Pretty sure this will mean for Xbox and PC too. MGS3 that is.
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Interesting read from Schreier. Reckons Microsoft will be in for smaller acquisitions this year.
Five Big Video-Game Industry Predictions For 2024 - Bloomberg
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Non-believers will say this is not a tease.
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Not for $600+ it wont
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I’d LOVE a new one.
As in, it’s not worth it because it might cost 600 or that you can’t expect a console for that money that will haha a game like GTA 6 running at 60fps?
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Someone on Reddit is saying Xbox Direct will be held the week of January 14th.
First comment says:
Usually I’d immediately throw this into the “bullshit” pile and be done with it, but he apparently made two posts about Nintendo Directs before (Week of June 18th and Week of Sept 10th) and those Nintendo directs happened on the 21st of June and 14th of September.
Not saying it’s legit (especially since this is a different presentation than before) but it’s not immediately horseshit based on track record. Take this post however you will…
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Well I did say that this week is like waking up from Holidays hangover in which no one is really all in yet. Next week is back to full status. That means they could announce it. No promises.
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Jason Ronald seemed happy about the new year too, but that could be for all the games coming this year too, not necessarily a direct. Still, interesting.
They’re going to hate me.
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The other day I played GTA IV on Series X. It feels very good to play this at 60fps, but to my surprise it’s not fps boost? So how come exactly it’s 60fps again? This was never X enhanced.
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It’s unlocked fps in its original code.
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Next Xbox Developer Direct Coming Later This Month - Insider Gaming (insider-gaming.com)
Insider Gaming now corroborating that there will be a developer direct in January.
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Wow, that’s kinda very un-Rockstar, isn’t it? But it’s awesome. So I am guessing PS5 has this too? I remember people saying this was only on Xbox, but that was when PS didn’t have VRR yet, correct?
I’m not sure if GTA 4 is even playable on PS5
Jason Schrier dropped his predictions for Video Games in 2024
Switch 2 will have an unexpected twist
The biggest gaming product of the year will be the new hardware from Nintendo Co., which is widely expected to be released this fall. Many fans and pundits expect the Japanese gaming titan to ride the success of its previous console, the Switch, by releasing a similar new machine — perhaps called the Switch 2 or Super Nintendo Switch — with the same core functions but more powerful guts.
I wouldn’t be shocked if that was the case. But in the nearly four decades since Nintendo entered the console business, it has always zigged when everybody expected it to zag. From the controversial decision to stick with cartridges for the Nintendo 64 (a move that directly led to rival Sony entering the console business) to pivoting to motion controls for the Wii, Nintendo’s consoles have always surprised fans in some way. I expect the Switch successor to follow suit.
That’s not to say they’ll suddenly make it a VR headset or develop a home console to compete with the PlayStation 5. I think the Switch 2 will be a portable console like its predecessor. But I also think it will come with some strange quirk, be it unpleasant (charging fees for backwards compatibility with Switch games) or just plain weird (augmented reality integration). My longshot prediction: a more complicated console with a detachable screen for portable gaming.
Saudi Arabia will go big on gaming
Saudi Arabia, looking to diversify beyond oil, has already made big investments in esports and a few gaming companies, such as Nintendo and Scopely Inc. I expect that it will continue to follow that path in 2024, making a big splash with the purchase of a major video-game developer or publisher. This will lead to some fallout. Many Western employees have strong feelings about Saudi Arabia’s human rights record. They’ll have to grapple with whether to stay at their jobs or venture into an uncertain market. Which leads into…
Consolidation will return
With interest rates set to drop and regulatory concerns less prevalent after the Microsoft-Activision deal closed in the fall, game companies are going to return to merging and acquiring. Potential buyers include Saudi Arabia and several US tech giants: Amazon.com Inc., Alphabet Inc. and Apple Inc. (Microsoft Corp. will stick with smaller moves rather than risk another drawn-out battle with regulators.) Potential sellers include Ubisoft Entertainment SA and Electronic Arts Inc. as well as a handful of mid-sized game companies, such as *Borderlands-*developer Gearbox Entertainment, which is on the market following the implosion of parent company Embracer Group AB.
Games as a service will face a reckoning
This one is kind of a cheat because it’s already happening. But I expect the carnage to only get worse this year. Since the mid-2010s, game companies have been chasing Destiny and Fortnite by making their own games as a service — games that can be monetized for years after their initial release. Many of these online games have flopped, and even the giants have failed in their quest for never-ending growth, leading both *Destiny-*maker Bungie and *Fortnite-*developer Epic Games to conduct mass layoffs in 2023.
Unlike traditional games, which a player will typically finish in a few weeks, these GAAS continue competing with one another in perpetuity, making it extremely hazardous for new entries and more or less ensuring that oversaturation is inevitable. Games like Ubisoft’s Skull & Bones and Warner’s Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, each of which were in development for more than five years and likely cost in the eight or nine figures, seem like they may be doomed before they even launch.
Sony’s PlayStation, which inexplicably said in 2022 that it planned to release ten live-service games in the next few years, will be the biggest victim of this collapse. It has already canceled several of its service games, and it’s reasonable to expect that more will follow.
The union effort will begin for real
Last year was brutal for the workers of the video-game industry, and many observers expect the job cuts to continue throughout 2024. People are going to want to protect themselves. The North American video-game industry is not unionized, although we’ve seen the beginnings of a few organization efforts at companies such as Activision and ZeniMax. I expect that to change significantly this year.
The biggest moves will happen at Microsoft. While attempting to persuade regulators to allow the Activision Blizzard acquisition, Microsoft agreed to a neutrality agreement with the labor group Communications Workers of America and has promised not to interfere with employees organizing. That will start to play out in a major way this year.
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IDK if the DD will be in January, but if they wanted to reveal dates they could have done it at the VGAs. Since they didnt, that leans toward a show.
Honesty, if Amazon swoop in and get Crystal & Eidos like they did with Double Helix… 
Okay so it is probably happening 90%
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I think Jeff is doing a show today, so there’s that.
With those “predictions”, I’d say a fair amount of you could be making big money. Something something Captain Obvious… these are all things that most of us have said was happening before that lot ever wrote about it. Save for the GaaS point… just because Destiny is failing doesn’t mean every GaaS is failing ffs, and just like everything else there are plenty of examples that have shown growth year after year.
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