Matt Booty (Xbox): Our titles for the next year or two will not be next gen exclusive

[GreenEarth]

This is a forum where people happily justified upgrading from a base PS4 to a PS4 Pro for crisper visuals.

now theres handwringing that people will stick to the ancient Xbox One over upgrading to a massively more powerful Series X because 'it plays the same games'.

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Yes, because the expectations in upgrading to a same-gen console refresh and a new-gen console are totally the same... /s

If I had to make a guess, then I think Sony's 1st parties are going to come up with a couple of games designed around utilizing the Ray Tracing and SSD features, and the later will probably be a "scale" thing which only comes apparent if you actually play the game. It's probably nothing you'll realize / appreciate when seeing a screenshot for example.

MS on the other hand is going to enhance their games by maxing out graphics with ultra-high res textures, super detailled player models and Ray Tracing features, resulting in amazing looking bullshots and sequences of their games. So if you compare screenshots of let's say the newest Forza or Gran Turismo entry I have no doubt that the Series X can easily hold a candle to the PS5 day 1 from a sheer graphics perspective.

The big question for me is if Sony, and later MS' studios, too, are able to come up with games that fully utilize the CPU+SSD solution early in the generation. And like you I'm super curious about the gaming experiences they'll eventually come up with.
The only games I've seen so far which at least give us a glimpse about what's possible are Star Citizen and, to a lesser degree, Hellblade 2, since we didn't see actual gameplay so far.

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Exactly. So many in here are only thinking in graphics terms and how XSX will be able to scale the graphics on the Xbox One compatible games in a way that looks as good as PS5. That's because resolution and texture detail is easily scalable.

What it will not be able to do is scale things that are not immediately noticeable in screenshots, but will be felt playing the game, if you then go and play a PS5 exclusive. The game complexity will suffer, AI, physics, environment interaction, game world design etc. These things if they are made to push the Zen 2 CPU and the SSD to the limits are not downscalable to Jaguar CPU and 5400 rpm HDD. The game will be a different, less ambitious game if you need to dial down these things to make it run on current gen specs.

 

[Piggus]

perhaps new PC games should also change the minimum GPU specs to the RTX2060 to ' drive technological innovation'. Let's make Ray tracing and superior visuals a standard feature and shut out the 90% of Steam with weaker GPUs!

also make all new PC games auto-shutdown if they aren't installed on SSDs.

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PCs are not consoles. PC minimum specs are dictated by the games, and those games are typically console ports. Those minimum specs will jump up again when games are built specifically for the new consoles. So yeah, you should expect SSDs and RTX 2060s to be the minimum soon.

 

[Civilstrife]

PCs are not consoles. PC minimum specs are dictated by the games, and those games are typically console ports. Those minimum specs will jump up again when games are built specifically for the new consoles. So yeah, you should expect SSDs and RTX 2060s to be the minimum soon.

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Not if publishers want their PC ports to actually sell.

 

[Piggus]

Not if publishers want their PC ports to actually sell.

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Their PC ports will sell just fine. It's not going to be an all-at-once sort of thing. But any game that was built around an SSD for the consoles is probably going to have the same requirement as on PC. Raytracing won't be a requirement for any game imo so people shouldn't worry about that impacting PC requirements.

 

[tapedeck]

I think stuff like Hellblade 2 is likely Series X exclusive cause it's probably not coming out till Fall 2021. My guess is there WILL be a few XSX exclusive games announced at E3 but they'll all be Fall 2021 or later.

 

[Infinity Times Two]

This seems like a solid strategy if you're Microsoft.

"These games I have on Game Pass on my XBO today... they could look a lot better if I had an XSX. I'm losing value over here!".

 

[Fiddler]

I think due to MS also releasing all of their games on Pc, it´s an easy choice for now to release their games also on their older consoles. It also depends on if the games they have in development right now actually need a much better Cpu to work, if MS can manage to scale back stuff without the actual game suffering, why not?
Also the One X will just be out for three years with a premium price i don´t think MS wants to tell these buyers that they now need a new one to play their games.

 

[ResoRai]

If you design an open world game with huge cities and thousands of NPC's and huge draw distances with countless buildings you can enter and you can fly through this city at a very high speed with no pop-in at all, you can scale down all you want, it won't run on Jaguar and a HDD.

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I think this is a bit of an exaggeration in relation to the one and the sex. I doubt this'll be achieved until later in the gen.

I think what we'll see in the first couple years would be say large cities with the NPC size being around the level of Assassins creed Unity, with each NPC having animations on the level of TLOU2, with their own routine like in Watch Dogs 2, but more advanced while having interactions with the player like RDR2, but more advanced aswell. Tons of enterable buildings without loading screens like in Greedfall, but without the loading Greedfall has for new large areas, while having massive landscapes and draw distances like in Death Stranding, but larger and even more detailed.

All of that could be done on older hardware by lowering NPC count and their texture quality/animation quality; limiting access to essential buildings with shops/story/quests and putting them behind loading screens; limiting draw distance/lod, lowering lighting/shadow/terrain texture/tesselation quality.

There will come a point where that wont be enough, but I personally think it'll take a while to advance to that point. And regardless, we dont need to advance so far to where the xbox one, ps4, and normal hard drives in console and pc alike are obsolete to have crazy next gen experiences.

 

[Trup1aya]

I don't know if you've recently looked at Shadow of Mordor comparison videos/reviews. PS3/360 versions suffered. It looks like it was developed for PC/next gen and stripped away features for PS3/360 to the point where you have different experiences. According to reviews it hurt the game with some saying, don't play the 360/PS3 version. I don't think Microsoft can't let that happen and they have expressed that concern. In my opinion to avoid a shadow of mordor situation what ever games they are developing for launch at its core will be current gen with graphics scaled up or down. You can't have a spec to make the most beautiful full featured game for Xsx and have it run crappy on legacy hardware. Microsoft would be killed for that. They are going to fall somewhere in the middle. For that reason I don't see the XSX launch games from Microsoft graphicaly looking much better than what can be done on X1X. Gameplay spec XB1 has to be the base for all systems. That's the problem supporting legacy hardware. I hope im wrong.

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Why are we looking at Mordor instead of Microsoft's own cross gen efforts.

When they made Forza Horizon 2 for 360 and xb1, quite a few features needed to be cut or downgraded for the 360 game. Then they still delivered a great 360 game that looked an ran well. Meanwhile, the xbox one version was a graphical and performance showcase, not held back at all.

Microsoft didn't get killed for that. Customers understand that older systems can't do what new ones can do. In fact MS was complimented for figuring out how to make both versions sing on their respective platforms.

XSX games will look much better than their X1X counterparts. They'll undoubtedly use the excess computing power to turn on visual effects that the X1X version can't handle

 

[NLCPRESIDENT]

January 2015.
Some of those games weren't out on PS4 in January 2014.

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KILLZONE THE PS4 LAUNCH TITLE SOLD 2.1 MILLION BY JANUARY 2014

Here's another!!

Infamous second son a million in a little over a week

Yes people were excited to play exclusives on their new PS4. What games on any system could stand up to GTAV and the biggest shooters on the planet? None. So why even point that out?

 

[kungfuian]

The subtitle of this thread should have been "We have products for that" in honor of Mr Mattrick

 

[dodmaster]

So, thinking about the fragmentation of XGP devices, it seems you're always going to have fragmentation even after November 2021, with older console owners having less of a reason to sub to XGP, as more and more next-gen only games come online.

I'd imagine that Xbox want to bring out XCloud before this, in order to ensure that 'unsupported' devices such as the now obsolete X1 and 1X can still access their XGP subscriptions, even though XGP after November 2021 doesn't have any new officially supported 1X/X1 titles.

Depending on how XCloud is priced, and if Xcloud comes free with XGP (I'd hope with XGPU it does), then this would be a good onboarding strategy, but would need to be supported with strong messaging around what XGP subscribers can expect.

 

[Pryme]

Their PC ports will sell just fine. It's not going to be an all-at-once sort of thing.

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then why so much ire when Microsoft is telling you that the generation cut off is not going to be an 'all at one thing' as you put it?
Small overlap for two years out of a 7 year generation. People acting like the first two years of a console generation are usually the most creative and innovative use of the new hardware.

 

[Izzard]

Is this due to Game Pass? Cos everyone subbed right now will see less games they can play next gen when older games leave and new games join? Assuming they don't get the new console.

 

[GreenEarth]

then why so much ire when Microsoft is telling you that the generation cut off is not going to be an 'all at one thing' as you put it?
Small overlap for two years out of a 7 year generation. People acting like the first two years of a console generation are usually the most creative and innovative use of the new hardware.

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Why do you want to stagnate that process of allowing developers to think outside the box they've been constrained by for almost a decade for another 2 years? Doesn't that also mean, by your own argument, that when these developers are finally allowed 2 years from now to forego current-gen support, that they will not immediately be able to use the new hardware in the most creative and innovative ways because that will effectively be year one of next-gen XSX exclusives? PS5 only developers can use the next 2 years to experiment with creative, innovative uses of the hardware, so in 2 years they will have refined their ideas, while XSX developers will not have had the same opportunity.

 

[DvdGzz]

Sorry, double post, meant to edit.

 

[DvdGzz]

Is this due to Game Pass? Cos everyone subbed right now will see less games they can play next gen when older games leave and new games join? Assuming they don't get the new console.

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That's probably the biggest reason. Not only will they anger new X owners but also their PC Game Pass userbase who has their sub paid off for years.

PS5 only developers can use the next 2 years to experiment with creative, innovative uses of the hardware, so in 2 years they will have refined their ideas, while XSX developers will not have had the same opportunity.

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It takes 4-5 years to make AAA games. You act as if the devs don't have the dev kits now. It will be a while before they have a great game to release. HB2.for example, is most likely coming outside of this 2 year window. Besides, that is 2 years from now, so one year into next gen. No big deal at all in the long run. Do you even remember PS4 or Xbox One's 2014? The first year of a new console usually sucks anyway. There are few exceptions like Halo on Xbox original but what games stand out from PS4's first year? It's a consumer friendly move and after a year of owning an XBX, the exclusives will be firing out.

 

[Stook]

Why are we looking at Mordor instead of Microsoft's own cross gen efforts.

When they made Forza Horizon 2 for 360 and xb1, quite a few features needed to be cut or downgraded for the 360 game. Then they still delivered a great 360 game that looked an ran well. Meanwhile, the xbox one version was a graphical and performance showcase, not held back at all.

Microsoft didn't get killed for that. Customers understand that older systems can't do what new ones can do. In fact MS was complimented for figuring out how to make both versions sing on their respective platforms.

XSX games will look much better than their X1X counterparts. They'll undoubtedly use the excess computing power to turn on visual effects that the X1X version can't handle

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I wouldn't compare a racing game, thats probably the easiest type of game to port. Across the xbox family Microsoft will keep the quality up, they don't want a Mordor fiasco. I think this mandate is just for Microsoft 1st party games. My fear is that in order to achieve Microsofts goal, gameplay will be held to the lowest spec XB1. Mordor looks like it was designed with a PC/PS4/XB1 spec. Forza looks like its design spec was for 360 with the knowledge that XB1 is on the horizon. Its probably why it runs so well on XB1. I think the best comparison is BF5. DF did a comparison video XB1/X1X/PC just switch out PC for XSX. Core gameplay can run on XB1 but pc is the graphic powerhouse, XB1 is still the base machine. Ryse is another game that started development on 360 before being ported to XB1 for launch. I feel like this will be the same for Halo Infinite, XB1 will be the base. The game wont be able to take full advantage of SSD or CPU being held back by jaguar cpu. Developers have to design with XB1 spec in mind. The only way this would be different would be if Microsoft had different studios working on the port, but that might create a gulf between the consoles gameplay experience , i don't think they would do that. I also think that Microsoft didn't have anything ready for an exclusive next gen for launch, just based off the the recent 1st party output. 1-2 years we'll see Microsofts first true next gen title, probably will start to see this from 3rd party developers around this time as well. Its just the time it takes to develop these games with the actual hardware in hand. This cross gen stuff is just a stop gap.

 

[goonergaz]

All of those are MGS titles. It is completely disingenuous to dismiss them as not being "actual" exclusives.

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Unless the arguement was that PlayStation lacked diversity...and as some of those are available on PlayStation then it can't be used in the argument...you have to show where there is more diversity vs PlayStation.

On PlayStation this year (and I'm sure there's more yet to be announced); Noih 2, Persona 5, Dreams, WilD and Iron Man...and that's not even considering the bigger titles (GoT & LoU2) or those in the supplied list that are coming to PS4.

Personally I think both consoles have a good diversity of games.

 

[Windu]

Is this due to Game Pass? Cos everyone subbed right now will see less games they can play next gen when older games leave and new games join? Assuming they don't get the new console.

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Partly, but its xCloud. Which they have announced all the games in Game Pass will support. xCloud currently runs on Xbox Ones atm. Will take some time to upgrade that hardware to next gen stuff. Until then, Microsoft will continue to develop their games for Xbox One so they can stream them.

Once next gen hardware is in their datacenters. They will be able to move their software forward and still serve their customer base that has weaker hardware like Xbox One by streaming newer games to them.

 

[dskzero]

Yes, because the expectations in upgrading to a same-gen console refresh and a new-gen console are totally the same... /s

Exactly. So many in here are only thinking in graphics terms and how XSX will be able to scale the graphics on the Xbox One compatible games in a way that looks as good as PS5. That's because resolution and texture detail is easily scalable.

What it will not be able to do is scale things that are not immediately noticeable in screenshots, but will be felt playing the game, if you then go and play a PS5 exclusive. The game complexity will suffer, AI, physics, environment interaction, game world design etc. These things if they are made to push the Zen 2 CPU and the SSD to the limits are not downscalable to Jaguar CPU and 5400 rpm HDD. The game will be a different, less ambitious game if you need to dial down these things to make it run on current gen specs.

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I really, really don't think the first batch of games will make much use of the new specs nor do I think the current games are pushing the limits of the current generation.

 

[GreenEarth]

I really, really don't think the first batch of games will make much use of the new specs nor do I think the current games are pushing the limits of the current generation.

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Compromises have been made in games for a long, long time already to accommodate the Jaguar CPU and slow 5400 rpm HDD.
So developers are certainly ready to add those things back into their games that they have been forced to cut for years.

 

[iamandy]

I don't think it's a big deal but it definitely kills a lot of launch hype.

I mean, SX and PS5 will launch at the same period, so why buy a console to play most beautiful versions of games you can play with your current Xbox when you can buy a console with shiny new exclusive games you can't play anywhere?

It's nice to see Microsoft supporting the XOne, but Sony efforts to offer multiple AAA exclusive games in the end of PS4 life is much more valuable as a consumer. PS5 will just surf on the PS4 hype for a lot of people.

 

[DrDeckard]

Yes, because the expectations in upgrading to a same-gen console refresh and a new-gen console are totally the same... /s

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Yeah but the money is the same, I spent £450 to play xbox games the best I possibly could 2 years ago. If there is enough of an upgrade I will spend £450-£500 again.

Hell i'm probably going to buy a 3080 Ti this year for my pc, just so I can play control again at 1440p and 60-120fps with raytracing...it better be able to do that!

 

[LordBaztion]

So, where does not having exclusives within the first two years leaves the prospect of Lockhart releasing at the same time as Series X.

Even without exclusives, Series X can appeal to people who wants the best console performance but the idea of Lockhart was a low cost access to next Gen which loses its appeal if within the first couple of years there will be only a handful of next Gen only games. So, wouldn't make sense to release at the same time as Series X, maybe, once next Gen has settled in.

That would make MS in the position of selling a more expensive console, maybe they are not interested in fighting the hardware war.

 

[Papacheeks]

So, where does not having exclusives within the first two years leaves the prospect of Lockhart releasing at the same time as Series X.

Even without exclusives, Series X can appeal to people who wants the best console performance but the idea of Lockhart was a low cost access to next Gen which loses its appeal if within the first couple of years there will be only a handful of next Gen only games. So, wouldn't make sense to release at the same time as Series X, maybe, once next Gen has settled in.


That would make MS in the position of selling a more expensive console, maybe they are not interested in fighting the hardware war.

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Bingo.

 

[Trup1aya]

I wouldn't compare a racing game, thats probably the easiest type of game to port. Across the xbox family Microsoft will keep the quality up, they don't want a Mordor fiasco. I think this mandate is just for Microsoft 1st party games. My fear is that in order to achieve Microsofts goal, gameplay will be held to the lowest spec XB1. Mordor looks like it was designed with a PC/PS4/XB1 spec. Forza looks like its design spec was for 360 with the knowledge that XB1 is on the horizon. Its probably why it runs so well on XB1. I think the best comparison is BF5. DF did a comparison video XB1/X1X/PC just switch out PC for XSX. Core gameplay can run on XB1 but pc is the graphic powerhouse, XB1 is still the base machine. Ryse is another game that started development on 360 before being ported to XB1 for launch. I feel like this will be the same for Halo Infinite, XB1 will be the base. The game wont be able to take full advantage of SSD or CPU being held back by jaguar cpu. Developers have to design with XB1 spec in mind. I also think that Microsoft didn't have anything ready for an exclusive next gen for launch, just based off the the recent 1st party output. 1-2 years we'll see Microsofts first true next gen title, probably will start to this from 3rd party developers around this time as well. Its just the time it takes to develop these games with the actual hardware in hand. This cross gen stuff is just a stop gap

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No, Forza was designed primarily for the XB1, then assets were sent to another team who then made the alterations required to get it running on 360. In addition to the physically based rendering, increase in traffic density, and AI improvements Its the depth of the open world simulation that sets the 360 and Xb1 version of FH2 apart from each other. Theres truly a generational leap between the two games.

Halo Infinite will undoubtedly be build with xb1 as the base - Which is a different approach from what they took with Forza Horizon 2 which lead with the next gen version. This is a neccessary course of action since crossplay had become a vital part of the strategy. Allowing people across all platforms to jump in and play co-op and versus multiplayer will be critical to this series being able to making a comeback.

But that doesn't mean that significant effort hasn't gone in to ensure the XSX version had additions and tweaks that make use of the surplus in compute power provided by the new APU and SSD. This has been a consistent quality of MS efforts to support multiple consoles at once.

I think it's less about MS not being ready to have Next Gen exclusives at launch and more about a concious decision to deliver known quantities at launch rather that put all their eggs into a risky basket. When you look at the cross-generational success of games like minecraft or GTAV it's hard to argue against the merit of leading with with highly polished crossgen experiences rather than rushing to showcase tech before theres been enough time to figure out the best design practices for the new hardware.

So long as MS has some SSD flavored heat cooking for Holiday 2021, i think they'll be just fine with their exclusives being crossgen until then.

 

[fiendcode]

So, where does not having exclusives within the first two years leaves the prospect of Lockhart releasing at the same time as Series X.

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It's technically only (maybe) the first year of Xbox Series X. The "next 1-2 years" figure started from last November.

 

[Anthony Hopkins]

I think it's important to have games that show off what a new system can do, to create excitement about a new product and to help justify the purchase for the consumer. However what is the most important is the quality of games a system launches with.

e.g if TLOU1 was held back and enhanced further for PS4 and launched with PS4 and PS3, would TLOU1 seem worse because of this? I don't think so, TLOU1 was still better then any current gen launch game.
I think Sony are missing a trick by not launching TLOU2 + Got as cross gen PS5 games.

As for MS I think there strategy will only be a concern if there games aren't great and ps5 games look vastly better.

 

[MrTired]

Bingo.

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Maybe the Lockhart doesn't come out till the they stop making cross-gen exclusive games after Nov 2021.

 

[Empyrean Cocytus]

That's a mistake. At least if they plan to sell the new Xbox.

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I don't think so. The money comes from selling games, not hardware. Release games on both platforms until the XSX's userbase is strong enough, and then switch to next-gen only.

My big worry is if devs will put as much love into the last-gen games as they do they next-gen ones. Porting houses like Bluepoint are going to be making a shit-ton of money over the next couple years.

 

[Papacheeks]

Maybe the Lockhart doesn't come out till the they stop making cross-gen exclusive games after Nov 2021.

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Nah, maybe for retail? I think it will at some point be the replacement in their blade servers for xCloud. Makes no sense to use Xbox one s after 2021-2022. Too costly to keep making those CPU's on a old node.

 

[Trup1aya]

So, where does not having exclusives within the first two years leaves the prospect of Lockhart releasing at the same time as Series X.

Even without exclusives, Series X can appeal to people who wants the best console performance but the idea of Lockhart was a low cost access to next Gen which loses its appeal if within the first couple of years there will be only a handful of next Gen only games. So, wouldn't make sense to release at the same time as Series X, maybe, once next Gen has settled in.

That would make MS in the position of selling a more expensive console, maybe they are not interested in fighting the hardware war.

Click to shrink...

The prospect doesn't change at all. Even without exclusives from MS, lockhart would still be the cheapest way to play pure next gen games, even if 3rd parties are the the ones supplying them initially.

 

[MrTired]

The prospect doesn't change at all. Even without exclusives from MS, lockhart would still be the cheapest way to play pure next gen games, even if 3rd parties are the the ones supplying them initially.

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There is know "pure next gen" from Microsoft studio's till around November 2021. So the cheapest way to play there game's is by purchasing the XB1 S. Why release the Series S (whatever the Lockhart is called) at launch?

 

[Laver]

There is know "pure next gen" from Microsoft studio's till around November 2021. So the cheapest way to play there game's is by purchasing the XB1 S. Why release the Series S (whatever the Lockhart is called) at launch?

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To have a dirty cheap SKU years down the road.

 

[Trup1aya]

There is know "pure next gen" from Microsoft studio's till around November 2021. So the cheapest way to play there game's is by purchasing the XB1 S. Why release the Series S (whatever the Lockhart is called) at launch?

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But theres 'pure new gen' from 3rd parties.

I personally wouldn't launch lockhart in 2020 anyway, even if MS did launch with next gen exclusives. To me, the focus would be to build and ship as many high end units as possible because that's what hardcore fans will be be preferring to scoop up.

But the case for lockhart for in 2020 or Q1 2021 is still that it's cheaper than ps5 or XSX for nextgen games, And It's still future proof unlike XB1S or XB1X

 

[MrTired]

To have a dirty cheap SKU years down the road.

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I get the logic why there selling the Lockhart, just not at launch.

But theres 'pure new gen' from 3rd parties.

I personally wouldn't launch lockhart in 2020 anyway, even if MS did launch with next gen exclusives. To me, the focus would be to build and ship as many high end units as possible because that's what hardcore fans will be be preferring to scoop up.

But the case for lockhart for in 2020 or Q1 2021 is still that it's cheaper than ps5 or XSX for nextgen games, And It's still future proof unlike XB1S or XB1X

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Fair enough, I just don't see a downside to releasing it a year later, with better/cheaper components with there strategy.

 

[Laver]

I get the logic why there selling the Lockhart, just not at launch.

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How do you make sure all Xbox Series games are supported then? Force the game to render at 1/4th the original resolution? Seems messy, better to have it day 1 so that it's properly supported..

 

[nekkid]

How do you make sure all Xbox Series games are supported then? Force the game to render at 1/4th the original resolution? Seems messy, better to have it day 1 so that it's properly supported..

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I can see it launching several months after XSX, but I see what you mean. iirc the dev kit can scale depending on whether it's representing Lockhart or Anaconda, so devs have had ample opportunity to get hands on with it. But it must seem odd developing for a platform that won't be out for a while.

 

[Deleted member 62028]

I get the logic why there selling the Lockhart, just not at launch.

Fair enough, I just don't see a downside to releasing it a year later, with better/cheaper components with there strategy.

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Releasing a weaker console later makes no sense.
Has to be at launch or very shortly afterwards

 

[Tunichtgut]

What i don't really understand tho, many people are saying that they are not interested in hardware war, but who is gonna buy/sub GP if not people who buy their consoles (and pc)? I would understand, if they brought GP to Playstation and Switch, but like this, they need to sell more hardware, so they can get more users for GP.

 

[Stook]

No, Forza was designed primarily for the XB1, then assets were sent to another team who then made the alterations required to get it running on 360. In addition to the physically based rendering, increase in traffic density, and AI improvements Its the depth of the open world simulation that sets the 360 and Xb1 version of FH2 apart from each other. Theres truly a generational leap between the two games.

Halo Infinite will undoubtedly be build with xb1 as the base - Which is a different approach from what they took with Forza Horizon 2 which lead with the next gen version. This is a neccessary course of action since crossplay had become a vital part of the strategy. Allowing people across all platforms to jump in and play co-op and versus multiplayer will be critical to this series being able to making a comeback.

But that doesn't mean that significant effort hasn't gone in to ensure the XSX version had additions and tweaks that make use of the surplus in compute power provided by the new APU and SSD. This has been a consistent quality of MS efforts to support multiple consoles at once.

I think it's less about MS not being ready to have Next Gen exclusives at launch and more about a concious decision to deliver known quantities at launch rather that put all their eggs into a risky basket. When you look at the cross-generational success of games like minecraft or GTAV it's hard to argue against the merit of leading with with highly polished crossgen experiences rather than rushing to showcase tech before theres been enough time to figure out the best design practices for the new hardware.

So long as MS has some SSD flavored heat cooking for Holiday 2021, i think they'll be just fine with their exclusives being crossgen until then.

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I get what you're saying. The game would have to be designed from the ground up with this scalibilty in mind. Much easier to do with a racing game. Will be interesting to see how this plays out.

 

[OG_Thrills]

John Linneman from DF has been weighing in on this topic.



For those unable to see media

"I'm not fully onboard with this myself. The extremely underpowered CPUs in last-gen consoles can have ramifications on design. More importantly, games that did appear on 360 and XO required separate teams with their own budgets. Titanfall 360 was a huge undertaking, for instance"

 

[Theorry]

Maybe the Lockhart doesn't come out till the they stop making cross-gen exclusive games after Nov 2021.

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Ding ding. MS its approach is keeping Gamepass subs up. Lockhart is a way abit later to make it easier for people to jump to next gen when cross gen games are fading. So they keep also their gamepass sub.

 

[Ploid 6.0]

Ding ding. MS its approach is keeping Gamepass subs up. Lockhart is a way abit later to make it easier for people to jump to next gen when cross gen games are fading. So they keep also their gamepass sub.

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I have no idea what this Lockhart is but it sound less powerful than Xbox Series X?

What if developers make next gen games based on the weakest of the devices, then a new one shows up after years? I guess they have a plan to make sure it at least boot and run the games, like playing PC games under minimum spec. These minimum specs aren't hard cutoffs, but a guide to measure what could be an the minimum for an acceptable experience in the game. Control PS4 and Xbox One base at launch for example could be seen as below minimum spec for example. Hmm

(Quick google)
I see "less ram for 1440p gaming", so maybe they are just cutting unnecessary things that won't effect power. Like making it download only with removal of a disk drive, no 4k target, and such. Better, more compatible. This sounds like a good machine. I find the whole 4k and now 8k race to the top as a good way to wast a lot of power.

 

[Bitch Pudding]

Maybe the Lockhart doesn't come out till the they stop making cross-gen exclusive games after Nov 2021.

Click to shrink...

Or they cancel all Xbox One SKUs at once. Maybe they have to do that anyhow in order to realize those scales of volume for the rather expensive SSD.

 

[RedSwirl]

John Linneman from DF has been weighing in on this topic.



For those unable to see media

"I'm not fully onboard with this myself. The extremely underpowered CPUs in last-gen consoles can have ramifications on design. More importantly, games that did appear on 360 and XO required separate teams with their own budgets. Titanfall 360 was a huge undertaking, for instance"

Click to shrink...

I guess a good question to ask would be if Xbox Gears 5 and PC Gears 5 had whole separate teams. Same for Forza. Will their Series X enhancements require whole new teams?

We know that at the very least the digital version of Halo Infinite is gonna be treated as one product to the end consumer. But under the hood are there gonna be two or three teams working on it?

Basically, is this gonna be closer to the process of making a game on 360 and Xbox One, or simply a more dramatic version of the process of making an Xbox One game and enhancing it for One X?

 

[Ryengeku]

Phew...what a thread.

 

[Slaythe]

I think stuff like Hellblade 2 is likely Series X exclusive cause it's probably not coming out till Fall 2021. My guess is there WILL be a few XSX exclusive games announced at E3 but they'll all be Fall 2021 or later.

Click to shrink...

1) 2021 is one year not two

2) Hellblade is extremely linear, there is no reason why they couldn't scale it back visually for Xbox one. (it will be out on PC day1 with normal requirements too)

 

[Jawmuncher]

He did say for the next year OR two. Better to be safe than sorry if there are delays or anything.
Gonna stay on the side that by early 2022, most projects (At least of the AAA variety) will have shifted over.
I think Fable will be the last BIG cross-gen game from MS.