@chatbot Isn't the next Xbox gonna have an open ecosystem rather than a closed one? I mean, it's basically going to be a PC that plays Xbox console games. That is, unless Asha Sharma changes something about Helix

@Oram77 Is that not better than having no physicals at all? That's basically like game-key cards. At least you can still resell the game disc/cartridge when you don't want it anymore.

When it comes to Xbox physicals in general tho, only Microsoft first-party games are like that for the most part. A large portion of third-party games are complete on disc

@McSavage Yeah sadly, with the news that Sony's stock has risen after the death of physical announcement, I don't think this will change much

@Zuljaras Maybe not the right site to post this on but I think you should support Xbox physicals as well while you still can

I know you don't like Xbox but this is why it would be best not to put all your eggs in one basket when it comes to physical collections. At least, that's what I wouldn't do if I could afford it

@ShadowRJ I straight-up do not have the room to buy all the games I want physically. Even if every game I was interested in had a physical release on my preferred platform, I would still choose digital in most cases simply because I can't store 1000+ discs in my room.

I own more than a thousand games digitally, I can't imagine owning them all physically. If I was rich and had a giant room to live in, then sure, I'd buy physical. But that's not really an option for me.

@Balaam_ Okay bro... Talk about a dramatic speech

@BentIeyma GOG games are free of DRM. Steam isn't really any different from the PlayStation store

So goodbye to all those UK and Japan physical sales charts

@Oram77 Well all my posts are supposed to be questionable, so I guess you could say that...

@Oram77 I was actually looking to make a new account and change my name to Truthful_Chicken, but alas, my plans have been foiled...

@Ashina I didn't love the first Edgerunners season either because I thought it was too rushed and could have been expanded on way more with additional episodes.

At the same time, I still vividly remember all the scenes from the show and the characters are still stuck in my mind, so I guess I liked it in the end lol

I appreciate that you provided takeaways rather than just copy pasting what Nishino said

I think it's better this way, a lot of gaming sites are unfortunately getting screwed over by the AI push, especially with how Google's algorithm works these days. The more human-like the writing is, the better imo

@Sammy_G You know what? I'm not even gonna bother responding to you again. You and I clearly can't get along, so it'd be best for us both if I just ignored you and moved on

@AdamNovice Kiln IS on PS5. And perhaps part of the reason why they're shutting down Compulsion to begin with is because SoM flopped on PlayStation/Switch as well as Xbox/PC

@get2sammyb Didn't think Kairosoft would get ahold of such a big IP tbh

@Weebleman I understand where you're coming from. Appreciate the response

@MasterChiefWiggum In that case, yeah. But if they go the F2P route, they NEED to have consistent content releases, unlike what Microsoft did with Halo Infinite

@MrStark I hope that this actually happens

@Weebleman Well, in that case, I don't know... But I personally didn't see it before. I've been antagonized myself just for sharing my opinion, but I try not to insult others unprovoked, even though I admittedly don't always live up to that standard.

@MasterChiefWiggum I agree, it was, but not these days. I think people would be pissed if Microsoft released a multiplayer-only Halo game (which is apparently in development)..Now they're releasing a singleplayer-only one, and while there has been some disappointment, it's not considered the end of the world by many fans.

@MrStark It's funny how people here (really, on all the Hookshot sites) are so quick to call others fanboys the moment they don't agree with their opinions.

Halo has multiplayer, but it is not a "big multiplayer game." It is still partly singleplayer. The types of games Matt Booty was referring to are the live service ones that are primarily sold because of their multiplayer, not their singleplayer components. CoD, Fallout 76, and even State of Decay 3 would fall into this category

@RBMango The Xbox guys saying that we're just kidding themselves

@AdamNovice Minecraft Dungeons 2 was previously announced for PS5, to be fair. Its release date actually leaked on the Nintendo eShop a few days prior. There's no way Microsoft would make a Minecraft game exclusive to Xbox

But I do agree with the rest of your statement. What Microsoft is doing with Senua, State of Decay 3, etc. is definitely confusing

@Swandivetotheasphalt The evidence is that Sony locked Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill: The Last Message to PS5, so it's reasonable to assume that they locked Townfall to PS5, as well.

It's unlikely that Konami would decide not to publish Townfall on Xbox, while also bringing Silent Hill F to the platform.

You're right about it not being explicitly advertised as such, but Sony also pulled the same thing with Nioh 3. That game was initially revealed at a State of Play w/ no mention of an exclusivity deal. Then, after it released, Sony confirmed in a trailer that it was a minimum of six months exclusive to PS5.

@Swandivetotheasphalt To my knowledge, those games had no exclusivity deals involved with them. There are way more exclusives on both platforms. However, with the ones I listed, there is at least some evidence to suggest exclusivity deals were involved.

Omori, Cassette Beasts, Beacon Pines, and Opus: Echoes of Starsong were on Nintendo Switch as well as Xbox. Opus specifically was a Switch exclusive for a long time. So I doubt Microsoft signed a deal to keep the games off just PlayStation. It's more likely that the devs of these games simply opted to not port their games to PlayStation

@Naughtyottsel92 15? What?

No, they had 14. Meanwhile, Sony has/had around 20 studios. And, for the record, I was referring to before all acquisitions, not just the publisher buyouts.

Either way, the difference isn't in the studios, it's in the amount of output. A lot of the studios that Microsoft owned at the time were never gonna make system sellers, no matter how much they forced them. Do you think Double Fine, Compulsion Games, Mojang (a multiplat dev), Turn 10, World's Edge, etc. were on par with the likes of Naughty Dog and Sucker Punch, or even Zenimax's studios? Of course not! Sony has always owned better studios than Microsoft has

And point me to where exactly I defended Microsoft as a company. I don't even like Microsoft, I like Xbox. Xbox would probably be better off if it wasn't under Microsoft.

And I'm not defending anyone, I'm simply criticizing the points that you are making. Since you were so kind as to namecall me just for sharing my opinion, I'm assuming that you want this site to be an echo chamber. I never singled you out personally, so why are you doing that to me? Because you think I'm a shill?

@DennisReynolds and no one bought Gears of War on PS5, so...

@Naughtyottsel92 Glad you missed me!

@Nei You think they don't factor in the profit from Game Pass subs as a result of Gears's release?

@MrPeanutbutterz Ugh, again this talking point?

There's a difference between securing first-party exclusives for your platform, as a platform holder, and being inconsistent with your support on a platform, as a publisher.

Two things: 1. Microsoft barely made any games exclusive from the acquisitions you are talking about. 2. Even if they did make every game from Activision and Bethesda exclusive, it still wouldn't be enough to surpass the amount of third-party games that Sony moneyhats off Xbox.

Here's a list of games that Microsoft and Sony have had as exclusives (specifically signed deals for this gen):

Xbox (37 games):

33 Immortals, Ark 2, The Artful Escape, The Ascent, The Big Con, Bright Memory, Century: Age of Ashes, Creatures of Ava, CrossfireX, Death's Door, Dungeons of Hinterberg, Exo One, The Falconeer, Gunfire Reborn, The Gunk (Microsoft signed a deal to make this a permanent exclusive lol), High on Life, The Lamplighters League, The Last Case of Benedict Fox, Lonely Mountain: Snow Riders, Mecha Break, MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries, The Medium, Moonglow Bay, Naraka: Bladepoint, Palworld, Party Animals, Planet of Lana, Routine, Stalker 2, Sable, Scorn, Somerville, Tunic, Twelve Minutes, Warhammer 40K: Darktide, and Vampire Survivors

PlayStation (58 games):

AI Limit, Ananta, Anno Mutatonem, Arknights: Endfield, A Whisper of Fall: Jiniwei, Awaken: Astral Blade, Babylon's Fall, Bugsnax, Chicory: A Colorful Tale, Deathloop, Eternights, Fall Guys, Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Final Fantasy 16, FIST: Forged in Shadow Torch, Fishbowl, Five Nights at Freddy's: Help Wanted 2, Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach, Foamstars, Forspoken, Fort Solis, Ghostwire: Tokyo, Gigabash, Godfall, Goodbye Volcano High, Honkai: Star Rail, Humanity, Infinity Nikki, Kena: Bridge of Spirits, Lumines Arise, The Midnight Walk, Neverness to Everness, Nioh 3, Pacific Drive, The Pathless, Phantom Blade Zero, Rollerdrome, The Seven Deadly Sins: Origin, Sifu, Silent Hill 2, Silent Hill: Townfall, Silent Hill: The Short Message, Solar Ash, Star Wars: KOTOR Remake, Stray, Sword of the Sea, Tchia, Temtem, Towers of Aghasba, Ultros, V Rising, Wayfinder, Where Winds Meet, Wuthering Waves, Zenless Zone Zero

@Oram77 Well, tell that to the fans Sony abandoned on PC then. Spider-Man 1 and 2 are on PC, and yet PC players are not gonna be able to play Spider-Man 3 when it comes out eventually. Don't you think that's kinda lame?

@Nei Since when did Xbox need to port Gears of War games to PlayStation to make them profitable? Every Gears game excluding Reloaded has done well enough without PlayStation... Unless you think Gears 4 and 5 weren't profitable on Xbox and PC

Man that was mediocre as hell. I'm sorry but the last State of Play was way better, that was an outstanding showcase. This was just... Okay. Barely any new game announcements and the games they did show didn't really blow my mind.

Sure you could say Sony isn't to blame for games getting leaked early, but even the new God of War game reveal wasn't that outstanding to me.

I was hoping for a lot more, especially from third-party games

@Sammy_G I like PlayStation games, just not PlayStation as a company. If everyone was a fan, then it would be an echo chamber

@Sammy_G I didn't know Push Square needed to be an echo chamber. I'm not trolling, I'm just sharing my opinion. Sorry if you don't agree.

Either way, I proved my point that Sony has way more third-party exclusive deals than Microsoft ever has, and for far more significant titles too.

@Sammy_G Xbox shill? Bold words coming from the PlayStation fan on Push Square with an Astro Bot profile pic.

Either way, notice how virtually all of the games you listed are indie titles and not AAA releases? They pale in comparison to the games that Sony has locked away from Xbox. And, you don't even have proof that Microsoft actually signed an exclusivity deal for even half of those titles.

Here's a list of games that Microsoft and Sony have had as exclusives:

Xbox (37 games):

33 Immortals, Ark 2, The Artful Escape, The Ascent, The Big Con, Bright Memory, Century: Age of Ashes, Creatures of Ava, CrossfireX, Death's Door, Dungeons of Hinterberg, Exo One, The Falconeer, Gunfire Reborn, The Gunk (Microsoft signed a deal to make this a permanent exclusive lol), High on Life, The Lamplighters League, The Last Case of Benedict Fox, Lonely Mountain: Snow Riders, Mecha Break, MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries, The Medium, Moonglow Bay, Naraka: Bladepoint, Palworld, Party Animals, Planet of Lana, Routine, Stalker 2, Sable, Scorn, Somerville, Tunic, Twelve Minutes, Warhammer 40K: Darktide, and Vampire Survivors

PlayStation (58 games):

AI Limit, Ananta, Anno Mutatonem, Arknights: Endfield, A Whisper of Fall: Jiniwei, Awaken: Astral Blade, Babylon's Fall, Bugsnax, Chicory: A Colorful Tale, Deathloop, Eternights, Fall Guys, Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Final Fantasy 16, FIST: Forged in Shadow Torch, Fishbowl, Five Nights at Freddy's: Help Wanted 2, Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach, Foamstars, Forspoken, Fort Solis, Ghostwire: Tokyo, Gigabash, Godfall, Goodbye Volcano High, Honkai: Star Rail, Humanity, Infinity Nikki, Kena: Bridge of Spirits, Lumines Arise, The Midnight Walk, Neverness to Everness, Nioh 3, Pacific Drive, The Pathless, Phantom Blade Zero, Rollerdrome, The Seven Deadly Sins: Origin, Sifu, Silent Hill 2, Silent Hill: Townfall, Silent Hill: The Short Message, Solar Ash, Star Wars: KOTOR Remake, Stray, Sword of the Sea, Tchia, Temtem, Towers of Aghasba, Ultros, V Rising, Wayfinder, Where Winds Meet, Wuthering Waves, Zenless Zone Zero

@Oram77 I never mentioned Wukong or Stellar Blade? I don't think Phantom Blade Zero is part of PlayStation China Hero Project, the devs initially said they had no exclusivity deal for the game, and then voila, the latest trailer for it says that it's a one year timed PS5 exclusive

@Oram77 How many of those games from the third-party publishers were exclusive to Xbox? Something tells me it's a lot less compared to the games Sony has moneyhatted off of Xbox in the last few years.

But even if we were to assume that all of those games from Bethesda and Activision were exclusive (sans CoD), the amount of titles locked down to Xbox would still be pretty low. Activision releases basically nothing but CoD these days, and Blizzard launches a new game or two once a decade.

Bethesda is the only publisher that consistently releases stuff, and even they don't release that many new games. The games Sony moneyhats are on par with the amount of games released from these two publishers.