Not really that many people are complaining about the podcast format, but I agree it’s the best way to convey this information. That said, as far as I’m aware, the podcast is pre-recorded and it’s not going to be a live podcast where questions get sent in. It’s going to be the Xbox leadership team with, most likely, Jeff Rubenstein and/or Tina Amini reading pre-scripted questions, to which they will receive pre-scripted answers. Regardless of the format, anything said is going to be combed over with a fine-tooth comb and, as @Freed said, the only thing that matters is what’s communicated and how clearly it is done so.
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Do you guys think Xbox would be facing this paradigm shift if they hadnt successfully bought ABK? I have my reservations.
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If they could present some PS/Nintendo games, or that they will be, coming to Xbox to show us that their vision of the future is shared by the other players in the industry, I would feel comfortable with Xbox.
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imo ABK didn’t do a thing about whatever is happening on Thursday.
if the MS suits really wanted to see ABK’s impact they would have waited to end this gen and see where they’re at maybe 2 years after the start of next gen. I don’t think anybody really expected the ABK purchase to make a distinct impact right away?
This did seem to start around the time the Activision deal closed and I don’t think that is a coincidence. I think after spending 70 billion dollars to buy one of the biggest gaming publishers anyone would be thinking about how to best take advantage of both this and their existing assets moving forward even if it means some changes. Xbox is in a fairly unique position so far as companies in the gaming industry go - it only makes sense that their path forward is gonna be unique too.
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I kinda agree. I ve read some interesting theories regarding ABK being too big to be limited to just one console with modest installed base (apart from PC and mobile) and how it wouldnt be financially viable.
I 100% get you.
I honestly don’t think it would have mattered much, console sales would still have been the same too. But maybe I’m missing the point. I probably am. I do wonder why quite a few people think this.
Dude, I’d love that. A very nice trade off but I just can’t see it being the case. There is no need for Sony to do that at all, and even more so for Nintendo with how amazing they are going. Both probably are like “wachu mean a trade? Are you serious?” at Xbox, basically meaning it’s only Xbox doing this shit.
I’d love for there to be surprises, pleasant surprises.
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Yeah I don’t think it’s likely. But that’s what it would take for me to be onboard fully, I don’t mind other consoles getting better, I just don’t see any good coming from Xbox being the only ones.
As for what I think they will actually say on Thursday… Well, I expect a lot of “when everyone plays we all win”, “gamers everywhere” etc. A lot of meaningless platitudes and corpo speech in other words. I no longer have any illusions about these suits being anything but suits and they’ll say whatever fits the situation but mean very little of it and it’ll all change whenever they feel like it.
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I’ve been trying to not say much on this thread, as I simply just don’t care as much about it as other people do, and I’ll keep buying games from Xbox either way. There’s no way I’ll ever buy a PS, and I sold the one I won from Taco Bell (I do have a PS classic that I bought for $20, but haven’t opened it).
That said, I really don’t mind if they do stuff with Nintendo and it would be nice to see some return love. It would be awesome if the business update shows some collaboration with Nintendo to release certain things in both places. Microsoft has been clear that they plan to do more with Activision games for that platform, and maybe they got Nintendo to offer to play nice in return.
I can’t see them having an event that doesn’t have some good news, and I could see the delay in response being from needing to be able to coordinate with an external partner on messaging.
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Yeah, I’m sure they will throw us some bones. I have no idea what that could be though.
Maybe ABK back catalogue coming to GP or something.
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I thought there was going to be a day between Nintendo Direct and Xbox Podcast but it looks like Direct will not be tomorrow. I guess Direct at sometime early like 10-12AM ET and then Xbox Podcast at 3PM ET to explain.
Maybe it’ll be some ABK back catalog games coming to GP, but I think the bones will be a commitment to future hardware. When they call this a business update, I get the feeling it is genuinely just going to be that, where the leadership team talks about the future direction of Xbox, not necessarily a trade-off of sorts.
If Playstation and Nintendo had games (other than those contractually obligated to) coming to Xbox and each other, that would definitely quell almost every fear people have with this move/these rumors, but I honestly think that’s a pipe dream. It also would be something I think Nintendo and Playstation would announce, although I fully expect Nintendo to announce Hi-Fi Rush in the Direct before this podcast.
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“Xbox Business Update”
Still no one knows who is meant here? Hopes it’s more focusing on Xbox customers, otherwise it should have a different name.
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Another crazy theory I read: Xbox games will be multiplatform but will release on either Playstation or Switch, not both. That way, if you want all Xbox games you have to have a Xbox (or Switch and Playstation?).
For example, next Spyro game is rumored to release on Xbox and Switch, but not on Playstation. Is this going to somehow trigger PS fans? 
What do you make of this theory?
It’s an update about the future of the Xbox business, it’s not that deep.
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ABK just accelerated them down the path they were heading. There are multiple instances of Satya saying he wants to do with gaming what he did with Office - put it everywhere. And he also said after ABK closed they will double down as a game producer and publisher.
What they’re doing has been in planning for many months.
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It doesn’t make sense honestly. Porting games to just Nintendo would be better received by Xbox fans, but Microsoft doesn’t really give a shit about how the Xbox fans feel and they want to line their pockets. If they’re going to go third party with some of their games, they’re obviously doing it to make more money and the most money would be obtained by porting games to both Nintendo and Playstation.
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If the rumours are true I hope it will be the first move to exclusives not being a thing on the high powered consoles. Having platforms with very similar hardware required for certain games is such a dumb idea from a customer point of view, it’s like if HD dvd survived and people had to buy a HD dvd and a blu ray player in order to play all movies.
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Probably will be both Hi-Fi Rush and Pentiment at the Direct if I had to guess.
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