OPINION: By releasing a member of the Xbox holy trilogy, Microsoft may have ensured the next Xbox hardware will be dead on arrival.
When the next generation of games consoles comes around, one thing is highly likely. Barring a miracle in hardware innovation that leaves the rest in the dust, an Xbox will be dead last on everyone’s wish list
Even some of the format’s most loyal gamers are coming around to that idea, in light of the news the mighty Forza racing franchise will soon be bumping uglies with the enemy.
The confirmation that Forza Horizon 5 will, this, spring become the latest first-party game to make the switch to PlayStation consoles is seen as a watershed moment.
Microsoft’s Xbox Everywhere strategy has involved sending second-tier games that have been utilised to the max on Xbox. Sea of Thieves, Hi-Fi Rush and Pentiment hopping across the divide is one thing.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle will traverse the metaphorical snake pit later this year too. That also raised eyebrows among Xbox gamers starved of first-party exclusives when the PS5 has teemed with them.
However, Forza hits different. It’s one of the crown jewels, a 20-year Xbox exclusive, a reason to buy the system. It’s part of the holy trilogy along with Halo and Gears of War. Xbox loyalists are understandably crestfallen.
“I can’t believe it. They did it,” posted Spectre-4 on the Xbox subreddit. “Even with all the messaging about multiplatform, I didn’t think they’d do it, but they actually really did it. They gave away Forza.”
They added: “Halo and Gears are all that’s left, man. If they go, then the cards all fall.”
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Nothing is sacred
It’s worth saying that Forza Horizon 5 has been round since late 2021. So it’s not like a brand new game is launching concurrently with PS5.
However, it’s more the message it sends. It tells Xbox gamers “nothing is sacred” and it tell those leaning towards a PlayStation that “you’re still going to get to play everything you want.”
To use a football analogy, it’s like Jurgen Klopp turning up at Old Trafford as a Man United ambassador and Liverpool fans having to share him with them. It just doesn’t feel right.
And who’s to say Microsoft will even give Xbox gamers a few years grace on the holy trinity games in the future? If anything, the direction of travel is in the other direction. We could even end up with synchronised releases.
Might Forza Horizon 6 be more like Indiana Jones? Merely a timed exclusive Xbox gamers get a mere six months before PS6 owners – still basking in the glory of fully-exclusive console games like the next God of War, Horizon, Gran Turismo, Spider-Man, and whatever Naughty Dog has in store – are able to get behind the wheel.
Who’s to say the next time we see The Master Chief he won’t be suiting up for PlayStation gamers on the very same day as Xbox gamers?
An Xbox hardware purchase has become progressively ill-advised during this generation, as its cloud gaming strategy has made owning one unnecessary for everyone, except gamers who want to play the games with the best performance settings.
The Xbox app is available on Fire TV devices, Samsung TVs, through web browsers, and an increasing number of locations. This offers access to the Game Pass library via cloud streaming. Soon it’ll offer cloud streaming of owned games. Soon the resolution will be upped to 4K, further nullifying the need for Xbox hardware at all.
All of these first party games (including Call of Duty, for the sake of argument) don’t require an Xbox as it stands, just an Xbox Game Pass subscription. PS5 gamers can already access these games from anywhere – except their console. Forza is among those games. So is Forza Motorsport. So are some of the games from the series’ rich history. That’s not the point though. The point is the message Forza on PS5 sends.
“Well… I guess, we should start viewing Xbox not as a console brand, but more like a big publisher. Kinda like Sega, if you think about it,” adds mrcelldweller among the subreddit of forlorn Xbox fans.
Microsoft is going to launch a next-generation console, that much is clear. But is there really any point?
