Xbox’s new strategy has it releasing more games on more platforms, but there are still certain steps new players must follow if they want to join in on the fun.
One of them happens to be mandatory Microsoft account logins. We’ve seen this with Sea Of Thieves and now sure enough, it’s come up with Forza Horizon 5, due out on PlayStation 5 this April.
Although this probably shouldn’t catch too many players off guard at this point, as highlighted by our friends at Push Square, one detail in the official FAQ has raised questions about the preservation of Forza Horizon 5 on PS5:
“You’ll need to link to a Microsoft account in order to play Forza Horizon 5 on PS5. This process begins the first time you start up the game on your console.”
So, if the account linking feature was ever disabled, the game would no longer be officially accessible or playable – unless it was later patched out, of course. Xbox also isn’t releasing a physical copy on this platform, which has led certain members of the PlayStation community to believe there are some “legitimate concerns here”.
This isn’t the first time something like this has come up, and the Forza series in general also doesn’t have the best track record – with existing titles in the Horizon series being delisted by Microsoft one after the other. That said, PlayStation has gone down a similar account-linking route with with its own titles on PC, which has led to controversy as well.
Some of PlayStation’s single-player games have since had their PSN account requirements removed due to the backlash, but Sony president Hiroki Totoki suggested just a few months ago that forcing a PlayStation Network account for “live service” titles on PC was important in order for players to “enjoy the games safely”.
Here’s what he said (via an interpreter) during a recent financial call:
“We have learned a lot. The way to face the issues regarding PC, for instance. The PlayStation accounts that we have offered – well actually, by offering them, for instance, sometimes that tends to invite pushback. But for the live service games, in order to maintain order of the gaming so that anybody can enjoy the games safely, we need to create an environment conducive to that and, of course, enjoying the game freely.”
From an Xbox perspective, the requirement is seemingly a big win – with the company effectively able to tally up these new users and signups and file them under the “Xbox ecosystem” going forward. It already seems to be paying off as well – with games like Sea of Thieves proving to be a big success on PlayStation, and thanks to the tech giant’s acquisition of Activision (including the Call of Duty series).
