Septic Sauce

Last week Xbox completely self-sabotaged itself with its Xbox Game Pass price hike and this week rumours suddenly started swirling with some insiders suggesting Xbox might be cancelling its next gen hardware. Subsequent reports have poured cold water over that but can Microsoft really be trusted here? How committed is Xbox really to the next gen machine? Battlefield 6 is doing incredibly well, beating Call of Duty's all-time concurrent players on Steam. Halo is apparently in trouble with reported leadership issues. The Playstation 6 might be coming sooner than many thought as Mark Cerny teases what's next for Sony and more.

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Xbox stepping on rakes is an almost weekly affair at this point but this rake is a big one. One that smacked Xbox so hard that its concussed even the most hardcore of Xbox fans. Xbox Game Pass has now seen price massive price hikes and changes that have caused subscribers to leave the service in droves! This is a storm Xbox may not be able to weather! In other news, Saudi Arabia got into gaming in a BIG way with the monstrous acquisition of EA. Can EA be saved or will this make them even worse? We're getting more news on Halo as the future of the IP is supposed to be revealed shortly. Ghost of Yotei is out and Phil Spencer wants to bring back Lost Odyssey??Joining me will be Fonz ► https://www.youtube.com/@Fonz_Gaming

Playstation is finally getting into its stride with its first party releases. Its recent State of Play wasn't exactly brilliant but it was saved by the showings of 2 first party Playstation games, Saros and Wolverine. Ghost of Yotei has also received great reviews, besting the original and apparently even benefits from a better visual upgrade than many anticipated. Meanwhile, Xbox had a tepid Tokyo Game Show but announced Forza Horizon 6 set in Japan. It is a timed console exclusive which also sparked some arguments as you can imagine. The Xbox Ally had its price revealed and the ROG Ally X has an eye watering price point in the US.

The Playstation fandom is currently dealing with a very similar set of feelings as the Xbox hardcore fanbase as the reality of the platform's multiplatform strategy dawns on them. Playstation first party title Returnal is now rumoured to be going to Xbox and this has caused all manner of emotions to fly. Helldivers 2 embraced Halo this week with its Halo ODST collaboration which made the reality hit different for a lot of people.

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Xbox is seeing a lot more success as a third party publisher it seems, especially on Playstation! Xbox dominated the PlayStation sales chart, Game Pass broke records making crazy revenue numbers and the naysayers are writhing around uncomfortably to justify their old narratives regarding its sustainability. The Playstation 6 had its specs leaked. Battlefield 6 got its multiplayer reveal and it looks like Vince Zampella and Co are about to deliver a true Battlefield experience!

More developments and yet another visceral gut punch to the Playstation Nation; Playstation is embracing its third party nature faster than the fanboys can process. Now Sony is expanding PlayStation Studios titles across Steam, Epic, Xbox, Nintendo and Mobile. This has already caused absolute hysteria in the stables as some try and hold on to the expired idea of the Playstation they love. Xbox also does a u-turn on its $80 price point for this year's titles, Battlefield 6 got its official reveal and oh did I mention Playstation is third party?

Its time Parris Lilly and I had a proper chat about the reality of Xbox and its future strategy. A no holds-barred convo! Playstation fanboys are a special breed and few no that better than Parris! Also, I missed last week's show and there's some news to catch up on! This week though we also got another GOTY contender with Donkey Kong Bonanza.

What an insane gaming week and not all that positive. Mass layoffs laid waste to Microsoft and Xbox studios as multiple unannounced projects got cancelled along with Perfect Dark and Everwild. The Initiative was shut down, Turn 10 lost half its staff and there were layoffs across various Xbox studios. Then the following day, Helldivers 2 suddenly is announced for Xbox and this supposedly first party Playstation game now completely shatters the narrative relied on the Playstation hardcore. PlayStation is now fully third party.

Despite its impressive software run, a lot of Xbox fans were questioning the future of the platform in the hardware space. Many stated that there was one narrow way that Xbox could really not only remain relevant but also change the game completely and it looks like Xbox is doing that as President of Xbox Sarah Bond announced the bold step that Xbox is taking going forward. In other news, to reconcile their hurt feelings about Final Fantasy 16 coming to Xbox, all manner of fanboys descended upon the game's sales performance and player numbers using all manner of metrics, PSVR 2 looks like its failure is becoming more apparent, Death Stranding 2 is out in a few days, Gears of War Reloaded tops Playstation charts and instead of a Showcase event, Playstation gets a concert as Marathon gets delayed.

In a hilarious twist of fate, an Xbox branded handheld device shattered the urethera of the Playstation fandom who have been celebrating Xbox's multiplatform status for months on end. Now all sorts of existential questions are being asked about what constitutes an Xbox when previously the This Is An Xbox ad campaign was mocked ad nauseum, especially by me. Now the reality of Microsoft's strategy is dawning on everyone and as I discussed, the hybrid Xbox console model's potential is starting at everyone in the face. Their tears are glorious and I shall feast on them for this amazing UNO Reverse card has blessed us as we go deep into the reality that is PLATFORM WARS!