Microsoft Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 or Modern Warfare 3 are on their way to Xbox Game Pass this year, Microsoft has confirmed, as there wasn’t enough time to sort out a “secret celebration drop”.Activision Blizzard stated that there were no intentions for its “upcoming and recently launched games” like Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Diablo 4 to be playable through Xbox Game Pass this year.Yet, rumours swirled that there was something in store. In the latest episode of the official Xbox podcast, Microsoft CEO of gaming Phil Spencer explained that there simply wasn’t enough time to arrange the games’ arrival on Game Pass.The acquisition of Activision Blizzard was only finalised last week following repeated revisions to the terms of the agreement.

Microsoft‘s Phil Spencer has shared that special Call Of Duty content or events on Xbox would exclude the rest of the “Call Of Duty nation”, and therefore is not a part of the company’s plans for the series.On October 13, the acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft was finalised, passing on properties like Crash Bandicoot, Diablo, Overwatch and World Of Warcraft as well as the immensely popular shooter series to the corporation.In spite of repeated insistences from Microsoft that it would not exclude players on other platforms from the future of Call Of Duty, there were still some concerns from fans.Spencer addressed these in the latest episode of the official Xbox podcast, reiterating that exclusive content for Xbox is not in Microsoft’s vision for the series (via Video Games Chronicle).“For Call of Duty players on PlayStation, and in the future Nintendo, I want you to feel 100 per cent a part of the community,” said the CEO.“I don’t want you to feel like there’s content you’re missing out, skins you’re missing out, there’s timing that you’re missing out on… that’s not the goal.”Historically, the series has prioritised those on PlayStation – Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 offered players exclusive monthly double experience point events, weapon bonuses when playing in parties with other PlayStation players, and additional loadout slots, to name a few features.This will not be replicated in future entries on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.

Microsoft suggest Bethesda Softworks has remasters for Fallout 3 and The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion in the works.In a Resetera post published today (September 19), an image appearing to be a “title release schedule” for Microsoft was shared, taken from court documents related to the company’s ongoing Activision Blizzard acquisition.While the schedule begins with releases from 2020, such as Doom Eternal and The Elder Scrolls Online: Greymoor, a number of unannounced projects are also listed.This includes a remaster for Bethesda Softworks’ role-playing game The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, which was listed as launching in 2022. There’s also a remake for post-apocalyptic shooter Fallout 3 marked down for 2024.However, certain dates – such as Redfall being listed for 2021 when it only launched this year – suggest this release schedule, if legitimate, is no longer accurate.These remasters would come at a time when both Fallout and The Elder Scrolls are going to be without new entries for a while.

Xbox‘s next update have been shared in a post to Xbox Wire, including direct Discord streaming, variable refresh rate improvements and more.“We heard that you wanted more Discord features! Starting this week, you can stream gameplay directly from your Xbox to your Discord friends,” Kristen Mann, principal group product manager of Xbox Experiences, said in the announcement.Players are able to enter voice channels in their Discord servers directly from their console as long as they’ve linked their account in the app first. Then, pressing the Xbox button on the controller will open the parties and chats part of the guide.Once Discord and the specific server that they want to stream to is selected, Mann encouraged players to try out the new feature to show off Starfield, which is out on PC and Xbox Series X|S today (September 6).Moving on, the update will add new options for variable refresh rate (or VRR).

Microsoft has nixed the Xbox Game Pass offer that introduced new customers to the subscription service for £1, one week before Starfield‘s launch.According to Games Radar, players realised that the offer disappeared over the weekend (August 26) and that the timing appears to be related to the upcoming launch of Starfield.Originally, players were able to get their first month of Xbox Game Pass for £1 in order to see the benefits of the service, such as playable first-party launches on day one, discounts and backwards compatible classics from the Xbox 360 era.In March, Xbox’s head of global communications Kari Perez said that the offer had been killed off as it “[evaluates] different marketing promotions for new members in the future”. The company then rolled out a system where current users could invite five of their friends to free two-week trials of Xbox Game Pass.Following that, the offer was resurrected in July, but it was shortened to 14 days of Xbox Game Pass for £1 for new customers just a month later.Xbox Game Pass is available in three different versions – console, PC and Ultimate.

Activision Blizzard games like Call Of Duty, Overwatch 2 and World Of Warcraft could be added to Ubisoft’s streaming service soon according to a new announcement.In response to another rejection from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) regarding its proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Microsoft tried to rectify the regulator’s point of contention in this move to sell streaming rights to those games to Ubisoft+.“To address the concerns about the impact of the proposed acquisition on cloud game streaming raised by the UK Competition and Markets Authority, we are restructuring the transaction to acquire a narrower set of rights,” it said in a statement (via Video Games Chronicle).“This includes executing an agreement effective at the closing of our merger that transfers the cloud streaming rights for all current and new Activision Blizzard PC and console games released over the next 15 years to Ubisoft Entertainment SA, a leading global game publisher. The rights will be in perpetuity,” it explained.As a result, it imagined that the CMA would have enough time to review the new transaction and finalise it ahead of its own imposed deadline of October 18.“Under the restructured transaction, Microsoft will not be in a position either to release Activision Blizzard games exclusively on its own cloud streaming service – Xbox Cloud Gaming – or to exclusively control the licensing terms of Activision Blizzard games for rival services,” concluded Microsoft.Chris Early, senior vice president of strategic partnerships and business development at Ubisoft, expressed the developer and publisher’s enthusiasm to offer “a large library of beloved and classic titles as well as the newest releases” through Ubisoft+.

SkiFree Extreme – Mountain Guide – an arcade adventure game inspired by the original SkiFree from 1991 – is now in development for mobile and PC.DevRatGames submitted the game in the Fireside Jam on itch.io where all developers had to use the theme of “guide” to determine the type of game that would be made.“The thing that instantly popped in my head was some kind of mountain guide, and the game I came to think about was the classic SkiFree that came with computers back in the ’90s,” explained the developer in one of the devlogs on YouTube.SkiFree was included in the Microsoft Entertainment Pack 3 and became a fast favourite for countless young children playing on their PC. The Abominable Snowman popped up to chase the player when they surpassed the 2,000 metre mark and theories on how to outrun the monster prevailed even into the 2010s.While DevRatGames final product on itch.io isn’t visually very polished owing to the jam’s time constraints, the entry received a lot of praise for offering an entertaining challenge and an ability to compete with other players for the highest score.Buoyed by that, the developer decided to take the concept forward into a fully-fledged game using the feedback they had gathered as well as their own ambitions for the game.DevRatGames referred to Superhot, Baba is You and Hollow Knight as examples of beloved and successful games that were previously an entry into a game jam.DevRatGames explained in the second devlog update that SkiFree Extreme – Mountain Guide will offer missions for the player to complete like rescuing stranded skiers and an overarching lore to the world.

Call Of Duty games will be available to play on PlayStation, as announced by head of Xbox brand Phil Spencer in a tweet.“We are pleased to announce that Microsoft and PlayStation have signed a binding agreement to keep Call Of Duty on PlayStation following the acquisition of Activision Blizzard,” said Spencer yesterday (July 16). “We look forward to a future where players globally have more choice to play their favourite games.”We are pleased to announce that Microsoft and @PlayStation have signed a binding agreement to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation following the acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

Microsoft has prevailed in the court case against its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, where it had to defend the impact it would have on competition in the video game industry.Video Games Chronicle spotted that today (July 11), the United States District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that the Federal Trade Commission’s request for a preliminary injunction was not necessary. The FTC had asked for the injunction in order to let its in-house court discern the full effects that the acquisition would have on the consumer.“Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision has been described as the largest in tech history.

Microsoft has alleged that Sony is planning to launch a slim model of the PlayStation 5 before the end of the year, according to a court filing in the continuing case between the technology corporation and the Federal Trade Commission.IGN noted that the document’s argument is that the Nintendo Switch is a competitor to the Xbox Series consoles and the PlayStation 5, based on the upcoming handheld PS5.“PlayStation likewise sells a less expensive Digital Edition for $399.99, and is expected to release a PlayStation 5 Slim later this year at the same reduced price point,” claimed Microsoft. “Sony is also anticipated to release a handheld version of PlayStation 5 later this year for under $300.”Late last year, when Famitsu pressed Sony’s vice president Hideaki Nishino on the possibility of a console upgrade, he did not outright deny it.

Halo have been invited to take part in the “world’s biggest” performance of its now-iconic Gregorian chant, with “no previous singing or gaming experience” required.The original Gregorian chant debuted in 2002, as part of the first Halo game’s theme.  Composed by Marty O’Donnell, the piece went on to become synonymous with the long-running Halo series, with many elements from the first theme turning up in subsequent games.Today (June 28), gamechoir has sent out a call for fans of the game to come together in creating the “world’s biggest” performance of the series’ Gregorian chant.The digital event will begin with a live-streamed vocals lesson on YouTube, which will take place on July 10 at 18:45 BST. From there, singers will be encouraged to practice using a professionally-recorded backing track, before submitting their “high, medium or low voice” performances to gamechoir.Following that, gamechoir will broadcast the final piece on August 17.Marty O’Donnell, the composer behind Halo‘s theme, has encouraged fans — “singer or not” — to take part in the Halo chant, and admitted he “never imagined” people would still be singing the chant over 20 years later.“Video games and video game music have the power to bring people together,” shared O’Donnell.

Xbox leadership wanted Microsoft to make an acquisition bid for Sega, while a “watchlist” also marked the likes of Bungie, IO Interactive, and Niantic as studios to consider buying.Currently, Microsoft is in court to defend its proposed £50billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is fighting to block.As part of the case, a number of internal emails from Microsoft have been unearthed.

Forza Horizon 5 is getting Barbie’s iconic pink Corvette from the upcoming Barbie movie.Microsoft has revealed that Barbie will be racing into its flagship Forza game with the addition of the classic 1956 Chevrolet Corvette EV Corvette.“Bringing Barbie’s signature flair to our gaming platform, we’re honoring all that there is to love about this iconic role model,” said Kirsten Ward, the vice president of Xbox integrated marketing, in an official statement. “Her persevering optimism, wide-ranging career journey and never-ending capacity for self-discovery.However, that’s not all – you can cruise around Mexico in Ken’s 2022 GMC Hummer EV Pickup, too.Barbie… in Forza?? Check your Message Center today to receive the very special 1956 Chevrolet ‘Barbie Movie’ Corvette EV and Ken’s 2022 GMC ‘Barbie Movie’ HUMMER EV Pickup, now available for download! And see @BarbieTheMovie only in theaters July 21.

Sony has confirmed that it won’t share any PS6 details with Activision Blizzard if Microsoft successfully purchases the company.Speaking to the US Federal Trade Commission (via Eurogamer) PlayStation boss Jim Ryan confirmed that it would not take the risk of sharing console details with its competitor.“[Sony] simply could not run the risk of a company that was owned by a direct competitor having access to that information,” he explained.His comments were received by the FTC in April after he was quizzed about statements submitted by Sony that explain the company’s position on Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard.In an FTC v MS/ABK deposition, PlayStation chief Jim Ryan said that, if deal closes, Sony couldn't tell Activision about its next consoleIs then asked about Sony working with Mojang (Minecraft) after MS bought them.

Microsoft is teasing a new look at PlayGround Games‘ Fable at the Xbox Games Showcase 2023 on June 11.A recent tweet from Xbox teasing the upcoming Xbox Games Showcase looks like it could be getting ready to share a brand-new look at the fantasy role-playing game Fable.The video shows an Xbox controller covered in glitter, with the person behind the camera following the colourful trail until it reaches a computer monitor teasing the upcoming event. All the while, whimsical music can be heard, leading fans to believe the mystery game will be Fable.You can check out the teaser below:Do you love ✨ GAMES ✨ as much as we do? Then you won’t want to miss the Xbox Games Showcase: https://t.co/YSurRjtzpn | #Starfield #XboxShowcase pic.twitter.com/O1qSlXHNmY— Xbox (@Xbox) May 30, 2023The teaser ends with the caption “seems important” and asks fans to tune in on June 11 to see what the news will be.Fable was announced back in 2020 with a cinematic trailer, and will be coming to Xbox Series X and PC.

Microsoft president Brad Smith has described yesterday (April 26) as the company’s “darkest day in our four decades in Britain,” after its proposed £55billion purchase of Activision Blizzard was blocked in the UK.Yesterday, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced that it was blocking Microsoft’s proposed acquisition, over concerns that ownership of Activision Blizzard‘s catalogue — which includes the likes of Call Of Duty, Overwatch and World Of Warcraft — would harm competition in the cloud gaming market.Speaking on the BBC‘s Wake Up To Money podcast (via GamesIndustry.biz), Brad Smith accused the decision of being “bad for Britain,” and claimed it will “discourage innovation and investment in the UK”.“Microsoft has been in the United Kingdom for 40 years and we play a vital role, not just supporting businesses and non-profits but even defending the nation from cyber-security threats,” said Smith. “But this decision, I have to say, is probably the darkest day in our four decades in Britain.

Halo Infinite‘s former head of creative, Joseph Staten, has joined Netflix Games after leaving 343 Industries earlier in the year.On Twitter, Staten revealed that he would be serving as creative director “for a brand-new AAA multiplatform game and original IP” at Netflix Games.“In my work life, there’s nothing I love more than collaborating with others to build worlds filled with iconic characters, deep mysteries, and endless adventures,” shared the Halo veteran.While Staten was involved with Microsoft’s Halo series since Halo 2, recent layoffs and restructuring saw him moved from 343 Industries to Xbox’s publishing division in January. However, Staten ultimately left Microsoft this month to join Netflix.So today, I'm thrilled to announce that I've joined @Netflix Games as Creative Director for a brand-new AAA multiplatform game and original IP.

Microsoft president Brad Smith has claimed that Russian intelligence groups are trying to “penetrate” gaming communities to spread information.

Sega has joined a number of other game publishers in missing E3 this year, leading to the game industry questioning whether the Los Angeles convention will still go ahead.As reported by IGN, Sega said that “after careful consideration, we have decided not to participate in E3 2023 as an exhibitor. We look forward to sharing more information on announced and unannounced projects in the future.”IGN found that Tencent will also be skipping E3 2023, and claimed that more publishers will not be attending but are yet to make an announcement.The news comes just days after Ubisoft confirmed it would not be attending E3, with the Assassin’s Creed developer deciding to “move in a different direction” and host its own live event in June.Both companies join Xbox and Nintendo in skipping E3 2023, while it’s been reported that Sony will also miss the convention.

Microsoft president Brad Smith has said the company doesn’t “see a viable path” to buying Activision Blizzard without its Call Of Duty series, warning regulators that any concessions of the like could “kill” the deal.Currently, the proposed £50billion acquisition is facing resistance from European, US and UK regulators, with a number of watchdogs pushing for Microsoft to make concessions for the deal to pass. One concession suggested by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) was for Microsoft to sell the Call Of Duty series to another buyer.As reported by Eurogamer, Smith attended a press briefing in Brussels yesterday (February 21), where Microsoft defended its attempts at acquiring Activision Blizzard.“We just don’t see a viable path to sell the Activision studio or Call Of Duty game to someone else,” Smith told press.

Mojang has revealed a first look at the sniffer, an “ancient mob” that’s being added to Minecraft in version 1.20.The Minecraft developer shared images of the sniffer in a blog post published yesterday (February 13), where it also outlined how players can get their hands on the mob.Sniffers will arrive in Minecraft as part of the game’s 1.20 update, which is planned to launch at some point in 2023. Players will first encounter them in egg form in suspicious sand, a new block type that will be used in the game’s upcoming archaeology feature.After helping it hatch, snifflets eventually grow into a sniffler, which is “not only huge, but helpful” for sniffing out unique seeds that can be planted for new decorative plants.Mojang has also shared a number of images of the sniffer exploring Minecraft‘s various biomes, which you can check out below.Though an exact release date for sniffers is yet to be confirmed, Mojang says they will be tested in Minecraft‘s creative mode snapshots before they arrive in the full game.Sniffers were the winner of 2022’s mob vote, in which players select a new creature to be added to Minecraft.

With the release of Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 COD has gone back to its roots by limiting movement and making it more skill-based. MW2 was launched at midnight on October 28th it would then lead to a record-breaking weekend by racking up a whopping $800 million.These numbers absolutely destroy any other Call Of Duty before the new MW2 and Activation is very happy about it. Fans of the COD franchise are loving this game and its mechanics.

Microsoft has confirmed that the Lunar Shift special edition Xbox wireless controller is the second entry in the Shift series for Xbox Series X|S, and it’s on sale now.The Lunar Shift Xbox controller retails at around £63.32 ($69.99) and features a smokey colour scheme that shifts between gold and silver depending on how the light hits it. The grips have a grey and black swirl design, whilst the buttons are bright white.The media share button for the newer generation Xbox controllers features on the front, and it also has a USB-C port as well as a 3.5mm stereo port.

Microsoft’s Game Pass service has been somewhat shrouded in secrecy regarding its financials – until now, anyway, as a document has revealed just how much money it generates a year.Game Pass’ revenue has been revealed as part of Microsoft’s ongoing acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Brazil’s Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE), who has approved the deal, has released a document outlining its rationale – which also includes a lot of data on gaming companies.According to the document (spotted by Tweaktown), Xbox Game Pass generated £2.6bn ($2.9bn) in the fiscal period ending January 2021 – though even this doesn’t offer the complete picture, as it only covers console revenue and PC Game Pass is not included.Still, that revenue makes up around 18 per cent of Microsoft’s total yearly Xbox revenue at £14.7bn ($16.28bn), or almost 30 per cent of its games and service revenue £11.3bn ($12.581).Microsoft has been inconsistent about revealing just how many subscribers Game Pass has – but went from 15 million to 18 million subscribers between August 2021 and March 2022.Though as Eurogamer notes, it’s not exactly clear how they’ve arrived at this figure, as it could include discounted game sales through Game Pass and DLC sales from games on the service, or indeed it might not.For context, it is revealed elsewhere in the document that Nintendo Switch Online generated £843million ($932million), and EA Play brought in £322million ($356million).The document has been released following substantial scrutiny of the proposed Activision Blizzard merger.

Microsoft and Activision Blizzard’s rivals with regards to their proposed £50billion merger.That’s according to a leaked document seen by Reuters, in which the EU is asking developers if Microsoft would be incentivised to block rivals’ access to Activision Blizzard’s biggest titles – most notably Call of Duty, as well as the recently-released Overwatch 2.The questionnaire, which features around 100 questions, also asks developers, publishers and and distributors if the deal would impact their bargaining power with regards to selling console and PC games on the Xbox platform, or via Game Pass.Additionally, the leaked document also asks if, given the enormous popularity of their games, Activision Blizzard’s user data would give Microsoft a competitive advantage in the industry.

Microsoft Flight Simulator has received a new update which introduces a multitude of improvements, including the long-awaited DLSS support for PC.DLSS, which stands for deep learning super sampling, is a collection of real-time image enhancement and upscaling technologies developed by Nvidia. It looks to boost framerates by rendering at a lower resolution than displayed and using deep learning, a type of AI, to then upscale the frames to look as sharp as expected.

EA CEO Andrew Wilson has shared that Call Of Duty becoming an Xbox-exclusive series would be a “tremendous opportunity” for EA’s Battlefield series.As Microsoft‘s acquisition of Activision Blizzard continues, the purchase has come under scrutiny over the possibility of Microsoft potentially making Call Of Duty an Xbox-exclusive. While Microsoft says it will continue to launch Call Of Duty on PlayStation, PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan has slammed Microsoft’s three-year offer as “inadequate on many levels.” Speaking at last week’s Communacopia + Technology conference (via Gamespot), Wilson addressed the speculation surrounding Call Of Duty‘s future.“In a world where there may be questions over the future of Call Of Duty and what platforms that might be on or might not be on, being platform agnostic and completely cross-platform with Battlefield, I think is a tremendous opportunity,” reflected Wilson.However, Wilson also acknowledged that EA’s latest Battlefield releases haven’t lived up to players’ expectations. “I don’t think we delivered in the last two iterations of that in the way that we should have,” said Wilson.

Microsoft has confirmed that it has “no plans” to bring online multiplayer to GoldenEye 007 on Xbox, although the feature has been confirmed for Nintendo Switch versions.Yesterday (September 13), Rare and Nintendo announced the return of GoldenEye 007, a fan-favourite shooter from the Nintendo 64 that will be making its way to Nintendo Switch and Xbox consoles.While Nintendo has advertised the port as having online play, allowing players to compete with their friends over the internet, the same feature will not be available on Xbox versions.In a statement, Microsoft confirmed that online play will not be a part of GoldenEye 007 on Xbox.“Xbox is excited to bring GoldenEye 007 to Xbox Game Pass for the very first time – a faithful recreation of a much-loved and iconic title,” reads the statement. “While there are no plans to include online multiplayer as part of GoldenEye 007 on Xbox Game Pass, Xbox is focused on bringing this title to players in the way they fondly remember, including local multiplayer mode, allowing up to four players to take to the couch in a battle of wits and skill.”Elsewhere, Rare has confirmed that the Xbox version will include “achievements, 4K resolution and a smoother framerate – even in split-screen local multiplayer!”More Nintendo 64 games are on the way!Pokémon Stadium, Mario Party, Pilotwings 64, 1080° Snowboarding, Excitebike 64, & more will be gradually added to the Nintendo 64 library on #NintendoSwitchOnline + Expansion Pack.

Microsoft‘s ongoing acquisition of Activision Blizzard may “harm rivals” and “damage competition.”In a statement released today (via VGC), the CMA said that it is “concerned that if Microsoft buys Activision Blizzard it could harm rivals, including recent and future entrants into gaming, by refusing them access to Activision Blizzard games or providing access on much worse terms.”The report added that the CMA has “received evidence about the potential impact of combining Activision Blizzard with Microsoft’s broader ecosystem,” which it believes could be used to “damage competition” in console, cloud and PC markets.Due to this, the CMA is considering “an in-depth Phase 2 investigation,” following on from the probe it launched in July.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 40th anniversary update is adding a number of vehicles and enhancements later this year.Announced yesterday (August 25), the anniversary update is set to drop on November 11. It will add helicopters and gliders, the “most requested enhancements” from the game’s community, new airplanes and six historically significant aircraft.The six historical aircraft include the “903 Wright Flyer, the Curtiss JN-4 Jenny from 1915, the beautiful Grumman G-21 A Goose, and the famous Hughes H-4 Hercules, also known as the Spruce Goose,” there will also be true-to-life airliner the Airbus A-310.That means the Wright Brothers plane, which had the first sustained flight from a manned heavier-than-air powered aircraft, will be in Microsoft Flight Simulator.Check out the trailer for the update below.When the anniversary update takes flight on November 11, the game will have 12 new aircraft, 12 heliports, 12 glider airports, six classic commercial airports and 20 historic franchise missions.The Microsoft Flight Simulator update will also be free, and included with Xbox Game Pass at launch. This update will thus be joining the Top Gun: Maverick expansion, which adds a number of jet planes from this year’s Tom Cruise film.Elsewhere, Microsoft has confirmed that it will not be raising the price of the Xbox Series X|S at this time, after Sony abruptly did so for the PS5 this week. “We are constantly evaluating our business to offer our fans great gaming options.