I didn’t want Arkane Austin to close, Xbox leadership likely didn’t want to have to close them either, but it was a wider business decision, the books didn’t balance for Zenimax / Bethesda and they had to cut costs / staff.
The question you need to ask is if it wasn’t going to be Arkane Austin who else would you cut instead? Id? Machine Games? Bethesda? THESE are the hard decisions you have to make sometimes as business leadership. Nobody enjoys it and there are no easy answers.
I suspect ONE of the reasons it was Arkane Austin and Tango Gameworks was because they had just released their games, Microsoft had seen a return on their projects. Whereas if you closed a studio that was 4 years into an unreleased project that would be $100+ million down the drain with no return. Not sensible in a cost cutting exercise.
It’s all unfortunate, but these are business decisions made to balance the books, and not about creativity. Hard choices.
@hbkay LOL. Love this. The campaigns are usually a fun rollercoaster to be fair, in the same way a massive blockbuster action movie is fun and uber-popular, but unlikely to be winning many awards.
Last one I played was Advanced Warfare which came out in (checks notes) wow 2014. I have several others through PS+ etc. and will get around to them some day. For this one in particular i would have liked to play the previous Black Ops games, but they aren't on Game Pass yet.
@Major_Player COD is an interesting one, because if a lot of players pay £15 for Game Pass Ult or £10 on PC, play it and then unsubscribe they are making far less than if they had bought the game for £70, not least they get to play other games too that could have been a sale.
They will definitely get more subscribers short term, but they will be hoping there isn't that much churn after month 1, 2, 3 etc. It will be interesting to see if their Game Pass numbers do jump up significantly longer term.
There has been a toxic narrative about this game before it even came out with far too many 'fans' seemingly wanting it to fail and getting more and more desperate to rubbish any positive takes on it. Sad.
@PJOReilly I actually quite like the artstyle, it seems more original than most and will likely stand the test of time more than trying for photorealism... but I know many vocally said they didn't, I guess we all like different things.
But not being able to see past it and saying characters can't express emotion due to it I find a weird take. That would be like saying Life is Strange characters don't show emotion because they don't look photoreal, or pixel art games can't get across character. It's nonsense.
@Titntin I like Skillup, he's one of my go-to reviewers normally, but every now and again when he doesn't like a game he decides to REALLY go to town on it, almost irrationally so. It was the same for his reviews of FFXVI, Deathloop and others. In all these cases he's usually reviewing the game he wanted it to be, with examples, not the one it actually is.
I've watched his channel for years and you can immediately tell from his incessant tone that he's in total rant mode. Take this review for example he spends the first 10 minutes almost solely bashing the graphical style - which he is entitled to, each to their own - but he also isn't being as balanced and fair as usual. I know to take these reviews with a larger pinch of salt... and also the ones with overly-effusive "it can do no wrong" glowing praise. He's guilty of both occasionally.
The spread seems very positive so far with all but 3 of the 50 reviews on Metacritic being 70% and up. It currently has an 84 Metascore distributed as:
100% x 6
90+% x 14
80+% x 15
70+% x 10
60+% x 3
The only really scathing reviews I have seen are from YouTubers SkillUp and MrMattyPlays, yet plenty of other YouTubers like RPG heavy Mortisimal love it... it's currently his personal GOTY. Strong.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna - I just finished the DLC for Xenoblade Chronicles 1 (Future Redeemed) and re-watched about 7 hours of cutscenes from XC2 (which is far faster than replaying a 100+ hour JRPG) now i'm onto the XC2 DLC Torna. I want to play Xenoblade Chronicles 3 this year if possible, which I bought at launch, but might need a few palate cleansers after all this. I love this series.
Also replayed Metroid Prime, what a brilliant remaster and hard mode makes the game tough again, each save point is almost like finding a Dark Souls bonfire. Sweet relief.
Lastly finished The Plucky Squire which I was really looking forward to. It was OK. Didn't quite deliver on the promise of the trailers but I enjoyed it regardless. Just felt it could have been a lot better too. .
Absolutely makes business sense to have more games be multiplatform. But crucially that doesn’t mean ALL games, Microsoft have a LOT of studios now, over 30, and can make some games multiplatform while also retaining others as exclusives. But it does likely mean a lot of games from ABK, Zenimax etc. that would have been originally designed and developed to be multiplatform, with large budgets to match.
The simple fact is if you are only developing for Xbox, the console with the smallest install base, and PC then most game budgets will have to be smaller as sales will be smaller, so Xbox players do still benefit, especially as everything will be on game pass.
@Fiendish-Beaver Re: Tango, and Arkane the decision HAS to have been made by Phil and his team. Microsoft leadership is never making those calls, they don't have the operational understanding. But they would have said cuts understandably needed to be made and Xbox leadership would have to choose where.
Did Phil & Co. want to do it? Almost certainly not, but sometimes being a boss you have to make the hard decisions. If you look at it from a business point of view and accept they had to cut SOMETHING then ask yourself who they should have cut instead. Id? Bethesda? Arkane? These are the sort of decisions they had to choose from. It's not easy.
If I am dispassionate about it I think losing Tango was likely the least worst of many evils, there were NO good choices. It was likely the sensible and most logical business decision. E.g.
Tango had only just launched their game and it had made some money back, seen a return on investment. Hence Xbox hadn't dropped millions on a new game that would never release which would have been a sunk cost. Whereas other team's projects would be bringing in money in the next few years. Timing was bad for Tango in that regard.
While popular with fans and critics, Tango's games never made that much money. In a money saving exercise they were an easier one to pick.
Being in Japan, and not being one of their support studios that helps other teams likely counted against them too.
Of course I'm not dispassionate, I think Tango are brilliant and Hi-Fi Rush was the best exclusive this gen. But I'm just glad I don't have to make those calls. Rock and hard place stuff.
(I'm off to game, thanks for the interesting chat... till tomorrow.)
@Fiendish-Beaver I get what you are saying about seeing what would happen with COD at the old Game Pass price, but I just don't think it's realistic. You can't take on 10,000+ new staff and not raise prices unless you are getting a lot more subscribers... which they weren't. Therefore the only other option to keep the business in the black was to raise prices and look for sales elsewhere. To be clear I didn't want a price hike, but it was inevitable when ABK was announced. I think far too many people expected ABK and Zenimax to join Xbox and they would get ALL the benefits with none of the downsides.
Re: COD specifically they will make more money selling it than via subscriptions, it's not a good test case for Game Pass.
Re: Starfield even if it was 9s and 10s I don't think it would have changed much, I agree with Phil on this in his "11/10 speech" for Kinda Funny. Sure it might have made a few more unit sales and a few more subscriptions but not enough to make a dent, the reality is one game isn't going to change that. (Caveat: unless they can get GTA6 as an exclusive! Which isn't going to happen)
The only thing that will change it is TIME and putting out great games consistently, keep adding them to Game Pass for years while making pro-consumer decisions as often as the business allows. It won't happen overnight, it will take years. But Xbox can't keep doing all that for years as a failing business, which they likely would have been, without raising prices. However IF they can do that consistently then perhaps in 3-5 years they might steadily grow their market share and then when better positioned change strategy away from cross-platform.
However while that would be nice, I don't think that it's likely, OR their best play anymore. Sony is too entrenched. Instead like Nintendo Xbox has sensibly forged their own path to success and they will earn far more by being a massive publisher, not only a platform holder. But they will want that too, Xbox will continue, as it their lead Game Pass platform.
@Fiendish-Beaver Why would they wait for the dust to settle after the first COD on Game Pass? Do you really think it was going to change the needle on console market share? COD players aren't like that, they are far more likely to just buy the game where they always play it. Starfield was the bigger test, a huge AAA exclusive, and it barely moved the needle, people simply didn't rush to get Xboxes and sign up to Game Pass en masse. If that didn't do it, what would? Their plans needed to change quickly, and they did. Bear in mind they have many figures we don't.
As for where have the ABK games gone, I agree... but what has that got to do with Phil's autonomy. I can't believe that Microsoft are preventing them from coming and stopping Phil doing it... that makes no sense at all. Far more likely their hands are tied somehow for now.
I agree Nadella and others are likely are keeping a closer eye on Xbox, that only makes sense after spending what they spent, but I don't believe Phil has lost much autonomy. I think Microsoft's leaders simply told him his Xbox division had to make massive cuts to balance the books after the merger and when the markets turned, Phil and his team then had complete autonomy to choose who and what was cut. None of that is unreasonable for business leaders to ask a division not making good margins.
They also realised/were told they had to bring in more revenue, else they would have to make even larger cuts, hence going multiplatform for some titles. Almost all of which would have been planned to be multiplatform when they were being developed and their budgets were in line with that. The trouble is Xbox fans assumed all ABK & Zenimiax games would exclusive after the mergers, when that makes little business sense with their market share. They assumed Microsoft would just bankroll it all, selling far less, haemorrhaging money until they miraculously caught up. Not realistic. The reality is a smaller number of sales means smaller game budgets. It's the same reason we have cross-gen (even on PlayStation), if you want bigger budgets on your games they need more sales, that means: PC, cross-gen and - especially in Xbox's position - multi-platform for many titles. You can bankroll a few as loss leaders but not an entire library of 30+ studios at the amounts they sell on Xbox.
I think Phil, and Xbox's general silence recently has partly been because how they have had their words twisted and/or thrown back at them when plans change, which they do frequently in business. But mostly it has to do with all the job losses and studio closures, this ISN'T the time for executives to be making lots of noise, yapping away, they need to reign their necks in for now and keep quiet until the dust from all the tough decisions and bad press.
I wanted to like this game so bad, they tried so hard to mimic Banjo-Kazooie, but it just was just missing some magic. Not a bad game, but not great either. Hopefully this version improves some of the flaws.
I think it's a shame the way he has been treated, with his decisions and strategy completely unpicked my those above him who have no understanding of the console business.
I think the lack of control Phil has is grossly exaggerated. There have always been things he can do and can't do, he's never had complete control, and has always had to answer to Satya.
It's more the other way around, gamers don't understand business. They somehow thought Microsoft would spend $69 billion and gamers would have it all their own way with no checks and balances. That was naïve. But it makes it far easier to blame Satya and the faceless Microsoft shareholders than it does Phil or anyone closer.
To be honest it makes business sense to make most games from studios that were multiplatform before (ABK, Zenimax) stay multiplatform for now, perhaps keeping a few key exclusives (like Starfield). At least until Xbox is in a better position from there they can adjust how many titles come across up and down.
But I wouldn't make Halo, Gears or Forza multiplatform unless you plan to make it all multiplatform. It seems hard to go back after that in gamers eyes once you have done it.
My only (minor) complaints with all this crossover stuff is it makes me want to replay Alan Wake 1 and Control etc. before Alan Wake 2... and who's got time for that!
Such a shame. By my reckoning this was Ubisoft best reviewed game of the last 10 years with an 86. Unless I missed something the last games to top that were: Rocksmith 2014 (87), AC: Black Flag (88) and Rayman Legends (92) which all released way back in 2013.
I'm sure they are going to work on some tired Ubisoft open-world formula like Star Wars Outlaws, Avatar, Far Cry, Assassin's Creed which creatively is a shame. But they do sell.
@Medic_alert Oh plenty of that too. Games everywhere. I used to use GoG Galaxy to track the thousands of games I own accross all the services from Xbox to PlayStation, Steam, Epic, Ubisoft+, EA etc. etc. Even so a few times I have realised I already own a game somewhere else only after I have bought it. But I don't mind too much.
Coming into this generation I had INTENDED to buy more games on Xbox because of their better back, and forward, compatibility. Being able to play across devices and consumer friendly tech like FPS boost, Auto HDR etc. But the reality is I have still bought more on PlayStation, it's where most of my console library already is, and old habits die hard. Sony also do a better job of notifying me of sales on my wishlist via their app.
That said I've started to buy more and more games on Steam, mostly for the Deck, particularly anything older or pixel art as I think fewer polygons or pixel art looks far better on a 7" OLED than a 65" TV.
I won't buy anything on Switch unless I have to, like first party, as it's usually the worst performing and I don't trust Nintendo not to make me pay again next gen.
@NEStalgia Souls-like is such a meaningless term nowadays. People see one on one combat with blocking or dodging and scream “souls-like”! Steering clear while performing hand gestures to ward off evil spirits. It’s a boss rush action game, just a hard one.
@OldGamer999 I don’t think GTA6 is February 2025 though, which was my point, all those games are. Though perhaps they don’t want to move again as they definitely don’t want to cross that juggernaut.
I kinda feel the same about GTAV, but it’s still a must play for me, there’s nothing quite like a Rockstar game to see what is possible with an almost unlimited budget and time. Even if like you I feel they are a bit overrated they are unmissable too.
LOTS of games to look forward to there, over 10 I want to play already.
However I wonder if they will move Avowed again. It originally changed date to February to give it some breathing room. But now February 2025 looks even more stacked than its original launch date with Monster Hunter Wilds, Assassins Creed: Shadows, Yakuza: Pirates, Civilisation 7, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, Lost Records, Tomb Raider IV-VI, and more. Will be interesting to see.
Klobrille? Kahlief “Positivity Peddler” Adams? Why don’t you just ask Colt Eastward too if all you want is a sycophantic response. It was a good showcase, but some of these guys are complete shills.
@OldGamer999 I mostly agree. However as game streaming becomes more prevalent the infrastructure, routers and everything else will be more built around it and people should have less issues.
But I also don't think it's either/or. It doesn't have to be a replacement for a box, it can be additive. E.g. I use Xcloud very often on my Steam Deck in bed or when i'm away and it's mostly great. It doesn't need to be 4K + HDR + VRR + Dolby Vision & Atmos, it simply needs to be 60fps at 1080p with good image quality and minimal lag. I don't play twitch games like Halo or Forza on it, but everything else is fine.
More importantly you and I are looking at game streaming through the lens of people who have a Series X console. If all I had was a mobile or Switch then xCloud might look pretty great by comparison.
@OldGamer999 This is the problem with cloud streaming games, there are too many places along the route where there could be a problem and it's hard to diagnose where the specific issue is. It can be very frustrating, or it can also just work if you are lucky.
But video streaming and game streaming are very different. Just because you can stream 4K video well, doesn't mean the same for gaming. In video streaming your device will buffer X seconds ahead so that any blip in the connection will be smoothed over, it only really needs raw speed e.g. Mb/s. Game steaming on the other hand can't do that, you are playing the game in real time. Hence firstly it relies on a fast ping, else it will feel laggy, but it also relies on a consistent reliable connection as any dips will be noticeable, which is why I said Mb/s isn't all that important.
The trouble is debugging what is the cause is a massive headache, it could be one of dozen different things, including something you can't realistically change like your physical location.
@OldGamer999 As @Astig said 200Mb/s should be fast enough if it works well. However cloud streaming is less about speed in terms of Mb/s but more important is what the speed of the ping is. (The ping is how long it takes for the signal to get from your Xbox to the server and back, you are looking for less than 50ms ideally) You can have a 200Mb/s connection but if the ping is slow it ruins everything. Or it could be a Wifi issue, slow router or something else.
Are you on Ethernet or Wifi? I'd advise trying ethernet if you can just to test if it's a WiFi issue and eliminate that as a cause.
@Falien haha, yes it’s just 80 megabytes on Switch, 100MB on PS5 and just 40MB on PC. I read that the high res art that they needed to add for game splash screens on PS5 was larger than the whole game itself. lol. The developer Billy Basso built the whole thing, engine and all, himself.
However I just checked and the Xbox version is 360MB for some reason, maybe all the achievement art. Still tiny all things considered, but almost 10x the PC release.
Utterly brilliant game, currently my GOTY, though I’ve not played some of the other big contenders yet. It just constantly surprises with ingenious design. The less said the better. Enjoy.
EDIT: I agree with others above that it’s not for everyone, if you like your hand held it’s probably not for you. It’s a game about discovery and YOU figuring out what is and isn’t possible. There’s good reason it scored 91 on Metacritic
@InvaderFromSpace But that is assuming that all those people playing COD on Game Pass would have bought Day 1 at full price. Many might have waited for a sale or bought second hand.
With all due respect it's never that helpful when a person who worked passionately on a cancelled project for years comes out and says it was great, they are likely too close to give a fair take.
@RiverGenie @JoyfulFire Sadly I think so too. This is becoming more and more common in gaming. Spiteful groups deciding, before even playing a game, that it is trash, and then dog piling on it. I'm SURE we will have a vocal group of toxic chodes like this on this game and others. It's so tiresome and just sucks the joy out of the hobby.
Gotta hand it to Bioware and EA they are doing almost everything right with this release. Lots of consumer friendly decisions. It feels like they think they have something special on their hands and are desperately trying not to mess it up.
This does make business sense. No point allowing those who are ONLY going to play the campaign to do so for £1 / $1, those users are on average unlikely to be converted to long term paying subscribers. That said there are still plenty of ways to get super cheap trials via pre-paid cards for anyone wanting to try that.
However one thing I keep seeing online is that this is "Microsoft's BIG TEST of Game Pass", as though if the subscriber numbers don't change drastically due to COD it shows Game Pass is done for, which isn't true at all. Microsoft are quite happy whether you buy the game for full price OR play it via Game Pass. Either way, they win.
@InterceptorAlpha To be honest it doesn't make much sense to introduce it mid-gen when around half your consoles have sold and split your player base. Better to launch it along with next gen.
Comments 6,044
Re: Arkane Founder Says Xbox Shutting Austin Studio Was 'Stupid' And 'Not A Good Decision'
I didn’t want Arkane Austin to close, Xbox leadership likely didn’t want to have to close them either, but it was a wider business decision, the books didn’t balance for Zenimax / Bethesda and they had to cut costs / staff.
The question you need to ask is if it wasn’t going to be Arkane Austin who else would you cut instead? Id? Machine Games? Bethesda? THESE are the hard decisions you have to make sometimes as business leadership. Nobody enjoys it and there are no easy answers.
I suspect ONE of the reasons it was Arkane Austin and Tango Gameworks was because they had just released their games, Microsoft had seen a return on their projects. Whereas if you closed a studio that was 4 years into an unreleased project that would be $100+ million down the drain with no return. Not sensible in a cost cutting exercise.
It’s all unfortunate, but these are business decisions made to balance the books, and not about creativity. Hard choices.
Re: Xbox's Call Of Duty Series Has Now Sold Over 500 Million Copies
@hbkay LOL. Love this. The campaigns are usually a fun rollercoaster to be fair, in the same way a massive blockbuster action movie is fun and uber-popular, but unlikely to be winning many awards.
Last one I played was Advanced Warfare which came out in (checks notes) wow 2014. I have several others through PS+ etc. and will get around to them some day. For this one in particular i would have liked to play the previous Black Ops games, but they aren't on Game Pass yet.
Re: Microsoft's Xbox Gets Another Revenue Boost From Activision
@Major_Player COD is an interesting one, because if a lot of players pay £15 for Game Pass Ult or £10 on PC, play it and then unsubscribe they are making far less than if they had bought the game for £70, not least they get to play other games too that could have been a sale.
They will definitely get more subscribers short term, but they will be hoping there isn't that much churn after month 1, 2, 3 etc. It will be interesting to see if their Game Pass numbers do jump up significantly longer term.
Re: Indiana Jones And The Great Circle Will Run At 60FPS On Both Xbox Series X And S
Good to hear with any game in First Person. Looking forward to this one, now too long now.
Re: Roundup: The Reviews Are In For Dragon Age: The Veilguard
There has been a toxic narrative about this game before it even came out with far too many 'fans' seemingly wanting it to fail and getting more and more desperate to rubbish any positive takes on it. Sad.
Re: Review: Dragon Age: The Veilguard (Xbox) - Bioware Is Back On Form With An Inquisition-Besting Banger
@PJOReilly I actually quite like the artstyle, it seems more original than most and will likely stand the test of time more than trying for photorealism... but I know many vocally said they didn't, I guess we all like different things.
But not being able to see past it and saying characters can't express emotion due to it I find a weird take. That would be like saying Life is Strange characters don't show emotion because they don't look photoreal, or pixel art games can't get across character. It's nonsense.
Re: Review: Dragon Age: The Veilguard (Xbox) - Bioware Is Back On Form With An Inquisition-Besting Banger
@Titntin I like Skillup, he's one of my go-to reviewers normally, but every now and again when he doesn't like a game he decides to REALLY go to town on it, almost irrationally so. It was the same for his reviews of FFXVI, Deathloop and others. In all these cases he's usually reviewing the game he wanted it to be, with examples, not the one it actually is.
I've watched his channel for years and you can immediately tell from his incessant tone that he's in total rant mode. Take this review for example he spends the first 10 minutes almost solely bashing the graphical style - which he is entitled to, each to their own - but he also isn't being as balanced and fair as usual. I know to take these reviews with a larger pinch of salt... and also the ones with overly-effusive "it can do no wrong" glowing praise. He's guilty of both occasionally.
Re: Review: Dragon Age: The Veilguard (Xbox) - Bioware Is Back On Form With An Inquisition-Besting Banger
The spread seems very positive so far with all but 3 of the 50 reviews on Metacritic being 70% and up. It currently has an 84 Metascore distributed as:
The only really scathing reviews I have seen are from YouTubers SkillUp and MrMattyPlays, yet plenty of other YouTubers like RPG heavy Mortisimal love it... it's currently his personal GOTY. Strong.
Re: Talking Point: Xbox Released One Of Its Best-Ever Exclusives 10 Years Ago Today
Very good game on the whole. It does outstay it's welcome after a while but I had so much fun on the way there.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (October 26-27)
Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna - I just finished the DLC for Xenoblade Chronicles 1 (Future Redeemed) and re-watched about 7 hours of cutscenes from XC2 (which is far faster than replaying a 100+ hour JRPG) now i'm onto the XC2 DLC Torna. I want to play Xenoblade Chronicles 3 this year if possible, which I bought at launch, but might need a few palate cleansers after all this. I love this series.
Also replayed Metroid Prime, what a brilliant remaster and hard mode makes the game tough again, each save point is almost like finding a Dark Souls bonfire. Sweet relief.
Lastly finished The Plucky Squire which I was really looking forward to. It was OK. Didn't quite deliver on the promise of the trailers but I enjoyed it regardless. Just felt it could have been a lot better too. .
Re: Microsoft CEO Gaming Division Update: 'We Continue To Extend Our Content To New Platforms'
Absolutely makes business sense to have more games be multiplatform. But crucially that doesn’t mean ALL games, Microsoft have a LOT of studios now, over 30, and can make some games multiplatform while also retaining others as exclusives. But it does likely mean a lot of games from ABK, Zenimax etc. that would have been originally designed and developed to be multiplatform, with large budgets to match.
The simple fact is if you are only developing for Xbox, the console with the smallest install base, and PC then most game budgets will have to be smaller as sales will be smaller, so Xbox players do still benefit, especially as everything will be on game pass.
Re: Xbox Boss Namedrops Marvel's Blade & Everwild Following Recent Studio Visits
@Fiendish-Beaver Re: Tango, and Arkane the decision HAS to have been made by Phil and his team. Microsoft leadership is never making those calls, they don't have the operational understanding. But they would have said cuts understandably needed to be made and Xbox leadership would have to choose where.
Did Phil & Co. want to do it? Almost certainly not, but sometimes being a boss you have to make the hard decisions. If you look at it from a business point of view and accept they had to cut SOMETHING then ask yourself who they should have cut instead. Id? Bethesda? Arkane? These are the sort of decisions they had to choose from. It's not easy.
If I am dispassionate about it I think losing Tango was likely the least worst of many evils, there were NO good choices. It was likely the sensible and most logical business decision. E.g.
Of course I'm not dispassionate, I think Tango are brilliant and Hi-Fi Rush was the best exclusive this gen. But I'm just glad I don't have to make those calls. Rock and hard place stuff.
(I'm off to game, thanks for the interesting chat... till tomorrow.)
Re: Xbox Boss Namedrops Marvel's Blade & Everwild Following Recent Studio Visits
@Fiendish-Beaver I get what you are saying about seeing what would happen with COD at the old Game Pass price, but I just don't think it's realistic. You can't take on 10,000+ new staff and not raise prices unless you are getting a lot more subscribers... which they weren't. Therefore the only other option to keep the business in the black was to raise prices and look for sales elsewhere. To be clear I didn't want a price hike, but it was inevitable when ABK was announced. I think far too many people expected ABK and Zenimax to join Xbox and they would get ALL the benefits with none of the downsides.
Re: COD specifically they will make more money selling it than via subscriptions, it's not a good test case for Game Pass.
Re: Starfield even if it was 9s and 10s I don't think it would have changed much, I agree with Phil on this in his "11/10 speech" for Kinda Funny. Sure it might have made a few more unit sales and a few more subscriptions but not enough to make a dent, the reality is one game isn't going to change that. (Caveat: unless they can get GTA6 as an exclusive! Which isn't going to happen)
The only thing that will change it is TIME and putting out great games consistently, keep adding them to Game Pass for years while making pro-consumer decisions as often as the business allows. It won't happen overnight, it will take years. But Xbox can't keep doing all that for years as a failing business, which they likely would have been, without raising prices. However IF they can do that consistently then perhaps in 3-5 years they might steadily grow their market share and then when better positioned change strategy away from cross-platform.
However while that would be nice, I don't think that it's likely, OR their best play anymore. Sony is too entrenched. Instead like Nintendo Xbox has sensibly forged their own path to success and they will earn far more by being a massive publisher, not only a platform holder. But they will want that too, Xbox will continue, as it their lead Game Pass platform.
Re: Xbox Boss Namedrops Marvel's Blade & Everwild Following Recent Studio Visits
@Fiendish-Beaver Why would they wait for the dust to settle after the first COD on Game Pass? Do you really think it was going to change the needle on console market share? COD players aren't like that, they are far more likely to just buy the game where they always play it. Starfield was the bigger test, a huge AAA exclusive, and it barely moved the needle, people simply didn't rush to get Xboxes and sign up to Game Pass en masse. If that didn't do it, what would? Their plans needed to change quickly, and they did. Bear in mind they have many figures we don't.
As for where have the ABK games gone, I agree... but what has that got to do with Phil's autonomy. I can't believe that Microsoft are preventing them from coming and stopping Phil doing it... that makes no sense at all. Far more likely their hands are tied somehow for now.
I agree Nadella and others are likely are keeping a closer eye on Xbox, that only makes sense after spending what they spent, but I don't believe Phil has lost much autonomy. I think Microsoft's leaders simply told him his Xbox division had to make massive cuts to balance the books after the merger and when the markets turned, Phil and his team then had complete autonomy to choose who and what was cut. None of that is unreasonable for business leaders to ask a division not making good margins.
They also realised/were told they had to bring in more revenue, else they would have to make even larger cuts, hence going multiplatform for some titles. Almost all of which would have been planned to be multiplatform when they were being developed and their budgets were in line with that. The trouble is Xbox fans assumed all ABK & Zenimiax games would exclusive after the mergers, when that makes little business sense with their market share. They assumed Microsoft would just bankroll it all, selling far less, haemorrhaging money until they miraculously caught up. Not realistic. The reality is a smaller number of sales means smaller game budgets. It's the same reason we have cross-gen (even on PlayStation), if you want bigger budgets on your games they need more sales, that means: PC, cross-gen and - especially in Xbox's position - multi-platform for many titles. You can bankroll a few as loss leaders but not an entire library of 30+ studios at the amounts they sell on Xbox.
I think Phil, and Xbox's general silence recently has partly been because how they have had their words twisted and/or thrown back at them when plans change, which they do frequently in business. But mostly it has to do with all the job losses and studio closures, this ISN'T the time for executives to be making lots of noise, yapping away, they need to reign their necks in for now and keep quiet until the dust from all the tough decisions and bad press.
Re: Yooka-Replaylee Confirmed For Xbox Series X|S In All-New Console Trailer
I wanted to like this game so bad, they tried so hard to mimic Banjo-Kazooie, but it just was just missing some magic. Not a bad game, but not great either. Hopefully this version improves some of the flaws.
Re: Xbox Boss Namedrops Marvel's Blade & Everwild Following Recent Studio Visits
Fiendish-Beaver wrote:
I think the lack of control Phil has is grossly exaggerated. There have always been things he can do and can't do, he's never had complete control, and has always had to answer to Satya.
It's more the other way around, gamers don't understand business. They somehow thought Microsoft would spend $69 billion and gamers would have it all their own way with no checks and balances. That was naïve. But it makes it far easier to blame Satya and the faceless Microsoft shareholders than it does Phil or anyone closer.
Re: Rumour: Xbox's PS5 Ports Have 'Slowed Down' Following Indiana Jones Announcement
To be honest it makes business sense to make most games from studios that were multiplatform before (ABK, Zenimax) stay multiplatform for now, perhaps keeping a few key exclusives (like Starfield). At least until Xbox is in a better position from there they can adjust how many titles come across up and down.
But I wouldn't make Halo, Gears or Forza multiplatform unless you plan to make it all multiplatform. It seems hard to go back after that in gamers eyes once you have done it.
Re: Four Years Later, Xbox Series X Is Now Outselling Xbox Series S In The US
Nice to have a more up to date number even if it is just one territory, though US is their largest.
Re: Southern Comfort Unveils 'First Ever Adult Accessory' For Xbox Series X
Worst. Accessory. Ever.
Re: Review: Alan Wake 2: The Lake House (Xbox) - Connecting The Dots To Control
My only (minor) complaints with all this crossover stuff is it makes me want to replay Alan Wake 1 and Control etc. before Alan Wake 2... and who's got time for that!
Re: Xbox SEA Highlights 10+ New Indie Games Coming Out Of Southeast Asia
Nice, some games that caught my eye there, hopefully they deliver.
Re: Ubisoft's Prince Of Persia: The Lost Crown Team Reportedly 'Disbanded'
Such a shame. By my reckoning this was Ubisoft best reviewed game of the last 10 years with an 86. Unless I missed something the last games to top that were: Rocksmith 2014 (87), AC: Black Flag (88) and Rayman Legends (92) which all released way back in 2013.
I'm sure they are going to work on some tired Ubisoft open-world formula like Star Wars Outlaws, Avatar, Far Cry, Assassin's Creed which creatively is a shame. But they do sell.
Re: Alan Wake 2 Gets A Boost On Xbox Series S Following Recent Update
@InterceptorAlpha Absolutely it's a 38% pixel increase, which assuming the game still runs as well is quite a jump.
Re: 10 Years On, 'Project Spark' Remains One Of The Most Ambitious Xbox Titles Of All Time
Honestly I forgot this came out, for some reason I thought it was cancelled.
Re: Talking Point: Xbox & Nintendo Switch Owners, How Do You Split Your Third-Party Purchases?
@Medic_alert Oh plenty of that too. Games everywhere. I used to use GoG Galaxy to track the thousands of games I own accross all the services from Xbox to PlayStation, Steam, Epic, Ubisoft+, EA etc. etc. Even so a few times I have realised I already own a game somewhere else only after I have bought it. But I don't mind too much.
Re: Talking Point: Xbox & Nintendo Switch Owners, How Do You Split Your Third-Party Purchases?
Coming into this generation I had INTENDED to buy more games on Xbox because of their better back, and forward, compatibility. Being able to play across devices and consumer friendly tech like FPS boost, Auto HDR etc. But the reality is I have still bought more on PlayStation, it's where most of my console library already is, and old habits die hard. Sony also do a better job of notifying me of sales on my wishlist via their app.
That said I've started to buy more and more games on Steam, mostly for the Deck, particularly anything older or pixel art as I think fewer polygons or pixel art looks far better on a 7" OLED than a 65" TV.
I won't buy anything on Switch unless I have to, like first party, as it's usually the worst performing and I don't trust Nintendo not to make me pay again next gen.
Re: 'Atomfall' Deep Dive Reveals What To Expect On Xbox Game Pass In Early 2025
I've been trying to keep my excitement for this one in check, but it looks right up my street. Please be good!
Re: Surprise! Black Myth: Wukong Has Been Rated For Xbox
@Jenkinss “Not going to buy it for snubbing Xbox.”
Surely the logical conclusion of doing this will mean LESS games get ported to Xbox. Cutting off your nose to spite your face.
Re: Surprise! Black Myth: Wukong Has Been Rated For Xbox
@NEStalgia Souls-like is such a meaningless term nowadays. People see one on one combat with blocking or dodging and scream “souls-like”! Steering clear while performing hand gestures to ward off evil spirits. It’s a boss rush action game, just a hard one.
Re: Poll: A Year Later, What Do You Think Of Alan Wake 2 Overall?
No disc version, no sale. At least till a deep discount.
Re: Xbox Game Pass In 2025: The Full List Of Everything Announced So Far
@OldGamer999 I don’t think GTA6 is February 2025 though, which was my point, all those games are. Though perhaps they don’t want to move again as they definitely don’t want to cross that juggernaut.
I kinda feel the same about GTAV, but it’s still a must play for me, there’s nothing quite like a Rockstar game to see what is possible with an almost unlimited budget and time. Even if like you I feel they are a bit overrated they are unmissable too.
Re: Xbox Game Pass In 2025: The Full List Of Everything Announced So Far
LOTS of games to look forward to there, over 10 I want to play already.
However I wonder if they will move Avowed again. It originally changed date to February to give it some breathing room. But now February 2025 looks even more stacked than its original launch date with Monster Hunter Wilds, Assassins Creed: Shadows, Yakuza: Pirates, Civilisation 7, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, Lost Records, Tomb Raider IV-VI, and more. Will be interesting to see.
Re: Multiple Xbox Cloud Gaming Improvements Reportedly On The Way
@OldGamer999 Yes I do, that's why i'm vocally pro console and physical media, don't trust them at all.
Re: Xbox Is Getting A Lot Of Praise For This Week's Partner Preview Showcase
Klobrille? Kahlief “Positivity Peddler” Adams? Why don’t you just ask Colt Eastward too if all you want is a sycophantic response. It was a good showcase, but some of these guys are complete shills.
Re: Multiple Xbox Cloud Gaming Improvements Reportedly On The Way
@OldGamer999 I mostly agree. However as game streaming becomes more prevalent the infrastructure, routers and everything else will be more built around it and people should have less issues.
But I also don't think it's either/or. It doesn't have to be a replacement for a box, it can be additive. E.g. I use Xcloud very often on my Steam Deck in bed or when i'm away and it's mostly great. It doesn't need to be 4K + HDR + VRR + Dolby Vision & Atmos, it simply needs to be 60fps at 1080p with good image quality and minimal lag. I don't play twitch games like Halo or Forza on it, but everything else is fine.
More importantly you and I are looking at game streaming through the lens of people who have a Series X console. If all I had was a mobile or Switch then xCloud might look pretty great by comparison.
Re: Multiple Xbox Cloud Gaming Improvements Reportedly On The Way
@OldGamer999 This is the problem with cloud streaming games, there are too many places along the route where there could be a problem and it's hard to diagnose where the specific issue is. It can be very frustrating, or it can also just work if you are lucky.
But video streaming and game streaming are very different. Just because you can stream 4K video well, doesn't mean the same for gaming. In video streaming your device will buffer X seconds ahead so that any blip in the connection will be smoothed over, it only really needs raw speed e.g. Mb/s. Game steaming on the other hand can't do that, you are playing the game in real time. Hence firstly it relies on a fast ping, else it will feel laggy, but it also relies on a consistent reliable connection as any dips will be noticeable, which is why I said Mb/s isn't all that important.
The trouble is debugging what is the cause is a massive headache, it could be one of dozen different things, including something you can't realistically change like your physical location.
Re: Multiple Xbox Cloud Gaming Improvements Reportedly On The Way
@OldGamer999 As @Astig said 200Mb/s should be fast enough if it works well. However cloud streaming is less about speed in terms of Mb/s but more important is what the speed of the ping is. (The ping is how long it takes for the signal to get from your Xbox to the server and back, you are looking for less than 50ms ideally) You can have a 200Mb/s connection but if the ping is slow it ruins everything. Or it could be a Wifi issue, slow router or something else.
Are you on Ethernet or Wifi? I'd advise trying ethernet if you can just to test if it's a WiFi issue and eliminate that as a cause.
EDIT: Great tips @Astig
Re: Multiple Xbox Cloud Gaming Improvements Reportedly On The Way
So the direct to cloud controller is still happening? Interesting, it was meant to launch much earlier this year.
Re: GOTY Contender 'Animal Well' Gets A Surprise Launch On Xbox Today
@Falien haha, yes it’s just 80 megabytes on Switch, 100MB on PS5 and just 40MB on PC. I read that the high res art that they needed to add for game splash screens on PS5 was larger than the whole game itself. lol. The developer Billy Basso built the whole thing, engine and all, himself.
However I just checked and the Xbox version is 360MB for some reason, maybe all the achievement art. Still tiny all things considered, but almost 10x the PC release.
Re: GOTY Contender 'Animal Well' Gets A Surprise Launch On Xbox Today
@shoeses I think it’s simply a manpower issue. The game was basically built by one guy Billy Basso.
Re: GOTY Contender 'Animal Well' Gets A Surprise Launch On Xbox Today
Utterly brilliant game, currently my GOTY, though I’ve not played some of the other big contenders yet. It just constantly surprises with ingenious design. The less said the better. Enjoy.
EDIT: I agree with others above that it’s not for everyone, if you like your hand held it’s probably not for you. It’s a game about discovery and YOU figuring out what is and isn’t possible. There’s good reason it scored 91 on Metacritic
Re: Dragon's Dogma 2 Performance Patch Adds New FPS Targets On Xbox Series X And S
Look forward to seeing the performance reviews. Been holding off.
Re: Two Games Are Available Today With Xbox Game Pass (October 17)
Had fun with Donut County first time around.
I haven't played a Mechwarrior game in about two decades, might take a look, used to be fun.
Re: Xbox Removes $1 Game Pass Trial As Black Ops 6 Launch Looms
@InvaderFromSpace But that is assuming that all those people playing COD on Game Pass would have bought Day 1 at full price. Many might have waited for a sale or bought second hand.
Re: Halo Infinite's Battle Royale Was Supposedly A 'Game Changer' Before It Was Cancelled At Xbox
With all due respect it's never that helpful when a person who worked passionately on a cancelled project for years comes out and says it was great, they are likely too close to give a fair take.
Re: Stalker 2's Final Previews Are Here, And It Sounds Like An Xbox Game Pass Treat
Come on GSC Game World, we're all rooting for you!
Re: Dragon Age: The Veilguard Will Have A Performance Mode On Xbox Series S
@RiverGenie @JoyfulFire Sadly I think so too. This is becoming more and more common in gaming. Spiteful groups deciding, before even playing a game, that it is trash, and then dog piling on it. I'm SURE we will have a vocal group of toxic chodes like this on this game and others. It's so tiresome and just sucks the joy out of the hobby.
Re: Dragon Age: The Veilguard Will Have A Performance Mode On Xbox Series S
Gotta hand it to Bioware and EA they are doing almost everything right with this release. Lots of consumer friendly decisions. It feels like they think they have something special on their hands and are desperately trying not to mess it up.
Re: Xbox Removes $1 Game Pass Trial As Black Ops 6 Launch Looms
This does make business sense. No point allowing those who are ONLY going to play the campaign to do so for £1 / $1, those users are on average unlikely to be converted to long term paying subscribers. That said there are still plenty of ways to get super cheap trials via pre-paid cards for anyone wanting to try that.
However one thing I keep seeing online is that this is "Microsoft's BIG TEST of Game Pass", as though if the subscriber numbers don't change drastically due to COD it shows Game Pass is done for, which isn't true at all. Microsoft are quite happy whether you buy the game for full price OR play it via Game Pass. Either way, they win.
Re: Microsoft's New Xbox Series X And S Consoles Are Available Starting Today
@InterceptorAlpha To be honest it doesn't make much sense to introduce it mid-gen when around half your consoles have sold and split your player base. Better to launch it along with next gen.