Xbox multi platform discussion

[Julia]

@Mort

There has been a little bit of movement in the right direction, that Overwatch thing is cool even though it’s not for me. That’s exactly the thing I’m talking about.

What other ABK things have there been?

Overwatch is getting a nunber of skins and ongong benefits for subscribing. That hints to me it will be closer to the Valorant style integration + the old Amazon perks. Which included D4 battle pass stuff and cosmetics and COD cosmetics. So I am gambling that too will come over. But not announced yet!

[Julia]

@SilentJay76

Phil Spencer today: “Our platform continues to grow both on console, on PC and on Cloud”

Anyone who manages to spin this into yet more doom and gloom gets a cookie.

SMH that they arent growing on mobile. Why even buy ABK then, Phil? (JK, JK)

[CFGamer]

@Julia

We only have partial information. We know that theyve publicly stated gamepass leads to more purchases of games (due to engagement). The CMA statement iirc was extremely vague.

There’s pretty clear evidence for and against in part because different games operate differently. Hellblade 2 very different from Diablo 4 very different from MSFS. Without extremely detailed analysis, proving the hypothesis would be impossible.

However, its pretty clearly been a boon for a lot of games in terms of network effect, avoiding them being lost in the shuffle, etc. I very much doubt Sea of Thieves and Forza Horizon would be as big as they are without GamePass broadening their audiences for example.

Oh absolutely. To be clear I think that Game Pass is a wonderful thing for engagement and expanding the potential audience of a game, even if the effect on actual game sales isn’t clear. It’s a case by case basis I think.

For example, I think Persona 6 would sell very well on Xbox after the positive exposure the series got from being on Game Pass.

[Mort]

@Julia

Overwatch is getting a nunber of skins and ongong benefits for subscribing. That hints to me it will be closer to the Valorant style integration + the old Amazon perks. Which included D4 battle pass stuff and cosmetics and COD cosmetics. So I am gambling that too will come over. But not announced yet!

I hope the perks evolve like this. They have a lot of games where they can do some nice perks.

[Julia]

@CFGamer

Oh absolutely. To be clear I think that Game Pass is a wonderful thing for engagement and expanding the potential audience of a game, even if the effect on actual game sales isn’t clear. It’s a case by case basis I think.

For example, I think Persona 6 would sell very well on Xbox after the positive exposure the series got from being on Game Pass.

Totally! See Yakuza. I feel like gamepass negative impacts are overstated because like lets use KunitsuGami (great game but not setting the world on fire). If that game hadnt launched inside GamePass…would anyone have talked about it?

[CFGamer]

Bringing up Persona reminds me how good it is that Xbox has free cloud saves, not enough credit goes to them for that. I lost so many freaking hours from my PS4 save file when I lost access to that PS4 and wanted to continue again a few years later on PS5 -_-

[Vivir]

@CFGamer

Oh absolutely. To be clear I think that Game Pass is a wonderful thing for engagement and expanding the potential audience of a game, even if the effect on actual game sales isn’t clear. It’s a case by case basis I think.

For example, I think Persona 6 would sell very well on Xbox after the positive exposure the series got from being on Game Pass.

It’s certainly good for live service games or unknown IP’s trying to get a wider range of audience but I think the whole notion that it increases sales for the first party games pretty much ended when Gamepass became extremely popular on consoles.

Does that mean they’re losing money over fists? No. There’s other ways to monetize and earn longer term revenue.

[Putfire]

Microsoft’s wordplay again. Phil and his management are trying to justify that Microsoft’s problems are universal, but the reality is quite different. Sony doesn’t even port its big Day One games to PC, Nintendo isn’t even on PC.

These are very different realities. Neither of them made the same mistakes that Microsoft has been making since the Xbox One.

The end of yesterday’s event made Microsoft’s focus very clear, and management knows what I saw happening with hardware sales. If that’s the company’s decision, ok, just don’t expect the public to accept it.

They could have sought both sides, keeping XGS exclusive and Bethesda/ABK multiplatform with Day One at the GP, but the first wave has already killed that possible strategy. This poor communication from Microsoft with its base only makes the situation worse.

The goal is sales and that public isn’t on Xbox.

[CFGamer]

@Vivir

It’s certainly good for live service games or unknown IP’s trying to get a wider range of audience but I think the whole notion that it increases sales for the first party games pretty much ended when Gamepass became extremely popular on consoles.

Does that mean they’re losing money over fists? No. There’s other ways to monetize and earn longer term revenue.

Yeah I think live service games are the obvious beneficiaries. First party titles are also important to increase the value proposition as it’s their own platform. Sales will take a hit, but that’s balanced against the revenue generated from Game Pass.

If you’re an established third party AAA IP that knows you’ll sell well? Probably not, unless Microsoft have promised you a fat bag of cash up front.

[Julia]

@CFGamer

Yeah I think live service games are the obvious beneficiaries. First party titles are also important to increase the value proposition as it’s their own platform. Sales will take a hit, but that’s balanced against the revenue generated from Game Pass.

If you’re an established third party AAA IP that knows you’ll sell well? Probably not, unless Microsoft have promised you a fat bag of cash up front.

There are marketing benefits if you are releasing the game on other platforms like Steam or…yknow.

[Mochilador]

Yeah, the message is crystal clear now. Make your decisions, people.

[Kals_Els]

@Staffy

There’s more to what Phil said.

https://x.com/shinobi602/status/1826261678104719802

Considering Hifi Rush being a single player game and not doing well on PS(I don’t even know if Pentiment did well) I don’t think this strategy works at all.

It could always be the fact it’s a new IP and not in a genre that enough people like. But if they’re going to do more third party releases, so far single player isn’t selling when ported late. So if Indy proves this trend again, they need to go all in on simultaneously releasing SP games on all platforms or just focus on MP games.

[CFGamer]

@Kals_Els

Considering Hifi Rush being a single player game and not doing well on PS(I don’t even know if Pentiment did well) I don’t think this strategy works at all.

It could always be the fact it’s a new IP and not in a genre that enough people like. But if they’re going to do more third party releases, so far single player isn’t selling when ported late. So if Indy proves this trend again, they need to go all in on simultaneously releasing SP games on all platforms or just focus on MP games.

Tinfoil hat here, but I don’t think Hi-Fi Rush and Pentiment were games that were ever going to do big numbers. They were fantastic, well-made passion projects, perfect additions to Game Pass, but they’re just not the kinda games that seem to have much appeal to the general public.

The real test to me will be if Starfield goes over to PS5 and sells gang busters, and I suddenly get an influx of “were we wrong about Starfield?” thumbnails pop up on YouTube.

[Talesunheard]

@Mochilador

Yeah, the message is crystal clear now. Make your decisions, people.

Yeah, Phil really do care for its userbase. No wonder why he proceeds to incinerated it out off the earth for others competitors.

He is gonna be know as the one who saved Xbox but also as the one destroyed the brand.

I know am buying a next gen switch, since that place seems like it actually gives a damn about its user audience, and if this keeps happening, people will walk away from it all plain and simple cause they do not care about their audience anymore.

Also there’s a chance that this backfires and folks may end up demanding Microsoft refunds for their games since their are not receiving what they were promised, which can cost billions.

@Kals_Els

Considering Hifi Rush being a single player game and not doing well on PS(I don’t even know if Pentiment did well) I don’t think this strategy works at all.

It could always be the fact it’s a new IP and not in a genre that enough people like. But if they’re going to do more third party releases, so far single player isn’t selling when ported late. So if Indy proves this trend again, they need to go all in on simultaneously releasing SP games on all platforms or just focus on MP games.

Again, this does not strike any confidence whatsover. Its like he wants Xbox hardware to be gone for good, if he actually cared he would have said something to actually appeal to users but no, lets appeal to playstation users. That will end well for them during next gen.

[CFGamer]

@SilentJay76

Phil Spencer today: “Our platform continues to grow both on console, on PC and on Cloud”

Anyone who manages to spin this into yet more doom and gloom gets a cookie.

Doom? But that’s already been announced for PS5 day one?

[Daniel]

@CFGamer

Tinfoil hat here, but I don’t think Hi-Fi Rush and Pentiment were games that were ever going to do big numbers. They were fantastic, well-made passion projects, perfect additions to Game Pass, but they’re just not the kinda games that seem to have much appeal to the general public.

The real test to me will be if Starfield goes over to PS5 and sells gang busters, and I suddenly get an influx of “were we wrong about Starfield?” thumbnails pop up on YouTube.

I could see a Starfield port after a few more patches and the next DLC as a Starfield 2.0 like Cyberpunk

[Kals_Els]

@CFGamer

Tinfoil hat here, but I don’t think Hi-Fi Rush and Pentiment were games that were ever going to do big numbers. They were fantastic, well-made passion projects, perfect additions to Game Pass, but they’re just not the kinda games that seem to have much appeal to the general public.

The real test to me will be if Starfield goes over to PS5 and sells gang busters, and I suddenly get an influx of “were we wrong about Starfield?” thumbnails pop up on YouTube.

Those videos are never going to happen even if Starfield does come to PS5 and sell a lot, the Bethesda hate boner has grown into a monster that can only be pointed at as an example of what not to become as a gamer.

[CFGamer]

@Talesunheard

I know am buying a next gen switch, since that place seems like it actually gives a damn about its user audience

I love my Switch, but giving a damn about it’s user audience is certainly not what comes to mind when I think of Nintendo.

[BadNews]

@Mort

I would like to see some cool stuff for Xbox users. Why not make a modern controller? Or use Game Pass perks for something actually interesting? Or revamp the achievement system?

This muh PS5 ports is not fun.

As an xbox fan this feels like a low point for enthusiasm level. I know we’re getting games and some nice gamepass launches and perks . However, we’re seeing Xbox consoles becoming less desired and they’re kind of nudging console gamers to get a PS console. I know next gen will work similar to last gen where a good portion of xbox install base moves to Playstation. I have no clue what support is going to look like next gen, but I think this move might be great for Microsoft suits, but not so much xbox console players.

Again, I could be wrong, but not seeing much benefits for xbox gamers and seeing Playstation becoming a more desirable place to play is certaiinly a choice imo. It just feels like handing over whatever is left of console space to Sony

[Vivir]

@CFGamer

The real test to me will be if Starfield goes over to PS5 and sells gang busters, and I suddenly get an influx of “were we wrong about Starfield?” thumbnails pop up on YouTube.

People keep saying a “Cyberpunk 2077” like redemption but I just don’t see it.

Firstly, there’s nothing to really redeem. Starfield launched in a polished state.

Secondly (please don’t hate me Starfield bros, I liked the game too!) people’s main gripes with Cyberpunk was the performance and certain systems not being fleshed out. People’s gripes with Starfield seem to be more of a “this game is kinda boring” sort of situation. It’s hard to imagine it having a second life like Cyberpunk did.