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Microsoft Business Update Podcast | OT | SEGABOX |

Anyone else think the Game Pass numbers are quite bad?

Could've sworn it jumped to a 41 million estimate when they turned XBL Gold into Game Pass Core. So either that never happened, or it did and the numbers declined heavily some time afterwards.

That's one of the things that stuck out to me (altho, I was in and out during this so there are parts I missed).
 
Well then I wouldn’t take that at PR fluff at face value
Nobody forced her to say it, especially when it's years off but it's a commitment to dedicated powerful hardware when others on here were claiming Xbox were leaving the hardware business and going full third-party 😅 They were told by myself and others but they wouldn't listen 🤣
 
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Well, while none of them will make the same numbers as Sony's exclusives, I do think some of them have a chance to make that investment worth the effort

Pentiment has a shot to do well on Switch with players who play on handheld mode and among PS Portal users. It's a perfect game for handheld devices with a very unique idea and art style that makes it stand out from the crowd. Played it on Steam Deck a while back and loved every minute of it

Sea of Thieves realistically has a very good chance to attract more players than Skulls and Bones. Plus it has years of content that Ubisoft's game will just lack at launch

Hi-Fi Rush is a niche game but it's unique concept, being a singleplayer game, multiple awards and high praise from reviews can really help it's cause

Agreed with Grounded, to me that game never really had a larger appeal, but I just don't like survival games so it just might be personal bias
My comment didn't mean to say those games are bad. I just don't see most of them selling well at all just because they came to Playstation. It's funny cause Grounded is the only game on that list I would try, but again my backlog alone for games last year are so long, where would I even find the time?
 

lefty1117

Gold Member
I think all the sarcastic comments from the PS crowd are cute, in the end it just means that they want xbox stuff on their fave console. it's adorable, really. I'm sure you'll see more headed to you over time, maybe after a year or two of exclusivity for the big titles, just like Sony does with PC. It's all good, friends
 

HeisenbergFX4

Gold Member
I think all the sarcastic comments from the PS crowd are cute, in the end it just means that they want xbox stuff on their fave console. it's adorable, really. I'm sure you'll see more headed to you over time, maybe after a year or two of exclusivity for the big titles, just like Sony does with PC. It's all good, friends
They are just hurting Xbox didn't close shop like so many had been taking victory parades over the last 2 weeks
 

LastBattle

Member
Those people apparently can't join the dots and see where it's inevitably leadin
It's a sad state of affairs when we got Xbox fans celebrating losing 4 of their games, and the rest now being assessed case by case. This was the good outcome for you?
It turned out to be a big nothing burger. Two games we've known about forever. SoT and Hi-Fi Rush. The other two will likely be other live service games like Grounded etc.
 

DForce

NaughtyDog Defense Force
And now you have 34 million from Bond, you know the most up-to-date information 🤡
Yes, because it changed to core recently. :messenger_grinning_sweat:


You guys fall for the MS PR so easily.
 

tutomose

Neo Member
I think all the sarcastic comments from the PS crowd are cute, in the end it just means that they want xbox stuff on their fave console. it's adorable, really. I'm sure you'll see more headed to you over time, maybe after a year or two of exclusivity for the big titles, just like Sony does with PC. It's all good, friends
I only see Phil begging for PlayStation games

image.png
 

ChorizoPicozo

Gold Member
So no, by their own words
pay attention at what they do, not at what they say.

it's not if the Xbox console sells more necessarily...it's about are they procuring more players regardless of where they play. It's almost like they are trying to do this backwards. If successful and it draws more folks to Xbox then it seems like almost a bonus to them...just based on what my takeaways are from this interview.
we have actual information from their financial report, Sony's financial report, FTC leaks, the environment of the industry, sales report here and there.

  • Xbox hardware keeps declining.
  • they expect a 40% decline for the next period
  • Sub services are stagnant
  • software sales on xbox are abysmal
  • AAA games are very expensive and take longer to make
  • The industry is crashing
  • inflation

procuring more players regardless of where they play.

they already have accomplished that, and it is even stronger with the ABK acquisition.

this decision is a move to make more money, and hopefully growth their console. but there isna high degree on uncertainty with the later


Will Playstation players buy Xbox games on PS5...maybe. I don't really see games like Pentiment and Grounded doing that well on Playstation. I could see an argument that Sea of Thieves could become big on Playstation though. hi-Fi Rush...eh....maybe.
i wonder if they are going to do marketing for these ames
 

dem

Member
There's some real Rupert Pupkin Ponyboys that just can get enough of this.

Guys... you don't work for Sony. If you don't care about Xbox.. move on with your life.

Enjoy Sea of Thieves and Grounded.
 
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lefty1117

Gold Member
I only see Phil begging for PlayStation games

image.png
That's because he's running a business and he's open about that, as opposed to people on here who for some reason feel like they have to mask their desire for Halo and others on the PS by bashing xbox and wishing death upon it ... really weird, the gaming community
 
So apparently Good Guy Phil™ is port-begging and crying for Helldivers 2 on Xbox. Seems like it's in an article with Stephen Totillo.

He really is one of the most petty people in gaming isn't he?

I only see Phil begging for PlayStation games

image.png

Yeah, stuff like this is why I dislike seeing Phil Spencer plastered everywhere. He only thinks like a bean counter, and has no sense of understanding the importance of identity in gaming, or accepting the consequences of competition (where his console brand just happens to be on the losing end).

And I say this because he's starting with (port-begging for) games like Helldivers 2. But he won't stop there, nor will the cult formed around the personality. He'll make cases for GOW, Spiderman, TLOU, Mario, Zelda etc. If Xbox consoles can't have an identity due to rushed, ultimately damaging business strategies, apparently no console can.

It's Scorched Earth policy, in practice. Apparently Destiny 2, MLB The Show and Marathon aren't enough for him.
 
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XXL

Member
You kept telling them, but they didn't listen 🤷‍♂️
Speaking of telling them and not listening...

"You mentioned that Starfield and Indiana Jones aren’t part of the four despite rumors, but will those ever come to PS5? Can you rule that out?"

I don’t think we should as an industry ever rule out a game going to any other platform. We’re focused on these four games and learning from the experience.
But I don’t want to create a false expectation on those other platforms that this is somehow the first four to get over the dam and then the dam’s going to open and that everything else is coming, that’s not the plan today. I also don’t want to mislead customers on those other platforms. We’re launching these four games, and we’re excited about it. We’re excited about the announce and everything else, but we’ll see what happens for our business.


Wtf is even going on in here?
Tim And Eric Omg GIF
 
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Sybrix

Member
What reason would an Xbox console have to exist, in that future though?

Personal preference i guess.

As a PC gamer, multiplatform is fine by me.

Let's not kid ourselves though, this strategy for Xbox is focusing on ensuring as many people on multi-platforms can play Xbox games and in time that will get to the point where there won't be Xbox hardware.
 

Sleepwalker

Member
The only thing I actually really dislike about xbox is that they are dropping support of physical media ASAP. I don't think their hardware or their services are bad so I hope they stick around as a platform. (And somehow still support discs lol)
 
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Dazraell

Member
My comment didn't mean to say those games are bad. I just don't see most of them selling well at all just because they came to Playstation. It's funny cause Grounded is the only game on that list I would try, but again my backlog alone for games last year are so long, where would I even find the time?
I actually think that's the whole point why they picked these games instead of heavy-hitters. These games aren't meant to be system sellers as they still want players to buy new Xboxes and subscribing to GamePass. They probably picked them as they think they have some potential to reach a new audience and even them doing moderately well can help with improving their sales performance. You have to remember that in a case of PlayStation and Switch, these numbers will be entirely based on sold copies instead of subscriptions
 

Jigsaah

Gold Member
pay attention at what they do, not at what they say.


we have actual information from their financial report, Sony's financial report, FTC leaks, the environment of the industry, sales report here and there.

  • Xbox hardware keeps declining.
  • they expect a 40% decline for the next period
  • Sub services are stagnant
  • software sales on xbox are abysmal
  • AAA games are very expensive and take longer to make
  • The industry is crashing
  • inflation



they already have accomplished that, and it is even stronger with the ABK acquisition.

this decision is a move to make more money, and hopefully growth their console. but there isna high degree on uncertainty with the later



i wonder if they are going to do marketing for these ames
As far as this presentation is concerned...they haven't DONE anything yet.

Is it so hard to for folks to just wait and see what happens, instead of everybody trying to push their own narrative?

Isn't this how these rumors got out of hand in the first place? They said what they said...let's see if they can deliver on that.

There's plenty of people who are salivating to hold their feet to the fire should they diverge from what they've said in the interview.

On Gaf alone, I've heard Starfield is going to PS5, Indiana Jones is going to PS5. Both denied in the presentation...ok...well let's see.

I've heard gamepass is not gonna do day and date anymore....also denied. We'll see.

All we have to go off of is their word...for now. Everything else is speculation and no number of bullet point lists is gonna change that. So, save it.
 
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tutomose

Neo Member
That's because he's running a business and he's open about that, as opposed to people on here who for some reason feel like they have to mask their desire for Halo and others on the PS by bashing xbox and wishing death upon it ... really weird, the gaming community

I don't see how saying Xbox going 3rd party is wishing death on it? They're going to overtake PlayStation in terms of revenue if they actually do.
 

PaintTinJr

Member
Maybe but as of now Xbox is marching forward
Only as long as there is "growth" IMHO.

All three of them looked very shaky IMO, and kept having moments where they used two words meaning the same thing in lists, almost to the point of being medicated in Phil and Sarah's case, and the repetitive word "growth" means they aren't in control anymore IMO. Accountants and Heads of HR that don't want to make people redundant because Xbox and Gamepass can't do the business for growth to cover the risks of the billions they are spending in dev costs each year have a gun to their head based on the podcast performances and vague info.
 

HeisenbergFX4

Gold Member
Only as long as there is "growth" IMHO.

All three of them looked very shaky IMO, and kept having moments where they used two words meaning the same thing in lists, almost to the point of being medicated in Phil and Sarah's case, and the repetitive word "growth" means they aren't in control anymore IMO. Accountants and Heads of HR that don't want to make people redundant because Xbox and Gamepass can't do the business for growth to cover the risks of the billions they are spending in dev costs each year have a gun to their head based on the podcast performances and vague info.
Oh its not roses but its also not a funeral
 
You know it's disingenuous if not outright dishonest to include game pass 'core' customer numbers.

I mean, Core numbers are included but considering Core is just XBL Gold rebranded, 34 million combined is actually pretty low.

Indicates that the service really has stagnated over the past two years, and there has been heavy churn in subscription rates. Things MS would have to address somehow or another.

Do you know how wrong you were? I'm not sure you do, shall I remind you? 🤡

Yes we'll take almost two weeks of potentially massive rumors to simmer over, drive diehards in the fanbase insane, not refute a single one of the rumors the entire time when we've been quick to debunk false rumors within hours previously, hold an emergency town hall in the middle of the week, and rush out a scripted podcast with faux-interviews....

...just for the lolz and treat the announcement of four old XGS game ports like earth-shattering news instead of the simple tweet & blog post they were worth.

Okay champ, take your victory lap. There's no award for you but you can pretend there's one at the end. The podcast today was never going to touch on all of those rumors or even most of them. Just enough to clarify a few things closest to happening timeline-wise, just enough to placate the diehards in the community, just enough ambiguity to leave lots of wiggle room where needed.

We'll see in the next 12-24 months how the things in that Discord leak are gradually verified as true one-by-one. Until then, enjoy the lap around the parking lot.
 
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