October 2026 was an extremely stacked month for Xbox games, with titles like Gears of War: E-Day, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, Final Fantasy Resonance, and many vying for attention and our wallets.

How many games, you ask? Well, via analysis from @KoreaXBOXnews on X, 210 Xbox games launched in October 2026, 95 of which supported Xbox Play Anywhere.

That huge statistic highlights the general market challenge so far, as users debate market saturation. Gears of War: E-Day and its virtue as an "exclusive" game on Xbox has been under a microscope, with claims that the game hasn't delivered for Microsoft. Even if that was true, it was among many big high-quality releases actively competing with hundreds of other Xbox games at once for attention, and that's without mentioning the 187 Xbox games released in September 2026.

On the plus side, @KoreaXBOXnews's analysis shows that Xbox Play Anywhere is gaining more momentum, consistently hovering around 50% share since June 2026 (or 70% if you count "triple-stack" achievement games, otherwise known as shovelware titles. Microsoft is cracking down on this exploitative practice, where developers ship multiple versions of the same game to bait achievement hunters.)

This means Microsoft is focusing on encouraging more games adopt Xbox Play Anywhere going forward, as more people are liking the idea of buying an Xbox game once and then being able to play it on console, handheld, and Windows PC within the Xbox ecosystem.

Can't say I blame them because being able to buy and play a game on an Xbox Series X|S, and then being able to play on an Xbox Ally X while carrying over data with no extra charge is a pretty good deal.

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Over the weekend, YouTuber "P1REMAKE" uploaded a new video that has every Persona fan up in arms with excitement and speculation — a supposed gameplay trailer for a Persona 1 Remake that's coming to Xbox.

The video contains a gameplay montage of characters exploring a school filled with monsters, a visual-novel-style cutscene, and turn-based combat similar to that of modern Persona games like Persona 3: Reload, Persona 4: Revival, and Persona 5: Royal.

The video also shows that it's coming to Xbox (and/or PC) because the UI display during combat shows Xbox controller face buttons (Y, X, B, A) and an RB shoulder button.

Now it's very likely that this video could be a fake trailer made by fans, especially since Atlus hasn't been motivated to take this video offline yet.

Then again, this video, despite its low resolution, looks too well put together to be fake or AI-generated. Plus, Atlus did express a desire to remake Persona 1 and 2 last summer. So, there is a chance this trailer could, in fact, be real or, at the very least, a fan-made or leaked proof of concept of what a Persona 1 remake could look like.

Either way, it'd be cool to see remakes of Persona 1 and 2 finally happen, as they are vastly different and darker in terms of tone, story, and gameplay style compared to their more popular successors.

We'll have to wait and see if Atlus indeed plans to remake the games that kick-started its flagship franchise at either the upcoming Game Awards or at a future Xbox Games Showcase, since that's where they tend to reveal Persona games these days.

In the meantime, we'll have Persona 4: Revival (releasing on February 18, 2027, for consoles and PC) and Persona 6 to look forward to.

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November is finally here, which means it's time for an onslaught of early Black Friday discounts to give your favorite or most desirable laptops a much-needed price cut from all the rising costs caused by AI lately.

One of these lucky devices is the Microsoft Surface Laptop 8, which is currently on sale for $1,249.99 at Amazon (was $1,699.99).

This beauty is Microsoft's latest flagship laptop, equipped with a state-of-the-art Snapdragon X2 Elite CPU for improved performance, all-day battery life, and an exclusive new advanced haptics feature to give you improved feedback, just to name a few features.

Why buy this laptop?

The Microsoft Surface Laptop 8 is a highly dependable, fast, and durable laptop for IT users and students. This is because it comes equipped with a Snapdragon X2 Elite CPU paired with a turbocharged NPU with 80 TOPS, boosting the laptop's performance significantly when tackling mountains of productivity workloads while multitasking.

It also comes with a 13.8-inch LCD touchscreen display with 600 nits of brightness to fend off annoying daylight glare, Wi-Fi 7 compatibility for strong and stable wireless internet connections, and a massive battery life of 20 hours on a single charge.

On top of that, the Microsoft Surface Laptop 8 features an advanced haptic feedback system, which sends subtle vibrations when using its keyboard, stylus pen, or mouse when performing specific tasks like dragging files in File Explorer or rearranging app windows.

It's a small but enjoyable addition that makes this laptop more polished and responsive to use. Even our Editor-in-Chief Daniel Rubino praised this feature during his Surface Laptop 8 (Business Model) review when he said, "The new advanced haptic touchpad is a joy to use. It provides subtle tactile cues that confirm your actions."

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We're just days away from World of Warcraft: Forever's launch on November 4, 2026, but it looks like Microsoft may have spoiled a major surprise: WoW may be coming to Xbox after all.

The rumor recently exploded on Reddit via u/hazedesunna, who spotted that Xbox UK's X account posted, "Don't forget to leave some space for these games coming to Xbox this November ⚔️" with images of Shrek 2: Remastered and World of Warcraft: Forever.

However, Xbox UK quickly took the post down and responded, "Hi there, this post was deleted as World of Warcraft: Forever will be available on PC and Mac via Battle.Net, and is not available on XBOX. This was our mistake so we needed to remove it and repost. We apologies[sic] for the confusion this may have caused."

Was this really a mistake or an accidental spoiler?

At face value, this was a genuine mistake on Xbox UK's part for placing the wrong game on a social post. But to entertain speculation for a moment, what if this post wasn't a mistake and Microsoft was hastily trying to cover it up to save face?

After all, we've been getting a fair amount of rumors about Blizzard's iconic MMORPG coming to Xbox for a while now, from Brazilian classifications to Blizzard wanting World of Warcraft playable 'on whatever you want' while name-dropping Project Helix.

Plus, with World of Warcraft: Forever having Xbox controller support, it's only a matter of time before it gets ported onto consoles.

As World of Warcraft: Forever launches, Retail continues to fall

Whatever the future holds for World of Warcraft: Forever, it's certainly looking better than the Retail version right now, which continues to degrade in quality.

On top of rushed content, poor writing, and controversial housing pricing, World of Warcraft can't even do monthly Trading Post content properly now, as its most recent batch of items is totally broken.

I really hope World of Warcraft: Forever can make up for World of Warcraft: Retail's current shoddy state because at this rate, I may just go back to playing Final Fantasy XIV when its latest expansion launches next year in February.

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Over a week has passed since EA shut down BioWare and subsequently canceled the Mass Effect game, Mass Effect Universe.

This left many people grieving the loss of this legendary studio or motivated to start campaigns to save its iconic Mass Effect franchise through petitions, Fundraisers, and even raising a billboard in Times Square, New York.

People are debating furiously as to why EA decided to close BioWare's doors, whether it's due to EA going private after being bought by Saudi Arabia for $55 billion, or the declining quality of BioWare's games over the past decade.

Jason Schreier, a reporter from Bloomberg, offers his own take on why EA ended BioWare and canceled Mass Effect Universe — Star Wars. According to Jason Schreier's report, his sources claim one of the biggest reasons was that EA was presented with a deal by Walt Disney Cop's Lucasfilm to make a third Star Wars Battlefront game.

At the same time the deal was proposed, EA was facing financial pressure from the aforementioned Saudi Arabia buyout, which saddled the publisher with a $18 billion debt.

In this situation, EA decided to cancel development on the next Mass Effect so it could invest its money in Star Wars: Battlefront 3. Even though Star Wars: Battlefront 3 wasn't even in development when this deal was made, EA decided it would be a safer, more predictable bet than taking a risk with another Mass Effect, especially since EA always preferred shooters like Battlefield over RPGs.

Jason Schreier also mentioned in his report that other contributing factors in EA shutting down BioWare included:

• The poor reception of 2017's Mass Effect: Andromeda and 2019's Anthem.
• 2024's Dragon Age: The Veilguard missed sales expectations by 50%, which led to EA gutting and relocating BioWare's staff elsewhere within the company. By the time BioWare was shut down, only 50 employees were left.
• Possible corporate politics when EA shuffled its executive ranks over the summer. During this time, EA promoted EA Sports veterans David Tinson and Cam Weber, while sidelining Laura Miele, who ran EA’s studios and advocated for BioWare and Mass Effect.

The Bloomberg report claimed that an EA spokesperson, when asked about EA's decision to axe BioWare, said the company “collectively reached this decision following months of planning, review, and analysis, including careful consideration of evolving business conditions, industry dynamics, and our long-term priorities”

While the spokesperson didn't offer more specifics on that statement, they did say, “While this is never easy, we ultimately have to make tough decisions to focus our teams on the biggest opportunities for our future, including investing in new projects across our portfolio.”

How cruelly ironic that the studio who made one of Star Wars' best games, was ultimate ended because of Star Wars

Jason Schreier concluded his report stating that the deciding factor in BioWare's shutdown is the same factor that's causing big game companies to cull their staff by the thousands over the past three years.

"Game budgets have grown exponentially while sales have not, driving game companies to shift development outside of North America and focus only on their biggest franchises moving forward." Jason then added, "And Star Wars is bigger than most."

It's quite a sad, cruel irony that BioWare, the studio responsible for one of Star Wars' best games, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and the Star Wars: The Old Republic MMORPG, was eventually forsaken by EA for the movie franchise it helped support.

Personally, all we can hope for now is a miracle that somebody buys BioWare's original IPs like Mass Effect and Dragon Age to give them the love they deserve, or, failing that, we turn to new developers who aim to carry on BioWare's spirit with their titles, like Owlcat Games' The Expanse: Osiris Reborn.

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Square Enix has concluded its Final Fantasy XIV FanFest Japan event with another Keynote preview of Final Fantasy XIV: Evercold, the latest expansion for Final Fantasy's most popular MMORPG.

During it, it showed new gameplay info, trailers, and a new release date for the expansion. Instead of releasing in January 2027, Final Fantasy XIV: Evercold will now release on February 23, 2027, for PC, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch 2.

Pre-orders for the expansion will go live on November 4, 2026, and anyone who pre-orders it will get early access to Final Fantasy XIV: Evercold on February 19, 2027.

Another major highlight from the Final Fantasy XIV FanFest Japan event is the reveal of a new player Job called Zephyr. This is a Ranged-DPS Class that peppers enemies from afar with a crossbow while calling forth a falcon companion to aid it in battle.

Other announcements include:

• A new teaser trailer for its upcoming 24-man Alliance Raid crossover with the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime franchise.
• A new difficulty tier for 8-Man Raids called "Fierce", which is designed to be the middle ground between "Normal" and "Savage" difficulties.
• New battle content called "Gauntlet of Power", which is a 4-player boss-rush dungeon.
• A closer look at Final Fantasy XIV's cast of characters, new areas, and dungeons.
• A preview of its branching narrative, which lets players tackle the Main Scenario Quests in different orders beyond a certain point in the story, with auto-scaling dungeons to accommodate it.
• NA/EU tests for Same-Region Player Matching will begin on November 10, 2026, and China's tests will begin on December 1, 2026.
• A preview of its Seasonal Gear/Raiding gear system, quality-of-life, and other miscellaneous features.
• A Collector’s Bundle Edition containing an art box, a Reaper Figure, an Ethos metel keychain, Köttr mini plush, a tapestry of the Fourth, an in-game Valhallar Odin Mount, an in-game Entreat Crystal Emote, and an in-game Bastion Weapon: the Crystal Skyltborg.

All this sounds cool, but where's the "Evolved" combat mode?

Final Fantasy XIV got me quite interested in the game again with its awesome-looking Bastion Tank Job. However, Square Enix still hasn't shown us Evercold's new "Evolved" Mode, which is being hyped to breathe new life into the MMORPG's combat system by changing the abilities and rotations of all Player Jobs.

In my opinion, this will be the ultimate deciding factor if I decide to play Final Fantasy XIV, because after playing World of Warcraft's much faster and more chaotic combat system, Final Fantasy XIV's combat feels slow and sluggish by comparison.

Here's hoping we get an actual deep dive of Final Fantasy XIV: Evercold's "Evolved" Mode soon before it launches next February; otherwise, I'm afraid I'll be skipping this expansion because I'm going to get burned as I did with Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail.

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One of the lesser-appreciated aspects of Xbox Game Pass is Xbox Free Play Days, a feature that allows players to enjoy a select number of games for a brief period of time.

The selection of Free Play Days' games changes frequently, and this week's Xbox titles mostly fall in line with the spooky season of Halloween — WUCHANG: Fallen Feathers, Dead by Daylight, Darkwood, Spirttea, and Everspace 2 (the latter two of which are playable on console and PC).

WUCHANG: Fallen Feathers, Dead by Daylight, Darkwood, and Everspace 2 will be free to play for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, Premium, and Essential members between October 29, 2026 to November 1, 2026.

Dead by Daylight will be free to play for all Xbox players (no Xbox Game Pass plan required) between October 28, 2026, and November 2, 2026.

A fallen Soulslike and an unkillable multiplayer horror game are on the menu for this year's Halloween

Among the biggest titles of this line-up are WUCHANG: Fallen Feathers and Dead by Daylight.

WUCHANG: Fallen Feathers is an action-RPG Soulslike where you play as the titular pirate warrior, traveling the monster-infested lands of Shu to cure a horrific disease that's slowly turning you into an abomination.

My colleague, Jez Corden, gave WUCHANG: Fallen Feathers a highly positive review for its brutal yet satisfying combat, superb level design, and beautiful visuals. However, its difficulty and story were tarnished by harsh censorship, which can only be bypassed by fan-made mods on PC.

Dead by Daylight is a popular asymmetrical multiplayer horror game where four players must survive the night before a player-controlled slasher villain murders them all in brutal, horror-movie fashion.

The game was released in 2016, and it is still active to this day, with tens of thousands of people playing it and constantly adding new playable Survivors and Killers. Dead by Daylight has even added playable characters from other franchises like Diablo, Silent Hill, Resident Evil, Stranger Things, Friday the 13th, Alien, Alan Wake, Nightmare on Elm Street, and many more.

To round up the horror titles is Darkwood, a top-down indie horror game where you must explore the titular forest to uncover its secrets whilst making gut-wrenching choices that may condemn human lives.

Of course, if you don't fancy being terrified this Halloween, you can always chill out with the cozy bathhouse simulator Spirittea or explore the universe while gunning down space pirates in the single-player space shooter, Everspace 2.

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Microsoft has announced (via Xbox Wire) that Metro Redux has received a next-gen update on Xbox consoles along with Xbox Play Anywhere support.

This means that Metro Redux will be able to take full advantage of the Xbox Series X's hardware to run at 4K resolution at 60 FPS with improved graphics or at standard resolution at 120 FPS for smoother gameplay responsiveness.

Additionally, this Next-Gen update has TSR Upscaling and Anti-Aliasing to make each game's visual fidelity much sharper and more detailed.

With Xbox Play Anywhere, you will be able to own Metro Redux on a Windows PC by buying the Xbox version, and vice versa.

Plus, you will be able to play this game on handhelds like the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X, and continue your progress on any other compatible platform within the Xbox ecosystem.

For those unaware, Metro is a series of first-person shooters set in a post-apocalyptic future where you are struggling to survive in the Moscow underground filled with raiders, mutants, and other horrifying threats to the last scraps of humanity.

I never played this series myself, but my colleague, Jez Corden, is a huge fan of the series. Jez gave Metro Exodus a high 4.5 review score for its intriguing storyline and character writing, satisfying open-world survival gameplay, and excellent level design.

With Metro Redux's Next-Gen update, this will provide newcomers like me and long-time fans like Jez the perfect excuse to revisit the beginnings of this critically acclaimed series before its next entry, Metro 2039, drops on February 4, 2027, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC.

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World of Warcraft: Forever looks to take players to the simpler days of World of Warcraft "vanilla-era" but reimagined with new quests, new race+class combos, improved atmospheric graphics, and compatibility with Xbox controllers and Xbox Ally handhelds.

That last new gameplay addition has got people speculating if Blizzard Entertainment is preparing to port its iconic MMORPG onto Xbox consoles, especially as rumored classifications of its existence have been appearing lately.

GamesRadar+ set out to answer this question during a lengthy interview with Blizzard Entertainment's Vice President, Holly Longdale, and its associate production director, Clay Stone, by asking them, "Is World of Warcraft: Forever launching as a PC-exclusive a missed opportunity?"

Holly Longdale responded to this question by saying, "What you just described is really what we're after. Play it wherever you want and, at some point, on whatever you want. But the first leg of that journey is getting gamepads working really well with World of Warcraft, and we thought Forever was the perfect place to start. Looking at where things are going when we hear about Project Helix et cetera, I think platforms will be a bit more ubiquitous," Holly continues, "Honestly, we just want to be able to play it anywhere. We've seen people getting it working on the ROG Ally X…"

Holly then finished the interview with, "I think just doing some of the work we're doing on gamepad [support] is going to give players a lot of flexibility that I think goes beyond consoles."

Is a console port of World of Warcraft possible this late into it's lifetime?

Now, this is pure speculation on my part, as nothing about what Blizzard said during the interview confirms the existence of an Xbox port, but I do find Holly's statement of "Play it wherever you want and, at some point, on whatever you want," while name-dropping Project Helix and the ROG Ally X, curious.

Could Holly's quote be a subtle reference to Xbox Play Anywhere? Could it be a cryptic hint that Blizzard Entertainment plans to port World of Warcraft to whatever console Project Helix turns out to be, with Xbox Play Anywhere support so it can be played on handhelds?

Considering that Project Helix is reported to be an Xbox-PC hybrid potentially capable of playing games from other online stores beyond Microsoft's Windows Store, it might be possible.

Either way, we'll have to wait a long time to find out. After all, if Final Fantasy 14 managed to get an Xbox port after over a decade, I believe World of Warcraft should be able to do the same.

In the meantime, I'll be playing World of Warcraft: Forever to see if it can wash the sour taste of World of Warcraft: Midnight's rushed patch content, weak storytelling, and controversial housing situation out of my mouth.

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Slitherine Ltd. is celebrating Games Workshop's upcoming Warhammer Day event by announcing all kinds of new updates for its turn-based strategy game, Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector.

First off, it will receive Xbox Play Anywhere support on October 29, 2026 (which is today), along with a free 5-Year Anniversary update that will add a new Skirmish map, expanded T’au and Ultramarine weapon options, and major balance changes to the Tyranid faction.

Additionally, Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector will be receiving a new story campaign on December 14, 2026, titled "Courage & Catastrophe", which will add 13 missions that take place on the mining world of Foran Prime. This update will also add three units for a new playable faction that's yet to be revealed.

With Xbox Play Anywhere, I think it's time I revisited this gem of a Warhammer 40K game

I reviewed Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector when it first launched in 2021 on PC and found it to be a delightful game with addictive turn-based tactical gameplay, a sweet photo mode, wide customization options, and a meaty single-player campaign despite only having two playable factions (Blood Angel Space Marines and Tyranids) at launch.

Five years later, Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector has expanded greatly on its solid foundation with tons of new game modes, playable factions, balance changes, a campaign editor, and now Xbox Play Anywhere.

With Xbox Play Anywhere, I can now play Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector on any compatible platform within the Xbox ecosystem (both console and PC), carry over my progression on multiple platforms, and secure a digital license to play the Windows PC version for free just by buying the Xbox version, and vice versa.

With all these updates, I think it's time I replayed Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector to see how much it's improved since I played it. It and Warhammer Survivors will certainly make good time killers as I wait for Warhammer 40,000: Dark Heresy and the final DLC expansion of Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader.

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Xbox gift cards are a quick and easy way to add cash to your account, and they also make a great gift for your friends or family. It's even better when you can essentially get free cash to spend on expensive AAA blockbusters, like the upcoming mega hit Grand Theft Auto 6, which runs for $79.99 at retail.

So if you're hoping to buy yourself (or your pals) an expensive game, Newegg has your back with a special discount code on a (digital) $100 Xbox Gift Card for $90 with code GTWF968. Typing in the promo code during checkout at Newegg reduces the price, but you still get the full $100 delivered to your email inbox as a code. You could buy GTA6 and still have $20 left over!

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It's been a long time since we last heard news of Threads of Time, the indie JRPG that aims to recapture the magic of Square Enix's all-time classic, Chrono Trigger.

After a year since its Tokyo Game Show 2025 trailer, Threads of Time has broken radio silence to reveal that it's releasing during the Summer of 2027 for Xbox Series X|S , PC via Steam, and now Nintendo Switch & Nintendo Switch 2.

Threads of Time is a turn-based JRPG where you travel across multiple time periods to save the world from sinister forces to ruin the world's past, present, and future.

The game will feature gorgeous HD-2D pixel art, a cast of intriguing characters, a rich storyline, a variety of exotic and wondrous lands to explore, and challenging enemies to beat in in-depth turn-based battles.

I've been looking forward to this for a while for its charming, retro aesthetic and gameplay, and was worried it might've been canceled after not hearing any news about it for a year. So I'm glad to hear it's still being made and that it's releasing next year during the Summer.

Here's hoping Threads of Time will get Xbox Play Anywhere at launch so I can play with it on the go with my Xbox Ally and carry over progress to my Xbox Series X at home.

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The long wait for Cronos: The New Dawn's DLC expansion, Cronos: Lazarus, is almost over, as Bloober Team has revealed its release date and price tag.

The expansion will be released on December 3, 2026, for Xbox Series X|S, PC, and PlayStation 5, and will cost $9.99. Additionally, a Nintendo Switch 2 version of this DLC will be released sometime in the first quarter of 2027.

Witness the origins of the Warden in Cronos: Lazarus

Cronos: Lazarus will have players step into the role of the Warden, a mysterious character from the base of Cronos: The New Dawn. In this DLC expansion, you will witness the Warden's story from his beginnings as the Pathfinder to how he became who he is now.

Throughout this adventure, you will uncover dark secrets of the Collective, fight hordes of monsters using new weapons and abilities like teleportation and decoy holograms, and fend off the pursuit of a new enemy called the Tracker.

Crono: The New Dawn was one of our favorite Xbox titles last year, and judging by the gameplay deep dive we've seen of this DLC last July and today's Story trailer, it's about to get even better and scarier when Cronos: Lazarus drops on December 3, 2026.

If you haven't played Cronos: The New Dawn yet, now's the best time to jump in, as Bloober Team is offering the game at a 50% discount on all digital storefronts for the Halloween season.

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World of Warcraft: Forever, the stand-alone, Classic+ take on World of Warcraft, releases next week on November 4, 2026, on PC. To celebrate, Blizzard Entertainment is releasing a series of videos called ‘World of Warcraft: Planet Azeroth’.

It's a Planet Earth-style documentary with a comedic tone that gives viewers a grand tour of Azeroth's many locales that have been reimagined in World of Warcraft: Forever's new lighting and graphical effects.

Along the way, viewers will encounter iconic monsters like Murlocs, Kobolds, and Boars, while taking in vast vistas like the Elwynn Forest, Durotar, and Tirisfal Glades, to name a few.

British comedian/musician Bill Bailey will host World of Warcraft: Planet Azeroth, which will run for three videos (with episodes 2 and 3 releasing on October 30, 2026, and November 1, 2026, respectively) as we get closer to World of Warcraft: Forever's release.

Will World of Warcraft: Forever provide more fun than the Retail version of WoW?

World of Warcraft: Forever is gaining massive momentum going into its release. Its back-to-basics approach to gameplay progression and exploration, while forsaking modern conveniences to make it ironically more casual-friendly, managed to draw in over one million new players during its beta period (according to classicplus.io).

I'm personally intrigued by the existence of WoW: Forever and interested in playing it when it comes out, as I never got to experience the early days of World of Warcraft before all the expansions came out.

However, will it be able to maintain player retention in the long term, or will players go back to the retail version of WoW despite its current sorry state of rushed patches, painfully weak writing, and controversial housing transactions? Only time will tell.

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Xbox's Year in Review feature, which lets players look back on their favorite games and greatest achievements, has been missing for over 2 years; the last one was in 2024, and in 2025, players had to turn to fan-made alternatives.

However, it appears Microsoft is finally looking to bring back Xbox Year in Review, but it will be reborn as a new feature called "Xbox Playback" in honor of Xbox's 25th anniversary.

This discovery comes from X user @redphx, who has uploaded images of this system in action (and we can confirm with our sources that it is real). It lists his most-played game of all time, total playtime across all platforms, total number of games played, rarest achievement, and much more.

However, @redphx notes Xbox Playback is bugged right now, as it listed the Xbox One as their first console despite never seeing or owning it, and mentions the Xbox Series X was their first console.

@redphx mentions Xbox's "Year in Review" tab page will be replaced with "Playback" at https://xbox.com/playback, but the link is currently not publicly available.

This is the second "leak" of an Xbox 25th anniversary feature this week, as players are getting new, incomplete achievements for OG Xbox games early (both of which are likely released early due to programming errors).

Not that I'm complaining, of course. It's cool to see Xbox Year-in-Review coming back, but this time detailing your entire Xbox career instead of just the past year. So I'm looking forward to seeing the final product in action when Xbox Playback gets officially announced.

Could these be part of a series of more updates coming to Xbox platforms when the brand's 25th anniversary lands on November 15, 2026? We'll have to wait to find out.

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Not everyone needs a premium Windows laptop with flagship performance. Sometimes, all it takes is a PC to handle email, Office apps, web browsing, and video calls with strong battery life and a crisp display to get the job done.

Some modern mid-range laptops have become a tougher sell as prices continue to climb from the ongoing memory crisis. Thankfully, Amazon's time-limited deal has dropped HP's OmniBook 5 laptop to $789.99 after its price has fluctuated over the past year. While it isn't a lowest-ever drop, it's certainly a fairer price.

Why buy this laptop?

This laptop features Qualcomm's Snapdragon X processor and 16GB of RAM. Pair that with an NPU capable of 45 TOPS, and the HP OmniBook 5 can handle web browsing, mid-level productivity tasks like typing reports, and local AI-empowered tasks.

It also features a 512GB SSD to store data, a thin design that's able to keep itself cool, a 2K OLED display capable of rendering images with sharp images and vibrant colors to give your work greater clarity, and best of all, a massive battery life of up to 34 hours and 45 minutes before needing a recharge.

So if you need a laptop that will last you all day at the office and doesn't require heavy-duty engineering, the HP OmniBook 5 should be on your list for your next choice.

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World of Warcraft's new housing system has provided a segment of the player base with things to do, collect, and create beyong the typical raiding gameplay loop, but already it is becoming egregious for its monetization layers.

World of Warcraft's Housing gameplay feature has acquired some decor items for sale for real money, which isn't a first.

The new bundles are called the Haunted Grimtide Estate for $25 on Battle.net and the Grimtide Decor Pack for $10 on Battle.net. However, selling items tied to a playable race in theme is indeed a first.

The items within these bundles are spooky furniture and decorations themed after the Kul Tiran player race, as these items have a pirate and Lovecraftian aesthetic. However, players are not happy about this arrangement, owing to Blizzard's previous promises about its microtransaction practices for housing.

X users and even famed content creators like @BellularGaming responded to this, pointing out that Blizzard Entertainment is contradicting itself, reminding us that the company swore never to sell housing decor tied to player races for real money.

The promise in question came from a developer blog post Blizzard made on November 6, 2025, where it said, and I quote, "Housing items tied to core fantasies of a player’s race or class, or that already exist in Azeroth, won’t be sold in the shop. Thematically important decor that players know and love will also not appear in the shop."

We've reached out to Blizzard for further comment regarding this situation.

We finally got player house after two decades, but at what cost?

Housing was one of the most requested gameplay features ever since the 2000s, as players wanted a place for their characters and guilds to call home.

Unfortunately, while the actual gameplay of Housing was good, it was marred by controversial housing cosmetic DLC items that cost just as much as an expansion. Add this betrayal of trust on Blizzard's part, and much of the hype and goodwill surrounding this long-awaited feature has been sucked away, much like the rest of this expansion.

So far, the vast majority of playable races in WoW don't have exterior decor options; some don't even have interior decor options in abundance. Getting items can be an absolutely monstrous grind, and unlike other similar games with housing systems like Fallout 76, you need to buy each individual piece, limiting creativity.

Personally speaking, World of Warcraft: Midnight has been a non-stop disappointment with its weak storyline, dishonor to the Horde, constant bugs, and rushed content, and this just adds more salt to the wound.

Here's hoping the prices drop on these cosmetics (or better yet, make them free and earnable in-game), and that the next expansion, World of Warcraft: The Last Titan, as well as World of Warcraft: Forever, turn out to be much better experiences.

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With AI continuing to jack up the prices of crucial motherboards, RAM, CPUs, and other components for PC gamers, many are left hoping Black Friday's price cuts can offer them a much-needed reprieve.

However, some retailers aren't waiting for that. Newegg is offering PC users massive discounts on PC bundles that feature high-end AMD processors, DDR5 RAM, and compatible motherboards to help satisfy your high-end gaming needs at lower prices.

FAQ

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Back in July 2026, Microsoft announced via Xbox Wire that games from the original Xbox would get achievements implemented on modern consoles and PC. However, it seems that this long-requested feature has already been sneaking onto Xbox Series X|S for certain games without any official fanfare.

This has been confirmed by photographs taken by X users @xgramiliki and @PiquenoLoredo (via @CentralXBOX_) showing achievements for OG Xbox games like Destroy All Humans!, Full Spectrum Warrior, Star Wars: Republic Commando, Panzer Dragoon Orta, and KOF: Neowave.

However, it seems the update isn't finished, as each of the aforementioned games shows "0/0" achievements and zero Gamerscore earned. The possible explanation for this could be that these achievements have shown up on players' profiles by mistake due to a programming error before they were officially ready.

These achievements will probably be taken down shortly when Microsoft discovers this and brought back once they're fully ready so they can join the other OG Xbox titles that have achievements officially, like BLiNX: The Time Sweeper, Conker: Live and Reloaded, Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge, Fuzion Frenzy.

Do note that if these achievements do show up again, Xbox's Vice President Jason Ronald has confirmed they will not unlock retroactively. This means you will need to play through each respective title again to unlock their achievements and Gamerscore.

Either way, this will be great news for Xbox Achievement hunters looking to get the prestige Xbox Mythic Achievement from their favorite OG Xbox titles and serve as the perfect excuse to replay them.

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Monitors are a quintessential part of our lives as Windows users (and gamers), whether it's for achieving the best graphics and frame rates for our favorite titles or simply giving us better details and performance when going about our daily productivity tasks.

• See more deals at Dell.com

Dell's monitors fulfill this need with gusto, and several of them are now on sale if you need one to tackle the winter influx of games or workloads. That includes the productivity-focused Dell 32 Plus 4K S3225QS) for $329.99 at Dell (was $369.99), the gaming-focused Alienware 27 240Hz QD-OLED (AW2726DM) for $319.99 at Dell (was $349.99), and the budget-friendly Alienware 32 (AW3225DM) for $249.99 (was $299.99).

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