Yeah it all makes sense from their business perspective, but from a current xbox users perspective, losing compatibility for new hardware isnt appealing.

The extra steps are for current pc/xbox users that already have hardware. Why upgrade without increased functionality? A streamlined experience could be enough for some, but definitely not for me at $700+.

Updated your post i see lol

Yeah they care mainly about gamepass, which is why im worried they dont have the motivation to thoroughly flesh out this push for cross compatibility. Why when they can make you pay more to stream everything?

Also, i believe the amount of money they get from players just paying for the privilege of playing online is bigger than most people think. Its also the gateway into gamepass… “Im already paying monthly for multiplayer, why not $5-10 more and get more games to play too?” They almost certainly will not abandon that revenue stream.

As for the price of this device, it can be anything as long as it has the right value, but we will see what that value actually becomes…

But the only thing that makes this new system exciting is the merger of Non-PC Xbox games onto a PC platform. Anything else is just what we already have… A PC.

The flexibility people want is to play the games they have already paid for within the Xbox ecosystem.

Losing your games with new gen hardware is a thing of the past. New hardware rarely has a killer app nowadays that would make losing playability of up to 4 generations of games worth it. Thats why all new consoles have backwards compatibility like PC.

Also the xbox-only library is NOT small. Forgetting disc games… I have 900 digital games on my series X spanning from the OG xbox. ~40 of those are currently apart of the Play Anywhere program. Sure alot of those games have PC ports but xbox isnt going to source that version of the software from a random source and add it to my library for free. Youre right they will have to emulate.

Giving a “Tough Shit” to current xbox players and their libraries is not going to bode well, and this product will just look like another PC with extra steps for current players.

It will really have to streamline alot of shit that i dont entirely have faith they can streamline to make the value proposition of subscription worth it imo.

We know they will attempt to maintain the current status quo of paying for multiplayer… So that will enshittify the PC gaming experience. My bigger fear is that we wont get true compatibility of all pc and xbox games so they will lean on streaming which will also require a subscription.

I dont think you understood the focus of my post. I am asking HOW they plan on going about it. People want to ignore the fine details, but they will ultimately determine the players experience…

Example - Will this “PC” allow me to install the PC bedrock version, java version, xbox 360 version, xbox one version or XSX bedrock version of Minecraft simultaneously and manage PC files/mods as i do on windows 11?

More importantly is it going to charge me money to play multiplayer and even LAN like my Xbox currently does?!?!

There are so many details making this messy for microsoft that people arent considering. Yes we all want a PC/Xbox merge, but they will almost certainly misstep in ways that will creates headaches for users.

I am hoping they handle it well, but if Microsoft’s mistakes in the past are anything to go by, this is going to get ugly before it gets better for their users.

Offline play with bots, not server dependent… Its a multiplayer game with mtx. Its not an Online-Only service game.

You could consider it a service game of sorts, but it isnt the toxic sludge that Destiny 2 and Marathon are/could have been.

Agreed. I would love it if they took all the assets and the engine and made a great campaign actually grounded in the marathon universe. Thats what i would pay for.

Tbh, its probably too late for bungie. All that company is, is a name.

What they need is to make a completely different game.

Destiny was successful because it was the first real fps service game, it didnt push mtx, and had competent pve, pvp and a story(debatably). Bungie cant chase that dragon anymore. Its been done a million times now.

Players know all service games want is to milk them with mtx. No player wants to get into a new service game especially when its nothing unique.

Just make a good single and multiplayer shooter with a somewhat interesting story, then people will buy and play it.

It seems so easy, but AAA pubs and devs cant pull their heads out of their own asses to see what players want. They just see what investors want.

There, dead horse kicked again.

Me too, finally! Do you know if it will cost money?

Im very glad they are… But this effort just negates their last push for backwards compatibility on the xbox console.

I am sure they see the value in merging that library into their PC library. Tbh they will probably choose the lazy route and stick to streaming xbox-only games to PC because it requires no extra planning. Even the streaming process is a convoluted mess though with only certain games/publishers giving their games permission to stream. I am never allowed to stream every game i want for arbitrary reasons, and i dont like that when i have already bought the game.

Xbox wants to move away from local processing anyhow because it funnels users into their beloved subscription model.

I see your point with the millions that play those specific games, maybe i am just disappointed by microsoft only doing the bare minimum when they are forced to.

This is at least progress

What do you mean? Gamepass users? You can use gamepass on ANY device, including steamdeck. Idk if paying another $500-$1000 usd is worth it for most people to have a slightly more convenient gamepass handheld experience.

Oh and about the potential for native Xbox games running on PC handhelds… God i hope youre right.

I mean if they really nail the UI, and i mean REALLY nail it(which involves nailing game/launcher compatibility as well)…

Then maybe this handheld will forge the way for a new windows gaming OS.

But even then without an Xbox game compatibility layer, they arent going to convert any steam users at all.

Is it good enough for you? Is that why you will get it? Where are these people you speak of…?

I highly doubt there are enough people that want that super particular use case to make this particular handheld stand out at all, especially ones that didnt meet their needs with another handheld already.

What a weak sell then, i understand your point, i just wish Xbox came out swinging with a compatibility layer for the Xbox game library. A portable device with that capability would have the potential to put them back on top.

Instead we get a less bad version of windows, that will likely be inferior to its direct competitor(steamOS) anyways, sans the ability to play a few multiplayer games.

I see no reason to believe it wont be.

Yeah it can be a hassle, but is it such a hassle people would rather buy this specific handheld to play the handful of multiplayer games a steamdeck cant?

Not to mention theyre mainly esports titles that people prefer not to play on an underpowered handheld anyways…

A steam deck already plays gamepass, and if you install windows on the deck, it will the few windows-only PC games that SteamOS cant.

I think i speak for most gamers when i say i have a steam game library, but would not touch the Microsoft PC game store with a 10ft pole.

I am an xbox user, i have a vast digital(and physical) xbox library that can almost drink alcohol. This is the library and store i want on an Xbox handheld. Xbox not pursuing compatibility with that library is what will kill the brand IMO.

Xbox Play Anywhere was a nice program that gave people some double purchases on the MS game store for no extra cost… But it was too sparse to make the barebones MS game store seem worthwhile compared to steam.

If people bother to buy this generic PC handheld with an Xbox sticker on it, they might be slightly more inclined to buy games on the MS same store, but im certain the majority will just use Steam and Gamepass.

They can already do this on all other PC handhelds though, so why would anyone buy this one?!?

Its not that i dont prefer the PC library, its that there are already dozens of other handhelds that play PC games already.

So then the UI is the sole reason people should want this device?

I see no reason why this UI shouldnt also work on the plethora of other windows handhelds in the market currently. This leaves nothing new for this device to offer… Unless its really cheap.