Satya Nadella reveals Microsofts new mission statement, ‘tough choices’ ahead

I think 95% of gamers will continue to game on Windows with or without Xbox games. I also think that some gamers will skip buying an Xbox if the Xbox doesn't have any exclusives.

Maybe MS doesn't believe that or care. Maybe they will start placing all Xbox games on Windows 10. I think they will continue to have Xbox exclusives. I don't know. Time will tell. I do know they will do whatever makes them the most money.

I think console gamers will continue to be console gamers... If Xbox 'exclusives' were suddenly all on PC, I don't think people who prefer playing on consoles are suddenly going to get a Gaming PC to play those games... They'd prefer to get a windows10 console. As they like the efficiencies that come with having a wide adoption of a standard hardware...
 
My thoughts on PC and Xbox are they can't give the best of Xbox Live across all platforms and expect Xbox console owners to still pay for it. They either make it so appealing with dedicated servers, discounts, promotions across many Microsoft offerings and services to make a subscription viable beyond the console like Video/Music freebies/discounts, apps, games, Office, Skype minutes, One Drive storage etc. for a flat free or multiple tiers or they make most Xbox Live standard features free or to a degree like online play free for everyone but you need to pay for discounts/promotions and other premium features. I don't think they can get around it if you want to offer the best feature set for everyone.

I think they'll probably go for a bit of both because bundling their services could be quite appealing but the core pillars, online play, friends, sharing will be free across all Windows 10 platforms.

Windows Phone/Mobile is here to stay, they'll just admit the hardware purchase was a waste of money.

I see what you're getting at. Different tiers of Xbox LIVE would be interesting. Wouldn't make sense to continue to charge people for LIVE the way it is now on Xbox and not charge for it on PC.
 
I think console gamers will continue to be console gamers... If Xbox 'exclusives' were suddenly all on PC, I don't think people who prefer playing on consoles are suddenly going to get a Gaming PC to play those games... They'd prefer to get a windows10 console. As they like the efficiencies that come with having a wide adoption of a standard hardware...

I stopped PC gaming ten years ago. Even though I currently have four Windows Desktops and four Windows laptop/netbooks, I have no desire to ever return to PC gaming.
 
One thing that's annoying is XID input.

Say you have a G25/G27, its a PC wheel yet doesn't work on Xbox.

They first went for their own Xbox wheel that failed, then had a fun time with Fanatec. I hope XBO would do away with XID but no and went one better killing all 360 wheels.

Not only is it silly to mess around with such a niche device, I think it harms the wheel market, its a barrier that MS likes to make. All this talk of unifying each year, lets just say Forza comes to PC, they promote even cross buy yet my PC wheel won't work on the XBO, I have to go out and buy an Xbox wheel, not only that it has to be a certain new one. These expensive Fanatec wheels from only a few years ago don't work either.
 
im ready for windows 10, i enjoy win8 so upgrading is the next logical step for me though im worried about my old laptop (the upgrade message tells me i dun goofed with the HD7870M and wont be compatible)
 
I sure hope MS brings their exclusives to pc. It makes all the sense in the world, and it's the only way they can compete with Steam. Will it eat into their console sales? Yes but I don't think anything significant.
 
"make some tough choices in areas where things are not working"

*checks if Bing is still up*
Isn't Bing the bones for Cortana? I'd guess Bing is here to stay.

I sure hope MS brings their exclusives to pc. It makes all the sense in the world, and it's the only way they can compete with Steam. Will it eat into their console sales? Yes but I don't think anything significant.
Of course it will be significant. I don't understand how people think the "Gears/Forza/Halo box" will continue to sell at the same rate if you can get Gears, Forza and Halo elsewhere.
 
We will pursue our gaming ambition as part of this broader vision for Windows and increase its appeal to consumers. We will bring together Xbox Live and our first-party gaming efforts across PC, console, mobile and new categories like HoloLens into one integrated play.


What does it meeaaannn? Focus on Xbox as a service rather than as a device? Xbox is dad?

HALO 5 ON PC?!
 
Of course it will be significant. I don't understand how people think the "Gears/Forza/Halo box" will continue to sell at the same rate if you can get Gears, Forza and Halo elsewhere.
Console gamers for the most part don't want to deal with building/upgrading pc's. There's room for both to co-exist.
 
Isn't Bing the bones for Cortana? I'd guess Bing is here to stay.

The money pit days should be over now that they have the data centers up.


I sure hope MS brings their exclusives to pc. It makes all the sense in the world, and it's the only way they can compete with Steam. Will it eat into their console sales? Yes but I don't think anything significant.

Why do they need to compete with Steam?
 
Console gamers for the most part don't want to deal with building/upgrading pc's. There's room for both to co-exist.
If that's the case and it really was just a simple way to make money by porting all your games to PC then Sony and Nintendo would be doing it too.
 
If that's the case and it really was just a simple way to make money by porting all your games to PC then Sony and Nintendo would be doing it too.
It makes alot more sense for MS since they're already set up on pc. Crossbuy/crossplay is awesome. Really I think everybody wins if MS does the right thing here.
 
I will sacrifice Xbox for Windows Phone. Don't they dare touch Windows Phone.

I know, right?

From the wording I figure something has to give.. but they put emphasis on Xbox.. and big time on "Mobile" so.. I don't know.

Maybe they're cutting the jelly-of-the-month club subscription from this years bonuses..
 
They don't, but like any other company obviously they want a piece of that pie.

Then they will decide if the console pie is bigger than the PC pie. I don't think they can put full support into the PC store without hurting their console. Maybe they can but I don't see it.
 
MS shouldn't get out of gaming but they should get out of the console business. Release their software on PC, mobile and other manufactures consoles. They made their fortune in software not hardware.
 
Well, they never tried so maybe it is and they're leaving a ton of money on the table.

Pretty much every gaming company has tried this to some extent. Some more recently than others (Microsoft actually being the most recent/consistent). It doesn't happen more because the money they make from alternate revenure on consoles likely dwarfs whatever they get from the sales of the individual games being ported. If one of them were able to essentially become Steam, then they'd probably look at things differently (or just stop making the games altogether).
 
MS shouldn't get out of gaming but they should get out of the console business. Release their software on PC, mobile and other manufactures consoles. They made their fortune in software not hardware.

Put it out on steam, PS4 and google play and pay those business 30% of the retail cost, and lose all those 3rd party revenues and live subscriptions?
 
I don't think they can put full support into the PC store without hurting their console. Maybe they can but I don't see it.
Gotcha, that's where we disagree. I think they can do both. Again, it's 2 different crowds. Say for example, they could release their exclusives on console and port all of them 6 months later to pc. Console owners get exclusives first but pc gamers don't get left behind, and can play with enhanced settings. It's really a win/win and I do believe that this is what MS will do eventually. Exciting time to be a pc gamer.
 
Pretty much every gaming company has tried this to some extent. Some more recently than others (Microsoft actually being the most recent/consistent). It doesn't happen more because the money they make from alternate revenure on consoles likely dwarfs whatever they get from the sales of the individual games being ported. If one of them were able to essentially become Steam, then they'd probably look at things differently (or just stop making the games altogether).

None of them gave it a fair shake. Not even Microsoft. They port over old ass games and low-budget stuff. And no one says they should stop making hardware. There will always be a market for no-stress, plug and play gaming machines.
 
Gotcha, that's where we disagree. I think they can do both. Again, it's 2 different crowds. Say for example, they could release their exclusives on console and port all of them 6 months later to pc. Console owners get exclusives first but pc gamers don't get left behind, and can play with enhanced settings. It's really a win/win and I do believe that this is what MS will do eventually. Exciting time to be a pc gamer.

You could be right. They may go full support with all Xbox games working on Xbox and Windows 10. Maybe it will not effect the console sales. If they do it will be through the Windows store and not Steam.
 
Of course it will be significant. I don't understand how people think the "Gears/Forza/Halo box" will continue to sell at the same rate if you can get Gears, Forza and Halo elsewhere.

I always thought that selling physical console units was secondary to getting people invested into the storefront and ecosystem. subscriptions, royalties and ad space is the real focus here.
 
You could be right. They may go full support with all Xbox games working on Xbox and Windows 10. Maybe it will not effect the console sales. If they do it will be through the Windows store and not Steam.

I think they will and think its a smart move if they do. They will make more money, expand windows 10 store along with windows 10 adoption while maybe losing a few consoles sales from people who mostly game on PC and only have a Xbox for exclusives, They won't lose those customers as they will just purchase those exclusives on PC now. Live will probably take a small hit tho.
 
You guys realize that Bing is now 20% of the search market now, right?

Per this story here.

Personally I still use Google; I see no reason to change. But jokes at the expense of Bing are about three years too late.
 
Steam needs competition

It really does. Microsoft have basically been handing Valve the PC gaming situation for the past decade.

They have a chance of breaking that cycle by putting their money where there mouth is and putting good first party titles and their xbox service up on PC. We will see if they actually do.
 
Does the Xbox division have any autonomy within Microsoft? Does Phil Spencer and his team make the decisions or do they have to answer to Satya Nadella?

Did Don Mattrick have to answer to Steve Ballmer when he was head of Xbox?
 
If that's the case and it really was just a simple way to make money by porting all your games to PC then Sony and Nintendo would be doing it too.
Neither Sony or Nintendo own a near-ubiquitous operating system that is also a viable gaming platform.
 
very interesting approach. Hopefully this leads to more games on Windows platform and maybe make an ecosystem that will combat Steam in the future?
 
None of them gave it a fair shake. Not even Microsoft. They port over old ass games and low-budget stuff. And no one says they should stop making hardware. There will always be a market for no-stress, plug and play gaming machines.

What is a "fair shake" here? No business goes "all in" on something without testing it out first. MS test the fuck out of it back in the GFW days. The first thing they learnt from that is that they would have to immediately sacrifice Xbox Live revenue. The second thing they likely learned was that people will continue to buy games not published by them from other places. The third thing they probably learned, was that when the PC gets version of your console's games in a timely manner, running better, with no online sub fees, the console gains the stigma of being an unnecessary purchase in comparison to the competition... and that's without it ever having ALL of its software ported over.

Now sure, GFW was shit... but the rest of the issues still remain, and would be the case for any of the console manufacturers if they didn't essentially manage to dethrone Valve in pretty much their first year (any longer than that, and the console becomes a laughing stock).
 
It seems everyone has a different interpretation of this article. My take is that this could be the last xbox console and instead, MS uses the Xbox brand as part of windows as a whole. They'll still have studios, peripherals and such but in that unification somethings got to give.

I think these cross platform games that are appearing now are pretty much laying the foundation for that eventual move.
 
I think it means layoffs are on the way.

It's hard to imagine them phasing out Windows Phone unless they are partnering with a manufacturer or two to push Windows 10 in mobile devices.

I think Bing is safe, it's been integrated into Office, it powers Cortana, and it's been gaining market share.

I think the days of Xbox One exclusives are quickly coming to a close.

Does the Xbox division have any autonomy within Microsoft? Does Phil Spencer and his team make the decisions or do they have to answer to Satya Nadella?

Did Don Mattrick have to answer to Steve Ballmer when he was head of Xbox?

Pretty sure Spencer reports to Terry Myerson, who is over Windows and Devices.

IIRC Mattrick reported directly to Ballmer.
 
Does the Xbox division have any autonomy within Microsoft? Does Phil Spencer and his team make the decisions or do they have to answer to Satya Nadella?

Did Don Mattrick have to answer to Steve Ballmer when he was head of Xbox?
Both are gone so it wouldn't surprise me if those chains of command are gone too
 
Not every gamer is going to go out and buy a gaming PC just because MS has all their games there. If anything, it's an added value to the Xbox. If you buy this game here, and you have a PC that can play this game, you own both versions.

A lot of people think that Xbox having their 1st party games on both PC is going to hurt Xbox One, and it's definitely the opposite. The money is in the software. If you are a PC gamer, you get to buy Xbox games. Yea, you may return or not buy an Xbox One because you can get your game on PC but guess what, you are still giving MS money and you are now happy because you can get what you want, where you want it. There's nothing better for a company than a happy customer.

I agree. It really irritates me when people say when MS puts games on PC it hurts the Xbox. How? Not every person has the time and dedication to build and maintain a PC.

I don't want to change ini files, and run benchmarks and make sure my CPU is being cooled correctly. I just want to play the damn game.
 
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