290°

Xbox servers empty as Microsoft pulls plug

Microsoft will pull the plug on the online servers for original Xbox games today - but it seems gamers have beaten them to it in abandoning the service.

Despite having a lobby set up for half-an-hour, OXM failed to find another player for Crimson Skies, Unreal Championship 2 or Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil.

Rampaged Death5556d ago

Maybe it's because everyone is playing Halo 2

darthv725556d ago (Edited 5556d ago )

the game that set the service on fire would happen to be the game to bring the service to a close.

All other games are just watching while halo 2 gets the massive online play of its lifetime.

theusedfake5556d ago

I know I'll be playing it one last
time as soon as I get off work.
3 hours to go

Blaze9295556d ago

well duh - of course it's empty as the only game people were still playing are ARE playing is Halo 2. Which is why it's not as big of a deal as people are making it out to be.

But still - a lot of people still played halo 2 - crazy huh? 6 years later it still pulls in impressive numbers online...what other game last gen still does that? Hell, some online games THIS gen cant even do that

I'll be on Halo 2 in 30 mins for the rest of the night. Bungie is signing on too in 6-11PM PST. Time to send Halo 2 off with a bang!

EliteAssass1n5556d ago

I'm pretty sure there was a lot of people still playing star wars: battlefront 2. i know 2 gamers that still play it occasionally

multipayer5556d ago

It is all about Conker Live & Reloaded, the most violent and vulgar multiplayer game last gen with vehicles, ranks, classes, perks, spray tags, bots etc... It also has the best graphics on Xbox. But OMGz, Halo #2! How will we ever recoup the loss, playing the superior PC version with loads of user made mods? Buying Halo for 360... No, it is hopeless. -_-

Screw you guys.

Government Cheese5556d ago

Halo 2, BF2:MC, and SWBF2 are really the only games people play on OG Xbox anymore.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 5556d ago
-MD-5556d ago

I regret not playing Xbox Live last gen, I was all about the PS2 back then. Seems like everybody had a good time in Halo 2.

STIKUP ARTIST5556d ago

Same here, I discovered HALO and Fable when I got the 360. I always buy at least 2 consoles each gen but I chose the PS2,Dreamcast and the Gamecube. The Gamecube was a waste of my money, I only bought like 5 games for that crap.

infamousinfolite5556d ago

Hate to rub it in, but yep pretty much. Some of my best memories where from halo 2.

likedamaster5556d ago

Ghost Recon 2 & Halo 2... two of my favorite online games last gen.

5556d ago
infamousinfolite5556d ago

?huh? What are you talking about?

ShadowRyuX5556d ago

Mech Assault and Conker. The main reason I waited so long to buy a 360 is the lack of any kind of "sequel" to either of those games, but I bought one so I could play MW2 and Borderlands with more friends too bad I sold both because they got boring really quick. It is especially sad when you consider that MW1 was what really got me hooked on online gaming. =/

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 5556d ago
happy_gilmore5556d ago

that's the xbot's jutification for paying for a lagging online service

Wrathman5556d ago

yep..another droid that thinks PSN is 100% dedicated servers..

wake up before you drown in your cornflakes

SeanRL5556d ago

It had a good run even though it had to go up against the ps2. You gotta give it credit.

Mo0eY5556d ago

Now if we can only pull the Xbox 360 Live servers...

jack who5556d ago (Edited 5556d ago )

every1's play halo 2 dumb asses and non of those games are bc.

kevinx10005556d ago

"every1's play halo 2"
that's what i was about to say.

Just played my last match. fantastic game!
can't wait for reach :)

infamousinfolite5556d ago

Halo Reach better bring me the best content because Halo 3 was ok but it wasn't no Halo 2. I want clans, an integrated friend list like in halo 2. Also, I want to feel nostalgic while playing Reach.

5556d ago Replies(1)
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130°

The director of the original Silent Hill: “I look forward to seeing bold interpretations.”

Keiichiro Toyama—the creator and original director of the 1999 Silent Hill—shared his personal thoughts on the recently announced remake by Konami, reflecting on what the project means to him after more than two decades:
“I felt something similar when the game was adapted into a movie. It deeply moved me to see the names of the characters and locations I had created come to life visually, even though I wasn’t directly involved. That wouldn’t have been possible without the continued support of the fans and the dedication of the developers who’ve kept the series alive.
I’m really looking forward to seeing how the remake evolves this time. With the advanced technology we now have, I’m sure I’ll be surprised by how the game is reimagined. Since the original was built for the first PlayStation, there will naturally be challenges—like the camera and controls—but I’m eager to see bold and creative solutions to those elements.”

Read Full Story >>
www-alhub-me.translate.goog
senorfartcushion10d ago

Haha Not only is bold and creatively not what the industry wants, it’s not what most people want.

They want to get scammed and pay twice for a thing they already own.

jznrpg9d ago

I’m sure many would want bold and creative done well, but that’s easier said than done. I like variety so give me a little bit of everything, done well of course.

Nightcrawler8910d ago

Hope they use his vision in the game

Inverno10d ago

Was the SH2 remake even bold? Or was it more or less just a 1 to 1 over the shoulder remake?

Scissorman9d ago

it was not. it greatly expanded the areas and puzzles to the point where it felt like an entirely new game. the enemies and boss fights were given a MASSIVE upgrade. the abstract daddy fight in particular was incredible. and the team added two new endings.

Pedrof10d ago

I wouldn't hold my breath on "bold".

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220°

Phil Spencer Teases 2026 As A "Really Special Year" For Xbox

2026 will mark the 25th anniversary of Xbox, and Phil Spencer has teased it as a "really special year" for the games division.

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twistedvoxel.com
TheEroica18d ago (Edited 18d ago )

You got downvotes by pathetic gamers for feeling hopeful about good games coming out next year. Imagine how small your brain must be to downvote someone excited for future gaming joy? It is pretty neat to see people's world view blow up in front of them as they realize Microsoft has put themselves in a driver's seat that Sony hasn't been able to touch all generation.... What's even more pathetic is the same people downvoting you are the same people wishlisting Microsoft games on their ps5s 😂

P_Bomb18d ago

“Imagine how small your brain must be to downvote someone excited for future gaming joy?”

My dude your post history shits on EVERYTHING. You never have a good thing to say about anything lol! 🤣

PanicMechanic17d ago (Edited 17d ago )

“Getting ready for those GaaS reveals! Sony is a shadow of themselves this gen.”

You literally said this a couple of days ago. Start applying the clown make up, you hypocritical jester

derek18d ago

Yep we'll see, they have alot releasing next year.

RaidenBlack18d ago

NGL, next year might be one of the best years in gaming ... starting off with RE9 and GTA VI ...
and then all the good games that's been cooking
Pragmata, Sands of Time, Saros, Gears E-Day, 007 First Light, Blood of Dawnwalker,
Mortal Shell II, Onimusha, Marvel1943: Rise of Hydra
current-gen only Infinity Ward's CoD, Duskbloods
+ My guess: Wolverine, Exodus, Mudang, Crimson Desert, Clockwork etc ...
~ seems like it might get too stacked

1Victor18d ago

@rokos:”Hopefully “
I downvoted you not for been hopeful but because I have seen the same “NEXT YEAR WILL BE SPECIAL “ comment for the last 10+ and hasn’t seen anything special from Microsoft.
I hope next year will be the one that everyone been waiting for since the last 3 years of the Xbox 360, it have to be after over $80 billions spent on acquisitions.

Lightning7717d ago

So the new excuse is they don't count because it's from the ABK now huh. I guess all those 3rd party games count even less because they don't own them. According to your always crappy logic.

InUrFoxHole17d ago

Lol. You haven't seen anything special? Do you even game?

OtterX18d ago

Always with the "next year..."! 😂

neutralgamer199218d ago

I don't know they have delivered this year and even last year. And they have a lot more content in the pipeline right now than anyone else. We can't just keep hating on MS

Indiana Jones
South of midnight
Avowed
Flight simulator
Hell Blade 2
Minecraft update
Gears of war reloaded
Indian Jones:expansion
Gears E day
Clockwork revolution
Fable
Doom the dark ages
The outer worlds 2
Grounded 2
Call of duty

OtterX18d ago

How many of those titles were just buyouts of companies that were going about making their games anyways? *Throws cash - "Oh look what we made!"

dveio18d ago (Edited 18d ago )

This list, that's been posted again, and again, and again in every single topic like this, contains almost nothing, literally almost nothing from Microsoft's own creational thoughtprocess.

It's a bunch of former 3rd party IPs.

Now even slowly returning to Playstation in some cases like Indiana, Hellblade, probably Starfield soon too, after they were made exclusively to Xbox on purpose.

Due to Microsoft's lack for own IP material except Halo & Forza. Which, the lack of, was the sole reason for all of it to happen in the first place anyway. Please don't pretend it wasn't.

And just look at all the games that come from Obsidian alone.

You really think Obsidian wasn't already working on Avowed and South of Midnight even without Microsoft buying Zenimax?

Microsoft delivered nothing but cheques.

OtterX18d ago (Edited 18d ago )

@dveio THIS. Lol, this dude thinks Call of Duty wouldn't exist without Microsoft! smh 😂

neutralgamer199218d ago (Edited 18d ago )

Common narrative I see often — that Microsoft shouldn’t get credit for the games its studios release because they “just bought them.” But this viewpoint ignores key context and sets a double standard that other platform holders aren’t held to

No one is saying these games wouldn't exist at all without Microsoft. But let’s not pretend that having a trillion-dollar company backing a studio doesn’t make a massive difference. Obsidian never had AAA funding before the Xbox acquisition. Pillars of Eternity was crowdfunded, and their resources were always stretched thin. Now they’re working on Avowed, with proper support behind it.

Ninja Theory’s Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice was made by around 20 people, using borrowed equipment and doing mocap in a boardroom. It was a passion project held together by tape and willpower. Today, Hellblade II exists because they were given resources, time, and freedom — something many developers don’t get unless they’re owned by a company that believes in their vision.

ZeniMax (Bethesda’s parent company) was in real financial trouble before the Microsoft acquisition. Reports and insider accounts have pointed out how much they needed a cash infusion. And while some people want to write off Xbox’s ownership of Bethesda titles, they forget the alternative could have meant layoffs or even closures.

The same goes for Activision Blizzard. Would you really prefer the company to stay under Bobby Kotick, after all the documented workplace misconduct and toxic leadership issues? Say what you want about Microsoft, but their acquisition brought accountability and change to a company that desperately needed it.

At the same time, Xbox gets hated on for doing what every major company does. Sony bought Housemarque, Bluepoint, Insomniac — but no one says Spider-Man 2 “doesn’t count” because of that. Why does Xbox get treated differently for acquiring struggling or undervalued developers and giving them a chance to thrive?

And the idea that Xbox locks games away is outdated. They're pushing cross-platform releases, cloud gaming, Game Pass, and backward compatibility more than any other platform holder. They're not forcing all studios into live service. If anything, their upcoming lineup is less GAAS-heavy and more focused on narrative and creativity — Avowed, South of Midnight, Clockwork Revolution, Fable, Perfect Dark, Towerborne, and others show real variety.

Whether people like it or not, Xbox is now the biggest publisher in the industry and owns the most gaming IPs. But what matters more is how they treat their studios. Most of these teams were previously stuck making AA games with limited scope — now they’re getting the tools and support to aim higher.

So when people say “Microsoft didn’t make those games,” they’re missing the point. It’s not about who started the studio — it’s about who enabled them to do their best work. You don’t have to love Xbox to admit they’ve helped a lot of developers and are taking a player-first approach.

Instead of writing off everything they do, maybe try recognizing the good they’re doing for both devs and gamers. At the end of the day, we should want more studios to succeed — no matter who owns them

BeHunted18d ago

I'm surprised Clockwork Revolution (BioShock meets Dishonored) isn't getting more media attention. The game looks interesting and reminds me of the old RPG games.

anast18d ago

The only good game on that list is Flight sim. The rest are either average or will be average. It's not a good look for MS.

TheEroica18d ago

My god.... Look how many comments are upset about microsoft's successes... 😂 This may be my new favorite thread. Not one gamer saying thanks for all the goodness coming their way, just bitter anger and downvoting the very games they themselves will purchase throughout 2026.... Sony really worked you guys over this generation.... Condolences.

DivineHand12518d ago

@neutralgamer1992 You said what needed to be said.

I have heard for years from older gamers that fanboys are the biggest issue with any fanbase. They will defend or gloss over negative news as long as the correct logo is on the box and they bash the competing platform no matter how much good they are trying to bring.

Right now their advocacy for PlayStation is elevating that platform so high that Sony no longer believes they need to do anything to satisfy their loyal fanbase like they did in the PS4 days.

I just hope most of them will eventually start advocating for themselves and encourage others to do the same. No one should blindly support one platform because these companies do not care about anything other than profit.

neutralgamer199218d ago

Hunted

And first proper game done by the studio with proper AAA budget and saying it will be released when ready

Anast

I believe we went through this before that you are objectively wrong. Meta critic, user reviews, game sales. In Playstation top 10 best selling games were 5 from Microsoft studios

Otter

No this dude is saying so many other studios wouldn't be thriving without MS money and people would be getting abused physically and mentally with Bobby kotick and his side kicks

Also maybe look up how the original founder of Bethesda and zenimax was kicked out of his own company by his best friend lawyer. So that was always a shady place and had been struggling financially before MS paid a premium of almost 7 billion

Eroica

I use to be a die hard Playstation fan and now I only have a Pc. I see how these fans are so toxic. They just can't handle any positive news regarding Xbox. When the best selling games on playstation are Xbox titles. Look at Forza horizon being best seller and that's years old game by MS. I guess ms don't deserve credit for that success too since they are the only company in gaming making acquisitions

Forget the fact Sony paid 3.6 billion for bungie and MS 6.9 for zenimax. Which investment has turned out better

Destiny and marathon with a lot of controversy

While zenimax output is nothing short of amazing compared to what bungie has released

crazyCoconuts18d ago

Yeah it's tricky. "Xbox" has morphed to mean different things to different people.
Console, now Windows, GamePass, and the cross platform games. There's a mix of attitudes towards all those things individually, and maybe an overarching attitude towards MS. But can't argue that the game companies MS recently bought continue to flourish, and GamePass PC has been a great value over the last year.

InUrFoxHole17d ago

@OtterX
You're the dude mad at your exes new guy. She's with someone else... get over it.

+ Show (8) more repliesLast reply 17d ago
Lightning7718d ago (Edited 18d ago )

They've had good output so far. So waiting for those games shouldn't be a problem.

Who cares if they're buy outs of companies or whatever excuse you want to make. They're games that are being distributed to other console. Play the games and enjoy it instead of fanboying or complaining.

ocelot0718d ago

They going to be a he best and biggest publisher on Xbox, Playstation and PC next year. They not really said anything about Switch 2 though spite claiming to be big supporters.

quenomamen18d ago

If you call making one last Xbox before going full Sega, as Great. Then yea.

TheEroica18d ago

Doesn't feel like you're paying attention to what's happening.

RhinoGamer8818d ago

It will be, his net work will hit 50 million and he plans to buy a new mansion in Cape Cod. Thanks everyone! #failup

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250°

Halo: Combat Evolved Remake reportedly planned to release in late 2026

Xbox Game Studios' Halo: Combat Evolved Remake is reportedly planned to release in late 2026 to celebrate 25 years of Xbox.

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videogamer.com
Goodguy0121d ago

Dear God it's been 4 years since infinite and no official update on anything lol.

Tacoboto21d ago

No official update on anything?

They replaced studio leadership
They changed the studio name
They announced the change to UE5
... all while supporting Infinite

The support to Infinite isn't what it originally should have been but they've still been providing tons of official updates over the years, and as recently as two months ago added a brand new weapon.

GamerRN20d ago

I think remaking Halo Combat Evolved, and going to 2 and 3 again, will help give the studio an idea of how to make a Halo game feel like Halo again

Tacoboto20d ago

Infinite did feel like Halo, that's not what the complaints were...

The complaints were almost literally everything else. Monetization, netcode and desync, the campaign structure, story, and single biome, the weaker-than-expected post-launch content.

InUrFoxHole20d ago

Gotta agree. Infinite felt like halo.

Profchaos20d ago

Dev times in modern days 4 years of silence isn't unheard of when things are running smoothly.

And around 6 months ago 343 did show a tech demo of ue5 using halo assets so it's not radio silence.

Given all the shake ups i am more surprised we're getting anything next year at all.

RaidenBlack21d ago (Edited 21d ago )

They coulda started with Halo 3 remake ... I know Halo CE remaster was not proper with the art style but still, remaking after a remaster seems dull, when Halo 3 and Reach have started to show some age.

PhillyDonJawn21d ago

Yeah I hate they used Halo reach artstyle. Hope this remake feel authentic yet fresh

--Onilink--21d ago

Probably the simplest to work around with. They are reportedly doing it in UE5, so its just as much an Anniversary thing, as its probably the studio getting familiar and setting up their tools and processes in the engine with an actual game, to facilitate the development of the next Halo

Profchaos20d ago

I'm guessing combat evolved has a smaller scope in general the later half of the game features a ton of backtracking and reused assets making it a easier game to remake on a deadline

Its also a better choice if this is the first game to be multiplatform mind you I think it's pretty much a given that anyone with a passing curiosity has played this by now in some way be it pc or brought a used console for a few bucks

darthv7221d ago

This will likely come to PS5 at the same time. 25 years of XB.... shared with PS.

Obscure_Observer20d ago

It´s gonna be among best sellers on PS Store next year regardless.

raWfodog20d ago (Edited 20d ago )

I would love to see Lost Odyssey come over to PS5. I would definitely buy that again. That was the first game that I played on my 360. Loved the story and battle system. One of the best JRPGs of all time in my opinion.

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