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Microsoft Studios (& Partners) Current and Future Landscape

Shabad

Member
I have really no confidence that Crackdown 3, State of Decay 2, and Sea of Thieves will actually meet their 2017 deadlines. Actually even if they do, it would be pretty terrible for them as they wouldn't land before Fall 2017, and they would be swarmed by the usual suspects. For better or worse, I think it's fair to assume those titles actually are early 2018.

Which essentially would only leave Halo Wars 2, and Forza Motorsport 7 for the whole 2017. Granted that's one hell of a worst case scenario for the Xbox One (all three aforementionned titles get cancelled), but it would be for the best for those titles (none of which stands a chance amidst the holiday chaos).
 

JlNX

Member
Back in 2013 from Rare's Creative Director...



If I had to guess Rare had a hard time shoehorning MP into a lot of their old IP that fit Microsoft's vision, but easier to do so with new IP like they did with Sea of Thieves.

Come on, we don't know what rare is working on and who's to say they didn't want to work on sea of thieves over all of those. Theres idea's in every studio for everything, but one thing you can see about Rare is they like to work on new ip's. There is only a few sequels out of all the games they released.
 

Shiggy

Member
Come on, we don't know what rare is working on and who's to say they didn't want to work on sea of thieves over all of those. Theres idea's in every studio for everything, but one thing you can see about Rare is they like to work on new ip's. There is only a few sequels out of all the games they released.

It seems crazy to think that they did not want to work on Sea of Thieves.
 

Xando

Member
After todays news i sure hope they will release crackdown (neither game was released here officially) and state of decay(was heavily cut) here in germany.

Have no interest in sea of thieves.



Give me a Rare made Fable, Phil
 

Sydle

Member
After todays news i sure hope they will release crackdown (neither game was released here officially) and state of decay(was heavily cut) here in germany.

Have no interest in sea of thieves.



Give me a Rare made Fable, Phil

If MS wants all of their games to be the live service model and Legends was rejected what makes you think another MP-focused Fable would work?
 

Xando

Member
If MS wants all of their games to be the live service model and Legends was rejected what makes you think another MP-focused Fable would work?

Still hoping for a real SP fable. Not that MP focused bs.


It's probably not gonna happen but Fable used to be my favorite MS IP.
 

Dehnus

Member
If MS wants all of their games to be the live service model and Legends was rejected what makes you think another MP-focused Fable would work?

Indeed, MS is just a whaler now, hunting the whales on the seas of Minecraft.THAR SHE BLOWS! Crackdown 3 will be cancelled as well just .. give it time.
 

EmiPrime

Member
I have really no confidence that Crackdown 3, State of Decay 2, and Sea of Thieves will actually meet their 2017 deadlines. Actually even if they do, it would be pretty terrible for them as they wouldn't land before Fall 2017, and they would be swarmed by the usual suspects. For better or worse, I think it's fair to assume those titles actually are early 2018.

I don't think SOD2 will make this year either. Given the way UL left YOSE a buggy, stuttery, framey mess I am not inclined to buy their next game anyway.
 

KooopaKid

Banned
I don't see what exclusives other than the usual ones MS will put out for Scorpio.
Looks like a disaster is coming, especially if gamers thinks it's just an Xbone PRO. PS4 PRO isn't exactly flying off shelves.
 

jayu26

Member
I for one can't believe MS is getting more flak for Scalebound then they did for Phantom Dust. At least this game got to do some showing that kind of represented what the gameplay loop might have been. It didn't look too hot, it missed some deadlines and it got channeled.

On the other hand, everything about Phantom Dust was a giant lie from the get go. I mean everything. Not only did they lie to consumers and fans, they also lied to its developer by not telling them what they expect from it (or even the fact that they made a CG trailer for it that didn't represent the actual game).
 
If MS wants all of their games to be the live service model and Legends was rejected what makes you think another MP-focused Fable would work?

The reason of Fable Legends rejected was because MS burned 75 million in that game and still can't get out of close beta stage.
 
Microsoft's current assumed direction makes sense for a corporation that seems to be struggling internally with two camps at war. I've always gotten the impression that the folk passionate about gaming have, to a greater or lesser degree, been engaged in a vicious struggle against upper-management, suits if you will, who are more concerned about ROI than they are with delivering solid, varied gaming experiences. The public faces of the committee that designed the original Xbox One are gone, but I highly doubt the more background influencers have gone anywhere.

Now more than ever, it seems that the ROI model is taking over and we'll get even less variety. Which makes me less likely to invest in the Xbox platform beyond the Xbox One S I already have (because I'm not touching the Windows 10 Store with a 10-foot pole) and more likely to get a Nintendo Switch and upgrade to a Playstation 4 Pro, because at least there, I know my desire for single-player, story games will be sated.
 

Linkified

Member
I have really no confidence that Crackdown 3, State of Decay 2, and Sea of Thieves will actually meet their 2017 deadlines. Actually even if they do, it would be pretty terrible for them as they wouldn't land before Fall 2017, and they would be swarmed by the usual suspects. For better or worse, I think it's fair to assume those titles actually are early 2018.

Which essentially would only leave Halo Wars 2, and Forza Motorsport 7 for the whole 2017. Granted that's one hell of a worst case scenario for the Xbox One (all three aforementionned titles get cancelled), but it would be for the best for those titles (none of which stands a chance amidst the holiday chaos).

I would imagine they have more games to announce outside of the Voodoo Vince remaster, Phantom Dust HD, Halo Wars 2 that are already announced.
 

TM94

Member
Crack open that damn RARE IP treasure-chest and get to work for fuck sake.

Banjo Threeie and a rebooted Perfect Dark to start.
 
Wasn't it literally finished and after the last beta it was actually insane fun and good to go basically?

Would love to see the story behind that one.
Based at least on the last beta they made public it was far from finished. In fact it looked like it would skip 2016 because there was so much work to be done.
 

Anticol

Banned
Like I said earlier in the thread this is super sad, from the 360 we came to this, what a wasted opportunity, anyway with the News of the cancellation of Scalebound this thread is even sadder. Scorpio will not turn around thing with only raw power tbh...
 

Sydle

Member
The reason of Fable Legends rejected was because MS burned 75 million in that game and still can't get out of close beta stage.

I played it. It was very close, with a high amount of polish on what was there and there was quite a bit to do.

As others have said, the gameplay loop wasn't there for a lot of people and the in-game economy wasn't being very well received.
 

shingi70

Banned
I was in the Fable legends beta, it was fun and the hero designs were great but it had the problem that the game would fall apart if anyone left because the AI couldn't scale to what the villain was throwing our way.


Wouldn't mind a Tradtional Fable game with heavier Monster hunter influences.
 

willbsn13

Member
Sucks about Scalebound. Didn't really look all that great when they showed it IMO, but I hate to see games cancelled.

Now it makes the 2017 Xbox lineup look even thinner, will be interesting to see if they have anything up there sleeve or if most is already known about.
 
God damn, between SneakersSO, shinobi, Nirolak, Matt, Stump, and Zhuge's posts today, I'm really not liking what I'm hearing for the future of Xbox.

Daniel Ahmad ‏@ZhugeEX
My take on all this, and I've been seeing this for a while, is that Microsoft is transitioning all their games to the 'live service' model.

Daniel Ahmad ‏@ZhugeEX
Basically Microsoft want to have their games emulate what Minecraft has been able to do.
Long lifecycle, large user base, Increased spend.

Daniel Ahmad ‏@ZhugeEX
Microsoft's future direction is about being able to offer the Xbox games and live services on multiple devices that run Windows 10.

Yeah, that matches my own observations.

Exactly what I and some devs I spoken to feel.

It's a big blow to the Xbox line up. Honestly there's a serious lack of single player story driven games. Well, exclusive ones at least. Everything is literally MP focused. Forza 7, State of Decay, Sea of Thieves, Crackdown...(and I've heard Crackdown isn't going too hot either, though nothing as bad as this)...

Depends on what you think a 'ton' is, and whether you truly consider games like Forza 7 & Halo 6 to be unannounced. Outside of those two.... yeah, don't hold your breath in terms of volume.

They're notably canceling or discontinuing everything that isn't a service game.

I think they don't want the type of game they signed a bunch of developers up for at the start of the generation.

The things that keep going on are stuff like State of Decay or Gears of War, where they're long lasting multiplayer heavy titles with microtransaction potential.


That isn't to say those kinds of titles are bad, but I was looking forward to more games like SSOD and Scalebound. Hey, at least we'll still be getting awesome smaller scale games like Ori, Cuphead, and Below.

In less depressing news, Crackdown 3 is supposed to have large-scale destructibility, right? Because I've been replaying Red Faction: Guerrilla on PC and I'd kill for that level of destruction in a game again. And we're obviously not going to get it from Volition.
 
I mean, they tried with that Halo tablet game and few other attempts. The problem is Microsoft the corporation. Any attempt into mobile gaming, or almost all MS initiatives really, would have to be justified for some larger company-wide initiative, and if you're trying to do mobile gaming whilst focusing exclusively on the Win10 store and not having your apps reach Google Play Store or Apple App Store, then you shouldn't be shocked by the results.

Yeah, it's really an issue that MS's desire to bolster their own store and the need for mobile games to be anywhere and everywhere are at odds. The correct decision I think is to make games for all the mobile platforms because I don't think any one game MS makes will suddenly pull people away from iOS and Android, so making money should be the main concern.
 

EmiPrime

Member
In less depressing news, Crackdown 3 is supposed to have large-scale destructibility, right? Because I've been replaying Red Faction: Guerrilla on PC and I'd kill for that level of destruction in a game again. And we're obviously not going to get it from Volition.

Only in multi-player unfortunately.
 

Jumeira

Banned
Phil is a magician, but its time he focused on building IPS and partnering with Dev houses, Xbox really needs it. New Fable game would be perfect right now, really miss the franchise, I didn't mind Legends being cancelled as it looked shit and wasn't a real Fable gane, would be over the moon of they announce a Scorpio optimised version partnered with a new studio.
 

Figments

Member
Except the most recent iterations were below expectations. Also, employees wanting to work on a tried and true IP doesn't cancel out working on new stuff. Both can be done.

I get what you're saying but I still don't like MS' current first party situation. It is stale to me and there are ways to rejuvenate what they have going on.

Well good for you, I guess?

Both can certainly be done--there's a possibility for anything. But if it means forcing people to work on something, then either way is terrible. You're not gonna get the highest quality if you force someone to work on something, be it a new IP or otherwise.

A new IP is not the signal that something is gonna be good. Microsoft have already tried--Sunset Overdrive, ReCore, Ori, Ryse, et cetera. Of those titles, only Ori has proven to have any measure of success.

This shit isn't working for them. But sequels to established brands? Most assuredly.
 
Well good for you, I guess?

Both can certainly be done--there's a possibility for anything. But if it means forcing people to work on something, then either way is terrible. You're not gonna get the highest quality if you force someone to work on something, be it a new IP or otherwise.

A new IP is not the signal that something is gonna be good. Microsoft have already tried--Sunset Overdrive, ReCore, Ori, Ryse, et cetera. Of those titles, only Ori has proven to have any measure of success.

This shit isn't working for them. But sequels to established brands? Most assuredly.
Why are you getting passive aggressive? lol

It looks more like established brands nor new IP are working. There are reasons why though and I think it is a matter of MS investigating why and figuring out how to solve them.
 

Shin-Ra

Junior Member
Crackdown in-engine reveal was weird, like they had to prove their cloud tech even though that ship had long sailed.

All at the expense of the game itself which didn't look vertical-slice ready.
 

EmiPrime

Member
It's also not being published by MS. It's coming to Xbox One and PC through the ID@Xbox program.

That too! Any word on if Microsoft Studios are assisting with development? Beep have been making small games for a while now, I can't imagine they have too many people working for them.
 

Sydle

Member
That too! Any word on if Microsoft Studios are assisting with development? Beep have been making small games for a while now, I can't imagine they have too many people working for them.

I don't remember reading about MS helping them out on development, but the creator did say he has a small team helping him.

curious question. Does MS own the scalebound IP? - or can Sony maybe help plat

MS
 

Figments

Member
Why are you getting passive aggressive? lol

It looks more like established brands nor new IP are working. There are reasons why though and I think it is a matter of MS investigating why and figuring out how to solve them.

Passive aggressive is literally my default tone of voice. :p

I think Microsoft needs to take games as a platform more seriously with more aggressive support than they currently do. Halo 5 is a good example of this trend, but they need to do better.

I've always believed that it's best to release a multiplayer platform upon which the singleplayer rests--iterate and update the multiplayer consistently while addressing player feedback, and use the same engine, assets, etc, for several years, upgrading when needing to and using those assets to create singleplayer campaigns released as expansions to the base multiplayer game.

It's a business model I feel could work, in theory, and it might be something Microsoft should look at going forward, as well as evaluating any current and future prospects for platform growth.
 

HotHamBoy

Member
I don't see what exclusives other than the usual ones MS will put out for Scorpio.
Looks like a disaster is coming, especially if gamers thinks it's just an Xbone PRO. PS4 PRO isn't exactly flying off shelves.

I don't think we are looking at a disaster but I do think Scorpio reception is going to be fairly lukewarm. I really don't see it as a device with mainstream appeal. It's pretty niche given the current market.

People are acting like this thing is going to come down from the skies above and change the landscape. It's going to have its audience but it isn't going to help MS catch up this gen.

Maybe I'm just inside the GAF bubble, but so much talk around the future of Xbox revolves around this prospective premium console and not the actual potential software for it.
 

LordRaptor

Member
Phil is a magician

Well he just pulled a trick with Kamiya
VVxVYvE.gif
 

ironcreed

Banned
While there may be a lack of exclusives, Scorpio is still going to be a beast for multiplats. Being BC and taking all my games with me is going to be great as well. I am still excited.
 
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