News Xbox's Ben Decker says they will address exclusivity of Zenimax titles after acquisition but their goal is to get more people into Xbox community

[diffusionx]

I still think MS' main goal here is to get GamePass on PS5.

That said... if the PS5 is dominant this gen like I think it will be, can MS reasonably pass up the opportunity to sell 5-10 million copies of Starfield or Fallout 5 or ES6 or whatever just to keep it on their GamePass ghetto? I do not think so.

I fully expect Microsoft to make the next Elder Scrolls game exclusive to Xbox, even if it's just for a limited window of time. Also, Machine Games and Arkane are the perfect B-tier studios to fill up GamePass with B-level games.

Arkane is one of the best studios out there these days.

 

[Newly Vacant]

Arkane is one of the best studios out there these days.

I disagree, but not enough to put up a fight. Whatever the future of Dishonored, Prey, and future Arkane games, I bet they're on GamePass. Bethesda Game Studios is the reason for the purchase, everything else is gravy.

 

[Iced Arcade]

Obviously Bethesda is going to be exclusive.


Fears, tears for years

 

[MrFunSocks]

I still think MS' main goal here is to get GamePass on PS5.

That said... if the PS5 is dominant this gen like I think it will be, can MS reasonably pass up the opportunity to sell 5-10 million copies of Starfield or Fallout 5 or ES6 or whatever just to keep it on their GamePass ghetto? I do not think so.

Did they release Gears 5, Forza Horizon 4, etc on the PS4? Surely MS couldn't have reasonably passed up the opportunity to sell 5-10 million copies of them?

I swear some people have no idea how the real world and business works lol.

Another example lol:

The fact MS had to make this acquisition just shows you how utterly utterly weak their original prep and proposal for series X was.

Sony must be rubbing their hands with glee and smelling the fear coming from the MS execs. Without this and other buy outs MS was completely relying on third party which also looks to run better on the PS5.

Sony must be rubbing their hands with glee that MS just spent more money on an acquisition than they could dream of spending? That MS just got another like 8 first party studios along with some of the most valuable IPs in the industry? That all those games are now going to be legitimate system sellers for the Xbox and will cost Sony console sales? That MS signalled that they're serious finally and are in this for the long term?

Yeh, sure, sony must be partying at the moment lol. You've got no idea. Microsoft, Google, and Apple have the financial capacity to completely decimate Sony's video game business, and they're all getting interested in doing so right now. Sony are almost in the worst spot out of all of them tbh, even though they're the overwhelming market leader. They just don't have the financial muscle the others do.

 

[Neff]

You don't spend 7 billion without an aggressive strategy in mind.

 

[vaibhavpisal]

I guess we will never ever get a clear cut answer to this.

Most likely they will be dick like Sony making "human error" with Demons Souls PC version in one of their promotion poster.

 

[MrFunSocks]

I guess we will never ever get a clear cut answer to this.

Most likely they will be dick like Sony making "human error" with Demons Souls PC version in one of their promotion poster.

We’ll get a clear answer when the acquisition is done.

The answer is already clear though, I guess some just need it confirmed for some odd reason.

 

[the_master]

GamePass day one and timed exclusivity

Why timed?
Everything points at permanent exclusivity

 

[Valued Gamer]

Microsoft would be stupid to sell Bethesda games on PS5. With the Zenimax purchase it makes Microsoft the biggest publisher and development company around, much bigger than Sony
It really isn't comparable at this stage.
Xbox will have as it's IP
Halo
Gears
Forza MS
Forza Horizon
Hellblade
Outer Worlds
Avowed
Wasteland
State of Decay
Everwild
Fable
Perfect Dark
Flight SIM
Killer Instinct
Psychonauts
Banjo
Sea of thieves
Project Mara
Ori
Doom
Quake
Wolfenstein
TES
Starfield
Rage
Fallout
Prey
Dishonored
Evil Within

They have finally got themselves into a dominant position in the market, so for them to just give those games to Sony would just be stupid.

 

[vaibhavpisal]

We’ll get a clear answer when the acquisition is done.

The answer is already clear though, I guess some just need it confirmed for some odd reason.

They have said "case by case" basis.

Their clouding the exclusivity status seems intentional. Only that much is clear.

 

[Stuart360]

This is the closest they have come yet to admitting the games will be Xbox console exclusive. They cant officially confirm it until the sale is finalized, but its clear to me whats going to happen.

 

[Null Persp]

Yeah they will be exclusive.

 

[Shubh_C63]

Now ES6 with a new engine exclusively on Gamepass.

Now THAT'S a subscription seller.

 

[MrFunSocks]

They have said "case by case" basis.

Their clouding the exclusivity status seems intentional. Only that much is clear.

They literally cannot legally say they will make all zenimax games exclusive until the acquisition is finalised. Then they will. Tell me, do people expect the next insomniac game on the Xbox series x? No? Why not? Because Sony owns them. Same deal here.

 

[michaelius]

Would be nice if they stopped lying and just say that they are buying those companies to take away content from other platforms since they completly mismanaged their own studios over last 3 generations of consoles.

 

[Forsythia]

They literally cannot legally say they will make all zenimax games exclusive until the acquisition is finalised. Then they will. Tell me, do people expect the next insomniac game on the Xbox series x? No? Why not? Because Sony owns them. Same deal here.

I don't think reality has set in yet, or they are just in denial or too stubborn to come to terms with the fact that PS doesn't "deserve" every game. It's incomprehensible to deluded PS fanboys that a company dares to not release a game on their favourite system. And don't start with Minecraft, that obviously is an exception.

Sony buying exclusives or exclusive content left and right is perfectly fine, but the competition isn't allowed to do this. Do they even know how many thirdparty games are gimped on PC and Xbox just because Sony loves their exclusive content? If the shoe was on the other foot they'd be up in arms.

 

[bxrz]

Lies. Only good 3d fallout was new Vegas. Time to take it from bethesda and give it to Obsidian.

Fallout 4 was good.

 

[Hendrick's]

Wait to Jim hears about the Game Pass stipulation. Then MS can be like, "we continue to work with Sony in hopes that they will allow Bethesda games on Playstation".

 

[diffusionx]

Did they release Gears 5, Forza Horizon 4, etc on the PS4? Surely MS couldn't have reasonably passed up the opportunity to sell 5-10 million copies of them?

I swear some people have no idea how the real world and business works lol.

Gears 5 sucks lol. I doubt either of those would do that well on PS5, whereas we are talking about franchises that sold 5+ million on PS4, please keep up.

 

[Mattyp]

can MS reasonably pass up the opportunity to sell 5-10 million copies of Starfield or Fallout 5 or ES6 or whatever just to keep it on their GamePass ghetto? I do not think so.

The fact you believe Microsoft need to sell 5 million copies of a game on their main competitors platform for a 7.5 Billion dollar deal to make sense shows how little economics or business insight you have.

Microsoft made money the instant they bought Zenimax. Microsoft will continue to make money on Zenimax. Prey, Doom, Wolf, Elder Scrolls, Fallout will continue to move gamepass subscriptions on PC and xbox consoles in a massive way. Zenimax did not become worth default $0 dollars the instant Microsoft bought them.

People on here think cash is wealth, that any cash spent evaporates and needs to be some how 'made back' this is a poor concept on money. Wealth is assets. Zenimax is an asset. Well managed assets retain their original worth and continue to provide even more income for more assets. Think LinkedIn or Github.

 

[diffusionx]

The fact you believe Microsoft need to sell 5 million copies of a game on their main competitors platform for a 7.5 Billion dollar deal to make sense shows how little economics or business insight you have.

Microsoft made money the instant they bought Zenimax. Microsoft will continue to make money on Zenimax. Prey, Doom, Wolf, Elder Scrolls, Fallout will continue to move gamepass subscriptions on PC and xbox consoles in a massive way. Zenimax did not become worth default $0 dollars the instant Microsoft bought them.

People on here think cash is wealth, that any cash spent evaporates and needs to be some how 'made back' this is a poor concept on money. Wealth is assets. Zenimax is an asset. Well managed assets retain their original worth and continue to provide even more income for more assets. Think LinkedIn or Github.

1.No I think they want to sell 5 million copies of a game because 5 million copies of a game is a lot of revenue, it has nothing to do with what they spent on this company. That is a sunk cost and does not and should not factor into their decisions.

2. I said that the way the market shakes out will be a big factor. If Xbox is a big hit, they won’t need to think about it. But if it is a total turd, I guarantee they will. Because part of the deal with being a “services” company is having a huge market to sell to. Without a lot of Xbox in people’s’ homes, they don’t have a lot of people to draw GP from.

3. MS hasn’t exactly done a great job of managing their purchased assets, what they did with LinkedIn and Skype is not very impressive.

4. MS is fine with putting their games on different platforms, I do not see why PS is some special case. They put their games on Steam FFS and that is a direct competitor to their own Windows Store.

Truth is I don’t know what MS will do and I doubt they do either. It depends on how things play out.

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

Why timed?
Everything points at permanent exclusivity

It's a possibility too.

But there are some million selling franchises like Minecraft and Elder Scrolls that end up becoming more profitable the more platforms you sell those in.

So that's why I think they'll first make it exclusive to Xbox and PC, and maybe even available on their cloud streaming service.

Later, they might release on other platforms, and at full price. Profit.

 

[quest]

It's a possibility too.

But there are some million selling franchises like Minecraft and Elder Scrolls that end up becoming more profitable the more platforms you sell those in.

So that's why I think they'll first make it exclusive to Xbox and PC, and maybe even available on their cloud streaming service.

Later, they might release on other platforms, and at full price. Profit.

Except we have seen timed exclusives sell like shit when released on the other platform. People see them as old games and other factors as the FU for not releasing same day. Adding additional development time making the game look worse is not worth it for a couple of sales. Then you lose out selling gamepass subscriptions to people who would double dip on another console or build a PC.

 

[Starfield]

It's a possibility too.

But there are some million selling franchises like Minecraft and Elder Scrolls that end up becoming more profitable the more platforms you sell those in.

So that's why I think they'll first make it exclusive to Xbox and PC, and maybe even available on their cloud streaming service.

Later, they might release on other platforms, and at full price. Profit.

You could argue that for Sony games too "why don't they release Spider Man on Xbox and PC they could be making millions more" its because certain games will bring certain people to platforms.

Game Pass and Xbox are a platform.

Bethesda is the thing that will bring people to these platforms.

If you can't understand this logic then I you're going to have a bad time on a Sony console

 

[SNG32]

I really don't give a shit if Zenimax is exclusive to Microsoft they need it anyways. I don't know why everyone is stressing about this. Sony Stans are good on the exclusive side. Let Xbox be a great WRPG machine.

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

You could argue that for Sony games too "why don't they release Spider Man on Xbox and PC they could be making millions more" its because certain games will bring certain people to platforms.

Sony is already bringing their games to another platform, which is the PC.

Microsoft will definitely keep some flagship titles exclusive to their platform (Halo, Forza, Age of Empires to name a few), and so will Sony.

But these companies want profit. They'll first release some titles with some timed exclusivity on their platforms, in respect for their users and to add value their product.

When the sales start dropping for that game, release it on another platform at full price. Profit.

 

[SNG32]

I still think MS' main goal here is to get GamePass on PS5.

That said... if the PS5 is dominant this gen like I think it will be, can MS reasonably pass up the opportunity to sell 5-10 million copies of Starfield or Fallout 5 or ES6 or whatever just to keep it on their GamePass ghetto? I do not think so.



Arkane is one of the best studios out there these days.

Sony gaming chief says the PS5 would be sold out even without COVID-19 | Engadget

Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) CEO Jim Ryan confirmed that the PS5 is completely sold out despite his best efforts to have enough stock.

www.engadget.com

At the last part of the Article it looks like there is more to come with this Zenimax Merger according to Jim Ryan. Unless Sony's got a Playstation game pass up it's sleeves.

 

[Starfield]

Sony is already bringing their games to another platform, which is the PC.

Microsoft will definitely keep some flagship titles exclusive to their platform (Halo, Forza, Age of Empires to name a few), and so will Sony.

But these companies want profit. They'll first release some titles with some timed exclusivity on their platforms, in respect for their users and to add value their product.

When the sales start dropping for that game, release it on another platform at full price. Profit.

they get more profit by bringing customers to Xbox/Gamepass than selling their games on other platforms. Easy.

 

[VincentMatts]

they get more profit by bringing customers to Xbox/Gamepass than selling their games on other platforms. Easy.

And also, keep in mind that a game eventually stops selling. Gamepass doesnt. So ultimately, GP will make more money for MS.

Im not sure what to think anymore. I look at minecraft and i wonder why they didnt do that with Minecraft dungeons? Why did they still release that game on everything? Why would bethesda be different? Elder scrolls, fallout, doom are huge. Maybe not minecraft huge, but still huge.

It makes no sense to just release new minecraft games everywhere, but not bethesda ones.

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

they get more profit by bringing customers to Xbox/Gamepass than selling their games on other platforms. Easy.

On short term, yes.
On long term, no.

I'm agreeing with you. Only partially.

 

[Bernkastel]

Microsoft’s Phil Spencer on launching the new Xbox and the future of games

The head of Xbox talks about the latest console launch.

www.theverge.com

To launch a console, you don’t just need hardware, you obviously need big games. Sony launched the PS5 with Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Astro’s Playroom, which takes full advantage of the advanced haptics on its new controller.

I asked Phil how he’s thinking about the role the titles play in the launch of these systems and how he feels about Halo Infinite being delayed to 2021.
...
[Halo] was a miss on our part. I wouldn’t change the decision based on the right game, [a] healthy situation for the team, and how they’re working. Absolutely, it’s something that we had planned for, Bonnie Ross who runs the studio and I, to have Halo there. In the long run, I think what’s going to happen is we’re going to get a better Halo game at a good time when people can actually get a console. I feel good about that. I think the game will be better for the time that we’re giving it. I’m incredibly excited about the lineup, not only of Xbox Game Studios, but we’ve obviously also announced our intent to acquire ZeniMax and Starfield and great games that Todd [Howard] and the team are working on, that people are going to go play on their Xbox.

 

[Leyasu]

Exclusive to Xbox and PC.

They can't say yet because they don't yet own the studios and I.Ps. But once they do, these games are never going to see the light of day on playstation.

In a few years Microsoft will have a triple AAA game per quarter, an RPG every yr to 18 months, and a smattering of other games all coming to gamepass,. They will also acquire another 3 to 4 studios to cement their pipeline, and lower their reliance on 3rd parties. Their long game is clear. By 2025 their machine will be running at full speed.

All those talking about loss leading need to look at the bigger picture. They ain't looking to recoup their outlay in the next couple of years. These investments are being done to put them a position where gamepass almost becomes unmissable.

 

[draliko]

Oh yes because porting to ps5 from xbox doesn't cost money, it's just profit, not like 10 months full time work from the team, time that could be spent doing other stuff... You guys don't have a clue how software developing works, and even business side don't have a clue about value and assets. It's money invested, not lost... Quite a difference