Xbox will change the Microsoft Store to avoid abuses in the “New games” section

Microsoft wants all games to have more visibility and avoid practices that saturated the store.

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Microsoft has announced changes to the policies of the Microsoft Store on Xbox with the goal of ensuring that games receive a fairer treatment within the digital store. The company confirmed these modifications during the GDC 2026, where they also discussed several improvements for developers.

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The main objective is to avoid a practice that had generated criticism in recent years: the publication of multiple versions or packages of the same game to occupy more space in the “New Releases” section.

Goodbye to seeing the same game repeated several times

According to the Xbox team, adjustments have been made to the store’s algorithmic promotion systems, especially in the section dedicated to new releases.

The intention is to prevent some titles from trying to gain visibility through tactics such as publishing multiple bundles of the same game.

We have made changes to our policies to improve our algorithmic promotions, such as the New Releases section. These changes ensure that you won’t see the same package five times in the New Releases section.

Microsoft also emphasized that its code of conduct for developers already makes it clear that no studio should attempt to displace other games using these types of strategies.

A measure designed especially for independent games

One of the reasons behind this change is to protect the visibility of independent games, which rely heavily on appearing in the new releases section to attract players.

In fact, some developers have recently explained that they managed to sell thousands of copies simply thanks to that visibility in the Xbox store, even without investing money in marketing.

With these changes, Microsoft aims to maintain a more balanced store where all titles have a real chance to stand out, preventing some projects from saturating the main sections with multiple versions of the same game.