• 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.

The Initiative xbox game: "I don't think the internet is going to react very well to it."

Bergoglio

Member
Today, we have a couple of new details about The Initiative's project, which could release in an episodic format according to Xbox insiders hosting the Xbox Era podcast (1:45:50). They compare the game to Netflix's TV series Black Mirror and its format.

"All those episodes of Black Mirror are linked to each other, they take place within the same universe. When I talked about The Initiative's game, I'm not saying it's exactly like Black Mirror, but it has that Black Mirror-like aspect to it."

"I know the word episodic has been thrown around," insider Shpeshal Ed said about the game.

However, they also made it clear that The Initiative's games will not be similar to Sony's blockbuster third-person action adventures such as The Last of Us Part II or God of War. Shpeshal Ed says in the podcast that he thinks the game will not be accepted well.

"I don't think the internet is going to react very well to it. This is gonna be bad, a level of bad where people give up on Xbox Game Studios. Fanboys are gonna get really upset," he said in the podcast.

Ed reiterated that this is just his opinion and prediction so keep that in mind before you get disappointed. Also, these are just rumours and speculation, nothing official. It's possible that The Initiative's game turns out to be something completely different. Guess we'll have to wait and see.

 
Classic MS.

"Let's hire all the best talent from other studios and make an episodic game like Alone in the Dark."

How tone deaf that would. Speculation is really all this is but it would be completely tonedeaf and of course the internet reaction would be bad. You don't build the next big studio for your brand and have them push out an episodic game.
 

KyoZz

Tag, you're it.
UtKFngX.gif
 

THEAP99

Banned
After all this AAAA talk, if it's anything less than an Insomiac Game, xbox can kick rocks.

Episodic games, I predicted would happen for gamepass. It ONLY MAKES SENSE. TO drive engagement by milking releases and such. If you're a fan of that since you're getting games day and date, cool. But I think this will effect gaming negatively in the long run


 

oldergamer

Member
Just him saying this puts a negative in people's minds before they see it. we don't know anything about it and he tells us we're not going to like it?

The only way i won't like it is if its a bad game or has horrible art. unless its a genre i don't like... first person shooter?
 

oagboghi2

Member
After all this AAAA talk, if it's anything less than an Insomiac Game, xbox can kick rocks.

Episodic games, I predicted would happen for gamepass. It ONLY MAKES SENSE. TO drive engagement by milking releases and such. If you're a fan of that since you're getting games day and date, cool. But I think this will effect gaming negatively in the long run



what an amazing innovation :pie_eyeroll:
 

jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
I actually enjoy episodic games. The Walking Dead, Life is Strange, hell even Resident Evil Revelations 2 was episodic.

Being episodic doesn't make a game bad.
 

FALCON_KICK

Member
I would still reserve my judgement until I see the first gameplay trailer and official details instead of the words of an insider.

Episodic content fits the gamepass model though.

IMO Microsoft is trying to deflate/fix the hype surrounding the upcoming game from a AAAA studio and it is working if intended.

Why not make another thread or instead rename the thread title about the episodic model, dark mirror aspects of The Initiative upcoming IP?

Sea of Thieves is switching to seasonal updates and a battle pass to fit the gamepass model.
 
Last edited:

AmuroChan

Member
It's ok. Not everything has to follow the same cookie cutter mold. I like when devs experiment. Plus an episodic release isn't a bad fit for the GP model.
 

THEAP99

Banned
What are you talking about outside some AAAA comment there is zero talk of their game here and by Microsoft except in passing. They are hyping only in your mind.
The AAAA comment from Microsoft is literally hyping it up. Plus, all the comments from snarky xbox fans saying "haha the initiative stole Sony talent" or "haha AAAA game Sony has nothing to compete against it." You can even see xbox fanboys hyping up CONCEPT ART created by artists at the initiatives. The microsoft side of the coin are guilty on all accounts until proven innocent with the initiative's game
 

Drewpee

Banned
Today, we have a couple of new details about The Initiative's project, which could release in an episodic format according to Xbox insiders hosting the Xbox Era podcast (1:45:50). They compare the game to Netflix's TV series Black Mirror and its format.

"All those episodes of Black Mirror are linked to each other, they take place within the same universe. When I talked about The Initiative's game, I'm not saying it's exactly like Black Mirror, but it has that Black Mirror-like aspect to it."

"I know the word episodic has been thrown around," insider Shpeshal Ed said about the game.

However, they also made it clear that The Initiative's games will not be similar to Sony's blockbuster third-person action adventures such as The Last of Us Part II or God of War. Shpeshal Ed says in the podcast that he thinks the game will not be accepted well.

"I don't think the internet is going to react very well to it. This is gonna be bad, a level of bad where people give up on Xbox Game Studios. Fanboys are gonna get really upset," he said in the podcast.

Ed reiterated that this is just his opinion and prediction so keep that in mind before you get disappointed. Also, these are just rumours and speculation, nothing official. It's possible that The Initiative's game turns out to be something completely different. Guess we'll have to wait and see.


Gamers hate changes so he might be right, but I love Black Mirror and that sounds like an awesome concept for a video game (especially a game that is made for Gamepass) if done right.

I'd much rather they try something that could potentially live up to the impossible AAAA studio tag than to copy Sony's formula and make a high budget single player game. I love single player games so not knocking what Sony does at all, but why do the same thing?

Xbox has plenty of multiplayer games already so there is no need to fill there. Let's encourage creativity and not tear it down before we even know what the project is about. Innovation is what we are looking for from this type of huge studio.
 

Lunarorbit

Member
I don't think black mirror episodes are all based in the same universe. There's an episode with killer robots in England and then another with the pm having sex with a pig.

I thought it was like twilight zone; the overarching themes are the same but take place in different realities.
 

imsosleepy

Member
They probably think its a good idea to release something episodic because gamepass. Have to keep the interest in gamepass over a longer period of time
 

GymWolf

Member
I don't usually love episodic games but the guy seems a bit too pessimistic...
 
Last edited:
Maybe it'll be good, and an episodic approach could work, as long as it doesn't feel cheap, rushed, or lacking a satisfying ending to each episode. If it feels cheap, or like a full game that's unfinished and chopped up arbitrarily, it would suck though.

Really though, no one should be going in expecting anything MS puts out to be good. They've had a generation and a half of 1st party games being almost all middling at best, downright awful at worst, and they need to prove they can actually manage their IP's and studios properly now, not just keep promising gold and delivering turds.

Xbox squandered all the trust and expectations of quality years ago, and they have to earn that back the hard way. Only time will tell if they're up to it.
 
Top Bottom