Over the previous few years, I’ve watched avid gamers attempt to predict the loss of life of Xbox like radical Christians warning the world of the rapture. I’ve by no means purchased into the doomsaying. Microsoft’s gaming technique was certainly shifting because it locked right into a subscription service technique with Recreation Cross, however Xbox felt prefer it was nonetheless right here to remain. Even when the corporate started flirting with porting its first-party video games to competing consoles, I nonetheless simply noticed it as a contemporary technique constructed to get probably the most cash doable out of its costliest productions or to seek out higher audiences for area of interest video games like Pentiment.
After the Sept. 25 PlayStation State of Play, I’ve joined the choir of fearmongerers. There isn’t any higher signal of Xbox’s demise than Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 coming to PlayStation 5. The top is nigh. Maintain your Needler shut and watch for the pink ring to eat the world you as soon as knew.
Xbox video games coming to PS5 is not new at this level. A number of tentpole Xbox unique video games, like Forza Horizon 5, have made their option to PS5 by now to nice success, and even Gears of Battle: Reloaded simply launched concurrently on Sony’s console alongside Xbox. However one thing feels completely different about Microsoft Flight Simulator’s transfer to PS5. Possibly it is simply that Microsoft is definitely within the identify; it might be like PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale coming to Xbox. (Aspect observe: I would not be mad about that and actually welcome the chance.) It is the one factor that felt sacred as an unique, Microsoft’s personal jet-powered Sonic the Hedgehog.
However it’s much less the identify and extra in order that Microsoft’s long-running collection looks like its sole function was to showcase Microsoft merchandise. It is not a lot a recreation today as it’s a tech showpiece. It is the ace within the gap that is supposed to point out us why the Xbox Sequence X is probably the most highly effective console round. What else might run a Home windows PC recreation so excessive finish that you will have to get a brand new graphics card from the longer term to run it? If Microsoft is able to concede that even this showpiece will likely be simply tremendous on PS5, contemplate the towel thrown in.
That should not come as a lot of a shock at this level. It is simply the newest in an extended string of indicators that recommend Microsoft is altering its strategy to gaming {hardware}. We noticed a tease of that early this 12 months when it let Meta borrow the Xbox branding to create a particular version Meta Quest 3, a agency signal that Microsoft has little interest in making its personal {hardware} to rival the PlayStation VR2. Extra just lately, we obtained a way of this when Microsoft’s long-rumored handheld console got here to fruition within the type of the ROG Xbox Ally. Relatively than making its personal handheld, Microsoft as a substitute determined to delegate the duty to Asus in additional of a branded collaboration. The ROG Xbox Ally X remains to be custom-built to appear and feel like an Xbox product, however it’s your common transportable PC at its core that is able to taking part in video games from any PC launcher. The extra we see merchandise like this pop up, the extra the concept of a brand-new Xbox era in just a few years looks like its off the desk. (A 2023 leak tied to Microsoft’s battle with the FTC revealed new {hardware} within the works, together with a mid-generation Sequence X refresh that has but to come back to fruition.)
Possibly I am overreacting to what’s finally a non-story. Possibly it is simply good enterprise at this price to let Microsoft Flight Simulator — a distinct segment collection, even when it bears the corporate’s identify — fly free and profit from the facility of the PS5 Professional. There isn’t any rule that claims Xbox cannot hold making consoles now, shifting its gross sales pitch to the truth that it is the easiest way to tie into the life-style it has created. One could make the case that it might nonetheless be a sensible funding if you wish to play your Xbox video games constantly throughout PC, good TVs, third-party handhelds, and extra. Sony ports would dwell in isolation by comparability, lacking out on the advantages of the broader ecosystem.
However it’s a must to admit that seeing Microsoft Flight Simulator on a State of Play stream looks like the kind of finish time signal that you simply’d see within the bible. In spite of everything, we do have a Gamer Saint today.
