Xbox | The Verge

Microsoft’s Xbox mode is now available for all Windows 11 PCs

2026-04-30T15:14:23-04:00

Microsoft is now rolling out its Xbox mode to all Windows 11 PCs. The new Xbox mode adds a full-screen interface to the Xbox PC app, much like Steam's Big Picture Mode, and originally debuted as the Xbox Full Screen Experience (FSE) with Asus' Xbox Ally devices.

"Some players in select markets will be able to download the Xbox mode experience today, with availability expanding to more players in those markets over the next several weeks," says the Xbox team. You'll be able to get the Xbox mode by installing the latest Windows update for Windows 11.

Xbox mode aims to try and bridge the gap between Xbox consoles and Windows, but its original …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Xbox owners can now disable Quick Resume for specific games

2026-04-30T13:56:38-04:00

Microsoft has released a new Xbox update that adds a bunch of new features, including the ability to disable Quick Resume for individual games.

Quick Resume, which lets you swap between your games with minimal wait time, is one of the best features on the Xbox Series X / S consoles. But it can also run into unexpected issues with multiplayer games or titles that require a constant internet connection. "We've heard your feedback around performance after long periods of inactivity or with games that rely heavily on online connections," Microsoft says.

With Thursday's update, Microsoft also lets you make up to ten groups on their Home scree …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Microsoft’s DLSS competitor is now available on the Xbox Ally X handheld

2026-04-30T12:06:45-04:00

Microsoft is starting to test its Automatic Super Resolution (Auto SR) feature with the Xbox Ally X. Auto SR first debuted on some Copilot Plus PCs nearly two years ago, improving visual quality and frame rates in select games. Now, Microsoft is testing it for docked play on the Xbox Ally X, allowing the 7-inch handheld to improve resolution and graphical settings for bigger TV screens.

"Docked play means larger screens and higher resolutions, where drops in image quality are more noticeable or where some games struggle to maintain smooth FPS," says Microsoft in a detailed blog post on Auto SR. "That's exactly the problem Auto SR was design …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Microsoft is giving its Xbox employees an Xbox email address

2026-04-29T11:46:20-04:00

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma wants everyone to know: "We are Xbox." Just last week, she scrapped Microsoft Gaming as the name of Microsoft's gaming division in favor of simply Xbox. Now, to reinforce that message, sources at Xbox tell me that all Xbox employees are getting an @xbox.com email address next month.

The new Xbox email address will replace an existing @microsoft.com address as the default way to send new emails, and employees will be able to opt-out and keep their Microsoft email address as the default send-from address instead. Mojang employees will also be given an @mojang.com email address, and both Xbox and Mojang employees will stil …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Xbox’s weirdest studio is on a roll

2026-04-24T12:13:19-04:00

For a while there, it seemed like Double Fine might be struggling under the Microsoft corporate umbrella. The game studio led by Tim Schafer is beloved for offbeat titles like Brütal Legend and Broken Age, but after being acquired by Microsoft in 2019, its only new release for years was a long-awaited sequel to Psychonauts. Of late, though, Double Fine is on something of a roll. Last year the studio released the wonderfully strange Keeper, a game about a sentient lighthouse. This week, it launched Kiln, a multiplayer brawler with adorable spirits and a whole lot of pottery. It's yet another oddball delight that could only come out of Double …

Read the full story at The Verge.

AirPods, Touch Bars, and the rest of Tim Cook’s legacy

2026-04-24T10:43:07-04:00

We knew at some point Tim Cook would step down from his position as Apple's CEO. Over the last year, it has become increasingly obvious that John Ternus was his likely successor. The news this week was still a surprise, though - and this year's succession could lead to some important changes at the most influential company in tech.

Verge subscribers, don't forget you get exclusive access to ad-free Vergecast wherever you get your podcasts. Head here. Not a subscriber? You can sign up here.

On this episode of The Vergecast, David and Nilay are joined by Daring Fireball's John Gruber to talk about their reactions to the news, the (mostly …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Leak reveals new Xbox Game Pass ‘Starter Edition’ that’s part of Discord Nitro

2026-04-24T06:02:07-04:00

Microsoft started teasing a mysterious Discord and Xbox Game Pass partnership yesterday, and a new leak appears to have detailed exactly what's coming. Discord Previews has uncovered a new Xbox Game Pass "Starter Edition" that is bundled with Discord Nitro.

The Starter Edition reportedly includes "access to over 50 games from the Game Pass library," as well as 10 hours a month of Xbox Cloud Gaming streaming and the ability to earn Xbox Rewards points while playing games. It's not clear which games will be part of the more than 50 titles available, but the leaked images suggest that Stardew Valley, Grounded, and Fallout 4 will be included.

Discord is reportedly bundling a new Xbox Game Pass (Starter Edition). | Image: Discord Previews" data-portal-copyright="Image: Discord Previews">

…

Read the full story at The Verge.

‘We Are Xbox’: read the memo defining Microsoft’s gaming future

2026-04-24T06:15:23-04:00

Asha Sharma. | Image: The Verge, Microsoft

Microsoft's new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has laid out a new strategy for what she describes as a "return of Xbox." In a joint memo with Xbox chief content officer Matt Booty, Sharma and Booty lay out their vision for the future of Xbox that will be judged on daily active players and the priorities of hardware, content, experience, and services.

"Players are frustrated," admits Sharma and Booty. "New feature drops on console have been less frequent. Our presence on PC isn't strong enough. Pricing is getting harder for people to keep up with. And core experiences like search, discovery, social, and personalization still feel too fragmented. Devel …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Microsoft brings Xbox back, scraps Microsoft Gaming

2026-04-23T15:31:18-04:00

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has had a busy week. Sharma held an internal town hall with Xbox employees today, just days after announcing an Xbox Game Pass price cut, commenting on the status of the Xbox mobile store, and teasing a mysterious Xbox and Discord partnership. One of the items on the agenda for the employee all-hands was scrapping Microsoft Gaming.

Sources familiar with the meeting tell me that Sharma announced that Microsoft is returning to using Xbox for its gaming division, instead of Microsoft Gaming. "Xbox needs to be our identity," said Sharma, noting that Microsoft Gaming was a departure from that.

Microsoft originally switched …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Microsoft teases mysterious Discord and Xbox Game Pass partnership

2026-04-22T13:59:30-04:00

Microsoft has started teasing a new Discord and Xbox Game Pass partnership, just a day after lowering prices of its Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscriptions. Microsoft Gaming CEO Asha Sharma says the company is partnering with Discord again "as we continue to make Game Pass more flexible for our players."

It's not immediately clear what the latest Discord and Xbox partnership will result in, but given it's a Game Pass one it's likely related to some perks for subscribers of Xbox Game Pass. At the moment Game Pass Ultimate subscribers can get a month of Discord Nitro as part of the subscription, and it's possible that Microsoft and …

Read the full story at The Verge.