An Xbox higher-up has responded to a rumor regarding the next-generation platform Project Helix, clarifying a key detail about the machine, which can play both console and PC games. But his answer didn't clear everything up.

A claim by leaker KelperL2 said Microsoft would sell Project Helix chips to companies like ASUS and MSI, thereby allowing people to buy a version of the system that runs on the Helix guts. This led to speculation that Project Helix was not in fact a first-party Xbox console and might be more akin to a third-party device like the Rog Ally X from Asus.

But that isn't necessarily completely true, according to Xbox next-gen VP Jason Ronald. He said on social media, "Project Helix will be available as a 1st party Xbox console."

Thanks to the enduring memory demands of the AI boom, fast storage in the form of SSDs has become more and more expensive with each passing week. That has made repurposing your existing hardware more important than ever, which is where a recently discovered method for using the Xbox storage expansion card on PC might come in handy.

The small form factor SSDs that Microsoft manufactures with Seagate for the Xbox Series X and S aren't proprietary, instead using a format that has been used with digital cameras for some time. These cards are called CF Express Memory Cards, and their popularity outside the Xbox ecosystem means there's a plethora of options for adapters on PC. Not all of them work, but one Reddit user has found at least one that turns the storage card into usable, albeit slightly slow, storage for your PC.

The adaptor in question plugs into one of your PCI-e ports on your motherboard, and gives you a slot that fits the Xbox expansion card. Plug it in, and your PC should immediately register that as a new SSD ready for use. The speeds aren't fantastic, thanks to the limited bandwidth of the adapter, but it's still drastically faster than a SATA hard drive and should be perfect for normal gaming use, whether that's just storage or running games off of it directly.

Starting today, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers enjoy something few ever get to experience in the age of the subscription model: a price drop. It's been six months since the price of Game Pass Ultimate went up to $30 a month, but under the new Xbox CEO, Asha Sharma, the cost is unexpectedly falling back down to $23 a month. It's not without caveats--this tier no longer includes Call of Duty entries on their respective launch days--but for the likely millions of players who subscribe to Game Pass Ultimate and don't play Call of Duty, this is only a good thing.

This news comes less than a week after an internal memo written by Sharma spoke to how the price of Game Pass had risen too much. In the wake of today's official price reduction, the "leaked" internal memo feels more like an intended tease, otherwise known as a controlled leak. That's all fine by me. It's a tried-and-true means of communicating your brand's ideas to the public, and it's at least interesting to begin to see what shape Xbox will take under Sharma. But controlled leak or not, today's headline feels like it guarantees another major change is coming, and it's that next one that worries me.

Since 2017, Game Pass has changed many times, but one figurative line it hasn't crossed yet is the involvement of specific types of ads. There are many ways these could be implemented, from picture-in-picture or banner ads to video ads that interrupt gameplay, and more. Plenty of games, even some in Game Pass, do use ads, but they're usually of the sort that players don't balk at. I don't want my time with NBA 2K to be interrupted by an ad for the new Jordans, but I don't mind that there's a Jordan store inside the series' social hub, The City.

Just over half a year ago, Microsoft announced that it was increasing the price of its highest tier of Xbox Game Pass by 50%, with the price soaring from $20 a month to $30. Today, the Xbox maker compromised on that decision in a bid to make the subscription cheaper again, but closer inspection shows that not much has actually changed. At least, if you still plan to play Call of Duty annually.

Microsoft has, with immediate effect, reduced the monthly price of Game Pass Ultimate from $30 to just $23. To compensate for that, the annual release of Call of Duty will now be excluded from the service, with each new iteration only being added to the Game Pass library approximately a year later. What the price decrease achieves is an annual saving of $84, but also the exclusion of a game that will cost $70 at launch. So if you're still planning to jump into one of the biggest franchises in gaming on day one, and remain subscribed for the rest of Game Pass' benefits, your actual saving is just $14 annually.

Why would Microsoft give that away for seemingly nothing? Likely because the number of active Game Pass subscribers who will purchase Call of Duty at launch irrespective of this change is a lot smaller than the two other demographics the new policy is meant to attract. First is lapsed subscribers who balked at the previous 50% price hike and abandoned the service, who might be enticed back into renewing their subscription despite the price still having increased by over 10% compared to six months ago. The other is the customer who only plans to purchase Call of Duty and little else each year, with those sales no longer cannibalized by a service that made it far cheaper to do so.

A small update arrived to Call of Duty on April 21, and the patch notes detail some impactful weapon tuning across various modes and more exotic weapons for Warzone. Additionally, Black Ops 7 Ranked Play changes also arrive for multiplayer to better match the weapon meta for the Call of Duty League.

For multiplayer, the update includes some weapon balancing for the new Season 3 weapons. This includes a small buff to the MK35 ISR assault rifle. The gun features a very easy-to-handle option with low recoil, but Treyarch says feedback suggested it wasn't quite powerful enough. The update details a slight increase to the gun's headshot multiplier and maximum damage range. The sprint-to-fire time was also improved for the MK35 ISR.

The season's VST submachine gun is also buffed. The gun is very powerful, but player feedback suggested the vertical recoil was too extreme. The developer has slightly reduced the kick strength of the VST, and various attachments also got buffed to provide even more recoil reduction.

For the past few years, getting Call of Duty on release day has been a big reason to subscribe to Xbox Game Pass. Call of Duty is still hugely popular, but now, if you want it on launch day, you'll have to pay for it separately. Microsoft has lowered the price of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate from $30 to $23 a month, but this means day-one access to Call of Duty is gone. This move makes sense financially for Microsoft, but I hope it's a precursor to an even bigger move: a new, even-cheaper Game Pass tier that doesn't include big AAA games like CoD.

Give us a Game Pass focused on a curated selection of AA and indie games, price it appropriately, and allow these titles to shine when they're not competing for attention from games and franchises that regularly overshadow them.

One of the big problems with Xbox Game Pass is that its biggest games want to monopolize all of your attention. Call of Duty and Forza Horizon are cleverly designed to be "Forever Games": experiences that demand all your free time and also influence you to spend more on them. The tactics aren't exactly subtle, as Microsoft has experimented with early access to first-party games, allowing you to dive into those titles by upgrading to a deluxe edition for a few dollars more. Microsoft is still making money and getting a monthly pound of flesh out of you by keeping you subscribed to Game Pass, while flashy marketing campaigns and live-service elements keep you hooked for longer.

Microsoft is once again shaking up its Xbox Game Pass service, with drastic changes announced in April 2026 that included a price decrease and the confirmation that new Call of Duty games will no longer launch into the service. If you're looking to join the service or upgrade your current membership, here's everything you need to know about what each Game Pass tier gets you.

• What is Xbox Game Pass?

Introduced several years ago, Game Pass is a subscription service that offers access to a library of first-party games from Microsoft and even more third-party titles. This a comprehensive collection of games across a wide selection of genres, and it can be accessed on PC, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and through the cloud on compatible devices like phones and tablets.

Games come and go on the service--with additions and removals normally happening twice per month--but the key draw to Game Pass is that you'll get access to the biggest Xbox games on launch day. Or at least that was one of the key selling points. One of Microsoft's biggest franchises, Call of Duty, is no longer going to have its new releases launch into the service (more on that later).

Season 3 Reloaded will add a brand-new round-based Zombies map to Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, and Treyarch has released the cinematic trailer ahead of launch. This map is called Totenreich, and it's set within a Norwegian fishing town plagued by the undead. Totenreich is a map that seems to be steeped in the original Zombies lore, as it contains ties to Richtofen, Group 935, and the giant robot from Black Ops 2's Origins map.

All of the maps in Black Ops 7 take place inside the Dark Aether, which acts like a supernatural Bermuda Triangle and pulls in characters and locations across various worlds and time periods. For this new location, Treyarch has confirmed Totenreich is from the WWII era within Richtofen's timeline.

It's well out of spooky season, but it's never a bad time to pick up some great indie survival horror PC games on the cheap. Fanatical's Build Your Own Survival Horror Bundle deal is the latest in their collection of buy more, save more bundles, and you can pick up some great indie titles that are perfect for getting onboarding into the genre if you're new. 20 games are available to pick from and the more games you add to your cart the more money you'll save in the long run. Its baseline is 3 games for $10 ($3.33 each), then if you want 5 or more games it's $3 per. If you decide you want 7 or more games, it gets slashed down to $2.85 per game. And if you want the full collection of 20 PC games, it'll run you $57. This saves you 80% off of its total $282.79 value

A personal favorite of mine and a game I highly recommend is Fear the Spotlight from husband and wife development team Cozy Game Pals. It's a super stylized third-person survival horror game with minimal user interface and no combat, but with the same amount of tension and jump scares you'd see in AAA bangers. If you're not a fan of spooky games or are dipping your toes into the genre, Fear the Spotlight is the perfect place to start. It's only about five hours long, and it'll scratch any puzzle solving itch you may crave. Its PlayStation 1-era graphics are a good design choice that works in the game's favor. GameSpot's Mark Delaney gave it a 7/10 in his review, saying it's "[a]n enjoyable introduction to horror games for inexperienced players".

The DreadOut series is another great under-the-radar survival horror franchise that acts as a love letter to the genre. DreadOut 2 from 2020 is included in this bundle, where you once again play as series protagonist Linda as she fights to survive against terrifying Indonesian myth-inspired ghosts and spirits. If you've played a Silent Hill or Fatal Frame title, DreadOut 2 will be familiar to you, offering similar mechanics, combat, and design sensibilities. The scares are abundant, but it isn't the longest game around, so you won't have to live in fear too long.

Two things can be said of Diablo IV leading up to the release of Lord of Hatred: First and foremost, as a series, Diablo has never been in a better or more promising place. Secondly, the game's first expansion, Vessel of Hatred, was a bit of a letdown following a tremendous first act. With those things in mind, it's safe to say that there are very high expectations for the game's forthcoming expansion. And, if the stakes weren't high enough, Lord of Hatred also carries with it two promises: a first look at the long-teased and highly-awaited land of Skovos, and an epic conclusion to the game's ongoing Hatred Saga--one featuring a major showdown with the Lord of Hatred himself.

Oftentimes, expectations and promises only pave the way for disappointment. Fortunately, that's not the case with Lord of Hatred. Diablo IV's latest expansion triumphs at maintaining the series' momentum while also delivering a powerful gut punch of a third act--one that weaves together years of events and lore to create the series' most-compelling narrative to date. Lord of Hatred offers both a spectacular conclusion to the Hatred Saga and plenty of changes that grant it greater longevity than ever before, including two powerhouse classes, plenty of improvements, and strong endgame content.

Lord of Hatred picks up not long after the events of Vessel of Hatred, which ultimately saw Mephisto take over the body of Akarat--a messiah-like figure in the Diablo universe. Through using Akarat's kindly visage, his own manipulative tactics, and performing "miracles," Mephisto has quickly managed to convince much of Sanctuary's population that he is a force for good--one who possesses the power to not only purify their lands, but their very souls as well. Even the most cunning of warriors find themselves in his thrall, their desperation for a better world ultimately contorting them into gullible disciples. As such, you, The Wanderer, and your faithful companions, Lorath and Neyrelle, come to be viewed as dissenting pariahs. And the fact that a demon's blood flows through your veins certainly doesn't help your case against the fraudulent prophet.

It hasn't been announced yet, but a new Call of Duty game is expected to release later this year, and the latest rumors suggest it will be Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4. Whatever it is, Activision is surely hoping the game performs better than 2025's Black Ops 7, which had the series' worst sales year ranking since 2008.

It's still early days, but there have been leaks, rumors, and reports about the game, and in this post, we're rounding up everything we've heard so far. This post will continue to be updated as more information about the new Call of Duty is divulged. One of the newest developments came this April, when Microsoft confirmed that Game Pass will no longer get new Call of Duty games at launch, meaning the 2026 game won't be there on day one.

• When will Call of Duty 2026 be released?

Call of Duty 2026 AKA Modern Warfare 4 has not been announced, so there is no official release date. However, Activsion historically releases new entries in the annual series in October or November. That's around the time that Rockstar Games is planning to release GTA 6, prompting some to theorize that an October release may be more likely than November.

A new player-created tool just made things a whole lot easier for Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream players who want picture-perfect pixel art in-game. Living the Grid is an in-browser tool that maps images uploaded by users onto a recreation of Tomodachi Life's Palette House custom pattern creator, allowing players to perfectly recreate the image as an in-game custom design. Created by Reddit user and Tomodachi Life player ClementGzl, the tool is free to use and doesn't require users to make or connect an account to access it.

"I really wanted to get into pixel art in the game but didn't find satisfactory tools to help, so I made my own," ClementGzl said in a Reddit post announcing the tool's creation. "It uses the game's built-in colour palette by default, [which is] easy to find, or pick 'auto' to extract colours from your image. Click a colour and it highlights every cell using it on the preview. There's also a paint-by-numbers option. You can select the brush size for the pixel / detail density."

ClementGzl demonstrated how Living the Grid works using images of Mario, Tom Nook, and Bulbasaur, which are mapped to an identical pixel grid to the one found in-game. Once Living the Grid pixelates an image, players still have to visit the Palette House and painstakingly fill in each pixel themselves, but it's certainly easier than trying to free-hand an image of Mario from scratch. Living the Grid even offers a helpful estimation of how long it will take players to recreate a given image in-game. (For example, I got an estimate of six minutes and 50 seconds to recreate the GameSpot logo I uploaded.)

A typical Marvel Rivals match consists of PvP action, but if you'd prefer to trade in human opponents for mobs of AI-controlled undead enemies, then you're in luck. NetEase has announced a new PvE mode called Blood Hunt starting April 23, and it sure does look like a Marvel Rivals spin on the mega-popular bullet-heaven game, Vampire Survivors.

Set in the heart of New York City, up to four players can team up to take on Dracula and hordes of foes, bopping them with attacks to make them spout numbers from their heads. Again, the Vampire Survivors inspiration--with a touch of Megabonk--isn't exactly subtle here, but it still looks like a fun mode to try out.

According to the trailer, players can choose from a roster of six characters--Moon Knight, Blade, Squirrel Girl, Thor, the Punisher, and Jeff the Land Shark--and runs will unlock Arcana Scrolls that can be used to buff your hero. These range from health increases to skills boosts, with more scrolls being unlocked if you complete a run on greater difficulties. There's even a selection of gear to choose from that can enhance your chosen character with damage boosts and more buffs.

After cancelling multiple titles earlier this year, Ubisoft has reportedly scrapped yet another game. Insider Gaming reported that Ubisoft has elected to can the upcoming Animal Crossing-inspired game Alterra.

The company reportedly informed staff at the developer, Ubisoft Montreal, of the cancellation today. No layoffs were mentioned in the report, which added that staff working on Alterra were shifted to other projects inside Ubisoft. Alterra had been in development for three years, apparently.

The report said Alterra was going to feature a voxel-art presentation with gameplay mechanics "similar to Minecraft" in that players could find resources in the world and build things. The game's NPCs, which were called Matterlings, were said to look similar to Funko Pop characters. Players would have moved through environments of different biomes to encounter creatures and fight, the report said.

Xbox Game Pass is now less expensive. In response to lots of negative feedback, Microsoft has cut the price of Xbox Game Pass and announced that Call of Duty titles will no longer be included with the service at launch going forward. Lowering the price of Game Pass and removing new Call of Duty releases were two of the dramatic changes that Microsoft was reported to have been mulling.

Effective immediately, Game Pass Ultimate is now $23/month (down from $30/month), while PC Game Pass is now $14/month (down from $16.50/month). Existing members will see the new rates applied to their accounts starting April 22, but anyone who signs up today will get in for the lower prices.

Game Pass Essential ($10/month) and Game Pass Premium ($15/month) are staying the same price going forward. These tiers do not include day-one new releases.

Vampire Crawlers sends you into a variety of dungeons to build a deck of cards and whoop up on some enemies, often unlocking cool new features and abilities in the process. This gameplay loop ensures you're always making some type of progress and working towards revealing some of the game's most important items and mechanics, such as relics--which we're going to dive into below.

Relics essentially function as gameplay features that can be toggled off or on. They provide some of Vampire Crawler's most game-changing mechanics, such as the ability to add gems to cards, see enemy positions on the map, or speed up the gameplay. As such, tracking these down throughout the game should be one of your highest priorities. Luckily, they're all easily discovered within specific levels, ensuring that you'll almost certainly obtain them during your journey.

Below, we've compiled every Vampire Crawlers relic and the information you need to know about them. When you're ready to dive in and check them all out, read on.

Vampire Crawlers may opt for old-school dungeon crawling rather than isometric battling like its predecessor, but this spin-off maintains the first game's massive selection of weapons and evolutions. Creating evolutions is done in largely the same way: combining items when interacting with a chest. This time, though, you'll be given multiple choices when opening a chest, letting you decide which of your potential evolutions you want to create--or whether you'd like to create one at all.

Getting evolutions requires some trial and error without a guide since there are so many potential combinations. There's also a bit of luck involved, as you can't be guaranteed you'll get the cards you need for evolutions. Sadly, we can't make those cards magically appear for you, but we have compiled all of the Vampire Crawler weapon evolutions to make things a bit easier to plan for you.

Here are all the current weapon evolutions in the game. Additional evolutions are likely to be added in future updates.

In just over two months, Splatoon Raiders hopes to make a splash on Switch 2. Nintendo just revealed the release date for the spin-off game--July 23--as well as a more budget-friendly $50 price tag digitally. But if you want all three Amiibos launching alongside the game, be prepared to shell out more cash than for the game itself.

Each Amiibo will cost $25, combined equaling $75 for the Deep Cut trio. Obviously, no one is forcing you to purchase all of them. Big Man, Shiver, and Frye are up for preorder on Nintendo's website, though no details are offered yet about their functionality with Splatoon Raiders.

The official Splatoon account on X did unveil that the three Amiibos can be connected together at their bases. It's a cool detail, as Deep Cut's poses work individually or collectively. On top of that, Splatoon Raiders will be one of the first Switch 2 games utilizing tiered pricing between digital and physical. While $50 on the eShop, the title will cost $60 for a boxed copy. That's still cheaper than the trio of Amiibos, though.

Naughty Dog's Uncharted series sold millions of copies, got solid reviews, and was spun off into a movie starring Spider-Man actor Tom Holland--however, the game franchise has been dormant for years. Fans are wondering if Naughty Dog will return to its Indiana Jones-style action-adventure series, and while that remains to be seen, there have been clues about the future of the Uncharted series.

There are no guarantees that Uncharted 5 will ever happen, but there is a chance. Here is everything we've heard so far about the next Uncharted game.

• "Never say never"

In 2022, Shaun Escayg, a Naughty Dog veteran who worked on Uncharted 4 and The Lost Legacy, said in an interview with GamesRadar that the team has a "never say never" attitude about making Uncharted 5. Uncharted 4 may have wrapped up series hero Nathan Drake's story, but that doesn't necessarily put a cap on where the franchise could go.

Actor and musician Troy Baker--known for his work on The Last of Us and Uncharted franchises--has announced that he is exploring the possibility of opening his own game studio. Speaking to Kinda Funny Games, the veteran and prolific gaming actor said he wants to "tell my own stories" and take a stab at making games with his own team.

"I want to build a team. I am excited about building a studio with people that I've worked with, that I trust, and going, 'Here's my idea. How can you make it better?'" he said, as reported by GamesRadar.

Baker isn't planning to start a studio tomorrow, or next week. He said he wants to avoid doing something "rushed," in part because he's seen other people who have "rushed into opportunities." Baker said if he starts a studio, he wants to "do it right."