After showing a ton of exciting new games on the official Xbox Games Showcase, Microsoft made one thing very clear to me: I’m already geared up for the next generation, at least when it comes to Xbox games.
Virtually every game showcased at the event will make it to the best gaming PCs, which means I don’t have to worry about leaving tons of cash on new hardware in November. I can hang out on the hardware I spent thousands on in 2018.
And, at the end of the day, that comes down almost entirely to Games Pass Ultimate, a service I’ve subscribed to since it officially hit the PC in June 2019. It doesn’t look like I’m going to unsubscribe. anytime soon, either.
So let’s talk about Halo
It’s not even been a year since Halo: Reach released the Halo Master Chief Collection for PC, so it’s not like I’m exactly desperate for Halo content on PC. However, he would be lying if he said that he wasn’t nibbling to get Halo Infinite’s seemingly open campaign.
And for the first time since Halo 2, I will be able to play a Halo game at the same time as console gamers without having to give up my precious mouse and keyboard.
It almost seems like Halo is finally coming to PC with Halo: Infinite, and I can’t help but wonder if the demo shown at today’s event was working to its full potential. Be patient with me here.
After the demo was shown to the audience, we had a little chat with one of the developers, who told us that this game was running in native 4K at 60fps. However, the Xbox Series X only has one GPU that ranks between the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 and 2080 Super in terms of raw power. For those of us who are lucky enough to have an RTX 2080 Ti pushing frames into our computers, the game may look even better.
This is highly unlikely to be the case. Logic dictates that 343 Industries would brag about Halo: Infinite in all its glory, running on high-end PC hardware, rather than just what the Xbox Series X can do. However, while the game looks amazing, it doesn’t really look like a game that really pushes PC hardware any more than current-gen titles, not that that’s a bad thing.
Instead, I hope that because I have the extra power, there will be some ray tracing effects that I can activate, because I’m definitely the type that prefers pretty graphics at high frame rates, and that option is what PC games are. all about.
Games Pass comes with the classic flavor of PC gaming
There were two games showcased at the Xbox Games Event that were clearly love letters to the PC gaming world, and those were Obsidian’s Avowed and STALKER 2.
Both games made brief previews, but they both carry a great history and legacy of PC gaming along with them – Obsidian’s history of creating some of the most beloved PC roleplaying games like Neverwinter Nights 2 and STALKER 2 is the sequel to one of the most iconic PC games of all time.
More importantly, this will be the first time we will get an Obsidian game on a giant first-party budget, following Microsoft’s acquisition of the studio in 2019. The Studio has always been able to create magic in less-than-ideal conditions. . circumstances, even Bethesda showing up when he made Fallout: New Vegas after Fallout 3.
STALKER 2 is a little more mysterious, however. The last STALKER game came out in 2009 with Call of Pripyat, which, like all other games in the series, is an exclusive title for PC. It is unclear who is publishing the game, whether Microsoft is publishing it, or whether GSC Game World is self-publishing the title after having to cancel its first attempt at a STALKER 2 in 2011.
Either way, it will be the first time that a STALKER game will hit the console, but according to the game’s website, the game should be as ambitious as life-long fans would expect, and the developer claims it will have “one of the largest seamless open worlds to date. ”
What’s even better, though, is that these two exciting PC-flavored games will be part of Games Pass Ultimate. With STALKER especially, there is a level of density and difficulty in the game that may discourage some people from choosing it as a conventional game purchase. However, as part of a subscription, it may not be as threatening to try. I just hope that the transition to a console title doesn’t remove any of the rough ‘charms’ from the original games.
Give me all the games
While the fact that all of these games make it to PC is incredibly exciting, the fact that they’re included in the Games Pass Ultimate subscription is even better. What it essentially means is that I don’t have to spend money on an Xbox Series X console or you have to spend it on a full price game. There has been some indication that next-generation games will go up in price, and I’m exactly the stubborn type of person who will absolutely refuse to spend an additional ten bucks on a game.
However, the way I personally relate to PC gaming right now is through three different subscriptions: Games Pass Ultimate, Humble Monthly, and Origin Access. Through these three services, I get access to most of the biggest PC titles, and a healthy slice of the best standalone PC games, even if some of them are a little old.
If every one of the exciting titles shown on Xbox Games Showcase is coming to one of these subscription services, then it will be very easy for me to simply refuse to purchase any game that is released with a higher price of $ 70.
And, sure, I won’t ‘own’ these games, but look, I’ve been playing PC games almost exclusively for the last 15-20 years right now. I haven’t had a game I paid for in a while thanks to the complications surrounding ownership of digital games. At least this way I have access to all the latest cheap and early games, and in a post-game-owned world, that’s something that excites me.
