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[Shiggy]

Why even bother with Scorpio then? In fact, why bother at all?

That's really the big question. They seemingly aren't willing to support it with software. In Europe and Asia nobody will care about just a continuation of the Xbox One. So the focus lies on the American market (again). Scorpio could be the equivalent to what Zune was for MP3 players.

The Xbox line continues to be a relative success in the US. By focusing on that market with a new model, they might hope to win customers back from Sony without investing too much money. For the other markets, they have given up?

 

[Sydle]

IDK who would buy them. Let alone who could run XBL. Apple doesnt have a good cloud service, Amazon has their own thing going on, Samsung is too busy making smartphones and chasing Apple.

It would probably be someone to pick up the IP, but after some soft launches this gen from Halo and Gears I'm not sure they're as attractive as they once were.

Would love to see Rare and Nintendo back together though.

 

[digoutyoursoul]

IDK who would buy them. Let alone who could run XBL. Apple doesnt have a good cloud service, Amazon has their own thing going on, Samsung is too busy making smartphones and chasing Apple.

What about GAF? We can all chip in monthly and get things sorted, together....

 

[Chris1]

It would probably be someone to pick up the IP, but after some soft launches this gen from Halo and Gears I'm not sure they're as attractive as they once were.

Would love to see Rare and Nintendo back together though.

At this point it'd be mostly for Minecraft, but I don't see anyone paying the $3-4billion+ price tag for Xbox.

Apple and Samsung have other means to get into the livingroom if they want it, a gaming console would be the last thing on their minds lol

And shit, could you imagine Apple buying Xbox? Scorpio would be like a 360 in power and cost $800.

 

[CCIE]

That's the point - nobody is going to buy the Xbox division in its current state. So, Phil has to hope that the Scorpio can start to win some of the gamers back. But he will have to do it without being able to swoop in and buy every exclusive out there. I imagine he could have one or two.

 

[Omega Kirby]

What about GAF? We can all chip in monthly and get things sorted, together....

A fate worst than death...

 

[digoutyoursoul]

That's really the big question. They seemingly aren't willing to support it with software. In Europe and Asia nobody will care about just a continuation of the Xbox One. So the focus lies on the American market (again). Scorpio could be the equivalent to what Zune was for MP3 players.

The Xbox line continues to be a relative success in the US. By focusing on that market with a new model, they might hope to win customers back from Sony without investing too much money. For the other markets, they have given up?

Then another question has to be asked, what does Microsoft seriously expect if it's true they are not willing to invest substantially?

I remember IGN with the Xbox anniversary podcast for Unlocked and Seamus Blackley more or less said many at MS wouldn't be the most enthusiastic towards Xbox. Maybe the 360 success changed that I don't know.

 

[FinaruDensetsu]

At this point it'd be mostly for Minecraft, but I don't see anyone paying the $3-4billion+ price tag for Xbox.

Apple and Samsung have other means to get into the livingroom if they want it, a gaming console would be the last thing on their minds lol

And shit, could you imagine Apple buying Xbox? Scorpio would be like a 360 in power and cost $800.

Minecraft is not part of Xbox at all.

 

[digoutyoursoul]

That's the point - nobody is going to buy the Xbox division in its current state. So, Phil has to hope that the Scorpio can start to win some of the gamers back. But he will have to do it without being able to swoop in and buy every exclusive out there. I imagine he could have one or two.

They don't have to swoop in for every exclusive out there. They can allow one or two more of their main teams to be a bit more creative. It would be a start.

Something tells me you are taking the piss here.apologies if im wrong, it comes across as guesswork rather than actual definitive goings on.

 

[Sydle]

At this point it'd be mostly for Minecraft, but I don't see anyone paying the $3-4billion+ price tag for Xbox.

Apple and Samsung have other means to get into the livingroom if they want it, a gaming console would be the last thing on their minds lol

And shit, could you imagine Apple buying Xbox? Scorpio would be like a 360 in power and cost $800.

They'd probably have more success selling of the IP / studios individually. I doubt they'd sell Minecraft though seeing as how they're using it as a means to get kids coding on MS platforms.

I bet a big publisher would come along for Forza. Couldn't be that expensive and it's a well regarded racing franchise.

 

[Chris1]

Minecraft is not part of Xbox at all.

It's as much as part of Xbox as Gears and Halo. Even Phil Spencer/Xbox announced it, not Satya.

Is it MS money (not xbox division)? sure, but it was bought for the Xbox division. Just like Gears was. Just like 343 was made for the xbox division. You think the $ needed for the Gears IP, creation of The Coalition and 343 was took out of the xbox division's budget that year?

Minecraft is apart of Xbox, and if someone is coming to buy Xbox, they'd expect Minecraft to be apart of that

They'd probably have more success selling of the IP / studios individually. I doubt they'd sell Minecraft though seeing as how they're using it as a means to get kids coding on MS platforms.

I bet a big publisher would come along for Forza. Couldn't be that expensive and it's a well regarded racing franchise.

I think it gets to the point where MS is asking "is it really worth selling Forza?" though, because the Forza IP would be relatively cheap I'd imagine. I think to tempt MS you'd need to go all in, not cherry pick.

 

[CCIE]

I know that all MS divisions have a budget to work with... and the pillars have a lot more flexibility. I also know that the Xbox division is NOT one of those groups, there are bets among MS employees how much longer they last, and that Phil suddenly seems a lot more risk averse than before ...


I was also told that MS tried to sell off the division, but had no takers.


I am guessing on the rest based off of what I know about MS Corporate

 

[Humdinger]

Originally Posted by Ushay

I'll be honest, most that list is underwhelming. I like some of but what MS need is to tap into territory th hay haven't. RPGs, Strategy, narrative heavy games. Games that will forge their identity in the new generation.

They certainly have the clout to do it. I want to see games like Jade Empire and KOTOR come back.

Preach!

Amen. I'd love a Jade Empire sequel.

 

[wapplew]

Why even bother with Scorpio then? In fact, why bother at all?

I think MS have interest in gaming platform and hardware business but they have low interest in game development business.
They probably look at Apple, Google and Valve, successful gaming platform with minimal effort and investment on game developing.
Because making game have very very low ROI, plus recent MS studios performance doesn't make a good case to ask for more investment.
Like many posters said, first party game doesn't sell hardware, big multiplatform does, so why bother?

 

[Matt]

Why even bother with Scorpio then? In fact, why bother at all?

Honestly, part of the idea of Scorpio is that if it's successful it will require less investment from MS.

 

[Omega Kirby]

Is this true or fake guys?

http://imgur.com/a/yv2c8

 

[krang]

They need to step up their marketing, as well. QB and SO were decent, and Gears 4 was a great game that didn't sell a huge amount, and I'm convinced a lot of that is because they relied too heavily on word of mouth and online advertising which people ignore.

Where's the old Xbox with billboards etc.?

 

[Nightengale]

There's nothing strange about Scorpio at all. In fact, if all the fear and concerns surrounding Xbox is real, then Scorpio is arguably the safest move they can make to see if the future of Xbox can be broadened up and expanded in the short-term.

Let's assume two things first.

1. The launch of Scorpio isn't going to somehow be injected with significantly more games than what one would expect from a traditional HW launch. There'll be games and more for sure, but in line with annual MS Studios output on an average console cycle.

2. Scorpio is a product that will be released regularly on a 2-or-3 year cycle.

If Scorpio proves to be a successful product over the medium and long-term even without significantly more investment in more first-party games, that means Xbox is able to supplement a regular hardware cycle product refresh profit into their ecosystem without investing in significantly more games or more studios.

What they'll have is a core audience of core Halo/Gears/Forza/Minecraft/other that will continue to support the core output of their pillar IPs, while also regularly buy new Scorpio releases, and are locked-in to the Xbox ecosystem.

As core gamers, of course we would far and away prefer the other strategy where MS is investing in a far broader and richer game portfolio than what they're doing now. They've tried that to various degrees and for all intents and purpose, have failed to build tentpole franchises out of all of them, and even their pillar IPs are not as stable as they'd hope, given the significant sales drop-off of Halo and Gears.

 

[daTRUballin]

It would probably be someone to pick up the IP, but after some soft launches this gen from Halo and Gears I'm not sure they're as attractive as they once were.

Would love to see Rare and Nintendo back together though.

I've always believed it wasn't all that necessary for Rare to return to Nintendo one day. In fact, I thought it could be a bad idea considering how badly the Wii U has been selling, and who knows how well the Switch will sell too? But seeing what MS has been doing to their studios and projects lately, yeeeeeaaahhh............They'd probably be a lot safer with Nintendo, and I wouldn't mind them going back.

 

[Crayon]

What about GAF? We can all chip in monthly and get things sorted, together....

I got five on it.

 

[Roboculus]

E3 prediction:
- CD3 gameplay reveal. Fall 2017.
- SoD2 gameplay reveal. Fall 2017.
- Halo 6 announcement. MP Beta Fall 2017. Fall 2018.
- Halo 3 Anniversary announcement. Fall 2017.
- Ori 2 announcement. Fall 2017.
- Forza 7 announcement. September 2017.
- Sea of Thieves trailer. Release as EA during E3.
- New AAA IP announcement by new dev. 2018.
- New Fable game announcement by new dev. 2018. Actually a 2019 game.
- 3rd Party One Year Timed Exclusive #3. Early 2018.
- Indie Montage.
- Release date announcement for Below, Ashen & Cuphead.

I'm not talking hardware or VR games, just traditional games.

I think even this is a little too optimistic. Considering insiders haven't heard anything yet, I doubt there's any big AAA games being hidden so anything unannounced right now would have to be smaller scale from an unknown developer.

So my guess would either be a smaller scale new IP (something like Ori or Recore), or some unknown developer taking a shot at an old Rare IP (like what happened with Killer Instinct).

As for Fable, I could definitely see them return to it at some point but I feel like it's probably too soon.

Ultimately I would expect an E3 similar to their last couple of E3s.

 

[Nightengale]

Nobody heard of Armature making an exclusive for Xbox before the event afaik. Platinum only leaked cause ntkrl.

You might be right but 2nd party development has been well hidden this gen by both Sony and MS.

The bigger hurdle is really that all key suspects we'd think are good candidates to develop a game are mostly accounted for other projects.

Like... I put Fable there but I don't know who I would trust to make a Fable game out of all available independent devs there today. Maybe only Obsidian.

 

[krang]

I would expect to see some exclusive, AAA, new IP CGI rendered trailers. I bet they're rushing to put some together as we speak.

 

[wapplew]

I would expect to see some exclusive, AAA, new IP CGI rendered trailers. I bet they're rushing to put some together as we speak.

Spencer said they don't do that any more.

 

[Hoo-doo]

Do you even care? You don't seem to have ever been particularly fond of MS. I'm guessing that's why the other fella asked why you'd bothered contributing here.

Forza is already F2P on PC.

What's with these asinine replies? Stop policing this thread, i'm participating with the discussion and should be free to give my ideas and opinions if I see fit.

I don't have to be especially fond of MS to discuss their current place in the gaming industry or the industry as a whole. I care about nearly anything related to gaming. Add me to your ignore list if you can't stand reading my posts.

 

[vivekTO]

Is this true or fake guys?

http://imgur.com/a/yv2c8

Everything is true now , Everything!!

 

[SneakersSO]

But that doesn't make sense. If that's the type of games they want why cancel Fable Legends, or Project Spark, or that Press Play project that was heavily mp focused and could be a ongoing service. And at the same time they greenlit Recore, moneyhatted DR4, which doesn't fit this narrative.

Even Scalebound was a coop game, and an action open world rpg. Huge potential for DLC if The Witcher is anything to go by. Or even Destiny shows how they could monetize heavily with that game.

There is another reality MS is also facing, along with this mandate, where they have less budget across the board to work with. At least the Xbox division does. This ever-tightening of funds is what is causing them to close so many different pipelines & potential projects that would normally fit that mandate well. Thats why, right now, they are circling wagon around the few series & producers they know & have that can get work out there & quickly, with a name that people know, and add in as many of these high-earning features as can be crammed in. And pretty soon, while gutting things that fans typically love.

 

[SneakersSO]

E3 prediction:
- CD3 gameplay reveal. Fall 2017.
- SoD2 gameplay reveal. Fall 2017.
- Halo 6 announcement. MP Beta Fall 2017. Fall 2018.
- Halo 3 Anniversary announcement. Fall 2017.
- Ori 2 announcement. Fall 2017.
- Forza 7 announcement. September 2017.
- Sea of Thieves trailer. Release as EA during E3.
- New AAA IP announcement by new dev. 2018.
- New Fable game announcement by new dev. 2018. Actually a 2019 game.
- 3rd Party One Year Timed Exclusive #3. Early 2018.
- Indie Montage.
- Release date announcement for Below, Ashen & Cuphead.

I'm not talking hardware or VR games, just traditional games.

Halo 3 (and this is something I was predicting earlier, now off my list) anniversary, New IP by new dev, New fable, and the 3rd party one year exclusive - none of these are happening, I can tell you that right now.

Honestly, part of the idea of Scorpio is that if it's successful it will require less investment from MS.

I can attest - what i've heard is Scorpio is expected to carry itself, especially right after launch.

 

[Rymuth]

Halo 3 (and this is something I was predicting earlier, now off my list) anniversary, New IP by new dev, New fable, and the 3rd party one year exclusive - none of these are happening, I can tell you that right now.

Yeah, shinobi hinted at the lack of new AAA in the pipeline. Still, I can see a new 3rd party one year exclusive deal popping up in the next six months (I've suggested Techland)

How about Gears 2: Ultimate Edition in lieu of Halo 3? More feasible?

 

[Nightengale]

Halo 3 (and this is something I was predicting earlier, now off my list) anniversary, New IP by new dev, New fable, and the 3rd party one year exclusive - none of these are happening, I can tell you that right now.

I will be super bummed out if that's true.

 

[Nightengale]

Yeah, shinobi hinted at the lack of new AAA in the pipeline. Still, I can see a new 3rd party one year exclusive deal popping up in the next six months (I've suggested Techland)

How about Gears 2: Ultimate Edition in lieu of Halo 3? More feasible?

Gears 2 Ultimate I'm thinking will be next year. Gears 5 in 2019.

 

[SneakersSO]

Yeah, shinobi hinted at the lack of new AAA in the pipeline. Still, I can see a new 3rd party one year exclusive deal popping up in the next six months (I've suggested Techland)

How about Gears 2: Ultimate Edition in lieu of Halo 3? More feasible?

Theres a chance Gears 2 Ultimate is in the pipe and being worked on by the same EU studio that delivered most of Gears 1 UE. But its not a project i've heard of as being a lock, and I know MS isn't necessarily too enthused to do that again because they are all on offer on BC already.

From my understanding, Xbox division is only making serious moves or putting their cut funding on things that are meant to be big, serious earners. Don't be surprised to see that MS is pursuing their equivalent of Overwatch.

As for Techland, their relationship with WB & the success Dying Light wound up becoming is too strong for MS to break through that, and WB loves keeping their titles spread across multiple platforms. Techland & WB have too strong a relationship right now, and Techland makes SP focused games with MP modes - that ain't something you can expect MS to give much of a toss about like they used to.

 

[Rymuth]

Gears 2 Ultimate I'm thinking will be next year. Gears 5 in 2019.

They could still announce it early this year just to inflate the E3 line-up, tho'

Theres a chance Gears 2 Ultimate is in the pipe and being worked on by the same EU studio that delivered most of Gears 1 UE. But its not a project i've heard of as being a lock, and I know MS isn't necessarily too enthused to do that again because they are all on offer on BC already.

From my understanding, Xbox division is only making serious moves or putting their cut funding on things that are meant to be big, serious earners. Don't be surprised to see that MS is pursuing their equivalent of Overwatch.

As for Techland, their relationship with WB & the success Dying Light wound up becoming is too strong for MS to break through that, and WB loves keeping their titles spread across multiple platforms. Techland & WB have too strong a relationship right now, and Techland makes SP focused games with MP modes - that ain't something you can expect MS to give much of a toss about like they used to.

That Overwatch game, if it comes, will be interesting as I have serious doubt about Microsoft getting what made Overwatch popular.

@Techland: All right, cheers. I suggested Techland because, going through all the 3rd party Devs MS burned through, they're the only ones who fit the criteria - IP that could reasonably excite the base, etc - they have two games in the work (one is definitely Dying Light 2) and a triple AAA fantasy they seem to be real excited about.

 

[nekkid]

It did surprise me a little that Halo 5 didn't have a hero MP game type.

 

[Nessus]

Then another question has to be asked, what does Microsoft seriously expect if it's true they are not willing to invest substantially?

I remember IGN with the Xbox anniversary podcast for Unlocked and Seamus Blackley more or less said many at MS wouldn't be the most enthusiastic towards Xbox. Maybe the 360 success changed that I don't know.

I think that's sorta the thing, though. From corporate non-gaming division MS perspective they *have* invested a lot. Billions.

And the 360 wasn't necessarily a great success for them considering the high failure rate cost them over a billion and the Xbox division as a whole lost around $3 billion from 2003-2013.

And as of 2015 MS was still selling the Xbox One at a loss.

And that's to say nothing of the $2.5 billion they spent on Minecraft.

And despite spending billions they've never won a console generation.

It's a lot of money to keep throwing at something that hasn't necessarily taken off. I can sorta see why some MS executives are skeptical/unwilling to spend more.

Doesn't mean I'm not pissed about how they handled Scalebound, or that I don't still love my Xbox 360. But yeah, if MS decided to cut their losses I wouldn't be surprised.

 

[Steverulez]

My observation about Microsoft is that they're unwilling to work through when development gets tough, and they try to do everything on the cheap. Phil talks about risk and growth, last e3 they announced 2 zombie games and another forza, not seeing much risk or growth in there, as excited as I am for State of Decay 2.

Phils well known to not like delays and some of the projects they've put out this generation just prove that: MCC, Gears UE W10, QB W10, to a certain extent ReCore, not sure on the state of FH3 but seen some say it's not good on Windows 10.

Scorpio ain't going to mean shit if they don't have any exciting software coming when PS4 is so dominant and Switch (to a lesser extent) is varied enough from the two main consoles to offer something actually different.

How they fuck you burn through partnerships with Crytek, Insomniac, Remedy and Platinum I'll never know.

Can't wait for more Minecraft skins, Halo 6, Gears 5 and Forza 7 though.

The idea of MS moving their games to be services is hilarious given they have absolutely no staying power with pretty much anything.

There are some nice titles on the horizon, but it's not good enough. They've squandered most of their partnerships and shut down most of their studios, I standby my defence of them earlier this gen, there was reason to be hopeful and they had a very promising line-up, but they clearly have a very serious problem, whether it's culture, attitude or general ineptitude and inability to stick with things.

Notice how their most successful new ip this gen was the one that launched day 1 on steam…

 

[Nightengale]

The idea of MS moving their games to be services is hilarious given they have absolutely no staying power with pretty much anything.

The thing with the above is that MS really does try and put in a ton of effort for their games to be well, service-like. Halo 5 gets great updates, Killer Instinct is great and Forza's content and polish is always top-class.

But even ignoring the fact that there's been a drop-off in popularity for some of their games, their cycle of new releases and products are too frequent to really transition to a service-platform. They're no annual franchise company, but there are enough in a single generation to... well, muddy the waters.

Of course some games can do so without any problem. Have the cake of releasing multiple numbered titles in a single gen and maintain the longetivity of being played by millions for the entire console lifecycle and beyond that. But it's tough. Market is super competitive even in the space of "most played games", and even those games aren't as successful as the evergreen behemoths.

And the really successful service games are ones that are evergreen. Nobody's talking about DOTA3, Minecraft 2 or League of Legends 2 because those aren't in the vocabulary of expectations for fans of said games.

One of the few question MS needs to ask itself if it really wants to transition into that super difficult world, imo is...

"Are they comfortable with releasing only one flagship Halo/Gears/Forza game for an entire generation, and supporting that for the rest of a single lifecycle?"

I feel like that is a line that is very very difficult for MS to dare to cross, because ultimately they're in a business of selling consoles and unless you're an evergreen title, you aren't charting forever.

 

[Oersted]

I think MS have interest in gaming platform and hardware business but they have low interest in game development business.
They probably look at Apple, Google and Valve, successful gaming platform with minimal effort and investment on game developing.
Because making game have very very low ROI, plus recent MS studios performance doesn't make a good case to ask for more investment.
Like many posters said, first party game doesn't sell hardware, big multiplatform does, so why bother?

Pikachu wants to have a word with said posters.

 

[SporeCrawler]

Microsoft has always had poor amount 1st party devs/companies compared to Nintendo and Sony.

Arguably their late og xbox and early 360 first party was superior to what sony put out at the same timeframe.

 

[willbsn13]

Halo 3 (and this is something I was predicting earlier, now off my list) anniversary, New IP by new dev, New fable, and the 3rd party one year exclusive - none of these are happening, I can tell you that right now.

No new IPs?

There E3 presser is looking super depressing right now

 

[Steverulez]

The thing with the above is that MS really does try and put in a ton of effort for their games to be well, service-like. Halo 5 gets great updates, Killer Instinct is great and Forza's content and polish is always top-class.

They have done very well with KI, it's certainly worked well there but I don't really see why there is much credit to be given over a 16 year old franchise that has always been huge for them and to be frank they've made significant efforts to kill in recent years and has had dlc since the second one. Forza has had its current model for quite a while, they're not really doing a whole lot new on either of those, even if they're refined them and it's going well.

Also Halo 5 spent time adding in things in that should've been there at launch like Forge and Firefight, the new maps and other additions are nice, but Microsofts line-up ultimately does very little to aspire to be more than Halo, Gears, Forza and Minecraft, as a fan I appreciate I guess the money minecraft brings in, but it's not exclusive and as far as I can see that money doesn't get used to help strengthen the rest of the line-up.

These franchises are also getting burnt out

Microsoft are shockingly poor at building new ip, growing it and now they want to turn everything into services when they're not doing a good enough job at the very beginning of making compelling products, I foresee a very real problem arising even if it doesn't happen this year.

Sea of thieves looks nice but I don't expect it to be a hit, then where the hell does that leave rare too?

 

[sirronoh]

No new IPs?

There E3 presser is looking super depressing right now

At this point, I'm just going to go into E3 with tempered expectations -- and by that I mean the absolute minimum.

From everything that we've heard from people who appear to be more familiar with the strategy at Microsoft than most, the company that we're used to has changed. Whether they've changed for the better for each person invested in the Xbox ecosystem, that's something everyone will have to decide for themselves in due time.

 

[JaggedSac]

Honestly, part of the idea of Scorpio is that if it's successful it will require less investment from MS.

Yikes.

 

[HeisenbergWW62]

Halo 3 (and this is something I was predicting earlier, now off my list) anniversary, New IP by new dev, New fable, and the 3rd party one year exclusive - none of these are happening, I can tell you that right now.



I can attest - what i've heard is Scorpio is expected to carry itself, especially right after launch.

Well, you didn't eliminate the chances of a new IP from an existing studio

 

[J 0 E]

All 2017 known exclusives are delayed from 2016

Even if they announce new titles on E3 it'll be mostly 2018 games

XBO's state in 2017 is not encouraging at all.

 

[oti]

That's really the big question. They seemingly aren't willing to support it with software. In Europe and Asia nobody will care about just a continuation of the Xbox One. So the focus lies on the American market (again). Scorpio could be the equivalent to what Zune was for MP3 players.

The Xbox line continues to be a relative success in the US. By focusing on that market with a new model, they might hope to win customers back from Sony without investing too much money. For the other markets, they have given up?

I really think Scorpio is Xbox' last chance. But the timing is terrible, the exclusive line-up is in disarray and Sony is wiping the floor with them except for the US and the UK, but even there they're distant second. I've heard about them basically ceasing PR operations in some European markets too.

If they really wanted to release more games like Minecraft and get Win10 to as many devices as possible they could release an Android box but with Win10, instead of putting so much money into their Xbox hardware business.

 

[Doffen]

Honestly, part of the idea of Scorpio is that if it's successful it will require less investment from MS.

And if it's not - they will also invest less.

 

[Bits N Pieces]

We won't be getting on the Hype Train to E3 this year, we'll be boarding the Moderately Disenfranchised Minibus, lol.

If all of the 'insiders' are wrong though and MS show off two or three new games at E3 this thread will be fun to revisit

Pinch of salt stuff and all that.

 

[Bits N Pieces]

And if it's not - they will also invest less.

Haha, MS are in a win/win situation then!

 

[JaggedSac]

We won't be getting on the Hype Train to E3 this year, we'll be boarding the Moderately Disenfranchised Minibus, lol.

If all of the 'insiders' are wrong though and MS show off two or three new games at E3 this thread will be fun to revisit

Pinch of salt stuff and all that.

Don't worry, they will show off all of the "experiences" they have planned.