Grumblevolcano

@eduscxbox If Forza Motorsport does stay on track for Spring 2023 this'll be the shortest gap ever between a Forza Horizon expansion and a Forza Motorsport given FH5 Expansion 2 hasn't even been revealed yet.

@ParsnipHero "When is the next Xbox Direct?"

@Dezzy70 I think 2023 will look like:
1. Switch 2
2. PS5
3. Series X|S
4. Switch

Where 2-4 move up a place if Switch 2 doesn't release in 2023 but is announced in 2023.

I think if Nintendo doesn't announce a different game for NSO Expansion Pack (e.g. Mario Party 3) for January before the Xbox Direct then Goldeneye is likely to appear.

Goldeneye and FH5 Expansion 2 release dates would be the biggest hopes. I doubt the games they mentioned are the only ones in the Direct given that AoE 2 is still not available for preorder in the Xbox store.

@IOI I think it's best to be skeptical of the comment at the moment and if the Direct delivers then you know it's not overhyping.

So it was true in the end, at least they set expectations before the event that Starfield wouldn't be present.

@MaxC Forza Motorsport 7 was the first though all Forza games prior to Forza Horizon 4 were removed from the Microsoft Store 4 years after their launch so its removal from Game Pass in 2021 was to be expected.

Nintendo has the right idea, have 3 main Directs (1 in February, 1 in June, 1 in September) and each one's main focus is on the next 6 months with a few games outside that window. Meanwhile have single game Directs about a month before launch where suitable.

@mousieone It's more about setting expectations. If Starfield is having its own event and the game's still on track for releasing by June, it would make sense to announce the Starfield event before or during the more general event.

@MattWithoutFear The current release timings for those in the 1st half of 2023 release window are:

• Age of Empires 2 - January 31st 2023
• Ghostwire Tokyo - Sometime after March 25th 2023 (PS exclusivity is 1 year)
• Minecraft Legends - Spring 2023
• Forza Motorsport - Spring 2023
• Redfall - 1st half of 2023
• Starfield - 1st half of 2023
• ARA History Unbound - 1st half of 2023

So if nothing gets delayed, almost all of the games would be bunched together in April - June unless they released Starfield in March which I don't see happening.

Honestly, I see delays as more likely. Something like this for 2023:

• January - AoE 2
• February - FH5 Expansion 2
• March - Ghostwire Tokyo
• April - Minecraft Legends
• May - Redfall
• June - ARA History Untold
• July - Goldeneye
• August - AoE 4
• September - Forza Motorsport
• October - Hellblade 2 or an unannounced game
• November - Starfield

@mousieone If this event does end up existing it does lean more towards the Game Awards absence being because of this showcase rather than the FTC. The event wouldn't explain the absence of a 2nd half of December and 1st half of January Game Pass batch though.

The event rumour looks fake, having a Xbox event but not featuring Starfield at all seems like a big red flag. Anyone who has paid attention to Directs and State of Play knows that if a Xbox event happened and Starfield was completely absent then the post-event discussion would be dominated by its absence.

I think Silksong has the best chance out of the stuff coming to Xbox.

@mousieone The radio silence started the day the FTC made their move. Since then was no Game Awards announcements, no 2nd half of December Game Pass batch and currently no 1st half of January Game Pass batch with Stranded Deep and Mortal Shell being one-off additions.

There's 6 Xbox Game Studios games releasing in the 1st half of 2023 so there's more than enough for something XGS to have been shown at the Game Awards but nothing came.

So if the FTC making their move is why the radio silence since then has been happening then Microsoft may not want to participate in E3 2023 for the same reason.

@NEStalgia With Microsoft and Sony's announcement silence over the Activision acquisition, I could see E3 being cancelled. Ubisoft likely don't have enough for a showcase so will share between Summer Game Fest and Nintendo Direct, Square Enix would have much more but do something similar, Bethesda is owned by Microsoft and EA will probably be in shambles given how the FIFA license is gone. I don't see E3 going ahead if only Nintendo want to participate.

I think because of the Activision acquisition, Microsoft won't have an event. The silence on the Xbox front since the FTC made their move (e.g. absence at the Game Awards, no 2nd half of December Game Pass batch, approaching no 1st half of January Game Pass batch) doesn't seem like a coincidence.

@Sam_TSM The trailer showed no release window but it was announced in the June 2022 showcase that everything present would release within the next 12 months. So if everything stays on track, it'll release by June 2023.

@K1LLEGAL It's all about timing, the perfect example of bad timing is Metroid Prime Federation Force. The massive backlash came from the fact it wasn't Metroid Prime 4 or a 2D Metroid (Other M was received poorly and then the franchise disappeared for 5 years).

Fortunately announcement and release strategy meant Gears Tactics got to be seen just as a fantastic game rather than be plagued with "where's Gears 5?". However, the XGS lineup since the Series X|S launch (especially 2022) means non-traditional announcements nowadays won't get that luxury.

@IOI @teknium_ @Widey85 It's probably about the Activision acquisition, the beginning of the major silence (which started with the Game Awards no show) lines up with when the FTC made their move.

@BAMozzy We already have a January release confirmed, Age of Empires 2 for console on January 31st.

I would've chosen Goldeneye if it was in the list but as it wasn't, I went for Age of Empires.

@IOI I was being cautious not to predict too many delays out of the already confirmed release windows (that list was already predicting that Starfield and Forza Motorsport would be delayed out of the 1st half of 2023).

2023's lineup pretty much comes down to what extent you believe Microsoft will achieve the "12 month" goal they set for the June 2022 showcase. Minecraft Legends, Redfall, Starfield, Forza Motorsport and ARA History Untold were all in that showcase.

@Romans12 My guess for the 2023 lineup is:

• January - AoE 2 (console)
• February - FH5 Expansion 2
• March - Ghostwire Tokyo
• April - Minecraft Legends
• May - Redfall
• June - ARA History Untold
• July - Goldeneye
• August - AoE 4 (console)
• September - Forza Motorsport
• October - Hellblade 2 or an unannounced game
• November - Starfield

@Would_you_kindly Online multiplayer free for all games is the best option of course though the last time we thought they'd do that they tried to almost double the price of Gold instead. Seems pretty clear they're either going to keep Gold or replace it with that rumoured ad Game Pass tier of which Gold is a lot better.

Only if the replacement to Gold isn't that horrible rumoured ad Game Pass tier. I'd rather stick with Gold than get Game Pass.

Given what happened with Silent Hill, probably a safe guess that the long awaited announcement will be a PS5 exclusive remake of MGS1.

Hardware = C - Impressed by how well backwards compatibility works though I wish they didn't stop last year. As for the rest of the console, the Series X sticking with the XB1 OS makes it very clunky and if you have enough installed the problems of the XB1 start to resurface in the Series X like "[insert game] took too long to start". Switch is much faster going into a game despite being a lot less powerful.

Subscriptions = Overall D (Game Pass C, Gold F) - Xbox Live Gold has been a joke these past few years for the most part. I'm not a Game Pass subscriber but looking at the lineup I feel Game Pass has been a mixed bag. 2022 could've done with more bigger games but on the other hand if you fill it with lots of big games then fewer people will check out the indies. Finding the right balance is difficult.

Events/Showcases = F - Too much announcing stuff way too far in advance meanwhile the 2022 June Showcase which focused only on June 2022 - June 2023 was very underwhelming. Microsoft doing multiple smaller events throughout the year instead of 1 big one in June would be better.

Games = Overall D (3rd party B, 1st party F) - Have to give Microsoft some credit for being able to get more JRPGs on Xbox more recently that would usually skip Xbox like Persona 3/4/5, Crisis Core and Octopath. Sony is clearly blocking stuff so there's only so much that Microsoft can do. There was a good selection of 3rd party games as a whole but the 1st party side of things was dire. Especially a shame that Microsoft forced Halo Infinite to be released before it was ready because of anniversary celebrations and the holiday season.

Overall = E

Given Microsoft had no announcement presence at the Game Awards and Sony had little announcement presence at the Game Awards, it looks like 2023 will be another year of the main news about either being them trying to convince regulators how bad their upcoming lineup is to sway the Activision acquisition outcome in their respective favours.

It seems there isn't a 2nd half of December Game Pass batch after all.

Something else seems off about this, not just that they brought up a Sony IP (Bloodborne). Wasn't it already confirmed that Silent Hill 2 Remake was launching same day PS5 and PC with 1 year timed exclusivity? This isn't your FFVII Remake type deal where timed exclusivity means coming to PC later.

So it seems like either Microsoft's trying to mislead regulators or a more powerful Switch is going to reveal that Sony has been literally only blocking Xbox. FFVII Remake for example wouldn't be able to run natively on the current Switch but a more powerful Switch would be able to.

@GunValkyrian @Sebatrox I wonder whether it's just Xbox or Nintendo as well. A more powerful Switch existing would be an eye opener for Sony's exclusivity plans in general. With Square Enix, nowadays the only games that don't come to Switch are the ones that wouldn't be able to run natively on the Switch anyway.

@themightyant https://www.purexbox.com/news/2022/04/damning-report-takes-aim-at-xboxs-state-of-decay-3-studio

@themightyant I think there also needs to be more assurances on the staff side of things, especially given the reports on Undead Labs (an Xbox Game Studio) earlier in the year. Union neutrality is a good start but Microsoft need to do more to fix the horrific state of Activision like getting rid of Kotick and getting rid of the annual new CoD cycle. The expectation for Activision under Microsoft should be a massively better experience than Activision on its own, not just a slightly better experience that's accepted because of how dire things actually are.

Reducing the frequency of CoD would be challenging given how Sony would likely see it as CoD being taken away from Playstation (decreasing the frequency gradually until it's gone completely) but allowing the devs to work on something else and with less pressure would naturally be a good thing.

5/10, the content is getting there but the game is a lot more unstable. I think Infinite should've been an ODST style release where the focus is the campaign and the box includes the full MCC/Halo 5 so those who want multiplayer have something.

There were some good picks (mostly 360/OG Xbox) but overall Games With Gold was a big disappointment this year.

@themightyant Pretty sure the timed exclusivity on FFXVI which ends on December 31st 2023 will be about PC later just like FFVII Remake. Such as: June 2023 (PS5) -> January 2024 (Epic Game Store) -> July 2024 (Steam)

@themightyant @NEStalgia Some of Sony's acquisitions like Insomniac and Housemarque have been about protecting studios that develop Playstation exclusives from being acquired by others. Mainline Final Fantasy seems to be heading in the direction where ports and remasters are multiplatform meanwhile remakes and new games are permanently Playstation console exclusive.

@Tharsman Most Square Enix games come to Switch nowadays, for example this year alone these came to Switch:

• Kingdom Hearts cloud versions (hopefully native versions come when Nintendo gets more powerful hardware)
• Voice of Cards The Forsaken Maiden
• Triangle Strategy (Switch exclusive)
• Chocobo GP (Switch exclusive)
• Chrono Cross
• The Centennial Case
• Live a Live remake (Switch exclusive)
• Various Daylife
• The DioField Chronicle
• Life is Strange Arcadia Bay Collection
• Nier Automata
• Harvestella (Switch exclusive)
• Tactics Ogre Reborn
• Romancing Saga Minstrel Song Remastered
• Dragon Quest Treasures (Switch exclusive)
• Crisis Core Reunion

Nowadays if a Square Enix game doesn't come to Switch, the vast majority of the time it's a Playstation exclusive. There are exceptions like both PS and Xbox got Stranger of Paradise and Star Ocean this year but it's less common.

@themightyant It'll have a domino effect like if the deal goes through then Sony will be allowed to acquire Square Enix which will hurt Nintendo a lot more than Microsoft's CoD deal will help (CoD is pretty much a no-name in the Nintendo space compared to Square Enix JRPGs). Microsoft have already said Activision isn't the end of acquisitions so it just basically confirms that Microsoft will only stop with acquisitions when forced to by regulators.

I think Microsoft did well with Inside Xbox and X0 pre-pandemic (2018/2019) in terms of style but usually didn't have the content to support it. If 2023 is a strong lineup for Xbox, a return to multiple announcement events per year would work very well.

@Green-Bandit There's still FH5 Expansion 2 in the mix, I really doubt Motorsport is releasing before that and we know expansion 2 isn't releasing until February at the earliest given both the December and January Series have already been detailed. Also the E3 trailer said Spring 2023 for Motorsport.

@BAMozzy Microsoft started all this CoD exclusivity stuff in the 360 era, every CoD from MW2 to Advanced Warfare had all its DLC 1 month exclusive to Xbox. It's very clear that at the very least there'll be some kind of Game Pass exclusive perks similar to the monthly Halo Infinite drops if the deal goes through.

@Kaloudz It said December 31st 2023, pretty much 6 months timed exclusivity but don't forget that a similar thing happened with FF7 Remake (Intergrade had 6 months exclusivity followed by 6 months Epic Game Store exclusivity, followed by Steam release and still no sign of Xbox release).

@Tharsman Probably remasters of the 360 games. While Alan Wake Remastered is a big mess on the Switch (isn't it a mess on all platforms?), most of the 360 games brought to Switch run well.

I think on the Xbox specific side we'll see a Redfall trailer with release date (hence the early announcement of $70 releases going forward), Goldeneye shadow drop (December doesn't have a NSO Expansion Pack game so Goldeneye would fit in) and some Game Pass ads.

No thanks, I'll wait for the inevitable sale. Microsoft should receive the same level of criticism that Sony got over the past 2 years.

@Green-Bandit I wasn't suggesting that CoD would leave PS as such, rather that no platform gets new CoD games outside of the ones already in development for awhile because Microsoft decides to make Warzone 2 the CoD platform like how there's no more Halo games until 2031 because Infinite is lasting for 10 years.

@Green-Bandit A time period doesn't give an indication of quantity. For example if you look at Halo in 10 year time periods you have the following.

• Decade 1 (November 15th 2001 - November 14th 2011): Halo CE (2001), Halo 2 (2004), Halo 3 (2007), Halo Wars (2009), Halo 3 ODST (2009), Halo Reach (2010)
• Decade 2 (November 15th 2011 - November 14th 2021): Halo CE Anniversary (2011), Halo 4 (2012), Halo Spartan Assault (2013), Master Chief Collection (2014), Halo Spartan Strike (2015), Halo 5 (2015), Halo Wars Definitive Edition (2016/2017), Halo Wars 2 (2017)
• Decade 3 (November 15th 2021 - November 14th 2031): Halo Infinite (2021)

So Sony could deduce that CoD under Microsoft is Warzone 2 being supported for a decade meanwhile the only new CoD ends up being the remaining one covered by the existing marketing exclusivity deal. Microsoft would still be keeping their word but Sony would be a lot worse off.

@NEStalgia Disagree, releasing a game when it's not ready just because of a console launch is bad. That said, delaying Series X|S launch to holiday 2022 would've worked though as almost everything released for Xbox since November 2020 has been crossgen.

I hope Microsoft have learned their lesson with Halo Infinite (that really should've been the big holiday 2022 title) and delay Starfield further if it needs more time.