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[Chromata]

Disclaimer: This isn't another Microsoft hate thread, in fact it's coming from someone who's a fan of game pass.

Microsoft has something special on their hands. The value inherent in a $15/month service where you can play hundreds of quality titles on a wide variety of devices is incredible. Their vision, as they claim, is Xbox as a service or ecosystem rather than one specific console. They removed financial barriers (having to buy a console and potentially Xbox Live Gold to play games) and made the most accessible ecosystem out of the big 3 (Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft).

So then why do we keep hearing about XSX as the most powerful and revolutionary next gen console capable of running games like we've never seen before? If you're selling Xbox as an ecosystem, stop treating XSX like the definitive next gen console with "console launch exclusives". That's Sony's shtick and you said you're done with that.

Why is their marketing team touting a cross gen game (Halo Infinite) as the definitive reason to own a XSX? Are you trying to sell the console or the platform? Pick one and do it well rather than trying to do both poorly. Gamers aren't mindless, we can see Halo isn't what you say it is. Make it clear that Halo is now something we can experience using Xbox services on our choice of device and make that your ONLY message.

TLDR: Microsoft, pick a strategy and stick to it. Stop trying to convince people to buy a XSX and start convincing people to buy into Xbox as a service. Reveal Lockhart, place it alongside XSX, and treat it as a family of products that let you game the way you want to game (mobile, PC, 1080p 60fps Lockhart, 4k 30-60fps XSX). Stop trying to be Sony and then say you are going in a different direction.

 

[oldergamer]

Agree to agree.

 

[lastmessiah]

"Stop trying to convince people to buy a XSX and start convincing people to buy into Xbox as a service."

That's exactly what they're doing? You guys love to create these narratives in your heads and then roll with them as if they have any relation to reality.

 

[Chromata]

"Stop trying to convince people to buy a XSX and start convincing people to buy into Xbox as a service."

That's exactly what they're doing? You guys love to create these narratives in your heads and then roll with them as if they have any relation to reality.

Right now they're in this awkward place where they're trying to do a bunch of things but not doing any of it well. This recent event faced such backlash because they hyped XSX as THE console to own, then backed it up with CGI trailers and underwhelming visuals. If I didn't know anything about Xbox going into yesterday's event, I would have thought that I needed to buy XSX to experience all those games and that game pass is some sort of service only on XSX. Their marketing is heavily XSX centric while their overall strategy is not.

Just look at the "cross gen" response on this forum. We learned recently that not all games will support Xbox One, but just a few months ago we thought all games had to support Xbox One and that it'd hold next gen back. If enthusiasts are getting confused by your messages, then there's a problem.

 

[cireza]

Who tells you that Lockhart is actually going to be a thing ?

 

[lastmessiah]

Right now they're in this awkward place where they're trying to do a bunch of things but not doing any of it well. This recent event faced such backlash because they hyped XSX as THE console to own, then backed it up with CGI trailers and underwhelming visuals. If I didn't know anything about Xbox going into yesterday's event, I would have thought that I needed to buy XSX to experience all those games and that game pass is some sort of service only on XSX. Their marketing is heavily XSX centric while their overall strategy is not.

Just look at the "cross gen" response on this forum. We learned recently that not all games will support Xbox One, but just a few months ago we thought all games had to support Xbox One and that it'd hold next gen back. If enthusiasts are getting confused by your messages, then there's a problem.

No one is getting confused, man. Any "confusion" is just a result of concern trolling from disingenuous fanboys. People know what Xbox is. It doesn't mean "Xbox Series X". It doesn't even mean you have a console. I play "Xbox" on my PC.

Just use common sense. What happens every console "generation". It starts with a bunch of trumped up expectations, followed by a return to reality and a realization that nothing is going to change right away. Then a few years in we will start to see games that maximize the power of whatever hardware they are running on. Meanwhile multi-plats will outsell all exclusives across the board, and they will run better or look better on whatever console has the greater specs. This is how it always plays out, but people will still bicker on their forums as if this isn't the case.

 

[Goalus]

Who tells you that Lockhart is actually going to be a thing ?

Isn't it released in August?

 

[Chromata]

Who tells you that Lockhart is actually going to be a thing ?

It isn't confirmed but there's a lot of sources that support it. It also seems to go hand in hand with their strategy of supporting a wide range of devices.

No one is getting confused, man. Any "confusion" is just a result of concern trolling from disingenuous fanboys. People know what Xbox is. It doesn't mean "Xbox Series X". It doesn't even mean you have a console. I play "Xbox" on my PC.

Just use common sense. What happens every console "generation". It starts with a bunch of trumped up expectations, followed by a return to reality and a realization that nothing is going to change right away. Then a few years in we will start to see games that maximize the power of whatever hardware they are running on. Meanwhile multi-plats will outsell all exclusives across the board, and they will run better or look better on whatever console has the greater specs. This is how it always plays out, but people will still bicker on their forums as if this isn't the case.

I would disagree on the first bolded point, I think that's a steep generalization. If "Xbox" doesn't mean "Xbox Series X", then Microsoft should focus on that instead of adopting Sony's strategy of primarily selling the console.

Microsoft Tries to Explain Confusing Xbox Series X Exclusives Policy

Despite previous statements, it seems that only a few upcoming Xbox Series X games may also be coming to Xbox One.

www.denofgeek.com

It looks like Microsoft is already breaking a big promise with Xbox Series X

Your existing Xbox won’t play the new Forza or Fable

www.theverge.com

Microsoft still hasn't made the case for Xbox Series X

Yesterday's Xbox showcase failed as a pitch to buy a new games console - but perhaps Microsoft is playing a different game altogether.

www.eurogamer.net

Tell me none of this is mixed messaging and nobody is confused.

Regarding the second bolded point, I don't see that from Sony's camp. What we saw from Ratchet and Clank, Unreal 5 demo, and Horizon 2 is very clearly next gen. The press surrounding the event and Digital Foundry's analysis are pretty good indications of that. This is because Sony is primarily selling the PS5 as its only next gen console with exclusives only on PS5.

 

[FunkMiller]

Spot on OP.

Either sell a service or a console. Make your mind up.

You can’t flog us the idea of playing everything cross gen AND try to flog a brand new next gen console. The two things have different philosophies and messaging.

 

[Freeman]

Goldmine = willing to put all their games on game pass and pay for third party devs to do the same.

Every half-decent publisher is sitting on a goldmine then.

 

[Bkdk]

Their gold mine is to release great AAA PC focused or exclusive games again. Halo seems like it will be quite the disappointment, just pour the money into aoe4, flight and avowed to make them some of the best PC AAA gaming experience in a long time, also collaborate with GSC gameworld to provide more funding to stalker 2. With blizzard and valve slowing down, the pc AAA gaming market basically has 0 competitors right now.

 

[Gamerguy84]

Yes they are sitting on a goldmine. Azure, Office, Windows print money.

 

[quest]

Their gold mine is to release great AAA PC focused or exclusive games again. Halo seems like it will be quite the disappointment, just pour the money into aoe4, flight and avowed to make them some of the best PC AAA gaming experience in a long time, also collaborate with GSC gameworld to provide more funding to stalker 2. With blizzard and valve slowing down, the pc AAA gaming market basically has 0 competitors right now.

There is a reason for blizzard slowdown. PC gamers are the cheapest around. Even flight simulator i see people bitching about the price on reddit. Spend 5k on a set up for a game like that but the game costs to much lol. Console gamers subsidize PC gaming. there is no PC goldmine unless you mean those crappy free to play games.

 

[ZehDon]

Tend to agree, OP. I love Gamepass and I'm in for Series X, it's a smart move, and the combined value of what they're offering up is amazing. But, Microsoft need to pick a bloody lane - their flip flopping here just doesn't compute. What's happening inside Xbox? Has Halo Infinite's backlash really done triggered this?

Just for fun, I present a full blown tin foil hat conspiracy tale from my ass:
The "No Player Left Behind" rhetoric started life as a PR marketing spin created to explain away Halo Infinite being a cross-gen title, a PR spin that Microsoft decided to embrace as their launch strategy, and its now blown up in their face because 343i dropped the scalability ball on the world stage, and Microsoft is scrambling badly to save face.
My theory - because there really must be a reason for this calamity - is that 343i fell so far behind on Halo Infinite for the Xbone that Microsoft had no choice but to push it back to end up as a launch title on Series X. They pushed the "No Player Left Behind" PR spin, and hoped they'd given 343i enough time to deliver on their promises of scalability. And, why wouldn't 343i be able to deliver? We've all seen companies like Rockstar push scalability with Red Dead Redemption 2, across the base Xbone all the way up to the highest end PC's on the market. We know it really is possible. So, Spencer and co. decided to have faith that 343i could deliver something similar - a game that scales across all generations. A real showcase of the fusion of talent, tools, and technology. A Gamepass must-have, a next-gen show piece, and 343i's crowning glory. As most of their internal studios use Unreal Engine, an engine that scales really, really well, Microsoft Game Studios believed they could make this "No Player Left Behind" approach actually work, so, instead of just being the Halo Infinite cross-gen cover story, it became the launch strategy. Through it, they might just keep their Xbone platform alive for another year, raking in those Gamepass dollars, while the hardcore go in for PC and Series X where they've got their bases covered. And it sounded so brilliant - they had found a way to turn the potential monetary disaster of delaying Halo Infinite and abandoning their Xbone platform, into a money making power-house that players seemed to love.
But: 343i kept falling behind. So, to make up dev time and hit that immovable launch date, they started cutting their next gen exclusive feature set. Missed one milestone, so goodbye next-gen exclusive character models. Missed another milestone, so goodbye next-gen exclusive animations. Another milestone blown, better drop the next-gen exclusive texture work. Perhaps they decided to go all in on a native 4k at 60FPS and pray that next-gen ray traced lighting and the additional pixel count could get the current-gen assets to shine in the same way that the MCC's up-scaling has let the Xbox 360 games look almost current gen. Less development work, but same next-gen payoff. But, then they just kept falling further and further behind, and their optimization efforts came up short, so they had to just scrap ray-traced lighting from launch and hope it can be patched it in later, to eventually deliver something that resembled their initial next-gen vision.
And now, with 343i scrambling, and with the world scratching their head and wondering just what the hell happened, Microsoft's entire "No Player Left Behind" strategy is crumbling around them because its centerpiece, its cornerstone, its champion has come up dramatically, embarrassingly short, and placed the entire notion into question. And so, just like the initial PR spin that started it, they're trying to walk back their strategy with more spin - but the left hand hasn't talked to the right. Half the team is on message - "No Player Left Behind!" - and the other half are scrambling, trying to salvage their launch propositions by letting players know that the "real" next-gen games are still to come.
Anyway, here's wonderwall.

 

[longdi]

Have to agree. I guess Phil is treading carefully not to face the core gamers' backlash, as like Xbox One.

core gamers = over-reacting gif meme loudest self-entited rowdy crowd.

Gamepass service on a xCloud is going to change gaming going forward.

 

[anothertech]

Or they could, you know, invest in something that blows our minds for once.

 

[cireza]

It isn't confirmed

So it might never be announced and not even exist.

 

[Neofire]

So many people buying into that GAAS mess hurts my heart. So many draw backs.

 

[Fart Knight]

Why did you buy Breath of the Wild for Switch?

 

[The Scrivener]

How can the message "the greatest games announcement of 2020" be in any way confusing?

Stunning entries into Halo, Forza, Fable. Wake up yo.

 

[Bkdk]

There is a reason for blizzard slowdown. PC gamers are the cheapest around. Even flight simulator i see people bitching about the price on reddit. Spend 5k on a set up for a game like that but the game costs to much lol. Console gamers subsidize PC gaming. there is no PC goldmine unless you mean those crappy free to play games.

No, market is always there, that’s how valve managed to earn lots of money from half life Alyx and their VR headset, it’s just that they are earning even more from esports scene. Also the profits for successful export gaming is bigger than pc and console AAA gaming, it’s also easier and more stable, that’s why riot, valve and blizzard has no intention to create big budget titles for consoles as well.

For Microsoft, they don’t have a successful esports game, a successful AAA PC focused or exclusive will earn them quite a bit of money, they know it too that’s why they are doing AOE4 and flight. 343i certainly can’t help them to grow their console business anymore, dominating the pc AAA gaming scene is the logical approach.

 

[Slings and Arrows]

Microsoft are competing with Steam, not Sony.

They want the Xbox to be a Steambox and to filter people away from the Steam eco-system.