• 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.

EXCLUSIVE | Microsoft plans Starfield launch for PlayStation 5

Killjoy-NL

Member
Good thing there’s nobody making the claim that Bethesda demanded multiplatform status as a condition for acquisition, eh?
No, but reportedly, Bethesda got mad after the ABK acquistion, who got to keep releasing multiplatform games.

And since Starfield seems to have made $235M revenue against a $400M production budget, I can imagine them not being too happy.
 
Last edited:

Killjoy-NL

Member
Microsoft has put out multiple Minecraft games on PlayStation, and was right out of the gate to support the PSVR with a VR version of Minecraft.
After acquiring Bethesda, all expansions of existing games have come to PlayStation. Including next gen patches. They’ve also launched Quake & Quake 2 on all platforms.

Funny you mention Bungie…the only reciprocal action because Bungie mandated it as a condition for acquisition.

‘Karma’ indeed. It must have been quite the blow to you to learn that Xbox weren’t going third party 😀
Yeah, but guess which platform-holder is on lifesupport right now and  has to release games on other platforms?

Edit:

I don't care if Xbox is or isn't going 3rd party (even though Spencer said any Xbox game going forward is om the table).
Xbox is almost non-existent in Europe anyway.
 
Last edited:
Good thing there’s nobody making the claim that Bethesda demanded multiplatform status as a condition for acquisition, eh?
Xbox was very ambiguous about what they want Bethesda to do until after the deal was finished. Bethesda didn't stop planning for PS5 ports until they were told to stop.
Of course, NOW they are told to start them back up again.
 

Ozriel

M$FT
Xbox was very ambiguous about what they want Bethesda to do until after the deal was finished. Bethesda didn't stop planning for PS5 ports until they were told to stop.
Of course, NOW they are told to start them back up again.

A roundabout way of confirming what I said earlier. There was no request or demand from Bethesda that they keep their entire software output multiplatform as a condition of purchase.

Pre-purchase, Bethesda happily took cash from Sony to make two AAA titles (timed) exclusive to PlayStation. They certainly didn’t have similar sentiments as Bungie.

Yeah, but guess which platform-holder is on lifesupport right now and  has to release games on other platforms?

The one you made up? 😀

I don't care if Xbox is or isn't going 3rd party (even though Spencer said any Xbox game going forward is om the table).

Not exactly an accurate summary of what Phil said. But in life, it’s OK to have faith.
 

Killjoy-NL

Member
A roundabout way of confirming what I said earlier. There was no request or demand from Bethesda that they keep their entire software output multiplatform as a condition of purchase.

Pre-purchase, Bethesda happily took cash from Sony to make two AAA titles (timed) exclusive to PlayStation. They certainly didn’t have similar sentiments as Bungie.



The one you made up? 😀



Not exactly an accurate summary of what Phil said. But in life, it’s OK to have faith.
Words of Spencer:

"bring an Xbox game to other platforms, if it makes sense"

Would you say it makes sense to bring underperforming Xbox games to other platforms, like Starfield which has $235M revenue against a production budget of $400M?
 
Last edited:

Ozriel

M$FT
No, but reportedly, Bethesda got mad after the ABK acquistion, who got to keep releasing multiplatform games.

a weird way of phrasing Pete Hines asking for clarity in messaging over exclusivity policy for Bethesda games. But it’s you.

And since Starfield seems to have made $235M revenue against a $400M production budget, I can imagine them not being too happy.

The only information we got seemed to indicate a $200m production budget. Not sure where you cooked up $400m production budget and $235m revenue.
 

Killjoy-NL

Member
a weird way of phrasing Pete Hines asking for clarity in messaging over exclusivity policy for Bethesda games. But it’s you.



The only information we got seemed to indicate a $200m production budget. Not sure where you cooked up $400m production budget and $235m revenue.
Quick search:


The $235M revenue was posted by another Gaffer here on these forums.

Edit:

Then there's also this:
 
Last edited:

Ozriel

M$FT
Quick search:


The $235M revenue was posted by another Gaffer here on these forums.

Yes. That link says $200 million production budget. You struggle with reading?

$235 million was the estimate from VG Analytics for revenue from Steam alone. Also conservative, since it’s largely based on estimates for units sold, but won’t account for Ultimate edition sales.


0/2 so far, my guy.
 

IDKFA

I am Become Bilbo Baggins
Yes. That link says $200 million production budget. You struggle with reading?

Did you read the article or just the headline? Here is a snippet from that article.

...the final figure should be somewhere around $300-400 million

Here is a link where this was discussed on GAF.

 

Killjoy-NL

Member
Yes. That link says $200 million production budget. You struggle with reading?

$235 million was the estimate from VG Analytics for revenue from Steam alone. Also conservative, since it’s largely based on estimates for units sold, but won’t account for Ultimate edition sales.


0/2 so far, my guy.
Did you read further? Or did you stop after "$200 million"?

But okay, let's make this a hypothetical question:

If it does €235M revenue against a $400M production budget with an expectation of $1B revenue, would it make sense to you for the game to go multiplatform?
 
Last edited:

Ozriel

M$FT
Did you read further? Or did you stop after "$200 million"?

I read the whole thing. The LinkedIn post said $200m for production. Which is the metric you yourself used.
There was extra speculation of the magnitude of marketing costs, but those were noted as uninformed speculation.
Let’s try to keep these discussions credible, please. And read your sources.

But okay, let's make this is hypothetical:

If it does €235M revenue against a $400M production budget with an expectation of $1B revenue, would it make sense to you for the game to go multiplatform?

Why would you even be trying to make a hypothetical with 4 months revenue vs lifetime expectations? 🤣

There were multiple metrics mentioned by Spencer as part of the consideration in deciding to port games. One includes ensuring Xbox maintains their overall strategic use of big title exclusivity to ensure long term platform viability.

I’ve certainly never seen you advocate for multiplatform release for Sony games that fail to meet expectations.
 

Ozriel

M$FT
Did you read the article or just the headline? Here is a snippet from that article.

...the final figure should be somewhere around $300-400 million

Here is a link where this was discussed on GAF.


Yes. And it was noted there that it was (uninformed) speculation.

Troubling that you need me to point out to you that a $100m range clearly points to non-credible estimates.

Here’s the LinkedIn post behind that article. The only figure there is $200 million. Why are none of you even curious enough to click through to read?


UMeS4Tx.jpg
 
Last edited:

jroc74

Phone reception is more important to me than human rights
All games on game pass are available on retail, and all four examples you have named above are games which got delays from their original projected release dates, in case of Red fall and Star Field, a whole year.

So, no, game pass did not dictate those games development.



What about Marathon, it was announced after Sony acquired Bungie.

But Sony will be the publisher on Xbox, so that adds to the original posters point. It's a Sony game on Xbox.
Thats like saying why is Minecraft not exclusive.

But I get it, its easier to be disingenuous than to accept that MS and Sony's situations aren't the same, no matter how some want them to be.

....but for those that dont know.....when Sony acquired Bungie they let it be known day zero that Bungie would stay multi platform.

Meanwhile MS hits us with 'case-by-case' for Bethesda games. I don't even know what they would have decided with ABK if not for the anti trust investigation.

Please explain to the class how thats the same as previous exclusive Xbox games being made multi platform?
 
Last edited:

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
$235 million was the estimate from VG Analytics from.revenue from Steam alone. Also conservative, since it’s largely based on estimates for units sold, but won’t account for Ultimate edition sales.


0/2 so far, my guy.

Is trying to disprove Starfield's revenue the new thing? I've read this dumb talking point in other threads as well where people try to use estimates circana numbers derived from mortal Kombat sales as the games total revenue.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Thats like saying why is Minecraft not exclusive.

But I get it, its easier to be disingenuous than to accept that MS and Sony's situations aren't the same, no matter how some want them to be.

....but for those that dont know.....when Sony acquired Bungie they let it be known day zero that Bungie would stay multi platform.

Meanwhile MS hits us with 'case-by-case' for Bethesda games. I don't even know what they would have decided with ABK if not for the anti trust investigation.

Please explain to the class how thats the same as previous exclusive Xbox games being made multi platform?

Like the poster you quoted said, who gives a shit? Sony is publishing games on Xbox and Microsoft is publishing games on PlayStation.

Yes. And it was noted there that it was (uninformed) speculation.

Troubling that you need me to point out to you that a $100m range clearly points to non-credible estimates.

Here’s the LinkedIn post behind that article. The only figure there is $200 million. Why are none of you even curious enough to click through to read?


UMeS4Tx.jpg

Wait so the original linked in article only says 'over 200', how the duck did people derive up to 400 million from that lol.
 
Last edited:

Killjoy-NL

Member
I read the whole thing. The LinkedIn post said $200m for production. Which is the metric you yourself used.
There was extra speculation of the magnitude of marketing costs, but those were noted as uninformed speculation.
Let’s try to keep these discussions credible, please. And read your sources.



Why would you even be trying to make a hypothetical with 4 months revenue vs lifetime expectations? 🤣

There were multiple metrics mentioned by Spencer as part of the consideration in deciding to port games. One includes ensuring Xbox maintains their overall strategic use of big title exclusivity to ensure long term platform viability.

I’ve certainly never seen you advocate for multiplatform release for Sony games that fail to meet expectations.
Why don't you just answer the question:

Would it make sense to you to make the game multiplatform if the revenue and production budget are correct?

As for Sony and multiplatform releases, quote one post of me saying it's a big deal?

At best I'll say releasing some games on competing platforms might not be smart business if I put myself in Sony's shoes.
 
Last edited:

Ozriel

M$FT
How much credibility you can give a source when the guesstimate margin of...like entire Spiderman 1 game.

People seeing a $100m swing and not being able to suss out that that’s an uninformed guesstimate.
Incredible.

Why don't you just answer the question:

Would it make sense to you to make the game multiplatform if the revenue and production budget are correct?

It depends. It might make more sense to swallow the loss in that scenario and take the lessons learnt (in this case, meeting quality thresholds) vs porting it over and potentially harming your overall exclusivity strategy.

most people don’t make major decisions in such a simplistic fashion. Especially when a multiplatform release isn’t likely to meet that hypothetical expectation delta you’re citing.
 

jroc74

Phone reception is more important to me than human rights
Like the poster you quoted said, who gives a shit? Sony is publishing games on Xbox and Microsoft is publishing games on PlayStation.



Wait so the original linked in article only says 'over 200', how the duck did people derive up to 400 million from that lol.
Ok, thank you too for proving my point.
 

Killjoy-NL

Member
People seeing a $100m swing and not being able to suss out that that’s an uninformed guesstimate.
Incredible.



It depends. It might make more sense to swallow the loss in that scenario and take the lessons learnt (in this case, meeting quality thresholds) vs porting it over and potentially harming your overall exclusivity strategy.

most people don’t make major decisions in such a simplistic fashion. Especially when a multiplatform release isn’t likely to meet that hypothetical expectation delta you’re citing.
Since (AAA)development costs are rising and Xbox installbase is shrinking, you expect them to keep taking losses?
 
Last edited:

Ozriel

M$FT
Since (AAA)development cost are rising and Xbox installbase is shrinking, you expect them to keep eating losses?

How exactly is Xbox current gen install base shrinking as they sell more consoles?

They’re also selling their games - quite successfully in many cases - on Steam. So not tied to console install base. And there’s the added revenue from GamePass.

These arguments you’re putting forward are not really credible at all. Ports aren’t also an indication of losses to be covered.
Grounded sold very well for an AA title, and Sea of Thieves sold extremely well.

To put it in perspective, Sea of thieves has probably sold about as much as Ratchet Rift Apart + Returnal + Demon Souls Remake combined.
 
Last edited:

RespawnX

Member
This kind of thrends show one thing above all: Sony has gone from being a multimedia technology company to a PlayStation company. It is their most important pillar, and if it weakens, the entire company does. They struggle to compete with other products on the mass market.

The reason why companies like Microsoft, Google, Amazon and others launch 10 new products or services on the market every year, 9 of which fail again. You need the one thing that remains so that you can position yourself as a stable and healthy company in the long term.

So it turns out that covering half world with advertising for 1-2 AAA games a year is not the burner when 4/5 of your customers buy their console for Call of Duty, Fortnite, FIFA, NFL and so
 
Last edited:

HeWhoWalks

Gold Member
This kind of thrends show one thing above all: Sony has gone from being a multimedia technology company to a PlayStation company. It is their most important pillar, and if it weakens, the entire company does. They struggle to compete with other products on the mass market.

The reason why companies like Microsoft, Google, Amazon and others launch 10 new products or services on the market every year, 9 of which fail again. You need the one thing that remains so that you can position yourself as a stable and healthy company in the long term.

So it turns out that covering half world with advertising for 1-2 AAA games a year is not the burner when 4/5 of your customers buy their console for Call of Duty, Fortnite, FIFA, NFL and so
This thread shows that Microsoft is struggling to compete in the mass market, hence its existence in the first place. Not sure how/why that translates to Sony. They're still aiming to sell 21 million consoles during the calendar. At worst it is a drop from the biggest calendar year they've ever projected, not that PlayStation itself is struggling.

Besides, while PlayStation is Sony's top pillar, financial services and the electronics sector are both still very big. And the PlayStation brand is far from weakening to any serious degree.
 
Last edited:

Killjoy-NL

Member
How exactly is Xbox current gen install base shrinking as they sell more consoles?

They’re also selling their games - quite successfully in many cases - on Steam. So not tied to console install base. And there’s the added revenue from GamePass.

These arguments you’re putting forward are not really credible at all. Ports aren’t also an indication of losses to be covered.
Grounded sold very well for an AA title, and Sea of Thieves sold extremely well.

To put it in perspective, Sea of thieves has probably sold about as much as Ratchet Rift Apart + Returnal + Demon Souls Remake combined.
X360 - 84M
XBO - 57M
Series S/X - stagnating at < 30M

And those Xbox games you mention can potentially sell much better on Playstation.

Given that Xbox as a platform-holder is on a steady decline, possibly even more going into next-gen and Xbox games coming to Playstation, it can only mean that more and more Xbox games will go to Playstation and Nintendo.

It's just common sense. Especially for the bigger titles.
 

DForce

NaughtyDog Defense Force
But Sony will be the publisher on Xbox, so that adds to the original posters point. It's a Sony game on Xbox.

Wrong.

Sorry friend, if Sony were in the same position that MS have themselves just put them in then yes of course. But Sony haven’t just announced 4 games going to Xbox to test the water.


He said if they were in the same position then Sony would be porting games to Xbox, but they're not.

This was his response.

Right. Sony doesn’t put games on Xbox, I forgot. (Goes back to playing Destiny 2 the Final shape and MLB the show)

Microsoft needs to generate more growth and that's why they're putting games on the platforms. That's their main objective. They're not obligated to do it.

For Sony to renew their contract with the MLB, they were required to put games on other platforms. Destiny 2 was on Xbox before they acquired Bungie. Bungie is also independent under Sony and it's their decision to put games on Xbox.


He told him Sony is doing the same thing by putting Destiny 2 and MLB The Show on Xbox. It's not the same. You're lying to yourself if you think it is.
 
Last edited:

Ozriel

M$FT
X360 - 84M
XBO - 57M
Series S/X - stagnating at < 30M

And those Xbox games you mention can potentially sell much better on Playstation.

Given that Xbox as a platform-holder is on a steady decline, possibly even more going into next-gen and Xbox games coming to Playstation, it can only mean that more and more Xbox games will go to Playstation and Nintendo.

It's just common sense. Especially for the bigger titles.

None of this is common sense. At all.
Not just you using the LTD sales of Series consoles to compare against the lifetime sales of the past gen consoles, but your continued reluctance to consider game sales on Steam.
Why?

you’re arguing that xbox is ‘dying’ meanwhile revenues are going up and Activision’s adding well over a billion In profit annually, even before the projected expansion to Nintendo consoles.
 

Killjoy-NL

Member
None of this is common sense. At all.
Not just you using the LTD sales of Series consoles to compare against the lifetime sales of the past gen consoles, but your continued reluctance to consider game sales on Steam.
Why?
Xbox is building their brand around GamePass.
GP subs are ~30M at best (that's including PC) and stagnant, more than 21.5M on Xbox consoles, of which Series is flatlining.
We even have a thread about GamePass subs being in decline.

Xbox forcast for Series hardware is -40% for Q1 2024.
Which again, is the foundation of GamePass.

Hardware sales are essential for Xbox and now with news of Xbox games coming to Playstation and Nintendo, they won't pass 40M by the end of the gen.


you’re arguing that xbox is ‘dying’ meanwhile revenues are going up and Activision’s adding well over a billion In profit annually, even before the projected expansion to Nintendo consoles.
They bought more revenue, so sure.
Didn't they even have a 400M operating loss after buying ABK?

Btw, by "expansion to Nintendo consoles", are you referring to Xbox moving more to 3rd party publishing?
 
Last edited:

Ozriel

M$FT
Xbox is building their brand around GamePass.
GP subs are ~30M at best (that's including PC) and stagnant, more than 21.5M on Xbox consoles, of which Series is flatlining.
We even have a thread about GamePass subs being in decline.

Xbox forcast for Series hardware is -40% for Q1 2024.
Which again, is the foundation of GamePass.

Hardware sales are essential for Xbox and now with news of Xbox games coming to Playstation and Nintendo, they won't pass 40M by the end of the gen.

Most of this sounds like wishful thinking, tbh.
‘News of xbox games coming out on PlayStation’ indeed. Most of that hysteria has long since died down since that podcast, and will further wane as MS releases their 2024 slate of games only on Xbox and PC.
If they’re smart, they’ve got plans for Call of Duty bundles with their existing - and upcoming - hardware this year.

We’ll see

They bought more revenue, so sure.

Irrelevant. It’s Xbox revenue and profit, at the end of the day
Didn't they even have a 400M operating loss after buying ABK?

Yes. One-off additional expenses largely tied to integration of the deal.
Microsoft says they’ll be adding to their net income from next quarter.


Btw, by "expansion to Nintendo consoles", are you referring to Xbox moving more to 3rd party publishing?

Microsoft signed an agreement to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo consoles. Have you forgotten so soon? 😀
 

Megatron

Member
Does that mean we should port games to the Atari Jaguar and Nokia N-Gage?

We don't port games to all systems, because it is not economical to make the port everywhere.

This is why wiiU had hardly any third party ports, while studios fall over themselves to port to Switch even if it is under-powered. The install base makes the difference.

Xbox had decided in a moment of madness that "Console sales don't matter". Their punishment for that madness is that now they have no pull because their install base is too small to be enticing. This is a self inflicted wound on Xbox's part, they said themselves that this is what they want, so that is what they get. Adults need to live with the consequences of their own actions.
Thanks for arguing in good faith.
Why do that, when Xbox is giving their fanbase less and less reason to stay there?
Makes no sense whatsoever to bring PS games to Xbox.

What's funny though, is that Bungie's Marathon is coming to Xbox, as Bungie already made that deal and Sony respects the deal despite aqcuiring Bungie.

Xbox, on the other hand, cancelled the PS5-version of Starfield the moment they aqcuired Bethesda. And now they’ll likely bring it to PS anyway, because Xbox is dying.

Talk about karma.
i mean, it’s not like those people are going to go ‘oh hey Sony just ported over an 8 year old game, I’m back in baby!’ The old games Sony has aren’t selling and they aren’t moving the needle. They should really open the gates and start porting EVERYTHING particularly ps3 and earlier. The Ratchet and Clanks, Jaks, Sly Coopers, Resistance, The Pre-PS4 god of Wars, Port it all to PS5, PC, Switch, XBox. Get some sales, get some excitement. They just lost $10 billion in market share. Stop being so precious with old games nobody is buying anymore. Adapt.
 

HeWhoWalks

Gold Member
Thanks for arguing in good faith.

i mean, it’s not like those people are going to go ‘oh hey Sony just ported over an 8 year old game, I’m back in baby!’ The old games Sony has aren’t selling and they aren’t moving the needle. They should really open the gates and start porting EVERYTHING particularly ps3 and earlier. The Ratchet and Clanks, Jaks, Sly Coopers, Resistance, The Pre-PS4 god of Wars, Port it all to PS5, PC, Switch, XBox. Get some sales, get some excitement. They just lost $10 billion in market share. Stop being so precious with old games nobody is buying anymore. Adapt.
"They just lost 10B in MarketShare"

So, let's port our stuff to Xbox where games don't sell? Switch I get. Of course, none of this is happening and has become an exceedingly pointless argument to have, but I find that particularly funny. Microsoft is only doing this because they aren't selling what they would like to. It does not mean Nintendo nor Sony should follow them.
 
Last edited:

Megatron

Member
"They just lost 10B in MarketShare"

So, let's port our stuff to Xbox where games don't sell? Switch I get. Of course, none of this is happening and has become an exceedingly pointless argument to have, but I find that particularly funny. Microsoft is only doing this because they aren't selling what they would like to. It does not mean Nintendo nor Sony should follow them.
If you port them to Xbox they will sell more than they are currently selling on PS5 right now. And yes, Switch and PC too. Port the games.
 

kebaldo

Member
If the game costs 200m then usually you need to account another 200m for the marketing, so 400m in revenue to break even... probably Ms didn't need to make money on the game, they probably just wanted the lights and the hype around the game to punt under the shine the Series S/X... and probably that's the real bad investment looking how bad the game came out and how poorly it was received.
 

Killjoy-NL

Member
Thanks for arguing in good faith.

i mean, it’s not like those people are going to go ‘oh hey Sony just ported over an 8 year old game, I’m back in baby!’ The old games Sony has aren’t selling and they aren’t moving the needle. They should really open the gates and start porting EVERYTHING particularly ps3 and earlier. The Ratchet and Clanks, Jaks, Sly Coopers, Resistance, The Pre-PS4 god of Wars, Port it all to PS5, PC, Switch, XBox. Get some sales, get some excitement. They just lost $10 billion in market share. Stop being so precious with old games nobody is buying anymore. Adapt.
The best Sony can accomplish by doing that, is drive people away as there would be less reason to own a Playstation.

MS doing so is the very reason we have this discussion to begin with.
 

kebaldo

Member
So you’re claiming Spiderman 2 needed $300m marketing since it cost $300m to make?

Cracking Up Lol GIF by HULU


You people keep crawling out to one-up each other with ridiculous takes.

$200m and we had a Starfield “where is the marketing” GAF thread pre-release 🤣
I've worked in cinema and know how the marketing stuff works... I think Sony spent easily 150/200m in marketing... same Microsoft... Starfield for them felt like life or death.

Ps. My only next gen console is an Xbox... I don't give an f to defend giant corps like Bethesda/Ms
 

Crayon

Member
regret wasting my money on starfield pc. empty unoptimized rpg

I was using it as an excuse for GPU shopping. :messenger_grinning_sweat: Luckily I had to push the game out because I knew there was a couple games in the way and I expected to play a few months after release. For a minute I wanted to try for myself, but the nature of the problems with the game were severe after looking at it more so I'ma miss that one.
 

ToadMan

Member
But Sony had record hardware sales years AFTER they started putting their back catalogue on PC 🤣

And Xbox didn't.... That seems to be the difference between a successful strategy and an unsuccessful one.

Then again it gets pentiment onto platforms where a goty (according to some) deserves to be, same for hifi rush. So Xbox mistakes are net gains for the Devs and consumers.
 
Last edited:

jroc74

Phone reception is more important to me than human rights
But Sony had record hardware sales years AFTER they started putting their back catalogue on PC 🤣
...this kinda makes MS look bad.....doesn't it?

I think we might find out it wasnt exclusives on PC day one or at all..it was 1st party day one on Game Pass that hurt MS more.

I also would not be shocked if Sony released single player on PC day and date...and still have record sales on PlayStation.

In the mean time, ask Rockstar or Take 2 why GTA VI isnt launching on PC day one.
 

Ozriel

M$FT
...this kinda makes MS look bad.....doesn't it?

I think we might find out it wasnt exclusives on PC day one or at all..it was 1st party day one on Game Pass that hurt MS more.

I also would not be shocked if Sony released single player on PC day and date...and still have record sales on PlayStation.

I'm glad we both agree that launching some games from back catalogues doesn’t necessarily mean the end of console sales.

In the mean time, ask Rockstar or Take 2 why GTA VI isnt launching on PC day one.

Not exactly the same dynamic when the publisher isn’t a platform holder, is it?
 

damidu

Member
lol quite commendable to still trying to fabricate a success story out of starfart.
even todd himself probably wrote the whole thing off as a disappointment by every metric imaginable at this point, which will never get a sequel.
never expected anything less from green rats though. they'll only get it, when they read it from next papa spencer email leak.
 
Last edited:
Top Bottom