News - Ori Dev CEO Says Xbox Was Too Focused On Protecting Its Legacy To Build Its F

Moon Studios CEO Thomas Mahler (Ori and the Blind Forest, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, and No Rest for the Wicked) has commented on the recent turbulence at Xbox. The Ori games were previously published by Xbox Game Studios, but Moon Studios remained independent and started work on No Rest for the Wicked shortly after the second Ori game was released.

In his informed opinion, Mahler has claimed that Xbox’s troubles began years ago when it decided to focus on legacy IP instead of cultivating the next generation of games and developers.

It looks like bad news for the studios that fall under Xbox's first-party developer umbrella. As part of its "reset" under new Xbox boss Asha Sharma, Microsoft's gaming division is reportedly planning to cut costs by laying off staff and closing studios like Compulsion Games, Double Fine, and Ninja Theory. While those studios might spin off from Microsoft and strike out on their own, one developer with a long history of working with Xbox says that he's not surprised by the recent turbulence occurring at the company.

"Xbox has struggled for a long time to identify, empower, and protect the key creative people and teams who could have kept the brand at the top," Mahler wrote. "Even when we were making Ori with Xbox, it was clear that the main focus was still Halo, Gears, and Forza--even though gamer excitement around Halo and Gears had already cooled heavily after Bungie and Epic moved on from those franchises. The newer installments simply didn't reproduce the same cultural impact those series once had."

As Mahler put it, franchises like Ori could have helped kickstart a new era for Xbox, one that would include younger generations of gamers who could have grown into lifetime fans of the brand. And while it is true that Microsoft owns an impressive selection of video game franchises and intellectual properties, Mahler added that great games are made by people who love the medium and who know what it is that their audiences want.

Mahler added that, were he in charge, he'd "slim down" Xbox and work to "bring back the passion for gaming." He said that Xbox leans heavily on nostalgia, not the people who make games.

"Xbox should be one of the strongest publishers in the world," Mahler wrote. "With the brands Microsoft owns, that should honestly be fairly straightforward. But nostalgia alone is not enough. Nostalgia can get people to look in your direction, but after that, you still have to deliver the goods. You still have to make products that get players genuinely excited. Products that make gamers literally salivate. And to do that, Xbox has to bet on the right people. They need to find the Miyamotos, Tezukas, and Sakurais within their own ecosystem--the people who actually speak the same language gamers do--and then support them, protect them, and trust them."

Mahler concluded that Xbox was more than capable of shipping better games than its competition, and it just needs the right people in charge of steering the ship. "It still looks like Xbox is sitting on an absolute goldmine," he wrote. "They just need to put the right people in charge of mining that gold."

It looks like bad news for the studios that fall under Xbox's first-party developer umbrella. As part of its "reset" under new Xbox boss Asha Sharma, Microsoft's gaming division is reportedly planning to cut costs by laying off staff and closing studios like Compulsion Games, Double Fine, and Ninja Theory. While those studios might spin off from Microsoft and strike out on their own, one developer with a long history of working with Xbox says that he's not surprised by the recent turbulence occurring at the company.

The Best Xbox Series X Games In 2026

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News - Helldivers 2 Gets A Much-Welcome Update To Reloading, Vehicles, And Campaign

Helldivers 2 should feel more responsive to play than ever before, as the game's latest update brings major improvements to reloading. 

Patch 6.3.0, which is live now, brought a smorgasbord of balance changes, features, and bug fixes. Among them are some major tweaks to how reloading works. At long last, players can reload while diving, and starting a reload animation, only to be ragdolled or staggered, will now continue the animation once you regain control. It also adds "delayed reloads," where, if you try to reload but are unable to do so, the reload animation will be delayed for a short window until it can be started.

It's a fairly substantial change that should make spreading Managed Democracy even easier, but better reloads aren't all the update added. Patch 6.3.0 also introduced the Control Center, taking the place of the previously inactive terminal across from the armory on the deck of each player's Super Destroyer.

The Control Center lets you learn more about ongoing campaigns, major orders, rewards. It also lets you read up on previous campaigns, making it easier for new or returning players can get up to speed. Each campaign will now have a unique reward players can earn should the Helldivers community emerge victorious in the majority that campaign's major orders.

The first campaign under this new system is called Census Thunder, and currently tasks Helldivers with taking control of two planets from hordes of Illuminate Voteless. Should the Helldivers emerge victorious, they'll have a new FRV (Fast-Recon Vehicle, basically Helldiver's version of Halo's Warthog) to play with.

Those additions alone would make for a major update, but developer Arrowhead Studios has sweetened the deal with a long list of balance changes as well, with significant adjustments to vehicles, throwables, and Orbital Stratagems.

On the vehicle front, Arrowhead outlined that one of its goals with the update was to make vehicles tankier, following a previous update that technically buffed vehicles like Exo Suits but also made enemies more effective against them. In patch 6.3.0, the Bastion tank "should feel tankier" and be able to "ignore small attacks, withstand more medium attacks, and its survivability against heavy attacks should be unchanged," according to Arrowhead.

As for Exo Suits, they are now able to withstand small and medium attacks, and an increase in their total health should make them feel sturdier overall. Exo Suits can additionally be called in more frequently, with their cooldown reduced from 10 minutes to eight. The FRV also received a health buff that will help it better withstand medium and heavy attacks.

For turret fans, all of the game's sentries have had their health increased by 100% to compensate for previous changes that allowed enemies to more easily damage vehicles. Many of the game's grenades have received a buff in the number of starting ammo and max ammo.

Orbital Stratagem enjoyers have reason to rejoice, because nearly every Orbital in the game has seen its projectile damage, durable damage, and explosion damage increased. Rocket Pods should be more reliable and deal more damage now, and the Railcannon's huge damage buff should make it so it's deadlier against enemies like Vox Engines (though it will still be unable to one-shot massive enemies like Factory Striders or Hive Lords). 

This latest update is just a small part of Arrowhead's near-future plans for its co-op shooter, plans Helldivers 2 game director Mikael Eriksson outlined in a blog post earlier this month. Those future additions include new features like Planet Warfronts, additional Super Destroyer progression and customization, and an increase of the game's level cap to 300 from the current 150. In May, Arrowhead called an update mostly focused on improving Helldivers 2's technical performance just the "opening salvo," with more updates to come.

You can check out the full Helldivers 2 update 6.3.0 patch notes below.

Helldivers 2 Update 6.3.0 Patch Notes

Introducing the CONTROL CENTER terminal

Super Earth High Command has completed fleet-wide upgrades to the previously unused terminal opposite the armory. Now Helldivers will be able to get more context to the ongoing Campaigns and their subsequent Major Orders. Each Campaign will come with its own potential reward, should the Helldivers be victorious in a majority of the Major Orders within it. The terminal will also feature an archive (to be populated as the first campaign concludes) so that new and returning Helldivers can read up on the twists and turns of previous campaigns.

Balancing

General balance changes

Vehicle armor and enemies AP rebalance

• Super Earth vehicles now have more accurate Armor values (Bastion gets heavy armor, exosuits a mix of heavy and medium armor, ballistic shield heavy armor). 




• Some enemies have received increased armor penetration values so they can deal with the vehicles, but not all. There will be a lot of smaller enemies and explosions that won't be able to hurt something like the Bastion or the Exo Suits (scavengers, Automatons small arms fire, hunters, small to medium obstacle explosions, cyborg small arms etc).




• But there are still a lot in the enemies arsenal that can hurt you (and also important is that a lot of YOUR arsenal now has a harder time hurting your own vehicles). 




• Some enemies have had their durable damage reduced




• There are too many changes to properly list, so we ask you to play and tell us how it feels. The intent is the following
  
  • The Bastion tank should feel “tankier” and ignore small attacks, withstand more medium attacks and its survivability against heavy attacks should be unchanged
  
  
  
  
  • The Exo Suits have a similar change as the Bastion tank in terms of ignoring more small attacks and withstanding medium attacks better. The increase in health should overall make it feel a bit more tanky even against heavy attacks.
  
  
  
  
  • The FRV has received an increase in health that will make it handle medium attacks similar to before, but be able to withstand heavy attacks better granting better survivability.
  
  
  
  
  • The Ballistic Shield should feel like it can ignore small attacks and handle medium attacks better.

Sentry health rebalance

• Increased the health of all sentries by 100% to compensate for the general damage increase of enemies vs vehicles.
  
  • We have previously increased durable damage on a lot of enemies and since sentries are durable they have lost some of their utility. We didn't want them to become squishier, this change should improve their versatility on the battlefield.

Reloading improvements

• Improvements to make reloading more responsive, part of this is allowing reloading while dodge diving, also remembering the reload state better so if you're ragdolled while reloading you will continue it when regaining control.




• Introduced the concept of delayed reloads. If you try to trigger a reload while the player is not allowed to do so, the reload will be delayed until the player is able to reload with a maximum of 1.2s delay from when the reload input was pressed.
  

Bastion Pattern Customization

• If you own the vehicle patterns from a Premium Warbond, they can now also be applied to the Bastion Tank! It does not apply to Legendary Warbonds retroactively at this time.

Decreased Exo Suit cooldown

• Reduce the cooldown of mechs from 10 minutes down to 8. The intent is to find a better balance with mechs and allow more time with fun stratagems

Throwables amounts rebalance

• Intent is to make some of the less used throwables more available and viable options

Orbitals damage rebalance

• Intent is to make the larger orbitals feel more like the large projectiles from orbit as they are so the projectile and explosion damage should better match that.




• Larger projectiles explosions like the 380mm and 120mm are increased to make close hits more effective vs larger enemies like Chargers.




• Compared to explosions like the Ultimatum these will have less damage at the center, but also less damage fall off so it will have a more consistent damage over its total area.




• The Railcannon also got more damage to be more effective vs some of the largest enemies like the Vox engines. It will still not one shot the largest enemies like Factory strider, Hive lord and similar.

Primary weapons

M7S SMG

• Moved scope offset closer to the scope so it will be easier to use in ADS mode.

Throwables

G-48 Giga Grenade

• Increased refill from 1 to 2

TED-63 Dynamite

• Increased max amount from 3 to 4

G-50 Seeker

• Increased Start amount from 3 to 4




• Increased refill from 2 to 3




• Increased max amount from 4 to 5

G-12 High Explosive

• Increased Start amount from 3 to 4




• Increased refill from 2 to 3




• Increased max amount from 4 to 5

G-16 Impact

• Increased Start amount from 3 to 4




• Increased refill from 2 to 3




• Increased max amount from 4 to 5

G-7 Pineapple

• Increased start amount from 3 to 4




• Increased refill from 2 to 3




• Increased max amount from 4 to 5

G-23 Stun

• Increased start amount from 3 to 4




• Increased refill from 2 to 3




• Increased max amount from 4 to 5

G-109 Urchin

• Increased start amount from 2 to 4




• Increased refill from 2 to 3




• Increased max amount from 4 to 5

G-10 Incendiary

• Increased start amount from 3 to 4




• Increased refill from 2 to 3




• Increased max amount from 4 to 5

G-13 Incendiary Impact

• Increased start amount from 3 to 4




• Increased refill from 2 to 3




• Increased max amount from 4 to 5

Stratagems 

Eagle 110mm Rocket Pods

Intent: Make it better at one shotting smaller heavies like Chargers, Hulks, Harvesters (without shields). It can also kill some larger enemies like Tanks well. It is still not a 100% guaranteed kill, but it will be more reliable.

• Increased explosion damage 200 to 300




• Increased explosion durable damage 200 to 300




• Increased explosion armor penetration Medium to Heavy




• Rockets are fired in a closer pattern to each other to make it easier to hit smaller targets.




• Lower force impulse on explosion from 40 to 10 (This is to make enemies not fly away to much when they die, because we increased the armor penetration of the explosion)

Orbital Precision Strike

• Increased projectile damage 3500 to 4000




• Increased projectile durable damage 3500 to 4000




• Increased explosion damage 1000 to 1500




• Increased explosion durable damage 1000 to 1500

Orbital 380mm HE Barrage

• Increased projectile damage 3500 to 4000




• Increased projectile durable damage 3500 to 4000




• Increased explosion damage 1000 to 1500




• Increased explosion durable damage 1000 to 1500

Orbital Walking Barrage

• Increased projectile damage 3500 to 4000




• Increased projectile durable damage 3500 to 4000




• Increased explosion damage 1000 to 1500




• Increased explosion durable damage 1000 to 1500

SEAF Artillery Explosive/High Yield Explosive

• Increased projectile damage 3500 to 4000




• Increased projectile durable damage 3500 to 4000




• Increased explosion damage 1000 to 1500




• Increased explosion durable damage 1000 to 1500

Orbital 120mm HE Barrage

• Increased projectile damage 2500 to 3500




• Increased projectile damage 2500 to 3500




• Increased explosion damage 750 to 1200




• Increased explosion damage 750 to 1200

Orbital Railcannon Strike

• Increased projectile damage 7500 to 10 000




• Increased projectile durable damage 7500 to 10 000

S-11 Speargun

The projectile was negated by the Gas resistance armor which did not make much sense. The explosion of the projectile is still gas elemental.

• Change the projectile damage type from gas to none

TX-41 Sterilizer

• Increased ammo capacity from 100 to 125




• Increased starting amount of magazines from 2 to 3




• Will be affected less by wind by 60%

All Exosuits

• Increased health from 1600 to 1800




• Increased health of arms from 600 to 800




• Increased health of legs from 400 to 550




• Cooldown reduced from 10 minutes down to 8 minutes

M-102 Fast Recon Vehicle

• Increased health from 2000 to 2400




• Increased health of doors by 50%




• Increased health of tires from 300 to 350

Enemies

Terminids

Charger

• Adjusted the chargers turning arc to make them easier to avoid




• Increase their recovery time after the charge to create a window of opportunity (+1 second). The charger basically keeps running and struggle to stop if it misses its target




• To compensate for this, charge speed has been slightly increased (8->9m/s)

Alpha commander

• Removed cowardly behavior, it will now be more aggressive.

Hunters

• Reduced durable damage of normal attack from 50 to 40




• Reduced durable damage of tongue attack from 45 to 30




• Reduced durable damage of pounce attack from 50 to 35

Warriors and spewers

• Reduced durable damage of normal attack from 80 to 65

Stalkers

• Reduced durable damage of tongue attack from 50 to 35

Automatons

Vox Engine

• Reduced health from 11 000 down to 9000




• Reduced max turn angle of its upper body so it cannot turn as far as it could previously (from 180 degrees down to 140)




• Amount of vox engines allowed to be active at the same time limited to 3




• Reduced health of their cannon turrets from 8000 down to 3500




• Reduced the armor of their cannon turrets from 5 to 4




• Reduced durable on cannon turrets from 1 to 0.7




• Increased damage of cannon turrets explosion to significantly hurt the vox engine when it dies

Illuminate

Elevated Overseer

• Added one attack pattern (short attack burst followed by a longer one)




• Reduced the current attack duration




• Reduced accuracy on moving targets

? Fixes

Special Shoutout

• Stimming is no longer interrupted by stagger

Crash Fixes

• Fixed a rare crash that would happen when a player joined a game




• Fixed a rare crash which would occur when causing an excessive amount of explosions in a single frame

Weapons & Stratagem Fixes

• Fixed a bug where several weapon customizations weren't properly saved when the option was ticked in the player settings




• B/FLAM-80 Cremator no longer shows the 'Heavy Armour Penetrating' stratagem trait, following similar incendiary weaponry




• A/FLAM-40 Flame Sentry and EXO-51 Lumberer Exosuits flamethrower can now damage targets within 3 meters of the sentry




• P-33 Missile Pistol weapon now shows the right trait tags in the menu




• The R-2 Amendment reload now continues correctly if interrupted - if reload is interrupted early, it will not lose magazines




• The secondary weapon's chosen customization correctly persists after death if the menu option is selected




• Orbital Gatling Barrage will play the correct audio




• The StA-X3 W.A.S.P. Launcher can target illegal broadcast transmitter towers




• Part of the Bastion Tank's barrel can be damaged with a light penetration weapon




• Phalanx divers rejoice! Laser beams, explosion damage, electrical arcs and melee attacks no longer collide with the directional shields of your team-mates when hit from behind.




• SG-97 Sweeper should now reliably eject shells when slamfiring




• The WASP launcher can target the Illegal Broadcast transmitter tower

Enemies

• Fixed physics to allow more representative shooting on the Dragonroach abdomen




• Veracitor will not trigger its charge within a narrow path, reducing instances where they'll clip though destructible obstacles 

Miscellaneous Fixes

• A hidden broadcast terminal was relocated to its correct spot so that the Helldivers can once again access it




• Players are no longer removed from terminals when switching between controller and Keyboard and Mouse




• D-pad/arrow keys navigation can come up and down when viewing teammates' equipment loadout




• Traversing through foliage such as bushes will no longer interrupt sprinting, which should result in less momentum loss




• Fixed several issues with some mission assets animation being out of sync for joining players




• Fixed issue where the map marker for "Retrieve Mutant Larva" objective always displayed in a radius




• Hints have better placements for the reinforcement Hellpods in commando missions




• SEAF SAM site missiles now have better software to detect and detonate near enemy air units




• Fixed a bug where certain Automaton mines turned invisible when a nearby mine exploded




• Fixed a case where the Helldiver head twitched when leaving the Hellpod




• M-102 Fast Recon Vehicle no longer plays audio for doors if they have been removed from the vehicle




• Parts of the TD-220 Bastion MK XVI barrel base can no longer be damaged with a light penetration weapon




• Fix issues with certain physics collisions having no audio




• Fixed Automaton mines getting under ground after a nearby mine explodes




• Fixed an issue where an Eradicate Automaton Forces level could generate underwater




• Fixed a traversal issue where enemies could not reach the player in one of the levels in the E-710 Extraction mission




• Fixed a traversal issue where enemies could not reach the player in one of the levels in the Annex Untapped Mineral Site mission

(Free Game Key) Epic Games | Citizen Sleeper & ROBOBEAT are both FREE

News - You Are Everyone’s Intrusive Thoughts In Citizen Sleeper Dev’s Upcoming F

The next game from Gareth Damian Martin, the lead developer for Citizen Sleeper and its sequel, is a drastic shift away from playing as a sentient android desperately trying to survive while managing resources and relationships. Called Signet City, the first-person fungalpunk RPG sees you play as a sentient spore who must spread itself through a city by secretly infecting new individuals. As a spore, you become the new guiding psyche of those you infect, acting as a voice that influences how they feel, so you can then shape how they act, and ultimately direct how events play out in the city. Even if it doesn't work like how they do mechanically, narratively, it sounds like you're playing as the sentient skills in Disco Elysium or Esoteric Ebb--you're an outside perspective doing its best to guide your host to what you think is the best outcome.

"As a parasite, each day you choose which host to drop into and then you have a limited number of actions that day," Martin told me. "And each host kind of comes with a part of the city that they live in, like a little hub. I think it's better to think of it as more something like Dishonored where you have these little chunks of the city--you don't have a whole city that you can walk around."

"The key thing is the parasite feeds on emotion. And the skill system, the RPG aspect of the game, is all based on emotion. So let's say as the parasite, you want to get to this specific area of a [certain] hub. So you load in as that character and you're like, 'Okay, there's this door in my way. I'm going to have to find a way to get through it. One way that I could get through it is [kicking] it down, but if I want to kick it down, I [can] get a modifier increase if my host is angry. So I'm going to take him into the pub and I'm going to get him in an argument with somebody who's in the pub and that will get [my host] more angry and now I can [more easily] kick down this door.'"

Like both Citizen Sleeper games, you're still rolling a six-sided die in Signet City, so any choice you make can still fail thanks to the cruelty of chance. Martin talked about how, in the kicking down the door example, you could injure your infected host in the attempt. And that might lead you to try solving the same problem but with a different host. And since no two hosts are the same, the manner by which you can help them out is different. To push someone into a state of adrenaline, you might need to have them discover political posters of a person or policy they don't support, for example, or take them to the top of a skyscraper if they're afraid of heights.

"In a weird way, there's a little bit of Firewatch to it in the sense that when you're one of these characters, you're walking around the space and you're kind of discovering it," Martin said. "And then when you find something that the character can do or react to, you find it by looking and then you hold the left trigger to then bring up the UI that relates to that."

What I find most interesting about this is how this type of storytelling plays with the concept of perception. As someone who plays a lot of tabletop role-playing games, I'm engaging in make-believe with other adults several times a week. And during those sessions, players often switch up how they refer to themselves and the character they're playing as. I'll always use first-person "I," when talking about myself, but I'll also use it when I'm pretending to be my character. But not always, though. I'll also say that my character does something as if I were a narrator directing them. So while I'm almost always using first-person, I'll sometimes use third-person, and even second-person on very rare occasions.

In that same respect, Signet City is a game told in first-, second-, and third-person. The camera view is first-person, but the game refers to the parasite as "you," and then the various hosts are talked about in third-person. But it's still just you, the player, behind it all. When I spoke to Martin about it, they said that the relationship of perspective was the exact concept they wanted to explore in Signet City.

"The parasite is influenced by observing tabletop play and how when you're playing a character in tabletop role-playing games, sometimes you're using your name, sometimes you use [your character's] name," Martin said. "Sometimes you're like, 'Oh, it would be really cool if this really bad thing happened to my character right now, because that would be really interesting.' And sometimes you're more in their head and you're more like, 'Oh God, I really don't want this to go bad. I'd really, really like [a good roll] to just make this go well.' And I think that is a really interesting space. I think video games don't really get into that--they don't think about the player [as a conflicting perspective] that much. Maybe in Baldur's Gate [3], you get a bit of that when you do a Dark Urge playthrough. But that, for me, is a really exciting part of tabletop games, so that's something that I'm trying to get into."

"It opens up the writing because I have to try and figure out, 'How do I write this?' So the game is in second-person and third-person simultaneously because [when] I write what it's like to be the parasite, [I use] 'you, you, you,' and then I write what the host is experiencing. So, 'Sid does this, Sid does that, Sid feels this.' And so that is a really exciting and interesting space to play. And so for me, I find it interesting to set myself those challenges and those structures. And a lot of it is really based on things I found interesting in Citizen Sleeper, but that that form couldn't necessarily contain. But if I change the form and I do something a bit more out there [with Signet City], I can find space to do it.

Where these perspectives ultimately collide and begin to grate against one another is where Signet City seems to be delving into punk, creating friction and counterculture within its urban setting via the clashing perspectives of the city at large and the more personal battles between the fungal parasite and individual hosts.

"I think there are connections absolutely to authoritarianism, but there are also connections to revolution and radical ideas," Martin said. "And I think that's what really excited me about beginning to work on this, was that a parasite can represent both of those things simultaneously and you can engage with the idea."

"If you are the most powerful being in [the city], then ultimately that's what you're growing to be. What are you driving the city towards and what do you see your role in it being? Are you a shepherd or are you a master? Do you instigate or do you control? Do you destroy, or are you like, 'Yeah, f**k the humans. They've destroyed ecology, ecology's coming for them now. They should actually die.' These are the things that I think you can really get into with having a protagonist like [a fungal spore] and having a structure like this game."

We'll have to wait a bit longer to get a better understanding of how Signet City will look and play, as only an announcement trailer for the game has been revealed so far. In my conversation with Martin, they said they're about midway through development, so there's definitely no chance of the game releasing this year.

(Free Game Key) Steam | Wild Terra 2 New Lands

Wild Terra 2 New Lands
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1134700/Wild_Terra_2_New_Lands/
You have to scroll down past the 4 prices to see the free to add to account option.

For ASF users - !addlicense asf s/1670618


https://steamcommunity.com/groups/GrabFr...0057005895

News - Sony Files Patent Application For Controller With Buttons That Harden Around

As we creep closer to another generation of PlayStation consoles, Sony is exploring potential additions to its controllers that could set it apart in a similar way to the DualSense with the PlayStation 5. According to a new patent, that could include buttons that harden, or soften, according to what is happening on screen.

The patent application, which was filed in November 2024 with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and published in May earlier this year (and found by Cheat Happens), details several different ways that buttons on a controller can have their physical properties changed. In one, the controller makes use a magneto-viscoelastic elastomer that alters how much force is required to push a button based on surrounding magnets. Another approach includes utilising fluid-filled membranes for the same effect, but you can probably imagine why this might not be a great idea for a controller's longevity.

The patent goes on to describe an alternative button effect where a player's finger can sink into it, before it hardens up around the finger afterwards. This is probably the strangest of the solutions, but could be used to simulate several scenarios where your character is stuck and requires more force to move or release. Whether you want your controller biting you is entirely subjective, however.

Experiments like these are what ultimately led to the current DualSense controller, which makes good use of adaptive triggers to simulate various context-sensitive actions, such as alternative fire modes in Saros or the tension of a web swing in Spider-Man 2.

With Sony expected to release a new PlayStation in either 2028 or 2029, patents such as these could give an indication of what might be included in the eventual DualSense successor. But, like several patents before it, its filing does not in any way mean that Sony will follow through with its designs.

(Free Game Key) Steam & Epic | Eets for Steam. Warhammer 40K: Speed Freeks , Ourobor

Eets
https://store.steampowered.com/app/6100/Eets/

on Epic, there are two more.
Warhammer 40K: Speed Freeks
https://store.epicgames.com/p/warhammer-40k-speed-freeks-12879c

Ouroboros King
https://store.epicgames.com/p/the-ouroboros-king-e1d547


Also posted two more steam freebies today on the previous announcement.


https://steamcommunity.com/groups/GrabFr...0057005401

News - Upcoming Xbox Exclusives Are Being Sent Out To Die, Analyst Says; Xbox Pushes

Xbox's chief strategy officer has pushed back against claims that Microsoft could "reverse course" and alter its stance on exclusive games. At the same time, analyst Rhys Elliott of Anlinea Analytics tells GameSpot that Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution are being sent out to die on purpose.

Matthew Ball, who joined Xbox earlier this year, said the rumors saying Microsoft might "reverse course" are false. Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution "will stay exclusive," he said, adding that there are "no conversations and have been no conversations to 'reverse course.'"

Not only is Microsoft not changing its stance on exclusives, Ball reiterated that Microsoft plans to build on this and release "signature exclusives ... every year."

E-Day and Clockwork Revolution are not timed exclusives for Xbox, but full exclusives, Microsoft has said. The company said the same thing about Starfield, though, and it later came to PlayStation 5.

"Sacrificial Lambs"

Elliott told GameSpot that Microsoft will never succeed in the console space and promising fans exclusive games to help drive console sales is not going to make a difference. Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution are basically being sent out to die, he said.

"Console as we know it is over for Xbox--and has been for a while. There’s no turning that ship. But they still need to pretend to care until they’ve transitioned to pastures where they can return to growth (if they succeed)," he said.

"A Gears console exclusive does not shift meaningful numbers of Series X units. Exclusivity as a hardware-driver is over for them, because the install base it would drive simply isn't responsive enough to justify the cost of building hardware at a 5x component premium. And those games are on Steam anyway," he added.

Elliott went on to say that Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution are "sacrificial lambs for hearts-and-minds, not economics."

"Xbox is pulling some games off PlayStation while keeping them on Steam, so they’re still adding to Steam's value proposition while adding almost nothing to their own console's," he said.

Elliott went on to say it's plainly obvious that there was a PS5 edition of E-Day in the works, and lots of evidence suggests this is true. Meanwhile, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma's reported decision to pull a Halo trailer from the recent PlayStation State of Play event was "symbolic, relationship-damaging, and revenue-negative" for Xbox, he said.

"I’m not sure how worth it the exclusivity change is in the long term--and I expect there to be some backtracking once the revenue numbers come in," Elliott added. "If the data is any guide, the titles that stay Xbox-first or Xbox-only will mostly be the ones a sliver of the PlayStation audience would have bought anyway. So nobody is really losing sleep over that math."

Going forward, Elliott said he expects Microsoft to take the same approach it has for years with regards to exclusive games, and that is that Microsoft will pick these on a case-by-case basis. "Which is a polite way of saying symbolic where it's cheap, abandoned where it's expensive," he said.

"The spreadsheet wins the argument it always wins"

Elliott went on to say that the "tell" from Microsoft that its exclusivity plan is not working will be if the company announces future multiplatform releases for PS5, messaged to players that it was actually a "case-by-case" decision. In reality, though, Elliott said this was "always a hearts-and-minds gesture with a shelf life."

Elliott said he expects this to happen at some point over the next year, after the numbers come in and show that the math just does not work.

"I'd expect any backtracking to land after a quarter or two of revenue numbers, once the cost of walking away from 90M-plus PS5 owners shows up in a report someone has to present. That's the moment the spreadsheet wins the argument it always wins," he said.

Pain ahead

According to reports, Microsoft is going to lay off staff and close, or spin off, multiple development studios soon due to Xbox's financial struggles of late.

Just recently, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella talked about how Xbox has been struggling for some time and that it is imperative that Microsoft finds a way to “turn [Xbox] into a sustainable business.”

The way Microsoft is apparently going to do this is by making drastic cuts to "reset" the Xbox business. Double Fine, Compulsion Games, Arkane, and Ninja Theory are all currently said to be negotiating with Microsoft to decide their fates. Double Fine reacted to the reports with the sweat smile emoji.

In a blog post announcing what's to come for Xbox in the next 100 days, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma alluded to major changes, and difficult ones.

"For some of you, these realities will be surprising and even frustrating to discover," she told staff. "We won’t succeed by hiding hard truths, nor will we succeed by doing the same thing and expecting different results."

(Free Game Key) Steam | The Red Lantern & Happy's Humble Burger Farm

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https://steamcommunity.com/groups/GrabFr...0057005176

News - Double Fine, Ninja Theory, And More Reportedly Trying To Spin Off From Xbox G

Earlier today, word broke that Microsoft is reportedly planning to close Compulsion Games--the studio behind South of Midnight, We Happy Few, and Contrast--as part of a larger round of layoffs and studio closures. Now, there's word that a handful of Xbox Studios' smaller developers are taking some steps to avoid that fate.

Bloomberg is reporting that Compulsion, Double Fine, Ninja Theory, and "several other studios" have started negotiations with Microsoft to spin off their companies from Xbox Studios and avert full studio closures. Potentially, this would give the studios a chance to buy out Microsoft's stake in their companies or allow them to find financial backers who could become the new owners.

However, that may not be enough to save every developer at the affected studios. Bloomberg notes that "many employees will likely lose their jobs as a result" of going independent. Consequently, employees at some of the studios have reportedly been cleared to begin looking for other work. It appears this process may be further along at Ninja Theory, with The Verge reporting Microsoft has already opted to close the studio.

The scope of the potential layoffs isn't clear, and there have even been reports that Microsoft is considering spinning off Xbox itself into a new standalone company. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella recently stressed the need for the Xbox gaming division to pull its financial weight.

Ahead of any big changes to Xbox itself, Craig Duncan, the head of Xbox Game Studios, has left the company after a 15-year stint with Microsoft. Duncan's chief of staff, Louise O’Connor, is also leaving Xbox.