How're you feeling about the business direction of Xbox?

[digitalrelic]

Going off of the other thread, I thought it would be interesting to see what the consensus is for other platform holders.

I'm mostly happy about what they're doing at Xbox. The biggest complaint I have right now is just the sheer amount of time it's taken for their changes and acquisitions to come to fruition. Tons of potential in the coming years though, and this does feel a bit like the calm before the storm.

 

[Milennia]

No complaints, game pass is great, PC support is forever appreciated, slate of games is massive and varied

 

[Anno]

They're making/will make a lot of games I want to play across a ton of genres and now they just release on Steam day 1. It's great. A+.

 

[Deleted member 93062]

They might be going a bit slower than I would prefer but they're doing everything I like. I much prefer their upcoming lineup to their competitors. I love me FPS and RPGs. They support PC day one and they give me an accessible and cheap way to enjoy their games. I also have more trust in buying games digitally from them than I do Sony/Nintendo.

Also, I think Game Pass has the potential to give us more experimental, shorter games, which makes me more excited than anything else currently. They don't have to try to sell a sub-10 hour game for $60-$70, so give me all the sub-10 hour games from AAA studios.

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wccftech.com

They need to kill Xbox Live Gold. Everything else is going in the right direction, and they have only greatness in their future.

Click to shrink...

Also this.

digitalrelic I'd be interested in seeing another thread like this after June 12th. A lot of questions need to be answered, and I'm optimistic they will be answered.

 

[-Tetsuo-]

Seems fine to me

 

[Windu]

Besides paid multiplayer still being a thing. I like their direction.

 

[PlanetSmasher]

Really not a fan of buying massive publishers left and right. Halo Infinite was also a flub on multiple levels.

Psychonauts 2 was extremely good, though.

 

[Kyry]

Im excited about the future of the brand, but being satisfied with it always seems 2 to 3 years away.

 

[BananasWithGuns]

It's great just…need to finally get the games out.

 

[elenarie]

They need to kill Xbox Live Gold. Everything else is going in the right direction, and they have only greatness in their future.

 

[Bxrz]

Xbox is doing ok, better than last-gen but not good enough. Here is what they NEED to do:

1. Release AAA exclusives. Halo and Forza are not enough (and Halo is in bad shape)
2. Manage their teams better. Too many reports about bad development going on over there
3. Innovate the controller somehow. Haptic feedback should be industry standard now.
4. More Japanese games on the console.
5. More 3rd party exclusives/deals. They've definitely lost their way in this regard

But GamePass is great and I think Phil is a good leader

 

[BabyDontHurtMe]

Feel about the same as I do with Sony tbh. They're doing pretty good!

 

[ClamBuster]

series x is an absolute dream

game pass is now my gaming life

digital has plenty of sales

my only issue; first party wasting its time on hyper AAA projects that take 5 years to come out

give me a high production 10h AA ever couple of years

(stop trying to chase sony's tired AAA formula)

 

[OcelotUnit64]

I'm pretty excited about this gen, Forza was excellent but Halo was a big miss for me. I'm worried they won't be able to manage their developers properly which will lead to famines (this year) and gluts (2023).

 

[Diarrhea Day-Lewis]

Game pass is amazing but I really dislike how little next gen only software they have had. And it's not really improving without (hopefully) surprises until 2023.

I feel like it's still stuck in the 2015-2020 desert of not enough first party games. The acquisitions should change that, it just sucks to wait.

I do love game pass, but I really hope game streaming does not take off in a major way. If it leads to streaming being the dominant form of gaming in 10-15 years it will be awful for consumer rights.

Loved FH5, enjoyed Halo tho it clearly needed 6 more months. Hoping Fable, Everwild pan out well and I'm dying for Banjo revival.

Ideally they would release game pass and games on PS5, switch, smart platforms where possible (and ideally Sony would do the same) sometime in the next 10 years while still selling their own hardware with first party perks, a la Surface line and how Office apps are on iOS, android, mac, etc. that's probably a pipe dream but more and more games are releasing on rival platforms even if they're mostly GaaS.

 

[Hoodie Season]

Love it. Have had a Series X since launch and it has gotten heavy use. Excited for the future and the growth of Game Pass as well.

 

[Yerffej]

Besides paid multiplayer still being a thing. I like their direction.

Click to shrink...

If they were to announce doing away with that, and like, a 50 buck price drop for the S...man...

 

[WhtR88t]

I think Series X is a solid system, obviously Game Pass is a great value.

They need more AAA exclusives though. Forza Horizon and Halo Infinite were great, but I feel like that's literally all they've had that interest me. All the backwards compatibility stuff is great, but it's games I've already played so doesn't really interest me that much. They just need more ground breaking, AAA games to actually release.

 

[Plinkerton]

Just recently got an Xbox, bought three years of Game Pass for like £120 so I'm in for whatever they're offering for the foreseeable.

Can't complain about the value of having three years worth of games for the cost of two full priced games.

 

[DontHateTheBacon]

The future is extremely bright for Xbox. I do worry what Game Pass could do to the industry and consumer/gamer behavior, but it is an unfounded skepticism, and I acknowledge that.

But they are loading up on studios and pumping a lot of money into those studios. Once the Activision thing clears, they will have enough studios to almost have a new game every month for years before restarting the cycle. I think Xbox will have an incredible generation this time around. Excited to finally be back in the Xbox family, been awhile since I've felt the urge to grab an Xbox.

 

[Nexus2049]

I'm excited for that they are doing and I'm having the more fun playing games now than ever thanks to spending less money, playing BC I didn't have access to before, and improvements to older games.

I was so 50/50 on PS5 or XSX and I know I made the right choice for me.

 

[The Lord of Cereal]

More excited than not excited honestly, there are still some issues I have with the overall direction of Xbox but for the most part Game Pass makes it harder to complain about it

 

[Grips]

Love what they are trying to do for the industry but I hate how they mismanage their most Important IPs.

 

[Tyche-42]

I dont personally like a lot of the games they make, but Im pretty stoked about the next few years purely because of all the RPGs. Pretty much the only games I care about nowadays are RPGs, and MS are pretty much the only ones making them outside of a small handfull of other studios (a lot of which have fallen from grace somewhat) while most other studios making open world games go down the ubisoft open world route.

 

[Astronomer]

B)

I'm excited

but I have also some complains. But as massive rpg lover, I've a lot of hype for the future

 

[vixolus]

They need to kill Xbox Live Gold. Everything else is going in the right direction, and they have only greatness in their future.

Click to shrink...

bingo

 

[Nameless]

All-in after all but writing the brand off last gen. Even if I dont give a fuck about anything Activision/Blizzard does. It instantly gives Xbox all the GaaS/Service/Fuck You Pay Me games they need, which should allow all their other studios to express themselves creatively without feeling pressured to make games with continuous revenue streams, MTX/MP components, etc..

Best hardware. Most robust, full-featured console ecosystem by far. They own 5/10 of my favorite studios in all of gaming(Arkane, Inxile, Obsidian, BGS, idSoft) and are going hard on my favorite types of games.

 

[YozoraXV]

It will be pretty awesome once they are releasing games more consistently.

 

[Man Called Aerodynamics]

Pretty happy with everything. Stuff like the Halo TV show is not interesting to me, but as long as multimedia initiatives are not taking focus away from the games, it's whatever.

Major bummer about Starfield being delayed out of this year, but it'll get here.

Really excited about future entries in series like Fallout, Elder Scrolls, Diablo, The Outer Worlds, Fable, and many many others, all being encompassed in Game Pass. What a world!

 

[Raigor]

I don't have an Xbox but i have a Game Pass sub.

Phil now owns some of my favourite studios and i hope Obsidian, InXile, ID Soft, Arkane, BGS and Playground Games can deliver with their new RPGs & FPSs.

 

[neoak]

If they were to announce doing away with that, and like, a 50 buck price drop for the S...man...

Click to shrink...

It's already been on sale for as low as 239.99 refurbished, 249.99 new.







Sells out fast though.

 

[Kyrios]

Feel about the same as I do with Sony tbh. They're doing pretty good!

Click to shrink...

Same here. All three major platforms are doing just fine imo, especially navigating through a pandemic and a strained global supply chain.

If I had one nitpick, I'd say Xbox should re-evaluate their "hands off" approach depending on the developer. I think some may need more guidance than others.

 

[Mesoian]

I'm fine with it, but Its also pushed me out of their hardware demographic.

I'm fully onboard with gamepass though so, they're still getting my money.

 

[Henrar]

Same with Sony - most of the stuff they're doing excites me, some of them - not really.

 

[criteriondog]

Out of the big three, they appeal the least to me, mostly because I'm not the biggest fan of most of their games. But I do appreciate them for pushing gamepass (and getting PlayStation to start a similar venture) and backwards compatibility a big push.

 

[Yerffej]

It's already been on sale for as low as 239.99.

Sells out fast though.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, but that's a few times here and there. 249 regular and 199 occasional sale...hoo boy. Those are magic numbers to make consoles fly off the shelf.

 

[Rosebud]

I just hope their push for cloud gaming isn't limited to Game Pass/F2P, but also to our owned games. I don't want a sub only future.

 

[neoak]

Yeah, but that's a few times here and there. 249 regular and 199 occasional sale...hoo boy. Those are magic numbers to make consoles fly off the shelf.

Click to shrink...

Maybe this holiday 🤔

 

[Deleted member 93062]

Yeah, but that's a few times here and there. 249 regular and 199 occasional sale...hoo boy. Those are magic numbers to make consoles fly off the shelf.

Click to shrink...

I think the Series S is going to fly off the shelf when the mainstream population has to upgrade for next gen only games. Series S is doing really well right now, and we're still kind of in the enthusiast phase of the console generation.

If Warzone 2 is really next gen only? Oh boy.

 

[Cort]

Going forward I think Halo and Gears should follow the Infinite route of offering a free multiplayer experience. It shouldn't be exclusive to GAAS titles, I firmly believe that (at least) Gears 4 had a steady revenue stream that would benefit from a F2P multiplayer experience (which they kinda did with some insane sales in the past)

 

[vixolus]

I just hope their push for cloud gaming isn't limited to Game Pass/F2P, but also to our owned games. I don't want a sub only future.

Click to shrink...

They said back in 2019 I think that the plan is to extend to owned games, it's likely taking longer due to scaling up the service/adoption and legal hurdles potentially with streaming content even if it's purchased. I would expect it soonish like between now in 2023... just feels right.

 

[christocolus]

All steps they've made so far are on point. Hardware, Games, and services. Looking forward to seeing how everything falls into place in a couple of years and with the ABK acquisition finalized.

 

[Reckheim]

Meh, i'm happy they put their first party games on gamepass but I don't care about much of anything else they do.

not a fan of them starting the whole acquisition bullshit; but at it doesn't affect me personally at all.

 

[Mukrab]

When it comes to games, just like with sony i am not interested in many, although more than sony. But since they're 'free' i'm automatically way more interested. In everything else o think they're doing great.

 

[FrakEarth]

• First party has had a few great releases (Psychonaughts, Halo, Forza etc) - but the future looks even brighter in the next few years. Looking forward to Zenimax/Bethesda and Activision exclusives (assuming the latter goes through and they can get them cleaned up and mine the back catalogue), Hellblade 2, Fable, Perfect Dark etc. Whatever the coalition make next and so on.
• I can run unsigned apps and emulators if I want to and its at my own risk / hassle free. They run great!
• Game Pass is awesome
• Streaming works brilliantly whether it's from the cloud or just from my console. I especially like that they offer touch controls for so many titles where using a phone/tablet makes sense.
• I picked up an XSX but XSS was a smart move - I think it's great they offer an affordable entry level model.
• I'm interested in Keystone (the xbox dongle).

Both new consoles need to ramp up on games that aren't cross gen. I understand why they haven't fully done that yet, but people won't fully move on and jump in full-blooded until they do the same. I suppose the stock situation has needed to improve, which it has in recent months.

I still want them to cut a crazy deal to get XCloud or Game Pass on other platforms, but I think streaming from smart devices and a dongle / TV apps are probably all they need to expand their reach.

 

[Faceless_Caesar]

They seem to be doing very well. I'm sad to see the Backwards Compatibility program end but they got a ton of games going on that. Game Pass continues to be an excellent value and cloud streaming seems to be growing as well. I think Series S was a very smart thing to do especially in the light of the silicon shortage so they can get more units out per wafer versus Series X although I fear it may be neglected as the generation goes on. They need to fix whatever happened with the downtime a few weeks ago and make sure that those of us who own digital games and have our primary Xbox set correctly can play our games when the network isn't available for whatever reason.

 

[Rosebud]

They said back in 2019 I think that the plan is to extend to owned games, it's likely taking longer due to scaling up the service/adoption and legal hurdles potentially with streaming content even if it's purchased. I would expect it soonish like between now in 2023... just feels right.

Click to shrink...

Really hope so, would be great

 

[PJsprojects]

Overall pretty good.

Series X is good
Gamepass is good
PC support is good
Lack of AAA is normal (bad)
Console DVR is bad
Rewards system is amazing

 

[MadeULook]

Hard not to be excited as there is a lot gong on right now for the brand. From the continued expansion of XCloud, massive acquisitions, a successful launch of two new systems, Game Pass being a great service and growing, and a ton more. Not many missteps so far this gen.

However, ultimately, the games will make or break all of this. They should have a steady flow of game releases by the end of 2024 with 30+(!) studios if ABK closes (likely more by the end of 2024).

 

[Deleted member 17990]

Terrible, disc games requiring online connection as well as console setup. Might as well make the console all digital at this point.