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Mike Ybarra Weighs in on Xbox
- Thread starter Topher
- Start date
ManaByte
Gold Member
Disgruntled former exec who got laid off in the previous cuts.
HeisenbergFX4
Gold Member
MayauMiao
Member
Word salad at best. Making great games this, largest publisher that. All the years they had with gaming, they still blew it.
Loomy
Thinks Microaggressions are Real
The root of Xbox's problem is the fact that they have not been able to regularly deliver good games since the Xbox One days. On the plus side, they did recently promote the guy who's been in charge of managing their first party studios for the the last 6+ years.
DaGwaphics
Member
Yeah, that is the most questionable idea there, but it does seem like the idea that most of the major players are rolling with.
Ashamam
Member
Hang on a minute, you brought up metacritic not me. I just said decent games.
Kssio_Aug
Member
Yeah, but I said it because he literally advises "pumping regular 90+ rated games".
But yeah, of course I agree that releasing "great games" regularly is to be expected (although also quite obvious).
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MDSLKTR
Member
Clear
CliffyB's Cock Holster
I honestly feel like they don't have much choice. Buying ABK really locks them into a multi-platform future.
Its a huge investment and increase in size for their gaming business, meaning its got to show huge improvements in other performance metrics immediately.
In short they need to show growth. and I'm not sure they can do that without doing everything possible to expand their audience. Including becoming increasingly active on all platforms.
Its a huge investment and increase in size for their gaming business, meaning its got to show huge improvements in other performance metrics immediately.
In short they need to show growth. and I'm not sure they can do that without doing everything possible to expand their audience. Including becoming increasingly active on all platforms.
Humdinger
Member
Yup. "Won't someone please feel sorry for my multimillionaire friend." Talk about being emotionally tone-deaf...
VolticArchangel
Member
James Sawyer Ford
Gold Member
If I want to read a thoughtful long winded post it will be from
thicc_girls_are_teh_best
and not some overly worded pitch of an executive that wants his job back that has some fairly obvious statements
thicc_girls_are_teh_best
and not some overly worded pitch of an executive that wants his job back that has some fairly obvious statements
ChorizoPicozo
Member
yep. the most important word:::
OR.
Game Pass doesn't make sense if Xbox wants to become a publisher...and make money from people BUYING games/MTXs
HeisenbergFX4
Gold Member
I could be wrong but I don't think he would take the Xbox job regardless, not the way things are currently structured.If I want to read a thoughtful long winded post it will be from
Now laying the groundwork in hopes to get a glowing recommendation from Phil?
Maybe I don't know
James Sawyer Ford
Gold Member
Just a little strange how vocal he has been about the Xbox situation lately, but maybe he's always been this vocal? I don't follow him much.
I guess he's retired after he took his golden parachute from the ATVI deal?
HeisenbergFX4
Gold Member
He wont stay retired
I say he wont go back to Xbox but I guess if the check is big enough anything can happen
Always heard Phil was making 10 mil+ while the head of Xbox so that kind of money I guess you could put up with crap for a few years then bail.
James Sawyer Ford
Gold Member
Insane how much Phil is making for how truly terrible he is at his job.
Mr Moose
Member
Without MS, Xbox wouldn't exist at all. You think they can just magic up 80+ billion?
bender
What time is it?
LeBron said I didn't have to.
Spukc
always chasing the next thrill
Wait when blizz was good? D2 days?Former President of Blizzard. Worked for Microsoft and Xbox for 19 years prior to that. Friend ofHeisenbergFX4
LostDonkey
Member
Lions Gate
Banned
nosoynadie22
Gold Member
and we still don't know how much Sony pays him
THE DUCK
voted poster of the decade by bots
I mean they may end up multiplatform anyhow. But in way, Activision actually helps sheild other xbox sofware sales deficiencies. If they don't change anything at Activision as it stands, they profit of 5-6 billion a year just from Activision.
I mean it will pay for itself in 10-12 years.
Just look at how they were bragging how software sales were up 55% last quarter.....
Ass of Can Whooping
Gold Member
That's revenue. Not profit.
Wildebeest
Member
So Tango was axed because they didn't show enough of a strong desire to win?
feynoob
Member
That is what destroyed Xbox.
It's like giving a kid a 100$ and expect them to spend it wisely.
MS put that much money on Xbox and it destroyed the brand with high expectations.
Xbox would have done good with their smaller studios. Like Sony, Xbox would have nurtured their own devs and give them the resources needed to make AAA games.
Instead, MS put high expectations on the platform, and the result is the mess we have now.
ChorizoPicozo
Member
let's make it 70-30. no one should make Xbox´s management the victim here.
midnightAI
Member
Interesting, on one hand he says games need to make $500-1bn, on the other he says you need to put out all your great games on Gamepass. Bit contradictory isn't it?
(He does say 'if' Gamepass is your North Star, well, it can't be if you expect games to make that amount)
(He does say 'if' Gamepass is your North Star, well, it can't be if you expect games to make that amount)
THE DUCK
voted poster of the decade by bots
Not so sure about that, revenues in 2022 were like 7 or billion, and look to be higher in fiscal 2024 trending closer to 9-10 billion in sales. My profit numbers might be a bit high but apparently net proft % are very good for Activision.
Ass of Can Whooping
Gold Member
No, you're completely wrong lol. Their revenue is down YOY based on the last report. They're not not going to hit 9 billion, much less 10.
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feynoob
Member
MS hires the management. Could have axed greenberg and matt booty long time ago, and reduce phil involvement and keep him as a pr person.
ChorizoPicozo
Member
Phil and team are still in charge of the output of games.
feynoob
Member
Its matt booty. The shit stain that closed tango, because he didnt want to make more trips.
Phil allowed this shit to go, so he gets the blame too.
Kacho
Member
Thanks for taking the time to write the tweet. My eyes can’t handle the screenshot.
Kacho
Member
The time for having faith in Xbox is over. Who in their right mind would ask for clarity from a team that bullshits their fans every time they speak? They are incapable of being honest, and that’s partly because they have no idea what they’re doing. They can’t succeed because they can’t make good games. Even in a best case scenario where they put out great games consistently it will be far too late. The Xbox brand is poison.
midnightAI
Member
It most likely won't have been his decision alone that's for certain. It will be from higher up to cut costs, get rid of underperforming studios (who are not seen as valuable), trim the fat (this will be directly from Nadella). Then you'll have Phil and Booty in discussions about exactly who to cut loose (it may have initially been Booty who suggested those studios admittedly, but he wouldn't have had to got rid of anybody if it didn't come from higher up)
King Dazzar
Member
For me I think we're getting lost in the weeds. It reads like Xbox could have survived if Xbox weren't Xbox.
thicc_girls_are_teh_best
Member
If I want to read a thoughtful long winded post it will be from
I dunno man,
yurinka
and
Mibu no ookami
been coming for the crown a lot now....Tho I can't say I'm agreeing with a lot of their takes when it comes to PlayStation. Xbox tho? Yeah probably.
Actually this thread as-is is already a way better long-winded thoughtful insight on Xbox if you're reading it in one go
Bradamante3D
Member
Not sure how a decision maker like Ybarra is talking like this. He still has a bad reputation from his time at Blizzard where Overwatch 2 and Warcraft III Reforged happened during his tenure, if I am not mistaken. He is talking about studios releasing great games, but Overwatch 2 did not deliver on its PvE promises, felt like a fighting game with only an updated roster. Did also not solve the problems that the pro scene had. WC3R was a disaster, since the studio in Malaysia that they outsourced development to, either lacked oversight or was just incompetent. This is even more baffling, since the Diablo II Remaster showed everybody how it's done.
So, as a general comment on XBox's current situation, there is a multitude of bad decisions, bad strategies and bad communication since maybe 2012 that has led to the current "dark times". Front and center is a unfocused strategy that tries to please everyone, and reaches only few. The setbacks of the XBox One generation are too obvious and have already been discussed to death: Kinect, higher price than PS4, failed projects like Scalebound, Quantum Break, too conservative handling of franchises like Halo or Gears of War. I could go on ...
This conservatism and risk aversion is still visible in this generation. Here we are introducing a high end XBox, oh but over here we have a low end one, too. Developers hate that, and player in the long term hate it too, since they constantly feel they are missing out. Could have made the more radical decision to offer the low end XBox even cheaper as a Game Pass only or streaming only device, but nah. Over here we are building a business around hardware sales, but over here we are also offering Game Pass. So now I am a Game Pass subscriber, and I just wait until the current hype release is free for me, instead of buying that expensive collectors edition.
We totally have our own identity but over here let's just be the next Apple, where we try to be in the same position as them: Doesn't matter on what platform they buy our services and games, we always win. Isn't that the position we want to be in, guys? So, let's offer all releases also on Windows, too. Except that when we sell hardware, we sell it at production costs, whereas Apple makes 20-30%. Let's position the XBox as an entertainment device like the AppleTV, but alas we don't produce serial content or movies, so it's just our games I guess. Let's instead pester Windows users with XBox content. Let's give Windows users an incentive to wait for price drops on PC for the same game, instead of buying an XBox. And who wouldn't like our games? We need to sell some big numbers over here guys, so let's take the edge off of Gears of War, that stuff has always been too violent me tells ya. We goin BIG into content now guys, we are investing dem big bucks. Which is why the Halo serials can't cost money, streaming on a service that nobody is subscribed to, with actors you never heard of. Big Halo movie in cinemas? Nah, movies are dead now, haven't you heard? Except for Nolan. Even movies with big historic brands behind them don't draw anymore. Except for Barbie. Video game movies just don't work, guys, look at Assassin's Creed. No idea how Uncharted did it. Sony just lucky, I guess. Big budget Halo movie by Neill Blomkamp? Nah can't to that, isn't he busy with Alien 5? Peter Jackson loves us because he played Halo in his trailer while directing LOTR? Nah, can't get anything done with him.
Over here we love our overlords at Microsoft, afterall they enable our failures with the typical "spend your way out of the problem" pattern. Everything MS does sucks for the first two generations, but we get the market with the third one. So now with Xbox One it's time, right? Oh except it wasn't. But with XBox X it's time, right? On next gen I guess. Oh we love Microsoft, but let's rather not collaborate with them. Who likes those Surface products, anyway? Why rebrand the XBox to Surface Box? Why offer all Microsoft products in one subscription, where you get Windows, Office and XBox? Who would like that? Can't do that, Microsoft is for the corporate world afterall, and XBox is for dem gamers.
So, as a general comment on XBox's current situation, there is a multitude of bad decisions, bad strategies and bad communication since maybe 2012 that has led to the current "dark times". Front and center is a unfocused strategy that tries to please everyone, and reaches only few. The setbacks of the XBox One generation are too obvious and have already been discussed to death: Kinect, higher price than PS4, failed projects like Scalebound, Quantum Break, too conservative handling of franchises like Halo or Gears of War. I could go on ...
This conservatism and risk aversion is still visible in this generation. Here we are introducing a high end XBox, oh but over here we have a low end one, too. Developers hate that, and player in the long term hate it too, since they constantly feel they are missing out. Could have made the more radical decision to offer the low end XBox even cheaper as a Game Pass only or streaming only device, but nah. Over here we are building a business around hardware sales, but over here we are also offering Game Pass. So now I am a Game Pass subscriber, and I just wait until the current hype release is free for me, instead of buying that expensive collectors edition.
We totally have our own identity but over here let's just be the next Apple, where we try to be in the same position as them: Doesn't matter on what platform they buy our services and games, we always win. Isn't that the position we want to be in, guys? So, let's offer all releases also on Windows, too. Except that when we sell hardware, we sell it at production costs, whereas Apple makes 20-30%. Let's position the XBox as an entertainment device like the AppleTV, but alas we don't produce serial content or movies, so it's just our games I guess. Let's instead pester Windows users with XBox content. Let's give Windows users an incentive to wait for price drops on PC for the same game, instead of buying an XBox. And who wouldn't like our games? We need to sell some big numbers over here guys, so let's take the edge off of Gears of War, that stuff has always been too violent me tells ya. We goin BIG into content now guys, we are investing dem big bucks. Which is why the Halo serials can't cost money, streaming on a service that nobody is subscribed to, with actors you never heard of. Big Halo movie in cinemas? Nah, movies are dead now, haven't you heard? Except for Nolan. Even movies with big historic brands behind them don't draw anymore. Except for Barbie. Video game movies just don't work, guys, look at Assassin's Creed. No idea how Uncharted did it. Sony just lucky, I guess. Big budget Halo movie by Neill Blomkamp? Nah can't to that, isn't he busy with Alien 5? Peter Jackson loves us because he played Halo in his trailer while directing LOTR? Nah, can't get anything done with him.
Over here we love our overlords at Microsoft, afterall they enable our failures with the typical "spend your way out of the problem" pattern. Everything MS does sucks for the first two generations, but we get the market with the third one. So now with Xbox One it's time, right? Oh except it wasn't. But with XBox X it's time, right? On next gen I guess. Oh we love Microsoft, but let's rather not collaborate with them. Who likes those Surface products, anyway? Why rebrand the XBox to Surface Box? Why offer all Microsoft products in one subscription, where you get Windows, Office and XBox? Who would like that? Can't do that, Microsoft is for the corporate world afterall, and XBox is for dem gamers.
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