The Xbox Direct Delivered the Optimism Xbox Fans Have Waited For

I went at Microsoft pretty hard for the company’s baffling no-show at December’s massive Game Awards event. As such, it’s only fair I give them credit where credit is due: its first-ever Developer_Direct – aka Xbox Direct for those of us who don’t have the patience to type that damn underscore every single time – was a success. The 40-minute broadcast wisely mimicked the hostless format that Nintendo pioneered and Sony smartly stole, and as a result we saw five games, got four release dates, and perhaps most of all, took away some optimism for the months to come.

Microsoft managed to pleasantly surprise everyone by dropping a new Tango Gameworks rhythm-action game on us called Hi-Fi Rush. It immediately looked like a delightful mashup of Sunset Overdrive, Ninja Gaiden, and Guitar Hero. Even better, Tango released it right after the Direct ended, making this one of the first same-day announcement+release combos in quite some time. It’s not a stretch to say that such a surprise would not have been possible without Xbox Game Pass, where word-of-mouth can build up over time, and a game’s success is not as heavily dependent on a pre-order campaign and months of marketing hype.

Meanwhile, Redfall was the headliner, closing things out with a deeper look at Arkane’s vampire-themed FPS. It still clearly retains Arkane DNA, but it’s also decidedly different from the studio’s previous emergent-gameplay offerings like Dishonored and Prey. Instead, you’ll do a lot of shooting with a lot of cool weapons and against a lot of wild enemies, from vampires that shroud the battle arena in darkness to huge bosses that almost resemble Strikes from Destiny. It’ll be out on May 2 – which should be just enough of a head start before multi-decade-old franchise juggernauts like Zelda, Diablo, Street Fighter, and Final Fantasy clog up the Summer (not to mention Rocksteady’s long-awaited Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League).

We saw five games, got four release dates, and took away some optimism for the months to come

In fact, the only real disappointment of the day was from Forza Motorsport. Not the game, mind you. Once again, it looks incredible. The Forza series has never been lacking visually and the rebuilt-for-next-gen-only reboot (i.e. there will not be an Xbox One version) wowed us with its paint reflections, dynamic day/night cycle, and realistic dirt accumulations on its 500 cars. And that was just in the compressed 1080p livestream. It’ll look even more glorious in its native 4K/60fps. Instead, the letdown took the form of Forza Motorsport’s release date, or, more accurately, the lack of one. Given that Microsoft made it clear up front it would be focusing on four games for this Direct, and that all four of them were expected in the first half of the year as per the company’s decree at last Summer’s Xbox Showcase, it was fair play to expect to learn exactly when we’d get to play each of them. But unfortunately we didn’t even get a season to expect Forza in – a generic “2023” was all we got, all but confirming that the next-gen racer will slip to the second half of the year.

In summary, if Microsoft takes away anything from its first Direct, it should be these two things:

1) Keep using this format for non-E3 showcases. It works. Never break out the overproduced, overly long Inside Xbox format again.

2) Keep underpromising and overdelivering. It was made clear that Starfield would get its own Direct later and not be a part of this one. That helped calibrate audience expectations going in, and those expectations were exceeded when Hi-Fi Rush hit the screen, and then again when it released on the same day.

Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s executive editor of previews and host of both IGN’s weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, as well as our monthly(-ish) interview show, IGN Unfiltered. He’s a North Jersey guy, so it’s “Taylor ham,” not “pork roll.” Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.

Xbox Direct Reactions and Analysis – Unlocked 579

We recorded Unlocked immediately after Microsoft’s Xbox Developer Direct presentation this week, so these are our in-the-moment reactions to the excellent presentation, from the deep-dive on Redfall (including a May 2 release date to look forward to) to another look at the gorgeous Forza Motorsport (though it came without any release date attached) to the surprise new game from Tango Gameworks, Hi-Fi Rush, that’s available right now! And in our final segment, we spent some time discussing the current uncertain state of Halo in the wake of the layoffs at 343 Industries.

Subscribe on any of your favorite podcast feeds, to our YouTube channel, or grab an MP3 of this week’s episode. For more awesome content, check out our interview with Todd Howard, who answered all of our Starfield questions after the big reveal at the Xbox Showcase:

For more next-gen coverage, make sure to check out our Xbox Series X review, our Xbox Series S review, and our PS5 review.

Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s executive editor of previews and host of both IGN’s weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, as well as our monthly(-ish) interview show, IGN Unfiltered. He’s a North Jersey guy, so it’s “Taylor ham,” not “pork roll.” Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.

Forspoken PS5 Performance Review

What do you get when you cross Alice in Wonderland with Iron Man? Square Enix’s latest action-RPG Forspoken aims to answer that question, with a fish out of water plot as the protagonist Frey is thrown into a world of dragons and sorcery. Built on the same Luminous Engine that powered the team’s last game, Final Fantasy XV, it has a similar open world design, with animation, art, creature design and more that will feel familiar.

Resolution Modes

The game has three resolution modes, Quality, Ray Tracing, and Performance, each of which also has a 120Hz mode. Quality targets 3840x2160p with dynamic resolution scaling (DRS) engaged, which can scale by 75% in total down to a low of 1920×1080. Ray Tracing mode reduces the ceiling to 2880x1620p and scales to a low of 1440×810. Both these modes use FSR2 reconstruction to get back to a 4K output when not at that level, which is always the case in the Ray Tracing mode and often in Quality. Finally, Performance targets 2560x1440p both in ceiling and FSR2 reconstruction, and can dip down 75% also to a low of 1280×720. This mode boosts performance to 60fps over the previous two, which are capped at 30fps.

The image quality impact in Performance mode is noticeable, but small enough compared to the gains it offers. That said, there’s a perfect compromise in that 120Hz mode, in theory at least, if you have such a screen. With 120Hz mode enabled, both Ray Tracing and Quality mode run at 40fps, meaning effects and setting are identical to the non-120Hz modes, but DRS is often lower down the range in heavy sequences due to the 25% reduction in frametime. In reality this makes a minor impact to image for an improvement to the fluidity and control, which can be vital with such a fast-paced action-centric game.

The engine has high input latency, and running it at 30fps means we get median times of 225ms with the Quality mode and 221ms in Ray Tracing mode, whereas the 60fps Performance mode offers a significantly faster median of 115ms. This is where having a 120Hz screen offers the biggest boost, knocking around 30% off those Quality and Ray Tracing mode times, down to 163ms and 154ms respectively. This is due to the 25% smaller frame-time as well as the fact it can now flip into the next 8ms refresh when a frame is dropped, bringing the median input time down by some 60ms. The 60fps Performance mode does gain some from 120Hz mode, but only the expected 8ms frame-time peak, giving a small 7.2% improvement in fluidity.

As such, without even getting to framerates, I suggest using the 120Hz mode for all modes if possible. If not, I recommend using the Performance mode, as the camera, movement, and combat are all severely hindered in the 30fps modes as demonstrated here.

Performance

In theory, these settings should cover all our bases. Sadly, in practice all of the targets are missed – and not just on occasion but often enough to be sub par. Starting with the Performance mode, we “target” 60fps, but in bandwidth-heavy sections with foliage, the opaque or partial translucent alpha effects can all cause a 25-30% frame rate reduction, causing long sections in the mid to low 40s. The game does support Variable Rate Refresh (VRR), but these rates are below the active range for VRR on PS5, and you can still see and feel the dips.

Turning the 120Hz option on, the Performance mode is still capped at 60fps, but when drops happen you can at least flip into 8ms, meaning this is still the fastest and most responsive mode to play. The Ray Tracing mode is next with it being between 8-14% faster than the Quality mode when running on a 120Hz screen, but even then it can dip back into the low 30s often enough to feel the same. This does not mean all the time, with many sections of quiet exploration or cutscenes hitting the 40fps high, but assume that heavy combat will play out somewhere in the middle ground.

The game doesn’t feel like it is utilising some of the key aspects of current generation consoles, instead feeling far more like a cross-generation game.

You might ask why not run an unlocked option for 60Hz screens, but this causes frame-times to leap between 16ms and 33ms when forced into a 60Hz container. On a 120Hz screen, however, they align to that 40fps rate at 25ms, which is why it feels smoother as the frame times are closer together and even. Sadly, the Quality mode is worse than the Ray Tracing mode, and at 40fps it is more often below that and can even dip into the mid 20s – again dense opaque pixel fill-rate seems to be the main cause. As such, the 40fps mode is great in theory but in practice the Quality mode suffers most to not be worth it and the Ray Tracing mode, although better, is still not close enough to that target to be called a true middle ground option.

Image quality and effects

Visually, the game is a mixture of new and old: world geometry, lighting, shadows, global illumination, specular, and more do look good with high polygon count on characters, good materials, and general facial and skeletal animation. Compared to Final Fantasy XV it is superior, specifically in resolution and image stability, even compared to that game’s PS4 Pro version, but not to any generational-looking degree aside from improved assets and resolution. It does offer some current generation increases though, with Quality offering a full 4K output and Ray Tracing adding in hybrid shadows with a soft penumbra, with accurate contact hardening enhanced by more objects casting shadows.

Quality mode increases LoD over Performance and the Ray Tracing mode, with further shadow cascades and increased debris in certain areas. Ray Tracing has the best quality, with shadow cascades mixed with ray traced shadows within the first cascade, as in closest to the camera. These give softer shadows and better ambient occlusion, but outside of a side-by-side comparison are not significant enough to stand out to most players. Quality mode is a little sharper, helped by the contrast-adaptive sharpening pass within the engine, but in reality both modes look similar enough that you can’t tell much of a difference after a few minutes of play. The Ray Tracing mode improves most on the self shadowing of characters in cutscenes, which are quite plentiful throughout the game.

Character models are well constructed and realised, but suffer often in the cutscenes due to lower bone rigs than many modern games, especially in the mouth, eyes and nose. The game relies on a mixture of performance capture and keyframe animation. This, along with the leap in some cinematics over others means you can have big gaps in model quality, lighting, materials and animation between scenes and even from model to model. Textures are certainly one aspect, with mip-maps often running sub-par assets in cutscenes, which highlights that the engine/game still needs some refinement here, as textures can be quite late loading in, leaving you with some blurry and last-generation looking details on the PS5.

Loading

Loading highlights the game’s cross-generation roots, despite it being a PS5 and PC only game. Continuing a game takes less than 2 seconds, making excellent use of the SSD and I/O design of the PS5. Loading into a game is slower, at just over 5 seconds. The main issue though is the constant fade to black and loading you will see during your play. Admittedly most are 2 to 3 seconds at most, but the constant fade out-in, stop-start nature of opening a door, leaving a fort, battling an enemy or even within a cutscene can create a disconnect from the game. This is compounded by many sections locking you in place until the UI, dialogue, or prompts have loaded. This was frustrating as it felt unnecessary and restrictive, meaning that the game doesn’t feel like it is utilising some of the key aspects of current generation consoles, instead feeling far more like a cross-generation game.

Sound Production and Mixing

Effects are okay, with decent mixing and production. Music, although far from bad, is repetitive and terribly mixed, with music clumsily fading out or just stopping and new tunes starting at certain points in gameplay or cinematics. This is compounded by some poor mixing which can leave voices fighting with music, and the dialogue is far from top tier.

Summary

The Luminous Engine was a revelation only seven years ago with FFXV, offering character models, cloth physics and hair that rivaled the best in the industry. Forspoken betters that game in almost all aspects, but the gaming industry has moved on since then, and the engine has not kept pace. What it offers is a wide open land, high graphical quality, and a wide range of modes. Sadly, none of those hit the expected mark both in quality and consistency, and I hope that patches can resolve some of the performance and quality issues noted here.

The Best PS5 SSD Deals for 2023

2023 might finally be the year where 2TB PS5 SSDs might actually be worth the upgrade. Last year, prices for 1TB PS5 SSDs averaged around $150, whereas 2TB SSDs hovered closer to $300. This year, we’re seeing 1TB SSDs trickle below the $100 price point and 2TB SSDs are under $200. The reason PS5 SSD upgrades are pricey is that you can’t use any old SSD and expect it to perform well on the PS5 console. You’ll want to pick up an PCIe Gen4 x4 M.2 solid state drive with a rated 5,500MB/s read speed to match the PS5’s internal drive. That means, for better or for worse, picking a top-shelf SSD.

Note that Sony recommends a heatsink attached to your SSD. Not all SSDs listed here have pre-installed heatsinks. For the ones that do, we’ll be sure to mention it. For the ones that don’t, all you have to do is purchase your own heatsink (we recommend this one for $10) and install it yourself. It’s very easy.

Adata Premium 1TB M.2 SSD for PS5 for $76.49

Includes Heatsink

This is an Amazon Lighting Deal that expires today 1/25. This could be the lowest price we’ve seen so far for a 1TB PS5-compatible SSD, and it even includes a heatspreader. The Adata Premium SSD boasts transfer speeds of up to 6,100MB/s, which is more than fast enough to surpass the PS5’s recommended minimum speed threshold of 5,500MB/s. Yes there are faster SSDs out there, but if your intention is to put this in your PS5, then that extra speed is worthless because you’re bottlenecked by the stock PS5 SSD. Better to save that money and put it to better use.

Crucial P5 Plus 2TB M.2 SSD for $161.99

Crucial’s newest M.2 SSD meets all the requirements for your PS5 SSD upgrade. It supports transfer speeds of up to 6,660MB/s which is well above the 5,500MB/s minimum threshold. Yes there are faster SSDs out there, but if your intention is to put this in your PS5, then that extra speed is worthless because you’re bottlenecked by the original PS5 SSD. If you’re worried about opening up your PS5 case, don’t worry it’s very easy. Crucial has an official YouTube PS5 SSD install guide to see you through the process.

Samsung 980 Pro 2TB M.2 SSD for $179.99

Samsung SSDs need no introduction. They’ve made some of the most popular and reliable PS5 SSDs on the market. The 980 Pro has been out for a while now, and it’s still Samsung’s fastest M.2 PCIe SSD. It is fully PS5 compatible in terms of form factor and performance, with blistering speeds of up to 7,100MB/s. It goes toe to toe with other well-known options like the WD Black SN850 and the Seagate Firecuda 530.

WD Black SN850X 2TB PS5 SSD for $199.99

Preinstalled Heatsink

Amazon has the newest WD Black Series SN850X M.2 PCIe 4.0 SSD for the best price we’ve seen. The SN850X is the successor to the SN850 SSD. It has newer flash chips (BiCS5 vs BiCS4) and an updated firmware, which combined offer improved sequential and random read/write speeds. For PC gamers, there’s also an updated Game Mode 2.0 utility that’s designed to tune the SSD for better performance during gaming sessions.

More PS5 SSD Deals

There may be other SSD deals out there, but these are the PS5 SSDs we’ve tried ourselves and highly recommend. They also double up as outstanding boot drives for your gaming PC, in case you don’t need additional storage for your PS5 console.

How easy is it to install the SSD?

It’s extremely easy! Removing the case cover is completely toolless. In fact, the only screw you have to remove is the one that keeps the cover for the SSD bay in place. You don’t even put it back when you’re done. Sony has a quick and easy YouTube video guide.

What if the SSD I bought doesn’t have a heatsink?

Sony recommends you install an SSD that has an attached heatsink. If the SSD you purchase doesn’t include one, it’s simple enough to buy one for about $10 on Amazon and add it yourself. Most of these heatsinks are just attached using an adhesive like thermal tape.

For more deals, take a look at our daily deals for today.

Xbox Game Pass in January 2023: Hi-Fi Rush, GoldenEye 007 and More

If you tuned into Xbox’s Developer Direct on January 25, you’ll already know about Hi-Fi Rush shadow-dropping on Xbox Game Pass after the presentation ended. But, that’s not all, as Xbox has also now confirmed every game hitting the service before the end of the month, and a few more for the start of February as well including Hot Wheels Unleashed, GoldenEye 007, Age of Empires 2, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure All-Star Battle R, Grid Legends, and more.

Games to already hit Game Pass this month include Persona 3 and 4, alongside Monster Hunter Rise and Stranded Deep. For now, here’s everything coming to Xbox Game Pass in January 2023.

Hi-Fi Rush is Available on Xbox Game Pass Right Now

Tango Gameworks’ next game is Hi-Fi Rush, a rhythm adventure game under development exclusively for the Xbox Series X|S, and it’s coming out tonight. Announced during the Xbox Developer_Direct showcase, the trailer revealed a bombastic comic-like art style, original tunes and rhythm-based movement and combat. Tango Gameworks has already released the game, including on Xbox Game Pass, and you can install it right now if you want to.

Everything Coming to Xbox Game Pass in January 2023

  • Stranded Deep – January 3 (Console, PC, Cloud)
  • Persona 3 Portable – January 19 (Console, PC, Cloud)
  • Persona 4 Golden – January 19 (Console, PC, Cloud)
  • Monster Hunter Rise – January 20 (Console, PC)
  • Hi-Fi Rush – January 25 (Console, PC)
  • GoldenEye 007 – January 27 (Console)
  • Roboquest (Game Preview) – January 30 (Console)
  • Age Of Empires 2: Definitive Edition – January 31 (Console, Cloud)
  • Inkulinati – January 31 (Console, PC)
  • JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure All-Star Battle R (Cloud, Console, and PC) – January 31

Bonus Games We Now Know About for February on Game Pass

  • Darkest Dungeon (Cloud, Console, and PC) – February 2
  • Grid Legends (Cloud) EA Play – February 2
  • Hot Wheels Unleashed – Game of the Year Edition (Cloud, Console, and PC) – February 7

Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden on Xbox Game Pass

After January 19, Persona 3, 4, and 5 will all be available for Xbox Game Pass members on console, PC, and cloud gaming. This was initially announced back at Xbox’s summer showcase, and we have since seen Persona 5 Royal enter the service in October 2022.

Everything Leaving Xbox Game Pass in January 2023

  • Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc (Cloud, Console, and PC)
  • Nobody Saves The World (Cloud, Console, and PC)
  • Pupperazzi (Cloud, Console, and PC)
  • The Anacrusis (Game Preview) (Cloud, Console, and PC)
  • We Happy Few (Cloud, Console, and PC)
  • Windjammers 2 (Cloud, Console, and PC)
  • Donut County (Cloud, Console, and PC)
  • Taiko no Tatsujin: The Drum Master (Console and PC)
  • Telling Lies (Cloud, Console, and PC)
  • Worms WMD (Cloud, Console, and PC)

Xbox and Bethesda Developer Direct January 2023

The Xbox and Bethesda Developer Direct for January 2023 aired earlier today, as Microsoft and its partners shared updates on games including Redfall, The Elder Scrolls Online, Forza Motorsport, Minecraft Legends, and more. Read more here to learn about everything announced at today’s event, including brand new release dates for Minecraft Legends (April 18, 2023), Redfall (May 2, 2023), and more.

Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter.

Redfall Gets May Release Date, Reveals New Gameplay Footage

Developer Arkane Studios will be releasing their story-driven shooter, Redfall, on May 2, they announced at today’s Xbox Developer Direct.

They also revealed some new gameplay footage, showing off more details on the players’ unique abilities, as well as the titular setting of Redfall, Mass, giving a glimpse at a lighthouse story mission. Redfall features both single-player co-op multiplayer modes, with players choosing from one of four protagonists — cryptozoologist and inventor Devinder Crousley, telekinetic student Layla Ellison, combat engineer Remi de la Rosa, and supernatural sharpshooter Jacob Boyer — to fight off vampires who took over and ruined Redfall after a failed scientific experiment.

Redfall was initially surprise-announced at the Xbox and Bethesda E3 2021 showcase on June 13, 2021, and then delayed, along with Starfield, to the first half of 2023.

Redfall will release on Xbox Series X/S and PC, and will be available on day one on Game Pass. See all the announcements from today’s Xbox Developer Direct, including updates from Minecraft Legends and Hi-Fi Rush, here.

Alex Stedman is a News Editor for IGN, leading entertainment reporting. When she’s not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.

Xbox and Bethesda Developer Direct January 2023: Everything Announced

The Xbox and Bethesda Developer Direct for January 2023 is underway right now, as Microsoft and its partners are sharing updates on games including Redfall, The Elder Scrolls Online, Forza Motorsport, Minecraft Legends, and more. Check out this article for live updates of everything announced as it happens during the event.

Minecraft Legends Gets April Release Date, PVP Details Revealed

Minecraft Legends is the upcoming action strategy game set in the Minecraft universe, and today we learned the game is coming out on April 18. Xbox also shared a look at the game’s PVP mode, which takes place in the same procedurally-generated worlds as the single player campaign. The gameplay showed off a lot of different strategies, including base building, mob recruiting, and using redstone to take the enemy team down.

Disney Dreamlight Valley to Add Lion King’s Simba, Encanto’s Mirabel in Coming Updates

The next stage of Disney Dreamlight Valley is almost here.

Posting on their blog today, Gameloft Montreal gave us one of our first glimpses into the 2023 roadmap for their Disney-themed life simulation adventure game.

The roadmap includes new characters like Mirabel from Encanto, Simba from The Lion King, and Olaf from Frozen, as well as the promise of new “realms” to explore, which are in-game worlds that can be visited as part of the story.

Gameloft Montreal also confirmed one of the game’s most-requested features, multiplayer support, which is a major part of genre peers like Animal Crossing, though the roadmap did not offer any specific timing for when that would be added.

Dreamlight Valley, which has yet to receive its 1.0 release, previously added Lion King’s Scar, Stitch, Woody, and Buzzlightyear after its early-access debut last year. They were also quick to make quality of life improvements to the often-buggy cartoon world.

Although anyone can pay to play the game now, Dreamlight Valley is planned to receive its full, free-to-play launch later this year, though no specific timeframe for that has been announced, including in this 2023 roadmap.

Even in its early-access state, IGN reviewed Disney Dreamlight Valley last year and liked it quite a bit.

Travis Northup is a freelance writer at IGN.

Former Blizzard Manager Opens Up About Being Fired for Protesting Ranking System

World of Warcraft Classic co-lead software engineer Brian Birmingham has claimed he was terminated from Blizzard for protesting a forced employee ranking system.

As first reported by Bloomberg, Birmingham sent an email to his former colleagues saying he was terminated after revealing his intentions to resign instead of deeming certain staff members inadequate to fill a quota. Birmingham said in a Twitter thread (below) that he didn’t share the email himself but “[believes] the quotes are accurate”.

The “stack ranking” system asks managers to rank their employees under different labels, with the poorer “developing” status potentially affecting bonus money, raises, and promotions in the near future. Birmingham claimed that Blizzard managers, under parent company Activision Blizzard King (ABK), were forced to place 5% of their employees in this “developing” category.

Birmingham said he refused to drop some staff from a “successful” category to “developing” in order to hit this quota, and also refused to work until the policy had been revoked. According to his email, Birmingham was later terminated after speaking with HR.

“This sort of policy encourages competition between employees, sabotage of one another’s work, a desire for people to find low-performing teams that they can be the best-performing worker on, and ultimately erodes trust and destroys creativity,” Birmingham wrote in the email.”

He added: “If this policy can be reversed, perhaps my Blizzard can still be saved, and if so I would love to continue working there,” “If this policy cannot be reversed, then the Blizzard Entertainment I want to work for doesn’t exist anymore, and I’ll have to find somewhere else to work.”

A Blizzard spokesperson told Bloomberg that the stack ranking system was in place to “ensure employees who don’t meet performance expectations receive more honest feedback, differentiated compensation, and a plan on how best to improve their own performance.” They also said it encourages “excellence in performance”.

Birmingham later said on Twitter that he would return to Blizzard if he could, to “fight the stack ranking policy from inside”. He said this had only become an issue now because managers had protested and avoided using it in the past, and Birmingham “truly believed we had reversed the ‘developing’ quota policy.”

He continued: “The realization that there’s still a minimum quota for ‘developing,’ despite our objections and sternly worded letters leads me to believe I was operating under an illusion. I hope Blizzard’s positive culture can overcome ABK’s poison, but it isn’t succeeding in doing that yet.”

Birmingham also called ABK a “problematic parent company” that put his team “under pressure to deliver both [World of Warcraft Classic] expansions early”. He said “the ABK team should be ashamed of themselves.”

Birmingham’s complaints are just the latest in a long line of controversy surround Activision Blizzard that began with a lawsuit filed by the state of California, accusing Activision Blizzard of fostering a “frat boy culture”.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer and acting UK news editor. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

GoldenEye 007 Comes to Nintendo Switch Online and Xbox Game Pass This Week

N64 classic GoldenEye 007 will finally arrive on Nintendo Switch Online’s Expansion Pass and Xbox Game Pass on January 27.

Announced via Nintendo’s YouTube channel and the Xbox Wire, the long-anticipated release date finally confirms when players can jump back into the role of James Bond both in single-player and its beloved multiplayer.

A series of leaks and rumours were finally confirmed by the two companies in September last year, though GoldenEye 007 previously only had a “coming soon” release window.

Those looking to play the game on Switch will need both Nintendo Switch Online and its Expansion Pass (that adds the N64 digital library), while Xbox users will be able to download it for no additional cost via Xbox Game Pass.

The two versions of the game aren’t identical, however, as only the Switch version will include online multiplayer – the first time this feature has been officially available for the 26 year old game. The Xbox version will be a remastered edition that includes new control options, achievements, 16:9 resolution, and up to 4K Ultra HD resolution.

GoldenEye 007 had been all but confirmed on Xbox for a long time as fan website True Achievements and even Xbox’s own website listed the game’s achievements, but fans will finally be able to get their hands on it later this week.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer and acting UK news editor. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.