Support NeoGAF

[wvnative]

There are credible rumors that Microsoft is working on a lower-priced Gamepass tier that would start from $3 per month, have no third-party games, feature in-game advertisements, and have first-party games 6 months after launch.

I think they will use this tier of Gamepass and put it on PlayStation and Nintendo.

The main objection against Gamepass by platform holders would be the existence of third-party games. This tier won't have any. From Xbox's perspective, Gamepass subscribers on Xbox/PC will play the game 6 months before Gamepass subscribers on PlayStation -- which will be in line with Microsoft's CFO statement of games being the best or first on Xbox.

I strongly believe that we'll see a future in the next few years where this would be happening -- especially if Xbox continues its current slide.

Sony has blocked gamepass on PlayStation and given the past year, definitely will not budge.

Even the switch successor likely won't be able to run most of those games natively, they'd have to be streaming only, a rough sell.

 

[bentanchorbolt]

That's ignoring the fact that Forza Horizon which is just as if not more popular has already been released on the system.

Not really. Forza Horizon and Motorsport might drink from the same water source but at opposite ends, there are plenty who are fans of one but not the other. Racim sim style games tend to be quite popular and Forza is the marquee Xbox series for that. I suspect it will do quite well and assist in brining in fans.

The franchise is already established on Xbox Series. Will it move a few units, obviously, a needle mover though? That's kind of farfetched.

I guess we will see.

 

[Punished Miku]

Not really. Forza Horizon and Motorsport might drink from the same water source but at opposite ends, there are plenty who are fans of one but not the other. Racim sim style games tend to be quite popular and Forza is the marquee Xbox series for that. I suspect it will do quite well and assist in brining in fans.

I guess we will see.

I think it seems logical to assume that arcade racers have broader appeal than sim racers. Horizon is likely more popular. But Motorsport I think will probably be the biggest entry in the series d/t gamepass. A lot of people (like me) that would never buy a sim racer for fear that it would be almost unplayable will have no hesitation to try it out. So the potential is there for it to blow up on gamepass and attract new fans of the series, and for positive word of mouth to spread. Probably 10 million people will be playing their first Motorsport title this year.

 

[bentanchorbolt]

I think it seems logical to assume that arcade racers have broader appeal than sim racers. Horizon is likely more popular. But Motorsport I think will probably be the biggest entry in the series d/t gamepass. A lot of people (like me) that would never buy a sim racer for fear that it would be almost unplayable will have no hesitation to try it out. So the potential is there for it to blow up on gamepass and attract new fans of the series, and for positive word of mouth to spread.

This is mostly how I look at Xbox as a brand now. It's not so much about the one single game you have to play in order to justify buying into the platform, but more so the perceived value of all the content you have access to, chiefly through Game Pass. Starfield is the kind of game that on its own can move systems off a shelf, and I don't think Forza Motorsport will necessarily have that same effect outside of the hardcore racing base -- but releasing and being part of the greater portfolio, that's where the true value lies.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

I think it seems logical to assume that arcade racers have broader appeal than sim racers. Horizon is likely more popular. But Motorsport I think will probably be the biggest entry in the series d/t gamepass. A lot of people (like me) that would never buy a sim racer for fear that it would be almost unplayable will have no hesitation to try it out. So the potential is there for it to blow up on gamepass and attract new fans of the series, and for positive word of mouth to spread. Probably 10 million people will be playing their first Motorsport title this year.

So these people who have NEVER played a sim before because they are more comfortable with arcade racing will buy this who PASSED on Horizon... interesting...

 

[bentanchorbolt]

So these people who have NEVER played a sim before because they are more comfortable with arcade racing will buy this who PASSED on Horizon... interesting...

The broader appeal of Game Pass is having access to games outside of what you generally play, which leads to discovering new genres and series, etc.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

I dont think the handful of Perfect Dark games in the past were even big sellers. So I find it odd they'd commit to reboot the series as if there's millions of gamers amped up begging for a new game.

What's probably complicating things is what they talk about in their board meetings:

"Ok gang, should we or shouldnt we continue making this game for the 400,000 expected sales."

The original PD did 2.5 million on the N64 which is actually very good not just for games in that era, but on the N64 in particular, considering its much smaller install base compared to PS1.

PD Zero apparently sold around 1 million copies "upon release", but no other numbers from there. So I guess we can say its total sales were between 1 - 1.5 million, probably closer to the former. Not bad for an early 360 exclusive but, MS saw Halo as their FPS moneymaker and prioritized that above doing more with Perfect Dark at the time.

Exactly. They are sitting on a literal GOLD MINE of cherished IP and all they need to do is properly utilize it.

These games used to have the hearts and minds of gamers in the late 90s and early 00s. They have the potential to be even bigger today.

The High on Life dev would've been perfect for a new Conker but unfortunately Roiland is involved in some big controversy and facing charges. I doubt Microsoft do anything with the studio unless Roiland sells them & steps away, or just steps down from involvement with them.

MS would probably be willing to work with the studio if Roiland were not involved and if Roiland cares about the studio more than his own ego (if it turns out he's guilty & convicted), he'll do the right thing and let them move on without him.

There are credible rumors that Microsoft is working on a lower-priced Gamepass tier that would start from $3 per month, have no third-party games, feature in-game advertisements, and have first-party games 6 months after launch.

I think they will use this tier of Gamepass and put it on PlayStation and Nintendo.

After you mentioned the specifics, that's exactly what I was thinking they could try doing. That's the "GP for Sony & Nintendo" tier.

But I still don't know how receptive either would be to it, considering MS are still making Xbox consoles and still selling them as consoles on the traditional business model. If it's only going to get 1P games six months after launch, and a lot of those are still Xbox/PC exclusive at launch, how much does MS have to pay Sony & Nintendo to accept only getting those games months later as part of that version of Game Pass?

That's a reason I think they (Sony & Nintendo) will only consider that model if they get those same games Day 1 on their systems as regular releases. That would make a Game Pass on their platforms a subscription backlog for MS content the way Ubisoft+ is for example, but I think the main reason companies like Sony allow Ubisoft+ (or MS allowing EA Play) is because those publishers aren't locking access to their games exclusively to their own subscription service, and aren't denying the games to release individually on platforms Day 1 where the sub service is available.

That, and they aren't putting their new releases into their services Day 1 in full (or at all in Ubisoft's case). There's no way Sony & Nintendo allow a Game Pass on their system unless Microsoft plays by the same rules as EA, Ubisoft, etc.

The main objection against Gamepass by platform holders would be the existence of third-party games. This tier won't have any. From Xbox's perspective, Gamepass subscribers on Xbox/PC will play the game 6 months before Gamepass subscribers on PlayStation -- which will be in line with Microsoft's CFO statement of games being the best or first on Xbox.

I strongly believe that we'll see a future in the next few years where this would be happening -- especially if Xbox continues its current slide.

Agreed. MS are going to have to reconsider how the Xbox business functions going forward. It doesn't need to be put on ice, but look at what their main growth areas in gaming are coming from. Buying large publishers & rolling their revenue into Xbox's, then the realization those publishers generate that revenue because of their status as full-on multiplat 3P publishers. MS already signaling they would be interested in buying more publishers, and seeing how a lot of the contention they're facing for ABK is because they're trying to do this as a console platform holder/manufacturer (I genuinely think the ABK deal would be going by a lot easier if they weren't a "console" maker; didn't Take-Two's Zygna acquisition go through relatively quickly? And Zygna was a more expensive purchase than Zenimax).

They want more pubs & devs to leverage Azure for their backend services and networks, to serve the largest audience possible so...why engage in locking down publishers just to make their games exclusive to the smallest amount of console gamers in the Xbox base? There's too many contradictions with Xbox's model right now, so they'll have to eventually make adjustments if their stake in gaming is truly about growing their revenue and being as open with gaming console & services holders as possible.

They'll have to do what they basically have done for MS Office and other MS productivity software tools on Apple, Google etc. products, and do that for gaming. And IMO that means not treating Xbox as a traditional "console" anymore. That's probably going to mean making it more like a gaming-centric PC brand of boxes like what Valve tried with Steam Machines (and are doing much better now with Steam Deck). Will probably mean selling Xbox as a NUC-style PC with full Windows support, but at least that lets them price them higher to have good profit margins on the actual hardware. It'll probably mean them allowing Steam, EGS, GOG etc. to fully function on them but in turn gives MS a chance to fully integrate the Xbox storefront into Windows Store, maybe even rebrand Windows Store as the Xbox Store and have it available on PC and on Xbox devices.

It'll probably mean them shifting their marketing & messaging completely away from, say, Sony, since it would now be something not competing against PlayStation consoles. But it also lets Microsoft iterate on Xbox hardware more frequently (like with their Surface devices; incidentally this also makes All-Access more useful), probably be more experimental with future Xbox designs, manage production volumes better (they wouldn't need to manufacture as many), get some kind of tax exemption (IIRC that's a reason Sony tried classifying PS3 as a computer back in the day, altho they faced a lawsuit once they removed OtherOS), finally have some VR available for Xbox devices (since they can just run Windows full-tilt now), increase gaming revenue by no longer artificially keeping games off of rival consoles (since they wouldn't have rival consoles anymore, with Xbox not operating on that business model anymore) but, funnily enough, still having some "exclusives" (assuming they made a PC-only game that stayed exclusive to Windows for a while like some RTS or Flight Sim-style thing, before then bringing it to game consoles like PlayStation) for people who care about those kind of optics (such as certain Xbox diehard fans)...

...honestly there are just way too many upsides to them transitioning Xbox away from the traditional console business model into a more PC-style business model. Capitalize off what Valve's doing but in an area they aren't focused in. Microsoft's gaming roots were always with PC anyway, they messed up big time letting Valve carve out so much in that space but there's a growing market for higher low-end and mid-end gaming on PC that's affordable, simple to use, with console-like features and simplicity while still giving the tweaking freedom of a PC. Better for Microsoft to establish that market themselves with Xbox than give Valve an opening to sweep back in with Steam Machines.

Problem is there are too many top-level Xbox executives listening to the wrong people either around them or online who don't see the forest from the trees. When some of us who actually want the brand to do better suggest these kind of ideas, we get labeled as fanboys, when really the people throwing those labels out are stuck in a mind state of wanting Xbox to beat PlayStation & Nintendo, instead of wanting Xbox to do what's best for itself.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

That's a reason I think they (Sony & Nintendo) will only consider that model if they get those same games Day 1 on their systems as regular releases. That would make a Game Pass on their platforms a subscription backlog for MS content the way Ubisoft+ is for example, but I think the main reason companies like Sony allow Ubisoft+ (or MS allowing EA Play) is because those publishers aren't locking access to their games exclusively to their own subscription service, and aren't denying the games to release individually on platforms Day 1 where the sub service is available.

I’m not sure why this matters

Sony would get a cut of Sub revenue for GP

I don’t see why they’d care if a stand-alone release exists

 

[TheThreadsThatBindUs]

He seems fine to me. As I said, comes off very well in the interview and sounds intelligent, thoughtful, qualified.

Kinda irrelevant when the business he's running is failing and has largely been so for the 7 yrs he's been leading it (arguably even longer).

Sounds like he is mostly there to facilitate resources get to the studios, pretty much exactly as I suspected. And he talked about facilitating technology and knowledge sharing between studios at 20 different meetings a year.

Yeah, and whatever he's doing is not working. The proof is in the pudding.

MGS is a mess. They can't seem to ship quality games. So much so that Spencer essentially had to go out and buy a whole publisher to make up for how bad MGS was. And they're in the process of buying another.

If anything is messed up, it's likely the studio heads and game directors / producers. And we saw a studio head get fired recently.

Lol, Matt is responsible for the mid-level managers that he employs. He has direct involvement in hiring them and is the person to fire them when they fuck up.

As I said, no one here has any clue what this guy even does.

Nah, we definitely do. You've already mentioned some of his responsibilities above. But it's largely the same as any US organisation's executive director position. He's approving budgets, managing organizational structure at the high level and bringing in the right mid-level managers in order to steer the ship.

Matt sets the overall vision for the publishing group. And he steers the ship from the top to attempt to achieve it. The ship is sinking, therefore Matt and his management team are failing.

It's as simple as that.

You seem to want to give him a free pass because you have some sort of hard-on for how personable he is. His personality is virtually irrelevant to his role.

I'm arguing that he needs to go, because he's not doing a good job; and your counter-point is, "b-b-but, he's a nice guy".... Lol... wut?

 

[Punished Miku]

Kinda irrelevant when the business he's running is failing and has largely been so for the 7 yrs he's been leading it (arguably even longer).



Yeah, and whatever he's doing is not working. The proof is in the pudding.

MGS is a mess. They can't seem to ship quality games. So much so that Spencer essentially had to go out and buy a whole publisher to make up for how bad MGS was. And they're in the process of buying another.



Lol, Matt is responsible for the mid-level managers that he employs. He has direct involvement in hiring them and is the person to fire them when they fuck up.



Nah, we definitely do. You've already mentioned some of his responsibilities above. But it's largely the same as any US organisation's executive director position. He's approving budgets, managing organizational structure at the high level and bringing in the right mid-level managers in order to steer the ship.

Matt sets the overall vision for the publishing group. And he steers the ship from the top to attempt to achieve it. The ship is sinking, therefore Matt and his management team are failing.

It's as simple as that.

You seem to want to give him a free pass because you have some sort of hard-on for how personable he is. His personality is virtually irrelevant to his role.

I'm arguing that he needs to go, because he's not doing a good job; and your counter-point is, "b-b-but, he's a nice guy".... Lol... wut?

You win dude. You're way too sweaty for me.

 

[bentanchorbolt]

Kinda irrelevant when the business he's running is failing and has largely been so for the 7 yrs he's been leading it (arguably even longer).

Game Pass is profitable and the Series X|S is the fastest selling Xbox of all-time, even though you can buy every game on PC as well.

Yeah, and whatever he's doing is not working. The proof is in the pudding.

MGS is a mess. They can't seem to ship quality games. So much so that Spencer essentially had to go out and buy a whole publisher to make up for how bad MGS was. And they're in the process of buying another.

The rate of games has been lacking no argument there but by and large what has been released is quite good and most of which is critically acclaimed. Ori 1 & 2, Grounded, Sea of Thieves, Forza Horizon 4 & 5, Gears 4 & 5, High on Life, Microsoft Flight Sim.

Redfall, Forza Motorsport 8, and Starfield, all set to drop this year, along with the new Stalker game which would have been out last year if not for the war in Ukraine.

And then you have Game Pass, the single best value in gaming right now IMO.

Some of you guys have a real hard on for this sort of "the sky is falling" bs. Take a step back, breathe, and realize that Xbox isn't doing as bad as you want to think they are.

 

[IntentionalPun]

The fact they even chose PD to work on immediately had me side-eyeing the hype around The Initiative.

Like how do you even attract talent to work on a dead franchise that was never that big in the first place?

 

[TheThreadsThatBindUs]

Game Pass is profitable and the Series X|S is the fastest selling Xbox of all-time, even though you can buy every game on PC as well.

GamePass has nothing to do with MGS publishing business and therefore Matt Booty.

I know you folks just LOVE to talk about GamePass at every turn, but it's not the answer to every of Xbox's current ills.

The rate of games has been lacking no argument there but by and large what has been released is quite good and most of which is critically acclaimed. Ori 1 & 2, Grounded, Sea of Thieves, Forza Horizon 4 & 5, Gears 4 & 5, High on Life, Microsoft Flight Sim.

You mentioned a small handful of decent to good games in the past 7+yrs.... that's pathetic.

Redfall, Forza Motorsport 8, and Starfield, all set to drop this year, along with the new Stalker game which would have been out last year if not for the war in Ukraine.

Yes... always, wait for "X" games. That's their company line. You've swallowed the koolaid, hook line and sinker.

And then you have Game Pass, the single best value in gaming right now IMO.

Again... GamePass©... the single best value in gaming©... the answer to all criticisms of Xbox© and the second coming of Christ©.

It's just a service, dude. It's only are good as the games that launch on it. And if MS continues to fail to deliver quality content then the service's value proposition will drop off a cliff.

Some of you guys have a real hard on for this sort of "the sky is falling" bs. Take a step back, breathe, and realize that Xbox isn't doing as bad as you want to think they are.

Nah... we're just being realistic about the state of MS's first-party publishing efforts up to now. We have high standards and aren't willing to give gaming companies a free pass just because we have a hard-on for the faceless talking heads that run the company.

If you're willing to tolerate mediocrity and be satisfied by it, then good for you. Just don't be arrogant to think that your opinion aligns with the rest of the gaming community.

 

[Kagoshima_Luke]

On the bright side, they got the Battle Pass finished 1.5 years ago.

 

[bentanchorbolt]

GamePass has nothing to do with MGS publishing business and therefore Matt Booty.

I know you folks just LOVE to talk about GamePass at every turn, but it's not the answer to every of Xbox's current ills.



You mentioned a small handful of decent to good games in the past 7+yrs.... that's pathetic.



Yes... always, wait for "X" games. That's their company line. You've swallowed the koolaid, hook line and sinker.



Again... GamePass©... the single best value in gaming©... the answer to all criticisms of Xbox© and the second coming of Christ©.

It's just a service, dude. It's only are good as the games that launch on it. And if MS continues to fail to deliver quality content then the service's value proposition will drop off a cliff.



Nah... we're just being realistic about the state of MS's first-party publishing efforts up to now. We have high standards and aren't willing to give gaming companies a free pass just because we have a hard-on for the faceless talking heads that run the company.

If you're willing to tolerate mediocrity and be satisfied by it, then good for you. Just don't be arrogant to think that your opinion aligns with the rest of the gaming community.

Oh look, another online guy with hardcore opinions that relies on an overabundance of ad-hominem attacks when people have different takes.

#shocked

It's okay that we view things differently. Have a good day.

 

[TheThreadsThatBindUs]

Oh look, another online guy with hardcore opinions that relies on an overabundance of ad-hominem attacks when people have different takes.

#shocked

It's okay that we view things differently. Have a good day.

Lool, ad-hominem attacks? After you stated this:

Some of you guys have a real hard on for this sort of "the sky is falling" bs. Take a step back, breathe, and realize that Xbox isn't doing as bad as you want to think they are.

A bit of a delicate snowflake aren't you?

The only one being triggered by others having a different opinion here is you, mate.

 

[bentanchorbolt]

Lool, ad-hominem attacks? After you stated this:



A bit of a delicate snowflake aren't you?

Have a good day.

 

[demonstr8]

I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, in case you weren't aware of the following reports:

Avowed
Reported by Jason Schreier.

Avowed Has Had a Reboot of Sorts and May Be Further Away Than Anticipated [RUMOR]

It seems like Obsidian's Avowed has had a reboot of sorts between late 2020 and early 2021, which means its release window has slipped, too.

wccftech.com

Hellblade
As per June 2021.

Hellblade 2 has yet to enter "full production," Ninja Theory says in new teaser reel

In case there was any doubt, Hellblade 2 is still a ways out

www.gamesradar.com

Fable
Internal tools mandated by MS. Reported by Jez Cordon.

Fable Development Reportedly Slow Due to Microsoft’s Insistence on Using In-House Engines

Microsoft likes their studios to use their own custom engines, but could it be negatively impacting Fable and other games?

wccftech.com

Ex-Fable-developer reported Playground devs struggling with Fable because of lack of experience with RPGs.
https://www.thegamer.com/fable-development-slow/

6 key leadership people left Playground games.

Forza Horizon 5 creative director and several team members break away from Playground Games

A group of Forza Horizon developers have quit Xbox's Playground Games to form a new studio, Maverick Games.

www.eurogamer.net

Eidos Montreal roped in as co-developers, similar to Perfect Dark.

Deus Ex Revival, a New IP, and Fable Support Work Reportedly on Eidos Montreal’s Full Plate

Eidos Montreal is keeping busy following their acquisition by Embrace Group. Deus Ex, a new IP, and more are on the table.

wccftech.com

State of Decay 3

State of Decay 3 locked in pre-production at a studio in disarray

Don’t expect Xbox’s zombie game anytime soon

www.polygon.com

State of Decay 3 report details troubled development

A new report has shed light behind the scenes of State of Decay 3, the upcoming open world zombie game from the Undead …

www.eurogamer.net

Fuck that collection of articles is grim. Nice work on the post though.

 

[DragoonWalker]

From all the reports over the years about slower than expected development, roadblocks, scaling down across different studios, it sounds like Microsoft is:
1.) mismatching IP and studio: here aren't the right people at these studios to make the thing they've never made before. Expertise and teams are built up over time. Just look at Naughty Dog: TLOU is a refined game, but you can see how they got there from Uncharted, how they got to Uncharted from Jak, how they got to Jack from Crash. You can hire experienced leads but there's no guarantee they'll work well with your existing people.
2.) giving out too much time and money: when you have so much time and budget naturally there's no rush to get something out and working. And nobody has more money than Papa Microsoft.
3.) weak/indecisive leadership: creative teams of people can make incredible things but they're also a cluster of divergent and troublesome minds. end of the day you need visionary leaders to right the ship and unite them.. Even with all the talent in the world if your project leads or even higher don't know what the hell they want, how to you expect the people working for you to get out something coherent?

 

[StreetsofBeige]

From all the reports over the years about slower than expected development, roadblocks, scaling down across different studios, it sounds like Microsoft is:
1.) mismatching IP and studio: here aren't the right people at these studios to make the thing they've never made before. Expertise and teams are built up over time. Just look at Naughty Dog: TLOU is a refined game, but you can see how they got there from Uncharted, how they got to Uncharted from Jak, how they got to Jack from Crash. You can hire experienced leads but there's no guarantee they'll work well with your existing people.
2.) giving out too much time and money: when you have so much time and budget naturally there's no rush to get something out and working. And nobody has more money than Papa Microsoft.
3.) weak/indecisive leadership: creative teams of people can make incredible things but they're also a cluster of divergent and troublesome minds. end of the day you need visionary leaders to right the ship and unite them.. Even with all the talent in the world if your project leads or even higher don't know what the hell they want, how to you expect the people working for you to get out something coherent?

#2.

I binged watched Shark Tank last year.

I'll always remember Daymond John saying the worst things you can have as an entrepreneur are too little money and TOO MUCH MONEY. And his reasons were the exact same thing you said in #2.

 

[Heisenberg007]

Sony has blocked gamepass on PlayStation and given the past year, definitely will not budge.

Even the switch successor likely won't be able to run most of those games natively, they'd have to be streaming only, a rough sell.

And Xbox has blocked PS+ on Xbox One. They both did it for the same reason: because neither of those services has a first-party-only tier.

If Xbox is indeed creating a first-party-only tier where games would come 6 months after release, I don't see Sony will have any problems putting that on PlayStation, just like Xbox wouldn't have any issues with a first-party-only PS+ tier on Xbox that would have games like God of War, TLOU, Spider-Man, Ghost of Tsushima, Returnal, etc.

 

[SlimySnake]

Kinda irrelevant when the business he's running is failing and has largely been so for the 7 yrs he's been leading it (arguably even longer).

10 years. He took over from Don Matrick immediately after Don bailed after the disastrous X1 reveal and the subsequent E3 meltdown. That was June 2013. We are finishing Jan. 9.5 years.

Before that, he was head of MS first party studios since 2008. So 15 years in charge of first party.

Exactly. They are sitting on a literal GOLD MINE of cherished IP and all they need to do is properly utilize it.

These games used to have the hearts and minds of gamers in the late 90s and early 00s. They have the potential to be even bigger today.

eh. If they were a gold mine, MS would be on top. The fact of the matter is that VERY few 90s franchises are still alive let alone bigger than ever. Just take a look at Sony's 90s franchises. Where is Crash? Where is MGS? Twisted Metal? GT is a shell of what it used to be. You have FF still going strong. Tomb Raider kinda going. Shadow of Tomb Raider essentially flopped. RE is still posting 5-7 million sales. Nothing crazy like what Sony is doing with their 20 million franchises.

Point is I dont think going back into the well to mine franchises is going to work for MS. Even half of millennials have never played Perfect Dark. They were literally born in the 90s. Forget about Zoomers altogether. They dont give a shit about Halo. Why would they care about Fable? Fable is for us older millennials. The guys who grew up on Molyneux's bullshit.

I love what Bethesda is doing with starfield. It's taken them a long ass time, but they went out and made a brand new IP. They couldve easily made Skyrim 2 after selling 30 million units but they chose to invest in something completely new. Just like they had done with fallout 3 in 2008. THAT is what MS should be doing. Just make something brand new. Make a new IP. They let Bungie go and Bungie created an entire fucking GaaS genre in just under 4 years. ND, Insomniac, Sucker Punch and GG, and even Sony Bend went out on a limb and were rewarded with insane success. Their biggest flop reached 9 million players and likely 6 million plus sales and is even getting a tv show.

I look at MS saying Halo will go on! and just shake my head at how after all these years, MS is still mostly Fable, Forza, Halo, Perfect Dark and Gears. Surely Hellblade and Avowed cant be the only original titles not from the 50s.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

eh. If they were a gold mine, MS would be on top.

Wrong

They never utilized the IP properly

That’s my point

 

[Heisenberg007]

Game Pass is profitable and the Series X|S is the fastest selling Xbox of all-time, even though you can buy every game on PC as well.

Based on the last official report, yes. But things may have changed since then.

• Based on the recent NPD data we got. Xbox S|X performed 44% worse than Xbox One did in 2014, 2015, and 2016 in the US.
• In other regions, it is worse. For instance, X|S still hasn't surpassed 2M units in the UK even after 115 weeks. Xbox One and Xbox 360 reached the milestone in 104 and 110 weeks, respectively. So Series X|S is selling worse in the UK than both 360 and Xbox One.

It'd be interesting to see if Microsoft releases an updated statement soon that X|S is still tracking ahead. Otherwise, it'd be safe to assume that it's no longer the case worldwide.

 

[TheThreadsThatBindUs]

10 years. He took over from Don Matrick immediately after Don bailed after the disastrous X1 reveal and the subsequent E3 meltdown. That was June 2013. We are finishing Jan. 9.5 years.

Before that, he was head of MS first party studios since 2008. So 15 years in charge of first party.

I'm talking about Matt Booty, not Spencer.

But imho, both need to go. Although Spencer has at least made some big moves with GamePass and buying publishers.

 

[diffusionx]

Microsoft doesn’t have a gold mine of IP. Like, look at what happened when Battletoads came out. Battletoads was consistently cited as one of those games people wanted MS to come back to. So they did, and nobody gave a shit. It completely flopped. You can say, well Battletoads sucked, but that is the point. They’re not going to make all the old fart fans happy constantly. They learned that lesson with Nuts & Bolts.

The big problem with MS is that they are not executing the games they do have. Whether it was Perfect Dark or “New Franchise FPS”, it’s not going well. What they did with Flight Sim - got a team that could handle it, made the game, got it out in a reasonable timeframe, and it turned out very well - is what they should be doing with everything. That is basically what Sony does. Yet MS just can’t seem to do that. Maybe whoever was in charge of that product at MS should replace the Xbox leaders.

 

[NorbertK]

I'm not at all surprised by this claim.

I posted a much longer version of this elsewhere so I won't fully repeat myself but outside of Halo, Gears, and Forza, Microsoft has mismanaged everything they've touched. They had so many IPs they could have grown but kept screwing the pooch. They crashed FASA into the ground and sold off Bizarre Creations for scraps. They almost completely destroyed RARE by flushing RARE's IPs down the crapper to make the studio work on Kinect and the X360 dashboard and avatar redesigns. They lost Bungie simply because they wouldn't let Bungie work on projects other than Halo.

Mismanagement is the only constant when it comes to Microsoft's gaming division.

1. AoE or MFS also Microsoft has mismanaged?
2.When Bizarre Creations was MS studio?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bizarre_Creations
3. And yet SoT is most successful they ever made.

 

[MagnesD3]

Microsoft doesn’t have a gold mine of IP. Like, look at what happened when Battletoads came out. Battletoads was consistently cited as one of those games people wanted MS to come back to. So they did, and nobody gave a shit. It completely flopped. You can say, well Battletoads sucked, but that is the point. They’re not going to make all the old fart fans happy constantly. They learned that lesson with Nuts & Bolts.

The big problem with MS is that they are not executing the games they do have. Whether it was Perfect Dark or “New Franchise FPS”, it’s not going well. What they did with Flight Sim - got a team that could handle it, made the game, got it out in a reasonable timeframe, and it turned out very well - is what they should be doing with everything. That is basically what Sony does. Yet MS just can’t seem to do that. Maybe whoever was in charge of that product at MS should replace the Xbox leaders.

They actually have a ton of great ip, they just have to not lean on the old goodness they actually have to work and make something amazing.

A huge win for example was Killer Instinct, that thing imo is possibly the best fighting game fighting game ever made and it was born from a classic well known gaming IP. Make quality games that don't alienate the old fans and people will celebrate.