FreasurePlanten

@Markatron84 But in this case they would be the same version/copy of the game regardless of where you play it, right?

Since this is back compat, does it mean that some of these games I bought on Xbox Series could be played on PC?

I know it's very unlikely, but I'd love for older Forza Horizon games to come back, if they sorted licensing.

@Fiendish-Beaver I think they're set to reveal the multiplayer component of E-Day by the end of the month!

I would have been excited if it supported Xbox Play Anywhere and they stopped requiring going through Ubisoft Connect. This being the case, I don't see much purpose

Are 360 games already playable on PC? Or any word on them coming over? I'm particularly excited about achievements coming to og Xbox games.

@Fiendish-Beaver I agree with everything you said. I'm just currently skeptical that Sony's live service side of the business will get much better, as many projects were duds or cancelled, and they seemed to be relying on Bungie's guidance... which is not ending up well. And given all the negativity I've been seeing around regarding next gen, I'm not sure they could take so many losses on live service games again, without having to branch out to other platforms. Of course, if the PS6 is a hybrid system, they might be able to make a more interesting case for a digital-only platform. It will for sure be interesting to see. I think the real test case for Xbox will be when Helix releases. I don't think many people are keen on investing in a Series console right now, when we know that Helix is coming in a year or two. So it will be then, I think, that we will see if Microsoft can bring players back to their ecosystem. I think that in that context it makes sense for them to have some exclusives again.

@Fiendish-Beaver I think they can have a halfway approach, sitting between not bringing any games to PS and other platforms, or bringing them all day and date. There will probably be a period of testing, and Forza Horizon 6 seems to be one of those experiments, and the other games that will be exclusive are also part of this experiment. Sony strategy for now seems clearer, but given that their live service strategy hasn't brought the results they wanted, and especially given the situation at Bungie, they might have to go back on putting games on PC. It will be interesting to see how things go. But I expect to see mixed messaging on exclusivity for a while, from both sides.

@Millionski I think their approach seems to be on having the biggest franchises and live service games like Minecraft and Candy Crush bear the burden of lower revenue that GamePass brings. Perhaps some other franchises will join CoD, or perhaps they give more incentives, like having more atractive features behind premium editions. They also seemed to be considering a customizable model where each one could choose what features they wanted. I myself find that including Fortnite stuff was a big mistake given that many people who play such games won't want to play much else.

@Millionski The amount of people who gave up entirely on their subscription with the price increase, or the amount of people going to lower tiers was very likely higher than they expected and even with higher costs, they probably weren't making enough revenue. Otherwise they wouldn't have decreased the price so soon after. Same with the increased price of games which they went back on.

I think this sentiment is due to the fact we're still in a transition period. I don't think many people would say that music, series or movies have been devalued by now being streaming and part of services. But there are music events and cinemas while struggling keep bringing a lot of revenue. Gaming is probably going to follow a similar procedure where a balance is struck. But I don't agree that being on Game Pass automatically devalues games.

@Balaam_ I was coming to comment exactly on this, the difference in metric used is telling

I hadn't even heard of either of these games, which is surprising given the number of players and how often I check on gaming news. I've been testing some f2p games on Xbox, and I might give them a look.

I have a Vita with a custom firmware installed, so I have to give this a go. This is why I love homebrew and fan-made content. Will it be a good experience to play many XCloud games on the Vita? Of course not, but being able to do it is satisfying enough.

@Henchdog Indeed! Vita's aftermarket life and homebrew scene are very active and worth getting into.

@kuu_nousee I agree, a Switch-like device might get me to get one, I have absolutely no need for a PS6 that would just be more beefed up. Helix might be interesting too if they indeed open up the platform for other storefronts and make it basically a PC.

@Banjo- I'm very curious about how they're going to name their portable system if it ends up being a thing. I guess it's technically the third PSP? But there never was a PSP 2. And if they want to emphasize it plays PS6 games on the go, they probably want to have the "6" somewhere in there. I imagine it will be something like PS6 Go or simply PS6P

@Seioni I do it on the Steam Deck and it's also pretty good. I'm close to the router, which is a factor for 5G networks, but I'd encourage people to check it out.

In broader terms, I still would like for hardware like consoles and handhelds to keep being a thing. Having almost all powerful parts concentrated on a few servers sounds risky both due to potential power imbalances between service providers and consumers, as well as worse consequences in accidents like fires and so on.

@HonestHick One of the problems with the current version of XCloud is that even though the architecture is based on Series X, they run the games on Series S profiles so as to maximize their server-side resources. I believe that's why games often look blurry on the service. Xbox Game Pass games are on GFN as well and it's a night and day difference. I even tried a very time sensitive game like Clair Obscur and it worked flawlessly.

@Coletrain Ah, yes, I agree with you. But in the eventuality where Xbox and PlayStation become like Amazon Luna sticks, I think they'd still want to keep all those subs they got over the years.

@Scrubchub If you end up giving Rebirth a chance, my advice is to try to balance things out on your own, and continue to later parts of the game even if you haven't fully explored an area at times. Rebirth is even more bloated than Remake Intergrade, especially with its absurd amount of minigames. But it's a great experience if you balance things out!

@Banjo- I got mine from a used games store I traded in some physical Switch and PS5 games in. It was valued for 193€ (without a controller as I had the Starfield limited edition one already), which for its condition and current market prices is a steal.

I still haven't beaten the classic FF titles. You're probably in for a treat with FF VI, from what I've heard. The music in all those games is just amazing as well.

@Coletrain I see your point, and I think I agree. But Sony and Microsoft will keep trying to have people subscribe to their services, so I don't think they'll offer cloud options for those with no sub. And given what happened with Stadia, I think people might be more interested in a subscription service as well. Streaming subscriptions in other media, like music and series/movies far outweight digital purchases on demand.

@Coletrain In my experience, GeForce Now works really well. I notice no latency and no compromises. Final Fantasy XVI is a game that thrives on graphical fidelity and for me it has worked even better through their service. So I think we might be there already, what isn't as good as it could be is internet stability, which causes occasional degradation of the experience. But it's been really rare for me.

@Banjo- I also got it on this sale! Looks pretty good even on Series S.

Amazing selection, and the information on whether it's the lowest price yet is super useful. Thanks!

Companies in the videogame business have been encouraged to take less risks and chase trends, with disastrous results. Perhaps the clearest example of that is PlayStation's investment into live service games when its core audience was trained to expect some of the best narrative-driven games from them.
Sometimes ot achieve a certain goal, it's best to not directly aim for it. There are many success stories that go in that direction: the growth of Poncle is a good example, the smashing success of Clair Obscur as well. Striving for quality instead of just chasing trends will help offset some of this, even if they focus only on their core franchises. Still, perhaps more worrisome than the price increases is the fact that they can't even make enough units because of AI.

This round of layoffs really sucks and my thoughts go out to everyone affected, and especially those that will be leaving and don't know yet. That's a terrible position to be in.
Having said that, I'm glad my conjecture that they had people working on idTech over at Machine Games turned out to be correct. I'm not convinced that this round of layoffs won't have any impact on their release cadence. They let go of veterans with decades of knowledge iterating on this engine after all. Still, it's reassuring to know that they will still maintain what is perhaps the best engine for shooters out there.

@awp69 Ah, okay. That makes sense. I had assumed it was part of the Extra catalogue. That explains it.

@awp69 I thought the way it worked is that they needed the license to be sorted for however much time it's going to be in the service. I've also heard of Sony stopping games from coming to other services while they're on PS Plus. If it is indeed a licensing issue, I'm guessing we may expect it to go off PS Plus soon, then.

That's weird, I just checked and the game is on PS Plus at the moment, so I'm guessing they sorted the licensing issues for that service?

If it's just slightly more expensive than the current Ally X, it might be worth considering.

@betterthings I wasn't aware that idSoftware had an HQ also in Frankfurt. Perhaps that's what they meant with idTech being worked on in multiple locations.

Even with the terrible news from this last week, I'm glad they're able to keep working on their games and engine. The engine is legendary for a reason, and Doom: the Dark Ages is for a sizeable amount of people the most technically advanced game from last year. Right now, I'm especially concerned about the morale when they know that a further 1600 jobs are gonna be sacked. I would be feeling very anxious if I was an employee there.

@MinervaX76 I think there's a chance that when they open up the platform for other storefronts, that they might do so also on the current iterations of the platform. It would be a good way of responding to the Steam Machine, making Windows much more viable. Ofc, if done right.

@MasterClank I really appreciate the menus and how fast you can find games and navigate through it.

I hope there will be a method that doesn't require an Xbox console with a disc drive. I got a used Xbox Series S for a very good price on Tuesday and such a method would make it even better

@betterthings To the point of my last comment, thank you for doing the journalists' job. They say there are people working on iD Tech in other locations, so maybe they pulled some people from, say, Machine Games to help with the engine's development?

I was taking these reports with a good amount of salt, and seems like it was the right decision. Ofc where there's smoke, there's fire, but a number of outlets (like PushSquare) should really be more cautious with how they present unverified information. Actually, part of journalists' jobs is to corroborate their information with multiple sources anyway...

I'm really hoping that FF XV will one day get added

If Xbox wanted an opportunity to get back at PlayStation and regain consumers' goodwill, this is it on a silver platter. They don't really have to do much, they can keep having a small retail space and even limit further what games get a release on disk. This could be a great marketing move together with the rumoured support for other PC storefronts, as they could spin all of it as giving players the freedom of choice on how to access their games.

@Fiendish-Beaver I might be misremembering, but I also think Asha Sharma said that they won't cancel (at least for now) any already announced projects. This report from Schreier lines up with that, as Obsidian, I believe, haven't announced their next projects yet.

I haven't seen Schreier's piece, but assuming all this is true, wouldn't it be more accurate to say the project has been put on ice or life support while they focus on something more profitable?

@CaptainCluck Yes, this. Xbox has to find a way to make Game Pass sustainable. I don't think they would just give up on it, especially as I imagine they have a number of users that play on Xbox without owning an Xbox.

@CaptainCluck I'm sure even the others are doing okay. They've been putting out some of Xbox's most unique projects. Both South of Midnight and Hellblade won several awards in what they were trying to accomplish. It should be okay for studios such as these to exist, that make smaller games and in turn find a more modest success. It's bonkers that they just announced a game from Ninja Theory and are nonetheless considering to shut them down only days after.

@CaptainCluck Is Double Fine a bad studio?

@FraserG and @Shinato2024 Thank you! I forgot that they have been doing this for the premium versions.

I haven't been following the news on this game much, but I thought the July date was the full launch and not Early Access. Do they have a roadmap of additions to come? Thanks!

@Fiendish-Beaver Ah, I'm sorry for misinterpreting you. I believe I agree with most things if not all things you said now. My own personal view is that in general a return of a focus on exclusives, especially now that component prices are going through the roof, is not a good thing for consumers. Really weird to see celebration on the part of some folks on Push Square, for instance, while also being distraught that Microsoft won't put games on their platform.
It makes sense to me in some way why Xbox fans want exclusives back: neither Nintendo nor Sony joined in bringing their games to other platforms, and that may devalue their Xbox (I personally don't have one, as I use Game Pass and Xcloud/GeForce Now to stream). But I think a future with much less focus on exclusives would have been a lot better for consumers.

@Fiendish-Beaver I think it's a very weird mentality to ask people to buy games they can already play using their subscription. I certainly don't judge you or others for doing so, but it comes off as weird that this is framed as "doing their part". It's on Microsoft to make sure their model is sustainable, not on consumers.
A factor also worth having into consideration is that typically only the base game is made available with Game Pass. And many of Xbox's games get expansions down the line. I'm very tempted to get the premium upgrade for Forza Horizon 6, for instance.
Also, we don't really have much data on how the numbers compare of people who have stacked their subscription and those who go month by month. Also, if people really did stack, it's not like that money disappears, it's just that they get more money on date X and not a regular but lower payment.
Finally, looking at the output of Xbox Game Studios, and how they perform on platforms like Steam and PS5, I don't think there's much to worry about: Xbox games continue to be among the best launched every year, so it doesn't seem they're cutting down all that much on features etc.

I thought it was the best presentation yet this not-E3 season. Persona 4 Revival looks amazing, and so does Spyro, Vivarium, Senua and many others. Presentation very tailored to my tastes. Even Halo: Campaign Evolved looked a lot more colourful and appealing this time around.