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[EviLore]

 

[Unknown Soldier]

They never actually finished that Dudebro game IIRC, you could legit propose that as your studio's first title and Phil would buy it

 

[Aguero9320]

Not enough people have said 'Microsoft can't manage their studios' in this thread.

That shit can never be said enough. Every time it's posted is like a fresh revelation

Something something script something marching orders…

 

[nosoynadie22]

pretty crazy that they went from like 5 studios during the bone era.


now all those studios are great BUT they really need someone to manage those studios as there is no reason to have a single drought period.

that was only 6 years ago

 

[Little Chicken]

For me it's hilarious
Ghost of Tsushima - 84 on OpenCritic - "See, that's PlayStation Studios Quality"
Starfield - 86 on OpenCritic - "See, Xbox can't manage their studios"

Age of Empires 4 Xbox - 83 MC - "effluent".

Hi-Fi Rush - 89 OpenCritic - "Xbox games are trash".

Horizon Call of the Mountain - 80 OpenCritic - "tHeY cAnT mISs!"

 

[Tg89]

What an absolute shame.

 

[ecentre]

I can see them releasing a couple of great games and then it will spiral down into shit! The route they have taken can only hurt the whole of the the industry...

 

[PlayerPurple]

Yet they have yet to release a good game in decades.

Ah, the "PS3 has no games" fallacy all over again…

 

[bender]

 

[EviLore]

Haha, awesome

 

[bender]

Haha, awesome

Your username breaks DAL-E pretty good.

 

[ByWatterson]

I'm sure it will all go well and not be a disaster at all.

 

[ActusReusJB]

Disney of videogames - No quality but a lot of quantity

I don't know about this analogy. Disney theme parks are without peer.

 

[FalsettoVibe]

I tend to use OC more because it groups reviews for different platforms into one overall score.
Because on Metacritic Starfield is 83. And also 86 So which one is it?

My point was that people who thinks that publisher who released three games with OC scores 86, 84 and 89 (Starfield, Forza Motorsport and Hi-Fi Rush) is bad maybe needs their brain checked. And I'm saying that with full realisation how bad Redfall was.

Like really. Since start of this gen Xbox has same amount of 90+ rated games on OpenCritic as Sony. But I guess then conversation shifts towards "it's just racing or niche games." But it's always like that. Just move goalposts.
Xbox since start of this gen:
2 games with 90+
9 games with 85+
4 games with 80+
1 game with 75+
1 game with 70+
Redfall with 57

If you can with straight face tell me that this is bad resume for 3 years, then you are probably insane. Or you can use "BuT tHeY aRe NoT tHiRd PaRtY sToRy GaMeS" excuse.

The problem is, it doesn't mean much. Those games have not helped move needle much perception wise and there no real evidence that the needle will move in any significant way anytime soon. You can have plenty of critically acclaimed games, but if that's not what the average Joe wants to play then where is the win? The real issue imo is they just have no soul.....and I'm not sure if deep pockets will ever buy them one.

Phil said it best himself, they lost the worst generation you could loose when people were building their digital libraries. Now even with the so called equal number of games with similar metacritic as Sony, they are still on the verge of being outsold 3-1, with every third party title selling > 60-70% on PS. So the same crap is happening again. MS knows this and is throwing money at the problem, trying to "spend" Sony out of business, but will that really work?

I feel like they need to stop buying, build from within and create a better identity for themselves. But I guess that's a pipe dream because the Game Pass machine must be fed and they seem 100% dedicated to this business model.

 

[bender]

But I guess that's a pipe dream because the Game Pass machine must be fed and they seem 100% dedicated to this business model.

Things can always change, but the writing has been on the wall that Game Pass is the future of he brand and not necessarily Xbox.

 

[Schmendrick]

So much fanfare and still so little substance.
How many years has that logo flaunting been going on now and how many more years will it need to go on before we actually see results?
I'm just surprised people don't seem to learn and still fall for that pr nonsense...

 

[Gavon West]

So much fanfare and still so little substance.
How many years has that logo flaunting been going on now and how many more years will it need to go on before we actually see results?
I'm just surprised people don't seem to learn and still fall for that pr nonsense...

Whatre you even talking about?? company just bought the biggest publisher on the block for $70 billion and my guy is literally talking like they just entered the games industry three weeks ago. WTF?

 

[Dutchy]

I was about to ask if that pic is fanmade, then I saw the bottom right. The amount of fluff on there is cringe inducing.

 

[dotnotbot]

This is more mind boggling in my honest opinion:

 

[johnjohn]

Every Xbox thread is going to be filled with salt for the foreseeable future.

 

[TheDreadLord]

Now the only thing left for them to make a 90+ in metacritic is to change the game box case color from green to blue.

 

[Thirty7ven]

Back to persecution complex.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

If MS was smart they would experiment with the insane amount if IPs and devs at their disposal. Make some smaller low budget games. They have done a bit of this with Hi Fi Rush and Pentiment but they could be releasing way more games.

That requires having a creative vision, something the upper management at Xbox simply do not have, and haven't had in over 10 years.

Guess who else has been running Xbox in one way or another for more or less 10 years? ...

The problem is, it doesn't mean much. Those games have not helped move needle much perception wise and there no real evidence that the needle will move in any significant way anytime soon. You can have plenty of critically acclaimed games, but if that's not what the average Joe wants to play then where is the win? The real issue imo is they just have no soul.....and I'm not sure if deep pockets will ever buy them one.

Phil said it best himself, they lost the worst generation you could loose when people were building their digital libraries. Now even with the so called equal number of games with similar metacritic as Sony, they are still on the verge of being outsold 3-1, with every third party title selling > 60-70% on PS. So the same crap is happening again. MS knows this and is throwing money at the problem, trying to "spend" Sony out of business, but will that really work?

I feel like they need to stop buying, build from within and create a better identity for themselves. But I guess that's a pipe dream because the Game Pass machine must be fed and they seem 100% dedicated to this business model.

And none of that will happen as long as Phil Spencer and others from his camp are still running Xbox. They simply do not have that visionary or creative-driven spirit and you can't fake it. You simply can't pretend to have it and trying to pose as a gamer for relatability points doesn't accomplish it, either.

Because believe it or not most of the big visionaries and creative masters in gaming aren't regular hardcore gamers.

Age of Empires 4 Xbox - 83 MC - "effluent".

Hi-Fi Rush - 89 OpenCritic - "Xbox games are trash".

Horizon Call of the Mountain - 80 OpenCritic - "tHeY cAnT mISs!"

Now you guys are clinging to MC like you did teraflops two years ago. MC doesn't mean anything to the masses or cultural mindshare.

Fun characters, cool stories, cool art, great inspired graphics, interesting gameplay and "epicness". Tying all of that to recognizable characters that have built up nostalgia and cache over years, and/or appeal to current trends while still being timeless (enough), is something Microsoft hasn't managed with almost any of their in-house IP outside of Halo.

And they basically murdered Halo two years ago :/

At least we get Call of Duty on Steam again. I hope the buying ends here though.

ABK could've done that themselves, they didn't need to get acquired by Microsoft to bring their games back to Steam.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Now the only thing left for them to make a 90+ in metacritic is to change the game box case color from green to blue.

Looking at Starfield's vastly overrated metacritic score that is deserving of something far less, that's simply not true.

Plenty of green outlets that pumped it to the moon despite the audience score reality

 

[adamsapple]

 

[FriulHado]

but can they do +90 metacritic

Who can?

 

[geary]

Do you guys play games or just jerk off to the list of companies another company owns?

Neah, the jerking off is on metacritic score.

 

[Fess]

Looking at Starfield's vastly overrated metacritic score that is deserving of something far less, that's simply not true.

Plenty of green outlets that pumped it to the moon despite the audience score reality

There are like 10 mixed reviews, the rest are positive. There is no pumping up any score to the moon with stats like that unless you think the majority of outlets are "green".

Personally I think you should try accepting that people can like different things and can see past the issues you and a few critics don't like.

86 on PC and 83 on Xbox is quite possibly the most spot on score I've seen lately. I'd rate it 9/10 on PC, 86 means 9/10 on a 1-10 scale. And I'd rate it 8/10 on Xbox because of the lower framerate, 83 means 8/10 on a 1-10 scale.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

There are like 10 mixed reviews, the rest are positive. There is no pumping up any score to the moon with stats like that unless you think the majority of outlets are "green".

Personally I think you should try accepting that people can like different things and can see past the issues you and a few critics don't like.

86 on PC and 83 on Xbox is quite possibly the most spot on score I've seen lately. I'd rate it 9/10 on PC, 86 means 9/10 on a 1-10 scale. And I'd rate it 8/10 on Xbox because of the lower framerate, 83 means 8/10 on a 1-10 scale.

Have you seen the steam reviews...? It's simply not true that "most are positive". It is a huge disappointment for the overwhelming majority of those playing it. The ones that love it are few and far inbetween. They're certainly free to have their opinion, but it's not going to turn the game into the critical darling that everyone was expecting and hoping it was going to be to really start ushering in a new era of high quality xbox exclusives. 2023 has been a major disappointment from Microsoft.

 

[vaibhavpisal]

Compared to games like BoTW, ToTK, GOW 2018, TLOU2, Spiderman, Mario Odyssey etc., Microsoft hasn't cultivated much if any industry-leading or genre-defining games, and that isn't really going to change with buying ABK. It's a problem of bad leadership and upper-level management; they have no creatives or visionaries at those levels and it shows.

Industry leading games has to do something new and innovative. I think BOTW does take industry forward by giving you an alternative to Ubisoft / Witcher 3 clones.

Outside of that I don't see how other games are industry leading.

Outside of being well produced, polished experience what exactly new do they bring to the table?

 

[X-Wing]

The only mind boggling thing about this is how irrelevant their games remain.

 

[Fess]

Have you seen the steam reviews...? It's simply not true that "most are positive". It is a huge disappointment for the overwhelming majority of those playing it. The ones that love it are few and far inbetween. They're certainly free to have their opinion, but it's not going to turn the game into the critical darling that everyone was expecting and hoping it was going to be to really start ushering in a new era of high quality xbox exclusives. 2023 has been a major disappointment from Microsoft.

You were talking about Metacritic and green outlet critics pumping up the score. And yeah most critics are positive. If you look at Opencritic where all 173 reviews for all platforms are combined it has a mighty status, 85% critics recommended.

Steam user reviews is, well, user reviews. Always difficult to judge, especially if it's cool to hate on a game for whatever exaggerated reason. You can only give thumbs up or down so no middle ground there.

Still says mostly positive though and have 40-60k concurrent players on work days and higher numbers over weekends so I don't see what's more to say about that, lots of people obviously enjoy playing it.

There is no multiplayer and co-op but it's still doing well and have more concurrent players than many single-player-only games see as their peak values, only just now dropped off the top 10 most played list 1.5 months after the release.

It's no doubt a divisive game but you shouldn't think everyone who like it is "green" and put up some fake score to boost a review score.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

It's no doubt a divisive game but you shouldn't think everyone who like it is "green" and put up some fake score to boost a review score.

How are user reviews fake scores? A divide between press scores and user scores will more accurately highlight that the press got it wrong.

And I was replying to a person who somehow thinks Xbox games are unfairly reviewed by the press, which is false…which was my entire point

 

[Tomeru]

Not if they force it on Gamepass Day 1 and eviscerate it's revenue base

Bobby himself took the stand at that FTC trial and testified that he didn't like Gamepass and it was bad for ABK properties and their revenue models

That was probably true before they are owned by ms. Now that they are though, could be a different story because ms calculates things differently.

 

[Fess]

How are user reviews fake scores? A divide between press scores and user scores will more accurately highlight that the press got it wrong.

And I was replying to a person who somehow thinks Xbox games are unfairly reviewed by the press, which is false…which was my entire point

We can call them reactionary if you want to be real about what it is. Somebody is pissed or excited about something big or minor or barely even related and give it a thumbs down or up.
If enough people react and give a thumbs down the average will drop. Eventually down to Overwatch 2 levels. Fair? Not really. But it is what it is.

I still find Steam reviews useful since you can filter some reactionary scores out through the playtime min/max slider and specific dates. It's a powerful tool, sometimes. And you can tweak the filters to get a very positive rating on Starfield, after that you have to ask yourself if 3k or so Steam gamers giving it a thumbs up from playing it over 80 hours from release to late september is worth listening to. You can tweak it to make it seem like everybody hate it too by setting max playtime to 5 hours and the timeframe to last week. It is what it is.

 

[Banjo64]

Back to persecution complex.

It's incredible. With the exception of adamsapple and FoxMcChief who have a sense of humour, the rest are as bitter in victory as they are defeat. Crazy.

 

[MisterXDTV]

That was probably true before they are owned by ms. Now that they are though, could be a different story because ms calculates things differently.

AHAHAHAHA. That's right no sale data at all, just engagement!

 

[SenkiDala]

Who can?

Can we all agree that there are excellent 1st party games on each platform ?

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

Stop trying to get me banned

 

[Fwackoboingo]

This aquisition will be remembered as Phil's biggest mistake. He will be out within 3 years.

 

[Fwackoboingo]

Who can?

LOL. Oh, the blockbusters like Grounded, Quake 1 remaster (from the DOS era), also Pentiment! And don't forget about Quake 2 remaster! And the rest... Oh god.. Halo Infinite, Redfall... I mean..

What a pathetic garbage lineup.

 

[Ozzy Onya A2Z]

There's more salt in each of the comment of this thread, than in the Dead Sea.

Yeah concern trolling gets pretty old pretty fast.

 

[dotnotbot]

 

[Little Mac]

Who can?

It would be interesting to see what Nintendo's average is? Anyone know?

 

[Ozriel]

Could be double. Their problem is management and a lack of vision. Even worse, once they aquaire quality seems to suffer in order to fit the series S and GP.

The response and release of Forza, Redfall, and Starfield speak volumes and a slick info graphics doesn't change the lack of quality, management, or vision.

You'd never know Starfield and Forza are 83 and 85 MC rated games with the way some of you are going

Dead game, dying game, dead game, dying game.

What an image.

Clear proof that typing out long ass paragraphs doesn't mean you know much about the industry.
Describing COD and Candy Crush as 'dying franchises' is quite the take.

Sea of Thieves is beyond crap there is not even a game there. Hi Fi is an indie.

Two bad takes in a row. Well done!

 

[chilichote]

Quantity over quality.

That's what you need for Gamepass.

 

[Alan Wake]

They just have to learn to manage these studios. They have yet to prove they can and adding ABK to the mix won't help.

 

[Flutta]

All i see is a bunch of studios that are going down the shitter.

Poor souls.

 

[Ozriel]

All i see is a bunch of studios that are going down the shitter.

Poor souls.

this deal certainly shouldn't bother you, then.

The Devs themselves seem quite happy to join Xbox. Pretty upbeat reactions from folks 'going down the shitter'.

 

[Fwackoboingo]

this deal certainly shouldn't bother you, then.

The Devs themselves seem quite happy to join Xbox. Pretty upbeat reactions from folks 'going down the shitter'.

Yeah, those people are happy because they know they don't have to worry about their salaries for a few years even if they don't do anything.

Also who are not happy, won't tell their opinion in public while still employed there.

Believe me it's not a badge of honor in the industry to work for MS/Xbox... Everybody knows the best people are elsewhere.