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[FunkMiller]

Consoles need exclusives. The console is as dead as shit.

 

[DeltaPolarBear]

• Fable
• Indiana Jones
• Gears of War Emergence
• Doom Dark Ages
• Flight Sim 2024
• Avowed
• Perfect Dark
• South of Midnight
• State of Decay 3
• Clockwork Revolution
• Everwild
• Contraband
• The Outerworlds 2
• OD

That a list of Microsoft games just off head, im sure im missing some........
Next years showcase and the year after they will hav more.

Xbox had repeated shown that they lie about their game progress and show trailers that are entirely fake. Most famous being Halo Infinite and its first CGI trailer, but multiple others too. Basically you just listed a lot of game titles that are in theory in development, but in fact many of them barely even exist as Design Documents. Microsoft admit that they had created trailers for every title they were making, even if they were not even sure what kind of games they would even BE.

So my point stands; assuming Microsoft magically cleaned up their act and became competent in 2023, they would NOT have the time to launch any titles for the end of Series X.

Microsoft had been lying for multiple generations of consoles, they are not going to stop now.

 

[mayham2199]

Of course. Just not as a traditional console manufacture with exclusive console games.

It's pretty clear Microsoft have a different vision. If they were bothered about selling consoles then they wouldn't put their games on PC day one with Xbox, start publishing games on Sony/Nintendo consoles, make Gamepass accessible on a Amazon fire stick etc etc.

No, they envision a future where they are the largest publisher in the gaming industry. A publisher that also offers an attractive subscription service.

That doesn't mean there won't be any more Xbox hardware (there are rumors of a handheld), but their vision to success is a lot different to Sony and Nintendo.

If they weren’t bothered about selling consoles then why was Satya emailing Phil about console sales and saying he doesn’t want to get to far behind?

People like to think MS has some sort of plan and are just failing to see this is a company doing whatever they can to save a sinking ship. Which I guess makes more sense to people than a trillion dollar company that just seriously messed up and its to late to fix their mistakes.

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

You are thinking like a fanboy with fanboy logic while I'm explaining how the actual real world looks at it.

Saying that games like GTA or Genshin Impact "don't matter" is Pikmin fanboyism. In the real world, Japan is not the biggest market by a long margin, and that's why the games I mentioned are more profitable than any other not called Pokemon.

And no, people who want to play Uncharted, GTA, or Genshin wouldn't trade them for Mario or Zelda. Maybe in your fantasies, not in the real world. If they like Nintendo games, they also buy a Nintendo console.

 

[Shits_McGiggles]

The path forward would be to completely abandon this DEI crusade and appeal to the “Dudebro” audience again and hire developers that want to or are willing to develop those “Dudebro” games.

 

[EverydayBeast]

The most important ingredient to consoles are exclusives.

 

[IDKFA]

If they weren’t bothered about selling consoles then why was Satya emailing Phil about console sales and saying he doesn’t want to get to far behind?

That was then. This is now. Microsoft need to be realistic. They've never made a profit on consoles and current sales are abysmal.

Buying two publishers hasn't moved console sales. Time for them to pivot to a new plan that will bring more financial success. Selling consoles clearly isn't working and Microsoft know this.

 

[Fess]

When core gamers are actually moving in numbers that are worth a closer look, then we can discuss it. An anecdote of a potential situation is not proof of anything.

So, yes, they're currently fine.

Proof is always in the pudding and we’ll see how things evolve.

But you should go back and look at threads when Xbox PC ports started arriving. I think it was 2014-16, something like that. The talk was identical.

With Microsoft it was easy to see where they were going from the start. There was lots of heated talks but they already had their own store and launcher and unveiled the Play Anywhere strategy, moving to Windows devices was a natural evolution of their ecosystem. Risky but natural.

But Sony’s strategy is weird. There is no store, no launcher, no synced saves and licenses. They just want a new audience to buy some LTTP releases and then think they’ll buy a new console to play the next game or something. Literally what Microsoft are doing now on Playstation. It’s obviously never gonna work. Every single release from now on is going to come with talk about if there will be day 1 releases soon.

 

[DeltaPolarBear]

Proof is always in the pudding and we’ll see how things evolve.

But you should go back and look at threads when Xbox PC ports started arriving. I think it was 2014-16, something like that. The talk was identical.

With Microsoft it was easy to see where they were going from the start. There was lots of heated talks but they already had their own store and launcher and unveiled the Play Anywhere strategy, moving to Windows devices was a natural evolution of their ecosystem. Risky but natural.

But Sony’s strategy is weird. There is no store, no launcher, no synced saves and licenses. They just want a new audience to buy some LTTP releases and then think they’ll buy a new console to play the next game or something. Literally what Microsoft are doing now on Playstation. It’s obviously never gonna work. Every single release from now on is going to come with talk about if there will be day 1 releases soon.

There is a certain demographic that are just hostile to PCs. Sony is just counting on PlayStation gamers not being interested in PC gaming, And you can't blame them; it isn't like PC gaming is new, it had ALWAYS been here. So if you don't play on PC now you were never going to.

But it had been treated as business fact that a game can't make real money unless it is on a console. That was why Elder Scrolls became such a shitty franchise when PC became a 2ndary concern for them. Console gamers just spent more.

So the issue isn't Sony trying to attract PC gamers, but the fact that PC gamers are just not as profitable except for rare exceptions.

 

[BlackTron]

I have two more on the way dw

Yay! We don't have enough. I hope they drop on the same day and the first is a classic Xbox post, and the second mixes it up a bit, like a bonus level.

 

[Mister Wolf]

The Golden Path is to go console/PC hybrid. Steam and Asus showed them the way. Just need to make portable and home variants.

 

[Mephisto40]

Xbox Games Studios (previously known as Microsoft Games then Microsoft Game Studios then Microsoft Studios) got rebranded/restructured into Microsoft Gaming.
Prior to 2022 the Microsoft's gaming division was called Xbox Games Studios, after Bethesda, ABK acquisitions it didnt make sense to keep calling the division Xbox so they changed the name to Microsoft Gaming with Phil Spencer as its CEO so that ZeniMax, Xbox Games Studios(under Sarah Bond) and ABK can still have levels of autonomy as such large entities themselves.
But during financial reporting Microsoft now reports the Xbox, ABK, Zeni together under Microsoft Gaming.

I assume when people say XBOX they are talking about the division that includes ABK, XGS and Zeni.....in which hardware is just a small part of their revenue stream.

I was more pointing out that it's not really sensible to say the xbox brand isnt struggling on it's own, when it's directly stated in the previous paragraph that it's already been assimilated into the grand Microsoft ecosystem

 

[UltimaKilo]

• Fable
• Indiana Jones
• Gears of War Emergence
• Doom Dark Ages
• Flight Sim 2024
• Avowed
• Perfect Dark
• South of Midnight
• State of Decay 3
• Clockwork Revolution
• Everwild
• Contraband
• The Outerworlds 2
• OD

That a list of Microsoft games just off head, im sure im missing some........
Next years showcase and the year after they will hav more.

They also fired the entire Woke department.

I'm actually more bullish on Microsoft nowadays. They are finally starting to focus on software and moving away from hardware, which is low margin and an uphill battle. I do think they should go the steambox route and offer low-cost Series S type machines with more frequent updates, ala mobile phones (4 year cycle?), while still supporting older hardware, could help them generate revenue there too.

Ultimately, it's about keeping you in the Windows/Microsoft ecosystem. It's looking as if Apple has a long-term, slow burning strategy to move gamers to MACOS/iOS/iPadOS, which will be a threat to MS overall business.

 

[Gambit2483]

Saying that games like GTA or Genshin Impact "don't matter" is Pikmin fanboyism. In the real world, Japan is not the biggest market by a long margin, and that's why the games I mentioned are more profitable than any other not called Pokemon.

And no, people who want to play Uncharted, GTA, or Genshin wouldn't trade them for Mario or Zelda. Maybe in your fantasies, not in the real world. If they like Nintendo games, they also buy a Nintendo console.

I'm saying that the gaming industry is bigger than just America and while Japan may not be the biggest market, they do produce many of the industry's biggest and most beloved IP and franchises.

To that end, Xbox is in Direct competition when it comes to Nintendo and Japanese games (or any game really) that are released on both platforms. I'm not arguing why someone would buy one console over the other based on exclusives, i.e
Uncharted, GTA etc. I'm arguing games that appear on both systems, making them Direct competitors for the sale of those multiplatform games.

 

[Fess]

There is a certain demographic that are just hostile to PCs. Sony is just counting on PlayStation gamers not being interested in PC gaming,

Seems short-sighted. PC is a growing platform and Playstation fans were among the loudest who said Xbox wasn’t needed anymore when their games came to PC. So I assume they have PCs, or had I don’t know. Either way I’m sure Sony has all the numbers. Through the account login they know exactly how many new customers they have and how many that has moved to PC, or double dip and play on both platforms.

 

[Matsuchezz]

Who gives a fuck about Xbox nowadays.
Everyone dislikes the brand their shitty games are worthless, Phil lies have been non stop and all fans are fed up with him. Even the shills over here have all started to burn their underwear with Phil’s face embroidered on it. Xbox sucks!

 

[Bernoulli]

I miss the era Bernoulli used to make threads every 20 minutes.

 

[kapshin]

You guys sure love your doom and gloom threads.

 

[CLW]

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

You guys sure love your doom and gloom threads.

oh boy, you just wait until Halo, Gears and Starfield are announced for PS5/pro.

 

[Fafalada]

So I don't see a path forward for Xbox as a platform.

What do you mean?
The XBox@family has never been healthier - with over 130M handheld users, nearly 100M current gen console users, and some 20M PC players... (+/- a few 100M mobile users give or take).

 

[Felessan]

But Sony’s strategy is weird. There is no store, no launcher, no synced saves and licenses. They just want a new audience to buy some LTTP releases and then think they’ll buy a new console to play the next game or something. Literally what Microsoft are doing now on Playstation. It’s obviously never gonna work. Every single release from now on is going to come with talk about if there will be day 1 releases soon.

It's obviously working.
Unlike MS, where it simply cannibalize console sales, Sony has clear strategy.
Sell LTTP port, cash in on PC gamers and some might buy console for next iteration of IP which is usually placed near the port timeframe.
And it's works just fine - Sony earns around half a billion a year from PC players and their console business also thriving.

 

[Gamerguy84]

They fought the wrong battle with all that money. They tried to buy people's Fandom.

MS had Sony in this spot years ago. Sony rolled up their sleeves, didn't say a word, and started making games.

MS could have paid and managed their studios better. We could have new IPs we've never heard of and owning both consoles while stacking their exclusives against each other.

 

[Fess]

some might buy console for next iteration of IP

I think that’s just as unlikely as a Playstation fan buying a Series X to play a sequel to Grounded to not have to play it late.
Wouldn’t even work for Halo.
It’s silly to think timed exclusivity is a good enough selling point for hardware investments. You don’t pay $500 and start building a new games library on a new platform for one or even five games that may arrive 1-4 years later on your main platform.

 

[HeWhoWalks]

Proof is always in the pudding and we’ll see how things evolve.

But you should go back and look at threads when Xbox PC ports started arriving. I think it was 2014-16, something like that. The talk was identical.

With Microsoft it was easy to see where they were going from the start. There was lots of heated talks but they already had their own store and launcher and unveiled the Play Anywhere strategy, moving to Windows devices was a natural evolution of their ecosystem. Risky but natural.

But Sony’s strategy is weird. There is no store, no launcher, no synced saves and licenses. They just want a new audience to buy some LTTP releases and then think they’ll buy a new console to play the next game or something. Literally what Microsoft are doing now on Playstation. It’s obviously never gonna work. Every single release from now on is going to come with talk about if there will be day 1 releases soon.

That's why I think Day 1 releases of all of their games are still a good ways away. They [hopefully] know the outcome of otherwise.

 

[Humdinger]

As far as the console hardware goes, I think it depends on how much of its exclusive catalog Microsoft decides to sell to Playstation and Nintendo. I know a lot of people here are expecting that the entire catalog will be ported over, but I think that remains to be seen. As we know, a console needs exclusives to be worth purchasing. Microsoft will not want to lose its 30 million Xbox customers. They could very well hang on to a subset of their franchises and keep them exclusive, just to help preserve the console base.

 

[Fess]

That's why I think Day 1 releases of all of their games are still a good ways away. They [hopefully] know the outcome of otherwise.

Yeah, day 1 or not ports are extremely dangerous, it’s so weird that they don’t see this, don’t they listen to the talks around every port?
I literally only use my Series X for some rare Gamepass gaming and I barely use my PS5 at all, that is a direct consequence of the PC ports. If I could go back in time I would’ve skipped both consoles. And I used to be a console-only gamer.

 

[ByWatterson]

Nah. They're a publisher now. We all know it.

 

[bitbydeath]

• Fable
• Indiana Jones
• Gears of War Emergence
• Doom Dark Ages
• Flight Sim 2024
• Avowed
• Perfect Dark
• South of Midnight
• State of Decay 3
• Clockwork Revolution
• Everwild
• Contraband
• The Outerworlds 2
• OD

No offence but this list shows exactly why people aren’t interested in Xbox.

 

[Felessan]

I think that’s just as unlikely as a Playstation fan buying a Series X to play a sequel to Grounded to not have to play it late.
Wouldn’t even work for Halo.
It’s silly to think timed exclusivity is a good enough selling point for hardware investments. You don’t pay $500 and start building a new games library on a new platform for one or even five games that may arrive 1-4 years later on your main platform.

Yeah, yeah
And impulse buying does not exist. Sure.
Sony themselves stated that it is a thing. Probably not huge, but still better than nothing. Sony neveretheless still get a sizable revenue from PC without hurting their ecosystem.

 

[RAIDEN1]

Many players have come and gone, yet Nintendo remain Nintendo 40 plus years on, even after the debacle of the Wii U, (I know it isn't related to this thread, but it just came to mind when reading the posts here...and also when someone said even Sony will go eventually..) Also I came across earlier today which is relatable to this topic: https://xboxera.com/2024/07/29/the-future-of-xbox-console-gaming/

 

[Deputy Moonman]

They just need to release games and they'll be fine. That's all it comes down to and, lucky for xbox, a lot of games are in the pipeline.

 

[ShaiKhulud1989]

New MS earnings is out so it's kinda answers every question. Xbox as a console is dead.

• Gaming revenue up 44%
• Xbox content + services rev up 61%
• Xbox hardware down 42%

Xbox content and services revenue, which includes Xbox Game Pass, is up by 61 percent this quarter. Activision Blizzard revenues have once again contributed to the majority of revenue here, with 58 points of net impact.

 

[digital_ghost]

Should rename it to ybox. As in y do you exist.

 

[laynelane]

Getting rid of Phil and Matt would be a good start.

I think so too, but that seems to be the one thing MS is not willing to do. So, either they're comfortable with rewarding failure over and over or they don't consider Phil's track record to be a failure. It makes me think that the erosion of Xbox as a platform has been incorporated into what they're aiming at now - Game Pass and third party publishing. All conjecture on my part, of course, but I can't think of any other reason to keep someone like Phil in a leadership position. Matt is just inexplicable at this point.

 

[Fess]

Yeah, yeah
And impulse buying does not exist. Sure.
Sony themselves stated that it is a thing. Probably not huge, but still better than nothing. Sony neveretheless still get a sizable revenue from PC without hurting their ecosystem.

So they’re risking their whole platform for possible impulse buys? Why? It’s pocket money.

 

[Black_Stride]

No offence but this list shows exactly why people aren’t interested in Xbox.

Really?

Fuck me, I thought/think thats a really strong showing of titles.
Am I out of touch?

People arent looking forward to Doom, Clockwork Revolution, State of Decay 3, Perfect Dark............

 

[bitbydeath]

Really?

Fuck me, I thought/think thats a really strong showing of titles.
Am I out of touch?

People arent looking forward to Doom, Clockwork Revolution, State of Decay 3, Perfect Dark............

I can understand the hype for Doom and Gears, but the rest don’t do it for me.

Could be a me problem but I think a lot of them look like AA last-gen titles.

 

[Black_Stride]

Could be a me problem but I think a lot of them look like AA last-gen titles.

Look like AA games from lastgen?







Graphically Fable looks amazing.
Say what you will about the character looking ugly, but the game overall looks topnotch.....AA lastgen game, people are sitll doubting its actually gameplay.

Indiana Jones looks far from lastgen AA

Flight Sim 2020 is already one of the best looking games of the gen, 2024 is unlikely to look worse.

I thought Perfect Dark looked amazing, then again im a sucker for these kinds of games.

Im not even a huge State of Decay fan, but im gonna give SoD3 a go on Gamepass.

Love love love the South of Midnight artstyle

Even Avowed which I wasnt sold on initially actually had a good showing last time out.

 

[DeltaPolarBear]

I think so too, but that seems to be the one thing MS is not willing to do. So, either they're comfortable with rewarding failure over and over or they don't consider Phil's track record to be a failure.

My interpretation is that Phil's crew are the only members of the Microsoft Leadership still interested in Xbox. That any replacement they could find all want to shut the hardware down straight away. So you either stick with Phil or get no Xbox at all.

 

[Days like these...]

I rate this post concern trolling/10

 

[laynelane]

My interpretation is that Phil's crew are the only members of the Microsoft Leadership still interested in Xbox. That any replacement they could find all want to shut the hardware down straight away. So you either stick with Phil or get no Xbox at all.

It would be interesting to see who generated the idea of not needing an Xbox to play MS games - Phil or other MS higher-ups. That's had an impact. We know Phil and Booty are directly responsible for the game release quality and frequency issue over the years which has also had a negative impact. I can sort of see that Phil isn't anti-Xbox, but it's the decisions made while he's been in charge that have brought Xbox to where it is today.

 

[Felessan]

So they’re risking their whole platform for possible impulse buys? Why? It’s pocket money.

Risking whole platform is an exagerration. A big one.
Half a billion still a not small sum and they are risking what, small amount of hardcore PC gamers, 90% of whom will not buy playstation anyway?
Mass market do not think in a way "I will wait 2 years for this game to buy it on PC". The same as they don't think "I will wait for 2 years and get it free from PS+ or heavily discounted on sales". And core playstation market is mass market, not some hardcore forum dwellers.
Sony sells games on PC when their sales already collapsed even with discounts. And sells them at full price.

 

[DenchDeckard]

Third party and hopefully some hardware for those like me that like to buy things

 

[Lord Malachite]

If they can garner good will with a strong end of generation with XSX their next machine might be compelling for users, compelling enough to warrant its existence at the very least.

There is no viable way for Xbox to accomplish this. They have created an ecosystem that discourages the majority of its dwindling userbase from buying games, and they make them available elsewhere ensuring no one has a need to purchase and use Xbox hardware. In a fantasy world where Xbox releases ten absolute bangers between now and the end of this generation, so what? It might help their bottom line, sure. But the impact to their console will be minimal unless those games are going to be exclusive to Xbox hardware and not released on PC, PS5, or Switch.

As long as Xbox is releasing its first party titles day and date on PC and Gamepass, while also porting many of those same titles to PS5 and Switch, there is literally no logical reason to purchase an Xbox.

Unless there is a very major about face and support for PC, PS5, and Switch is cut way back, then pretending that current Xbox is anything but a third party publisher pretending it's still in the first party platform holding business is a joke. Xbox has spent this entire generation, and a significant portion of the last, communicating to the gaming world at large that Xbox hardware isn't relevant to Xbox software.

On top of all that, these changes have made console gamers significantly more invested in PS5 and Switch. Those platforms aren't just massively outselling the Xbox, but gamers are building up physical and digital libraries on those platforms--libraries that they can't take with them to Xbox even if for some reason they did suddenly become inclined to switch horses. That alone continues to make switching to Xbox a losing proposition for the majority of gamers.

Short of very extreme measures dropping support for every platform but Xbox, there's nothing Xbox can do to make its hardware compelling, no rabbit to pull out of their hat to turn the tide.

 

[Kumomeme]

there is no other way

but it is the way that Phil Spencer try so hard to not to do. especially when he spend decade for painting Sony as 'evil' due to that. now rather than try to tackle that way back properly, what happening instead is they trying to go all the way around and expecting a quick instant monopoly result. then when nothing much intended is working, they gonna pat their back on their own with whatever they had right now.

 

[PeteBull]

Really?

Fuck me, I thought/think thats a really strong showing of titles.
Am I out of touch?

People arent looking forward to Doom, Clockwork Revolution, State of Decay 3, Perfect Dark............

Bro, all those will show up on pc and playstation too, so using logics, if u buy pc instead of xbox u got pc exclusives, tons of playstation exclusives(bit later but still), and all xbox games, if u go with ps5(especially with upcoming in 4 months ps5pr0) u get all ps5 exclusives, multiplats and xbox games too, if u go with xbox u got only multiplats, no exclusives, aka 0 reason to buy xbox simply.

 

[Starbuck2907]

I’ve seen these “Xbox is dead” threads since the Xbox One launch.

Microsoft market cap: $3.14 trillion
Sony market cap: $108.4 billion

I don’t worry about Xbox too much. They are just now getting serious about their gaming division.

The rumor is that the next Xbox will be open and let you install pc game stores like Steam. They are also likely making a handheld.

Every gen is a new chance to reclaim the 360 days. Don’t count them out.

 

[FewRope]

They are going to be the literal biggest third party publisher ever, they have a vision, just not what the fanbase they created wanted

 

[lh032]

Xbox can move their path forward on Playstation platform.