Phil’s not over this CFO, but this guy isn’t the XBOX CFO he’s the MS CFO. Phil likely doesn’t have a direct reporting line to him but he would almost certainly be higher on the org chart.
The quotes definitely out of context anyway…
"What we’ll do in the long run is we don’t have intentions of just pulling all of Bethesda content out of Sony or Nintendo or otherwise. But what we want is we want that content, in the long run, to be either first or better or best or pick your differentiated experience, on our platforms. We will want Bethesda content to show up the best as – on our platforms.
Yes. That’s not a point about being exclusive. That’s not a point about we’re being – adjusting timing or content or road map. But if you think about something like Game Pass, if it shows up best in Game Pass, that’s what we want to see, and we want to drive our Game Pass subscriber base through that Bethesda pipeline.
So again, I’m not announcing pulling content from platforms one way or the other. But I suspect you’ll continue to see us shift towards a first or better or best approach on our platforms."
To me the references to pulling content speak much more to something like ESO then Elder Scrolls Next or something. You can’t pull something that isn’t on a platform yet. But you can absolutely continue to support the existing products while adding additional value to them on Xbox… ie expansions first to PC/Xbox, next gen enhancements, preferential pricing etc.
The only thing in that whole quote I find odd though is…he is talking about older games then. So why mention that “first, better, best” thing. My only guess is he’s just saying stuff to be done with the question. To not have FEC think Xbox will have a monopoly over Sony, but still. He seems to be talking about the same content, but for older games like a TESO it makes zero sense. I get why people are like…wtf.
Yeah honestly it doesn’t affect me at all, I am on pc anyway, but this is still gonna be a dumbass move if true cuz when the competitor keeps moneyhatting games, you don’t just stand there and say yeah keep doing that but also enjoy the fruits of our investments in your platform, makes no sense to me. I guess the Internet would call this a “cuck” move.
Because they can do both things? It doesn’t have to be all or nothing. You can still create a console, have exclusive content, do the whole funnel people into your ecosystem thing, sell subscriptions, blah blah blah while you also own franchises that are everywhere. It is as simple as “will I make more money making this game into the next GTA, FIFA, etc… or will I make more having it sell our consoles?” Disney didn’t buy Marvel to make it such that the only way to get Marvel content would be to buy tickets to Disney World. Yet they still operate Disney World with exclusive experiences there.
These new comments are just saying things will be on a case-by-case basis, which is what it will be. If MS thinks the next Elder Scrolls will make more money being on other systems it will happen. If they think it would be better selling subscriptions and Xboxes it will happen.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sure Sony is the competition, but it doesn’t have to be “We need to hurt Sony in order to succeed”. I don’t know why so many people have this simplistic view of how things work. Sometimes you can use your competitor to prop yourself up. You may help your competitor, but you help yourself more. In the car world Ford vs Chevy is one of the oldest rivalries, but even they actually collaborate on things.
Ok let’s take TES 6 for example. They release it on Xbox and that’s it. PS5 players can choose to play via XCloud on TV or Android or iOS, buy the console or play on PC. These are new subs and are likely to stay subbed for all the so far released first party titles.
Or…
It comes out on both Xbox and PS5 on day one. PS5 players will just buy it for PS5 and any potential GP subscribers MS will miss out on.
And for the second scenario it could be that the game comes six month or a year later for PS5. Only hardcore BGS fans on PS5 will sub to GP, plenty of PS5 players can and will wait. I would imagine the first scenario is best for Xbox. People stick around on GP for all the other games released by XGS plus all the other games.
Yes that is true, but you are only looking at it from a console POV. Now think of TES being released on everything and it becoming a global phenomenon. This is what people are missing. Sure Spiderman sells Playstations, but GTA sells even more Playstations than Spiderman does despite being on all platforms and people being able to play it anywhere.
Not saying exclusivity won’t happen, just that MS is going to weigh these options carefully.
I think many are reading what they want to read into when it comes to that interview and the gaming media isn’t helping with their clickbait headlines.
Nowhere in that interview did he imply they would release new Bethesda games on the PS5. More like them once again saying they will honor current contracts and support games that are already multiplatform.
I mean they can’t really say what they’re doing until the deal is done and nobody outside of MS knows for sure their plans. But when you look at what MS has been doing with xcloud and Gamepass, spending 7+ billion to buy Bethesda just to make PS5 games makes zero sense. Then you factor in the Backlash they would get for supporting PS5 while Sony is literally paying publishers to keep games off of xbox.
Only way these games go to PS5 is if Gamepass goes to PS5.
See this is a fundamental misunderstanding of what Xbox are doing.
Xbox want their ecosystem to reach EVERYWHERE. They are trying to do this through Xcloud, gamepass and their PC iniative.
Which opens up eventually ANY device that can support the app OR has a browser.
Xbox do not care one jot if you are playing on an xbox or a TV or a phone or a PC or a rival’s console so long as YOU ARE IN THEIR ECOSYSTEM. There is absolutely a point to expanding their ecosystem. The day Sony says - ok give us Xcloud - Xbox will have an app ready in days and bingo all their games will be playable there. Because they have their ecosystem embedded.
Series S and X are merely entry points into the ecosystem. Gamepass doesn’t exist to shift hardware, hardware exists to get people into ‘gamepass’ and I use gamepass there to represent the wider ecosystem.
The idea that Xbox will spend $7.5Bn to fund native Playstation versions of games (only 2 weeks ago Phil did an interview where he said to put games on other platforms would require them adopting the xbox ‘infrastructure and he was fed up of doing so without that’ tells you ALL you need to know.
They are edging round this because they would absolutely put their games anywhere - but in a capacity that suits them when the games are tied into their own ecosystem.
Its really not hard to follow the business model, yet time and again I see people clearly who sort of get it, but then missing the final piece. Yes MS don’t care about console wars or hardware sales, what they care about is their ecosystem existing everywhere. And to achieve that they are pursuing content aggressively. But the only way it works is if they restrict that content to places that support their ecosystem.
It would be like for example, Netflix being refused an app on Xbox consoles but then putting all their content into the Xbox TV app - it would never happen…
People are gonna refer to the “first or better” comment which presumes timed exclusivity of sorts. He shoulda not commented at all. The media keeps fucking asking the same question when they wouldn’t even consider asking Sony about it if they’d done the deal. They keep pressuring and MS keeps falling for it and letting ambiguous stuff seep through the cracks and fuel more bs.
And since yesterday, the CFO quotes have appeared on multiple gaming websites that I frequently visit, and all taken out of context with a heading reading as if exclusivity is seemingly off the table. Damage done, great job, CFO. Now it’s all in limbo again, maaaaaaybe yes and maaaaybe no. Not great.
Microsoft, be consistent about your messaging, please. It’s annoying for a corporation of this size.
I liked how when MS started their PC Initiative back with Quantum Break , they just came out and said it. From now on first party games will ship on Xbox and PC, end of story.
When this deal is finally done, if the games will be exclusive to the xbox ecosystem going forward, just say it definitely!
That way when/if the first Starfield trailer drops at E3,you don’t have a bunch of media sycophants badgering xbox execs on whether or not its coming to PS5 when they want to talk about the game.
What is going on in here? Nobody knows what MS will do yet, so there is no reason to really panic as some seem to be doing. And what is this hostility towards MS if they DON’T make these things exclusive?
MS didn’t make Minecraft exclusive. It really probably is a case-by-case basis, as they have stated before. There isn’t any conflict of statements unless you assumed everything will be exclusive day one. If you did so, you weren’t listening
I expect most of it to be exclusive over time, but some big franchises such as the Elder Scrolls might not be for monetary reasons, just like Minecraft. If you have ES on GP, or for purchase on a competitor’s system, where will you play it?
If I have money for just one console or had a preference for experiencing everything on one platform, the right choice would be to buy ps5 then, especially if I deeply care about Bethesda games only. You’d get both Sony’s own first party games but also half of Xbox first party games? Lol
Imagine any of these studios making a free to play game, and you got to play it for actually free on playstation while you had to pay Xbox Live gold every month separately or as part of ultimate on the actual first party platform lmao, it’s gonna be surreal. Of course Xbox wouldn’t do that as they’d just ask for live gold for free games too, but their games would be the only ones which would require money to play f2p. It’s gonna become a shitshow. Or they’ll just not release on it. Or even better, just kill live gold requirement for f2p.
Every gamer has to make their own choice. I have chosen to support MS superior hardware, and do without Sony’s first party games. Your choice may be different. I simply cannot support the PS5 in its current state. It’s simply hideous to me
The fact they’re being so coy and noncommittal about it also signals aggressive exclusivity. If they always planned on keeping everything multi platform, they would have said it already.
I get where you are coming from, and agree the value to Xbox gamers is insane regardless of exclusivity. However, I get where the other side is coming from as well.
Sony gets so many de facto exclusives and moneyhats made all the easier due to market share, and Xbox gamers miss out on a ton or wait. FFVII Remake, Godfall, Street Fighter V, Persona, tons of Japanese games, modes in CoD, etc. and the media doesn’t even address them 95% of the time, but Xbox buys Zenimax and the sky is falling. I think the concern here is that Xbox will miss out on a ton of games again if they don’t fight back to get market and mindshare and I get that.
For players such as myself who are fortunate enough to be platform agnostic, it doesn’t matter. But having been an Xbox One only gamer, I am not ashamed to say that some of these things really sting.
Spencer said they weren’t going to put games on switch if the ecosystem wasn’t there. Ori and the will of the wisps was published by iam8bit on switch and had no Xbox achievements like Ori and the blind forest port did. After that I doubt Zenimax will be multiplatform.
Well, the market position shows that most people are gonna choose playstation cuz it’s the more popular and more global brand. Of course its a new generation but I’m sure playstation is still gonna do better overall globally whereas Xbox while still being superior hardware (which it already was with One X yet that did fuck all) is definitely in a much better position this time around and will do significantly better. Buying Bethesda was exactly the kind of move that was needed to snatch some of that marketshare from a leader who still wants to keep doing shitty exclusivity deals and money hats. Keeping these multiplat will preserve that marketshare at least when there already exists a great leverage, completely in their right to improve that situation.
Xbox can definitely be the “better man” in several ways, they already did that with extending their ecosystem to include as many platforms as possible, supporting cross play for a long time, not engaging in egregious exclusivity content in multiplat games, etc. Just feels like this was the exact kind of phenomenon that came about to improve the paradigm and truly push the necessity to invest in their ecosystem, and then they come around and say shit like “better or first” which absolutely no one will care about. People waited for Control to come to steam, which was just a goddamn launcher difference, not even needing buying anything, just installing epic launcher yet people still didn’t do it.
In the same way, people will just wait to get those games on a platform that already serves their gaming needs and provides experiences only seen on their plastic box, which I personally feel will change by the end of the generation when they’ll start porting their games en masse to pc.
All in all,
Why would you care to invest in a whole new ecosystem if the games you cared about previously now owned by xbox still come on playstation anyway?
“you get it on gamepass day 1” is a great proposition, but not gonna be enough of a pull imo
