@Qozmyk this is fairly accurate. Forza sold loads and loads on Ps5 which is an excellent thing, money money to Xbox studios helps everything, Gears I assume didn’t sell as well, so they are holding back this and will hold back a few others just to say “we gave you exclusives” if they end up back on top with more sales on Xbox than PS then they won’t need to bother with PS but that’s a long game. Either way I still don’t understand why people here care so much…. Xbox studios selling massive amounts of games is good for Xbox in general. Makes everything stronger not weaker.

“Increasingly we are becoming more of a platform” I’m sorry… what? Xbox have been a “platform” since day one. It’s this sort of reinvention of the English language and spin that gets everyone yip yapping…

The headline should be her saying Xbox isn’t healthy……

That’s a remarkable change in tone from the usual Xbox PR machine and it’s refreshing.

@Banjo- oooooo

For me The three I vote for a “Free online multiplayer” I barely play online but would like the ability to dip in especially for the Forza weekly exclusive cars tied to online….

BC obviously I have boxes of games I’d love to play online XSX

And disc based stuff on the new console

All effect me and I don’t care if people can play Xbox studio games on their plastic box - more money for Xbox to invest in more games

@Skinny-Pete that’s the issue I have with my fellow xboxers it’s still about reading what Sony fans are doing or saying. Who cares. Nutters everywhere dude. Sony make terrible choices non stop too and Nintendo, don’t start me on 2k….. I don’t feel especially loyal to any of them. I know I play Xbox studio games more than anything else - but if I’m honest Forza does all the lifting. I love those games.

@Banjo- you are right. They are reacting to a most requested feature (apparently) I’ve never done a survey where they’ve asked me though…. Why so many care is beyond me. Xbox games selling 5m and taking money out of Sonys pocket is good for business and helps fund more Xbox studio games. Not selling games on PlayStation is never gonna sell 5 million copies on Xbox - especially with the GP model. So I’m not sure why timed exclusivity isn’t the dream. Day one on GPU and partially funded by PlayStation is the dream no? I’ve read litterally thousands of comments and almost all seem to suggest Xbox die if their games are on Sony selling 5m how is having a million selling game gonna kill Xbox studios? It’s making it stronger. Genuinely it is. Xbox are trying to appease an angry minority and they’ll still send most Xbox studio games to PlayStation I would wager

@Skinny-Pete Litterally so many comments here about how “Xbox can’t win” and how a mythical “they” are never happy….. that’s a victim mentality. It’s bonkers. Xbox win they take our money. That’s their job. Unless you are a shareholder and a major one I don’t understand any of this trenches mentality like it’s a battle them versus us. We are all gamers and have a shared passion. The whole world wants division as the rich get richer. Of all the divisions the console vs console is the silliest.

If you can’t see that mate I don’t know what to say

@Fiendish-Beaver you’ve beaten me twice 47! 😂

@Fiendish-Beaver but dude you are sensible I was talking those that defend every decision… you don’t do that…. Yeah you maybe have me beat - I’m old though and been there since pretty much day one and boxes and boxes of games plus now way too many digital - my point was more - a lot of so called Xbox only fans barely spend any money by their own admission but try and gatekeep games…..

Seriously, even the most blinkered, (insert console name here) fan can see this was a last min decision. She has been in place 100 days. So it’s less than that. They didn’t make a new video. Didn’t do due diligence and it’s clear it wasn’t a decision made with the same planning they usually would. She is trying to pivot and change the narrative round the brand and quickly. Mistakes are being made. Some are delighted and praising every decision but the very same people have praised every decision team X has made for years (see comment two here) playing to some sort of victim narrative….

Xbox made the decision a month ago is recent in game announcement terms especially one this big.

I’m not bothered about the decision I own an xbox and a PlayStation and don’t particularly like the management decisions by either. Not sure why anyone treats an electrical device like a sports team!

Imho gaming went seriously off track when we talk more about framerstes and resolution than how a game plays and how good it is. Some gamers genuinely buy games on this information and even here it’s labelled as “seriously ambitious” in part of a review I can see this being important information but having whole channels and articles obsessed with this and not the actual game is wild.

All this stuff is just about accounting. It’s nowt to do with anything else. Their best bet is to make some good games.

That advice is free. They are welcome

@Kezelpaso yeah I follow a few YouTubers that do crazy amounts of Forza H coverage and weekly guides to the playlist stuff and you can tell even they are struggling to dig into it all. It’s both a monster and a masterpiece

@Kezelpaso to be fair loads of stuff is not obvious. Hidden car perks cars. The reward system for new players isn’t completely obvious. At first play for returning players they might think some features are removed but the unlock as you play. Explaining the second hand car market - (the ones dotted around the map) - I’m completely daunted by the estates thing…. I played 250 plus hours on 5 - so most the stuff is familiar to me but I can understand why new players struggle.

All caps is horrible! What are you all on about you lunatics?!?

It’s bonkers to me the industry is doubling down on delisting practises and not reducing them. Players have made it clear we don’t like it

I don’t have game pass anymore as I play only a few select games, picked up a Premium Key for this and it’s downloading right now…. Will get steam version for the deck at some point

@AccessibleDaydream it’s verified. No keys available…. I bought the premium version on Xbox for £64 so I’ll play on Xbox for now. If I can get a key for steam for similar I’ll jump straight in £120 for premium for both is a bit steep but it’s the price some people are paying for one version. I played 5 on steam for 250 hours and I’m carrying on so it’s not horrible value! I’d imagine I’ll play this one longer

@Fiendish-Beaver I agree completely but unfortunately if people start throwing tens about it’ll happen. It’s not gonna be perfect and the facts they’ll add loads of content and patch loads of stuff will prove that so it’s not a ten. (To me I know already it’ll be a nine personally) I can understand 9-7 score range for it. If you aren’t into arcade racers or you’re bored of 4/5 being very similar on a different map. This is probably gonna be the same (I’ll take more of the same btw) so I kinda get it. No other racing game comes close but plenty are a load of fun.

I get some peoples criticisms- too many cars and too easy to get good cars but honestly I remember grinding for weeks and still being in a banged up golf in old street racing games. I don’t miss that at all 😂

I know I’m gonna love it and I’ve not booted it up.

Unfortunately probably won’t get to play it for a while due to personal circumstances but I will attempt to install it remotely for if I ever get home and might even double dip with steam so I can play on the deck. I’ll have to clear space from a memory stick and the internet access I have here it’ll take 3 months to install 😂

Does the cross save work with the steam version?

Anyone know if it runs as good on steam deck?

Great review thanks mate

@SoulChimera the expanded bit had a time jump and led right up to a scene in a movie and I really liked how they did it. I seem to remember others moaning a lot but I really liked it. Think it might have led up to the start of Last Jedi. Can’t remember exactly. I will play it through again.

I’ve never played multiplayer but genuinely I loved the campaign and the added free expansion. A seriously good game

@DonkeyKongBigBoy for sure…. But and I expect to cop some hate for this…… they could do it with any brand….. Outrun Porsche edition…. If Ferrari are being awkward….

That being said that was the beauty of coast2coast one or whatever it was called. It had so many Ferraris and unlockables. I long for a game like that again.

I played that free golden axe level they gave away a few years back and enjoyed it. I suspect the full game will be nothing like it. I’ll be happy with a more traditional version. Also enjoyed the Yakuza Streets of rage thing they gave away.

I’d love an outrun. Still play the psp outrun to this day. That’s a monster of a game and can recommend to everyone that may or may not access games a certain way…. I do actually own it on psp - also own the Xbox and PS2 versions.

The non licensed selection is awesome. I thought Gun was already on it!

Great choices all round here.

For me personally quite a few jump out that I’d play straight away.

People voting sensibly for once and I’m not a fan of transformers (not these ones anyway really) but I can see why people love them and it’s a robust set of lists when you consider what’s already available

The Xbox only crew are obsessed with the exclusivity of their games. I couldn’t care less they go to PlayStation years later. More money to invest in developing more games. Y’all tripping you care more players get to play some games years later.

Sony is living rent free in your head and it shows.

Major things I want and more Xbox studio games. Longer solo campaigns. Less FOMO live service elements to new content. Bring back BC and keep expanding. There are loads of games left to do.

Don’t go and buy more studios work externally with studios.

Bring back IPs from the dead.

Look and Indiana Jones and the success Sony had with Spiderman and go find some good licenses to work with.

That little list will keep all the studios you’ve swallowed up busy AND these are things that’ll move the needle on people being attracted to the brand and keeping us OG Xbox purchasers happy.

You are welcome - you can action these immediately and I don’t charge a fee

The thing is you can tell this lady likes Ai coz she is just telling me what I want to hear. What I need is to see them actually translate her words and correctly deliver. At this point I have my doubts

Oh no that confirms a Lego expansion for FH6 I wish they’d ditch the Lego and Hotwheels stuff. Give us more stuff like blizzard mountain, Storm island or The rally expansion please. Two expansions that build on the core game not gimmicky stuff. Do a seperate game for that

@dskatter good spot. So this is pointless…. Full game on disc Is what we want for a label…..

@Matthewnh quite a few places have physical for about 50 and Iceland store has it for £40 I believe. Depends if you like digital or physical

@Millionski yeah although I often still play Xbox/ps2/GC games so many gems that stand up today.

But yeah games back to 360/ps3 don’t feel any different often. Certainly not a huge leap. But xb1 to XSX - no leap at all for me so small it’s not noticeable from the gameplay point of view….

Day one patches. Huge reductions within a year and all DLC - GOTY and ULtimate editions led us to this point. The industry is in a period of self harm and greed. People are now wise to it and most of us have back logs we will never get to. Waiting 6 months getting a better version of the game with more content and half the price is common sense.

I’d assume most people are like me and have 3/4 games that we can’t resist. From a certain license or style or series or studio or whatever that we can’t resist and are happy to pay day one. Even then I’ve shortened my list. I’ll wait and save money. Same why I don’t have gamepass or Ps+ anymore for the money I can pick up some decent games on sale by digitally and physical and have plenty to get on with and now I own a steam deck - games on there (keys especially) can be had so cheap. Even on steam store their sales are crazy. Xbox has some excellent sales too. I don’t care if a game is “old” or deemed dead. I play solo modes and campaigns. I’m in no rush mate.

Agree with above and I’d even argue (I have a huge collection of their stuff) evercade is overpriced. Often the wrong versions of games (at least for me) and I’m always left disappointed by what’s on the cart. For the price age and size of the game really we should get more. I remember when Sega released that 50 game megadrive collection and it’s been downhill since tbh.

I’d love to pick some of these up but the prices are crazy tbh. These games paid for themselves many many times over.

@ILuvGames she says make Xbox an affordable platform. I’m sure that can mean a lot of things. I’d hoped it meant the previous stuff about new console costing loads was history but more I think about it. Gamepass being available to stream and for cheaper is making the “platform” affordable- I think they still over estimate the demand people have to have a gaming/console like experience on a device that isn’t a pc/console but I have a horrible feeling that’s what she means. “Your tv is an Xbox” she doesn’t want to say that but that’s what she means by an affordable platform. You’d say console if you meant console no?

@Gabrie yeah they’ll know people aren’t using it they’ll have stats and they’ll know all the feedback is bad. Rather than flog a dead horse they’ll use Ai differently call it something else and implement it better. I think at this point we know they want to embrace Ai this isn’t a signal it’s going away they know co pilot on xbox failed completely

@Booloon yeah, tbh I had no idea they had a vision to use Ai in games to help if your stuck. But also I can see why people don’t like. If I get stuck I will google and use YouTube etc. if the game has it built in, almost it’ll be too easy to get help at first sign of trouble. I like I need to use a bit of effort to get help 😂

But the idea itself doesn’t suck. Imho. But Ai isn’t popular with the masses and it’s all about how companies frame it, Xbox are deffo in reframe how people think about them mode. Trying to change to feeling towards it. I love Xbox but a lot of the decisions have been bonkers

Played all the Forza games right back to the proper old ones. So easily eligible for all six of these. Finished FH1 completely. The others I’ve got to the point where you are champion/maxed out but still have stuff to do on the map but majority done. Monster games. Shame Motorsport was a bit naff the old ones in that series were all awesome

@Skinny-Pete yeah it seems ridiculous to me. She hasn’t done much imho but say… we wanna do better and we’ve reduced the price and removed COD and it’s still more expensive than it was.

😂

@Millionski not sure if you are joking but since before the Bethesda take over the only thing XBOX has managed is almost constant good PR and media coverage: everything is always so positive. Public response rarely matches it but the PR for Xbox is honestly something to behold. They announce some stuff that now with hindsight is seen as mistakes and bad decisions but at the time the narrative was “well done Xbox” “amazing news from team green” - the Activision take over especially. PR on that was verging on ridiculous.

Again the PR with the new lady is on Overdrive. The outgoing fella had almost constant great PR right up until he left/ he was “amazing”

Until he wasn’t 😂

Fickle bunch/

Finally Gibo has come back to Xbox…..

The wait is over…

Welcome back fella we’ve missed you.

The world seems right again

Looks exactly like the old one. Like old old one. I’d say we’ve seen it almost exactly the same and that will be on purpose. They are trying to recapture the feeling me and many others had towards the brand back then.

Funny how many here have been super positive about every decision for years when some of us haven’t and we’ve been shot down as “haters” and now they’ve listen to us and are changing direction the same users are praising the new direction away from the direction they loved 😂

This would be madness and just show they’ve learnt zero. They don’t need more aquisitions. If anything they could sell off!

It’s extremely annoying but both here and other places I was a lone voice from the start of the takeover to say COD on gamepass was a bad idea and it would eventually lead to a price rise and be removed and everyone ignore me or shot me down and now everyone says it was always gonna happen. Genuinely that’s not what y’all were saying. The “industry” especially was in favour.

Ridiculous

Everyone said the FH5 controller was hideous and it’s lovely. But at £90 Xbox has lost its mind and on this one I’m out

The Xbox only bunch are funny lot, they said day one was brilliant and game pass was best thing ever, they loved “this is an Xbox” they loved Bethesda and Activision takeovers - they scoffed at anyone that had doubts about sustainability or output of said studios if all on day one and under a GPU model…..

Some of us that have been Xbox since OG Xbox and nearly day one (I was a few months late) didn’t want all the games on GPU, some of us didn’t like Bethesda and Activision to be bought, we wanted them to stay independent and have more games, some of us warned that taking titles away from day one would result in bad feeling…. And warned of huge price rises and even more dormant IPs - some of us were right - now those that are unhappy at buying a product to have it drastically change are “entitled children” what? Honestly some of you are crazy.

It’s been terrible decisions for years and only now a fresh face is scrambling to change direction, the praise she is getting is a bit OTT as it’s clear she was brought in cos xbox direction had failed, Activision numbers were what was projected and the purchase hasn’t been what they hoped and now they are trying to undo the damage. In fairly sure the whole move was sold by the old management team that it would shift consoles and GPU subs and the price rise wouldn’t effect numbers - clearly COD being Xbox didn’t sell consoles or GPU subs and all it did was reduce sales of cod to anyone that would have bought it but already subbed to GPU.

The price reduction is still to a point much higher than it was. Now with less perks.

It’s an unmitigated disaster. Short term especially. It was always coming though, it won’t be the end of the changes as the team scrambles to get firm footing and change the numbers and narrative. Genuinely not sure they can do enough that could be remotely seen as positive to change anything soon. Short term it’s gonna be decisions people don’t like. I know people here are praising the decision but I’m not seeing people saying “excellent I’ll sub to GPU now” or elsewhere I’ll buy an Xbox now and I don’t believe COD is suddenly gonna sell millions of more copies…… so it’s hard to see what impact this will really have.

I want Xbox back where they belong and they are still smashing it with games Like Forza Horizon…. Just clearly things are not smooth behind the scenes

Let the HeMan have time and a bit like the poster above let’s have a third person action.

At a hugely reduced rate this would interest me more than the current model tbh.

Tbh online starfield still has an awful reputation due to its launch. So may games that are now very good people write off as trash as online they had so much negativity. So I’m not shocked Starfield didn’t sell loads. It’s a shame but not unexpected

@Kraven nice to see user reviews often more on point than actual reviews. Cheers