Thousands of Xbox players are demanding an immediate halt to game releases on the PlayStation 5 via a new official feedback platform from Microsoft.
The newly introduced Xbox Game Studios player voice feedback The forum is currently dominated by a massive wave of protests, with the community loudly demanding an end to the multi-platform strategy. Xbox boss Asha Sharma had provided the tool for fan ideas. The highest-rated submission by far calls for a return to strict console exclusivity to give the hardware a competitive edge again.
Massive fan protest against PS5 ports
The most successful petition on the platform has already garnered around 7.600 upvotes and over 1.000 comments. The players' argument is clear: without exclusive flagship titles, Xbox hardware loses any justification for its existence in a direct comparison with Sony and Nintendo.
In the comments section, users are specifically demanding a halt to potential PlayStation versions of upcoming blockbusters. Among the titles mentioned are the Fable reboot, "Gears of War: E-Day," and the next-gen role-playing game "The Elder Scrolls 6." There is widespread fear within the community that franchises like Halo or Forza on the PS5 will render their own console completely obsolete.
Microsoft's financial woes
Microsoft is strategically at a crossroads. Management has spent nearly $100 billion in recent years on the acquisitions of Bethesda and Activision Blizzard. These enormous sums can hardly be recouped through the shrinking Xbox hardware base and the comparatively inexpensive Game Pass.
At the same time, the figures show why management chose the multi-platform approach. Ports of "Forza Horizon 5" and "Sea of Thieves" have proven successful on the PlayStation 5. Sold millions of timesThey bring in exactly the money that the Xbox ecosystem lacks through its own hardware alone.
The romance of old console wars is dead in modern publishing. Microsoft has long since shifted its focus from hardware sales to software reach. The protests in the forum are understandable, but they will fizzle out. In the end, at Xbox Game Studios, the analysts decide, not the hardcore fans in a suggestion box. People who buy an Xbox today do so for Game Pass, not for games that aren't available anywhere else.
Stefanie Müller: Ghost of Yotei was released last year, the free Legends mode was added for owners, otherwise Saros was released now and Wolverine in the fall, and there's a State of Play on June 2nd. They've been delivering two titles a year for years now, so they have plenty of exclusives under their belt.
Mario Hornauer: If other manufacturers only released two titles a year, there'd be a shitstorm. It wouldn't matter which manufacturer it was. But PlayStation gamers, as always, just let it happen. It's always amusing to watch console gamers. 😂
Stefanie Müller, there are tons of games released each year, and whether they're exclusives isn't the main focus. But it's the same for all developers these days; it only costs a pittance. Releasing in one half of the year and then again at the end is fine. Summer is the usual lull when people are hardly ever home, on vacation, etc., and many developers don't even release one game a year. They should take their time and create something decent, instead of releasing some CoD or FIFA/FC Sports garbage that's basically the same as the previous year's. Besides, Phantom Blade Zero is a timed exclusive this year, and since you're referring to this year, the entire industry is under pressure because they don't want to be anywhere near GTA 6 in terms of announcements or releases, and that makes it difficult for both large and small studios.
That's right...
Sony should focus on their Playstation first.
They have plenty to do there.
How many AAA games have Sony Studios released this year?
Ghost of Yotei was there... with luck, Wolverine will appear. That's about it.
The glory days when Sony released four or more AAA games a year are over. Reheated games aside, and it was precisely this reheated soup that came to PC.
As a PC gamer, I have never bought a single game directly from Sony for my PC.
I can easily do without that. That applies to the PlayStation as well. Because all the exclusive third-party games eventually come to PC too, and in better quality 👍
Armin Ge, we have another hardcore fanboy here ❤️
Thousands of players are not even a handful.
As someone who primarily plays on PC and Xbox, I think it's a good thing that Microsoft is bringing its games to Xbox, PC, xCloud, and later to the PS5 and possibly the Switch 2.
Microsoft has become one of the biggest publishers. No one gets rich from hardware sales alone. But there are also more games.
The only ones who can still afford to release exclusive games for only one system are Nintendo. They also don't have the high development costs.
Sony now only releases one or two in-house AAA story games per year. Everything else comes from third-party developers and is currently console exclusive. With very few exceptions, these games are also released on PC on day one.
That won't change. Especially not if the games are only released on the PS.
Microsoft has to make money for Forza and other games somehow 🤣
Paolo Pinkel isn't necessary 😂. FH6 is selling like hotcakes, over 1,4 million Ultimate Team sales. More players than that supposedly amazing Marathon.
Inik Dom, and you think an exclusive that sells well will save Microsoft's ass? Most people are playing it through Game Pass Ultimate. Of course Game Pass policies are driving down sales figures, that's only logical... or are you trying to tell me that the Game Pass community is shelling out cash for games out of solidarity with Microsoft? And what does this stupid marathon have to do with it?
Paolo Pinkel: What exactly needs saving? Or do you mean Sony? With how much they've invested, I can only hope for one savior.
Xbox has released twice as many games and has three times as many in development. Quality and quantity are far ahead of Sony. On top of that, there's all the spending on hundreds of Daylight Saving Time titles.
Even the next hardware is coming.
The GP community has of course purchased the premium upgrade. 🥰😍
And yes, most people actually play it that way. You don't have to buy expensive stuff on the platform. We're not at Sony here, where even PS Stars doesn't exist anymore.
The marathon was supposed to be the ultimate ass savior.
Paolo Pinkel But what exactly are you afraid of? 😱
At least give it a try. You'd easily outshine people who don't know anything and aren't taken seriously, wouldn't you, with your expertise?
That shouldn't be a problem for you.
I've told you that many times before.
Paolo Pinkel: FH 5, the best-selling game of 2025 on the PS, even outsold Ghost of Yotei 😂.
Marathon just shows how badly Sony gambled; Bungie will be the next thing they shut down.
Inik Dom na logisch, man kann nur hoffe, dass bungie der nä n die schließ zu .
Paolo Pinkel, a rabbit, knows more about gaming than you do 😂
Dirk Meletzky, you know, Dirkiii, nobody has said something so sweet to me in a long time 🤡
Microsoft needs the money! (?) 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Danilo Wutschke: Well, Xbox is only making losses; a lot of money is going down the drain.
Dennis Goetz again: Microsoft needs the money? 😂😅
Danilo Wutschke: Yes, because even at Microsoft the numbers have been declining for ages. Things haven't looked good for a long time. Thanks to the RAM crisis, they're feeling it even more, as fewer and fewer new PCs are being bought and Microsoft products are being registered.
Dennis Goetz, none of this changes anything regarding my question. 🤷
Danilo Wutschke, did you run into a wall? 😅
Dino Antonio Manganelli, yes, I think he stood too close to the wall with the swing once 🤣👌🏼
Danilo Wutschke, of course they need that!
It's funny how little some people here know about the capital market and subservience-oriented corporate management…
Danilo Wutschke, yes, they broke it, why would they release it on the PS5? 🤦🏻
Armin Ge probably need*
Armin Ge Woll to finance new games. 🥰
Just like Sony did. Given the development costs, that's no big surprise.
Inik Dom 🤣
Armin, at least you know how to use smileys 💪🏽. Even if it's lacking elsewhere :D.
The Xbox fanboys are to blame themselves, they constantly refuse to pay for games, preferring everything to be free via Game Pass. I have absolutely no sympathy for them, hahaha. Microsoft should finally ditch the citizen's pass and start charging their customers properly again. Then business would improve, and we PlayStation users wouldn't have to constantly subsidize their games. But Microsoft isn't going to abandon PlayStation that easily; they have to recoup those 80 billion dollars somehow. But why is there such a huge outcry from the Xbox community right now? Ah yes, Sony has ruled out future PlayStation exclusives for Steam, and the Xbox community was counting on Project Helix to finally bring back the PlayStation games. Well, that didn't happen, haha.
Wow, who hurt you?!
Every good platform has its exclusives, including Steam (Half-Life: Alyx and many third-party Steam-only games), Nintendo, PlayStation, and even Epic Games.
Now the question is, can Microsoft even afford to offer true exclusives? I mean, only on their console? No PC, or at least no Steam or similar platforms?
And how many good exclusives do they need to have/regain the trust that Nintendo and PlayStation have?
Either they need true exclusives or they need to try and sell the games everywhere. Which do you think is more realistic for Xbox given their situation? I'm betting on the latter. Simply excluding PlayStation might make 67 hardcore Xbox fans happy, but it won't convince anyone to buy their console as long as you can get it practically for free everywhere else.
Thousands of gamers demand it, millions of PS5 players buy it. And those who know Microsoft only care about the dollar.
I can understand.
Besides a stationary home console with a unique selling point (such as a Steam implementation) without cloud service, complete backward compatibility without a single compromise, and above all, high-quality exclusive games that the community actually wants (what is designed for everyone ultimately pleases no one!), the step backward from the porting ideology is the logical conclusion to turn things around, even though the ship has long since crashed into the iceberg.
Whether Sharma will prove to be a worthy captain will become clear in the coming months; she is already bringing solid to good ideas to the table. It remains to be seen whether she can smooth over the disaster of the past decade and bring it to an adequate level.
I would never want to trade places with her.