Xbox Series S/X: Thread 05

[Lebowski]

I could be completely wrong, but I don't believe the appeal of Hellblade is that big? I look at it and wasn't really drawn to it. I played the original for a short time on Game Pass and bounced off it. That probably is an issue with me and the throwaway potential of playing a game on a subscription service though. I can't imagine Jimmy Codsportstheftauto paying much attention.

Exactly, it's a tough sell to start, it's God of war, but the combat isn't as good, and we focus on mental health issues (psychosis) we won a BAFTA for it.

[Neon Ignition]

I'm still not sure why so much was put into the sequel. I get MS wanted a visual tentpole but Hellblade was always a poster child for AA titles. If I continue the MS-XB Crisis conspiracy theory magic:

The guess would be that Xbox Studios had the title scheduled for release and know what their Late 2024 line up is so the release has been fairly locked in. MS calling the shots now, they have presumably immediately identified that Hellblade II is going to bleed money for them so have reigned in its marketing budget heavily hoping that it will release and engagement on Game Pass won't be as extensive as it otherwise would have been. If the game flops then they didn't over spend more money, if it reviews strong then the money can instead go behind a later heavier push when a PS5 port is launched.

[fishbowlhead]

Sequel looks good, and i enjoyed the first, but did it warrant a sequel? Were gamers screaming for more of this? Being honest I’d say no they weren’t.

SeriesX version at 30fps only as well, vomit, they’ve kneecapped it before it even got out the gate, again.

[Neon Ignition]

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[Neon Ignition]

https://www.windowscentral.com/microsoft/microsofts-quest-for-short-term-dollardollardollar-is-doing-long-term-damage-to-windows-surface-xbox-and-beyond

Microsoft is reported to have more titles headed to PS5 with the company said to be drawing no red lines on what IP can be ported. The entire project of taking their games multiplatform is said to have an internal project name of Project Latitude

[fishbowlhead]

https://www.windowscentral.com/micro...box-and-beyond
Microsoft is reported to have more titles headed to PS5 with the company said to be drawing no red lines on what IP can be ported. The entire project of taking their games multiplatform is said to have an internal project name of Project Latitude

No long term idea whatsoever of how to take Xbox or even Windows forward. Just a monopoly rolling in cash bouncing around the room trying to grab even more cash with crap ideas and zero execution.

[dataDave]

So where's the benefit in buying an Xbox now then?

[dataDave]

That big red map looks more like a deadline macro / nuke map covering all the various studios they're about to close.

[wakka]

So where's the benefit in buying an Xbox now then?

To be honest unless there’s a fire sale on Series X at some point it’s hard to see why you would. It’s obvious that MS are inching towards the exit.

[Neon Ignition]

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Explains the timeline to release

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[randombs]

I’m thinking to sell either my Series X or the Series S I still have knocking around.

My Gamepass Ultimate will expire in August and I won’t renew it so the timing is good.

If MS really do go all-out on PS5 then my Xboxes will just be used for the occasional Halo series playthrough and my old Sega games like Daytona and Nights (kudos to MS for still supporting and selling 360 games), in which case it makes more sense to keep the S and sell the X.

[nonny]

https://www.windowscentral.com/micro...box-and-beyond
Microsoft is reported to have more titles headed to PS5 with the company said to be drawing no red lines on what IP can be ported. The entire project of taking their games multiplatform is said to have an internal project name of Project Latitude

Satya already said he has no love for exclusives so if this is the trajectory they're taking to maximise profits per software release then effectively they're going 3rd party, and become one of the biggest 3rd parties in the business.

If they do still want a stake in the hardware space and want to continue to maintain their ecosystem / store then really they need to come out with clear rules as to what goes to other platforms and when.

Maybe if they treat PS like PS treats PC releases currently... e.g. timed exclusivity on Xbox for 12 months before it comes to other platforms.

That could potentially work but only if the hardware is good, the software cadence is there and people see value in opting for that hardware over the competition.

Will that even work? Who knows. Plus we don't know what Xbox is planning in terms of the mentioed mobile store coming in July, and the talk of other game stores (Steam/Epic)... there's several ways the could change here, but which one is it?

What is clear is apart from Nintendo everyone is re-evaluating cross platform strategies and how exclusives fit into that.

I can see PlayStation titles coming to PC day and date in the future, at least for some games... and a shortened time scale for PC release overall.

[hudson]

Well Helldivers came out on both plats day one (I think?). PS have a few live service games on the horizon, so I imagine they're a shoe in for double date day one dooby doodoos.

[Neon Ignition]

Yep, Sony going day and date with PC seems inevitable. Most of the time a delayed release just causes interest to scale off. Launching The Last of Us Part III on PS5 and not PC at launch would be a mistake for example, they'd risk missing the TV series hype period on PC. It made more sense when Sony was leveraging PS exclusivity to try and pull people away from Xbox but as that contest increasingly vanishes the exclusivity just risks sales. Hell, for select titles someone at Sony should seriously be thinking about Switch 2 ports also.


For MS, there's no half foot in and half foot out approach that will work. The costs and logistics of being in hardware with such small sales is too heavy a burden, especially for a company that takes the business view that MS increasingly seems to be doing. It's why I'm still expecting the mooted next Xbox to end up being promoted as a big thing at first but in essence to just be an Xbox Series Y/Z. A continuation rather than new gen aiming to milk the existing userbase given R&D etc will already have been sunk into them, but for them to literally be the final Xbox hardware consoles released.

MS seems to have a good shot at being a third party giant so similarly, releasing Forza Horizon 6 ages later on PS5 seems daft.

[Lebowski]

Yeah, id agree a big part of a game launch is its hype, a few weeks back when Stella Blade came out youtube was full of vids of people playing it news sites where full of stories and reviews and it felt new fresh and exciting that hype and momentum is difficult to get back, a year down the line when it feels like old news.