TheGameThrifter

Xbox were the ones who brought Netflix and a ton of other apps to the Xbox in the first place. Nobody is going to not play games to spend 10 hours on TikTok. I think these executives think everyone is stupid or something.
If people didn't care about their consoles or exclusives, Microsoft wouldn't have had to do an emergency show last Feb to tell people "it's just 4 games".

@FuzzieGinge88 They can't sell consoles because they keep telling people not to buy their consoles. They've been saying people don't need an Xbox since 2016...

@Sol4ris Comparing mobile phones isn't even close to apples to apples. Maybe a streaming service like Netflix would be better? If Netflix put all their original shows on Disney, who would subscribe to Netflix? On Disney you'd get all the Disney and Netflix shows, and on Netflix you'd only get Netflix shows.

Not to mention the lack of competition in the console space.
Xbox started to tank in sales drastically last Feb when they held that "just 4 games" meeting. They knew then that they weren't going to have exclusives, but they chose to lie to everyone anyway.

@BAMozzy Xbox Series consoles haven't even hit 30 million, where as Xbox One was almost 60 million. The console that tried to steal gamers rights did better than the console that eats monsters for breakfast.

Someone like me, who would normally buy all my games, microtransactions and services through the Xbox store, moving to PlayStation will cost them money. They might get me to buy an Xbox game or two a year, but that's a far cry from the THOUSANDS I would normally spend in their own store.

@BacklogBrad The 360 got 3 year warranties for free. People didn't leave Xbox because of the 360. They started leaving Xbox in 2016 when they started putting everything on PC and telling people they didn't need an Xbox.

@BacklogBrad You think competition is a bad thing? Going back to the best era in gaming which was Xbox 360/PS3, we got better prices, better deals, better games because Microsoft and Sony were competing for our money. Even streaming services have exclusives. Xbox just killed itself.

@BAMozzy Do you not see the need for proper competition in the console space? Xbox sales have flatlined to the point that the original Switch is still outselling Xbox every month, despite Switch 2 being out now.
Xbox consoles sell less per month than the Wii U did. How long will Microsoft keep at hardware?

Halo was Xbox, it's clear Microsoft lied to everyone last Feb. They continue to lie and say things like people don't care about exclusives or aren't attached to their consoles. If they weren't into exclusives or their consoles, Microsoft wouldn't have had to damage control last Feb to say "it's only 4 games".

If you sell hardware you need to have something special to offer the people who buy it. What's the point of Xbox at all currently? PlayStation gets all Xbox and PlayStation games and Xbox only gets Xbox games and less 3rd party support in general.

If every Xbox game is going to PlayStation, what's the point of buying an Xbox?

@fatpunkslim Putting 2 different sets of hardware inside would be super expensive, and we know Microsoft won't take a loss on the hardware, so that would bump up the cost to $1100 or more IMO.

The PS3 fat had the PS2 hardware in it, and that was $600 back in 2006. It was super expensive to do and Sony eventually stopped doing that. If the news is true that Microsoft demands 30% profit margins, then they wont subsidize the cost at all for consumers. Obviously if they offer other stores they wouldn't subsidize it anyway, and they'll probably have to make online gaming free because PC players don't pay to play online.

Xbox is cooked.
Companies do this to stress test to see if they can stand on their own. If they can, maybe they'll reinvest some money, but if not, they'll likely spin it off or tank it completely.

Microsoft never advertises anymore. Phil Spencer has been in charge over a decade with nothing to really show for it.

@fatpunkslim The problem is you can't emulate games and sell them in a store. You have to get licenses, which is why the backwards compatibility program ended in the first place. So, it'd be impossible to do backwards compatibility unless they put 2 sets of hardware in the device, which would probably end up costing $1200 at that point.

They scrap something that could play Xbox console games for a $1000 handheld PC in a bloated handheld PC market.....brilliant!

No, it's just another PC handheld that won't play my console library of games.

(Your Xbox experience travels with you—your library)

They factually lie to people about this thing. Your Xbox library most certainly doesn't go with you.

This is Play Anywhere titles...lol
It's why Play Anywhere is never going to be a thing.

She should have stayed at T-mobile, she clearly has no love for gaming or any idea about consoles.

@NotoriousWhiz If that's true, why did they just increase Game Pass on console? If there's technically no console and you can play it as a PC, why would anyone pay $30 a month? PC's don't have paid online.
Clearly Microsoft isn't going to make online free.

$800-$1200
It's a bold strategy Microsoft, let's see if it pays off for them....

No, it was terrible. Not just Chief removing his helmet, but many other uncomfortable things that happened in the show.

They'd probably charge $300 for that now days.

The worst one in recent memory, and I've seen it going for $10-$15

@SodaPop6548 There's no tariffs on digital content. Fun fact, the tariffs that people think raised prices on the console aren't even enacted currently.

They're NOT LISTENING to anyone. Many people don't even play Fortnite and don't want that added. Why should we be forced to pay for things we don't use? I don't care about Cloud gaming, Fortnite or the Ubisoft stuff. I own most of the Ubisoft stuff already.
This is more tone deaf than the Xbox One announcement.

I own almost all of these games and most are on sale for a couple of dollars apiece.....

I figured they'd beat around the bush and do $22 a month, then $24, $26 ECT

Instead, they jumped straight to $30. I'm not paying that. That's insanity.

Who would trust them at this point anyway? We were told the Phantom Dust Remake was still in development over a decade ago.
Believing Phil Spencer is insanity.

@DeadmeatSWE Back to back generations where Microsoft basically gave up midway through the generation doesn't fill me with any confidence.
Microsoft has repeatedly said console is the largest consumer of Game Pass and supposedly this is their most active console generation ever. You'd think they'd show some love to the folks that spend thousands over the years...

They sure have slowed down what new things come to actual Xbox console owners....We used to get really cool things...

Heck no, it's just a PC handheld.
I don't think it'll be very successful either. Who's the audience? It doesn't play your console library. PC gamers have better and cheaper options.
I know Microsoft and certain fans will play up the "it sold out here" stuff, but at the end of the day we'll likely never have numbers sold or what was even available. They could have only had 50k units. The regular Asus ROG only only sold 500k lifetime....

@Jenkinss I hope that's sarcasm...

Yeah, right..."rapidly". My guess is that there wasn't a ton of units made available. We'll probably never get actual sales figures, but I'd guess these don't top 1 million.

@theduckofdeath Xbox fans for the majority are console fans. Xbox is a console no matter how badly Microsoft tries to muddy the water.
If consoles aren't doing well, that doesn't bode well for people who have a large library of Xbox console games. Why would they continue to lose money on hardware?

"Fastest growing" is damage control when nowhere is growing. If you're selling 10 consoles and move to 50 consoles that's a 49% growth, but doesn't mean it's successful.

It's like when games reach number 1 on PS or Xbox Store, people freak out as if it's a resounding success, but the truth is, depending on when a game releases, it might have no competition and 5000 units could put it at #1

Microsoft:
Let's raise our console prices hundreds of dollars even though people were already not buying them.

Let's put any reason to own our consoles out the window and let PlayStation have our best games

Microsoft clearly don't want to sell Xbox consoles at this point...sheesh.

@Ricky-Spanish The newer Gears games are still clunky and the multiplayer is super difficult.

I actually think it's probably only like 100k on PlayStation.
Not good news for Microsoft. I'm sure they wanted millions of people to jump in so that when Gears E-Day releases there will be a bigger audience.
Gears plays kind of old school and the multiplayer is super hard to master. I can imagine any Gears game flopping on PlayStation. There's just no room in a world of Fortnite, Apex and Warzone for a game like Gears which is super slow paced.

@Fiendish-Beaver We know it didn't sell well on PlayStation because they announced players and not sales. I have a Gears tattoo, I love the franchise, but I didn't bother with this game because it plays slow and clunky in 2025.
I'm sure Microsoft wanted the game to do well on PlayStation because they want to sell PS owners Gears E-Day, or perhaps this was to see if there is interest.
I always thought Microsoft selling their biggest IP on PlayStation was a silly idea that cost Xbox it's identity.

@Tonmoy The 1 million is counting those using Game Pass or that got the free upgrade from the 2014 release...lol

Microsoft probably wanted big numbers so they can sell E-Day on the platform...lol
It shows that there is little interest in what was once their biggest IP.

@somnambulance Easy to dwarf such a low number, but the problem is that they will likely start with Halo CE on PS5 and that game like Gears plays extremely slow in 2025/2026. No aim down the sights and no sprint. Gears was fun 20 years ago, but in 2025 in an age of Fortnite, Apex, Warzone ECT People aren't going to stick with clunky and hardcore multiplayer games.

@Rob3008 It's extremely low for all 3 platforms. Perhaps Gears Of War just doesn't swing the same weight it once did? I mean Gears Of War 5 only got a 3 million "players" announcement and never got another update on numbers after that. And that launched on Game Pass and was on PC day one.

Were you around for Gears mania back on the 360? Gears MADE the 360, and now it gets 1 million players between all platforms, and not even sales...but players. It's not a good look.

@tho_mi If the game were to introduce people on PlayStation to Gears Of War for the next game, they definitely had more sales in mind. People aren't just going to buy the 6th game in a series (prequel or not)

I actually said this when it was announced, Gears Of War was a great game....20 years ago, but people who like Fortnite, Apex Legends, Call Of Duty ECT aren't going to be playing Gears long because the multiplayer is brutal and tough to master. I think Gears just isn't what it used to be.

Why would they hire someone who couldn't get a game out in a decade to be Chief Of Staff?

1 million "players" isn't exactly good imo.
There's at least 25 million Game Pass subs. To only get 1 million players across Game Pass on Xbox and PC and PS5 is kind of low. I'm sure Microsoft was hoping for much, much better. Lowest Steam launch of any Gears game as well.

I love Gears but this is a skip for me. It's the same game as the 2014 game. I think Gears Of War is a bit too slow paced in the movements these days. Was surprised only 1 million people played the game across every platform, especially considering Game Pass had it for free and there's over 20 million subscribers.

Perhaps Gears isn't going to make a comeback after all?

No, because it's a PC handheld and I'm a console gamer with all my games on console. This wouldn't do me any good. If they ever come out with a handheld that plays your console library I'd be interested, but only at a respectable price. I'm not paying $700-$1000 for something I probably wouldn't get much use out of.

Phil Spencer needs to go, him and Matt Booty and Sarah T-Mobile Bond...that entire crew needs to be let go.
How can a company with unlimited money not figure out a way to compete in the console space by keeping some exclusive games?

What a cluster****

@Kaloudz Again, we're never going to see a PlayStation or Nintendo game release on Xbox day one. We don't know what kind of thought process went into Helldivers 2 coming to Xbox, but it could be Sony appeasing that developer who was unhappy. There's no absolute certainty that PlayStation games will ever come to Xbox again. And with next gen looking bleaker than ever for Xbox hardware, we're seeing devs already choose to launch later on Xbox than PlayStation and even Switch 2 (Ori devs for example)

It makes no sense to have a brand like Xbox which is already less around the world, and then strip away everything that makes it unique.
PlayStation is making more profit on PS5 than any other PlayStation. Nintendo is making more profit than any other time. XBOX is making more profit than any other time. All of this survival talk is nonsense. They can all do just fine with exclusive games.

I buy all the consoles because of the unique exclusives they offer. If all games were on all platforms, I'd only buy one platform. And it wouldn't be Xbox.

@Kaloudz

What exactly is the point of buying an Xbox if their games are releasing day one on PlayStation and Nintendo platforms? Nintendo and Sony aren't going to return that favor.

It really hurts the Xbox console brand and tarnishes the entire idea behind it. The only game that has sold well on PS is Forza Horizon 5. Indiana Jones, Doom, Pentiment, Grounded, Hi-Fi Rush and everything else was a massive flop on PlayStation. Hellblade 2 is also going to tank on PS.

So, Microsoft kills their entire console and branding for 3 million in game sales? lol Sony got 30% of that. MS foots the bill on the porting costs and marketing. They end up with not a whole lot....
If Burger King started putting the Whopper in McDonalds they'd sell more Whoppers, but no one would go to Burger King anymore....