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[PaintTinJr]

The comments regarding Roblox and Minecraft as a "game" platforms should really tell anyone listening that none of the people in the podcast are gamers.

They are confusing systems recycling every game idea since gaming began as a platform because they are making MTX out of it.

With A-AAA gaming that is the context of their podcast. pay to win GaaS sports games take a lot flack, as does Fortnite, Genshin Impact, but all are clearly quality produced game products worthy of people's consideration, but Roblox for all the social fun tubers like A for Adele or Ryan's World can derive from it, the experience is technically inept, unfinished, devoid of original creativity and just recycling the £.1.99 budget tape game mechanics of spectrum/C64 and early b/w mobile phones.

If Xbox are leaning into that type of robux gaming void, then the sooner they go third party to save the livelihoods of their actual "game" developers with real talent the better for Microsoft's financials and the industry IMO.

 

[mayham2199]

Their exclusives have been on pc for years. There's no difference.

If you are a playstation only gamer and you simply refuse to buy an Xbox...you will never buy one...might as well sell that playstation user a game instead.

And like they said, it will probably be 12 months later and will still be on gamepass day one. Even if they launch day and date they will stay committed to gamepass to try and secure console sales or pc platform users. They keep pushing play anywhere too.


I would rather have good games and a stable gaming industry than exclusives and people losing their jobs, studios shutting down and shittier and shittier practices to monetize games.

Sony will absolutely follow suite here. Mark my words.

Agreed with all of this. Except for the Sony part. They might release on Nintendo but that’s as far as I see them going. Software sales on Xbox are horrible anyways so it’s probably not worth the brand damage to go that far. Their sales on pc aren’t that great as it is Xbox will be way way below that.

 

[Astray]

Its more than that though. Not only are they missing targets on GP, they keep making the pie bigger with acquisitions. Those have to at least make the return they were making before MS bought them. MS automatically gut revenue by putting them on GP. They assumed they would recover that revenue with increased GP subs and so far that is definitely not happening, or at least nowhere near how much it needs to. Doesn't that kind of compel MS to make the money elsewhere.

So the way I see it with subs flat not only do they have to recover funds from their 'old' 1st party content, they absolutely have to leverage the new content from ABK and probably Bethesda with multiplat. I'll be astonished if they eat the loss of future exclusives from those studios. There is no way Starfield is performing as intended given it was no doubt supposed to contribute to a GP spike.

Everything you just said is %100 correct and is why we're seeing what we're seeing.

The financials of Microsoft Gaming is a massive catering hole.

 

[DenchDeckard]

I don’t even think it was brilliant. There are just people who will believe whatever Phil says. You even have people everywhere saying they committed to Starfield and Indiana Jones being


Agreed with all of this. Except for the Sony part. They might release on Nintendo but that’s as far as I see them going. Software sales on Xbox are horrible anyways so it’s probably not worth the brand damage to go that far. Their sales on pc aren’t that great as it is Xbox will be way way below that.

Sony releasing games on switch is exactly the same as this. I agree they probably don't need xbox, even though a game like helldivers 2 would do serious numbers on the xbox platform...they could probably skip it.

But, certain games make sense to be everywhere. Especially gaas games.

 

[LastBattle]

It's not a nothing burger, you're just in the acceptance stage and willing to hope the bleeding stops at games less prominent in list wars

Would it be a nothing burger if Playstation brought say Returnal, Ratchet, Demons Souls and GT7 to Xbox and Nintendo? Would it be nothing if Nintendo did that with Splatoon, Animal Crossing, Metroid Dread and Bayonetta 3 to other systems?

Then said they will assess the rest of their portfolio case by case

You listed high profile games from Sony and Nintendo, not really the same is it? I'm also comparing what was discussed in the podcast to the ridiculous conclusions discussed here over past couple weeks.

I own all the platforms so don't care one way or the other. TBH I was happy people would be able to enjoy MS games on other platforms, the positive of bolstering numbers for online games and what sort of benefits we would see on gamepass by investing new revenue streams into the service.

 

[JohnnyFootball]

Sony releasing games on switch is exactly the same as this. I agree they probably don't need xbox, even though a game like helldivers 2 would do serious numbers on the xbox platform...they could probably skip it.

But, certain games make sense to be everywhere. Especially gaas games.

Multiplayer games on PS5 and PC make sense day and date. Single player focused games, I don't see it happening. I would no longer rule out them trying a day and date in the future, but I won't believe it until I see it.

Its far more lucrative to release on PS5 and then on PC down the road. GTA games have done this to great effect.

Although, Sony games still aren't selling all THAT well on PC they're still making profit.

 

[Kokoloko85]

Wishfull thinking...not gonna happen

Not at all. I would hate that to happen

 

[jwaxeman]

Some of the ports are in the planning stages still as those teams just aren't in a position to spin up a dev pipeline while they are actively working on releasing the initial project in the next year or two. Porting is a more extensive process than that, especially if the devs haven't shipped on those platforms in awhile, if ever.

That said - I think you're missing out on the fact that a lot of the projects have already been publicly leaked. There are many others which haven't, ofc, and while I admit I haven't kept up with all the titles that have been discussed, I have yet to hear a game be talked about that isn't being planned or ported. I'll also reiterate - I know of games (plural) that are Xbox IP, whose next games have yet to be announced, and whose developers are targeting a day 1 multiplatform release.

Thanks that’s actually really enlightening. Appreciate the reply. You wouldn’t be able to tell us which games those day-one targets are I assume?

 

[DryvBy]

Gotta admit, all the fanboy drivel I had heard here and on X had me believing at almost 100% that Xbox as a platform was being phased out in the next couple of years and that Microsoft was going full 3rd party.

A lot of people here are very angry it seems that Xbox remains in the console space, and it isn't the green rats

Who said it'll be around? They're going to see people buying games is profitable and the shareholders will demand they make more 3rd party games.

 

[Power Pro]

I just got up...what's the TLDR of this?

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

I just got up...what's the TLDR of this?

xbox ded

 

[AJUMP23]

I'm honestly not sure they did.

We got no comment on this at all until the leaks started spelling it out for people. They reacted because its true. If its false you just deny. They spent 22 min saying almost nothing.

Appreciate your thoughts. But they would never say much. Because that is businesses strategy. But 4 games and no Starfield is a response to the rumors. Gaming division is still earning. Growth is stagnant nadella said that the other week.

I think they felt like they needed to do something because of the extent of the rumors. If things change over time we shall see.

they did emphasize that they always need to grow.

 

[Ramz87]

Alright Phil Spender no one apart from Xbox fanboys believes you mate

 

[T-0800]

My 2 cents. Xbox is dead they just don't want to admit it yet.

 

[thismeinteil]

I just got up...what's the TLDR of this?

Phil chose a slow death for Xbox HW instead of just ripping off the bandaid and going full 3rd party.

 

[Jaybe]

I just got up...what's the TLDR of this?

Phil commited Seppuku

 

[IDappa]

I didn’t pick up on any hints regarding a portable system. Felt more like they were just filling the air with everything they could without actually saying anything.

True.. we will see then. They were mentioning future hardware also so I just put two and two together.

 

[Beechos]

Portable system sounds true with those rumors of the surface team working on hardware prior to the podcast.

 

[begotten]

Damage Control 101

Massage the idea of multi-platform games to the fans - "It's just 4 games"

Soften that blow saying there's new hardware (how are the trained consumers going to handle a niche $700 handheld) and ABK games will be on Game Pass, only state Diablo 4 but don't confirm Call of Duty (again how will the fans handle this when it's actually not on GP).

They should have just ripped the bandaid off.

This tail chasing communication is just going to inevitably end them up back in this position again.

 

[Alan Wake]

Appreciate your thoughts. But they would never say much. Because that is businesses strategy. But 4 games and no Starfield is a response to the rumors. Gaming division is still earning. Growth is stagnant nadella said that the other week.

I think they felt like they needed to do something because of the extent of the rumors. If things change over time we shall see.

they did emphasize that they always need to grow.

Basically it was what could be expected. They were vague and they confirmed as little as possible but still enough for us to understand what the roadmap is like for the years to come. Xbox as an exclusive platform is basically dead. I don't trust Bond's BS about giant leaps in hardware one bit.

As an Xbox gamer for 22 years I feel more or less done at this point. They can't promise exclusives anymore, they don't care about physical media (which has been apparent for many years), they don't care about selling consoles and they have a platform that is slowly sinking into the mud.

Of course they want to branch out. I can't imagine Bethesda or Activision being happy with releasing games on a shrinking platform like Xbox only either.

 

[jwaxeman]

I didn’t pick up on any hints regarding a portable system. Felt more like they were just filling the air with everything they could without actually saying anything.

Phil has said they want all devices to be their mobile alternatives to console. Naturally he’s probably full of shit considering they’ve all but abandoned streaming at this point.

 

[Topher]

Basically it was what could be expected. They were vague and they confirmed as little as possible but still enough for us to understand what the roadmap is like for the years to come. Xbox as an exclusive platform is basically dead. I don't trust Bond's BS about giant leaps in hardware one bit.

As an Xbox gamer for 22 years I feel more or less done at this point. They can't promise exclusives anymore, they don't care about physical media (which has been apparent for many years), they don't care about selking consoles and they have a platform that is slowly sinking into the mud.

Of course they want to branch out. I can't imagine Bethesda or Activision being happy with releasing games on a shrinking platform like Xbox only either.

Yeah, your post kind of summarizes the biggest problem for Xbox gamers who care about their console having exclusives going forward: uncertainty. Every game announced by Microsoft is going to have that "multiplatform, coming soon to PlayStation" cloud hanging over it with a huge question mark. And that's going to be a neverending narrative of the console war. Phil Spencer committed to four games but wouldn't rule out anything either way beyond that. That's why people describing this as a "nothing burger" are really just not getting it, I'm afraid. This isn't over.

Folks wanted clarity, but that is not what we got today.

 

[Topher]

Timdog still not happy.

 

[Kacho]

I really wish Timdog didn’t type like a serial killer

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

Timdog still not happy.

Topher making an accurate prediction

Timdog seeing the forest for the trees

What a timeline we're living in

 

[Topher]

Topher making an accurate prediction

Timdog seeing the forest for the trees

What a timeline we're living in

A month ago, if I had bet on both of those happening, I'd have a funky avatar again.

 

[IDappa]

Timdog still not happy.

Dudes a toddler, goes for anyone else who acts that way..

 

[XXL]

Timdog still not happy.

When TimDog has more sense than you (not you Topher lol) you've lost the plot.

 

[mckmas8808]

Looks like all the Sony fans are disappointed. They are getting 4 unknown Xbox games, games still day one on GP, MS isn't going anywhere and they just announced Diablo 4 is coming to GP.

Now if you really want to see a real life train wreck, Sony's earnings report and projected PS5 sales miss which sunk the stock 5% yesterday.

I'd love to know how the bolded is a train wreck.

 

[EDMIX]

This, as with all business decisions will be testing the waters on what they do in the future.

Doubt, like....really, really highly doubt that. They've already made their choice and this is merely some phase 1 type thing.

if you invested in Xbox they promise to do right by their fanbase

That sounds like more PR talk tbh, they promise to keep making games else where, promise you can use an XB controller and you'll see the logo on PS and Nintendo for generations to come, for all you know that is what he is fucking saying.

- new powerful hardware is coming for those that want it.

Its called PC and I wouldn't be shocked if he just lies and makes it sound like they stopped the new xb based on low sales of Series X

Be like "its with a heavy heart that we end XB, but fear not, if you invested in XB, WE PROMISE to do right by you, 3rd party XB branded controllers are being made for PS6 and Nintendo Switch 2, and our games will live on thru PC, shit we'll even keep the servers on so you can redownload your games on Series X" lol

They want gamers to be able to play whee they wa

Shhhhiiiiiit sop Dench, my fucking god, they want to make money.

This isn't some free thing they are doing cause they are saints, they are a business, Series X has sold worse then XONE, MS wants to see a return, thats it. So this whole "they want gamers to be able" nahhhhh, they want they money from sales and those communities. They are not a charity and this delusion like this was done as some sort of Peace offering cause MS has entered sainthood is the corniest and desperate spin I've seen on this.

That sounds great on the surface…but let’s break down the simplicity of them putting any, literally ANY exclusives on another console. Testing waters is fine…but they aren’t testing anything other than Xbox fans patience with those 4 supposed games. This is clearly a slow trickle to the inevitable, and only people who turn a blind eye to business see it as any different.

Fucking...THANK YOU!

I feel like this should be very fucking obvious for someone to see.

MS is going 3rd party.

They wish to start that process, but they also wish to maintain sales, thus will just tell you its ONLY 4 games, we will KEEP supporting blah blah blah

Then 4 more, then 4 more and then ohhhhh we are sorrrrry, 20 more games, but thats it for real.

Then, oh snap bro, looks like PS6 is announced....ok, so we are not making a XB, but here is a portable with a XB controller.

They want to maintain those sales for as long as they can, UNTIL the next gen starts. They want to maximize sales just like we see when they pretend no Slim or Elite or Pro version is coming of something.

Thats it.

Anyone thinking MS not just saying "oh we will NEVER MAKE XB, go buy PS and Nintendo" suddenly means this won't happen is either blind or has a hard time excepting what this company is doing. These are not the moves of a publisher looking to stay in the home console market, these are moves of a publisher looking to go 3rd party and seeking to maintain sales until that very moment they exit

 

[Iced Arcade]

Timdog still not happy.

lol he has been totally broken

 

[lepermessiah]

People will fall for this shit again.

EaTs MonStErS FoR BreAkFasT

 

[Astray]

The notion that they are 'testing the waters' runs completely counter to who they are as a publishing entity. Microsoft, right now, publishes every Minecraft and Minecraft spinoff on other consoles. They've published Ori and Cuphead on other consoles as well.They also bought two publishers who had loads of financial teams who could hand over the data that literally bears out how well those games sell on other consoles, games they now own.

'Testing the waters' isn't just nonsense PR framing - it literally is an insult to the intelligence of folks looking on. You'd have to believe that they have never published games on other consoles in order to believe this is anything resembling a test.

So basically the Xbox team lost the business case argument for keeping exclusives?

I was under the impression the fight was still going on to some extent.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

So basically the Xbox team lost the business case argument for keeping exclusives?

I was under the impression the fight was still going on to some extent.

If Satya has decided they are going to publish 3rd party for all consoles, the matter is decided. The fight continues until the CEO puts his foot down and then it ends

 

[bitbydeath]

I'd love to know how the bolded is a train wreck.

Let me tell you how Sony’s over 20M sales in a single year is bad for them compared to MS’s over 20M Xbox Series sales over their lifetime is…

 

[sachos]

I only see Phil begging for PlayStation games

They will try really hard to form the narrative that Sony/Nintendo are stingy for not bringing their exclusives to them, painting themselves as the good guys.
"Im not exactly sure who it helps in the industry by not being on Xbox"... it sure does help Sony and their platform by adding another game into their library of exclusives (in this case a console exclusive) enticing users to buy their platform thus increaing their revenue through potential subs & game sales, be it 1st party or 3rd party splits. It's not hard...

 

[adamsapple]

I just got up...what's the TLDR of this?

v

So, a very rough summary:

- 4 games (they did not name names but Tom Warren says: HiFi, Pentiment, Sea of Thieves, Grounded), are coming to other platforms.
- Phil says this is not a promise or greenlight for more games in the future.
- Phil specifically name-dropped Starfield and Indiana Jones as game that are *not* going multi-platform.
- All Xbox first party games in the future will continue to come to game pass on launch (they did not mention if CoD games will get an exception for this or not)
- Diablo 4 is coming to game pass on March 28th
- They confirmed a June showcase with more new game announcements. Boooty mentioned that they have 15 games coming.
- No talk of any more BC games coming, they had a 'preservation' segment but that was more about games having cross-saves and progression between console and PC.
- No talk of any new hardware (revision, portable anything)

"Yet"
"They're coming"
"Keep waiting"
"Of course they'll wait to see"

Set up folks from other ecosystems to talk about Xbox for the next couple of months, Phil you magnificent fucking bastard.

Now even at other companies big showcases or states of events, everyone will be wondering if any Xbox games will show up.

 

[cash_longfellow]

Doubt, like....really, really highly doubt that. They've already made their choice and this is merely some phase 1 type thing.

That sounds like more PR talk tbh, they promise to keep making games else where, promise you can use an XB controller and you'll see the logo on PS and Nintendo for generations to come, for all you know that is what he is fucking saying.

Its called PC and I wouldn't be shocked if he just lies and makes it sound like they stopped the new xb based on low sales of Series X

Be like "its with a heavy heart that we end XB, but fear not, if you invested in XB, WE PROMISE to do right by you, 3rd party XB branded controllers are being made for PS6 and Nintendo Switch 2, and our games will live on thru PC, shit we'll even keep the servers on so you can redownload your games on Series X" lol

Shhhhiiiiiit sop Dench, my fucking god, they want to make money.

This isn't some free thing they are doing cause they are saints, they are a business, Series X has sold worse then XONE, MS wants to see a return, thats it. So this whole "they want gamers to be able" nahhhhh, they want they money from sales and those communities. They are not a charity and this delusion like this was done as some sort of Peace offering cause MS has entered sainthood is the corniest and desperate spin I've seen on this.





Fucking...THANK YOU!

I feel like this should be very fucking obvious for someone to see.

MS is going 3rd party.

They wish to start that process, but they also wish to maintain sales, thus will just tell you its ONLY 4 games, we will KEEP supporting blah blah blah

Then 4 more, then 4 more and then ohhhhh we are sorrrrry, 20 more games, but thats it for real.

Then, oh snap bro, looks like PS6 is announced....ok, so we are not making a XB, but here is a portable with a XB controller.

They want to maintain those sales for as long as they can, UNTIL the next gen starts. They want to maximize sales just like we see when they pretend no Slim or Elite or Pro version is coming of something.

Thats it.

Anyone thinking MS not just saying "oh we will NEVER MAKE XB, go buy PS and Nintendo" suddenly means this won't happen is either blind or has a hard time excepting what this company is doing. These are not the moves of a publisher looking to stay in the home console market, these are moves of a publisher looking to go 3rd party and seeking to maintain sales until that very moment they exit

I literally just watched that episode of the office less than 24 hours ago lol. But yea, I don’t understand how people aren’t seeing the writing on the wall at this point…I’m tired of trying to paint the picture at this point…I suppose they are going to have to learn the hard way when the shit fully hits the fan. I’ve been in corporate and business positions for way too long to not see the bold print here, but I guess 90% of Gaf will be surprised when it actually happens. I look forward to the threads and have my popcorn gifs at the ready lol.

 

[RPS37]

Hass anyone played MLB The Show?

 

[The Inventor]

Go flick one off the wrist. That'll calm you down.

Great, thanks. Well, now let's do some reading around here...

With a clear mind, I must say, It has always been there. It was their message right from the start: play anywhere. I can compare it to the Xbox One announcement and maybe it's just that they're always a little early, ahead of what will undoubtedly come in the near future.

 

[Raven117]

Great, thanks. Well, now let's do some reading around here...

With a clear mind, I must say, It has always been there. It was their message right from the start: play anywhere. I can compare it to the Xbox One announcement and maybe it's just that they're always a little early, ahead of what will undoubtedly come in the near future.

It definitely was. And some xbox folks just wouldn’t accept it. We didn’t know how it would look. And we still kinda don’t. But we do know they are absolutely moving in that direction.

 

[Vroadstar]

I just got up...what's the TLDR of this?

That some bros are still in....

 

[Moridianae]

Pretty obvious they plan on doing more than these four.

There was a lot of fluff and corporate speak, but that's the gist I got now that I've watched it fully and read the Verge interview.

The question still remains the same--*why* would you allow almost two weeks of damage to yourself for what amounted to(at this juncture) not a whole lot. Could've been a blog post and been done with it.

Microsoft won't exit the HW business, but it's clear they've at least semi-written off the Series consoles and are moving to their next thing.

Could be good with the power they plan, alongside a portable. But price becomes an issue on the former, power on the latter. I also wouldn't be shocked if Sony is doing something similar.

Also could put them in a situation akin to 360, wherein they get a head-start, except this time, I don't see Sony making the mistakes they did with the PS3 on the PS6 if it does come out later.

 

[adamsapple]

Hass anyone played MLB The Show?

Only because it's been coming out on Game Pass for the last couple of years. The showcase modes with the archival footage last year was nice for a bit.

 

[Iced Arcade]

Hass anyone played MLB The Show?

few times, can't wait to see more on Marathon! lol

 

[RoboEight]

Sounds good to me Im excited to see what comes in June.

 

[Firestartah]

People are full on Copium. The damage is still done and will continue to dilute the xbox brand. Even their 34 gamepass nr is incorrect as stated here
They actually lost gamepass subs since 2022...

More and more will come to PS5, they didnt deny Starfield might come they just said it isnt one of the 4 that come in the first wave. You are getting lubed by corpo speak.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

I'd love to know how the bolded is a train wreck.

Stock dropped 4% on an up day in the market.

Sony Shares Drop by Most in Two Years on Weak Outlook for PlayStation 5, Gaming

By Kimberley Kao Sony Group shares had their worst day in two years after the entertainment and electronics giant flagged weakness in its gaming business in its latest quarterly results, with...

uk.marketscreener.com

 

[Killjoy-NL]

Sony releasing games on switch is exactly the same as this. I agree they probably don't need xbox, even though a game like helldivers 2 would do serious numbers on the xbox platform...they could probably skip it.

But, certain games make sense to be everywhere. Especially gaas games.

Why would Sony release a game on a dying platform?

Xbox is dead now that Spencer said Xbox games will go multiplatform.

A large part of the Xbox installbase will split between Playstation and PC, where HD2 is available.
Maybe Sony already saw this coming and anticipated the outcome.

 

[ElRenoRaven]

So reading up. Pretty much as expected. Start small. See how it goes and expand in the future. Keep it ambiguous. Needless to say this pretty much makes nobody happy and will only probably do more harm to them in the long run.