They have talked and talked about Play Anywhere but I don’t see any action to actually expand it, we know that for third-party publishers is up to them but there’s still dozens of games that are now owned by Microsoft, back catalogue for Bethesda, Activision Blizzard and even some from Xbox Game Studios are not Play Anywhere and they’ve had years to expand the program to their owned games but still haven’t and probably won’t do it.
This overall feels like yet another Microsoft side project that they suddenly remembered to advertise but themselves never fully committed to it.
@elpardo1984 I don’t think they would announce ports for other consoles in their own showcase, more likely the new games they announce will also be revealed for all platforms day and date, Spencer did say that we better get used to seeing the PS5 logo in Xbox trailers and announcements.
Microsoft wanted to tie a disc to an account, so you wouldn’t be able to lend or sell any disc game already tied to an account.
Nintendo is selling an empty cartridge that only allows you to download the game but you still need to have the cartridge inserted to play, and you can later sell or lend that empty cartridge and other person can download and play the game, which they already did with several games, only now it’s being standardized under “game-key card”.
Prices announced yesterday are egregious and absolutely deserve the heat they are getting, but this isn’t really what you’re making it seem.
I don’t think it will happen tomorrow as the spotlight will be on first-party games, but I do feel Microsoft is going to port absolutely everything they can get running on the console, they already were supporting the Switch back when they still believed in exclusives, wouldn’t surprise me if MS ends up being Nintendo’s most important third-party partner in terms of revenue in a few years.
@husker42c Oh no, Infinite’s campaign fell short and it lacked MP content at launch but the gameplay was nailed, it has the best feeling gameplay of the entire series imo.
The worst one without a doubt is Halo 5, with its CoD-wanna be gameplay and multiplayer, nonsensical campaign about evil Cortana and a bigger focus on some character we had never seen before instead of the Chief.
@Rog-X Huge publicity? Lmao, all it had was a trailer a month before launch and that’s it, it wasn’t even promoted on the PS Store or anything.
By the way, don’t you remember how Phil sold the idea of (only) porting 4 games and Hi-Fi being one of them because they wanted to nurture the IP? What an outrageous lie as he closed the studio like 3 months after saying that.
It’s just pathetic to keep excusing the trillion-dollar company for closing a Japanese studio that just delivered a GREAT game, how much did they save up by closing the studio? 50 million? 100 million? They make up to 25 billion in revenue each quarter and each year…
In fact, Tango’s closure made me realize Microsoft had taken over Xbox, as MS corporate doesn’t recognize talent or art, as another person put it, they’re tasteless and it’s why they fail time and time again with consumer products, now Xbox itself is being stripped apart by Microsoft just to make a quick buck selling games on PlayStation…
And what’s the controversy exactly? Sony helped the team to get the game running on PS5, as they’ve done with other games, exclusive and non-exclusive.
If the game isn’t on Xbox it’s because devs are having a hard time downscaling the game to a Series S, they themselves have said as much. This is such a nothing burger.
@Rog-X By shadow dropping a brand new IP with no marketing whatsoever so it ended up being lost in the sea of new games no matter how great it is? Oh yeah, brilliant decision by Microsoft.
@Millionski Lol tell me exactly how being extremely frustrated and distrustful of Microsoft means I’m a ’PS troll’…
If anything I wanted the brand to thrive and compete neck to neck to both Sony and Nintendo, not fall into an spiral of death courtesy of Microsoft themselves.
@GeeEssEff Sony has said essentially the same thing, and that quote from Microsoft is hilarious to look back on, launching Halo and Forza on PS5 is surely a weird way to “spend Sony out of business”.
If you expect Sony to have a ‘change of heart’ because Xbox is now porting even Halo to PS5 you’re going to be throughly disappointed time and time again.
Sony themselves have said as much, their goal is to get rid of Xbox as a competitor entirely, and Microsoft for sure is making Sony’s job easier on that, they just don’t need to sell games on Xbox plus it’s widely known it’s the platform that sells less games, thanks to GP, so as a business decision it makes sense, MS is doing it out of necessity to recoup 80 billion dollars they spent and they were incompetent to grow a user base beyond 30 million of both consoles sold and GP subs.
@Fiendish-Beaver Exactly this, thinking that all of the money that MS gets out of selling ports will be reinvested into the Xbox ecosystem and Game Pass is pure delusion.
The moment revenue from ports it’s higher than Game Pass revenue or Xbox itself it will cease to be a priority and launching games on PlayStation will be the main priority for Microsoft as weird as that sounds, it really is Windows Phone all over again, Microsoft became dependent on Apple and Google (iOS and Android) just to sell mobile software when they repeatedly failed to turn WP around, now they’ll be dependent on Sony, Nintendo and Steam just to be able to sell game software.
A pathetic outcome but deserved out of Microsoft’s incompetence.
Y’all really think that if Sony can do it they wouldn’t? Of course they 100% would.
I’d even go as far to say if Steam doesn’t allow Sony to blacklist the Xbox PC device they would come up with their own launcher (not compatible with that device obviously) and even delist their games off Steam to force new players to use Sony’s launcher. Sony is THAT petty.
And what would be Microsoft’s response? To launch Gears of War E-Day day one on PS5 🤡
After what we got from the ABK acquisition (Xbox becoming third-party plus barely any ABK games on Game Pass) there’s now people cheering for Microsoft to now acquire Ubisoft? Smh…
As an Xbox console owner I find it very, very hard to be excited about some skin for Windows tbh…
The single only thing I find interesting is the rumored intention of bringing over legacy Xbox games to PC, but I don’t like that no one is elaborating on the how since it actually seems to be quite complicated, not only on the technical side, but with licensing as well, and if they don’t pull that off I wouldn’t see the value on this Xbox-branded Rog Ally nor in the next generation Xbox.
@HonestHick Funny you mention GTA 6 because that could be a perfect example of the brewing problem, if it ain’t Play Anywhere and next Xbox indeed only supports PC games you won’t be able to play it on your new console even if you own it.
Again, there’s too much unknowns and I’m just speculating and choosing not to trust Microsoft, growing Play Anywhere isn’t negative but to come out swinging now with “it’s all fine, look at all these Play Anywhere games”, it’s hypocrite when it ain’t even near a quarter of the Xbox library nor their own first-party games.
What continues to bother me and why I keep venting is how little care they show for the console audience if at all, it’s now very clear they’re pivoting to PC as they feel they lost the console market (by not even stocking Series X|S consoles now) but I don’t have a PC, I own an Xbox console, which is the only Xbox there is as much as Microsoft loves to say otherwise, and we’re being left behind, if you think complaining about that somehow makes me a PlayStation fanboy you may want to rethink who the fanboy is.
Lmao Microsoft can bulk-up figures all they want, doesn’t change the fact that only 7% of all Xbox games released last year support Play Anywhere, plus there’s lots of Microsoft owned games that aren’t supported, Halo MCC, Halo 5, Doom, Doom Eternal, Gears 1 Ultimate, Forza Horizon 3, Sunset Overdrive, Quantum Break, Ori 1, Fallout 4, Skyrim and many others, just to name a few.
All this sudden push for Play Anywhere seems weird since the program exists since 2016, if I had to speculate I’d say they are preparing us to be told that moving forward only Play Anywhere titles will be compatible with the next console as it’ll be a PC in essence, I hope I’m wrong but I have zero confidence in Microsoft at the moment.
While I’m not interested in a handheld I’m curious about that “Xbox OS”, if they manage to bring over the legacy Xbox library (from OG to Series X|S) plus PC/Steam library I’d be very interested in trying it out.
If AC Shadows isn’t a gigantic hit that somehow digs out Ubisoft from the ground (90% chance that even if successful it won’t be enough) there’s a good chance this ends up happening as no company wants to buy Ubisoft as a whole.
For what is worth I wouldn’t like it either way as both Microsoft and EA have more than enough IPs in their graveyard already…
@Dalamar73 Yeah it’s very hard to imagine that people will flock into buying an Xbox handheld just because it says Xbox or has Game Pass as those devices already exist with the Rog Ally, Legion Go or several other options only without the Xbox branding and they just haven’t lit up the market on fire at all, it seems that even native access to Game Pass ain’t enough for most people to buy one of those options over a Steam Deck.
And speculating even further if Microsoft continues this path of self destruction the Xbox brand itself will become tarnished sooner rather than later, why get the dubious brand that doesn’t even know what to do instead of a Steam Deck where you know you can play your library on any capable PC and they have actual respect for the end user…
Not sure, as I said many times before that type of device would need a fundamental rethink of the console business model.
If it’s at a competitive price and allows me buy and play games easily from Steam and my legacy Xbox library then sure why not, but if they make it cumbersome to do so, or it’s obscenely expensive then I wouldn’t see the value opposed to just building a PC.
One thing I have crystal clear tho, I’m not spending any cent on buying software from the Microsoft Store ever again, if I end up buying that PC/Console I’d buy all my games on Steam, with MS there’s always uncertainty about something.
@cragis0001 I mean they could, but they already failed that ‘Android’ model with Windows Phone, they have everything to pull it off yet they seem to be incredibly incompetent.
Literally the same speculation we've been hearing over and over and it all comes from the same "source", Jez Corden, who just over a year ago was saying it was impossible for Forza or Xbox 'core franchises' to EVER arrive on PS5...
He just keeps repeating the exact same thing without ever explaining how that PC/Console device would even be profitable for Microsoft to sell, the moment they put Steam there they'll lose the vast majority of software sales, will they sell a $999 PC Xbox? Otherwise how could they subsidize it? Where's the value instead of building a PC yourself?
Just too many questions and he never elaborates in neither of his monthly "the future of Xbox" articles, if you believe he's a reliable source just take the time to listen to some podcasts he's in, every single time he reiterates Microsoft is still "all-in" on Xbox hardware but 2 minutes later he questions himself and excuses it with "but it'd all be fine if they didn't have any hardware", he's just speculating the same way we all are, his "sources" appear to be the voices in his head, stop giving him attention every time he comes with the same echo chamber or at least brand it as what it is, speculation, not "reports".
Honestly I’d rather keep my Halo edition Series X as a nice reminder of what Xbox was while I move my game library elsewhere.
But if the console is 2027 (pure speculation as Jez Corden isn’t a credible source at all) it makes even less sense on why they’re not restocking the current console pretty much anywhere outside the MS Store.
@Rog-X Based off my own experiences and having tried it on several devices even with wired internet and Wi-Fi 6, yes, it sucks, it’s blurry and can get laggy specially in online games, that’s when the queue isn’t several minutes long.
Plus it really pales in comparison to both GeForce Now and PS+ Premium in both resolution and ‘lagginess’, haven’t had the chance to try Amazon Luna.
Just imagine the generation we could’ve had with Moore staying instead of Don Mattrick and Phil Spencer, he knew from the beginning what the others still haven’t understood, we want great games, and during his time in Xbox we definitely got them, those were the best times the brand has ever seen and it’s not even close, looking at Xbox now I don’t think they’ll EVER be able to replicate the hype around 2007 and Halo 3.
I get it but development for Xbox Cloud Gaming has been painfully slow, pretty much every other Cloud Gaming service works so much better, Amazon Luna, GeForce Now and PS+ Premium have all been improving remarkably and the 2 latter ones now have a 4K option while the input lag is much lower.
Even Google Stadia (RIP) nailed the technology 5 years ago but Xbox Cloud has been stuck in the same place, or even getting worse since 2020.
@Millionski Yeah I think the main problem is that subs are still tied to console sales, people on PC just avoid the Microsoft Store like a plague and Cloud isn’t feasible to be considered a platform, but of course, Microsoft already gave up on selling consoles which leaves Game Pass in a really weird place because as much as I like the stacked lineup we’re getting, the service doesn’t seem sustainable with “only” 30 million users even with the price hike.
@Weebleman It’s impossible to do on PlayStation, only by creating a new account but it’s not even worth it as they don’t have regional pricing in many countries and just charge in USD, which is noticeably more expensive than platforms that have regional pricing, Xbox, Steam and even the Nintendo eShop.
On Xbox you’d just buy a code, enable VPN and redeem that code in your account, I’d be lying if I said I never did it but I always knew it had some risk, however I haven’t bought anything for Xbox in more than a year and my account is fine.
If all these stacked months don’t pull any more people into Game Pass then nothing will, there’s something for literally everyone only in the first half of this year.
Thank you for the article, the situation is really dire, it’s pretty clear how Microsoft already has scaled hardware back substantially, and they are indeed taking the Surface route, continuing making first-party hardware but being ridiculous hard to get being available only at the MS Store, which itself isn’t available in most regions outside the US, meaning that Xbox hardware is essentially dead for most of the world.
I’d have expected for them to just continue having Series X|S consoles available for the rest of the generation and move slowly towards a Surface Xbox but no, Microsoft is literally in a rush to kill the Xbox we know and love, and the concern we had about that within 5-10 years would be very hard to get an Xbox console is already a reality in 2025!
Every time I think Microsoft can’t do something more baffling they just do, in no good conscience will I ever invest in a Microsoft product or service ever again, interestingly they just announced Skype’s closure, yet another service MS mismanaged to oblivion.
@Millionski I genuinely don’t understand either, even with publishing games elsewhere there’s still many people who want an Xbox and they just can’t get it, each new console sold could also entice an additional Game Pass sub but they don’t seem to care. Just baffling.
@donv2135 And that’s exactly why you’re unable to accept it, I don’t “need” to worship any company, I’m a user of all 3 and enjoy all of them, you’re aggressively clinging to a brand, and yes Microsoft will continue to exist, but where’s Windows Phone now? Or Zune? Or Mixr?
And again, if you’re so bothered by it, ignore me or block me, I’m not going to stop sharing my concerns.
Comments 696
Re: Four Games Are Confirmed For Xbox Game Pass In May 2025 So Far
I literally can’t wait to go on berserk mode in Doom!
Re: Xbox Unveils New 'Wake Up' Trailer Starring A Human Rat
This is where the marketing budget goes? Smh…
Re: Xbox Determined To Expand 'Play Anywhere', Says It Will Help Reach More Players
They have talked and talked about Play Anywhere but I don’t see any action to actually expand it, we know that for third-party publishers is up to them but there’s still dozens of games that are now owned by Microsoft, back catalogue for Bethesda, Activision Blizzard and even some from Xbox Game Studios are not Play Anywhere and they’ve had years to expand the program to their owned games but still haven’t and probably won’t do it.
This overall feels like yet another Microsoft side project that they suddenly remembered to advertise but themselves never fully committed to it.
Re: Xbox Games Showcase 2025 & Outer Worlds 2 Direct Announced For June
@elpardo1984 I don’t think they would announce ports for other consoles in their own showcase, more likely the new games they announce will also be revealed for all platforms day and date, Spencer did say that we better get used to seeing the PS5 logo in Xbox trailers and announcements.
Re: Xbox Games Showcase 2025 & Outer Worlds 2 Direct Announced For June
The brand may be in disarray but they always deliver consistently very good shows.
That weekend is going to be crazy with the Switch 2 launch followed by what would be E3.
Re: Switch 2 Feature Reminds People Of The Disastrous Xbox One Launch
I don’t see how both situations are related.
Microsoft wanted to tie a disc to an account, so you wouldn’t be able to lend or sell any disc game already tied to an account.
Nintendo is selling an empty cartridge that only allows you to download the game but you still need to have the cartridge inserted to play, and you can later sell or lend that empty cartridge and other person can download and play the game, which they already did with several games, only now it’s being standardized under “game-key card”.
Prices announced yesterday are egregious and absolutely deserve the heat they are getting, but this isn’t really what you’re making it seem.
Re: Talking Point: Are You Expecting Xbox News At The Switch 2 Direct This Week?
I don’t think it will happen tomorrow as the spotlight will be on first-party games, but I do feel Microsoft is going to port absolutely everything they can get running on the console, they already were supporting the Switch back when they still believed in exclusives, wouldn’t surprise me if MS ends up being Nintendo’s most important third-party partner in terms of revenue in a few years.
Re: Rumour: Halo's Leap To Other Platforms Might Be More Limited Than Expected
@husker42c Oh no, Infinite’s campaign fell short and it lacked MP content at launch but the gameplay was nailed, it has the best feeling gameplay of the entire series imo.
The worst one without a doubt is Halo 5, with its CoD-wanna be gameplay and multiplayer, nonsensical campaign about evil Cortana and a bigger focus on some character we had never seen before instead of the Chief.
Re: How Well Are Xbox Games Selling On PlayStation? Here's What The Data Says
@Rog-X Huge publicity? Lmao, all it had was a trailer a month before launch and that’s it, it wasn’t even promoted on the PS Store or anything.
By the way, don’t you remember how Phil sold the idea of (only) porting 4 games and Hi-Fi being one of them because they wanted to nurture the IP? What an outrageous lie as he closed the studio like 3 months after saying that.
It’s just pathetic to keep excusing the trillion-dollar company for closing a Japanese studio that just delivered a GREAT game, how much did they save up by closing the studio? 50 million? 100 million? They make up to 25 billion in revenue each quarter and each year…
In fact, Tango’s closure made me realize Microsoft had taken over Xbox, as MS corporate doesn’t recognize talent or art, as another person put it, they’re tasteless and it’s why they fail time and time again with consumer products, now Xbox itself is being stripped apart by Microsoft just to make a quick buck selling games on PlayStation…
Re: Sony Causes A Stir Among Xbox Fans With Black Myth: Wukong Comment
@Millionski Honestly I didn’t like it either and found it immensely overhyped, good thing that I got it on disc so I can sell it later.
Re: Sony Causes A Stir Among Xbox Fans With Black Myth: Wukong Comment
And what’s the controversy exactly?
Sony helped the team to get the game running on PS5, as they’ve done with other games, exclusive and non-exclusive.
If the game isn’t on Xbox it’s because devs are having a hard time downscaling the game to a Series S, they themselves have said as much. This is such a nothing burger.
Re: How Well Are Xbox Games Selling On PlayStation? Here's What The Data Says
@Rog-X By shadow dropping a brand new IP with no marketing whatsoever so it ended up being lost in the sea of new games no matter how great it is? Oh yeah, brilliant decision by Microsoft.
Re: Microsoft Celebrates 50th Anniversary With New Dynamic Background For Xbox Series X|S
It seems they even celebrated it by using Copilot to make that background 💀
Re: Sony-Owned 'Patapon' Is Coming To PS5, Switch And PC, But No Sign Of Xbox
@GeeForce And when did this greed start? Just after closing the near 80 billion ABK acquisition…
Re: Sony-Owned 'Patapon' Is Coming To PS5, Switch And PC, But No Sign Of Xbox
@Millionski Lol tell me exactly how being extremely frustrated and distrustful of Microsoft means I’m a ’PS troll’…
If anything I wanted the brand to thrive and compete neck to neck to both Sony and Nintendo, not fall into an spiral of death courtesy of Microsoft themselves.
Re: Sony-Owned 'Patapon' Is Coming To PS5, Switch And PC, But No Sign Of Xbox
@GeeForce Then why are they porting all games to every platform in existence? Out of goodwill?
Re: Sony-Owned 'Patapon' Is Coming To PS5, Switch And PC, But No Sign Of Xbox
@GeeEssEff Sony has said essentially the same thing, and that quote from Microsoft is hilarious to look back on, launching Halo and Forza on PS5 is surely a weird way to “spend Sony out of business”.
Re: Sony-Owned 'Patapon' Is Coming To PS5, Switch And PC, But No Sign Of Xbox
If you expect Sony to have a ‘change of heart’ because Xbox is now porting even Halo to PS5 you’re going to be throughly disappointed time and time again.
Sony themselves have said as much, their goal is to get rid of Xbox as a competitor entirely, and Microsoft for sure is making Sony’s job easier on that, they just don’t need to sell games on Xbox plus it’s widely known it’s the platform that sells less games, thanks to GP, so as a business decision it makes sense, MS is doing it out of necessity to recoup 80 billion dollars they spent and they were incompetent to grow a user base beyond 30 million of both consoles sold and GP subs.
Re: Xbox Will Bring 'A Lot More' Exclusives To PS5 And Switch 2 In 2025
@Fiendish-Beaver Exactly this, thinking that all of the money that MS gets out of selling ports will be reinvested into the Xbox ecosystem and Game Pass is pure delusion.
The moment revenue from ports it’s higher than Game Pass revenue or Xbox itself it will cease to be a priority and launching games on PlayStation will be the main priority for Microsoft as weird as that sounds, it really is Windows Phone all over again, Microsoft became dependent on Apple and Google (iOS and Android) just to sell mobile software when they repeatedly failed to turn WP around, now they’ll be dependent on Sony, Nintendo and Steam just to be able to sell game software.
A pathetic outcome but deserved out of Microsoft’s incompetence.
Re: Talking Point: Could Sony 'Block' PlayStation Games On An Xbox Handheld?
Y’all really think that if Sony can do it they wouldn’t? Of course they 100% would.
I’d even go as far to say if Steam doesn’t allow Sony to blacklist the Xbox PC device they would come up with their own launcher (not compatible with that device obviously) and even delist their games off Steam to force new players to use Sony’s launcher. Sony is THAT petty.
And what would be Microsoft’s response? To launch Gears of War E-Day day one on PS5 🤡
Re: Xbox Features 'Steam' Games In New Mockup UI Image From GDC
I was interested… until they removed it.
The idea is very cool, but the fact they quietly removed it shows they don’t even know how to make it a reality.
Re: Ubisoft Plus Gets Massive Discount On Xbox Ahead Of Assassin's Creed Shadows Launch
I’ll just get one month with my Rewards points, basically playing day one for free.
Re: Assassin's Creed Shadows: Release Date, Release Times & Download Size On Xbox
Moving to New Zealand to have 24-hour early access lol
Re: Talking Point: What Should Microsoft Call The '2027' Xbox Console & Handheld?
Xbox (2027)
Xbox Portable (2027)
Re: Ubisoft IP Could Cost Buyers More Than The Company Itself, Says Report
After what we got from the ABK acquisition (Xbox becoming third-party plus barely any ABK games on Game Pass) there’s now people cheering for Microsoft to now acquire Ubisoft? Smh…
Re: Opinion: The 2025 Xbox Handheld Could Have A Major Impact On The Brand's Future
As an Xbox console owner I find it very, very hard to be excited about some skin for Windows tbh…
The single only thing I find interesting is the rumored intention of bringing over legacy Xbox games to PC, but I don’t like that no one is elaborating on the how since it actually seems to be quite complicated, not only on the technical side, but with licensing as well, and if they don’t pull that off I wouldn’t see the value on this Xbox-branded Rog Ally nor in the next generation Xbox.
Re: Microsoft Shares Updated 'Xbox Play Anywhere' Games List As It Unifies Console & PC
@HonestHick Funny you mention GTA 6 because that could be a perfect example of the brewing problem, if it ain’t Play Anywhere and next Xbox indeed only supports PC games you won’t be able to play it on your new console even if you own it.
Again, there’s too much unknowns and I’m just speculating and choosing not to trust Microsoft, growing Play Anywhere isn’t negative but to come out swinging now with “it’s all fine, look at all these Play Anywhere games”, it’s hypocrite when it ain’t even near a quarter of the Xbox library nor their own first-party games.
What continues to bother me and why I keep venting is how little care they show for the console audience if at all, it’s now very clear they’re pivoting to PC as they feel they lost the console market (by not even stocking Series X|S consoles now) but I don’t have a PC, I own an Xbox console, which is the only Xbox there is as much as Microsoft loves to say otherwise, and we’re being left behind, if you think complaining about that somehow makes me a PlayStation fanboy you may want to rethink who the fanboy is.
Re: Microsoft Shares Updated 'Xbox Play Anywhere' Games List As It Unifies Console & PC
Lmao Microsoft can bulk-up figures all they want, doesn’t change the fact that only 7% of all Xbox games released last year support Play Anywhere, plus there’s lots of Microsoft owned games that aren’t supported, Halo MCC, Halo 5, Doom, Doom Eternal, Gears 1 Ultimate, Forza Horizon 3, Sunset Overdrive, Quantum Break, Ori 1, Fallout 4, Skyrim and many others, just to name a few.
All this sudden push for Play Anywhere seems weird since the program exists since 2016, if I had to speculate I’d say they are preparing us to be told that moving forward only Play Anywhere titles will be compatible with the next console as it’ll be a PC in essence, I hope I’m wrong but I have zero confidence in Microsoft at the moment.
Re: Phil Spencer 'Excited' About Xbox Copilot, An AI Tool That Helps Players Finish Games
The stuff of nightmares is here…
Re: Report: Xbox Handheld For 2025 Being Made By ASUS, Will Feature Console-Like Interface
While I’m not interested in a handheld I’m curious about that “Xbox OS”, if they manage to bring over the legacy Xbox library (from OG to Series X|S) plus PC/Steam library I’d be very interested in trying it out.
Re: Microsoft Has Reportedly Discussed Acquiring IP From Ubisoft
If AC Shadows isn’t a gigantic hit that somehow digs out Ubisoft from the ground (90% chance that even if successful it won’t be enough) there’s a good chance this ends up happening as no company wants to buy Ubisoft as a whole.
For what is worth I wouldn’t like it either way as both Microsoft and EA have more than enough IPs in their graveyard already…
Re: Five Things An Xbox Handheld Needs To Include When It Releases
@Dalamar73 Yeah it’s very hard to imagine that people will flock into buying an Xbox handheld just because it says Xbox or has Game Pass as those devices already exist with the Rog Ally, Legion Go or several other options only without the Xbox branding and they just haven’t lit up the market on fire at all, it seems that even native access to Game Pass ain’t enough for most people to buy one of those options over a Steam Deck.
And speculating even further if Microsoft continues this path of self destruction the Xbox brand itself will become tarnished sooner rather than later, why get the dubious brand that doesn’t even know what to do instead of a Steam Deck where you know you can play your library on any capable PC and they have actual respect for the end user…
Re: Five Things An Xbox Handheld Needs To Include When It Releases
@fatpunkslim Being speculated by a grifter isn’t nowhere near a “confirmation” it’s happening.
Re: Five Things An Xbox Handheld Needs To Include When It Releases
@Dalamar73 I don’t even think it’d match Steam Deck sales tbh.
Re: Talking Point: If The Next-Gen Xbox Is More 'PC-Like', Will You Still Buy It?
Not sure, as I said many times before that type of device would need a fundamental rethink of the console business model.
If it’s at a competitive price and allows me buy and play games easily from Steam and my legacy Xbox library then sure why not, but if they make it cumbersome to do so, or it’s obscenely expensive then I wouldn’t see the value opposed to just building a PC.
One thing I have crystal clear tho, I’m not spending any cent on buying software from the Microsoft Store ever again, if I end up buying that PC/Console I’d buy all my games on Steam, with MS there’s always uncertainty about something.
Re: Microsoft Is Reportedly 'Partnering' On An Xbox Handheld Device To Launch In 2025
@cragis0001 I mean they could, but they already failed that ‘Android’ model with Windows Phone, they have everything to pull it off yet they seem to be incredibly incompetent.
Re: Report: Xbox Series X Successor Will Be 'Closer To Windows Than Ever'
Literally the same speculation we've been hearing over and over and it all comes from the same "source", Jez Corden, who just over a year ago was saying it was impossible for Forza or Xbox 'core franchises' to EVER arrive on PS5...
He just keeps repeating the exact same thing without ever explaining how that PC/Console device would even be profitable for Microsoft to sell, the moment they put Steam there they'll lose the vast majority of software sales, will they sell a $999 PC Xbox? Otherwise how could they subsidize it? Where's the value instead of building a PC yourself?
Just too many questions and he never elaborates in neither of his monthly "the future of Xbox" articles, if you believe he's a reliable source just take the time to listen to some podcasts he's in, every single time he reiterates Microsoft is still "all-in" on Xbox hardware but 2 minutes later he questions himself and excuses it with "but it'd all be fine if they didn't have any hardware", he's just speculating the same way we all are, his "sources" appear to be the voices in his head, stop giving him attention every time he comes with the same echo chamber or at least brand it as what it is, speculation, not "reports".
Re: Xbox Reporter 'Pretty Sure' New Console Is Set To Launch In 2027
Honestly I’d rather keep my Halo edition Series X as a nice reminder of what Xbox was while I move my game library elsewhere.
But if the console is 2027 (pure speculation as Jez Corden isn’t a credible source at all) it makes even less sense on why they’re not restocking the current console pretty much anywhere outside the MS Store.
Re: Fortnite Players Share Mixed Reactions As Xbox Cloud Gaming Adds Limit For 'Free' Users
@Rog-X Based off my own experiences and having tried it on several devices even with wired internet and Wi-Fi 6, yes, it sucks, it’s blurry and can get laggy specially in online games, that’s when the queue isn’t several minutes long.
Plus it really pales in comparison to both GeForce Now and PS+ Premium in both resolution and ‘lagginess’, haven’t had the chance to try Amazon Luna.
Re: Former Xbox Exec Compares 360 Era To Microsoft's Current Multiplatform Strategy
Just imagine the generation we could’ve had with Moore staying instead of Don Mattrick and Phil Spencer, he knew from the beginning what the others still haven’t understood, we want great games, and during his time in Xbox we definitely got them, those were the best times the brand has ever seen and it’s not even close, looking at Xbox now I don’t think they’ll EVER be able to replicate the hype around 2007 and Halo 3.
Re: Fortnite Players Share Mixed Reactions As Xbox Cloud Gaming Adds Limit For 'Free' Users
I get it but development for Xbox Cloud Gaming has been painfully slow, pretty much every other Cloud Gaming service works so much better, Amazon Luna, GeForce Now and PS+ Premium have all been improving remarkably and the 2 latter ones now have a 4K option while the input lag is much lower.
Even Google Stadia (RIP) nailed the technology 5 years ago but Xbox Cloud has been stuck in the same place, or even getting worse since 2020.
Re: Xbox Teases More 'Shadow Drops' As Game Pass Fans Go Wild Over Upcoming Lineup
@Millionski Yeah I think the main problem is that subs are still tied to console sales, people on PC just avoid the Microsoft Store like a plague and Cloud isn’t feasible to be considered a platform, but of course, Microsoft already gave up on selling consoles which leaves Game Pass in a really weird place because as much as I like the stacked lineup we’re getting, the service doesn’t seem sustainable with “only” 30 million users even with the price hike.
Re: Xbox Players Say They're Being 'Banned Indefinitely' For Using A VPN
@Weebleman It’s impossible to do on PlayStation, only by creating a new account but it’s not even worth it as they don’t have regional pricing in many countries and just charge in USD, which is noticeably more expensive than platforms that have regional pricing, Xbox, Steam and even the Nintendo eShop.
On Xbox you’d just buy a code, enable VPN and redeem that code in your account, I’d be lying if I said I never did it but I always knew it had some risk, however I haven’t bought anything for Xbox in more than a year and my account is fine.
Re: Xbox Makes Metacritic's Top 10 Highest-Rated Publisher List
@Coletrain Yeah there’s definitely some PlayStation bias across many gaming outlets but people refuse to see it.
Re: Xbox Teases More 'Shadow Drops' As Game Pass Fans Go Wild Over Upcoming Lineup
If all these stacked months don’t pull any more people into Game Pass then nothing will, there’s something for literally everyone only in the first half of this year.
Re: Xbox Series X|S Sales Down Almost 50% As Fans Question Stock Levels In Certain Regions
Thank you for the article, the situation is really dire, it’s pretty clear how Microsoft already has scaled hardware back substantially, and they are indeed taking the Surface route, continuing making first-party hardware but being ridiculous hard to get being available only at the MS Store, which itself isn’t available in most regions outside the US, meaning that Xbox hardware is essentially dead for most of the world.
I’d have expected for them to just continue having Series X|S consoles available for the rest of the generation and move slowly towards a Surface Xbox but no, Microsoft is literally in a rush to kill the Xbox we know and love, and the concern we had about that within 5-10 years would be very hard to get an Xbox console is already a reality in 2025!
Every time I think Microsoft can’t do something more baffling they just do, in no good conscience will I ever invest in a Microsoft product or service ever again, interestingly they just announced Skype’s closure, yet another service MS mismanaged to oblivion.
Re: Xbox Has Officially Delayed Fable Into 2026
That was expected and understandable, game lineup is still quite solid for this year but being revealed in 2020 and launch in 2026 is just wild lol
Re: Next Xbox Console: Everything We Know So Far About Microsoft's Next-Gen System
@FraserG Sorry but is there ANY reason to keep speculating on hardware that it’s at least 18 months away if it even ends up existing?
I’d rather have Xbox fan sites questioning Microsoft what the hell is going on with Xbox Series X|S stock worldwide…
Re: January Hardware Sales The Worst Since 2020 In The US As Xbox Consoles Decline By 50%
@Millionski I genuinely don’t understand either, even with publishing games elsewhere there’s still many people who want an Xbox and they just can’t get it, each new console sold could also entice an additional Game Pass sub but they don’t seem to care. Just baffling.
Re: January Hardware Sales The Worst Since 2020 In The US As Xbox Consoles Decline By 50%
@donv2135 And that’s exactly why you’re unable to accept it, I don’t “need” to worship any company, I’m a user of all 3 and enjoy all of them, you’re aggressively clinging to a brand, and yes Microsoft will continue to exist, but where’s Windows Phone now? Or Zune? Or Mixr?
And again, if you’re so bothered by it, ignore me or block me, I’m not going to stop sharing my concerns.