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[Doctor Hades]

Microsoft built up so much momentum with the original Xbox (my personal favourite) and the Xbox 360 then just squandered it all with the Xbox One and have been struggling ever since. It is depressing that they went from being the manufacturer of what was to me at the time, Dreamcast 2, with great exclusives from SEGA and their own sports label to basically having no real system selling exclusives over the course of a decade.

Sad really as I have very fond memories of my time with Xbox particularly and then the Xbox 360, despite owning six of them during its life time due to the red light fiasco. I remember feeling very underwhelmed with the Xbox One and its dire launch lineup and clunky Kinect device. It wasn't long before the PS4, which launched a week later, was impressing me though and PlayStation quickly became my main gaming console platform, thanks to strong first-party single player games.

I'm not sure what Microsoft can do to change that. I suspect even if they bought every publisher out there that they would still manage to mess things up and fail due to poor management. The Xbox lacks brand identity in my opinion. GamePass is not enough to save Xbox, certainly not if the hardware itself is failing to sell, and I am not even sure Microsoft have the gaming pedigree that SEGA had when they ditched the Dreamcast, to go third-party only either.

 

[Shadowstar39]

This is a genuinely interesting thought, and leads me to believe that PS may go heavy into the service route in the near future. If their data is showing younger gens are playing mainly multiplayer they may feel confident in pursuing that route. They're investing heavily into GAAS now.

Younger gamers don't sustain the industry though. It takes all of us. Old school gamers like me who have been around since the atari 2600 have the most money to spend. I buy single player games, and even if i am not finished, I will buy another game, especially if there is a sale. I buy tons of single player games and almost no multiplayer. My steam library alone ads up to almost $6k since 2004. Then there is GOG, PSN/Playstation, Switch, and now XBX (got it for older games ).

When I got my series x this year, I went on a shopping spree, anytime I see 2.99, 3.99 , 4.99 or up to 9.99 I purchase. My many smaller purchases add up to a few mainline games. Multiplayer only gamers don't do this. Hell I remember in the ps3 gen, a few friends were into wow. That is all they would play. I would try to get them into something else and they would borrow uncharted 2 from me but would always go back to wow, for like a decade. Blizzard got that $15 a month, and that was it. I paid up to $60 a few times a month. That is a big difference. You got subs which is steady consistant small payout or individual games which is higher purchases but its less guaranteed.

Gen Z aren't even doing the mmo subscription, they are doing free to play. All those Multiplayer games listed are not Battlefiled 4 multiplayer where you have to buy the $60 maingame and play the mp portion. No these are just no buy games and they play because their streamer friends play it. Meanwhile I don't associate with friends online. I play to escape real life and go into another world for a bit. Totally different mindset, totally different purchase habits.
A company who can't take care of both of us will not last. Microsoft neglected the gamers like me, and they didn't used to (as can be seen by the number of older xbox games I picked up). It was even more clear when I went to a local game store and the ps5 isle had 4 vertical shelves, but xbox series had 1.

 

[Humdinger]

Who's to say these games will be any good though.Yea,they have plenty of studios now and can make lots of games,but they just don't deliver truly great AAA games....Halo Infinite,Redfall,Starfield....none of these are special and some are straight up trash....year after year they fail to deliver head turning games,exclusive or not they need to release some 9/10 AAA games.

Yeah, I'm not saying they all would've been bangers. I'm just saying they were finally at a point where they could put the old "Xbox has no games" meme to rest. Then they do a 180 and send the "exclusives" to their main rival.

Again, I get why. It's just ironic, that's all. There's a further irony in that it seems it was the acquisition itself that made it crystal clear to the CFO and Nadella that this current course was not sustainable, and that they needed to de-exclusivize these games.


Here's Ryan McCaffery, Mr. Xbox at IGN, expressing the same idea:

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

Meanwhile Nintendo is like this about their IP’s on other systems (save for thise CD-i shit Zelda games)

They will sell another remaster for 30m copies.

 

[kyussman]

Yeah, I'm not saying they all would've been bangers. I'm saying they were finally at a point where they could put the old "Xbox has no games" meme to rest. Then they do a 180 and send the "exclusives" to their main rival.

Again, I get why. It's just ironic, that's all. There's a further irony in that it seems it was the acquisition itself that made it crystal clear to the CFO and Nadella that this current course was not sustainable, and they needed to de-exclusivize their games.

Here's Ryan McCaffery, Mr. Xbox at IGN, expressing the same idea:

I've no idea why they thought a Netflix of games would work,watching TV ain't playing games.....there are a finite number of gamers around and of them only a percentage that will want to sub to a streaming service for their gaming....I could see this coming and I'm basically an idiot,lol.

 

[Laptop1991]

Quality Singleplayer games are important on any platform for me, they don't have to be exclusive, but i'm not a console gamer so i'm not invested in competing for just sales of hardware.

 

[Humdinger]

I've no idea why they thought a Netflix of games would work,watching TV ain't playing games.....there are a finite number of gamers around and of them only a percentage that will want to sub to a streaming service for their gaming....I could see this coming and I'm basically an idiot,lol.

Right (about the idea, I mean, not your being an idiot). Plus the GP Day 1 strategy trained Xbox gamers to not buy games, which further undercut their profits.

 

[Eiknarf]

You can have all the multiplatform GAAS trash you want. (Fortnite, the list goes on)

You can have all the successful multiplayer focused games you want (Halo, Gears)

You can have all the successful racing and sports games you want. (Forza)

But.

The reason people buy CONSOLES is to play quality, exclusive, single player games.

Its the ONE thing Microsoft failed at. They had MP hits, they have sports games, they have great service and value, they were the pioneers of online console gaming, they have everything on their platform they need to succeed except quality single player exclusives that Sony and Nintendo have in droves.

Like? Whats the difference between PlayStation and Xbox? They both offer the same exact shit, one just has an onslaught of quality single player exclusives the other doesn't.

How did Sony build the brand power the PlayStation has? quality single player exclusives

Nintendo? quality single player exclusives.

Quality single player exclusives are what give your console an identity. They are the Game of The Year winners, which help give your console recognition. They are the games people talk about decades later.

Xbox doesn't have that. And it cost them their brand.

Publsihers will always need to invest in quality single player games, its the only thing that has been proven succesful time and time again. Generation after generation. Even with the rise of GAAS trash. MS should have invested in more big budget, AAA, single player games - They wouldn't be on the verge of becoming Sega 2.0


edit: importance*

edit 2: My first ever thread without a or reaction, mods, un-tag me

Spoiler: in lieu of gamespot 2004

TLHBO

I agree with this, but I just read elsewhere “that quality single player games are also starting to dry up because the cost to create them is not sustainable at current game prices, without micro transactions to make up the difference.”

“It’s why we’re only seeing a handful of them release per year, now, across all platforms.
(And the vast majority of them are sequels, remasters or remakes with dedicated fan bases).”

“The dev cycle on these large single player games is 4 - 5 years and they cost hundreds of millions of dollars to bankroll.”

“If you can’t tell, Sony is struggling right now with content, themselves. Their drip of first party games has completely fallen off. The only actual first party Sony title releasing this year is probably going to be Foamstars. A multiplayer driven Splatoon rip off, and it was given away as a PlayStation Plus game. Their only first party release in all of 2023 was Spider-Man 2.”

(Again, I’m quoting. But does the writer have good points?)

 

[Cyberpunkd]

The top 5 games on the US PSN are always multiplayer games: Fortnite, EA Sports FC, NBA 2K, Call of Duty, Madden. That disproves your entire thesis.

It does not. As he pointed out, the only difference between Sony and Microsoft in the games they offer is SP epic games. You can say historically Microsoft had much stronger MP offering, that didn’t translate into market dominance.

Although my guess is it’s 50/50 SP games and losing the most important gen (PS4 vs XBO) when people started to get attached to a given ecosystem.

 

[kurisu_1974]

It has always been about the killer app, which is a great exclusive single-player game. Zelda: BotW made the Switch, right after Nintendo failed with the Wii U because it lacked one.

Maybe I misunderstood the point you are trying to make but

This is how I played Breath of the Wild.

 

[Drew1440]

Wii U had a few exclusives and still failed, it's more based on marketing. I rarely see the Series consoles advertised.

 

[FIREKNIGHT2029]

Spoiler: in lieu of gamespot 2004

TLHBO

Or TLHBR!

It's about the whole package. Great Single Player exclusive games + 3rd party support + Marketing and Messaging. All three are essential to have great sales and MS has failed to deliver on all three except with the 360.

 

[Shut0wen]

The top 5 games on the US PSN are always multiplayer games: Fortnite, EA Sports FC, NBA 2K, Call of Duty, Madden. That disproves your entire thesis.

Not only that but sea of thieves still has a alot of players on both xbox and pc, probably rares most successful game, OP delusional af

 

[NightmareFarm]

I wouldn't really say Sony's exclusives are quality tbh despite how polished and graphically impressive they are.

 

[FireFly]

Maybe I misunderstood the point you are trying to make but

This is how I played Breath of the Wild.

Wii U production ended before the release of Breath of the Wild.

 

[TidusYuna]

I think one thing people overlook that may not have contributed to the demise of XBOX directly, but stopped XBOX from getting the spark or momentum they needed to get back in this race, was Sony's Purchase of Bungie. I think the Reunion of Halo X Bungie would have been like Microsoft's Final Fantasy 7 Remake announcement. I think that announcement could have been a system seller. The gamers that jumped over from the 360 to PS4 would have probably picked up an XBOXseries for that announcement. & a teaser for the next Halo game ending with the Bungie Logo would have been the perfect way to announce the acquisition of Bungie for Microsoft. The gaming world would have erupted.

But if Microsoft is really going third party, the reunion of Halo X Bungie may still be a possibility in the future. Microsoft would have to be willing to lend out the IP to Sony X Bungie. They(Microsoft) could also lend the Rare IPs (banjo kazooie) to Nintendo and collab with them.

 

[NeverYouMind]

Need I remind you about how terrible the fumbles at Bungie have been under Sony?

 

[Shake Your Rump]

the most popular Switch game is Mario Kart 8, followed by Animal Crossing and then Smash Bros. The "quality singleplayer game" (Zelda) comes in 4th place.

I presume your statement is based on sales. Note that a single-player game can have multiple people enjoy it with one copy. A multi-player game requires the purchase of multiple copies. Multi-player games will inherently sell more copies. They are not necessarily more “popular”.

 

[darrylgorn]

A month of nothing but Palworld and fanboy wars.

Wake me up when we get back to fun stuff.

 

[Black_Mamba]

Maybe I misunderstood the point you are trying to make but

This is how I played Breath of the Wild.

I thought it was released when the Wii U was already dead...

 

[Ar¢tos]

Need I remind you about how terrible the fumbles at Bungie have been under Sony?

Bungie's fumbles started LOOOOONG before Sony buying them.

 

[Lokaum D+]

its simple math, Xbox market share its the lowest that had ever been and they just bought Activision/King for u$75b, they need to cash from that acquisition or shareholders ll go mad.

As I said in another thread, XBOX is no longer as relevant as it used to be ( X360 era ), the best way for them to remain relevant in the market is to go third party.

in short Xbox turns into Sega next Wednesday.

 

[kurisu_1974]

Wii U production ended before the release of Breath of the Wild.

I thought it was released when the Wii U was already dead...

It was announced well before, so unless you were waiting to buy the Wii U together with the Zelda game, you would probably have owned one by then, no?

 

[DryvBy]

All multiplatform titles available on Xbox. The difference is the exclusives. The reason people buy PS twice as much as they do Xbox is because of the quality exclusives.

I came from PC/Nintendo and hated Sony forever. I didn't jump onboard until the PS3 days and it was all Xbox to blame. 4 RROD really hurt my faith in them. I've bought every Xbox since but I'm not switching back due to the quality of games. They haven't had anything interesting to me since Rare Replay.

Multiplayer is always great but older family morons like myself need single player.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

It does not. As he pointed out, the only difference between Sony and Microsoft in the games they offer is SP epic games. You can say historically Microsoft had much stronger MP offering, that didn’t translate into market dominance.

You could also argue XBox historically punched well above its weight, and hung with Sony despite operating on a much smaller scale, because of their multiplayer success.

You could also argue their multiplayer focus helped them considerably and that was BEFORE multiplayer turned into the Live Service monster that it is today.

 

[Black_Mamba]

It was announced well before, so unless you were waiting to buy the Wii U together with the Zelda game, you would probably have owned one by then, no?It was announced with a teaser trailer

It was announced with a teaser trailer, then it disappeared for years. When it reappeared in 2016 and gameplay was shown, Wii U was already considered a huge failure and everyone was expecting the next console.

 

[Eiknarf]

The top 5 games on the US PSN are always multiplayer games: Fortnite, EA Sports FC, NBA 2K, Call of Duty, Madden. That disproves your entire thesis.

Let's take a look at what's most important, and compare PlayStation to XBOX to see where XBOX failed:


Sony's recent State of Play...

Stellar Blade - single player
Rise of the Ronin - single player
Final Fantasy Rebirth - single player
Death Stranding 2 - single player
Dragons Dogma 2 - single player
Sonic Shadow Generations - single player
Judas - single player
Dave The Diver - single player
Zenless Zone Zero - single player
Until Dawn Remake - single player
Silent Hill 2 Remake - single player
Legendary Tales VR - single player
Metro Awakening VR - single player

The only multiplayer games they showed were Foamstars and Helldivers 2.

Xbox's recent showcase...

Hellblade 2 - single player
Avowed - single player
Indiana Jones - single player
Visions of Mana - single player
Ara: History Untold - single player

No multiplayer games shown

Other games announced...

Wolverine - single player
Light No Fire - single player and multiplayer
No Rest For The Wicked - single player
Clockwork Revolution - single player
Star Wars Outlaws - single player
GTA 6 - single player and multiplayer
Fable - single player
Pacific Drive - single player
South of Midnight - single player
Metaphor Re Fantazio - single player
Path of the Goddess - single player
Black Myth Wukong - single player
Lost Soul Aside - single player
Phantom Blade 0 - single player
The Plucky Squire - single player
Skull and Bones - single player and multiplayer

2024 Releases so far...

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora - single player
Tekken 8 - single player and multiplayer
Persona 3 Reload - single player
Granblue Fantasy Relink - single player
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown - single player
Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth - single player
Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League - single player and multiplayer
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty - single player


2023 releases...

Hogwarts Legacy - single player
Final Fantasy 16 - single player
Forspoken - single player
Horizon Burning Shores - single player
Horizon Call of the Mountain - single player
Zelda Tears of the Kingdom - single player
Spider-Man 2 - single player
Starfield - single player
Baldurs Gate 3 - single player
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty - single player
Lies of P - single player
Alan Wake 2 - single player
Super Mario Bros Wonder - single player
Resident Evil 4 Remake - single player
Sea of Stars - single player
HiFi Rush - single player
Assassins Creed Mirage - single player
Forza Motorsport - single player and multiplayer

 

[FireFly]

It was announced well before, so unless you were waiting to buy the Wii U together with the Zelda game, you would probably have owned one by then, no?

Well given the Wii U's terrible sales and market perception, the claim would be that lots of Zelda fans were on the fence. Then when the release date was announced, the Switch release was imminent and a few weeks later Wii U production ended.

 

[Physiognomonics]

Sony only launched Marvel's Spider-Man 2 in 2023. So, what is your point?

Spider-man? Such a niche IP.

 

[Arsic]

Sony chased the 360 library to get a successful MP fps hit like halo. And then MS had exclusive stuff for CoD too. They tried with resistance and Killzone to fail.

They decided they can’t get a hit in that field so they opted to buy exclusive things from CoD instead.

Microsoft unfortunately never lived up to 360 era MP game hits after the 360.

Sony just stayed the course and MS continues to have no clue under Phil’s guidance to be winners in gamers eyes. Shit the dude said they lost. This is his strategy— make money where he can, fuck the brand.

 

[skyfinch]

No, it comes down to how awesome Ps5 is. It's a god damn beast! Ripping out those frames per second, higher res. better tracing of rays.

And how the fuck Seriously X and S gonna be competitive with no VR. And number one sellers like Ratchet and Rank?

They fucked up when Don decided to leave for greener pastures. Does Phil even game? Lol, y'all be true to yourselves. None of y'all even heard of his name until he started getting stupid game dates tatted on his weak physique. Man has linguine for arms.

 

[Woggleman]

Sony has the AAA story type of games and Nintendo has the pure gameplay Japanese type of games. What identity does X Box have?

 

[Sushi_Combo]

Need I remind you about how terrible the fumbles at Bungie have been under Sony?

They've been largely operating independently from Sony management until things started to go downhill pretty quick when the latest expansion released.
This is more of a Bungie problem though.

 

[Arsic]

Sony has the AAA story type of games and Nintendo has the pure gameplay Japanese type of games. What identity does X Box have?

 

[SNG32]

The gaming industry is in an interesting point right now. The cost of the gaming budgets are getting insane and I feel it’s reached a point where developers are playing it safe all around. I mean look at what happened to immortals of aveum 125 million budget and undersold. a game that was attempting to reach high graphical leaps but failed miserably in sales because it was a shitty game. You’re starting to see it with Sony, they are only doing AAA games on basically marvel hero games or legacy franchises and not taking in risks with AAA on newer creative titles. We’ve reached a point where it’s all about maximizing reach of your ip to get more people playing the games to balance the budgets.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

Let's take a look at what's most important, and compare PlayStation to XBOX to see where XBOX failed:


Sony's recent State of Play...

Stellar Blade - single player
Rise of the Ronin - single player
Final Fantasy Rebirth - single player
Death Stranding 2 - single player
Dragons Dogma 2 - single player
Sonic Shadow Generations - single player
Judas - single player
Dave The Diver - single player
Zenless Zone Zero - single player
Until Dawn Remake - single player
Silent Hill 2 Remake - single player
Legendary Tales VR - single player
Metro Awakening VR - single player

The only multiplayer games they showed were Foamstars and Helldivers 2.

Xbox's recent showcase...

Hellblade 2 - single player
Avowed - single player
Indiana Jones - single player
Visions of Mana - single player
Ara: History Untold - single player

No multiplayer games shown

Other games announced...

Wolverine - single player
Light No Fire - single player and multiplayer
No Rest For The Wicked - single player
Clockwork Revolution - single player
Star Wars Outlaws - single player
GTA 6 - single player and multiplayer
Fable - single player
Pacific Drive - single player
South of Midnight - single player
Metaphor Re Fantazio - single player
Path of the Goddess - single player
Black Myth Wukong - single player
Lost Soul Aside - single player
Phantom Blade 0 - single player
The Plucky Squire - single player
Skull and Bones - single player and multiplayer

2024 Releases so far...

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora - single player
Tekken 8 - single player and multiplayer
Persona 3 Reload - single player
Granblue Fantasy Relink - single player
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown - single player
Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth - single player
Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League - single player and multiplayer
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty - single player


2023 releases...

Hogwarts Legacy - single player
Final Fantasy 16 - single player
Forspoken - single player
Horizon Burning Shores - single player
Horizon Call of the Mountain - single player
Zelda Tears of the Kingdom - single player
Spider-Man 2 - single player
Starfield - single player
Baldurs Gate 3 - single player
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty - single player
Lies of P - single player
Alan Wake 2 - single player
Super Mario Bros Wonder - single player
Resident Evil 4 Remake - single player
Sea of Stars - single player
HiFi Rush - single player
Assassins Creed Mirage - single player
Forza Motorsport - single player and multiplayer

 

[diffusionx]

Yeah, I'm not saying they all would've been bangers. I'm just saying they were finally at a point where they could put the old "Xbox has no games" meme to rest. Then they do a 180 and send the "exclusives" to their main rival.

Again, I get why. It's just ironic, that's all. There's a further irony in that it seems it was the acquisition itself that made it crystal clear to the CFO and Nadella that this current course was not sustainable, and that they needed to de-exclusivize these games.


Here's Ryan McCaffery, Mr. Xbox at IGN, expressing the same idea:

I dispute McCaffery's contention here. They released three major games last year. Redfall was a train wreck. Starfield was a disappointment. Forza was also a disappointment. None of these games were close to what they should have been, especially given they all got delays. So now Xbox fans are saying the same thing they've been saying since about 2015, this year is gonna be the real year they deliver. Well, first of all, why should I think Indy and Avowed and all that won't suffer the same fate as these other games, and dig Xbox deeper into the hole? Avowed looks rough as hell and Hellblade 2, it already looks like they are dialing back expectations for it.

 

[Megatron]

im not sure the single player part is crucial but Microsoft need must play games and they just don’t have them.

 

[Umbral]

Wrong. They just need to make good games. Irregardless of genre.

If it's fun, people will buy and play it.

I’m sorry to be that guy, but somebody has to. Double negative. You are saying “with regard to,“ not “without regard to.”

 

[Deputy Moonman]

The demise of xbox? Seriously? That's some crazy hyperbole/gas lighting you got going there.

 

[Kumomeme]

The top 5 games on the US PSN are always multiplayer games: Fortnite, EA Sports FC, NBA 2K, Call of Duty, Madden. That disproves your entire thesis.

take away those games....those multiplayers, those millions sellers of non-exclusive titles...then what's left?



but if you ask this question to Sony and Nintendo:

Spoiler

and this is become part of reason why people would buy the related consoles and contributed heavily toward their product's mindshare which is something very important aspect that lot of people overlooked.

 

[djjinx2]

I agree with this, but I just read elsewhere “that quality single player games are also starting to dry up because the cost to create them is not sustainable at current game prices, without micro transactions to make up the difference.”

“It’s why we’re only seeing a handful of them release per year, now, across all platforms.
(And the vast majority of them are sequels, remasters or remakes with dedicated fan bases).”

“The dev cycle on these large single player games is 4 - 5 years and they cost hundreds of millions of dollars to bankroll.”

“If you can’t tell, Sony is struggling right now with content, themselves. Their drip of first party games has completely fallen off. The only actual first party Sony title releasing this year is probably going to be Foamstars. A multiplayer driven Splatoon rip off, and it was given away as a PlayStation Plus game. Their only first party release in all of 2023 was Spider-Man 2.”

(Again, I’m quoting. But does the writer have good points?)

Xbox is definitely in a position now to release a lot more games than Sony due to the size of first party.

But it would be such a long road back to the top over multiple gens I fear the execs would want faster returns so releasing some games on other platforms will get them a quick buck.

It will be more damaging long term and seems short sighted however.

 

[EDMIX]

Maybe.

This is a situation where I don't believe it's specifically about single player or multiplayer I actually believe it's about quality in general because could you imagine if any one of the platform holders had something like Fortnite? i think the biggest issue with Microsoft currently has more to do with just quality because look at Nintendo they have many multiplayer games like Animal Crossing or Mario kart or smash bros that are extremely popular

So I don't disagree that clearly Sony and Nintendo have a massive advantage over Microsoft when it comes to quality single player but I believe Microsoft's issue is as a whole how they're controlling those teams and I think maybe not providing adequate freedom is probably why we're seeing such a lukewarm reception on a lot of these titles.


All I know is that Microsoft's current situation has not just magically resulted in like the best multiple player games or something. So I would say their situation might be far worse because they need quality single player games as well

but clearly in this situation they need quality everything right now

Xbox is definitely in a position now to release a lot more games than Sony due to the size of first party.

But it would be such a long road back to the top over multiple gens I fear the execs would want faster returns so releasing some games on other platforms will get them a quick buck.

It will be more damaging long term and seems short sighted however.

True, but imagine you are one of the higher ups and you just watched them blow 100 billion only to still sell less hardware, only for someone to keep making it sound like the answer is to now limit and devalue those purchases by having less systems to sell them on.

So if they wanted to stay in the home console market, there is a road to the top that I agree has more games then Sony, but I feel it will take a whole generation and for those games to be actually really exclusive to XB in order for it to really make any dent to Sony or Nintendo right now, but shit....with their games going to PC now, that alone is likely causing less sales this gen vs last (me included as clearly I own Starfield and don't own a XB)

So if they continue this path towards 3rd party, I don't see them ever coming close to Nintendo and Sony in terms of dominating the market, as those short terms gains, will be remembered by gamers when Switch 2 and PS6 is announced.

As imagine how hard it will be to sell next gen XB based on the promise of "exclusives" after you spend a whole gen being multiplatform? Imagine a fucking parent reading that while they choose either a Switch 2 or PS6 for their kid, they are likely going to buy else where and just wait until MS inevitably ports anyway.

Once that trust is lost, its really hard to get a market to return that believes in any of that, so who knows how this will all play out.

 

[Deputy Moonman]

Xbox is definitely in a position now to release a lot more games than Sony due to the size of first party.

But it would be such a long road back to the top over multiple gens I fear the execs would want faster returns so releasing some games on other platforms will get them a quick buck.

It will be more damaging long term and seems short sighted however.

Would it though? Multiple gens?? Half of xbox's initial big exclusives have yet to launch. Fable, Hellblade, Everwild, etc? This gen has barely gotten started. Even Sony, albeit more than MS, has only released a limited amount of exclusives. I find this idea that MS is going oh woe is me. I guess I'll throw in the towel... completely laughable. Maybe I'm wrong, but no one will know until we actually hear something official from MS this week and not from all the journalists taking advantage of the sensationalist reactions by gamers to write stories.

I'm going to laugh if Sea of Thieves launches on PS5 and it bombs.

How would it bomb? It's literally a proven successful game with lots of content. I'm sure the entire playstation player population would completely ignore it. Outside of the culture issue where the Japanese market is completely close minded and lives in a bubble (a big reason why xbox has had such little success there), and the rest of the world that thinks MS is evil, Sea of Thieves on the playstation or nintendo would allow those handicapped with that mindset an opportunity to play said games.

True, but imagine you are one of the higher ups and you just watched them blow 100 billion only to still sell less hardware, only for someone to keep making it sound like the answer is to now limit and devalue those purchases by having less systems to sell them on.

MS has said on many, many occasions that they don't make a profit off of hardware. It's software that's more important. Why do people keep thinking that MS is upset about hardware sales?

 

[veterangamerUK]

This is a genuinely interesting thought, and leads me to believe that PS may go heavy into the service route in the near future. If their data is showing younger gens are playing mainly multiplayer they may feel confident in pursuing that route. They're investing heavily into GAAS now.

Yes, as my moniker suggests I have been playing games for decades but it’s clear the younger people aren’t fussed about single player and it won’t be many years before Sony’s main focus is GAAS whether we on here like it or not

 

[Dutchy]

I’m sorry to be that guy, but somebody has to. Double negative. You‘re are saying “with regard to,“ not “without regard to.”

I checked it to be sure.

appreciate it though my engrish is not so gud

 

[djjinx2]

Would it though? Multiple gens?? Half of xbox's initial big exclusives have yet to launch. Fable, Hellblade, Everwild, etc? This gen has barely gotten started. Even Sony, albeit more than MS, has only released a limited amount of exclusives. I find this idea that MS is going oh woe is me. I guess I'll throw in the towel... completely laughable. Maybe I'm wrong, but no one will know until we actually hear something official from MS this week and not from all the journalists taking advantage of the sensationalist reactions by gamers to write stories.

It would for sure take multiple gens.

Mind share is huge and right now that's all Sony has over Xbox.

That's all it took.

Games started the swing to Sony, but Worldwide it was never in Xbox favour to begin with

 

[Bert Big Balls]

It does not. As he pointed out, the only difference between Sony and Microsoft in the games they offer is SP epic games. You can say historically Microsoft had much stronger MP offering, that didn’t translate into market dominance.

Although my guess is it’s 50/50 SP games and losing the most important gen (PS4 vs XBO) when people started to get attached to a given ecosystem.

Great point. It was the PS4 era that undoubtedly fucked Xbox. The PS3 got blown away by the 360, but then Xbox fucked it up with their next console and the PS4 was an amazing piece of hardware. These days I also see a lot more people talking about the PS5 than the latest Xbox. You're right I think, last gen was definitely the most important in terms of who would come out on top.

 

[digoutyoursoul]

Huge amounts of money
The wrong people spending it
It’s all there for everyone to see