There's a board that can be appealed to and they have on occasion overruled the CMA.
In particular, since Brexit the UK economy is getting hammered - if we start to annoy big companies we'll stop getting investment and that's already collapsed since Brexit.
@Kaloudz I'm not quite as hopeful as FOSS Patents as our government has a tendency to back itself rather than be embarrassed - but yes I do see there is a strong argument this is irrational given Xbox are not cloud leaders, and also Microsoft are key to a number of government priorities at the moment so that may help.
@Martsmall Yep @Kaloudz pointed out we'd be swamped by PushSquare guys, and many play both sides or are here to wind us up.
I have been over there too though to post the appeals process in the hope it slows their celebrations a little, showing that some lawyers think they've a good chance on appeal
@OrfeasDourvas I think you're right, if this deal dies MS of old would have made Sony pay big time.
I'm kinda hoping that ruthless streak survives, as if this all falls apart and they don't go and do deals / other takeovers and instead carry on the whole "it's great when we all play" stuff they'll get annihilated again this generation and we'll all be forced onto PC lol...
@TheArtfulDodger The CEO of Activision just lost a major payday and often has a majority through his backers - so could do the deal if he felt aggrieved enough.
I'm not saying it's likely, but a 6 month exclusivity window for example might be considered by MS a cheap way to push Xbox and cloud without the regulators able to do anything, given they okayed this behaviour from Sony
@jonnybuck84 Yep I'm also in the UK and have usually had all consoles - but last generation apart from my uni mates who stayed on Xbox, I noticed most moved to PS4.
Very few of those are moving back, I imagine as they're locked in with their friends (probably why Sony fought cross-play so hard) - with Discord integration thought that may lessen I guess?
It's possible this deal goes through on appeal, or MS uses the money to fight fire with fire on Sony, but yes the sad prospect is they move cloud-only or go third party.
And that's not good for anyone - the last few years have shown Sony only innovates and competes on price when forced to by strong competition
@BAMozzy Yep if anything this deal would have left Nvidia as the cloud leader as they have Sony's games, Xbox games and would have had Activision games too
@R1spam An acquisition doesn't need to be "made back", you take $69bn in cash and get an asset worth about that on your balance sheet, and unlike cash at the moment it actually generates a profit
@Kaloudz FOSS Patents explains the process, may be more likely to work than I thought but yes will require extension of the deadline, and really depends on the EU diverging from the UK: https://twitter.com/FOSSpatents/status/1651184442776469505
@FatalBubbles No - Sony has about a 70% or more market share in the "high end consoles" market they defined - given Nintendo always has a lower spec machine and does their own thing.
If MS gives up on Xbox, it becomes a pure monopoly - and even if they don't, that kind of dominance is pretty monopolistic.
Taking over one publisher is big, but given many games were remaining multi-platform for the foreseeable and would be available on phones, Xbox, PC and even Nintendo, and Xbox would still only have a small market share for now, no it's not monopolistic.
Not even Tencent is a monopoly and they own pretty much everything...
@Kaloudz Oh yeah the PushSquare trolls will hit us hard here today!
And yes they're going to appeal but no idea if that can be expedited or whether it'll make the deal go past the current expiry date...
Either way more sodding months of this stuff, would rather it was over one way or the other - and if the other I want to see angry MS using that fund to aggressively compete using deals, takeovers of stuff too small to trigger regulators and buying many more marketing and Game Pass deals
Losing the Activision deal is big, if the appeal doesn't work - Microsoft will now either have to decide if Game Pass / consoles / cloud have a long term future or not.
If they do, then expect MS to buy loads of smaller publishers and developers that escape regulatory oversight, and likely to get super aggressive with Sony - regulators have now said blocking platforms etc isn't their concern so MS now could actually pay to keep a future CoD off PlayStation for example in revenge.
If they don't, then the monopolistic Sony has won, gaming will become an expensive elitist hobby with a terrible consumer experience and we'll all be poorer for it...
Screw the CMA, as unless the appeals process can be expedited this will likely push it past the deadline anyway...
@ShadowofTwilight30 It's ok, with Activision gone (if appeal fails) and MS CEO seemingly behind Xbox with $70bn to burn, maybe Tango will takeover Square instead or Sony will live to regret such deals as Xbox starts to sign them with everyone.
Activision I doubt are going to be particularly friendly with Sony either given they just cost Bobby his payday...
Losing the Activision deal is big - Microsoft will now either have to decide if Game Pass / consoles / cloud have a long term future or not.
If they do, then expect MS to buy loads of smaller publishers and developers that escape regulatory oversight, and likely to get super aggressive with Sony - regulators have now said blocking platforms etc isn't their concern so MS now could actually pay to keep a future CoD off PlayStation for example in revenge.
If they don't, then the monopolistic Sony has won, gaming will become an expensive elitist hobby with a terrible consumer experience and we'll all be poorer for it...
**** the CMA
EDIT: Schrier reports MS have already said they'll appeal
@themightyant In all honesty no US politicians are likely impartial and nor should they be - MS is a US company and should have its government support in the same way Japan clearly gives its companies support for example by making them difficult to take over.
I live in the UK and it'd actually be refreshing to have a government do that - ours instead is happy for all UK companies to be bought out and eventually outsourced, or crushed by outsider companies with unfair advantages
@themightyant Games coming to PlayStation three months later is very different to games being "timed exclusive" but in reality being paid to stay completely off Xbox.
Final Fantasy is the prime example - no FF7 Remake despite the timed exclusivity long having ended, and no 14 and likely no 16.
If it was a publishing / development deal and they said "permanent console exclusive" that'd be one thing, but the shady deals Sony pulls where Xbox owners can never know where they stand is just terrible practice
@Kaloudz Yep think this year and the next few are make-or-break.
With all the investment Xbox hopefully gets its act together and delivers a consistent tempo of games plus GP additions - allowing it to at least gain market share, probably the best we can hope for the generation after the fiasco with Donny M.
Hopefully they'll push Play Anywhere too and encourage more PC-and-Xbox releases so it significantly increases the number of games coming to Xbox and create an even bigger ecosystem too
@Sebatrox I'd already given up on it to be honest, liked FF15 but this insistence on making games like others ("FF but now with God of War combat!") had dulled my enthusiasm plus the strong likelihood Sony will soon acquire them.
No great loss though, Deus Ex is closer to my heart and it's now away from the mismanaged monstrosity that is Square Enix...
The launch line-up was actually pretty strong, so yeah that event really screwed things up.
If they'd had a half-decent event and not decided on the "must be bundled with Kinect" thing they could have potentially carried on the momentum from the 360 generation and not been in such a weak position by the end of the generation.
I feel we're at a crossroads now - either that event will be the point Xbox became the perennial "also ran" instead of the powerhouse of the 360 days, or it'll start to catch back up after this acquisition and big content starts arriving...
Will probably give it a go, did like the oval in FH4 Lego as it allowed you to top your car's speed out without risk (motorway for example there's always one moronic car that pulls out on you)
I add them to library, and if one piques my interest I may play a little particularly back when we used to need achievements for the monthly 2k Reward points.
Some of these look OK, just been too busy with Game Pass and purchased games this year so far...
But I do think it's time to make Gold free and use the money to add a few extra older or smaller games to Game Pass each month...
Yep given zero marketing outside of gaming media, so just word-of-mouth and articles it was high in the Steam charts - and many of us played it via Game Pass.
So I've no doubt they're pretty happy with the result - if they weren't, they'd have advertised it a bit more heavily as any non-enthusiasts who don't read gaming media wouldn't have even known it existed...
@motorrik6 To be fair, you can play it as a standard action game if you like - my rhythm is terrible so apart from very few "QTE"-type bits I was fine just smashing stuff up and ignoring any beat
Also, it was a shadow drop which meant it got great positive coverage across games media - but has anyone really seen any advertising for it outside of gaming sites?
I've not seen any on Twitter for HiFi Rush, nothing on TV, YouTube or even newspapers or buses etc.
It's a bit difficult to sell a game if you can only rely on enthusiasts who visit gaming sites and word-of-mouth...
That's odd as it was very high on the Steam purchase charts for quite a while after launch, and had a lot of players on Steam...
I played it on Game Pass but bought a copy for my partner to play on Steam - and as others are saying, if millions played it via Game Pass I don't think MS would see that as a downside given Game Pass numbers are currently a big thing for their shareholders.
Only thing it may push them to do is get Xbox consoles out there, keep them competitive and advertise them better - I've not seen an Xbox advert on TV in the UK for probably a year now but can't avoid PlayStation ones...
That way, more Xbox gamers = more sales or more GP subscribers...
@NEStalgia I'm in the UK and while many of my uni friend group have stayed on Xbox, outside of it it is frighteningly rare to find other games who have an Xbox - so yeah I hate to think how bad it is in mainland Europe.
Stock wise PS5 isn't brilliant in the UK here, I've still yet to see it or an XSX in the wild only online - the XSS has much better availability. But yes from what I can tell the PS5 availability is a bit better than the XSX which isn't good...
On the plus side, by the time the Sony + CoD marketing / exclusive stuff deal ends not even Xbox could be short of units - so it might be able to hoover up the "second console" market ready for either a mid-gen refresh or the next generation...
That's only assuming that they continue to get in their own way as they currently are - if ABK closes, Starfield releases with few bugs and is a big hit and Microsoft market the hell out of Game Pass and Xbox this Christmas and have stock then maybe we can start to see more like 35 or even 40% market share compared to the 20 to 30% it felt like in the UK last generation...
Really can't decide - the lift ability to get to rooftops could be really useful, but I often play as a bit of a tank so the sharpshooter might be better...
But then I like the robot creations etc., so I suspect I'll give all of them a bit of a go when it comes out and quickly settle into a favourite...
@PsBoxSwitchOwner The marketing just isn't there - there were some big adverts around the time of the Xbox Series release, they even had marketing rights on some big games like AC Valhalla.
Then the ABK deal got announced and they went a bit radio silent, not helped by nearly all the big games being delayed.
I've yet to see a TV advert really pushing Game Pass either - I'm hoping once ABK closes and Starfield and other huge games land, the marketing steps up massively and they also push the benefits of Game Pass, and combine it with some killer deals during Black Friday and Christmas...
@Dezzy70 Think you're being massively pessimistic.
I'm not exactly delighted that I bought an XSX and constantly third-party games have the "best" version on PS5 (Hogwarts Legacy exclusive stuff, CoD etc.) and Sony have managed to be more consistent in getting big first/second party games out.
And yes, it feels like we're reaching a time where Nintendo and Sony have all the attention and momentum - and Sony could start to pull away big time again like they did in the last generation.
But I don't feel like it's beyond hope - if Xbox hurry up and close this stupid ABK deal and then really start boost marketing for the second half of this year (particularly once Starfield hits) and do some deals for Christmas they could easily start to make up some lost ground.
I don't see it being the dominating performance of the Xbox 360 days, but if they do manage to reform the project management and start to get Xbox in front of people's eyes again particularly with big games releasing that it can be a much better generation than the last...
@Banjo- Agreed, I think Xbox have stumbled a little this generation but were looking really strong before - potentially the ABK deal was huge and has left them worried about marketing / messaging and not being too ruthless.
My hope is that once it's closed, they've got a big push ready to market the hell out of Xbox and Game Pass, and maybe learn a little from ABK about marketing and getting games done on time (I know ABK had an awful work environment, I mean more from the "good" project managers).
They can't afford to let Sony run away with it this generation like it seems they might be about to - as another Xbox One-type generation might end Xbox consoles for good, and that would suck particularly given how arrogant, money-grabbing and plain bad-for-customers Sony are being at the moment.
I also really hope that this has shone a light on Sony's business practices and they have to start reining it in - and that Microsoft, now seeing what Sony will do to kill them out the market before Game Pass can really start to go big, will put some big money into marketing and getting consoles into everyone's homes, even if it's as a second box
@NEStalgia I'm really hoping they've not blundered quite that badly, and that they'll back Xbox with further big money after the ABK deal is finished - in order to heavily market Xbox and to push the console prices lower in order to boost market share.
It is frustrating that they don't seem to have made the best of all the studios they had - they'd been promising to make that push for quality and regularity that Sony's project management seems to get out of their studios, but it just hasn't really happened.
Some smaller games like Pentiment and HiFi Rush have been top quality when they arrived (as have a few big ones like FH5), but some bigger games have either not hit the mark or have had major delays / silly issues that hurt marketing.
I hate to see people leaving 343i, but the position changes ahead of the ABK takeover and the shuffling of senior positions in some developers I'm hoping is the start of a proper management structure that gets the best out of all of their development teams - as if they can do that, then combined with strong marketing and undercutting PS5 I think they can really start to gain back that market share...
And let's face it, if they want everyone on Game Pass the easiest sale is to an Xbox owner, so surely they want more sold!
@Wheatly I understand the frustration, as Xbox seemed to be firing on all cylinders going into this generation - Xbox One X the most powerful, Game Pass adding loads of games everything month and then the Bethesda purchase.
Then came delays, reduced Game Pass additions (while the new PS Plus is starting to hit its stride) and more games than usual (it feels) missing Xbox - and they seem quieter than normal due to the ABK wrangling.
I'm keeping the faith though - I think once we see Starfield, Forza Motorsport, Avowed, Hellblade 2 and other games start to hit regularly, and we start to see the benefits of the ABK buyout then it'll turn around...
It sometimes feels like they're trying to run Xbox with the slimmed-down team left after Xbox One days - but they've now got a lot more development teams.
PR seems too spread out - when they focus, they're great but often things are missed or poorly messaged I suspect because there's not enough of them.
Project management seems poor too - unless a developer already has a decent team in place or has a project that's secret so few demands (HiFi Rush for example) - there doesn't seem to be a relentless focus on quality, performance and getting something playable to the customer in a decent timeframe.
Hopefully once the Activision saga is over this will change - it does seem they're changing the structure already so fingers crossed, as it really should be that for a first-party game that the Xbox ecosystem is the best place to play...
Really loved both games on Xbox 360, but yeah Forza Horizon took that bug and added great driving and rewind etc.
So I'm hoping this lives up to the hype and has good handling etc. as while I adored the games (particularly going round the car showrooms etc.) the driving would now be pretty dated...
I'm hoping the ID@Xbox team offer to help the developer add languages into a single version of the game though, particularly if this is an honest enough mistake.
I imagine some engines or less advanced developers may struggle to add multi-lingual support and it'd be a shame to see any put off if a release-per-language is the only option they can see to do.
And before anyone mentions, yes it's easy enough to do languages using resource files etc. but that's assuming you're using a standard engine / codebase - if you're working on something more custom it can be a lot more difficult
Think if Ubi want to charge that much, they're going to need LOTS of new games regularly - this list is interesting but given it's probably over 2 to 4 years it'll be too spread out to make staying subscribed worth it compared to buying the games on sale.
If this had launched back when they had AC Valhalla and WD Legion coming out, followed shortly by Immortals Fenyx Rising - then all the AC DLC and Far Cry 6 - this might have been much more tempting.
But now they just don't have enough new additions regularly enough to charge more than Game Pass, even if they include DLC...
The problem they've got is most people own most of the Ubi games they're interested in.
I'm interested in the new Settlers and I've got Anno 1800 on PC but tried the console version and it played better.
And while I've got AC Valhalla and WD Legion but not finished either, they're on disc which is a pain and I might like the DLC.
So I'm potentially their perfect customer - but without a free trial or some promotion I don't see me using it as it's cheaper to buy the games, at most I'd maybe do a month to play Settlers.
If they did a much cheaper version for no DLC or they do some deal for previous customers / those willing to sign up for longer I'd be tempted, but this price point is insane as I don't even pay that for Game Pass Ultimate...
Xbox have to play a long game on console sales - Activision (taking away the marketing from Sony for CoD etc.) and finally releasing some first party games will help.
I wouldn't mind perhaps a mid-gen refresh at the high end IF it offers something - like the One X offered 4K, I'd want it to offer good ray-tracing for example, but hopefully not for a few years yet.
Instead, letting the costs come down to start beating Sony on price (like they did with the One S towards the end) would be a good move for now, and maybe introduce a Series S handheld or a more powerful S at some point too...
I imagine despite the court / regulator battles, at a level where a lot of these deals are done it's still pretty cordial and MS act just like any other publisher with Sony.
More interesting to me is that Spider Man is leaving PS Plus - it suggests Sony first-party won't stay on it, which seems a bit dumb particularly given it might drum up even more interest in Spider Man 2 later this year...
@Tharsman I wonder if Xbox's games all ended up stacked in this year has caused the problem.
Clearly, some games were due to arrive in the last 6 months of last year but got pushed to this year - and now they've got too much squashed in there's not enough room to move things around.
Redfall would get crushed by Starfield, but I don't see why it would be a big problem if it released a month or two late given Forza Motorsport hasn't got much of a fanbase cross-over (although I'll be playing both)
@smoreon Yeah detail wise, when I was in uni I had a part-time job selling the new 4K TVs (and before they came in, spotting the difference between 720p and 1080p) so needed to be able to tell the difference - even if I preferred to be down in the computer section.
Annoyingly, now I can nearly always tell the difference (although sometimes if Sky played Game of Thrones / House of the Dragon in HD rather than UHD it'd take me a while to spot it) - I have similar issues with sound as I had an audiophile housemate for years and now I can't cope with tinny speakers.
Reactions wise, I've always had terrible reactions - HiFi Rush I have it on the easiest settings and I still can't hit the beat when I can see it coming, maybe 50% of the time at most if I'm lucky.
The imploding circles on that game I'm mildly better at, but some of the QTE involving them took me forever to get past.
It's possible it's due to being on the spectrum, or having started gaming in the UK when everything was PAL (back before SCART and HDMI when we used to have aerial connections) which was 25FPS - or I just didn't play fast enough games, as my younger brother grew up on Goldeneye, Mario Karts and then CoD4 and has incredible reflexes by comparison!
That active hours one is pretty cool - I keep swapping between the two modes for things like remote play and remote install.
It'll maybe mean I can have it "warmed up" for the hours I'm likely to use it, and off the rest of the time (not that it's exactly slow to start up anyway).
Comments 1,046
Re: Xbox's Activision Blizzard Deal Officially Blocked In The UK
@S1ayeR74 Have a read of the process here:
https://twitter.com/FOSSpatents/status/1651184442776469505
There's a board that can be appealed to and they have on occasion overruled the CMA.
In particular, since Brexit the UK economy is getting hammered - if we start to annoy big companies we'll stop getting investment and that's already collapsed since Brexit.
@Kaloudz I'm not quite as hopeful as FOSS Patents as our government has a tendency to back itself rather than be embarrassed - but yes I do see there is a strong argument this is irrational given Xbox are not cloud leaders, and also Microsoft are key to a number of government priorities at the moment so that may help.
Re: Xbox's Activision Blizzard Deal Officially Blocked In The UK
@Martsmall Yep @Kaloudz pointed out we'd be swamped by PushSquare guys, and many play both sides or are here to wind us up.
I have been over there too though to post the appeals process in the hope it slows their celebrations a little, showing that some lawyers think they've a good chance on appeal
Re: Microsoft Will Appeal UK Decision To Block Activision Blizzard Purchase
FOSS Patents explains the process:
https://twitter.com/FOSSpatents/status/1651184442776469505
Likely going to drag this sorry saga on past June though...
Re: Xbox's Activision Blizzard Deal Officially Blocked In The UK
@OrfeasDourvas I think you're right, if this deal dies MS of old would have made Sony pay big time.
I'm kinda hoping that ruthless streak survives, as if this all falls apart and they don't go and do deals / other takeovers and instead carry on the whole "it's great when we all play" stuff they'll get annihilated again this generation and we'll all be forced onto PC lol...
Re: Xbox's Activision Blizzard Deal Officially Blocked In The UK
@Snake_V5 Appeal goes to outside board:
https://twitter.com/FOSSpatents/status/1651184442776469505
Re: Xbox's Activision Blizzard Deal Officially Blocked In The UK
@TheArtfulDodger The CEO of Activision just lost a major payday and often has a majority through his backers - so could do the deal if he felt aggrieved enough.
I'm not saying it's likely, but a 6 month exclusivity window for example might be considered by MS a cheap way to push Xbox and cloud without the regulators able to do anything, given they okayed this behaviour from Sony
Re: Xbox's Activision Blizzard Deal Officially Blocked In The UK
@jonnybuck84 Yep I'm also in the UK and have usually had all consoles - but last generation apart from my uni mates who stayed on Xbox, I noticed most moved to PS4.
Very few of those are moving back, I imagine as they're locked in with their friends (probably why Sony fought cross-play so hard) - with Discord integration thought that may lessen I guess?
It's possible this deal goes through on appeal, or MS uses the money to fight fire with fire on Sony, but yes the sad prospect is they move cloud-only or go third party.
And that's not good for anyone - the last few years have shown Sony only innovates and competes on price when forced to by strong competition
Re: Xbox's Activision Blizzard Deal Officially Blocked In The UK
@BAMozzy Yep if anything this deal would have left Nvidia as the cloud leader as they have Sony's games, Xbox games and would have had Activision games too
Re: Xbox's Activision Blizzard Deal Officially Blocked In The UK
@R1spam An acquisition doesn't need to be "made back", you take $69bn in cash and get an asset worth about that on your balance sheet, and unlike cash at the moment it actually generates a profit
Re: Xbox's Activision Blizzard Deal Officially Blocked In The UK
@Kaloudz FOSS Patents explains the process, may be more likely to work than I thought but yes will require extension of the deadline, and really depends on the EU diverging from the UK:
https://twitter.com/FOSSpatents/status/1651184442776469505
Re: Xbox's Activision Blizzard Deal Officially Blocked In The UK
@FatalBubbles No - Sony has about a 70% or more market share in the "high end consoles" market they defined - given Nintendo always has a lower spec machine and does their own thing.
If MS gives up on Xbox, it becomes a pure monopoly - and even if they don't, that kind of dominance is pretty monopolistic.
Taking over one publisher is big, but given many games were remaining multi-platform for the foreseeable and would be available on phones, Xbox, PC and even Nintendo, and Xbox would still only have a small market share for now, no it's not monopolistic.
Not even Tencent is a monopoly and they own pretty much everything...
Re: Microsoft CEO: I've Never Been More Excited About Xbox's Pipeline Of Games
@Kaloudz Oh yeah the PushSquare trolls will hit us hard here today!
And yes they're going to appeal but no idea if that can be expedited or whether it'll make the deal go past the current expiry date...
Either way more sodding months of this stuff, would rather it was over one way or the other - and if the other I want to see angry MS using that fund to aggressively compete using deals, takeovers of stuff too small to trigger regulators and buying many more marketing and Game Pass deals
Re: Xbox's Activision Blizzard Deal Officially Blocked In The UK
Losing the Activision deal is big, if the appeal doesn't work - Microsoft will now either have to decide if Game Pass / consoles / cloud have a long term future or not.
If they do, then expect MS to buy loads of smaller publishers and developers that escape regulatory oversight, and likely to get super aggressive with Sony - regulators have now said blocking platforms etc isn't their concern so MS now could actually pay to keep a future CoD off PlayStation for example in revenge.
If they don't, then the monopolistic Sony has won, gaming will become an expensive elitist hobby with a terrible consumer experience and we'll all be poorer for it...
Screw the CMA, as unless the appeals process can be expedited this will likely push it past the deadline anyway...
Re: Microsoft CEO: I've Never Been More Excited About Xbox's Pipeline Of Games
@ShadowofTwilight30 It's ok, with Activision gone (if appeal fails) and MS CEO seemingly behind Xbox with $70bn to burn, maybe Tango will takeover Square instead or Sony will live to regret such deals as Xbox starts to sign them with everyone.
Activision I doubt are going to be particularly friendly with Sony either given they just cost Bobby his payday...
Re: Microsoft CEO: I've Never Been More Excited About Xbox's Pipeline Of Games
Losing the Activision deal is big - Microsoft will now either have to decide if Game Pass / consoles / cloud have a long term future or not.
If they do, then expect MS to buy loads of smaller publishers and developers that escape regulatory oversight, and likely to get super aggressive with Sony - regulators have now said blocking platforms etc isn't their concern so MS now could actually pay to keep a future CoD off PlayStation for example in revenge.
If they don't, then the monopolistic Sony has won, gaming will become an expensive elitist hobby with a terrible consumer experience and we'll all be poorer for it...
**** the CMA
EDIT: Schrier reports MS have already said they'll appeal
Re: Microsoft CEO: I've Never Been More Excited About Xbox's Pipeline Of Games
@Sakai @FraserG Yep wtf
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/microsoft-activision-deal-prevented-to-protect-innovation-and-choice-in-cloud-gaming
Re: Microsoft CEO: I've Never Been More Excited About Xbox's Pipeline Of Games
@themightyant In all honesty no US politicians are likely impartial and nor should they be - MS is a US company and should have its government support in the same way Japan clearly gives its companies support for example by making them difficult to take over.
I live in the UK and it'd actually be refreshing to have a government do that - ours instead is happy for all UK companies to be bought out and eventually outsourced, or crushed by outsider companies with unfair advantages
Re: Microsoft CEO: I've Never Been More Excited About Xbox's Pipeline Of Games
@themightyant Games coming to PlayStation three months later is very different to games being "timed exclusive" but in reality being paid to stay completely off Xbox.
Final Fantasy is the prime example - no FF7 Remake despite the timed exclusivity long having ended, and no 14 and likely no 16.
If it was a publishing / development deal and they said "permanent console exclusive" that'd be one thing, but the shady deals Sony pulls where Xbox owners can never know where they stand is just terrible practice
Re: Microsoft CEO: I've Never Been More Excited About Xbox's Pipeline Of Games
@Kaloudz Yep think this year and the next few are make-or-break.
With all the investment Xbox hopefully gets its act together and delivers a consistent tempo of games plus GP additions - allowing it to at least gain market share, probably the best we can hope for the generation after the fiasco with Donny M.
Hopefully they'll push Play Anywhere too and encourage more PC-and-Xbox releases so it significantly increases the number of games coming to Xbox and create an even bigger ecosystem too
Re: Microsoft CEO: I've Never Been More Excited About Xbox's Pipeline Of Games
@Sebatrox I'd already given up on it to be honest, liked FF15 but this insistence on making games like others ("FF but now with God of War combat!") had dulled my enthusiasm plus the strong likelihood Sony will soon acquire them.
No great loss though, Deus Ex is closer to my heart and it's now away from the mismanaged monstrosity that is Square Enix...
Re: 1000+ Discounts Included In This Week's Xbox Sales (April 25 - May 2)
I'm having issues accessing my wishlist or even some of the games on the Store via browser at the moment...
Will try on Xbox later as it seems very intermittent...
Re: Talking Point: Next Month, It'll Be 10 Years Since The Xbox One Reveal Event
The launch line-up was actually pretty strong, so yeah that event really screwed things up.
If they'd had a half-decent event and not decided on the "must be bundled with Kinect" thing they could have potentially carried on the momentum from the 360 generation and not been in such a weak position by the end of the generation.
I feel we're at a crossroads now - either that event will be the point Xbox became the perennial "also ran" instead of the powerhouse of the 360 days, or it'll start to catch back up after this acquisition and big content starts arriving...
Re: Forza Horizon 5's 'High Performance' Content Update Races Onto Xbox Next Week
Will probably give it a go, did like the oval in FH4 Lego as it allowed you to top your car's speed out without risk (motorway for example there's always one moronic car that pulls out on you)
Re: Poll: How Many Of 2023's Xbox Games With Gold Have You Played So Far?
I add them to library, and if one piques my interest I may play a little particularly back when we used to need achievements for the monthly 2k Reward points.
Some of these look OK, just been too busy with Game Pass and purchased games this year so far...
But I do think it's time to make Gold free and use the money to add a few extra older or smaller games to Game Pass each month...
Re: 'Homestead Arcana' Is Your Latest Xbox Game Pass Addition (April 21)
Seems interesting, will probably have a play
Re: Xbox Exec Responds To Hi-Fi RUSH Rumour, Says The Game Was A 'Break Out Hit'
Yep given zero marketing outside of gaming media, so just word-of-mouth and articles it was high in the Steam charts - and many of us played it via Game Pass.
So I've no doubt they're pretty happy with the result - if they weren't, they'd have advertised it a bit more heavily as any non-enthusiasts who don't read gaming media wouldn't have even known it existed...
Re: Rumour: Xbox Exclusive Hi-Fi RUSH 'Didn't Make The Money It Needed To Make'
@motorrik6 To be fair, you can play it as a standard action game if you like - my rhythm is terrible so apart from very few "QTE"-type bits I was fine just smashing stuff up and ignoring any beat
Re: Rumour: Xbox Exclusive Hi-Fi RUSH 'Didn't Make The Money It Needed To Make'
Also, it was a shadow drop which meant it got great positive coverage across games media - but has anyone really seen any advertising for it outside of gaming sites?
I've not seen any on Twitter for HiFi Rush, nothing on TV, YouTube or even newspapers or buses etc.
It's a bit difficult to sell a game if you can only rely on enthusiasts who visit gaming sites and word-of-mouth...
Re: Rumour: Xbox Exclusive Hi-Fi RUSH 'Didn't Make The Money It Needed To Make'
That's odd as it was very high on the Steam purchase charts for quite a while after launch, and had a lot of players on Steam...
I played it on Game Pass but bought a copy for my partner to play on Steam - and as others are saying, if millions played it via Game Pass I don't think MS would see that as a downside given Game Pass numbers are currently a big thing for their shareholders.
Only thing it may push them to do is get Xbox consoles out there, keep them competitive and advertise them better - I've not seen an Xbox advert on TV in the UK for probably a year now but can't avoid PlayStation ones...
That way, more Xbox gamers = more sales or more GP subscribers...
Re: 'No Xbox' Begins Trending On Twitter As Another Game Skips The Platform At Launch
@NEStalgia I'm in the UK and while many of my uni friend group have stayed on Xbox, outside of it it is frighteningly rare to find other games who have an Xbox - so yeah I hate to think how bad it is in mainland Europe.
Stock wise PS5 isn't brilliant in the UK here, I've still yet to see it or an XSX in the wild only online - the XSS has much better availability. But yes from what I can tell the PS5 availability is a bit better than the XSX which isn't good...
On the plus side, by the time the Sony + CoD marketing / exclusive stuff deal ends not even Xbox could be short of units - so it might be able to hoover up the "second console" market ready for either a mid-gen refresh or the next generation...
That's only assuming that they continue to get in their own way as they currently are - if ABK closes, Starfield releases with few bugs and is a big hit and Microsoft market the hell out of Game Pass and Xbox this Christmas and have stock then maybe we can start to see more like 35 or even 40% market share compared to the 20 to 30% it felt like in the UK last generation...
Re: Bethesda Introduces The Four Main Stars Of Redfall's Story Campaign
Really can't decide - the lift ability to get to rooftops could be really useful, but I often play as a bit of a tank so the sharpshooter might be better...
But then I like the robot creations etc., so I suspect I'll give all of them a bit of a go when it comes out and quickly settle into a favourite...
Re: 'No Xbox' Begins Trending On Twitter As Another Game Skips The Platform At Launch
@PsBoxSwitchOwner The marketing just isn't there - there were some big adverts around the time of the Xbox Series release, they even had marketing rights on some big games like AC Valhalla.
Then the ABK deal got announced and they went a bit radio silent, not helped by nearly all the big games being delayed.
I've yet to see a TV advert really pushing Game Pass either - I'm hoping once ABK closes and Starfield and other huge games land, the marketing steps up massively and they also push the benefits of Game Pass, and combine it with some killer deals during Black Friday and Christmas...
Re: 'No Xbox' Begins Trending On Twitter As Another Game Skips The Platform At Launch
@Dezzy70 Think you're being massively pessimistic.
I'm not exactly delighted that I bought an XSX and constantly third-party games have the "best" version on PS5 (Hogwarts Legacy exclusive stuff, CoD etc.) and Sony have managed to be more consistent in getting big first/second party games out.
And yes, it feels like we're reaching a time where Nintendo and Sony have all the attention and momentum - and Sony could start to pull away big time again like they did in the last generation.
But I don't feel like it's beyond hope - if Xbox hurry up and close this stupid ABK deal and then really start boost marketing for the second half of this year (particularly once Starfield hits) and do some deals for Christmas they could easily start to make up some lost ground.
I don't see it being the dominating performance of the Xbox 360 days, but if they do manage to reform the project management and start to get Xbox in front of people's eyes again particularly with big games releasing that it can be a much better generation than the last...
Re: 'No Xbox' Begins Trending On Twitter As Another Game Skips The Platform At Launch
@Banjo- Agreed, I think Xbox have stumbled a little this generation but were looking really strong before - potentially the ABK deal was huge and has left them worried about marketing / messaging and not being too ruthless.
My hope is that once it's closed, they've got a big push ready to market the hell out of Xbox and Game Pass, and maybe learn a little from ABK about marketing and getting games done on time (I know ABK had an awful work environment, I mean more from the "good" project managers).
They can't afford to let Sony run away with it this generation like it seems they might be about to - as another Xbox One-type generation might end Xbox consoles for good, and that would suck particularly given how arrogant, money-grabbing and plain bad-for-customers Sony are being at the moment.
I also really hope that this has shone a light on Sony's business practices and they have to start reining it in - and that Microsoft, now seeing what Sony will do to kill them out the market before Game Pass can really start to go big, will put some big money into marketing and getting consoles into everyone's homes, even if it's as a second box
Re: 'No Xbox' Begins Trending On Twitter As Another Game Skips The Platform At Launch
@NEStalgia I'm really hoping they've not blundered quite that badly, and that they'll back Xbox with further big money after the ABK deal is finished - in order to heavily market Xbox and to push the console prices lower in order to boost market share.
It is frustrating that they don't seem to have made the best of all the studios they had - they'd been promising to make that push for quality and regularity that Sony's project management seems to get out of their studios, but it just hasn't really happened.
Some smaller games like Pentiment and HiFi Rush have been top quality when they arrived (as have a few big ones like FH5), but some bigger games have either not hit the mark or have had major delays / silly issues that hurt marketing.
I hate to see people leaving 343i, but the position changes ahead of the ABK takeover and the shuffling of senior positions in some developers I'm hoping is the start of a proper management structure that gets the best out of all of their development teams - as if they can do that, then combined with strong marketing and undercutting PS5 I think they can really start to gain back that market share...
And let's face it, if they want everyone on Game Pass the easiest sale is to an Xbox owner, so surely they want more sold!
Re: 'No Xbox' Begins Trending On Twitter As Another Game Skips The Platform At Launch
@Wheatly I understand the frustration, as Xbox seemed to be firing on all cylinders going into this generation - Xbox One X the most powerful, Game Pass adding loads of games everything month and then the Bethesda purchase.
Then came delays, reduced Game Pass additions (while the new PS Plus is starting to hit its stride) and more games than usual (it feels) missing Xbox - and they seem quieter than normal due to the ABK wrangling.
I'm keeping the faith though - I think once we see Starfield, Forza Motorsport, Avowed, Hellblade 2 and other games start to hit regularly, and we start to see the benefits of the ABK buyout then it'll turn around...
Re: Ghostwire: Tokyo's Xbox Version Described As 'Big Disappointment' In Digital Foundry Tech Review
It sometimes feels like they're trying to run Xbox with the slimmed-down team left after Xbox One days - but they've now got a lot more development teams.
PR seems too spread out - when they focus, they're great but often things are missed or poorly messaged I suspect because there's not enough of them.
Project management seems poor too - unless a developer already has a decent team in place or has a project that's secret so few demands (HiFi Rush for example) - there doesn't seem to be a relentless focus on quality, performance and getting something playable to the customer in a decent timeframe.
Hopefully once the Activision saga is over this will change - it does seem they're changing the structure already so fingers crossed, as it really should be that for a first-party game that the Xbox ecosystem is the best place to play...
Re: Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown Is Looking Like Forza Horizon's Biggest Competitor
Really loved both games on Xbox 360, but yeah Forza Horizon took that bug and added great driving and rewind etc.
So I'm hoping this lives up to the hype and has good handling etc. as while I adored the games (particularly going round the car showrooms etc.) the driving would now be pretty dated...
Re: Xbox Takes Action Against Game With Easy Achievement Stacks, Developer Denies Breaking Rules
I'm hoping the ID@Xbox team offer to help the developer add languages into a single version of the game though, particularly if this is an honest enough mistake.
I imagine some engines or less advanced developers may struggle to add multi-lingual support and it'd be a shame to see any put off if a release-per-language is the only option they can see to do.
And before anyone mentions, yes it's easy enough to do languages using resource files etc. but that's assuming you're using a standard engine / codebase - if you're working on something more custom it can be a lot more difficult
Re: PSA: These 10+ Xbox Games Will All Likely Launch On Ubisoft Plus
Think if Ubi want to charge that much, they're going to need LOTS of new games regularly - this list is interesting but given it's probably over 2 to 4 years it'll be too spread out to make staying subscribed worth it compared to buying the games on sale.
If this had launched back when they had AC Valhalla and WD Legion coming out, followed shortly by Immortals Fenyx Rising - then all the AC DLC and Far Cry 6 - this might have been much more tempting.
But now they just don't have enough new additions regularly enough to charge more than Game Pass, even if they include DLC...
Re: Xbox Is Giving Away A Free Harry Potter Movie To Lucky Users
@Darylb88 Odd, mine says the SKU doesn't exist
Re: Xbox Is Giving Away A Free Harry Potter Movie To Lucky Users
I've got one, but the code doesn't work as I'm in the UK not the USA
Re: Microsoft Rewards Team Acknowledges Serious Issue With Weekly Streaks On Xbox
@MaccaMUFC Yep just completed and both my accounts now showing a longer streak.
Think mine are both correct too, or close enough.
@FraserG FYI, seems to be solved now once completed the weekly set (still looks messed up until you do so)
Re: Ubisoft Says 'Great Content' Will Allow Its Subscription Service To Compete With Xbox Game Pass
The problem they've got is most people own most of the Ubi games they're interested in.
I'm interested in the new Settlers and I've got Anno 1800 on PC but tried the console version and it played better.
And while I've got AC Valhalla and WD Legion but not finished either, they're on disc which is a pain and I might like the DLC.
So I'm potentially their perfect customer - but without a free trial or some promotion I don't see me using it as it's cheaper to buy the games, at most I'd maybe do a month to play Settlers.
If they did a much cheaper version for no DLC or they do some deal for previous customers / those willing to sign up for longer I'd be tempted, but this price point is insane as I don't even pay that for Game Pass Ultimate...
Re: Redfall Will Only Run At 30FPS When It Launches On Xbox Series X And S
@NickramCTID Yep maybe PAL is to blame and young ones never had to experience that junk - or we just had slower games!
Re: Talking Point: Will We See New Xbox Hardware By The End Of 2024?
Xbox have to play a long game on console sales - Activision (taking away the marketing from Sony for CoD etc.) and finally releasing some first party games will help.
I wouldn't mind perhaps a mid-gen refresh at the high end IF it offers something - like the One X offered 4K, I'd want it to offer good ray-tracing for example, but hopefully not for a few years yet.
Instead, letting the costs come down to start beating Sony on price (like they did with the One S towards the end) would be a good move for now, and maybe introduce a Series S handheld or a more powerful S at some point too...
Re: Xbox Is Bringing Nine Bethesda Games To PlayStation Plus This Month
I imagine despite the court / regulator battles, at a level where a lot of these deals are done it's still pretty cordial and MS act just like any other publisher with Sony.
More interesting to me is that Spider Man is leaving PS Plus - it suggests Sony first-party won't stay on it, which seems a bit dumb particularly given it might drum up even more interest in Spider Man 2 later this year...
Re: Redfall Will Only Run At 30FPS When It Launches On Xbox Series X And S
@Tharsman I wonder if Xbox's games all ended up stacked in this year has caused the problem.
Clearly, some games were due to arrive in the last 6 months of last year but got pushed to this year - and now they've got too much squashed in there's not enough room to move things around.
Redfall would get crushed by Starfield, but I don't see why it would be a big problem if it released a month or two late given Forza Motorsport hasn't got much of a fanbase cross-over (although I'll be playing both)
Re: Redfall Will Only Run At 30FPS When It Launches On Xbox Series X And S
@smoreon Yeah detail wise, when I was in uni I had a part-time job selling the new 4K TVs (and before they came in, spotting the difference between 720p and 1080p) so needed to be able to tell the difference - even if I preferred to be down in the computer section.
Annoyingly, now I can nearly always tell the difference (although sometimes if Sky played Game of Thrones / House of the Dragon in HD rather than UHD it'd take me a while to spot it) - I have similar issues with sound as I had an audiophile housemate for years and now I can't cope with tinny speakers.
Reactions wise, I've always had terrible reactions - HiFi Rush I have it on the easiest settings and I still can't hit the beat when I can see it coming, maybe 50% of the time at most if I'm lucky.
The imploding circles on that game I'm mildly better at, but some of the QTE involving them took me forever to get past.
It's possible it's due to being on the spectrum, or having started gaming in the UK when everything was PAL (back before SCART and HDMI when we used to have aerial connections) which was 25FPS - or I just didn't play fast enough games, as my younger brother grew up on Goldeneye, Mario Karts and then CoD4 and has incredible reflexes by comparison!
Re: Here's What's Included In The Xbox April 2023 Update
That active hours one is pretty cool - I keep swapping between the two modes for things like remote play and remote install.
It'll maybe mean I can have it "warmed up" for the hours I'm likely to use it, and off the rest of the time (not that it's exactly slow to start up anyway).