I've been using Razer mice for decades, and have tested dozens upon dozens of iterations of the firm's products. I'm also a dedicated MMORPG and MOBA player on PC, flipping between games like World of Warcraft and Heroes of the Storm as seasons wax and wane.

For the Warcraft-faithful, I play a Demonology Warlock, which has been simplified over the years, but in previous expansions I had anywhere up to 30+ keybinds for playing the class effectively in PvE and PvP. It was a bit like learning a musical instrument back in the day, particularly when you throw in battle potions, trinkets and other additional buttons.

As such, I've tended towards Razer mice with extra inputs to make my gaming life easier. I had no idea how much easier it was going to get until I went palm-on with the new Razer Naga V3 Pro — which is quite easily one of the best mice of 2026.

Razer Naga V3 Pro: Specs and price

The Razer Naga V3 Pro builds on its predecessor in a variety of ways, but chief among those is the inclusion of a further three configurable inputs, bringing the maximum total to 23 (and many, many more if you use HyperShift and other modifier keys).

Razer also doubled down on durability with reinforced molding processes for the switches, which the firm says will now last up to and potentially beyond 100 million actuations.

The obvious headline feature is the magnetic button plates that can be customized at will, adding between two, six, and twelve additional buttons. Razer has also included a uniquely configurable scroll wheel that comes with haptic feedback capabilities.

The mouse goes into general availability on August 11, 2026, and will set you back $179.99 from Best Buy in the United States.

Razer Naga V3 Pro: Features

The Razer Naga range has long been designed with MMO and MOBA gameplay in mind, adding a huge amount of additional inputs via a unique magnetic side plate feature.

Razer has enhanced the force of the magnets to ensure it feels well and truly part of the mouse when connected, and I can say without doubt that it well and truly does. The buttons can be programmed at will using Synapse, and modified further with a ring-finger button that defaults to Razer's dedicated "Hyper Shift" modifier key. Of course, all of these can be reconfigured too.

What struck me immediately when going palm-on was the new scroll wheel. Razer has included some unique functionality here that I've not experienced previously in other mice. You can set it to free-wheeling mode, which allows it to quite literally spin indefinitely under its own weight. There's also a standard step-stop function that most users will be familiar with, but also a precision-stop feature that adds some haptic feedback and shortens the actuation for rapid hot bar or weapon switching with more forceful control.

There is a parade of other buttons and functions too. The DPI rates have been placed in the top right corner of the mouse out of the way, requiring a little more intent to reach to prevent accidents, I suppose. There are two buttons below the scroll wheel, and the scroll wheel itself can be tilted and clicked for additional inputs too.

It sports 155 hours of battery life out of the box, and supports Razer's new Mouse Dock as well as its wireless Hyper Flux charging mouse mat. Either plugged in or connected to a compatible Hyper Speed dongle, this bad boy can go all the way up to 8,000 Hz. You will not be left wanting for speed.

Razer Naga V3 Pro: Comfort and usage

How does it feel to actually use, though? I dropped into a couple of World of Warcraft raids and played a few games of Heroes of the Storm to get a feel for it, but it was in games like Age of Empires where it truly felt transformative.

As noted, you can add up to 12 extra buttons with the side plate feature. It does take some getting used to, and I think Razer could've perhaps done a bit more to help differentiate the keys, particularly on the 12-button plate. The six button plate felt like the sweet spot for me, given that the profile of the buttons made them easier to memorize, but also I didn't find it as hard to squeeze my thumb backwards to hit the keys closest to my palm.

Indeed, you might struggle with this mouse if you don't have the most flexible hands. I found its palm hump to be a bit tall for my tastes (small ass hands maybe, or perhaps poor desk ergonomics on my end), but overall it was incredibly comfortable. I suspect most people won't have any issues with it. I also suspect that it was designed quite intentionally to be "palm grippy" to facilitate the fact users will be reaching for buttons on the side more often than on other mice.

There are probably neuroscientific reasons for this, but it does feel genuinely more intuitive to actuate inputs on the same hand as your movement intentions. Perhaps it stems from my console-oriented history in some ways, but I found it a lot easier to drop Guldan's ult with a mouse swipe and mouse click, as opposed to lining up my mouse with a keyboard press.

For Age of Empires, it was particularly fun binding various quick keys directly to the mouse. Assigning regiments, bypassing certain menus, and being able to select specific units instantly from anywhere won't make up for my lack of skill with RTS, but it did boost the fun factor.

Razer Synapse is a fantastic piece of software that ties everything together. It's still better than solutions from other companies by a country mile. Configure RGB lighting, set up profiles for specific games, configure literally all the things — quick and easy.

Some of the less useful features include Razer's macro functionality, which will sadly get you banned in a lot of online games for "automation."

The Naga V3 Pro also comes with an AI assistant key by default, which lets you bind certain Copilot prompts to mouse inputs for some reason. You can turn it off, but it's 2026 so everything has to have some kind of "AI" feature in it apparently, even if it's effectively useless. Perhaps this might become more useful if Microsoft ever ships agents to consumers, but as for right now it feels like boardroom fluff. Thankfully, that's the only "feature" here I could describe as such. Practically everything else is genuinely useful and represents a demonstrable upgrade.

There is a lot of functionality in the Razer Naga V3 Pro, and you won't need all of it all of the time. It is designed primarily for people who want maximum control over their games, and indeed, it is priced as such.

Razer Naga V3 Pro: Conclusion

The Razer Naga V3 Pro is a tour de force of functionality, with unmatched versatility for practically every genre of game you can throw at it. FPS, RTS, MOBA, MMORPG, and beyond — even the most control-complex games fall before the Naga and its capacity to inject intuitiveness into the least intuitive games and control schemes possible.

But yes, it will require configuring to get there. That's ultimately who it's designed for, though; people who play more complex games to a hardcore level, and want their peripherals to reflect their desire to configure and control their experience.

You should buy this if ...

✅ You play complex input-heavy games like MMORPGs and RTS.

✅ You like to configure your controls to the nth degree.

✅ You prefer your inputs on your mouse, rather than your keyboard.

You should not buy this if ...

❌ You find configuring keybinds exhaustive and annoying.

❌ You have particularly small hands (you might find its height uncomfy).

❌ Price might be a concern.

This will become my default mouse moving forward. Being able to effectively keybind number keys 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0, etc. without needing to physically reach away from WASD is a big boost in some games I play.

However, I am cognizant of the fact that I got the review unit here. Almost $200 for a mouse is tough to justify unless you're particularly passionate about the functionality the Razer Naga V3 Pro is going to provide for you. For configuration enthusiasts, there's well and truly nothing better than the Razer Naga V3 Pro right now.

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I've long been a fan of XCOM, which is why when I heard two of my favorite franchises were about to collide on Xbox and PC, my interest was immediately piqued.

This is Star Wars: Zero Company, an upcoming turn-based tactics game set in the legendary sci-fi universe that needs little introduction.

Developed by Bit Reactor, who themselves are comprised heavily of XCOM and Firaxis vets, I recently was lucky enough to talk to the team behind the game, as well as go hands-on for the first time.

Bit Reactor's Greg Foertsch, art director of XCOM fame, was candid on the game's origin story. It was actually the late great Vince Zampella of Titanfall and Call of Duty fame who offered it up first, and the rest is history: "Star Wars was not on my bingo card, to be quite honest, till Vince brought it up, and frankly, I was a little terrified at first, but I had to say yes."

Terrified they might've been. But from what I've seen, I think they've absolutely nailed it and have nothing to fear whatsoever. Star Wars Zero Company is now a personal game-of-the-year contender, if indeed the full game continues to be as infectious and intriguing as the demo slice I played.

Bit Reactor noted that they felt the turn-based tactics genre still had a big story to tell, even as Take Two essentially wound down the XCOM franchise in favor of focusing on Civilization. What better way to introduce the genre to a new audience than via one of the biggest franchises in the world?

But Bit Reactor has also been keen to modernize every aspect of it for modern sensibilities: photorealistic art, a third-person camera, high-quality story writing and cinematic treatment, and a Mass Effect-like character bonding system that has enormous potential.

Star Wars: Zero Company launches on Xbox and PC on August 27, 2026.

A heaping of XCOM, a dash of Mass Effect?

In Star Wars Zero Company, you take command of a "dirty dozen" style mercenary outfit, which immediately gave me Mass Effect 2 vibes.

This ragtag group of rejects, bounty hunters, and warriors of fortune come together under a variety of difficult circumstances. The Clone Wars are in full swing, and the Republic needs mercs willing to undertake missions that are perhaps beyond their remit (and missions that skirt the law ... and perhaps even basic morality.)

As such, you play as Captain Hawks, a fully customizable humanoid and former Republic officer who has gone into business for himself. You can fully tailor Hawks' identity and pick from a variety of iconic Star Wars species to lead your crew.

As you get further in, you'll meet other heroes who join your squad for a variety of their own reasons. There's Tel-Rea, who is a former Jedi Padawan, Trick, a "forcibly retired" clone trooper, and Cly, a Mandalorian driven by vengeance.

The eclectic cast led Bit Reactor to create its "Bond system," which gave me a ton of Mass Effect 2 vibes. As your crew collaborates both in missions and during trips to The Den (your base of operations), they build relationships and synergies that benefit your tactical options and also develop their characters.

"I wanted that to have a long arc of play over the course of the whole campaign… you’re not just learning to power your characters up, but you’re also having them develop relationships that’s evolving in your head," game director James Brawley explained to us. "Characters grow stronger as a result… that’s why they’re able to beat these overwhelming threats, because they know how to work together."

"This is your Star Wars game… how you get there, what you experience, the characters you build, the relationships and bonds you make — they’re all unique to your playthrough."

The team explained that the events of Zero Company take place adjacent to The Clone Wars, in the shadows, using an entire cast of new characters. And indeed, like any good XCOM-like, permadeath is a feature here. If you have two characters that synergize well and unlock powerful abilities as a result, having one of them die not only severs that bond but also deprives you of access to those powerful abilities. The stakes remain incredibly high as a result, in true XCOM-fashion. You'll also lose the resolution of their stories and experiences too, making every playthrough potentially unique (unless you save scum, that is ... but there are auto-saves-only Ironman modes for those who don't want to be enticed into such heretical gameplay styles.)

I didn't get to experience too much of the combat gameplay, but from what I played, it felt every bit as satisfying and fun as previous official XCOM-style games I've played from the team here. Bit Reactor is comprised of XCOM and Firaxis vets, as noted, and you can feel that pedigree in every aspect of play. The team said Disney was on hand too to verify the Star Wars authenticity but was also incredibly open to Bit Reactor's own agency therein. The team said they "couldn't praise Disney enough," in what sounds like a very productive working relationship.

Disney hasn't always handled the Star Wars IP as well as I would've liked ... but it's hard to deny that they've had some absolute bangers on their hands. Rogue One has been a particular highlight for me, but also the games. Cinematic delivery I'd argue is more important in a Star Wars-adjacent title, which obviously comes with certain expectations. You can expect great characters, a grand adventure across the galaxy, and big cinematic moments sprinkled throughout Zero Company, the developers tell me. But crucially, also dark villains.

The Clone Wars are in full swing in corners of the galaxy, but while bounty hunting, Hawks and his crew get caught up in a uniquely dangerous situation. The separatist-aligned cult known as the Infinite Coil rears its head early on. Its members seem infected with a mysterious space plague that, if I were a betting man, potentially has dark side origins.

The Jedi Fallen Order franchise has been well-received, and before Vince Zampella's passing, it seemed like EA was on an upward swing with its Star Wars license stewardship. Zero Company looks set to continue that legacy and also maintain the quality bar Jedi Fallen Order established.

Indeed, I was surprised to discover how far Zero Company diverges from the typical XCOM formula from a story perspective, where most of the characters are throwaway soldiers designed to ultimately be expendable. The detailed characterization of the heroes in Zero Company are every bit as cinematic and interesting as any story-heavy action game or big-screen Star Wars experience you might expect.

Zero Company makes heavy use of a traditional third-person over-the-shoulder camera for some of these sequences too, making the game feel almost more like a CRPG in the vein of Baldur's Gate 3 or Wasteland 3, as opposed to a pure tactics game. Tactics games with fixed isometric cameras often come with stylized art given that the camera is zoomed out a lot of the time. Zero Company went deeper on visuals to accommodate its more cinematic delivery, and the results speak for themselves. Zero Company feels painstakingly authentic.

"We should be better looking, not worse. We should be better frame rates, not worse. We should have more stories, more immersion," Bit Reactor explained. "We’re just making a great game — it just happens to be turn‑based.”

If you've never played an XCOM-like before, its RPG systems might be what entices you most

I was incredibly encouraged by Star Wars: Zero Company's preview cycle. I was immediately drawn to the characters and intrigued by the potential of the game's Bond system. What events and storytelling opportunities would I be able to unlock? What consequences would befall me for mismanaging those bonds and potentially getting some of my heroes killed? What exactly is the Infinite Coil, and what do they want?

Star Wars: Zero Company is a bit of a rarity in 2026, as big publishers chase service games, infinite experience, and microtransaction hellscapes. Take Two itself no longer seems to want to service the XCOM franchise sadly, and other companies that have attempted it have often struggled to broaden their appeal. Truly "AAA"-grade tactics games have become vanishingly rare.

Star Wars is the perfect universe to offer a take on this genre in my view, particularly in the Clone Wars era. But Bit Reactor's clear efforts on the cinematic and story-delivery side give Zero Company broad potential that similar attempts at the turn-based tactics genre have missed in recent years. Baldur's Gate 3-style cinematics and character delivery, atop modern high-quality visuals and focused XCOM-style tactical play? Zero Company has everything I didn't know I needed from this quarter's very busy slate of games.

Star Wars: Zero Company is something every Star Wars and turn-based afficionado should put on their wishlist.

If you have any questions about the game, drop them in the comments and I'll get them answered!

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Microsoft purchased Blizzard as part of its big Activision acquisition a few years ago. The Warcraft maker has had a roller coaster decade in a variety of ways, with downturns in hit franchises like Warcraft and Overwatch prevented the legendary studio from finding its mojo.

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Free from the reins of Activision, Blizzard now operates as a limited-integration entity within Microsoft's Xbox division, and the results well and truly speak for themselves. Overwatch is arguably better than ever, with a razor-sharp focus on fan feedback and new content. World of Warcraft still has issues with its writing and polish, but the content cadence has never been so consistent. Genre-defining franchise Diablo has also seen a stunning return to form, with an overhaul of the endgame loop atop a truly spectacular expansion in the form of Lord of Hatred.

All of that painstakingly hard work has seemingly paid off. A new email sent by Blizzard President Johanna Faries to staff this past week celebrated the division's roaring return to growth.

Blizzard President Johanna Faries opened the email rallying the team ahead of BlizzCon 2026, set to go live in Anaheim on September 12, "the weekend will reflect the bold and collaborative work of everyone reading this," she said. "It's my hope that the event can shine a light on the work underway at Blizzard, and that it can serve as a powerful springboard into a new era of momentum and excitement behind our mission to bring joy and belonging for communities worldwide."

Faries also laid out Blizzard's performance through FY26, which just ended for Microsoft with Xbox 11% down overall (owing to some big franchises like Call of Duty and Candy Crush having a difficult year). While Xbox overall has struggled, Blizzard is one area that continues to thrive and grow.

"In FY26 Blizzard ended the year as the top-performing studio in Xbox's studios division, and this past year has marked our third highest fiscal for top line revenue in Blizzard's history."

Faries went on to explain that Blizzard has begun seeing consecutive years of growth again for the first time since Overwatch launched back in 2016. It's a huge feat considering intense competition from the likes of Roblox, Fortnite, and other service-type entities eating up a lot of the attention.

"FY25 and FY26 were our first back-to-back years of growth since FY17," Faries explained. "Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred and Overwatch drove exceptional performance in particular, with Overwatch delivering its strongest quarter since 2022." Faries emphasized that the success will help them invest even more in Blizzard games, staff, and other initiatives that will "shape Blizzard's future."

BlizzCon could be a really huge moment

The news comes against a fairly negative backdrop at Xbox over the summer, who is known to be seeking cuts to the tune of thousands of employees throughout the next 12 months. Microsoft has already laid off thousands of staff across its divisions, with divestitures hitting Xbox staples like Undead Labs, Ninja Theory, and others. id Software of DOOM fame has been particularly hard hit with cuts, and it remains to be seen what other studios might be hard hit in the coming months.

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Given Faries' upbeat note, it would be dire indeed if Microsoft's c-suite spreadsheet spectres decided Blizzard also needed to bear some of the burden of higher-up managerial failings of late. Xbox's confused strategy over the last few years hurt the division's revenue diversification, leading to an over-reliance on mega-franchises like Candy Crush, Minecraft, and Call of Duty to subsidize growth. A lack of investment in Xbox's core, i.e. console, has led to a decline in the division's most lucrative user base by Microsoft's own admission. Although incoming Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has begun work to strengthen this aspect of the business.

In September, BlizzCon will offer a glimpse at the near and long-term future of Blizzard's universes. We should see the next Warcraft expansion, dubbed The Last Titan, revealed in full. I've heard Blizzard is working on a variety of mobile game spin offs with partners too, as well as potential trans-media projects similar to Cyberpunk Edgerunners or the Fallout TV show for its own franchises. Blizzard is also known to be working on a StarCraft third-person shooter led by Far Cry director Dan Hay, and the next core Diablo project is also moving ahead.

Who knows what other surprises could be awaiting us? A Heroes of the Storm revival maybe?! Higher-quality remakes of Blizzard classics? Something completely new?! It's exciting to think about as a long-time Blizzard fan, but more importantly, it's encouraging to see Blizzard's industry-leading devs have a spot in the sun after many years of turbulence. Faries and the team at Blizzard should serve as an example for Xbox CCO Matt Booty to follow. Let's hope (and pray) Microsoft continues to let them cook.

What Blizzard franchise do you want to hear most about at BlizzCon? Vote in our poll!

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Everyone knows Xbox isn't doing so hot these days, but new research from Statista Consumer Insights has put that common belief to the test.

Xbox is "unhealthy" according to new CEO Asha Sharma, which has led to thousands of layoffs this summer and many more throughout the next fiscal year. Gaming as a whole is struggling from a variety of headwinds, including the memory crisis, dilution of attention, competition from non-gaming hobbies, and potentially an unhealthy dependence on free-to-play forever games like Fortnite.

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Indeed, Microsoft's gaming division saw a decline to the tune of 11% last fiscal year, which sources tell me almost entirely revolves around Call of Duty having an off year. I suspect diversifying the Xbox business would probably be a good idea to reduce dependence on the firm's handful of mega-games, but that's a discussion for another time.

It's no secret that Xbox One was ill-received by the core gaming community, and Microsoft is still paying for those mistakes over a decade later. New data from Statista Consumer Insights put common beliefs about Xbox's performance to the test, surveying over 3,200 gamers in the United States.

Users were asked which console platforms they frequently play on specifically, with PC and mobile excluded from the picture. Of console players in the United States, some 85% frequently play on PlayStation platforms, 76% play on Nintendo platforms, with Xbox coming in last at 58%. The figures suggest that most people own multiple consoles and frequently play across different platforms. What is perhaps most striking is how popular the Xbox 360 still is, which is even giving the Nintendo Switch 2 a run for its money. It aligns with what I've previously heard about Xbox 360 engagement, which is uniquely sticky for Microsoft.

In a universe where some service games last "forever," there are arguably few reasons to upgrade from a PS4 or an Xbox One if all you enjoy playing is Fortnite or Minecraft and the like, which are still updated and fully functional on older platforms. At least it shows that users remain engaged, even if they are playing on older platforms. The challenge is figuring out how to convince them the upgrade is worth it.

Grand Theft Auto 6 is exclusive to Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5, which in a usual console cycle would likely have a dramatic upward impact on the current-gen systems. That uptake is likely going to be a tad muted for Xbox, which is struggling to source memory at reasonable prices for its Xbox Series X|S range. The box is already more expensive than ever, and has firmly slipped beyond your average luxury purchase.

It'll be interesting to see how Xbox CEO Asha Sharma addresses the delta here. Xbox PC and Xbox Cloud Gaming are obviously excluded from the results here, and both of these platforms represent a huge growth area for Microsoft. Microsoft has barely marketed Xbox Cloud Gaming arguably, and Xbox Game Pass on PC remains a fantastic deal too. Putting more investment into these products (and maybe I dunno, marketing them?) could make for an easy win.

Sharma said that there are "200 million" Xbox players last month, but it's unclear exactly how Microsoft arrives at this figure. Does that include Minecraft players on PS5 or Nintendo Switch for example? It's hard to parse. What isn't hard to parse is the scale of the challenge facing Xbox, whose identity has been rocked by a variety of experiments that landed with mixed results.

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Xbox has a new console on the horizon, in the form of Project Helix, but so too will PlayStation. The competition for the future will remain fierce, but it's unclear if Microsoft still has the stamina to keep investing in gaming as shareholders heap demands for more AI.

It'll be interesting to see how Xbox weathers the next few years, with no end in sight for memory shortages, demographic shifts to PC, and the rise of free-to-play perpetuating something of a race to the bottom.

We've seen where the United States prefers to play, but where do YOU prefer to play, Windows Central reader? Vote in our poll below!

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Xbox has been on a bit of a tear when it comes to new platform features lately.

Yesterday, Microsoft announced the latest build for the Xbox Insider Program, with a variety of new features big and small. The features included better management for Xbox cloud saves, better sorting of your games library, and other bits and pieces. The headline act, however, is voice clip recording on the Xbox Game DVR. This is a feature people have been asking Microsoft to add for over a decade, all the way back to the Xbox One era.

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When you have an epic gameplay moment with friends, it would be awesome if you could also capture their reactions without having to use a complex capture rig. You'd need to use a streaming PC with StreamLabs OBS or a capture card like the Elgato 4K S to extract the audio alongside your Xbox gameplay. But yesterday's update has made it a million times easier.

Here's a clip from a quick gameplay session on Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2 I had this morning, showing how the first iteration works.

As you can see (or ... well, hear) the audio levels aren't ideal out of the box. You can barely hear me in this capture over the audio of the game. You would have to lower the gameplay sound a fair bit in order to be able to hear me, but it would be ideal if Microsoft would add settings for this.

In order for this feature to work, users have to enable it in the settings. Only users who have enabled game or party chat audio capture will appear in the sound mix, giving you total control over whether or not your reactions are captured (potentially saving your more embarrassing gameplay moments from going viral.)

You can also set whether your voice is clippable in public audio settings too, such as lobby chat on Call of Duty (oh boy) or in proximity chat games like Arc Raiders and the like.

Hopefully, Microsoft will add audio mix granularity sliders in the future, as it's far too quiet in my opinion as of writing. Additionally, capturing a clip seems to temporarily freeze a game for 0.2 seconds when you have voice capture turned on. I'm not sure if that's a consequence of the feature or an instability in the latest Alpha build, but I'm sure the experience will be improved before hitting general availability.

It's potentially exciting how this feature could evolve in the future. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma is a former Meta executive, and likely has thoughts on how to leverage social media virality as a vector for growing Xbox's footprint. Perhaps there's a future where Xbox supports webcam picture-in-picture clipping too, and maybe we'll even get direct sharing to social networks back again some day on top. Perhaps even native Xbox Series X|S video editing tools will return as well, who knows?!

Microsoft has been listening to user feature ideas more aggressively lately via the Xbox Player Voice portal over here. The top most requested feedback is still "Xbox exclusive games," which Xbox has delivered in the form of Clockwork Revolution and Gears of War: E-Day. Xbox also confirmed it will deliver "Platinum" completion achievements later in 2026.

What features would YOU like to see Xbox deliver? Let us know in the comments.

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Microsoft's stocks rallied this past week on accelerating AI growth, but the devil is always in the details.

Over the past month, Microsoft's shares have surged almost 30% following its quarterly filings, which beat Wall Street estimates by a significant margin. Microsoft proved that its AI business is accelerating in growth, and that cash flows remain healthy despite the firm's extensive capital expenditure on new data centers. However, new information suggests that there's still an enormous caveat to this news.

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Analysis from Bloomberg has poured cold water over Microsoft's AI earnings potential. Disclosures from Microsoft suggest that OpenAI accounts for around 70% of Microsoft's total AI-related income, based on projected growth and previous disclosures that relate to revenue derived from OpenAI.

Microsoft reported that Copilot has millions of paid seats in Microsoft 365, and is being gradually adopted by a wide variety of governmental, public, and private sector businesses. But when you tally it against previous disclosures, it shows that GPU and infrastructure consumption specifically from OpenAI still drives between 65 to 70% of Microsoft's total AI business. Training platforms like ChatGPT and simply serving it to customers remains the cornerstone of Microsoft's AI business. That's potentially problematic and comes with a huge amount of risk.

On the gaming side, Call of Duty having an off year was enough to drive Xbox's total revenue down by 11%, leading to masses of layoffs. OpenAI, by comparison, is estimated to be losing anywhere between 10 and 20 billion dollars per year, on a comparatively modest $2-5 billion in revenue. OpenAI has a mountain of investors keeping it afloat right now, and Microsoft itself remains one of OpenAI's biggest backers, investing to the tune of billions in cash, infra, compute credits, and other instruments. On the face of it, Microsoft's AI bookings simply represent OpenAI's compute bill packaged as revenue.

It's not unheard of in business. Spotify ran losses for years until eventually becoming profitable (to the tune of billions, I might add). The idea is that you burn through debt, scale rapidly, change user behavior, and create new markets. Then, you lock people in and make them dependent, and start monetizing. Microsoft and OpenAI's other creditors are betting that one day, ChatGPT will become the default — an inescapable cornerstone of computing for billions of people.

But what if that doesn't happen?

What if people end up choosing Claude or Gemini over ChatGPT? What if regulatory scrutiny or public opinion sours ever further? What if elections are won on the promise of blocking new data centers, rather than enabling them?

The disclosures suggest that Microsoft's AI growth is inorganic and revolves almost entirely around training ChatGPT's models. If OpenAI imploded or decelerated, Microsoft would be on the hook for billions in sunk cost and enormous amounts of excess data center capacity.

There's no suggestion of a deceleration, quite the opposite — which is why the stock price has surged. But there's also little reason to believe that this entire segment is even vaguely organic.

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Microsoft is already trying to diversify by training its own "more efficient" MAI models for consumer applications while boosting external enterprise adoption. It's started to devote more attention to its legacy consumer businesses too, namely Xbox and Windows, as neglect therein becomes untenable. But none of this will save Microsoft or its shareholders if the so-called "AI bubble" well and truly does pop.

It'll be interesting to watch how CEO Satya Nadella navigates Microsoft through this somewhat unprecedented era.

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Xbox is back with a flurry of updates for the Xbox Series X|S, including one headline act that I think will make many people very happy.

Today, Xbox revealed that it has acted on some of the top feedback requests from the Xbox Feedback site, including voice clip and party chat recording inside the Xbox game DVR. Recordings will now also capture your team mates' cries of valor or wails of defeat (if you enable it, that is), alongside other various Xbox system improvements.

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Microsoft has been on a bit of a tear with regards to fan feedback through 2026. It started delivering Xbox exclusives again, added the Xbox backward compatibility emulator to PC, and also reverted the much-hated Xbox Game Pass price hike from last year. And now, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma just confirmed one of the most-requested features for "later this year."

Speaking on X (Twitter), Xbox CEO Asha Sharma replied to a fan "team is working on something for later this year," when asked if Microsoft would implement "Platinum"-styled completion achievements.

Players have been pining for an answer to PlayStation's platinum trophy system, which rewards players with a trophy for achieving 100% completion rates in games. Xbox games typically come with 1000 gamer score to earn per title, but there's no reward for acquiring all of the achievements.

I suspect Xbox was probably working out some of the finer details about how it would work in continuity with gamer score. Many games receive extra achievements post-launch, which would obviously remove your "100%" completion status. Perhaps you get the platinum achievement simply for hitting the base 1000 gamer score in the title? Who knows. Either way, it seems that Xbox will have an answer for it later this year!

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My favorite Xbox feature is having a bit of a moment in the sun.

The Xbox ecosystem is a lot better than people give it credit for in my view. Xbox Game Pass is still a fantastic deal for those who want to graze a large library of content. Xbox Cloud Gaming is more viable than ever for single-player games, and things like cloud saves remain free, while paid on other platforms.

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My favorite feature however is Xbox Play Anywhere. The ability to buy once, and take my games across Windows PCs, cloud, my laptop, Xbox Series X|S and Xbox Ally X handheld is a cornerstone of how I want to access games now. It's a vastly underrated feature, and something I think Microsoft could do a lot more to promote.

I was over the moon when I saw Larian announce Baldur's Gate 3 for Xbox Play Anywhere this week, in what has been a pretty great sprint for the service.

I sent Larian publishing lead Michael Douse a message and asked for comment on why Baldur's Gate 3 ended up hitting Xbox Play Anywhere, almost three years after its initial launch.

"We just did it because it's a pretty cool part of the Xbox ecosystem and it would mean a lot to the players who enjoy that ecosystem," Douse explained. "We had the resources & time and figured it would make a few folks happy."

Indeed, there's been a huge sprint of fantastic AAA games hitting Xbox Play Anywhere recently, including 007: First Light, Beast of Reincarnation, Hell is Us, Palworld 1.0, Dispatch, Subnautica 2, and many more. Upcoming we also have things like Blood of the Dawnwalker and Onimusha: Way of the Sword. Historically, games only hit Xbox Play Anywhere via Xbox Game Pass, but increasingly, developers are dropping Xbox Play Anywhere on a discretionary basis.

I also asked Sascha Reuter from Fullset about Project Neon, a classic SHMUP that originally launched on the Neo Geo. Project Neon has now been ported to Xbox Series X|S and other platforms, and is launching straight into Xbox Play Anywhere.

"We always love to give players as much bang for for their buck as we can," Reuter explained. "So adding all the versions was pretty much a no-brainer, so was to allow players to switch between their systems however they like."

Reuter told me that developing for Xbox Play Anywhere is as simple as "using a Dropbox folder," as developers can deliver app packages that target multiple platforms via Microsoft's developer back end. Reuter said that Xbox's API for designating a save folder is simple to set up for cross-platform saves, and prevents overwriting and handles syncing via Azure.

Microsoft last year revealed new APIs for cross-platform save syncing for developers who want to take their games even further afield beyond the Xbox ecosystem, as more and more of us go cross-platform.

Increasingly, it feels like developers are actively opting into Xbox Play Anywhere by default, but challenges remain.

The future of Xbox is PC

Microsoft is doing a lot of work to bridge the gap between its Xbox and Windows ecosystems. Xbox Play Anywhere helps developers target Xbox customers regardless of platform, and Microsoft has long suggested games with Xbox Play Anywhere see higher sales and boosted retention.

Still, it's difficult to retroactively set up Xbox Play Anywhere. If codebases diverge too much across separate versions, applying Xbox Play Anywhere can create errors when synchronizing progress. Games like Fallout 76 have never received Xbox Play Anywhere support for that reason — although it's not unheard of. Resident Evil 8 gained Xbox Play Anywhere support several years after launch too, just like Baldur's Gate 3.

Some publishers perhaps simply don't seem to see the value in it. Ubisoft has begun offering free versions of some of its PC games to owners who already own the Xbox version, but Xbox achievements aren't supported on PC. EA doesn't offer any form of synchronicity at all between its Xbox and PC versions either.

Recent data suggests that Xbox Play Anywhere is seeing more organic adoption than ever, consistently hitting a 50% compatibility rate for newly released games. Microsoft's impending Xbox backward compatibility emulator on PC could see even more Xbox games hit PC via Play Anywhere by default, by virtue of the fact they're already Xbox games regardless.

I love this feature, so it's great to see more developers opt-in. Hopefully, we're starting to see

Baldur's Gate 3 and Project Neon are available to buy now on Xbox Play Anywhere, across Xbox PC and Xbox Series X|S.

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