Xbox and Nintendo together: games, online and what changes

Xbox and Nintendo are getting closer and closer: this is what changes with the new partnership between Microsoft and Switch, from the upcoming games to the debut of Cuphead and Xbox Live on the hybrid console.

Xbox and Nintendo together: games, online and what changes

Xbox and Nintendo start a silent but increasingly concrete partnership: the arrival of so many Microsoft games on the Nintendo Switch hybrid console, accompanied by the online features of Xbox Live, could mark an epochal turning point not only for players but for the entire market video games.

What changes with Xbox and Nintendo together? The prospects may be different: first of all, the arrival of the respective exclusives on the two platforms. This turning point has already been anticipated by the landing of Cuphead, a well-known and difficult platform available from April on the Nintendo eShop. This is one of the most successful exclusives on the Microsoft console, which will be accompanied by Xbox Live features.

Not a merger, but a collaboration aimed at facing on one side Sony, with the future PlayStation 5, and on the other Google that officially presented Stadia, its platform to play in streaming.

Xbox and Nintendo together: what changes

Will we see Super Mario games on Xbox and Microsoft Store? This is the main question around which the main users’ questions revolve, but it is still early to answer these types of questions. Nintendo has always been extremely jealous of its brands, like Mario, Zelda and Pokémon, and it is still risky to expect the debut of the world’s most famous plumber or Pikachu on Xbox as a result of this unusual collaboration.

What is certain is that the era of the “console war” seems to be coming to an end, in favor of collaborations aimed primarily at the online world. The arrival of a title like Cuphead is the first peace offer to Nintendo, which will benefit from an important exclusive on its store that, in the future, looks set to include other important Xbox titles for Switch (like the Halo saga or Gears of War).

The trailer that announces the arrival of Cuphead on Nintendo Switch

The intents of the two companies are reciprocal and complementary: on the one hand, Xbox could establish itself in the East without the need to sell its consoles, on the other hand Nintendo could exploit the popularity and success of the Microsoft console in America (where it is most famous of Switch and PlayStation) to embrace more and more users. A bridge between East and West, positioned on the pillars of two giants like Microsoft and Nintendo.

Xbox Live on Nintendo Switch

The arrival of Cuphead on Switch brought with it the announcement, made during the Game Developers Conference 2019 in San Francisco, of the extension of the Xbox Live program on Nintendo Switch.

Microsoft will work with MDHR, the team behind the implementation of Cuphead, to implement the exclusive features of their service on the console of the large N. The arrival of the service is expected in the coming months and what will change for Nintendo Switch users? Mainly, it will be (at least initially) an insertion of the main functions within the Nintendo Switch games: rewards, rankings, friends list and gametag clubs will be synchronized to the relevant Microsoft account exactly as it already happens on Xbox One.

The rumors report even more: Xbox Game Pass may soon be arriving on Switch, providing Nintendo users with the entire library of games and exclusive Microsoft at subscription level. We will have to wait in this direction, but the approach of the two companies is by now evident and in the next months the novelties that will await the players will not be few, put in front of a new era of gaming with an ever wider offer. We will keep you posted.

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