The PS5 Pro trailer for "Halo: Campaign Evolved," released yesterday, was apparently originally intended to be part of Sony's recent State of Play event. Microsoft apparently pulled the announcement at the last minute, angering Sony's management.
The logistical nightmare behind the scenes
The speculation began with "The Game Business", as Christopher Dring writes: "Microsoft had planned to unveil a game at PlayStation's 'State of Play' presentation, but then decided against it, which angered Sony."
The last-minute cancellation likely forced Sony to completely re-edit the show's format at the last minute. Broadcast schedules on YouTube had to be adjusted, and social media campaigns deleted. Such changes cost money. A lot of money.
Microsoft's erratic release policy no longer just affects its own teams, but dictates the schedules of its competitors. Industry insiders posts Furthermore, there was a similar last-minute cancellation regarding "Gears of War: E-Day". A pattern is emerging.
Microsoft operates in the market without any discernible consistency. Porting plans seem to change weekly. What's considered exclusive today ends up with a competitor tomorrow. Or maybe not. This erratic behavior damages the remaining credibility of the Xbox brand. Gamers simply no longer know which hardware they'll be buying software for in the coming years.
The numerical background of the porting wave
The economic reality behind this chaos is simple. Microsoft needs the PlayStation 5's installed base to recoup the immense development costs of its own studios. Xbox Series X/S hardware sales are stagnating worldwide. Game Pass is no longer growing at the projected rate.
Sony, while losing a potential flagship title for its own show due to the platform debacle, retains the upper hand. The game is being released for PS5 and PS5 Pro anyway. The Japanese company will receive its usual 30 percent cut of digital sales through the PlayStation Store. Ultimately, the system with the most consoles sold wins. Microsoft will provide the software content for that system.
For PlayStation owners, the behind-the-scenes PR hype changes nothing about the final product. "Halo: Campaign Evolved" is coming to the PS5. The delay in the announcement is merely a cosmetic issue for the marketing departments. Those who want to play the Master Chief Collection in their living room can buy it soon on the PSN. The game itself remains the same. The platform wars are over anyway.
Marc Schmidt, no problem, a PC is sufficient!
Xbox is only now starting to really clean up its act.
Sony with their one-time play story games.
I never understood that, you only play the games once or twice at most.
None of their games are even close to being among the most played games.
50 percent of PlayStation owners don't even know why they own a PlayStation. While we may be lagging behind in hardware sales figures, we're certainly not behind in terms of game play on Xbox consoles.
Nobody needs the trash station or the children's console.
You can see how well Sony performs.
Ghost of Yotei Copy Paste
Saros Copy Paste
Spiderman copy-paste with a few more lines.
And then there's God of Woke...? Seriously. Can PlayStation players really wait another 5 years until the God of War main story continues?
Project Helix is going to be amazing. And the hardware is even more powerful than the PS6. Plus, we finally have a management team that stands up for itself and listens to us long-time fans.
The real BennyKappi okay Kevin
Jan Wolfrum says the skinny crumb cake… oh dear, oh dear. No manners came along…
Marc Schmidt: It also came out that the head of Xbox wanted to make almost all the Xbox showcase titles exclusive. But that didn't work because of the games' old contracts.
Tobias Beck
What does Sony have? They're the market leader, and Microsoft has been trying unsuccessfully to change that for 25 years 🤷🏻♂️
And you can probably forget about Steam.
It's now quite possible that the next Xbox console (working title "Project Helix") will not receive native Steam support after all. While initial rumors and the announcement that Helix could play PC games raised hopes among many gamers for the integration of Valve games, Microsoft is apparently backtracking significantly behind the scenes. Xbox leadership, under new CEO Asha Sharma, has emphasized in official interviews that they are currently back to the drawing board. The integration of third-party marketplaces like Steam or the Epic Games Store is by no means a done deal, but is merely being considered internally as "one option among many." Industry insiders and analysts are increasingly reporting that Microsoft does not see Steam as a partner for the new console, but rather plans Project Helix as a direct counterattack against Valve's market dominance in the PC sector. The goal is primarily to strengthen the Xbox Store on the system. Rumors of a Steam block: Well-known insiders (such as Moore's Law Is Dead) have already reported that the hybrid system could have far more classic console features than expected, and that Microsoft might deliberately block or exclude Steam to protect its exclusive titles. What does this mean for gamers? According to analysts, if Microsoft completely blocks access to Steam, the project faces a severe test. Since Project Helix is positioned as extremely powerful and potentially very expensive hardware, many core gamers are likely to lose their incentive to buy it without access to their existing Steam library.
André Haß has been a topic of discussion for a while now; Helix is supposed to work with the Xbox PC Store, from where you can get PC games and Xbox Classic to Series games. No Steam or similar services, as Sharma also mentioned in a recent interview.
Other rumors suggest that Xbox Classic to Series games will also be brought to PC by the end of the year.
There was something just mentioned about them wanting to revamp the device to make it cheaper and more flexible.
Let's see what it turns out to be in the end.
Patrick McAndrews
I would be thrilled to get everything onto my PC, it's my main system.
They should see that Helix is still drastically lowering its prices. The projected $1200 is completely absurd. What does that even have to do with a console anymore? A console always meant decent hardware performance at a good price. At $1200, you're going to sink in the mass market.
Steam should just stay on PC and the upcoming Steam Machine.
André Haß: Yes, their plan is affordable for many, that's $1200 less.
I'm curious to see how much the Steam machine costs.
I'll stick with my PC.
André Haß: No, Steam is confirmed. Contracts are signed.
Daniel, that's none of your business
Nope
No, there are no officially confirmed or signed contracts between Valve (Steam) and Microsoft for the next-gen console "Project Helix." The current situation is as follows: No official partnership: Neither Valve nor Microsoft has confirmed an official agreement. Speculation about store strategy: It is currently unclear and the subject of heated discussions (including on Reddit) whether Microsoft will even allow Steam to run natively on the system, or whether they intend to tie users exclusively to their own Microsoft Store to avoid store fees.
Sony wants everything but doesn't release any of its games, ridiculous…
That's nonsense. They don't want everything. It's not Sony's fault. And there's no obligation to release exclusive games for other platforms. Ever thought about that?
Manuel Holtheuer, yep, you're right, no obligation. Why is Sony complaining so much now that Gears of War isn't coming to PlayStation? And it won't be an isolated case.
They're not doing that. They're not complaining at all. If anything, some gamers are complaining that it's not coming out for PlayStation. I know the Gears series and I like it. But I'm also a PlayStation player and don't own an Xbox, and I couldn't care less. The publisher just makes less money. 🤷🏼♂️
Patrick Faust: Sony isn't even complaining. Where did you get that nonsense? Some gamers are complaining, but not Sony itself. They couldn't care less. They had already won the market before Xbox released its titles for the PlayStation, and Xbox bringing its games back doesn't change that. Especially since the Xbox is practically non-existent in Sony's core market of Japan, where it's by far the worst-selling console.
Patrick Faust will eventually come to PlayStation anyway, since not enough revenue is being generated. That's why games like Starfeld, Indi, and Senua were later released on PS5 because they weren't profitable enough 🤷
Patrick Faust, they're not complaining at all! Even Sony didn't want Game Pass back then! So calm down 😉
Patrick Faust Sony is simply a company that doesn't give a damn about its people.
Patrick Faust, you're confusing Sony with Microsoft 😅 They want everything, and when they get something, they either drive it full speed into a wall or abandon it altogether. Look at developers, smartphones, browsers, etc. etc. It's always been that bad with Microsoft. One reason why Microsoft is so hated.
I don't want a God of Woke 😂
I have a handheld with 40k games, that's enough for me. It has all the best games anyway, Xbox and Playstation can just pack it in and be buried together… 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Daniel Rodriguez handheld? Best comparison ever! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
DerBo Marc Naja, I think I speak for many when I say that it is an extremely good selling point if the next Xbox is the only platform that combines both worlds without having to buy multiple devices (which the majority do not do or cannot afford).
Jan Wolfrum
I'm a PlayStation gamer. And I know several people who play Xbox. They're all pretty good.
They have jobs, families, and are perfectly fine.
I think you look rather lost when I look at that little picture of you. 🙄
DerBo Marc As I said:
Any game that is not available on the Playstation is then an Xbox console exclusive.
And there are definitely more PC-only games compared to PlayStation exclusives 😉