Given they jacked up the prices of the console everywhere, who wants one anymore?

Does it add anything to the single player campaign?

That’s the only reason I’d care.

@Millionski Big difference between spying and actual blocking, but your point is very well taken for sure!

@Coletrain I’m genuinely worried for you folks! It really seems like Bad Things are happening over there!

@TryToBeHopeful You genuinely think the data was deleted?

Look at that Tea app that’s been in the news. They claimed to delete info once submitted. They lied.

Never trust anyone who says this.

“1984 was NOT intended as a guidebook to FOLLOW, you idiots!”

-George Orwell if he were alive today

I’m sorry you folks are experiencing this, my UK brothers and sisters.

I mean, it’s only been six years. Barely any time at all to create a game when you have the bones of the previous game right there to build on over SIX YEARS for a side scrolling metroidvania game.

So ridiculous that it’s taken this long.

@Decimateh Eh, my power bill isn’t bad and running the AC in summer more than makes me not care about what tiny amount I might be charged for the ol spare console running 15 minutes a day.

@TrollOfWar Oh, my PS5 and Switch 2 get used on a daily basis. I just have no reason to use the XBox these days.

@Kraven I power my series X up each day to launch a random game for 15 minutes and then shut it down purely for the rewards points.

Haven’t actually played a game on it in a couple months, sadly.

Sanity prevails.

@RiverGenie If they don’t create them with always-online required, they won’t need to spend more.

Crazy hot take, I know.

@AccessibleDaydream Fun fact? A ton of those Ultraviolet codes will STILL WORK.

I redeemed one from 2015 or so a few weeks ago, and the movie was added to my library.

@AccessibleDaydream Movies Anywhere is a system that syncs up different movie libraries if the distributors support it. You might be thinking of Ultraviolet.

Movies Anywhere is supported by nearly all the big names, except Paramount and Lionsgate.

@Questionable_Duck That we are aware of.

It’s not like every dev gets on a soapbox and starts shouting, “Holy moley, this freaking Series S is annoying, we had to neuter the game to make it run on this thing!”

Only reason the other two dev teams were able to is because they had the benefit of already selling well on other platforms and didn’t have to worry about possible MS blowback from their criticism. At least in my own head anyway, I have no proof of this obviously.

Either way, we have two documented examples of it being an issue. Which isn’t all that many, but it’s still interesting that it HAS happened!

That said, imagine what MS/their array of devs could do with a game if they were NOT held back by having to scale down for the S as well.

@Questionable_Duck glances at the BG3 and Black Myth Wukong devs who both mentioned tbe Series S as holding things back and says nothing

@PartyMarty Oh, dang. I’m sorry.

@PartyMarty Movies Anywhere. Link your accounts. The LotR trilogy (extended and theatrical) are supported.

@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.

@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.

@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!

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.

@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!

@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!

@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.

Gosh, I wonder why?

totally doesn’t look at Series S

@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.

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.

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!

They must have laid off everyone at the lab and forgotten this exists.

@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.

It’s blindingly obvious. Enjoy the GP ride while you can, folks.

@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.

“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

@NishimuraX Sadly, this says everything about the current XBox community that needs to be said.

“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.”

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.

@Questionable_Duck One of the few times I’m glad to be wrong!

@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.

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.

shrugs in Mac user

@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!

Now watch, tomorrow Sony will do the same thing…

@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.

Gosh, who would have thought that acquiring all those studios over a relatively short period of time would result in layoffs?

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.

@FatGuyInLilCoat Odd how Forza Horizon 5 didn’t prioritize PS at launch, and yet that’s selling like hotcakes on PS5 years later…

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!

Wow, renting a game doesn’t lead to actually buying a game in general.

Whodathunkit?