[XboxEra] Microsoft plans Starfield & Hi-Fi Rush launch for PlayStation 5 (Tom Warren/Jeff Grub: Indiana Jones & Gears could come well)
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But the value is on the console that plays everything, in this case the PlayStation. People may ask Sony to put their games everywhere, but if they don't, the PlayStation inherently has more widespread value than an Xbox.
Microsoft made a bunch of panic buys-choices & it's blowing up in thier faces so badly that they're now setting thier brand & strategy for gaming on fire. How Phil still has a job is the real question that needs to be asked because uh? How do you burn down the house & are still living in it...I guess this strategy is his last chance...
Yea I was all in on Xbox back then after the 360, even though I had previously been a psx and ps2 gamer. Then the no trade in thing switched me to ps4
Being behind doesn't mean you don't make dumb decisions. Having competition means you're punished harsher for dumb decisions.
I'm quoting this because while I really have no reason to be upset about my own purchase of a Series S (Bought it almost solely for the then extremely impressive backwards compatibility, shame about the disc drive but it's a great little machine), the recent rumors, if there's any truth to them, would be a slap in the face for people who invested in a closed ecosystem, with all its downsides, on the basis of empty promises and outright lies. The "no one's getting your starfield away from you !!" dismissal is funny, but perhaps not as funny when people just bought a dedicated piece of hardware for the game and the general promise that this is the kind of first-party, specific flavour of software that you can expect is being made for that hardware.
Now you could argue that the pawning off of the entire first party developement of Microsoft will be a nice get for consumers looking for content, at least short term, and there's absolutely no doubt that the company that just brutally fucked up the lives of around two thousand artists would never, ever make such a move unless it was projected to be monstruously profitable.Nice for them.
Not so nice though for the traditional model of prestige first party software with dedicated, properly funded and often long-running studios making games that are regarded as the best of their generation. I don't know for sure that a game like Hellblade 2 couldn't be made outside of that context, but I do know that former first-party showcases like Panzer Dragoon and Shemnue went from celebrated artistic tours de force to the slums of underfunded ports and kickstarter projects.
There's really no reason to be anything but sad in front of what I predict to be an artistic downfall or to outright precipitate the diseappearance of once popular series (See also: what happens when multi-billion dollar company Sony shift priorities and decides that the studio that made Gravity Rush and fucking Ico isn't profitable enough to be allowed to exist anymore).
So funny that this still hits after all these years lmao
600 to 700 dollar PS6 incoming lol
Presumably, as a public company, MS needed a big "sacrificial lamb" for the shareholders after the deal went through, and this and the earlier job cuts are the profit-making/cost-cutting measures that are being put in place to do that.
I can absolutely see the business logic in the short/medium-term, but I think it's going to do massive damage to the industry in the long-term.
Why not? Zero alternative. Sell it initially for $800 and then if it's not moving at the rate you want then lower the price. Nintendo is its own separate universe. At that point Sony's primary competitor would be Steam/PC space.
More likely game pass is done. They'll keep it going until they kill Xbox hardware completely, but they are likely just going to be a traditional 3rd party publisher on PlayStation and Steam.
"We're excited to bring our games to more players around the globe, and look forward to creating more exciting new experiences for our Xbox customers going forward."
Sony had free online until they saw the success of Xbox Live. And crossplay between PS3/PS4/Vita was already a thing before MS expanded it. And before Sony's problems with indies that they've been rectifying this gen, Sony came in and fostered great relationships with many indie devs as indie relationships soured with MS.
I can't argue that I'm a bit worried with fewer competitiors in the console space if that ends up happening, but MS wasn't the angel keeping Sony in check; they both had to compete, so they both did things that were good for gamers to differentiate from the other and win over gamers. And the stuff that wasn't pro-consumer was also copied since that means more $$$ for them (Sony with online). That's mostly why I don't like the idea of two competitors with totally different business strategies left, which is also why I didn't like the huge purchases MS was making since I feared they'd just buy everything and also become the only dog in town. That's ending up looking like a weird fear on my part, but I don't blame myself for having had it.
Absolutely baffling.
They spent years mismanaging their 1P studios, then bet on a business model that painted them into a corner. Then they took on a defeatist attitude and stopped even trying to compete at all. Seems like they have zero ambition or hunger to succeed in their own industry. A complete race to the bottom, gleefully burning every bridge behind them on the way down. Unbelievable. And then there's the firings, the overuse of contractors, outsourcing their own 1P game development, and now seemingly abandoning their own hardware. They can't get out of their own way.
All they've ever had to do was make good 1P games and put them exclusively on their hardware. That would make the brand strong and people would therefor buy games on it and we wouldn't be in this situation that MS created for themselves to begin with. Instead its been over a decade of persistent erosion of the brand's relevance. A constant snowball effect.
Feels like the worst timeline right now.
They spent years mismanaging their 1P studios, then bet on a business model that painted them into a corner. Then they took on a defeatist attitude and stopped even trying to compete at all. Seems like they have zero ambition or hunger to succeed in their own industry. A complete race to the bottom, gleefully burning every bridge behind them on the way down. Unbelievable. And then there's the firings, the overuse of contractors, outsourcing their own 1P game development, and now seemingly abandoning their own hardware. They can't get out of their own way.
All they've ever had to do was make good 1P games and put them exclusively on their hardware. That would make the brand strong and people would therefor buy games on it and we wouldn't be in this situation that MS created for themselves to begin with. Instead its been over a decade of persistent erosion of the brand's relevance. A constant snowball effect.
Feels like the worst timeline right now.
I could see an XGS/Bethesda/AB-only title Game Pass, if Sony were to allow it.
What a wild and crazy day. I thought the Grammys twitter account pulling a Moonlight La La Land situation would be the craziest thing today 😂
To be honest at this point the exceptions would be more useful.
I personally would guess Phil got overruled by Satya which is how we ended up here. I hope we get more details/a book about how this all went down eventually, I'm sure it would be an interesting read.
So if Sony releases a PS5 Pro and Microsoft doesn't release a mid gen update to Series X, that would mean that Microsoft first party games play best on Playstation and possibly to a significant degree? (PC notwithstanding of course)
This is going to be a mess.
This is going to be a mess.
I said doul boot, meaning that you could switch between os's, and yeah you wouldnt have xbox os fetures in windows.
It was over the moment Microsoft lost the momentum of the Xbox 360 to the PS3 in the latter half of the seventh gen.
No it does not, but clearly competition is not a limiting factor when it comes to gouging you already limited base.
Wild stuff indeed.
I'm a Series X owner, it is my primary console, and I get a lot of value out of Gamepass.
Exclusives going to other platforms doesnt bother me much, but it seems very clear MS is transitioning the Xbox into a Gamepass machine.
Not quite sure what to make of it yet. Perhaps its finally time to bite the bullet and invest in a gaming PC.
I'm a Series X owner, it is my primary console, and I get a lot of value out of Gamepass.
Exclusives going to other platforms doesnt bother me much, but it seems very clear MS is transitioning the Xbox into a Gamepass machine.
Not quite sure what to make of it yet. Perhaps its finally time to bite the bullet and invest in a gaming PC.
Kind of wild that they didn't even wait to see if their $70 billion purchase of ABK would turn things around for them. It's going to be an interesting couple of years. If they really go the way of Sega then I have a bad feeling for a lot of the developers that they've scooped up recently. I just don't see "third party" consoles taking off while Sony is still going strong. If everything Microsoft publishes comes to PlayStation, there's zero incentive for people to pick up a third party machines that doesn't play PlayStation exclusives. Not to mention the nightmare that it would cause developers to have potentially dozens of third party consoles to develop for. And I don't see everyone that owns an Xbox jumping to PlayStation immediately either. So there's potential for an awkward phase where Microsoft's first party games are going to underperform significantly because there will no longer be two big install bases to reap from.
All of that combined has me worried that this could be another Embracer situation for many of the developers that Microsoft has bought over the years. It also really sucks because Game Pass is awesome and Sony definitely needs competition to keep their head on straight. Sony has been making shitty decision after shitty decision since they've been dominating. What's another 30% price increase for PS+ when there's no alternative? Why should they allow mods in Bethesda's games at all when there's no competition doing it? Etc. Etc.
Obviously this is all speculation and what ifs but I find it hard to be optimistic about these rumors.
All of that combined has me worried that this could be another Embracer situation for many of the developers that Microsoft has bought over the years. It also really sucks because Game Pass is awesome and Sony definitely needs competition to keep their head on straight. Sony has been making shitty decision after shitty decision since they've been dominating. What's another 30% price increase for PS+ when there's no alternative? Why should they allow mods in Bethesda's games at all when there's no competition doing it? Etc. Etc.
Obviously this is all speculation and what ifs but I find it hard to be optimistic about these rumors.
I mean, how can you say that when you've not experienced there being no competition yet, lol.
If the future of Xbox is being a Game Pass digital only box with nothing else unique to it it's pretty hard to see that as anything other than a bare minimum commitment to existing Game Pass subscribers and console owners that will gradually wind down over the next few years.
If all of this is true I have to imagine the various developers were briefed recently.
Sounds like this is all stemming from ongoing internal discussions in Microsoft and people shouldn't expect more than a few games. The third party narrative needs to be snuffed out.
Regardless where Microsoft is internally on deciding which games might make the jump they need to say something now. The circus of stupid is running wild, creating a bigger mess which will be harder to clean up. Xbox needs to take control of their messaging again.
Regardless where Microsoft is internally on deciding which games might make the jump they need to say something now. The circus of stupid is running wild, creating a bigger mess which will be harder to clean up. Xbox needs to take control of their messaging again.
No public press statement yet but it does sound like stuff is being sent privately to some places I think?
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