Blizzard Archives

AppWizard

July 26, 2025

Weekend PC Download Deals for July 25: Green Man Gaming & GamesPlanet Summer Sales

Retailers are offering discounts on various games as summer ends, with notable deals from Green Man Gaming and GamesPlanet on titles like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Indiana Jones and The Great Circle, Monster Hunter Wilds, and Star Wars Outlaws. Xbox Game Pass users have additional discounts on select titles. The Epic Games Store is offering Legion TD 2 for free until July 31. Green Man Gaming has a coupon code JUL15 for a 15% discount on PC games. The Humble Choice subscription is available for .99 per month, featuring titles like Warhammer 40K: Rogue Trader and Cat Quest 3, with tiered deals for various games.

AppWizard

July 19, 2025

Weekend PC Download Deals for July 18: The Epic Games Store Summer Sale

The Steam Summer Sale has ended, allowing the Epic Games Store to launch its offers, featuring exclusives like Alan Wake 2 and Blades of Fire. Other highlighted titles include Assassin's Creed Shadows, Marvel's Spider-Man 2, Skin Deep, and To a T, which is on discount. The Steam Automation Fest is ongoing, and the Ubisoft Summer Sale has concluded. Black Ops 6 is now available on Battle.net. The Epic Games Store is offering Sid Meier's Civilization 6 Platinum Edition for free until July 24. Humble Choice subscribers can receive several games for .99 this July, including Warhammer 40K: Rogue Trader and Cat Quest 3. Various game bundles are available for purchase, activating on Steam.

AppWizard

July 8, 2025

Xbox bet that Game Pass would be the future of gaming, and we’re all paying for it

Microsoft announced a reduction of 9,100 employees, significantly affecting the Xbox division, following a previous round of 6,000 layoffs, totaling 27,600 positions eliminated since the beginning of 2023. Promising titles have been canceled, raising concerns about the future of gaming projects and workforce stability. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's compensation increased by 63% to million in 2024 amid these layoffs. Game Pass currently has around 35 million subscribers, falling short of the goal of over 100 million by 2030. The focus has shifted from hardware to services, with concerns about the sustainability of the Game Pass model and its impact on the gaming ecosystem. Rumors suggest the next generation of consoles may resemble PCs more than traditional gaming hardware.

AppWizard

July 6, 2025

Activision takes Call of Duty: WWII offline after hackers apparently disrupted the game with RCE exploits — malicious code wreaks havoc on PC gamers as bad actors take complete control of your computer

Microsoft acquired Activision Blizzard in 2023 to enhance PC and console gaming integration, focusing on the inclusion of Call of Duty in Xbox and PC Game Pass. Call of Duty: WWII, released in 2017, remained active in 2025 but faced issues when hackers exploited remote code execution (RCE) vulnerabilities shortly after its addition to Game Pass. Although no serious damage was reported, the potential risks were concerning, especially given the game's outdated peer-to-peer matchmaking system. Activision introduced the Ricochet anti-cheat system in 2019, but Call of Duty: WWII lacks these protections. In response to the hacking incidents, Activision temporarily removed the game from the Microsoft Store for investigation, while it remained available on Steam and PC Game Pass. Reports of hacks included a streamer experiencing a live hack that changed their desktop wallpaper and the sharing of hacking tools by users.

Winsage

July 4, 2025

Microsoft’s enshittification of Xbox, Surface, and even Windows itself, are by design — with greed and corner-cutting replacing innovation

Microsoft announced 9,000 layoffs, bringing the total for the year to over 15,300, including cuts within Xbox. The layoffs are attributed to unrealistic fiscal expectations set by CFO Amy Hood, creating an environment of fear and uncertainty. There is a perception that these layoffs are part of a broader shift towards artificial intelligence, with Microsoft executives and shareholders reportedly resenting the investment in Activision-Blizzard. The company plans to invest billions in new AI training centers globally, raising concerns about the impact on its core gaming and consumer products. Microsoft’s AI products have faced criticism, and the company has been accused of losing sight of the human element in its consumer businesses. The recent layoffs have left employees feeling uncertain about their futures, and there is a growing sentiment that Microsoft lacks a coherent mission or ethos, prioritizing short-term gains over long-term innovation.

AppWizard

June 29, 2025

Xbox Game Pass Just Quietly Added The Most Influential Strategy Series Ever On PC

The divide between console and PC gaming has blurred, with genres crossing platforms. Classic computer games, like those in the Warcraft series, still benefit from mouse and keyboard precision. The Warcraft franchise has significantly influenced the real-time strategy (RTS) genre, with a remastered collection of the trilogy now available for PC players through Game Pass. Warcraft: Orcs & Humans set a new standard for RTS games, introducing intricate missions and online multiplayer. Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness solidified the series' status with enhanced AI and user-friendly controls, while also being ported to PlayStation and Sega Saturn. Warcraft III redefined the series by emphasizing hero units and intertwining narratives, leading to the events of World of Warcraft. The remastered versions, including Warcraft III: Reforged, have improved significantly and are accessible through Game Pass, providing a convenient way to experience these influential titles. The Warcraft trilogy is available on PC and included with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass.

AppWizard

June 22, 2025

Almost a year after launch, Frost Giant’s StarCraft wannabe has finally added the feature it’s named after: ‘We called the game Stormgate, yet we didn’t actually have any stormgates’

Stormgate faced skepticism upon launch due to its aesthetics, narrative, and gameplay mechanics, which some players felt lacked polish. The game had limited single-player missions and a push for additional purchases. Developer Frost Giant has since overhauled the campaign, introducing a new feature called Stormgates, which are dimensional rifts on 1v1 maps that provide randomized rewards affecting gameplay dynamics. Examples of rewards include the Soulforge Relic, Sky Hunters, Void Prowlers, Swarm Mother, and Stormcaller Relic. These elements significantly impact match strategy, prompting players to adapt their tactics. Frost Giant is replacing traditional creep camps with Stormgates based on community feedback, and while creep camps have been removed from three ladder maps, they remain in other custom settings. The Stormgates are now integrated into 1v1 gameplay, with plans for expansion into other modes.

AppWizard

June 21, 2025

Weekend PC Download Deals for June 20: GOG.com and Blizzard Summer Sales

GOG.com is offering over 8,000 DRM-free PC games, including titles like Baldur's Gate 3 and Cyberpunk 2077, as part of its Summer Sales season. Blizzard's Battle.net is also having a Summer Sale with discounts on franchises like World of Warcraft and Diablo 4. Steam is hosting its Fishing Fest and has publisher sales from EA, THQ Nordic, Koei Tecmo, and Klei, along with discounted new releases and free weekends for games like Dead by Daylight. The Epic Games Store, Fanatical, Gamebillet, Gamersgate, GamesPlanet, Green Man Gaming, and Humble Bundle are also participating in sales. Humble Bundle offers a subscription service called Humble Choice for .99 per month, providing access to various games and extra savings on purchases.

BetaBeacon

June 19, 2025

Five free phone games you’ll actually play for hours – forget your PS5 and Xbox

- Wild Rift is a mobile version of the PC game League of Legends, a fantasy MOBA where two teams battle to dominate a battleground.

AppWizard

June 9, 2025

Xbox Console Games Start Appearing on PC App and Fans Believe Microsoft Is Cooking Something Up

Recent observations indicate that Xbox console game libraries are now appearing on the Windows version of the Xbox app, specifically under the "My PC Games" section for users with the same login credentials. However, users cannot install these console games on their PCs at this time. Speculation suggests that Microsoft may be planning to enhance the integration between console and PC experiences, potentially creating a unified hub for Xbox games. The Xbox PC app may evolve to serve as a central location for accessing a comprehensive library of Xbox titles, possibly including games from other platforms like Steam and the Epic Games Store.