Almost three years into the Xbox Series X/S lifecycle, Microsoft says it is no longer making games for the Xbox One. While the company will continue to support ongoing previous-generation titles like Minecraft and Halo Infinite, no Xbox Game Studios teams are working on new titles for the older console. "We've moved on to gen 9," Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty told Axios, referring to the Xbox Series X/S consoles. The company also makes its games for PC. This move had to happen at some point to avoid newer and more complex games being hamstrung by the hardware limitations of the decade-old Xbox One. Still, it'll be possible for those clinging onto an Xbox One to play Series X/S titles such as Starfield and Forza Motorsport through Xbox Cloud Gaming.

Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty has said it's his "dream" to turn to "transformational" AI and machine learning as an alternative to human QA testing. Booty dove into his desire for AI testers during his "Storytime With Matt Booty" panel during PAX West. He said QA testing has "not really kept up with how quickly we can make content," as reported by VGC (opens in new tab), and went on to compare changing something minor in a game as opposed to a movie. "If we're working on a movie and you come in and say'hey, this ending let's tighten this up, let's edit this, let's cut that scene,' it usually doesn't break anything at the beginning of the movie," he said. "But in a game you can be ready to ship and a designer's like'I've got this one little feature, I'm just going to change the colour on this one thing' and then it somehow blows up something and now the first 10 minutes of the game doesn't play. So that testing aspect, every single time anything new goes into a big game the whole game has to be tested, front-to-back, side-to-side."

Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty told a live audience at PAX that he'd like to see QA (Quality Assurance) testers replaced by AI. Gaming QA testers regularly come under fire as bug-riddled games reach the hands of disappointed gamers with seemingly increasing prevalence. The backlash QA testers receive from frustrated gamers is often misplaced. Managers are often aware that games are full of bugs but decide to release unfinished games anyway in the hope of starting to recoup development costs. However, proper QA testing is a time-consuming and resource-intensive process. On the PAX stage, Booty explained how a game needs to be re-tested from start to finish whenever a feature is added.

There's nothing more romantic than a hunt for hidden treasure--and when those riches are located in the watery depths of the ocean, it can seem even more exciting. Shipwrecks spark the imagination, prompting dreams of untold riches and swashbuckling adventure. More vessels lie at the bottom of the sea than you might think; the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's database lists over 10,000 known wrecks off of United States shores alone--and that's not a complete list. According to United Nations cultural agency UNESCO, there are at least 3 million such wrecks worldwide, some thousands of years old. And then there's the booty some of those ships carried. Though there's an argument to be made that the treasure aboard now-sunken vessels is priceless, some experts estimate as much as $60 billion in precious metals lies on the ocean floor.

Over the last decade, the concept of "games as a service" has revolutionised the way the interactive entertainment industry works. From the subscriptions introduced by massively multiplayer online adventures such as World of Warcraft to the seasonal battle passes of current online shooters, we're seeing a huge amount of focus on games that can sustain a lucrative community of players over several years. But where does that leave more offbeat ideas and concepts that couldn't support years' worth of play? Where does it leave the single-player narrative adventure – the blockbusting genre that brought us titles such as Metal Gear Solid, Red Dead Redemption and Mass Effect? It's a genre Sony has supported through funding the studios that make games such as The Last of Us, Spider-Man and God of War.

Starting Friday, subscribers to Xbox Game Pass will see a new wave of games from Bethesda Softworks, whose parent company was acquired by Microsoft for $7.5 billion. In a statement Thursday, Microsoft said it will release 20 Bethesda games on Friday to Game Pass, the Xbox's subscription service providing access to dozens of video games for a monthly fee. The games span several Bethesda-owned properties, including Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, and Doom. A handful of games will feature FPS boost, which provides a significant increase to a game's frame rate per second, resulting in a smoother gameplay experience, says Microsoft. 'You're still on mute':One year into the pandemic, the mute button has been the best (and worst) at work Xbox Game Pass has surged in popularity as a more affordable way to gain access to multiple console games.

LOS ANGELES – Microsoft just started the console war – and the Master Chief is leading the way. The software and video game giant plans to bring a new video game console, currently codenamed "Project Scarlett," to market in time for holiday 2020. And it will have a new game "Halo Infinite" on tap for the new console's launch. In announcing the plans at the Electronic Entertainment Expo here Sunday, Phil Spencer, Microsoft's head of Xbox, called it "the most powerful and highest performing console we have ever designed." Whereas past succeeding generations of consoles provided a difference in graphic fidelity, Project Scarlett, Spencer said has a leap in processing power "you can see and feel."

If you make a purchase by clicking one of our links, we may earn a small share of the revenue. However, our picks and opinions are independent from USA Today's newsroom and any business incentives. Get your Nordstrom cards out, people. There is a sale going on right now at the beloved retailer, and it's good. I literally shopped the entire sale online, so I can confirm: this is a must-shop event (my bank account is shaking).

Ever since I entered college and learned the word'fashion' did not mean shopping at retailers such as Abercrombie and Fitch and American Eagle (the early-mid 2000s were a weird time, okay?), I became obsessed with Nordstrom. The clothes, the bags, the shoes, the makeup--it was all too perfect. Then I discovered the customer service was better than all of those departments combined, and I never looked back. After shopping at Nordstrom for years, in store and online, I know pretty much just about everything that is sold at the store. But is it helpful for you?

Minecraft is pretty important to Microsoft. Not only did the company spend $2.5 billion in 2014 to own the world's most popular building-block game, but just last week it promoted Matt Booty, the head of Minecraft, to Corporate VP of Microsoft Studios. As far as Microsoft sees it, there's a direct line from Minecraft to Gears of War, Halo and all of the company's major first-party games. Helen Chiang has been with Microsoft for 13 years, and the past 11 of those were spent in the Xbox division, managing the Live team and working with developers in the Xbox Live Arcade program. She helped Minecraft get settled on Xbox long before Microsoft's acquisition, and now she's in charge of the entire game.