ignore the 2020 trailer the game wasn't even in development then it was a concept trailer.
Right and that is a fact stated by the developer.
That trailer in 2020... there really wasn't a game or a game team when we were working on that trailer. It was so early. I mean, there was like, four or five people [on the team]. The game was in a Word document.
Undead Labs later suggested it was embarking on a "new era" in 2024, which is also when State of Decay 3 returned with a new trailer at the Xbox Games Showcase 2024.
@Llamageddon That makes no sense and I explained why. It's an alpha build from another studio. Suggesting that the game is going to be cancelled and the studio closed is making negative assumptions based on what a publisher has done previously with another game or studio, in this case implying that any Xbox studio is at risk. That's fear mongering and I know that I would never do that to any Xbox or PS studio until it is a real thing, not to mention that the most likely scenario is that they released an alpha build to receive feedback. You too.
@MaxC Letting people here know, as we discussed elsewhere, you were right about the d-pad. It's good but a bit mushy. The front buttons feel similar to the official Series controller. Good-quality accessory with handy dock, but it's not as ergonomic as Microsoft's controllers, because the sides are straight and it feels a bit narrow. So, not as perfect as I was hoping for my rather big hands!
@Master_Cthulhu70 @ILuvGames I hope that they are polishing the build and listen to the well-intentioned feedback. They know how to make a great game, they just need a smooth release.
@Godot25 Yep, it has a lot to offer as a game in single and multiplayer mode. State of Decay 3 has had a troubled development, but it's real and we've seen it. Those "rumours" are made up just because it's an Xbox studio. It's like saying that Sony is cancelling Wolverine and closing Insomniac because they have closed Manchester Studio, Japan Studio, Pixel Opus, London Studio, Firewalk Studio, Neon Koi, Bluepoint and Dark Outlaw since the PS5 launched.
@FraserG @8thDoctor I just though that, maybe, these users all have Series X and there is a Series S icon on the Series S dashboard instead of a Series X icon, and Helix would display its own icon. It would be an interchangeable icon that means "console" next to the word "exclusive".
@Millionski You are way too impatient. Answering your question, you have received that answer from several people because you mentioned Sony and that is what Sony themselves said about profits and growth. Regarding how is it different, Xbox has clearly explained that they are bloated, have too much infrastructure, waste money on vendors, Call of Duty on Game Pass day one was counterproductive and they have underperforming studios that bring down the revenue from their successful studios massively because they take 7 years to develop short games that do not even perform well on Game Pass, Xbox and other consoles. Moreover, the components crisis has affected them more than Sony and Nintendo ("other platforms"), ironically.
In regard to the uncertainty, it is what it is. We know for sure that every Xbox game will be on PC and that Xbox is getting more permanent console exclusives (meaning not on PS or Nintendo), so stay on Xbox or PC if you want them, same as you would stay on PS (and PC?) if you wanted Sony's first-party games (once Sony clarifies what their current multiplatform strategy is).
@Millionski The only thing I have never approved about Phil Spencer is the hands-off approach with the studios, but I still think he had awesome ideas like Xbox One S & X after the Xbox One being considered a fat Kinect bundle with a Don Mattrick meme attached, the backwards compatibility program (best thing ever in the video game console industry), Play Anywhere, Game Pass and he worked and travelled a lot to improve the relationship with the Japanese developers.
@Questionable_Duck Like you said, nobody knows the future, but it's obvious that Asha is undoing what Phil and Sarah did because it did not work. It's that simple. It will take years to see the results. Sony has also done U-turns and not even changing CEOs. Actually, when Jim Ryan left and the new came was when Sony started the multiplatform strategy, adding Switch and Xbox on top of PC, and when they put their focus on studios and on multiplatform and service games that they later closed and cancelled after a U-turn under the same leadership.
@awp69 Exactly. For a decade now, Xbox is console and PC because of Play Anywhere. Not only that, but the Series X icon is a replacement for console. The logo is fine, but it should include the Series S and next year (?) the Helix icon, so I think they should just put the word exclusive next to an Xbox logo.
@AI-Generation OK, just for fun. I'm sure that Wolverine is going to be successful and enjoyed by millions of players. I'm not sure about the score but Sony's exclusives are mostly liked by critics. It will, however, get 7/10 by Sammy on PS. Just kidding. If you ask me, it's the least appealing Sony game from the generation, excluding cancelled things like Concorde. I also think that Gears of War E-Day is going to be a huge success on both Xbox and PC and I predict a 90+ metascore.
@Millionski Due to GTA, Call of Duty and also due to the increased price of the hardware, software and subscriptions before their stock was affected by the component crisis. Their profits record this generation is based on getting more cash from each customer as their own executives explained and not because PS5 is a more successful platform than PS4 in terms of sales and engagement. I'm absolutely sure that that is a financial success on the board, but still doesn't mean that everything will stay the same nor it will protect them from more closures or U-turns. I'm positive about Xbox now because, as you explained, Sony is at the financial peak, while Xbox is solving their problems as we speak.
@AI-Generation They earn tons of money with their successful IPs, while also being bloated and bleeding money with 7-year developments of short games that did not even perform well financially. Once they get rid of the latter and the previous multiplatform announcements, there's nothing stopping them from increasing the exclusives. The dropping PC argument doesn't make any sense @somnambulance, and you know that that would be a disaster for them. They started Play Anywhere a decade ago and Play Anywhere is right now one of their most impactful selling points. The only thing that remains to be seen and what intrigues me is that if they will stop publishing on Steam Store and do it on the Xbox console-PC store next generation, since their store will be the same for console and PC. That's the only thing that could change regarding PC support: third-party storefronts.
@Fishmasterflex96 This is what I posted years ago and I haven't changed my mind. Phil Spencer is a very nice guy, but the hands-off approach doesn't work unless the studio is highly talented and efficient. Sarah Bond looks like a saleswoman that doesn't believe her own words, and I think that it's because she doesn't have a clue.
I know that it's too early to see the fruits of her labour, but I have the feeling that Asha is the exact kind of person that Xbox needs right now and that Xbox will become leaner, more efficient and with its own identity and success in the console-PC space.
@Shinato2024 Thanks for that information. Avowed is my favourite Obsidian game and I'm happy that it performed well on Game Pass and the store and we might get a sequel. Grounded is considered a success, so I'm sure that Grounded 2 has a bright future ahead.
@AI-Generation You hit the nail on the head. Call of Duty, unlike Forza Horizon and the other Microsoft IPs, performs better on PS5 than on Xbox and PC. PlayStation users are in love with Call of Duty. If you bring your other IPs to PS5, you get 70% of the sales there, while making your platform feel redundant because PS has its own exclusives. It's still worth for multiplayer and service games, especially when they sell like Call of Duty and Forza Horizon, but it doesn't pay off from that data-driven and strategy-driven point of view that seeks to reset Xbox as a differentiated platform in the console space.
@Millionski And pigs could start flying tomorrow😜. No, I know what you mean, but they are a very efficient studio that can be forgiven for not always being successful. Worst case scenario, they would work on the IPs that Xbox chooses, not Call of Duty but what I posted above. I think that they will keep doing their thing, though. My prediction is that Microsoft won't let them go, but we'll need to talk in a year and see who was right. Take Avowed, for instance, really beautiful and polished game at launch on Series X, at 60fps (at least on my VRR TV), with some of the best combat and weapon mechanics I've ever seen.
I don't know if you watched Satya's last interview, but he actually is letting Asha do her thing with the Xbox business, as long as it stops bleeding money, which is why the worst-performing studios are likely to be sold or closed during her tenure, similar to every other big publisher except Nintendo that relies heavily on outsourced development since 2017.
@Millionski Asha teased more Game Pass tiers and access options in the interview, and she also mentioned affordability as a priority, so higher prices are out of the question. Regarding the studio output, don't forget that those studios took 5-7 years to release very short single-player games, so I'm sure they could fill in the gaps. Besides, as I have mentioned many times, why not AA games, older IPs, new ideas with a reasonable budget and development time? Look at Obsidian, for instance.
@AI-Generation The reason is that Fable had been previously announced for PS5, while Gears of War E-Day had not. It had a PS5 port in the works or whatever, but not announced. They also confirmed that the big multiplayer games will stay multiplatform, you know, Call of Duty, Minecraft, Forza Horizon... It will take a while to see what games they choose for multiplatform and console exclusive, because of the current announcements, but I expect the next Halo and the next Fable to be console exclusive. And the end of the day, except Forza Horizon 5, the other games haven't paid off, and I don't mean strictly sales numbers but that "strategy approach" Asha mentioned in the beginning and when she said that their platform needs exclusives in the interview in order to have an identity and stay relevant.
I'm glad to see that Undead Labs finally solved their development hell. State of Decay 2 became an excellent game after waves of patches, so don't judge it by its Metacritic score and give it a chance until the third entry arrives. I hope that their next launch is smoother, for their own good. They likely allowed this video for the feedback.
@Skinny-Pete @Sol4ris It's a combination of factors. First of all, I remember what Asha said in the beginning. A slimmer Xbox is the result of the "data-driven" approach. They are making a fortune with certain studios and games, but others are bleeding money, bringing profitability down to 3%, not counting ABK (she mentioned that in the interview) which is more profitable. Secondly, the "strategy-driven" approach is developed with exclusivity, because she acknowledged that the others have exclusives. This is why we are seeing this combination, because both her and Nadella (I know, rich, greedy, etc.) stated just days ago that they wanted to save Xbox.
We know that the genuine Xbox users all want to save Xbox. There might be other ways like Microsoft subsidising the underperforming studios, but we also know that they won't. I would like to see IPs coming back and new ideas, but not with the disproportionate budgets and development time of very short single-player games like Keeper, South of Midnight or Hellblade II because, unless they are massive hits, any publisher would shut them down.
Why they want to save consoles, many ask? Xbox started Play Anywhere a decade ago and they know they need PC and this versatility is one of the best benefits they offer besides backwards compatibility. However, they also have lots of console players, for instance, Forza Horizon 5 and 6 sold more on Xbox than on PC and there are more subscribers on console, as well. Last year, there were 546m downloads on Xbox (without PC) and 626m downloads on PS, so despite the hardware gap, Xbox has higher engagement.
There are parts of the Xbox business that were not working, so if a new CEO (we'll see) is able to improve profitability and reboot the brand successfully, that will be a positive outcome. The console exclusivity of Gears of War E-Day, being playable on Xbox, PC and gaming handhelds while boosting the identity of Xbox as a console exclusive is part of this reboot that I think will be for the better. If there were Sony games on Xbox, the strategy would be different.
@Fishmasterflex96 I didn't say anything about Arkane Lyon. I agree, Ninja Theory, Compulsion Games and also Double Fine had disproportionate development time for very short and linear games. Even worse, their games underperformed.
@MinervaX76 Yes, basically because he believed that creative ideas developed without external pressure would result in higher engagement on Game Pass and more sales on Xbox and other consoles. However, not many people played those games. I did, on Game Pass. I think that those games wouldn't have bled the rest of the studios' revenue if they had more reasonable budgets/development time. The idea was not that bad, but combine huge expenses with small games with little impact on the market and the result is that they bring their huge revenue down massively to just 3% (unsustainable).
EDIT: Actually, she said that the 3% didn't include ABK, profitability would look better counting that.
@tho_mi Not sugarcoating. On the contrary, giving some perspective. Allow me to explain and read well. They have over 40 studios. This is not a problem that only affects Xbox. Just look at how many Sony has closed since PS5 launched, not to mention other big publishers. Pretending that only Xbox has closed studios is distorting the reality. This is the state this industry is now, if it was a Microsoft's problem, it would only happen to Xbox.
You are right about the mobile studio and the co-developer of Red Fall. Those were closed, too.
@Elbow The hands-off approach didn't work with some of the studios as he expected their creativity to succeed on Game Pass, the Xbox store and other consoles, even. I know he played and beat Keeper, for instance. He was also a fan of some third-party indies. Contrarily to that strategy, Asha would rather invest in studios and games that people are really playing and buying and will drop the romantic but inefficient hands-off strategy. Like I said on other threads, I'd love to see old IPs and new ideas but not with disproportionate budgets/development time.
The studio that Xbox has closed so far is one of the two studios of Arkane. The Initiative, too and rightly, after 7 years of doing nothing until Crystal Dynamics came to their rescue. Krafton collaborated with Xbox and ZeniMax to ensure a smooth transition and maintain continuity at Tango. Not my words but theirs. Tango was their most noticeable loss and the studio that developed The Evil Within, Ghostwire Tokyo and Hi-Fi Rush.
I knew that the development times were crazy for short single-player games in the case of Ninja Theory, Compulsion Games and Double Fine, that are reportedly in negotiations with Xbox to avoid closure. Let's wait for official statements and see what happens with these and other studios. They are not closed yet.
This trend will continue in one way or another according to Sylvain Trinel, but not just at Xbox, but also at Sony after having closed Manchester Studio, Japan Studio, Pixel Opus, London Studio, Firewalk Studio, Neon Koi, Bluepoint and Dark Outlaw already and since PS5 launched.
@MinervaX76 This is why I loved the chat during the Xbox Games Showcase (except for the trolls). We were talking about the games and recalling the old times.
@Gabrie @Skinny-Pete Do you remember when video games and consoles were for fun and escape (the cruel) reality for a little while and there were conversations about the games themselves?
@Vg_JRock_X That's right. Studios looked for financial security and Microsoft looked for long-term profit. It was mutually beneficial. Phil gave them freedom. Some succeeded and some did not. Satya and Asha will not overlook red numbers while other studios are making games that succeed on Game Pass, on the Xbox store and on PC. I'll go back to this in a minute.
This is a volatile industry. Studios close, people move to another or create new ones. There are Metroid Prime developers making Halo and vice versa. Despite what Thomas believes, FPS masters Bungie underperform and new studio Sandfall top the charts.
I would like Xbox to keep the best and I would love to see smaller projects and IPs coming back even if they are not best sellers, but the budgets and development times can't be disproportionate. The hands-off approach didn't result in a better pipeline as Phil expected. South of Midnight needed seven years of development and that's the problem.
They have also supported their studios beyond cash, like when they hired people that had worked on Halo before for doing Halo Infinite's campaign or when one studio would help another with the engine or assets.
Xbox is bloated and needs to go back to its core. It needs to be efficient and make games that people want to play, big or small. If games don't sell and underperform on Game Pass, this is their fate. If we care about someone or something, let's pay for it, but what we do is complain about the lack of time, the price and other games being better because, yes, there are many games being made.
By the way, I love the three Nintendo geniuses he mentioned, Miyamoto and Tezuka most of all, but they are not actively involved in development as they once were except Sakurai and he always says, "This is my last game." Besides, Nintendo finds similar success outsourcing most of its games. Nintendo will always be popular because of its IPs and legacy.
@ILuvGames I agree with you. We and others like Millionski and Sol4ris say what we like and we don't and even disagree and that's perfectly fine because we are honest and do not denigrate others. Unfortunately, there are users that only have negative things to say about Xbox and pester their fans disrespectfully, some of them claiming they're multiplatform gamers, some admitting they want Xbox dead, while accusing others of console warring, fanboyism or bootlicking just because they are positive about something and enjoying a different platform that is not their true favourite.
Microsoft have released exactly one successful games this gen by these standards
How do you know if the numbers are not disclosed? Anyway, congratulations, I guess.
@Banjo- The context here is that games like GoW, Spider-Man, The Last of Us, Horizon: ZD etc sold 20m+ units on PS and the expectations might have been higher on Steam than what was achieved. Forza Horizon was more of a recent breakout hit. In 2016 after 9 games(6 motorsport and 3 horizon) the franchise had sold 16 m units, less than 2m per game. Even with FH5 as a breakout hit it would have been nowhere near 20m units sold on Steam+Xbox together. So the number on PS5 are very impressive in this context.
The PS ecosystem is very strong for driving games, and there was a big gap in the market. Steam is not a strong market for story driven action adventure games. If Sony made lots of western RPG and survival craft games then their decision on releasing games on Steam would probably be very different.
I forgot this. You answered me because I said that if 5m copies of Forza Horizon 5 on PS5 was a success, 5m copies of Horizon Zero Dawn on PC was a success, and you replied this. By your logic, if Horizon Zero Dawn sold 20m+ on PS5 and Forza Horizon 5 sold over 20m+ with most players on Xbox consoles, you'd consider that Horizon Zero Dawn was the same success on PC with 5m as Forza Horizon 5 on PS5 with 5m, but you consider the PC port a failure and the PS5 port a success. The definition of PC (Steam) players is also quite odd, it reminds me of that theory that defines Xbox users as some kind of monkey trained to not buy games.
@Millionski Yes, both Xbox and PS have backtracked and both have their share of failures, but Sony has a bigger and more vocal fanbase, some post here more than on PS and it's tiresome. I don't expect Xbox to reach PS's popularity, no one does since Xbox One, but what I'm saying is that selling 2.6x more consoles doesn't guarantee the success of the software. As we always say, most best-selling games are third-party besides the ones that Microsoft acquired and a few (not all) of Sony's first-party games. Porting games to PS5 hasn't paid off with a few exceptions that they will probably keep like Forza Horizon. We need time to know if the console exclusive strategy pays off, but it can't be worse than This Is an Xbox.
I completely agree. Sony doesn't need to do anything and PS will succeed. Sony admitted being surprised at the success of PS4 even without games during its first year. Not hating PS4, I got one before my Xbox One. Since PC has 1.6b players, the biggest user base is there, and Xbox can find its place there, something that they started a decade ago with Play Anywhere. Helix and the gaming handhelds are all about that without alienating Xbox fans. However, Xbox is more relevant than what many think and are more engaged:
2025. Of the 2 billion PC/console game downloads, 546 million were on Xbox, 626 million were on PlayStation, and 857 million were on PC.
@ILuvGames Also my bad. He said first-party games, so did not consider if they were exclusive or not. I type quickly and it was too late to edit and cause more confusion. By the way, Marathon didn't do that bad on Xbox considering its sales elsewhere.
@Millionski Also and to be fairer, he was replying to one of the people that says that Xbox needs the sales on PS5 and wants Xbox dead to prove his point.
@ILuvGames I said exclusives/first-party games and he said first-party games. I can erase "exclusives" and the meaning is the same and they are still console exclusives. Let's say first-party and console exclusives, then. The important thing is the list below, if you didn't notice it.
@ILuvGames, @eduscxbox probably means one of the other PS5 exclusives/first-party games that flopped in spite of the 92m user base besides the ones that were cancelled, also because of the comments saying that Xbox needs the potential sales on PS5 here and on the other articles:
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach: 1.7 million
MLB The Show 26: 745k
Saros: 406k
Marathon: 347k
God of War: Sons of Sparta: 132k
@Bob_Tempura I thought that those deals were already done and were not easy to cancel. Now we know that Ninja Theory is on thin ice. We also know that State of Decay 3 was in development hell for years, it was announced in 2020, but I hope that the reason for being multiplatform is either that it's a single and multiplayer game like 2 or that the deal was also done, meaning I don't want the game cancelled nor the studio closed.
Nadella acknowledges the components crisis because he was asked about that and Xbox in the interview, as was Asha. He said that it's real but temporary, which is the most positive thing I've heard about the crisis so far.
@fatpunkslim @Skinny-Pete The colossal amount of negative rumours about Xbox is absolutely insane and not just now but for years, almost every day. The hilarious thing is that some people pay more attention to them than to the real facts, and when you put them on the table they just ignore them.
For example, why people believe that Gears of War E-Day cost $400m and that Xbox is bringing it to PS5 next year? If the real budget is revealed and is lower, will they post it fifty times like they posted the fake one? They won't listen to anything other than rumours. If this game succeeds as I think it will, will they admit it or blurt out any kind of absurd explanation like with Forza Horizon 6 without PS5 and even without Game Pass (in early access)? They also said that Gears of War E-Day was announced for PS5. That's a lie. It was never announced for PS5. The trailer thing was debunked and it never went live so it was not announced either way. Getting PEGI ratings and having a port planned or developed doesn't mean that they have announced it for PS5.
The important thing here is that this is a new CEO and that Nadella, surprisingly, is backing this long-term reboot up. You can't base your predictions on what Phil Spencer or Sarah Bond would do! Then, they say elsewhere that they want Xbox dead and believe that Sony has followed a coherent strategy this generation... and everything starts making sense. How can the same person want Xbox dead, hate Xbox games, hate Xbox studios, want Xbox games to be on PS, want PS games not to be on Xbox and hate Xbox studios being closed at the same time?
Asha is turning Xbox into a tighter, more efficient business so it can be sustainable in the long term, something that, surprisingly, Nadella agrees with in his last interview, as he usually is seen as a short-term benefits businessman. Xbox makes a fortune but it's also bleeding money. That's why they need to take hard decisions. Xbox is going back to being a differentiated platform with exclusives as the others, which means they are keeping the studios and IPs that are more successful and influential as would do any other. It's the only way forward.
Comments 8,644
Re: State Of Decay 3 Gets 72 Minutes Of Raw Gameplay Footage In New Early Alpha Video
Deformedpye wrote:
Right and that is a fact stated by the developer.
Finally, the wait is almost over.
Re: State Of Decay 3 Gets 72 Minutes Of Raw Gameplay Footage In New Early Alpha Video
@Llamageddon That makes no sense and I explained why. It's an alpha build from another studio. Suggesting that the game is going to be cancelled and the studio closed is making negative assumptions based on what a publisher has done previously with another game or studio, in this case implying that any Xbox studio is at risk. That's fear mongering and I know that I would never do that to any Xbox or PS studio until it is a real thing, not to mention that the most likely scenario is that they released an alpha build to receive feedback. You too.
Re: State Of Decay 3 Gets 72 Minutes Of Raw Gameplay Footage In New Early Alpha Video
@Llamageddon By that logic, any game that has a demo, trailer or an alpha build like this is at risk of being cancelled.
Re: Review: 8BitDo Ultimate 3-Mode Controller For Xbox - Rare 40th Anniversary Edition - A New Gold Standard
@MaxC Letting people here know, as we discussed elsewhere, you were right about the d-pad. It's good but a bit mushy. The front buttons feel similar to the official Series controller. Good-quality accessory with handy dock, but it's not as ergonomic as Microsoft's controllers, because the sides are straight and it feels a bit narrow. So, not as perfect as I was hoping for my rather big hands!
Re: State Of Decay 3 Gets 72 Minutes Of Raw Gameplay Footage In New Early Alpha Video
@Master_Cthulhu70 @ILuvGames I hope that they are polishing the build and listen to the well-intentioned feedback. They know how to make a great game, they just need a smooth release.
@Godot25 Yep, it has a lot to offer as a game in single and multiplayer mode. State of Decay 3 has had a troubled development, but it's real and we've seen it. Those "rumours" are made up just because it's an Xbox studio. It's like saying that Sony is cancelling Wolverine and closing Insomniac because they have closed Manchester Studio, Japan Studio, Pixel Opus, London Studio, Firewalk Studio, Neon Koi, Bluepoint and Dark Outlaw since the PS5 launched.
Re: Xbox Creates New 'Exclusive' Label For Eligible Games On Console
@FraserG @8thDoctor I just though that, maybe, these users all have Series X and there is a Series S icon on the Series S dashboard instead of a Series X icon, and Helix would display its own icon. It would be an interchangeable icon that means "console" next to the word "exclusive".
Re: Xbox Creates New 'Exclusive' Label For Eligible Games On Console
@Millionski You are way too impatient. Answering your question, you have received that answer from several people because you mentioned Sony and that is what Sony themselves said about profits and growth. Regarding how is it different, Xbox has clearly explained that they are bloated, have too much infrastructure, waste money on vendors, Call of Duty on Game Pass day one was counterproductive and they have underperforming studios that bring down the revenue from their successful studios massively because they take 7 years to develop short games that do not even perform well on Game Pass, Xbox and other consoles. Moreover, the components crisis has affected them more than Sony and Nintendo ("other platforms"), ironically.
In regard to the uncertainty, it is what it is. We know for sure that every Xbox game will be on PC and that Xbox is getting more permanent console exclusives (meaning not on PS or Nintendo), so stay on Xbox or PC if you want them, same as you would stay on PS (and PC?) if you wanted Sony's first-party games (once Sony clarifies what their current multiplatform strategy is).
Re: Xbox Creates New 'Exclusive' Label For Eligible Games On Console
@Millionski The only thing I have never approved about Phil Spencer is the hands-off approach with the studios, but I still think he had awesome ideas like Xbox One S & X after the Xbox One being considered a fat Kinect bundle with a Don Mattrick meme attached, the backwards compatibility program (best thing ever in the video game console industry), Play Anywhere, Game Pass and he worked and travelled a lot to improve the relationship with the Japanese developers.
Re: Xbox Creates New 'Exclusive' Label For Eligible Games On Console
@Questionable_Duck Like you said, nobody knows the future, but it's obvious that Asha is undoing what Phil and Sarah did because it did not work. It's that simple. It will take years to see the results. Sony has also done U-turns and not even changing CEOs. Actually, when Jim Ryan left and the new came was when Sony started the multiplatform strategy, adding Switch and Xbox on top of PC, and when they put their focus on studios and on multiplatform and service games that they later closed and cancelled after a U-turn under the same leadership.
Re: Xbox Creates New 'Exclusive' Label For Eligible Games On Console
@awp69 Exactly. For a decade now, Xbox is console and PC because of Play Anywhere. Not only that, but the Series X icon is a replacement for console. The logo is fine, but it should include the Series S and next year (?) the Helix icon, so I think they should just put the word exclusive next to an Xbox logo.
Re: Xbox Creates New 'Exclusive' Label For Eligible Games On Console
@AI-Generation OK, just for fun. I'm sure that Wolverine is going to be successful and enjoyed by millions of players. I'm not sure about the score but Sony's exclusives are mostly liked by critics. It will, however, get 7/10 by Sammy on PS. Just kidding. If you ask me, it's the least appealing Sony game from the generation, excluding cancelled things like Concorde. I also think that Gears of War E-Day is going to be a huge success on both Xbox and PC and I predict a 90+ metascore.
Re: Xbox Creates New 'Exclusive' Label For Eligible Games On Console
@Millionski Due to GTA, Call of Duty and also due to the increased price of the hardware, software and subscriptions before their stock was affected by the component crisis. Their profits record this generation is based on getting more cash from each customer as their own executives explained and not because PS5 is a more successful platform than PS4 in terms of sales and engagement. I'm absolutely sure that that is a financial success on the board, but still doesn't mean that everything will stay the same nor it will protect them from more closures or U-turns. I'm positive about Xbox now because, as you explained, Sony is at the financial peak, while Xbox is solving their problems as we speak.
Re: Xbox Creates New 'Exclusive' Label For Eligible Games On Console
@AI-Generation They earn tons of money with their successful IPs, while also being bloated and bleeding money with 7-year developments of short games that did not even perform well financially. Once they get rid of the latter and the previous multiplatform announcements, there's nothing stopping them from increasing the exclusives. The dropping PC argument doesn't make any sense @somnambulance, and you know that that would be a disaster for them. They started Play Anywhere a decade ago and Play Anywhere is right now one of their most impactful selling points. The only thing that remains to be seen and what intrigues me is that if they will stop publishing on Steam Store and do it on the Xbox console-PC store next generation, since their store will be the same for console and PC. That's the only thing that could change regarding PC support: third-party storefronts.
Re: Xbox Creates New 'Exclusive' Label For Eligible Games On Console
@Fishmasterflex96 This is what I posted years ago and I haven't changed my mind. Phil Spencer is a very nice guy, but the hands-off approach doesn't work unless the studio is highly talented and efficient. Sarah Bond looks like a saleswoman that doesn't believe her own words, and I think that it's because she doesn't have a clue.
I know that it's too early to see the fruits of her labour, but I have the feeling that Asha is the exact kind of person that Xbox needs right now and that Xbox will become leaner, more efficient and with its own identity and success in the console-PC space.
Re: Xbox Creates New 'Exclusive' Label For Eligible Games On Console
@Shinato2024 Thanks for that information. Avowed is my favourite Obsidian game and I'm happy that it performed well on Game Pass and the store and we might get a sequel. Grounded is considered a success, so I'm sure that Grounded 2 has a bright future ahead.
Re: Xbox Creates New 'Exclusive' Label For Eligible Games On Console
@AI-Generation You hit the nail on the head. Call of Duty, unlike Forza Horizon and the other Microsoft IPs, performs better on PS5 than on Xbox and PC. PlayStation users are in love with Call of Duty. If you bring your other IPs to PS5, you get 70% of the sales there, while making your platform feel redundant because PS has its own exclusives. It's still worth for multiplayer and service games, especially when they sell like Call of Duty and Forza Horizon, but it doesn't pay off from that data-driven and strategy-driven point of view that seeks to reset Xbox as a differentiated platform in the console space.
Re: Xbox Creates New 'Exclusive' Label For Eligible Games On Console
@Millionski And pigs could start flying tomorrow😜. No, I know what you mean, but they are a very efficient studio that can be forgiven for not always being successful. Worst case scenario, they would work on the IPs that Xbox chooses, not Call of Duty but what I posted above. I think that they will keep doing their thing, though. My prediction is that Microsoft won't let them go, but we'll need to talk in a year and see who was right. Take Avowed, for instance, really beautiful and polished game at launch on Series X, at 60fps (at least on my VRR TV), with some of the best combat and weapon mechanics I've ever seen.
I don't know if you watched Satya's last interview, but he actually is letting Asha do her thing with the Xbox business, as long as it stops bleeding money, which is why the worst-performing studios are likely to be sold or closed during her tenure, similar to every other big publisher except Nintendo that relies heavily on outsourced development since 2017.
Re: Xbox Creates New 'Exclusive' Label For Eligible Games On Console
@Millionski Asha teased more Game Pass tiers and access options in the interview, and she also mentioned affordability as a priority, so higher prices are out of the question. Regarding the studio output, don't forget that those studios took 5-7 years to release very short single-player games, so I'm sure they could fill in the gaps. Besides, as I have mentioned many times, why not AA games, older IPs, new ideas with a reasonable budget and development time? Look at Obsidian, for instance.
Re: Xbox Creates New 'Exclusive' Label For Eligible Games On Console
@AI-Generation The reason is that Fable had been previously announced for PS5, while Gears of War E-Day had not. It had a PS5 port in the works or whatever, but not announced. They also confirmed that the big multiplayer games will stay multiplatform, you know, Call of Duty, Minecraft, Forza Horizon... It will take a while to see what games they choose for multiplatform and console exclusive, because of the current announcements, but I expect the next Halo and the next Fable to be console exclusive. And the end of the day, except Forza Horizon 5, the other games haven't paid off, and I don't mean strictly sales numbers but that "strategy approach" Asha mentioned in the beginning and when she said that their platform needs exclusives in the interview in order to have an identity and stay relevant.
Re: Xbox Confirms Presence At Gamescom 2026, Hypes Up Gears Of War: E-Day For It
@BigRedPaper Or at the very least, to those that don't show psychopathic traits.
Re: GTA 6 Cover Art Revealed, Pre-Orders Begin Next Week For Xbox Series X|S
@Blastfemur Same but on Helix in 2027 or whenever it launches. This is not a game that needs my pre-ordering support unlike Fatal Frame. 😂
Re: State Of Decay 3 Gets 72 Minutes Of Raw Gameplay Footage In New Early Alpha Video
I'm glad to see that Undead Labs finally solved their development hell. State of Decay 2 became an excellent game after waves of patches, so don't judge it by its Metacritic score and give it a chance until the third entry arrives. I hope that their next launch is smoother, for their own good. They likely allowed this video for the feedback.
Re: Gears Of War: E-Day Continues To Look Incredible In New 60FPS Xbox Series X Footage
@Skinny-Pete @Sol4ris It's a combination of factors. First of all, I remember what Asha said in the beginning. A slimmer Xbox is the result of the "data-driven" approach. They are making a fortune with certain studios and games, but others are bleeding money, bringing profitability down to 3%, not counting ABK (she mentioned that in the interview) which is more profitable. Secondly, the "strategy-driven" approach is developed with exclusivity, because she acknowledged that the others have exclusives. This is why we are seeing this combination, because both her and Nadella (I know, rich, greedy, etc.) stated just days ago that they wanted to save Xbox.
We know that the genuine Xbox users all want to save Xbox. There might be other ways like Microsoft subsidising the underperforming studios, but we also know that they won't. I would like to see IPs coming back and new ideas, but not with the disproportionate budgets and development time of very short single-player games like Keeper, South of Midnight or Hellblade II because, unless they are massive hits, any publisher would shut them down.
Why they want to save consoles, many ask? Xbox started Play Anywhere a decade ago and they know they need PC and this versatility is one of the best benefits they offer besides backwards compatibility. However, they also have lots of console players, for instance, Forza Horizon 5 and 6 sold more on Xbox than on PC and there are more subscribers on console, as well. Last year, there were 546m downloads on Xbox (without PC) and 626m downloads on PS, so despite the hardware gap, Xbox has higher engagement.
https://sensortower.com/report/state-of-gaming-2026/download
https://www.thurrott.com/games/333049/report-highlights-best-selling-videogames-of-2025
There are parts of the Xbox business that were not working, so if a new CEO (we'll see) is able to improve profitability and reboot the brand successfully, that will be a positive outcome. The console exclusivity of Gears of War E-Day, being playable on Xbox, PC and gaming handhelds while boosting the identity of Xbox as a console exclusive is part of this reboot that I think will be for the better. If there were Sony games on Xbox, the strategy would be different.
Re: Treyarch Confuses Xbox Fans With Black Ops 1 & 2 Reveal For PS5
This must be a mistake. If it's not, you can bet that Asha will change it.
Re: Gears Of War: E-Day Continues To Look Incredible In New 60FPS Xbox Series X Footage
Forza Horizon 6
Halo remake
Gears of War E- Day
Fable (4)
Since Xbox 360, Xbox has never been better.
Re: Xbox Confirms Presence At Gamescom 2026, Hypes Up Gears Of War: E-Day For It
@ILuvGames It's becoming full of trolls and haters, unfortunately.
Re: 'It's Going To Be Pretty Brutal' - Jason Schreier Reveals More On Upcoming Xbox Layoffs
@awp69 Yep, also the majority of the sales of Forza Horizon 5 were on Xbox consoles and not on PC as I thought that could be the case.
Re: 'It's Going To Be Pretty Brutal' - Jason Schreier Reveals More On Upcoming Xbox Layoffs
@Fishmasterflex96 No problem.
Re: 'It's Going To Be Pretty Brutal' - Jason Schreier Reveals More On Upcoming Xbox Layoffs
@Fishmasterflex96 I didn't say anything about Arkane Lyon. I agree, Ninja Theory, Compulsion Games and also Double Fine had disproportionate development time for very short and linear games. Even worse, their games underperformed.
Re: 'It's Going To Be Pretty Brutal' - Jason Schreier Reveals More On Upcoming Xbox Layoffs
@MinervaX76 Yes, basically because he believed that creative ideas developed without external pressure would result in higher engagement on Game Pass and more sales on Xbox and other consoles. However, not many people played those games. I did, on Game Pass. I think that those games wouldn't have bled the rest of the studios' revenue if they had more reasonable budgets/development time. The idea was not that bad, but combine huge expenses with small games with little impact on the market and the result is that they bring their huge revenue down massively to just 3% (unsustainable).
EDIT: Actually, she said that the 3% didn't include ABK, profitability would look better counting that.
Re: 'It's Going To Be Pretty Brutal' - Jason Schreier Reveals More On Upcoming Xbox Layoffs
@tho_mi Not sugarcoating. On the contrary, giving some perspective. Allow me to explain and read well. They have over 40 studios. This is not a problem that only affects Xbox. Just look at how many Sony has closed since PS5 launched, not to mention other big publishers. Pretending that only Xbox has closed studios is distorting the reality. This is the state this industry is now, if it was a Microsoft's problem, it would only happen to Xbox.
You are right about the mobile studio and the co-developer of Red Fall. Those were closed, too.
Re: 'It's Going To Be Pretty Brutal' - Jason Schreier Reveals More On Upcoming Xbox Layoffs
@Elbow The hands-off approach didn't work with some of the studios as he expected their creativity to succeed on Game Pass, the Xbox store and other consoles, even. I know he played and beat Keeper, for instance. He was also a fan of some third-party indies. Contrarily to that strategy, Asha would rather invest in studios and games that people are really playing and buying and will drop the romantic but inefficient hands-off strategy. Like I said on other threads, I'd love to see old IPs and new ideas but not with disproportionate budgets/development time.
Re: 'It's Going To Be Pretty Brutal' - Jason Schreier Reveals More On Upcoming Xbox Layoffs
The studio that Xbox has closed so far is one of the two studios of Arkane. The Initiative, too and rightly, after 7 years of doing nothing until Crystal Dynamics came to their rescue. Krafton collaborated with Xbox and ZeniMax to ensure a smooth transition and maintain continuity at Tango. Not my words but theirs. Tango was their most noticeable loss and the studio that developed The Evil Within, Ghostwire Tokyo and Hi-Fi Rush.
I knew that the development times were crazy for short single-player games in the case of Ninja Theory, Compulsion Games and Double Fine, that are reportedly in negotiations with Xbox to avoid closure. Let's wait for official statements and see what happens with these and other studios. They are not closed yet.
This trend will continue in one way or another according to Sylvain Trinel, but not just at Xbox, but also at Sony after having closed Manchester Studio, Japan Studio, Pixel Opus, London Studio, Firewalk Studio, Neon Koi, Bluepoint and Dark Outlaw already and since PS5 launched.
Re: Xbox Confirms Presence At Gamescom 2026, Hypes Up Gears Of War: E-Day For It
I'm looking forward to this game since it was revealed, although I don't watch much to avoid spoilers.
Re: Three Games Join Xbox Game Pass This Week, But One Has Been Delayed (June 16-18)
@awp69 What game, my friend? 😂
Re: Report: Xbox Already Planned To 'Sunset Or Split With' Ninja Theory Before Senua Reveal
@MinervaX76 This is why I loved the chat during the Xbox Games Showcase (except for the trolls). We were talking about the games and recalling the old times.
I grew up with the SNES and N64.
Re: Report: Xbox Already Planned To 'Sunset Or Split With' Ninja Theory Before Senua Reveal
@Gabrie @Skinny-Pete Do you remember when video games and consoles were for fun and escape (the cruel) reality for a little while and there were conversations about the games themselves?
Re: Ori Creator Shares His Take On The Future Of Xbox's First-Party Strategy
@Vg_JRock_X That's right. Studios looked for financial security and Microsoft looked for long-term profit. It was mutually beneficial. Phil gave them freedom. Some succeeded and some did not. Satya and Asha will not overlook red numbers while other studios are making games that succeed on Game Pass, on the Xbox store and on PC. I'll go back to this in a minute.
This is a volatile industry. Studios close, people move to another or create new ones. There are Metroid Prime developers making Halo and vice versa. Despite what Thomas believes, FPS masters Bungie underperform and new studio Sandfall top the charts.
I would like Xbox to keep the best and I would love to see smaller projects and IPs coming back even if they are not best sellers, but the budgets and development times can't be disproportionate. The hands-off approach didn't result in a better pipeline as Phil expected. South of Midnight needed seven years of development and that's the problem.
They have also supported their studios beyond cash, like when they hired people that had worked on Halo before for doing Halo Infinite's campaign or when one studio would help another with the engine or assets.
Xbox is bloated and needs to go back to its core. It needs to be efficient and make games that people want to play, big or small. If games don't sell and underperform on Game Pass, this is their fate. If we care about someone or something, let's pay for it, but what we do is complain about the lack of time, the price and other games being better because, yes, there are many games being made.
By the way, I love the three Nintendo geniuses he mentioned, Miyamoto and Tezuka most of all, but they are not actively involved in development as they once were except Sakurai and he always says, "This is my last game." Besides, Nintendo finds similar success outsourcing most of its games. Nintendo will always be popular because of its IPs and legacy.
Re: Xbox CSO Shuts Down Rumour About Exclusives, Insists They'll Happen Every Year
@ILuvGames I agree with you. We and others like Millionski and Sol4ris say what we like and we don't and even disagree and that's perfectly fine because we are honest and do not denigrate others. Unfortunately, there are users that only have negative things to say about Xbox and pester their fans disrespectfully, some of them claiming they're multiplatform gamers, some admitting they want Xbox dead, while accusing others of console warring, fanboyism or bootlicking just because they are positive about something and enjoying a different platform that is not their true favourite.
Re: Xbox CSO Shuts Down Rumour About Exclusives, Insists They'll Happen Every Year
@BamBamBaklava89 What do you mean?
Re: Xbox CSO Shuts Down Rumour About Exclusives, Insists They'll Happen Every Year
@Swandivetotheasphalt
How do you know if the numbers are not disclosed? Anyway, congratulations, I guess.
I forgot this. You answered me because I said that if 5m copies of Forza Horizon 5 on PS5 was a success, 5m copies of Horizon Zero Dawn on PC was a success, and you replied this. By your logic, if Horizon Zero Dawn sold 20m+ on PS5 and Forza Horizon 5 sold over 20m+ with most players on Xbox consoles, you'd consider that Horizon Zero Dawn was the same success on PC with 5m as Forza Horizon 5 on PS5 with 5m, but you consider the PC port a failure and the PS5 port a success. The definition of PC (Steam) players is also quite odd, it reminds me of that theory that defines Xbox users as some kind of monkey trained to not buy games.
Re: Xbox CSO Shuts Down Rumour About Exclusives, Insists They'll Happen Every Year
@Millionski Yes, both Xbox and PS have backtracked and both have their share of failures, but Sony has a bigger and more vocal fanbase, some post here more than on PS and it's tiresome. I don't expect Xbox to reach PS's popularity, no one does since Xbox One, but what I'm saying is that selling 2.6x more consoles doesn't guarantee the success of the software. As we always say, most best-selling games are third-party besides the ones that Microsoft acquired and a few (not all) of Sony's first-party games. Porting games to PS5 hasn't paid off with a few exceptions that they will probably keep like Forza Horizon. We need time to know if the console exclusive strategy pays off, but it can't be worse than This Is an Xbox.
I completely agree. Sony doesn't need to do anything and PS will succeed. Sony admitted being surprised at the success of PS4 even without games during its first year. Not hating PS4, I got one before my Xbox One. Since PC has 1.6b players, the biggest user base is there, and Xbox can find its place there, something that they started a decade ago with Play Anywhere. Helix and the gaming handhelds are all about that without alienating Xbox fans. However, Xbox is more relevant than what many think and are more engaged:
https://sensortower.com/report/state-of-gaming-2026/download
https://www.thurrott.com/games/333049/report-highlights-best-selling-videogames-of-2025
@ILuvGames Also my bad. He said first-party games, so did not consider if they were exclusive or not. I type quickly and it was too late to edit and cause more confusion. By the way, Marathon didn't do that bad on Xbox considering its sales elsewhere.
Re: Xbox CSO Shuts Down Rumour About Exclusives, Insists They'll Happen Every Year
@Millionski Also and to be fairer, he was replying to one of the people that says that Xbox needs the sales on PS5 and wants Xbox dead to prove his point.
Re: Xbox CSO Shuts Down Rumour About Exclusives, Insists They'll Happen Every Year
@ILuvGames I said exclusives/first-party games and he said first-party games. I can erase "exclusives" and the meaning is the same and they are still console exclusives. Let's say first-party and console exclusives, then. The important thing is the list below, if you didn't notice it.
Re: Xbox CSO Shuts Down Rumour About Exclusives, Insists They'll Happen Every Year
@RentedPanda They are exclusives/first-party games.
Re: Xbox CSO Shuts Down Rumour About Exclusives, Insists They'll Happen Every Year
@ILuvGames, @eduscxbox probably means one of the other PS5 exclusives/first-party games that flopped in spite of the 92m user base besides the ones that were cancelled, also because of the comments saying that Xbox needs the potential sales on PS5 here and on the other articles:
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach: 1.7 million
MLB The Show 26: 745k
Saros: 406k
Marathon: 347k
God of War: Sons of Sparta: 132k
Re: Xbox CSO Shuts Down Rumour About Exclusives, Insists They'll Happen Every Year
@Bob_Tempura I thought that those deals were already done and were not easy to cancel. Now we know that Ninja Theory is on thin ice. We also know that State of Decay 3 was in development hell for years, it was announced in 2020, but I hope that the reason for being multiplatform is either that it's a single and multiplayer game like 2 or that the deal was also done, meaning I don't want the game cancelled nor the studio closed.
Nadella acknowledges the components crisis because he was asked about that and Xbox in the interview, as was Asha. He said that it's real but temporary, which is the most positive thing I've heard about the crisis so far.
Re: Xbox CSO Shuts Down Rumour About Exclusives, Insists They'll Happen Every Year
@fatpunkslim @Skinny-Pete The colossal amount of negative rumours about Xbox is absolutely insane and not just now but for years, almost every day. The hilarious thing is that some people pay more attention to them than to the real facts, and when you put them on the table they just ignore them.
For example, why people believe that Gears of War E-Day cost $400m and that Xbox is bringing it to PS5 next year? If the real budget is revealed and is lower, will they post it fifty times like they posted the fake one? They won't listen to anything other than rumours. If this game succeeds as I think it will, will they admit it or blurt out any kind of absurd explanation like with Forza Horizon 6 without PS5 and even without Game Pass (in early access)? They also said that Gears of War E-Day was announced for PS5. That's a lie. It was never announced for PS5. The trailer thing was debunked and it never went live so it was not announced either way. Getting PEGI ratings and having a port planned or developed doesn't mean that they have announced it for PS5.
The important thing here is that this is a new CEO and that Nadella, surprisingly, is backing this long-term reboot up. You can't base your predictions on what Phil Spencer or Sarah Bond would do! Then, they say elsewhere that they want Xbox dead and believe that Sony has followed a coherent strategy this generation... and everything starts making sense. How can the same person want Xbox dead, hate Xbox games, hate Xbox studios, want Xbox games to be on PS, want PS games not to be on Xbox and hate Xbox studios being closed at the same time?
Re: Xbox CSO Shuts Down Rumour About Exclusives, Insists They'll Happen Every Year
Asha is turning Xbox into a tighter, more efficient business so it can be sustainable in the long term, something that, surprisingly, Nadella agrees with in his last interview, as he usually is seen as a short-term benefits businessman. Xbox makes a fortune but it's also bleeding money. That's why they need to take hard decisions. Xbox is going back to being a differentiated platform with exclusives as the others, which means they are keeping the studios and IPs that are more successful and influential as would do any other. It's the only way forward.
Re: Full List Of Xbox Achievements Revealed For Halo: Campaign Evolved
@ZeD 😂 If it's as mythic as it sounds, not likely, no matter how much I like all Halo games except 5.