Xbox Series S/X: Thread 04

[Cassius_Smoke]

I think Bethesda is the biggest tell.
Starfield was already coming to Xbox anyway. They've literally paid to ensure it doesn't appear anywhere else. They haven't announced a new Doom, Quake, Wolfenstein or Fallout, which shows they don't really care about making new games, just preventing 'others' from playing them.
On the flip side, Sony bought Firesprite, Bluepoint and Bungie most recently. We know Firesprite and Bluepoint are working on something each, Bluepoint also released Demon Souls, and Bungie just announced a Destiny Expansion.

[fishbowlhead]

In fairness the most vocal opposition to the deal is Sony and their arguments so far are laughably hypocritical to say the least.

I know we've seen MS under scrutiny before such as the internet explorer monopoly ruling etc... but in this market they are clearly 3rd right now and Sony painting a picture where MS has the potential to hold back titles exclusively is a cruel joke given their current business practices.

Looking at the wording of the FTC that's precisely what they're looking at here. I'd say MS has a fair argument and will fight it all the way.

One thing that is uncertain is whether this means it'll run on past the initial June forecast for settling the deal.

There's a difference between buying small studios (bungle excluded) and nurturing all the talent into cohesive studios that reliably put out content long term vs just throwing moon money at something that's already massive just to have it, which they have a long history of just gobbling competition up until their back in the monopoly status.

I'm glad they have continually had their arses handed to them in the gaming sector.

[nonny]

Bethesda have always been an Xbox/PC first company. Really it makes perfect sense for Starfield to be exclusive given its a single player RPG... So really I don't see how they're paying money to keep it off other platforms, especially when they own the company and keep the lights on.

Street Fighter and Final Fantasy not being on Xbox... That's a better example as you can bet Sony paid them a big fat cheque to ensure that didn't happen. Same deal with all these timed deals such as FF16.

As for Activision, MS may have been shopping around but it was Activision that needed a buyer... They are massively better off if the deal stands. Sure MS could have invested that sum internally but the opportunity cost is some other large competitor is going to take their place... what if Facebook or Amazon were buying them right now? And we don't know just how much MS investing internally but it's definitely not peanuts.

[Cassius_Smoke]

'Bethesda have always been an Xbox/PC first company.'
Because Oblivion, skyrim, fallout 3, Fallout 4, fallout new Vegas, fallout 76, Doom, Doom Eternal, Wolfenstein, Wolfenstein 2, Rage, Dishonered, evil within and Pray never appeared on PlayStation.

Xbox bought Zenimax for $7b. And out of that we have had... Nothing but an announcement for a game that was already coming to Xbox.
Sony may well have paid for exclusives. But it's an exclusive single game. Xbox BOUGHT an entire game company and from now until the end of time, their games will only appear on Xbox. Its completely non-comparable.

[nonny]

In Todd Howards own words Bethesda have always had a close relationship with Xbox, releasing first on the platform with exclusives in some cases... Now MS pays the bills I don't see how any of that is now different to the purchase of specific studios and making their output exclusive.

Plus of course MS bought Zenimax at a time when Deathloop and Ghostwire Tokyo had timed agreements they've honoured with the purchase. I think given stuff like Doom Eternal had just completed its DLC and we know teams like Machine Gun are on big titles like Indiana Jones I personally didn't expect a sudden increase in output in the first couple of years.

[Cassius_Smoke]

'Sony Wants To Grow PlayStation By Making Xbox Smaller, Phil Spencer Says'

Sorry Phil, but by not releasing a single ****ing game in a year and not having a single trailer at the Game Awards, you are actually making Xbox 'smaller' yourself.

This is the exact bull**** I've been talking about. MS spent $7b on a game developer 2 years ago. Good job that purchase didn't stop any future Doom, Wolfenstein, Quake, prey, dishonered, Elder Scrolls, fallout, Evil Within from releasing on PlayStation, thus trying to make Sony 'Smaller', Eh Phil.

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/sony-wants-to-grow-playstation-by-making-xbox-smaller-phil-spencer-says/1100-6509835/

Im not saying this as a 'Sony Fan boy', I just can't stand Hypocrisy.

[fishbowlhead]

'Sony Wants To Grow PlayStation By Making Xbox Smaller, Phil Spencer Says'

That's how business works Phil, maybe try releasing at least SOME games to compete and get some of those sales back.

[Cassius_Smoke]

That's how business works Phil, maybe try releasing at least SOME games to compete and get some of those sales back.

Just like it's all Labours fault. It's all Sonys fault.

[nonny]

He's not suggesting their slow output is down to Sony though is he... He's suggesting Sony employs tactics to limit the growth of its competitors... Which we know it does.

Ignoring first party output, we already know Sony puts clauses into 3rd party contracts to stop titles being permitted into game pass. They've been known to charge for cross play in the past and they also use parity clauses in the titles cannot have more features or better options on a competitors device.

All of that is anti-competitive and them trying to block the merger is an extension of this. Sure you could argue it's business, and Microsoft whilst 3rd in gaming is a huge competitor overall.

But the reality is Sony has been using plenty of dirty tricks to keep themselves in first place, and while some of these tactics are used quite widely (it's not just Sony) they are pretty hypocritical to call out Xbox as potentially bring able to do nefarious things if the merger goes through when they're doing these sorts of things right now.

Xbox has its own problems with its release schedule for sure... that's pretty clear... but this isn't about that.

[Neon Ignition]

Microsoft trying to get its hands on Activision






Market leader Sony saying it depends on annual Call of Duty's

[Cassius_Smoke]

Aww, poor little MS. A little business being bullyed by mean naughty mega corporation Sony. Stopping them from spending (clears throat)... SEVENTY NINE ****ING BILLION on a game company to ensure those games don't appear on a Sony Console.
That naught Sony paid some money to Square so that Final Fantasy doesn't appear on Xbox. So of course it's only right that little MS paid (Clears Throat) SEVEN ****ING BILLION to prevent any and all Zenimax games appearing on Sony ever again. That mean Sony!

[fishbowlhead]

Aww, poor little MS. A little business being bullyed by mean naughty mega corporation Sony. Stopping them from spending (clears throat)... SEVENTY NINE ****ING BILLION on a game company to ensure those games don't appear on a Sony Console.
That naught Sony paid some money to Square so that Final Fantasy doesn't appear on Xbox. So of course it's only right that little MS paid (Clears Throat) SEVEN ****ING BILLION to prevent any and all Zenimax games appearing on Sony ever again. That mean Sony!

We should all just protest against Sonys disgusting practices and buy more of its games.

[dataDave]

At £70?

[hudson]

People be angry all up in here

[Cassius_Smoke]

Im pointing out (perhaps rather aggressively) that MS can't paint themselves as saints while spending billions ensuring huge swathes of games don't appear on the competition.
If MS actually cared about climbing up to first place in the console Space they'd maybe take a leaf out of Sony and Nintendos book and release some goddamn games. Instead of spending time and money preventing games appearing on other consoles.