Helldivers 2 wins big on August’s revenue charts thanks to a “substantial uplift” from its Xbox launch — oh, and Battlefield 6 dominated engagement, too

Arrowhead Game Studios’ popular co-op shooter has kept players hooked since it launched in February 2024. In fact, it recently jumped to fourth place on the gaming revenue chart for August, according to Newzoo (via GamesIndustry.biz). This is a significant leap from its 37th place ranking the previous month.

Tariffs bite Xbox fans even harder, as Microsoft (again) increases Xbox Series X|S prices in the US — here’s how much more you’ll pay

The U.S. government has recently imposed tariffs on various countries, hoping to encourage more manufacturing within the United States. However, due to a current shortage of skilled workers and educational resources, companies will likely continue to rely on countries like China, Vietnam, and India – those affected by the tariffs – for production, at least for the time being.

Following success in Japan, Microsoft’s Mena Sato Kato has been promoted to head of Xbox Asia — but there’s still a lot of work to be done

Microsoft brought on Mena Sato Kato, a former executive from PlayStation, in 2023 to revitalize Xbox’s presence in Japan. Japan is a hugely important and profitable market for gaming. Japanese game developers, from small indie studios to major companies, are seeing increased success with both new games like Elden Ring and established franchises such as Resident Evil, both in Japan and around the world.

Apple may finally admit it was wrong about Surface — rumors point to touchscreen MacBook Pro over a decade after Microsoft did it first

According to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple is aiming to release a MacBook Pro with an OLED touchscreen as early as next fall. This laptop will run the standard macOS operating system, not the iPadOS found on iPads. This strategy is similar to what Microsoft did with its Surface devices, first with Windows 8 in 2012 and later with Windows 10 in 2015.