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

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

Someone's nuked Phil Spencer in Fallout 76 | PC Gamer

WWW.PCGAMER.COM

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I do want to set the world on fire.

 

Quote

 

After a week of Microsoft shutting down much-loved game studios like The Evil Within and Hi-Fi Rush developer Tango Gameworks, as well as Arkane Austin, best known for Prey and Dishonored, one player decided to take justice into their own hands. They got one over on Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer (P3) by nuking his camp in Fallout 76. 

 

The act of vengeance was first spotted by a Fallout 76 player on Twitter early this morning, who posted a picture of their server's map which shows a massive red circle around P3's camp. The apparent culprit then replied to the post with a video of him walking around P3's camp surrounded by a nuclear red mist, a screenshot of him encountering P3 in the wild, and a caption that just read "guilty".  

 

 

[Mr.Vic20]

Fallout from the Fallout, in Fallout. Well done! 

[crispy4000]

What is the point of Xbox?

WWW.EUROGAMER.NET

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Xbox has repeated the same terrible mistakes for over a decade. The reason is simple: its priorities are back-to-front.

 

 

Quote

… The thing that binds all these moments together couldn't be more clear. The philosophy of a great video game platform holder is that it makes money in order to make more consoles and more games. The philosophy of Microsoft - and by dint of that, Xbox - is evidently that it only makes consoles and games in order to make money. Like so many businesses owned by gigantic, publicly-traded mega-companies, Xbox is now stuck in a cycle of thinking back-to-front. It, and I suspect much of the video game world, no longer knows why it exists.

 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

A Linked-In post from a former senior PR manager at Microsoft:

 

 

HA!  He uses the identical "Eye of Sauron" terminology to describe the new scrutiny directed towards the Xbox business unit post-ABK acquisition that I did yesterday! 

[Best]

I think we need to give Microsoft a chance here with their upcoming exclusives. But everyone here is making great points so I'd like them to go third party. Have Sony and Nintendo duke it out. 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

The ABK acquisition genuinely appears to be a "poisoned chalice" for Xbox.

[Firewithin]

if COD was ever put on gamepass their best best would be to do the single player as gamepass but still charge for MP since that is the big draw still for whatever reason.  people wouldnt like it but its something 

[AbsolutSurgen]

3 minutes ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

The ABK acquisition genuinely appears to be a "poisoned chalice" for Xbox.

In 2022, MS still felt their strategy was working.  And, maybe, if it had closed in a timely manner it would have.

[Keyser_Soze]

2 minutes ago, Firewithin said:

if COD was ever put on gamepass their best best would be to do the single player as gamepass but still charge for MP since that is the big draw still for whatever reason.  people wouldnt like it but its something 

 

Maybe the opposite.

 

You have to pay to play the game online, and they already rope that into game pass so maybe give the single player out since no one cares about it.

[SuperSpreader]

38 minutes ago, best3444 said:

think we need to give Microsoft a chance here with their upcoming exclusives.

 

I don't agree, everyone dunking on them doesn't prevent them from making a great game. It's on them to prove themselves at this point.

[AbsolutSurgen]

I have great confidence that Forza Horizon 6 will be great.

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

40 minutes ago, best3444 said:

I think we need to give Microsoft a chance here with their upcoming exclusives.

 

If there is even a shred of truth in that Linked-In post, Microsoft simply cannot afford to actually have exclusives.  Everything is practically screaming: 

 

GO THIRD-PARTY AND GO THIRD-PARTY NOW!

[Best]

I just want Fable. 

[Best]

1 minute ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

 

If there is even a shred of truth in that Linked-In post, Microsoft simply cannot afford to actually have exclusives.  Everything is practically screaming: 

 

GO THIRD-PARTY AND GO THIRD-PARTY NOW!

 

Fuck em then. Third party for them. 

[SuperSpreader]

1 minute ago, best3444 said:

I just want Fable. 

 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

2 hours ago, crispy4000 said:

What is the point of Xbox?

WWW.EUROGAMER.NET

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Xbox has repeated the same terrible mistakes for over a decade. The reason is simple: its priorities are back-to-front.

 

In its own subtly understated way, this is a very, very angry editorial.

[crispy4000]

Please don’t go third party.  The industry is much worse off if Sony goes unchecked in the AAA console space.

[Keyser_Soze]

Sounds like Mikami has the right idea

 

Shinji Mikami Wanted to Leave Tango Gameworks Years Before He Did - IGN

WWW.IGN.COM

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Famed game developer Shinji Mikami, known for directing the original Resident Evil and The Evil Within, has revealed why he left his former studio Tango Gameworks despite founding it himself.

 

 

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Mikami said he wanted to create an environment where young talent could prosper through development which included shorter project cycles, for example. Mikami also had a desire to make unique, smaller scale games himself, so wanted to connect these two ideas.

 

So look forward to whatever he has coming next

[Spawn_of_Apathy]

1 hour ago, best3444 said:

I just want Fable. 

I also want Fable, but I have little faith in the game being even close in quality and content to the last 3 main games. 

[GeneticBlueprint]

2 hours ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

 

In its own subtly understated way, this is a very, very angry editorial.

 

Why whatever do you mean?

 

Spoiler

What might both sell more consoles and add to subscriptions is, you guessed it, producing video games that give people joy.

 

Oh. Oh that's what you mean.

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

27 minutes ago, GeneticBlueprint said:

 

Why whatever do you mean?

 

  Reveal hidden contents

What might both sell more consoles and add to subscriptions is, you guessed it, producing video games that give people joy.

 

Oh. Oh that's what you mean.

 

That's certainly one of the instances!

[SaysWho?]

8 hours ago, crispy4000 said:

What is the point of Xbox?

WWW.EUROGAMER.NET

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Xbox has repeated the same terrible mistakes for over a decade. The reason is simple: its priorities are back-to-front.

 

 

 

 

This dude:

 

Quote

Wildly successful was what Microsoft was after. A pitch for Fable 4 was rejected. "It was like, you've reached your cap of players for RPG on Xbox and you need to find a way to double that, and you're not going to do it with RPG," Fable's art director John McCormack told Eurogamer at the time. "I thought, yes we can. I said, look, just give us four years, proper finance, give us the chance Mass Effect has, Skyrim has, the games at the time. They're getting four years and a lot of budget. Give us that, and we'll give you something that'll get you your players. Nah, you've had three shots and you've only tripled the money. It's not good enough. Fuck off. That's what I was annoyed about." (Worth noting: Skyrim went on to sell 63m copies, as of June 2023, The Witcher 3 over 50m.)

 

[legend]

Not that long ago, various Xbox fans were losing their shit that MS was going to release some games on PS and wanting to "quit the brand" over it. I think these actions are far greater reason to do something like that. It would be fantastic if the gaming community so severely punished MS for being a cunt to their developers that they were forced to change their behavior.

 

Not going to happen though.

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

Sarah Bond -- the President of the Xbox Division -- was on stage today at The Bloomberg Technology Summit and was asked about the studio closures.  Naturally, her response was couched in the usual corporate speak, but even still, I really get the impression that whoever from Microsoft/Xbox media relations was tasked with preparing her really dropped the ball.  Even by the relatively low to non-existent standards of clarity that define corporate speak, the response that she was given to provide isn't very good at all.   The video below is timestamped to start at the question:

 

 

Assuming that her presence at this event was scheduled well in advance of yesterday's closures, I simply could not imagine that MS/Xbox media relations wouldn't have provided her with "emergency" talking points in the event a question about the studio closures was asked and if that's the best they could've come up with, then...dear God.

 

Also, her tone of voice just sounds absolutely exhausted and dejected/defeated which is probably indicative of the pressure that must be being exerted upon the Xbox business unit by the Microsoft executive level.

[crispy4000]

 

There's little doubt she was pressured.

[stepee]

Phil Spencer Has Now Been Head of Xbox for 10 Years; We Look Back at His First Decade - IGN

WWW.IGN.COM

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Ten years ago on March 31, 2014, then-Xbox Game Studios boss Phil Spencer was named Head of Xbox. And he inherited quite a mess. You all know the story; there’s no need to beat the horse corpse...

 

 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

@stepee - did you mean to post this article from Ryan instead?  He published it a couple of hours ago.

 

Phil Spencer and the Battle for Xbox’s Soul - IGN

WWW.IGN.COM

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Has the rapid growth of Xbox made the ship too heavy? Following the closures of Tango Gameworks, Arkane Austin, and Roundhouse, we explore what the future of Xbox could look like.

 

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Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Xbox stepped on a rake again.

 

For the umpteenth time in the past decade, Microsoft has found itself on the wrong end of bad news. And as usual, it’s self-inflicted. Just as Team Green was starting to gather some positive momentum – Fallout is the biggest show on TV and boosting all of the Fallout games along with it, the launch of Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 is imminent and it may be the very kind of prestige single-player, narrative-driven third-person action-adventure the brand has long lacked, the next Xbox Showcase was announced for June 9, where we might finally see the long-anticipated next entry in the Gears of War series, the next Call of Duty: Black Ops game, and more – Xbox brass torched the morale of customers and quite possibly its own developers alike by announcing the closure of three studios (Tango Gameworks, Arkane Austin, and Alpha Dog) and the consolidation of a fourth (Roundhouse).

 

Fans were quick to point back to recent and now-hypocritical quotes from Xbox executives, such as marketing boss Aaron Greenberg saying last year that just-axed developer Tango Gameworks’ Hi-Fi Rush “was a breakout hit for us and our players in all key measurements and expectations. We couldn’t be happier with what the team at Tango Gameworks delivered with this surprise release.”

 

 

[stepee]

3 minutes ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

@stepee - did you mean to post this article from Ryan instead?  He published it a couple of hours ago.

 

Phil Spencer and the Battle for Xbox’s Soul - IGN

WWW.IGN.COM

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Has the rapid growth of Xbox made the ship too heavy? Following the closures of Tango Gameworks, Arkane Austin, and Roundhouse, we explore what the future of Xbox could look like.

 

 

 

Nope! I specifically searched for that ridiculous pants riding article I called out 6 weeks ago when it was posted (and I think it’s toned down from the original posting) but this does make it even funnier!

[AbsolutSurgen]

46 minutes ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

Sarah Bond -- the President of the Xbox Division -- was on stage today at The Bloomberg Technology Summit and was asked about the studio closures.  Naturally, her response was couched in the usual corporate speak, but even still, I really get the impression that whoever from Microsoft/Xbox media relations was tasked with preparing her really dropped the ball.  Even by the relatively low to non-existent standards of clarity that define corporate speak, the response that she was given to provide isn't very good at all.   The video below is timestamped to start at the question:

 

 

Assuming that her presence at this event was scheduled well in advance of yesterday's closures, I simply could not imagine that MS/Xbox media relations wouldn't have provided her with "emergency" talking points in the event a question about the studio closures was asked and if that's the best they could've come up with, then...dear God.

 

Also, her tone of voice just sounds absolutely exhausted and defeated which is probably indicative of the pressure that must be being exerted upon the Xbox business unit by the Microsoft executive level.

Any executive worth their salt should have been able to answer better than that. 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

8 minutes ago, stepee said:

 

Nope! I specifically searched for that ridiculous pants riding article I called out 6 weeks ago when it was posted (and I think it’s toned down from the original posting) but this does make it even funnier!

 

Speaking of Ryan and Phil...

 

Phil Spencer Set To Take Part In Big Interview After 2024 Xbox Games Showcase

WWW.PUREXBOX.COM

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Things are heating up ahead of the big day - Xbox Showcase season is really starting to kick into gear now! We recently got all the details on when exactly t...

 

[legend]

54 minutes ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

Sarah Bond -- the President of the Xbox Division -- was on stage today at The Bloomberg Technology Summit and was asked about the studio closures.  Naturally, her response was couched in the usual corporate speak, but even still, I really get the impression that whoever from Microsoft/Xbox media relations was tasked with preparing her really dropped the ball.  Even by the relatively low to non-existent standards of clarity that define corporate speak, the response that she was given to provide isn't very good at all.   The video below is timestamped to start at the question:

 

 

Assuming that her presence at this event was scheduled well in advance of yesterday's closures, I simply could not imagine that MS/Xbox media relations wouldn't have provided her with "emergency" talking points in the event a question about the studio closures was asked and if that's the best they could've come up with, then...dear God.

 

Also, her tone of voice just sounds absolutely exhausted and defeated which is probably indicative of the pressure that must be being exerted upon the Xbox business unit by the Microsoft executive level.

 

If she and other executives fought and lost this battle, they should loudly quit. It's not even like quitting would be a big financial risk for people like them. They'll be fine.

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

1 minute ago, legend said:

 

If she and other executives fought and lost this battle, they should loudly quit. It's not even like quitting would be a big financial risk for people like them. They'll be fine.

 

This post on ResetERA from Imran Khan indicates that there probably wasn't much of a battle to be fought after ABK stockholders cashed a $70 billion check.

[legend]

9 hours ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

 

This post on ResetERA from Imran Khan indicates that there probably wasn't much of a battle to be fought after ABK stockholders cashed a $70 billion check.

 

Well, I suppose that's another reason to quit  

[DarkStar189]

Game Pass is a strange concept when you think about it. Games are really expensive to make and the master plan was to put them all up for "free" and rely on subscribers paying monthly. For me personally, I almost never get heavily invested into a game I've gotten for free. I'm more likely to impulse buy something I might want to try. Then they have gotten my money for the game, and i stick with it more because I paid for it.  You put it up for free on Game Pass and I'll try it for 30 minutes and just move on. In that case they got no extra money out of me.

[SuperSpreader]

That's what I've been saying. It doesn't make any sense. But oohh no I'm out of touch. I know gamers like Free, who doesn't!? But that doesn't mean it's sustainable.

 

Games aren't like Microsoft Word, getting small incremental bug fixes and updates over a year. Word, Photoshop, etc are tools.