Rumor: Another 'big' Xbox game is heading to PS5, to be announced next week
Another Xbox game is heading to PlayStation, per reports, but what could it be?
![PS5 controller with Xbox logo](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/qBtyPE3Lw8UnaEE3skn9aH-320-80.jpg)
What you need to know
- Microsoft is working on porting Xbox games to PlayStation, per a strategy outlined earlier in the year.
- Microsoft hasn't been clear on what games would be ported, leading to a ton of speculation. So far, Pentiment, Grounded, Hi-Fi Rush, and Sea of Thieves have moved across.
- Now, noted insider Shinobi602 has implied that another "big" Xbox game is slated to be announced for PlayStation next week, where Gamescom 2024 is set to take place.
Another Xbox game is coming across to PlayStation, if the latest round of rumors is to be believed.
Earlier in the year, Microsoft torched its earlier promises to players that it would build permanently exclusive games for Xbox by initiating ports of its games to competing arch console rival PlayStation. It has lead to on-going doubt about Microsoft's commitment to the future of the Xbox platform and its users. Despite this, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella repeatedly claims to investors that Xbox has more console users than ever. Microsoft has even initiated plans to build a new generation of next-gen Xbox hardware, which the firm claims will represent Xbox's "biggest technological leap," while also doubling down on Xbox Game Pass, with a day-one drop of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 slated for later this year — a first for the franchise.
Some Xbox fans are concerned that with Microsoft moving its exclusives out of the platform, fewer gamers will be interested in purchasing Xbox, leading to fewer developers wanting to build games for Xbox — putting the platform into a tailspin. The four ported games so far haven't exactly led to a mass exodus of users, but with games like Black Myth Wukong and Capcom's back catalog skipping the platform, the size of the install base has repeatedly led to questions about how much of a priority Xbox is for developers at large.
For users with these concerns, the latest raft of rumors won't be comforting reading.
Noted insider and generally lovely chap Shinobi602 shared via a forum (via XboxEra) that Xbox is planning to reveal another "big" Xbox game for PlayStation as soon as next week — the same week where Gamescom 2024 is taking place.
🔥The hottest trending deals🔥
- 🎮 Seagate Xbox Series X|S Card (2TB) | $249.99 at Best Buy (Save $110!)
- 🕹️Xbox Game Pass Ultimate (3-months) | $29.29 at CDKeys (Save $21!)
- 🎮Lenovo Legion Go (Z1 Extreme, 512GB) | $599.99 at Best Buy (Save $100!)
- 💻HP Victus 15.6 Laptop (RTX 4050) | $599 at Walmart (Save $380!)
- 📺Amazon Fire TV Xbox Game Pass bundle | $82.85 at Amazon (Save $37!)
Responding to a user discussion over when the next round of games would be announced for PlayStation, Shinobi responded "where are you next week?" and then clarified further that he doesn't know if it will be "multiple" ports, but it will at least be a "big" one.
Some users began speculating that it would be Forza Horizon 5, Microsoft's flagship racing game which has served tens of millions of users across Xbox and PC. My sources indicate that Forza will not be announced for PlayStation next week. Although I can't yet confirm what game, if any, will be announced as a port next week. Shinobi602 is a rock solid source, so I suspect it's only a matter of time until he's proven correct.
Xbox CEO Phil Spencer stated in an interview last June that more games are coming to platforms like PlayStation, "You are going to see more of our games on more platforms, and we just see that as a benefit to the franchises that we’re building, and we see that from players, and the players love to be able to play."
So, if not Forza, what could Xbox be porting to PS5 next?
- Best Xbox headsets to get in 2024
- Best upcoming Xbox games
- Best gaming laptops in 2024
- Best Xbox controller deals
- Best Xbox hard drives
- Best Xbox SSDs
Microsoft's presence at Gamescom 2024 will be its biggest ever, with a mountain of playable first and third-party games including titles like Age of Mythology, Stalker 2, Towerborne, and much more. This latest round of rumors is likely to represent an on-going headache for Xbox's messaging with its core users, though, despite generalized transparency that "more titles" will eventually be ported.
Xbox is enjoying bigger revenues than it ever has thanks to its Activision-Blizzard purchase, with service games like Candy Crush, World of Warcraft, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 all doing some serious heavy lifting for Xbox's growth. Much of that growth is off Xbox console, though, whose sales have generally declined year-over-year as we've exited the pandemic.
Other platforms are also experiencing a dip in hardware sales, though, as service games give the previous generation an unnaturally long life span. Mega-franchises like FIFA, Call of Duty, Fortnite, and so on, remain constantly updated on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One X and Xbox One S consoles, limiting the desirability of current-gen consoles and the necessity to upgrade. Big new-gen exclusive release events like Grand Theft Auto 6 could begin to change the landscape there, however.
RELATED: What's next for Xbox Game Pass?
For Xbox and other platform holders, the dilemma has been how to find growth as costs continue to rise. The overall install base of console users has remained fixed at around 250 million for several years at this point according to most analyses, with the overall console industry set to experience a decline of 1% according to Newzoo, as PC and mobile experience slight increases of 4% and 3% respectively. This stat is why you've seen Xbox and even PlayStation embrace PC gaming more than ever, with God of War: Ragnarok, a former PS5 exclusive, set to launch on Steam on September 19, 2024. Microsoft has also brought Xbox Game Pass to the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K range as well, in hopes to find users who find console prices unpalatable.
Still, when porting games to your direct closed platform competitor, it's probably prudent to use a light touch. To that end, I suspect many Xbox games will at least remain timed exclusives for Xbox and Windows platforms at least in the short to medium term, while Microsoft explores its back catalog of older games for the port treatment.
Forza Horizon 5 likely isn't the game being announced next week, although that's not to suggest Forza Horizon 5 won't ever be ported. It would make absolutely insane money on PlayStation, no doubt, and I'm sure Microsoft has Forza Horizon 5 as a candidate for the port treatment.
If we're talking about next week, though ... and if I had to guess (and it really is a pure guess, not a tease) I could see something older like Killer Instinct, State of Decay 2, or Halo: Master Chief Collection making their way across sooner rather than later. I'm sure these games have done pretty much everything they can do in terms of users and sales on Xbox and PC, much like Sea of Thieves and Grounded before them. Perhaps it could even be Hellblade 2, given the franchise's history on PlayStation.
There's also a (edit: large) chance it could be related to Indiana Jones and the Great Circle by Machine Games, which so far has only been announced for Xbox and PC. Microsoft doesn't own the Indiana Jones IP naturally, and Disney might be keen to let PlayStation users know when to expect a version for their preferred platform.
In any case, all we have is speculation right now. I'll be sure to update you if my investigations come full circle.
Jez Corden is a Managing Editor at Windows Central, focusing primarily on all things Xbox and gaming. Jez is known for breaking exclusive news and analysis as relates to the Microsoft ecosystem while being powered by tea. Follow on Twitter (X) and Threads, and listen to his XB2 Podcast, all about, you guessed it, Xbox!
-
TBBudak I just put my Series X for sale so this is good to me. It's cool knowing i can play Xbox games on a Playstation.Reply -
Cassius Clae I think it's Indiana Jones.Reply
TBBudak said:I just put my Series X for sale so this is good to me. It's cool knowing i can play Xbox games on a Playstation. -
fjtorres5591 Both Hellblade 2 and Indiana Jones are good candidates to go timed exclusives but I expect Hellblade 2 to be the sacrificial lamb because it has a history on PS and way back, Spencer said they weren't looking to take games away from existing communities. Besides, it is a niche game that appeals to eye candy shoppers and pixel pimping is strong over there.Reply -
fatpunkslim We talk about exclusives but currently Xbox has more console exclusive games than PlayStation. Xbox releases more first party games than PlayStation and which are exclusive to the Xbox ecosystem. It's been a year since we've been talking about rumors, Starfield, Gears, Indiana Jones, Halo, etc... but the reality is that there are many more false rumors than truths. Lots of discussions and assumptions about the future of consoles and the future of Xbox when there have only been 4 games ported from other consoles, 2 small games and 2 service games respectively 5 and 8 years old.Reply
At the same time, lots of games were released exclusively on Xbox like ravenlock, valheim, age of empires 4, Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, Lightyear Frontier, planet of lana, starfield, hellblade 2, Dungeons of Hinterberg (very good game), forza motorsport, etc... not to mention the games planned for 2024 -2025 like indiana jones, stalker 2, towerborne, 33 immortals, avowed, flight simulator, ark 2, fable, fragpunk, south of midnight, and further contraband, clockwork revolution , gears, blade, OD, perfect dark, routine, state of decay 3, etc...
I'm making this big list just so we realize that the line up of exclusive Xbox games is huge. The PlayStation line up is very weak compared to this.
I don't understand how some people can say that they are going to abandon the Xbox for the PS5 to be able to play everything, but it's a big mistake, it's the opposite!
Why don't we talk more about the loss of PlayStation exclusives like Stray, Kena, Final Fantasy XVI, and probably other Square Enix games like Forspoken, Foamstars, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, etc...
Square Enix has announced that it wants to move away from PlayStation exclusives that underperform on a single platform.
Xbox sends a few exclusive games because they can, they have tons of licenses, 3x more studios than playstation, but when it ports 1 game to another platform, they bring back 5 games exclusive to the Xbox ecosystem. Playstation, meanwhile, is porting all these games to PC, and for some day ones, and making very few first party games, 1 game every 1 or 2 years, while Xbox releases 5-6 per year of their studios.
Another thing, we focus on the exclusives, but the biggest benefit for the player in the end is the day one games in the gamepass, that's the biggest benefit.
But currently, Xbox players have the advantage of the number of exclusive games and day one.
Regarding these rumors, as already said, the reality is that there was tons of fake news for only 4 ported games in the end, which is nothing compared to everything that has been released since.
For me, I'll see hellblade2, it's a very good AA game which is a license historically already on playstation and which hasn't sold very well (because day one in the gamepass and fairly short game), it would be quite logical that they want to recoup their costs. Halo master chief collection, I don't think so, we're still talking about a strong symbol, I don't think Xbox is taking the risk of touching this symbol and the consequences in terms of image.
On the strategy, I think on the contrary that releasing a few Xbox games on PlayStation can on the contrary bring players to Xbox, as long as it is well balanced. Imagine releasing Forza Horizon 5, 5 years later on PlayStation, and at almost the same time you release Forza Horizon 6 on Xbox. PlayStation players who liked FH5 will not want to wait 5 years to play Forza Horizon 6, they will take either the gamepass or an Xbox. I think Xbox has a good shot to play if it's done intelligently. -
fjtorres5591
Agreed on all counts.fatpunkslim said:We talk about exclusives but currently Xbox has more console exclusive games than PlayStation. Xbox releases more first party games than PlayStation and which are exclusive to the Xbox ecosystem. It's been a year since we've been talking about rumors, Starfield, Gears, Indiana Jones, Halo, etc... but the reality is that there are many more false rumors than truths. Lots of discussions and assumptions about the future of consoles and the future of Xbox when there have only been 4 games ported from other consoles, 2 small games and 2 service games respectively 5 and 8 years old.
At the same time, lots of games were released exclusively on Xbox like ravenlock, valheim, age of empires 4, Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, Lightyear Frontier, planet of lana, starfield, hellblade 2, Dungeons of Hinterberg (very good game), forza motorsport, etc... not to mention the games planned for 2024 -2025 like indiana jones, stalker 2, towerborne, 33 immortals, avowed, flight simulator, ark 2, fable, fragpunk, south of midnight, and further contraband, clockwork revolution , gears, blade, OD, perfect dark, routine, state of decay 3, etc...
I'm making this big list just so we realize that the line up of exclusive Xbox games is huge. The PlayStation line up is very weak compared to this.
I don't understand how some people can say that they are going to abandon the Xbox for the PS5 to be able to play everything, but it's a big mistake, it's the opposite!
Why don't we talk more about the loss of PlayStation exclusives like Stray, Kena, Final Fantasy XVI, and probably other Square Enix games like Forspoken, Foamstars, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, etc...
Square Enix has announced that it wants to move away from PlayStation exclusives that underperform on a single platform.
Xbox sends a few exclusive games because they can, they have tons of licenses, 3x more studios than playstation, but when it ports 1 game to another platform, they bring back 5 games exclusive to the Xbox ecosystem. Playstation, meanwhile, is porting all these games to PC, and for some day ones, and making very few first party games, 1 game every 1 or 2 years, while Xbox releases 5-6 per year of their studios.
Another thing, we focus on the exclusives, but the biggest benefit for the player in the end is the day one games in the gamepass, that's the biggest benefit.
But currently, Xbox players have the advantage of the number of exclusive games and day one.
Regarding these rumors, as already said, the reality is that there was tons of fake news for only 4 ported games in the end, which is nothing compared to everything that has been released since.
For me, I'll see hellblade2, it's a very good AA game which is a license historically already on playstation and which hasn't sold very well (because day one in the gamepass and fairly short game), it would be quite logical that they want to recoup their costs. Halo master chief collection, I don't think so, we're still talking about a strong symbol, I don't think Xbox is taking the risk of touching this symbol and the consequences in terms of image.
On the strategy, I think on the contrary that releasing a few Xbox games on PlayStation can on the contrary bring players to Xbox, as long as it is well balanced. Imagine releasing Forza Horizon 5, 5 years later on PlayStation, and at almost the same time you release Forza Horizon 6 on Xbox. PlayStation players who liked FH5 will not want to wait 5 years to play Forza Horizon 6, they will take either the gamepass or an Xbox. I think Xbox has a good shot to play if it's done intelligently.
Also, the focus on console sales ignores that we're near the end of the console generation, that most new releases are still cross-gen, and that many current gen exclusives play fine via cloud. All of which reduce the value of springing for an SX.
The other thing the console warriors forget is the Xbox Is not primarily competing with Sony, that is incidental, but with gaming PCs. And that unless MS badly miscalculates, the next generation will likely be a multiboot device, like the SX and SS. But with a Windows mode in addition to the XBOX and Developer mode option. It might even have a SteamOS mode. (I would expect to pay a modest one time fee for the PC modes, comparable to the developer mode.) And no, there will still be an optimized XBOX mode, for backwards compatibility *and* predictability. Not everybody enjoys fiddling with settings to get the best experience on PC. There is value in predictable plug and play. And with PLAYS ANYWHERE MS will have that edge on other PC game stores.
So anybody ditching XBOX in the next generation will be cutting themselves off from multiple game libraries instead of getting access to more games. -
fatpunkslim @fjtorres5591 Agreed !Reply
Xbox's main growth drivers are PC, cloud and mobile, which are the only growing markets. As Jez Corden said, the console market is saturated, the decline in console sales is global, at Xbox AND at Playstation. Xbox has no interest in wanting to develop excessively on other consoles, it will remain piecemeal and in particular cases like service games at the end of their life, historically multi-platform games, etc... nothing massive .
Xbox has already announced the next generations of consoles (unlike PlayStation which has not announced anything), and they know very well that exclusives remain an important element in selling consoles. As Satya Nadella said, he doesn't like exclusives but he also said that this is the industry in which we operate today, and therefore they are adapting with many exclusive first party games but also games third-party exclusives like stalker 2 for example.
Xbox will drop the exclusives when PlayStation does the same. I think we are slowly moving towards more and more multi-platform, but it will never be total. Each manufacturer will keep exclusive games, at least for a while that are sufficiently attractive to players.
But as already said, Xbox has plenty under its belt and continue to create plenty of games. The same cannot be said of Playstation, their exclusives are shrinking, with third-party publishers moving more and more towards multi-platform. And it's not their rare first party games that compensate.
Beyond the number of studios and Xbox licenses, the diversity of the types of Xbox games is also a great strength, unlike PlayStation which was historically focused on narrative single-player games, but their current strategy towards an area that they do not master ( GAAS) does not bode well for them and fans of the brand.
Xbox offers more varied games and has caught up and continues to catch up on narrative single players. For instance, Hellblade 2 was a great success on the narrative aspect, particularly despite the usual bias of certain media.
Besides, speaking of that, I have the impression that even people like Jez Corden are influenced by these media and certain comments (which we can see right here for example). This is probably why he is used to seeing the glass half empty and not the glass half full.
In any case, Xbox players can only be delighted with all the games present in their ecosystem (pc, console) and the games to come, whether exclusive, day one in the gamepass, third-party games, etc. not to mention advantages like backward compatibility, variety of games, cross platform, cloud, cutting-edge technologies like quick resume, auto HDR, the future Automatic Super Resolution, a native handled console, etc... -
fjtorres5591
A lot of anti-MS and Anti-XBOX posturing is AI-phobia. AKA, plain Luddism.fatpunkslim said:@fjtorres5591 Agreed !
Xbox's main growth drivers are PC, cloud and mobile, which are the only growing markets. As Jez Corden said, the console market is saturated, the decline in console sales is global, at Xbox AND at Playstation. Xbox has no interest in wanting to develop excessively on other consoles, it will remain piecemeal and in particular cases like service games at the end of their life, historically multi-platform games, etc... nothing massive .
Xbox has already announced the next generations of consoles (unlike PlayStation which has not announced anything), and they know very well that exclusives remain an important element in selling consoles. As Satya Nadella said, he doesn't like exclusives but he also said that this is the industry in which we operate today, and therefore they are adapting with many exclusive first party games but also games third-party exclusives like stalker 2 for example.
Xbox will drop the exclusives when PlayStation does the same. I think we are slowly moving towards more and more multi-platform, but it will never be total. Each manufacturer will keep exclusive games, at least for a while that are sufficiently attractive to players.
But as already said, Xbox has plenty under its belt and continue to create plenty of games. The same cannot be said of Playstation, their exclusives are shrinking, with third-party publishers moving more and more towards multi-platform. And it's not their rare first party games that compensate.
Beyond the number of studios and Xbox licenses, the diversity of the types of Xbox games is also a great strength, unlike PlayStation which was historically focused on narrative single-player games, but their current strategy towards an area that they do not master ( GAAS) does not bode well for them and fans of the brand.
Xbox offers more varied games and has caught up and continues to catch up on narrative single players. For instance, Hellblade 2 was a great success on the narrative aspect, particularly despite the usual bias of certain media.
Besides, speaking of that, I have the impression that even people like Jez Corden are influenced by these media and certain comments (which we can see right here for example). This is probably why he is used to seeing the glass half empty and not the glass half full.
In any case, Xbox players can only be delighted with all the games present in their ecosystem (pc, console) and the games to come, whether exclusive, day one in the gamepass, third-party games, etc. not to mention advantages like backward compatibility, variety of games, cross platform, cloud, cutting-edge technologies like quick resume, auto HDR, the future Automatic Super Resolution, a native handled console, etc...
The tech world is changing and with it the rules of adjacent businesses which is scaring the pants off pundits who see their livelihood in danger.
Another cause is the need to show independence, griping about minor things in order to "prove" they're not XBOX cheerleaders.
And a third cause is consternation over layoffs and studio closures by companies still making a profit. Or not. Notice all the media carping over how the BUNGIE CEO spent his own personal money while laying off personnel. As if he was supposed to keep them and pay them out of his pocket. Little mention of how their signature game was bleeding (boring?) its gamer base. In both senses of the word.
A similar misguided attitude underlies the still ongoing gripes over the closure of XBOX studios, while continuing to ignore the red flags that put the studios on the cutting block. (Yes, HI HI RUSH was critically acclaimed. But how did gamers see it? Did they buy it? Did they even play it for free? And because the decision was a business call, what is TANGO's burn rate? How much does it cost to keep the studio open vs the income they generate? Note that unlike the TOYS FOR BOB spinoff, XBOX didn't keep the HIFI RUSH IP. Just the older games, which did sell well.) A big red flag hardly anybody mentions is that at the time of closure, TANGO management was *preparing* to pitch a sequel. A year+ after release and they didn't know what came next? Contrast that with Obsidian, or Playground, or BETHESDA, or inXile, all of which have a project pipeline of games and revenue sources ongoing. Not just the announced games, but other efforts running in parallel. Game development is expensive, long, and the outcomes unpredictable. And like it or not studio management quality matters as much the developers skill. Each studio is judged as a unit based on its costs, production, and inhouse drama. Not all factors are publicly revealed but they are privately judged. What might seem a miscarriage of justice from the outside might be simply unavoidable by internal metrics.
And in the end, nobody is guaranteed a job. Not us and not them.
We all have to "sing for our supper". Even execs making millions a year. And even developers making games that don't set the gaming world on fire.
Life is tough.
Then we die. -
fatpunkslim @fjtorres5591:Reply
it is fashionable to hit on a GAFAM, many play on this primary hatred of GAFAM, without thinking for a single second that Xbox does much more for the video game industry by offering a wide diversity of games, new ips, push the dynamism of independent studios.
Conversely, PlayStation offers many remakes or sequels, very little freshness, and Multiple publishers complain about the struggles of indie games to get noticed on its platforms, restrictions on sales, paid dev kits (xbox dev kits are free). Playstation takes advantage of their monopoly to charge dearly for the entry ticket for developers.
I'm not even talking about anti-xbox measures, which go beyond exclusivity contracts, anti-competitive measures. This is what is hurting the video game industry, and PlayStation is partly responsible for the current situation in the industry.
On the layoffs, I have the impression that once again the media have talked a lot more about the closure of the 3 Xbox studios, a large part of whose employees have been transferred to other Xbox studios. Studios that were doing poorly before the takeover and to whom Xbox gave the chance to turn things around. They did not seize the opportunity and Xbox had to make profitability choices.
Playstation has had grotesque management by Bungie who has never stopped debauching. Playstation cut 8% of their payroll (900 employees), closed studios like London Studio, layoffs at nauthty dogs, insomniac, etc.. it is ultimately much more in volume and percentage than Xbox which at the same time opened new studios (eg: Playground Games opens up 3rd studio to help with Fable) and Xbox continued to hire.
Again, someone who doesn't follow the news well will have the impression that Xbox has cut a lot of jobs even though it's relatively few compared to the industry as a whole and compared to others. studios like embracer, epic games, EA, playstation, etc...
But strangely, the console war makes it much more interesting to talk bad about XBOX than other studios or PlayStation. The community of anti-xbox trolls is very present, and more active than the anti-playstation trolls (there are also some but much less). I'm always surprised to see Xbox sites or Xbox YouTube channels being invaded by anti-xbox trolls. On the other hand, on PlayStation sites, this is much less the case, the opposite is rarer.
That doesn't mean that it remains a very small minority compared to all the players and it's not them who will change the course of things.
Personally I proefer the mentality of the Xbox management which seems to have a healthier vision of the industry which is in the interest of the players (without forgetting of course being profitable) than the strategic vision of playstation which always seeks more to try to milking players with a pricing and monetization policy that is not healthy.
A lot of content that PlayStation offers for a fee is actually free on Xbox.
It's not being anti-PlayStation to say that, it's just facts, you just need to see their aggressive policy on the subject: and see the paid updates, the price of remakes, the price of their PS+ services which are very expensive compared to what the gamepass offer, agressive microtransactions, paid games which are in fact pay to win, etc. offer.
Even on hardware, the absence of backward compatibility of PSVR2 for example, the very limited backward compatibility of their consoles (and still PlayStation players can say thank you to Xbox that PlayStation have taken a small step in this direction). Their dominant position has caused great damage to the industry.
They are taking too much advantage of their dominant position in the console market at the expense of developers, players and overall at the expense of the game industry. -
fjtorres5591
Sony does what they can get away with.fatpunkslim said:@fjtorres5591:
it is fashionable to hit on a GAFAM, many play on this primary hatred of GAFAM, without thinking for a single second that Xbox does much more for the video game industry by offering a wide diversity of games, new ips, push the dynamism of independent studios.
Conversely, PlayStation offers many remakes or sequels, very little freshness, and Multiple publishers complain about the struggles of indie games to get noticed on its platforms, restrictions on sales, paid dev kits (xbox dev kits are free). Playstation takes advantage of their monopoly to charge dearly for the entry ticket for developers.
I'm not even talking about anti-xbox measures, which go beyond exclusivity contracts, anti-competitive measures. This is what is hurting the video game industry, and PlayStation is partly responsible for the current situation in the industry.
On the layoffs, I have the impression that once again the media have talked a lot more about the closure of the 3 Xbox studios, a large part of whose employees have been transferred to other Xbox studios. Studios that were doing poorly before the takeover and to whom Xbox gave the chance to turn things around. They did not seize the opportunity and Xbox had to make profitability choices.
Playstation has had grotesque management by Bungie who has never stopped debauching. Playstation cut 8% of their payroll (900 employees), closed studios like London Studio, layoffs at nauthty dogs, insomniac, etc.. it is ultimately much more in volume and percentage than Xbox which at the same time opened new studios (eg: Playground Games opens up 3rd studio to help with Fable) and Xbox continued to hire.
Again, someone who doesn't follow the news well will have the impression that Xbox has cut a lot of jobs even though it's relatively few compared to the industry as a whole and compared to others. studios like embracer, epic games, EA, playstation, etc...
But strangely, the console war makes it much more interesting to talk bad about XBOX than other studios or PlayStation. The community of anti-xbox trolls is very present, and more active than the anti-playstation trolls (there are also some but much less). I'm always surprised to see Xbox sites or Xbox YouTube channels being invaded by anti-xbox trolls. On the other hand, on PlayStation sites, this is much less the case, the opposite is rarer.
That doesn't mean that it remains a very small minority compared to all the players and it's not them who will change the course of things.
Personally I proefer the mentality of the Xbox management which seems to have a healthier vision of the industry which is in the interest of the players (without forgetting of course being profitable) than the strategic vision of playstation which always seeks more to try to milking players with a pricing and monetization policy that is not healthy.
A lot of content that PlayStation offers for a fee is actually free on Xbox.
It's not being anti-PlayStation to say that, it's just facts, you just need to see their aggressive policy on the subject: and see the paid updates, the price of remakes, the price of their PS+ services which are very expensive compared to what the gamepass offer, agressive microtransactions, paid games which are in fact pay to win, etc. offer.
Even on hardware, the absence of backward compatibility of PSVR2 for example, the very limited backward compatibility of their consoles (and still PlayStation players can say thank you to Xbox that PlayStation have taken a small step in this direction). Their dominant position has caused great damage to the industry.
They are taking too much advantage of their dominant position in the console market at the expense of developers, players and overall at the expense of the game industry.
Blame their fans for letting them get away with their money grabs.
And their enablers in the media and government.
(Remember the regulators caught fretting over what MS buying ABK would to to "our Playstation"?)
Even during the PS3 era when the goldplated Kutaragi mess sold for double the 360 price, nary a 'plaint was heard.
It's a cult.
And increasingly irrelevant to the rest of the gaming worlds. Their business model is not sustainable. Even the cult is going to balk at $700 consoes and $100 games.
When Spencer says he doesn't see Sony as a competitor, believe him: the Sony faithful are a distraction and a drag on XBOX but in the long haul they won't be impacting the XBOX ecosystem.
As MS makes xbox DirectX more and more aligned with PC, the XBOX console will take its place as the entry level for PC gaming, slotting in where a SteamBox would otherwise fit in, in between cloud and mobile and high end gaming PCs, all covered by DirectX games.
That is the future of XBOX: DirectX13+GamePass+PC.
(Unless Spence and co screw up. So far there are no signs of that.) -
mrreaps
Well said. The rumour mill is going crazy saying FH5, The next Halo game, GoW E-Day, Starfield, Indiana Jones, Avowed will be announced for PlayStation. I dont simply think its true. Phil himself said porting games over will not change their fundamental exclusive strategy and will be selective on what games get a port. Xbox already gave us an idea of what they will port over. Games not selling/performing well on Gamepass (exactly what is happening to Hellblade 2), smaller AA games (also Hellblade 2), older as a service games around 5 years old, and established ip with previous multiplatform releases (also Hellblade 2). This might mean Halo Infinite would come to PlayStation further down the line but like what you said it'll be a strategic move and announce it the same year Halo 7 would come out. Which obviously would not be coming to PlayStation anytime soon. This strategy could infact be a win win. Xbox makes more money all the while potentially winning over PlayStation users which likely never would've thought to buy an Xbox or Gamepass subscription. Smart way to attempt to grow your stagnant console sales and Gamepass subscriptions. Because as for now Gamepass as a storefront is struggling on PC because of Steam and the Xbox app mostly having bad console ports as PC games like Ark Survival Ascended still doesn't support DLSS on the Windows version for ex, and is the main reason why PC gamepass is so much cheaper than even regular Gamepass Core. They are still trying to win PC users over.fatpunkslim said:We talk about exclusives but currently Xbox has more console exclusive games than PlayStation. Xbox releases more first party games than PlayStation and which are exclusive to the Xbox ecosystem. It's been a year since we've been talking about rumors, Starfield, Gears, Indiana Jones, Halo, etc... but the reality is that there are many more false rumors than truths. Lots of discussions and assumptions about the future of consoles and the future of Xbox when there have only been 4 games ported from other consoles, 2 small games and 2 service games respectively 5 and 8 years old.
At the same time, lots of games were released exclusively on Xbox like ravenlock, valheim, age of empires 4, Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, Lightyear Frontier, planet of lana, starfield, hellblade 2, Dungeons of Hinterberg (very good game), forza motorsport, etc... not to mention the games planned for 2024 -2025 like indiana jones, stalker 2, towerborne, 33 immortals, avowed, flight simulator, ark 2, fable, fragpunk, south of midnight, and further contraband, clockwork revolution , gears, blade, OD, perfect dark, routine, state of decay 3, etc...
I'm making this big list just so we realize that the line up of exclusive Xbox games is huge. The PlayStation line up is very weak compared to this.
I don't understand how some people can say that they are going to abandon the Xbox for the PS5 to be able to play everything, but it's a big mistake, it's the opposite!
Why don't we talk more about the loss of PlayStation exclusives like Stray, Kena, Final Fantasy XVI, and probably other Square Enix games like Forspoken, Foamstars, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, etc...
Square Enix has announced that it wants to move away from PlayStation exclusives that underperform on a single platform.
Xbox sends a few exclusive games because they can, they have tons of licenses, 3x more studios than playstation, but when it ports 1 game to another platform, they bring back 5 games exclusive to the Xbox ecosystem. Playstation, meanwhile, is porting all these games to PC, and for some day ones, and making very few first party games, 1 game every 1 or 2 years, while Xbox releases 5-6 per year of their studios.
Another thing, we focus on the exclusives, but the biggest benefit for the player in the end is the day one games in the gamepass, that's the biggest benefit.
But currently, Xbox players have the advantage of the number of exclusive games and day one.
Regarding these rumors, as already said, the reality is that there was tons of fake news for only 4 ported games in the end, which is nothing compared to everything that has been released since.
For me, I'll see hellblade2, it's a very good AA game which is a license historically already on playstation and which hasn't sold very well (because day one in the gamepass and fairly short game), it would be quite logical that they want to recoup their costs. Halo master chief collection, I don't think so, we're still talking about a strong symbol, I don't think Xbox is taking the risk of touching this symbol and the consequences in terms of image.
On the strategy, I think on the contrary that releasing a few Xbox games on PlayStation can on the contrary bring players to Xbox, as long as it is well balanced. Imagine releasing Forza Horizon 5, 5 years later on PlayStation, and at almost the same time you release Forza Horizon 6 on Xbox. PlayStation players who liked FH5 will not want to wait 5 years to play Forza Horizon 6, they will take either the gamepass or an Xbox. I think Xbox has a good shot to play if it's done intelligently.