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Microsoft Studios (& Partners) Current and Future Landscape
- Thread starter Figments
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But they (Win Central) said it was an Xbox hardware to release this year.
I hope you are right though, the surface phone ia far more exciting than vr
ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
It's sounding like 343 may be creating a second team. And I think we heard that Rare might be doing or has done the same thing, so while perhaps multiple teams in 343 (literally created to be a Halo factory) might just be making Halo, a second Rare team isn't likely making the same thing the other team. Same with the Coalition, and they were created to make Gears, but now there's evidence they are making a different IP, which would make them pretty similar to Playground.
Like none of this is exact 1:1 but I feel like we can't quite say that.
Very interesting post, thank you.
Would it not be realistic to expect, however, that the latter two would be evident a lot quicker than the first? You mention a big announcement next week in fact in regards to the second point. So for the third point, Windows 10 x Xbox stuff, we should be expecting that stuff a lot sooner as well, no? Obviously it is an ongoing process, but service changes are not the same as large 3 year game productions, no?
if its xbox hardware it could also be xbox branded mouse and keyboard to go along with the M&K update. Doubt they do VR at this point with them having so many partners doing it already for PC, they could just make it work with the Xbox in that case.
Surface phone sounds damn cool tho
Oh, it definitely could be a mouse and keyboard.
Also true about their PC partners for vr, but ms said that they want the Xbox helmet to be wireless. Since I dunno if their partners are releasing one this year I'm thinking they are going to have one trailer made for X (a resolution that allows it to hit 60 or even 90fps without many compromises) no wires etc, but that's also compatible with Pc and their MR platform.
Well put. The fans may not like hearing that, but from a publisher's point of view bringing back a long-dormant property that's never been all that big in the first place often makes less sense than starting a brand new IP. It's less limiting creatively and from the business perspective (bringing back an old single player IP as a multiplayer-focused GaaS would not go down well with the remaining fanbase), and it presents an opportunity to capture a whole new audience. And, well, people generally like the idea of new IPs.
I'm not so sure that would be a good idea. For many or even most people multiplayer access is the main reason why they are paying for a console online service, and it's unclear whether the addition of the GP library would be able to compensate for that. Furthermore, integrating GwG with GP would lead to a situation where you're seeing less value in the GP library the longer you subscribe, since your personal GwG library is accumulating. With Xbox One GwG, you do need to remain a subscriber in order to retain access to those games, but adopting the current GP pricing model would still represent a significant price hike that would be increasingly hard to justify as time goes by.
Oh, and by the way, cloud saves are free for everyone on Xbox One, although they are a Gold feature on Xbox 360.
VR HAS to be minimum 90fps with 120fps being the best right now.
Also Wireless would be massive, thats the main thing everyone wants to get over resolution,fov or fps. They get that and by all means they will get my purchase and I already have a rift.
Oh! i thought cloud saves qorked as with 360, though I couldn't know since I've never been unsubscribed to Gold.
As for the diminishing value of GP library as time passes I would say yes and no, since they are supposed to keep growing the library with new games. What I was thinking was more like once you unify everything you can just put all GwG inside GP's library directly as will effectively remain as "games you own as long as you pay". Maybe give ownership forever of 360 (some OG too since I have the feeling that once they have more OG games being BC they will start giving them away. Maybe not each month but every other one, something like that).
As for motivations, MP is not super exciting to me, I like it sometimes but I'm a Gold member because GwG gives me sometimes games I wouldn't have thought buying that I end up liking (wich GP would also do) and because I save more from DwG than the amount I pay a year for Gold
M&K for Xbox I would find it strange to be Scarlet unless they figure how to be able to use a mouse&keyboard comfortably while lying in the sofa (no table). Otherwise there's already MS branded keyboards that work with Xbox (probably mouse too, but hadn't looked for it so don't know)
I would guess it's a VR helmet only if as previously said they manage to do it wireless, otherwise my bet would be making MS's partners MR headsets compatible (as I understood their displays are better than occulus, vive... not pro, regular vive. And not very ressource hungry for a VR headset, no installation of external sensors needed and an affordable price)
My dream Game Pass (or XBL/PSN in general) feature would be if we could play a trial of any digital game - ie try any game for 30 minutes. We pretty much get this already with Bethesda games.
It would massively boost the amount of games I buy, as I'd be tempted to try and buy so many more. Right now the amount of digital titles I actually purchase pales in comparison to the XBLA days, because we don't get automatic free trials anymore - so it's the risk combined with the higher pricing means I'm less likely to take a punt.
Highly unlikely though, I know. But I think the Bethesda trials are clever - they are literally the full game with saves any everything, and so just as you get in to an exciting part of the game it stops and you basically have to purchase to continue. But then it's instantaneous, no additional downloads required, and then you can carry on from where you were.
It would massively boost the amount of games I buy, as I'd be tempted to try and buy so many more. Right now the amount of digital titles I actually purchase pales in comparison to the XBLA days, because we don't get automatic free trials anymore - so it's the risk combined with the higher pricing means I'm less likely to take a punt.
Highly unlikely though, I know. But I think the Bethesda trials are clever - they are literally the full game with saves any everything, and so just as you get in to an exciting part of the game it stops and you basically have to purchase to continue. But then it's instantaneous, no additional downloads required, and then you can carry on from where you were.
Well... technically you have trials for any game in the store.
Aside from "true" trials, you can buy a game and if it's a purchase made on the last 14 days and you played less than 2 hours you can get a refund if you're not satisfied.
REFUND POLICY IS NOT TO BE ABUSED. Having said that, if there's a game you are pretty sure you will like but feel hesitant you don't have to. Go ahead, try the game and if you find is not as good as you believed you can get a refund pretty much without questions.
(let me say it again just in case REFUNDS ARE NOT TO BE ABUSED)
I've no idea how I would get a refund - Microsoft Support? Just sounds like a hassle and I wouldn't take the risk. And I don't like being shouted at about the refund policy I'm probably not going to use.
They are also much easier to get imo compared to steam, essentially just have to fill out the criteria and you will get it as long as you aren't abusing of course.
I did this for Wonderboy, didn't know it came out on switch so i refunded it and got it on that instead.
Not to derail this towards Sony, but I would be really curious how they would respond if Microsoft did indeed remove the paywall for matchmaking. That could be a big upset beyond just Microsoft.
And then there's Nintendo who were just starting to plan their own version of that.
And then there's Nintendo who were just starting to plan their own version of that.
its super easy. go to your Microsoft account>account and billing then find the game and click order refund. If you ever buy something that didnt turn out so good you can do that, pre orders i think can also be canceled like that if not xbox support will do it no problem
The problem with this though, is that the "REFUNDS ARE NOT TO BE ABUSED" disclaimer is a vague criteria that would discourage me from making any purchases without being reasonably sure I wanted to keep it. If a game turns out to be broken or something, then sure having a refund system in place in great, but I wouldn't use it to speculatively try out games that I'm mildly interested but not sold on, because I have no idea where the invisible line where they stop giving you refunds is.
XBL is such a big source of income for them though. I don't think Game Pass subscriptions would make up for the shortfall. Although it does seem weird having both XBL and Game Pass now. It would have made more sense to have two XBL tiers, the higher tier including Game Pass.
It wasn't only for you the caps. I wanted to make it clear for anyone who might read it and start doing it a lot.
As for the method it's not a hassle at all. Just go to accounts.microsoft.com, sign in, go to the purchases section, search the game you want a refund from the list and click on ask for a refund.
As long as the conditions are met you'll be instantly refunded. No formulary to fill, no need to plead a customer service agent...
I agree. On the other hand if they want to move forward with XPA then it'll look more and more stupid that you have to pay for matchmaking on one platform and don't on the other. I just don't know if the unified, free matchmaking system (and with it some really good PR, I suppose) worth more to them than the sweet money coming in from gold subscribers.
Also, that won't mean everyone would unsubrcribe to Gold. There's other arguments going for it. They can even end up doing more money if they put GP inside and charge some bucks more a month (since I'm not sure what GP user numbers are even though it's said to do fine), because I don't know if there's many people who (independently of value proposed etc) wanting to pay for several subscriptions (and if you just want 2 I'd probably go for Gold and EA access since it's cheaper and has more big games)
That's not available to everyone yet.
Part of the Insider program I think.
Wireless is def coming, they said so themselves, only question is when and who is making it.
I think they could have a mouse and keyboard combo compatible with the xbox wireless protocol, or maybe a hybrid controller like the gamecube one.
What I really wanted though would be a complete overhaul of the accessories app. Steam allows to map xbone controllers as a mouse and works fairly well because it has so many options. It would be nice if they let us map regions in the chatpad as extra buttons ingame (user defined regions, up to each individual key, but due the nature of the chatpad I think having regions would be better)
My predictions for game pass MS services (not just for next week, but as a whole)
- Gamepass originals. A new publishing program on xbox, like id@xbox, but handled by Shanon Loftis. She will actively seek partners to produce content aimed to gamepass, but any developer or publisher can apply. All the funding of the project (an then some) would come from Ms. The signed developers could come up with concepts of their own, but also have assignments from MS.
- Gamepass expanding. Having a $10 month sub that gives you access to a limited portion of the library is nice, but it would be nice to have another tier, that let's you access to the entire library, no restrictions. A $30-60 month with the entire win10/xbox store game catalog available would surely get me to subscribe and at a $60 price it would be nice, and though on average I spent more than $60 in games per month I'm sure i'm an outlier and for most people even $30 would be much more money spent on the ecosystem each year.
- Streaming could also be huge. Unlike Sony that has to rely on actual hardware to run their games, All games on Ms ecosystem can run on windows (in the sense it's possible, even though they don't allow you to play 100% of the games on PC for instance), which means they can use their big Azure infrastructure to expand much faster than sony has; Imagine the possibilities: Streaming apps on TV, via web, on cell phone, and even the ever rumored Xbox hdmi stick giving instant access to all your library.
- They HAVE to eventually make every single xbox one game Play anywhere. I don't know how they can convince or even force all publishers to do this, but it needs to happen. Anything short of this and their unified win10 vision falls flat. Obviously this should also go the other way, allowing xbox to access every single winstore app/game even if said game or app requires a mouse (which is why it would be nice to have mouse emulation built in in the accessories app).
- I think they will drop gold for mp purely because Pc players didn't wanted to subscribe to it. And in a unified platform it makes no sense for some features to be free on one device but not another. But I'm sure they won't do it until they find a way to repurpose it in a way that would be attractive for both xbox and windows users. Kinda like a vip status with some features: Ability to stream all you library from any device, gain extra mixer points to interact on streams, and if you are a streamer your channel is featured in some way, unlimited game dvr storage, guaranteed participation in all betas alongside current benefits other than online play etc. They will surely lose some subs from folks that only subscribe to play online, but, if the sub is interesting enough it can get people that wouldn't sub otherwise to subscribe and with a platform with 700mi users, loosing subscribers on xbone to gain from that larger pool could do more than offset the losses.
it was part of the insider a WHILE back, its still not up for everyone? and by while I mean like pre 2017 summer.
Hey, you see this? Just posted couple hours ago.
We getting something tomorrow January 19!
Oh nice!
E3 wishes:
RYSE 2 Please, please, please. Probably the best MS exclusive this gen, and it should get a sequel, preferably in FPS.
OR
Bring back BC
And please, do not resurrect Scalebound. That game should have never been greenlit in the first place. I like MS, but every time they trie to pander to the fans of asian gaming, they just simply blow money out of the window.
RYSE 2 Please, please, please. Probably the best MS exclusive this gen, and it should get a sequel, preferably in FPS.
OR
Bring back BC
And please, do not resurrect Scalebound. That game should have never been greenlit in the first place. I like MS, but every time they trie to pander to the fans of asian gaming, they just simply blow money out of the window.
I'm in one of the lower rings of the insider program and I still don't have it.
From a business prospective, yes, Japanese exclusives never sold well on Xbox, but even if you don't enjoy these kind of games you can't deny the extreme quality of stuff like Ninja Gaiden, Panzer Dragoon, Jet Set Radio, Lost Odyssey, Tales of Vesperia a many other little titles.
Even from a business standpoint, I'd imagine Team Ninja was plenty beneficial for Xbox when they were closely aligned. Ninja Gaiden was a pretty big deal, and Dead or Alive 3 and 4 were both some of the more notable titles at each console's launch.
Yep, NG and DOA were probably the only successful Japanese games on Xbox.
Maybe something Game Pass related?
Iam hoping the original vision of digital game sharing returns
I wonder how much of that success was a result of Itagaki being a huge fan of a lot of western culture, incorporating stuff like Aerosmith into DoA's intros and such. It does feel like in his absence, not only did Team Ninja quickly distance itself from Xbox in favor of PlayStation, but their games (even under the same IP) became a whole lot more focused towards a Japanese audience.
Thanks for the info Zhuge, so thats what you were teasing in the discord. I'm guessing they are going to implement digital trade-in, based on the survey sometime last year that was asking about it.
Noooooo. Nope. No no no. Don't give me dreams of Chromehounds. I will be a Commander, equip all the dishes and hunt you down and stop communications.
E3 wishes:
RYSE 2 Please, please, please. Probably the best MS exclusive this gen, and it should get a sequel, preferably in FPS.
OR
Bring back BC
And please, do not resurrect Scalebound. That game should have never been greenlit in the first place. I like MS, but every time they trie to pander to the fans of asian gaming, they just simply blow money out of the window.
Yes! BC would be amazing!
This makes sense based off where they are at in this generation and what they plan to do for the next. This is also why they talked about the strategy with bringing on Matt Booty into the role he's in. Making the investment in 1st party and having it be executed and have someone make sure that it's being done and at a good quality, and that Phil isn't spread thin by his position.
To me, this reads that they are trying to establish exactly what Sony did last generation and get good games out there right near the end of the gen. They already have the strongest console, and good service, it's time for gamers to see the part they have been waiting for. Surprise games is the key to that, this goes along with the statements that Phil stated with not announcing a game until closer to release.
I've been saying (if anyone pays attention to whatever I say. LOL) that the end game for MS is streaming and subscription. We are in a stop gap until that technical wall can be broken and usable for normal people. Game Pass is the subscription that they eventually want everyone on because games still have MTX/DLC that need to be purchased whereas XBL is really for deals, GWG, and multiplayer. I don't think that MS will let go of XBL yet but combining both and getting rid of the multi requirement is a possibility in the long term (long term is key). Getting users to pay more for a subscription is what MS has always wanted. It's really no different than Microsoft Office 365 and levels.
Mixer is still a bigger deal than I believe most know, it's basically the backbone of whatever their streaming service will be with GamePass. But also getting to monetize people who are watching games is another avenue, and that comes with ads. What you'll see is more spectator modes for games, think the Darwin Project as a perfect example of what MS wants in their games. But it's also about getting other platforms like Ninty and Sony on board as MS' comp is Twitch/YouTube. Don't be surprised if they get integration on either of those platforms. I still think the biggest thing that most likely won't happen is MS getting Xbox Live on Switch, though I wouldn't be surprised if it did happen.. But obviously that's pie in the sky.
Mixer is still a bigger deal than I believe most know, it's basically the backbone of whatever their streaming service will be with GamePass. But also getting to monetize people who are watching games is another avenue, and that comes with ads. What you'll see is more spectator modes for games, think the Darwin Project as a perfect example of what MS wants in their games. But it's also about getting other platforms like Ninty and Sony on board as MS' comp is Twitch/YouTube. Don't be surprised if they get integration on either of those platforms. I still think the biggest thing that most likely won't happen is MS getting Xbox Live on Switch, though I wouldn't be surprised if it did happen.. But obviously that's pie in the sky.
Your last point is something that I've been hammering for years looking at the company and looking at the steps the Xbox team has been making. I've been wanting this from MS since GFWL but they obviously failed. Long term (before streaming) you'll see that any game you buy from the Microsoft Store, you get it on any device that the publisher supports (aka XPA). I believe that you'll see a lot more XPA games and more cross-play titles.
Another part of this is getting BC for 360/OG on the PC. How does one do that? Getting an emulator on Windows 10. This is something that Phil has asked his engineers to look into. Getting XPA for BC games would be easier to get publishers to "ok" as it's just extra revenue and they wouldn't need to worry about piracy (obviously it would be encrypted). It would allow the Microsoft Store to get a way bigger amount of worthwhile games on their platform (and kind of push those mobile games down...lol). This also allows something else, GamePass on PC. This is something I've said previously that MS wants to get subscriptions for PC gamers that would make sense. GamePass is double the price of XBLG, you'll see more push for that than we are now if they can implement it.
The other part of that is getting a common UI for both platforms. I've recently been saying that MS is coming out with an Xbox UI for PC when you plug in an Xbox controller, just like if you have a Surface device and it can go into "tablet mode" automatically. This is apart of the Andromeda OS that MS is building where your UI changes based off of what's connected to the system and the position of the device. We will see the first Andromeda device this fall most likely, which has been famously labeled "Surface Phone" as it will have telephony capabilities. Xbox UI for PC won't happen until MS has finished Andromeda for mobile (surface phone), then desktop (a cleaner UI), and then Xbox. I would say that you won't see a change for PC until fall 2019 (which would be Windows 10 codename Redstone 7). It's one of the reasons why Mike Ybarra said that you won't see a change in the UI for a long time. This is also why it's taking a while for mouse/kb support, they want to make sure it works with that UI. But that support also strengthens the one unified platform.
I wonder what I get right and what I get wrong (don't count the XBL on Ninty thing, that was more of a joke). I try to come from the perspective of what MS is doing as a whole and looking at the industry and where it's going (one of the reasons why I went fully digital at the end of the last generation). I will speculate what MS will be doing with whatever news happens next week. But you can always tell me in PM ZhugeEX haha (though you know I won't say anything, just so I can be giddy by myself)
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I didn't do anything but reply? WTH man!
EDIT: Did the remove formatting. I don't know what the fuck be going on. I didn't even touch any formatting. Sorry.
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