This is why I only play campaign on COD.

I only play campaign but I'm loving it so far. Modern warfare version is my favorite of the franchise

I actually do this for all my game installs. Sometimes you don't need all the extra stuff. Download what ya need. I actually wish this was the standard.

I heard the campaign was pretty good so have been eagerly awaiting it. I don't play the toxic online nonsense so would never buy full price. Excited to try it out. I have the previous Modern Warfare's and looking forward to see the story developments.

@logicslayer the elite 2 controllers no longer have the dreaded peeling rubber but still feel pretty solid.

I typically buy elite controllers and my hubby got a custom designed one for my birthday last year. It developed a drift issue after about 6 months, but they promptly replaced with new one and been very happy since. Can't speak for regular controllers but love the custom elites.

The FTC still butt hurt they lost. 😂 Considering their primary complaint had to do with Xcloud, this new complaint definitely seems disingenuous. Not defending the price hike directly but anyone with common sense expected it.

MS has already started moving away from the Gold plan, pre-merger. This was a logical continuation of that. Ironically, it's more in line with Sony now.

Really hope it gets picked up by Netflix. So much potential.

Oh no. Sky is falling... Comments as wild as ever.
Random article with fine print saying these are estimates and don't include major market.. Everyone loses their mind. God love ya.

I think MS is playing smart here. 1) It helped their merger case. 2) It keeps them working together vs competing against each other. If GP isn't alluring for those that typically only play a few choice games, Gforce could easily gain traction and muscle out Xbox. This keeps players connected and gives players one less need for a console. Any game on GP available on GForce can be played anywhere you have access to GForce. You don't need the Xbox app. The GForce app is already widely supported on a varieties of TVs.

Waiting it to roll out to GP but looks so amazing! Can't wait!

@RiverGenie love that desc

So I went back and played the first one beforehand. I got bored midway thru the 2nd and just can't seem to get motivated to stick with it. The gameplay is very slow.

Am I wrong that this game is sort of Fortnite clone?

@Fiendish-Beaver MS is fast freeing GP from console. You can already connect your GP library on GForce. The Xbox app is moving to Amazon fire sticks as well as expanding on more TVs. And if the portable becomes a thing that is the whole point. They don't need consoles to sell well to keep GP alive.

And if they continue to subsidize consoles, it only increases the value.

Considering how open people are about trying to abuse it, I can sort of understand, but it still sucks.

I don't really focus on rewards but every so often I do cash in for a Starbucks card. I'm personally indifferent, but the timing could have been better.

So many of you don't get it. Consoles aren't the focus. MS doesn't make money on consoles. They make money on games and GP. It makes total sense if you're not stuck thinking this is a battle for console sales. MS has completely surpassed the newer to focus on consoles.

It is unlikely they will ditch consoles completely because they need a baseline spec for devs. They could base off PC specs, but I doubt it. However, it would be awesome to see them pivot to a fully portable console and continue to expand availability of their full game library, not just GP. I've always wanted to be able to play my Xbox games like I can with the Switch. Steam comes close but still requires a work around and only supports GP. A fully portable Xbox and availability on other platforms would be phenomenal!

You can already connect your GP library to GForce (provided the game is supported on GF). Now imagine being able to take a controller or a portable anywhere and connect to a TV and play your library/GP. (Good internet obviously plays into that) I'm gladly sticking with MS to see it play out.

If you play very casual and not many games, it's probably not a good deal. If you play often and/or like to try new games it's a stellar deal. If you routinely buy 3 or more games a year at full price you're also saving money in the end. For me, it's more than worth it.

MS adding more if it's launch day titles obviously is meant to encourage folks to buy GPU. No brainer as they are in the biz to make money.

GPU has always had a better game selection than PSNs Premium tier at a cheaper price. Its only now with the price increase that GPU costs slightly more. So you've been getting an awesome deal for awhile now.

My hope is it doesn't create the confusing mess that exists with PS Now, with not being sure which games are included in your tier or in the higher tier.

I only play the campaigns, so would be a nice addition.

@cardcrusher29 so it's only of value if you finish a game? I mean if that's how you value it, who am I to tell you otherwise?

I have PS Now (courtesy of some deep discounts) and I do not recommend for the price. Once, my coupons are all out, I won't be renewing it. Honestly I only got the PS5 for Ratchet & Clank and God of War. I was so not amused having paid full price for the latest God of War. I didn't finish it and would have been less upset if I had it via access to PS Now. My hubby has enjoyed a few of the PSN games at least.

Queue the "sky is falling" crowd. 😂

Do I want an increase? Or course not. But if you do the math GP is still by far a good deal.

@M20B25 the "fanboys" need something to be indignant about.....

@Retron close to dead? Bless your heart.

Always here for the comments. 😂👍

MS needs a console but doesn't really care about sales metrics since they lose money on every console sold. (The new in house portable could definitely change things up.) Sony also takes a loss, but has a broader hardware division. As time goes by Sony ends up making small profits on hardware sales.

We all know the disastrous XOne release set Xbox back almost a full generation. Exclusives were lacking and Sony gobbled up market share. MS is well aware of this and fast maneuvering to take back some of that market share. Why do you think Sony fought the AKB merger so desperately?

Nvidia is much more likely to be MS's future competition.

Until it hits GP, it's a definite pass for me.

I think this is why I love No Mans Sky so much. No matter how long I'm away, I can just pick up where I left off. I definitely agree with the author on this one. But of course those games don't have excessive loot or need to "always be online" either.

The TV content aggregator for the XOne was damn good as well. It had some bugs, but it was a stellar guide to all your various streaming content. Bring both back!

I've never really focused a lot on it, but usually when I discover I've accrued enough points I'll cash it in for a Starbucks card. Lately I've noticed I seem to be increasing slightly more, so I guess it's a good thing.

@Mustoe the price tag new was definitely high for the state of release, but it was still a fun little game. A bit off the beaten path.

GP isn't to blame for low quality or buggy games, devs are. Devs have been releasing crap buggy games for decades, long before GP existed. At least with GP you're not out the money if the game is crap or buggy.

The release version was ridiculously difficult and so frustrating with unwieldy fight mechanics. The updates have really brought it up to par and made it quite enjoyable to play. The cutscenes build the story without being too long and annoying. The game mechanics are smoother and the difficulty setting is much more in line with most games. It's now a solid revamp of the Dead Space franchise.

The DLC was on sale super cheap as well.

MS is slowly but continuously building back it's market share, even abroad. I'm actually surprised they sold as many if the XOnes as they did.

GP is a solid deal and with the cheaper console option, it's a tempting choice. The S is a solid console. Not every gamer wants the highest resolution or fastest poss frame rate, they want to play games they enjoy. Good on MS for offering a choice.

We're likey to see a fully subsided version of the S for the next gen and maybe even a subsidized X version. MS already takes a loss on consoles so the more consoles they get in gamers hands, the better to recoup that loss.

I play way more than I used to. I work in a very high stress job and gaming helps me cope. I play almost daily now.

There is also the backwards compatibility support. My understanding is the system take a small hit as part of supporting older titles, whereas PS does not.

As a user who has both consoles, I often find cross console games look slightly better on my xbox. Weirdly back when Stadia was a thing, loading it thru the console browser was better than direct thru my TV. There are a few exceptions but overall I stick to XSX not only for better controllers but slightly better graphics.

Until people mentioned it was the closing, I didn't even know it was still open. So long to a great console though

@Mustoe very true. 😂 Both Sony and MS, at the end of the day, really only care about their bottom lines. Currently, MS is making moves to improve its standing that happens to benefit gamers more. "Fanboys" need to realize neither company cares about gamers.

OT: Many seem to have forgotten Sony was originally planning to release the PS4 with most of the same restrictions planned for the XOne. Sony's sudden about face destroyed MS's marker share. MS's arrogance and tone-deaf approach almost destroyed the XBox completely.

I played Callisto Protocol when it first came out and the game was so ridiculously hard in areas I walked way from it. I tried again on GP and was pleasantly surprised to see they had made significant changes to the game play and fight mechanics to make it more playable. I even switched to a harder mode mid game. It gave a solid challenge while leaving enough room for you to complete the game. I even sprung for the DLC on sale and thoroughly enjoyed it as well.

The comments did not disappoint as usual. 😂

After the disastrous XOne release, MS needed to right the ship. They've done so and then some. While there is an inherent need to continue making consoles, they don't care if you're not buying the next gen Xbox hardware. They end up making more money if you don't, so tying their success to the outdated idea of console sales is completely missing the big picture. Gaming is fast moving past consoles and MS is already way ahead of Sony in that area. (Don't get me wrong we need Sony and MS battling it out for the competitive edge, which benefits gamers.)

MS making deals for cross.play is just another ploy to remove any edge Sony holds. And if they bring a native handheld to the market, it will be yet another huge boon to their bottom line. (The current Sony "handheld" is an absolute joke.)

MS is playing the field to line up their strengths and cement their hold on the gaming market.

Broadband availability I think is a real hindrance. But a stream-only console is likely to happen with the next gen. They'll need to add your personal library as well as GP though. Seems from previous articles they are already working on the latter. MS can offer bundles with GP to reduce up front costs. Many gamers can afford a slightly higher monthly fee vs a large upfront cost. It's a big sell to immediate game play.

One of the best benefits of streaming IMO is no wait time for download and installs. You can just play, especially if you aren't sure you really want to play a game.

Streaming is the future. Nvidia is definitely making strides. Their GForce app is pretty solid. MS is still playing catch up on the quality of streaming.

Who in their right mind uses Temu anyway? I got 4 messages yesterday back to back: reported and blocked all 4.

It became the *it" thing to sh*tcan this game when it came out. For all its flaws it was still a solid game. Many games have come out in the past with worse flaws for sure. For many it was the cost in the beginning for a below par release. It was obviously an XOne game brought forward to XSX. However, the dev kept at it.

I played it early on GP and again after the 60 fps update. I enjoyed the game. I didn't care for the graphics style but it was a mild annoyance. I played again on hard mode and found it a good challenge. I haven't played since they released the last patch, but I'd say it's worth a play on sale or thru GP.

The S isn't the problem. Multiple devs have already come out stating modding for the S is not a problem... provided you actually plan to do so. If you don't build knowing the game will need to run on a less powerful version of the X console, then of course it's going to cause delays. Sony didn't offer a low end version so many devs design for the X and PS5 without considering the S. That's a developer issue not a MS issue.

A broader argument could be had over the need for an S console, but considering its popularity, it is unlikely MS will get rid of it. IMO for the next gen, MS should make one version but offer the subsidized console via a GP commitment or additional monthly fee. This would still offer broad appeal and do away with the extra work for devs.

@NEStalgia Stagnating console? Really? Bless your heart. 😂

People loose their minds over simple rumors these days much less possibilities. The devs don't need to say anything until the game is much closer to release.

This is indeed good news. I still remember the jump scare moments from 1. It was a big part of what made it a strong game. Gears 5 was so generic smd focused too much on ridiculous bot upgrades.

Nothing wrong with open worlds but not every game needs to be open world. Stick to what works and what makes the game great.

MS isn't magnanimous, just look at the XOne release disaster. Granted not under Phil but it almost destroyed the brand completely. MS is still recovering from that disaster.

I'm glad MS is making more games available cross platform but I'm not understanding any illusions they wouldn't f**k us over in a heartbeat.

Strong competition keeps them both honest, so to speak. MS fortunately sees the writing the wall and is moving away from exclusives.

Always living for the comments. 😂

Access to GP on Steam deck only gives you access to GP games supposed by xcloud. Your personal library is not available. MS having their own handheld likely means native support for your full library AND GP. What would be awesome is if the Microsoft handheld allowed you to run all of your steam games.

Business mergers always come with consolidation and reductions. All the faux outage over MS closing a few studios is just theatrics. There will likely be more before it's all over.

Excited to see this even if it is a remake.

So now all the people claiming MS isn't making hardware anymore can shut up.