With all the craziness happening over at MS, I thought it’d be a good idea to have a central place to discuss it on the forums.
Apparently, more games will be heading to Playstation. Regardless of what this might mean for the “future of the industry” I can’t help but feel this is a huge “up yours” to those that have support X-box up to this point.
Although I think there are benefits to focusing on optimizing a game for a single platform with known hardware specs as a means to make a stable and reliable release, I do think there is value to bringing titles to other platforms and opening them up to larger audience. Obviously that includes greater potential revenue for the studios but it also means greater access to players. Exclusivity can be a means to encourage hardware sales but exclusivity also limits the audience you can reach, something Squenix recently learned the hard way. But as a person who just wants to play games, I think exclusivity is pretty consumer alienating. Not buying a console means being locked out of whole swaths of games and that sucks if you just want to play games. So I don’t necessarily see expanding the platforms that Xbox games are distributed on as a bad thing. To me consoles, PCs and other hardware are all just a means to do the thing that really matters, play games.
I do agree with you, BUT everyone (well, the vast majority) bought their X-box when various titles/features WERE exclusive. I still feel this is kinda disrespectful towards them. They supported MS up to this point so shouldn’t they be recognised? Maybe I’m just being selfish?
I feel a few ways about that.
if Microsoft’s ongoing strategy isn’t working and the Xbox division is suffering, I can’t blame them for trying a new approach. Especially if it can keep the Xbox division afloat. I desperately don’t want to see a world where they bow out and we are only left with Sony in that specific console category. Not because I dislike PlayStation, but because I don’t want one large company to dominate and dictate the shape of console gaming. I want Xbox to stay relevant so the two can compete and keep each other in check. I sincerely doubt Sony would be releasing PS Studio games on PC if it weren’t for a desire to compete with Xbox, and I don’t want that motivator to go away. So if staying afloat means pushing some additional key games to other platforms, so be it.
Provided Xbox can stay competitive and continue to sell games on Xbox hardware, I’m not too worried about exclusives being the driving reason to buy an Xbox. The Series X has plenty of unique factors that make it a worthwhile piece of hardware. Even if Xbox games are ported to other consoles there will always be people who will buy and enjoy Xbox hardware for it UI/UX, back compatibility and general experience.
As with all game companies they go through these “changes”. Hopefully Xbox still knows what kept them going strong.
For what it’s worth, and likely because I’m always the weirdo outcast with apparently wrong opinions, I can confidently state I never once owned a console simply because of what was on it. I just have what I have. Also, a lot of stuff gets cross platformed, and has forever. But yeah, exclusives were never once a single driving point for me.
Same, I can’t really even tell you what’s exclusive to what. Other than Hi-Fi Rush, because I was interested in playing it lol.
Been thinking about this and I really don’t know why it bothered me so much. I don’t particularly care about any of Xbox’s exclusive titles. All my favourite series have been on all platforms. There is literally no reason for me to care about this as it won’t stop me playing any of the games I care about, and after this generation I’ll probably get a Steam Deck anyway (I’ve like 85% decided).
It was dumb of me to make this thread, and I apologise for my ranting. Good day. 
I don’t think it’s a dumb thread. Exclusives have long been touted as part of what keeps console platforms alive, so it’s understandable to be concerned when there is a big shift from that model. I think the concern that they’ll exit the market is a valid one, and one that is a natural fear that something like this shift might prompt.
I’d like to see them make smart platform moves that put more games in the hands of more players. And I want them to do it ways that are different from Sony’s approach because Sony has pushed so aggressively into one type of AAA style game that I miss the weird games they used to take risks on. I want Microsoft to take risks because they need weird left-field hits like Hi-Fi Rush. I don’t even really like the game but I’m glad it exists. But they have to stop killing teams that make games like that or else they are just going to make big AAA games like Sony and I’ll be sad, lol.
This does fuel the theory that they will open up the Xbox platform to third party handhelds, which could be great for them and handhelds. If hardware like the Asus ROG Ally could run the Xbox UI instead of the base Windows 11 UI it would be a substantially better product. And if they could make it compatible with Xbox and PC games it would be a killer platform.
If this is true it’s a hell of a kick in the teeth to whomever was replacing Mikami. If a company showed that little faith in me I’d leave straight away. What assholes.
Greed Monopoly and wanting to make xbox a profitable brand I think is the answer of what is happening to Xbox.
I think that can be levelled at any company.
Very true. Just look at how nintendo was going against sega back in the day.
Despite the fact that I keep trying to hold onto optimism about the future of Xbox, if feels like it’s getter harder each day:
Microsoft To Stop Marketing Xbox Consoles In Europe, Other Regions, Per Report
It would appear that Microsoft has a strategy in mind. Its integrating cloud gaming capabilities on as many non-console entities as possible, which would then require Game Pass Ultimate to make use of, as well as a compatible controller, like the Xbox controller.
If they get rid of the console could we then please have kb & mouse for streaming? I guess not, because it is years that they promised it or people read into their words a promise, I don’t even know anymore and nothing has happened. Maybe when the consoles sell even less the more important it will get to force people to use a Microsoft controller because that thing won’t sell with consoles anymore?
This will mean more focus on digital which, like with the recent Forza Horizon 4 thing, means that at some point in the future when the servers/ support for games gets canned we’ll, at best, only have access to half the games we’ve paid full price for, if we retail access to them at all.
Maybe I should forget the Steam Deck as well and only buy games from GoG or go exclusively retro after this generation because at this rate buying games is soon going to be akin to purchasing bottled air.
Microsoft did add KB/M to a handful of cloud streaming games just recently. It’s a start, even if it limited.
For what it’s worth you can play GoG games on Steam Deck, you just need to install them on the desktop side and add a link to them in Steam so you can access them on the console side. I do that with GoG, itch.io and Eoic games. It’s a bit of an extra step which makes Steam games easier, but it’s doable. It’s not much harder than emulating games.