Phil Spencer Addresses Xbox Speculation Ahead Of 'Business Update Event'

Wny not deny the rumours instead of making us wait a week.I honestly think they have been caught out by all these leaks and are panicking by putting this message out.

Think Spencers days are done for at Xbox though.

Horrible and I mean HORRIBLE thing for Xbox if they decide porting their exclusives to Playstation. I specifically switched from PS to XBX this generation to play their exclusives with GamePass. In what mind do they think they'll keep their fanbase if they do this?! I'm literally so angry right now. Just as we were on the right path of growing the brand (especially in Europe), they want to f*ck up everything for some measly money from Playstation users.
And please STOP with the "EnD EXcLuSivEs durr!!1" b*llcr*p. They do matter and they're the reason why Nintendo is still around and crushing it.

Why is it that the only news I feel like I hear for Xbox is always some silly drama? Man, the 360 days were so awesome. Imagine if Xbox did as well as Sony last gen. What might have been.

"Business update event". No surprise the response tells us absolutely nothing. And if it tells us nothing it means it's all true, not that anyone is surprised, we're talking about Phil Spencer here.

Not many ways MS could have handled the situation worse. Real case study level of incompetence. Unless it's actually gonna end up being worse than the leaks, so Phil is waiting for copium to settle, before part 2..

@Kaloudz Their silence pretty much confirms the rumours. Also Phil would usually come out and straight up confirm/deny stuff, such as HiFi Rush not selling well. I'm literally so p*ssed at the execs right now. This is NOT A GOOD THING and will kill the Xbox brand.

A "business update event" doesn't sound like a good response to the rumours.

They are definitely dragging their feet with a real response to this bad press and their brand is definitely taking a hit because of all of the rumors. I have to believe that they're going to hurry up and do something before it gets out of hand.

I'm ALL for promoting your IPs on multiplatform avenues and I'm definitely on favor of MS making more money. But I'm hoping we at least have access to some kind of physical hardware. I'm sure their going to announce the ALL DIGITAL age in their report to their fan base.

Yea. This is pretty much the nail in the coffin for Xbox as a console. Sad to see as I've been around since 2001.

Not much you can do though. Guess I'll just buy the platforms that care about exclusives and just bargain bin Microsoft games on Playstation.

This feels like Microsoft are being forced to come up with news before they were ready to announce anything.

All the rumours are that Microsoft is exploring options and ordering dev kits. They aren’t ready yet even if it is true.

We all just want to know what the deal is. So hopefully they can get everything in order and pitch it right next week.

Until then it’s gonna be a rocky ride.

Not denying the rumours is basically a confirmation that they are, indeed, true. A sad day for Xbox, but it is what it is. Sony can basically do as they please in the industry from here on out.

Welp. sounds like it is true. If this had a hint of false he would shut it down via X and say we will clarify more next week.

They need a week to put together a generic but heartfelt basic PR message: "Here at Xbox, we love all gamers and feel that our games should reach as many people as possible, so we've made the creative decision to put X, Y, Z on as many platforms as possible, and all future games will be on a case by case basis"

Translation: "We dont have time to wait 2 - 3 years to release great exclusives and finally win back the market share. So we are waving the white flag."

@Widey85 - totally agree. Sounds like a hastily arranged damage limitation event being cobbled together.

Not a good look for Team Green. Ironically, I’ve been multi platform in nearly every previous generation, right back to Atari 800 and CBM 64, but this gen I’m just Series X - thought it was all I needed.

I don't know why so many people are pegging this as the end of the world for XB consoles.

First, Sony won't let GamePass on PS and that is the primary MS revenue generator from gaming. Anything that reduces those subscriptions is not good.

Second, I think that the future of gaming is multi-platform everything. MS is just being first on this. AAA games are taking 5+ years to make with teams of 200-300 people. The costs are making it unfeasible to ship games on only one platform.

Third, if I had a dollar for every time people thought XB consoles were going to be killed off I would be rich and retired by now. LOL. This is no different.

This is basically a confirmation of the rumors. I hope that the games affected are not their biggest hitters

@Kaloudz Let's look at this from a different angle. Again, I switched from PS to XBX to play their exclusives on GamePass. And I convinced my friend to switch too, a die hard PS fan. If Microsoft decides to do this, why should I keep my S? Playstation has their own exclusives plus Microsoft stuff. GamePass is available on PC so that argument falls in the water. Again, why should we continue to invest in Xbox if we don't have any reasons to do so?

No one cares as long as all the games come to gamepass on day one. $15 a month for ultimate is all I care about and I've been a loyal customer to xbox since 2002.

Maybe we should wait to hear what the plan is before jumping to conclusions.

@gollumb82 you do realize Playstation have started releasing their exclusives on PC now. That's the new norm going forward and honestly why should you care if Xbox exclusives go on any other platform? As long as they go on gamepass day one for $15 a month is still a better deal than playing full price on other platforms.

@UndyingInsurgent95 the plan all along was getting games on gamepass and making gamepass available on as many ventures as possible. MS doesn't care if you get get the hardware or not... they want the sub either through console or PC.

@UndyingInsurgent95 i can definitely agree with that about nintendo - the day they free everyone from their crap hardware by putting their games on PC , they’re DONE

I reckon this will be further reaching than expected. I fully expect every 360-era exclusive to launch on PS and Switch. A portable Fable 2 would be sweeeeet.

This is it for Xbox, I can’t genuinely believe that when they could’ve compete for real with a strong lineup of first-party games and they just give up their entire ecosystem for a quick buck selling games on other systems.

And make no mistake, even if Microsoft doesn’t have plans to end gaming hardware this WILL kill the platform, it already gets less games as both the other consoles and it’s only going to get much worse.

Microsoft’s incompetence really is sometimes so hard to believe, they’re essentially ‘Windows Phoning’ Xbox and some people here still wants to make it sound ok…

@gollumb82 if you say sony is gonna become worse by having a monopoly in the console market on pushsquare you’re basically labeled a fanboy troll

ironically , i blame the fanboy mindset for things like this happening

Having been with Xbox since day one, turned my thoughts of negativity to positivity.
And have become as ruthless as Microsoft.
Put all the Xbox studios games on all other consoles day one and stop making Xbox consoles.
Why you might ask, I’m a business now.
One less console to buy
One less eco system to join and buy.
One less, extra controller and headsets to buy.
I save money.
I’m now Microsoft I’m ruthless, I’m a business, end of to brand and customer loyalty.

I'm angry because I have an Xbox to play Xbox games, and if this happens I would still have an Xbox to play Xbox games. Argh, so angry.

Obviously the leaks have some truth.

MS wanted to announce this to shareholders and not consumers. Hence the week wait etc.

@GtotheGrizzle Most subs from Game Pass come from Xbox consoles and if said consoles are not attractive to the public because it just has less games as the competition it will not sell subs either.

@Kaloudz For all the replies you throw in favour of the Xbox situation right now bud, you need to get a job in PR for Microsoft!! You would be an asset compared to the muppets that are allowing this to get out of hand!! 😄

Without a firm statement of what will and will not be exclusive, the conversation around every first party Xbox game going forward is going to revolve around whether or not it's going to ps5. It's going to be exhausting

@Lup Until MS decides that they don’t need to keep Xbox around so your digital library will be stuck on a platform they’ll no longer support.
It’s not about games coming out on X o Y platform, it’s about them giving up on the Xbox platform.

@IOI rn they are, but they're also working on a dongle stick you can plug directly into your TV so you can use gamepass. I'm afraid you don't realize that the future of gaming on consoles doesn't include a console anymore. Rn they're becoming all digital, next phase once 5g becomes stabilized in the next 5~10 years that everyone will be streaming their games. That's the future of gaming. That's why Sony partnered up with Microsoft for their Azure servers. It's not a matter of it anymore, but when.

Even some casual type of gamers I know have mentioned this news to me tonight.

This is probably the biggest publicity I have seen Xbox get since the release of the series x console.

@Kaloudz I will make you a very simple question, why should I and millions of Xbox users keep supporting and investing on the platform if the owner (MS) is not even willing to bet on it?

@GtotheGrizzle We’ve been hearing the same thing for 5 years and we’re still far away from consoles or physical hardware being phased out for the cloud.
And even if that happens the same issue will translate to that market, why should I pay for Xbox cloud if PS cloud has more games (even Microsoft ones)?, with this move Microsoft isn’t giving up just in their console but their entire ecosystem.

Bought my first Xbox ever last June. If these rumours are true, im selling it immediately.

@IOI
Some people just don’t want to let go.
I was like that just before December 2023.
Since then I’ve slowly let go of Xbox, knowing this was coming.
Been with them since day one, and some fantastic times, but as long as their studios make great AAA games I move forward and play them on the console they release them on.

No lie I’ve just had a casual gamer friend ring me up and ask if I want to buy his series x.
He is into games has a PS5 and Switch so a bit more than casual, but this news is spreading fast and bad.

Well that kind of confirms it, no? Stinks if true. I kinda like when consoles have exclusives. Some here and there are fine, but big ones are probably better left on their own console. Oh well, we'll see what happens next week.

I wonder if they plan on renaming it the ex-box. If the rumours are true they will become little more than Sega 2.0

So long as I can play Halo with a decent controller I don't mind.

Wouldn’t be surprised if this hits the BBC news app tomorrow, if it does the way the news works, that will be it for Xbox console sales, that are desperately slow anyway.

Utter madness to let everyone stew over this for another week... Which can only really mean a good proportion of the rumours are true I would think...
And hear I am having just recently extended my Gamepass subscription into 2026... 🤣
You have to laugh...

@IOI

Like my PS3 library?

@Netret0120 Honestly you should before keep investing into this ecosystem.

@Kaloudz Sure, keep telling users to spend hundreds of dollars on a console for a service to save on renting games that you can play on any other platform…

@Lup Worse, like the Stadia library.

@Widey85 That is just the thing — rumors could be anything. YTbers and game sites profit from clicks/traffic so they will run away speculating about every negative possibility. You notice how it is never anything positive?

Maybe they will swap Hi-Fi Rush for a Bloodborne remake.

I’m not worried about other platforms getting games and Im not worried about the death of the brand that will continue even if it is just game pass. But I am worried about the death of the hardware and that going forward the games I have purchased will be locked on an on a dead platform, primarily the third party game that I have purchased which won’t be included in game pass

The rumours are true then and damn this paints a bad future for Xbox. I've still yet to upgrade to a Series X but right now i think i will just stick with my SS as it seems my reason for wanting to upgrade will covered by my PS5 if the games are being ported over.

It’s time to play it, Simply Red.
Holding back the years.

You have to joke and smile at these things sometimes.

Looks like we will be getting at least another 6 days of guaranteed gloom and doom Xbox articles....
But on the flip side, it drives traffic for PX and that's a good thing 😉.

@MrN0vmbr You should worry about other platforms getting Xbox games, because that will bring about all the other negatives we are trying to avoid.

@BANJO "Utter madness to let everyone stew over this for another week..."

Better than rumor #47 (2024) "Sarah Bond is going to address this in the Spring."

I've been saying for years that Microsoft has moving towards treating the console like their Surface products and their games & GamePass like Windows. Would they prefer you to purchase a Surface product to use Windows? Of course! But as long your using Windows is their priority. It seems to be the direction their heading with their consoles. They'd prefer that you buy a Xbox to play their games. But as long as you're using GamePass somewhere, that number is important too. Plus, since many Xbox players don't purchase 1st party games because they're available on GamePass, why not pick up additional sales to offset development costs by releasing them on multiple platforms.

@DennisReynolds

I've still yet to upgrade to a Series X but right now i think i will just stick with my SS as it seems my reason for wanting to upgrade will covered by my PS5 if the games are being ported over

Isn't that a good thing though?

@Sol4ris It is to my wallet 🤷‍♂️

@theduckofdeath I didn’t mean it as flippantly as it sounded, what I mean is I’m not a fan boy who doesn’t want to share his toys, but no you are absolutely right I am concerned about where this will lead

At this point, Phil would have to pull a Wolf of Wall Street speech to turn it around.

You don't need a week of prep time unless there's deep truth to the rumors. Guess I'll starting buying stuff I would've bought on Xbox on PS & Switch after I finish the finite Backwards catalog.

My guess: Xbox first party games to be available day 1 on Game Pass. Then they will be releasing as full price games on PlayStation a few months after that.

@Kaloudz You’re one of the only ones here that is making any sense. This isn’t the end of Xbox even if the rumors are true. It could indeed help bring in revenue to make the Xbox ecosystem and GamePass stronger for the long haul.

But let’s see what Uncle Phil has to say. Just wish it wasn’t going to be a week. Already tired of reading all the doom and gloom comments here and on Twitter. May need to take a break until this is sorted out.

I feel like putting games on other platforms can help the Xbox console in the long run. I feel like most casual gamers are sleeping on Xbox, Gamepass and the exclusive games. Give them a taste of these games. Give people a chance to get in love with Hifi Rush or the Halo Universe trough the Multiplayer. When Hifi Rush 2 releases, you can play it on Xbox for a year before it hits PlayStation/Switch. Or for free with a Gamepass sub.

I have a strange feeling that Xbox is on the verge of a very original business plan. It sounds like GP is earning Microsoft quite a bit of coin, so why not after a period of exclusivity put them on other consoles where it makes sense? An Xbox Series S/X is still a very approachable way to play AAA games, so I think the consoles still have a place in the market. I mean, we sort of see it now with console exclusives to PC, is it really hard to imagine a world w/ first party console for GP to competing console later? Can’t wait to see what comes out of the business update event.

@MrN0vmbr The dead platform is a reason for my concern as well. I mentioned above about MS treating the console itself like their Surface. I'm hoping it's more like that and not the Windows phone. I'm wondering if Phil and Microsoft want to make Xbox more like Steam and Valve.

@theduckofdeath Haha, yes - Well it's certa8nly better than waiting till the Spring, can you imagine 😅 (Got to find the positives)

Ultimately I'm actually of the mindset, what will be will be at this point.. For me the games will still be coming to Gamepass, so I'll just be more determined to play what it has to offer and decide what I do when 2026 comes around.

Will be very interesting to see what Microsoft’s exact strategy is going to be, there is so many different ways it could go.

Do you keep Xbox hardware and gampass with it and games release day one on game pass and PS5 6 months later to buy at full price.
That could be risky and kill off Xbox hardware sales though.

Or do they bite the bullet and ditch hardware and just go publisher.

Or do they do part one first, and see how it goes then make a more permanent decision.

It so hard to predict this one

Man, uncle Phil pretty much confirming the rumours are true. ‘We’re listening and we hearing you’ I call BS, you may be listening but you and your business stooges have already made up your mind. You’re going to hand Sony another win and let them be the sole dominant force in the console space, that’s my prediction.

MS will no doubt make more money from going multiplat, but the Xbox brand will be pretty much dead. MS studios and Gamepass is their future and they don’t need an Xbox for that.

I’d rather he addressed it sooner. There’s too many arguments and assumptions online. I’m wondering if he can’t say anything yet as it’s rumored there will be a Nintendo direct this week. If so, maybe the Hi-Fi Rush thing still has to be a “secret” that nobody sees coming.

Ya know that large group of people who bought Series S and X, JUST to play Starfield, have every right to be totally pissed if these rumors come true.

@Fenbops Could be Phil and his crew trying to talk Satya and the pure shirts out of it. Someone(s) may have leaked info as a cry for help; rabble rousing to put the kibosh on it going any further. Phil is trying to talk Satya down like he's Ellis in Diehard.

If this is true, even if it is a few games, it is a misstep that may surpass that on XB1. Almost like movie-level scripted never-happen misstep.

@OldGamer999 some friend trying to sell you an obsolete console...😀

@theduckofdeath I doubt it. Phil has no sway, he just goes along with this stuff, always has.

@BANJO Yeah, my GPU is all rewards points now. Good through 7/26 and climbing.

Depending on the severity of the news, it could castrate the console and the basis for customer support. People won't be able to trust them not to go further in the future.

The statement will be that “select games are being ported where it makes sense” and then they will continue to port everything. Crazy times. Kind of numb to it at this point though, weirdly…

@shoeses making a power point presentation

Let’s sit and wait to see what one of the top two most successful companies in the history of the world has to say.Stop feeding the twitter trolls and relax.

So that's not a no then.

As I said before I'm not adding to my Xbox library until I know more because this reaks of third party death spiral, and I doubt Sony is going to be honour those purchases lol

@Fenbops I don't know...I wouldn't assume that. He was obviously bothered by the Redfall debacle and these rumors are waaaaaaay worse for Xbox than Redfall.

I'm not sure why so many people hate the idea of Xbox first party games going multi-platform. I think it's a good strategy.

Xbox is now going to be making a lot of extra income off software sales on PlayStation. You know what Xbox can do with that increased revenue? Invest it in Game Pass to improve the service even more. Xbox fans should be happy about this.

People still thinking they care about us consumers.

They don’t. No behemoth company does. They don’t massively care that a few websites are running this (gamers who frequent gaming sites are pretty low amount).

They need to get what they are saying correct for shareholders/investors. They won’t want to affect company value.

@theduckofdeath I’ll stick with my prediction that uncle Phil has no power over this. Let’s see what happens.

Imagine we get physical Xbox games on PlayStation, because Sony hasn’t completely killed off the physical market yet 😂 things could be wild going forward.

I feel really sorry for Sarah Bond. I liked her and thought she brought a much needed perspective to Xbox. It would take a lot for me to leave Xbox, but if they make her take the fall for this I'm gone.

I agree with a lot of people here though. That statement from Phil was not a good take.

@bpomber No. Sony PS and Nintendo don't do this for a reason. Sony is a little too stubborn and releases on PC kicking & screaming. Xbox already goes to PC day & date. That should be enough of a "secondary" market. The PC is the DMZ.

Without console subscribers Game Pass numbers will plummet. MS built a console for a reason. Releasing Xbox games on PS would ultimately be a poor decision.

OOF , nice one Philip, I guess ms doesn't have a bottomless money pit after all

Could it be that Microsoft really hasn’t decided on the path forward and arguments are still taking place in management? Someone leaked the ideas to try to sway the tide against it? That would explain why they aren’t ready to talk about it.

@theduckofdeath not if they get out of the console market it wouldn't, Sony or Nintendo wouldn't see them as a threat and may allow game pass on their consoles , which is microsofts end goal, they can't compete anymore with ps or switch , there's only so many companies you can buy.

@theduckofdeath you may be right, but really what do you expect Xbox to do? I can't see them continuing with console exclusivity on all their games after spending $69 billion on ABK. Xbox needs to make it's money back.

I don't think Xbox is going to say "Welcome to Xbox, ABK. We just spent $69 billion on you and now we're going to drastically decrease the income from your games by restricting your games to Xbox and Game Pass while skipping PlayStation and Nintendo, the biggest consoles in the world."

@awp69 microsoft leaked them , started the fire , let people get use to the idea , then hit them with the facts , 5 games coming to the competition , instead of all games, people would be ok with that I feel.

@Mephisto2869 no this is not controlled. They have people selling their consoles. And the OG business plan rumored date was spring ish. This all hands on deck.

@Kaloudz so if they drop out of the console market , Sony makes a deal with ms and agrees to have gamepass on ps , with day one games, what then ,this is what ms wants , or you can rent your games on xbox or own the same games on ps, you wouldn't buy all games available on game pass , but there's only so many hours in the day.

@mousieone what idiots are selling their consoles, just because certain games, may or may not be going to a rival console,surely nobody can be that much of xbox lover, that's ridiculous 😂😂

@OldGamer999 This news was all the rage at Gamestop

@Kaloudz keep fighting the fight buddy , never give in...never surrender 😂

@BacklogBrad

Maybe we should wait to hear what the plan is before jumping to conclusions.

Why if we can make the biggest drama since ABK based on rumours? Seriously, the more comments I read the more I realise we are not representative of this industry and that's actually a good thing. Otherwise, Xbox will be alive one day, dead the following day, alive again, dead again. Infinite overreacting. Let us let their gaming revenue numbers and monthly active users do the talking. Like someone posted above, Playstation have started releasing their exclusives on PC now. Maybe PS is dead too, because PC will have it all.

@Mephisto2869 I mean, MS do have a bottomless money pit, they just want to make it even more bottomless by going multiplat.

Wow - so many messages of doom and gloom you would think that MS was going bankrupt or something… just breathe and Phil’s got this… with the ABK, Xbox needs to go multi platform and why not a few of the older exclusives?

@IOI Agreed. As of this point my digital purchases on Xbox are halted. Was gonna buy RimWorld this evening as well. 😂

I'll keep it for now as my Gamepass is paid up until 2027 IIRC. I'll probably be moving my purchases over to my Playstation instead now.

Had two friends that were looking at Series Ss that I convinced that get an X instead. Went ahead and let them know probably a good idea to hold off for now. No point for them to buy one if the games they want are coming to Playstation.

@Kaloudz - How crazy if their business update came at the same time as the incoming Nintendo Direct? I mean, is there a reason the rumors are only on PS5 and not Nintendo? Making up stuff with no evidence is fun. 😂

@nomither6

@UndyingInsurgent95 i can definitely agree with that about nintendo - the day they free everyone from their crap hardware by putting their games on PC , they’re DONE.

Absolutely. Not just because of their crap hardware, but they are ungrateful and punish their own fans on their own platforms. Playing Nintendo games on better platforms is the dream of many. That's why the scene is so popular and active with Nintendo games.

@Fenbops well no they don't, they can't just spend 69 billion and still be in last place , the board or the share holders will not allow it , they didn't get to be one of the biggest companies in the world, by just throwing money away,the xbox console has been dead for a while now, they got destroyed by the little guy, let's not forget Sony where the underdog, good for them I say.

@Banjo- pc isn't a rival console , it's completely different , if that was the case why do people have an xbox at all, just play all your games on pc, gamepass pc , no xbox needed.

@Mephisto2869 That's because you love PS and look down on Xbox as a gaming platform, as everyone knows (because you post here A LOT).

@IOI

Until MS decides that they don’t need to keep Xbox around so your digital library will be stuck on a platform they’ll no longer support.
It’s not about games coming out on X o Y platform, it’s about them giving up on the Xbox platform.

That won't happen. Why would it? It makes zero sense from a business point of view, so they won't do it. There will be Xbox consoles as long as there are PS consoles. Even Valve and Asus have consoles, do you really think Microsoft can't afford to make Xbox consoles? They make new Surface devices every year! Xbox won't stop making consoles as long as there is a console market. It's just logical.

@Mephisto2869 Well, at least you admit that you're a troll, unlike most. Can't say you're not sincere 😜.

i look at pc gaming hardware prices and think there is no way i can talk myself into buying this. and a gaming pc looks like it would add $100 or more to my electric bill per month.

@rustyduck I have a big backlog on past consoles and on Series X, so I could skip a few generations and still have games to play that I am interested in 🤣. It has actually affected me, because last generation I had all consoles (except Vita) and this generation I only have one, because Switch is last-gen, well, last-last gen. In spite of that, I love and use Game Pass.

‘Business update’ is ominous wording. I doubt next week will looked back upon fondly by Xbox fans in years to come. It’s going to be a long week.

Meh, whatever the news I will still keep my Series X because I like the machine (plus I have Game Pass until at least next year).

I'm not going to suddenly switch to my PS5 and call my Series X "pointless".

Well what a disaster all around. This all but confirms it, I’d be shocked if it didn’t. This strategy will tank their console sales to the point of no return if they keep going this way. Because I have zero faith that a rental service alone—because that’s all GamePass really is—is going to allow them to stay in the console market. And it’s increasingly looking like they don’t want to.

Phil is going to have to work a miracle to convince me that it’s okay to keep buying games in their ecosystem. Because at this moment in time, it’s looking bleak.

I can understand why MS is doing this.

@Mephisto2869 Why did MS get into the console market in the first place? The doc said the tipping reason was so Sony would not go unchallenged.

If MS doesn't want to create expensive consoles anymore, Sony sure as hell should want to get out of the business, too. The PS5 is cheaper than the Series X, however, the report is that 3x more have been sold. That is a crazy expense and Sony doesn't have a couple hundred billion cash like MS. The Insomniac leak showed Sony is struggling and bending.

I don't see Sony being OK with Game Pass on PS, regardless. People are assuming they will be all cool with Xbox becoming a PS developer.

@bpomber Current ABK games were never reported to be going exclusive. We know CoD was remaining multi-plat. We could assume that Diablo and maybe Overwatch would as well. King is mobile and not relevant to this situation. The income from those companies is what justified the price MS paid for ABK (plus a premium). Keeping things the same should recoup the cost in 5-10 years.

New IPs or revivals would be case by case.

Just a friendly reminder: Microsoft said they expected hardware sales to be down this year. Now we know why.

@Mephisto2869 well they payed their trade all over Twitter. ^^ you have content creators trying to get graphic artists to scrub their channels. This is not how a controlled leak works.

@InterceptorAlpha nail on the head.

I've been offline for nearly a month...
This is the first I'm hearing any of this...

What if the Game pass on other systems means no-day one games on those other systems, but M$ XboX/PC GamePass still get them day 1?

What if there are new tiers for the PS Game Pass?
PS GP basic - pretty much indie and x/360/one games
PS GP standard - same as above, but with series S/X games but 6-12 months later?

Microsoft is really going to let this fester for a whole week!? That's basically signaling that they don't care, how are you going to sit by and have a weeks worth of negative doomsday Xbox articles just go by without any push back?

@nomither6
I stopped going to Push Square for that reason alone. I don’t really care about platforms, I don’t root for Sony, MS or Nintendo. I just think the industry needs another strong competitor to Sony. Not just in software, but hardware too. Series X is so much better as a console than the PS5 IMO. Had both. Now I game on handheld PC cause I fell in love with the Switch model, just prefer the SteamOS ecosystem.

This will probably be a lot of unfortunate news for Xbox fans but it certainly would be epic and hilarious if this was all a stunt, fake leaks hinting at Xbox's demise, and Phil comes on with his head down and says...

'Well we're here today to address some rumors. The future of Xbox is certainly changing... from this point forward, aside from COD all future Xbox studios games will be exclusive to Xbox! Also, we have an Xbox handheld and VR coming alongside a next generation Xbox in 2026 powered by Intel/Nvidia with advanced RT features and... World of Warcraft is coming to Xbox and all WoW subs will be converted to GamePass Ultimate! The future of Xbox is bright.'

Sigh..

@UndyingInsurgent95 "EXcLuSivEs (...) do matter and they're the reason why Nintendo is still around and crushing it."
That is the truth, pure and absolute, my friend.
And I think what's happening right now is a form of confession : Xbox lost this battle.
So they'll go the Sega way. And that makes me feel sad, cause I do love this brand since the very first Xbox with its impossible Duke controller and this extraordinary exclusive title, which I had bought the console for and that was called... HALO.

Xbox got Activision, but shareholders apparently want rapid returns on $70 billion investments. Sometimes you should be careful of what you wish for.

Personally, I think we should wait and see what they say, it's just one week of wait, not that bad. In the olden days, when I was young, you had to actually wait for stuff sometimes. I know... unbelievable!!! xD

First gen I'm actually spending most of my time on Xbox, and only had a 360 before (that was not my main system back then) and I don't think if they do release multiplat is necessarily a bad thing and there's a lot to be clarified about that. Is it all games or some? Is it parallel release in all plats or Xbox/pc then others? Is it all others or just some? Etc.

If they get more money to make more great games then not a bad thing, the real end of Xbox will come the day the business isn't performing well enough and they don't see a way to get where they want to. So, if true, this could very well ensure survival rather that the opposite.

Finally, let's entertain this whole rumor thing and assume it's all true, and they're gonna go full multi. Chances are they still sell consoles (it's not like they don't sell hardware in other saturated markets) and e.g. a series X/S would still be good value imo. It's a reasonably well priced, no fuss way of playing many games with reasonably good performance and having game pass too. That sounds like a decent way of spending my money, same as a ps5 or switch with more games. Depends what your priority is, and in many cases, perhaps where you've invested previously (e.g. having a big digital library on Xbox or whatever) If it simply was about having plat exclusives, then people would be moving more from console to PC, clearly this is where the biggest pool of games is/will be. You can pretty much assume all big stuff is gonna end up there at some point (except Nintendo stuff for now, give it time and who knows) So, I don't think consumer behaviour is that simple, but anyway let's wait a see what's going on.

@gollumb82 couldnt agree more

All these people saying "This confirms that Xbox is dead". NOTHING has been confirmed, you're all just doom-mongering based on rumors and speculation.

I really feel like a kid who suspects his parents are gonna divorce, and they take me apart, whispering to my ear : "Next week, son. We're gonna tell you everything next week. But don't worry, kid. Just... wait. Next week. You'll see. Trust me. Everything is gonna be all right. There's no such things as problems. Only solutions. You'll see..."

Yeah dad. Sure. Sigh...

I own all 3 consoles and my series X was unused for about a year. But now I've played the PS5 exclusives I'm interested in & same for the Switch, I'm finding myself spending most of my time there. The console itself (Series X) is probably the best machine out of the three, I love playing old 360 games on it and game pass is great value. I do think it's under rated and would hate them exit the console market all together. More competition the better.

More competition in gaming is always a good thing. I don't want Sony having no competition in the AAA space.

Microsoft still has an audience of 50 million loyal customers as evidenced by the sales of the Xbox One even after its disastrous start.

This level of disrespect from MS is over the wall! I'm just going to walk away!

Most exciting time in consoles since Sega going 3rd party. I couldn’t be more on the edge of my seat. Microsoft knows that the inky way to make up for those huge investments is to go fully 3rd party. Kudos for not dragging this out.

@electrolite77 that would be a disaster for the brand as every release would be fodder for "is this coming out on other consoles?" drowning out any good press.

It’s all or nothing and the shareholders will love this.

What did people expect? They spent 70 BILLION Dollars on ONE buyout, not even including the others. Their console sales have slumped and their Game Pass subscriber growth is slowing. If they don't make a BIG profit on their investments then Microsofts investors will LITERALLY have their nuts in a vice!! Hence why Satia is in charge and is pushing for this.

It's a large business, this is how they work, they make large investments and if they don't make a profit as their investors want then they have to scrap the project and move on. Phil's Game Pass idea is brilliant, but, as proven ultimately unsustainable.

If you make a massive investment and see low returns, you run the risk of going out of business, and that includes giants, see Nintendo and even Xbox themselves last gen...

Some of you are in deniability, writings been on the wall for a while. Xbox isn't 'dead' it's just changing its business model. It'll be a third party publisher and cloud streaming service. Because thats cheaper value wise and will generate more profit they believe. I wouldn't expect to see many if any more consoles from them. Maybe streaming boxes.

@SpacemanJupiter Plot Twist! It was all a ruse to try and undermine the Switch 2 announcement...

Either way I'll literally be f****** stoked if Gears comes to PS5 or fingers crossed Nintendos next platform??

I would also say State Of Decay 3 too but that game seems to be dead in the water at the moment.

it's just business guys, nothing personal. Their vision for the future of Xbox without any future as console.

@XboxistheBestBox When the markets open and I bet their stocks rise after too.

I also saw rumours claiming COD won't be coming to Game Pass this year either. If true that's another year missed so again it'll massively impact Game Pass numbers.

I was rather hoping the internet had ran with false rumours.
No denial would suggest much of its true and that becoming a 3rd party publisher is now the corps route to their future.

Despite the damage control here from the usual suspects, this is a stab in the back for those who have remained true to the xbox eco system, as it very clearly will affect the future prosperity of the hardware platform and eventually its viability. If I had invested in loads of hardware and software Id have a right to be really dissapointed in this direction.
If you are a Corporation champion, you'll be happy the shareholders will do well, just as you would have cheered all those lay offs. If you just like xbox as your platform though, its tough to see anthing but bad news here for the platform.

@Widey85 These gaming influencers and twitter figures have already exhausted every possible rumour. Including Halo and Gears coming to PS5. It took like 4-6 hrs on a Sunday. A weekend. It is better to take a few more days and work on the exact messaging, wording, presentation etc. Maybe cancel that Halo port to PS5 for now to appease fans ? Etc.
@Titntin To be fair, Xbox has never/rarely had "good news" and its relationship with its fandom has also been "messy" at best. I personally only care about Xbox's shooter franchise pedigree with Halo and Gears alongside some of their racing output like Forza (essentially the same classic Xbox stuff everyone wanted them to get away from). I will continue to care about these franchises regardless of where they land. But the plastic box running them, I could care less.

@Cakefish It sounds like a meeting with your boss where they tell you your performance is bad and they give you 1 month to turn it around or you are fired.
@Kaloudz Basically It all depends on what games are getting ported. It was fine when it was Hi-Fi rush, Sea of Thieves? Port that to an LG Smart Fridge for all I care. Same with the entire other Live-Service stuff. But I really don't see any logic behind porting Halo, Gears, Hellblade 2 and Starfield.

I'm in the camp that can't understand all the uproar. In a perfect world (for me) MS would stop with the Xbox and go mainly into software. There is pretty much zero difference between the PS5 and the Xbox other than petty fanboy comments. They run virtually the same! Next gen would be perfect if there was no Xbox, only a top quality PS. MS then release custom controllers for the PS (so basically those preferring the xbox controller can still use them). Then I only need 1 box. Then all developers can optimise for that one box. Then GP is an option on PS and customer can chose either PS Plus, GP or physical discs (an option going away for future xbox owners).
Then all the energy wasted on fighting over the better fps, resolution, games etc will be used to improve the gaming industry.

Obviously this is a fairy tale scenario for me and will ruin some fanboys dream of one dying out over the other. But imagine is MS only spend their time/effort/money on software. Surely they would massively improve their output and quality of games?

And for those frothing at the mouth over this scenario I also suggest the other way around - no PS and only Xbox. It just doesn't seem as likely a scenario.

@BrilliantBill
Hey I'm glad your Ok with it, you have a healthy attitude to it.

But some people here did not want to have a playstation and had an alternative, and that seems to be drifting away now. I have 2 PS5's and they are my main machine, but I have a vested intrest in seeing a healthy competing hardware platform too.
Strong competition has been good for everyone and I'd rather not see Sony have a hardware monopoly in the future, even if its my platform of choice.
I also consider many posters here to be decent people and I dont want to see them unhappy. This has also been my fave site and if they become just a publisher in the future, its likley this site wont exist, so another reason I dont want to see Xbox become irrelevant hardware.

If Microsoft were my sports team, my parasocial messiahs, I’d be cheering this news on and happy beyond words. We all know that this is a good thing for Microsoft’s bank account, they’ll make more money than ever before. My happiness isn’t tied to how big a bonus Satya Nadella gets at the end of the year, how large the shareholders money vaults and private yachts are. I care about Xbox the consoles, not Xbox the nebulous service brand. I’ve invested a lot into this platform over the past few years, storage expansion, controllers, headsets, games etc. And now the very foundations of Xbox (console platform) is looking very rickety and in danger of collapse. That concerns me.

@Widey85 I saw a 3rd party PS5 controller with movable thumb sticks so you could use it with offset sticks if thats your preference!
They wont be turning off the lights of the current machines they have shipped, so I dont think theres any danger our series X's are going to be valuless, they will still be the gateway to GP on console.

@Titntin

Despite the damage control here from the usual suspects

You're right, everyone here should believe every rumour and assume that Xbox is dead and that there won't be any more consoles, regardless of what they really think. You always make the most sensible comments. Xbox is never unfairly bashed around here and all the beating and doom is right and deserved, because it reflects the facts. Most importantly, no one should say anything positive about Xbox, because that's not sincere, it's damage control.

This is the straw that broke the camel's back my xbsx will be my last console from MS and it will be a strictly game pass machine untile i have a new PC (and will have linux). I wanted competition, not what this is

Microsoft still has interest in purchasing more publishers and studios. This way they’re pleasing regulators since they won’t be removing game ms from other platforms.

@Titntin

Strong competition has been good for everyone and I'd rather not see Sony have a hardware monopoly in the future, even if its my platform of choice

Must have been really hard to write that with a straight face, wright old timer 😁?. Anyway good to see that even the true blue bloods are concerned.😉

@Widey85 I love Halo Infinite and I'm not even a Halo fan and I disliked previous 343 Industries' Halo games, as I have written on this site. I definitely enjoy Xbox exclusives more than Sony exclusives. Best Sony exclusive for me is Wipeout and it's dead. Xbox had a great output last year. The only problem is that they're too hands-off with the studios. Not that I'd prefer a Naughty Dog crunch culture scenario, but if a new team like The Initiative needs Crystal Dynamics to re-reboot Perfect Dark, something's wrong. Why didn't they acquire Crystal Dynamics when it was on sale? That doesn't make any sense. However, same as 343 Industries has improved veeeeeeeery much and with so many more studios now, there will be more and even better games.

Another thing that might give Xbox games bad press, extreme media bias aside, is when they launch poorly, only to be improved after launch - and reviews. All companies have this problem, even Nintendo which is always mentioned as the one that makes the most polished games, but it's more evident on Xbox. They could improve the management of some studios, but others work great on their own. With so many games in development, it's impossible not to be excited about the future of Xbox, unless you hate Microsoft or every Xbox exclusive (not your case).

Last but not least, it's impossible that Microsoft drops the console market as long as there is a console market, because they make new Surface devices every year in much more saturated markets and because they have a loyal user base, as proved by Xbox One and Series S|X. Some people here have admitted that they'd like PS to be the only console, that's why they're so insistent, but imagine what Sony would become with no competition.

@Sol4ris I've always valued having an Xbox mate, I've been buying xbox since the beggining and enjoyed working with Xbox game studios when I was a dev.
That I prefer the controller and OS on the PS does not mean I want the Xbox to go away, even it it means I'm labelled 'true blue' by those fighting an imaginary war.
I'm a big forza fan and previous generations of Xbox have provided me with many of my fave gaming memories, just not the current gen, but even then I'm very up for seeing games like avowed and Indy.

Nothing is confirmed or written in stone yet, but I am concerned at the trajectory of this because I value my Xbox, and not just as competition.

@Titntin I love my Series X and it’s my main this generation but we have Switch (getting well old now) PS5 and a Steam library. I must admit being shocked and disappointed by these rumours and Phil not denying it. I can’t lie that it doesn’t make financial sense for Microsoft to put all their games on all platforms but it does kill the Xbox console as a competitor and its identity. It is 100% a stab in the back to people like me and worse for people who have spent years and £100s building up a library. I will wait to hear what is actually said but if it goes that way I’m going to tap out, sell my Xbox gear and use the cash to invest more in PS5. Unlike Microsoft I don’t have infinite money and supporting a console/brand in last place that won’t support me back long term makes no sense. I only pay for multiplayer access on Xbox and not on PS5 or Switch to save money. Reluctantly, I’m gone and ain’t ever coming back
It’s crazy because 2 weeks or so ago, the new Indy reveal blew me away and the idea it was an Xbox only game was awesome. I’m not against sharing games; everyone likes access to all games. But from the perspective of an Xbox owner, owning a fantastic console (in last place) it makes no sense.
People are entitled to see this as a positive and for some it will be. This is Microsoft exiting the console space and flushing player loyalty down the toilet.
Sorry but that is my opinion and from someone who adores Xbox.

@Widey85 Right, but in the long term it makes more sense to acquire a studio than to pay for temporary exclusive content, because as you said once, they would need to pay much more than Sony. After Sony paid Zenimax for them to skip Xbox for as long as they could pay for, it was smart to solve the problem by buying the publisher. It's a long-term strategy. Once they can market Call of Duty properly and bring ABK games to Game Pass, we'll see them badass again.

Microsoft will still make a high-end console to compete with PS, because they make high-end devices in every market and the console market is even more important now with so many Xbox Game Studios. They won't give it up. Don't believe baseless rumours.

the amount of bed-wetting in this thread is staggering...

Well, Phil did say "we want to bring games to more gamers not less" and wants "gamepass on every screen"
Now while Sony won't allow gamepass on playstation if hell froze over Xbox needs to recoup that money plain and simple. so making PS players pay full price by publishing to Sony's big install base while those on Xbox gets the same games for a low monthly fee isn't such a bad idea. Best of both worlds really. Xbox gamers get the "netflix of gaming" treatment and the stubborn folk who never planned on switching throw money at Xbox too. Which in turn will sustain gamepass.

Other lines by Phil recently. "We want to be the market leader by 2030" think about this, if he tapped into Sony's 100-ish million install base this time next year he could literally say they have the biggest audience in gaming combining Nintendo's audience, Sony's audience and Steam's audience just by publishing while still keeping the Xbox console space alive for it's primary users.

Maybe that's the plan, maybe it isn't. But it would be a good one because Xbox users lose nothing they weren't already getting. And if gamepass adoption truly has stagnated and as we know Xbox console sales are dismal it's a really good move for them.

@Widey85 So quickly to reply unnecessarily to every comment.

Microsoft has repeatedly stated multiple time during the ABK purchase that this was not their last purchase. Moving their games to multiple platforms is a way to avoid the regulatory clashes and legal costs. As the only thing the regulator cares about was whether or not those games stayed available on multiple platforms. The ones who are scaling back are the one not flushed with cash.

But who was expecting ABK games on game pass this early? The deal only closed October then we went into the holiday season. Even before the deal closed we was advised to not expect anything till 2024. It takes time to go through the catalog and deal with licensing to get the games on the subscription.

@Sol4ris Don't you think that some would be great poker players? 😁

@Widey85 What I wanted to say is that Microsoft is not "evil" but "smart". Sony is much more aggressive, but it backfired and their situations has got worse. I actually agree with @GADG3Tx87, even if all games go to PS, since Sony doesn't like Game Pass, Xbox would still be the best deal overall for Xbox games. But even if Game Pass is available on PS, it doesn't mean that it will be more popular there.

Since Xbox is backed by Microsoft and Xbox runs the same OS and Direct X than most PC games, third parties will always support Xbox. They supported Xbox One X more than PS4 Pro and I didn't expect that, at all. On top of all this, many users prefer consoles, so they will support Xbox, that has always been supported by third parties (except moneyhatting cases) and by millions of players around the world.

Digital distribution will actually benefit Xbox the most, because it will always make sense to sell games digitally for one of the most important companies in the digital world and make 100% profit. On top of that, Microsoft has the best hardware engineers for making consoles and they make new high-end devices every year.

@Banjo-
That's pretty much what I was getting at. Even if they might publish to playstation it's not all doom and gloom because there's still a reason for the console to exist while tapping into Sony's install base at £70 per game as opposed to a subscription that Sony would be dead against from a competitor.

Personally I'd be interested in Halo multiplayer and would pay full price. I always preferred it over the likes of CoD, battlefield and overwatch and such. I'm not interested in StarField personally though.

As long as Microsoft continues to make and sell consoles, I will continue to buy them as it is the only console I own due to financial constraints and I am quite happy to do so.

My concern remains consistent with how I’ve viewed Xbox for the past year or two. Go back to my previous comments on archived articles from 2022/2023 and it’s clear my worries haven’t suddenly materialised overnight.

I’ve been quite vocal about my concern for what a dwindling market share means for third party dev support on Xbox. I’ve bought games recently that have had notably worse optimisation, more bugs, and delays to patches compared to the PS5 versions. That’s my frustration with Xbox; the third party developers are increasingly treating the platform as an afterthought. Some even skip it entirely (yep, I’m still salty about Kena Bridge of Spirits). Sony’s entire exclusive lineup for the first half of 2024 is entirely made up of third party exclusives. They can sign those deals with ease because of how dominant their market share is.

So how this all ties into the changes Microsoft are planning now is that I can’t see how they will boost Xbox console sales, which are already struggling to hold ground against Sony. And if Microsoft is happy to concede market share then my worry is that third party developers pull back their support even further. And if inferior, ***** ports for third party games just becomes the expected norm on Xbox then surely that won’t help sales and market share. Leading to even less interest from third party devs and so on and so forth.

Honestly from a financial standpoint porting Starfield might be a good decision. As physical sales were obismal on xbox due to Gamepass.

@GADG3Tx87 The good thing about having so many studios is that they are able to cater to every kind of gamer and they will be able to do this on several platforms. They said that they are planning to become the biggest gaming platform in the world, I don't remember the exact words now, but they are doing things right compared to other giants such as Google or Amazon, because Microsoft is deeply immersed in the gaming world, as much as Sony or Nintendo.

@NeoRatt Third parties and fans aren't going to support a machine with 15 million users and no exclusives. They shouldn't be the first to go multiplat if they wanted a Xbox ecosystem. My guess is they see that being a multiplat publisher is more money than gamepass and Xbox game sales. Then they will buy up more publishers. Honestly they will probably put all their games on other streaming games services in the future and kill off their game pass too.

I have always owned every PlayStation and Xbox console, except for mid-generation refreshes where I only ever buy the Xbox refresh. Xbox is my primary console, yet as I am reading all these rumours, I can just feel my heart sinking. Any Xbox exclusives that port to the PlayStation is one less reason to own an Xbox, and one more reason to own a PlayStation.

To those of us that own all platforms, it may seem no big deal because we can play them regardless, but if you can only invest in one console, who are you going to buy? The console that has everything (your own exclusives, and games made by Xbox), or a console with no exclusives (or maybe just a few) and that never gets a third-party exclusive because their player-base is too small? The answer is blindingly obvious.

If Microsoft start putting their 'exclusives' on other platforms, then the Xbox will be entering a death-spiral. It needs to be remembered that already the PS5 is outselling the Series 3 to 1. If PlayStation, in addition to actual exclusives, is to then receive games made by their only competitor then that statistic will only get worse, and at some point Microsoft will simply throw in the towel (if they aren't on the cusp of doing so anyway).

This is very bad news, whichever way you cut it...

goddamn you, Redfall...look what you done!

It will be just the start of a death spiral if they put any of their exclusives on rival platforms, even after a year or two. Less reason to own an xbox, even less people buy xbox, less 3rd party games come to xbox, xbox slowly dies. Don't fall for the PR speak, if they follow through on the rumours, this is the beginning of the end for xbox.

As a multiplatform gamer I supported the ABK aquisition as I believed it would increase competition in the industry and we the consumers would benefit. For MS to run away and wave the white flag is a disgrace.

There is a reason nobody else would be stupid enough to give their exclusives away, as it would destroy their ecosystem

@Fiendish-Beaver
Your post exactly sums up the situation no matter how MS spins it... Basically we all want great content, now it's obvious all the best content is going to be on the PS ecosystem, so likewise obviously don't buy Xbox hardware, which furthers the death spiral of less great content. I'm new to Xbox for this generation, I would be kinda mad about this developing situation if it were not for the brutally cheap/free Game Pass Ultimate, I bought 2 years of Gold (should have done 3...), upgraded to GPU 1:1, but over a year later I still have 2 years of GPU, thanks MS points! So I can't really complain, I may not have access to the best content, but I have access to the cheapest content. But yeah, my next console obviously won't be Xbox, unless MS is still giving away free GPU, which you can't count on, so death spiral continues...

Last year I went from PS4 to Series X. Every time I come to this site it finds new ways to make me regret my decision.

Honestly if my kids weren't so invested in a few save files I'd box it up, take it down to CEX and pay the difference for a PS5.

I wonder if this is how it'll play out.

• Next week they'll announce all Xbox 1st party games for PS5
• Maybe timed exclusive for first 3-12 months on Xbox
• Rely on Game Pass to keep Xbox X|S relevant this gen.
• Build pressure on Sony with PR/regulators to allow Game Pass on PS5+
• Drop Xbox hardware if not next gen then soon after.
• Build pressure on Sony with PR/regulators to reduce 30% cut or allow alternative App Store ala Epic vs Google & Apple.

@themightyant, last time I checked Halo Infinite Multiplayer was on PC, so it's not like they go from console only to console + PC, which they have already been doing for quite a while now. Contrary to Sony they release everything day 1 on PC as well.

@GoldenPants, the cheap conversion is already over now, they changed the "conversion factor" last summer if I remember correctly.

@themightyant, yeah, but my point was, they already have access to a huge install base, but that doesn't help if you're not able to get out games that are good enough.

Regarding Game Pass on PS5, why not try to pull as many people in your own ecosystem so you don't have to worry about whether a competitor allows your subscription service on their platform? My initial thought about the acquisitions was that this way they get content to draw people to their ecosystem, even if it takes time. This was never going to change things from one day to the next, but maybe just with the next gen of consoles. But nowadays you never know how much time companies "get" (from shareholders etc) to let things play out and not focus on short-term results.

@UndyingInsurgent95
Gamepass is what stops you from jumping ship to the PS5. Sony does not have a good 1st party day one Gamepass equivalent. So you can go to PS5 but you are getting a weaker system with no gamepass, so you would have to pay $70 for a game like Redfall to see if it sucks or not.

@ZuneTattooGuy, once you stop the subscription you are left with nothing when it comes to GamePass. Plus, how many people buy games at full price? GamePass is great to get new games on day 1 (at least in theory day 1, seems like the latest trend is to offer upgrades for early access to make some money), but if you're patient you will almost always find huge discounts. Just not on day 1.

I think it'll be 3 parts:

Multiplatform

• Games mostly go to PS5 and Nintendo hardware natively but there will be some exceptions (e.g. more hardware demanding games wouldn't come to Switch but maybe Switch 2 if powerful enough, delisted games like pre-2018 Forza would remain Xbox console exclusive because they can't be sold anymore)
• Remasters of pre-XB1 games act as the way to bring pre-XB1 games to other platforms

Game Pass

• Price increase
• Conversion ratio from Core to Ultimate reduced to the point where 3 years of Ultimate via the conversation would be the same price as 36 x Ultimate monthly fee
• No more day 1 releases
• Extremely profitable franchises like CoD never come
• If you play a game via Game Pass which you haven't bought, there's ingame ads
• Core/Ultimate becomes required again to play FTP and MMOs on Xbox consoles
• Microsoft Rewards fully discontinued so you can no longer get Game Pass for free

Hardware

• Announcement of the leaked 2024 "adorably all digital" revisions but unlike PS5 there's no detachable disc drive, also no mention of hardware beyond that

As for the event date, I think it'll be February 16th.

Here's the thing, @themightyant, if Microsoft insist on Xbox putting their content on the PlayStation, what is the point of owning an Xbox? Even if people have to wait a year for an Xbox 'exclusive' to arrive on the PlayStation that' what they will do. And what does that mean for the Xbox? It means fewer people will invest in an Xbox, and they will buy a PlayStation instead. And what does that mean? It means that not only will Xbox have fewer people purchasing their console, but also fewer people using Game Pass. And what does that mean for Game Pass? It means that it become less and less affordable for Microsoft. It means that third-party developers will be less inclined to put their content on the service because they will be offered less money by Microsoft to enter the service, and there will be fewer people playing those games too. Ultimately, that would mean that the Game Pass would cease to be good value, and would then cease to exist. Then you would be left with a console that (at best) has timed self-made exclusives with a dwindling install-base, whilst their rival has their own exclusives, a thriving subscription service, a growing install-base (growing still faster as the Xbox community migrates) and then access to all those previously unavailable Xbox exclusives. This will lead to the rapid demise of the Xbox as this would be unsustainable.

The only Xbox exclusive that could benefit from going to the PlayStation, is something like Sea of Thieves, which requires an ongoing and large community. Anything else will be dire for the Xbox...

@themightyant, agreed. The main issue that I see is, once you start bringing some games over, where does it stop? Once you open that box, it's impossible to close it again. Porting games to Switch is different, they are not a "direct competitor" like Sony, so you reach people you otherwise might have never reached. But once you start bringing your biggest games to PS, there will always be rumours around every big exclusive that has not yet been announced for PS. Sony would be happy about this, as they get a cut.

See if the worst comes to the worst for Xbox fans and Microsoft goes software only, the people that are saying that Gamepass won’t be allowed on PlayStation are forgetting that the Gamepass that would be on the PS5 wouldn’t be the same as the one that is doing the rounds right now, There wouldn’t be the titles that are on it from other developers, focusing on Microsoft’s first party titles instead, so it would be a streamed down version, but with some of the games that Microsoft has behind them, it would be a hellova lot better that the services currently offered by EA and Ubisoft. Having a service available with all the first party games that are offered by Microsoft definitely would have me subbing to the service. I honestly think games like Forza Horizon is unmatched on PlayStation for instance and like EA and Ubisoft, their games are still offered for sale on PSN for people that don’t sub to the services offered by the 2 aforementioned developers. It really can go one of 2 ways, Microsoft go all in as a 3rd party studio, or they say again that they will go with a case by case on games coming to PlayStation, but that will cause issues as people from now until next week will be fed that Xbox is dead and that every game will be on PlayStation which could have people buying into the idea that if they have PlayStation then they will be fully covered moving forward Dangerous few weeks ahead for sure.

Its was fun .Just goes to show, loyalty is worthless .

@tho_mi Yes, correct on the reduced conversion rate. So another reason for not buying a brand new Xbox now, plus MS constantly nerfing down rewards points, which I'm sure will continue in the future. In my shoes now, I wouldn't buy into the xbox ecosystem now, but a year ago it was a great deal.

@Lansky
Gaming is too strategic for Microsoft’s evolution of Windows and Azure for them to just become another third party publisher. There is more to this than we know and there are many things they can do to still keep XB strong.

Console sales quantities are not everything. And the console wars ended long ago. MS has never finished a generation above 3rd. I expect they will still make XB hardware but I expect things to change. Maybe XB becomes more of a spec that third parties hardware vendors can use and sell their own gaming devices? Today almost every major gaming publisher publishes on PC. Maybe PCs and XB consoles merge? Hook up a PC to a TV and you can select an option for it to be the XB UI? That would give console buyers a lot more hardware options.

Whichever "Deepthroat" (or whatever code name he/she/they use) decided to open this Pandoras box initially, could really do with just leaking Phil's Sunak-esque speech as soon as. That way, we can all get back to the good ol' days of moaning about how our awesome looking future releases are a "no buy from me" as they only run at 57fps, don't have achievements etc, etc

And if it is only a handful of games like some are hoping, that just means every game announcement, every bit of information, will be followed not by excitement, but constant questions of if its comming to PS/Nintendo, or that it will eventually go there anyway. Xbox hype will be dead. Its death by a thousand cuts and the writing will be on the wall.

To your last point first, @themightyant: Rumour is that this story has been leaked by disgruntled Xbox employees who are are being pushed into this stance by the board at Microsoft. Thus, it is not something that Xbox wants or agrees with as they can see the net long-term result. If it is the case that Microsoft want the games released (but not Xbox), then who will determine which games are released multiplatform, and which are not? Starfield may be considered a flop (in monetary terms) by Microsoft, who want to see a return on their investment, and thus are pushing it to release on the PlayStation too. And if the game sees some success there, do you honestly believe that Microsoft will stop there? The problem is that once the waters have been tested, and found to be pleasing, then you may as well fully dive in. In the case of gaming, Microsoft will seek the release of everything multiplatform because that will see the biggest return on their investment.

As to your other points:

1) Game Pass will only survive so long as it is getting content, and it will only get content so long as there are sufficient subscribers. When the money stops coming in, in sufficient quantities, the day one AAA games cannot be made, and the third-party developers will no longer support the service.

2) We'll see. People were prepared to wait a full year for Tomb Raider to cease being an Xbox exclusive. With the raft of quality content that already exists on the PlayStation, people will have more than enough to entertain them whilst waiting for a period of exclusivity to elapse on the Xbox (assuming that Microsoft don't just push for multi-plat day one).

3) Most games that go multiplatform will be much later.[/b]. That's basically address in my responses to point 1 and 2.

4) At the moment, yes, but if this happens, people will leave in droves taking their money with them. Deprived of money, the ecosystem will wither and die (probably pretty quickly).

5) Sony are investing heavily in Cloud now. Yes, they are well behind Microsoft, but they have the userbase numbers to close that gap quickly. Plus, without the lure of exclusive content, people will just jump from the Xbox ship, and if those services are available on the PlayStation too, then what's to lose?

6) It is, at the moment! However, if the day one exclusives cease to be a thing, then it loses that boast immediately. Even if the games go on day one, and 12 months later on the PlayStation, those games cease to be exclusive, and people will wait (just as they did in the Xbox-sphere for Deathloop and Ghostwire. And once the Game Pass is degraded, it ceases to be the best around.

I accept that putting something like Sea of Thieves or even the multiplayer component of Halo Infinite (but the not the campaign aspect) on to the PlayStation makes sense because those games need a constant and large player-base. However, any other Xbox exclusive would be a massive mistake and would devalue the prospect of remaining an Xbox first player.

@themightyant (part 2 because my answer was apparently too long!) 😉

Ultimately, a good game remains a good game for years to come, so in many ways waiting to play a game is no big deal. We all know that games often need a years worth of patching to get it properly fixed. And so what would that mean for the Xbox? It means we get the initially worst version of the game for £70, and then pay for the DLC on top of that. What does it mean for the PlayStation? Wait 12 months and get the best version of the game, likely with added DLC content included for £70. Then tell me where the best value is...

@SodaPop6548 Agreed.

@tho_mi
I can afford gamepass each and every month. It has never bothered me, especially for the value. Buying even one game at full price day one can pay for gamepass for around 3 months

RIP Xbox. I haven't built a gaming PC since my kids were born, but it looks like next gen I'm going back. My Radeon RX 480 can finally be laid to rest.

@themightyant i did not say anything remotely like that mate. it's not about the game coming to another platform, it's the fact it will be the death of xbox, and competition in the gaming industry for the reasons I have already mentioned.

You already have devs comming out questioning if its even worth making a port for xbox now. This is only going to get worse and worse. Just so we are on the same page, nowhere did i complain about more people playing games. I am complaining about xbox kneecapping their own system and providing no competition.

They have death spiralled their own console and brand to make a few quick bucks from game sales, it's insane.

@themightyant right back at you mate, you can have a good brag if you are correct, it's all just guess work at the minute.

If the rumours are true, it will be worse than Don Mattricks E3 for Xbox in my opinion. A completely insane decision for a 3 trillion dollar company to chase a quick buck and not see the big picture

@Kaloudz With content Microsoft is producing they are showing consumers they just don't care. While practically doing Sony's marketing for them.

@Gemini73 I am not sure that is entirely accurate but an enjoyable conspiracy theory nonetheless mate

@themightyant I think Game Pass and Store Front on all/any consoles is their long term strategy. Given the dominant position Sony is already in, and general consensus in EU regarding 3rd party stores, that's the way we're heading. Time will tell. Let's see how it plays out.

MS are software first company, and this is nothing new for them. Infiltrate, Proliferate, Exterminate is the new Embrace, Extend, Extinguish.

@Kaloudz I know it was my opinion. I just largely disagree. You don't see Sony making decisions like this. It's one sided and the ideas Microsoft has is actually giving Xbox users more reasons to buy a Playstation. I won't buy into Sony, but Microsoft has me reconsidering what money I would spend on their products as they are shooting themselves in the foot. I like to invest in companies with good ideas, not ones where you give up to your biggest competitor.

@Kaloudz True, the problem is lately this has been the pattern for Microsoft and their stance is ignorantly thinking Sony is going to do the same. Microsoft is giving everything to Sony with getting nothing in return. With Sony no good deed is returned in favor. They see the weakness and go in for the kill. Microsoft needs to wake up in the area.

@Kaloudz

Still I don't understand the problem. Suppose they discontinue hardware. Then, in theory, ga.epass would be available on Playstation and Nintendo consoles. Anyone who wants can purchase a PS5, 6, 7 or a Switch 2. And Xbox fans can simply play on a series X and the new Xbox "digital only". Microsoft continues with Game Pass and for those who only want to buy discs, there is also an option in this case. In other words, Xbox will continue to exist and all camps (disc and digital) are happy

I have to admit that if I hadn’t invested so much money into the XBOX brand over the generations, I would be considering flogging my Series X. It’s the games I own digitally that’s stopping me. I have enough games waiting to be started/finished to last me years, but at the moment I don’t really feel like investing more and maybe even ending my Gamespass ultimate subscription. This is the closest I have been to getting a PS5 yet. I know deep down that as long as I get to play the games, who cares if they end up on other platforms but I feel like it’s one foot forward (with great developer directs) and two back. Not sure their vision is mine to be honest as why keep an Xbox when I can play their games plus the library of PS5 exclusives on a non XBOX platform.

@themightyant 5-6 years ago crossplay between consoles wasn’t a thing really. Sony eventually had to cave at end of 2018. Time will tell I guess.

It's not so much a different perspective, @themightyant, it's probably more that you are a glass-half-full type of guy (optimist!), and I am a glass-half-empty type of guy (pessimist! (or as I prefer to say, realist!). 😂

As you say, next week will be the telling point. We will have a better idea of whether I am right, and the demise of the Xbox has been written, or whether it is simply on life-support with no idea of whether it will pull through or have to be switched off!

However, in my view, any exclusive game that does not need a thriving community to keep it going, such as Sea of Thieves, that then makes the leap over to the PlayStation is one fewer reason to own an Xbox, and I speak as someone for whom the Xbox is my primary console, where I play all of my third-party games (and that is despite owning all 3 consoles and a high-end gaming rig). I just don't want Xbox to whither away...

I want to start off by saying we don’t know if it’s a few games or a whole list of games that will be coming to PlayStation. I personally am guessing it’s just a few older games sprinkled in with a few newer AA games. I believe Xbox will still be around, but for those who are wishing for Xbox to fail and leave the console behind…. Then what? It’s not a win for the consumer in the long run.

Nintendo isn’t competing against Sony the same way Xbox is. (Yes I know Nintendo sells a lot more systems and games than Xbox, but as we saw in the ABK mess, neither Xbox or Sony view them as competition.) Once you lose your competition, you become a monopoly. Game prices will rise. The next PlayStation console will rise in price. Online service will rise. First party games will lower in quality. And why? Because there’s no competition to keep the balance. There’s no competition for consumers to choose between. You’re stuck having to choose the console with the monopoly. You the consumer don’t benefit from that. I’m not in the console war as it’s pointless. I own all three systems and I enjoy them all and hope for all three to have a healthy market share, but those hoping for the failure of Xbox so Sony “wins” should really be careful what they are wishing for because it could just happen and you won’t like the end result.

What an utter ***** show. One of the biggest I have seen in a long time. I have no idea what’s going to happen, but the way this has been handled from a PR perspective is downright disgusting. I lost a LOT of respect in both Xbox and Phil Spencer this week, regardless of the outcome.

If I do not have faith that my digital purchases will be safe down the road, I will drop Xbox like a bad habit and that’s coming from an Xbox gamer since day 1 of the OG Xbox. Plan on building a new gaming rig this year and I’ll just primarily become a PC gamer. I’ll still game on PS and Switch like I do now, I’ll just move to PC for all the things I would have played on Xbox.

It’s mind boggling what has transpired. Just when it looked like Xbox was gonna FINALLY turn it around, they throw in the towel? It will be one of the single most disgusting moves in business I have ever seen and I will support MS as little as humanely possible the remainder of my days if it winds to being true. That includes cancelling my Game Pass sub even for PC. I’ll go back to buying games, spend significantly more, and be perfectly content doing so.

@themightyant even if xbox do get out of the hardware market , it doesn't mean Sony will do any of those things, they have nintendo to contend with, not to mention there will be a gap in the market,I mean who knows what goes on in Elon musks head 😁

@Fiendish-Beaver I hear you and couldn't agree more. I generally am a glass half full optimistic but it feels like all Microsoft wants to do is knock over my drink.

@Widey85 The rumors were dismissible for some time as they were farfetched, going by Xbox's truly positive (finally) outlook. I was firmly in the camp of "shut up" and no doom & gloom...until Phil's tweet. I don't want anything Xbox going anywhere else. That does not seem likely from his words.

MS/Xbox let this situation devolve and need another week to respond. If there wasn't at least a kernel of truth, a tweet or tweet could dispel the rumors. IMO, they are trying break something negative to the fanbase and do not know how to do it.

@Shushibda Overall, I don't think MS will get out of the hardware market intentionally. MS might steer Xbox hardware into an early grave or near irrelevancy due to meddling. After this they will ask, "Why are sales declining further?"

We are a long, long way from a suitable cloud solution or other hardware (phone, TV, etc.) replacing consoles. Dedicated hardware remains essential to success (physical, digital, Game Pass media). MS would also want a level of control over their platform's primary interface with customers.

I've been AWOL for quite a while, and still more or less intend to be, as this is the very kind of nightmare circus that has made the past few years of gaming miserable to follow for the past few years. But yes, @mousieone , I'm still here

But this disaster warranted jumping out of the shadows to comment on. On one hand, the reaction from the community is somewhat absurd. Xbox's trajectory has been pretty well telegraphed since the X1X launched, and Spencer has been pretty clear about the fact they're not trying to rival Playstation as a console. Xbox is more of a Steam competitor than a PS direct competitor, and the Xbox console is more of a realization of the "Steambox" than it is trying to be a pseudo-Nintendo for the modern age like PS. I think many of us here were expecting Xbox to jump out of the "console" exclusives thing a long time ago, and were pretty surprised when they seemed to be trying to do a half-hearted attempt at doing the exclusives game.

There's nothing new or surprising about that direction, it's the one many of us expected, and the whole thrill of the Xbox ecosystem was largely it's realization of the Steambox dream albeit in a walled garden format.

On the other hand the PR on this is possibly the worst managed PR situation I've ever seen with real risk of killing their brand and the value of our digital libraries with it. They're basically letting rumors swirl that they're killing their product and their brand, and that's particularly dangerous given how many of their own products they have a history of killing.

Mostly I see this as a symptom of the large problem that Microsoft itself seems to be out of control and directionless. For years they were all about Windows, then they missed the Smartphone change, and since then they've gone 110% in on every trend as it arrives, only to cut it loose all at once and pivot to a new thing out of fear of missing the next big thing. For years they were all about cloud services, and the future of Xbox was cloud too. Now suddenly they're cutting everything across every division, even after just buying ABK, gaming gets cut too, and now 110% of everything is on AI and only on AI. Until it moves onto the next thing. I thought Nadella was a level headed leader with solid direction, but instead he seems to be a reactionary that panic-pivots into whatever direction everyone else is going in, at the cost of killing the birds in hand to go after the ones in the bush, and worse the whole company seems to be pulled in random directions by random leaders with new visions with every new investor meeting.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, the best thing that could happen to Xbox is to be spun off into a new company and split the stocks. Maybe that's what they're going to announce? It's big enough now, with ABK under it. Being under the Microsoft flavor of the month umbrella and getting jerked around in the industry to fill the space of whatever broader corporate maneuvering is going on to fulfill government contracts and tech speculator fortune seeking will never do it any favors in the entertainment industry. Being under Windows was Xbox's biggest problem under Matrick, and being under MS corporate is their biggest problem under Spencer. It's like when Kmart tried to get into grocery by appointing retail guys to run grocery. MS doesn't understand the entertainment business. They try to run it like it's a business tool. Sony, understands the entertainment business well....which is equally unfortunate for their customers as the entertainment business is a vile one.

@papafrezz81 I also moved from a PS4 last year, and bought a Series S. I don't regret my purchase as I've predominantly used Game Pass for my games which has given me access to some of the classics I missed out on. As long as I get to still play those games, I'm not really concerned what happens.

@theduckofdeath I think there will definitely be a next iteration of xbox, but that will be last, and you will see xbox forcibly steered towards becoming a publisher only, in the next few years or so, MS won't be happy that they have been continually last place generation after generation, I think game pass was its final attempt at doing so , and I feel that's not been the success Phil suggested to the board, that he thought it would be.

@Shushibda I don't get the emphasis on Xbox being last place (1-2-3). If another company makes a console, even a FAANG company, they will be in 4th place and stay there until they quit. Xbox is always going to be in third place. To what degree is the question. More realistically, Xbox could take the lead in NA next gen if they would stop doing stuff like what is rumored.

Xbox had their best run with 360 because they were aggressive and launch great hardware a year ahead of Sony. That not only gave them a install base boost & lead, but the third-party support that comes with it.

I'm dubious about the inclusion of Nintendo because they lost and sidestepped Sony to refocus on children. Sony and MS target the same demographic. Nintendo targets the base of the user age pyramid. To call it a pyramid is being generous — it maybe more like an upside-down wine glass.

@theduckofdeath spin it however you like , the big bosses at ms see there console sales in last place

@Shushibda Then they are tone deaf, as the internet says.

It is not "spin," it is the facts of the matter.

I think going forward, most xbox exclusives will be timed exclusives. 8 - 12 months or so. People will still want the xbox hardware to play those games on release. But xbox making money from PlayStation gamers buying xbox studios games just makes sense. I'm pretty sure xbox won't be agreeing to putting xbox studios games on ps+, so yeah, it's just good business really.

@NEStalgia I miss your verbal experiences. I’ll respond later but how have I missed it.

The time to really start worrying is if every single 1st-party Xbox game / franchise is ported to Playstation. That would then include Halo, Gears, Fable, Hellblade, Forza, Elder Scrolls 6 onwards, and along with the currently rumoured list. If Phil Sencer actually confirms this, then why would people get an Xbox. For Gamepass? If the rumour (mentioned earlier) of Gamepass not getting Day 1 release then what would the point - just indie and AA titles?
Playstation releases their 1st-party titles onto PC, so they're not technically exclusive either. At least their head of Playstation doesn't release their games onto Xbox.
Another thing, what was the point in buying all those major game studios / publishers and spending billions of dollars and then go 3rd party if true?

My thoughts are maybe Microsoft will turn all their games into 1 year exclusives on the xbox/pc and then go to Playstation. If this happens, they can buy even more studios for gamepass without getting tons of backlash.

I have a feeling what Microsoft wants to do is create their own applestore/steam with their gamepass/xbox namebrand. But to be able to actually compete with these two powerhouses, they will need lots and lots of developers under their control.

Consoles will not be around forever, honestly, I think there may be one more generation left after this. The future is digitial and those digital games will be able to played anywhere and on anything.

PC/Tablet/Phone/VR/TV/new type of tech

Consoles, sad to say it, will not make a whole lot of sense years down the road as they are locked mostly to just TV's.

@Ashadelo Regulators are not going to stand by while MS makes another large acquisition. They will hesitate to even a smaller studio right now. They need to get the current stable in order. There is little sense in acquiring more before stabilizing and integrating ABK.

Consoles will be around for another couple of generations, at least. They fill a gap and create a bridge to tens of millions of customers. I've had broadband in the northeast for 20+ years and there are still areas of America with shotty internet service. People want dedicated hardware at an affordable price.

To set the house on fire now is a colossal mistake. We don't have official word, but let's be real.

@theduckofdeath I understand what you are saying, but heres something to think about.

I live in China and over here almost EVERYONE games, young and old, consoles are not really a thing. But what is is PC/Phones and Tablets, yes you will every now and then see a switch on the subway, but it's very rare. It's not that anyone over here is against consoles, it's just that no one really uses a TV anymore...

Not denying all the rumours sounds like a confirmation to me... Maybe there is an inside fight between xbox and microsoft and Phil asked for a week to save what he can who knows... Imo the funs should keep this going crazy mood up so microsoft get the message that they have more to loose than gain with that move. After all all xbox games are on pc and cloud, pretty much almost anyone who wants to play them already does, they will loose more money with that move than they are planning on gaining...

It's funny, games are developed around computer hardware, not consoles. Emotion Engine, anyone?