Support NeoGAF

[elliot5]

Hell why stop at 28, why not 40, or 50? What is the trajectory of this model and what are the ramifications to the industry if it continues?

Also haven't seen much discussion about the inevitable studio closure consolidation phase somewhere down the road; for developers with low gamepass engagement numbers.

Studio closures and restructuring happens all the time. Why would this be anything new?

 

[Spidey Fan]

Hell why stop at 28, why not 40, or 50? What is the trajectory of this model and what are the ramifications to the industry if it continues?

Also haven't seen much discussion about the inevitable studio closure consolidation phase somewhere down the road; for developers with low gamepass engagement numbers.

The industry is too much. Microsoft is a little fish in this sea of devs. Only advantage they have, is they own the xbox hardware. Otherwise, they are so tiny, just like Sony 1st party studios.

We have embracer, Ea, Ubisoft, Take2, Activision, tencent and much more devs out there.
Hell, bethesda was much bigger than xbox studios.

 

[kungfuian]

Studio closures and restructuring happens all the time. Why would this be anything new?

It's new because a single large entity will own and control the fate of so many developers and their products. If and when Microsoft change direction, which they are prone to do, many of these devs may find themselves making avatar shoes or whatever random thing fits Microsoft's newest agenda, or worse they end up on the chopping block.

As much as I want to believe in this new enlightened Microsoft and this vision of well funded studios who are given massive amounts of creative freedom and who are valued based solely on their ability to diversify the Gamepass library, everything in my bones tells me it's too good to be true and won't last. We just have too many examples of big corporations absorbing smaller companies only to shut them down when results don't fit into some corporate formula or when it's time to cut the fat.

I don't know about you but I'd rather not see some of my favorite devs absorbed, milked, and then discarded by a giant greed machine.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

It's new because a single large entity will own and control the fate of so many developers and their products. If and when Microsoft change direction, which they are prone to do, many of these devs may find themselves making avatar shoes or whatever random thing fits Microsoft's newest agenda, or worse they end up on the chopping block.

As much as I want to believe in this new enlightened Microsoft and this vision of well funded studios with creative freedom who valued based solely on their ability to diversify the Gamepass library, everything in my bones tells me it's too good to be true and won't last. We just have too many examples of big corporations absorbing smaller companies only to shut them down when results don't fit into some corporate formula or when it's time to cut the fat.

I don't know about you but I'd rather not see some of my favorite devs absorbed, milked, and then discarded by a giant greed machine.

The risk of a giant parent company killing a newly bought studio is always there. EA is notorious for it for decades.

However, if a studio wants to sell themselves out for the almighty buck, it goes to show their priorities too. Small studios have a decent chance of being founded by one or a handful of people who control the company. So executives there are just as bad selling for cash and leaving the company soon after if the big company decides to boot them out.

Money over independency.

It's not like corporate rules only apply to gaming. If Pepsi bought out a small snack food company to join its shelf of junk food, they have to follow Pepsi CEO rules too.

 

[kungfuian]

Th risk of a giant parent company killing a newly bought studio is always there. EA is notorious for it for decades.

However, if a studio wants to sell themselves out for the almighty buck, it goes to show their priorities too. Small studios have a decent chance of being founded by one or a handful of people who control the company. So executives there are just as bad selling for cash and leaving the company soon after if the big company decides to boot them out.

Money over independency.

It's not like corporate rules only apply to gaming. If Pepsi bought out a small snack food company to join it's shelf of junk food, they have to follow Pepsi CEO rules too.

Yep and it's a deal with the devil if you ask me. It's all mansions and newly acquired guitar skills at first, but boy is there hell to pay when that fuckin check comes due.

 

[alabtrosMyster]

The risk of a giant parent company killing a newly bought studio is always there. EA is notorious for it for decades.

However, if a studio wants to sell themselves out for the almighty buck, it goes to show their priorities too. Small studios have a decent chance of being founded by one or a handful of people who control the company. So executives there are just as bad selling for cash and leaving the company soon after if the big company decides to boot them out.

Money over independency.

It's not like corporate rules only apply to gaming. If Pepsi bought out a small snack food company to join its shelf of junk food, they have to follow Pepsi CEO rules too.

I wonder how you would react if you had the 7 or 8 figures in front of you? I don't know that I would say no, then again many people/companies probably refused an offer from MS before.

 

[Corndog]

You have to admit that they keep upping the numbers in the rumor.

Question is why?

It went from 3 to 5. So it went up once. I wouldn’t call that “keep upping”. The question is why do you care. It’s a rumor. Could be totally false. I’m sure you are just as worried about the silent hill thread speculation.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

I wonder how you would react if you had the 7 or 8 figures in front of you? I don't know that I would say no, then again many people/companies probably refused an offer from MS before.

I'll be the first to admit if the payoff is big enough, I'm taking it. Just like others have.

But an important thing that would be required to do is a clause that employees cant get fired for a minimum of a year. Got to put in some protections for employees. Some companies merging or being bought will do that.

Although Im not sure if game companies ever do that.

 

[nightmare-slain]

If I were Sony I’d be shitting myself right now. MS ain’t fucking around. They can afford to drop billions on studios and play the long game. Sony simply does not have the same kind of spending power as MS and if they find themselves behind then it will be very hard for them to catch up again. People seem to forget that MS is one of the most valuable companies on the planet. All this spending so far has likely not made a dent in their bank balance. Maybe like 1-3%. If Sony were to try compete with MS it’d wipe 10-20% off their value. plus MS has waaay more revenue so I doubt they are missing those billions.

always said it but Sony “winning” last gen could be the worst thing that happened to them. MS has turned around the last 8 years. This generation is off to a strong start for them and in a couple years they could easily be wiping the floor with Sony.

before anyone starts their crying and wailing. I ain’t a fan boy. I don’t even own an Xbox (PS4 actually). Just saying what I think. I hope Sony can defend themselves and compete. I want both Sony and MS to do well. But I am a bit concerned for Sony right now.

 

[Raekwon26]

If I were Sony I’d be shitting myself right now. MS ain’t fucking around. They can afford to drop billions on studios and play the long game. Sony simply does not have the same kind of spending power as MS and if they find themselves behind then it will be very hard for them to catch up again. People seem to forget that MS is one of the most valuable companies on the planet. All this spending so far has likely not made a dent in their bank balance. Maybe like 1-3%. If Sony were to try compete with MS it’d wipe 10-20% off their value. plus MS has waaay more revenue so I doubt they are missing those billions.

always said it but Sony “winning” last gen could be the worst thing that happened to them. MS has turned around the last 8 years. This generation is off to a strong start for them and in a couple years they could easily be wiping the floor with Sony.

before anyone starts their crying and wailing. I ain’t a fan boy. I don’t even own an Xbox (PS4 actually). Just saying what I think. I hope Sony can defend themselves and compete. I want both Sony and MS to do well. But I am a bit concerned for Sony right now.

 

[Kilau]

If I were Sony I’d be shitting myself right now. MS ain’t fucking around. They can afford to drop billions on studios and play the long game. Sony simply does not have the same kind of spending power as MS and if they find themselves behind then it will be very hard for them to catch up again. People seem to forget that MS is one of the most valuable companies on the planet. All this spending so far has likely not made a dent in their bank balance. Maybe like 1-3%. If Sony were to try compete with MS it’d wipe 10-20% off their value. plus MS has waaay more revenue so I doubt they are missing those billions.

always said it but Sony “winning” last gen could be the worst thing that happened to them. MS has turned around the last 8 years. This generation is off to a strong start for them and in a couple years they could easily be wiping the floor with Sony.

before anyone starts their crying and wailing. I ain’t a fan boy. I don’t even own an Xbox (PS4 actually). Just saying what I think. I hope Sony can defend themselves and compete. I want both Sony and MS to do well. But I am a bit concerned for Sony right now.

The age of PlayStation is over. The time of the Xbox has come.

 

[BootsLoader]

To be honest, why should I care?

 

[Virt McPolygon]

My top guesses would be

Asobo
Avalanche
Bloober Team

 

[jhjfss]

The age of PlayStation is over. The time of the Xbox has come.

 

[Mr.ODST]

Knowing Microsoft, I think they are waiting for Sony conference to happen. They can do maximum damage during that time. Announcing Kojima partnership would be insane thing to happen.

Then again, this the company that went tv tv tv last gen. It won't surprise me, if they don't announce it now, and just wait until last quarter of the year to announce their acquisition.

This, its all a marketing game and it's obvious Sony is going to show their titles soon or a state of play which would insantly be the talking point, MS will have saved some stuff prepped for this just like Sony saved news for anything MS doea.

Kojima Partnership
Starfield Gameplay
Halo Campaign

All these would be big hitters

 

[OceanGaming]

I'm a costumer

Nice job, can you do something for me?

 

[Team Andromeda]

What goes around, comes around

 

[ZywyPL]

70 dollars per game isn’t healthy?

70€ per game is nothing but a steal in white glowes. I'll say it once again, that the only two games in existance that could justify 60$ instead of 50 were MW2 and GTA5, and yet since then the games are shorter and shorter, with less and less content, more and more buggy, while the price is going higher and higher.

There's nothing healthy about such state of gaming, it's actually sad, the constant price increase while content decrease is no different than lootboxes not so long ago, whete the publishers kept pushing and pushing them, to see how car they can really go, up to a point where EU commision had to step in and ban them altogether.

The market will as always verify, people will vote with their wallets, but looking at the broader picture and all the complaints already, just a mere half a year into the gen, it's safe to say this move will bite many publishers/devs very hard everywhere outside of the US, which is the only place where those 70$ are indeed 70$.

 

[Kenpachii]

70€ per game is nothing but a steal in white glowes. I'll say it once again, that the only two games in existance that could justify 60$ instead of 50 were MW2 and GTA5, and yet since then the games are shorter and shorter, with less and less content, more and more buggy, while the price is going higher and higher.

There's nothing healthy about such state of gaming, it's actually sad, the constant price increase while content decrease is no different than lootboxes not so long ago, whete the publishers kept pushing and pushing them, to see how car they can really go, up to a point where EU commision had to step in and ban them altogether.

The market will as always verify, people will vote with their wallets, but looking at the broader picture and all the complaints already, just a mere half a year into the gen, it's safe to say this move will bite many publishers/devs very hard everywhere outside of the US, which is the only place where those 70$ are indeed 70$.

80 euro is going to cost them tons of sales. so yea i totally agree with you there.

 

[M1chl]

70€ per game is nothing but a steal in white glowes. I'll say it once again, that the only two games in existance that could justify 60$ instead of 50 were MW2 and GTA5, and yet since then the games are shorter and shorter, with less and less content, more and more buggy, while the price is going higher and higher.

There's nothing healthy about such state of gaming, it's actually sad, the constant price increase while content decrease is no different than lootboxes not so long ago, whete the publishers kept pushing and pushing them, to see how car they can really go, up to a point where EU commision had to step in and ban them altogether.

The market will as always verify, people will vote with their wallets, but looking at the broader picture and all the complaints already, just a mere half a year into the gen, it's safe to say this move will bite many publishers/devs very hard everywhere outside of the US, which is the only place where those 70$ are indeed 70$.

*80€ and with digital is mostly 85 `ojro`

 

[acm2000]

Sony fan boys really don't have to care, they will never be forced to buy an Xbox and go against their crazy fanboy brand loyalty, they can simply get a PC instead.

Xbox fanboys are the ones who have to worry Sony buying studios since they are still very backwards in using pc to leverage game sales.

 

[Sony]

Why is it so difficult for people to grasp that both Playstation and Xbox can succeed without the need to destroy each other. Xbox succeeding doesn't mean Playstation is doomed or visa versa. Both have established their added value and there is more choice than ever for gamers.

 

[IDKFA]

If I was in charge of MS, I'd just buy EA.

Think about it. All those sports games like FIFA and NHL exclusive to Xbox.

I would then make all future games Gamepass exclusive and lock everyone's library to Gamepass. Then I'd watch the billions upon billions roll in.

 

[KRYPT83]

It took Netflix the best part of a decade to get where they are today and they are only now becoming profitable just as their subscription growth rate is flatlining.

If they continue to behave how they have in the last decade in terms of content acquision and studio growth then they will be in trouble again within the next couple of years.

Transitioning from being a company or division that is reliant on cash burn to becoming profitable is a delicate process that requires a lot of careful planning. When the number of subscribers you have is growing quickly at the start it's easy to get carried away but it's important to realise the rate of growth does not always go up at a consistent rate. At some point the YoY subscriber growth rate starts to taper off so the focus becomes more on extracting more money from the customers you already have - usually the first sign of this from the consumer side is a price increase.

I highly doubt Microsoft want the Xbox division pulling in a potential net loss for the next decade so they will most likely grow the number of studios they have in line with their gamepass subscriber growth rate rather than in anticipation of. The safest way for them to play this is to have a steady stream of high quality 3rd party content to pad out the service as they grow, rather than aquire a ton of companies too quickly that the service might not be able to sustain in the future.

Wtf are you rambling about xbox had growth

 

[MvCSpiderman]

You can put strikes on thread titles?

 

[SmurfMustard]

Why is it so difficult for people to grasp that both Playstation and Xbox can succeed without the need to destroy each other. Xbox succeeding doesn't mean Playstation is doomed or visa versa. Both have established their added value and there is more choice than ever for gamers.

Just said something similar in another thread.
People need to feel good about the plastic box of their choice and need to show the other side that they are stupid for making the wrong choice. They only can feel happy if the other side is unhappy.

 

[MasterCornholio]

It went from 3 to 5. So it went up once. I wouldn’t call that “keep upping”. The question is why do you care. It’s a rumor. Could be totally false. I’m sure you are just as worried about the silent hill thread speculation.

Silent Hill doesn't exist. It was a false rumor.

 

[Spidey Fan]

This, its all a marketing game and it's obvious Sony is going to show their titles soon or a state of play which would insantly be the talking point, MS will have saved some stuff prepped for this just like Sony saved news for anything MS doea.

Kojima Partnership
Starfield Gameplay
Halo Campaign

All these would be big hitters

Starfield wont happen this year, it will be next year e3. If anything, its halo gameplay, half-half kojima, and some crazy out of nowhere acquisition. Microsoft isnt smart sadly. Or else, they would have had 3rd party ((1st party games) exclusive ready at launch like Sony did.

 

[jhjfss]

If I was in charge of MS, I'd just buy EA.

Think about it. All those sports games like FIFA and NHL exclusive to Xbox.

I would then make all future games Gamepass exclusive and lock everyone's library to Gamepass. Then I'd watch the billions upon billions roll in.

 

[IDKFA]

Rather than taking the piss, how about you debate my idea?

 

[VulcanRaven]

I hope it won't be a studio I care about. I haven't played Bethesda games so that didn't bother me much. I really hope that Indiana Jones game won't be Xbox exclusive. They should have told that when it was first relevealed.

 

[reksveks]

Starfield wont happen this year, it will be next year e3. If anything, its halo gameplay, half-half kojima, and some crazy out of nowhere acquisition. Microsoft isnt smart sadly. Or else, they would have had 3rd party ((1st party games) exclusive ready at launch like Sony did.

I am trying to figure out whats next from xbox, expecting RedFall at Games Award.
Going to lived confused for a while about Wolfenstein 3.

 

[GHG]

Wtf are you rambling about xbox had growth

When did I say they didn't?

 

[jhjfss]

Rather than taking the piss, how about you debate my idea?

Ok fair enough, All sports games are licensed products, buying EA will not give MS any sports exclusives because the license holders require it to be on all platforms. Same exact reason MLB is no longer an exclusive.

 

[Spidey Fan]

I am trying to figure out whats next from xbox, expecting RedFall at Games Award.
Going to lived confused for a while about Wolfenstein 3.

Games award is just a sham business like the Oscars. There are great games that are being left, because their category arent allowed in. Flight simulator had the best graphic visuals in 2020, and it was impressive game. but because the game doesnt meet, their criteria, it wasnt not qualified as a game of the year. with process like that, they might better eat some shit. Just look at forza horizon 5 this year. it wont win goty nomination, because its a racing car game, according to them.

so why bother with it anyway.

 

[IDKFA]

Ok fair enough, All sports games are licensed products, buying EA will not give MS any sports exclusives because the license holders require it to be on all platforms. Same exact reason MLB is no longer an exclusive.

Then pay for the license.

Boom. Problem solved.

 

[fighterman101]

Microsoft should had honestly bought these major online game studios for games like Rocket League, PUBG, ARK survival, etc. Regardless of what people say, these games are really popular and people will go out and buy their game console to play these games online with their friends.

 

[ThisIsPrfct]

Then pay for the license.

Boom. Problem solved.

 

[reksveks]

Games award is just a sham business like the Oscars. There are great games that are being left, because their category arent allowed in. Flight simulator had the best graphic visuals in 2020, and it was impressive game. but because the game doesnt meet, their criteria, it wasnt not qualified as a game of the year. with process like that, they might better eat some shit. Just look at forza horizon 5 this year. it wont win goty nomination, because its a racing car game, according to them.

so why bother with it anyway.

Just talking about the announcements, I only really pay attention to the bafta's in terms of games awards

 

[jhjfss]

Then pay for the license.

Boom. Problem solved.

You just don't understand who Nadella is as a CEO or MS is as a company. One of Nadella's philosophies is to reach customers where they are, not force them to come to you because they cannot get it anywhere else. MS' goal is to be as platform-agnostic as possible which is why office 365 and gamepass is on every device (that will allow it.)

 

[Spidey Fan]

Just talking about the announcements, I only really pay attention to the bafta's in terms of games awards

it could win, depend on how they do it. so far, we havent seen the gameplay. but if its vampire, and not zombie, then i would asume the game would be hard, since killing vampires is harder than zombies.

 

[fighterman101]

Ok fair enough, All sports games are licensed products, buying EA will not give MS any sports exclusives because the license holders require it to be on all platforms. Same exact reason MLB is no longer an exclusive.

Microsoft doesn't need the sport games to be exclusive. Microsoft can make all of the sports games day one xbox game pass. Once the casuals realize they don't need to pay 70+ dollars for the sports games, they will jump on Xbox.

 

[reksveks]

it could win, depend on how they do it. so far, we havent seen the gameplay. but if its vampire, and not zombie, then i would asume the game would be hard, since killing vampires is harder than zombies.

I mean showing of the game, not awards. Sorry. When does Summer end again? July so I would expect to see much more around Jan/Feb time.

 

[reksveks]

Microsoft doesn't need the sport games to be exclusive. Microsoft can make all of the sports games day one xbox game pass. Once the casuals realize they don't need to pay 70+ dollars for the sports games, they will jump on Xbox.

Ok fair enough, All sports games are licensed products, buying EA will not give MS any sports exclusives because the license holders require it to be on all platforms. Same exact reason MLB is no longer an exclusive.

If I was Microsoft, I would just pay EA to enable cross-platform play and see if you get a decent uplift in users in European markets.

 

[fighterman101]

If I was Microsoft, I would just pay EA to enable cross-platform play and see if you get a decent uplift in users in European markets.

Game developers are already forcing Sony to do this and wouldn't be surprised if EA does as well. At least do it for XBOX/PC and Switch pro whenever it comes out. Sony doesn't want this because they want to the snow ball effect.

 

[Skifi28]

Then pay for the license.

Boom. Problem solved.

If that is your solution for everything, they should just buy Sony and be done with it.

 

[reksveks]

Game developers are already forcing Sony to do this and wouldn't be surprised if EA does as well. At least do it for XBOX/PC and Switch pro whenever it comes out.

I think you mean Sony are already forcing Game developers, EA weirdly doesn't have cross play in fifa or madden despite mentioning it a number of times in the last 2/3 years.

 

[IDKFA]

If that is your solution for everything, they should just buy Sony and be done with it.

That's just ridiculous. Sony would cost a hell of lot more than EA.

 

[Spidey Fan]

I mean showing of the game, not awards. Sorry. When does Summer end again? July so I would expect to see much more around Jan/Feb time.

I think we would see the gameplay around game of the year event. Like how we saw fable, perfect dark and other game announcements.

 

[jhjfss]

Microsoft doesn't need the sport games to be exclusive. Microsoft can make all of the sports games day one xbox game pass. Once the casuals realize they don't need to pay 70+ dollars for the sports games, they will jump on Xbox.

i agree this is the best solution. No need to buy EA or try to outbid EA for exclusive licenses. Just put the games on gamepass day 1 whille sony folks have to pay 70 usd.