At the end of the day the "why" isn't really relevant if it isn't addressed. If they spend more than they earn it's still an issue.
There is a huge difference between spending more due to technological requirements for example and mismanagement, which includes overhiring and DEI.
I'm sure we'll see more strategies invented to bring in more money from games, and I'll tell you why.
A lot of people call it greed, but the reality is that $70 per copy in a one-time sales model doesn't bring in enough money to keep companies running. That's why you see so much MTX in paid games from companies like EA and Ubisoft. Microsoft's gaming software revenues are stale. They've had to give up and take big titles third party.
You are too focused on AAA. Go to the Play/App Store and examine the design philosophies behind those games. What I’m saying is that people learning game design and development are now being taught to implement monetization schemes and strategies to increase revenue as part of their school curriculum.
Sony has been highlighting in their financials that their first party software revenues are underperforming and that they're depending too heavily on their cut of third party revenue. If it weren't for third party revenue Sony wouldn't be able to operate at the scale they are today. Nintendo is the only company really surviving on their own output.
but can you see why the "WHY" is incredibly relevant, right?
For example, Spider-Man 2's narrative team was twice as large as SM1's, and I don't think the storytelling is twice as good, in fact is worse. and keep in mind this:
People are always the most expensive aspect of game development (or any other industry)
from the video:
Space Marine 2's budget was less than half of Doom Eternal's... WHY?
I'm not sure it's true that there's no need for day and date for Xbox. It's really all they have left now and it's because Microsoft took it there.
I'm not talking about Xbox. I'm talking in general. Day-and-date releases on a subscription service (any service) subtract from each game's revenue potential
That said, the economics of game development are what they are and Microsoft is going to have to go further into embracing other platforms to grow their addressable market.
The issue FOR XBOX is not about growing but compensating for what they have lost.
1. A decrease in console install base means less money (fewer people) buying games.
+
2. Game Pass has created an ecosystem which encourages people not to buy games, compounded by the first point.
=
destruction of the economy of gaming inside the Xbox´s ecosystem.
They need day and date on GP and PC to make enough money from their games
you got it backward:
Day-and-date games on Game Pass are always a subtraction from the game's revenue.
Day 1 on PC will have to expand to some day 1 on Sony and Nintendo's platforms as well.
Sony and/or Nintendo putting their games on PC on day one would be THE case of seeking growth (because their ecosystems have reached market saturation). But I'm telling you this: it will be a zero-sum game (just like Game Pass):
Game Pass´s growth has been at the expense of game sales.
The economics are already pushing Sony into doing things people thought they would never do. Sony's overall console customer base isn't exactly exploding with the demise of Xbox,
Xbox has been in decline for the last 10 years. Its current situation is just the tail end of that trend, meaning PlayStation has been consistently gaining "Xbox" users during that period. Therefore, we are not going to see exponential growth in PS console adoption. and of course there are other factors like PC gaming gaining popularity for example.
and we've seen them do stuff like create their own sub service and release first party games on PC. Seeing Lego Horizon on Switch and PC day 1 was hand-waved away by some here as Sony being forced to do it by Lego. But Lego didn't force Sony into a deal for the Horizon IP. It was also Sony testing the efficacy of day 1 games on other platforms.
and how do you think that turned out?
Releasing games
everywhere is not a guarantee of success, and conversely, releasing games
only on one platform is not a guarantee of failure.
All that is to say that the current flow from full price to sub service you outlined has already changed for some Xbox and PlayStation titles to include a release on multiple platforms step before discounting occurs.
you are confusing Day and Date releases on services like GP or PS+ to releasing games mutiplat...where you need to pay for them. i don't know why are you jumping between two different concepts that are not even the point of discussion:
Which is the effects of day and date releases on GP (or any other service)
It's going to have to expand to more titles unless the console userbase rapidly expands
There is no need for the console base to expand. The console market is around 150-170 million consoles, with maybe an additional 20-50 million in the next few decades from emerging markets. But that's it.
The console market can't sustain both Xbox and PlayStation. This is why Xbox is fading away. Even Nintendo couldn't sustain itself and had to shift to the handheld market.
, because people aren't going to keep accepting price increases for games to pay for the increased dev cost.
You know what also they are not going to keep accepting... yep, price increases for subscription services
At some point games need to cost less to access in order to get more people spending money. Thats why we see discounts later. Day and date on multiple platforms does it sooner and with higher overall returns.
the video I just linked.
and again, confusing Day and Date on game pass to mutiplat releases.
Not Sure what Tango has to do with it. It was already in limbo with the departure of its leader. But it does highlight that it's really no longer enough for a game to just make back its budget to be considered successful. A game now has to make enough money to fund its sequel. And in the case of a publisher-owned studio like Tango it has to pay for a portion of the ongoing overhead of the parent company.
You have been conflating multiplatform releases with day-and-date GP releases
This is Phil talking about multiplat releases of their own games:
we see an opportunity to utilize the other platforms as a place to just drive more business value out of those games, allowing us to invest in maybe future iterations of those,so sequels to those, or just other games like that in our portfolio. And when we don't damage Xbox and we can grow our business using what other platforms have to help us with that,we're going to do that.
So, as I stated earlier, releasing games everywhere is not a guarantee of success
It doesn't help that inside the Xbox´s ecosystems a game like Hi-Fi couldn't have the opportunity to:
"...make back its budget
"...make enough money to fund its sequel"
WHY?
Because Game Pass kills a game's revenue potential
