Lysterao

@get2sammyb Wprth noting that's physical sales not all sales. Data suggests Xbox players tend to go all digital even when buying and not just for downloading from Gamepass.

Still, it does show just how differently the platforms have skewed

@Anke All 5 million of the Xbox players paid for it. The question is how many bought the game outright.

Chances are it's a few hundred K and then the remaining ~4.5 Million played on Gamepass, but what I'd be genuinely curious to know is how many Gamepass players got the Early access/DLC upgrade as I imagine that will have been alot higher than on PS5.

@lazarus11 Stip with the silly Console war stuff. For starters, actual developers don't care about that, they just like players. Either way, gamepass is still paying for the game, just in a different way, clearly it works for Xbox or they'd have stopped doing it by now.

Ultimately this is more a reminder for PlayStation fans who might think the game would be an Xbox exclusive given that Bethesda and ID Software are now a part of them.

@DarkTron Trust me, those of us with Gamepass are aware CO:33 is coming to Gamepass

From my playtime so far on a Series X Performance mode has felt buttery smooth, while Quality was really pretty bad even if it was a locked 30 it just looks blurry. I'm guessing PS5 is much the same really.

Maybe VRR was doing some heavy lifting? But it feels miles better than something like Cyberpunk did at launch.

@MrPeanutbutterz Please refrain from feeding the trolls 😅 Pointing it out just gives them what they want.

@bluemage1989 Pretty sure you can turn alot of that commentary off.

@UltimateOtaku91 And had its marketing rights.

That said they'll likely have had a little say in it's release date given how much they'll have paid for it to be on Gamepass? But even if they didn't, I'm surprised they didn't space their other releases out a touch more around Expedition 33. Especially trying to play through them all on Gamepass where you add in Avowed and South of Midnight as well (though I suppose on that side of things Indy and FH5 have been out for a bit longer)

I'm not going to complain about more games, but for a publisher that 3 years ago was struggling to get 1 or two major releases out a year, this feels like overcompensation 😅

@PlatinumMikey Unless you can cite a source for those figures I'd be very suspicious of it. Xbox have directly claimed they make good money on Gamepass, and as a public company the financial reports they have to publish appear to back it up, and as a company their size and under their level of scrutiny its extremely unlikely they're cooking those figures.

Now, they're not making enough money from it to be their only revenue stream, but even without PS that isn't the case. DLC, outright sales on PC and Xbox etc... Still exist alongside Gamepass.

They don't NEED to make a profit, but ironically given their market share seems to be set at somewhere between 1/2 and 1/3 of Sony's no matter what they seem to do, keeping their games off PS isn't gaining them anything. In the past it would have gained them market share, but that ship has sailed (unless PS collapses, but this quiet period they're in isn't that). As such, they might as well put them out on PS and make even more profit if they're going to have a lower market share anyway.

@batosaims I'd day it's not that the don't care about the Xbox consoles anymore, but have accepted their renewed push towards games publishing came too late to stick to the old model of "closed ecosystem, exclusives driving console sales" model. Losing the PS4 gen so badly when everyone built digital libraries effectively screwed them. If they'd had this level of line up at the Series X launch back in 2020, they might just have been able to claw back that market share, at least in Western markets, but given their only really got the ball rolling later 2022, and are only truely hitting their stride now in 2024?

The Xbox console will remain important to them, but only as 1 pillar among many (PC, Cloud, Mobile, other platforms such as Switch and PS, etc...). It's not that they aren't competing with Sony any more either, it's just they've decided to compete on a different playing field rather than the one they were clearly losing.

@CVCubbington It's one of those games that's smoother to play than to watch. I wouldn't say it's a particularly janky game

@MrPeanutbutterz No idea, but alot of those sort of things were in their infancy back then. Music rights got alot more codified and alot stricter in the early 2000s.

I doubt they were specifically considering disc life, but they may well have had a date in mind for recalling any unsold discs from selves?

@thefourfoldroot1 Oh I'm sure they know. As for the sales Fomo thing, I can't speak for every series, but I know for the Forza games but Xbox usually start making alot of noise about the licences for a Forza game expiring about 6 months in advance of it being delisted. Over which time they tend to put it on increasingly good sale.

@MrPeanutbutterz Hard to say. Could be skimping, but given how common this is industry wide I imagine it's largely a matter of indefinite rights being all but impossible to secure. Actually, I'm not sure you even can.

@MrPeanutbutterz For what it's worth. I don't think that's a MS thing as much as it is an "any company/anyone who doesn't want to get sued into oblivion, if they don't delist content with expired licenses" thing 🤔

But it is a shame all the old ones have been delisted, they're all pretty great

@TheLotteryMan1 Why judge before we've had a proper look at it? Sounds like they have made gameplay improvements as well

@MrPeanutbutterz Persobally I still enjoyed the gameplay. It's simplistic but fun.

There's actually alot more depth to the brawling in terms of counters and combos than most people will ever realise, because stealthily and whacking enemies with weapons tends to be just as effective if not more.

TL:DR, I'd say there's definitely enough gameplay here for you to not write it off yet, you could still enjoy it. Or. Maybe not.

@EfYI I think my issue with boycotting Xbox specifically rather than Microsofts cloud services (Azure) which is the actual product being used by the IAF for their logistics, is that MS would learn the wrong lessons.

By pulling away from their objectively less evil product wing, Xbox, which is mostly artists making games for people to have fun with, MS would think they should be doing less of that, and then feel obliged to double down on Azure to pick up the slack.

Now Azure is a tool like any other, and not itself evil, but if we could make them look at that specifically, and think about what they need to do differently there (not license it out to Militaries doing genocides), then that would be the goal we want to achieve.

@Frmknst I mean, why would it be? It'll be a new collection for Xbox as well, so they'd be crazy not to announce it first at their own show. Why piss off their own core fans?

Though, if Sony also has a Showcase after Xbox's this "Not E3" it could show up their too 🤔

@Mikey856 They're still called Xbox... so yes?

Speaking as someone who's super hyped for this..... please just put us out of our misery! I can't take any more of these rumours 🥲

@Contimaloris I think the shadowdrop would be to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the game. Other than that I can't think of a reason, other than they secretly have an even more stacked line up the second half of the year 🤔 But Fable got delayed into 2026 so not sure how likely that is

@Enuo Pretty much, even though they did an about turn on the connectivity thing. It's a shame really, if peak Xbox had continued as their peak Xbox 360 selves alongside Sony's return to form for the PS4 it'd probably be a more interesting industry at the moment.

@Zeke68 I mean, it was potentially going to be a PlayStation exclusive because Sony was attempting to gobble up exclusivity rights. Like they did for Ghostwire Tokyo and Deathloop from Bethesda let alone other publishers.

I can't say I like industry consolidation, but Xbox didn't exactly start the practice nor are they the only ones doing it on a large scale, don't hvlave double standards.

Personally the days of exclusive games can't end soon enough the way I see it, they're a stupid concept other than when a game physically can't run on a platform. Can you imagine if DvDs only ran on certain DVD players? People would riot.

@Cornpop76 The right is focused on the welfare of individuals like themselves.

@Residentsteven MS didn't buy Ninja Theory until after the first Hellblade.

@breakneck Didn't Indie come out too late in the year to be in the running for the Game Awards? It was like a week after the cutoff point I believe. Technically I lt CAN go for it this year if so.

@arsmolinarc Isn't Atomic Heart the one developed by Russian Devs?

@Boxmonkey It might not have turned the tide for Xbox, but calling it a disaster is just fanboy coping.

By all metrics it was a successful launch and it was the only SinglePlayrr game in the Top 10 most played games the year it launched.

However, it's unlikely to go on to have the near evergreen Success that Skyrim has that's for sure.

@RoomWithaMoose MS have said in the past that the main reason they haven't done a new Banjo is they just haven't found the right team at the right time to make it. They don't want to force Rare to make it, and Rare seemingly have little interest in it.

Overall it's a good approach, you can't force art. On the other hand, we want a new Banjo!

Also, they are working on a new Perfect Dark, so they haven't entirely forgotten Rare's IP

@get2sammyb Though I suppose, jokes aside, that very difference in studios also make the recent Sony cancellations sting all the more, given they have fewer studios in the first place.

Still. Game wise, the futures looking bright for them both.

@Ultimapunch I feel like Microsft still know it, they've just had very mixed results at actually pulling the fun off post Xbox 360 era.

@Ultimapunch bHonestly I really liked Halo 5 and Infinite. Story in 5 is weak, but the campaign is fun at least, and MP was fantastic.

Infinite in better in both SP and MP, but it's clear the second half of it's campaign was cut, which is a bit of a bummer.

@ButterySmooth30FPS Mire like Semi independently. They're still reporting to Xbox, but largely left to themselves outside of coordinating marketing and release schedules.

@get2sammyb I think it's the DLC included that does it for me. Not here for a game I played at launch, but when Indy came out last year, I wanted the DLC, so got the premium Upgrade. The Slightly Early Access being purely a nice bonus.

I hope they don't do it for new Halo or Gears though. Those are storied fans genuinely don't want spoiled if they can help it by people with EA plastering the endings all over social media.

@Enuo The earlier looks at Avowed's combat looked stiff too, but by launch it was genuinely great. Fingers crossed that it's also just a sign of work not quite being finished yet.

It looks like they just need to increase the dodge range, add a roll maybe, and increase the characters stumble/reactions when hit. That solhould all be doable? The actual attacks and magic looked good.

@GymratAmarillo Other than Sea of Thieves, they've mostly been smaller games so far. It will be interesting to see if Doom or Forza Horizon 5 get proper boxed releases.

@Herculean The only reason I could see for it to be exclusive, would be WB might well have been on the verge of closing Rocksteady. Given which, the extra initial funding to make the game exclusive, or likely just a timed exclusive, might have gone some way to help them actually take the risk?

That said, I still don't think it's true.

@nessisonett I think what it comes down to is that UE5 has so many built in tools and pipelines, many that would be very hard for smaller teams to even dream about achieving, compared to old UE3. Like Nanite, Lumin, or even just the huge texture and asset libraries. What it allows developers to do is "punch above their weight". A team like Sandfall can make Expedition 33 with only 30 people!

But at the same time, unless you actually have the in house engineers, money and time etc... of a larger or more established studio to really make your UE5 game more unique, and tailored to your experience, then yes it does lead to a 'homogeneous' trap. Where things look better than they should for a team of that size, but also have a somewhat "not quite right look"

@Jay767 Do they though? Despite being game of the year, Astrobot has seen surpringly few sales.

It's more accurate to say that the bigger games for both platforms sell well, and their smaller titles don't. A good 80% or so of Xbox Series users have Gamepass, so of course some of their games don't sell as well on Console, but they also don't need to.

They do sell well on Steam, which is impressive given that PC gamepass is also a thing.

All of this is to say. You can't compare the two platforms one to one any more, at least if you want to get any form of useful insights. Sony is doing what it's always done, and outside of it's live service and PSVR2 stumbles it's doing it very very well. Xbox are doing something different. It's not getting them back in the old school game of console market share, but they're making a lot of money too, which is all either company cares about.

@LogicStrikesAgain He's just speculating. The rumour makes no details of what got approved. Now, they have literally confirmed in the past they're working on a Handheld, so it COULD be that, but it could also be a full blown console as well. Personally I think they're doing both. But the difference will be it's more PC like, capable of running something like Steam etc.... as well as Xbox's own UI and store.

I think it's possibly going to be true even if you don't factor in old ports of games. Between Indy, Doom, Outer Worlds 2 qnd Ninja Gaiden 4. That's more than Death Stranding 2 and Ghosts of Yotai.

That said, I doubt that's really all Sony have this year, it's just all we know about for now. Marathon is almost a guarentee for example, and then if they have anything else it's equal.

All that said, it's alot less grating grating than all those years of "Xbox has no games" stories, even though it was only really true in 2022. They just had less games. I suppose the notable thing here is just how quickly the stories have flipped? Hardly a surprise given all their acquisitions, and no coincidence it's coming true about 6 years after they started their acquisition spree (aka, the new standard development cycle length.

@ButterySmooth30FPS In what way is that goalposts being moved. Other than pointing out Sony trying to move the goalposts for what counts as 1st party.

@ButterySmooth30FPS Because they're only doing it to pad their stats. They can call them what they like, but if they don't own the studio then it's not really first party.

@ButterySmooth30FPS Except two of those aren't first party are they. I mean, it's all definitions at the end of the day, but they're not coming from first party studios.

Same way no one would count Ninja Gaiden 4 as Xbox 1st party.

@ButterySmooth30FPS You're projecting mate. I never said they don't count. I'm just talking about this year, and so far, announced, PS only have a single first party game announced. Now they might have more this year and I hope so, but otherwise it's 2026 and beyond we have to wait for.

You want to talk about goalpost shifting, no one was happy with Xbox for being "in development" for all those years either, despite clearly being in rebuild mode since 2018 when they finally got support to build up again. Fair enough from a player perspective, being asked to wait faithfully while the 6 years or so for AAA development cycle works it's way through to producing frequent games is a big ask. Rightfully too big for many players. But that's where PS are now. Personally I'm happy to wait for them to take the time they need to develop. Even for the teams like Bluepoint or Bend who just wasted years on Live Service, because i know they can deliver given the right direction, just like I also waited for Xbox, and am now pretty happy with their output again. It's the optics that are just as bad for them as they were for Xbox. I'm just pointing out WHY players are seemingly so rabid for a proper showcase, not claiming Sony don't have anything coming. They do. Besides, their release cycles have always clustered towards the beginning and end of generations anyway. Begin by driving console sales, then capitalise on maximum install base, it's nothing new and a smart strategy. Just way over the head of the average SoP viewer.

I do agree that the State of Plays clearly aren't the big showcases that people want them to be, and you enjoy them far more if you take them for what they are. Frankly that applies to all of life, but back on topic...

That said, there's also a reason why people are so unforgiving that SoPs aren't showcases, that's because PlayStation aren't HAVING and showcases. They've not actually had many proper ones at all in recent years. Good or not, it's forced players to keep their hopes up that the next SoP will be the big one, even when it's clearly not.

Say what you like about Xbox, but even during their quiet years of 2020,2021, they still had proper showcases. And importantly since 2022 they've had alot of good stuff to show in them. Consistently. Year after year. Even with half of their games set for multiplatform releases this year, they're still putting out more first party exclusives that we know about. (Even if they're inevitably timed)

Next to that, you can't blame players for wanting some of the same from Sony again.