If you run XBOX division, what strategy would you pursue?
- Thread starter Kotaro
- Start date
RickMasters
Member
It's what they should have done. But they don't want to compete anymore so it doesn't matter.
But maaaaan…. If I was charge Sony and Nintendo would have had a very hard time competing with Xbox. They would have lost. And my Xbox company would not have any of that woke nonsense.
I'd probably still put COD, sea of thieves and the mmo on everything. I would have made the likes of Diablo, doom etc console exclusives. I would have also made the Xbox and PC a more unified experience.
Audiophile
Member
Righting the ship properly into a more ideal situation was a journey that needed to start 10yrs ago and they've cocked it up at every turn.
I think it's fundamentally too late to achieve that ideal.
Now the plan is buy everything that already makes money, streamline (unfortunately they probably won't just streamline, but will break, extract and kill) and make more money in the short to mid-term..
Probably with a selection of break-even/slightly profitable halo hardware products (as in top of the line, not the games) that come in early before Sony/PS and capture enthusiast mindshare with some trickle down effect on the rest of the core gamer market. It won't be massive or win the market back, but it'll be a little bit of harm reduction and help maintain some physical brand presence. Then later on, perhaps some lower end SKUs to leverage that halo effect a little more.
Ultimately the core business strategy will be being a third party publisher. Though I fully expect them to slowly ruin that in the long run and the bulk of the portfolio will lose its appeal and crumble, if they're lucky a few properties will retain relevance/popularity and MS will just have all their eggs in a few very big baskets.
As for sticking an Xbox-approved APU in lots of OEM PCs, it'll work in a more legacy sense for access to existing libraries, but I can't help but think that gamers will largely choose Steam, GOG and even Epic over Xbox whenever possible, to buy their games going forward. Which drastically eats into the cut MS would otherwise get, entirely so on non-MS games and to some extent on MS games.
I also think if a dev can address the bulk of the Xbox market via steam/epic/gog with a generic PC version of the game, then they're not gonna be inclined to even make a distinct Xbox version. Maybe it's not quite as optimised but I don't think most devs or publishers will lose sleep over it. It'd probably make more sense just to do PS6, PS5 & PC/Xbox PC via Steam/GOG/Epic and not fuss with developing for Xbox specifically, the install base for their main console SKUs is unlikely to be big enough to justify it; especially if I can address those boxes and customers via other storefronts too with the same PC code (which it sound like they're working towards?).
In the end I think they're gonna end up with a small install base of Xbox Consoles and a larger install base of OEM Xbox PCs -- both addressable via all storefronts -- and no one other than MS studios will be making Xbox-specific games for them unless MS throw enough money at them to get it on Game Pass; and the total is gonna have to be enough to cover the additional dev costs of that particular software SKU and then some on top to justify it. As for MS' own games, they'll largely be favoured on other storefronts if they put them there and they're gonna lose revenue to those storefronts getting their cut.
It doesn't quite add up, unless they perhaps see the writing on the wall that they've missed their opportunity to dominate the market in a more conventional sense and they're willing to take a hit on revenue cuts to sustain their place in it; as it may be better being in the market than not.
I think it's fundamentally too late to achieve that ideal.
Now the plan is buy everything that already makes money, streamline (unfortunately they probably won't just streamline, but will break, extract and kill) and make more money in the short to mid-term..
Probably with a selection of break-even/slightly profitable halo hardware products (as in top of the line, not the games) that come in early before Sony/PS and capture enthusiast mindshare with some trickle down effect on the rest of the core gamer market. It won't be massive or win the market back, but it'll be a little bit of harm reduction and help maintain some physical brand presence. Then later on, perhaps some lower end SKUs to leverage that halo effect a little more.
Ultimately the core business strategy will be being a third party publisher. Though I fully expect them to slowly ruin that in the long run and the bulk of the portfolio will lose its appeal and crumble, if they're lucky a few properties will retain relevance/popularity and MS will just have all their eggs in a few very big baskets.
As for sticking an Xbox-approved APU in lots of OEM PCs, it'll work in a more legacy sense for access to existing libraries, but I can't help but think that gamers will largely choose Steam, GOG and even Epic over Xbox whenever possible, to buy their games going forward. Which drastically eats into the cut MS would otherwise get, entirely so on non-MS games and to some extent on MS games.
I also think if a dev can address the bulk of the Xbox market via steam/epic/gog with a generic PC version of the game, then they're not gonna be inclined to even make a distinct Xbox version. Maybe it's not quite as optimised but I don't think most devs or publishers will lose sleep over it. It'd probably make more sense just to do PS6, PS5 & PC/Xbox PC via Steam/GOG/Epic and not fuss with developing for Xbox specifically, the install base for their main console SKUs is unlikely to be big enough to justify it; especially if I can address those boxes and customers via other storefronts too with the same PC code (which it sound like they're working towards?).
In the end I think they're gonna end up with a small install base of Xbox Consoles and a larger install base of OEM Xbox PCs -- both addressable via all storefronts -- and no one other than MS studios will be making Xbox-specific games for them unless MS throw enough money at them to get it on Game Pass; and the total is gonna have to be enough to cover the additional dev costs of that particular software SKU and then some on top to justify it. As for MS' own games, they'll largely be favoured on other storefronts if they put them there and they're gonna lose revenue to those storefronts getting their cut.
It doesn't quite add up, unless they perhaps see the writing on the wall that they've missed their opportunity to dominate the market in a more conventional sense and they're willing to take a hit on revenue cuts to sustain their place in it; as it may be better being in the market than not.
Last edited:
Kotaro
Member
seriously, just look at the franchises they have
Halo
Gears
Forza
Call of Duty
Elder Scrolls
Fallout
Overwatch
Star Craft
War Craft
Diablo
Minecraft
Last edited:
AJUMP23
Parody of actual AJUMP23
Given the question you share those IPs to generate revenue, but then you build new or restore Halo to move boxes. Keep Halo exclusive. They need top tier exclusives. Sony maybe has that in Spider-man and I am not sure what else right now.
MS has a great Gamepass offering in 2025, but I don't know that they are moving any systems with GP.
MS has a great Gamepass offering in 2025, but I don't know that they are moving any systems with GP.
Shifty1897
Member
If I was running Xbox and wanted to be profitable, yes, absolutely, 100%. I would stop making Xboxes and start making high quality games. I would tell my development teams to make high quality cross platform games that focused on gameplay and appealed to the largest demographic possible.
No pushing political ideologies, no virtue signaling. Let the devs make whatever they want to make from the pool of IP Microsoft owns, but tell them that they will live and die by the commercial and critical reception of their next game.
Sega got the memo 25 years ago. Now they're a very healthy developer and publisher of games.
Hawk The Slayer
Member
Focus on
Fallout 5
Fallout New Vegas 2 or some other none mainline game
Fallout New Vegas Remake
Fallout 3 Remake
Elder Scrolls VI
Find Skyoblivion and Skywind.
Timeslitters 4
Dishonored 3
Prototype 3
Warhammer 40k Dawn of War 4
Halo 7
StarCraft Ghost
System Shock 3
Run Like Hell 2
Fallout 5
Fallout New Vegas 2 or some other none mainline game
Fallout New Vegas Remake
Fallout 3 Remake
Elder Scrolls VI
Find Skyoblivion and Skywind.
Timeslitters 4
Dishonored 3
Prototype 3
Warhammer 40k Dawn of War 4
Halo 7
StarCraft Ghost
System Shock 3
Run Like Hell 2
simpatico
Member
I would squeeze those exclusives way harder. It's dumb not too. Microsoft is not in gaming to just take a little profit YoY. They're in it for complete domination or bust. I'd squeeze even harder. COD can't be exclusive? Well we will wait for a judge to make that call. Judge made the call? Oh shit, this PS architecture is hard for us to figure out! Sorry about the 25fps.
You gotta go as hard as you can in avenues like that. Anything less is a lapse in fiduciary duty.
You gotta go as hard as you can in avenues like that. Anything less is a lapse in fiduciary duty.
calico
Member
This gen is a lost cause so multi-plat for now. Have 5 top tier exclusives including CoD and TES6 ready to go for the launch window of the next console and consign PlayStation and Nintendo to the pages of history where they belong. Stop referring to random objects as Xbox. Call the next console Xbox Only because all these great fuckin games are on Xbox Only.
That's what I'd do. What Microsoft will do is become PlayStation's bitch and probably end up having to agree to a 20:80 split to pretty please be allowed to sell games on PlayStation. Pathetic.
That's what I'd do. What Microsoft will do is become PlayStation's bitch and probably end up having to agree to a 20:80 split to pretty please be allowed to sell games on PlayStation. Pathetic.
UltimaKilo
Gold Member
Keep most IPs on all platforms with timed exclusive on XBOX, get rid of the woke garbage and pay Nintendo whatever it takes to get a version of GamePass on Switch 2.
EverydayBeast
ChatGPT 0.001
Make cod exclusive and than bring World of war craft to Xbox than immediately launch Xbox 720
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