Microsoft leadership has been putting a lot of weight on Game Pass, and several of its business decisions of late appear to center on getting more people into that subscription service. One of those projects was called Keystone, a dedicated streaming device that would let Game Pass customers play Xbox titles without an Xbox console. After first announcing the concept in 2021, the project was eventually deemed too expensive. That team instead shifted focus to a smart TV streaming app, leaving Keystone to disappear into the void. Today, Windows Central uncovered a patent that showed what the Keystone might have looked like.
This patent filing has more detail than we ever got from the Xbox leadership about the project. The only glimpse we'd seen before now was in a teaser image Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer shared back in 2022. But we can now see that the squat, square device would have had a circle pattern on the top and circular plate on the bottom. It also had the expected cable ports and what looks like a controller pairing button.
Microsoft has made a lot of pitches for new hardware recently, but few of them seem to be sticking the landing. Even the company's announcement of Xbox hardware refreshes at the latest Summer Games Fest fell short of expectations after a leak had hinted at much bigger plans. Hopefully Xbox can get a big win on the hardware side soon. For now, getting a glimpse of what might have been is neat backstory to have about the company and its development process.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/check-out-what-microsofts-keystone-streaming-device-might-have-been-224031677.html?src=rss
Microsoft leadership has been putting a lot of weight on Game Pass, and several of its business decisions of late appear to center on getting more people into that subscription service. One of those projects was called Keystone, a dedicated streaming device that would let Game Pass customers play Xbox titles without an Xbox console. After first announcing the concept in 2021, the project was eventually deemed too expensive. That team instead shifted focus to a smart TV streaming app, leaving Keystone to disappear into the void. Today, Windows Central uncovered a patent that showed what the Keystone might have looked like.
This patent filing has more detail than we ever got from the Xbox leadership about the project. The only glimpse we'd seen before now was in a teaser image Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer shared back in 2022. But we can now see that the squat, square device would have had a circle pattern on the top and circular plate on the bottom. It also had the expected cable ports and what looks like a controller pairing button.
Microsoft has made a lot of pitches for new hardware recently, but few of them seem to be sticking the landing. Even the company's announcement of Xbox hardware refreshes at the latest Summer Games Fest fell short of expectations after a leak had hinted at much bigger plans. Hopefully Xbox can get a big win on the hardware side soon. For now, getting a glimpse of what might have been is neat backstory to have about the company and its development process.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/check-out-what-microsofts-keystone-streaming-device-might-have-been-224031677.html?src=rss
After a bit of a false start, Ubisoft has released a trailer for its remake of the cult classic game Beyond Good and Evil. The video first appeared in a tweet from the game studio that was later deleted. But the new announcement seems to be sticking around, and that means we really will be getting the Beyond Good and Evil - 20th Anniversary Edition on June 25. It will be available on PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. Limited Run Games will also be selling physical copies of the remaster starting July 12; those will be for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S and Switch.
The two-minute long trailer showcases the newly updated art assets. The remaster will run at up to 4K and 60 FPS, and it has a re-orchestrated soundtrack. Plus it also promises "exclusive new content," but it's unclear what that might include. Check out the whole video for yourself:
Today's back-and-forth on X echoes back to how the world learned about the planned remaster in the first place. A listing for it appeared on the Xbox Store and an incomplete version was briefly on Ubisoft Plus back in 2023 thanks to a technical glitch. Also, any time Beyond Good and Evil comes up, regular readers might find themselves wondering about the sequel that has been revealed and teased and promised and seen for more than a decade. No, this update doesn't seem to bring any new information about that project.
What a long, strange development cycle it's been.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-beyond-good-and-evil-remaster-will-be-released-next-week-for-real-230001749.html?src=rss
Sony has announced that it will be ending its rewards program at the end of this year. No, it’s not PlayStation Stars, the loyalty program that rewards you digital collectibles for completing certain gameplay tasks. Nor is it the defunct PlayStation Rewards program, which offered PSN bonuses for the most voracious PlayStation gamers. It’s terminating the Sony Rewards program offered through the Sony and PlayStation-branded Visa credit cards.
The company updated the FAQ and Terms and Conditions pages to reflect that it will sunset the Sony Rewards website and mobile app on December 31, 2024, and new members will no longer be accepted into the program effective immediately. Pre-existing Sony and PlayStation cardholders will still be able to redeem points, access their account and submit bonus points and purchase credit request forms through the app between now and New Year’s Eve. However, they cannot send physical bonus points and credit request points by mail after July 21.
Additionally, members can no longer earn points through offers or partner offers, and they can’t link their accounts to the Sony Store or Movies Anywhere. The Sony Rewards customer service will cease operation on February 14, 2025. As far as the Sony and PlayStation credit cards are concerned, cardholders will be contacted by Comenity Bank in due time about changes to the credit card programs but they can keep using them until December 31.
The Sony Rewards program launched in 2017, allowing you to accrue enough points through your Sony or PlayStation credit card to redeem items only from the Sony brand. Redeeming points for PlayStation games seems like a great perk at first glance, but the redemption process is inflexible and the APR for purchases sits at a high 27.99%. The Xbox Mastercard, which Microsoft introduced last year, has the same issue but the APR can be 20.99%, 26.99% or 31.99%, depending on your balance. Plus, there’s no cash back.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sony-will-terminate-its-sony-rewards-program-224538912.html?src=rss
Starting June 19, you should see a QR code come up on the PlayStation Portal after attempting to connect to a public Wi-Fi network, such as when it requires more than a password (like a sign-in screen). You can scan that on your device and use it to connect more easily. However, Sony is careful to state that it will work for "a range" of public Wi-Fi networks and that the device requires at least 5Mbps to work, but ideally at least 15Mbps.
This feature comes alongside an update to the PlayStation Portal's touchpad which provides new visual feedback. Plus, you can now display the device's battery percentage at the top right corner of your screen.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/playstation-portal-update-aims-to-make-connecting-to-public-wi-fi-easier-141304117.html?src=rss
There’s a whole new crop of games headed to your PlayStation console if you’re a subscriber to one of Sony’s various PlayStation Plus tiers. The additional games for the June update include 14 new titles featuring PS5-only games like the medieval RPG Crusader Kings III, the surreal action-adventure After Us, the industrial age strategy game Anna 1800 and Football Manager 2024.
The collection also includes several PS4/PS5 crossover titles starting with the critically acclaimed, fan favorite Monster Hunter Rise from Capcom. Others include the motocross racing game Monster Energy Supercross - The Official Videogame 6 and the procedural police sim Police Simulator: Patrol Officers. A few titles originally released on the PS4 are also being added, including the first-person shooter Far Cry 4 and two Lego games including The Hobbit and Disney-Pixar’s The Incredibles. A few older titles are also being added to the Classics catalog for Premium subscribers: third-person shooter Ghosthunter, Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy and the wisecracking platformer Daxter.
June’s collection of PlayStation Plus titles is the first to feature a game for the PlayStation VR 2 with the free release of the nature paddling simulator Kayak VR: Mirage. Sony started offering PS VR2 games on its PlayStation Plus earlier this month as part of its Days of Play celebration that included a healthy collection of virtual titles include Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord, Before Your Eyes, Walkabout Mini Golf, Synth Riders and both chapters of The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners. You’ll need to be a Premium subscriber to try the VR games, though.
The first batch of new PlayStation Plus games for June announced in late May including SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake, AEW Fight Forever, Streets of Rage 4 and EA Sports FC 24. These titles are available to anyone, regardless of which PlayStation Plus tier you’re subscribed to.
The update also offered a batch of PS2 classic titles for those on the Premium tier. Those include Tomb Raider Legend, Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus. Finally, PS Plus Extra and Premium members also got access to Dredge, Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2, Cricket 24, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas - The Definition Edition and a game trial of WWE 2K24.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/playstation-plus-june-offerings-include-monster-hunter-rise-and-three-lego-games-202307151.html?src=rss
Sony takes games seriously. That’s reflected in its tentpole releases, which are overwhelmingly gritty, adult affairs like Horizon, God of War and The Last of Us. It’s surprising, then, that its Summer Game Fest demo area replaced Sad Dads and apocalypses with cutesy Astro Bot figurines and Lego. Lots of Lego.
Lego Horizon Adventures might not have generated the Summer Game Fest headlines that the new Doom and Assassin’s Creed games did, but in many ways its legacy may be more interesting. Co-developed by Guerilla Games (known for the Horizon and Killzone series) and the AAA support team Studio Gobo, it aims to bring the world of the Horizon games to a new generation — and a new platform, the Nintendo Switch.
Horizon Adventures isn’t the first Sony game on Switch. MLB: The Show routinely comes to both Nintendo’s console and Xbox, but that’s a licensed sports game, and Horizon is a key PlayStation franchise. It has a VR spin-off, a live-action adaptation confirmed for Netflix and an MMO heavily rumored in its future. Bringing the latest iteration of the series day one to Switch, then, is unusual.
“We’re trying to bring in as broad an audience as possible,” Guerilla Games narrative director James Windeler told Engadget. “The collaboration with Switch, that’s an incredibly unique opportunity … it will really help bring in a family-friendly audience.”
It’s also just a plain bigger audience. Nintendo’s console has been around since 2017, and the market for Switch games is over 140 million. (For context, there are around 58 million PlayStation 5s in the wild.) Lego titles are also in a tiny minority of non-Nintendo games to top the Switch retail sales charts.
The game itself, from the 30-minute demo I played, seems delightful. The world of Horizon translates well to Lego, with the robodinos in particular being a highlight. There is already a Forbidden West Tallneck Lego set and it would be extremely surprising if we don’t see Thunderjaws and Scrappers showing up in Lego stores soon. Combat is surprisingly faithful to the original games, with Aloy sneaking around tall grass to get a good angle on an enemy and using her Focus to spot weak points. Also faithful to the original games is that stealth can very quickly fall by the wayside in favor of frenetic dodging. Less faithful: I got through one tricky fight by repeatedly summoning a hot dog vendor to throw exploding franks all over the place. It is a Lego game, I guess.
Tone-wise, Guerilla is shooting for the Lego Movie-like cross-generational irreverent humor, which isn’t really my jam but I appreciate it. Windeler said Guerilla is trying to hit key elements of the first game without directly remaking it: “It's definitely not a one-to-one retelling, but neither is it a parody in the sense that you don't need to be a Horizon aficionado to really kind of respond to the humor. It's broader in that way.” The voice cast from the original games, including Ashly Burch as Aloy and JB Blanc as Rost, is back for Horizon Adventures and seemingly having a lot of fun. Burch’s delivery in particular is ultra wide-eyed and excited, more like her work as Tiny Tina in the Borderlands series or one of her many animated characters. It’s a fun spin on a traditionally stoic character.
Sony
Co-op is a big feature for Horizon Adventures. Local co-op is a drop-in, drop-out affair, which, as with most Lego games, enables an adult to easily help a kid get past a tricky area. But Lego games are also a lot of fun to play among consenting adults if you’re both into the particular franchise — I know plenty of grown-ups who live for Lego Star Wars. Away from the couch, there is online multiplayer, which is obviously more targeted at adults.
I am not a huge Horizon fan. Of all the open-world collect-a-thons, it’s one of my favorites, but it is very much not my genre. My partner is a fan, though, and we’re always on the lookout for middle-ground co-op games that can bridge the gap in our tastes. Maybe Horizon Adventures could be that, and I’ll become a real Horizon head because of it?
Finding new audiences is something Sony and Microsoft have been grappling with over the past couple of years. This Xbox-PlayStation generation has not seen as explosive growth as the last, and the kind of AAA experiences they typically shoot for are expensive to produce.
Microsoft seems to be committed to multiplatform releases for several established franchises it’s acquired, like Call of Duty, Diablo and Doom. It also ported four formerly exclusive titles — Hi-Fi Rush, Grounded, Pentiment and Sea of Thieves — to rivals’ machines earlier this year.
Sony’s approach has, until recently, been to court PC players with ports of older titles such as Horizon Zero Dawn and God of War. This year it also released Helldivers 2 on PC day one, which went very well until it didn’t. Company president Hiroki Totoki told investors in February that he “would like to go aggressive on improving our margin performance” (what a gamer!) by focusing more on multi-platform releases. The assumption at the time was that he was solely referring to PCs, but the Switch release of Horizon Adventures seemingly opens this effort up to more platforms.
It’s unlikely that Sony will bring its giant AAA games to a rival console at launch. But it could be that Sony begins to treat the Switch much like Nintendo used to treat mobile devices. The mid '10s saw an influx of Nintendo games on iPhone and Android, including Super Mario Run, Fire Emblem Heroes, Animal Crossing Pocket Camp and Mario Kart Tour. The strategy was pretty clear: Introduce Nintendo characters to a more casual audience, and convert a number of them over to the “full” experience. If Horizon Adventures goes well — and why would it not? — it’s easy to see Sony opening the floodgates and sending a bunch of its franchises to Nintendo’s mass-market console.
Lego Horizon Adventures launches 'Holiday 2024' on PlayStation 5, PC and Nintendo Switch.
Catch up on all of the news from Summer Game Fest 2024 right here!
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/lego-horizon-adventures-might-be-sonys-most-important-game-of-the-year-160026354.html?src=rss
After announcing several new Xbox Series X consoles including a $600 special edition model, Microsoft may be working on another one. In response to a question from IGN about portable gaming, Xbox chief Phil Spencer said "I think we should have a handheld."
That's a vague comment, but it certainly shows that the company is taking notice of all the portable PC gaming devices out there like the new Rog Ally X from ASUS and no doubt Sony's PlayStation Portal remote handheld. Such a device would also make a lot of sense for the Xbox platform.
"The future for us in hardware is pretty awesome, and the work that the team is doing around different form factors, different ways to play," he said. He then deferred any future questions about consoles to Xbox president Sarah Bond.
Spencer hypothetically kiboshed the idea of a Sony-like internet- or cloud-only device when asked about it, though. "I think being able to play games locally is really important," he said.
This by no means confirms the development of such a device and it wasn't the right event for such an announcement in any case. "Today was about the games... but we will have a time to come out and talk more about platform, and we can't wait to bring it to you."
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-xbox-chief-phil-spencer-i-think-we-should-have-a-handheld-123046226.html?src=rss
Microsoft showed off three new Xbox models yesterday at Summer Game Fest 2024, but anyone following the mass of leaks last year may have been surprised at how little changed for this mid-cycle refresh.
In case you didn’t follow the FTC-Microsoft trial last year, things went pretty well for Microsoft, ending in the company acquiring Activision Blizzard. One thing that didn’t go so well was redaction. Nestled among the court filings was a trove of internal documents, including one on the future of Xbox — or at least, one potential future, considered by Microsoft in May 2022.
Xbox head Phil Spencer told the FTC in October 2022 that the Roadmap to 2030 document was “a presentation from our devices organization to the gaming leadership team,” and said he disagreed with some of its projections. The slide deck outlined the team’s plan for its mid-cycle console refresh, codenamed Fairhaven, and its next-gen console. Essentially a pitch deck, then, comprising some things that were definitely happening and others that needed funding to become reality.
Let’s look at what was (un)announced:
Chronologically, May 2024 was to be a debut month for Sebile, the codename for an all-new controller. Sebile would ship with new wireless tech, which the document referred to as “Xbox Wireless 2." More exciting for gamers, it would also have advanced haptics like the Switch and PS5 controllers, and a Stadia-like direct-cloud connection for reducing input latency on Xbox Cloud Gaming.
Sebile, a proposed new Xbox controller from a May 2022 slide deck that leaked last year.
Microsoft
Then, Xbox’s big summer ’24 show (which in the real world happened yesterday) would bring a pair of new Xbox consoles. First, a cylindrical Xbox Series X redesign codenamed Brooklin, which was set to be a $500 2TB all-digital device with WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2 and a Sebile controller packed in. Second, Ellewood, a $300 Series S refresh with 1TB of storage, with the same improved wireless connectivity and the Sebile controller, but no big redesign.
Brooklin, a proposed new Xbox Series X SKU from a May 2022 slide deck that leaked last year.
Microsoft
The document noted that all three of these devices were “funded” but also gave two eventualities: one that would “limit Fairhaven investment” and another that would deliver the “full Fairhaven vision.” The former would pare down the new controller’s features and cloud connections, but would supposedly include a new industrial design.
Ellewood, a proposed new Xbox Series S SKU from a May 2022 slide deck that leaked last year.
Microsoft
Fast forward to Summer Game Fest 2024, where we appeared to get neither of these futures. We already figured that the Series S wouldn’t be refreshed, given Microsoft has been selling a $350 1TB version since last fall. But Microsoft’s vision for the Series X was unclear, and what we ended up with was a pretty weird pair of configurations: a 1TB all-digital Series X console priced at $450 and a 2TB special edition Series X with a disc drive, priced at $600. If there’s improved wireless connectivity Microsoft hasn’t mentioned it, and we’ve currently heard nothing of Sebile; the new consoles were announced with standard Xbox controllers.
Taken alone, these are fine refreshes. But Microsoft was in the unenviable position of competing with not only Sony and Nintendo, but also itself, in the form of those leaked plans.
Microsoft's actual 2024 Xbox refresh.
Microsoft
A $450 all-digital 1TB console and $600 2TB special edition are disappointing in comparison to Brooklin, the 2TB $500 all-digital console with a shiny new controller the leaked deck was pitching. The $450 console is almost a price increase, given Microsoft and third-party retailers regularly sell the original 1TB Series X for that price. (It should be mentioned that Sony has actually increased the price of the PlayStation 5, with the discless model priced at $450 vs. the $400 it cost at launch.) The $350 1TB Series S is essentially the same console we got last fall, but that too represents bad value compared to the leaked $300 refresh.
Plans change, especially plans dated May 2022. But how they change can give an idea of how Microsoft is thinking about Xbox right now. Back in 2022, Series X and S sales were broadly keeping pace with Xbox One. That is no longer the case. Estimates put the total number of Xbox Series consoles sold since the November 2020 launch between 28 and 29 million. Even in the US — Microsoft’s strongest market by far — retail analysts Circana say the Xbox Series consoles are trailing Xbox One by 13 percent.
One particularly telling slide in the May 2022 document predicted 25-29 million of the mid-cycle consoles could be sold in three years. As of today, that would mean more-than doubling the lifetime sales of the platform. At the time, Microsoft’s hardware team was probably not expecting sales to be as dismal as they currently are. Microsoft ended the last console generation with around 58 million Xbox One consoles sold, which was a marked decline from the 85-plus million Xbox 360s it moved.
A leaked slide from May 2022 suggested sales volume would depend on the amount of investment Microsoft makes on its mid-gen Xbox refresh.
Microsoft
Microsoft doesn't talk console sales figures unless it has something positive to say, but third-party analysis suggests a typical week for Xbox in 2024 involves moving 60-80K consoles, with Nintendo doubling that figure and Sony often tripling it. Put in plain words: Xbox falls further and further behind every week. It’s unlikely we’ll find out what Microsoft’s expectations for the refreshed consoles are, but it’s probably not 25-29 million.
The tough thing for team Xbox is Sony and Nintendo are broadly walking their own road and doing pretty well at it. Sony has sold 58 million PlayStation 5s and is preparing to launch a pro variant that will be significantly more powerful than the Xbox Series X. It’s also opening up to publishing on PC and just announced a game that’s coming to Nintendo Switch. Nintendo has sold over 140 million Switches, regularly outsells Xbox and has pre-announced a sequel console that will assumedly be able to handle current-gen games (including Call of Duty!) with fewer cutbacks. Meanwhile, Microsoft is struggling to sell its existing consoles, faltering in its plan to grow Game Pass subscriptions and seemingly squashed its hardware team’s dream of a bold mid-cycle refresh.
One thing it does have is game developers making games. Outside of the underwhelming new console SKUs, Microsoft’s big Summer Game Fest was a reminder of just how much of the industry it now owns, and how many games it currently has in development. We got updates on Fable, Perfect Dark and the future of Gears of War. We got a new Call of Duty and a new Doom. There are still countless developers under its wing that don’t have an “announced” project, and big games previously announced that didn’t make an appearance, like Marvel’s Blade from Arkane Lyon, The Outer Worlds 2 from Obsidian, Everwild from Rare and Hideo Kojima’s OD. Microsoft’s game studios have a lot going for them, but with all of their titles coming to PC (and several to PlayStation and Switch) great games might not turn into great console sales.
Phil Spencer has spoken on last year’s leaks a couple of times. He nearly-immediately took to Twitter to say that “so much has changed” — which was clearly true, though maybe not for the better. Separately, he told a court something pretty wild about Microsoft potentially leaving the gaming business if Game Pass didn’t get a better mix of players by 2026 or 2027. Game Pass growth, as of February this year, has been seriously tapering off, so… uh-oh?
I don’t for a second think Microsoft would spend the best part of $100 billion on developers to exit gaming, but I do sincerely believe that its console business is on life support, and it doesn’t need shiny new hardware to make a ton of money on gaming. The gaming leadership team that was pitched Sebile, Ellewood and Brooklin in May 2022 clearly agrees.
Catch up on all of the news from Summer Game Fest 2024 right here!
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsofts-xbox-refresh-cant-compete-with-its-leaked-roadmap-121301282.html?src=rss
Toward the end of the Xbox Games Showcase, Microsoft unveiled a refreshed console lineup. For the first time, the company will offer an Xbox Series X with no disc drive in a robot white colorway. It comes with 1TB of storage and will cost $450. The MSRP of the original Series X is $500, but it often goes on sale (Microsoft itself is currently selling the console for $450).
A Xbox Series X without a disc drive had long been expected. A leak in March suggested that an all-digital robot white model was in the works. As with the PS5 refresh Sony released last year, perhaps Microsoft will offer a disc drive attachment for folks who later decide they want to play physical games on their Series X too.
A special edition Xbox Series X will also soon be available. This model, in galaxy black, does have a disc drive and double the internal storage of the regular Series X at 2TB. It will come with a matching controller and cost $600.
The Xbox Series S is getting a more modest update. Microsoft released a 1TB model in carbon black last year, and a version with the same storage and original colorway is in the pipeline. The 1TB robot white option will be offered in select markets and cost $350. The company notes that the black model will be available "while supplies last," indicating it's phasing that variant out.
More details on availability and regional pricing will be revealed soon. Microsoft says it also has plans for controller designs to match certain games and more Xbox Series X console wraps.
Catch up on all of the news from Summer Game Fest 2024 right here!
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/an-all-digital-xbox-series-x-is-coming-this-holiday-season-184539660.html?src=rss