I am one of the biggest Xbox defenders and supporters, but 2020 and 2021 were nothing to brag about. I honestly can’t remember what we got in 2020. Bleeding Edge? Last year was Forza Horizon 5 which is pretty much FH4 with a new map, while good, still very much the same. We also saw a delayed/rushed?? Halo Infinite, which I actually like and play frequently, but has been generally accepted has half done and lacking on several fronts. Was Ori 2020? I know they had Flight sim and AOF4, but Flight Sim took a year to get to Xbox and has never had a presence or fanbase there, and AOE4 could be another year or so away. I also don’t count anything released as a multiplat or Grounded as the full game is not out yet. Anyway, I get where the frustration is coming from. Xbox has been asking us to wait for years and promising the world. The acquisitions are nice, but none of them have actually given us any results yet. I think we can all see they are trying to address their weaknesses and the future is indeed promising, but that future is still a few years away and with the delays it feels like it is getting farther rather than closer. I can understand you are looking on the bright side and thinking about what the moves they are currently making and what is to come, but for most people I see including myself to a degree, that doesn’t solve the issues right now. I wasn’t even interested in Starfield or Redfall, but even I can understand that was a blow to the year. Let’s hope Xbox has some surprises and gamepass deals to wow us with, but I think for most of us even if the showcase next month is stellar we know these games are years away still. It does feel like Xbox has always had trouble managing thier studios and getting games to hit release dates on time, so maybe Shin has a point that while focusing on growing they should also focusing on getting the best from what they currently have. It does not hurt to have both as a focus point and Phil even said as much that they have to do better. Will they? who knows, but even they admit there is work to be done on the management front.
I guess my point is I can see both sides, they may be doing enough to keep you and other gamers satisfied and the future looks bright, but I know for a lot of others they have been waiting a while for something big and have not seen that yet. They have more studios than ever before, but the game output has not matched that yet. The last few years have improved, but still have either been small, incomplete, or mainly PC games. Before any other acquisitions after ABK I agree with Shin that they need to focus on what they have and making sure those studios are firing on all cylinders releasing quality games regularly. Here is hoping 2023 is the end of this almost generation old debate and puts it to bed forever, but I can see how some are losing patience with the brand.
“Flight Simulator doesn’t have a presence’… despite being the most played game in March across console and cloud. The rest reads like some OtherSite nonsense. The moment someone says that none of the 2018 acquisitions have produced anything despite all the studios having done that very thing, minus Compulsion and The Initiative. There are plenty more holes to poke in this (there were 11 XGS published titles in 2020, and several updates for Series consoles, for starters). If that’s not a troll post, then I think people really need to deflate their egos to remember that you are not analogous to the community; just because something doesn’t appeal to you, or that you don’t remember doesn’t mean that applies to the millions of others that run contradictory to that logic.
Anyways, whatever group got together to start running off-topic doompost brigades, know that the patterns only help for moderation.
I mean, no I wouldn’t count any of those games as full on Xbox first party when they were already in development, we were already getting them, and most were already announced. Sure it’s nice that they are in gamepass, but I feel the game pass deal for MLB the Show may be nicer because it was something Xbox was missing (and I don’t care for baseball). Let’s not act like they were all full fledged Xbox made day 1 games either. There are still two “XGS” games that we have yet to see on Xbox. I understand there was a deal in place, but no you can’t count them as Xbox games if you can’t play them on Xbox yet (same applies to the PC first games that take a year or so to come to console). Avowed, Hell Blade 2, Fable, Perfect Dark those seem to be what people are excited about because they will be 100% made from the start to take full advantage of the Xbox platform, funding, and resources, made to be as big as they want them to be. When those games start releasing/releasing often is when in my opinion we as Xbox gamers will start seeing a huge return on the acquisitions. You can have your own and that is great!
I do apologize for that, I thought we were in the general Xbox thread, I didn’t mean to add to derailing the Acquisitions thread. Also I never said the 2018 acquisitions haven’t released anything. I clearly listed FH5, Bleeding Edge, and Grounded, I am pretty certain we would have gotten FH5 regardless of an acquisition and many of the other games haven’t been huge needle movers compared to the hype for Avowed, Fable and Hellblade 2. I really don’t mean to argue with you either, just wanted to try and explain why some people feel bummed out about Xbox this year. I’ll speak my piece and won’t derail any further. No Flight Sim has never had a presence on Xbox until a few months ago meaning it has never been on there and doesn’t have an existing fanbase that have played it and I don’t recall a huge number of Xbox gamers being excited about it as it is a niche type of game. Plus it wouldn’t count as being under an Xbox acquired studio. I am trying not to bash games as being good or bad or mention games that I didn’t care for as I know there are people out there who probably will since we all have different tastes. Shin made a point or a joke about focusing on games instead of more acquisitions and I thought it was funny and had valid reasoning behind it. You responded with guess you forgot about all of these games in 2020 and 2021 like those have been killer years for the Xbox console when they haven’t been in my and a lot of others opinions. Better? Yes, but not great. I am glad if you and Jesse have been enjoying the past few years I really am. I am glad there are a variety of games big and small for everyone. I just know there are people that aren’t satisfied and who want more from Xbox and even though you may be happy with what they have currently doesn’t mean everyone is. It seemed to me like you were being a bit hostile putting down that statement by Shin and others as being less valid or “doom posting” and I just wanted to try and explain where it could be coming from. Even if the statement was a troll or joke it is a valid opinion I know a lot of people have. I am still waiting on some of these new big games, but luckily I am a simple guy and can play Infinite, Minecraft, and COD literally forever, so these current delays don’t bother me as much, but I can see where it has upset others who have been waiting a while for those “heavy hitters” and don’t have much interest in the current offerings. I’ll quote you with a slight change to end (“remember that you are not analogous to the community; just because something appeals to you, or that you remember it doesn’t mean that applies to the millions of others that run contradictory to that logic”)
Again, sorry thought this was the general Xbox thread I was in at the time.
Upon thinking about it, a sports licence could be the only type that would interest MS. The NFL, NBA, Football games all share the same characteristics as COD, Minecraft where they are played by millions across all ecosystems, on every console etc.
Yep I couldn’t see it previously, but I’m with you.
The sports games have such a huge consumer base and appeal to all the casuals. If you can get all the casuals signing up to GP it would be huge for MS.
The only other ‘big’ franchise right now outside of Nintendo/Pokémon is GTA IMO.
I think they should also try and do a time exclusivity deal with Witcher, Borderlands ‘4’ and Sonic Frontiers.
I think all of those could potentially be huge (Witcher 3 did 40m, Borderlands 2 did 26m and a successful Sonic if it lands will be huge).
I know wiki isn’t reliable but as a rough guide when you look at something like this it just screams EA:
GP pretty much covers every big sports franchise now. Some are day one some are like 4-6 months post release. But I think for sports especially, day one is most important.
Yeah with sports games being annual releases the casuals that I know want to pick them up on the day of release e.g. FIFA. If they had to wait I don’t think they would sign up to a subscription service.
The main difference is MS currently aren’t benefiting from all the revenue those type of games make, if they did they could bolster GP with any deal under the sun.
They have publisher-level company named “Blizzard Korea”.
They handle all of the activision-blizzard game’s localization and marketing which currently Xbox Korea aren’t good.
How interested is MS in timed exclusivity deals? Would MS fork over a ton of cash for the Witcher 4 as a timed exclusive if it’s not going in Game Pass day one? The only non-Game-Pass timed exclusives I can think of are some indie titles (please correct me if I’m off base here). So honestly I think it would be more likely that Sony will buy timed exclusivity.
The Witcher 4 is going to be massive. The Witcher is such a transmedia beast with the Netflix shows, books and games.
I think that the opposite of what Microsoft want. They have shown they rather work on their own IP than work on someone elses ips. They didnt accept Disney proposal for a marvel game because of this despite how profitable it could be. (Indiana Jones is the exception presently because Todd Howard has wanted to do this game)
Well now if any would be the best time to buy them, their market cap is at an all time low, however I have always felt their market cap was inflated by owing GOG.com
That said I’m not sure if MS want to be seen buying yet another PC store front in such quick succession, as it could also potentially cause issues for them down the line.
I doubt they would consider a exclusivity/GP deal anyway, Witcher 3 is considered one of the best games of the previous gen so the new one is guaranteed to sell (even after Cyberpunk).
