Weebleman

@eduscxbox the problem is its not going to be an xbox. It will be a PC with an app. Folks who want PC already have one and most people will just buy from steam apart from the loyal folks. That 80% already have a market and the devs arent gonna be making xbox versions. Its basically going to be a storefront and just look how epic have struggled to bring the PC crowd on board.

On the flip side though, what other route can they go as another console will likely not increase their market share.

@Sakai I just looked at the 2024 results. 66% said developing for PC, 35% PS5, 34% xbox.

Basically PC is the biggest increase, PS is actually an increase and xbox has dropped a fair bit.

It pretty much reflects the market today in terms of PC growth, PS in a steady place and Xbox struggling.

@Sakai xbox and PS are essentially the same system when it comes to how a game runs, with obvious nuances. So its mainly about reach. Would they use money to reach 30 odd million or 80 odd million. If 10% of the audience bought their games for example, the bigger audience will always sell the bigger numbers and will likely bring more money in for the same development costs.

While yes they are asking individuals, these people will range from single dev studios to one dev from a massive team. Thats why they ask a sample group as you get a variance of situations.

I dont have the historical data so you could well be right, but just go look on steam. There are piles and piles of games that are just added there we will likely never hear of. Plus this is 3rd party stuff.

It all boils down to budget and resource. Huge teams for big devs will aim everywhere. Smaller devs will focus on getting into the widest market first, which will always be pc. If it makes enough, aim for the next biggest market and so on unless you are lucky enough to land a viral hit or something.

@Sakai pretty standard. There are hundreds upon hundreds of small indie games released on PC and its far easier to get anything on a budget on there. It also has the widest reach.

Not all studios have the budget to go to console as well and few games overall sell numbers to cover development costs and a console port.

Adding windows to anything is absolutely not a benefit.

If youre excited for the pcxbox love child, just build yourself a PC. Same result but you can have it now.

Ive said this a few times but if the next xbox is essentially a PC, why focus efforts on an xbox version when it'll will just play the PC one. While the next gen is likely some time off, I imagine this will become more and more the case sadly.

@fatpunkslim ummm you can stream any game you purchase on PS via the cloud. Its been that way for quite some time (providing its a digital purchase).

I always said its a good business decision. If you ain't selling the consoles, sell the games where people are playing them.

@OldGamer999 Its mental to think there has been an entire console generation in the space between GTA 5 and 6. Even more wild that it still regularly tops sales charts

@somnambulance the surprise may be what delights us, the people that haunt places like this. But go to any casual and its GTA. I remember when 5 launched. People who hadn't gamed for years were ordinary the game, a console and taking days of work. Absolutely mental the reach that game has.

@themightyant It affects all subs but id say its more associated with gamepass with the whole day one release/pay to play earlier, DLC included thing.

I didnt actually know they did that when stuffs delisted, definitely a good thing. I suppose though at the point its delisted - with the caveat you continued to sub - you already paid about quadruple the value of the game, so its the least they can do ha ha.

Hope you and yours are good my man.

The thing that always irks me with this is once you unsub, the games gone and you forked out 60 bucks (in this instance) for dlc you cant use. Unless you have a cheap stack of GP you have to continue to sub and will pay far more than just buying it outright.

Edit: how long was it between release and dlc's last time round?

@Lazar_Kaganovitch let it go man, nobody cares as much as you think they do.

@fatpunkslim apologies man, I missed your other comment. Big respect for holding your hands up though. We can both agree that this looks great and we are looking forward to playing it.

Well there it is. @fatpunkslim, interested in your thoughts on the day and date release across consoles as this is very different from your predictions.

Looking forward to giving this a whirl.

@GamerScore200K this will be a 'free', ad supported way to play the games you own if you dont subscribe to gamepass is my take. Not for me personally as ad's do my head in, but folks out there will make use of it.

@Markatron84 THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELLS YOU! THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELLS YOU!

Mine lapsed and I havent renewed it. With 3 kids, work and the travel I do it just didnt hold the value at the new price with the time I get to play. My kids only really played one or two games on xbox so it was just cheaper to buy them outright and they fill their boots with them.

With the majority (all) now going to PS i can save money as i use that more now when I get the time. My backlog on xbox vanished when gamepass did so im playing through my backlog on PS and will pick up any xbox releases I want on PS in a sale at a later date.

@Fiendish-Beaver I do miss the old days of fiesty comment sections 😂

@Fiendish-Beaver I fear you are wasting your efforts with this one my friend. He has a very blinkered view and will certainly not entertain rational or logic. I see he even called someone for not tagging him in but does this multiple times himself.

At the end of it I think you are on the money. Theres clearly sales to be had that xbox arent able to make on their own system. They had a plan, it didnt work so they moved the games to where people will buy them. Its good business. But trying to paint it that they did it to be the good guys is silly. They did it because they weren't getting enough sales or subs. Like we said the other day, it will be interesting to see what fable does. If it is day one across the board, everything our man up there has been saying goes out the window so it will be interesting to see the change in position they go for.

@Fiendish-Beaver the combat is massively improved in the sequel and is much more enjoyable. In general, it refines everything in every way and the game is better for it, yet it still retains the magic the first one grabbed you with.

@Fiendish-Beaver oh man, if you enjoyed the first one, the second is going to blow you away. My personal game of the year.

'PS: What really stands out is your tendency to defend PlayStation beyond all reason, And failing to see any value in the Xbox ecosystem, even though objectively it offers more than any other.'

This has to be the single most hypocritical post i have ever read.

A company that paid around 90 billion dollars to buy publishers, literally came out and agreed that they did it as they were planning to make their games exclusive, failed to improve sales and is now saying exclusives arent important.

It does not take a genius to figure out why. And they are all facts. Not opinions played as facts or selective truths through a skewed lense. Stone cold facts.

I also wouldn't class playstation games accessible to all on xbox when its via a 1000 dollar handheld that has an xbox badge stuck to it and an app that lets you access about 8% of your games library. Its also certainly not all playstation games either. The mental gymnastics are unreal.

Its okay to say its not panned out as planned. Its okay to pivot. But lordy lord, stop peddling PR lines that are fed out out as damage control. We all want xbox to keep going, but the bottom line is that its basically gonna be an app on a pc going forward. And thats fine as long as we still get the games.

@Fiendish-Beaver id imagine that the money they pull in off the platform will probably encourage earlier release for other games, if not day and date.

Will be interesting to see what Fable does on this front.

Once windows comes into the mix im out. Anybody not ingrained in the xbox circle knows that windows gaming is a horror show. I just want to put a game in and play it. I dont want to be updating drivers and any of that faff that comes with PC gaming. If you can live with it then fair play to you, but its not for me at all. Will be the first gen I havent bought an xbox on release and honestly, it makes me sad.

@Fiendish-Beaver I absolutely will take up your advice on the Chinese food. Not so much the skinny dipping you wild man 😂😂

@Fiendish-Beaver didnt know you were a Plymouth local my man. My other half's family are all Plymouth based and we visit a few times a year. Ive had many (many!) a good Guinness down the barbican.

@swedetrap sadly, if windows is involved anywhere in the process, all those things you dont want are inevitable.

@IronMan30 100%. I imagine they planned to as they thought subs and sales would shoot up. When they didnt, you sell the games elsewhere.

Ive said all along that the hardest thing MS had to do was get folks to walk away from digital libraries they had built on a different box.

@IronMan30 are these the same suspects that argued you dont spend billions of dollars not to make games exclusive, and then tell us exclusives arent important?

@Fiendish-Beaver honestly, its like we have to have a travel tablet before reading these threads with all the spinning going on.

You nailed it on the head there. What some call a steep decline still means outselling xbox 3 to 1. The rog ally is an example but was previously classed as selling well but not counted. Its almost like they make it up blindly isnt it.

Hope you had a good Christmas and new year buddy.

@fatpunkslim thats because its not an xbox(despite everything allegedly being an xbox).

Will be good to get some actual numbers on the ally though just to see where its at. Without knowing what was released, we cant say how much difference it makes. I mean, I could make ten sandwiches and have an 11th person ask for one. I sold out and cant meet demand. Doesn't mean its moving the needle in the sandwich world.

Has a strong whiff of Sega about it all.

@Skedaddle without numbers it means nothing.

@BattleMonkey christ knows what that will cost with the state of things at the minute.

@NeoRatt well good to know theres two of them out there.

I bought a series s for 75 quid off gumtree. I disagree.

@Markatron84 I dont feel anything anymore. Just a husk of confusion remains.

@NeoRatt if they can afford a tv that streams the games, I assure you they can afford a console. You cant access it through budget brand models.

Id also argue that the cost of gamepass now also puts this out of reach to people who cant afford a console. Buying a pad and a month of ultimate is not far off a used Series S price.

Again, ive seen nobody, anywhere, either saying they play games via stream, or playing them via stream, outside of places like this.

And I know people from all walks of life, I assure you.

@BattleMonkey I popped a link in my original comment from Tom Warren in 2021 where Sony announced it was selling the OG at a profit in an earnings call.

Edit : apologies, I missed your original reply.

@TheGameThrifter oh im with you. I dont like the direction MS is heading and moved away from the eco system a fair bit once it started to look glum. I tend to buy physical so I have the games but MS stopped putting them on discs (among others).

Troubling times.

@BattleMonkey I imagine the pro was priced and sold for profit from the get go, as it was never going to be aimed at anyone but the enthusiasts.

@TheGameThrifter while true, it all depends on existing stock in the chain etc...

Who knows though, its not like we make anything off it eh

@TheGameThrifter its been selling at a profit since 2021. This was announced by Sony in an earnings call so you would think it would be true, yes.

I cant see them saying its only a few dollars though? Gotta link for that bit?

@Decoy_Snake Blue Prince also launched free on PS Plus. Mr Mozzy tends to ignore that bit.

@FraserG I think theres going to be a certain beaver delighted when he spots this poll

@fatpunkslim

Edit: you know what, forget about it. Happy New Year my man, and to all the folks and staff here.

@Markatron84 😂 god damn you, now im going to have to Google it as well!

Im in love with your dead grandmother has game of the year all over it, surely.

@TheGameThrifter PS5 has sold for a profit for a number of years now. No idea about the pro though.

For reference:

https://www.theverge.com/2021/8/4/22609150/sony-playstation-5-ps5-loss-profit

I am yet to know, see or have anybody, anywhere, ask if i fancy a game of something and then launch game cloud to play it on any device.