Xbox 25th Anniversary: Wolfenstein 3 Confirmed, Halo Firefight Returns, and 25 Classic Games Hit PC

Xbox 25th anniversary announcements land in Seattle

The Xbox 25th anniversary celebrations ended with a bang. Xbox wrapped up its eight-city FanFest tour in Seattle on November 12, the city where the original console launched 25 years ago, and used the homecoming to drop a pile of announcements. The headline is simple: Wolfenstein 3 is officially in production. Around it sit a Halo Firefight revival, fresh Fable gameplay, a new mode for DOOM: The Dark Ages, and 25 original Xbox games arriving on PC.

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma confirmed that MachineGames is hard at work on Wolfenstein 3, with Brian Bloom and Debra Wilson reprising their roles as BJ Blazkowicz and Grace Walker. It is the first official confirmation that the long-awaited third entry exists, and it comes after years of fans asking whether the series would ever continue. Sharma called it a franchise with an important place in gaming history, and MachineGames is the right studio to finish the story it started with The New Order and The New Colossus.

Halo Firefight returns in a free Winter Update

Halo fans got something concrete too. Firefight, the cooperative survival mode, is coming to Halo: Campaign Evolved as part of a free Winter Update. Attendees at the Seattle FanFest got to go hands-on with it the same night, which suggests the mode is further along than a vague teaser. Firefight has always been the mode Halo players return to between campaigns, and bringing it back to Campaign Evolved makes the remake a much easier sell for longtime fans.

The Fable reveal was smaller but still notable. Playground Games showed new quest gameplay featuring magical combat against cursed creatures, plus fresh clues about the story. FanFest attendees also played it hands-on, and Xbox says it will break the footage down on the Official Xbox Podcast with Playground Games. Fable remains one of the most anticipated Xbox exclusives on the slate, and every new look at it matters.

DOOM Slaughter Mode arrives November 16

DOOM: The Dark Ages gets Slaughter Mode on November 16. The mode throws escalating rounds of randomised enemies, bosses, and arenas at players, and it is free for owners of the Revelations DLC, the Premium Edition, or the Premium Upgrade. Sharma also confirmed that id Software has started work on its next project. The Verge editor Tom Warren reckons the next id game will be another DOOM entry, which would fit the studio's recent run, but Xbox has not said anything official yet.

The quieter announcement might be the most useful one for PC players. Xbox Backward Compatibility on PC now includes 25 original Xbox games, complete with achievements. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind headline the list, and both are games that defined the original console. For players who never owned an Xbox in 2001, this is the cheapest way to play two of the best RPGs ever made on modern hardware.

What the Xbox 25th anniversary means going forward

Taken together, the announcements say a lot about where Xbox is heading. Wolfenstein 3 and a new id project keep Bethesda's shooter lineage alive. Fable shows Playground Games is still trusted with one of Xbox's biggest fantasy bets. And the PC backward compatibility push, alongside the Xbox Helix handheld reports, points to a company that cares less about where you play and more about keeping its library in front of you.

There were smaller beats too: 25th anniversary in-game items, new console updates for Xbox Insiders, and the Xbox Playback feature. None of them will sell a console on their own, but they round out a celebration that actually delivered news instead of nostalgia alone. For a 25th birthday, that is the right call.

Xbox confirmed all of the announcements in its official recap, and the Fable gameplay breakdown lands on the Official Xbox Podcast next. Wolfenstein 3 has no release window yet, and given how early production sounds, fans should settle in for a long wait. The wait, at least, is now official.