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July 2026

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127 articles

July 11
- I tested Acer's new Swift Go 16 AI, and this affordable OLED laptop impressed me more than I had expected
- Razer’s Soma Chroma is the wireless RGB gaming chair your setup didn’t know it needed, and it’s way better than I expected
- We explain why Cloud rebuild is one of Windows 11’s most important new features, and how it lets you recover your PC without a USB drive or complicated steps
- John Carmack responds to Microsoft laying off id Software staff, and his comments hit hard for fans who watched him help build DOOM from the ground up
July 10
- "We still have the crew we need": Xbox's DOOM dev id Software responds to layoffs, assures fans "we're going to keep building the great games and tech"
- "Our next steps are to mobilize": Bethesda union members are protesting Xbox's layoffs with a 'Save Our Devs' march next week after 440 ZeniMax cuts
- Dell gives PC gamers and workers a break with these discounted laptops, desktops, and monitors — starting below $1,000
- Microsoft’s emissions just jumped 25% because AI datacenters are exploding in size, and dropping renewable credits finally exposed how much power the company is burning to fuel its AI ambitions
- As physical media fades, Windows 11’s Cloud rebuild shows how tech giants should handle user choice
- Ubisoft rewards its Barcelona branch for Assassin's Creed Black Flag: Resynced's strong launch with 51 employee layoffs
- The Windows Central Podcast breaks down the Copilot OS leaks, the latest Microsoft layoffs, and what all of this means for the future of Windows and the company’s AI strategy
- A mad gaming genius managed to recreate Minecraft on the Game Boy Color and even the original Game Boy — because why not?
- What's going on with Xbox's id Software? Here's why rumors of the DOOM studio's impending demise are completely premature.
July 9
- "I have no idea how they'll continue": Bethesda dev is worried Xbox layoffs could end Fallout 76 updates without help from "an external studio"
- Windows now uses AI to find and help fix vulnerabilities, but it's not replacing humans
- "This has had a crushing effect on morale": The Elder Scrolls 6 devs fear Microsoft's Xbox layoffs at Bethesda will cause delays and crunch for the RPG
- Against all odds, Palworld 1.0 proves that Pocketpair has built the ultimate Pokémon alternative and Nintendo should be very worried
- After nearly two decades, Minecraft is finally letting players take a rest on something other than a regular bed in its latest update
- "It's the kayfabe of a tech industry that really has run out of ideas.": Zitron says Microsoft’s trillion‑dollar AI push is a bubble built on hype, hidden losses, and demand that doesn’t exist
- Alienware's new flagship QD-OLED ultrawide is the perfect monitor for gamers — as long as you don't mind these small drawbacks I found when testing
- Microsoft Forms just gave me another reason to prefer it over Google Forms
- Microsoft is making Windows 11's search box 4 whole pixels taller for some reason
- Casualties of Xbox's big "reset" keep piling up as the team behind The Elder Scrolls Online has had to let over 200 people go
- Bethesda Union calls for fans to voice their concerns regarding the recent Xbox job cuts at Bethesda, and they aren't sugar-coating their opinions
- Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV continues to impress with a new gameplay showcase of the game's most unorthodox yet horrifying playable factions
July 8
- DOOM dev id Software was "toying around" with game ideas before Xbox layoffs gutted it — a John Wick-style "Gun Fu" game and Perfect Dark were in consideration
- Report: The layoffs at Xbox's DOOM studio id Software are even worse than we thought — devs at Bethesda's Austin office have been hit, too
- A stacked $223 LEGO game collection on Steam is discounted to $9, and every title is Steam‑verified for smooth play on Deck and other handhelds
- Xbox's RPG studio Obsidian is making a new Fallout game with Bethesda and Fallout: New Vegas' game director — and it's canceled an Avowed sequel to do it
- Xbox's Obsidian has reportedly lost a quarter of its workers to Microsoft's layoffs — the Fallout: New Vegas dev has a "huge list of projects" it's not sure how to continue [UPDATED]
- Need for Speed doesn't look like it's got a future and I think it's the most boneheaded move EA could make right now
- Microsoft Teams removal shows why we shouldn't get too excited about preview features
- Lenovo’s stunning new Windows 11 all‑in‑one finally dethrones the Surface Studio with its bold Yoga AIO i Aura design
- Over eight hundred reviews say this laptop is perfect, and with its snappy performance and high-quality features that's now 15% off, it's easy to see why
- Former Halo 4 developer says game execs were "stupid, detached, money‑grubbing idiots" after recalling meeting with Xbox boss
- Windows 11 cleanup is finally simple with this powerful open‑source tool that strips bloat, boosts speed, and gives you real control
- People want more value from Microsoft Rewards, and the new feedback portal makes that impossible to ignore
- Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced is everything I wanted it to be and more
- "It's a franchise we love": Developers at Toys for Bob express a passionate desire to resurrect the Banjo-Kazooie series on Xbox
- I found Windows laptops with 16GB of RAM on sale for under $1,000 — the memory crisis doesn't have to slow you down
July 7
- Amazon has a slop problem and this extension cleans it up
- Report: Microsoft will make even more of its games exclusive to Xbox — as multiplatform strategy totally fails. What's going on?
- "We hope our pain was worth it": As Microsoft's Xbox layoffs axe half of id Software, one DOOM dev has a scathing message for anyone "celebrating" them
- "Not every app needs to bundle the universe": This tiny notepad app shows why Windows has become so bloated
- Gears of War: Reloaded leads Xbox Game Pass's July batch, just in time for new and old fans to catch up in preparation for Gears of War: E-Day
- Xbox's Backwards Compatibility Program and Cloud Gaming lead has been laid off from Microsoft after 37 years — "I wish the team nothing but success"
- IO Interactive regains full ownership of Project Fantasy from XBOX, but closes one of its studios
- How is id Software supposed to keep making DOOM after Xbox reportedly laid off half the studio?
- Microsoft hit with class-action lawsuit over "unreasonable and excessive noise" from datacenter
- Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Sim Update 6 is on the way and you can already try it early
- "We've unbanned everyone affected by this bug" — Discord explains how over 8,000 users were banned, and why the platform had to scramble to undo the damage
- Valve releases Windows PC drivers for Steam Machine — but official dual-boot support for SteamOS gaming is still missing
- "This should not be possible": How one indie game was refunded over 55,000 times on Steam — and the mystery behind it
- Xbox is refocusing on console spending that makes up 80% of its business — while stepping away from smaller game studios
- Windows 11 is accidentally wasting up to 500GB of your PC's storage
- 'State of Decay 3' has more wishlists on Steam than Xbox heavyweights 'Halo' and 'Gears of War' — a masterclass in Microsoft short-sightedness
- Why It’s Time to Refresh PCs: Performance, Security, and Sustainability Over AI Hype
- Unified Dell AI PC portfolio brochure
- Why Dell AI PCs and Windows 11 Are a Strategic Advantage
- Dell AI PCs Product Brochure
- Take your business to the next level: Enhance productivity, performance and security with Windows 11 on new Dell AI PCs
- Windows 11 will soon be able to reinstall itself and your drivers without a USB drive via new 'Cloud Rebuild' recovery method
July 6
- "Today is a difficult day": So far, Xbox's cuts haven't targeted Blizzard (for now) — President Johanna Faries emails staff
- As Microsoft's Xbox layoffs wrack Bethesda, the dev's union voices frustration — "When will this cycle of cuts in pursuit of ever-greater profits end?"
- Microsoft should be jealous of what this file explorer just shipped
- Report: Mass Xbox layoffs will impact Fallout and The Elder Scrolls devs Bethesda and ZeniMax "significantly" — they'll focus on their "biggest franchises" like DOOM
- Xbox wants to entertain "more than a billion people each day" — and it’s restructuring the entire company to chase that goal
- "Mojang ... will now report directly to me": Xbox CEO takes direct control of Minecraft to better compete with Roblox as Microsoft's huge gaming cuts hit
- Arkane’s Blade project is reportedly "running over budget", and the studio’s future at Xbox is now in question
- My plea to Xbox fans of the divested studios — put your money where your mouth is
- I called this flight sim controller the coolest thing I’d ever seen for PC gaming — now it's coming to Xbox to fix its biggest downside
- State of Decay 3 reportedly isn’t obligated to launch on Xbox Game Pass under new ownership
- "AI is changing how work gets done": Microsoft insists 4,800 layoffs aren't because of AI, but points to a shifting workforce
- Xbox hardware "is safe" from mass layoffs with a focus on innovation to reduce the material cost of Helix
- Xbox's big "reset" cuts: Compulsion, Double Fine, Undead Labs, Ninja Theory to leave Xbox — 3,200 roles to be removed
- Microsoft Teams just made it easier to shut down Copilot and other AI tools
- World Cup star Erling Haaland is a big XBOX fan and he should definitely become an official brand ambassador
- Euro Truck Simulator 2's "Coaches" DLC gets nostalgic with a bus-driving gameplay tease — and frustration over missing truck types
July 5
- The viral hit of 2026 has sold 15 million copies in a month on Steam, costs $5, and was made by 2 people
- "The consequence of that is that you don't actually possess the data yourself. There are companies that own these servers and let you 'turn the tap' for a monthly fee." Hideo Kojima speaks on the death of physical media
- Windows 11 version 26H2 is packed with surprising upgrades, and these 7 features might change how you use your PC
- Windows 10 grasps for life as Playstation drops discs, Sony takes away movies, and Microsoft ends two Surface PCs
- I tested the new ASUS Zenbook A14 Windows laptop, and its 2026 upgrade to Snapdragon X2 Elite impressed me
- Windows Central Podcast: The path ahead for Xbox with Jez Corden
July 4
- This free Xbox 25th Anniversary tool puts your lifetime Xbox stats on display
- I'm shocked at the quality of Acer's new pre-built gaming PC — Clean build, competitive price, and strong performance put the Nitro 65 on my recommended shortlist
- I found a hidden way to limit RAM on Windows 11, and the results were way more surprising than I expected
- Gamers push back: 71% say they’re not ready to let physical games die as PlayStation and Xbox move toward a digital-only future”
- "What's the point of a console without discs?" — I'm beginning to wonder why anyone would buy a console over a PC, and I'm not alone
- Change is afoot at Xbox's Arkane Studios and MachineGames — with Machine's co-founder taking over Arkane's operations (UPDATE)
July 3
- This 2K premium laptop with all-day battery life demolishes the competition — and now a discount drops it below $1,000 [UPDATE]
- Xbox's Red Ring of Death still haunts gamers as Steam Machine owners report a "Red Line of Death" after GPU failures
- Cyberpunk 2077 has sold over 40 million copies — CD Projekt Red thanks fans who helped keep the game alive all these years
- Minecraft Bedrock just got a huge accessibility upgrade with closed captions: Here's everything you need to know
- Cronos: The New Dawn, one of our favorite modern horror games, has revealed new gameplay footage for its upcoming DLC
- Microsoft Edge finally lets you sign in with a Google account
- Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 gets its American holiday World Update 22 a little early; fly the stunning new landscapes right now
- "Video games are not mere merchandise; they are cultural assets, and the law in force must apply to them" — French presidential candidate chimes in on Sony's controversial decision to kill off physical gaming media
- These Microsoft 365 deals laugh at a decade of inflation and save you up to 40%
- What is Project Aion? Inside Microsoft's secret agentic Copilot OS incubation project that runs on Windows and Android
- As PlayStation backs out of physical games, Halo: Campaign Evolved proves they aren't dead, all while reviving "Machinima"
July 2
- Sony’s decision to retire physical PlayStation discs sparked a wave of industry reactions — from jokes to outright disappointment
- A Space Marine 2 mod just showed the Halo game fans have been waiting for (and likely won’t get)
- Hideo Kojima’s Xbox horror game ‘OD’ reportedly survives Microsoft’s 100‑day reset and continues development
- As American Truck Simulator leaves the USA for the first time, here are the locations you'll be driving to in British Columbia
- I didn't expect this: The game I'm thinking about the most after SGF is 'CONTROL Resonant' — Here's why, with hands-on impressions
- No, Xbox's Obsidian studio ISN'T shutting down — new comments dispute closure claims
- The FOMO is real as PC storage units are running dry thanks to the RAM Crisis — but this SSD with 14,900MB/s Read Speeds is still in stock and on sale
- Windows 11 hits a new PC gaming milestone on Steam with over 70% market share — Windows 10's time is running out
- "Piracy is the only extant form of media preservation": Sony killing discs just proved video game historians correct, and I worry about what's next
- Microsoft Copilot OS revealed in LEAKED video: Lightweight Windows OS exploration features new desktop UI built entirely around Copilot and agentic AI
- As Sony revokes digital licenses and Xbox hints at a discless future — I'm saying a sad farewell to physical software, midnight launches, and second-hand game savings
- Onimusha: Way of the Sword has bumped its release date to help it stand out in a stacked month of high-profile game releases
- The long-overdue sequel to the only RTS series I've ever enjoyed has a new gameplay demo — and I'm giddy with so much nostalgia, I feel like a kid again
- What does Xbox's Matthew Ball mean when he says "We are working very hard to rethink everything that we can about Helix"?
July 1
- I thought Windows 11 broke GIFs, but the real reason was Google quietly pulling the plug on this service
- New details emerge on Xbox 'Positron', Microsoft's disc-to-digital program — as it seems likely Xbox Helix will drop discs too
- This PC gaming launcher for Windows handhelds lets you browse stores and compare the best prices — all in one place
- Rockstar Games of 'GTA 6' fame accused of unjust payment disparity, weaponizing payment bonuses, and enforcing crunch culture ... and more
- HP's OmniBook 3 16" beats everything else on the budget laptop market right now — if only the pricing were easier to predict
- This HP 2-in-1 laptop may look plain, but its Intel Core Ultra processor can take on your daily workload — and it’s only $649
- Microsoft omits controversial workplace check-in feature from June Teams roundup
- PlayStation kills physical games as Xbox and Sony continue making poor decisions
- Microsoft expected to lay off thousands in what has become an annual July restructuring
- One talented modder spent 6 months building the biggest Halo 3 multiplayer mod ever, and it's absolutely incredible on PC
- Are Minecraft community servers illegal? The ESA brands them piracy, pushing back against the Stop Killing Games movement
- Dragon Age writer labels generative AI a "virulent plague" that stops new game developers from actually learning anything