Game News 2.0

Cordell · 04-03-2026 03:25PM

We were seeing healthy numbers everything was going well, we did everything right and yet it still exploded type of delusions and refusal to accept responsibility:

https://twitter.com/ChadGrenier/status/2028933344663400860

MikeRyan87 · 04-03-2026 04:25PM

Smart considering all the new PS5 owners that will probably buy second and third games after GTA launches and look what exclusives there are. Cannot wait for Saros.

Steam machine probably has a bit to do with this decision as well. Dont think theyre too worried about Xbox anymore.

Apparently Spiderman 2 sold 16m+ on PS5 and 700k on Steam so that's part of the reason too surely.

On Highguard, I found this bit humorous.

His quote: "3v3 duos is always the sweatiest version of anything like battle royale, objective modes, wingman, you know it, you name it. It requires such a high intensity of communication with your team, and team play, that it doesn't leave much room for casualness. I think that was the biggest thing that turned a lot of players off Highguard."

Retr0gamer · 04-03-2026 04:44PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124284696#Comment_124284696

So basically it's not our fault the game did badly, it's a skill issue.

EoinMcLovin · 04-03-2026 08:48PM

https://twitter.com/i/status/2029252601943031821

Penn · 05-03-2026 04:27PM

Call Of Duty co-founder claims Activision once tried to pressure them to make the next CoD campaign centered around Iran invading Israel.

https://www.eurogamer.net/call-of-duty-co-founder-claims-activision-put-very-awkward-pressure-on-infinity-ward-to-make-a-game-about-iran-invading-israel

"I remember after Activision took over post-Respawn formation there was a very awkward pressure from Activision for us to make the next CoD about Iran attacking Israel. Luckily the vast majority of our devs were disgusted by the idea and it got shot down."
He would further elaborate on this, in a response to social media reactions to the same White House video. In one tweet, Glasco claims: "A lot of us devs were appalled because it felt like political propaganda being pushed by Activision."

johnny_ultimate · 05-03-2026 06:00PM

I regret to inform you that the Build a Rocket Boy co-CEO is still very much 'at it'.

Thoughts with those losing their jobs as always, but man even amid the awful, life-altering hardship of losing your livelihood there must be a hint of relief at escaping this total shitshow.

https://www.eurogamer.net/mindseye-developer-build-a-rocket-boy-hit-with-layoffs-again-co-ceo-blames-espionage-and-sabotage

EoinMcLovin · 05-03-2026 09:01PM

Great start to the morning with Team Xbox, where we talked about our commitment to the return of Xbox including Project Helix, the code name for our next generation console. Project Helix will lead in performance and play your Xbox and PC games. Looking forward to chatting about this more with partners and studios at my first GDC next week!

https://twitter.com/i/status/2029646886408515623

Retr0gamer · 05-03-2026 10:25PM

PC and Xbox games... Interesting.

TitianGerm · 05-03-2026 10:54PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124288969#Comment_124288969

Could also explain why Sony have said they are not going to be supporting PC in the future.

Retr0gamer · 05-03-2026 11:15PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124289072#Comment_124289072

Never thought of that but good point.

Potential-Monke · 06-03-2026 01:25AM

I said that. Proof you don't actually read my comments! :P But I'd be fairly confident that's the internal reason anyway. They'll spin it as a cost/profit thing, but it's to stop PS Studio games being playable on Xbox.

recyclops · 06-03-2026 09:09AM

Be interesting if it works and you can carry over both steam and xbox digital libraries. Then you could stream ps games anyway so "for the players" will probably pull that too.

Il be locked in as xbox digital library is too big to let go of

Penn · 06-03-2026 09:51AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124289597#Comment_124289597

Can't see Steam being a part of it tbh. It would really undercut their strategy with their own Steam Machine. I'm guessing just Xbox PC games and probably Epic Games Store. They'll probably also have a bigger focus on getting devs to port their games over to the Xbox PC storefront (which would be easier than making console versions) to try and get games which are on Steam also playable on their new console.

johnny_ultimate · 06-03-2026 09:57AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124289670#Comment_124289670

Oh Steam will definitely be available on it - the whole premise would be dead on arrival otherwise. Valve are not precious about devices Steam is on - they’ve embraced Linux and Open Source for that reason. They just want that 30% cut of software.

I am very skeptical about the prospects of the Xbox device, though: outside the backwards compatibility aspect, it just sort of seems like a PC to me, but with even more Microsoft cruft. I just can’t see it hitting a particularly mainstream price point, as MS won’t be able to subsidise it in the way consoles traditionally have been (although that’s changed a lot this gen already). I think Sony, Nintendo and Valve are all already struggling with affordable hardware, while this device will seemingly have less leeway in reducing costs - especially if it’s going to be higher end hardware.

Also: they’re absolutely going to be killing PC Game Pass to facilitate it lol

Retr0gamer · 06-03-2026 10:07AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124289692#Comment_124289692

I think what will happen is MS will have their own PC store on there and shoot themselves in the foot with yet another own goal.

CatInABox · 06-03-2026 10:16AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124289692#Comment_124289692

Yeah, it's an incredibly interesting concept, and it's one that MS should at least get some plaudits for being brave enough to at least try, but there's still so many question marks around how it actually makes a dent in the market.

Will the ability to play PC games from your library overcome what must be an incredibly high price? How does it overcome the stickiness from having a library on PS?

As an observation/prediction, I would guess that at MS sees Xbox as their last real window into the consumer market, and the consumer market is where you need to be to get the data for your AI growth. I'd think that this will be a machine that could run your own agent, with a Kinect style microphone array built in so that you can talk to it. If MS were serious about this, they should definitely have the new boss watch the Xbox One TV TV TV reveal and the wider gaming reaction to that, as any mention of AI needs to be handled incredibly carefully. To be honest, I can't see any other reason to put an AI chief in charge of Xbox.

As I said, at least they're trying something interesting, because a new Xbox that's the same as the last Xbox, just faster isn't going to work at all.

johnny_ultimate · 06-03-2026 10:47AM

TBH I’m keen to move away from Microsoft based PC platforms as soon as it’s viable for gaming given the continued enshittification of Windows and Microsoft’s horrendous conduct on various fronts (from geopolitics to AI junk to 365 subscriptions), so the last thing I’d be looking for is to buy into another platform of theirs.

It’s the only real play they have left, this is true, but everything I’ve heard so far - and granted, the latest announcement is just a slightly less vague version of what Phil Spencer had been saying for years - suggests it’s going to be a slightly awkward middle ground between PC and console. Interesting in concept, but just sits weirdly.

McFly85 · 06-03-2026 10:53AM

I’m just struggling to see the point of it unless it’s very competitively priced.

Steam will have their own offering of a console like experience for PC games which sounds like a decent mid-to-high end PC for most current games, and that’s likely going to be between 6-800.

Are Microsoft going to go for something more premium? Why should I not just get a PC instead? What does the Xbox brand bring into it?

I’m going to assume at least that games bought will have licenses for Xbox and PC(or more likely a slightly higher priced version that allows it). Thats not a bad idea in theory as it migrates the old digital library to a platform that you will have access to as long as PCs exist, instead of Microsoft hardware needing to support it.

But it’s still going to be a challenge as the question remains, why not just buy a PC?

Instead of creating a new market, like Nintendo did with the Wii, it sounds like they’ll just be competing on 2 fronts, against Sony and Valve.

recyclops · 06-03-2026 11:59AM

I would say its looking at the younger kids streaming market as they are the money makers in all of these, get enough of the youtubers on board and the kids will follow.

We are all stuck to our platforms digitally your not moving anyone away from Sony aged 30+ now whos collected heaps on ps plus and purchased digtially, your also not moving long standing PC gamers. What you want to provide is something easy for parents of the new generation to go in at and get and as we have seen with the chaos affordability while a factor is not the be all and end all for some of them so long as their kid is happy.

Sadly fortnite, Roblox and whatever else they are being told to play is the future and if their online heroes tell them to play in a certain place or are playing in a certain place they will follow.

Potential-Monke · 06-03-2026 02:49PM

I think the idea they have is a good one, but i also think it's already dead in the water. As most are saying, its going to be in the weird.middle ground but possibly priced higher than the Steam Deck. A quick google indicates a PS5 level pc in 2026 is close to €1k because of the crazy parts market at the moment. And the new one is supposed to be next gen, but similar price?

Honestly, they should go back to putting the money and time into their own IPs and sticking to console only. Focus on just 1 console (the S requirement essentially killed the development of games for the X), make the games run flawless and be good, keep the online solid and accessible. But its too late imo. I think we're about to see the last gasp of a dying brand.

Hope I'm wrong, competition is needed. But a CEO with no gaming history or background, coming from AI, into the burning fire that is the current situation... she's the sacrificial lamb to blame the closure of Xbox on.

I was right about the Day 1 games...

Retr0gamer · 06-03-2026 03:22PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124290520#Comment_124290520

The console will be made at a loss and they will get a discount on parts due to volume so it will be considerably cheaper than a similarly species PC. It's the same with the PlayStation. Nintendo are the only ones that seem to release a console at a price that makes a profit.

johnny_ultimate · 06-03-2026 03:35PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124290657#Comment_124290657

Not as much the case anymore. Base PS5 was not loss making within a year of release. All the console makers are clearly feeling the pinch as they haven’t dropped prices at all - the opposite in almost all cases.

Microsoft would need economy of scale that I’m not sure they have at the moment. But crucially a more open platform means they can’t subsidise hardware sales via software to the same extent. Only Valve can really get away with that as they’re the de facto PC marketplace for most people - and, even then, they’re struggling to put out an affordable Steam Machine at the moment due to the car crash that is the hardware scene at the moment.

Retr0gamer · 06-03-2026 03:41PM

I wonder if Sony would be brave enough to go full ARM for the next Gen and blow the Xbox away on performance as it will have to be x86000 based. I don't think Mark Cerny is brave enough (possibly stupid enough) to do that. If Ken Kutaragi was still there...

Cordell · 06-03-2026 04:11PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124290739#Comment_124290739

Why would they? It will make more sense to stay with AMD as the main silicon supplier, keep the same ISA and make backwards compatibility a lot easier. I don't even think they care about Xbox performance, not these days anyways.

Retr0gamer · 06-03-2026 04:17PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124290857#Comment_124290857

Pipe dream.

Would be more interesting if the consoles weren't just a PC in a box. And Apple's processors making a joke out of x86000 shows the advantage of going to a modern architecture.

Cordell · 06-03-2026 04:32PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124290876#Comment_124290876

Not really making a joke out of them. Competent implementations of ARM ISA always outperformed x86 at lower power levels but never scaled that high, and that's still the case. The heavily optimized Apple implementation is closing the gap but not quite there yet. As for being modern, it's 78 vs 85, not really that modern either.

Retr0gamer · 06-03-2026 04:49PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124290920#Comment_124290920

Is it a case it hasn't been scaled to the high end of modern consoles yet? It used to be that consoles all used risc processors as you could way outperform a high clocked x86000 chip. The 33mhz PS1 for instance was a match for my p100.

johnny_ultimate · 06-03-2026 04:52PM

I haven’t read much about it recently, but weren’t the first few ARM-based Windows laptops a big disappointment in terms of gaming capability?

As impressive as Apple Silicon is in many respects, it’s also not really doing anything to trouble traditional gaming platforms in terms of performance. Still a few generations behind PC and console.

Cordell · 06-03-2026 05:43PM

PS1 CPU was based on MIPS ISA that currently is all but gone - totally different times. And as for RISC vs CISC it's questionable that modern ARM CPUs are still implementing a RISC architecture and instruction set.

Windows ARM CPU are also closing the gap on gaming performance, but not quite there yet, certainly not anywhere near gaming PCs with top of the range x86 CPU. They are at best good enough for most games, if you don't ask too much.

sniper_samurai · 06-03-2026 05:54PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124290987#Comment_124290987

You are aware that the M2 Max MacBook can play Baldurs Gate 3 to a comparable state as a PC with a high end cpu and a RTX4090?

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