The Bethesda merger already went through. COD has contractual obligations on Sony consoles for another year or so and Concessions have to be made to Acquire ABK.
Were you also Confused when you signed off on Deathloop and Ghostwire timed exclusivity? Or Starfield exclusivity before MS stepped in?
How about you focus on putting out better games than Redfall and managing your studios and games and let the big boys worry about Exclusivity. You’re owned by MS now. Don’t like it? You can get out.
Before we get even more Pete bashing, he was pretty obviously worried about how they were going to handle messaging and how people at gdc including Todd and Phil were going to get questions. He might have been annoyed as well because he’d had to deal with a situation that now Activision might not have to deal with but he had a pretty good point and there’s a email back from Phil saying thanks for bringing it up and that they needed to have a call to plan.
Can we please stop saying he shouldn’t question things and should just be a yes man? This is super stupid.
I agree 100%. If Pete Hines is so concerned about Sony and PlayStation, he should leave Microsoft/Bethesda and go ask Jimbo for a job.
There’s nothing for Hines to question. He works for Microsoft. Microsoft bailed out Bethesda and their studios from being shut down and at the end of the day, it’s Microsoft’s decision on what games will or will not be exclusive to the Xbox eco-system.
Also, Bethesda and ABK are two very different scenarios and situations. First and foremost, COD is far bigger than all of Bethesda’s games combined so maybe that’s why Microsoft will keep it multi-platform while making Bethesda’s games exclusive to the Xbox eco-system.
I’m getting so fed up with so many out there only caring about Sony despite never giving a fuck when they were talking games away from Sega, Microsoft and Nintendo but oh no, poor little Sony. And anyone within Microsoft which includes but not limited to Bethesda who cares more about Sony and PlayStation than they do the company that is signing their fucking paycheck should leave and not let the door hit them in the ass on their way out!!
Did the e-mail imply that his frustration stemmed from the desire to release on ps? For me it sounded more like he’s frustrated due to the inconsistency.
And imo it’s good that people within the company challenge the leadership team. As the poster above said, you don’t want a bunch of yes-men unless you plan on going out of business eventually.
Don’t get fooled by the shitty headline from the shitty website, Pete was just worried about getting questioned about ES6 and Starfield exclusivity questions from the media, ironically because he knew they would ask for that, funny because Xbox always gets asked those sort of questions.
His messages both to Zenimax & to Phil - absolutely fit with what you describe - I just reread the 3 messages (2 email, 1 skype) & it’s very clearly asking about how they’re going to handle questioning & being ready for it.
He specifically asks about how it already is being questioned in the news & links to one that already is pointing to the difference between how Xbox is treating Acti & ZM.
He also specifically is mentioning concern about making sure that there’s an answer in place to address things so that Todd doesn’t get ambushed by every journalist from then on.
The idea that some people here have in their heads about how business should work is astounding to me - If you want to run a massively successful organization, you absolutely want people inside your organization that you trust to ask these questions internally, or you’re going to really struggle when everyone external is asking.
Sorry but as an Xbox fan for 20+ years this makes my blood boil. So the speculation about prioritizing cloud over Xbox Series X production was absolutely correct. And we can safely say now that it is another big mistake since cloud is flopping hard and even Microsoft has realized it.
First it was Kinect, then TV TV TV, now the cloud, tomorrow who knows. Yet another fool’s gambit to the detriment of the core of the brand which is the traditional gaming console. Yet another slap in the face to the console audience that made Xbox what it is today and supports the brand since 2001.
Didn’t Jez imply that might not be the case anymore? Or was that solely speculation based on IO announcing Project Fantasy without Xbox named?
Hines is good people. I can understand very well that those kind of questions can be annoying, but he wants to be ready for it. Hines has been on the stand now, will Todd have to as well?
But I definitely get if they don’t really like this situation, having to go to court, on the stand. He just wants to do his job. Hope this nonsense by the FTC is soon over and done with.
That is part of his job. While he’s ‘head of publishing’ at Zenimax now, he’s been the most public facing persona at that company for over a decade now.
It’s also why he wanted communications to have the exclusivity issue straight, internally and externally. It’s easier when everybody’s on the same line and not simply assuming stuff.
Xbox Series X sales should be the top priority. Literally everything depends on being successful in console gaming, from profits, to general mindshare and securing exclusives.
Just have a look at gaming profits from mobile gaming, they make more than all 3 console companies combined most likely. I know it might hurt you to say this but mobile gaming is growing and console gaming isn’t. Why do you think Sony is putting their games on PC and are working towards mobile, they’re just doing it in a slow and sneaky way to make people like you not uproar in that exact same way.
You should actually be happy they’re forcing Xbox consoles to be used for cloud because it keeps the console relevant even more so for Microsoft.
It’s actually not that bad. Without this sacrifice, ABK merger’s antitrust censorship could only getting even more strict, something tells me this 3rd place in console market is a chance for MS’s big acquisition, at least a reasonable background.
Not going to reply to anyone specifically, but I think if Xbox narrows its focus to just console again, they’re dead in the water. They must continue to expand into areas of untapped growth - PC, mobile, cloud, etc. It’s clear they can’t realize their internal profit and other goals just focusing on console. And to me, it’s a positive for the gaming industry and consumers by expanding the avenues in which people can access content.