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[ChorizoPicozo]

I remember an interview when Phil himself said that people inside MS were shocked at the concept of "dual entitlement"; "are you going to give away a copy of the our game".

 

[Zacfoldor]

They should fire Phil and hire Jiz as the xbox boss!

I promise you, he could do no worse.

 

[alphachino]

Does 'Xbox Play Anywhere' mean I can buy say, Black Ops 6, just once on MS Store and then be able to download the same game on my PS5 because my PS5 is also an Xbox, and on Steam, because my Steam Deck is also an Xbox?

If so, that would be awesome... I would probably buy my games from Microsoft then.

Something tells me that this is never going to happen though.

Which is why Xbox is a shit brand that deserves to die at this point. It's absolutely toxic, utterly confused and has no clue what it's meant to be.

 

[tr1p1ex]

A lot of these companies aren't going to ever support Play Anywhere because it eradicates the revenue from double dippers.

yeah that and the fact their costs go up but the price of the game doesn't in a 1 sku world.

 

[Kacho]

Was?

I'm kidding bro

You should have seen me in my prime

 

[Durin]

Without exclusive games, exclusive "features" need to be as strong as possible

True statement, and it's weird seeing Microsoft not pair this new initiative with more unique features, both software and even hardware based if they're going to bother making more Xbox consoles.

Xbox Series X is too similar to the PS5, when the 360 was FAR different than the PS3 beyond just their different chipset. The blades UI was a totally different experience just to navigate the console, and Xbox Live was packed with so many different features/services that Sony was playing catch-up for most of the gen because Microsoft SET trends...now both consoles just add in Discord integration because they can't innovate the social experience at all, and Sony has the better brand + game IP to compete in the rigid box they've put themselves in so far in the gen.

Microsoft's acquisitions do seem to be turning around their game output, and Game Pass is nice, but they need more. Hell, even though I like Game Pass on PC, some of the same games run worse than the Steam versions and I can't mod them.

 

[Gojiira]

Sorry but if you're retarded enough to want to play games like Monster Hunter Wilds with touch controls on a goddamn phone then you need to stop spouting such utter nonsense…Xbox Play anywhere is a gimmick, a gimmick that further dilutes any money a game can make, if getting it for 'free' on gamepass gives you access across 3 to 4 to god knows how many platforms…Come on its not fucking rocket science why AAA etc arent exactly keen on killing their potential sales…

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

Which is why Xbox is a shit brand that deserves to die at this point. It's absolutely toxic, utterly confused and has no clue what it's meant to be.

We know that this is factually true.

 

[semiconscious]

Does 'Xbox Play Anywhere' mean I can buy say, Black Ops 6, just once on MS Store and then be able to download the same game on my PS5 because my PS5 is also an Xbox, and on Steam, because my Steam Deck is also an Xbox?

If so, that would be awesome... I would probably buy my games from Microsoft then.

Something tells me that this is never going to happen though.

Which is why Xbox is a shit brand that deserves to die at this point. It's absolutely toxic, utterly confused and has no clue what it's meant to be.

when your own new 'this is an xbox' slogan is a blatant lie predicated on wishful thinking? you're correct. they've run out of track...

 

[kevboard]

Whether it's a technical hurdle or not is irrelevant. Why would they willingly eliminate the possibility people would double dip between Xbox and pc? I wouldn't if I ran a studio.

people double dipping will be less and less of a thing in the future. PC is growing, eventually consoles in the traditional sense won't really exist anymore. this transition will probably happen naturally within the next decade or so.

if rumors are to be believed, the next Xbox already won't be a traditional console anymore, and be more Steam Deck like. a PC that has a controller/TV friendly UI with an optional Desktop mode.
at that moment, Xbox and PC will be one and the same. the Microsoft Store will be just like Steam or the Epic Store.
it is in the interest of Microsoft to eventually force this transition, it's just a question of "when?"

for that transition to work, Microsoft needs to do a lot of work. and one big part of that work will be negotiating with publishers about this transition. another big part will be making a Gaming version of Windows that is competitive with Steam OS, and the last big part will be making all games that their customers bought on their Xbox ecosystem work on Windows (which shouldn't be an issue on a technical level, just give a minimum spec and go, but might clash with some licencing deals that would need renegotiating)

 

[DeepEnigma]

Even MS isn't "play anywhere." Hence, Steam.

Friends don't let friends use Windows Store.

 

[Humdinger]

Interesting. I hadn't thought about it like that. I assumed that from all the talk we've heard from MS about Play Anywhere, and how important it seemed to them, that they would have a clear path for it to come to fruition. But if only 7% of games in 2024 were ready for Play Anywhere, then something is wrong. And what people are pointing out in the thread makes sense - most publishers would not want to do this.

I assumed MS knew what they were doing. My mistake. You'd think I would know by now, lol.

 

[grvg]

"This is a steam machine"

 

[Three]

More reason not to then I guess, considering MS just became one of their main competitors.

 

[Astray]

eventually they need to force Play Anywhere.

AKA the fastest way to get the bigger 3rd parties to skip your console.

EA, Ubisoft and some others all have their own PC storefronts that the Xbox App is competing with, there's no way they would just give it so much value for free.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

He's also still mad about the death of Windows phones and talks about it regularly like it's something people are still thinking about in 2025.

Jez is a weird guy. I can understand being a console fanboy to a degree. I really can't wrap my head around being an MSFT fanboy. MS bread and butter is currently and always has been boring corporate shit and not consumer facing products. It's like being a huge fan of Xerox and buying merch.

I know a real person like this and he's an insufferable cunt IRL

Microsoft has the worst fans which makes sense because they are a terrible company and you need to be a terrible person to be an unironically fan of a company like that

 

[Rubim]

Sometimes I feel like the Jez on twitter posting nonsense and the Jez writing the articles are two different people. Jez the writer often makes some good points.

One had the time to think about it.

 

[Shmunter]

This is not a drawcard for greater majority

 

[Rubim]

I know a real person like this and he's an insufferable cunt IRL

Microsoft has the worst fans which makes sense because they are a terrible company and you need to be a terrible person to be an unironically fan of a company like that

Anyone who's a fanboy of "brandname" is weird as fuck.

There's also the reverse of it, i have a friend IRL who hates Microsoft and Xbox, you would think that Phil himself was at his home fucking his wife.

Every single game that dont work is something like: "Microsoft always fucks everything up".

 

[kevboard]

AKA the fastest way to get the bigger 3rd parties to skip your console.

EA, Ubisoft and some others all have their own PC storefronts that the Xbox App is competing with, there's no way they would just give it so much value for free.

every game that doesn't launch on Steam is doomed to fail on PC...

EA's and Ubisoft's launchers aren't in any way a factor here.
the fact that they still even exist is impressive tbh. as they basically have no value for them. I literally don't know a single person that ever bought a game on either of them. I only ever used them for free games they handed out a few years ago.

 

[Zuzu]

It feels like Microsoft has been checkmated by the competition in every significant area of the gaming market other than subscription services (where they're clearly delivering the best product by some margin). It's seems like it's going to be hard for them to move in a way that will benefit them.

 

[Panajev2001a]

Sister article to this one: https://www.windowscentral.com/gami...lay-anywhere-support-a-decline-year-over-year

 

[DenchDeckard]

Play Anywhere legit makes me buy games on xbox. If every game on the platform supported it, it would do wonders for their eco system.

They really should do whatever they can to get every publisher to support it.

 

[Panajev2001a]

Play Anywhere legit makes me buy games on xbox. If every game on the platform supported it, it would do wonders for their eco system.

They really should do whatever they can to get every publisher to support it.

They are not even implementing it for their own Blizzard games (Diablo 4 and expansions). Support for it is dropping year after year.

 

[WX3]

I do not buy games based on the Play Anywhere feature, but boy is it nice when I pick up something on the Series X and when I jump on my PC there is a copy on my account there as well! A couple great recent JRPG's surprised me this way, SMT V and Metaphor.

 

[Banjo64]

Man just needs to let it go and enjoy gaming as a whole instead of trying to mastermind ways in which Microsoft can 'win'.

The strategy for them to make money on software is to sell their games on Steam/PSN and the eShop. Pretty straightforward.

 

[DenchDeckard]

They are not even implementing it for their own Blizzard games (Diablo 4 and expansions). Support for it is dropping year after year.

Such a shame. Legit best thing about the platform. I've purchased a lot of games because of it.

 

[Panajev2001a]

Such a shame. Legit best thing about the platform. I've purchased a lot of games because of it.

I understand, but it was again not sustainable. It makes you less money and it was another thing that MS was doing with its other enormous war chest built in their other and former monopolies money to outspend their competition. It is not good for software developers and publishers.

 

[nowhat]

Jez Corden?

I prefer "Jizz Condom".

 

[DenchDeckard]

I understand, but it was again not sustainable. It makes you less money and it was another thing that MS was doing with its other enormous war chest built in their other and former monopolies money to outspend their competition. It is not good for software developers and publishers.

I really don't know if there is any evidence to say it isn't sustainable. It just seems it wasn't a focus.

I mean. It's probably more work for the dev to implement a joint license and ensuring it runs on xbox and xbox app PC. But, I doubt it's not sustainable. Just not much interest and ms not pushing it. Sega supports it very well.

 

[Panajev2001a]

really don't know if there is any evidence to say it isn't sustainable.

Evidence being in the pudding. Nobody is doing it, practically speaking, and their own studios are not doing it. It does not increase sales but decreases them. It is something one does accepting to lose money to disrupt those that cannot do the same.

 

[Bonfires Down]

eventually they need to force Play Anywhere.

99% of devs will already have a PC version anyway, so it shouldn't be too much to ask for.
and for older games where it's hard to add play anywhere functionality, they'll need to work on an emulator/translation layer so that you can play Xbox, Xbox 360 and Xbox One games on Windows.

that's the only way their strategy to fuse Xbox and Windows will work out

They should have made Play Anywhere a requirement for games with a PC version long ago. I suppose they can do emulation but that still seems like a licensing nightmare.

I have no idea how the Xbox team can be so clueless about everything they do.

 

[Guardian Monkey]

Streaming is the final form of play everywhere.

 

[Fess]

The marketing aimed to highlight that you can access Xbox games and services on any device, but I argued that suggesting someone can enjoy a full "Xbox experience" on their smartphone is borderline insulting. A vanishingly few portion of games on the Xbox store across PC and Xbox One, Series X|S support buy-once, play-anywhere features with cross-save, and fewer still support cloud.

Look at that, Jez found his fangs. This is good stuff and very good coming from a fan usually defending everything they do.

What if someone would sell their real Xbox after seeing the "This is an Xbox" ad? I once said that this ad could result in a class action lawsuit. It's really an outright lie and false advertising to say that a PC, mobile, ROG Ally, laptop etc is an Xbox as long as I need an actual Xbox to play all the games in my library.

And no, Xbox Cloud isn't a solution. Doesn't work everywhere and add latency and stutter. They need an emulation layer for native installs for Xbox/360/XB1/Series games and a way to register your discs to your account so you can access your purchased games digitally.

If they ever get to the point where it feels like it's safe to sell your Xbox consoles because you have access to everything elsewhere, then and only then can they say that another device is an Xbox.

 

[DenchDeckard]

Evidence being in the pudding. Nobody is doing it, practically speaking, and their own studios are not doing it. It does not increase sales but decreases them. It is something one does accepting to lose money to disrupt those that cannot do the same.

I think its wild that ms introduces something that is pro consumer and we worry about if its sustainable because these fucking publishers would rather make you buy a game twice than be able to use it on the multiple devices you own.

I'm really confused by how it's not sustainable. It's just a benefit. Buy the game on this store and you get to use it across windows and xbox.

It's not like I'm going to go out and buy multiple copies of a game if it's not play anywhere.

I've done it once or twice but not to the level that ita not sustainable. I would put money that it's just not supported as much due to having to have the games as native pc Xbox app applications.

Diablo iv etc launch into battle net don't they? Not xbox apps

 

[Hudo]

Now let's hear what Paul Allen has to say.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Why in the world would these companies decide to lose out money by going with Play Anywhere functionality???

MS would have to pay some serious $$$$ for that to happen.

This. Gaming companies want money, they are also famous for completely shitting on their fans is search for more profit.
Will play anywhere allow companies to sell more copies? Maybe, but the idea is anathema to corporate vision of making people pay multiple times.
What's worse than the games mentioned? Microsoft first party not using it as well e.g. Diablo 4.

 

[EN250]

That's pure entitlement, "devs and studios must help poor MS to succeed"

What's their gain in doing that? They just have to because this 40something fanboy demands it? Lmao

 

[Dr. Samuel Hayden]

No one cares about any of this shit, it's just gimmicks and distractions. Without exclusives a console is useless and irrelevant. Period end of story.

 

[Gamezone]

Why in the world would these companies decide to lose out money by going with Play Anywhere functionality???

MS would have to pay some serious $$$$ for that to happen.

What will they lose? Do people usually buy games twice?

 

[Beechos]

No one cares about any of this shit, it's just gimmicks and distractions. Without exclusives a console is useless and irrelevant. Period end of story.

If that was the case then ms can just dominate by pulling back all act and bethesda games and make them exclusive.

 

[Panajev2001a]

What will they lose? Do people usually buy games twice?

Some do, the ones that buy the PC SKU are not subsidising / paying for Xbox support and viceversa.

 

[PJX]

Financially it will not help indies and AAA games.

 

[drganon]

If that was the case then ms can just dominate by pulling back all act and bethesda games and make them exclusive.

More like watch the games sales collapse.

 

[DragonNCM]

They can bring old exclusives to other consoles but new ones need to stay at least 2 years as Xbox exclusives.
Simply as that.

 

[Nikodemos]

This is true, but Papa Satya already put his foot down and exclusives are dead. Phil had 10+ years and tens of billions of $$$ to right that ship and failed.

That's because he wasted $80+ billion on buying the cow, instead of just ordering cheese varieties exclusive to their shop. Now he has to provide everybody else with milk and dairy products.

 

[Kerotan]

The problem Jez is MS don't want to bleed money anymore just to achieve a strategy. Do you want them to end up like sega?

 

[TehGoomba7s]

I think its wild that ms introduces something that is pro consumer and we worry about if its sustainable because these fucking publishers would rather make you buy a game twice than be able to use it on the multiple devices you own.

I'm really confused by how it's not sustainable. It's just a benefit. Buy the game on this store and you get to use it across windows and xbox.

It's not like I'm going to go out and buy multiple copies of a game if it's not play anywhere.

I've done it once or twice but not to the level that ita not sustainable. I would put money that it's just not supported as much due to having to have the games as native pc Xbox app applications.

Diablo iv etc launch into battle net don't they? Not xbox apps

Because companies would be losing out big time on sales of their product. They are essentially giving out free copies of their games on other platforms. It's pro consumer yes but anti developer just like game pass. So unless MS want to foot the bill and pay these companies the extra money they'd lose supporting play anywhere then it won't be adopted by everyone. Smaller devs who want exposure will jump at it but any established AAA developer interested in money first won't.

 

[Horseganador]

The only thing that will pay off for Xbox is releasing its games on PS5, Switch 2, and Steam and forgetting about the hardware.

 

[HerjansEagleFeeder]

Play Anywhere is fantastic when a game supports it, but I don't think all publishers will be eager to get onboard.

Why is MS even dependend on their approval? Why can't they change their Windows Store equivalent of Steam (and the underlying technologies) so that technically, an Xbox game is no longer different from a Windows game, meaning the Xbox binaries are 100% compatible with Windows and when you release an Xbox game, you effectively also release it for Windows?