Here’s what Xbox is working on for 2026

Feb 06, 2026 12:00 AM - 3 months ago 94975

Microsoft has a large twelvemonth up for Xbox arsenic it marks its 25-year milestone. After the reliable determination to merchandise much Xbox games connected rival consoles 2 years ago, 2026 is simply a chance to refocus connected the level and observe immoderate of Xbox’s biggest franchises. It’s besides an opportunity for Microsoft to specify its imagination for the early of Xbox, aft months of disorder from fans and plummeting Xbox hardware sales.

Xbox kicked disconnected 2026 pinch its yearly Developer Direct past month, a preview of immoderate of the games it’s publishing this year. Microsoft is lining up its “four horsemen” for 2026: Forza, Halo, Fable, and Gears of War. These franchises person been the driving unit down Microsoft’s ain Xbox games complete the past 25 years, and I’m told there’s a large effort internally to guarantee each 4 games debut connected clip this year.

Forza Horizon 6 is first up connected May 19th, and sources astatine Microsoft show maine that Halo: Campaign Evolved is tentatively targeting merchandise complete the summer. Microsoft is readying to merchandise Fable in the fall, pinch Gears of War: E-Day also scheduled for the 2nd half of 2026. I understand Microsoft has a bully thought of erstwhile some should launch, but it’s besides keen to debar being excessively adjacent to Grand Theft Auto VI’s November 19th date. Rockstar’s modern time Vice City could still gaffe further, but Take-Two announced this week that trading for Grand Theft Auto VI is owed to commencement successful the summer.

Outside of the large four, I understand Double Fine is besides preparing to motorboat its caller Kiln game successful April. Bethesda is besides moving connected caller contented for Starfield that looks group to debut soon. I wouldn’t beryllium amazed if we besides perceive astir a PS5 type of Starfield, years aft it was first rumored. Don’t beryllium amazed if immoderate of these crippled dates gaffe aliases alteration — specified is the reality of video crippled development.

Blizzard is besides celebrating 35 years, pinch a series of showcases for World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Hearthstone, and Diablo. Overwatch 2 is now backmost to being conscionable Overwatch, and location are plans for 10 caller heroes complete the people of the year, caller maps, and more.

Fallout fans are besides hopeless for news astir the Fallout 3 remaster we heard astir successful FTC documents from 2023, aliases news of a Fallout: New Vegas remaster. The Fallout play 2 TV show finale debuted connected Tuesday, and galore fans were hoping a countdown website was hinting astatine a Fallout 3 remaster. The crippled is still successful progressive development, and I understand Bethesda is keen to guarantee it’s arsenic good polished arsenic the surprise release of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered last year.

Beyond Xbox games, 2026 is besides an important twelvemonth for Microsoft’s Xbox hardware and package platforms. The merchandise of the Xbox Ally handhelds from Asus past twelvemonth marked a caller effort to bring Windows and Xbox person together. This exemplary of third-party devices now looks for illustration the early of Xbox hardware and software.

Microsoft is moving connected respective improvements to the Xbox “full surface experience” that powers the Xbox Ally devices. An Automatic Super Resolution (Auto SR) feature, which uses an NPU to upscale games, is group to debut successful the coming months for the Xbox Ally X. Microsoft is besides readying to usage the NPU wrong the Xbox Ally X to motorboat a caller item reel characteristic that uses AI models to automatically seizure gameplay and make it easy to stock the footage connected societal media.

An improved Xbox PC UI is besides being developed. It’s based connected the changes Microsoft has been testing successful the caller desktop mode for Xbox Cloud Gaming. It features a floating Xbox guideline interface and soft animations, and I expect to spot this UI unified crossed Xbox consoles, PC, and cloud.

We’ll astir apt perceive much astir Xbox PC plans and further hints astatine the guidance of Xbox consoles astatine the Game Developers Conference (GDC) adjacent month. Microsoft has utilized GDC successful the past to item cardinal developer changes to Xbox, arsenic good arsenic next-gen Xbox improvement plans. While I’m not expecting to perceive afloat specifications astir the adjacent Xbox, I’d expect the various sessions will shed further ray connected the plans to merge Xbox and Windows, arsenic good arsenic much of Microsoft’s AI activity successful gaming.

We won’t beryllium seeing a next-gen Xbox merchandise this year, though. AMD CEO Lisa Su hinted this week that Microsoft could motorboat its next-gen Xbox successful 2027. “Development of Microsoft’s next-gen Xbox, featuring an AMD semi-custom SoC, is progressing good to support a motorboat successful 2027,” said Su successful an net telephone connected Tuesday. Microsoft has only vaguely teased its next-gen Xbox plans truthful far, and I’m hoping that a bigger teaser is group for later this year.

Xbox fans will get a caller controller this year, though. I’m proceeding that Microsoft has greenlit next-gen Xbox controllers that see Wi-Fi connectivity to trim Xbox Cloud Gaming latency. A caller Xbox controller was originally planned for 2024, alongside a canceled Xbox Series X refresh. Windows Central besides expects an Xbox Elite Controller Series 3 debut successful 2026, which would align pinch a rollout of next-gen Xbox controllers.

New Xbox controllers that link straight to Xbox Cloud Gaming could thief boost Microsoft’s Game Pass numbers and complement plans for free ad-supported access to unreality games. I understand Microsoft is getting adjacent to testing free Xbox Cloud Gaming streaming pinch Xbox Insiders, up of a broader rollout this year.

While the free Xbox Cloud Gaming won’t beryllium a caller Game Pass tier, sources show maine Microsoft is successful the early stages of exploring ways to grow its Game Pass subscription lineup. After a Game Pass Ultimate price hike successful October, I understand that Microsoft is looking astatine ways to bundle third-party services pinch Game Pass subscriptions and perchance moreover merge Xbox Game Pass Premium and PC Game Pass together. I wouldn’t expect to spot immoderate awesome changes to Game Pass this year, though.

Microsoft already added PC games to its various Xbox Game Pass subscriptions successful October, pinch the dedicated PC Game Pass subscription rising by astir 40 percent to screen the costs of time 1 releases. Microsoft is still seeing maturation successful PC Game Pass subscriptions, but it needs to clear up its fragmented subscription options if the early of Xbox consoles is PC.

All of the Xbox level changes and unit connected large crippled releases adhd up to an important twelvemonth for Xbox arsenic it marks its 25-year anniversary. I’m surely hoping that by the extremity of the twelvemonth we’ll person a overmuch amended thought of Microsoft’s imagination for the adjacent 25 years of Xbox.

Microsoft is experimenting pinch a apical paper barroom for Windows 11. Microsoft’s PowerToys squad is contemplating building a apical paper barroom for Windows 11, overmuch for illustration Linux, macOS, aliases older versions of Windows. The paper barroom is really a dock for Microsoft’s Command Palette PowerToy, and will supply speedy entree to tools, monitoring of strategy resources, and overmuch more. You’ll beryllium capable to position this dock astatine the top, left, right, aliases bottommost separator of a screen, which already makes it much elastic than the Windows 11 Start menu. We’re now waiting to spot if Microsoft goes up and afloat builds this dock aliases not.
Jeffrey Epstein was permanently banned from Xbox Live. Microsoft booted Jeffrey Epstein from its online gaming level successful 2013. It was portion of a prohibition activity of registered activity offenders. It’s not clear if Epstein ever played Xbox, and the remainder of the alleged Epstein files don’t uncover overmuch much astir Epstein’s Xbox habits.
Former Windows 8 leader recruited Epstein to thief discuss his messy Microsoft exit. Not only did the Epstein files uncover an Xbox prohibition for Epstein and claims that Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates allegedly contracted an STD, they besides look to show really erstwhile Windows 8 leader Steven Sinofsky recruited Epstein to discuss his messy exit from Microsoft. The emails look to show that Sinofsky perpetually sought Epstein’s proposal arsenic he negotiated his astonishment exit from Microsoft successful November 2012, forwarding emails to him successful astir existent clip arsenic talks progressed. Sinofsky besides appears to person forwarded a confidential email betwixt Microsoft executives to Epstein successful July 2013 that specifications the issues astir the motorboat of Surface, informing that the Surface RT tablet was “about to catastrophically neglect successful a very nationalist way.”
Microsoft says it’s building an app shop for AI contented licensing. Microsoft is creating a caller Publisher Content Marketplace (PCM), a licensing hub that could make it easier for AI companies to salary for “premium” content. Microsoft says it’s been codesigning PCM pinch companies including Verge parent Vox Media, The Associated Press, Condé Nast, People, and others. It’s surely an betterment complete scraping and ingesting contented into AI models without payment, but The New York Times is still successful the mediate of a copyright suit against Microsoft and OpenAI, claiming that the companies built their AI models by “copying and utilizing millions” of the publication’s articles.
Call of Duty tries to artifact XIM and Cronus cheaters again. Activision is trying to ace down connected third-party hardware cheating devices successful Call of Duty again. Devices for illustration XIM, Cronus Zen, and ReaSnow S1 tin alteration unfair advantages that utilization purpose assist, and now Activision is introducing caller detections to prohibition the devices. Activision attempted to observe the devices successful the past, but it’s now switching its discovery package to attraction connected subordinate inputs, alternatively than effort to observe devices that are designed to beryllium hidden. The caller detections will spell unrecorded pinch play 2 of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 this week.
Google Cloud’s customer main returns to Microsoft arsenic caput of security. In a astonishment move, Microsoft announced a caller caput of information this week. Hayete Gallot, who near Microsoft successful October 2024 to go the president of Google Cloud’s customer experience, is returning to the package giant arsenic the executive vice president of security, reporting straight to CEO Satya Nadella. This leaves Charlie Bell, Microsoft’s erstwhile information chief, successful a caller domiciled astatine the company. While Bell and Nadella declare this move was planned, Microsoft’s information grounds complete Bell’s 4 years successful complaint speaks for itself. In 2024, the Cyber Safety Review Board concluded that “Microsoft’s information civilization was inadequate and requires an overhaul,” aft a bid of high-profile information issues. Microsoft has been focused connected cybersecurity ever since, successful a bid to triumph backmost trust.
GitHub adds Claude and Codex AI coding agents. GitHub is making Claude by Anthropic and OpenAI’s Codex AI coding agents straight disposable wrong GitHub this week. A caller nationalist preview adds Claude and Codex to GitHub, GitHub Mobile, and Visual Studio Code, for users pinch a Copilot Pro Plus aliases Copilot Enterprise subscription. GitHub is progressively embracing aggregate AI models to build its Copilot offering. Developers are already capable to entree models from Anthropic, Google, xAI, and OpenAI successful GitHub Copilot, truthful integrating successful rival AI coding agents feels for illustration a earthy adjacent step.
Windows 11 testers tin now effort retired built-in Sysmon. Microsoft announced astatine Ignite successful November that it was readying to add Sysmon into Windows, and now Windows Insiders tin test this integration. Sysmon was first released successful 2014 arsenic a inferior for information study into the Windows Event Log, and adding it to Windows will make it easier for information teams to observe and respond to threats.
Inside Xbox, a crippled workplace is trying to reinvent itself. Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier takes an wrong look astatine Microsoft-owned Obsidian Entertainment this week, profiling the prolific Xbox crippled developer. Studio caput Feargus Urquhart reveals that Obsidian is trying to trim crippled improvement timelines to 3 aliases 4 years per title, alternatively of the much than six years it took to vessel Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2. Urquhart besides appears to admit Microsoft’s fierce 30 percent profit margins for games and hopes Microsoft will still money riskier projects and judge that “maybe wherever we are going to beryllium from a profitability standpoint isn’t going to beryllium 30 percent.”
Nvidia is investigating PC gaming issues pinch Microsoft’s latest Windows update. The ongoing saga of the January 2026 Windows 11 update isn’t slowing down. After shutdown issues, Dropbox crashes, and footwear failures, Nvidia now says protector artifacts successful games for illustration Forza Horizon 5 could beryllium related to the January 2026 update. “Even though it started aft a Windows 11 update, we are looking into it,” says Manuel Guzman, a package QA astatine Nvidia. “As acold arsenic I know, the only measurement to resoluteness it appears to beryllium uninstalling KB5074109.”
Xbox accomplishment redesign spotted successful Xbox Cloud Gaming UI refresh. Microsoft appears to beryllium redesigning its Xbox achievements system. Xbox fans person spotted a caller accomplishment design wrong the Xbox Cloud Gaming overhaul. Rare achievements person an updated purple gem icon, and regular ones person a caller trophy surrounded by a wreath. It’s not clear if this aforesaid creation will look connected Xbox consoles anytime soon, though.

I’m ever keen to perceive from readers, truthful please driblet a remark here, aliases you tin scope maine astatine [email protected] if you want to talk thing else. If you’ve heard astir immoderate of Microsoft’s concealed projects, you tin scope maine via email astatine [email protected] aliases speak to maine confidentially connected the Signal messaging app, wherever I’m tomwarren.01. I’m besides tomwarren connected Telegram, if you’d for illustration to chat there.

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Update, February 5th: Removed mention of typical version consoles arsenic they’re improbable to motorboat this year.

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