Hey duders,

If, like me, you own a Series S/X, you'll probably be a little disappointed at the games on here. Yes, game pass is amazing, and yes, the load times are absolutely unreal (I actually can't believe how incredible the load times are), but...where are the current generation games?

I think every single game I've played so far has been a port/back compat of the Xbox One games we've had for the last....5-6 years. I am enjoying Yakuza: LAD, Red Dead and MGSV, but....I could play them on the previous gen of consoles.

Is anyone else a little let down by how many games the new generation kinda...DOESN'T have? I know Forza is coming, but that's also coming to the One aswell. How long do you think it'll be before we start seeing the Xbox version of Demon's Souls, or Ratchet and Clank for example?

Well the international energy and microchip shortages combined with the ongoing pandemic and problems with the shipping industry will probably move the transition into mostly current-gen game releases into 2023 at least. There have already been some games released purely for this generation of Xbox consoles like The Medium. Stalker 2 should be coming out in the Spring for PC and Series X/S and Starfield will probably be the first big mainstream current-gen Xbox exclusive if it is released in 2022 as planned.

Xbox Cloud Gaming could theoretically make this situation a bit more interesting though. Stalker 2 and Starfield probably will be able to be played through the internet on older Xbox One consoles as well as other hardware. This could encourage developers to shift their focus to current-gen hardware, since they would still have access to that larger pool of Xbox One players through streaming.

Maybe I misunderstood your question, but Demon's Souls and Ratchet & Clank will not be coming to Xbox since they're PlayStation games.

Well Starfield is next gen only that's end of 2022, I think well see more throughout next year but 2023 is when the switch will happen. Cross-gen normally last about a year with anual titles being a year longer but covid has pushed everything back a year basically.

Sorry, miscommunication on my part. I meant the Xbox equivalent of a game developed and created EXCLUSIVELY for this new gen of consoles :)

Why does this matter at all?

I agree that Xbox's first party output has been pretty lackluster during the Series X/S lifespan (Forza Horizon and Halo may change that in the next couple months) but it has been lackluster for awhile. It's taking them a long time to get their new studios up and running, especially because a bunch of the studios they bought had already committed to games for the competition, like Deathloop and Psychonauts 2. If Deathloop and Psychonauts 2 were Xbox exclusives we'd be having an entirely different conversation.

But this has nothing to do with whether games are exclusive to the Series vs the Xbox One.

I own both a PlayStation 5 and an Xbox Series and having played some PS5 exclusives let me tell you that they don't look better or play better than multi-plats that release for the 8th gen consoles too. Returnal and Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart could both have PS4 versions and be just as good games and look just as good on the PS5 (they would not look as good on the PS4 of course) and making them 9th gen only is just a marketing gimmick. We see that with Godfall, which is both bad and now getting an 8th gen port.

I think both Forza Horizon 5 and Halo Infinite will have Series as their lead platforms and are going to look and play great because of it. They won't be missing any features by not being Series only. Yes there are tricks you can only do with an SSD but how many PC games, which have been able to require an SSD for a long time, do those tricks? How many PS5 games do? Rift: Apart's "instant transitions" are a total gimmick and a version of them could be done on PS4. Beyond that, we're missing nothing.

By 2022 we will have some Series exclusives, but if you look at the third parties, they're all releasing their games on 8th gen too, and for good reasons.

Consoles are more like PC upgrades right now. You get shinier graphics, better loads, and a very few games that couldn't run on the old rig, but mostly it's just an iterative improvement. There's nothing wrong with that.

When people can actually buy these consoles without issue. So probbaly somewhere around 2023/24

I kind of like the current situation. All those last-gen games run great on Series X, and I'm worried that once they're making Series X specific titles we're back to 30fps because studios cannot help themselves and start overusing raytracing or whatever.

@warpr: I kind of agree. To be honest most games looked good enough during the 360/PS3 generation. I'm totally happy with how games look and run now and continue to always choose the "performance" mode whenever possible for a smoother experience.

With most modern games being built in a more PC fashion so that they're scalable to run at different settings on different hardware, I don't think they're going to stop supporting the previous generation unless they absolutely can't get it to run acceptably on the older hardware (to avoid a Cyberpunk 2077 disaster).

The only thing you really accomplish by cutting off support of the old hardware is reducing the size of your potential audience.

2023 at the earliest but I think comparing it to how PC games scale is spot on.

Once you can walk into a store and buy the consoles

It matters because right now there is almost zero reason for me to upgrade. The current-gen games already look great to my eyes, and there is basically nothing new other than, what, Astrobot? If Sony or MS want my money they'll have to have some great exclusives.

I remember it took a couple years or so after PS4 for most games to stop being released on PS3. I am thinking it will take the same or longer for PS4 support to stop. Especially considering the lack of PS5 availability. Personally, I'm not in a big hurry. I'm happy with my Switch and PS4.

@wollywoo: So with that mindset it doesn't matter because you wouldn't be upgrading at the moment anyway.

Microsoft doesn't seem to be taking an "old school" approach to selling their console. To them, an "Xbox" is whatever device you use to access their service. That could be an original Xbox One. That could be a $4000 PC. "Exclusivity", in this case, still means you can only get it on an Xbox, but their definition for what an "Xbox" is has expanded a lot. A Series X is just a much more dedicated Xbox than, say, streaming a game to a phone or your PC. If you're still OK with the performance and graphics and such of an Xbox One, then by all means, continue playing games on an Xbox One.

Games will start coming out that can't run on an original Xbox One. Cyberpunk 2077 is an example. If I'm not mistaken, Avowed and Starfield won't be available on an Xbox One either. But if they can get something to run acceptably on an Xbox One, they will.

It's an interesting question, and honestly I think we'll see "true next-gen" games around the Holidays next year. But until then it's going to be more cross-gen titles, simply because very few can even get a hold of these consoles or GPUs.

I'm really having fun with 120hz titles on the Series X. I really love higher fps on older games, to me that is a big win for next-gen consoles so far.

@justin258: MS hasn't released any AAA titles since the Series launch, what else could MS say?

Nearly every single game announced by MS since E3 has been next gen only, even Forza Motorsport 8 is so far next gen only.

MS cross-gen message has been born out of necessity, next year you'll see MS singing a different tune.

@sombre: I think the ports and remasters are currently an industry trend, made more popular because they have been easier to develop during COVID, and because people keep asking for and buying them. Often you'll find a developer wanting to cut its teeth on a new platform with a remaster, we saw this to a lesser extent when PS4/Xbox One came out and we were getting Halo MCC and Last of Us HD.

For Microsoft specifically, they've committed to putting games on both generations from the start, and it's worked out great for them given the console supply issues.

I think you'll find them dropping support (moving it to xcloud only) on old consoles as new ones come out, so in a couple years when we might have a higher grade "Series Pro" we will see the OG One lose support. You can already tell based on the poorer performance on those old machines that they're not really holding anything back to support them. They'll probably keep a Series S tier box out there until 4K becomes the norm (which basically means when most of the remaining 1080p TVs crap out).

For Sony it's definitely their hand being forced by their inability to get consoles out. You can see in all their marketing, the $10 price hike, and their constant waffle about PS5 upgrade patches that they really wanted to just draw a line shortly after the PS5 release where PS4 games weren't happening anymore, but the reality of supply constraints means they'll lose a ton of money that way, because PS4 owners that havent been able to hunt down a PS5 yet are a massive group of potential customers.

Why would Microsoft hard pivot into a single "next gen" console when the global supply chain for all technological hardware is still kind of fucked?

I'm totally disconnected from what drives games and game companies at this point, the mass market wants Fortnite right? If you're trying to tap into that market it's best if your game is available to everyone, so previous gen, current gen, PC and the Switch. Also it might just be me but the world doesn't feel ready to go out and buy the latest and most expensive consoles like we did in the past, even if they were available, i know they are selling but it's not like when the PS2 came out and was a world changing event, there's still a financial incentive to support the previous gen.
There's also a lot more smaller games being made now by smaller teams who need their games to be available to as many people as possible, they don't need the power of the latest and greatest machines, it's pretty much up to first party AAA to push things forward but are the upcoming sequels enough to signal a change? I don't personally think so.

Whenever they hit 50% market share.

When I can walk into a Target and buy a PS5 as easy as it was to get a PS4 in 2015