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.
@donv2135 Of course I’m afraid of “change”, I’ve invested hundreds into my digital library and now if my console fails for whatever reason it’s near impossible to get another Series X, we’re not talking anymore about a +10 year scenario where MS would stop producing consoles, it’s literally happening as we speak.
And the worst imo is Microsoft’s response for Brazilian retailers and customers: “players in Brazil will be able to play on their current consoles, PCs, with Game Pass and on smartphones, tablets or TVs with Xbox", essentially saying “too bad you want a new console, you can play on the Cloud and PC” which is incredibly disingenuous as the game library isn’t nearly the same between the 3 platforms and they’re just shrugging off their console audience, exactly my fear since all this changes started.
It’s Microsoft who’s doing all this, not me, if you think I’m a hater go ahead and look how I stupidly cheered when MS announced and finalized ABK acquisition, I really thought we’d be getting fierce competition with PlayStation, who I’ve been very critical of as you can tell by my comments on Push Square, but they just gave up, they’re speed running the death of the brand and yes, I’m upset and afraid after being an Xbox customer for more than a decade, sorry if my criticisms bother you, I’ve never insulted anyone here and always keep a civil and argumentative debate, if you’re unable to do that feel free to ignore my comments or ask the staff to block me.
@donv2135 You can read it in private mode or find tons of other articles sourcing that one.
And yes, you can close your eyes, cover your ears and deny to yourself Microsoft is killing its console business faster than anyone could’ve expected, that won’t change the fact that it’s exactly what they’re doing and they don’t care about any backlash, hence Forza on PS5 before many others that wouldn’t have been that huge.
It’s becoming increasingly alarming how Microsoft is abandoning production or distribution of current hardware, it’s not even a conversation about one console selling more than the other, in many markets there just isn’t any Xbox available anymore.
In Brazil Xbox used to be huge, and now retailers are being informed that there’ll be no distribution for the Series X in the entire country and units for Series S are scarce and currently 30% more expensive than a PS5, source at the end of my comment.
Given all this I don’t know how they got the nerve to confirm a next generation Xbox if they literally don’t even care about producing or distributing their current hardware, I’ve seen comments of scarcity on pretty much everywhere except the Microsoft Store, if the next Xbox ends up being distributed as the Surface devices only in select markets and only through the MS Store then it’s as good as dead on arrival.
Lmao, sorry but I’m just gonna say that if you really think the brand is “stronger than it has ever been been” it’s not even coping anymore, that’s just pure delusion.
And Seamus apparently had more vision than Don Mattrick or Phil Spencer ever did, what a different story would be with him or Peter Moore as head of Xbox the last decade.
Would have appreciated that “honesty and transparency” to Xbox core fans last year in the now infamous business update.
We could’ve been told back then “there’s no red lines” as to what it’s going to be ported to competing consoles instead of lying to our faces saying “it’s just 4 games”.
@Fiendish-Beaver Absolutely right, we can’t say all games will take 4 years to be ported because back when FH5 there wasn’t even a concept of plan to bring those games to competing consoles and in fact back then I remember they stated multiple times that all Bethesda games would be exclusive moving forward (just exemplifying further how plans did change).
Indy is good example of how it could work but we’ve seen them change strategy yet again for Doom The Dark Ages which is launching day one everywhere, and I do feel they’re moving eventually to a day one everywhere approach as games do benefit from being as big as they can on launch, but it’s gonna be hard to tell during this transition period, ports are already stacking up for Spring so if they wanted to port something like Avowed it’ll most likely wait a few months or a year.
@fatpunkslim Only for a couple of months actually, since the ‘no red lines’ comment, the Halo MCC leak and the official announcement of FH5 for PS5.
Happy to take on that bet but get it together, you’re already having a breakdown by saying you’re “100% for this multiplatform strategy” while at the same time refusing to accept it, things have changed, it’s not the same porting Ori to Switch than Forza to PlayStation.
@fatpunkslim Lol that’s coping hard. Don’t be shocked whenever Halo, Gears or Forza ends up releasing on competing consoles day one sooner rather that later.
@jesse_dylan I think the report saying that since Microsoft bought Activision many publishers don’t want to get on board with Game Pass had some truth in it, we’re seeing it already, wouldn’t be surprised if EA decided to remove EA Play from GP Ultimate too.
But tbh, I’d be fine if Game Pass ended up with only first-party games, maybe it would be more sustainable that handing out huge payouts to bring games to the service and their 30+ studios in MS gaming is enough to sustain it.
@LogicStrikesAgain Xbox tax or PlayStation bias, wherever you want to call it, the fact is some reviewers are not objective and they scrutinize things they ignore in other games, go read Gamespot 6/10 review and tell me there isn’t a bias of any kind lol
@Kaloudz I remember that Rockstar kept insisting that RDR2 would indeed come out in 2017 until June when they announced it’d come out in Spring 2018 to later further delay it again to October 2018, I’m still hopeful but everything is pointing towards a delay.
Looking really solid tbh, the aggregated score is already taking a hit as this is a heavily Xbox taxed game cause there’s no version for PS5 yet announced, currently sitting at 80 when it probably should be around 85 or even higher.
And for the ones that still claim there’s no such thing go read some “mixed” reviews, the downsides they list are a joke, some reviewer gave it 75/100 because “it’s a product of a subscription service” smh…
Anyways, I already have it installed and ready to go on Tuesday!
Btw, this event makes me appreciate the Dev_Direct from last month even more, while it showed less games it made a better job creating interest and it sold me on Doom to the point I already beat 2016 and Eternal after having them on the backlog for so long!
@Kaloudz They did say that but there’s no way GTA 6 releases in 6 months or less, this means it’d either come out in November or 2026. My money is on 2026 ):
Good. The only worst company in the gaming industry than Activision-Blizzard is precisely EA, they’ve butchered every studio and franchise except for Respawn who made Titanfall 2 and both Jedi games.
@Ryu_Niiyama It’s because the user base is much smaller than other consoles and Steam, plus Xbox users tend to not buy games compared to any other platform, logically because of Game Pass, so if a game releases on every platform it just makes way, way less money on Xbox, that’s why even Microsoft themselves are porting first-party games to anywhere else.
That plus being a bit more complicated to port games to the Series S is why some major games just choose to skip the platform increasingly so, quite disappointing tbh.
@Rog-X For Nintendo is outright impossible to get a refund, Sony is very specific with each request, sometimes it’s approved but most of the time it’s denied, Microsoft is by far the best in this regard. I bought Battlefield 1 for like $2 in December but they gave it away for free two weeks later so I submitted the request for refund and was able to redeem the free game no issues.
@Ryu_Niiyama It’s a mix of both, in one hand they have a more strict verifications (that’s why some updates just arrive later on Xbox) but it’s also very true they’re not targeted as the PS Store or eShop are, as both of them have double or triple the users of the MS Store.
What I can’t understand is the fact that 30 million consoles sold is not a disaster, many other consoles have sold less than half of that lifetime… and yet Microsoft already gave up on exclusives plus more concerningly they might have stopped production and distribution of hardware, as there’s a growing global scarcity of both Series X and S on many markets outside the US.
If they keep making hardware on paper but it’s gonna be like Surface devices which are basically never available outside the US MS Store then they shouldn’t even bother, just move our libraries to PC at the very least.
@K1LLEGAL You make a good point but I don’t think Deathloop proved anything or was the catalyst, I think once they acquired ABK they took a look at their financials at how staggeringly more money is being made at PlayStation, specially for Call of Duty, and with the need of recouping those 80 billion spent for ABK and Zenimax, Microsoft just pivoted overnight leaving the Xbox division scrambling to even accept their new reality, what I’ll never be fine with is the blatant lies they repeatedly have said to people who have spent years and hundreds of dollars on building a library around some games we were told repeatedly would never be going to other consoles.
That’s why now I hesitate to spend any money on the Xbox store but just can’t sell my Xbox as I have 130+ games I can’t play anywhere else without having to buy them again, and now for whatever baffling reason there’s less options to buy a new console right now.
The amount of lies we were told back then is honestly infuriating, all the ports being announced right now were already greenlit when Phil was saying on camera “it’s only 4 games”.
And btw, a bit off topic, there’s a growing scarcity of Xbox consoles globally, it’s become hard to get on basically every market outside the US, there’s many threads such as this one already and it’s looking as Microsoft already gave up on hardware. https://www.reddit.com/r/xbox/s/u8xVJPGq1j
I’m very interested in Avowed, on paper it has everything I want but there’s something that hasn’t clicked yet, I’m hopeful this doesn’t turn out in another disappointment.
However, Microsoft, would you mind putting some marketing into your games? Barely anyone knows this game launches in 2 weeks and there hasn’t been any single push for marketing whatsoever.
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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.
Re: January Hardware Sales The Worst Since 2020 In The US As Xbox Consoles Decline By 50%
@donv2135 Of course I’m afraid of “change”, I’ve invested hundreds into my digital library and now if my console fails for whatever reason it’s near impossible to get another Series X, we’re not talking anymore about a +10 year scenario where MS would stop producing consoles, it’s literally happening as we speak.
And the worst imo is Microsoft’s response for Brazilian retailers and customers: “players in Brazil will be able to play on their current consoles, PCs, with Game Pass and on smartphones, tablets or TVs with Xbox", essentially saying “too bad you want a new console, you can play on the Cloud and PC” which is incredibly disingenuous as the game library isn’t nearly the same between the 3 platforms and they’re just shrugging off their console audience, exactly my fear since all this changes started.
It’s Microsoft who’s doing all this, not me, if you think I’m a hater go ahead and look how I stupidly cheered when MS announced and finalized ABK acquisition, I really thought we’d be getting fierce competition with PlayStation, who I’ve been very critical of as you can tell by my comments on Push Square, but they just gave up, they’re speed running the death of the brand and yes, I’m upset and afraid after being an Xbox customer for more than a decade, sorry if my criticisms bother you, I’ve never insulted anyone here and always keep a civil and argumentative debate, if you’re unable to do that feel free to ignore my comments or ask the staff to block me.
Re: January Hardware Sales The Worst Since 2020 In The US As Xbox Consoles Decline By 50%
@donv2135 You can read it in private mode or find tons of other articles sourcing that one.
And yes, you can close your eyes, cover your ears and deny to yourself Microsoft is killing its console business faster than anyone could’ve expected, that won’t change the fact that it’s exactly what they’re doing and they don’t care about any backlash, hence Forza on PS5 before many others that wouldn’t have been that huge.
Re: January Hardware Sales The Worst Since 2020 In The US As Xbox Consoles Decline By 50%
It’s becoming increasingly alarming how Microsoft is abandoning production or distribution of current hardware, it’s not even a conversation about one console selling more than the other, in many markets there just isn’t any Xbox available anymore.
In Brazil Xbox used to be huge, and now retailers are being informed that there’ll be no distribution for the Series X in the entire country and units for Series S are scarce and currently 30% more expensive than a PS5, source at the end of my comment.
Given all this I don’t know how they got the nerve to confirm a next generation Xbox if they literally don’t even care about producing or distributing their current hardware, I’ve seen comments of scarcity on pretty much everywhere except the Microsoft Store, if the next Xbox ends up being distributed as the Surface devices only in select markets and only through the MS Store then it’s as good as dead on arrival.
Source: https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/tec/2025/02/videogame-xbox-series-x-rival-do-ps5-some-das-prateleiras-no-brasil-e-precos-chegam-a-r-10-mil.shtml?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=bskfolha
Re: How Microsoft Managed Xbox Brand 'Is Not My F**king Fault', Says OG Xbox Creator
Lmao, sorry but I’m just gonna say that if you really think the brand is “stronger than it has ever been been” it’s not even coping anymore, that’s just pure delusion.
And Seamus apparently had more vision than Don Mattrick or Phil Spencer ever did, what a different story would be with him or Peter Moore as head of Xbox the last decade.
Re: Xbox Will Be 'Honest & Transparent' About Platforms In Future Showcases, Says Phil Spencer
Would have appreciated that “honesty and transparency” to Xbox core fans last year in the now infamous business update.
We could’ve been told back then “there’s no red lines” as to what it’s going to be ported to competing consoles instead of lying to our faces saying “it’s just 4 games”.
Re: Phil Spencer Says Xbox Is Done Trying To Convince PS5 & Switch Players To Move Over
@Fiendish-Beaver Absolutely right, we can’t say all games will take 4 years to be ported because back when FH5 there wasn’t even a concept of plan to bring those games to competing consoles and in fact back then I remember they stated multiple times that all Bethesda games would be exclusive moving forward (just exemplifying further how plans did change).
Indy is good example of how it could work but we’ve seen them change strategy yet again for Doom The Dark Ages which is launching day one everywhere, and I do feel they’re moving eventually to a day one everywhere approach as games do benefit from being as big as they can on launch, but it’s gonna be hard to tell during this transition period, ports are already stacking up for Spring so if they wanted to port something like Avowed it’ll most likely wait a few months or a year.
Re: Phil Spencer Says Xbox Is Done Trying To Convince PS5 & Switch Players To Move Over
@fatpunkslim Only for a couple of months actually, since the ‘no red lines’ comment, the Halo MCC leak and the official announcement of FH5 for PS5.
Happy to take on that bet but get it together, you’re already having a breakdown by saying you’re “100% for this multiplatform strategy” while at the same time refusing to accept it, things have changed, it’s not the same porting Ori to Switch than Forza to PlayStation.
Re: Phil Spencer Says Xbox Is Done Trying To Convince PS5 & Switch Players To Move Over
@fatpunkslim Lol that’s coping hard. Don’t be shocked whenever Halo, Gears or Forza ends up releasing on competing consoles day one sooner rather that later.
Re: Phil Spencer Says Xbox Is Done Trying To Convince PS5 & Switch Players To Move Over
You could just stop at “Phil Spencer says Xbox is done”.
Re: Just One Game Is Confirmed For Xbox Game Pass In March 2025 So Far
@jesse_dylan I think the report saying that since Microsoft bought Activision many publishers don’t want to get on board with Game Pass had some truth in it, we’re seeing it already, wouldn’t be surprised if EA decided to remove EA Play from GP Ultimate too.
But tbh, I’d be fine if Game Pass ended up with only first-party games, maybe it would be more sustainable that handing out huge payouts to bring games to the service and their 30+ studios in MS gaming is enough to sustain it.
Re: Review: Avowed (Xbox) - Flashy Action & Excellent Exploration Make Up For A Surprisingly Breezy Narrative
@LogicStrikesAgain Xbox tax or PlayStation bias, wherever you want to call it, the fact is some reviewers are not objective and they scrutinize things they ignore in other games, go read Gamespot 6/10 review and tell me there isn’t a bias of any kind lol
Re: Roundup: All The Xbox Reveals From February 2025's State Of Play
@Kaloudz I remember that Rockstar kept insisting that RDR2 would indeed come out in 2017 until June when they announced it’d come out in Spring 2018 to later further delay it again to October 2018, I’m still hopeful but everything is pointing towards a delay.
Re: Review: Avowed (Xbox) - Flashy Action & Excellent Exploration Make Up For A Surprisingly Breezy Narrative
Looking really solid tbh, the aggregated score is already taking a hit as this is a heavily Xbox taxed game cause there’s no version for PS5 yet announced, currently sitting at 80 when it probably should be around 85 or even higher.
And for the ones that still claim there’s no such thing go read some “mixed” reviews, the downsides they list are a joke, some reviewer gave it 75/100 because “it’s a product of a subscription service” smh…
Anyways, I already have it installed and ready to go on Tuesday!
Re: Roundup: All The Xbox Reveals From February 2025's State Of Play
Btw, this event makes me appreciate the Dev_Direct from last month even more, while it showed less games it made a better job creating interest and it sold me on Doom to the point I already beat 2016 and Eternal after having them on the backlog for so long!
Re: Roundup: All The Xbox Reveals From February 2025's State Of Play
@Kaloudz They did say that but there’s no way GTA 6 releases in 6 months or less, this means it’d either come out in November or 2026. My money is on 2026 ):
Re: EA Missed Out On Buying Blizzard & Some Big Activision Franchises, Says Former CCO
Good. The only worst company in the gaming industry than Activision-Blizzard is precisely EA, they’ve butchered every studio and franchise except for Respawn who made Titanfall 2 and both Jedi games.
Re: Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Is Reportedly On Its Way To Xbox Game Pass
It’s crazy that PS5 players are getting Halo before Game Pass gets old Call of Duty’s.
Re: Xbox Praised For Putting 'Lots Of Effort' Into Store Curation Compared To Sony & Nintendo
@Ryu_Niiyama It’s because the user base is much smaller than other consoles and Steam, plus Xbox users tend to not buy games compared to any other platform, logically because of Game Pass, so if a game releases on every platform it just makes way, way less money on Xbox, that’s why even Microsoft themselves are porting first-party games to anywhere else.
That plus being a bit more complicated to port games to the Series S is why some major games just choose to skip the platform increasingly so, quite disappointing tbh.
Re: Xbox Praised For Putting 'Lots Of Effort' Into Store Curation Compared To Sony & Nintendo
@Rog-X For Nintendo is outright impossible to get a refund, Sony is very specific with each request, sometimes it’s approved but most of the time it’s denied, Microsoft is by far the best in this regard.
I bought Battlefield 1 for like $2 in December but they gave it away for free two weeks later so I submitted the request for refund and was able to redeem the free game no issues.
Re: South Of Midnight Preview (Xbox) - A Compulsion We're Desperate To Indulge
I’m hyped, the more they show it looks better and better, what a lineup for Xbox/Game Pass so far this year ngl
Re: Random: Xbox Fan Shares Clip Of Microsoft's Console Factory Line From 2006
Now this is nostalgia…
Re: Xbox Praised For Putting 'Lots Of Effort' Into Store Curation Compared To Sony & Nintendo
@Ryu_Niiyama It’s a mix of both, in one hand they have a more strict verifications (that’s why some updates just arrive later on Xbox) but it’s also very true they’re not targeted as the PS Store or eShop are, as both of them have double or triple the users of the MS Store.
Re: New Financial Report Provides Estimated Xbox Series X|S Sales Figure As Of Late 2024
What I can’t understand is the fact that 30 million consoles sold is not a disaster, many other consoles have sold less than half of that lifetime… and yet Microsoft already gave up on exclusives plus more concerningly they might have stopped production and distribution of hardware, as there’s a growing global scarcity of both Series X and S on many markets outside the US.
If they keep making hardware on paper but it’s gonna be like Surface devices which are basically never available outside the US MS Store then they shouldn’t even bother, just move our libraries to PC at the very least.
Re: Talking Point: It's Been A Year Since Phil Spencer Announced The 'Xbox Business Update' Event
@K1LLEGAL You make a good point but I don’t think Deathloop proved anything or was the catalyst, I think once they acquired ABK they took a look at their financials at how staggeringly more money is being made at PlayStation, specially for Call of Duty, and with the need of recouping those 80 billion spent for ABK and Zenimax, Microsoft just pivoted overnight leaving the Xbox division scrambling to even accept their new reality, what I’ll never be fine with is the blatant lies they repeatedly have said to people who have spent years and hundreds of dollars on building a library around some games we were told repeatedly would never be going to other consoles.
That’s why now I hesitate to spend any money on the Xbox store but just can’t sell my Xbox as I have 130+ games I can’t play anywhere else without having to buy them again, and now for whatever baffling reason there’s less options to buy a new console right now.
Re: Xbox Exec Showcases Incredible Avowed Advert In Times Square
@Banjo- You think they didn’t market their games because of the FTC? Marketing has been a problem for Xbox since 2010.
Re: Talking Point: It's Been A Year Since Phil Spencer Announced The 'Xbox Business Update' Event
The amount of lies we were told back then is honestly infuriating, all the ports being announced right now were already greenlit when Phil was saying on camera “it’s only 4 games”.
And btw, a bit off topic, there’s a growing scarcity of Xbox consoles globally, it’s become hard to get on basically every market outside the US, there’s many threads such as this one already and it’s looking as Microsoft already gave up on hardware. https://www.reddit.com/r/xbox/s/u8xVJPGq1j
Re: Two More Xbox First-Party Games Are Moving To PS5 In 2025
Removed
Re: Reporter Suggests Console Exclusives Will Soon Be 'Obsolete', Especially For Third-Party Devs
I feel we’ve been told this for a decade and so far the only one that has given up is Xbox.
Re: Talking Point: February Marks Microsoft's First Xbox Game Studios Release Of 2025
I’m very interested in Avowed, on paper it has everything I want but there’s something that hasn’t clicked yet, I’m hopeful this doesn’t turn out in another disappointment.
However, Microsoft, would you mind putting some marketing into your games? Barely anyone knows this game launches in 2 weeks and there hasn’t been any single push for marketing whatsoever.