Games Inbox: Does Indiana Jones on PS5 mean Xbox is now multiformat?

The Wednesday letters page reacts to the idea of Xbox going third party, as one reader is unimpressed by Emio – The Smiling Man.

All formats
Wow, Indiana Jones And The Great Circle is out early December on Xbox, and spring on the PlayStation 5. So that’s, what, a maximum of five months to wait for the PlayStation 5 version of one of Xbox’s biggest (former) exclusives? Even after the rumours, it’s a lot sooner wait than I think most people were expecting.
Pretty big change of direction for Microsoft, and I think it says a lot about their plans going forward.

I guess the big question still is, will it be just Bethesda games going multiplatform, or all new Xbox releases? Are Microsoft going to become more like a games publisher than hardware maker? A new Valve perhaps, especially with their planned new app store? But if this is the new norm, then surely this can only help the demand for Sony’s platform going forward?

And if the point is to sell more of their games, will it be released on Switch 2 as well? Does this mean the Switch 2 is out by the end of spring?

Lots of questions still to be answered then, but I think ultimately it’s good news for gamers if more people get to play these top games.
Stephen

GC: We don’t think the PlayStation 5 launch date necessarily says anything about the Switch 2 launch, but we would be surprised if the game didn’t end up on Nintendo’s new console. Even if it’s underpowered compared to the other two consoles there was a surprisingly good Switch port of MachineGames’ Wolfenstein 2.

Change of focus
I have come to the conclusion Phil Spencer and company might be the dumbest executives in gaming history. Not because Indiana Jones is going multiformat (expect a Switch 2 version also). No, the fact they announced it at Gamescom. The release date was meant to be the big reveal. Instead, it was overshadowed by the PlayStation 5 announcement. You couldn’t make it up!

When have you ever seen Sony or Nintendo announce the expiration period for a timed exclusive? A smart company at least waits until next year to announce the PlayStation 5 version. Or at least doesn’t make a big deal about it being multiformat. Microsoft clearly have no interest in selling hardware. The Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6 segment didn’t even advertise Game Pass, day one. Xbox marketing is abysmal.

Perhaps the leaked info forced their hand? But making the PlayStation 5 announcement the big reveal is laughable. I can’t say I’m surprised by any of this. Xbox management have been a clown show for years.
Si
PS: Great preview of Indiana Jones And The Great Circle. It was already my most anticipated game. Even more so now.

The long game
So that’s it then, the beginning of the end, if it hadn’t already started, of Microsoft as a console manufacturer. Whatever the future of Xbox is it has little or nothing to do with selling consoles. Instead, they’re just slowly becoming a third party publisher like any other. As one reader put it before, instead of just buying Activision Blizzard they’ve become them.

If that’s their plan then that’s one thing but what gets me is the embarrassingly disorganised way they’re going about it. Why did they say that Indiana Jones is coming to PlayStation 5 and give a rough date? What’s that going to do but stop people from buying it on Xbox or signing up for Game Pass. That information doesn’t do anything except immediately make you want to invest less in the Xbox ecosystem.

The only thing I could possibly see as a sympathetic explanation for Microsoft is that they’ve basically given up at this point and are now waiting until streaming is reliable enough that they can take advantage of that and consoles become irrelevant. In theory they could leapfrog PlayStation at the point but how far off is that? Five? 10? 15 years? Even then I wouldn’t trust them to get it right if Phil Spencer is still in charge.
Ashton Marley

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Comeback trail
So how does Gamescom fit into your diaries? Do you guys get to attend it in person? Or will you be covering it from home/GC headquarters?

Are there more opportunities than normal for interviews at this time from developers, or preview events taking place that you’re attending, either online or in person?

Keep up the good work!
Stephen

GC: This year will be the first time we’ve been in person since the pandemic. It still seems to be a shadow of its former self but there’ll be at least a few previews and interviews that will come out of it. Our hope is that both it and Summer Game Fest will gradually improve from here on out, but we’ll have to see.

Catching up
Normally I just roll my eyes and read something else when people are going on about whether a Nintendo console is powerful or not, because it usually doesn’t matter. But this time I really am interested, because it is going to greatly affect their third party support.

The ever decreasing leaps forward in graphics, from one generation to the next, are working in Nintendo’s favour, to the point where even if a new game doesn’t look as good on the Switch 2 it’ll still probably work. It’ll just be like playing it on PC with lower graphics settings.

This means, in theory, that publishers will flock to the new console and it’ll have a full range of third party games, plus everything from Nintendo. The problem is that the price will probably be the same even though the graphics are worse.

Maybe they won’t charge £70 (although some probably still will) but even £60 for something you know is inferior is going to upset some people. We’ll have to wait and see I guess.
Winston

Perfect companion
All this Alien talk, both Romulus and Isolation, reminded me that Andy Kelly’s Perfect Organism is almost due for publishing at Unbound, and I can’t remember if this has been mentioned in these pages before.

The book promises to be an in-depth companion to the game, with detailed looks at things like set design, sound design and the Alien’s AI, as well as a mission by mission breakdown. The author freely admits to being a little obsessed with Alien in general and this game in particular, so I’m hoping it shapes up to be something special.

Pre-orders for the hardback edition are now closed, but you can still get the ebook at and more copies should be available (I think) when the book is published on the 29th August.
Eiichihoba (PSN ID)

GC: We’ve never heard of that before but wow, you’re not joking about being obsessed.

DualSense alternative
Just wondered if any readers have got a good recommendation for a reasonably priced Xbox style controller for the PlayStation 5. I really can’t get on with the PlayStation 5 controller, it gives me thumb cramp. I had a Nacon one for the PlayStation 4 that was good but the PlayStation 5 version is £170!

I don’t know why Sony don’t give us more options when it comes to official controllers.
Rob

Guilty by association
You can’t help but laugh at the situation with Borderlands. They bet everything on that movie being a massive hit and the new sequel being the one-two punch to get the series into the mainstream, and now it’s just the punchline to a joke about movie flops.

I can only see the release of the film damaging the game. If I was them I would’ve delayed the game by a year and let people forget the movie but they’re not really leaving enough time for that to happen, which is kind of the worst combination.

I don’t care about Borderlands but it worries me that something similar could happen with Zelda as well. It’ll be a bit of a miracle if that film is any good and if it’s bad then the name is tarnished with non-gamers, potentially forever.

I still think an animated movie would’ve been a much better idea. It makes more sense given the nature of the games and it’s something that can be more easily disowned if it all goes horribly wrong. Nobody thinks the Mario Bros. movie being rubbish says anything about the games, but they might when it comes to live action Zelda.
Weston

Inbox also-rans
That Gamescom Open Night Live was actually quite good, better than most of the summer events anyway. It could probably have done with being half an hour shorter but for once they were quite a few interesting games and even some mild surprises.
Focus

I’ve got to say Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club seems super unappealing. I downloaded the demo and… why is there lift music playing in a game about a child-killing serial murderer? And why does the chief detective look like he’s from a children’s cartoon? Tonal whiplash doesn’t even come close to covering it.
Benjy Dog

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