Most online discussions are pushed by dismissive assholes with fanbases of varying sizes. They guide the conversations, both good and bad. It won’t change unless they do, and I doubt they will because negative engagement farming is the easiest type.
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On Xbox (beta) currently? No.
In general? Yes.
Both on Stadia and PlayStation cloud gaming, I couldn’t tell the difference to local play. The low bitrate on Xbox is unfortunately a letdown.
That said, there’ll obviously continue to be hardware (first or third party) until the internet infrastructure has caught up in less developed areas.
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Yeah, it’s clear they’re leaving xbox gamers behind, but moving forward as Microsoft. Like you’ve said call me when Sony and Nintendo are launching games on xbox. I don’t think we’re going to get to that point because why port thier games to a shrinking fanbase of 20million when it’s more enticing to get people onto your platform to play your games?
I think what we’ll see is Sony releasing their games to PC, but that doesn’t mean they’ll release their games to xbox.
The value proposition of the next xbox seems strange if they’re going to release games on other consoles because I am okay with waiting a year to play xbox exclusives. Like I would be okay with waiting a year to play Forza Horizon because it would most likely be a GOTY edition with all of the DLC, and I can wait on their other franchises.
I have no clue how this will all work out, but it does feel Microsoft is leaving behind xbox gamers with this initiative. Business wise they’re making the tough decision to sacrifice xbox gamers to grow revenue on other platforms
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Gamepass.
I think IF Xbox were to release everything on other platforms, you’d have to weigh the costs of buying one console and games vs buying 2 and a Game Pass sub to see if it’s worth it.
That said, I don’t believe everything is going multiplatform and with the size of their first party they could do multiplatform games and still release a comparable number of exclusives to their competitors.
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There is no way that around the time the new Xbox comes out, 2026 for example that they are shipping every single game of theirs day and date on other platforms. Because if they do, the only reason to get an Xbox would be Game Pass. I don’t think that’s going to cut it for many people. A lot of people don’t have a problem buying all these games. Having games only available on your platform though is a different story.
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$500 console + $15/month recurring revenue doesn’t seem that enticing if they’re going to release games to other consoles. You can argue you’re better off subbing to PS+ Extra and buy the xbox games whenever they release to Playstation.
Anyway, its a good service, but I don’t think it’s good enough to sway a person to pay $500 for a console and $15/month when games will release on the other console
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I’m sure Xbox have plans to rejuvenate their cloud offerings.
As you say the other providers have now surpassed what xCloud offers, that said I have been playing a few games via xCloud on my SteamDeck which has been great.
I think GeForce Now is the gold standard right now, it’s often difficult to tell you are playing on cloud.
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It’s a tricky and difficult place for Xbox to be in. Because the old way isn’t doing it for them anymore, unfortunately. But releasing all their games on other platforms can’t be it either. Not to mention if that’s day and date. People with a PS would gladly shell out the 70 or 80 bucks for TES VI, and will not buy a Xbox and sub to GP for it.
However, in the case that they do end up shipping all their games elsewhere, in this case not day and date, I can imagine that quite a few people don’t want to wait for a game like that to eventually get a release date announced for PS. Especially if Xbox keeps it vague. If they would buy an Xbox for it or go for PC remains to be seen.
It’s hard to predict what is going to happen, because we do know that Phil sees exclusives becoming fewer and fewer, and I assume he meant Xbox. Unless he was implying in general.
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I really don’t expect every game day and date, I don’t even expect every game timed exclusive. Those are the dials that they have to turn and try and walk a fine line I suppose. How they turn them means absolutely everything though, which is why I can’t agree with folks that feel like they are being left behind until we know how far they plan on turning those dials. Can’t just assume the best or worse case and run with it IMO.
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I do have a different take than most people…
Xbox IS leaving you behind but it is moving forward (with gaming)
You will generally hear two sides to the new direction of Xbox and both sides are dead wrong.
-Xbox is doing this because the old way hasn’t worked for them and even being the biggest publisher won’t work in the future using the old exclusives model… Wrong!
-Xbox is doing this because there is more money in being a third party publisher. It’s all about business… Wrong!
Microsoft has been backed into a corner by regulators and governments. Microsoft fears winning at this point. Everything is lined up for Xbox to dominate the console space. Adding Sega and a few developers and making most everything exclusive would be an embarrassment of riches. This would be a nightmare for Microsoft. Far easier to sacrifice Xbox and go third party to look like the good guys to the regulators. Keeping PlayStation and Nintendo afloat has become a real priority for Microsoft.
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xCloud (I wish they’d kept that name) is fine on small screens like the Steam Deck or phones. On a big TV it depends somewhat on the game. Slime Rancher (slow gameplay, low resolution textures) was fine for me. But Forza Horizon 4 (fast, high-res) was a complete pixel mess.
I do hope they finally get out of beta with some proper tech upgrades in time for next gen. Because I’d actually love to go cloud-only.
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Ha yeah, I’ll keep calling it xCloud 
.
Ah, I haven’t tried Forza on the Deck yet, I might give that a go later.
I think if they can get it on par with GeForce now I’d happily go cloud only for most my gaming too. The only exception possibly being handheld gaming as 4G/5G is still very patchy where I live.
For example the other day I took my Deck to IKEA while my wife and daughters were shopping as they can spend hours in there 
(which they did) and there’s no data available at all.
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Interesting take. But still, they already said hardware isn’t going away. It’s full steam ahead with the next console as per Sarah Bond. I’m guessing you think the next console will be the last by them?
The ideal setup for cloud gaming is a wired connection at home. Anything else you’re at the mercy of too many external factors and probably limited in the type of games you can play due to lag, etc.
That’s why I love the Steam Deck for trips and vacations, and I’d instantly jump on an Xbox handheld, too.
But at home, I’d be quite happy to go hardware-free as soon as that’s an option.
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Game Pass isn’t going to be enough because it hasn’t been up to this point with their first party games being console exclusive to Xbox so why would it if some/majority/all of their games aren’t? Also, if you’re preference is console gaming like it is for me, you would still have to buy the next Xbox console which at a minimum would be $500.
Excluding their games having physical versions that can be rented from say GameFly (which is what im currently doing since I have zero interest in giving Microsoft any more money than I 100% have to), it comes down to are they worth spending $70 (give or take) on them to play on PlayStation? Depends on how many games the individual is interested in from Microsoft’s first party studios.
It would come down to how many games someone who owns a PlayStation wants to play from Microsoft. For me personally, I have 12 first party games from Microsoft that I want to play so at $70 each, the cost would be $840. Subtract $500 for their next generation console at a minimum and it would cost me an extra $340.
However, I would still have to pay for Game Pass and since each game would be a monthly rental, going based on the $11 cost it is right now for the U.S., I would spend $132 to play all 12 games for a month each. Factoring in this cost, the price would then decrease from $340 to $208.
The main two differences for me would be -
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Which console would be my primary gaming console which I can already tell you is going to be PlayStation 6 when the time comes which means that I will buy and play all my games on that console platform.
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My Xbox Series X isn’t going anywhere until I get PlayStation 6 which I estimate as being released in November 2028 so 4 1/2 years from now. If Microsoft releases their next generation console in Fall 2026, like you and many others have said, their games would be cross-generation which means that for at least the first two years worth of games that I want to play, I don’t have to spend any actual money because I already own the Xbox Series X.
In general, I see Xbox Series X/S console sales completely dying out the next few years and if Microsoft releases Starfield or something to that level on PlayStation 5 this year or in 2025, I can’t imagine many people especially those who aren’t hardcore Xbox fans even looking at Microsoft’s next generation console which in turn means that they’re not looking at Game Pass either. They’ll just wait for the games they want to play to get released on PlayStation and if they don’t, my guess because I have done this is that they’ll just sacrifice playing those games and play other games instead.
As for the games that Microsoft will port/release on PlayStation, I believe that what they’re doing is the same as Sony in regards to PC. Eventually, every game and day one sooner rather than later because they want more money.
And if they’re released a year later or whatever, like @BadNews says, you’ll get the better complete version if you just wait which let’s be honest, after Pentiment and Hi Fi Rush simply being better on PlayStation 5 (in addition to the already released Deathloop, Ghostwire Tokyo and Minecraft), the vast majority of gamers/consumers will simply wait.
If the sales for Series X/S are let’s say 30M just for the hell of it in 3 1/2 years, outside of hardcore Xbox fans or people like me who switched day one to Xbox (which I can admit was a massive mistake on my part), it tells me that the vast majority were already waiting to buy an Xbox Series X/S console which means now, after seeing games get released on PlayStation, they’ll wait even longer to see how it all plays out because they were already waiting to begin with.
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No. I actually like the idea of a PC Xbox. I can see that being a success, at least in America. The rest of the world is kind of only half in on gaming, lol we go pretty big on gaming here in the states. I buy my kid Xbox toys and Xbox shirts at Walmart. Xbox sells tons of consoles at Christmas and you can easily walk into a GameStop and bs about Xbox with people in line. It’s really not doom and gloom here… I actually think Xbox will always be around here in US, the PC Xbox is a great idea. My 8 year son will love it it even more than me.
I live in The Netherlands, it’s where Xbox is pretty much a dying breed, sigh. I just hope that whatever new hardware they make, they still ship to us as well. Please no repeats of Xbox One regarding that.
But a PC Xbox, but sold/marketed as a console? But open, like PC, not closed? If it still offers the ease of use of a console, I’m fine with that.
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This is why they need the next traditional Xbox to be a $700-$800 console without AMD tech and the handle $500. They need to differentiate from PS6 and Switch 2.
…but $500 plus $70 for a game (plus a subscription to an objectively inferior service) released a year later is enticing???
Whatever.
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