Nestunt
Member
CDPR are funded by the Polish government so it would be difficult to lock down a game that has other financial ties.
Is the Cyberpunk project, per se, funded by the government?
I thought that money was more directed towards R&D.
CDPR are funded by the Polish government so it would be difficult to lock down a game that has other financial ties.
Wild prediction:
They are going to try and nab Cyberpunk 2077 as an Xbox exclusive (and PC, like Rise of the Tomb Raider).
It's their biggest problem and was certainly amplified by Scalebound's cancelation.
That, or expand their existing/very talented studios (343, Coalition, Turn 10) and let them work on new IPs in edition to the platform staples. Shackling them to their existing franchise stifles creativity and makes the very risk taking Spencer is describing here harder to strive for.
A thousand times this. There is a lot of talent at 343 and Coalition. MS should let them branch out and work on new IP.
Sea of Thieves, Halo Wars 2, and Crackdown all have potential to be good exclusives for 2017. It may not be exactly what some people were wanting but I grow tired of listening to people continually throwing around the xbox is only Gears, Halo, and Forza. And I feel like counting Ori and the Blind Forest and Recore games as non exclusive simply because those games are also on PC is a dudebro excuse. Quantum Break ended up being okay. Sunset Overdrive was fantastic. If you look at Nintendo, they didn't even release a Zelda game for the Wii U, nor a Metroid Game this gen, which are two of their more beloved franchises. Whatthehellisthat.gif?
Its silly to say the xbox doesn't have appeal when it actually does. The reality is that different people have different tastes. MS has had to overcome some massive obstacles after having coming out of the gates flat on their face with the xbox one. The position they're in now is pretty remarkable if you consider where most people thought they'd be. All that is to say is that I don't think it's as doom and gloom as some people make their situation out to be.
A thousand times this. There is a lot of talent at 343 and Coalition. MS should let them branch out and work on new IP.
I went ahead and took a look at their most recent annual reports revenue is indication of investment, then Sony and Microsoft are in the same ballpark Sony reported a little over 13 billion revenue with about 800 million profit for their gaming division April 2015 to March 2016. Microsoft didn't report hard numbers specifically for Xbox division but reported 132 million revenue increase as a 1% increase for the division making overall revenue in the 13 billion ballpark profit was not listed though this for July 2015 to June 2016. For Nintendo revenue numbers were 4 billion in the same period as Sony, if I read the report right they posted a loss of 32 million for the period.
He's been saying this for years. We have yet to see Microsoft grow their first party Studios portfolio (they've actually shrunk). And their third party relationships are supposedly troubled. I don't think Spencer PR is doing much of substance.
That would be insane, if Xbox could pull that off with 1/3rd the install base. You sure it's not the complete Devices division?
Gaming revenue increased $132 million or 1%, primarily due to higher revenue from Xbox Live and video games, offset in part by lower Xbox hardware revenue. Xbox Live revenue increased 17%, driven by higher revenue per transaction and volume of transactions. Video games revenue grew 34%, driven by the launch of Halo 5 and sales of Minecraft. We acquired Mojang AB (Mojang), the Swedish video game developer of the Minecraft gaming franchise, in November 2014. Xbox hardware revenue decreased 16%, mainly due to lower prices of Xbox One consoles sold and a decline in Xbox 360 console volume, offset in part by higher Xbox One console volume. Gaming revenue included an unfavorable foreign currency impact of approximately 4%.
Wild prediction:
They are going to try to nab Cyberpunk 2077 as an Xbox exclusive (and PC, like Rise of the Tomb Raider).
I could also speculate about Sakaguchi, but I don't think they believe his name can still be something bombastic to accompany Scorpio at this year's E3.
Did SO have much of an MP element? Ori didn't.
Seems like they've actually been quite SP-heavy on their exclusives, actually.
Cyberpunk 2077 isn't launching on any PC storefront before launching on GOG, and it seems extremely unlikely MS want to invite sales comparisons with any store and the W10 appstore.
I don't think they have an interest in that. Cyberpunk 2077 will be a DRM free game published on their own Store. I don't see the point of hurting your own storefront and lose goodwill. And losing an 50+ millionen customer base. At least not from CD Projekt. They have 100% DRM free approach when it comes to their own games. On top of that I don't even think their games are that popular in the US compared to Europe. Their games are classic eurojank RPGs.
I don't think some people know that gog is part of cdp
There is no chance of this nor do I see how this would benefit cdpr in the long run. Doing something like buying timed exclusives is exactly what put them in this hole in the first place.If MS manages to nab Cyberpunk 2077 after the immense success of TW3, I'll be super impressed.
Sea of Thieves, Halo Wars 2, and Crackdown all have potential to be good exclusives for 2017. It may not be exactly what some people were wanting but I grow tired of listening to people continually throwing around the xbox is only Gears, Halo, and Forza. And I feel like counting Ori and the Blind Forest and Recore games as non exclusive simply because those games are also on PC is a dudebro excuse. Quantum Break ended up being okay. Sunset Overdrive was fantastic. If you look at Nintendo, they didn't even release a Zelda game for the Wii U, nor a Metroid Game this gen, which are two of their more beloved franchises. Whatthehellisthat.gif?
Its silly to say the xbox doesn't have appeal when it actually does. The reality is that different people have different tastes. MS has had to overcome some massive obstacles after having coming out of the gates flat on their face with the xbox one. The position they're in now is pretty remarkable if you consider where most people thought they'd be. All that is to say is that I don't think it's as doom and gloom as some people make their situation out to be.
He's definitely right about sounding hollow.
Can't the entire company be acquired by MS as a strong push to compete with Steam in the PC space?
Can't the entire company be acquired by MS as a strong push to compete with Steam in the PC space?
I think MS was doing fine since a while. Ori, Quantum Break, Crackdown 3, Sunset Overdrive, Sea of Thieves, Scalebound, Phantom Dust... in fact, really promising / good titles there and definitely adds to the console diversity.
This is probably one of the most impartial sentiments in this thread, which means that it's unlikely to gain any traction.
Can't the entire company be acquired by MS as a strong push to compete with Steam in the PC space?
They would run it into the ground in less than two years.
I am not saying that I would want that or that they would run it properly.
It's just not such a farfetched scenario if they wanted to compete in the PC space and have a strong games studio at the same time, having in mind the amount of money MS as a company lives with.
The question here is: does MS care for Gaming and Windows Gaming, in particular?
I am not saying that I would want that or that they would run it properly.
It's just not such a farfetched scenario if they wanted to compete in the PC space and have a strong games studio at the same time, having in mind the amount of money MS as a company lives with.
The question here is: does MS care for Gaming and Windows Gaming, in particular?
The problem with this idea is that Microsoft doesn't want to compete in the PC space. What they want to do is to convert their customer base into users of the Windows 10 Store, and this is the antithesis of what GOG is all about. If Microsoft really did want to compete in the PC space, then they could do so quite easily with all of the talent and expertise they have on hand. But they wouldn't want to tie themselves down with a modest effort like GOG.I am not saying that I would want that or that they would run it properly.
It's just not such a farfetched scenario if they wanted to compete in the PC space and have a strong games studio at the same time, having in mind the amount of money MS as a company lives with.
Not in the slightest.The question here is: does MS care for Gaming and Windows Gaming, in particular?
Gog is great. So is cdpr. It would be a tragedy for PC gamers if Microsoft bought them and no good would come of it. Even MS should know this.
You should say a hundred Hail Marys for having such depraved thoughts.
A thousand times this. There is a lot of talent at 343 and Coalition. MS should let them branch out and work on new IP.
I am a pessimist by nature.
But if I was running a business with the amount of cash of MS and I was interested in Gaming wholeheartedly I would either -- 1. Develop talent internally; or 2. Look at what my competitors are doing better and learn or acquire the know-how.
I like Phil overall but I feel like this continues to happen. Our very own MH Williams put up an article going over all the things announced in 2014 that have all but been axed: http://www.usgamer.net/articles/revisiting-xbox-e3-2014-remembering-the-dead
I almost forgot how much.
Every time this happens, fans start questioning him and the platform's direction, Phil gives the standard reply "we're committed to games and first party", and then you get the "Ok, phew, thanks Phil!" though that seems to be waning now.
Thing is, you need to allow your teams to branch out and take risks creatively. That's how you grow a brand and ecosystem and new fan bases. This has nothing to do with console war bs, but Sony does this and it's evident. One of their flagship studios known for first person shooters was allowed to take 5 years to build a post apocalyptic open world RPG with a female lead and robot dinosaurs. Another studio (Sony Santa Monica), even though its initial new IP failed, was allowed to radically revamp one of their biggest and most beloved franchises (God of War). Both huge risks. Sucker Punch is on a new IP. Bend is on a new IP, etc. Naughty Dog took time to develop a new IP that's arguably their biggest yet. That's how these become successful franchises.
Besides Rare, which is basically their new IP testbed though relegated to service driven games, Turn 10 works on Forza, Black Tusk was transformed into a Gears factory, 343 is relegated to Halo...it's just tired at this point. To me anyway, even though I still enjoy those series a lot. I want Xbox around forever. I was there day one with my OG Xbox and fell mad in love with Halo, but damn...give us new and exciting things man. I mean nurturing internal first party talent, not signing more deals that don't go anywhere.
It's not a significant concern because Microsoft isn't interested in Gaming wholeheartedly, nor are they even that interested in revenue from Gaming. Right now, investment in Gaming is primarily designed to drive more customers to Microsoft's core businesses. The ROI on that hasn't been very good so far, and so we hear stories about the Xbox budget getting slimmed down.I am a pessimist by nature.
But if I was running a business with the amount of cash of MS and I was interested in Gaming wholeheartedly I would either -- 1. Develop talent internally; or 2. Look at what my competitors are doing better and learn or acquire the know-how.
It's not a significant concern because Microsoft isn't interested in Gaming wholeheartedly, nor are they even that interested in revenue from Gaming. Right now, investment in Gaming is primarily designed to drive more customers to Microsoft's core businesses. The ROI on that hasn't been very good so far, and so we hear stories about the Xbox budget getting slimmed down.
I am a pessimist by nature.
But if I was running a business with the amount of cash of MS and I was interested in Gaming wholeheartedly I would either -- 1. Develop talent internally; or 2. Look at what my competitors are doing better and learn or acquire the know-how.
I remember when people were saying Phil had the power to turn everything he touched to gold. Now?
Can't the entire company be acquired by MS as a strong push to compete with Steam in the PC space?
The entire reason this thread was started should be an indicator that "But MS is rich they can just buy whatever they want!" is not as true as many would like to think.
I am not saying that I would want that or that they would run it properly.
It's just not such a farfetched scenario if they wanted to compete in the PC space and have a strong games studio at the same time, having in mind the amount of money MS as a company lives with.
The question here is: does MS care for Gaming and Windows Gaming, in particular?
I like Spencer and the work he's done since Mattrick was shown the door but you've voiced something I've been wondering since this whole Scalebound thing went down.
Funny you mention these can't be done because of the NFL/TV deals costing the division. You know who did those?
Phil Spencer. It used to be up on his bio proudly on Xbox.com stating he brokered the $400m deal, but they've removed it in the last year or so.
Edit: ha, found it! Thanks archive.org: http://web.archive.org/web/20140729075638/http://www.xbox.com/es-CL/Press/Corporate/phil-spencer
Curiously, his new bio doesn't mention this. Wonder why?
The issue is that, for the greater Microsoft, getting more Xbox owners and getting more Xbox Live subscriptions is a bit of a dead end. Gaming as a whole just doesn't bring in sufficient ROI, so it has to be more about synergy with the rest of Microsoft's products. Back when Ballmer was CEO it wasn't as big a deal, but Nadella is all about services so Xbox is in a lot more danger.Which is a bizarre strategy. The more they invest in games, even single player games, the more people will get an Xbox and will probably get Live.
The issue is that, for the greater Microsoft, getting more Xbox owners and getting more Xbox Live subscriptions is a bit of a dead end. Gaming as a whole just doesn't bring in sufficient ROI, so it has to be more about synergy with the rest of Microsoft's products. Back when Ballmer was CEO it wasn't as big a deal, but Nadella is all about services so Xbox is in a lot more danger.
If he was willing to take risks then they would have released Scalebound this year instead of cancelling it mid-development.
what they really want is to turn xbox live into a google play-style smorgasbord with people using it to buy every kind of content along with social features to keep them engaged
the massive failure of windows phone/mobile has probably killed that ambition entirely though, and i doubt console owners are buying enough music and movies from the service to justify the entire division