Sorry, but don’t agree. Xbox and Nintendo are ruthless when it comes to dropping IP that doesn’t sell or meet their expectations and that has been the case since the OG XBox Rallisport 2, Crimson Skies, Brute Force, and Mech Assault 2, BLiNX 2 dropped along with the likes of Sudeki which was meant to be part of a trilogy.
On the 360 Kameo 2 dropped due to poor sales, Shadowrun didn’t sell and XBox sold the studio. Alan Wake didn’t meet with XBox sales hopes MS turned down Alan Wake 2 Amped 2 doesn’t sell great Xbox gets rid of the studio.
On the XBox One Recore doesn’t sell and that’s the end of the IP. Quantum Break doesn’t sell like XBox hoped so closed ties with Remedy
Sea Of Thieves performance was good right at the start with XBox PR saying that the game had over 5 million players in Aug 2018 just months after the game launched.
Your examples are decade old. Please consider that the current team is making better efforts in gaming sustainability.
Recore is your most recent example. The game was poorly received, still it got a Definite version after that. It made the game much better. The IP was dropped because the game was not made internally.
Quantum Break did not break relations between Remedy and Xbox. They made the single player component of a multiplayer FPS last year (that was one of the lowest rated game on the platform).
Recore or Quantum Break are not decades old CrossFire X was dropped mere months after it shipped which I wasn’t happy with after paying for the extra single-player content.
It’s not a major dig at Nintendo or Microsoft. They have huge cash servers and make billions for a good reason.
CrossfireX had its publishing dropped by MS before release for unfortunately obvious reasons. Final game was launched by Smilegate.
But yeah, I think this debate boils down to supporting ongoing games vs supporting IP. Xbox is pretty damn great at the former. Even games with limited playerbases like Bleeding Edge get minimum a year of updates and the servers stay open for eons.
If we’re going to start trashing Xbox because of a perceived “failure to capitalize on old IP”, I’m pretty sure that you can levy that accusation equally amongst all the publishers with 20+ year histories… Or did I miss something and we’re still getting Jak games or Syphon Filter, SOCOM, or the bevy of other IP Sony has let rot in a drawer? Same as Xbox and the same as Nintendo - they ditched Kid Icarus again after the first game in years failed to set the world on fire, and there are plenty of us still waiting for an actual F-Zero sequel… or Star Fox…. Or a bevy of other IP.
Then you start looking at Activision, Capcom, and Sega alone and you can easily make the same accusation. The reality is, and I know some of you don’t want to hear this, most of those old IP don’t have a place in today’s world enough to justify putting dozens of millions into them. We know this because for every revival that has succeeded, there have been ten more that didn’t - the 360 has a bevy of titles to prove that very thing (Bionic Commando ring any bells for those of us who played the OG?)
I’m not saying it’s not right to wish for some of those IP to come back, or even that Xbox is bad at being good stewards of old IP (hell, Phil literally told us that recently in an interview), I just vehemently disagree with the claim that they’re the only ones that aren’t doing great on that front - it’s an easily verifiable fact that all of them are. Hell, I even mentioned bringing Onimusha back now that the show has been released, but that’s just a single Capcom IP that’s been dormant for more than a decade now.
It all just points to moving goal posts and treating Xbox differently then other gaming companies.
Seems Xbox has to be perfect 100% of the time to even be ALLOWED by the media and Sony fans to exists but Sony can rot in shit and everyone thinks it’s ok.
Man, I really just want a Bionic Commando sequel that looks and plays exactly like the original. To a stranger point, I would love for someone to create a new 8-bit console so small developers could make true 8-bit games again. It would never happen, but a man can dream.
On a more serious note, I often do tend to enjoy playing new 8-16 bit indie games more than AAA “Bangers” these days. To tie this into the topic at hand, I think these games more often than not will get overlooked by the general gaming populace and will get discounted by the gaming media as not being “real games” worthy of the same consideration a 100+ million dollar game will.
I think that outlook is silly because a good game is a good game regardless of budget , genre and platform.
There is no need to complain. Bias is part of the human experience and currently Sony dictates the music tempo for many reasons, including the fact that they release the right games with good reviews at the correct time and consistently.
Xbox being the 2nd and not having this faith from the public has to work harder. This is true, go with it or do not go.
You brought up Crossfire. Tbh I was just making the point Sea Of Thieves isn’t a good example of Xbox sticking with an IP since it didn’t underperform. I would imagine if anything it overpromised and did far better than Rare or XBox could have hoped
SONY Xbox and Nintendo are not better or no worse than each other for supporting IP that doesn’t meet their sales expectations.
I enjoyed Motrostorm 3 and Drive but SONY didn’t like the sales and killed the studio and still hoping one day Nintendo will go back to Pilotwings LOL
You can still have expectations of the media though, even if the overall public is driven by emotion. Media should be doing their best to be impartial.
The “they just need to work harder and it will change” narrative is false. It’s not going to change for a few reasons. Sorry but Sony games aren’t perfect either, look at Spider Man and the pass it got despite all the bugs. Xbox released more games than Sony’s first party and other than Redfall they’ve all been Solid to great.
The gaming press dropped hit piece after hit piece on Starfield for months leading up to it’s release and are still dropping hit pieces. on one hand it’s because that kind of console war baiting bullshit gets clicks, on the other they are angry at xbox for continuing to exist rather than fading away last gen like they wanted. It seemed like they were getting their wish around 2016-17ish before the tide turned.
Most reviews are on Playstation because that is what they prefer. They’re used to getting all their games there and dislike the idea that PS won’t have every big game they want. Only way this changes is for the gaming media to continue sinking into irrelevancy which it is.
Who needs a review when Gamepass exists and you can download a game and try it yourself , one of the reasons they continue to demonize the service I’m sure.
