windows on Arm has long been pitched as the...

The current surge in PC-style gaming handhelds looks strikingly familiar: a democratic, low-cost champion (Valve’s Steam Deck) sparks a boom, long-established OEMs pile in with premium alternatives, and suddenly the market is crowded with devices trying to one-up each other on raw performance...