Dcubed

I get what you mean @S.C.G. I’d much rather own my games than subscribe to them in general. There are lots of games that I would happily rather rent than own though; as they’re just not important enough to me to pay £69.99 a pop for. Like Deathloop for example, I’d love to try it out, but £69.99 is a VERY tough sell for that game. Likewise, many games these days are really One & Done kinda of deals, where they have very little replay value (like Gears of War); so I’m happy to rent those games instead of buying them. There aren’t a lot of developers that I would buy from at full price sight unseen anymore; not everyone is Nintendo or Platinum Games at the end of the day. I do think there’s a place for both models; and I’ll definitely be buying games that I really want (including ones that I end up enjoying on Game Pass that I want to keep). But the times are changing and chances are that this will become the norm, as the physical market disappears. The value on offer here really is just silly; and I’d be silly to not jump in while the getting is good. It’s a shame that the physical market is disappearing, but it feels inevitable at this point. Just gotta take the good with the bad I suppose. As long as the likes of Nintendo and Platinum keep putting out full sized and full priced games, I’ll keep buying them though.

Got my Series X from Amazon Yes, the Bethesda deal pushed me over the edge. I really can’t complain about paying the extra £200 when I basically don’t need to actually buy any games for it for the next 3 years!

So... Gamepass is looking pretty good right about now huh?

I don't think my brain can take much more TBH!

I'm just shocked that Shopto aren't getting any pre-orders here in the UK. Who did they end up pissing off at Microsoft!? lol!

That's powerful Timing this the day before pre-orders open is also almost moustache twirlingly evil.

So... Microsoft buying Bethesda... Will that mean more or less support for Switch/Switch 2 going forward? Personally, I think it actually will improve Nintendo's chances. Nintendo and Microsoft are more buddy buddy than Nintendo & Bethesda anyway.

Related... Looks like John Carmack is now happy to get back together with the old gang at ID now; thanks to the end of Zenimax's ownership!

It's pretty clear to me. Xbox/PC exclusive unless stated otherwise (like their current Switch releases); existing multiplatform games will be continued to be supported as currently announced. Just like with all of their other Xbox Game Studios titles from developers they have aqquired previously. No reason to believe any different.

Microsoft already answered that question for you. Deathloop and Ghostwire: Tokyo will still be timed exclusives for PS5. Everything else? Whelp! (Nothing else that they have announced has had platforms attached to them yet; including Elder Scrolls 6 and Starfield).

Just to answer your question definitively @Cube Straight from the horse's mouth. I don't think it'll take 7 years for Deathloop and Ghostwire Tokyo to release... Everything else is fair game for exclusivity/Nintendo release now. They haven't announced platforms for any of their other upcoming games yet. Speaking of which... Well that's one way to block Sony from buying exclusivity!

For now... Don't expect it to stay this way after their current crop of announced games are done and dusted. Same thing happened with Obsidian, but now they're starting to release games exclusively for Xbox (Grounded). Same thing will happen with Bethesda. They have to honour existing contracts before they can start releasing games exclusively under the Xbox Games Studios label.

Playing Devil's Advocate here, there are some upsides to becoming a first party developer. For starters, you no longer have to spread your developers thin across multiple platforms (which is likely to be a big boon for BGS in particular, given their notoriety for bug riddled games ). Then there's the reduced pressure on developers to perform fiscally, they can focus their efforts on pure game development (greatly reduced need for microtransaction hell); and of course, there's the huge infusion of development cash & resources that Microsoft themselves bring to the table, allowing for increased development budgets. The best games tend to be platform exclusives that can get the most out of a single console and all of its exclusive features after all. Of course, that's the upside. Consolidation is not good for consumers and the industry as a whole; Sony have just been dealt a huge blow here, and their customers are going to suffer now. It's unfair competition and the ramifications are massive for the industry as a whole. Expect major publishers and other platform holders to start scrambling to suck up what they can before Microsoft come knocking for them now.

I'm guessing that they will honour their existing contracts and will release their existing announced games as multiplatform; but after that? Xbox exclusive all the way. Of course, that's not to say that they won't necessarily put them out as "Xbox Games Studios" games on other platforms like Switch/Switch 2, but anything Sony will likely be off the table going forward.

BTW... I think that Tecmo-Koei, Konami (gaming division), Bluepoint, Sumo Digital, Don't Nod, Crytek, Codemasters, Level-5 and SEGA are all serious possible aquisition targets now... (I don't think anyone will seriously want to buy Spike Chunsoft and I don't think that Bungie, Square-Enix, Capcom or IO will be willing to sell). Everyone else is either too big, too small, too specialist (like Wayforward or M2) or has too much redundancy (like Bandai-Namco - which ironically only exists because Nintendo tried to buy Namco back in the early 2000s). Nintendo should seriously be considering buying Tecmo-Koei before Microsoft does. They are a critical partner and they can't afford to lose them as a support studio.

That's exactly WHY they're perfect for Game Pass. You have to stay subscribed in order to play through them completely.

It's crazy to think that just a few years back, Microsoft cutting their losses with the Xbox division was a very real possiblity... This move, more than any other, proves that Microsoft is finally going all-in on Xbox. And it's all thanks to the shift towards turning Xbox into a subscription based business. They want that Windows/Office360 subscription money and they want it bad! This would never have happened if Xbox didn't transition over to Game Pass. When Satya Nadella is directly assuming control, and not just the Xbox division, with this aquisition? You know that this is a seismic shift in how they're tackling the industry!

They could do with a team to help out their engineers on their programme for upgrading their backwards compatibility titles... It's not like Microsoft haven't already had a good working relationship with them before (Titanfall 360). It is a very real possibility! And there's a very obvious need for them at Xbox Games Studios. On that matter... I think that it's very possible that someone is going to buy up Konami's games division. The question here though is... Who's gonna get there first?

This kind of aquisition is just on a scale that is completely unheard of! It's outright frightning! The likes of Square-Enix are on the table now for a Microsoft aquisition if they're actually willing to fund the Xbox division enough to throw around this kind of utterly insane money! Honestly? I think that Konami's gaming division might actually be a viable target now... that is unless Sony get there first! Sony REALLY need to start shopping around. Now.

Fucking Gold as always

A Microsoft/Nintendo collab is far more likely. They're already buddying up and getting real chummy as it is. They have more to gain by working together to take down Sony as they're not really in direct competition with each other anyway.

So... err... that just happened. How long until Sony buy up Bluepoint? Who else do they need to buy before they're snatched away by Microsoft?

Jesus wept!!! Microsoft are NOT fucking around!!!!! This is the biggest industry power play of the century! Guys... Microsoft just bought an entire western AAA publisher in one fell swoop! Let that sink in... Just like that, they now own Doom, Elder Scrolls, THE LOT! Jesus fuck! I can't even come to terms with what just happened!! Sony will definitely be sweating now! They had better start buying up their partners like Bluepoint before Microsoft do!!

That was Warner Bros Interactive; when AT&T were considering putting them up for sale; which they eventually backed down on... seemingly in favour of "restructuring" (read; downsizing) them instead. This came out of fucking nowhere! Zenimax are the next biggest publisher after WBIE, so this comes as a HUGE shocker! Elder Scrolls being Xbox exclusive is no joke! Microsoft aren't fucking around! Sony better start eying their loose partners like Bluepoint pretty fucking soon or they are getting swallowed up by the Game Pass monster!

Err... guys... What does this mean for Deathloop now? Err... is it still coming to PS5? This is a bit awkward lol!