It's finally coming to Xbox!

Last year, spooky ghost-hunting game Phasmophobia was supposed to be coming to Xbox, before a couple of last-minute delays pushed the release beyond 2023. At the time, we had no real idea when the console version would eventually come out - but the dev team now has a fresh release date.

However, it's not disclosing the exact date for now. Kinetic Games plans to release Phasmophobia on Xbox "during our in-game Halloween Event" this October, but there's no specific date beyond that.

Less than two months to go!

After what feels like an eternity, GSC Game World's Stalker 2 is almost here. Xbox Game Pass aficionados, we have less than two months to wait, and in the meantime we've got a fresh set of screenshots to gawk over.

Showcasing some immaculately detailed weapons and gadgets, alongside the game's ever-impressive open world, these screengrabs are doing their best at making the wait for Stalker 2 just that bit more agonizing!

Game developers are speaking up in defense of Xbox Game Pass in the wake of the subscription service's most recent price hikes, specifically on its importance for indie discoverability.

"I can attest personally that people on Game Pass actually do try out small indie games, to the tune of staggering numbers," Bulwark solodev Tomas Sala writes on Twitter, responding to an argument that price increases could reflect Microsoft's commitment to making Game Pass work [via GamesIndustry.biz]. "On top of that, more platforms, with more diverse business models, with more diverse deal types, actually makes for more opportunities for indie devs. Not less."

It makes sense that many Xbox fans have not taken the news lightly. It feels like just yesterday that the Game Pass prices went up again right before Starfield launched – to absolutely no one's surprise. But Sala offers a different perspective to assertions that "Game Pass has irreversibly damaged the industry", as Twitter user Ryan T. Brown says.

Sala isn't the only indie developer clapping back at those declaring the death of Game Pass and Xbox as we knew it. Citizen Sleeper designer Gareth Damian Martin was quick to challenge Ryan's viewpoint in a reply Tweet: "Game Pass has been an important part of Citizen Sleeper’s success and has led to more players buying the game, not less. Without Game Pass there would have been no opportunity to do the sequel. I know many indies whose projects have massively benefited."

Martin goes on to explain the rare breadth of mass circulation afforded to indie devs from being a part of Xbox Game Pass, and it's not all about the bottom line. "Thinking of the value of games as purely financially driven is wrong," Martin says. "People give incredible value to games they love, and they find those games on Game Pass when they never would have encountered them [before]. This raises the devs' profile, gains fans, and GP financially rewards indies."

While Martin is right that games shouldn't be all about the money, and that Game Pass offers near priceless outreach potential for indie studios and their games, this does feel like a best case scenario. After all, success on the subscription service hasn't always meant such great things for smaller Microsoft-owned studios. RIP Tango Gameworks, creators of Game Pass breakout hit Hi-Fi Rush, as just one example.

Hi-Rez Studios has pulled all Dr Disrespect content from Rogue Company after the streamer was alleged to have sent sexually explicit messages to a minor.

Guy Beahm, better known as Dr Disrespect, was banned from Twitch in 2020 without explanation. Last month, following a number of reports, Beahm admitted he exchanged messages in 2017 with a minor via Twitch's now-defunct Whispers feature that "sometimes leaned too much in the direction of being inappropriate." Subsequent reports alleged the minor had informed Beahm they were underage, and Beahm continued to send "sexually graphic" messages to them regardless.

Twitch and Beahm have not responded to IGN's request for comment.

Partners and sponsors like Turtle Beach, 2K, and the San Francisco 49ers subsequently cut ties with the streamer. Midnight Society, the game studio Beahm co-founded, also terminated its relationship with him, and monetization on his YouTube channel was suspended. Now, another video game Beahm was affiliated with has taken steps to distance itself from the streamer.

Beahm had partnered with Rogue Company publisher Hi-Rez Studios, which is also behind Smite and Paladins, to design his own level and even a $20 character skin sold in the free-to-play third-person tactical action shooter. That premium content is no longer in the game.

A statement published to the official Rogue Company X/Twitter account has signaled the change: “Hey Rogue Company, we have disabled Dr Disrespect content previously available on game. We will provide full Rogue Buck refunds to any impacted account this week.”

In recent years interest in Rogue Company has dropped off significantly. After a Steam peak concurrent player count of 12,189 set three years ago, Rogue Company now averages just a few hundred players on Steam’s platform, with 236 concurrent players at the time of this article’s publication. Indeed, Rogue Company hasn’t seen a major update since 2023, indicating a deprioritization from Hi-Rez Studios amid the upcoming launch of Smite 2.

It’s fair to say that the decision to offer Rogue Buck refunds as opposed to real-money refunds for the Dr Disrespect content has sparked a backlash from paying customers who would rather their money back than a virtual currency they deem to be practically useless. Some have taken to Rogue Company’s Steam user reviews, which are down to ‘mixed’ for recent reviews, to complain about the situation.

“Where’s my $40? I have no need for Rogue Bucks when you guys haven’t updated the game in over a year,” said one person. “How about since we paid with real money you provide real money refunds?” said another.

Meanwhile, Beahm hasn't issued a comment since his last stream, in which he played Elden Ring DLC Shadow of the Erdtree, almost two weeks ago.

Piranha Bytes, the Embracer-owned German studio behind the Gothic, Risen and ELEX series, has reportedly shut down.

The embattled publisher Embracer had been seeking a buyer for Piranha Bytes as part of its vast and brutal swathe of cost-cutting that saw multiple studios shut and more than 4500 people lose their jobs - though ultimately was unsuccessful.

Job losses at Piranha Bytes were first reported at the end of last year and the company acknowledged earlier this year "a difficult situation" as it faced potential closure. Now a fresh report today by German website GameStar has confirmed the studio formally shut at the end of June, with its leaders now founding a new indie studio.

Respawn Entertainment has announced Apex Legends' upcoming Season 22 will make significant changes to the free-to-play shooter's Battle Pass "experience", by releasing two Battle Passes per season instead of one, and then charging full price for each.

As of Season 22, Apex Legends will ditch its current season-long Battle Pass in favour of two half-season Battle Passes - one launching at a season's start and another at its mid-point "split" - each featuring 60 levels of rewards, compared to the previous version's 110.

Despite the truncated number of progression levels, each new half-season premium Battle Pass costs approximately the same as the older season-long version. Previously, a premium Battle Pass cost 950 Apex Coins (a 1000-coin bundle is priced at $9.99 USD), and Respawn's new half-season Battle Passes cost $9.99 each. A new Premium+ tier (replacing the existing Premium Bundle) is $19.99 every half-season, and a free tier remains available.

We still have a bit of a wait before we can begin tackling the Dragon Age: The Veilguard achievements, but new details about the difficulty choices suggest we'll have a range of options to help style how we'll play, with Dragon Age: The Veilguard also letting you turn off death if you prefer.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard is set to launch later this year, although we don't yet have a release date. As fall 2024 approaches, however, more details are surfacing, including info about some of the game's difficulty options. According to Game Informer, not only is the character creator wonderfully extensive, but the playstyle options offer a lot too. Those options include the usual range, such as Storyteller for those who want to prioritise the story, Adventurer for more of a balance, and Nightmare, which sounds fittingly ominous. You'll be able to change between the first two, but if you pick Nightmare, you'll have to stick with it all the way through.

However, more extensive customizing is apparently available with the Unbound option where you can choose things such as auto-aim, adjust damage (both dealt and received), and manage the timing for parrying. You'll also have a no-death option, and game director Corinne Busche explains to Game Informer that these options are not "a cheat" but are there to "make sure players of all abilities can show up."

Death might do as you please but romance will not, as one of the things we've learned about Dragon Age: The Veilguard recently is the fact that its companions will get together if you fail to romance them.

The First Descendant has been proving extremely popular since its free-to-play release on Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S earlier this week, and it's just received its very first update - albeit just a small hotfix.

Probably the most notable thing here from an Xbox perspective is an issue that caused AMD's FidelityFX Super Resolution technology to be "malfunctioning". Also, the logo screen volume when starting the game has been reduced.

A nice touch.

It's always nice to see Xbox giving recognition to third-party teams when their games perform well, and the latest example is in the form of the "Xbox Excellence Award" - which we've spotted being given out to two dev teams so far.

There are probably many examples out there, but for now, it's the Texas Chainsaw Massacre and My Time At Sandrock studios

Including a "Rewards Notes" service.

It's been a while since we last talked about Microsoft Rewards here at Pure Xbox, and that's because it hasn't really changed all that much since plans were announced to supposedly overhaul the service earlier this year.

However, we've got a couple of new features on the way! The first of these is called "Rewards Notes", and it'll serve as a destination on console, PC and mobile where Xbox can share details about what's changing with Microsoft Rewards.

Darkest Dungeon II, the turn-based RPG from developers Red Hook Studios is coming to both Xbox Series consoles and Xbox One, at the same time it launches on PlayStation and Nintendo Switch. July 15th.