Microsoft's Next-Generation Console: A Service-Driven Approach
It was Microsoft's turn to make the case for the company's next-generation console, and as we've been anticipating over the last year or so, it wasn't really going to be about Xbox Series X specifically. Microsoft's game plan is not as much hardware-driven as it is service-driven, which has been reinforced and made abundantly clear after watching the Xbox game showcase. The real star of the show was undoubtedly Game Pass, and the company's future success will now heavily depend on that service's consistency.
Game Pass has been able to overshadow Sony's PlayStation Plus, and everything Microsoft showed during this showcase will be available on Game Pass. Think about that – it says a lot and definitely speaks as to how Microsoft is approaching its business model moving forward. Where Sony has cemented itself as more of a generational console maker, Xbox says you can play anywhere now. Microsoft has to make the case that investing in the Xbox platform is the way to go.
At the game showcase, we saw Halo because of course we're going to see Halo, and we saw Halo gameplay and it looks a lot like Halo with a grappling hook. Okay, great. It's also becoming a little more clear that this next one is going to be a little more open-world than any of the previous games. Which seems kind of cool, and I'm curious to see just how all of that works – is it going to be as linear as all those other games? We'll have to wait and see.
Some of the developer acquisitions that Microsoft has been making over the last few years are starting to bear fruit. We saw trailers for Psychonauts, Too Many Games' new breathtakingly stylized Everwild, a new State of Decay game, and a few surprises too like Stalker 2. Maybe not super surprising, but finally an official Fable announcement – that's exciting. We also got a sneak peek at world debuts like the next Forza Motorsport game as Dusk Falls and a look at the next open-world RPG from Obsidian called Val.
In addition to everything we saw being on Game Pass, news hit that Destiny 2 will arrive on Game Pass this fall with access to the previous expansions and the Beyond Light update that's scheduled to come out in November. While nothing announced was inherently exclusive just to the Xbox Series X console, Microsoft says there are going to be over a hundred titles on that platform this holiday season. There are also console launch exclusives to take note of, which means those are games that will hit Xbox likely PC but not PS5 when they launch.
Those games that they highlighted were titles like Medium and the free-to-play Crossfire X – it's exciting to see what else is in store for Game Pass subscribers. However, there wasn't much news in regards to Xbox Cloud Gaming, which is a bit of a letdown in my opinion. That's Microsoft's game streaming service, and we did learn recently before the event that an Ultimate Game Pass subscription will give you XCloud included – starting soon.
As these debuts of the next-gen consoles still have a few months until they arrive, it's tough to know what someone who wants to enter the Xbox ecosystem should do. Especially if they don't plan on playing any games on PC with stories of older Xbox consoles being discontinued and a possible debut of a half-step next-generation Xbox that's still to be revealed. Of course, this is all temporary, and it will crystallize as the months go by.
Are you an Xbox Series X day one person? If so, why or are you just going to wait to see what that mid-level console looks like? Let us know in the comment section below. Thanks everyone for watching, stay safe, and we'll see you next time.
"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enit was microsoft's turn to make the case for the company's next generation console and as we've been anticipating over the last year or so isn't really going to be about xbox series x specifically microsoft's game plan is not as much hardware driven as it is service driven reinforced and made abundantly clear after watching the xbox game showcase the real star of the show was undoubtedly game pass and the company's future success will now heavily depend on that service's consistency and that's sort of been the case for a while now right i mean game pass has been able to overshadow sony's playstation plus and everything microsoft showed during this showcase will be available on game pass think about that that's kind of amazing it says a lot and it definitely speaks as to how microsoft is approaching its business model moving forward where sony has cemented itself as more of a generational console maker xbox says you can play anywhere now with that microsoft has to make the case that investing in the xbox platform is the way to go so what did we see at the game showcase well we saw halo because of course we're gonna see halo and we saw halo gameplay and it looks a lot like halo with a grappling hook okay great it's also becoming a little more clear that this next one is going to be a little more open world than any of the previous games which seems kind of cool and i'm curious to see just how all of that works is it going to be as linear as all those other games so what else some of the developer acquisitions that microsoft has been making over the last few years are starting to bear fruit we saw trailers for psychonauts too rare's new breathtakingly stylized everwild a new state of decay game and a few surprises too like stalker two and maybe not super surprising but finally an official fable announcement and we also got a sneak peek at world debuts like the next forza motorsport game as dusk falls and a look at the next open world rpg from obsidian called val so in addition to everything we saw being on game pass news also hit that destiny 2 will arrive on game pass this fall with access to the previous expansions and the beyond light update that's scheduled to come out in november and while nothing announced was inherently exclusive just to the xbox series x console microsoft says there are going to be over a hundred titles on that platform this holiday season there are also console launch exclusives to take note of as well which means those are games that will hit xbox likely pc but not ps5 when they launch those games that they highlighted were titles like medium and the free to play crossfire x now there wasn't much news in regards to xcloud which is a bit of a letdown in my opinion that's microsoft's game streaming service but we did learn recently before the event that an ultimate game pass subscription will give you xcloud included and all that starting up real soon there is still some of this story that's yet to be told though and that's fine these debuts of the next gen consoles still have a few months but i'm not a hundred percent sure someone who wants to enter the xbox ecosystem knows exactly just what the buy at this point especially if they don't plan on playing any games on pc with stories of older xbox consoles being discontinued and a possible debut of a half step next generation xbox that's still to be revealed it's sort of tough to know what someone who doesn't already have an xbox should do of course this is all temporary and it will crystallize as the months go by but right now i could definitely see some people sort of stuck in limbo now we couldn't hit on every single game that microsoft debuted today so be sure to jump over to the cnet highlights channel for anything you might have missed it is super interesting to see just how these consoles are starting to line up are you an xbox series x day one person if so why or are you just going to wait to see what that mid-level console looks like let me know in the comment section below thanks everyone for watching stay safe we'll see you next timeit was microsoft's turn to make the case for the company's next generation console and as we've been anticipating over the last year or so isn't really going to be about xbox series x specifically microsoft's game plan is not as much hardware driven as it is service driven reinforced and made abundantly clear after watching the xbox game showcase the real star of the show was undoubtedly game pass and the company's future success will now heavily depend on that service's consistency and that's sort of been the case for a while now right i mean game pass has been able to overshadow sony's playstation plus and everything microsoft showed during this showcase will be available on game pass think about that that's kind of amazing it says a lot and it definitely speaks as to how microsoft is approaching its business model moving forward where sony has cemented itself as more of a generational console maker xbox says you can play anywhere now with that microsoft has to make the case that investing in the xbox platform is the way to go so what did we see at the game showcase well we saw halo because of course we're gonna see halo and we saw halo gameplay and it looks a lot like halo with a grappling hook okay great it's also becoming a little more clear that this next one is going to be a little more open world than any of the previous games which seems kind of cool and i'm curious to see just how all of that works is it going to be as linear as all those other games so what else some of the developer acquisitions that microsoft has been making over the last few years are starting to bear fruit we saw trailers for psychonauts too rare's new breathtakingly stylized everwild a new state of decay game and a few surprises too like stalker two and maybe not super surprising but finally an official fable announcement and we also got a sneak peek at world debuts like the next forza motorsport game as dusk falls and a look at the next open world rpg from obsidian called val so in addition to everything we saw being on game pass news also hit that destiny 2 will arrive on game pass this fall with access to the previous expansions and the beyond light update that's scheduled to come out in november and while nothing announced was inherently exclusive just to the xbox series x console microsoft says there are going to be over a hundred titles on that platform this holiday season there are also console launch exclusives to take note of as well which means those are games that will hit xbox likely pc but not ps5 when they launch those games that they highlighted were titles like medium and the free to play crossfire x now there wasn't much news in regards to xcloud which is a bit of a letdown in my opinion that's microsoft's game streaming service but we did learn recently before the event that an ultimate game pass subscription will give you xcloud included and all that starting up real soon there is still some of this story that's yet to be told though and that's fine these debuts of the next gen consoles still have a few months but i'm not a hundred percent sure someone who wants to enter the xbox ecosystem knows exactly just what the buy at this point especially if they don't plan on playing any games on pc with stories of older xbox consoles being discontinued and a possible debut of a half step next generation xbox that's still to be revealed it's sort of tough to know what someone who doesn't already have an xbox should do of course this is all temporary and it will crystallize as the months go by but right now i could definitely see some people sort of stuck in limbo now we couldn't hit on every single game that microsoft debuted today so be sure to jump over to the cnet highlights channel for anything you might have missed it is super interesting to see just how these consoles are starting to line up are you an xbox series x day one person if so why or are you just going to wait to see what that mid-level console looks like let me know in the comment section below thanks everyone for watching stay safe we'll see you next time\n"
