Game Pass Is the Xbox Console Now - Next-Gen Console Watch

Welcome back to Next-Gen Console Watch. This week Daemon is joined by Podcast Unlocked's Ryan McCaffrey and Nick Limon, frequent gues on Podcast Beyond. The topic: rumors are swirling around the industry that Xbox will let PS5 have some of its formerly exclusive first-party games. Great news for PlayStation fans, but what about Xbox owners? Is this a betrayal of their loyalty? Or is this a sign of things to come as Microsoft is preparing for a future with fewer consoles, but more devices with which to play games on? Game Pass is already playable on many devices that have screens, so why bother with a dedicated console?

[Jin_Sakai]

I seen this coming years ago. Xbox isn’t selling well, Xbox fans don’t buy games, and Microsoft bought the world’s largest 3rd part publisher. It all adds up to going multiplatform.

[ApocalypseShadow]

Lol.

Whatever happens, I think Xbox fans should have gotten used to the idea that Microsoft goes where they think the money is. They are all about profit above anything else. And that's including its core fans that have shrunk since the 360 days. There aren't enough core fans to sustain game pass, not enough core fans to buy Xbox consoles, not enough core fans are buying games before waiting for game pass releases.

Although it would be a huge blow to their core gamers ego, Microsoft would be looking on how they could maximize profit across systems. Do you try and still sell products to less than 30 million and shrinking? Or go for the hundreds of millions on mobile, PC, Nintendo and PlayStation platforms? Buying multiple third parties to keep those games exclusive isn't going to work. Most of the world aren't interested in buying their console. They have to expand their reach or it's all going to collapse.

"Well, Microsoft has Western RPGs and they have COD and they got Bethesda."

Doesn't matter in the slightest what they got. They have lost and are still losing the battle.

Supposedly... The most powerful systems in the world since the first Xbox. Motion control gaming with Kinect. Cloud support to offload calculations. Xbox live being the best multiplayer network. Console features Xbox has that weren't on competing systems. Day one releases of first party games on a cheap subscription service. Billions of dollars buying up third parties that sold more games on PlayStation....

All that shit again and again didn't and doesn't matter. They still kept and keep getting their asses kicked and continue to get their asses kicked. Phil knows it. The head of Microsoft knows it.

Maybe the only route they have is to release on other platforms. They can't spend billions trying to produce Sony level AAA games and put them on their service that isn't growing to support the spending. They need others who actually spend money and don't just rely on services to play games. Maybe that's why the name change might be coming if the rumors are true. So that they can release games on competing platforms. Not as Xbox games. But Microsoft publisher games. Some say Sony's spending on AAA isn't sustainable. But Sony is selling games. Microsoft not only aren't selling games, they are dropping them day one in a cheap service. Something has got to give because Xbox, after buying multiple publishers and still losing, is currently not sustainable. Fans can spin all day about how much Microsoft can spend or are worth. Getting their ass kicked is unsustainable until they need to try something else.

[JackBNimble]

If you think Sony isn't all about profit as well then you're lying to yourself.
No one is here on behalf of the gamer without profit first and foremost.

And if gp goes to all platforms, then I would expect MS to leave the console business and that would be bad for Sony gamers because there would be no direct compilation to keep Sony honest.

Oh and by the way, no one's reading your essay, I don't know why anyone thinks there meaningless opinion is worth the time to read a wall of text like that.

[nitroxhotshot]

Yep pretty much. Microsoft will become a massive gaming developer going forward so to maximise profit they will release on all platforms. It makes sense tbh

[ApocalypseShadow]

Sorry Jack. But you're just one of those gamers that can't see the truth right in front of you.

Microsoft has never really been any competition. They only were during 360 because they released one to almost 2 years early. But still lost to Sony and Nintendo. That's the truth buddy.

Microsoft is going multiplatform. You can cry about it or deal with it and move on. Any Nintendo titles on Xbox? Nope. Any games from Sony first party that wasn't forced or already on the platform? Nope. And, Microsoft has lost every generation. So you can suck on that.

Microsoft is going multiplatform. Don't have a fit when they announce it. They are going to gradually release games to soften the blow for sensitive Xbox fans like yourself.

[StormSnooper]

MS out to destroy console gaming because they lost.

[gold_drake]

i feel like we all saw it coming after the disaster the x1 was

[Snookies12]

I mean, if Game Pass comes to my PS5 I'd be cool with it... I don't see it happening for Switch considering not all games are going to run on the hardware natively. Unless they do cloud versions of games only. Either way, I've got a year of Game Pass Ultimate. So, we'll see where the service goes during that time.

[Jin_Sakai]

I highly doubt Game Pass would come to PS5 due to PlayStation Plus but Xbox games in general are pretty likely at this point.

[JackBNimble]

Why wouldn't they, what about EA play? It's just another service.

[jeromeface]

Its not coming to ps5... I highly doubt sonly wants to do anything to help its competion.

[jznrpg]

I don’t see how Sony wants to give their platform for MS to make money and kill games sales for themselves. It makes abosolutely no sense.

[ocelot07]

It's a crazy idea that Microsoft might be releasing games on playstation in the first place.

So if that can happen. Why can't Sony allow gamepass? They allow EA access and Ubi+ and GTA+. I'm sure Sony would be open to a limited gamepass. Sony gets a small % per sub and only Microsoft first party games are allowed. But not Bethesda games and COD players have to buy them.

[NotoriousWhiz]

I mean I'm sure Sony would be perfectly fine with collecting that 30% cut of game pass sales without having to actually supply any money for the games on game pass.

[Christopher]

Only way Game Pass goes to PS5 is if it is just Microsoft owned games and not third-party titles.

[NotoriousWhiz]

Why not 3rd party? EA and Ubisoft is already on there. I'm sure there's some existing overlap between those and PS Plus. The big advantage for Sony is that they have to spend money to put games on PS plus, they don't have to spend any money to collect their 30% from 3rd party subscriptions.

[Christopher]

***Why not 3rd party? EA and Ubisoft is already on there.***

Yes, EA sells their games. Ubisoft sells their games. They don't sell anyone else's games.

Why do you think Sony would allow Microsoft to sell anyone's games on a subscription service not owned by each individual? Let alone why should Microsoft get paid for other peoples' games by selling a subscription on Playstation market reach?

Those are lost sales for Sony and only feed to their competition, not a 'partner' who has an alternative to their own games.

And, let's be honest, Microsoft wouldn't allow PS+ Super-Duper-Best-Ultimate-Prem ium on their platform either. Because Microsoft doesn't want competition, they want others to pay them for access. Sony wants people to buy games on their platform. Plain and simple.

[Ristul]

Microsoft needs to take full advantage of the entire market now, including PS5 and Switch, since they are the biggest publisher they can't justify staying within their walled garden that has been shrinking year by year. Microsoft is about making money, and they are done bleeding money to the Xbox division.

[jeromeface]

you see starfield on ps5? didn't think so

[Ristul]

How much did starfield sell on Xbox? All we got were some smoke and mirrors about player engegement. If the game sold amazing on Xbox, Microsoft would be transparent about it. I bet most people played it on Xbox Game Pass.

[YourMommySpoils]

Who cares about starfield lol

[CrimsonWing69]

Well, that’s sh*tty seeing as how they’re not really going to Day 1 drops anymore.

[PhillyDonJawn]

These delusional rumors. If you want MS games just say that lol. Ppl went from saying Xbox have no games, to being super excited about rumors of Xbox games coming to PS. Make it make sense. Lol

[jznrpg]

Im not excited at all about MS games. Activision/Blizzard suck. Halo Gears etc doesn’t interest me. The one game that interests me is Elder Scrolls and Bethesda is on a downhill slope for many years plus it’s years away. MS has some ok looking games coming but they aren’t games I must play. Indiana Jones and the first person whip looked weird to me and not implemented very well. Avowed looks like Edler Scrolls with an extra layer of jankiness to it. They don’t look horrible but not great. This has been the case for MS’s games for a long time. What’s to get excited about. Maybe it excites Xbox gamers because they have had so little for so long. To most others it’s just more games that should have been there in the first place.

I think people are more saying I told you so about being right with MS and their ultimate plans of ditching consoles , DRM , always online and not their games

[PhillyDonJawn]

You did a lot of gymnastics there lol can literally say that stuff about every game. Phil confirmed they're still making consoles. Xbox can be played offline and DRM been around. You sound misinformed which would explain a lot. You may not know this but you can trade and share games too! Shocking right?

[crazyCoconuts]

A lot of people are talking about it because it's big news if true.
Secondly, most of these "MS" games were going to be PS games a few years ago before MS bought them anyway, so, yeah I'm sure PS owners would be happy to get the next Elder Scrolls on their platform, as it would have been anyway

[-Foxtrot]

The majority of games people have been talking about are games from Bethesda / Activision that originally were never Xbox's built up franchises anyway

I've seen more people talk about Elder Scrolls VI, Crash Bandicoot, Doom etc than Halo, Gears of War or Fable for example

[anast]

I can't wait to play Starfield for $4.99.

[Cockney]

Don't bother it'll be free on psplus soon enough, the full Microsoft experience

[Ironmike]

Bull

[ThinkThink]

+++¹11111¹11111¹ ;2

[Destiny1080]

we need all xbox games on playstation, to save xbox from going under, phil has already said he wants out

turning to the dark side, is what is going to save xbox

[Profchaos]

IGN still out there calling gaming coverage next gen console watch give it a rest guys were 3 years in now retire it

[YourMommySpoils]

"Game Pass Is the Xbox Console Now - Next-Gen Console Watch" I don't even know what that title is trying to say. If the naming of xbox consoles isn't confusing enough, now they're throwing this mambo jambo.

[gold_drake]

its so odd whats going on in ms HQ xbox department ha.

i would love to know what the ceo thinks about all this, cant be too happy about it ha.

[YourMommySpoils]

Not happy at all ha