Coming to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate:
- Forza Horizon 6 - Today (Day One)
- My Friend Peppa Pig – May 20
- Remnant II – May 20
- Luna Abyss – May 21 (Day One)
- Escape Simulator – May 26
- Echo Generation 2 – May 27 (Day One)
- The Outer Worlds: Spacer’s Choice Edition – May 27
- Crashout Crew - May 28
- Kabuto Park – May 28 (Day One)
- Final Fantasy VI – June 2
- Jurassic World Evolution 3 – June 2
Stranger Than Heaven: A Deep Dive into RGG Studio's New Action-Adventure Game
• Xbox Presents: A Special Look at Stranger Than Heaven offered a 30-minute deep dive into the upcoming action-adventure game from RGG Studio, revealing key details about its protagonist, Makoto Daito, its expansive world, and a novel combat system.
• The game's narrative spans 50 years and follows Makoto Daito, born in the US to Japanese and American parents, as he navigates a life of struggle and ambition, eventually stowing away to Japan in 1915.
• During his journey, Makoto encounters Orpheus, a smuggler played by Snoop Dogg, and Yu Shinjo, who becomes his friend and rival, with their intertwined lives forming a core part of the story.
• Stranger Than Heaven's story unfolds across five distinct Japanese cities – Kokura, Kure, Minami, Atami, and Tokyo – each representing different eras and offering unique storylines and gameplay experiences.
• A unique gameplay mechanic involves Makoto collecting sounds from the environment to create original musical compositions, tying into his role as a showman who manages gigs and scouts musical talent.
• The game features an entirely new combat system where players independently control Makoto's left and right sides, allowing for dynamic attacks, blocks, and powerful finishing moves, complemented by a rich weapons roster.
• Legendary star Snoop Dogg and his son Cordell Broadus, along with J-Pop artist Satoshi Fujihara and singer-songwriter Tori Kelly, are part of the all-star cast, contributing to the game's ambitious narrative and theme song.
• Stranger Than Heaven is set to launch this winter for Xbox Series X|S and Xbox on PC as an Xbox Play Anywhere title, and will be available day one with Xbox Game Pass.
Console Updates: More Groups on Home, Custom Color, Quick Resume Settings, Play History Update, User Selected Resolution and Network Quality Indicator, and Game Save Sync Indicator in Game Card.
PC Updates: Manually Add a Game or App to Xbox Library, Pin Your Favorite Games, Gamepad Cursor, Reposition Notifications on Game Bar.
Mobile App Updates: Wishlist Alerts Available in the Xbox Mobile App.
ROG Xbox Ally Updates: Auto SR now in preview with Xbox Insiders.
Rewards with Xbox: Microsoft Rewards Total Prize Drop sweepstakes.
In Case You Missed It: New dynamic backgrounds for Diablo IV: Lord of Hatred, Invincible VS, Kiln, and Overwatch.
Game Additions: Handheld Compatibility Program, Xbox Play Anywhere, Stream Your Own Game, and Mouse, Keyboard & Touch Controls.
This message was just sent to Team Xbox employees globally.
Dear team,
Xbox has always been different.
We started with a simple idea. Games should bring people together through shared experiences. That led to the first Xbox in 2001, Xbox Live in 2002, and new ways to connect, from friends lists and achievements to parties and play across devices. Today, Xbox reaches over 500 million players around the world, with some of the most important franchises in entertainment.
From the beginning, Xbox was built by people willing to try things that others wouldn’t. We placed a consumer bet inside an enterprise company because we believed gaming would define the living room, and we were at risk of missing it.
That spirit has carried us through the last 25 years, and it is required to carry us forward.
We have work to do:
Players are frustrated.
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. Developers and publishers are asking for more, too: better tools, better insights, and a platform that helps them grow faster.
At the same time, a new generation of players is coming online with different expectations. Their time is split across games, media, and everything else competing for attention. They expect more content in familiar places, want to shape the worlds they play in, and want to create and socialize together, not just play together.
These changes are happening as the industry reshapes around us. Console remains large and stable. Windows now represents more players and more hours and is increasingly where competition is most intense. Players have access to more games than ever, even as the cost and time to build blockbuster titles continues to rise, putting pressure on what gets made and how risk is taken. Some of the biggest recent hits are coming from small teams or even single creators, and places like Roblox are producing experiences that rival major franchises in scale. More players are also choosing subscriptions and services as their primary way to play, with expectations set around instant access, ongoing value, and libraries that evolve continuously.
The industry is becoming global and competitive. More than half of the market’s revenue, players, and growth are happening outside of our core markets. But the rest of the world is not just a large market. Developers there are increasingly competing with the most established Western studios, combining scale, speed, and a willingness to reinvent genres many once considered mature.
The model that got us here won’t be the one that takes us forward.
Xbox will be where the world plays
What does Xbox become in this next era?
Xbox will be where the world plays and creates. We will build a global platform that connects players and creators everywhere. Console is at the foundation, delivering a premium experience, and cloud brings that experience to any device. You can play where you want, and your games, progress, friends, and identity stay with you across console, PC, mobile, and cloud.
Xbox will be built to be affordable, personal, and open. We will offer flexible pricing so it’s easy to get started and keep playing. The experience will adapt to you, letting you customize how you play, helping you find what you’ll love, and connecting you with the right people. And we will be open to all creators, from individuals to the largest studios, giving anyone the tools to reach a global audience and keep their games growing over time.
Our new north star will be daily active players.
We will execute this through four priorities: hardware, content, experience, and services.
Hardware:
- Stabilize Gen9 as a healthy and high-quality base
- Deliver Project Helix to lead in performance and play your console and PC games
- Lead in comfortable, personal, high-performance accessories
- Build a strong ecosystem that expands choice and reach
Content:
- Grow and extend an enduring portfolio of franchises players love
- Evolve our 3P partnerships and strengthen our 5-year slate
- Expand into China, emerging markets, and mobile-first audiences
- Maintain and grow in live games and long-term stewardship
- Elevate creator-centric platforms like Minecraft, The Elder Scrolls, and Sea of Thieves
Experience:
- Fix the fundamentals for players and partners
- Make Xbox the best place for developers and creators to build and grow
- Overhaul discovery, customization, social and personalization to connect the community
Services:
- Fortify Game Pass with clear differentiation and sustainable economics
- Return the business to durable growth with strong cost discipline
- Make cloud play feel native, fast, and reliable across TVs and low-cost devices
- Use M&A deliberately to accelerate growth where organic paths are too slow
- Along the way, we will reevaluate our approach to exclusivity, windowing, and AI, and share more as we learn and decide.
We are Xbox
To achieve our master plan, the way we work must transform.
Our best work happens when the full stack moves together. “Microsoft Gaming” describes our structure but it does not describe our ambition. So, we are going back to where we started and changing our team’s name.
We are Xbox.
We are a high agency culture where wild and wonderful ideas thrive. Our job is not to smooth over our differences, but to connect everyone into something greater than any one studio or product.
We have to be honest about where we are. We’re a challenger, and meeting this moment will require pace, energy, and a level of self-critique that should feel uncomfortable. At our best we:
- Earn every player
- Protect our art
- Stay rebellious
- Progress over perfection
- Signal over ceremony
- Core before more
- Outwork the problem
- Speed is learning
- Makers over managers
- Clarity is kindness
Over the last five years, Xbox and the industry have been through an unimaginable amount of change, and this team has continued to deliver through it for our community. Thank you for staying focused on what matters. 62 days in, we’re proud of how we’ve honored our commitments of great games, return of Xbox, and future of play. We’re here to do the most creative and courageous work of our lives, and that’s what we’ll do together.
With gratitude,
Matt & Asha