In the end I am an all digital person and inevitably the world will move to all digital. But there is a reality today that there are people that still like physical media and the consumers should have the option until the full death of physical media.
@DJKingaling Unfortunately, this all ends up being about game sales, not game quality. I have been enjoying it too, but not enough people, played the game on GamePass or bought it on other platforms to justify keeping the IP moving forward obviously.
@Romans12 I don’t disagree but, when you buy enough media in your life you soon find it is a nuisance. I have thousands of physical games, CDs, and DVD/Bluray movies. It got totally out of control how much space they took up.
@Friendly You can’t always take the high road. If the high road is doomed to failure you have to get into the mud and use the same tactics the competition uses.
One of the predominant comments I had seen on this site about XB after they went multi-platform was, “Why should I buy an XB now”. That is a very good comment. To me, it was about quality of hardware, OS, services, etc. But to a lot of people those things are not considered and they are more about being able to play more games on one platform. So ask yourself if playing Halo and God of War is something that is most important to you would you buy an XB or PS? Probably PS because with the new Halo remake you can play them on PS only. If you have an XB only you miss out on God of War.
@TheFakulty Nope they are a third party contracted to build the game. The also make the Plague Tale games. And made the XBOX One Exclusive game ReCore.
It is never good when good people lose their jobs. I feel for people every time I hear this stuff happening with companies I have worked with, competitor companies, and places I buy products from.
But one of the things people don't know is how many of these jobs losses are where exactly in the organization. Yes, this one was an art director but what percentage of the layoffs, were cuts to streamline management since Sharma said there were up to 14 layers in some cases (Maybe this art director was one of those cuts)? How many of the cuts are in marketing parts of the organization because I think they are trying to centralize that more? How many were cuts to multi-platform development people since they intend to bring more console exclusives to XB? And how many of the cuts were deadwood that exists in this size of an organization?
@NishimaruX Microsoft is more of a platforms and operating system company then it is a gaming company. I have more confidence in their ability to curate gaming platforms then their ability to manage game development studios.
@8th_Observer I want them to own the Unreal Engine. And I don't think their purchases were the disaster, it was what they did after purchases that made them a disaster. People were iffy on the AKB purchase, but all other people cheered immediately.
@themightyant Making engines vs. buying is essentially a decision that should be made with the IP. The question is there something unique or extrodinary we need to do that no other engine can? If the answer is yes, then an engine should be built, if no, then stick with off the shelf engines where it is easy to find people.
In Microsoft's case they have some really good game engines and game engine expertise. I think that the IW Engine, Creation Engine, Diablo IV engine, and idTech should be invested into because the games that result are unique in lots of ways. They were right to drop Slip Space.
@themightyant Agreed, but the engine is also what makes the game built with it different from other games in the same genre. Sharma did talk about a lack of investment in platforms and key franchises. Maybe this is a realization they need to invest more to highlight their pluses.
Also, scrapping these engines for generic engines would be a total retooling of the developers that use them. It would be like starting from scratch. Probably not desirable. The people that are experienced at optimizing for these engines are not the same people that are good at the unreal engine.
I think Gears really fits with Unreal and the Coalition are masters at it. Halo, I think they didn't have the expertise to make a great engine or they were overly ambitous. So, going to Unreal is ok for now. Ideally I think XB should buy Epic or just the Unreal engine.
@themightyant Sharma did also state that Minecraft and Candy Crush are more platforms. The Creation Engine is a platform as well. Along with idTech.
I don't see this as bad as long as the focus is on making these engines better. These franchises are who they are because of these engines. Flipping Elder Scrolls and Fallout to Unreal probably would not improve the uniqueness of these franchises. And switch Wolfenstein, Quake, and Doom off of idTech would actually make these franchises much worse. I often play these games and marvel at the framerates and detail. idTech is hugely optimized to these types of shooters.
@Friendly
I totally agree. I am not a fan of exclusives. But that is the way console gaming works. If you don't have exclusives you don't get people buying your console, it is that simple. XB has proven that.
As a consumer I am a massive fan of multi-platform everything. I hate buying a Nintendo device, a PS device, and a XB device just to play all the games I want to play. But, the reality is that since XB did multi-platform and the 2 others decided not to play, XB has to go back to exclusives.
A lot of people are calling this bad, and it is bad.
But, at the end of the day these 3,200 job losses are in the following areas it won't be as bad as people think:
1) Studio divestitures. 2) Reduce management layers. 3) Reducing people working on multi-platform versions of games so they become XB exclusive. 4) Consolidate marketing out of studios and centralize it. 5) Consolidate things like battle.net into the XB infrastructure making it more centralized.
Then things will be ok. The concern I will have is if they are laying off people that are building the next games XB is focusing on.
@datamonkey At the time they bought them they had a strategy. That strategy failed, so they are correcting the issue. All of these studios (except Arkane) were purchased individually. While there is the idea of purchasing competitors to take them out of the marketplace and make them disappear, this obviously is not the case here, because they are letting them go back on their own.
I also found this comment very interesting in the release:
"We entered Gen 9 with a smaller install base and a higher cost structure. To grow, we bet on Game Pass, multi-platform, and a broader portfolio of content. While those businesses have created meaningful value, they did not grow at the pace we expected."
So, GamePass and multi-platform didn't do as well as expected. Today's announcement fixes the broader portfolio not doing as well as expected.
I expect there to be significant changes to GamePass and more exclusive announcements based on these comments.
@ZeD
Ya, the hope here is that those 1,600 immediate jobs were from studios multi-platform groups. the official press release also mentions that in some cases there were 14 layers of management. That is too much in almost every organization and they said they want to reduce that to 3-5.
I really liked this comment in the official release:
"In addition, Mojang and King will now report directly to me. These two studios have increasingly become platforms and are our largest by monthly active players. They bring critical geographic, demographic, and differentiation to XBOX."
This could mean that there will be enhancements/exclusiveness on these two games that will make better on XB vs other platforms. Hopefully the rest of the studios will eventually do the same.
I filled 2 Billy bookcases before I stopped buying physical media on XB360. THen, I went digital and have not looked back. My physical media is stored away waiting for me to decide its final fate.
There are some games I own that only have physical versions. Those are in a few disc binders I keep in my gaming room for when I want to play them on my X360.
@Friendly I have been fully digital for over a decade. I never pay full price for any game, and will often get games in the 80% off range. I don't see that disappearring. Publishers know that certain people will buy games only at certain price points. They are not going to pass up the opportunity to get a gamer's money. You just have to be patient and wait, just like you have to with the bargain bin at physical stores.
@BAMozzy I can certainly agree with that. At that point there is no sense even distributing discs. People have to start trusting that digital stores are going to going to keep track of their digital rights as license holder. The only thing left to resolve is the resale of the license. Once I remember that XB was rumored to be working on that, but have not heard anything since.
I like Obsidian. And I think shutting down other studios to put more resources at the go forward studios will benefit their games and marketing going forward.
@Fishmasterflex96 Correct. I was wrong. There is physical media sales still. But as a percentage of all sales it is less then 4% of the total sales of music, movies, and games.
@Lanmanna You can always get music, movies, and games in different formats but as a percentage of the whole, physical media distribution is pretty much dead and will be fully dead for new games soon. Back in the day you would see record, movie, and game stores pretty much in every city over 25,000 people. Now, you are lucky to have a few in a city over a million people and maybe one in a city of over 250,000 people. All Sony is doing is reducing the size their device and saving gamers about $50-100 on console purchase price by going all digital. Most gamers don't want the drive or to pay for the drive anymore. That is a fact based on purchasing trends where digital is well outselling physical. And Sony is super gamer conscious. They are probably seeing the digital version of their consoles selling a lot better then the full version now because of the skyrocketing costs.
It is a fact that when you buy a physical media you don't own the game. It is a license to play the game. Not a single judge or legal representative would argue otherwise on your behalf. The reason I compare people like yourself to flat earthers is that you are totally ignoring that facts to the contrary. Just like flat earthers totally ignore all the facts to the contrary. And by the way everytime you give that game away to someone else or sell it, the publishers and developers of that art receive nothing in return. Then, somehow you wonder why they would want to switch to a digital model? Hmmmmm. Let me think. I spend $400 mln for a developer to make a AAA game and through physical distribution I can lose 80% of the potential game sales? But if I distribute digital only the stores take 30% and I am guarantteed 70% of all sales.... I don't need to be a rocket scientist to choose a preferred distribution model there.
That 30% cut that digital stores take. Guess what... Physical stores selling a new game take a cut too. Not a single cent goes back to the publishers/developers for retail used games. They may not get the full 30% on an new game but they get 100% of the profit on a used game which is why they encourage people to get them their used games.
Oh and by the way I didn't say my statements were pros, I said those are the arguements used by the fans of each side. Me personally, I have chosen digital distribution... 1) It does save space and I don't need to display what I have, that would beg someone to break into my home and steal the 3,000+ games I own across Nintendo, PS, and XB devices. 2) I travel a lot, so it is a lot more convenient accessing my collection digitally, rather then lugging around binders of games. 3) I buy games digitally, because I know the publishers/developers are getting a cut. That is good for the industry's future for them to get benefits from my purchases.
Physical discs are dying, it doesn't matter whether it is this week, next month, next year, or in the next few years. I expect in the next five years people will no longer talk about games shipping with physical discs. That is the simple reality.
Music has gone digital only, movies have gone digital, and now games will become digital only. While there is nostalgia in physical media (some people still buy vinyl records), it is similar to being a flat earther. Contrary to popular belief, you never really "owned" a game. You have a license to use/play it so the companies control the distribution mechanisms.
Things change whether people like it or not. The new way is better in some ways, but not as good in others. People that are big digital fans highlight how it saves them space, the publishers/developers get all the money from sales, and the portability of getting access to their games. People that prefer physical distribution highlight how they can put the disc in a drive to play their game which gives them comfort, how physical can be cheaper, and how some people don't have access to fast Internet to download games. Both have points, but ultimately the publishers determine the distribution mechanism not consumers.
@Sol4ris The issue you get into is how do they make XB (consoles and games) more successful? You can't just keep doing the same thing and expect a better result.
One of the options is to rationalize and change your studio strategy. That is what they have chosen to do it sounds like. I don't claim to judge whether that will be good or bad. I will judge based on how interested they keep me as a gamer after this all pans out. I would encourage everyone to do the same.
@Grackler I didn't say XB has not been mismanaged. I liked Spencer, but facts are XB declined under his reign. Whether you want to blame that on MS, Nadella or whoever, Spencer was at the top of XB and it declined on his watch.
@Grackler XB is the 2nd largest publisher (along with Tencent) by far over the others. Of course there will be more job losses at XB.
What they have said is they aren't reducing their spend, but at the same time during the last several years we have seen inflation (gaming consoles and game prices) skyrocket in gaming. That is probably true with labor inflation as well. So, if I spend the same this year it will probably get me 5% less labor then I could last year for the same spend. Also, in development studios I generally think there has been less willingness by employees to work tons of overtime so that translates to longer development schedules which also increases labor costs.
Everything has an effect. Too just pinning this on Sharma's wage and co-pilot is just lashing out without knowing the full story. I don't deny they may be a part in it, but there are many other pieces that can effect how much XB can deliver as well.
@Grackler And how is this different then their major competitors? Sony, EA, Ubisoft, 2K, etc. have all been closing studios and down sizing all generation long.
If XB wants to gain market share they have to do things like waiting for the other console vendors to spring the bad reality news on gamers.
The reality is that disc based game distribution has been dying slowly since the game stores popped up on consoles and more people are able to get fast internet.
Gamers tend to jump on top of the company that brings the bad news first. In this case, finally, XB is not that console vendor.
And this also clears the path that next generation none of the consoles will probably have disc media drives to save money on console costs going forward. I expect there will be an disc media purchase option that will be expensive instead for people that want to play games they have boughten physically.
This really stinks for the people that will lose their jobs. That should be what people are concerned about first.
But you have to look at the performance of the games these studios have released. Double Fine with Kiln (66 on MC), Keeper (80), and Psychonauts 2 (87).... Compulsion with We Happy Few (62) and South of Midnight (77).... Ninja Theory with Hellblade II (84).... Arkane with Wolfenstein Youngblood (69), Deathloop (88), and Redfall (56).... Out of the lot Pyschonauts 2 and Deathloop were the highest rated. And the theme was every single one under performed in game sales. And finally many of the games took many years to develop.
You don't have to look hard to see why XBOX would target these studios. They have all been money losing studios for 5-8 years. XBOX has been patient with these studios but they simply have not produced.
It is always bad when studios close. And there are probably a few more that could've been targeted. It is not good but it was probably necessary to save a bunch of other studios. And hopefully they offer the most talented people jobs at one of their other studios.
I would love to see these studios stay but frankly, if I was paying the cash to keep them open, I would be doing the same. You can't bleed money forever. At some point they have to earn their way.
@Elbow
You have to remember that Rockstar has a previous engine that they have been building on for GTA and that the studio size is probably about 10x that of Compulsion so this is probably not the best comparison, but I think the jist of your point still sticks.
It is not good that there are lay-offs, but at the same time I think it is important that XB makes some major course corrections to keep the platform relevant.
Personally, I like the delay. There are very few games that will be able to sell well along side GTA. And RPGs typically are not one of them. I expect Fable will do really well moving to February 2027.
XB gamers can't really complain anyhow. We just got Forza Horizon 6 in Japan, and wre getting Halo and Gears before the end of the year. Along with GTA and the typical CoD game. Fable would've made that lineup more epic, but as an XB gamer I have no complaints about the 25 year anniversary lineup.
@Fiendish-Beaver Then that could be an ultimate tier perk that you get the games from every region. It is all in how they work with partners, sell, market, and bundle with the perceived value players think they get.
@Fiendish-Beaver
I do think GamePass needs to change. There are some fundamental bundling and marketing problems.
A few suggestions:
1) Base price of GamePass simply for network access. Nothing more.
2) If they make something XB concole exclusive it doesn't come to GamePass. With the exception of future CoDs which stays out due to its business model.
3) Have Games Pass tiers offering only XB 1st party games and indie games, and third parties that don't have their own subscription service.
4) EA Play and Ubisoft+ Classics have separate services. Keep XB GamePass Ultimate but market it as a discount on bundling to all the services: GamePass highest GamePass tier, EA Play, and Ubisoft+ Classics.
5) Also XB may want to consider regional content in GamePass to appeal to different places more.
If it is not shipping in the next year, there is no sense showing it because it is vaporware. They had plenty of content shipping in the next year at the show.
Asha has said many times lately that they are increasingly looking at XB as a platform. She hasn't said "gaming platform". She just says "platform". Windows is a platform. iOS is a platform, Android is a platform. What this usually means is there are many varying devices that us the platform.
This can mean that XB may license the platform to OEMs as well. It could also mean many varying devices with different specifications. Platforms have one thing in common. They are the basic building blocks that a hardware spec sits underneath and software and services are on top.
I could see gaming OEMs like Alienware, Omen, ROG, etc.moving away from Windows proper and booting to XB full screen experience. If all I did on my PC is game, why would I not want it to boot to the XB full screen experience?
And I know a lot of people have critized the capabilities of XB Series S but I think the idea was correct and they learned from that so why can't they make a cheaper device that is similar but fixes Series S issues next generation?
People keep looking at this in the current view of the console box. But, I think next generation, XB is going to get very bold and change what can be called a console a lot.
@Fiendish-Beaver People have said this every generation MS has been a console vendor and every generation they come back and every generation they have invested more in gaming. Over and over the same arguement and over and over XB keeps coming to the next generation.
Again, there is absolutely no evidence they will only sell 2-3 mln consoles next generation. They have 30 mln gamepass subscribers (just a rough estimate). It is likely they sell at least that many consoles next generation. At least I have some evidence to back my estimate up. Not sure what evidence you have that XB will only sell 2-3 mln consoles next generation.
Comments 1,052
Re: Video Game Retailer Urges Xbox To 'Stand Behind Consumer Choice' By Supporting Physical
In the end I am an all digital person and inevitably the world will move to all digital. But there is a reality today that there are people that still like physical media and the consumers should have the option until the full death of physical media.
Re: Xbox Announces 3,200 Job Cuts And Four Studio Departures
@Friendly
Do I like it, “No”. Do I think it is necessary for XB to compete and continue to exist? “Yes”.
Re: Report: Xbox Cancels Avowed 2 And Puts Obsidian To Work On New Fallout Game
@DJKingaling
Unfortunately, this all ends up being about game sales, not game quality. I have been enjoying it too, but not enough people, played the game on GamePass or bought it on other platforms to justify keeping the IP moving forward obviously.
Re: Here's The New Lineup Of Xbox Game Studios For July 2026 Onwards
@AverageGamer
You are correct. My mistake. For some reason I always thought it was Absobo. Not the first time I am wrong and definitely not the last.
Re: Halo Studios Makes A Point Of Highlighting 'Physical Discs' For Campaign Evolved
@Romans12
I don’t disagree but, when you buy enough media in your life you soon find it is a nuisance. I have thousands of physical games, CDs, and DVD/Bluray movies. It got totally out of control how much space they took up.
Re: Xbox Announces 3,200 Job Cuts And Four Studio Departures
@Friendly
You can’t always take the high road. If the high road is doomed to failure you have to get into the mud and use the same tactics the competition uses.
One of the predominant comments I had seen on this site about XB after they went multi-platform was, “Why should I buy an XB now”. That is a very good comment. To me, it was about quality of hardware, OS, services, etc. But to a lot of people those things are not considered and they are more about being able to play more games on one platform. So ask yourself if playing Halo and God of War is something that is most important to you would you buy an XB or PS? Probably PS because with the new Halo remake you can play them on PS only. If you have an XB only you miss out on God of War.
Re: Report: Bethesda Faces 'Significant Overhaul' At Xbox, Will Focus On Key Franchises
@NishimaruX
I know but they are still dangerous.
PS: Loved Red Dwarf.
Re: Report: Bethesda Faces 'Significant Overhaul' At Xbox, Will Focus On Key Franchises
@NishimaruX
Poor analogy... Tin cans can be very dangerous to open (even when they are already open). They are sharp on the edges.
Sorry.... I couldn't resist lightening the topic.
Re: Here's The New Lineup Of Xbox Game Studios For July 2026 Onwards
@TheFakulty
Nope they are a third party contracted to build the game. The also make the Plague Tale games. And made the XBOX One Exclusive game ReCore.
Re: Obsidian, id Software & Others Confirmed To Be Affected By Xbox Layoffs
It is never good when good people lose their jobs. I feel for people every time I hear this stuff happening with companies I have worked with, competitor companies, and places I buy products from.
But one of the things people don't know is how many of these jobs losses are where exactly in the organization. Yes, this one was an art director but what percentage of the layoffs, were cuts to streamline management since Sharma said there were up to 14 layers in some cases (Maybe this art director was one of those cuts)? How many of the cuts are in marketing parts of the organization because I think they are trying to centralize that more? How many were cuts to multi-platform development people since they intend to bring more console exclusives to XB? And how many of the cuts were deadwood that exists in this size of an organization?
Re: Here's The New Lineup Of Xbox Game Studios For July 2026 Onwards
@TheFakulty
Asobo
Re: Report: Bethesda Faces 'Significant Overhaul' At Xbox, Will Focus On Key Franchises
@NishimaruX
Microsoft is more of a platforms and operating system company then it is a gaming company. I have more confidence in their ability to curate gaming platforms then their ability to manage game development studios.
Re: Report: Bethesda Faces 'Significant Overhaul' At Xbox, Will Focus On Key Franchises
@8th_Observer
I want them to own the Unreal Engine. And I don't think their purchases were the disaster, it was what they did after purchases that made them a disaster. People were iffy on the AKB purchase, but all other people cheered immediately.
Re: Report: Bethesda Faces 'Significant Overhaul' At Xbox, Will Focus On Key Franchises
@themightyant
Making engines vs. buying is essentially a decision that should be made with the IP. The question is there something unique or extrodinary we need to do that no other engine can? If the answer is yes, then an engine should be built, if no, then stick with off the shelf engines where it is easy to find people.
In Microsoft's case they have some really good game engines and game engine expertise. I think that the IW Engine, Creation Engine, Diablo IV engine, and idTech should be invested into because the games that result are unique in lots of ways. They were right to drop Slip Space.
Re: Report: Bethesda Faces 'Significant Overhaul' At Xbox, Will Focus On Key Franchises
@themightyant
Agreed, but the engine is also what makes the game built with it different from other games in the same genre. Sharma did talk about a lack of investment in platforms and key franchises. Maybe this is a realization they need to invest more to highlight their pluses.
Also, scrapping these engines for generic engines would be a total retooling of the developers that use them. It would be like starting from scratch. Probably not desirable. The people that are experienced at optimizing for these engines are not the same people that are good at the unreal engine.
I think Gears really fits with Unreal and the Coalition are masters at it. Halo, I think they didn't have the expertise to make a great engine or they were overly ambitous. So, going to Unreal is ok for now. Ideally I think XB should buy Epic or just the Unreal engine.
Re: Report: Bethesda Faces 'Significant Overhaul' At Xbox, Will Focus On Key Franchises
@themightyant
Sharma did also state that Minecraft and Candy Crush are more platforms. The Creation Engine is a platform as well. Along with idTech.
I don't see this as bad as long as the focus is on making these engines better. These franchises are who they are because of these engines. Flipping Elder Scrolls and Fallout to Unreal probably would not improve the uniqueness of these franchises. And switch Wolfenstein, Quake, and Doom off of idTech would actually make these franchises much worse. I often play these games and marvel at the framerates and detail. idTech is hugely optimized to these types of shooters.
Re: Xbox Announces 3,200 Job Losses And Four Studio Departures
@Friendly
I totally agree. I am not a fan of exclusives. But that is the way console gaming works. If you don't have exclusives you don't get people buying your console, it is that simple. XB has proven that.
As a consumer I am a massive fan of multi-platform everything. I hate buying a Nintendo device, a PS device, and a XB device just to play all the games I want to play. But, the reality is that since XB did multi-platform and the 2 others decided not to play, XB has to go back to exclusives.
Re: Xbox Announces 3,200 Job Losses And Four Studio Departures
A lot of people are calling this bad, and it is bad.
But, at the end of the day these 3,200 job losses are in the following areas it won't be as bad as people think:
1) Studio divestitures.
2) Reduce management layers.
3) Reducing people working on multi-platform versions of games so they become XB exclusive.
4) Consolidate marketing out of studios and centralize it.
5) Consolidate things like battle.net into the XB infrastructure making it more centralized.
Then things will be ok. The concern I will have is if they are laying off people that are building the next games XB is focusing on.
Re: Xbox Announces 3,200 Job Losses And Four Studio Departures
@datamonkey
At the time they bought them they had a strategy. That strategy failed, so they are correcting the issue. All of these studios (except Arkane) were purchased individually. While there is the idea of purchasing competitors to take them out of the marketplace and make them disappear, this obviously is not the case here, because they are letting them go back on their own.
Re: Xbox Announces 3,200 Job Losses And Four Studio Departures
I also found this comment very interesting in the release:
"We entered Gen 9 with a smaller install base and a higher cost structure. To grow, we bet on Game Pass, multi-platform, and a broader portfolio of content. While those businesses have created meaningful value, they did not grow at the pace we expected."
So, GamePass and multi-platform didn't do as well as expected. Today's announcement fixes the broader portfolio not doing as well as expected.
I expect there to be significant changes to GamePass and more exclusive announcements based on these comments.
Re: Xbox Announces 3,200 Job Losses And Four Studio Departures
@ZeD
Ya, the hope here is that those 1,600 immediate jobs were from studios multi-platform groups. the official press release also mentions that in some cases there were 14 layers of management. That is too much in almost every organization and they said they want to reduce that to 3-5.
I really liked this comment in the official release:
"In addition, Mojang and King will now report directly to me. These two studios have increasingly become platforms and are our largest by monthly active players. They bring critical geographic, demographic, and differentiation to XBOX."
This could mean that there will be enhancements/exclusiveness on these two games that will make better on XB vs other platforms. Hopefully the rest of the studios will eventually do the same.
Re: Xbox Announces 3,200 Job Losses And Four Studio Departures
Glad to see the studios look like they will all still exist. Sad for the job losses. But that is the state of the gaming industry today.
Hopefully this is the end of it and XB builds from here. Would like to see XB start announcing that more stuff will go exclusive.
Re: Poll: Which Xbox Console Have You Collected The Most Physical Games For?
I filled 2 Billy bookcases before I stopped buying physical media on XB360. THen, I went digital and have not looked back. My physical media is stored away waiting for me to decide its final fate.
There are some games I own that only have physical versions. Those are in a few disc binders I keep in my gaming room for when I want to play them on my X360.
Re: Halo Studios Makes A Point Of Highlighting 'Physical Discs' For Campaign Evolved
@Friendly
I have been fully digital for over a decade. I never pay full price for any game, and will often get games in the 80% off range. I don't see that disappearring. Publishers know that certain people will buy games only at certain price points. They are not going to pass up the opportunity to get a gamer's money. You just have to be patient and wait, just like you have to with the bargain bin at physical stores.
Re: Halo Studios Makes A Point Of Highlighting 'Physical Discs' For Campaign Evolved
@BAMozzy
I can certainly agree with that. At that point there is no sense even distributing discs. People have to start trusting that digital stores are going to going to keep track of their digital rights as license holder. The only thing left to resolve is the resale of the license. Once I remember that XB was rumored to be working on that, but have not heard anything since.
Re: Halo Studios Makes A Point Of Highlighting 'Physical Discs' For Campaign Evolved
@Friendly
You do realize that XB has already said it will support multiple digital stores next generation right?
Re: Journalist Claims Xbox Is 'Keeping' Obsidian Following Rumours Of Potential Closure
I like Obsidian. And I think shutting down other studios to put more resources at the go forward studios will benefit their games and marketing going forward.
Re: Halo Studios Makes A Point Of Highlighting 'Physical Discs' For Campaign Evolved
@Fishmasterflex96
Upticking the sales of next to nothing is still next to nothing.
Re: Halo Studios Makes A Point Of Highlighting 'Physical Discs' For Campaign Evolved
@Fishmasterflex96
Correct. I was wrong. There is physical media sales still. But as a percentage of all sales it is less then 4% of the total sales of music, movies, and games.
Re: Halo Studios Makes A Point Of Highlighting 'Physical Discs' For Campaign Evolved
@Lanmanna
You can always get music, movies, and games in different formats but as a percentage of the whole, physical media distribution is pretty much dead and will be fully dead for new games soon. Back in the day you would see record, movie, and game stores pretty much in every city over 25,000 people. Now, you are lucky to have a few in a city over a million people and maybe one in a city of over 250,000 people. All Sony is doing is reducing the size their device and saving gamers about $50-100 on console purchase price by going all digital. Most gamers don't want the drive or to pay for the drive anymore. That is a fact based on purchasing trends where digital is well outselling physical. And Sony is super gamer conscious. They are probably seeing the digital version of their consoles selling a lot better then the full version now because of the skyrocketing costs.
It is a fact that when you buy a physical media you don't own the game. It is a license to play the game. Not a single judge or legal representative would argue otherwise on your behalf. The reason I compare people like yourself to flat earthers is that you are totally ignoring that facts to the contrary. Just like flat earthers totally ignore all the facts to the contrary. And by the way everytime you give that game away to someone else or sell it, the publishers and developers of that art receive nothing in return. Then, somehow you wonder why they would want to switch to a digital model? Hmmmmm. Let me think. I spend $400 mln for a developer to make a AAA game and through physical distribution I can lose 80% of the potential game sales? But if I distribute digital only the stores take 30% and I am guarantteed 70% of all sales.... I don't need to be a rocket scientist to choose a preferred distribution model there.
That 30% cut that digital stores take. Guess what... Physical stores selling a new game take a cut too. Not a single cent goes back to the publishers/developers for retail used games. They may not get the full 30% on an new game but they get 100% of the profit on a used game which is why they encourage people to get them their used games.
Oh and by the way I didn't say my statements were pros, I said those are the arguements used by the fans of each side. Me personally, I have chosen digital distribution... 1) It does save space and I don't need to display what I have, that would beg someone to break into my home and steal the 3,000+ games I own across Nintendo, PS, and XB devices. 2) I travel a lot, so it is a lot more convenient accessing my collection digitally, rather then lugging around binders of games. 3) I buy games digitally, because I know the publishers/developers are getting a cut. That is good for the industry's future for them to get benefits from my purchases.
Re: Halo Studios Makes A Point Of Highlighting 'Physical Discs' For Campaign Evolved
Physical discs are dying, it doesn't matter whether it is this week, next month, next year, or in the next few years. I expect in the next five years people will no longer talk about games shipping with physical discs. That is the simple reality.
Music has gone digital only, movies have gone digital, and now games will become digital only. While there is nostalgia in physical media (some people still buy vinyl records), it is similar to being a flat earther. Contrary to popular belief, you never really "owned" a game. You have a license to use/play it so the companies control the distribution mechanisms.
Things change whether people like it or not. The new way is better in some ways, but not as good in others. People that are big digital fans highlight how it saves them space, the publishers/developers get all the money from sales, and the portability of getting access to their games. People that prefer physical distribution highlight how they can put the disc in a drive to play their game which gives them comfort, how physical can be cheaper, and how some people don't have access to fast Internet to download games. Both have points, but ultimately the publishers determine the distribution mechanism not consumers.
Re: Journalist Claims Xbox Is 'Keeping' Obsidian Following Rumours Of Potential Closure
@Sol4ris
The issue you get into is how do they make XB (consoles and games) more successful? You can't just keep doing the same thing and expect a better result.
One of the options is to rationalize and change your studio strategy. That is what they have chosen to do it sounds like. I don't claim to judge whether that will be good or bad. I will judge based on how interested they keep me as a gamer after this all pans out. I would encourage everyone to do the same.
Re: Xbox Issues Statement After Pulling Out Of Project Fantasy
@Grackler
I didn't say XB has not been mismanaged. I liked Spencer, but facts are XB declined under his reign. Whether you want to blame that on MS, Nadella or whoever, Spencer was at the top of XB and it declined on his watch.
We will see on how Sharma does longer term.
Re: Xbox Issues Statement After Pulling Out Of Project Fantasy
@Grackler
XB is the 2nd largest publisher (along with Tencent) by far over the others. Of course there will be more job losses at XB.
What they have said is they aren't reducing their spend, but at the same time during the last several years we have seen inflation (gaming consoles and game prices) skyrocket in gaming. That is probably true with labor inflation as well. So, if I spend the same this year it will probably get me 5% less labor then I could last year for the same spend. Also, in development studios I generally think there has been less willingness by employees to work tons of overtime so that translates to longer development schedules which also increases labor costs.
Everything has an effect. Too just pinning this on Sharma's wage and co-pilot is just lashing out without knowing the full story. I don't deny they may be a part in it, but there are many other pieces that can effect how much XB can deliver as well.
Re: Xbox Issues Statement After Pulling Out Of Project Fantasy
@Grackler
And how is this different then their major competitors? Sony, EA, Ubisoft, 2K, etc. have all been closing studios and down sizing all generation long.
Re: Report: Xbox Has No 'Blanket Plans' To End Funding For Third-Party Game Pass Titles
To me, Microsoft should focus GamePAss on three areas of gaming...
1) Microsoft non-console exclusive first party titles.
2) High quality up and coming indie games
3) High quality japanese titles.
They should no longer put on GamePass:
1) Large third party publisher games.
2) XB Console Exclusive games.
3) Any indie slop.
After this they can reduce the price of the different mid/high end tiers of GamePass.
Re: As PlayStation Announces The End Of Disc-Based Releases, Will Xbox Follow Suit?
If XB wants to gain market share they have to do things like waiting for the other console vendors to spring the bad reality news on gamers.
The reality is that disc based game distribution has been dying slowly since the game stores popped up on consoles and more people are able to get fast internet.
Gamers tend to jump on top of the company that brings the bad news first. In this case, finally, XB is not that console vendor.
And this also clears the path that next generation none of the consoles will probably have disc media drives to save money on console costs going forward. I expect there will be an disc media purchase option that will be expensive instead for people that want to play games they have boughten physically.
Re: Sony Issues Statement Announcing 'Significant' Job Cuts At Bungie
This is an industry reality unfortunately. I feel for the people that will lose their jobs. It is unfair.
To me, Bungie has not been the same since they left XB and XB has not re-found its stride since Bungie left. Both have to turn things around.
Re: Gears Of War: E-Day Continues To Look Incredible In New 60FPS Xbox Series X Footage
Simply I love Gears, and this looks like a really good entry into the franchise to me. Can't wait to play it!
Re: Ori Creator Shares His Take On The Future Of Xbox's First-Party Strategy
This really stinks for the people that will lose their jobs. That should be what people are concerned about first.
But you have to look at the performance of the games these studios have released. Double Fine with Kiln (66 on MC), Keeper (80), and Psychonauts 2 (87).... Compulsion with We Happy Few (62) and South of Midnight (77).... Ninja Theory with Hellblade II (84).... Arkane with Wolfenstein Youngblood (69), Deathloop (88), and Redfall (56).... Out of the lot Pyschonauts 2 and Deathloop were the highest rated. And the theme was every single one under performed in game sales. And finally many of the games took many years to develop.
You don't have to look hard to see why XBOX would target these studios. They have all been money losing studios for 5-8 years. XBOX has been patient with these studios but they simply have not produced.
It is always bad when studios close. And there are probably a few more that could've been targeted. It is not good but it was probably necessary to save a bunch of other studios. And hopefully they offer the most talented people jobs at one of their other studios.
I would love to see these studios stay but frankly, if I was paying the cash to keep them open, I would be doing the same. You can't bleed money forever. At some point they have to earn their way.
Re: Report: Multiple Xbox Studios In 'Active Negotiations' With Microsoft To Avoid Closure
I hate to see people lose their jobs first and foremost. This kind of stuff is never good. I feel for all people and studios involved.
Re: Compulsion Games Might Be Getting Shut Down By Xbox, Says Report
@Elbow
You have to remember that Rockstar has a previous engine that they have been building on for GTA and that the studio size is probably about 10x that of Compulsion so this is probably not the best comparison, but I think the jist of your point still sticks.
It is not good that there are lay-offs, but at the same time I think it is important that XB makes some major course corrections to keep the platform relevant.
Re: Fable Developer Highlights The Pros & Cons Of Delaying To February 2027
Personally, I like the delay. There are very few games that will be able to sell well along side GTA. And RPGs typically are not one of them. I expect Fable will do really well moving to February 2027.
XB gamers can't really complain anyhow. We just got Forza Horizon 6 in Japan, and wre getting Halo and Gears before the end of the year. Along with GTA and the typical CoD game. Fable would've made that lineup more epic, but as an XB gamer I have no complaints about the 25 year anniversary lineup.
Re: 'We Have To Turn This Into A Sustainable Business' - Microsoft CEO Discusses Future Of Xbox
@Fiendish-Beaver
Then that could be an ultimate tier perk that you get the games from every region. It is all in how they work with partners, sell, market, and bundle with the perceived value players think they get.
Re: 'We Have To Turn This Into A Sustainable Business' - Microsoft CEO Discusses Future Of Xbox
@Fiendish-Beaver
I do think GamePass needs to change. There are some fundamental bundling and marketing problems.
A few suggestions:
1) Base price of GamePass simply for network access. Nothing more.
2) If they make something XB concole exclusive it doesn't come to GamePass. With the exception of future CoDs which stays out due to its business model.
3) Have Games Pass tiers offering only XB 1st party games and indie games, and third parties that don't have their own subscription service.
4) EA Play and Ubisoft+ Classics have separate services. Keep XB GamePass Ultimate but market it as a discount on bundling to all the services: GamePass highest GamePass tier, EA Play, and Ubisoft+ Classics.
5) Also XB may want to consider regional content in GamePass to appeal to different places more.
Re: Xbox CCO Explains Why Marvel's Blade & Elder Scrolls 6 Didn't Appear At The Showcase
If it is not shipping in the next year, there is no sense showing it because it is vaporware. They had plenty of content shipping in the next year at the show.
Re: Report: Xbox Set For Major Job Cuts, Studio Closure Or 'Lineup Changes' Could Be Involved
Changes like these are always difficult. And ieven sadder because there have already been rounds of changes previous that resulted in job loses.
But something needs to change to turn things around. Let's hope this is done right and the right things happen after.
Re: Xbox Leaders Outline Five 'Realities' That Will Be Addressed Over The Next 100 Days
I think these are all fair points. Everything already known.
I find point #5 about infrastructure and M&A the most interesting. What infrastructure are they talking about?
Re: 'We'll Start To See Radically Different Business Models' - Xbox Boss Talks Future Of Consoles
Asha has said many times lately that they are increasingly looking at XB as a platform. She hasn't said "gaming platform". She just says "platform". Windows is a platform. iOS is a platform, Android is a platform. What this usually means is there are many varying devices that us the platform.
This can mean that XB may license the platform to OEMs as well. It could also mean many varying devices with different specifications. Platforms have one thing in common. They are the basic building blocks that a hardware spec sits underneath and software and services are on top.
I could see gaming OEMs like Alienware, Omen, ROG, etc.moving away from Windows proper and booting to XB full screen experience. If all I did on my PC is game, why would I not want it to boot to the XB full screen experience?
And I know a lot of people have critized the capabilities of XB Series S but I think the idea was correct and they learned from that so why can't they make a cheaper device that is similar but fixes Series S issues next generation?
People keep looking at this in the current view of the console box. But, I think next generation, XB is going to get very bold and change what can be called a console a lot.
Re: Xbox CSO Says Console Demand Is Outstripping Supply Amidst A 'Crisis' For Component Prices
@Fiendish-Beaver
People have said this every generation MS has been a console vendor and every generation they come back and every generation they have invested more in gaming. Over and over the same arguement and over and over XB keeps coming to the next generation.
Again, there is absolutely no evidence they will only sell 2-3 mln consoles next generation. They have 30 mln gamepass subscribers (just a rough estimate). It is likely they sell at least that many consoles next generation. At least I have some evidence to back my estimate up. Not sure what evidence you have that XB will only sell 2-3 mln consoles next generation.