The Federal Trade Commission Just announced that Microsoft was fined $20 million “for unlawfully collecting personal information from children who signed up for its Xbox gaming system without parental consent.”

The decision follows a larger decision from December 2022, when Epic Games, developers of Fortnite, fined $550 million for using “privacy-intrusive default settings and deceptive interfaces that misled Fortnite users, including teenagers and children.”

In this case, the FTC says the issue centered around creating accounts for children on an Xbox console, a process that until the end of 2021 would allow a child to enter a number of personal details before asking. the help and permission of a parent. Microsoft kept this data (sometimes for “years”) even though the account had not been created, which is a violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Shield (COPPA) rule.

Microsoft has already responded to the ruling with a job on the official Xbox blog, with Dave McCarthy, CVP Xbox Player Services, saying the breach was the result of a “problem”, and that Microsoft will “continue to improve” in the future:

We recently reached a settlement with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to update our account creation process and resolve a data retention issue found in our system. Unfortunately, we have not met customer expectations and we are committed to complying with the order to continue improving our security measures. We believe we can and should do more, and we will stay true to our commitment to the safety, privacy, and security of our community.

McCarthy goes on to explain the details of this “problem”, and how it led to the children’s data being retained despite it being “inconsistent with our policy of saving this information for only 14 days”:

During the investigation, we identified a technical issue where our systems were not deleting account creation data for child accounts where the account creation process had started but was not completed. This was not in line with our policy of retaining this information for only 14 days to make it easier for players to pick up where they left off to complete the process. Our engineering team took immediate action: we fixed the issue, deleted the data, and implemented practices to prevent the error from happening again. The data has never been used, shared or monetized.

The FTC statementas for him, says:

Microsoft will pay $20 million to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by collecting personal information from children who signed up for its Xbox gaming system without informing their parents or obtaining their parents’ consent, and unlawfully keeping children’s personal information.

“Our proposed order makes it easier for parents to protect their children’s privacy on Xbox and limits the information Microsoft can collect and maintain about children,” said Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Consumer Protection Bureau. . “This action should also make it very clear that avatars, biometrics and children’s health information are not exempt from COPPA.”

As part of a proposed order filed by the Department of Justice on behalf of the FTC, Microsoft will have to take several steps to strengthen the privacy protections of children using its Xbox system. For example, the order will extend COPPA protections to third-party game publishers with whom Microsoft shares children’s data. Additionally, the order clarifies that avatars generated from a child’s image and biometric and health information are covered by the COPPA rule when collected with other personal data. The order must be approved by a federal court before it can take effect.

I’ve woken from my sliced ​​ham and prosecco-induced holiday slumber and am ready to acknowledge (with only a little tremor) that we’re in a new year. New year new me? No. The spiral ham and prosecco remind me that it’s okay for some things to always stay the same. New year, new set of video game release dates? You bet.

Last year’s game announcements helped me collect an ocean of dates and titles to share in a comprehensive list, but since it’s so early in 2023 – and more forever, as even careful plans are delayed – you will notice that some exact dates or titles are missing, or even might end up changing.

This list will be updated as we go through the year and learn more about exact dates and I learn more about iPads, as a separate side project. Studios can email announcements to me at abardhan@kotaku.com for possible inclusion in this list, too. In the meantime, here are all the games you should expect in 2023.

What games will be released in 2023?

A lot.

January

Scrap Riders – January 9 (PC, Switch)

Fears in Fathom – January 9 (PC)

Glow in the Mirror – January 10 (PC)

Children of Silentown – January 11 (PC)

Drago Noka – January 11 (PC)

RAW – January 11 (PC)

Dragon Ball Z Kakarot – January 13 (PS5, Xbox Series X/S)

One Piece Odyssey – January 13 (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

A Space for the Unbound – January 19 (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

Persona 3 Portable – January 19 (PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PC)

Persona 4 Golden – January 19 (PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PC)

Colossal Cave – January 19 (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PC)

Fire Emblem Engage – January 20 (Switch)

Monster Hunter Rise – January 20 (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S)

Forspoken – January 24 (PS5, PC)

OddBallers – January 26 (PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC, Amazon Luna)

Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life – January 26 (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PC)

Dead Space — January 27 (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition — January 31 (Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S)

Inkulinati — January 31 (Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PC, Mac)

Raiden 4 x Mikado Remix — January 31 (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

Season: A Letter to the Future — January 31 (PS4, PS5, PC)

February

Cuddly Forest Friends — February 2 (Switch)

Deliver Us Mars — February 2 (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

Hogwarts Legacy — February 10 (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

Blanc — February 14 (Switch, PC)

Wanted: Dead — February 14 (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

Theatrhythm Final Bar Line — February 16 (Switch, PC)

Tales of Symphonia Remastered — February 17 (Switch)

A Weekend in Puzzleburg — February 17 (PC)

Wild Hearts — February 17 (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

Birth — February 17 (PC)

Atomic Heart — February 21 (Atomic Heart, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

Like a Dragon: Ishin! — February 21 (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

Digimon World: Next Order — February 22 (Switch, PC)

Horizon Call of the Mountain — February 22 (PSVR2)

Resident Evil Village — February 22 (PSVR2)

Blood Bowl 3 — February 23 (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PC)

Company of Heroes 3 — February 23 (PC)

Sons of the Forest — February 23 (PC)

Kirby’s Return To Dreamland Deluxe — February 24 (Switch)

Octopath Traveler 2 — February 24 (PS4, PS5, Switch, PC)

Destiny 2: Lightfall — February 28 (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

Scars Above — February 28 (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

March

The Last of Us Part 1 — March 3 (PC)

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty — March 3 (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

Melon Journey: Bittersweet Memories — March 7 (PC)

Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse — March 9 (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PC)

Valheim — March 14 (Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure — March 14 (U.S.) (PS4, Switch, PC)

Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon — March 17 (Switch)

Have a Nice Death — March 22 (Switch, PC)

Resident Evil 4 — March 24 (PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

Bat Boy — March 30 (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PC)

April

Meet Your Maker — April 4 (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

Pupperazzi — April 6 (Switch)

Tron Identity — April 11 (Switch, PC)

Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection — April 14 (PS4, Switch, PC)

Star Trek: Resurgence — April 15 (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

God of Rock — April 18 (PC)

Disney Speedstorm (Early Access) — April 18 (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PC)

Minecraft Legends — April 18 (Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PC)

Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores — April 19 (PS5)

Dead Island 2 — April 21 (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly — April 20 (PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC)

Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp — April 21 (Switch)

Afterimage — April 25 (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PC)

Roots of Pacha — April 25 (PC)

Mail Time — April 27 (PC)

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor — April 28 (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

May

Redfall — May 2 (Xbox Series X/S, PC)

Midautumn — May 9 (PC)

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom — May 12 (Switch)

The Outlast Trials (Early Access) — May 18 (PC)

Amnesia: The Bunker — May 23 (PS4, , Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PC)

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League — May 26 (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

System Shock — May 30 (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

Decarnation — May TBA (PC)

June

Esophaguys — June 1 (PC)

Street Fighter VI — June 2 (PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

Diablo IV — June 6 (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

Goodbye Volcano High — June 15 (PS4, PS5, PC)

Aliens: Dark Descent — June 20 (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

Final Fantasy XVI — June 22 (PS5)

Layers of Fear — June TBA (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

Blazing Strike — June TBA (PS4, PS5, Switch, PC)

July

The Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie — July 7 (PS4, PS5, Switch, PC)

Immortals of Aveum — July 20 (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

Pikmin 4 — July 21 (Switch)

Disney Illusion Island — July 28 (Switch)

August

Atlas Fallen — August 10 (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre — August 18 (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

Sea of Stars — August 29 (PS4, PS5, PC)

Baldur’s Gate 3 — August 31 (PS5, PC)

Lies of P — August TBA (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

September

Starfield — September 6 (Xbox Series X/S, PC)

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 — September TBA (PS5)

RoboCop: Rogue City — September TBA (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PC)

TBA 2023

Alan Wake II (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

Ark 2 (Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

Assassin’s Creed Mirage (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC, Amazon Luna)

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandors (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

Blue Protocol (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

BOSSGAME: The Final Boss Is My Heart (PC)

Chicken Journey (PC)

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

Dune: Awakening (PC)

Eiyuden Chronicles: Hundred Heroes (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PC)

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (PS5)

Forza Motorsport (Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

Gord (PS4, Xbox One, PC)

Gunbrella (Switch, PC)

Hades II (PC, TBA)

Hellboy: Web of Wyrd (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PC)

Hollow Knight Silksong (Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PC, Mac, Linux)

Homeworld 3 (PC)

Hyenas (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

Hyper Light Breaker (PC)

Infinity Nikki (PS4, PS5, PC, iOS, Android)

Killer Klowns from Outer Space: The Game (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

Lightyear Frontier (Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

Lollipop Chainsaw (TBA)

The Lords of the Fallen (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

Nightingale (PC)

Palworld (PC)

Planet of Lana (Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

Pragmata (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

Remnant II (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

Risk of Rain Returns (Switch, PC)

SCHiM (PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC, Mac, Linux)

Silent Hill 2 (PS5, PC)

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl (Xbox Series X/S, PC)

Skull and Bones (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

Suikoden I & Suikoden II Remaster (PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC)

Tekken 8 (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

Thirsty Suitors (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PC)

Venba (Switch, PC)

Where Winds Meet (PC)

Witchfire (PC)

What are you most looking forward to playing this year?

 

Microsoft has discontinued classic game emulation on the Xbox series X/S April 6th and a small but passionate community of retro enthusiasts, curators, and homebrew developers are up in arms. They’re asking the console maker to backtrack and make legal emulation easy again, even if it means potentially upsetting competitors like Sony and Nintendo.

The Xbox Series X/S is unparalleled among consoles in allowing users to easily emulate older games. When launched in 2020, new owners discovered the ability to install emulators capable of playing classic PlayStation 2 and GameCube games above. It’s still possible with paid access to the console’s developer mode, but Microsoft has now locked that feature into standard retail mode. Where users could previously download and run emulators for dozens of older consoles, they are now greeted with an error code telling them that these programs violate Microsoft Store policy.

“Ladies and gentlemen, it was a good race,” tweeted gamr13, which helps distribute the Xbox retail version of the RetroArch emulator interface, which includes emulator cores for everything from the NES to the Wii. They said they had no choice but to tag Phil Spencer, CEO of Xbox and Microsoft Gaming, on Twitter with a hashtag #LetUsEmulate.

Although emulation is often associated with piracy, it’s also a legal way to play copies of games you already own on newer hardware with modern conveniences.

In early consoles, Xbox Series X/S owners could install various emulators and emulator interfaces, like RetroArch, PPSPP, and DuckStation, using links on gamr13’s Github page to install Windows platform versions universal (UWP) of these applications via the consoles ‘ Microsoft store. But as the tech giant began to take notice, it began to remove emulator apps from the store faster and faster.

“Essentially Microsoft would clamp down on my downloads where they were months, weeks, days, until now,” gamr13 told Kotaku. “So I was just re-downloading the apps every time they were deleted, to get newcomers and everyone else up and running again.”

Xbox Series X/S was ‘like the Steam Deck’ for emulation

One way to make emulators last longer on Microsoft’s store was to mark them as private and then “whitelist” specific users to download them. A Patreon helped coordinate and fund this activity.

“The crackdown started to escalate towards the end of the summer until the fall, where we had to deal with daily takedowns for a while, so the day after they came up, they would be taken down,” said gamr13. “We’ve managed to find a way to make them last up to three days since then by not naming them ‘RetroArch’ and instead [using] random names.

As long as you had already downloaded the emulators, everything was fine. So far. Some users on Twitter shared stories of losing access to collections of hundreds and hundreds of classic games that they could no longer play on the Xbox Series X/S as a result of the change.

Running emulators in consoles’ developer mode is still an option, but accessing this feature requires a $20 fee and is not always available to owners in regions where online payment systems are available. more difficult to access. The timing of the crackdown also has many people wondering why Microsoft decided to change its stance towards the emulation community. Emulating games from other platforms has always been technically against the store’s terms of service, homebrew developers say, but until now Xbox emulation enthusiasts felt the company was content with look on the other side.

The timing raised suspicions about whether outside pressure could force Microsoft to become more aggressive. Nintendo has always been extremely anti-emulation, and while a version of the Dolphin emulator for GameCube and Wii has been available on Xbox Series X/S for some time, a special port specifically for the console went into beta only a few months ago. Nintendo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In a statement to Kotaku, a Microsoft spokesperson said, “We are continually evolving our mechanisms for reviewing and taking enforcement action on content distributed to the store to ensure alignment with our Microsoft store policies. Per 10.13.10, products that emulate a gaming system or gaming platform are not permitted on any device family.

Unfortunately, it looks like Microsoft’s new level of policy enforcement will leave a fair number of Xbox owners who loved emulating their old games on Microsoft’s consoles out in the cold. Dev Mode is still an option, but adds another layer of complexity and doesn’t always work well with console updates released early by those enrolled in the Microsoft Xbox Insider Preview Program.

“[Emulation] was the only reason me and many others bought an Xbox,” gamr13 said. “The PlayStation and Nintendo platforms require some modifications to run this stuff, but Xbox has so far been a really open and welcoming platform for everyone, whether they’re indie developers. [or] game curators. It was like the Steam Deck of consoles.

Correction 04/06/2023 7:12 PM ET: Clarified gamr13’s role as a distributor of the Xbox Series S/X RetroArch app.

THE struggle to get Microsoft’s proposed $69 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard on the line don’t just play government watchdogs and in the public eye, but also in courtrooms. And in one of those battlegrounds, Microsoft is asking rival Sony that it believes the latter constitutes “obvious harassment.”

Via The Axios newslettera series of court documents have been filed over the past two weeks detailing some of the legal skirmishes currently taking place between Microsoft, which is keen to complete the blockbuster deal, and Sony, which is one of many companies and organizations that are absolutely don’t want that to happen.

These particular filings relate to Sony’s attempts to fight the proposed sale, and that as part of their defense, Microsoft has the right to “Discovery,” which is basically letting them get their hands on a bunch of documents and emails from some Sony executives. The two companies have been negotiating for ages over how many executives this will include and the scope of the discovery, but things took a turn earlier this month when Microsoft accused Sony of stalling firstwithout providing all the information they might need:

Sony Interactive Entertainment (“SIE”) – whose gaming business eclipsed that of Xbox for 20 years – is no ordinary third party in this action. At great expense and over an extended period, SIE deployed executive delegations, large teams of outside lawyers, and top economists to persuade regulators here and around the world to block Microsoft Corp.

(“Microsoft”) has proposed the acquisition of Activision Blizzard King. SIE’s efforts are paying off: The FTC’s complaint in this action is replete with allegations about the effects the agreement will have on SIE’s business. This case concerns SIE as much as Xbox and Activision. Rapid discovery of the EIS is therefore critical to Microsoft’s defense.

Although SIE’s motion for an extension of time complains about the magnitude of the subpoena and the length of the extensions already granted to respond to that subpoena, Microsoft has already told SIE that it will consent to a fourth extension of time. to negotiate issues related to the scope of subpoena requests. But Microsoft believes court intervention is now needed on one issue: whether SIE will collect and produce documents from certain custodians.

In response, Sony said they hadn’t provided all of the information requested by Microsoft because they were asked too much, including things like access to internal benchmarks, something Sony says “is obvious harassment”, and that “even in labor courts require a specific demonstration of relevance before requiring the production of personal records.

This is all only moderately interesting, I know, but I’m bringing this up mainly so we can just tie the two together. Microsoft And sony motions, which are full of incredible self-properties, like Microsoft saying that PlayStation’s success “trumped Xbox’s for 20 years,” as well as very funny words in Sony’s filing, like how they say that Microsoft’s subpoena was, like, “really massive”.

Update 5:22am ET, February 10: Removed mention of the “MOTION TO LIMIT OR QUASH SUBPOENA” as the matter is still ongoing.

Things haven’t been going well for Xbox lately. Microsoft faces strong resistance in its bid to acquire Activision Blizzard. He hardly released any big exclusive blockbusters last year. And he just cut over 10,000 jobs last week, including many senior developers at the Halo Infinite 343 Industries studio. Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer tried to stay optimistic and damage-limiting on each of these and more in a new interview with IGN.

“Every year is critical,” he said. “I don’t find this year more or less critical. I feel good in our momentum. Obviously we’re going through some adjustments right now which are painful, but I think it’s necessary, but it’s really to set us and the teams up for long-term success.

This week has captured both the peril and the promise Xbox faces right now. On Tuesday, Microsoft announced a decrease in net income of 12% for the last fiscal quarter compared to the previous year. Xbox gaming hardware and software have fallen by similar percentages, and Microsoft hasn’t said anything about how many new subscribers its Game Pass service has gained since hitting the 25 million mark exactly one year ago. year.

Then, on Wednesday, Microsoft provided a sleek, streamlined preview of its upcoming games in a Developer Direct livestream copied directly from Nintendo’s playbook. Forza Motorsport has apparently been quietly delayed to the second half of the year, but looked like a beautiful and impressive showpiece of racing sim. Arkane’s Sandbox co-op vampire shooter Redfall has had a May 2 release date. Real-time strategy spin-off Minecraft Legends will arrive in April. And to top it off, Tango Gameworks, creator of The Evil Within, has lost the shadow Hi-Fi Rush on Game Pass, a colorful left-field rhythm-action game that has already become the undisputed top gaming hit of 2023.

“2022 was too light on games,” Spencer confessed in his IGN interview. 2023 shouldn’t be thanks to Redfall and Starfield, Bethesda’s much-anticipated answer to the question, “What if Skyrim but space?” But both of those games were technically supposed to come out last year. Meanwhile, Hi-Fi Rush, like Obsidian’s Pentiment before that, is shaping up to be a critically acclaimed Game Pass release that might still be too small to move the needle on Xbox’s biggest fortunes.

Spencer remained vague when asked about the success of these games or their impact on Game Pass, whose growth would have stalled on console. “I think creative diversity grows for us when we have different ways for people to pay for the games they’re playing, and the subscription certainly helps there,” he said.

Hi-Fi Rush, Redfall, Starfield and a new The Elder Scrolls Online expansion coming out in June are also all from Bethesdawhich Microsoft finished acquiring in 2021. Microsoft’s former first-party game studios have been relatively silent in recent years while working on their next big projects, or, in the case of 343 Industries, have recently been hit by a number surprising layoffs. .

Following the news of the cuts last week, rumors and speculation began circulating that 343 Industries – which launched a well-received Halo Infinite single-player campaign in 2021 but struggled with seasonal updates of the multiplayer component in the months that followed – was benched. The released studio a brief statement over the weekend saying that Halo was here to stay and would continue to develop it.

Spencer doubled down on that in his interview with IGN, but offered little information about the reasoning behind the layoffs or his plans for the future of the franchise. “What we’re doing now is we want to make sure the leadership team is set up with the flexibility to come up with the plan they need to build,” he said. “And Halo will remain critically important to what Xbox does, and 343 is critically important to the success of Halo.”

Where Halo Infinite has been touted before 10-year plan fits into this, however, remains unclear. “They have other things, some rumored, some announced, that they will be working on,” Spencer said. And on the future of the series as a whole, he simply said, “I expect that we will continue to support and grow Halo for as long as Xbox is a platform for people to play. ” It’s hard to imagine Nintendo talking about Mario with a similar lack of conviction.

Microsoft’s ongoing difficulties with some of its internal projects may be part of the reason it’s so focused on seeking help outside of the company. Currently, that means trying to acquire Activision Blizzard for $69 billion and fighting an antitrust lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission in the process. Microsoft originally promised that the deal to get Call of Duty, Diablo, World of Warcraft, and Candy Crush would be done before the end of summer 2023. That deadline is fast approaching, even as the company continues to offer compromises, as would have given Sony the option to continue paying for Activision’s games on its rival Game Pass subscription service, PS Plus.

Spencer told IGN that he remains optimistic about closing the deal, even though he claims to know nothing about the logistics of doing so when he started a year ago. “Given that a year ago, for me, I knew nothing about the process of making an acquisition like this,” he said. “The fact that I have more insight, more knowledge about what it means to work with the various regulators, I’m more confident now than I was a year ago, just based on the information I have. and discussions we had.