Multiple insiders talk about Xbox exclusives going multiplatform - Phil Spencer to address

[kitler53]

Honestly though, it's pretty cool of Xbox to realize that Sony's internal studios haven't announced the release of any major exclusives this year and therefore give them all of theirs

— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) February 5, 2024

....people are expecting MS to respond today.   wouldn't be great if this was instead announced via a playstation state of play!

[the-pi-guy]

Tim has heard that Call of Duty may not be coming to game pass.

Hardware sales have not met the projected sales and the CFO got spooked.

In the last three months of last year, they had consoles for $350 and no one cared.

Xbox One was more wanted than Series consoles.

They said the hardware is dead, and they are seeing declines in hardware year over year.

Game pass is unsustainable; the market they have is not enough to offset the cost.

Tim heard from someone at Microsoft that you may not like Xbox when they get Activision. They want ROI.

He heard that Xbox has an insane showcase with tons of games, but everyone is going to be saying asterisks.

The leaks happened because a Microsoft employee who didn't want this to happen leaked it, so there would be a public outcry.

Microsoft now has no problem buying more companies in the future if all games go to all platforms.

Tim thinks they will go all-digital, with ads on game pass (pre-roll or at the end of a chapter e.g. Like a Dragon) and AI community managers.

(FYI) @XcloudTimdog explains why Microsoft made this decision to go third-party

- Tim has heard that Call of Duty may not be coming to game pass.
- Hardware sales have not met the projected sales and the CFO got spooked.
- In the last three months of last year, they had consoles… pic.twitter.com/ImxdBNIeh7

— Idle Sloth???????? (@IdleSloth84_) February 5, 2024

[SWORDF1SH]

Not really surprised by this. If MS concentrates on publishing all their games on multiple platforms, they will push for Xbox Pass on PS. They are more interested in moving subscriptions than selling hardware. I welcome this move because the industry needs to grow up and kill the fanboy culture.

[kitler53]

Not really surprised by this. If MS concentrates on publishing all their games on multiple platforms, they will push for Xbox Pass on PS. They are more interested in moving subscriptions than selling hardware. I welcome this move because the industry needs to grow up and kill the fanboy culture.

steam.  playstation.  nintendo.   

why would any of the big 3 allow MS to put gamepass on their ecosystems?   they won't.   

tbh,.. part of this move seems to be MS realizing that day-1 gamepass releases isn't financially viable so i don't know of MS even wants to get gamepass on other consoles anymore.  moving to 3rd party is probably at least in part a way to kick gamers off of gamepass and start buying games again.   ...like part of these rumors is ABK games are no longer coming to gamepass like previously promised.

[nnodley]

gamepass is NOT sustainable.  Who ever could have seen that coming!  

[the-pi-guy]

To add onto the Timdog stuff.

Xbox hardware is not doing great. Series X was available for $350, and Series S was available for $150 not that long ago. And PS5 at $500 outsold it like 2:1.

Gamepass has failed to meet growth expectations for a few years at this point.

Some of their biggest games were relatively disappointing. Starfield and Halo Infinite did not sell what it was expected to.

They had to sign away a lot of rights to the biggest games that Activision has, in order for that acquisition to go through.

Xbox is still growing.

But they've spent an incredible $80 billion over the years. Instead of getting the growth that they've wanted, they've solidified themselves into the biggest third party publisher in the world, with a huge arm into mobile, PC, consoles.



It doesn't feel surprising that they'd shift strategy that way, but the timing still feels surprising.

[kitler53]

The community is on fire and this MF is playing diablo 4???????????? pic.twitter.com/nBLUnAFiTG

— Joey (Phantom Kraken) ???????? (@JohanzelV) February 5, 2024

today is a day that just keeps on giving.  

[the-pi-guy]

Grubbs says MS is considering Gears of War on PlayStation

[the-pi-guy]

It'd be hilarious if Halo sold more on PlayStation than on Xbox.....

[nnodley]

It'd be hilarious if Halo sold more on PlayStation than on Xbox.....

Honestly I almost expect it would.  Imagine the recouping of losses they will get if they do.  

Starfield on playstation would sell a shame ton i guarantee.  

[SWORDF1SH]

steam.  playstation.  nintendo.  

why would any of the big 3 allow MS to put gamepass on their ecosystems?   they won't.  

tbh,.. part of this move seems to be MS realizing that day-1 gamepass releases isn't financially viable so i don't know of MS even wants to get gamepass on other consoles anymore.  moving to 3rd party is probably at least in part a way to kick gamers off of gamepass and start buying games again.   ...like part of these rumors is ABK games are no longer coming to gamepass like previously promised.

If MS become fully 3rd party, Sony having GamePass would be no different to Sony have EA Play. If Sony has a percentage of GamePass sales on PS and also a percentage of MS Studio games sold on the store, there's enough incentive for Sony to have a partnership with MS rather than compete against each other.

MS have eyes only for subscriptions, it's the only reason they opened the war chest for Xbox. They even said in the past that they want GamePass on PS. The only difference now is that GamePass isn't doing the numbers expected, so instead of giving Sony no option to take GamePass, they will have to meet in the middle and strike a deal that will interst both parties.

[the-pi-guy]

Sony would maybe allow Gamepass if it only included their first party titles.

[Legend]

steam.  playstation.  nintendo.  

why would any of the big 3 allow MS to put gamepass on their ecosystems?   they won't.  

tbh,.. part of this move seems to be MS realizing that day-1 gamepass releases isn't financially viable so i don't know of MS even wants to get gamepass on other consoles anymore.  moving to 3rd party is probably at least in part a way to kick gamers off of gamepass and start buying games again.   ...like part of these rumors is ABK games are no longer coming to gamepass like previously promised.

Yeah to me it feels like abandoning the current form of gamepass, not trying to expand it. Last year they already moved away from day 1 games by selling Forza and Starfield for $30 a week early.

The leaks happened because a Microsoft employee who didn't want this to happen leaked it, so there would be a public outcry.

Xbox fans are upset and traditional xbox devs could definitely be upset, but these leaks seem to be coming from Bethesda with Hi Fi, Starfield, and Indy. Why would a Bethesda employee be upset?

Wouldn't mind if the public outcry stopped this from happening though. I really don't want xbox to go the way of sega.

[the-pi-guy]

Xbox fans are upset and traditional xbox devs could definitely be upset, but these leaks seem to be coming from Bethesda with Hi Fi, Starfield, and Indy. Why would a Bethesda employee be upset?

I think the first game rumored was Sea of Thieves, Gears is also rumored:

Grubbs says MS is considering Gears of War on PlayStation

Forgot about the Hellblade 2 rumor

Sadly, Starfield isn't where the plans end. Reckon you'll probably see Hellblade II as well https://t.co/3voBNLc27V

— King Gronk Nick ? (@Shpeshal_Nick) February 4, 2024

It's everything, probably even Halo.

[kitler53]

yeah, but i think there is a bit of a blurry line of what is a "rumor" and what is "speculation".    hellblade 2 (to me at least) feels more like speculation that "why wouldn't it get ported if everything else it getting ported" moreso than hi fi rush which appears to have already been developed and shipping soon.

dunno.   it's a communication mess.