I'm pleasantly surprised with what's on offer so far. Been wanting Death Stranding, Valhalla, Returnal and Demons Soul and the prices just haven't been coming down anywhere near enough to buy them.
Obviously this article was written purely for click bait purpose to have people shoot it down but my take from this and GP is that I'll probably subscribe to each one separately. Not really any point to having Game Pass this year as nothing really being added to make it value for money while PS+ will give me a year of new stuff. Hopefully once I'm through these games I'll jump back onto GP with some new stuff to play there. Could work a treat for people who don't cut their nose to spite their face by picking sides.

"While we understand that the financial aspect of launching AAA games onto a service can't be understated, Microsoft is continually proving that the model works, at least for Xbox."

Yep, just like Man City proving that spending unlimited amounts of money on players, their wages and their agents works and all Man City fans criticise other clubs for not doing the same 🤣

@Medic_Alert Played the first and thought it was excellent - and definitely a change of pace. Looking forward to trying this one out too. Hopefully lives up to my first experience.

Was just about to complain about how awful this sale is (as they generally all are!) and noticed Time Splitters 2 for £2.51. Don't mind if I do!

Life is Strange would be great - the others I won't touch.

I say screw it - Sign Halo off as finished and use the studio to work on something new? Or possibly Halo Infinite plus 1 so they can get the next one out in good time?

@RevGaming Lets be honest, GOTY is between Elden Ring, Elden Ring and Elden Ring. I haven't even played it yet and know this is true 😂

The only way my mind will be blown is if
1 - if they actually release the game this year without delaying to next year
2 - they release to a quality standard above what they've ever released in their previous history

Game wise I'm sure it'll be a great game but when I think of Starfield I expect delays and bugs ahead of what the actual gameplay will be like. No reason to think otherwise based on history and after Cyberpunk felt like the final straw I don't think MS will let Starfield release to Bethesda's usual low quality standard, hence my expectation of delays.

@Royalblues holy $%^&! Thats probably even more terrifying!! expect Sony Cars to just start randomly drifting! Hopefully an early leaked April fools joke!

@Royalblues Are you saying MS are wanting to make cars? Now that would be terrifying!

Think its not really rocket science. MS releasing day 1 is sustainable for them so they do it. Sony realising day 1 isn't so they don't. PS owners state its not sustainable without infinite funds, Xbox owners state it is.

I do sort of expect the quality to go down if the aim becomes quantity over quality which most of these subscription services end up doing. Thinking Netflix and Prime where there is a lot of content but not too much quality for their own content. I guess time will tell on the gaming future if that happens.

@Kooky_Daisuke completely agree. That was my plan but takes a better person than me to resist when games like Elden Ring come along! Too much FOMO!

@Kooky_Daisuke I personally think GP saving money is a fallacy for the most part. If you were to buy all GP games then it's incredible saving but in truth a lot of people buy GP and then still buy most of the non GP games they would anyway.

For example this year the main games Id buy are Hogwarts, Elden ring, dying light 2, Gotham Knights and Starfield . With GP I'd be paying similar amount plus £150 for GP on top.
I certainly am getting value for money but definitely not saving money in the process!

I think it takes owning GP to realise it. Or the alternative is to miss out on quality games and just stick to GP games which I don't like doing.

Started playing this when part of GamePass but it was taken off before I could complete it. Think I was about 75% through. Enjoyable game but felt a bit empty compared to some modern open world games. Hoping this latest version will improve that.

Often feel like GP, as good as it is, is a little over rated to the point I was probably going to not maintain my subscription. Then boom! GOTG comes in and reiterates why I subscribe to GP and why I'll never buy a game on the Xbox ever again!!

Sorry to say this FINJI but think this game may struggle. I'll wait for GP and I guess that so will the majority of people. The Elden Ring sales figures are giving out some suggestions that low figures on the Xbox are because large numbers aren't buying because they have GP. Of course I could very easily be proven wrong.

Can sort of understand the online side as that's where halo usually shines but I found the single player extremely boring and couldn't be bothered finishing it. Signals a terrible year for gaming to me.

Edit: haven't played returnal but people saying it's niche and a difficult game - does that mean Elden Ring can't win goty this year? I'm still on the fence for both returnal and Elden ring because of the difficulty.

I may be wrong saying this but I thought PS Now was first so technically GP is MS's answer to PS Now. Also I'm sure I've had day 1 games from Sony on PS Plus before, even before GP was a thing? And with PS Plus the game is yours forever (so long as you subscribe of course). Didn't seem worthy of writing an article about but here I am, reading about something I'm sure has happened many times before?

@Quaali 'fraid so. I distinctly remember the store guy trying to stop me from buying it because he was adamant it was a terrible game. Crazy days they were. The thought of buying a game new from a store!

@Snake_V5 yep. Was torn between this and Immortals: Fenyx Rising (or whatever its called). Went with the latter and pleasantly surprised so far. Still feel like there is more fixes to come with Cyberpunk and still think it will come down in price more once those fixes have released.

Going to be the idiot in the room and say I enjoyed this when I got it day 1. Was very chilled and peaceful game which now has too many moving parts for me to be able to get back into. But I can't fault the work that has gone into this project. Imagine all games getting this much support after release.

Thinking of that launch window when we were told the S was the X just at HD and not 4K. I didn't trust it at the time and very glad I went X instead. Just a shame they couldn't squeeze all that X into the body of an S

Looks very 'last gen' but potentially fun - especially if its a cross between wolf & doom as it sounds. Assuming its GamePass as well so will look forward to trying this.

@Martsmall wonder if the majority of gamers don't have the knowledge of buggy games. I frequent this site daily but didn't realise this was released or that it was buggy (I should pay more attention!). I agree it would be great to an extent for all gamers to work together and not buy games day 1 but wait until they are fixed and cheaper - however I can only see that damaging the industry as companies getting less money would spend less on games.
Maybe we just have to appreciate those gamers who buy day 1 and the rest of us just wait until they are fixed and half the price.

Wonder if this is no different to the licence deals for music on GTA (as an example). They aren't allowed to use certain soundtracks because the licence ran out? Wonder if the licence only was for the first specific Halo or for all Halo games and now it is being used for non game related entertainment?
Who knows - and imagine no one outside of the court case will actually know but will give their opinion anyway.
I say give them a lifetime GP subscription and let it be!
Edit: Ooh I have a conspiracy theory. Sony planned to buy Bungie on 2020 and realised Bungie own the licence so want to use it in their next exclusive! 😂

@Dezzy70 To be fair with so much coming out on PS5 this year I'll probably let my GP subscription expire for 2022, play PS then jump back on GP for 2023 - or once Starfield releases. It's the best positive spin I can put on it really.
It's how I watch TV as well. Will subscribe to one or two then move between them once enough new stuff has built up. Feel like GP will be the same for a lot of people.

@Banjo- had the same question - although cross platform play suggests other platforms. Just not sure which platforms they refer to

Sounds like everyone wins. COD players can still buy that one game a year on their PS COD machine. Paying 2-3 times the amount a year to then not own it afterwards probably isn't their consumption method and not in their best interest.

I think the point here is that GP hasn't been good for indie games on the whole. There's a stat on the number of indie games on GP versus the number of Indies games available and it's miniscule (not sure if it's part of this original article or somewhere else). I'm sure it's great for that tiny group that are benefiting but not for the bulk.
This article snippet seems to focus on Indie games not making sales because people prefer to stick with games in GP. I'm certainty part of that group. General consensus is how great a value GP is but if you then spend money on other games outside of GP then there is no value.

Perhaps it's similar to people that no longer buy/rent films as much because they get their fill with Netflix and others.

Still think Film and music industry are going through similar questions but are perhaps ahead in the process.

@BAMozzy not thought too much on it but could they do individual Xbox accounts that play it? I always have to log in to an account to play. This is one of my most anticipated Xbox games along with Hellblade 2. No pressure on them then. Needs to be most played game AND worthy of my expectation!!

Also have to say again - I've never known a CEO to be so public so constantly. He seems to talk to media on a daily basis. Does he not have a job to get on with?!? His diary must be: Monday - speak with X about how great GP is, Tuesday - speak to Y about how this game is the best ever, Wednesday - speak to Z about how much of a gamer I am and I'm here to save gaming by buying every company I can 😁
And does PureXbox have a similar diary? Monday - write about Phil Spencer saying how great GP is, etc!

@Medic_Alert This is a good point. GP has made games disposable. I played Halo for a few hours. Thought it was okay, deleted it and moved on. If I had spent £50 on it I wouldn't have given up so easily. Even last gen some of my favourite games I had to persevere with but GP there's no real need to.
In fact the biggest struggle I have is with the bigger RPG style games. Unless I'm gripped constantly I'll just move onto the next game. Don't need to try and understand the levelling up system or trek from point A to point B as game #126 is ready for me to try out immediately.

Couldn't get into any of the Forza games I've played. Always end up buying Gran Turismo when it comes down to about £15 but usually get bored of it after about 20 hours or so. An inevitably I'll play F7 on GP and hate it and buy GT7 cheap and get bored of it. Still trying to live out those glory days on the PS1.
What's the definition of insanity again?

Hope this doesn't go through and same happens to Sony with Bungie. Then I can laugh at all you salty Xbox/Sony fans when you realise you can still play all those games like you did before but have to live with the indignation of having your mates ALSO able to play all those games too!!

Feel the two moments in question are completely different and comparing them is odd. The Sony p take was because MS tried to block the second hand market and everyone, including Xbox owners, were against it. It also made MS go back on the idea and it was a win win for every body in the end.

Buying the company that make the biggest selling games that are sold on the PS, especially after some will have bought a PS5 and now won't get the games they planned - so are financially put out by this is not a win win scenario.

Feels like saying people upset by being allowed 2nd hand games on Xbox One is equivalent to people being upset by not having access to games they have invested time/money. Its just not the same for me.

So Xbox division brought in about $50 billion in the year. Obviously this article will rave about everything Xbox and that Phil is the second coming but I'd love to know how much they spend the other way. The Activision deal was $70 billion. Partly sounds a decent purchase to sacrifice a years revenue on that but if they spend $100 billion without this then it doesn't sound very sustainable.
On the other side Sony's reason for not doing Game Pass is it wouldn't sustain the $200 million AAA blockbuster games they create but if they are bringing in $50 billion a year as well then those prices don't seem so big either?

Starting to sound desperate. Are the chips the same between X and S? Could MS recall them and use parts for selling more X's?

I get the general vibe from the comments that most people care more about how much profit MS shareholders make over Sony's than what will happen to the gaming industry. MS holding too much power is nothing to be happy about. And Sony being acquired by a Disney or Google that is being talked about here would be just as bad for the industry.
I just shudder to think what PS would look like with Disney in control.

@Alduin Sony make incredible high quality exclusives because they can make the money back due to having such a large install base - but if that disappears then they won't be able to fund these high quality games which is my concern. At no point in this announcement do I feel like I will be getting more games but it feels like more potential to be losing games.
And I would expect the price of GP to go up for obvious reasons. And when I don't play activision games that price rise will be for no direct gain for me so generally feel like this is a lose lose situation.
Of course there will be a lot of happy people who buy GP & COD games so may potentially save a little money over all.

@Alduin this is what worries me. I enjoy many of the games Xbox provides but they are only a third of console gaming out there. Say this did end Nintendo/Sony as most people here would love. To me that 2/3rds of gaming lost and one of my hobbies weaker for it.

As someone who owns all the major consoles I do worry that MS has the potential to damage gaming long term. MS buying every third party does not bode well for the industry on the whole. I personally don't play any of the games published by this studio but I don't see them stopping until they own all of them.

After just getting Turok 2 and working my way through it then comes this news! Absolutely loved this back in the day and will no doubt be buying it. First I'd heard of this. Fingers crossed it comes out on game pass or I'll probably buy on PS5 as I have some credit left on there.

It's very interesting to see the huge difference in excitement of VR on Push Square's version of this article versus Pure Xbox.
Its a very obvious split that PS5 owners are excited with VR while Xbox owners are not.
Personally I was absolutely amazed by the PSVR but it certainly had its limitations which I will have fingers crossed will get fixed in PSVR2. But the experience itself can be so much better than standard gaming like with RE7 - playing in VR was far more terrifying and immersive than playing without.

I imagine opinion on Pure Xbox will probably change once MS buy out a competitor and start offering VR themselves.
Btw that reminds me - I thought MS already had an Augmented Reality thing in the pipeline. I'd much rather that from MS to give gamers an alternative option.

@mcdreamer lol been there but I've learnt when a decent game pass game drops then Series X is my favourite, then I pick up an awesome PS exclusive and that becomes my favourite system. I foresee a flip flopping effect during the releases of BOTW2, HFW, GoW, Starfield!

My GP subscription runs out very shortly and think I'll hold back until November before subscribing again (thinking Starfield and isn't Deathloop in November too?). What's odd is I'll have a supper powered console under my TV and nothing to play on it for almost a year!
I'm also hoping being unsubscribed will mean I'll be eligible for the GP offers that usually come in to nonsubscribers

@Tharsman @Medic_Alert have to say I'd go exactly the same as @Mesic_Alert for other consoles.
Series X for MS by a long way. PS2 was a million times better than Xbox1 while the 360 just broke for me so I wasn't very happy with it for obvious reasons. PS4 was just an incredible generation both games and machine wise while I feel Series X gen is the first time MS have a machine that can hold its head up and potentially compete although think buying the companies to take games away from Sony will be the defining factor this generation and may result in Sony having to do the same thing eventually.

Hmm couldn't disagree with that list more. Hades was infinitely better than Halo (see what I did there!) And I just don't get driving/flying games as they are so boring for me - but my top 10 would probably upset the masses so it's probably on point here for most.

@Medic_Alert to be honest I only like playstation because they have some incredible games. I think the zenimax buy out was a master stroke from MS because basically by restricting so much content from me I had to buy a Series X in order to have access to it. And suprise suprise I've leant that both the PS5 and the Series X are amazing. Who'd have thought it!
On a Christmas/new year theme I must admit 2022 looks to be one hell of an exciting year with Elden Ring, HFW, GoW, starfield, Forspoken, BOTW2 all potential games of the generation just cannot wait! And that's missing out some potential unknown gems that come along. A little Christmas tipsy but super excited!!

@Medic_Alert hate to be the bearer of fair news but it's horses for courses. Different strokes for different folks. Etc. The PS5 is an amazing machine and I love it. I also love the series X but get very annoyed when people on either side try and tell me I shouldn't be enjoying something. Just annoying.

Great news that Xbox finally reached its critical point of supply and demand. Feels like still a way off for PS5 though.

Let's just celebrate gaming and how great we all have it now and here's to the next year of gaming! Merry Xmas everyone!

Can't believe they are still in stock right now just before xmas! What is happening in the world! Perhaps we are now at that point where Xbox's don't sell out anymore. The day we have all been waiting for (well apart from the scalpers!)

@Cherip-the-Ripper good point. I was trying to be bit clever with my answer other than standard "Halo, FH and Gears" which to me is like saying "COD and FIFA" I just don't get the hype personally - think I'm just too old for them now! but you make an excellent point. It takes two can wait a bit.

I'm going to go against the grain and say dont try FH5 or halo because if you are asking the 'what do I play first' question it's because you don't tend to play these games. .
Stay away from Flight simulator. It'll take days before you can play your Xbox while you wait and there's a very high chance you'll delete it after one go on it.
In response to 'try everything' I'd say don't. Google 'whats leaving game pass soon' and check in case you start something that is lost shortly. Also save the first party til last as they will be on there indefinitely I think. Avoid 3rd party large games. You won't get through them in time unless you play nothing else - which is a waste if you have GP.

So in summary. Stick to 3rd party short games first.
So my recommendation would be It Takes Two, Firewatch, Hades or Control for the moment although be warned once you start Hades you'll not play anything else for a while either.

I remember it very well and it was excellent marketing by Sony. Certainly one of the things that stopped me going from 360 to XBone as the thought of stopping 2nd gaming was too much for me. I'm on latest gen and already buying second hand games for PS5 (R&C for £20 instead of £70).
Oddly, and probably a totally wild and rubbish thought, in this current gen I reckon Sony would be more happy with the industry stopping 2nd hand gaming.

With GP I probably will never pay for an Xbox game again, whether new or 2nd hand as I'm paying for GP and won't pay twice for a game that will probably end up on GP while if Sony could force everyone to pay the higher RRP fees instead of having 2nd hand games as an option then they would benefit.

Like i say - probably a wild and invalid opinion but I like the potential irony in it!