Xbox games going multi-platform (rumours)

[The F Bomb]

Lots of rumours about this right now, which is tantamount to Microsoft giving up on Xbox as an entity. The big 2023 releases did shit, GP growth has slowed significantly, Xbox is miles behind PS5 (and Switch) in sales.

What does the future look like for Microsoft and do you care?

I personally don't. The 360 is one of the best consoles and libraries ever but they've been total shit since. I can't bear how they present themselves as the plucky consumer-friendly underdog when they're Microsoft. They've spent billions buying up talent and IPs and they haven't released one game that's up there with their 360 exclusives - to my mind.

I don't think PlayStation is doing that great either, a load of superhero shit, but at least they have FF7 Rebirth coming. Beyond that, fuck knows.

Massive game industry layoffs every week.  Is gaming actually fucked?

I hope so!

[bgmnts]

Never heard about this so a link would be nice.

Not hugely arsed.

[Mobius]

Never heard about this so a link would be nice.

Think he's Nintendo

[Pink Gregory]

The oppressed and weary people of Hyrule are saying this

[Thursday]

It is mad that they bought all those studios and we're still waiting to see much decent from it. As much as I don't particularly care for it, Sony has at least carved out an identity with game like The Last of Us or their vastly inferior norse God of War games. And even Microsoft's big name games have lost the quality and status they once had.

Have Microsoft not twigged how many gamepass subscribers aren't actually paying for it? They seem to have tightened up a few ways to get points, but all that really means is I might have to pay one or two months in a year if I get forgetful.

Nintendo and their studios still seem to be doing alright during all these layoffs. (Unless I've missed something, which could well be likely as there's so many.) Could it be that not chasing ultra realistic graphics and live service is more manageable and sustainable???


Anyway this might have huge ramifications for the industry if true, but I don't care because I'm too busy shagging innit.

[Pink Gregory]

Could it be that not chasing ultra realistic graphics and live service is more manageable and sustainable???

You do wonder why the arms race is still there considering how much money Fortnite makes and how prohibitively expensive the hardware is becoming.  That and almost inevitably every high budget premium release is beset with technical problems and almost never makes as much money as the publisher would like.

Hell I was bought in on Xbox for a bit when a friend gave me his old Xbone; I played a few really good things on Game Pass, quite a lot of my old stuff was backwards compatible, even got some old XBLA ports of SNK fighting games entirely for free; but I just kind of stopped, and I know that anything new coming out will probably struggle, so now I'm not.

Was interested in that they have Arkane and Machine Games; but again, the team that made Dishonored and Prey are basically all gone and Redfall was a huge flop in Arkane's case, and Machinegames are making an Indiana Jones game that I don't care about.

[Josef K]

Not really surprising, they've been mismanaging Xbox for years and don't seem to have learned from Sony about putting money into quality first party studios and building a reputation for their exclusives.

Feel like PS5 and Geforce Now is a great, affordable combination going forward

[Pink Gregory]

They do deserve to be lauded for the backwards compatibility, even if it's limited.

[Thursday]

The backwards compatibility is one of the main reasons I want to keep one really, my use of it has dwindled, but some day I might want to go back and play Lost Odyssey or something. Also emulation for old Xbox games doesn't seem to be such a thing. (Perhaps because the games are still commercially available.)

[Mister Six]

As someone who got a PS4 despite loving the 360 for the very arbitrary reason that I didn't like the new shoulder buttons on the Xbone controllers, I feel accidentally vindicated.

With Starfield turning out to be shit, I don't think there's been an Xbox exclusive that's really interested me at all, but it'd be nice to have the option. I think the only Microsoft purchase that really bothered me was Double Fine, and even then for the possibility that they might get Psychonauts 3, a game that is only theoretical at this point.

However, I don't know if I like the idea of the PlayStation having basically a monopoly on the console market (Switch serving a different, parallel market to PS4/Xbox). Doesn't seem like a good idea at all.

Re:

Massive game industry layoffs every week.  Is gaming actually fucked?

And

Nintendo and their studios still seem to be doing alright during all these layoffs. (Unless I've missed something, which could well be likely as there's so many.) Could it be that not chasing ultra realistic graphics and live service is more manageable and sustainable???

YouTube's excellent Moon Channel (not to be confused with YouTube's execrable Moon) did a good video explaining that the layoffs aren't to do with actual profits or business stability at all, but rather a game big companies play to drive up shares at the expense of their employees:

[Pink Gregory]

Never heard about this so a link would be nice.

Not hugely arsed.

https://www.eurogamer.net/microsoft-mulls-major-xbox-exclusives-starfield-indiana-jones-for-playstation-5-reports

[The Late Satoru Iwata]

Have Microsoft not twigged how many gamepass subscribers aren't actually paying for it? They seem to have tightened up a few ways to get points, but all that really means is I might have to pay one or two months in a year if I get forgetful.

Tell me more of this, please.

[Pink Gregory]

Tell me more of this, please.

It's quite easy to amass Microsoft Points (or whatever they're called) by playing Game Pass games for the little daily engagement tasks or whatever, and you can put those back into the sub

[The Late Satoru Iwata]

I shall investigate.

Thegory!

[Schlippy]

Didn't have a ps4, so was really surprised at the quantity and quality of playstation exclusives when I got a ps5. Now that sony seem to be releasing their exclusives on pc after 12-18 months there's no reason to get an xbox over a gaming pc, and the whole "game pass box" thing of the series S seems a bit of a misnomer given how many games are significantly compromised on that version of the hardware.

A few (professional) commentators on twitter are saying it's microsoft moving to the same model as sony but it does smack of them throwing the towel in, especially after the last few exclusives they had were complete dog eggs.

[Beagle 2]

It's not that surprising, is it? It seems like the logical destination that all their recent decisions have been leading to.

I haven't bothered getting a current-gen console. Cloud gaming works fine on my broadband, enough for me to try all the games I'm missing by only having an Xbox One, and it appears that I'm missing fuck all. Cancelled Game Pass and dusted off my Switch a few months ago, which is on its last, stuttering legs, but still has the best library of games of the last two generations. There must be a lot of people like me for whom it makes most sense to get a Switch 2 and do cloud gaming for anything else, if I'm especially arsed, which I won't be.

[madhair60]

I've been happy with my Series S but I cannot see myself buying another non-Nintendo console now that eeeeverything comes to PC.

[The Late Satoru Iwata]

If the upshot of this is Rare Replay on Switch then: party time (second-party time, if you will)

[Memorex MP3]

The long term plan has been for Game Pass to replace Xbox so I guess the poor return on all those making acquisitions has forced it a bit

It does feel a bit like they bought a lot of companies right at the point where their big bloated triple A focus became unsustainable

[Mister Six]

I can't see myself giving up on consoles, just because I find sitting in front of a PC kind of lonely and depressing, especially as Mrs Six will be in the living room. At least a laptop is portable.

Not sure what the alternative would be though. Big desktop unit hooked up to the telly, with a wireless mouse/keyboard combo?

[Uncle TechTip]

Another trick is to fire up a vpn to a country with a less dynamic economy than ours and make the purchase that way, where it's invariably much cheaper in local currency. Don't know if this works for game pass.

[Schlippy]

Can you still get the Steam Link, or did Valve sack them off? They're really impressive, controller latency isn't noticeable at all and the visuals are rock solid (at 1080/60 anyways, haven't used mine at 4K). Turns your PC upstairs into a console as long as the games you want to play are controller-based.

[falafel]

No, but you can install the Steam Link app on a Raspberry Pi which worked well for me for a while.

[Milo]

I've got about four Steam Links that I bought when they were selling them off for three quid or thereabouts.

[oggyraiding]

Redfall and Starfield made me lose pretty much all faith in Xbox and its exclusives. Redfall just poorly made trend chasing shit, Starfield the most boring game ever made. It took 8 years to make Starfield, and it felt no more developed or 'next gen' than Fallout 4. I think it was meant to be the big Xbox game of 2023 but it was terrible.

Halo has completely lost its relevance, Gears of War is unimportant, Rare has produced some fairly okay stuff but nothing anywhere close to their SNES/N64 heyday. I guess Forza is fine. Xbox doesn't have that The Last Of Us, God of War, Ghost Of Tsushima, Uncharted, big budget well made exclusives.

Exception to this is Hi-Fi Rush which is one of the best games ever made.

[Huxleys Babkins]

I guess Forza is fine.

Horizon, yes. The latest Motorsport is complete dogshit, though. Biggest disappointment of 2023 for me.

[oggyraiding]

Game Pass still getting day one first party games, ActiBlizz stuff is coming to Game Pass. Four unnamed titles going multiplatform.

[The F Bomb]

There fortune is about to change imminenterly

[Barry Admin]

It's a long long time since Halo and Gears of War were any good, and they were always fairly overrated anyway.

[Pink Gregory]

It's a long long time since Halo and Gears of War were any good, and they were always fairly overrated anyway.

would make a case for Gears of War 5 being one of their historic best first party titles for horde mode alone

Halo multiplayer is the true successor to Goldeneye in terms of customisability but I have genuinely fallen asleep in the story modes before so, make of that etc