The FTC case proved the difference between getting labelled monopolistic versus ‘okay’ is very a very narrow margin, i.e. a margin of a few games. Redfall was used against MS in court as evidence they were gatekeeping content after acquisitions. Honestly, Redfall could have been multiplatform considering the needle it didn’t shift (in fact one could argue it actually hurt Xbox as an exclusive due to the fact ‘exclusives’ are held to a higher standard).
The point I’m making is after the last week or so (i.e. from the huge “all multiplatform” leak to now, i.e. where’s there’s a bit of backtracking) I think everyone is going to be disappointed if they want absolute clarity from MS regarding the multiplat versus exclusive release schedule. It’ll be a case by case basis with enough bones thrown at competitors to make further acquisitions possible.
I’m now somewhat certain of that. All of this entire discussion comes down to the Activision trial & the charges levelled against Xbox for potentially putting content in a walled garden. It’s about politics. They’re navigating that minefield, i.e. a giant grey area with lots of different interpretations on purpose.
So yeah, I mentioned this weeks ago but IMO it could simple be a case of people having short memories & forgetting the political impact of the acquisitions. Something I’m certain of though is PlayStation 5 owners (or guys who sold their Series X over the last few days & bought a PS5 because they think all the games are going multiplat lol) are going to have a very frustrating time if they want definitive answers & time tables.
And I’m fine with that. And the end of the day if someone wants to be absolutely certain they’re getting all the Xbox content, then buy an Xbox or play on PC. It’s the only way to be sure.
The Dreamcast died because Sega’s messaging was terrible (seriously who remembers the crazy ads?) and because the third party support dried up (big publishers like EA started to skip the platform).
I’m old enough to remember this.
There are quite a few similarities actually: The Dreamcast was also the console that came after the Saturn, which in comparison to Mega Drive, failed to capture marketshare. Just like the Xbox One compared to the 360.
In reality it could go either way for Xbox. They could drop console hardware and would probably be fine, after all the user base on Nintendo, Sony and PC would make up for it entirely or they could pull a Nintendo and offer a console with a unique, exclusive, selling point. Something that could be for all types of players.
Tbh Nintendo was kept afloat with their successful handheld business for years after they created their own worst enemy with PlayStation. Their consoles after the SNES weren’t huge sellers but then came the Wii.
Here’s why I think this wouldn’t work for Xbox: Nintendo had exclusive IPs that weren’t available anywhere else, with decades of history.
Overall Microsoft’s messaging for the Xbox brand has been terrible for a decade. Speaking from a view as a customer in mainland Europe I think the brand is tarnished and beyond saving.
An entire rebranding for certain regions would be the best at this point and it would also probably sell better, if the console was decoupled from the name Microsoft. What can I say…we Europeans really don’t like this company.
To sum it up: I really don’t know how they could possibly save the console.
A Modern PC that can play the latest games comes in at less that $500 right? And if it was true about consoles hitting their ceiling why is it rumoured that MS is looking to put its games on non-Xbox consoles?
XBox is unified with PC, Cloud and XBox console So I’m at a loss for your point, sorry.
I think the basic issue is the Series X hasn’t sold anywhere near Xbox expectations The likes of Starfield didn’t make people rush out and buy the game or an Xbox console in the numbers Xbox hoped so now have hit the panic button
I think the problem comes back to PR. In the run-up for Christmas I saw both PlayStation and Nintendo adverts even with SONY pushing Call Of Duty and nothing at all from XBox not even a single StarField TV advert
In the 360 days you saw a strong advertising campaign Xbox doing deals with games like Call Of Duty GTA for exclusive content Since MS took the ABK deal to court it was like the Series X didn’t exist to them no push and no stock in shops while SONY brought out new models and had a price cut and saw sales take off even more.
I’m not sure what my post has got to do with people selling their Xbox’s?
It was about Xbox taking legal action against these ‘insiders’ which have damaged the brand (which they have).
I think @Vonterribad is right that both Nintendo and PS would not have let things get as bad as they have.
Cease and desist letters would have been sent within days.
However I have been considering selling both my Xbox and PS before all this drama to go back to PC. I think I even made posts on this forum or on the podcast back in November/December (maybe even before that).
Again, Xbox makes a ton of money from 3rd party games and DLC that their own game sales sold on other machines will barely make up for. Add peripherals to that.
There’s a reason why Xbox has better profit margins than PlayStation and makes more money per Xbox owner.
I also thought Game Pass would be it but in the end I’ve got the same choice paralyses as I do with video streaming services. Too much choice for me and in the end I spend more time to think what I should play than actually playing games.
My backlog is already too big so I don’t really need Game Pass (or any other subscription). The exception would probably be Nintendo online, just because I want to revisit older games from my childhood for nostalgic reasons from time to time. Currently replaying the original Donkey Kong Country trilogy for example.
Overall I also don’t think that MS first party day one releases are enough for me to warrant the subscription price. Last year I happily supported Tango by buying Hi-Fi Rush and I bought Forza Motorsport on Steam, which turned out to be a mistake.
Even if they put Activision games into Game Pass…I already own all of those I’m interested in: Sekiro, Crash and Spyro. Never have I played Call of Duty and I’m never going to.
I get that but third parties don’t care about that at all. They’re going to took at the shrinking user base and after some time they are going to skip Xbox as plattform.
You simply can’t sell a console without exclusive content. Microsoft are so fixated on the fact that PS players aren’t going to switch platforms that they’re forgetting how to get new customers into their ecosystem on console. Again, it’s like they completely defunded the marketing department for some reason.
During last holiday I got tons of PlayStation and Quest 3 ads and the few Xbox ads in between were basically telling people to not buy the console, because it wasn’t required to play Starfield.
Now with Activision and the additional revenue it should be possible to invest in more exclusive first and third party content but it doesn’t seem like that’s even an option anymore.
If Xbox fails to give a clear message next week and at the same time releases their games on other platforms, the console is dead. Not today, maybe not tomorrow but definitely in the not so distant future.
A few days ago we talked about how it might be good if Xbox makes a PC disguised as Xbox. Someone mentioned the pros of it and it sure sounded good. But what would be the cons and why hasn’t MS gone this route yet?
I don’t remember the specific posts, but lots of people suggesting the PC approach expect it to run games outside if Windows Store (allow Steam for instance), which means they’d basically be giving up the benefits of being a platform holder.
If they still required Windows Store then companies would still have to ‘port’ their games to use Windows Store/Xbox features (like achievements, match making, etc.) and that might limit the games that make it over. I don’t really know how much work it is now, but you see how Windows Store doesn’t get most games now (though with Xbox using it, the consumer base would shoot up).
Hopefully this is true. Would be nice if Phil did that. I am sure tons of employees are still very passionate about the Xbox hardware, maybe people who’ve been there since the very first one. I stick by what I said before, I don’t think this is a Phil Spencer thing/issue.
Thanks you two
That does sound like the console approach is still the best one for them. Seems that the cons definitely outweigh the pros.
Im wondering if MS have let this rumour fester so when they announce its complete and utter bollocks the more erm “emotional” fans will jump all over how amazing that news is, how wonderful MS really are after all…
When I say unified, I’m mean like Steam. Instead of the windows store have the Xbox store replace it, this way all your library moves over since it’s still the same store. The idea of the unifying comes with those that use the stores differently for example those on PC with no Xbox will still get the chance to be integrated and play their games on console if they want. Right now, you have Play Anywhere but it is only for first party and a few games while with Steam the Deck can handle almost everything depending on the specs.
When I say console ceiling pretty much just talking about relevancy. The 200 million console market is not growing and now we’re seeing sales slashed and less console buying with huge drops.
