Cole Martin
Cole is the resident Call of Duty know-it-all and indie game enthusiast for Windows Central. She's a lifelong artist with two decades of experience in digital painting, and she will happily talk your ear off about budget pen displays.
Latest articles by Cole Martin
Lightyear Frontier early access review: Get in your mech, besties — we're going farming
By Cole Martin published
Review FRAME BREAK's debut game, Lightyear Frontier, shakes up farming simulators by suiting up in a giant mech and starting a homestead on a distant planet. But is it any fun?
The difficulties of publishing indie games: the studio behind 'Deliver Us the Moon' shares 5 new games that were pitched to more than 40 publishers to no avail
By Cole Martin published
Indies KeokeN Interactive, the Dutch studio behind Delivers Us the Moon and Deliver Us Mars, have shared a video showing games under development that are struggling to find investment.
Soon-to-be-revived MOBA Gigantic shows off Picaro Bay and Heaven's Ward maps in a fresh new trailer
By Cole Martin published
MOBA Abstraction Games and Gearbox Publishing are reviving Gigantic as a premium, definitive edition complete with all classic content alongside new heroes and maps.
Call of Duty Season 2 Reloaded — Team RICOCHET update, new operator bundles, and upcoming crossover events
By Cole Martin published
Season 2 Reloaded Season 2 for Call of Duty is at its halfway point, which means a new slate of content, events, and crossovers are here to freshen things up ahead of Season 3.
Backbone squads up with Call of Duty and Best Buy to release a special controller to celebrate the launch of Warzone Mobile
By Cole Martin published
Backbone Prestige wherever you go with Call of Duty Mobile and the new Backbone One - Prestige Edition, available March 13 via Best Buy Drops.
Frostpunk 2 gets a release date, comes to PC Game Pass on day one this summer
By Cole Martin published
Release date 11 bit studios reveals Frostpunk 2 digital deluxe edition contents and announces a release date for the anticipated management simulator.
Ukrainian studio Frogwares announces The Sinking City 2 during the Xbox Partner Preview showcase
By Cole Martin published
Partner Preview Independent Ukraine-based developers, Frogwares, has announced their upcoming survival-horror game, The Sinking City 2 with a release date in 2025.
Move over, Pokémon! This new indie game headed for Xbox Game Pass prefers saving creatures instead of fighting with them.
By Cole Martin published
Partner Preview 11 bit studios has revealed its upcoming "creature saver" adventure developed by Spanish studios Inverge and Chibig titled Creatures of Ava during the Xbox Partner Preview showcase.
Xbox Game Pass nabs mind-warping sci-fi survival game from the creators of 'This War of Mine' in this new trailer
By Cole Martin published
Partner Preview The sci-fi survival adventure from the developers behind This War of Mine is coming to Xbox Game Pass when it releases later this year.
Creator behind Kojima's 2014 GOTY helms a new witchy noir card-battler slated for Xbox Game Pass next year
By Cole Martin published
Partner Preview Lady Luck is a powerful witch cast from her coven, but she's returned to Steeple City with a cursed deck and one final job. Sleight of Hand from RiffRaff Games will launch on Xbox Game Pass in 2025.
The Thaumaturge review: a monster taming RPG with a mature, dark, and moody twist
By Cole Martin last updated
Review Fool's Theory and 11 bit studios have released The Thaumaturge, a story driven RPG set in 1905 Warsaw, Poland that gives monster taming a gothic makeover.
Remnant 2's most requested feature is coming to Xbox and PC today
By Cole Martin published
Update Gearbox Publishing and Gunfire Games have announced that the most requested feature for Remnant 2 is coming to the game today, along with a returning fan-favorite event.
Where we dropping? Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile release date announced along with the revival of Verdansk and Rebirth Island
By Cole Martin published
Drop In The official release of Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile will be a litmus test for Xbox's push into the mobile gaming market.
Microsoft lays out commitments to competition with new AI Access Principles
By Cole Martin published
AI Microsoft has sparked concerns that the company may be blocking competition in the nascent AI-tech space, forcing the
Samsung's newest AI-infused laptops powered by Intel Meteor Lake processors are available now
By Cole Martin last updated
News Samsung announced that the Galaxy Book4 series will be available in the U.S. on February 26, consisting of premium laptop PCs with integrated AI powered by Intel's Meteor Lake processors.
XP-Pen Artist Pro 16 (Gen 2) review: Challenging the limits of pen display technology
By Cole Martin published
Review Do we need a pen with 16,000 points of pressure? Probably not. But it certainly feels good, anyway.
Call of Duty Ranked Play and Zombies modes temporarily disabled to fix a progression issue that reset player progress (Update)
By Cole Martin last updated
Call of Duty Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Warzone are experiencing server issues relating to player progression, battle pass progression, and ranked play.
Stop the Bloom! Warhammer 40K Chaos Gate - Daemonhunters is now on Xbox
By Cole Martin published
Warhammer Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate - Daemonhunters released to critical acclaim on PC in 2022. Now, Xbox Series X|S and even Xbox One console players can join in the tactical RPG action.
Palworld FAQ: Release date, pricing, multiplayer, cross-play, and other questions answered
By Cole Martin, Zachary Boddy last updated
FAQ The creators of Craftopia have released their next title on Xbox Game Pass. Here's everything you should know about the highly-anticipated Pokémon-like game.
Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden Xbox review — I may never emotionally recover from this haunting love story
By Cole Martin published
Review Don’t Nod takes a chance with the ambitious ARPG Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, turning players loose in a world full of heartfelt characters and truly consequential stories.
Killer Instinct is testing ranked crossplay between Steam, Windows Store, and Xbox editions of the game for the first time
By Cole Martin published
Rank up Iron Galaxy has announced a test window for ranked crossplay that allows players on Xbox, Windows Store, and Steam versions of the game to play together in ranked playlists for the first time.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Warzone Season 2 — Release date, maps, modes, operator bundles and more
By Cole Martin published
Season 2 Sledgehammer Games and the teams behind Call of Duty MW3 and Warzone are dropping Season 2 on February 7. Here's what you can look forward to.
Palworld breeding guide: How to use egg incubators and create Fusion Pals
By Cole Martin published
Guide You don't have to wait until mid-end game to get the best Pals.
Lightyear Frontier suits up for a Day One release on Xbox Game Pass this Spring
By Cole Martin published
Release date Lightyear Frontier developer Frame Break unveiled the mech farming sim in 2021, then indefinitely delayed it in 2022. Now, they've announced a March 2024 release date and a new playable demo.
Get the Windows Central Newsletter
All the latest news, reviews, and guides for Windows and Xbox diehards.