[Laura Fryer] The Future of Xbox

Grim Reaper Halloween GIF
 
dorkimoe said:
if they actually wanted to compete and sell consoles they would have made COD and all bethesda games xbox only
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They still have 8 years before they could legally do any such thing for Call of Duty. They contractually could not do any such thing for the first few of those Bethesda games as well.

Once the FTC completely fucked their plans for CoD, we started to see the 3rd party pivot. Had that not occurred, they almost certainly would've started to move more hardware, which was/is the only failing metric in the Xbox division. Hard to say how many consoles they could move for CoD, let alone 1/2 way through the gen, but I'm guessing that would compound year over year once people realized they had to have an Xbox or pc to play CoD.
 
coffinbirth said:
They still have 8 years before they could legally do any such thing for Call of Duty. They contractually could not do any such thing for the first few of those Bethesda games as well.

Once the FTC completely fucked their plans for CoD, we started to see the 3rd party pivot. Had that not occurred, they almost certainly would've started to move more hardware, which was/is the only failing metric in the Xbox division. Hard to say how many consoles they could move for CoD, let alone 1/2 way through the gen, but I'm guessing that would compound year over year once people realized they had to have an Xbox or pc to play CoD.
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They were never going to make COD exclusive, they wouldn't have moved enough hardware to make the money they spent worth it, let alone signed up enough new people to gamepass. Even if every person who bought COD on playstation at its peak bought an xbox they would still be 20 million plus behind PS5 sales right now. They make far too much money off of PlayStation to have even made that a consideration, plus they were never going to get every person who owned a PS5 and played COD to dump PlayStation for xbox anyway.
 
JerryinSoCal said:
They were never going to make COD exclusive, they wouldn't have moved enough hardware to make the money they spent worth it, let alone signed up enough new people to gamepass. Even if every person who bought COD on playstation at its peak bought an xbox they would still be 20 million plus behind PS5 sales right now. They make far too much money off of PlayStation to have even made that a consideration, plus they were never going to get every person who owned a PS5 and played COD to dump PlayStation for xbox anyway.
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"Personally, I think Xbox hardware is dead."

I was surprised to hear her say that. I still think Xbox is going to come out with a high-end hybrid PC/console device in a couple of years. But maybe they'll outsource that, too, like they did the handheld.
 
Humdinger said:
"Personally, I think Xbox hardware is dead."

I was surprised to hear her say that. I still think Xbox is going to come out with a high-end hybrid PC/console device in a couple of years. But maybe they'll outsource that, too, like they did the handheld.
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she means a traditional console.
 
I've said in numerous threads on this forum that Microsoft *never* fully recovered from the build-up and unveiling of the Xbox One in 2013.

To go back and watch that entire thing, even now, it's really a miracle that they survived it.

I've always been invested in the various gaming shows, news, etc like E3 in those days. I've never seen a company get absolutely embarrassed like Sony did to them that year.



Seeing that burn live was absolutely ridiculous in the face of what Microsoft was trying to do and they also proceeded to shut down their always online, allowed used games, undercut their price by $100, and refused to require their camera whereas Xbox required Kinect. It was so bad for Microsoft.

This was AFTER the infamous "TV, TV, TV, Sports, CoD" event.

Couple that with Don Mattrick's response to "Just buy a 360", which even Geoff Keighley was offended by or in disbelief about, it was insane.


I think they never really made it all the way back from that. When you continue to misstep after a terrible fall like that, as they have over the years, it's just hard to come out stronger.
 
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Syphon Filter said:
she means a traditional console.
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I think you're misinterpreting her. She said "Xbox hardware is dead," not "Xbox traditional consoles are dead." She knows the difference, and she chose her words carefully. Besides, saying "Xbox traditional consoles are dead" would just be stating the obvious. Most of us have known for a while that there won't be another Xbox traditional console; however, the hybrid PC/console thing was heavily rumored. She also talks about them exiting the "hardware" market.

It seems clear to me both from her word choice and context that she means "Xbox hardware" is dead. And that would mean MS-developed Xbox hardware, not Xbox-branded hardware developed by another company. The latter will be coming.

Whether she is right about Xbox hardware being dead, we'll have to wait and see. Like I said, I assumed the MS Xbox hybrid was coming in a couple years, but maybe she is right. Maybe that will get farmed out to ASUS or some other company, too. She certainly knows more than I do.
 
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dorkimoe said:
if they actually wanted to compete and sell consoles they would have made COD and all bethesda games xbox only
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Lmao see that's why sovereign governments have antitrust enforcement

Microsoft has a long history of monopolist behavior, I'm still amazed they thought they could just buy Activision Blizzard and make everything Xbox exclusive and all the governments would be fine with it
 
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Xbox is now just a legacy library. I'm fine with that, as long as they continue the allow me access to said library. I appreciate that they are making the transition to PC gaming as smooth as possible.
 
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'Phil last year said how 70 dollar pricing could feel manipulative to gamers and now he's charging 80 dollars for outer worlds 2'. I do remember phil spencer saying that and it just proves more and more how he's a lying and smug POS.
 
Orbital2060 said:
Its going to be interesting to find out if their next gen console is a traditional console or not.
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Highly unlikely. I don't know anyone "in the know" who expects MS to go with another closed-ecosystem traditional console next gen. A hybrid of some sort is expected.

What I'm wondering is whether MS will produce it themselves or whether they'll delegate it to another company, like they did the handheld.
 
cireza said:
This video was posted recently. Laura has pretty good insight of the games' industry, and this video sounded really factual and of interest.

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The future of Xbox is price increases to Gamepass every year until it cost $60/month, ive given up on them. It's sad because the series x is a great console. But they've stopped innovating and it's clear the console is an afterthougth that's just there as a vehicle to gamepass. Hell, it's literally a revised Xbox one. Same boring white Xbox logo as the power button, etc. Same dashboard as late Xbox one. I'm a PC gamer nowadays, but it's sad that Xbox just stopped caring. If I had to go back to console, I'd pick up a switch 2 and a a PS5. And if sony ever got PS3 backwards compatability? I'd never touch another Xbox, sad as it is to say.
 
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Xbox (MS), is just fine. PC alone they trump all install bases for any console. They are making a new powerful next gen Xbox, handhelds, and with all their acquisitions this gen their library should grow, AND. those game will generate revenue on other platforms such as Sony, Nintendo, PC, and Xbox consoles.
 
Buggy Loop said:
Never understood the layoffs when they are worth $3.4 Trillion
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MS as a whole, yes. The Xbox division, not so much.

In the end you won't be succesful if you just go and Ted Beneke your corporation. You need to cut corners and make harsh decisions. MS is going to chop Xbox division if all they do is bleeding money, even if they don't even feel it.
 
SkylineRKR said:
MS as a whole, yes. The Xbox division, not so much.

In the end you won't be succesful if you just go and Ted Beneke your corporation. You need to cut corners and make harsh decisions. MS is going to chop Xbox division if all they do is bleeding money, even if they don't even feel it.
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Xbox division is 9% of Microsoft's revenue, right next to 10% for for windows. It doesn't bleed money at all. ~$24B from a gaming division.

They just got their second-highest holiday period in xbox history last winter. Where are the stats that spell it out that this division requires the axe? I don't see it.
 
A couple of things with the video:

  • Her question about why you would buy a ROG Xbox over a PS5 or a Switch or Xbox doesnt work because its not going to be an issue for people. Its a handheld. A lot of people on fx PS5 will find it easier to get an Xbox handheld (this or the native one later) instead of one more console under the TV. Ive never even had a PC handheld like this so the whole thing is a brand new experience. For an already Xbox diehard it will be a companion to the stationary console.
  • Its not a ROG Ally with stickers on it, this is just completely false. They have built the Xbox controller around the ROG display in the middle. The original ROG Ally looks like a plank to hold.
  • Handhelds are a nascent market with tons of unfulfilled potential. I dont think she really gets the idea of playing games on a handheld, just from listening to her talk about it.
  • She doesnt even talk about the aggregated games from other stores launching with the ROG Xbox, unless I missed it.
  • Something about studios not being in the June showcase should be worried about being axed? How many hours was the show supposed to last then. It was clearly a showcase with a focus on Outer Worlds 2 (before closing with Black Ops) , and then as many games they could cram into that 1 hour +- in addition to that.
edit Sony sold 80 million PSPs. Highest selling handheld gaming device is the Nintendo DS at 154 million. Maybe its not a developing market since its always been there since the Game & Watch days. But its underdeveloped and undersupported and without any real competition for Nintendo Switch since Sony stopped making the Vita.
 
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REDRZA MWS said:
Xbox (MS), is just fine. PC alone they trump all install bases for any console. They are making a new powerful next gen Xbox, handhelds, and with all their acquisitions this gen their library should grow, AND. those game will generate revenue on other platforms such as Sony, Nintendo, PC, and Xbox consoles.
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Yes, they are fine. It would be preferable for them if Xbox Series was a success, but it wasn't so better to cut their losses now. Being a huge multiplat publisher is certainly not some horrible end.

In fact, I think their biggest mistake is that they didn't prepare for this multiplatform shift sooner, with more focus on Play Anywhere, cloud streaming and the type of console UI for Windows they are now working on. Even now they need to do a lot more with this.
 
Buggy Loop said:
Xbox division is 9% of Microsoft's revenue, right next to 10% for for windows. It doesn't bleed money at all. ~$24B from a gaming division.

They just got their second-highest holiday period in xbox history last winter. Where are the stats that spell it out that this division requires the axe? I don't see it.
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That's because of ABK though.

You could argue that with XBox hardware dead and Gamepass looking like a dead end (because GAAS is taking over), that MS should just get out of the biz entirely and spin off ABK+Whatever studios MS hasn't killed yet.
 
RetroGamingUK said:
Of course, this was Microsoft's plan all along.

Nothing at all to do with them constantly fucking up since Peter Moore left 🙄
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No. Their only goal was to prevent Sony from launching an os and harming windows. That era is gone and gp prevents any open browser. Thus everything is an Xbox; msft out of hardware and Sony is still stuck aka r&d for ps6/7. Nvidia around the corner to remove consoles. Next gen is open vs closed ecosystem. Folks on this site forgot why the pro consoles exist and if oem = nextbox things could be interesting. However Sony will e dominant in console sales.

Note: I am unfortunately looking at this from a market standpoint.
 
ChorizoPicozo said:
not necessarily willingly.... the business is not businessing
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After $80 billion spent on studios in a span of a few years, MS CxO and board actually wanted some return on investment.

Before that Phil and Co could get by with whatever. But $80 billion was significant cash even for MS. So the oversight started and with that 3rd party push. All IMO of course.
 
TheMule1983 said:
At least some sort of timed exclusivity or exclusive stuff for Xbox cod players. Instead they bundle the game in ps5s
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Microsoft know that Call of Duty is big on PlayStation & one bad move could birth a Call of Duty replacement in the long run & that would have been bad for their return on investment.
 
I like her. I saw some of her other videos. Very insightful, and I agree with her opinions.
 
dorkimoe said:
if they actually wanted to compete and sell consoles they would have made COD and all bethesda games xbox only
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In theory it's simple, in practice it would only reduce the sales potential of these IPs by launching them on a console with a small installed base without having a significant return on console sales.

And not only that, I would say that it is also risky to devalue established IPs like CoD, reducing the installed base and migrating people from other platforms to another shooter game, for example.
 
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