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EXCLUSIVE | Microsoft plans Starfield launch for PlayStation 5

Imagine making a bunch of burner accounts to review bomb a game on Metacritic and then it comes out on PS5.
Arrested Development Mistake GIF

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Honestly, I'm glad I played it on Gamepass because I quit after 15 hours, it was so boring. I know they marketed feeling alone as a feature to make you feel like a true explorer, but vast nothingness on planets is exactly as fun as it sounds in a video game.
 

jm89

Member
According to our sources, Microsoft senior leadership have reportedly debated the various pros and cons of releasing more of their exclusive software elsewhere, and internally, not everyone is necessarily happy with the decision, but recouping the potential money “left on the table” by not releasing elsewhere has arguably won out.
not everyone is necessarily happy with the decision

I wonder who that could be?

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H-I-M

Member
Is this likely to be a release on xbox, timed exclusive then come to PlayStation deal?

Maybe. But that does beg to question the effectiveness of such a strategy. It works for platforms like PlayStation because they still have a lot of longer-term and full exclusives, and the brand itself is just bigger in general.

All Xbox exclusives are also Day 1 on PC (Steam), and the gap between audience crossover & ease of play between console & PC has been shrinking over the years, not growing. Just look at how many once-console exclusive 3P franchises and games are getting ports to Steam nowadays.

So timed exclusivity does much less for Xbox (with 1P games then going multi-console some months/years later) than it does for PlayStation (with some 1P games going to PC some years later....though I've had criticisms on that strategy and suggestions on how it should probably be revised, but that's a different topic).
 

StueyDuck

Member
as far as im aware he has some credibility, but whether he is like xboxera crew who clearly sit on twitter and some discord all day and repackage anything they read, that i can't say.

there's very few actual leakers anymore to be honest, dusk for the capcom stuff. Tom Henderson seems to have his finger on the pulse and a few others.

someone will have to correct me on nate the hates record.
 
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HeWhoWalks

Gold Member
They don't care, Sony wasn't porting stuff to PC until what? Three years ago? There are games who were supposed to be released on Steam juding by their timeline.
Five. Detroit and Heavy Rain dropped in 2019 (and that's if we leave out Everyone's Gone To The Rapture).

As for those questioning "Insiders", it is time to accept what's happening. This isn't some off the wall rumor with hardly anyone backing it up. It's been months of similar rumors with radio silence from Thy Master. It's happening.
 
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Xion_Stellar

People should stop referencing data that makes me feel uncomfortable because games get ported to platforms I don't like
as far as im aware he has some credibility, but whether he is like xboxera crew who clearly sit on twitter and some discord all day and repackage anything they read, that i can't say.

there's very few actual leakers anymore to be honest, dusk for the capcom stuff. Tom Henderson seems to have his finger on the pulse and a few others.

someone will have to correct me on nate the hates record.
Well it seems that this is just the beginning and more is coming according to Rand so I think there's too much smoke in the air now.

 
The more I think of it, the more Jez is probably right on this.

How does it make sense to allow CoD to be 100% multiplatform, and other developers are forced to remain exclusive? And yet these same studios would have to layoff employees if their games don't reach target numbers/performance. That's totally unfair to their other studios.

So in a way, did Microsoft acquiring Activision essentially make them fully commit to third party in some strange twist of fate?

That's prob what happened. All the ABK stuff, prob made MS re-evaluate the Zenimax exclusivity strategy (to avoid risking key talent departing in frustration, among other things...although they've already lost some big talent like Shinji Mikami departing), and if they reversed course on Zenimax...might as well open up XGS games as multiplat too.

Actually, I really think MS being forced to capitulate to concessions for COD remaining multi-console for 15 years, and giving up cloud streaming rights for ABK games to Ubisoft, were what forced a big change. I'm not gonna forget about the leaked emails; there was a very specific strategy in mind for the big 3P acquisitions and it wasn't pretty. The concessions for ABK and the consequences of those internally, have probably forced them to abandon that strongly-hinted foreclosure strategy.

And if that was required to give the console some ammunition...well, now the console doesn't really have any ammunition anymore, does it? So why continue to prioritize it in the larger gaming strategy?

Provided things shape out the way it looks like they are, this is a pretty major shift for the entire gaming brand at MS.
 

kruis

Exposing the sinister cartel of retailers who allow companies to pay for advertising space.
Microsoft just shot themselves in the foot.
I don't know how much the rest of you know about American culture (I'm an expert), but exclusives and engagement are huge parts of it. It's not like it is in Japan where you can become successful by being a good citizen. If you screw someone over in America, you bring hate to yourself, and the only way to get rid of that shame is PR and spin.
What this means is the American public, after hearing about this, is not going to want to purchase more game pass subs, nor will they purchase any of MS games (they weren't anyway). This is HUGE. You can laugh all you want, but MS has alienated an entire market with this move.
Microsoft, publicly apologize and cancel starfield for ps5 or you can kiss your business goodbye.

Yes, that is exactly how Xbox fans on Twitter are feeling.



 

Hibs

Member
Curious how many Xbox only peeps there are these days. Also curious if Starfield was actually successful ratings wise if they would still port it.

Honestly though, I don't get the crying, players win again, and that's all that matters in the end.
 

Mister Wolf

Member
For who? MS?

For MS as a console maker. Might be for the best as they have poor leadership. Xbox One being underpowered, going all in on a rental service, allowing the Series X to have parity with the PS5 when they could have easily made it stronger, creating the Series S in hopes of funneling into the rental service, etc. Could go on and on.
 
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TheBomb

Member
I’m probably not the only one thinking about this. Jim is like I’m out of here. He was not perfect, but his decisions paid off. Whatever Microsoft wanted to accomplish didn’t payoff at this time.
 

JohnnyFootball

GerAlt-Right. Ciriously.
Oh okay, well then never mind. This might have some traction to it after all.

Wow...that's all I have to say. Lol.



If they made meaningful updated improvements it could get a second wind of life. Can't really count many games out these days; I thought Cyberpunk would be DOA forever but then the expansion happened and it's like the game basically had an entire relaunch. That and Edgerunners really gave it a new lease of life.

Starfield wasn't SO bad that it couldn't benefit from the same, the content just needs to be really good (and made by Bethesda).



Yeah, I didn't know Tom retweeted it. He's in a similar space as Jez IMO; has inside tracks with some people directly at MS and kind of acts like a mouthpiece, so if he's reposting it, then it's likely true.

Again, all I can say ATM is "wow". When I thought about MS taking this strategy, I didn't think it'd be this soon. I thought they'd maybe start in 2025, then make a gradual transition by like 2027/2028. At this rate it looks like they want to get this transition over with by the end of the year 😂.

I'm very interested to see what the messaging around this is going to be. And, well, I'm also interested in the OEM plans, because I think that'll determine the hardware future of the brand (tho IMO, I think that part of the rumor's only half of the plan on the hardware front. I still think MS are going to make their own NUC/laptop/tablet etc. gaming hardware, and a spec they'll license out alongside Xbox UI and Windows to OEM manufacturers).
Starfield was a 7/10 game for me. It is worth playing. It totally ruined the excitement of exploration which was the game's unforgiveable flaw, but it was worth playing. The faction quests were good. I finished it and got 1000 achievement points on PC.

I do hope that they will optimize it to get 60 fps on consoles. That needs to happen.

Bottom line: Starfield missed the mark of being great (or even good) by quite a bit, but it still has some value and will be worth checking out by curious PS fans.
 
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