CyberPanda
Banned
Microsoft is making headlines that frame recent comments from Head of Xbox Game Studios, Matt Booty, as some sort of generation-killing pronouncement. Here’s what he said to MCVUK:
“As our content comes out over the next year, two years, all of our games, sort of like PC, will play up and down that family of devices,” Booty explains. “We want to make sure that if someone invests in Xbox between now and [Series X] that they feel that they made a good investment and that we’re committed to them with content.”
The idea for at least the early years of the Xbox Series X, there will not be “Series X” exclusives from Microsoft, as whatever is released there will also be out and playable for the last generation of consoles, Xbox One and Xbox One X. Many are claiming that this level of “forward capability” is the end of true console generations as we know it. But when you dig deeper into what this actually means, it’s hard to get behind that concept, or think this is anything all that revolutionary.
First of all, this is only applying to Microsoft exclusive titles. As in, any third party that wants to release a game that can only run on Series X, but not older consoles, is welcome to.
But second of all, that’s not what normally happens when new generations arrive. It’s very standard to see new games release a “prime” version on the new generation, yet also release a less demanding version on the last generation in order not to lose the 100+ million console base that has already been established. It is not unusual to see this continue in the first year or two of the new generation of consoles.
Thirdly, Microsoft has more or less eliminated the idea of a console exclusive already, because they have made it clear that all of their games are being developed and released for both whatever console they have out, and also PC, at the same time. So there’s theoretically already no such thing as a true Xbox Series X exclusive from moment one, and they’re used to building games for PC and then downscaling them for consoles.
And finally, how many games is Microsoft reallygoing to produce in the first year or two of the Xbox Series X that are first party exclusives? We know Halo Infinite and Hellblade 2 are coming, but it is probably not going to be more than a handful total. And when combined with third party games that were probably going to be cross-gen anyway for a little while, this is really not all that big of a deal.
I suppose there are a few risks that come with this idea. If literally every game that you sell is also available on a console that everyone already owns, then you may have a harder time moving new units. But even with that said, the types of people who are going to show up on day one at launch to buy a $400-600 console brand new are probably going to buy it whether or not this system is in place. I don’t think making say, Halo Infinite Xbox Series X only really would do much to move the needle there.
We don’t know if Sony is doing something similar with the PS5, but I wouldn’t be surprised, as backwards and forwards playability is getting increasingly important as the generations move on and players realized they didn’t enjoy canning a system and dozens of games the second a new console came out. But in the end, this is not all that much different from what we’ve already experienced, and if anything, is just slightly more pro-consumer with a little more risk to the console manufacturers themselves. So who cares?
t.co
“As our content comes out over the next year, two years, all of our games, sort of like PC, will play up and down that family of devices,” Booty explains. “We want to make sure that if someone invests in Xbox between now and [Series X] that they feel that they made a good investment and that we’re committed to them with content.”
The idea for at least the early years of the Xbox Series X, there will not be “Series X” exclusives from Microsoft, as whatever is released there will also be out and playable for the last generation of consoles, Xbox One and Xbox One X. Many are claiming that this level of “forward capability” is the end of true console generations as we know it. But when you dig deeper into what this actually means, it’s hard to get behind that concept, or think this is anything all that revolutionary.
First of all, this is only applying to Microsoft exclusive titles. As in, any third party that wants to release a game that can only run on Series X, but not older consoles, is welcome to.
But second of all, that’s not what normally happens when new generations arrive. It’s very standard to see new games release a “prime” version on the new generation, yet also release a less demanding version on the last generation in order not to lose the 100+ million console base that has already been established. It is not unusual to see this continue in the first year or two of the new generation of consoles.
Thirdly, Microsoft has more or less eliminated the idea of a console exclusive already, because they have made it clear that all of their games are being developed and released for both whatever console they have out, and also PC, at the same time. So there’s theoretically already no such thing as a true Xbox Series X exclusive from moment one, and they’re used to building games for PC and then downscaling them for consoles.
And finally, how many games is Microsoft reallygoing to produce in the first year or two of the Xbox Series X that are first party exclusives? We know Halo Infinite and Hellblade 2 are coming, but it is probably not going to be more than a handful total. And when combined with third party games that were probably going to be cross-gen anyway for a little while, this is really not all that big of a deal.
I suppose there are a few risks that come with this idea. If literally every game that you sell is also available on a console that everyone already owns, then you may have a harder time moving new units. But even with that said, the types of people who are going to show up on day one at launch to buy a $400-600 console brand new are probably going to buy it whether or not this system is in place. I don’t think making say, Halo Infinite Xbox Series X only really would do much to move the needle there.
We don’t know if Sony is doing something similar with the PS5, but I wouldn’t be surprised, as backwards and forwards playability is getting increasingly important as the generations move on and players realized they didn’t enjoy canning a system and dozens of games the second a new console came out. But in the end, this is not all that much different from what we’ve already experienced, and if anything, is just slightly more pro-consumer with a little more risk to the console manufacturers themselves. So who cares?
Microsoft’s ‘No Xbox Series X Exclusives’ Philosophy Is Not As Wild As It Sounds
Microsoft is making headlines that frame recent Xbox Series X comments from Head of Xbox Game Studios, Matt Booty, as some sort of generation-killing pronouncement. It's not.
t.co
game design isn't rocket science... This idea that games being developed multi platform is holding back your console is just ridiculous. Gears5 was a bad looking game, right? Because it was developed for PC as well...
