This actually seems pretty likely now.
I doubt Microsoft would stop making console hardware, I can see them working with the likes of Asus or Lenovo to make Xbox branded Laptops, Handhelds and Consoles for the living room.
There's no reason for Microsoft to Gate their ecosystem behind a Console Façade now.
Publishing games on any platform that will have them makes complete business sense, otherwise they limit how many users they can sell...
Unless you're going to say that there will be major new announcements of new games, never seen before for XBox this is a pointless statement.
It could be them announcing games coming to every other platform.
Hopefully actual updates on games like Everwild, Fable's reboot, Perfect Dark will happen.
Fresh new games also need to be announced from XBox First Party, with real time gameplay and some kind of release schedule.
Sure Microsoft's first party devs need to actually show they have real working games coming very soon within the XBox ecosystem, but they've also had ample time to actually be working on unannounced games.
It's very silly to say that you wouldn't want new announcements for Xbox Series consoles!
I just got a Series X and it would be nice to know that Microsoft actually wants to support the console beyond what's been announced already.
There's no Xbox Tax, Microsoft has released games that aren't fun, that lack refinement, titles like Redfall and Starfield are perfect examples of this.
I recently got a Series X, have been putting time into Starfield and it really lacks what even made the Fallout Series fun.
Nothing in Redfall looks fun, though I admit I haven't played it yet, but given the studio involved it doesn't seem to live up to what made the Dishonered games fun or have their polish...
Initial release date will probably be late 2024, then it will get delayed to late 2025.
They'll do the reveal early next month, initial release date will be late 2024, then it will be delayed a further year and finally launch late 2025.
Most likely Rockstar and Take Two just wants to get the initial footage out before more gets leaked.
Microsoft didn't buy Activision and ZeniMax to keep their games off of PlayStation and Nintendo, they're definitely going to try to sell Game Pass and DLC to everyone they can.
Whether you game on their box, PC, Mobile or another device (TV, Console, Table, etc), they want the potential whole world of gamers and don't care about the Xbox Console getting exclusives.
Halo, Forza, Gears, etc will be accessible to everyone through the Gamepass App, billions...
People really are being overly pessimistic, the studio had over 400 staff, they cut 25, so they still likely have more than 350 people working there and it's been close to 4 years since the last major release.
They've always spoken about their games when they're ready to.
This is one of the greatest developers ever created, they're most likely gearing up to announce their next big project, that is probably not far off of releasing.
@JackBNimble: The studio had over 400 Staff back in July, about 25 staff have been made redundant, this could very easily be because a game has had a large part of it's development finished and ND are the biggest they've ever been.
Scaling back to focus more and cut the fat isn't a bad thing.
The studio could easily still have close to 400 staff, it's also been 3 years since their last release, it's very likely that they're gearing up to announce thei...
The rumors say it's development wasn't up to par with internal expectations, so it's on ice for a while, but there's been nothing official saying what's happening with it for a while.
We should have gotten some new information once the remake of Part 1 was done.
ND has to have something new to announce, they've been quiet for a while now.
You know full well that every major Bethesda title for the last decade has been on PlayStation, there's simply no game that has the same level of anticipation behind it as a new Fallout, Elder Scrolls, Doom or Wolfenstein is going to miss the most popular console platform Bethesda's games release on.
Starfield was in long development for PS5, the only reason for it not being on PS5 is because Microsoft bought ZeniMax!
Agreed the deal is dead, if it was going through it would have happened already.
If they wanted to get Activision then they shouldn't have bought ZeniMax first, buying 2 major publishers is just too much, especially when you take their multiplatform content that sold far better on a competing platform and make a large share of that exclusive after the deal.
At the very least they should have allowed the games already in development for PS5 to finish development, then release them too.
Titles developed after the acquisition would be fair game, but considering Bethesda titles have been way more popular on PlayStation it just doesn't make good business sense to stop their games coming to PS5.
Great lineup, I hadn't got around to getting Farcry 6, because I knew it would drop in price substantially, but including it in Plus is great.
@Peterbloodyonion:
"Do they?
Like do you really expect that a major company can easily accept not putting their AAA games on PlayStation?"
If their main audience is on PlayStation, then they should prioritize where most players play, within the confines of what hardware is capable of.
Publishers like Zeni-Max have already denied Redfall (as poorly executed as that game is), will be denying Starfield and any future titles, even ...
@raWfodog: In your opinion, it's not good for the industry for Microsoft to be able to buy up everyone they want, then keep those games off of the platform that would arguably sell far more copies than XBox would.
Sony are perfectly within their right to protect the interests of their customers and the wider game buying community.
Why should Microsoft be allowed to buy the rights to masses of IPs, especially when those games have a far smaller audience on XBox ...
@Petebloodyonion
"@Mr Sec84
I'm wondering to whom your definition of monopoly applies
cause everything you said could easily apply to Playstation with how they use the digital store and current market share to dictate hows the business goes"
Except publishers still have choice, they can choose where they want to put in the work.
Sony isn't keeping games off of XBox from an entire publisher's catalogue of re...
The issue is that Microsoft had already bought ZeniMax Media (Bethesda, etc), they have Xbox and Microsoft Studios, now they want to add another one of the biggest publishers in the world with Activision-Blizzard.
If Sony were buying Activision-Blizzard then it would be evening the odds.
Sony and MS both paid for exclusivity on CoD maps and Marketing, because it worked for both parties at the time, it's not like Sony could outspend Microsoft.
Consolidating 3 publishers under one large company's rule is monopoly, especially when the 2 Microsoft are trying to buy are among the biggest in the industry.
The proof is right in front of your eyes buddy, just because you ignore it, that doesn't mean it's not there.
Preventing one huge company from buying up the industry is literally what the CMA were created for.
I've put some time into this game since I got my Series X a few weeks ago on Black Friday and it really is bland and barren in it's style.
No Man's Sky was at least fun from the start, while it may have had it's issues, it has been expanded and refined to a massive degree and Bethesda definitely needs to put way more effort in than that.
Hello Games are however a very small studio and they made this kind of game work, without being able to know what every cor...