Yeah, it’s not the end of the world by any means, but sometimes I think Xbox should be lex flexible, maybe not with Cuphead, but Ori is their IP and it is published by XGS, a native Swith port was too much imo from a Xbox customer standpoint (there is no value for us, only money for them, because it does not directly benefit Xbox in any means, it is not even attached to GP and/or XBL), cloud streaming is one thing, native ports with no string attached are another and Phil’s own words go in the direction of my reasoning (where Game Pass exists ONLY).
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It would be interesting to hear them explain why they chose to put Ori on the Switch, yes. Unless Moon was going to pass on developing a second unless they put it on Switch and Xbox didn’t want to have to deal with finding someone else to try to do it (which honestly would have been very difficult, both pr wise and talent wise).
I don’t know, when you sign a deal with Xbox Global Publishing you know what are you signing for, the existence of the publishing arm is to add value to the eco-system with exclusives, I don’t think for a second that Moon Studio has enough leverage to strong arm MS into anything. XD
I think it was a test case to convince Nintendo of something and we don’t know yet if it has been successful, we only know that anything from Xbox in the future will be attached to Game Pass.
It was a risky endeavour, because you can make the case that Swith is a tablet and/or a secondary console, anyway you risk to devalue your platform with native ports with no strings attached, you are literally giving your game away and exclusives are not critical for the money you can gain (moreover from an external platform you don’t control), but for the brand. Even Minecraft requires XBL on external platforms, so it’s really strange.
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As much as we talk about Microsoft’s forward thinking strategy of getting people in to their ecosystem with Gamepass being a bigger concern than even console and game sales. It’s so hard to break old lines of thought
Like with how we keep talking about spreading out releases, especially with games from the same genre. I’m sure it’s still a consideration, but less so now than getting as many attractive titles on the subscription service as quickly and often as possible
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Totally agree. I’m sure they have time frames that they expect the games to be ready to launch in, but getting the games out and having them be good is probably a higher priority than the timing.
Edit: Not saying they are intentionally targeting the same quarter for similar genres, but I also think the user base is diverse enough to handle getting Fable and Avowed near each other IF that were to happen. The tones of the games will be very different, so it’s not like they’re the same game.
Right. Like I’m sure if they happen to be fully ready to go by the same week on the calander, they may not want to do THAT. But within the same month?..Why not?
It just adds two big exclusive 1st party bangers to the service one after the other and attracts even more people to the service. Especially if they had still been buying every game and don’t love the idea of paying full price for two so soon after each other
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I’m not sure why anyway is against Xbox allowing games from independent developers to release on other platforms, especially those that I wouldn’t consider “direct competition” to some degree. Xbox and Nintendo are chasing different business models, gamers benefit by being able to have greater access to quality games, and more importantly the small dev studios benefit from the extra source of funds.
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Ori is Xbox IP and directly published by them, there is nothing “indipendent” in Ori. XD
As I already said, Phil’s own words go against the direct port of Ori 1 and 2 with no strings (GP and/or XBL) attached, there is something behind that anomaly for sure, I’m not console warring or thinking with outdated perspective, I only trying to figure out what’s the reasoning behind an outlier in Xbox current strategy.
Perhaps they’re throwing Moon a bone in addition to getting better awareness of a game series that generally deserves to be in the GOTY discussions with each title released. Switch is huge right now as we’re all aware, so the access to more players probably just means good things for the Ori brand and future of the franchise.
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It makes no sense for a Xbox franchise which has its own means to create brand awareness, they are not in the business of throwing bones to studios for “the good of industry”, moreover Ori is likely finished with 2, there is something behind which we may never know. XD
Yeah, you’re right. It’s another thing that Game Pass could change about how the games industry works.
If the thinking was, don’t release those games too close together because it could affect launch sales, then how does that translate to a system where those launch sales are less important?
Like I said, I don’t see an issue with releasing two big AAA blockbusters on Game Pass in the same month, say. I’d still be a bit more concerned if those two games were in the same genre, because then you could still potentially split audience & one of the games could suffer. But then why would that matter, both of the games would be on the service, both could be successful & find their time to shine eventually.
I don’t know for sure. As you say, it’s another area where us Xbox fans are probably going to have to break with our old lines of thought.
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I dont think we will see 2 XGS games of the same genre drop close to each other as in the same month. I think we would see same genre in the same year just a different quarter.
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Yup
The thinking would be, each individual, who doesn’t already subscribe, when they look at Gamepass, what do they see? Does it blow their minds enough to become undeniable to that person? The more big games they can’t play anywhere else, to entice them, the better
And if they see two big new first party western RPG’s and it happens to be one of their favorite genres. All the more difficult it is to deny themselves any longer. Doesn’t matter to that person if they both came out in the same month, and even less so, the same quarter. They see two games they really want and realize “man, I really need to get Gamepass” And maybe they don’t even have an Xbox console. They will now be enticed to buy one
And THAT is how you hook more and more people. Worrying about this sort of release overlap is the old business model way of thinking. And is especially odd when it comes from people who already HAVE Gamepass. If anything it would makes you value the service and want to keep it going even more, when you have multiple games you want to play and now don’t have to buy
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Another thread by Xplainin
My mans going for the world record at this rate.
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Ok, I disagree but thanks for the discussion.
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Obviously I have no information im not an insider but if I was guessing I would say Ori on switch was part of the deal to bring Will of the Wisps to Game Pass.
That game was in a transition period and not announced as a Game Pass game to start with.
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yup. could see that. I do remember … I think Thomas - saying he was caught by surprise when it was announced on Game Pass.
You could be right, I remember the Moon Studios head saying that Game Pass deal was not yet signed before it was announced at E3 2019. I still don’t see how they could have obtained the relenting of exclusivity, they are not EA or Capcom, they have not the means to strong arm MS into anything, there is something more I believe.
When are emails expected to start rolling out for iOS invites.
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I’m assuming the first batch will go out today, since the site is different today than it was yesterday & has a place to log in now. But not sure how they’re picking people; they did say that participation in the previous testing doesn’t necessarily get counted for being chosen.