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

[the-pi-guy]

Rumors aren't pointing to #2.  

I think a slightly less severe version of #1 is where things are heading.

[kitler53]

Where would Sea of Thieves fit in scenario 2 as that is XGS?

According to me,...

...we don't put development studios into bucket but rather the game itself.   now technically MS could put any game into any bucket as they see fit but as sea of thieves is a GaaS game I would personally say it makes sense for MS to put it into the "Activision" bucket.   Full multiplat.   

Sony is perhaps skipping xbox but no one is giving sony any flak that helldivers 2 is going to be day-1 on PC.   gamers seem to be okay with multiplat when the game is GaaS.   So I see no reason MS shouldn't follow that same path.  I don't think even the most hardcare "xbot" is going to care if sea of thieves is on ps5.


now rare is also working on everwild.   tbh i have no idea what that game is or if it even still exists.   but in my model nothing stops rare from publishing sea of theives with "Activision" and everwild with "xbox games studios".    MS just need to have a very clear message about what to expect or literally every game they make will be viewed with an asterisk.   they won't survive if there is a complete lack of trust.

[kitler53]

Rumors aren't pointing to #2.  

I think a slightly less severe version of #1 is where things are heading.

any rumor in particular?

I was just reading the NateTheDrake posts on era which posted just a few minutes ago.   he at least seemed to be implying senario 2.    he was very clear "there will be exclusives".

[the-pi-guy]

any rumor in particular?

I was just reading the NateTheDrake posts on era which posted just a few minutes ago.   he at least seemed to be implying senario 2.    he was very clear "there will be exclusives".

Ah I didn't see these.

That's good. I'm not sure why more people weren't talking about this. Everyone has been assuming the worst it seems.

He does say there will be some Xbox studio games.

[kitler53]

Ah I didn't see these.

That's good. I'm not sure why more people weren't talking about this. Everyone has been assuming the worst it seems.

He does say there will be some Xbox studio games.

i mean, part of the negativity is this feels like a downward spiral.  

oh sure,.. MS can say all they want about how they still believe in their hardware ect but people need to believe them.  if not hardware sales tank, gamepass subs laps, ps5 sales rise then what's MS's next step?    ...go full 3rd party.

it's why the "business update" and change to "vision" taking a full fudgy week to be communicated is perhaps the worst part of this.    MS let twitter set the narrative.

ffs,.. it didn't need to be a full rebuttle but spencer could have at least said something to reassure people that the rumors were overblown.   he's statement was basically taken as "this confirms the worst possible outcome is true" to most people.

[kitler53]

well NateTheDrake seems to be done posting (and me done reading).

he really seems to be implying that my senario 2 is more-or-less what's going on.   ...except i'd speculate without clear messaging.   XGS will be exclusive*.   

*Except live service games


so i've pondered that stance a bit and here's my conclusion.    not soo many years ago the consensus was that xbox first party sucked.   halo. forza. gears.   then they started acquiring some minor studios and then they started acquiring publishers and xbox fans got super excited that MS first party was finally amazing.   (to be honest that never made sense to me because soo much of xbox first party are formally multiplat games they would have gotten regardless.)   so with this update xbox is seemly going back to where it was not soo many years ago,...   XGS being the only true exclusives* (minus the live service games of course) and everything else is at best a timed exclusive.

yeah, honestly,.. even in this scenario it kind of feels like the end of xbox.     sea of thieves is live service.  halo infinite is live service.   forza is live service.    ...so like it's not "nothing" but also it's like even worse than before the acquisition spree overall.

[Legend]

I don't see the need to divide up their games with labels. Just keep it all under "xbox" but port what makes sense. Using Kitler's example, Sony markets Helldivers 2 as just another game and it's up to players to know where and when it releases.

[kitler53]

I don't see the need to divide up their games with labels. Just keep it all under "xbox" but port what makes sense. Using Kitler's example, Sony markets Helldivers 2 as just another game and it's up to players to know where and when it releases.

I think the key difference is trust.  PlayStation gamers trust Sony.  No one trusts MS.  ...especially in this moment where "exclusives" are heading to PlayStation. 

MS needs the labels (imo) to establish trust.  

[BananaKing]

I don't think MS will come off that strong with their messaging. Here is what I think

Scenario 1

MS announces some games coming to switch and playstation, and mentions it's basically part of their "bring games to everyone" plan. And that's it for now, no mention of Gamepass stuff, they want to ease people in.

Scenario 2

Same as scenario one, plus they announce changes to gamepass. And they will say something like, since they want to make all types of games, and some games work with the game pass model, some don't. So not all games will come to gamepass day one. But some still will.

Whatever changes they announce they will announce it as a "good thing".

[Horizon]

No announcement is going to be good for Xbox. That's the short of it. Either some exclusives are no longer exclusive or gamepass model changes. It amazes me how Xbox thought they could buy two pubs and sustain it on a console base of less than 30m and PC.

[kitler53]

No announcement is going to be good for Xbox. That's the short of it. Either some exclusives are no longer exclusive or gamepass model changes. It amazes me how Xbox thought they could buy two pubs and sustain it on a console base of less than 30m and PC.

and cloud!  Xbox has reach to billions of gamers via the cloud.  

[Horizon]

and cloud!  Xbox has reach to billions of gamers via the cloud.  

Cloud is just not ready or might never be ready

[kitler53]

Cloud is just not ready or might never be ready

cloud is plenty ready if your Internet is decent. 

the mistake is thinking that there was anyone that wanted to be a gamer but couldn't because the cost of a console was too much. 

...or if those people exist they also have shaming internet. 


cloud is, imo, a premium add-on to your console not a substitute.  

[Legend]

Maybe MS should just ignore it and not give a business update. Lots of fanboys have put on blinders and are back to defending them: https://www.reddit.com/r/XboxSeriesX/comments/1akvg33/exclusive_sony_is_putting_their_movies_on_xbox/

[kitler53]

Maybe MS should just ignore it and not give a business update. Lots of fanboys have put on blinders and are back to defending them: https://www.reddit.com/r/XboxSeriesX/comments/1akvg33/exclusive_sony_is_putting_their_movies_on_xbox/

only skimmed but based on that i'd say xbox fans seem excited for all xbox exclusives to get ported to ps5.    sounds like they would even prefer that the games are cheaper on ps5 than on xbox.   they truely are the best of us.