Xbox Game Pass prices rise sharply, EA is bought for $55B, and Amazon unveils a color Kindle Scribe with AI and OS updates.
Hi, hello, and welcome to a new edition of the overkill digest newsletter. I am Kevin, this is a newsletter about tech, gaming, and whatever weird rabbit hole we're into. Currently: music apps.
My fancy audio player and IEMs arrived, and I spent the last couple of days trying to listen to all kinds of different music in all kinds of different apps. I am currently juggling Spotify, Apple Music, and Qobuz (here are two months for free for Qobuz instead of the usual one month) for streaming, and Plexamp and Roon for local music.
I love this thing. Having a dedicated device for music listening somehow instantly changed how I approach music. I am currently collecting my thoughts for a future review, but I'm enjoying this thing so much, I convinced a bunch of friends to get one already.
I also started playing Ghost of Yotei yesterday, and I managed to play for 10 hours straight. (And I'm currently listening to the soundtrack while typing this.) What a gorgeous game. I lost count how many times I just stopped to look at the world Sucker Punch designed. Heck, writing this makes me want to rush through the newsletter to start playing again.
But we're serious business here at overkill, so let's get to this week's topic list.
🚀 Big Moves
Microsoft is raising prices for Xbox Game Pass. They are raising them significantly. Game Pass Ultimate went from $19.99 to $29.99 a month. There is now also a Premium tier at $14.99 and an Essentiel tier at $9.99, while the PC Game Pass tier spiked to $16.49.
To soften the blow, Microsoft added a few new perks to the different options:
Previously, I would have argued that Ultimate and PC Game Pass are the only two interesting options, as both are the only options to get day-one launch titles. But with these new prices, it's difficult to recommend any of the options.
I roughly play one Game Pass game every other month, so I definitely need to start doing the math to figure out if just buying the games isn't cheaper in the long run. Especially since the last two games are/were Hollow Knight and Silksong. Each game cost less than one month of Ultimate.
Like Tom Warren from The Verge cleverly titled: We're in the Xbox $360 era.
Everything is expensive now!
EA was purchased for 55 billion USD. The deal was done by a group composed of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners. The deal is expected to close in EA’s Q1 2027 fiscal year, which takes place from April 1 to June 30, 2026. (Fiscal years are weird!)
The way the deal is structured, it will include $20 billion in debt financing. This will definitely lead to aggressive cost controls. We can expect layoffs, tighter budgets and fewer bets on unproven ideas, aka invention. So this will definitely lead to even more enshittification across the board.
🎮 Platform Updates
Daniel Ek is stepping down as Spotify CEO. I don't really care about this, but I have exactly one wish for the Co-CEOs starting in 2026:
GET RID OF THE FAKE AI COLLABS!!!!!!
💻 Hardware & Software
Amazon is adding color to the Kindle Scribe. And AI. They are also revamping the OS, making it hopefully a more competent note-taking device. In my review of the 2024 model, the half-baked note-taking features were my biggest complaints. The color version starts at $629.99. Everything is expensive now!
During the same event, Amazon also announced some other stuff, including new Echo smart-speakers, new TVs, and more.
Steam's new Hardware Survey is live. The biggest learnings:
- GPUs with 8 GB VRAM are slowly declining.
- CPUs with higher core counts are getting more popular.
- Somehow the 4060 laptop GPU is the most popular GPU currently.
- Windows 10 usage is on the decline, which makes sense, as support is ending in a few days.
- Linux still sits under 3%.
Logitech announced the MX Master 4. I use two mice (mouses?) with my computers: the MX Master 3s for everything productivity, and the Pulsar Crazylight for gaming (it's really good, and incredibly lightweight).
The 4 looks like an iterative upgrade, so it's probably a no-brainer to recommend. Especially since the price didn't change (I'm honestly surprised).
🎲 Playthings
The developers of Soma and the Amnesia franchise continue teasing their new stuff, and I am here for it. I'm way too much of a wuss to play horror games myself, so I usually watch Let's Plays instead. For SOMA, I watched this one by Jacksepticeye.
On that topic, I'm currently going through Gab Smolders Silent Hill f playlist. (Though to be fair, I could have easily played both SOMA and Silent Hill f. They are way less scary than I expected.)
📌 Quick Hits
- Kodak is making analogue film again. This should hopefully help stabilize prices. You know, because everything is expensive now! Maybe now is the time to get into this new rabbit hole?
- Sean Hollister at The Verge reviewed the new Lego Game Boy. And obviously someone with way too much talented made it playable.
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🔮 Looking Ahead
- The highlight of the week (my highlight of the week?) is definitely the release of Battlefield 6 on October 10th.
- On the same day, Little Nightmares III also drops.
Ok, that's all. I managed to write for exactly as long as the entire Ghost of Yotei soundtrack lasts.
Thanks for reading!
See you,
Kevin