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Xbox prices are increasing by up to €200 or Β£170

2 August 2026 at 17:14
The black 1TB Xbox Series S console

When Microsoft announced its latest round of Xbox price bumps in June, it only gave US pricing. Now we know the pricing increases for the EU and UK, and they're dramatic. Depending on the model, Xbox prices are increasing by up to €200 or Β£170. The 1TB Xbox Series X with a disc drive is going up by over 30 percent from Β£499.99 / €599.99 to Β£669.99 / €799.99. The 512GB Xbox Series S is getting a price increase of over 43 percent, jumping from Β£299.99 / €349.99 to Β£429.99 / €499.99.

While other consoles have received price bumps as RAM and storage prices skyrocket due to demand from the AI industry, none have been quite as dramatic as Microso …

Read the full story at The Verge.

SingStar Take That anyone? The strange joy of charity shop video games

31 July 2026 at 09:00

Hidden gems can be unearthed, but you have to dig deep into the bargain bins of countless outdated Fifas, Wii Fits without the controllers and partially finished quizshow games

As an eternally optimistic charity shop fan, I hold on to the fantasy that one day I’ll walk into my local Oxfam and find a pristine copy of the Sega Saturn shooter Burning Rangers for Β£1.50. Or perhaps a box full of old Neo Geo carts for a quid each. Sadly, this is now unlikely. Charity shops have caught on to the fact that old video games – like old vinyl albums – are highly collectible, and so they’re putting the good stuff on eBay. That’s fine, it’s their job to raise money, not to provide opportunist swine like me with bargains. But what games can you find tucked away in your local branch of Barnardo’s? To find out I visited about 40 charity stores across the country. Here is what I discovered on the shelves … And please do share your own charity shop gaming finds in the comments!

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Β© Photograph: Keith Stuart/The Guardian

Β© Photograph: Keith Stuart/The Guardian

Β© Photograph: Keith Stuart/The Guardian

Sunsetting Maestral

7 July 2026 at 20:52

Sam Schott:

As of June 2026, Maestral is no longer actively maintained. The current version will continue to work until certificates expire.

Via John Gruber (Mastodon):

I don’t know when these certificates are expiring. And I don’t know what I’m going to do when they do. I might try moving everything from my Dropbox account to iCloud Drive. That certainly seems worth trying before I resort to going back to Dropbox’s own monstrosity of a Mac client.

[…]

In theory, because Maestral is open source, someone could fork it and keep it going.

Nick Heer:

I use Dropbox only for some relatively basic but necessary things, like hosting PDFs for this very website, which is why Maestral has been the perfect client for me. It is a testament to the effect of a good third-party app that I have stuck with Dropbox despite its corporate-focused strategy pivot.

I’ve switched to iCloud Drive, which seems better, but not better than Old Dropbox.

Previously:

Hundreds rally at Bethesda HQ to protest Xbox layoffs, and Ars was there

15 July 2026 at 23:36

ROCKVILLE, Marylandβ€”Hundreds of Bethesda Game Studios and Zenimax Online Studios employees and their supporters braved nearly 100Β°F temperatures to protest sweeping layoffs across Xbox during a lunchtime rally in front of parent company Zenimax's headquarters today. The rally was one of five organized today by Zenimax Workers United and its parent union, the Communication Workers of America, at offices across Texas, California, and Montreal.

Attendees held up signs with messages like "Layoffs... layoffs never change" and "Our players deserve better" as union organizers and employees rallied the crowd with speeches and songs. The overwhelming message was one of solidarity and a willingness to push back against job cuts they say have decimated their development and quality assurance teams.

"It's about us building our movement and making sure that we get seen and we're visible," Bethesda technical producer and union volunteer organizer Nathan Hahn told Ars. "Because we want to make sure that we're not okay with these layoffs and that Xbox knows."

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GTA VI finally gets a price tag

A screenshot of the cover art for Grand Theft Auto VI

We finally have a price for Grand Theft Auto VI: $79.99. That gets you the standard edition of the game, while the Ultimate Edition will set you back $99.99.

Preorders start at midnight tonight, local time, when you'll be able to reserve a copy on PS5 or Xbox Series X/S. You'll be able to order either digital or physical editions of the game, though Rockstar has confirmed that even the physical editions contain "a download code inside the box." The upside is that they'll ship from November 12th, allowing buyers of either edition to preload the game ahead of its full release on November 19th.

Anyone who preorders or purchases the game befor …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Xbox is closing down Hellblade creator Ninja Theory

15 June 2026 at 22:13
A screenshot from Hellblade.

Xbox is closing down Ninja Theory, the studio behind the Hellblade series, a source tells The Verge. Staffers were told on a call on Monday about the closure, but they are hoping the studio will find a buyer. The closure comes as "several" Xbox studios at Microsoft, including Compulsion Games and Double Fine, are in "active negotiations" about spinning off, Bloomberg reports.

The closure and negotiations follow Xbox CEO Asha Sharma and chief content officer Matt Booty warning last week of a "reset" at Xbox, laying out several challenges facing Xbox's business - including that it had "over extended" with its studio system and the hardware c …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Xbox turmoil continues with a studio closure and executive departures

15 June 2026 at 18:08
Vector collage of the Xbox logo.

Last week, Xbox boss Asha Sharma sent a memo warning of an Xbox "reset" ahead of expected layoffs, and today, Kotaku reported that Xbox plans to shut down Compulsion Games, the studio behind South of Midnight.

Since taking over in February, Sharma has made some big decisions, including cutting the price of Xbox Game Pass and making Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution Xbox console exclusives. But in their "reset" memo, Sharma and chief content officer Matt Booty discussed many challenges facing the Xbox business, including that it has "over extended" with its studio system:

We are the fortunate stewards of industry-defining franch …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Microsoft hasn’t ruled out spinning off Xbox

Asha Sharma on a background of green Xbox logos.
Asha Sharma. | Image: The Verge, Microsoft

Microsoft is preparing to lay off a significant chunk of its Xbox division and is reevaluating the plans for its next-generation Project Helix console. It's apparently also considering dramatically restructuring its relationship with Xbox, and hasn't ruled out spinning it off into a separate company.

A new report from The Information suggests that Microsoft has considered some dramatic measures to make its Xbox unit more sustainable. That includes turning it into a wholly owned subsidiary, a joint venture, or even spinning it off entirely, with the possibility of selling the business. The report doesn't suggest anything is imminent, but it …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Tilebox Launches Verifiable AI Workflows for Satellite Data

11 June 2026 at 16:00
Tilebox logo

DOVER, DELAWARE β€” JUNE 11, 2026 β€” Tilebox today announced infrastructure for verifiable AI workflows on Earth observation data, giving teams a way to use agents through governed data, repeatable […]

The post Tilebox Launches Verifiable AI Workflows for Satellite Data appeared first on SpaceNews.

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