Microsoft Update (05/15): Microsoft's multiplatform initiative has an internal codename - "Latitude"

[crispy4000]

If CoD doesn’t go to Games Pass, its a clear admission the model is broken.

If CoD does go to Games Pass, maybe subscription prices go up another $6 a month.

[Dodger]

While Spencer and the rest absolutely deserve to be sacked there is no doubt he gets replaced by a Bobby Kotick numbers driven suit with less sexual harassment (maybe). Whoever replaces Spencer is bringing the hatchet.

[stepee]

Look you all just need to give Phil some time he’s new tm

[SaysWho?]

This user on Reset brings up a good point about the Bethesda purchase:

 

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All that to get Starfield, only for it to get completely shown up by the actual best/most next-gen/highest reviewed RPG of all time launching exclusively on their main competitor's platform on practically the same day. Just wild

 

[Brian]

The answer is easy

 

Kotick Bobby Kotick GIF - Kotick Bobby Kotick Trade Prince - Discover & Share GIFs

TENOR.COM

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Click to view the GIF

 

[legend]

1 hour ago, SuperSpreader said:

 

You mean, make a game system about games? Like, Nintendo?

 

I'd be okay if they wanted the device to do more than games, but either way they need to work on actually providing value and not just buying the world and then fucking it up.

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

I wonder if a Gamepass revenue model metric started giving off warning alarm bells and that triggered these actions?

[Xbob42]

I actually think games like Call of Duty are exactly what Game Pass needs to keep large amounts of people subscribed: something they log in to play every day, or once a week or whatever. Something they can't just finish and unsub from. You could even get a little corporate-y and announce modes like zombies early but push out the release dates a month or two longer than they'd normally be to keep people just on the edge of unsubbing but "zombies is almost out," that kinda shit.

 

Keeping a CoD fan subbed all year at $10/17 per month is definitely more profitable than selling the game a single time for $70. Then you could still sell them DLC, microtransactions, upgrade packages to limited editions, etc.

 

Problem is, of course, as it's always been: scale. That base sub obviously covers less and less development costs the more games are on the platform, so as stated a few pages back, everyone just rushes to make some GaaS nonsense. I feel like it's not totally unsustainable or anything, but it'd be incredibly tricky to balance what you're offering vs what you're spending, and Xbox clearly is not capable of that. They've been struggling with even the basic "get people to want your games" part for a while now, and it's sad to see this is their response. You don't solve a game drought by paving over your reservoirs.

[Air_Delivery]

I don't really see the point of Xbox anymore tbh. Graphics cards last much longer than they used to so the cost isn't even that much different between it and PC.

 

I'm still running my 2070 on 1440p and i'm perfectly fine with  most games.

[JPDunks4]

Ultimately, its all bout ROI for anything in business.

 

One could argue that Xbox has been trying to do everything right for a while in the gaming space.

 

They offer tremendous value with Game Pass and Play Everywhere.

 

They really pushed Back Compatibility and upgraded the experience free of charge.

 

They offered a cheaper next gen console for those that wanted to play next gen only games on a budget.

 

They released their games Day and Date on PC for player choice.

 

 

At the end of the day, none of that mattered, and ended up hurting them more than helping. 

 

Day and Date on PC as a hardware manufacturer no doubt cannibalized your hardware business.  Add in that Play Anywhere doesn't seem like it's helped move any sales of any games, then you see PlayStation double dipping by releasing on PC a year or two later and getting additional sales revenue.

 

Game Pass itself flatlined at close to 30 million, which seems to be roughly the active install base of Xbox.  I honestly believe that even during the 360 Golden era, the actual active install base of Xbox users probably wasn't much higher than 30 million, if that.  In 2010 I think Xbox Live users were around 20 million, and that was during the glory days of Halo 3, Gears, and CoD really blowing up.  I always though Game Pass could work with scale, but I felt it'd need to be closer to 50 million subs to keep things healthy.   They clearly haven't seen any adoption with the Cloud Gaming they were hoping for, and while they said they've grown huge % in PC, % don't mean much when your starting from next to nothing.

 

I don't have issue with them acquiring Bethesda.  At the time, Sony were actively making deals to block Xbox versions of games with timed exclusivity.  Imagine if when Starfield did release, if it was only on Playstation 5 and not Xbox for another year or two.  It'd be even more devastating for Xbox.  Xbox needed something to try to give them more relevance to start the generation.  

 

I started moving pretty heavily to PC gaming a while ago, but it definitely sucks to see Xbox basically dying.  Since basically giving up on having console exclusives, and their hardware sales continue to really struggle, its hard to see a future where they make huge investments in hardware.  Especially if MS is riding them this hard only 6 months after closing the ABK deal.

 

I really think the reason for a lot of this, is Starfield didn't do what they needed it to do.  It sold decently, but I don't think it moved Game Pass subscribers at all.  While I enjoyed the game myself, it clearly didn't hit he same way one would expect a Bethesda RPG like Fallout or Elder Scrolls would.  Those can feel like a must have title, and Starfield ultimately didn't live up to that hype.  I think that's when Nadella started saying, you promised me Starfield was going to return this in subs/sales, and it fell woefully short of that  And that made MS start to scrutinize the rest of the business much more closely.

 

Maybe with the success of the Fallout show, the money men at MS are like, how long til the next Fallout, and the answer is like "10 years".  And they are like, lets kill some of the passion projects that didn't move the needle at all last year and get a team working on that right away.

 

 

[nublood]

Starfield was lazy as is the effort of Microsoft to stay relevant. Either that or they’ve just completely lost touch with what gamers want. Gamepass is fine and I’m sure it makes MS money. But at the end of the day, gamers want AAA system sellers like God of War, Demon Souls remake, Horizon, Spiderman, etc etc. MS has nothing remotely close to any of that in terms of lineup. And honestly there’s no real reason to own an Xbox when you have a PC. Can’t really say that about PS5. Xbox brand is hanging on, but it’s a model that continues to trickle into obscurity. 

[Massdriver]

4 hours ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

 

 

I got a lot of enjoyment out of all the Dishonored games and Prey. What a shame. 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

Microsoft says it needs games like Hi-Fi Rush the day after killing its studio - The Verge

WWW.THEVERGE.COM

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There seems to be some confusion here.

 

Quote

 

Today, one day after Microsoft announced that it would shut down four of its games studios, Matt Booty, head of Xbox Game Studios, held a town hall to discuss the division’s future goals. “We need smaller games that give us prestige and awards,” Booty told employees, according to internal remarks shared with The Verge.

 

For some listeners on the call, it was a surprising goal: Microsoft had just shut down the Japanese developer Tango Gameworks, which was coming off the small, prestigious hit title Hi-Fi Rush.

 

 

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While we don’t know exactly what sales goals Microsoft had for Hi-Fi Rush, clearly there is a demonstrated appetite for this kind of game, with Tango Gameworks positioned perfectly to deliver it. In fact, according to a report from Bloomberg, Tango Gameworks was in the process of pitching a sequel to Hi-Fi Rush before it got shut down.

 

With Hi-Fi Rush, Tango Gameworks gave Microsoft just what Booty says he wants: a small, creatively unique, highly praised, award-winning game. Booty’s comments, then, suggest that Xbox’s leaders couldn’t recognize what they had on their hands — or simply didn’t know how to take advantage of the success they were seeking out.

 

 

[crispy4000]

Fuck off Booty.  Read the room. 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

Morale at the Microsoft-owned studios must have plummeted through the floor.

 

It's one thing to realize that your organization has transitioned to what amounts to a "cost rationalization" mode, but it's an entirely different matter when the entirety of the executive team doesn't appear to have a single bloody clue as to what the hell they're doing.

[crispy4000]

5 minutes ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

Morale at the Microsoft-owned studios must have plummeted through the floor.

 

It's one thing to realize that your organization has transitioned to what amounts to a "cost rationalization" mode, but it's an entirely different matter when the entirety of the executive team doesn't appear to have a single bloody clue as to what the hell they're doing.

They surely felt the burn too.

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

[crispy4000]

This Resetera post, omg

 

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People are really misunderstanding this quote. What he's saying is that Microsoft is looking at all these smaller games that can give them prestige and awards as a reminder of all the killing they still have left to do

 

 

[SuperSpreader]

31 minutes ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

the entirety of the executive team doesn't appear to have a single bloody clue as to what the hell they're doing.

Masks off for the public tbh

[legend]

Developers have such a shit deal. It pains me that the people responsible for my favorite hobby/art are treated so poorly and mismanaged so terribly.

[sblfilms]

MS has attempted to differentiate itself from its competitors. But it may simply be that the market does not want what they are selling. I love GamePass because I am almost always way behind on games, so being able to jump on there and download a few interesting titles from the past 18-24 months has actually opened doors to more games than I would have previously played. But like the all-you-can-stream video content model, all-you-can-play gaming quite clearly devalues the content in the eyes of gamers. I've noticed I am less likely to buy things like DLC now that I don't "own" a game even though I am getting a better deal by effectively renting the title. There is some strange consumer psychology at play that I haven't completely wrapped my head around. But these titles need budgets based on more easily calculated revenue models. And there is something about GamePass that everybody has either not figured out or simply can't work.

I am leaning toward "can't work", which is disappointing as I personally like the product quite a bit.

[SuperSpreader]

21 minutes ago, sblfilms said:

And there is something about GamePass that everybody has either not figured out or simply can't work.

 

It's that all the games are being made with pre-GamePass pre-GAAS processes.

[sblfilms]

1 minute ago, SuperSpreader said:

 

It's that all the games are being made with pre-GamePass pre-GAAS processes.

 

I think that GamePass probably makes most sense as a repository of games 12+ months past release. Making it a place for day one releases reminds me of how the major studios thought they could do day and date cinema and streaming releases to catch both in home and out of home audiences at the same time. They failed to understand that these audiences are not wholly distinct, so they are taking money out of their own pockets by disincentivizing people from going to the cinema first, then also consuming to product at home.

 

I will be very curious to see how the market evolves and if there will be somebody to really figure out how you make it work. Clearly on the video content side, selling ads is a major part of making the all-you-can-stream model actually work. I would be curious if there is a similar path forward to generate revenue on the games people are playing on a service like GamePass.

 

Above my pay grade though!

[crispy4000]

48 minutes ago, sblfilms said:

But like the all-you-can-stream video content model, all-you-can-play gaming quite clearly devalues the content in the eyes of gamers. I've noticed I am less likely to buy things like DLC now that I don't "own" a game even though I am getting a better deal by effectively renting the title. There is some strange consumer psychology at play that I haven't completely wrapped my head around.

 

I don't think that's a weird take at all.  You might never get to the DLC you paid for in the time it takes for a game to get delisted, or for you to decide to drop the subscription.

 

I much prefer the Humble Choice model where you own the games straight up.  It's not a use it or lose it sort of thing.  Even if the games are generally a bit lesser/older, I value them more than better stuff with temporary access.

[crispy4000]

16 minutes ago, sblfilms said:

 

I think that GamePass probably makes most sense as a repository of games 12+ months past release. Making it a place for day one releases reminds me of how the major studios thought they could do day and date cinema and streaming releases to catch both in home and out of home audiences at the same time. They failed to understand that these audiences are not wholly distinct, so they are taking money out of their own pockets by disincentivizing people from going to the cinema first, then also consuming to product at home.

12+ month past release would work better if game prices didn't fall like rocks (outside of Nintendo first party).  Games that old are already so cheap by the time they hit the subscriptions.

[Keyser_Soze]

If you buy the DLC sometimes they give you the game. Like The Outer Worlds was on game pass and I bought the DLC for it and when it came off game pass because I bought the DLC they gave me the base game with it.

 

- Now it's hard to say definitively if this is the case because it's back on game pass right now but I'm pretty sure that's what happened.

[SaysWho?]

11 hours ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

Microsoft says it needs games like Hi-Fi Rush the day after killing its studio - The Verge

WWW.THEVERGE.COM

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There seems to be some confusion here.

 

 

 

This comment from reset:

 

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Honestly starting to believe they didn't know Tango made Hi-Fi Rush and thought they were some other studio lol.

 

[legend]

8 hours ago, sblfilms said:

 

I think that GamePass probably makes most sense as a repository of games 12+ months past release. Making it a place for day one releases reminds me of how the major studios thought they could do day and date cinema and streaming releases to catch both in home and out of home audiences at the same time. They failed to understand that these audiences are not wholly distinct, so they are taking money out of their own pockets by disincentivizing people from going to the cinema first, then also consuming to product at home.

 

Interestingly, this is how Sony is handling their analog of it.

 

Though I subscribe to neither  Gaming is cheap enough and I'm fortunate enough financially at this point in my life that I can buy the games I want to play when I want to without thinking about the price.

[Mr.Vic20]

So Gamepass was always sold on future subscriber potential and that potential never materialized, but the costs did. Xbox gaming division is basically Entertainment 720, cool.

 

[SuperSpreader]

I think Microsoft is just collecting IPs because they think denial is the way to "win"

 

Which is hilarious because that just shows you how uncreative people at the executive level are.

 

Oh, you don't think someone will just COME UP WITH ANOTHER IDEA??

 

Executives hate this one trick.

[AbsolutSurgen]

I personally don't get the vitriol against MS that I see on the internet.

 

They spent a lot of money making games that otherwise wouldn't have been made on a business strategy that hasn't worked out.  They can't continue to throw good money after bad.

[SaysWho?]

[Mr.Vic20]

That might well be the best use of that Meme yet, bravo! 

[ShreddieMercury]

23 minutes ago, AbsolutSurgen said:

I personally don't get the vitriol against MS that I see on the internet.

 

They spent a lot of money making games that otherwise wouldn't have been made on a business strategy that hasn't worked out.  They can't continue to throw good money after bad.

 

It does seem quite unbalanced, but that's just the console wars that weird 40 year olds continue to fight online.  This news just is really great cover for the most strident warriors.  This death spiral is a bummer because I vastly prefer the Xbox ecosystem and hardware relative to the other options, and their backwards compatibility initiative is/was really the only effort of its kind, and it's amazing when you see what is playable with enhancements on these modern systems. 

 

There have been some really cool smaller games that it seems were possible perhaps only because of the lower-risk gamepass model.  But overall, I think the general frustration about the lack of games is completely warranted, relative to the total portfolio of studios that are under MS and the time that they've had.  A few years back you could reasonably make the case that they just hadn't sorted out the pipeline given the recency of acquisitions, but by now it really begs the question: what on earth have they been doing?  It seems like a gigantic failure of management to not have at least something that can energize the brand or drive sales of their hardware.  I think Halo Infinite was the point where I realized how dire the situation was, as it was the third debatably bad game in a row in their (once) flagship series. 

[Mr.Vic20]

If MS is willing to part with all the IPs they have purchased in the last 5 years then I don't see a concern here. But they are unlikely to do that and so when big companies buy vaults of IPs and then close their studios, these IPs get trapped in corporate limbo. Above all else, that would be my chief concern with Xbox's downward trajectory.