They kind of been for a while. At least architecture wise but with the new Xbox ROG handheld you can access your steam library or install a different OS like Bazzite altogether. You can‘t play your Xbox games on it though, which probably means the days of Xbox as a console are over. But Xbox players must‘ve known they won‘t be able to transfer their game library to new device anyway.
Not all Xbox players, clearly. With Microsoft doubling down on not having any physical media containing the full retail game on disk from Xbox 1 onwards, every one of those accounts are hosed unless they have an archive of all the downloaded files needed.
My advice to them - mod your consoles (360 and below) if you have them, rip your discs, and get ready for when Xbox services (for console hardware) are sunset.
I’ve always been okay with keeping gaming libraries digital - but I think the larger console population might be okay with that too if we could disconnect digital games from account-based ownership - the kind where a company can go “Oh, whoops, we lost the license to this fart sound effect. We’re going to have to remove this game from your library.”
That’s called releasing your games on GOG, modding in missing assets, or easy piracy, all PC-centric features.
There is no way in hell any console platform would allow that level of untethered ownership ever again. Nintendo was the last one, and it’s gone with the switch 2.
To be honest, once that starts happening I wont be worried about my digital library. I’ll be so pissed that ill just stop spending any money on any games ever again. I’ll be back to sailing the high seas.
They kind of been for a while. At least architecture wise but with the new Xbox ROG handheld you can access your steam library or install a different OS like Bazzite altogether. You can‘t play your Xbox games on it though, which probably means the days of Xbox as a console are over. But Xbox players must‘ve known they won‘t be able to transfer their game library to new device anyway.
Not all Xbox players, clearly. With Microsoft doubling down on not having any physical media containing the full retail game on disk from Xbox 1 onwards, every one of those accounts are hosed unless they have an archive of all the downloaded files needed.
My advice to them - mod your consoles (360 and below) if you have them, rip your discs, and get ready for when Xbox services (for console hardware) are sunset.
I’ve always been okay with keeping gaming libraries digital - but I think the larger console population might be okay with that too if we could disconnect digital games from account-based ownership - the kind where a company can go “Oh, whoops, we lost the license to this fart sound effect. We’re going to have to remove this game from your library.”
That’s called releasing your games on GOG, modding in missing assets, or easy piracy, all PC-centric features.
There is no way in hell any console platform would allow that level of untethered ownership ever again. Nintendo was the last one, and it’s gone with the switch 2.
To be honest, once that starts happening I wont be worried about my digital library. I’ll be so pissed that ill just stop spending any money on any games ever again. I’ll be back to sailing the high seas.
Come to the PC world then. We have free mods, no online subscriptions, DRM-free gaming, and open-source software no one can take from you.