Xbox Strikes Back: New Models Designed for PlayStation Users

24 June 2024 at 11:32 in Gaming News with no comments

Microsoft is directly targeting PlayStation users with three new consoles. Find out when you can grab one and how to buy game keys cheaper with Allkeyshop.

Xbox Series X PlayStation Edition

I’ve been saying it for a long time. Consoles will eventually blur to the point that they will no longer be distinguished individually. It’s all going to be about the cloud. It appears Microsoft thinks the same way, too, with three new consoles coming this year focused on attracting PlayStation users.

Every new generation of consoles is the same. Do you prefer Sony exclusives or Microsoft, or do you like the family-focused and interactive games Nintendo releases every year? Well, eventually, if they want to compete with the PC market – not that I think it can be done – they will have to find a way to publish their first-party games across multiple platforms.

The time of exclusives is over. Nobody is going to buy a PS5 or Xbox Series X because of an exclusive. I know what you’re thinking: “I bought a PlayStation 5 because of God of War.” No, you didn’t. There are only three reasons to buy a PS5. You have either bought previous PlayStation consoles and continued to do so, you have always bought an Xbox, but your friends convinced you to get a PS5 this time, or you can’t afford the PC you’ve been looking at for the past two years.

Xbox for PlayStation Users

It’s nothing new to Microsoft and Sony either. In fact, Microsoft has been adapting for a while now. Their Xbox Game Pass began in 2017, allowing users to access a vast library of video games, including exclusives on both Xbox and PC. The Xbox Game Pass is a huge deal. It’s changed everything.

Don’t believe me? Xbox was a joke in 2013 when they appeared at E3 to reveal the Xbox One. It was an absolute s***show of a showcase. How bad? Almost all the reveal was about upcoming games or non-gaming features, such as watching TV or searching the internet straight from your Xbox One, rather than the console itself. It was so embarrassing and harmful to Microsoft that Sony didn’t need to do much until now for people to assume their consoles were superior and a must-have choice.

But all that has changed because of the Xbox Game Pass. It may seem nonsense because Sony has its own PS Plus subscription, which basically does the same as Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass, right? No. With the PS Plus, you’re stuck on your PlayStation console, which is great if that’s what you have. But with the Xbox Game Pass, you can switch between your PC and your Xbox Series X, playing exclusive games and day-one releases in a rotating library of hundreds of games.

Microsoft’s service is so good that Sony recently had to revamp their subscription service to the PlayStation Plus we know today in June 2022. They had to do something. But even that can’t stop the juggernaut, Microsoft. At first, the company subtly acquired video game developers and publishers. Which is okay, right? EA, Ubisoft, Sony, everyone does it, but Microsoft became an otherworldly beast, a monster swallowing every developer and publisher it encountered.

Like I said, at first, it was fine. A developer here and a publisher there. But when the monster gets too big, its appetite will eventually turn to you for sustenance. And it all came to a head when Microsoft decided to acquire Activision Blizzard for a record-breaking $69 billion.

The acquisition set everyone in a frenzy, including Sony, which quickly acted by suing Microsoft in December 2022 and attempting to block the acquisition. Sony argued that the deal would be bad for competition and gamers as a whole. In truth, Sony panicked because they thought Microsoft would strip the PS5 of Call of Duty, a big money-maker for every platform.

Everyone thought this would be the end of gaming as we know it. Call of Duty would only be available on Xbox and PC. When in reality, I don’t think it was about CoD at all. Sony was worried about the wrong thing. In all of the uproar, everyone seemed to forget about the other IPs Microsoft was set to take ownership of. World of Warcraft, Diablo, Overwatch, StarCraft 2, and Hearthstone. Ever heard of them?

Microsoft was set to own the biggest names in MMOs, action-RPGs, hero shooters, collectible card games, and RTS games. All of these have defined their genre. Riot has seemingly tried to replicate all of them other than WoW. Everybody judges the next procedurally generated action-RPG on how it compares to the Diablo franchise. Hearthstone revolutionized the genre, again, so much so that even Wizards of the Coast acted to release Magic: Arena. And nothing has come close to the heights or genius of StarCraft 2. The big picture wasn’t Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. It was everything else.

We don’t know what Microsoft has planned for World of Warcraft, Diablo, or Overwatch 2, but we know that the company agreed to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation in a 10-year deal. The deal appeared to work, as the FTC approved the Activision Blizzard acquisition, and everyone has forgotten about it, as they can play their beloved, incredibly stale FPS on PlayStation and Xbox for at least another ten years. And the beauty of it all? Microsoft won the case and still came out looking like the good guys because they “decided” to keep CoD on all platforms. It’s genius, and this is where it all comes full circle.

You see, Microsoft knows what we do. PlayStation and Xbox consoles will not exist in ten years as we know them. The further we move into cloud gaming, the closer we get to a point where we won’t buy consoles but purchase subscriptions to our favorite publishers or collections and download games straight to our TVs or monitors. It could look like Spotify and the music industry, forced to watch ads every thirty minutes during gameplay unless we pay for a premium subscription. It could be argued that Google Stadia was possibly ten years too soon.

I even think this is where we could end up with Steam in the end. A subscription fee to play the games we want. Microsoft may see this too, as the company has been rumored to be considering a deal to purchase Valve.

But let’s take a step back. What’s the first thing you need to do to create a console based on cloud gaming? You create a subscription service. Xbox Game Pass is available on Xbox and PC and features hundreds of games, exclusives, and day-one releases. Next, you purchase the industry’s most prominent publishers and developers, so you have full access to their IPs going forward. Bethesda, Activision Blizzard, and Mojang are just a few of the companies Microsoft has bought in recent years. Eventually, you phase out hard copies of games and create a box capable of downloading games remotely without needing a disc.

The recently announced Xbox Series S – 1TB in Robot White, Xbox Series X – 1TB Digital Edition in Robot White, and the Xbox Series X – 2TB Galaxy Black Special Edition are all launching in Holiday 2024. It may seem odd to release a refreshed version of the current generation midway through its lifespan. Two of these are digital-only and are Microsoft’s attempt to move towards an entirely cloud-based platform and lure PlayStation users over from Sony.

Too far-fetched? Think about it. Microsoft has the subscription service, publishers, developers, IPs, Windows, the Windows Phone, cutting-edge VOIP software, open source tools, AI and machine learning companies, cloud security and computing firms, and dozens of software companies capable of coming together to create an incredible gaming platform, all linked through one subscription. If they want to do it. Microsoft and Xbox have come a long way since E3 2013.

As for Sony and PlayStation. The Xbox One may have been the setup, but Sony could be the punchline.

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By Daniel