Xbox Game Pass Archives

AppWizard

May 21, 2025

Doom: The Dark Ages has hit three million players

Doom: The Dark Ages has attracted over three million players since its release, making it the largest launch in Id Software's history, according to Bethesda. The game reached this milestone seven times faster than its predecessor, Doom Eternal. More than two million players engaged with the game on Xbox, likely through Xbox Game Pass. It ranked as the second highest-grossing title on Steam during its launch week, behind Counter-Strike 2. Doom: The Dark Ages peaked at 31,470 concurrent players, while Doom Eternal had 104.9k concurrent players during its opening weekend. The launch of Doom Eternal coincided with COVID-19 lockdowns, which may have influenced player engagement.

AppWizard

May 19, 2025

Xbox Game Pass Subscribers Have Less Than Two Weeks With These Five Games

Five titles are set to leave Xbox Game Pass after May 31, requiring subscribers to purchase them individually to continue playing. Subscribers can receive a 20 percent discount on these games while they are still available. The departing games include: 1. Remnant 2 (Metacritic Score: 85) - A sequel where players face new creatures and bosses. 2. Humanity (Metacritic Score: 86) - A puzzle-action game where players command crowds as a dog. 3. Cassette Beasts (Metacritic Score: 83) - An indie RPG focused on collecting monster forms for battles. 4. Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath (Metacritic Score: 80) - A chaotic battle against evil forces in a survival setting. 5. Firework (Metacritic Score: N/A) - A horror puzzle game involving a police investigation in a mountain village. Once these titles leave, their return to the service is uncertain.

BetaBeacon

May 19, 2025

Retroid Pocket 5 Gaming Handheld Is Now Available At Amazon

The Retroid Pocket 5 is a powerful Android gaming handheld device with a 5.5-inch 1080p touch screen, two thumbsticks, D-pad, and standard gaming buttons. It is equipped with an Adreno 650 GPU, Snapdragon 865 processor, 8GB RAM, and 128GB internal storage. The device is compatible with high-end native Android games, retro games, and sixth- and seventh-generation console games. It is available on Amazon for with free shipping, but due to high demand, there may be delivery wait times of around two weeks.

Winsage

May 17, 2025

Windows 11 Home vs Pro for Gaming: Which One Should You Choose?

Upgrading from Windows 11 Home to Windows 11 Pro does not yield significant benefits in gaming performance, compatibility, or features for most gamers. Both editions provide identical gaming performance, supporting the same core gaming technologies such as DirectStorage, Auto HDR, and Game Mode. Windows 11 Home supports up to 128 GB of RAM and one CPU socket with 64 cores, while Windows 11 Pro supports up to 2 TB of RAM and two CPU sockets with 128 cores. Pro includes additional features like BitLocker encryption, Remote Desktop hosting, Hyper-V virtualization, and Group Policy management, which are not typically utilized by gamers. The price of Windows 11 Home is lower than that of Pro, making it a more cost-effective choice for gaming. Both editions meet the hardware requirements for modern gaming, and compatibility with major games and platforms is consistent across both versions.

AppWizard

May 13, 2025

CHARTS: New content brings Destiny 2 back to Steam No.2

Destiny 2 has re-entered the Steam Top Ten, ranking second, following the announcement of new content including two expansions: Edge of Fate in July and Renegades in December. The game surged 83 places in rankings after the launch of the Rite of the Nine on May 6th. Counter-Strike 2 remains the highest-grossing title on Steam. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is in third place, while The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered has dropped to seventh. Valve's Steam Deck is fourth, and Doom: The Dark Ages is fifth in pre-orders. Apex Legends climbed to sixth, and Stellaris returned to the Top Ten at eighth due to a sales event. Schedule 1 fell to ninth, and War Thunder is tenth. The Steam Top Ten for the week ending May 13th is as follows: Counter-Strike 2, Destiny 2, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Steam Deck, Doom: The Dark Ages, Apex Legends, The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered, Stellaris, Schedule 1, War Thunder.

AppWizard

May 12, 2025

How to get free games on PlayStation, PC and Xbox

The Epic Games Store offers a free game every week, featuring indie titles and blockbuster games like GTA 5 and Death Stranding. Amazon Prime Gaming provides free games for subscribers, including titles like the Mafia trilogy and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. Xbox users can access free games through Amazon Prime Gaming and occasional offers on the Xbox Store, with current availability of Minecraft Legends. Microsoft also provides older titles for free sporadically, while Xbox Game Pass Ultimate offers a vast library of games for a monthly fee. On PlayStation, free games are primarily found through free-to-play titles like Fortnite, with PlayStation Plus offering access to a catalog of games, including The Last of Us Part I and Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut.

AppWizard

May 8, 2025

Mojang’s big Minecraft VR mistake

Mojang has officially discontinued VR support for the Bedrock version of Minecraft on PCs, ending a VR initiative that began in April 2016. The Gear VR version was initially available on devices like the Oculus Go and original Oculus Quest, but support for older games on the Oculus Quest 2 rendered these experiences obsolete. Modders, particularly through the Vivecraft mod, have filled the gap left by Mojang, with QuestCraft being a notable port for Meta Quest headsets. Despite Mojang's claims of lacking resources for VR, the company has over 55 million daily active players and a workforce of more than 600 employees, indicating financial stability. The demographics of the Meta Quest user base suggest a strong potential interest in Minecraft if officially supported. Recent collaborations between Meta and Microsoft hint at potential opportunities for an official Minecraft VR port, yet progress remains stagnant. The QuestCraft Discord server has 80,000 members, indicating significant interest in a VR version of Minecraft, which could attract hundreds of thousands of active users.

AppWizard

May 4, 2025

Xbox Game Pass Just Quietly Added The Most Chill Way To Play God In A Classic City Builder

Anno 1800 is a city-building game by Ubisoft set in a Victorian-inspired industrial era, recently launched on Xbox Game Pass. Players colonize resource-rich islands, managing production chains and trade networks while balancing the needs of a growing populace. The console version maintains the depth of the original PC experience with a redesigned user interface that features clean menus and a radial menu system for easier navigation. The game offers a rewarding loop of expansion, optimization, and strategic planning, encouraging immersive gameplay with vibrant visuals and smooth performance. It is designed for players willing to invest time in its complexities, with a campaign mode providing a structured introduction for newcomers.

AppWizard

May 2, 2025

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is selling more than twice as fast as other JRPGs on PC, analyst says

Sandfall Interactive's game, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, has sold one million copies within three days of its release and surpassed 785,000 copies sold on Steam in its first week. It has also sold over 350,000 copies on PlayStation. The game has more than 1.5 million wishlists on Steam. Its success is attributed to quality visuals, a rewarding turn-based combat system, a compelling narrative, and a strategic pricing decision. The game is available on Xbox Game Pass, which has positively impacted its sales through increased visibility and word-of-mouth promotion. Expedition 33 has outperformed recent titles in the Japanese RPG genre, including Atlus's Metaphor Re:Fantazio, and has even surpassed Oblivion on Steam's global sales charts.

AppWizard

May 1, 2025

Epic Games Store Has a New Free PC Game Now Available

The Epic Games Store is offering the free PC game Super Space Club, available for download until May 8. Players who claim the game during this period will permanently add it to their library without any subscription fees, requiring only a free Epic Games Store account. Super Space Club, developed by GrahamOfLegend, is typically priced at .99 and has a 94% approval rating on Steam from 36 reviews. It is an "endless arcade gunner" where players defend the galaxy as misfit pilots, featuring various characters, ships, and weapons. Players typically spend between 2 to 10 hours on the game.