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Tom Henderson: "Xbox baffled by the extend of rumors. Sources tell nothing set in stone for xbox ports apart from Hifi Rush and Sea of Thieves"

Crayon

Member
Smells like damage control. They can confirm sot and hifi next week and "not confirm" anything else. Any reasoning they give for those two games would apply to others with half the truth stretching they regularly do.

I don't get why you are going to port hifi because you need money then leave way more on the table with bigger games.
 

VAVA Mk2

Member
Us right now:

su0vGHZ.jpg
 

StueyDuck

Member
i've said from the very beginning, while i do think eventually most MS games are gonna be multiplatform.

This "future of the brand" thing was always gonna be confirming one or two games and completely PR Fluff nonsense talking about "case by case" basis and that sort of nonsense, i'm also certain they are going to say they are still dedicated to the brand and will drop some "project asscunt" or some new dumb name like project scorpio for the next console.

it's shouldn't come as a shock to anyone that Jezzy poopoo pants and speshal boy and Timdoodoo or any of those clout chasing morons ever had any actual inside information, these clowns were acting like they had entire MS financials and future plans for the next 30 years or something. Clearly a bunch of fat fucks in their basements who happen to have a podcast didn't have all the industry secrets.

it sadly however is going to work in their favorwhen 5 years from now Sony finally gets starfield those losers get to say "See I told you" like they knew anything.

If MS had "Bad News" it's not coming some fancy presentation or livestream, they'll just shit it out on a blog post or send it to some outlet like Wired to make a puff piece.
 
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DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
No matter what, the rumours have been made now. It will be the next bit of wood added to the fire of FUD for xbox.

I just wish they would port every game over tbh. People obviously want them and it does nothing but help MS make more bank which should help for future games.
 
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Silver Wattle

Gold Member
It's obviously too early to announce they will switch to third party, they are still selling consoles!

I'd suggest they rock up on stage at the PS6 launch event and announce it there.
 
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Crayon

Member
Instead of phil coming out, satya takes the stage:

"We're happy to announce we are publishing xbox games for happy gamers on all platforms.

Everyone have fun. Cloud first, mobile first. Whatever. Bye."
 

MarkMe2525

Member
I don't think Sony and Nintendo care about any spilled beans.
Well, regardless of what you "think", we aren't privy to the discussions between MS Nintendo and Sony, so I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do with that info. Look, if you bought the unsubstantiated reports hook line and sinker, and made some grand proclamations based on those, I'm sorry. Companies generally don't comment on rumor and speculation, especially when it involves their partners. Phil specifically stated we would have more info next week, obviously that wasn't enough for Gaf. Heck, I wanted to know what the plans were sooner as well, but it didn't play out that way.
 

Buggy Loop

Member
So you're telling me they're doing a "business update event" regarding the "future of Xbox" all for Hi-Fi Rush & SoT coming to other platforms? Something that could've just been a blog post...

What's the other spectrum that has been like a fever dream for days now on gaf? That Microsoft is just gonna lie down and die?

There's a middle ground somewhere between those but the crazy claims made in the last few days are mind boggling to me.
 
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Phil is going to come out and say: ‘we didn’t have plans to exit the console business but enough people on Gaf and Twitter said it so the damage is done and now we have no choice … I have to go now … this is the end’ *Phil vanishes and the crowd gasps*
 

Three

Member
Well, regardless of what you "think", we aren't privy to the discussions between MS Nintendo and Sony, so I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do with that info. Look, if you bought the unsubstantiated reports hook line and sinker, and made some grand proclamations based on those, I'm sorry. Companies generally don't comment on rumor and speculation, especially when it involves their partners. Phil specifically stated we would have more info next week, obviously that wasn't enough for Gaf. Heck, I wanted to know what the plans were sooner as well, but it didn't play out that way.
I actually didn't buy any speculation at all and I've made my prediction clear. It actually matches exactly what's happening with select games. I just don't buy your excuse for not having cleared up the rumours because they were worried about "upsetting their partners" Sony and Nintendo. They wanted to make more money by releasing their games elsewhere and they got unexpected backlash from xbox twitter trolls.
 

MarkMe2525

Member
I just don't buy your excuse for not having cleared up the rumours because they were worried about "upsetting their partners" Sony and Nintendo. They wanted to make more money by releasing their games elsewhere and they got unexpected backlash from xbox twitter trolls.
I promise you, that is completely fine with me. I won't lose any sleep over T Three choosing to believe what amounts to be a conspiracy theory.
 
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DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
"Why aren't Microsoft taking about it"

Microsoft made a statement within 48 hours didn't they and said we will have a business update in a week.

If I was them I'd absolutely let these lunatics on all sides cook. Just let these people show their entire ass for a week.

These people have genuine jobs, could have meetings lined up and visits around the country or world to other places. But gaf, and the internet at large wants them to drop everything to talk about the future of xbox, which no one will believe anyway.

If I was them, and whatever it is...I'd let these people cook for as long as possible. Especially if itngenuinely was always going to be a nothing burger.
 
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Indyblue

Member
This is why I don’t believe anything anyone says ever. I don’t believe the rumors are true nor do I believe they are false. Until someone who 100% knows the truth….and even then, I’m doubtful.
 
They already had an announcement in the books that also includes proprietary information regarding other platforms. This info doesn't just impact MS.

All this may turn out to be true, but how many times does the community have to be burned by bad information before we learn. Any given day there are unsubstantiated reports, they are noise. The fact is, we as a community don't know which ones are bs and which ones are on the money, until after the fact. This doesn't mean we cannot discuss them, but we should be discussing these topics with the mindset that they could be false.

There may be a lot of noise, but if Microsoft comes out and says only hi fi rush and sea of thieves are going to playstation and nothing else, you can take that as complete BS. They wouldn't need a week+ to say that.

There may be a lot of noise, but Microsoft knows that this is damaging to their brand, and they're not putting out the fire. Either they're woefully inept or they're trying to manage this fire without changing their actual plans, one way or another no consumers should trust them going forward.

I get it some people feel very attached to the brand. I've been attached to brands and organizations in the past, but my advice to you is to let it go.
 

MarkMe2525

Member
There may be a lot of noise, but if Microsoft comes out and says only hi fi rush and sea of thieves are going to playstation and nothing else, you can take that as complete BS. They wouldn't need a week+ to say that.

There may be a lot of noise, but Microsoft knows that this is damaging to their brand, and they're not putting out the fire. Either they're woefully inept or they're trying to manage this fire without changing their actual plans, one way or another no consumers should trust them going forward.

I get it some people feel very attached to the brand. I've been attached to brands and organizations in the past, but my advice to you is to let it go.
If you read further into the thread, you will see my thoughts on the matter, I don't feel like typing it out a 4th time.
 

Three

Member
I promise you, that is completely fine with me. I won't lose any sleep over T Three choosing to believe what amounts to a conspiracy theory.
What's the conspiracy theory? Your speculation that they were in deep talks with Nintendo and Sony and that they were afraid to upset them so that's why they didn't clarify their plans earlier sounds just as much like a conspiracy theory as suggesting they didn't clarify straight away because they were making decisions internally based on the backlash.
 
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MarkMe2525

Member
What's the conspiracy theory? Your speculation that they were in deep talks with Nintendo and Sony and that they were afraid to upset them so that's why they didn't clarify their plans sounds just as much like a conspiracy theory as suggesting they didn't clarify straight away because they were making decisions internally based on the backlash.
What you described is just how business works, even when you try to make it sound unreasonable. You are also ignoring the many sister rumors that have popped up around the initial report. If they address one rumor, they would have to address all of those claims as well. So, within 48 hours, they stated they would announce their plans next week.
 
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Monkfish877

Member
Xbox division needs new leadership, the current regime comes of as incompetent. They need to to do what Manchester United are doing by bringing in best in class people to run the business, the problems at Xbox and United seem very similar to me. Spencer has been a disaster, he has no coherent vision, just slinging anything at the wall to see what sticks.
 
"Why aren't Microsoft taking about it"

Microsoft made a statement within 48 hours didn't they and said we will have a business update in a week.

If I was them I'd absolutely let these lunatics on all sides cook. Just let these people show their entire ass for a week.

These people have genuine jobs, could have meetings lined up and visits around the country or world to other places. But gaf, and the internet at large wants them to drop everything to talk about the future of xbox, which no one will believe anyway.

If I was them, and whatever it is...I'd let these people cook for as long as possible. Especially if itngenuinely wqs always going to be a nothing burger.

A CEOs number one job is to protect and promote its brand. Between Spencer, Bond, and Jerrett West... their primary job is to put out this fire.

For those who know, this would be deemed a Sev1, which is I don't even care if you were on vacation, get online, hop on a call, and resolve this.

The trade in value of the XSX has dropped at Gamestop, meaning this has had a real world impact. Either Gamestop has anticipated increased trade-ins or they've experienced increased trade-ins and had to lower the value. Either way, it's a tangible issue. An increase in used Xbox Series units will result in reduced software and subscription sales AND reduced hardware sales... which will in turn lead to...
 

JCK75

Member
The level of insanity it took to take some games going multiplatform to XBox is going third party is peak stupid.
 

DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
A CEOs number one job is to protect and promote its brand. Between Spencer, Bond, and Jerrett West... their primary job is to put out this fire.

For those who know, this would be deemed a Sev1, which is I don't even care if you were on vacation, get online, hop on a call, and resolve this.

The trade in value of the XSX has dropped at Gamestop, meaning this has had a real world impact. Either Gamestop has anticipated increased trade-ins or they've experienced increased trade-ins and had to lower the value. Either way, it's a tangible issue. An increase in used Xbox Series units will result in reduced software and subscription sales AND reduced hardware sales... which will in turn lead to...

Dude, its been like one week. Not even that. Didn't the rumours start last weekend?then talks of starfield started like Tuesday or Wednesday.

All this has proven, if people are trading in their consoles etc like you say. Is those people are fucking idiots, which doesn't surprise me in the slightest.

If this last week has proven anything, is that there are a lot of idiots out there.
 
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Xbox division needs new leadership, the current regime comes of as incompetent. They need to to do what Manchester United are doing by bringing in best in class people to run the business, the problems at Xbox and United seem very similar to me. Spencer has been a disaster, he has no coherent vision, just slinging anything at the wall to see what sticks.

I'd hazard to guess that it isn't entirely his fault.

This stuff doesn't happen in a vacuum. No one person holds all the levers and part of the problem is probably that they have too many cooks in the kitchen including above Xbox. Spencer doesn't just answer to Nadella, he answers to Hood as well. From the e-mails you can see while he is CEO he doesn't have unilateral decision making power at xbox.

I'm confident he was ordered to create a subscription service and promised to do so in order to keep Xbox alive after the X1 launched. Interviews confirm that. GP poisoned Xbox in a circular fashion. Xbox hurts GP and GP hurts Xbox, but which is your primary product? When you don't know you're kind of out of luck as a CEO. Microsoft won't let Xbox live without GP but GP is killing Xbox... think about that.
 

MarkMe2525

Member
Dude, its been like one week. Not even that. Didn't the rumours start last weekend?then talks of starfield started like Tuesday or Wednesday.

All this has proven, if people are trading in their consoles etc like you say. Is those people are fucking idiots, which doesn't surprise me in the slightest.

If this last week has proven anything, is that there are a lot of idiots out there.
If it wasn't obvious before, it is clear as day who here is interested in truth, as well as discussing rumors in a measured way, and who is more interested in satisfying their confirmation bias.
 
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Dude, its been like one week. Not even that. Didn't the rumours start last weekend?then talks of starfield started like Tuesday or Wednesday.

All this has proven, if people are trading in their consoles etc like you say. Is those people are fucking idiots, which doesn't surprise me in the slightest.

If this last week has proven anything, is that there are a lot of idiots out there.

Within a week the value of the XSX and XSS dropped at Gamestop.

Maybe you don't work in the corporate world and aren't familiar with a SEV1, but this is the type of stuff reputational damage that has a lasting impact on a company and costs people jobs.

Whether someone is an idiot for trading in their console or not, it's Microsoft's job to convince them not to do so.

I don't think you've done any risk analysis or risk assessment exercises, because you don't understand reputational damage as a real material thing. It's even greater than pure financial risk...
 
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Three

Member
What you described is just how business works, even when you try to make it sound unreasonable.
Still haven't explained why your speculation that they were afraid to upset Nintendo and Sony is sound but me suggesting they were making decisions this week is conspiracy. I'm not the one who tried to make something seem unreasonable. You're the one who called out a "conspiracy theory" when it's not even that far fetched in how "business works".

You are also ignoring the many sister rumors that have popped up around the initial report. They would have to address all of those claims as well. So, within 48 hours, they stated they would announce their plans next week.
Not really but Ok? If those claims were untrue 4 days ago and you heard them getting out of hand what would have been the problem exactly of "addressing them" by saying they're unsubstantiated? Nothing. Except your idea that it would have somehow upset Sony and Nintendo.
 
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As soon as there was a rumour that Hi Fi and sea of thieves were coming to other platforms, there were people everywhere saying "it's over" "MS going full third party"

How were MS supposed to have any chance of predicting how insane these people are?
This is very true and has been the focus on Gaf by a significant number of people, no real evidence was needed it was simply a case of running with any old comment from basically anyone. However to simply ignore these rumours was not smart by Xbox/Microsoft and that accountability has to be directed at the Xbox executive's.

I'm intrigued to hear the explanation for all this and why this wasn't addressed earlier but it's quite apparent this is more (or was) than HiFi Rush and SoT ports.
 

DJ12

Member
My colleagues are literally working on these games. I don't know why anyone is confused at this point.

I'm not gonna say every single game Xbox has released in the last 20+ years is being ported to other platforms. Maybe that does happen, but I have never heard anything approximating that.

There are a number of titles which have been publicly discussed at this point that I know are coming, I have heard are coming, or are planning to be ported in the future. There are also a number of titles that I know are coming that aren't even publicly known yet.

Based on the change of business logic that led them to approve of these initiatives, though, I imagine they are gonna go for the boiled frog approach for this publishing shift rollout, much how Day 1 publishing on Steam was rolled out; start with a few, increase the scope for some ports and new releases over time, then make all of them day 1 rereleases.
20 years you say.....

FXo-AM.gif


Plant the seed, its due
 

Astray

Member
I don't think you've done any risk analysis or risk assessment exercises, because you don't understand reputational damage as a real material thing. It's even greater than pure financial risk...
Reputational damage is exactly why Xbox users and fans deeply dislike Don Mattrick. He irreparably damaged the brand's image and created an uphill task for his successors.
 

MarkMe2525

Member
I don't think you've done any risk analysis or risk assessment exercises, because you don't understand reputational damage as a real material thing. It's even greater than pure financial risk...
Is that what you do? Does gaf now have its very own risk assessment exerciser?
 

King Dazzar

Member
The level of insanity it took to take some games going multiplatform to XBox is going third party is peak stupid.
Well I think they are ultimately whether you like it or not. But I don't see it being an overnight thing. Nor I do see them not still perhaps giving some incentive to stay with an Xbox console. Personally I think that's just a rational way of looking at things.

Literally all the more elaborate "news" and rumours over the last week came from the usual xbox/Microsoft mouthpieces over the last week.
Exactly. And yet here we are yet again with the usual its GAF's fault, whilst still defending Xbox's poor management of it all.
 
Within a week the value of the XSX and XSS dropped at Gamestop.

Maybe you don't work in the corporate world and aren't familiar with a SEV1, but this is the type of stuff reputational damage that has a lasting impact on a company and costs people jobs.

Whether someone is an idiot for trading in their console or not, it's Microsoft's job to convince them not to do so.

I don't think you've done any risk analysis or risk assessment exercises, because you don't understand reputational damage as a real material thing. It's even greater than pure financial risk...
Yup series x's value dropped like a rock they must've had tons of trade ins
 

GHG

Member
Well I think they are ultimately whether you like it or not. But I don't see it being an overnight thing. Nor I do see them not still perhaps giving some incentive to stay with an Xbox console. Personally I think that's just a rational way of looking at things.


Exactly. And yet here we are yet again with the usual its GAF's fault, whilst still defending Xbox's poor management of it all.

It's our fault, it's Sony's fault.

Nobody at Xbox is ever accountable for anything. It's a joke honestly.
 

The Shepard

Member
This is the beginning of Microsoft spin and possible back track

Yea thought this would happen. It's why they've said nothing and left it a week, To see how people would react. Can always deny it was never there intention to put all there games on the rivals platforms. We'll see next week I suppose.
 

DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
Within a week the value of the XSX and XSS dropped at Gamestop.

Maybe you don't work in the corporate world and aren't familiar with a SEV1, but this is the type of stuff reputational damage that has a lasting impact on a company and costs people jobs.

Whether someone is an idiot for trading in their console or not, it's Microsoft's job to convince them not to do so.

I don't think you've done any risk analysis or risk assessment exercises, because you don't understand reputational damage as a real material thing. It's even greater than pure financial risk...

The majority of people on this forum are posting that no matter what Microsoft are going to say, that they are lying and every game will come to playstation one day.

So, tell me what Microsoft could have done to appease your sev1. Big Phil comes out first thing Monday and says, we've seen the comments, we think you guys are fucking nuts. Yes we are porting hi fi rush and sea of thieves, well talk about it more next week.

Then everyone runs with it saying we don't believe you lies of p, more rumours start swirling that everything is going third party.

Basically, that's a lot of words to say there is nothing that MS can do to do the right thing.

What would you have done if you were MS to save the day and deflect thes lunatics spreading bullshit. I don't think they could have stopped those consoles being traded in by loonies.
 

Astray

Member
Phil Spencer has done more damage to the Xbox brand in the course of a week than Don did in years...
Honestly speaking, I don't think it's him, a lot of the rumors were driven by Tim Stuart and Nadella.

If anything he tried to obfuscate and kill the rumors early on. Though I think his camp is very likely behind all the Xbox influencer leaks. There is very clearly a schism happening here.
 
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