This is way more telling than whatever the hell Nate says. If they changed Xbox Branding on first party games to just "console", then they are coming to PS5.
Many of those changes were done months ago.
More than likely the changes were made as a push for more GamePass subs. Before, Xbox was front and center anytime GamePass was mentioned. By moving that more into the background (consoles), then it becomes more clear that GamePass is available on other platforms: PC and Cloud. For those who do not have Xbox (and with it not selling gangbusters), knowing that a GamePass subscription works on their PC and just for Cloud streaming, like on Samsung TVs, could get others to subscribe. Detach GamePass = Xbox, and then maybe others will sign up.
As for the "coming day 1 to GamePass" no longer being mentioned on the pages, some have assumed this means the games will no longer be available on GamePass the day they are released. I think the more likely scenario is this: if you see GamePass mentioned, then the game will be there on day one. Why mention GamePass if the game would not not on the service? If it says GamePass on its marketing page, it would be assumed that the game will be there.
I can see why "discovering" these months old changes are making people speculate even more things due to all the rumors that have been going around this past week, but it also seems like many people are just reacting rather than thinking things through. The more likely scenario is Microsoft is trying to find more ways to increase to GamePass subs outside of Xbox, so making the Xbox portion more "quiet" allows the other ones to be more noticed. If anything, the new set up makes Xbox, PC, and Cloud all equal in messaging.
Now for some plausible speculation:
There is a chance the removing of "Xbox" and just "Console" being displayed means that Microsoft finally got agreements in place with other consoles (PS or Switch) to place GamePass on them. However, this currently still feels unlikely at this time. My belief is the current changes are going to be this:
- More Microsoft published games will be going to other consoles
- Most of these will not be released on the same day as on Xbox/PC, so there will be some sort of "Play here first" marketing. 6 months gap between release would be my guess.
- Games will still be available on GamePass on release day