Ricerocket
Member
Whatever you say, Phil. PC gaming hasn't changed at all, DX12 hasn't really done shit when you have Vulkan that supports ALL platforms and not just W10 offering usually more results.
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Phil Spencer: We're upping our investment with first party and committed to innovate
- Thread starter leeh
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Crayon
Member
I think it's easier to understand the effect and economics of exclusive games when you consider them a marketing exercise. A "system seller" can actually sell some systems but more important is that the game becomes associated with the system. This used to even take the form of a platform mascot like sonic. Think back on how Halo was inseparable from xbox. Or Gran Turismo from Playstation. Marketing is important and these hit exclusive games become footholds for the brand.
LukasTaves
Member
Because not everyone play the entire single player content so treating it as a service by releasing more content means increasingly less consumers to spent money on. Also, there's the question of what is fair to monetize or what's not, which developers not always get right.
And I finally read the whole interview. Phil actually makes an excellent point. People thinking they are not investing in big single player games should really read the interview and not just some quotes. Basically Phil wants game pass to become a service, so games that are not a service can monetize on the platform. He specifically says that he and Shanon Loftis are looking at game pass as a way to delivery on new story driven/sp games, and not just a repository of old stuff.
TheUnsunghero26
Member
Yeah, I'd like to see them do more than just the REQ pack model. I actually really like it for Halo 5 because it means free maps, and I feel like I receive credits at a good pace, but there's a lot more they can do with the GaaS model. KI was an early example of service based done right, so I don't view GaaS as a negative. There's a lot of potential for them to make something interesting, it's just a matter of if they will or not.
OrbitalBeard
Member
God, I miss Ed Fries.
ScatheZombie
Member
Alternative headline: Microsoft committed to throwing money into pit; innovating monetization schemes.
Reminds me of how good the Surface Pro line is...yet its the software that is shit.
Man, Cuphead and Below can't come fast enough. I am sure I won't regret my One purchase when all is said and done, but that console sure as hell hasn't gotten much use...
Unfortunately, from what I am reading here, it doesn't sound like a ton of content I will be interested in is due to be announced.
Unfortunately, from what I am reading here, it doesn't sound like a ton of content I will be interested in is due to be announced.
i expect sp games as goodwill gesture from ms. i dont know how well it does as business but if its profitable they should do it. dont worry about how much profit.
running after call of duty nos will leave them empty handed. you have to appeal to all demographic. if you really want to capture market it should have a wide variety of games.
multiplayer market is well served by battlefield/cod/titanfall etc. not many studios make games like zelda or horizon. you as first party should concentrate on that.
running after call of duty nos will leave them empty handed. you have to appeal to all demographic. if you really want to capture market it should have a wide variety of games.
multiplayer market is well served by battlefield/cod/titanfall etc. not many studios make games like zelda or horizon. you as first party should concentrate on that.
Palabragrís
Member
The day SP games are replaced by service games is the day I'm leaving gaming altogether.
Agnostic Priest
Member
I just did the same and read the full article. I agree most of the people in this thread should take the time and read the full interview.
He isn't wrong with what he is talking about.
Jetboxx
Member
You have my axe.
wapplew
Member
Maybe he meant they upping the investment the day Phil Spencer become head of Xbox?
Still, they invested 1 billion last time, I wonder how much they upped this time around.
SlickShoesRUCrazy
Member
All I can really say is we shall see.
CrimsonEclipse
Member
1,00,00,00.01 this time!
Bad joke, I know...but in all seriousness...we'll see what kind of SP investments MS makes in the next 2 yrs I'll say. Whether that be solely SP games or SP w/ GaaS MP we shall see.
Salty Hippo
Member
And my bow. But watch people say his mentality doesn't fit today's market, despite the competition succeeding by doing exactly what he preached.
Brad Grenz
Member
You can boil down Microsoft's first party strategy at this point to "we only want to make sure thing, unlimited spend GaaS titles". I have zero interest in a platform holder that is so risk adverse.
ElBoxyBrown
Banned
You sure do live up to your name.
It seems like for every two steps forward Microsoft takes a step back. They truly have not learned to listen to the gamer. They continue to chase after the games as service model when they should be innovating and fabricating something unique. Money will come once you do the hard work, but it seems MS gives up too quickly. And for those saying MS has a diverse lineup in Ryse, Quantum Break, Recore, well they do but those do not compare to masterpieces like Horizon or Zelda and hence they do not sell as compared to the latter. Get back to the games MS. You really think a well crafted Perfect Dark sequel would not sell? Or a proper Banjo Kazooie sequel? Zero and Nuts and Bolta didn't sell well cause they were flawed games. Do the hard work and fabricate something special and it will sell. MS has not done that recently at all.
NO !
You didn't read the article. He is talking about suporting sp games and:
"I just finished [LucasArts-inspired RPG] Thimbleweed Park I thought it was a fantastic game."
Scopio day one! I'm officially a Phil Spencer fan now.
Edit: not sure about the LucasArts-inspired RPG part tho but that's probably the author of the article.
You didn't read the article. He is talking about suporting sp games and:
"I just finished [LucasArts-inspired RPG] Thimbleweed Park I thought it was a fantastic game."
Scopio day one! I'm officially a Phil Spencer fan now.
Edit: not sure about the LucasArts-inspired RPG part tho but that's probably the author of the article.
If they don't get canned like the Phantum Dust Remake, Fable Legends and Scalebound, yea.
Edit: Typing out that list reminded me of how all of them were prominent games from their 2014 presser and how people were going nuts and how Spencer saved Xbox after that.
tiredheadcrab
Member
Typical Phil, saying something that needs clarification.
This makes no sense. What does a bank balance have to do with it? Why haven't they done it for the last 10 years? Where's the magic?
Big Green Anus
Member
With regards to cinematic single player game sales, there's not a lot that sales well in then area, but open world games tend to sell better. Microsoft should focus on open world games and multiplayer/service based games.
Ricerocket
Member
Crackdown has a decently large open world gameplay for SP, similar to like Infamousbut like 0 mention of it so far since Crackdown 3 was announced other than destructible skyscrapers in MP. I would not be surprised if SP is on the backburner and it is designed with online coop missions to grind for loot/coins to buy skins with the current direction.
Salty Hippo
Member
"Hey, I wasn't necessarily hinting at that specific thing you said, but I'd rather not address your concern directly and reassure you that we are actually (also) investing in single player and/or non-multiplayer service games. I'll just make it kinda look like I did, because why use words to say actual things when I can just stay on the fence spouting vague, ambiguous shit?"
GHG
Gold Member
Fixed. Seriously, he talks too much. PR and communications nightmare.
VanCityGamer
Member
I dunno. I kinda think if they did have some real strong story-driven games in development, he would say that. His choice to not say that kind of speaks volumes.
This is an important point. MS seem to be looking at games as an isolated investment and requiring the maximum return. Sony perhaps are more aware of the important halo effect that big first party games can have on the platform as a whole. Even if your games don't make huge amounts of ey can in part be considered marketing for your platform and the overall health of your console sales will bring in license fees from third party software sales, online subscription fees etc.
Salty Hippo
Member
It's so obvious. This is another good example:
https://twitter.com/XboxP3/status/858069236832321536
If you want to disprove the idea that you're done focusing on story-based SP games you don't answer with "That's not what I said". You answer with "That's not what we're doing". It's pretty straightforward. The former is an empty, meaningless cop out statement disguised as an answer. The latter is a real answer.
These kind of statements only serve to remind me why I sold my Xbox One. Sunset Overdrive was great, Quantum Break was ok (but I quit part way in)... It just became abundantly clear to me that Microsoft doesn't care to release AAA SP experiences and instead will crank out sequels to MP-focused titles. That's fine if those titles are amazing, exclusive, and fresh... but they haven't really offered any of those.
All this is fine if that's their strategy. To cater to the at this point typical Xbox demo. But I think they massively underappreciate the diversity of titles that the gaming populace craves, and perhaps even more importantly the absolute requirement that a platform have exclusive true must-play titles. How they don't understand this baffles me, when it was a huge part of the reason 360 was so successful.
Phil's statements directly or indirectly knock SP titles. Switch has been out for all of 2 months and already has more must-play SP titles than X1 does. Think about that. X1 has been available since 2013, and-- at launch-- Switch offered a superior SP title to anything in the X1 catalog.
He also makes it clear that MP titles are important. Today Nintendo launched, again less than 2 months after Switch release, an MP-focused title that has a higher metacritic (and more broad appeal) than any X1 exclusive MP title.
Let that sink in. Nintendo, with underpowered hardware, has released in two months both an SP and MP title that have more system-seller capability than any X1 exclusive.
If we turn to PS4 SP, I'd argue that in 2017 alone PS4 has offered more elite quality SP titles than X1 has to date, in Horizon, Nier and Persona 5. Add to that previous releases like Uncharted 4 and Bloodborne to just name two. It's not a good look.
I'm hoping Crackdown 3 looks good and makes me want to buy a Scorpio. But right now I've had multiple opportunities to re-buy an X1 at $200 and haven't done it. Because I can't think of any exclusive games that I have to have it for. What are they going to reveal that will change that, when it's almost May and they don't feel comfortable talking yet about anything upcoming?
All this is fine if that's their strategy. To cater to the at this point typical Xbox demo. But I think they massively underappreciate the diversity of titles that the gaming populace craves, and perhaps even more importantly the absolute requirement that a platform have exclusive true must-play titles. How they don't understand this baffles me, when it was a huge part of the reason 360 was so successful.
Phil's statements directly or indirectly knock SP titles. Switch has been out for all of 2 months and already has more must-play SP titles than X1 does. Think about that. X1 has been available since 2013, and-- at launch-- Switch offered a superior SP title to anything in the X1 catalog.
He also makes it clear that MP titles are important. Today Nintendo launched, again less than 2 months after Switch release, an MP-focused title that has a higher metacritic (and more broad appeal) than any X1 exclusive MP title.
Let that sink in. Nintendo, with underpowered hardware, has released in two months both an SP and MP title that have more system-seller capability than any X1 exclusive.
If we turn to PS4 SP, I'd argue that in 2017 alone PS4 has offered more elite quality SP titles than X1 has to date, in Horizon, Nier and Persona 5. Add to that previous releases like Uncharted 4 and Bloodborne to just name two. It's not a good look.
I'm hoping Crackdown 3 looks good and makes me want to buy a Scorpio. But right now I've had multiple opportunities to re-buy an X1 at $200 and haven't done it. Because I can't think of any exclusive games that I have to have it for. What are they going to reveal that will change that, when it's almost May and they don't feel comfortable talking yet about anything upcoming?
Agnostic Priest
Member
Maybe he wants to save any sort of game news for e3?
Nightengale
Member
The man will not announce game stuff outside E3 but he's never shied away from hyping upcoming stuff with big words.
With Phil he's easy to read there. What he chooses to not say is what he's not explicitly doing.
this is spot on, good post
Tomeru
Member
Explain please.
This time we mean it tm. I mean, they can show CGI trailers of games that are barely in production, people will champion them, saying "See, MS does listen" then, when the end consumer has nothing of value in their hand people will defend it. It's like what Spencer does in these interviews/ Tweets but on a much larger scale.
VanCityGamer
Member
All he has to say is:
As you'll see during E3, we have some exciting single player story-driven games in the pipeline.
OR
Don't worry. We know the importance of SP games. Stay tuned for some exciting announcements in the months ahead.
Neither of those statements are game announcements or spoil anything. But they at least acknowledge a focus on SP games.
Yautja_Warrior
Member
Doesn't sound like MS will be committing to many big single player games from the sound of that, which for me is disappointing but also makes my decision to stick with Sony and Nintendo an easy choice, as I'm more of a single player gamer.
Cthulhu_Steev
Member
Edge said this week in Continue/ Quit
Continue: Scorpio - Microsoft's new console is an absolute monster
Quit: Sting in the Tail - If it's going to catch PS4 it'll need more than Halo
and GamesTM are saying similar
Two of the biggest (UK) gaming magazines asking the same questions, and they have more insider knowledge than we'll ever have.
and yet not a single hint and it's six weeks away. He should be leaking everything[/I,] right now, that they have for the next two or three years. It's shit or bust so they should be going for it - if they have it - otherwise why should people invest?
CassidyIzABeast
Member
"Shannon Loftis and I are thinking a lot about, well, could we put story-based games into the Xbox Game Pass business model because you have a subscription going? It would mean you wouldnt have to deliver the whole game in one month; you could develop and deliver the game as it goes.
Which in Phil speak means yes, we are developing a story-driven SP game(s) with a similar model to Hitman/Telltale
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