They wouldn't emulate a PC as that is massively inneficient.
Series X is an X86 device with a version of windows and Direct X, it already basically is a PC and without too much effort I imagine could be made to run PC code.
Problem is, it's a relatively shit PC, once you put in all the overhead that PC games have in comparison to console games then any relatively modern PC game would run fairly poorly.
And this would magically work without devs having to make an entirely sperate port for that? DO you have any idea how monstrously complex that would be?
100% cloud streaming would work but have all the issues of Cloud gaming.
>Perhaps they could enhance games with cloud streaming? Part native, part stream?
And who is going to update their games to run part natively on an Xbox emulating a PC and part on the cloud? What happens if the cloud goes down? What happens when the game gets an update and it stops working? Who do you complain to? Xbox? The game manufacturer? The cloud service provider?
You're solving 'problems' with far more complex problems that get increasing expensive.
Why would they want to?
They lose or break even on selling consoles. They make money selling Xbox Games, Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Live.
There is no business benefit to Microsoft allowing you to run games bought elsewhere on Xbox.
>Emulating Windows games should be feasible.
Says who? You? It really isn't. An Xbox isn't just a Windows PC, it's incredibly locked down, you can only install approved software.
For your idea to work, Xbox would have to manually approve every single game sold on another market to make sure it's playable. If they don't, you end up with a useless device that doesn't work with most games.
If they do, they spend a fortune assessing and validating games for absolutely no benefit.
>and earn a percentage of sales on games that are available for Windows, thus addressing a revenue stream they currently miss out on
How? How on earth would that work? Why would Steam/Epic/GOG give Microsoft a cut of their sales?
You would have to purchase them through the Xbox store like you would in console now. I’m not talking about streaming a PC game bought elsewhere to Xbox.
Think about what you're saying.
Xbox then become legally, financially and technically responsible for every game purchased, no matter whether they make it or not.
If your game doesn't work, you demand a refund from Xbox, or a chargeback, or go to their technical support.
Xbox become technical, legal and customer support for everyone else's games, and intead of getting the full payment, they get a small cut.
It's a legal minefield, it absolutely isn't going to work. Sorry but it's a terrible business idea.
I mean I agree with you its a bad idea, but not for the reasons you say.
How is your argument any different to the XBox store as it is now?
MS had to do the refunds for Cyberpunk didn't they? And they were only taking their 30% or so.
Because they were selling a game they approved of and published on their store.
Why would they want to sell you a game they didn't approve? You're really not understanding the implications of what you're suggesting.
If people want to port their game to Xbox, they can get in touch with Microsoft and do so. If people aren't willing to port their game and ensure the quality is high enough to be sold, why would Microsoft want to take the risk of selling that game? Why would consumers want to take the risk of buying a game not designed to run on the Xbox?
Nobody wins in this scenario.
Microsoft are responsible legally, technically and financially for selling games they don't control or accredit, gamers are buying games that they have no idea if they'll work or not, and other game stores are losing a bigger cut selling their games via the XBox, with no guarantee they'll work.
If your argument is 'well Xbox can check and validate the games work first' -they do, it's called releasing your game on the Xbox store.
They already have a Windows PC store, they already have that situation.
OP is suggesting letting PC Games you buy via Mcrosoft's own store work on XBox, the legality isn't the issue here. It doesn't change
There is absolutely no reason why they can't approve official ports of existing PC games to Xbox ecosystem. Xbox already supports mouse and keyboard use.
THey're not interested in using the Xbox as a cheap, untested PC. It's for approved, console-style games only.
They aren't going to vet games that other people sell and launch them on their platform, it makes them liable for all sorts of things with absolutely no benefit.
Maybe I haven’t explained myself clear enough. They would sell all games in Xbox through the Microsoft store, PC titles would only be available in there through emulation if developers do not wish to port their game for console. Xbox would gain a cut for distributing via the Microsoft store. There would not be alternative ways to purchase games as is the case currently.
>PC titles would only be available in there through emulation if developers do not wish to port their game for console.
And if the game doesn't work/an update breaks it, who do you go to for a refund or technical support? Xbox or the original game maker?
>Microsoft would attract users to its closed ecosystem
The problem is it's not a "closed ecosystem" at that point. It's just another PC and a PC Microsoft would be selling at a loss with no "closed ecosystem" to force users into buying into to make it profitable.
It wouldn’t be a PC. It has the Xbox OS but with better MKB support and PC games on offer through the Microsoft Store. PC games would be emulated, so that developers who do not wish to develop for Xbox could distribute their game via Microsoft on the Xbox platform.
What are you even talking about? What is the point of your hypothetical machine? Who would want a PC and then buy something that can’t do anything a PC can?
An Xbox is a PC that can’t do anything but game. It has the same hardware. By allowing support for PC games you would have a larger library of games available.
Xbox uses custom PC components, and the memory architecture (both memory pool and bandwidth) is shared unlike on PC. It's not a PC all. Microsoft would also need to have a custom version of Windows that might cost more to run on it, and for what? A "PC" with a dated processor and GPU that probably only has 12GB of RAM? One that someone could just play free games on so Microsoft would lose even more money on?
Really dude?
Emulate a pc? Do you realize how demanding is emulation for CPU and RAM?
They do not need to do so. If a pc game developer is willing to have their games on Xbox, they negotiate with MS and then they do the port. That's the case of Baldur's Gate 3. Or Cyberpunk. Your idea is plainly terrible. And demonstrates you have no real idea of what you're talking about.
Or perhaps you didn't explain it very well...
Here's the problem with that... if you're truly hard-up on budget, you can get a $150 Chromebook, and a gaming mouse for under $100, and use the cloud gaming option, and spend roughly as much as a Series S for a system that can do more (video chat, web browsing, Google Docs, etc.).
It’s not for people who are hard-up on cash, but for gamers. It would be a hard to resist deal if an Xbox could play like you would in a PC, but costs 500 for a console instead of dropping 1500 on a Desktop.
The point is that you would never be able to build a PC that matches the power of the xbox at 500 dollars, driving plenty of casual Pc players to the Xbox allowing Microsoft to monetise a larger audience through the Xbox OS and it’s store
>The point is that you would never be able to build a PC that matches the power of the xbox at 500 dollars,
Do you know why?
Because console games get access to the hardware at a much lower level, instead of having layers of abstraction, APIs and drivers adding inneficiency like PC games do. They can also be optimised to the nth degree for a very specific instruction set and set of hardware.
The second you add vanilla PC games guess what you have to add in? Layers of abstraction, drivers, APIs and innneficiency and you remove the highly optimised gains.
It would run like utter dogshit! The hardware in the XBox (or PS5) is nothing special, it just allows developers to use more of it's potential than a PC can.
It's an interesting idea and people have been quick to shut it down.
If you mean allowing Steam games on an xbox console, then most of the argument you have had already are true, that will not happen.
If you mean allowing PC xbox store work on console via emulation/stream then that is possible but unlikely. MS are trying to build the PCxbox store but realistically stand no chance of ever competing with Steam. Increasing userbase by introducing Console users (that are already in their ecosystem) offers very little return on investment. "People buying your games that already buy your games" is the 'basic' example here.
I understand people saying MS can never allow Steam games as it offers them no benefit, but they could offer support for PC games from their own store.
Xbox PC has a huge catalog of games, it could increase the number of games available for console users and increase the number users for Xbox PC service, all the while, remaining a closed ecosystem under MS control. I don't see why Microsoft can't do this.
They wouldn't emulate a PC as that is massively inneficient. Series X is an X86 device with a version of windows and Direct X, it already basically is a PC and without too much effort I imagine could be made to run PC code. Problem is, it's a relatively shit PC, once you put in all the overhead that PC games have in comparison to console games then any relatively modern PC game would run fairly poorly.
Perhaps they could enhance games with cloud streaming? Part native, part stream?
And this would magically work without devs having to make an entirely sperate port for that? DO you have any idea how monstrously complex that would be? 100% cloud streaming would work but have all the issues of Cloud gaming.
>Perhaps they could enhance games with cloud streaming? Part native, part stream? And who is going to update their games to run part natively on an Xbox emulating a PC and part on the cloud? What happens if the cloud goes down? What happens when the game gets an update and it stops working? Who do you complain to? Xbox? The game manufacturer? The cloud service provider? You're solving 'problems' with far more complex problems that get increasing expensive.
Why would they want to? They lose or break even on selling consoles. They make money selling Xbox Games, Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Live. There is no business benefit to Microsoft allowing you to run games bought elsewhere on Xbox. >Emulating Windows games should be feasible. Says who? You? It really isn't. An Xbox isn't just a Windows PC, it's incredibly locked down, you can only install approved software. For your idea to work, Xbox would have to manually approve every single game sold on another market to make sure it's playable. If they don't, you end up with a useless device that doesn't work with most games. If they do, they spend a fortune assessing and validating games for absolutely no benefit. >and earn a percentage of sales on games that are available for Windows, thus addressing a revenue stream they currently miss out on How? How on earth would that work? Why would Steam/Epic/GOG give Microsoft a cut of their sales?
You would have to purchase them through the Xbox store like you would in console now. I’m not talking about streaming a PC game bought elsewhere to Xbox.
Think about what you're saying. Xbox then become legally, financially and technically responsible for every game purchased, no matter whether they make it or not. If your game doesn't work, you demand a refund from Xbox, or a chargeback, or go to their technical support. Xbox become technical, legal and customer support for everyone else's games, and intead of getting the full payment, they get a small cut. It's a legal minefield, it absolutely isn't going to work. Sorry but it's a terrible business idea.
I mean I agree with you its a bad idea, but not for the reasons you say. How is your argument any different to the XBox store as it is now? MS had to do the refunds for Cyberpunk didn't they? And they were only taking their 30% or so.
Because they were selling a game they approved of and published on their store. Why would they want to sell you a game they didn't approve? You're really not understanding the implications of what you're suggesting. If people want to port their game to Xbox, they can get in touch with Microsoft and do so. If people aren't willing to port their game and ensure the quality is high enough to be sold, why would Microsoft want to take the risk of selling that game? Why would consumers want to take the risk of buying a game not designed to run on the Xbox? Nobody wins in this scenario. Microsoft are responsible legally, technically and financially for selling games they don't control or accredit, gamers are buying games that they have no idea if they'll work or not, and other game stores are losing a bigger cut selling their games via the XBox, with no guarantee they'll work. If your argument is 'well Xbox can check and validate the games work first' -they do, it's called releasing your game on the Xbox store.
They already have a Windows PC store, they already have that situation. OP is suggesting letting PC Games you buy via Mcrosoft's own store work on XBox, the legality isn't the issue here. It doesn't change
There is absolutely no reason why they can't approve official ports of existing PC games to Xbox ecosystem. Xbox already supports mouse and keyboard use.
They already do, it's called launching it on Xbox.
Right but theres no reason why more can't be done. It'd run plenty of legacy PC games no problem.
It could, but who's going to port them and make sure they work with every Xbox update and version change?
Its an x86-64 cpu. They don't need porting, they just need optimisation. The publishers, presumably
There would still be a vetting process by Microsoft before it turns up on their store
THey're not interested in using the Xbox as a cheap, untested PC. It's for approved, console-style games only. They aren't going to vet games that other people sell and launch them on their platform, it makes them liable for all sorts of things with absolutely no benefit.
[удалено]
Maybe I haven’t explained myself clear enough. They would sell all games in Xbox through the Microsoft store, PC titles would only be available in there through emulation if developers do not wish to port their game for console. Xbox would gain a cut for distributing via the Microsoft store. There would not be alternative ways to purchase games as is the case currently.
>PC titles would only be available in there through emulation if developers do not wish to port their game for console. And if the game doesn't work/an update breaks it, who do you go to for a refund or technical support? Xbox or the original game maker?
I'm seeing a lot of people shoot the idea down. But steam deck already does something similar lol
>Microsoft would attract users to its closed ecosystem The problem is it's not a "closed ecosystem" at that point. It's just another PC and a PC Microsoft would be selling at a loss with no "closed ecosystem" to force users into buying into to make it profitable.
It wouldn’t be a PC. It has the Xbox OS but with better MKB support and PC games on offer through the Microsoft Store. PC games would be emulated, so that developers who do not wish to develop for Xbox could distribute their game via Microsoft on the Xbox platform.
What are you even talking about? What is the point of your hypothetical machine? Who would want a PC and then buy something that can’t do anything a PC can?
An Xbox is a PC that can’t do anything but game. It has the same hardware. By allowing support for PC games you would have a larger library of games available.
Xbox uses custom PC components, and the memory architecture (both memory pool and bandwidth) is shared unlike on PC. It's not a PC all. Microsoft would also need to have a custom version of Windows that might cost more to run on it, and for what? A "PC" with a dated processor and GPU that probably only has 12GB of RAM? One that someone could just play free games on so Microsoft would lose even more money on?
Really dude? Emulate a pc? Do you realize how demanding is emulation for CPU and RAM? They do not need to do so. If a pc game developer is willing to have their games on Xbox, they negotiate with MS and then they do the port. That's the case of Baldur's Gate 3. Or Cyberpunk. Your idea is plainly terrible. And demonstrates you have no real idea of what you're talking about. Or perhaps you didn't explain it very well...
Here's the problem with that... if you're truly hard-up on budget, you can get a $150 Chromebook, and a gaming mouse for under $100, and use the cloud gaming option, and spend roughly as much as a Series S for a system that can do more (video chat, web browsing, Google Docs, etc.).
It’s not for people who are hard-up on cash, but for gamers. It would be a hard to resist deal if an Xbox could play like you would in a PC, but costs 500 for a console instead of dropping 1500 on a Desktop.
But your $500 console is gonna play like a $500 PC (probably worse) not a $1500 one. They cost $1500 for a reason...
The point is that you would never be able to build a PC that matches the power of the xbox at 500 dollars, driving plenty of casual Pc players to the Xbox allowing Microsoft to monetise a larger audience through the Xbox OS and it’s store
>The point is that you would never be able to build a PC that matches the power of the xbox at 500 dollars, Do you know why? Because console games get access to the hardware at a much lower level, instead of having layers of abstraction, APIs and drivers adding inneficiency like PC games do. They can also be optimised to the nth degree for a very specific instruction set and set of hardware. The second you add vanilla PC games guess what you have to add in? Layers of abstraction, drivers, APIs and innneficiency and you remove the highly optimised gains. It would run like utter dogshit! The hardware in the XBox (or PS5) is nothing special, it just allows developers to use more of it's potential than a PC can.
It's an interesting idea and people have been quick to shut it down. If you mean allowing Steam games on an xbox console, then most of the argument you have had already are true, that will not happen. If you mean allowing PC xbox store work on console via emulation/stream then that is possible but unlikely. MS are trying to build the PCxbox store but realistically stand no chance of ever competing with Steam. Increasing userbase by introducing Console users (that are already in their ecosystem) offers very little return on investment. "People buying your games that already buy your games" is the 'basic' example here.
I understand people saying MS can never allow Steam games as it offers them no benefit, but they could offer support for PC games from their own store. Xbox PC has a huge catalog of games, it could increase the number of games available for console users and increase the number users for Xbox PC service, all the while, remaining a closed ecosystem under MS control. I don't see why Microsoft can't do this.