Spencer is focused on raising player counts for Microsoft’s games these days, and says he will consider the Activision Blizzard deal a success if it succeeds there.
Process like these take time. They are doing Netflix growth. Give it 3 years, and content will start rolling faster.
This got me
MS was always a corporation at heart. They dont give a damn about gamers. They literally massacred their windows store.
70 billionMicrosoft board aggressive as hell. I came here to literally post that. The board of Microsoft literally said "what's next?" after dumping $7.5 billion on Bethesda. Good god! Can you imagine if they ask "we got one more in us?" after Activision closes?
Well let's be honest: "just wait till next year!" was Xbox's go-to for an entire generation, so I think it's understandable for folks to be a little impatient. Starfield drops in November, which is shaping up nicely, but, if that's it for 2022 and 2023 is barren, I'd have to start questioning things. I shit-talk 343i for this reason: they had the biggest budget and longest development cycle in franchise history, and made the smallest most broken Halo ever. But, is that Microsoft's fault, or 343i's fault? It's hard to know for certain. We'll find out one way or the other, 32 developers firing it'll be easy to spot the patterns. For me, Microsoft haven't proven they can manage their developers to produce industry leading games in nearly a decade. Now with USD$77b in new investments, the pressure is on, and I'm curious to see if they actually can do it.
Unlike Sony and Nintendo, MS doesn’t really care about the games or prestige, they want engagement and player count. They have complete different views of the market than Nintendo and Sony.
Microsoft board aggressive as hell. I came here to literally post that. The board of Microsoft literally said "what's next?" after dumping $7.5 billion on Bethesda. Good god! Can you imagine if they ask "we got one more in us?" after Activision closes?
They started these hiring process in 2017. Games take time, and its not that easy to bump it out.
The problem isnt phil. He is a great guy. The problem is the guys behind him. They are corporate at heart. All they see is the green sign.
1st party games are only redfall, starfield and motorsport. Motorsport and redfall might get delayed. Which leaves us with starfield only.
. Maybe platinum is on the menu.
Of course Microsoft is a corporation by heart. They all are.
I dont have issues with their gaming platform. Those guys are good. Just their corporate division. They way they were excited about those purchases sends chills to my body. They said, who is next, like its purchase list.
It's absolutely true. Deathloop isn't an exclusive - hell, it launched as a PlayStation exclusive, is generally regarded as "overblown". Scorn is basically MIA and Stalker 2 was already delayed once to December. Since we don't know what they have in 2023, none of what you've said there is actually relevant. Until we have actual games launching, it's all just "wait till next year" again. FH5 is a great game, no arguments there, but it's hardly industry leading. Flight Sim has terrific visuals, but it's a niche game. Halo Infinite launched in a really poor state - it's multiplayer is an example of what not to do on basically every front, and 343i continue to be an embarrassment to Xbox as a whole.
Pubg is less popular then apex legends. That is the biggest non mobile game in the world.
Sorry but your tainted summary above, doesnt really reflect reality.
While the others are a charity, doing business out of passion and love for gamers. We know this very well.
Whilst you are indeed correct, there is a distinct level in quality between the big 3 1st party. 3rd party is even worse for the most part, the ones which should have creative freedom are completely barren of quality, ethics and creativity.
Well this is funny, because to me third parties are where the interesting games are. First parties are spamming the same games and genres for the most part.
Which is good, because I didn't do that. I highlighted that Xbox has been saying "next year!" for seven years. The issue is that 5 studios, or 32 studios, they just need to manage them and deliver top tier titles. They had questionable output with 5 studios. They have to prove they can do better, now with over six times the studios. I think it's ok to discuss can they actually do that. Forza Horizon 5 is a pretty good start, but then Halo Infinite came along and was a step back.
So, "next year!" again, is it? What other big titles have Microsoft confirmed for early and mid 2022? All of the confirmed titles are late 2022, with plenty of time for more delays back into 2023.
I have my Series X and my Game Pass subscription, and I don't own a PS5. I want Xbox to succeed because I love what they're trying to build. But you'd be a downright fool to not ask some questions. As I've said: they have the studios and the IPs. Now, we're all waiting. The question is: can Microsoft deliver?
Halo Infinite's campaign has the largest landmass, sure, but also the most bloat by far. And the least amount of high quality missions. Don't twist 343i's reliance on an empty world as some kind of amazing achievement; Halo Infinite is pretty unambitious. Hell, you can't even replay a mission. It's the most anaemic package in the franchises' history. And I specifically went out of my way to highlight that we don't know if 343i or Microsoft is responsible for that debacle. I, personally, point the finger at 343i - they're easily Microsoft's worst developer - but there's no way to be certain.
My narrative is really simply: Microsoft now has to manage more studios than any platform holder in history, and deliver industry leading games to carry its platform, Microsoft's metaverse strategy, and fuel Game Pass. It's a hell of an ask of anyone. For the last generation, their output has mostly been lacking. That's not a controversial take. Gears 4 and 5 were perfectly fine, but don't hold a candle to the series at its height. Forza Motorsport started to run pretty dry by the 7th entry, and needed the break its on. Playground, however, has consistently delivered. They're easily Microsoft's best proven studio in my eyes. At the end of the day, promises don't mean shit to me: I need to see the proof that Microsoft can actually deliver on the incredible potential that their massive investments have created. I really don't think it's a big issue to be cautious on that. Phil Spencer seems pretty genuine, but if he says "this E3 is our biggest ever!" yet again this year and underdelivers with more CGI trailers for games years out, I think it's ok to be a little unhappy.
