If it had been Nintendo, they would have filed a lawsuit for plagiarism. It’s true that you can find a lot of elements from Forza Horizon in it, even though Horizon is still ahead in terms of physics and graphics.
I’m so eager to get my hands on it — it’s probably the game Xbox has invested in the most, and it’s exclusive, which shows they’re really betting big on exclusive titles, on the Xbox identity, and on strengthening the Xbox ecosystem as a priority.
These aren’t the 12 labors of Hercules, they’re the 5 labors of Asha! All of this seems very ambitious.
In any case, I trust that she’s doing what needs to be done, and so far she’s proven it, so I trust her.
But at the end of the day, it’s still business — there will be positive outcomes, but some of them will inevitably come with pain for a few people.
If we’re talking about reducing complexity and readjusting investments, that means putting more on one side and less on others that are less essential.
In the end, I see this as something positive for players and for the Xbox brand, but you can’t make a good omelet without breaking a few eggs.
Xbox isn’t escaping the reality of the industry, unfortunately. Job cuts are affecting every player in the industry, and Xbox is no exception. Let’s hope the damage won’t be too big. What’s somewhat reassuring — if I can put it that way considering people’s jobs are at stake — is that Xbox’s game pipeline is very well stocked
"It was bought at a time when our strategy was predominantly on the core consoles"
I admit I don’t really understand that statement because it seems wrong to me. Back at the time of the ABK acquisition, Xbox’s strategy was already becoming less and less console‑centric, and the deal accelerated that shift — especially with the obligation to keep Call of Duty multiplatform, a decision they later extended to other franchises.
That said, we can’t deny it’s a golden goose in terms of revenue. But of course, it had no impact on console sales — how could it, when the game remained multiplatform?
What’s certain today is that ABK is far from being just about Call of Duty. Xbox holds a goldmine of franchises they haven’t fully tapped into yet (From ABK, bethesda, xbox studios) , and that’s very good news. Xbox has a huge reservoir of games and the potential to launch exclusives and true system sellers.
As always, it’s a matter of balance: multiplatform games and exclusives.
Given her background, she knows what she’s talking about. AI can help with productivity processes and other tedious tasks, but when it comes to pure creativity, I believe humans still have a bright future. All an AI really does is mix together what already exists, without true originality or creativity.
In any case, this interview is full of valuable insights.
It’s a powerful symbol of the great Xbox years (especially the Xbox 360 era). And it marks this deliberate return to Xbox’s core fundamentals, with dynamism, innovation, creativity, exclusives, and everything that defines what Xbox is
It’s a matter of balance. But the more big exclusive franchises there are, the better it will be for the whole ecosystem — for Game Pass, for the hardware, for game sales, and I’d even say especially for Xbox’s brand image, which directly or indirectly affects the sales of Xbox hardware, content and services.
@Banjo- What I also forgot to mention in my previous message, besides the OEM versions, is that AI will also play a role in lowering console prices. I’m thinking of things like FSR, Neural Texture Compression, and other AI technologies that can improve graphical quality and performance without increasing the GPU’s raw power.
Basically, the NPU will play an important role by offloading work from the GPU. It’s all a matter of optimization, which ultimately also helps reduce costs.
But when it comes to distribution and competitive pricing, the most effective approach is to use multiple manufacturers. This creates competition between them, which mechanically drives prices down for the benefit of consumers. It’s a major advantage compared to a single manufacturer like PlayStation, which tends to overprice its hardware.
Tom Warren is so simple‑minded it’s almost funny. What Aasha is talking about when she mentions new business models is exactly what they’re doing with ASUS, for example. On one side, they have their own premium first‑party console, and on the other side, other manufacturers can create more affordable OEM versions to build Xbox home consoles. That’s all it is.
As for xCloud, that’s the second part of her sentence: “And we must think about the experiences that we're creating outside of that as well to reach new audiences.”
I may not be the most objective, but objectively speaking it’s obvious that the Xbox Showcase outshone all the other gaming events, with a lineup of truly legendary games.
@somnambulance @carlos82 @Banjo- The next Senua game is a third entry in the Hellblade series, but it’s not titled Hellblade 3 — it’s simply called Senua.
I was also surprised that Senua isn’t exclusive, because it’s exactly the kind of game that could have been. But since it’s a spin-off and not really Hellblade, maybe they’re saving exclusivity for Hellblade 3…
What’s certain for any player today is that if you want to be sure to play Xbox games, you need either a PC or an Xbox. That alone sends a very strong message to all gamers.
It’s also clear that the two games announced as exclusives are just the beginning of a pipeline of exclusive titles. Given the number of Xbox franchises, this promises many more exclusives to come. Halo was clearly a mistake to announce so early as multiplatform, but since it’s just a remake, the next Halo sequel will almost certainly be exclusive
Xbox had said they would only show games releasing within the next 12 months. That at least shows that Blade is highly anticipated, and that some people — myself included — are impatient to see more.
This lineup is really massive. Game Pass is getting a huge upgrade all at once, and this is just a small preview because plenty of other games are still coming.
@Fiendish-Beaver: You’re not taking into account the arrival of new Game Pass subscribers, nor those who re‑subscribe. You can’t only consider the people who don’t buy the game because they’re subscribed — that’s the whole point of the system: one compensates for the other.
Game Pass has proven profitable so far, with a rough patch during the price increase. But with the price drop, this kind of lineup announcement, the brand image being much stronger, etc., it’s obvious this will attract new subscribers and bring back former ones.
And one last thing you’re forgetting: you can have Game Pass AND buy games. I’m one of those people — one doesn’t prevent the other. It’s even proven that Game Pass users buy more games on average than non‑subscribers.
Let me summarize:
New subscribers
Returning subscribers
Game Pass users also buy games — and even more games than others
Game Pass has already proven the model is profitable, no need for yet another test
The visibility a game gets on Game Pass also helps it sell on other platforms too. This has been proven multiple times as well. Some players will be pushed to subscribe , while others — the ones who really care about ownership — will prefer to buy the game instead, And some will also buy on Xbox instead of Steam, especially thanks to Xbox Play Anywhere (a huge advantage).
The Xbox ROG Ally X has really become the best value for money today, especially since the massive price hike of the Steam Deck, which went up by $300 all at once. And also thanks to Windows performance improvements, Xbox mode, Auto SR, etc., I feel like Windows is taking the lead in portable console technology compared to the Steam Deck.
The screen size, the OLED, and the TMR sticks are very interesting updates. And with the included glasses, it’s like playing on a 171‑inch screen at 4 meters — curious to see what that looks like in real life.
I thought they would at least give us a small teaser for Project Helix, but I was clearly wrong. It’s a shame, because the Xbox Showcase is watched by millions of people — not just Xbox fans — and it would have been a great opportunity to give the project some major visibility.
But on the other hand, they can’t really talk about it for just two minutes before or after the game presentations, I suppose. It probably deserves its own dedicated conference, so they don’t mix everything together and can take the time to go in-depth. That said, a little tease would have been nice anyway, but oh well!
Everything is very encouraging — clearly, the choices made so far have been very positive. For those who say it’s minor, they’ve already forgotten the Game Pass price drop, which is far from anecdotal and extremely rare in this industry, especially when others like PlayStation recently increased PS+ prices…
When she talks about difficult choices, I think she’s referring to bringing back exclusives. That’s something hard to get Microsoft’s upper management to accept — just like it must have been difficult to stop the ‘This is an Xbox’ campaign (millions invested in that campaign), or to lower the price of Game Pass, or to discontinue Copilot on Xbox. These are difficult decisions, not necessarily for the players themselves, but for Microsoft, which now has to approach Xbox differently. And by the way, it’s Xbox again, not ‘Microsoft Gaming’, which proves that Xbox now has the freedom to make decisions that were previously impossible.
It’s obvious that Project Helix will be shown at the Xbox Showcase. In what form, we don’t really know yet — will we get the final name of the console, will we actually see what it looks like, will they present its features? We’ll find out soon enough.
@oopsiezz Yeah, for Fable, it’s hard to go back now. But I also imagined they would eventually make it exclusive again, because it’s exactly the kind of game that can sell consoles. Anyway…I really hope that won’t be the case anymore for the next games.
Honestly, the single‑player campaigns in Call of Duty are little gems. I’ve played several of them — from the Black Ops games (except the last one) to the latest Modern Warfare, which I replayed recently on Game Pass — and they’re masterpieces in terms of staging, realism, and attention to detail. They’re just often too short, which I can understand in a way, because they push everything so far — the tech, the animations, the cinematics, the direction, etc. — that I’m willing to forgive them.
In any case, I’m glad to see that the next installment is shaping up to be excellent.
Yes, it’s looking good, but we shouldn’t get carried away either. We’re still waiting for real strategic decisions — especially regarding exclusives. As for the analysts who joined the team, we should be careful, because some of them were the ones who advised Phil Spencer back in the day to go all‑in on multiplatform (without considering the damage to the brand, the fanbase, the hardware, etc.).
I’d say the best member of the Xbox team is still its own community. I’m not saying they should listen to every random request, but at least pay attention to the things that come up the most — like we saw with Xbox Player Voice.
Good news for fallout 4, Personally, I played it on PC because of that, actually.
@FraserG : "we don't know why Xbox Series X and S are getting boosted to 100GB while the PS5 isn't"
It seems obvious: the idea is to prioritize Xbox consoles, just like the new Xbox leadership and Aasha Sharma have been repeating and proving for months. The goal is to make PlayStation consoles a second‑tier platform. They’re simply not a priority anymore, that’s all.
And this will also be reflected in Aasha Sharma’s future exclusivity strategy: PlayStation consoles are no longer a priority and will be pushed far behind, which is exactly what Xbox fans want. It might not apply to every Xbox franchise — especially long‑time multiplatform ones like Fallout — but it’s clear that Xbox won’t aim for parity between consoles. The priority will be Xbox hardware first.
All of this is possible because Satya Nadella has finally understood that Xbox’s strategy needed a deep overhaul. That’s why Asha now has so much freedom to make changes — much more than during the Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond era. Or maybe Asha Sharma just has more cojones than the other two, lol.
In any case, it’s a positive sign for changes in Xbox’s exclusivity strategy.
@TrollOfWar Yes, they need every incentive they can get, but honestly, there are already very few incentives to begin with, and they relied heavily on third‑party exclusives — 90% of PlayStation’s exclusives used to come from third‑party publishers. Except now, third‑party publishers don’t want to make PlayStation exclusives anymore, or far less than before, and that trend is only going to continue.
On top of that, they produce very few first‑party single‑player games, so in the end you end up with very few actual PlayStation exclusives.
Meanwhile, the PC catalog has 30% more games than the PlayStation catalog.
No matter how you look at it, this is a financial loss for PlayStation, especially in a home‑console market that has been flat for years, compared to the PC and cloud markets which continue to grow at double‑digit rates. It’s a gamble PlayStation is taking, but it feels more like a communication tactic. They’re clearly afraid of the impact of Project Helix — I don’t believe in coincidences. I’m almost certain they’ll walk it back at some point, once they’ve sold enough PS6 units. It wouldn’t be the first time they treat us like fools with their “we’ll never release games on PC” speech right before launching a new console, only to change the plan a few months later.
And in your reasoning, you’re forgetting Steam players. You also need to think in terms of users, not machines, and PlayStation is clearly shooting itself in the foot regarding the potential audience it could reach.
Actually, Xbox has put PlayStation in a complicated position by forcing them to pull their games from PC, since Project Helix is capable of running all Xbox and PC games. But that doesn’t change the fact that:
It doesn’t make much difference anyway, considering how few single‑player first‑party games PlayStation releases.
The PC game catalog is 30–40% larger than any console catalog.
The era when “PlayStation” was synonymous with exceptional, high‑quality games is over; third‑party studios are doing much better today. Sony’s latest releases have been average, and they’re sitting at 21st place on Metacritic, while Xbox is 5th.
In the past, PlayStation had a lot of third‑party exclusive titles. That’s no longer the case — almost all third‑party publishers now release their games on PC and/or Xbox. In reality, PlayStation has far fewer exclusives than before. In fact, Xbox has recovered more former PlayStation third‑party exclusives than Xbox has sent exclusives to other consoles.
As a consequence of all this, PlayStation is losing money, producing fewer games than before, making more remakes, and increasing subscription prices. PS+ was raised again recently, while Game Pass actually went down in price. They’re stuck in a corner and have to compensate by squeezing their player base.
But in the medium to long term, it’s not clear that this strategy is viable, because it means they will depend entirely on their own closed ecosystem — in an era where players are gaming across more and more different devices.
That said, Xbox must continue releasing its games on PC, the cloud, and Xbox consoles, and keep two‑year timed exclusives to other consoles. It's enough to make PlayStation a second‑tier console and push players to prioritize the Xbox ecosystem to play Xbox games.
@Kezelpaso I get it but Please, stop going on and on about the animations. For me, It’s a good thing that they’re subtle. What do you even want, seriously — fireworks every two seconds, cars jumping all over the place on a loop? Then people would complain that it’s too much, too distracting, too repetitive, etc. It’s just a background; it needs to blend nicely into the scenery without taking center stage, because the game tiles should remain the stars of the UI.
@Skinny-Pete Given the strategic changes initiated by Aasha, they won’t rush to release it on PlayStation. And FH5 came out four years later and still sold extremely well, so there’s no urgency to bring it to other platforms.
@Nic-Noc20th-C Maybe FH5 alone isn’t enough, but if several Xbox franchises remain exclusive — even temporarily for at least two years (Gears, Halo, Fable, FH, Blade, State of Decay, Hellblade, etc.) — that’s inevitably a system seller.
Moreover, if we look at exclusives as a whole (first‑party and third‑party), Xbox has received more formerly PlayStation‑exclusive games than the reverse: Final Fantasy, Kena, Sifu, Death Stranding and many others, and soon Stellar Blade, DS2, etc
@FraserG We agree that this isn’t a new subscription ? This ‘Starter Edition’ isn’t available to non‑subscribers — only to Discord subscribers. It’s a perk for Discord Nitro members, meant, I suppose, to encourage them to subscribe to one of the real Game Pass plans.
I’m saying this because it feels like there’s some confusion among your readers 🙂
@Tdx A new perk for free, that’s cool. I barely use Discord, but for people who use it a lot, it’s interesting.
It’s not a new subscription, but rather a benefit for Discord Nitro subscribers — they get a catalog of 50 games.
And for Game Pass subscribers with the existing plans, these are just Discord perks.
There’s no new subscription, whether you’re not subscribed or already have Game Pass
@FraserG The video is 1h25 long, so I’m not sure you had time to watch everything, because in reality there’s quite a lot of interesting information in it. It’s true that it’s basically a big summary of what we already know, but they go much deeper into certain topics like the implementation of DirectX, ray tracing, shaders, texture compression, PC development tools, and so on.
There are also some interesting stats, like the fact that more than 50% of players use more than one device, and that Xbox Play Anywhere titles are played 2.2× longer than non–Play Anywhere games, and are purchased 2.1× more often.
Basically, Xbox is explaining to game developers that bringing their games to Xbox will earn them more money, and that it will be easier, faster, and cheaper than before.
At least this has the merit of shutting up those who claimed Aasha was there to push more AI onto consoles because of her past. When in reality, she spent most of her career in marketing and product development.
Personally, I think having some AI assistance in games isn’t a bad idea in itself, as long as it’s relevant and actually useful of course.
@Coletrain ASUS is the first to let its players benefit from the Default Game Profile, but there’s no doubt this will push other manufacturers like Logitech, Lenovo, etc., to implement it as well so they don’t fall behind and let ASUS keep that advantage alone. Basically, Xbox provides the tools, and it’s up to the manufacturers to use them, knowing that it’s in their best interest and in the players’ best interest. For this kind of feature, it makes sense that the manufacturer is the one implementing it, since it depends on the hardware. We can also be sure that the Default Game Profile will show up on Project Helix and other Xbox first‑party handhelds.
Too expensive, not comfortable, and according to some Reddit comments, they feel very cheap. Far from matching the comfort and compatibility of Xbox controllers
It doesn’t change anything concrete for players, but it’s still an additional and tangible signal that reinforces Asha’s intention to strengthen the Xbox identity.
@Skinny-Pete Of course! If you were expecting a radically different logo, that’s not the case, but I think this is not what the vast majority of players were asking for. In my opinion—and according to the general consensus—this new logo refresh is really good. The color is a callback to the original Xbox logo, and the 3D effect is a nod to the Xbox 360. Overall, it’s much more modern thanks to the glassy 3D look and the way the light reflects through it.
So in the end, it’s not just the color that’s changing — this new logo actually has personality, unlike the very flat and impersonal look of the old one
Comments 705
Re: Here's Your First Look At Gameplay For Clutch, Releasing On Xbox In Spring 2027
If it had been Nintendo, they would have filed a lawsuit for plagiarism. It’s true that you can find a lot of elements from Forza Horizon in it, even though Horizon is still ahead in terms of physics and graphics.
Re: The Coalition Reveals Campaign Length & Other New Details For Gears Of War: E-Day
I’m so eager to get my hands on it — it’s probably the game Xbox has invested in the most, and it’s exclusive, which shows they’re really betting big on exclusive titles, on the Xbox identity, and on strengthening the Xbox ecosystem as a priority.
Re: Xbox Leaders Outline Five 'Realities' That Will Be Addressed Over The Next 100 Days
These aren’t the 12 labors of Hercules, they’re the 5 labors of Asha! All of this seems very ambitious.
In any case, I trust that she’s doing what needs to be done, and so far she’s proven it, so I trust her.
But at the end of the day, it’s still business — there will be positive outcomes, but some of them will inevitably come with pain for a few people.
If we’re talking about reducing complexity and readjusting investments, that means putting more on one side and less on others that are less essential.
In the end, I see this as something positive for players and for the Xbox brand, but you can’t make a good omelet without breaking a few eggs.
Re: Report: Xbox Set For Major Job Cuts, Studio Closure Or 'Lineup Changes' Could Be Involved
Xbox isn’t escaping the reality of the industry, unfortunately. Job cuts are affecting every player in the industry, and Xbox is no exception. Let’s hope the damage won’t be too big.
What’s somewhat reassuring — if I can put it that way considering people’s jobs are at stake — is that Xbox’s game pipeline is very well stocked
Re: "It's Hard To Say" - Xbox Boss Isn't Sure The Activision Blizzard Deal Has Paid Off
"It was bought at a time when our strategy was predominantly on the core consoles"
I admit I don’t really understand that statement because it seems wrong to me. Back at the time of the ABK acquisition, Xbox’s strategy was already becoming less and less console‑centric, and the deal accelerated that shift — especially with the obligation to keep Call of Duty multiplatform, a decision they later extended to other franchises.
That said, we can’t deny it’s a golden goose in terms of revenue. But of course, it had no impact on console sales — how could it, when the game remained multiplatform?
What’s certain today is that ABK is far from being just about Call of Duty. Xbox holds a goldmine of franchises they haven’t fully tapped into yet (From ABK, bethesda, xbox studios) , and that’s very good news. Xbox has a huge reservoir of games and the potential to launch exclusives and true system sellers.
As always, it’s a matter of balance: multiplatform games and exclusives.
Re: Xbox CEO Asha Sharma "Doesn't Believe" GenAI World Models Will Replace AAA Games
Given her background, she knows what she’s talking about. AI can help with productivity processes and other tedious tasks, but when it comes to pure creativity, I believe humans still have a bright future. All an AI really does is mix together what already exists, without true originality or creativity.
In any case, this interview is full of valuable insights.
@Banjo- Thanks for quoting me
Re: Major Nelson Reveals He's Working With Xbox Again As 'Host' For FanFest 2026
It’s a powerful symbol of the great Xbox years (especially the Xbox 360 era). And it marks this deliberate return to Xbox’s core fundamentals, with dynamism, innovation, creativity, exclusives, and everything that defines what Xbox is
Re: Asha Sharma Discusses Why Xbox Decided To Bring Back Exclusives
In Asha we trust !
It’s a matter of balance. But the more big exclusive franchises there are, the better it will be for the whole ecosystem — for Game Pass, for the hardware, for game sales, and I’d even say especially for Xbox’s brand image, which directly or indirectly affects the sales of Xbox hardware, content and services.
Re: 'We'll Start To See Radically Different Business Models' - Xbox Boss Talks Future Of Consoles
@Banjo- What I also forgot to mention in my previous message, besides the OEM versions, is that AI will also play a role in lowering console prices. I’m thinking of things like FSR, Neural Texture Compression, and other AI technologies that can improve graphical quality and performance without increasing the GPU’s raw power.
Basically, the NPU will play an important role by offloading work from the GPU. It’s all a matter of optimization, which ultimately also helps reduce costs.
But when it comes to distribution and competitive pricing, the most effective approach is to use multiple manufacturers. This creates competition between them, which mechanically drives prices down for the benefit of consumers. It’s a major advantage compared to a single manufacturer like PlayStation, which tends to overprice its hardware.
Re: 'We'll Start To See Radically Different Business Models' - Xbox Boss Talks Future Of Consoles
Tom Warren is so simple‑minded it’s almost funny. What Aasha is talking about when she mentions new business models is exactly what they’re doing with ASUS, for example. On one side, they have their own premium first‑party console, and on the other side, other manufacturers can create more affordable OEM versions to build Xbox home consoles. That’s all it is.
As for xCloud, that’s the second part of her sentence: “And we must think about the experiences that we're creating outside of that as well to reach new audiences.”
It’s really not that hard to understand.
Re: Poll: Which Was Your Favourite Gaming Event Of The Past Week?
Removed
Re: Poll: Which Was Your Favourite Gaming Event Of The Past Week?
I may not be the most objective, but objectively speaking it’s obvious that the Xbox Showcase outshone all the other gaming events, with a lineup of truly legendary games.
Re: Roundup: All The Biggest Xbox Reveals From June's Nintendo Direct
@FraserG Kingdom Hearts IV and Kingdom Hearts collection (I, II, III) and final fantasy resonance are Xbox play anywhere:
Re: Three Questions We Still Have After The Incredible Xbox Games Showcase 2026
@somnambulance @carlos82 @Banjo- The next Senua game is a third entry in the Hellblade series, but it’s not titled Hellblade 3 — it’s simply called Senua.
I was also surprised that Senua isn’t exclusive, because it’s exactly the kind of game that could have been. But since it’s a spin-off and not really Hellblade, maybe they’re saving exclusivity for Hellblade 3…
What’s certain for any player today is that if you want to be sure to play Xbox games, you need either a PC or an Xbox. That alone sends a very strong message to all gamers.
It’s also clear that the two games announced as exclusives are just the beginning of a pipeline of exclusive titles. Given the number of Xbox franchises, this promises many more exclusives to come. Halo was clearly a mistake to announce so early as multiplatform, but since it’s just a remake, the next Halo sequel will almost certainly be exclusive
Re: Xbox Fans Question Marvel's Blade Absence From XGS 2026
Xbox had said they would only show games releasing within the next 12 months. That at least shows that Blade is highly anticipated, and that some people — myself included — are impatient to see more.
Re: 21 Game Pass Titles Get New Announcements At The Xbox Showcase 2026
This lineup is really massive. Game Pass is getting a huge upgrade all at once, and this is just a small preview because plenty of other games are still coming.
@Fiendish-Beaver: You’re not taking into account the arrival of new Game Pass subscribers, nor those who re‑subscribe. You can’t only consider the people who don’t buy the game because they’re subscribed — that’s the whole point of the system: one compensates for the other.
Game Pass has proven profitable so far, with a rough patch during the price increase. But with the price drop, this kind of lineup announcement, the brand image being much stronger, etc., it’s obvious this will attract new subscribers and bring back former ones.
And one last thing you’re forgetting: you can have Game Pass AND buy games. I’m one of those people — one doesn’t prevent the other. It’s even proven that Game Pass users buy more games on average than non‑subscribers.
Let me summarize:
So in the end, you forgot a lot of factors.
Re: Matt Booty Explains Xbox's Plans For Exclusive Games Going Forward
Xbox console exclusives are back! And it's just the beginning
Re: Here's What The First 'Hands On' Previews Say About The ROG Xbox Ally X20
The Xbox ROG Ally X has really become the best value for money today, especially since the massive price hike of the Steam Deck, which went up by $300 all at once. And also thanks to Windows performance improvements, Xbox mode, Auto SR, etc., I feel like Windows is taking the lead in portable console technology compared to the Steam Deck.
The screen size, the OLED, and the TMR sticks are very interesting updates. And with the included glasses, it’s like playing on a 171‑inch screen at 4 meters — curious to see what that looks like in real life.
Re: Matt Booty Explains Why Xbox Won't Talk About Project Helix At June's Showcase
I thought they would at least give us a small teaser for Project Helix, but I was clearly wrong. It’s a shame, because the Xbox Showcase is watched by millions of people — not just Xbox fans — and it would have been a great opportunity to give the project some major visibility.
But on the other hand, they can’t really talk about it for just two minutes before or after the game presentations, I suppose. It probably deserves its own dedicated conference, so they don’t mix everything together and can take the time to go in-depth. That said, a little tease would have been nice anyway, but oh well!
Re: Xbox Delays Fable To February 2027, And It's Basically Because Of GTA 6
“Makes sense — I think there are too many releases at the same time, and if they also push the PS5 port to 2029, that works for me too 🙂
Re: 'We Are Building A Stronger Xbox' - Asha Sharma Updates Employees On Progress In 2026
Everything is very encouraging — clearly, the choices made so far have been very positive. For those who say it’s minor, they’ve already forgotten the Game Pass price drop, which is far from anecdotal and extremely rare in this industry, especially when others like PlayStation recently increased PS+ prices…
When she talks about difficult choices, I think she’s referring to bringing back exclusives. That’s something hard to get Microsoft’s upper management to accept — just like it must have been difficult to stop the ‘This is an Xbox’ campaign (millions invested in that campaign), or to lower the price of Game Pass, or to discontinue Copilot on Xbox. These are difficult decisions, not necessarily for the players themselves, but for Microsoft, which now has to approach Xbox differently. And by the way, it’s Xbox again, not ‘Microsoft Gaming’, which proves that Xbox now has the freedom to make decisions that were previously impossible.
Re: Lots Of Highly-Anticipated Xbox Titles Added To 'Coming Soon' On Game Pass App
I’m surprised to see Clockwork Revolution listed as ‘coming soon’ on Game Pass, considering we haven’t seen much of the game so far.
Re: Lots Of Highly-Anticipated Xbox Titles Added To 'Coming Soon' On Game Pass App
Very curious to see more about Clockwork Revolution, the most ambitious game from inXile Entertainment.
Re: Talking Point: Do You Think We'll See PS6 & Project Helix In Action This Summer?
It’s obvious that Project Helix will be shown at the Xbox Showcase. In what form, we don’t really know yet — will we get the final name of the console, will we actually see what it looks like, will they present its features? We’ll find out soon enough.
Re: Fable Gets Rated In Multiple Regions Ahead Of 2026 Xbox Release
@oopsiezz Yeah, for Fable, it’s hard to go back now. But I also imagined they would eventually make it exclusive again, because it’s exactly the kind of game that can sell consoles. Anyway…I really hope that won’t be the case anymore for the next games.
Re: Call Of Duty 2026 Is A 'Visceral, Immersive' Modern Warfare Game From Xbox
Honestly, the single‑player campaigns in Call of Duty are little gems. I’ve played several of them — from the Black Ops games (except the last one) to the latest Modern Warfare, which I replayed recently on Game Pass — and they’re masterpieces in terms of staging, realism, and attention to detail.
They’re just often too short, which I can understand in a way, because they push everything so far — the tech, the animations, the cinematics, the direction, etc. — that I’m willing to forgive them.
In any case, I’m glad to see that the next installment is shaping up to be excellent.
Re: Epic Games Boss Calls New Xbox Leadership Team 'World Class', Asha Sharma Responds
Yes, it’s looking good, but we shouldn’t get carried away either. We’re still waiting for real strategic decisions — especially regarding exclusives.
As for the analysts who joined the team, we should be careful, because some of them were the ones who advised Phil Spencer back in the day to go all‑in on multiplatform (without considering the damage to the brand, the fanbase, the hardware, etc.).
I’d say the best member of the Xbox team is still its own community. I’m not saying they should listen to every random request, but at least pay attention to the things that come up the most — like we saw with Xbox Player Voice.
Re: Bethesda Sets Release Date For Massive Fallout 4 'Creations' Update On Xbox Consoles
@abe_hikura Fallout London is about 120 MB.
Re: Bethesda Sets Release Date For Massive Fallout 4 'Creations' Update On Xbox Consoles
Good news for fallout 4, Personally, I played it on PC because of that, actually.
@FraserG : "we don't know why Xbox Series X and S are getting boosted to 100GB while the PS5 isn't"
It seems obvious: the idea is to prioritize Xbox consoles, just like the new Xbox leadership and Aasha Sharma have been repeating and proving for months. The goal is to make PlayStation consoles a second‑tier platform. They’re simply not a priority anymore, that’s all.
And this will also be reflected in Aasha Sharma’s future exclusivity strategy: PlayStation consoles are no longer a priority and will be pushed far behind, which is exactly what Xbox fans want.
It might not apply to every Xbox franchise — especially long‑time multiplatform ones like Fallout — but it’s clear that Xbox won’t aim for parity between consoles. The priority will be Xbox hardware first.
Re: 'Luna Abyss' Is Available Today With Xbox Game Pass, And Here's What The Reviews Are Saying
@Bartig Yes, exactly what I was thinking — it’s way more fun like this.
Re: Xbox Hires New Exec To 'Strengthen The Console Side' Of The Business
All of this is possible because Satya Nadella has finally understood that Xbox’s strategy needed a deep overhaul. That’s why Asha now has so much freedom to make changes — much more than during the Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond era.
Or maybe Asha Sharma just has more cojones than the other two, lol.
In any case, it’s a positive sign for changes in Xbox’s exclusivity strategy.
Re: Digital Foundry Labels Sony's PS5 Exclusivity Pivot As A 'Defensive Move Against Project Helix'
@TrollOfWar Yes, they need every incentive they can get, but honestly, there are already very few incentives to begin with, and they relied heavily on third‑party exclusives — 90% of PlayStation’s exclusives used to come from third‑party publishers. Except now, third‑party publishers don’t want to make PlayStation exclusives anymore, or far less than before, and that trend is only going to continue.
On top of that, they produce very few first‑party single‑player games, so in the end you end up with very few actual PlayStation exclusives.
Meanwhile, the PC catalog has 30% more games than the PlayStation catalog.
No matter how you look at it, this is a financial loss for PlayStation, especially in a home‑console market that has been flat for years, compared to the PC and cloud markets which continue to grow at double‑digit rates. It’s a gamble PlayStation is taking, but it feels more like a communication tactic. They’re clearly afraid of the impact of Project Helix — I don’t believe in coincidences. I’m almost certain they’ll walk it back at some point, once they’ve sold enough PS6 units. It wouldn’t be the first time they treat us like fools with their “we’ll never release games on PC” speech right before launching a new console, only to change the plan a few months later.
And in your reasoning, you’re forgetting Steam players. You also need to think in terms of users, not machines, and PlayStation is clearly shooting itself in the foot regarding the potential audience it could reach.
Re: Digital Foundry Labels Sony's PS5 Exclusivity Pivot As A 'Defensive Move Against Project Helix'
Actually, Xbox has put PlayStation in a complicated position by forcing them to pull their games from PC, since Project Helix is capable of running all Xbox and PC games. But that doesn’t change the fact that:
As a consequence of all this, PlayStation is losing money, producing fewer games than before, making more remakes, and increasing subscription prices. PS+ was raised again recently, while Game Pass actually went down in price. They’re stuck in a corner and have to compensate by squeezing their player base.
But in the medium to long term, it’s not clear that this strategy is viable, because it means they will depend entirely on their own closed ecosystem — in an era where players are gaming across more and more different devices.
That said, Xbox must continue releasing its games on PC, the cloud, and Xbox consoles, and keep two‑year timed exclusives to other consoles. It's enough to make PlayStation a second‑tier console and push players to prioritize the Xbox ecosystem to play Xbox games.
Re: Two New Xbox Series X|S Backgrounds Added To Celebrate The Launch Of Forza Horizon 6
@Kezelpaso I get it but Please, stop going on and on about the animations. For me, It’s a good thing that they’re subtle. What do you even want, seriously — fireworks every two seconds, cars jumping all over the place on a loop? Then people would complain that it’s too much, too distracting, too repetitive, etc. It’s just a background; it needs to blend nicely into the scenery without taking center stage, because the game tiles should remain the stars of the UI.
A background is a back ground
Re: Xbox Execs Congratulate Forza Horizon 6 Dev On 'Exceptionally Rare' Success
Bravo Playground Games, we hope Fable will follow the same path — though I don’t really have any doubts, coming from such an exceptional studio.
Re: Forza Horizon 6 Is Immensely Popular Already, Even In Early Access
@Skinny-Pete Given the strategic changes initiated by Aasha, they won’t rush to release it on PlayStation. And FH5 came out four years later and still sold extremely well, so there’s no urgency to bring it to other platforms.
@Nic-Noc20th-C Maybe FH5 alone isn’t enough, but if several Xbox franchises remain exclusive — even temporarily for at least two years (Gears, Halo, Fable, FH, Blade, State of Decay, Hellblade, etc.) — that’s inevitably a system seller.
Moreover, if we look at exclusives as a whole (first‑party and third‑party), Xbox has received more formerly PlayStation‑exclusive games than the reverse: Final Fantasy, Kena, Sifu, Death Stranding and many others, and soon Stellar Blade, DS2, etc
Re: Discord Partners With Xbox For 'Starter Edition' Of Game Pass, Includes 50+ Titles
@Markatron84 Come on guys, make an effort — read the other comments. This isn’t a new subscription
Re: Discord Partners With Xbox For 'Starter Edition' Of Game Pass, Includes 50+ Titles
@FraserG We agree that this isn’t a new subscription ? This ‘Starter Edition’ isn’t available to non‑subscribers — only to Discord subscribers. It’s a perk for Discord Nitro members, meant, I suppose, to encourage them to subscribe to one of the real Game Pass plans.
I’m saying this because it feels like there’s some confusion among your readers 🙂
Re: Discord Partners With Xbox For 'Starter Edition' Of Game Pass, Includes 50+ Titles
@Tdx A new perk for free, that’s cool. I barely use Discord, but for people who use it a lot, it’s interesting.
It’s not a new subscription, but rather a benefit for Discord Nitro subscribers — they get a catalog of 50 games.
And for Game Pass subscribers with the existing plans, these are just Discord perks.
There’s no new subscription, whether you’re not subscribed or already have Game Pass
Re: Game Pass Platformer Replaced Sees Progression & Chapter Select Fixes In New Xbox Update
I’ve already finished it, didn’t run into any particular issues, this game is a little gem
Re: Xbox Teases More Project Helix News For 2026, Shares Full Presentation From GDC
@FraserG The video is 1h25 long, so I’m not sure you had time to watch everything, because in reality there’s quite a lot of interesting information in it. It’s true that it’s basically a big summary of what we already know, but they go much deeper into certain topics like the implementation of DirectX, ray tracing, shaders, texture compression, PC development tools, and so on.
There are also some interesting stats, like the fact that more than 50% of players use more than one device, and that Xbox Play Anywhere titles are played 2.2× longer than non–Play Anywhere games, and are purchased 2.1× more often.
Basically, Xbox is explaining to game developers that bringing their games to Xbox will earn them more money, and that it will be easier, faster, and cheaper than before.
Re: Xbox CEO Reveals New Start-Up Animation Coming To Consoles Next Week
The subtle little lighting effects, the new logo, the small lens flare on the right side. Even the sound has changed slightly. I’m a fan!
Re: Xbox To Retire Features That Don't Align With Future Plans, Starting With Copilot AI
At least this has the merit of shutting up those who claimed Aasha was there to push more AI onto consoles because of her past. When in reality, she spent most of her career in marketing and product development.
Personally, I think having some AI assistance in games isn’t a bad idea in itself, as long as it’s relevant and actually useful of course.
Re: Xbox Series X's 4K Mode Gets Resolution Increase For Gamerpics & Other Artwork
It makes the dashboard look much cleaner
Re: Xbox Reveals List Of 28 Titles With New Improvements For The ROG Xbox Ally
@Coletrain ASUS is the first to let its players benefit from the Default Game Profile, but there’s no doubt this will push other manufacturers like Logitech, Lenovo, etc., to implement it as well so they don’t fall behind and let ASUS keep that advantage alone.
Basically, Xbox provides the tools, and it’s up to the manufacturers to use them, knowing that it’s in their best interest and in the players’ best interest. For this kind of feature, it makes sense that the manufacturer is the one implementing it, since it depends on the hardware.
We can also be sure that the Default Game Profile will show up on Project Helix and other Xbox first‑party handhelds.
Re: Steam Controller Vs. Xbox Controller: What The Critics Are Saying So Far
Too expensive, not comfortable, and according to some Reddit comments, they feel very cheap. Far from matching the comfort and compatibility of Xbox controllers
Re: Microsoft Issues Xbox Email Addresses As Part Of 'Strengthening The Xbox Identity'
It doesn’t change anything concrete for players, but it’s still an additional and tangible signal that reinforces Asha’s intention to strengthen the Xbox identity.
Re: 'Working On It' - Asha Sharma Confirms Dynamic Background For New Xbox Logo Is In The Works
@Skinny-Pete yeah, I get it — I’ve got my own little obsessions sometimes too
Re: 'Working On It' - Asha Sharma Confirms Dynamic Background For New Xbox Logo Is In The Works
@Fiendish-Beaver 😂 "the way the light reflects through it" I know you liked this part... 😂
Re: 'Working On It' - Asha Sharma Confirms Dynamic Background For New Xbox Logo Is In The Works
@Skinny-Pete Of course! If you were expecting a radically different logo, that’s not the case, but I think this is not what the vast majority of players were asking for. In my opinion—and according to the general consensus—this new logo refresh is really good. The color is a callback to the original Xbox logo, and the 3D effect is a nod to the Xbox 360. Overall, it’s much more modern thanks to the glassy 3D look and the way the light reflects through it.
So in the end, it’s not just the color that’s changing — this new logo actually has personality, unlike the very flat and impersonal look of the old one