themightyant

Games… lots of games

But I’m not that excited by the Halo remake, I’ll play it, but I want NEW games. Forza Horizon 6 needs to be more than FH 4 part 3, needs new ideas. Clockwork Revolution & Fable are my most anticipated upcoming Xbox titles since Perfect Dark’s cancellation. I’d love those.

A rising tide lifts all boats... especially in an emerging market like the handheld PC space.

But the ROG Xbox Ally has been a massive advertisement for the Steam Deck as a lot of reviewers ultimately concluded... that they will be going back to their Steam Decks. I'm sure Valve saw a sales spike as a result.

My view is there are pros and cons to each system, and which you prefer will be subjective. E.g. if you are embedded in the PC Xbox ecosystem, Game Pass etc. then the Rog Xbox Ally X may be the better choice for you. But I also believe the Steam Deck is a better choice overall for a wider variety of gamers, crucially it;s also at a lower price point.

It's a shame it left after just a year. I was hoping to come back to it as Day 1 it was the buggiest mess i've played in years.

@Titntin Agreed. Though it's interesting they shared estimated sales revenue totals.

If they expect to generate $96m - $160m in sales from its Ally line this quarter, that's between 96,000 - 160,000 units of the Xbox Ally X and 160,000 - 266,667 Xbox Ally. (Though they will still sell some of the older models too)

But they also said it's the ROG Xbox Ally X (£1000) that is in demand not the £600 unit so it's likely nearer the 96k - 160k line.

Good news it's staying on Game Pass. Hopefully we get a sequel. Either way excited to see what that studio can do.

On the one hand: Not cool.

On the other: I haven't even HEARD of any of these.

@Cikajovazmaj I mean looking at many of Microsoft's other services they usually are convoluted and messy when compared to other API's. I have to deal with quite a few for work. Being a software and services company doesn't always mean your API's are easy to grasp for newcomers.

@Banjo- That's a fair point, you will always find SOMEONE willing to complain, but this is something that's been repeated several times over the years, not from one dev, which lends it credence.

@Cikajovazmaj You are right, but both are true.

Several devs have reported that Xbox dev Tools are behind the competition. Digital Foundry have discussed this and SkillUp's Patreon did a report into why people weren't publishing on Xbox and what the barriers were. One of them was difficulty with Xbox's dev tools.

In one sense he's not wrong, there is a large enough pie for everyone to have a sizeable piece. But... tell that to his overseers who won't be content with a smaller slice.

@kmtrain83 looking at Apple, and other devices, is a poor comparison, as Apple typically make a lot of profit on each device which gives them far more wiggle room to reduce profits without taking a loss. OR not upgrade systems as much each model while keeping profits the same.

What is fairer to compare is PS5 and it is odd that XSX has increased $150 since launch ($499 - $649) whereas PS5 has only increased $50 ($499 - $549). Why is this? Odd.

The obvious answer is PS5 has had a couple of internal revisions to make it cheaper to make. But if so why hasn't Xbox done the same?

Looking good. Fingers crossed it matches season 1, which was excellent.

@RexPowercolt Boo! (but thanks)

Novemeber 2027.

No I don't think one game, even GTA, will change their plans if they are ready. It will be a year between GTA6 and next-gen, assuming GTA6 isn't delayed again. Just in time for a next-gen version after 18 months or so.

Fallout London?

@Neither_scene Excellent post, agree with all of it. However I reckon the anti-cheat issue will become less of a problem over time. As more devices start to use Linux devs will likely develop workarounds that will work on these systems, they want to sell their games to as many gamers as possible, and keep them playing to buy MTX. I suspect Linux will become impossible to ignore.

@Weebleman I’m still not convinced NextBox will only run future
games as PC Versions, I still think there’s merit in having console versions with no tinkering required, games already optimised by the developer. That is a MAJOR benefit of console over PC.

I suspect Microsoft will likely also make the Xbox store PC versions more convenient with preset settings, pre-compiled shaders, cross buy, cloud saves, etc. making their PC versions more like an “it just works” console experience out of the box. Don’t discount how much people will pay for convenience.

Where Xbox might struggle however is the low budget crowd. If the neXtBox is as expensive as we expect then this will be a lot cheaper, anyone frustrated with Xbox or priced out of the ecosystem now has another reasonable option.

The Steam machine concept is very exciting in theory, but the specs leave me pretty cold. If it had released 5 years ago then maybe, but as it is on paper it looks like it will be behind current gen consoles in performance.

But more importantly with a new generation likely releasing about a year and a half after this it will be left in the dust in terms of performance shortly after release.

Perhaps i’m not the target market for this, but 8GB of VRAM just isn’t enough in 2025 for anyone wanting to play the latest games on PC. There are many PC games that struggle with just 8GB and this will only increase going forward. I realise they wanted to keep costs down but seems mad they didn’t release a higher end model imo. V2 could be very exciting though.

@You-come-to-me looking at the specs the CPU looks better than series X, the GPU looks about the same give or take, but there is only 8GB of VRAM (whereas series x has 13.5gb usable for games).

As memory and memory off bandwidth have been the issue with the series S (and lower end PC GPUs) I expect this to be the bottleneck in many cases and it to fell behind Series X, ESPECIALLY in newer games that are VRAM heavy. It should be able to AI upscale a bit better though with the newer architecture and that might just save it.

But Series X Is 5 years old and a new Xbox console will likely release less than 2 years after this releases next year, at which point it will be left far behind.

@IOI They had a MASSIVE circa-50% boost when ABK joined that isn't going to happen every time, it happens once. Though of course they would like more than 1% growth.

But also remember they bought an asset and part of the reason MS is almost a 4 trillion dollar corp is because they bought companies like ABK. They don't have to see a return just in P&L, they got a share bump too.

The problem will be price. Valve have already hinted (to Steve at Gamers Nexus) that this will be priced more like an entry level PC than a console. Considering on paper this is somewhere between a Series S and a Series X how much would you pay for it? Especially with next-gen likely less than a couple of years after this releases.

The beauty of the console model is that the hardware has typically been more affordable than a PC.

On paper it looks like it will sit somewhere between Series S and Series X on performance, though that will depend on the game and what is being stressed- CPU, GPU, Memory etc. 8GB VRAM seems a little thin for me, it might struggle on the latest titles (Indiana Jones will be a good test which really requires 12GB on Windows) and that doesn't set it up for the future that well imo. It's a shame there isn't a 12GB or 16GB model.

Price will be key. Unfortunately Steve at Gamers Nexus said Valve hinted it would be priced more like an entry level PC than a console, so expect it to be bit more than the specs alone might suggest.

@PsBoxSwitchOwner It's basically a TV based Steam Deck with slightly better specs to push to a 4K TV. But it's hardly pushing the specs. That's fine for me as I mostly only use my Steam Deck for older games I don't want to be playing the hottest AAA on a handheld.

But price will be interesting. In terms of specs it's behind current-gen consoles, maybe ahead of Series S, will it be priced in that bracket? e.g. £399.

UPDATE on PRICE. Steve at Gamers Nexus said Valve hinted this would be priced more like an entry-level PC and less like a console. So unfortunately it might look quite expensive when gauged against consoles.

@PsBoxSwitchOwner Should be pretty competitively priced, considering the specs. It's designed to play current Steam library at 4K / 60fps using AI upscaling, but will likely be 1440p in many games.

However the big question mark is the 8GB of VRAM which isn't very forwards thinking imo. NextBox should be a whole other beast... but also a LOT more expensive.

I think this is great news. At the very least it will give Microsoft a lot to think about, and some competition in the PC/console hybrid space. But this is the low-end compared to next gen consoles.

I've got the last Backbone and it's mostly brilliant. The best and most convenient mobile controller I have used. But while this seems to answer almost all my little quibbles about the Backbone (e.g. slightly larger sticks, and an Xbox button) I wouldn't pay £170 for it, that's over 3 times what I paid for mine.

I have no doubt it's a mostly good device - but for $1000 it better be! I do wonder if your view would differ had you paid $1000 for it.

The screen size is an issue, especially for text heavy games, same as when I stream to Steam Deck or mobile. If "everything is an Xbox" then Microsoft really needs to mandate adjustable UI design that will adapt to be readable on all displays, else "everything is a crippled Xbox".

Likewise their software needs a lot of work going into next gen, but I am glad they have the ROG Xbox Ally as a test run. Hopefully that will improve the experience when Next-gen drops.

But there's no doubting when it works, it works well.

Political opinions should go into op eds folks.

It's a rarity, but for once I agree with Tim Sweeney. Eurogamer crossed a line here again, I said that in their comments. Similar to them boycotting Hogwart's Legacy, not reviewing it or covering it at all, they are harming their own credibility long term.

Personally I have no skin the Arc Raiders game, I'm never going to play it, but their review is mostly extremely positive that reads, to me, like a 4/5; but then they go on an anti-AI rant and give it a 2/5.

But as a fan and supporter of that site it's disappointing.

@IOI Was ABK a terrible business decision? Microsoft's financial reports suggest not. But for consumers like us it's been a disaster.

Bungie always felt like a panic buy, in the wake of ABK, not in line with Sony's other acquisitions. But it's too early to call if it's a failure, for all we know Marathon, or more likely Destiny 3 might propel them back to the top. But right now it's looks like a bad purchase.

The dust HASN'T settled for me and many others yet as we are signed up years in advance at lower rates. That day of reckoning will come months or years from now.

But I am on Ultimate until 2028 at least. Whether I will pay £23 a month (or whatever it costs in 2028) who knows, I will make that decision when I come to it. For now I am still averaging around £5 per month.

I suspect a lot of this has to do with lack of Switch 2 devkits, as it was reported that Nintendo was very slow to get devkits to studios, especially competitors like Microsoft. Furthermore it will likely take devs a bit of time to get accustomed to Switch 2 and development for the new system will initially take longer. I suspect in due course Xbox games will appear on Switch 2

That's because it runs like arse (especially on PC) and is breaking people's saves. An overpriced, shoddy release that feels like a cash grab.

Not for me personally, but it was a smart decision by Microsoft.

I don't believe the Series S has really 'held back' the Series X as some like to bleet, it just means the Series S version is lower resolution, lower framerate, and lower details than it could have been v XSX. I think there's literally been a handful of games where it was an issue. e.g. BG3 split screen.

Instead having a larger player base on Xbox, BECAUSE there was the lower prices Series S, has been an advantage, not a disadvantage, to Series X owners.

When she says "middle", she almost certainly means before it is discontinued and has little relation to next gen timings. E.g. PS4 was discontinued in Japan in 2024, but is still in production and supported elsewhere. I'd expect similar with PS5.

I'd also still expect PS6 in November 2027.

Series X is an utterly brilliant bit of hardware, marginally let down by some pretty average software. E.g. the OS is stuffed with ads and has enough features that should be great, like quick resume, but that frequently don’t quite work as intended.

For a software company Microsoft really needs to improve this side of things especially next gen where they seem to be merging with PC. If the ROG Xbox ally was a preview of things to come then there is a LOT of work still to do to have a smooth streamlined experience.

Regardless these software gripes are mostly minor and Series X is a brilliant device overall, been happy with my purchase since day 1.

@RiverGenie thanks for the list, very little of interest for me there, certainly not enough to buy the pack.

@Fiendish-Beaver Cyberpunk is an interesting one because I don't think they ever would have delayed yet again to release 2+ years later. It might have had another delay of another 3-6 months at most and wouldn't have been in much better shape.

At which point I have to wonder how much of the additional work was down to them being determined to improve the game, and crucially their reputation, after all the bad press.

My point is: did we ultimately get a better game because of the bad press at release. We will never know, but it wouldn't surprise me.

@Kezelpaso It's low-key maddening. Much like Dishonored 2 being the only game in the series not running at 60fps on Xbox. Sort it out Microsoft.

Just remake Modern Warfare 3 you cowards! (X360 game)

They did MW1 & MW2 remastered, but then left the trilogy hanging.

@Striker21 That would only work if subscription costs keep going up. I suspect most users given a choice would be happier for games to leave the service periodically rather than costs go up even more than they have.

@Lucylu1983 most Game Pass contracts are in years. But there are a few exceptions. (Especially Rockstar games)

OT2 was added in March 2025 so it’s unlikely it will disappear this month. Feb/March 2026 far more likely or longer.

@Weebleman I agree that is the most logical and likely situation, but Microsoft doesn't always follow logic and I still think there is an outside chance they might run both while they transition.

@Weebleman that hasn’t been confirmed. It’s possible the next Xbox plays BOTH Xbox versions of games AND PC versions to cover both bases.

@IOI not sure why Campaign Evolved should spark the end of Infinite updates as it doesn’t have multiplayer. But this is likely code that they have something else cooking, possibly also for the anniversary.

Seems pretty dirty to leak the news of your old team.

Sharing saves between Xbox and Steam was not a step I thought I’d see. Very interested to see how this goes and if it’s used much.

@Krzzystuff I'd put good money on GTA delaying again to early 2027, so hitting before Nov would be safer!

@Tdx HIGHLY unlikely they are waiting for next gen, as they need a large player base to buy the game, that isn’t going to be on a new console. Whether it runs well on this gen? Who knows, but it’ll probably be 30fps.

Predictable. I’d expect it in 2027.