On January 30, Microsoft nonchalantly announced that later this year open-world racing sim Forza Horizon 5 would make the leap to PlayStation 5. That might not mean much to some, but for Xbox’s biggest fans, it marks the beginning of the end of an era that truthfully wrapped up years ago.
While Forza Horizon 5 is not the first Xbox exclusive game to go multiplatform—Sea of Thieves and Grounded landed on other consoles last year—this announcement is different, even if Microsoft is acting otherwise. Xbox has essentially had three big console exclusive franchises for two decades: Gears of War, Halo, and Forza. Now, one of the “Big Three” is going to Sony’s home console. This is a big (though not surprising) announcement. And even the most diehard Xbox fans are admitting what has seemed obvious for years: Xbox is truly done fighting the console wars.
Over on the Xbox subreddit, you can see some of the brand’s biggest and most loyal fans reacting to the news of Forza Horizon 5 hopping over to PS5 and it’s a mix of shock, anger, disbelief and sadness as many come to terms with the new reality they find themselves in.
“I can’t believe it. They did it,” posted one user. “Even with all the messaging about multi platform, I didn’t think they’d do it, but they actually really did it. They gave away Forza.”
“I BOUGHT AN XBOX FOR NOTHING BRUH FUCKERS,” said someone else.
“Beginning of the end for Xbox as we knew it,” posted another Xbox fan. “Was fun while it lasted. Forza horizon was one of the pillars. Nothing will remain exclusive now.”
“It was fun dudes. Next gen will be the first Xbox hardware I don’t buy,” announced another user. “I’ve been here since the OG. Time to switch to PC (still have Game Pass and Steam) and PlayStation next gen.”
“I get it, knew it, knew it was still coming, but it’s still painful to see lol. Damn,” summed up someone in the replies to the Forza news.
“Just canceled Game Pass. Over 20 years gaming on Xbox, and I’m just tired of being treated like a second-class citizen,” claimed one Xbox user.
“This is wild, the console war is truly over. Xbox has given up, they’re giving people more and more reasons to skip future Xbox hardware. Halo and Gears on PS/Switch 2 are now a series possibility,” shared someone else.
Now that it’s clear that Xbox is willing to bring any of its popular, longtime exclusives to PlayStation, the question isn’t if Halo and Gears arrive on PS5, but when.
And when eventually the Master Chief Collection lands on PlayStation in the not-so-distant future, expect the reactions to that to be even angrier, sadder, and more confused. Forza on PS5 is the beginning of the end, but Halo on PS5 is the end and fans will react.
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