@navyguy21: The problem is Xbox has stated things like Cloud gaming is their “least popular feature,” “not the best player experience,” and “running at a loss.” Most players that use the feature aren’t on mobile, but console gamers who use it while the native game is downloading. Source. So Xbox nerfed their flagship console, and further endured retail shortages for what has been a dud so far…
Console gamers may not be their target, but that’s the majority of their userbase. Just like Game Pass. Console gamers are the Xbox userbase, whether Xbox wants to accept it or not. Giving that base a compromised product and less focus is not the best strategy moving forward.
@navyguy21: The problem is Xbox has stated things like Cloud gaming is their “least popular feature,” “not the best player experience,” and “running at a loss.” Most players that use the feature aren’t on mobile, but console gamers who use it while the native game is downloading. Source. So Xbox nerfed their flagship console, and further endured retail shortages for what has been a dud so far…
Console gamers may not be their target, but that’s the majority of their userbase. Just like Game Pass. Console gamers are the Xbox userbase, whether Xbox wants to accept it or not. Giving that base a compromised product and less focus is not the best strategy moving forward.
Nearly every PC gamer I know is subbed to Game Pass... What are you on about?
@theam0g: Anecdotes vs Phil Spencer saying they’ve reached a point of saturation with Game Pass. The growth has slowed to a crawl. And the majority of subs are on console. Just like the majority of XCloud users are on console.
@ghostofgolden: PC Game Pass is growing, just recently they said PC Game Pass subscriptions increased 46% year over year, and late last year it grew 159% over the previous year.
Game Pass for consoles is reaching saturation, but for PC it is still growing smoothly. PCGP is not as big as playing on Steam, but not exactly small either.
@ghostofgolden: PC Game Pass is growing, just recently they said PC Game Pass subscriptions increased 46% year over year, and late last year it grew 159% over the previous year.
Game Pass for consoles is reaching saturation, but for PC it is still growing smoothly. PCGP is not as big as playing on Steam, but not exactly small either.
Growth is good. But what are the numbers? 46% over what number? 159% over what number? Why did growth drop so drastically? We don’t know if these figures are impressive or not without more context.
Feb '22 email from Bethesda exec Pete Hines suggests frustration at Xbox/PC-centric strategy for team's games.
Reacting to public vow to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation: "I'm confused, is the below not the opposite of what we were just asked (told) to do with our own titles?" pic.twitter.com/N6S8IqBxbH
in a 2019 email, Xbox chief Phil Spencer compares Xbox to Polaroid, and how Xbox consoles are like analog film with mobile gaming (digital photography) growing massively. He says there’s a need to have a mobile gaming company inside Microsoft like what Activision is trying to do pic.twitter.com/vjhDzUpBmN
@ghostofgolden: From a revenue standpoint, he is right.
We are talking about MS buying Activision. Have you noticed that a lot of the reasoning by MS on why it wants to do this is King, not Activision? King "quietly" made $1b in revenue last year alone of one game - candy crush. In 2022, mobile game sales surpassed console/PC game sales; and that trend is not slowing.
There's a reason why Phil says "game to game" basis.
MS just as to answer the question "what is the ROI on a game being exclusive, given the loss of revenue from it not appearing on other platforms? If the ROI is positive, make it exclusive. If it's negative, leave it multiplat."
COD sells $750+ million on PlayStation per year. If MS makes CoD exclusive, will they get a $750+ million per year bump? Probably not. Therefore, keep it on both.
Starfield, even if it surpasses Skyrim, will not meet those numbers. While Skyrim is the 7th best selling game of all time, it is one game. The CoD franchise releases a new game almost yearly, hence the "$750+ million on PlayStation per year". So, keeping ES, Fallout, and Starfield exclusive will drive Game Pass subscriptions, and offset the loss of revenue by not having the games on PlayStation.
@dabear: Oh I know. King and COD mobile are the big get. All of Phil’s emails illustrate their stance on the state of Xbox and its future. It’s just wild to compare and contrast his PR statements with what is being said internally. He literally brought up “closing all the Xbox stuff and starting a mobile game store.”
There's a reason why Phil says "game to game" basis.
MS just as to answer the question "what is the ROI on a game being exclusive, given the loss of revenue from it not appearing on other platforms? If the ROI is positive, make it exclusive. If it's negative, leave it multiplat."
COD sells $750+ million on PlayStation per year. If MS makes CoD exclusive, will they get a $750+ million per year bump? Probably not. Therefore, keep it on both.
Starfield, even if it surpasses Skyrim, will not meet those numbers. While Skyrim is the 7th best selling game of all time, it is one game. The CoD franchise releases a new game almost yearly, hence the "$750+ million on PlayStation per year". So, keeping ES, Fallout, and Starfield exclusive will drive Game Pass subscriptions, and offset the loss of revenue by not having the games on PlayStation.
@ghostofgolden: We don’t know what the exact subscription numbers are, but Microsoft recently said they have 150 million monthly users across the entire Xbox ecosystem (all systems combined, this is an all time record for Xbox). So there’s that. As for PCGP specifically, the growth didn’t really drop from 159% to 46% as you might be thinking because these figures are from different parts of the year, so comparing them directly wont be accurate. I’m sure the growth rate with vary between each year and each quarter. But yeah, it’s hard to be certain without concrete numbers.
There's a reason why Phil says "game to game" basis.
Pete Hines clearly didn’t get that memo...
Apparently.
I am actually surprised that email went out - it's not that hard to see what the strategy is at MS; and I can't imagine that strategy is not spelled out in meetings.
@nintendoboy16: Sony is only with $110 billion or so don’t know the exact number, a $70 billion acquisition would cost them everything, 70 bil is a drop in a bucket for MS. Sony spent almost 2 billion on Crunchy roll and they don’t fully own funimation they just have a majority stake in it. If they could Ms would buy Sony and it would still just be a drop in the bucket. Sony can’t compete with Ms when it comes to acquisitions, if Ms goes on a buying spree all Sony can do is appeal to regulators to try and stop it because they know they can’t afford to do the same.
Did Jim Ryan really just say he doesn’t agree with exclusives😂😂😂.
What does Sony think about Starfield?
Jim Ryan is asked if there’s anything wrong in Microsoft doing exclusives like Redfall. He says “I don’t like it but I fundamentally have no quarrel with it.”
What about Starfield?
“I don’t like it, but I don’t view it as anti-competitive.”
Did Jim Ryan really just say he doesn’t agree with exclusives😂😂😂.
What does Sony think about Starfield?
Jim Ryan is asked if there’s anything wrong in Microsoft doing exclusives like Redfall. He says “I don’t like it but I fundamentally have no quarrel with it.”
What about Starfield?
“I don’t like it, but I don’t view it as anti-competitive.”
Damn! Jim curbed stumped Sony fannies again. Somone, call the AMBULANCE.😂
@kvallyx: yes that was the line of questioning that followed them asking him about 3rd party exclusives. So Xbox exclusives are bad and Sony exclusives are good is what he’s saying.
One of the biggest challenges that I think we have right now is the expectation that our new businesses/strategies - Game Pass (especially), xCloud, Mixer-- will make money and grow at 10/10 from the start.
Misses the fact that things like Netflix lost money for years chewing through startup funding”
The MS lawyer just used Jim Ryan’s testimony against the FTCs Witness… My goodness… And now the dude doesn’t even know what he wrote or what’s in his own models. He might be having a panic attack right now. This is soooo uncomfortable
If the FTC is funded by the taxpayers, we should be looking for a refund… What the hell is this?!??
It's funny hearing different takes from different forums. Over on Neogaf, they are praising Jim Ryan, said he knocked it out of the park and shit all over Phil Spencer.
Listening to the Microsoft Lawyer, Beth Wilkinson grill the FTC “star” witness Dr. Robin Lee about his quantitative models was entertaining and depressing all at once. Dudes models used gen 8 data and just applies them to current gen. Wilkinson also exposed that Dr. Lee didn’t have models for share shift in multi-game subscriptions or cloud gaming if COD is taken away from PS. There’s a pretty damn good chance Dr. Lee fooled the FTC regarding his credentials and models, and stole a bunch of money from them. That was absolutely brutal to listen to…
The difference here is that they're trying to beat MS with the content they make. MS is trying to beat MS with the content they acquire. The latter is seen as monopolistic and a no-no in countries that have anti-monopoly regulations.
The difference here is that they're trying to beat MS with the content they make. MS is trying to beat MS with the content they acquire. The latter is seen as monopolistic and a no-no in countries that have anti-monopoly regulations.
I see no difference when in context. Both are trying to kill each other. Sony is also trying to beat MS with the content they acquire.
The difference here is that they're trying to beat MS with the content they make. MS is trying to beat MS with the content they acquire. The latter is seen as monopolistic and a no-no in countries that have anti-monopoly regulations.
So when Sony paid for exclusivity with Deathloop, Ghostwire Tokyo, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy XVI, Death Stranding etc were they trying to beat MS with content they make?
The difference here is that they're trying to beat MS with the content they make. MS is trying to beat MS with the content they acquire. The latter is seen as monopolistic and a no-no in countries that have anti-monopoly regulations.
So when Sony paid for exclusivity with Deathloop, Ghostwire Tokyo, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy XVI, Death Stranding etc were they trying to beat MS with content they make?
Did Sony Aqcuire Deathloop, Ghostwire Tokyo, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy XVI, Death Stranding etc or any of the studios behind them? No. They made a deal with external studios to provide exclusive (sometimes timed) content to their platform. MS does and has done the exact same. (Gear of War, Dead Rising, Tomb Raider, Stalker 2, High on Life, etc)
None of the games you listed were a result of Sony buying a publisher.
The difference here is that they're trying to beat MS with the content they make. MS is trying to beat MS with the content they acquire. The latter is seen as monopolistic and a no-no in countries that have anti-monopoly regulations.
I see no difference when in context. Both are trying to kill each other. Sony is also trying to beat MS with the content they acquire.
Well yeah that's competition when companies try to outdo each other for our money. But there are rules and simply buying your competition out of business is called a monopoly.
Make no mistake. If Sony were the ones in the hot seat because they were trying to buy Activision I'd be saying the same thing. And Sony would absolutely use Activision to its advantage to muscle Xbox out of the console space. And they'd be wrong for it.
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