Nothing masively of interest this year, Fable might have legs but I can't see it landing in 2015 and I would still say its a coin toss as to if the game is any good. F1 was average But I personally felt the sequels lost interest as the time period moved forward. I have enjoyed the comedic tone of these trailers tho so hoping it lands on the side of decent.
For future releases Blade should be succesful providing its done well, it has the marvel tag whic will help but I worry it will land before the MCU film which would limited how aware of the character younger fans are. Elder Scrolls 6 is still probably a few years out but I am not convinced Todd has the ability to create something thats hold up to the earlier games.
The main "MS" game on the horizon for myself is WoW: Mist of Pandaria Classic but im not sure you can call anything pre War Within MS, even if they do now own Blizzard.
I can see GP having less and less Third Party games as they are replaced with First Party from the studios they now own, and it would make sense. If they slower filter it down to first party then they get it to a point where GP can be made available for all platforms, and the perk of it on Xbox is just some additional functionality.
@fatpunkslim he repeatedly emphasizes that their priority is above all on the cloud and PC, and on their own ecosystem: "Not every screen is equal", because that's where it brings in the most.
As usual I feel you are reaching hard to simply have the statement mean only what you want it to mean, and not read it in the more realistic light. He mentions cloud once in that full statement and immediately follows up with "But games should be the thing that we’re focused on." They will always support their own platform and you may get some additional benefits on that platform, but in Phil's own words the focus is on the games.
People picked up on the transition to Publisher first, Hardware second a long time ago and everything continues to point in this direction. Its the tactic that has gotten MS where they are today, and the bean counters will not treat their gaming division any differently.
You keep mentioning this 4 year rule because it fits the narrative you are telling yourself, but its only applicable to one game that was most likely held on to longer because is was a tentpole IP. Hifi-Rush was 14m, Pentiment was 15m, Indy will be around 6m, plenty of future games are Day 1.. there are no red lines. Add in that they are now going to include all logos for transparency. Do you honestly believe that when they stick a PS logo on FH6 they are doing it to say this will arrive 4 years in the future.
@OldGamer999 I think with the Pro being aimed at the enthusiasts they are much less likely to care about replacing it in 2/3 years. I think the bigger issue will be the larger base of casual users on both consoles who expect a device to last them longer than 6 years.
@GuyinPA75 What I have always said, we know what studios are working on roughly but don't need loads of info years in advance. Some of the best received games are because they come out of the blue and are instantly ready for purchasing.
Blue Prince grabbed my interest because the room tiles looked like Board Game tiles. It made me think of Betrayal at House on the Hill so looking forward to how it plays out.
@Banjo- but that also works both ways such as when multiple versions of IGN rate a game higher. You can't just complain when it doesnt go your way.
I was expecting 80-85 and its currrently sitting at 80 which is a perfectly good score, so the game has done well. No need to tarnish the success with conspiracy theories about review taxes
@Coletrain The thing is who are you to decide if the game needs it or not. You can decide that for yourself but not for the entire industry.
Its a £10 upgrade for those who already own the game so if they want to buy it they can, if not they are not being forced to. This is not the Warcraft 3 scenario where the remaster actually bricked the original games functionality.
I see this a bit like The Last of US. I played 1 years back on the PS3 but never got around to number 2 as my backlog was huge. Now my backlog is clearer and I wanted to play the game, ahead of season 2, and I appreciated that as a new player I was able to buy TLoU 2 remastered as its the latest version.
Thats the whole point, if you have played the game you can choose to upgrade or ignore it, you lose nothing. If you haven't you can get the most current version, or if you really want the old version just grab a disc copy since their are plenty available.
The only thing that is questionable is removing the old version from the digital stores completely in favour of the latest version. Just leave both versions up and let people choose.
Not sure why this is being compared to the Dev Direct as they are completely different types of show. One is a deep dive into games and the other is rapid fire trailer trailers with maybe an extra minute of talking.
Personally I though this was very good and there was 8-10 games shown that I am interested in so good times all round for the future of gaming.
@Coletrain And a days gone remaster? Who's that for?
You can insert any game title you want into that comment. Just because you are not interested doesn't mean no one is.
@PsBoxSwitchOwner I think you need to upgrade it to a complete set of Tinfoil Armour with the level of absurdity going on about Xbox taxes.
Clearly every reviewer, including the reviewers right here at PX, are part of some global conspiracy to knock 2 points off every xbox review score. Even Wikipedia are in on the action now 😂
The one I would rate is probably Valheim as for £7.74 thats a real steal for anyone who enjoys that style of survival gather and build game. Plus that game deserves so much love for being built by a team of 4 people and going on to take the PC community by storm over how fun it was.
@Millionski Yeah Sekiro was Activision and i imagine its 50% because the game has managed to hold its price somehow. Personally I would rate it as froms worst offering tho, it just really did not click with me at all and is a real mess in places with the game feeling like its at odds with itself.
Game looks interesting, just a shame its such a blatent Gundam rip off. Having built Gun-Pla and looking at the mechs you can see elements of them are basically identical. No issue with drawing inspiration but they should have probably blended it with other sources like Evangelion / Kuromukuro / Front Mission for a more unique look.
Now lets just see if this gets the same sort of feedback here that Black Myth Wukong got. Something tells me there will be far less conspiracy theories this time around.
@Isolte Exactly this, its the precedent behind the behaviour. If it was 1 month early, with limited access for testing at a reduced price then thats okay. This 5 day EA fomo however is no different than microtransactions, looot boxes or any other shady practice to just designed to get more money out of consumers.
If GTA6 decided to launch at £100 for the standard edition and have microtransactions galore in the store for skins and vehicles it would still sell loads. People can choose how they spend their money, but that in no way means we shouldn't also be calling out companies for bad practices.
@mac_da_man Early access charges are the biggest joke of the generation and a con to boot. 5 Days makes no difference in terms of actual release, so it should be play it Day 6 on GPU**
@Dimey They kinda confirmed it with the cheeky smile imo, it will be out soon. I think the only reason we are getting slight delays at the moment is they have a large back catalogue to port and and by spreading it out they generate regular revenue throughout the year. Its the smart move for now.
@K1LLEGAL Thats a really good point you make about Deathloop. Between Betheda and the ABK merger they are seeing just how much more they make on PS than they do on their own platform. When you factor in that they are last place for console sales, and that nearly all PC users use steam not a MS platform for games its a no brainer as what they gain selling everywhere vastly outweight any negatives or upset caused to their fanbase.
As for the other guy I would just ignore him in future as he insists on stating his opinions as fact, whilst telling everyone else their opinions are just that.
@Isolte @Titntin Im in a similar boat of having a good pc, but find myself gravitating more and more to the console. For me its the C3 OLED thats making the difference as it really changes games up in such a major way.
Currently replaying TLoU Part 1 and the dark areas on an OLED panel make the whole experience so much better. If steam make a nice small PC console that I can stick under the TV then that will probably be the best of both worlds.
@TheEstablishment In that scenario MS wouldn't care at all and it wouldn't tarnish their reputation in any meaningful way. You are talking about of the bigget publishers around now, who also happen to be practically competition free in the PC space. it would be like apple doing something shady and expecting everyone to suddenly boycott their products.
Less than 5% of the total gaming would be affected and actually care so MS would not even flinch at those numbers.
@OldGamer999 I mentioned it on the other post but the problem with timed exclusivity is how small the Xbox share of the pie really is if you are commiting to bringing games to all platforms anyway.
Looking at current sales of Switch / PS5 / X-S the Xbox makes up 12% of those. If the plan is for games like Halo / Gears / Forza / Doom / Elders Scrolls to be on all platforms in future then it makes no sense to only offer it to a tiny % of consumers on launch and the rest 6 months later. the initial sales hype will have died down and real feedback starts appearing. There are plenty of examples of games being hyped, for it to be quickly tempered when players actually got their hands on the game.
And at present its an issue that mainly hurts MS because they are in last place. Sony and Nintendo can keep playing the game, MS has to adapt and once the top brass get a taste of that increased income they wont be walking back from it.
@Kaloudz I would agree MS are trying to redefine their identity hence the everything is an Xbox campaign. However I think they have forgotten that the brand identity is not what you say it is, its what the consumers view it as. Right now I can't see them being able to convince people xbox no longer means the hardware when thats exactly what its meant for 23 years.
@Fiendish-Beaver As things progress I would say its going to be more likely that games will be day and date on all consoles. Xbox lost last gen and that has trickled down into an abyssmal showing for them this gen. 32 million units is nothing to scoff at, but MS themselves will not be happy with those numbers.
As the gap continues to widen I think it will be a very hard sell to explain to shareholders why you are making titles like FH6 available to 12% of your potential market on day one. Its not going to convince people to swap platform, it will only risk losing initial sales whilst titles are still hot.
@HonestHick I would still disagree with you on that front. What fans are calling for is that the studios be left to create games that align with their expertise, rather than the everything must be live service push which happened a few years back.
No one is saying we don't ever want another multiplayer game. they are asking why where studios like Bluepoint where working on a live service GoW rather than just doing something in their wheelhouse.
@HonestHick The idea that PS gamers prefer single player games is such tired nonsense, IF it was true then why are sales and download charts still dominated by multiplayer games. Why did COD6 still sell incredibly well on PS if they all prefer single player games, its just a silly narrative.
The only reason the likes of Killzone and other franchises fell off is that they cannot compete with the juggernauts like COD / Battlefield and even free to play stuff like fortnite now. Those frnachise can bring out games / content so rapidly that smaller entries simply are not able to compete, regardless of how many platforms they target.
Simpy put its not even worth trying to compete in that area, when Horizon is a much easier way to print money with little competition.
@UndyingInsurgent95 Its a great game overall and one I would say most people should try. Its also better now as they added some extra endings over time. If You played either of the Divinity Original Sin games then this is similar but more refined.
Series S is a great little machine that allows people a very cheap way to play games if you are happy with limitations in frame rate / resolution. All they need to do is offer more support when games are struggling with the lower specs.
BG3 was a once in a generation game and the delay on SX due to the SS version being delayed had to hurt sales. Same with BMW where you had a game that sold like hotcakes but the SS issues meant the SX version was delayed and by the time it launches the hype for the game will be all but gone.
They want parity and have to stick with it or Devs will just get lazy and target the SX, but it also has cost them with some big hitters.
@fatpunkslim If you watch the full interview without the jump cut then the emphasis is on the past tense, not all games that have shipped will transition which makes sense. Future games will also be measured by success, if they are popular they will get the multiplat treatment. Overall however more games will be going over to PS and Nintendo and they will continue to support PC.
He then back this up by saying its why they want to be measured not by console sales going forward but instead use metrics like players and engagement.
Fact is MS is going the publisher route, their focus is now on the games. Consoles will exist, TV apps will exist, but selling games accross every platform is for now their focus.
@Rog-X They have just said the exact opposite in that it doesn't suit them going forward. So even with the new consoles its more and more likely that we will see everything day 1 being on the competition.
Xbox will be Day 1 (3-5) on Gamepass PS / Switch will be Day 1 with early access fee bolt on.
Proper early access is how BG3 did it, £30 for access to Act 1 for over a year as they developed the game and added new stuff. You received a 50% discount for testing the game early.
This modern practise of early access is the scummiest thing to come out this generation. 3-5 days is not early access, its not for bug testing, server loads or for anything other than grifting people due to FOMO.
This constant narrative that only PS fans are questioning Xbox future is getting tiring. Plenty of people here who own a series console have also announced concern a how MS is performing this generation due to decreased Console sales, and putting games elsewhere.
Microsoft Gaming are doing incredibly well but its clear that the console has suffered this gen, and without the console GP will suffer or need to change. Personally I could see GP becoming a 1st party sub only and that could persuade Nintendo / Sony to allow it on their platforms as the console is no longer a threat.
@Millionski I could see Gamepass slowly expanding the pay for early access over time as well. It would not take long for them to expand the £30 early access period from 5 days to 2 weeks and people are already paying for it. Making the gap longer and throwing in fomo mixed with reasons like "its half price / i'm paying for future DLC" and it will push more money their way.
Its probably my least favourite trend from this generation but I can only see it getting worse a way to recoup some cash
@fatpunkslim People keep mentioning the idea of Steam being available on Xbox but there has been no proof and I just don't see it happening. It would cannibalise their own storefront and just funnel money towards valve.
Its wishful thinking just because someone suggested it would be a clever workaround to get PS games on Xbox.
@Tasuki I mean sure if you want to ignore the devs who themselves have admitted that heroic and mythic encounters are designed knowing that people use addons and they have to inflate difficulty inline with that to keep players interested or the game would be to easy. Its not gate keeping or elitist its just the way the game has evolved, because addons happened and the genie is out of the bottle now. Sure you can play the game using LFD/ LFR at the lowest difficulty levels without any extras but if you want to play at the higher end then, yes that stuff is basically mandatory.
Again this is something FF14 worked around by simply never allowing WoW style addons, but if you tried to take them out of WoW now players would simply leave.
@Tasuki As a WoW player of 20 years I would say the main thing stopping them is that the game is simply not designed for console. The biggest problem with WoW over the years is its been tuned up and up with every expansion from a relatively slow 1-2 button rotation, to high apm intensense encounters where gameplay almost mandates the use of Addons, Weak Aura and Macros. You can play with out them but frankly its going to be a miserable time, and you will be playing at a disadvantage for any competitive play . As @WildConcept6 has suggested I think any version of WoW on Xbox would have be altered quite a lot to exist as a console only version because I don't think MS would be happy allowing the addons that PC WoW requires. That would require such a monumental effort with its own team, and frankly Blizz are pretty poor at keeping up with what they already have going on.
Sure they could go the Classic route and just release classic WoW but players would want to advance and at that point you start hitting the problems that advanced WoW brough to the game.
EDIT: I should add even if they could do Classic I don't know how popular it would be outside of PC because Classic is so dated it relies heavily on nostalgia to make it decent.
FF14 gets around the WoW issue because from the get go it was designed with console in mind which is why it has a longer GCD, highly telegraphed boss fights that are repetative dances, rather than heavy RNG based encounters.
Its a great game but I just don't see it making its way to console any time soon if only for the work and cost required to make it work.
@Millionski I am in agreement that 1year won't make much difference from a technical point. On that ground for me 2028 should be the next generation of consoles for both parties.
I do however think it makes a difference from an emotional standpoint. MS cutting their losses and trying to jump start the next generation early because they failed to meet expectations is a kick in your bits for customers who put faith in the series only for it to be cut short.
2026 Feels far to early and imo would be a kick in the teeth for anyone who bought into the series ecosystem expecting the standard generational cadence, especially when you factor in the diminishing returns of each generation.
Q4 2027 ready for christmas would be the earliest they should release imo.
@Cikajovazmaj I don't think there has been any data outside of really vague statements like "Biggest single day increase of gamepass users" when COD launched but in reality unless those subs are sticking around, which they are probably not long term, then its kinda meaningless. The number has been sitting pretty stagnent for a long time now (around 33m) and had it seen any real growth they would be shouting out numbers from the rooftops to show platform growth.
Even if they are getting some users via other devices, which they will be. Its certainly not making up the difference for the 5:1 ratio on console sales in November.
As many others I think they jumped on the Streaming idea 10 years to early and its probably going to hurt them into the next generation also.
@Weebleman The point is by adding in "other companies" he made it a loaded statement and that was intentional. He could easily have just said "no comment" with further expanding on it to make it sound exactly like a hidden message.
@Weebleman Whilst i agree that Phil did not technically lie, there is no denying that he chose his words to purposefully throw a grenade out there and cast doubt on the whole situation. Likely because it was happening a few times in close successsion, and so its right that people are now calling him out for it.
@ValentineMeikin Their has been lots of similar stories of smaller devs all saying MS simply doesn't give them the same level of support as they would the bigger names like Capcom. Recently a dev publicly shamed them just to get a response faster.
@nomither6 if they try to make one that's like a pic then yeah I agree. I would suggest they go the same route as sonny and just stick to one locked to their own platform. I think a Xbox device simply called Xbox Go that uses the same dash, allows the same games from your library can be used as a controller etc has enough benefits without it trying to compete with a Windows pad and being over complicated
@nomither6 I get the idea, but I just don't see a place for it. For a PC lite console, I think Steam will probably beat them to the punch and produce something better, cheaper and more open source.
In general if the industry does keep heading towards PC then I would say Steam is the one to watch for as its the ultimate digital library.
@nomither6 Buying a Xbox branded PC would basically defeat the whole purpose of moving to PC where you have a greater choice of components and suppliers to choose from.
You would just be paying double the price for parts that any local company could stick together, which likely better support and service.
@abe_hikura For me its also the fact that the video is saying how it builds on the XBOX brand, but then he talks about Gamepass, xcloud etc. Not XBOX Gamepasss, just gamepass. In the same way we have people always hyping up micrsoft gaming, not XBOX gaming.
everyone talks about boosting the brand but everything is tied to not actually using the brand name they are wanting to boost. The biggest issue with Xbox as I said in another thread is the core brand of Xbox which is just not as well known as playstation.
Comments 360
Re: Here's A Look At The Updated Xbox Studios Roadmap For 2025 & Beyond
@LogicStrikesAgain Just published by them as far as I can see. Seems out of place on that list however if that the case.
EDIT: Isn't OD the same, Kojima game just publisher by MS
Re: Here's A Look At The Updated Xbox Studios Roadmap For 2025 & Beyond
Nothing masively of interest this year, Fable might have legs but I can't see it landing in 2015 and I would still say its a coin toss as to if the game is any good. F1 was average But I personally felt the sequels lost interest as the time period moved forward. I have enjoyed the comedic tone of these trailers tho so hoping it lands on the side of decent.
For future releases Blade should be succesful providing its done well, it has the marvel tag whic will help but I worry it will land before the MCU film which would limited how aware of the character younger fans are. Elder Scrolls 6 is still probably a few years out but I am not convinced Todd has the ability to create something thats hold up to the earlier games.
The main "MS" game on the horizon for myself is WoW: Mist of Pandaria Classic but im not sure you can call anything pre War Within MS, even if they do now own Blizzard.
Re: Just One Game Is Confirmed For Xbox Game Pass In March 2025 So Far
I can see GP having less and less Third Party games as they are replaced with First Party from the studios they now own, and it would make sense. If they slower filter it down to first party then they get it to a point where GP can be made available for all platforms, and the perk of it on Xbox is just some additional functionality.
Re: Phil Spencer Says Xbox Is Done Trying To Convince PS5 & Switch Players To Move Over
@fatpunkslim he repeatedly emphasizes that their priority is above all on the cloud and PC, and on their own ecosystem: "Not every screen is equal", because that's where it brings in the most.
As usual I feel you are reaching hard to simply have the statement mean only what you want it to mean, and not read it in the more realistic light. He mentions cloud once in that full statement and immediately follows up with "But games should be the thing that we’re focused on." They will always support their own platform and you may get some additional benefits on that platform, but in Phil's own words the focus is on the games.
People picked up on the transition to Publisher first, Hardware second a long time ago and everything continues to point in this direction. Its the tactic that has gotten MS where they are today, and the bean counters will not treat their gaming division any differently.
You keep mentioning this 4 year rule because it fits the narrative you are telling yourself, but its only applicable to one game that was most likely held on to longer because is was a tentpole IP. Hifi-Rush was 14m, Pentiment was 15m, Indy will be around 6m, plenty of future games are Day 1.. there are no red lines. Add in that they are now going to include all logos for transparency. Do you honestly believe that when they stick a PS logo on FH6 they are doing it to say this will arrive 4 years in the future.
Re: Xbox Game Pass Hit Indiana Jones Scoops Up Multiple DICE Awards
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Re: Xbox Reporter Says Series X|S Successor Has Been 'Fully Approved' By Microsoft
@OldGamer999 I think with the Pro being aimed at the enthusiasts they are much less likely to care about replacing it in 2/3 years. I think the bigger issue will be the larger base of casual users on both consoles who expect a device to last them longer than 6 years.
Re: Two Xbox Game Pass Titles Have Received Significant Delays This Week
@GuyinPA75 What I have always said, we know what studios are working on roughly but don't need loads of info years in advance. Some of the best received games are because they come out of the blue and are instantly ready for purchasing.
Re: Two Games Announced For Xbox Game Pass Following PlayStation's State Of Play Event
Blue Prince grabbed my interest because the room tiles looked like Board Game tiles. It made me think of Betrayal at House on the Hill so looking forward to how it plays out.
Re: Avowed Review Roundup: Here's What The Critics Think So Far
@Banjo- but that also works both ways such as when multiple versions of IGN rate a game higher. You can't just complain when it doesnt go your way.
I was expecting 80-85 and its currrently sitting at 80 which is a perfectly good score, so the game has done well. No need to tarnish the success with conspiracy theories about review taxes
Re: Roundup: All The Xbox Reveals From February 2025's State Of Play
@Coletrain The thing is who are you to decide if the game needs it or not. You can decide that for yourself but not for the entire industry.
Its a £10 upgrade for those who already own the game so if they want to buy it they can, if not they are not being forced to. This is not the Warcraft 3 scenario where the remaster actually bricked the original games functionality.
I see this a bit like The Last of US. I played 1 years back on the PS3 but never got around to number 2 as my backlog was huge. Now my backlog is clearer and I wanted to play the game, ahead of season 2, and I appreciated that as a new player I was able to buy TLoU 2 remastered as its the latest version.
Thats the whole point, if you have played the game you can choose to upgrade or ignore it, you lose nothing. If you haven't you can get the most current version, or if you really want the old version just grab a disc copy since their are plenty available.
The only thing that is questionable is removing the old version from the digital stores completely in favour of the latest version. Just leave both versions up and let people choose.
Re: Roundup: All The Xbox Reveals From February 2025's State Of Play
Not sure why this is being compared to the Dev Direct as they are completely different types of show. One is a deep dive into games and the other is rapid fire trailer trailers with maybe an extra minute of talking.
Personally I though this was very good and there was 8-10 games shown that I am interested in so good times all round for the future of gaming.
@Coletrain And a days gone remaster? Who's that for?
You can insert any game title you want into that comment. Just because you are not interested doesn't mean no one is.
Re: Poll: What Kind Of Review Scores Are You Predicting For Avowed?
@PsBoxSwitchOwner I think you need to upgrade it to a complete set of Tinfoil Armour with the level of absurdity going on about Xbox taxes.
Clearly every reviewer, including the reviewers right here at PX, are part of some global conspiracy to knock 2 points off every xbox review score. Even Wikipedia are in on the action now 😂
Re: Poll: What Kind Of Review Scores Are You Predicting For Avowed?
Once again, Xbox Tax is not a thing. Its just a convienient excuse when games don't land in the 90's
I see this being low to mid eighties which is still a good score, but won't set the world alight
Re: Deals: Our Top 10 Picks From This Week's New Xbox Sales (February 11-18)
The one I would rate is probably Valheim as for £7.74 thats a real steal for anyone who enjoys that style of survival gather and build game. Plus that game deserves so much love for being built by a team of 4 people and going on to take the PC community by storm over how fun it was.
Re: Deals: Our Top 10 Picks From This Week's New Xbox Sales (February 11-18)
@Millionski Yeah Sekiro was Activision and i imagine its 50% because the game has managed to hold its price somehow. Personally I would rate it as froms worst offering tho, it just really did not click with me at all and is a real mess in places with the game feeling like its at odds with itself.
Re: Microsoft Is Assisting Development On Xbox Console Launch Exclusive 'Mecha BREAK'
Game looks interesting, just a shame its such a blatent Gundam rip off. Having built Gun-Pla and looking at the mechs you can see elements of them are basically identical. No issue with drawing inspiration but they should have probably blended it with other sources like Evangelion / Kuromukuro / Front Mission for a more unique look.
Now lets just see if this gets the same sort of feedback here that Black Myth Wukong got. Something tells me there will be far less conspiracy theories this time around.
Re: Avowed: Release Date, Release Times, Early Access Details For Xbox & PC
@Isolte Exactly this, its the precedent behind the behaviour. If it was 1 month early, with limited access for testing at a reduced price then thats okay. This 5 day EA fomo however is no different than microtransactions, looot boxes or any other shady practice to just designed to get more money out of consumers.
If GTA6 decided to launch at £100 for the standard edition and have microtransactions galore in the store for skins and vehicles it would still sell loads. People can choose how they spend their money, but that in no way means we shouldn't also be calling out companies for bad practices.
Re: Avowed: Release Date, Release Times, Early Access Details For Xbox & PC
@mac_da_man Early access charges are the biggest joke of the generation and a con to boot. 5 Days makes no difference in terms of actual release, so it should be play it Day 6 on GPU**
**Day 1 available with a £20 fee
Re: Avowed Has A 60FPS Mode On Xbox Series X, Confirms Obsidian
@Dimey They kinda confirmed it with the cheeky smile imo, it will be out soon. I think the only reason we are getting slight delays at the moment is they have a large back catalogue to port and and by spreading it out they generate regular revenue throughout the year. Its the smart move for now.
Re: Talking Point: It's Been A Year Since Phil Spencer Announced The 'Xbox Business Update' Event
@K1LLEGAL Thats a really good point you make about Deathloop. Between Betheda and the ABK merger they are seeing just how much more they make on PS than they do on their own platform. When you factor in that they are last place for console sales, and that nearly all PC users use steam not a MS platform for games its a no brainer as what they gain selling everywhere vastly outweight any negatives or upset caused to their fanbase.
As for the other guy I would just ignore him in future as he insists on stating his opinions as fact, whilst telling everyone else their opinions are just that.
Re: Two More Xbox First-Party Games Are Moving To PS5 In 2025
@Isolte @Titntin Im in a similar boat of having a good pc, but find myself gravitating more and more to the console. For me its the C3 OLED thats making the difference as it really changes games up in such a major way.
Currently replaying TLoU Part 1 and the dark areas on an OLED panel make the whole experience so much better. If steam make a nice small PC console that I can stick under the TV then that will probably be the best of both worlds.
Re: Former PlayStation Exec Says 'The Game Is Changing' As Xbox Goes Multiplatform
@TheEstablishment In that scenario MS wouldn't care at all and it wouldn't tarnish their reputation in any meaningful way. You are talking about of the bigget publishers around now, who also happen to be practically competition free in the PC space. it would be like apple doing something shady and expecting everyone to suddenly boycott their products.
Less than 5% of the total gaming would be affected and actually care so MS would not even flinch at those numbers.
Re: Halo PS5 Rumours Resurface Following Forza Horizon 5 Announcement
@OldGamer999 I mentioned it on the other post but the problem with timed exclusivity is how small the Xbox share of the pie really is if you are commiting to bringing games to all platforms anyway.
Looking at current sales of Switch / PS5 / X-S the Xbox makes up 12% of those. If the plan is for games like Halo / Gears / Forza / Doom / Elders Scrolls to be on all platforms in future then it makes no sense to only offer it to a tiny % of consumers on launch and the rest 6 months later. the initial sales hype will have died down and real feedback starts appearing. There are plenty of examples of games being hyped, for it to be quickly tempered when players actually got their hands on the game.
And at present its an issue that mainly hurts MS because they are in last place. Sony and Nintendo can keep playing the game, MS has to adapt and once the top brass get a taste of that increased income they wont be walking back from it.
Re: Forza Horizon 5 Officially Announced For PS5, Drifts Over In Spring 2025
@Kaloudz I would agree MS are trying to redefine their identity hence the everything is an Xbox campaign. However I think they have forgotten that the brand identity is not what you say it is, its what the consumers view it as. Right now I can't see them being able to convince people xbox no longer means the hardware when thats exactly what its meant for 23 years.
@Fiendish-Beaver As things progress I would say its going to be more likely that games will be day and date on all consoles. Xbox lost last gen and that has trickled down into an abyssmal showing for them this gen. 32 million units is nothing to scoff at, but MS themselves will not be happy with those numbers.
As the gap continues to widen I think it will be a very hard sell to explain to shareholders why you are making titles like FH6 available to 12% of your potential market on day one. Its not going to convince people to swap platform, it will only risk losing initial sales whilst titles are still hot.
Re: Xbox Has 'Right Approach' To Exclusives & PlayStation May Follow, Suggests Ori Dev
@HonestHick I would still disagree with you on that front. What fans are calling for is that the studios be left to create games that align with their expertise, rather than the everything must be live service push which happened a few years back.
No one is saying we don't ever want another multiplayer game. they are asking why where studios like Bluepoint where working on a live service GoW rather than just doing something in their wheelhouse.
Re: All New Xbox Games Coming Out In February 2025
Kingdom Come Deliverence II is probably the standout on that list for myself.
Avowed has potential to scratch that Elder Scrolls itch but I need to see more when it drops and the review embargo is lifted.
Re: Xbox Has 'Right Approach' To Exclusives & PlayStation May Follow, Suggests Ori Dev
@HonestHick The idea that PS gamers prefer single player games is such tired nonsense, IF it was true then why are sales and download charts still dominated by multiplayer games. Why did COD6 still sell incredibly well on PS if they all prefer single player games, its just a silly narrative.
The only reason the likes of Killzone and other franchises fell off is that they cannot compete with the juggernauts like COD / Battlefield and even free to play stuff like fortnite now. Those frnachise can bring out games / content so rapidly that smaller entries simply are not able to compete, regardless of how many platforms they target.
Simpy put its not even worth trying to compete in that area, when Horizon is a much easier way to print money with little competition.
Re: Baldur's Gate 3 Adding Split-Screen On Xbox Series S, More Than A Year After Release
@UndyingInsurgent95 Its a great game overall and one I would say most people should try. Its also better now as they added some extra endings over time. If You played either of the Divinity Original Sin games then this is similar but more refined.
Re: Xbox Boss Dismisses Idea Of Removing The Series S Parity Clause
Series S is a great little machine that allows people a very cheap way to play games if you are happy with limitations in frame rate / resolution. All they need to do is offer more support when games are struggling with the lower specs.
BG3 was a once in a generation game and the delay on SX due to the SS version being delayed had to hurt sales. Same with BMW where you had a game that sold like hotcakes but the SS issues meant the SX version was delayed and by the time it launches the hype for the game will be all but gone.
They want parity and have to stick with it or Devs will just get lazy and target the SX, but it also has cost them with some big hitters.
Re: Phil Spencer Shares His Aspirations For Xbox Before He Reaches Retirement
@fatpunkslim If you watch the full interview without the jump cut then the emphasis is on the past tense, not all games that have shipped will transition which makes sense. Future games will also be measured by success, if they are popular they will get the multiplat treatment. Overall however more games will be going over to PS and Nintendo and they will continue to support PC.
He then back this up by saying its why they want to be measured not by console sales going forward but instead use metrics like players and engagement.
Fact is MS is going the publisher route, their focus is now on the games. Consoles will exist, TV apps will exist, but selling games accross every platform is for now their focus.
Re: Xbox Is 'Evolving' Rather Than 'Losing' Its Identity, Says Phil Spencer
@Rog-X They have just said the exact opposite in that it doesn't suit them going forward. So even with the new consoles its more and more likely that we will see everything day 1 being on the competition.
Xbox will be Day 1 (3-5) on Gamepass
PS / Switch will be Day 1 with early access fee bolt on.
Re: Poll: Are You Buying The 'Early Access' Upgrade For Avowed?
Proper early access is how BG3 did it, £30 for access to Act 1 for over a year as they developed the game and added new stuff. You received a 50% discount for testing the game early.
This modern practise of early access is the scummiest thing to come out this generation. 3-5 days is not early access, its not for bug testing, server loads or for anything other than grifting people due to FOMO.
Re: Xbox Will Continue To Ship More Games On PlayStation And Nintendo
This constant narrative that only PS fans are questioning Xbox future is getting tiring. Plenty of people here who own a series console have also announced concern a how MS is performing this generation due to decreased Console sales, and putting games elsewhere.
Microsoft Gaming are doing incredibly well but its clear that the console has suffered this gen, and without the console GP will suffer or need to change. Personally I could see GP becoming a 1st party sub only and that could persuade Nintendo / Sony to allow it on their platforms as the console is no longer a threat.
Re: Reaction: Xbox's Killer January Showcase Proves That Its Games Pipeline Is Finally Ready
Clair Obscur may tempt me down the line but other than that there was nothing on show that would make me rush out to buy on Day 1.
Not saying they are bad, just nothing that interests me.
Re: Six Games Will Leave Xbox Game Pass In Late January 2025
Maquette is a great little story puzzler game for anyone who has not yet tried it. Its short so plenty of time to finish before it leaves.
Re: Rumour: Microsoft Reportedly Chose Buying Studios Over 'Winding Down' Xbox In 2021
@Millionski I could see Gamepass slowly expanding the pay for early access over time as well. It would not take long for them to expand the £30 early access period from 5 days to 2 weeks and people are already paying for it. Making the gap longer and throwing in fomo mixed with reasons like "its half price / i'm paying for future DLC" and it will push more money their way.
Its probably my least favourite trend from this generation but I can only see it getting worse a way to recoup some cash
Re: Microsoft's 'VP Of Next-Gen' Seems To Think That Xbox Console Hardware Isn't Under Threat
@fatpunkslim People keep mentioning the idea of Steam being available on Xbox but there has been no proof and I just don't see it happening. It would cannibalise their own storefront and just funnel money towards valve.
Its wishful thinking just because someone suggested it would be a clever workaround to get PS games on Xbox.
Re: Xbox's Big Surprise For Developer Direct Is Reportedly A Legendary Japanese IP
I can't see it being anything from Square or Capcom, anything big from those two would likely get its own showing rather than an Xbox event.
I reckon it will be far less major than what people are expecting, possibly a large IP but maybe not a traditional game IP
Re: Just One Game Is Confirmed For Xbox Game Pass In February 2025 So Far
The world was a little weak imo from the Pillars games so hopefully they make it interesting in this one. Will see how it goes.
Edit: Should say hoping it will be good, just not convinced by the world.
Re: Soapbox: I Can't Wait To See What Xbox Does With Activision This Year
@Tasuki I mean sure if you want to ignore the devs who themselves have admitted that heroic and mythic encounters are designed knowing that people use addons and they have to inflate difficulty inline with that to keep players interested or the game would be to easy. Its not gate keeping or elitist its just the way the game has evolved, because addons happened and the genie is out of the bottle now. Sure you can play the game using LFD/ LFR at the lowest difficulty levels without any extras but if you want to play at the higher end then, yes that stuff is basically mandatory.
Again this is something FF14 worked around by simply never allowing WoW style addons, but if you tried to take them out of WoW now players would simply leave.
Re: Soapbox: I Can't Wait To See What Xbox Does With Activision This Year
@Tasuki As a WoW player of 20 years I would say the main thing stopping them is that the game is simply not designed for console. The biggest problem with WoW over the years is its been tuned up and up with every expansion from a relatively slow 1-2 button rotation, to high apm intensense encounters where gameplay almost mandates the use of Addons, Weak Aura and Macros. You can play with out them but frankly its going to be a miserable time, and you will be playing at a disadvantage for any competitive play . As @WildConcept6 has suggested I think any version of WoW on Xbox would have be altered quite a lot to exist as a console only version because I don't think MS would be happy allowing the addons that PC WoW requires. That would require such a monumental effort with its own team, and frankly Blizz are pretty poor at keeping up with what they already have going on.
Sure they could go the Classic route and just release classic WoW but players would want to advance and at that point you start hitting the problems that advanced WoW brough to the game.
EDIT: I should add even if they could do Classic I don't know how popular it would be outside of PC because Classic is so dated it relies heavily on nostalgia to make it decent.
FF14 gets around the WoW issue because from the get go it was designed with console in mind which is why it has a longer GCD, highly telegraphed boss fights that are repetative dances, rather than heavy RNG based encounters.
Its a great game but I just don't see it making its way to console any time soon if only for the work and cost required to make it work.
Re: Next Xbox Console: Everything We Know So Far About Microsoft's Next-Gen System
@Millionski I am in agreement that 1year won't make much difference from a technical point. On that ground for me 2028 should be the next generation of consoles for both parties.
I do however think it makes a difference from an emotional standpoint. MS cutting their losses and trying to jump start the next generation early because they failed to meet expectations is a kick in your bits for customers who put faith in the series only for it to be cut short.
Re: Next Xbox Console: Everything We Know So Far About Microsoft's Next-Gen System
2026 Feels far to early and imo would be a kick in the teeth for anyone who bought into the series ecosystem expecting the standard generational cadence, especially when you factor in the diminishing returns of each generation.
Q4 2027 ready for christmas would be the earliest they should release imo.
Re: Xbox Series X|S Sales Estimates Show Consoles Lagging Far Behind Last-Gen
@Cikajovazmaj I don't think there has been any data outside of really vague statements like "Biggest single day increase of gamepass users" when COD launched but in reality unless those subs are sticking around, which they are probably not long term, then its kinda meaningless. The number has been sitting pretty stagnent for a long time now (around 33m) and had it seen any real growth they would be shouting out numbers from the rooftops to show platform growth.
Even if they are getting some users via other devices, which they will be. Its certainly not making up the difference for the 5:1 ratio on console sales in November.
As many others I think they jumped on the Streaming idea 10 years to early and its probably going to hurt them into the next generation also.
Re: Black Myth: Wukong's Xbox Saga Just Got A Whole Lot More Confusing
@Weebleman The point is by adding in "other companies" he made it a loaded statement and that was intentional. He could easily have just said "no comment" with further expanding on it to make it sound exactly like a hidden message.
Re: Black Myth: Wukong's Xbox Saga Just Got A Whole Lot More Confusing
@Weebleman Whilst i agree that Phil did not technically lie, there is no denying that he chose his words to purposefully throw a grenade out there and cast doubt on the whole situation. Likely because it was happening a few times in close successsion, and so its right that people are now calling him out for it.
@ValentineMeikin Their has been lots of similar stories of smaller devs all saying MS simply doesn't give them the same level of support as they would the bigger names like Capcom. Recently a dev publicly shamed them just to get a response faster.
Re: Xbox Exec Appearing At 'Future Of Gaming Handhelds' Panel Next Month
@nomither6 if they try to make one that's like a pic then yeah I agree. I would suggest they go the same route as sonny and just stick to one locked to their own platform. I think a Xbox device simply called Xbox Go that uses the same dash, allows the same games from your library can be used as a controller etc has enough benefits without it trying to compete with a Windows pad and being over complicated
Re: Xbox Exec Appearing At 'Future Of Gaming Handhelds' Panel Next Month
@nomither6 I get the idea, but I just don't see a place for it. For a PC lite console, I think Steam will probably beat them to the punch and produce something better, cheaper and more open source.
In general if the industry does keep heading towards PC then I would say Steam is the one to watch for as its the ultimate digital library.
Re: Xbox Exec Appearing At 'Future Of Gaming Handhelds' Panel Next Month
@nomither6 Buying a Xbox branded PC would basically defeat the whole purpose of moving to PC where you have a greater choice of components and suppliers to choose from.
You would just be paying double the price for parts that any local company could stick together, which likely better support and service.
Re: YouTuber Breaks Down Xbox's 'Almost Perfect' New Ad Campaign
@abe_hikura For me its also the fact that the video is saying how it builds on the XBOX brand, but then he talks about Gamepass, xcloud etc. Not XBOX Gamepasss, just gamepass. In the same way we have people always hyping up micrsoft gaming, not XBOX gaming.
everyone talks about boosting the brand but everything is tied to not actually using the brand name they are wanting to boost. The biggest issue with Xbox as I said in another thread is the core brand of Xbox which is just not as well known as playstation.