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[Cyberpunkd]

Can Xbox and Epic dismantle the PlayStation/Steam oligopoly and establish a vibrant, open PC platform that benefits small and large developers?

 

[Tobimacoss]

Windows is 100% not an open platform; you guys are falling for a marketing spiel that only ultimately benefits companies like Microsoft, because of monopolies they already have in the computing space. It's the only reason they push the "open platform" mantra in the first place.

Microsoft own Windows, its source code, Direct X, Word, Office, Excel, and all related middleware and supplementary technologies. These are ALL closed-source properties, and Microsoft is ultimately the main beneficiary to their market proliferation. Your "open platform PC" is only within the range of what Microsoft allows through technologies they release and standards they push for, that they have control over.

Your "open platform", at its root level, is an illusion.

You should learn the difference between an "open platform" and "open-sourced".

I never said it is Open Sourced, but it is an "open platform" in terms of commerce and distribution. Steam and other PC stores wouldn't exist if Windows wasn't an open platform.

Magnus will be closed bootloader, very locked down in terms of security, but only open for competition.

 

[bitbydeath]

Neo_game

Last years numbers.

This year they tanked. Below 1 million wouldn't be surprising.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

Source?

Possibly true? Their margins were around 12% back when Sony was around 6 or 7% three years ago

Sony is back to around 15%. Now that parasyte Nutella's took of the mask wouldn't suprise me if Xbox is getting closer to 20% with all the layoffs, fuck all hardware sales etc

But who knows with their FP flops, COD underperforming etc

 

[Setsuna Mudou]

And do we know their current profitability now? I heard it was higher than Sony's at least.



Sounds like you agree that Steam should be broken up/sold off if they have such a hold that no one else can set up their store and drive significant sales volumes. What can Microsoft and Epic realistically do to disrupt the space? I think the Xbox experience holds the answer, even if it is realistically a beta product for now. Launching from the official app is more seamless than other multi-store launchers from my experience.

There should be a thread (sticky to the top of the forum) with the worst takes ever on GAF... both those would be strong contenders, and the fact they are in the same post is absolute cinema

 

[Daneel Elijah]

Holy shit, they actually got hard numbers for Series S & X sales this year? Color me impressed.

Guess Microsoft don't give a damn anymore so they're fine with having the numbers go out there again. That said, 1.7 million's even lower than what I would've guessed, so clearly the platform's on its last, dying breaths of market relevance at any form of mass scale.

Those numbers are estimates from VGChartz . Microsoft sadly still do not give any data on their console sales. Honestly this article show a pretty good understanding of Xbox right now for a mainstream media. Curious to see how Xbox will react in the next few months. If they sold so few consoles now, what will they do when the holidays end?

 

[Donald mac Ronald]

Everything we sell a game on playstation they take 30%. They use that 30% to undermine us.

 

[rm082e]

Sounds like you agree that Steam should be broken up/sold off if they have such a hold that no one else can set up their store and drive significant sales volumes.

Eh, I don't know that I do.

Could another business come along and give Valve competition? I think the answer is yes. The reason that seems almost impossible is simple: Valve is a privately owned business. Because they are privately owned, they don't have to chase the easy money quarter over quarter like a public corporation (Microsoft), or a company that's got investors pressuring them to make bigger and bigger returns (Epic). That pressure from shareholders or investors is what leads the management of big companies to ruin their products/services by trying to squeeze the customers/users too much. Just look at what's happened with Windows 11 as an example

There's nothing legally stopping Microsoft or Epic from retooling their businesses to be like Valve. But neither Microsoft or Epic are going to do that because it would be a huge undertaking, and they wouldn't hit their revenue/profit targets. That's not a lack of fairness in the industry - it's a choice by Valve's competitors on how they want to build their business.

What can Microsoft and Epic realistically do to disrupt the space? I think the Xbox experience holds the answer, even if it is realistically a beta product for now. Launching from the official app is more seamless than other multi-store launchers from my experience.

I don't think they can realistically do anything to disrupt Steam's dominance.

PC gamers have chosen Steam (and GOG to a much lesser extent) because a pro-consumer attitude is of the highest importance to them. PC gamers were vilified by gaming publishers as a bunch of pirates and treated like a criminal class from the late 90s up through the late 2000s. The publishers torched their relationship with PC gamers, and Valve saw an opportunity to step in and be the good guy. It was only after Steam became a juggernaut that the publishers realized that Steam was a way to sell their games. Valve has had their hic-ups along the way, like when they wanted to create a marketplace and allow users to charge money for mods. But they've gotten it right better than 90% of the time.

Microsoft and Epic have no credibility with PC gamers. Microsoft is currently ruining Windows and pushing AI garbage that gamers mostly hate. Their out-of-touch executives keep putting their foot in their mouth in interviews. Sweeny isn't as bad, but whenever he talks it's clear he's not far off. PC gamers aren't going to trust either of these companies. Because they don't trust them, they won't support them, nor do they have any responsibility to support them.

 

[asdasdasdbb]

PC gamers have chosen Steam (and GOG to a much lesser extent) because a pro-consumer attitude is of the highest importance to them. PC gamers were vilified by gaming publishers as a bunch of pirates and treated like a criminal class from the late 90s up through the late 2000s.

For good reason. And Valve found the solution - GAAS. I remain convinced Valve doesn't make much off of non-GAAS, and that's why nobody else can really challenge them. There isn't much of a market.

Plus, I'm pretty sure MS can't make their PC games exclusive to an MS Store because of ABK agreements.