The Xbox Disc-to-Digital licensing program recently launched to insiders, effectively paving the way to a discless future for Xbox, while still allowing the brand to market its console as backwards compatible. Following just over a month of public testing, Microsoft has just announced that the Disc-to-Digital program has officially launched for everyone, not just Xbox Insiders.

The launch also comes with some updates and a more robust support page that details a few notable features, terms, and conditions. Most notably, it seems as though the Disc-to-Digital licensing is not guaranteed. Microsoft notes that "Not all Xbox One or Xbox Series X game discs are eligible for disc to digital licensing. Eligibility may change over time, and varies due to technical, licensing, publishing, manufacturing, and other factors," suggesting that games may be added and removed from the program at Microsoft's whim. In the announcement post on X, the fine print also notes that all digital game licenses are revokable.

Resident Evil Requiem topped 6 million sales within two weeks of its initial launch, so it's no secret that it's been a hit for Capcom, and it has, by Capcom's own account, broken sales records for the series in the process. It's no surprise, then, that Alinea Analytics is reporting that the game has sold an estimated 8.5 million copies across PlayStation 5, PC, and Xbox Series consoles.

Surprisingly, the analytics firm estimates that as much as 48.1% of the game's sales have been on PlayStation 5, while Steam accounts for 43.4% of sales, and Xbox Series X|S only accounts for 8.6%. Low Xbox series sales aside, it seems as though Resident Evil fans are still keen on physical media, with as many as 30.8% of PlayStation 5's Requiem sales coming from physical media sales. The report also claims that Resident Evil Requiem has surpassed $500 million in total revenue for its platforms combined.

Rockstar has opened pre-orders for the Grand Theft Auto 6: The Goodtime State - Vice City Collection, a collector's box priced at $399.99 in the US and £349.99 in the UK. Despite how it may sound, this is not a collector's edition of the game. Rockstar's store page says GTA 6 is sold separately, so the box neither has a disc nor a download code. The collection instead has 11 items themed around Macca the Gator, a fictional TV show from the game's Leonida setting.

These include a Macca the Gator figure with a twist-open base, Oakley Frogskins sunglasses, a Leonida Keys crossbody bag, and a New Era 9FORTY snapback hat. The smaller items are a magnetic mirror, a Chunkee the Manatee shot glass, a Vice City swizzle spoon, and a razor blade-style keychain. The set also includes nine enamel pins, nine vinyl stickers, and a double-sided poster with a map of Leonida. Rockstar lists it as an adult collectible for ages 18 and up, and shipping is not free.

It was announced in February 2026 that Evil Empire and Motion Twin, the indie studios behind the massively successful Dead Cell franchise, is working with Konami on Castlevania: Belmont's Curse. Ahead of the game's October 15 launch, Konami just announced in a Tokyo Game Show livestream that it would be releasing a demo for Castlevania: Belmont's Curse on October 1.

The demo will be available on all platforms on which the game is planned to launch—that is to say PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch, and the demo will allow players buying the game on the same platform they played the demo on to keep their progress if they buy the full game. The demo will run at 60 FPS on PC and full-size consoles, but only 30 FPS on the Switch, and content and features will be restricted in the demo version. The full livestream with the demo details is available below (in Japanese).

A developer has apparently gotten an experimental PS5 emulator running on the Xbox Series X. Devran Cosmo Uenal, who posted about the project on YouTube on September 8, calls it a research project that ports the open-source KytyPS5 emulator to Microsoft's console through Developer Mode. Uenal shows GEX Trilogy, Hellboy: Web of Wyrd, Marvel Cosmic Invasion, and Quake II in his game library and claims they all work with controller input, with sound working in some of them. He also says AI tools were used, but it's unclear how much of the code they wrote. Compatibility is very limited, and Uenal says a lot of work is left.

According to him, the Xbox environment doesn't support Vulkan, which KytyPS5 uses for rendering, so the graphics side has to be adapted to DirectX. That likely means progress on the PC version won't carry over automatically. We haven't seen performance benchmarks either, but the video shows Quake II running somewhere between 25 FPS and 45 FPS. The game also dips below 20 FPS in some scenes, especially when it first boots up. There is also a marked jump in input latency that can be observed, but no numbers back it up yet.

Valheim launched into Steam Early Access in February 2021 and quickly garnered attention, launching with over 500,000 peak concurrent players on Steam and still counting over 20,000 daily concurrent players at the time of writing. Now, over five years after the Early Access launch, the open-world survival-craft game is finally launching out of Early Access, with a slew of new content and a new biome in-tow.

Aside from new content, including weapons, new traversal options, a new dungeon type, and a new mount, among others, Valheim 1.0 also sees the game get an official Nintendo Switch 2 and PlayStation 5 launch, and it makes cross-play available for all platforms. The update officially launches on September 9 on all platforms, including Windows, Linux, macOS, the Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch 2.

Rebel Wolves' debut game is certainly off to a strong start. The Blood of Dawnwalker has sold more than 1 million copies worldwide, the studio confirmed on social media, just two days after its September 3 launch on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S. The game hit 1 million sales fast enough that most of it likely came from day-one momentum, though Rebel Wolves hasn't broken down sales by platform. The Blood of Dawnwalker is an open-world dark fantasy RPG set in 14th-century Europe, built in Unreal Engine 5. Players control Coen, who's human by day and a vampire by night, as he tries to save his family within a strict 30-day in-game clock.

Rebel Wolves is led by Konrad Tomaszkiewicz, former director on The Witcher 3, and this is the studio's first release since it was founded in 2022. As expected with a first release, the launch also comes with some rough edges. Performance on Steam Deck and other Windows handhelds has required real compromises to remain playable, and the game's most popular Nexus Mods download reportedly conflicts with its core survival mechanics. However, none of that seems to have slowed sales much so far. It's still early days for the game, but crossing a million copies in under 48 hours is quite rare for a completely new IP.

At the latest PlayStation State of Play, Sony and Konami announced an upcoming action game, Rhapsody in Scarlet, set in an alternate 1920s New York filled with magic, monsters, and mayhem. The game was announced via the State of Play and a post on the PlayStation Blog, but it will not be a PlayStation exclusive, although an official launch date has not yet been set. Rhapsody in Scarlet will be a single-player, third-person game, and it looks to be launching on PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, and the Xbox Series X|S consoles.

In Rhapsody in Scarlet, players step into the shoes of Ellie, a young mage with who has come to New York to pursue a jazz career before getting entwined in a mysterious mafia plot involving magic and conspiracy that could result in the fate of the world hanging in the balance. Konami says that its goal with Rhapsody in Scarlet was to offer a unique twist on the action game genre.

Grand Theft Auto 6 pre-orders jumped sharply after Rockstar's extended gameplay look aired on Netflix, according to new estimates from Sensor Tower. The analytics firm says pre-orders rose 436% on August 27, the day of the showcase, compared to the day before. That momentum carried into August 28, pushing the two-day increase to 572% against the prior 30-day average. PlayStation 5 accounted for the bulk of the surge, with PS5 pre-orders up 606% on the 27th alone, while Xbox Series X|S pre-orders rose a comparatively modest 127%. PS5 has led Xbox in GTA 6 pre-orders since Sensor Tower began tracking reservations in June, shortly after Rockstar officially opened pre-orders for the game.

Sensor Tower's cumulative estimate now stands at roughly 4.86 million pre-orders worldwide, worth close to $476 million, with PlayStation buyers accounting for about 77% of that total. Take-Two has not confirmed exact figures, though CEO Strauss Zelnick has previously said demand for the $100 Ultimate Edition has outpaced the standard $80 version. Rockstar has kept a tight grip on gameplay reveals since GTA 6's earlier trailers, so a 26-minute showcase was always going to move the needle. Sensor Tower's own analysts have also suggested the current Ultimate Edition divide is unlikely to hold once mass-market buyers start pre-ordering closer to release, which could shift these percentages again before launch.

It looks like the dreaded "30 FPS" rumors were indeed true about GTA 6. Rockstar unveiled GTA 6 gameplay yesterday on Netflix, and many questions were answered. However, we didn't get to know exactly what framerate the game was running at, even though it was confirmed to be running on a base PS5. Apparently, Rockstar disclosed that information to the content creators who were invited to Rockstar North for a behind-the-scenes look at GTA 6.

Head of development Rob Nelson reportedly had a chat with YouTuber and journalist Davy Jones of Flow Games. According to Jones, the Rockstar exec confirmed that GTA 6 was running at 30 FPS on the console. Moreover, he was unable to confirm whether there will be a 60 FPS "Performance Mode" for any console at launch, or even further down the line. That may be disappointing to some readers, but it was strongly rumored for quite some time that GTA 6 will only run at 30 FPS, even on the PS5 Pro.

As expected, there has been a lot of chatter online about The Witcher 4 since it was announced that the game was in full development at CD Projekt Red. Now, as per an interview Game Developer, CD Projekt Red's Michał Nowakowski has revealed what he meant when he said that the studio had learned from the launch of Cyberpunk 2077: The Witcher 4 already runs on all of the target systems—PlayStation 5, PC, and Xbox Series X|S.

Michał Nowakowski, co-CEO of CD Projekt RedYou come to the studio, you launch Witcher 4 right now. You can launch it on PC. You can launch it on PS5. You can launch it on Xbox Series X, and it's going to run...

A new disc-to-digital attestation program has long been rumored to be launching around the time of the next-gen Xbox Helix game console, but, confirming the most recent leaks, Xbox's Jason Ronald, VP of Next Generation, has announced the launch of the disc-to-digital program in a new post on Xbox Wire.

The digital license attestation program will be available for "most Xbox One and Xbox Series X disc-based games," and it will allow players to claim a digital entitlement by inserting a supported disc into the Xbox One or Series X and launching the game. After that, the game will be playable on the console as well as via Xbox Play Anywhere and Xbox Cloud Gaming. Xbox claims that this new program is part of its "broader commitment to game preservation," and the program basically serves as a test run for the Helix console, which is expected to launch with full backwards compatibility, despite not having a physical disc drive.

In early June, Microsoft introduced a limited edition console to celebrate 25 years of Xbox, called the Xbox Series X25. This special edition features a translucent green design for both the console and its controller, allowing you to admire its inner workings. Both the console and controller are marked with exclusive "Xbox 25" branding. In terms of specifications, it seems to be the same as the standard Xbox Series X, although the dashboard might have some unique artwork. Microsoft plans to release the Xbox Series X25 in November 2026.

According to exclusive information from Dealabs Magazine, the console's price in Europe will be €899.99, which is €100 more than the regular Xbox Series X with a 1 TB configuration. In the United States, the price is expected to be around $899, plus sales tax. Microsoft has also confirmed that the controller will be sold separately, allowing you to purchase additional ones for your new Series X25 console. However, the price of the controller has not been announced yet.

Microsoft's internal roadmap for the Disc to Digital feature has been leaked, revealing that the feature will be generally available this month. According to the roadmap, an insider beta of the Disc to Digital feature has been available since July, with general availability for Xbox One and Series X owners expected in August. For those unfamiliar, Disc to Digital is Microsoft's initiative to promote a digital-only future for Xbox consoles. This feature allows players to insert their game discs into the console to convert them into digital licenses. When the disc is scanned, Microsoft uses the unique key to create a digital license, which prevents the disc from being activated on third-party consoles and stops it from being rented, borrowed, or sold to others.

This marks a significant shift away from physical disc game releases, as both Sony and Microsoft are moving towards ending disc-based games, encouraging gamers to use digital licenses exclusively. According to the roadmap, Xbox One and Series X users will be the first to scan their games and obtain digital licenses, as these consoles have physical disc readers. Game licensing will now be tied to the specific user account, with Xbox managing all engineering, certification, and support efforts if any issues arise. However, publishers retain the right to participate, maintaining full control over rights, pricing, and branding.

Microsoft is significantly increasing the prices of its Xbox gaming consoles starting August 1st across the United States, Europe, and the United Kingdom. We were aware that the pricing strategy for the United States market involves an increase of up to $150, depending on the SKU. However, it turns out that the pricing in Europe and the UK is set to rise even more dramatically. A member of the Resetera forum has compiled a list of UK and European pricing updates, showing the Xbox Series S 512 GB version going from €349 to €499, while the Xbox Series X Digital Edition is now priced at €749, up from €549. For the base Xbox Series S model, this represents a 43% price hike compared to the old price. Raising the price by nearly half the MSRP is a decision made amid the memory crisis, where Microsoft's supply of GDDR6 memory for these consoles has been affected by significantly higher prices.

For the more powerful Xbox Series X, the price increase ranges from 33% to 36%, depending on whether the edition is digital or disc version. This means that for the 1 TB version of the Xbox Series X with disc capability, you can expect to pay €800. Of course, this is only the MSRP listing, and retailers might add additional charges if demand exceeds supply. As we approach the launch of the Grand Theft Auto VI game, expect console demand to continue rising. Console makers like Sony have been stockpiling memory to ensure there is ample supply. Below, you can check the pricing across Europe, the UK, and the US, compiled by VideoGamesChronicle.

There have recently been a slew of details about the upcoming Assassin's Creed Hexe, from positives, like the return of fan-favorite characters, to less positive news like the pared-back combat system, or the recent dev team layoffs that may affect the scope of the game further. Now, recent leaks by @AgaiinTx on X claim to reveal the pricing and some other details of what they call Assassin's Creed: Codename Hexe.

According to the leaker, Hexe will feature a PEGI 18 rating and will release for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. Allegedly the game will use Denuvo. The leaker also claims that June 2027 has been set as the game's launch date, but it is suspected that this is likely a placeholder and will change at a later date. The base game will allegedly cost $69.99, but it will also launch with deluxe and collector's edition, both of which will cost more than the former.

With the launch of Grand Theft Auto VI rapidly approaching, rumors surrounding the game's launch have been circulating, with some of those predicting that the game's launch will result in a console hardware shortage, more recently, however, Digital Foundry predicted that the new GTA game may not be able to run on current-gen console hardware—not even the PS5 Pro. Detail levels are slated to be even higher when the game eventually launches on PC, although gamers will be able to rely on more advanced upscaling tech to improve frame rates on PC.

According to the publication, who based its comments on the level of detail present in the GTA VI trailers and media released so far, it seems as though GTA VI won't feature the previously rumored 60 FPS mode, although the PS5 Pro may be able to push frame rates to 40 FPS. The publication predicts that complex simulations in GTA VI may be too CPU-intensive for current-gen consoles, especially since the PS5 Pro is only just slightly faster than the base PS5 in that department, and Microsoft's best offering, the Xbox Series X, offers more or less the same CPU design. This rumor comes after Rockstar claimed that the second GTA VI trailer was captured entirely on PS5 base hardware. Additionally, both GTA 4 and GTA 5 released on console locked to 30 FPS, with 60 FPS only coming at a later date with next-gen console launches—which, in this case would be the Xbox Helix and PlayStation 6, which are slated to arrive between 2027 and 2028.

Microsoft has already increased the prices of its Xbox Series X|S consoles once in response to the ongoing hardware shortages and prices. On June 25, Microsoft announced that the Xbox console family will receive another round of price increases on August 1, 2026. As of the beginning of August, all 512 GB variants of the Xbox Series consoles will be $100 more expensive than current pricing, and 1 TB Xbox consoles will cost an extra $150 over current pricing. Microsoft will also discontinue the 2 TB Xbox SKUs, likely because pricing simply does not make sense anymore. Microsoft blames the ongoing DRAM crisis for the increases, stating that "console storage and memory prices have increased by more than 2.5x, and we expect another doubling by the fall of 2027."

As a result of the price increases, the Xbox Series X|S pricing now plays out as follows: 512 GB Series S: $499.99; 1 TB Series S: $599.99; 512 GB Series X Digital: $749.99; 1 TB Xbox Series X $799.99. For comparison, following the recent price increases at Sony, the PS5 costs $649.99, while the PS5 Digital Edition costs $599.99, and the PS5 Pro costs $899.99. The announcement comes weeks before the close of the 2025 financial year at Xbox, with the price increase taking effect almost immediately after the Xbox fiscal year reports are slated to be published. Following the recent PS5 price increases, Sony saw PS5 sales break 2026 records as a result of a buying rush to get in before the price increases. Recent reports also highlighted that significant layoffs are planned at Xbox Game Studios thanks to overall declines in revenue at Xbox.

AGON by AOC, the world's leading gaming monitor brand, today announces the debut of the AGON 7 series with the launch of its first model, the AGON PRO AGP277QKDC. This 26.5-inch (67.3 cm) professional-grade monitor is the first to combine Dual Frame Mode (DFM) with next-generation Tandem WOLED technology. Engineered for competitive esports, the display offers a new standard in functional balance and technical precision.

The AGON PRO AGP277QKDC represents a new step for the AGON 7 era, bringing together advanced performance features and a more integrated "full desk experience".

• Revolutionary Tandem WOLED: This 4th-generation panel technology uses an advanced stacked-layer design to improve light efficiency and sustain a peak brightness of 1,500 nits. The structure also helps ensure long-term reliability and panel durability by distributing the emissive workload across multiple layers.
• 540 Hz / 720 Hz Dual Frame Mode: An advanced feature that allows players to quickly adapt the monitor to the needs of different games. Players can choose between a native 540 Hz refresh rate at QHD resolution for sharper image quality, or an ultra-fast 720 Hz mode at HD resolution for exceptional motion clarity in competitive esports titles.
• Refined workspace: The symmetric stand base maximises space for mouse and keyboard movement, supporting the wide and precise motions required in professional gaming.
• Intuitive control: The AG7 line features a redesigned OSD for a more seamless user experience. Its improved layout makes settings easier to navigate and quicker to find. Simply hover over a setting to instantly preview its available sub-settings. Controlled through a joystick, supported by two customisable quick-access buttons for fast and easy setting adjustments.

Grand Theft Auto fans, rejoice! The latest sequel in the GTA franchise—GTA VI—is opening up for pre-orders on June 25, allowing fans to gear up for one of the most anticipated AAA releases this year. Although the game officially launches on November 19, 2026, fans will be able to place pre-orders in about a week from now. This means that PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S players can add GTA VI to their pre-order list. Interestingly, the website doesn't mention any pricing for the game, so we might have to wait a few more days for that information. Additionally, no editions are listed, so it's still a mystery which GTA VI editions will be available on day one and how they will be priced compared to other AAA releases. We don't expect the game to be priced below the industry standard, and a slight premium compared to existing AAA titles is anticipated.

Alphacool brought plenty of new products to the Computex 2026 show floor, including a quite interesting Xbox Series X/S prototype AIO cooler based on the new DDC Zero pump, its new Apex Stealth Metal Aurora 140 mm that were announced earlier in March, Apex Grip Fittings, a whole new 1260 mm external cooling Core 1260 Pro and Apex Skeleton Radiator Box versions, the new Core GPU AIO coolers, and new Apex Monoblocks for various different motherboard manufacturers so it fits the design.

The biggest update is Alphacool's new Core GPU AIO coolers, which are production-ready versions for NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 5080 and GeForce RTX 5090 graphics cards, following the same signature design of the Core series, providing a clean, functional, and performance-driven product. In terms of specifications, the new Core GPU AIO coolers will use two DC-LT pumps, combined with a 360 mm HPE-Radiator with performance fans.

Microsoft unveiled the new Xbox Series X25 Limited Edition console commemorating 25 years of Xbox. The special edition console features a translucent green body for both the console and its included controller, letting you revel upon its innards. There is exclusive "Xbox 25" branding on both the console and the controller. In terms of specifications, the console appears identical to the production Xbox Series X, though it's likely that the Xbox Dashboard of this console has some exclusive artwork. Microsoft is preparing to launch the Xbox Series X25 in November 2026.

Update Jun 7th: The company is also said to be launching the controller separately, so you can buy more of them to go with your new Series X25, or simply collect a piece of Xbox history for your existing Xbox or Windows PC.

Much to the chagrin of Arrowhead and PlayStation Publishing, Helldivers 2 fans have been clamoring for resolution upscaling tech for a long time, and it seems like they're about to get what they want, according to an announcement on the game's Steam Store page. On May 27, Helldivers 2 will be getting upscaling support on all platforms where the game is available. This means that PC players will get DLSS 4.5, FSR 4.0.3, and XeSS 3.0, while Xbox Series X|S and PS5 players will be able to use FSR 3.1, and PS5 Pro players get PSSR 1 support.

Furthermore, the announcement reveals that there are other optimizations and features coming to the game to address image quality, frame pacing, and hardware utilization. For starters, the PS5 and PS5 Pro will get VRR to smooth over stuttering and frame rate dips. Variable Rate Shading will also be coming to the game to reduce GPU load, and Dynamic Resolution Scaling for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X will drop the resolution scale in demanding scenes to maintain a stable frame rate. Lastly, Helldivers 2 will get AMD Anti-Lag 2 and NVIDIA Reflex for decreased latency on relevant PC hardware.

The weekend prior to launch, Forza Horizon 6 featured advanced access for buyers of the $120 Premium Edition of the game, garnering peak concurrent player counts of just over 172,000 players on the first day of Advanced Access. Following Advanced Access, the new racing game officially launched to a global audience on May 19, and it appears to have been a successful launch day so far. Nine hours after the official release, Forza Horizon 6 peaked at 273,148 concurrent players on Steam, making it a very successful launch compared to Playground Games's Forza Horizon 5, which only managed to reach a peak of 81,086 concurrent steam players in 2022.

By comparison, Subnautica 2, which launched but a few days earlier in Early Access on Steam and on the Xbox Series consoles, managed to garner over 467,000 concurrent players on Steam on launch day. Forza Horizon 6 also launched on Xbox Series X|S, and on PC via the Microsoft Store, so the actual player turn out was likely much higher than that, despite the premium $69.99 price tag. The Steam review rating for Forza Horizon 6 is also quite positive, currently at 86% positive, and the game's proprietary ForzaTech engine acquitted itself admirably in our performance testing on both handheld devices and on more powerful hardware.

Just three days into the launch of Subnautica 2, and the new survival game can already be considered a success, having garnered massive concurrent player counts on launch day, but a new announcement by Unknown Worlds, via IGN, has revealed that the game sold over 2 million copies within 12 hours of launch. That sales figure accounts for all platforms where it launched—namely PC via Steam and Epic Games and the Xbox Series X|S consoles. Since the launch, however, Subnautica 2 has fallen to second place in Steam's Top Sellers chart, immediately behind Forza Horizon 6, which is slated to launch in a matter of hours. Since launch, Subnautica 2's concurrent player counts have leveled off somewhat, hovering at around 320,000 peak daily concurrent players on launch weekend and just under 200,000 on the Monday thereafter.

Unknown Worlds, the developer behind Subnautica 2, has also revealed ambitious plans for "the next few months" of Early Access. The roadmap includes improvements to existing systems based on player feedback—the entire point of an early access release—as well as more passive biomod slots, a storage cache, sprinting, and a ton of co-op features, including voice chat, emotes, player trading, player revives, and more customization. Further down the line, the developer will also add new biomes, tools, vehicles, resources, creatures, and a new story chapter.