Tom Warren

Rumors that a new Doom game is on the horizon are heating up thanks in part to a new trademark filing (via Eurogamer).

More former Xbox exclusives could be coming to PS5 during this holiday season, according to a well-known insider.

As part of its fiscal year 2023 earnings release, Sony has finally confirmed sales for Arrowhead Game Studios’ Helldivers 2. It’s sold 12 million units as of May 5th on PS5 and PC, after launching on February 8th for both platforms, as revealed in a recently concluded conference call.

PS5 sales have surpassed 59.2 million units worldwide, Sony has revealed.

A new Doom game could in line to be announced at June’s Xbox Games Showcase.

President of Xbox Sarah Bond announced during yesterday's Bloomberg Tech talk with Dina Bass that the long-awaited Xbox mobile store will debut this July via Web (to avoid the limitations of the App Store and Play Store while regulators around the world enforce new guidelines). The first games to be added to the store will be Microsoft-owned franchises, like Minecraft and Candy Crush, though the store will be opened to partners shortly afterward.

Xbox President Sarah Bond has commented on the recent closure of Hi-Fi Rush studio Tango Gameworks.

Another Xbox Game Pass price hike may be coming in the foreseeable future, according to a new report. The same source also raises the possibility of some more bad news for Xbox Game Pass subscribers concerning Call of Duty.

The closures of Tango Gameworks, Alpha Dog Studios and Arkane Austin, and folding of Roundhouse Studios into ZeniMax Online Studios may not be the end of Microsoft’s layoffs. The Verge’s Tom Warren reports that Xbox employees are “bracing for what’s next” and that there are “whispers among employees” of cutbacks at core Xbox Game Studios.

Microsoft’s closure of Tango Gameworks, Arkane Austin and Alpha Dog Studios (with Roundhouse Studios folded into ZeniMax Online Studios) proved shocking for the industry, especially after its layoffs earlier this year. While it has plenty to look forward to, including the next Call of Duty, it’s reportedly debating whether it – and future releases in the series – should go to Game Pass.

When Microsoft teased big changes to its Xbox business, rumors flew all over the place regarding potential first-party games for non-Xbox platforms. Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 by Ninja Theory was reportedly one, and while nothing came of it, the company is reportedly considering a PS5 release, per a new report by The Verge’s Tom Warren.

Following the unexpected move to shut down three game studios and merge another with ZeniMax Online, we learned that Microsoft is still planning more cuts to its Xbox division. But that's not the full extent of the company's re-evaluation of its gaming strategy.

After Microsoft purchased Activision Blizzard, many wondered whether the tech giant would follow its current precedent of putting its first-party games on Game Pass on the same day as their official release date. More specifically, this would include Call of Duty, one of the most profitable gaming franchises over the last several years.

After a round of improvements, Xbox Cloud Gaming and console users will soon be able to manage their save files on the go and manage more than one Wi-Fi network in the OS settings. The changes are now available for Xbox Insiders to test on compatible Xbox Cloud Gaming devices and Xbox Series X/S, with a general release to the public likely happening after a short testing window.

Xbox is working on a new dashboard feature that will enable users to combine dynamic backgrounds with static game art when scrolling through their games and apps on the dashboard. Currently, having static game art enabled as the background and hovering over games or apps that don't have game art attached will display the default Xbox background.

The next Xbox Games Showcase is scheduled to air this summer and it looks like it could also feature a Call of Duty Direct, too.

The Verge has a new report out with claims that the Sony is prodding developers to get their games to 4K 60 FPS on the rumored PlayStation 5 Pro, with their own upscaling technology.

PlayStation and Puma have announced a new collaboration.

Despite not being officially announced, the PS5 Pro has seen several details leak over the past month or so, starting with a video by Moore’s Law is Dead, which Insider Gaming corroborated. The Verge’s Tom Warren is adding to the pile after obtaining a “full list of specs” for the console. Many of these are already known, like the 576 GB/s system memory bandwidth, a CPU with a “High Frequency Mode” to run at 3.8 GHz and more.

The video that initially leaked the specs for the as-yet unannounced PlayStation 5 Pro console has been taken down by Sony.

Remember last month's PS5 Pro video from YouTuber Moore's Law is Dead? This video is no longer available following a copyright strike from Sony.

The reveal of a PlayStation 5 Pro seems all but guaranteed, though it’s impossible to say for sure what kind of hardware improvements any potential new model of the system would bring. That said, there are loads of leaks and rumors and one, now verified by Tom Warren of The Verge, suggests that the majority of the improvements would focus on the console’s GPU performance.

A new rumor has propped up about the anticipated Gears of War 6.

Sea of Thieves is reportedly a "key test" that will decide if Xbox brings more of its first-party games to other consoles.

The Sea of Thieves PS5 version will be a crucial test for other former Xbox exclusives coming to rival platforms, according to outlet The Verge.

Microsoft is reportedly planning to unveil new Gears of War and Call of Duty games at its traditional Xbox summer showcase.

As we head deeper into 2024, the traditional “E3” season (of course, E3 is dead now, but you catch my drift) for gaming announcements and showcases is coming up fast. In recent days we’ve begun to hear some murmurings about Microsoft’s big 2024 showcase, with Gears 6 reportedly being there, and now a few more potential details may have filtered out.

Microsoft confirmed earlier this year that its annual Xbox Games Showcase would be returning in June, and though a specific date for the event has yet to be officially announced, it seems one has been set internally within the company.

The early months of 2024 have seen Microsoft stepping up its efforts to bring its first-party Xbox titles to audiences on rival platforms, with Hi-Fi Rush having released for PS5 and Obsidian duo Pentiment and Grounded both having launched for PS5 and Switch. Sea of Thieves arrives for PS5 later this month, and though Microsoft hasn’t officially announced further plans to bring any other of its games to rival consoles beyond that, reports continue to insist that there’s more stuff in the pipeline.

Yesterday, we reported that Paris Lilly and Jeff Grubb revealed that Microsoft is set to share an update for The Coalition’s next title, Gears of War 6. Today, we have even more people corroborating and sharing new details.

While Microsoft has plenty of first-party titles in the works, one of its most prominent, Gears of War, hasn’t been mentioned for some time. However, roughly five years after the launch of Gear 5, it’s allegedly set to reveal Gears 6 this Summer per Giant Bomb’s Jeff Grubb (with The Verge’s Tom Warren affirming the same).

It's been almost five years since the release of Gears 5, with only minor development updates and rumors of PlayStation ports to remind people the series is still alive. Given the way the game actually ends, it would have been surprising if we never actually got one, and it appears as though Xbox is getting ready to drop all the secrecy and give us a good look at the future of the Gears of War franchise this summer.

Development on Gears 6 has been ongoing for a while now, and with reports having claimed last year that developer The Coalition had cancelled two unannounced projects in order to focus on its flagship third-person shooter, many are beginning to wonder when it’ll be officially announced, especially with Gears 5 approaching its fifth anniversary.

The first news on Gears of War 6 may be coming this summer, according to new claims.

The next Xbox controller will be called the Nocturnal Vapor and is likely to hit the market in the first half of April, a well-known leaker has said. The insider also shared some other details about the upcoming Xbox accessory whose feature set is rumored to directly rival Sony's DualSense.

Following yesterday's Xbox Business update, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer provided extra details on what gamers can expect in an interview with The Verge.

Microsoft is said to have been considering the idea to bring other major franchises to rival platforms, including the Gears of War, the next Doom, and Flight Simulator.

Xbox's Phil Spencer has confirmed that two major Bethesda titles, Starfield and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, will not be going multiplatform. The announcement comes after recent rumors that the Xbox titles would be released on competing consoles.

Some recent social media activity from Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer has stoked the ongoing rumors that an Xbox handheld console is in the works. The existence of the device has been alleged by several sources throughout February, at the height of the drama surrounding the possibility of some first-party Xbox games going multi-platform.

The first wave of the widely rumored Xbox multi-platform lineup will comprise Hi-Fi Rush and Pentiment, a credible insider has said. The expansion of these titles beyond the Xbox ecosystem is expected to be officially confirmed at Microsoft's «business update» event scheduled for February 15.

Microsoft is working on a new AI feature that will enhance PC games running on Windows 11, similar to Nvidia's DLSS feature for GeForce RTX graphics cards. Despite the lack of an official announcement, a newly discovered test build suggests that Microsoft will deploy the feature soon in an upcoming Windows 11 update.

A Hi-Fi Rush launch on PS5 and Nintendo Switch could be imminent, following a recent leak. Currently an Xbox console exclusive, in-game files accessed by dataminers reveal new assets that seemingly confirm previous rumours of the game’s arrival on other platforms.

There's no stopping to Pocketpair's hit title as Palworld is currently the most popular game on Xbox Game Pass.

Details about a potential reveal window for the leaked Xbox controller codenamed «Sebile» have been given additional substance by an industry insider. The Sebile controller was just one part of a larger court document that leaked during Xbox's battle with the FTC over the $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which has since been finalized in Xbox's favor. A cylinder-shaped disc-less Xbox Series X and several years of Bethesda's development plans also appeared in the leaked document.

We have a surprising new rumor about a product that many gamers thought had already been cancelled.

Xbox owners have once again hit back at Microsoft for «very disappointing» advertisements.

By Tom Warren, a senior editor covering Microsoft, PC gaming, console, and tech. He founded WinRumors, a site dedicated to Microsoft news, before joining The Verge in 2012.

By Tom Warren, a senior editor covering Microsoft, PC gaming, console, and tech. He founded WinRumors, a site dedicated to Microsoft news, before joining The Verge in 2012.

By Tom Warren, a senior editor covering Microsoft, PC gaming, console, and tech. He founded WinRumors, a site dedicated to Microsoft news, before joining The Verge in 2012.

By Tom Warren, a senior editor covering Microsoft, PC gaming, console, and tech. He founded WinRumors, a site dedicated to Microsoft news, before joining The Verge in 2012.

By Tom Warren, a senior editor covering Microsoft, PC gaming, console, and tech. He founded WinRumors, a site dedicated to Microsoft news, before joining The Verge in 2012.

By Tom Warren, a senior editor covering Microsoft, PC gaming, console, and tech. He founded WinRumors, a site dedicated to Microsoft news, before joining The Verge in 2012.

By Tom Warren, a senior editor covering Microsoft, PC gaming, console, and tech. He founded WinRumors, a site dedicated to Microsoft news, before joining The Verge in 2012.

By Chris Welch, Andrew J. Hawkins, Alex Cranz, Jennifer Pattison Tuohy, Tom Warren, Allison Johnson, and Victoria Song

By Tom Warren, a senior editor covering Microsoft, PC gaming, console, and tech. He founded WinRumors, a site dedicated to Microsoft news, before joining The Verge in 2012.

By Tom Warren, a senior editor covering Microsoft, PC gaming, console, and tech. He founded WinRumors, a site dedicated to Microsoft news, before joining The Verge in 2012.

Embark Studios may have incorrectly banned a selection of The Finals players during the game's first ban wave.

By Tom Warren, a senior editor covering Microsoft, PC gaming, console, and tech. He founded WinRumors, a site dedicated to Microsoft news, before joining The Verge in 2012.

Developer Embark Studios has deployed the first big ban wave on its free-to-play shooter The Finals, but some non-cheating players appear to have been affected too. 

By Tom Warren, a senior editor covering Microsoft, PC gaming, console, and tech. He founded WinRumors, a site dedicated to Microsoft news, before joining The Verge in 2012.

By Tom Warren, a senior editor covering Microsoft, PC gaming, console, and tech. He founded WinRumors, a site dedicated to Microsoft news, before joining The Verge in 2012.

By Tom Warren, a senior editor covering Microsoft, PC gaming, console, and tech. He founded WinRumors, a site dedicated to Microsoft news, before joining The Verge in 2012.

By Tom Warren, a senior editor covering Microsoft, PC gaming, console, and tech. He founded WinRumors, a site dedicated to Microsoft news, before joining The Verge in 2012.

When it comes to dominating news stories of 2023, one of the biggest ones by far is that of Microsoft trying to complete its purchase of Activision Blizzard. The goal of this massive merger that would cost them 69 billion dollars was to ensure that the Xbox brand not only had more IPs to work with but would give them a bigger “stake” in the video game market. The Xbox line of systems has done decently since its arrival but has never been the “dominant system” for multiple reasons. The merger has already been approved and is happening, so why is the case still going on?

Filed under:

During the 2023 Comic Con Experience (November 30 - December 3) in São Paulo, Brazil, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer spoke with Bloomberg's Rachel Gamarski to confirm the company's strategy to build an Xbox mobile store with the help of like-minded partners.

By Tom Warren, a senior editor covering Microsoft, PC gaming, console, and tech. He founded WinRumors, a site dedicated to Microsoft news, before joining The Verge in 2012.

By Tom Warren, a senior editor covering Microsoft, PC gaming, console, and tech. He founded WinRumors, a site dedicated to Microsoft news, before joining The Verge in 2012.

By Tom Warren, a senior editor covering Microsoft, PC gaming, console, and tech. He founded WinRumors, a site dedicated to Microsoft news, before joining The Verge in 2012.

By Tom Warren, a senior editor covering Microsoft, PC gaming, console, and tech. He founded WinRumors, a site dedicated to Microsoft news, before joining The Verge in 2012.

By Tom Warren, a senior editor covering Microsoft, PC gaming, console, and tech. He founded WinRumors, a site dedicated to Microsoft news, before joining The Verge in 2012.

By Tom Warren, a senior editor covering Microsoft, PC gaming, console, and tech. He founded WinRumors, a site dedicated to Microsoft news, before joining The Verge in 2012.

By Tom Warren, a senior editor covering Microsoft, PC gaming, console, and tech. He founded WinRumors, a site dedicated to Microsoft news, before joining The Verge in 2012.

By Tom Warren, a senior editor covering Microsoft, PC gaming, console, and tech. He founded WinRumors, a site dedicated to Microsoft news, before joining The Verge in 2012.

By Tom Warren, a senior editor covering Microsoft, PC gaming, console, and tech. He founded WinRumors, a site dedicated to Microsoft news, before joining The Verge in 2012.

By Tom Warren, a senior editor covering Microsoft, PC gaming, console, and tech. He founded WinRumors, a site dedicated to Microsoft news, before joining The Verge in 2012.

Activision and Xbox have teamed up to release full screen ads for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 on the console's homepage, which players have since heavily criticised.

By Tom Warren, a senior editor covering Microsoft, PC gaming, console, and tech. He founded WinRumors, a site dedicated to Microsoft news, before joining The Verge in 2012.

By Tom Warren, a senior editor covering Microsoft, PC gaming, console, and tech. He founded WinRumors, a site dedicated to Microsoft news, before joining The Verge in 2012.

By Tom Warren, a senior editor covering Microsoft, PC gaming, console, and tech. He founded WinRumors, a site dedicated to Microsoft news, before joining The Verge in 2012.