Xbox has a solid fan base very good on Twitter. they have over 16 million there and 12 million on Instagram. not counting regional Xbox accounts and FB. but in Youtube… it has only 4.47 Mi. could be better. but i think they’re working on it.
Nowhere did I imply that was the case, I’ve been on record saying Ratchet was affected by COVID. There is a difference however for developers when the tools, dev kit, and overall hardware were being developed on for an additional year, so let’s not pretend that wasn’t a factor in Sony’s output either. I’ve also been on record lauding the fact that whilst some tend to moan about the launch window, Xbox did put out more titles last year than any of the other big three. Just because they weren’t “technical showcases” or the games some were seeking doesn’t make them any less valid or take away from the massive obstacles those developers overcome. I think people should do a little less assuming and extrapolating meaning where there is none.
100% understand COVID delaying game development. Even without COVID the plan for the Series X|S launch was supposed to pretty much just be Halo Infinite and The Medium though. Meanwhile PlayStation 5 had multiple AAA games launch day one on the system even during a pandemic. While I’m a massive Halo fan, I think they should’ve planned more variety at launch years in advance even if Halo Infinite could be a killer title.
I’m not trying to sound whiny. I love my Xbox, I think Game Pass is a great service. I’m a massive fan of pretty much every studio under Xbox Game Studios. The concerns for the 2020 release cycle were pretty warranted considering that now it feels like Microsoft is fighting an uphill battle when it comes to public perception EVEN WITH BETHESDA under their umbrella. and even with the systems constantly being out of stock.
Microsoft’s internal studios have to get better at showing off gameplay for press events. It feels like this industry standard doesn’t apply to Microsoft though. I’ve read developer comments about how creating these e3 demos can be a major headache internally for developers so I do understand why Microsoft doesn’t make it a common practice among their team. CGI trailers don’t get people excited anymore though, not unless its for a highly anticipated title.
Much of that can be explained by Sony planning to release an even worse console in 2019 though, so their studios where lined up for that.
What I don’t understand is why Xbox didn’t hold any of the what, 10?, games they released in 2020 for the rather barren launch window of Series X|S. A few titles could easily have been moved up to make the winter-spring more interesting.
Pretty much every game that year… Battletoads for example, why not give that online co-op and release it later? Bleeding Edge, more content and a later release could have been nice.
Bleeding Edge was fine. It was pretty feature complete upon release, I had my fun with it and moved on. I thought the March launch was perfect for it because of COVID.
I’ll never understand some Xbox gamers. Complain that there aren’t enough games, so they release over ten titles in a year that most release five max. Then complaints that games weren’t delayed to match with an arbitrary launch date because of old hat mindsets… ffs no wonder Xbox has such an uphill battle.
the truth is that XGS is still in the planning, development and execution stage. they are not yet “ready” to deliver the real bombs. while the competition was at its best gaming moment.
Haha yeah, I know. But there is no point in releasing EVERYTHING at once if you will have an empty year after that. My thinking is that they perhaps should have spread it out a bit better, that’s all.
All things considered, that’s a fair opinion to have.
The Xbox first-party line-up does not align well with the Xbox Series X|S launch yet. That’s a valid thing to say. There are many reasons for that
Halo Infinite delay; having Halo on launch would’ve changed that perception
some studios helping on Halo, requiring even more resources on that one project
focus is on Game Pass and not the console itself
most of these studios only were added 1 - 2 1/2 years ago, which is obviously not enough time to develop new AAA games people want to see
Covid obviously changed roadmaps
overall investment was too late to make an impact around X|S launch
existing contracts always means studios have to fulfil these first, so it might take years before Xbox can actually make use of a studio team, with Deathloop and Ghostwire Tokyo being the two most recent examples
acquiring studios is a mid- to long-term investment
many Xbox studios are working on evolving, live-service games. It’s not always just about new games at Xbox, and stuff like the regular content updates to Gears 5, Forza Horizon 4, Sea of Thieves, Halo MCC, Minecraft etc. all require just as much resources as new games.
… Which we could all discuss in length, but at the end of the day that won’t change the fact Xbox studios titles will only begin to roll starting this Summer, and then kind of create a better flow of first-party content with MS Flight Sim, Psychonauts 2, Halo Infinite, Age of Empires IV and so on.
Tl;Dr: the current drought of actual first-party content is not planned well and that’s valid criticism; will change with a steady flow of new games this year.
