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[Griffon]

Another thing to consider is that devs and publishers relation probably deteriorated since MS is pushing gamepass so hard.

I mean, if I'm a third party I'd have no incentive to release anything on Xbox day one because gamepass is pushing the perceived value of everything way down. Xbox gamers are less likely to buy anything.

 

[baphomet]

Stay the course

As long as the course actually includes releasing big budget games.

 

[UltimaKilo]

If I worked at MS, I would push to pay Nintendo whatever they needed (barring it would still be net positive) to get GamePass on their next console. They need to push more AAA software and try to get the Xbox division profitable. Theirs is a long term play for streaming, I get that.

 

[ZehDon]

According to the posters here, Microsoft hasn't released anything (Psychonaughts 2 doesn't count, Halo Infinite doesn't count, Forza Horizon 5 doesn't count, Hi-Fi Rush doesn't count, Scorn doesn't count, Pentiment doesn't count, Grounded doesn't count) in nearly two years. So, we haven't even seen their plan tried yet. Once Microsoft actually starts releasing their games (Starfield doesn't count, Redfall doesn't count) then maybe we can judge their plan. Until then, we just have to wait and see.

 

[rhodesianshepard]

Microsoft has already been barely competing without having Sony's level of top 4 studios. I can only see them going up from here on out since they do have a lot more studios. On the digital library front they already are fighting with gamepass so they have you in that ecosystem.

I hope I'm wrong but for some odd reason I keep thinking that Sony is going to stumble near the end of this gen since they are pushing with these online service games that will be releasing in the next few years.

With the leaps between console generations being less and less, I just don't see gamers switching consoles. If you are a PS5 owner with 100 digital games in your library, it would be hard to see a situation of them switching to Xbox. Gamepass wont have the vast majority of those games. But even I, who never owned an Xbox, will buy a series S soon enough, because it is cheap and Microsoft is actually attempting to be innovative this generation. So idk, maybe more people will be like me and just own both?

The one area Sony lacks has been multiplayer games. So I don't mind them investing in GAAS. They seem to be expanding at a pace where that shouldn't affect their single player output. If any of their top tier studios switched to solely multiplayer games then I would be concerned. That would surprise me though

 

[Benniewise de Clown]

Become a 3rd party publisher.

 

[NahaNago]

With the leaps between console generations being less and less, I just don't see gamers switching consoles. If you are a PS5 owner with 100 digital games in your library, it would be hard to see a situation of them switching to Xbox. Gamepass wont have the vast majority of those games. But even I, who never owned an Xbox, will buy a series S soon enough, because it is cheap and Microsoft is actually attempting to be innovative this generation. So idk, maybe more people will be like me and just own both?

The one area Sony lacks has been multiplayer games. So I don't mind them investing in GAAS. They seem to be expanding at a pace where that shouldn't affect their single player output. If any of their top tier studios switched to solely multiplayer games then I would be concerned. That would surprise me though

Maybe not necessarily switching but just getting an xbox as well. The trick is to slowly wean you away from playstation with gamepass so that you hesitate to buy games on playstation since it might come to gamepass. So buy all of the first party Sony games for your playstation but buy or wait for gamepass on xbox.

I do agree that Sony has been lacking on the multiplayer game front I just didn't expect them to go this hard or use the studios they already have for it. I was expecting them to buy or create some studios for those types of games. We don't really know if it has affected their single player output since that multiplayer push was at the start of this gen and most of the games released were being worked on before this gen started.

 

[Smoke6]

They need to start investing in exclusives again, but that takes years to pay off.

For me personally some VR investment on their part would suffice as a reason to buy a Series X. The Forza Horizon games alone would be worth the price of a headset.

Well great news that GT7 is here for you with PSVR2 baby!!!!

 

[Smoke6]

Maybe not necessarily switching but just getting an xbox as well. The trick is to slowly wean you away from playstation with gamepass so that you hesitate to buy games on playstation since it might come to gamepass. So buy all of the first party Sony games for your playstation but buy or wait for gamepass on xbox.

I do agree that Sony has been lacking on the multiplayer game front I just didn't expect them to go this hard or use the studios they already have for it. I was expecting them to buy or create some studios for those types of games. We don't really know if it has affected their single player output since that multiplayer push was at the start of this gen and most of the games released were being worked on before this gen started.

How have they been lacking? Especially this gen we’re all basically playing the same multiplayer games! Only thing they have is halo infinite and that’s not saying much.

 

[Ozzy Onya A2Z]

Look at the leaked numbers.

PlayStation
Jun-22: 277K
Jul-22: 301K
Aug-22: 341K
Sep-22: 494K
Oct-22: 456K
Nov-22: 1328K

Xbox
Jun-22: 260K
Jul-22: 247K
Aug-22: 251K
Sep-22: 288K
Oct-22: 261K
Nov-22: 730K

A high record financial year doesn't tell us much considering the areas where they're making revenue, which doesn't always translate to a lot of profit.

That's a low number of consoles sold during the holidays and you can see how much they're starting to lag behind. Sony was close to doubling the number of consoles sold by comparison this early in the generation.

Game Pass can be sustainable for them because they can afford to put a lot of money to maintain it, which also includes losing money.

I'm not saying Xbox is done, but these are not signs of a massive success lol

All of this is known. Xbox have been closing the gap on Sony for nearly 2 years running, last quarter and current month Sony pushed back. Again as I stated above, I'll quote myself here -

The previous gen was around 2.4 (PS4) to 1 (Xbox One) and last year approx. 1.75 (PS5) to 1 (Series S/X).

Xbox have been closing the gap.

Given the latest data with PS5 pushing 200% plus thanks to AAA (GoW, Horizon, Spidey) and TLOU show etc it's likely heading back to 2 (PS5) to 1 (Xbox).

This XMAS quarter 2022 Sony took great steps forward to expand the gap again, somewhat. Nintendo went nuclear this new gen and Switch is still the market leader, that doesn't mean I go posting how Sony need to up their game.

Xbox were/are busy handling Gamepass, crossplay, crossplatform (PC/stream/console), xCloud, Bethesda and ActiBliz while Sony just had GoW Ragnarok and TLOU show go nuclear. Great results for Sony, Ninty just keep trucking even without big releases or marketing.

I totally agree Xbox should have nailed more AAA and Halo Infinite especially + Halo TV show, it should have been on par with Sony's performance on console sales/GoW and TLOU show front. 100%. We'd be seeing quite a different story, as of now we have this year to look forward to and again Xbox are making more good than bad.

You also have to factor in the long game here. MS don't want a bumper XMAS here with the ActiBliz deal running around and their lack of titles, why push marketing when it's not really the best interest for now? Post ActiBliz we're going to see a very different release schedule and marketing run from Xbox. Book it.

 

[Umbasaborne]

Actually release games now. I mean triple a games

 

[DForce]

All of this is known. Xbox have been closing the gap on Sony for nearly 2 years running, last quarter and current month Sony pushed back. Again as I stated above, I'll quote myself here -



Xbox have been closing the gap.

I just said they were close because Sony was dealing with major supply issues while Xbox Series S was on the shelves for more than a year straight.

Things have changed a lot ever since Sony improved its shipments.

This XMAS quarter 2022 Sony took great steps forward to expand the gap again, somewhat. Nintendo went nuclear this new gen and Switch is still the market leader, that's doesn't mean I go posting how Sony need to up their game.

It didn't this past XMAS. Look at August and beyond. That's around the time the stock started to improve for Sony.

Xbox were/are busy handling Gamepass, crossplay, crossplatform (PC/stream/console), Bethesda and ActiBliz while Sony just had GoW Ragnarok and TLOU show go nuclear. Great results for Sony, Ninty just keep trucking even without big releases or marketing.

That's not true. lol

Developing games takes years of planning and you're basically saying they have been busy for more than 5 years now.

They thought Halo was going to be huge, but the game failed to meet their expectations. This is the game they tried to make it at launch for Xbox and they failed. They were originally planning to release Starfield and now it has been delayed.

I totally agree Xbox should have nailed more AAA and Halo Infinite especially + Halo TV show, it should have been on par with Sony's performance on console sales/GoW and TLOU show front. 100%. We'd be seeing quite a different story, as of now we have this year to look forward to and again Xbox are making more good than bad.

You also have to factor in the long game here. MS don't want a bumper XMAS here with the ActiBliz deal running around and their lack of titles, why pushing marketing when it's not really the best interest for now? Post ActiBliz we're going to see a very different release schedule and marketing run from Xbox. Book it.

I factored in their future, but you're saying Xbox has been a massive success for 2 years and that's simply not true.

If The Acti deal doesn't go through then it's only going to make it harder for Xbox.

Just over 2 years into the generation and their major releases are Halo and Forza Horizon 5 for Xbox. That's not good at all.

 

[AMSCD]

I think the reality is that Xbox is a terrible console from the perspective of getting exclusive/unique game experiences which traditionally was the reason to buy one console to the exclusion of another. However, it is a great alternative to a PC if you want to play PC games but don't want to pay the entry price.

 

[TransTrender]

At this point I think they just need to execute. The plan and pieces are there.

 

[McRazzle]

The answer is to add Windows 11 to Gamepass.
Wanna play games on Steam, Epic Store or use Battlenet?
Fine, just pay your monthly subscription fee.

 

[user friendly]

 

[rhodesianshepard]

Maybe not necessarily switching but just getting an xbox as well. The trick is to slowly wean you away from playstation with gamepass so that you hesitate to buy games on playstation since it might come to gamepass. So buy all of the first party Sony games for your playstation but buy or wait for gamepass on xbox.

I do agree that Sony has been lacking on the multiplayer game front I just didn't expect them to go this hard or use the studios they already have for it. I was expecting them to buy or create some studios for those types of games. We don't really know if it has affected their single player output since that multiplayer push was at the start of this gen and most of the games released were being worked on before this gen started.

Playstation Plus offers monthly new games, similar to gamepass. It's a surprisingly good catalog to choose from. It just doesn't offer day and date games, which is really the only difference between the two

And the vast majority of Sony's GAAS games are from smaller studios. All of Sony's big budget AAA studios all have known single player projects in full development, besides Guerilla Games. Even GG, is almost certainly working on Horizon 3 or a new IP, it's just not known for sure. Most of these studios have expanded to multiple development teams in recent years. Even with extra resources devoted towards GAAS, I'm confident their single player output will be more than sufficient

 

[PendekarRajawali]

Just make games. Great exclusives. Right now MS just talk…talk… and talk.
Nintendo’s great performance with very limited third party support shows how bad Xbox management is now.

 

[TheGodfather07]

Tap out before sony choke you to sleep.

 

[Robb]

Stay the course. As some have said everything seems to be in place. All they need now is time in order for all their studios to bring out a consistent output.

Activision/Blizzard will only help further with that.

 

[AeonGaidenRaiden]

Im actually thinking of getting the XsX just for the gamepass but as a company, I dont even know how they calculate their sales anymore. One day someone will compare numbers of lets say Halo 5 vs Infinite....how do you put a number on a day 1 gamepass game that everyone gets for free. All these big games; Forza, Flight Simulator, Horizon etc...how do you measure their sales numbers and adjust that to the next game development. They locked themselves in, if they stopped putting out Day 1 games on gamepass, interest will dwindle.

 

[Helghan]

LOL I love Gamepass. Like a lot.

But it doesn't appear to be growing anymore on console. Big titles will help that, but it remains to be seen how much.

How much more does it need to grow according to you? Honestly, what do we even know about the business model behind GP besides some back of the envelope calculations that is wrong anyway?

 

[Bo_Hazem]

 

[ToadMan]

Success comes in many forms.

1. MS have the resources right now to be very successful in the market as it is today. How? (i) ditch the custom hardware (ii) go multiplat with everything. That is to say do what sega did, drop custom hardware make content deals with anyone who has cash (iii) keep GP on PC and produce some off the shelf branded gaming PCs for around the custom hardware price tag, and target those specs with your titles.

2. But MS seems to want to own the “next” market - subs and streaming - and they’ll try and use today’s market as the foundation by filtering out current competitors here. To succeed with that… Well MS is a boring and uncool brand - they just aren’t a multimedia company, they’re a stuffy cubicle drone company and every time I see their branding in entertainment products I think of a workplace. Not good - I want a brand I associate with fun, relaxation, innovation. Not spreadsheets, memos and BSODs.

So first dissociate gaming from MS as a brand and second, Xbox as a brand is also pretty lame now, go for a rebranding of that coupled with management and structural change.

The problem with this is it sets MS gaming back again and they don’t have time to monopolise the market as they desire if they do that. This should all have been done before the Xsex launch.

3. Well this was supposed to be just keep doing what they’re doing but that isn’t really getting them where they want go in timescales they’re happy with. So they’re trying to accelerate by buying major chunks of the market but that’s not working either. Ultimately the way to do well is to work hard, work smart and grow incrementally but MS seems unprepared to do that now and probably realises that if they do that, they’ll go into the “next gen” gaming sector still not market leader.

So if MS is going to keep iterating with Phil and their uncool branding, they should focus more on Nintendo market share with cheap hardware and products for the “family” end of the market. They seem to have a knack for getting smaller boutique games out - Pentiment and HiFi recently but even back in the 360 hey days the most interesting titles were the esoteric “fillers” - don’t need powerful rigs for those and they can be produced on GP subs money in reasonable timeframes. Those are the kinds of things I’d play on a switch, mobile device or something like that - not on a game console or PC.

Tldr the way to the top for MS is to stop being MS

 

[reksveks]

Stay the course and release system sellers for the mass market

 

[j.k.2021]

Really hate concern trolling.

 

[NahaNago]

How have they been lacking? Especially this gen we’re all basically playing the same multiplayer games! Only thing they have is halo infinite and that’s not saying much.

Xbox has simply been viewed as the place for online multiplayer games and PS for third person cinematic games so I've always felt that Sony needed some type of online game or a decent sized community for a first party online game. I expect that Xbox will go hard on this aspect since they now own doom, halo, quake, elder scrolls, and forza. Xbox series X is going to be crazy. With that said I still would only buy an xbox for third party gamepass games since I'm still not that interested in xbox first party even with all the acquistions.

Playstation Plus offers monthly new games, similar to gamepass. It's a surprisingly good catalog to choose from. It just doesn't offer day and date games, which is really the only difference between the two

And the vast majority of Sony's GAAS games are from smaller studios. All of Sony's big budget AAA studios all have known single player projects in full development, besides Guerilla Games. Even GG, is almost certainly working on Horizon 3 or a new IP, it's just not known for sure. Most of these studios have expanded to multiple development teams in recent years. Even with extra resources devoted towards GAAS, I'm confident their single player output will be more than sufficient

I'm rarely ever that excited over the monthly new games so I barely pay attention to playstation pus offerings honestly.

I'm just probably unnecessarily worried over their gaas stuff.

 

[onnextflix5]

Clearly it’s going a take long time for their own studios to bring the goods , so in the mean time they need to invest in 3rd party exclusives, like Sony are doing with great results , problem with that is gamepass, as third party devs won’t put their games on there,

 

[TonyK]

In my opinion they need an exclusive like The Last of Us or God of War (or the equivalent Nintendo have: Mario and Zelda). I'm sorry but Microsoft doesn't have any Goty exclusive. Even emblematic IPs for the brand like Halo and Gears now end being only correct games, but not amazing as you would expect from those IPs.

Problem for me, as Xbox user, is that I don't see any game in the horizon, an that's include Starfield, that could become a massive console seller that would bring new users to their ecosystem.

 

[DenchDeckard]

Stay the course, do 2023 completely as planned. Release the three games you said you would release.

Forza slips to q3/q4 but redfall and starfield need to be first half. Ignore all the short term noise by Sony fans across the Internet. They are the loudest right now becuase there seems to be a constant hive mind pile on with every news day.

Then if that doesn't work and you release 3 bangers in 1 year, if that doesn't move the needle at all...then we are fucked lol, then just concentrate on game pass on every platform and anyone with sense moves to PC and leaves the crazy fanboys to scream at themselves lol.

 

[Ozriel]

Most of those titles sell better on Steam while only a small percentage of Game Pass subscribers will actually purchase all those games.

The way some of you talk, you’d think Gamepass was a free service that generates no revenue

 

[Ozriel]

I'm pretty confident Microsoft will acquire Ubisoft next, and Make all Ubisoft games exclusive to PC and Xbox.

No hardware maker with sense is interested in acquiring Ubisoft.

Look to the likes of Tencent for any possible acquisition

 

[Imtjnotu]

What if Starfield is a hit and the Activision deal goes through? All of a sudden, they're in a great spot.

 

[supernova8]

If they just released all the games they claim to have in development everything would be fine.
In theory, they have a solid lineup of relatively heavy-hitter titles (Hi Fi Rusih is not a heavy hitter title STFU guys) even ignoring the stuff they inherited from the Bethesda acquisition.

Hellblade 2
Avowed
Forza Motorsport
Gears of War (maybe? not confirmed)
Fable
Everwild or whatever it turns out as
Perfect Dark
State of Decay 3

If they could release two or three of these per year and have more on the horizon, it'd be cool.

So yeah no need to change anything per se, just get the stuff you have cooking out of the bloody door first.

Game Pass is great an all but they need major exclusive titles otherwise what's to stop Playstation putting all of their titles on PS Plus Day One in future in addition to having all/most of the third party titles available on Game Pass? That's why you see the likes of Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, HBO, Disney etc. making their own content because you need a differentiating factor. "Hey look at all these third party titles!" only works until your competitor secures the same titles on their service.

 

[Ar¢tos]

Moneyhat the world!
If they have 70bn to buy Activision, then they have more than enough money to make every 3rd party game a Xbox timed exclusive for 1 year!

 

[mrmustard]

Really hate concern trolling.

It's daily business for some people. Also over-celebrating, 'innocent' jokes and other baits.

 

[Ozriel]

LOL I love Gamepass. Like a lot.

But it doesn't appear to be growing anymore on console.

Source?

Another thing to consider is that devs and publishers relation probably deteriorated since MS is pushing gamepass so hard.

I mean, if I'm a third party I'd have no incentive to release anything on Xbox day one because gamepass is pushing the perceived value of everything way down. Xbox gamers are less likely to buy anything.

There’s no third party dev testimony that backs this up, though. And third party AAA devs continue to release games that sell well on the console.
I don’t see how GP pushes the perceived value of software down. We've been seeing ridiculously discounted sales on Steam for ages, but millions had no issue paying $60 - $70 for Hogwarts Legacy.

People will pay money to play games that appeals to them. Pretty much the most visible impact of GP is driving digital adoption as seen in UK charts.

Clearly it’s going a take long time for their own studios to bring the goods , so in the mean time they need to invest in 3rd party exclusives, like Sony are doing with great results , problem with that is gamepass, as third party devs won’t put their games on there,

If they’re investing in 3rd party exclusivity, why would Gamepass be a sticking point? They’ll have factored that into the financial agreement.

 

[Team Andromeda]

They're doing great. Threads like this make me laugh. But really Forza needs to come out for the summer.

 

[Jigsaah]

I hope they stay hungry and continue Gamepass. I'm saying this for VERY selfish reasons.

 

[Gamerguy84]

.

 

[Rudius]

Well great news that GT7 is here for you with PSVR2 baby!!!!

I have a PS5 and a PSVR2 pre-ordered. GT7 is installed and ready for it.

If Microsoft did the same thing I would buy it immediately, but I'm aware I'm not the majority.

 

[Ozzy Onya A2Z]

...problem with that is gamepass, as third party devs won’t put their games on there,

Citation needed.

Quite the opposite is true, Phil is on record with a waiting list of devs/studios with too many approaching Gamepass for what Xbox can manage and deliver at one time.

 

[Riky]

They'll deliver next gen exclusives this year, hardware and Gamepass will take off. Starfield alone will make both explode.

 

[Bojanglez]

I would....

Continue for now with this gen, but ultimately move away from hardware

• Turn Xbox into a gaming service, either
  • Create an Xbox OS with target specs that can be licensed (or given) to other manufacturers, or probably better to
  • Create a Windows variant designed for gaming with Xbox services baked in, to encourage hardware from other manufacturers
• Become a 3rd party publisher on all platforms
• Pivot Gamepass into games only created by MS (once they have enough), or have a tier with MS only games available
• Sell Gamepass on all platforms (Like EA and Ubi do)
• Continue to allow Gamepass on via xCloud

But even as I'm writing this, I'm not sure it's viable until they have the games, I think at least with this model their ABK deal would be more likely to proceed at which point they may have enough games to not need 3rd parties for Gamepass.

 

[DinoD]

Release new Wolfenstein and The Evil Within, and you will have me getting Series S and these two games. Otherwise, I don't care where they go. Over my pay grade. There are people that are paid millions of dollars to figure that out.

 

[kyussman]

What is this long game Microsoft are playing people keep telling me I'm not understanding......because if it's not releasing captivating new AAA games on a regular basis then why the fuck should I care.I honestly thought I'd own an XSX by now,back when they announced that powerful console and bought all those studios.....I thought there would be too many reasons to not own one and yet my money is still safely in my pocket and not in Phil Spencers bank account.If Starfield,Avowed and Fable are all bullshit free 90+ bangers I may well feel I'm missing out by not owning an Xbox.
Right now I've not got any next gen console and I'm not even sure if I will jump in at all(although Death Stranding 2 is coming,that's annoying,lol).I've gone from thinking I would get both XSX and PS5 to not getting either to thinking if I do get one it will probably be a PS5.

 

[Ic3man]

Why are people so dramatic when it comes to Microsoft?

 

[DJ12]

I voted abort because is basically what they want to do anyway. They want gamepass on everything as thats how they will make money.

However techinally its staying the course but i dont think that means what you think it does.

 

[Bonfires Down]

I can tell you one of the most successful tech companies ever should definitely take their cues from Neogaf.

 

[DenchDeckard]

Genuinely, like 100 percent, Sony fans dream about Phil Spencer and 100% can not wait to talk about him and Xbox.

It's actually 100% factually proven at this point that all you hardcore Sony fans completely STAN over the guy in the weirdest way & Microsoft in general. More so than anything ive ever witnessed. I should go on a mobile phone forum and see some Apple Vs Android Fan boy threads....

Does anyone have any examples of anything that comes close to this type of obsession. Are Android fans this obsessed with Tim Cook?