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[EverydayBeast]

Explain to people how Xbox going PC focus is a good thing and an incredible thing, more lease on developer tools. The first thing I thought of it's Microsoft taking back what's there's (pc arena) and taking on steam.

 

[bender]

Explain to people how Xbox going PC focus is a good thing and an incredible thing, more lease on developer tools. The first thing I thought of it's Microsoft taking back what's there's (pc arena) and taking on steam.

 

[REMAINSILLY]

How are they taking on Steam when the next Xbox will allow you to install and play games from Steam?

 

[MMaRsu]

Because a more versatile machine = more options as a consumer

How are you guys not getting this

I've seen so much dumb anger over Microsoft supposedly turning the new Xbox more into a PC but you should be happy if so.

 

[Hari Seldon]

It is not. I want MS to go away as a company. Ideally they would just be a b2b company that sells worthless corporate software to idiot companies. Now they are going to renew their attempt to enshittify pc gaming.

 

[Mr. PlayStation]

Explain to people how Xbox going PC focus is a good thing and an incredible thing, more lease on developer tools. The first thing I thought of it's Microsoft taking back what's there's (pc arena) and taking on steam.

Well, ParisLilly/DoltEastWood/SnapBlast/HoldTheLineDriggity and the rest of the Xbox influencers on Twitter said so that Xbox going PC focus is the greatest thing to happen.

 

[REMAINSILLY]

Nothing really changes for me. I only game on PC, but I am excited that those who will be able to afford the next Xbox will finally experience PC gaming (kinda).

 

[jshackles]

If they want to compete on a level playing field on PC, they're going to have to retire the "paid online" program that was previous Xbox Live Gold and is now Game Pass Core. Game Pass Core will probably continue to exist, but it likely won't be a requirement for online play on the next Xbox. That'll be good for the industry as a whole.

If they somehow find a way to shoehorn online multiplayer into the PC space but only on this box, it'll be DoA.

 

[KanKamAndNob]

Well, ParisLilly/DoltEastWood/SnapBlast/HoldTheLineDriggity and the rest of the Xbox influencers on Twitter said so that Xbox going PC focus is the greatest thing to happen.

You forgot to add the Lord of Beans, Jez Corden to that esteemed list lol.

 

[Sentenza]

Explain to people how Xbox going PC focus is a good thing and an incredible thing, more lease on developer tools. The first thing I thought of it's Microsoft taking back what's there's (pc arena) and taking on steam.

On a personal level I don't care about XBOX since I already have a decent PC, but if I was looking to get a console I'd be glad to get my hands on a device that ALSO gets access to a vast PC library.

How is that a hard concept to grasp for you weirdos?

 

[Sinozen]

They're cooked. Valve already owns the PC market. Not much they can do now but try to collaborate with them.

 

[j0hnnix]

I doubt they will take on Steam, maybe from a hardware perspective but they need the steam store as an option to even bring over some of the mid level pc gamers over.

They will keep gamepass around.. i dont see it going away.

 

[Kuranghi]

"Taking on Steam" is conceptually hilarious to me, EGS gave me 250 free games and I never open it except to play games that are exclusive to it that I didn't want to/couldn't buy on console, which is less than 5 games probably. I have like 1000 games on steam and 400-500 of them are proper full games/not bundle detritus.

That launcher is a piece of shit and I hate it but somehow even after all these years and with all that money the Xbox store (whats it called nowadays?) is even worse for both UX and technical competency AND has all these crap restrictions on file manipulation, which is the reason I play on PC often, being able to tweak things. They did make changes to "fix" that (problem they created) but it wasn't for every game and the game also get patched poorly and later than Steam et al.

I think this thing will be priced in such a way that it will make overinflated GPU prices seem like a better deal, I'm hanging onto a really old CPU, MB and RAM so I need the whole shebang when I upgrade the GPU finally but thats not normal, I don't care about fps over 60 so theres been no need to upgrade my 3770K until the last 4-5 years, but then GPU prices went nutso.

 

[Chittagong]

Explain to people how Xbox going PC focus is a good thing and an incredible thing, more lease on developer tools. The first thing I thought of it's Microsoft taking back what's there's (pc arena) and taking on steam.

It's better to everyone that they are not doing exactly the same console as Sony like previously. Different product, new ideas, new players. As opposed to having to buy two identical boxes to play all the games.

 

[Shogmaster]

Because PC gamers been waiting for real effort to fix things like shader compilation studder fixed finally, as well as take RT and Path tracing monopoly out of nVidia's hands.

Also, a real capable prebuilt gaming PC is a $2000 expenditure at places like BestBuy. Helix at $1200 would really clean up all the ODM' s act real quick.

 

[SEGAvangelist]

I'm pumped for Helix. I think most people with big Xbox libraries will be.

 

[REMAINSILLY]

People who think Xbox are trying to compete with Valve are insane. Microsoft already has the Xbox app on PC, so they already know what to expect. What they're doing are basically making (hopefully) affordable pre-built PC/Xbox to entice PC gamers who are struggling with the PC parts prices. That's just what I think.

 

[PauloRoberto]

The problem is MS behavior... has you even seen ANY commercial initiative from MS that you can say 100% sure that is simply better for the customer? Even if you can, the vast majority of MS decisions is so focused on break the market and pose as the savior (and f*** the customers) that, by definition, MS is seen as the 'bad guy' (and having paid shills does not help anything on this regard)

 

[PeteBull]

I say first lets wait and see what price this device gonna sell at, not just in the US but around the world, defo wont be cheap but could be very expensive 1200$/€ or some insane 1999$/€ even which is huge disparity and will directly decide if the mashine is irrelevant from the start(think 5m total sales lifetime) or its still somehow relevant aka potential of 20-30m sales lifetime.

Just to give u an idea how irrelevant topend hardware is, rtx 5080 with msrp of 999 usd(but lets be real here, 90% of the time it was on the market it was closer to 1200$ streetprice, now even cheapest models sitting at 1300$ in the US and for comparision in my country that is part of EU freshly bought cheapest barebones model of 5080 was 1507$).

That kind of highend hardware(which is far cheaper from actual topend 5090) is still only sitting currently at 1.66%, being only top14 most popular gpu on steam.
Xbox magnus costing even lowend superconstervative estimate aka 1200$/€ will be extremly elite few%(3-5) of the market only and if it costs 2k usd/euro which is real possibility, think 1%er territory.

 

[memoryman3]

I'm pretty sure Xbox's mass market play is going to be Cloud Streaming, except with the option to download your games locally if you wish. Like a better executed Stadia/Geforce Now. Activision was bought to bolster their publishing suite and Game Pass lineup to further that strategy.

Xbox Helix is going to be Microsoft directly selling your their expensive Azure Node.

 

[midnightAI]

Because a more versatile machine = more options as a consumer

How are you guys not getting this

I've seen so much dumb anger over Microsoft supposedly turning the new Xbox more into a PC but you should be happy if so.

More options/more versatile is not always a good thing

 

[adamsapple]

It'll make "PC" gaming relevant again.

 

[Topher]

it's Microsoft taking back what's there's (pc arena)

It's not theirs to take back. PC gaming doesn't belong to any one corporation. That's what makes PC gaming great.

 

[MMaRsu]

More options/more versatile is not always a good thing

Lol.. what a extremely dumb counter.

If it gives you the option its not a bad thing.

Xbox just didnt market it well (as usual)

 

[midnightAI]

Lol.. what a extremely dumb counter.

If it gives you the option its not a bad thing.

Xbox just didnt market it well (as usual)

It's called.... A joke, I know some of you on here are alien to that concept

But even so, with your reply, didn't market it well? They didn't read the market at all, something MS seems to do quite a lot.

But one thing I will counter with ..... If those 'options' make the product way more expensive and the majority of the market does not want or need those options, then, yes, having those options (which are at that point not really options) are a bad thing.

 

[Baemono]

That's the neat part: it's not

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

Every time Microsoft gets more involved in PC gaming, they fuck it up. Often in a way that you can't avoid. I really don't want them to even try.

Games for Windows Live is the classic example, and hey - you still can't play a lot of those games anymore due to the DRM.

If Microsoft were to do something positive for PC gaming, they would offer a stripped down version of Windows focused on gaming, that corrects some of the issues with things like DX12. But they won't do that, because they're hellbent on making AI the centerpiece of the Windows experience, so we're better off just hoping they lose interest in PC gaming again before too long.

 

[twilo99]

It is not. I want MS to go away as a company. Ideally they would just be a b2b company that sells worthless corporate software to idiot companies. Now they are going to renew their attempt to enshittify pc gaming.

You must he running for GaF mayor

 

[mayham2199]

Because a more versatile machine = more options as a consumer

How are you guys not getting this

I've seen so much dumb anger over Microsoft supposedly turning the new Xbox more into a PC but you should be happy if so.

Me personally if this is what PS was doing I'd be moving over to Xbox. It's great if that's what people want but I'm not looking for more options as a consumer. I have all the options I could want right on my PS. Even when I was a PC gamer I didn't love it because I had more options. I loved it because games played and looked fantastic. I didn't give a shit about the rest of the stuff.

 

[MMaRsu]

Me personally if this is what PS was doing I'd be moving over to Xbox. It's great if that's what people want but I'm not looking for more options as a consumer. I have all the options I could want right on my PS. Even when I was a PC gamer I didn't love it because I had more options. I loved it because games played and looked fantastic. I didn't give a shit about the rest of the stuff.

The thing about options is you dont need to use them. Lol. You can just ignore them.

 

[Fess]

I'm pumped for Helix. I think most people with big Xbox libraries will be.

It's the best possible scenario. PC is the most logical progression for Xbox users since your account is already there with your purchases and achievements and Gamepass etc. The final puzzle piece was getting access to the content locked on the console, and they'll fix that now.

 

[Don Carlo]

Xbox focusing on PC is great because it means less console gatekeeping. More games, more performance options, and Game Pass on PC just keeps getting better.

 

[Mr. PlayStation]

You forgot to add the Lord of Beans, Jez Corden to that esteemed list lol.

Them as well, would also include Destin L, Tom Warren, Brad Sams!

 

[DryvBy]

Xbox focusing on PC is great because it means less console gatekeeping. More games, more performance options, and Game Pass on PC just keeps getting better.

How do you feel about Valuve not putting all of their games on console? Why can't I buy Half-Life on Epic? Why can't I add Fortnite to my GOG library?

 

[Shtef]

To have a console that will play my xbox and pc library, how is that a bad thing?

 

[Calverz]

Xbox leaning into PC is a net positive because it lets Microsoft double down on the platform it already owns, strengthens developer tools through a unified ecosystem, and positions Xbox as a real competitor to Steam rather than fighting Sony on hardware alone. It's not a retreat — it's Microsoft reclaiming its home turf and expanding the Xbox platform beyond a single box.

 

[Leonidas]

Its not a PC focus. Its a Hybrid PC.

Its a good thing because PC Gaming Market is growing, while console market is shrinking.

 

[Hyper_hyper]

Explain to people how Xbox going PC focus is a good thing and an incredible thing, more lease on developer tools. The first thing I thought of it's Microsoft taking back what's there's (pc arena) and taking on steam.

Can't wait to see response of PCMR when Xslop will ask PCMR person = "hey, bro, what you are playing on Xbox?" and "what is your favorite Xbox exec?"

 

[Kataploom]

How is more people playing the games bad news?

 

[Durin]

It's a good thing to me because they've shown for 2 consistent generations they can't make a competitive closed console ecosystem, so at the very least they're going to invest resources into improving fundamental parts of PC as a gaming platform.

Advanced Shader Delivery being one of those things already shown, where it lets games ship precompiled shaders for each player's specific GPU/driver combo like a console, instead of compiling everything at runtime. Also, the cache registration for it can account for driver updates, so you won't be stuck recompiling fresh shaders to get potential stutters all over again.

Only problem for Microsoft...is I don't know how they're gonna make this work to actually get a cut of game sales themselves vs Steam.