Microsoft has announced that the Xbox Games With Gold program will no longer include Xbox 360 games starting in October.

In an email to users (as reproduced on Reddit), Microsoft says, "Beginning October 1, 2022, the monthly games provided to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and Xbox Live Gold members via Games with Gold will no longer include Xbox 360 titles.

"We have reached the limit of our ability to bring Xbox 360 games to the catalog; however, Games with Gold will continue to include exciting Xbox One titles and exclusive savings each month. This will not impact any Xbox 360 games that you downloaded before October 2022. Any Xbox 360 titles that you redeem via Games with Gold before that time are yours to keep on your Xbox account, regardless of whether you continue your subscription."

Games With Gold usually contains two Xbox One games and two Xbox 360 games that subscribers can download for free each month. However, during some months, one of the Xbox 360 games is replaced with an original Xbox title, such as July 2021 did with Conker: Live & Reloaded.

Whether the company substitutes the two Xbox 360 games with two additional Xbox One games, or simply downsizes Games With Gold to just two Xbox One titles is currently unknown.

Microsoft has slowly been consolidating its subscription services – Xbox Game Pass Ultimate includes Xbox Live Gold, for example. Back in 2020, Microsoft confirmed that it had no plans to discontinue Xbox Live Gold despite putting an end to 12-month subscription options.

This month's Games With Gold line-up includes Beasts of Maravilla Island, Relicta, Thrillville: Off the Rails, and Torchlight.

George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @yinyangfooey

Google has agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit with small app developers who alleged the tech giant violated federal antitrust laws.

As reported by Reuters, Google will pay $90 million, to be split between US-based app developers. The lawsuit claimed that the Google Play Store's policies forced developers to use the storefront's billing system, which imposed a 30 percent fee on all transactions As a response to the lawsuit, Google announced back in 2021 that it would only charge developers a 15 percent fee on the first million dollars of revenue earned from the Google Play Store each year.

In a blog post detailing the settlements, Wilson White, Google VP of Government Affairs & Public Policy, notes that the $90 million Google agrees to pay to settle the lawsuit would be put towards a fund. Should the court approve the proposed settlement, access to the fund will be made available to app developers that generated $2 million or less in annual revenue between 2016 through 2021.

"A vast majority of U.S. developers who earned revenue through Google Play will be eligible to receive money from this fund, if they choose," White notes in the blog post. "If the Court approves the settlement, developers that qualify will be notified and allowed to receive a distribution from the fund."

The lawsuit follows a similar one aimed at Apple, which was settled in August 2021, where the iPhone maker agreed to pay $100 million to US app developers. That settlement also saw Apple clarifying its policies, allowing iOS developers to now reach out to customers and inform them about payment options offered outside of the App Store (and bypassing Apple's 30 percent App Store fee).

Taylor is the Associate Tech Editor at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.

EA's Battlefield series will seemingly return to including single player campaigns, according to a new job listing at the publisher's Seattle-based studio.

While we already knew that Halo co-creator Marcus Lehto was leading a Battlefield universe project at the Seattle studio, the job listing for a design director specifically mentions the creation of "a new Battlefield campaign".

As reported by VGC, the design director will be responsible for "creating a best-in-class single player campaign experience" with a "player-first mentality, motivated by a passionate aim to understand and serve the players who are engaged with the game". The ideal candidate must have a "passion and understanding of single player campaigns and how to innovate within that space."

Battlefield 2042 - the latest game in the series that has had a fairly turbulent post-release period - didn't feature a campaign at all, while other recent entries such as Battlefield V have opted for shorter single player portions or multiplayer-blended campaigns.

The job listing therefore suggests that EA will be backtracking on this somewhat, though it is still unclear exactly what this new project will entail. According to the job listing, the Seattle studio, which was only founded in late 2021, "is focused on building rich, exciting stories with memorable characters and powerful experiences all in the Battlefield universe."

This matches sentiments from Respawn co-founder Vince Zampella in December that EA is now looking to create a "connected Battlefield universe" that explores different routes and business models - perhaps one of which is a dedicated single player project.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Basketball legend Michael Jordan will be the cover star of NBA 2K23's special editions and 2K is bringing back the iconic Jordan Challenges to celebrate. The publisher also confirmed a September 9 release date and announced the six-time NBA champion will grace the covers of the aptly named Michael Jordan Edition and the limited Championship Edition.

Jordan was chosen not only because 2K23 matches his iconic jersey number but also, 2K said, because his spirit matches the theme of this year's MyPlayer campaign mode: Answer the Call. "After making 23 the most recognizable number in sports, it was only fitting that for NBA 2K23 we introduce the Michael Jordan Edition," said Alfie Brody, vice president of global marketing strategy for NBA 2K.

While the prices of these editions wasn't revealed - nor the standard edition's cover star - last year's special edition (likely the Michael Jordan edition tier) was $99.99 compared to the standard's price of $59.99/$69.99 depending on the console generation.

The Championship Edition, however, is a brand new tier of NBA 2K editions that comes with a year's subscription to NBA League Pass, which grants access to every actual, real-life NBA game on TV. Given this is $50 by itself, those looking to buy this most expensive edition should expect a hefty price hike.

2K hasn't revealed too much else about what comes in each edition but did confirm that the iconic Jordan Challenges from NBA 2K11 will make a return in this year's game. The Jordan Challenges were a series of ten, well, challenges where players had to recreate defining moments of Jordan's career.

There will be a slight upgrade of 15 different challenges in 2K23, however, pulling moments from Jordan's NBA career with the Chicago Bulls alongside his Team USA playtime. All ten original challenges will be rebuilt from the ground up and feature alongside the remaining five in their own game mode.

2K23 will mark Jordan's fourth appearance on an NBA 2K cover, first appearing in 2K11 (alongside the original Jordan Challenges), then 2K12, followed by the 2K16 Special Edition.

2K promised that more details will arrive soon, while a deeper look at the Jordan Challenges will be released sometime this summer.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

The second round of games coming to Xbox Game Pass in July has now been announced. Included in the new selection is Watch Dogs 2, As Dusk Falls, MotoGP 22, Inside, Torment: Tides of Numenera, and Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation.

This latest selection of titles adds to the previous wave of games get introduced into the Game Pass library earlier in the month, including Far Cry 5, Yakuza 0, Last Call BBS, and more. You can see everything included on Xbox Game Pass in July below.

As Dusk Falls Is On Xbox Game Pass From July 19

As Dusk Falls is coming to Xbox Game Pass for console, PC, and cloud gaming on July 19. It is a Day One release for the service, and you can read IGN's full 9/10 review here.

"As Dusk Falls is a masterwork of branching storytelling that makes the best out of its comic book-style animations, which end up giving you the opportunity to fill the negative space with your imagination – and this works surprisingly well during some of the more intense scenes."

Everything Coming to Xbox Game Pass This Month

This is the complete list of games coming to Xbox Game Pass in July 2022.

• Far Cry 5 (Console, PC, Cloud) — Available Now
• Last Call BBS (PC) — Available Now
• Yakuza 0 (Console, PC, Cloud) — Available Now
• Yakuza Kiwami (Console, PC, Cloud) — Available Now
• Yakuza Kiwami 2 (Console, PC, Cloud) — Available Now
• DJMAX Respect V (Console, PC, Cloud) — Available Now
• Matchpoint (Console, PC, Cloud) — Available Now
• Road 96 (Console, PC, Cloud) — Available Now
• Escape Academy (Console, PC) — Available Now
• My Friend Peppa Pig (Console, PC, Cloud) — Available Now
• Overwhelm (PC) — Available Now
• PAW Patrol The Movie (Console, PC, Cloud) — Available Now
• PowerWash Simulator (Console, PC, Cloud) — Available Now
• As Dusk Falls (Cloud, Console, and PC) — July 19
• Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation (PC) ID@Xbox — July 19
• Watch Dogs 2 (Cloud, Console, and PC) — July 19
• MotoGP 22 (Cloud, Console, and PC) — July 21
• Torment: Tides of Numenera (Cloud and Console) — July 21
• Inside (Cloud, Console, and PC) ID@Xbox — July 29

Watch Dogs 2 Is Coming to Xbox Game Pass Soon

Watch Dogs 2 is the latest Ubisoft game to hit Xbox Game Pass, and continues a trend of Ubisoft titles coming to game subscription services like Game Pass or the new PS Plus tiers. Watch Dogs 2 will hit consoles, PC, and cloud gaming from July 19.

Every Yakuza Game Is Now Back On Xbox Game Pass

Now that Yakuza 0, Kiwami, and Kiwami 2 are back on Xbox Game Pass, that means that the entire Yakuza catalogue is now back on the service. Yakuza 3, Yakuza 4, Yakuza 5, Yakuza 6 and Yakuza: Like a Dragon are all available to play on Xbox Game Pass right now. With this new reunion, it's now much easier to jump in and play the entire Yakuza series with ease.

Everything Leaving Game Pass in July 2022

The following games are leaving the Game Pass library by July 31, so if you want to keep playing them you'll need to finalise a purchase before they leave.

• Atomicrops (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Carrion (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Children of Morta (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Cris Tales (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Lethal League Blaze (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Dodgeball Academia (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Katamari Damacy Reroll (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Lumines Remastered (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Omno (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Raji: An Ancient Epic (Cloud, Console, and PC)

Best Game Pass Deal Right Now: 2-Years of Game Pass Ultimate for $135 (Save $224)

First up, your Game Pass subscription must not currently be active - I repeat, you must not have an active Game Pass for this to work. Once you're confident, proceed to the next step.

Next, you need to invest in up to 3-years worth of Xbox Live Gold. You can easily buy 12-month Xbox Live Gold codes from Amazon or other retailers, costing $60/£50 depending on your region.

I Recommend Stacking 2-Years of Xbox Live Gold

The maximum amount of stacking for Gold subscriptions is 36-months (costing $180), any more than that will be lost. So, to keep things safe for those who currently have a Gold membership, I recommend sticking to just 2-years' worth (costing $120/£100).

Now, here's the fun part. Once you've redeemed these codes and stacked your Xbox Live Gold membership up to your liking, you can then convert this time to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate at a 1:1 ratio.

Head to the Xbox Live Gold upgrade page and proceed to convert the time you've paid for directly into Game Pass Ultimate. If you've never used the upgrade feature before, this will cost $1/£1 (total cost coming to $121/£101). If you have used this before, it will instead cost you $14.99/£10.99 to upgrade.

Overall, at most, you'll be paying only $135 for 2-years of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate (instead of $359). If you manage to pull off a 3-year conversion, at most you'll be paying $195 instead (instead of $539). Now that's a big discount. Once you're done, just make sure you turn off auto renewal as well.

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

Dark Horse Comics continues to expand on the characters and world of Cyberpunk 2077. The publisher recently debuted their newest spinoff comic, dubbed Cyberpunk 2077: Blackout, and now IGN can debut an exclusive preview of the second chapter.

Check out the slideshow gallery below for a closer look at Blackout #2, from writer Bartosz Sztybor and artist Roberto Ricci:

Blackout follows a beleaguered protagonist named Arturo, who works as a braindance repairman. The wealthy citizens of Night City pay good money for these customized dreams, but when a citywide blackout leaves all braindance machines on the fritz, Arturo finally snaps and hatches a scheme of his own. Can a technician who literally makes dreams come true launch the ultimate heist?

Here's Dark Horse's official summary of Cyberpunk 2077: Blackout #2:

Arturo's heist scheme is set in motion-all he needs is a team-a trusted cyberpunk, the best driver in Night City, and an unlikely ally within one of the city's most corrupt institutions. Choices have consequences, but this time, the choice is his.

Cyberpunk 2077: Blackout #2 is priced at $3.99 and will release in print and digital forms on Wednesday, July 6.

The Cyberpunk franchise continues to expand in other directions in 2022. The anime series Cyberpunk: Edgerunners hits Netflix in September, and we recently got our first look at the intro sequence. There's even a board game in the works called Cyberpunk 2077: Gangs of Night City.

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.

Bungie is reportedly working on a first-person shooter Destiny mobile game that has been in development for more than two years.

According to a report from The Game Post, the developer has partnered with Chinese tech company NetEase to create the game. An employee of NetEase apparently posted on LinkedIn saying that they had worked with Bungie to develop "an unannounced FPS mobile game".

This was supported by an anonymous source familiar with NetEase's development plans, who told The Game Post of the mobile game's existence. It will allegedly not be connected to Destiny 2 but instead be a standalone title.

Reports about a Destiny mobile game first surfaced in September 2021 following several jobs being advertised for the project, and another posting in April this year saw Bungie searching for a mobile platforms engineer.

The developer hasn't confirmed anything itself, however, and we still know very little about what Bungie is working on despite Destiny 2 being released almost five years ago in September 2017. It has at least one new IP in development - which is set to be a character-focused multiplayer game with humour and RPG elements - but hasn't shared much about it.

Bungie has been equally tight-lipped about the reported mobile game, but if it's been in development for a couple of years already, we may be due an announcement soon.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

While the world lacks a modern, official Avatar: The Last Airbender game, a new Elden Ring mod at least lets players pretend by adding firebending to the game.

As reported by PCGamesN, the firebending moveset mod from clevererraptor6 on Nexus Mods takes inspiration straight from the show, letting the player shoot fire from their finger tips, and even includes a "lightning generation" Ash of War for the most skilled fighters.

Available with the standard red flames or in Princess Azula's blue, the mod includes several different attacks depending on the input, and sound effects for each.

While pyromancy is already an established idea in Elden Ring, these attacks are directly inspired by the Avatar series and fans will recognise certain movements and combos as a result. There are plenty of little details that show clevererraptor6 is committed to authenticity – for example ensuring that the explosions caused by blue fire attacks still explode in red flames, as they do in the show.

With firebending now in Elden Ring, fans are also eager to see the remaining elements - air, water, and earth - added as well, but cleverraptor6 has yet to say if they're working on these too.

Seeing Avatar combat in a modern game will leave many begging for a new, official game. There hasn't been one since 2014's Legend of Korra, and it didn't receive a positive response – in our 4/10 review, IGN said: "Even with a reputable developer behind it, The Legend of Korra game left us bent out of shape."

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Image Credit: cleverraptor6

After a tease last month, we have confirmation: Lollipop Chainsaw will receive a full remake in 2023.

Announced by publisher Dragami Games – which is led by the original game's producer, Yoshimi Yasuda – the game will arrive worldwide next year, although a formal title or platforms have not yet been announced. It will be developed by "a combination of development staff from the original version, including Yasuda as producer, and new development staff from Dragami Games."

The game will aim to recreate the original, but Yasuda explained that the remake will feature a couple of key differences. Due to the power of new-gen hardware, the new game will feature "a more realistic approach to graphics." Less welcome for fans will be the news that music licensing issues means that, as opposed to the first game's 16 licensed tracks, in the remake, "aside from a few licensed tracks, the soundtrack will consist of new music."

Yasuda teased that the game would make some kind of return last month, to celebrate its 10th anniversary. The cult action game was released in 2012, and saw game director Suda51, movie director James Gunn and Yasuda collaborate to present the story of Juliet Starling – a high school cheerleader caught amid an outbreak of zombies.

Writing about the original game's creation and its new return, Yasuda explained: "Unfortunately, various factors resulted in things making it so that fans can no longer easily play Lollipop Chainsaw, and it has been some time since players have not been able to access the game on current consoles.

"We, the original development staff on Lollipop Chainsaw, think of the game as very precious to us, and did not want to leave it in limbo, where players who want to play it cannot. As such, we purchased the Lollipop Chainsaw intellectual property from Kadokawa Games, and decided to develop a remake. We have already contacted Warner Bros. about development, and are being supported by them in this endeavor."

The game picked up a cult following but in our 5/10 review, IGN said: "Lollipop Chainsaw doesn’t even attempt to differentiate itself from the genre, and most of what it does try new in the realm of its characters and writing ultimately ends up taking away from an incredible-on-paper action game."

Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Warning: Spoilers Ahead for Stranger Things Season 4!

Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer have revealed that while Season 5 will likely be shorter than Season 4, it very well may have a "Return of the King-Ish" ending.

Speaking with Josh Horowitz on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, the Duffer Brothers shared that they don't expect Stranger Things' final season to be quite as long as Season 4's 13-hour runtime as there won't be as much of a ramp-up this time around "before our kids really get drawn into the supernatural mystery."

“The only reason we don’t expect [Season 5] to be as long is because, this season, if you look at it, it’s almost a two-hour ramp-up before our kids really get drawn into the supernatural mystery," Matt Duffer said. "You get to know them, you get to see them in their lives, all while they’re struggling with adapting to high school and so forth … Steve’s trying to find a date. All of that.

"None of that, obviously, is going to be occurring in the first two episodes of this. I mean, this is, for the first time ever, we don’t wrap things up at the end of 4. So, it’s going to be moving, I don’t know if it will be moving at 100 mph at the start of Season 5, but it’s going to be moving pretty fast. Characters are already going to be in action, they’re already going to have a goal and a drive, and I think that’s going to carve out at least a couple of hours and make this season feel really different."

While the beginning of the season may get off to a quicker start, the Duffer Brothers have every intention of taking their time with the ending of the series. Alongside saying they expect the series finale to be similar in length to the two-and-a-half-hour-long final episode of Season 4, Matt Duffer also said "it’s going to be Return of the King-ish with eight endings.”

While some took issue with the way the final Lord of the Rings film ended, or seemingly never ended, Matt Duffer thinks it is all worth it to give the characters a proper send-off.

"If you just watch Return of the King, it feels like too many endings," Matt Duffer said. "If you watch all of them back-to-back, which I’ve done multiple times, it’s exactly right. If it were any shorter, it would feel cheap and wrong."

The Duffer Brothers also chatted about how having all our heroes together again in Hawkins will "streamline things naturally." Furthermore, the team plans on bringing the story "full circle."

"It’s going to feel a lot larger-in-scale than Season 1," Matt Duffer said. "We want to go back to a lot things we did in Season 1 and a lot of the original groupings and pairings that we had in Season 1. There’s something nice about coming full circle. So, it’s going to feel bigger than Season 1 and much more massive in terms of the stakes and the scale, but we want to revisit a lot of things we did."

In closing, Matt Duffer warns that anything can change while they work to bring Stranger Things to close, so it's important to take his words with a grain of salt.

"We’ll see," Matt Duffer laughed. "If you would have talked to us at the start of writing [Season] 4, I would have told you it was eight episodes and they were about an hour-long each. So, I wouldn’t trust a word that comes out of my mouth."

For more, check out our review of Stranger Things: Season 4 - Part 2, the burning questions we have after the season finale, and our chats with Vecna actor Jamie Campbell Bower and Eddie actor Joseph Quinn on the biggest moments of Season 4.

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.