by Richard Lawler, Engadget Just as the folks at Sony preview the future with their latest State of Play event, Xbox players are unable to login at all, as the online service is suffering a major outage. The latest update from 5 PM ET indicates Microsoft is working on the issue, but doesn’t provide any kind of ETA for when it will be resolved. According to the Xbox Live Status page, the outage started around 3:15 PM ET, and there’s no sign yet of anything getting better. Update: As of 5:10 PM ET the status page’s latest update says “we’re close to resolving the issue,” so hang in there. Update 2: 15 minutes later, and the status is still “close” so hopefully playing […]

by Luke Plunkett, Kotaku Robert Altman, who co-founded Bethesda parent company Zenimax and was the company’s chairman and CEO, has died, Bethesda announced today. Formerly a lawyer, Altman teamed up with Bethesda founder Christopher Weaver in 1999 to create Zenimax, which in addition to Bethesda’s internal studios also owns Arkane (Dishonored), id Software (Doom), MachineGames (Wolfenstein) and Tango Gameworks (The Evil Within). Altman is survived by his wife, Lynda Carter, and two children. Our thoughts go out to his family and friends.

Andy Jassy, the chief executive of Amazon Web Services, will take over as CEO of Amazon. by Dylan Byers and Leticia Miranda, NBC News Jeff Bezos said today that he will step down as chief executive of Amazon, leaving the helm of the company he founded 27 years ago. Bezos will transition to the role of executive chair in the third quarter of this year, which starts July 1, the company said. Andy Jassy, the chief executive of Amazon Web Services, will take over as CEO of Amazon. In a memo to employees, Bezos said the transition will give him “the time and energy I need to focus on the Day 1 Fund, the Bezos Earth Fund, Blue Origin, The Washington Post, and […]

by Michael Beckwith, Game Rant With this year being the 25th anniversary of the Tomb Raider series, many fans naturally hoped that Crystal Dynamics would have a major game release planned for 2021, besides the Tomb Raider Reloaded mobile game. Bad news: that’s not going to happen. Good news: Crystal Dynamics has stated that the next mainline entry will unify the reboot trilogy with the original timeline of games made by Core Design, the studio that originally created the series. In a Twitter video explaining Crystal Dynamics’ plans to celebrate the Tomb Raider series throughout 2021, game director Will Kerslake briefly discussed what the studio intends to do with the series going forward and how future games will continue on from its recent trilogy. Said trilogy […]

by Alexandra Hall, Kotaku Following widespread customer backlash, Microsoft released a statement walking back its Friday morning announcement of sweeping price increases for the Xbox Live Gold subscription service. According to the details outlined in this morning’s announcement, the minimum yearly cost of Xbox Live Gold would have soared from $60 to $120. But at 11:52 p.m. ET, Microsoft posted an update to its announcement in which it appeared to reverse course. “We messed up today and you were right to let us know,” the update read. “Connecting and playing with friends is a vital part of gaming and we failed to meet the expectations of players who count on it every day. As a result, we have decided not […]

by Jon Fingas, Engadget Microsoft continues sending not-so-subtle signals that it would really, really like you to drop Xbox Live Gold in favor of Game Pass. The company has raised prices for new Xbox Live Gold memberships across the board, with the changes becoming more noticeable the longer you’re ready to commit. The one- and three-month plans aren’t much pricier at $11 and $30 respectively (up $1 and $5), but six months now costs you $60 — well above the $40 you used to pay. And when there’s no longer a 12-month membership, you’ll be looking at $120 per year if you insist on Gold. Existing six- and 12-month members will renew at the current price, Microsoft said. Those who convert their Gold memberships to Xbox Game […]

Another chance to get your hands on the coveted next-gen console. Photo credit: Sony by Nicolaus Li, HYPEBEAST For those that weren’t lucky enough to get a PlayStation 5 last year, Sony‘s Sony Rewards division has now announced the first restock of the next-gen console for 2021. Aside from being the first restock of the year, it also serves as the first real replenishment of the PS5 seen since its initial release that took over the gaming world. Announced on the Sony Rewards Twitter account, the post doesn’t reveal any specifics but it does note that a post at a later date will reveal will outline restock info. Going on to suggest gamers to turn on post notifications. Catch Sony Rewards’ post regarding the […]

by Jordan Devore, Destructoid In a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment at CES 2021, Sony disclosed a handful of release windows for the 2021 slate of PlayStation 5 games – as well as pair of high-profile titles that are much further out. These up-to-date release windows appeared at the end of a montage during Sony’s digital press event: Hitman 3 (January 20, 2021) Kena: Bridge of Spirits (March 2021) Returnal (March 19, 2021) Solar Ash (June 2021) Little Devil Inside (July 2021) Ghostwire: Tokyo (October 2021) Stray (October 2021) Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (2021) Horizon Forbidden West (2021) Project Athia (January 2022) Pragmata (2023) Some of these – like Ghostwire – feel right on cue. Others, including Horizon Forbidden West and Rift Apart, don’t seem like they’ll be out of reach much longer. And then we have Project Athia from Square […]