Loving E-Day so far but they should’ve finished what they started with the second trilogy even before telling E-Day’s story, I actually really enjoyed both 4 and 5 but that final cliffhanger was a disgrace.
@RiverGenie Nah we shouldn’t downplay it, it’s legitimately impressive they managed to squeeze this tech on the base PS5 and it does result in a noticeably clearer image, between this and PSSR 2.0 Sony has been remarkably good in hardware advancement even if everything else downright sucks lol
@themightyant I’m not disputing the actual reasons for Sony to drop the partnership, I’ve previously said that both not owning the IP and not having exclusivity were major contention issues aside from the budget, my entire point is to call out the double standards from several gaming outlets because again, we already knew Kojima games are expensive to make, already knew that Death Stranding costed too much, already knew DS2 didn’t sell as well as the first, all true and yet none of these were active discussions BEFORE Sony dropped Kojima, that’s it.
I’m very glad too that this project was saved, to me both Death Stranding games are among my favorite games of this generation as wacky as they are.
@themightyant @ilyn I’m sure some outlets have been consistent but I can point out several that haven’t, timing is key, when Sony first announced the Physint partnership back in 2024 no one, and I really mean no one was questioning its budget or the sales numbers for Death Stranding, in fact from the first partnership Sony signed with Kojima back in 2015 to August 2026 there NEVER was such a big discussion about Kojima, budgets and sales, but as soon as Sony dropped him it’s all everyone talks about, all this to justify Sony’s decision, same thing right after announcing the end of physical games as several outlets kept posting skewed data to justify how Sony was right and physical games are completely irrelevant (according to them).
So I absolutely maintain that many if not most of gaming “journalists” are unapologetically biased towards Sony, and if you think I’m an Xbox fanboy just look at how critical I’ve been of Xbox during the last few years (deservedly so), but what I really can’t stand are the double standards of the media, simply if they are so worried about Physint budgets why did no one reported on it BEFORE Sony cancelled the partnership? We already knew (since 2015) that Kojima games are expensive to make and doesn’t necessarily sell that much.
This whole Kojima situation has blatantly exposed the Sony-bias from soooo many gaming outlets, it’s been utterly disgusting how the very same outlets and people who incessantly praised Kojima for 10+ years now all they do is question budgets and sales, now even requesting an apology? Pathetic.
What I’d like to see is something like option 2, similar to what Santa Monica did with the God of War franchise, starting a new Norse saga while still respecting the previously stablished lore but making a bet for many new changes that ended up taking the franchise to higher highs than what came before.
And while I don’t factually know if Activision will do right by Halo I’ve come to accept it really can’t get worse for the franchise, it had already been 5 years since Infinite and the next Halo was nowhere near development, they did a poor job modernizing CE and 2 months after launch the later missions remain unoptimized, there were plans for remaking 2 and 3 but still with no multiplayer being CE’s biggest mistake, so even after renaming themselves they learned absolutely nothing and remained with that toxic positivity mentality that prevented them for 15+ years on actually delivering one entry that was up to what this franchise deserved, and I understand the many concerns of a Halo coming from Activision but just remember 343i tried to sell us a color scheme for $10 on Infinite which was even more predatory than COD.
Disappointing but not surprising given the last game they delivered and how many resources they used to make it, I remember being overly excited when the Series X was introduced alongside Hellblade 2 on TGA 2019 and it’s been one of the biggest disappointments I’ve had with a game ever. Coupled with the rumors that “Senua” is only a slice piece (basically a demo of the game they want to make) it’s easy to see why no other publisher wants the studio.
I honestly don’t think it’s a bad move, Halo Studios/343i has simply not been what this franchise deserves, and while I don’t know if Activision will do right by it at the very least it’s something other than slowly killing the franchise by mismanagement.
However I now question if Halo Studios has any future at all, that much layoffs means the team is basically a support studio now (for Infinite and Campaign Evolved I guess). Also does this mean the franchise will remain multiplatform or go back to being exclusive? What about the remakes for 2 and 3? Lots of questions for this.
@Fiendish-Beaver I don’t think Todd Howard has that much control over Bethesda anymore, in fact I don’t think he’s too happy that Obsidian is making a Fallout game but the decision comes from the very top as avoiding that 15-year gap between releases seems to be Asha’s priority for Bethesda since taking over (and should’ve been Phil’s since closing that acquisition).
I even see Todd leaving after he delivers ES6 before having to wait that much between games.
Frankly I see mostly good decisions that should’ve been taken a LONG time ago, Obsidian under Bethesda is a perfect match, Rare under Activision could mean the return of many franchises and even Halo under Activision is a good move after Halo Studios/343i consistently failed to manage the franchise.
The response directly alludes to “plans that are not finalized” and “day one games that are already announced” meaning there’s indeed some upcoming changes regarding day one games, and honestly it’s the healthiest thing to do because for Xbox to have a chance at exclusives they need to actually sell units in the first place, however I do hope the ‘finalized plans’ end up way more compelling that was rumored…
@Fiendish-Beaver The plot thickens as Kojima is denying the allegations, but even if they were true he still hasn’t delivered a bad game, his process may be quirky and expensive but he has consistently delivered both critical and comercial successes, unlike other investments Xbox has done.
I think it’s becoming clear that Sony is getting cold feet with budget spending because they want to protect their margins amidst all the money they’ve lost this generation on their failed live-service initiative, and worse they’re determined to keep trying even if they have to kill projects and partnerships like this to keep attempting it, and to be fair exclusivity was a major contention point for Sony as they no longer want to support PC but Kojima does (even made sure DS1 would eventually come to PC as they signed the initial 2015 deal).
Zero, every time I’ve tried playing any game through Cloud it’s been too unreliable and overall is a subpar experience compared to a native console, but it’s funny they spent years marketing it as the main way to get into Xbox…
@kmtrain83 Lol my bad, I’d be fine if that was the limit per day but for an entire month it’s not even enough for a casual player who only plays one game.
There’s the rake. 15 hours per month is just laughable, specially for a gamer who’s paying for Game Pass Ultimate with 400+ games, just a few years ago Cloud Gaming was the center piece of the whole ‘This is an Xbox’ campaign and just like that in a random Thursday they forfeit all users who actively use it…
Would like to say I’m surprised but this is yet another classic dumb-disastrous move from Xbox’ playbook, let’s see how anyone tries to defend this.
Everything about this feature is simply amazing, this is a new standard set for console games’ preservation and I believe it’s the most praiseworthy move from Xbox since they pulled off Xbox 360 backwards compatibility.
Also such a stinging slap in Sony’s face given how they’ve handled the end of physical media and somehow continue to devolve in becoming 2013’s Xbox, it’s been funny to read some fanboys in social media trying to downplay or disregard the feature or even paint it as negative only because Sony didn’t do it.
@kuu_nousee Are you actually playing it from start to finish or only glanced it to see how it looks? I can only speak of my own experience and some sections on the later half of the game are borderline unplayable, had the same experience as pointed out by @oopsiezz, it can basically can turn into a slideshow for a few seconds.
I’m often not bothered by small drops as with VRR those are barely noticeable but it literally stops the game entirely and it happened to me on both consoles, had to pause my Remix run because I’m not willing to play through the last act of the game at 10 FPS for the third time.
@Shinato2024 When it’s the third time in a row for the studio to have technical issues at launch then yes, it absolutely is incompetence, and again highlighted by poor level design of the new missions.
This is a remake of a 25 year old game with fairly simple mechanics for today’s standards, it’s not a game pushing any boundaries that might justify some small frame drops, I’ve criticized those games’ performance (specially BG3) and called out many outlets for its double standards, why should Halo get a pass?
I’m not talking about a rare 5 FPS drop, but rather sinking consistently below 30 FPS on performance mode in both consoles during some heavy gameplay specially in the later half of the game, during the Halo mission it turned into a slideshow on my Series X for a few seconds and I’m not even talking about the balancing issues they already acknowledge, I don’t about you but I expected better from the ‘definitive version’ of Halo CE as this was supposed to be and still see many of the same issues that have always plagued the studio, it still is the 343i mess we know of but with a new name.
It clearly wasn’t ready for launch but I guess they couldn’t wait any further to do layoffs at the studio.
To be honest Halo Studios/343i is just incredibly incompetent, I already finished Campaign Evolved twice and I liked it because it’s Halo CE, but it again highlights how terrible the studio is managed with the game still unfinished having noticeable frame drops and visual artifacts in both Series X and PS5 Pro, like it’s remarkable they couldn’t even properly optimize a REMAKE, on that note it being a remake is the best thing about this release because the prequel extra missions are AWFUL, literally worse level design than missions that were designed 25 years ago, it again highlights how unready this team is to deliver a new game.
On the other hand I can only imagine how demoralizing is for the studios at Xbox to see that every time a game is released it’s immediately followed by layoffs, like what incentive remains for them to actually deliver on something great? You’re damned if you don’t and also if you do, I think we can already expect huge layoffs at The Coalition once E-Day releases.
I’m getting the feeling that all this reinvestment into Xbox OS is because they’re pivoting Helix away from Windows and rather building on top the existing console OS which to me is good news.
Funny how it only exists to sort of tease E-Day for PS5 players but it was a complete flop on PS and E-Day was cancelled for PS5 (maybe justified by the poor sales for Reloaded).
And the same thing is happening with Halo, it was never worth to give up exclusives and Xbox’ brand identity for a few thousand sales on PS.
Couldn’t resist as I saw it on disc for PS5 since Friday (store broke street date) and already finished it lol, it does look noticeably sharper on PS5 Pro than Series X and it’s very nice there’s cross progression including trophies/achievements.
Overall I got it as a trinket fully expecting it’ll be the one and only Halo on PlayStation (something that should’ve never happened in the first place imo), it seems Xbox was giving up their entire brand identity for merely 1% of PS players…
FINALLY there’s someone addressing this, ever since the Xbox One days it’s been annoying how inconsistent the download speed is, for some updates it refuses to download at more than 20 mbps for whatever reason.
Next up in fixing neglected things long overdue they should completely overhaul the captures on Xbox and reverse decision on deleting them automatically every couple of months.
@Fiendish-Beaver It really is an impossible position because both things are true, without Game Pass Xbox probably wouldn’t even exist nowadays but it’s also true the financials behind it didn’t work out so I’m really interested in where do we go from here, the service will not grow but they can’t forfeit its current revenue by suddenly removing day one games which is the service’s main thing.
My guess up until now is that they’ll further reduce Ultimate’s price (and remove PC tier) but also announce that only select first-party games will arrive on the service day one moving forward and we might get shorter 3-6 month windows for those games only in the Ultimate tier, which would be an amicable compromise for me, but many see day one games as non-negotiable.
I cherished Game Pass and specifically day one games since it became a thing but it’s now undeniable that it did more harm to Xbox than good, it didn’t grow Xbox’ overall user base, it didn’t make people switch from PS or Nintendo to Xbox, it didn’t grow Cloud gaming nor ate into Steam’s PC market share, it didn’t make any of their studios more profitable, even the biggest gaming franchise of all time barely moved the subscriber base, all while conditioning many if not most of the Xbox fanbase to not buy their games anymore, but rather ‘wait for it to be on Game Pass’, which is the most challenging thing for Asha coming up, they will lose some diehard fans who are still religiously supporting the service but for Xbox to be profitable on its own (without multiplatform revenue) most day one games needs to stop.
Every statement is more convoluted than the last, at the same time they’re saying ‘they wanna meet players where they are with Halo’, basically a non-commitment to neither keep launching Halo games on PlayStation nor to keep it exclusive to Xbox, they simply don’t know what their plan is and its laughable how some still rally behind Microsoft’s statements even if they’re so inconsistent or nonsensical.
Making projections when neither of the machines have been even announced is just ridiculous.
A lot of things change drastically even on a daily basis, like just 6 months ago I wouldn’t be even considering getting Helix with how grim Xbox as a console was looking but they’re turning things around and Sony shot both their legs off ending physical media while having an archaic digital ecosystem, making now Helix a more attractive option than a PS6 at least for me even if it ends up being more expensive.
I agree with all those points, specially that layoffs are a result of failed leadership and they should focus on obtainable goals instead of shooting for the sky and seek 1 billion players a day as they go hand in hand.
The previous administration did that, expected 100M of Game Pass users and even ignored for a while their core console audience to seek players on PC or Cloud who never came, and now the brand is dealing with the fallout of a failed strategy, however the mere admission that they should and will focus more on their core console business makes me a bit more hopeful, if anything it’s clear we need Xbox back given how Sony wants the absolute control of the console market.
What a miss from Microsoft to not port native version to Xbox One/Series owners, people would’ve happily double dipped for this cash grab, just look at the PS crowd they even forgot about the physical games debacle because of these only-digital ports.
Gutting nearly 80% of id Software (not half as initially speculated) is such a dumb shortsighted move, this is a death sentence for the studio that will unsurprisingly fail to deliver another Doom game of the same quality that the latest trilogy within a reasonable timeframe and budget, right at the same time they claim Doom to be a key Bethesda franchise to invest in, utterly nonsense.
They’ve had 8 days to score an easy W and take a jab at Sony but they didn’t and we all know why, Xbox had been also pushing for an only-digital future since 2013 and their physical game business is even more minuscule than Sony’s, however Xbox’ digital ecosystem is leagues ahead and actually ready for being the only way forward and there’s that rumored disc-to-digital program.
One key aspect that many are not aware is that the moment Sony stops discs’ production the price for Microsoft or anyone still wanting to produce them will go up, same thing with Blu-Ray drives as they’re already scarce, I see zero chance for Xbox to champion physical game discs.
@Millionski Lmao must I quit gaming before calling out Xbox for gutting an excellent studio with a franchise themselves consider to be key? Because the entire industry is imploding must we cross our arms and remain silent? Sorry but that’s just ridiculous.
My solution is that if you’re so bothered by my comments you can simply ignore me and won’t see my comments again because I won’t stop calling out things I disagree with, it’s not about doom and glooming but having criteria to recognize and call out when a brand I like makes a bad move, you can accuse me of being obnoxious but at least I’ve always been consistent unlike many others here, being complacent doesn’t get us anywhere but calling out BS and hurting their revenue stream gets us things like a focus back on consoles or Gears of War E-Day being exclusive again, which might be too little too late but it’s at least better than having it released day one on PS5, it might’ve sold more yet that alone would’ve made the brand unsalvageable, yet the same people applauding it being exclusive would be defending it being on PS5 if MS didn’t reverse course, that’s how little criteria there’s for some and where my problem is at, not that if you like your Xbox because of the refund policy which yeah is by far the best digital marketplace out of the big 3 and it’s not recognized enough.
@Kaloudz It’s not about ‘hating’ or ‘following the masses’, it’s having a stance of your own which you keep confirming you don’t have any, you have the “understanding” enough to call a studio “fat” but when called out turns out you don’t know anything but just agree with whatever decision they make cause of the bigger picture (whatever that means), you can’t make this up 🤣
@Kaloudz Now you champion ‘realism’? Read Asha’s statement from yesterday, both Game Pass and multiplatform pivot didn’t bring any growth to Xbox and even ate into their core business (console), yet you all championed the idea of Game Pass even when it went to $30/month, you championed the idea of becoming multiplatform to even release Halo, Gears and Forza on PS5, you dismissed all of us who claimed it was the wrong path but the moment Gears of War E-Day was heavily rumored to be exclusive you champion exclusives again, like really, there’s no line you’ll not cross, of all the years I’ve been here reluctantly reading all your comments I’ve not seen anything Microsoft does or doesn’t do that you will not champion or try to justify, I ask again where’s your own criteria?
I’ll tell you mine and serves as an answer to @Millionski as well, I agreed with the initial news yesterday as it’s commendable that they found new owners for studios that frankly haven’t delivered on what they were bought for (a consistent lineup for Game Pass as was Spencer’s strategy), it’s very good news they’re decoupling from everything revolving around Game Pass (also championed by many here) and cutting down 14 layers of management but any of that justify cutting a studio like id Software in half, it’s yet another a shortsighted decision that might be a death sentence for the studio if they fail to deliver a game with their know quality in the timeframe this new budget-strict Microsoft wants with half the staff, and also inconsistent with their own desire of having Bethesda focus on their big franchises, if you really don’t see any red flags with this particular move where do you draw the line?
@oopsiezz Apparently State of Decay 3 will not be required to be on Game Pass and I guess that goes for Senua as well, a new owner wouldn’t want a clause preventing the games to sell more units for being on Game Pass, and overall today’s news is that Game Pass is no longer the big priority at Xbox anymore and I see that as good news.
Brutal as expected, Double Fine and Compulsion becoming indies, Ninja Theory and Undead Labs sold, Arkane looking for a buyer otherwise will close, this year’s showcase truly was an auction but it’s a much better outcome that studios remain alive in some way rather than being closed outright.
However we’re also getting the ultimate acceptance that both Game Pass and being multiplatform didn’t grow as expected and in fact ate into the core business (people leaving Xbox or stop spending on it), all the things many of us have warned for years now, if anything they’re finally being transparent about just how mismanaged Xbox is, I mean 14 layers of management makes it impossible to accomplish anything, not sure if changes will actually reflect on more and better games but a reset internally on how they operate was very needed.
Comments 870
Re: Talking Point: Gears 6 Or An E-Day Sequel: What Should The Coalition Make Next?
Loving E-Day so far but they should’ve finished what they started with the second trilogy even before telling E-Day’s story, I actually really enjoyed both 4 and 5 but that final cliffhanger was a disgrace.
Re: PS5's New QSSR AI Upscaling Tech Should Make For Some Interesting Xbox Comparisons
@RiverGenie Nah we shouldn’t downplay it, it’s legitimately impressive they managed to squeeze this tech on the base PS5 and it does result in a noticeably clearer image, between this and PSSR 2.0 Sony has been remarkably good in hardware advancement even if everything else downright sucks lol
Re: Xbox Boss Acknowledges Competition With Sony, But Says Collaboration Can Exist As Well
@themightyant I’m not disputing the actual reasons for Sony to drop the partnership, I’ve previously said that both not owning the IP and not having exclusivity were major contention issues aside from the budget, my entire point is to call out the double standards from several gaming outlets because again, we already knew Kojima games are expensive to make, already knew that Death Stranding costed too much, already knew DS2 didn’t sell as well as the first, all true and yet none of these were active discussions BEFORE Sony dropped Kojima, that’s it.
I’m very glad too that this project was saved, to me both Death Stranding games are among my favorite games of this generation as wacky as they are.
Re: Xbox Boss Acknowledges Competition With Sony, But Says Collaboration Can Exist As Well
@themightyant @ilyn I’m sure some outlets have been consistent but I can point out several that haven’t, timing is key, when Sony first announced the Physint partnership back in 2024 no one, and I really mean no one was questioning its budget or the sales numbers for Death Stranding, in fact from the first partnership Sony signed with Kojima back in 2015 to August 2026 there NEVER was such a big discussion about Kojima, budgets and sales, but as soon as Sony dropped him it’s all everyone talks about, all this to justify Sony’s decision, same thing right after announcing the end of physical games as several outlets kept posting skewed data to justify how Sony was right and physical games are completely irrelevant (according to them).
So I absolutely maintain that many if not most of gaming “journalists” are unapologetically biased towards Sony, and if you think I’m an Xbox fanboy just look at how critical I’ve been of Xbox during the last few years (deservedly so), but what I really can’t stand are the double standards of the media, simply if they are so worried about Physint budgets why did no one reported on it BEFORE Sony cancelled the partnership? We already knew (since 2015) that Kojima games are expensive to make and doesn’t necessarily sell that much.
Re: Review: Gears Of War: E-Day (Campaign) - A Monumental Triumph For Xbox, And My Game Of The Year
89 on Metacritic even after Xbox tax!? I was hyped but now it really seems The Coalition exceeded themselves.
Re: Xbox Boss Acknowledges Competition With Sony, But Says Collaboration Can Exist As Well
This whole Kojima situation has blatantly exposed the Sony-bias from soooo many gaming outlets, it’s been utterly disgusting how the very same outlets and people who incessantly praised Kojima for 10+ years now all they do is question budgets and sales, now even requesting an apology? Pathetic.
Re: Former Halo Exec Outlines 'Three Paths' That Could Lead To Successful Games In The Future
What I’d like to see is something like option 2, similar to what Santa Monica did with the God of War franchise, starting a new Norse saga while still respecting the previously stablished lore but making a bet for many new changes that ended up taking the franchise to higher highs than what came before.
And while I don’t factually know if Activision will do right by Halo I’ve come to accept it really can’t get worse for the franchise, it had already been 5 years since Infinite and the next Halo was nowhere near development, they did a poor job modernizing CE and 2 months after launch the later missions remain unoptimized, there were plans for remaking 2 and 3 but still with no multiplayer being CE’s biggest mistake, so even after renaming themselves they learned absolutely nothing and remained with that toxic positivity mentality that prevented them for 15+ years on actually delivering one entry that was up to what this franchise deserved, and I understand the many concerns of a Halo coming from Activision but just remember 343i tried to sell us a color scheme for $10 on Infinite which was even more predatory than COD.
Re: Mythic Achievements Are Officially On The Way, As Rollout Begins Today For Xbox Insiders
Finally! Really can’t understand why this took almost 20 years to implement but still awesome to see.
I’m curious how many Mythics I’ll end up having since I’ve lots of games with 1000GS but some with DLC.
Re: Gears Of War E-Day Release Date, Release Times & Everything You Need To Know On Xbox & PC
@themightyant Apparently Thursday at 6 AM PT.
Re: Gears Of War E-Day Release Date, Release Times & Everything You Need To Know On Xbox & PC
Cleaned up 150 GB off my Xbox to preinstall this just yesterday, been way too long since I’ve been this excited to play an Xbox game tbh.
Re: Xbox Warns That Ninja Theory Could Be Closed As Two Agreements Fall Through
Disappointing but not surprising given the last game they delivered and how many resources they used to make it, I remember being overly excited when the Series X was introduced alongside Hellblade 2 on TGA 2019 and it’s been one of the biggest disappointments I’ve had with a game ever.
Coupled with the rumors that “Senua” is only a slice piece (basically a demo of the game they want to make) it’s easy to see why no other publisher wants the studio.
Re: Xbox Confirms Activision Will Develop The Next Halo Title
I honestly don’t think it’s a bad move, Halo Studios/343i has simply not been what this franchise deserves, and while I don’t know if Activision will do right by it at the very least it’s something other than slowly killing the franchise by mismanagement.
However I now question if Halo Studios has any future at all, that much layoffs means the team is basically a support studio now (for Infinite and Campaign Evolved I guess). Also does this mean the franchise will remain multiplatform or go back to being exclusive? What about the remakes for 2 and 3? Lots of questions for this.
Re: Xbox Announces Four Major Studio Changes And Cuts 286 Jobs
@Fiendish-Beaver I don’t think Todd Howard has that much control over Bethesda anymore, in fact I don’t think he’s too happy that Obsidian is making a Fallout game but the decision comes from the very top as avoiding that 15-year gap between releases seems to be Asha’s priority for Bethesda since taking over (and should’ve been Phil’s since closing that acquisition).
I even see Todd leaving after he delivers ES6 before having to wait that much between games.
Re: Xbox Announces Four Major Studio Changes And Cuts 286 Jobs
@Kieduss Halo has been dead for over a decade, if anything this is a chance to revive it.
Re: Xbox Announces Four Major Studio Changes And Cuts 286 Jobs
Frankly I see mostly good decisions that should’ve been taken a LONG time ago, Obsidian under Bethesda is a perfect match, Rare under Activision could mean the return of many franchises and even Halo under Activision is a good move after Halo Studios/343i consistently failed to manage the franchise.
Re: Talking Point: So, Are You Getting The Premium Upgrade For Gears Of War: E-Day?
Never paying for the early-access scam on any game.
Re: New Report Delves Into The History Of Xbox Disc To Digital, And Why PlayStation Can't Copy It
Even if they’ve taken lots of wrong decisions, no one can claim that Xbox never innovated…
Re: Xbox Responds To Rumour That Game Pass Could Drop Day One Releases In 2027
The response directly alludes to “plans that are not finalized” and “day one games that are already announced” meaning there’s indeed some upcoming changes regarding day one games, and honestly it’s the healthiest thing to do because for Xbox to have a chance at exclusives they need to actually sell units in the first place, however I do hope the ‘finalized plans’ end up way more compelling that was rumored…
Re: 'To Invention & Adventure Together' - Xbox Boss Visits Kojima Productions To Mark New Era
@Fiendish-Beaver The plot thickens as Kojima is denying the allegations, but even if they were true he still hasn’t delivered a bad game, his process may be quirky and expensive but he has consistently delivered both critical and comercial successes, unlike other investments Xbox has done.
I think it’s becoming clear that Sony is getting cold feet with budget spending because they want to protect their margins amidst all the money they’ve lost this generation on their failed live-service initiative, and worse they’re determined to keep trying even if they have to kill projects and partnerships like this to keep attempting it, and to be fair exclusivity was a major contention point for Sony as they no longer want to support PC but Kojima does (even made sure DS1 would eventually come to PC as they signed the initial 2015 deal).
Re: Poll: How Many Hours Of Xbox Cloud Gaming Do You Use Per-Month?
Zero, every time I’ve tried playing any game through Cloud it’s been too unreliable and overall is a subpar experience compared to a native console, but it’s funny they spent years marketing it as the main way to get into Xbox…
Re: Xbox Is Officially Putting Time Limits On Cloud Gaming For Game Pass Members
@kmtrain83 Lol my bad, I’d be fine if that was the limit per day but for an entire month it’s not even enough for a casual player who only plays one game.
Re: Xbox Is Officially Putting Time Limits On Cloud Gaming For Game Pass Members
There’s the rake. 15 hours per month is just laughable, specially for a gamer who’s paying for Game Pass Ultimate with 400+ games, just a few years ago Cloud Gaming was the center piece of the whole ‘This is an Xbox’ campaign and just like that in a random Thursday they forfeit all users who actively use it…
Would like to say I’m surprised but this is yet another classic dumb-disastrous move from Xbox’ playbook, let’s see how anyone tries to defend this.
Re: Xbox Disc To Digital Is Now Live For Some Users, And Here's A First Look
Everything about this feature is simply amazing, this is a new standard set for console games’ preservation and I believe it’s the most praiseworthy move from Xbox since they pulled off Xbox 360 backwards compatibility.
Also such a stinging slap in Sony’s face given how they’ve handled the end of physical media and somehow continue to devolve in becoming 2013’s Xbox, it’s been funny to read some fanboys in social media trying to downplay or disregard the feature or even paint it as negative only because Sony didn’t do it.
Re: Xbox Has Reportedly Pulled Out Of Sharing Digital Sales Data With Circana
Console sales stopped growing - Microsoft stopped reporting console sales.
Subscriptions stopped growing - Microsoft stopped reporting subscribers numbers.
Yeah, not hard to imagine what’s going on but instead of realizing the obvious some people prefer to believe some nonsense…
Re: Halo Studios Suffers Job Losses Shortly After Campaign Evolved Launch
@kuu_nousee Are you actually playing it from start to finish or only glanced it to see how it looks? I can only speak of my own experience and some sections on the later half of the game are borderline unplayable, had the same experience as pointed out by @oopsiezz, it can basically can turn into a slideshow for a few seconds.
I’m often not bothered by small drops as with VRR those are barely noticeable but it literally stops the game entirely and it happened to me on both consoles, had to pause my Remix run because I’m not willing to play through the last act of the game at 10 FPS for the third time.
Re: Halo Studios Suffers Job Losses Shortly After Campaign Evolved Launch
@Shinato2024 When it’s the third time in a row for the studio to have technical issues at launch then yes, it absolutely is incompetence, and again highlighted by poor level design of the new missions.
This is a remake of a 25 year old game with fairly simple mechanics for today’s standards, it’s not a game pushing any boundaries that might justify some small frame drops, I’ve criticized those games’ performance (specially BG3) and called out many outlets for its double standards, why should Halo get a pass?
I’m not talking about a rare 5 FPS drop, but rather sinking consistently below 30 FPS on performance mode in both consoles during some heavy gameplay specially in the later half of the game, during the Halo mission it turned into a slideshow on my Series X for a few seconds and I’m not even talking about the balancing issues they already acknowledge, I don’t about you but I expected better from the ‘definitive version’ of Halo CE as this was supposed to be and still see many of the same issues that have always plagued the studio, it still is the 343i mess we know of but with a new name.
It clearly wasn’t ready for launch but I guess they couldn’t wait any further to do layoffs at the studio.
Re: Halo Studios Suffers Job Losses Shortly After Campaign Evolved Launch
To be honest Halo Studios/343i is just incredibly incompetent, I already finished Campaign Evolved twice and I liked it because it’s Halo CE, but it again highlights how terrible the studio is managed with the game still unfinished having noticeable frame drops and visual artifacts in both Series X and PS5 Pro, like it’s remarkable they couldn’t even properly optimize a REMAKE, on that note it being a remake is the best thing about this release because the prequel extra missions are AWFUL, literally worse level design than missions that were designed 25 years ago, it again highlights how unready this team is to deliver a new game.
On the other hand I can only imagine how demoralizing is for the studios at Xbox to see that every time a game is released it’s immediately followed by layoffs, like what incentive remains for them to actually deliver on something great? You’re damned if you don’t and also if you do, I think we can already expect huge layoffs at The Coalition once E-Day releases.
Re: Xbox Announces Four More Console Features, Including Two Highly-Requested Ones
I’m getting the feeling that all this reinvestment into Xbox OS is because they’re pivoting Helix away from Windows and rather building on top the existing console OS which to me is good news.
Re: Poll: One Year Later, What Do You Think Of Xbox's Most Recent Gears Of War Release?
A rushed unnecessary re-remaster.
Funny how it only exists to sort of tease E-Day for PS5 players but it was a complete flop on PS and E-Day was cancelled for PS5 (maybe justified by the poor sales for Reloaded).
And the same thing is happening with Halo, it was never worth to give up exclusives and Xbox’ brand identity for a few thousand sales on PS.
Re: Not A Good Look For Xbox As Halo: Campaign Evolved Plays Best On PlayStation
Couldn’t resist as I saw it on disc for PS5 since Friday (store broke street date) and already finished it lol, it does look noticeably sharper on PS5 Pro than Series X and it’s very nice there’s cross progression including trophies/achievements.
Overall I got it as a trinket fully expecting it’ll be the one and only Halo on PlayStation (something that should’ve never happened in the first place imo), it seems Xbox was giving up their entire brand identity for merely 1% of PS players…
Re: Halo Support 'Investigating' Issues With Premium Upgrade For Campaign Evolved
Glad to not have paid for that early-access scam.
Re: Xbox Introduces Free Game Streaming With Ads, Outlines Five Principles They'll Adhere To
A bit dystopian but as long as it’s an option I see no problem with it.
Re: Xbox Is Adding A New Feature To 'Optimise' Download Speeds For Games
FINALLY there’s someone addressing this, ever since the Xbox One days it’s been annoying how inconsistent the download speed is, for some updates it refuses to download at more than 20 mbps for whatever reason.
Next up in fixing neglected things long overdue they should completely overhaul the captures on Xbox and reverse decision on deleting them automatically every couple of months.
Re: Halo: Campaign Evolved Release Date, Release Times & Early Access Details For Xbox & PC
Was very tempted with the PS5 Pro version but nah it feels so wrong lol, already preloaded on my Series X!
Re: Reporter Claims Game Pass Is 'Absolutely Detested' By Some Xbox Studio Leaders
@Fiendish-Beaver It really is an impossible position because both things are true, without Game Pass Xbox probably wouldn’t even exist nowadays but it’s also true the financials behind it didn’t work out so I’m really interested in where do we go from here, the service will not grow but they can’t forfeit its current revenue by suddenly removing day one games which is the service’s main thing.
My guess up until now is that they’ll further reduce Ultimate’s price (and remove PC tier) but also announce that only select first-party games will arrive on the service day one moving forward and we might get shorter 3-6 month windows for those games only in the Ultimate tier, which would be an amicable compromise for me, but many see day one games as non-negotiable.
Re: Reporter Claims Game Pass Is 'Absolutely Detested' By Some Xbox Studio Leaders
I cherished Game Pass and specifically day one games since it became a thing but it’s now undeniable that it did more harm to Xbox than good, it didn’t grow Xbox’ overall user base, it didn’t make people switch from PS or Nintendo to Xbox, it didn’t grow Cloud gaming nor ate into Steam’s PC market share, it didn’t make any of their studios more profitable, even the biggest gaming franchise of all time barely moved the subscriber base, all while conditioning many if not most of the Xbox fanbase to not buy their games anymore, but rather ‘wait for it to be on Game Pass’, which is the most challenging thing for Asha coming up, they will lose some diehard fans who are still religiously supporting the service but for Xbox to be profitable on its own (without multiplatform revenue) most day one games needs to stop.
Re: Xbox CCO Says Not To 'Overly Fixate' On All Single-Player Games Being Exclusives
Every statement is more convoluted than the last, at the same time they’re saying ‘they wanna meet players where they are with Halo’, basically a non-commitment to neither keep launching Halo games on PlayStation nor to keep it exclusive to Xbox, they simply don’t know what their plan is and its laughable how some still rally behind Microsoft’s statements even if they’re so inconsistent or nonsensical.
Re: Xbox Quietly Removes Upcoming Game Pass Title From July Lineup
The Activision deal continues to deliver… absolutely nothing.
Re: Xbox Project Helix Vs. PS6 - Data Firm Reveals Its Forecasted Sales Figures For Each
Making projections when neither of the machines have been even announced is just ridiculous.
A lot of things change drastically even on a daily basis, like just 6 months ago I wouldn’t be even considering getting Helix with how grim Xbox as a console was looking but they’re turning things around and Sony shot both their legs off ending physical media while having an archaic digital ecosystem, making now Helix a more attractive option than a PS6 at least for me even if it ends up being more expensive.
Re: Fan Demand For Xbox To 'Stop The Cycle Of Layoffs' Trends On Player Voice Portal
I agree with all those points, specially that layoffs are a result of failed leadership and they should focus on obtainable goals instead of shooting for the sky and seek 1 billion players a day as they go hand in hand.
The previous administration did that, expected 100M of Game Pass users and even ignored for a while their core console audience to seek players on PC or Cloud who never came, and now the brand is dealing with the fallout of a failed strategy, however the mere admission that they should and will focus more on their core console business makes me a bit more hopeful, if anything it’s clear we need Xbox back given how Sony wants the absolute control of the console market.
Re: Digital Foundry Shares Its Initial Analysis Of Black Ops 1 For PS5 Vs. Xbox
What a miss from Microsoft to not port native version to Xbox One/Series owners, people would’ve happily double dipped for this cash grab, just look at the PS crowd they even forgot about the physical games debacle because of these only-digital ports.
Re: Report: id Software Pitched New Perfect Dark Before Xbox Layoffs
Gutting nearly 80% of id Software (not half as initially speculated) is such a dumb shortsighted move, this is a death sentence for the studio that will unsurprisingly fail to deliver another Doom game of the same quality that the latest trilogy within a reasonable timeframe and budget, right at the same time they claim Doom to be a key Bethesda franchise to invest in, utterly nonsense.
Re: Video Game Retailer Urges Xbox To 'Stand Behind Consumer Choice' By Supporting Physical
They’ve had 8 days to score an easy W and take a jab at Sony but they didn’t and we all know why, Xbox had been also pushing for an only-digital future since 2013 and their physical game business is even more minuscule than Sony’s, however Xbox’ digital ecosystem is leagues ahead and actually ready for being the only way forward and there’s that rumored disc-to-digital program.
One key aspect that many are not aware is that the moment Sony stops discs’ production the price for Microsoft or anyone still wanting to produce them will go up, same thing with Blu-Ray drives as they’re already scarce, I see zero chance for Xbox to champion physical game discs.
Re: Report: Xbox Cancels Avowed 2 And Puts Obsidian To Work On New Fallout Game
Frankly I see this as an absolute W.
Re: Xbox Layoffs Cut id Software In Half As DOOM: The Dark Ages DLC Launches
@Millionski Lmao must I quit gaming before calling out Xbox for gutting an excellent studio with a franchise themselves consider to be key? Because the entire industry is imploding must we cross our arms and remain silent? Sorry but that’s just ridiculous.
My solution is that if you’re so bothered by my comments you can simply ignore me and won’t see my comments again because I won’t stop calling out things I disagree with, it’s not about doom and glooming but having criteria to recognize and call out when a brand I like makes a bad move, you can accuse me of being obnoxious but at least I’ve always been consistent unlike many others here, being complacent doesn’t get us anywhere but calling out BS and hurting their revenue stream gets us things like a focus back on consoles or Gears of War E-Day being exclusive again, which might be too little too late but it’s at least better than having it released day one on PS5, it might’ve sold more yet that alone would’ve made the brand unsalvageable, yet the same people applauding it being exclusive would be defending it being on PS5 if MS didn’t reverse course, that’s how little criteria there’s for some and where my problem is at, not that if you like your Xbox because of the refund policy which yeah is by far the best digital marketplace out of the big 3 and it’s not recognized enough.
Re: Xbox Layoffs Cut id Software In Half As DOOM: The Dark Ages DLC Launches
@Kaloudz It’s not about ‘hating’ or ‘following the masses’, it’s having a stance of your own which you keep confirming you don’t have any, you have the “understanding” enough to call a studio “fat” but when called out turns out you don’t know anything but just agree with whatever decision they make cause of the bigger picture (whatever that means), you can’t make this up 🤣
Re: Xbox Layoffs Cut id Software In Half As DOOM: The Dark Ages DLC Launches
@Kaloudz Now you champion ‘realism’? Read Asha’s statement from yesterday, both Game Pass and multiplatform pivot didn’t bring any growth to Xbox and even ate into their core business (console), yet you all championed the idea of Game Pass even when it went to $30/month, you championed the idea of becoming multiplatform to even release Halo, Gears and Forza on PS5, you dismissed all of us who claimed it was the wrong path but the moment Gears of War E-Day was heavily rumored to be exclusive you champion exclusives again, like really, there’s no line you’ll not cross, of all the years I’ve been here reluctantly reading all your comments I’ve not seen anything Microsoft does or doesn’t do that you will not champion or try to justify, I ask again where’s your own criteria?
I’ll tell you mine and serves as an answer to @Millionski as well, I agreed with the initial news yesterday as it’s commendable that they found new owners for studios that frankly haven’t delivered on what they were bought for (a consistent lineup for Game Pass as was Spencer’s strategy), it’s very good news they’re decoupling from everything revolving around Game Pass (also championed by many here) and cutting down 14 layers of management but any of that justify cutting a studio like id Software in half, it’s yet another a shortsighted decision that might be a death sentence for the studio if they fail to deliver a game with their know quality in the timeframe this new budget-strict Microsoft wants with half the staff, and also inconsistent with their own desire of having Bethesda focus on their big franchises, if you really don’t see any red flags with this particular move where do you draw the line?
Re: Xbox Layoffs Cut id Software In Half As DOOM: The Dark Ages DLC Launches
Removed
Re: Here's The New Lineup Of Xbox Game Studios For July 2026 Onwards
@oopsiezz Apparently State of Decay 3 will not be required to be on Game Pass and I guess that goes for Senua as well, a new owner wouldn’t want a clause preventing the games to sell more units for being on Game Pass, and overall today’s news is that Game Pass is no longer the big priority at Xbox anymore and I see that as good news.
Re: Xbox Announces 3,200 Job Losses And Four Studio Departures
Brutal as expected, Double Fine and Compulsion becoming indies, Ninja Theory and Undead Labs sold, Arkane looking for a buyer otherwise will close, this year’s showcase truly was an auction but it’s a much better outcome that studios remain alive in some way rather than being closed outright.
However we’re also getting the ultimate acceptance that both Game Pass and being multiplatform didn’t grow as expected and in fact ate into the core business (people leaving Xbox or stop spending on it), all the things many of us have warned for years now, if anything they’re finally being transparent about just how mismanaged Xbox is, I mean 14 layers of management makes it impossible to accomplish anything, not sure if changes will actually reflect on more and better games but a reset internally on how they operate was very needed.