iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

RallyCarDelta Gaming @gameoverthirty.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

You're going to see games running across devices, including web browsers. You're going to see A.I. decompile games and rebuild them on platforms they were never intended to be on. XBOX / MSFT should to be at the forefront of that technology, not waiting to see what happens.

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RallyCarDelta Gaming @gameoverthirty.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

It's hard to ignore the reality that the "old" games industry is, effectively, dead. I've often said that the covid shutdown era was the end of that model (1980s through 2021). The next era of gaming is going to see people play across a variety of platforms, devices, and software. labs.xbox.com

labs.xbox.com

XBOX Labs | Let’s play with what’s next

Explore, experiment, and create what's next in play.

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RallyCarDelta Gaming @gameoverthirty.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

People were debating me on overall platform first party unit sales for Xbox and PlayStation. I decided to pull Sony's first party unit sales that they report in their financials. Obviously, the decline exists. The old games industry died at the end of the covid shutdown era. This isn't a debate.

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RallyCarDelta Gaming @gameoverthirty.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

How many time have a said this? The term "cannibalize" is incorrect when it comes to Game Pass. When used in reference to a business, it is when a company loses revenue due to their own product accidentally (or purposely) causing another not to be purchased. Game Pass is REPLACEMENT revenue.

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RallyCarDelta Gaming @gameoverthirty.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

But, being knowledgeable in risk, TVM, and economics, isn't valued in game discussion. It's just hot takes and tribalism. (If you're wondering what drove this, it was a "hot take" from an interviewer who claimed they never interviewed a dev that praised Game Pass...and that's just false.)

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RallyCarDelta Gaming @gameoverthirty.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Xbox doesn't block the game from the normal storefront. People can buy a copy if they don't use Game Pass. As for first party games, the risk is (supposedly) baked into the consistency of the revenue process. However, with games like CoD, it isn't worth the price to try and cover "the unicorn."

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RallyCarDelta Gaming @gameoverthirty.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Basic financials teach you that money in hand is often worth more than risking a larger amount of money that isn't guaranteed. Thus, developers will take the Game Pass contract for a guaranteed sum (and there are often bonuses attached of the game sees a lot of engagement).

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RallyCarDelta Gaming @gameoverthirty.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

There's a group of people who apparently refuse to accept that the developer (or publisher) sits down with Xbox to negotiate an appropriate payment for their game to be placed in Game Pass. If they don't like the payment, they can simply say "no thanks."

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RallyCarDelta Gaming @gameoverthirty.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Ace Combat 8 moved 1M units faster than any other game in the series. x.com/AceCombatGam...

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RallyCarDelta Gaming @gameoverthirty.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Circana released their numbers for the August 2026 US video game market. Mobile content sales led a general decline in video game consumer spending versus August of 2025. YTD, 2026 is down versus 2025 (-3%). Hardware remains a tough sell. GTAVI, and a new CoD, are on the horizon.

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RallyCarDelta Gaming @gameoverthirty.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

- Thankful and appreciate of Xbox Game Pass and it's players. SoD wouldn't be where it is without it. Several thousand try SoD2 almost every day. While many churn out, a potion stay and add to the consistent player base.

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RallyCarDelta Gaming @gameoverthirty.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

- SoD3 did not significantly modify scope but some changes were made to accommodate team size. - Development didn't really ramp up until 2022 / 2023. (Makes you question a lot of what was going on within UL and Xbox.) Claims some nervousness over Xbox's acquisition spree.

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RallyCarDelta Gaming @gameoverthirty.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

- There IS a new unnamed publisher, but the employees now own the studio. - Layoffs after leaving MSFT were required to make sure Undead Labs had a "durable cost structure."

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RallyCarDelta Gaming @gameoverthirty.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Interview with Undead Labs - Phillip Holt. - Investors were critical of the fact that a significant portion of the team is in Seattle (one of the most expensive CoLa regions to develop a game). Base cost, base cost, base cost. I keep saying it. www.thegamebusiness.com/p/how-undead...

thegamebusiness.com

How Undead Labs saved itself and State of Decay from oblivion

Studio boss Philip Holt on leaving Xbox, staff cuts, “irresponsible transparency” and the future

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RallyCarDelta Gaming @gameoverthirty.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Likely shopping it. Apparently, it did not work.

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RallyCarDelta Gaming @gameoverthirty.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

If you don't enjoy PvP, the primary co-op mode is a score race against another team (even the entry level jets consistently generate high scores with the right weapon set).

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RallyCarDelta Gaming @gameoverthirty.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

The online portion might rub people the wrong way (it's clear they are trying a longer term monetization strategy), but as long as you don't take it too seriously, it's a blast. Like most games, certain combinations of weapons tend to do better than others.

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RallyCarDelta Gaming @gameoverthirty.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Ace Combat 8 feels like the culmination of all the best parts of other Ace Combat games, while simultaneously reducing the tedium of certain mission types. I don't know if I have a favorite game in the series, but AC8 would be what I consider on the top half of the list.

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RallyCarDelta Gaming @gameoverthirty.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I don't know what the plan is for XGS, and I'm not sure it matters. For me, I don't care if Xbox brands certain studios as "Xbox Game Studios" or not. The end product is what is important (to me). IF Xbox fails to "right the ship" in a few years, then we can talk about a sale (or new structure).

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RallyCarDelta Gaming @gameoverthirty.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Holding those larger entities**responsible** at an organizational level will be much more effective (and efficient) than drawing up a spider web to dozens of individual studios.

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RallyCarDelta Gaming @gameoverthirty.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Moving business units out of XGS doesn't concern me. XGS was too big for its own good prior to 2026. More importantly, it's about time that Activision and Bethesda take bigger roles in curating, controlling, and producing content.

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RallyCarDelta Gaming @gameoverthirty.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I've been consistent since Asha Sharma took the EVP spot at #Xbox... This does not look like a sale. Instead, it looks like a serious attempt to revamp the business into something more flexible / viable / operable in the modern video game market (circa 2022 and later).

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RallyCarDelta Gaming @gameoverthirty.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

For those interested, Wolverine debuted 7th on the US PlayStation engagement tracker (Circana). I don't place a lot of weight on the engagement trackers these days (lack of movement), but Wolverine has been a talking point as of late.

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RallyCarDelta Gaming @gameoverthirty.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Had a great time talking about the organizational moves at #XBOX with ILP. There was a lot to cover in this one. Pull up a chair and stay awhile.

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RallyCarDelta Gaming @gameoverthirty.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

3M people isn't the same as a few thousand people willing to help you test the early version of the game. I'm glad to see Bulkhead succeed in this space, but they now need to deal with their success.

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RallyCarDelta Gaming @gameoverthirty.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

WARDOGS is reporting 3M copies sold. However, with these kinds of numbers the curse of early access becomes very real. At 3M sales, there is an immense amount of pressure on the studio to start treating the game like a released product instead of "early access."

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RallyCarDelta Gaming @gameoverthirty.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

This is exactly what I was saying since they revealed it. To make matters worse, the game didn't encourage people to avoid combat. It encouraged PvP as much as possible. If they wanted to make the project launch a success, it shouldn't have been hostile to the more casual fan base.

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RallyCarDelta Gaming @gameoverthirty.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Since many of you probably refuse to log into X, here's my most recent #XBOX article in two images. OK. Three images. What is going on Arkane Lyon?

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RallyCarDelta Gaming @gameoverthirty.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

I don't understand...how Tim Schafer doesn't understand. Even if we consider he was told to "just create content" for XBOX, nothing about their output makes any sense. I respect hit work, but the whole DF situation is just...odd.

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RallyCarDelta Gaming @gameoverthirty.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

When it comes to Activision, it's clear the XBOX leadership team is expecting them to take on a bigger role in the XBOX portfolio. Generally speaking, I believe this is a good thing. As for Halo, we will see.

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RallyCarDelta Gaming @gameoverthirty.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

I haven't posted here in a while, and obviously there's been additional news on #XBOX (and other things). Here's a catch-up thread: My article on X regarding the second round of XBOX layoffs / restructuring. I will eventually repost it to my website. x.com/GameOverThir...

x.com

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RallyCarDelta Gaming @gameoverthirty.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Woah. Hey man, I don't know why you're throwing the shade. I was asking for a clarification. I have followed and respected your work for years. I believe you are responding to Ball's "rebuttal" to a certain article, and I wasn't sure why that would be wrong (assuming Ball is accurate).

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RallyCarDelta Gaming @gameoverthirty.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

I don't follow. Tom was reporting that Xbox was "concerned" about their sales split (as if their share was under what it should be when using a percentile basis), but MB came in to say that's not the case. MB is only implying that their sales split is as expected for their share of the market.

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RallyCarDelta Gaming @gameoverthirty.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Thinking about the business side of things, this may be something of acknowledgement by Valve that the next decade of game sales won't be defined by "AAA" mega hits (GTAVI not withstanding). It's something Valve has seemingly been reluctant to do for years...until now.

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RallyCarDelta Gaming @gameoverthirty.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

What remains to be seen: Can Sony convince advertisers to utilize the service after the initial introduction. At some point, advertisers are going to demand usage data: - End users shifting to TV mode? - How many people are using the app at any given time? - Do we have any evidence of conversion?

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RallyCarDelta Gaming @gameoverthirty.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

This is just one component of the plan to re-monetize the already existing console user base. Obviously, they aren't collecting a payment from end users, but rather advertisers. The end result is the same: Sony generates another revenue stream based on the console user. variety.com/2026/tv/news...

variety.com

Sony TV Chief Keith Le Goy on Why PlayStation 5 FAST Channels Are Set Up for Success: 40-50 Million People ‘Incredibly Engaged With That Platform’

Sony struck synergy gold last month with the introduction of “Live TV on PS5,” an offering of more than 100 free ad-supported video channels.

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RallyCarDelta Gaming @gameoverthirty.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

I believe we can safely say there is greater acceptance of gen A.I. usage in APAC regions when compared to "the west." Maybe the difference is willingness to admit it, but the end result is still the same: APAC studios are more willing to admit they are actively using gen A.I. in some manner.

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RallyCarDelta Gaming @gameoverthirty.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

CESA (Japan) released a preview of their games industry report. 85% of those participating reported using gen A.I. (63% regular use). This is a significant increase over the previous year, where it was reported at 51%. The exact use was not specified. automaton-media.com/en/news/over...

automaton-media.com

Over 85% of Japanese game developers use generative AI in game development, 2026 CESA survey shows. An increase from last year’s 51% - AUTOMATON WEST

CESA is the organizer of Tokyo Game Show.

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RallyCarDelta Gaming @gameoverthirty.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

I can't imagine that it would. Online boycotts are generally useless (insert image of call of duty boycott).

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RallyCarDelta Gaming @gameoverthirty.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

This is exactly what I would expect to be the case with this type of service. Unless content is a serious problem, the leading driver will be cost. I'd argue all three platforms have done their best to make sure content isn't the primary reason for cancelling.

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RallyCarDelta Gaming @gameoverthirty.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

4/ The fact that they laid out an approximate date doesn't matter. Blizzard Ent usually alerts the market when they have a major project in the works that is likely to come out. Sure, maybe Faries and Sharma wanted more excitement at the show, but this isn't out of place for Blizz.

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RallyCarDelta Gaming @gameoverthirty.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

3/ Norms of game announcements have changed over the past decade. Publishers have been less inclined to announced a game when it is several years away (but it does happen). and... Blizzard cancelled Blizzcon that last couple of years, and prior to that it was off and on.

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RallyCarDelta Gaming @gameoverthirty.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

2/ Historically, Blizzard is a developer that announces their games well in advance. They typically do this on games that have a low chance of being cancelled (usually their tentpole IPs). The reason the announcements feel early to the audience today is...

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RallyCarDelta Gaming @gameoverthirty.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

1/ Blizzard's "early" announcements of new Starcraft and Diablo games isn't all that different from previous major title announcements. D4 was announced in late 2019 and released in 2023. Starcraft 2 was announced in 2007 and released in 2010.

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RallyCarDelta Gaming @gameoverthirty.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

3/ If this merger should come to pass, it would be a logical move (on paper). The biggest risk, of course, is creating an organization with too many complex layers. That would need to handled carefully. Corporate complexity always needs to be considered in any "new" org.

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RallyCarDelta Gaming @gameoverthirty.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

2/ Divesting EA as an entity likely doesn't even make sense anymore (even if they experience a downturn). If anything is divested from EA, it would be individual components / studios / people. They will likely see restructuring cuts.

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RallyCarDelta Gaming @gameoverthirty.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

1/ In regards to EA possibly being merged with Savvy... I do not know how true this is, but on paper it makes sense. It might make it more difficult to divest EA in the future, but that is unlikely to be a concern right now. That's the wrong question to be asking anyway...

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RallyCarDelta Gaming @gameoverthirty.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

If that really is the Fairgames / Break In trailer... I'm just going to say that I am not in the target demographic. 😄 I'll leave it at that.

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