Yeah, true. I didn’t mean to make it look as if I know it all business wise, because I really, really don’t. Thanks for the explanation. It’s true. Prey is a superb game, but it wasn’t a succes. I have often wondered how it would have done had it been on Game Pass day one, because if it’s not being bought, maybe it would have reached a lot more players via the service?
But those games not selling well, same as Tango’s has me a bit scared about a Hellblade 2, it will be on GP day one. How many people really are going to buy it? We all thought that as long as Game Pass is doing great Xbox and its games and studios will be doing great. But is that truly how it works and is GP still doing great or has it stagnated? Been seeing that thrown around out there today, that subs aren’t growing.
This is not the kind of shit anyone wanted to read today, goddamn. But at the end of the day, it has been a no show for quite a while now. We all hoped CD was going to bump up development and make it something great but this isn’t sounding great. Ffs.
I listened to the clip, it didn’t sound like new reporting but instead of lumping together “what we’ve been hearing over the years”. Everyone wants a pound of flesh right now, though, so you’ll see words twisted to mean what they want. I honestly didn’t get that feeling from Jeff
Probably because of that, they need them there to assist Crystal Dynamics, maybe they’ll get lucky and the game will be a success, thus keeping The Initiative alive.
I have to say I think it’s just business and that as someone up thread said, it could have happened whoever the parent company were. Arcane being canned is almost certainly due to Redfall performing terribly and still needing ongoing development work to fix it, and deliver the season pass content. Refunding season pass owners speaks to them wanting to draw a line under it and move on. Microsoft fronted an extra year of development before release, so in that sense, you can’t blame them, the game must have cost a fortune and generated practically nothing, given the dire state of the reviews.
As to whether Bethesda would have canned the studio had Microsoft not bought them, is worth wondering about, but I can imagine given the game industry’s recent malaise and numerous redundancies at various companies… Maybe?
One has to wonder what Microsoft think of the optics here.
I’m somewhat surprised at how big the reaction has been across the gaming sphere, but it just goes to show how damaged Microsoft’s brand is now - the disillusionment among fans, the total absence of anything positive to deflect the sustained train of negativity.
I hear you. Microsoft needs to let us know what qualifies for measure of success. Is it gamepass sub increase, overall players, revenue, or review scores? At the moment, I am leaning into revenue, but if it’s revenue. Then doesn’t gamepass contradict that
A great show doesn’t change any of this or what happens in the future, it won’t save the studios who don’t produce massive hits, and a great show didn’t save the Xbox One in June 2013.
Anything they say shouldn’t be trusted, just a year ago they were pretending that Hi Fi Rush was a breakout hit for them and that they were very pleased with the results.
Gamepass doesn’t hurt revenue as been said many times by Phil. (He cannot lie about this, it would be illegal). Really wish people would stop saying this.
Problem is Game Pass being a parachute for more modest first party productions being a giant lie, sold over years, also by people in charge. Is the situation so dire that having a parent company like MS is not enough to keep the lights on at Tango?
Closing Tango is a so short-sighted decision that I don’t even know where to begin with. They are probably making more money, but they are losing diversification of portfolio, a way to enter the Japanese market through games their taste, contact with Japanese talent… They really really are that stupid. Not everything should be looked through the lens of making more money asap, in a creative industry where the human factor is essential.
Also, I don’t believe Gamepass is going anywhere, I just believe MS has probably found it more economical to fund smaller “unique” experiences through gamepass deals with indies and AA devs as compared to developing them on their own.
Not really, Gamepass makes decent money. If you look at the attach rate for Xbox One, it was less than 7. Meaning that if you bought 7 games you bought more than the average owner.
(Full price) Gamepass is brings in around the same in a couple of years, and people often buy additional games on top.
Not hard to see Gamepass being a giant money spinner.
They ought to stop allowing 1 month subs to protect revenue though - too easy to buy a month to play a couple of key titles.
Gamepass is a parachute in some ways, but as you get more studios under your umbrella, that parachute needs to grow or else you don’t make money. Gamepass growth has stalled, so if the games aren’t helping it grow and the games don’t sell on their own, something’s gotta give.
They already have good relationships in Japan, owning a studio there doesn’t impact that. Look at all the Capcom Gamepass deals, or all the Namco Bandai games we are getting, the good relationship with Sega, or even SquareEnix seemingly back on board with MS.
I don’t think this is purely short sighted. Also, while MS itself fronts the money, they still expect Xbox to make money.
