Personally I don’t care if their games are exclusive or not. Would it be great for the platform? Sure but they can leverage the acquisition in other ways for their benefit. They can advertise how everything is available on GamePass day one, make everything a timed exclusive, or make games on other platforms sign into Xbox Live. We could potentially be on a slippery slope if the industry is pushed into exclusivity among all the platforms.
Why would you be pissed if more people can play the games? What does that take away from your experience? Honest question.
Again I think there is a bit of old fashioned thinking going on here.
For Microsoft the ecosystem they want you on is Xbox live and gamepass. Their ambition isn’t to sell 100 million Xboxes, it is to sell 200 million or more gamepass subscriptions.
If they release their games on playstation they can make players log in to Xbox live to play them. They can encourage Playstation users to download the Xbox phone app to track friends and achievements, and while they are there they can point out that they can keep playing starfield on the go with game streaming.
The clearest example of Microsoft’s thinking is steam. Steam is a direct competitor to Microsoft’s own Windows store but they were perfectly happy to release their games there and have done very well in the process.
Eh, I wouldn’t mind if the shooters like Doom and Wolfenstein go to other consoles. But all the RPGs and action/adventure games should stay on Xbox and PC.
Why not do a deal with Sony to get their exclusive games into the Xbox gamepass catalogue in return for the Bethesda games on PS5? If exclusives are no longer needed and don’t add anything it should be a fair deal all round, I’d have thought?
This deal is not so much about fighting Sony, but rather Tencent’s and Google. This is about strengthening Gamepass.
I got no problem with these games coming out on the PS. If I am not paying a dime, and the PS user is paying $70 for the next Doom, I think that is a win-win for MS.
While I’m still not sure I like to see publishers being acquired, it was inevitable at some point. And Bethesda is really the perfect fit for Microsoft, they very much always had a similar symbiotic relationship to Square and Sony. This move is absolutely intended to bolster the brand of ‘Xbox’, and nothing else. The ‘case by case’ comment from Spencer surely refers to expansions of games like The Elder Scrolls Online or Fallout 76. Also, Microsoft offers plenty of choice to consume their products, e.g. the Xbox consoles, PC, mobile streaming (maybe soon even from your TVs). The entry barrier will be so low that I would absolutely not expect these games to hit PlayStation. The one advantage of Microsoft being Bethesda’s parent now is that Bethesda’s content will NOT just be locked to a singular console device. That’s what I always fear if Sony ever snatches a Japanese publisher like Capcom or Square-Enix. And I also agree with others that Google, Tencent or amazon are the main reason Microsoft bought Zenimax.
It’s hard to say what they should do. The goal is Gamepass adoption which having exclusives on Xbox and PC would help with adoption but I have a feeling that a lot of Nintendo and Sony fans just won’t budge and stick to their ecosystems. In those cases, releasing a game like, let’s say, ES6 on PS5 could bring an extra 10 million or more units in sales and bring in a lot of cash from people that just wouldn’t get Gamepass anyway.
So I’m guessing the “case by case” is going to be a market study on the impact/trade off and if they deem it worth the risk.
IMO keep Starfield, Fallout and ES6 exclusive. Everything else can be multiplat. If full exclusive is a bit too much maybe 1 year exclusive to Xbox/PC then goes to Switch/PS5.
If Microsoft are 100% all about making as much money as humanly possible, they’ll leave everything multiplat.
If they’re about striking a delicate balancing act of making money as well as improving Xbox’s position in the console market, then they’ll honour current agreements, keep Elder Scrolls Online multiplat and then basically lock all future projects to Xbox/PC while putting some stuff on Switch where it makes sense.
Yeah they don’t need to decide right now. They’re leaving themselves options for when the heavy hitters are closer to release. They’ll do extensive market research and weigh exactly how many games sold vs. consoles sold and new Game Pass subs for each scenario, then they’ll decide. The console landscape could look different in a few years-- maybe MS will be doing very well, or maybe they’ll be doing unexpectedly badly, and that could drive the decision too. No reason to nail themselves down this early.
It’s such a weird spot to be in, they gotta be crunching the numbers. If the games are exclusive it will bring people to buy Xbox then most likely lead to more game pass subs which is the thing they want. They could probably make more flat out money if they just sold the games on all platforms.
It’s so hard to think what they’ll actually do haha there is pros and cons to both ways. When it comes down to it I think they’ll just do like they said judge it on a game by game case.
At the end of the day I don’t really care all that much whether the games could to PS and Switch as well, because it will be on Game Pass day one and that’s incredible value, that in itself is amazing.
On the other hand as a huge Xbox fan I love the idea of being able to say “Xbox is the home of amazing RPGs like The Elder Scrolls and Fallout and shooters like DOOM.” a real name to be reckoned with.
People that have PC and PS now will likely just buy the games for PC, but those that don’t have PC, only PS and can’t miss out on these games will end up buying a Xbox. I definitely thing there’s more money to be made for MS if they play it that way. Then again, I have no idea how much money they would get from copies sold on PS platforms.
And I have to admit, I won’t deny it, I would love to see reactions of genuinely annoying folks that love dumping on Xbox, talk nothing but nonsense, I can’t deny that would be some comedy gold. And then there’s tons of cool folk that only have PS and they would miss out on it. But it’s a business, it is for Sony too. I cannot see Sony becoming more flexible, if anything they are gonna respond with a huge acquisition of their own and those games won’t sure as hell not see the daylight on other systems.
And when that happens MS should hold firm onto these games as well, keep it all for Xbox and PC.
Business wise they should want more people on xbox ecosystem even if person doesn’t sub to gamepass. A person being in ecosystem means you get 30% cut on all digital purchases, and also get a decent cut when you sell physical games. Putting games on PS5 means they’ll only get 70% cut, but will miss out on potential 30% cut on non gamepass purchases people will make. I think after contracts are done they will make games exclusive to PC and Xbox because I feel having these IPs give them more pull to attract Playstation gamers to ecosystem.
This probably comes down to do MS think they can take fans away from PS or at least get those fans to buy a Xbox really. Are the MS exclusive big enough for a hardcore PS fan to pick up a Xbox. I feel like having Doom/Fallout/ES/Starfield would help a lot haha.
Honestly, I think Microsoft have positioned themselves to make their IPs a big deal. Microsoft will pretty much have you covered for western RPG ( Playground, Obsidian, InExile, and Bethesda) and only one that comes close to quality of their games will be The Witcher series tbh. Plus, if Halo performs well then you will also have shooters covered, and Forza Horizon+ Motorsport are amazing racing games. I really think this move could have enough sway to attract playstation gamers because you have to remember Fallout and Elder scroll series move alot of units, and many grew up with both series, so will want to play games.
The thing is, it doesn’t even necessarily need to be a Xbox that these people would buy, subscribing to Game Pass would be enough already. I bet the gamers that don’t have a PC and only a PS5 will likely eventually choose to buy a Xbox if they really badly want the games. Those that do have a PC will absolutely choose to subscribe to GP.
I think they do also simply to at least make Sony think twice before they moneyhat anymore content.
Every time Sony do it, they should do it back. That doesn’t mean always buy a studio or moneyhat a 3rd exclusive. Could be as simple as grabbing the marketing rights for a big title back.
Sony tried to remove Xbox from the market this gen. I have no doubt about that.