It’s surprising how quickly it’s no longer become a surprise when Xbox first-party titles are casually announced for the PS5. At The Game Awards last week, The Outer Worlds 2 was announced for Sony’s system, after the Obsidian sequel was previously only expected on Xbox and PC.
While there’s still inconsistency between which platforms projects deploy on – Avowed, for example, the new intellectual property from the aforementioned studio will launch as a console exclusive – it’s becoming increasingly clear that Microsoft is transitioning into a third-party publisher.
And if you’re still in denial, CEO Satya Nadella said as part of a recent investor Q&A that his company is focused on building the “best games that can be enjoyed by gamers everywhere”.
To be fair, he was speaking specifically about Microsoft’s current “this is an Xbox” campaign, which tries to communicate the idea that you can stream select titles on your smartphone, television, or laptop computer.
But as the industry transitions, so too is Xbox’s approach. Speaking with Variety, Matt Booty said it’s still making multiformat decisions on a “game-by-game basis”, but he admitted this is more about each individual studio’s resources rather than any specific lines in the sand.
“We want to make sure there’s a great experience for our Xbox players, and then the gap between [when it becomes available on PlayStation] is as much a production decision as it is anything else,” he explained.
The next Xbox title to release on the PS5 will be Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, and then we’d expect many more ports into 2025 and beyond. Rumours have pointed to the likes of Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition and Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, but we’d also anticipate the likes of Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 and potentially even the long-expected Forza Horizon 5 to follow.
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[source microsoft.com, via gamefile.news, resetera.com, variety.com, x.com]
Comments 92
Keep em coming 😂.
This pretty much guarantees that Elder Scrolls 6 is coming to Playstation, which is really the only game I'd care about making it over. Actually I'd take State of Decay 3 as well.
Great news! Xbox leading the way!
I’m definitely not in denial it’s just a shame as it’s not really XBOX anymore especially as an Xbox console.
It’s Microsoft studios.
The only really annoying thing for me is are they really going to bother producing a next generation home Xbox console?
Because their speak and actions show it’s probably not worth the effort.
They should come out and say yes 100% home console full power next generation Xbox around 2027.
Or say no, we are not going to bother.
They are hanging Xbox console fans on a single thread and being total arse holes.
Nothing else at least with Sony we got a mid generation console and will get a PS6 and the same with Nintendo and Switch.
Removed - unconstructive
In other words, just admit if Microsoft will going 3rd party like SEGA.
No longer interested in care their XBOX machine but still want to advertise XBOX games can be played on non XBOX machines?
Just going to 3rd party developer!
No need to make excuse statement of not admitting their horrible XBOX sales.
Also, that means I will never buy their next XBOX product because they don't have passion in gaming.
Their money oriented blinded Microsoft by advertising false way to play video games.
@OldGamer999 I mean they did say they're making one, right? I don't know why they'd say that if they weren't at least planning one right now.
The end game is surely 3rd party now with some hardware as a side line - like they have done with their surface tablets.
It feels like MS are pushing for people to go PC now and I wonder if the next iteration of Xbox (if we get one) is more a Steam machine running Windows than a console in the truest sense.
But with PS and Xbox dropping games on PC and the flexibility that entails i think I might be on my last console - it is certainly a consideration now.
I’ll play Indy for sure… we’ll see about any others.
Apart from the Forza Horizon games (especially 4) and Sea of Thieves, I haven’t really played games on the Xbox that I would desperately want to play if they were multiplatform. I game specifically on PlayStation and have done for years purely because all the first party games have appealed to me way more than what Microsoft does. That hasn’t changed even with all the acquisitions. It’s better for everyone that many games that they thought would be held off PlayStation will still be available and since Microsoft seems more and more likely to be a 3rd party developer in the future, I really can’t see myself buying too many of their games moving forward anyways.
Wouldn't put it past Sony to secure marketing rights for some future Xbox releases and bang "This is a PS5 game" on the advert. The games might actually sell pretty well if they allow it 😅
Removed - trolling/baiting
@OldGamer999 at this point who cares nobody is gonna buy one anyway , if you think series x sales are bad , wait till the series xx or whatever daft name they come up with releases, the sales of the ps6 will be through the roof ,why waste money on an xbox when you can have all the ps exclusives and all the xbox games on sonys new machine,the xbox as a console died years ago,it's time it was laid to rest, and just let Sony and nintendo do their thing.
Can't wait for the brain implant so I can be an Xbox!
I have no idea what games I'm actually looking forward to from Xbox. I'll get Indy since I enjoy the films, but the other new stuff, not so much. If they ported older games like Bungie's Halos or Fable 1 and 2, I'd get them day one.
To be fair outer worlds was probably always going to be on PlayStation its a smaller ish game with the first already being on PlayStation. Phil has regularly said he doesn't want established franchises being taken away from gamers.
@lazarus11 I wouldnt say 30 million is bad
@Anti-Matter if they are releasing a console then they aint third party
Well they already have previous on this. How many more times will they say it before they actually start delivering 🤷♂️. At least with PlayStation the latter half of the life cycle basically guarantee's bangers but whatever
I'd gladly play Gears of War on my PS5
Such an odd strategy. They are now a 3rd party publisher that just happens to have a console to buy too...if you want one. But hey I ain't complaining. One less console I need to fork up the cash for.
The day Halo comes over to Playstation I'll pop some champagne. 😄
I would very much like to see the following on PS5
Elderscrolls 6
Gears of War
Fable
They are in the phase of figuring out what earns them more money (the strategy to port is here - expect it all on switch 2 also)
Do MS make more by having it day 1 exclusive to GP and release 6month later on competition (Indiana jones) or Does it make financial sense to do day 1 on both (Doom).
So for now I’d expect a game by game basis still
@DukeeDukems 😂😂🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️ xbox is dying...
@Toot1st when can PS5 owners play Hellblade 2?
@Toot1st
Your first mistake is believing what Phil says. He says lots of things and leaves himself tons of wiggle room. If anything, the messaging has become more consistent now that Phil has less control.
At least Microsoft is putting its platforms first - as it should. Even if the games come to other platforms, Microsoft should absolutely focus on ensuring that games for its own platform are the best that they can be for the hardware.
I would think people here would absolutely understand that as Sony ensures its first-party games are the best they can be for PlayStation consoles before working on any PC port.
The Xbox games I'd like to see on PlayStation are Gears of War (remastered single player campaigns for the whole series only, please), The Elder Scrolls VI (because why not), Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 and Pentiment (already got that one). Gran Turismo is a pretty solid replacement for Forza Motosport 5 and I'm not a big fan of racing games anyway.
Microsoft's current strategy works just fine for me as long as they give us PlayStation fans some love, port older games over and release at least the big titles on PlayStation.
Fable is the only IP I am currently interested in, so I'd take that. And give us the old ones while you're at it as well.
@lazarus11
I think I sort of said the same as you, but a lot more gentle 🤣
@get2sammyb
I think they did say a while back.
But they said a lot of things a while back that have changed in the last 3 months.
This is an Xbox!
Ah, no, no it isnt....
@JustCameHereToSay like what
Honestly, not much on the horizon I’d be interested in. Were already getting Indy, which was the only title that I deemed a ‘must buy’ from their recent shows. We’re also getting Stalker 2 (a better version, after the beta test launch is over and it’s patched to a playable state…), along with Doom and some others. I’d be more interested in the back catalog—old Halo’s, maybe a Forza (from the horizon series, not ‘we have Gran Turismo at home’ Motorsport bunch). Not much else on offer to be fair.
If that's the case, why has Starfield not released on PlayStation yet? A PS5 version was already in development, and we know that Bethesda has worked with the console before. Same goes for Indiana Jones.
If everything is an XBox, and given how Microsoft's other divisions are all about their software being available on any hardware, how long until Microsoft doesn't manufacture the only XBox console? I can see a future where they let HP, Dell, whoever, manufacture a box that sits under your telly but runs the XBox OS and plays XBox games, and maybe Microsoft makes their own too like they do with some laptops.
I only care about Doom series. MS can keep Forza, Elder Scroll, Indy, Gears, Halo as Xbox exclusives, multiplats, or whatever they want.
Avowed will eventually become a Playstation game.
@Medic_alert It could well be a steam machine but it would seem that they are even running behind there as it looks like valve are heavy into developing one also. An Xbox console PC with the Xbox store fails hard compared to a Steam console PC with the full power of steam behind it.
If Steam can pull off a decent under the TV box then I could easily see Xbox becoming Gamepass but without the third party stuff. Basically just following the route all other subs take where each platform have their own sub service and they all get worse value as time goes on.
They can keep Star Field though...
It seems currently like IP that have previously existed on other consoles like DOOM, Outer Worlds, etc are going to PS5, but new IP like Starfield and Avowed are not.
@Ilyn if Valve bring out a console/pc again I would be there.
100% sold because of the flexibility it would give me over other walled garden console experiences.
That "this is an xbox" ad is kinda funny, it's the last try before their console lose all the value left that it has.
@UltimateOtaku91
This. The Elder Scrolls are the gaming experiences I treasure most. I wouldn't want to shell out console money to play one game, but I would if I had to. I am hoping, as you say, that I don't have to do that with their new approach.
I'd also love at least a new trailer some time within the next 12 months.
Bring on the x box games.word up son
Outer Worlds 2 was a pleasant surprise. I think the only other exclusive I'd be interested in is Hellblade 2.
@Kiefer-Sutherland im sure I saw something saying elder scrolls is like like 10 years away theres no way it's coming to ps5 😂 ps6/ps7?definitely
@Dimey Indy, Grounded, Hi Fi Rush and Sea of Theives were new IP though.
Not sure why anyone is surprised Outer Worlds 2 is coming to PS5 considering the first was a multiplatform game.
@JustCameHereToSay You trade in 10 year old games, it's not likely any game store will want them.
@UltimateOtaku91 Fair point, though fairly small games? Ah who knows, all it shows is that Xbox decisions seems to be absolute potluck!
@Toot1st It's awful, and sales are in free fall.
Overall console sales won't get near the 58m of Xbox One, and that's with Series S available.
@Korgon Next gen they will only have niche, expensive hardware available as a token gesture for people with big Xbox libraries.
When GPU starts costing me money in a couple of years time and they're releasing all their games to PlayStation after a timed exclusive then I'll be ditching the Xbox.
@Nexozi They will be day one.
@pyrrhic_victory There is still a big unknown in the form of Nintendo's next system. What Xbox games will Switch 2 get and will they release same day as PS5? Are there Xbox games in the Switch 2 reveal? Does the Switch 2 reveal set the stage for Microsoft putting PS5 and Switch 2 logos at the end of trailers at Xbox events?
Switch 2 may end up explaining a lot about the PS5 timings.
Personally I love it. It is why PC had pushed for xbox controller support for the past 3 consoles and the more they blur that line the less boxes I have to buy.
xbox will be sony largest third party publisher...lol..
@savoie72 so was Hellblade.
Playstation users sometime ago...
"I have no interest in anything that XBOX has to offer..."
Playstation users today...
"I'd love to play Gears of War and Fable on my PS5..."
🤣
They’ll absolutely make another console. They’ve said that they will, and boasted about “the largest generational leap”. Plus, they started as a console and would be leaving existing fans (and their libraries) behind. Lastly, they’re never going to beat Sony, but they’re not going to let them have the high performance console market to themselves.
Absolutely every game is coming to PS5 eventually, and probably the Majority to the Super Switch also. Anyone who thinks otherwise is in denial.
It is only my opinion, XBox is my main and I am not in denial as the article says. I think this is great for the videogame industry and I say the more the merrier. Gaming is supposed to be fun. United we stand, or divided we fall.
@OldGamer999 Their idea of their platform no longer revolves around "exclusive content" - simple as that. They don't have an interest in an Apple/Sony/Nintendo walled garden closed platform. Their interest is in open platforms on any and all hardware more like Googazonbook. They'll make a new machine to play games on and it'll have it's perks like GP, etc, things that make engaging with their platforms more direct. It's just not likely to be built around "here's all the exclusive games you can play on it."
Heck even Sony's backing away from that. Even ignoring the PC ports, they just don't have a huge amount of content anymore. While it's "exclusive", realistically, almost none of their install base buys their machine for their exclusive games anymore going by the sales numbers. They make big noise about their exclusives, etc, but behind closed doors, knowing their numbers, I'm sure even Sony would laugh in the face of anyone that thinks exclusives are the business today and remind them it's not 1995.
@NEStalgia
I have nothing at all with Microsoft doing what they are doing and yes all those studios give massive content and games totally agreed.
I just want them to 110% reassure us they are making a next generation no strings attached home powerful Xbox console.
I know they mentioned it very loosely sometime ago, but since then a lot of has been said and happened that makes you think they may not bother.
It’s simple just let us know 110% either way.
Remember live on camera Phil said the Indy game was not going to PS5, but we know how that turned out, I just don’t trust them.
@NEStalgia
You’re being extremely naive if you think that wasn’t their first choice outcome
Sounds great i would love to see the o.g Splinter cell games on PS5 and Gears series with multi player modes.
Xbox studio makes some amazing games.
@NEStalgia I am a perfect example of this. I have been what you might call a Playstation fanboi all the way back to the first system, but that's because that's where the nerdy JRPGs lived, and it's where the nerdy JRPGs continue to live. I watch those retrospectives about all of the Sony first party stuff over the years and realize I've played very few of them considering.
@OldGamer999 They'll keep making consoles. It'll be the best place to play Gamepass.
@ChrisDeku Who's choice, the old bosses or the new bosses? Old bosses liked closed ecosystems. Balmer tried. Nadella's never been into the closed ecosystem thing, borrowing from Googazonbooks' playbooks on everything.
@Pandalulz Yeah, exactly the same for me. Heck, I was all PC at one point, and between a whole lot of things and the fact that what I really wanted was the nerdy JRPG stuff and almost none of it was on PC and all of it was PS/Nintendo. There's only a few of the other true first parties that matter much to me. Most of the cool first party was Japan studio and they killed it. But flash forward to 2024 and all the nerdy JRPG stuff is on PC first and foremost, which really changed the complexion of PS to me.
Another way to read that statement is:
"We got our a** handed on a silver plate by a 2014 tablet and can't find any way to be competitive on this market anymore, we simply give up, we'll just release games everywhere to make money and tell people that supported our brand that any device they play our games can be called an Xbox"
As I've said many times before here and on Pure Xbox, this strategy makes perfect sense of you believe that bespoke hardware won't exist after next gen.
@NEStalgia
From my personal point of view, Sony's very strong * exclusive line up was the main deciding factor in me purchasing their console, on more than 1 occasion, as opposed to Xbox.
I also know a few people including family who are very much in the bracket people call "casual gamers" - normally only playing 2 or 3 online games all the time.
They will however buy and play a Sony 1st party single player game roughly every 1 to 2 years.
But despite this being so infrequent, and despite the fact they may only play these games once through (often over many months because they spend so little time playing them) - they chose PS5 only because of their 1st party exclusives.
To give an example, 1 bought a PS5 purely because Sony make the Spiderman games exclusive (I know because they asked me whether they were on other consoles). Another bought a PS5 because the 1st bought a PS5.
Now im sure their gaming habits do very little for Sonys 1st party figures / profit - but Sony's real money comes from customers in their ecosystem, and because of a few Spiderman games, thats where they are for a number of years!
Edit: corrected bold type.
@NEStalgia long sigh I built my PCs from 1994 to 2015 and that one died right in the middle of COVID, the crypto boom, and supply chain collapse, so I kind of just gave up on it and went all in on my PS4, now PS5. I had stopped having fun with the technical bits a long time ago anyway. Personally, for whatever folks can complain about MS doing to XBox, they've done that so much worse to Windows. I have to use it for work and don't want to touch it at all if I don't have to otherwise. Valve has made great strides with the Proton experiment from what I have messed with in Linux and it does work decently, but I give them a couple more years until whatever couple of guys working on that project get bored and move on to something else and the whole thing collapses, just like happened with the SteamBox before. While there are more developers than ever porting things to PC, it feels like it's a coinflip whether the port is any good and a lot of the time they just run better on worse equipment on console because it's better optimized.
TL;DR, I appreciate the PC ecosystem, but after thirtysomeodd years, I am too jaded to care anymore.
Biggest difference between Microsoft and Sony, Sony looks forward pushing games to their limit. Microsoft likes to keep milking the cows, where games must be for both systems, graphics/power be damned. Oh and they have to be PC compatible from day 1. Can’t fix stupid.
@Rich33 Of course someone on Push would have Sony 1st party games as the big incentive, that's kind of a given within the niche community. But it's a bit of a small niche these days and is largely outmoded. When you look at the overall sales figures on those 1st party games, "buying a sony first party every 2 years" just isn't the norm for the overwhelming majority of their install base to the point that if they just shut down all their first party studios today and stopped making games.....the PS install base wouldn't actually change significantly.
Obviously there's SOME amount of the player base that is, but just by the numbers it's a pretty small part of the actual install base these days. There's far more PS players that don't play any PS Studios games than those that do.
But you did highlight the reason they still make them at all. That influencer factor. That 2nd relative that bought because the first did, and that first did because of an exclusive. Overall the exclusives don't actually affect much of their install base, however, for each one that does, there's 5 others that buy it, not for the exclusive, but because someone else bought it, who happened to buy for an exclusive. So in that sense the exclusives matter, but only up to a point, once it's become so big and established that "everyone else plays on PS" they stop really needing those exclusives because "everyone else already plays on PS." That is without a serious competitor anyway, and MS's exit from the exclusives game, ironically, means Sony will need them less over time too.
@Pandalulz LOL I went into the jaded phase in the 2008-2010 time period where if you weren't running custom loop liquid, your system would burn up constantly lol. It was this generation that brought me back to it now that PC has sort of become a lot more predictable, and console has inherited half of PCs problems. I only switched back this past year, but I've been impressed with just how solid the experience has been. My big rig overpowers any of the poor ports, but I spend a lot of time on my Legion and Ally (non-extreme) and am amazed how well things run on something that's a lot weaker than a PS/XB even with windows bloat these days. I think things should run a lot better on weak hardware on console, but my feeling being on both sides of is this past year, is they don't optimize console ports any more than they do PC ports and the consoles have less workarounds to try to "fix" it by stripping it down. I switched from PC to console when it was clear console ports always got more polish. This gen? Most of the devs abandoned that and seem to spend more time polishing PC because it's a larger market.
We just won't talk about MSFS 2024 lol
Next gen I'll just get a PC that won't be outdated as soon as it launches unlike the next Xbox or PS6. MS will keeping making profits like always because they know when to pivot.
Is there a time frame for when it starts....
Like 2025, 26 etc.
@darylb24 PCs are outdated every time the next £600 grx card is released.
Time will push Sony to do the same. Money talks and more 3rd party game devs are abandoning the idea of exclusives, especially for multiplayer. Sonys' already trickling out more of their games to PC.
MS is already on record from multiple sources stating they are actively working on a next gen console and potentially a handheld as well. I'm more excited for a native handheld. They've learned a lot from the surface so it's definitely possible to be a hit.
@NattyKing and PlayStation 5 won't ever sell as many as PlayStation 2. Console sales have been in a decline for long time that's the opposite of growth.
@The_Wailing_Doom funny because Xbox how moto of play anywhere has been a thing for the last 4 years as well as Phil's statement of game exclusivity will be decided on Case by case basis. Yet every time a game is announced for PlayStation everyone is surprised we have hundreds of articles on it. People not listening isn't the same as Phil lying.
@Moby
The business analysts on PureXbox and twitter are deadset on this narrative lol.
@darylb24 "I'll just get a PC that won't be outdated as soon as it launches unlike the next Xbox or PS6"
I think you will find that depending on the architecture, you'd be looking at upgrading your PC every year if you wanted to keep it at top spec, where-as your console should be lasting 5,6 maybe 7 years.
Well I'm not at all surprised by this, especially after seeing those hardware numbers for November in Spain.
I mean it is just one country but with sales like those I don't blame them for wanting to become Sega.
@NEStalgia
I take that my personal buying habits with exclusives having been a big deciding factor in the past, may be considered more of a niche position, but I also think you are seriously underestimating the value of exclusives and the draw / impact that they can have.
Now obviously I am no "casual" gamer, and likely not even an "average" gamer (im not big on these labels but they are helpful here I suppose) - the thing is, Im basing my view of the importance of exclusives not just on my buying habits, but on the behaviours I see / hear in others who most definitely are.
The example I gave was just 1 instance I have seen, and is as you say a good example of a knock on effect.
I also think we underestimate certain aspects when it comes to "average/casual" gamers - when you hear "No point buying an xbox anymore as all their games are on Playstation" or "xbox dont have any games" statements coming from people who are definitely somewhere in this categorisation, and in some cases (not all) very probably couldnt tell you what Xbox games are on / planned for PS5, it brings home how important the perceived reputation of Sony / Xbox in terms of exclusives actually are - and I suspect (I dont know) they havent bought a PS exclusive in years in some cases.
I agree with you that the impact is much reduced with Sony having such dominance in their sector of the console market, but maybe xbox gets their act together, or maybe another competitor comes along trying to take a slice of Sony's pie - it could be Nintendo with their Switch 2, or even a future more console-like PC. But, I certainly think Sony's perceived reputation when it comes to exclusives is very important to them - far more than any sales data would suggest.
XBox seems dead in the water and that does NOT bode well for Sony's arrogance.
Can only hope that Nintendo come out with something that gives the PS5 a bloody nose but I doubt it.
"this is an Xbox" is one of the most corny slogans they have came up with and i don't enjoy them encourage more interlopers, games already been getting ruined since 2020 when a bunch of 40 year olds bored into quarantine purchased consoles and destroyed pvp games by being playing them and being scrubs.
@Rich33 I think it's more complicated than that. I think the knock-on effect is the main factor. How important that remains in the face of no serious competition, though, I'm not sure. It ONCE was important as part of the promotional strategy. I'm not convinced it remains significantly so. Again, just looking at real sales of exclusives vs install base, and considering the majority of the exclusives market are the same people across multiple exclusives (I.E. the market interested in exclusives is likely a repeat market for exclusives, thus a lot of overlap in game to game sales in exclusives) it a REALLY small part of their market. 10% or below, generally, with a 20% spike on one or two major titles. Meaning 80% of their install base DGAF about exclusives at all.
MS, on that token realized the same, and with their overall install base being too small to sustain exclusive titles anyway, decided to forget about that. That, though created the media problem, as you say "Xbox has no games, no point buying an Xbox" etc. Most of that really has little to do with "PS's customers are so invested in exclusives that a competitor without an array of compelling counter exclusives lacks appeal" and most of it has more to do with people validating their PS purchase by finding a negative to keep repeating about the competitor, and then the endless people parroting them to sound in the know because the internet is the internet and we haven't really left the Sonic v Mario wars of the 16 bit era in new packaging Problem is Xbox hasn't done a good job justifying why you SHOULD buy their platform. They don't have a USP beyond GP, and that's clearly not it. I don't think exclusives are the answer, but I don't think they have a better one either, so it makes the hyena's cackles ring true.
Where Sony runs into potential trouble, though, is, like you mentioned, the sales show their exclusives isn't really their main draw anymore to most of their market. Inertia is. So if someone else ever decides to compete head on (Apple, Meta, Nvidia itself for that matter, PC adoption and simplification in general) that has some major selling point, Sony could land themselves where Xbox is now, albeit more slowly.
Heck if exclusives were such a huge deal, Game Pass numbers would be a lot higher than they are. The market shifted. Most of the market just cares about the 5 GaaS standards. It worked last gen but I think Sony leaned too hard on their hollywood studio model and it's come back to bite them somewhat as the market changed. The only reason they're still on top and not in trouble is, well, their competitor is Xbox...
@WobberleyBob Xbox users sometime ago...
"I have no interest in anything that PLAYSTATION has to offer..."
Xbox users today...
"I'd love playing Death Stranding and MLB on my Xbox..."
@Toot1st If Phil's moto is "play anywhere" then doing ANY exclusives is a contradiction of that.
@PSDeckSwitchOwner you can play it on xbox you can play it on phone you can play it tablet you can play it on your tv there wont be any game that you can only play on a xbox console.....hence play anywhere
@OldGamer999 so why are you complaining if you’re not in denial
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