themightyant

@rhyno_888 I think that is unlikely. A game like Oxenfree 2 is comparatively low budget and can be made exclusive without losing much. But it would be madness to buy Hogwarts Legacy (for example) and then limit it only to Netflix, just like Microsoft aren't limiting studios they bought. It makes little business sense, they would literally be devaluing the asset they bought many times over.

No. It’s the only Halo campaign I’ve played just once. Going open world didn’t work. It was OK but that isn’t good enough for Halo.

It's not every game, but it is brilliant, and better than the competition. I wish they would do even more games though, especially with FPS boost and X-enhanced (increasing games to 4K@60fps)

It's pretty embarrassing to lose to the Nex Playground 3rd (whatever that is) but they didn't offer good BF pricing, so these numbers don't mean that much in isolation.

But it is part of a much wider problem where Xbox is hardly selling in any territories we have numbers for. And why would consumers bite when the prices are so much higher than the competition?

It's a shame, as at the start of the gen I was recommending families on the fence go for a Series S + Game Pass, that's a hard recommendation to make right now.

Note to self: Must try and give Eternal Strands a try.

@DeadSpace Sniper Elite: Resistance

This is the model that isn’t selling, and I’m not surprised it’s underpowered for the price, very small slice of an already niche market.

@Fiendish-Beaver It's pretty even. According to Pure Xbox's list it's 155 on console, 163 on PC. But then why does console cost so much more than PC for day 1 games?

As for the 75 day 1 games, I expect it will be like it usually is, lots of third party indie games. But if enough of these are of the calibre of Expedition 33, Silksong and Blue Prince (my top 3 games of the year) then i'll be satisfied.

@Chip-Douglas Came to type almost the exact same word for word. A shame.

@FraserG The fact Netflix and WB haven't mentioned gaming OR Wrestling in their press release or interviews that I have seen isn't reassuring! At least with ABK it was all about games and gaming IP, there is a chance that Netflix simply doesn't care about these parts much.

I'm about half way through it, It doesn't really remind me of Halo at all... except the doors! Mixed bag so far, high highs, low lows. (EDIT there is a bit later on that was quite Halo coded)

@FraserG Absolutely. There will almost certainly be job losses and potentially even studio closures, that's a given for almost every large M&A. But it's also fair to say this was always going to happen, regardless of if it was Netflix, someone else, or WB held onto it. For consumers I suspect Netflix prices will also go up sooner than they would have done.

On the gaming side specifically it will be interesting to see how they are going to handle that. Open platforms? Exclusivity? Concentrate on mobile? Or keeping the status quo.

I fear for Rocksteady!

Brilliant little game, that gets better as it goes on. Great momentum.

It's a massively ambitious project, I hope they have the stuff to pull it off, as it's one of my most anticipated Xbox titles.

Carmageddon! That takes me back almost 30 years, was a lot of mindless fun back then.

@Questionable_Duck thanks, see above, their initial article said the opposite.

@Weebleman thanks. The initial article from Push Square said it was no longer part of it. I see they have clarified that, which makes more sense.

It's been a long wait, hopefully it lives up to expectations.

@Fiendish-Beaver I'd like to know what happened with Sony because this was initially part of their China Hero Project and they likely would have part funded the game, but it no longer is. Perhaps they bought themselves out of the deal. Either way that's good for Xbox.

UPDATE: push square have updated their article and reversed what they said, it is still part of the China Hero Project

Looks awesome. The powers are ripped straight from Avatar: The Last Airbender but with an adult twist... and I am OK with that!

Never get one, but not surprised as I don't buy much from the store, Xbox is mostly my Game Pass device.

Looking forward to giving Routine a go. The few Reviews there are (77 metactric from 10 reviews) suggest it may be a a bit Marmite, praising the horror aspect sound design etc, while lamenting the enemy AI etc. A more favourable review from PC Gamesn concluded in their 9/10 review:

What Routine lacks in quantity, it makes up for in staggering quality. It’s cassette futurism at its most tactile, with an aesthetic direction that’s only matched by the novelty of its CAT tool. Lunar Software raises the bar in sound design to deliver a singular experience for sci-fi horror fans.

EDIT: Although Metroid Prime 4 just arrived... so i'll play that first!

Makes sense for a device agnostic Xbox.

In terms of on paper specs Series S is more powerful - significantly better CPU, better GPU, etc. - but Switch 2 has a few advantages e.g. more RAM 12GB vs 10GB on Series S (which is what holds Series S back most). Switch 2 also has DLSS which means it can run at lower resolutions but upscale that to look comparable, freeing up resources.

Lastly, and probably most importantly, the popularity of the Switch 2's and the fact it is the main console for Nintendo will mean devs will likely spend more time optimising specifically for it vs Series S. Hence we get games that are almost comparable, or better in some respects, on Switch 2 than Series S, when they really shouldn't be on paper.

It's all very interesting and I look forward to seeing what devs can do on Switch 2 vs other consoles.

@Balaam_ I think the reality in a lot of these cases is the publisher DID have a major hand in making the game, or making the game what it was. Perhaps not always in hands-on development itself, but by funding the game, or funding marketing (which is often a lot). Many of these games simply wouldn’t exist without the publisher, or if they were made without them wouldn’t have the same scope / be the same game.

Strong list of games! 2025 has been great.

But Silksong below South of Midnight... that is a CHOICE! lol

@Scummbuddy They were still uber-chatty. Thanks though.

Played it on Game Pass, then bought it at full price. Easy GOTY

@Nightcrawler71 Subscription to Fallout 1st is not mandatory, you can play the game without it. But depending how much you get on with the game you may want some of the resources or extra storage it offers. It's basically things that would be included in the normal economy in a single player game imo. Whether that bothers you is subjective.

@Fiendish-Beaver You can play the whole game solo, but it wasn't initially designed for that. It has been added later. How you feel about how successful they were in that will be subjective. Some say it's fine solo, others say it's missing something.

@jesse_dylan ...also... Yes I got caught out not playing Stalker 2 before it left Game Pass - I tried it day 1 but it was broken - so I understand your concern with waiting, it's a balance. But for Microsoft games they aren't going to be leaving any time soon.

@jesse_dylan In one sense yes, in another no. Whole systems like NPC's actually moving around towns and not being fixed in place - which is pretty huge for immersion - were missing at launch. Yes they did a good job of papering over the cracks to make it appear more seamless Day 1 but there were many things that were missing and added or improved later.

When a single player games like this, without DLC, comes out with an "Update roadmap" that is taking a year to deliver, it's pretty clear the game came out not fully baked Day 1.

It's a shame it's yet another game that wasn't ready at release, it's a real problem all over this industry, but especially with Game Pass where people are more likely to play Day 1.

I felt VERY mixed about this game. I loved the setting and setup but hated the incessant dialogue and childish 'humour'. PJ's legendary 4/10 review was far funnier than the actual game. But it ticked enough boxes, and as it's on Game Pass i'll probably give it a spin.

@Sol4ris Sometimes yes, sometimes no. There are plenty of times it doesn't work as intended, or installs games to multiple storage drives often duplicating content. Additionally it has some downsides like not being able to install the Xbox One version if you want to.

All in all i'd still call it a net positive, but like a lot of Microsoft's features this gen (Quick resume etc.) it comes with an asterisk, it's good when it works, but frustrating when it doesn't. For a software company i'd expect Microsoft to be better at this side of things!

Moreover with Console and PC seemingly merging next gen they really need to make this seamless to give a good user experience. Currently with the Xbox ROG Ally it isn't there yet. Still lots of work to do to realise this unified future. Hopefully they will have it ready in 2 years.

It looks like that sort of game, like Scorn or Signalis. A bit Marmite.

I kinda love that.

@Fiendish-Beaver I respect you feel that way, but to present another view...

I think the curation on Game Pass is mostly excellent. I am not sure I would call much of it "filler", but I guess that is subjective. Most games deserve to be there for one reason or another imo.

This year we have had at least 10 TGA nominees day 1 as well as many that were nominated in previous years, that's undeniable quality. We've also had a lot of fine indies and AA's as well to keep the quality up. The ones I might call "filler" are the 7/10s that maybe didn't find a large enough audience, but you may, or may not enjoy. Personally I quite like some of these as they are the sort of games I wouldn't necessarily buy but often end up being games I do like. The beauty of game pass is we get to try them risk free.

Either way room for many different views. No one is 'right'.

Not so Smart Delivery

£249.99 for Meta Quest 3S + Batman + Beat Saber is a pretty good deal. I just don't want Meta.

I ended up picking up a second hand (but basically unused) PS Portal for £95. Been very happy with that so far.

Routine actually looks like it could be good. Fingers crossed it is!

Not a lot here, but that's OK plenty to play and Game Pass has fed we me well this year.

Speaks volumes!

I have no doubt DEVELOPER interest hasn't wavered as they have almost created a secret society where you are either in or out. For the vast majority of small games appearing on Game Pass they will do well... but what of the ones that don't make the cut and are ostracised.

As a consumer I love Game Pass, but lets not pretend it isn't problematic also.

Nope. I replayed the last version and this is just a next-gen version of that port. Great game, albeit the gameplay is pretty dated.

@Kilamanjaro Stadia was great for the time - in terms of tech, a HORRIBLE business model - but everyone is being put to shame by GeForce now where even John from Digital Foundry one of the most vocal pro-physical/ownership, anti-cloud voices in gaming said he could hardly tell the difference. And PS+ Cloud is also vastly superior in terms of fidelity. XCloud is "good" but needs to be a lot better to compete. Especially if Microsoft want to make it a key part of their strategy.

@Fiendish-Beaver We already know Sony had stipulations in place with F2P titles to stop people being able to spend 100% on one platform but play on PlayStation, there was some remuneration in those instances.

@Elbow I'm not saying it's not possible but it would need some agreement between the platform holders, and there is little incentive for Sony right now. As for GoG they are like Switzerland a tiny inoffensive neutrality that is a threat to no one. I don't see that as a good example of what would happen between platform holders... though i'd love to be wrong and see it.

I got a bit excited, thinking this would be all points, but it's just Bing search for a week. Up to 1050 extra points, that's around £0.89 max.

@Fiendish-Beaver Re: Play Anywhere. They would likely have to negotiate something with Sony and Steam who wouldn't be getting a cut of that sale.

I use it quite a bit, especially on handheld (Steam Deck / phone), it works better in some games than others, especially simpler games

But I still find it unplayable for fast paced things like Halo / FPS, or Forza / Racing, the lag is too noticeable and you overshoot.

I've also been a little disappointed by the 1440p update on console. It's still visually the worst of all the streaming services on a big screen. 1440p should be OK but resolution isn't everything when the bit-rate seems so low and there is macro-blocking ruining the image.

For me it's still a nice to have extra, but not a major feature and their implementation still needs plenty of work.

Plus ca change! To be fair some of these wider plans have been in place for a while. Phil talked, even before he was head of Xbox (now head of MS Gaming) of not liking exclusives and wanting people to be able to play anywhere. But it finally feels like that is becoming a reality.

Did I expect more? No. Did I hope for a little more? Yes.