The evolution of Xbox continues – if you have sharp ears. There's a new start-up sound coming to the consoles in a matter of days, the latest in a series of changes for Microsoft's consoles.

Asha Sharma, the CEO of Xbox, shared the sound herself on Twitter. "Sound on!" she captioned the post sharing a clip of the audio and an accompanying visual. I'll be real – it sounds pretty similar to the existing soundbite you find when starting up your Xbox Series X/S.

It doesn't go quite as high in the first second, but then it's right into familiar territory for the last couple of seconds. At least, that's what my ears are hearing; my recently played artists will tell you I am by no means a musical authority. After checking it against all the previous boot up sounds, I'm just nostalgic for the pure sci-fi of the original Xbox. Bring back the blocky UI, please!

I don't think that's happening. An update will bring this start-up to your consoles on Wednesday, May 13, just so you're not suddenly wondering what's happened to your system. Sharma's made this announcement amid a mixed period for the PS5's green-themed rival.

Firstly, longtime face of the brand Phil Spencer stepped away in February, introducing Sharma as his replacement. There's just been considerable staff changeover internally otherwise. Financial calls also recently revealed that hardware sales remain down quarter-on-quarter for Xbox.

On a distinctly brighter note, Copilot features are being rolled back across Xbox systems. There are no numbers on the adoption rates for such additions, but I can't imagine they were particularly inspiring.

Xbox isn't worth a port for small Japanese studios, says RPG dev, since the console isn't even sold in most local retailers.

Hades developer Supergiant Games has shouted out a fan-made mod for Hades 2 which ports the original game into its sequel.

A developer who goes by the name NikkelM released the Zagreus' Journey mod for Hades 2, a mod which adds every region, enemy, and boss from the original Hades and allows you to play through it as the second game's protagonist Melinoe, with new NPC encounters and other content added while they're at it. It was first released late last year, but just got its 1.0 launch a few days ago.

It's an impressive mod, and quelling any fears, NikkelM also explains: "This mod does not, and never will, use generative AI for any art, voice or music. All voicelines are from the original game, and art was custom created by talented community artist burn."

While mods are a commonplace thing for games nowadays, most don't come with trailers that look almost official thanks to their production value, so it's only natural that this one caught the eyes of fans. Unexpectedly however, it's received a blessing from the original developers, too. The Supergiant Games Twitter account shares the mod, saying: "We're blown away by this user-created mod for the PC version of Hades II, which lets you play through the original game's encounters as Melinoe."

Zagreus' Journey looks so official that many fans have been shocked, too, with one reply saying, "it's user created? I saw this trailer yesterday and thought it was official." They speculate that Supergiant reposting it was a way of making it clear that it isn't. Elsewhere, commenters on the trailer say, "I hope the devs see this and contact you to make this an official dlc because with this is so good," with more asking for a way to bring the mod to console versions of the game.

I never got around to finishing Hades 2, but with the little glimpses of Asphodel you sometimes get in that game, I actually somewhat expected this to be a surprise hidden in the game somewhere, so it's cool to see someone take the idea and run with it.

Hades 2 developer is hiring for "what's next" after its 2 roguelike juggernauts, but fans can't decide if they want a threequel.