I already sent so much money on this sale… might still spend some more… but maybe I’ll hold until the next sale. I played AC Shadows via Uplay so didn't really own it. I considered buying it on this sale but going to wait because I’m sure there will be another sale that actually includes the DLC later on.
There are other games that still are tempting me, though…
I want every single game that was developed and published by any studio that is owned by Xbox to get PC backwards compatibility EVEN if it means they need to renew any IP licenses (looking specifically at all the ABK licensed games on that one).
Even when there is a PC version out there, I still want the Xbox versions to get the BC treatment if only because of Achievement support, something that is lacking on a ton of Steam pc games from the pre 2010 era.
As for third party titles, I think a lot of publishers (not all) are likely to jump at the chance to monetize dead games that would cost too much to remaster or port.
Continuing my 7 seas journey with Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced. Doubt I'll finish it this weekend but if I do, feeling like hopping on a metroidviania game next. Maybe Hollow Knight, I never played it and everyone seems to sing praises about it.
@Quantyx it’s clear already the future of the console IS a PC. Helix will be a specialized full screen focused PC device and all of this is likely paving the road to make sure as much content as possible is BC in Helix.
As far as Xbox cares, the platform is not just the console despite how much they are re-focusing on it. The platform is the Xbox store itself, regardless if you are accessing it from dedicated hardware or general purpose PCs.
@Sindayl I’ll be here for every single one! We already had quite a few remasters, though. I’m looking forward to remakes with revamped combat systems and expanded content.
Said it before and say it again: love Shadows, Valhalla and all modern AC but I feel we lost something unique with that shift. I hope this leads to more games like Mirrage and more remakes in between large “RPG” entries. Also hope we get new DLC for Black flag, or at least Freedom Cry.
Do hope future remakes add a bit more improvements/content.
This actually concerns me a bit if it’s working as assumed.
If this is a Xefu pc port, then it does not really hint at anything. But if it’s the thing is running under Xenia (the x86 360 emulator) it might mean all existing compatibility limitations that prevented games like Blinx 2 from becoming BC might still apply.
I do think it’s most likely a standalone Xefu port that might come with new improvements and broader compatibility (given achievements are coming).
I, of course, expect 360 Xenia also to make its way into PC BC, just not the way this data mining implies.
I honestly don’t expect much from third parties to be added to the BC program, but getting all games that already belong to Xbox (including ABK/Bethesda titles) would be huge.
@nomither6 the fact that some of the biggest switch hits were enhanced ports of Wii U games should make that obvious.
Also, the second screen was honestly an amazing feature only hindered by poor range. Hell, both Sony and Xbox were so terrified it would become the next big thing that both scrambled to create apps to simulate second screen experiences via smartphones.
There were flaws to the Wii U, but it was a fantastic machine with a great lineup of games. It also, ironically, proved great exclusives won’t do jack towards the success of a console.
@fatpunkslim I mean, if the plan is to hard disconnect me when i potentially won’t see a save point for another half hour, then I would at least like the option to “suspend and watch some ads” instead of losing progress and be forced to wait in queue to resume my play session. Session I might waste time just trying to catch up to where I was before the disconnect.
@kantaroo To me, ads that make me aware of upcoming games I might actually be interested in do add value to my experience.
My personal hatred of ads mostly how out-of-context they tend to be wherever they show up. I don’t want pharmaceutical, sports or political campaign ads while consuming gaming content. Hell, even if I’m playing a racing game, I don’t want to see an add for some real world racing competition or car show.
Also what's the point u still have to own the games
Point is this will let you play third party games that are not play-anywhere, or even first party ones that are missing since they launched ore-acquisitions. Also can let you play games in potato powered devices, even phones.
I wonder if GTA 6 will slow cloud streaming… because if it does, that’s another big selling point for this.
I honestly would rather see an ad that is gaming centric during the green rocket waiting window than… that boring green rocket window.
I think the biggest flaw of the feature is the one hour session limit. I would rather see a “game will suspend in 1 minute for another ad” warning than have it drop my session entirely mid game session.
@dskatter hey, my Wii U still hooked up even if i think any game I would want to play on it has has Switch ports. I think the machine was strongly underrated and mostly a marketing failure.
@FraserG I know the first collection is not PlayAnywere but think more recently newer Konami games are being PA… is there any info yet if vol 2 is going to be Play Anywhere?
@Banjo- they used to do that with Steam, but they seem to have realized that integrating the native store’s platform ecosystems results in more engagement and sales. So… maybe down the line. For now it likely was the fastest way to get the games listed on Xbox pc store.
If they don’t support achievements AND don’t support Play Anywhere, I don’t care.
Here is hoping they do retrofit achievements as they eventually did on Steam. I tend to prefer my AC games on Xbox, for some reason that’s where I prefer playing them, but really saddens me I don’t get the flexibility of play anywhere with them.
I tend to double dip on them eventually for Steam, but that’s delegated for secondary play throughs to re-earn all achievements all over again in a separate ecosystem. Hell, sometimes I do it for a third time on PlayStation…
Already owned Conker physically AND digitally, but never played it on Xbox. Tangent but I found odd that MS censored the cussing when Nintendo, in the 64 days, let it all through.
Still, looking forward to play this when the game gets achievement support.
I’m REALLY hoping Xbox does these drops (PC BC) at least once a month, if not every other week.
I also hope they leverage all the ABK catalog and redirect many of those OG/360 licensed games for both consoles and PC via this new BC program.
@Banjo- oh that upgrade stuff is horrible! Steam handles those so gracefully. Even bundles, if you own part of the bundle content, it dynamically offers you a “complete bundle” discounted price.
I can’t express how big this is to me… especially the eventual addition of achievements. Only sad thing is that project proton won’t likely work with OG and 360 games, but most these games are extremely cheap even outside sales so I might not mind rebuying them.
Btw I’m incredibly surprised the minimum specs required are so low… I know it’s very old hardware but many legacy games tend to need a lot of additional horsepower for accurate emulation. This means most OG Xbox games will likely work smoothly on handhelds like Rog Ally (x and non-x)
Another thing of note imo is this highlights Xbox is indeed not just consoles. Xbox is console AND the Windows PC app. When Asha says she wants Xbox to reach 1 billion customers daily, they very much mean also via PC Xbox, and things like this are likely to enhance Xbox PC store appeal.
If a game will be multi-plat, it should be fully multi-plat. That means PS AND Switch. The only one that wins out of PS only ports is Sony.
But I also think going forward they REALLY need to only ship to PS what they feel is absolutely necessary, and by that I literally just mean multiplayer or gatcha single player games (should they ever publish one of those).
Campaign focused games with little or no monetized skins and all that junk should be Xbox console exclusive. The PC + Xbox sectors are large enough to support any well managed single player development project, and adding PS as a target won’t save a mismanaged project.
As far as I can tell, Gears MP won’t be heavily monetized. Being online, having an online feature, these are not what defines “live service”. It’s the monetization. If there is no continuous opportunity for the player to spend money, it’s just a game with a multiplayer mode.
Day one sales work so long everyone is on the same page for budgeting and accreditation. If Doom Dark Ages gets 3 million players but few of them are sales, GP revenue for the month should be accredited to it.
If this model drops (and it seems it has based on Doom “underperforming” claim) then the model breaks.
It’s like claiming every Netflix show is a flop because they didn’t sell enough aftermarket Blu-ray’s. If they won’t treat it that way, they may as well phase out the Ultimate tier.
Edit: personally don’t care that much about Day 1 games, just feel it’s a differentiator AND fills a market hole that vanished when rental (Blockbuster/Redbox) died. Not everyone can afford buying games and being able to effectively rent these games is likely huge for many of these consumers.
I don’t subscribe to GP outside the tier that lets me play games online.
I have spent way too much money on this sale already. Mostly been aiming for Play Anywhere games, but also taken the bite on a few games that aren't. Here is my buy list so far:
Alfred Hitchcock - Vertigo
Cuisineer
Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition
Devil May Cry 5 + Vergil
Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes
Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising
Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn
Haven
Hellblade
Hellblade II
Kingdom Come Deliverance II Royal Edition
Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii Deluxe Ed
Ni no Kuni
Ni no Kuni 2
Octopath Traveler I + II Bundle
Replaced
Star Wars Outlaws Gold Edition
Stray
Suikoden I & II HD Remaster
Summer in Mara
The Knight Witch
The Snow Fable (cheap match 3 game for just $2 and I'm a sucker for Match 3 games)
Triangle Strategy
Now they all go to collect dust as I never get around to play any of them... 😬
(Highly disappointed the Doom games are not on sale. I really wanted to get them... also: Why the hell is Doom 2016 not Play Anywhere??? Hell, it's not even in the Xbox PC store outside being able to stream the console version!!!)
I'm going to be honest: I'm not a fan of Halo, especially the first one. I do love that soundtrack, though. I think it's the only reason I was ever able to get through the game. I am a bit curious about the improvements but might not bother touching this until(if) they do a full initial trilogy remake.
I did play all of them in the Master Chief collection. I do like Halo 2, mostly the Arbiter playable sections. I know Halo fans are obsessed with Master Chief, but it was exploring the other side that gave me any care for the series. Ironically I also really liked the highly controversial Halo 5 for the same reason.
I was so sad that Halo 3 never got the graphical upgrades 1 and 2 got in the MC collection, and even more so that you just play the whole campaign as Master Chief.
@CoolDadTx Most big publishers have their own math and internal logistics on how, when and how deep to put their titles on sale.
It's extremely rare, for example, to see some specific titles ever go under 50%. Don't think I ever seen Sekiro go under 50%, and it was only after the DLC launched that I saw Cyberpunk go under 50%, but the DLC was not on sale. We now are at a point where Cyberpunk's DLC bundles are at around 58% off.
Big publishers have a lot of data on trends and what needs a boost via a sale. I will agree with you on one thing: Ubisoft. They are extremely aggressive with their sales and it's a huge part of why I tend to avoid buying their games early unless I'm extremely hyped. I have way too often bought a Ubsoft game only to see them hit 70% off before I even sit down to touch it, and that highly discourages me from being an early adopter for their games. I think that's one of their biggest issues, they have devaluated their offerings with their sale frequency. Alas, that's a bit of a different topic.
Back on the impact of these sales, many indies take advantage of these sales to gain visibility, plus a solo indie selling 5000 at $2 thanks to these sales (assuming they get that lucky) is likely getting enough money to pay the bills for 2 or 3 months out of a game that was likely already not selling. Not only that but once the sale is over, their titles might had climbed up on store's algorithms and be visible for a few days or weeks after. This can result in a few more copies sold, especially if a buyer starts playing the game and their friends see the game on their friend list activity feed.
TLDR: yes, these sales move the needle for almost everyone involved.
@Kingleo31 I have double dipped into digital games that I already own physical (usually in a different platform) all the way back to the early days of Steam. If I can get convenient access to a super-cheap digital copy of a game, I will take advantage of that. That does not mean I no longer care about the ownership of a physical copy [preferably with the whole game IN the media] that I can lend to friends, access even if the stores go offline, or even just toss on a shelf for display.
I honestly don't think any fan of physical media is 100% adverse of buying digital, especially when the digital copy is acquired in extremely low discounts like these.
@Fiendish-Beaver I’m not going to say this apply to this situation, but as someone that has worked on game dev and corporate environment I can honestly assure you that in many situations more people can actually slow things down. Main causes I have experienced:
More people can mean more differences of opinion stalking progress in some areas.
More people can result in inflated scope that simply increases budget and timelines.
More people often means a bigger amount of time in meetings coordinating who does what.
It’s basically Brook’s law, but it can apply to more than just late projects as many of the factors associated apply even to new projects.
Sometimes, a smaller team can be a lot more agile, less likely to duplicate work, and be more incentivized to effectively reuse assets and code.
I have never worked on a [gaming] dev project the size of Doom, but could see a more effective management would use more manpower on separate parallel projects (Doom /Quake?) than just try to speed up development of a single project by keeping it over-resourced.
@themightyant If inaccurate news spread, correcting the inaccuracy is damage control regardless so you can be correct at the same time they are being perfectly honest with their message.
I am sure the IP issues are not new. I remember the whole ownership thing being discussed ages ago in Xbox Two Podcast. From what I vaguely recall: Xbox had publishing rights, Crytek had the IP rights, Crytek wanted to entirely own the IP and publishing rights and MS wanted to own it all if a sequel was made (or keep it Xbox exclusive) and so impasse.
The whole news of all the people that lost their jobs suck, but we also need to be somewhat objective here.
The studio is as big as it was when they shipped Doom 2016, a game that resurrected the IP. I can understand some of the people that lost their jobs being angry at the parent company (I been there) but bashing the capabilities of the team that remains is just begging that they too lose their jobs. These individuals are likely already suffering extreme survivors guilts and diminishing their capabilities does not help anyone at all.
Feel free to bash Asha, Xbox and Microsoft, but have some respect for the team that is still there if you truly care about devs and peers.
If Asha does not force Todd to delegate, Fallout 5 is still at least 10 years away, but so long they let Obsidian make "non-numbered" Fallout entries it might be ok.
Hell, it might come that by the time a numbered entry comes about, it will be as underwhelming to see a number as it was to see Assassin's Creed 3 after two fantastic not-numbered entries.
At the end, Todd did not create Fallout. He was responsible for the resurrection, and got decreasingly low quality entries (3 > 4 > 76) so I won't ever understand why he is so possessive at the IP. Mind you, he himself didn't create TES either but at least that did homebrew at Bethesda. Just like Bethesda acquired Fallout and the original creators were forced (even through lawsuits) to accept they no longer owned the IP, he should also understand that the IP is no longer his, but Xbox's.
Hell... if anyone should be in charge of it based on legacy, it should be InXile. At minimum they should likely be managing a hypothetical Fallout 1/2 modern remake.
TLDR on my rant: Let go of the IP, you had your fun and almost killed it!!!
I'm curious if the bigger screen will mean more power drain. If the biggest technical differentiator is the screen size, I would be likely to just stick to my Rog Ally X as it sounds the screen alone would mean shorter battery life.
@Shinato2024 technically they could make a South to Midnight sequel or prequel at a fraction of the budget by leveraging existing assets and engine. Sequels can be way cheaper to develop IF they don’t try to make everything from the ground up.
Think that’s what Ninja Theory is aiming for with the new Hellblade entry.
Sounds like they are trying to get some contracts as support studio for other studio/publisher projects rather than jump into their own venture. Maybe it’s just an attempt to get some additional money flow while they embark on their next project.
Start the countdown. As soon as this ships, we will likely be hearing news about how much of Halo Studios is going to be let go. If one studio under MS needs a total upside down makeover, it’s this one. They didn’t even make this in-house and still mismanaged the hell out of it!
making Forza Horizon 7 an Xbox and Xbox on PC exclusive
Unlike PS5, Steam is too big of a market leader to ignore (ask Capcom). It's part of why almost every publisher that attempted pushing their own store (especially Ubisoft and EA) faced disaster in the process.
It's far more effective, IMO, to aim to make the Xbox PC version have better features like Play Anywhere, cloud play and quick resume (a feature I hope eventually makes it to Xbox PC with the Helix gen).
@Titntin did you read the update on isSoftware cuts? The studios decimation was widely exaggerated. It’s still sad news that so many lost their jobs, but the studio is back to the same size it was when Doom 2016 shipped.
If Xbox adds that disk digital entitlement feature, I might literally stop all Xbox games digitally and go back to physical copies.
Side note and a bit off topic: what if Helix isn’t ONLY a console… but an OS? And they update XSX and XSS to be able to run as hybrid “PC”s even before the flagship Helix hardware launches? Those two features combined would be killer!
@Booloon that is precisely why and it’s not the only game in that bucket. The first Injustice fighting game is natively on PS4 since forever but still relies on BC for Xbox, simply because PS4 didn’t have BC.
Although I don’t care for CoD, the hacker situation alone makes me hope they add native ports for Xbox.
I don’t think there need to be any significant upgrades, though. It’s obvious the only reason they are doing this is that these games STILL sell very well on Xbox and having no BC on PS means they are leaving a ton of money in the table. Also, given how well they sell as BC titles, expecting a lower price point was naive. I mean, I never complain for lower prices, but CoD players seem to still fork money for the game at that price.
Besides: higher price tag gives them room for seasonal sales.
Yes, it’s literally a cash grab. But it’s an effective one that will help bring more profitability to Xbox and that’s what they care about.
@Markatron84 various sources, including Jason, have already stated the divested studios (that are not divested yet) are part of the 1600 role reductions.
That said, it seems they are going through studios one by one and mostly downsizing to what they were at the time of them being acquired. One of the less reported news I seen was that Phill increased all of Xbox by 40% despite lacking money flow. That would mean not everything is going down to that point since the total headcount is expected to go down by 20%, not 40%.
I am going to also guess the reports that is software went down to only 59 people are also wrong and are specific to the Texas office.
I do still think having so many engines (didn’t know machine games are using yet another fork!!!) is highly inefficient. Nobody should be fired but all these id Tech variants, including the CoD’s IW8 dev teams should be consolidated into a single team working on making the absolute best in-house engine they can possibly make.
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Re: Xbox Owners Get Free PC Copies Of Select Ubisoft Games
This is cool, but wish they did proper PlayAnywhere implementation instead.
Re: Last Chance To Bag A Bargain: Xbox Summer Sale 2026 Ends Tomorrow
I already sent so much money on this sale… might still spend some more… but maybe I’ll hold until the next sale. I played AC Shadows via Uplay so didn't really own it. I considered buying it on this sale but going to wait because I’m sure there will be another sale that actually includes the DLC later on.
There are other games that still are tempting me, though…
Re: Talking Point: What Have You Bought In The Xbox Summer Sale 2026?
I bought way too much stuff...
There was more I wanted to buy but I had to stop myself at some point!!! Now if I could actually play any of it...
Re: 10 Games We'd Love To See Added To Xbox Backwards Compatibility On PC
Instead of making a list I'll just say this much:
I want every single game that was developed and published by any studio that is owned by Xbox to get PC backwards compatibility EVEN if it means they need to renew any IP licenses (looking specifically at all the ABK licensed games on that one).
Even when there is a PC version out there, I still want the Xbox versions to get the BC treatment if only because of Achievement support, something that is lacking on a ton of Steam pc games from the pre 2010 era.
As for third party titles, I think a lot of publishers (not all) are likely to jump at the chance to monetize dead games that would cost too much to remaster or port.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (July 25-26)
Continuing my 7 seas journey with Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced. Doubt I'll finish it this weekend but if I do, feeling like hopping on a metroidviania game next. Maybe Hollow Knight, I never played it and everyone seems to sing praises about it.
Re: It Sure Sounds Like Xbox 360 Games Are Coming To Backwards Compatibility On PC
@Sindayl hey, if I can play Lost odyssey on my ROG Ally X, I’ll be an extremely happy girl!
Re: It Sure Sounds Like Xbox 360 Games Are Coming To Backwards Compatibility On PC
@Quantyx it’s clear already the future of the console IS a PC. Helix will be a specialized full screen focused PC device and all of this is likely paving the road to make sure as much content as possible is BC in Helix.
As far as Xbox cares, the platform is not just the console despite how much they are re-focusing on it. The platform is the Xbox store itself, regardless if you are accessing it from dedicated hardware or general purpose PCs.
Re: Black Flag Resynced Tops The Xbox Charts As Ubisoft Says It's Massively Exceeded Expectations
@Sindayl I’ll be here for every single one! We already had quite a few remasters, though. I’m looking forward to remakes with revamped combat systems and expanded content.
Re: Black Flag Resynced Tops The Xbox Charts As Ubisoft Says It's Massively Exceeded Expectations
Said it before and say it again: love Shadows, Valhalla and all modern AC but I feel we lost something unique with that shift. I hope this leads to more games like Mirrage and more remakes in between large “RPG” entries.
Also hope we get new DLC for Black flag, or at least Freedom Cry.
Do hope future remakes add a bit more improvements/content.
Re: It Sure Sounds Like Xbox 360 Games Are Coming To Backwards Compatibility On PC
This actually concerns me a bit if it’s working as assumed.
If this is a Xefu pc port, then it does not really hint at anything. But if it’s the thing is running under Xenia (the x86 360 emulator) it might mean all existing compatibility limitations that prevented games like Blinx 2 from becoming BC might still apply.
I do think it’s most likely a standalone Xefu port that might come with new improvements and broader compatibility (given achievements are coming).
I, of course, expect 360 Xenia also to make its way into PC BC, just not the way this data mining implies.
I honestly don’t expect much from third parties to be added to the BC program, but getting all games that already belong to Xbox (including ABK/Bethesda titles) would be huge.
Re: Xbox Achieves Its Biggest Month For US Console Sales In 2026 So Far
@nomither6 the fact that some of the biggest switch hits were enhanced ports of Wii U games should make that obvious.
Also, the second screen was honestly an amazing feature only hindered by poor range. Hell, both Sony and Xbox were so terrified it would become the next big thing that both scrambled to create apps to simulate second screen experiences via smartphones.
There were flaws to the Wii U, but it was a fantastic machine with a great lineup of games. It also, ironically, proved great exclusives won’t do jack towards the success of a console.
Re: Roundup: Here's What The Critics Are Saying About Halo: Campaign Evolved
@BigRedPaper isn’t 7/10 their “we didn’t really review this, just slapped lots of words into a template and left our default score” signal?
Re: Xbox Introduces Free Game Streaming With Ads, Outlines Five Principles They'll Adhere To
@fatpunkslim I mean, if the plan is to hard disconnect me when i potentially won’t see a save point for another half hour, then I would at least like the option to “suspend and watch some ads” instead of losing progress and be forced to wait in queue to resume my play session. Session I might waste time just trying to catch up to where I was before the disconnect.
Re: Xbox Introduces Free Game Streaming With Ads, Outlines Five Principles They'll Adhere To
@kantaroo To me, ads that make me aware of upcoming games I might actually be interested in do add value to my experience.
My personal hatred of ads mostly how out-of-context they tend to be wherever they show up. I don’t want pharmaceutical, sports or political campaign ads while consuming gaming content. Hell, even if I’m playing a racing game, I don’t want to see an add for some real world racing competition or car show.
Re: Xbox Introduces Free Game Streaming With Ads, Outlines Five Principles They'll Adhere To
@Martsmall
Point is this will let you play third party games that are not play-anywhere, or even first party ones that are missing since they launched ore-acquisitions. Also can let you play games in potato powered devices, even phones.
I wonder if GTA 6 will slow cloud streaming… because if it does, that’s another big selling point for this.
Re: Xbox Introduces Free Game Streaming With Ads, Outlines Five Principles They'll Adhere To
I honestly would rather see an ad that is gaming centric during the green rocket waiting window than… that boring green rocket window.
I think the biggest flaw of the feature is the one hour session limit. I would rather see a “game will suspend in 1 minute for another ad” warning than have it drop my session entirely mid game session.
Re: Xbox Achieves Its Biggest Month For US Console Sales In 2026 So Far
@dskatter hey, my Wii U still hooked up even if i think any game I would want to play on it has has Switch ports. I think the machine was strongly underrated and mostly a marketing failure.
Re: Xbox Achieves Its Biggest Month For US Console Sales In 2026 So Far
@dskatter Wii Us lifespan made falling past rock bottom look very damn easy.
Re: Metal Gear Solid 4's Full Resolution & FPS Details Revealed For Xbox Series X|S
@FraserG I know the first collection is not PlayAnywere but think more recently newer Konami games are being PA… is there any info yet if vol 2 is going to be Play Anywhere?
Re: 80+ Ubisoft Games Have Suddenly Been Added To The Xbox Store On PC
@Banjo- they used to do that with Steam, but they seem to have realized that integrating the native store’s platform ecosystems results in more engagement and sales. So… maybe down the line. For now it likely was the fastest way to get the games listed on Xbox pc store.
Re: 80+ Ubisoft Games Have Suddenly Been Added To The Xbox Store On PC
If they don’t support achievements AND don’t support Play Anywhere, I don’t care.
Here is hoping they do retrofit achievements as they eventually did on Steam. I tend to prefer my AC games on Xbox, for some reason that’s where I prefer playing them, but really saddens me I don’t get the flexibility of play anywhere with them.
I tend to double dip on them eventually for Steam, but that’s delegated for secondary play throughs to re-earn all achievements all over again in a separate ecosystem. Hell, sometimes I do it for a third time on PlayStation…
Re: These Are The Final Two Xbox Game Pass Additions To Finish Off The Week (July 23)
Already owned Conker physically AND digitally, but never played it on Xbox. Tangent but I found odd that MS censored the cussing when Nintendo, in the 64 days, let it all through.
Still, looking forward to play this when the game gets achievement support.
I’m REALLY hoping Xbox does these drops (PC BC) at least once a month, if not every other week.
I also hope they leverage all the ABK catalog and redirect many of those OG/360 licensed games for both consoles and PC via this new BC program.
Re: Xbox Announces Backwards Compatibility For PC, First Four Games Revealed
@Banjo- oh that upgrade stuff is horrible! Steam handles those so gracefully. Even bundles, if you own part of the bundle content, it dynamically offers you a “complete bundle” discounted price.
Re: Xbox Announces Backwards Compatibility For PC, First Four Games Revealed
@Banjo- hmm I got to go check what BC titles I don’t own already… wish Xbox added a filter to hide games I already own in search results…
Re: Xbox Announces Backwards Compatibility For PC, First Four Games Revealed
@themightyant damn… I hate that I did not catch the “just 4 games” reference as quick as you did!!!
Re: Xbox Announces Backwards Compatibility For PC, First Four Games Revealed
I can’t express how big this is to me… especially the eventual addition of achievements. Only sad thing is that project proton won’t likely work with OG and 360 games, but most these games are extremely cheap even outside sales so I might not mind rebuying them.
Btw I’m incredibly surprised the minimum specs required are so low… I know it’s very old hardware but many legacy games tend to need a lot of additional horsepower for accurate emulation. This means most OG Xbox games will likely work smoothly on handhelds like Rog Ally (x and non-x)
Another thing of note imo is this highlights Xbox is indeed not just consoles. Xbox is console AND the Windows PC app. When Asha says she wants Xbox to reach 1 billion customers daily, they very much mean also via PC Xbox, and things like this are likely to enhance Xbox PC store appeal.
Re: Xbox CCO Says Not To 'Overly Fixate' On All Single-Player Games Being Exclusives
My two cents:
If a game will be multi-plat, it should be fully multi-plat. That means PS AND Switch. The only one that wins out of PS only ports is Sony.
But I also think going forward they REALLY need to only ship to PS what they feel is absolutely necessary, and by that I literally just mean multiplayer or gatcha single player games (should they ever publish one of those).
Campaign focused games with little or no monetized skins and all that junk should be Xbox console exclusive. The PC + Xbox sectors are large enough to support any well managed single player development project, and adding PS as a target won’t save a mismanaged project.
As far as I can tell, Gears MP won’t be heavily monetized. Being online, having an online feature, these are not what defines “live service”. It’s the monetization. If there is no continuous opportunity for the player to spend money, it’s just a game with a multiplayer mode.
Re: Reporter Claims Game Pass Is 'Absolutely Detested' By Some Xbox Studio Leaders
Day one sales work so long everyone is on the same page for budgeting and accreditation. If Doom Dark Ages gets 3 million players but few of them are sales, GP revenue for the month should be accredited to it.
If this model drops (and it seems it has based on Doom “underperforming” claim) then the model breaks.
It’s like claiming every Netflix show is a flop because they didn’t sell enough aftermarket Blu-ray’s. If they won’t treat it that way, they may as well phase out the Ultimate tier.
Edit: personally don’t care that much about Day 1 games, just feel it’s a differentiator AND fills a market hole that vanished when rental (Blockbuster/Redbox) died. Not everyone can afford buying games and being able to effectively rent these games is likely huge for many of these consumers.
I don’t subscribe to GP outside the tier that lets me play games online.
Re: Xbox Summer Sale 2026 Now Live, 2000+ Games Discounted
I have spent way too much money on this sale already. Mostly been aiming for Play Anywhere games, but also taken the bite on a few games that aren't. Here is my buy list so far:
Now they all go to collect dust as I never get around to play any of them... 😬
(Highly disappointed the Doom games are not on sale. I really wanted to get them... also: Why the hell is Doom 2016 not Play Anywhere??? Hell, it's not even in the Xbox PC store outside being able to stream the console version!!!)
Re: Talking Point: So, Are You Getting The Premium Upgrade For Halo: Campaign Evolved?
I'm going to be honest: I'm not a fan of Halo, especially the first one. I do love that soundtrack, though. I think it's the only reason I was ever able to get through the game. I am a bit curious about the improvements but might not bother touching this until(if) they do a full initial trilogy remake.
I did play all of them in the Master Chief collection. I do like Halo 2, mostly the Arbiter playable sections. I know Halo fans are obsessed with Master Chief, but it was exploring the other side that gave me any care for the series. Ironically I also really liked the highly controversial Halo 5 for the same reason.
I was so sad that Halo 3 never got the graphical upgrades 1 and 2 got in the MC collection, and even more so that you just play the whole campaign as Master Chief.
/rant over
Re: 100+ Games Are Reduced By 90-95% In The Xbox Summer Sale 2026
@CoolDadTx Most big publishers have their own math and internal logistics on how, when and how deep to put their titles on sale.
It's extremely rare, for example, to see some specific titles ever go under 50%. Don't think I ever seen Sekiro go under 50%, and it was only after the DLC launched that I saw Cyberpunk go under 50%, but the DLC was not on sale. We now are at a point where Cyberpunk's DLC bundles are at around 58% off.
Big publishers have a lot of data on trends and what needs a boost via a sale. I will agree with you on one thing: Ubisoft. They are extremely aggressive with their sales and it's a huge part of why I tend to avoid buying their games early unless I'm extremely hyped. I have way too often bought a Ubsoft game only to see them hit 70% off before I even sit down to touch it, and that highly discourages me from being an early adopter for their games. I think that's one of their biggest issues, they have devaluated their offerings with their sale frequency. Alas, that's a bit of a different topic.
Back on the impact of these sales, many indies take advantage of these sales to gain visibility, plus a solo indie selling 5000 at $2 thanks to these sales (assuming they get that lucky) is likely getting enough money to pay the bills for 2 or 3 months out of a game that was likely already not selling. Not only that but once the sale is over, their titles might had climbed up on store's algorithms and be visible for a few days or weeks after. This can result in a few more copies sold, especially if a buyer starts playing the game and their friends see the game on their friend list activity feed.
TLDR: yes, these sales move the needle for almost everyone involved.
Re: 100+ Games Are Reduced By 90-95% In The Xbox Summer Sale 2026
@Kingleo31 I have double dipped into digital games that I already own physical (usually in a different platform) all the way back to the early days of Steam. If I can get convenient access to a super-cheap digital copy of a game, I will take advantage of that. That does not mean I no longer care about the ownership of a physical copy [preferably with the whole game IN the media] that I can lend to friends, access even if the stores go offline, or even just toss on a shelf for display.
I honestly don't think any fan of physical media is 100% adverse of buying digital, especially when the digital copy is acquired in extremely low discounts like these.
Re: DOOM Director Elaborates On The State Of The Studio Going Forward
@Fiendish-Beaver I’m not going to say this apply to this situation, but as someone that has worked on game dev and corporate environment I can honestly assure you that in many situations more people can actually slow things down. Main causes I have experienced:
It’s basically Brook’s law, but it can apply to more than just late projects as many of the factors associated apply even to new projects.
Sometimes, a smaller team can be a lot more agile, less likely to duplicate work, and be more incentivized to effectively reuse assets and code.
I have never worked on a [gaming] dev project the size of Doom, but could see a more effective management would use more manpower on separate parallel projects (Doom /Quake?) than just try to speed up development of a single project by keeping it over-resourced.
Re: DOOM Director Elaborates On The State Of The Studio Going Forward
@themightyant If inaccurate news spread, correcting the inaccuracy is damage control regardless so you can be correct at the same time they are being perfectly honest with their message.
Re: New Report Reveals Original Plans For Ryse 2 And Why We Never Got A Sequel
I am sure the IP issues are not new. I remember the whole ownership thing being discussed ages ago in Xbox Two Podcast. From what I vaguely recall: Xbox had publishing rights, Crytek had the IP rights, Crytek wanted to entirely own the IP and publishing rights and MS wanted to own it all if a sequel was made (or keep it Xbox exclusive) and so impasse.
Re: DOOM Director Elaborates On The State Of The Studio Going Forward
The whole news of all the people that lost their jobs suck, but we also need to be somewhat objective here.
The studio is as big as it was when they shipped Doom 2016, a game that resurrected the IP. I can understand some of the people that lost their jobs being angry at the parent company (I been there) but bashing the capabilities of the team that remains is just begging that they too lose their jobs. These individuals are likely already suffering extreme survivors guilts and diminishing their capabilities does not help anyone at all.
Feel free to bash Asha, Xbox and Microsoft, but have some respect for the team that is still there if you truly care about devs and peers.
Re: Two Fallout Remasters Announced By Bethesda In Massive New Roadmap
If Asha does not force Todd to delegate, Fallout 5 is still at least 10 years away, but so long they let Obsidian make "non-numbered" Fallout entries it might be ok.
Hell, it might come that by the time a numbered entry comes about, it will be as underwhelming to see a number as it was to see Assassin's Creed 3 after two fantastic not-numbered entries.
At the end, Todd did not create Fallout. He was responsible for the resurrection, and got decreasingly low quality entries (3 > 4 > 76) so I won't ever understand why he is so possessive at the IP. Mind you, he himself didn't create TES either but at least that did homebrew at Bethesda. Just like Bethesda acquired Fallout and the original creators were forced (even through lawsuits) to accept they no longer owned the IP, he should also understand that the IP is no longer his, but Xbox's.
Hell... if anyone should be in charge of it based on legacy, it should be InXile. At minimum they should likely be managing a hypothetical Fallout 1/2 modern remake.
TLDR on my rant: Let go of the IP, you had your fun and almost killed it!!!
Re: ASUS Issues Mini Statement Confirming Standalone Version Of ROG Xbox Ally X20
I'm curious if the bigger screen will mean more power drain. If the biggest technical differentiator is the screen size, I would be likely to just stick to my Rog Ally X as it sounds the screen alone would mean shorter battery life.
It is a sleek looking revision, though.
Re: Former Xbox Dev Compulsion Games Shares Open Letter To 'Studios Across The Industry'
@Shinato2024 technically they could make a South to Midnight sequel or prequel at a fraction of the budget by leveraging existing assets and engine. Sequels can be way cheaper to develop IF they don’t try to make everything from the ground up.
Think that’s what Ninja Theory is aiming for with the new Hellblade entry.
Re: Former Xbox Dev Compulsion Games Shares Open Letter To 'Studios Across The Industry'
Sounds like they are trying to get some contracts as support studio for other studio/publisher projects rather than jump into their own venture. Maybe it’s just an attempt to get some additional money flow while they embark on their next project.
Re: The Next Halo Game Has Officially Gone Gold
Start the countdown. As soon as this ships, we will likely be hearing news about how much of Halo Studios is going to be let go. If one studio under MS needs a total upside down makeover, it’s this one. They didn’t even make this in-house and still mismanaged the hell out of it!
Re: Forza Horizon 6 Reportedly Tops The List Of Steam Releases For Gross Revenue In 2026
@Banjo-
Unlike PS5, Steam is too big of a market leader to ignore (ask Capcom). It's part of why almost every publisher that attempted pushing their own store (especially Ubisoft and EA) faced disaster in the process.
It's far more effective, IMO, to aim to make the Xbox PC version have better features like Play Anywhere, cloud play and quick resume (a feature I hope eventually makes it to Xbox PC with the Helix gen).
Re: Xbox Teases Potentially Major Console Update That Will Be 'Worth The Wait'
@Titntin did you read the update on isSoftware cuts? The studios decimation was widely exaggerated. It’s still sad news that so many lost their jobs, but the studio is back to the same size it was when Doom 2016 shipped.
Re: Xbox Teases Potentially Major Console Update That Will Be 'Worth The Wait'
If Xbox adds that disk digital entitlement feature, I might literally stop all Xbox games digitally and go back to physical copies.
Side note and a bit off topic: what if Helix isn’t ONLY a console… but an OS? And they update XSX and XSS to be able to run as hybrid “PC”s even before the flagship Helix hardware launches? Those two features combined would be killer!
Re: Digital Foundry Shares Its Initial Analysis Of Black Ops 1 For PS5 Vs. Xbox
@Booloon that is precisely why and it’s not the only game in that bucket. The first Injustice fighting game is natively on PS4 since forever but still relies on BC for Xbox, simply because PS4 didn’t have BC.
Re: Digital Foundry Shares Its Initial Analysis Of Black Ops 1 For PS5 Vs. Xbox
Although I don’t care for CoD, the hacker situation alone makes me hope they add native ports for Xbox.
I don’t think there need to be any significant upgrades, though. It’s obvious the only reason they are doing this is that these games STILL sell very well on Xbox and having no BC on PS means they are leaving a ton of money in the table. Also, given how well they sell as BC titles, expecting a lower price point was naive. I mean, I never complain for lower prices, but CoD players seem to still fork money for the game at that price.
Besides: higher price tag gives them room for seasonal sales.
Yes, it’s literally a cash grab. But it’s an effective one that will help bring more profitability to Xbox and that’s what they care about.
Re: Xbox Sends Out Brief Statement Regarding 'Inaccurate' id Tech Reports
@Markatron84 various sources, including Jason, have already stated the divested studios (that are not divested yet) are part of the 1600 role reductions.
That said, it seems they are going through studios one by one and mostly downsizing to what they were at the time of them being acquired. One of the less reported news I seen was that Phill increased all of Xbox by 40% despite lacking money flow. That would mean not everything is going down to that point since the total headcount is expected to go down by 20%, not 40%.
Re: Xbox Sends Out Brief Statement Regarding 'Inaccurate' id Tech Reports
I am going to also guess the reports that is software went down to only 59 people are also wrong and are specific to the Texas office.
I do still think having so many engines (didn’t know machine games are using yet another fork!!!) is highly inefficient. Nobody should be fired but all these id Tech variants, including the CoD’s IW8 dev teams should be consolidated into a single team working on making the absolute best in-house engine they can possibly make.
Re: Xbox Summer Sale 2026 'Teaser' Now Live, 300+ Games Discounted
Oddly I can’t sort the grid when I click on any of those column headers on my phone…
Re: Video Game Retailer Urges Xbox To 'Stand Behind Consumer Choice' By Supporting Physical
@Titntin All I will reply is that your perception of series s/x ratio openly displays your bias on the topic. Series X/S share is 68%/32%