I don't know. I mean I wouldn't put it past themto try and merge the whole gaming experience into the Windows ecosystem. We all know what geniuses they are doubling down on the whole slop ridden W11 thing.

That sounds like some exec thought it would work. Maybe they saw the success of steam and want a piece of that pie without having to put out hardware?
I might be too old to understand, but if that's the future of console gaming, I don't want a part of it.

Classic

This would be so dumb... and at the same time so possible!

Execs totally disconnected from the players base having no damn clue how they're going to react.

Players are going to be so pissed they're much less likely to buy anything through MS ever again, but that won't compute in an exec's mind.

"Would?" They're already doing that.

• https://www.pcmag.com/explainers/fcc-foreign-made-router-ban-is-your-tp-link-asus-hardware-safe
• https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/us-launches-new-chinese-tech-crackdown-will-ban-some-imports-2026-06-26/
• https://news.northeastern.edu/2026/08/04/us-china-ai-competition/

So much for free markets, eh? More like, we’ll invade or sanction whoever to have freedom in their markets, but the instant our markets can’t compete, all of a sudden regulation is good.

The cloud servers are actually literally Xbox series x's.

Ah. Okay, I get it now. I guess that's easier in the short term for mass production, but I can't imagine that's good for long term support.

Well yes. Hence the joke

I guess the alternative is streaming? I don't think we're going to be getting another generation of subsidised hardware.

I sure hope not, I hate cloud streaming services.

Right now the only budget alternative is to wait out this ram Apocalypse, however long that may take...

I don't think it's a good alternative, I should have said.