
As we've already mentioned today, Ubisoft held a conference call as part of its latest earnings report for Q3 FY2024 last night, and Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot ended up being asked about the Xbox rumours doing the rounds right now.
Specifically, a journalist questioned the Ubi boss on what he thinks about the potential of Xbox "going multi-platform", to which he replied that he can't really comment on the situation - although he did share a little bit of his opinion:
"On the Microsoft rumours, we can't comment. They really are going to decide what's best for them. What you have to look at is that Activision Blizzard used to be multi-platform, so it would have an impact but it's not a huge impact on the industry".
It's hard to know how much Guillemot knows about the situation, such as whether he thinks it's limited to Activision Blizzard titles or Xbox's wider portfolio, and understandably he doesn't want to get into specifics at the moment.
The comments about Activision Blizzard are interesting though, especially considering Ubisoft recently bought the cloud streaming rights to ActiBlizz games, so whatever happens next could have an effect on Ubisoft moving forward. Based on what we're seeing here though, Guillemot doesn't seem to think it'll have a "huge impact" in any case.
What are your thoughts about the CEO's comments here? Tell us down below.
Comments 25
"What you have to look at is that Activision Blizzard used to be multi-platform..."
I guess the acquisition then is all part of a grand plan. Not to keep the library of games exclusive for XBOX, but to control them across a multi-platform.
Old Yves, he certainly is a character. I personally think he would have a hard time remembering what he had for breakfast in the morning. Asking him about Microsoft probably blew his mind!
I really wish they'd just tell us what the plan is, or at least what day they're going to tell us on!
It's getting into mainstream news now:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/games/2024/feb/07/pushing-buttons-xbox-future-phil-spencer
And the articles are not exactly complementary about Xbox and its place in the console space - given these are much more widely read than gaming media this is really hurting the brand well beyond the usual crowds
@Kaloudz there's gonna be games available on ps , that have always been available on ps , really don't know what all the fuss is about.
How about instead of demanding we hear about Microsoft's plan sooner rather than later, people just...oh I don't know...be patient and stop speculating?!
Are we that self-centered as a people that we blame Microsoft for not putting out the fire when we are the ones who started it?
There is a point there if you take only console sales, looking at Xbox it’s not great.
So going multi platform for Microsoft Games
Would not be much of a console sale loss.
And probably the gains from selling on all platforms would easily more than make up for that.
Then the world moves on with PlayStation and Nintendo consoles getting Microsoft Studio games. And game pass lives on PC etc and maybe one day on other consoles.
It then all becomes old news and we move on, simple as that.
@GamingFan4Lyf Listen if this was all fake they would have said so in a tweet right away. Xbox is now a key pillar of Microsoft's revenue stream and as a result is in the eyes of the board and shareholders. This push for more revenue isn't coming from Xbox, it's being pushed down from MS and we're going to see what they settle on for the short term next week. Everyone is going to be an app on a screen in the future, is this just another case of Microsoft pushing the eventual reality out too soon.
@Krzzystuff I have no doubt some of what has been "leaked" is probably true.
But the people freaking out about how Microsoft needs to not wait and needs to say something now because...speculation...need to take a look at themselves first and realize that it's not Microsoft's fault people are going overboard, it's the people going overboard own fault!
Microsoft will get the message out when it's ready. Microsoft said next week. So, wait until next week. Enough said!
That's no different than demanding the fire company show up sooner to save your house because you set it on fire when you saw a spider and speculated your walls were infested.
@GamingFan4Lyf unfortunately Xbox is a brand that negative news generates a ton of income for all the news sites. It also sounds like people internally leaked this data because they didn't like where thing's were going so they definitely were counting on this blowing up so that a response is necessary. It will hopefully also douse some of the MS influence that's clearly based on numbers alone and not understanding the industry.
Xbox/MS just knows how to score own goals, no other company has a history like them surely
@Kaloudz its not bad at all....exept i bought a series X instead of ps5 ...for that its bad for me and many like me when they promised to deliver on exclusives. Now it feel like i bought some apple android console....its useless when you have a phone
@Krzzystuff The decision to wait so long is odd to say the least. The main things that come to mind are either the rumour about infighting is true and the Xbox division are trying to use the gigantic backlash to try and convince the higher ups to change their minds or that the 1st step of their future plans is being announced in a Nintendo Direct (e.g. Hi-Fi Rush for Switch) and so Microsoft have their hands tied until the Direct happens.
@GamingFan4Lyf Us on here might be speculating but to use your analogy, we didn't start the fire (great that song is stuck in my head for the rest of the day now ).
It's more all the influencers, YouTubers, streamers, social media gaming "specialists" and the gaming media that have speculated wildly, with it going to crazy stuff like no more consoles at all or Game Pass losing Day 1 - and finding the tiniest snippets of "evidence" like some word changes on the Xbox website, and it goes viral.
Xbox of all companies after the backlash that followed the Xbox One launch should know it's better to kill these stories fast rather than let a firestorm take off - it's PR 101, otherwise you lose control of the situation and your brand gets damaged.
For me it's just a facepalm moment - Xbox had built up a lot of goodwill, had a great showing at the Developer Direct and we were all looking forward to 3E - but then it's like they're Sideshow Bob in a field of rakes sometimes (Gold price hike attempt, 2022 year with zero releases, Redfall, banning BG3 users for auto-uploads) and you just despair a little...
@Kaloudz so what can make xbox a better choice than PS ? Gears ? Halo? lets face it they arent anywhere near unchearted horizon gow spiderman combo
The only two that is top quality is forza horizon and hifi rush and one of them is down i thought Indiana johns, starfield,hellblade, and new project can make them fight back ...but they run after the money
@Grumblevolcano Completely agree with your analysis - if the plan was already locked down, it wouldn't take this long to come up with what to say.
So they're either fighting hard (in which case while I can't stand much of the social media / streamer / YouTuber "influencers", I'm happy for them to kick up a fuss this time to help the "gamers" in Xbox) or they're tied by the Nintendo Direct.
Although if it's the latter it feels a bit nuts that you've got to let your billion-dollar brand get hammered across gaming media and social media, all because of a contract with another company that's probably only worth at most a million or so - you'd think they could go to Nintendo and say "can we talk about it but not give specifics on when the games are coming?" or something like that...
Microsoft, an American company getting bad press and hatred from its American fans? Who would have thought?! *sarcasm
Microsoft is dominating in the operating system market. They have a powerful console that's the equivalent of a decent gaming rig. They have a huge infrastructure to support streaming, downloads and cloud saves. What's the benefit?
They're going to offer their games, so they can be played on PC's, consoles and eventually handheld devices. So you can intensely play a game on your gaming PC, then sit down in your living room, with your FAMILY and play casually. And eventually take it on the go. One game, one save on all of those devices. That's where this is going. Nintendo and Sony will never offer that.
Currently, I own Halo the Master Cheif Edition and guess what? I bought it for my pc AND I can play in on my Xbox. That's going to be Microsoft's advantage. I wouldn't be surprised if Steam and Microsoft eventually team up and blow Nintendo and Sony into the permanent 3rd party software realm.
@Widey85
The journalist in the Guardian is basically saying what I've been reading for the last few days on gaming websites. Whhich pretty much boils down to two things; rampant speculations with a gigantic dose of over reaction(s)🤣.
@Widey85 "We" was more a generalization of the gaming community in general - not necessarily anyone specific or directed at the people in the comment section (thought some have gone full-on "Doom & Gloom").
"We" would include the "talking heads" as well.
@Widey85 xbox won't make an announcement because they won't be allowed to, thats for the shareholders, which are far more important to microsoft than us gamers.
From the perspective of a "regular" who's gone "lurker" for the past many months my view of the whole debacle is:
2023: Gamers are furious that Microsoft will become too big if they buy ABK, they shouldn't be allowed to do so, making that content exclusive will create a monopoly that destroys the industry. Regulators from around the world pummel them on this notion, some actively move to legally bar them from the action on account of how dangerous to the industry such exclusivity of content would become. Microsoft moves to defend that such exclusivity would not harm the industry.
2024: Rumors swirl that Microsoft has decided to f*** it all, open up the floodgates, and just do what all the regulators and gamers wanted them to do last year, remove the exclusivity wall and not only keep ABK multiplat, but just open up their own publishing multiplat too. Everything, everywhere, because WTF not. Gamers and regulators are livid.
??? I give up.
Either way, it doesn't matter because through it all MS has demonstrated they're actually worse at managing the Xbox brand now than they were even at the height of Matrick's day, they've killed any passion, brand identity, or really interest in the brand and turned it into Microsoft My Video Game '24 365 Home Edition. But it also doesn't matter because it manages to not suck or openly offend, either. So what if it's the Amazon Video of gaming. Amazon Video is actually a utilitarian video store that works. So is Xbox.
When you're down to Yves stepping away from the launch of Skull & Bones, the Duke Nukem Forever of the 21st century, to comment that they can't comment, but "wasn't ABK always multiplat?", you know someone wet some bed somewhere. And why is Hryb gone?
Did we ever believe that Blade and Indiana Jones were ever going to be just Xbox exclusives? There was no way Disney didn’t put multi platform into the deal…. And there was no promise in the trailers to that effect either….
@NEStalgia I missed your comments - welcome back…. Only took complete pandemonium to rile you up!
@AlwaysPlaying In the FTC trial it was revealed that Microsoft after taking over Bethesda had renegotiated the contract to make Indiana Jones an exclusive.
So if it did go to PlayStation, it's not because Disney required it - it'll be for the same reason as Starfield, that MS want the money
@Kaloudz i always like your optimism...but logic say otherwise MS still didnt say that the rumors are wrong, in that case xbox is just a gamepass console, xbox that we know is no more, xbox studios is going multiplatform including non zenimax
@AlwaysPlaying But Disney/Lucas Arts DID say they were happy for the games to be single platform. They said it made sense.
industry needs younger people in charge
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