Gaming Xbox Series X|S

Which of these do you prefer

  • Microsoft Game Pass

  • Xbox Game Pass


Results are only viewable after voting.

Alock1

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Predictions time then

  • Halo Infinite to release on Nov 15th (20th anniversary). Possibility that multiplayer hits earlier (September) or a multiplayer beta is announced.
  • Flight Simulator to release on Xbox in the next month
  • Psychonauts 2 coming in August
  • Forza Horizon 5 announced and releases in October
  • From Bethesda, we will see Starfield and one other (Wolfenstein 3 or game from 2nd Arkane Studios team that isnt working on Deathloop)
  • Gamepass subscriber numbers update. I reckon 25m, though with the lack of Xbox Series X consoles available, this might be too steep.
    • Bunch of new indies and B tier games coming to Gamepass
    • Evil Within 2, Doom and Wolfenstein 2 to finally make their way over to Gamepass, with FPS boost
    • Yakuza Like A Dragon and one of Persona 5, FF7 Intergrade or Scarlett Nexus will hit GP
    • 'Big' third-party title will hit the service day 1. Perhaps Battlefield 6 or Dying Light, more likely Back4Blood
    • If Avengers doesnt get announced as going free-to-play soon, wouldn't be surprised to see it on GP
  • 2nd party third-person, co-op game. Likely open world.
  • Starfield to end the show, releasing in 2022

In previous years they've had to speak about every game they've got in the pipeline, meaning they've spoke about games far too early. Considering how far out a lot of games are, and that development has been pushed back due to pandemic, I'm expecting them to avoid talking about a number of games to give them breathing room. We might see a sizzle reel or just something to say they are still being worked on. Not expecting to see anything from Hellblade 2, State of Decay 3, Perfect Dark, Avowed or Outer Worlds 2.

There's going to be more studio acquisitions this year, but not sure they'll have anything ready to announce today.
 
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TrustInJanuzaj

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Maybe just me but that’s still a pretty poor lineup of games. The only one I’d be potentially interested in is Starfield and really I’d rather they sack that off and just go straight to the next elder scrolls. Everything else just looks abit meh, game pass or no game pass.

When is Fable set to release as I like the look of that too?
 

esmufc07

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Maybe just me but that’s still a pretty poor lineup of games. The only one I’d be potentially interested in is Starfield and really I’d rather they sack that off and just go straight to the next elder scrolls. Everything else just looks abit meh, game pass or no game pass.

When is Fable set to release as I like the look of that too?
just par for the course with Xbox though isn’t it?
 

TrustInJanuzaj

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just par for the course with Xbox though isn’t it?
We do joke but there probably won’t be many games I’m interested in for the next 2/3 years at least I reckon. Avowed, Elder Scrolls, Fable would interest me.
 

esmufc07

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We do joke but there probably won’t be many games I’m interested in for the next 2/3 years at least I reckon. Avowed, Elder Scrolls, Fable would interest me.
Elder Scrolls and Starfield for me. Hellblade is on my list of games to play so if I enjoy that I’d probably be interested in Hellblade 2 aswell.

Hopefully their acquisitions over the years will lead to some top quality games being announced over the next year or two, but yes I think you’re right in that we’re some time off from that happening.
 

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I couldn't get into Like a Dragon. Think I gave up half way through. It was a brave shift to a completely new genre by them but the turn based RPG elements weren't implementated very well and it was way too much of a grind in parts for a modern game. Others seemed to love it, though, and it's a good game for Gamepass to get for sure.

Back 4 Blood would be awesome, though my only problem with multiplayer games on gamepass is whenever I cancel my sub I lose them, games like Sea of Thieves and AOE2 which I liked to play from time to time were neither worth the subscription or worth purchasing on their own so.. yeah..
 

Alock1

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Maybe just me but that’s still a pretty poor lineup of games. The only one I’d be potentially interested in is Starfield and really I’d rather they sack that off and just go straight to the next elder scrolls. Everything else just looks abit meh, game pass or no game pass.

When is Fable set to release as I like the look of that too?
Compared to..? I think it's comparable to what Nintendo and Sony are going to be showing and putting out. Especially when you consider all the games we know of that won't be spoken about, and all the studios working on games we aren't aware of.

Remember, lots of the studios bought already had games in final development and were all then impacted by COVID. Whilst we've known about Bethesda for a while, the acquisition only went through very recently. It's going to take time before we start really seeing fruits of the acquisitions and the schedules syncing up. 2023 will be the year I think.

If you think about this year. Consider if MS getting Bethesda had happened a year earlier. Technically, likes of Ghostwire Tokyo and Deathloop are MS first party output, and in the future wouldn't be on PlayStation at all but would be Xbox console exclusive.
 
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TrustInJanuzaj

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Compared to..? I think it's comparable to what Nintendo and Sony are going to be showing and putting out.

Remember, lots of the studios bought already had games in final development and were all then impacted by COVID. Whilst we've known about Bethesda for a while, the acquisition only went through very recently. It's going to take time before we start really seeing fruits of the acquisitions and the schedules syncing up. 2023 will be the year I think.

If you think about this year. Consider if MS getting Bethesda had happened a year earlier. Technically, likes of Ghostwire Tokyo and Deathloop are MS first party output, and in the future wouldn't be on PlayStation at all but would be Xbox console exclusive.
Just in the last year that I’ve played or replayed on PlayStation. Ghost of Tsushima, Days Gone, Horizon, GOW, Returnal, Spider-Man Remastered and Miles Morales. I’ll most certainly play Ratchet too, tempted to give Death Stranding a go in the future too. Then in the next year or two we will likely get Horizon, forbidden west and the next God of War. I’ve mostly either really enjoyed those games or found them very playable I don’t want to turn this into the console war thread but that’s just a million miles better for me personally at this stage and looking into the next couple of years.

As I said I think Microsoft might finally have some games that appeal to me down the line but I think they look to be 2/3 years away with the likes of Fable, Avowed, Starfield and eventually Elder Scrolls.
 

Alock1

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Just in the last year that I’ve played or replayed on PlayStation. Ghost of Tsushima, Days Gone, Horizon, GOW, Returnal, Spider-Man Remastered and Miles Morales. I’ll most certainly play Ratchet too, tempted to give Death Stranding a go in the future too. Then in the next year or two we will likely get Horizon, forbidden west and the next God of War. I’ve mostly either really enjoyed those games or found them very playable I don’t want to turn this into the console war thread but that’s just a million miles better for me personally at this stage and looking into the next couple of years.

As I said I think Microsoft might finally have some games that appeal to me down the line but I think they look to be 2/3 years away with the likes of Fable, Avowed, Starfield and eventually Elder Scrolls.
Some of those games you mentioned aren't that recent though..

If you did the same for MS and included the Bethesda games that will become exclusive you could say Wasteland 3, Forza Horizon 4, Gears of War 5, Flight Sim, Ori and the Blind Forest, Doom Eternal. Not as good but not terrible.

Then on the horizon is Psychonauts, Halo Infinite, Forza 8, Forza Horizon 5, Starfield, State of Decay 3, Perfect Dark, Avowed, Fable, Hellblade 2, Wolfenstein as well as new games from Arkane, ID Software, Obsidian, Inexile, etc.etc.etc. That's before considering rumoured 2nd-party titles like the game with (reportedly) Avalanche or IO Interactive.

If you look in the past then yes obviously Sony output is better, but if you look forward, I think it's tough to say you'd be disappointed - unless you're somebody that only plays Japanese games in which case fair enough.

It's been an aggressive expansion which will only increase as they acquire more studios this year. The output long term is going to be tough to keep up with. Naturally these things don't happen overnight though.

It'll be a really strong conference today and the best thing will be that more than half their studios won't even be in attendance which is a much healthier place to be than in the past, where they showed everything regardless. No doubt there will be many who think 23 studios should be turning up all with their own AAA game and anything less is disappointing.
 
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TrustInJanuzaj

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Some of those games you mentioned aren't that recent though..

If you did the same for MS and included the Bethesda games that will become exclusive you could say Wasteland 3, Forza Horizon 4, Gears of War 5, Flight Sim, Ori and the Blind Forest, Doom Eternal. Not as good but not terrible.

Then on the horizon is Psychonauts, Halo Infinite, Forza 8, Forza Horizon 5, Starfield, State of Decay 3, Perfect Dark, Avowed, Fable, Hellblade 2, Wolfenstein as well as new games from Arkane, ID Software, Obsidian, Inexile, etc.etc.etc. That's before considering rumoured 2nd-party titles like the game with (reportedly) Avalanche or IO Interactive.

If you look in the past then yes obviously Sony output is better, but if you look forward, I think it's tough to say you'd be disappointed - unless you're somebody that only plays Japanese games in which case fair enough.

It's been an aggressive expansion which will only increase as they acquire more studios this year. The output long term is going to be tough to keep up with. Naturally these things don't happen overnight though.

It'll be a really strong conference today and the best thing will be that more than half their studios won't even be in attendance which is a much healthier place to be than in the past, where they showed everything regardless. No doubt there will be many who think 23 studios should be turning up all with their own AAA game and anything less is disappointing.
You can see the games I play to be fair. As I say this is entirely a personal viewpoint but most of the games you mention just don’t interest me at all. From the games announced right this moment I’m only interested in Fable, Avowed, Starfield and Elder Scrolls. Everything else looks okay but not great with nothing really I’d personally pick up. Of course Microsoft could yet pull afew new IPs out of the woodwork too but Sony appear to be doing the same i.e. Returnal which I never expected to buy and enjoy as much as I have.

I genuinely do hope Microsoft start delivering some high quality games that I’m interested in as then I’ll pick up an Xbox and have a great catalogue of games to play but as I say I think that looks likely to be 2/3 years away for me personally. Elder scrolls will likely be 7/8 years away still.
 

Alock1

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You can see the games I play to be fair. As I say this is entirely a personal viewpoint but most of the games you mention just don’t interest me at all. From the games announced right this moment I’m only interested in Fable, Avowed, Starfield and Elder Scrolls. Everything else looks okay but not great with nothing really I’d personally pick up. Of course Microsoft could yet pull afew new IPs out of the woodwork too but Sony appear to be doing the same i.e. Returnal which I never expected to buy and enjoy as much as I have.

I genuinely do hope Microsoft start delivering some high quality games that I’m interested in as then I’ll pick up an Xbox and have a great catalogue of games to play but as I say I think that looks likely to be 2/3 years away for me personally. Elder scrolls will likely be 7/8 years away still.
The games you picked are good (some very good), but generic. There's nothing there that won't have some sort of equivalent (in type and quality) from the MS portfolio.
 

TrustInJanuzaj

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The games you picked are good (some very good), but generic. There's nothing there that won't have some sort of equivalent (in type and quality) from the MS portfolio.
Well I hope so. At this moment in time I don’t even think Xbox have an open world exclusive do they?
 

Alock1

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Well I hope so. At this moment in time I don’t even think Xbox have an open world exclusive do they?
Forza Horizon? Flight Simulator? ;)

If that's what you want though then there'll be a good few no doubt. Avowed, Starfield, Elder Scrolls, Rage, The Outer World's.

Rumoured the Avalanche game is going to be open world too (but co op I think)
 

TrustInJanuzaj

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Genuinely be surprised if we see Elder Scrolls before the next generation of consoles are announced.
Yeh me too tbh. Maybe Microsoft’s acquisition could speed up the process as they can give it more resources.
 

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Forza Horizon? Flight Simulator? ;)

If that's what you want though then there'll be a good few no doubt. Avowed, Starfield, Elder Scrolls, Rage, The Outer World's.

Rumoured the Avalanche game is going to be open world too (but co op I think)
Looking at the list it's probably the semi open world story based games where Microsoft may not have loads to offer and that's where Sony really excel. I can see MS acquiring one or more developers to fill that hole. I would say Tomb Raider is the perfect fit as it is well known, a big brand and fits the genre really well - but that would mean buying Square Enix which would be huge for other reasons as well (not just money wise).

Alternatively, I can see MS getting the likes of Obsidan to try those sort of games as they're probably the nearest to that genre historically although they would have to reign in the RPG aspects.
 

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Flight Simulator :lol:.

We get you're an absolute fanboy @Alock1 but you do yourself no favours with your comparisons.

You listed a pile of absolute mediocrity and yet stated the list @TrustInJanuzaj made is apparently full of generic games.

You're going all in on the Bethesda acquisition, but no one knows what that will look like. We all expect their games to be Xbox/PC exclusive, but I also wouldn't be completely shocked if they were timed exclusives.
 

TrustInJanuzaj

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Forza Horizon? Flight Simulator? ;)

If that's what you want though then there'll be a good few no doubt. Avowed, Starfield, Elder Scrolls, Rage, The Outer World's.

Rumoured the Avalanche game is going to be open world too (but co op I think)
Yeh thought those ones were the most interesting to me. I couldn’t get into the outer worlds in the end. I think the gameplay really let it down in the end for me. I’m intrigued to see what Obsidian can do with Avowed. That has the most potential from all the announced games so far for me personally.
 

Alock1

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Flight Simulator :lol:.

We get you're an absolute fanboy @Alock1 but you do yourself no favours with your comparisons.

You listed a pile of absolute mediocrity and yet stated the list @TrustInJanuzaj made is apparently full of generic games.

You're going all in on the Bethesda acquisition, but no one knows what that will look like. We all expect their games to be Xbox/PC exclusive, but I also wouldn't be completely shocked if they were timed exclusives.
Obviously flight simulator was a joke hence the wink!

We don't know what any future games will look like, all we can do is look at track record and Bethesda have produced some great games in the past 5 or so years even without looking at Fallout/ES.

Genuinely be surprised if we see Elder Scrolls before the next generation of consoles are announced.
It'll run on this gen I'm sure but yeah I expect it to be back end at the earliest and wouldn't be surprised at all if new consoles are in the mix.

Be interesting to see if they look at Obsidian for Fallout considering they did New Vegas. I think it'd be better to just let them make Avowed into whatever they want personally.
Looking at the list it's probably the semi open world story based games where Microsoft may not have loads to offer and that's where Sony really excel. I can see MS acquiring one or more developers to fill that hole. I would say Tomb Raider is the perfect fit as it is well known, a big brand and fits the genre really well - but that would mean buying Square Enix which would be huge for other reasons as well (not just money wise).

Alternatively, I can see MS getting the likes of Obsidan to try those sort of games as they're probably the nearest to that genre historically although they would have to reign in the RPG aspects.
That's fair but with acquisitions to come I'd expect them to have a keen eye on that gap and look to fill (Avalanche perhaps). Or they might pivot some studios. Before Horizon, GG were building Killzone remember.

Obsidian is an option, Inexile too. But don't be surprised to see someone like Arkane pivot, or Compulsion games given a bigger budget (look at Housemarque's games before Returnal)
 

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Obviously flight simulator was a joke hence the wink!

We don't know what any future games will look like, all we can do is look at track record and Bethesda have produced some great games in the past 5 or so years even without looking at Fallout/ES.
Name 3 top games Bethesda have made, not published, in the last 5 years.

Their last big success was Skyrim, a decade a go. Fallout 4 wasn't well received. Fallout 76, the less said about that the better.

I do hope they smash it with new Elder Scrolls etc but recent history suggests it may not be the unit seller you and many others are expecting/hoping.
 

Alock1

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Name 3 top games Bethesda have made, not published, in the last 5 years.

Their last big success was Skyrim, a decade a go. Fallout 4 wasn't well received. Fallout 76, the less said about that the better.

I do hope they smash it with new Elder Scrolls etc but recent history suggests it may not be the unit seller you and many others are expecting/hoping.
Obviously it's subjective but Doom, Doom Eternal, Prey, Dishonoured 2.

Fallout 4 was well received on metacritic which people on here see as the source of truth. Fallout 75 has improved a lot and is pretty huge these days considering it's terrible start.
 

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Obviously it's subjective but Doom, Doom Eternal, Prey, Dishonoured 2.

Fallout 4 was well received on metacritic which people on here see as the source of truth. Fallout 75 has improved a lot and is pretty huge these days considering it's terrible start.
I said made, not published.
 

Alock1

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It's like seeing City back in 2010 and saying their previous buys were Robinho and Lescott so expect nothing from Silva, Toure, Aguero and so on.

I said made, not published.
Oh you are calling out one specific studio of the 23, whose game Starfield I have said nothing about except that I expect a mixed bag reaction - and that's me putting all my eggs in that basket. Okay mate.
 

b82REZ

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It's like seeing City back in 2010 and saying their previous buys were Robinho and Lescott so expect nothing from Silva, Toure, Aguero and so on.



Oh you are calling out one specific studio of the 23, whose game Starfield I have said nothing about except that I expect a mixed bag reaction - and that's me putting all my eggs in that basket. Okay mate.
What?

You claimed Bethesda have a great record over the last 5 years. I asked for the games THEY made that were a success. I don't deny they've PUBLISHED some very good games, but the last game they made that was almost universally praised was Skyrim.

You're all over the place here.
 

Alock1

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What?

You claimed Bethesda have a great record over the last 5 years. I asked for the games THEY made that were a success. I don't deny they've PUBLISHED some very good games, but the last game they made that was almost universally praised was Skyrim.

You're all over the place here.
I'm including all the studios that are published by Bethesda. Who cares if Bethesda made it or a sister studio made it and they published it. Either way they will be Xbox console exclusives.

What really happened is you had your pants pulled down and trying to back out on a technicality which is totally irrelevant to the conversation at large which is about the games and Studios that are now Xbox first-party.
 

Alock1

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If you want to focus on 1 studio, that builds huge games which take more than 5 years to make, whose last game was 5.5 years ago so can't be included in your 5 year limit (and like it or not, well received and with a good rating on the site people here care about) then yes.. in the last 5 years that one studio has had very little.

Good argument.
 

b82REZ

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I'm including all the studios that are published by Bethesda. Who cares if Bethesda made it or a sister studio made it and they published it. Either way they will be Xbox console exclusives.

What really happened is you had your pants pulled down and trying to back out on a technicality which is totally irrelevant to the conversation at large which is about the games and Studios that are now Xbox first-party.
How on earth have I had my pants pulled down? I'm not the one making outrageous claims and then not able to back them up. Keep shifting the goalposts though.

I will absolutely piss myself if they're only timed exclusives on Xbox, which is a very real possibility.

So again, what were those amazing games Bethesda made over the last 5 years?
 

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There's no such thing, nor will there ever be such a thing, as an Xbox exclusive, so I don't know why people even bother to argue it.
 

Alock1

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How on earth have I had my pants pulled down? I'm not the one making outrageous claims and then not able to back them up. Keep shifting the goalposts though.

I will absolutely piss myself if they're only timed exclusives on Xbox, which is a very real possibility.

So again, what were those amazing games Bethesda made over the last 5 years?
I already said and clarified I was talking about the group, and already posted saying if you want to focus on 1 specific studio whose last game was 5.5 years ago and next on the horizon, then well done, however pointless.
 

Alock1

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There's no such thing, nor will there ever be such a thing, as an Xbox exclusive, so I don't know why people even bother to argue it.
Xbox console exclusive or Xbox first party it's all the same. You are one of the people that constantly brings up Xbox's first party output so seems a strange remark.
 

Massive Spanner

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Xbox console exclusive or Xbox first party it's all the same. You are one of the people that constantly brings up Xbox's first party output so seems a strange remark.
It's not the same. When you talk about exclusives you talk about console exclusives. Always been the way with Nintendo and Sony. MS are no exception. But if you want to be pedantic, there are no Xbox console exclusives. You don't need to buy an Xbox to play any games MS are releasing, ever.

Not sure what you mean about me constantly bringing up their first party output, you mean that there is none but I'm excited for what they can potentially bring out in future because I have a PC. Sure.

it's a pointless argument, MS simply are not trying to sell their consoles based on exclusives, they don't care. They care about having exclusives in their overall suite, sure, but not consoles, they simply don't give a shit where people get their games from as long as they are subscribed to Gamepass.
 

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One thing I don’t get is people love to play the ‘Xbox has no exclusives’ card

sure, Microsoft put all their games on the PC. That was their choice also. They’re branching out.
Can you play Halo on a PS? No.
Can you play Forza on a PS? No.

In the PS vs Xbox topic you’re not supposed to mention PC at all, but it sure gets brought up when it comes to exclusives.

Sure when it comes down to it, PS have the better exclusives if they’re your thing, but the games that are popular, the ones that are all over twitch, the ones people play daily, all apparently play better on the Xbox.

I really hope epic actually made a deal with PS and announce it at this E3. Would be hilarious.
 

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One thing I don’t get is people love to play the ‘Xbox has no exclusives’ card

sure, Microsoft put all their games on the PC. That was their choice also. They’re branching out.
Can you play Halo on a PS? No.
Can you play Forza on a PS? No.

In the PS vs Xbox topic you’re not supposed to mention PC at all, but it sure gets brought up when it comes to exclusives.

Sure when it comes down to it, PS have the better exclusives if they’re your thing, but the games that are popular, the ones that are all over twitch, the ones people play daily, all apparently play better on the Xbox.

I really hope epic actually made a deal with PS and announce it at this E3. Would be hilarious.
Exactly. The vast majority of people that play consoles can’t afford a gaming PC so for them the games are an Xbox exclusive because that’s the only machine they can play them on.
 

esmufc07

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While it takes a few extra steps to get the PS5 to run Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War in 120 Hz mode, it's well worth the headache. According to Digital Foundry's video analysis of the two games, the PS5 consistently outperforms the Xbox Series X in 120 Hz mode.

This means that the game can actually fully utilize that higher refresh rate and display at 120 fps more often on the PS5 than on the Xbox Series X. Again, it's not clear why this difference appears, but it results in a smoother overall experience on the PS5.