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The first-ever Xbox transparency report reveals a surge in bot bans
Microsoft has published its first Xbox transparency report, and it's clear the company is banning many more bot accounts than in the past.
Microsoft buys Two Hat to improve Xbox community moderation
On Friday, Microsoft announced the acquisition of Two Hat, a company best known for its AI content moderation tools.
Microsoft's Xbox Network is a reaction to the free-to-play boom
Microsoft is using a new "Xbox Network" moniker for parts of its free online gaming service after recently enabling free multiplayer for free-to-play games like 'Fortnite.'
Microsoft outage affects Teams, Azure and Xbox Live
An Azure problem took down several Microsoft online services, but they should be back up soon.
Xbox Live outage cut off players for over six hours
Xbox Live was down from 3 PM ET until after 9 PM, preventing players from signing in and even playing single player games.
Microsoft reverses Xbox Live price hike, will add free multiplayer for some games
Microsoft won't raise the price of Xbox Live, and it's adding free multiplayer for free-to-play games like 'Fortnite.'
Microsoft won't increase Xbox Live Gold prices for new members
Hours after announcing a price hike for Xbox Live that doubled the annual cost to $120, Microsoft reversed its decision.
Xbox 360 owners get free cloud save transfers to Xbox Series X and Series S
A nice gesture for those who plan to return to the Xbox ecosystem.
Xbox Series S is all about Game Pass
Microsoft has finally announced its budget next-gen Xbox, the $299 Xbox Series S. That price is appealing, but the cuts to storage and graphical power… not so much.
Microsoft stops offering 12-month Xbox Live Gold memberships
Microsoft has stopped offering one-year Xbox Live Gold memberships in a possible move to steer users toward Game Pass.
Xbox One update streamlines your game library management
Microsoft has released a June update fo the Xbox One that helps you manage your games by telling you what services they come from.
Microsoft restores custom Xbox gamerpic uploads after three months
You can finally upload a custom Xbox Live gamerpic again now that Microsoft has lifted pandemic-related restrictions.
Get three months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for $25 at Amazon
Save money on your Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription with this deal from Amazon.
Microsoft disables Xbox gamerpic uploads to help its moderators
The COVID-19 pandemic is having more small but noticeable effects on gamers. Microsoft has temporarily disabled custom picture uploads for Xbox Live, including gamerpics and club images, to help it "streamline moderation" and support the community -- in other words, to help its staff keep up with a surge in demand from people staying at home. The company didn't say when it might restore the feature, although that might hinge on the development of the coronavirus outbreak itself.
Microsoft will pay up to $20,000 for Xbox Live bugs
Microsoft has launched a bug bounty program especially for Xbox Live network and services, and it's paying bug hunters up to $20,000. Like any other bug bounty program, the payout depends on the security vulnerability's severity and starts at $500.
GOG's Galaxy 2.0 game launcher is available without an invitation
After launching in a limited, invite-only beta earlier this year, GOG Galaxy 2.0 is now available to anyone who wants to try it. You can join the open beta by visiting the GOG Galaxy website and downloading the new client on your PC or Mac.
Join Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and get six months of Spotify Premium free
At $15 per month, an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription could be a no-brainer for gamers who play on both PC and Xbox One. The service provides over 100 games for download, including hits like Gears 5 and Monster Hunter: World. An Xbox Live Gold membership (which otherwise costs $10 per month) also comes with the subscription, enabling you to join online multiplayer sessions. Microsoft is sweetening the deal even more with a free six-month trial of Spotify Premium when you join the service.
Xbox Live outage locks gamers out again (updated)
A month after another extended outage impeded Xbox gamers from playing for hours -- and with a number of smaller issues in between -- Microsoft's network is down once again. Right now, many people can't sign in or do much other than maybe watch Netflix on their Xbox Ones, after hours of problems and more than an hour and a half after its support account said the team was aware of problems. As usual, the Xbox Live status page is the best place to look for updated information, and it shows the issue running since around 8 PM ET. We've heard that gamers who bought Gears 5 Ultimate to jump in early have been able to play through the campaign by taking their boxes offline, so if you enjoy single player gaming you may be in luck. For everyone else hoping to take their NBA 2K20 MyPlayer online or get in some multiplayer action, maybe it's time to read a book, or take a walk. Whatever it is that other people do might help, if you don't have a PS4, PC or Switch to keep your attention. One thing's for sure -- a string of service outages isn't the best way to convince people that cloud-streamed gaming is a good bet for the future. Update: As of about 12:30 AM ET @XboxSupport reported sign-ins were restored, let us know if everything is working out for you now.
Xbox Live outage locks players out of their games for hours
Since just before 5PM ET, an Xbox outage has caused gamers error messages when trying to launch their digital titles. Whenever a player tried to open a game, it quickly close and flash a message to sit tight as outages happen "once in a while". Within the last few minutes (around 9PM ET) some people have reported being able to access their games after repeated tries, but as we move away from physical copies of games to DRM'd digital copies and subscription access like GamePass, an unspecified error that lasts for hours isn't making this seem like the best future of gaming. Update (11:58PM ET): The Xbox Live status page still lists services as "limited," and while we've had some success logging on many others have not. The Xbox Support Twitter account posted a note saying "We've heard from our investigative teams that there has been improvement, however things are still being worked on," but did not give an estimate for when access will be fully restored. Update (8/7 2:56AM ET): At about 2:29AM ET, the Xbox Support team tweeted "Our engineers have confirmed that purchased content should be accessible once again."
GOG Galaxy 2.0 aims to put all your digital games in one place
Competition is supposed to be good, right? It means a bigger selection and better prices, so it's great for consumers. But when the Epic Store launched last December, gamers were pissed. Because it meant their digital games collection was now fragmented between even more services. Gamers like having their collection all in one place, and for most that means sticking with Steam. That isn't great for rival sites like GOG. While it was created as a place to buy classic titles, it's evolved into a marketplace that sells a lot of indie games and even some AAA fare. It added some Steam-like features in its GOG Galaxy launcher, which incorporated things like play stats and leaderboards. But still, there was the fragmentation problem. Galaxy 2.0, now in closed beta, is designed to fix that problem by bringing everything back together.
