Microsoft Has Apparently Been Stocking Up on PS5 Devkits as Xbox Pivots

If you can't beat 'em...

I bet Sony are loving all of this.

Personally, if the rumors are true it is somewhat disappointing. I think competition is great, even in businesses. That part of history that made Xbox so great is going to be gone. I feel bad for those who invested in the Xbox ecosystem, particularly this generation like I did (although I own all three current gen consoles) because I was excited about their future with Bethesda, and their genuine passion to deliver on their promise of exclusive games. And now, although that promise will more than likely be delivered, it won’t be in the way I envisioned. Game Pass is not a system seller for me. I don’t care too much for subscription services to begin with. I prefer to own my games, even if that means paying $70.00+ for a game. If their games come to PlayStation, then I don’t see the point in owning an Xbox console. They are seemingly going multi-platform/third party, and will be ruining the reputation they have garnered this generation, at least in my eyes. I guess we will have to wait until next week to find out, although I think that is way too long of a wait — Phil and co. need to speak out now before more rumors become rampant.

and sony cancelling any future projects that isnt the last of us and uncharted remastered remaster edition, in the process.

and ps plus price is probably starting to look a little too low in their eyes too.

@DennisReynolds I think they'll be more concerned about why it's happening. Tapping in to another ecosystem to generate more revenue is the obvious conclusion, but I wouldn't be surprised if this was Microsoft trying to preemptively appease regulators before attempting more acquisitions. Access to previous exclusives might look good on paper, but not if it helps support a future where they end up owning Sega, Capcom, Square Enix, and god knows who else.

I'm a fan even if only somewhat true. The more access to games for all the better. Xbox to Sony or Sony to Xbox. Many gamers can only afford one gaming system and miss out on some great games. I think releasing a game 1 to 2 years after it's out in its current system to another system makes monetary sense.

Ahh so that's where they all went and why Sony's studios haven't been able to get their hands on them yet, no wonder we keep getting last-gen games and remasters.

Hey Xbox, please lend some of them back to Sony!

@nomither6 oh yes MS has bad news coming out according to Xbox fanboys so they make up completely wild theories of Sony doing bad things to make things “even” it’s childish. The fact is MS hardware and games aren’t see as desirable which is why they’ve been failing for over ten years now while Sony has continued to kick their teeth in by giving their fans a better plus that yes came with a price increase,goty and goated bangers almost every year,awesome hardware to compliment the ps5 with ps portal and psvr 2 among other things.

@TrickyDicky99 they’ve still released more games in the first three years of this gen compared to MS which makes MS look even sadder lol. I mean MS launched a brand new console with no exclusives like who does that lmao

@Intr1n5ic at that point who would care when ps would still be getting all the games

@dark_knightmare2 Nearly all the games Sony have released are PS4 games.

And even Demons Souls is a PS3 Remake

A great victory for Playstation gamers

@dark_knightmare2 For starters, Microsoft would be controlling what games get made, but more worryingly, at any point they could revert back to platform exclusivity once they own it all.

But will Sony let them buy the PS6 dev kits prior to its release? 🤔

PlayStation beat Sega and now Xbox into the console graveyard who’s next.

@Intr1n5ic yeah that would never go down. Imagine the backlash them going multiplat is causing now imagine them reverting oh boy would that be a sight lol

@TrickyDicky99 yes cross gen but who cares they were better on ps5 and more than even MS could muster

@nomither6

I just got offered a 45 per cent discount on Plus.

I wouldn't bet money if I were you😂😂

@TrickyDicky99 By that logic most of MS output this gen is X1 games then. Either way Sony have put out more games this gen then MS and have put out more current gen only games as well. As for Demons Souls Remake yeah visually one of the best looking games out there.

@DennisReynolds @dark_knightmare2 don't give that troll his 15 minutes. He's just salty because he will have to play all his future xbox exclusives on the ps5 onwards once Microsoft start making games..again.. and stop making hardware 🤣

We live in strange times when the PS5 Pro will play Xbox ✌️exclusive✌️ games better than any Xbox. I believe we are living in Matrix style simulation run by Sony. That is honestly the only explanation I can come up with that explain this truly bizarre state of affairs.
From PlayStation users everywhere Thank You Phil Spencer for bringing most xbox games to PlayStation going forwards especially now everyone knows if you want to play Xbox games at their absolute best do yourself a favour and buy a PlayStation because then you will be able to play all the games. Exbone is basically dead n Phil was obviously a team blue sabatour who expertly made X Box less desirable than the sinking ship already was which nobody thought was possible but we'll done Phil you out did yourself 👏

@Jett dosnt even need to be the ps5 Pro..

I know competition is good, but I can't help but to be excited over the opportunity to buy Gears on my Playstation.

@colonelkilgore
Probably. Sounds like the next Xbox won’t be on Sony’s next gen release schedule.

https://www.eurogamer.net/microsofts-next-xbox-release-may-lag-behind-sony-due-to-a-delay-signing-contracts-with-amd-leaker-claims

@DennisReynolds You're acting like I'm an Xbox guy, I've never owned an Xbox.

However like I said, they are mostly PS4 games and Demon's Souls is essentially a PS3 game with a current gen lick of paint.

@lacerz May that be cause there isn't going to be one? 🤔

@dark_knightmare2 cross-gen just means last gen with PS5 enhancements. The likes of Ragnarock, GT7, Miles Morales. HFW etc are all PS4 games plain and simple.

@EfYI to be fair, it IS just a discount, lol.

The silence is deafening, If it's just a rumor Microsoft would of come out Immediately to shut it down and keep the "fan boys" happy.

I see this as an absolute win for the consumer.

We need Valve to take the next step with Steam decks now. They don't need to replace Xbox, but we need lounge friendly PCs to keep Sony honest

@LifeGirl short term maybe but long run less competition is always bad for the consumer

I feel games like sea of thieves, grounded even halo would benefit greatly being on PlayStation

@Ken_Kaniff it's a great franchise doesnt get the attention it deserves

@Valkyrian Not sure if Sony losing competition is a good thing for PS gamers

@mariomaster96 it’s not like Xbox was much competition after the 7th gen.

You guys were right! Xbox is in it's death throws, as people are canceling their Gamepass right and left. Even the most diehard fanboys are talking about walking away. The level of contempt Phil Spencer has for the fan base is astounding!

@Toot1st Agreed. I loved the first two.

Tbh there are no Xbox exclusives I'd really like to play at this point in time, the only one was Stalker but we already heard it would eventually come to Playstation. I may try Starfield but it really seems underwhelming, and spending dozens of hours on a sub-par game is not in my plans.
However, I'd like to have Fallout 4 on PSVR2, not sure if this will become an option.

@CharlieChooChoo True but better than nothing

Not to long ago you could play emulators on the series S&X in retail mode. Then they released a update and none of the apps would launch duckstation, xbsx2, flycast, dolphin, ppsspp, retroarch, all gone. Now you have to be online to switch from devolper mode (emulators) to retail (purchased games) I wonder how many xboxs will be left in dev mode offline forever.

@mariomaster96 also true!

@Wolfgar The love of money>>>>>Appeasing your fan base.

@TrickyDicky99 does it matter those games are playable on ps5 and they sold like 80 to 90 percent of their copies there only console warriors try to discredit them. Nobody says botw isn’t a switch game even though it was on Wii U

I'm on PC, none of this matters to me and never liked any xbox games, other than ghostwire Tokyo which seems ok.

Win-win-win. Xbox basically becomes a publisher with a huge roster of top-tier developers in its portfolio. Sony gets a 30% rip on the games sold on its platform. PlayStation owners (and Switch where possible) get more games.
My only concern is if XBox ceased to make consoles altogether then Sony would have no real competition in the space of higher-powered home consoles, which might make it lazy and complacent of its customers.

Diablo 4 dead.
Xbox dead.
Hmm, M$ seem to be on a (negative) roll...
Not surprising as they have been curvstomped by Playstation and Nintendo for at least 2 console generations and when next Playstation and Switch are released it would be a true bloodbath imho.
Just as it was already stated above in the comments: "If you can't beat em - join them".

Has anyone considered that instead of these games being released for sale on PlayStation, that instead, PS5 players will be able to play them via a Game Pass subscription?

@__jamiie Can't see this happening unless Playstation get a cut of the subscription fee which wouldn't make financial sense for Xbox.

@__jamiie Sony is never going to allow Game Pass on Playstation without getting some sort of cut from MS, it's just not in their best interest.

@Chaosbros @Ainu20 I agree it's massively unlikely but nowhere do any of these rumours say that they will be available to buy on PlayStation, just available. Maybe even streaming only.

It's a possibility that I haven't seen anyone consider yet.

@DennisReynolds Absolutely. Jim in particular is getting what he wanted during the ABK case.

Now we know why Sony raised the PS Plus prices, we are getting MS games day 1 in PS Plus.

@__jamiie People aren't considering it because it doesn't really seem to make much sense to either Sony or MS.

Sony, as the market leader, is under no pressure at all to allow stuff on their system that isn't in their best interest, i.e. Game Pass in any shape or form without getting a cut from MS. While for MS, it doesn't really make sense to share Game Pass revenue with anyone.

It would make more sense to continue pushing Game Pass on their own platforms (including PC, which at the end of the day is a MS platform) as the "preferred" (cheaper) way to play their games, while supplementing that with game sales on rival platforms. That also means rival platform holders get their 30% cut from game sales. It's just the scenario that makes the most sense for everyone involved.

It's all speculation at this point, we'll find out soon enough.

@__jamiie
The possibility isn't zero for sure. The major sticking point for Game Pass not being on PS5 is because of 3rd party games available through the service. Sony wants that 30% cut on those games and they would lose that if people just play them through subscription.

I think the only way Game Pass makes it on Playstation is if it's a specific version that only has Microsoft developed games on it. Then again who knows? I certainly didn't see this massive change in strategy coming so soon from Microsoft so what do I know? 😅

Been following this story the last few days and I have to admit, I never saw this coming. Sure a change of direction for MS/Xbox, carving out their own path ala Nintendo, but the possibility of moving into the realms of 3rd party publishing? Xbox classics coming to PlayStation? Nope, I wouldn't have bet on it.

This may actually be a clever ploy. What they do is release some old Xbox IPs that haven't had a new game in awhile. Gears etc. To get people wanting to playing them. Then when a new one comes out people might be "I really want to play it as I liked the other ones" But it's an exclusive! So will get an Xbox. It's just my current theory.

Thats fine by me.more games is always welcome.especially Microsoft games.its going to be fun next week to fine out what lies of p phil spencer is going to say.word up son

@Deformedpye

A sound theory except that one of the biggest releases last year, Starfield, failed to draw people to Xbox and GP numbers have all but stagnated. What that shows is that the PlayStation brand is a powerful one, regardless of output, and that a handful of games isn't going to draw the masses away from it

Xbox going multiplatform, then reverting to exclusive just will not happen, @Intr1n5ic. It's absolute fiction to think that could even possibly happen. Xbox is currently being outsold 3 to 1. If Microsoft goes fully multiplatform, then from that moment on, and in particular the next generation, no one is going to buy their consoles. Why would you? If all the games are available on the PlayStation you would just buy that console instead, and once you are invested in a platform, you are unlikely to switch. So once Xbox has lost those patrons, they will struggle to win them back, even with further company acquisitions, and the promise of more exclusives. If Microsoft cannot gain ground on Sony right now with their current, recent acquisitions, it's just not going to happen.

Added to which, there is a reason why Microsoft have been unable to get any third-party exclusives this generation, and that is because their market share is too small and it is simply not viable for them to pay for such exclusives. If Microsoft reduce their market share still further, they will never see a third-party exclusive ever again, and so will be solely reliant on their own exclusives.

If any of this is true, it is exceptionally bad for us consumers. Without the competition offered by Microsoft, Sony will have free reign to do as it pleases. There will be no need to make a loss on the cost of manufacturing their consoles. Thus games and consoles will be sold at a price higher than we are seeing right now. It needs to be remembered that Sony were the first to raise the prices of consoles, games and subscription services, and that they did that because they were so dominant in the market and knew that they could get away with it. With no competition, they can literally charge what they want, because what will we do? Go elsewhere|? And where would that be exactly...?

@Fiendish-Beaver Who said they're going full multiplatform?

People are assuming the majority of their library is coming to other systems, they're also assuming that gamepass is going to be available on PlayStation. I don't believe either of those to be the likely scenario here. I think they're going to cash in on select titles at full retail price.

To answer your question, Xbox isn't going anywhere. If anything, it will probably go all digital with a single box moving forward and the incentive that differentiates will be, sure you can buy certain titles for full price on another system, but they're available here for only x amount a month.

With regard to regulators, this will appear like they care about bringing their biggest ip to other platforms, obviously helping with any argument made against them when attempting to aquire more 3rd party studios in the future. What happens if they are successful with that is completely up to them in the longterm, and going off their history, I don't think a reversion on policy is fiction at all.

As for this - "It needs to be remembered that Sony were the first to raise the prices of consoles, games and subscription services, and that they did that because they were so dominant in the market and knew that they could get away with it."

It should also be remembered that Microsoft were the first to charge us to play online, and then after 1 successful generation tried to release an always online console.

Sony should add some of their older titles to xbox if this true.

It'll be interesting if it is the whole catalogue coming over... What I'm actually expecting is that the traditionally multiplatform stuff will come over and games like Starfield that started as multiplatform and later became exclusive will also make the jump... but the firmly entrenched IP like Gears, Halo won't make the jump.

I'm also expecting and okay with MS titles taking a chunk of time to come over with a few exceptions - I waited a year for Rise of The Tomb Raider and it was worth it.

I wonder if this is how it'll play out.

• Next week they'll announce all Xbox 1st party games for PS5
• Maybe timed exclusive for first 3-12 months on Xbox
• Rely on Game Pass to keep Xbox X|S relevant this gen.
• Build pressure on Sony with PR/regulators to allow Game Pass on PS5+
• Drop Xbox hardware if not next gen then soon after.
• Build pressure on Sony with PR/regulators to reduce 30% cut or allow alternative App Store ala Epic vs Google & Apple.

Well… who wants a HI themed Series X? Come an’ get ‘em!!

There’s a narrative out there that Xbox is going to leave the hardware space and just become a software publisher, and I’m not sure that’s the immediate plans. I anticipate they will move their first party games to multiplatform after a period of time exclusivity on their own console. So maybe it’s 3 months or 6 months, maybe a year, then they port over a selection of their games. I think that gives them the best chance of keeping their own ecosystem on life support and also making some much needed revenue from game sales.

But I don’t know. We’ll see. If they do take the timed exclusivity approach, and it doesn’t pan out over the next couple years, then maybe they abort the console market for the next generation.

PlayStation is where the money is. Makes sense for Microsoft to bring their games over to the paying customers. Sort of like how Apple’s App Store is where the paying customers are in the mobile scene.

I love that the response from certain gamers, here and elsewhere, is to treat rumours and slivers of information as gospel, fact, foregone conclusion when there's very little evidence to base anything on.

Microsoft buying more PS5 devkits could just as easily mean they're stocking Activision up with more of them to make confirmed cross platform titles like CoD easier to develop.

This jumping the gun is exactly the sort of thing that also happens when some gaming related company patents an idea, a lazy gaming news site makes an article out of it and people go "omg are they serious?! Rlly who needs that". Gamers are truly fickle sometimes.

Xbox fanboys have been throwing all their toys out of the pram over this.

They were gleeful that multiplatform games would be taken away and put exclusively on Xbox.

Now it looks like those multiplatform games will remain so, they're saying it's the end of days for the Xbox and are really sad that they won't be able to lord these multiplatform titles over Sony users.

The reality is they bought two massive publishers who publish widely across various platforms and get their revenue that way. If they started publishing only on Xbox, they'd shatter those those revenue streams and their ability to make money from these businesses.

So, it never made any sense for them to start taking away games to their platform, if they still wanted to make money.

I suspect the announcement will be time exclusivity on these multiplatform games and that they are still going to be publishing first party titles exclusively to Xbox.

@colonelkilgore only if they stop making consoles I should think.

@MattBoothDev didn't phil Spencer say it was a case by case basis for the games ,people just assumed it would only be smaller titles , this doesn't seem to be the case though.

@Shushibda He was riding high at that point, though, when he said that.

I think the fiscal reality has set in that they can't afford to cull their publisher revenue and maintain that profitability, because clearly, given Starfield, people aren't buying Xbox for these exclusives (though, if Starfield had been good, that might've been a different matter).

I’m amazed by many of the responses here. I don’t get into the whole console war argument and most of what has been reported is rumored at the moment, but those cheering Xbox gets out of the whole “console war” might want to rethink that thought.

I want to start off by saying we don’t know if it’s a few games or a whole list of games that will be coming to PlayStation. I personally am guessing it’s just a few older games sprinkled in with a few newer AA games, and Xbox will still be around, but for those who are wishing for Xbox to fail and leave the console behind…. Then what? It’s not a win for the consumer in the long run. Nintendo isn’t competing against Sony the same way Xbox is. (Yes I know Nintendo sells a lot more systems and games than Xbox, but as we saw in the ABK mess, neither Xbox or Sony view them as competition.) Once you lose your competition, you become a monopoly. Game prices will rise. The next PlayStation console will rise in price. Online service will rise. First party games will lower in quality. And why? Because there’s no competition to keep a balance. There’s no competition for consumers to choose between. You’re stuck having to choose the console with the monopoly. You the consumer don’t benefit from that. Again, I’m not in the console war, I own all three systems. I enjoy them all and hope for all three to have a healthy market share, but those hoping for the failure of Xbox so Sony “wins” should really be careful what they are wishing for because it could just happen and you won’t like the end result.

Hopefully Microsoft has realised that it's flogging a dead horse. Just become a publisher, bring all the stuff you have (which ain't alot) to the PlayStation, Nintendo platforms, get a bigger audience, make more money.

@zekepliskin I agree we need a little caution with rumours like this, but it does feel like there's at least a grain of truth here. All gaming sites, major and minor, started reporting this stuff around the same time, and then there was Phil's twitter response that didn't exactly deny any of it, which gives it an air of legitimacy.

There's definitely something going on, we just don't know what yet.

@dark_knightmare2 Skyrim is playable on PS5, surely you're not suggesting Skyrim is a current gen game?

If this does turn out to be the case, I think X Box will continue to make consoles for at least a generation or 2, and maintain most of their exclusives only releasing the big name blockbusters that are not universally viewed as an Xbox Game. Probably keeping Halo and Forza exclusive. They will not put Game Pass on PS as that is the big selling point of their consoles. Mostly it will stay the same but with some former exclusives being cross platform. Its the long term implication that's crazy though.

Admittedly, there's not many Xbox exclusive games I'm interested in, outside of Starfield and maybe Avowed. But I feel terrible for everyone who was on the fence and went Xbox based on statements made during the ABK acquisition, only to have the rug pulled out from under them now.

@Axelay71 I agree this is the most likely outcome.

@DennisReynolds why would any one hate this? Every one wins. People need to just enjoy the games and less about tribalism

@Axelay71 they still sell consoles ? They are just going to double down on both software and hardware, that doesn’t mean they’ll stop making xbkx

@Kraven I'll still keep the Xbox as my main console and am happy to buy and future ones because gamepass alone for me make it worth it along ekth everyone I know plays on Xbox and that's where all my games and main profile stuff is. I doubt it would massively effect sales or everyone will move to PlayStation but will just bring more money in for Xbox so why not be a publisher that also makes consoles I suppose 🤷

@tangyzesty it's about time they realised they won't ever break Sony & Nintendo. Even the open cheque book policy hasn't payed off really. Its always been strange to me though with all the money MS have. They can't seem to ever create amazing AAA titles like Sony have.

@dark_knightmare2 a $3 trillion company that's probably isn't that fussed about what company as small as Sony is doing in the grand scheme of things

@TrickyDicky99 I mean diablo 4 isn't anywhere enae dead
Xbox also isn't anywhere near dead
Along with 2 weeks ago MS hit a $3 trillion market cap for the first ever time and only the 2nd ever company to do it Soooooooooo 😂

@PlayAnywhere I dont think there's any chance of gamepass being on PS tbj
Not only would it basically kill PS now but MS won't want to be paying that 30% fee to Sony

@zekepliskin I always laugh how desperate people are for their faceless corporation to win over another one.

Believing everything about some rumours because they know the truth from twitter 😅 along with often having intimate knowledge of the finances and internal working of said company.

Sony is about to go wild taking that victory lap bring on the xbox games also wouldn't it be funny if xbox games start outselling sony games cuz there on ps5

We did it, guys!

We won the console wars! The Sony Pony beat the crap out of xbot, and now xboys are here to tell us how hollow this victory is.

The war was clearly won, because PlayStation had the better fan base. We're younger, more handsome and quite frankly better dancers across the board.

We should tell the guys over on poorxbox.com.

(Irony applied)

As a PlayStation gamer, I don’t want this. Microsoft m m at 3rd place is better. I can see they will sell GP on PlayStation with this and as mentioned by others, they will try to purchase more big third parties.

@Shushibda he always lies if you didn’t know it by now.

@EvilSilentFrame This is an astute comment, agree with all of it. Competition doesn't just drive innovation (something sorely needed in tech in general right now as it's stagnant) but it helps keep the consumer from getting ripped off.

@Ainu20 Exactly, there's truth in it just what kind of truth, we don't know yet. There's a lot of jumping to conclusions and speculating going on and as is often the case a lot of it will end up being wrong, as it was for the Activision acquisition.

@Stickleman Well said! Everyone just needs to be what few are these days - patient. Wasting time and effort with guesswork doesn't mean any of it is right. I very much doubt Xbox will give up its entire gaming library to third parties - people are acting as if one day you'll see Halo on a PlayStation, I'm sorry but no that's just silly 😂

I agree with something Tim Rogers said although it's a bit less true this generation, which is when it comes to cross platform console games that the Xbox version is preferable, partly because you can play them with the Elite Series 2 controller, which beats the DualSense, a clunky feeling toy with crap battery life compared to that.

For me there's no bias here as I own a Switch, Series X and PS5. I'm not overly thrilled with any of them right now as it's been a weak time in gaming, although there were some bangers released at the end of 2023 like Robocop.

@dark_knightmare2 Xbox fanboys needs someone to blame that isn't Phil Spencer or themselves. To figure out why this is happening, they only need to look in the mirror. Xbox gamers don't buy games anymore. Phil Spencer and Xbox conditioned them that way. What did they think was going to happened when they started putting $300 million games day 1 on a subscription service? If Xbox "fans" didn't want this to happen, maybe they should have actually bought their games. For years we've been seeing that Playstation and Nintendo gamers are more than happy to pay for quality.

I have been a Playstation owner since the ps1, had all the ps handhelds and still have my cherished vita. This gen money was not the best after some major life changes which as things do took priority so I went for the Series S and game pass and got to play and enjoy a lot of games at the time I wouldn't otherwise have been able to afford, and when things got better I upgraded to the Series X while still enjoying game pass benefits. I still missed the games I didn't get to play on playstation at the end of the PS4 era so finally bought a PS5 so I could play TLOU2 and horizon 2 and a few lesser ones. But since the release of the PS5 Sony has just laid back and relied on COD income to carry the platform and third party releases advertised to hell and back on YouTube etc as if they are first party. 2023? Spiderman 2 same game all over again 15 hour game including 40% of that as fmv with an extra traversal trick spooled from the SSD for £70. No thanks. If games becomes platform agnostic then for me it's the PS5 that isn't worth the space on my desk, because the only games coming out will all be 3rd party and be still on the Xbox as well as being cheaper and/or on gamepass. And as other people have mentioned, and was already leaked, PlayStation prices are soon to skyrocket. £150 for a three part instalment of more Spiderman? It might not be a good time to cheer so much as gaming as a whole is going to change in a big way.

The best thing Microsoft can do is make their games as available as widely as possible in on PlayStation and Nintendo. PlayStation gamers still buy games and Xbox want that profit and those margins, especially having put so much investment into Gamepass and spending billions on buying publishers like Activision and Bethesda.

YEEES! Please, Phil! Played like 100 hours of Starfied on Steam Deck but the muddiness and performance is too much for me. Definitely don't want to get an Xbox. Definitely would LOVE to continue playing BGS games with PlayStation controllers. Just so comfy 😅❤️

@Northern_munkey I've never owned an Xbox, so what Xbox exclusives are you on about?

@Ken_Kaniff the third was my favourite had so much fun in co op with my gf

Gears of War on PS5? Yes, please…