Starfield

[Cassius_Smoke]

I think this now makes the showcase very interesting viewing in a few weeks. Things I'm pretty certain are coming before the end of the year:

Flight Sim: Top Gun Maverick
Forza Horizon 5 DLC
Deathloop
Scorn
Atomic Heart
Forza Motorsport

The first 3 are pretty much definite, and the last 3 what I'd consider pretty good bets.

What will be the most interesting is if any of the other Bethesda studios have anything good to go in 2022... who knows?!

Outside of that 2023 and beyond is now looking stacked.

I'm sure they'll show Starfield.
But out of those you've listed I'm only partly interested in Scorn. If that's all they have then Jeez!

[nonny]

They're definitely showing both Starfield and Redfall even though that now feels a bit flat given the delays.

I'm sure there's going to be more coming before the end of 2022 but it's just whether there any surprises. They do after all have 23+ studios now and we don't know everything they're doing.

I think in the indie space there's that Sommerville game from the Inside devs releasing, and that other pixelised blade runner one, Replaced? I figure there'll be lots of smaller games like that dropping into game pass but in terms of AAA I guess there's really only Forza Motorsport

Personally I'm fine with that, if these delays mean better games when they hit then all good, and it would seem 2023 is looking crazy as a result.

[Cassius_Smoke]

However by 2023 the console will have been out 3 years and only had 2 'Big' titles... And they are STILL Halo and Forza! With possibly another god damn Forza! 23 studios and they all began producing games after the console launched? That's ****. No other word.
Im sure by 2025 there be loads, but jesus man!

[nonny]

Pretty much, though to be fair saying only 2 isn't wholly accurate when Ghostwire Tokyo and Deathloop came out on PS5 due to timed deals, Psychonauts 2 came out multiplatform, Flight Sim came out from Asobo, Gears Tactics was there at launch etc...

Agree it's still slow and this just seems to be more bad news, but it isn't just 2 games from MS owned studios since launch (and I know MS don't own Asobo but flight sim is still basically an exclusive).

I guess with them investing in those longer term AAA titles and having purchased studios with current contractual deals in place there's only so much they can do and they were relying on 3rd parties to come through (like Stalker 2) and Bethesda hitting date on these titles. It hasn't panned out that way, but I don't think it's a massive disaster per se. Which is why I'm interested to see what this showcase is going to reveal

[Neon Ignition]

It's really bad but I think in many ways the pandemic and chip shortage have been a blessing for them. Things like Series S have been able to move at a steady pace and soak up sales that if PS5 hadn't have been in such limited supply I imagine would have resulted in Xbox being very distantly behind again this gen.

Instead people have been stuck at home, often unable to get stock and over the last 18 months grabbed what they can when it comes up which has often been a Series S, sometimes X, boosting sales.

I can picture how this has created a bit of breathing room for MS to line their mid-gen ducks up in a way that under normal circumstances may have seen these games come out when things were already pretty set in stone terminal for how XSX was going to perform.

Basically, the longer Sony can't get healthy steady stock of PS5 onto shelves the better - permanently - MS is going to do. Another stumble Sony is making, one of many lately

[Cassius_Smoke]

Pretty much, though to be fair saying only 2 isn't wholly accurate when Ghostwire Tokyo and Deathloop came out on PS5 due to timed deals, Psychonauts 2 came out multiplatform, Flight Sim came out from Asobo, Gears Tactics was there at launch etc...

Agree it's still slow and this just seems to be more bad news, but it isn't just 2 games from MS owned studios since launch (and I know MS don't own Asobo but flight sim is still basically an exclusive).

I guess with them investing in those longer term AAA titles and having purchased studios with current contractual deals in place there's only so much they can do and they were relying on 3rd parties to come through (like Stalker 2) and Bethesda hitting date on these titles. It hasn't panned out that way, but I don't think it's a massive disaster per se. Which is why I'm interested to see what this showcase is going to reveal

I think you are being too kind.
So far this year, PS studios have released more games on the Xbox then Xbox Game Studios. MLB The Show.

[nonny]

Yeah perhaps I am being too kind but then to me a delay of a 6-7 months is better than them cancelling titles or having a do over (Ever Wild).

It's not like this is just an Xbox problem, games are getting delayed all over. It's just that on Xbox it really matters more because they were struggling with release schedules before the pandemic and everyone has a perception they can't fix it.

I mean looking at 2022 so far the two big releases on PS5 in Horizon Forbidden West and Gran Turismo 7 were both delayed in a similar situation, and where GT is concerned it has a fair share of issues at launch even after that delay.

Perhaps I'm being a bit too kind, but I feel people are just as lenient on Sony here. Heck lets not forget Nintendo and Breath of the Wild 2, when's that coming out?

[Cassius_Smoke]

Nintendo get a free pass seemingly because its Nintendo. But to be fair to them, the games they eventually release are bug free.

Look, this is about Starfield really. And at the end of the day It's a huge blow to Xbox not to be able to release it this year. Xbox needed to start this gen looking a lot different to the previous gen, and so far, if possible, they look worse.

[nonny]

I would argue yes and no. I think the one major hurdle they have to overcome is release cadence and this is absolutely a major setback. We know Phil has a lofty goal of getting these studios synchronised for a major release every quarter... we're nowhere near that.

On the flipside they've continued to grow game pass, expand cloud services to more territories and are selling decent units of the series hardware. So I think this gen they're not doing badly, they're just missing the target on one of their major objectives.

That's the main reason I'm interested in this showcase. If anything I'd like to see the schedule timeline going into 2023. We know Starfield and Redfall are re-positioned into H1 but where is Hellblade 2 landing? Avowed? Outer Wilds 2? Indiana Jones? Mandalorian? Ever Wild?... There is an absolute stack in the pipeline but I'm curious to see the order of business.

[Neon Ignition]

https://youtu.be/oI40UTcEc28

Fears that MS would be spending yet another year relying on Forza and Halo are misplaced anyway...


... speculation has risen again that they'll also be releasing... Gears

Specifically Gears of War: Fenix Collection

[Cassius_Smoke]

27 studios... Same three games.

[nonny]

https://youtu.be/oI40UTcEc28

Fears that MS would be spending yet another year relying on Forza and Halo are misplaced anyway...


... speculation has risen again that they'll also be releasing... Gears

Specifically Gears of War: Fenix Collection

Yeah that's been rumoured for ages given the anniversary. I'm not sure it's really necessary given how well they all run via backward compatibility but if it's a similar compendium setup for multiplayer as the MC collection and it's stuck into game pass then it might be good.

There's also the reported Goldeneye Remake coming as well...

[Neon Ignition]

Yep, relaunching the MP as an all in one package would be a good move for PC and Game Pass. The SPs do feel a bit redundant given the options. I know they wouldn't but a remaster of PGR4 would be welcome

[nonny]

27 studios... Same three games.

Spiderman: Miles Morales
Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart
Horizon Forbidden West
Gran Turismo 7

Is this a different pattern then because people perceive they're better games? Two were also delayed, most are cross gen.

As I said, out of those 27 studios several released titles went to different platforms (Psychonauts 2, Deathloop, Ghostwire Tokyo).

But as you point out the perception of most is that MS relies heavily on the top 3 franchises which is partially true...

[fishbowlhead]

27 studios... Same three games.

Something must be up with the management at MS for so little content to come out with so many studios, even taking corvid into account, there seems to be little future pipeline planning to keep titles coming out.