Xbox Xbox Series X|S Thread

[XtremelyBaneful]

You do understand that video games are a sales and retention based business right?

Arkane Austin and Tangos games were sales flops long before they were acquired which is the point I feel you're not grasping. If a studio is not returning on their parent company's investment, they will close. It doesn't matter who owns them be it Zenimax or Microsoft. There are only so many chances a publisher can give you to piss their money away

There's not a sales driven industry on the planet where you can consistently fail to meet sales expectations and still get to keep your job.

yes, but I do not believe that these studios would have closed this year that they not gotten new ownership via Microsoft. Trying to explain that their closures were inevitable when in reality their closures happened shortly after being acquired to me honestly just comes off as being an apologist for Microsoft and Phil Spencer. It's inexcusable, period. The merger should have been blocked by everyone and Microsoft should have walked away from the deal.

Furthermore, a Ps5 port of a game that needed at least two more years in development was in no way going to help. There's only about 16 hours worth of content in Redfall and you can clear it faster than that with the more people you have. Sure, you'll get the idiots that still preorder but by the end of the first week, sales would have dried up.

I absolutely disagree that it was "in no way going to help". Right now, the ratio of Ps5 to Series X/S sales is something like 5 to 1 the last I heard. Maybe the game would have still flopped, but it would have flopped with way more copies sold and their losses would have been smaller rather than what they lost from having it be console exclusive to Xbox.

Also, it looks like the FTC will be coming after Microsoft after all.

FTC blasts Microsoft’s new “degraded” Xbox Game Pass Standard tier and price increases

The FTC v. Microsoft case is never-ending.

www.theverge.com

 

[Joe Von Zombie]

yes, but I do not believe that these studios would have closed this year that they not gotten new ownership via Microsoft. Trying to explain that their closures were inevitable when in reality their closures happened shortly after being acquired to me honestly just comes off as being an apologist for Microsoft and Phil Spencer. It's inexcusable, period. The merger should have been blocked by everyone and Microsoft should have walked away from the deal.

I absolutely disagree that it was "in no way going to help". Right now, the ratio of Ps5 to Series X/S sales is something like 5 to 1 the last I heard. Maybe the game would have still flopped, but it would have flopped with way more copies sold and their losses would have been smaller rather than what they lost from having it be console exclusive to Xbox.

Also, it looks like the FTC will be coming after Microsoft after all.

FTC blasts Microsoft’s new “degraded” Xbox Game Pass Standard tier and price increases

The FTC v. Microsoft case is never-ending.

www.theverge.com

And you're coming off as someone who was told to be mad about this by an industry pundit so now you are while willfully ignoring how reality works. There are legitimate reasons as to why these studios were closed and their other studios like Obsidian, InXile, Id and BGS get to stay open. Akane Lyon has been given the final hail mary of marvel license. If that doesn't move the needle, they're likely done too.

I own every game released by Tango and Arkane Austin. I did my part.

 

[XtremelyBaneful]

And you're coming off as someone who was told to be mad about this by an industry pundit

whatever, man. I don't care if that's what you think that's what I'm coming off as. if you've kept up with my posts since 2022, then you would have known that I have been against this deal long before it closed.

so now you are while willfully ignoring how reality works.

no, I'm not. in reality, companies buy other companies. in reality, companies are cutthroat and will lay off huge portions of their employees just so the highest of the higher ups can continue their standards of living.

also in reality, Microsoft, the ~biggest company in the world, bought the biggest company they ever did, which was Activision.
also in reality, Microsoft went through a ton of regulatory bodies to get away with this purchase.

you're the one who said "remove those two aspects and its just another corporate merger." in other words, you're the one who is telling me to ignore facts about reality just to make your argument seem like it's the correct one.

in reality, Microsoft closed and laid off several of the studios that they acquired, just within years of acquiring them. This was Phil Spencer's idea, and I blame him. His standard of living gets to be exactly the same while thousands of people's lives were ruined after they became employees of Microsoft's for a relatively short while.

There are legitimate reasons as to why these studios were closed and their other studios like Obsidian, InXile, Id and BGS get to stay open. Akane Lyon has been given the final hail mary of marvel license. If that doesn't move the needle, they're likely done too.

The way I see it, the only reason why those studios get to stay open while others closed is simply because of how cutthroat capitalism allows these trillion dollar corporations to be. you and I talked about this exact thing two months ago, and back then, you "loved" what I had to say. so I'll say it again.

did Microsoft suddenly become in danger of going bankrupt and therefore had to lay all those people off? no. they did it just so the people at the top could continue being their greedy selves and not have to take any compromises of their own. nothing about the company was going to collapse. there is no practical reason outside of a toxic capitalistic mindset to lay off those employees.

I own every game released by Tango and Arkane Austin. I did my part.

kudos to you for supporting them, and I mean that forreal.

 

[Joe Von Zombie]

whatever, man. I don't care if that's what you think that's what I'm coming off as. if you've kept up with my posts since 2022, then you would have known that I have been against this deal long before it closed.

no, I'm not. in reality, companies buy other companies. in reality, companies are cutthroat and will lay off huge portions of their employees just so the highest of the higher ups can continue their standards of living.

also in reality, Microsoft, the ~biggest company in the world, bought the biggest company they ever did, which was Activision.
also in reality, Microsoft went through a ton of regulatory bodies to get away with this purchase.

you're the one who said "remove those two aspects and its just another corporate merger." in other words, you're the one who is telling me to ignore facts about reality just to make your argument seem like it's the correct one.

in reality, Microsoft closed and laid off several of the studios that they acquired, just within years of acquiring them. This was Phil Spencer's idea, and I blame him. His standard of living gets to be exactly the same while thousands of people's lives were ruined after they became employees of Microsoft's for a relatively short while.

The way I see it, the only reason why those studios get to stay open while others closed is simply because of how cutthroat capitalism allows these trillion dollar corporations to be. you and I talked about this exact thing two months ago, and back then, you "loved" what I had to say. so I'll say it again.

did Microsoft suddenly become in danger of going bankrupt and therefore had to lay all those people off? no. they did it just so the people at the top could continue being their greedy selves and not have to take any compromises of their own. nothing about the company was going to collapse. there is practical reason outside of a toxic capitalistic mindset to lay off those employees.

kudos to you for supporting them, and I mean that forreal.

What is the practical reason for keeping studios open who's products aren't moving especially when the previous owners had taken every logical step to improve these outcomes?

"Toxic capitalistic mindset" is redundant.
That's just capitalism. There's no such thing as ethical capitalism.

 

[XtremelyBaneful]

What is the practical reason for keeping studios open who's products aren't moving especially when the previous owners had taken every logical step to improve these outcomes?

I suppose in a capitalistic society it isn't practical, but then I would again repeat myself to say it wasn't practical to allow Microsoft to buy Activision in the first place.

"Toxic capitalistic mindset" is redundant.
That's just capitalism. There's no such thing as ethical capitalism.

You're continuing to prove my point here. The fact that American society is ruled by capitalism, the people at the bottom suffer while the people at the top are just fine. And I blame the people at the top.

 

[Joe Von Zombie]

I suppose in a capitalistic society it isn't practical, but then I would again repeat myself to say it wasn't practical to allow Microsoft to buy Activision in the first place.

You're continuing to prove my point here. The fact that American society is ruled by capitalism, the people at the bottom suffer while the people at the top are just fine. And I blame the people at the top.

It was 100% practical for Microsoft to buy Activision, just not ethical for the market. You're mad at a guy for doing his job as designed. Phil Spencer is a scapegoat towards the larger systemic problems within this industry and our society as a whole. The entertainment industry across the board is headed for a collapse because they all think they can just keep throwing money at these problems and it'll eventually even out.

American society was built on the back of literal slave labor owned by a rich white rulling class who didn't even allow them to vote unless owned land. We replaced one king with hundreds. These problems are entwined in this country's DNA. Like I've said before, the only way this changes is through economic collapse and armed revolution. It's gonna get much worse before it gets better. If it even gets better.

 

[XtremelyBaneful]

It was 100% practical for Microsoft to buy Activision, just not ethical for the market.

It was 100% wrong for Microsoft to buy Activision and the deal should have been blocked.

You're mad at a guy for doing his job as designed. Phil Spencer is a scapegoat towards the larger systemic problems within this industry and our society as a whole.

I'm not "mad" at anyone or anything, but I blame Phil Spencer for killing those studios because buying Activision was his idea. Buying publishers isn't his job. His job is to make Xbox a more appealing product, and he failed at that job. His actions have made the industry worse.

The entertainment industry across the board is headed for a collapse because they all think they can just keep throwing money at these problems and it'll eventually even out.

You've said this before and while I can kind of see it, it is still a bit too far fetched to prove.

American society was built on the back of literal slave labor owned by a rich white rulling class who didn't even allow them to vote unless owned land. We replaced one king with hundreds. These problems are entwined in this country's DNA. Like I've said before, the only way this changes is through economic collapse and armed revolution. It's gonna get much worse before it gets better. If it even gets better.

yes, I get that the inception of this nation was built to be unfair and unjust. this is the reality that we live in. I cannot do anything to change that, you cannot do anything to change that. and this is why I have been critical of this society, and specifically Spencer's actions instead of having an "it is what it is" attitude about it.

 

[Joe Von Zombie]

It was 100% wrong for Microsoft to buy Activision and the deal should have been blocked.

I'm not "mad" at anyone or anything, but I blame Phil Spencer for killing those studios because buying Activision was his idea. Buying publishers isn't his job. His job is to make Xbox a more appealing product, and he failed at that job. His actions have made the industry worse.

You've said this before and while I can kind of see it, it is still a bit too far fetched to prove.

yes, I get that the inception of this nation was built to be unfair and unjust. this is the reality that we live in. I cannot do anything to change that, you cannot do anything to change that. and this is why I have been critical of this society, and specifically Spencer's actions instead of having an "it is what it is" attitude about it.

Acquiring IP and talent to make the brand better is his job and he's done that. It's more time and cost effective to buy these studios outright rather than attempt to lure them over with better contracts and create new IP. Where he's objectively failed is he thinks he can just give content away for next to nothing.

I wouldn’t say my attitude is "it is what it is" entirely. I just actively vote with my wallet and my livelihood. When I discovered Microsoft was knowingly selling defective hardware to it's user base...again, I chose not to renew my contract with them. I also do not buy their hardware. I also don't subscribe to their services until a new mega release is out then once I'm done with the title in question, I cancel my subscription accordingly to further show them why their business model isn't sustainable.

 

[XtremelyBaneful]

Acquiring IP and talent to make the brand brand better is his job and he's done that.

no, he has not done that. his job is to make the brand better; he thought acquiring ABK would have done that, and he failed at making the brand better. so he has not done his job in that regard. what he has done has not only made the Xbox brand worse, but made the gaming industry worse as a whole.

It's more time and cost effective to buy these studios outright rather than attempt to lure them over with better contracts and create new IP. Where he's objectively failed is he thinks he can just give content away for next to nothing.

as I said to you before, Microsoft already had more studios than Sony without purchasing ABK. if Spencer was so concerned about being cost effective, then he should have invested in those studios instead of making history by being responsible for Microsoft's biggest purchase ever.

I wouldn’t say my attitude is "it is what it is" entirely.

it really doesn't feel that way when you say things like "this is business as usual" or "layoffs happen with any acquisition" or "it's hard to hold Spencer accountable"

I just actively vote with my wallet and my livelihood.

I respect you for doing that.

When I discovered Microsoft was knowingly selling defective hardware to it's user base...again, I chose not to renew my contract with them. I also do not buy their hardware. I also don't subscribe to their services until a new mega release is out then once I'm done with the title in question, I cancel my subscription accordingly to further show them why their business model isn't sustainable.

I will always give you credit for your knowledge and stances given how you've been a wiz kid since you were 3, and you worked for Microsoft personally. but it is your opinions on this discussion that I just fundamentally cannot come to an agreement with you on.

 

[Joe Von Zombie]

no, he has not done that. his job is to make the brand better; he thought acquiring ABK would have done that, and he failed at making the brand better. so he has not done his job in that regard. what he has done has not only made the Xbox brand worse, but made the gaming industry worse as a whole.

as I said to you before, Microsoft already had more studios than Sony without purchasing ABK. if Spencer was so concerned about being cost effective, then he should have invested in those studios instead of making history by being responsible for Microsoft's biggest purchase ever.

it really doesn't feel that way when you say things like "this is business as usual" or "layoffs happen with any acquisition" or "it's hard to hold Spencer accountable"

I respect you for doing that.

I will always give you credit for your knowledge and stances given how you've been a wiz kid since you were 3, and you worked for Microsoft personally. but it is your opinions on this discussion that I just fundamentally cannot come to an agreement with you on.

My point isn't to necessarily be dismissive but to point out that what has gone on here is just standard operating procedure and how much of a narrative folks are transparently buying into. EA has been compared to Unicron from transformers for decades. You don't go to work for EA because you're not going to work there long. Sega, Squeenix, Embracer are all in the midst of mass layoffs. It's an industry issue and always has been. We just have a constant news cycle of outlets clamoring for clicks and negativity gets the most engagement.

The only thing we can effectively do is vote with our wallets. Online discussion is great for venting our frustration but practically useless. Even the current narrative about fan backlash saving Helldivers 2 is partially false. The PSN debacle got resolved because steam refused to issue refunds to affected parties and sent them back to Sony. Valve forced their hands.

 

[XtremelyBaneful]

My point isn't to necessarily be dismissive but to point out that what has gone on here is just standard operating procedure and how much of a narrative folks are transparently buying into. EA has been compared to Unicron from transformers for decades. You don't go to work for EA because you're not going to work there long. Sega, Squeenix, Embracer are all in the midst of mass layoffs.

I already told you several times why I disagree about this being standard operating procedure. Microsoft, like other video game publishers like EA, Sega, Square Enix, and Embracer, has made acquisitions in the past. But THIS acquisition is not just another acquisition because it was Microsoft's biggest ever as a whole company, not just as a video game publisher. Not only that, but what they acquired was the biggest video game publisher itself ABK, and they faced a ton of regulatory bodies to get it approved in the first place.

None of the acquisitions that the other publishers you mentioned are platform holders. Nor did they have to go through regulatory procedures. Nor were there any records being broken on how much money they were spending to acquire whichever companies they were acquiring. Those can just be seen as standard operating procedures, sure.

It's an industry issue and always has been.

Which is why the deal should have been blocked; to avoid this issue. Truth be told, it should have been blocked for a myriad of reasons but this is one of them.

We just have a constant news cycle of outlets clamoring for clicks and negativity gets the most engagement.

That's because everything about this deal IS negative. What Spencer did not only made Xbox worse, it made the entire industry worse. There are only bad things to say about it.

The only thing we can effectively do is vote with our wallets. Online discussion is great for venting our frustration but practically useless.

I do vote with my wallet, I've been doing that with a lot of different things. Not just things that are video game related. I never said online discussion is particularly useful (it's not going to change anything) but it's literally a forum for us to express our thoughts. You have yours, and I have mine. We're just talking here, and I'm aware that nothing you or I say is going to change a damn thing.

Even the current narrative about fan backlash saving Helldivers 2 is partially false. The PSN debacle got resolved because steam refused to issue refunds to affected parties and sent them back to Sony. Valve forced their hands.

The current narrative? The PsN debacle was something that happened two months ago. I am sure Valve had something to do with the reversal but I think the game getting review bombed on Steam definitely had something to do with it.

But the current narrative is about how there is been a huge drop in popularity in Helldivers 2, regarding player count.

 

[Joe Von Zombie]

I already told you several times why I disagree about this being standard operating procedure. Microsoft, like other video game publishers like EA, Sega, Square Enix, and Embracer, has made acquisitions in the past. But THIS acquisition is not just another acquisition because it was Microsoft's biggest ever as a whole company, not just as a video game publisher. Not only that, but what they acquired was the biggest video game publisher itself ABK, and they faced a ton of regulatory bodies to get it approved in the first place.

None of the acquisitions that the other publishers you mentioned are platform holders. Nor did they have to go through regulatory procedures. Nor were there any records being broken on how much money they were spending to acquire whichever companies they were acquiring. Those can just be seen as standard operating procedures, sure.

Which is why the deal should have been blocked; to avoid this issue. Truth be told, it should have been blocked for a myriad of reasons but this is one of them.

That's because everything about this deal IS negative. What Spencer did not only made Xbox worse, it made the entire industry worse. There are only bad things to say about it.

I do vote with my wallet, I've been doing that with a lot of different things. Not just things that are video game related. I never said online discussion is particularly useful (it's not going to change anything) but it's literally a forum for us to express our thoughts. You have yours, and I have mine. We're just talking here, and I'm aware that nothing you or I say is going to change a damn thing.

The current narrative? The PsN debacle was something that happened two months ago. I am sure Valve had something to do with the reversal but I think the game getting review bombed on Steam definitely had something to do with it.

But the current narrative is about how there is been a huge drop in popularity in Helldivers 2, regarding player count.

All fair points. I think another reason we're differing on this is I saw this as inevitable once the foreign agencies let it go through. The US government is completely spineless towards big business so it was going to take a foreign agency to stop it. That didn't happen. You seem like you were holding out hope that someone would intervene. I wasn't. this was always a done deal to me.

My biggest hope with the merger creatively is we can get some of these studios like Treyarch, Raven and High Moon out of the ****ing CoD mines and see some older franchises some back.

 

[XtremelyBaneful]

All fair points. I think another reason we're differing on this is I saw this as inevitable once the foreign agencies let it go through. The US government is completely spineless towards big business so it was going to take a foreign agency to stop it. That didn't happen. You seem like you were holding out hope that someone would intervene. I wasn't. this was always a done deal to me.

My biggest hope with the merger creatively is we can get some of these studios like Treyarch, Raven and High Moon out of the ****ing CoD mines and see some older franchises some back.

I appreciate you. During the regulation period last year because several of the governing bodies were approving it I thought it was a done deal, but I was really happy when I learned about the CMA (initially) blocking it. That seemed like a really big deal at the time, and a glimmer of hope that the deal was dead. But boy was I wrong.

The only way I can see those studios bringing some older franchises back is if CoD stops being an annual series, or if Microsoft nominates one of the studios solely to be in charge of CoD while the other studios can go on to work on other things.

 

[blueharvest]

Xbox Europe Marketing Lead Complains They're Getting Much Fewer Funds Than PlayStation

Xbox Europe Marketing Director Michael Flatt revealed that his division receives much fewer funds than PlayStation, so it needs to be scrappy

wccftech.com

 

[XtremelyBaneful]

the percentage of software is higher than the percentage of hardware

Microsoft’s cloud revenues rule again in Q4, as Surface continues to dip

Office and cloud are strong for Microsoft’s revenues.

www.theverge.com

 

[blueharvest]

Activison continues to boost Xbox revenues but hardware sees further decline

Microsoft's results for the final quarter of its financial year are in, showing continued growth in overall gaming reve…

www.gamesindustry.biz

 

[blueharvest]

 

[Iceman]

Interesting. I hope we get future MUA games, adapted for future gen tech.

 

[Silvermoth]

That would be cool. I never got to play the Deadpool game

 

[Dave McFly]

I am tempted to sell my 2.5 year old series X to get the 2TB model

 

[XtremelyBaneful]

I am tempted to sell my 2.5 year old series X to get the 2TB model

 

[Dave McFly]

already have a coworker who wants to buy it for a good price I was looking at what used but mint ones go for on ebay and market place I think we will both be happy he is in no hurry to buy it so I will probably sell it to him later next month and I will just play on the PS5 till I get my new 2TB Series X win/win.

 

[blueharvest]

 

[XtremelyBaneful]

if they're working on it, they'll eventually get it. I think it was Phil Spencer's intervention that got Like a Dragon, Persona, and the old Kingdom Hearts games onto Gamepass.

 

[psylockolussus]

That would be cool. I never got to play the Deadpool game

I saw a PS4 port in a retail store around 2018 to 2019. I didn't really consider getting it, because the game is short.

But now I wish I bought it when I had the chance. The game features Psylocke.