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[MacReady13]

R.I.P. Xbox consoles……….very sad but all because of Phil. He has destroyed the console platform for MS. Pushing gamepass more than the console for years now and putting their games on PC day one and devaluing the console brand even more. Insane how this man has been allowed to destroy Xbox from within.

Spot on my friend. I loved my Xbox consoles and games so much. I was even a fan of the Xbone when it launched. Losing the console race and therefore pushing a shit sub service that the majority of gamers could not give a fuck about has ruined the once great Xbox brand. Teaching your disciples to not pay for games and to wait until they arrive on your rental service has further ruined the brand cause now they get no sales so why release games on Xbox anymore?
Fuck Phil and his bullshit. My Series X will be put up for sale within the next week along with my 34 Serires games i've purchased. Fuck this bullshit.

 

[Moriarty1889]

Spot on my friend. I loved my Xbox consoles and games so much. I was even a fan of the Xbone when it launched. Losing the console race and therefore pushing a shit sub service that the majority of gamers could not give a fuck about has ruined the once great Xbox brand. Teaching your disciples to not pay for games and to wait until they arrive on your rental service has further ruined the brand cause now they get no sales so why release games on Xbox anymore?
Fuck Phil and his bullshit. My Series X will be put up for sale within the next week along with my 34 Serires games i've purchased. Fuck this bullshit.

Yes my friend we are both in agreement that Phil is the culprit. His actions have lead to the pitiful state Xbox is in right now. There is no arguing that when you look at the abysmal numbers they are producing in terms of consoles and games sold. Gamepass has stagnated as well and now they are so desperate they are looking to put exclusives on other platforms…..PITIPHIL…….that is what I would term this whole debacle anymore. I am considering doing the same as you and selling my series x and its games and getting another PS5 while the original models are still in stock. Not a fan of the newer slims.

 

[reinking]

I dont think there is any surprise here, they will sooner brin g game pass to other platforms and focus on it there than focus on plastic boxes, I think the days of the traditional console platform is almost over.

People only say this when looking at it from a Microsoft perspective. Both Nintendo and Sony are having incredible success with console sales this generation. Consoles are far from dead.

 

[ProtoByte]

People aren't ready for this discussion.

In many ways his leadership has been far more destructive to their console brand than Mattrick ever was.

It's such a shame; I would like some actual competition against PlayStation.

 

[reinking]

Here's your answer:

Do they give awards for that?

 

[ProtoByte]

Only thing that guy said that makes any sense if "translated".

Is that gamepass subs have stagnated and console sales are dead.

Now what is really funny to me, is that anyone with half a brain would have seen all this coming two years ago. Now I just find it really entertaining watching people flip-flop and move posts.

The likes Mat Piscatella and Daniel Ahmad need their "analyst" cards revoked. Every industry analyst and pundit who made it out like gamepass was a viable strategy in this industry are either idiots, or shills trying to help Microsoft astroturf their wishes into reality.

 

[jroc74]

I dont think there is any surprise here, they will sooner brin g game pass to other platforms and focus on it there than focus on plastic boxes, I think the days of the traditional console platform is almost over.

Remember when ppl were saying that when the Wii U was flopping all over the place?

Fun times.

One platform having issues selling consoles doesn't equal all consoles.

Probably for Microsoft it is. They're the only one with poor console sales.

People only say this when looking at it from a Microsoft perspective. Both Nintendo and Sony are having incredible success with console sales this generation. Consoles are far from dead.

Exactly.

 

[Ozzie666]

My only take away from all of this is the ARM CPU choice, if true. They didn't use it for the PS4/Xbox one era, they had their chance. I'm very curious what kind of console, if it's traditional, they could get with an ARM CPU. I'm also curious if Sony sticks to PC style CPU for this PS6. PC/PS/X were a nice development paradigm for developers with PC style development.

Could Xbox really go some sort of hybrid route leavinf Sony as the only old school traditional box?

 

[That Damn Kid]

 

[JayK47]

You should all want Xbox to do well. The industry can only improve with decent competition.

 

[YeulEmeralda]

I'll always have a soft spot for Xbox. It was my first console all the way back in 2001.

 

[gothmog]

You should all want Xbox to do well. The industry can only improve with decent competition.

When Xbox starts being decent competition let us know.

 

[tr1p1ex]

SEa of Theives etc to PS5?

I would say it's better to sell a $70 game on the PS5 2 years after launch or something than people buying used copies for the Xbox that MSFT gets nothing from or $20 new copies or getting little to nothing for the game via Gamepass.

The benefit of the exclusive part for a lot of those games probably has mostly been received after a few years.

PLus again this only aligns with their stated goal of Xbox Cloud for all. EVen if it's not a cloud game, the vision of reaching all no matter the platform is similar.

 

[The Pleasure]

Oh he has been talking about the impending and inevitable doom of PlayStation.



And being in full denial mode.

SenjutsuSage sucks toes

 

[March Climber]

One platform having issues selling consoles doesn't equal all consoles.

I don't think PC gamers (at least the ones who look down their noses at consoles) here and elsewhere will ever understand this.

"Consoles will die out" is nothing new, has been said almost every single generation since the PS2/Xbox/GC gen, and the phrase has been a broken record on repeat.

Companies like Nintendo will forever be an enigma to them. I guess it's why they conveniently ignore them whenever the console numbers and player stats come out every winter/spring.

 

[Clintizzle]

I'm guessing they are betting on games resulting in the growth in GP subs. They can't sell enough consoles so have to rely on the library of games on GP.

Will be interesting to see the effect of a steady stream of 1st party games and the eventual ABK games being added to GP.

 

[Kumomeme]

it is funny considering people claimed that the console would sold like hotcake due to the gamepass. but turn out the gamepass sub cant increase due to the console not being sold much lol.

 

[Pimpbaa]

I’m riding game pass on my series x until it is dead. But I’m sure as shit ain’t buying games on it (not sure about the future of Xbox or if I will buy a Xbox next gen). Adding Activision Blizzard titles to GP might help a bit. Would have helped more if they added them during the holiday season.

 

[GigaBowser]

i love you xbox, i hope you never leave me

marster chief raised me

 

[THE DUCK]

I thought everyone said Warren was on the xbox payroll.....if so how does this make sense?

 

[Freelance Yakuza]

it is funny considering people claimed that the console would sold like hotcake due to the gamepass. but turn out the gamepass sub cant increase due to the console not being sold much lol.

I have the impression that neither the community, nor the influencers, nor even Microsoft can understand why Game Pass hasn't become a successful brand, affecting the performance of both consoles and subscriptions.

People simply don't want the device. It's as simple as that. I see numerous reasons for not wanting something from MS. The games are weak, the AAA titles are disappointments, the AA games either have a specific audience or unfortunately didn't generate interest among players. It's that console you don't need to have if you want to play the few good games.

One thing that messes up the whole situation is that you need to design games that keep players subscribed to Game Pass. Longer games, with online features, or whatever the strategy may be. The leveling system in the new Forza was probably designed to artificially extend people's playtime.

But there is likely another reason why people aren't enthusiastic about purchasing an Xbox and Game Pass. Perhaps the idea that you can subscribe anytime makes the subscription an afterthought, as in my case. I had 3 years of Game Pass but played mostly on Steam or other platforms. It seems like Game Pass offers good games that appear lower in the order of priorities to play.

 

[Alan Wake]

My kids wanting access to all the shovel-wear on xbox keeps me subbed.

It was fantastic when it launched but content has dried up and xbox have taken too long with their 1p stuff.

To be honest it was very barebones when it launched in 2017. I jumped in anyway because I liked the idea and kept subscribing. Now there's so much more content. Obviously since first party games remain there.

 

[bender]

I have the impression that neither the community, nor the influencers, nor even Microsoft can understand why Game Pass hasn't become a successful brand, affecting the performance of both consoles and subscriptions.

The idea of a Netflix for gaming has some fundamental flaws. Movies and TV shows are easy to consume and most games take much longer. Factor in the average time spent gaming for various age groups, software attach ratios of ~10 being considered widely successful for a given platform versus the the price of a subscription service and the popularity of free to play games, it just becomes clear that audience is pretty limited. I think most older people would rather spend $200 a year and their free time on 3-6 games of their choosing per year rather than having a buffet of 300 titles that may or may not have something to pique their interest and most younger players are spending their time in Roblox, Fortnite or the like.

 

[FIREKNIGHT2029]

I knew they dried up and to be honest i wouldn't be surprised if they've dried up on PC as well. It's been ages since we got GamePass milestone updates from Microsoft.

They used to scream them from the rooftops back in the day but now they no longer do them. It's very telling.

Another failed trend chasing idea from Microsoft. There won't be a real next gen for Microsoft as far as consoles go. They have no reason to keep making traditional consoles if it's not growing subscriptions for them like they hope.

The recent news of them porting their games to Playstation and Switch is making a lot of sense now.

 

[Kumomeme]

I have the impression that neither the community, nor the influencers, nor even Microsoft can understand why Game Pass hasn't become a successful brand, affecting the performance of both consoles and subscriptions.

People simply don't want the device. It's as simple as that. I see numerous reasons for not wanting something from MS. The games are weak, the AAA titles are disappointments, the AA games either have a specific audience or unfortunately didn't generate interest among players. It's that console you don't need to have if you want to play the few good games.

One thing that messes up the whole situation is that you need to design games that keep players subscribed to Game Pass. Longer games, with online features, or whatever the strategy may be. The leveling system in the new Forza was probably designed to artificially extend people's playtime.

But there is likely another reason why people aren't enthusiastic about purchasing an Xbox and Game Pass. Perhaps the idea that you can subscribe anytime makes the subscription an afterthought, as in my case. I had 3 years of Game Pass but played mostly on Steam or other platforms. It seems like Game Pass offers good games that appear lower in the order of priorities to play.

i believe it is also tied to the strength of Xbox brand itself. if they continuously able to make awesome AAA exclusive and build reputation that strengthen the branding, not only it would sell the console, it would also add immense value to the services. for me, the real value is not the price of the catalogue foremost, but the worthiness of the catalogue itself that will weight the package price.

their approach of hoping the services will carried whole brand not vice versa is backfired to them. after all the reception of the brand that tied to their quality content is the one will determine how the services will fare. well, its not like they not aware of that, which is why they bought ActiBlizzard but from what i see their sole reason for that acquistion is to strengthen the services foremost, not the Xbox brand itself. bussiness first, branding second.

 

[bitbydeath]

I thought everyone said Warren was on the xbox payroll.....if so how does this make sense?

It’s his job to flip it into a good news story.

 

[ByWatterson]

It was the strangest move years ago to sacrifice the entire Xbox brand at the altar of unproven subscriptions.

It didn't have to be this way.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

I thought everyone said Warren was on the xbox payroll.....if so how does this make sense?

he didn't get the latest pay check, MS is struggling after buying ABK.

 

[{insert code here}]

Man I am so grateful I was around to experience the PS360 era. What a gift. I hope/want to experience another console generation like that just one more time. Maybe with MS out of the picture, and Sony/Nintendo focused solely on each other we'll get to see some magic coming from that fight.

Alright that's enough nostalgia for one night. Sleep well friends

 

[kruis]

The idea of a Netflix for gaming has some fundamental flaws. Movies and TV shows are easy to consume and most games take much longer. Factor in the average time spent gaming for various age groups, software attach ratios of ~10 being considered widely successful for a given platform versus the the price of a subscription service and the popularity of free to play games, it just becomes clear that audience is pretty limited. I think most older people would rather spend $200 a year and their free time on 3-6 games of their choosing per year rather than having a buffet of 300 titles that may or may not have something to pique their interest and most younger players are spending their time in Roblox, Fortnite or the like.

Another thing: a subscription to a streaming service will be used by the whole family. That probably won’t be the case with a Gamepass subscription. That will make it harder to justify the monthly subscription price.

 

[Alan Wake]

Yes my friend we are both in agreement that Phil is the culprit. His actions have lead to the pitiful state Xbox is in right now. There is no arguing that when you look at the abysmal numbers they are producing in terms of consoles and games sold. Gamepass has stagnated as well and now they are so desperate they are looking to put exclusives on other platforms…..PITIPHIL…….that is what I would term this whole debacle anymore. I am considering doing the same as you and selling my series x and its games and getting another PS5 while the original models are still in stock. Not a fan of the newer slims.

I've always liked him but I have to admit he's escaped all the criticism for Xbox One and beyond just being the nice guy who "cares" about us. He's in charge and he's responsible for the lacklustre performance of the games, the console sales and the brand in general.

 

[systemr123]

“You don’t get growth by targeting console sales. Console sales don’t matter.”

Ahh, I am sure then PC GamePass sales are growing at tremendous rates. Oh and TV ones too (GamePass on Samsung TVs)! The strategy is foolproof!

It is, because even when it doesn’t work, MS will just buy Samsung, and PC, and declare victory without showing any numbers or costs.

Funny as well all those people that say, now they bought Activision they will have 2 billion dollars a year profit. Did they forget the 70+ billion they paid for it? It will take at this rate at least 35 years just to break even lol. And with MS management as we know it profits will go down quick, so it’s just a lost cause.

It fits in MS strategy though too just buy away competition and starve the opponents of content. God I hate MS strategy. They know they’ll never make a dime on it, and just do it so no-one can play.

 

[Mr.Phoenix]

I dont think there is any surprise here, they will sooner brin g game pass to other platforms and focus on it there than focus on plastic boxes, I think the days of the traditional console platform is almost over.

This is some really impressive mental delusion gymnastics right here.

Like a car company trying its hand at making an EV and failing then instead of taking the L, going back to the drawing board, and try and improve, they instead choose to blame their failure on some hypothetical industry-wide shift away from automobiles.

That is just flat-out delusion. First, you try and trivialize the importance of consoles by calling them "plastic boxes" as if that hasn't been the bread and butter of gaming hardware since its inception and still is; then you go with consoles as we know it is almost over. Because MS has been unable to succeed at it? And just ignoring how well both Nintendo and Sony consoles are doing?

On another note, at some point, people are gonna see that MS has taken the GAAS business model and extrapolated the hell out of it. That's what the Xbox is now, a console/platform as a service. And sooner or later, they and people like you will realize that the success of gamepass is tied to the success of Xbox.

 

[Damian black]

You should all want Xbox to do well. The industry can only improve with decent competition.

A lot of people were against day one pc ports, me included and where did that lead you?
The fanbase has pretty much allowed every shitty decision the higher ups pushed.
They are as responsible if not even more, for not demanding accountability after every bad decision that resulted in a flop.

Day one pc ports? Yas phil

Shitty quality gamepass games? Yas phil
< you are here

Xbox games on playstation?

 

[The Fuzz damn you!]

On another note, at some point, people are gonna see that MS has taken the GAAS business model, and extrapolated the hell out of it. That's what the Xbox is now, a console/platform as a service. And sooner or later, they and people like you will realize that the success of gamepass is tied to the success of Xbox.

This is the thing. As a platform-as-a-service, GamePaaS is aiming fo have people paying for access to games that are released in “minimum viable product” state, then pay again for upgrades that make them actually playable / enjoyable. They have 900 planets in Starfield, as one example, that are ready to be populated with MTX-burdened content improvements, while (hopefully) the mechanics improvements are released for free to drive interest. With that model, yes, console exclusivity makes no sense.

Part of this strategy, imo, is aimed at providing an alternative to Sony’s big-budget, high-price tag games. By lowering the barrier to entry, they hoped to starve Sony of willing consumers. It is interesting now to see Sony’s response - releasing full games that offer full experiences (Venom cut content from SM2 notwithstanding), and then improving those experiences with content that is free (e.g. GoW:R’s Valhalla DLC) or minimally priced (TLoU II PS5 upgrade). In both cases, I do like to see competition driving corporations to cater to their customers’ financial demands.

 

[leizzra]

Until streaming is popular (or maybe I should say doable in proper quality and available to a lot of people) Game Pass is tied to Xbox consoles and PC. If they want to have more users they need to sell more consoles. Sure in the future they could ditch the hardware (but I think that they still would produce a cheap streaming box with controller as some kind of starter pack) but it may come in a long time.

I think that MS was too aggressive with their move. They wanted to be the first to the party (well technically they weren't but they pushed it more then Sony) so they focused on the goal and made moves to support that. Unfortunately they made that in the expense of traditional console model. It can be in some ways effective but in the end the traditional model still is more popular (and maybe will be for long time despite what people are thinking). I think that if MS would have been ok with the level of revenue that Sony was and is making then we still would have nice competition from both. Maybe it could have been similar to PS3/X360 era. Unfortunately MS wanted more and started looking for other possibilities.

They started pouring money into Xbox only because of Game Pass. They had years to do so, yet they didn't do much since later X360 days. Imagine how all the acquisitions that they've made would look like back then (well they probably wouldn't buy Activision but still). Yet they didn't and now as impressive as the numbers of studios are they don't do much. They can still bounce back when the games start to ship (good/very good exclusives) but it'll be harder especially as the time goes by. If they retain their Game Pass focus and PC availability then it'll be even harder.

Traditional model has it's flaws (like how the AAA games are very expensive and take long to make) which it'll have to deal with. Still it's viable option for long time. I really don't want Xbox to fail. Even if I like PlayStation more the competition is needed and Xbox had great games in it's prime. The problem isn't in hardware.

 

[systemr123]

A lot of people were against day one pc ports, me included and where did that lead you?
The fanbase has pretty much allowed every shitty decision the higher ups pushed.
They are as responsible if not even more, for not demanding accountability after every bad decision that resulted in a flop.

Day one pc ports? Yas phil

Shitty quality gamepass games? Yas phil
< you are here

Xbox games on playstation?

True, Gamepass game quality goes down by the month. Removing the last few games that are actually good/ok, and adding more shitty new indie games

 

[chilichote]

A lot of people were against day one pc ports, me included and where did that lead you?
The fanbase has pretty much allowed every shitty decision the higher ups pushed.
They are as responsible if not even more, for not demanding accountability after every bad decision that resulted in a flop.

Day one pc ports? Yas phil

Shitty quality gamepass games? Yas phil
< you are here

Xbox games on playstation?

For years, XBox fans have been told to stand up for more quality, but instead they have celebrated and pushed every garbage. And now it looks as if they can finally reap their seeds. But things turn out a little differently than they expected.

 

[systemr123]

For years, XBox fans have been told to stand up for more quality, but instead they have celebrated and pushed every garbage. And now it looks as if they can finally reap their seeds. But things turn out a little differently than they expected.

Yep, so now lets just buy all the big publishers and ruin those as well so no-one can game anymore.

 

[SkylineRKR]

Gamepass isn't exactly a blue ocean, and this is the problem. Sony has just as much third party support, if not more, and an empire of studios of its own. They can conjure something like PS Plus Extra and offer pretty much a similar deal on a console thats far more popular to begin with.

I think Gamepass' problem is that its housed on an unsuccesful system, topped up with the fact MS is incompetent with shipping first party support. And with competition its probably harder for them to sign notable third party games on there day one, or maintain a competitive price.

Sure GP is available for PC, but with Steam, EGS etc around I can't imagine its growing exponentially there. So in one way I understand MS needs a console of their own, otherwise the service will likely grow even slower.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

marster chief raised me

I love Marston Chef

 

[TrebleShot]

This is some really impressive mental delusion gymnastics right here.

Like a car company trying its hand at making an EV and failing then instead of taking the L, going back to the drawing board, and try and improve, they instead choose to blame their failure on some hypothetical industry-wide shift away from automobiles.

That is just flat-out delusion. First, you try and trivialize the importance of consoles by calling them "plastic boxes" as if that hasn't been the bread and butter of gaming hardware since its inception and still is; then you go with consoles as we know it is almost over. Because MS has been unable to succeed at it? And just ignoring how well both Nintendo and Sony consoles are doing?

On another note, at some point, people are gonna see that MS has taken the GAAS business model and extrapolated the hell out of it. That's what the Xbox is now, a console/platform as a service. And sooner or later, they and people like you will realize that the success of gamepass is tied to the success of Xbox.

Traditional console = No console?

Well still get consoles , they just won’t be what we traditionally expect from them much like the transition from cart based media to discs to digital.

Thanks for the reply though.

 

[Aion002]

A lot of people were against day one pc ports, me included and where did that lead you?
The fanbase has pretty much allowed every shitty decision the higher ups pushed.
They are as responsible if not even more, for not demanding accountability after every bad decision that resulted in a flop.

Day one pc ports? Yas phil

Shitty quality gamepass games? Yas phil
< you are here

Xbox games on playstation?

100%.

They just needed to do like Nintendo...


Nintendo is the most successful game company, specially compared on how bigger Sony is and how much of a juggernaut MS is: Nintendo doesn't release their games on pc, Nintendo doesn't devalue their games on a cheap subscription service (heck they don't even do sales with big price drops), Nintendo focus on releasing games that their consumers like, rather than going after trends....

Phil Spencer for sure knows that... and yet he decided to do the opposite.

 

[Mr.Phoenix]

Traditional console = No console?

Well still get consoles , they just won’t be what we traditionally expect from them much like the transition from cart based media to discs to digital.

Thanks for the reply though.

Well sorry, when you say, "than focus on plastic boxes" followed by "time of traditional console is coming to an end" (which is a plastic box mind you)... it's kinda hard to assume you don't mean we are moving into a time when the traditional console plastic box is no longer a thing.

 

[BigLee74]

I love the "12M players have played Starfield!" Yet how many of those 12M even earned the first achievement that you literally get for walking 5 minutes.

72.16% got the first achievement you get for taking off into space (and it’s at least 20 minutes in).

So that’s about 8.7 million folk.

Hope that answers your question? Or were you trying to make some kind of point without backing up with numbers? What was your point? Not everyone sticks with and completes all games? Not everyone immediately plays a game they buy?

 

[JackMcGunns]

Like I said before Xbox brand as a console is dead.

You know what was also said and dead wrong? PC as a gaming platform is dead lol.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

You know what was also said and dead wrong? PC as a gaming platform is dead lol.

And who came to the rescue? Valve. Because Microsoft turned its back on a market they basically own

 

[Team Andromeda]

And who came to the rescue? Valve. Because Microsoft turned its back on a market they basically own

They haven't thought even now so many games need Windows to run even if they use Valve. That is part of the reason Windows still racks in it and MS still bothers with Direcxt X

 

[RJMacready73]

If Microsoft is abandoning Xbox or switching tactics, can someone explain why in the fuck they would spend billions purchasing publishers and developers when they've had all the data, it makes no sense to me

 

[RoboFu]

R.I.P. Xbox consoles……….very sad but all because of Phil. He has destroyed the console platform for MS. Pushing gamepass more than the console for years now and putting their games on PC day one and devaluing the console brand even more. Insane how this man has been allowed to destroy Xbox from within.

It’s not Phil but the whole point of Xbox in the first place. To help ms get a leg in the cloud commerce future. To be a Amazon/Netflix. That was always the point.

They are correct in thinking gaming will go all digital on all devices eventually. They just don’t want to wait long enough for it to evolve organically.