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Phil Spencer Believes Bethesda Will Be Critical to Xbox’s Progress; Excited About Announced & Unannounced Games

kuncol02

Banned
Well it makes sense, especially in the long term.

Just having all Bethesda games day #1 on GamePass is as a big as an advantage as it gets, with Playstation versions coming out only at SRP, possibly some time later, they grow income, brand awareness, etc. Without hurting, in fact actively driving forwards the value of their flagship service.

MS approach is a "wide blue ocean" sort of thinking: They are more interested in expanding demand for their services than destroying the existing competition. Their long term vision is that every cloud-connectible device with a display and some provision for input is an Xbox-capable system, in that context even 150m Playstations is a drop in the bucket.

Sony are not building their future around a GamePass-alike service, which is why they'd handle acquisitions and exclusivity for product gained that way differently. There is no double-standard to compare because the business models are very different.
Why people like you cannot understand that every person that buys PS is person which will not buy XBox, pay for GamePass or xCloud or buy anything in their store from which they get 30%? Fifa alone gives EA $1 bilion in microtransactions. That's more than $400 milion for company on whose console people are playing. There is way more to gain than money from few milion games sold on PS5.

Playstation is a much bigger platform than Xbox so it’ll always stirr up more negativity when a game dodge Playstation than Xbox. But personally I’m always negative to Sony buying studios since I play on PC and most Sony exclusives don’t come there. Microsoft is always going to be the lesser evil of the two.
That's interesting way of saying that Sony fanboys are toxic.
 

Leyasu

Banned
How is 7 billion good business when between bethesda ips won't generate anywhere near 7 billion over 10 years, especially if all that shit is on gamepass.
They are going to use them to grow their brand and their service. They ain’t looking to recoup their investment for a long time. It’s a long game where they already have an eye on the generation afterwards and building an unmissable subscription service.
 

Bryank75

Banned
An 'incredible addition'?

How can it be any type of 'addition' if the games were already coming to Xbox?

All this deal does is keep games off PlayStation... and after all his talk about being pro consumer, I find it highly hypocritical.

I also find it hilarious that XGS now have at least 3 medieval looking fantasy games in development and 3 or more shooters with muscular men in heavy armor..... there is so much overlap that it just seems like they were buying studios for the sake of it. Very little imagination.


Seems I got thread banned for this... very cool. What a cool place to discuss games!
 
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Mister Wolf

Member
They are going to use them to grow their brand and their service. They ain’t looking to recoup their investment for a long time. It’s a long game where they already have an eye on the generation afterwards and building an unmissable subscription service.

You can already tell when the other companies like Ubisoft and EA have given up on their solo attempts and threw their lot in with Gamepass. They know what its going to become.
 

Kokoloko85

Member
An 'incredible addition'?

How can it be any type of 'addition' if the games were already coming to Xbox?

All this deal does is keep games off PlayStation... and after all his talk about being pro consumer, I find it highly hypocritical.

I also find it hilarious that XGS now have at least 3 medieval looking fantasy games in development and 3 or more shooters with muscular men in heavy armor..... there is so much overlap that it just seems like they were buying studios for the sake of it. Very little imagination.


I have a feeling they will come to PS5 someway or another anyway. Gamepass aint funding all these expensive Bethesda games atm
 

Riky

$MSFT
How is 7 billion good business when between bethesda ips won't generate anywhere near 7 billion over 10 years, especially if all that shit is on gamepass.

A simple understanding of accounting procedure answers this for you, it's a balance sheet item.
 
wtf is this supposed to mean? lower cash, and its placed under an asset??
60 dollar game sold on PS5 = 42$ for Microsoft, 18$ for Sony.
60 dollar game sold on Xbox = 60$ for Microsoft

Your kind of thinking:
Lets spend 7.5B dollars and help sell Playstation consoles.

If you think they won't leverage IP like TES or Fallout to get more people into Xbox, I don't know what to tell you.
 

TintoConCasera

I bought a sex doll, but I keep it inflated 100% of the time and use it like a regular wife
I'll believe when I see the games.

+1 for the Quake reboot. Give id Software even more resources and reboot both the saga and the classic deathmatch multiplayer.
 

Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
Yes, and thats you reply to him saying the purchase of the studio wont pay off 7 billion over 10 years? A simple balance sheet journal entry?

What is important is the return this investment will generate in X years vs investing the same money in other ways and how much return those would have generated: this is the opportunity cost they optimise for.
 
60 dollar game sold on PS5 = 42$ for Microsoft, 18$ for Sony.
60 dollar game sold on Xbox = 60$ for Microsoft

Your kind of thinking:
Lets spend 7.5B dollars and help sell Playstation consoles.

If you think they won't leverage IP like TES or Fallout to get more people into Xbox, I don't know what to tell you.
These are very loose assumptions on what owning them means. People are going to buy Xbox's anyway and if they are giving it away free on gamepass thats no additional revenue except gamepass subscritions and that is not a huge moneymaker for MS.
 

bxrz

Member
I don't want to be the negative Nancy here, but how is this supposed to matter in any way before their first big exclusive drops?
Which might be many years off at the moment.
All Bethesda games will be on gamepass in 2021 is what I am assuming
 

Elios83

Member
LOL mister obvious has come to rescue saving the new year already :messenger_grinning_sweat:
"We just spent 7.5 billions for nothing! We don't believe in Bethesda games at all" :messenger_tears_of_joy:

Now I really wonder how they're going to make the deal work for them.
In 2021 they'll publish PS5 exclusive games which is laughable.
Bethesda has basically only two games planned for the whole generation Star Field and ESVI. And what happened with Cyberpunk has probably changed the landscape of what will be considered acceptable from them as well, things like Skyrim PS3 or Fallout76 will be buried by the media so this will have an impact on dev times as well.
Then they have to make everything profitable somehow and it's not clear how they're going to do it making these huge games that took 5-7 years to be developed available almost for free on Gamepass.
It will be easier with smaller teams like Arkane and Tango whose games do not sell really well traditionally and will be refocused on smaller projects (episodic as well?) that can work on Gamepass.
Interesting times ahead but more on the business side of things.
 
What is important is the return this investment will generate in X years vs investing the same money in other ways and how much return those would have generated: this is the opportunity cost they optimise for.
They will never pay off a 7 billion dollar investment in them. This is a 7 billion dollar purchase to try to make their game studio's look better as they have mismanaged the ones they have and are unable to produce new ones due to lack of creativity.
 

Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
They will never pay off a 7 billion dollar investment in them. This is a 7 billion dollar purchase to try to make their game studio's look better as they have mismanaged the ones they have and are unable to produce new ones due to lack of creativity.
It could be a sunk cost fallacy or it could be a vanity or pride project the CEO bought into too, but making corporations spend that much money comes with a burden of proof internally in most scenarios.

How much money would they waste if they had not bought Bethesda or how much profit they project to miss out on if they do not spend this money here? What could the spend it on to bring back even more business value?
 

CAB_Life

Member
An 'incredible addition'?

How can it be any type of 'addition' if the games were already coming to Xbox Playstation?

All this deal does is keep games off PlayStation Xbox... and after all his Jim Ryan's talk about being pro consumer, I find it highly hypocritical.

I also find it hilarious that XGS PSWWS now have at least 3 medieval looking fantasy games in development and 3 or more shooters with muscular men in heavy armor..... there is so much overlap that it just seems like they were buying studios for the sake of it. Very little imagination.
See how easily the retardation is reversed? There is no logic or business sense to your 'analysis', just fanboy screeching. Consoles have exclusive services, features or games to make them appealing. Why does this need to be explained on an enthusiast forum? How you can so easily and greasily wank over Sony's stance on the matter, but not their competitor's is feat worthy of some serious self-reflection.
 

Bernkastel

Ask me about my fanboy energy!
How is 7 billion good business when between bethesda ips won't generate anywhere near 7 billion over 10 years, especially if all that shit is on gamepass.
Same way 7 billion was spent on Github to promote Azure Pipelines and 26 billion on LinkedIn to promote Azure Training. It helps them in the long run. No one is desperately trying to squeeze money out of them.
LOL mister obvious has come to rescue saving the new year already :messenger_grinning_sweat:
"We just spent 7.5 billions for nothing! We don't believe in Bethesda games at all" :messenger_tears_of_joy:

Now I really wonder how they're going to make the deal work for them.
In 2021 they'll publish PS5 exclusive games which is laughable.
Bethesda has basically only two games planned for the whole generation Star Field and ESVI. And what happened with Cyberpunk has probably changed the landscape of what will be considered acceptable from them as well, things like Skyrim PS3 or Fallout76 will be buried by the media so this will have an impact on dev times as well.
Then they have to make everything profitable somehow and it's not clear how they're going to do it making these huge games that took 5-7 years to be developed available almost for free on Gamepass.
It will be easier with smaller teams like Arkane and Tango whose games do not sell really well traditionally and will be refocused on smaller projects (episodic as well?) that can work on Gamepass.
Interesting times ahead but more on the business side of things.
Gotta love business analysts on GAF. Every personal wishlist can just be attached with "It makes sense for business".
 
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Magog.

Banned
The next Elder Scrolls is probably what? 6 years off? As someone who doesn't really like Fallout at all but loves Elder Scrolls it's been a disappointing decade from Bethesda. I'm not convinced Starfield will be anything that special given most of Fallout was very futuristic especially when it came to the guns/gameplay element and the leaked screenshots look generic. I hope I'm wrong though and they bring a unique take on the space RPG.
 

Mister Wolf

Member
These are very loose assumptions on what owning them means. People are going to buy Xbox's anyway and if they are giving it away free on gamepass thats no additional revenue except gamepass subscritions and that is not a huge moneymaker for MS.

 
How much money would they waste if they had not bought Bethesda or how much profit they project to miss out on if they do not spend this money here? What could the spend it on to bring back even more business value?
They don't waste any money if they don't spend it.

They could have put that money towards creating new studios and hope for some of them to put out good stuff. I am personally tired of games going to version 4-5 when new ideas are what we need. There is a reason why they announced it after the Halo delay just to give people hope for the future and it worked. The joke that MS doesnt have first party stuff is real and they don't have the savy to compete with nintendo and sony there.

Right now the only game I am personally excited for is flight sim and can't wait till it gets here. But right now my 2 years of prepaid ultimate seems like a waste of money even though I got it for a steal at $140 with the promo.
 
An 'incredible addition'?

How can it be any type of 'addition' if the games were already coming to Xbox?

All this deal does is keep games off PlayStation... and after all his talk about being pro consumer, I find it highly hypocritical.

I also find it hilarious that XGS now have at least 3 medieval looking fantasy games in development and 3 or more shooters with muscular men in heavy armor..... there is so much overlap that it just seems like they were buying studios for the sake of it. Very little imagination.
exactly. Phil said they would stop paying companies to not release games on other platforms. So how does he get around his own bullshit. Just buy the company directly..

If the studios went bust or were never coming to xbox then people would have a point. They've paid for games to be exclusive to them, which were already coming to them. They simple could have cut a deal just to have the game on game pass day1.
 

Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
They don't waste any money if they don't spend it.
I disagree. If they do not spend it they make some money thanks to whatever interest they generate currently. Let’s call it $X Billion.

Now let’s say they know that if they had spent it on item Y it could have generated revenue of $Z Billion.

Opportunity cost is C = Z - X. If C > 0 the company wil likely feel like they lost $C Billion, most companies and shareholders do.

(I am loving Riky Riky laughing at these posts when I am saying I believe it was a good purchase, it shows they do not read what they comment on)
 
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It doesn't need to pay anything off, it's an asset, it's still an asset in 10 years time, maybe even a more valuable one.
Oh I get that, ask EA about all their asset studio purchases and how they worked out for the balance sheet.

Bes puts out good stuff and I hope it works out for MS and me but I won't be holding my breath. I personally don't care what MS does with their money as I am not a shareholder.
 
Opportunity cost is C = Z - X. If C > 0 the company wil likely feel like they lost $C Billion, most companies and shareholders do.
Now that is looking at it with 2nd semester accounting textbook studies.

I am not saying don't invest, I said invest in new studios and hope a few comes out with shit that sticks to a wall.
 

TintoConCasera

I bought a sex doll, but I keep it inflated 100% of the time and use it like a regular wife
The last Elder Scrolls game was Skyrim, which is one of the most influential games ever. What are you talking about?
He just put his opinions as if they where facts, pretty common thing to do it seems.
 

crozier

Member
I really don’t want or need a Series X but I may have to get one depending on the quality of the next Skyrim
 

Jokerevo

Banned
Of course they will be exclusives. That's guaranteed.

What surprises me is that nobody hopes for them to be good. Or maybe it shouldn't.
They won't be exclusives if they are on PC. If they are on PC the purchase of an XsX becomes pointless unless you're poor. It means the PC version of Starfield etc etc will flatten the XsX version. This is still the wrong strategy if MS want to outsell Ps5 they must give us a reason to own an XsX. Without exclusives the XsX is irrelevant.
 

AJUMP23

Member
I think Phil knows what he is doing. More so than most of us here. Taking Bathesda and making them exclusive will help drive console sales and gamepass subscriptions which is what they want to do. Get people signed up for their service.
 

Bryank75

Banned
See how easily the retardation is reversed? There is no logic or business sense to your 'analysis', just fanboy screeching. Consoles have exclusive services, features or games to make them appealing. Why does this need to be explained on an enthusiast forum? How you can so easily and greasily wank over Sony's stance on the matter, but not their competitor's is feat worthy of some serious self-reflection.
I didn't say it didn't make business sense. I said that after all of Phils talk about being 'pro-consumer', that it was hypocritical...

But hey, if throwing around the word 'retardation' makes you feel better...
 

kuncol02

Banned
They won't be exclusives if they are on PC. If they are on PC the purchase of an XsX becomes pointless unless you're poor. It means the PC version of Starfield etc etc will flatten the XsX version. This is still the wrong strategy if MS want to outsell Ps5 they must give us a reason to own an XsX. Without exclusives the XsX is irrelevant.
I didn't know that one person can be so wrong in one sentence.
If PC would be viable alternative for consoles for most of people then last Playstation would probably be PS2 and XBox would not exists at all.
MS don't care about outseling PS5 with XSX. For what they care people can play on phones through streaming as long as they are in XBox ecosystem and only people who are not in it are people playing on Playstation and Switch.
 

FranXico

Member
They won't be exclusives if they are on PC. If they are on PC the purchase of an XsX becomes pointless unless you're poor. It means the PC version of Starfield etc etc will flatten the XsX version. This is still the wrong strategy if MS want to outsell Ps5 they must give us a reason to own an XsX. Without exclusives the XsX is irrelevant.
The right one would be to fully support and enhance PC gaming as the superior alternative to consoles. Compete with consoles as a whole, instead of conning SEGA fanboys who still blame Sony after all these years. And they could have done that YEARS ago.
 

XXL

Member
The last Elder Scrolls game was Skyrim, which is one of the most influential games ever. What are you talking about?

The last Elder Scrolls game was Elder Scrolls Online and you obviously completely forgot about it.

 

Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
Now that is looking at it with 2nd semester accounting textbook studies.

I am not saying don't invest, I said invest in new studios and hope a few comes out with shit that sticks to a wall.

Instead of a passive aggressive condescending answer you could reason in more detail, it would be more helpful.
 

KingT731

Member
We'll see how this pans out in 3-5 years honestly. If MS continues the downward trend they're on then we'll see if this moves them completely into services or do they continue to push the X-Box brand.
 

bxrz

Member
They won't be exclusives if they are on PC. If they are on PC the purchase of an XsX becomes pointless unless you're poor. It means the PC version of Starfield etc etc will flatten the XsX version. This is still the wrong strategy if MS want to outsell Ps5 they must give us a reason to own an XsX. Without exclusives the XsX is irrelevant.
When will people realize that Xbox isn't just the console and it is now an ecosystem. Microsoft isn't competing against PC
 
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