Rise of the Tomb Raider timed Xbox exclusive for Holiday 2015 (No PS/PC, SE publish)

i dont know whats a better read the meme's and stuff or the people blindly trying to justify MS or thinking its good for the industry for a successful 3rd party franchise to randomly sign an exclusive deal that seems to not be in the studios best interest unless CD are in a similar boat to Crytek UK without anyone knowing.
 
Pathos said:
Since it's a timed exclusive, they get a guaranteed amount of $$$ from MS for the deal, plus however much they'll get from Xbox sales. They'll release it for other platforms afterwards, so for SE, it's a win-win situation.
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There are more possibilities. Maybe they'd have had to cut content to actually release holiday 2015. Or it would have been impossible at all. Now with the additional MS devs they can make it. And/or release the PS4 version with mandatory additional content (see Bioshock, Mass Effect). Or this deal was done because SE is in real financial problems (see GTA 4 DLC). Or it's a case of Sony not wanting competition for U4 for obvious reasons (see Splinter Cell). Or maybe after TR bombed SE didn't want to greenlight a sequel (see Dead Rising 3). Or they are heavily using the cloud (see Titanfall). There's most times more to exclusivity than the bag of money to make a game come to the other platform later.
 
pnoozi said:
I welcome a sensible explanation as to why in-house development of exclusives (a tactic Sony has used liberally over the last couple generations) is wonderful, but subcontracting (the way Microsoft sometimes prefers to do it, for whatever reason) is literally the Holocaust.

I understand yanking a sequel away from PS4 at the last minute is a bit of a dick move, but seeing as none of us appear to be even slightly tempted to buy an Xbox One to play this game... there has to be more to it than that.
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You aren't paying a company to build a game for you... you're paying a company to not build a game for a competitor... this hinders the game industry.

Microsoft paid Remedy to build Quantum Break and Insomniac to build Sunset Overdrive. That would be subcontracting as you speak of it. If Sony paid Rocksteady to not release Batman: Arkham Knight on Xbox One that would be the same type of thing we're talking about here.
 
FranXico said:
To be honest, I am more worried about their disrespect towards consumers in general. They screwed PS and PC TR fans over just to give their fanboys a new bullet point.
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I find the irony in this post quite funny, I hope it was on purpose.

Adding mkv to their list of formats they can play is probably the most consumer friendly thing a console has ever done.

You aren't paying a company to build a game for you... you're paying a company to not build a game for a competitor... this hinders the game industry.
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Sorry but this is complete bullshit.
 
Superflat said:
This makes me appreciate the term "console-first" much more now. At least there's no question about whether it's fucking timed or not.

What a PR fail this is.
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Well, MS wants to keep that uncertainty about the kind of exclusivity around so that people will always assume it to be a full exclusive.

Very consumer friendly, as always. /s
 
Grimløck;125139632 said:
you can ease your little passive aggressive attitude. how about you grow up? reporters should ask all parties involved for statements to corroborate the story.
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Bahahaha!

I just looked at your post history.

Trying to figure out why I didn't do it sooner.

What a complete waste of my time.
 
Krilekk said:
There are more possibilities. Maybe they'd have had to cut content to actually release holiday 2015. Or it would have been impossible at all. Now with the additional MS devs they can make it. And/or release the PS4 version with mandatory additional content (see Bioshock, Mass Effect). Or this deal was done because SE is in real financial problems (see GTA 4 DLC). Or it's a case of Sony not wanting competition for U4 for obvious reasons (see Splinter Cell). Or maybe after TR bombed SE didn't want to greenlight a sequel (see Dead Rising 3). Or they are heavily using the cloud (see Titanfall). There's most times more to exclusivity than the bag of money to make a game come to the other platform later.
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We know SE didn't need help from MS to develop the game. And LOL at the bold text.
 
1). Holy shit, I guess I shouldn't be surprised at the initial reactions + this stretching out into a 65 page thread. I felt pretty negative about this all, but I didn't quite see this collective reaction coming.

2). I'm pretty disillusioned with the PR these companies tend to employ. It does not seem this is an exclusive exclusive, and MS is just doing their best to maximize the impact of this announcement, unspoken nuances be damned. In that case, what are the details that MS is so reluctant to inject into this situation? Just that Tomb Raider will also come out on the PS4/PC during some preset fiscal year or something along those lines? If so, that should be easy enough to say. Is this not a "timed" exclusive so much as a "not forever/not unconditional" exclusive, in that it all depends on sales and/or MS' willingness to continue providing financial incentives down the line not to release the game on other platforms?

I understand the desire to make this as big a deal as possible, of course. But I'm sure a better balance can be achieved where no one is required to look blatantly deceitful and unwilling to allow basic information to reach people.

3). I could also understand, to a degree, Tomb Raider becoming exclusive in the context of a partnership where MS devoted themselves to helping market or develop the game. There is a certain pedigree to being a "system seller," because suddenly a lot more airtime is devoted to you, and I guess MS sees this as being helpful in that role. I can at least comprehend a scenario where this is a good deal for SE, and I guess it must be if they took it up. They can always release it on different platforms later on, and probably with some success.

I can't shake the feeling, though, that this is just shortsighted. Reducing the risk SE takes on themselves while also reducing the potential reward. We'll see.
 
pnoozi said:
Seeing as an exclusive is a game "denied to other platforms," what you're essentially saying here is it's okay for Sony to invest in exclusives, but not Microsoft.

Yea, but Sony would never do that.
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Haha! The fact that you think the situations are analogous tells me just about all I need to know about you. Goodnight, kid.

They need something to go up against Uncharted 4. In my opinion TR hasn't been able to match Uncharted since it became a similar game, but it is a name that consumers recognize. I fully expect to see this featured prominently at MS' E3 presser. It will probably look gorgeous. And then U4 will melt your balls off.
 
quest said:
Why I see it as a good decision by SE. It is protection from the real possibility of the game getting low sales on the largest next gen platform. The biggest game of the genre will launch on the PS4 at the same time. It be like if a 3rd party made a racing simulator and tried to release it the same time as the next GT. Just asking for disaster.
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Incredibly good point. But what about people who really love that type of game? The character action/adventure genre, or whatnot. Chances are they'd buy both. But now it might as well be positioned as "Can't buy Uncharted? We've got Tomb Raider." It's still second fiddle.

Oh well. I wouldn't buy it anyway. Just bummed at the crummy path everything is heading down with games and for people who were excited for Tomb Raider who didn't choose an Xbox.
 
Dreamgazer said:
Subcontracting

The practice of assigning part of the obligations and tasks under a contract to another party known as a subcontractor. Subcontracting is especially prevalent in areas where complex projects are the norm, such as construction and information technology. Subcontractors are hired by the project's general contractor, who continues to have overall responsibility for project completion and execution within its stipulated parameters and deadlines.

What does dev time has to do with anything?
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So based on that wonderful link you posted, do you think that dev time is the same for the XB1 and PS4? Do you think they can just copy/paste and it will work the same way?

What do you think will happen when developers have the opportunity to just focus on a single system?
 
Krilekk said:
There are more possibilities. Maybe they'd have had to cut content to actually release holiday 2015. Or it would have been impossible at all. Now with the additional MS devs they can make it. And/or release the PS4 version with mandatory additional content (see Bioshock, Mass Effect). Or this deal was done because SE is in real financial problems (see GTA 4 DLC). Or it's a case of Sony not wanting competition for U4 for obvious reasons (see Splinter Cell). Or maybe after TR bombed SE didn't want to greenlight a sequel (see Dead Rising 3). Or they are heavily using the cloud (see Titanfall). There's most times more to exclusivity than the bag of money to make a game come to the other platform later.
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TR didn't bomb, it was profitable. (after some time admittedly). I also think that Square is aware that it's tough to reboot a dormant series, and were expecting the sequel to do better sales wise than the first game.
 
RiccochetJ said:
So based on that wonderful link you posted, do you think that dev time is the same for the XB1 and PS4? Do you think they can just copy/paste and it will work the same way?

What do you think will happen when developers have the opportunity to just focus on a single system?
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What are you even going on about?
 
TetraGenesis said:
At the initial reveal yeah, but I mean when they made the "lifetime exclusive" deal with EA. They were very, very clear that Titanfall would never be coming to PS4...when that was actually the case.
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Yup.
I even said that earlier Didn't see the "full exclusive part till now.
 
my god people (both sides of this discussion.)

Microsoft cannot be the subcontracting of ANY of their exclusive, cause they are not the contractor to any of their exclusives.

They are the owners to their first party IP exclusives.
They are the dealer that signed an exclusive agreement with their supplier to the third party IP exclusives.

They cannot be the contractor in this case, cause they are not in charge of managing the project or have to deliver the good to a third party owner. Nor are they the owner that intends to receive most of the benefit from the project (which goes to Square Enix.)
 
TetraGenesis said:
At the initial reveal yeah, but I mean when they made the "lifetime exclusive" deal with EA. They were very, very clear that Titanfall would never be coming to PS4...when that was actually the case.
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This. They didn't leave any room for confusion when they had finally secured full rights. Who knows, they may be going down a similar path now, but I can't imagine SE would be keen, given the backlash we've seen already. Although they probably figure it can't get much worse, so who knows...
 
NemesisPrime said:
Adding mkv to their list of formats they can play is probably the most consumer friendly thing a console has ever done.
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Let's praise Microsoft for adding a requested media format on their console when they're selling less than the competition. Let's forget all the DRM and always-online debacle of less than two years ago! They are saints after all! Sony are the real anti-consumer company! Remember the rootkit from 2005!

Yes, I'm exaggerating on purpose.
 
MS seriously needs to hire new PR people. Their messaging is consistently a disaster.

If this is a timed exclusive, I don't see what the big deal is. Is any PS4 owner really going to choose RoTR over UC4? I'm sure there are a few, but they will be the exception. By 2016, after UC4 is bought and played, players will be ready for another pulp adventure and RoTR will have a chance to get decent sales. Otherwise it comes out head to head with a very similar game that has more hype and gets forgotten in the holiday rush. MS gets to avoid inevitable X1/PS4 comparisons, which it will lose, and gives its customers an alternative to UC4 which they will never get without buying a PS4. It's a rationale business decision that minimally effects PS4 owners.

If this is permanent... I really don't know what MS and SE are thinking. RoTR won't move a lot of X1s for MS, and SE will be sacrificing a larger audience, all while screwing over customers and fans of the series.

I can't imagine either MS or SE is dumb enough to make this permanent, and I believe CBOAT. So ultimately this is a lot of fuss over something that will hardly affect anyone beyond the most diehard TR fans that only own a PS3 or PS4.
 
Earthanoid said:
MS seriously needs to hire new PR people. Their messaging is consistently a disaster.

If this is a timed exclusive, I don't see what the big deal is. Is any PS4 owner really going to choose RoTR over UC4? I'm sure there are a few, but they will be the exception. By 2016, after UC4 is bought and played, players will be ready for another pulp adventure and RoTR will have a chance to get decent sales. Otherwise it comes out head to head with a very similar game that has more hype and gets forgotten in the holiday rush. MS gets to avoid inevitable X1/PS4 comparisons, which it will lose, and gives its customers an alternative to UC4 which they will never get without buying a PS4. It's a rationale business decision that minimally effects PS4 owners.

If this is permanent... I really don't know what MS and SE are thinking. RoTR won't move a lot of X1s for MS, and SE will be sacrificing a larger audience, all while screwing over customers and fans of the series.

I can't imagine either MS or SE is dumb enough to make this permanent, and I believe CBOAT. So ultimately this is a lot of fuss over something that will hardly affect anyone beyond the most diehard TR fans that only own a PS3 or PS4.
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I guess the question is, what is the business purpose of said timed exclusivity? I have a hard time imagining that TR moves xb1...
 
RiccochetJ said:
So based on that wonderful link you posted, do you think that dev time is the same for the XB1 and PS4? Do you think they can just copy/paste and it will work the same way?

What do you think will happen when developers have the opportunity to just focus on a single system?
Click to expand...

None of that matters.

Who gets all the blame if tomb raider is delayed? SE/CD
Who has to deal with the deadlines and the budgeting? SE/CD.

It doesn't matter if CD takes 10 million years to complete the game or how many systems they focus on, BY FREAKING DEFINITION THEY ARE NOT SUBCONTRACTED BY MICROSOFT.

RiccochetJ said:
I asked about the difference between the XB1 and PS4 development and the benefits that the developers will have by being able to focus on a single system. Keep up.
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You quoted me on subcontracting, why are you asking me about dev time?
 
pnoozi said:
I'm still trying to figure out the difference between "footing the bill" and "writing a check."
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Footing the bill= completely funding a project from the ground up

"Writing a check" = Make sure the game doesn't go to other platforms even though company x has nothing to do with development
 
pnoozi said:
I'm still trying to figure out the difference between "footing the bill" and "writing a check."
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There's lots of different types of exclusives.

This particular type is "pay a company to not release a game to people that want it" and it's scummy.

That's wildly different from Microsoft hiring Insomniac or Remedy to build a game for them or Sony getting help from From to build a game with them.

Again the equivalent would be Sony paying Rocksteady to not release Batman: Arkham Knight on Xbox One.
 
aussiedude08 said:
i just wish we knew how much MS are paying for this, because it would have to be a lot to block out PS3, PS4 and PC from the game. that is a lot of lost sales.

Unless its just to got H2H with Uncharted which i think Uncharted will sell 3-4 times more in Holiday 2015. and then RotTR doesnt get pushed into the bargain bin on PS4. but Public opinion has crushed both CD and MS today. its even over shadowed the PS4 selling 10M consoles.
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This whole deal makes no sense unless they bid through the sky. I don't get the head to head with uncharted theory? If your Game is going head to head with another Game with a lot of money on the line, you probably want to show your game in the best possible light. ROTR only being on xbox will just make UC4 look that much better.
 
RiccochetJ said:
I asked about the difference between the XB1 and PS4 development and the benefits that the developers will have by being able to focus on a single system. Keep up.
Click to expand...

Sure, a game that started development on a multi-platform game engine. The benefits must be endless.
 
I dont understand when GAF will realize that Translating 'Microsoft' in English gives 'OMG ANTI CONSUMER BULLSHIT'

Every single step the company takes is anti consumer. Microsoft should just give up and gift all the xbox division to Sony, because Sony are actually the #OneTrueGods (sorry, Cage).

I am going to sell my xbox one now because i will catch this new Anti-consumer disease.
 
Is this the OT? It doesn't feel like it.

I just watched the presentation again. Game looks outstanding. I'm quite ecstatic for the release, particularly because of how good the last TR was
 
Well, it'll be pretty weird if I'll have to use my 360 again after more than a year it's been dead (because it's coming to 360 too right?).
I do intend to buy a One too, but not now since I just bought a PS4.
 
Earthanoid said:
MS seriously needs to hire new PR people. Their messaging is consistently a disaster.

If this is a timed exclusive, I don't see what the big deal is. Is any PS4 owner really going to choose RoTR over UC4? I'm sure there are a few, but they will be the exception. By 2016, after UC4 is bought and played, players will be ready for another pulp adventure and RoTR will have a chance to get decent sales. Otherwise it comes out head to head with a very similar game that has more hype and gets forgotten in the holiday rush. MS gets to avoid inevitable X1/PS4 comparisons, which it will lose, and gives its customers an alternative to UC4 which they will never get without buying a PS4. It's a rationale business decision that minimally effects PS4 owners.

If this is permanent... I really don't know what MS and SE are thinking. RoTR won't move a lot of X1s for MS, and SE will be sacrificing a larger audience, all while screwing over customers and fans of the series.

I can't imagine either MS or SE is dumb enough to make this permanent, and I believe CBOAT. So ultimately this is a lot of fuss over something that will hardly affect anyone beyond the most diehard TR fans that only own a PS3 or PS4.
Click to expand...

Or the die hards that are PC players... which is the primary system for the franchise since 1996...
 
I was about to buy the Tkmb Raider reboot since I've cleared my backlog of games. After this news, not even gonna get near it anymore seeing as I won't get a chance to play the sequel without an xb1 and I am not made of money to just drop that kind of cash to be able to play select games.
 
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