#xboxgamepass — Public Fediverse posts

📬 Xbox Cloud Gaming: Microsoft setzt dem Spielespaß ein Zeitlimit
#Gaming #CloudGaming #CloudGamingLimit #CloudSpielzeit #GamePassLimit #GamePassUltimate #GamingStreaming #Microsoft #ShadowPC #XboxCloudGaming #XboxGamePass https://sc.tarnkappe.info/f36210

📬 Xbox Cloud Gaming: Microsoft setzt dem Spielespaß ein Zeitlimit
#Gaming #CloudGaming #CloudGamingLimit #CloudSpielzeit #GamePassLimit #GamePassUltimate #GamingStreaming #Microsoft #ShadowPC #XboxCloudGaming #XboxGamePass https://sc.tarnkappe.info/f36210

📬 Xbox Cloud Gaming: Microsoft setzt dem Spielespaß ein Zeitlimit
#Gaming #CloudGaming #CloudGamingLimit #CloudSpielzeit #GamePassLimit #GamePassUltimate #GamingStreaming #Microsoft #ShadowPC #XboxCloudGaming #XboxGamePass https://sc.tarnkappe.info/f36210

📬 Xbox Cloud Gaming: Microsoft setzt dem Spielespaß ein Zeitlimit
#Gaming #CloudGaming #CloudGamingLimit #CloudSpielzeit #GamePassLimit #GamePassUltimate #GamingStreaming #Microsoft #ShadowPC #XboxCloudGaming #XboxGamePass https://sc.tarnkappe.info/f36210

📬 Xbox Cloud Gaming: Microsoft setzt dem Spielespaß ein Zeitlimit
#Gaming #CloudGaming #CloudGamingLimit #CloudSpielzeit #GamePassLimit #GamePassUltimate #GamingStreaming #Microsoft #ShadowPC #XboxCloudGaming #XboxGamePass https://sc.tarnkappe.info/f36210

XBOX | Game Pass | Novedades #XboxGamePass

Los próximos juegos que llegarán a los distintos catálogos de Game Pass y los títulos que se despiden.

➡️+INFO | https://vidas-infinitas.com/2026/09/01/xbox-game-pass-novedades-ingresos-y-bajas-1-septiembre-26/

#VidasInfinitas #Noticias #Gaming #XboxSeriesX #XboxSeriesS #XboxSeries #Xbox #XboxOne #XboxOneX #Xbox360 #Microsoft #Xbox #GamePass #GamePassUltimate #GamePassPC #XboxGamePass #GamePassConsola #XboxPC

XBOX | Game Pass | Novedades

Los próximos juegos que llegarán a los distintos catálogos de Game Pass, los títulos que se despiden y otros beneficios de la suscripción.

➡️+INFO | https://vidas-infinitas.com/2026/08/18/xbox-game-pass-novedades-ingresos-y-bajas-18-agosto-26/

#VidasInfinitas #Noticias #Gaming #XboxSeriesX #XboxSeriesS #XboxSeries #Xbox #XboxOne #XboxOneX #Xbox360 #Microsoft #Xbox #GamePass #GamePassUltimate #GamePassPC #XboxGamePass #GamePassConsola #XboxPC

https://www.europesays.com/ch-fr/255688/ Le jeu sous Linux pourrait franchir un nouvel obstacle majeur lié à l’exclusivité Windows #DXVK #HeroicGamesLauncher #InformationsSurDesOrdinateursPortatifs #JeuxSurLinux #Linux #microsoft #nouvelles #PCGamePass #proton #rapport #revues #Science #ScienceAndTechnology #Sciences #SciencesEtTechnologies #SteamDeck #Suisse #Technologies #Technology #test #VKD3DProton #wine #Xbox #XboxGamePass #Xodus

https://www.europesays.com/be-fr/208002/ Le jeu sous Linux pourrait franchir un nouvel obstacle majeur lié à l’exclusivité Windows #BE #BEFr #Belgique #Belgium #DXVK #HeroicGamesLauncher #InformationsSurDesOrdinateursPortatifs #JeuxSurLinux #Linux #Microsoft #nouvelles #PCGamePass #Proton #rapport #revues #Science #ScienceAndTechnology #Sciences #SciencesEtTechnologies #SteamDeck #Technologies #Technology #test #VKD3DProton #wine #xbox #XboxGamePass #Xodus

XBOX | Game Pass | Novedades #XboxGamePass

Los próximos juegos que llegarán a los distintos catálogos de Game Pass, los títulos que se despiden y otros beneficios de la suscripción.

➡️+INFO | https://vidas-infinitas.com/2026/08/04/xbox-game-pass-novedades-ingresos-y-bajas-4-agosto-26/

#VidasInfinitas #Noticias #Gaming #XboxSeriesX #XboxSeriesS #XboxSeries #Xbox #XboxOne #XboxOneX #Xbox360 #Microsoft #Xbox #GamePass #GamePassUltimate #GamePassPC #XboxGamePass #GamePassConsola #XboxPC

Argentina | oh! Gift Card aumentó un 100% el precio de las gift cards de Xbox Game Pass Ultimate

🟩Xbox Games Pass Ultimate
➡️1 mes a $36.500 (Antes $17.700)
➡️3 meses a $109.400 (Antes $53.100)

➡️+INFO | https://vidas-infinitas.com/2026/07/30/argentina-oh-gift-card-aumento-un-100-el-precio-de-las-gift-cards-de-xbox-game-pass-ultimate/

#VidasInfinitas #Noticias #Gaming #XboxSeriesX #XboxSeriesS #XboxSeries #Xbox #XboxOne #XboxOneX #Xbox360 #Microsoft #Xbox #GamePass #GamePassUltimate #GamePassPC #XboxGamePass #GamePassConsola #XboxPC

XBOX | Game Pass | Novedades #XboxGamePass

Los próximos juegos que llegarán a los distintos catálogos de Game Pass, los títulos que se despiden y otros beneficios de la suscripción.

➡️+INFO | https://vidas-infinitas.com/2026/07/21/xbox-game-pass-novedades-ingresos-y-bajas-21-julio-26/

#VidasInfinitas #Noticias #Gaming #XboxSeriesX #XboxSeriesS #XboxSeries #Xbox #XboxOne #XboxOneX #Xbox360 #Microsoft #Xbox #GamePass #GamePassUltimate #GamePassPC #XboxGamePass #GamePassConsola #XboxPC

XBOX | Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 no llegará a Game Pass tras haber sido anunciado

Microsoft eliminó, sin dar explicaciones, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 de la lista de próximos ingresos a Game Pass apenas unos días después de haber confirmado su llegada para el 21 de julio.

➡️+INFO | https://vidas-infinitas.com/2026/07/15/xbox-tony-hawks-pro-skater-1-2-no-llegara-a-game-pass-tras-haber-sido-anunciado-oficialmente/

#VidasInfinitas #Noticias #Gaming #XboxSeriesX #XboxSeriesS #XboxSeries #Xbox #XboxOne #Microsoft #Xbox #GamePass #GamePassUltimate #GamePassPC #XboxGamePass #GamePassConsola #XboxPC

Xbox Reset Is Very Painful But Absolutely Necessary

Welcome back Xbox fans and fellow geeks!

As a long-time Xbox fan and owner of three Xbox game consoles, I can say that this current console generation has been disappointing and the current state of Xbox gaming is a huge letdown.

With the approval of Microsoft’s leadership, Team Xbox acquired a lot of game companies that include the giants Activision-Blizzard-King (ABK) and Bethesda, going right down to the smaller game studios. Those were acquired with the promise of new and exciting games that would make Xbox gaming really great in the form of exclusive games, new content for Game Pass subscribers and more.

Sadly, things turned out really disappointing and now the new Xbox head Asha Sharma has the tremendous challenge of making drastic reforms, downsizing and correcting the cases of mismanagement by the previous leadership. That said, she declared a hard reset of the Xbox business and the changes are being implemented already.

To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the Xbox announcement focused on Asha Sharma’s message to the entire team. Some parts in boldface…

We are beginning the most significant restructure in XBOX history. After careful consideration, I’ve made the difficult decision to reduce our team by approximately 3,200 throughout FY27. This will include approximately 1,600 role eliminations today, and in addition, four studios will leave XBOX to new management. I recognize that a year-long restructuring creates additional challenges. Unfortunately, it is not possible to make all the necessary changes in a single day, and I wanted to be direct about the scale.

I know this is painful. These changes will directly affect people who have poured their creativity into building XBOX. Many joined us through acquisitions, while others were recruited here, or sought us out because they loved this industry and loved XBOX. Today’s decisions do not reflect their talent or dedication.

Our business today is not healthy. We are operating at margins that are 3-10x lower than comparable platform and publishing businesses. We entered Gen 9 with a smaller install base and a higher cost structure. To grow, we bet on Game Pass, multi-platform, and a broader portfolio of content. While those businesses have created meaningful value, they did not grow at the pace we expected. As that happened, our core business weakened, and we added more teams, more investment, and more time, hoping for a better outcome. And now the industry is facing the most severe hardware crisis in its history. We must reset XBOX.

First, we will reset our content portfolio.

Since 2018, we have aggressively expanded our studio portfolio while the number of games created each month across the industry now outpaces the last ten years combined. We now find ourselves competing not only with the largest publishers, but also with smaller independent studios. It is neither possible nor desirable to own every great independent studio. We have also learned that we are not the best home for every type of studio; in a typical year, we lost 64 cents for every dollar we invested. As we reset XBOX, we will help independent creators succeed by providing open development tools and audiences to realize their vision.

Compulsion Games and Double Fine Productions will return to management and transition to independent studios with their IP, catalog, and runway for their next games. Ninja Theory and Undead Labs have entered terms to join new ownership with funding to complete and grow Senua and State of Decay 3. In France, Arkane’s management is beginning required consultation with its Works Council to review potential strategic options.

We are also making reductions across other units, and in some cases, shifting investment to focus on higher priority projects. These changes vary in size across Activision, Bethesda/ZeniMax, Blizzard, King, Mojang, and XBOX Game Studios. None of our first party publicly announced games or projects are being cancelled as part of these reductions.

In addition, Mojang and King will now report directly to me. These two studios have increasingly become platforms and are our largest by monthly active players. They bring critical geographic, demographic, and differentiation to XBOX.

Second, we will reset our platform.

We know that great technology gets better when it gets simpler, not bigger. Today, in some parts of the company, work passes through as many as 14 layers of management. Our platform teams are 40% larger than they were at the start of this generation, even as our player base and playtime have declined. That complexity has slowed decisions, blurred accountability, and made it harder to deliver for players. As we reset XBOX, we will simplify.

We will reduce management layers to no more than 5, and where possible, 3. We will deliver success through a flatter organization that is built around makers (individual contributors focused on building), player-coaches (leaders who remain deeply involved in the work while developing their teams), and directly responsible individuals (DRIs) who own key decisions and outcomes. And we will streamline how we work across our tools, with a cleaner code base, shared services, and 50% reduced vendor spend.

Third, we are resetting how we operate.

As XBOX grew our headcount, we became more fragmented. Teams, studios, and functions often operate independently, and it became harder to work towards a shared goal, make the right tradeoffs, and get things done.

For the first time, we are establishing a Chief Operating Officer with end-to-end P&L responsibility across content, hardware, platform, and services. Helen Chiang has been promoted to this role and will report directly to me. Over nearly two decades at XBOX, Helen has helped build some of our most important businesses, from XBOX Live to leading Mojang and the Minecraft franchise. She will bring our businesses together under one operating model, making sure we make clear investment decisions, learn from our successes and failures, and hold ourselves accountable for results.

Thank you, Dave McCarthy, who is retiring after 17 years with XBOX. Dave has played a defining role in building the platform that millions of players rely on every day and has been a trusted partner through many of the biggest moments in XBOX’s history. We wish him all the best.

These changes are about a bigger future for XBOX, not a smaller one. The next decade of gaming will be larger, more global, and more creative than anything we’ve seen before. This year, we’ll invest as much in XBOX as we ever have, but we’ll invest with greater focus, greater discipline, and greater clarity, all in service of making XBOX where the world plays and creates.

I want XBOX to be one of the few companies that entertains more than a billion people each day and gives everyone the opportunity to create and connect.

To see the full message, click https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2026/07/06/resetting-xbox/

Indeed, the Xbox business model deteriorated financially and became much harder to manage. The billions of Dollars spent on Xbox gaming over the past several years did not result in the great gaming experiences for fans and gamers, nor did it compel the Xbox game studios to become productive and disciplined.

First-party games of Xbox in the generation of Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S have been lackluster in quality and enjoyment overall. I played Starfield a lot on my Xbox Series X via Xbox Game Pass and my enjoyment of it has been limited compared with other games of Bethesda. Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II was fun at first but it ended up being hollow. As the said Ninja Theory-developed game lacked depth with its gameplay and game design, I never bothered to replay it after finishing it. Obsidian Entertainment, a company that specialized in making role-playing games (RPGs), produced new RPGs under the Xbox umbrella but none of them were great. In fact, Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2 ended up as commercial failures.

Going back to Asha Sharma’s message, I can say that letting go of Compulsion Games and Double Fine Productions was the right move as the huge amount of money Team Xbox spent of them did not result in great games. Compulsion Games’ South of Midnight was a $100,000,000 production that ended up with sales of way below one million copies. More notably, Compulsion Games has a discriminating woke and hateful community manager who goes by the handle @PikaChulita. Look at the captured evidence below.

Speaking of wokeness and discrimination, the controversial Matt Hansen has been laid off from Obsidian Entertainment. Hansen was heavily involved in the huge disappointment called Avowed. That being said, Team Xbox should really REMOVE all the untalented woke activists among its many game developers. Those activists – the feminists, the LGBTQ mob, the Islamists, the Black Lives Matter zealots and others – do not care about making great games at all and they have been misusing Microsoft’s money to turn new Xbox games into vehicles of Leftist/woke/socialist propaganda. Xbox should also cut off any ties with the super woke Sweet Baby Inc.

When it comes to the larger entities like Activision, Bethesda/ZeniMax, Blizzard, King and Mojang, the layoffs are painful but it makes sense to shift investment to focus on higher priority projects. Activision should regain focus on ensuring quality and great fun with its continued productions of Call of Duty (COD) games. Bethesda has to deliver new Fallout and The Elder Scrolls games faster and with the highest quality possible.

With the way things are right now, I am not certain if I will pursue the next-generation Xbox console called “Project Helix”. Memory has gotten much more expensive in recent times due to extremely high demand from artificial intelligence (AI) data centers and the memory manufacturers’ deals with AI companies. How much memory could the next-generation Xbox have and could its retail price exceed $1,000 at launch?

Indeed, the future of Xbox gaming is really clouded and I can only hope that the hard reset of the Xbox business under Asha Sharma will create positive changes and results. To say the least, the reforms have started and only time will tell what will happen next.

In ending this blog post, posted below are selected YouTube videos about the state of Xbox for your enlightenment.  

https://youtu.be/2BZBoBAZGsc?si=aL2iNzIiW6It6zvF

https://youtu.be/G7gFcdPmUeM?si=RjfV62K2TEgK4W4c

https://youtu.be/B8jITSU6IfM?si=npeGI3VDmYPRoX4n

https://youtu.be/qWFSICcym9c?si=OVgz7K77aGsISa2N

https://youtu.be/DeUV3IqEZRU?si=U4mZnmOQGY2V6CKO

https://youtu.be/O_1YpnEKkxA?si=yKa24vue7V60KilE

https://youtu.be/FGFD1W415FE?si=NI380YIxmaw2CNBg

+++++

Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below, share this article to others and also please consider making a donation to support my publishing. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me with a private message. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me on Twitter at @CarloCarrascoPH as well as on Tumblr at https://carlocarrasco.tumblr.com/ and on Instagram athttps://www.instagram.com/authorcarlocarrasco

Xbox Reset Is Very Painful But Absolutely Necessary

Welcome back Xbox fans and fellow geeks!

As a long-time Xbox fan and owner of three Xbox game consoles, I can say that this current console generation has been disappointing and the current state of Xbox gaming is a huge letdown.

With the approval of Microsoft’s leadership, Team Xbox acquired a lot of game companies that include the giants Activision-Blizzard-King (ABK) and Bethesda, going right down to the smaller game studios. Those were acquired with the promise of new and exciting games that would make Xbox gaming really great in the form of exclusive games, new content for Game Pass subscribers and more.

Sadly, things turned out really disappointing and now the new Xbox head Asha Sharma has the tremendous challenge of making drastic reforms, downsizing and correcting the cases of mismanagement by the previous leadership. That said, she declared a hard reset of the Xbox business and the changes are being implemented already.

To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the Xbox announcement focused on Asha Sharma’s message to the entire team. Some parts in boldface…

We are beginning the most significant restructure in XBOX history. After careful consideration, I’ve made the difficult decision to reduce our team by approximately 3,200 throughout FY27. This will include approximately 1,600 role eliminations today, and in addition, four studios will leave XBOX to new management. I recognize that a year-long restructuring creates additional challenges. Unfortunately, it is not possible to make all the necessary changes in a single day, and I wanted to be direct about the scale.

I know this is painful. These changes will directly affect people who have poured their creativity into building XBOX. Many joined us through acquisitions, while others were recruited here, or sought us out because they loved this industry and loved XBOX. Today’s decisions do not reflect their talent or dedication.

Our business today is not healthy. We are operating at margins that are 3-10x lower than comparable platform and publishing businesses. We entered Gen 9 with a smaller install base and a higher cost structure. To grow, we bet on Game Pass, multi-platform, and a broader portfolio of content. While those businesses have created meaningful value, they did not grow at the pace we expected. As that happened, our core business weakened, and we added more teams, more investment, and more time, hoping for a better outcome. And now the industry is facing the most severe hardware crisis in its history. We must reset XBOX.

First, we will reset our content portfolio.

Since 2018, we have aggressively expanded our studio portfolio while the number of games created each month across the industry now outpaces the last ten years combined. We now find ourselves competing not only with the largest publishers, but also with smaller independent studios. It is neither possible nor desirable to own every great independent studio. We have also learned that we are not the best home for every type of studio; in a typical year, we lost 64 cents for every dollar we invested. As we reset XBOX, we will help independent creators succeed by providing open development tools and audiences to realize their vision.

Compulsion Games and Double Fine Productions will return to management and transition to independent studios with their IP, catalog, and runway for their next games. Ninja Theory and Undead Labs have entered terms to join new ownership with funding to complete and grow Senua and State of Decay 3. In France, Arkane’s management is beginning required consultation with its Works Council to review potential strategic options.

We are also making reductions across other units, and in some cases, shifting investment to focus on higher priority projects. These changes vary in size across Activision, Bethesda/ZeniMax, Blizzard, King, Mojang, and XBOX Game Studios. None of our first party publicly announced games or projects are being cancelled as part of these reductions.

In addition, Mojang and King will now report directly to me. These two studios have increasingly become platforms and are our largest by monthly active players. They bring critical geographic, demographic, and differentiation to XBOX.

Second, we will reset our platform.

We know that great technology gets better when it gets simpler, not bigger. Today, in some parts of the company, work passes through as many as 14 layers of management. Our platform teams are 40% larger than they were at the start of this generation, even as our player base and playtime have declined. That complexity has slowed decisions, blurred accountability, and made it harder to deliver for players. As we reset XBOX, we will simplify.

We will reduce management layers to no more than 5, and where possible, 3. We will deliver success through a flatter organization that is built around makers (individual contributors focused on building), player-coaches (leaders who remain deeply involved in the work while developing their teams), and directly responsible individuals (DRIs) who own key decisions and outcomes. And we will streamline how we work across our tools, with a cleaner code base, shared services, and 50% reduced vendor spend.

Third, we are resetting how we operate.

As XBOX grew our headcount, we became more fragmented. Teams, studios, and functions often operate independently, and it became harder to work towards a shared goal, make the right tradeoffs, and get things done.

For the first time, we are establishing a Chief Operating Officer with end-to-end P&L responsibility across content, hardware, platform, and services. Helen Chiang has been promoted to this role and will report directly to me. Over nearly two decades at XBOX, Helen has helped build some of our most important businesses, from XBOX Live to leading Mojang and the Minecraft franchise. She will bring our businesses together under one operating model, making sure we make clear investment decisions, learn from our successes and failures, and hold ourselves accountable for results.

Thank you, Dave McCarthy, who is retiring after 17 years with XBOX. Dave has played a defining role in building the platform that millions of players rely on every day and has been a trusted partner through many of the biggest moments in XBOX’s history. We wish him all the best.

These changes are about a bigger future for XBOX, not a smaller one. The next decade of gaming will be larger, more global, and more creative than anything we’ve seen before. This year, we’ll invest as much in XBOX as we ever have, but we’ll invest with greater focus, greater discipline, and greater clarity, all in service of making XBOX where the world plays and creates.

I want XBOX to be one of the few companies that entertains more than a billion people each day and gives everyone the opportunity to create and connect.

To see the full message, click https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2026/07/06/resetting-xbox/

Indeed, the Xbox business model deteriorated financially and became much harder to manage. The billions of Dollars spent on Xbox gaming over the past several years did not result in the great gaming experiences for fans and gamers, nor did it compel the Xbox game studios to become productive and disciplined.

First-party games of Xbox in the generation of Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S have been lackluster in quality and enjoyment overall. I played Starfield a lot on my Xbox Series X via Xbox Game Pass and my enjoyment of it has been limited compared with other games of Bethesda. Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II was fun at first but it ended up being hollow. As the said Ninja Theory-developed game lacked depth with its gameplay and game design, I never bothered to replay it after finishing it. Obsidian Entertainment, a company that specialized in making role-playing games (RPGs), produced new RPGs under the Xbox umbrella but none of them were great. In fact, Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2 ended up as commercial failures.

Going back to Asha Sharma’s message, I can say that letting go of Compulsion Games and Double Fine Productions was the right move as the huge amount of money Team Xbox spent of them did not result in great games. Compulsion Games’ South of Midnight was a $100,000,000 production that ended up with sales of way below one million copies. More notably, Compulsion Games has a discriminating woke and hateful community manager who goes by the handle @PikaChulita. Look at the captured evidence below.

Speaking of wokeness and discrimination, the controversial Matt Hansen has been laid off from Obsidian Entertainment. Hansen was heavily involved in the huge disappointment called Avowed. That being said, Team Xbox should really REMOVE all the untalented woke activists among its many game developers. Those activists – the feminists, the LGBTQ mob, the Islamists, the Black Lives Matter zealots and others – do not care about making great games at all and they have been misusing Microsoft’s money to turn new Xbox games into vehicles of Leftist/woke/socialist propaganda. Xbox should also cut off any ties with the super woke Sweet Baby Inc.

When it comes to the larger entities like Activision, Bethesda/ZeniMax, Blizzard, King and Mojang, the layoffs are painful but it makes sense to shift investment to focus on higher priority projects. Activision should regain focus on ensuring quality and great fun with its continued productions of Call of Duty (COD) games. Bethesda has to deliver new Fallout and The Elder Scrolls games faster and with the highest quality possible.

With the way things are right now, I am not certain if I will pursue the next-generation Xbox console called “Project Helix”. Memory has gotten much more expensive in recent times due to extremely high demand from artificial intelligence (AI) data centers and the memory manufacturers’ deals with AI companies. How much memory could the next-generation Xbox have and could its retail price exceed $1,000 at launch?

Indeed, the future of Xbox gaming is really clouded and I can only hope that the hard reset of the Xbox business under Asha Sharma will create positive changes and results. To say the least, the reforms have started and only time will tell what will happen next.

In ending this blog post, posted below are selected YouTube videos about the state of Xbox for your enlightenment.  

https://youtu.be/2BZBoBAZGsc?si=aL2iNzIiW6It6zvF

https://youtu.be/G7gFcdPmUeM?si=RjfV62K2TEgK4W4c

https://youtu.be/B8jITSU6IfM?si=npeGI3VDmYPRoX4n

https://youtu.be/qWFSICcym9c?si=OVgz7K77aGsISa2N

https://youtu.be/DeUV3IqEZRU?si=U4mZnmOQGY2V6CKO

https://youtu.be/O_1YpnEKkxA?si=yKa24vue7V60KilE

https://youtu.be/FGFD1W415FE?si=NI380YIxmaw2CNBg

+++++

Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below, share this article to others and also please consider making a donation to support my publishing. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me with a private message. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me on Twitter at @CarloCarrascoPH as well as on Tumblr at https://carlocarrasco.tumblr.com/ and on Instagram athttps://www.instagram.com/authorcarlocarrasco

Xbox Reset Is Very Painful But Absolutely Necessary

Welcome back Xbox fans and fellow geeks!

As a long-time Xbox fan and owner of three Xbox game consoles, I can say that this current console generation has been disappointing and the current state of Xbox gaming is a huge letdown.

With the approval of Microsoft’s leadership, Team Xbox acquired a lot of game companies that include the giants Activision-Blizzard-King (ABK) and Bethesda, going right down to the smaller game studios. Those were acquired with the promise of new and exciting games that would make Xbox gaming really great in the form of exclusive games, new content for Game Pass subscribers and more.

Sadly, things turned out really disappointing and now the new Xbox head Asha Sharma has the tremendous challenge of making drastic reforms, downsizing and correcting the cases of mismanagement by the previous leadership. That said, she declared a hard reset of the Xbox business and the changes are being implemented already.

To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the Xbox announcement focused on Asha Sharma’s message to the entire team. Some parts in boldface…

We are beginning the most significant restructure in XBOX history. After careful consideration, I’ve made the difficult decision to reduce our team by approximately 3,200 throughout FY27. This will include approximately 1,600 role eliminations today, and in addition, four studios will leave XBOX to new management. I recognize that a year-long restructuring creates additional challenges. Unfortunately, it is not possible to make all the necessary changes in a single day, and I wanted to be direct about the scale.

I know this is painful. These changes will directly affect people who have poured their creativity into building XBOX. Many joined us through acquisitions, while others were recruited here, or sought us out because they loved this industry and loved XBOX. Today’s decisions do not reflect their talent or dedication.

Our business today is not healthy. We are operating at margins that are 3-10x lower than comparable platform and publishing businesses. We entered Gen 9 with a smaller install base and a higher cost structure. To grow, we bet on Game Pass, multi-platform, and a broader portfolio of content. While those businesses have created meaningful value, they did not grow at the pace we expected. As that happened, our core business weakened, and we added more teams, more investment, and more time, hoping for a better outcome. And now the industry is facing the most severe hardware crisis in its history. We must reset XBOX.

First, we will reset our content portfolio.

Since 2018, we have aggressively expanded our studio portfolio while the number of games created each month across the industry now outpaces the last ten years combined. We now find ourselves competing not only with the largest publishers, but also with smaller independent studios. It is neither possible nor desirable to own every great independent studio. We have also learned that we are not the best home for every type of studio; in a typical year, we lost 64 cents for every dollar we invested. As we reset XBOX, we will help independent creators succeed by providing open development tools and audiences to realize their vision.

Compulsion Games and Double Fine Productions will return to management and transition to independent studios with their IP, catalog, and runway for their next games. Ninja Theory and Undead Labs have entered terms to join new ownership with funding to complete and grow Senua and State of Decay 3. In France, Arkane’s management is beginning required consultation with its Works Council to review potential strategic options.

We are also making reductions across other units, and in some cases, shifting investment to focus on higher priority projects. These changes vary in size across Activision, Bethesda/ZeniMax, Blizzard, King, Mojang, and XBOX Game Studios. None of our first party publicly announced games or projects are being cancelled as part of these reductions.

In addition, Mojang and King will now report directly to me. These two studios have increasingly become platforms and are our largest by monthly active players. They bring critical geographic, demographic, and differentiation to XBOX.

Second, we will reset our platform.

We know that great technology gets better when it gets simpler, not bigger. Today, in some parts of the company, work passes through as many as 14 layers of management. Our platform teams are 40% larger than they were at the start of this generation, even as our player base and playtime have declined. That complexity has slowed decisions, blurred accountability, and made it harder to deliver for players. As we reset XBOX, we will simplify.

We will reduce management layers to no more than 5, and where possible, 3. We will deliver success through a flatter organization that is built around makers (individual contributors focused on building), player-coaches (leaders who remain deeply involved in the work while developing their teams), and directly responsible individuals (DRIs) who own key decisions and outcomes. And we will streamline how we work across our tools, with a cleaner code base, shared services, and 50% reduced vendor spend.

Third, we are resetting how we operate.

As XBOX grew our headcount, we became more fragmented. Teams, studios, and functions often operate independently, and it became harder to work towards a shared goal, make the right tradeoffs, and get things done.

For the first time, we are establishing a Chief Operating Officer with end-to-end P&L responsibility across content, hardware, platform, and services. Helen Chiang has been promoted to this role and will report directly to me. Over nearly two decades at XBOX, Helen has helped build some of our most important businesses, from XBOX Live to leading Mojang and the Minecraft franchise. She will bring our businesses together under one operating model, making sure we make clear investment decisions, learn from our successes and failures, and hold ourselves accountable for results.

Thank you, Dave McCarthy, who is retiring after 17 years with XBOX. Dave has played a defining role in building the platform that millions of players rely on every day and has been a trusted partner through many of the biggest moments in XBOX’s history. We wish him all the best.

These changes are about a bigger future for XBOX, not a smaller one. The next decade of gaming will be larger, more global, and more creative than anything we’ve seen before. This year, we’ll invest as much in XBOX as we ever have, but we’ll invest with greater focus, greater discipline, and greater clarity, all in service of making XBOX where the world plays and creates.

I want XBOX to be one of the few companies that entertains more than a billion people each day and gives everyone the opportunity to create and connect.

To see the full message, click https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2026/07/06/resetting-xbox/

Indeed, the Xbox business model deteriorated financially and became much harder to manage. The billions of Dollars spent on Xbox gaming over the past several years did not result in the great gaming experiences for fans and gamers, nor did it compel the Xbox game studios to become productive and disciplined.

First-party games of Xbox in the generation of Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S have been lackluster in quality and enjoyment overall. I played Starfield a lot on my Xbox Series X via Xbox Game Pass and my enjoyment of it has been limited compared with other games of Bethesda. Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II was fun at first but it ended up being hollow. As the said Ninja Theory-developed game lacked depth with its gameplay and game design, I never bothered to replay it after finishing it. Obsidian Entertainment, a company that specialized in making role-playing games (RPGs), produced new RPGs under the Xbox umbrella but none of them were great. In fact, Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2 ended up as commercial failures.

Going back to Asha Sharma’s message, I can say that letting go of Compulsion Games and Double Fine Productions was the right move as the huge amount of money Team Xbox spent of them did not result in great games. Compulsion Games’ South of Midnight was a $100,000,000 production that ended up with sales of way below one million copies. More notably, Compulsion Games has a discriminating woke and hateful community manager who goes by the handle @PikaChulita. Look at the captured evidence below.

Speaking of wokeness and discrimination, the controversial Matt Hansen has been laid off from Obsidian Entertainment. Hansen was heavily involved in the huge disappointment called Avowed. That being said, Team Xbox should really REMOVE all the untalented woke activists among its many game developers. Those activists – the feminists, the LGBTQ mob, the Islamists, the Black Lives Matter zealots and others – do not care about making great games at all and they have been misusing Microsoft’s money to turn new Xbox games into vehicles of Leftist/woke/socialist propaganda. Xbox should also cut off any ties with the super woke Sweet Baby Inc.

When it comes to the larger entities like Activision, Bethesda/ZeniMax, Blizzard, King and Mojang, the layoffs are painful but it makes sense to shift investment to focus on higher priority projects. Activision should regain focus on ensuring quality and great fun with its continued productions of Call of Duty (COD) games. Bethesda has to deliver new Fallout and The Elder Scrolls games faster and with the highest quality possible.

With the way things are right now, I am not certain if I will pursue the next-generation Xbox console called “Project Helix”. Memory has gotten much more expensive in recent times due to extremely high demand from artificial intelligence (AI) data centers and the memory manufacturers’ deals with AI companies. How much memory could the next-generation Xbox have and could its retail price exceed $1,000 at launch?

Indeed, the future of Xbox gaming is really clouded and I can only hope that the hard reset of the Xbox business under Asha Sharma will create positive changes and results. To say the least, the reforms have started and only time will tell what will happen next.

In ending this blog post, posted below are selected YouTube videos about the state of Xbox for your enlightenment.  

https://youtu.be/2BZBoBAZGsc?si=aL2iNzIiW6It6zvF

https://youtu.be/G7gFcdPmUeM?si=RjfV62K2TEgK4W4c

https://youtu.be/B8jITSU6IfM?si=npeGI3VDmYPRoX4n

https://youtu.be/qWFSICcym9c?si=OVgz7K77aGsISa2N

https://youtu.be/DeUV3IqEZRU?si=U4mZnmOQGY2V6CKO

https://youtu.be/O_1YpnEKkxA?si=yKa24vue7V60KilE

https://youtu.be/FGFD1W415FE?si=NI380YIxmaw2CNBg

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Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below, share this article to others and also please consider making a donation to support my publishing. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me with a private message. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me on Twitter at @CarloCarrascoPH as well as on Tumblr at https://carlocarrasco.tumblr.com/ and on Instagram athttps://www.instagram.com/authorcarlocarrasco

XBOX | Game Pass | Novedades #XboxGamePass

Los próximos juegos que llegarán a los distintos catálogos de Game Pass, los títulos que se despiden y otros beneficios de la suscripción.

➡️+INFO | https://vidas-infinitas.com/2026/07/07/xbox-game-pass-novedades-ingresos-y-bajas-7-julio-26/

#VidasInfinitas #Noticias #Gaming #XboxSeriesX #XboxSeriesS #XboxSeries #Xbox #XboxOne #XboxOneX #Xbox360 #Microsoft #Xbox #GamePass #GamePassUltimate #GamePassPC #XboxGamePass #GamePassConsola #XboxPC

Upcoming Game Vivarium Deserves Your Attention

Welcome back Xbox fans, anime fans and fellow geeks!

The recent Xbox Games Showcase generated a lot of buzz and already Xbox enthusiasts are delighted to see Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution as confirmed Xbox console-exclusives, the other first-party games with release dates (or release windows) and other upcoming video games from different publishers.

Under the new Team Xbox leadership, the return to exclusive games has been received positively and it is expected to intensify as the next-generation of consoles approaches. At this stage, the current generation of Xbox Series X|S is ending and the new Xbox leadership made it clear they are in for the long-term of gaming.

Going back to the upcoming games announced by different publishers, the game Vivarium (developed by Studio Meadowflower and published by Serenity Forge) caught my attention. For your curiosity, watch the official reveal trailer below.

https://youtu.be/LL_TyajdnGc?si=gQIAvIKJBPsr5DTl

Scheduled for release on Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox on PC, Steam, the Epic Games store and Xbox Game Pass (XGP) sometime in 2027, Vivarium is a life-sim adventure inspired by classic hand-drawn anime TV shows and films. As seen in the above trailer, it features a cozy slice-of-life game design, has a dynamic system and there are local residents (non-playable characters) players can interact with as they explore the world. In terms of visuals and art style, Vivarium looks like a Studio Ghibli production.

Gamers will play as Jenny, an 11-year-old girl who has a lot to discover and learn in Vivarium’s world. The local neighborhood has lots of characters that each has branching and dynamic storylines. Days in the game are synced to the player’s real-world calendar, allowing for daily new discoveries while unraveling its mysterious narrative. Confirmed in-game activities include cooking, tending to the garden, collecting items, crafting items, repairing equipment and decorating the home to name some.

At of this writing, Vivarium looks like it has something fresh to offer to Xbox gamers, especially those who like animation, the cozy in-game settings, life simulations and in-depth interactions with NPCs. Hopefully a final release date in 2027 will be announced.

For more information about Vivarium, click https://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/store/vivarium/9P93GJZMZNZJ

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Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below, share this article to others and also please consider making a donation to support my publishing. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me with a private message. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me on Twitter at @CarloCarrascoPH as well as on Tumblr at https://carlocarrasco.tumblr.com/ and on Instagram athttps://www.instagram.com/authorcarlocarrasco

XBOX | Game Pass | Novedades #XboxGamePass

Los próximos juegos que llegarán a los distintos catálogos de Game Pass, los títulos que se despiden y otros beneficios de la suscripción.

➡️+INFO | https://vidas-infinitas.com/2026/06/16/xbox-game-pass-novedades-ingresos-y-bajas-16-junio-26/

#VidasInfinitas #Noticias #Gaming #XboxSeriesX #XboxSeriesS #XboxSeries #Xbox #XboxOne #XboxOneX #Xbox360 #Microsoft #Xbox #GamePass #GamePassUltimate #GamePassPC #XboxGamePass #GamePassConsola #XboxPC

XBOX | Game Pass | Novedades #XboxGamePass

Los próximos juegos que llegarán a los distintos catálogos de Game Pass y los títulos que se despiden.

➡️+INFO | https://vidas-infinitas.com/2026/06/03/xbox-game-pass-novedades-ingresos-y-bajas-3-junio-26/

#VidasInfinitas #Noticias #Gaming #XboxSeriesX #XboxSeriesS #XboxSeries #Xbox #XboxOne #XboxOneX #Xbox360 #Microsoft #Xbox #GamePass #GamePassUltimate #GamePassPC #XboxGamePass #GamePassConsola #XboxPC

Discord Nitro aboneleri için müjde! Xbox Game Pass'in yeni bir giriş seviyesi paketi artık ücretsiz. Discord ve Microsoft ortaklığıyla oyun deneyiminiz genişliyor! 🎮

🚩 #DiscordNitro #XboxGamePass #Oyun #Gaming #Microsoft #GamePass

https://www.wacoca.com/games/1374389/ Xbox Game Pass と Discord: パートナーシップの発展が、より多くの特典をプレイヤーに提供 ##GAMING #discord #DiscordNitro #Game #GameNews #games #GamingNews #Xbox #XboxGamePass #ゲーミング #ゲーム #ゲーム攻略 #ゲーム最新情報

Check out Xbox Casuals: An Xbox Podcast every other Friday. #XboxCasuals #XboxGamePass #Xbox #XboxConsoles #XboxPodcast #ProjectHelix #DiscordNitro #XboxCommunity

https://buff.ly/85pNwIb

Check out Xbox Casuals: An Xbox Podcast every other Friday. #XboxCasuals #XboxGamePass #Xbox #XboxConsoles #XboxPodcast #ProjectHelix #DiscordNitro #XboxCommunity
https://youtu.be/ZbaYfMZMA1g?si=vjJ_1FNY44s3qPgr

Xbox Game Pass Starter Edition just leaked and it might be bundled with Discord Nitro. 🎮 🎧

🎙️ In this clip from Xbox Casuals, Josh Finney and I react to the leak of a new Game Pass tier that reportedly includes 50+ games like Stardew Valley, Fallout 4, Hades, DOOM Eternal, Gears 5, and more, along with perks like limited monthly cloud gaming and access to select titles from your Xbox library.

#XboxCasuals #XboxGamePass #Xbox #XboxConsoles #XboxPodcast #ProjectHelix #DiscordNitro

RE: https://mastodontech.de/@drwindows/115965865582237069

Neue #Oberfläche für #XboxCloudGaming 👀

Habt ihr bereits mal #xboxgamepassultimate ausprobiert und unterwegs #games #gezockt?

Mittlerweile ist mit der #gamepassultimate ja zu teuer für mein Nutzungszenario. Als ich den damals mal inklusive #cloudgaming ausprobiert habe hat mich das aber schon abgeholt 🥰 🎮☁️

#xbox #xboxgamepass #gaming #gamer #discord

Xbox Game Pass'e Aralık ayında 13 yeni oyun geliyor! 🔥 Listede Mortal Kombat 1 gibi beklenen yapımlar da var. Hangi oyunu ilk deneyeceksiniz? Yorumlarınızı bekliyoruz!

🚩 #XboxGamePass #MortalKombat1 #YeniOyunlar #GamePass #OyunHaberleri

Mortal Kombat 1, Indiana Jones, Death Howl… anunciados los juegos de Game Pass de diciembre

https://powerups.es/mortal-kombat-1-indiana-jones-death-howl-anunciados-los-juegos-de-game-pass-de-diciembre/

#Noticias #GamePass #IndianaJonesYElGranCrculo #MortalKombat1 #XboxGamePass

Mortal Kombat 1, Indiana Jones, Death Howl… anunciados los juegos de Game Pass de diciembre

https://powerups.es/mortal-kombat-1-indiana-jones-death-howl-anunciados-los-juegos-de-game-pass-de-diciembre/

#Noticias #GamePass #IndianaJonesYElGranCrculo #MortalKombat1 #XboxGamePass

Mortal Kombat 1, Indiana Jones, Death Howl… anunciados los juegos de Game Pass de diciembre

https://powerups.es/mortal-kombat-1-indiana-jones-death-howl-anunciados-los-juegos-de-game-pass-de-diciembre/

#Noticias #GamePass #IndianaJonesYElGranCrculo #MortalKombat1 #XboxGamePass

Mortal Kombat 1, Indiana Jones, Death Howl… anunciados los juegos de Game Pass de diciembre

https://powerups.es/mortal-kombat-1-indiana-jones-death-howl-anunciados-los-juegos-de-game-pass-de-diciembre/

#Noticias #GamePass #IndianaJonesYElGranCrculo #MortalKombat1 #XboxGamePass

Guys.

This is 🥇

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8K8EqMZocdY

#Videogames #Gaming #Games #Xbox #Microsoft #MicrosoftGaming #XboxGamePass #GamePass #XboxSeriesS #XboxSeries #XboxSeriesX #XboxAlly #XboxAllyX #Console #ConsoleWar #Consoles #Skit #Funny #Sketch #WarpZone #Comedy #Shorts

Going to self-promote here my last article:

When #Xbox Died?

https://medium.com/p/1781b032d050

#Videogames #Games #Gaming #Microsoft #MicrosoftGaming #GamePass #XboxGamePass #ConsoleWar #PlayStation #PS4 #PlayStation4 #XboxSeries #XboxSeriesS #XboxSeriesX #XboxAlly #XboxAllyX #Console #Consoles #GamingIndustry #Halo #GearsOfWar #Activision #Bethesda

Xbox Game Pass z ogromną podwyżką także w Polsce. Cena Ultimate skoczyła o ponad 55%

Microsoft gruntownie przebudował swoją flagową usługę subskrypcyjną, wprowadzając nowe nazwy pakietów, dodatkową zawartość i przede wszystkim – dotkliwe podwyżki cen.

Najmocniej odczują je polscy użytkownicy najdroższego planu Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, którego cena wzrosła z dnia na dzień o ponad 55%.

Nowe ceny obowiązują od dziś już w oficjalnym cenniku usługi Microsoftu dla graczy. Microsoft wprowadził spore przetasowanie w ofercie Game Pass. Zmieniły się nazwy i zawartość poszczególnych progów, a także ich ceny. Dla polskich graczy nowy cennik prezentuje się następująco:

• Xbox Game Pass Essential (wcześniej Core) – cena wzrasta z 29 zł do 36,99 zł miesięcznie.
• Xbox Game Pass Premium (wcześniej Standard) – cena pozostaje bez zmian i wynosi 54,99 zł miesięcznie.
• Xbox Game Pass Ultimate – cena wzrasta z 73,99 zł do aż 114,99 zł miesięcznie.
• PC Game Pass – cena wzrasta z 47,99 zł do 62,99 zł miesięcznie.

Uzasadnieniem tak drastycznych zmian, zwłaszcza w przypadku pakietu Ultimate, ma być znaczne wzbogacenie oferty. Do najdroższego abonamentu dodano dostęp do katalogu Ubisoft+ Classics (osobno kosztującego 34 zł/mies.) oraz zapowiedziano dodanie od listopada subskrypcji Ekipa Fortnite (warte 42,49 zł/mies.).

Spore ulepszenia, jak je promuje Microsoft, dotknęły też tańsze progi – plan Premium zyskał dostęp do grania w chmurze i gier na PC (dotychczas zarezerwowany dla Ultimate), a w Essential (dawny Core) podwojono bibliotekę gier.

Mimo dodania nowej zawartości, reakcja graczy na zmiany była natychmiastowa i w dużej mierze negatywna. Jak donoszą zagraniczne media, gwałtowna podwyżka ceny planu Ultimate spotkała się z falą krytyki i masowym anulowaniem subskrypcji.

Ruch na stronie Microsoftu umożliwiającej rezygnację z subskrypcji miał być tak duży, że w pewnym momencie pojawiły się problemy techniczne z przetworzeniem wszystkich rezygnacji. Gracze argumentują, że dodanie usług Ubisoftu i Fortnite nie jest dla każdego atrakcyjne, a podwyżka jest narzucona wszystkim użytkownikom.

Zmiany w Game Pass to wyraźny sygnał, że Microsoft kończy okres intensywnego pozyskiwania subskrybentów niską ceną i przechodzi do etapu monetyzacji swojej ogromnej bazy użytkowników. Czas pokaże, czy dodanie gier takich jak Hogwarts Legacy czy kilkunastu odsłon serii Assassin’s Creed w ramach Ubisoft+ wystarczy, by przekonać graczy do zaakceptowania nowych, znacznie wyższych stawek.

LG wprowadza Xbox Cloud Gaming (beta) na telewizory Smart TV

#abonament #cena #fortnite #GamePassUltimate #Gracze #Gry #Microsoft #news #podwyżka #subskrypcja #Ubisoft #Xbox #XboxGamePass

Few thoughts about the new #XboxGamePass prices. I have #GamePassUltimate until March 2026 (converted it from Gold in 2022 for 3 years, and I also bought an Asus gaming laptop and a #ROGAlly). They have a lot of good #IndieGames this year, but the problem is that I bought all these games last year.
#Xbox #XboxSeriesX #Microsoft #GamePass

Gears of War Reloaded and Helldivers II Show the Industry is Changing ❎ 🎧

🌐 🔗 https://bossrush.net/2025/08/29/xbox-casuals-episode-50-xbox-shows-big-at-gamescom-2025-and-silksong-has-a-release-date/

Josh Finney and I discuss Gamescom, the Xbox ROG Ally X, Indiana Jones DLC, and Hollow Knight: Silksong. We also talk about Gears of War Reloaded and Helldivers II, and the impact of these games appearing on rival platforms.

#xbox #xboxgamepass #gearsofwarreloaded #helldivers2 #gamescom2025 #openingnightlive #bebetter

LG has brought Xbox Cloud Gaming to select smart TVs, allowing gamers to play without a console and directly rivaling Samsung’s lead. This shift underscores the growing momentum behind cloud gaming, but common internet issues and limited industry-wide adoption mean consoles still hold the crown for now.

#CloudGaming #XboxGamePass #LGTv #SmartTVGaming #ConsoleVsCloud #TechTrends #FutureOfGaming #TECHi

Read Full Article Here :- https://www.techi.com/cloud-gaming-arrives-lg-tv-console-irreplaceable/

Best praise I've read for #MickGordon.

"Since they didn't have Mick for the next #Doom, they had to adjust the game for another kind of soundtrack."

#DoomTheDarkAges #Videogames #Gaming #Games #DoomEternal #Doom2016 #Microsoft #Xbox #Bethesda #idSoftware #GamePass #XboxGamePass #MicrosoftGaming

**Contains some spoilers for Persona 3 Reload**

I’ve been having the best journey I could possibly have with Persona 3 Reload. It has been a surge of story twists and side-stories to remember in the future. It’s a game that leaves a lasting impression on us, a rarity, a little gem, a precious treasure, a work of art, a pleasure through and through. I’m so glad I can play this now among many other good games. Atlus is on a spree and the year is only at the start. I believe I’ll be playing Atlus games for the remainder of 2024 but I’ll try to take some breaks with other games in between. Usually, I play one long game and one short game at the same time. When I finish a long game, I play another short game, and then start a new long-running game. However, this time, from all the games I’ve installed on pc or started on Switch, it’s always something in the order of 100+ hours.

When I wrote about Trails of Cold Steel, I thought “how am I going to play this now?” and I really, really want to, but I think it will have to wait a bit. I intend to play Soul Hackers 2 after finishing Persona 3 Reload. On the Switch I’m playing Shin Megami Tensei V and now we have the Vengeance variation coming. Should I finish my version or start the new one? Do I even have time and health for any of this? Why am I even thinking about this? Since my brain is glitching, I need to do two things. Enjoy the games that I’m currently playing and maybe read the internet a little less often. Being on top of things happening this year is exhausting. We already knew this would happen at the start of 2024 with jrpgs. I will buy the Switch games I want, and they will rest comfortably on my display until I have time to play them. And then a new console will come. There’s no point in being on top of things.

Persona 3 Reload deserves all the time I could put into it and after the events of the first part, where we all thought we would defeat the last Shadow and end the Dark Hour, there was a twist. We were betrayed by the one who guided our steps. It isn’t unheard of, but it hurts nonetheless. When I started Persona 3 Portable on the Switch just to take a peek and compare the character portraits (and I admit, it was also an excuse to hear Tara Platt as Mitsuru again) he showed up and I dreaded him. And what about all the cameras in our rooms? Are they only for my entertainment or was he also spying on us? Everyone seems to be oblivious to those, and I, as a silent character, have no will of my own.

Something bad happened to Mitsuru so she had to take a break to take care of her business at the Kirijo Group. Right after the conclusion of special events and interactions, a text box shows with a few words about what our character’s thinking in reaction to those events. After what happened to Mitsuru our main character showed his highschooler empathy by thinking that Mitsuru cried like a child. You know, as one does with the loss of a dear family member. One cries like a child. Throw in a tantrum for good measure while we’re at it. “I hope you put more effort in when you try romancing her,” I thought. All went well in the end, and our main character behaved more like himself, maturing along with his lover and friends, in the dawn of a catastrophic Fall.  

The story with Elizabeth happened a bit before my romance with Mitsuru. I got an invitation that I decided to accept. After all, I wasn’t yet committed with anyone, all my social links were in friendly terms and Elizabeth had some curiosity about what one does in a gentleman’s room. I boldly accepted her request, only to hear that she cherished every moment with me, but she couldn’t abandon her important station. After the initial grief, I came to terms with it, that her help was invaluable to fight the Fall and abandoning ourselves to love would only mean said love would be very short living. She had her Master, and I had the contract I signed taking full responsibility for my actions. In P3P that contract gave me access to the Velvet Room. If there’s any relation between the contract, the Velvet Room and Pharos I’m none the wiser.

Speaking of, we got a new transfer student right at the end of the semester. It was strange to see Ryoji so grown up all of a sudden. At the time I didn’t know what to think, and my main character didn’t seem to notice the likeness of an old friend. Aigis reacted strongly against him and I, being as I am on Aigis side at all times, detested his honey voice and his advances on other girls and on myself. I know how much of a hunting ground a high school can be. Put Junpei and Ryoji in the same room and you see what’s the intended audience for this game. I bet Ryoji would have been a success on the beach setting, a setting so familiar to a person who had to witness it from the other side. It was there that Aigis came to us, and that event saved the setting for me, because everything else wasn’t from a world I would like to belong to, although unfortunately I still have to.

Elizabeth’s requests are almost fulfilled. Yesterday I accidentally killed the last boss inside the Monad door that fulfilled the last request she had in store for me before the 100th one, which is to kill the Reaper. I tried it once, but his damage output was too much for my tanking capabilities and for the buffs I had at the time. Once I learn how to trigger his arrival in Tartarus, I’ll bring a team that can deal with him. Having Personas with severe and massive magical damage is a game-changer, especially when they hit weaknesses and debuffed enemies. I love to use Concentrate, prepare a sequence of debuffs, and then finish enemies with my Satan. It doesn’t work every time but when it does it’s a sight to behold.

I made sure to give Junpei the white flowers for Chidori. I was reading a random guide about gifts and stumbled upon it by chance. The time window to give him the white flowers is short, but I had a save from before the tour to Kyoto. I reloaded it and gave him the flowers. After our tour, the flowers showed at her room when she was visited by the Strega. We still had to fight her, but I think she’s now transmogrified rather that dead. I’m still unsure if the flowers had any effect or if it’s something only featured in P3P. We didn’t kill Chidori. It was an unfortunate circumstance that made her lose her life-force. It was for a good reason, though, and it made for a beautiful part of the story. The post-event thoughts of our character matched the mood, and nobody cried like a child this time.

Then came the revelation of doom, but not before Aigis engaged on a solo mission after finally realizing who a certain mysterious individual was. After running through her long-term memories and connecting the dots (maybe with the invaluable help of Koromaru) she decided to deal with unfinished business from ten years ago by her lonesome. I appreciate the romantic nature of this enemy, the fragility of his docile appearance in contrast with his immense power. After all, death flirts with us during our entire lives. Whether we like it or not, our bodies will ultimately fall into its embrace. However, what I like even more is the machine protector, the one that goes to great lengths to save our lives and does so with stoic disposition. Aigis is one of the best characters in the game.

I’m happy to have her back. We had to wait a few weeks while she was under repairs. She came to us even better than before, more human and knowledgeable of human ways, which isn’t necessarily a good thing. From that convo at the command room between Ryoji and the rest of the group I sensed danger. My lack of sympathy for him remained even though he’s meaningful in relation to the Arcana he represents. “I’m here and I’m your friend, I love you but my arrival means you’re dead. Could you please kill me now in order to forget everything so that you can get killed later and live the remaining of your lives in blissful ignorance?” What about Aigis? I saw she didn’t forget, however she sided with Ryoji’s opinion about his annihilation. The protector would run out of something to protect, their purpose gone and mankind with them.

This is more or less where I’m at. In terms of social links there wasn’t anything substantial happening before and after the ultimate decision. I maxed more social links than I think I could, but after a certain point I had to prioritize. We had a free week at the start of January, so I used that time for dates during the day and exploring Tartarus at night. My new social link is upgraded but I don’t feel I’ll be able to fuse Messiah on this playthrough. I’m in unknown territory now. Nyx, the Mother of Shadows, is supposed to reveal herself at the top level of Tartarus, and I’ve already reached the point where I can’t proceed yet. Now it’s a waiting game. I see that I’ve still some months left in the game, so I believe that at the end of January I won’t be defeating the last boss. I haven’t started Aigis’ social link yet and some previous dialogue seemed to hint at some future interaction. I may be wrong. My heart may be taken but she’s still my protector so far.

https://swordofseiros.wordpress.com/2024/02/22/the-cold-hands-of-death/

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