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Whole article:

Xbox’s ‘Exclusive’ Video Game Strategy Leaves Everyone Confused

Hi everyone. Today we’re trying to figure out just what the heck Xbox is doing, but first...

www.bloomberg.com

Jason Schreier:

''The problem with Xbox's new vision isn't that the company is moving away from console exclusives. The problem is that their release strategy is messy, confusing, and inconsistent. Just pick a lane!''

 

[Bry0]

It is confusing. I suspect it will get clearer once they ditch the series consoles but then again Microsoft has an amazing ability to screw everything up and the execs in charge are basically never held accountable.

 

[Z O N E]

I think I've got to a point where I genuinely feel like exclusivity is just shit.

Give me a choice of where to play your games, which is why I like what Xbox is doing going "partially" 3rd party, but I wish PS did it more as well.

I already don't expect Nintendo to do it, so I just don't even bother having wishful thinking with them.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

Remember when they were all fucking in on the whole "Channel 1" concept and tried to convince everyone how cool it was that you could use your Xbox to receive cable TV?

They haven't had a consistent vision in more than 15 years.

 

[Badlucktroll]

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

Remember when they were all fucking in on the whole "Channel 1" concept and tried to convince everyone how cool it was that you could use your Xbox to receive cable TV?

They haven't had a consistent vision in more than 15 years.

The problem is that it's like they don't have a clear vision in ANYTHING they do...from game releases to naming their consoles to what their services do. Even the new tiers on Gamepass are a mess and overtly complicated.

The fact they named their consoles:

Xbox
Xbox 360
Xbox One
Xbox One X
Xbox Series S / X

Like what does all of this even mean?

 

[winjer]

I think that not even Microsoft knows what they are doing.
They don't really have a strategy.

 

[Astray]

Microsoft leadership has been leaning on the case-by-case thing for literal ages now.

Their strategy has been incoherent for a while now and it's only really getting worse.

 

[LectureMaster]

Xbox:

 

[JohnnyFootball]

To me, it makes no sense that Starfield doesn't have a PS5 release date. it would make much more sense to get that game on PS5 BEFORE all the DLC releases so that they can sell the season passes separately.

Starfield should already be on PS5 if you ask me.

 

[Hudo]

I mean, sure. They don't seem to have much of a strategy. But Schreier doesn't deserve any attention.

 

[BadBurger]

I don't get why they wouldn't release all of their new games on PS5 day one. It's like what, a hundred million potential customers or whatever they're up to now? Why leave that money on the table?

 

[Bond007]

Exclusives are important- its how you set your console apart from others. Don't let failing entity's tell you otherwise.
They need to recoup money. In many cases so does Sony - but consoles are their bread and butter. PC releases come much later and without any assurance.

Nintendo however is doing it 100% correctly.

Xbox has no vision, lie through their teeth, and have been power leveling themselves since day one. I've owned every one of their consoles BECAUSE of their handful of exclusives. Those days are dead moving forward.

 

[Bonfires Down]

The problem with Xbox's new vision isn't that the company is moving away from console exclusives.

Uhm, that is most certainly the problem for Xbox users.

 

[CitizenKratos]

The problem is that it's like they don't have a clear vision in ANYTHING they do...from game releases to naming their consoles to what their services do. Even the new tiers on Gamepass are a mess and overtly complicated.

The fact they named their consoles:

Xbox
Xbox 360
Xbox One
Xbox One X
Xbox Series S / X

Like what does all of this even mean?

Once they release the Xbox Series E it will all be clear.

 

[Robb]

The only thing that makes sense to me at this point is that they just become a 3rd party publisher like any other and leave the hardware race.

I had high hopes for Xbox at the start of this gen. But I don’t really understand why they’d expect anyone to buy their hardware if you can play more stuff elsewhere. They’ve just made their platform strictly worse.

 

[AV]

Starfield is abso-fucking-lutely coming to Playstation. Matter of time.

Why wouldn't you at this point? It's not selling any more consoles or Game Pass subs now.

 

[BlackTron]

They're going third party but doing it in a gradual way that's a confusing clusterfuck to anyone watching it. So that they will look better.

 

[Killjoy-NL]

It's not confusing at all.

All games will be coming to Playstation going forward.

 

[pasterpl]

I am not sure what so confusing for him, Starfiled - new IP, Indiana jones - Disney deal, Doom - Spencer said where there is community for existing games these games will still be released on that platform after acquiring zenimax.

 

[BlackTron]

Starfield is abso-fucking-lutely coming to Playstation. Matter of time.

Why wouldn't you at this point? It's not selling any more consoles or Game Pass subs now.

It most likely is, but the fact that they haven't admitted it, and what this game is and when it came out, tracks. Older games that were exclusive "wins" for Xbox fans will come slower. Then you have a sliding scale of timed exclusivity moving over to day-and-date. I mean their messaging is ridiculous, but not that confusing. They're attempting to boil xbox fans like hot frogs so by the time they've lost all their games they won't even notice. "Try" being the key word.

 

[Fake]

 

[SlimySnake]

Its only confusing if you don’t realize that Phil is a little weasel who is afraid of getting criticized by his stooges on twitter. So he’s doing this slow roll out.

Like Jason said, doom is day one on ps5 and indiana jones is day 90. It is all but decided that every game is doing to PlayStation. He just has to ensure that it’sa slow rollout.

Herman did the same thing. When he ported horizon, he said one game going over didn’t mean everything is going to PC. Then he bought a porting studio and ported everything to PC. These suits have no principles and no balls to face the music. Cowards.

 

[TVexperto]

Jason Schreier keeps on shitting on xbox and is putting out hit piece after hit piece, when will he finally get cancelled? https://www.neogaf.com/threads/jaso...nly-possible-because-of-xbox-outlets.1666165/

 

[jm89]

The problem is with the Xbox leadership. Specifically Phil.

Indiana Jones was very likely already being considered for ps5 back when the business update.

Should have ripped the band aid off back then, but they want to play this silly game of case by case.

 

[Topher]

lol......I don't think I've ever seen this (from the article)...



Phil Spencer called last gen their "best yet"?

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

It’s not that confusing, Indiana jones devs can’t get the port out in time because the decision was made late

See DOOM as an example of their strategy moving forward

 

[FoxMcChief]

What’s to be confused about. If it’s stated as “Xbox Exclusive” then it’s coming exclusively to every device with a screen.

 

[Astray]

To me, it makes no sense that Starfield doesn't have a PS5 release date. it would make much more sense to get that game on PS5 BEFORE all the DLC releases so that they can sell the season passes separately.

Starfield should already be on PS5 if you ask me.

Phil's ego is still preventing him from making the best decisions for Microsoft Gaming as opposed to Xbox.

So he manages to ruin both.

 

[SHA]

The problem is that it's like they don't have a clear vision in ANYTHING they do...from game releases to naming their consoles to what their services do. Even the new tiers on Gamepass are a mess and overtly complicated.

The fact they named their consoles:

Xbox
Xbox 360
Xbox One
Xbox One X
Xbox Series S / X

Like what does all of this even mean?

Xbox One was meant to be powerful, they pulled 3 quarters of the esram power for kinect, it's all raw power, that didn't change.

Their clear vision is to coexist with Playstation, they're not a real competitor and they won't go away, it's a ms thing, they did what they did cause it's ms.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

lol......I don't think I've ever seen this...



Phil Spencer called last gen their "best yet"?

This guy will say anything and then say the opposite months later

 

[analog_future]

The only logical approach at this point is to expect every Xbox first-party game to eventually make it's way to Playstation.

 

[Crayon]

The hardcore base should be the only ones who care about this. Putting the games on the rival console would be terrible if you had a close race, but they are in a death spiral so it doesn't matter as much if you accelerate that.

As far as whether they are day one or a year later or never.... I don't see anything wrong with that in itself. You don't know when ps games are going to pc for awhile after launch. Unless they are the day one gaas of course.

 

[semiconscious]

Microsoft leadership has been leaning on the case-by-case thing for literal ages now.

Their strategy has been incoherent for a while now and it's only really getting worse.

there's literally no difference whatsoever from having an incoherent strategy & having no strategy. ms has been doing 'something' for a while now, & it's something that used to be described as 'flying by the seat of your pants'...

 

[Astray]

lol......I don't think I've ever seen this...



Phil Spencer called last gen their "best yet"?

A strategy he called 'strange' in 2017 is the one he's supposedly guiding the Xbox consoles towards in 2026.

Make it make sense pls.

 

[Crayon]

Jason Schreier keeps on shitting on xbox and is putting out hit piece after hit piece, when will he finally get cancelled? https://www.neogaf.com/threads/jaso...nly-possible-because-of-xbox-outlets.1666165/

No lies detected.

 

[FoxMcChief]

This guy will say anything and then say the opposite months later

Nah nah nah

You guys just don’t get Phil. When he says something, it’s a fact. And when he changes his stance on something, both the new statement and old statement are 100% accurate at the same time.

You have to think of Phil like the movie Interstellar and how Matthew Mcconaughey moves around in time in the end.

 

[Astray]

The hardcore base should be the only ones who care about this. Putting the games on the rival console would be terrible if you had a close race, but they are in a death spiral so it doesn't matter as much if you accelerate that.

As far as whether they are day one or a year later or never.... I don't see anything wrong with that in itself. You don't know when ps games are going to pc for awhile after launch. Unless they are the day one gaas of course.

His point is if you communicate your future strategy properly then people will spaz out for a while and then just deal with it.

Instead they're doing contradictory things and constantly going on a 'case-by-case' mantra.. And it's both killing their console growth AND limiting their growth as 3P publisher. They're playing tug-of-war with themselves.

 

[Iced Arcade]

Phil is the most talkative game CEO ever and the CEO who says the least.

 

[JohnnyFootball]

Phil's ego is still preventing him from making the best decisions for Microsoft Gaming as opposed to Xbox.

So he manages to ruin both.

Try to please everybody and end up pleasing nobody.

 

[diffusionx]

It's not confusing to anyone who has been paying attention. As soon as Spencer announced Sea of Thieves for PS5 I said all their games including Indy will be on PS5. It's an all-or-nothing proposition, once you take that step you go all the way. This isn't hard or difficult.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Nah nah nah

You guys just don’t get Phil. When he says something, it’s a fact. And when he changes his stance on something, both the new statement and old statement are 100% accurate at the same time.

You have to think of Phil like the movie Interstellar and how Matthew Mcconaughey moves around in time in the end.

Quantum Spencer. Here. There. Both. Unpredictable

 

[Shin-Ra]

I think I've got to a point where I genuinely feel like exclusivity is just shit.

Give me a choice of where to play your games, which is why I like what Xbox is doing going "partially" 3rd party, but I wish PS did it more as well.

I already don't expect Nintendo to do it, so I just don't even bother having wishful thinking with them.

You wish PlayStation would kill off their console like Xbox has.

Then when PC players don’t buy the same kinds of games in the numbers that PlayStation console buyers used to, those developers like Naughty Dog get shut down.

You end up with no console hardware and no console game developers. Except Nintendo of course.

 

[Kokoloko85]

Next week: Xbox’s strategy is genius. Nintendo and Sony need to catch up or fall behind

 

[clarky]

It's not confusing at all.

All games will be coming to Playstation going forward.

But when? Thats the confusing part.

IMO Should be exclusive for 3-6 months then on Playstation for everything. Until they ditch the console completely obviously.

 

[Vyse]

The problem is that it's like they don't have a clear vision in ANYTHING they do...from game releases to naming their consoles to what their services do. Even the new tiers on Gamepass are a mess and overtly complicated.

The fact they named their consoles:

Xbox
Xbox 360
Xbox One
Xbox One X
Xbox Series S / X

Like what does all of this even mean?

Next one will be Xbox None

 

[Z O N E]

You wish PlayStation would kill off their console like Xbox has.

Then when PC players don’t buy the same kinds of games in the numbers that PlayStation console buyers used to, those developers like Naughty Dog get shut down.

You end up with no console hardware and no console game developers. Except Nintendo of course.

If you want to buy the game on PS, it being released on PC does not stop you.

I enjoy choices.

 

[clarky]

I am not sure what so confusing for him, Starfiled - new IP, Indiana jones - Disney deal, Doom - Spencer said where there is community for existing games these games will still be released on that platform after acquiring zenimax.

Right so what about those new ips hifi rush, grounded, pentiment and sea of thieves? Because the statement your referencing came before those releases.

 

[Killjoy-NL]

But when? Thats the confusing part.

IMO Should be exclusive for 3-6 months then on Playstation for everything. Until they ditch the console completely obviously.

Fair enough.

I think they should just put their games on all platforms day 1.
There is absolutely zero point in doing some short timed-exclusivity.

 

[ProtoByte]

The problem with Xbox's new vision isn't that the company is moving away from console exclusives.

No, that is and has been precisely the problem for the past 7-8 years. One of the main ones.
When they started viewing the console less as a console and more as an extension of Windows, they stopped caring so much about games.
When they stopped caring about games, they stopped, naturally, caring about exclusives. PC ports and quality going down the fucking drain happened damn near simultaneously. As that started to take effect in sales and Nadella was asking wtf the big idea was, they looked for every way to transform the games market from games to services. And the feedback loop continued on. It's not a coincidence.

Everything forum dwellers warned about happened, and the incompetent, feckless, stupid and sycophantic media went along with the rhetoric the whole way.

And there's nothing confusing about it. They've been slowly killing their own brand with every move, and now after opening the "war chest" in every way but the way that matters, there's no going back.

Let other console manufacturers be warned: Exclusivity and propriety to the console and the console alone is the only thing keeping them afloat, especially these days. It's that simple.