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[Topher]

This is exactly what I said they would do. You will be forced to have an Xbox account to play their big games.

Now everyone is apart of Microsofts MAU and that's all they and shareholders care about.

Once you are signed up, average people who aren't triggered and canceling email subscriptions will be receiving marketing emails about gamepass and xbox.

I think they should bring forza horizon next as that would be greatly appreciated by ps fans I think.

You must have a Microsoft account. Not Xbox account. Entirely different things.

lol.....cancelling email subscriptions is something "triggered" people do?

Don't you need the Microsoft account to then sign into Xbox?

Either way, you are in Microsofts eco system and being logged as an MAU.

You don't need an Xbox account at all. If I had to guess, which is all anyone here is doing when it comes to what MS does internally, then I'd say the PS gamer will be logged as a Sea of Thieves MAU and that's all. I don't think one bit that Microsoft will try to represent those gamers as "Xbox" MAUs especially if they are going to try and present that "Xbox" MAU number to stockholders.

 

[Shifty1897]

You make it sound like no publisher benefits from having their games on playstation?

If I made it sound that way, I didn't mean to. No other publisher that puts their games on PlayStation has their own console as an option.

MAU's matter, I just think Microsoft and it's shareholders should view PlayStation MAU's to be worth less than Xbox MAU's.

 

[MonkeyClaw36]

Phil is a generous god gaslighting cunt.

 

[Mr Moose]

So you’re trying to claim Xbox achievements unlocked on an Xbox account aren’t Xbox achievements?

Cross-save/progression isn't new. You only unlocked Xbox achievements because you own it on Xbox as well.

 

[Duchess]

I just think Microsoft and it's shareholders should view PlayStation MAU's to be worth less than Xbox MAU's.

Not when the PlayStation's install base is 2-3 times bigger than Xbox.

 

[Mr Reasonable]

Not when the PlayStation's install base is 2-3 times bigger than Xbox.

Yeah, and that install base hits countries that Xbox doesn't really sell in too. So it's more than just a numbers game, in a sense they're reaching players that they couldn't reasonably expect to in other ways.

Edit: no idea why that's funny. There's a couple of real weirdos on here...

 

[ComputerBlue]

This makes me happy, now I know that when the MCC inevitably gets ported over my progress will carry over with it.

 

[Denorion]

This makes me happy, now I know that when the MCC inevitably gets ported over my progress will carry over with it.

I can see them porting Halo Infinite, but I am not sure about MCC, the latter got stopped getting support, and would compete with the former of both were available on ps5

 

[64bitmodels]

Extremely slimy and cunning company.

 

[n111ck]

Desperate times for MS lol - this is like buying likes on social media. Pathetic.

 

[MonkeyClaw36]

Man I'd love to see sony pull an Uno Reverse card on MS by porting Helldivers 2 to Xbox and demanding a SEN account.

If only.......

 

[yurinka]

Normal third-party publishers don't also have their own platform to support. Third-party publishers do benefit from releasing games on PlayStation. Microsoft does benefit from having their games on PlayStation in some ways, but it also hurts them in other ways (less percentage from sales, a loss in hardware sales, and a loss in the ecosystem as those playing on PlayStation won't be using Game Pass or the Microsoft storefront).

It isn't a 1:1 comparison between Microsoft and, say, CD Projekt Red.

I'd say most -if not all- people interested enough on MS games to buy an Xbox, or at least to play their games on PC aldready did it. Part of them being PS users.

There's a huge subset of other PS players, not interested enough on them to the point of going to play Xbox or PC. That people may get them in PS, specially if cheap.

Same as in other MS games like Minecraft.

Yes, MS case isn't the same like the typical 3rd party. MS would prefer you to buy their games on their stores, same goes with CD Projekt prefering you to buy their games on GoG. But the thing is that the PS (or Switch) market is so big that it is very appealing for them to also release their game there even if paying Sony their cut.

 

[Little Chicken]

Man I'd love to see sony pull an Uno Reverse card on MS by porting Helldivers 2 to Xbox and demanding a SEN account.

If only.......

It would probably be required to play it, just like it's required to have an Xbox account to play Xbox games that use Xbox servers....

What are people missing here?

 

[MonkeyClaw36]

It would probably be required to play it, just like it's required to have an Xbox account to play Xbox games that use Xbox servers....

What are people missing here?

Nothing. But MS counts PS5 players of Xbox division games as "Xbox players" which they aren't. They just aren't.

See the fun thing is you need a Microsoft account to play Xbox games. You DONT need an Xbox account.

But MS is still counting them as Xbox players. Which are both falsehoods.

TLDR: Phil is a compulsive liar and a sack of shit.

 

[Topher]

Nothing. But MS counts PS5 players of Xbox division games as "Xbox players" which they aren't. They just aren't.

See the fun thing is you need a Microsoft account to play Xbox games. You DONT need an Xbox account.

But MS is still counting them as Xbox players. Which are both falsehoods.

TLDR: Phil is a compulsive liar and a sack of shit.

MS counting PS gamers as an Xbox MAU is just something the OP made up. If there is no Xbox account for the PS gamer then I don't see how they are counted as an Xbox MAU. The OP got all excited because trophies and achievements synced up between PS and Xbox. This thread is a bunch of nothing.

Edit: Having said that......if MS is counting these PS games as Xbox gamers behind the scenes then yeah......they are fudging their numbers.

 

[rm082e]

So by this logic, all the people playing Minecraft on PlayStation are also "Xbox users"? They updated it to the bedrock edition a while back and I'm pretty sure it requires you login with your Microsoft account. I've had to do that a couple times for my kid when he wants to play.

 

[Topher]

So by this logic, all the people playing Minecraft on PlayStation are also "Xbox users"? They updated it to the bedrock edition a while back and I'm pretty sure it requires you login with your Microsoft account. I've had to do that a couple times for my kid when he wants to play.

Minecraft gamers on PS are not required to have a Microsoft account, but it is optional for cross-play purposes. Again, not the same as an Xbox account. Two entirely different things.

"A Microsoft account is optional and not required to play Minecraft for PlayStation. It’s a free account that you can use to sign in on a device. With a Microsoft account, Minecraft players on PS4 can play with others on non-PlayStation devices such as iPadOS, iOS, Android, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and Windows devices (via cross-play, Realms, or Servers)."

Xbox Support

support.xbox.com

 

[rm082e]

Minecraft gamers on PS are not required to have a Microsoft account, but it is optional for cross-play purposes. Again, not the same as an Xbox account. Two entirely different things.

"A Microsoft account is optional and not required to play Minecraft for PlayStation. It’s a free account that you can use to sign in on a device. With a Microsoft account, Minecraft players on PS4 can play with others on non-PlayStation devices such as iPadOS, iOS, Android, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and Windows devices (via cross-play, Realms, or Servers)."

Xbox Support

support.xbox.com

Yeah, I knew it wasn't the same as an Xbox account. Although, did Microsoft provide the option to combine those two things into a single account a few years ago? I feel like I was prompted to walk through some process of some sort.

Makes sense that the MS account is optional for Minecraft. My son does play with a friend who's on Xbox, so that's why I had to sign in for him.

 

[Topher]

Yeah, I knew it wasn't the same as an Xbox account. Although, did Microsoft provide the option to combine those two things into a single account a few years ago? I feel like I was prompted to walk through some process of some sort.

Makes sense that the MS account is optional for Minecraft. My son does play with a friend who's on Xbox, so that's why I had to sign in for him.

Microsoft was probably giving folks the option to associate their older legacy Xbox accounts with Microsoft accounts at one point.

 

[fallingdove]

This is exactly what I said they would do. You will be forced to have an Xbox account to play their big games.

Now everyone is apart of Microsofts MAU and that's all they and shareholders care about.

Once you are signed up, average people who aren't triggered and canceling email subscriptions will be receiving marketing emails about gamepass and xbox.

I think they should bring forza horizon next as that would be greatly appreciated by ps fans I think.

Shareholders care about share price and profit. MAUs aren't guaranteed to drive either one of those when there isn't a subscription attached. It's just another way that Microsoft tries to obfuscate performance without outright lying.

 

[mckmas8808]

You don't need an Xbox account at all. If I had to guess, which is all anyone here is doing when it comes to what MS does internally, then I'd say the PS gamer will be logged as a Sea of Thieves MAU and that's all. I don't think one bit that Microsoft will try to represent those gamers as "Xbox" MAUs especially if they are going to try and present that "Xbox" MAU number to stockholders.

EXACTLY! Xbox MAUs mean nothing if you are including PS and Nintendo gamers playing COD or Sea of Thieves games.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

EXACTLY! Xbox MAUs mean nothing if you are including PS and Nintendo gamers playing COD or Sea of Thieves games.

Think that will stop Xbox from Tweeting massive engagement numbers though?

 

[mayham2199]

Man I'd love to see sony pull an Uno Reverse card on MS by porting Helldivers 2 to Xbox and demanding a SEN account.

If only.......

That would be dumb. I know a few people who got a PS just because of Hell Divers 2.

 

[Topher]

Think that will stop Xbox from Tweeting massive engagement numbers though?

I'm sure Microsoft will brag about their Sea of Thieves MAU numbers getting a boost. Do you think they are really going to try to pass them off as Xbox numbers though?

 

[mckmas8808]

Think that will stop Xbox from Tweeting massive engagement numbers though?

Nope. But it will make them look more and more desperate. Just like how people who care understand how MS got to 34 million GamePass subs too. Most of us know that it was a fake trick and MS was called out for it.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

I'm sure Microsoft will brag about their Sea of Thieves MAU numbers getting a boost. Do you think they are really going to try to pass them off as Xbox numbers though?

I bet it just comes out something like SoT highest engagement numbers since launch type of statement

 

[Topher]

I bet it just comes out something like SoT highest engagement numbers since launch type of statement

Yep. And that makes sense. It looks like Sea of Thieves is going to do well on PlayStation based on the preorders and such so Rare shouldn't shy away from promoting their numbers.

 

[GHG]

Think that will stop Xbox from Tweeting massive engagement numbers though?

If course it won't.

Disingenuous is Xbox's middle name.

Remember, this is a company whose executives were happy to advocate falsified VGcharts console sales numbers when they themselves had no input to that data, nor were they willing to (and still aren't willing to) share official global console sales figures.

 

[jwaxeman]

The Sea of Thieves beta is ending early tomorrow morning on PS5, and I posted impressions on the improvements in the PS5 client here. I've put 12 hours into the beta so far and will probably play several more today, but something happened yesterday that was eye opening and revealed the real reason MS is porting these games to PlayStation, and it's not because "people don't buy games on Xbox and they'll buy them on PS5". In fact, I wouldn't be shocked if SoT (and possibly Grounded) show up on PS+ in the future as the true reason for their existence isn't sales of the game client.

When you download SoT on the PS5 it works exactly as it does on Steam. You are REQUIRED to link or create a Microsoft account. You cannot log into the game and play without one. While most people just shrugged and assumed it was for cross progression/cross play, the shocker is that when you're playing Sea of Thieves on a PS5, you're still playing it on Xbox.

Trophies are disabled in the beta (but they're still being tracked so they'll pop on release), and I unlocked two achievements while playing. While the PS5 trophies are disabled, my Xbox mobile app notification popped up showing the achievements were unlocked - while I was playing on the PS5. Those 12 hours I played in the PS5 beta were also added to my tracked playtime on Xbox for the game.

So even though you're using a PS5 to run the game and playing with a DualSense with its haptics, you're still logged into and playing the game on the Xbox services. Meaning MS is going to count every PS user in SoT as an Xbox user when reporting MAU.

Why are they doing this? Sony explained why in 2017:

Sony Talks Shift From Hardware to Monthly Active Users; Plans to Explore Microtransactions

Sony Executives talk about the shift of the business model from hardware units to monthly active users, and the possible exploration of microtransactions.

www.dualshockers.com

Every single person playing SoT (and again possibly Grounded) on PS5 can be counted as part of Xbox's MAU metric as they are technically logged in and playing on an Xbox service despite using a PS5 as the doorway to access it. That's why these GaaS games are being ported and why CoD will forever be cross platform. As CoD uses the Activision account (which is now MS) they'll be counting CoD players as "Xbox" users in the MAU metrics going forward.

Does that really help them when it comes to the accounting department litmus test? Counting MAU that doesn't pay for Xbox Live doesn't help your bottom line.

 

[jwaxeman]

Think that will stop Xbox from Tweeting massive engagement numbers though?

Which is fine. People here have begged Xbox for years to do this, and they're doing it. Let them brag about it working. Let them become a thriving third party publisher. If I can keep playing Call of Duty and Elder Scrolls and Fallout on my PS5/6/7 etc. why do I care if Xbox brags about engagement? They should brag about it. People here want Xbox to move past hardware, and they're calling them out for... doing that? You are absolutely an Xbox user if you give Microsoft money to play an Xbox game and make a Microsoft account.

 

[ComputerBlue]

I can see them porting Halo Infinite, but I am not sure about MCC, the latter got stopped getting support, and would compete with the former of both were available on ps5

We’ll see I guess, the Halo trilogy is regarded as some of the best FPS games of all time, it’d be weird if they didn’t include it and only released infinite.

 

[scarlet0pimp]

Man I'd love to see sony pull an Uno Reverse card on MS by porting Helldivers 2 to Xbox and demanding a SEN account.

If only.......

Why shouldn't they do that though, perhaps with The Show they will start to require a PSN account, its no different to what every one else does nowadays.

 

[Heisenberg007]

What utter BS. Playing a mutliplatform game doesnt make them Xbox players.
Is this some Microsoft shill BS?

They are NOT and NEVER WILL BE Xbox players. IF MS decides to count these as Xbox players, then fuck em for artificially upping numbers.

They are PS5 players who play a MS game. It doesn't make them Xbox players.
By their logic Im a PS5 player for playing Helldivers on PC, but its a Sony owned game. Yeah sounds crazy but MS thinks so.

Anyone who made this shit up must face the wall and a barrage of dualsense controllers to the head.

GTFO with this shit.

Xbox players who played any Ubisoft game are not Xbox players anymore; they are "Ubisoft players"

 

[nemiroff]

it will make them look more and more desperate.

Only warriors care enough to translate it into that kind of wishful thinking. The rest of the world doesn't care about that shit, they'll be left with the impression that this is a popular game from "Xbox". I mean, there's a good reason advertising is a bigger industry than ever: Positive spins work.

I'm baffled by the fact that we're talking about this as if this whole thing is new and exclusively Xbox related. Doesn't make any sense whatsoever.

Xbox players who played any Ubisoft game are not Xbox players anymore; they are "Ubisoft players"

As it has always been without anyone raising an issue : People are playing Ubisoft games on Xbox, people are playing Playstation games on PC, and soon people will play Xbox games on Playstation.

It's just that in this case people love to purposefully unsee the difference between a service platform and a hardware platform - Because, again, "Xbox"

 

[Spitfire098]

 

[Fabieter]

Think that will stop Xbox from Tweeting massive engagement numbers though?

Posting massive Engagement numbers like 2837372737 million players didn't make any difference so far tho but ofc they will do that

 

[Heisenberg007]

As it has always been without anyone raising an issue : People are playing Ubisoft games on Xbox, people are playing Playstation games on PC, and soon people will play Xbox games on Playstation.

It's just that in this case people love to purposefully unsee the difference between a service platform and a hardware platform - Because, again, "Xbox"

But that's not what the OP said / the thread was about.

the shocker is that when you're playing Sea of Thieves on a PS5, you're still playing it on Xbox.

Nobody is denying that Sea of Thieves is an XGS game. But PS gamers playing an XGS game on a PS does not make them an "Xbox user". Neither is it the same thing as "playing it on Xbox."

 

[mckmas8808]

Nobody is denying that Sea of Thieves is an XGS game. But PS gamers playing an XGS game on a PS does not make them an "Xbox user". Neither is it the same thing as "playing it on Xbox."

EXACTLY! Not sure how MS thinks they'll be able to trick shareholders and video game media with this lie.

 

[ResilientBanana]

EXACTLY! Not sure how MS thinks they'll be able to trick shareholders and video game media with this lie.

It's not a lie if it's true, engagement is engagement and players that return are just as important as new ones.

 

[Mung]

It's almost tragic. Chasing meaningless metrics seems to be the only goal there now. Or rather, I expect, whatever ever changing metric/hotness is tied to their bonus in that particular year.

 

[Humdinger]

Pardon the silliness, but every time I hear "MAU," I think of this:

 

[Topher]

It's not a lie if it's true, engagement is engagement and players that return are just as important as new ones.

The truth is that Sea of Thieves's engagement numbers are increasing due to being on PlayStation. That PS gamers are playing on Xbox is the lie. That's what Heisenberg007 quoted from the OP and what mckmas8808 was agreeing with.

 

[Topher]

Only warriors care enough to translate it into that kind of wishful thinking. The rest of the world doesn't care about that shit, they'll be left with the impression that this is a popular game from "Xbox". I mean, there's a good reason advertising is a bigger industry than ever: Positive spins work.

I'm baffled by the fact that we're talking about this as if this whole thing is new and exclusively Xbox related. Doesn't make any sense whatsoever.


As it has always been without anyone raising an issue : People are playing Ubisoft games on Xbox, people are playing Playstation games on PC, and soon people will play Xbox games on Playstation.

It's just that in this case people love to purposefully unsee the difference between a service platform and a hardware platform - Because, again, "Xbox"

As others have pointed out, plenty of other service games exist on PlayStation and I don't see a big deal being made about that. So "because Xbox" works both ways.

 

[FF:Enhanced_Reality]

We lost so badly that we won. Now let us buy Take two so we can compete lol.

-Phil Spencer

 

[Little Chicken]

Would never had thought people would be fighting over Microsoft's Sea of Success in 2024

 

[buenoblue]

I man Microsoft can fudge the numbers however they like, we all know the truth lol

 

[Edmund]

Would never had thought people would be fighting over Microsoft's Sea of Success in 2024

Success in what?

 

[reinking]

Would never had thought people would be fighting over Microsoft's Sea of Success in 2024

It is awesome how PlayStation took a niche Xbox title and made it mainstream.

 

[Little Chicken]

It is awesome how PlayStation took a niche Xbox title and made it mainstream.

 

[Warablo]

Having to make a account sucks, but I don't think it really matters if it's just there to make shareholders happy, so be it.