Gaming narratives change fast. This next one is going to be fun

[Xplainin]

Microsoft and Xbox has been the centre of all the negative talk and reporting for a while now. Lack of games, studios in turmoil, unfinished games, no AAA bangers, Phil cant manage, we have heard it all.

However, narratives change quick in this industry, and it can go from Champagne to shit really quick. I think we are headed to another one this year. As it stands, Sony has been riding high, demand for their console, lots of recent first party games, good scores, studio aquisitions and plenty of third party money hats. What could go wrong?

Simple, the next two years there isnt many PS first party games set to drop. We have Spider-Man 2 at the end of this year, giving us one First party game for 2023. In 2024 it was expected that Naughty Dog would release Factions, however that has now been scaled back and will most likely just be the multiplayer addition to TLOU3. This has been a massive loss of time and resources, which most likely means that ND wont be releasing anything until 2025 -2026 at this point. GG, SSM, PD have all released their games recently and wont have anything till 2027 maybe. SP will be looking at 2025 for GOT2, and after SP2 Insomniac wont have Wolverine ready till 2025 at the earliest. The Bend is the only other studio who have released something awhile ago, but they were a support studio for GOW which means their next project will probably be 2025. They didnt even show a CGI of their new game, which says not next year.

All the other first party games are GAAS games, which the Playstation faithful do not really want.

Contrast that with the release schedule of Xbox for the next couple of years. 2023 will have HiFi Rush, Redfall, Starfield, Forza MS and maybe even Hellblade 2. 2024 will most likely consist of a similar number of first party games such as Fable, Avowed, Project Midnight and maybe a Contraband or similar.

I have a feeling that the heat is going to be put on Sony really quickly, with the same fanboys who were laughing at Xbox suddenly now angry at Sony and calling for Ryan and Haults heads.

Narratives change quickly, and if MS can continue in the same vein of game releases and reveals of future games, they can turn the public opinion around and have a number of years of clean air.

[Cpt_Haddock (Peeeter)]

Agreed, i dont think people’s going to hate on Xbox no matter what cause i’ve lived these times sibce early 2005 where Xbox went from a niche option for a few hardcore gamers from the West, to the best console while PS3 was kinda a meme, to again a meh option in 2009-2010 due to bad MS decisions.

I was sure narrative around Xbox could change slowly after E3 and after they release a few big games, but with Sony focusing Hard on GAAS and not showing AAA Single player games on this conference, things could change way faster and not just about MS but about Sony too.

This said, well, MS are quite good at fucking up when they are given the chance, so let’s see what they do, I got faith but ye they need not fail this time

[Zappy5]

One of the things people for me need to stop worrying about is narrative. The other is sales.

Narrative does not equal sales anyway.

People are way too bothered about what others online think about their console of choice. I mean who really cares? We’ve literally just seen a post from someone so mentally unwell they asked for MS execs to be executed.

When you are enjoying the great games that I believe will hit Xbox this year and onwards why does it matter if it isn’t moving some imaginary needle in narrative or sales?

Enjoy what you have. It doesn’t need to be acclaimed as the ‘best’ and it’s never ever ever going to ‘sell the best’.

[Xplainin]

@Zappy5

One of the things people for me need to stop worrying about is narrative. The other is sales.

Narrative does not equal sales anyway.

People are way too bothered about what others online think about their console of choice. I mean who really cares? We’ve literally just seen a post from someone so mentally unwell they asked for MS execs to be executed.

When you are enjoying the great games that I believe will hit Xbox this year and onwards why does it matter if it isn’t moving some imaginary needle in narrative or sales?

Enjoy what you have. It doesn’t need to be acclaimed as the ‘best’ and it’s never ever ever going to ‘sell the best’.

Narratives wear you down. We saw just how worn out Phil was in his recent interview. Granted alot of it was due to MS stepping on every rake they could find, but when everytime you open twitter thered Xbox trending for another bad reason, or at the top of every gaming news website is another story about the doom of xbox, it can set a tone around your console that really hurts it.

Lets be honest, Sony was doing alot of shady shit, like raising console and game prices, cancelling games, shutting down studios, no showcase for nearly 2 years, and on and on. They didnt get enough heat thrown on them because MS and Xbox was doing even worse things

Dont be fooled Narratives kill.

[Zappy5]

@Xplainin

Narratives wear you down. We saw just how worn out Phil was in his recent interview. Granted alot of it was due to MS stepping on every rake they could find, but when everytime you open twitter thered Xbox trending for another bad reason, or at the top of every gaming news website is another story about the doom of xbox, it can set a tone around your console that really hurts it.

Lets be honest, Sony was doing alot of shady shit, like raising console and game prices, cancelling games, shutting down studios, no showcase for nearly 2 years, and on and on. They didnt get enough heat thrown on them because MS and Xbox was doing even worse things

Dont be fooled Narratives kill.

Phil is head of gaming at Microsoft. It’s his job to have a strong brand and bring in success.

So it’s of course something he will care about. But if I like Pepsi more than coke it’s not my worry how well Pepsi is performing or what my peers think of Pepsi. I just drink it.

[RedSparrows]

It’s not so much that narratives per se are the issue. They’re simply the fabric.

What is the issue is valorisation, focus, attention on one bucking, messy, serpentine narrative that permits no past or future, only the present’s ‘feel good/terrible!!!’ message. It’s absolutely daft people put themselves at its mercy, imo.

Everything is terrible [2022 drought] / everything is amazing [Hi-fi Rush] / everything is terrible [Redfall] / everything is amazing [Sony showcase disappointing] etc

Just get off it. Now.

[GamepadX]

Great post op. Yeah something has to give.

I said this recently…

@GamepadX

You guys are right about media bias.

Although let’s be honest articles are going to get a bit strange for the rest of this console generation. Xbox has more games, developers, stronger ip, larger profits (after Activision), more players per game (Gamepass brings 30 million players ), Xbox will have a E3 of dreams pretty much every year from here on out (Activision/ Bethesda/ others), PlayStation is probably done with showcases for the rest of the generation due to lack of content.

Things are about to get strange in Sony cult land as they accept or deny the reality before them.

things are about to get weird in my opinion. That includes shifting narratives, changing alliances, all that fun stuff

[SpiderLink]

@Zappy5

We’ve literally just seen a post from someone so mentally unwell they asked for MS execs to be executed.

I agree with your post, but is this for real? Which hellhole did this come up in?

[BRiT]

@SpiderLink

I agree with your post, but is this for real? Which hellhole did this come up in?

Yes it’s for real. One of the other 2 infamous sites.

[SpiderLink]

@BRiT

Yes it’s for real. One of the other 2 infamous sites.

I don’t really follow but that’s pretty distressing regardless.

[Zappy5]

@SpiderLink

I agree with your post, but is this for real? Which hellhole did this come up in?

It was copied on here which is why I saw it. 2 week ban on the other site apparently…

I mean I find it distressing that someone would say that. Let alone take the extra time to type it and press send without their brain stopping them.

[SpiderLink]

@Zappy5

It was copied on here which is why I saw it. 2 week ban on the other site apparently…

I mean I find it distressing that someone would say that. Let alone take the extra time to type it and press send without their brain stopping them.

Now I see, thank you. Two weeks seems pretty lenient, honestly.

[GamepadX]

A message to PlayStation fans (curtesy of Street Fighter 6)…

[Jeans]

That’s what’s exciting to me. Nerve-wracking, yeah, but exciting !

I don’t doubt MS/Xbox will have things aligned in the near future. It’s been a long and painful ride but they’re slowly getting things together with the help of all the studios they acquired. One misfire is not something to worry about.

The medias and many people will change course when they finally see what’s been going on since Jim Ryan took rein.

Narrative will shift in an instant. It’s been going on for a while now. And a generation is a pretty long time, so people can get on brand S console at the beginning of the gen and then get brand X at the end, if the games are there. We saw that before.

Xbox will have the games to back this up. I think we’re going to see a shift in a few years when people will want to catch up on some brand X games.

[peter42O]

I agree for the most part but for me personally, im expecting to get at least three Sony first party games in 2024. Stellar Blade, Rise of the Ronin and Marvel’s Wolverine. Can’t speak for anyone else but that’s a great year first party wise for me.

Of course, I don’t get why people believe that Sony won’t have any games in 2024 or beyond. That’s like saying Microsoft won’t have any games either. I mean come on. They both will. The only difference is that Microsoft announced a lot of games at the start of this generation where as Sony only announced the games for the first 2-3 years.

[GamepadX]

@peter42O

Marvel’s Wolverine

You should wait until Spider-Man 2 actually releases before expecting Wolverine After the crunching required for a Spider-Man holiday release, those guys are going to be burnt out.

[peter42O]

@GamepadX

You should wait until Spider-Man 2 actually releases before expecting Wolverine After the crunching required for a Spider-Man holiday release, those guys are going to be burnt out.

I’m pretty certain that Insomniac has two different studios or at the very least, two different teams so im not worried about this. Even if gets delayed to 2025, it would most likely be February/March so a few extra months isn’t going to matter all that much. But we’ll see.

[commanderbuck]

@peter42O

I agree for the most part but for me personally, im expecting to get at least three Sony first party games in 2024. Stellar Blade, Rise of the Ronin and Marvel’s Wolverine. Can’t speak for anyone else but that’s a great year first party wise for me.

Of course, I don’t get why people believe that Sony won’t have any games in 2024 or beyond. That’s like saying Microsoft won’t have any games either. I mean come on. They both will. The only difference is that Microsoft announced a lot of games at the start of this generation where as Sony only announced the games for the first 2-3 years.

Lol wolverine ain’t coming till 2025

[Xplainin]

@peter42O

I’m pretty certain that Insomniac has two different studios or at the very least, two different teams so im not worried about this. Even if gets delayed to 2025, it would most likely be February/March so a few extra months isn’t going to matter all that much. But we’ll see.

They have the Spiderman team and the Ratchet and Clank team. Insomniac has grown to around 550 devs at this point, which is pver double what it was pre buy out. I mean, why wouldnt you invest in them when they are just work horses.

So Ratchet came out in 2021, which would tend to mean at least 4 years between games you would think? That makes Wolverine a 2025 title in my eyes. But hey, if anyone can put it out in three years its Insomniac.

[peter42O]

@commanderbuck

Lol wolverine ain’t coming till 2025

We’ll see. I’m sticking with November 2024.

@Xplainin

They have the Spiderman team and the Ratchet and Clank team. Insomniac has grown to around 550 devs at this point, which is pver double what it was pre buy out. I mean, why wouldnt you invest in them when they are just work horses.

So Ratchet came out in 2021, which would tend to mean at least 4 years between games you would think? That makes Wolverine a 2025 title in my eyes. But hey, if anyone can put it out in three years its Insomniac.

Yeah, Insomniac is HUGE and they’re extremely efficient. I can definitely see Wolverine being November 2024 which would see Insomniac release four games in four years.

Sometimes I think that there’s three teams. Spider Man and Spider Man 2 are from the main team as far as I know so that’s four years apart. Ratchet 2016 did Rift Apart but also Miles Morales in 2020 with a third smaller team helping out.

We’ll see but im staying with November 2024 for Marvel’s Wolverine.