Microsoft has big plans for the fourth year of the Xbox Series X/S, based on new leaks from the Federal Trade Commission’s failed court fight to block the company from acquiring Activision Blizzard in June. In addition to a revised Series S, the tech giant is also planning a cylyindrical, disc-less update to the more powerful Series X, complete with a new controller featuring better haptic feedback.

The information, which is always subject to change prior to products actually shipping, was buried in unrelated files uploaded by the Northern District Court of California and is part of a massive trove of unredacted documents. A strategy roadmap for the Xbox brand through 2030 points to the planned release of the Series S refresh (codename Ellewood) and Series X refresh (codename Brooklin) in late 2024 alongside an all-new Xbox controller (codename Sebile).

Based on the leaked documents, the new versions of the consoles will retain their existing $300 and $500 price points respectively, but offer a number of upgraded features. The new Xbox Series X will by a cylindrical shape and have no disc drive either, suggesting Microsoft could be heading to an all-digital future. While it will retain the same 16GB ram and 12 teraflop specs as the existing launch console, it will have 2TB of internal storage instead of 1TB, faster Wi-Fi 6E support, Bluetooth 5.2 radio, 15 percent less power consumption, and a USB-C port on the front.

The new controller, meanwhile, will be two-toned and come with a rechargable and replaceable battery. More importantly, Microsoft’s internal strategy documents claim it will offer precision haptic feedback, quieter buttons and thumbsticks, and an accelerometer. The controller will also apparently turn on simply by picking it up rather than pushing a button. It will seemingly be priced at $70.

According to the roadmap, the controller will arrive in May, followed by the Series S refresh in September and the Series X refresh in November. Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer had previously told Bloomberg and others in interviews throughout the summer that the company was not working on any substantial power upgrade to its current consoles prior to the next hardware generation, which leaks suggest is currently planned for 2028.

Sony, on the other hand, is reportedly currently working on a PlayStation 5 Pro. It’s still not clear what the specs of that machine might be. The PS5 currently appears to be outselling the Xbox Series X/S two to one. A majority of current Xbox owners have so far opted for the less powerful Series S, however. New data released as part of the FTC trial puts it at roughly 75 percent compared to 25 percent for the Series X.

Ubisoft just announced a new entry in its popular third-person tactical military online looter shooter series, The Division. You probably didn’t notice The Division 3 was revealed because Ubisoft buried the news inside a corporate press release announcing a new executive producer for the “Division brand,” confirming the company has big plans for the series.

The first game in the franchise, Tom Clancy’s The Division, launched in 2016 and told the story of a biological terrorist attack in New York City that spread a deadly virus via dollar bills. This horrible event activated a secret group of highly trained operatives, Division agents, who grabbed some guns and began killing every criminal and slightly dangerous person in the city while ransacking apartments for food, clothes, and rare guns. In 2019, The Division 2 launched and continued the story but this time the shooting and looting happened in Washington, DC. Since then, the franchise has announced two games but neither has been released. And now Ubisoft has gone and done it again, this time confirming that it’s working on yet another Division project, a third entry in the main franchise.

The news of this new Division 3 didn’t come via a flashy CG trailer or some big teaser at a press conference. Instead, it was quietly announced on September 21 in a larger press release focused on Julian Gerighty, the new executive producer of the franchise. He was previously the associate creative director on the first game before becoming the lead creative director on the sequel. And now, according to Ubisoft, he’s “setting his sights on” The Division 3 as well as a “plethora of other projects set in The Division universe.”

We don’t know much about The Division 3

Ubisoft says Gerighty is building a team for The Division 3, which will once again be developed by Massive Entertainment. The publisher also confirmed that it will continue to support The Division 2, as well. Beyond that, we don’t know much more about this just-announced sequel. And based on what Ubisoft is saying here, I’m not sure there’s much to announce as it sounds like the project is just starting development.

“We may have over 40 million players,” said Gerighty, “but The Division is still in its early years as a franchise. There are so many incredible stories to tell, places to explore, and people to protect. “

However, before Gerighty can hop onto the Tom Clancy looter-shooter train, he has to finish up his work on a different project: Star Wars: Outlaws. He’s currently the creative director behind that upcoming open-world Star Wars adventure, and won’t officially start his duties as producer of The Division franchise until that game ships in 2024.

While The Division 3 is likely years away at this point, we know there are at least two other Division games coming out sooner rather than later.

First, The Division: Resurgence, a free-to-play mobile shooter set in New York City. The other entry is The Division: Heartland, an extraction-like shooter set in the middle of the United States and featuring more rural environments and survival elements. Perhaps one day in the future Ubisoft will stop announcing Division games and actually release one. We shall see…

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Gears of War creator Cliff Bleszinski thinks the series needs to be rebooted and get the same treatment Sony gave God of War in 2018. And he’s willing to help consult on that theoretical reboot if it happens. For Gears fans who haven’t had a new game in the main series for nearly four years, that might sound like a tempting offer.

The original Gears of War and its two sequels were developed by Epic and released between 2006 and 2011 on the Xbox 360. (A spin-off, Judgement, was co-developed by Epic and then-subsidiary studio People Can Fly and released in 2013.) The third-person cover shooters featuring big dudes with chainsaw guns fighting weird bug-people was one of Xbox’s biggest franchises. However, after the original Xbox 360 trilogy and spin-off, Epic went off to do Fortnite and Microsoft created a whole new studio, The Coalition, which took over the series, developed two more sequels, and helped with some spin-offs.

And while many assume a sixth game is coming, eventually, the last main entry—Gears 5—was released in September 2019. The game reviewed well and even outsold Gears of War 4. Since then, we’ve not heard any official word about a Gears of War 6 and now the franchise’s creator thinks it’s time to press the reset button.

In a recent interview with Comicbook.com, Bleszinski was asked if he would ever return to the world of Gears of War, maybe to write a new story for a possible comic book set in the universe. Bleszinski seemed open to coming back to help, but suggested partially rebooting the game franchise instead.

“I believe [Gears of War] needs a little bit of a reboot, like God of War had,” Bleszinski said. “And I’ve always said, [Xbox Boss] Phil Spencer has my number, I’m happy to consult. Gears will always be near and dear to my heart.”

Bleszinski further added that, after drinking a mimosa or two, he sometimes goes on YouTube and rewatches “key cut scenes” from past Gears of War games, including the scene where (spoilers for Gears of War 3) Dom sacrifices himself to save the rest of the squad.

“Reading the comments on those cut scenes from Gears of War when Dom dies, people are like, ‘I had to put the controller down, my friend and I just sat there silenced and stunned.’ For people to actually get tattoos of something that you made on their bodies is the most flattering thing.”

The Gears of War creator also explained that one of the things he’s creatively most proud of is his decision to kill off Dom, who he called a broken man who needed to go out with a meaningful sacrifice.

“It’s just become, in my opinion, one of the most powerful scenes in gaming history,” Bleszinski said. “I’m so very, very proud of it. Just to know that I reached through that screen and that controller and could affect people in a good way and make a lot of them just stop and even tear up means the fucking world to me. Gears Nation, I’ll always love you guys.”

When the interviewer mentioned to Bleszinski that he was 10 years old when he played Gears of War 3 and Dom’s death was the first scene in a video game to ever make him cry, the Gears creator was touched and responded: “That means a fucking lot to me, even though I’m wearing a shirt that says, ‘I eat ass’ in Japanese.”

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