In one year, I made a single purchase of a movie on XBox. Only because it was on sale and it was a Movies Anywhere title so I could watch it on my preferred platform instead.
If this was a heavily used feature/storefront at this point, I doubt MS would be killing it.
I own it on disc for PS4 but wanted to snag it on at least one other platform digitally before the end. Ps and Switch both still have it for full price, so XBox it is!
The moment consoles no longer have optical drives/game card slots even as an option is the moment I spend my remaining years finally attacking my backlog!
@Reek20 If MS absolutely has to tier-distinguish the next console, let it be a version with or without optical drive, ala the PS5. Not that I expect MS to even have optical drives in the next gen of consoles given their massive push on digital/gamepass, but…
I’ve never been a massive MS fan (honestly, I hate MS and have for decades. I’m still shocked I bought a Series X last year, but it’s a nice chunk of hardware. Credit where credit is due!) but splitting your base consoles into two different tiers and mandating that all games have to support both the good one and the underpowered one is just silly. Even for MS.
I honestly hope MS just releases ONE console next time. Just one. We don’t need an S or X, just a freaking XBox. Keep it simple.
@BAMozzy I mean no offense in the way I’m phrasing this, but that’s a lot of words for “It doesn’t matter if the game is on the disc or lot,” except it matters very much to me.
It really seems like people who are primarily XBox players embrace digital completely far more readily than PS folks. Just shows how well MS’s emphasis on BC via entirely different downloads with old discs basically being keys has worked.
I have zero faith in MS or Sony with long-term access to digital-only games. But that’s just me.
It’s deeply sad that this has to be noted and is the exception rather than the rule for XBox first party games these days.
@Millionski I don’t resell my games, but I definitely like owning my games on disc. Guess I’m one of those weird collector types who does enjoy ownership instead of indefinite rental!
@somnambulance Concord failed because it looked horrible, it was Dollar Store Overwatch with Temu Guardians of the Galaxy characters, and in a world where Overwatch 2 and Marvel Rivals exist for free it was doomed to fail. No one even wanted to play the FREE BETA of it. And I’m a Sony fanboy saying this about a Sony game.
Helldivers 2 is a purely PvE team-based game (not hero shooter like Concord) with an amusingly over-the-top concept that plays out well. Plus folks who bought it actually liked it and gave it good word-of-mouth.
There’s no “pass” to be given, it’s just a genuinely well done game.
“It was so good that we had to kill it. Otherwise it might have destroyed the entire industry. Everyone on the planet would have played and the global economy would be left in ruins as people starved in their chairs, unable to pull themselves away from this game.
Given that MS isn’t allowing cross-progression in Horizon 5, the likelihood of Sony having it happening in Helldivers 2 is near-zero. Especially with no PS5-PC progression.
looks at Steam player count Huh. 3302 all time player peak, and 47 playing right now on Steam.
I…don’t think this community of players will be growing all that much. Bold of the devs to spend even more money trying to fix it though, rather than accusing players of a concerned bug campaign aimed at destroying what’s left of their reputation.
@IOI It’s possible that while they were porting to PS5, they just figured out how to optimize it further. No need to assign malicious intent or purposeful delays when it can be attributed to discovering new ways to make it run better WHILE porting it to a different platform.
@Kaloudz I just don’t remember Sony or Nintendo doing mass layoffs in their gaming divisions lately, excepting the once-in-a-lifetime utter failure that was Concord, of course!
@Kaloudz The behavior isn’t unique to MS, definitely. The sheer number of layoffs does seem to be, though. I do say SEEMS as I admit I haven’t seen hard numbers, of course.
If you release a shoddy product and people call you on said shoddy product, and before releasing said shoddy product you make accusations that anyone saying it looks like a shoddy product is part of a coordinated negativity campaign…oh, and you don’t allow people to review the shoddy product before it reaches the general public…
Well, let’s just say I am shocked, SHOCKED at this turn of events. Shocked.
@themightyant The ONLY reason I got the series X originally was for the disc based backwards compatibility. Even if it’s in the form of “smart delivery” which I despise.
If the next XBox has no disc drive, then my belief that my series X is my first AND last XBox will sadly not change.
Gosh, the pretty designs will look so good while inserted into the rear of my console, thus making the design completely and utterly useless and irrelevant!
“Hey, sorry we accused everyone who had negative opinons of being part of a coordinated smear campaign. Turns out our game IS an unoptimized steaming pile. Our bad.”
@Kraven “Horrible” may have been a poorly chosen word. But none of this looks good at the moment. Especially when “Update 2” is the launch update and apparently it was submitted so late that it isn’t approved for launch day…
I didn’t hate what I saw of the game, but I honestly forgot it existed until I saw the articles about how no review codes were sent out and that’s almost always a bad sign…
I wonder if the dev also will blame a concerted misinformation/negativity compaign for the patch being late on XBox…
@Kraven Sometimes if a game looks like it’ll be horrible, it actually IS horrible, and when the dev cries about a conspiracy to destroy their game before release, it makes me wonder why they’re already in damage control mode…
Ben, I mean ZERO disrespect or insult when I ask this: Why were you picked to review this while having zero 40k knowledge? Was it intentional to see how someone with no knowledge would think, or just luck of the draw? I was just amused when you mentioned the whole story passing you by bit!
@Lup I’m guessing you watched Fleekazoid’s review? I’m pretty sure he said that in his!
Comments 573
Re: Opinion: Xbox Series X Still Hasn't Been Fully Utilised Yet, But 2026 Could Be The Year
@Questionable_Duck glances at the BG3 and Black Myth Wukong devs who both mentioned tbe Series S as holding things back and says nothing
Re: Microsoft Movies & TV Is Officially Ending, Which Will Have A Big Impact On Xbox
@PartyMarty Oh, dang. I’m sorry.
Re: Microsoft Movies & TV Is Officially Ending, Which Will Have A Big Impact On Xbox
@PartyMarty Movies Anywhere. Link your accounts. The LotR trilogy (extended and theatrical) are supported.
Re: Microsoft Movies & TV Is Officially Ending, Which Will Have A Big Impact On Xbox
@MFDOOM360 Make sure you turn on Movies Anywhere and link it to your account. You can probably port over a good chunk of your purchases.
Re: Microsoft Movies & TV Is Officially Ending, Which Will Have A Big Impact On Xbox
@Kaloudz Pretty much my reaction when Sony stopped their movie store. I think I’d acquired maybe…four movies? And two of them were free.
Haven’t even looked them up since, it’s been years.
Re: Microsoft Movies & TV Is Officially Ending, Which Will Have A Big Impact On Xbox
@Kaloudz Sony dropped movies/tv shows from their online store years ago, due to not making enough on it. Came out of the blue then, too.
I’m betting it’s the same story here. Not enough use to justify keeping it going. Impressed it’s gone on this long, frankly!
Re: Microsoft Movies & TV Is Officially Ending, Which Will Have A Big Impact On Xbox
In one year, I made a single purchase of a movie on XBox. Only because it was on sale and it was a Movies Anywhere title so I could watch it on my preferred platform instead.
If this was a heavily used feature/storefront at this point, I doubt MS would be killing it.
Re: John Wick Hex Discounted To Just $2 Ahead Of Xbox Store Delisting
@FraserG Grabbed it.
I own it on disc for PS4 but wanted to snag it on at least one other platform digitally before the end. Ps and Switch both still have it for full price, so XBox it is!
Appreciate the update!
Re: Opinion: Xbox Series X Still Hasn't Been Fully Utilised Yet, But 2026 Could Be The Year
@WildConcept6 And I hate every single bit of it.
The moment consoles no longer have optical drives/game card slots even as an option is the moment I spend my remaining years finally attacking my backlog!
Re: Opinion: Xbox Series X Still Hasn't Been Fully Utilised Yet, But 2026 Could Be The Year
@Reek20 If MS absolutely has to tier-distinguish the next console, let it be a version with or without optical drive, ala the PS5. Not that I expect MS to even have optical drives in the next gen of consoles given their massive push on digital/gamepass, but…
I’ve never been a massive MS fan (honestly, I hate MS and have for decades. I’m still shocked I bought a Series X last year, but it’s a nice chunk of hardware. Credit where credit is due!) but splitting your base consoles into two different tiers and mandating that all games have to support both the good one and the underpowered one is just silly. Even for MS.
I honestly hope MS just releases ONE console next time. Just one. We don’t need an S or X, just a freaking XBox. Keep it simple.
Re: Opinion: Xbox Series X Still Hasn't Been Fully Utilised Yet, But 2026 Could Be The Year
Gosh, I wonder why?
totally doesn’t look at Series S
Re: Oblivion Remastered Is Getting A Physical Release For Xbox Series X
@BAMozzy I mean no offense in the way I’m phrasing this, but that’s a lot of words for “It doesn’t matter if the game is on the disc or lot,” except it matters very much to me.
It really seems like people who are primarily XBox players embrace digital completely far more readily than PS folks. Just shows how well MS’s emphasis on BC via entirely different downloads with old discs basically being keys has worked.
I have zero faith in MS or Sony with long-term access to digital-only games. But that’s just me.
Re: Oblivion Remastered Is Getting A Physical Release For Xbox Series X
If this is just a download-key disc, I’d rather they not even bother.
At least the PS5 version could be a 2 disc release, since it uses higher capacity Blu-ray Discs than the Series X does.
Re: Xbox Fan 'Shocked' That Latest First-Party Release Ships Completely On Disc
It’s deeply sad that this has to be noted and is the exception rather than the rule for XBox first party games these days.
@Millionski I don’t resell my games, but I definitely like owning my games on disc. Guess I’m one of those weird collector types who does enjoy ownership instead of indefinite rental!
Re: Xbox Design Lab Has Now Been 'Temporarily On Hold' For Six Months
They must have laid off everyone at the lab and forgotten this exists.
Re: Is Xbox Game Pass Unsustainable? Arkane Founder Sparks Huge Debate On Social Media
@Millionski Where did you see MS publish those numbers? I’d love to see the source.
If it’s anyone but MS sharing those numbers, they’re being made up out of whole cloth.
Re: Is Xbox Game Pass Unsustainable? Arkane Founder Sparks Huge Debate On Social Media
It’s blindingly obvious. Enjoy the GP ride while you can, folks.
Re: Poll: Helldivers 2 Isn't On Xbox Game Pass, So Will You Be Buying It?
@somnambulance Concord failed because it looked horrible, it was Dollar Store Overwatch with Temu Guardians of the Galaxy characters, and in a world where Overwatch 2 and Marvel Rivals exist for free it was doomed to fail. No one even wanted to play the FREE BETA of it. And I’m a Sony fanboy saying this about a Sony game.
Helldivers 2 is a purely PvE team-based game (not hero shooter like Concord) with an amusingly over-the-top concept that plays out well. Plus folks who bought it actually liked it and gave it good word-of-mouth.
There’s no “pass” to be given, it’s just a genuinely well done game.
Re: Poll: Helldivers 2 Isn't On Xbox Game Pass, So Will You Be Buying It?
“Yep, Helldivers 2 is a premium $40 product, and roughly 18 months after its initial launch, Xbox players will have to fork out that cost as well.”
Forza Horizon 5 on PS5 enters the chat
Re: Helldivers 2 Developer Shuts Down Xbox Game Pass Rumour
@NishimuraX Sadly, this says everything about the current XBox community that needs to be said.
Re: Report: Xbox Execs Were 'Blown Away' By Cancelled ZeniMax Game Earlier This Year
“It was so good that we had to kill it. Otherwise it might have destroyed the entire industry. Everyone on the planet would have played and the global economy would be left in ruins as people starved in their chairs, unable to pull themselves away from this game.
“We saved humanity. Give us a raise.”
Re: Helldivers 2 On Xbox: Crossplay Confirmed, But What About Cross-Progression?
Given that MS isn’t allowing cross-progression in Horizon 5, the likelihood of Sony having it happening in Helldivers 2 is near-zero. Especially with no PS5-PC progression.
Re: Helldivers 2 Xbox Petition Passes 130,000 Signatures, But Don't Get Your Hopes Up
@Questionable_Duck One of the few times I’m glad to be wrong!
Re: Microsoft Is Seemingly Cutting Back On Its Quality Assurance Efforts With Xbox
@Balaam_ Bold of you to assume Bethesda had any part in any QA sessions whatsoever in the course of their history!
It’s kind of a hallmark in their games.
Re: MindsEye Gets 8GB Xbox Update, Devs Working Hard To 'Improve The Experience'
looks at Steam player count Huh. 3302 all time player peak, and 47 playing right now on Steam.
I…don’t think this community of players will be growing all that much. Bold of the devs to spend even more money trying to fix it though, rather than accusing players of a concerned bug campaign aimed at destroying what’s left of their reputation.
Re: Microsoft Rewards Is Giving Away 500 Points For Just A Few Minutes' Work
shrugs in Mac user
Re: Hellblade 2 To Receive Free 60FPS Xbox Upgrade Alongside PS5 Release This August
@IOI It’s possible that while they were porting to PS5, they just figured out how to optimize it further. No need to assign malicious intent or purposeful delays when it can be attributed to discovering new ways to make it run better WHILE porting it to a different platform.
Re: Report: Xbox Suffering Major Layoffs Next Week, Microsoft Declines To Comment
@Kaloudz I just don’t remember Sony or Nintendo doing mass layoffs in their gaming divisions lately, excepting the once-in-a-lifetime utter failure that was Concord, of course!
Now watch, tomorrow Sony will do the same thing…
Re: Report: Xbox Suffering Major Layoffs Next Week, Microsoft Declines To Comment
@Kaloudz The behavior isn’t unique to MS, definitely. The sheer number of layoffs does seem to be, though. I do say SEEMS as I admit I haven’t seen hard numbers, of course.
Re: Report: Xbox Suffering Major Layoffs Next Week, Microsoft Declines To Comment
Gosh, who would have thought that acquiring all those studios over a relatively short period of time would result in layoffs?
Re: It Sounds Like MindsEye Is Leading To Major Layoffs At The Studio
If you release a shoddy product and people call you on said shoddy product, and before releasing said shoddy product you make accusations that anyone saying it looks like a shoddy product is part of a coordinated negativity campaign…oh, and you don’t allow people to review the shoddy product before it reaches the general public…
Well, let’s just say I am shocked, SHOCKED at this turn of events. Shocked.
Re: Reaction: Xbox's Next-Gen News Is Exciting, But It Also Leaves More Questions Than Answers
@themightyant The ONLY reason I got the series X originally was for the disc based backwards compatibility. Even if it’s in the form of “smart delivery” which I despise.
If the next XBox has no disc drive, then my belief that my series X is my first AND last XBox will sadly not change.
Re: According To Sales Estimates, Final Fantasy 16 Had A Rough First Week On Xbox
@FatGuyInLilCoat Odd how Forza Horizon 5 didn’t prioritize PS at launch, and yet that’s selling like hotcakes on PS5 years later…
Re: WD's New Special Edition Expansion Card Is Now Available For Xbox Series X|S
Gosh, the pretty designs will look so good while inserted into the rear of my console, thus making the design completely and utterly useless and irrelevant!
Re: Developer Reveals Surprisingly Critical Feedback After Launching On Xbox Game Pass
Wow, renting a game doesn’t lead to actually buying a game in general.
Whodathunkit?
Re: MindsEye Dev Shares 'Sincere Apology' With Xbox Hotfix Now In The Works
It’s so bad that Sony is actually giving refunds for this game.
Sony almost NEVER gives refunds for games.
Re: MindsEye Dev Shares 'Sincere Apology' With Xbox Hotfix Now In The Works
“Hey, sorry we accused everyone who had negative opinons of being part of a coordinated smear campaign. Turns out our game IS an unoptimized steaming pile. Our bad.”
Re: MindsEye Comparison Shows Difference Between Xbox Series X And Series S
@Ricky-Spanish It got the patch. Apparently you’re seeing it WITH the patch. It was only delayed a few hours.
Re: MindsEye Releases To Zero Reviews, But Here's What The Players Are Saying
@TapeLoader iiiiinteresting! I can’t decide if I love that or hate it, given that my pushing-50s-self seems to need more handholding these days.
Re: MindsEye Releases To Zero Reviews, But Here's What The Players Are Saying
I’m sure the guy who claimed there was some sort of coordinated negative campaign will be spouting the usual review bombing accusations soon.
@TapeLoader Oh? I keep hoping to see more about this, anything in particular impress you?
Re: Xbox & Windows Worked 'As One Development Team' To Make The ROG Xbox Ally
So Microsoft and Microsoft worked together.
Astonishing!
Re: Opinion: I've Never Liked JRPGs, But Xbox's New FF16 Demo Has Me Hooked
It’s good seeing a fantastic game be appreciated by more folks.
Re: MindsEye Launches Later Today, But Dev Warns Xbox Players To Wait For Day One Patch
@Kraven “Horrible” may have been a poorly chosen word. But none of this looks good at the moment. Especially when “Update 2” is the launch update and apparently it was submitted so late that it isn’t approved for launch day…
I didn’t hate what I saw of the game, but I honestly forgot it existed until I saw the articles about how no review codes were sent out and that’s almost always a bad sign…
I’d love to be wrong, though!
Re: MindsEye Launches Later Today, But Dev Warns Xbox Players To Wait For Day One Patch
I wonder if the dev also will blame a concerted misinformation/negativity compaign for the patch being late on XBox…
@Kraven Sometimes if a game looks like it’ll be horrible, it actually IS horrible, and when the dev cries about a conspiracy to destroy their game before release, it makes me wonder why they’re already in damage control mode…
Re: Starfield Fans Voice Their Concerns About Future Support And Updates
Sorry, but…what are people expecting here? The game is presumably complete, is more dlc being clamored for?
Re: Poll: What Were Your Top 5 Reveals At The Xbox Games Showcase 2025?
Clockwork Revolution, There Are No Ghosts… and P4R were the only ones I cared about, personally.
Re: Talking Point: How Much Do You Think The ROG Xbox Ally Will Cost?
I’m betting more like $699 and $899, but I’m not at all certain.
That said…I’ll be good with my Switch 2 as a portable, but I hope those who want this will enjoy it!
Re: Square Enix Unveils 'Possibly' The Largest Xbox Series X Ever Made
And yet it’s still cheaper than a standard 2 TB Series X…
Re: Review: Space Marine Master Crafted Edition - A Proper 360 Throwback On Xbox Game Pass
@FraserG Makes sense! Again, NO insult was intended, was pure curiosity!
Re: Review: Space Marine Master Crafted Edition - A Proper 360 Throwback On Xbox Game Pass
Ben, I mean ZERO disrespect or insult when I ask this: Why were you picked to review this while having zero 40k knowledge? Was it intentional to see how someone with no knowledge would think, or just luck of the draw? I was just amused when you mentioned the whole story passing you by bit!
@Lup I’m guessing you watched Fleekazoid’s review? I’m pretty sure he said that in his!