Well yeah I guess. I'm just paraphrasing what Matt said. Maybe we are talking about games which weren't going to come to PC until later, but many of Sony's exclusives are also only console exclusives.
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You honestly believe that Microsoft will not have another AAA game outside Halo Infinite for the next couple of years? Horrible take.
Psychonauts 2. Maybe Forza Motorsport or As Dusk Falls. Age 4 possibly, but probably be moved to 2022 because of covid. Age 3 DE could always slip to next year, but it did get rated so it's probably this year. Then of course updates and dlc to existing games. Definitely seems like a light year unless some games are closer than we realize. (compared to 2020at least) But I expect game development to really start to slow down after the catalog of games that were in post production get released. Seems like this work from home stuff really affects more of the early development stuff.
i think it's highly unlikely that those are all the first party (published or made by their internal teams) games that MS releases on the entirety of 2021.
I didn't think inverse omen was change for the sake of change. I've always liked Gears, but found it strange that the most important part of the screen gets obstructed during fire-fights. If anything is going to be obstructed, it makes more sense for it to be the periphery, not the center of the screen where most of your attention will be focused. They also added a compass that points to where your damage was taken from, which is incredibly useful.
The only bad thing I have to say about inverse omen was that the blood effect was too opaque. Honestly, they could do away with all of the blood effects outside of the omen and I'd be happy.
I'd say the story of Gears 5 was of to a great start, but fell completely off the rails with the conclusion of the second act. Act 3 is narratively worthless, leading to a bunch of unearned character moments in Act 4 that would have worked better had Act 3 actually been used for character development.
I feel like there's a missing Act between 2 and 3.
Also "the choice" shouldn't have been a choice as most chose the option that makes no sense from the perspective of the characters.
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No idea, but it's certainly a possibility when we take into account that many of the games they showed were slated for Series X only and we basically only saw CGI trailers, which basically means that they are very early in dec cycle.
Then there's the comments about having crossgen period of 1-2 years which imo was probably partly said because there just isn't too many games ready. Hellblade II and Forza could be ready sooner, but hard to say. Outside of those, everything else shown will definitely take many, many years to be ready.
When we think about the bigger releases, Gears and Outer Wilds was just released a year ago, Fable is basically like a whole new IP and has been in development for two years at most which probably isn't even half the time it'll need in the end, Iniative was only founded in 2018, Rare's studio head said that Everwild's whole gameplay loop is still only in the planning stages atm.
Well a lot of their stuff seems a ways off. Unless there are unannounced games or some are closer to release than we realize, I think those may be the most realistic new releases.
Yep.
Still wondering where Forza Horizon Next will land. They always announced these games close to release; it'll be 3 years in dev by 2021, the most dev time this team ever had actually. I also do have heard stuff about an additional Double Fine remaster (maybe not directly handled by them?) as well as another Rare title (maybe another "Rare presents"? Maybe the new project by Gregg?), although I've no idea how much truth is behind these rumors right now so take this as pure speculation.
Then yes, we do have XGS Publishing, which I know we haven't seen everything from yet. Although timing on release schedules here seem super hard to predict as well.
Most of the other first-party seem indeed to target 2022 (and beyond). XGS has 14(?) or more releases this year and they'll surely have a solid amount of releases next year as well, but most of the console launch exclusive games they signed surely intent to carry them through 2021.
I also do believe Psychonauts 2 is important to them and with all the added dev time, the scale and quality of the project should be pretty good and hopefully surprise people when it releases in 2021.
Then you talked about Age of Empires IV, which absolutely is a huge release to XGS. I have the feeling this will hit in 2022, yet we might be playing this in 2021 as well with flighting etc., I think this is important for such a game and makes sense with the whole AoE Insiders Initiative already set up.
I will also say that the XGS long runners like Sea of Thieves, Grounded, Gears 5, Minecraft Dungeons, MS Flight Sim, Halo Infinite etc. shouldn't be underestimated in the grand picture as these games will keep receiving significant and regular content updates in 2021 (and beyond). So this does matter as well for their content pipeline.
2021 seems to be the year we'll actually see the impact by COVID on game development. That said, we do still have some variables missing — and further Game Pass deals might be on the horizon as well.
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hopefully the rare stuff is true, i would love for Rare to expand and experiment on more stuff with their own (or new) IP. A Remastered Banjo would be a dream come true! About Double Fine, they have another team working on a project for quite some time now (an online one at that, to bring out the best of the concern trolls), i do expect that we see it by 2021, and Psychonauts 2 is going to be incredible, i can't wait for it.
The wild card for me is the publishing side of MS, hopefully they are not being shuffled aside because there's still a lot of developers out there that could be incredible partners for Game Pass as a whole.
and yeah, i can definitely see the next Forza Horizon landing on 2021, although COVID could fuck that up. AOEIV will definitely have a lot of flighting aaaaand i think we'll see more third party partnerships from MS, i feel that something could especially happen with SEGA, seeing how close they are lately (PSO2, Yakuza, AOEIV by Relic, etc)
1. Cross gen has more to do with Game Pass more than anything else. Microsoft does not want to have a hard reset on existing subscribers. This is the only way anyone could realistically look at it.
2. Launch year is always rough. This will not only be the case for Microsoft, but the same for Sony too and in the age of Covid 19, you are going to see a lot of game delays as teams figure out this working from home thing. Apart from this, Microsoft has usually published stuff, I cannot imagine that there will be nothing for the next two years from Global Publishing. In fact, this is where it should come through.
3. You show CG because that is what you are ready to show. Said it before on this very topic that one of the worst things that can happen is that you show a game and then have to downgrade it because it does not reach the heights showed initially. Or you show a game that is rough and all of a sudden you start seeing complaints left, right and center.
I really hope people at Xbox watched the August 6 SoP. The amount of gameplay and developer commentary was excellent.
GAAS Viva Pinata, where new seasons, equipment, pinatas are added over time.
The show felt alot like how ID@xbox does their showcases.
I was thinking more along the lines of when they next show off XGS games. Gameplay with developer commentary is the best way to show off your gameplay imo.
That's what I thought. Those don't get nearly enough attention. We're talking how indies are presented - which is that devs need to explain their games. This isn't foreign to MS, it just depends on the format and the games. And yet, when MS has devs talk - IT'S SO BORING. But when someone else... lol. It's not that simple, of course there's a balance. But ID@Xbox has already been doing this and doing it well.
I get what you're saying, but I disagree to some extent. Not every game benefits from lengthy gameplay segments. Not every game looks good in gameplay trailer form at all. I like dev commentary personally, but not everyone does. I'd posit that if Fable's announce trailer was just 30 secs longer and included a real super speedy zoom through of a corridor of the world to hint at setting and to throw in some stuff to analyze, it would have gone over quite well even without gameplay. Much like the UE5 demo didn't require any actual gameplay to impress. Unless you were blown away by press x to interact.
I think Fable is the perfect candidate when it's ready to get shown off to get the exact type of showing Godfall got at the SoP.
Fable can show off the combat, RPG elements and exploration. With commentary to give context to everything.
Yes, when we see it again. But not the first time we saw it.
With Paul Cunningham being involved with both Banjo in Smash and Dlala's Battletoads, I hope Rare's next partner project is a new Banjo-Kazooie.
Definitely, it's clear that Fable isn't ready for it's big gameplay debut yet. When it is I hope Microsoft goes down this route.
Leave me with no questions regarding what the game is. Just get me pumped to play it.
Our takes are both still just speculation, and it's impossible to state these things as facts.
1.Game Pass definitely has an effect on this, but it's not like the fairly recent acquisitions and other games not being ready don't play any role in this situation also.
If Hellblade II and Forza are XSX only, how would it be a worse situation if those would be ready in the early 2021 considering how the first year seems to be quite rough? You make it seem like it's a decision by MS to push these releases further because of Game Pass, which definitely isn't the case.
2. Launch year is rough, but it's all relative. The roughness of it is still basically measured by what the competition has to offer.
3. Of course, but when we are talking about a situation where you're showing off your next-gen console for the first time and would certainly like to have gameplay but just can't because there isn't any, this basically means to me that the actual game you're promoting definitely isn't close to release.
Something like Ubisoft with Valhalla is different, because we already know that they are going to show gameplay fairly soon after the CGI trailer because that's just how they announce their games. MS knows that a reveal with only a CGI trailer isn't received nearly as well as gameplay reveal, but then again they have to show something.
Microsoft has lots of them too.
Most of Sonys timed exclusives are only console exclusive
We were told last year that Hellblade 2 was early in development. We know from Turn 10 that they are also early in development. There is no chance of any of these games making it in early 2021.
I am not stating that Microsoft is moving games further out because of Game Pass, I am stating that the cross gen push is there because of Game Pass.
We know absolutely nothing of what games are coming out next year outside SpiderMan and Halo Infinite. Or how the development cycles are affected by Covid.
Only one first party title has had a gameplay reveal.
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MS has been in the console game for 20 years now, and they aren't strangers to the industry. It seems to me that a lot of people overlook MS' strategy because they're looking at what's new, and what's next. Sony are making some very smart moves, but MS has shown us their strategy which itself is a combination of very smart moves.
All of their existing controllers will be instantly compatible with the Series X and every game on it; and more than 1000 current gen games will be compatible with Series X from day one, and will look better and load faster than they do on current hardware. That's a key selling point that Sony cannot use.
Game Pass is another key selling point that MS will heavily promote. "Download and play Halo Infinite + over 100 games, with Game Pass. Join today for $1". Sony have no comparable offer right now.
And if the hardware performs as it should, the Series X will be the better platform for 3rd party gaming. But that's something only the forum warriors care about.
Plus the early part of the next generation will have 3rd party games that will keep gamer's busy well into 2021. Cyberpunk 2077 is an example. It releases in November, and that type of game can keep people busy for a very long time.
that's just crazy, same for Call of Duty exclusive.
Fanboy dreams, which are fueled by vague insider teases.
I need this more than I need air. It would be such a huge hit.
Yeah. I don't understand how you can make that sort of jump.
Viva Pinata Crossing. Viva Pinata Royale. Pinata Gear Solid. PinataMon. Mass Pinata. PInataAge: Origins. Knights of the Viva Pinata. Defense of the Pinatas. Viva Pinata: Infinite. Doom: Pinata.
Not trying to act rude or anything but can you name a couple that are on par with Deathloop and Tokyo ? those games where announced last E3 at the Bethesda show as muliplats.
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As of right now, they don't. They seem to focus on small to medium sized projects from devs who could use the additional funding instead of going after projects by big publishers (Bethesda, Square etc.).
The Ascent (Xbox) or Kena (PlayStation) are two healthy examples I'm very supportive of. These smaller devs can use the additional money to create better games. No one should be mad at these studios for accepting such an opportunity.
I get what you are saying, both are doing timed exclusives, but these are two very different scenarios and philosophies behind these deals here and I think it is totally fair to differentiate that. Again, for now. Who knows what else Xbox will do next, but as of right now, the strategies by both in terms of timed exclusivity are not comparable.
I hope Xbox stays focused on bringing games to Game Pass on day one. I don't want to see them being reactive now and start moneyhatting big AAA productions as well (and thus practically only paying money to exclude other platforms).
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I think Gamepass is the big thing here.
The costs of securing a big third party game for timed-exclusivity are already huge, but having it on Gamepass day one would probably multiply the costs.
That's why I can't see big timed exclusives coming to xbox at all.
I will continue to hold out hope that FH5 is their big surprise Holiday 2021 release.
I can't see FH5 coming out before Forza Motorsport.
FH5 will probably be on the new engine.
If FM comes out as an Early access GaaS or even F2p game I can see them releasing the same year. Maybe summer for FM and winter for FH
For all the avatar games we never got XD. But like... PInatas would make everything better. Either that or Halo grunts. But Pinatas work better for the variety. 100 Pinatas dangle down from strings onto an island... 5 on 5 Pinata MOBA action..... the Pinata hero shooter.... a cinematic 3rd person story driven adventure of how a pinata gets back its candy after a crushing betrayal from the 5 year old who stole it all.....
Ugh yea. If they spent the money that Sony is spending on timed exclusivity on killer Game Pass deals, it would be less crappy, it would be hugely pro-consumer, and it would continue to build the Game Pass brand. I'm not hopeful based on how little we're hearing on it. But I REALLY hope it happens. I don't need exclusives, that doesn't benefit me at all. I want reasons to be happy with my experience as a current (and likely future) Xbox owner.
I mean i know that location is talked about a lot but a neon-lit ray traced Tokyo and surronding areas would be fantastic.
It would be equally cool if the Horizon "event" was exanded to more cities/countries in the game and you could travel between them as you progress through the career (that would be a big ask though lol )
Yeah, if the Xbox division has money to throw around, I hope the investments are:
-improving and overhauling the Xbox ecosystem on Windows 10, at the moment it's atrocious. It's very telling that a ton of people are willing to pay standard game prices for Microsoft's games on Steam rather than subscribing to Game Pass for a very modest fee of €5 per month
-more 1st party acquisitions. Microsoft is in a precarious position in the sense that they're releasing a ton of games in 2020 and most of them to critical and commercial success, but they're still long ways off having the same prestige that Sony or Nintendo have. Sony can release a 70 metacritic rated game like Days Gone and still sell over 5 million copies. New studios to signal that more content is coming further down the road would be a tremendous shot in the arm
-affordable console hardware, maybe not lose money directly but at least operate on zero margins
-drop the online multiplayer paywall
-get Azure servers operating on the Series X hardware ASAP. I watched Brad Sams' presentation of Xcloud on his phone and it was rough, the time from him choosing to play Ori and him finally playing the game was way too long. A part of the appeal of a streaming service should be its instantaneousness, which it's currently lacking
-encourage more 3rd party publishers to release Play Anywhere titles. If I buy a game on the Xbox store, I want it to be accessible to me on any device - be it the console, my desktop PC or my ultrabook when I'm traveling
Xbox generates $11.5B a year in revenue on the back of the disastrous Xbox One launch, now they're much better positioned than they were back in 2013. Xbox Series X year 1 is bound to be slower than PS5's, but it should still be solid enough to form a foundation for future success once the first party studios shift into top gear.
The Playstation brand is far more popular at the moment, but at the likely price of €500 for the new console and additional costs their growth is a bit self-limiting and they're creating a huge window of opportunity for Microsoft. Switch is missing out on a ton of 3rd party games and has been selling like hot cakes, so XSX missing out on a few 3rd party games moneyhatted by Sony shouldn't be too much of an influence either.
I believe they can, I believe they might.
It'll cost them insane sums of money, sure, but the success of GTAV and what seems like an incredibly aggressive stance from Sony leading into the next gen means that they may decide that it's worth it to try and drive Xbox out of the console business for good.
GTA6 is not coming out anytime soon, XSX will likely have a big userbase by the time it comes out, meaning Sony would have to cover for several million of guaranteed copies sold, so likely a moneyhat of >$200M would be needed (likely far more). It's not like Xbox is volatile enough to be forced out of the market by such a move either
No, not just this move, but from the sounds of things, this wouldn't be the only such move from Sony.
I hope you're right, though.
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