New releases and backlash
A flurry of recent launches and updates includes Naughty Dog’s Intergalactic arriving and Hades 2 reaching PS5/Xbox Series with a big console update. ( ) At the same time, Xbox Game Pass is facing player pushback after the new CEO openly acknowledged price hikes. (x.com)
Naughty Dog and Supergiant Games just gave console players two of the year’s biggest updates, while Xbox is dealing with fresh anger over Game Pass pricing. (naughtydog.com) (supergiantgames.com) (gamespot.com) Naughty Dog announced *Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet* on December 12, 2024, and said the new game has been in development since 2020 for PlayStation 5. The studio called it a brand-new franchise and its next game after *The Last of Us* and *Uncharted*. (naughtydog.com) Supergiant released *Hades II* on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S this week, alongside Patch 2 and a Game Pass debut. The studio said the console versions run at up to 120 frames per second on Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 and include new bonus content and quality-of-life changes. (supergiantgames.com) (news.xbox.com) On PlayStation Store, *Hades II* is listed at $29.99, with a PlayStation Plus discount to $23.99 running through April 28, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. Pacific time. Xbox added the game in its April 7, 2026 Game Pass wave, putting it in front of subscribers on the same week it reached Xbox consoles. (playstation.com) (news.xbox.com) That release cadence shows how publishers are splitting the market in 2026: prestige exclusives still anchor hardware brands, while subscription libraries are used to widen reach fast. Sony has *Intergalactic* as a PlayStation 5 project, and Microsoft is using Game Pass to make day-one and near-launch drops a selling point. (naughtydog.com) (xbox.com) The pressure point is price. In a memo reported by GameSpot from The Verge’s reporting, new Microsoft Gaming chief Asha Sharma said Game Pass “has become too expensive for players” and said Xbox needs a “better value equation.” (gamespot.com) That backlash follows Microsoft’s October 1, 2025 Game Pass overhaul, which replaced Core and Standard with Essential and Premium and expanded perks such as PC access, cloud gaming, in-game benefits, and rewards. Xbox’s support pages say Essential and Premium replaced the previous Core and Standard plans automatically for existing subscribers. (news.xbox.com) (support.xbox.com) Microsoft’s current comparison page says all plans now include PC access and cloud gaming, while day-one releases remain a headline feature for higher tiers. The same page says subscriptions renew at the then-current regular price unless canceled, a line that has kept price sensitivity front and center as Xbox adds more benefits. (xbox.com) So the same week brought two different messages to players: new games are reaching more screens, but the bill for that access is under heavier scrutiny. For Sony and Supergiant, the story is availability; for Xbox, it is whether more flexibility arrives before more players walk away. (supergiantgames.com) (gamespot.com)
