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[Alexander DeLarge]

Get Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory 2 in Production ASAP

lmao why would Ubisoft make an exclusive Splinter Cell when their previous Tom Clancy series made the open world transition (which they'd definitely do after Metal Gear Solid V/Watch Dogs 2's reception to stealth), it was a massive success?

Also, they should put their PC ports on Steam because their store isn't getting any better, people aren't using it (assuming they can even get it to work) and these games would perform much better outside of their ecosystem.

 

[Zukkoyaki]

No matter you look at MS easy path is to work with some 3rd to delivery 1st party games because creating an 1st party studio is not a easy and fast task.

The big problem is that these 3rd party deals didn't delivery the sales susscess they deserved: SO, QB, etc.

But I think they need to focus more in these deals.

Ultimately I agree with you. I imagine the most realistic solution we'd see is a nice slate of smaller and cheaper games made via deals with outside devs like Killer Instinct, Ori and Recore to fill in the gaps in the line-up.

 

[jtb]

These are all..... okay.... ideas but I don't see how any of them move the needle, at all.

A first person Shadowrun RPG? what the fuck? Who is that supposed to please, other than, like, me?

 

[VeeP]

I think both 343 and the Coalition have just way too much talent to be sitting there on Gears and Halo. I get it those are important franchises, and I want to see them continue. But I do agree I think they should beef up both studios just a bit more and let them both work on New IP's. Have a smaller 2nd team prototyping / building in between the major Gears and Halo releases.

Its just not going to happen though. I really question how much commitment MS has in spending money on internal studios moving forward.

Microsoft really fucked up with all that Kinect/For TV bullshit early in the Xbox One life.

If they put that money towards studios, games, and a better console architecture overall + the momentum they had from the 360? They'd be doing really well right now.

 

[KingdomHeartsFan]

First thing they need is more first party studios.

 

[JusDoIt]

They need more studios. That ain't a short term fix, but they just need more devs, man.

They got the Halo team, Forza team, the Gears team, the Minecraft team, and Rare.

They need more teams, yo.

 

[GLAMr]

Came in thinking "oh boy, every asshole and their dog thinks they're an expert".

Those first 2 ideas are solid though. New Fable is a dream of mine. Even if the Rare "dream team" is all gone, I think they deserve a shot at it. A Shadowrun FPS RPG would be amazing if done right (like a Fallout/TES type thing).

 

[Bishop89]

Freaken horrible...


Just invest in big budget titles like scalebound, but instead of cancelling them, actually release them.

 

[shira]

http://m.ign.com/articles/2017/08/17/opinion-how-id-fix-xboxs-first-party-problem
Suggests the following
-Reboot Fable at Rare
-Make a first person Shadowrun RPG
-Bring back Crimson Skies
-Alan Wake 2
-Itagaki for Ninja Gaiden spiritual successor, also recommends ties with Sega for Shinobi Reboot
-Splinter Cell Chaos Theory 2
-Xbox Live Arcade returns
Do you agree with this? What would you do differently?

Zero interest for me.

They could have a whole new Fable trilogy or Shadowrun in 4k/120fps ready in the next 12 months, still would have zero traction with me.

 

[Obliterator]

Microsoft really fucked up with all that Kinect/For TV bullshit early in the Xbox One life.

If they put that money towards studios, games, and a better console architecture overall + the momentum they had from the 360? They'd be doing really well right now.

I mean honestly, hell yeah they would be. Remember that $400 million NFL deal? Imagine if all that was poured into building and strengthening their 1st party studios instead.

I mean we've all talked about it before many many times, but its astounding how poorly the entire vision of the Xbox One was handled.

 

[TimeEffect]

What they need is a time machine to Xbox 360 glory days.

Build IPs up then. Don't have to be great. Just build them up. Come X1 time, release sequels. Build that brand identity, build a diverse library.

If they start now, they still will be way behind the curve.

Im sure its easier said than done, but it just didn't feel like MS cared to plant the seeds when they could.

 

[ckaneo]

Freaken horrible...


Just invest in big budget titles like scalebound, but instead of cancelling them, actually release them.

The fact they canceled a big budget title like that is all that you need to know about the quality of it

 

[BlazinSkatinAxel]

Glad he's not running Xbox.

Right.
Shadowrun was already a failure of a FPS too.


Microsoft needs to start making more A or AA games.

 

[Nightengale]

First off, if first-party is recognizably a problem, you would need a comprehensive action plan that revolves around both creation of content and realignment/structuring of resources to address that issue.

Also, what are the current SWOT picture of Xbox first-party, how does the budget allocation looks like in terms of first-party and what resources needed to be moved around and aligned to achieve that success.

First off, do a simple SWOT analysis. What are the current strengths/weaknesses of Xbox first-party. I think it's relatively simple. Solid studio structure that is conductive towards franchise management, ability for studios to manage SP/MP/GAAS components, internal collaboration with external studios for spin-offs and remasters/etc. Weakness would be difficulty to foster new internal studio IP due franchise studio setup, etc.

From there, derive the opportunities and threats. Opportunities would be to build areas of weaknesses, how to expand studios to a multi-studio structure, how to cultivate IP to be sustainable on annual or biannual at the same level as Forza, etc, how to monetize them over long term, and threats would be competition, internal politics, financial constraints, etc.

Upon deciding what are the key actions that need to take place, allocate the necessary resources to make it happen, and build sustainability plan and longevity considerations.

 

[Jigorath]

Make Kameo 2.

Who cares about anything else.

 

[BlazinSkatinAxel]

I mean honestly, hell yeah they would be. Remember that $400 million NFL deal? Imagine if all that was poured into building and strengthening their 1st party studios instead.

I mean we've all talked about it before many many times, but its astounding how poorly the entire vision of the Xbox One was handled.

That NFL deal was for Surface. They are using those for instant replay now.

 

[VeeP]

I mean honestly, hell yeah they would be. Remember that $400 million NFL deal? Imagine if all that was poured into building and strengthening their 1st party studios instead.

I mean we've all talked about it before many many times, but its astounding how poorly the entire vision of the Xbox One was handled.

I honestly completely forgot about the $400 million NFL deal. Smh. And then you close studios like Ensemble and Lionhead.

It's amazing how mismanaged this company is/was.

They should've snagged Destiny as an exclusive, had it alternate with Halo/Gears. 3 year dev cycles with plenty of DLC for all.

They did well with Forza and Horizon, but they need one more racing title so the other two can get more quality development time.

They took some great risks with Quantum Break (but that had TV bullshit) and Sunset Overdrive, didn't really sell well. Neither did Ryse. I'd argue this is also partially because of the perception of the X1 at the time.

They canceled Scalebound (multiple reasons, on both sides), cancelled that Obsidion Project, cancelled multiple other shit. But spent 400 million on the TV deal, geez smh.

 

[kadotsu]

This speculation assumes that top in the business game development teams and funding just grow on trees and that MS proper is still totes committed to the XBOX divisions whims.

The only one that makes even remotely sense is the revival of the Crimson Skies IP. You could monetize the shit out of that just like world of Tanks does.

 

[D4Danger]

Suggests the following

- nothing original

Really does sum up this generation

 

[Naudyboy16]

I posted this in the other thread regarding the studios:

I really want a spiritual successor to Ninja Gaiden. There hasn't been an action game to rival Ninja Gaiden Black yet. I would love for Phil to give our guy Itagaki another shot at the master piece, but realistically that's s hefty risk from a developer who hasn't had a commercially successful game in years.

Regarding ShadowRun, the idea of it was awesome. A game set in a futuristic world with fairy tail creatures. It should of been an RPG first and foremost, not a shooter. It would be great if they brought it back and had it be a hybrid rpg/shooter like Dues Ex.

And then there's our favorite shooter Halo. With as big and creative as 343 is, I don't understand why they haven't branched the game out into other genres.

Can you imagine a 3rd person action game set in the Halo universe with us playing a highly trained ODST whose on a special mission. Or even an action RPG set in the Halo universe with using playing an Elite. So many possibilities. Hopefully after the conclusion of the Chief's story, they can do something completely different.

The one thing they currently lack in comparison to Sony is a big budget story game. I get the whole games as services thing, but I would love for them to give us a single player game with a thoughtful, powerful and engaging story.

Im pretty sure Phil and co have deals in place for next year and the year after, it just sucks to be waiting in the wings wishing and hoping for some new IPs and games.

 

[ScaryShark]

None of these suggestions are bad, but they're not really great either.

The 'fix' for MS's 1st party should have been started 5+ years ago.

Instead, MS placed their bets on hardware and ecosystem loyalty and we saw how little that mattered in 2013.

 

[ElBoxyBrown]

Right.
Shadowrun was already a failure of a FPS too.


Microsoft needs to start making more A or AA games.

Shadowrun is still an untapped IP. That FPS had some interesting mechanics that just needed more work.

 

[EmiPrime]

They need more studios. That ain't a short term fix, but they just need more devs, man.

They got the Halo team, Forza team, the Gears team, the Minecraft team, and Rare.

They need more teams, yo.

Yep. Anything else is just a bandaid fix.

 

[AdventureRacing]

I mean honestly, hell yeah they would be. Remember that $400 million NFL deal? Imagine if all that was poured into building and strengthening their 1st party studios instead.

I mean we've all talked about it before many many times, but its astounding how poorly the entire vision of the Xbox One was handled.

I know marketing is important but that level of money is astounding. That had been a problem for MS all along. They've poured billions into the xbox business but completely failed to develop a strong 1st party. SW is still king in this industry and MS will never catch up when their SW lineup is so far behind.

 

[Gamezone]

RIP new IP's.

 

[Crayon]

I'm not sure it's even a problem to begin with. Seems like it might ba all according to plan. Phil says he wants to step it up like he sees a problem but that doesn't mean much of anything now does it.

 

[AmuroChan]

When did Splinter Cell become XBox 1st party?

 

[VeeP]

Right.
Shadowrun was already a failure of a FPS too.


Microsoft needs to start making more A or AA games.

Shadowrun was a failure as an FPS mostly because of Microsoft. They refused to sell the game at anything below $60. And because of that it got ripped to shreds in reviews. As a title, it was probably one of the most balanced, competitive, and innovative shooters last gen.


And it's a shame it gets knocked around here.

 

[sangreal]

The $400 million nfl deal wasn't for xbox specifically

 

[anothertech]

Needs new heavily funded AAA IP.

About 7 or 8 of them.

Yearly.

 

[tearsintherain]

Simpler solution

- Let xbox one X run steam and steam games. Bigscreen mode if its needed from a technical standpoint.
- Get rid of Windows 10 games store, that thing is trash. Migrate it all to steam/steamworks.
- Partner with steam to sell games on a custom xbox steam front, microsoft gets 20%, steam gets 10%, devs get 70% (or whatever mix works out for all three parties).

Bam, now X runs PC games flawlessly, X games are just steam games so devs only have to make PC/PS4 ports, do whatever technical thing you need so people can't run custom hacks or other executables just digitally signed steam games.

 

[op_ivy]

Shadowrun is still an untapped IP. That FPS had some interesting mechanics that just needed more work.

Not to mention a fairly large resurgence in media for "cyber punk"

 

[Obliterator]

That NFL deal was for Surface. They are using those for instant replay now.

Ah wasn't aware of that

Either way there is no quick fix. What MS would need is a total overhaul of their 1st party. Teams would need to be strengthened. Honestly new ones would have to be opened, major investment into new IP. We are talking a lot of money and time.

And I hate saying it but I don't see it happening. I don't know what is gonna happen there at this point.

 

[etta]

lmao why would Ubisoft make an exclusive Splinter Cell when their previous Tom Clancy series made the open world transition (which they'd definitely do after Metal Gear Solid V/Watch Dogs 2's reception to stealth), it was a massive success?

Also, they should put their PC ports on Steam because their store isn't getting any better, people aren't using it (assuming they can even get it to work) and these games would perform much better outside of their ecosystem.

Siege.

 

[The Pet of the Month]

The $400 million nfl deal wasn't for xbox specifically

Right, it was a sponsorship deal for all Microsoft products. Specifically Surface products, which you see in today's NFL viewings.

I'm all for talking about the state of Microsoft's first party, but I do feel like the topic has been worn out a bit. Not much more new info to go on, aside from the Crackdown 3 delay kicking it back into focus.

 

[Nightengale]

Needs new heavily funded AAA IP.

About 7 or 8 of them.

Yearly.

Nobody's doing that.

Not Sony. Not Nintendo. Not Ubisoft. Not EA. Not some of them combined, even.

 

[jeffram]

Simpler solution

- Let xbox one X run steam and steam games. Bigscreen mode if its needed from a technical standpoint.
- Get rid of Windows 10 games store, that thing is trash. Migrate it all to steam/steamworks.
- Partner with steam to sell games on a custom xbox steam front, microsoft gets 20%, steam gets 10%, devs get 70% (or whatever mix works out for all three parties).

Bam, now X runs PC games flawlessly, X games are just steam games so devs only have to make PC/PS4 ports, do whatever technical thing you need so people can't run custom hacks or other executables just digitally signed steam games.

I think MS sees steam as their biggest competitor in gaming, not Sony.

 

[Obliterator]

Nobody's doing that.

Not Sony. Not Nintendo. Not Ubisoft. Not EA. Not some of them combined, even.

Yeah 8 AAA games a year is CRAZY expensive. Impossible really.

If they could get to the point they could get out 3-4 legit great large scale games per year they would be in a solid place

 

[Generalpsyduck]

Please reboot Fable!

 

[EmiPrime]

Simpler solution

- Let xbox one X run steam and steam games. Bigscreen mode if its needed from a technical standpoint.
- Get rid of Windows 10 games store, that thing is trash. Migrate it all to steam/steamworks.
- Partner with steam to sell games on a custom xbox steam front, microsoft gets 20%, steam gets 10%, devs get 70% (or whatever mix works out for all three parties).

Bam, now X runs PC games flawlessly, X games are just steam games so devs only have to make PC/PS4 ports, do whatever technical thing you need so people can't run custom hacks or other executables just digitally signed steam games.

Is this a joke or some meme I'm not aware of?

 

[Jaded Alyx]

Doesn't fix anything. It's just a very short term thing that they could do which may or may not be much different in terms of quantity of output to what they're already planning.

They need to invest in developers. Not necessarily buy studios, but build and open their own. Create new IP, of their own.

 

[Head.spawn]

Simpler solution

- Let xbox one X run steam and steam games. Bigscreen mode if its needed from a technical standpoint.
- Get rid of Windows 10 games store, that thing is trash. Migrate it all to steam/steamworks.
- Partner with steam to sell games on a custom xbox steam front, microsoft gets 20%, steam gets 10%, devs get 70% (or whatever mix works out for all three parties).

Bam, now X runs PC games flawlessly, X games are just steam games so devs only have to make PC/PS4 ports, do whatever technical thing you need so people can't run custom hacks or other executables just digitally signed steam games.

Well that would be cool and all, but I doubt Valve would ever go for that.

 

[Damn Silly]

In addition to opening up new studios and making new IP (however likely or unlikely both those may be), they should both approach developers and allow them to apply to use some of the lesser-used IPs that MS has. Go to someone like Yacht Club and see if they want to make a new Battletoads. See if any independent devs have a new spin on Conker or Perfect Dark or Banjo Kazooie.

 

[Bsigg12]

I mean honestly, hell yeah they would be. Remember that $400 million NFL deal? Imagine if all that was poured into building and strengthening their 1st party studios instead.

I mean we've all talked about it before many many times, but its astounding how poorly the entire vision of the Xbox One was handled.

That NFL deal is more for Microsoft as a whole, not just Xbox. There is far more Surface mentions than Xbox.

 

[The Pet of the Month]

Is this a joke or some meme I'm not aware of?

I guess some folks just really want a good Steambox, not an Xbox.

 

[Jetboxx]

Doesn't fix anything. It's just a very short term thing that they could do which may or may not be much different in terms of quantity of output to what they're already planning.

They need to invest in developers. Not necessarily buy studios, but build and open their own. Create new IP, of their own.

Microsoft + Valhalla Game Studios = a new IP. I mean, Itagaki clearly likes Microsoft. Even now he tells good things of Microsoft.

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

It's quite easy for Microsoft to fix the "there aren't many exclusives per year" problem - you commission more games. But its extremely difficult to deal with other, more entrenched ones like minimal Japanese support, the strength of the Playstation brand outside of North America and the sales momentum of the PS4. No list of "hey guys remember this classic Xbox IP that met moderate commercial success in 2003" games will transform the Xbox One platform into something dominant. All that will do is stop people posting hot takes about Xbox Has No Games on IGN and GAF.

 

[Pein]

I would throw money at ninja theory and maybe obsidian too, get a big action franchise on the scale of god of war and a new epic rpg series.

 

[spanks]

I'm still mad that they fired Ensemble, then went on to make Halo Wars 2 and Age of Empires without them anyway.

If they make a true Fable sequel with someone else, after Lionhead begged them for years and was shuttered, I will be furious.

Especially idiotic given that Fable was their 3rd most valuable franchise.

Is there any way they could rebuild Lionhead, or is everyone scattered to the four winds?

 

[Jetboxx]

I would throw money at ninja theory and maybe obsidian too, get a big action franchise on the scale of god of war and a new epic rpg series.

Ninja Theory? The studio isn't capable of creating a good action game. Valhalla Game Studios is.