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[Zadom]

Physical copies did actually matter on PC at one time. It has been a while though.

When I used to buy games on PC, my favorite thing about the boxes was they could fit all kinds of manuals and maps. I loved looking over the manuals for Lords of the Realm 2 and EverQuest.

 

[RyanEvans21]

How are they going to do this when they have no games?

That's why they've bought publishers.

 

[Shut0wen]

yeah if Jez is now writing articles about this it does seem likely it’s happening

of course will people now acknowledge that As Dusk Falls coming to PlayStation is happening with Xbox’s likely approval?

I dont understand the whole dusk falls thing, ms published the game but they didnt fund any of of it?

 

[Shut0wen]

And whats wild about this, the minute MS started doing cross play and went a step further than Sony....the narrative with a handful of journalist and articles became Sony doesnt do cross play.

Sony and Nintendo, even if it was just 1 game, was doing cross play during that gen.

Its wild how some narratives can take hold.

EDIT, it might have been the Wii U, not the Wii. Still, Sony and Nintendo were doing it before MS. Sony might have been the only one during the PS360Wii gen.

Tbf back in the xbox/ps3 days the ps3 online was literally free, would of been dumb allowing crossplay when your charging 6 quid

 

[Klayzer]

ok, before going to mimir Iet's use our mushroom tip head.

....Competition. Competition is good. right?

How do you define competition?

a) Is having multiple choices for services and products?

b) is having cheaper prices?

c) is about innovation?

d) or is about the quality / quantity?

.....who knows.

people say sony without competition will increase prices and their quality is going to suffer.

and I ask:
Is competition a one way street?

meaning, is only sony the one that should improve?

a few of examples:

Play Station basically has a "monopoly" in Europe and Asia. Ok? and it's very well know that PS has better localization in a territory in which there is no competition. How is this possible?


PS has had an amazing track record over the years releasing quality games in a consistent basis(quantity)....xbox has not....Where are the benefits of competition there?

PS made a VR headset, that's innovation ....where is Xbox's VR headset? Phill promised VR on stage in front of everyone...well, where is it?


The truth of the matter is that xbox has failed to compete against PS. The economic pressures and other markets like mobile/PC are the ones keeping Play Station in check.

Lets not forget once the ABK deal was a approved, what was the first thing MS did?....oh yeah, increase prices, reducing the MS rewards and still releasing subpar games.

so....the competition argument ain't tracking boyz. the xbox brand can happily exists on PC, Mobile and the Samsung gaming hub.

consoles are obsolete so the pundits say, anyway. i am sure Play Station has the days numbered.

now i have one last question, hope someone answer.

Today we have more competition in films and TV shows thanks to streaming....can someone explain why with so many choices, prices keep increasing? and the quality seemingly dropping? isn't this antithetical to the this whole argument?

So much truth in one swoop.

 

[Heisenberg007]

It doesn't make it magically better but you are making it magically worse. Even if someone like Apple does not step in, Nintendo and Sony were innovative before the Xbox. I hope I am wrong, but prices are most likely going to go up regardless of what MS does because the market is pushing it in that direction. Sony and Nintendo are aware that there is a ceiling to console prices before people move to phones or PC. I am no more afraid of pricing with MS in or out of the console market. I would say the same if it was Sony in Microsoft's position. There is a lot more competition outside of the console market to keep them in check.

Exactly. Nintendo and PlayStation innovate enough of their own.

- Nintendo came up with the handheld/hybrid console setup, which is now leading a resurgence in the handheld console market.
- PlayStation is the only console manufacturer that continues to invest heavily in innovative technologies and hardware: PS VR 2, Portal, Haptic Feedback, Adaptive Triggers, PlayStation Now, etc.

It's hilarious to think that these #1 and #2 companies (by a landslide) are being pressured by the distant #3 company that is struggling for its own survival.

 

[DenchDeckard]

Tbh. I think its one of the best things Microsoft could do, when thinking about it.

Is this is what allows them to keep gamepass to a high level and increase the quality of their releases by increasing budget, then its the best for everyone.

Maybe they could duck off caring about hardware sales completely and just move into the pc space driving more interest in small form factor pcs or something. There's an unbelievable push to PC and the next generation of kids do not want consoles.

My 11 year old and all her friends only play on pc now. It surprised me.

 

[Nitty_Grimes]

I’d play through Halo MCC again on PS5 for sure.

 

[Heisenberg007]

I dont understand the whole dusk falls thing, ms published the game but they didnt fund any of of it?

Publishing means funding.

MS published the game and funded all of it. Now it's being released on PlayStation 5, obviously with Microsoft's willingness and permission.

 

[solidus12]

Why does he need to bring PlayStation into this?

 

[bender]

Why does he need to bring PlayStation into this?

 

[Topher]

You don't remember safedisc etc. They pre-existed the death of PC physical games by a long time, the physical disc was the DRM, hence no CD patches being a big thing. I don't remember anyone ever buying a game and then burning a copy for a friend. Steam didn't do anything to combat piracy other than making the legal option better than downloading a hacked version. Piracy and physical copies were unrelated - unless you think PC piracy doesn't exist now that physical copies are gone?

You don't remember the shareware programs that existed which easily circumvented anti-copying software. Or perhaps you think PC piracy doesn't exist today because Denovo does? In any case, we are talking about copy protection and circumventing copy protection. Sounds to me like there was a lot of copying going on or a hell of a lot of effort for no damn reason.

And I didn't say Steam did anything to combat piracy. But yes, Steam provided a better option than piracy. Pretty much my point.

 

[DenchDeckard]

I think Microsoft should announce hi fi rush for Switch as it makes sense for tge look and feel of that title but they should just come out and reiterate their stance on everything. Not that anyone would believe them with anything they say but they should.

 

[Topher]

I think Microsoft should announce hi fi rush for Switch as it makes sense for tge look and feel of that title but they should just come out and reiterate their stance on everything. Not that anyone would believe them with anything they say but they should.

Reiterate? They never made their stance clear in the first place. Last time they said anything about their plans going forward (Tim Stuart on Bethesda), we found out during the ABK investigation that what was said was bullshit. So everyone should believe them.....why again?

 

[Mibu no ookami]

You forgot that Microsoft sell thousands of third party games, their DLCs (which some of their first party are not included on GP) and even stuff like movies. The royalties give them much more money per year than they do with their exclusives

I didn't forget, I actually mentioned the revenue from those royalties. As I mentioned, those are worthless with a massively shrinking userbase.

When that revenue becomes smaller and smaller, they'll end up having to layoff staff and close studios. It's a much better long term bet to pivot on your own means.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

I'm with you, I don't think they are capable of producing amazing innovative games or hardware. I hope for the industry they can, but looking of the failing upwards person at the top I doubt it.

But, in a Dr Strange 1 in a 2 million scenario where they do something amazing with Halo like Nintendo did with Zelda... they might be able to.

The difference is that Nintendo created Zelda and have been innovating the franchise for decades. Microsoft didn't even make Halo and they have no idea what to do with the franchise.

 

[Skifi28]

They're already kind of doing it, stuff like quake 1/2 remastered was released on all platforms even though it was after the Bethesda acquisition. I can see them expanding the scope and bringing more stuff over after a year of exclusivity or so.

 

[solidus12]

 

[DenchDeckard]

Reiterate? They never made their stance clear in the first place. Last time they said anything about their plans going forward (Tim Stuart on Bethesda), we found out during the ABK investigation that what was said was bullshit. So everyone should believe them.....why again?

That's what I'm saying. No one will believe them, no matter what they say as they shouldn't.

We don't really know what rhe decisions are of these companies, especially a behemoth like MS.

They can change strategy, or think they are changing strategy but the reality is steering a company like Microsoft takes years to pivot. Its like turning the titanic. So they end up just swinging around in open sea trying to avoid icebergs but some could say they end up hitting more.

 

[Godot25]

I see zero downsights to port some more niche exclusives to other platforms. Games like As Dusk Falls, Hi-Fi Rush, Pentiment, Battletoads, Tell Me Why.

None of that games was a system seller and you can earn some money by porting those games which will bring additional profits or will sustain those games. They served their purpose as a game that kept Game Pass players engaged.
It would be if Sony decided to port Concrete Genie or Predator: Hunting Grounds to Xbox. Nothing would happen to sales of PlayStation console.

People are buying consoles for games like Fable, Gears and The Elder Scrolls VI, not for games like Pentiment.

 

[Heisenberg007]

They can change strategy, or think they are changing strategy but the reality is steering a company like Microsoft takes years to pivot. Its like turning the titanic. So they end up just swinging around in open sea trying to avoid icebergs but some could say they end up hitting more.

Not in this case. It won't be Microsoft pivoting. It'll just be a relatively small decision (albeit with big long-term impacts) by one of their smaller divisions, which is Xbox.

And I believe that decision has already been made.

 

[Withnail]

Remember the old forum cliche, MS is a software company and Sony is a hardware company. Well here we go.

And anybody who thought MS acquired Activision to make all those properties exclusive to a single platform was frankly living in cloud cuckoo land.

 

[Heisenberg007]

Remember the old forum cliche, MS is a software company and Sony is a hardware company. Well here we go.

And anybody who thought MS acquired Activision to make all those properties exclusive to a single platform was frankly living in cloud cuckoo land.

But it's not like MS has been doing a wonderful job with the software. They are taking all these drastic steps because they can't make critically and commercially successful software.

It's just that they have the same situation with both their software and hardware. They can't sell as much as they want to / need to.

 

[Heisenberg007]

I see zero downsights to port some more niche exclusives to other platforms. Games like As Dusk Falls, Hi-Fi Rush, Pentiment, Battletoads, Tell Me Why.

None of that games was a system seller and you can earn some money by porting those games which will bring additional profits or will sustain those games. They served their purpose as a game that kept Game Pass players engaged.
It would be if Sony decided to port Concrete Genie or Predator: Hunting Grounds to Xbox. Nothing would happen to sales of PlayStation console.

People are buying consoles for games like Fable, Gears and The Elder Scrolls VI, not for games like Pentiment.

In that case, why even fund and spend human resources to make those games? Why not use the finite resources to make games that sell more, engage Game Pass players, and sell consoles.

 

[Godot25]

In that case, why even fund and spend human resources to make those games? Why not use the finite resources to make games that sell more, engage Game Pass players, and sell consoles.

1. Because not every game have to exists to sell consoles. That's Sony's philosophy and one of the reasons why they shut down Pixel Opus. Because it was small team and they would not produce games that would sell PlayStation consoles. That's also why they gutted Media Molecule and Japan Studio. Sony wants blockbusters and if you can't give them, you are done. But since Microsoft has a Game Pass they are fine with games that will keep existing subscribers engaged.
2. Because it's healthy for the teams. Josh Sawyer (director of Pentiment) said that he was so burnt out after completing Deadfire that he contemplating retirement. But Microsoft allowed him to make his passion project and because of that he stayed and is currently helping with big budget Obsidian games like Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2. So it's also fine for staff retention. It's almost like Microsoft are keeping their promise to the studios that they can work on projects they want? Really unheard of, I know...

Let me put it this way. Would be Xbox selling better if Ori was still exclusive? Probably no. Would be Xbox selling even worse if Starfield wasn't exclusive? Probably yes. Would be PlayStation selling worse if Sony ported Dreams/Concrete Genie/Astro's Playroom etc. on Xbox? Probably not. Would be PlayStation selling worse if they ported Forbidden West on Xbox? Probably yes.

Basically only downsight of decision to port Hi-Fi Rush on Switch would be doom & gloom about "Xbox abandoning hardware" and people waiting 84 years for PlayStation ports of Forza Horizon 5 and Hellblade 2 when they will find out that nothing like that is happening.

 

[GHG]

How are they going to do this when they have no games?

Well this is another part of the discussion, but I don't think people are ready for it.

Outside of the big game they've already committed to continuing to port for 10 years I don't think they have much in their catalogue that will sell well on other consoles if those games were to be ported now.

Purely as a publisher, without their diehard console fans roaming the Internet attempting to control the narrative surrounding their games/output, they would be nothing more than a low-rent EA/ubisoft in terms of how they would be perceived.

Thanks to how transparent and consumer friendly Steam is, everyone can see where their games sit overall. Also throwing all of their games on to Playstation/Nintendo systems isn't going to change anything unless they up their standards.

Who is going to play Forza Motorsport over GT7? Who is going to play Starfield over Tears of the Kingdom? Because that's the kind of on-platform competition they would be exposing themselves to if they were to go fully 3rd party. It's bad enough for them as it is on PC already but I believe it would be worse for them if they were to expand to other consoles in their current state.

I count just 2 more recent games that have the potential to sell a significant amount if they were to be ported to Playstation/Switch now. Those games are Hi-Fi rush and Forza Horizon 5.

But this is the mess they've gotten themselves into. Even with the recent acquisitions, on the whole their software isn't desirable (and is also already available to play without their console day one), which in turn has made their hardware less desirable.

So considering the state of their software output in the last decade, the question becomes even if you cut the hardware out of the equation and attempt to become something that resembles a 3rd party publisher, what are you really offering?

 

[Heisenberg007]

1. Because not every game have to exists to sell consoles. That's Sony's philosophy and one of the reasons why they shut down Pixel Opus. Because it was small team and they would not produce games that would sell PlayStation consoles. That's also why they gutted Media Molecule and Japan Studio. Sony wants blockbusters and if you can't give them, you are done. But since Microsoft has a Game Pass they are fine with games that will keep existing subscribers engaged.
2. Because it's healthy for the teams. Josh Sawyer (director of Pentiment) said that he was so burnt out after completing Deadfire that he contemplating retirement. But Microsoft allowed him to make his passion project and because of that he stayed and is currently helping with big budget Obsidian games like Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2. So it's also fine for staff retention. It's almost like Microsoft are keeping their promise to the studios that they can work on projects they want? Really unheard of, I know...

Let me put it this way. Would be Xbox selling better if Ori was still exclusive? Probably no. Would be Xbox selling even worse if Starfield wasn't exclusive? Probably yes. Would be PlayStation selling worse if Sony ported Dreams/Concrete Genie/Astro's Playroom etc. on Xbox? Probably not. Would be PlayStation selling worse if they ported Forbidden West on Xbox? Probably yes.

Sounds like inefficient uses of resources to me.

You're spending millions and millions of dollars that won't even help you sell your console - the focal point of your entire strategy (Game Pass growth, third-party software revenue cut, market share, etc.)

And as for Ori, I can't speak for others, but for me - absolutely. If Moon Studios and Microsoft made an Ori 3 that is only available on Xbox (not even on PC) and it's a good game, I may legit buy an Xbox to play it.

 

[Ar¢tos]

I see zero downsights to port some more niche exclusives to other platforms. Games like As Dusk Falls, Hi-Fi Rush, Pentiment, Battletoads, Tell Me Why.

None of that games was a system seller and you can earn some money by porting those games which will bring additional profits or will sustain those games. They served their purpose as a game that kept Game Pass players engaged.
It would be if Sony decided to port Concrete Genie or Predator: Hunting Grounds to Xbox. Nothing would happen to sales of PlayStation console.

People are buying consoles for games like Fable, Gears and The Elder Scrolls VI, not for games like Pentiment.

The numbers tell us they aren't rushing to buy them for the the games that already released so I doubt they are buying them for games with no release year even announced.

Fable is 2 or 3 years away minimum (not even target renders have been shown) and TES6 is probably a whole gen away.

If the gap now is at least double, with Sony releasing basically nothing (spidermeh 2 last year and Helldivers 2 this year), imagine in 2 or 3 years how big the gap will be.

MS isn't going to sit around for decades waiting for Xbox game rental program to be profitable and pay the acquisition expenses of the last years and modern game budgets, they have to answer to shareholders constantly.

Unless they merge the gaming division with Office or Windows to further hide the numbers from the shareholders.

 

[mansoor1980]

By the way this is a trap!

They want to disrupt the industry crash it & come out the ashes as the only survivors

agreed

 

[bitbydeath]

Because no-one cared about physical games on PC, no one wanted them. You couldn't sell them, you couldn't rent them, you couldn't play them from the disc, you couldnt borrow them from a friend. They were just a pointless piece of plastic.
PC isn't reliant on Steam, its just the best service at the moment. They have some decent inertia from community, ease of use and genuine goodwill, but they start sucking people will switch where they buy new games.

None of that’s true.
You could sell them (places like Cash Converters), you could rent them (Blockbuster, Video Ezy etc), and you could play them directly from a disc without installing them.

And tons of people cared, in another decade you’d make the same excuses about digital games.

 

[systemr123]

Hopium from fanboys for what? Subpar exclusives, samey games as PS already have, but much much worse execution? What's there to hope for?

 

[GHG]

Why does he need to bring PlayStation into this?

"if we get blade, it will be great"

 

[Godot25]

Sounds like inefficient uses of resources to me.

You're spending millions and millions of dollars that won't even help you sell your console - the focal point of your entire strategy (Game Pass growth, third-party software revenue cut, market share, etc.)

And as for Ori, I can't speak for others, but for me - absolutely. If Moon Studios and Microsoft made an Ori 3 that is only available on Xbox (not even on PC) and it's a good game, I may legit buy an Xbox to play it.

Lol. Point of first-party games for Xbox are primarily to increase or sustain Game Pass subs. If Pentiment kept Game Pass subscribers engaged with service, game did it's job. And since 12 people worked on that game, you can probably imagine how "crazy" budget of that game must have been (ie. not that high and I would be surprised if it was higher then 10 million $).

Also, while boosting sales of consoles it probably best way to increase Game Pass subs, it's hardly the only way so we can stop pretending that it is the case (PC Game games exists, Sales on Steam still exists).

And yes, some first-party Xbox teams are working on games that will not be system sellers. And they are not designed to be. I really doubt that next Double Fine game will be system seller. I doubt that next Spyro from Toys for Bob will be a system seller. And that's okay. Not every first-party game needs to be blockbuster. I know that it is Sony's MO, but that doesn't mean that every company needs to do same thing.

And let's stop pretending that Xbox doesn't have enough studios to have plenty types of games and support all of those pillars. Because they are currently covering everything:
- existing live service games (Minecraft, Call of Duty, Diablo IV, Overwatch 2, Sea of Thieves, Halo Infinite)
- potential system seller blockbusters (Perfect Dark, Fable, Hellblade 2, Gears 6, Indiana Jones, Blade, The Elder Scrolls VI, Forza Horizon 6, Quake Reboot?)
- upcoming live services (Everwild, State of Decay 3, Oddysey, Contraband, Project Kestrel)
- mid-tier games (Clockwork Revolution, South of Midnight, new Spyro?, Avowed, The Outer Worlds 2)
- more niche games (Age of Mythology: Retold, OD, Towerborne, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, Double Fine next game/games, Wu Tang RPG game)
- mobile games

They have 30+ studios. They CAN make multiple type of games and don't have to rely on all of their studios making "AAA cinematic action adventure games"

If Microsoft was just interested in making blockbusters they would never buy studios like Double Fine. Because goal of that purchase was not to transform Double Fine into AAA powerhouse. But to allow them to continue to make gamest they are already making.

 

[Heisenberg007]

My dude went from normal to CAPS LOCK in just 15 days

 

[Heisenberg007]

Lol. Point of first-party games for Xbox are primarily to increase or sustain Game Pass subs. If Pentiment kept Game Pass subscribers engaged with service, game did it's job. And since 12 people worked on that game, you can probably imagine how "crazy" budget of that game must have been (ie. not that high and I would be surprised if it was higher then 10 million $).

Also, while boosting sales of consoles it probably best way to increase Game Pass subs, it's hardly the only way so we can stop pretending that it is the case (PC Game games exists, Sales on Steam still exists).

And yes, some first-party Xbox teams are working on games that will not be system sellers. And they are not designed to be. I really doubt that next Double Fine game will be system seller. I doubt that next Spyro from Toys for Bob will be a system seller. And that's okay. Not every first-party game needs to be blockbuster. I know that it is Sony's MO, but that doesn't mean that every company needs to do same thing.

And let's stop pretending that Xbox doesn't have enough studios to have plenty types of games and support all of those pillars. Because they are currently covering everything:
- existing live service games (Minecraft, Call of Duty, Diablo IV, Overwatch 2, Sea of Thieves, Halo Infinite)
- potential system seller blockbusters (Perfect Dark, Fable, Hellblade 2, Gears 6, Indiana Jones, Blade, The Elder Scrolls VI, Forza Horizon 6, Quake Reboot?)
- upcoming live services (Everwild, State of Decay 3, Oddysey, Contraband, Project Kestrel)
- mid-tier games (Clockwork Revolution, South of Midnight, new Spyro?, Avowed, The Outer Worlds 2)
- more niche games (Age of Mythology: Retold, OD, Towerborne, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, Double Fine next game/games, Wu Tang RPG game)
- mobile games

They have 30+ studios. They CAN make multiple type of games and don't have to rely on all of their studios making "AAA cinematic action adventure games"

If Microsoft was just interested in making blockbusters they would never buy studios like Double Fine. Because goal of that purchase was not to transform Double Fine into AAA powerhouse. But to allow them to continue to make gamest they are already making.

No, it's not. Who even said that? It's absolutely wrong.

Game Pass revenue is responsible for only 10-15% of revenue. The rest of the 85-90% of Xbox revenue depends on the non-GP parts of Xbox.

The point of first-party games is to sustain or increase that 85-90% of revenue, not the service that's only responsible for 10-15% of revenue.

 

[Godot25]

The numbers tell us they aren't rushing to buy them for the the games that already released so I doubt they are buying them for games with no release year even announced.

Fable is 2 or 3 years away minimum (not even target renders have been shown) and TES6 is probably a whole gen away.

If the gap now is at least double, with Sony releasing basically nothing (spidermeh 2 last year and Helldivers 2 this year), imagine in 2 or 3 years how big the gap will be.

MS isn't going to sit around for decades waiting for Xbox game rental program to be profitable and pay the acquisition expenses of the last years and modern game budgets, they have to answer to shareholders constantly.

Unless they merge the gaming division with Office or Windows to further hide the numbers from the shareholders.

Yeah. I'm sure Xbox is bleeding money left and right after purchasing ABK that generates 2+ billion of pure profit per year. Nice fairy-tale btw.
It's almost like Call of Duty money from PlayStation will keep funding Xbox

It's hilarious, that everybody is talking about shareholder while I didn't hear a peep from shareholders about Xbox for almost two years (and they can ask if they care...you know?).

But I'm used to it. People are talking about demise of Xbox since 2014. I'm not sure if decade of "predictions" was not enough, but it's clear that some people are still holding to the hope.

And I'm not gonna bother to convince you that Fable showed actual stuff from game. You can argue about that with actual devs of the game who said it. Mr. "Not even target renders."

 

[DenchDeckard]

Has anyone tweeted this back to Jez?

How can he cope with this much self ownage!

 

[Godot25]

No, it's not. Who even said that? It's absolutely wrong.

Game Pass revenue is responsible for only 10-15% of revenue. The rest of the 85-90% of Xbox revenue depends on the non-GP parts of Xbox.

The point of first-party games is to sustain or increase that 85-90% of revenue, not the service that's only responsible for 10-15% of revenue.

Thanks god that they are actually selling the games too, right? It's almost like you can also buy them on Steam, Xbox App on Windows or Xbox Store on consoles. And judging by fact that they are probably biggest publisher on Steam, they aren't doing such a bad job

Of course it's their goal. If it wasn't they would not be releasing their first-party games in Game Pass. Fact how big slice of revenue is from Game Pass just shows how diverse their revenue stream of Xbox actually is or where the ceiling of Game Pass is in current market. They have everything from live service revenue, through hardware revenue and game sales to the revenue from mobile gaming.

 

[Ar¢tos]

Yeah. I'm sure Xbox is bleeding money left and right after purchasing ABK that generates 2+ billion of pure profit per year. Nice fairy-tale btw.
It's almost like Call of Duty money from PlayStation will keep funding Xbox

It's hilarious, that everybody is talking about shareholder while I didn't hear a peep from shareholders about Xbox for almost two years (and they can ask if they care...you know?).

But I'm used to it. People are talking about demise of Xbox since 2014. I'm not sure if decade of "predictions" was not enough, but it's clear that some people are still holding to the hope.

And I'm not gonna bother to convince you that Fable showed actual stuff from game. You can argue about that with actual devs of the game who said it. Mr. "Not even target renders."

70bn divided by 2bn a year = 35 years
Subtract the sales loss from Playstation and the income loss FROM XBOX/PC GP rentals and it probably goes to 40+ years.

That's how you would run a "profitable" business?!?
LMAO

 

[Fredrik]

Maybe they could duck off caring about hardware sales completely and just move into the pc space driving more interest in small form factor pcs or something. There's an unbelievable push to PC and the next generation of kids do not want consoles.

My 11 year old and all her friends only play on pc now. It surprised me.

I’m using a Steam Deck docked to the TV in the living room now. Feels exactly like a console. It’s a Steam Switch.

I wish MS would do that but using Windows and Gamepass. Silent well-designed Xbox-branded Windows boxes for the living room with a nice big-screen mode, sold with a year free Gamepass or whatever.

To be honest I’m surprised they haven’t done that already. It’s the obvious move to combine two platforms that shouldn’t be separated anyway. And would bring Steam, Epic, GOG, Xbox on the same slick box to the living room.
Seems pretty much perfect in my head at least. But they aren’t doing it, so what am I missing??

Regarding kids, most are playing Fortnite, and Minecraft, Roblox. At my house they’re mostly playing on Switch, and some mobile, little bit of PC, some Apple TV. Almost nothing on Series X, my youngest one played some LEGO Ninjago last year but that’s about it. And some Skylanders on PS5. Microsoft and Sony have both missed that audience from my experience. And at work when talking to younger adults it’s 100% PC. Mostly multiplayer games.

The industry is changing and it might not be like us dinosaurs want it to change. Can’t do much about it. Just enjoy the ride.

 

[Varteras]

Tbh. I think its one of the best things Microsoft could do, when thinking about it.

Is this is what allows them to keep gamepass to a high level and increase the quality of their releases by increasing budget, then its the best for everyone.

Maybe they could duck off caring about hardware sales completely and just move into the pc space driving more interest in small form factor pcs or something. There's an unbelievable push to PC and the next generation of kids do not want consoles.

My 11 year old and all her friends only play on pc now. It surprised me.

Yeah. My 20-year old brother was never into PC gaming. He got himself one after he got a job (finally) and now he says he can't go back. His Xbox has collected dust for months. Even his friends play on PC now. I can't say if that's a trend, but I'm certainly accumulating anecdotal evidence.

 

[GHG]

To be honest I’m surprised they haven’t done that already. It’s the obvious move to combine two platforms that shouldn’t be separated anyway. And would bring Steam, Epic, GOG, Xbox on the same slick box to the living room.
Seems pretty much perfect in my head at least. But they aren’t doing it, so what am I missing??

If they open things up and allow Xbox customers to purchase 3rd party games from 3rd party storefronts then they will be forgoing the cut that they would usually make on those transactions (it would effectively become $0).

 

[Godot25]

70bn divided by 2bn a year = 35 years
Subtract the sales loss from Playstation and the income loss FROM XBOX/PC GP rentals and it probably goes to 40+ years.

That's how you would run a "profitable" business?!?
LMAO

Yeah. I'm sure that if you are buying assets your goal is to return all the money to the bank, because if Satya notices he is missing 68 billion from 200+ billion in the bank he will be pretty pissed.

You also forgot that owning ABK opens doors for Microsoft to launch their own mobile store which (if successful of course) can bring 30% more from every microtransaction from Candy Crush, Call of Duty Mobile, Diablo Immortal etc. Not to mention possibly of Xbox to have third-party games on said mobile store and to have attractive cut for developers (88:12 split for example) which will bring even more revenue.

But why am I even talking to the person who thinks that if you are changing cash with business assets it is not about "returning money to the bank," right?

But as I said. I'm used to it. People are talking about Xbox leaving console business from 2014 without it happening. They are also talking about "unsustainable Game Pass that is bleeding money" without proof. So it's probably case of "even broken clock is right twice a day?" Or it is more about wishful thinking. Because I noticed that talks about Xbox going full third party somehow accelerated with "Indiana Jones is going exclusive" and "Arkane is making Blade game." It's almost like some people want Xbox to go third-party right?

 

[Varteras]

People are talking about Xbox leaving console business from 2014 without it happening.

It almost did. Isn't that why Spencer is such a hero to the Xbox fanbase?

 

[yazenov]

 

[Godot25]

It almost did. Isn't that why Spencer is such a hero to the Xbox fanbase?

I mean. It was a possibility and 2014-2016 was probably toughest time.
But it's foolish to think that they will relinquish console business now when they didn't do that in way worse times. But I mean...PlayStation fans can hope. I guess?

 

[Ar¢tos]

Yeah. I'm sure that if you are buying assets your goal is to return all the money to the bank, because if Satya notices he is missing 68 billion from 200+ billion in the bank he will be pretty pissed.

You also forgot that owning ABK opens doors for Microsoft to launch their own mobile store which (if successful of course) can bring 30% more from every microtransaction from Candy Crush, Call of Duty Mobile, Diablo Immortal etc. Not to mention possibly of Xbox to have third-party games on said mobile store and to have attractive cut for developers (88:12 split for example) which will bring even more revenue.

But why am I even talking to the person who thinks that if you are changing cash with business assets it is not about "returning money to the bank," right?

But as I said. I'm used to it. People are talking about Xbox leaving console business from 2014 without it happening. They are also talking about "unsustainable Game Pass that is bleeding money" without proof. So it's probably case of "even broken clock is right twice a day?" Or it is more about wishful thinking. Because I noticed that talks about Xbox going full third party somehow accelerated with "Indiana Jones is going exclusive" and "Arkane is making Blade game." It's almost like some people want Xbox to go third-party right?

I love the "I'm a victim" touch at the end of every post you make.
I can hear the sad violin music in the background every time I read one of your posts now.

 

[Varteras]

I mean. It was a possibility and 2014-2016 was probably toughest time.
But it's foolish to think that they will relinquish console business now when they didn't do that in way worse times. But I mean...PlayStation fans can hope. I guess?

Xbox Series console sales are on their way to being worse than Xbox One. Which was such a disaster to Microsoft at the time that Spencer had to convince Nadella not to shut the division down.

 

[Godot25]

I love the "I'm a victim" touch at the end of every post you make.
I can hear the sad violin music in the background every time I read one of your posts now.

I see that you really want to talk about business stuff. So much that you ignored everything I wrote to focus on imaginary sadness in your head

Keep on going.

 

[yazenov]

I mean. It was a possibility and 2014-2016 was probably toughest time.
But it's foolish to think that they will relinquish console business now when they didn't do that in way worse times. But I mean...PlayStation fans can hope. I guess?

Despite the cheaper model and Game Pass, XBS is selling worse than Xbox One. Yeah, it's time to revisit the previous plan.