dasnutnock3 wrote: ↑Thu Jun 12, 2025 7:52 pm
Xbox have no interest in the hardware market, they just want to be another app store.
The fact they are putting games on rival platforms suggests they just want to sell as much software as possible and make a buck.
They plan to dominate as a third party developer and get their games to every system no matter what. The Showcase last week was very good, it must be said.
SirStoneyOfBow wrote: ↑Thu Jun 12, 2025 8:29 pm
The fact they are putting games on rival platforms suggests they just want to sell as much software as possible and make a buck.
They plan to dominate as a third party developer and get their games to every system no matter what. The Showcase last week was very good, it must be said.
Bigtime - why bother making hardware now they own about 80% of all the major devs?
Edit - I suspect they’ll be happy to work with third party hardware makers to certify their stuff as “Xbox ready” or something and maybe force them to comply with certain graphics settings to ensure smooth gameplay.
I think there were some who believed Microsoft would make games like Call of Duty, Elder Scrolls and Fallout exclusive to Xbox hardware.
I personally never believed that would happen, nor make sense as those games will make billions in revenue over the multiplatform market.
Business wise, the future is looking much brighter.
As gamers we all should be pleased.
Sort of. The only drawback I can think of from MS getting out of the game hardware game is that they were always rich enough to sell kit at a discount, recouping it through game sales. Smaller companies won’t be able to do that, so I’d expect third party consoles to generally be more expensive to buy than MS-made stuff. The fact I was able to pick up a Series S over four years ago for £249 is what reignited my interest in console gaming. I suspect those days will be gone soon after MS pull out of the market.
Everwild and Perfect Dark cancelled. State of Decay 3 possibly too?
This is DREADFUL news. They've been teasing gamers and loyal Xbox owners for years with these titles. I'm sure these games were announced 5-6 years back, before the Series X/S were even launched.
I'm proper bummed by Perfect Dark, that had some real promise.
Big increase in the monthly cost of Game Pass.
Around 50% in most places. The US has seen a jump from
$19.99 to $29.99 for Ultimate, which includes 400 games and all first party titles on day one.
In other places it’s even greater.
Was always going to happen, but that big of a jump is going to discourage a LOT of people from resubscribing. I did the VPN trick and bought 2 years about 12 months ago, and if I can’t do that again, I’ll be ditching my sub this time next year. There may very well be economic justification for their pricing change, but I won’t be supporting it.
It might be worth it if you're actively playing Call of Duty, Forza and Fortnite throughout the year, but it's basically the cost of paying for 5 brand new AAA titles every year which most of us do not spend.
I've personally spent around $305 this year so far on game purchases and subscriptions, including Ghost Of Yotei which launches today on PS5.
It's almost like Microsoft are sabotaging themselves.
SirStoneyOfBow wrote: ↑Thu Oct 02, 2025 2:08 am
Big increase in the monthly cost of Game Pass.
Around 50% in most places. The US has seen a jump from
$19.99 to $29.99 for Ultimate, which includes 400 games and all first party titles on day one.
In other places it’s even greater.
This is the result of paying $75bn and not getting anywhere near the revenue and profit expected from it.
When Series X/S console sales didn't increase after the Bethesda and ABK acquisitions, Microsoft seemed to switch to prioritizing Game Pass as its primary focus, all kinds of marketing offerings and heavily investing in that "This is an Xbox" allowing players to play their games on a variety of electronics but it's fallen flat.
They were hoping for 100 million subs by 2027, but they are only 1/3 of the way there at the start of 2025, and after this announcement likely dropping.
