Nice line up. Doom and Clair Obscur are two of my most anticipated this year, though surprised Avowed isn't in there. Wasn't completely sold on South of Midnights gameplay reveal, but hopefully that shows better this time. Wondering what the mystery fourth title is.
They shouldn't copy Super Smash Bros or Astro Bot but where is Xbox's love letter to their history and IP? Next year will be 25 years of Xbox it would be good to have a game to celebrate it with.
@Banjo- You've cut my second quote in half, which changes it's meaning. I was suggesting I think it is IS profitable for Microsoft, just not profitable enough, else they wouldn't be making such drastic changes to their business from firing thousands of staff to going multi-platform. That doesn't scream rampant success.
I also made it clear the difference between the facts "we don't know" and what I "personally" believe based on the evidence. But of course you are free to believe what you want to believe. As you said we'll have to disagree on this one.
@electrolite77 Which is in line with what I said. I believe Game Pass makes money, I just don't think it makes ENOUGH money considering the huge costs else why would they be so desperate to cut costs (thousands of job losses and a few studio closures) AND make games multi-platform.
@Banjo- I didn't say it wasn't profitable, I said we don't know.
That quote from Spencer is several years old from before ABK which doubled their workforce, amid prices skyrocketing etc.
Personally I suspect Game Pass is profitable, I just don't think it's a big enough profit for them considering the astronomic costs involved, else they wouldn't be exploring multi-platform releases so strongly and wouldn't have laid off thousands of staff, while shuttering several studios all while damaging the Xbox brand.
The evidence of their actions suggests it isn't hugely profitable on Xbox and PC alone and they need money from elsewhere to make it viable. That's where the evidence logically points, but again we don't know as Microsoft don't give hard numbers.
I was pretty interested in this game but I was watching a 2024 recap video and the creator basically ruined the solutions. Will still probably take a look. Hopefully there is more to see.
@Jenkinss I don't think they needed 100 million to be sustainable and profitable, but that was their goal for massive gains. Though even that number is outdated, as this was pre-ABK. It was in the ABK leak but an older document.
But I agree their subscription numbers seem to have stagnated. Though we don't know exact numbers for sure, as they don't often release numbers, but there have been enough leaks and hints to be confident, and their strategy change makes it clear it wasn't working. That is why they are increasing prices to get more money from the subscribers they do have, and going multiplatform to increase their revenue streams.
@Banjo- the title in the article you linked is odd because it says Game Pass is profitable, but none of the quotes on that page actually state that. I know Spencer said that separately 2-3 years ago, but it’s odd to state it in a title but then not quote it in the article.
As we know Xbox rarely put out many hard numbers so it’s impossible to know for sure what is happening. But their content and services revenue has been significnaly up the last few quarters, having been mostly stagnant or negative each quarter for several years prior. Though that’s to be expected with two price hikes and far more studios / games, now including ABK and Zenimax.
Of course the flip side is that costs will have skyrocketed too with all those new staff and studios. I think it’s fair to assume that the fact they are pushing multiplatform hard and have laid off so many staff strongly suggests they needed that to increase viability. If these were really strong on Xbox + Pc alone why would they need to do this and damage their brand? But it’s the sensible and most profitable solution given their position in terms of console sales.
I am undecided if the change is good or not. I will have to see how and if it changes how I play. But requiring 15 minutes a day to keep up a streak will just encourage people to boot up their Xbox and leave a game running if they are playing elsewhere, ESPECIALLY if there are streak multipliers.
To be fair if it's easy to do and costs you little why not. But if, as in this case, it is causing problems with the conversion it probably isn't worth the extra effort, you likely won't see a return on that extra investment.
@Coletrain It's not going to be a popular opinion, but while I think choice is good I also think that there are WAY too many games released. On Steam it's over 50 games a day on average (18,995 in 2024 alone). While I understand some of these are shovelware, asset flips or solo devs just finding their feet it's still too much for the industry to healthily support. Even the most invested gamers can't keep up and we WILL get a lot of failures.
Personally while i'd love to see more veteran devs breaking off to group together and form small to mid sized studios and making riskier games not just indies. We don't have too many examples of this working out yet, and good luck finding the funding right now.
AI is certainly an area of interest, i'd love to see what a crack veteran team could do returning to their game jam roots and using AI. But obviously there are massive pitfalls with this.
@Coletrain It is a tough nut to crack, and I don't pretend to have all the answers. But Publishers have to make big hundreds of millions of dollars bets years in advance and hope they pay off. Sometimes they won't, but as long as more succeed more than they fail then they can keep investing in new art / games.
The most recent extreme example of this was Sony with Concord a catastrophic and costly failure... yet they made record profits the quarter that released. Hopefully that means they can keep investing in making new IP and new single player games without MTX, DLC and battle passes.
But I DO play some live services and Minecraft is amazing, I'm not going to gatekeep what people enjoy whether it's things I don't play like COD, Fortnite etc. or things I do. Different people like different things, it's all valid gaming.
@Coletrain Sadly WE are a key part of the problem. We (collectively) say we want new IP and new things but the sales numbers don't lie and more often than not it's the franchises that sell again and again.
But COD and GTA, and most of Sony's titles ARE sustainable for now, they make huge profits (we saw the break even target from the Insomniac leak, which they smash most of the time). The trouble is all the other AA/AAA games that try and match them and have huge budgets but DON'T hit their targets and fail, and it's studios and staff, as well as gamers, that lose out.
This shouldn't be surprising considering the sheer number of studios and staff they have working on it. But these are multi-billion dollar revenue games, they still make HUGE profits.
The problem isn't games like this or GTA6, they aren't really risks, at least not yet. The problem is games with massive budgets that can't support them. It's tough as you are betting 5+ years ahead with a lot of the calls. A lot changes in that time.
@HonestHick But Indy on PC is mostly GPU ray tracing and memory constrained not CPU constrained. That was my point, few games are CPU bound so it isn't really the biggest factor in an upgrade. Which is just as well as they have all but confirmed a handheld too.
Prime is likely just a code name, doubt it will called that and I doubt it will be just one console, they are pushing for gaming everywhere and we know they are working on a handheld.
@Titntin Indeed. I will likely be there day 1 regardless. And if they seamlessly bought PC to the TV via a smooth console interface that might actually qualify for "biggest technological leap ever in a generation" in my eyes.
@HonestHick I get what you are saying but most games are designed to be played on everything from a top tier PC to a Steam Deck, or even Switch, so it's rare the CPU is the bottle neck. Even if it releases in 2026 you aren't going to see many games developed solely for it that could take full advantage of a better CPU for years, it just doesn't make financial sense. Instead you will mostly see incremental upgrades to cross-gen games, which is also fine imo.
That's where I actually disagree with @FraserG about the PS5 Pro offering no significant benefits over the Xbox Series X, though he caveated it with "when you take the cost into account". The reality is you can play many of the top AAA games at 60fps at around the same visual fidelity and settings you get in quality mode at 30fps. That IS a significant benefit imo. Moreover when paired with a VRR TV it's rare for games to drop out of the VRR window now, everything just feels a lot smoother. Yes it's expensive, yes it's unnecessary for most players, but it is a noticeable upgrade.
But I agree with him that 2026 seems too soon from a tech perspective. To see large leaps at reasonable prices... especially the "biggest technological leap ever in a generation"... press X to doubt.
@Fiendish-Beaver I know we disagree on this, and will have to wait and see. But I think the reason those games don't have a console listed is because the date isn't listed - which is wise if you are unsure - and the console logo almost always shows up on the same screen with the date.
Regardless even if you are right and these games did launch with a new console in 2026 they would surely almost all be on Series X as well... right? AAA just costs too much to make it next gen launch only. So there would be no problem having a Series X logo if they wanted.
I've always disliked the Xbox scattergun naming, which does them no favours with more casual players, but I like Xbox Prime as a name. Not convinced by 2026, as others have said I don't think there will be enough of a technical leap at a low enough cost to make people jump by then and what does that say about this gen? That said if they want to compete in console sales - which they don't have to - launching unaligned with PS6 is probably wise.
@Cikajovazmaj Microsoft hardly put out any hard numbers. They usually only release very wooly stats (e.g. percentage cloud growth... but from what baseline?) that are cherry picked and can't often be directly compared year to year.
Everything else is conjecture and assumption, often not data led but led by emotion.
That's it, i'm never going on holiday again, can't break the streak! /s
To be honest this did once give me a very minor amount of anxiety in the past until I crunched the numbers they obfuscate through Microsoft points and realised it was penny's I was losing out on.
The Series X is a brilliant machine but Microsoft have created too much uncertainty around Xbox, no one quite knows where they stand as they keep flip-flopping.
This isn't really a major problem this gen, they already have 30+ million units sold, but it will be interesting to see how they try and address this next-gen. If they don't do a good job and don't sell enough consoles third party support could start to dry up on Xbox.
Series X, no competition. But I use cloud or remote play quite often especially in bed but also when away from home. Planning on building a new PC this year so perhaps more there too… but I said that in 2023 and 2024 and I prefer the couch and TV.
Honestly I think it would be bigger news if this WASN'T the biggest media release of all time, eclipsing GTAV's early dollar sales. There's just something inevitable about GTA and while that surely has to break at some point I don't think it's ready to happen yet.
If you read both statements CAREFULLY both can be true. Black Myth director said it was due to the Series S memory limitation, but Microsoft only said it "is not due to Xbox platform limitations that have been raised to us". If it wasn't raised to them as the issue then that can be true too.
However what was always dodgy about this was Microsoft unsubtly suggesting this was a paid deal despite Game Science denying that. That wasn't OK and was what really kicked the hornets nest and led to a lot of misinformation.
I want to play all 8 on Game Pass so that’s a great start, and without knowing about any of the other games coming makes the subscription worthwhile for another year
Fable…. But it’s also the one I’m most worried about as it’s a bit of an unknown quantity. Playground games did brilliantly with Forza Horizon 1-5 but this is a different challenge. Fingers crossed.
I already play too much but I’d like to both play less hours AND play more games. That initially sounds impossible but looking back on the last few years I have put a lot of hours into live services and played less games as a result. I’d like to keep playing some of these live services more casually hopefully freeing up time to play a wider selection of games again.
It's been a bit of a rollercoaster. There have been some ups, like Indiana Jones and Flight Sim, but also plenty of downs with a LOT of job losses, studio closures, Game Pass price increases, etc. and plenty in the middle like Hellblade 2. Hoping for a less turbulent 2025, more consistent quality and less flip-flopping business ideas.
Makes a LOT more sense to release the new controller with a new console than split the playerbase and make it an accessory. Looking forward to seeing what they cook up. Haptics and direct WiFi for lowering cloud latency seem like musts at this point.
The visual design always looked stunning. Hopefully they can make a fun game that aligns with that aesthetic. But it’s been in development for a decade and been rebooted, they’re clearly struggling to bring it to reality. Fingers crossed they manage it.
@IOI they are VERY different situations. Insomniac leak was future unannounced games, employee doxxing, studio roadmap for the next 10+ years, Sony financial documents, business deals, etc. there was a lot of harmful stuff that was being ransomed by hackers.
This leak seems firmly in the past, from what I’ve seen there is nothing partially harmful there and no one is bending Microsoft over a barrel ransoming them. It’s a VERY different scenario, comparing the two is a false equivalency, surely you can see that.
VERY few, maybe 2-3, but that's mostly because I have Game Pass, played 30+ on that. I also play across all platforms, most of my digital library is on PlayStation or Steam (Deck).
Additionally after buying a PS5 Pro that will likely be my preferred platform now for the rest of the gen.
As for physical I still buy plenty and strongly value CHOICE, but at the same time I haven't bought any on Xbox this year, they have all been Switch or PS5.
It was a brilliant move by Xbox, albeit it was just a partial solution. It wasn't true backwards compatibility, you aren't playing all games off your old discs, instead you are emulating a handful of games and using the disc, or digital license, as an access key. But it was a clever workaround that most people won't even notice.
As brilliant as it is it was only a partial solution e.g. only around 6% of (around 60 of 1000) OG Xbox games worked and around 25% of X360 games (around 500+ of 2150), but it was FAR better than nothing. Add to that X-Enhanced to makes some games upscale up to 4K and FPS boost to make 30fps games play at 60fps and it was a brilliant addition to the service. I just wish they had made it work with a larger selection of games and more games getting these boosts.
I’m not sure Unreal is the right fit but it would be great if they used a more modern engine that isn’t crippled by the past. You can keep updating modules, as they have done, but if the foundations are as old and rickety as they are you are starting off on the wrong foot. The fact we still get the same familiar Bethesda bugs 20 years later is laughable.
That all said as much as I want them to change engine, that is actually the least of their concerns. Had Starfield actually been a step forward in gameplay and on the same level as some of their previous RPGs then no one would be talking about the engine, no matter how rickety.
Ultimately they have bigger issues to deal with but a new engine might make them question a lot of other decisions and push their games forward. They used to be one of the industry leaders in innovation…
@jesse_dylan totally agree. Without Game Pass I would buy many of top AAA games that are included but the real bonus of the service is being able to discover all these other games risk free at no added cost. I probably never would have played Botany Manor or Chants of Senaar without it.Still Wakes the deep I probably would have as I’ve long been a fan of the Chinese Room.
@WildConcept6 Totally agree it's like an advent calendar for adults. Between this and Epic will add quite a few games to the library. Epic in particular usually add some pretty decent games, a couple of years ago on Christmas Day it was Death Stranding, which was relatively new-ish at the time
The big games are all pretty obvious and will get a lot of votes but I’d like to highlight 3 smaller games that perhaps won’t get as much love
Botany Manor is a charming puzzle game with a lovely story on the side, probably my biggest surprise on Game Pass of 2024.
Still wakes the deep. I still think the writing and acting in this game is better than anything else I played this year. It feels like real conversations of real people and not some script. It’s worth playing, even just a bit, for that alone.
Chants of Senaar another clever puzzler where you translate languages and build a picture of a bizarre world. Engaging
Comments 6,725
Re: Xbox Developer Direct Returns This Month To Highlight Four 2025 Titles
Nice line up. Doom and Clair Obscur are two of my most anticipated this year, though surprised Avowed isn't in there. Wasn't completely sold on South of Midnights gameplay reveal, but hopefully that shows better this time. Wondering what the mystery fourth title is.
Re: Soapbox: Xbox Should Start Embracing Its Past A Whole Lot More
They shouldn't copy Super Smash Bros or Astro Bot but where is Xbox's love letter to their history and IP? Next year will be 25 years of Xbox it would be good to have a game to celebrate it with.
Re: Game Pass Titles 'Lose Around 80%' Of Sales On Xbox, Claims Reporter
@Banjo- You've cut my second quote in half, which changes it's meaning. I was suggesting I think it is IS profitable for Microsoft, just not profitable enough, else they wouldn't be making such drastic changes to their business from firing thousands of staff to going multi-platform. That doesn't scream rampant success.
I also made it clear the difference between the facts "we don't know" and what I "personally" believe based on the evidence. But of course you are free to believe what you want to believe. As you said we'll have to disagree on this one.
Re: Game Pass Titles 'Lose Around 80%' Of Sales On Xbox, Claims Reporter
@electrolite77 Which is in line with what I said. I believe Game Pass makes money, I just don't think it makes ENOUGH money considering the huge costs else why would they be so desperate to cut costs (thousands of job losses and a few studio closures) AND make games multi-platform.
Re: Game Pass Titles 'Lose Around 80%' Of Sales On Xbox, Claims Reporter
@Banjo- I didn't say it wasn't profitable, I said we don't know.
That quote from Spencer is several years old from before ABK which doubled their workforce, amid prices skyrocketing etc.
Personally I suspect Game Pass is profitable, I just don't think it's a big enough profit for them considering the astronomic costs involved, else they wouldn't be exploring multi-platform releases so strongly and wouldn't have laid off thousands of staff, while shuttering several studios all while damaging the Xbox brand.
The evidence of their actions suggests it isn't hugely profitable on Xbox and PC alone and they need money from elsewhere to make it viable. That's where the evidence logically points, but again we don't know as Microsoft don't give hard numbers.
Re: Award-Winning $3.99 Game 'The Exit 8' Has Just Shadow Dropped On Xbox
I was pretty interested in this game but I was watching a 2024 recap video and the creator basically ruined the solutions. Will still probably take a look. Hopefully there is more to see.
Re: Game Pass Titles 'Lose Around 80%' Of Sales On Xbox, Claims Reporter
@Jenkinss I don't think they needed 100 million to be sustainable and profitable, but that was their goal for massive gains. Though even that number is outdated, as this was pre-ABK. It was in the ABK leak but an older document.
But I agree their subscription numbers seem to have stagnated. Though we don't know exact numbers for sure, as they don't often release numbers, but there have been enough leaks and hints to be confident, and their strategy change makes it clear it wasn't working. That is why they are increasing prices to get more money from the subscribers they do have, and going multiplatform to increase their revenue streams.
Re: Game Pass Titles 'Lose Around 80%' Of Sales On Xbox, Claims Reporter
@Banjo- the title in the article you linked is odd because it says Game Pass is profitable, but none of the quotes on that page actually state that. I know Spencer said that separately 2-3 years ago, but it’s odd to state it in a title but then not quote it in the article.
As we know Xbox rarely put out many hard numbers so it’s impossible to know for sure what is happening. But their content and services revenue has been significnaly up the last few quarters, having been mostly stagnant or negative each quarter for several years prior. Though that’s to be expected with two price hikes and far more studios / games, now including ABK and Zenimax.
Of course the flip side is that costs will have skyrocketed too with all those new staff and studios. I think it’s fair to assume that the fact they are pushing multiplatform hard and have laid off so many staff strongly suggests they needed that to increase viability. If these were really strong on Xbox + Pc alone why would they need to do this and damage their brand? But it’s the sensible and most profitable solution given their position in terms of console sales.
Re: Talking Point: Xbox Fans Divided Over Changes To 'Rewards' System
I am undecided if the change is good or not. I will have to see how and if it changes how I play. But requiring 15 minutes a day to keep up a streak will just encourage people to boot up their Xbox and leave a game running if they are playing elsewhere, ESPECIALLY if there are streak multipliers.
Re: Ubisoft Showcases Overhauled Assassin's Creed Shadows Gameplay Ahead Of Xbox Release
This is looking better and better, the delay seems sensible. Hopefully they can stick the landing and bring some freshness back.
Re: Physical Game Sales 'Collapsed' In The UK Last Year, Says New Report
Why do they include PC and mobile in digital sales? It's hardly an apples to apples comparison.
Re: Indie Dev Questions Whether Xbox One Is Worth Developing For In 2025
"He's dead Jim" - let it go
To be fair if it's easy to do and costs you little why not. But if, as in this case, it is causing problems with the conversion it probably isn't worth the extra effort, you likely won't see a return on that extra investment.
Re: Call Of Duty's Crazy Development Budgets Revealed In New Report
@Coletrain It's not going to be a popular opinion, but while I think choice is good I also think that there are WAY too many games released. On Steam it's over 50 games a day on average (18,995 in 2024 alone). While I understand some of these are shovelware, asset flips or solo devs just finding their feet it's still too much for the industry to healthily support. Even the most invested gamers can't keep up and we WILL get a lot of failures.
Personally while i'd love to see more veteran devs breaking off to group together and form small to mid sized studios and making riskier games not just indies. We don't have too many examples of this working out yet, and good luck finding the funding right now.
AI is certainly an area of interest, i'd love to see what a crack veteran team could do returning to their game jam roots and using AI. But obviously there are massive pitfalls with this.
Re: Call Of Duty's Crazy Development Budgets Revealed In New Report
@Coletrain It is a tough nut to crack, and I don't pretend to have all the answers. But Publishers have to make big hundreds of millions of dollars bets years in advance and hope they pay off. Sometimes they won't, but as long as more succeed more than they fail then they can keep investing in new art / games.
The most recent extreme example of this was Sony with Concord a catastrophic and costly failure... yet they made record profits the quarter that released. Hopefully that means they can keep investing in making new IP and new single player games without MTX, DLC and battle passes.
But I DO play some live services and Minecraft is amazing, I'm not going to gatekeep what people enjoy whether it's things I don't play like COD, Fortnite etc. or things I do. Different people like different things, it's all valid gaming.
Re: Call Of Duty's Crazy Development Budgets Revealed In New Report
@Coletrain Sadly WE are a key part of the problem. We (collectively) say we want new IP and new things but the sales numbers don't lie and more often than not it's the franchises that sell again and again.
But COD and GTA, and most of Sony's titles ARE sustainable for now, they make huge profits (we saw the break even target from the Insomniac leak, which they smash most of the time). The trouble is all the other AA/AAA games that try and match them and have huge budgets but DON'T hit their targets and fail, and it's studios and staff, as well as gamers, that lose out.
Re: Call Of Duty's Crazy Development Budgets Revealed In New Report
This shouldn't be surprising considering the sheer number of studios and staff they have working on it. But these are multi-billion dollar revenue games, they still make HUGE profits.
The problem isn't games like this or GTA6, they aren't really risks, at least not yet. The problem is games with massive budgets that can't support them. It's tough as you are betting 5+ years ahead with a lot of the calls. A lot changes in that time.
Re: Rumour: Microsoft's Next-Gen Console Dubbed 'Xbox Prime' Is Possibly Coming In 2026
@HonestHick But Indy on PC is mostly GPU ray tracing and memory constrained not CPU constrained. That was my point, few games are CPU bound so it isn't really the biggest factor in an upgrade. Which is just as well as they have all but confirmed a handheld too.
Prime is likely just a code name, doubt it will called that and I doubt it will be just one console, they are pushing for gaming everywhere and we know they are working on a handheld.
Also excited by what is to come.
Re: Rumour: Microsoft's Next-Gen Console Dubbed 'Xbox Prime' Is Possibly Coming In 2026
@Titntin Indeed. I will likely be there day 1 regardless. And if they seamlessly bought PC to the TV via a smooth console interface that might actually qualify for "biggest technological leap ever in a generation" in my eyes.
Re: Rumour: Microsoft's Next-Gen Console Dubbed 'Xbox Prime' Is Possibly Coming In 2026
@HonestHick I get what you are saying but most games are designed to be played on everything from a top tier PC to a Steam Deck, or even Switch, so it's rare the CPU is the bottle neck. Even if it releases in 2026 you aren't going to see many games developed solely for it that could take full advantage of a better CPU for years, it just doesn't make financial sense. Instead you will mostly see incremental upgrades to cross-gen games, which is also fine imo.
That's where I actually disagree with @FraserG about the PS5 Pro offering no significant benefits over the Xbox Series X, though he caveated it with "when you take the cost into account". The reality is you can play many of the top AAA games at 60fps at around the same visual fidelity and settings you get in quality mode at 30fps. That IS a significant benefit imo. Moreover when paired with a VRR TV it's rare for games to drop out of the VRR window now, everything just feels a lot smoother. Yes it's expensive, yes it's unnecessary for most players, but it is a noticeable upgrade.
But I agree with him that 2026 seems too soon from a tech perspective. To see large leaps at reasonable prices... especially the "biggest technological leap ever in a generation"... press X to doubt.
Re: 10 Free-To-Play Games To Look Forward To On Xbox In 2025
No... absolutely not... my live service quota is already overfull...
OOH! Shiny...
Re: Rumour: Microsoft's Next-Gen Console Dubbed 'Xbox Prime' Is Possibly Coming In 2026
@Fiendish-Beaver I know we disagree on this, and will have to wait and see. But I think the reason those games don't have a console listed is because the date isn't listed - which is wise if you are unsure - and the console logo almost always shows up on the same screen with the date.
Regardless even if you are right and these games did launch with a new console in 2026 they would surely almost all be on Series X as well... right? AAA just costs too much to make it next gen launch only. So there would be no problem having a Series X logo if they wanted.
Re: Rumour: Microsoft's Next-Gen Console Dubbed 'Xbox Prime' Is Possibly Coming In 2026
I've always disliked the Xbox scattergun naming, which does them no favours with more casual players, but I like Xbox Prime as a name. Not convinced by 2026, as others have said I don't think there will be enough of a technical leap at a low enough cost to make people jump by then and what does that say about this gen? That said if they want to compete in console sales - which they don't have to - launching unaligned with PS6 is probably wise.
Re: Xbox Series X|S Sales Estimates Show Consoles Lagging Far Behind Last-Gen
@Cikajovazmaj Microsoft hardly put out any hard numbers. They usually only release very wooly stats (e.g. percentage cloud growth... but from what baseline?) that are cherry picked and can't often be directly compared year to year.
Everything else is conjecture and assumption, often not data led but led by emotion.
Re: Xbox Game Pass Quests Are Getting A Big Overhaul For 2025
That's it, i'm never going on holiday again, can't break the streak! /s
To be honest this did once give me a very minor amount of anxiety in the past until I crunched the numbers they obfuscate through Microsoft points and realised it was penny's I was losing out on.
Re: Xbox Series X|S Sales Estimates Show Consoles Lagging Far Behind Last-Gen
The Series X is a brilliant machine but Microsoft have created too much uncertainty around Xbox, no one quite knows where they stand as they keep flip-flopping.
This isn't really a major problem this gen, they already have 30+ million units sold, but it will be interesting to see how they try and address this next-gen. If they don't do a good job and don't sell enough consoles third party support could start to dry up on Xbox.
Re: Poll: Which 'Xbox' Devices Will You Spend The Most Time With In 2025?
Series X, no competition. But I use cloud or remote play quite often especially in bed but also when away from home. Planning on building a new PC this year so perhaps more there too… but I said that in 2023 and 2024 and I prefer the couch and TV.
Re: GTA 6 'Likely' To Make More Than $1 Billion Before It Launches In 2025, Say Analysts
Honestly I think it would be bigger news if this WASN'T the biggest media release of all time, eclipsing GTAV's early dollar sales. There's just something inevitable about GTA and while that surely has to break at some point I don't think it's ready to happen yet.
Re: Six Games Will Leave Xbox Game Pass In Early January 2025
Escape Academy was brilliant, lighthearted fun. It's a short game you still have time.
Re: Black Myth: Wukong's Xbox Saga Just Got A Whole Lot More Confusing
If you read both statements CAREFULLY both can be true. Black Myth director said it was due to the Series S memory limitation, but Microsoft only said it "is not due to Xbox platform limitations that have been raised to us". If it wasn't raised to them as the issue then that can be true too.
However what was always dodgy about this was Microsoft unsubtly suggesting this was a paid deal despite Game Science denying that. That wasn't OK and was what really kicked the hornets nest and led to a lot of misinformation.
Re: 30 Xbox Series X|S Games To Look Forward To In 2025
I want to play all 8 on Game Pass so that’s a great start, and without knowing about any of the other games coming makes the subscription worthwhile for another year
Re: Pick One: Which Xbox First-Party Game Are You Most Excited To Play This Year?
Fable…. But it’s also the one I’m most worried about as it’s a bit of an unknown quantity. Playground games did brilliantly with Forza Horizon 1-5 but this is a different challenge. Fingers crossed.
But im looking forward to all of them.
Re: Talking Point: What Are Your New Year's Gaming Resolutions?
I already play too much but I’d like to both play less hours AND play more games. That initially sounds impossible but looking back on the last few years I have put a lot of hours into live services and played less games as a result. I’d like to keep playing some of these live services more casually hopefully freeing up time to play a wider selection of games again.
Re: Talking Point: Looking Back At A Turbulent But Productive Year For Xbox
It's been a bit of a rollercoaster. There have been some ups, like Indiana Jones and Flight Sim, but also plenty of downs with a LOT of job losses, studio closures, Game Pass price increases, etc. and plenty in the middle like Hellblade 2. Hoping for a less turbulent 2025, more consistent quality and less flip-flopping business ideas.
Re: Xbox's Indiana Jones Success Has Apparently Left Disney Wanting More
I'm biased as the game style is right up by street and it immediately jumped into my Top 3 of 2024, but i'd love a sequel, the game was brilliant.
Re: Xbox Is Set Up For A 'Bright' Future, Suggests Industry Analyst
@Balaam_ Microsoft Gaming is an Xbox...
Re: Next-Gen Xbox Controller Possibly Uncovered In New Microsoft Patent
Makes a LOT more sense to release the new controller with a new console than split the playerbase and make it an accessory. Looking forward to seeing what they cook up. Haptics and direct WiFi for lowering cloud latency seem like musts at this point.
Re: Xbox Fans Treated To Surprise 'Everwild' Appearance Ahead Of The New Year
The visual design always looked stunning. Hopefully they can make a fun game that aligns with that aesthetic. But it’s been in development for a decade and been rebooted, they’re clearly struggling to bring it to reality. Fingers crossed they manage it.
Re: Halo Suffers Massive Leak On Christmas Day, Internal Documents & Dev Builds Revealed
@IOI they are VERY different situations. Insomniac leak was future unannounced games, employee doxxing, studio roadmap for the next 10+ years, Sony financial documents, business deals, etc. there was a lot of harmful stuff that was being ransomed by hackers.
This leak seems firmly in the past, from what I’ve seen there is nothing partially harmful there and no one is bending Microsoft over a barrel ransoming them. It’s a VERY different scenario, comparing the two is a false equivalency, surely you can see that.
@LogicStrikesAgain well said 👏👏👏
Re: Talking Point: Which Xbox Games Have You Managed To Finish This Year?
Quite a few
Re: Pure Xbox's Game Of The Year 2024: The Results You Didn't See
@XberOne Totally agree on Indy and id Tech 6 / 7
FYI according to Community Rule #1 (b) all posts must be in English. Désolé, je ne fais pas les règles
Re: Metacritic Reveals The 10 Worst-Rated Video Games Of 2024
I've only heard of one of those... thankfully
Re: Poll: How Many Xbox Games Have You Actually Bought In 2024?
VERY few, maybe 2-3, but that's mostly because I have Game Pass, played 30+ on that. I also play across all platforms, most of my digital library is on PlayStation or Steam (Deck).
Additionally after buying a PS5 Pro that will likely be my preferred platform now for the rest of the gen.
As for physical I still buy plenty and strongly value CHOICE, but at the same time I haven't bought any on Xbox this year, they have all been Switch or PS5.
Re: Xbox Is Giving Away Free Gift Cards For The Countdown Sale 2024
Nothing, but that was expected outside of Game Pass I don't spend much on the Xbox Store
Re: Talking Point: Next Year Marks A Decade Since Xbox's Genius Backwards Compatibility Program
It was a brilliant move by Xbox, albeit it was just a partial solution. It wasn't true backwards compatibility, you aren't playing all games off your old discs, instead you are emulating a handful of games and using the disc, or digital license, as an access key. But it was a clever workaround that most people won't even notice.
As brilliant as it is it was only a partial solution e.g. only around 6% of (around 60 of 1000) OG Xbox games worked and around 25% of X360 games (around 500+ of 2150), but it was FAR better than nothing. Add to that X-Enhanced to makes some games upscale up to 4K and FPS boost to make 30fps games play at 60fps and it was a brilliant addition to the service. I just wish they had made it work with a larger selection of games and more games getting these boosts.
Re: Bethesda Games Would Be 'Better' On UE5, Claims Former Skyrim Artist
I’m not sure Unreal is the right fit but it would be great if they used a more modern engine that isn’t crippled by the past. You can keep updating modules, as they have done, but if the foundations are as old and rickety as they are you are starting off on the wrong foot. The fact we still get the same familiar Bethesda bugs 20 years later is laughable.
That all said as much as I want them to change engine, that is actually the least of their concerns. Had Starfield actually been a step forward in gameplay and on the same level as some of their previous RPGs then no one would be talking about the engine, no matter how rickety.
Ultimately they have bigger issues to deal with but a new engine might make them question a lot of other decisions and push their games forward. They used to be one of the industry leaders in innovation…
Re: Poll: What Were The Best Xbox Game Pass Additions In 2024?
@jesse_dylan totally agree. Without Game Pass I would buy many of top AAA games that are included but the real bonus of the service is being able to discover all these other games risk free at no added cost. I probably never would have played Botany Manor or Chants of Senaar without it.Still Wakes the deep I probably would have as I’ve long been a fan of the Chinese Room.
Game Pass widens my gaming which is amazing
Re: EA's Next 'Free' Xbox Game Is Now Available To Claim
@WildConcept6 Totally agree it's like an advent calendar for adults. Between this and Epic will add quite a few games to the library. Epic in particular usually add some pretty decent games, a couple of years ago on Christmas Day it was Death Stranding, which was relatively new-ish at the time
Re: Poll: What Were The Best Xbox Game Pass Additions In 2024?
The big games are all pretty obvious and will get a lot of votes but I’d like to highlight 3 smaller games that perhaps won’t get as much love
Re: These Are The Top-Selling Games In The Xbox Countdown Sale 2024
#1 Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League (Deluxe Edition) - $4.99
This reminds me of the old adage "there are no bad products, only bad prices" it's not quite true but does affect out expectations significantly.
Re: A New Terminator Game Has Been Rated For Xbox Series X|S And One
Putting 2D in the title is... a choice. I love 2D games but other than HD-2D I can't think of many games doing this in the last decade.