Grumblevolcano

Doesn't need a remaster, MCC does the job well. A PC/console port of Fireteam Raven, a console port of Spartan Strike and a PC release of Halo 5 + Halo Wars 2 on Steam would be of more use.

If Microsoft does go fully multiplatform, a MCC port for PS5/Switch would be a lot more useful than a Halo 3 remaster. Take advantage of the opportunity to add in the rest of the Halo Online maps to MCC.

The one thing that really seems off about all the everything going multiplatform rumours is there's still only 2 rumoured ports to Nintendo hardware. No mention about other Switch ports outside the original Hi-Fi Rush/Sea of Thieves rumour or even stuff for the Switch's successor.

Surely if you wanted to do a proper full multiplatform strategy, you'd port a load stuff to Nintendo hardware especially as the Switch is going to become the best selling console of all time in about a year.

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.

Given the whole situation about GAME stopping trade-ins on February 16th, I think the official announcement of the new Xbox strategy was going to happen on that day or shortly afterwards.

I'd guess GAME chose to ditch trade-ins on that day to prevent ending up with a load of preowned Series X|S stuff that they couldn't sell. Whether Microsoft announces the new strategy earlier now that the rumours are out there is another question though.

@GuyinPA75 I think it would take a massive scale outage like the one that happened during Christmas 2014 for the "all digital" crowd to realize that digital being the only option is very bad.

@K1LLEGAL I think timing was the Developer Direct's biggest weak point. They did a January event to showcase a May game, a Summer game and 3 games releasing right at the end of the year making the event itself seem unnecessary (do something closer to launch instead).

Compare that to the State of Play which while it did have further out games (e.g. Death Stranding 2 releasing in 2025), it featured a large amount of games that were releasing by the end of April:

• Silent Hill The Short Message - January 31st
• Foamstars - February 6th
• Helldivers 2 - February 8th
• Legendary Tales (PSVR2) - February 8th
• FFVII Rebirth - February 29th (announcement of a State of Play on February 6th)
• Rise of the Ronin - March 22nd
• Dragon's Dogma 2 - March 22nd
• Stellar Blade - April 26th
• Dave the Diver - April

It seems rather clear that this is the beginning of the digital only future for Xbox that was leaked back in September.

C, they had a decent showing but with May being the earliest release and everything else being 2nd half (mostly September - December), it would've been better if this event was done a few months later with them adding in the Fallout 4 remaster as a shadow drop.

@FarmDog08 @Kaloudz Would be odd having a PC exclusive be your major Q1 release. Don't get me wrong, the timings sound about right if Hellblade 2 does release in May but I do think Xbox consoles will get something in Q1.

I think there'll be 1 of 3 outcomes:
1. It gets announced for Switch 2 and Xbox follows after the event that announces it for Switch 2 (like the original FF7 announced for Switch in September 2018)
2. It gets announced for Switch 2 but no sign of Xbox release meaning Phil Spencer wasn't lying to regulators about Xbox exclusion deals
3. It doesn't get announced for either and stays a PS console exclusive forever

Option 2 feels the most likely.

I think South of Midnight is going to be a shadow drop in the Direct, the game now has a Xbox store listing.

https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/south-of-midnight/9njcvgs6t30k

I think ARA, Hellblade 2 and Avowed will get release dates and all release by the end of June. Then Indiana Jones being just "2024" with a release date given in the summer showcase.

Also I absolutely think there'll be a shadow drop as that's an essential part of Directs.

Yes, I do think they'll stop making consoles. It's feeling like Microsoft are purposely trying to push people away from Xbox consoles so that when they do pull the plug, there's less of a backlash. So like a similar path to what they're doing with Microsoft Rewards, with that they're nerfing rewards to the point people won't care about it when they shut it down. The dashboard prioritizing ads over being able to access the games you want to play also pushes people away.

The release timings of the 2023 Developer Direct were:

• Hi-Fi Rush - January (shadow drop)
• Minecraft Legends - April
• Redfall - May
• ESO - June
• Forza Motorsport - October (release date announced in the June showcase)

The focus was massively on the 1st half of 2023 so I'd guess they have a similar setup this time. Maybe all except Indiana Jones releases in the 1st half of 2024.

@themightyant It could be like last year, the app said that DioField Chronicle and the Street Fighter 30th anniversary collection was coming in January and neither came to Game Pass at all.

I think the Game Awards said it all to be honest. The only XGS stuff present was Blade with no release window and Hellblade 2 with the same release window that was present back in June meaning that 2024 is completely unknown in terms of specifics.

Before the existence of Xbox Developer Directs, Microsoft used the Game Awards to set the stage for the lineup early on in the following year if there was anything coming (e.g. Game Awards 2019 had Ori for March 2020 and Gears Tactics PC for April 2020, Game Awards 2016 had Halo Wars 2 for February 2017).

Which pretty much suggests either there's a Developer Direct incoming or early this year is a barren wasteland for XGS.

Definitely when the CMA initially blocked the Activision acquisition back in April. Although short lived due to the UK government intervening, it was nice that some regulators actually cared about protecting gaming from being another monopoly situation like what Windows is for PC.

I'd guess either 2024 (FH5 was a 3 year cycle game) or whenever FH4 gets delisted (FH3, FH4 and FH5 took into account the delistings of FH1, FH2 and FH3 respectively).

@Feffster The acquisition is the likely cause of the penny-pinching.

I think it's because who knows what Xbox will look like by the time the game releases. "Just begun development" gives the impression of a holiday 2028 release at the earliest. So that brings in questions due to the September Xbox leaks like will Game Pass growth be enough for Xbox to be allowed to exist beyond 2027?

I'd guess early XB1 era games like Dead Rising 3 and Sunset Overdrive.

For those expecting Activision games on Game Pass to be announced here, don't forget that the FTC are still fighting Microsoft.

I think the only way we'll end up with a new game in the franchise is if Microsoft sells Rare to Nintendo.

Can't tell whether this is just normal holiday sales or a sign Microsoft is trying to get rid of stock fast to make room for the "adorably all digital" Xbox future that was leaked back in September being officially announced at the Game Awards. Hopefully it's the former.

Translation: Only reveal facts and figures when they show a positive outlook.

If console sales were impressive they'd brag about it, same with Game Pass subscriber numbers.

@Widey85 It felt more like a domino effect to be honest which started with the Halo Infinite disaster when the full launch happened in December 2021. The November 2021 beta was fun for a beta and there was a lot of hype surrounding it but when it turned out the beta was the final product, that's when things started to go wrong.

Halo Infinite disaster -> 2022 game drought -> Redfall disaster -> Starfield being just average -> Forza Motorsport disaster

@rustyduck There are actually rumours swirling around that Windows 12 is a subscription service.

I think it'll be sometime in the time window of January - March 2024 and that'll be Xbox's big game for the time window.

It's got to be Gollum and Rise of Kong for Game Pass

What I'm hoping for from XGS would be the announcement of that long rumoured Gears collection. The franchise has pretty much completely disappeared, 360 is on its way out (store is gone in July 2024, several games' online servers have been or are being shut down) and Gears 2/3/Judgment are still missing from PC. Though I get the feeling that collection rumour was fake.

What I think will happen is only updates on MW3 and Diablo 4 (Geoff's events always seems to have Activision stuff present) alongside your typical Game Pass ads that have no new info. December will probably be quiet like last year and then they do another Developer Direct in January.

I'd say the 1st party lineup of the first 3 years of XB1 was a lot better than the 1st party lineup of the first 3 years of Series X|S.

I wonder what happened to Gears, it's been a long time since anything's happened with the franchise. Is The Coalition a UE5 support studio now?

I think they'll just do the normal November 28th announcement for December Game Pass games and that's it outside of maybe BG3 given announcement of announcement of Xbox version at the Game Awards has already been made.

With all signs pointing towards GTA6 being at the Game Awards which would steal the spotlight, it feels more likely that the platform holders will save reveals that may have normally fitted in the Game Awards for their own events instead.

Games With Gold was rough in more recent years but it was better than the mess that is Game Pass Core.

The removal of Games With Gold also means that if you're a Game Pass Ultimate member, you're basically spending more money to subscribe to a service which has less content (the Game Pass Core games are already in Ultimate but lots of times the Gold games weren't).

While I think it's too early in the year to judge, I'd rank it D so far. This year seems to be a showcase of Microsoft's greed (greed being increasingly present as the year went on) but I have to give some credit to that short time period in January where they had the Developer Direct + Hi-Fi Rush + Goldeneye 007 + AoE 2.

While the FTC round 1 and CMA sadly lost (the Activision acquisition being blocked would've been fantastic for gaming as a whole), I still appreciate their efforts in trying to stop Microsoft. A lot of info came out of stuff like during the FTC trial and Microsoft wouldn't have accidentally done that Xbox leak if there wasn't a FTC round 2.

@Maddie47 Just Dance already has changed from the annual new game model (last year's game was the final entry in the franchise). Just Dance 2024 is an expansion for Just Dance 2023 rather than a new game. If you get the physical version it's just a code in a box for the expansion.

@InvaderFromSpace Ara isn't coming to console though, if they're to go in that direction (big game of the quarter doesn't have to be a Xbox console release) they'd be more likely to count CoD Warzone Mobile as their big Q1 release.

Weird to showcase this in the sphere if it's not the next big release.

Given Microsoft's moves during and after the Activision acquisition saga, it's pretty obvious that this is a cost cutting measure and they will use the AI partnership to layoff more people which is a disgusting move.

@Rmg0731 Yeah, I think what we're going to see is Octopath 2 flops on Xbox because it's not on Game Pass and FFXIV Xbox players stop playing after they've used up the free trial. That kind of situation repeats resulting in relations souring.

Not related to Forza Motorsport but still Forza, it was revealed that Forza Horizon 5 is getting microtransactions:

https://forums.forza.net/t/autoshow-car-vouchers-in-fh5/648679

Given the timing, this is no doubt a result of the Activision acquisition. Phil Spencer probably put extra pressure on all XGS to make up for the profit lost by putting CoD on Game Pass.

The 1st comment sounds like a threat like "put Game Pass on your systems or never see CoD ever again because we're leaving gaming behind".

The 2nd comment makes me think the next 2 years are probably this (calendar quarters, not fiscal year quarters):

• Q1 2024 - Hellblade 2 (the sphere marketing had this but not Avowed)
• Q2 2024 - Avowed
• Q3 2024 - FH6
• Q4 2024 - CoD 2024
• Q1 2025 - Indiana Jones
• Q2 2025 - State of Decay 3
• Q3 2025 - Fable
• Q4 2025 - CoD 2025

Wouldn't be surprised at this rate if within a few years because of the Activision acquisition being approved, the Xbox experience becomes like those mobile games where you have to watch a long, unskippable video ad to do anything.

Turn on the console -> watch a long video ad to get to the dashboard -> select a game -> watch another long video ad before it starts loading -> load your save file if a single player game -> watch another long video ad to get into the game -> you die ingame -> watch yet another long video ad to reload the last checkpoint or save -> process repeats throughout your whole gameplay session

@OldGamer999 FM4 was before FH existed (FM4 was 2011, FH1 was 2012). It just seems to be part of the general trend that Xbox 1st party releases were of higher quality pre-XB1.

It's a shame licensing complicates things so much because Forza's best outcome would be bringing back the old games. Like FM3 and 4 are considered the best Forza Motorsport games by far.

@InterceptorAlpha It's believable as it's the only Forza Motorsport that's been day 1 on Game Pass but day 1 player count is a rather meaningless figure for subscription models (you can just download the game, play for a small amount of time and then decide to just not play again), retention rate has a lot more meaning.

I'd say it's a weak lineup, especially as Forza Motorsport is a mess.

That Game Pass growth remains stagnant to teach Microsoft a lesson that they should put more resources into studios they own rather than constant acquisitions.

Imagine an alternate reality where Microsoft didn't acquire Bethesda or Activision but put resources into their existing studios and Halo returned to being more popular than CoD like in the 2000s.

It's sad that the UK government intervened and forced the CMA to approve the acquisition. At least the CMA and FTC were able to reveal the truth about Xbox, something that would not have happened if the CMA caved in and approved the acquisition back in April.