Markatron84

Doesn't he know that Halo: Campaign Evolved isn't a remastered collection? Or did he slip up and reveal a Halo remastered collection? Either way, great work. Head of Xbox Game Studios, everybody!

The fact that your game - one game out of the tens of thousands of games that get released in a year - was well regarded enough to be in the top six nominees for GOTY should be enough.

I didn't have to listen to Fares give any speeches, so I'm happy.

Geoff has to be running The Game Awards for profit, right? There's absolutely no way he should be able to justify charging a million dollars for him to show off your three-minute trailer. He claims to love the industry and that these awards are supposed to celebrate the industry and its output, but he's charging silly money for exposure when publishers and developers could be putting that money towards skyrocketing development costs or, oh I don't know, keeping people employed.

Don't forget that Skyrim is also coming to PlayStation 6, Switch 3 and Xbox... something.

@themightyant Smurt Delivery™!

@Chip-Douglas Yeah, I hope so too. The problem is that most companies would rather sit on IP and do nothing with them rather than sell them to another company who might make money from them.

A perfect example of what I'm talking about is Microsoft's handling of The Initiative and Perfect Dark. Take Two wanted to buy it up and continue development, but rather than sell the studio and IP to Take Two, Microsoft would rather hang onto the IP and shut the studio down. And without the IP, there was no point in buying The Initiative and Take Two just spun up a new studio with two of the former higher-ups.

@Chip-Douglas that is true. I just think that if someone is looking to buy, say, NetherRealm, is it worth going through the process of buying it when you don't even get the Mortal Kombat IP with it and any future games need to be licenced out because Netflix needs its cut? At that point you're just buying a building and people and you might as well just spin up a new studio.

@Chip-Douglas that's the thing. Most of the WB Games IPs aren't game IPs, they're media IPs. So if Netflix sells the game studios, there's no way they're going to let Harry Potter, DC, Mortal Kombat go with them; Harry Potter especially is way too lucrative to let that happen. And on the flipside, who's going to buy these studios if they're not getting the IPs along with them?

@CaptnTedo Black Ops 6 also had a free trial period this time last year, likewise Modern Warfare 3 the year before. I don't think it's down to the game underperformimg.

I wonder if the effort is worth it, given how Xbox is willing to completely change up its entire hardware strategy and, let's face it, how precarious its position in the console and/or hardware market currently is.

They did all that work - backwards compatibility, FPS boost, etc - for legacy games running on Series X|S, only to seemingly pivot to a more PC-focused hardware strategy going forward. What happens in 5-10 years time if Xbox needs to or decides to change it up again in some way? Does a second round of costly legacy game compatibility development also essentially go to waste?

It's got to be a difficult position to be in, given that consumers more than ever want their libraries to come with them across hardware generations, and Xbox's future in hardware is so uncertain and likely to change at almost a moment's notice.

The Initiative was established in 2018 and shipped nothing both prior to and after Gallagher and Horton's involvement. I hope I'm wrong but this all ends in tears, right?

No. No it did not.

@Fiendish-Beaver I used to see games like that referred to as "second-party" a lot. Don't know if that's still a thing.

@Nintendo4Sonic don't get me started...

I don't actually know. I'm trying to play some of the (too many) games I've already got. I recently played through SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake and finished Cyberpunk 2077, but am at a loss as to what I should start next.

So I'll probably end up defaulting to ol' faithful Helldivers 2.

So Netflix is going to own DC Comics as well? Altogether now:

Nananananana Netflix.
Nananananana Netflix.
Netflix, Netflix, NETFLIX!!!!

Also, everyone remember to say how amazing this acquisition is going to be. Microsoft acquiring Activision Blizzard was the greatest thing ever, so it stands to reason that this will also be the greatest thing ever.

@norwichred then, at the risk of insulting you a second time, you must be incredibly naive. Games release in that condition all the time, often incredibly publicly, which is why due diligence on the consumer's part is so necessary. It shouldn't be, but it unfortunately is.

I also just had a look on OpenCritic. 18 professional reviews of Wreckreation were published prior to or on the game's release date. That took me about 20 seconds to find out, most of which was spent counting how many reviews were published prior to or on 28th October, so I'm not sure where your hours were spent searching.

I would also suggest that, in future, if a game is already out, head over to Steam (regardless of where you're actually playing) and have a look at its user reviews there; if something's wrong with a game, believe me, people will be up in arms about it there and you will know about it within seconds.

Never good to see a studio struggling. I havent gotten around to Wreckreation yet, but I've watched a fair bit of gameplay, (including the quick look from Jeff Gerstmann, who was quite positive on it) and it looks cool, like a lower budget Burnout Paradise. Hopefully another publisher sees the potential and steps in.

@Jonnybekeww unfortunately, nobody's heard of due diligence these days. If I buy a game that I don't like or is buggy, it's nobody's fault but mine. Reviews exist. YouTube exists. Reddit exists. My ability to do my own research into whether or not a game is right for me, or good, exists. My ability to not impulsively buy something without doing said research exists.

Sadly, a lot of people are impulsive, uninformed, immature idiots and get butthurt when they make an impulsive, uninformed, immature, idiotic purchase and later regret it. Then it's "BOOOOO, LOSE YOUR JOBS".

I wonder if sales of Helldivers 2 on Xbox will have any influence on whether or not Sony releases this game on Xbox day one. I don't know specifics but from what I've seen/read at least Arrowhead was happy.

You can get MCC looking pretty damn good and running at a smooth 60fps on Steam Deck, and it's a great way to play it. And because you can pick and choose what components you want installed, it doesn't need to take up a ridiculous amount of space.

Y'all see they put Nuketown in Black Ops 7? Wild.

How's that working out?

@FraserG maybe I'll have a look at getting it running on Steam Deck. I had a lot of fun playing T2 and T3 multiplayer back in the 2000s, as I'm sure many people did.

@FraserG I know it's not strictly Xbox related and thus maybe not feasible, but I'd be interested to read a piece that goes in-depth on this project.

If Destiny 3 is real, comes out and is free-to-play, I'll check it out; I've played enough D1 and D2 (a combined 2,500+ hours) and have enough good memories that I feel like I owe Bungie that much.

But I can't help but agree with the above comments. Bungie has dropped the ball so many times in oh so many different ways, especially with D2, that I'm pretty sure the damage to the brand at this point is not only done but also irreparable, and I'm doubtful that a D3 flavoured reset would result in some kind of miraculous comeback.

Splitgate and Splitgate 2 both had good bones, and I had some fun with them, but I don't have a lot of faith in 1047 at this point. They've bungled the release and post-launch support of two games in four years.

Plus, for all their bravado and big talk about how "FPS sucks now" and "we're going to make FPS great again", they sure were quick to stuff Splitgate 2 with microtransactions (which 1047 egregiously overpriced and mislead customers in the way they marketed them) and chuck in a battle royale mode.

@TuscanUK

I've never understood review scores with a dot. How is 7.9 better then 7.8?

A 7.8 game has too much water, while a 7.9 game does not.

One day Game Pass isn't eating into game sales, the next day it is. I can't keep up.

@Striker21 I stopped reading at "indie slop". 🙄

Why aren't these called Xcrox?

Project Gotham Racing 3, then Kameo, then Call of Duty 2.

@FraserG Be honest: how much does potentially seeing me cry factor into those plans? It's ok, I can take it.

Thank Goodness You're Here is one of the absolute best indie games; not just of 2024, but ever.

Oooh, do Kameo next. If that game doesn't hold up, I might cry.

If it's Beyond Good & Evil 2, I'll not only eat my hat, but I'll eat the hats of everyone with a Hookshot account. Don't own a hat? Buy one and I'll eat it. Don't have a Hookshot account? Make one and I'll add you to my hat-eating itinerary.

@Chip-Douglas maybe you'll get something at the Game Awards, or in Xbox's yearly Developer Direct in January. A Partner Showcase is - as the name says - a showcase for third-party publishing partners, though.

@themightyant I've never understood why PC GOTY and Console GOTY are a thing either. Clair Obscur is Ultimate GOTY? Fine. I haven't played it but from what I've heard it's well deserved. But it's on both PC and consoles, so shouldn't it automatically be PC GOTY and Console GOTY?

@Chip-Douglas if you came in to a Partner Showcase looking for new info on Fable, any disappointment was self-inflicted.

Frtcicsharetdolz! Can't wait!

@themightyant it sure does sound like this interview treads the same old ground as past interviews pertaining to the history of Xbox.

£86.27?!?! That's ridiculous.

I still want one, though.

@PsBoxSwitchOwner no chance. They'll release it right at the tail end of the PS5/Series X generation, so when the next consoles come around they can sell it to us again.

What about not on Xbox Game Pass?

Look:

I know we've been here before. I know I'm not the only person who has (on more than one occasion) pointed out Pure Xbox's rampant and aggressive SEO... ness that consistently and messily gunks up every headline on the website. I even know that you're probably sick of hearing it (although I have a specific answer to anyone who ever has reason to say that to me)...

But come on. Assassin's Creed Mirage Gets Massive Xbox Game Pass Update? What is that? Are you saying that Mirage is only getting an update on Game Pass? What about for non-subscribers? Or owners of the game on other platforms? It's a misleading and not entirely informative headline.

How about Assassin's Creed Mirage (Available on Game Pass) Gets Massive Update? That way, you get a headline that isn't misleading and fills the SEO keyword quota. Everybody wins.

I'll spare everyone the indignity of me going through the content of the article itself; I have several issues with that as well, though.

Is Andrew Wilson OK? Has anyone checked his temperature?

@Tasuki all executives are corporate puppets. No company is going to pay somebody that high up to not tow the company line.

@Medic_alert I agree. I haven't played it, but everything I've seen of it looks absolutely stunning.

@EdgarTheBug They could always raise the price of Game Pass Ultimate again and have the gameplay of anyone with a lower tier be interrupted by unskippable ads every 15 minutes. That'd be rad.

• Halo: Campaign Evolved will be pretty wonky.
• Gears E-Day will be good but ultimately forgotten about within a few months.
• Fable will be delayed into 2027 or cancelled entirely.
• Forza Horizon 6 will be banging; more of the same, but banging.
• Game Pass prices will go up again.
• A new dynamic background for your Xbox Series X and/or S! Happy 25th anniversary!
• Use your reward points for a chance to win a non-functioning and likely very ugly extremely limited edition console! Happy 25th anniversary!!!!
• Another controller design? Why not?! HAPPY 25TH ANNIVERSARY!!!!
• "We couldn't have got this far without you, the players." It's not our fault you are where you are, Phil.

@darkswabber English Wikipedia says 22nd. Get on Wikipedia NL and get editing!