WildConcept6

@Banjo- I thought that was killed once Nintendo started remote bricking consoles? Like I thought people had already hacked the Switch 2 and Nintendo was already responding in full force?

@Elbow playing cross-gen games on the launch 2013 Xbox One sound miserable enough. The Next Gen Xbox is next year should plans go well. Curious if games like Fortnite will just support three generations of consoles with new updates and cross play. I could see it. But ideally games like COD won't be launching cross Gen with the Xbox One anymore (from this year really).

@Camble_Refuge I don't have a crystal ball, but Phil Spencer has been at Microsoft for like over 40 years and he's constantly advanced in his career to the point of making an entirely new CEO position at Microsoft. Under him Xbox has grown from nearly being shuttered entirely to having almost 40 studios including all of Zenimax and ABK with gaming as a business overtaking windows in terms of revenue internally. Especially as a "not a fan of Xbox" you have to know how stressful being in charge of it is. There's literally nothing Xbox can do that pleases the vocal crowd online and the brand is constantly under fire. Not to mention that leadership alone is stressful and Phil has seen Xbox through during some of the roughest times in the industry (COVID, shaky economy, shakier administration, AI computing shortages, etc). Not to mention that the man looked stressed out dealing with the ordeal of the ABK acquisition passing. It always seemed like that was his mangum opus and he'd retire or move on soon after that (no one was surprised that Phil was retiring, they were surprised Sarah wasn't replacing him, which there might be an argument there for being hung out to dry especially with the reports of the stuff that Twitter users didn't like being her fault, but it's harder to make that argument for Phil). The man also isn't exactly poor or working class. Considering his career he's probably got more money in his savings or Microsoft stock than most people will ever see (or not either way it's a lot of money). To put it this way, he's a gamer so I'm happy to just let him game.

I think we could all be better served taking a note from Phil Spencer himself in how we respond to the leadership change at Xbox: all that matters is having fun playing games 💚!

If they can somehow bring any backwards compatible games to PC with cloud saves and achievements then I'll be very happy. Sure you can technically play anything on PC now, but what sets backwards compatibility apart is that it works with your existing purchases (and library) across generations and makes picking a game back up seamless.

@Globo granted Nintendo can only do it because they're Nintendo. I don't imagine any other publisher or console maker selling games at the scale (scope) of Nintendo games and hardware and getting away with it. Nintendo is very good at controlling costs, very protective of their IP, and it allows them certain leeway to charge as much as everyone else (or more in some cases) for products that cost them less to make compared to everyone else.

I'm genuinely curious how Sony's strategy develops. They sought out PC ports as a way to achieve better profitability. They also spent a lot of time trying to chase live service (and IIRC mobile) games, many of which have now been dead on arrival or internally axed. Some of which have gotten entire studios shut down. They still have an issue managing margins while juggling rising costs. Something Sony also really has to watch other for is all the forever games that have overtaken their platform. Nintendo gamers are much more locked into buying and playing Nintendo games primarily on Nintendo's console. Playstation sees the majority of its gamers spend most of their time in the same handful of third party games.

I'm biased of course both as an Xbox gamer and consumer generally. I want Xbox's strategy to be the dominant one. My gaming life would be a lot easier and more fun if Nintendo and Sony were out there competing with something akin to Xbox Play Anywhere or even just had free cloud saves. Heck, imagine if there was an equalivanet to movies anywhere for gaming. And oh boy does cross-progession being on every game sound amazing.

This is also along with them unifying the dev environment for both Windows and Xbox. Hopefully we continue to see more third party support and devs taking advantage of all of this. I mean, guys, potentially every game that ships on Xbox having cross-progession with other platforms would be phenomenal!

This has been a long time coming since Xbox Play Anywhere first started nearly a decade ago (and arguably since Windows first came into existence). I'm excited this can tie everything in gaming that I care about together in one device and pull my library forward into the future. At a time when Nintendo and PlayStation are contracting and locking down their ecosystem further, I'm really glad for where I chose my preferred platform. I just want to play all my games in one place with basic - what should be basic - consumer benefits like cloud saves and free online. If Xbox nails both of those in addition to access to the full Xbox & PC library and has an experience that's at least as good as the current Xbox then I'm sold. Like it's really not rocket science for me. I go where I get the most benefit as a consumer. That isn't a business that can only think to force me to buy into their platform for the privelege of being able to pay $70+ for XYZ exclusive game. If Xbox is truly able to build a console that can play Xbox & PC games (including the existing Xbox backwards compatibility library) and completes an ecosystem that takes my library to the cloud and evolves Xbox Play Anywhere to something even more amazing then I'm all here for it and will be willing to pay the asking price on day one. We already know gaming hardware will only get more expensive (it already has). Just innovate and give me some incentive to justify that price. For me this could easily be the ONLY gaming device I buy. I already primarily game on Xbox and PC (I own a PS4 and Switch but stopped playing both some time ago and have now desire to upgrade to a Switch 2 or PS5). I really think gamers are about to be eating good. Like really good. There's no console warring or whatever about it. Xbox is about to do something that will actually redefine the industry. Valve is too. And you know, if all some people want are a locked down ecosystem with exclusives Nintendo and to a lesser extent Sony will be there for them too. However, gaming has always had an issue of consumer value. The fabricated walls haven't benefited us as consumers or led to much competition. You know in related news, Google set the terms for their settlement with Epic: third party payment systems will be allowed, third party app stores will be supported, and the Google Play commission is lowering (to 20% or in some cases 15%). Times are changing for the better in these software ecosystems.

I've played the game since early access. It's a lot of fun, but they never really hit that live service stride. There's also so much competition in that online only live service space now. The game's monetization also just was not it. Overall this is for the better. Really I was worried they'd cancel the game entirely. A pivot to a full release offline game with optional online is much better than no game at all when they'd inevitably close the servers cries in Anthem. Also, it's technically a day one premium game pass game, cool! Though the lack of a Switch 2 release is felt. If it's launching on PS5, then it should really launch on Switch 2 as well. That community would love it.

A much more even spread than I expected in the polls. How does that even happen. Anyway, the economy is just bonkers right now. The only hope for refuge at this point seems like some sort of crash, but that will be VERY painful for everyone (especially those of us not super wealthy) and recovery won't be swift. The future is an increasingly foreign land and an interestingly dangerous one. There's so much going on in the world (politically and economically) which will inevitably impact consoles. Heck, PC parts are already up there in prices. There's also all the other reasons prices have been going up for game consoles (no new consumers to spread the cost and standard inflation). It's crazy really. In 2020 Xbox launched a $500 high end premium console that STILL holds up and can compete with the PS5 Pro in some cases, and Xbox launched a $300 budget console that also still holds up for a budget system. In 2025 prices have skyrocketed. We have $450 Switch 2 and and $80 game. We're looking at more price increases for all games and hardware. The PS5 Pro launched as a $700 all digital console, and now that looks like a low ball. Hopefully, Xbox has plans in place for whatever is to come. I think they do. Cloud Gaming could be a solution to keep the Xbox ecosystem accesible at a low price (I know no one wants it to replace native, but at the prices we're already at I don't think adding cloud gaming to the lowest GP tier at $10 a month was without a plan in mind). Xbox OEMs and the AMD partnership could also play a role in making the Xbox ecosystem (at least on PC) more accessible and having Xbox hardware in some form out there. I think we saw that with the ROG Xbox Ally where Microsoft didn't have the stock for Xbox consoles (hopefully that improves with new production partnerships like Vietnam) and cost of production had increased. There was at least some Xbox hardware and software populating stores (and I'm just gonna say when I was younger my DS handheld couldn't play any Wii games and by the time of DSi not even Gameboy games, with Xbox Play Anywhere I'm not that picky about "this is an Xbox"). Xbox also did a solid job really expanding the reach of their games with Xbox Cloud Gaming owned library additions and Xbox Play Anywhere. I think they know there's a really rough storm coming and making sure they're prepared. Unfortunately, do we consumers care about "market conditions and macro economic factors"? Nah. We see Xbox's response to the reality of the situation, but our wallets and feelings don't factor in Microsoft's reasons. I'm excited for what Xbox has to bring as they continue to evolve and next Gen sounds amazing, but I am terrified for how much they're definitely going to demand of my wallet.

I swear I'm losing my mind. 5 years ago the Series S retailing at $300 and dropping to $200 during sales, but was hated. Now we're celebrating something from the early 2000s as an affordable console? Is $249 is pushing affordability for this thing? I mean it really sounds like one of those gimmick boxes that should be less than $200. Is the economy so bad that this thing is worth just $50 less than a Series S five years ago? A last gen console feels like a better use of that money.

@OldGamer999 I think there's more games than ever period though this generation. That just means more remasters and remakes in addition to brand new AAA games. Like just looking at this year. There have been a ton of brand new AAA games, a ton of new IP too. There's just also been a ton of remasters and remakes. If you made a list comparing them side by side you'd probably find there were more new games than remakes/remasters, but remakes/remasters are what get people talking more and blasts up that nostalgia bone. The other big issue is that sequels take more time than before as publishers try to reach higher standards, but again there's more games in general to fill those gaps.

What I find interesting about following all of this is that... none of this is new 😅. WB has been sold and bought and sold off several times now. They are one of the biggest entertainment companies period and yet they can't sustain themselves and stay afloat. So honestly... how will Netflix, or anyone, that buys them make the company worth it? We're in this current mess because AT&T couldn't figure that out after having gone into debt to buy WB. Then they just sold WB off and spun them into a new company with Discovery and somehow WBDiscovery got tacked with AT&T's debt. Then WBDiscovery couldn't pay that off and stay profitable after constant cost cutting measures. WB Games is the worst of it. They tried all the worst trends in gaming about five years too late, succeeded somehow with one of them (multiversus) and then shot themselves in the foot anyway, and for good measure burnt down that weren't failing (some were just made (I still weep over monolith and that Wonder Woman nemesis system game)). Like I won't to be crying bloody murder over the dystopian we've created with all this consolidation, but also... is Netflix worse? Idk. How do you get worse than this. The only thing WB is doing right is DC comics. I hope that doesn't get affected. Everything else though... umm, good luck I guess. I'm not sure Netflix knows how to manage a video game publisher AT ALL though, and the problem with WB is that they aren't currently good at managing themselves so they need change at every level. Netflix can't just buy, they have to come in and fix them.

@Chip-Douglas Maybe? I mean that's what AT&T was supposed to do. That's what WBDiscovery was supposed to do. WB Games has been on the table to get sold off many times in the past several years and somehow it's still here 😅

It's great to hear. Pulled funding and a canceled game could be left as a failure or repurposed into something even better. Make the executives weep!

@GameOverScreen It's not that deep. Xbox had an announcement back in June that they were partnering with AMD for next gen. Now AMD is showing off new technology with an Xbox owned game on PC and Xbox is teasing, once again, that they've partnered with AMD for next gen consoles. All this tech and more will be present on the next Xbox.

Honestly, the XPA boom lately has just been pure adrenaline. I imagine they're pushing harder for the future transition and ROG Xbox Ally, and it's so nice to see. Xbox Play Anywhere is almost ten years old now, but this is the first year since release that it's really felt prominent. Tons of new games having it on release, shows where it's pushed heavily, and several games getting it retroactively (also Fallout 4 and Fortnite (and yes it's Fortnite but Fortnite and COD being XPA are huge overall due to their popularity)). I happily bought the Lenovo Legion Go 1 when it launched, but I never expected it to become this good of an extension of my Xbox library (as a PC gaming device).

@Nintendo4Sonic There's not a single universe where I'd choose withholding games from other platforms over having more value and future proofing for all of my purchases. You do you though buddy.

@Droopy I mean, they're spending a LOT of money supporting Xbox Series consoles with more games than ever from third parties and making deals and attending and hosting showcase & direct events for a platform they've given up on. Shrug. People are frustrated on the economy being as it is and Microsoft being the company they are doing a lot to control stock & hardware cost productions. It's more expensive than ever to make 5 year old hardware and even more expensive to leave it on shelves and no one likes that (not Microsoft, not brick & mortar stores, and not us gamers). But Xbox is still doing a lot to support their consoles, they're still doing a lot to support even the Xbox One console and its gamers. Xbox is also doing a lot to expand console hardware (the console market) alone, which has become increasingly volatile and expensive without growing much at all in over a decade. In their latest earnings Playstation praised the success of their live service games across platforms and suggested supporting more platforms. They announced "celebrated" 85 million console sales which... if next gen is coming in less than 2 years now that's not a great outlook. They'd need twice as many console sales to finally surpass their PS2 peak. They'd still need like 40 million console sales to surpass PS4 numbers. Microsoft's messaging is clear, they want to succeed as a business and to them fighting over pieces of an increasingly shrinking console market pie isn't how they're going to do that. I don't even think people are angry at Xbox, but rather the wider industry and global economy. And Xbox is just there as the biggest most vulnerable green punching bag. At the end of the day though the gaming industry, and Console market, needs to make changes. This has been an issue for multiple decades now and is just finally really being felt. Exclusives locked up ecosystem and turned off new gamers. Forever games came in and took advantage of a fragmented market. Costs of development and now hardware production keeps skyrocketing. And new gamers would rather go to open ecosystems like PC or play on their phones because why wouldn't they? For gods sake even the big AAA publishers are all bowing out. Activision Blizzard went to Microsoft to get bought, EA got bought by a private equity, and Ubisoft got bailed out by Tencent. Gamers need to stop pretending things are okay and if we just stick to our guns from 20 years ago everything will be okay. The only console left with really good margins and a healthy business is Nintendo and that's only because their fans allow them to sell them overpriced games and hardware despite them not being worth that and their games and hardware costing far less to develop and produce in comparison.

"We believe in generations" 😂
Considering how long the PS4 & Xbox One are still being supported by most games (overall) and many of the most played games period (Minecraft, Fortnite, Roblox, and even yearly COD) the PS5 & Xbox Series consoles will be long supported into next gen. If anything it'll be less like a new generation and more like the PS6 and Next Xbox being the new premium offerings from both companies. We'll likely continue to see native optimized PS5 & Xbox Series versions of games for all new games for at least 5 years and most likely longer. Really this just continues to make the PS5 Pro look more and more like a mistake.

If this is real, it's the best path forward for Xbox: they can truly take advantage of their competitive advantage while building an Xbox ecosystem that's an empire and carrying all that's come before forward. And it's why I continue to see Xbox as the best place to play. Over on Nintendo Switch 2 land it's a door charge to upgrade games and I certainly don't see my Wii or DS library on my switch much less with any cloud saves. Same for Playstation. It feels like Valve and Microsoft are building the future platforms that will carry gaming forward and finally invite in new gamers and I'm excited to see it. I hope Playstation wakes up before it's too late and I've given up hope for Nintendo (especially with how their fans enable their behavior). It's unfortunate to think that there'd be pushback to this. Do we all really want to stay in the cave with the lights off? Do we want to keep the walled gardens that bad? Because we're not even getting subsidies for them anymore. The PS5 Pro costs over $700 as an all digital console and again the Nintendo Switch 2 $450 (that's more than a steam deck, in the price range of the Z1 handhelds, and only $150 cheaper than the base PC Xbox Ally). That's not to mention individual game prices and the rising costs of subscriptions with Playstation and Nintendo still not having free cloud saves. Even if the next Xbox is twice as much as the next Playstation (which is won't, like come on) you'll still get that money back in no time with the insane value one offers over the other. Like really how could anyone even recommend another console at that point? There's no promise a Nintendo and Sony won't nuke libraries again, they offer nothing to protect your saves for free, and they will (in the face of this next Xbox) have less games for higher prices.

Everything comes down to execution, but honestly even if it's just a glorified Xbox Full screen experience that'd make PC the undisputed best place to game. I'm really, REALLY excited. I just wish I could time travel and have it in my hands now.

What's laid out here is a Next Xbox with full backwards compatibility and the ability to play literally everything from any PC storefront or other means. If this is real, it is truly the holy grail to sit in the center of an Xbox empire. I wouldn't mind paying $1000 on a device that could play more Nintendo games than an official Nintendo console. But it also seems like the plan is OEMs at a variety of price and hardware SKUs and cloud solutions and to support Series X|S consoles as long as they have the Xbox One.

It is truly evolve or die time in the gaming industry. We're seeing the biggest AAA western publishers bail out or get bailed out. Console gaming has a particularly precarious future with the overall market not having grown in well over a decade. As is consoles are coasting on the fact that the same core users are spending more on games, Microtransactions, subscriptions, and hardware. Nintendo and Xbox exist in the same reality, the biggest differences are that a) yes, Xbox is in third place making it more vulnerable to the reality of the market and b) Nintendo has the clout to charge $450 for a Switch 2 (that is like last gen hardware in terms of tech) and $80 for Mario Kart or $70 for Pokémon (neither of which cost as much to make as other AAA games). Playstation exists in the same reality but is kinda just pretending everything is fine as their bread and butter (expensive high quality exclusives) turn into oil and fire on a wooden ship of gamers mostly stuck on fortnite, COD, and Minecraft.

@ILuvGames Same. And I'm of a mixed mind because I know they can be glorified popularity contests (like high school prom level superficial popularity contests) or just big marketing ploys where winners are decided with money exchanged; but I do also like seeing developers get something to recognize their efforts. I still want Xbox to make that joke "most valuable NPC" ad with Ryan Reynolds into a real yearly event.

The Xbox Ally seems to have proven very successful for Xbox's first real push on PC, and honestly my biggest question is how it took them this long. Xbox Play Anywhere is a decade old next year, and the Xbox Full screen experience feels like such a natural improvement to windows gaming. Glad to see it though. Even more glad with more games joining Xbox Play Anywhere, and some coming to Xbox consoles for the first time, because of it.

@Coletrain Correct me if I'm wrong but Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo don't ever release console sales numbers do they? IIRC it's all just estimates from insiders. I'm not sure ASUS does, but I know ASUS and OEMs typically aren't chasing high numbers. They might say something like "We sold 300% more Xbox Allys in XYZ time frame than the ROG Ally and we are very pleased." Actually Microsoft already did this saying they saw a big jump in PC users and now have more than ever on the Xbox App and PC store and PC game pass. That's all I expect officially. And then insider sites might gives estimates of anywhere from 1 to 1 million units sold and it being a failure/massive success 😒

I love how Xbox is perpetually dead despite being the loudest they've ever been with the highest frequency of marketing and attendance at events. Honestly good for them. They've really done a great job these past two years (for a while now but really since the first January dev direct in 2023) building a strong cadence of events. And it's crazy now that Xbox is at a place where games can get first announced and release within the same year. Most publishers in general don't have that pipeline or that confidence in their pipeline. No shade. This is a fantastic showing and a major improvement from Xbox. They went from like 5 studios in 2017 and bone dry inconsistent years as recent as 2022 to being one of the most prolific publishers in 2025 and having fantastic third party support with really good events showing them off (seriously kudos to the people that put these together; they're always at least a "B" with a good pace and a nice selection that has a little something for everyone).

Definitely feels like this device has the most opportunity in Asia with how popular PC is there and how poorly known Xbox is.

I'm definitely going for Vambrace; I had a bit of fun with it on game pass.

@BAMozzy Yeah this is fantastic. Really what you wish to have seen from windows gaming eons ago. Even just the added Xbox play anywhere support and improvements to the Xbox app and game bar we've been getting. Xbox has been on PC for nearly a decade and windows has alway been the biggest gaming platform (in terms of raw games and users); it's far past time that they make these optimizations to gaming on windows.

I'm happy with my Legion Go and don't plan to upgrade now, but I'm really glad to see the big push Microsoft is taking to improve gaming on windows. The next two to three years will be ones to watch in gaming! The big thing about these PC handhelds is that they're PC devices so we should continue to see new models every year (and whether Xbox continues to do partner OEMs or not, The Xbox Full screen experience will surely get updates). And then we also know there's the next Gen Xbox coming around 2027 with increased emphasis on unifying the Xbox ecosystem across Console, PC, and cloud. This device feels like a big first step forward and I'm curious to watch where it leads.

@SalaciousCrumb Exactly. Xbox tried doing a budget console this gen and people got mad at them and told them to copy Sony and just do an all digital model. After the PS5 Pro (the all digital PS5 Pro), I wonder how shocked people are going to be at what future that leads to. It's not Microsoft, a for profit business, job to run a charity and absorb all the costs of the current god awful economy. Especially not when their competitors aren't. And I will say, (a detriment on Microsoft and something Xbox has to deal with) because of shareholders the big bets are going toward "AI" slop and Xbox isn't getting any internal subsidies. Even then Xbox is delivering this year. Ninja Gaiden 4 was announced in January and here it comes 10 months later. They've been non stop at gaming shows, they garnered more third party support than ever, and their moving forward to expand Xbox as a platform and ecosystem. It baffles me what's even going on with the negativity. At this point it's like some kind of magic spell that just makes people act irrational. Realistically, any of the consoles could disappear tomorrow. Nintendo makes less gaming revenue than Sony and Microsoft and Playstation gamers spend most their time in third party games with Sony wasting hundreds of millions failing to steal them away from those. The economy is crazy right now and we've already all grown up with Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft nuking libraries at their whim ("we believe in generations"). I look at Xbox this year and it's the strongest it has ever been and I look at my future in gaming and I have the most confidence in Xbox because they've respected my library (marginally) the most. Everything else is for the future to reveal.

@TrevorP86 What's frustrating to me is that Xbox shouldn't need to "regain trust" or "squash" rumors. This isn't 2022. Or years in the Xbox One era. This year Xbox has been the most visible and transparent probably to date. We've gotten back to back shows and they've had a big physical presence at gaming events world wide. They've made their plans to expand the Xbox ecosystem clear and reiterated multiple times that the next console built by Xbox is also coming. It's not bad that Microsoft is FINALLY utilizing their strengths to both make PC gaming a better experience and grow Xbox (which has now been a native launcher on PC for nearly a decade (Xbox Play Anywhere is 10 years old next year)). There was literally an announcement about next Gen right after the showcase. Like this article says Phil did this same lab around the top secret base for next gen in April. Xbox won't STOP talking about the next generation of hardware from interviews with engineers building it to teases from executives.

People are mad over a $10 price increase to Ultimate (I am too; it's not worth it), but want to pretend like Premium didn't get a big boost in benefits at the same $15 price (premium now is basically what GPU was at launch (actually better) just with day one changed to "within a year", which according to the internet is healthier). Or that Core/Essential now exists as a $10 option with more games on PC and Console and Cloud and cloud gaming for owned games. People are also mad about the price of Game Pass and then want to get mad about rumors of an ad tier.

People are mad at Microsoft for finally doing what they'd begged them to for eons and improve the gaming experience on Windows. People are mad about console prices when prices are crap everywhere in the world right now and have been since covid. But even then people were mad when Xbox launched a budget console at the start of the generation (only $300 for a next gen console; that's cheaper than a PS4 at launch). And then they want to praise Nintendo for the affordable handheld that's $450 (and not nearly worth that price). Like isn't it just insane that the Xbox Ally (a full windows handheld) is only $150 more than a Switch 2??

@PsBoxSwitchOwner Unfortunately, it feels unlikely they'll do something similar to the Series S again with how negative the response was to it online. And sales certainly didn't skyrocket. According to even other comments on other articles on this site the Series S was a mistake and it's been the scapegoat this entire generation (god I will never forget non-developers trying to make a case for why Gotham Knights was worse than Arkham Knight (an Xbox One game) because of the Series S).

It was attacked over and over again, and people online said they should've just copied Sony and done a cheaper all digital model. Yeah, look at the PS5 Pro for how "affordable" the next Gen PS will be in an all digital model. The other problem is that the console market itself just isn't growing. When most people are upgrades what's the point of a budget model that is best positioned for brand new entries into the ecosystem and casuals? I think the best we can hope for is an optimized cloud device. Maybe it'll play Xbox One and older games natively and then stream Series games and next Gen games.

@sixrings The future? My guy mobile gaming is the present. The best selling video game console peaks at around 150 million. Rough estimates put mobile gamers at 2.8 BILLION (and there's only two mobile platforms, so even with like a 20% share of the smartphone market Apple have more GAMERS than any console platform). This isn't unknown and Microsoft has been very vocal about trying to reach the billions of gamers on mobile. That's why there's now a $10 game pass tier with cloud access and an ad supported tier on the way. It's why they wanted to introduce cloud gaming natively to the mobile app AND the storefront. It's why they've even said they wanted to introduce their own mobile app store. They've also been very vocal about how Apple and Google have blocked or impeded most of these aspirations. Mobile is 100% the future because in the present it's already where most gamers are (there's like 3 billion gamers worldwide and over 2.5 billion mobile gamers (that's me being really generous with the math)). Sony and Nintendo both know this and have been putting own mobile games and promising more. Epic knows this and has launched their own (unsanctioned) store on android.

Yeah it generally seems like they're lowering the floor and raising the ceiling to incentivize signing up for higher game pass tiers. It's a really significant point buff IF you're on Game Pass Ultimate (double the points for playing a game is nothing to sneeze at). GPU members can earn 20 X 3 (for playing on PC, Xbox, and Game Pass) + 10 for jewel + 8 for mobile once a day. That's still before weekly and monthly quests. But it looks like you're earning less on lower tiers. For example the "play a PC game" is now 5 + a bonus based on your GP tier (up to 15 for GPU). I like the change as a GPU member for obvious reasons but I'm curious how it's taken generally across Xbox. It does make sense that they'd take the direct and auto renewals out though if they're going to make game pass a "win more" status in Xbox MS Rewards.

@FatalBubbles I'm a bit confused by the wording, but you can build a PS5 comparable PC for less than $1450? Though that's a specific number, is that referring to something specific for you?

Drivers are generally less of an issue these days (I've never had a situation where I didn't just turn my PC on and play a game), but makes sense if you don't want any fuss. Though with optimization and technical problems on consoles and PCs these days I feel like it might be better to have the option of tweaking things on your end. Though again I'm not a PC power user (I've never had a situation where I messed with drivers and such on PC).

If the PS5 would give you personally the most value (or any console), I get that, but with their costs rising I'd at least hold them to free cloud saves next gen. Consoles are looking to be more expensive than ever as time goes on and as a gamer I think you deserve more benefit for that than just "plug and play" especially when the walled garden leads to higher game prices.

It sounds like a great first Windows PC handheld for early adopters willing to put up the money. Not as good for casuals or upgrades. Neat. It does seem like this device is selling as well as Microsoft and ASUS wanted and it's already having an effect on increasing support for Xbox PC, so I think it does its job well. I'll keep waiting for the Z3 or Z4 to be bigger upgrades over my current Z1 Legion Go.

@FatalBubbles I mean, it would be cheapest to just buy games on PC. Deeper sales and all. More so with Nintendo and PS still requiring a subscription for cloud saves, and all three requiring a subscription for paid online. You'd get way more value buying games on PC, it'd cost less, and there's no pressure to buy any subscription.

I opened up the Xbox Mobile app and redeemed my rewards today and might have stumbled onto one reason why this is happening. The reward values have been changed to seemingly give more of a bonus to Xbox Game Pass subscribers (namely ultimate subs). It's a bit of a "win more" situation, but basically there's a lower floor and higher ceiling. For example the 10 points (IIRC) from playing a PC game has turned into a base 5pts + up to 15pts if you're subscribed to Game Pass Ultimate for a potential total of 20pts just for playing a game on PC. It's the same exact way for Console and a Game Pass game. This is all quests too. You can get more for the monthly packs, opening the mobile app, and anything else so long as you are subscribed to GP or GPU (and you'll earn the maximum if you're GPU). It looks like they may have taken away the direct GP reward redeem to offset this.

@kmtrain83 Nintendo gets away with it because they have a built up audience and upgrades make competition a non-issue. The Switch 2 starts at $150 more than the Switch 1, but if you're a switch owner where else can you go? It's either lose all your games or pony up. Not to mention all the nostalgia and brand awareness.

The ASUS handheld is a much less specialized closed ecosystem device in a wider market with more competition. It does have a more difficult challenge, but it's also doing more than fine. Hardware companies control well for production. The Xbox Ally X is already selling out, so the product IS performing as well as Microsoft and ASUS hoped for. That's not going to be as well an established console, but they've also controlled for everything so it works out. My only point was that one of the things they'd have controlled for is costs, and ASUS and Microsoft would've done the analysis to say that charging less for the device wouldn't help them make enough money to justify the decision. Competition is more present in the PC market, so it's harder, but it also means that more creative solutions to gaming problems have to be solved.

Can't say I care. It's felt like a scam waste of reward points since they got rid of the 3 months GPU redemptions with deep discounts. I haven't redeemed GP rewards since then and have made better use of the gift card. A larger concern is that they'd raise redemptions prices for gift cards or do something else following this. For any GP users, CD keys remains a better option. Though I'm also still sitting on over a year from using the conversion method before those values changed.

I wish Monolith were still around 😭

It's not super complex. Everything comes down to profit. If they thought it'd have been worth it to further subsidize the Xbox Ally then they would have, but with it being the open windows AND the global economy being a mess AND the game industry being even more of one, it probably wouldn't have benefited anyone. Not even traditional walled garden consoles are keeping up with the subsidizing anymore. The fact that the Nintendo Switch 2 costs $450 as a walled garden lower spec hardware with only one storefront (more expensive games) and paid online & cloud saves is INSANE. All console prices right now are crazy. Of course a Windows gaming PC will be expensive. At least it's not the Legion Go 2.

@DennisReynolds I mean, "Xbox" play anywhere. I guess if Nintendo and Sony open up their hardware to third party storefronts and Xbox releases an Xbox App/launcher? Boy, wouldn't that be a day?

These are the type of mainstream games that need to support XPA day one, and hopefully with the Xbox Ally (and overall a stronger commitment to growing on PC with the Xbox Full screen experience) there will be greater interest from developers and publishers in supporting XPA.

@Weebleman Oh I think we're DEFINITELY still in the early adopter phase. This (XBOX Full Screen experience and Xbox branded ROG Ally) are probably the first real step into them starting to move past that. Casuals will need to see a much more consistent experience first, but I don't think sales will disappoint projections at least. Like based on current data the console market has already matured with very few new gamers and PC is still seeing a lot of growth.

Like we can already look at the Lenovo Legion Go 2: at like $1400 hardware sales FAR exceeded what Lenovo projected and now they're having a mess fulfilling orders because they didn't prepare enough inventory. It's a niche market, but growing faster than expected. I think handheld PCs have already been embraced by the enthusiasts and early adopters.

Any comparison to Switch or any console sales make it difficult to judge these devices. The console market focuses on upgrades and has been building respective consumer based for decades. The Nintendo Switch really succeeded in merging the company's handheld & home console offering and pulling gamers back after the failure of the WiiU. But if we just look at the 3ds (75 million sales) + WiiU (13 million) & DSi (150 million sales) + Wii (100 million sales) then the Nintendo Switch really just sits neatly in the middle of a 90 million to 250 million range (of both generations). Nintendo did good to reinvigorate their business by just combining both hardware SKUs, but they were never starting off as a nascent niche market (well any more so than the console market on the whole). That they haven't been that for decades. In comparison these are while the hardware possibilities of handheld PC gaming aren't new, this is the first time they've been accessible and pushed by well known gaming PC companies. They've grown a good amount in the short time since the Steam Deck first launched. And speaking of the Steam Deck, it's more akin to consoles in that there's more or less a single hardware platform (I mean yes, you can install SteamOS on anything, but "Steam Deck" is a specific valve product). These Windows handhelds are run by OEMs who are putting out new hardware every year. I also don't think ASUS is the last partner Microsoft has in this space. Windows is a massive platform and even without the Xbox Full Screen experience (a good gaming user experience on windows), OEMs are doing a lot to further this. The PC market is just really different from the console market and success is measured differently (more of a focus on users; which actually Sony and Xbox have started to move to a focus on user engagement and not as much on hardware sales). Microsoft will be happy as long as engagement overall on windows increases.

@BAMozzy Yeah, this sounds really bad. Oh man, I wonder if the teams at the studio were even surprised when Microsoft shut them down after 7 years of nothing. A vertical slice for a proof of concept was being actively developed in 2025?? I feel like the incredulous tone in my thought 💭 bubble isn't coming through. A PROOF OF CONCEPT VERTICAL SLICE WAS BEING DEVELOPED IN 2025!!?

And heck, they could've still scraped everything and started over again. I'm surprised this hasn't been spun into people being mad that The Iniatative wasn't closed sooner. Like heck, those resources could've been gone to other studios.

@TrollOfWar I'd say it's as simple as the studio lacking an identity. Perfect Dark kept getting internally rebooted and went through major staffing changes. The biggest issue was that they couldn't even get the game off the ground and were stuck going back and forth in the design stage for so long.

The iniatative's first project shouldn't have been a AAA or AAAA Perfect Dark Reboot. That's too ambitious of a project for an existing IP that carries weight. They should have made a brand new IP AA game FIRST just to get something out the door and help the studio develop an internally consistent identity. Perfect Dark can still happen, but it was NEVER going to happen (at least successfully) as this studio's first game.

@Weebleman I agree, but talking about the Xbox Ally it IS basically the ROG Ally X 2 and is a modest performance boost for not that much more money (it really shouldn't be more expensive at all, but we do live with tarrifs and a trash economy and the Z2 chip generally costs a lot more to use despite the modest performance bump). Of course assuming the leaked price is correct. In comparison the Legion Go 2 doesn't come with Xbox branding and costs like twice as much as the OG with the same, actually a worse, Z2E chip that doesn't offer that much of a boost over the Z1E.

If a customer is looking to buy into the PC handheld market for the first time and they know they want a windows based handheld with the best chip they can get right now, then the ROG Xbox Ally X is a great choice. Similarly I think if people are looking at the Xbox Ally and Ally X and want something in between both models, then a last year Z1E handheld is a FANTASTIC choice which they could find for a great price now (especially if they catch a sale). I'd also say this niche handheld market probably still most appeals to enthusiasts (I don't expect these to stop being early adopter products until fall 2026 or maybe even 2027), and again those are the types of people with the disposable income who just want the latest hardware. I mean, Lenovo themselves just found out how much enthusiasts are willing to pay for modest upgrades. Lenovo unfortunately didn't prepare the inventory necessary to accommodate them though.

I think if you have a Z1E handheld (like me) or are looking for the best value for your money, then there's no reason to buy this years Z2E handhelds. However, I think a lot of people don't care about that and just want to jump into this market or upgrade with the best handhelds that are newly released. And if you're comparing the value (price and performance offering) of a ROG Xbox Ally X with a Lenovo Legion Go 2, then it's a really attractive offering.

This is fantastic considering this is people brute forcing an insider preview. Optimized hardware and mode isn't even out yet and we were told 2026 for official rollouts for other handhelds. This is a surface level preview and I imagine more about user experience behavior. Still it's great for people who don't want to fuss with windows and just are looking for a default gaming oriented experience.

The most important thing here is the user experience and pushing this as eventually for all windows gaming PCs. Microsoft doesn't really need to compete with Steam, because Steam supports windows use. Even Valve reports that as of August 2025, 95.6% of Steam users are on Windows (with 60% on Windows 11 and the rest on windows 10 (and some very small number on Windows 7)). In comparison Linux has like less than 3% for Steam users. And this Xbox Full Screen experience will natively improve gaming for all launchers on Windows and works just fine with them. The only difference is that windows is more optimized for gaming with noise turned off and Microsoft is trying to pull together all their gaming platforms, including windows, under one Xbox ecosystem.