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When Microsoft announced earlier this month that Xbox boss Phil Spencer would be a featured speaker at January’s Windows 10 consumer event, some wondered why that might be. Now we know, as Spencer says the presentation will include news/reveals that should appeal to Xbox fans.

Asked on Twitter if January’s Windows 10 event would feature any noteworthy announcements about the Xbox One, Spencer replied: “I think what we will show will be interesting to both Windows and Xbox gamers.”

Spencer will speak at the January 21 event at Microsoft’s headquarters alongside Windows executives Terry Myerson and Joe Belfiore. All three are expected to talk about “the Windows 10 consumer experience” during the presentation, which Microsoft is calling “The Next Chapter.”

Just last week, Spencer strongly suggested that this Windows 10 event would have gaming news, when he said: “It’s time for us to talk about gaming on Windows.”

In his role as Head of Xbox, Spencer not only oversees all Xbox gaming projects, but also everything to do with gaming inside of Microsoft. This includes PC gaming which, despite Microsoft’s demonstrable priority focus on Xbox, Spencer has maintained is “incredibly important.”

When Microsoft announced Windows 10 in September, it described the OS as “one platform” for all of the company’s products. However, we still don’t know how Windows 10 might impact Xbox One. It’s possible Spencer will talk about this during the Windows 10 event next month.

Another possibility is that Spencer and company will talk about the rumored new Xbox App for Windows 10 and Cortana voice-recognition integration, both of which were leaked earlier this month.

One gaming-related item we’re not likely to see at next month’s Windows 10 event is Microsoft’s secret game-streaming technology, Arcadia. GameSpot sister site Zdnet reported last week that the technology is too early on in development for an official reveal in January.

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The chief executive at The Witcher 3 studio CD Projekt Red has explained that the game was delayed in order to optimize its visuals across all formats.

Marcin Iwinski told Nerdacy that the delay will not result in content changes, but instead bug fixes and to ensure the game runs at an optimal resolution and frame rate across all systems.

“We are removing the final bugs and still running optimization in various areas. What it will result in is a smoother and more engaging experience and, yes, the game looking better across all platforms,” he explained.

“The content is locked, so no content changes are being made at this point. The scale of the open world in the Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is unprecedented, so fear not–there is enough gameplay to keep you playing for weeks.”

These comments come six months after it was rumors that The Witcher 3’s resolution on Xbox One and PS4 could be noticably different. At the time, Iwinski said it was “too early” to say whether there would be a difference between the two home console versions.

Then, in early December, CD Projekt RED announced it had delayed The Witcher 3 release date from February 2015 to May. At the time, the studio explained that the postponement was necessary in order to fulfil the studio’s ambitions.

“The sheer size and complexity of The Witcher, key features of the title, have had a decisive impact on production. Now, nearing the end of our work, we see many details that need to be corrected,” the studio wrote when announcing the delay.

In October, CD Projekt Red responded to rumors that the studio was entering crunch to finish the game on time, and that its public demonstrations were overly flattering. Writing on the games forum NeoGAF, one anonymous user took issue with others praising the Witcher 3, claiming that developer CD Projekt Red has built an “overblown” impression of the game. After the anonymous poster’s legitimacy was questioned, a NeoGAF administrator claimed they had been “vetted and cleared,” suggesting these were not the words of an outsider.

The Witcher 3 release date is May 19, 2015 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.

Pictured below: Ciri, The Witcher 3’s new female hero.

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Microsoft continues its work to improve Xbox One game Halo: The Master Chief Collection, on Monday releasing a new patch, which, among other things, finally adds Halo 4‘s Spartan Ops mode.

Spartan Ops is a multi-mission, episodic co-op mode for Halo 4. Microsoft announced in October that the mode wasn’t going to be available at launch in November, saying it would be released in December so that developer 343 Industries could make “technical enhancements.”

In addition to adding Spartan Ops, today’s Master Chief Collection introduces more improvements to the game’s matchmaking system, and should bolster overall stability. The patch notes are below, courtesy of 343.

343 also attempted to clear up some confusion about The Master Chief Collection’s utilization of dedicated servers. The developer says while the “vast majority” of games are played on dedicated servers, if players cannot connect to a dedicated server, everyone in the lobby stays together and the match is played on a peer-to-peer connection.

“Please be aware that you may connect to the dedicated server quickly enough that you won’t see the ‘connecting to dedicated server’ dialog,” 343 said. “The absence of that dialog doesn’t mean that you’re not playing on a dedicated server.”

Last week, Microsoft outlined its plans to make up for The Master Chief Collection’s launch woes. Among other things, players will receive a free copy of Halo 3: ODST on Xbox One.

The Master Chief Collection December 22 Patch Notes:

Spartan Ops:

• Added the entirety of Halo 4’s Spartan Ops mode

Matchmaking:

• Made an update to make sure a match only starts when teams are even.
• Players will now receive a ‘loss’ when disconnecting before a round has ended.
• Made an update to include all split screen players in vote tally.
• Resolved an issue that caused players to become stuck “Joining Session.”
• Resolved an issue where players could be dropped from matchmaking after disconnecting their controller.

General Multiplayer Updates:

• Made additional improvements to Halo: CE hit registration.
• Made an update to the Halo 2: Anniversary Career Progress page to ensure achievements are correctly tracked.
• Fixed an issue where it took a long time to join players that are in a Multiplayer lobby.

General UI/Menu Updates:

• Made additional improvements to Roster update times.
• Fixed Halo 3 game type text when viewing saved data in My Files.

Halo 2: Anniversary Campaign:

• Fixed an issue where the ‘Black Eye Skull’ incorrectly prevented players from reaching checkpoints.

Campaign Playlists:

• Fixed an issue where cross-game playlists could fail to progress to the next level.
• Made several fixes to Campaign Playlist Carnage Reports.
• Fixed an issue where Halo 3 Cooperative Playlist progress would not save correctly when completing a mission.
• Made changes to ensure that Competitive Scoring and Timing are tracked correctly in Halo CE and Halo 2 Campaign Playlists.

Stats & Medals:

• Made updates to improve stat tracking.
• Fixed an issue where the ‘Steaktacular’ medal would not be correctly awarded in Halo 3.
• Fixed an issue where the ‘Supercombine’ medal would be incorrectly awarded in the Halo 4 Campaign.

Achievements:

• Made an update to ensure that the ‘Flaming Ninja Anniversary’ achievement unlocks when prerequisites are met.

Control Layouts:

• Updated the Halo 2 ‘Boxer’ Button Layout.
• Updated the Halo 4 ‘Legacy’ Thumbstick Layout.

General Stability:

• Made several updates to improve overall game stability.

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Legendary fighting celebrity Bruce Lee, considered to be the father of mixed martial arts though he never actually fought competitively, is now a free character for all EA Sports UFC players.

All five version of Lee (see below) are now free to download through January 5, 2015 on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network in North America, while all other regions get him tomorrow.

• Bruce Lee — Bantamweight Division
• Bruce Lee — Featherweight Division
• Bruce Lee — Lightweight Division
• Bruce Lee — Welterweight Division
• Bruce Lee — Weightclass Bundle (all four divisions)

News that Lee would appear in EA Sports UFC for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 broke in April, with some immediately scoffing at the move, pointing out that Lee never fought any real fights. This is true, but his daughter, Shannon Lee, told us in an interview that this doesn’t matter because video games are fantasy.

EA Sports UFC was recently added to EA’s subscription service, EA Access, meaning all members who pay $5/month or $30/year can now play the game as much as they want.

For more, check out GameSpot’s EA Sports UFC review.

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The folks at GadgetLove have put together an impressive GIF that shows off the evolution of Nintendo gaming controllers over the years. It’s really mesmerizing–I definitely watched it loop a few times.

One reason the GIF is so captivating, as GadgetLove points out, is that Nintendo controllers throughout the years have varied substantially in terms of design compared to iterations of PlayStation and Xbox controllers.

An interactive version of the Nintendo GIF is also available through GadgetLove here, allowing you to scroll through the designs at your own pace. The site has also done the same for PlayStation and Xbox controllers.

This GIF’s arrival also comes not long after Nintendo confirmed it had begun work on new hardware to follow up the Wii U, which features a tablet-style GamePad controller.

What was your favorite Nintendo controller? Let us know in the comments below!

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Halo’s Pillar of Autumn, a massive UNSC spaceship, has been recreated in Lego form. Fan Lee Jones writes on this Lego fan creation community site that he spent 3.5 years and $7,000 to build the impressive brick ship.

The ship is over six feet long and weighs more than 200 pounds. It’s quite an impressive feat overall, though the most impressive part is probably the epic-looking engines, which you can see in the image at left.

More images of Jones’ Lego Halo ship are available at the Lego fansite.

Lego does not make official Halo toy sets, though competitor Mega Bloks offers a range of similar toys for children based on the series.

The next core Halo game is 2015’s Halo 5: Guardians, which launches next fall on Xbox One. Everyone who bought Halo: The Master Chief Collection can play the game’s beta beginning next week or today if you’re an Xbox One Preview member.

Thanks, Kotaku

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