Grumblevolcano

Not really sure what to make of this because the immediate preservation problem is self-inflicted, namely Microsoft shutting down the 360 marketplace in July. “Adorably all digital” is also a really bad look on that front.

They likely chose Sea of Thieves as the key test because PS5 preorder numbers probably already exceeded Microsoft’s expectations.

@NEStalgia I think if the problem was already solved for Xbox/360 backwards compatibility versions natively on PC, we would’ve had a Rare Replay PC port by now considering that it and Halo 5 are the XB1 XGS games that aren’t on PC which don’t require Kinect and aren’t delisted.

Halo 5 would’ve needed fixing up the XB1 version first meanwhile Rare Replay already runs very well on Xbox.

@NEStalgia I was looking at it more like a result of architecture differences much like how Microsoft couldn’t do proper full backwards compatibility for Xbox and Xbox 360 games on XB1/Series X|S. The best they could do is a case by case scenario where if a game ran properly and Microsoft managed to get the licence, it could be released via the backwards compatibility program.

In addition we've found out that some 3rd parties hate backwards compatibility because it decreases potential sales for ports/remasters/remakes of games that would be already available via backwards compatibility which would make the licensing part even harder.

So it doesn’t really sound feasible for any kind of Xbox console/PC merging other than a PC that can play Xbox console games via the cloud.

@NEStalgia PC is a Microsoft platform because of Windows. On the hardware side you’d have PCs that can play PC games normally and your Xbox library is in the cloud.

@somnambulance To be fair, I’m not sure Game Pass is a focus for them anymore. Of course they’ve made deals with 3rd parties in the past which still need to be honoured but between Activision games being an extremely sluggish rollout and the article about Game Pass deals drying up, it doesn’t feel like Game Pass is a focus anymore. I think the focus is being a multiplatform publisher and that’s why they’re having to be careful about messaging.

@somnambulance I think the mixed messaging is a result of the reaction to the multiplatform stuff that’s appeared so far.

It was said during the podcast that it was moved forward so we know for a fact that the original plan was for the 4 games to be announced before the podcast. Pentiment + Grounded Switch via Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase and the PS stuff via shadow dropped trailers and blogpost.

Given the general reaction to the rumours was very much a sense of Xbox going the way SEGA did in the early 00s, I think very clear cut “everything is going multiplatform” messaging would have a Don Mattrick XB1 reveal style impact.

It feels like the mixed messaging will disappear by the end of June though as that’s the end of Microsoft’s fiscal year.

I think Spring 2025 with the next trailer appearing during Playstation Showcase 2024.

@NEStalgia The leaked roadmap in September shows it at the very least was an intention for Xbox physical to go away in 2024 as the digital only Series X would replace the current Series X. The reports this year are suggesting the strategy still going ahead like how Limited Run are doing physical releases instead of Microsoft and about Microsoft telling Walmart to send Starfield to landfill.

@OldGamer999 @Sol4ris I think they'll go for the increase to 2TB of storage, stay at current Series X price.

It doesn't look like there's a space for optional disc drive like Sony did with the PS5 Slim so I get the feeling that the leaks back in September about this replacing the current disc Series X are still accurate.

@Fiendish-Beaver Judging by how February went, I think Microsoft's waiting for Nintendo to reveal the Switch's successor before the multiplatform floodgates fully open.

Rumours about multiplatform exploded which caused a business update to be moved forward with very vague details outside of 4 games going multiplatform. Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase revealed Pentiment and Grounded for Switch with the full multiplatform details (those 2 also coming to PS4/PS5, PS5 release for Hi-Fi Rush and Sea of Thieves) happening later that day. So if the rumours never happened, the Direct would've been the source of the multiplatform strategy.

So my guess would be that Switch successor reveal will be the debut announcement of more Xbox exclusives going multiplatform and at that point, the floodgates are completely open.

@awp69 More consoles doesn't necessarily mean Xbox. Nintendo seems to have new hardware in the somewhat near future so it could be for that. Alternatively, there's a situation where games are getting PS4 ports after releasing on current gen (e.g. RE4 remake, Jedi Survivor) so it could be that instead.

@NEStalgia "What does Sony consider to be major IP?" is the big question in all of this. In any case, considering the PS Studios lineup is averaging 1 game a month there's probably a Playstation Showcase around May which'll reveal what's happening after April. So far 2024 for PS Studios on PS is:

• January - TLoU 2 Remastered
• February - Helldivers 2
• March - MLB The Show 24, Rise of the Ronin
• April - Stellar Blade
• 2024 - Until Dawn, Concord

@NEStalgia That's not technically true regarding upcoming PS Studios lineup. No new major IP releases between April 2024 and March 2025 doesn't mean nothing's happening. Just means it's smaller IP, new IP and remasters/remakes. PS5 can still have a good lineup.

@Krzzystuff Given all your Xbox library will be in the cloud later this year (not just Game Pass games), I feel they'll approach it that the next gen Xbox is literally just a Xbox branded PC that can play PC games natively and Xbox games in the cloud.

I contemplated getting an expansion card in the past (held off for a discount) but nowadays I only have 1 game installed on my Series X so no need for me to get one.

I think they may be counting stuff like PS players playing CoD in these stats.

@Sol4ris I think the rumours getting into the territory of stuff like Halo and Gears on PS5 is why the next gen Xbox was teased last month. The only comparisons we have to a 1st party publisher going fully multiplatform are ones that gave up on hardware completely like SEGA in the early 2000s.

@Ricky-Spanish I don't see Microsoft having 3 different Xbox consoles on the market, they made sure to discontinue 360 before XB1 got a revision and the entire XB1 line was discontinued by the time Series X|S released.

Also it could be that a handheld is able to be connected to TVs and monitors much like Switch/Steam Deck with the power being Series S, effectively replacing the Series S in the form of giving it extra value.

I think Microsoft's going to skip more powerful mid gen refresh and either stick with the September 2023 leak of digital only Series X + revised Series S or discontinue the Series S in favour of a handheld.

Can't say I'm interested in a new Xbox console either way (this extends even to next gen), the Series X I've owned for a few years now does what I need it do so no need for me to upgrade.

@Fiendish-Beaver I think that's the reason Jim Ryan was very happy with the deal in the end. The Activision acquisition saga caused internal strife at Microsoft resulting in pretty much everything Xbox Game Studios going to PS5.

Bethesda were annoyed that CoD got to be multiplatform meanwhile Bethesda games had to be Xbox console exclusive, higher ups at Microsoft weren't happy with Xbox's holiday 2023 sales, etc.

@HonestHick That was the point I was making regarding ports/remasters/remakes (games that aren't currently playable on PS5). PS4 games are playable on PS5 via backwards compatibility meanwhile a lot of games especially 1st party for the other PS consoles (PS1, PS2, PS3, PSP, PS Vita) are missing.

Lots of people have plenty of nostalgia for those past consoles and 3rd parties continue to prove this point (e.g. FF remasters, the Crash/Spyro/THPS remakes by Activision before being acquired by Microsoft, the Tomb Raider 1-3 remaster collection, Persona ports/remakes, MGS collection) so I think that Sony would get more success out of going that route and keeping PS exclusivity than the aggressive PC port focus they're doing.

@HonestHick I think Sony adopting a Nintendo-like strategy where the big new games are supported by smaller new games and ports/remasters/remakes of games that aren't currently playable on PS5 would've been more successful than the current strategy of aggressive PC focus.

@BacklogBrad They moved to next gen development in May 2021:

https://www.purexbox.com/news/2021/05/the_coalition_is_moving_to_unreal_engine_5_to_focus_on_next-gen_development

I think if Gears 6 exists, it would be a 2026/2027 release acting like Gears 5 as the last major release before the Series X|S successor arrives.

@Fenbops I think if Sony were to purposefully go multiplatform (i.e. it not being a forced deal like MLB/Bungie but rather Sony choosing to), they'd pick Nintendo platforms before Xbox because of the concept of buying games.

Microsoft have conditioned Xbox players into just waiting for Game Pass release, so I figure if an Xbox deal were to happen it would be something like Microsoft giving Sony $1 billion to put TLoU on Game Pass.

In hindsight, I think I understand now why there were all those rumours about a Gears collection happening. Much like how a physical version of Pentiment and Hi-Fi Rush happened only because of a PS5 release (also Switch in the case of the former), Microsoft probably only sees value in creating a Gears collection if it's so that the games can be ported to PS5.

The game lineup being very strong as well as very varied (both about 1st party and 3rd party). Nowadays you'd never see Microsoft do something like bring back 1 vs. 100.

There was also full backwards compatibility with the original Xbox. Sonic showcased this fantastically as you could play the vast majority of the mainline games all on one system.

In general the focus was all in on the games, nowadays Xbox treats games as nothing more than cannon fodder for Game Pass.

You don't release 4 games in the space of 2 months if nothing else is coming. Whether Starfield is next after Sea of Thieves, who knows but I think we'll see another batch of XGS games announced for PS5 by the end of June as Microsoft's fiscal year ends in June.

Octopath Traveler II will likely appear here as it was scheduled for Early 2024.

I'll generally pick up ones I like if they have meaningful extra content (e.g. Sonic X Shadow Generations), revives a multiplayer playerbase (e.g. if a Gears collection happened) or is released on a preferred system that doesn't have the original via backwards compatibility (e.g. Switch). Also remakes that are more like reimaginings such as if the FFVII Remake trilogy comes to Nintendo hardware natively, I'll get it day 1.

The kind of setup Sony's doing with like TLoU Part 1 being a PS5 remake of a PS4 remaster of a PS3 game where you can play the PS4 remaster on PS5 via backwards compatibility is nonsense though.

If Hi-Fi Rush comes to a Nintendo platform in the future, I'll pick it up there but as that's currently not happening it'll be nothing at the moment.

I'm surprised that Grounded is so soon after Pentiment, already 2/4 games released by the end of April. I thought the gap between the first 2 games would be larger (e.g. game 1 as Direct shadow drop, game 2 releasing Fall/Holiday 2024).

Honestly makes me think the other 2 (Hi-Fi Rush, Sea of Thieves) will be released by the end of summer, then the rumours from a few weeks ago about stuff like Starfield/Indiana Jones/Gears/Halo for PS5 resurface.

I think what this comment is saying is that Switch/PS5 will get physical copies of Xbox 1st party games meanwhile Xbox consoles go down the "adorably all digital" route that was leaked back in September. So like for example whenever Hi-Fi Rush is announced for Switch/PS5, it gets a physical version but there's none for Series X.

It's the only way I can think of in which the comment made here isn't technically a lie meanwhile also explains recent events.

The Last Revelation is my favourite entry in the entire franchise so having a 2nd collection with that and Chronicles would be fantastic (having Angel of Darkness in the 2nd collection would also be nice but feels more unlikely).

I think 2027, new hardware launches need a strong lineup and Forza Horizon (Microsoft's most positively received franchise nowadays) is seemingly on a 3 year cycle now which would mean FH6 in 2024 and FH7 in 2027.

It feels like once a console becomes more powerful than PS3/360/Switch, more power makes a game library worse. Like with Xbox the 360 lineup is better than the XB1 lineup which is better than the Series X|S lineup.

Whether that ends up true for Nintendo is yet to be seen as Switch's successor hasn't even been announced but for the others it's true.

That was a complete waste of time, could've been done in a tweet last week and the rumours wouldn't have festered.

I feel at the end of all this, Xbox will be a game in Fortnite. Want to play Gears 7? Well head on down to the Xbox theme park in Fortnite and visit the Gears attraction where you can play the entire franchise's games.

You can buy Gears 7 for 17000 V-Bucks or subscribe to Game Pass Ultimate for 4000 V-Bucks a month to get access to all the games that are playable in the Xbox theme park.

Podcast seems like an odd way to do this. In any case the timing sure seems to suggest a Direct announcing some Xbox 1st party games for Switch is why the Business Update has had to wait so long to happen.

@Bionic-Spencer I think they will bring over MCC. Halo seems to be in the same spot currently as it was in early 2018, support for the new game (Halo 5 back then, Infinite now) has pretty much come to an end and the next game is far away. What happened in the meantime back then was they fixed up MCC and brought it to new platforms.

@Banjo- I think the closest to the current Xbox situation is with Nintendo back in 2015 when they announced NX early to alleviate fears about them ditching consoles as a result of plans to enter the mobile space.

It doesn't make sense to have a Business Update event just to announce 2 games going multiplatform. So if there really are only 2 going multiplatform, it's more likely those games are announced in a Nintendo Direct and the Business Update is more about commitment to Xbox consoles/PC/cloud/mobile (the platforms that have Game Pass).

@Krzzystuff The decision to wait so long is odd to say the least. The main things that come to mind are either the rumour about infighting is true and the Xbox division are trying to use the gigantic backlash to try and convince the higher ups to change their minds or that the 1st step of their future plans is being announced in a Nintendo Direct (e.g. Hi-Fi Rush for Switch) and so Microsoft have their hands tied until the Direct happens.

Doesn't need a remaster, MCC does the job well. A PC/console port of Fireteam Raven, a console port of Spartan Strike and a PC release of Halo 5 + Halo Wars 2 on Steam would be of more use.

If Microsoft does go fully multiplatform, a MCC port for PS5/Switch would be a lot more useful than a Halo 3 remaster. Take advantage of the opportunity to add in the rest of the Halo Online maps to MCC.

The one thing that really seems off about all the everything going multiplatform rumours is there's still only 2 rumoured ports to Nintendo hardware. No mention about other Switch ports outside the original Hi-Fi Rush/Sea of Thieves rumour or even stuff for the Switch's successor.

Surely if you wanted to do a proper full multiplatform strategy, you'd port a load stuff to Nintendo hardware especially as the Switch is going to become the best selling console of all time in about a year.

I think it'll be 3 parts:

Multiplatform

• Games mostly go to PS5 and Nintendo hardware natively but there will be some exceptions (e.g. more hardware demanding games wouldn't come to Switch but maybe Switch 2 if powerful enough, delisted games like pre-2018 Forza would remain Xbox console exclusive because they can't be sold anymore)
• Remasters of pre-XB1 games act as the way to bring pre-XB1 games to other platforms

Game Pass

• Price increase
• Conversion ratio from Core to Ultimate reduced to the point where 3 years of Ultimate via the conversation would be the same price as 36 x Ultimate monthly fee
• No more day 1 releases
• Extremely profitable franchises like CoD never come
• If you play a game via Game Pass which you haven't bought, there's ingame ads
• Core/Ultimate becomes required again to play FTP and MMOs on Xbox consoles
• Microsoft Rewards fully discontinued so you can no longer get Game Pass for free

Hardware

• Announcement of the leaked 2024 "adorably all digital" revisions but unlike PS5 there's no detachable disc drive, also no mention of hardware beyond that

As for the event date, I think it'll be February 16th.

Given the whole situation about GAME stopping trade-ins on February 16th, I think the official announcement of the new Xbox strategy was going to happen on that day or shortly afterwards.

I'd guess GAME chose to ditch trade-ins on that day to prevent ending up with a load of preowned Series X|S stuff that they couldn't sell. Whether Microsoft announces the new strategy earlier now that the rumours are out there is another question though.

@GuyinPA75 I think it would take a massive scale outage like the one that happened during Christmas 2014 for the "all digital" crowd to realize that digital being the only option is very bad.

@K1LLEGAL I think timing was the Developer Direct's biggest weak point. They did a January event to showcase a May game, a Summer game and 3 games releasing right at the end of the year making the event itself seem unnecessary (do something closer to launch instead).

Compare that to the State of Play which while it did have further out games (e.g. Death Stranding 2 releasing in 2025), it featured a large amount of games that were releasing by the end of April:

• Silent Hill The Short Message - January 31st
• Foamstars - February 6th
• Helldivers 2 - February 8th
• Legendary Tales (PSVR2) - February 8th
• FFVII Rebirth - February 29th (announcement of a State of Play on February 6th)
• Rise of the Ronin - March 22nd
• Dragon's Dogma 2 - March 22nd
• Stellar Blade - April 26th
• Dave the Diver - April

It seems rather clear that this is the beginning of the digital only future for Xbox that was leaked back in September.