Microsoft is officially announcing its Xbox Nano controller today, a smaller and cheaper controller that's designed to fit into your pocket. The more compact controller is also designed for "younger players, smaller hands, or anyone seeking something portable for play on the go."

The $49.99 Xbox Nano is Microsoft's smallest controller, and it's shorter than most smartphones at just over five inches in length. It has all the regular buttons you'd find on a normal Xbox controller, as well as Xbox Wireless and Bluetooth support for connecting to Xbox consoles and phones, tablets, and PCs.

The Xbox Nano controller also includes a rechargeable …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Retro gaming is going through a wild time at the moment, thanks to decompilations and recompilations that are letting gamers port classic titles to new devices, or merge code from two different games into a single new experience. Microsoft has witnessed skateboarding being modded into Call of Duty and Halo being played in a web browser, and the company is now officially embracing the chaos of this new AI-powered era of game modding.

Microsoft is putting together a new Xbox Labs group to explore the rapid emergence of these mods, many of which use AI models to help modders remix games in ways we've rarely seen before. Xbox Labs will be a "sm …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Playground Games first revealed earlier this year that Forza Horizon 6 would be arriving on PS5 in 2026, but the launch is now being pushed back. I reported last month that there would be a delay to early next year, and Forza Horizon 6 is now officially debuting on January 26th, 2027.

The delay means the PS5 version will now coincides with a new expansion for the game. Playground Games will also sell a Premium Edition of Forza Horizon 6 on PS5 that offers up to five days of early access ahead of January 26th.

Forza Horizon 6 first debuted on Xbox and PC on May 15th, and the new expansion will also be available to these platforms in January …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Xbox is launching a new division, called "XP," that's dedicated to Xbox experiences that aren't video games, including films and TV adaptations, consumer products, live events, and partnerships with creators and brands. Different teams at Xbox already do this work, but it will all now fall under the centralized XP division.

XP formalizes four "investment areas," according to a blog post by Xbox chief strategy officer Matthew Ball:

XBOX PICTURES: Bringing our worlds and characters to new audiences through film, television, and other forms of linear storytelling.

XBOX PRODUCTS: Creating products that are authentic to the fandom that al …

Read the full story at The Verge.