Microsoft have never understood consumers. It’s honestly a minor miracle that Xbox still exists.
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I believe it’s a play to set themselves up for more acquisitions with less regulatory hurdles, making Game Pass even bigger, while they continue increasing Game Pass availability and improving cloud streaming to catch more subs over time.
I fully believe Satya and Phil know where gaming is headed and have for a long time. I’m sure Satya just wants to get on with the next phase, where the way Series X/S have performed probably make that easier for him to push on.
MS admitted to this themselves in documents leaked during the FTC trial. Games upon release will top the chart, nothing surprising, but they will have a much shortened lifespan. Halo Infinite didn’t even make the US NPD/Circana top 20 of 2021. Halo 3 was #5 back in 2007, Halo Reach #3 in 2010.
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Anyway, there’s really still time to recover this. Things leaking is giving them almost a time travel into the future to see the reaction. The damage still hasn’t been done, not fully at least… can still hit reverse.
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It depends. The average gamer will spend most of his time on F2P games and buy 2-3 games a year at most. When you consider that paying Gamepass is actually cheaper and nets you a lot more games for your hard earned money, it could be a compelling offer to be honest.
Like I know I won’t be switching over to PS5, and if I made the move to PC only, I’d still be doing almost 90% of my gaming on the Xbox App thanks to Gamepass.
There are just way too many games available right now to be honest and too little time, and so much quality free to play that a lot of people have just stopped buying software altogether, something the newer generation does more and more as time goes by.
And look at music sales and movie sales and how subscription has completely taken over. Once again, I think it’s MS knowing about those trends and making the right moves, except they are most likely at least 10 years too early when it comes to the gaming landscape.
So my guess is that they are hoping for 15-20 million install base with the upcoming consoles in order to keep hardware relevant long term.
I also wonder if they were able to negotiate lower fees with Sony. As for the PC strategy, one now has to wonder: does this open the door for a Steam purchase down the line? We all know PC Gamepass isn’t as popular as console Gamepass, but Steam Gamepass would literally print money and ways unheard of! If MS hopes to make PC Gamepass break the Internet, the need to buy Steam, and maybe the move is what brings them closer to that.
I’m fucking mad at them and I was one who really trusted MS and liked the openess of their software startegies overall, and I am too much invested in their ecosystem to jump ship, and I just plain hate Sony and they’ll never get a dime from me since I left them after the PS3. So all I can do right now is keep buying the hardware and renew my Gamepass Ultimate subscription and see what happens!
Cloud streaming and a presumption that PS or Nintendo will allow gamepass on their console is not the foundation you build a strategy on.
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I was attached to Xbox, not this MS Gaming monster which is killing Xbox itself and it can also destroy their plans if they are not careful, console is still 70% of their business in gaming.
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We’re going insane if Xbox doesn’t tell us anything by tomorrow
What if they dont say anything at all 
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I would’t put it past over them. It’s not like Xbox was ever good at communication.
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I fully expect Xbox to be quiet about this until they release the Hi-Fi Rush trailer and then make a Xbox Wire post with catchphrases like “when we all play we all win” and completely ignore the controversy.
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If that spring statement rumour is true and they allow this to fester for another few months…
That may or may not be what’s going on. But we can’t seriously pretend that the difference between Halo in 2007 and Halo in 2021 comes down to GamePass and nothing else.
Like not a vastly less popular hardware base… Basically two franchise reboots in three games and a shooter scene that’s moved onto a completely style of game?
It’s not GamePass’ fault that Halo isn’t a cultural phenomenon anymore. It’s Microsoft, 343 and time turning a legendary franchise into a great to good release every five-ish years in a really competitive genre.
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The bad hardware performance is because of their decisions and lack of trying on a global level though, I beat this dead horse too much already but they increased the Series S price in Brazil to be as expensive as the PS5, and that was just an insane decision.
They don’t even try in Europe while Nintendo and Sony, far smaller companies actually have put in the effort and have found success in that region because of it…
I’m not sure I trust this company to “know where gaming is headed for a long time” because not that long ago they were literally advertising Xcloud by essentially telling people “hey you don’t need an Xbox for this” the only console manufacturer I’ve seen telling potential users NOT to buy their product lol… I don’t trust this company to have a clue about where gaming is headed.
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I mean, it can’t get that much worse. If the rumour is true the hardware already has it’s days counted.
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Rather they rip the plaster off now
Honestly, I’m already over it, I’m here for the meltdown because it’s entertaining. I’m attached to the brand, but I’m no deluded fan, I already took a pause from Xbox between 2013 and 2018 because I didn’t like their X1 plans, but X1X reinvigorated my attachment to the brand. Now, if they think to make everything I cared about Xbox worthless, so be it, they’ll get less and less money from me and that’s all they care about, so it’s my way to answer their change of direction.
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Do they need it to be on PS or Nintendo when there is option on devices that many consumers already have with their TV, laptop or phone?
If Microsoft gobbles up enough IP/content it’s going to become harder and harder for people to ignore.
Satya and Phil both said they weren’t done after ABK. And if all this recent news is true then they just knocked down some of the biggest concerns regulators had.
Yeah, I’m a Xbox fan but I’m no cultist. I was a fan of their 2018 vision, but at this point that vision is completely gone, and if this continues, so will Xbox. It looks like the goal is to make Microsoft Gaming a Tencent 2.0.
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I mean hasnt that been a option for a while… and it hasn’t resulted in any substantial growth.