IOI

Sure Phil, your track record speaks for itself.

They’re definitely trying to bridge Xbox and PC more and more but I wish they’d make it retroactive, so that all Xbox, Bethesda and Activision titles have this too, it’s the very least they can do with them disregarding the console so heavily.

I just rewatched it without the hype and it’s such a good event, much better than any State of Play this entire generation but gaming media doesn’t give enough credit to Xbox for making consistently good shows, both Dev_Directs and Showcases.

As I said in another comment, it’s just so disappointing Microsoft has given up on Xbox as a platform just at the time they’re starting to shine as a publisher.

Man, why did Microsoft had to give up on Xbox when it was getting this good!?

@Millionski That isn’t as cheap anymore, they changed conversion rates and upped the prices so even by looking for cheap codes online and conversion tricks I don’t find it worth it since there’s entire months where I don’t Game Pass, I basically only got it to save on playing day one titles as I pretty much bought every other game I liked.

Nope, I have Ultimate until 2027 but I’m gonna let it ran out and I’m not gonna renew, it’s become too expensive for my particular use case as I still tend to buy the games I like the most.

@Coletrain Yup, much louder than the Slim or the late fat models, in some 120 FPS it’s even worse than my day one PS5 which is very disappointing.

It really goes to show that the Series X hardware is top notch and imo the best built console this generation, I have a PS5 Pro and while some games do look better the build quality is noticeably worse as I have loud coil whine as my day one PS5 also had, whereas the Series X is ALWAYS dead silent.

@Nobigwoo I really, really don’t think an Xbox handheld has such success that developers will flock to the platform, for instance by then the Switch 2 will be dominating handhelds with some Xbox ported games, making it worthless to get an Xbox handheld (same thing in home consoles with the PS5), plus Xbox marketing sucks incredibly bad, if they ever do release it you just know it’s gonna have a terrible name and they won’t market it, and if Sony decides to venture in the same market it’d effectively kill any possibility of success for Xbox.

By some context the Steam Deck which is universally praised has sold little more than 5 million units, an Xbox handheld could have even lower sales.

Gotta be honest, I doubt it ever materializes, not only because Xbox is a dying mess right now but there’s a reason why Sony hasn’t done it too, game development would be a huge problem if all developers have to account for a powerful home console plus a weaker handheld, as the weaker hardware becomes the base and all development would have to be compatible with both, we’ve already seen devs struggle with the Series S and a a handheld would logically be much more limited, plus the market by then is going to be dominated by Switch 2.
And the old model of maintaining 2 separate platforms with different libraries is just not sustainable nowadays.

I think all this will end up in one third-party handheld such as the Rog Ally to be “licensed” by Microsoft and serve as an Xbox handheld after their next-console launches, so we’re talking about the Z3 generation of PC handhelds, an at this rate who knows if Xbox would even be around by then.

@Rog-X And you’re choosing to believe Microsoft words? Lmao I’m not going to repeat their lies but Phil Spencer in a rare moment of honesty clearly said there’s no “red lines” as to what will end up launching on competing consoles, I’m choosing to believe that.

Plus the leaker that claimed Halo MCC is coming to Switch 2 and PS5 just accurately predicted the reveal date for the system so at this point he has more credibility that Microsoft’s PR 🤣

Nah, they’ll heavily tease it only to try reassuring people they’re not leaving the console market while porting every game that Xbox has ever done to PS5 and Switch 2.

What a pathetic response from Microsoft, they really think of us as idiots, they know damn well that the increase in revenue has been from integrating their 70 billion buyout, if you remove ABK numbers the business has actually shrunk, plus it’s not denying anything at all, it even implies with that quote of being “all in on gaming” that they weren’t “all in” before…

Plus they repeat the exact same BS with engagement at “all-time high” which I just don’t believe anymore.

I honestly expect the decline to be even steeper this year, as the real consequences of becoming multi platform will start to show, another metric I’m expecting to decline heavily is consumer spending on consoles, meaning how much people spend on Xbox in games, MTX and subscriptions, as existing audiences will begin flock the platform and the ones who remain won’t spend a cent (my case until I rebuild my library someplace else), we probably won’t know as they’ll mask it with consumer spending on competing platforms as the ports release.

As to new audiences they’ll see the brand is already so tarnished and despised that they won’t even consider it as an option over a PS5 or even Switch 2, so once again I can’t see a path where Xbox ain’t dead.

Honestly, it baffles me how a trillion dollar company can be beyond incompetent, their only solutions to any problem is throw money at it or abandon it, they literally seem to not know anything else.

Lmao of course he’d think that, I’m sure Nokia/Lumia engineers thought the exact same thing when Windows Phone was up and running.

This is why I’m saying the Xbox One generation as infamous as it was it’s certainly much better to whatever tf MS is trying to do this generation.

I also stopped doing quests, it requires too much time to make it worthwhile and tbh they’re only worth doing if you already planned to playing something from Game Pass.

@GeorgeKal Sony sells 5 times as much and yet their console is readily available everywhere globally, why is that? Microsoft, the 3 trillion dollar company can’t afford to allocate more stock in one of the most important regions for gaming and where Xbox used to sell very well?

Seriously think about it because the only answer I can find is that they actively don’t care to sell consoles, they haven’t been marketing them for years and seemingly now they’re not even producing or distributing them even as they launched a new model/revision just a couple months ago, can you say that isn’t beyond baffling and it’s just doom and gloom?

And there’s still some people here and there claiming Microsoft hasn’t given up on Xbox, it’s time to wake up…

It won’t be mentioned at all, just assume all the games you see there are coming to Switch 2 and PS5 as well.

@electrolite77 Lol I’d be in blogs all day long, it’s almost sickening how much someone is willing to become a simp of a corporation, and if you’re think here’s bad just take a look at Push Square, sometimes it look straight up as a cult starting with the authors and staff themselves.

I’m definitely going to give it a try, contrary to most the more they’ve shown the more I’m interested in it.

@TheGameThrifter Yup, the multiplatform news has already taken a big hit in sales, and as much as Microsoft tell themselves that “every device is an Xbox” the truth remains that 90% of their subscriber base comes from consoles, most of their revenue comes from selling MTX on consoles, PC audience hates Microsoft and everyone uses Steam and Cloud Gaming is very subpar to GeForce Now or even Sony’s PS+, so they’re effectively nuking the only solid platform they had.

In my particular case I’m already actively rebuilding my library on both PS5 and Switch, haven't spent a cent in the MS Store since last year and I won’t EVER buy another Microsoft hardware again, only keeping my Series X until I get my entire library on other consoles or if I get a PC or Steam console.

@Millionski It’s time to accept Microsoft flat out doesn’t care in the slightest, they had a full year to disclose their plans to their core audience and all they’ve done is lie, time and time again.
“It’s only 4 games guys”, “Indiana Jones isn’t one of those games”, “Wukong hasn’t released because of Sony, not Series S”, and the list goes on and on.

@Ricky-Spanish This time last year he was literally claiming that Halo or Gears would NEVER release on PlayStation and of course now he’s saying they’re 100% coming, he’ll excuse everything as “plans change” but the fact is he doesn’t have a scoop or anything, he’s just grifting from every situation and defends Microsoft as if he worked there.

@PsBoxSwitchOwner He was among the first ones claiming that Hi-Fi Rush was heading to other consoles alongside other games late 2023, I called BS back then and well, safe to say who was wrong…

Once Halo releases on any console other than Xbox, the brand is absolutely, utterly and irreversibly dead, shouldn’t even bother with another console tbh.

I don’t think selling nostalgia themed consoles and controllers is remotely a priority for Xbox right now…

This might be worth doing if you’re really engaged with Xbox/PC and Game Pass, but I’m out, now they feel like such a chore to do I’m not even going to bother, and I had been doing quests since the Rewards app back in the Xbone generation where you could actually gets lots of points.

It’s still something but now it’s clearly designed to boost their metrics as it’ll only rewards you almost the same points if you play continuously all 7 days a week, don’t miss a single streak and spend hours trying different Game Pass games, that way you appear as such an engaged customer even if you only played the required 15 minutes, in a few months or years I can totally see them using this argument “yes there’s less sold consoles and less active users on our platforms but user engagement is very high so it’s all fine”.

It’s so disappointing that right now the current consoles feel abandoned and an afterthought for Microsoft, there’s lots of things to fix in the Xbox OS since the Xbox One generation (captures for instance) and they promised several times to overhaul it but didn’t.

Their focus currently really is the PC and competing consoles, of all the “Xbox devices” the console feels the more neglected, and they think we are going to buy their handheld in droves? Lol for me the Series X is the last device I ever buy from Microsoft, the prospect of a Steam home console or PCs with SteamOS would make me jump ship real fast.

It’s sad that the 24 year journey is coming to an end, and what ended up killing Xbox was none other than Microsoft Gaming.

@Foxx_64740 It wasn’t Microsoft first attempt at mobile, in fact before Google and Apple came into play Microsoft had a grip on smartphones with Windows Mobile for years, nearly a decade, once the iPhone was revealed Microsoft’s CEO infamously laughed it off and they took years to catch up, coming up very close with Windows Phone 7/8 but completely fumbling it a few years later as they lost most third-party apps support, spent billions buying Nokia, and shortly after they wanted to recoup that investment ASAP and released Office in iOS and Android, effectively killing the only advantage WP still had over those platforms and obviously WP dwindled until it became irrelevant and died.

The similarities are remarkable and with Microsoft the writing is on the wall, if you don’t want to see it that’s another story.

This generation is just sad and I can confidently say now way worse than Xbox One, because back then we still had the promise of better things to come, still had some exclusives (tho very far in between) and less third-party games skip Xbox, whereas nowadays the talk with every Xbox game is when will it come to PS5, many developers choose to skip Xbox, Microsoft lies to their core audience on a weekly basis and we are left wondering if there’s going to be an Xbox at all next gen…

@Foxx_64740 Remember what was actually backed up by a trillion dollar company in the fastest-growing industry at that time and ended up shutting down? Windows Phone.

@FraserG The only way I see it making sense is if this new console breaks the norm in so many ways, being an open-platform with Steam and other storefronts.

I’m very skeptical it’ll happen as the entire business model for consoles would have to be rethought and Microsoft doesn’t seem to be willing to lose a cent from their gaming division.

I’ve been collection rewards points since 2015 but with this I’m out, this requires too much time and I just don’t use my Xbox that much anymore, plus it’s clearly designed to boost up console engagement metrics, Bing searches give you way more points and it’s less time consuming.

Xbox Series X|S for my 3 choices as those are the only Xbox devices, until I can play 100% of my library on any other device that isn’t branded as an Xbox this marketing stunt is just obscenely stupid.

So free marketing for Xbox IP’s and they rejected it, this would’ve at least intrigued some people into trying the games, maybe even subscribing into Game Pass as both franchises are there, oh but that’s right, they were busy marketing my phone as an Xbox even when I can’t play 90% of my library…

@GamingFan4Lyf @FraserG Stop doing mental gymnastics and just cope with the fact Microsoft lied and there never was an exclusivity agreement or “incentive” with Sony, I don’t know why it’s so hard to accept that, it’s not the first (nor the last) lie MS has told us.

It’s yet another Microsoft lie and people still trying to spin it as Sony’s fault somehow.

The facts are that Microsoft outright doesn’t care about their platform and bringing third-party games to it, plus they’re a bunch of double-faced liars as they implied the game wasn’t coming due to an agreement with Sony and saying specifically “it isn’t because of the platform limitations” and it turned out to be exactly Series S limitations, but for me the worst thing is Xbox’ attempts to keep lying to their core audience, which is all they’ve done last year and this entire generation.

It will go down in history as one of the most shortsighted decisions Microsoft has ever taken, and personally it is the thing that made me completely lose faith in Xbox.

So glad that Krafton stepped in and saved both the studio and IP, it’s sad that The Evil Within will forever remain in Microsoft’s IP graveyard but hopefully they’ll come out with a spiritual successor or something like that.

January is always the backlog month lol

You got some nerve reposting this at these times…

Microsoft Gaming has a (great?) future, Xbox is dead.

With all the Xbox uncertainty I haven’t bought a single game in the entire year, only got Forza Horizon 4 for free as I owned DLC and Game Pass, and used Rewards points to pay for a month of Ubisoft+ and play SW Outlaws.

So sad to see that every single time the brand is getting momentum (with 2 great AAA releases) they fumble it somehow with baffling statements like wanting to ‘redefine’ what means to be an Xbox fan…

Now let’s see if the industry treats it as the Insomniac leak which nobody wanted to discuss for “respect” or instead they run rampant as they do with any other leak that isn’t from Sony…