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Most of us know by now that Xbox has begun bringing select titles to PS5 this year, with the trend set to continue next spring with Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. However, a new rumour is suggesting that the reception to this particular announcement has led to Microsoft squeezing the brakes on its multiplatform plans.
According to eXtas1s, the Spanish insider who regularly leaks accurate Game Pass news, Microsoft has either "paused" or "slowed down" bringing its games to PS5. The leaker is keen to stress that Xbox hasn't cancelled these plans, but the fan reaction to Indy's simultaneous PS5 announcement has made Xbox take notice.
Interestingly, while these multiplatform plans don't seem to have been stopped entirely, eXtas1s does state that popular Xbox series' Gears and Halo are "red lines" for Microsoft - seemingly meaning that those two franchises are completely off the table for bringing to other platforms like PS5.
Finally, the insider adds their opinion that Microsoft "will continue to move forward" once the Indiana Jones reaction has died down - and we can see this happening as well. A lot of the community frustration seems to have stemmed from Xbox not waiting to announce the game for PS5, so maybe Team Green will take a more cautious approach with these PS5 reveals in the future.
As always, this is all rumour for now, and Microsoft has not come out with any new information on its future PS5 plans at this stage.
What do you make of this new Xbox/PS5 rumour? Crack the whip and talk all about it down below.
[source x.com]
Comments 53
It's interesting because I'm not against the ps5 ports per se. But Xbox has a great year of releases ahead, which could bring about an uptick in console sales (not to ps5 level but maybe to a level where Devs take notice again). And I kinda want a reason to feel proud of being team Xbox this gen. Maybe timed exclusives like Indy are the way. Agree that Halo and Gears shouldn't go multiplat, at least not the campaigns
Xbox, playstation & nintendo should all share games because gamers are gamers . timed exclusives are fine i guess though
Feels like MS changes strategy weekly at this point. Maybe sticking with a plan instead of reacting to first "zero context" impression would do wonders for them.
Also, Indy acceptance by PS owners might be disappointing because it just does not look like that good of a game anymore. With every new trailer Xbox owners have cooled on the prospect too.. (if online chatter is anything to go by, which it might not be)
It would be good if Microsoft were to definitively state that the likes of Halo, Gears of War and Forza will never go to the PlayStation, but I cannot see that happening.
I said at the time of the Indiana Jones PS5 reveal that that particular part of the show overshadowed absolutely everything else that Xbox had announced. All the talk the following days was about Indiana Jones going to the PlayStation, and nothing else. How the clever people at Microsoft could not see that this would be badly received by the Xbox community, and make Xbox a laughing stock within the PlayStation community, I cannot understand whatsoever.
All I think this rumour actually means is that Microsoft will not be making the same mistake again, and so when Blade, for example, is finally given a release date, Microsoft will not be announcing the release date for the PlayStation at that time. They will probably wait a few days or weeks to confirm its arrival on the PlayStation, rather than announcing it at the same time, though I do think it pretty inevitable that it will end up on the PlayStation.
If Microsoft are going to be insistent on porting all their first-party games, then the intervening period should be a least one year.
Lastly, I think Gears of War: E-Day will be a launch title for the NeXtBoX in 2026, and so that game also releasing on the PS5 on the day it releases, or within just a few months is highly unlikely. However, I don't think it beyond the realms of possibility that it will eventually release on the PlayStation. I think it will be a huge mistake, but it's Microsoft we're discussing here, and they have a long record of making massive mistakes...
Umm. It was announced in late August the Indiana Jones was coming to the PS5. It hasn't even been 2 months. That's considered slowing down? Besides, it would make sense to slowly announce their titles they want to port to build up hype if they're going to do it.
Halo and Gears will come to Playstation and I look forward to playing both.
MS def need to keep some games exclusive. Halo, Gears and Forza should remain xbox exclusive. There's no point in sending everything over to PlayStation if you want to sell consoles.
One minute they are. Then they aren’t.
I’ll just wait till they announce it.
Then play it on GP anyway.
Didn't eXtas1s say they were going to announce Forza Horizon going to Playstation this year? He seems to usually have good info about Gamepass, but his other rumors are way more hit or miss.
Also, Gears of War bailed on an ongoing storyline to pivot to a prequel, which is exactly what you would do to make it more accessible to a new (Playstation) audience.
That is exactly what I've been saying, @InvaderFromSpace. E-Day is the perfect point at which to introduce Gears of War to the PlayStation community. I also believe that there is substance to the rumour that the original trilogy is being remastered, and again, I think that will also go to the PlayStation, though good marketing sense would be for that trilogy to follow E-Day at the very least, though good marketing sense and Microsoft are not something you would usually read or hear in the same sentence...
Precisely, @Medic_alert. Well said...
"Most of us know by now that Xbox has begun bringing select titles to PS5 this year, with the trend"
lol, there is no trend, it's been a year since we heard this song and there have been lots fake news and nothing happened.
Only 2 old GAAS of 5 and 8 years (SOT and grounded) and 2 small games (pentiment and hifi rush). Indy is a Disney license. All games released and announced are either exclusive or already historically multi-platform.
We need to stop giving credence to these rumors! Were you the first to complain that there was too much fake news at one point and now you're back to spreading these rumors?
There has never been any plan from Xbox to make all its games multi-platform and even strong licenses like halo, gears, forza and many others.
If exclusive games weren't important to Xbox, what's the point of signing exclusives with third-party publishers? Again at the last xbox partner preview, 4 exclusive games were announced: 5 games day one on gamepass: Wuchang, Subnautica 2, Eternal Strands, Wheel World, FBC: Firebreak
4 Xbox exclusives (xbox console and PC): Blindfire, Subnautica 2, Mistfall Hunter, The Legend of Baboo. We could cite others like stalker 2 or ark 2.
The problem with these false rumors is that afterwards, there is no debunk to say "oh, sorry, in fact, it was false!"
From a financial and business point of view I can't see MS shelving their plans for multi-plat releases. Xbox fanboy reactions will alway be based on their over-sensitive feeling than anything based in reality. MS are in the gaming market not for the feelings of gamers, but to make money. There is a massive difference between the number of PS5 owners and the number of Xbox owners. Releasing their games on PS5 will make them money than just releasing on Xbox and PC. Gamers that don't understand this are blinded by feelings. If you want to continue playing Xbox IP's you better get used to them releasing on PS5 because with Xbox console sales so low MS won't continue to invest in games much longer without a financial incentive.
Got to see how the experiment rolls out before expanding it much further.
This is kinda like Sony saying that PC ports are going to slow after Spiderman 2. Cuz really...what all is left? CoD is already there. You're biggest upcoming single player is gonna be on PS5 within months. Do you actually think Playstation is overly sad missing out on Modern Halo and Gears? I go with the Don Matrick lifestyle, I have an Xbox 360 for that. Sure I'd love to see MFS, AoE2, Forza or even Starfield on Playstation. But honestly, I'm fine. Starfield is a heap of boring garbage.
@Medic_alert the problem with that approach is that the long game is already too long for MS. Their console designs are not imaginative enough and never offer anything new other than improved graphics and load times. Manufactures more often than not sell their consoles at a loss and make up for it with software sales. They aren't shifting console so they won't be shifting software in the numbers they need to. Going multi platform makes complete and utter sense, even, and especially, if they want to remain in the console market too. The sales from software wont bring enough money for them to continue making consoles to make financial sense.
@Vordus sea of thieves did pretty decent numbers and you can guarantee Indiana Jones will. The only people reacting negatively to this are butt-hurt xbox fanboys. If MS listen to those people, then Xbox will fail completely in a couple years.
@FuzzieGinge88 It's always the same discussion, pseudo experts who think that Xbox will make more money by putting all its games on PlayStation. It’s so simplistic and binary. If it were that simple, Xbox would have done it a long time ago. If they don't do it, it's not a good strategy to do that, it's only thinking in the short term. But Xbox thinks in the long term, that's why they will never put their big licenses on other platforms, ever! Not because of the fans, but simply because it's not good for business! your analysis is too simplistic and you have misunderstood Xbox's strategy
To be honest it makes business sense to make most games from studios that were multiplatform before (ABK, Zenimax) stay multiplatform for now, perhaps keeping a few key exclusives (like Starfield). At least until Xbox is in a better position from there they can adjust how many titles come across up and down.
But I wouldn't make Halo, Gears or Forza multiplatform unless you plan to make it all multiplatform. It seems hard to go back after that in gamers eyes once you have done it.
With good reason.... Or at least only multiplatform very select titles.
They are seeing people saying what is the need for an Xbox console which will equal less GamePass Ultimate subs, EVEN less console sales, and in reality less 'purchasing' Xbox ecosystem digital games (and don't get me started on Microsoft basically killing disc games internally too).
Also how are they going to position a "most advanced & powerful Xbox console" that is rumored 2026 or maybe 2027 WITHOUT some console exclusives. Sorry there needs to be at least a few (even just timed) like Sony has for PS5: Demon's Souls remake, Astro Bot, Stellar Blade, Rise of Ronin, etc.
They need to have a real hard look at if the planned multiplatform plans will cannibalize many other avenues of income.
@FuzzieGinge88 Probably, yes. But they'll likely want more precise numbers on how it works out for new AAA releases before investing in porting other new titles. Jumping in full force without any kind of evidence is a great way to scupper things when something turns out not to be as profitable as everybody imagined. Once they've got more data, they can use it to build a coherent strategy.
Although it would be the first coherent strategy they've had in years fnaw fnaw fnaw.
I didn't realise there was a backlash about the Indiana Jones game. What's wrong with it?
It's not even out yet, and the developers have a decent track record with story heavy FPS games.
Keep your games Xbox you have the most studios and the most power now.
I really think if Xbox promoted console, gamepass and games more, and went more traditional like the old E3 days they could next generation sell a lot more.
I mean look at the next 5 months.
COD
STALKER 2 Xbox exclusive for a while and GPU
Indy Xbox exclusive for a while and GPU
Avowed Xbox exclusive and GPU Feb 2025.
What exactly are Sony studios bringing to the table in the next 5 months, zero I think.
Sony have been at the weakest they have been for while this year and probably continuing into next.
Xbox so should have struck with a strategy starting October 2023 and into all this year 2024 and next year 2025.
But they took the other approach, I like a fight me.
@Fiendish-Beaver "All I think this rumour actually means is that Microsoft will not be making the same mistake again"
I am with you on this, the PS announcement at the end of the Indy trailer was a comically large blunder. Hey guys be excited for this game coming to Xbox...or play it on our competitiors better selling machine 3 months later.
In future they will just announce them going over as a side event a few months later so the games follow 6-12 moths later with less pomp. I would imagine 12m for games like Starfield, Forza and 6 months for less As you say I would put bets on Blade going to PS because its a Marvel IP which will sell well on PS, and the bean counters at MS care move about what the shareholders get in the near future and not the long term.
Too late. Pandora’s box has been opened and now inevitably every single game Microsoft announces it’s going to be questioned when it’s coming to other platforms.
And how they announced Indy was what pissed off a lot of people, treating it like the one more thing announcement in Keighley’s event as it’d be the definitive version of the game, almost as if they wanted to prevent anyone from getting an Xbox just for this game, absurdly bad optics for Xbox…
The backlash isn't so much over the game itself, @PhileasFragg, it's that after showing a long gameplay trailer and the release date for the Xbox, they then did a big reveal that it was going to the PlayStation just a few months later. The PlayStation reveal completely overshadowed everything else that Xbox had shown. No one remembers anything from that show except that final reveal, and the fact that they seemed to overjoyed to be making it, which was totally tone deaf...
@Coletrain this exactly. They finally have some momentum with a good lineup while Sony recalibrates after going in on live service and this is when they start dual releasing. I mean just give it two years to make up some market share and solidify brand’s foundation moving forward
@Reptilio spot on. And a fair chunk of it is new IP too, which is something Playstation have largely avoided this gen. For all the consumer advantages that Xbox has, it's the old moniker of "build the games and they will come" that is the most likely to improve the brand
@Rog-X
I’m to old to remember them all 🤣
@nomither6 that’s not how IP ownership works in the real world. I think Ferrari should share its V12s with lower tier brands but they won’t since they developed it and it’s a selling point.
I want Xbox to retain most of its exclusives new and old. People understand that games that were going to be multiplat before the buyouts are some of the first candidates to be released on PlayStation. But Microsoft still needs to retain some leverage to get people to use their services and use their hardware. Competition is good and I want Xbox to return to form like the Xbox 360 days. But they must be consistent about it.
It's funny that we talk about exclusives but currently Xbox has never had so many exclusive games, and even more than PlayStation. And some are still discussing that Xbox will release their games on PS5 when there were only 4 a year ago, knowing that Indy is a Disney license. I don't see the debate at all. It's clearly not at all part of Xbox's strategy to send its big first party games to other platforms. As for this false rumor, one more!
@InvaderFromSpace I was just going to mention that he said the announcement was for Forza and missed on that one. I completely agree about Gears being a prequel and a perfect time to introduce a new audience. Same with Halo remaking the first one. Where the article fails to mention is this stemmed from another leaker named MAAG that said all these games were coming to Playstation. Then eXtas1s commented on it on X(Twitter).
At least they recognise that if they compromised such core franchises it would completely devalue the Xbox brand, phew.
@Ken_Kaniff
The Reddit group that first relayed this fake enws indicated that MAGG was a level 6 leak, i.e. the worst level of reliability. Extas just surfed on the affair which itself is a level 3 leaker (medium reliability). It would be nice if the site also indicates the degree of reliability of the sources
The ports didn't bother me as its only better for more people to play but it's probs for the best as if they did port they'd lose customers probs. Hopefully one day exclusives are done for both ways. maybe one day that'll happen maybe 1st party could be like yearly timed exclusives then nothing would change and everyone could play everything 😎
The problem with announcing the Indie port was A.) How soon it was happening, and B.) it happened so fast it gave people whiplash. If it had been a year of exclusivity or at least 6-8 months it would've been more reasonable, but 3 months is hardly a wait when Sony has multi-year Timed Exclusives that they don't even make. The other thing is they went from porting older games to the newest way too fast. If they had been porting smaller and or older Xbox-exclusives for a bit now it would've softened the blow dramatically, but they went from the first batch right to the biggest Xbox game of the 2024. It's really baffling how lacking in common sense everyone at Xbox seems to be.
So, they basically comfirmed that both Gears and Halo will be released on Playstation within a year or two. Gotcha!
Xbox has announced more games on PS5 than Sony has in as much time. How is that "slowing down"?
@Zeldorf I will say again the only way those franchises ever come to playstation is if sony allows game pass on the platform (they would never), that's the only way it makes sense business wise when the majority don't buy Xbox systems and they have stated they have zero intentions of stopping production of new systems.
The sad thing is they'll be more interested in the positive response from ps fans rather than what their current user base thinks
Getting royally sick of this constant back and forth rumour-mill. Only people to blame for this are Xbox themselves. They have completely botched communication with their most loyal fans. I’ve got no idea what to think anymore and I can’t trust what the executives say - though they only ever talk in vague non-committal waffle these days so what does that matter I guess.
I only want Xbox to succeed and thrive, I’ve built a nice digital library since 2021, so the gradual but persistent decline over the past few years has been painful to witness. I’ve directly experienced the negative effects of Xbox’s declining marketshare in the form of worsening treatment from third parties; whether poor optimisation, delayed patches, delayed launches, or outright snubbing the platform altogether. I just want to stop feeling like I’m a second class customer - both in terms of treatment from Xbox themselves and third parties.
Please just get your act together Xbox. I want to be excited for the future of this platform again, like I used to be back in 2021, and not stuck in a constant state of paranoia and anxiety about the future.
At present there are studios closing, layoffs, long waits for new games, and talk of how new AAA titles cost too much and take too long to make. That's not a good place to be in to limit game sales.
A one or two year exclusive window will still keep a game associated with the console brand it is first playable on and will provide more overall sales. For example MS could put a game day one on GP and then released on Sony a year later. MS still maintains the attraction of GP, Sony gamers get a game they otherwise would not.
I am not advocating no future games being exclusive to one console brand. However the reality of the huge investment now in AAA titles may near automatically make it not possible to limit game sales total income by exclusivity to one brand. Future exclusives may be in the lower cost indie type projects.
@fatpunkslim Well, don't say never to their big name games getting ported... I hope they don't, but we're at such a strange point that you really can't know for certain if it will or won't happen. Phil lied about Indiana Jones, and if he was confident to state that only for it to wind up wrong months later, what else could happen?
Damage is done
@Vaako007 it worked with xbox , so
The only thing Xbox has been consistent on lately is their inconsistency. We shouldn't have to rely on a leaker to tell us that Halo won't be going to Playstation. We should be hearing it from Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond.
This article won’t age well. Microsoft didn’t buy Activision to sell consoles - they bought it to sell content. If Microsoft could get Game Pass on PS5 they’d do it tomorrow.
They must have seen something slowing in regards to sales. Only money motivates big corporations like these. The Indiana Jones announcement was the day I decided to turn off gamepass auto renew and not spend more money on the platform, I wouldn’t have cared if they ported it if we got something in return from Sony, Spider-Man, last of us, anything. I still have several years of gamepass stacked unfortunately but luckily only ever bought about 20 games going back several years, I’ll keep the series x to play gamepass games and recoup the cost. I now have a PS5 pro preordered and bought my first 5 games. At least with Sony it feels like the console is important to them so games I buy are safe and the ecosystem will be around in the future. Haven’t had a PlayStation since the ps2, went to the one-s, one-x and series x. Will be nice to be back where all the interesting games seem to go.
@Fiendish-Beaver Thanks. I don't understand why people would be upset more people are playing the game, but that explains the relevance at least.
@nomither6 no there’s something called competition buddy .. more unique options are best for consumers and the future of gaming … they all offer something different to the culture why tf would they water the brand down
@Deityjester keep telling yourself that. They will both come to Playstation and it will save both franchises from falling into obscurity.
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