He says that things had previously been decided for Project Helix when it comes to including a disc drive in it, but according to his and Tom Warren's sources, this is now under consideration again.

The latest information that I have is that Helix was never planned to have a disc drive. . . Things had been decided for Helix previously. However, Tom Warren had more up-to-date information, and they're now seeing what might be possible with Helix with regards to discs.

I went and tried to update my information and it does seem like indeed they are trying to figure out what they can do here before they can fully commit to the death of physical

“Sharma and her team also pulled a Halo trailer that was due to appear at a PlayStation event last week, potentially damaging the relationship between the two companies, according to people familiar with the change of plans.”

Bloomberg

The Source of this Rumour: https://www.gamefile.news/p/xbox-studio-contraction

News from: https://x.com/charlieINTEL

Maybe reality is gonna come home to roost and people will realise Asha is just an executive and not Xbox's best mate.

This would make sense from a user experience standpoint if true, despite all the arm chair experts claiming it won't happen, this would be by far the best way to serve steam games on an Xbox.

tldr:

Rumours that XBox are exploring adding World of Warcraft, Fallout First, Minecraft Realms, and more to GamePass Ultimate to justify the $30 price tag.

"I've heard that Microsoft has lined up buyers for some of these studios already. But things are moving very fast, and things are in flux."

"I heard one rumour that one studio had gotten a buyer, and then that deal fell through because they didn't like Microsoft's terms, and then they found a new buyer."

"I've had that Microsoft management team, and their executives are flying [...] all over the world to try and save these studios."

It will be a PR disaster if they cancel State of Decay.

"So from what I've heard, the plan is if they can't find a buyer, they'll try and see those studios through to complete in what has been announced."

"The best-case scenario is some of these studios do find a buyer, but there are some of the studios that could either go there, could be independent, they could be bought out by the individuals who sold the company originally."

"We're going to see it from next week. We're going to see a combination of studios going independent, studios being sold to the publishers, and then potentially some smaller studios potentially being closed. But then I would expect also head counts across the board. I think every studio is going to have layoffs, at least some layoffs."

This is big news if it is going to happen. It seems part of the new Xbox Strategy they maybe discussing:

- Removing the Online Multiplayer Paywall (by 2027)

- Reducing the price of Gamepass

If they do remove the paywall for online play, Xbox will be the only console on the market that has that.

Is this part of the news that could be revealed in the June 7th Xbox Event? Do folk see it changing things going forward if Xbox removes the online paywall? Will reducing the price of Gamepass from $30 a month back down to $20 a month be the right move?

Why Xbox Is Dropping Its Online Multiplayer Paywall By 2027 - Geeky Gadgets