Multiple people at Xbox have said as much too (Andrew Goosen, for example), as have others in the space (ASUS, Lenovo, Apple even) and Albert Panello and I had an exchange about this very thing - chips aren’t getting cheaper anymore with die shrinks, period. On top of that, the global economic situation has had an impact on chip production for over five years now, anyone baselessly making claims like that need to be ignored, because it’s not in good-faith.
2 Likes
Also if they are not putting consoles on the stores its likely that they may be preparing an annoucement involving next gen hardware. Its usually how it goes in this kind of thing.
However, i do agree in the fact that they are playing a gambler’s games with their messaging and it does need an overhaul in that aspect.
It isn’t normal though that you say you want to prioritize your own ecosystem, yet you make it impossible for people to buy into it.
If both Sony and Nintendo can manage to see their consoles in those places, trillion dollar MS can definitely afford to have some good will and do it as well.
How are people going to have a digital library if they can’t even start one? Not everyone wants to play on Series S, and MS should be pushing their flagship console at the forefront.
4 Likes
You can literally right now today be an xbox user without an xbox. Many avenues from Xcloud, Geforce now, boosteroid or just normal PC gaming.
Xbox is just one of many ways people can access or even start an xbox digital library without an xbox.
This method is just going to get better over time.
1 Like
Except you don’t take away entry points and push people towards others, you offer them all and let the users decide.
Most people don’t want to play on cloud and while it’s a nice alternative, it’s unfortunately not good enough for anything competitive, which is what most of the free to play market is right now. If you want to play Overwatch 2, Marvel Rivals, Fortnite, Warzone, etc you’ll need a local device and some of those games are not on cloud.
Having different avenues to join the ecosystem is good, but let’s not pretend like they replace the plastic box. And places like Brazil with lower income in general won’t be switching to PCs.
4 Likes
Am from Brazil and i agree with this argument. Many here are not as gun-ho as we often prefer to use consoles to play games as its cheaper and more affordable.
I think Xbox should try and make more people invested in the console ecosystem and the current moves won’t help in the foreseeable future if their goal remains only on expanding its reach with Cloud and PC, which both would requeire investment and innovation within hardware in order to truly see the results.
My two cents on the matter, feel free to disagree or not.
it’s sad but I think they’re trying to minimize the loses, you can bet NextGen consoles will not be subsidized. I honestly think the idea of local manufacturers producing Xboxes would be a welcome idea at this time. I think also Xcloud which I hear is gaining momentum in Brazil is sure banker as everyone getting it gets ultimate and would probably be invested into real gaming. I imagine a lot on Xcloud will make the jump to the NextGen Xbox much easier than most.
2 Likes
At least from what I understand they are still selling Series S, but I thought I had read last year that Series S is almost the same price as PS5 Digital, which makes a lot of people go for the PS5 instead.
I’m guessing it’s mostly a matter of: Is Gamepass really important to you or not? If not then I could understand people with no allegiance whatsoever (so most casuals) leaning towards the PS5.
It’s a bit sad since Brazil was a strong market for Xbox and you’d think they’d do what they can to have maximum retention.
Selling consoles right now might seem like selling a Fortnite box but for Xbox selling Game Pass maybe a way to gain a new set of gamers not in gaming for Fortnite. If you look at the top 10 selling games on Xbox it's beginning to look different just like Steam looks different.Mat Piscatella broke down how most gamers don't buy games. Casuals are the majority, but only buy a couple of games a year. Us hardcore gamers are the minority. Also, Fortnite has the industry in a chokehold. pic.twitter.com/e0Tb58pEi4
— Dirt Griggity (@Griggity) February 21, 2025
4 Likes
Maybe, but i think being skeptical is still a just course. But i think its wait and see if this ends upo being the case overall.
Its not just Xbox Series, have not seen playstation 5 as well as anything related to pc handhelds or even Nintendo Switch.
Could we see that change once next gen comes? Sure but there needs to be a selling point for it do work out.
I’m going to be realistic here and say that it likely wouldn’t have mattered much, would we have seen an increase on Xbox console sales? for sure but not significantly to matter much to Microsoft, I also fully believe that brand power matters the most here and the PS brand nowadays is far far more powerful than the Xbox brand not just in Asia and Europe but also North America now, not that Microsoft is blameless for this, I think this is mainly because they didn’t react fast enough last gen to what their main issue was at the time and by the time they did, 5 years later, when they started an acquisition spree, the PS brand had become a juggernaut, so looking back, I think it’s probably fair to say that maybe things would have been different if Microsoft had started acquiring and moneyhatting left and right in 2013/2014 and not long after the PS had gained too much grown.
I also hope next gen is very different than anything else we’ve seen, hope the PC like box speculation I’ve been seeing around is true.
I probably wouldn’t have bought one at launch but I definitely would have for Fable and GTA6 which is likely going to shine by far the most on the PS5 Pro, especially if it has a 60FPS mode on it and not on Xbox, I can see Fable also shining on it if it does launch on PS5 as well.
GTA 6 running at 60 fps on the PS5 pro is a pipedream.
2 Likes
Fixed. lol
3 Likes
https://x.com/klobrille/status/1895174608816599279?s=46&t=O_AGT9SEnlptKOF_2SxtqQ
Finally, a fun Horizon is coming to PS.
6 Likes
So i decided to do a recap of how Xbox have been announcing their multiplat games and came up with this (i feel like my info is correct but feel free to tell me if im wrong on anything)
The Core 4 mentioned during the business update: (game name/how announced/physical?)
-Hi-Fi Rush for PS5 - announced in a tweet/blog post/Youtube video etc - physical through Limited Run Games (though still not out yet last time i checked)
-Grounded for Switch/PS5 - Nintendo Partner Event - LRG
-Pentiment for Switch/PS5 - Nintendo Event - LRG
-Sea of Thieves for PS5 - Tweet/Blog/YT video etc - no physical for PS5
Others:
-Indiana Jones for PS5 - Gamescom 2024 Trailer - Xbox has physical, no physical for ps5 (yet) - (xbox timed exclusive)
-Doom The Dark Ages for PS5 - Reveal trailer - has physical - day and date
-Outer Worlds 2 for PS5- Game Awards 2024 trailer - no physical mentioned as of yet - day and date
-Ninja Gaiden 2 Black & 4 for PS5- 2025 Dev Direct - ps5 physical through Playasia - day and date
-AoE 2 and AoM for PS5- Tweet/Blog/YT video - no physical
-Forza Horizon 5 PS5 - Tweet/Blog/YT video - no physical
NOTES:
-so far they have announced 2 games at a nintendo event and the rest at their own events, neutral events or in random tweets (or X posts, whatever) blog posts, YT videos etc. None so far at Playstation events, which makes sense. They are friendlier with their Redmond neighbors Nintendo and Steam and still view PS as their “competitor”. We will see if this changes in the future as console takes a back seat.
-physical on other platforms is iffy and sort of matches Xbox themselves getting away from physical, seems like alot of stuff is digital only or available from smaller channels and limited. Something like Doom makes sense since its a big IP that has been on damn near every platform under the sun (as well as CoD etc), but smaller games and IP that are heavily associated with Xbox/Microsoft Games im thinking besides the obvious of getting more from digital compared to physical, maybe they dont want game cases of their IP on other platforms on shelves at Target, Gamestop etc? (IDK, just a thought). I can totally see any future Halo/Gears/Fable/Forza/Flight Sim etc games coming to other platforms be digital only and premium priced, even if they are ports of games that have already been out for years (which makes gamepass look good in comparison)
2 Likes
FH5 apparently dominating pre-order charts on PS5. MS about to make a fortune with that game. Player numbers are about to go beyond 50 million, I can feel it!
5 Likes
I would imagine no physical is much more about them being ports after the fact and margins.
1 Like
Yep, just went and checked and looks like its the 14th bestselling game on PS right now. Just behind Minecraft.
2 Likes
The game is about to become one of those monthly top 15 games played.
2 Likes
The multiplatform strategy started when I was playing Ori and gears of war 4 on my Pc. Them doing that and smart delivery made me buy into the Xbox ecosystem again after multiple red rings of death. I haven’t looked back since they’ve become the definitive way to game. Buying a game once and owning games everywhere (cloud/pc/console) became the best exclusive alongside Game Pass and the most innovative features of the last decade. I also played Ori on switch and the most successful third party game on Switch is still Minecraft globally if I’m not mistaken.
I’ll never understand how everytime they announce a new multiplat it’s like the clock resets and people react like it’s a new things that they need to flip out about. It’s been about a decade that you could play Xbox not on an actual Xbox. I also played all the Spider-Man games not on a Playstation but on my PC and I’ve played 2d mario, mario kart, and pokemon on mobile. Everyone is multplat in 2025… Xbox is just doing it way better, not pretending anymore, and it’s why they’re the actual number one gaming brand with 500 million people actively using the eycosystem.
9 Likes