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Xbox Studios Boss Admits Lagging Behind Sony In Terms Of Big Tentpole Games

R6Rider

Gold Member
mods watching this thread

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creeping secret agent GIF by Manny404
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
All they gotta do is make a shit ton of walking simulators with hours of cut scenes. Apparently that's what people want.
Death Stranding is the only walking simulator they have made, and that game is literally a walking simulator. And even Death Stranding lets you build roads to drive trucks and bikes, and literally fly around the map.

FlusteredChillyLeonberger-max-1mb.gif


But nice try.
Not sure what your point is about Dark Souls 2, because it actually got great review scores, if you go look. Just because it's regarded as the worst in the series by many, that didn't make it a bad game compared to the rest of the industry the year it launched.

I know it's a Bethesda favorite commentary to act like BGS Maryland had very little to do with the game, but literally every major player from Maryland can be found in the credits for Fallout 76. It's just pure revisionist history to try and act like Todd & Co were mere sideline players on that game. Go watch the NoClip doc, and you'll see 90% BGS Maryland employees talking about the game. It's simply not factual to act as though it was mostly Austin's problems that were to blame. You could tell in pre- launch interviews that Todd Howard had NO IDEA how to design an MMOish type online game, and when it launched, it showed.

Also, consider what Pete Hines said in 2018. He said that the launch dates for BGS would be along the same lines as it had been for years. Starfield matches up, observe:
Fallout 3 2008
Skyrim 2011, 3 years dev cycle
Fallout 4 2015, 4 years dev cycle
Fallout 76 2018, 3 year dev cycle
Starfield 2022, 4 year dev cycle
TES VI 2025-26, 3-4 year dev cycle

See how the timeline goes, by Bethesda's own gameplan? Sorry, but "it's Austin's fault" is a myth that's been spread by Bethesda fans
That makes sense then. Lets assume thats true and you are right that Todd Howard is completely clueless about MMORPGs, isn't it a relief that hes now going back to something he has literally pioneered over the last couple of decades?

I dont think one bad game means much. Like I said, every studio has made bombs. DS2 did get great reviews. IIRC, It has a 91 metacritic. Almost the same as Bloodborne 92. And higher than Dark Souls 3 and sekiro. No one in their right mind would say that. Critics just got it wrong.
 
Without Zenimax they would have been obliterated. Now, they have an 8 studios publisher that has released many, many acclaimed titles before, and which will operate almost independently, which means MS will probably contribute nothing to the production side. That is great, as MS has mismanaged its owned studios for years.
With this configuration, I still sm not sure that they will beat PS quality wise...But if you are 90% there, with the advantage of, let's say, releasing 50% more titles, you are in a better position all things considered, imo.
 
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For me MS is like a all you can eat buffet. You have something for everyone but none of it is really "special".
Sony is like a very good restaurant where you get the "special" kind of food.

loved the MS 360 era (software wise not hardware lol) but unfortunately none of the games on the MS games are must haves for me. If i really want to play them i just get Gamepass for one month.
What is this post? 😅 This comment is going to age terribly after Forza and Halo hit later this year.
 
Without Zenimax they would have been obliterated. Now, they have an 8 studios publisher that has released many, many acclaimed titles before, and which will operate almost independently, which means MS will probably contribute nothing to the production side. That is great, as MS has mismanaged its owned studios for years.
With this configuration, I still sm not sure that they will beat PS quality wise...But if you are 90% there, with the advantage of, let's say, releasing 50% more titles, you are in a better position all things considered, imo.
Yeah, despite its faults, Bethesda probably did launch about as many "good" games as Microsoft studios did over the last gen. Prey, DOOM, Dishonored 2, Wolfenstein, Fallout 4, ESO, and maybe a couple others, would be at or near the top of MS releases, if they had been under their control at the time.
 

BlackTron

Member
It would be nice to get more games, but they are making a mistake if they do this by trying to look carefully at Sony to try and distill their "formula".

Sega didn't succeed by coping Mario, they did their own thing to make an effective counter.
 
Without Zenimax they would have been obliterated. Now, they have an 8 studios publisher that has released many, many acclaimed titles before, and which will operate almost independently, which means MS will probably contribute nothing to the production side. That is great, as MS has mismanaged its owned studios for years.
With this configuration, I still sm not sure that they will beat PS quality wise...But if you are 90% there, with the advantage of, let's say, releasing 50% more titles, you are in a better position all things considered, imo.
Add nothing to the production? 😄 this is a right pearler 🤣 seriously dude keep the jokes coming.
 
Add nothing to the production? 😄 this is a right pearler 🤣 seriously dude keep the jokes coming.

Yep, Zenimax will operate as it has always done, with the added financial support if needed and deemed justified. Its studios will be handling their output as they used to, prior to the acquisition. Why, you expected MS, which has failed at this level so far, to alter their Modus Operandi? 😂
 
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Without Zenimax they would have been obliterated. Now, they have an 8 studios publisher that has released many, many acclaimed titles before, and which will operate almost independently, which means MS will probably contribute nothing to the production side. That is great, as MS has mismanaged its owned studios for years.

Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine's first game under Microsofts management) was their best yet and just might win GOTY this year.

Make sure to give Microsoft some credit when Obsidian, Ninja Theory, The Initiative, InXile and Compulsion do their thing this gen.
 
Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine's first game under Microsofts management) was their best yet and just might win GOTY this year.

Make sure to give Microsoft some credit when Obsidian, Ninja Theory, The Initiative, InXile and Compulsion do their thing this gen.

Why wouldn't I? I am not a bitter teenager. Show me that you can compete with, and beat Sony at their game, and I will join everybody in saluting the results. But the point I made was about Zenimax...
 
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Great Hair

Banned
So GOTY level then.
Social Meme Value Score (SMVS)
Oblvion 10,000 memes
Skyrim a wet fart and some ballin´

Better Dungeons
Oblvion betta than recyclerim
Skyrim too many copied wet farts

Story, Questing
Oblvion wet and smelly
Skyrim still wet and smelly

Gameplay
Oblvion primetime
Skyrim cd/reuse oblivion_gameplay_template

Oblivion wins, less smelly, less stinky.
 
That makes sense then. Lets assume thats true and you are right that Todd Howard is completely clueless about MMORPGs, isn't it a relief that hes now going back to something he has literally pioneered over the last couple of decades?
Well, that makes sense on the surface, but I heard a long form interview with Todd Howard a couple years ago, and it seems pretty obvious that he has checked out creatively. It's from Game Makers Studio, I think, and the head of Insomniac Games was interviewing him. I think BGS need to move on from him at this point, or at least get someone else elevated to his level. Fallout 76 wasn't fundamentally different than games he was making 15 years ago, just more poorly designed.
Also, Emil Pagliarulo, as a head writer? Same story. Gotta move on imo.
You should go check out that interview though, if you can find it. He says he even gets upset that his son asks him about Elder Scrolls lore. He comes off as someone who just doesn't care anymore.
Justifies fetch quests, because he doesn't want to waste time writing quest lines. That's literally his reasoning.
Says his favorite games to play are EA Ultimate Teams, the biggest scam in gaming. It's almost surreal how little interest he shows in the types of games that (I think) most of us here would want.

But yeah, lol, in theory, the studio head going back to what he knows would be preferable, in most cases.
 

Great Hair

Banned
Based on their previous games.
Skyrim, Fallout 3, Oblivion, and Morrowind are all GOTY winners.
Skyrim in space is a lock for GOTY.
Starfield will also have that next gen NEW IP feel working for it.

That´s like claiming that Avowed will be GOTY, just because of Obisdian previous IPs.
Let´s not forget, that all those games are disliked by few. Fallout 76 is utter shite, Fallout 4 did not win GOTY (iirc) and all these games you list from Bethesda have one thing in common:

- bugs
- multiplatform
- dead formula, not as dead as ass.creep .. but still clunky design, mechanics.
- are you going to press T and sleep in space? :)

They are working on two behemoth at once, 10,000 quests, 500 endings, 500,000,000 written dialogues, A.I scripted quests ... yada yada ... how much of that is actually "meaningful" and not just recycled shite?

You are better off playing No Man´s Sky now, pretend it had a story ... only to realize how quickly space exploration in video games gets boring.

Land on this planet, safe the queen!
Before the Banquett, mine the planet and fix your ship!
"oh. she ded!" Chase the Killers to this Planet, kill´them!
Meet with your crew on this planet ... after killing 10 rats

I don´t see how they´re going to make that meaningful and not yet again "stretched bacon&cheese" content.
 
They've had Halos and Forzas coming out of their ass and it hasn't matter. Newsflash, those games aren't moving the needle, no matter how good you think they are. Now Starfield on the other hand, that remains to be seen.
Halo’s coming out the ass? Halo 5 came out 6 years ago, hyperbolic much
 

Topher

Gold Member


Here's the interview if anyone wants to listen


I found the timestamp where Booty talks about their desire to make a big "tentpole" game:



I really like Matt Booty. Seems like a great guy. Great interview overall.
 
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Hendrick's

If only my penis was as big as my GamerScore!
Well, that makes sense on the surface, but I heard a long form interview with Todd Howard a couple years ago, and it seems pretty obvious that he has checked out creatively. It's from Game Makers Studio, I think, and the head of Insomniac Games was interviewing him. I think BGS need to move on from him at this point, or at least get someone else elevated to his level. Fallout 76 wasn't fundamentally different than games he was making 15 years ago, just more poorly designed.
Also, Emil Pagliarulo, as a head writer? Same story. Gotta move on imo.
You should go check out that interview though, if you can find it. He says he even gets upset that his son asks him about Elder Scrolls lore. He comes off as someone who just doesn't care anymore.
Justifies fetch quests, because he doesn't want to waste time writing quest lines. That's literally his reasoning.
Says his favorite games to play are EA Ultimate Teams, the biggest scam in gaming. It's almost surreal how little interest he shows in the types of games that (I think) most of us here would want.

But yeah, lol, in theory, the studio head going back to what he knows would be preferable, in most cases.
Sounds like you have a beef with Bethesda. Starfield is going to be a huge success judging from their history.
 

Sosokrates

Report me if I continue to console war
You can't say that till the release.

To date what we seen from Halo doesn't look like it will be if that quality.

Only time will tell.

Halo wont be of that quality compared to what? What exclusives does the PS5 have this fall?

And when talking about game quality it is subjective, but Microsoft now at least have as many AAA games as the PS5 starting this fall.

And personally im more excited for xboxs line up then the PS5s. The only PS5 game im curious about is Ragnarok because i want to complete there story.
 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
Death Stranding is the only walking simulator they have made, and that game is literally a walking simulator. And even Death Stranding lets you build roads to drive trucks and bikes, and literally fly around the map.

FlusteredChillyLeonberger-max-1mb.gif


But nice try.

That makes sense then. Lets assume thats true and you are right that Todd Howard is completely clueless about MMORPGs, isn't it a relief that hes now going back to something he has literally pioneered over the last couple of decades?

I dont think one bad game means much. Like I said, every studio has made bombs. DS2 did get great reviews. IIRC, It has a 91 metacritic. Almost the same as Bloodborne 92. And higher than Dark Souls 3 and sekiro. No one in their right mind would say that. Critics just got it wrong.
I’m also convinced that Kojima made it to troll the meme as well. And made a damned good game at that.
 
Halo wont be of that quality compared to what? What exclusives does the PS5 have this fall?

And when talking about game quality it is subjective, but Microsoft now at least have as many AAA games as the PS5 starting this fall.

And personally im more excited for xboxs line up then the PS5s. The only PS5 game im curious about is Ragnarok because i want to complete there story.
Compared to what Sony has released over they yers which is what the guy in the article is comparing against......

And I didn't say it won't be. Just based on the info we have so far it's not

We will see if the delay has upped the production significantly soon enough.
 
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Lognor

Banned
I think in a few years it's very likely that it'll be Sony that won't be able to keep up with Microsoft's tentpole titles. That's assuming their games review well, but that has yet to be seen. Ms owns too many devs (with me to come out sounds like) for them not to outdo Sony on the AAA front
 

Sosokrates

Report me if I continue to console war
Compared to what Sony has released over they yers which is what the guy in the article is comparing against......

And I didn't say it won't be. Just based on the info we have so far it's not

We will see if the delay has upped the production significantly soon enough.

My post you originally quoted said "starting this fall". You quoted a post of minE that was on a tangent to the OP.

so you are comparing different games to what I was doing.

As far as I know, I dont think PS5 as no major exclusives coming this fall, so even if halo infinite is received similarly to halo 5 it will be competitive to the competition because the competition does not have anything releasing this fall iirc.
 

Warnen

Don't pass gaas, it is your Destiny!
Seems pretty close this year, should even out in the future as well. Huge games from both on the horizon.
 
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Topher

Gold Member
I think in a few years it's very likely that it'll be Sony that won't be able to keep up with Microsoft's tentpole titles. That's assuming their games review well, but that has yet to be seen. Ms owns too many devs (with me to come out sounds like) for them not to outdo Sony on the AAA front

MS doesn't need to outdo Sony to be successful. If that is their goal then they will fail. The goal should be to make great games. I think that is their goal and not this silly console war rhetoric.
 

noise36

Member
Definitely true but I think this generation will be a lot closer than last. Competitive friction is what consumers want, gets the best out of the industry.
 

NahaNago

Member
Well this was pretty duh. I do believe that Microsoft will do better this gen with their games and will probably be more like Sony's ps3 where they throw everything at the wall to see what sticks. I like this style versus the Sony ps4 that mostly stuck to big AAA games.

Microsoft just needs a solid flow of decent to good games to keep everyone talking about them versus the one big game maybe every third of the year that Sony releases.
 
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Raekwon26

Member
Halo wont be of that quality compared to what? What exclusives does the PS5 have this fall?

And when talking about game quality it is subjective, but Microsoft now at least have as many AAA games as the PS5 starting this fall.

And personally im more excited for xboxs line up then the PS5s. The only PS5 game im curious about is Ragnarok because i want to complete there story.

I think in a few years it's very likely that it'll be Sony that won't be able to keep up with Microsoft's tentpole titles. That's assuming their games review well, but that has yet to be seen. Ms owns too many devs (with me to come out sounds like) for them not to outdo Sony on the AAA front
50 Cent Smh GIF
 

Lognor

Banned
MS doesn't need to outdo Sony to be successful. If that is their goal then they will fail. The goal should be to make great games. I think that is their goal and not this silly console war rhetoric.
This was the Xbox boss saying they're lagging, so if anyone is console warring it's him. I'm just pointing out, based on his language, that Sony will likely be lagging ms in a few years
 

Topher

Gold Member
Love how open and candid Matt is, this is something that Phil has brought to Xbox over the last 5 years and it's just that honesty that you'd never see from Sony.

Oh please. Platitudes given to a rival on a public podcast is admirable and that is all. Appreciate the man, Matt Booty, for what he said, but stop trying to turn this into "Sony is evil" bullshit.
 
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Tschumi

Member
- Starfield
- Hellblade 2
- Perfect Dark
- Fable
- Avowed

All of these games have the potential to be just as good as Uncharted and Horizon.
I can't speak to Starfield or Avowed. You're probably right about Starfield because i imagine it being TES in space and that will work. Avowed, i love obsidian's eora world so I'm psyched.

... But hellbade, perfect dark and fable are all franchises that would need a huge reimagining to have the same focus, charisma and narrative intensity as uncharted, horizon, tlou, God of War... I mean they would need reboots that totally revamp their DNA (like God of war had) and i don't think we can bank on that. It would be nice...

I'm just saying, if you want to suggest games that might allow Microsoft to achieve parity with Sony, 00s reboots and a quirky psychological action game aren't really the right building materials, it seems to me.

I think Microsoft has a chance at a big title or two, Starfield in particular because i guess it'll be on PC, but i don't think there are many pre-existing IPs that just need a new release to magically buff their lineup.
 

Klayzer

Member
I think the real first test of the "story/narrative" style game for Xbox will be Hellblade 2. Its going to very interesting how well it does critically and commercially. More importantly, will it bring over some news fans to Microsoft.
 

Tutomos

Member
It's not safe to assume Starfield or the next Bethesda game will be good just because of Skyrim. Witcher 3 was one of the most awarded games of all time and see how Cyberpunk turned out.
 

YukiOnna

Member
First and foremost, getting Forza and Halo out in good condition will do a lot for them, especially since these important Holiday releases that'll give them the edge. Their announced slate from E3 this year and last looks good for the audience they're going for and it'll take time to get it right, but Starfield, Avowed, etc. will put them in a position that's close.

Competition is always good, so I hope they're able to succeed and find the right level of management for Xbox Game Studios titles. I don't think they need an Uncharted or a God of War, but it'd be great if they move outside of the shooter area to pursue different titles overtime. For example, getting the best out of Tango Gameworks once Ghostwire: Tokyo is out.
 
. But hellbade, perfect dark and fable are all franchises that would need a huge reimagining to have the same focus, charisma and narrative intensity as uncharted, horizon, tlou, God of War... I mean they would need reboots that totally revamp their DNA (like God of war had) and i don't think we can bank on that.

Respectively, Fable, Perfect Dark and Hellblade IP's need to be the best versions of what they are known to be. They all have their own lane and there are no foreseeable games on PS5 that will be like Fable, Perfect Dark or Hellblade 2 (or Halo or Forza Horizon or Gears of War or Doom or Avowed or Outer Worlds 2 or Project Mara or Starfield or Elder Scrolls 6 or Everwild and the list goes on) on Sony's platform.
 
I think the real first test of the "story/narrative" style game for Xbox will be Hellblade 2. Its going to very interesting how well it does critically and commercially. More importantly, will it bring over some news fans to Microsoft.

Yep as far as Sonys current winning template (single player, 3rd person, over the shoulder, story driven cinematic)..Hellblade 2 will be the first to show what that kind of game will turn out like under Microsoft's management.
 

Sanepar

Member
Halo wont be of that quality compared to what? What exclusives does the PS5 have this fall?

And when talking about game quality it is subjective, but Microsoft now at least have as many AAA games as the PS5 starting this fall.

And personally im more excited for xboxs line up then the PS5s. The only PS5 game im curious about is Ragnarok because i want to complete there story.
Even compared to other Halos?

HALO Infinite sp didn't look good in anyway and to be hiding until now I don't have hopes to find a good campaign there.

Mp looks and plays good but I'm not sure nowadays audience will embrace an arena shooter besides fans on the mid-long term.
 

Iced Arcade

Member
You got my point. But go on thinking that Halo is going to move the needle if it helps you sleep at night.
What needle are you talking about?

Sales/users? The game being active years later? Halo 5 grossed $500 million it's first week AND still has a super active community... Not a bad needle for a 2015 game everyone "hates"
 

YukiOnna

Member
I don't know where this narrative that Halo suddenly shrunk significantly as a franchise started from. Is there anything backing this? Halo titles were never being churned out either.
 

elliot5

Member
What needle are you talking about?

Sales/users? The game being active years later? Halo 5 grossed $500 million it's first week AND still has a super active community... Not a bad needle for a 2015 game everyone "hates"
yeah it's not like I have metrics handy, but social media impressions and viewership of Infinite during the MP was pretty huge. Couple that with it being F2P compared to BF and COD which seem to be a little rocky from their betas... Halo is poised to be huge this holiday. I have faith the campaign will deliver, too.
 

YukiOnna

Member
Even compared to other Halos?

HALO Infinite sp didn't look good in anyway and to be hiding until now I don't have hopes to find a good campaign there.

Mp looks and plays good but I'm not sure nowadays audience will embrace an arena shooter besides fans on the mid-long term.
There were barely any people actually gauging gameplay when it came to the SP Demo. It was all about the graphics.

I don't know about other Halo's, but the attention Infinite has gotten on social media has been pretty massive.
 
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