Rumour: Gears Of War 'Collection' Could Be Coming To Xbox This Year

This would be a nice addition to Xbox, but it's just that, an addition. This is no way is going to compensate for the potential barren wasteland Xbox has ahead of it....
This should be a quick opening for the June Showcase, the more time this gets in the showcase, the worse the situation will ultimately be for Xbox...
Ages of Empires 4 console version, that's the rumours I want to be hearing ahead of the June Showcase.

Would've been better if Gears 6 was ready this year but obviously that's still many years away due to the switch to Unreal Engine 5.

I'm not really interested in Remasters. I've already played the original Trilogy and it's great. I guess it's good for those who've not played the games before.

Come on MS you need some new titles not just lazy cash grabs with remakes / collections

@Kooky_Daisuke There ARE exclusives coming (and already) released this year. It wasn't 'JUST' Redfall and Starfield - ok so maybe they were the only First Party AAA games (so far) given a 2022 release date, but that's NOT the ONLY exclusives!!

Tunic (for example) is a Console Exclusive and has released in 2022 as has Shredders - also expected is Warhammer: Darktide, Scorn, Slime Ranchers 2 and Somerville...

Forza Motorsport is expected after a 5yr absence, Hellblade 2 'could' release in 2022 as well. I'd be happy with a UE5 remaster of Gears 1-3 added to the games I can play.

I really don't get the 'anger' at a 'delay' when its for the benefit of Gamers. Its not beneficial to MS who now have to deal with 'pathetic' self-entitled Fanboys as well as now have to spend more time and MONEY to ensure that the developers are not 'pushed to crunch and stressed', leading to a rushed release.

I don't get that only 1st Party AAA games 'matter' or indeed 'count' as Exclusives and ignore all the 3rd Party (indie and AAA) games coming 'exclusively' to the Platform.

So those games aren't coming 'this year', but they are still coming and now with more time and money spent on making sure they are polished and ready to release. You have to wait a bit longer, but they are still coming!!!

I remember this rumour, and that it was between Fable and Gears, and I said that Gears made the most sense.

But honestly, if they gave us remastered collections of Fable, Elder Scrolls, and Fallout, then I'd be happy.

I'd like to add that now that MS are buying Acti, I'd like to see a Classic COD Collection that remasters the original 360 titles. MCC is great for keeping the old MP modes, and the classic community alive (just a shame at how they handled it). I think a Classic COD Collection could do the same there.

@Royalblues Gears of War 1, 4, 5, Tactics & Ultimate Edition are on PC

Gears of War 2, 3 & Judgement are only on Xbox

@BAMozzy 1st party AAA games are what sells consoles. That's why they're so important.

Nobody is going "Wooo, Tunic, a game I can also get on PC and MC, time to buy a Series X!".

Nope, people on Switch are just playing Zelda instead Zelda clones while people on Playstation are playing whatever current cinematic "marvel" released to that point.

To add insult to injury, Microsoft's repeated failure to release well received games has hurt the brand. Hell, the last well received game "from" Microsoft was a PS5 exclusive that I still hear about more than say, Halo Infinite.

I know Judgment wasn't anywhere near as well received as the trilogy but I hope a collection would have all 4 Xbox 360 games.

Regarding ports and remasters in general, I think there's a lot of potential. PC missed out on a lot of OG Xbox and 360 games, a load of PC games stayed PC exclusive and lots of 360 games have had their servers shutdown recently. So a good showcase would have stuff like:

• Gears collection (the 360 games) for PC and console
• Age of Empires Definitive Collection for console
• Age of Empires 4 for console
• Remasters for earlier Bethesda games (there's plenty for example that never came to Xbox or aren't part of backwards compatibility)
• Halo 5 for PC

See... I like the original game's presentation more than the Ultimate Edition's, but I love the UE's gameplay and quality of life improvements more. I'll take a collection any day, but I just hope they don't change too much of the presentation and feel.

@BAMozzy
Sadly thats what we are hearing year over year "Wait for next E3 it will be big for XBox", "Just wait a little longer"

What is with "Every quarter a first party AAA game", when will it happen 2023, 2024, 2025 or next generation?

@Royalblues Despite Gears 2, 3, and Judgement not being natively available on PC, they've been playable through Game Pass Ultimate via XCloud for a looooong time now.

Great and all, but how about they make a good new game themselves instead of constantly pushing success a decade old

Gears as a whole is an awesome series, and I’ll definitely replay all the campaigns with some fresh achievements to earn.

It’s also fun to see you guys all turn a Gears article into another discussion about Starfield and Redfall

Ugh. More remasters. The first 2 games already have FPS Boost

People seem to forget that Microsoft had a GREAT year last year. It was the highest rated publisher of all on Metacritic. Forza Horizon 5, Flight Simulator and, yes, even Halo Infinite all had good scores (92, 92 and 87). The only two games that have come out so far for Sony this year were delayed from last year. Yes, DELAYED. So it even happens to Sony. I have a feeling that GoW Ragnarok will be delayed.

So MS has already have some good first party exclusives this gen and even both Sony and Nintendo have had games suffer delays. It happens. I’ve been pleased with MS this gen (and Sony for that matter as a PS5 owner).

Always happy for more Gears, even if it's just a shinier version of one I've played before. Really hope this it true as I'll happily go through them again and get my solo Insane achievements once again. Really wish they would actually specify that they were done solo rather than in co-op. Insane is not easy (obviously!) but just as with Halo Legendary, Insane in co-op is easy mode by comparison...

@awp69 Because this is misleading. Halo, while released to positive critic reviews, is a dumpster fire that's unplayable depending on the day.

Flight Sim always has been and always will be an extremely niche game. That's why it went on hiatus for so long.

Horizon 5 has also been plagues with non stop online issues as well.

This would be great for me, as I only played the multiplayer of some of these.

@Murray @InterceptorAlpha @Kooky_Daisuke First off, its an INDUSTRY wide trend and the fact that 'news' leaks so early - also, many of the CGI trailers are not 'meant' for gamers, they are more a 'recruitment' tool to let people know what project they can apply to make.

Secondly, making AAA games is not a 1-2yr project, its more like 5+ yrs - especially with numerous issues over the past few years. SuckerPunch had 6yrs between Infamous and Ghost of Tsushima, Guerilla had 5yrs between Zero Dawn and Forbidden West, yet you expect MS to deliver games of that Quality in much less time??

Undead Labs (not made a AAA game yet) & Playground (both only made Xbox games anyway), Compulsion (not/weren't a AAA dev) and Ninja Theory were announced at E3 2017 (not even 5yrs ago) and then Double Fine (who were working on and only recently released Psychonauts), InXile (finished off Wastelands 3) and Obsidian (finished off Outer Worlds), joined a bit later. Ninja Theory (Bleeding Edge) and Obsidian (Grounded) have made some 'smaller' exclusives but MOST had to finish off their current projects, honour any previous agreements BEFORE they could even start on Xbox exclusives and like I said, 4yrs is 'pushing it' (especially with the interruptions and restraints of working around C-19) to make a HIGH QUALITY AAA game - especially from Scratch.

As for Zenimax Studio's, they were only acquired just over a year ago. Obviously we can expect to see Deathloop and Ghostwire: Tokyo coming in the next 'year' as MS honours those arrangements. MachineGames only announced Indiana Jones just before the MS acquisition, id Software were still supporting Doom: Eternal so not likely to have anything 'new' for a While.

Unless any of these studios had games 'deep' into development that also hadn't been revealed/locked to a platform etc, then I really do NOT see how they have had the time to make all these games people seem to expect.

Tango Gameworks for example isn't likely to release a brand new Xbox Exclusive for years!! Tgat's not MS's fault, that's down to logic having only just released Ghostwire Tokyo so going to need 'years' to make their next game.

Few, if any studio was actually working on an Xbox Exclusive when they were acquired and therefore had to spend time on finishing the 'multi-platform' releases before they could even start. 5yrs ago today, the future looked 'bleak', that investment from MS is for the LONG TERM and as such, Gamers need to realise that you can't have Quantity and Quality in the 'short' term because Quality takes 'time' and certainly not had that time yet for those 'new Xbox' studio's to make a Quality game.

That's why its 'unreasonable' expectation - whether a complete lack of understanding, experience of development and/or complete ignorance!!!

@BAMozzy Unfortunately this argument only carries weight if Xbox was a recent thing.

Xbox has been going at it for 21 years. And has been failing at nailing the exclusives, as such, for over two decades now. There is a reason it used to carry the nickname Halo box, which eventually expanded to FPS box due to that being the majority of business done on it.

And while they have had some amazing exclusives nobody heard of, like Otogi, they're not system sellers.

@Kooky_Daisuke Oh and if you think Sony is 'better', if H:FW, GT7 & GoW:R stuck to their originally targetted date, Sony would have had NO 1st Party AAA games this year at all - GoW:R was revealed with 2021 not a precise date - but still indicated it should be out by now. What has Sony got for 2023 and beyond? a Couple of Marvel games ONLY (based on what's 'currently' known)

Nintendo too has announced that BotW2 now won't be coming in 2022 either and do they have anywhere near as many games coming in the near future? Especially as it won't get as many 3rd Party AAA releases to offset that.

Basically every Publisher - not just those with their own Platform - have had to delay games - sometimes multiple times, due to the circumstances and the complexity of developing AAA games. The ones that have 'tried' to stick to their schedules (like BF2042, CoD) have been buggy messes, devoid of content or more of a 'reskin/tweak' (Fifa/MLB) of the previous game.

Gotham Knights, Hogwarts, Suicide Squad etc are ALL delayed games too, arguably announced too soon for Gamers. Wonder Woman, Star Wars: Eclipse etc were only CGI teases and probably 'YEARS' away too - yet somehow, its only MS that does this...

I get that people are 'upset' they have to wait a bit longer for a 'polished' game - but the alternative is far worse. No one wants Starfield '76' for example, another Cyberpunk or ME:A (both delayed but 'neither' ready to release), and part of the problem is Self entitled gamers who constantly 'demand' release dates and then get angry if they take a bit longer or release in a mess!!

Anyone who has tried to make a game/app etc will know that sometimes you 'fix' one issue but suddenly have 10more you didn't. Its 'unpredictable' and only more complex with more complicated mechanics, with many more objects and material behaviour, with much more complex systems, AI, Physics etc...

@BAMozzy Read a few of your comments…and yeah, it’s pretty clear why you don’t get the anger at the delay. Nobody is angry that a game that needs delaying is being delayed.
You’ve mentioned in a few posts that you don’t buy gamepass for first party exclusives. You’re getting enough value from it. Which is great.

Here’s the problem. Xbox has been using day 1 first party exclusives as the major selling point of gamepass. This is why they’re fine with announcing games that are years away with the banner ‘day 1 on gamepass’. You not buying gamepass for first party exclusives doesn’t mean ms aren’t selling subs to people on the back of the promise of something like starfield coming out this year. Because trust me when I tell you this… more people bought a years subscription to gamepass this year for starfield than they did for tunic.
So here’s what you’re not taking into account. Xbox has two platforms. These first party day one titles are getting delayed on both. Only with one of the platforms they take the money in advance. This is least one of the reasons why people are annoyed at the delay. Nobody forced them to stick a date on it last year - we all know why they did that.

The other clear reason is gamers are completely and utterly tired of the carrot on the stick routine. The promise that games are coming. The tease of showing these cg trailers that are years out. The fact that a trillion dollar company can’t even get a new game out from their studios alongside their new console. That a trillion dollar company keeps delaying games without seemingly any back up plan when selling us a subscription service promising those games. It’s pretty crazy when you really think about it that a trillion dollar company hasn’t been able to as yet show any gameplay of than a snippet of one game from their 23 studios they’ve had for nearly five years now.

It’s really not surprising why people are getting fed up. We had a generation of gears/halo/forza…and it seems gears/halo/Forza is the only thing Xbox is consistent in offering… it’s not enough. And a rereleased collection of gears that already is on gamepass and enhanced by bc definitely isn’t enough to save disappointment in their studios 2022 offerings. Hopefully they have more.

@BAMozzy https://www.eurogamer.net/microsoft-aims-to-release-at-least-one-new-first-party-game-into-xbox-game-pass-every-quarter

The big problem seems to be leading people on and not delivering

@InterceptorAlpha They 'failed' in the XB1 era ONLY, and that was also down to the lack of First Party studio's which they only really began to address in 2017. That being said, they still offered multiple genres within those few Franchises - Halo Wars is an RTS, Spartan Warrior a top down twin stick arcade shooter as well as their FPS, Forza Motorsport (Sim style racer) released consistently to positive Review and won best Racing game of the year and Forza Horizon is their more Arcade style Racer - again another very consistent and solid game at launch that also often won best Racing game the year they released - FH5 was also many peoples Game of the Year. As for Gears, those too have been 'very solid' releases and also offer a Turn based (Xcom style) game too - so those 3 IP's are covering a wide range of Genres...

Other than that Rare has 'disappointed' but Sea of Thieves was a Success with over 25m people that have played it, that's more than played Last of Us 2 for example. The ONLY other Studio they had 5 yrs ago was Mojang who hasn't made exclusives - even Minecraft Dungeons (a different genre again) released multi-platform.

The OG Xbox and 360 era had a LOT of Exclusives covering a WIDE range of genres and Game-play experiences. Its the XB1 era and in particular, the lack of first party studio's and mistakes by Mattrick that caused this 'Exclusive' issue and 'focus' on their '3' main IP's. However, they only began to address that less than 5yrs ago and the 'future' certainly isn't 'bleak'.

Sony has '3' 1st Party Games that we know of right now to come, possibly another 4-5yrs before Guerilla/Sucker punch release, Insomniac has basically saved their First Party line-up

MS doesn't 'yet' have a Halo/Gears game coming, Forza Motorsport is expected, but then there is Starfield, Redfall, Fable, Perfect Dark, Avowed, Outer Worlds, Hellblade 2 etc coming in the next few years...

I'll definitely tale a Marcus Fenix Collection announcement at the showcase..

I wish more companies would follow the COD template of having multiple studios working on staggered releases. I'm not saying we need a Gears or Halo game every year, but damn....3-4 years between releases is sooooo long.

@Bleachedsmiles Xbox sells Game Pass as a Service that also includes ALL its First Party releases, 3rd Party Xbox Published, 3rd Party Games from its Partners (exclusives and/OR multi-platform), ID@Xbox etc games DAY 1 - as well as a large back catalogue of great games from the 'history' of Xbox gaming all for a small monthly fee. If you ONLY focus on 1st Party Exclusives, that's on you. On Push Square, they often make 'some' comment about having to pay money up front to play MLB21/22, Outriders, B4B, R6: Extinction etc

Game Pass has ALWAYS been about more than just their 'own' 1st Party releases. Again either 'ignorance' or only focussing in on one aspect...

@Moto5 the KEY word in that statement is that their 'AIM' is to reach a position when you have at least 1 big AAA 1st Party Game delivered every Quarter - they obviously aren't their yet, but that doesn't mean they won't get there - especially once they acquire A/B and can get those Studio's organised, functioning and making games.

All this talk, yet 2 1st party games are expected still this year despite Redfall & Starfield - Deathloop & Forza Motorsport. Maybe Hellblade 2 could release and then you have as many first party AAA releases as Sony this year. Doesn't matter that Deathloop was on PS, not 'everyone' has a PS and/or willing to buy it on there knowing its coming to Game Pass 'Soon'!!!

And by the end of 2023, you'll all look back and not be concerned that '2022' was 'lean' - still had a lot of great games you played, still got great value from Game Pass, probably over excited about the future of games coming to Xbox now A/B is part of the Family etc and probably 'joke' about 2022....

This is outdated but Microsoft and Bethesda alone (not counting the probable Activision buyout) has way more first party exclusives coming than Sony. Once the wheels kick into high gear there will be a ton to be happy about.

https://twitter.com/klobrille/status/1436079477138894848?s=21&t=D49izNwYV5teeLxCxr2Bpw

@BAMozzy It’s not a case of ‘I only buy gamepass because of exclusive games from xbox studios’. It’s not opinion in them using day 1 releases from their studios as a selling point for gamepass. It’s fact. It’s why last June they had day 1 on gamepass messaging after everything they showed. They will do the same this june. It adds the most value to the subscription service. You know this, I know this. Everybody knows this. I’m sure you e recognised the backlash/disappointment the newly announced ps plus tiers have gotten due to no first party day 1 releases. Why?
The biggest selling point Xbox are pushing the hardest they’ve not as yet delivered on this year …that’s not on me or any gamer. That’s on them.

Phil Spencer himself can see this. Why do you think he made a statement mentioning they recognise they have to do better with consistency?? Because gamepass is it’s own platform they’re selling where first party consistency is important and used as a selling point…regardless of how much you like indie and third party offerings

I really admire Gears, but I just can't play multiplayer because I stuck at using the shotgun... I'll take 3 shots at someone and they won't go down, then they'll take me down with a single shot.
I've googled tutorials and I still can't seem to get competitive with it... and the multiplayer is SO centred around shotgun skills that trying to make an impact with a lancer or a hammerpoint is much less fun (and had much less impact).
Anyone for any ideas how I can up my game with the shotgun?

@SplooshDmg Even if you bought Fable 3 on Amazon. Good luck getting it to run on a modern system. They never removed the Games for Windows for it so that why it not on steam.

I'll buy it hope gears 1 isn't included in the price though because I already bought gears of war ultimate edition

@pip_muzz Have you tried Wasteland 3? 😏

@antstephenson You have to get accustomed to where the reticule is (or would be) in relation to your character's head. Then you can fire from the hip with confidence (shotgun and magnum). I got used to it playing "Insane" mode. Get that down and you can explore blind fire from cover.

Gears is actually the best series for this, as the character is near the middle of the screen. Many games put the character farther over to the left and it is awkward.

If you want the Lancer to be more effective, play on PC with mouse and keyboard. It's a massive difference.

@Bleachedsmiles It’s why last June they had day 1 on gamepass messaging after everything they showed. They will do the same this june. It adds the most value to the subscription service.

ON EVERYTHING that's coming DAY 1 to Game Pass - that is NOT just on Xbox 1st Party games - its on EVERY game from indies to AAA, from 1st/3rd party developers, from Exclusives (timed or not) to Multi-platform releases.

That's why games like Tunic, Somerville, Shredders, Back 4 Blood, the Ascent, the Medium, Scorn, Warhammer: Darktide, MLB21/22, Plague Tale: Requiem, Stalker 2, The Gunk etc etc etc are ALSO given that tagline.

Game Pass is NOT just about First Party games, they also have stated its for 'Independent' studios, giving them a platform and user base eager to play their games, its why they have Xbox Publishing for 3rd Party Devs (like Avalanche and their upcoming Contraband which will be 'exclusive' because Xbox are Publishing it) and have also set up Xbox Cloud Publishing too for Native Cloud based games on Game Pass (maybe for Kojima's heavily rumoured Cloud based game) and for their 3rd Party Published partners too (like Square Enix - Outriders, Ubisoft - R6: Extraction...)

Of course one of the big draws is knowing that 'every' first party AAA game will be on Game Pass Day 1 is a massive draw for people. You never know what multi-platform games may come but knowing that ALL Xbox Published games (1st/3rd party) will come is one of the draw, maybe the biggest for some, but its NOT the only one. Having A/B back catalogue on GP on the day they complete is as big of a deal as Bethesda putting their older games on Game Pass on Day 1 of being a part of MS.

Having older games, like Guardians of the Galaxy is still a plus of the service and adds to the 'value' too, having access to however many games there is for just $10 a month is MASSIVE value in itself but made better because 'every' month, there is 'brand new' Day 1 releases in Game Pass - whether AAA or Indie, 1st or 3rd party, Exclusive or NOT!! ALL those games add up to far more than you'd have to pay otherwise....

There is NO way you can spin it to say otherwise - whether Xbox has AAA 1st Party games coming sooner or later than you thought. They still have 'exclusives' coming this year day 1 to Game Pass as well as multi-plats for $10 a month!!

Gears3 is one of my fave games! 👍🎮🚀

But if they do this collection, I hope they keep the AI the same when playing team death match offline (as opposed to how crazy it is in 5).

Also, I hope they add an option to turn off the screen shake when you sprint/roadie-run, it’s extremely vomit inducing 🤮

I’d like a gears collection. I was going to start one soon with some buddies but if the rumor is true I can wait. Especially if a gears 6 isn’t announced it’d be nice revisiting the campaigns and multiplayer.

@theduckofdeath Great game. So is Bard's Tale IV.
Good point....I wonder if Inxile have something to show that would be very pleasant surprise

@SplooshDmg Yeah. I know. I just recently tried playing Fable 3 and couple of other Games for Windows Live titles, but all of them recommend replacing xlive.dll fix, so it isnt a fix specifically for Fable 3. It definitely a hope and cross your fingers that it work "fix".

It sad cause a lot of cool games are attached to games for windows live, and now they're mostly unplayable.

As great as the games were first time round
It’s all back to the future for Xbox yet again.
Wasting developer time on remasters etc.

I wouldn’t mind if we had some new big AAA Xbox studio games as well.

@BAMozzy I never said day 1 first party was the only draw for people on gamepass…you’re getting things confused and twisted. I said xbox themselves push their games coming out day 1 on gamepass as a big selling point - slapping a date on starfield releasing this year will have gotten far more subscribers to gamepass this year than knowing tunic or back 4 blood was coming day 1. Just like halo and FH5 last year would have got more subs than outriders. Are you starting to understand the point?

Of course gamepass offers a lot outside of first party games…it would have to as we have had no first party games this year so far. But regardless of how many times you keep telling me Xbox has said gamepass is also a platform for indie titles, grannies and grandads that love one another dearly etc…those are not the things that bring in new subs. Third party AAA day 1 deals are great… they’re few and far between. And they can’t always be relied upon to pad out a calendar year (looks at the delays in AAA 3rd party we’ve seen so far). Which is why MS has invested so much money in acquisitions…it’s not because gamepass is ‘good enough’ it’s because they understand that to grow it you need a steady stream of games they can control (first party).

They still have exclusives coming out this year…that’s fine, I didn’t say they didn’t. I was explaining to you why people were frustrated at the recent delays as you stated and show that you ‘don’t get it’.

@Bleachedsmiles You also have to remember that if Horizon Forbidden West and Gran Turismo 7 hadn’t been delayed from last year, Sony also would have had no first party exclusives so far this year.

People acting like Microsoft is the only company that’s experiencing delays are oblivious.

I tried Gears of War many years back in the 360 but never beat it because I was playing too many MMOs at the time. I been meaning to sit down and binge through the whole series someday and honestly would appreciate a remaster of 2 and 3.

As good a game it was, Halo 3 really looked terrible after playing Halo 1 and 2 in remastered form (another series I binge played the whole series over a couple of weeks.)

Now I got to say I don’t understand the peope in this thread feeling there is any point on telling Microsoft this does not make up for first party exclusives. Of course it does not! What you want? For MS to can these remasters they likely been working on for years now? It’s not like they wake up one morning and say “let’s make a new game, and release it by Christmas!”

@awp69 funny thing is they still would have had more Bethesda games this year than Xbox.

Also, and please take this in, people aren’t acting like Microsoft is the only company experiencing delays. They’re frustrated that Microsoft is the most consistent with delays.

@InterceptorAlpha oh I haven't heard of that Otogi, looks pretty neat. Do you know of any other more recent ones?

Gears ultimate edition is good as now has 60 FPS boost and im pretty sure gears of war 2 and 3 now run at 4k60fps

as to the delays to the exclusive Day 1 releases it only matters if youve got nothing to play and personally ive got a list of about 10 games im wanting to play through that are on gamepass at the moment.

So in my opinion theres plenty already on gamepsss to sell it

@Cherip-the-Ripper Fun oddballs like that? How recent you want?

@Dezzy70 Remasters tend to fall on companies who are better suited to, or who specialise in, ports and remasters.

Night Dive would be an obvious choice for the Elder Scrolls and Fallout ports. They've only ever ported legacy games to modern systems.

And Ruffian Games would be an obvious choice for porting Gears, as they've done better in porting 360 titles to newer systems too.

@BAMozzy An excellent post. I didn’t realise all those games were still coming. Gears was the reason I got an Xbox in the first place and I’m just as addicted to it as I was all those years ago. An excellent fantastic game that means I choose Xbox.

@BAMozzy Excellent posts full of actual facts, I’d smash that like button a thousand times if I could. Well said sir.

If they offer this pack of remastered Gears Of War games, it’ll instantly be on my Christmas list probably even if it comes to Game Pass, so I can collect them. Love the game.

@themightyant I think the biggest reasons for a Gears collection would be about the 360 servers as well as the absence of 2, 3 and Judgment on PC. Microsoft shut down the Halo 360 servers earlier this year so they may also intend to do the same with the 360 Gears servers (or perhaps even a more general 360 shutdown like the original Xbox in 2010). Given Gears is more than just a solo experience, a lot would be lost from a server shutdown if there's wasn't a replacement in place.

Microsoft has so many dormant franchises its unbelievable. If they wish to hit there target of a first party every quarter then list them & sub them out. But I'd love to see remasters of not just Gears but Fable, Project Gotham Racing, Brute Force, Crimson Skies & Black & White.

@Grumblevolcano A general 360 server shutdown better not be on the cards, because of the wealth of BC 360 titles that would be completely gimped, making the BC programme pretty pointless.

But a Gears 360 server shutdown could be coming

And it makes more sense to pool multiple multiplayer titles in to one title, with an active community, a la MCC. Rather than have several dead MP games. A collection would also allow many QoL features, smart delivery, cross progression, cross play, and the like, all of which are just better and suits Game Pass more too, and that fits with MS' strategy with Xbox.

I’m really happy with the selection of games available to play on Xbox atm but I’ve only really gotten into the platform recently so games like Halo and Forza have been new to me. I’ve really been making use of the excellent backwards comparability on the Series X recently and I’ve beaten games like Max Payne 1, I’m currently playing through Bayonetta which I bounced off on the WiiU.

At present I think Xbox has a nice mix of big 3rd party games, interesting indies like turnip boy commits tax evasion and tunic. The games with gold last month was really cool as well it’s kind of like a pinball MetroidVania. I’m loving the Series X atm, if there is one-two more exclusives this year I would be really happy. I still have hellblade 1 and the Psychonaughts series left to play as well.

@Bleachedsmiles And how many of Sony's games have been delayed? Infamous was delayed - was meant to release at launch of PS4, Uncharted4 Delayed, Both Horizon games delayed, GT7 delayed, Last of Us 2 Delayed (twice), Ghost of Tsushima delayed, God of War (both) delayed, Days Gone delayed...

See a pattern here?? I can't recall Forza Motorsport OR Forza Horizon have ever been delayed as they released as regular as clockwork...

The difference is that those games released and people forgot all about the disappointment of having to wait a bit longer to play the games they were looking forward to and because they were 'solid' at launch, the delays were 'worth it'.

I could go on and name MANY other games from Sony and other Publishers too - but there is this train of thought that Sony releases games when they are 'ready' and that delays, whilst disappointing and almost inevitable, its always worth it in the end.

Now MS are willing to put their money into the games in a 'similar' way - and by that I mean that they are willing to spend more MONEY and Time to ensure that their games are 'ready' to release, they are somehow now the villains, the only one who does this, even fabricating a story that its a 'consistent' thing with them but not Sony despite having the most consistent franchise out of both. You could guarantee that every Holiday, you'd get a Forza Motorsport OR Forza Horizon game. Of course that stopped after 2018 when Turn 10 needed to upgrade their tech for a 'new' gen and then Playground requested an extra year to make the 'biggest' Horizon game yet...

I am not saying MS are 'saints' here, I am just trying to show you the hypocrisy of it all. The fact is that 'DELAYS' are a industry wide occurrence - EVERY Publisher has delays, some though won't delay long enough. EA are notorious for that, only delaying until the 'end' of their Financial year at most (April-ish) which is why BF:Hardline & ME:A released like they did and have to be 'exceptionally' desperate to move Battlefield out of their 'Holiday' release - look at BF:2042. Cyberpunk obviously should of been cancelled on the last gen and delayed with the focus purely on the then upcoming next gen hardware - less consoles to worry about and focus on more powerful hardware to ensure the game 'runs' properly...

Point is, I would rather MS have Delayed Game after Delayed Game after Delayed Game if every game that releases is released WHEN it is a Solid performing and is ready to release. Its MUCH more preferable and far less disappointing than trying to play a buggy mess and then having to wait for patch after patch after patch to get it up to a reasonable standard!! Its why I can wait for Sony's games too...

@Rural-Bandit What people here keep seeming to forget is that Xbox is two different platforms. The platform they care about, that benefits the most from consistency where these games are actually released when advertised, is gamepass - a subscription model that is consumed as such.
I think you’re correct, that ultimately it won’t matter that these games get delayed…we’ll get them…one day. It’s been a consistent dangle of the carrot hasnt it - Xbox announce a game way too early on the promise you’ll get it one day. Next year will be the year.
But gamers are well in their right to be frustrated. Like I said, they’re selling two platforms. It’s fine saying “well I have loads of back catalogue to catch up on”. “Nintendo and Sony have delays” etc etc. None of that removes from the fact that with a subscription service you’ve likely already paid up front for that year on the messaging that you’re getting this game, this game, and this game, this year. On the messaging that every first party studio release is available day 1 to you (there’s a lot more value in that message if first party games actually release). It’s really not on the gamer who bought into that marketing, looked at that release date for starfield as a reason to invest in a years sub for gamepass, and then be, as of today, looking at no first party support for gamepass this year. Least when Nintendo and Sony do have a delayed game they’ve not put all their eggs in one basket…there’s other games offered (you’ll of course now mention the classic Forza/gears…neither of which have been officially announced or marketed as coming to gamepass yet. I’m sure they’ll come. But this post is about what they’ve marketed as coming to gamepass this year last year). And they’re not selling a subscription where new content has to be consistent monthly to ensure subs stay and grow. So it’s obvious why the vast majority of gamers are frustrated. And trust that Phil Spencer would t be acknowledging a consistency problem if the vast majority weren’t frustrated.

The other platform is of course the console. And it’s also obvious there why gamers are frustrated with this trillion dollar company’s ineptitude at getting their games released when promised. They put halo on the box yet released a console without halo. We accepted the year delay meant ensuring quality and still had released an unfinished game - that’s missing key features like co op today!
We’ve seen them invest in all these studios and all they’ve shown us so far is a snippet of gameplay from them with no hint as to when anything is actually being released.
Last gen fed on halo/Forza/gears. This gen from them so far?
We’ve seen a whole generation of games announced too early. Delays. Cancelled games. Problems with studios. False promises.
We’ve been told that this gen Xbox are on the ball…we’ve seen all the great stuff they’re doing. The investments they’ve made. But we also still hear the same problems… management issues. Devs leaving. Games in developement hell. Games announced far too early and delayed.
So yeah, people have the right to be frustrated. Some people can be too emotional.but it goes both ways. Just because you’re frustrated with Xbox it doesn’t mean Xbox is bad and does nothing well. It just means you recognise somethings wrong that needs correcting.

@InterceptorAlpha whatever's playable on the series console from 2010 onwards.

@BAMozzy two key differences. When Sony does delay a game it is to ensure quality. Your message reads like halo didn’t get delayed a year and then still released incomplete.
Also, the majority of Sonys first party efforts are reflected in awards and nominations they often get. This hasn’t been the same case for Xbox - you can probably count on one hand how many nominations and awards xbox one games got throughout last gen.

Second key difference is gamepass is it’s own platform.

Listen, as you don’t seem to get it. delays to ensure quality are good I’ve never once said they’re not. I’m saying Xbox needs consistency in their games being released throughout a year for a subscription service. And I’m not the only one telling you this. Xbox themselves are telling you this.

Bye bye servers for the originals then. The mass boosters on 1-3 and even 5 best get even more committed than they are now!

But Judgement broken achievement will likely never be fixed.

Is everyone ready for Seriously 6.0 part 1 2 3 and 4?

Reup 9000 times, kill 100000000 players on ranked multiplayer matches, all with unique IDs, walk to the moon while balancing a dog on your head.

@themightyant There's likely more to consider than just cost. So like security on 360 is weak enough that plenty of games' online are ruined by hackers. Also much like how Bungie were involved with the Halo 360 servers even after they stopped doing Halo, the same is probably true for Epic Games with the Gears 360 servers.

As some people are far too entitled and keep going on about the 'worst' gen in Xbox history, when they had '5' studio's and using that to try and spin things, I am going to have to put these ignorant idiots on 'ignore'.

Halo was 'delayed' and still released to favourable reviews - better reviewed than Days Gone for example. Yes they have struggled to deliver 'post release' content and had to delay some 'features' (like co-op) to cater to the mass of people demanding Halo release sooner. Its understandable then why they didn't have much post launch content for their 'Free to Play' Multi-player. The 'Single Player' was still a Solid experience.

However, they still ended up as the 'Best' Publisher of 2021 based on Critical opinion. To me that says that MS have taken note and are actively trying to ensure that games are 'ready' to release and only then 'release'. The evidence is there - and delaying Redfall and Starfield is 'further' evidence. Its NOT done to screw over gamers, they understand its going to disappoint, but its going to disappoint them a whole lot more if they 'release' the game and then people still have to wait months for patches to get the game up to the standard expected..

We can all pick 'selective' games to make a point, selective periods in History. Maybe I should pick the PS3 era when the only games worth playing were Exclusives because EVERYTHING ELSE was better on the 360, and the 360 had many Award Winning exclusives too - and a lot of 85+ metacritic rated games.

We know Sony 'changed' that with their 4th gen console and so far, it looks like Xbox have learned from the XB1 era! Selective memory and Fanboys - what a bad combination!!!

I have BOTH a PS5 and XSX and right now, I'm a LOT more concerned about Sony's future as a 'gamer'. 3 first party releases to come at some point (who knows when? and 2 are from the same Dev), Investing in GaaS with so say many in development, Higher price per game, a service that can't offer the same value etc. At this very moment, I'm wondering what my PS5 will be used for? If multi-plats are on Game Pass (like MLB, B4B, Plague Tale etc - even Deathloop & Ghostwire which may have 'timed' exclusivity), I'm NOT buying them on PS5 so them 'paying' for exclusivity with Bethesda hasn't 'benefited' them at all from my perspective, and maybe others with Game Pass and a PS5.

MS's money and willingness (now) to delay if needed, spend more money if needed etc has benefited Gamers - inc Sony as that helped Psychonauts 2 be an Award winning and bigger/better game than it was going to be - due to MS's Money. Both Deathloop and Ghostwire too were 'delayed' to ensure they were 'great' at release when MS could of pushed them out much sooner so that the 'year' exclusivity would be over much sooner too...

Point is, you need to look at the most 'recent' year as indicative of the direction of a Company. The complaint of no games is being addressed by building up a portfolio of Studios. The question of 'quality' is being shown by the critical acclaim. For all of the 'criticisms' of Halo, it was still the 'best' FPS release - better than CoD & BF2042 - and it was F2P too!!

Ask BF or CoD players about the state of game at release and post launch content. BF2042 is, by all accounts, now getting to the point of Playable with many features finally in place (Scoreboard for example) but still lacks Maps, Modes, Weapons etc after not even launching with a Campaign...

I get that people are 'disappointed' they now have to wait a bit longer, but the future is incredibly brighter than all other Publishers right now. The Quality looks to be addressed based on RECENT evidence - maybe still needs a bit more work with 343 and Rare (legacy studios) but the rest are looking strong - Playground have gone from strength to strength - bodes well for Fable, the Coalition too so bodes well with whatever games they make (Gears and rumours of a 'new' IP). Turn 10 have always delivered the 'best' Racing game - hence 'Best Racing Game of the Year awards' yet GT6 'disappointed' due to 'online focus' and GT7 has many people upset for similar reasons, anti-consumer practices etc etc...

Flashy looking games are not always indicative of 'great' game-play - often repetitive in between beautifully rendered cut-scenes. Spider-Man (a great game) is basically built on the Ubisoft open world template - bases, towers to reveal Map & icons, boring/repetitve side missions, repetitive 'puzzle' games, collectibles, instant fail stealth sections. Even the Combat is borrowed from 'Arkham Asylum' - although they borrowed fro Activisions Spider-Man 2 which also heavily inspired (copied) by Insomniac. Again - its a great game but the hypocrisy of criticising say Ubisofts Open World design whilst loving Spider-Man is ridiculous. Same as Criticising MS when Sony have even less to look forward too in the 'near' future. So what if Sony has more this year, by the end of 2023, the chances are that MS will have released a LOT more exclusives on Xbox than Sony has on PS. They could still release more this year (Forza, Hellblade, AoE console as it supports K&M, Avowed...)

People buy Consoles for the 'future' of games too - not just the ones coming in 2022. This Holiday for example, if you haven't upgraded yet, are you buying a PS5 for a couple of Marvel games or buying Xbox for the mass of releases coming 'soon'?

As for Game Pass, if you ONLY subscribed for Redfall & Starfield - Why? they aren't out yet so why Subscribe now? Why not wait until 2023 to Subscribe - there is NO commitment to keep Subscribed. You can cancel and get your money backif you want, NO OBLIGATION to remain Subscribed if that's ALL you subscribed for! So that argument is absolutely PATHETIC!! You can just Subscribe for 1 month and play ALL the games you want, wait months until there are 'other' games you want to play, Subscribe for 1month and Binge.

@PKDuckman ‘Sony pony’… cute

Since when did sales = quality?

Back to sleep with this profile friend.

@Rural-Bandit I’m happy with the direction ms has taken Xbox this gen too. The proofs always in the pudding - I spend far more time on my series x than I do ps5. I don’t think either are bad consoles. I don’t think either have even close to shown what they’re capable of yet…as such, I don’t think you’re really missing out on having either yet. I think both have management issues though…just very different issues.
I’m personally happy with gamepass. Yes, I would have liked to have played starfield this year, but there’s still things like scorn I’m personally looking forward to. And I enjoy all the other perks gamepass offers…like cloud gaming, rewards, eaplay.
But I understand why people are frustrated with Xbox, Phil Spencer. And can see how a subscription model can’t grow without consistency.

@BAMozzy No idea what all that rambling is about tbh. Not sure if it’s directed at me or not.
But you really shouldn’t get your hopes up for hellblade 2 and avowed coming this year.

And yes you can buy a month of gamepass. But they also sell 12 month subscriptions. I don’t think you get a refund if you bought it because of the games they said were coming to the platform this year are no longer coming out this year.
You purchase a console for the long term investment, yes. Subscriptions are generally approached differently. I mean, if you bought a year sub of disney + to watch marvel films…you were told marvel films were coming to it that year. They used marvel films on the posters advertising disney +. They kept promoting marvel films throughout the year…and then they told you marvel films are now coming next year to the service…it’s not ‘entitlement’ to be disappointed. Yeah, you can watch the Simpson…but that’s not what got you subscribing for a year of disney +…regardless of how much you actually like the simpsons. And odds are if you really wanted to you could watch the simpsons else where.

Delays happen. But nobody is being entitled at getting frustrated for them choosing to place a date on games…or showing a road map of games coming, to get subscriptions…and then those games getting delayed.
And trust MS aren’t making huge investments in studios and publishering houses for people to dip in and out of gamepass. They want those yearly subs. They want that auto renew left on. Which is why they recognise there’s frustration with getting these games out consistently on that platform.

Repackaging a bunch of old titles again does not help anyone unless they are new to the ecosystem. I'm not sure this is the great news they want it to be, but its not bad news!
I play where I want, but its worrying my Xbox hardly ever gets turned on anymore. Glad its there, but so far its the console I've used least of any gen since the start of the business (yes I'm genuinely old enough that games didn't exist when I was a boy). I'm sure that will change, but its in a bad place now - I could sell my series X right now and not notice, and that makes me sad.

If I played older games, or indeed if I couldn't afford the expensive prices elsewhere, then the machine would still have a lot of use, but I buy new machines to play new games and series X just feel like its gen has not started yet for me. I genuinely hope this changes soon and will celebrate in big style if they deliver in the summer showcase! Comon Xbox, you have a lot of people rooting for you and all the money anyone could ever need.....

@Rural-Bandit I wish I could get excited for a gears collection. I think because they’re all already on gamepass I assumed they were already running 4k 60fps. It would be cool to see if they’ve remade them though rather than just upscaled them. The dead space remake is looking pretty cool…if they did that with Gears 1 I’d be downloading for sure!

You’d really hope Xbox has a stacked 2023 now…as surely they’ve some first party titles on track to release next year. Add starfield and redfall to the mix and it should be pretty effortless. Let’s just hope they can then carry that on to 24/5/6… I really hope they can

Bring it on but just the 360 games please. I always hated that 4 made the locust come back more powerful than ever. It kind of made all the deaths and sacrifices for nothing, not to mention the changes made in the new games like how long the locust were alive for.

But I would be tempted and if they released a special edition console like the red 360 when gears 3 came out, I would finally upgrade.