Yeah, that would probably work better in that scenario where a playstation store will give you access to playstation store, and same with Microsoft, Nintendo, Steam, etc. I think that would be a healthy path for the industry and make same thing happen with mobile. I feel that could create some healthy competition for the consumers.
The consoles would cost more but I’d rather pay more for one piece of plastic than buy 3 pieces of plastic.
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That would be great for the consumer as it eliminates the console competition however that will start a third party competition which I doubt would be favorable for the publishers, This however is something I think might need to come from the regulators.
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On the question I do wonder though. With ABK games the streaming license is with Ubisoft meaning any game released could be streamed to the PlayStation and Switch if they get Ubisoft to license it.
been thinking about it over the weekend after seeing all the outrage and honestly don’t really see an issue with it, hell I think the industry should look to doing this more.
I’ll explain, firstly with a long question.
How many of us here in this forum and and further beyond are between 30 - 50? guessing quite a few.
How many generations of consoles do we all think fondly of? (not exclusively xbox), again, guessing quite a few.
Now how many of those consoles have games that are still exclusive to those platforms in 2024 that are either expensive or difficult to access / play?
This is the question and guessing again for a third time, quite, a, few.
Those games you think fondly of are FUCKING WORTHLESS for the platform holders of today Nobody is playing them Nobody is buying them Every year that goes by they inch closer to irrelevance due to no modern port.
All of those games were once also touted as value for the platforms they were on because they were only on those platforms.
What i’m trying to say in a very long winded way is a game only truly provides and holds value for it’s platform in the short term.
Nobody is buying an Xbox today to play Ori, Pentiment, Grounded or SOD2, their buying them for Hell blade or PD or fable.
In 2 years time nobody will be buying an Xbox for Hellblade, they’ll be buying one for Gears or Blade instead.
Same with PlayStation in regards to Demon souls, Returnal or even R&C, their buying them for FIFA, COD and Wolverine.
I’m sure people will reply saying but then people will just wait, yea they will for years, for a port of a game that may never come. Rest of us will have played the game, finished it, uninstalled and siting metaphorical dust on our digital shelves.
With the only evidence that it was played at all being the achievements gained after scrolling for 10 mins.
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Might as well just get regulators to force a universal format like in all other entertainment. Your library need not disappear but carry over.
But that the thing isn’t it, imagine if their were exclusive shows or channels to tv sets or certain DVDs could only work on Sony branded models, it would be disastrous.
The only comparative to the gaming industry with it’s exclusivity argument or streaming services, but even then how many people are signing up to Netflix now to watch shows from 2 - 3 years ago.
Those shows, just like in games are great for list wars but little else.
As with everything else, it really depends on the person. If you were someone who couldn’t afford to get a Series or PS5 initially, you might be looking at the totality of what’s available and making your decision based off of that. Maybe Halo Infinite has been a gleam in your eye for the last 4 years along with FH5 for example.
To me, that’s why Gamepass is such a draw. It allows someone to “catch up” on all the 1st party content they’ve missed without having to spend hundreds of dollars. I’m not sure a few Ori’s or HFR’s being on another platform would sway me in that regard, but everyone is obviously different.
Having said all of that, I would love to be able to just buy one box and play everything on it. The console war nonsense is beyond tedious and at the end of the day, I just want to play games.
Maybe that’s what needs to happen but like I said you need regulators to push this. I would like to know I’m buying just one really powerful console that plays everything and has all my library. Maybe at the end of the day that is what Microsoft is pushing.
Whilst what you is completely true, i’d question the amount of people that would be doing this.
Most that join into a generation 4+ years in (not all mind you, I have been and am one of the exceptions) are not buying the back catalogue, hell they’re not buying exclusives, they’re getting a cheap slim model and playing Cod or Fortnight twice a week.
Which is why I don’t see where any of the intrinsic value is lost with regards to old exclusives. As someone how enjoyed Yoshi’s crafted World or Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (switch launch titles, kind of) if the PS crowd got to play them tomorrow I wouldn’t care, I’ve played, finished and shelved both for years now, will most likely never touch ever again and be relegated to memory.
Yeah, I can’t imagine the number to be very high. It’s anecdotal evidence, but a friend of mine finally bought a Series X and he did so to play Diablo and Starfield. He had no idea ABK was under MS and he has no idea what HFR is, nor would he be interested.
I would contend that the average gamer has no idea what’s happening in the industry and they will buy whatever they already had or whatever everyone else is buying in order to play the few games they’re interested in.
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No it doesn’t, haha. I like the guy a lot but he’s all in on “they need to market the way I think” and whenever they don’t he gets really upset lately. He’s one person, a well-regarded but still small internet celebrity who does great graphic design work on social media. In the grand scheme, almost everyone in our bubble is a “minor” influence on the casual/mass market.
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I don’t think he is particularly wrong, especially if the rumors turn out to be true.
This isn’t about ‘list wars’. I own every console and a gaming PC, I’m good. However, I do agree with Klobrille that porting once exclusive games to rival platforms does devalue the ecosystem. If you are giving potential customers reasons to remain on the competitors platform, you are not going to grow the ecosystem, which in turn gives third parties a reason to ignore it. This in turn effects me as someone who prefers to play everything on Xbox.
The strange thing (if this rumor is true), is I felt the Xbox strategy on exclusives was crystal clear.
Based on past statements:
- GaaS titles with a heavy multiplayer focus would be multiplatform
- Legacy titles (including remasters) would be multiplatform
- Everything else would be exclusive to platforms where Game Pass exists
So if they are porting Hi-Fi Rush to Switch, without Game Pass, then the once crystal clear strategy isn’t so crystal clear.
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I don’t really agree with this. Xbox Series is selling at a slower pace than the Xbox One, yet their 3rd party support has never been better. It also ignores the reality that Xbox gamers on average buy more games. It also ignores the draw that is Gamepass, especially for the smaller 3rd parties. So, despite selling half the amount of consoles, their users are more invested in spending on 3rd party and Gamepass.
If porting Ori and HFR to the Switch stops a Switch user from buying an Xbox, I think it’s safe to say that they were never interested in getting one in the first place.
If MS starts porting their bigger titles to Playstation or starts porting everything to the Switch, I think we could have a serious discussion about this, but I don’t think that would ever happen. So, to me, this whole situation feels like it’s been blown way out of proportion, especially since as of this moment, it’s still just a rumor.
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one game wont convince someone to go to xbox but a big library of high scoring games will. I always go back to shadow of the colosus and ico. nobody is buying those games so maybe sony could release them on other platforms but it adds to the warchest of games sony has. xbox is building that war chest and then taking a heavy hitter like hi fi makes is less effective and less attractive
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I don’t disagree with some of your points, but let’s be honest, how much of the current support would be there if it wasn’t for the ‘Game Pass bag’? Do you believe that Sega ports the Persona games to the Xbox platform without Microsoft forking over millions for the Game Pass drop?
It’s easy to make the decision to port your games to a smaller install base, when said platform holder is willing to fund the development costs to port the game.
In the end, does it matter? The games are there and if they sell well alongside being in Gamepass, wouldn’t that motivate them to keep putting their games onto the system?
HFR might be a critical success, but was it a sales success? I honestly don’t have the numbers, but I don’t remember seeing a significant bump to console sales after its release.
With as many studios as Xbox now has and with all of the games that will be released not just this year but in the future, is anyone really worried about the odd game here and there going elsewhere? If Xbox has a multitude of “bangers” being released and stockpiled, are potential customers going to look at all of that and say “yeah, but HFR…”. I just don’t see it. Maybe I’m a fool and I’m missing something, but if you’re going to give one game this much traction in one way, shouldn’t several, if not dozens of other games be given equal traction in the opposite direction?
Anyway, I have no idea what is going to happen and I have no idea what people will or won’t do, so I’ll just stop.
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We saw this whole song and dance during the Xbox 360 generation. The 360 had tremendous support, including Japan. It was there until the funding stopped.
I’m not saying that Microsoft will stop funding these ports through Game Pass, but when you now own some of the biggest titles (COD, Diablo, etc.) do you really need to continue to spend millions to secure the next Persona, Like A Dragon, etc.? The answer is probably not.
Then again, maybe Microsoft continues to lock up big third party content for Game Pass to compliment their own first party studios. Only time will tell.
Also, just to add, I actually believe contrary to what Microsoft said to the FTC/CMA, that Microsoft doesn’t consider Nintendo a direct competitor to the Xbox brand. This is likely why Microsoft would be comfortable in allowing Hi-Fi: Rush (or future titles) on Switch/Switch 2.
The tinfoil hat theory would be they allowed the PS5 to have As Dusk Falls (a less desirable game than Hi-Fi: Rush), so as not to appear as favoring/excluding one over the other. 
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Xbox won’t be going 3rd party if they buy Nintendo
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I actually think many would go with Gamepass like you suggest the problem to me is bandwidth and the means of getting it. The console crowd would probably as you see not agree but that 3billion plus gamers out there that are not on console but on Mobile and PC would probably welcome it. However how do you get games to that many at nextgen fidelity. Streaming would be one, but as we can see with long queues forming already getting to stream to over 100million is a problem not to think of a billion. This pushes Xbox to partner with all these devices out there only catch again is you don’t have that many that can do this current gen. There aren’t that many ROG, Legion Go or Steam Deck to match Switch numbers. In the end.