A press release states that the in-development title will “reproduce the hunting actions that define the Monster Hunter series,” while offering a “new game experience unique for mobile devices and phones.” As a first-time partnership between the two companies, it aims to “combine the experience and strengths of both sides, allowing Monster Hunter to scale to more platforms to give global hunters – experienced or new – the freedom to hunt as they desire, anytime and anywhere.”

A release window hasn’t been announced, so it may be a while before mobile players can get their hands on it. Capcom is also working on Monster Hunter Rise, with the third free Title Update coming this month for Sunbreak owners. Its new monsters have yet to be revealed, but director Yoshitake Suzuki confirmed that the levels of Anomaly Investigation Quests can be adjusted. It will allow for playing with teammates at less punishing difficulties.

There will be more Title Updates in 2023, so stay tuned for more details in the coming months. In the meantime, check out our review of Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak on PC here.

On June 7th, as previously announced, Assassin’s Creed Origins arrives for cloud, consoles and PC. This may coincide with the release of the 60 FPS patch for Xbox Series X/S and PS5 – we’ll need to wait and see. Space combat title Chorus is out on the same day for the same platforms, providing a fast-paced, narrative-focused arcade shooting experience.

Brutal puzzler Disc Room and rogue-like co-op management title Spacelines from the Far Out also releases on June 7th. Both are coming to PC and consoles but Disc Room is also playable via the cloud. Check out the list of titles that will be leaving Game Pass on June 15th below. Play them now while you have the chance.

• Darkest Dungeon (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Dungeons and Dragons: Dark Alliance (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Greedfall (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Limbo (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Worms Rumble (Cloud, Console, and PC)

Starmancer also enters Xbox Game Preview on the same day for PC and plays like a more sci-fi take on Rimworld. On August 12th, Art of Rally becomes available for all platforms while August 13th sees the arrival of Supergiant’s Hades. If you’ve never played the roguelite before, then it’s well worth jumping into.

The month is rounded off with Microsoft Solitaire Collection: Premium Edition for PC on August 17th. It’s essentially Solitaire with daily challenges, Achievements and competitive events with no ads. Of course, a number of titles will also be leaving the service this month, starting with Grand Theft Auto 5 on August 8th for cloud and consoles. Here are the other titles that will be gone on August 15th:

• Ape Out (PC)
• Crossing Souls (PC)
• Darksiders Genesis (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Don’t Starve (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Final Fantasy 7 (Console and PC)
• Train Sim World 2020 (Cloud, Console, and PC)

It’s also the fastest mobile title to hit the $100 million revenue mark. Pokemon GO and Genshin Impact achieved the same in 12 days and 13 days respectively. Region-wise, Japan ranked the highest in player spending at $45.6 million, which made up 45 percent of total revenue while South Korea was second at 35 percent.

Tencent’s Honor of Kings was still the top mobile game in terms of revenue from June 10th to 20th but its $102.3 million revenue only barely edged out Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds. The latter is only available in Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan and Macau so outside of China, it had the highest revenue of any mobile game worldwide. Stay tuned for more details on the title in the coming months especially if it receives a Western release.

However, producer Masaru Oyamada also confirmed that a new console game for the series was in development. In a statement on-stream (translated by Gematsu), he noted that, “We wanted to announce it by running a cool trailer, but we’re only at the start of the 30th anniversary. But we are in fact developing [a new title], but please wait a little while longer until the proper announcement.

“Although we did have [Mana series creator Koichi Ishii] take a look at it a little bit ago. We’re at that level [of development], so please look forward to it. Development still has some way to go… We are developing for console, so I hope you can look forward to it.” No gameplay and such was showcased so it’s early days yet. Regardless, this will be the first new console title in the series since Dawn of Mana on the PlayStation 2 (not counting all of the remakes and remasters).

In the meantime, head here to see more gameplay from the Legend of Mana remaster. Along with higher resolution visuals, it also sports a rearranged soundtrack, an option for turning off enemy encounters and Ring Ring Land, a mini-game that’s releasing for the first time in the West.

“But even as we build for the future, we’re focused on extending the Xbox experience to more devices today so we can reach more people.” Hamren further noted that despite expansions into PC and mobile gaming, “Console remains our flagship experience. We want to deliver the most powerful, capable consoles in the world, devices that empower our players to enjoy amazing games for years to come, including gameplay we can’t even imagine yet.”

Xbox boss Phil Spencer also spoke about the potential of cloud gaming in the briefing. “More recently, if you couldn’t spend the hundreds of dollars on a console or potentially the thousands of dollars on a high-end gaming PC, you simply couldn’t participate in the global gaming community in a significant way.

“The cloud will allow us to completely remove these barriers to play, worldwide. Of course, there’s still a place for consoles and PCs. And frankly, there always will be. But through the cloud, we will be able to deliver a robust gaming experience to anyone connected to the internet, even on the least powerful, least expensive devices, even on devices people already own. And with cloud gaming, players can participate fully in the same Xbox experience as people on local hardware. And we couldn’t do that if we weren’t part of Microsoft.”

Microsoft has made significant efforts with cloud gaming with xCloud allowing for streaming games from one’s console onto mobile devices. Numerous titles are available on Xbox Game Pass with more added each month that support cloud gaming. In an Xbox Wire post, the company revealed that it was also working with TV manufacturers to “embed the Xbox experience directly into internet-connected televisions with no extra hardware required except a controller.” New subscription offerings for Xbox Game Pass along with new purchasing models for Xbox All Access are also planned.

There’s still plenty to look forward to on the Xbox Series X/S like Starfield, Halo Infinite, Psychonauts 2 and much more. Expect more details and Game Pass announcements the upcoming Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase on June 13th.

While Xbox Game Pass has been praised for providing a wide selection of titles for both PC and Xbox subscribers, it also supports Android gaming via the cloud. This allows for playing big-name games on tablets and phones. But what if you wanted to turn your phone into a retro gaming device? Microsoft has you covered.

On Xbox Wire, the company announced that Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers could now play 16 Xbox and Xbox 360 titles on Android phones and tablets via backwards compatible. Check out all of the games below with some having touch controls enabled.

• Banjo-Kazooie
• Banjo-Tooie
• Double Dragon Neon
• Fable 2
• Fallout: New Vegas
• Gears of War 2
• Gears of War 3
• Gears of War: Judgment
• Jetpac Refuelled (touch controls enabled)
• Kameo
• Perfect Dark
• Perfect Dark Zero
• The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind
• The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion
• Viva Piñata (touch controls enabled)
• Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise (touch controls enabled)

More games will be “coming soon” to the service, expanding on the retro functionality even more. Xbox Game Pass continues to grow with more games added each month. Even big new releases like People Can Fly’s Outriders are joining the service at launch. What the future holds for retro games remains to be seen but being able to take some of them on the go is a nice bonus.

Microsoft has unveiled the New Xbox Experience, a complete revamp of the UI that will be launching with the Xbox Series X in November. It will also be available for Xbox One and Game Pass on PC along with Xbox mobile apps. The trailer below sees development team members, including Xbox head of research and design Chris Novak, talking about the update so check it out.

The New Xbox Experience will take advantage of Xbox Velocity Architecture and Quick Resume coming with the Xbox Series X. That means a Home screen that loads 50 percent faster. Even returning to the screen from a game is faster by 30 percent and the improvements take up 40 percent less memory than before.

Visual improvements include more readable text and on-screen elements like tile shapes, fonts and so on being easier to understand. Though the layout of console pages is familiar, Microsoft describes them as being “faster and more focused.” Some other quality of life features include updates and game clips from one console being to the Xbox app on mobile, allowing them to share it online. Notifications on PC, mobiles and console are also being consolidated.

Stay tuned for more details on the New Xbox Experience in the coming months. The Xbox Series X launches this November.

Microsoft has announced that its cloud gaming initiative, Project xCloud, will formally arrive for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers on September 15th. The initiative will be available as a beta and include over 100 titles that can be played on an Android phone or tablet. Microsoft will also work with companies like Razer, Nacon, PowerA and 8BitDo for specific cloud gaming accessories.

Such accessories include travel controllers to Xbox controllers that can be attached to the sides of the phone (which sounds vaguely JoyCon-esque). A regular Xbox One Bluetooth Wireless controller and PS4 DualShock 4 controller will also be supported. Playable titles include a bunch of Xbox One exclusives along with third-party games like Yakuza Kiwami 2, Destiny 2 and F1 2019. The full list of games will be revealed at launch.

The caveat is that cloud gaming will only be available in 22 markets at launch. These include the United States, United Kingdom, South Korea, Portugal, Norway, Poland, Ireland, Italy, France, Denmark, Austria, Netherlands, Germany and so on. Microsoft will expand the number of markets over time though.

Those who are still part of Xbox Game Preview program for Project xCloud can access it until September 11th. Stay tuned for more details in the coming weeks.

Ubisoft’s Roller Champions was announced last year as a brand-new multiplayer sports title that would be free to play at launch. Originally slated for PC, the publisher has confirmed that PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and mobile versions are in the works. A new trailer and dev stream video have also been released, which you can check out below.

Roller Champions doesn’t have a release date yet but it’s inching closer. From March 11th to 23rd, a closed alpha test will take place on PC via Uplay. Head here to register and provide feedback on the current state of the game. Participants will receive an in-game outfit exclusive to that phase when the full game launches.

As for what the closed alpha will contain, it features a new arena, Chichen Itza, for a total of three arenas; new moves like the air tackle and extended tackle; and 70 items for character customization. A closed beta will take place at an unspecified date, incorporating feedback from phase 1 while adding sponsors and full outfits. Then there will be Season 0 which will adds replays, feedback from phase 2 and more.