The new year may have just begun but already there is major news to announce for the Forza world: Forza Motorsport 6 is coming!

Today, at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Microsoft and Turn 10 Studios officially announced Forza Motorsport 6, which is in development and will be arriving exclusively on Xbox One. The news came alongside the announcement of the worldwide debut of the all-new Ford GT, which will serve as the cover car for Forza Motorsport 6. In addition, Ford’s performance vehicle line-up will appear in Forza Motorsport 6. This includes the GT, Shelby GT350 Mustang, and the F-150 Raptor, debuted by Ford earlier today at the auto show. As First in Forza vehicles, Forza fans will have the opportunity to drive these cars when they debut in Forza 6.

“Just as Ford has pushed the boundaries of car technology in GT, Forza Motorsport 6 will embrace that spirit of innovation as our most technically advanced racing simulation to date, offering a fun and realistic automotive experience for both car lovers and gamers,” said Dan Greenawalt, creative director at Turn 10 Studios. “We’re excited to unveil gameplay at E3 in June.”

The announcement of Forza Motorsport 6 kicks off 2015 and the ten-year anniversary of the Forza Motorsport series. This year promises to be the busiest and biggest in Forza history and we’ll have much more to say about Forza 6 and more of our exciting plans in the future. Stay tuned to www.forzamotorsport.net and the official Forza Hub app on Xbox One for all the latest news!

Australian retailer EB Games will remove The Elder Scrolls Online from its bricks and mortar shelves on January 13, a Kotaku AU source claims. If the report is true then it serves as fresh evidence that Bethesda intends to scrap the MMO’s monthly subscription fees in favour of a free-to-play model.

Both boxed copies of the game, as well as pre-paid subscription cards, will reportedly be discontinued.

The development follows news late last year that players can no longer purchase six-month subscriptions to the MMO, which was met with mixed reviews when it launched last year. While a moderator on an official French TESO forum claimed the six-month blocks were discontinued due to lack of demand (ie, customers prefer to buy shorter blocks), evidence is certainly mounting that a change is imminent.

We will keep you upto date on this story, as we’ve not reviewed the game since release, however if Free to Play does happen, we’ll have another look at the game which we were underwhelmed by during the betas

For the month of November, Xbox Live Gold members can look forward to three new free games on Xbox One and Xbox 360.

Volgarr the Viking, the newest ID@Xbox game, will debut on Xbox One as a free download. For Xbox One gamers, this is a journey back to the days of yore, when times were tougher, and you really only needed a couple buttons to play a game.

On Xbox 360, starting Saturday, November 1st, Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise ($14.99 ERP) will be free for Xbox Live Gold members through November 15th.

Then on November 16th, Xbox Live Gold Members can download Red Faction: Guerrilla ($19.99 ERP) for free through November 30th

*Titles are available as free downloads for qualifying Xbox Live Gold members in all markets where Xbox Live is available. Some regions may offer different titles depending on market availability.

343 Industries boss Frank O’Connor has apologised for a 20GB day-one download for Halo: The Master Chief Collection, but said it was the only way.

Speaking via Neogaf to those critical of the day one patch, O’Conner said, “The game is designed to run as a single, unified product, digital is seamless obviously, but we also wanted disc users to have the same experience, without swapping discs.

“Since the bulk of it is MP or MP related, the logic is sound. There will ALSO be a TU in there, but that in itself is a tiny fraction of the content.”

The 20GB is mainly related to multiplayer portion which is obviously important to most, so the developer hopes people will understand.

“For some folks it will be straight up annoying and I both apologize unreservedly for the irritance, and hope that the package and the way it works more than makes up for it

Do I understand the inconvenience and annoyance for some users? Of course. I’m not going to blow smoke or ignore it.

I’ve been playing the whole enchilada for a week now and the ability to sample, jump from aspect to aspect, customize with skulls and playlists has been absolutely addictive and mesmerizing.

I think I would have enjoyed a box set with the same fidelity, but the way it all connects has for me at least, made it more than the sum of its parts.”

Are you looking forward to the Halo: Master Chief Collection?

Coming up in October, Xbox Live Gold members can look forward to three new free games on Xbox One and Xbox 360. Chariot, the newest ID@Xbox game from Canadian developers Frima, will debut on Xbox One as a free download, replacing September Xbox One Games with Gold title Super Time Force (if you haven’t already downloaded it, now would be a good time).

On Xbox 360, starting Wednesday, October 1st, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (normally US $19.99) will be free for Xbox Live Gold members through October 15th.

Then on October 16th, Xbox Live Gold Members can download Darksiders II (normally US $49.99) for free through October 31st.

*Titles are available as free downloads for qualifying Xbox Live Gold members in all markets where Xbox Live is available. Some regions may offer different titles depending on market availability.