And after Phil Spencer it's probably gonna be Matt Booty, who seems like the next Spencer aswell.
Gonna be a long time before the "vision" changes and at that point gaming will be ingrained too much into MS it'll be hard to change.
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Kotaku: Microsoft’s new studio acquisitions show how much Xbox has changed
- Thread starter Theorry
- Start date
Gonna be a long time before the "vision" changes and at that point gaming will be ingrained too much into MS it'll be hard to change.
I think it is also out of tune with what most of the developers that have been bought up have been saying.
Darrell Gallagher says that he has total freedom to hire who he wants, to make the game that he wants. It sounds that for this studio alone, they are not going to hold back even on funding to see them get something special out. That is the desire.
Obsidian have for years wanted to make a AAA RPG. If they had the funds, they would not be making CRPG's, they welcome not only the financial stability but access to tech teams and resources that they have not had in the past.
Tameem Antoniades says that they can now take bigger risks than they have dared. Matt Booty even commented that they are not your ordinary AA company especially when you look at the AAA type content that they keep bringing out.
Playground is huge, and they are being entrusted by another huge title from Microsoft. You are not getting any of this if the idea for Microsoft is to not compete on consoles. And people should maybe look at who Playground Games is hiring for their second studio.
Ehh. At the moment, its just the classic Microsoft approach :- Throw a bunch of money at it.
Im more interested in what comes of Matt Bootys studio..
I will say this though, next generation Sony is really going to have to compete for the hardcore market. Its a fight im not particularly convinced they will win.
Im more interested in what comes of Matt Bootys studio..
I will say this though, next generation Sony is really going to have to compete for the hardcore market. Its a fight im not particularly convinced they will win.
I think trying to lean too heavily on Halo and Gears early in the generation hurt them as well. MCC was a disaster and Gears 4, while a really solid Gears game, didn't set the world on fire.
Having more studios that can really push new narratives and IPs should be really interesting to see over the next 5-10 years.
Out of literally all of the positive things in this entire fucking article you pick the most negative aspect of this to talk about.
Something that will probably not happen (vetting).
Like, come on....
Seems Microsoft got the studios to make something happen next gen, I always loved Xbox live the most just need some games. The start of next gen is about to be crazy lol
Matt Booty doesn't have a studio, he's the head of first party development as a whole.
It isn't and hasn't been about selling consoles for them, for the last 2-3 years. They want to sell games, sell subscriptions and get people into their ecosystem. I believe Xbox as a brand/department is making a huge amount of money, which makes daddy MS happy, which means they get to keep pushing forward. My impression is that they're building a stable of talent to make GamePass something that hardcore gamers just subscribe to because it pays for itself in value (plenty of good first party games day and date, more niche and older stuff to pad out the library), meanwhile MS is making almost $120/yr off players that may have previously bought a handful of first party games over a whole generation. Not to mention Xbox Live subscriptions. And hey, if you bought an Xbox Two for GamePass maybe you'll also buy COD or GTA on it as well.
Their biggest weakness this gen has been a relatively limp first party output, with games that are pretty good but not quite the pedigree of Sony and Nintendo exclusives. They seem to be working to correct that. If they do, GamePass will be a must-have service for a lot of people. But time will tell.
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maybe i misread it, but that's what he seems to be saying?
Yep...you can't make games or buy studios without throwing money at it.
Ok, im more interested in what comes of the new super first party studio.[/QUOTE]
Yep. I found the X odd. They'd been better off just trying to get the Xbox Two (or whatever) out 6 months to a year ahead of PS5. That really helped with the 360 hitting a year before PS3 even with killing off the original Xbox at the 4 year mark. And with BC that would be moot this time.
What this part of the article completely ignores is the fact that they acquired Playground, which is two AAA studios, they started The Initiative to make "AAAA games" and they are aggressively expanding their existing AAA devs like Rare, The Coalition and 343.Kotaku said:
So it's not one or the other, they're investing in both AA and AAA content - and to be fair that's exactly what Sony already does too (albeit most of the former is VR now).
Honesty that part of the article doesn't make much sense anyway. MS has been doubling the size of its studio's developers, you wouldn't do that if your not making AAA games. I mean Playground is working on a AAA RPG right now.
not in reference to PG (or their current AAA studios from before). in reference to them buying Obsidian and inExile.
I'm at a wait an see point with MS. Like I hope they mange to succeed, but I've been burned before with them.
Not only that other MS executives have spoken about how they may have frowned upon/not cared about Xbox in the past but now they see how it can be pivotal to Ms, and more importantly that it does have the capability to bringing revenue.
It may have took the current management to double down on xbox, but it seems that the whole company sees that now.
just curious, these recent acquisitions are your reasoning behind this?
This is what I have thought MS should do and have been doing. Someone can search my post history if they so choose, but this is MS now. Xbox is no longer something that needs to sell for MS to find success, it's the subscription service they will use to judge success. I think it's great. Sony has no desire to put it's games on PC so you need their box, but if MS is offering all their games and others on PC? I'm down.
Phil has done a good job or refocusing Xbox from units to subscribers. With that being said, and Gamepass coming to PC, the Win Store has to be better for everyone.
It's interesting now, I don't see Sony, MS and Ninty directly competing with each other anymore. Certain segments of their business but they are all really competing against all other forms of entertainment. Google's browner based game streaming is fascinating and mobile isn't going away. It's a very exciting time for change.
Phil has done a good job or refocusing Xbox from units to subscribers. With that being said, and Gamepass coming to PC, the Win Store has to be better for everyone.
It's interesting now, I don't see Sony, MS and Ninty directly competing with each other anymore. Certain segments of their business but they are all really competing against all other forms of entertainment. Google's browner based game streaming is fascinating and mobile isn't going away. It's a very exciting time for change.
Yea, I'm really not sure where you're getting that MS isn't going to make new IPs from the article, it doesn't say that anywhere and it makes absolutely no sense. Of course we're going to be getting some new IPs out of these studio acquisitions.
Article is stating the obvious, this has been in the works for at least a few years now. Next-gen will be glorious. I am super happy all 3 companies are positioned so well.
1. Hardware - check
2. Services (Live, GP) - check
3. 1st Party games - WIP but off to a great start
4. 3rd Party support - check
1. Hardware - check
2. Services (Live, GP) - check
3. 1st Party games - WIP but off to a great start
4. 3rd Party support - check
I'll believe they've changed when I actually see the results of these acquisitions, aka the games. At the moment it's still just MS flexing their wallet like they did during the 1 and 360 era buying exclusives
not "no new IP". the keyword was "AAA". not "theyre not making anything new"
I am really interested to see what The Initiative is doing too. It seems like they've filled a bunch of the positions there so hopefully we're to a point where we can see some sort of tease/trailer for their first title at E3 2019, but I wouldn't be surprised if that's not actually shown until the Scarlett reveal.
If Microsoft would have been buying studios rather than exclusives back in the 360 era, that first party portfolio would look drastically different. Goes to show how management is focusing on growing the talent to allow them foster new titles that way rather than just pushing money to a dev/pub to get something they had already been working on.
Something people don't realise is how important gaming is becoming to things like Azure aswell. Gaming is no longer it's own thing, it's slowly becoming intertwined with other MS divisions (Hardware/surface team doing xbox hardware now, Azure tech being used in Crackdown and every other MP game for servers, etc). It's not like years ago where Xbox was basically it's own thing, was given a budget and was told to get on with it and deal with it themselves (I know this is simplifying it but you get what I mean)
I wonder which part of this industry is not "throw more money at it" at the very top level. Creating games like what Sony does or MS wants to do is incredibly hard and there is no way around it.
It's been noted in talks to acquiring Obsidian (not sure about inExile) they grow the studio to 200 developers. Also Obsidian has been working on AAA RPG before getting brought out from MS.
Nothing these companies do is ever a mistake, and sometimes, sending a message is more important.
Releasing the Xbox One X made Microsoft relevant, something all big companies will take a hit to achieve. They have the services nailed, they have the best console in terms of power, and they are remedying their lack of games by investing in studios.
All of this may not even win them next generation, but it is a long term play on where technology is headed and just how much they can leverage to get their product on as many devices as possible. Who knows, some will bite and stay in their ecosystem for more than just games.
It sounds like they really understand the systemic management problems that plagued the second half of the 360's life and the first half of the Xbox One's life and have taken a lot of positive steps to fix it. Hopefully they keep improving and their success leads to a more competitive, innovative market for everyone involved. That being said I can't help but feel that shifting focus away from Xbox exclusives could be the wrong move if their streaming service doesn't catch on. We'll see though, the fact that their games are on Windows now makes me somewhat intersted in them which I never was when they were only on Xbox, so maybe it will end up being the right move in the end. Shame that it'll be a couple years before we really see the fruits of these new efforts
Cautiously optimistic. None of it will matter to me or other PC gamers if they don't get sorted on that front.
I don't quite agree with Jason this time. Obsidian clearly always wanted to be a AAA RPG developer, but has never managed to reach that spot despite critical acclaims. Pillars of Eternity was their first own IP but we wouldn't know whether it was by choice or financial constraints. I think they will try big AAA RPGs again with Microsoft's financial support. With InXile I can definitely seem them push cRPGs further than they could so far and go down the hardcore route Jason also mentioned.
Of course there will be a mix of AAA and smaller tier games from their new acquisitions.
Here is the issue with MS position in the market. Sony could easily push out a Gamepass like service in a month and absolutely obliterate MS, where as MS can not just overnight a bunch of amazing games. This is an area both Sony and Nintendo have never ignored no matter how much they were winning, because it's the core of running a first party business. The fact it took MS making a service to probably realize they need to work on generating compelling content for it is an interesting turn of events, it's just a shame they didn't realize that for their console business.
There isn't much to go give up when you're down 40 in 4th quarter.
Microsoft got absolutely destroyed this gen and it's the best thing that could have happened to Xbox and its users.
The story of XB1 is that of a dignified salvage. Everything Microsoft has done in the past couple of years has been consumer friendly and in service to restoring some sense of consumer trust.
Next gen is when they have to back up what they've been saying on the important of first party.
Exactly this, and it's not like gaming is going to go away any time soon. It's only growing bigger and bigger, and thus will always remain a key focus for Microsoft going forward - barring any dramatic changes.
Basically all of this. I don't see how anyone can come to conclusion Microsoft aren't all in and are furthest away from giving up they ever have been.
Don't waste your time, he's got his mind made up.
Time for Matt Booty to become the MVP, he's going to be spinning a lot of plates over the next few years and I can't wait to see what that produces.
Fable by Playground Games.
Rare, Ninja Theory and Compulsion with a couple of new IP's each.
inXile and Obsidian making the kind of games they love with the resources and support available to deliver.
The Initiative going all guns blazing on a hiring spree trying to make the next big thing.
And that's not even taking into consideration the staples of Halo, Gears and Forza.
Next gen is going to be a riot :)
Fable by Playground Games.
Rare, Ninja Theory and Compulsion with a couple of new IP's each.
inXile and Obsidian making the kind of games they love with the resources and support available to deliver.
The Initiative going all guns blazing on a hiring spree trying to make the next big thing.
And that's not even taking into consideration the staples of Halo, Gears and Forza.
Next gen is going to be a riot :)
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I feel like I read these comments every few years with MS. Not just from their gaming section, but from all branches of their business.
I'd rather wait and see with MicrisoMi instead of promises of what's to come.
We were promised Scalebound, Fable Legends and Phantom Dust.
We were promised Crackdown 3 and it still hasn't released.
These studios won't out out something until another 3 to 5 years. The games may not be AAA. Studios can make subpar games like Sea of Thieves.
People should take a wait and see approach. If they come out with big games year after year then I will be excited. PS4 also was crap at first but then they delivered with big game after big game starting with Bloodborne. Once MS can deliver like that then they will have my attention I don't care what happens in the background they can keep the aquisation news to themselves, only will have my attention when the actual games come. Also it's not about quantity for me either lots of games like ReCore from Microsoft and even Sony with games like Knack I'm not interested. But it's about the number of highly anticipated games like Spiderman, God of War and Horizon is what gets my attention. And currently I prefer the output from Sony in comparison to Microsoft.
We were promised Scalebound, Fable Legends and Phantom Dust.
We were promised Crackdown 3 and it still hasn't released.
These studios won't out out something until another 3 to 5 years. The games may not be AAA. Studios can make subpar games like Sea of Thieves.
People should take a wait and see approach. If they come out with big games year after year then I will be excited. PS4 also was crap at first but then they delivered with big game after big game starting with Bloodborne. Once MS can deliver like that then they will have my attention I don't care what happens in the background they can keep the aquisation news to themselves, only will have my attention when the actual games come. Also it's not about quantity for me either lots of games like ReCore from Microsoft and even Sony with games like Knack I'm not interested. But it's about the number of highly anticipated games like Spiderman, God of War and Horizon is what gets my attention. And currently I prefer the output from Sony in comparison to Microsoft.
Definitely does. I've let go of my ps4 and Xbox for the rest of this gen, but I'm really interested in seeing what MS is cooking up with all of these studios. Still a bit wary as I've not enjoyed much of their output this gen. I hope they really let some of studios do their own thing.
