But you’re bringing up strawman arguments nobody is making. Nobody, or at least lately, has said Xbox hardware is “going away.” And releasing games on PC is completely different from releasing games on other consoles. Hardcore PC players weren’t going to buy a console for a few games, but usually people choose to buy a single console for a given generation. Porting your exclusives to rival platforms devalues your hardware and gives someone less of an incentive to invest in your hardware and, thus, your ecosystem in large part. I’ll wait on the communication and see what they convey, but I can tell you as someone who usually buys one console each generation and then maybe gets a used one at the tail end of the generation to play exclusives I missed out on, I see myself having less of an incentive to get an Xbox console next generation.
I just want to see if this strategy works for them or it will blow to their face lol. Let’s see how all this will develop and how they handle inevitable backlash they will receive from Xbox diehards.
The real risk here is that the game underperforms sales wise.
It’s one thing to put their games on other systems but they need to at least be successful in order to make it worthwhile.
Even testing the waters with something ‘niche’ like Hi-Fi can be a double edged sword because when an Xbox exclusive fails to make a decent impression on the playerbase of rival consoles, there can be problems down the line for other titles. Just look at the recent Prince of Persia & its lukewarm reception despite rave reviews (or how Sony released Returnal on PC & it got middling sales). There’s a risk.
If they’re going to go console multiplat (& p*ss off Xbox diehards), then at least ‘go big’ straight off the bat with something like Forza Horizon or Gears 5. Aka something that would make a big impression on the Sony playerbase.
They should either go all in with the most broadly appealing titles with the biggest market reach, or not at all IMO.
Of course. A lot of this is hypothesizing and speculating what is going to happen. Nobody is stating definitively this is going to be terrible, but it’s easy to come up with more ways this could potentially hurt the brand/hardware than it helps. The one definitive though is that there will be backlash from a lot of the core userbase.
None of these moves are about the “hardcore” because the hardcore are a small % of the gaming audience.
Also, I’ve seen non-stop arguments about the main fear of “xbox leaves consoles” repeatedly in here for the past few weeks.
Just remember this image when you ask “which games!?!?!” Hi-Fi Rush and SoT are firmly in the far left
So Hellblade 2 on Playstation 5 confirmed, and Halo Infinite and FH5 too actually.
I think at this point it might be the best move, but just because after many bad moves, Xbox is doing worse numbers each year, and they just said they expect 2024 to be even worse than 2023.
Otherway this move would be absurd.
Also, who is going to make these ports? External contractors? Xbox studios have been taking an eternity to develop their games. Todd Howard said Starfield wouldn‘t have been out last September if it was multi-platform. This aspect would definitely not benefit us, the Xbox players.
Of course porting games to other platforms isn’t going to be for the “hardcore” users because it’ll do nothing but potentially disenchant them from the Xbox console. Losing the “hardcore” audience would be key though because they’re the ones that, proportionately, buy more games and generate more, per user, than casuals, which is why there are lots of reports about how on a per user basis, Xbox users generates more money than Playstation users.
I also think you’re seeing a minority opinion that gets sprinkled in here and there and taking it as the consensus. As someone who has read the entire thread and been following it, the large majority of comments aren’t making that claim.
Starfield would be out two years ago in a probably horrible state if it’s multiplatform.
Don’t forget that Bethesda had money problems pre acquisition.
After the ABK deal and the recent (what looks like a steady and fairly high quality) flow of 1st party games I was sure that the second half of the generation would’ve been much better for Xbox and end in a high note for the brand but IF (Nick’s fat IIIIIIIF) the last two rumors are true aka putting 1st party games on competitor’s platforms and going full on adorably digital in the middle of the generation all I’ll have to say is oh boy…this gen will probably not going to end in the way I hoped.
Personally I don’t see how a multiplat future for the platform will benefit me in any way as an Xbox owner/fan or the Xbox platform in general but I’ll grab some pop corn (most likely bitter) and watch this unfold because I can’t do anything else I suppose. 
I really don’t see the point of doing this, I think it’s the wrong move. If they tried a gen or something with this new first party org to see what that could do but it did nothing, then sure. But now? It’s like sitting down 100m before the finish line of a marathon.
I will not pretend to like it or defend it.
Maybe Microsoft knows about business but not about identity
They want to buy more publishers and will throw N and S the dryest of bones years after the fact to keep doing it.
Literally the only good reason.
If they want more players, add it to Game Pass core. If they want more money, release a Call of Duty MTX. Switch’s third party sales are awful and Sonys not exactly buying the things they’re supposed to.
Btw is this screenshot real ?
It’s actually closer to 100m at the start of a marathon than the end, they literally just bought these publishers and have barely released anything compared to what’s been announced and studios we know nothing about
They already were able to do a big State of Play with pretty much only 3rd party games, many of them exclusives.
Next step is the big brother, Playstation Showcase but only with 3rd party exclusive games
Yep, Phil said that in the Kinda Funny interview after the Redfall fiasco IIRC.
Just remember y’all, despite Microsoft being the most valuable company in the world, a lot of that happened due to their enterprise products, not consumer products. They messed up a lot on the consumer side, the total opposite of Apple, so even their bean counters ain’t omnipotent on business strategies or market assessments and such.