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Xbox’s Phil Spencer criticises PlayStation’s PC strategy for being ‘late’ and ‘charging twice’

ReBurn

Gold Member
Releasing games on pc day 1 as console is typical "how to devalue your console 101"

playstation releasing on their own system and then a few years later so pc people can benchmark etc is smarter and makes them more money in the long run.
And that's all consumers really care about. If we don't defend the corporate bottom line then who will?
 

ManaByte

Member
Of course he is wrong. The PS platform and PC are totally seperate. Why do MS want me to pay for the windows OS for my laptops even though I own it for my PC?
When i buy the digital version of movie do MS throw in the Blu-Ray for free? Sony aren't PC centric like MS.....

He isn't wrong. When you buy a first party Xbox game (Gears 5, Sea of Thieves, Forza Horizon, etc) you get a Windows version (via the Win10 Xbox app or the Windows store) as well. The only way you'd have to pay twice for a PC version of a MS first party game is if you decide to buy it through a third-party store.
 
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Malcolm9

Member
Dude, he is the one who literally made Microsoft focus on xbox. I dont know what the fk you smoking. He has been given a fking mess from don matrik. And what did he do after took the position? Buy minecraft, by convincing Microsoft. Fixed the horrible mistake xbox one was, by releasing x1s, then x1x. He literally made gamepass for the xbox. Went to hunt studios. And now made xbox a strong console. The same xbox, that don put in the ground.

If you hate him that is fine. But don't say he ruined xbox. He freaking put yakuza, which was known as a Playstation games. Tell me, how do you think xbox players felt, when they saw the yakuza series on their console. He even freaking gave them MLB the show, and exclusive Playstation game, day 1 for xbox players.

They chucked a huge sack of cash to Sega for Yakuza, these games have been out for years. MLB made the decision not Xbox to make it multiplatform, again with another huge sack of cash going the MLB (and Sony's way).

I'm seeing a pattern here.
 
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kuncol02

Banned
The 'PR blunder' as you put it crippled the X1 for its entire life. Kinect actually reduced the CPU capability of the device and GDDR 3 ruined the GPU.
That wasn't because of kinect. MS wanted to have 8gb of ram. When they were designing XBox GDDR3 was only viable option for that which forced them to add esram and because of that they had smaller transistor budget for GPU. PS4 was supposed to have 4gb of ram, but Sony was lucky that RAM prices felt way more than anticipated and they were able to upgrade project to 8gb.
 

Spidey Fan

Banned
They chucked a huge sack of cash to Sega for Yakuza, these games have been out for years. MLB made the decision not Xbox to make it multiplatform, again with another huge sack of cash going the MLB (and Sony's way).

I'm seeing a pattern here.
the fact that yakuza and mlb was on playstation for years disapproves what you trying to say.
 

ReBurn

Gold Member
Good point.
It's actually a terrible point. A complete non sequitur.

Almost 93% of PC gaming on Steam is done on Windows 10. That's pretty much the default definition of PC gaming right now. "Microsoft will be credible when they release their games on platforms people don't buy for gaming" is just a clown world hot take.
 

Fredrik

Member
I don't agree. They opened a Steam Page and partnered with Epic. Jim Ryan seems to be putting a heavy focus on PC gaming. But of course, PC gaming is still HEAVILY pirated. It makes sense they want to delay to sell more on consoles.
How big of a problem is PC piracy in 2021? Literally everyone I know who used to pirate has stopped now, maybe it’s an age thing I don’t know but I’m guessing it’s also their Steam library they don’t want banned, Epic’s free games, humble bundle, cheap summer sales etc that is keeping them away from piracy.
So I think it’s an extremely small group of people who would skip a console release and pirate on PC if games released simultaneously.
 
It's linked here often because a lot of their articles are sensationalist console warrior bait (like this one is) and GAF loves that. 😂
I can't deny that it's entertaining at times but it also gets tiring to see all that warrior energy thrown about due to engineered misinformation.

Still, kudos to you for trying to stem the tide. I'm gonna return to the sidelines and pop some corn :D
 

Malcolm9

Member
the fact that yakuza and mlb was on playstation for years disapproves what you trying to say.
Why would Sega and MLB say no to the huge cash bags? Sega are ported over games they have made loads off on the Playstation platform. MLB wanted to make their game multiplatform as they knew MS would chuck money their way, why would they say no.

Easy money was their desire to do so.
 
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lol lmao.

This might be true today, but I strongly suspect come Sunday we are gonna be looking at Phil in another light.

I think they are about to have a kickass show. Not just because they now have 23 studios, but also because there is a good chance Bluepoint and Kojima are making games for him. If those MGS remake rumors are true, thats a $120 game for me. Anything kojima makes is priceless. Bethesda games are an easy buy.

I dont know. This is a silly thing for him to even talk about, but hes done a good job staying quiet this year which leads me to believe that he might actually have a good show planned.
After seeing him intro with Playstation Studios on the remake and all the MGS easter eggs there's literally no way MS has anything on it :messenger_grinning_squinting:

Sure, show some good games, that's what I want. Got multiple pcs to play them at, so it's a win win :messenger_winking:
 

IntentionalPun

Ask me about my wife's perfect butthole
Eh, that's kinda easy for MS to say given that they own Windows.

Once all first party MS games start launching on Mac and Linux I'll believe his intention of spreading games everywhere
Expect some news later this year.
 

Metnut

Member
Charging twice?

Is that what it’s called when a game gets pulled off of Gamepass right when you’re in the middle of it and you have to pay again to buy the game just to finish it despite already paying for Gamepass each month?

Or is that what it’s called when Fallout76 (produced by Microsoft studios own Bethesda) charges for “atoms” to improve the gameplay despite the game already costing money to buy (or people already paying money for gamepass to play the game)?

You tell me Phil.
 
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pasterpl

Member
Eh, that's kinda easy for MS to say given that they own Windows.

Once all first party MS games start launching on Mac and Linux I'll believe his intention of spreading games everywhere
You can play these games via xcloud on Mac, Linux etc.
 

I mean he has also said this:


Spencer, unfortunately, has. Speaking about DLC marketing deals a couple of years back, he said: “Paying marketing funds so another consoles base can't play a piece of content doesn't feel like growth.” When called out for his comments, he added: “ never said Xbox has never done this. [I’m] not calling out others, [it’s] just not practice I like, that's it.”


 

Topher

Gold Member
I mean he has also said this:





And this....

I find it completely counter to what gaming is about to say that part of that is to lock people away from being able to experience those games. Or to force someone to buy my specific device on the day that I want them to go buy it, in order to partake in what gaming is about. Gaming is bigger than any one device…
https://www.kotaku.com.au/2020/07/xbox-series-x-exclusives-phil-spencer/
 

Topher

Gold Member
So we all know he doesn't like it, but it's the nature of the business.

After buying timed exclusivity for Rise of Tomb Raider, Spencer said timed exclusives were not going to be their long term strategy and yet here we are and the Xbox lineup has more timed exclusives than console exclusives. I'd rather he just say it is "the nature of the business" and leave it at that.
 

Pull n Pray

Banned
this mofo is the slimiest PoS in the business. congratulating Sony studios left and right (such a bro :messenger_smiling_hearts:) and after that he says stupid shit like this in Interviews. At least don't pretend

Edit: No I have to correct myself. That sweaty creep from Gearbox(?) doing magic tricks is no.1. After that come Phil and chubby Greenburger #xgonegiveittoya
For fucks sake, are you 12 years old? "Look at Phil Spencer pretending to be a friend of PlayStation when he is actually just a big ol' meanie!"

Thinking people have nuanced positions. It isn't a contradiction to praise Sony's studios for making great games and then criticize Sony management for business practices that aren't consumer friendly.

By the way, if you actually are under the age of 18 then I apologize.

I'd probably buy a Series X if 1. I could play games bought on Steam on it, and 2. It had actual backwards compatibility for all original Xbox games.
I think this might be happening soon. Microsoft either needs to drastically improve their own storefront so PC players don't mind playing games on it, or they should partner up with Steam. Hopefully Sony does something similar (either creating their own store or partnering with Epic).

Ideally, you should buy media once and be able to access it from all your devices. That's the way it is with music and movies. We aren't quite there with games yet, but I think it is inevitable. I think a lot of PlayStation fans are worried this development will threaten the existence of console gaming, but I don't think this fear is warranted. I don't know if it would even decrease console sales. Sure, there will be a few PC centric gamers that stop buying PlayStation consoles because they can now play Sony games on PC. But there will also be people who buy PlayStation consoles because it is a great way to access their entire game library from their living room. Ultimately, I think it will make consoles more desirable, not less desirable.
 
After buying timed exclusivity for Rise of Tomb Raider, Spencer said timed exclusives were not going to be their long term strategy and yet here we are and the Xbox lineup has more timed exclusives than console exclusives. I'd rather he just say it is "the nature of the business" and leave it at that.
I think it's clear that long-term he wants close to 30 studios so he doesn't have to pay for exclusivity. The timed-exclusive stuff was to buy time until Microsoft starts churning them out every quarter.
 
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Topher

Gold Member
I think it's clear that long-term he wants close to 30 studios so he doesn't have to pay for exclusivity. The timed-exclusive stuff was to buy time until Microsoft starts churning them out every quarter.

That's fine. In the meantime, he needs to.....

Stfu GIF by MOODMAN
 

assurdum

Banned
sure, bud.



What games are currently and/or coming soon that are timed-exclusive on Xbox?
Medium? And probably more will come thanks to your new Jesus GamePass all in for the gamers rights. We need to be very naive to think temporal exclusive won't come anymore on Xbox because studios acquisitions. Lol
 
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John Wick

Member
Remind me what Sony is doing again to be pro-consumer? Weren't they a company that believed in generations and straight up lied to their fans? No free upgrades, no cross-play, no cross-buy, no PS1, PS2, or PS3 BC.

Phil's a Microsoft employee with Microsoft's best interests in mind, making games cross-platform, cross-play, allowing free upgrades to the XSX versions, and allowing you to play your games from the cloud, Xbox - Xbox One BC with 4k and framerate updates, buying games or allowing us to subscribe to them is all beneficial to Microsoft as well as the gamers and it keeps the gamers on the platform but in a very pro-consumer way. There's nothing wrong with choices.
Yes MS are very consumer friendly. They're so friendly they started charging to go online? F2P was behind a paywall including services like Netflix. That's how pro consumer MS was. They started the money hatting of AAA and to prevent them from releasing on a rival platform. Refused crossplay because they were in the lead in the X360 era. But that all changed when they lost the last gen and they looked for a new strategy which included PC their main platform.
 

assurdum

Banned
Yes MS are very consumer friendly. They're so friendly they started charging to go online? F2P was behind a paywall including services like Netflix. That's how pro consumer MS was. They started the money hatting of AAA and to prevent them from releasing on a rival platform. Refused crossplay because they were in the lead in the X360 era. But that all changed when they lost the last gen and they looked for a new strategy which included PC their main platform.
Here before but they have to respond fire against fire bullshit. As Sony would have many other alternatives. lol.
 
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That wasn't because of kinect. MS wanted to have 8gb of ram. When they were designing XBox GDDR3 was only viable option for that which forced them to add esram and because of that they had smaller transistor budget for GPU. PS4 was supposed to have 4gb of ram, but Sony was lucky that RAM prices felt way more than anticipated and they were able to upgrade project to 8gb.
The X1 was designed with Kinect in mind. Part of its CPU power budget was dedicated to running the Kinect which meant less power for other tasks. The GPU RAM issue was on top of Kinect. You can add in the TV TV TV focus and it shouldn't be surprising that it wasn't a great platform for games. It had multiple issues.
 

Kataploom

Gold Member
Such a low move to critize other companies business model, let people make money they way they think it's ok as long as the don't damage others, if it doesn't work then they'll see
 

Derktron

Banned
Damn I was critical of Sony for going to PC but if Phil is this shook they must be on to something

Maybe Horizon outsold all of their recent PC games
Or..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................stop the hate and realize that yes he is right. What Sony is doing is flip-flopping this has nothing to do with the damn sales.
 

Plantoid

Member
Yeah, but bunch of people won't use Windows Store. Why Phil then don't allow free upgrade for Steam users if he is so proud on releasing games on PC/Xbox/cloud simultaneously and charging it once?
How would you deal with steams cut if the game is free? You're being a moron dude.
 

SafeOrAlone

Banned
Phil is very good at promises:
ECFbQVxUwAAGhjz.jpg



Over promise/under deliver! Phil is the man!

Should 2018 & 2019 be included there?

E3 2018 - games announced: Halo Infinite, Gears 5, Forza Horizon 4, Gears Tactics - all exclusives. But even Sekiro (remember not everything is a console war. It's about providing for their own ecosystem as well, whether or not the game has a fancy "exclusive" sticker)

They also announced the acquisition of five more studios, including Ninja Theory, The Initiative, and others.

I believe CDPR also revealed some of the very first Cyberpunk 2077 footage during their presentation.
To round it off, Phil seemed to plant the seeds for the next Xbox console announcement. It was a big showing.

E3 2019 - I mean, that's a pretty small promise, which he delivered on. Elden Ring and a few others were announced I believe.

Look, I'm not going to say Microsoft has delivered as well as Sony on the exclusives - certainly not. But I've seen this posted several times and if we are taking these quotes and talking about Phil over promising and under delivering, then it doesn't seem accurate at all. At best, it's an exaggeration of the truth and should probably be trimmed down a little. I didn't even check the years before 2018, but who knows how accurate they really are.
 
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