Over the holiday period, I was staring into the abyss that is my gaming backlog, trying to figure out what to play. Christmas is a time for relaxation and, as we age, probably nostalgia. So there was perhaps no better game collection to sink my teeth into than the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster Collection.
This year I convinced myself I wasn't going to do any work over the holiday period (even though I did a bit here and there ...). But as most of you can probably attest, holiday seasons can be busier than work sometimes. Family visits, kids coming over, visits to in-laws and extended family. Increasingly it's as much about the modality of the game than the actual game for me, and that's where Xbox comes in incredibly strong.
With Xbox's games going fully multiplatform over the next few years, many are wondering what the point of sticking with Xbox is. If PlayStation 5 or the Nintendo Switch 2 do end up getting all of Xbox's games, why bother staying with Xbox? You could play on those systems and get all of their exclusives too.
But for me, I barely have time for the games I do want to play on Xbox, exclusive or not. I don't need more games, I need more time. And time saving is where I feel Xbox has an edge. Increasingly, I can play Xbox's games anywhere, any time, any how, and that's a feature I'm not willing to readily give up.
Xbox Play Anywhere is Xbox's greatest exclusive
Up until the holiday period, I had been sinking dozens of hours into Dragon Age: The Veilguard trying to find the fun, but ultimately failed, and decidedly uninstalled it never to look back. I have this thing where I can't give up on a game after a while even if I'm not enjoying it, sunk cost fallacy or something. I'm trying to undo that, and given increasing constraints on my free time, life has kind of made the decision for me.
I felt like playing Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster Collection. Not for work, not for a review, but for me, and I've spent 40 hours running through Final Fantasy 1, 2, and 3 so far, with 4 up next. However, if it wasn't for Xbox Play Anywhere, there's no way I would've managed to get that many hours in.
As mentioned, the holiday season can be pretty busy, with family visits and get togethers and the like. This year was no different. What was different, though, was my vastly expanded ability to actually access Xbox games I wanted to play. In essence, I barely turned on my own Xbox this Christmas, although like the campaign says, I had so many other "Xboxes" upon which to play the game.
It's lovely being able to get my Xbox stuff on any device. Wish more of my games supported it tho. pic.twitter.com/IjMSYqM3kPJanuary 14, 2025
Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster Collection supports Xbox Play Anywhere, meaning you can buy it once, and play it on PC and Xbox Series X|S or Xbox One console — with save files following you to any device you play on. However, it's among the vanishingly few games that also supports buy-to-own Xbox Cloud games, meaning it is uniquely well and truly "Xbox Play Anywhere." Not only can you play it on any Wi-Fi capable device with a web browser via Xbox.com/play, it also supports touch controls. Not ONLY does it support touch controls, but its JRPG turn-based nature, alongside its pixel-style 2D graphics means that all latency you might expect of cloud gaming is all but eliminated.
As such, when my partner took over the TV, I could switch to my laptop. When it was time to sleep, I could switch to my phone, mounted to my bed, with a USB-C connected Xbox controller. When I had to (heaven forbid) leave the house, I was able to play it without an Xbox controller with touch controls across 4G or Wi-Fi.
This is the vision of Xbox's future I absolutely am desperate for them to continue iterating and executing on. There's no single exclusive game on PlayStation, Nintendo, or otherwise that could force me to give up this experience, and this possibility for a future where my content comes with me, at my convenience, adapting to my lifestyle at any given moment. This is the holy grail a platform holder should strive for, at least in my mind. But is it viable long term? Will Microsoft ever be able to mainstream it? Is it even capable of being mainstreamed? Further more... is Steam OS further to achieving this than Microsoft is?
Xbox Play Anywhere has a content problem, can Microsoft fix it?
As of writing, there are presently over 650 "Xbox Play Anywhere" titles according to the filter on the Xbox app for Windows 10 / 11. However, many of these games could be described as shovelware if you want to be harsh. Many others are mobile or tablet-oriented. It's an indictment that many of Microsoft's own properties don't support Xbox Play Anywhere, at least according to this filter. Fallout 4, the modern DOOM games, The Elder Scrolls — the list goes on. If Microsoft itself seemingly doesn't see the value in investing retroactively in these types of experiences, why should third-party developers?
The elephant in the room too is that Steam OS is already working towards this vision, leading with the operating system rather than platform policy. Today, developers have to opt-in and design their games for Xbox Play Anywhere. Steam OS conversely is "Play Anywhere" by default, on any device that is Steam-capable, cloud saves and all. Combine that with NVIDIA GeForce Now cloud gaming, and you essentially have the same offering with a vastly larger amount of games.
Microsoft has an advantage with its vast content portfolio, but it isn't visibly making a huge effort to retroactively port some older games to this platform. It doesn't seem to advertise Xbox Play Anywhere as a feature too much either, with the capabilities of it buried and hidden away in store listing filters, rather than being upfront and center.
Microsoft could be doing a lot more to be promoting this feature. Whether it's via in-game branding, improved iconography or curation on its various apps, while offering developers incentives like subsidies to support the program. With the rise of Steam OS, and a reduced emphasis on Xbox console-exclusive games, stuff like Xbox Play Anywhere should be touted as the exclusive, rather than hidden away. More of this, please!
(And by more of this, I specifically mean Monster Hunter Stories.)
