@fatpunkslim @TrollOfWar Using that headline as a metric is disingenuous since Helldivers 2 is pretty much the only exception to the rule as it’s the only game that has sold more on PC than PS5 with nearly 2/3 of its total sales being on PC, it’s even stated on the article itself that’s an anomaly due to Helldivers 2.
There’s also Spider-Man 2 that sold +16M on PS5 and 0.7M (700K) on PC, and pretty much every single-player game follows a similar ratio or worse, sales have been a flop even if Sony will never word it that way, again, you don’t like to hear it but you’re coping because you were already assuming and even bragging for something that was never a certainty.
@fatpunkslim Lmao revenue from PC amounts to 2% of their total revenue, it’s absolutely minuscule compared to their console business hence why they’re quickly moving away from it.
The truth you don’t want to hear is that you’re heavily coping as you’ve been already bragging about having PS games on the next Xbox for a while, realistically speaking no one will choose to buy the next Xbox over the PS6 because it has some PS4/PS5 ports that at that point will be more than half a decade old, and that’s even assuming the next Xbox does launch and does fulfill the promise of having third-party stores.
This should be the time to stop talking and actually deliver to the fans, as I said before, it’s fair to give her a chance, but she’s already making the same mistakes trying to build a parasocial relationship with Xbox content creators (same people who have flip-flopped cheering on Xbox exclusives and then cheering on a multiplatform strategy) and making vague promises as “the return to Xbox” when no one even knows what that means, some assume it’s back to exclusives but that’s nearly impossible to revert, so what exactly is her plan? And more importantly, if she doesn’t have it, which is perfectly understandable since she’s been days in the job, maybe stop talking until you do.
It’s waaaay to late to be reversing course at this point, doing so would put Xbox in an even more pathetic position and with little to no difference as damage to the brand is already done.
Not great, not terrible either. As I said on Push Square, I found it too slow and it quickly got boring for my particular taste even if I found it visually impressive, certainly wouldn’t spend $40 in this when many other multiplayer games are just waaaaay more fun.
Sarah Bond’s absence pretty much confirmed The Verge’s report.
I’ve said multiple times I’m particularly not optimistic for Xbox’ future, but I think people are being too brutal with Sharma, yes she’s not a gamer but she doesn't have to be one to be successful in her work, I’m willing to give her a chance and so far she’s been saying all the good things, let’s only hope her actions follow suit.
Can’t they just shut up spitting lies? Their actions the last couple of years have been pretty opposite to their words, so what about just shutting up?
The one guy who least deserved to remain part of Xbox was the one who even got a promotion…
Many people over the years have roasted Phil Spencer for not having a strong first-party lineup, while the main responsible for this is precisely Matt Booty, he was the one responsible to manage Xbox Game Studios since 2018 and later on also Zenimax and Activision Blizzard, and just how many games have been axed, studios closed or games underperformed with players? Almost all of them since he’s in charge.
I can’t point to a single one good thing he’s done for the brand, in fact I just remembered, didn’t he say that MS would “spend Sony out of business” in some leaked emails?
Perhaps the most surprising aspect of today’s news, either she also disagrees with where Microsoft is taking Xbox and decided to leave her name out of it, or Satya gave her expected position to an AI head and she disagreed and left. Interesting that with her leaving there’s no “head of Xbox” anymore, only a CEO and CCO of Microsoft Gaming.
Either way it’s weird as it was very public that she was essentially Phil’s successor, might have not contributed as much as Phil to Xbox but still I also wish her the best of luck.
I really don’t want to say anything mean but her profile is a huge red flag for what is to come.
I’m open to be proven otherwise and I sincerely hope for everything to turn out great but I’d be lying if I said I’m confident for the future of Xbox, what a sad couple of days, as I said yesterday, it’s such a brutal time to be a console fan.
I understand if some people were left with a bad image of Phil, but we just can’t remain oblivious to what he did for the brand:
He literally saved Xbox back in 2014, Satya was just about to close the Xbox division and Phil Spencer convinced him otherwise.
Gave Xbox One a chance by removing all controversial “features” Mattrick pursued including Kinect and price pairing with PS4, otherwise it wouldn’t have sold half of what it did.
Hardware under him was legitimately impressive, One S was a good redesign, One X an amazing console and both Series consoles are excellent hardware-wise.
Brought back backwards compatibility with 360 when it was a dead project at Microsoft (probably my favorite moment of him on stage).
He built multiple partnerships with third-party developers and basically brought indies to Xbox.
Game Pass was such a good deal for a long time until last year, and as customers we were greatly benefited from it for a long time even if now it’s not worth it anymore.
He had the initiative to own studios and produce first-party content, however between the pandemic and Microsoft’s own pressures, it could never get fleshed out the way he wanted.
Cross-platform efforts were commendable to say the least, he pushed Play Anywhere, advocated publicly for cross-play with PC and other competing console (even when they didn’t wanted or wanted to charge for it ahem Sony).
It wasn’t perfect but I’m damn certain that if he hadn’t become head of Xbox back in 2013 we wouldn’t have an Xbox at all nowadays, and if you resent him for launching Xbox games on PS5 that’s simply not on him, it’s on Amy Hood and Satya Nadella, and it’s the way Microsoft is moving forward with the brand whether we like it or not (I don’t).
@Cakefish You either die (leave) as a hero, or live long enough to be the villain.
I have a feeling that whatever slop Microsoft has in store both Phil and Sarah just said they don’t want their name tied to it, I completely understand and respect the decision, you can see his enthusiasm dwindle ever since that “only 4 games” podcast.
I honestly feel this as sad news, and I know I’ve been very critical of Xbox as of late but it’s my understanding that recent pivots and decision making are coming from the very top of Microsoft, not Phil Spencer or anyone at Xbox for the matter.
I do believe that uncle Phil tried his best, and that he actually cared for the brand and its fans, sure he made mistakes of his own along the way (even someone as legendary as Iwata did) but you could feel his enthusiasm specially in the early days, I do wish him the best and thank him for the many good things he did for the brand.
However, with Phil and Sarah gone I think this officially marks the end of the transition period from the Xbox we knew and loved to a fully fledged Microsoft Gaming, I’m not saying that they’ll rebrand, stop making games or anything like that but clearly Microsoft has taken absolute control of the division and we see how their vision is based on AI, subscriptions and cloud instead of empowering its platform with exclusive games and building communities, that vision is truly gone now, and we can only wait to see how Microsoft’s vision for Xbox shapes out, if I’m being honest I personally have no optimism left whatsoever for Nadella’s Microsoft, but he won’t be CEO forever (right?).
What a bafflingly stupid absurd situation, they literally bought to studio to make a live service game no one wanted, cancel it and proceed to close the studio.
Man what a terrible time to be a console fan, it’s disappointment after disappointment.
@Runex2121 So now a $1,200 device is worth that for cloud streaming? LMAO such a disingenuous take, you might as well use your phone and a $50 controller to have the same experience.
So $1,200 for a device that has beta software, can’t run Xbox games, and even has widespread hardware issues, I’ve read multiple reports of people claiming the Rog Xbox Ally died on them, even Asus themselves have said any repair or warranty claim will take longer than usual as they have “high repair volume”.
Just for context you can get BOTH a PS5 Pro and a Switch 2 or Steam Deck for that exact price.
@FraserG Yeah but they now seem to be doing them on a 3-month basis or whenever something major breaks, and I wouldn’t care that much about updating if the OS was actually stable but it’s far from it, literally it felt more reliable and snappy at launch than 5 years later, plus many features they promised they’d overhaul such as captures or achievements just never happened.
Been saying for months that the console OS feels borderline abandoned, my Series X was so smooth at launch but nowadays it lags terribly just by scrolling the dashboard and I’ve had increasingly more bugs and crashes on my console, we used to get monthly updates for bug squashing and performance improvements since the Xbox One days, now it seems no one cares.
The way this is looking the Series X will be the last Xbox I own, at least I’m happy to have gotten the Halo special edition console, one of the best looking consoles Xbox ever did if not the best.
At $30/month it won’t “expand” any time soon, merging PC Game Pass and Premium reeks of removing day one games from the PC tier and to be honest GP Premium is not worth it, I’d even say that the game selection of PS+ Extra is better and I still find it too expensive also, currently I’d only recommend any gaming sub to someone who just got a console and doesn’t have an owned library or the Essential tier if you just want to play online.
That 30% profit target could be the worst decision Microslop has ever made on the gaming side, and that’s a lot considering all that’s happened with the RROD, the Xbox One launch and even the recent multiplatform pivot.
If enforced it will end up killing most studios within Xbox, Bethesda, and Activision as it’s basically unachievable, not even Sony or Nintendo manage to have that profit margin for all of their games having bigger franchises and tighter budgets, expecting that from a game from Double Fine, Compulsion, Obsidian, is just moronic, I could bet not even Gears E-Day or Fable will hit that target, the pivots and bad decisions literally won’t stop from the last couple of years, and yet some still want to think MS is playing some kind of 4D chess.
I would agree on a 2028-2029 timeline, but as many have said it here already, the more time it passes it’s more likely for that device to be canned, the Series X|S are practically abandoned, revenue from Xbox hardware has steadily been dropping ~30% every quarter over the last couple of years, at this point it’s minimal and only shrinking further, it only takes one MS exec to point out how much money it’s being poured into the R&D for this device and compare it to the revenue coming from hardware sales for everything to fall apart, I frankly don’t think we’ll get there when every quarter seems to be a bloodbath for Xbox.
@Millionski Yeah and I find it specially frustrating that this generation Xbox really had a chance to compete just like in the 360 days or even exceed it as Sony has had a weaker PS5 generation compared to any previous one, but they just fumbled it time after time.
If this device ends up being just a fancy PC with all of Windows’ bloatware, which is looking increasingly likely, I will keep my Halo Series X for all my legacy library and just keep using a PS5/ PS6 as my main gaming device, I have zero interest in dealing with everything that comes with PC Gaming and Windows.
@eduscxbox That market already exists with the handheld PCs and those go for around $600-$1000 from different manufacturers, how much you think a high-performance desktop sold at profit would go for? $1,200? $1,500? $2,000?
The economics simply don’t work for that device to be below $1000 no matter the competition between manufacturers, and another aspect of it is actually to convince them to spend R&D into developing a niche device that only a few people will buy.
@eduscxbox One important note, those devs that want to develop for PC are interested in selling on Steam, not the Microsoft Store, I can bet right now that even if the PC Xbox ends up being real many games will only release on Steam, not the MS Store and the ones that do will sell vastly better on Steam, which also poses the question of how will MS profit from that device if most users get their games from other storefronts, unless they price it around $1,500.
Also, it’s just disingenuous to say it doesn’t matter that most devs want to skip Xbox and develop for PC, again, if the next Xbox ends up being real but the games are not optimized for it then it’s going to be a sh*tshow with performance even if the specs are good, and as a console user I’d hate having to tinker with a game just to be able to run it, so yes even if the next console is a PC we still NEED devs to be interested in it and optimize their games for it.
This is exactly the thing I feared ever since the “only 4 games” were announced, it’s a slow spiral of death that becomes unstoppable once developers stop caring about the platform and we’re at that point already, with many games just choosing to skip the platform altogether which will only result in shrinking user base and in turn more games skipping the platform, yet I remember I was insulted incessantly on Xbox forums by warning this and here we are.
@Fiendish-Beaver Agreed with everything you said, I had the same realization since 2024 and I even stopped buying games altogether for Xbox and been using the PS5 Pro as my main console mainly because all this uncertainty, being an ex-user of Windows Phone I know how bad Microslop can manage a brand and they’ve followed every single bad step possible with Xbox.
I completely see a scenario where what you say end up happening, because it has already happened, I remember how Lumia phones were abruptly killed that even engineers from Nokia (merged into MS) found out about the hardware shutdown the same day as the press and the rest of the world, and those sold more units in a more important market back then than Xbox consoles nowadays, with every quarter that goes by without that device being shipped and ready to sell the chances of it never seeing the light of day increases dramatically, it really only takes for Satya or any other AI-crazed suits to see all the money poured into hardware R&D and the abysmal revenue from hardware sales to scrap everything in a snap.
@OldGamer999 Yeah I agree, so much uncertainty around it has pushed me personally to currently buy every game on PS5 Pro, I don’t care about Play Anywhere as I really don’t want to migrate to a full Windows PC experience as I have tried twice and just end up very frustrated with it, which is why I have lots and lots of questions for this Xbox/PC device, if it ends up being just another Windows PC with an Xbox logo and requires the same amount of tinkering as any other PC (just as the Rog Xbox Ally) I’m out, I’d rather keep my Series X for its legacy library same as I did for the 360 or still do with my PS3 than dealing with Windows 11 bloatware.
The only way I’d consider moving into PC would be with steamOS whether in a Steam machine or I build a PC of my own with Linux but for the time being it’s just simpler to keep investing on my PS5 Pro, and I might keep it as my main gaming device, after all it’s currently the only one getting all games (as not even PC will get GTA 6 day one).
@fatpunkslim Lmao how can you say it’s too expensive and recommend waiting for the next Xbox when we don’t even know the price or launch window for NEITHER of them?
We also don’t know the actual features of that Xbox/PC device, how will it run the console library, performance levels, how much of that performance will be eaten up by the bloatware of Windows 11, how much tinkering you’ll have to do to play, the price, if it’ll be available globally or even going to launch at all, at least with Steam you know you’re getting into a solid platform unlike Microslop’s Windows and Xbox PC app.
Honestly, even having a Series X I will get it for PS5 Pro (on disc if possible) as I will for every other MS Gaming titles, even Forza Horizon 6 and Gears E-Day whenever they launch, I have no interest at all in Play Anywhere or Windows PC Gaming nor Game Pass Ultimate at $30/month.
@fatpunkslim It’s commendable you still have some faith on the Xbox of old but that quote probably means PC exclusive games, beta or early access releases, and further on when they stop releasing new titles on Series X|S consoles, he also literally said the games weren’t ready because the strategy shifted, which might also be the case for Gears E-Day, but after Fable being confirmed for PS5 day one and Forza dev saying on the Direct “it’ll release on PS5 as soon as it’s ready” do you really still hope something like the next Halo or any 2028 big tentpoles and on will be given some type of Xbox exclusivity? That age is really over.
Basically what many comments here have been saying, the games releasing first on Xbox do so just because the ports weren’t ready yet as the multi-platform pivot was very abrupt even on their internal teams.
For me it’s crystal clear that “consistency” is about releasing in all platforms at the same time, yet some still cling to the idea of “case by case” basis, that’s over.
It managed to be a very successful franchise for 25 years without releasing elsewhere, ironically the peak of the series was back when it truly was an Xbox exclusive and didn’t release in PC, I really doubt that releasing on other platforms will revitalize the saga, after failing for more than a decade I don’t even know if there’s something to save.
It’s a nice feature for the very niche audience that has both an Xbox console and a capable PC (and endures using the subpar Xbox PC app), but lets not kid ourselves by citing 3 tweets as a major trend making lots of gamers buying games on the Microslop Store, that just ain’t happening…
@ILuvGames What’s so hard to understand about time being the biggest factor? I personally have time to finish 2 or 3 ~20h games every month, what’s the point of paying to have 400 games available if I can only play 3 max every month?
I’d rather play 3 games from my backlog and/or buy $30 worth of games, get to keep them forever and build a long-term library opposed to renting games out hoping the corporate overlords don’t increase the price yet again, same thing with the $70 launch games, sure they don’t come cheap but now they’re worth just a bit more than 2 months of a subscription I’ll not fully utilize, I find it waaaay more justifiable to pay upfront for a game I really want to play and knowing I don’t have a time limit to fully enjoy it and replay it whenever I want, if it isn’t a must play just wait a couple of months for that same game to drop 30% in price and in most cases wait around 3-6 months and it already costs less than one month of Game Pass Ultimate.
At $30 it really is unjustifiable, at least for me.
At $30/month is simply unjustifiable, unless you’re playing games 24/7 there’s simply no time to take advantage of the service plus if I’m being honest most new additions are not appealing to me, I’d rather spend those $30 buying games I actually want to play on some deals to keep them forever.
@FraserG An important note from both Windows Central and Insider Gaming is that backwards compatibility will most likely be reserved for the Microslop branded PC, meaning that our console games will not suddenly be able to play on the Rog Xbox Ally or any other Xbox branded OEM device.
For every new rumor this console/PC device sounds less attractive and poses more questions, I really don’t look forward on having to rely on the subpar Xbox PC app and endure Windows 11 bloatware with its updates and infinite popups for Microslop services such as OneDrive, Teams, Game Pass, Copilot, Office, etc.
Rather than dealing with Windows I’d keep my Series X for its legacy library and keep using PS5/PS6 as my main console until I can build a PC of my own with steamOS or wait for a more powerful Steam machine, buying a $1000+ Microslop branded Windows 11 PC is out of the question.
@fatpunkslim Lmao why are you trying to normalize giving up on a generation just 5 years after launch? It’s not even remotely normal, and any other failed consoles at this point such as the Wii U or Dreamcast at the very least tried to turn the ship around with bundles, deals and exclusive games, none of which Microslop has even attempted in the last year.
This is worse than abandoning the generation or the market as they want to squeeze every single penny out of the loyalists that are still on the “ecosystem” as you call it, an what exactly is this “ecosystem”? The few titles available in Cloud Gaming (only via subscription even if you own them)? The fewer titles being Play Anywhere on the terrible Xbox PC app? The games or players on other platforms? Or just a fancy word Microslop likes to throw around to make us think they actually have a plan?
Nope. Forza Horizon 6 could be the best cars game ever made and will still be ignored and taken for granted, Gears of War will be good but it has never been an awards-seeking franchise, Halo Remake we just HOPE it can be good and isn’t plagued with a million issues at launch. I don’t see Fable or Clockwork releasing in 2026 at all but those are the best shots at getting a nomination.
In my opinion Doom The Dark Ages deserved much more praise and awards this year but most gaming journalists chose to outright ignore it.
This was the first good ad that I’ve seen for Xbox in a loooong time, but could’ve been even better if they focused on the games rather than the subscription as most people just finding out that the service is now $30 a month they immediately laugh it off.
Same reason why they now have the $1 deal back for new GP subscriptions and 50% discount for returning subscribers (the exact same price before the hike).
They know they have priced themselves too high and most people are not willing to pay that much.
The big 3. They have it so easy to start the 25th anniversary very strongly with Halo, Gears and Forza, I don’t think Fable is in this Direct or even coming out next year.
I do hope they provide solid dates and not end up saying just 2026 and release them all the same month.
Comments 769
Re: Next Xbox Console Could Be Affected By PlayStation Pulling Back On PC
@fatpunkslim @TrollOfWar Using that headline as a metric is disingenuous since Helldivers 2 is pretty much the only exception to the rule as it’s the only game that has sold more on PC than PS5 with nearly 2/3 of its total sales being on PC, it’s even stated on the article itself that’s an anomaly due to Helldivers 2.
There’s also Spider-Man 2 that sold +16M on PS5 and 0.7M (700K) on PC, and pretty much every single-player game follows a similar ratio or worse, sales have been a flop even if Sony will never word it that way, again, you don’t like to hear it but you’re coping because you were already assuming and even bragging for something that was never a certainty.
Source for Spider-Man 2 sales:
https://open.substack.com/pub/alineaanalytics/p/our-most-requested-estimates-and?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
Re: Next Xbox Console Could Be Affected By PlayStation Pulling Back On PC
@fatpunkslim Lmao revenue from PC amounts to 2% of their total revenue, it’s absolutely minuscule compared to their console business hence why they’re quickly moving away from it.
The truth you don’t want to hear is that you’re heavily coping as you’ve been already bragging about having PS games on the next Xbox for a while, realistically speaking no one will choose to buy the next Xbox over the PS6 because it has some PS4/PS5 ports that at that point will be more than half a decade old, and that’s even assuming the next Xbox does launch and does fulfill the promise of having third-party stores.
Re: Xbox Head Doubles Down On The Importance Of Console, Says It's A 'Reference Experience'
This should be the time to stop talking and actually deliver to the fans, as I said before, it’s fair to give her a chance, but she’s already making the same mistakes trying to build a parasocial relationship with Xbox content creators (same people who have flip-flopped cheering on Xbox exclusives and then cheering on a multiplatform strategy) and making vague promises as “the return to Xbox” when no one even knows what that means, some assume it’s back to exclusives but that’s nearly impossible to revert, so what exactly is her plan? And more importantly, if she doesn’t have it, which is perfectly understandable since she’s been days in the job, maybe stop talking until you do.
Re: Opinion: Xbox Should Consider Cancelling Halo: Campaign Evolved For PS5
It’s waaaay to late to be reversing course at this point, doing so would put Xbox in an even more pathetic position and with little to no difference as damage to the brand is already done.
Re: Roundup: Here's What The First Reviews / Impressions Say About The Marathon Server Slam
Not great, not terrible either. As I said on Push Square, I found it too slow and it quickly got boring for my particular taste even if I found it visually impressive, certainly wouldn’t spend $40 in this when many other multiplayer games are just waaaaay more fun.
Re: Video: Phil Spencer Introduces New Xbox Leader At Microsoft HQ
Sarah Bond’s absence pretty much confirmed The Verge’s report.
I’ve said multiple times I’m particularly not optimistic for Xbox’ future, but I think people are being too brutal with Sharma, yes she’s not a gamer but she doesn't have to be one to be successful in her work, I’m willing to give her a chance and so far she’s been saying all the good things, let’s only hope her actions follow suit.
Re: Xbox Says 'Hardware Announcements Are Coming Up' As Team Looks Ahead To Next-Gen
Too little, too late. Damage is done and trust is broken, I seriously doubt that anyone takes what they say seriously.
Re: Xbox Won't Back Away From First-Party And Become 'Just A Publisher', Insists EVP Matt Booty
Can’t they just shut up spitting lies? Their actions the last couple of years have been pretty opposite to their words, so what about just shutting up?
Re: 'We Have Good Reasons To Believe In What's Ahead', Insists New Xbox Chief Content Officer
The one guy who least deserved to remain part of Xbox was the one who even got a promotion…
Many people over the years have roasted Phil Spencer for not having a strong first-party lineup, while the main responsible for this is precisely Matt Booty, he was the one responsible to manage Xbox Game Studios since 2018 and later on also Zenimax and Activision Blizzard, and just how many games have been axed, studios closed or games underperformed with players? Almost all of them since he’s in charge.
I can’t point to a single one good thing he’s done for the brand, in fact I just remembered, didn’t he say that MS would “spend Sony out of business” in some leaked emails?
Re: Xbox President Sarah Bond Is Also Leaving The Company, Microsoft Confirms
Perhaps the most surprising aspect of today’s news, either she also disagrees with where Microsoft is taking Xbox and decided to leave her name out of it, or Satya gave her expected position to an AI head and she disagreed and left.
Interesting that with her leaving there’s no “head of Xbox” anymore, only a CEO and CCO of Microsoft Gaming.
Either way it’s weird as it was very public that she was essentially Phil’s successor, might have not contributed as much as Phil to Xbox but still I also wish her the best of luck.
Re: New Xbox Boss Makes Official Statement As She Takes Over From Phil Spencer
I really don’t want to say anything mean but her profile is a huge red flag for what is to come.
I’m open to be proven otherwise and I sincerely hope for everything to turn out great but I’d be lying if I said I’m confident for the future of Xbox, what a sad couple of days, as I said yesterday, it’s such a brutal time to be a console fan.
Re: Phil Spencer Announces That He's Retiring From Xbox
I understand if some people were left with a bad image of Phil, but we just can’t remain oblivious to what he did for the brand:
It wasn’t perfect but I’m damn certain that if he hadn’t become head of Xbox back in 2013 we wouldn’t have an Xbox at all nowadays, and if you resent him for launching Xbox games on PS5 that’s simply not on him, it’s on Amy Hood and Satya Nadella, and it’s the way Microsoft is moving forward with the brand whether we like it or not (I don’t).
Re: Phil Spencer Announces That He's Retiring From Xbox
@Cakefish You either die (leave) as a hero, or live long enough to be the villain.
I have a feeling that whatever slop Microsoft has in store both Phil and Sarah just said they don’t want their name tied to it, I completely understand and respect the decision, you can see his enthusiasm dwindle ever since that “only 4 games” podcast.
Re: Phil Spencer Announces That He's Retiring From Xbox
I honestly feel this as sad news, and I know I’ve been very critical of Xbox as of late but it’s my understanding that recent pivots and decision making are coming from the very top of Microsoft, not Phil Spencer or anyone at Xbox for the matter.
I do believe that uncle Phil tried his best, and that he actually cared for the brand and its fans, sure he made mistakes of his own along the way (even someone as legendary as Iwata did) but you could feel his enthusiasm specially in the early days, I do wish him the best and thank him for the many good things he did for the brand.
However, with Phil and Sarah gone I think this officially marks the end of the transition period from the Xbox we knew and loved to a fully fledged Microsoft Gaming, I’m not saying that they’ll rebrand, stop making games or anything like that but clearly Microsoft has taken absolute control of the division and we see how their vision is based on AI, subscriptions and cloud instead of empowering its platform with exclusive games and building communities, that vision is truly gone now, and we can only wait to see how Microsoft’s vision for Xbox shapes out, if I’m being honest I personally have no optimism left whatsoever for Nadella’s Microsoft, but he won’t be CEO forever (right?).
Re: Sony's Bluepoint Games Might Be Gone, But We'll Never Forget Their 'Impossible Port' For Xbox 360
What a bafflingly stupid absurd situation, they literally bought to studio to make a live service game no one wanted, cancel it and proceed to close the studio.
Man what a terrible time to be a console fan, it’s disappointment after disappointment.
Re: ROG Xbox Ally X Gets Its First Price Increase, Limited To One Region For Now
@Runex2121 So now a $1,200 device is worth that for cloud streaming? LMAO such a disingenuous take, you might as well use your phone and a $50 controller to have the same experience.
Re: ROG Xbox Ally X Gets Its First Price Increase, Limited To One Region For Now
@Runex2121 It plays PC games, not Xbox games, or will you be able to play GTA 6 on it at launch?
Re: ROG Xbox Ally X Gets Its First Price Increase, Limited To One Region For Now
So $1,200 for a device that has beta software, can’t run Xbox games, and even has widespread hardware issues, I’ve read multiple reports of people claiming the Rog Xbox Ally died on them, even Asus themselves have said any repair or warranty claim will take longer than usual as they have “high repair volume”.
Just for context you can get BOTH a PS5 Pro and a Switch 2 or Steam Deck for that exact price.
Re: Xbox Signs Out Multiple Players At Once, Seemingly Related To Age Verification Issues
@FraserG Yeah but they now seem to be doing them on a 3-month basis or whenever something major breaks, and I wouldn’t care that much about updating if the OS was actually stable but it’s far from it, literally it felt more reliable and snappy at launch than 5 years later, plus many features they promised they’d overhaul such as captures or achievements just never happened.
Re: Xbox Signs Out Multiple Players At Once, Seemingly Related To Age Verification Issues
Been saying for months that the console OS feels borderline abandoned, my Series X was so smooth at launch but nowadays it lags terribly just by scrolling the dashboard and I’ve had increasingly more bugs and crashes on my console, we used to get monthly updates for bug squashing and performance improvements since the Xbox One days, now it seems no one cares.
Re: Microsoft Apparently 'Expects' The Xbox Series Era To Last, Despite Next-Gen Plans
The way this is looking the Series X will be the last Xbox I own, at least I’m happy to have gotten the Halo special edition console, one of the best looking consoles Xbox ever did if not the best.
Re: Report: Microsoft Is In The Early Stages Of 'Expanding' Xbox Game Pass
At $30/month it won’t “expand” any time soon, merging PC Game Pass and Premium reeks of removing day one games from the PC tier and to be honest GP Premium is not worth it, I’d even say that the game selection of PS+ Extra is better and I still find it too expensive also, currently I’d only recommend any gaming sub to someone who just got a console and doesn’t have an owned library or the Essential tier if you just want to play online.
Re: Obsidian Says Two Of Its 2025 Titles Didn't Meet Sales Targets, Vows To Learn For The Future
That 30% profit target could be the worst decision Microslop has ever made on the gaming side, and that’s a lot considering all that’s happened with the RROD, the Xbox One launch and even the recent multiplatform pivot.
If enforced it will end up killing most studios within Xbox, Bethesda, and Activision as it’s basically unachievable, not even Sony or Nintendo manage to have that profit margin for all of their games having bigger franchises and tighter budgets, expecting that from a game from Double Fine, Compulsion, Obsidian, is just moronic, I could bet not even Gears E-Day or Fable will hit that target, the pivots and bad decisions literally won’t stop from the last couple of years, and yet some still want to think MS is playing some kind of 4D chess.
Re: Rumour: New Xbox Console Won't Release Until At Least Late 2027, Could Be Delayed Further
I would agree on a 2028-2029 timeline, but as many have said it here already, the more time it passes it’s more likely for that device to be canned, the Series X|S are practically abandoned, revenue from Xbox hardware has steadily been dropping ~30% every quarter over the last couple of years, at this point it’s minimal and only shrinking further, it only takes one MS exec to point out how much money it’s being poured into the R&D for this device and compare it to the revenue coming from hardware sales for everything to fall apart, I frankly don’t think we’ll get there when every quarter seems to be a bloodbath for Xbox.
Re: Xbox Series X|S Ranked 5th In List Of Platforms Developers Are Most Interested In
@Millionski Yeah and I find it specially frustrating that this generation Xbox really had a chance to compete just like in the 360 days or even exceed it as Sony has had a weaker PS5 generation compared to any previous one, but they just fumbled it time after time.
If this device ends up being just a fancy PC with all of Windows’ bloatware, which is looking increasingly likely, I will keep my Halo Series X for all my legacy library and just keep using a PS5/ PS6 as my main gaming device, I have zero interest in dealing with everything that comes with PC Gaming and Windows.
Re: Xbox Series X|S Ranked 5th In List Of Platforms Developers Are Most Interested In
@eduscxbox That market already exists with the handheld PCs and those go for around $600-$1000 from different manufacturers, how much you think a high-performance desktop sold at profit would go for? $1,200? $1,500? $2,000?
The economics simply don’t work for that device to be below $1000 no matter the competition between manufacturers, and another aspect of it is actually to convince them to spend R&D into developing a niche device that only a few people will buy.
Re: Xbox Series X|S Ranked 5th In List Of Platforms Developers Are Most Interested In
@eduscxbox One important note, those devs that want to develop for PC are interested in selling on Steam, not the Microsoft Store, I can bet right now that even if the PC Xbox ends up being real many games will only release on Steam, not the MS Store and the ones that do will sell vastly better on Steam, which also poses the question of how will MS profit from that device if most users get their games from other storefronts, unless they price it around $1,500.
Also, it’s just disingenuous to say it doesn’t matter that most devs want to skip Xbox and develop for PC, again, if the next Xbox ends up being real but the games are not optimized for it then it’s going to be a sh*tshow with performance even if the specs are good, and as a console user I’d hate having to tinker with a game just to be able to run it, so yes even if the next console is a PC we still NEED devs to be interested in it and optimize their games for it.
Re: Xbox Series X|S Ranked 5th In List Of Platforms Developers Are Most Interested In
This is exactly the thing I feared ever since the “only 4 games” were announced, it’s a slow spiral of death that becomes unstoppable once developers stop caring about the platform and we’re at that point already, with many games just choosing to skip the platform altogether which will only result in shrinking user base and in turn more games skipping the platform, yet I remember I was insulted incessantly on Xbox forums by warning this and here we are.
Re: Talking Point: Will The Next Xbox Console Be Revealed In 2026?
@Fiendish-Beaver Agreed with everything you said, I had the same realization since 2024 and I even stopped buying games altogether for Xbox and been using the PS5 Pro as my main console mainly because all this uncertainty, being an ex-user of Windows Phone I know how bad Microslop can manage a brand and they’ve followed every single bad step possible with Xbox.
I completely see a scenario where what you say end up happening, because it has already happened, I remember how Lumia phones were abruptly killed that even engineers from Nokia (merged into MS) found out about the hardware shutdown the same day as the press and the rest of the world, and those sold more units in a more important market back then than Xbox consoles nowadays, with every quarter that goes by without that device being shipped and ready to sell the chances of it never seeing the light of day increases dramatically, it really only takes for Satya or any other AI-crazed suits to see all the money poured into hardware R&D and the abysmal revenue from hardware sales to scrap everything in a snap.
Re: Talking Point: Will The Next Xbox Console Be Revealed In 2026?
@OldGamer999 Yeah I agree, so much uncertainty around it has pushed me personally to currently buy every game on PS5 Pro, I don’t care about Play Anywhere as I really don’t want to migrate to a full Windows PC experience as I have tried twice and just end up very frustrated with it, which is why I have lots and lots of questions for this Xbox/PC device, if it ends up being just another Windows PC with an Xbox logo and requires the same amount of tinkering as any other PC (just as the Rog Xbox Ally) I’m out, I’d rather keep my Series X for its legacy library same as I did for the 360 or still do with my PS3 than dealing with Windows 11 bloatware.
The only way I’d consider moving into PC would be with steamOS whether in a Steam machine or I build a PC of my own with Linux but for the time being it’s just simpler to keep investing on my PS5 Pro, and I might keep it as my main gaming device, after all it’s currently the only one getting all games (as not even PC will get GTA 6 day one).
Re: Talking Point: Will The Next Xbox Console Be Revealed In 2026?
@fatpunkslim Lmao how can you say it’s too expensive and recommend waiting for the next Xbox when we don’t even know the price or launch window for NEITHER of them?
We also don’t know the actual features of that Xbox/PC device, how will it run the console library, performance levels, how much of that performance will be eaten up by the bloatware of Windows 11, how much tinkering you’ll have to do to play, the price, if it’ll be available globally or even going to launch at all, at least with Steam you know you’re getting into a solid platform unlike Microslop’s Windows and Xbox PC app.
Re: Fable Likely To Be A Huge Hit On PS5 As Sony-Hosted Trailer Hits 1 Million Views
Honestly, even having a Series X I will get it for PS5 Pro (on disc if possible) as I will for every other MS Gaming titles, even Forza Horizon 6 and Gears E-Day whenever they launch, I have no interest at all in Play Anywhere or Windows PC Gaming nor Game Pass Ultimate at $30/month.
Re: Xbox Exec Explains Why Some Games Are 'Day One' For PS5, And Others Aren't
@fatpunkslim It’s commendable you still have some faith on the Xbox of old but that quote probably means PC exclusive games, beta or early access releases, and further on when they stop releasing new titles on Series X|S consoles, he also literally said the games weren’t ready because the strategy shifted, which might also be the case for Gears E-Day, but after Fable being confirmed for PS5 day one and Forza dev saying on the Direct “it’ll release on PS5 as soon as it’s ready” do you really still hope something like the next Halo or any 2028 big tentpoles and on will be given some type of Xbox exclusivity? That age is really over.
Re: Xbox Exec Explains Why Some Games Are 'Day One' For PS5, And Others Aren't
Basically what many comments here have been saying, the games releasing first on Xbox do so just because the ports weren’t ready yet as the multi-platform pivot was very abrupt even on their internal teams.
For me it’s crystal clear that “consistency” is about releasing in all platforms at the same time, yet some still cling to the idea of “case by case” basis, that’s over.
Re: Poll: How Would You Grade 2026's Xbox Developer Direct?
Fable alone makes it an A for me, amazing stuff.
Re: Halo Studios Admits That The Series Needs A Bigger Playerbase As PS5 Community Awaits
@swedetrap Every platform has toxic players, every single one.
Re: Halo Studios Admits That The Series Needs A Bigger Playerbase As PS5 Community Awaits
It managed to be a very successful franchise for 25 years without releasing elsewhere, ironically the peak of the series was back when it truly was an Xbox exclusive and didn’t release in PC, I really doubt that releasing on other platforms will revitalize the saga, after failing for more than a decade I don’t even know if there’s something to save.
Re: Xbox Play Anywhere Is Convincing People To Buy Their Multiplatform Games On Xbox
It’s a nice feature for the very niche audience that has both an Xbox console and a capable PC (and endures using the subpar Xbox PC app), but lets not kid ourselves by citing 3 tweets as a major trend making lots of gamers buying games on the Microslop Store, that just ain’t happening…
Re: Talking Point: How Do You Feel About Xbox Game Pass In 2026?
@ILuvGames What’s so hard to understand about time being the biggest factor? I personally have time to finish 2 or 3 ~20h games every month, what’s the point of paying to have 400 games available if I can only play 3 max every month?
I’d rather play 3 games from my backlog and/or buy $30 worth of games, get to keep them forever and build a long-term library opposed to renting games out hoping the corporate overlords don’t increase the price yet again, same thing with the $70 launch games, sure they don’t come cheap but now they’re worth just a bit more than 2 months of a subscription I’ll not fully utilize, I find it waaaay more justifiable to pay upfront for a game I really want to play and knowing I don’t have a time limit to fully enjoy it and replay it whenever I want, if it isn’t a must play just wait a couple of months for that same game to drop 30% in price and in most cases wait around 3-6 months and it already costs less than one month of Game Pass Ultimate.
At $30 it really is unjustifiable, at least for me.
Re: Talking Point: How Do You Feel About Xbox Game Pass In 2026?
At $30/month is simply unjustifiable, unless you’re playing games 24/7 there’s simply no time to take advantage of the service plus if I’m being honest most new additions are not appealing to me, I’d rather spend those $30 buying games I actually want to play on some deals to keep them forever.
Re: Report: Xbox Working On 'Major Updates' To PC App For Next Console's Dashboard
@FraserG An important note from both Windows Central and Insider Gaming is that backwards compatibility will most likely be reserved for the Microslop branded PC, meaning that our console games will not suddenly be able to play on the Rog Xbox Ally or any other Xbox branded OEM device.
Re: Report: Xbox Working On 'Major Updates' To PC App For Next Console's Dashboard
For every new rumor this console/PC device sounds less attractive and poses more questions, I really don’t look forward on having to rely on the subpar Xbox PC app and endure Windows 11 bloatware with its updates and infinite popups for Microslop services such as OneDrive, Teams, Game Pass, Copilot, Office, etc.
Rather than dealing with Windows I’d keep my Series X for its legacy library and keep using PS5/PS6 as my main console until I can build a PC of my own with steamOS or wait for a more powerful Steam machine, buying a $1000+ Microslop branded Windows 11 PC is out of the question.
Re: These 11 Games Are Coming To Xbox Game Pass, Including Two Major Additions (January 6-22)
Just saying, in some deal you can buy to own forever both Outlaws and RE Village for the same price as 1 month of Game Pass Ultimate…
Re: Xbox Console Sales 'The Worst On Record' In 2025 As Microsoft Shifts Focus (UK)
@fatpunkslim Lmao why are you trying to normalize giving up on a generation just 5 years after launch? It’s not even remotely normal, and any other failed consoles at this point such as the Wii U or Dreamcast at the very least tried to turn the ship around with bundles, deals and exclusive games, none of which Microslop has even attempted in the last year.
This is worse than abandoning the generation or the market as they want to squeeze every single penny out of the loyalists that are still on the “ecosystem” as you call it, an what exactly is this “ecosystem”? The few titles available in Cloud Gaming (only via subscription even if you own them)? The fewer titles being Play Anywhere on the terrible Xbox PC app? The games or players on other platforms? Or just a fancy word Microslop likes to throw around to make us think they actually have a plan?
Re: Poll: How Many Xbox Games Have You Actually Bought In 2025?
Nothing at all, just waiting to see how the future of Xbox shapes out (if there’s any) before investing $1 cent in Microsoft’s store.
Re: Talking Point: Will Any Of Xbox's 2026 Releases Become GOTY Contenders Next Year?
Nope. Forza Horizon 6 could be the best cars game ever made and will still be ignored and taken for granted, Gears of War will be good but it has never been an awards-seeking franchise, Halo Remake we just HOPE it can be good and isn’t plagued with a million issues at launch. I don’t see Fable or Clockwork releasing in 2026 at all but those are the best shots at getting a nomination.
In my opinion Doom The Dark Ages deserved much more praise and awards this year but most gaming journalists chose to outright ignore it.
Re: Gears Of War: E-Day Confirmed For 2026 In New Xbox Game Pass Ad
This was the first good ad that I’ve seen for Xbox in a loooong time, but could’ve been even better if they focused on the games rather than the subscription as most people just finding out that the service is now $30 a month they immediately laugh it off.
Re: Matt Booty Explains Why Xbox Ditched Its $80 Price Tag For Outer Worlds 2 & Other Games
Same reason why they now have the $1 deal back for new GP subscriptions and 50% discount for returning subscribers (the exact same price before the hike).
They know they have priced themselves too high and most people are not willing to pay that much.
Re: Talking Point: What Do You Hope To See From Xbox Developer Direct Next Month?
The big 3. They have it so easy to start the 25th anniversary very strongly with Halo, Gears and Forza, I don’t think Fable is in this Direct or even coming out next year.
I do hope they provide solid dates and not end up saying just 2026 and release them all the same month.
Re: Xbox Launches New $1 Game Pass Ultimate Offer For The Holidays
Pretty obvious that subscribers dropped more than they were expecting since the major price hike…