A Digital Foundry analysis has found that PS5 cloud streaming outperforms Microsoft xCloud in a number of aspects. In fact, the only department in which xCloud surpasses PS5 streaming is latency, and that’s because Microsoft’s service is streaming Series S versions of games rather than their superior Series X counterparts.

How PS5 cloud streaming outperforms Microsoft xCloud

Digital Foundry notes that performance wise, games streamed on the PS5 mostly closely represent locally installed games, but that’s not the case when it comes to xCloud. Those streaming games on the Xbox Series X are getting somewhat of a downgraded version that’s more reprentative of the Series S.

Games streamed on the PS5 also offer better resolution and higher bitrate albeit with inferior latency compared to the xCloud. “Between the use of PS5-grade hardware server-side, the higher bitrate and resolution, PlayStation Plus presents its catalogue at a quality level that’s much closer to justifying that Premium label – even if it’s behind Xbox in terms of latency,” Digital Foundry concludes.

Digital Foundry also notes that both PS5 streaming and Microsoft xCloud come with a similar price tag but Sony offers 851 games compared to Microsoft’s 402 games. 201 out of Sony’s 851 games are PS5 titles.

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Toys for Bob, the developer of Crash Bandicoot 4 and Crash Team Rumble, is officially independent of Activision and Microsoft. Despite the split, the studio hasn’t ruled out working with those companies in the future.

Crash Bandicoot developer Toys for Bob splits from Activision after 19 years

Toys for Bob’s separation from Activision goes into effect today, February 29. The divorce also appears to be an amicable one, according to the studio’s official statement. “Our friends at Activision and Microsoft have been extremely supportive of our new direction, and we’re confident that we will continue to work closely together as part of our future,” Toys for Bob wrote. The company, which closed its physical office earlier this month, also says it is exploring a possible partnership with Microsoft, which acquired Crash Bandicoot publisher Activision last year.

If this partnership works out, it could mean that Toys for Bob isn’t done with the Crash Bandicoot series. Unfortunately, the company’s statement didn’t detail its future plans, but it promises to give more updates soon.

Founded by Paul Reiche and Fred Ford in 1989, Toys for Bob released its first game, Star Control, in 1990. Decades later, it developed the Skylanders series, released from 2011 to 2016. It later released the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy and Spyro Reignited Trilogy before launching Crash Bandicoot 4 in 2020. Its last game as the primary developer was 2023’s Crash Team Rumble, though it also assisted on Modern Warfare III.

While Toys for Bob’s relationship with Activision lasted almost 20 years, the studio expressed excitement for its new opportunities. “With the same enthusiasm and passion,” it says, “we believe that now is the time to take the studio and our future games to the next level. This opportunity allows us to return to our roots of being a small and nimble studio.”

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A PlayStation Store page for Sea of Thieves PS5 version has confirmed that players will need a Microsoft acount to play. Following months of rumors, the popular Xbox exclusive was recently announced for the PS5, making Sea of Thieves developer Rare’s first PlayStation release in its 39 years of existence.

Sea of Thieves PS5 players can link their PlayStation and Microsoft accounts

“Microsoft account registration, acceptance of Microsoft Services Agreement and Privacy Statement required to play,” reads the Sea of Thieves’ PS Store page. According to journalist Stephen Totilo, players can link their PlayStation and Microsoft accounts. Logging into the latter will enable cross-platform play, crew voice chat, proximity chat, etc.

This is all understandable, but a rare sight nonetheless.

“Sea of Thieves is a smash-hit pirate adventure game, offering the quintessential pirate experience of plundering lost treasures, navigating intense sea battles, vanquishing sea monsters, exploring sunken kingdoms, raiding forts and more,” reads an official description on the PS Store. “In a world that’s rich with stories, quests and eccentric characters, you’re free to use any tool at your disposal to live the pirate life however you see fit.”

Along with Sea of Thieves, Microsoft announced Pentiment (out now), Hi-Fi Rush, and Grounded for the PS5.

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After what seems like forever, Microsoft finally confirmed the titles of four former Xbox excusive games headed to the PS5, PS4, and Nintendo Switch. Narrative adventure Pentiment (PS5, PS4) will be available today, Hi-Fi Rush (PS5) will release on March 19, Grounded (PS5, PS4) will release on April 16, and finally, Sea of Thieves (PS5) will be available on April 30. Reaction from the Xbox community has been mixed, with many expressing their disappointment at the move.

Players brace for more Xbox exclusive games launching on PS5

A number of prominent Xbox “influencers” and fan accounts bemoaned the move, claiming that the aforementioned games are just the start. They’re of the view that more and more Xbox games will release on rival platforms, leaving them little reason to invest in Microsoft’s hardware. Even those who aren’t Xbox players hold the same view, but see it as a necessary step for Microsoft to increase its revenue and player base.

Some Xbox players say that they don’t mind games going multiplatform as long as it’s reciprocal, while others pointed out that not only is Xbox losing its own exclusives, but a number of large companies are still skipping Xbox versions of their games. Yesterday, Monster Hunter Stories and Gundam Breaker 4 were both announced for all platforms except the Xbox.

Previous rumors suggest that Microsoft has also been toying with the idea of releasing Starfield and Indiana Jones on the PS5, with Xbox boss Phil Spencer declining to rule out the possibility.

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Xbox boss Phil Spencer has said that while Microsoft is only bringing four of its games to rival platforms for now, he isn’t ruling out the possibility of going further and releasing games like Starfield and Indiana Jones on the PS5. Yesterday, Spencer and Xbox president Sarah Bond discussed the future of Xbox, and explained their decision to go multiplatform with some of their games.

Why Microsoft isn’t ruling out Starfield and Indiana Jones PS5 ports

Speaking to The Verge, Spencer opined that video game companies should never rule out the possibility of releasing a game on different platforms, and that includes Microsoft. Spencer added that his team at Xbox wants to learn from the experience of bringing four mystery games to PS5 before going further. It’s being reported that the four games are Hi-Fi Rush, Sea of Thieves, Grounded, and Pentiment.

“I don’t think we should as an industry ever rule out a game going to any other platform,” Spencer said. “We’re focused on these four games and learning from the experience. We don’t have work going on, on other franchises. But for anybody to stand up and say something’s never going to happen, I think it feels like creating more certainty in a world of gaming where you really want to respond to what customers want and what our players and creators are looking for.”

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Xbox CEO Phil Spencer has confirmed that four of their first-party games will be coming to PlayStation and Nintendo platforms, but that those games will not include Starfield or Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. Spencer did not confirm the names of the four games, but he did say they would “make sense” when players learned about them.

The four Xbox games are over a year old

Spencer refused to confirm the names of the games because “the teams that are building these games have announce plans that are not too far away”. However, he did reveal the criteria for the selection of these games — and all of them are over a year old.

Two of the games are community-driven games that are the first iterations of a franchise that have reached their full potential on Xbox and PC. As Xbox wants to continue investing in the franchise, it is bringing them to new platforms to bring new players into those communities. According to The Verge, sources familiar with Microsoft’s plans have said these games are Sea of Thieves and Grounded.

The other two games are smaller games that were “never really meant to be built as platform exclusives” but they were games that the developers really wanted to build regardless. These have also reached their full potential on Xbox. The aforementioned sources told The Verge that these games are Hi-Fi Rush and Pentiment.

Spencer is adamant that these plans will “not damage Xbox” and that they can grow their business by using what other platforms have to their benefit. He was also adamant that there are no plans to bring other games to PlayStation beyond this for now, so “please don’t take it as some signal that everything is coming, it’s not.” If these plans prove successful, though, never say never.

Finally, Xbox Gaming Content and Studios president Matt Booty confirmed that “Game Pass will only be available on Xbox” consoles. Those using that service to play new first-party games on day one will still only be able to do so on Xbox and PC.

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Microsoft will officially address today the ongoing rumors of Xbox games releasing on PlayStation, but a leaked internal meeting sheds light on how the company envisions its gaming division’s future. According to a new report by Inverse, Microsoft wants to become the top cross-platform gaming company.

Xbox games on PlayStation are all but confirmed

Inverse has heard from its sources within Microsoft that Xbox president Sarah Bond told employees that “every screen is an Xbox,” highlighting the company’s ambitions to become an industry leader. To illustrate her point, Bond showed hit Pokemon-inspired game Palworld running on multiple devices including tablets and handhelds — further adding fuel to speculations that Microsoft has plans to release a handheld Xbox device. Speaking of devices, Microsoft has reportedly told employees that it’s not exiting the hardware business.

That Xbox games will land on PlayStation and Nintendo platforms is all but confirmed at this point. A number of high-profile outlets and respected journalists have corroborated the ongoing rumors, and even the Sea of Thieves’ official Twitter account was teasing a multiplatform release yesterday.

The question now is which games Microsoft plans to release on other platforms beyond Hi-Fi Rush and Sea of Thieves. Hopefully, we’ll find out later today.

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All of the Xbox multiplatform games rumors are set to be put to rest tomorrow, but that hasn’t stopped Rare from seemingly teasing a multiplatform release for Sea of Thieves today. A random tweet on the official Sea of Thieves X (formerly Twitter) account talked about rowboats in several different colors, more specifically red, green, blue, and white.

Sea of Thieves may come to Nintendo Switch too

Red, green, blue, and white are the colors used to represent the console giants, although white is sometimes also used for Steam. Seeing as Sea of Thieves is already on Xbox (green) and Steam, this has led many to believe the tweet is teasing the game coming to PlayStation (blue) and Nintendo (red) consoles.

Rare did follow up with another tweet a couple of hours later, trying to disguise the first as an innocent Valentine’s Day message. They wished players a “Happy #ValentinesDay, Pirates, however you’re spending it” before confirming their favorite color Rowboat is purple.

The tweet is the closest we’ve gotten to any confirmation of the multiple rumors that Microsoft’s first-party games would be coming to rival platforms in a bid to increase the publisher’s revenue from its games. Xbox CEO Phil Spencer, Xbox President Sarah Bond, and Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty will be taking part in a special edition of the Official Xbox Podcast tomorrow, February 15, to share updates on the Xbox business where we’ll finally find out exactly what is going on. Several fans are also hoping the tweet references a surprise Nintendo Direct this week, although this one is less likely to happen.

Sea of Thieves was one of the first games rumored to be making the jump to PlayStation consoles alongside Hi-Fi Rush. Later reports also mentioned games like Pentiment, Gears of War, Starfield, and Halo.

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Following reports and rumors last week, The Verge is reporting that Microsoft plans to release two former exclusives, Hi-Fi Rush and Pentiment, on both the PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch. More games are also reportedly under consideration.

In a recent report, The Verge’s Tom Warren notes that both the 2023 rhythm-based action game and the 2022 Obsidian Entertainment-developed RPG would be making their way to rival platforms.

The report goes on to mention that Microsoft is also planning to launch Sea of Thieves on non-Xbox platforms later this year.No other titles have been reported to move as of now, but Warren notes other first party titles are also under consideration.

Microsoft’s lack of Game Pass growth has company contemplating other strategies

The move is obviously a huge one for Microsoft, who plans to address their business plan going forward later this week on an episode of the Xbox podcast. According to Warren, though, the move comes as Microsoft has failed to grow its Xbox Game Pass subscription count.

While the company originally had a goal of 100 million subscribers by 2030, things have stalled for the streaming service, a move that occurred due to a variety of factors, including the delay of Starfield and the lackluster response to 2022’s Redfall. According to recent analyst estimates, Game Pass is somewhere around 33 million subscribers, which puts them at just around 33% growth in two years.

The Verge’s report also suggests that Microsoft could look to show more of its hardware hand going forward. Rumors of a handheld device and new console have been making the rounds, although no official status was given by Microsoft.

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A new report claims that Microsoft has reassured its staff that it’ll continue making Xbox consoles despite losing the sales war to PS5. Amidst ongoing rumors that Xbox is going multiplatform, the company reportedly held an internal meeting to reiterate that it’s still in the gaming hardware business.

PS5 sales outpacing Xbox Series X|S 2-to-1, according to estimates

Report of Xbox head Phil Spencer reassuring employees of future console production comes from journalist Shannon Liao. Liao also reported that Microsoft told staff last Tuesday that its strategy involves “multiple kinds of devices.” It’s unclear if this means multiple platforms or if it’s a reference to a recent rumor that Microsoft is toying with the idea of a handheld device.

A recent presentation by publisher Take-Two Interactive estimates that at least 77 million gen 9 consoles (PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, specifically) have been sold as of December 31, 2023. Adding more context to this figure, Sony reported that it had sold over 50 million consoles by early December (doesn’t include holiday sales), which means that Xbox Series X|S has sold roughly half that amount.

Microsoft doesn’t have a policy of sharing sales figures so these are merely estimates, but they do paint a fairly accurate picture of the console market.

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