It's Xbox's 25th anniversary this year, and it's starting on a bit of a sour note for many. And really, it shouldn't be.
Xbox had a fantastic 2025 on paper. Xbox first party shipped more games than ever. Xbox Game Pass arguably had its best sprint of high-quality games ever too, with Expedition 33, Hollow Knight Silksong, DOOM: The Dark Ages, Oblivion Remake, and many more hitting the service. We also saw a huge Xbox partnership with ASUS for the Xbox Ally gaming handheld, which puts Xbox Play Anywhere at the forefront. Microsoft also announced a big partnership with AMD for next-gen consoles ... alas.
The four horsemen return, anniversaries abound
One thing we know for certain is what to expect from Microsoft's first party in 2026. At least generally speaking. Microsoft has a lot in the chamber it can fire off potentially in the coming months, but the headliners are set: Fable, Gears of War: E-Day, Halo Campaign Evolved, and Forza Horizon 6. Microsoft often jokingly refers to the line-up as the "four horsemen" internally, representing what are arguably the four most iconic Xbox franchises.
Microsoft will show off at least some of these at the January Xbox Developer_Direct show, which has become an annualized tone-setting event for Xbox's yearly line-up. While I'm not sure exactly what will be shown there this year (yet), it seems the four pillar franchises seem highly likely — although I have heard one of Microsoft's more intrepid teams may be ready to show off what it has been baking.
Some have been wondering if a mysterious countdown on the Fallout TV show's Amazon Prime website is hinting at a shadow drop for a new Fallout game or remaster. I'm told this is not the case. However, we are eventually getting a Fallout 3 remake in the vein of Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, as well as Fallout New Vegas on top. I'm told Obsidian of Grounded, The Outer Worlds, and Fallout New Vegas fame has four new projects, some big some small — Fallout co-creator Tim Cain also joined the studio a short while ago. I'm not sure if any of these projects are Fallout-related, but either way, it shows Xbox isn't taking its foot off the pedal when it comes to content.
On the topic of Fallout, we are of course also eventually getting Fallout 5, which I understand to be greenlit. Bethesda's Todd Howard noted in a previous interview that Fallout is receiving a ton of investment right now. It could be a while before we see the fruits of that labor — but perhaps we could see them teased at an upcoming show.
After all, 2026 marks several major "anniversaries" for Xbox and some of its subsidiaries. Xbox is having its 25th anniversary, Blizzard is having its 35th, and Bethesda is having its 40th. Microsoft and its teams are planning a variety of events and announcements to celebrate these milestones.
At Blizzcon 2026, I thoroughly expect to see new expansions revealed for Diablo IV, alongside World of Warcraft's "The Last Titan." We should also get major updates for Overwatch and Hearthstone, and potentially other new mobile game reveals. There has been long-held rumors of an Overwatch mobile game on the horizon, for example, and I've heard another Warcraft mobile game project is in gestation. The headline for Blizzcon 2026 is most likely going to be StarCraft. It was previously reported that StarCraft is getting the third-person shooter treatment, and I confirmed these rumors true via my own sources a while back.
For Bethesda's 40th, could we catch a glimpse at id Software's next title? It has been rumored for an incredibly long time that id could return to Quake or Hexen, now that all the rights fully exist within the Microsoft umbrella. Machine Games' is also thought to be working on a Rainbow Six Siege-like multiplayer title, although I've heard that Wolfenstein III is also on the cards to coincide with the upcoming Wolfenstein Amazon TV show.
Perhaps some of these games will break cover at Bethesda's Quakecon event, but big reveals are often reserved for the Xbox Showcase. As usual, Xbox will hold an event in June to coincide with Summer Game Fest and the post-E3 summer marketing blitz. It's here where we should see glimpses at 2027 titles, which could include games like inXile's Clockwork Revolution, Undead Labs' State of Decay 3, Arkane's Blade, and perhaps other hitherto unknown titles.
I've heard Ninja Theory's next game will be more combat-involved and interactive than Hellblade 1 and 2, while retaining the cinematic excellence the studio has come to be known for. We'll also catch a glimpse of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 undoubtedly here, with Activision eager to reconnect with fans after Black Ops 7's controversial delivery. Call of Duty will also drop onto Nintendo Switch 2 this year as well, fulfilling Microsoft's promises to regulators. There are strong rumors that Age of Empires will return with a new title in the future too, powered by Unreal Engine. And we could see more of Hideo Kojima's mysterious "OD" horror project this year.
There's also plenty of unknowns. Xbox Publishing still has plenty of secret projects. Xbox's large stable of service games will doubtless get major updates this year, including Minecraft, Grounded 2, Fallout 76, Elder Scrolls Online, and the King mobile franchises. Could we see Toys for Bob's long-rumored Spyro this year? What is the mysterious and oft-overlooked Elsewhere Entertainment Xbox team working on? Perhaps we'll find out in 2026.
A plethora of PC platform updates
I already wrote an article detailing what the Xbox Ally update roadmap looks like in 2026, but we should see some of those new features sooner, rather than later. Even if you're not an Xbox Ally owner, you should probably keep an eye on how development there is going — the Xbox Ally experience is essentially the next-gen Xbox experience too.
I reported last year that the next Xbox will run full bore Windows, and that is still the plan. In partnership with AMD, the next Xbox will utilize the Windows 11 "Full Screen Experience" with the Xbox PC app to deliver its console interface. Microsoft is working on major updates to the Xbox PC app to accommodate this, bringing it more closely in line with what Xbox console players will expect when engaging with a device on their TV, rather than at their desk.
Where it diverges with a traditional PC is in its ability to actually run games compatible with Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. Microsoft announced that it's partnering with AMD to enable Xbox games on this PC-like device. Existing Xbox console users' libraries will come forward with them to the new Xbox, as Microsoft continues to commit to backward compatibility in a big way.
I suspect we'll hear more at GDC 2026 about how Xbox plans to modernize its publishing practices to accommodate this new more "open" strategy. Developers shipping on Xbox PC already enjoy a more generous cut of the revenue than they do on console, but Microsoft still has a huge issue getting developers to organically support Xbox PC. Moving the platform to console will help here, but there will at least be a few years where Xbox Series X|S remains the primary development platform for most, I suspect.
Microsoft has already signalled that it plans to make Xbox publishing more open and Steam-like, lifting the NDA on some of its publishing rules last year. Microsoft still has a long way to go to improve discoverability for quality Xbox games on its PC store, though. The more "open" nature of the Microsoft Store results in mountains of shovelware hitting the platform, and discovering quality titles remains oddly difficult. Improved community tools such as reviews, comments, curation, and interactivity would help improve discoverability algorithms, so hopefully we see some of those kinds of features materialize this year.
I'm told we should also see some new Xbox hardware this year. I suspect we'll finally see the Xbox Elite Controller Series 3 break cover in 2026, and perhaps even other controller revisions. I'm told Microsoft's next-generation Xbox controllers all support direct-to-WiFi connectivity, eliminating Bluetooth latency from cloud gaming scenarios.
There's always the chance we'll see more "Xbox" branded OEM hardware, taking advantage of the Xbox Full Screen Experience on Windows, similar to the Xbox Ally. I've been working through some credible rumors that we could see an OEM "Xbox" PC in 2026, but time will tell whether or not that one pans out.
A ton to look forward to, with caution
On paper, everything is looking up for Xbox as an entity, but challenges remain. Xbox Series X|S hardware sales are in free-fall decline, although existing users are sticky and remain heavily engaged. Despite PlayStation's vastly bigger install base, some games such as Helldivers 2 and Arc Raiders over-index on Xbox systems, delivering disproportionate engagement for publishers. There's still a ton of money to be made on the Xbox ecosystem, which is why we haven't seen publishers pull out of the platform despite the decreased amount of new users coming in.
Where Xbox is seeing success is on Xbox PC. I'm told Microsoft may begin reporting its Xbox PC stats as part of Microsoft's quarterlies, reflecting its growth. The addition of benefits in games like Fortnite, League of Legends, and Valorant has helped Xbox PC win itself an alternative audience to that of Steam, although organic support still seems to be a challenge for titles shipping outside of Xbox Game Pass.
People will continue to view Microsoft under a microscope, and for good reason. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has not been shy about the company's awkward obsession with AI technology, regardless of how well it actually performs for the end-user. "Microslop" has been trending as a result.
There have already been rumors of mass Microsoft layoffs in January 2026, although I'm told these are false (at least with regards to Xbox). The DRAM price glut is something Microsoft and other companies will not be able to escape, though.
Practically anything powered by a computer is likely to see price increases this year, as OpenAI and other companies buy up all the components chasing increasingly-insane compute demands. Will that further impact prices for console, PC, and even game prices? Xbox won't be the only one impacted by this macroeconomic instability, but Xbox's reputation has already been on shaky ground.
There has been a ton of negativity and angst about Microsoft's direction and corporate-level commitment to gaming, and for good reason. But, I am hopeful that Xbox can fully turn a corner this year and begin to show that it, and its ecosystem, are truly here to stay.
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