In September, when Microsoft severely limited the game-streaming buffet available to Game Pass subscribers, the company said non-subscribers would soon be able to "purchase cloud playtime hours through the Xbox Store and stream eligible games they own on supported devices." Today, Microsoft rolled out those a la carte Cloud Playtime purchases to Xbox Insiders, with prices that might be a bit galling for players who have already purchased these streamable games.

The "introductory launch pricing" for Xbox's Cloud Playtime purchases is as follows:

• 10 hours for $4 (~$0.40/hour)
• 25 hours for $8 (~$0.32/hour)
• 50 hours for $12 (~$0.24/hour)

Purchased playtime "remains available until it’s used," Microsoft writes, so you don't have to worry about your 50-hour purchase expiring before you can use it fully.

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Cyberpunk 2077 is getting a big new 2.5 update that, among other features, brings cross-platform mod support to consoles and content inspired by the new season of the Cyberpunk: Edgerunners anime on Netflix. There's a lot to unpack in the full patch notes.

The Edgerunners-specific content includes a new side quest, a gear set based on the character Weak Kingsley, and a new radio station that plays Cyberpunk: Edgerunners music.

Even if you haven't seen the show, the update also adds a Double Trouble perk option that allows dual-wielding of pistols and revolvers, plus a Richard Night-guided tour of the city side quest, and access to a …

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Microsoft asked its employees to return to the office three days per week last year, and it's now upping this requirement to four days a week for most Xbox employees. An internal memo, seen by The Verge, describes the change as a "need to create more opportunities for people to work together" after feedback from Xbox employees.

"Starting February 1st, 2027, Xbox employees in Puget Sound who live within 50 commuting miles of Studio D are required to work from the office a minimum of four days a week," says Jacinda Chislum Pearson, Xbox chief people officer, in the internal memo. "We have thousands of Xbox employees within commuting distance …

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Microsoft announced last month that it will let anyone access Xbox Cloud Gaming in November, without the need to subscribe to Xbox Game Pass. The new pay-as-you-go model will require players to purchase bundles of cloud hours, and now Microsoft is revealing today that bundles will start at $3.99 for 10 hours of cloud playtime.

Xbox Insiders who don't have a Game Pass subscription will be able to start purchasing cloud playtime today, ahead of a broader rollout next month. Insiders can access "introductory" launch pricing bundles:

• 10 hours for $3.99
• 25 hours for $7.99
• 50 hours for $11.99

All of these cloud hours will include ad-fre …

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Nvidia is rolling out a new GPU driver today (621.01) that enables Microsoft's new Advanced Shader Delivery technology to speed up game launches. The technology also removes mid-game "just-in-time" shader compilation, reducing stuttering and CPU spikes.

Microsoft's Advanced Shader Delivery works by offloading shader compilation for different hardware combinations to the cloud. "Using DirectX 12, Windows 11, and the Microsoft Agility SDK, developers capture shaders into a State Object Database (SODB), allowing Microsoft's cloud network to precompile shaders for hundreds of thousands of hardware and driver combinations," explains Nvidia's And …

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We haven't heard many details about Microsoft's upcoming "Project Helix" gaming hardware since the company announced it in March as a device that will "play your Xbox and PC games." In a new wide-ranging profile of Xbox CEO Asha Sharma, though, Fortune alludes to a dual release strategy for upcoming Microsoft gaming hardware, with "a next-generation handheld device" planned by the end of next year and a 2028 holiday season console release that could cost between $1,200 and $1,800.

That future console price range is based on what has "internally been projected" at the company, according to Fortune. But the price for consumers could come down if "Microsoft decides to subsidize the cost," the outlet says, as many console makers have done in the past.

While a $1,200 starting price would be historically high for the game console market, even accounting for inflation, it also reflects a new normal: The slowdown in Moore's Law and AI-driven component shortages means cutting-edge gaming hardware just isn't as cheap as it used to be. This year, the Steam Machine broke the $1,000 starting price, while the 2-year-old technology in the PlayStation 5 Pro is now going for $900, and the 6-year-old Xbox Series X now starts at $750.

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Xbox CEO Asha Sharma is planning new rounds of layoffs for sometime this month, November, and January, according to Fortune. In July, as part of an organizational "reset," Sharma announced planned layoffs affecting 3,200 staffers over the course of Microsoft's 2027 fiscal year, including 1,600 cuts at that time, and in September, Microsoft laid off around 260 employees. Sharma's changes have also included letting Double Fine and Compulsion Games become independent again, though Senua developer Ninja Theory may close.

The report also touches on speculation that Xbox may be spun off or sold, and Judson Althoff, the CEO of Microsoft's commerci …

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Microsoft is reportedly planning to launch an Xbox "next-generation handheld device" for the holiday season of 2027. The Xbox next-gen console, codename Project Helix, would then launch in the holidays of 2028, according to a new report from Fortune.

The report doesn't make it clear whether the handheld would be made by a manufacturer like Asus, or by Microsoft itself. Xbox teamed up with Asus for its Xbox Ally devices, which ran a modified version of Windows 11 with an Xbox mode enabled. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has also described Project Helix as a "family of devices," suggesting that Microsoft's next Xbox console may not be just one piece of …

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AMD has just revealed that it's bringing its latest upscaling technology, FSR 4.1, to the Xbox Series S and X consoles, as well as laptops, 6000-series GPUs, and handhelds like the Xbox Ally X devices. FSR 4.1 will start appearing for Radeon RX 6000-series GPUs today, as well as Ryzen AI Max 300 and 400 series devices, and Ryzen AI 9 300 and 400 series devices.

AMD launched its FSR 4.1 update for Radeon RX 9000-series graphics cards in March, and promised to bring the technology to older GPUs and handhelds this year. FSR 4.1 can improve performance in more than 300 supported games, including Cyberpunk 2077, Battlefield 6, and Assassin's Cre …

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Microsoft is officially announcing its Xbox Nano controller today, a smaller and cheaper controller that's designed to fit into your pocket. The more compact controller is also designed for "younger players, smaller hands, or anyone seeking something portable for play on the go."

The $49.99 Xbox Nano is Microsoft's smallest controller, and it's shorter than most smartphones at just over five inches in length. It has all the regular buttons you'd find on a normal Xbox controller, as well as Xbox Wireless and Bluetooth support for connecting to Xbox consoles and phones, tablets, and PCs.

The Xbox Nano controller also has includes a rechargea …

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Retro gaming is going through a wild time at the moment, thanks to decompilations and recompilations that are letting gamers port classic titles to new devices, or merge code from two different games into a single new experience. Microsoft has witnessed skateboarding being modded into Call of Duty and Halo being played in a web browser, and the company is now officially embracing the chaos of this new AI-powered era of game modding.

Microsoft is putting together a new Xbox Labs group to explore the rapid emergence of these mods, many of which use AI models to help modders remix games in ways we've rarely seen before. Xbox Labs will be a "sm …

Read the full story at The Verge.