3 ms·

While statements like these are common when mergers/buyouts happen, the final decision down the line will not be his to make. Not saying that things will not ha

by lifty 6y ago

While statements like these are common when mergers/buyouts happen, the final decision down the line will not be his to make. Not saying that things will not happen as he states, but it shouldn't be seen as a certainty.

curiousllama 6y ago
Xbox won't even mean the same thing then as it does now. Would a platform agnostic game only available on the Xbox online store count as "exclusive to xbox?" What if it required an Xbox Live/GamePass subscription for significant features - but not everything? Or they introduced super-skewed pricing ($100 for ES6 w/ no sales vs. included with GamePass)? My concern isn't that this won't be true (at the very least, they release everything for Xbox on PC anyway), it's that the platform will evolve so much that console lock-in won't matter, so the promise will elide the real concern.
TheKnack 6y ago
When Facebook bought Oculus, Palmer Luckey said that a Facebook login would never be required to use Oculus products. The Oculus Quest 2 that comes out in October will require a Facebook login. https://www.roadtovr.com/oculus-guarantee-promise-facebook-log-in/ https://www.roadtovr.com/oculus-guarantee-promise-facebook-l...
- johnnyanmac 6y ago
  to be fair, Microsoft has been loosening up on exclusives as of late. Minecraft is supported on all platforms, with the dungeon side game coming to all consoles. Psychonauts 2 is still slated to come to PS4 and Switch. Ori's 2 games are multiplat (the sequel just now releasing on Switch). I don't doubt there will be timed exclusives, but at the current moment it seems like they aren't opposed to publishing on non-MS platforms.
superkuh 6y ago
Yes. When Epic bought Psyonix for Rocket League there was plenty of reassurance linux would remain supported. After waiting the absolute minimum time for people to stop paying attention Epic removed linux support and steam distribution.
acruns 6y ago
Why would they limit there revenue to a single platform? That doesn't make sense to me. But I don't play videogames, haven't since my kids were teenagers, think Call of Duty. I have sold software to corporate, and I can say the revenue from software sales far outweigh hardware revenues.
- Voloskaya 6y ago
  Targeting all platforms means the Zenimax division within Microsoft will make more money. Targeting only Xbox means more Xbox will be sold, so Xbox division will make more money. It's not clear which one is a better deal for MS.
  - mywittyname 6y ago
    I think the multi-device strategy is a clear winner. The lifetime value of a console itself is probably not terribly high. After all, most game companies do not sell hardware at all and a few who have eventually gave up (Sega, Atari). Plus, the PC, Switch, and iPad markets are largely orthogonal to the XB/PS ones. Content for the former probably doesn't compete with the latter, so it makes sense to sell in those markets. And lastly, could you imagine how Sony execs would feel if their best selling PS titles all came from MS studios? That would certainly put them in an awkward position to suddenly be financially dependent to some degree on MS.
  - kcb 6y ago
    Its not about selling Xboxs anymore. Its about Game Pass subscribers.
  - freeone3000 6y ago
    They promised with last-gen Xbox One, and have followed it up, that all first-party games that launch for Xbox will also launch for PC. (Originally this extended to all games, but some late releases were xbox-only.) There are no xbox-only games for Xbox Series announced, from any publisher, that are not available for PC.
    - 6y ago
coliveira 6y ago
Of course, it won't be his decision. It will be Microsoft's decision.
b3kart 6y ago
Yep. Don't make promises when the outcome is not up to you. See [1] for many examples of acquired companies going back on such statements. [1]: https://ourincrediblejourney.tumblr.com/ https://ourincrediblejourney.tumblr.com/
skohan 6y ago
It also begs the question what MS has to gain by buying Bethesda/ZeniMax besides exclusivity. Given the fact that they own the XBox/Windows gaming platform, would the revenue they get selling Doom on PlayStation really be enough to outweigh the potential of making it exclusive to drive more people to their platform?

by lifty 6y ago

curiousllama 6y ago

Xbox won't even mean the same thing then as it does now. Would a platform agnostic game only available on the Xbox online store count as "exclusive to xbox?" What if it required an Xbox Live/GamePass subscription for significant features - but not everything? Or they introduced super-skewed pricing ($100 for ES6 w/ no sales vs. included with GamePass)? My concern isn't that this won't be true (at the very least, they release everything for Xbox on PC anyway), it's that the platform will evolve so much that console lock-in won't matter, so the promise will elide the real concern.

TheKnack 6y ago

When Facebook bought Oculus, Palmer Luckey said that a Facebook login would never be required to use Oculus products. The Oculus Quest 2 that comes out in October will require a Facebook login. https://www.roadtovr.com/oculus-guarantee-promise-facebook-log-in/ https://www.roadtovr.com/oculus-guarantee-promise-facebook-l...

johnnyanmac 6y ago
to be fair, Microsoft has been loosening up on exclusives as of late. Minecraft is supported on all platforms, with the dungeon side game coming to all consoles. Psychonauts 2 is still slated to come to PS4 and Switch. Ori's 2 games are multiplat (the sequel just now releasing on Switch). I don't doubt there will be timed exclusives, but at the current moment it seems like they aren't opposed to publishing on non-MS platforms.

superkuh 6y ago

Yes. When Epic bought Psyonix for Rocket League there was plenty of reassurance linux would remain supported. After waiting the absolute minimum time for people to stop paying attention Epic removed linux support and steam distribution.

acruns 6y ago

Why would they limit there revenue to a single platform? That doesn't make sense to me. But I don't play videogames, haven't since my kids were teenagers, think Call of Duty. I have sold software to corporate, and I can say the revenue from software sales far outweigh hardware revenues.

Voloskaya 6y ago
Targeting all platforms means the Zenimax division within Microsoft will make more money. Targeting only Xbox means more Xbox will be sold, so Xbox division will make more money. It's not clear which one is a better deal for MS.
- mywittyname 6y ago
  I think the multi-device strategy is a clear winner. The lifetime value of a console itself is probably not terribly high. After all, most game companies do not sell hardware at all and a few who have eventually gave up (Sega, Atari). Plus, the PC, Switch, and iPad markets are largely orthogonal to the XB/PS ones. Content for the former probably doesn't compete with the latter, so it makes sense to sell in those markets. And lastly, could you imagine how Sony execs would feel if their best selling PS titles all came from MS studios? That would certainly put them in an awkward position to suddenly be financially dependent to some degree on MS.
- kcb 6y ago
  Its not about selling Xboxs anymore. Its about Game Pass subscribers.
- freeone3000 6y ago
  They promised with last-gen Xbox One, and have followed it up, that all first-party games that launch for Xbox will also launch for PC. (Originally this extended to all games, but some late releases were xbox-only.) There are no xbox-only games for Xbox Series announced, from any publisher, that are not available for PC.
  - 6y ago

coliveira 6y ago

Of course, it won't be his decision. It will be Microsoft's decision.

b3kart 6y ago

Yep. Don't make promises when the outcome is not up to you. See [1] for many examples of acquired companies going back on such statements. [1]: https://ourincrediblejourney.tumblr.com/ https://ourincrediblejourney.tumblr.com/

skohan 6y ago

It also begs the question what MS has to gain by buying Bethesda/ZeniMax besides exclusivity. Given the fact that they own the XBox/Windows gaming platform, would the revenue they get selling Doom on PlayStation really be enough to outweigh the potential of making it exclusive to drive more people to their platform?