@MrStark Mattrick did do that but he did a lot of other damage to Xbox itself during Xbox One launch. Phil Spencer picked up the pieces and imo did a good job turning that around.

Time will tell with Asha. I think it's too early to judge.

@fatpunkslim said external drive will carry production costs though and the overall price of the console will have to increase to subsidise it.

That's where the dilemma is. For better or for worse Sony have played their hand early and said we aren't potentially willing to subsidise that and affect the cost of the PS6.

Ball now back with MS. In theory they can afford it but will be interesting to see how they play it.

Too early to guess for either in my view. But these analysts are paid (why?) to project these kind of imo nonsense figures.

Most of the time they don't even fully know the market.

@Banjo- Is it profitable though. Where are the figures to back that. Nowhere.

Maybe it is.Maybe it isn't. But when Asha is making such broad statements you have to question where those figures are coming from.

They did need to trim the fat. Have they done it from the right place? Time will tell.

@HonestHick You have to look at GP for your point there.

I do agree with you. But you talk a lot about Big IP. The studios they have gave independence to and sold off didnt have what would financially be considered as "Big IP"

I'm not seeing anything other than MS sacking niche studios off and investing in mainstream IP IE Halo Forza Gears etc.

I'm trying to find where the niche game investment is now and I don't see it.

@Banjo- 14 layers of management in any organisation is ridiculous.

Then I'd question - how did they allow that to happen? It's not as if Satya wasn't in charge while the 14 layers was going on. He was.

This business is always at risk but I don't think it's any different to Film or TV. Films and TV shows are cancelled all the time for not making enough cash.

It ultimately boils down to spending more money than they have made to the point they have to consolidate spend. I just can't see how you spend nigh on 70bil and don't see it coming.

I think maybe they did and Sarah and Phil have gone they can pin it on them and Asha looks good. But buck stops at the top.

I've got all 3. I've been with XB from day one. But I'm questioning both to the point where I'm thinking do I just stick with Nintendo and PC. It's so sad.

@HonestHick you are talking in millions but I think it's a certain $68.7 billion spend that has been the problem.

I'll answer your question but you won't agree with me. What you tell the higher ups is why did you spend nigh on $70b on a publisher that does not return that annually and expect us all to pick up the slack with our projects?

Whether it's MS or Sony (I'm excluding Nintendo as they have always operated in their own space) they rely on investors who need a return. I can't see how they expected to spend so much on ABK and still expect to give a return. I think this was coming the minute they bought them out.

@Fiendish-Beaver I would imagine job losses at this scale press may be kept at arms length until it's all finalised. You may not get a data driven answer to that question yet.

@Banjo- Good reception doesn't always = good sales.

Gotta think about the metrics being used. I actually hope you are right they are a cracking Dev let them do what they do. But there is always a risk they get drafted in on the mainstream stuff and become a support studio.

I hope it doesn't happen but until this all plays out the risk is still there.

@Banjo- I get where you are coming from there. But I don't see Sony doing it more than Xbox. I think they will both double down.

I just hope that things like Astro Bot on PS and Obsidians games on Xbox will still get some love. Still room for quirky games out there.

I worry with Obsidian a bit losing 25% of their workforce. Hoping they dont end up just drafted in as a support studio on Fallout and Elder Scrolls. They are fine enough on their own imo.

@Mr-Cage Forza Horizon was more or a less an easy home run. Turn your SIM racing series into an open world simcade racer? Instant win. Same if Sony would have done that with Gran Turismo.

With the other games if you enjoyed them they were good games to you.

I think the industry has gone into a bad space where it's about three things

1. Software Sales
2. Sales from additional products IE microtransactions
3. Live user data ie how many users play the game per day.

Niche single player games will always fall foul of all three which explains the studios that have been let go and those being sold off imo.

It's kinda sad. But it's the way the industry is going. Seen it happen with film. Indie films show in a UK cinema for a week maybe two at best. A mainstream Hollywood film gets 2-3 months of showings.

It's kinda sad but it's the way they are all headed.

@Mr-Cage mediocrity is subjective though. Of course MS shouldn't be supporting mediocre product but if they are measuring it by sales metrics alone you can't define quality of a game by that.

Historically good quality games haven't sold well either because they were restricted to one platform so limiting the install base or they were too "niche"

That alone doesn't make them mediocre for example. And Game Pass as good as it is will skew pure game sales.

It's an opinion of mine for example that Tim Schafer has never put out a "bad" game. So I don't think Double Fine were let go due to not supporting mediocrity but for bad sales. And putting it on GP would limit sales alone anyway.

Again only my opinion hence subjective but you see where I'm coming from?

@Banjo- it's the last paragraph on this statement

"This year, we’ll invest as much in XBOX as we ever have, but we’ll invest with greater focus, greater discipline, and greater clarity, all in service of making XBOX where the world plays and creates."

Could be interpreted as it is or in 1001 different ways. Those reacting badly to all of this could read it as "we are going to invest in the mainstream stuff that sells" hence so much negativity. Reality is likely very different of course but the studio changes don't help the reaction unfortunately.

My take on the whole thing is unlike Sony's announcement around discs. We knew this was coming because MS were upfront the changes were inbound. But the changes I think are worse than we first thought sadly.

@Banjo- they will have to. But I'll always miss the old ways. I still look at my master system and go "even if you had a firmware update you would still do my head in" 😂

The old school gaming mentality has been deleted. And it is that which is sad.

@ZeD not if all the other platforms do the same.

@Banjo- @Sindayl I think overall it's just a sad time when we all realise physical media is about to die a slow sad death.

And it is sad.

I remember a master system game not playing ball with me. I took the cartridge out. Blow of air. Job done.

I do feel like what Sony has announced today (others will follow) is the death of that joy I felt with physical gaming is just gone.

What I don't want is it being turned into console war nonsense. Like what happened with Music and I assume Film/TV we are all moving to a digital only future it'll be all about who can preserve our content in the best way.

@Banjo- It depends how you look at it. There are definitely going to be some arguments where people say if we purchased something digitally or otherwise we own that as we paid our hard earned for it.

That's going to be something that all the companies will have to navigate over the next few years with no doubt a few bumps and government interventions along the way.

@Sindayl you are wrong I would actually agree with you. I should apologise I am only referring to the last couple of years when I stated that since the whole download code/keycard debacle started. All Sony first party games had the full file on disc at the time.

Reality is they will all do it. We can phrase it as anti consumer which is subjective but it will end up applying to all. Sony just came out with this first.

I didn't mean my reply as combative and if it read that way I apologise. We are definitely singing from the same hymn sheet. But it is going to be a trend across the industry from 2028 it seems.

@MrStark he literally didn't insult you at all with anything he said. If anything with the grade 8/9 comment you should have been coming at me for it.

But either way I'll respond again. You are either presenting your opinion as fact and not seeing it or just trolling and provoking so I'm either engaging or wasting my time here goes.

Xbox is losing money - fact it's in the public domain

They need a restructure in personnell - opinion. I think Phil took what Don ruined and turned it back around some may disagree. Xbox lost money he talk the fall was it his fault? Subjective.

Asha is vocalising a reset - fact. Of course she is. You don't draft someone else in if you don't want to redirect the narrative

Closures are needed - opinion. They initially backed niche games for Game Pass now they are walking back and backing mainstream. Do I think they are wrong? Again subjective.

Asha is a figurehead - could be fact or opinion. Nadyella controls the money let's see.

Just a few tidbits but I'm going to respect where you are coming from grade 8/9 or otherwise.

I think you are giving sound opinions tbf but passing them off as fact it's the last bit that's a bit off but feel free to pick what I have said apart.

Pricing will be important when this comes into effect. And none of them will be considerate of it either so it's going to be vital more than ever for the relevant authorities in all countries to ensure pricing remains as reasonable as it should be when it all moves to digital only.

Time will tell whether that ends up being the case.

PS sorry all for the post spam I feel like an edit that's more than one paragraph should be a separate post 😂

@Sindayl when they all inevitably follow this will you call all of them anti consumer?

Sony were one of the only ones keeping all content on the disc and not just download codes. One of them had to come out first. Just because Sony did doesn't make them anti consumer. 12 months from now all the others will have followed.

I think the industry is going through what music went through (not sure about film or TV with this) CDs and Vinyls are now classed as collectible whereas back in the day they were day to day. Spotify etc came in all of a sudden they are vintage.

Not sure if it's happened already to DVD and Blu Ray but same thing will happen with game discs now.

There is the other perhaps more sensitive argument around plastic cases and the environment and I don't want to touch that. I think those who do go physical tend to keep their collections rather than dispose so it's kind of a moot point.

@Banjo- it all started when games started getting released on disc with download codes.

Tbf to Sony's credit it did and still does now in the main release the full game on disc while others don't. But we have seen with others and Switch 2 having key cards with codes, this coming for a while.

Like you say what Sony are first being vocal about the others will be doing the same.

Now it's all going to be about who backs digital game preservation the best. Ironically I think Sony will be at the back of that queue.

@MrStark not a personal insult at all. Just an observation.

As this is - Deathloop was an annoying game. It won 6 awards at the time and got 22 nominations for others so a lot would say otherwise.

No clarification needed. I know what I'm dealing with responding to you.

@JustBusiness agreed. Should be at the top of everyone's thought. So many lives will be affected here.

It is business but whether it's MS or Sony or to a lesser degree Nintendo doing it. It's all about the individuals impacted.

I do think working in recruitment myself the game Dev market is very fluid so hopefully those affected will find albeit potentially self employed or locum jobs with other Devs fairly quickly.

@themightyant oof. We are trying to talk with a grade 8/9 student here. So wasn't even alive when the original Xbox even launched.

Think we may as well be talking to a brick wall 😂

@MrStark Independent Studios manage themselves.

Arkane are not independent. They are managed by Microsoft. If they have been given years and millions by MS surely some of the top brass there should have been keeping a better eye on their progress no?

@MrStark you call them incompetent but who ultimately manages them? Buck stops at the top lad. If they were mismanaged who's fault would that be?

@BacklogBrad take Blade out of that could argue lack of progress makes a risk especially with SoD3.

I'm in your camp tbh in I think they are making the wrong calls but cancelling a Kojima game would give them a lot more bad press than the others you've mentioned. They'll be thinking about the PR as much as cost.

As much as his games since MGS tend to be an acquired taste despite doing well mostly. He carries so much weight and favour amongst the gaming community I'm not surprised they are ringfencing his project from this. They can this off is sends out the wrong message.

Madness. It's easy to understand they need a change in direction back the other way. But the communication is frankly a little bit awful.

They have gone from "Exclusives are antiquated" back the other way to "Exclusives are important" now muddled it to "Expect some selected ones yearly"

Reality is they need to pivot back and focus on exclusive games again if they want to continue to be a platform and not a publisher - get that.

But the way they are wording it I've got this vision of an Xbox Showcase introducing a game trailer with "Annual Exclusive"

The PR approach is making the whole thing worse.

It ultimately blows when good people are losing their jobs over these decisions and nothing about "it needs to happen" , "a reset will be a good thing" could ever sugarcoat that. It's really sad.

Fact is he's right the industry needs a bit of a reset and unfortunately there will be casualties with studios closing. Seen it with Sony with Bluepoint etc. Now seeing it here.

My biggest worry would be if it ever starts affecting studios that were organically founded and grown rather than acquired. If MS shuttered Turn 10 or Coalition. Or Sony shuttered Polyphony or Team Asobi then I'd think it was a bigger problem.

@MrStark Switch is not a direct competitor? Nintendo has been a direct competitor to Sony and to some extent MS ever since the whole battle between PS2 Xbox and GameCube.

I dont disagree with your original point but let's not pretend Nintendo are not in the conversation they absolutely are. It's no secret Microsoft wanted to buy Nintendo at one time.

How I miss cartridges. Issue? Not working? Blow and it's fixed 😂

@BacklogBrad wasting your time with that one mate

Hate the pay for early access nonsense so not for me. If anything it just annoys the rest of us for spoilers being out there lol

@Banjo- one day mate it's gonna come back. The appetite for decent platform games is still there it's a home run if they do it.

Wouldn't call it a resurrection but either way I'll be all over it if it happens!

Maaan the way these threads spiral honestly 😂 no one talks about just enjoying the games these days. It's like being back in the 90s.

She's got a point with this. Those big graphics jumps don't and don't need to, exist anymore.

I remember the jumps from 8-bit/16/32/64/128 and the jumps from 2d to 3d. They were sizeable at the time. These days things are more scalable and software itself can do the job. So I wouldn't be surprised to see several versions of future hardware to cater for all price points.

@Banjo- no tag so I'm maybe incorrectly assuming you are replying to me but even if not still applies. The NT one is unrelated to the original DMC franchise. You do need to like hack and slash regardless so if you don't maybe not but if on the fence it's worth checking out.

@Kaloudz the fact they haven't called it Hellblade 3 would suggest it's either the last one or a reboot of it. Time will tell. But either way I do think it's just a safe bet this time and their next one will be something different. Hopefully.

In other news. Blood is red?

Bound to lose some it happens. I don't think it's a massive deal long term.

@Banjo- if you have means and the console to do it and haven't done do check out their DMC game. You will like it.

@Kaloudz the white wig scene made me laugh at the time

No I don't think they would outsource Capcom are flying atm. But NT have proved their ability with hack and slash. Maybe they will in future but I think it's about money atm and they have stayed safe. Don't blame them.

@cragis0001 I think you might as well be better off talking to a brick wall than that one mate 😂

Who let Greenberg out of his cage? Forgot he was still working there. Last guy you want out in front of this lol.

@MrStark I'm going to agree with you twice and disagree twice lol.

Agree definitive proof. They had to make a snap decision on what they picked which right now doesn't make sense but long term I expect the direction will be a little more logical.

Disagree on Halo. Not only because two major execs and the dev all confirmed future Halo games will be multiplat (to walk back on that one in particular imo would be a massive PR blunder) but I think it falls under ultimately multiplayer games being on all platforms. I wouldn't be surprised to see Halo on Switch 2 at some point.

Disagree on Phil Spencer about to kill Xbox. Look at where he took it after the colossal mess Don Mattrick left it in. If anything it would have died sooner without Big Spence lol. But ultimately like Asha he's a figurehead they'll do whatever Satya decides to do. Right now she looks good but whatever she's doing Satya will have signed it off. If he wants to pivot yet again she will pivot too.

But agree again if this is the direction they are going in and they get it right long term. Xbox will be back in a much better place.

@Kaloudz glad to come across another who liked their DMC. I rated it too. It got a bit of a bashing from some when it first came out but I think that was more from angry fans wanting OG Dante more than anything else.

In the current economic climate I think they needed a safe bet this time round as a studio.

The series is an acquired taste but has a big cult following so those who enjoyed the first two will snap this up and it'll do relatively well.

About time after Crash we got a new Spyro. Buzzing.

My only worry is them getting the full flight gameplay right. Part of Spyros charm and challenge in the gameplay for me was limited flight. So if they are taking the shackles off hopefully the challenge is still there.