Topic: Official Push Square Xbox Thread

@JohnnyShoulder Sony own the Horizon IP and probably stipulated not on 'Xbox' even though 'Lego' is a much bigger IP and isn't owned by Sony. As some of the Profit is split off for Lego, they either need to sell more PS5 versions to make the same profit or sell on multiple platforms to ensure profitability for all - hence day 1 on Steam/Nintendo, but not on Xbox.

Sony don't see Nintendo as a threat. They are the entry 'toy' to gaming - not the 'Premium' machines. Sony themselves basically implied this during the ABK deal. They also think that by releasing 'Lego Horizon' on Switch, that those people will want to play 'Horizon' when they 'grow up' so will buy a Playstation over Xbox. Its the 'same' as them bringing games to 'PC' in the hope that PC gamers would rather buy a PS5 than 'wait' for the next Sony 'port' which maybe won't arrive until a year or more after.

Releasing on Xbox may bring in some extra revenue, but its unlikely to benefit Sony by selling Playstation hardware. They hope that the 'kids' playing Lego Horizon on Switch or PC will 'choose' to buy a Playstation as their 'Premium' console over an Xbox because of IP recognition. Xbox has 'CoD', Sony has Horizon.

Some people are upset because its a Sony IP, forgetting it's also a 'Lego' IP and they'll take a Cut of the profits too. MLB may have 'pushed' Sony to release on more platforms to reach more gamers or lose that IP, but Sony themselves make 'money' from Xbox gamers on it - but also make money for MS as they'll get their cut from sales on their platform. I've never understood the 'anger' myself. It's never made a difference to me whether its enjoyed by 'more' gamers across platforms or not - as long as I can play the games I want, preferably on the Hardware I prefer to play on, not be forced to play on specific Hardware or 'miss out'.

But this likely comes down to Sony deciding that releasing on Xbox, their 'only' competitor in the 'Premium' Console Market, doesn't help them in the long run. At least those PC/Switch gamers may buy a Premium Console to play Sony's IP's and of course all the great multi-platform games instead of buying an 'Xbox'. If they don't, it's still selling Games to maximise those 'shared' profits with Lego.

@colonelkilgore
@JohnnyShoulder
Sony are probably still annoyed about Xbox trying to buy their way to the top, hell im still annoyed about them buying Bethesda due to all the possible VR content that we no longer see.
What I find strange about Lego horizon is why is it coming to Switch but not PS4, Sony are very strange these days and I reckon that they think they have the power to "force" people to upgrade or switch* platforms. By putting it on Switch they think the players might want to try her other adventures and they still think PC players will invest in a PS. Anyway this whole scenario (mainly the psvr2 sheet) is actually "forcing" me to think about a PC, a PS6 is certainly very far from a day one purchase.
Hell you even see this "force" carp with the PS Plus subscribers. Sony just don't care about doing the right thing by their customers, only that moola.
Rant over.

*See what I did there.

@CaptD yeah I’d be pretty deflated if I was a PSVR2 gamer/owner… seems like genuinely good tech but just isn’t getting supported in a way that it would need. I definitely think Sony not making the new Astrobot game playable on VR is a massive misstep… I mean it’s not as if it’d right the ship or anything but it would be a simple implementation that would somewhat satiate the people who’ve bought in.

Maybe they’ve time-delayed it and it’ll be playable on PSVR2 in future though, I hear Sony do that a lot 😉

@CaptD I don't know how effective the strategy will be about Lego Horizon Adventures convincing Switch owners to get a PS5 to play Aloy's other adventures (I think Sony also wants Aloy in the next Smash game) but the first thing that came to mind when the announcement happened was "Will games like Sackboy, Astro Bot, Rift Apart and Gravity Rush come to Nintendo platforms?".

@colonelkilgore yes, even so many years after the fact, VR still feels like it’s in its infancy due to the price-to-content ratio. While getting it is more more affordable than ever, at least for PS users, it’s quite tricky to find use it if you’re not particularly attached to the novelty itself (which in my case, I’m not).

@Yousef-
It isn't necessarily a price to content ratio as there are literally hundreds of psvr2 games at this point and the future looks quite good (Aliens, Metro, Zombie army and Behemoth all look good this year).
I recently purchased VR2 and I was fully aware of Sony's lack of commitment before I purchased it, in fact I have commented on it many a time but for me there was enough existing content to make the purchase worthwhile, that is for me though and I realise others may see it differently. I did wait for a price drop and this was simply because Sony was annoying me so much with their lack of first party support.

My main problem is with the message that Sony and their "its dead Jim" impression that the Astrobot and PC interface is giving, why buy it when even Sony doesn't even want to support it.
Plus the PC interface is actually telling me "Capt if you want Sony games in VR then go PC", even Eurogamer has just posted a Ghosts of T in VR video.

Anyway back to the Xbox show. Hope everyone enjoys it, I won't be able to watch after all as 6pm is not a good time for me so might watch the highlights.

@colonelkilgore Thanks for the jokes man I gues we will see quite soon what team Xbox have in store for us.

Its btw nice that you are back @colonelkilgore. The more you post the better imo. Althougth I understand that you have ohter things to do as well.

@oliverp why thank you dude, I always appreciate your good humour also 👊

South of Midnight seems like the kind of thing PS should have been making to fill the gaps. New Orleans and a talking fish, miles morales (movie) type art style. Just looks quirky and cool.

Also, I think Big Phil stole all of Geoff's SGF trailers 😅

Super Hans x Fable? 😂😂

Fable is maybe one game that would be worth buying an Xbox for, but it's 2025 🤦‍♂️ I got all excited it was coming soon for a moment, but we don't really know if Xbox will be putting their games on PS5 by then or what their new business direction will be. Either way, I'm interested.

What a great show. I'm very excited for the next two years of Xbox.

Well that was the best Xbox showcase in a long time. DOOM: The Dark Ages, Gears of War: E-Day, Fable, South of Midnight, Stalker 2, Avowed, Indiana Jones, Perfect Dark, State of Decay 3, Starfield DLC, Diablo IV DLC and honestly, even Black Ops 6 is looking great. Not to mention that I wasn't expecting a new Life is Strange, I'm very hyped for that.

It finally feels like all the acquisitions are bearing fruit now. Lots to look forward to in 2024 and 2025.

Yeah other than a lack of solid release dates, there were a lot of good looking games there. Xbox just struggle a bit with delivering on the early promise. You have to hope Sony have more to show because otherwise…. this summer has not been competitive.

Despite my son having a Series S, I've never personally been part of the XB ecosystem..... but in fairness, that was a hell of a showcase last night.

The recent SoP and SGF streams didn't really land for me, but XB definitely did themselves proud last night.

It will be interesting to see how many of these new titles adopt the new 'cross-platform' approach, and which games will stay locked on GP (albeit perhaps only 'timed GP exclusive')

The new DOOM looks incredible, that gun that crushes skulls and fires the remains at enemies...!

Yeah really nice showing that, some exciting third party stuff, some good first party offerings that will be available multiplat and then some nice first party exclusive titles too. Of which, I really liked the look of South of Midnight and I though Fable looked decent too (though we didn’t really see the protagonist do much apart from walk around). Haven’t drunk the cool-aid on Perfect Dark yet following the recent reports of disharmony but is in a better state than I would have imagined. Well done Microsoft 👏

I was actually surprised by how many of the games they showed looked to be in my wheelhouse, and pleasantly so
The biggest surprise for me was Perfect Dark; I didn't realize that it was a PD game until the title card and the parkour bits reminded me so much of Mirror's Edge that I thought maybe it was a spin-off of some kind. So, hopefully it will play well.

Whilst I see many comments about MS's multi-platform releases - like Doom, BO6 etc that will be on Playstation Day 1, I think that misses the point. Yes you could buy the games on Playstation, but if you 'buy' on Xbox through their store, you'll get the PC version too which maybe better for 'long term' preservation of your Library. Not only that, you can play via a Subscription too therefore save you money.

I'm not 'buying' CoD or Doom on PS5 when I can play for Free on Xbox OR PC. With the number of 'great' games coming up over the next 18months, I also don't see a reason to cancel my Game Pass Subscription. Whilst I see people whining about MS releasing some on PS, I'm just thinking how much more value I'll get from Game Pass. If they have to 'sell' on PS, Switch and everywhere else they can to ensure I can keep playing Day 1 releases for 'free' on Game Pass and/or not put prices up significantly, buy the game once and play on Xbox/PC etc, no 'upgrade' fee's either, I don't care if EVERYTHING comes to PS5 eventually - I'll still play on Xbox/PC...

@BAMozzy Thanks for keeping us up-to-date Phil 👍

You don’t say 🤔