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Multiplatform-ism is not beneficial if the games suck.

ProtoByte

Weeb Underling
Just to be clear, I'm (mostly) referring to platform holder first parties here.

In light of rumors about Microsoft putting previous "exclusives" (stretching the term past breaking with the release on PC btw) on other consoles - legacy IP like Halo or newly acquired output like Starfield alike - I wanted to make this point and open it to discussion.

True exclusivity matters and is good. Without it, without consoles primarily differentiated by the games on them, the industry would not be what it is today. While the value proposition of a machine literally goes down as previous exclusives make it to others, it's not the back catalog or the list wars that's the real problem.

The real problems are how the development approach will change for future first party games, and how the competitiveness reduces, furthering reducing the incentive to make first party games in the traditional mold.

1st party exclusives have always benefitted from 2 things:

  • 100% revenue takeaway
  • The lack of necessity to be directly hugely profitable
  • The full focus on the one machine, maximum 2 accounting for an assumed mid-gen refresh.
Looking at the margins from the Insomniac leak, you can see why, beyond the quality of the studios, PlayStation has published 3 Spider-Man games of their quality and Square Enix published The Avengers. Accounting for the cut that Marvel is taking from their licensed games (which does change the math, but not so much), you can apply this to other 3rd party vs 1st party games.

Assuming even partial validity in the most recent rumors about Xbox's intent, the Gamepass economics are absolutely to be blamed to a large degree. But the attempt to create a multiplatform ecosystem, something that stems at least as far back as 2013 even under Mattrick, necessarily becomes the catalyst for gamepass, or vice versa. They're coming together, no matter the order.

Similarly, it's not by chance that Sony's desperate attempt at live service building came along with a drive towards PC and mobile. It's not exactly the same thing, but it's similar, by Sony's own internal admission.

So we come back to the title of the topic: Being cheap and available everywhere doesn't help anyone if the games are crap. Is anyone on PlayStation really excited by the idea of playing Halo Infinite? Starfield? What was the point of Microsoft buying up so much, inevitably and necessarily reforming the studio's and IP to fit their mold, if it just meant they were going to release multiplatform anyway? Honestly, it is likely that the quality of whatever they've acquired will degrade. What was the point?
 

justiceiro

Marlboro: Other M
So, you are still bitter over the acquisitions, even if the games will keep coming? Do you think starfield became "bad" because Bethesda got acquired?
 

Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
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SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
I think being multiplatform hurt starfield. The devs couldn’t polish up the Xbox version. It didn’t look as good as the PC version i played and it immediately lost its luster on Xbox.

I think Sonys foray into multiplatform gaming will blow up in their face but for now they are letting their devs focus on the ps5 while picking third party devs to port the game at a later date. If i buy a $70 exclusive on ps5, I’m not looking enviously at pc gamers telling me how they got a better version on Day one.

And yes, shipping games on 3 platforms will hurt the Xbox versions even more. We have seen how despite the power advantage, so many games ship with bizarre issues on Xbox already. Multiplatform devs only care about the largest userbase. If that happens to Xbox first party devs then it will be a disaster in pr.
 
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ProtoByte

Weeb Underling
So, you are still bitter over the acquisitions, even if the games will keep coming? Do you think starfield became "bad" because Bethesda got acquired?
No, I think Bethesda got acquired right as BGS's formula got stale and the surrounding IP and capital was starting to fall off, and I don't think Microsoft is capable of or willing to maintain or better their prospects. I definitely remember seeing a change in the narrative around Bethesda when Microsoft purchased them, however. Between Outer Worlds and the prospect of Cyberpunk 2077, people were more than ready to kick BGS to the curb. Starfield hype and intrigue mostly hinged on its "exclusivity" to Xbox.

Always accuse "the enemy" of what you're already doing, I guess.

Being multiplatform should help Xbox exclusives be better than they currently are. They can justify more budget to these games.
I don't think so. Microsoft has purchased so much so quickly; their bulk and flagging sales are going to make them desperate. All the other major third parties are not looking to see how they can spend more or even attain higher quality a lot of the time. The incentive with multiplatform games is, often (not always) to appeal to the lowest common denominator.

Why do you think so many of them grasp at live service straws? I mean, even Sony's trying or tried that now, but they might be swayed away from it, and they certainly didn't pounce on as soon as possible when the trend picked up. Again, I point to Avengers, and even Suicide Squad and Gotham Knights, in comparison to Spider-Man.

I think Sonys foray into multiplatform gaming will blow up in their face but for now they are letting their devs focus on the ps5 while picking third party devs to port the game at a later date. If i buy a $70 exclusive on ps5, I’m not looking enviously at pc gamers telling me how they got a better version on Day one.
If Sony is smart, they will view Nintendo and PC as a kind of competition. The leaks showed that they considered the validity of Microsoft's multiplatform/ecosystem approach, and their own doubts about traditional console business, but I think those doubts should be fully thrown out the window at this point. Microsoft's way didn't work, was never going to work and their have been people dwelling on forums who called it for years and years. The model doesn't make sense with platform economics, game finances, or the way games are consumed.

Hopefully PlayStation's next CEO recognises that. And I think there's a solid chance. Weirdly, the game industry might normalize back towards what it was in the 2000s - before the internet of things and other new age big tech high minded ideas took hold of business thought.
 
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baphomet

Member
If MS don't significantly up the quality of their games then there's no point in bringing them to PS5.

When you're starving your customers who actually bought your system, sure they're gonna play your games even if they aren't great. On a console with tons of high quality first party content, something like Redfall and even Starfield are just other mediocre titles.
 

LiquidMetal14

hide your water-based mammals
I wanna think of the next hot take the suspense is killing me I'm literally shaking from the pressure to come up with a good thread

This wasn't an argument even when the Xbox sucked (meaning over a decade).
 
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kyussman

Member
Making any game isn't beneficial if it sucks.....make great games and you'll have a strong business,people like great games......Nintendo and PlayStation seem to understand this,Microsoft not so much.
 

ProtoByte

Weeb Underling
As soon as we rid ourselves of these gatekeeping mentalities the better. The more games more people can play the easier the better, regardless of the quality.
Who was prevented from playing games on Xbox back when they were truly exclusive?

If MS don't significantly up the quality of their games then there's no point in bringing them to PS5.

When you're starving your customers who actually bought your system, sure they're gonna play your games even if they aren't great. On a console with tons of high quality first party content, something like Redfall and even Starfield are just other mediocre titles.
Yeah, if Microsoft thinks Starfield numbers are going to jump after they port it to PS5, they've got another thing coming.
 
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