Today, Bethesda offered a big update on how the studio is mapping its future.

Xbox's massive cuts have left many of its subsidiaries reeling, with fans worried that Microsoft may have cut the legs off many of the industry's most beloved franchises. id Software sought to reassure fans on the topic this week, and now Bethesda is also doing its bit on top.

Bethesda just confirmed in a big note that Elder Scrolls VI is coming along nicely and hitting milestones, Starfield will continue to get new content, and finally, Fallout is getting a ton of new projects. Fallout 5 is in pre-production, Obsidian is returning with its own Fallout spin-off, and Fallout 3 and New Vegas are getting remakes, confirming our previous reporting.

One piece of news that might go under the radar here a bit is on Creation Engine 3, which Bethesda is developing specifically for Elder Scrolls VI and Fallout 5. I recently caught up with Todd Howard to learn a bit more about how the studio is positioning Creation Engine 3, Creation Club, and how it's becoming an increasingly critical part of Bethesda's future.

"I can't say enough about our tech team. It's just incredible."

Creation Engine has been a bit controversial in some corners, with some gamers feeling it lacks the fidelity of engines like Unreal or the cinematic qualities of in-house engines like RE Engine.

Creation Engine has always been more of a sandbox play in my view, designed for extensibility first and foremost and rapid iteration on huge-scale worlds. It's also designed for modding at its core, with Creation Club members earning over $10 million in revenue since the platform's inception.

I caught up with Todd Howard recently to talk about a variety of topics, including how Creation Engine 3 is being leveraged in Fallout 5 and Elder Scrolls VI, and how he's thinking about the platform given the rise of Roblox and Minecraft's own platform-extensible features.

"When we build these worlds, it starts with the tech. A lot of people think engine, they think rendering, but there's so much more that goes into it from a tool side and a system side," Todd explains.

"For the kind of worlds that we want to build and also knowing that we were going to be doing Fallout 5, and just how do we do those simultaneously in a way where it's not start and stop. And we're really happy. I can't say enough about our tech team. It's just incredible. Our designers ask for so much crazy stuff, and our tech team finds a way to do it. And I think that's really defined our games where you feel like anything is possible."

I mentioned the stat Bethesda brought up: $10 million has been paid out to creators in the Creation Club program across games like Fallout 4 and Starfield. Given the rise of Roblox as a user-generated content juggernaut, I asked if these industry shifts have informed how Creation Engine 3 will show up.

"If you go back, something we've been super passionate about since we sort of started this run with Morrowind, I was adamant that I wanted the Elder Scrolls Construction Set to come with the game, like as a separate disc. And we've been doing it for decades. We have a creator group that have been doing it for decades, it's what's kept games like Skyrim alive after fifteen years.

It harkens back to when you played D&D and you can make your own adventures. That spirit of creation. It takes a lot of different flavors, so it's really about supporting all those different flavors. I think we're in an awesome spot with Creations, with verified creators, and they're getting that revenue. It has risen all boats, free modding too, with those things being more popular. You see people who maybe they were a hobbyist on the side now becoming a professional. The the content in there blows us away. They just do an incredible job. And for some, now this is their career, and that makes us ecstatic."

Could Creation Club and Creation Engine be another answer to Xbox's Roblox problem?

On the Xbox layoffs, Todd Howard lamented for friends who will no longer remain at the studio with visible hurt, but noted that the game industry more broadly is undergoing a massive shift. He called back to 2016, just before the Xbox acquisition, on Bethesda's sprint towards mobile and multiplayer as gamers seemed to be shifting away from single-player titles en masse.

That similar change now revolves around user-generated content in a lot of ways. Roblox is now bigger than Steam and PlayStation combined, as creators build out entire games and worlds and build entire businesses inside Roblox itself. Bethesda's Creation Club was a pioneer in that space to some degree, alongside Minecraft, giving the modding community ways to turn their hobbies and passions into careers that pay the bills.

It'll be interesting to see how Creation Engine 3 shows up in Fallout 5 and The Elder Scrolls VI, but we're probably going to be waiting a while to see how it all shakes out.

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Today, Bethesda moved to reassure fans that its upcoming games, Fallout 5 and Elder Scrolls VI, are still trucking along.

Microsoft's absolutely massive cuts to its Xbox division have left fans wondering if the developers left are enough to even reproduce the kind of quality we've come to expect at the AAA level. DOOM studio id Software sent a note to fans yesterday on the topic, and now Bethesda has followed up with its own.

Bethesda said that it's still working on Fallout 5 and The Elder Scrolls VI, alongside new content for Starfield. The firm also revealed that Obsidian's Fallout project has been greenlit and that fans of Fallout 76 and The Elder Scrolls Online can also expect new content in the coming months.

I got a chance to speak to studio director Todd Howard about how Bethesda is navigating this unprecedented time in the games industry, and how the studio hopes to show up in the future.

"Very difficult, very difficult for our teams."

I asked Todd Howard how the studio is doing, given Xbox's cuts. Many Bethesda, Obsidian, id Software, and other veterans from across the Xboxosphere were let go in the past couple of weeks, alarming fans and industry insiders alike.

"I've been doing this a long time, whenever you've worked with people for, in some cases, many decades, and they're no longer here, that's really personally very difficult, and very difficult for our teams."

Howard called back to other difficult periods in Bethesda's tenure, noting its struggle to land a big hit in the 90s before Morrowind. And also before the Xbox acquisition, where Bethesda came under pressure to produce mobile games and multiplayer service titles as tastes changed.

"If I think back, and people hear me say this internally, Bethesda is turning 40 this year. There have been difficult periods, I look at like Bethesda 1.0 from kind of 86 to 99. I was there for that. We had to change who we were and how we did some things then. And then we kind of became ZeniMax and did a bunch of things, and then we had to change again in 2016. Moving to different studios ... how do we support these franchises?

"I think we're at another change moment for how we support each other, and what we do with these games and for our fans."

Finding optimism in an uncertain games industry

I asked Todd Howard how he stays optimistic given the way the game industry is shifting. More and more younger users are choosing Roblox over traditional gaming options, for example, and big companies have come under increasing pressure to find megahits to stay afloat in the face of inflation, tariffs, the memory crisis, and other issues.

"The wider industry, this is not an Xbox comment, really. You know, you see it going on across the gaming industry," Todd explained. "So it's a wider industry thing — level setting, figuring out how some things are going to work in the future."

"If I zoom out from the video game industry, I look at who was nominated for Game of the Year last year. As someone in the industry, I was so proud of that list, and what it says about what's being created, and the creativity. There were periods of times where a lot of the games were kind of getting samey. You worry things like, 'will adventure games ever have a home in the future, or this, or that, will this type of game finds success?' And so on. And so from kind of a creative standpoint, as far as the content that's being made out there. As a player, it's been really good."

Todd Howard said that he generally doesn't use social media, but does say he reads commentary on Reddit to get the lay of the land. He said that seeing the quality of the work his teams are putting together drives his optimism, as Bethesda looks ahead to Fallout 5, The Elder Scrolls VI, and beyond.

"I think I have the benefit of being able to work [in the games industry], I see the work we're doing. So, I get to be there with the team and see the passion, see us channelling how we do better every week. Crafting games that we absolutely love. It's easy for me to be optimistic when I when I look at the work."

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Today, Bethesda offered an update on its studio, following Xbox's brutal cuts across its games business.

Microsoft is laying off thousands of gaming staffers and contractors in its gaming operation, as bets on Xbox Game Pass, Call of Duty, and multi-platform games didn't pan out. To that end, many fans have been worrying that the future is bleak for games like Fallout and The Elder Scrolls, as ZeniMax seemed disproportionately targeted by management.

In a note shared by Bethesda today, the firm not only confirmed that The Elder Scrolls VI is coming along nicely, but also that Starfield and Fallout will continue to be built upon. Not only that, but Fallout 5 is now in pre-production, and Fallout 3 and New Vegas will get Oblivion-style remakes, confirming my previous reporting.

Fans will also be excited to learn that Obsidian's long-rumored Fallout project has now been fully greenlit, and is being developed in collaboration with Bethesda.

"The wasteland continues to expand as we team up once again with our longtime friends at Obsidian Entertainment," Bethesda remarked. "We're happy to confirm they're working with us on a new Fallout project. We'll have more to share in the future."

Details on the Obsidian Fallout project have been rumored for a while. In my own research, I learned that Obsidian had been building a prototype on the side for as long as two years, pending collaboration with Bethesda.

Update (July 17, 2026): To clarify, sources felt that this project (which was not officially Fallout by name) was very Fallout-y in nature, to the point where there were debates at the upper levels of Xbox Games Studios about whether or not it should be made in Unreal or Creation Engine. I was told that Obsidian's previous project wasn't officially Fallout, at least in part because Todd Howard wanted to be involved in any potential formal Obsidian-Bethesda collaboration on the IP. It purportedly wasn't possible at the time due to the various on-going commitments to the Fallout TV show, Elder Scrolls 6, and Starfield. It does sound like the extent to which the previous incubated apocalypse-style franchise was potentially "Fallout-adjacent" amounts to a matter of perspective to onlookers, but Obsidian is obviously very cognizant of fans' long-time hopes for them to return to the genre.

With Xbox's CEO Asha Sharma signalling intent to speed up production on Fallout titles, it seemed increasingly inevitable that more spin-off projects like New Vegas and 76 would emerge.

I caught up with Todd Howard in an exclusive interview yesterday to learn more about the plans, and talk about the "mythology" fans often curate surrounding some kind of rivalry between Obsidian and Bethesda.

"I appreciate some of the fan chatter, but behind the scenes, there's a huge amount of like mutual respect [between us]. We're always wondering if we could find a way to work together in the right way. And when those things come up, I think I definitely look at the franchise all up, as you see in the note, everything that's kind of happening with Fallout."

"You sort of say, is there a way or a window or a pocket where we could do something together that really, really made sense? And so we're super excited about the opportunity, working together."

I asked about the possibility of other spin-offs, given that under Xbox, you now have Fallout legends like Tim Cain and Brian Fargo of InXile all under one roof. Could we see a return to an isometric-style tactical CRPG Fallout, given the success of Baldur's Gate 3 more recently? Todd Howard's response, 'never say never.'

"Sometimes you find your way there and sometimes you don't, or you do it later. It takes time. You mentioned the Fallout show. And that was a 10-year journey. As a caretaker of these things, the number one job is to make sure we serve the franchise as best we can."

Todd Howard couldn't give us more details on what Obsidian's Fallout might look like, as it's still early on. I've been investigating rumors that it would be built in Unreal Engine, although given Bethesda's focus on growing Creation Club, perhaps that could change. I asked whether or not it would be multiplatform or Xbox exclusive on console, but Todd Howard said again, they'll announce those things "when the time is right."

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Good news often comes in threes, and that could be true for fans of Starfield, The Elder Scrolls, and Fallout today.

Just now, Xbox studio Bethesda offered a massive update on its plans for its big three properties, and we caught up with studio director, Todd Howard, to learn more context about what fans can expect.

"We love making these worlds as much as you love playing in them," the note reads. "Today, we want to share what's next for Bethesda Game Studios and what you can expect from us in the years ahead."

For forty years, we've built games that have entertained almost half a billion players. More than just games, these are worlds. Worlds for you to explore, shape, and make your own. Worlds we return to together. That's what's driving us forward."

Bethesda said that it's making the investments to bring its core teams "closer together" with a view of building titles faster, provide them support for longer, for "decades to come."

Here's an overview of what was announced.

• On Fallout: Bethesda confirmed that it is working towards Fallout 5, which is now in pre-production.
• Bethesda confirmed my previous reporting that Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas will get full remakes in the future, but didn't announce dates.
• Bethesda also confirmed that Obsidian is returning to Fallout with its very own spin-off game, and said more info would come in the future.
• Fallout 76 will get a "huge" new DLC called Raven Rock, which will serve as a prequel to Fallout 3.
• Starfield is slated for more content, with a Starborn DLC on the horizon, and more tools and features to boost Creation Club content. Bethesda says Starfield remains "an important part of our future."
• Elder Scrolls 6 is progressing nicely, and Todd says that the studio is "where they want to be" on the game's development timeline — but don't expect it any time soon.
• Elder Scrolls Online will continue to get new seasons, and Zenimax Online Studios will be more directly integrated into Bethesda proper to improve collaboration.
• Elder Scrolls VI is Bethesda's current primary focus, "we're where we planned to be, loving how it looks, and playing every day."
• A big part of the wait revolves around Creation Engine 3, which Bethesda has been developing specifically to boost simultaneous franchise development and improve Creation Club tooling.

Todd Howard spoke to us about the Xbox cuts, huge respect for Obsidian, and video game industry challenges

When I got the call that I'd be speaking to Todd Howard, I admit I was a bit floored. I've been doing this for over a decade at this point, and never in my wildest dreams did I imagine it would lead to an on-the-record chat with one of gaming's most prominent.

Todd Howard has been stewarding Bethesda franchises since 1994, but solidified his place in gaming legend with the release of Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, back in 2000. The game industry looks wildly different now than it did back then, but Bethesda has always managed to adapt to changing times.

Top of mind for me, and I suspect most of the Xbox faithful right now is Microsoft's huge cuts to the gaming operation, which seem to have disproportionately fell into ZeniMax's lap. I asked Howard how he and the team was doing, given what's going on.

"Great question," Howard says, looking visibly sorrowful. "I've been doing this a long time, whenever you've worked with people for, in some cases, many decades, and they're no longer here, that's really personally very difficult, and difficult for our teams."

Howard referred to previously difficult times in Bethesda history. During the 90s, Bethesda struggled to make it into the big time, and just before the firm was acquired by Microsoft, it had struggled out a variety of multiplayer-adjacent and mobile titles in attempts to join the "service game" gold rush, to mixed success.

"We had to change who we were and how we did some things then. And then we kind of became ZeniMax and did a bunch of things, and then we had to change again in 2016. Moving to different studios ... how do we support these franchises? And I think we're at another change moment for how we support each other, and what we do with these games and for our fans."

Speaking of fans, I couldn't help but mention Obsidian's return to Fallout. Obsidian made Fallout New Vegas, which is among the most beloved entries in the storied Fallout canon. Fans love it for its reactive world and true choice and consequence, something many feel Fallout 4 pulled back on. I asked Todd Howard how the collaboration with Obsidian came about, and what he thinks of the online mythology surrounding a purported rivalry.

"I appreciate some of the fan chatter, but behind the scenes, there's a huge amount of like mutual respect [between Bethesda and Obsidian]. We're always kind of wondering if we could find a way to work together in the right way. And when those things come up, I think I definitely look at the franchise all up, as you see in the note, everything that's kind of happening with Fallout."

"You sort of say, is there a way or a window or a pocket where we could do something together that really, really made sense? And so we're super excited about the opportunity, working together."

Todd remarked about how Obsidian's work flow mirrors Bethesda's, with a core team that have been together for decades. I noted how there's so much legendary Fallout alumni at Xbox now, with Tim Cain at Obsidian, and Brian Fargo at InXile. I asked if we could see even more projects emerge in the future, like an isometric Fallout 1 remake from InXile, for example. Howard remarked that Xbox teams are "pretty in sync," and they've seen and heard every idea for Fallout spin-offs.

"Sometimes you find your way there and sometimes you don't, or you do it later. It takes time. You mentioned the Fallout show. And that was a 10-year journey. As a caretaker of these things, the number one job is to make sure we serve the franchise as best we can."

The future hold for Starfield, Fallout, and Elder Scrolls fans

I didn't have a ton of time with Todd Howard (albeit hugely appreciated), and many of my questions were simply too far afield for answers.

I asked Todd Howard if The Elder Scrolls VI or Fallout 5 would be going exclusive to Xbox, given Xbox CEO Asha Sharma's mandate to grow the Xbox hardware ecosystem. He said it was too early to comment. I asked if we could get a timeline for Elder Scrolls VI launch window, but again, it sounded like the game is still too far away to put a landing strip on paper. I asked what engine Obsidian's Fallout game would be using (Unreal or Creation Engine?), but he said more would be revealed at a later date.

I think ultimately, today, Bethesda really wanted to reassure its fans that Xbox's cuts haven't decimated the studio. We've seen other Xbox studios like id Software put out statements on the topic, for example, as rumors run rife, and long-tenured staff with decades of experience and millions of dollars in sales to their names get ousted.

With the memory crisis ongoing, the AI build-out harming Microsoft's financials, and the saturation of the attention economy, it's a tough time for gaming. There's more content than ever, but also more competition than ever. It sounds as though Bethesda is pouring everything it can into making The Elder Scrolls VI another landmark hit for the studio, but we might still be waiting more than a hot minute to get our hands on it.

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Of all the layoffs that came down on Xbox Game Studios developers this week as part of Microsoft and Xbox's 3,200 "reset" cuts and four studio divestments, the ones that hit the DOOM developer id Software were the most shocking to many given the popularity and success of its modern trilogy of games.

It's been reported that well over half of id was axed from Xbox, with 136 developers — 96 at its Texas headquarters and an additional 40 remote workers — let go from the studio. The cuts impacted nearly every department within the developer, including the teams building, maintaining, and improving its id Tech game engine used for a variety of ZeniMax projects.

Individual DOOM devs have shared reactions to the layoffs, though id Software itself hadn't yet shared a response until today. Now it has, with the studio posting a statement to the community on social media to assuage fears about its future under Microsoft and Xbox.

"Thank you for all the support this week. While our studio was impacted, those changes were spread across teams. We still have the crew we need to build the games and tech we're known for," reads id's letter. "The team today is about the same size we were when making DOOM (2016). We have always had a flat studio where everyone is a maker, and we will remain true to that philosophy moving forward."

"We are focused on supporting each other and team members impacted. We're going to keep building the great games and tech that have defined us for the past 35 years, and we're looking forward to seeing you at QuakeCon this August," it added.

Notably, this statement confirms our recent, earlier report that in the wake of the layoffs, id Software is now about the size that it was when it released the 2016 DOOM reboot ten years ago, and that the studio isn't in danger of being closed or split away from Microsoft and Xbox.

It also confirms that the developer will still move forward with new games, though it seems unlikely it will have a chance to explore some of its experimental ideas. Still, I expect that we'll see additional DOOM titles from the team, and that it will continue to iterate upon id Tech for the benefit of Wolfenstein dev MachineGames and other studios.

Ultimately, this news is quite relieving to hear from id Software — though to be clear, I'm not downplaying the severity of the cuts in saying that. On the contrary, I'm glad that the developer still has a future under Xbox's wing despite how significantly it was affected by the dismissals.

The layoffs at id represent a large portion of about 440 total cuts across all of ZeniMax and Bethesda, with other teams hit including Bethesda Game Studios (The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Starfield) and ZeniMax Online Studios (The Elder Scrolls Online).

Bethesda devs fear that The Elder Scrolls 6 will suffer crunch and delays because of the layoffs, and the reduction in force at ZeniMax Online Studios has led to "shifting" roadmaps for The Elder Scrolls Online. Bethesda's official union, OneBGS, plans to protest against the cuts next week with a "Save Our Devs" march.

What are your thoughts on the layoffs at id Software? Do you feel Microsoft and Xbox went too far with them based on everything we know? Share your take in the comments, and vote in the above poll.

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In response to this week's wave of mass Xbox layoffs from Microsoft that have cut 3,200 roles and four studios from the company, union workers at Bethesda Game Studios — the developer behind Skyrim, Fallout 4, and Starfield, among other titles — are organizing a protest to fight back.

Several public listings for the rally — titled "Save Our Devs" — have been spotted for Bethesda's various different locations, including its Rockville headquarters and offices in Austin, Dallas, and Montreal. These calls to action confirm that unionized OneBGS staffers are coordinating to march on July 15 next week.

"Microsoft and ZeniMax leadership have made the devastating decision to slash over 440 positions across BGS, ZOS, id, ZWU (QA) and ZeniMax corporate (including CTO and CSUR)," wrote the union. "Because we organized and certified our Unions, we have hard-won legal rights and protections that non-unionized studios simply do not have."

"The company wants us to accept this as a done deal and quietly disappear. We won't let that happen. Our next steps are to mobilize," it continued. "We need every single member visible and unified. To that end, we are announcing our Save Our Devs March across all studios on Wednesday July 15th."

In an email sent to union workers seen by Game Developer, OneBGS has reportedly stated that 35 Bethesda Game Studios devs have been let go in the US, with 12 also laid off in Montreal. This roughly lines up with a previous report that about 50 employees have been laid off from the studio.

Reportedly, "this has had a crushing effect on morale" at Bethesda, with devs fearing that The Elder Scrolls 6 will suffer delays and crunch as a result of the redundancies. There are also concerns that support for Fallout 76 may end.

Elsewhere under the ZeniMax and Bethesda banner, the cuts go even deeper. Over 200 developers were laid off from The Elder Scrolls Online studio ZeniMax Online Studios, and well over half of DOOM maker id Software has been axed as well — though it's been reported that the situation there isn't as dire as some say. A small comfort.

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma stated the layoffs are part of a "reset" for the Xbox business after it "overextended" with its ambitions; OneBGS claims that Microsoft referred to them as an "entrepreneurial change in the scope of business," which is a notion it's fighting against as it negotiates to have affected developers brought into open roles across Xbox Game Studios.

"While we push that legal fight forward, Microsoft is still legally required right now to sit down with us for 'Effects Bargaining.' This means we have the right to negotiate exactly how these layoffs impact our people, and we are heading to the table to fight for every single affected worker," it explained.

"We are going to be demanding preferential transfers to force Microsoft to place affected BGS workers into open roles across Xbox and Microsoft first, stronger severance and extended healthcare to ensure no one is financially abandoned, as well as recall rights to ensure our laid-off members are the first ones hired back when BGS expands."

"Stay strong, look out for one another, and we look forward to seeing us all marching together on the 15th," concluded the union. Whether next week's protest has a meaningful impact or not remains to be seen, but ultimately, I hope it helps laid off ZeniMax and Bethesda devs find new opportunities and get the best severance and healthcare packages possible.

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Xbox's cuts over the past week have been brutal; let's not mince words here.

Four studios divested with a possible fifth in progress, over a thousand jobs removed already, with a further 2000 planned. The atmosphere within Xbox right now is dire — a total 180 following the wave of optimism from new CEO Asha Sharma's appointment in spring.

As a result, there are tons of stories coming out about what the fate of Xbox's remaining studios might be. A lot of the discourse has fallen on id Software right now, the beloved maker of DOOM. The studio is an industry staple, and arguably one of the most important and influential brands in the modern gaming canon.

Cuts at id Software have been heavy and painful. Some have claimed the studio's lauded id Tech engine is effectively on ice, and that id is no longer large enough to produce its own games.

What's the truth here? I've been investigating Microsoft's plans for id. Despite the callousness of Microsoft's bean counters, I'm confident the studio will endure.

Microsoft has no plans to shelve id Tech

DOOM and other id Software games have long been powered by the id Tech engine. The engine was designed originally for Quake back in the 90s, and has since powered a huge variety of titles, including open-world games like RAGE, horror games like The Evil Within, Wolfenstein shooters, and, of course, the modern DOOM games. More recently, Machine Games' Indiana Jones and DOOM: The Dark Ages were built on the latest versions of id Tech.

It has a very different feel to Unreal Engine, particularly for first-person games. It's been lauded for its optimization on lower-end hardware stacks, as well as its general versatility.

The cuts to id Software have hit the teams that develop id Tech hard, with decades of expertise wiped out over night. But rumors that there's now virtually nobody working on the engine are false. Sources tell me that there remains a solid stack of expertise for id Tech across id Software itself, and Machine Games. I'm told Microsoft also has no plans to shift either studio forcibly to Unreal Engine, which seems to have become the default for Microsoft and many other core game makers.

Microsoft provided us this statement on the topic: "There are dozens of people working on id Tech across multiple locations. Reports that there’s only one person left in Texas are inaccurate."

In my view, Microsoft would have to be miserably short-sighted to deprecate id Tech. Handing even more power to Unreal Engine opens them up to monopolistic price increases down the line, which would be fiscally irresponsible. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma herself said in her memo to staff that she wants Microsoft to rely less on vendors for things like this. As such, I would argue that Microsoft should invest more in id Tech, not less.

But hey, quarterly thinking is Microsoft's M.O. these days. And it is true that generational talent and knowledge has been carelessly cast aside.

id Software's headcount is now similar to what it was for DOOM (2016)

The other rumor flying around is that id Software has shrunk to a headcount that is untenable for future self-made products, relegating them to "support studio" status. This too, is false.

While the cuts have been alarmingly callous, my understanding is that the remaining id Software core team is roughly the same as it was when DOOM (2016) shipped. DOOM (2016) is arguably the studio's best-ever game in my view, despite the comparatively smaller headcount that produced it. That's not too suggest in any capacity that we should expect the same quality bar without proof ... Microsoft removed mountains of incredible talent from the pool.

Still, I'm not sure exactly what id Software could be making next. There have been reports that id Software had a variety of pitches in the pipeline, including a Perfect Dark reboot and a Western-styled shooter dubbed Ironwood. It's unclear if any of these will be greenlit.

id Software just shipped DOOM: The Dark Ages Revelations, a sizeable story expansion for last year's DOOM prequel. What the studio builds next remains to be seen, but Xbox CEO Asha Sharma specifically called out DOOM and Quake as franchises to invest in.

Microsoft wants to grow its most staple and recognizable IP, which at least in the near term, likely excludes "new" franchise ideas. I'd still like to see what a modern Hexen would look like ... perhaps we'll learn more at Quakecon, which is still going ahead.

It's still been a needlessly brutal exercise

While rumors of id Software's demise have been greatly exaggerated, the layoffs have still been callous and brutal. Staffers with decades of expertise and tenure were let go, despite the success of the modern DOOM trilogy.

Microsoft's gaming aspirations have been heavily reduced over the past week, in what CEO Asha Sharma has been describing as a "reset." This has led to sizeable reductions in teams working on a variety of projects, from The Elder Scrolls to Xbox's social media delivery and platform features. Other studios, like Blizzard, seem to have emerged largely unscathed so far. And Xbox's hardware team building Helix has also been left intact.

Xbox has worked hard to save studios like Undead Labs from outright closure. But, it hasn't prevented Microsoft from expunging hundreds of jobs in other areas, inside Xbox and beyond. Microsoft's huge bets on artificial intelligence haven't really delivered meaningful returns, and the vast capital expenditure on data center buildouts is spooking investors.

At Xbox, the layoffs reflect a challenging time in traditional gaming. Core gaming has seen a contraction owing to increased costs and lack of investment in younger cohorts, which dropped consoles in favor of Roblox on mobile devices, alongside non-gaming activities. Microsoft's lack of investment in Xbox's platform and social features have prevented it from finding new users out of the Gen-X and Gen-Y cohorts, many of whom are starting to age out.

Where Xbox goes from here wholly remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure: DOOM is eternal, and it will outlive Microsoft's bad decision-making.

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Though it launched to scathing criticism and widespread controversy in late 2018 due to lackluster content offerings and severe technical issues, Fallout 76 — Bethesda Game Studios' multiplayer-focused MMO-lite take on the post-apocalyptic RPG series — grew to become fairly popular over time, with the title still enjoying regular content updates and a healthy community eight years later.

In the wake of this week's massive wave of 3,200 Xbox layoffs and four studio divestments, however, there are fears that support for the long-running Appalachian adventure may soon come to an end. Teams under the ZeniMax and Bethesda umbrella have been affected "significantly," including the game's steward, Bethesda Game Studios.

It's been reported that over 50 staffers have been cut from Bethesda across its headquarters in Rockville, Maryland and its office in Dallas, Texas — a reduction in force that has The Elder Scrolls 6 devs fearing crunch on and delays of the long-awaited RPG moving forward. Some also worry that a significant amount of time will have to be spent training contractors to use Bethesda's proprietary tools like the Creation Engine.

Notably, though, one Bethesda developer commented to IGN that they "have no idea how they'll continue updating Fallout 76 without hiring an external studio," which suggests development of the experimental Fallout title could end at some point in the near future.

Another possibility is that Fallout 76 support will ultimately continue, but with its updates and patches being reduced in size and cadence. This appears to be what's happening with The Elder Scrolls Online and ZeniMax Online Studios; content roadmaps for that game are "shifting" after its developer suffered over 200 cuts this week.

We may also see external support for Fallout 76 come, as in a letter sent to staff, Bethesda president Jill Braff emphasized the need for the studio to better support its "strongest franchises" — echoing recent sentiment from Xbox's CEO Asha Sharma that it needs to "move faster" with core IPs like Fallout.

Ending support for the most recent game in the series would arguably go against that goal — especially while the extremely popular Fallout TV show is bringing countless new eyes to the property. With that said, Fallout 76 is now eight years old and isn't massively popular, and with Obsidian now making a new Fallout game, Microsoft may not see much value in continuing to invest resources in the title.

In the end, it's impossible to say what will happen with Fallout 76 moving forward until we hear something official from Microsoft, Xbox, or Bethesda. Based on the aforementioned comment from a developer, though, I do think it's likely that the game's live-service development will change in some way.

Whether it ends up stopping completely or just slowing down remains to be seen, but I can't imagine that this week's cuts won't be reflected in Fallout 76's update cadence somehow.

In the wake of Microsoft's Xbox layoffs, should support for Fallout 76 continue? Or do you think Bethesda should move on from the game? Let me know in the comments, and in the above poll.

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While many different development teams were affected by this week's massive wave of 3,200 Xbox layoffs from Microsoft, studios under the Zenimax and Bethesda banner have reportedly faced some of the most brutal cuts of all. They're going through "a significant overhaul" in their wake, with well over half of DOOM dev id Software axed and over 200 roles removed at The Elder Scrolls Online maker ZeniMax Online Studios.

Bethesda Game Studios — the team behind Skyrim, Fallout 4, Starfield, and the upcoming The Elder Scrolls 6, among other titles — has also been hit, with reports of over 50 of its developers being let go. And according to a new report from IGN, that loss of talent will have a "substantial and cascading effect" on development of the next The Elder Scrolls RPG.

"Their loss will have a substantial and cascading effect on the game and morale of this studio," lamented one Bethesda staffer. "It's been a mix of every discipline: programmers, artists, and designers. One person who's been at the company since Morrowind [the third The Elder Scrolls game released in 2002] was cut," added another.

Those impacted by the layoffs include "key, high-performing people in the trenches" — and those who remain at Bethesda fear that their dismissal will lead to significant complications for The Elder Scrolls 6, including an extensive amount of time spent training contractors, unhealthy amounts of crunch and overtime, and delays for a title that's already reportedly two years away as it is.

"There is a fear that we are going to be replaced by cheaper, contracted labor, or we will hire folks to replace them that will need to be onboarded [due to proprietary tools] resulting in more delays, and we'll need to crunch to make up the time," one Bethesda employee told IGN. Another noted they've heard colleagues have been asked to train new contractors already.

"We've all been very excited and hyped for TES 6 and this has had a crushing effect on morale," said another worker. "We were already running a tight ship and are worried about this delaying the game."

Reportedly, the team working on the RPG will receive support from ZeniMax Online Studios, though it's unclear how extensive of a role the The Elder Scrolls Online studio will play. I can't help but think it will be minor, given the fact that that team just suffered over 200 cuts.

Developers still at Bethesda have been assured they're safe from the 1,600 layoffs of the 3,200 that are coming throughout the next 12 months, though team members worry they'll eventually be let go as well. It's a rational fear, given Microsoft and Xbox's layoff history.

"The 'survivors' were told they're safe from those next 1,600 but it's not entirely reassuring," one asserted. "Even if that's true, who's to say there's not another 1,600 next year after that? It's had the chilling effect of realizing you don't get to retire off your work at Xbox. Your time ends when you quit or are laid off, that's it."

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We have recently heard rumors saying that Zenimax and Bethesda will be 'significantly' impacted by Xbox's company-wide restructuring. So far, these rumors are coming true in depressing ways, as DOOM developer Id Software confirms it has lost over 136 staff, and now the team behind The Elder Scrolls Online, ZeniMax Online is next on the chopping block.

According to a WARN report released by the State of Maryland (via VGC), Zenimax Online has lost 213 employees thanks to Xbox's big "Reset". In addition, Zenimax Media Inc., the company that owns Bethesda Game Studios, has also lost 166 employees.

One of the game developers who previously worked at ZeniMax Online, Andrew Young, has reacted with anger and disappointment at this news, stating that "I’m just so angry today. People will never know the blood, sweat, and tears that went into making ESO or how we basically funded other failing projects while never getting enough resources to really keep up with our release cadence. The team deserved much better."

This news will no doubt fuel the flames of angry fans letting their harsh criticisms and opinions be known to Microsoft about this decision, spurred on by Bethesda's Union, which feels similar sentiments of frustration about the whole situation.

However, the good news is that there are no reports so far that The Elder Scrolls Online MMO is shutting down as a result of these layoffs, but whether or not ZeniMax Online will be able to bounce back from this loss as it did with 2025's layoffs that forced it to cancel its secret "Project Blackbird game" remains to be seen.

There's little doubt that more official reports of the exact damage done to Xbox's game studios will continue to be released as the company's restructuring goes on. So, we'll keep you posted on further developments regarding the ongoing situation at ZeniMax and Bethesda.

When do you think these mass layoffs will end? Do you think Xbox's game studios will be able to bounce back from these layoffs and continue making games? Do you think The Elder Scrolls Online will be able to survive now that ZeniMax Online has lost a considerable amount of manpower?

If you have any thoughts on the matter, please let us know through the poll, the comments section, or our Reddit community.

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Recently, Bethesda's Union expressed frustration that Zenimax and Bethesda, the studio currently in charge of award-winning Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, and DOOM franchises, among others, has suffered job cuts as part of Xbox's company-wide 'Reset', with reports from Bloomberg suggesting it was one of the studios hit the hardest with layoffs.

A day after voicing their displeasure, Bethesda's Union took to Bluesky to call upon gamers and ask them to voice their concerns regarding the biggest wave of layoffs in Xbox's history and the state of Bethesda's future games to Microsoft directly through the Xbox Player Voice feedback platform.

It stated, "Yesterday's layoffs at Bethesda Game Studios were not a cut of '14 layers of management. We lost dozens of programmers, artists, designers, and testers. Many of whom worked at BGS for decades. If Bethesda fans are worried this will harm the quality of our future games, like The Elder Scrolls VI, let Microsoft know!"

One way you can show Microsoft your concern is here through the XBOX Player Voice feedback platform: feedbackportal.microsoft.com/feedback/ide...

— @bethesdaunion.bsky.social (@bethesdaunion.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-07-10T10:29:10.778Z

Upon hearing this, players flocked to the platform in droves and unleashed all their pent-up frustrations and criticisms at Microsoft.

Comments ranged from scathing doomsaying, like "If Microsoft does not reverse course they will be destroyed." by Percy Hartley to constructive feedback, like the most upvoted comment (at over 2,500 votes) by Witt Yao, stating, "The layoff of 3,200 workers at XBOX (across Activision, Bethesda/ZeniMax, Blizzard, King, Mojang, Obsidian, id Software, and XBOX Game Studios) is unacceptable. This continues a pattern that has led to 10,000+ layoffs at XBOX in as little as two years."

Witt Yao continues, "Multiple studios have been closed or had their futures jeopardized (Compulsion Games, Double Fine, Undead Labs, Ninja Theory, Tango Gameworks, Arkane Austin, Alpha Dog Games, and Roundhouse Studios) and numerous games have been cancelled. The developers and players agree that This Can Not Continue. A true reset that meets the needs of the XBOX community looks like the following:"

He then advises on how Microsoft could potentially improve the Xbox brand with the following suggestions:

• Transparency for Players - Showcasing games from studios they intend to sell or close weeks later feels bad for players.
• Keep Teams Together - No layoffs for the next 2 years and end studio closures. Studio closures hurt the fans of that studio.
• XBOX is already profitable without reaching a billion people every day - Stop constraining XBOX by the unrealistic profit expectations of the Microsoft Accountability Margin. 
• Trust the Developers - Negotiate in good faith with unions and developers, so they can better represent the needs of both developers and gamers.
• Layoffs are a Failure of Leadership - No executive bonuses when there is a layoff.
• Invest in the Future of Gaming - Invest in the future generation of video game developers instead of unpopular technologies like AI that players don’t want. Game development expertise is the biggest asset of a video game company. 

Stay tuned for more info, as we can keep an eye out for developments and reactions regarding the biggest shake-up within the Xbox brand's history.

Have you voiced your opinions to Microsoft through the Xbox Player Voice Feedback? Do you have destructive or constructive criticisms regarding the Xbox brand's "reset" that has seen over 3,200 jobs terminated across many of Xbox's game studios?

If you have any thoughts on the matter, please let us know through the poll, the comments section, or our Reddit community.

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To say that times are difficult for developers under the banner of Microsoft and Xbox would be an understatement. On Monday morning, the publisher initiated a mass layoff wave of 4,800 cuts throughout the firm, with a whopping 3,200 of them — 1,600 now, and 1,600 over the course of the next 12 months — hitting the Xbox division and its studios.

The layoffs are very widespread and are affecting all of Xbox's development teams, with four in particular being divested and Marvel's Blade dev Arkane Lyon also reportedly at risk of closure or being split off from Microsoft. Some groups have also been hit considerably harder than others, and one of these appears to be the developers at ZeniMax and Bethesda, the stewards of Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, DOOM, and other major Xbox properties.

A Bloomberg report suggests ZeniMax and Bethesda have been hit "significantly" by the cuts, and that their studios "will face a significant overhaul" as they pivot to focus on core IPs like Wolfenstein, Quake, and the aforementioned franchises.

In response to the massive surge of layoffs, the official labor union of Bethesda Game Studios has voiced frustrations with the reduction in force on social media. I think it best if you read its message in full, so I've both copied and embedded the complete thread below:

Today we say goodbye to many of our friends and colleagues and to hundreds more across Xbox, including folks that have worked at Bethesda Games Studios for decades.When will this cycle of cuts in pursuit of ever-greater profits end?

— @bethesdaunion.bsky.social (@bethesdaunion.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-07-06T21:29:27.360Z

In what is becoming a stressful annual routine, Microsoft has decided to lay off thousands, including MANY of us at Bethesda Games Studios.

With over 10k developers already cut from previous rounds, those at the top have deemed that insufficient in fixing their mistakes.

Today we say goodbye to many of our friends and colleagues and to hundreds more across Xbox, including folks that have worked at Bethesda Games Studios for decades.

When will this cycle of cuts in pursuit of ever-greater profits end?

Because of our One BGS union, we have the right to negotiate over the impacts of these layoffs, helping secure stronger severance packages and better support for those leaving the company.

We will do everything we can to make sure our friends are properly taken care of.

— Bethesda Game Studios Union

The union's strongly critical comments bring cuts from the past several years to mind, referencing other waves of mass layoffs that have struck Microsoft and Xbox such as 10,000 in 2023, additional cuts in early 2025, and last year's infamous game cancelations and closure of The Initiative that came with 9,000 additional discharges across the firm's workforce.

These new layoffs are the latest in a brutal series of cuts that have plagued the gaming industry since 2022, with game publishers worldwide dismissing countless developers after overinvestments in gaming during the pandemic and amid economic challenges such as the onset of tariffs and the ongoing memory and hardware crisis caused by AI.

Xbox's new CEO Asha Sharma has said that Microsoft has "overextended" with Xbox, leading to the current situation in which layoffs like these represent "necessary changes." Bethesda's union seems to disagree, but either way, it's heartbreaking to see so many developers that build the games we love get their lives upended by massive corporate reorganizations like this one.

As I've written so many times before covering layoffs like these, I sincerely hope that everyone affected is able to find new and stable work as quickly as possible, and that they're given proper severance packages and ample support.

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Microsoft and Xbox CEO Asha Sharma announced a massive restructuring for the gaming brand on Monday morning, with reports indicating that 1,600 roles have been cut immediately with another 1,600 layoffs planned throughout the next 12 months. In total, 3,200 Xbox staffers will be affected, with 4,800 cuts in total hitting Microsoft overall.

These reductions are coming across the entirety of the Xbox Game Studios publishing wing, though some studios will be affected more than others. Notably, though, Compulsion Games (South of Midnight), Double Fine Productions (Psychonauts, Keeper, Kiln), Ninja Theory (Hellblade, Senua), and Undead Labs (State of Decay 3) are all splitting off from Microsoft entirely (though thankfully, they're not closing and their work-in-progress projects will remain in development).

Reportedly, another group of developers that's been hit particularly hard by the layoffs are the teams at Bethesda and ZeniMax, known for their work on legendary franchises like Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, DOOM, Wolfenstein, and Quake.

According to Jason Schreier of Bloomberg, ZeniMax/Bethesda "will face a significant overhaul" as a result of these cuts, and will be driven to focus on the aforementioned IPs that stand as its "biggest franchises." It's notable that it won't only work on Fallout and The Elder Scrolls, though, as I've noticed lots of recent rumors suggested that might be the case.

Many of those rumors stemmed from a report in which it was said Sharma wants Xbox to "move faster" with its core franchises, with Fallout and The Elder Scrolls directly named alongside Halo.

"ZeniMax will be impacted significantly by the reorganization but will NOT be reduced to only Fallout and The Elder Scrolls, despite rumors over the last few weeks," Schreier wrote in a post on Bluesky. "The publisher will also still work on Wolfenstein, Doom and Quake."

It's worth noting that the fate of one ZeniMax team, Arkane Lyon, is currently unclear. Arkane is developing Marvel's Blade, which has reportedly been delayed and is "running over budget." We've previously reported that Microsoft is negotiating with the French government to figure out a path forward for the studio and avoid closure while hopefully also keeping the game alive, but that's all we know for now.

In 2024, Microsoft and Xbox shuttered ZeniMax/Bethesda developers Arkane Austin (Prey, Redfall), Alpha Dog Games (Mighty Doom), and Tango Gameworks (Ghostwire: Tokyo, Hi-Fi Rush), with PUBG's Krafton stepping in to save the latter studio from the axe.

I'm glad that ZeniMax/Bethesda will still be able to explore new projects for its big properties outside of behemoth franchises like Fallout and The Elder Scrolls, though the situation with Arkane and the layoffs overall are still terribly unfortunate. Developers that have worked together in these teams for years and years are being let go, further adding to the devastating number of 2022-2026 video game cuts we've already seen.

Notably, The Elder Scrolls Online's content roadmap is "shifting" due to layoffs at ZeniMax Online Studios. Bethesda Game Studios, meanwhile, remains focused on The Elder Scrolls 6 as far as we know, which is still "a long ways off."

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It's been exactly eight years to the day since The Elder Scrolls developer Bethesda officially announced The Elder Scrolls 6 during an extremely short teaser trailer at E3 2018. Since then, we've heard and seen nothing more about the upcoming RPG outside of the fact that it will be a "classic" Bethesda game made with Creation Engine 3, the latest iteration of the engine used for Skyrim, Fallout 4, and Starfield.

Bethesda's game director and executive producer Todd Howard has attempted to assuage concerns about the game's development by commenting that "it's progressing really well" and noting that it's gone smoother than Starfield's did. Still, many have grown frustrated with the overall silence, especially after The Elder Scrolls 6 didn't appear during last weekend's Xbox Games Showcase.

In a new interview with Variety, Xbox's chief content officer Matt Booty took some time to discuss The Elder Scrolls 6, explaining that Microsoft and Xbox don't want to show more of the game "till the right moment" while asserting that what he's seen of it "looks amazing."

"I would say one of the more challenging balancing acts of someone in a job like mine is balancing that you want to go show the world all the cool stuff you’re working on, and you want to get them excited early, but we also know that we want to wait till the right moment," he said. "And when you decide to show it, you want it to be the best you’ve got. And also that when you show the game, you’re also giving them a promise of, 'Hey, it’s coming soon.'"

"So I can tell you, having visited Bethesda and sat with [Todd Howard] and seen [Elder Scrolls 6] playing, it looks amazing, and it’s coming along well," Booty continued. "And we’ll make sure to announce it and really reveal it at the right time."

Unfortunately, Todd Howard noted that The Elder Scrolls 6 is still "a long ways off" in November last year, which strongly suggests it's still a few years out from its long, long-awaited launch.

Between that information and Booty's comment about Xbox trying not to reveal games that aren't coming soon, I'd say it's pretty unlikely we'll see more of Bethesda's open-world RPG until its release date draws closer. That's pretty vexing for a game first announced eight years ago; I imagine Howard regrets confirming its development so early, now.

Still, I am happy to see Booty echoing several of Howard's previous comments that suggest The Elder Scrolls 6 is coming along nicely and "looks amazing," even if I know we wouldn't hear about it if development was rough. I've waited ages and ages for a proper Skyrim sequel already; as long as the project isn't in development hell, I can wait a little longer.

When it comes out, The Elder Scrolls 6 is all-but-guaranteed to be available on Xbox Game Pass across Xbox and PC, as it's a first-party Microsoft game. Whether or not it will be Xbox exclusive remains to be seen; Xbox CEO Asha Sharma is warming up to their return, so I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up missing PS5.

Are you looking forward to The Elder Scrolls 6? Share your thoughts below.

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There's a good chance that, like me, you never even knew that The Elder Scrolls: Blades still existed. There's also a good chance that, like me, you've never actually played it. Which might not necessarily be a bad thing, but it has largely faded into the background since its launch.

Released in 2020 for Android, iOS, and, somewhat surprisingly, Nintendo Switch, The Elder Scrolls: Blades was a free-to-play spin-off designed specifically for mobile devices. The game never really resonated with critics or players, however, and currently sits at a Metacritic score of 42 alongside a user score of 2.7.

The game itself is set to be "permanently shut down on June 30, 2026" (via Reddit). Between now and then, the developers have made everything in the in-game store available for one gem or one sigil, with all players receiving a free bundle of gems and sigils.

I recently covered other games shutting down for Xbox, and in that, I mentioned how important I believe the Stop Killing Games campaign is. The initiative aims to prevent publishers from releasing games only to later shut them down with no way for players to access them again.

It's an issue that continues to affect the industry. Looking at games like Concord and Highguard, even if a game isn't particularly well-received, it's still disappointing when access disappears entirely. There are always players who spent money on the game itself, purchased microtransactions, or simply enjoyed the experience and want to revisit it at some point.

It's hard for me to comment too much on Blades itself being taken down, simply because I've never actually played it. I don't really have any witty anecdotes or personal stories to share about my time with it, because there wasn't one.

Still, I'm generally a big fan of studios branching out and trying new things, even when they don't always land. I look at Halo as a good example. Microsoft released Halo: Spartan Assault and Halo: Spartan Strike for mobile, and while neither was groundbreaking, I thought they were pretty decent for what they were. However, Microsoft is arguably wasting Halo's potential right now.

On that note, it's a little disappointing that we never got more games in that style, especially since they offered something different from the mainline Halo experience. Those are just my thoughts, though.

Let me know what you think about The Elder Scrolls: Blades and its upcoming shutdown. Did you ever play it, or is this the first time you're hearing about it? Be sure to leave a comment and take part in our poll!

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Late last year, Fallout steward Bethesda announced that a next-gen update was coming to its 2018 MMO-lite multiplayer title Fallout 76, promising players on Xbox Series X|S and PS5 systems an elevated version of the game with better visual fidelity.

We haven't heard anything about this update for a while, but in the patch notes for the new Infestations update and the launch of Season 25, we finally got some news about the upcoming patch. Not only have we learned that the next-gen update is coming out this summer and will have public testing in June, but we've also gotten full details about the improvements it's making.

On Xbox Series X|S and PS5 consoles, Bethesda is improving draw distances and shadow quality, with support for 4K resolution on Xbox Series X|S and PS5 Pro and 1440p on PS5. On top of that, all Xbox Series X|S and PS5 versions will also support variable refresh rate (VRR) with compatible displays to prevent screen tearing. The studio is targeting 60 FPS performance for all next-gen (current gen, really) systems.

Certain last-gen consoles will benefit slightly from the update, too. Specifically, Xbox One X will get support for 4K — something that even the PS5 doesn't have — with PS4 Pro getting a bump up to 1440p from 1080p. Notably, Bethesda also left out mention of the Xbox Series S here beyond stating that its targeting 60 FPS performance on the system, which likely means that it's remaining at 1080p.

While PS5 still enjoys a higher framerate — 60 FPS instead of 30 — it is interesting that 2017's Xbox One X is getting support for 4K and Sony's baseline next-gen console isn't, and it shows just how frontloaded the former system's specs are with GPU power. Also, the lack of 1440p support for Xbox Series S is a bit disappointing; evidently Bethesda has chosen to prioritize framerate over fidelity for the more affordable console.

It's unclear when exactly the next-gen update is releasing this summer, or when public testing for it will begin this month. Bethesda says it will announce details as they come on its social channels, though, so keep an eye on those. Note that when they do come, the testing versions of next-gen Fallout 76 will be freely available to all owners of the game on the Xbox and PlayStation marketplaces.

As for the Infestations and Season 25 (dubbed "Appalachia Under Siege") update itself, the patch is live now across Xbox, PC, and PlayStation, and adds combat-focused Infestations activities where you have to "clear out Infestations of challenging enemies for 4-Star Rewards." These rewards include powerful gear, with Season 25's reward path also giving you various outfits, C.A.M.P. items, and other goodies (see those above).

All in all, Infestations and Season 25 seems like a pretty solid update for Fallout 76, though choosing to focus on marketing all the new C.A.M.P. decorations more than its actual gameplay content was certainly a choice. Regardless, it's always nice to see that Bethesda's experimental multiplayer Fallout title is still going strong. You can check out its full patch notes here.

What's your opinion of Fallout 76? Do you plan on checking out the Infestations update? Let me know below.

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One of the most biggest and most impactful updates in Fallout 4 history was scheduled to come to Bethesda's beloved classic 2015 post-apocalyptic RPG last year in November, but ended up getting delayed due to technical issues. For months, it's been relatively silent about it since then outside of a confirmation it's still being worked on — but thanks to a new announcement, we finally know when it's coming.

The update in question is a massive mod storage increase to the amount of space Xbox and PlayStation players can dedicate towards the player-made "Creations" mods you can download and install from Fallout 4's main menu. A new communication from Bethesda confirms it's coming to Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS5, and PS4 on May 27, which is just a week from now.

"We're excited to share the Fallout 4 Creations storage expansion will arrive for consoles on May 27th. Console players will soon have more space to download content, including larger, more ambitious Creations," the developer wrote in its social media post.

Specifically, the amount of storage available to Xbox Series X|S users will skyrocket from 2GB to 100GB, while those on Xbox One, PS5, and PS4 will jump from 1-2GB to 15GB (last-gen and Sony-imposed limitations mean these systems won't get as much extra space as Xbox Series X|S systems will).

While this update ultimately won't mean anything for players that don't use mods, Fallout 4 is radically changing for those on console that do. Even having 15GB available for mods opens up a ton of possibilities for Xbox and PlayStation players, and Xbox Series X|S users with 100GB of space will be able to put together load orders comparable to what PC players have enjoyed for years.

With that much available storage, console users will be able to use high-quality graphics improvement mods without issue, and will still have plenty of room left over for countless other smaller mods that overhaul gameplay, add new weapons and armors, introduce new quests and storylines, and more. Advanced projects that rely on the PC-exclusive Fallout 4 Script Extender still won't be on the table, but that's it.

As someone who's enjoyed modding Fallout 4 extensively over the years, I'm stoked that my fellow Sole Survivors over on Xbox and PlayStation will finally be able to mod the RPG on a deeper level as I have. Something you need to be aware of, though, is that the update will wipe existing load orders. Thankfully, you can save yours and then restore it after the patch.

Bethesda published an article explaining how to do this, but I'll write out the process here too. In the Fallout 4 Creations menu, go into your Load Order and then select the Load Order Archive button. In the box that opens, select "Save Load Order to Bethesda.net" and let the process complete. Then, after the update, go to the same location and choose "Restore Load Order from Bethesda.net" instead.

It's unfortunate that this update is coming to Fallout 4 six months late, but ultimately, I'm just glad to see it's finally almost here and didn't end up getting scrapped. After the disaster of the Anniversary Edition, the popular Fallout game really needed a win.

Will you take advantage of the mod storage increase patch for Fallout 4? Let me know in the comments, and vote in our poll, too.

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While video game adaptations in film or TV are often quite disappointing, one incredibly enjoyable outlier these past few years has been the Fallout TV show that Amazon's been producing in collaboration with Fallout shepherd Bethesda. Both Season 1 and Season 2 have been a massive hit with longtime fans of the franchise and series newcomers alike, and have brought about not one, but two resurgences for the IP.

Indeed, it's no exaggeration to say that the record-breaking and chart-topping show has had a phenomenal reception — and now, everyone is eagerly awaiting the next chapter of the story that's coming with Season 3. The third season reportedly just began filming and is expected to come near the end of 2027 or the start of 2028.

We've got a bit of a wait ahead of us — and for me, something that's guaranteed it's going to be a painful one is the new announcement that Aaron Paul is joining the Fallout show's already star-studded cast in Season 3. Amazon revealed the news on Monday on social media.

Aaron Paul is one of my favorite actors, and starred as Jesse Pinkman for five years in my favorite TV show Breaking Bad (as well as in its follow-up movie El Camino). You may also know him as Caleb Nichols in the popular HBO drama Westworld, or as the voice of Todd Chavez in BoJack Horseman.

Paul was nothing short of terrific in Breaking Bad and El Camino, to the point where Jesse Pinkman became my favorite character out of all of the incredibly written individuals in that series. I've also loved him in just about everything else I've ever seen him in, so I'm ecstatic to see what role he plays in Fallout.

Some fans speculate that he could play Courier 6, the title of the playable character you control in Obsidian Entertainment's fan-favorite 2010 title Fallout: New Vegas; I personally find this unlikely since the showrunners have stated they don't want to infringe upon player choices with their story, and making Courier 6 a defined character in any way would go against that. Unless the character just makes a short cameo, I don't see it.

In the end, we have no details at all to work off of, so any predictions are pure guesses. Still, I'm sure Paul will do an amazing job in whatever role he's playing, given his talent. I look forward to seeing him in Fallout Season 3, and I can't wait for its arrival in the next year and a half or so.

Oh, and fun fact: Aaron Paul is a huge fan of video games, and has previously discussed his fondness for franchises like Resident Evil and Halo. He also had a lead role in 2025's narrative adventure game Dispatch, and has expressed interest in further gaming roles too.

What do you think about Aaron Paul? Are you a fan of his performances in projects like Breaking Bad and Westworld? Did you like him in Dispatch, if you played that game? Who do you think he'll be in the Fallout TV show? Let me know in the comments, and in our poll.

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For its 2023 space exploration Xbox RPG Starfield, Fallout and The Elder Scrolls developer Bethesda created an upgraded version of the Creation Engine used for Skyrim and Fallout 4 simply called the Creation Engine 2. This updated variant of the studio's proprietary engine vastly improved visual fidelity and optimization, among many other things.

According to former Bethesda senior artist Heather Cerlan — now CEO and head of NEARstudios, the developer making the upcoming multiplayer sandbox RPG Hawthorn — though, the studio had seriously considered making the swap from Creation Engine over to Unreal Engine 5 (UE5) in the midst of Starfield's development.

"There was a lot of pressure internally to push to Unreal [Engine 5], especially when Nanite and Lumen and all these amazing features were coming out," she told Reece Reilly of KIWI TALKZ in a recent episode. "People were like, 'Why don't we just use Unreal?'"

Nanite makes importing extremely high-quality assets into UE5 very easy, while Lumen offers advanced lighting effects and rendering that go a long way in helping to achieve cutting-edge visuals. Both are very desirable features of UE5, which first launched in Early Access in Spring 2021 — two years ahead of Starfield's release.

That would have left Bethesda with a sizable amount of time to transition their existing work on Starfield over to UE5, though doing so likely wouldn't have been easy. Still, the potential was there to reap major benefits from the switch...yet in the end, the developers ultimately chose to stick with Creation Engine 2.

Why? Cerlan says that the decision was largely motivated by the desire to keep Starfield as mod friendly as possible for Bethesda's community.

"The real reason that Bethesda holds onto the Creation Engine is because of all the modding capabilities," she said. "The whole modding community that's built around those tools and those systems, it wouldn't make a whole lot of sense for Bethesda to switch over to any other engine, because they've already built up a whole community that sustains the success of their titles."

Indeed, the modding scene in Bethesda's games has thrived for many years, with countless talented modders having worked with the Creation Engine for upwards of 20 years now. It's not surprising that the developers had no wish to disrupt their creative process with an entirely new engine to learn.

It does seem like there would be upsides to an UE5 switch, of course, but it's important to note that Bethesda is continuing to upgrade and refine the Creation Engine. Recently, studio director Todd Howard confirmed The Elder Scrolls 6 is using a new version called Creation Engine 3 that sports major improvements across the board.

He also said Creation Engine 3 will power projects "beyond" the long-awaited The Elder Scrolls sequel, which likely means Fallout 5 will use it as well. Bad news if you were hoping future Bethesda games would push for maximum graphical quality, perhaps, but good news if you want the studio's titles to be as moddable as the ones that came before it.

Are you glad that Bethesda chose to stick with the Creation Engine in the end, or would you have preferred it to have moved over to Unreal Engine 5? I'm curious to hear your thoughts, so share them in the comments and vote in our poll below.

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Starfield’s reported PS5 sales have surfaced via Alinea Analytics, a firm that often reports on game sales. While its estimates cannot be verified, the figures raise some obvious questions.

According to Alinea, Starfield has sold around 140,000 copies on Sony’s PlayStation 5. If accurate, that is a relatively weak showing for what is supposed to be Bethesda Game Studios' premier RPG and its first real new IP, whatever that actually means.

It also brings the exclusivity debate back into focus, which remains a constant talking point among Xbox fans and haters alike.

If accurate, 140,000 sales would put Starfield behind the likes of even The Outer Worlds 2 on PlayStation 5, which Alinea estimates has sold 160,000 copies. It would also fall further behind titles like Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 and Ninja Gaiden 4, both of which are said to have surpassed 240K copies on PlayStation 5.

With that said though, this is still early days for Starfield's PS5 release, and according to Alinea, the game is currently selling faster than those titles.

I’m not sure whether Alinea’s estimates are accurate or not, and realistically we’ll never know for certain unless Todd Howard descends from the heavens and confirms it himself. If the figures are correct, though, it does, at least to me, raise a bigger question about whether Xbox’s multiplatform strategy has actually been worth it.

It’s great that more players can access these games, and some Xbox titles have performed well, such as Sea of Thieves and Forza Horizon 5. At the same time, it does raise a valid concern about why someone would even invest in Xbox hardware if those same games are available elsewhere.

I’m not trying to say which approach is right or wrong here. I’ve largely moved to PC myself, but I still enjoy my Series X, especially for its extensive backward compatibility library going all the way back to the original Xbox.

For now though, it feels like Xbox fans are in a bit of a standoff, unsure what direction Xbox might take next. I’m genuinely more excited about the brand than I’ve been in a long time, and whether it commits to exclusives, leans on timed exclusivity, or does something totally different, I’ll be watching closely until we find out.

If you haven’t already, weigh in on the exclusivity debate yourself, and if you have, there’s no harm in doing it again for what is probably the millionth time if you’re anything like me.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments, and be sure to take part in our poll below!

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While the Fallout and The Elder Scrolls developer Bethesda is renowned in the gaming community for its large, content-dense open-world RPG titles, its latest projects — 2018's Fallout 76 and 2023's Xbox game Starfield — were departures from the studio's norm. The former is a multiplayer MMO-lite take on the post-apocalyptic franchise, while the latter has a significantly grander scale than any Bethesda title before it.

The developer getting more experimental in recent years has made many curious about the reasons why, and in a recent interview, Bethesda game director and executive producer Todd Howard explained that Fallout 76 and Starfield were "creatively different" by design, as the studio wanted to play around with different ideas and directions.

"I think it's true that Fallout 76 and Starfield clearly — they're creatively different than what we had done. And we really wanted to do that. When you're doing a certain type of thing for, in my case, 20 years, we want to try some other things and learn from that. We have ideas that we want to get out there," he told GamesRadar+.

Howard is thankful that these two releases have performed well despite the fact that they veer away from Bethesda's usual style, and that the studio as a whole was able to take some risks with its recent creations.

"We're fortunate those games have found, in the scheme of things, giant audiences that let us keep doing things in them," he added. "Even though they're a bit off the core path of the single-player games that we have been doing, we're just fortunate to have the success that we've had with them."

Indeed, Fallout 76 and Starfield both have passionate fanbases, though both games are undeniably more divisive than more traditional Bethesda titles like, say, Fallout 4 or Skyrim. Howard acknowledges this, though ultimately points out that at one point, people felt the same way about The Elder Scrolls and Fallout compared to other competing RPGs or the old-school '90s Fallout games from Interplay Entertainment.

"If you look back at the beginning of Elder Scrolls, beginning of Fallout, they're a little bit the same. And then, you find an audience that loves that," he commented.

In Fallout 76's case, most criticism of the game was centered around performance and bugs at launch, though many were also frustrated by the lack of NPCs in its world. These issues were ironed out with time, though, and it's grown into a fairly popular live-service game that's quite successful, especially after Amazon's Fallout TV show kicked off a series-wide resurgence.

Starfield, I would argue, has deeper problems. The space exploration RPG may have over 1,000 planets to explore across 100 star systems, sure, but tons of them are bland and empty, only sparsely populated with repetitive and reused structures and landmarks. On the whole, it's painfully shallow compared to Bethesda's other single player titles, and neither the Shattered Space expansion or the new Terran Armada DLC change that.

I'll never say a studio shouldn't take risks or try something new, but with Starfield, I think Bethesda got too far away from what makes their games fun. The magic of a well-crafted open world isn't just its size, but also how all that space is used, and what it's filled with for players to discover. Howard mentioned learning from its experimentative titles; I believe valuing handcrafted content over scale is the lesson to take from Starfield.

The game's lack of depth and engaging experiences has me worried about The Elder Scrolls 6, though my concerns have been assuaged somewhat by Howard saying that it will be a "classic" Bethesda game. I like Fallout 76 and I respect the devs for their ambitions with Starfield, but I've been waiting for Skyrim's sequel for 15 years now, and I'm glad it's not trying to change a winning formula.

How do you feel about experimental Bethesda games like Fallout 76 and Starfield? Are you glad The Elder Scrolls 6 will be more of a traditional RPG? Share your thoughts in the comments, and vote which Bethesda franchise is your favorite in our poll, too.

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Pete Hines is the former Head of Publishing at Bethesda, staying with the company from 1999 through to 2023. He left following Microsoft’s acquisition, and in a recent interview with Firezide Chat, he has some strong words to share.

That said, it is not all negative. Hines also reflects positively on his time at Bethesda, including his long-standing relationship with Todd Howard, who he says remains one of his best friends. However, when the interview turns to the period following the acquisition, the tone becomes noticeably more critical. So let’s jump in.

Pete Hines questions Bethesda’s direction under Microsoft

Pete Hines doesn’t hold back in this interview, but it’s worth being clear about the context. Rather than directly targeting Microsoft, his comments seem to reflect his experience during the period after the acquisition.

So instead of padding this out, let’s go straight to what he said in a recent Firezide Gaming interview.

In the interview, Hines states:

It’s a striking take on Bethesda’s current position. While he doesn’t explicitly mention Microsoft here, the timing and broader discussion suggest he is reflecting on the post-acquisition period.

He also explains why he stayed on for a time after the deal, stating:

That sense of frustration continues as he adds:

"When I couldn't protect it, and I saw how it was getting damaged and broken apart and frankly mistreated, abused, whatever word you want to use, I said I am not going to sit here and watch this happen right in front of me."

Hines also states his “mental health was so deplorable” that he ultimately had to leave.

Taken together, the comments point to a broader shift in environment and responsibilities following the acquisition, alongside his declining mental health, rather than a direct, explicit criticism of Microsoft itself, at least that's how I read it anyway.

Now, these aren't exactly kind words from Hines overall, but they do reflect how strongly he feels about Bethesda and the changes he believes took place.

With all that said, let me know your thoughts on what Hines has said by leaving a comment and taking part in our poll below:

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Few individual developers in the gaming industry are as well-known by both players as well as other game devs as well ass Todd Howard is. He's been at The Elder Scrolls and Fallout studio Bethesda for over 30 years, and as its game director and executive producer, has led development on legendary titles like Oblivion, Skyrim, Fallout 3, and Fallout 4, among others.

To say that his influence on the industry is massive is an understatement — but that hardly means he's infallible. It's a point that former Bethesda senior artist Dennis Mejillones, known for his work on Skyrim, Fallout 4, and Xbox's Starfield, made in a recently dug up interview with Kiwi Talkz.

"He's a phenomenal person. Is he perfect? No. Does he call all the shots perfectly? No," Mejillones said of Howard. "I can't tell you how many times I told Todd, 'Oh, that's not a good idea, that's bad, that's not good.' Or, I kind of kept my mouth shut about it. I'm like, 'Eugh, I don't think that's so great,' you know?"

Mejillones went on to explain that in most cases, he would share his criticism of Howard's ideas or strategies with him to provide feedback. According to him, though, many others tend to be "yes men" around him, and don't challenge his direction because they don't want to seem like they're opposing a legendary developer.

"Typically, though, I would communicate if I felt really strongly about it, you know? Me and Todd could at least communicate — a lot of people were afraid to say no to Todd, and I think that hurt him," he said. "It's like George Lucas. I think George Lucas is a genius. I think geniuses come up with terrible ideas too. They're not all gonna be hits, but if you don't have somebody to help you filter through these things and give you an honest assessment because they're afraid to tell you what they really think, it actually does hurt you. And I think that kinda happens to Todd in some regards."

That's quite an interesting take to hear from one of Howard's former colleagues, and considering the fact that Mejillones worked at Bethesda for 11 years from 2009 to 2021, it's safe to say that he's likely seen countless examples of these yes man tendencies from employees at the studio.

Hearing this, I can't help but wonder about Bethesda's recent, more controversial games like Fallout 76 and Starfield, and if their contentious qualities — the arguable lack of satisfying depth in the latter, for example — might have been improved if devs gave more critical feedback of Howard's ideas and drove refinement.

Then again, earlier this year, former Bethesda lore specialist and Skyrim co-lead Kurt Kuhlmann told PC Gamer that Starfield's development suffered when Howard wasn't able to focus on the game, noting that "when he would get pulled away from the game that would really hurt the game."

Ultimately, it sounds like Howard is a "very good project lead" whose presence is very beneficial, even if Bethesda's devs could perhaps stand to give him more constructive feedback instead of just agreeing with him all the time. From the outside looking in, though, it's hard to say anything for sure — especially since these are the views of just two people who've worked at a very large studio.

With all of that said, I do hope Howard's calls are met with a healthy amount of scrutiny moving forward, as without criticism, you risk getting caught in an echo chamber of toxic positivity. Quality, honest feedback is crucial for refining and improving ideas, and I want The Elder Scrolls 6 and Fallout 5 to be as refined as they can be.

🗨️ Over to you!

The comments from Mejillones in this interview are very interesting, and suggest that Todd Howard's suggestions may not be getting a healthy amount of pushback and constructive feedback from Bethesda's developers. One can't help but wonder how much that may have influenced Fallout 76 and Starfield, as well as if it's actively influencing the creation of The Elder Scrolls 6.

Are you worried that it is? I'd like to hear from you, so share your take in the comments and vote in our poll about Bethesda's various IPs.

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There's no denying that Fallout Season 2 has been a monumental success for Amazon and Microsoft, and now, thanks to The Hollywood Reporter, we have some details on just how successful.

It’s especially notable given Microsoft’s mixed track record with video game adaptations, from the poorly received Halo TV show to the Minecraft movie (which I’d argue was one of the worst movies I’ve personally seen, even if it still found commercial success).

Still, it’s clear audiences are hungry for more Fallout. Season 2 pulled in 83 million viewers, making it Amazon’s second biggest returning show, behind Reacher.

In a report from The Hollywood Reporter, based on first-party data from Prime Video, Fallout Season 2 reached 83 million viewers within its first 13 weeks. That makes it the second biggest returning series on the platform, behind Reacher Season 2.

Season 1 also saw a resurgence during this time, with more than 100 million people globally having watched at least part of the Fallout TV show overall.

Given those numbers, it’s no surprise that Season 3 was greenlit before Season 2 had even aired.

Friedlander also went on to add:

"The show’s performance reaffirms this, with season two now joining season one as two of our top four biggest seasons we’ve ever launched. We’re thrilled to see the franchise continue to grow as we head into season three".

I will admit that despite watching Season 1 and really enjoying it, I haven’t yet gotten around to Season 2.

That said, seeing how successful it has been and how well it’s reviewed, I’ll likely give it a try soon when I get the time.

Let me know your thoughts. Have you seen Fallout Season 2? If so, what did you think? Has it lived up to the hype and stayed faithful to the video games, or were you disappointed by the adaptation?

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Though The Elder Scrolls developer Bethesda Game Studios has served as the shepherd of Fallout ever since the company acquired the series from Interplay Entertainment in 2007, the game often regarded as the best in the franchise is ironically one that wasn't developed by Bethesda at all.

That title is Fallout: New Vegas, the 2010 entry made by the storied RPG studio Obsidian Entertainment during the gap between the 2008 release of Bethesda's Fallout 3 and its direct sequel, 2015's Fallout 4 (between them, it made a little game called Skyrim you may have heard about).

Over the years, many have come to feel that New Vegas is a cut above the rest of the series, with the game's player freedom, narrative depth, complex interconnected quests, and rich RPG systems all winning the hearts of countless players. One Bethesda dev, though, "initially felt a little touchy" about the glowing reputation of Obsidian's take on Fallout because it used the work done for Fallout 3 as a base.

"You always get those guys jumping out of the woodwork to say, 'New Vegas is the best! Bethesda sucks!', and I’m like, 'Okay,'" began character artist Jonah Lobe, speaking on the KIWI TALKZ podcast. "I initially felt a little touchy about it, because I was like, 'We made 90% of the art, we built the engine.'" We did all that stuff [and] we did it in a very limited window of time and they got to just work on the stories."

Indeed, New Vegas utilizes the same version of Bethesda's Gamebryo tech — the predecessor to the Creation Engine and its own variants that would go on to power Skyrim, Fallout 4, Starfield, and the upcoming The Elder Scrolls 6 — that it created for Fallout 3, and also reuses a significant amount of Fallout 3's assets for its textures, in-game items, and more.

But while Lobe says he felt like "it's a little unfair that we were being judged on not having the storylines [that New Vegas had]," he made it clear that he still greatly enjoys and respects New Vegas, believes Obsidian did an excellent job with the RPG, and even wishes Fallout 3's story and writing had similar depth and nuance.

"But with that said ... Obsidian killed it. Like, I think they did a beautiful job, and it did make me feel a little bit sad that our design team could not envision the same kind of — maybe they just didn't have time or bandwidth. Like, they just didn't implement the same scale of really ambitious of 'huge arc, multi-choices' kind of thing."

When Lobe sought out the opinions of some of the other devs present on the podcast, ex-Bethesda artist Nate Purkeypile said he likes New Vegas a lot, but thinks it stumbles some with dungeons and world design.

"I do think Vegas is a really good game, but it also does some things worse. I think its dungeons and world design are not as good," he commented. "So, it's like, from a writing and design perspective I think they did better, but I do not feel the same way about their dungeons."

Lobe, though, raised another valuable point: Obsidian had to develop New Vegas in a very short timeframe of just 18 months. "We should also say they had a limited window of time to work. They were very pressed for time — an unfair amount of time, honestly."

I love New Vegas to pieces, but it's true that Bethesda's work on the foundation Obsidian built it on tends to go unrecognized, and shouldn't. That being said, Fallout 3 was incredibly well-received too.

In the end, both games are fantastic RPGs, which is why I'm stoked to play the upcoming Fallout 3 and New Vegas remasters we know are coming. Haven't checked the games out yet? Every Fallout title is playable on Xbox and PC through Xbox Game Pass.

🗨️ Which Fallout game is your favorite?

It's interesting to hear Bethesda developers that previously worked on Fallout discuss their thoughts on Fallout: New Vegas, and some of the things they think others games in the series do better while acknowledging the impressive narrative depth and design of Obsidian's RPG.

New Vegas is definitely my favorite Fallout game, but I'm curious to hear from you about yours. Give your take in the comments, and vote in our ongoing poll!

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Given that The Elder Scrolls and Fallout developer Bethesda first announced The Elder Scrolls 6 eight years ago now and the fact it still doesn't have a release date, I'd forgive you for thinking that the game has been through a lot of tumultuous development at the studio.

However, according to Bethesda's game director and executive producer Todd Howard, the process of creating the next big Tamriel-based fantasy adventure has actually gone quite a bit smoother than development of the studio's latest title, 2023's Xbox and PC space exploration RPG Starfield (also on Xbox Game Pass, and coming soon to PS5 as well).

Specifically, while speaking with IGN in a new interview, Howard explained that Bethesda's move from Creation Engine 2 — Starfield's engine, and an upgraded version of the one used for Skyrim and Fallout 4 in its own right — to Creation Engine 3, the latest iteration of its proprietary tech, has proven to be a major boon for the company's workflow.

"But the one thing I'd say is really in the tech as we're going to Creation Engine 3. Again, the team has done a really incredible job at not just pushing what it is, but how it's integrated into our development cycle," said Howard, when asked about lessons learned from Starfield that Bethesda is applying to The Elder Scrolls 6. "So, you don't feel [issues in] what we're doing on a day-to-day basis, like when the game goes down. So, we're in a fortunate position where the builds of the game are really consistently working every day. Well, not every day, but we've had more days than we've ever had where the build is good, there's new stuff in it, and we can play it."

"And when you're making those kinds of technical changes as we talked about, often you're pulling the rug out from under the team who's making content. [You don't want] to be like, ‘Okay, that doesn't work for this period of time, you're going to have to wait until we get that working again.’ And we've done a really good job of managing that on this game," he added. "And with Starfield, we struggled there for a number of years in terms of when we went through the engine change."

But why, then, have we seen or heard next to nothing of The Elder Scrolls 6 for upwards of a decade after it was first announced at E3 2018? Well, many forget that Bethesda also revealed Starfield at the same time, and overall, it seems clear that the studio simply wanted to confirm the next The Elder Scrolls game would eventually come.

In the end, though, it seems all these years later, Howard actually regrets doing so. "Just pretend we didn't announce it. Doesn't exist," he said dismissively, of the reveal. "Nothing. I've never heard of it," he later jokingly added on the topic of the game itself.

Regardless, it's good to hear that the improvements made with Creation Engine 3 have made it easier for Bethesda to build the highly anticipated title without its developers stepping on each other's toes, which sounds like an issue it dealt with while making Starfield.

It's the first update on The Elder Scrolls 6's development we've gotten since Howard said "It's progressing really well" in December, and that "the majority of the studio's on VI." In November, he commented that it's still "a long ways off," so even though Bethesda is pleased with how things are coming along, you still shouldn't expect the game any time soon.

Notably, Howard's comments come on the same day as Xbox and Bethesda announced Starfield is getting a new Free Lanes update as well as a $10 Terran Armada story DLC (it's included in the Deluxe Edition, if you have it). Both are coming out on April 7, which is also the same time Starfield is arriving on PS5 (this was previously leaked, and is now confirmed).

🗨️ Are you hyped for The Elder Scrolls 6?

Hearing that Creation Engine 3 has made developing The Elder Scrolls 6 easier for Bethesda makes me more excited to eventually get my hands on it, even if it's still a long ways away.

How about you, though? Are you hyped to play The Elder Scrolls 6? Share your thoughts in the comments, and vote in our poll!

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Elder Scrolls Online is one of the few genuinely strong MMOs still thriving today, alongside RuneScape, World of Warcraft, and a handful of others. Unlike those PC-only giants, though, Elder Scrolls Online is also available on console.

That wider availability has always been a strength, but one thing that has frustrated Xbox players for years is the lack of Xbox Play Anywhere support. The feature would allow players to carry their saves and achievements across console and PC using the same Xbox account.

For those unaware of what ESO is, the game lets you team up with friends or explore solo in a massive shared world, featuring regions from across the Elder Scrolls series. The story takes place before the events of Skyrim, giving players a chance to explore Tamriel in an earlier era.

A long-requested feature finally set to arrive, just not quite yet

TrueAchievements actually spotted this before us, so credit where it’s due.

Over on Reddit, ZeniMax Community Manager u/ZOS_JessicaFolsom cross-posted from the ESO forums confirming that the team plans to roll out Xbox Play Anywhere later this year and join Xbox Game Pass. That means the feature is not live yet, even though it briefly appeared on the game’s Xbox app page.

The Community Manager stated: “Later this year, ESO for Xbox will be available as an Xbox Play Anywhere title, including PC support.”

“Later this year” could mean any time in the coming months, but it is still encouraging to see the feature officially on the way.

It is also worth noting that the game is coming to Game Pass. For a buy-to-play MMO, being included in the service is a significant addition and helps strengthen Game Pass overall.

There is one important caveat, though. This is not an account merge or transfer system.

Players will log into their Xbox account through the Xbox app on PC and play on the Xbox servers. Existing PC accounts will remain separate and continue running on the PC servers.

I have not played the game in quite some time, so I was not even aware that the servers were separated like this.

It is also worth mentioning that ZeniMax Online Studios has confirmed that full cross-play between Xbox, PlayStation, and PC is in development. However, there is no release window yet, and it is described as a technically complex process.

Passing it over to you!

Are you planning to try ESO on PC once Xbox Play Anywhere support goes live, or are you sticking to console? Let us know in the comments and make sure to take part in our poll below:

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While the first season of Amazon's acclaimed Fallout TV show was set in California around the ruins of Los Angeles and Season 2 prominently featured the Mojave Wasteland and the city of New Vegas, it's been revealed that at originally, its writers wanted to do New Vegas from the get go.

That revelation comes from Todd Howard, executive producer and game director at Fallout developer Bethesda Game Studios. Howard says he told the showrunners to hold off on going to New Vegas until "the base" of the series' story was established, as the setting — the primary location that Fallout: New Vegas took place in — is "tricky" and a "minefield" due to all the events that previously happened there, and because Obsidian Entertainment's 2010 entry is widely considered the best Fallout game.

"The writers really wanted to go to New Vegas. They actually wanted to go there in the early early pitches of Season 1, and I said, 'I would save that. That's such an iconic thing for Fallout — let's establish the base, and then we can go to New Vegas,'" he explained in a new Kinda Funny Games interview.

"And I thought they did a really really good job in taking it there because it's tricky. You have an iconic area, a beloved game, particular storylines [that] end in different ways, really strong characters...and there's a million ways to f**ck that up. And so it can be a bit of a minefield, right? And I thought they did a great job," he continued.

Howard then went on to note that Amazon and Bethesda approached the narrative of Season 2 very carefully, aiming to not "refute" any of Fallout: New Vegas' potential endings while simultaneously focusing on parts of the story that they felt it would be appropriate to "push forward." This is the "fog of war" approach that the showrunners have talked about previously.

"We spent a lot of time saying, like, 'let's not refute anything that happened in the games, but let's see if there's some areas that the writers really wanna push forward' ... I thought they did a fabulous job," he said. "And, you know, you do kinda worry about sophomore slump, you see it in some other things that you all love in entertainment, [but] fortunately people loved it, and we're on to Season 3."

Indeed, people did love it; long before the entirety of Season 2 and its New Vegas-centric story aired, it was already breaking Rotten Tomatoes records, and it's currently the highest-rated Season 2 of any live-action video game adaptation. The Fallout show overall is also now the highest rated live-action video game adaptation, beating out HBO's The Last of Us and others.

Notably, like Season 1 did back in Spring 2024, Season 2 gave the Fallout games it's based on a huge player count boost, kicking off a resurgence for the legendary RPG franchise. Fallout 4, Fallout 76, and Fallout: New Vegas benefitted the most from this renaissance, though all of the games did to varying degrees.

Its popularity reinforces my belief that Bethesda and Todd Howard ultimately made the right call in saving New Vegas for Season 2, as first establishing the show's core narrative and taking time to figure out how to carry the conflicts of New Vegas forward in a fitting way undoubtedly helped the showrunners safely navigate the "minefield."

If you haven't played New Vegas yourself yet, I can't recommend it enough — both because it provides significant context for the Fallout show, and because it's a terrific game. Like all the other Fallout titles, it's playable through Xbox Game Pass on Xbox and PC.

Did Todd Howard make the right call?

Do you believe Bethesda and Todd Howard were right to tell the Fallout TV showrunners to wait until Season 2 to do New Vegas? Are you a big fan of the show? How about of the Fallout RPGs? Let me know in the comments.

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The Elder Scrolls and Fallout developer Bethesda may be full steam ahead on The Elder Scrolls 6 right now, but that doesn't mean it's stopped working on its Xbox and PC space exploration RPG Starfield. In fact, the studio is gearing up to talk about its next big content update for the game soon, according to its game director Todd Howard.

Early last year, Bethesda teased big things for Starfield before going dark, with only a few more hints coming later in 2025. Then, amid reports of special preview event that showed attendees what's next for Starfield, rumors began to circulate that it would get something of a "Cyberpunk 2.0" moment in 2026, with some comparing it to the way the Phantom Liberty DLC massively overhauled Cyberpunk 2077.

Now, speaking with Kinda Funny Games in a new interview, Howard has revealed that more news about what Bethesda has in store for Starfield fans is "coming soon" — and that it's not "Starfield 2.0" in terms of overall scope.

"I can tell everybody we're gonna be talking about it really soon. We're moving into a phase where we're ready to talk about Starfield, and really show that in the right way, and what's coming to the game. We've been doing a lot of work that we like a lot," he said. "It is not 'Starfield 2.0' — you know, I've seen some of that ... for expectation setting, I think it's the kind of thing where if you love Starfield, we think you're gonna love this. It's updates that change the game not in an isolated way, but sort of, you know, meta, using outer space and things in ways that we haven't."

"But look, if Starfield's something that didn't connect with you right away, or you bounced off it, or found it boring in places, I don't think this is gonna change that fundamentally, but if you're someone who loves Starfield ... we're really happy with it, we like it a lot," he continued.

When asked how close Bethesda is to unveiling what it's been working on, Howard confirmed that "It's soonish, it is soonish. I don't wanna spoil the day, but it's coming soon, yep."

The news that Starfield isn't getting a big game-wide revamp will certainly disappoint some. It definitely disappoints me; I very much did not like Starfield and how bland and empty it felt compared to Bethesda's other RPGs (thankfully, Howard said The Elder Scrolls 6 will be a "classic" Bethesda game).

If you enjoyed Starfield more than I did, though, it sounds like you'll enjoy what Bethesda is announcing soon, too. Whatever it is, Howard's comments reveal it's going to utilize outer space in some new ways.

As for what it is exactly, the most likely answer is Starfield's next DLC expansion, which has been confirmed to be in development. The first one, Shattered Space, was met with a pretty lukewarm reception, so hopefully the next one does more to impress and move the needle. I also expect that Bethesda will continue supporting Starfield with free updates.

As always, only time will tell — but Howard's comments suggest the wait won't be long at all. Perhaps we'll finally get to see what's next for Starfield in March, which is notably the same month Bethesda began to tease what's coming last year.

Note that in addition to being available for direct purchase on Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC (it's just $38.59 at Loaded thanks to a nice deal), Starfield is also accessible with an active Xbox Game Pass membership.

What's your opinion of Starfield? How about Bethesda's other games, like The Elder Scrolls and Fallout? Would a new DLC expansion motivate you to come back to Starfield, or check it out if you haven't yet? Hit me with your take in the comments.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Though Xbox and Bethesda Game Studios are still working on more updates and content for Starfield and Fallout 76, the majority of the developer's staff are focused on the long-awaited The Elder Scrolls 6 that was announced over seven years ago in 2018.

Extremely little is known about the highly anticipated fantasy RPG and Skyrim sequel right now, though we just learned some major new details about the game from a Kinda Funny Games interview with Bethesda's executive producer and game director, Todd Howard.

Specifically, Howard revealed that The Elder Scrolls 6 will be more of a "classic" Bethesda game compared to more experimental titles like Fallout 76 and Starfield. Additionally, he also confirmed that it will use "Creation Engine 3," the latest iteration of the proprietary software it's used to build its RPGs since 2002's Morrowind.

"We do have a certain style that we like and our fans like that we want to get better and better at. I think in many ways, Fallout 76 and Starfield are a little bit of a creative detour from that classic Elder Scrolls, Fallout ... where you're exploring a world in a certain way," Howard told Kinda Funny host Greg Miller when asked if Bethesda plans to stick to its approach to RPG design, and its Creation Engine. "And you know, as we come back to Elder Scrolls 6 that we're doing now, we're coming back to that kind of classic style that we've missed, that we know really really well."

"We have a style of game that we really really like that I think people expect from us, and there's a lot of innovation to be done there still, so that when you step into a world you feel like you're experiencing it for the first time, a game like that, and we're happy with where it's headed right now. That's what I can say," he continued.

And on the Creation Engine: "We spent the last several years bringing Creation Engine 2 — which powers Starfield — up to Creation Engine 3; that's gonna power Elder Scrolls 6 and beyond," Howard announced. "And you know, obviously we do all the rendering things, we're really happy with the new stuff that we're doing, but also world systems, loading, how we bring things into the world, how we get that detail close to the camera immediately."

Though Bethesda continuing to upgrade and use their in-house engine for The Elder Scrolls 6 and other upcoming titles (Fallout 5, perhaps?) was expected, it wasn't officially confirmed until now. Some are worried about this since Creation is notorious for bugginess and its reliance on loading screens; hopefully Bethesda's improvements address these issues effectively.

I have mixed feelings about the Creation Engine, but what I'm definitely happy about is that The Elder Scrolls 6 will be more of a traditional Bethesda game. I wasn't really a fan of Starfield and found it to be as wide as an ocean but as shallow as a puddle, so I'm glad it sounds like the upcoming RPG will be denser and richer with things to do, even if that means it'll also be smaller.

Previously, Howard has commented that The Elder Scrolls 6 is "progressing really well," though it's still "a long ways off." Ultimately, we still don't know when it's coming out, but when it does, it'll be playable on Xbox and PC, and through Xbox Game Pass.

Are you looking forward to The Elder Scrolls 6? Are you glad it's going to be more of a classic Bethesda game, or would you have preferred for the studio to try something experimental? Let me know in the comments.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Bethesda's long-running 2018 MMO-lite RPG Fallout 76 is still going strong, with the experimental multiplayer spinoff of the beloved post-apocalyptic franchise maintaining a healthy community of players through regular content updates. The latest of these was the Burning Springs expansion that prominently features The Ghoul from the Fallout TV show; another very notable release was the Gleaming Depths update that came in late 2024.

Gleaming Depths featured a special four-player endgame raid of the same name, and challenged a squad of Vault Dwellers to progress through an arduous, lengthy dungeon that requires communication and ends with a climactic boss battle. Compared to everything else in Fallout 76, Gleaming Depths was a huge step up both in terms of difficulty and rewards, with players able to walk away from completions with 4-star Legendary gear, unique crafting blueprints, tons of XP and materials, and more.

In several ways, it's reminiscent of a raid from Bungie's Destiny 2, one of Fallout 76's live-service rivals — and it got a strong reception from fans, prompting Bethesda to consider how it might improve the experience if a second raid was to come. One idea is "encouraging players to play through the whole raid, or maybe dispersing the rewards across bosses a little more evenly, so it's not so concentrated on one boss or another," creative director Jon Rush told PCGamesN in a recent interview.

But ultimately, what matters most to Rush is that any new raid content is challenging, drives players to team up and work together, and sufficiently rewards them for the effort required to properly gear up for, learn, and successfully complete encounters. "As long as players are challenged, and they're encouraged to play with their friends or in a group, and that they are greatly rewarded for being successful," he said.

Notably, one thing Bethesda wants to avoid is having too much of a meta for the raid, and specific types of builds feeling required in order for you to efficiently make progress. "I'd hate to set something up where it's like, you have to be this [build], or else you'll just fall flat on your face. I'd rather let people see a new problem or something they need to overcome and let them choose how they want to do it," Rush explained.

That desire for many different kinds of setups to be viable, however, shines light on one of Fallout 76's biggest issues: the amount of time you have to spend in menus if you want to swap your build. Though the RPG is actually the first in Fallout history to support full and unlimited respecs, there's no way to quickly switch between loadouts. Thankfully, Bethesda is exploring ways to address this.

"We also want to figure out ways to make changing out loadouts — and changing full loadouts, meaning armor and things like that — a little bit easier for players, so you can do that without the time sink that is required for it," lead producer Bill LaCoste commented. "I really do want people to have multiple loadouts and outfits that go along with the content they're trying to engage in."

"We need to make it a little bit easier and make some adjustments, either on the job board side, or maybe some other tools that we can add for players too," he continued. The studio's overall goal is "to give people more time playing the game rather than dealing with their inventory," because the developer is "very much against 'playing the UI,' we want to play the game."

Be that as it may, though, it's important to note that Bethesda may still explore nudging people towards trying out new setups or tweaking their builds with future gameplay obstacles. "With that said, you know, hypothetically, if there was another raid, maybe the challenges would be skewed a bit differently so that people would need to think of other ways to play through it or gear up for it, you know?" Rush added.

Whether you're interested in new Fallout 76 raids or not, it's great to hear that the developers want to make changing builds easier. A system they should look to to try and emulate, in my opinion, is Destiny 2's Loadout mechanic; it allows you to save and swap between builds with the click of a button, automatically changing everything from your chosen subclass abilities and modifiers to your gear and all the mods you've equipped on them.

Are you a fan of Fallout 76? Would you be excited to see another raid similar to Gleaming Depths come to Bethesda's multiplayer RPG? Let me know in the comments.

Starfield, Bethesda’s newest IP, launched in 2023 as an Xbox and PC exclusive. Since release, it has been widely rumored to be heading to PS5, especially since the shift in strategy at Xbox.

Now, popular insider Shinobi602, who has a strong track record with industry information, has suggested on Resetera that a PS5 reveal could happen soon. According to the insider, the announcement may also include details about the game’s next expansion.

That expansion has been rumored for some time. Reports suggest it could introduce major improvements, potentially addressing some of the quirks and issues players have raised since launch.

A second chance to win players back?

Starfield, Bethesda’s space-set RPG, includes much of what players have come to expect from the studio. Despite that, it has been a point of contention among fans, with some feeling it did not fully meet expectations.

Here at Windows Central, however, it reviewed strongly. Jez Corden scored the game a 4.5 out of 5, praising its scope and ambition.

It has become popular online to highlight the so-called “jank” often associated with Bethesda titles. Even so, Starfield is not a bad game by any reasonable measure. A PS5 release alongside a substantial update could help shift the conversation and give it renewed attention.

This also is not the first time we have heard rumors of a PS5 port or a major update. Back in December, we reported on similar claims, but without a concrete timeline on when it would release along with an expected Nintendo Switch 2 version being in the works. Though Shinobi also believes that release has been pushed out or might not even come at all.

Now, according to Shinobi602, there is a clearer timeline. The insider suggests Bethesda could reveal more as soon as next month, potentially placing the announcement of the PS5 version and the next update in March 2026, with reports pointing to an April 2026 release for PS5.

Xbox is no stranger to porting their games to PlayStation and it’s very much expected as part of its strategy going forward, with Avowed being the latest to make the move. However, despite releasing games across multiple platforms, some titles are struggling to sell, with The Outer Worlds 2 being a recent example of this, despite reviewing well.

Do you think a PS5 release and major update could change the conversation around Starfield? Let us know your thoughts in the comments and make sure to take part in our poll below:

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Xbox and Bethesda's beloved post-apocalyptic RPG franchise Fallout is all the rage right now, with Season 2 of the TV show doubling its player counts on Steam, several free DLC add-ons hitting Fallout 4 recently, and more. Indeed, the last few months have been a great time to be a fan of the series — and in the days leading up to Season 2's finale episode, Bethesda has a treat for those who may not have played one of its biggest games.

From now until February 4 — one day after the finale of Season 2 of the Fallout TV show — you can play Fallout 76 for free across all of its platforms, including Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows PC (Steam, Xbox on PC), PS5, and PS4. Any characters and progress you make in the game will carry forward if you choose to purchase it after the free-to-play period ends (it's only $7.99 right now; it's usually $39.99).

Fallout 76 is one of the largest modern Fallout titles you can play right now, both in terms of available content and in terms of player count. As recent SteamDB data shows, the game has had, on average, around 20K-30K players on Valve's PC gaming platform at any given time.

That's not quite as large as Fallout 4's 30K-50K average, but it's above Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas. Ultimately, these are healthy, respectable numbers — and they're in addition to all the players on Xbox and PlayStation consoles that can't be tracked due to the lack of publicly available metrics.

As the first multiplayer RPG in the series with live-service patches and MMO-like elements, Fallout 76 was (and for some, still is) quite controversial, and got off to an extremely rocky start in late 2018. Bethesda stuck with it and has routinely improved it with major content updates, though, transforming it into a game that many love and play regularly. Burning Springs, its latest expansion, is its largest in years, and features The Ghoul from the TV show.

Fallout 76 becoming free to play for a week is pretty awesome, though the way Bethesda chose to announce and advertise that is a little...odd. The studio revealed the news alongside a new commercial for its Fallout games that stars Michael Grzesiek, AKA Shroud, one of the biggest streamers on Twitch and a competitive FPS player that used to compete in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (now Counter-Strike 2).

Getting a former pro player that specializes in PvP games to advertise your mostly singleplayer RPG franchise is certainly a choice, but I suppose he's still a very recognizable figure in gaming and may drive some PvP players to give Fallout a shot. Plus, Shroud says he's a huge fan of the series.

"Honestly still shocked I got to be apart of this commercial," he wrote in a post on social media. "As you all know fallout is one of my favorite video game franchises and to see myself in this video is incredibly heartwarming!!"

The commercial itself features Shroud clad in an up-armored Vault suit as he and several "Dogmeat" friends — referencing the canine companions you can find in most of the Fallout games — investigate a gas station for treasure, with a few amusing references to Fallout 4 thrown in. "Have any of you guys seen my son?" he asks the dogs.

Note that while Fallout 76 is the only game that's free to play for a limited time, all of the Fallout games are available to play across Xbox and PC with Xbox Game Pass. They're accessible through Xbox Cloud Gaming as well, with Fallout 4 also supporting Xbox Play Anywhere cross-save.

Do you plan on checking out Fallout 76 while it's free to play? If you've already played it, how do you like it compared to the mainstream singleplayer Fallout titles? Hit me with your take in the comments.

Bethesda's legendary post-apocalyptic sci-fi RPG franchise Fallout was propelled into the spotlight when the Fallout TV show debuted in Spring 2024, kicking off a renaissance for the fan-favorite games. Now, two years later, Season 2 of the show is sparking further renewed interest in the series — and if you're playing Fallout 4, Bethesda has released several pieces of free DLC content you can enjoy now.

These come in the form of community-made Creations mods paid for and curated by the developer. Typically, these cost money, but four that Bethesda has released for Fallout 4 recently are completely free to download and play across the Xbox, Windows PC, and PlayStation versions of the RPG shooter. None of them got any real marketing; that's a shame, because they're quite substantial and add many hours of content.

They include the following: The Varmint Rifle by Neeher, The Tale of the Beast Hunter by Hobgoblin Studios, Brotherhood of Steel T60 Pistol by Volodymyr Bondarchuk (Painter2099) and Armando Neto (NetoElite), and Revenge of the Van Graffs by the same creators. You'll find all of them in the Creations Store within Fallout 4.

Notably, the Varmint Rifle is a returning weapon from Fallout: New Vegas, and both The Tale of the Beast Hunter and Revenge of the Van Graffs feature or reference factions and gear that's either from or inspired by Obsidian's beloved entry in the franchise. The T60 Pistol add-on, meanwhile, brings the faction's powerful hand cannon from the TV show into Fallout 4.

That makes all four of these Creations especially worth checking out if you're a big fan of New Vegas and/or Amazon's TV series, which I'd wager most Fallout fans are. After all, the TV show is a record-breaking success, and New Vegas is widely regarded by many as the best Fallout game.

The Varmint Rifle features a bespoke, rather unique dungeon found by traveling west from Cambridge Polymer Labs along the nearby river, where you'll find a raider trying to enter a sewer through a manhole. Inside you'll find a variety of quest-markerless puzzles to work your way through, with the Varmint Rifle itself serving as your reward.

Tale of the Beast Hunter, meanwhile, sees you go through a "7-part holotape adventure" to "uncover the legend of the Beast Hunter." The Creation includes a unique outfit with two styles inspired by the iconic NCR Veteran Rangers and New Vegas' Lucky 38, along with a new Revolver Shotgun weapon called "Judge" and a "The Bar" player home fashioned after the look of The Strip in New Vegas.

The T60 Pistol is a smaller DLC that adds the weapon to Brotherhood of Steel inventories and to a few select locations like the Cambridge Police Station and Elder Maxson's room in the Prydwen. Revenge of the Van Graffs, though, is similar to Tale of the Beast Hunter in terms of scope.

Once you hit Level 15, you'll pick up an SOS signal on the radio that ropes you into a questline about mercenaries in dark black armor running amok in the Commonwealth, who New Vegas fans will recognize as the infamous gang of arms dealers in Freeside. By the end of it, you'll find yourself with both the Laser RCW and the Plasma Defender from New Vegas, with these weapons added to leveled lists as well.

I haven't played through these add-ons myself yet, but I have watched a few different walkthroughs and showcases, and overall, all the included quests and gear is great, with impressive voice acting, quality writing, and excellent visuals and animations. Thus, you should definitely check these free Creations out; after the disaster of the Fallout 4 Anniversary Edition, they're a nice win for the 2015 RPG.

Note that Fallout 4, along with every other Fallout game, is available to play on Xbox and PC through Xbox Game Pass.

What do you think of the four new Creations that Bethesda has given Fallout 4 players for free? Are you going to jump into the RPG to check them out soon? Let me know in the comments.

Will Bethesda's faraway upcoming post-apocalyptic RPG sequel Fallout 5 use the same Creation Engine that the studio's used for all of its other recent games? It's unclear right now, but Dean Carter — the project lead of the incredible game-sized Fallout: London mod for Fallout 4 from Team FOLON — really hopes that it won't, or that it will at least be substantially upgraded.

The DNA of the Creation Engine has been at the heart of Bethesda's games for over 20 years, with its predecessor, Gamebryo, used for The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind, The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, and Fallout 3 (as well as Obsidian's New Vegas), with Creation utilized for The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, Fallout 4, and Fallout 76. It was then used for Starfield, too, with a creatively named Creation Engine 2 upgrade.

There's a lot to love about the Creation Engine — the physics-based interactivity it enables is particularly great — but it also has some major shortcomings that has Carter wishing Bethesda would either move on or significantly improve it.

"I’m really worried that they’re gonna keep going with the Creation Engine," he told Esports.net. "I understand that it is proprietary. Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of pluses to it. I’m not just someone that’s going to sit there and lie and say it’s a terrible engine. It could be better, yes, but it’s not a bad engine but I do think it started to show its age. It needs to be overhauled somewhat."

"Load screens and optimization, without a doubt," he continued when asked what the biggest issues with the Creation Engine are. "That was our biggest complaint, rightly so from the public, that our game wasn’t optimized, and that’s because ... we as gamers did not want load screens. So we built things like the East Minster, which ... is notoriously one of the more unstable areas in the mod, and we were just trying to literally slap down walls on anything to optimize it by the end."

"If they have to upgrade it, that’s what they need to solve: get rid of the load screens and allow better optimization."

Indeed, Carter's comments echo a sentiment I frequently see from players of Bethesda's games, which is that they have far too many loading screens and have major performance problems in dense "cells" — AKA, the different zones Bethesda's maps are broken up into.

Games like Skyrim and Fallout feature large outdoor cells, along with numerous detailed interior cells that you have to load into and out of. Because of this, exploring the map requires dealing with frequent, arguably immersion-breaking loading screens.

Interior cells are used because without them, having lots of locations explorable as part of a larger outdoor cell causes framerate dips and stutters; Fallout 4's Boston area is infamous for these issues, and as Carter explains, Fallout: London's developers struggled to contend with them while sticking to its vision of having as few loading screens as possible.

With most open-world games now seamless and without any loading screens at all, Creation Engine titles and their reliance on them feel increasingly dated. It's something I've really come to hate about them, honestly, so I'm in full agreement with Carter that the engine needs an overhaul to address these limitations.

And hey, maybe some upgrades will bring fun stuff, too. "If they can overhaul it, then there’s no reason why they couldn’t push its limits and start adding things like drivable cars, maybe even metro systems like what we built in Fallout: London," Carter added. "Riders would be a great one. We have horses in Skyrim. I don’t see why they couldn’t get something like that in Fallout 5, too."

How do you feel about Bethesda games and the Creation Engine? Do their frequent loading screens bother you a lot, or do you ultimately not mind them much? Share your thoughts.

While all of the Fallout games that developer Bethesda Game Studios has made after acquiring the RPG series from creator Interplay Entertainment in 2007 — Fallout 3, Fallout 4, Fallout Shelter, and Fallout 76 — have proven to be popular with players, they've also always been rather contentious. Many didn't like the more lighthearted, comic tone of Fallout 4 and 76 in particular, and don't like that it carried over into Amazon's ongoing Fallout TV show, now in its second season.

What Fallout's former developers think of the RPG's current direction has always been a bit of a mystery, though a new comment from a designer that worked on 1998's Fallout 2 and served as a senior designer for Obsidian Entertainment's 2010 Fallout: New Vegas and its DLCs reveals his thoughts on The Elder Scrolls studio's work with the franchise.

The designer in question is Chris Avellone, known for his writing and design work on the aforementioned titles as well as other famed RPGs like Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords, Divinity: Original Sin 2, and Wasteland 3. When a fan asked what he thought about the speculation that Bethesda hates Fallout (referring to how it used to be), he had this to say:

"I don’t think Bethesda hates Fallout, they just don’t fully understand its roots and arguably, don’t care — they own the franchise, and they just want to do their spin on Fallout and make that the norm," he replied. "This usually translates into a colorful, shallow theme park (with some interesting DLC exceptions, like Far Harbor, Point Lookout — and I was one of the ones who liked The Pitt) — still, theme parks are fun for some folks, so if people enjoy it, that’s fine with me."

"As for me, I don’t hate Bethesda, there are things they do well (open world exploration), and there are things they do badly (telling linear stories in open world games and their inability to understand how to use the Speech skill)," he continued. "But every developer has their pros and cons."

It's interesting to see what one of Fallout's oldest developers thinks about the direction Bethesda has taken the post-apocalyptic RPG in throughout the modern era of gaming, and overall, I find myself agreeing with his opinion on the matter. For me, Fallout is always at its best when its humorous elements accentuate its darker political satire themes, but they've been placed front-and-center in recent entries and the TV show.

I thought Fallout 3 struck a great balance that was reminiscent of the vibe of Interplay's original CRPGs, but Fallout 4 swung hard in the colorful and comedic direction, with Fallout 76 and the TV show largely following suit. I still enjoy it, mind, but I do wish the series took itself a bit more seriously these days.

Avellone also hit the nail on the head in regards to his criticisms about Bethesda's linear narratives and poor dialogue options. The developer's tendency to write tight, mostly on-rails stories with minimal branching paths feels antithetical to the RPG's roots, and it's one of the only things I've truly hated about its Fallout games.

Both tonally and structurally, New Vegas is much closer to the classic Fallout experience than any of Bethesda's titles have ever been, complete with incredible player freedom, a deeply open-ended story, and a more serious approach to world design that ensures comedy takes a backseat to more earnest narrative themes.

It's for that reason that I believe it's widely considered to be the best game in the franchise, and I really hope that Fallout 5 is much closer to it than Fallout 4 when it eventually releases. But hey, even if it's not, at least we're getting a Fallout: New Vegas (and Fallout 3) remaster at some point.

Note that all the Fallout games across Xbox and PC are currently playable through Xbox Game Pass, with the old-school CRPGs limited to PC since they never got console ports.

What do you think of what Bethesda has done with the Fallout IP? Would you prefer if the studio styled their games after the old-school RPGs, or do you prefer its newer direction? Share your thoughts in the comments.

The Fallout games are massive RPGs strung together with a variety of different systems and mechanics, but the one that's unique to the franchise — and arguably its most iconic gameplay feature — is the Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System, or VATS.

VATS carried over from the original isometric Fallout games, and is a special function of your Pip-Boy. When used, it slows time bullet time-style (it works in real time in Fallout 76) and allows you to lock onto an foe's individual body parts, with a chance-to-hit percentage on each calculated by your character's stats and skills.

While you don't need to use VATS in combat, many love to because of how satisfying it is — and because critically wounding different limbs can disable certain enemy attacks or hamper their movement speed, it's a very deadly and effective mechanic with the right build.

Thus, it's become a staple of the franchise, and has been in every one of its games. But while it's hard to imagine a Fallout title that doesn't let you pop a raider's head off or cripple a deathclaw leg with VATS, it turns out the mechanic almost didn't make it into Bethesda's first game after acquiring the series, Fallout 3.

Per an interview with Edge (thanks, GamesRadar), Fallout 3 art lead Istvan Pely notes that for a time, Bethesda wasn't sure if anyone was going to like how it adapted VATS to a three-dimensional space. "There was a long period where it was like, 'is this even fun? Is this worth doing at all? Is anyone even going to use this?'"

A big issue for the studio was how VATS' camera positioning worked, and "to make sure it didn't get stuck behind an object," it coded a completely new logic algorithm. This system took "so much time" to refine and finish that "we only just got that working by the time we shipped," Pely said.

With how big of a role VATS plays in Fallout's moment-to-moment gameplay, it's rather shocking to hear that the mechanic just barely got over the finish line before Fallout 3's launch.

Again, it's hard to imagine the games without it, and I'd argue Fallout 3 would have been worse with its absence; its gunplay feels quite dated, but VATS did a lot to make it tolerable.

This also begs the question: if Fallout 3 didn't get VATS, would we have seen it come to Obsidian Entertainment's 2010 RPG Fallout: New Vegas, or Bethesda's next entry Fallout 4? It's impossible to say, but it sure is interesting to think about. I do think Fallout 3 would have been criticized for feeling too clunky without VATS, perhaps driving developers to make sure the system was present in future releases (and improve gameplay feel, as they did with Fallout 4 and 76).

One thing's for certain: without VATS, we wouldn't have one of the best videos on the internet in which a Fallout 4 player uses it to target a Fat Man-wielding baddie, watches in horror as a nuke slowly whistles towards them while their character awkwardly reloads with the system's shaky action cam, and then subsequently lucks out as the projectile misses by a whisker.

Note that all the Fallout games are playable on Xbox systems and Windows PC with Xbox Game Pass (though the old-school '90s titles are PC-only).

Do you use VATS a lot when you play Fallout games, do you aim manually instead, or do you use a combination of both approaches? Let me know what your playstyle is like in the comments.

One of the longer-running games in the Bethesda Softworks umbrella is getting a major shake-up, with The Elder Scrolls Online fully embracing a shift into a seasonal model. While the team at ZeniMax Online Studios was already experimenting with this shift last year, it's now being fully embraced, with regular seasons and a complete rethink of how new quests, zones, and more are added to the game.

During a recent Q&A ahead of Wednesday's livestream, I had the chance to listen to game director Nick Giacomini and executive producer Susan Kath discuss how The Elder Scrolls Online is changing across 2026.

First up, Kath indicates that most new playable content will now be free for all players who own the base game or are playing through a subscription like Xbox Game Pass.
Prior expansions will be folded into the base experience for The Elder Scrolls Online as the Seasons progress.

Per Giacomini, the team is focused on "resilience and transformation," and is trying to provide a far more transparent approach to updates and planning than has been given to players in the past. Each season will last for three months, with Season 0 kicking off in the spring and adding the Dark Brotherhood, Imperial City, Orsinium, and Thieves Guild to the main game.

Season 0 brings a limited-time event called the Night Market, which may stick around for longer if it's well-received by players. This is described as a group event zone, with differing factions to aid in exchange for special rewards, including a new house.

Promised reworks are also being included, starting with Season 0, with the Dragonknight class. The Two-Handed skill lines and the Werewolf are all getting a significant rebalance and visual refresh.

Looking ahead, Season 1 will bring new story quests and Thieves Guild-related content, as well as a new quest involving Sheogorath. Meanwhile, Season 2 will see the Greymoor expansion (which added the province of Skyrim) added to the main game. Additional rebalancing and visual reworks will be spread throughout these seasons and beyond.

A team at ZeniMax Online Studios is also hard at work on cross-play, though players shouldn't expect this to arrive anytime soon.

For players interested in earning more special stuff, The Elder Scrolls Online is getting a battle pass-esque system called Tamriel Tomes. Completing weekly and seasonal challenges unlocks new pages with new rewards. Seals of Endevaour, armor, weapon styles, and more will be included.

The Elder Scrolls Online is currently available on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Mac. It's also included in Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.

Developer ZeniMax Online Studios shared a barrage of information on Wednesday for The Elder Scrolls Online, detailing what players can expect as the long-running title fully shifts to a seasonal model and changes a fair bit over the coming year.

Ahead of today’s news, I attended a Q&A with some members of ZeniMax Online Studios. In addition to a roadmap of more immediate improvements across 2026, executive producer Susan Kath confirmed that, at long last, cross-play is in the works for The Elder Scrolls Online, stating that there is a dedicated team working on the feature.

While players have been asking for cross-play for a long time, it’s still going to be a while before it’s ready, and there is no current release date or even a vague window for when to expect the functionality to arrive.

The Elder Scrolls Online first kicked off all the way back in 2014 on PC, with console versions arriving later in 2015. As a result, it was never designed around cross-play, and Kath freely admits that figuring it all out is a “difficult” process. In addition to just figuring out the technical side of the feature, there’s also the community aspect to handle.

With players limited by platform, The Elder Scrolls Online has various communities and Guilds split across Xbox, PlayStation, and PC/Mac.

A challenge worth tackling

I don’t envy the developers at ZeniMax Online Studios as they try to figure out how cross-play will work, but ultimately, it’s a huge feature that the game will be better off having.

Cross-play and cross-progression are fundamental features in multiplayer titles now, with players (myself included) chafing at restrictions or being unable to take characters and progress wherever they go.

There are a lot of changes coming to The Elder Scrolls Online, and I’m excited to see how the game grows and adapts over the next several months.

The Elder Scrolls Online is currently available on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Mac. It’s also included in Xbox Game Pass.

Season 2 of Amazon's fan-favorite Fallout TV show recently kicked off, and you know what that means: excitement for and interest in the legendary post-nuclear RPG series is flaring up just as it did when the first season debuted in 2024.

Notably, all that hype has come at the perfect time for those who haven't bought the games yet, as the entire franchise is currently on sale for some of the lowest-ever prices I've ever seen its titles sell for. Indeed, with how steep the markdowns are — especially on PC, though Xbox has some killer deals, too — there's never been a better time to jump into the Fallout games than right now.

You'll find great discounts on platforms like Steam and GOG, but the best ones available (except for Fallout 76) are on codes from retailers like GreenManGaming and Loaded. For example, the complete editions of Fallout 3 and New Vegas with all their DLC expansions are normally $20, but the former is just $5.61 at GMG and the latter is going for only $6.69 at Loaded.

Get every Fallout game for dirt cheap right now

Now that Season 2 of the Fallout TV show is in full swing and new episodes are releasing weekly every Wednesday, it's a good idea to play the games it's based on and adapting so you have a greater understanding of the world of Fallout and the events that have unfolded throughout the history of its post-apocalyptic wastelands. And thanks to these deals, you can do so for a rock-bottom price.

Fallout: New Vegas in particular is the title I'd recommend playing the most right now. Not only is it generally considered to be the best Fallout game for its top-notch writing, excellent worldbuilding, rich and "crunchy" RPG systems, and its abundance of player freedom and choice, but many of its characters and locations directly tie into Season 2 of the show.

Really, though, I recommend playing all of them (except Tactics, which I'd argue you can skip and not miss out on much). I can understand bouncing off of 1 and 2 since their dated control schemes make them a bit tough to get into, but you should still give them a shot. Fallout 3 and Fallout 4 are far more modern, with Fallout 76 offering MMO-style multiplayer gameplay that uses Fallout 4 as a foundation.

Bethesda is largely focused on The Elder Scrolls 6, so it will be a long, long time until we see Fallout 5 — a game that will be directly affected by the events of the TV show. Even so, there's no reason why you shouldn't go back and experience all the awesome games that the show is an adaptation of, especially while they're this cheap.

FAQ

With Season 2 of the Fallout TV series now here, many players are likely wondering how (or even if) the events of the uber-popular show will tie into developer Bethesda Game Studios' next entry in the universe of Fallout role-playing games (RPGs).

"In short, yes," says Todd Howard, executive producer and director at Bethesda Game Studios, speaking with BBC on all things Fallout in the wake of the season's debut.

"Fallout 5 will be existing in a world where the stories and events of the show happened or are happening," Howard says. "We are taking that into account."

This makes sense, as it's worth noting for those who haven't yet watched it that the Fallout TV series isn't a direct adaptation of the events of one of the games. Instead, it's treated as another entry in the universe altogether, and is in fact the latest sequence of events in the Fallout timeline.

With that in mind, of course, the team at Bethesda Game Studios would take care to note and possibly reference the events of the series in Fallout 5.

Of course, the elephant in the room here is that Fallout 5 isn't close. Bethesda Game Studios has grown since its parent company, ZeniMax Media, was acquired by Microsoft, but the developer is divided into multiple teams, with some continuing to work on updates and a new expansion for the 2023 science-fiction RPG Starfield, while others continue to work on Fallout 76.

By far the largest team at Bethesda Game Studios is the one working on The Elder Scrolls 6, which is the studio's next mainline game. It's still a ways away, but production is underway.

In the meantime, the second season of the Fallout TV series has premiered, and is currently exclusively available through Prime Video.

As the year draws to a close, another Microsoft-owned game studio is organizing, with Texan developer id Software voting to unionize on Friday, per the Communication Workers of America (CWA). The CWA notes that a "strong majority" of the studio's staff voted in favor of unionization, with 165 workers now joining a wall-to-wall union. Like with prior studio organizational efforts, Microsoft has voluntarily recognized the union.

“The wall-to-wall organizing effort at id Software was much needed; it’s incredibly important that developers across the industry unite to push back on all the unilateral workplace changes that are being handed down from industry executives,” said id Software producer Andrew Willis.

“The union is a way for us, the developers, to take back control of the industry we love and to ensure that it delivers high-quality products from high-quality workers who have health benefits and longevity beyond quarterly profits.”

id Software is an iconic studio, well-known for its work on games such as the DOOM and Quake franchises. Earlier this year, id Software launched its latest game, DOOM: The Dark Ages, which was well-received and went on win the Innovation in Accessibility award at Game Awards 2025.

Notably, with this undertaking, every North American game studio under ZeniMax Media is now unionized, with Bethesda Game Studios and ZeniMax Online Studios having organized last year.

Over 3,600 game developers under Microsoft are part of a union, with several additional unions across Activision and Blizzard Entertainment.

“Remote work isn’t a perk. It’s a necessity for our health, our families, and our access needs. RTO policies should not be handed down from executives with no consideration for accessibility or our well-being,” says id Software lead services programmer Chris Hays. “With a union, we will have the opportunity to make sure that everyone has a voice in the things that matter most to us.”

This comes as layoffs have been rampant in the gaming industry across the past couple of years, including at Microsoft, with multiple studios being shuttered and numerous employees being laid off.

The weekly Xbox releases show no sign of slowing down, with another large batch of games launching this week, including the widely-anticipated DOOM: The Dark Ages.

This fantasy-infused shooter from id Software and Bethesda Softworks is the latest in a long line of Xbox first-party launches in 2025, bringing a prequel to DOOM (2016) and DOOM Eternal that radically shakes up the gameplay formula with new ideas.

I loved the changes, so much so that I awarded the game a rare perfect score in my review of DOOM: The Dark Ages. Naturally, as a first-party game, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subcribers will be able to hop in and play at no extra cost. As a reminder, Premium Edition buyers can start playing two days early.

If you missed them before, be sure to check out all the Xbox games that launched last week, including Revenge of the Savage Planet. Now, here's everything coming to the Xbox store next week:

May 13, 2025

• CyberCorp (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows PC): "Brutal, fast-paced isometric co-op Loot Shooter in a Cyberpunk world. Master equipment-based combos. Discover exotic weapons and armor. Easy to start, hard to master. Play solo or team up with friends in multiplayer."
• Gore Doctor (Xbox Series X|S): "Gore Doctor is an immersive horror game packed with spine-chilling thrills. You wake up inside the twisted institute of a desperate doctor who’s broken all the rules to save his wife, Scarlett, from a deadly illness. As Scarlett succumbs to her fate, the doctor descends into madness and becomes convinced that death is the only respite. Players must navigate the nightmarish corridors of the doctor’s institute, confronting grotesque horrors, uncovering dark secrets, and striving to escape with their lives intact. Can you survive the twisted labyrinth and unravel the haunting mysteries within?"
• Labyrinth of the Demon King (Xbox Series X|S): "Labyrinth of the Demon King is a challenging first-person dungeon crawler with survival horror elements, set against the backdrop of a mythical feudal Japan besieged by demons. As a lone foot soldier, embark on a quest to track down and slay the Demon King who killed your Lord. But will you have the skill, resources and stamina needed to survive through all the horrors this brutal world will throw at you?"
• Palia (Xbox Series X|S): "Discover a welcoming world in Palia, a free-to-play fantasy life sim adventure where you can craft, explore, and create the life and home of your dreams. With nearly endless ways to make Palia your home, you’ll find relaxation and joy in every corner of this vibrant, heartwarming world."
• The Precinct (Xbox Series X|S): "You are Officer Nick Cordell Jr. As a rookie beat cop fresh out of the Academy, you’re on the front line of defence for Averno’s citizens. Dive into a world of thrilling car chases, sandbox crimes, and a healthy dose of 1980s noir as you protect the populace and solve the mystery of your father’s murder in the line of duty."

May 14, 2025

• Anima Flux (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One): "Anima Flux is a co-op metroidvania with two genetically enhanced soldiers, special agents of a theocratic dictatorial regime. Fight your way through swarms of mutants through a desolate, dystopian space city and save humanity's last stronghold, if, of course, anyone is still alive..."
• Hidden Kittens: Kingdom of Cats (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One): "Purrr! Prepare for a delightful mission in a fantasy landscape – many cats can be found across this magical realm… Every corner hides a fluffy surprise just waiting to be discovered – over 350 of them, to be somewhat precise… Pick your favourite colours for your game’s look and feel, and keep your eyes peeled for any balls of joy that wait to be pet!~"
• Kaiju Big Battel: Fighto Fantasy (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One): "Kaiju Big Battel: Fighto Fantasy is a 16-bit styled RPG featuring turn-based combat, a large cast of characters, and tons of hilarious dialogue! This is an officially licensed game based on the live-action monster wrestling group Kaiju Big Battel, who have been performing their Godzilla-meets-WWE act for over 20 years."
• Recycle Bin Battle (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One): "Recycle Bin Battle is a unique and amazing game with lot of fun, original video and "proust madeleine" Reycle Bin Battle is an arcade puzzle game based on 3 differents gameplay. 1- Catch Rubishes tumbling down a machine and arrange them in type and color to make them disappear and make ball for second part. 2- Use ball to break invaders defenses and get energy in a breakout-like. 3- Use energy to shoot Kaiju and save humanity."
• Super Engine GT Turbo SPEC (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows PC): "Burn up the track in old-school arcade style as you climb through the ranks and earn new rides! Get ready for adrenaline-fueled racing fun as you climb your way through the motorsports ranks in pure arcade style! Super Engine GT Turbo SPEC is all about speed and pushing your driving skills to the limit. Choose from Novice, Junior, Senior and Pro event series, select from 8 unique venues and a variety of touring cars, then burn up the asphalt as you race from the back of the pack all the way to podium position!"

May 15, 2025

• American Arcadia (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One): "Welcome to Arcadia! A 70’s retro-futuristic metropolis where all its citizens enjoy a life of luxury and comfort… unaware that they’re being broadcast live 24/7! Arcadia is not an ordinary city, but the most watched reality show on the planet - where a drop in popularity ratings comes at the highest cost: death."
• City Bus Manager (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One): "Build your own depot from scratch and create your personal bus routes in City Bus Manager. Play in your own hometown or any famous city in the world. Recreate the official bus network or change it completely to your preference. Did you ever think your local bus schedule sucks? This is your chance to show that you can step it up. Connect all the Points of Interest and see your passenger numbers grow. Buy new buses and hire staff to make sure you can keep up with your schedule."
• DOOM: The Dark Ages (Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC): "BECOME THE SLAYER IN A MEDIEVAL WAR AGAINST HELL DOOM: The Dark Ages is the prequel to the critically acclaimed DOOM (2016) and DOOM Eternal that tells an epic cinematic story worthy of the DOOM Slayer’s legend. In this third installment of the modern DOOM series, players will step into the blood-stained boots of the DOOM Slayer, in this never-before-seen dark and sinister medieval war against Hell."
• Forgotten Fields (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One): "Sid is a writer struggling with writer's block, attempting to recapture the feelings of inspiration he felt when he was younger. In order to pay the bills, he needs to think up a story and apply for a grant - the deadline is today - a lazy Sunday in the middle of summer."
• Garten of Banban 0 (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One): "What is this place? Who are you? You’ll have to discover the answers on your journey through the facility. Piece together the truth to uncover what’s really going on here."
• Hunt and Fight: Action RPG (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One): "After your ship was caught in a terrifyingly powerful storm and wrecked, you found yourself on the shore of an unknown island full of monsters, undead, and bandits. Explore the island, upgrade your weapons and armor, improve your fighting skills, and defeat the most dangerous monsters on this island. Don't forget that your main goal is to find a way to get home."
• Into the Restless Ruins (Xbox Series X|S): "Into the Restless Ruins is a roguelike deckbuilder. Use your deck of cards, representing rooms and corridors, to grow the labyrinth of the ruins. Then auto-battle your way through them, harvesting as much Glimour as you can from the cursed residents before darkness overcomes your torch. Earn favours from the Harvest Maiden, find Relics to trade with the Hen Wife, Wulver and other characters from Scottish folk lore to upgrade and curate your deck, and hope you are strong enough to face The Warden when you can finally reach it."
• Preserve (Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC): "Preserve is a puzzle nature-building game that takes players on a journey into a harmonious ecosystem. The objective is to foster and sustain a thriving and diverse biomes, where each component coexists in a symbiotic harmony. By utilizing strategic thinking and a keen eye for balance, players are granted the power to position a wide array of plants and animals, curating an environment that caters to their preferences and aspirations."
• Shovel Knight Dig (Xbox Series X|S): "When Drill Knight and his dastardly digging crew blast apart Shovel Knight’s peaceful campsite and steal his loot, he grabs his trusty Shovel Blade and starts tunneling after them! Meet new friends and foes, visit strange lands, and outfit yourself in your quest to keep the entire land from collapsing underfoot! Jump, slash, and dig your way down an ever-changing chasm of mystery in Shovel Knight Dig, an all-new Shovel Knight adventure!"
• Stunt Flyer (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One): "Stunt Flyer is a vibrant flying adventure led by sibling duo Jimmy and Sophie. Take to the skies in a world filled with wild inventions and fantastical flying machines. From UFOs and gyrocopters to nimble jets, each aircraft is unique—and fully customizable with a variety of gadgets and gear."
• Wings of Endless (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One): "An epic 2D ARPG adventure awaits in the world of Wings of Endless! Discover the secret of a forgotten war in Wings of Endless, a platforming Action-RPG with a captivating Pixelart style that will draw you in from start to finish. Step into the role of Hariku, a brash bounty hunter who boasts of being the best at his craft."

May 16, 2025

• Capcom Fighting Collection 2 (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One): "Capcom's new fighting collection hits the stage! Choose from fan-favorite games like Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001 and Project Justice to 3D action games like Power Stone and Power Stone 2 in this collection of eight classic fighting games! Each game in the collection can be played online or co-op! Get back in the ring and duke it out in battles that everyone rumored, but no one believed! Whether it's with a rival new or old, give it your all and strive for victory!"
• Death Park: 4k Remaster (Xbox Series X|S): "In this scary game you should explore a huge abandoned amusement park with a creepy circus. Are you ready to face the true evil - the scary killer clown? Will you be able to solve all the puzzles that are waiting for you on the path to escape in these horror stories? You will have to play hide and seek with that monster and go through all the hard quests in order to survive throughout the night!"
• Hannah's Day (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One): "Hannah loves three things more than anything - singing, friends and her skateboard. But her parents are not supportive of Hannah's decision to tie her life to music. None of this matters. Music and imagination will get Hannah through the challenges!"
• Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo (Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC): "Use your wits, kindness, and maybe a good whack to gather clues, items, and evidence that will help the residents of Limbo move on. Untangling an afterlife is no easy feat, especially when you don’t have feet! Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo is a papercraft adventure game where you’ll meet the many good and not-so-good folks of Limbo, a place where souls with deep regrets are cursed into repeating the same day on a loop."
• Meowsterpiece Museum (Xbox Series X|S): "Great painters love cats and hid them in their masterpieces. Your mission is to find them and make the paintings even more beautiful."
• Neon Apex: Beyond the Limit (Xbox Series X|S): "Welcome to the Neon Apex  Open only to the most elite racers, both human and other, prove that you can handle breakneck speeds and perilous racecourses to win it all."
• Plumber Hero (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One): "Plumber Hero is an exciting way to test your creativity. There are 3 main stages, 40 levels each, so there’s no shortage of content for you to enjoy. Each one gets increasingly difficult, so you have to use all your skills and work hard to pass them all."
• SYNESTHESIA (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One): "The year is 2029. The Huntley Scientific Research Institute has opened its doors to a select few—young individuals gifted with extraordinary mental powers and mysterious abilities. Among them is Ziek, a university student with a rare form of “synesthesia”—a perception that allows him to see the hidden significance of objects through vibrant splashes of color"

DOOM: The Dark Ages is almost here, with the next entry in id Software's iconic shooter series launching in less than a week.

The reviews are in, with the majority of critics praising what the team has put together, with bulkier combat that makes the Slayer feel slower, heavier, and stronger. I also had a blast with the game, so much so that I awarded it a rare perfect score in my review.

As you read or watch different reviews and we head into the weekend, I'm curious, are you planning to play DOOM: The Dark Ages at launch?

DOOM: The Dark Ages is slated to launch on May 15, 2025, for Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, and PlayStation 5. PC players can choose between Steam, the Xbox App, or Battle.net.

Seeing as it's an Xbox first-party game, it's also launching day one into Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass. For anyone who buys the Premium Edition (or any Game Pass players who buy the Premium Upgrade), you can start playing early on May 13, 2025.

Every DOOM game is different from the others, and I strongly suspect the split between DOOM (2016) and DOOM Eternal is about to become a three-way camp with The Dark Ages in the mix.

Personally, I've appreciated each game for what it did, but I overall preferred Eternal to DOOM (2016), which is why I'm surprised the radical shift in gameplay has worked so well for me here.

The sheer spectacle is incredible, and making the levels bigger than ever (without becoming overwhelming) is awesome.

Windows Central readers, share your thoughts!

So, I want to hear from you! Are you planning to hop in and play DOOM: The Dark Ages when it arrives, or are you holding off for some particular reason? I'm curious either way!

• Are you going to play DOOM: The Dark Ages when it launches?
• If you are, are you dropping something else in order to play immediately?
• If not, are you just not interested, or are you trying to finish another game first?
• Are you a longtime DOOM fan?
• If you've played the other games, which DOOM title is your favorite?
• What's your favorite game so far this year?

If there's something I didn't bring up, or if you've got a question you'd like me to answer, feel free to bring that up too!

It's been an incredible year for new games so far in 2025, with everything from expansive RPGs like Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 to creative new indie projects such as Blue Prince out there for players to discover and enjoy. Now, though, Xbox and id Software have come out with what very well could be one of the year's biggest Game of the Year contenders in DOOM: The Dark Ages. A prequel to DOOM 2016 and DOOM Eternal, The Dark Ages completes the narrative trilogy while introducing various new gameplay mechanics and other additions.

DOOM is arguably the most influential FPS franchise ever made, and the two modern titles that came before The Dark Ages are widely regarded as some of the best shooters in recent history. Because of that, many are curious to see what critics have to say about it — and now they don't have to wait any longer to find out. Ahead of its May 14 release date, reviews for The Dark Ages have gone up, with the game achieving a "Generally Favorable" score of 86/100 on Metacritic based on 47 evaluations across Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, and PS5. Here are some quotes and scores to give you an idea of the range of opinions:

• TrueAchievements (100/100): "Doom: The Dark Ages might be a prequel, but it feels like an evolution for the franchise. Packed into a tightly crafted campaign that ramps up the stakes at every turn, it's without a doubt the most bloodthirsty and satisfying Doom to date. With fresh additions like the Shield Saw, Atlan, and Cyberdragon, there is a ton of variety to keep you engaged and hooked to the very end. Another fantastic win for Xbox and Bethesda."
• Shacknews (90/100): "After Doom Eternal proved somewhat divisive among fans, Doom: The Dark Ages should be a Doom game everyone can appreciate. It’s fast and hard hitting, featuring robust combat systems that make learning their ins and outs fun and empowering. I daresay it’s even better than Doom 2016, and is a must-play title for everyone interested in Doom, first-person shooters, and action games as a whole."
• VG247 (80/100): "Doom The Dark Ages will get your blood pressure up. It will test your reflexes, your problem-solving skills, your aim, and your ability to solve problems on the fly. It’ll probably test your patience a little, too, when the chugging, uninspired, padded-out sections in the middle start to wear a bit thin. But when it does manage to get your adrenaline pumping, you’ll be champing at the bit and thumbing shells into your shotgun so fast that the princes of hell themselves shaking in their boots."
• TechRadar (80/100): "Doom: The Dark Ages is a good shooter at its core, but as a follow-up to two of the best FPS games ever made, it falls a little flat. The new defensive combat feels like a step back, with movement getting a significant nerf, and, while Doom Slayer is still an exciting character, the story focus feels out of place."
• GamesRadar+ (70/100): "While Doom: The Dark Ages is a solid game, the ways it differs from previous titles are largely to its detriment. Most of what's praiseworthy about the Slayer's 2025 adventures are what's translated from older entries, while new features like the melee focus and mech sequences feel like fumbled missteps the series would be well-advised to forget going forward. Still, the joy of blasting cacodemons with a shotgun is never truly lost, and the over-the-top aesthetic will always elevate the experience."
• Dexerto (60/100): "Above all else, Doom: The Dark Ages has utterly fantastic combat. Moment-to-moment action is among the best in series history. But ultimately, in a desire to expand on a winning formula, id Software has fallen short of the high bar it set with Doom 2016 and Doom Eternal."

• DEAL: Xbox Game Pass Ultimate 1-month memberships are $18.79 at CDKeys, giving you access to Microsoft's service for a cool discount

Overall, the scores for DOOM: The Dark Ages are very positive, with most reviewers greatly enjoying the medieval theming of the prequel and praising the way the it envisions the Doom Slayer as more of a heavy (but still fast) juggernaut tank instead of a nimble fighter jet that constantly zips around at breakneck speeds. Indeed, its combat appears to be the weightiest and most brutal of any DOOM yet, with defensive mechanics like parrying as well as segments with colossal Atlan mechs and a mecha dragon mount spicing up the otherwise beloved, yet familiar gameplay formula.

In terms of visuals and sound, The Dark Ages is also a triumph, with its hellish environments, armies of demons, and the carnage of combat all brought to life with gorgeous fidelity and audio.

With that said, id Software's new title also doesn't sound like it's without problems. Several reviewers feel that the new Atlan mech and dragon-riding sections feel out of place in a DOOM game and distract from the core bombastic shooter gameplay, and some argue that elements of the slower, weightier combat feel clunky and awkward. The story has also received some criticisms, as has the metal soundtrack (to a lesser extent).

We reviewed DOOM: The Dark Ages ourselves, also, with my colleague Samuel Tolbert awarding the highly anticipated shooter a perfect 5/5 score. "With DOOM: The Dark Ages, id Software proves it can still reinvent the wheel, shaking up numerous aspects of gameplay, exchanging elaborate platforming for brutal on-the-ground action, as well as the ability to soar on a dragon's back or stomp around in a giant mech," he wrote. "The story is silly, but it fits the over-the-top tone of the Slayer's war against demons. It's still just as fun to rip and tear as it always has been."

The slightly slower, yet weightier feel of The Dark Age's combat sounds like a huge upside for me personally, as I found both DOOM 2016 and DOOM Eternal to be too fast for my taste. I also have a major weak spot for medieval and dark fantasy aesthetics, so on the whole, this game is pretty much right up my alley; as soon as it's out on May 14, I'll be jumping in on Xbox Game Pass. Alternatively, you can pick the Steam version of the game up for $64 at CDKeys or the Xbox one for $67 at CDKeys to save a few dollars on a full copy.

Yesterday, AMD updated its "Adrenaline Edition" driver for Radeon desktop and laptop graphics hardware to version 25.5.1 — now available for download directly from AMD.com.

As expected, it includes new graphics support for two big PC game releases dropping this month: the perfectly-scored DOOM: The Dark Ages (May 15) and the next racing entry in F1 25 (May 30), alongside an expansion to its list of titles with FSR 4 (FidelityFX Super Resolution 4) upscaling tech supported by Radeon RX 9070 graphics cards.

FSR 4 means titles like the recently updated survival city builder, Frostpunk 2, can render at a lower internal resolution and have the final image upscaled with sophisticated techniques that retain sharp edges and clean textures.

It essentially reduces the rendering stress when playing at 4K+ resolutions on any compatible RDNA 4 Radeon GPU like the $599 Radeon RX 9070 XT.

More FSR 4 and HYPR-RX support for Team Red

I'm always happy to see more PC games benefit from AMD's FSR 4 upscaling tech as it continues to fight for relevance against NVIDIA's DLSS 4 and Intel's XeSS 2, and I'm a particular fan of any graphics card manufacturer that makes its more affordable models more capable of running the most graphically intensive games.

The high-selling samurai adventure blockbuster, Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut, is among the list of newly-supported games with FSR 4, so if you were previously put off by its demanding GPU requirements, then a $549 RX 9070 RDNA 4 GPU could be the answer (yeah, it's not the cheapest answer, but it's "future proof", right?)

Otherwise, more titles like the successful multiplayer shooter Marvel Rivals now have per-game "HYPR-Tune" support for AMD's HYPR-RX suite, which combines input latency reduction with FSR 4 and more component tweaks designed to squeeze the maximum performance potential out of your gaming PC or laptop.

Patch notes

Highlights

• New game support
  • DOOM: The Dark Ages
  • F1 25
• New game support for AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution 4 (FSR 4)
  • Ghost of Tsushima DIRECTOR'S CUT
  • Frostpunk 2
  • EVERSPACE 2
  • Fort Solis
  • Warhammer 40,000: Darktide
  • THE FINALS
  • InFlux Redux
• Expanded HYPR-RX support
  • HYPR-Tune support
    • Marvel's Spider-Man 2
    • Marvel Rivals
    • Grand Theft Auto V Enhanced
    • Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
    • Path of Exile 2
• Expanded Vulkan Extension Support
  • Vulkan 1.4 Support
  • VK_EXT_shader_replicated_composites
  • VK_KHR_maintenance8
  • VK_EXT_image_2d_view_of_3d
  • Click HERE  for more information about other Vulkan extension support.
• Fixed Issues and Improvements
  • Failure to detect integrated camera may be observed after driver installation using factory reset option on some Ryzen™ AI Max and Max+ series products.
  • Installation progress may persistently display 0% while installing AMD Chat within the AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition user interface after upgrading to AMD Radeon RX 9000 Series graphics products.
  • System crash may be observed due to a memory leak when using SteamVR on some AMD Radeon™ Graphics Products, such as the Radeon™ RX 9000 series. Users experiencing this issue are recommended to turn off Motion Smoothing in SteamVR settings.
  • Intermittent application crash or driver timeout may be observed while playing Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition.
  • Intermittent application crash or driver timeout may be observed while loading Civilization VII with Anti-Lag enabled.
  • Intermittent failure to launch may be observed when AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition user interface is launched from desktop context menu or system tray.

Known issues

• Intermittent application crash or driver timeout may be observed while playing The Last of Us Part 2.
• Stutter may be observed while playing games with some VR headsets at 80Hz or 90Hz refresh rate on some AMD Radeon Graphics Products such as the Radeon RX 7000 series. Users experiencing this issue are recommended to change the refresh rate as a temporary workaround.
• Intermittent system or application crash may be observed while playing Cyberpunk 2077
• Failure to launch may be observed for Battlefield 1 on Radeon RX 9000 series graphics products with Ryzen 9 9950X integrated graphics. Users experiencing these issues are recommended to disable integrated graphics (iGPU) in system BIOS as a temporary workaround.
• Intermittent application crash or driver timeout may be observed while playing Monster Hunter Wilds with Radeon Anti-Lag and Instant Replay enabled.
• Artifacts or corruption may appear while playing BattleField on Radeon RX 7000 series graphics products.
• Quality and Performance selections may be reversed in the user interface for AMD Radeon Boost.
• Stutter may be observed while playing Call of Duty: Warzone Season 03 Verdansk map on some AMD Graphics Products.

I throw my shield into a Mancubus. I dodge, then parry a Pinky Rider's attack before smashing the armor of a Dread Knight with my flail. A weakened Komodo falls after two more blasts from the Super Shotgun.

So goes another round against the forces of Hell in DOOM: The Dark Ages, the latest first-person shooter in the long-running DOOM series.

While every DOOM game tries new things, DOOM: The Dark Ages is a radical departure from what came before, re-envisioning the Slayer as a bulky, implacable tank instead of a barrel-rolling fighter jet. You're still fast, but there's a new weight to everything. Every movement counts more than ever, and every attack must be more brutal than ever before.

It's a significant change, but it's one that works wildly, resulting in a campaign that's super fun to play, providing more weapons and tools to play around with as you smash through thousands of demons.

I've loved my time with DOOM: The Dark Ages, and it's a highlight for me in a year that's already stacked with fantastic games so far.

This review was made possible thanks to a review code provided by Bethesda Softworks. The company did not see the contents of this review before publishing.

What is DOOM: The Dark Ages?

• DOOM: The Dark Ages is a single-player first-person shooter.
• The game is developed by id Software and published by Bethesda Softworks.
• It is a prequel to the company's prior titles DOOM (2016) and DOOM Eternal.

DOOM: The Dark Ages is a first-person shooter developed by id Software and published by Bethesda Softworks.

Much like in DOOM (2016) and DOOM Eternal, players take control of the iconic Slayer, whose hatred for demons keeps him going again and again.

While you'll start off a bit limited, you gain more weapons and tools as you go, increasing your overall firepower and giving you options for how you want to tackle your foes.

Killing specific "Leader" demons will provide rewards, increasing the Slayer's health, armor, and maximum ammo.

DOOM: The Dark Ages will take around 14 or so hours for the average player, with more or less time depending on the difficulty settings chosen, as well as how much you want to explore in search of the game's myriad secrets.

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DOOM: The Dark Ages review — Story and characters

• DOOM: The Dark Ages takes place before the events of DOOM (2016).
• The story revolves around the threat of Prince Ahzrak, who leads the demons against the Night Sentinels.
• The Slayer is under the control of the Makyrs and used to aid the Night Sentinels.

DOOM: The Dark Ages is a prequel, telling the story of the long war between the Slayer and the Night Sentinels against the forces of Hell, the latter of which are being led by Prince Ahzrak.

The Slayer starts out under the control of the powerful Makyrs, deployed as a weapon where needed. He's a one-man army, but there may be more going on than is first apparent. If you've played the other games, you'll have a very rough idea of where things could be headed, but if not, this is the perfect point to jump in and come along for the ride.

The story is all carried with the tone of an M-rated Saturday morning cartoon. That's not a bad thing at all, as it perfectly suits the nature of DOOM, but it is a bit simple in nature, even though the lavish cutscenes look fantastic.

DOOM: The Dark Ages review — Gameplay and features

• DOOM: The Dark Ages slows down the overall game speed compared to Eternal.
• There's a huge focus on blocking and parrying, with mostly new weapons.
• Atlan Mech and Dragonback gameplay help break up the pacing.

DOOM: The Dark Ages makes some radical changes to the flow of gameplay. It's still "rip and tear," but with a much greater emphasis on trading heavy blows and standing fast on the battlefield.

The Slayer has been slowed down, with the double-jump removed. In its place is the Shield Saw, a multipurpose weapon that can be used to throw through lower-ranked demons, weaken larger foes, and block enemy attacks, with the option to parry certain key attacks. Attacks that can be parried glow green by default, though you can change the color if you'd prefer.

It's a deep-seated change to the overall game design, but it's one that works. Heavyset weapons complement that change, with an arsenal that includes plasma rifles, heavy spike throwers, and my personal favorite, Skullcrushers that chew up runed skulls and spew the sharp fragments into the forces of Hell.

While The Dark Ages is slower-paced than Eternal, you can ramp up the action if you find it a bit too slow. Personally, I opted to set the game speed to 120%, making it faster without losing the heavyset pace.

Battlefields are designed similarly to DOOM (2016), though with some larger maps that have more to explore. There are secrets everywhere, with collectible toys, pages of lore, and more to find, if you're so inclined.

Carefully exploring the map, solving puzzles, and completing mission-specific challenges will also reward you with Gold, Rubies, and Wraithstones, which are used to upgrade the Slayer's arsenal. The standard shotgun is already nice, but with a boost, it sets enemies on fire, making them drop armor fragments.

There are a lot of options here, making The Dark Ages feel far more flexible than the unyielding (if hyper-polished) combat loop present in Eternal. You may want to lean one way or another, but there's usually no one tool you must use, outside of the aforementioned blocking and parrying.

While these "standard" levels make up the majority of the 22-mission campaign, The Dark Ages further breaks up the pacing by letting you soar on the back of your dragon, Serrat, as well as climbing into a Pacific Rim-style combat mech called an Atlan.

These sections are fun, if a bit simple, with the dragon focused on racing across the skies, dodging enemy attacks to empower its chaingun before blasting demonic fighters to bits, or pouncing on a Titan and ripping its head off.

The Atlan is similarly simple, with a gameplay loop focused on punching and dodging enemy Titans before blasting them to bits with various oversized weapons. Both sections do a fantastic job of selling the Kaiju-like scale at hand, as looking carefully reveals tiny versions of the demons you're normally fighting on foot.

DOOM: The Dark Ages review — Visuals and audio

• DOOM: The Dark Ages looks fantastic, with great graphical detail.
• It runs at a steady 60 FPS without any issues and loads near-instantly on Xbox Series X.
• The soundtrack is solid with some great metal, though a hair below prior DOOM soundtracks.

Running on id Software's in-house idTech 8 engine, DOOM: The Dark Ages looks fantastic. Demons and environments alike are rendered in gorgeous detail, with ruins and gore given equal attention, while ray tracing is used to enhance overall image quality.

The game also has extensive HDR support, with tons of settings to tweak and higher potential brightness (depending on your screen) than I've seen in most other games, going all the way up to 10,000 nits.

While playing on Xbox Series X, the game always looked great, with beautiful skyboxes across medieval fortresses, lava flows in Hell, and even tentacled cosmic horrors. I also never noticed any framerate drops, even when destroying dozens of demons at a time.

I also noticed there are a ton of physical items to destroy or interact with, such as chairs, huge artillery shells, wood pallets, and other objects are knocked around whenever you sprint into them or shoot them.

DOOM games don't just have to look good; they have to sound good as well, and DOOM: The Dark Ages sounds excellent.

Playing with headphones, the thud of the Slayer landing three stories down after a jump was always wonderful, as are the various weapons, with crisp sound design making it clear when you've landed a parry or smashed a demon's armor into pieces.

Plasma weapons crackle with energy, grenades thump as they bounce, and other sweet sounds contribute to the overall feedback loop of an encounter.

The recent DOOM games also have a history of excellent soundtracks, with the tracks for The Dark Ages composed by Finishing Move, filled with heavy metal that suits the brutal tone, but it does feel like the one area where the game has stepped down.

I want to be very clear, I think it's a good soundtrack, with a couple of particularly stand-out pieces, but it comes on the back of the excellent, genre-defining work done by Mick Gordon for DOOM (2016) and DOOM Eternal, as well as Andrew Hulshult's contributions with The Ancient Gods Part 1 and Part 2.

DOOM: The Dark Ages review — Accessibility and approachability

• DOOM: The Dark Ages features numerous accessibility options.
• Of particular note is the "Magnify" option, which enlarges selected text.
• Players can also adjust several other aspects, including overall game speed.

There are a large number of accessibility options present in DOOM: The Dark Ages, easily eclipsing what was available in the prior games. In addition to many of the standard options seen in other games, such as adjustable font sizes, I really want to draw attention to the "Magnify" option this game uses.

With Magnify enabled, players can drastically blow up any message in the menus so that it nearly fills the screen, making it extremely easy to read any in-game text. This is an excellent option that really helps anyone who has trouble reading text, even with larger fonts, and I hope we'll see other games copy this feature.

As previously touched on, it's also extremely noteworthy that you can adjust the game speed and parry windows independently of the actual difficulty. This is a great way to tweak the experience to your liking, and I highly encourage anyone playing to spend a minute or two fiddling with these options in order to dial it in just right.

All of these features mean I can easily recommend DOOM: The Dark Ages to newcomers. The nature of the game as a prequel means you don't need extensive knowledge to hop in, and it's easily the most accessible game id Software has ever developed.

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DOOM: The Dark Ages review — My final thoughts

✅You should buy this if ...

• You enjoy single-player first-person shooters.

DOOM: The Dark Ages is a fully single-player game, with a campaign that takes a bit to finish and is packed with secrets to unlock on replays. If you enjoy single-player first-person shooters that have a huge focus on great-looking visuals as well as great gameplay, then you're going to have a lot of fun.

• You've liked the prior DOOM games

While DOOM: The Dark Ages takes some big swings by changing up parts of how the formula works, it's still the same "rip-and-tear" core that's been in action since DOOM (2016). If you enjoyed those games, there's no reason to expect you won't have fun here as well.

❌You should not buy this if ...

• You prefer multiplayer games over single-player campaigns.

While DOOM (2016) had more traditional multiplayer and DOOM Eternal had a Battlemode pitting one Slayer against two Demons, DOOM: The Dark Ages is completely devoid of any multiplayer elements, with the team instead focusing on a single-player campaign. If you only play games with multiplayer, then you'll likely find that focus to be off-putting.

Every DOOM game has evolved, offering something different. It's a refreshing take for a series, as there's a familiar backdrop behind it all, but each entry is allowed to stand on its own and figure out what it is.

To that end, DOOM: The Dark Ages understands exactly what it is. It's an action-packed romp in the vein of prior games, but with an infusion of dark fantasy and cosmic horror. The pace has been slowed down, and many of the tools have changed, providing a fresh take on the experience, but it's still DOOM.

As it turns out, that's more than enough. DOOM: The Dark Ages is pure fun, even if it's a bit silly at times, and I'm seriously looking forward to what the team at id Software cooks up for the promised campaign DLC. Hitting a demon with a flail or watching as a dragon rips apart a Titan doesn't get old.

DOOM: The Dark Ages is slated to launch on May 15, 2025, for Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC (via Battle.net, Steam, and the Xbox App), and PlayStation 5. Premium Edition buyers get two-day early access. The standard edition of the game is included in Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass.

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The highly anticipated DOOM: The Dark Ages medieval first-person shooter that serves as a prequel to DOOM (2016) and DOOM Eternal is already on sale ahead of its May 15, 2025 release date.

While the Standard Edition usually sells for $69.99, PC players can get the Steam version of it for $58.09 at Fanatical while this deal lasts.

The Premium Edition, which grants 2-day early access on May 12, is also on sale, bringing the price down from $99.99 to $82.99 at GMG or at Fanatical. These are the best deals I've found yet for the PC versions.

We can't wait to dive into this gritty new medieval DOOM

DOOM: The Dark Ages is one of the most anticipated Xbox and PC games of 2025, not only because it is the latest DOOM game, but because id Software has given it a unique medieval aesthetic and weaponry.

It certainly stands out from other games in the series.

Our own Samuel Tolbert has been very excited for this latest entry ever since it was first announced. He is currently playing DOOM: The Dark Ages and his review will go live on May 9, 2025, so check in later for that.

If you're interested in learning more about the game ahead of its release, you can head over to Samuel's guide — Everything you need to know about DOOM: The Dark Ages.

While I highlighted deals for two editions of DOOM: The Dark Ages, there are actually three editions total: Standard Edition, Premium Edition, and Collector's Bundle.

You can learn more about the differences between these editions at our DOOM: The Dark Ages buying guide.

Suffice it to say, players who pay more for the Premium Edition get a few extra goodies, including 2-Day early access. Meanwhile, those who spring for the Collector's Bundle, which sells for $199.99 at Microsoft, get a sweet 12-inch DOOM Slayer statue in addition to everything in the Premium Edition.

There aren't any deals for the Collector's Bundle, but you can definitely rip and tear into savings when you purchase either the Standard Edition or the Premium Edition.

DOOM: The Dark Ages releases on May 15, 2025 for PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5. It will also be available day one on Xbox Game Pass. Those who pay for the Premium Edition or the Collector's Bundle gain 2-day early access on May 12, 2025.

More games are headed to Xbox Game Pass, with id Software's DOOM: The Dark Ages one of many titles coming this month, as shared via Xbox Wire on Tuesday.

In addition to yet another first-party game, May is seeing a few games that previously launched in Xbox Game Pass Ultimate filter down to the Standard tier, such as last year's underrated RPG, Dungeons of Hinterberg.

It's also worth noting that co-op title Warhammer: Vermintide 2 is returning to the service. The Vermintide games are developed by Fatshark, the same team behind Warhammer 40,000: Darktide.

If you missed them, be sure to check out the games that were added to Xbox Game Pass in the back half of April. Here are all the games headed to different tiers of Xbox Game Pass in the coming weeks:

May 6, 2025

• Dredge (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox Cloud Gaming, Windows PC) - Ultimate, Standard, PC

May 7, 2025

• Dungeons of Hinterberg (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One) - Standard
• Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox Cloud Gaming, Windows PC) - Ultimate, Standard, PC
• Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One) - Standard
• Metal Slug Tactics (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One) - Standard

May 8, 2025

• Revenge of the Savage Planet (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox Cloud Gaming, Windows PC) - Ultimate, PC
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants Unleashed (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Xbox Cloud Gaming, Windows PC) - Ultimate, Standard, PC

May 13, 2025

• Warhammer: Vermintide 2 (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Xbox Cloud Gaming) - Ultimate, Standard

May 15, 2025

• DOOM: The Dark Ages (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox Cloud Gaming, Windows PC) - Ultimate, PC

May 16, 2025

• Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Xbox Cloud Gaming, Windows PC) - Ultimate, PC

May 20, 2025

• Firefighting Simulator: The Squad (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox Cloud Gaming, Windows PC) - Ultimate, Standard, PC
• Police Simulator: Patrol Officers (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox Cloud Gaming, Windows PC) - Ultimate, Standard, PC

What's leaving Xbox Game Pass on May 15, 2025?

As usual, a handful of games are departing the subscription service at the halfway point for the month. Notably, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons and Chants of Sennaar are both well worth playing. I'm also fond of Dune: Spice Wars, so if you want to keep playing any of those games, you'll need to buy them.

Remember, you get a discount buying any games currently in Xbox Game Pass, so act fast and you'll save some money.

• Brothers A Tale of Two Sons
• Chants of Sennaar
• Dune: Spice Wars
• Hauntii
• The Big Con

The first-party train keeps rolling

There's a decent bit of variety over the next couple of weeks, as well as a few great games that previously launched in Ultimate and PC tiers now filtering down to Standard subscribers as well.

Still, the highlight is clearly DOOM: The Dark Ages, which I'm currently playing for review. You can look forward to my review here on Windows Central on May 9!

The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered, Minecraft, and Forza Horizon 5, some of Xbox Series X|S's most popular titles, have been topping the sales charts on its competitor, the PlayStation 5.

This news comes from Sony itself, which has announced that the top three best-selling games for the PlayStation 5 during April were Oblivion Remastered at No.1, Minecraft at No.2, and Forza Horizon 5 at No.3 in the US.

Meanwhile, in Europe, Forza Horizon 5 is at No.1, Oblivion Remastered is at No.2, and Minecraft is at No.3 on the PlayStation 5 games sales chart.

It's easy to see why these games have been selling out like crazy, as they are all high-quality titles that have proven themselves worthy of this accolade.

Oblivion Remastered is an expertly polished remaster of Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion that has breathed new life into this classic RPG with gorgeous graphical upgrades, welcome quality-of-life features, and gameplay refinements to make it more enjoyable than ever.

Oblivion Remastered's been getting glowing reviews across the internet, and it's even earned a 4.5/5 review score from us here at Windows Central.

Forza Horizon 5 is the latest entry in Playground's award-winning racing series that was originally an Xbox and PC exclusive. However, Forza Horizon 5 has recently been released on PlayStation 5 Pro, making it the first title in the series to be featured on a PlayStation console.

As seen in the sales charts, PlayStation fans have been buying Forza Horizon 5 in droves as it's one of the best entries in the whole series. We even gave this game a perfect 5/5 review score for its insanely detailed graphics, top-notch performance, massive world to race in, multiple modes of online play, and its gigantic roster of customizable cars to drive.

Minecraft, of course, needs no introduction. It's one of the most popular videogame franchises on the planet that has captured the hearts of kids and adults around the world for its creative survival/crafting gameplay, cute retro-style graphics, and boundless ways to craft whatever you want.

Minecraft was released on PlayStation 5 in October 2024. However, the sales for Minecraft have been going crazy, no doubt due to the release of the Minecraft Movie, which has introduced millions of new fans to this iconic franchise.

While the Minecraft Movie has been getting less than favorable reviews from movie critics, it's been a box office hit, grossing over $816 million worldwide.

Xbox titles are topping the sales charts on its rival console.

Some Xbox fans have been critical of Microsoft releasing Xbox games on Nintendo and PlayStation consoles, questioning the viability of investing in the platform, especially since Xbox hardware sales have been devastated as a result.

However, going multi-platform seems to be working out for Microsoft financially, according to Sony's PlayStation 5 April sales. That's on top of the previous reports that Microsoft's gaming revenue has increased by 5% year-over-year, and that PC Game Pass grew by 45% on PlayStation, a feat which helped Microsoft become the "biggest publisher" on PlayStation.

With this in mind, Microsoft is no doubt going to continue releasing more games on PlayStation 5. It's even announced that the recently revealed Gears of War: Reloaded is going to be released on PlayStation 5, bringing Xbox's iconic Gears of War franchise to the PlayStation for the first time. Doubtless that will hit hard on the PS5 charts as well.

However, will this strategy pay off in the long-run for Microsoft? Especially in these strange times of rising costs of consoles and games, tariff wars, and other economic uncertainties where anything can happen? Only time will tell.