Is Halo Headed to PS5?

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Today’s Insights

• Exclusive games might start porting to rival consoles

• More layoffs and studios shutting down, is the gaming industry suffering?

• Rumors about Nintendo’s Switch 2 are ramping up

• Cozy adventure game struts its stuff down the catwalk

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THIS WEEK IN GAMING

Some Xbox Exclusive Titles Could be Heading to PS5 Soon.

Console-specific games are old school. Since Nintendo and Sega started their famous rivalry between Mario and Sonic, console-specific games have been a headache for gamers. If you want to play Halo, Fable, or Gears of War you had to get yourself an Xbox. Alternatively, if you want to play any Mario or Zelda title, or if you want to get into God of War or Gran Turismo, you had to have a Nintendo or Playstation console respectively. But those days might be coming to a close (fingers crossed!)

An evolution of console-specific games is on the horizon. Keep in mind that this is only rumor and speculation so don’t hold your breath. But, if there’s talk, it could mean that “times are a-changing.” Microsoft CEO Phil Spencer announced last year that Xbox games such as  Hi-Fi Rush and Sea Of Thieves would be made available for PlayStation and Nintendo Switch. He went on to say “I’m going to learn about our partnership with other platforms. I’m going to learn about what happens with our players. I don’t think we should as an industry ever rule out a game going to any other platform.”

More big name exclusives rumored to crossover. On his podcast, NateTheHate commented that Halo: The Master Chief Collection and Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 might be making an appearance on PS5 and the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 later this year. Other games rumored to be added to the PS5 mix include Age of Mythology, Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, and Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2. 

Are other consoles going to follow suit? Since Xbox is floating the idea of exclusive game crossover, won’t other consoles consider the same? Aside from what Phil Spencer announced, the other games are only speculation at best. Imagine what the Mushroom Kingdom and Hyrule would look like on the PlayStation or Xbox consoles. I wouldn’t suggest holding your breath though, it doesn’t look like other game companies are ready to port their exclusives to Xbox yet. 

DEVELOPER INSIGHTS

More Layoffs and Gaming Studios Shutting Down, is the Gaming Industry in Trouble?

More layoffs as more gaming studios shut their doors. We’re not even a month into 2025 and three studios announce they are shutting their doors. Combine that hit with the constant news of gaming company layoffs and you’d be right to wonder, “Is the gaming industry about to crumble to dust?” In a word, No. The gaming industry is as strong as it’s ever been, there was just a perfect storm of conditions that is causing the shutdowns, and layoffs. It all started with Covid…

During the pandemic shutdown, gaming cured our boredom. When the world shut down in 2020, and people were sequestered in their homes for months with no end in sight, video game sales skyrocketed. In 2019 mobile games were experiencing a similar surge. To keep up with the increased attention and demand, game companies beefed up their staff, commissioned more games, and formed a ton of new studios. There were also major acquisitions (Microsoft started the acquisition of Activision Blizzard in 2022 for $70 billion) and exponential growth in the gaming industry.

The house of cards meets a not so gentle breeze. With all the fresh new talent coming on board, experienced, senior producers, and directors were in high demand. These people bounced around to different companies as they continued to make more money, making it more expensive to create games. And then the war with Ukraine and Russia happened, prompting increased inflation on an already price-weary populace. 

The cost to create games soared to outer space. Game production costs spiked, take Spider Man 2 for instance at a price tag of $300 million. That’s three times the budget of the first installment. When company costs go up, so do the products. 

Now comes the correction. With rising costs, increased competition, and a saturated market, there are simply too many games, developers, and gaming companies to remain viable. Big companies have already performed the majority of their layoffs to “trim the fat,” while smaller companies tend to shut their doors completely. But the gaming industry is still as lucrative as it’s ever been. Games are increasingly popular, and there’s certainly not an end in sight. The gaming industry just experienced a sudden boom and then a correction as everything leveled off.

TECH SPOTLIGHT

Nintendo Feeling the Pressure to Release Switch 2

Rumors started as a trickle but are now a flash flood. The original Nintendo Switch was first released in March of 2017. With that eight-year anniversary knocking on the door, the rumor mill is a flurry of activity. There are big leaks coming about the potential price, a possible image of the new Switch 2, and some hints of new games you can expect. 

Will the Switch 2 be ready for the anniversary? According to tipsters, Nintendo will be releasing some big news on January 17th. They suggest that the company will then schedule the launch of the Switch 2 for March 3rd of this year. Even if Nintendo wasn’t ready for that date, fans have been speculating so hard that the company might be pressed to make it happen. 

The new price hints at a stronger console. A French video game retailer reportedly leaked the price point of the upcoming console, which will be around $300 - 400 USD. Scouring recent reports, there is speculation that the Switch 2 will have upgraded specs; possibly even enough power to run modern AAA titles.

Here are the rumored specifications that the Nintendo Switch 2 will have:

• CUDA cores - 1536

• Bus Width - 128-bit

• Memory Size - 12 GB

• Bandwidth - 120 GB/s

These are significant upgrades compared to the original Switch. 

Major launch titles for the Switch 2. The rumors aren’t stopping there either. Another tipster speculates that Mario Kart 9 and Red Dead Redemption 2 will be early launch titles. If the Switch 2 can run a huge sandbox title such as RDR2, we might be seeing other massive hits such as The Witcher 4 and GTA 6. But we’ll have to wait to find out. When the information is ready, we’ll get it to you, so keep your eyes peeled over the next few months!

COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT

Cozy Adventure Game With a Fashion Forward Aesthetic is Gorgeous

This cozy piece of eye candy should be on your wishlist. Infinity Nikki was recently released across PC, consoles, and mobile devices on December 5, 2024, and it’s an absolute stunner. One of the biggest highlights of this game is the graphics. The colors are bright and vibrant, the backgrounds are polished, and the landscapes can take your breath away. Add that to the fashion and myriad of outfits that Nikki can collect and wear and you have a game that’s a feast for the eyes. 

Explore a beautiful world with a feline cohort. In this game, you play as the title character as you explore a wide world called Miraland. Together with Momo, an anime-looking feline, you are on a journey to find and rescue the god of wishes. It’s an open exploration, action-adventure, cozy, platformer. 

Channel your inner fashionista! You’ll have to dress in different outfits that enable specific skills such as gliding and shrinking to advance in the game. There are some combat elements, but the dresses tend to allow one type of attack. If you’re big on stylized, tactical combat, then Infinity Nikki will not be your cup of tea. Being a cozy game, this title is more focused on relaxing visuals, exploration, and solving puzzles. 

Relax with fun side games in Miraland. When you want to take a break from adventuring, there are chill side games to play too. Nikki can go fishing or bug catching. But if those activities aren’t your forte, there are stylist duels. In these you don’t actually do damage or fight other characters, it’s all about the fashion. Mix and match outfits and accessories to see who is the sweetest, freshest, or most elegant and cool to “out-fashion” your opponents. 

You’ll probably get lost with Nikki in this beautiful landscape. While Infinity Nikki isn’t big on adventure and combat, it’s still a magical title full of fun and excitement. We all need time to unwind and let the stresses of the world melt away. In Infinity Nikki, you can unplug and destress while watching some breathtaking graphics (the game takes advantage of Unreal Engine 5) while playing a cute, stylistic, open world game. Once you step into Miraland, you’ll have a hard time coming back to the real world. 

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