• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Is Microsoft's Xbox the new RPG powerhouse?

NickFire

Member
You're willing to miss out on all Bethesda games?
Seems like a bold prediction after the thread from yesterday suggesting EA makes 74% of its revenue from live services, dlc, micros, etc. I know MS has boatloads of cash, but there's just no way 3rd party Bethesda wasn't designing its games to soak up that dlc gravy. Technically possible, but very unlikely MS wants to tell its shareholders that it bought a company at a price based (at least in part) on anticipated future revenue, and then artificially reduced that future revenue by removing 60-80% of both initial console sales and of the post console sales where they would earn 70-75% of the income.

What I'm getting at is the numbers suggest that any business justification for keeping these games first party, would literally be limited to making a few enthusiasts smile at the thought of exclusives. It would have made more sense to just give Series X's away at these numbers.
 
Seems like a bold prediction after the thread from yesterday suggesting EA makes 74% of its revenue from live services, dlc, micros, etc. I know MS has boatloads of cash, but there's just no way 3rd party Bethesda wasn't designing its games to soak up that dlc gravy. Technically possible, but very unlikely MS wants to tell its shareholders that it bought a company at a price based (at least in part) on anticipated future revenue, and then artificially reduced that future revenue by removing 60-80% of both initial console sales and of the post console sales where they would earn 70-75% of the income.

What I'm getting at is the numbers suggest that any business justification for keeping these games first party, would literally be limited to making a few enthusiasts smile at the thought of exclusives. It would have made more sense to just give Series X's away at these numbers.


Xbox/PC/Mobile is a much bigger market than Playstation, and most Bethesda fans aren't going to just sit over there with a PS5 and not play the games they love, the amount of sales potential Bethesda games would have if released on PS5 too would almost certainly be smaller than the revenue they'd get from people switching to Xbox or playing via PC/xCloud and subscribing to Game Pass, which will happen in droves for a game like Starfield or Elder Scrolls 6. Those are the types of games that get people to switch or at the very least find somewhere to play those games. Also I'm fairly certain Bethesda games sell far and away the most on PC, so Playstation isn't even the biggest audience for those games.

One could very easily argue they're not "artificially reducing future revenue" but that in fact they're increasing it, how much money would Microsoft make off a full price game selling on PS5? like $20? They'd make more from that person subscribing to Game Pass for 2 months (or likely far longer) or buying an XSS/XSX to play Bethesda games. And even if they just buy those games on Steam without subscribing to Game Pass it's better for Microsoft than on PS5 because there's at least ways they can earn more money from that PC player.

The amount of people that really enjoy Bethesda games but aren't able to, or refuse to, play on anything but a Playstation is likely fairly small, especially given that probably everybody has a smartphone/tablet/computer capable of playing on xCloud (not like Elder Scrolls 6 or Starfield are likely to be super fast games where minor latency issues would be gamebreaking). Not to mention it's super early in the generation, the vast majority of those people who love Bethesda games likely haven't gotten into next gen yet, so there's far less friction for them to switch to Xbox or PC this generation to continue playing those games, they're not locked into Playstation yet
 
When i see RPG and see dumbshits dismissing Obsidian and Bethesda, it just makes you think what the fuck are they talking about.
Bethesda games were losing RPG elements after every new title. That was why people wanted Obsidian so much.
 
Last edited:

NickFire

Member
Xbox/PC/Mobile is a much bigger market than Playstation, and most Bethesda fans aren't going to just sit over there with a PS5 and not play the games they love, the amount of sales potential Bethesda games would have if released on PS5 too would almost certainly be smaller than the revenue they'd get from people switching to Xbox or playing via PC/xCloud and subscribing to Game Pass, which will happen in droves for a game like Starfield or Elder Scrolls 6. Those are the types of games that get people to switch or at the very least find somewhere to play those games. Also I'm fairly certain Bethesda games sell far and away the most on PC, so Playstation isn't even the biggest audience for those games.

One could very easily argue they're not "artificially reducing future revenue" but that in fact they're increasing it, how much money would Microsoft make off a full price game selling on PS5? like $20? They'd make more from that person subscribing to Game Pass for 2 months (or likely far longer) or buying an XSS/XSX to play Bethesda games. And even if they just buy those games on Steam without subscribing to Game Pass it's better for Microsoft than on PS5 because there's at least ways they can earn more money from that PC player.

The amount of people that really enjoy Bethesda games but aren't able to, or refuse to, play on anything but a Playstation is likely fairly small, especially given that probably everybody has a smartphone/tablet/computer capable of playing on xCloud (not like Elder Scrolls 6 or Starfield are likely to be super fast games where minor latency issues would be gamebreaking). Not to mention it's super early in the generation, the vast majority of those people who love Bethesda games likely haven't gotten into next gen yet, so there's far less friction for them to switch to Xbox or PC this generation to continue playing those games, they're not locked into Playstation yet
Your $20 projected benefit is very low, and their true revenue would be a couple hundred to perhaps a thousand percent (or more) higher factoring in post sale transactions. Since Sony charges a 30% cut, MS will make $48.99 from every $69.99 digital game sold on PS4/5 in the first instance, plus 70% of all microtransactions, dlc, etc. Considering Sony has sold over 114 million PS4's, and PS5 is doing the best console numbers in PS history, the chances of making more money from people changing eco-systems, or adding a second one, are less than .01% in my opinion.

That aside, why would anyone possibly want MS to make up lost PS sales via mobile? Series X is an absolute beast of a console, and there's ample debate about whether Series S will hold it back. Is keeping a game off of PS really worth making a Series X game run on mobile?
 
For Western RPGs, definitely. For Japanese RPGs, no. Not until they can sway series like Persona, SMT, Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest to release day-and-date on Xbox platforms (or as more of a long-shot, timed exclusive). Some of those have yet to appear on Xbox at all (namely Atlus's stuff).

If you want a guaranteed JRPG fix you'll still need a PlayStation and Switch, but for WRPGs you will definitely need an Xbox (and before someone chimes in "but PC!", some people don't use their PCs to game even if they're spec'd out since they probably use it for work purposes only (some tax-related reasons to do this, as well, you can claim said PC as a tax write-off in most cases but not if you're also using it for entertainment i.e gaming)).

Over time though Microsoft's position with JRPGs could improve more noticeably, whether or not GamePass factors into it.

Your $20 projected benefit is very low, and their true revenue would be a couple hundred to perhaps a thousand percent (or more) higher factoring in post sale transactions. Since Sony charges a 30% cut, MS will make $48.99 from every $69.99 digital game sold on PS4/5 in the first instance,

Only if the games are sold at full price, and you still have to account for ratio of digital to physical. Not all games scale that ratio evenly or at the same rate, some games are heavily lopsided to physical where used market and retail cut play a factor into the revenue.

plus 70% of all microtransactions, dlc, etc. Considering Sony has sold over 114 million PS4's, and PS5 is doing the best console numbers in PS history, the chances of making more money from people changing eco-systems, or adding a second one, are less than .01% in my opinion.

114 million systems does not translate to 114 million active users. Some people buy multiple units (collector units, customized units etc.) and others may have simply purchased a system and barely ever game on it. Those scenarios increase when factoring in the casual and mainstream audience (who make up the majority). It's why you don't see software sales scale evenly with install base size.

In fact if you look at even the previous generation let alone generations prior, there are plenty of instances of games on two platforms with wildly different install base sizes but the sales ratio being much smaller than the install base would indicate. In some cases, the platform with less sales would actually be the one where the majority of the sales for that game were at. Looking at install base number alone only tells you a slim bit about how revenues (and yes, engagement) are actually being generated in the ecosystem.

That aside, why would anyone possibly want MS to make up lost PS sales via mobile? Series X is an absolute beast of a console, and there's ample debate about whether Series S will hold it back. Is keeping a game off of PS really worth making a Series X game run on mobile?

It is considering in the case of mobile games they would be streamed via Xcloud, not through native ports. In the rare off-chance there is a native port for mobile, they could hire external teams to do it. This has been done in the past, i.e Forza Horizon 2 on XBO and 360 where an external team did the 360 version.

The allure of native play on Series vs. streamed play on mobile still present an ecosystem benefit for MS and Xbox for the hardcore and core gamers who prefer natively gaming on hardware directly, so those two streams don't actually cross very much. OTOH, providing native play on a Sony platform invariably hurts the Xbox platforms (gives less reason for players on PlayStation to pick up an Xbox platform; this is not even as a replacement, but a supplement to go along in addition to their PlayStation) and also ends up hurting GamePass because that means a poll of gamers given less incentive to subscribe to the service if they are willing to play the game on their PS5 (and yes, for hardcore/core gamers in particular they will definitely "eat the cost" and pay outright for the game on the system if it is in fact available for purchase on the system).

Those are the biggest reasons, but there are others...
 
Last edited:
The success of the next Elder Scrolls will define this purchase.

I feel if they follow GTA’s model it will highly successful. The rest of the games? I can see a bunch of studios closing. Rare, I have no idea what the fuck they are doing with their game. And that Deathloop game For PS4/PS5? Looks like a PS2 game. And for some reason its already on sale in the Playstation store. I dont see the Indiana Jones game doing very well. But we’ll see. I dont even think any of the games will be exclusive. They are too big to fail/risk.
 

Brian Jensen

Neo Member
Just look at the RPG's slated for the Series X / S :

Forza guys - Fable.

Obsidian - Avowed.

Bethesda - Starfield, next Elder Scrolls.

Insync - Wasteland 3 came out last year, so they're definitely cooking something else.

Arkane Studios - They have Deathloop coming out soon (well its a timed exclusive for ps5) but Prey 2, new Dishonored or a new IP must be in the works.

I still have a gaming PC, so I'm not worried about not being to play these, but I will be salty if the previous third party studios in that list don't port them to PlayStation 5, just because I'm curious what dualsense implementation they would add, if any.

Perhaps the new Switch Pro could compete, but who knows?
I agree! Microsoft is taking over the RPG landscape, especially since they do allow Final Fantasy games to be on X-Box.
 

Brian Jensen

Neo Member
For Western RPGs, definitely. For Japanese RPGs, no. Not until they can sway series like Persona, SMT, Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest to release day-and-date on Xbox platforms (or as more of a long-shot, timed exclusive). Some of those have yet to appear on Xbox at all (namely Atlus's stuff).

If you want a guaranteed JRPG fix you'll still need a PlayStation and Switch, but for WRPGs you will definitely need an Xbox (and before someone chimes in "but PC!", some people don't use their PCs to game even if they're spec'd out since they probably use it for work purposes only (some tax-related reasons to do this, as well, you can claim said PC as a tax write-off in most cases but not if you're also using it for entertainment i.e gaming)).

Over time though Microsoft's position with JRPGs could improve more noticeably, whether or not GamePass factors into it.
Since Sony is drifting away from the Asian market, Microsoft could step in and take that over.
 
Your $20 projected benefit is very low, and their true revenue would be a couple hundred to perhaps a thousand percent (or more) higher factoring in post sale transactions. Since Sony charges a 30% cut, MS will make $48.99 from every $69.99 digital game sold on PS4/5 in the first instance, plus 70% of all microtransactions, dlc, etc. Considering Sony has sold over 114 million PS4's, and PS5 is doing the best console numbers in PS history, the chances of making more money from people changing eco-systems, or adding a second one, are less than .01% in my opinion.

That aside, why would anyone possibly want MS to make up lost PS sales via mobile? Series X is an absolute beast of a console, and there's ample debate about whether Series S will hold it back. Is keeping a game off of PS really worth making a Series X game run on mobile?


1. The mobile versions would be streaming with xcloud so mobile wouldn't be holding back at all

2. Sure I may have miscalculated the % for PS5 games but I still think they'd likely make more from getting people into their ecosystem than the one-off of a Playstation user buying a game and then having no other interaction with Xbox or Game Pass. Switching one user from Playstation to Xbox would be worth likely hundreds of sales of a PS5 game, and could potentially result in that player getting hooked on Game Pass. I still believe the amount they'd lose from not being on Playstation wouldn't be larger than the amount they'd gain from not being on Playstation. And right now all the people buying PS5 or XSX are people that made their mind up years ago on which one they'd get, those people were never going to switch, but the vast majority of people that will be buying these consoles over the next several years aren't super stuck into their console, and could definitely be switching (or buying both). And they don't even need to switch, those Playstation users can buy an XSS for cheap, or play on PC, or play via xCloud streaming. The only people being "left behind" by the games not coming to Playstation are the people who want to be left behind, or people in such poor financial states that they probably shouldn't have a PS5 either.

The amount of people who simultaneously really wanted to play the new Bethesda games, but only want to play them on their Playstation (when there are multiple other avenues), is likely very small. Not to mention they already confirmed Bethesda games will be exclusive to places that have Game Pass, so unless PS5 gets Game Pass on it, they won't get Bethesda games on it, and I guarantee they've crunched the numbers on whether it's worth it or not
 

rolandss

Member
You forgot Fallout. The only titles I care about that Xbox has now are Bethesda ones. No interest in the rest. When Fallout 5 and the new Elder Scrolls come out, if they remain exclusive, I’ll buy an Xbox for the first time in my life.
 

Hezekiah

Banned
No shit, every billion dollar franchise sells well (even Forza if you can believe it!).
But just for kicks..how much did GT Sport sell exactly? Let us know if you can find those official numbers because all anyone has ever seen are estimates.



Ever been to a Halo thread?



Gran Turismo mustered up exactly 1 game this entire past generation compared to 6 Forza entries.
6 games that were all better reviewed, with the worst of them all still scoring higher than Gran Turismo Sport (hell, Forza has been outscoring GT since the 360/Ps3 days).

That aside, Forza didn't become a billion dollar franchise based on reviews. They sell units and release at a higher clip than GT can ever match at this point.
Forza doesn't just wear the crown, they TOOK it by force.
Over 8m - already said that yesterday. Forza meanwhile sells so well the numbers are hidden 🤔.

No idea what you're even talking about Halo. You sound incredibly defensive.

Gran Turismo was a billion dollar franchise well before Forza was.
 

*Nightwing

Member
Never played a board or paper RPG in my life since I love console RPGs so much. Even I know the true RPG powerhouse will always be paper, dice and imagination.
Xbox ain’t doing bad, just nothing to boast about yet
 

Loope

Member
Bethesda games were losing RPG elements after every new title. That was why people wanted Obsidian so much.
And yet there are people in this very thread and many others calling RPG to games tha allow to craft weapons and change names. I mean...Bethesda games are still RPG, Skyrim was light on it for sure, but still RPG, they're just not on the level of Morrowind, i get that.
Obsidian, by now it's a name that should be recognizable to any RPG fan for the past 17 years or so plus the ones some of their founders spent on Black Isle. This is a studio that along with Larian represents everything that's good in WRPG.
 
Twice as popular - let e guess, another 'number of active players on a Wednesday afternoon' stat 😁.
No; the Forza games (specifically the Horizon series) have been outselling Gran Turismo for the past few entries now.

Granted, GT6 doomed itself to PS3 right as PS4 was coming out and GT Sport is a sort-of different type of GT (that had a slightly iffy launch, nothing nearly as bad as Driveclub's though), but it is what it is.

Since Sony is drifting away from the Asian market, Microsoft could step in and take that over.

"Take over" is a bit overzealous; there is Nintendo and if anything, if Sony starts faltering with Asia (particularly Japan) then I see Nintendo being the go-to. In a lot of ways they already are, but if they made consoles that were actually competitive with Sony/Microsoft power-wise (yet somehow were able to keep it a portable hybrid...good luck with that xD) then Japanese support would be very dire for both Microsoft and Sony. But that's not the reality we're in ;).

Microsoft are making some inroads for sure, between the Yakuza/Judgement series, Dragon Quest, potentially Persona, SNK support etc. But we'll know they're making some really big inroads there if they can get Persona day-and-date, ensure games like SF6 are multi-plat (extra points if they can get marketing/sponsorship rights on it similar to Sony did for SFV), get more Japanese fighting games on the platform (Guilty Gear, KOF, Granblue etc.).

The biggest sign that they'd of made major strides with Japan would be in getting Final Fantasy day-and-date again like in the 360 era, or even managing some platform exclusive game with them (similar to Forespoken between Sony and Square-Enix). All of those things along with affordable pricing and other titles that appeal more to Asian markets will push them a lot further in the region, especially combined with Gamepass and Xcloud.

But the games are the most important and I still think Microsoft has a good deal of work to do in getting wider parity (let alone any notable leads) in Japanese software when compared to Sony and Nintendo. Hopefully they are working on some deals for 3P exclusive content with certain developers in Japan, China, Korea...that or making some investments in them for marketing rights, timed exclusivity, Gamepass etc. Hopefully we start to get a glimpse of that around E3 (rumored Kojima game, Persona rumors etc.).
 
Last edited:

S0ULZB0URNE

Member
No; the Forza games (specifically the Horizon series) have been outselling Gran Turismo for the past few entries now.

Granted, GT6 doomed itself to PS3 right as PS4 was coming out and GT Sport is a sort-of different type of GT (that had a slightly iffy launch, nothing nearly as bad as Driveclub's though), but it is what it is.



"Take over" is a bit overzealous; there is Nintendo and if anything, if Sony starts faltering with Asia (particularly Japan) then I see Nintendo being the go-to. In a lot of ways they already are, but if they made consoles that were actually competitive with Sony/Microsoft power-wise (yet somehow were able to keep it a portable hybrid...good luck with that xD) then Japanese support would be very dire for both Microsoft and Sony. But that's not the reality we're in ;).

Microsoft are making some inroads for sure, between the Yakuza/Judgement series, Dragon Quest, potentially Persona, SNK support etc. But we'll know they're making some really big inroads there if they can get Persona day-and-date, ensure games like SF6 are multi-plat (extra points if they can get marketing/sponsorship rights on it similar to Sony did for SFV), get more Japanese fighting games on the platform (Guilty Gear, KOF, Granblue etc.).

The biggest sign that they'd of made major strides with Japan would be in getting Final Fantasy day-and-date again like in the 360 era, or even managing some platform exclusive game with them (similar to Forespoken between Sony and Square-Enix). All of those things along with affordable pricing and other titles that appeal more to Asian markets will push them a lot further in the region, especially combined with Gamepass and Xcloud.

But the games are the most important and I still think Microsoft has a good deal of work to do in getting wider parity (let alone any notable leads) in Japanese software when compared to Sony and Nintendo. Hopefully they are working on some deals for 3P exclusive content with certain developers in Japan, China, Korea...that or making some investments in them for marketing rights, timed exclusivity, Gamepass etc. Hopefully we start to get a glimpse of that around E3 (rumored Kojima game, Persona rumors etc.).
Do you have links to Forza outselling GT?
Cause the GT games as a whole sold over 80 million and I doubt Forza is more than half of that.
 

S0ULZB0URNE

Member
Uc2h1o8.jpg
 
Based on the studios at their disposal and the existing IP's they now have, it's safe to say Xbox is going to be the RPG system of this generation.
 

Hezekiah

Banned
No; the Forza games (specifically the Horizon series) have been outselling Gran Turismo for the past few entries now.

Granted, GT6 doomed itself to PS3 right as PS4 was coming out and GT Sport is a sort-of different type of GT (that had a slightly iffy launch, nothing nearly as bad as Driveclub's though), but it is what it is.
Do you have any actual sales numbers to back that up? GT sport sold 8m as of June 2019.
 
Based on the studios at their disposal and the existing IP's they now have, it's safe to say Xbox is going to be the RPG system of this generation.
I have a feeling you are going to say the same thing for next gen once Series X didn't pan out. We have enough data points by now; Xbox as a whole lives off empty promises.

Over and over, new threads pop up where Xbox costumers feel frustrated that there is so little faith in the capability of the Xbox team. Why is it that more people believe Playstation and Nintendo can make better games when they also make the same promises?

The past. Past performance. What you do last gen, matters. And we have had multiple "last gen" for Xbox by now. We know the history. And all the past promises are also in the public record. Xbox isn't new at this anymore. There is no more excuses to claim they are somehow new at this. People just aren't being excited at promises, because this is all the same song and dance we have heard for decades now.

Good on you that you feel you can see a light at the end of the tunnel. But the rest of us really don't see how this time is any different.
 
Do you have links to Forza outselling GT?
Cause the GT games as a whole sold over 80 million and I doubt Forza is more than half of that.
I said "more recent entries", and you can find the links if you're interested. I probably have them bookmarked but no way am I searching the bookmarks ATM xD.

Regardless of any case, revenue is probably a better indication of how the ecosystem of these franchises work; the older GT games are at a disadvantage there due to being physical retail-only and no DLC ecosystem expansion. Would explain why GT is not a $2 billion franchise even if in the chance collectively it's sold 2x the units of Forza franchise.

Do you have any actual sales numbers to back that up? GT sport sold 8m as of June 2019.

Again, you guys can search this for yourselves, with added security that you'll be looking first-hand at the data. I don't have time to find the links.

I have a feeling you are going to say the same thing for next gen once Series X didn't pan out. We have enough data points by now; Xbox as a whole lives off empty promises.

Over and over, new threads pop up where Xbox costumers feel frustrated that there is so little faith in the capability of the Xbox team. Why is it that more people believe Playstation and Nintendo can make better games when they also make the same promises?

The past. Past performance. What you do last gen, matters. And we have had multiple "last gen" for Xbox by now. We know the history. And all the past promises are also in the public record. Xbox isn't new at this anymore. There is no more excuses to claim they are somehow new at this. People just aren't being excited at promises, because this is all the same song and dance we have heard for decades now.

Good on you that you feel you can see a light at the end of the tunnel. But the rest of us really don't see how this time is any different.

Who do you think you speak for other than yourself? Quite arrogant to assume you are a voice for others you don't even know.

Your frustrations with a brand are your own, take solace in at least that much, and while you may have valid reasons for those thoughts, you should also be cognizant of the fact there are others who've gone through previous reflective takes on the same events but are still interested in seeing what the brand brings forward.

Maybe it's because they are optimists, maybe it's because they are more understanding of the finer details that might've caused previous complications that are no longer there (or at least don't appear to be present anymore). Maybe they understand that substantive changes take time with things as complicated as launching a new platform and software to accommodate it. And maybe they just seem to actually like what the brand is currently offering...there are certainly a lot of points to its favor when looking at things objectively and subjectively.

Generally speaking, consensus among optimism for the Xbox brand is higher now than it ever was with XBO and arguably higher than with 360 in its early years. The voices that seem as distraught and angry with the brand like yourself, from the discourse I see, are a small vocal minority. The kind who shout the loudest but honestly, if their opinions were so prevalent among gamers as a whole, articles and videos of late that legitimately shared or voiced those type of pessimistic takes (like the Dualshockers video shortly after the MS/Zenimax/Bethesda roundtable) wouldn't have been ratio'd to death the way they were. It'd appear regular gamers as a whole are at the very least willing to give Microsoft a chance to see what their 1st party can truly bring, and they're getting a bit tired of the rampant negativity around the brand that was popular but a few years ago.

That doesn't mean there aren't things the Xbox team could be improving on; there certainly are. But there's a difference between having those rather level-headed critiques and launching into doom-and-gloom diatribes equivalent to a scorned ex posting a spiteful profile review on Tinder or whatever. The viewpoint you display in your post is one only a very small element of extremely brand-loyal "gamers" (I say this because often the ones who vocalize perspectives like your post tend to play console debates on Youtube and Twitter more than actually play video games, when you see the same names in multiple game podcast chats over the course of a day xD) share, but you never have nor never will speak for the majority.

If you aren't looking forward to what a given platform is attempting due to prior grievances, that's your own choice and you're within the right to make it. But there's no reason to lie and pretend that perspective is a prevailing one among the masses when actual ascertainment of the macro perspective paints an opposite picture. It'll be up to Microsoft to prove they can meet those expectations but at the very least the majority are optimistic enough to believe they will, or try their hardest, to do so, and they can have this expectation while still eagerly looking forward to what Sony and Nintendo have done, are doing, and will most likely do in the near future.
 
Last edited:

Brian Jensen

Neo Member
No; the Forza games (specifically the Horizon series) have been outselling Gran Turismo for the past few entries now.

Granted, GT6 doomed itself to PS3 right as PS4 was coming out and GT Sport is a sort-of different type of GT (that had a slightly iffy launch, nothing nearly as bad as Driveclub's though), but it is what it is.



"Take over" is a bit overzealous; there is Nintendo and if anything, if Sony starts faltering with Asia (particularly Japan) then I see Nintendo being the go-to. In a lot of ways they already are, but if they made consoles that were actually competitive with Sony/Microsoft power-wise (yet somehow were able to keep it a portable hybrid...good luck with that xD) then Japanese support would be very dire for both Microsoft and Sony. But that's not the reality we're in ;).

Microsoft are making some inroads for sure, between the Yakuza/Judgement series, Dragon Quest, potentially Persona, SNK support etc. But we'll know they're making some really big inroads there if they can get Persona day-and-date, ensure games like SF6 are multi-plat (extra points if they can get marketing/sponsorship rights on it similar to Sony did for SFV), get more Japanese fighting games on the platform (Guilty Gear, KOF, Granblue etc.).

The biggest sign that they'd of made major strides with Japan would be in getting Final Fantasy day-and-date again like in the 360 era, or even managing some platform exclusive game with them (similar to Forespoken between Sony and Square-Enix). All of those things along with affordable pricing and other titles that appeal more to Asian markets will push them a lot further in the region, especially combined with Gamepass and Xcloud.

But the games are the most important and I still think Microsoft has a good deal of work to do in getting wider parity (let alone any notable leads) in Japanese software when compared to Sony and Nintendo. Hopefully they are working on some deals for 3P exclusive content with certain developers in Japan, China, Korea...that or making some investments in them for marketing rights, timed exclusivity, Gamepass etc. Hopefully we start to get a glimpse of that around E3 (rumored Kojima game, Persona rumors etc.).
But Microsoft could buy out most of the Japanese game studios.
 
But Microsoft could buy out most of the Japanese game studios.
Only if those studios want to be bought; they could do a hostile takeover but it'd be harder to do with a Japanese company for starters. Additionally, employed staff and board members could always just choose to leave if a hostile takeover were initiated.

Personally I'd be more interested in seeing them (and Sony) collab with 3P devs on platform exclusives versus outright buying the companies, unless said companies are in a financial situation where buying them is a means of helping them survive. I think the fear of Google, Amazon etc. jumping in (and others like Embracer Group) might've driven some of the recent acquisitions, but the presence of those threats have subsided a good bit recently.

That said, future acquisitions are bound to still occur but it'll be as it makes sense, as always.
 
If you aren't looking forward to what a given platform is attempting due to prior grievances, that's your own choice and you're within the right to make it. But there's no reason to lie and pretend that perspective is a prevailing one among the masses when actual ascertainment of the macro perspective paints an opposite picture. It'll be up to Microsoft to prove they can meet those expectations but at the very least the majority are optimistic enough to believe they will, or try their hardest, to do so, and they can have this expectation while still eagerly looking forward to what Sony and Nintendo have done, are doing, and will most likely do in the near future.
Wait, who are these "majority?

You mean Americans? Or gamers as a whole? Or are you only talking about existing Xbox customers?

I don't know of a majority that view Xbox as a whole as improving, the majority doesn't even put Xbox into consideration for a gaming console. That's why Xbox comes third in console gaming.

Who is this "majority" you speak of that look at Xbox so highly? Neogaf itself?
 
Last edited:
Who is this "majority" you speak of that look at Xbox so highly? Neogaf itself?



Likes: 76 Dislikes: 5.5 K (72.3 to 1 ratio)



Likes: 26 Dislikes: 1.1 K (42.3 to 1 ratio)



Likes: 1.8 K Dislikes: 9.2 K (5.1 to 1 ratio)

This is a good sampling of how rather "extreme" viewpoints like your own hold up to a public that's a mix of gamers from different and multiple ecosystems. These particular videos were mainly done to stir up ire that was intended to not be positive for the Xbox brand, particularly right after a very well-received event the brand hosted. If your type of sentiment was more mainstream among the majority, these kind of videos would've done much better in terms of ratios.

...they didn't.
 
Last edited:


Likes: 76 Dislikes: 5.5 K (72.3 to 1 ratio)



Likes: 26 Dislikes: 1.1 K (42.3 to 1 ratio)



Likes: 1.8 K Dislikes: 9.2 K (5.1 to 1 ratio)

This is a good sampling of how rather "extreme" viewpoints like your own hold up to a public that's a mix of gamers from different and multiple ecosystems. These particular videos were mainly done to stir up ire that was intended to not be positive for the Xbox brand, particularly right after a very well-received event the brand hosted. If your type of sentiment was more mainstream among the majority, these kind of videos would've done much better in terms of ratios.

...they didn't.

Oh, youtube videos? These aee what you used to determine the majority?
Are you aware that youtube videoes are personalised to what you personally like to watch and as such, will never show you the actual real world?

No wonder you think Xbox is still relevent.
 

Bernkastel

Ask me about my fanboy energy!
Oh, youtube videos? These aee what you used to determine the majority?
Are you aware that youtube videoes are personalised to what you personally like to watch and as such, will never show you the actual real world?

No wonder you think Xbox is still relevent.
It's just a matter of searching on YouTube and seeing how different view points are received by audience. Contrary to your preferred narrative most people don't think of Microsoft buying Bethesda as doom and gloom and such videos are usually not received positively. Otherwise you won't be shifthing goal posts to make yourself feel better about how it's just YouTube algorithm and YouTube is just hiding all those videos about postively received Xbox doom and gloom involving Bethesda acquisition.
 
Oh, youtube videos? These aee what you used to determine the majority?
Are you aware that youtube videoes are personalised to what you personally like to watch and as such, will never show you the actual real world?

No wonder you think Xbox is still relevent.

Damn you are desperate, what soccer team are you on? Serious goalpost-moving skillz right there, bruh.

Don't come to me explaining how Youtube algorithms work; you asked for examples and I provided them. Those videos got around to plenty of people outside of whatever the algorithm would feed to your inbox; hell they never showed up in my feed until I saw other content creators talk about them.

If you want "the real world" (i.e whatever conforms to confirming your preexisting bias, in your case), then go do a poll with all 7 billion people on the face of the earth. We'll see you back in 80 years for the results...
 

oagboghi2

Member
Since Sony is drifting away from the Asian market, Microsoft could step in and take that over.
And pigs could fly



Likes: 76 Dislikes: 5.5 K (72.3 to 1 ratio)



Likes: 26 Dislikes: 1.1 K (42.3 to 1 ratio)



Likes: 1.8 K Dislikes: 9.2 K (5.1 to 1 ratio)

This is a good sampling of how rather "extreme" viewpoints like your own hold up to a public that's a mix of gamers from different and multiple ecosystems. These particular videos were mainly done to stir up ire that was intended to not be positive for the Xbox brand, particularly right after a very well-received event the brand hosted. If your type of sentiment was more mainstream among the majority, these kind of videos would've done much better in terms of ratios.

...they didn't.

This is a pretty shitty argument. Cherry picking YouTube videos and looking at their ratio?

Good lord you people are sad.
 
Last edited:

German Hops

GAF's Nicest Lunch Thief
I would suspect that you'll still see Bethesda games on other consoles/platforms. Skyrim was released on enough platforms, which suggests that it does well on various platforms. So, in that case, I wouldn't be surprised if Elder Scrolls VI was released in non-Microsoft platforms.

One thing I'm curious about... cross-generational improvements. One disappointing thing for me is when I went to see if Skyrim on the Xbox One could use save games from Skyrim on the 360, and I saw that it was not possible. I wonder if having Microsoft as a parent company will push for Bethesda to ensure interoperability in the future. For example, perhaps we'll see a bonus for the Xbox One's Skyrim when ran on the Series S/X?
 

Shmunter

Member
I would suspect that you'll still see Bethesda games on other consoles/platforms. Skyrim was released on enough platforms, which suggests that it does well on various platforms. So, in that case, I wouldn't be surprised if Elder Scrolls VI was released in non-Microsoft platforms.

One thing I'm curious about... cross-generational improvements. One disappointing thing for me is when I went to see if Skyrim on the Xbox One could use save games from Skyrim on the 360, and I saw that it was not possible. I wonder if having Microsoft as a parent company will push for Bethesda to ensure interoperability in the future. For example, perhaps we'll see a bonus for the Xbox One's Skyrim when ran on the Series S/X?
It’s curious how they are keeping Bathesda as a seperate entity to Xbox game studios. Or am I misinformed?
 

Shmunter

Member
Not all Bethesda games will be PC/Xbox exclusive. The heavy hitters will though.
But why keep it a seperate MS property and not proudly assimilate the devs into Xbox studios? It’s strange without some underlying reason.

Edit: likely as you highlight, gives flexibility for exclusive arrangements or multiplatform, whatever makes sense at the time. Just like a 3rd party but having 1st right of refusal, each time, every time.
 
Last edited:

N30RYU

Member
MS was never the third person view platformer 'cause they bought nintendo Rare... They couldn't even do a decent Perfect Dark... so Ms buying studios is like Real Madrid getting Hazard... if the studios doen't become better then they are put on a waste.
 
Top Bottom