Xbox Game Studios Archives

AppWizard

April 4, 2025

South of Midnight review

A Southern Gothic action-adventure game titled "South of Midnight" is set to be released on April 8, 2025, with a price of £35. It is developed by Compulsion Games and published by Xbox Game Studios. The game is not multiplayer and was reviewed on Windows 11 Pro with an RTX 4080, AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D, and 64GB RAM. The protagonist, Hazel Flood, navigates a world filled with supernatural elements and emotional depth, reflecting the complexities of life in the Deep South. The gameplay features combat that unfolds at a leisurely pace, intertwined with themes of healing and resilience. Hazel's journey emphasizes understanding and acknowledging pain, with encounters with spirits that represent trauma. The narrative challenges players to confront historical wounds and fosters a sense of connection and compassion.

AppWizard

March 26, 2025

Minecraft Arrives On Go-GURT Packages For Limited Time

Yoplait has partnered with Xbox Game Studios to create limited-edition Minecraft-themed Go-GURT packaging. Each package features vibrant characters from Minecraft and includes game credits with every purchase. Consumers can also find hidden surprises in each tube, allowing kids to play a Minecraft-themed version of Rock, Paper, Scissors. From now until May 15, purchases of Minecraft Go-GURT come with a discount code for the Minecraft Shop, coinciding with the release of A Minecraft Movie on April 4. The Go-GURT is made with live and active yogurt cultures, free from high fructose corn syrup and artificial colors, and contains added vitamins A and D, along with calcium.

AppWizard

March 24, 2025

Minecraft officially announces biggest graphical upgrade ever

Minecraft has sold over 300 million units worldwide from 2016 to 2023. Microsoft acquired Mojang Studios and the rights to Minecraft in September 2015 for .5 billion. A new update called ‘Vibrant Visuals’ was announced during a recent ‘Minecraft Live’ event, which will improve textures, lighting, shadows, reflections, and fog. This update will be available for both PC and Minecraft: Bedrock Edition across various devices, maintaining backwards compatibility with previous versions. A specific release date for the update has not been announced, but it is expected later this year.

AppWizard

March 21, 2025

McDonald’s is celebrating the Minecraft movie’s release with new Happy Meals, toys, and even a special sauce

A Minecraft Movie is set to debut on April 4, 2025, with promotional efforts by Mojang Studios and Xbox Game Studios. McDonald's will launch A Minecraft Movie Happy Meals in over 100 markets starting April 1, 2025, featuring 12 collectible toys, including six cubes based on in-game blocks and six toys representing Minecraft mobs. Each Happy Meal will include a trading card with an in-game code for a character skin. A new "Nether Flame" dipping sauce will also be introduced. Additionally, McDonald's will offer an A Minecraft Movie Meal for adults, featuring a Big Mac or McNuggets, collectible toys, and possibly an Apple Cake McFlurry. Mojang Studios will release two downloadable content packs: A Minecraft Movie: Add-On and A Minecraft Movie Hero Pack, both available for free. Minecraft Live on March 22 will provide more insights and in-game cosmetics related to the movie.

AppWizard

February 26, 2025

Microsoft bumps Fable to 2026

The release of the Fable title has been postponed from 2025 to 2026, as announced by Craig Duncan, head of Xbox Game Studios. This decision was made to allow Playground Games more time to refine the game and meet high standards. Duncan praised Playground Games for their track record with the Forza Horizon series and expressed confidence in their ability to create visually stunning and engaging gameplay for Fable. The game is expected to feature breathtaking graphics, engaging mechanics, British humor, and a reimagined version of the iconic setting, Albion.

AppWizard

February 25, 2025

CHARTS: Monster Hunter Wilds pre-orders rise to second place on Steam

Pre-orders for Monster Hunter Wilds have surged, making it the second highest grossing item on Steam as of the week ending February 25th. Counter-Strike 2 remains the top performer, while the Steam Deck has risen three spots. Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 is steady at No. 4, and PUBG: Battlegrounds has climbed to No. 5. Avowed debuted at No. 6, Marvel Rivals is at No. 7, and Civilization 7 dropped to No. 8. Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii debuted at No. 9, and Apex Legends rounds out the Top Ten.

Winsage

February 17, 2025

Bill Gates talks about trading for Windows 10 as Avowed wows reviewers and Microsoft kills HoloLens and lies about uninstalling Edge

Bill Gates humorously compared the transition from Windows 10 to Windows 11 to a significant NBA trade, noting that Windows 10 holds a 60.33% market share. He also predicted that artificial intelligence could replace humans in various tasks but suggested that audiences might not enjoy watching computers play baseball. Nintendo is preparing for a potential legal battle with Pocketpair, the creators of Palworld, despite the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office rejecting 22 out of 23 of Nintendo's patent claims. Nintendo has secured a patent related to creature capturing mechanics and is pursuing additional patents. Avowed, an upcoming title from Xbox Game Studios and Obsidian Entertainment, is set to launch on February 18 and currently holds a score of around 80 on Metacritic, with early reviews praising its RPG elements. Microsoft faced criticism over a misleading webpage about uninstalling its Edge browser, which was quickly removed. Although uninstalling Edge is possible, many users may prefer to keep it installed. Microsoft has shifted the development of the IVAS militarized augmented reality headset to Anduril Industries, marking a significant move away from its HoloLens initiative, which includes the cancellation of HoloLens 3. The ASUS Zenbook Duo and Turtle Beach VelocityOne Multi-Shift received commendable scores of 4.5 out of 5 stars in reviews, with the Zenbook Duo praised for its performance and battery life, and the VelocityOne Multi-Shift recognized for its versatility for gamers.

AppWizard

February 13, 2025

Avowed review

Avowed is a first-person fantasy action RPG developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Xbox Game Studios, set to launch on February 18, 2025, priced at in the U.S. and £60 in the U.K. The game features engaging side quests that are integral to the experience, offering essential experience points and upgrade materials. Players will encounter well-developed companions with rich backstories, including characters like Marius and Kai. The game showcases visually stunning landscapes and offers robust combat mechanics, allowing for a mix of melee and ranged attacks, as well as character customization across various classes. Quest difficulty is influenced by gear rather than player level, and while the game has some limitations in its RPG systems, it provides a humorous and engaging narrative experience.

AppWizard

February 13, 2025

Performance quirks, both good and bad, make Avowed a real trickster on PC hardware

Avowed is a high-quality RPG with the following minimum and recommended PC specifications: Minimum PC Specs: - OS: Windows 10/11 with updates - CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2600 / Intel Core i5-8400 - RAM: 16GB - GPU: AMD Radeon RX 5700 / Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 / Intel Arc A580 - DirectX: Version 12 - Storage: 75GB available space Recommended PC Specs: - OS: Windows 10/11 with updates - CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600X / Intel Core i7-10700K - RAM: 16GB - GPU: AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT / Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 - DirectX: Version 12 - Storage: 75GB available space Benchmark tests show the GTX 1070 achieving 37fps at Low settings on native 1080p, and 50fps with Quality-level FSR 3. The RTX 3070 reached 48fps at 1080p with the Epic preset, and 67fps with DLSS activated in Quality mode. The RTX 4060 averaged 39fps on Epic and 61fps on High at native 1080p. Lower-end systems, like an MSI GF63 Thin laptop with 8GB of RAM and an RTX 4050, may struggle to exceed 30fps. The Steam Deck requires significant compromises to maintain playability. Performance-enhancing tools like DLSS, FSR, and Unreal Engine 5’s built-in TSR can enhance gameplay. Recommended settings for optimal performance include: - Motion blur: 0% - Upscaling: Nvidia DLSS 3 on Quality / TSR on 67% - Shadow quality: Medium - Global illumination quality: Medium - Everything else: Epic preset equivalent These settings allowed the RTX 4060 to reach 82fps. Avowed supports DLSS 3 frame generation on RTX 40 series GPUs, increasing average performance from 75fps to 111fps, though minor issues with dialogue boxes were noted. The game has a storage requirement of 75GB and does not require an SSD.

AppWizard

December 4, 2024

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle PC system requirements and specs: Can you run it?

Microsoft and Xbox Game Studios will release "Indiana Jones and the Great Circle" on December 9, 2024, marking the first new Indiana Jones title for console and PC since 2009. The game will be available on Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC, with a PlayStation 5 version expected in 2025. It will be included in Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass, and players who purchase the Premium Edition will receive three days of early access. The minimum system requirements for the game are: - OS: 64-bit Windows 10 - CPU: Intel Core i7-10700K or AMD Ryzen 5 3600 - GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER 8GB or AMD Radeon RX 6600 8GB or Intel Arc A580 - RAM: 16GB - Storage: 120GB SSD - Additional notes: Hardware ray tracing required The recommended specifications are: - OS: 64-bit Windows 10 - CPU: Intel Core i7-12700K or AMD Ryzen 7 7700 - GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti 12GB or AMD Radeon RX 7700XT 12GB - RAM: 32GB - Storage: 120GB SSD - Additional notes: Hardware ray tracing required The game requires a ray tracing-capable GPU and a solid-state drive (SSD).