2026 is a year of many anniversaries. Alongside the 25th birthdays of Xbox; Halo and Animal Crossing, 30th anniversaries for Pokemon; Tomb Raider and Resident Evil and 40-year celebrations for the likes of Zelda; Metroid and Castlevania, many iconic IPs and studios are hitting major milestones. Also celebrating its 40th anniversary, Bethesda Softworks has now unveiled its new ‘retro’ inspired company logo.

Taking to Twitter to make the announcement, the official Bethesda Softworks page unveiled the new logo, writing: “40 years of adventures. Here's to the worlds we've built together… and those still to come. We're marking the occasion with a logo inspired by our roots.”

While the new logo does seem to feature callbacks to its ‘roots’ (with the font used being similar to that of Bethesda’s typography from the late 80s), the bloom/glow effect in use is rather distracting – appearing almost blurry and smudged in nature.

Either way, it will be interesting to see whether this new logo is solely in service of Bethesda Softworks’ 40th anniversary, or if they will now be using it moving forward.

KitGuru says: What do you think of the new logo? Are you bothered by the glow? What games studio do you think has the best logo? Let us know down below.

In the wake of Asha Sharma’s appointment as the new CEO of Xbox, we’ve seen the console maker rather quickly pivot away from its previous brand identity which it had built over the past couple generations. Following the unveiling of their new logo, Xbox have now shared a look at the new console boot up sequence coming to all systems soon.

Asha Sharma has been rather active online since her appointment as the new Xbox CEO. Alongside responding to fans, Sharma has been sharing various titbits regarding Xbox and its future.

After the recent unveiling of Xbox’s new shiny and translucent logo, Sharma has now taken to Twitter to show off the brand new console boot up sequence, writing: “New boot up coming next Wednesday. Sound on!”

While relatively basic, the new intro is clean and does help to freshen up Xbox’s visual identity (which has trended somewhat towards minimalism and flatness over the years).

The accompanying audio is perhaps more hit-or-miss, with it starting on a bit too much of a strong note – though we will have to wait and see how it both looks and sounds when being booted up on an actual console.

Regardless, while a logo refresh and a new boot up sequence is far from transformative, it does feel as though Microsoft / Xbox under Asha Sharma is trying to win back long-lost fans.

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KitGuru says: What do you think of the new logo and boot up sequence? Which Xbox intro is your favourite of all time? Is the new audio jarring or pleasing to your ears? Let us know down below.