After The Xbox Showcase, Game Pass Is Looking Stacked In 2023

Ghostwire as well right? Or does it have two year exclusivity (like Deathloop seems to have, because it wasn't announced for the year, unless they can't market it yet).
Otherwise we live in the age of delays so I can't get hyped for this given that 2022 was supposed to be a good year as well.

Next year does look to be a super year for sure! And if the delays to games like Redfall and Starfield makes them better games then it would have been totally worth waiting for too.
Also, for this year, Pentiment has "stealth" game of the year written all over it.

And this is 'just' the Year ahead that they can actually talk about at this point in time. Both Deathloop & Ghostwire: Tokyo should release to Game Pass after MS honours the deal they had with Sony prior to acquiring those studios. Both clearly stated 'Console Exclusive for a 'minimum' of 1yr on Sony's advertising.

On top of that, it is 'expected' that MS's deal to acquire A/B should complete (if all things going to plan of course). Speculation has been quiet of late, but initially, it seemed like end of 2022/23's Financial year to about June 2023 is the speculated date range for completion.

Of course if/when that does complete and MS own all of Activisions Publishing rights, they can publish all their games they have a license to publish. That means all of the A/B owned IP's (CoD, Diablo, Prototype, Crash, Spyro etc) will be added to Game Pass like they did when they acquired Bethesda Publishing rights. I don't expect external licensed game like Marvel (Spider-Man, Hulk), James Bond (Skyfall) or Hasbro (Transformers) games to come to Game Pass/BC bcause of the external license issues. However, if that deal goes through before Diablo IV releases, then that could be on GP day and date but if its soon after, it will probably be the headline game of a list of games added on the day the deal closes.

Point is, we only got the 'year' ahead that MS can talk about at this point in time. I do expect that if we reflect back on the past year at next years E3 showcase, we will be thinking that MS will have a 'difficult' job to match the previous year with ALL the 'games' coming - not just the brand new, never released before 1st Party AAA's but EVERY playable game releasing on Xbox and/or Game Pass.

@Cherip-the-Ripper Deathloop and Ghostwire Tokyo both have 1 year exclusivity but the absence of both in the showcase makes it seem like Microsoft can't talk about Xbox version until the exclusivity is over (September 14th 2022 and March 25th 2023 respectively) so there'll probably be a bit of a gap between the exclusivity ending and the Xbox release (I'd guess October 2022 for Deathloop for example).

Looking like I wont have enough time to cope with all the 2023 goodies coming. It should be an exciting year.
I do hope Ghostwire comes to xbox soon. Im fortunate to be playing it now, and whilst I can see this wont appeal to some, I'm mesmerised by the virtual tokoyo they have made - its like they have modelled and textured every single object in a city! Its also very japanese and im a real sucker for it. I hope its on xbox soon so those of you interested can see for yourself..

This is definitely the year I put a dent in my backlog. A small dent to be sure, but a dent nonetheless.

@Titntin yeah Ghostwire is underrated imo. It was such an amazing experience. I even got the platinum for it. I hope when its on gamepass more people will try it. It's such a relaxing experience and the mythological atmosphere in Shibuya was relaxing. If people approach it in a relaxing way and not a full blown action game and are into Japanese stuff they will surely enjoy the game. I can't recommend it enough.

Remember when everyone was saying 2022 will be the best year for gaming. Its now 2023 lol. Could very well be 2024

@Royalblues Totally agree with you. I grew up during a time when I had few games to play and had no money to buy. Today I have hundreds of different games to play on gamepass, Epic gives 1 free game every week, PS+ gives two or more games every month and Amazon Prime Gaming gives 5 or more every month. All this paying just a few dollars or none if you want.

For me every year has been an amazing year! I see people complaining because this is a poor year for gaming, nothing to play and blah blah blah and I just can’t understand. How can this people manage to play all the backlog?

If those in the uk are already on gamepass ultimate but interested in getting another year of it for £41 cdkeys are selling 3 months on gold for £5.99. Each one converts to 50days of gamepass ultimate…so buy 7 for a year.
Worth going for if, like me, you’re good for gamepass till 2024 but figure odds are they’ll raise the price of it before your sub runs out and you take advantage of the vpn deals again.

@Foxx_64740 to be fair I’ve not seen a single person say this has been a poor year for gaming…if you’re on PlayStation you’ve had a pretty big year…especially if god of war hits this year.
I’ve seen plenty say this is a poor year for Xbox first party support - which is hard to argue against when there’s been non so far… and will be zero new games from Xbox studios all 2022 apart from that smaller game by obsidian?

@Bleachedsmiles I agree with you that this year MS Studios has not launched any games. My point is there are so many games to play that if some of them get delayed (just like it happened with Horizon, God of War, Redfall, Starfield and the list goes on) we will be just fine. And seeing ppl complaining about this just intrigues me, but it’s just my opinion anyway.

For me, if MS is taking too long to release games, I just turn on the other console and play something else whether a first or third party game.

@Foxx_64740 third party support has been pretty decent and looks like it will continue to be strong throughout the year. Xbox gamers aren’t going to go without games to play.
But not all are as privileged as us to own multiple consoles. And I do think that those that have saved up for a console sold to them £450+ do have every right to feel disappointed or even puzzled at the fact there’s pretty much no first party support in its second year.
And then you have the fact that Xbox has two platforms…the other being it’s subscription model - which survives month by month. You have to have heavy hitters in there. You have to have exclusives to keep people subscribing. Can’t deny this year so far has had a few months pretty quiet on the gamepass front…and with no big first party AAAs coming to it this year (remember it’s main selling point they market gamepass on is day 1 first party) it probably hits gamepass harder.
And does again cast light on management issues within Xbox.
Games regularly get delays. Which is why you need to think ahead and not put all your eggs in one basket. Xbox don’t seem to learn this. More people that ‘complain’ (raise concerns) the more likely it will be that Xbox does learn from it and we, the gamers, all benefit from it.

Ms don’t care if you don’t play your Xbox. They do care if you don’t keep paying for gamepass.

Yep. Game pass is definitely gaining more speed after a bit of a lull in recent months (in my opinion).
I'll be restarting my subscription very soon. Looking forward to ninja turtles, Tunic, Atomic Hearts, A plaques Tale 2, Cacoon, Velheim, Pentiment, and Silksong (the big one!)

@NotoriousWhiz I say that every year....

Gamepass was the worst thing about the show. It's an anchor for pushing the hardware.

If Starfield was a $70 game, I wouldn't see the hard cap SOME bethesda/xbox fans are making, but since it's basically free, people let things slide and this just keeps going on and on with other games. Goty winner is out of the question even for 2023.

I said I wanted to confirm if Gamepass was an anchor that wouldn't keep pushing the hardware forward and I can't tell yet because they didn't show most of the studios games. Idk if that's a gamepass thing or xbox's horrible management. Guess we'll see next e3 (yisus). I hope I see 2024 release windows with next year's e3s (more than Just Hellblade 2) because right now the only good perceived games xbox has and will release are car sims. Call me a fanboy or not. It is what it is. Gamepass and horrible studios management will make xbox a punching bag yet again. Forza's footage was on PC too.

Now people are getting used to not buying games and now no more FF for Xbox, or wait thousands for years of persona. Unless MS buys the company lol. It's easier for Sony to convince publishers of exclusivity (I think callisto has some stuff too). I hope sf6 actually sells on xbox because I don't want to hear no crying about exclusivity going to PS.

That being said, Kojima is making the better game for Xbox and we're getting bored to death stranding 2 instead. I think Plague tale 2 and Wo Long will be good games and ARE on gamepass DAY 1, but those don't have big budgets, which budget and profit is the anchor that gamepass creates. It's a shame. They have the talent and the amount of talented studios and I wish Gamepass didn't exist and head management wasn't horrible so we could see the true potential of Xbox games.

Peace, see yall next year's e3, or at TGA if they put anything there.

Really hope Diablo 4 comes to gamepass 🤞🏼🤞🏼

@Royalblues that really restates a think I keep saying here and push. Why is it that only exclusives exist to some? "No exclusive so nothing to play!" What, the other 300 games that combined outsell the exclusives 10:1 suddenly don't exist? Of Xbox never released a single first party exclusive ever again, it would still be a good platform. If Sony just cut all of Sony ps studios, their balance sheets would barely be affected. Heck they'd probably rise due to losing huge expenses until it affected platform adoption. It's not Nintendo, it's not like no first party means theres nothing but shovelware. Most game sales aren't first party exclusives for either platform.

In most cases I think it simply means "I've spent $1000 on 2 condoles so I'm only playing the one with exclusives.

But then again, why are only the exclusives the ones that matter. Of my top 25 most wanted games, like 4 or 5 are first party exclusives.

Not actually interested in any of them except maybe Forza & a plague tale but that still doesn't have a release date

@Chaudy people seem to forget we've already had big games this year like horizon fw & elden ring & there's still a bunch of great games coming like God of war Ragnarok , dead space , the Callisto protocol & Hogwarts legacy I guess if it's not published by Microsoft or on gamepass it doesn't count lol

@BartoxTharglod ‘next year is the year’ - every single one of them said that last year. Most here probably said it too. ‘Wait till next year’ is the running joke. You can’t help it. They’re all saying it today. I was watching a channel who’s convince next year will be the most stacked Xbox year ever because of the 6 months we don’t currently know about…destined to get hell blade 2, avowed, Indiana jones, perfect dark…even fable!
We’re going to be eating good. Especially if you’ve gamepass with all these AAA day 1.

I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if we get nothing from Xbox studios second half of 2023. They’ll have cod fill the gap. And we’ll all be in the comments saying ‘wait till next year’.

Welp works for me. By then hopefully a series x will be easy to find in my area. In the mean time the switch and gamepass on my xbox one suit me just fine. I will likely get a pa5 next year as well.

@NEStalgia that’s just fanboy bragging rights. Understand not everybody can own all systems. Also understand each system comes with its own community. A lot of the time it’s not about the company of the console, it’s about the company you gain from supporting it. Theres huge attraction there to be accepted within a community. And the most vocal are often the more ‘hardcore’ gamer… and, if we’re honest, gaming for most hardcore is likely a form of escapism. So if you find something in life that’s accepting of you you tend to embrace it and defend anything perceived to attack what that bit of plastic actually represents for you. It’s far less about the actual games. Or who makes the hardware.

I do believe exclusives are more important now than they’ve ever been though. Maybe they’re less important in selling hardware to the player (like you say, the biggest selling games on every platform is usually 3rd party) but I do think they’re more important than ever for the likes of Microsoft and sony. Xbox wants gamepass on everything… they’re investing in first party studios and timed exclusives more than ever not in effect to sell consoles but to get you subscribing to gamepass. If gamepass had the exact same games on it as psplus well…why go for gamepass? Particularly if you already have a PlayStation. In that ecosystem.

Of course exclusives are still important in making that decision to pick one console over the other to get you into that ecosystem. Hardware features will only take you so far. Moment gamepass is on PlayStation…alongside god of war ect…well as nice as quick resume is most are likely not buying an Xbox over PlayStation. But then Xbox don’t really care if you buy their console…it’s not the priority. We’ve known that for a long while now.

@BartoxTharglod That's just it though. Exclusives on either platform make up a single digit percentage of it's content, don't make up the top games on either platform by sales or play time, and, using Sony as the more relevant example, despite selling well, compared to install base, most of their console owners aren't playing the exclusives at all. Realistically exclusive games aren't what most console buyers bought their console to play. It matters only to a subset of the market.

Overall, the platform, features, services, drm functionality etc is what differentiates the pc twin consoles not the dozen or two games out of thousands available on one and not the other. I can see why someone would buy a ps instead of xb if it has games important to them exclusive or xb instead of ps for Bethesda etc. But it's not Saturn vs psx anymore. The library really isn't the main factor in buying the console for most of the market. 90 plus percent of the library is identical. The fact we can jump between pxb and push and talk with everyone about most of the same games except a few defines modern consoles really.

If somebody owns an Xbox, there's no reason to not be thrilled with all the games available and coming just because there's a few coming to another console they can't play while there aren't any during a period of time that they can play that can't be played on another console. The BIGGEST games of the year are still new, incoming, and on both consoles.

The perplexing part isn't that people are upset that specific games are coming to ps and not xb. Everyone knew that even they bought their console. The complaint is they "have nothing to play" on xb simply because theres nothing new that can't be played anywhere else. Even though it's getting all but a few of the same new games ps fans are excited about... It's just weird.

@Royalblues It'll be sad to see you go. But I definitely understand why... Happy gaming to you!

@BartoxTharglod Obviously that "one game" it's enough to make some of us buy both consoles. But we're not normal. Normal people don't buy two nearly identical consoles. I bought my PS5 for largely the same games you did of course. But if I were buying one console as a normal consumer, the exclusives wouldn't be what I'd base my decision on precisely because I'll lose whichever way I go. I'd want what I can't have no matter what. So the exclusives aren't a huge factor for a primary system and are more a factor for a second system where you're realistically only playing exclusives. Which is still where I expect the moaning comes from. Gluttons with xb as a second system that regret buying a second system of the exclusive releases are delayed. Which is fine but be honest about the complaint being because it's a second system and one isn't playing most games on it. Someone with only an xb has little worth complaining about unless they're looking over their shoulder counting team wins by platform publisher.

It's everything else about the system, and realistically which provides the better value that would make the decision for most. At this point I'd probably comes down to plus extra vs game pass and who has better sales and used game shelves at the store. . Ie, "which one would I play more games on for my money. ". And peer pressure. Like bleached said, that community factor. Which goes back to fanboy tribalism and the whole nine yards.

It's still an incredibly odd argument. Anyone buying an Xbox knew FFXIV isn't part of that and star field is. No games are surprises everybody didn't know is different between consoles when they bought it so it's not like "oh no, I bought Xbox but didn't know games x y and z are going to be only on ps, I regret my purchase now", everybody's still getting the games they expected and then a lot more. Nobody bought an Xbox expecting street fighter 6, or everything persona, or, weirdly crisis core, on it but now they'll have it.

The exclusives are delayed, not cancelled, and even without them it's a more vibrant platform than people even thought it was when they bought in.. the no exclusives complaint is still bizarre. Again unless complaining about a second console purchased for the sole reason of playing star field in 2022 instead of 2023.... But that's a different complaint. At least nobody's sending Todd death threats like Cory got for delaying gowr.... So.... Progress?

As for me, fwiw, I was Sony first, but the features, pricing, functionality etc of Xbox digital ecosystem actually made me switch to xb as my primary system and I repurchased all of my non exclusive ps content on xb. I.e. couldn't care less about the exclusives (this is late x1 era when ms had no exclusives I was super into). So for me it really is the platform that pulled me back over and even repurchased my library I already had on ps. Including all of Yakuza. And now looks like persona, too. But I still also need my ps for that handful of exclusive games I do want (persona knocked a big one off the list though) because hobbyist and all that jazz.

If falcom comes over eventually, ps will basically end up an ff, uncharted, horizon and ratchet box ..... But... I'm a glutton. And not complaining that ps only had 2ffs for 2023 and regretting the purchase . But normal people would not buy a second console for a few series. It gets is use even with gaps.

Pretty exciting times ahead on xb gp, starting now in 2022 already wow.

@BartoxTharglod Wow, your comments r too long mate, I initially thought it was part of the article. I started to read it n u have some good points there, but I lost interest halfway through, due to the excessive length of it. Just saying?

I'm looking forward to A Plague Tale 2, first was a real unexpected treat. Still plenty in my back catalogue to play too

@Would_you_kindly God of War Ragnarok and Hogwarts Legacy have no release dates just a window, Dead Space comes out in January 2023. Horizon Forbidden West and GoW means nothing If you only have an Xbox. Callisto Protocol is a game that releases at the end of this year.

So yeah what's your point? Apart from Elden Ring and Callisto Protocol, there isn't a single game you've listed that's released or has a release date. If you have Xbox only then this has been a poor year for gaming as all major first party Exclusives have been delayed and the same goes for major multi platforms such as Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League and not mention game pass titles such as Starfield, Redfall, Replaced, Contraband and many more

@Jomi1964 you thinking his comment was part of the article cracked me up 😂😂😭

Persona. Enough said.

@BartoxTharglod Hah you're officially one of the 5 of us that need multiple posts due to size! I miss when it didn't have limits 😃

I'll have to get back to this later... Phone typing box replies sucks. But it's interesting how we went from opposite ends of the spectrum to the opposite, though I don't have buyers remorse for either console... But more to say on that later...

@Cherip-the-Ripper Omg my man it's true, one cannot give mile long comments, u lose the crux of the argument u trying to make, although he had some good points there ffs lololol 😂 😂 😂 😂

And so I discovered a free game called Asphalt 9 on XB store a few days ago, what a pleasent surprise, the game is a little gem, who else knows it and likes it too???