Tag: Xbox
News European Union Likely to Pass Xbox's $69 Billion Buyout of Activision
Money talks
According to a Reuters report, the European Union will apparently not object to Microsoft’s unprecedented $69 billion buyout of Activision Blizzard. The Redmond firm went on a charm offensive in Brussels last week, signing a variety of deals with Nintendo and NVidia GeForce Now, promising Call of Duty for at least the n
News Xbox Series X|S Is Getting Trounced by PS5, Microsoft Weirdly Reveals
The solution? $69 billion
The funniest thing about the never-ending Activision Blizzard acquisition saga is how it’s prompted tech giants Microsoft and Sony to undermine their own businesses. Case in point: during a media briefing in Brussels earlier today, the Redmond firm proudly (?) declared that Xbox has a global market share of just 30 per...
News UK Determines Xbox's $69 Billion Activision Buyout Could Harm Gamers
May result in "higher prices, fewer choices, or less innovation"
Microsoft’s eye-watering $69 billion proposal to purchase Activision Blizzard has been the source of intense scrutiny from global governments for nearly a year now, but the UK’s regulator has released a provisional report today which says it “could harm gamers” and potentially...
News PS Plus, Xbox Game Pass Aren't Big Enough to Impact Business, Says Take-Two Boss
Not yet, anyway
Gaming subscription services like PS Plus and Xbox Game Pass have almost certainly had an impact on how we in the hardcore sphere perceive the value of video games — but they're yet to have a truly significant impact on how big publishers do business. At least, that's what Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick has to say on the matter. The...
News PS5's Market Share Is Expanding Significantly in Xbox's Backyard
Sony takes control in USA
There had been a school of thought that, due to the various stock shortages, Sony and Microsoft were neck-and-neck in the all-important battleground of the United States. That’s actually not the case, and the PS5 is actually outperforming the Xbox Series X|S at a ratio greater than the PS4 against the Xbox One at the same...
News PS5 Games Likely to Remain $70 as Xbox Bumps Prices
Pressure's off
Any hope of Sony feeling pressured into reducing the price of its first-party releases looks over, as Microsoft has announced plans to increase the cost of its own exclusives. While the dynamics aren’t directly comparable – Xbox owners will point to Game Pass as an alternative, cheaper means of playing the Redmond firm’s output...
Report FTC Could File an Antitrust Lawsuit to Block Xbox's Activision Buyout
And that's Jenga
A day dominated by stories involving Microsoft’s proposed $69 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard has concluded with an exclusive story by Politico, which claims the Federal Trade Commission could be poised to file an antitrust lawsuit against the acquisition. The website cites “three people with knowledge on the matter”,...
News PlayStation Says Activision Blizzard Simply Must Remain Independent
Throws the gauntlet at regulators to block the acquisition
Sony and Microsoft are embarrassing themselves publicly to extreme levels, which perhaps demonstrates just how much is on the line with Xbox’s proposed near-$70 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The platform holders have bickered, back-talked, and are one step away from arranging...
News Sony: Xbox Wants Us to Be Like Nintendo, a Less Effective Competitor
Nintendo, meanwhile, is counting its Pokémon cash
Sony and Microsoft’s very public war of words continues, with paperwork published by the UK government today outlining PlayStation’s stance against Xbox’s unprecedented near-$70 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. In the document, the Japanese giant’s legal team responds to a point...
News PS Plus Is Losing to Xbox Game Pass, And Sony Fears Call of Duty Would Make It Worse
Bruised and broken
As industry titans Sony and Microsoft continue to play the victim in an attempt to influence regulators regarding the latter’s outrageous near-$70 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, we’re beginning to see both companies openly acknowledge their weaknesses. Earlier today, the Redmond firm effectively admitted that its...
News Persona Fans on PlayStation Get Sold Short Again as Xbox Deal Reveals Native Ports
This time it's Persona-l
Atlus and SEGA are clearly in bed with Xbox for the upcoming Persona ports — and we've known that for a while. Not only are the new versions of Persona 5 Royal, Persona 4 Golden, and Persona 3 Portable coming to Game Pass — while PlayStation users have to pay with no upgrade path — Microsoft even managed to place...
News Microsoft Says PS5, PS4 Would Still Be Bigger if Every Call of Duty Player Switched to Xbox
UK regulator argues PlayStation will be impaired
Ah, the ongoing Activision-Blizzard acquisition: a Twitter-style fanboy spat being played out publicly by two ginormous corporations – it’s all fun and games in the video game business, isn’t it? Microsoft’s unprecedented near-$70 billion buyout is unsurprisingly under scrutiny, with UK...
News PS5, PS4 Pipped to the Discord Punch Despite Investment and Partnership
Xbox gets Discord voice chat first, after Sony bought minority stake
Over a year ago, Sony announced that it had purchased a minority stake in Discord and was working towards full integration of the social network on the PS5 and PS4 in 2022. The platform holder even closed down its popular Commun
News No, Kojima Productions Isn't Ditching PlayStation in Favour of Xbox
It's just business
During the Xbox and Bethesda Showcase, it was revealed that Kojima Productions is partnering with Microsoft on a new project. Exactly what this new game will be remains a mystery, though the auteur game designer says it's something he's always wanted to make. Kojima is also calling it something "no one has ever experienced...
Reaction PS Plus’ Revamp Is Hours Away, But Sony Still Has a Game Pass Problem
Xbox showcase leans heavily on day one inclusions
Microsoft did its big annual E3 shindig today. Of course, it’s not E3 because that’s in a graveyard somewhere being pointed at by industry know-it-all Jeff Grubb. But unlike Sony, the Team in Green has decided to retain its Sunday evening summer showcase slot, so if you ignore the fact this was a...
News PS5 Outsold by Xbox in Japan for First Time, But All Stock Related
High five?
In what will undoubtedly be painted as a humiliating twist for Sony, the PS5 was outsold by the Xbox Series X|S in Japan during the week ending 15th May – and it wasn’t even close. Before we delve any deeper, it’s worth noting that while Microsoft’s console has been doing comparatively well in the Land of the Rising Sun, its...
News Microsoft Bigwig Implies PS5 Is Losing Marketshare to Xbox
Naa-naa-na-naa-Nadella
As the latest round of NPD results in the United States already underlined, Sony has a serious headache when it comes to PS5 stock – or the lack thereof. While, ironically, things have started to improve in the past few days, the dream of transitioning PS4 players at “
Little fish
In an interview anecdote published by the Washington Post, chatty Xbox chief Phil Spencer has said that he trusts the likes of Sony, Nintendo, and Valve not to damage the gaming industry – it’s tech giants like Amazon, Apple, and Google that he’s concerned about. The conversation is, of course, shadowed by his company’s...
News Xbox Boss Is a Big Fan of Sony's PS5 Controller
It's a bloody good pad, to be fair
Not for the first time, Xbox boss Phil Spencer has complimented Sony’s work on the PlayStation 5’s controller. The DualSense, with its combination of haptic feedback and adaptive triggers, is transformative when implemented correctly – and it’s something Microsoft has been paying attention to. In fact,...
Reaction Xbox Game Pass Is the Thorn in PS5's Side
Jim Ryan, we have a problem
The curtain has closed on a very strong Xbox briefing, which saw its beefed up first-party roster – and a lot of timed exclusives – deliver the first real E3 2021 livestream of the year. The event has been on life support thus far, but with good pacing and plenty of content, Microsoft proved that there is still a...
Poll Is PlayStation Losing Ground to Xbox?
PlayedStation
Ah, the Console Wars. Although they don't exist in the raw form that many would like to perceive, there's no getting away from that fact that companies like Sony and Microsoft are competing with one another. And right here in April 2021, five months removed from the PlayStation 5's launch, PlayStation and Xbox are going head-to-head...
News PlayStation Studios Poised to Publish First Ever Xbox One Game
Leaked MLB The Show 21 box art will take some getting used to
There had been some speculation that, with coronavirus ongoing, Sony may choose to wait until next year to bring its flagship baseball simulation to non-PlayStation platforms – but leaked MLB The Show 21 box art appears to confirm that’s not the case. Here we see images of the...
Random The Medium's Custom Xbox Series X Controller Has Some Familiar Symbols on Its Packaging
No need to be cross
Is The Medium coming to PlayStation 5? Well, developer Bloober Team was recently asked this very question, and it predictably declined to say either way. However, as the game arrives on Xbox Series consoles today, it seems a packaging faux pas has given us a bit of a clue. Twitch streamers are receiving special, Medium-themed...
News Sounds Like Xbox Is into the PS5 Controller
Haptic feedback
If you’ve used a DualSense already, then try going back to the DualShock 4 for a few minutes. Sony’s last-gen controller used to be good, but it feels wrong in this post-PlayStation 5 world. There’s a general lack of feedback throughout the entire pad; the rumble is archaic and the triggers feel soft and flimsy without any...
News Xbox Series X|S Runs PS2 Games Better Than PS5
A sad reality
PlayStation 5 can, in fact, play a handful of PlayStation 2 titles – but only ones that were ported to the PlayStation 4, like Jak & Daxter and Grand Theft Auto 3. Bizarrely, the Xbox Series X|S can play retro PlayStation titles much better – at least, until the inevitable batch of cease and desist letters get posted out...
News Assassin's Creed Valhalla 1.004 Performance Practically Unchanged on PS5
Let the bloodbath begin
Update: There was a lot of talk on social this week that Ubisoft had effectively gimped the PlayStation 5 version of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, after Digital Foundry discovered the game performed best on Sony’s console. That’s not quite the case, however. Performance Mode, which targets 60 frames-per-second on PS5, is...
News PS5 Pre-Order Mess Put into Perspective as Xbox Buyers Are Also Forced to Scramble
Bad for different reasons
Whether you're a part of the PlayStation Nation or a member of Team Xbox, pre-ordering a next-gen console has not been easy. Sony was slaughtered last week when PS5 pre-orders were unleashed without any real notice. The situation was such a mess that the Japanese giant actually had to
News Sony Won't Follow Game Pass Model on PS5, Doesn't Believe It's Sustainable
"It doesn't make sense for us"
Sony has ruled out any hopes of PlayStation 5 exclusives being bundled up as part of a subscription service and effectively given away at launch. Asked about Microsoft’s own Game Pass initiative – which sees all Xbox Studios titles added day one – PlayStation boss Jim Ryan suggested that it makes “no sense”...
Reaction PS5 Price Under Scrutiny After Disruptive Xbox Series S Reveal
A new challenger approaches
Sony’s yet to announce the PlayStation 5’s price, but it’s going to have to execute whatever it’s been planning flawlessly after overnight revelations. If you’ve been living under the sea, then you may not be aware that the oft-rumoured Xbox Series S leaked overnight. Regardless of whether the Redmond firm...
News Xbox Sure Did Announce a Lot of Timed Exclusives This Week
But it's not a fan of them
Microsoft bigwig Phil Spencer is not a big fan of timed exclusives, but his company announced plenty of them for the Xbox Series X this week. A large chunk of its press conference was dominated by so-called “console launch exclusives”, which means they’ll deploy day-and-date on Xbox and PC, but contractual...
Poll Did PS5 or Xbox Series X Have the Better Next-Gen Showcase?
First impressions
Microsoft just closed the curtain on its Xbox Series X showcase, which means both Sony and its Redmond rival have now revealed their first hands in the next-gen fight. It’s important to remember that both manufacturers will have plenty more to show in the future, but these livestreams are the inaugural sales pitches from the two...
News Xbox Boss Takes More Shots at PS5 Exclusives Saying Fans Won't Be 'Forced' into Next-Gen
Doesn't think players should be locked out
Update: Xbox boss Phil Spencer has continued his assault on Sony and its PlayStation 5 strategy, saying that fans "won't be forced into the next-generation" as Microsoft commits continued support to Xbox One's various permutations. "Unlike others, we believe that your investments in gaming should move with...
News As Microsoft Looks Poised to Discontinue Xbox One, Sony Has a Huge Opportunity with PS4
Entry levels
This year is all about the PlayStation 5 in enthusiast circles, but Sony’s real Top Trump could yet prove the existing PlayStation 4. Despite comments to the contrary from the manufacturer, rumours are rife tha
News Xbox Is Pushing for Free Next-Gen Upgrades, And That's Good News for PS5
Cross-buy
Sony doesn’t have a fancy marketing slogan for next-gen upgrades from the PlayStation 4 to the PlayStation 5, but practically every third-party title supporting Smart Delivery on Xbox is also offering a similar solution on the Japanese giant’s family of formats. A report by VGC reveals that Microsoft is actively encouraging publishers...
"Just being honest," says Spencer
Xbox boss Phil Spencer has given a backhanded compliment to Sony, saying that he thinks the Japanese giant did a “good job” with its recent PlayStation 5 showcase, but believes Microsoft will be able to demonstrate the Xbox Series X’s “hardware advantages” with its speculated July livestream. He added:...
News PS5's Price Could Be Undercut by Xbox Series X, Analysts Suggest
Sticky situation
Speaking as part of a live episode of Geoff Keighley's Bonus Round this week, Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter suggested that Microsoft may undercut the price of the PlayStation 5 this holiday. According to the industry analyst, he thinks Sony will charge $500 for its next-gen console, giving its Redmond competitor the...
Live Assassin's Creed Valhalla Gameplay Trailer, Third-Party Next-Gen Reveals
Watch as Microsoft gives us our first taste of next-gen
It’s been over a year since Sony first started talking about the PlayStation 5, but we’re still waiting for our first proper glimpse of next-gen gameplay. That changes today courtesy of, well, an Inside Xbox stream. Yes, we fully encourage you to visit our sister site
News Next-Gen Game Reveals Are Imminent, But Sony Silent on PS5 Plans
Microsoft says game reveals are coming
We’ve already got a glimpse of a couple of PlayStation 5 games courtesy of Godfall and Quantum Error, but with coronavirus scuppering its plans, Sony has been largely tight-lipped about its next-gen plans. Despite not showing much more than the Japanese giant, Microsoft has built up a reputation of being more...
News Xbox Boss on PS5: We Have a Plan That Can Win
Phil Spencer's feeling good after PlayStation 5 reveal
Microsoft is currently engaged in a strong public relations battle against Sony, and some would argue it’s winning the fight. While the PlayStation 5 has attracted more attention than the Xbox Series X thus far, the Team in Green has been quietly chipping away at its competitor, touting better
Talking Point Why Isn't Sony Saying More About PS5?
The big question
Here we are again, then: Microsoft has raised the curtain on Xbox Series X, and PlayStation fans are pondering just what exactly Sony plans to do in response. In this industry of one-upmanship, the Japanese giant’s silence is not just being painted as problematic –
News Microsoft Beats PS5 to the Punch with Impressive Xbox Series X Features
When will Sony respond?
While we’d expected this year to be all about PlayStation 5, a combination of coronavirus and Sony’s general reluctance means we’ve had to make do with a logo thus far. Fortunately, that similar-looking symbol has gone on to become one of the most liked gaming images in Instagram history, but there’s no doubt that...
News PS4 Has Reportedly Sold a Ridiculous 68 Million More Units than Xbox One
109 million to 41 million
As you may already know, Microsoft doesn't report Xbox sales figures. The company stopped keeping us up to date all the way back in 2015, after it became clear that the Xbox One's numbers would not paint a pretty picture when compared to the runaway success of the PlayStation 4. Since then, we've had to rely on third-party...
News Microsoft Confirms 12 Teraflops for Xbox Series X, 120 FPS, Quick Resume
Backwards compatability support
It was a seemingly quiet Monday afternoon when all of a sudden Microsoft dropped a bucket load of new details for its next-generation console, the Xbox Series X. The team in green has confirmed that the system will boast of 12 Teraflops, support for 120 frames per second, DirectX Raytracing, and a Quick Resume feature...
News MMORPG Black Desert Is Getting Cross-Play Support Between PS4 and Xbox One
One big console community
MMORPG Black Desert, which launched last year on PlayStation 4, will be getting cross-play functionality on the 4th March 2020. But unlike a lot of other titles that boast cross-play on Sony's system, this won't link PS4 users with PC players. Instead, it's hooking up PS4 with Xbox One, allowing users on both current-gen...
News Xbox Boss Phil Spencer Doesn't See Sony As Competition Going Forward
Convenient
Enthusiast forums may be focused on the ongoing battle between Sony and Microsoft, but Xbox boss Phil Spencer sees Amazon and Google as its big competitors moving forwards. The talkative executive dropped the soundbite during an interview with Protocol, in which he dismissed PlayStation’s ability to implement a cloud-based...
News Microsoft Says Sony Is Doing a 'Fantastic Job' with PlayStation
Xbox tries to avoid head-to-head bouts
Microsoft’s public relations has changed significantly from the Xbox 360 generation, and it’s not afraid to compliment its competitor anymore. Chatting with MCV as part of a wide-ranging interview, Xbox Game Studios boss Matt Booty said that PlayStation’s doing a “fantastic job” and that he tries to...
Rumour Xbox Not Expecting PlayStation to Be at E3 2020
Sony skipping another year?
We're right at the beginning of a new year, and that can only mean one thing in this industry: E3 rumours. The big talking point right now is whether Sony will actually attend the event after it skipped the show in 2019 -- but with no concrete evidence to go on, the gaming sphere can only speculate. It's interesting,...
News Microsoft's Xbox Series X Exclusive Game Strategy May Play Into Sony and PS5 Hands
No "true" exclusives for a year
It's been clear for a while that Microsoft is adopting a different approach when it comes to Xbox. From the rise of Game Pass to the unveiling of the Xbox Series X late last year, the company is keen on forging a fresh path, but this latest story from MCV has got people questioning Microsoft's next-gen strategy...
News Xbox Game Pass Adds GTA5 the Day After It Leaves PS Now
Daylight robbery
Grand Theft Auto V is no longer available to stream and download on PlayStation Now, having left the service yesterday alongside God of War, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, and inFAMOUS: Second Son. This wouldn’t be newsworthy alone, but interestingly Microsoft has announced that th
