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Phil Spencer: Why Scalebound, Crackdown 3 and Quantum Break won't be launching on PC
- Thread starter mocoworm
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neither.
That was true of all platforms back then, compare the library of the PS1 to the N64. Every console platform these days, including their library, is homogenous as hell compared to how things were even 11 years ago. Because it's not cost effective for it to not be anymore.
Also it's only handful because I didn't want the platform being bogged down into a series of lists. I have another post here of recentish games if you want to look at some more and see if they interest you.
rokkerkory
Member
Makes perfect sense for the time being. But I can see down the road other games coming to PC long after they release on X1.
Forgot to add "unless it's optimised by time it releases".
Since Platinum Games is using Unreal Engine, I expect DX12 to dramatically improve performance and image quality. If what happened to Fable Legends and Unreal Engine at GDC 2015 is anything to go by.
SmokedMeat
Gamer™
It doesn't work for them, because PC gamers aren't paying for an online subscription service.
You want the old stuff? Here you go. You want the second stringers? No problem. But you can't have the big ones that drive X1 sales, and keep people paying for Gold.
That seems to be the way things are regardless of what Phil says.
So some games will come to PC. Some at the same time as console? Some later? Some won't make it to PC and some may launch only on PC?
Seems reasonable? People make it sound like he's promising the world or something. It seems like people won't be happy unless MS launches every game on both Xbox One and PC moving forward, but that doesn't sound very realistic. They DO have a console they are trying to push.
Seems reasonable? People make it sound like he's promising the world or something. It seems like people won't be happy unless MS launches every game on both Xbox One and PC moving forward, but that doesn't sound very realistic. They DO have a console they are trying to push.
seentursch
Member
MS can give a lot of the exclusives to be Xbox/ PC to compete with Sony and increase game sales, but withhold just enough to try to get PC owners to buy an Xbox. It seems they are trying this balancing act.
JayWood2010
Member
I doubt it honestly. If we are being reasonable, then we know that some games will be on PC, some will be ported later, and some wont be at all. Gears is one of those games I dont think has a high chance at PC release. I wont rule it out, as you never know, but i doubt it.
It's not that I don't know that there are PC exclusives because I own most of those games on your list. Most of them aren't even what I'd consider mid budget though aside from Pilars and X-com. A lot or many will, no doubt, end up on consoles especially the indies. Why does MS even care about the PC Gaming community at all though? Outside of F2P ventures like Fable and the Rare pirates thing, there's nothing really in it for them. PC Gaming is and will be for the foreseeable future on Windows.
thehillissilent
Member
It would make sense to port Gears 4 to PC especially when Gears 1 remake is going to be released soon on PC. Gears 4 will probably come 6-12 months after PC release though.
JayWood2010
Member
Gears 1 has been on PC for 8 years and was released to promote GFWL. Gears UE being a remake of Gears 1 makes sense putting on PC since it was already on there. Granted, Gears 2, 3, and Judgement never came to PC. I would imagine the same for Gears4.
If Pillars is mid-budget than the majority of the stuff on that list is, because Pillars was a pretty cheap game to produce all things considered.
If you want Microsoft reason for doing this, look at their company-wide shift towards unifying all their platforms. Microsoft's old idea of different islands of different services (the Zune platform, the Xbox Platform, the Windows Mobile platform, the desktop platform) doesn't exist anymore. That died with Balmer. They're unifying everything under one umbrella that is Windows 10 now. The Xbox divisions openness towards PC is a direct reflection of that company wide policy. They're working to remove the 'Xbox Island' and better integrate it with their other platforms, and they can do this because Xbox brings shit all to Microsoft's bottom line unlike Sony and Nintendo. Their company-wide shift towards unity is more important than the console wars to a degree, it comes from the TOP and within the Microsoft corporation the Xbox division doesn't exist in a bubble.
After the multiple fiascos this year (Arkham Knight, MKX), and some major games running into trouble due to outsourcing (Aliens, possibly MCC) - folks claim they want to bring things more in-house. (I'll wait till budgets start coming in before I believe that, admittedly). But there's definitely a sense of unease when it comes to middleware support now.
Successful is a very relative term - what would pass for successful for a PC exclusive, non AAA game built only for PC and with that budget in mind usually doesn't match what the cost and sales are for trying to port a AAA console game. That's why the middleware transition market popped up (but see above as to why that has potentially bad consequences). Also - putting it on Steam means losing 20% of the revenue off the bat on top of it all. Using Forza as an example - PC Racing Sim players tend to be enthusiasts. They have wheels and pedals, or probably a gamepad at least that will run $50+ most likely. They probably already have a PS4 / X1 because to them, a console is not that much more. The market for Forza PC only players is probably not very big.
MS pushing Windows 10 is a two fold strategy. They obviously prefer X1 succeeding, but if they feel they are put in a position where they have no chance against PS / Nintendo - their new alternative win condition is to push PC Gaming; because MS wins if PC Gaming wins. But PC Gaming is and always will be extreme enthusiast gaming / niche market compared to consoles; just because of the price points involved.
EDIT:
Bingo. Here's the thing. We've seen a move towards walled gardens across technology. iOS vs Android being a huge example of it. Microsoft sees massive opportunity (read; they got spanked when trying to do it themselves) in being the company that goes across the walled gardens with Windows (and the cudgel that is MS Office) as portable computing becomes bigger and bigger. Their goal is to have Windows applications on your iPad and your Galaxy S5. Be the common theme across all your devices without dealing with being a hardware manufacturer.
ohImlaughin
Banned
After that polygon article I see more and more titles coming to PC. Completely understand what Phil said here. Wouldn't be surprised if Gears 4 came to PC
I don't think I can blame MS from a business point of view. No xblg fees to be made on pc, possible cannibalisation of the xbox which does make them xblg fees and hardware profits, expectation of faster deep discounting of the game's price, expectation of a Steam release that would further eat away at software profits, increased ease of piracy compared to xbox. There's just not much incentive for MS.
Sword Of Doom
Member
But we don't know how important windows 10 is for MS. Maybe down the line they bring it to PC not to recoup development costs but to get people to buy PC's or get people to adopt windows 10.
I feel this the one coming next based on the answers from Phil/rod when asked the question which was "nothing to announce ATM" it's the one thing that keeps XB1 in my to buy list.
Miles Quaritch
Member
It's moving goalposts to suggest MS are actively supporting PC with a rerelesse of a gane that's already on there and some F2P games.
I'll consider active support of PC when we see games like Midtown Madness, a proper Age of Empires, a proper Zoo Tycoon, Freelancer, Mechassault,Crimson Skies, Motocross Madness, Outwars, Etc make a return on PC.
As well as new IP.
Microsoft don't need to push PC gaming because it isn't niche in the slightest, League gets more players in a a few days than there are next-gen consoles in existence and Steam sells about 107m units of software over any given few months. Their goals of getting games like League and Minecraft on Windows 10 indicates they want those established PC communities to push their PC gaming platform. People gaming on PC mean shit all to Microsoft when they're doing it outside their ecosystem.
family_guy
Member
I waited a year and got to play Dead Rising 3 on PC so it's really a case of do you have to play them now or later? Even if they never come to PC, well then pick up an Xbox later in a few years when the games and console are much cheaper.
It makes complete sense to offer versions of Office on iPad. Trying to convince PC gamers with PR like this is just a no win situation.
EDIT: The midbudget game thing is totally offtopic so I'll just drop it there.
Journey
Banned
See, I don't really know about this. Sure cross platform support is a given with Office and other productivity and work services, but I'd think the goal would be get those iOS and Android Apps into the Windows ecosystem, not the other way around. They've made moves to that end already.
Other than Sunset, MCC.
was worth it just for the framerate
hydrophilic attack
Member
His answer seems to suggest that they may all end up on PC eventually. That's great for gamers, but why would you ever want to own an Xbox in that case?
GhostTrick
Banned
So, for 2 or 3 bad AAA ports, lets forget about the good ones ? A lot of outsourcing happens in the industry. You just need the good one.
As for successful as a relative term, I mean, GTAV sold more than 2.4 millions on Steam ONLY. Considering the only place to get a steam version is on Steam... that pretty much bolds how much port a AAA console game to PC makes money. Even as a terrible ports, both Arkham Knight and MKX sold more than 300k on Steam. Arkham Knight sitting at 400k (while being not sold anymore for now) and MKX at 340k. And it's not taking account on how much more profitable is a digital release.
The market for Forza PC only players would at least be on par with the one of Project Cars or Assetto Corsa... which both are sitting over 200k.
Putting on Steam means losing 30% of revenue, it's true... but how much do you think it is for a physical release ? Much more. Not only counting the price to produce and ship these releases.
I have yet to think of a AAA release on Steam that may not have been profitable.
The Mad Draklor
Member
Can definitely see Scalebound going on PC considering its genre. Whether Crackdown 3 and Quantum Break stay XBO exclusive may depend on how well they'll sell. Or MS will just release them on PC a year later to maximize profits.
This. Maybe after the next Gen Xbox releases will these titles maybe be released, but who knows.
This is dumb thinking not supported by one fact in the last 2 generations. If consumers wanted high end devices they would've happily paid more for x1 when it was pricer, same can be said for ps3, and in general most consumers don't want to get a pc for reasons beyond powerful hardware.
Cannot believe consumers and MS are dumb enough to believe in this logic with how big gaming has become in the last decade.For those thinking MS will release it later, most of their later releases end up sucking cause they are garbage ports with very little upgrades in fidelity or content. Crackdown3 has a market the other two not sure.
Way to go phil already back peddling on your comments to support better pc gaming or steam in general on your Win10 platform. There's a reason this company is playing catch up and most likely always will in pc.
Hockeymac18
Member
I can't wait for Xbox to go this route. And I'd still buy Xboxes (probably multiple) because I love couch gaming.
Well I'm not going to pretend to know how it's going to be handled. I'm just saying that within this new Microsoft, which is just barely coming into it's own right now, it doesn't make sense for the Xbox to be segregated as a platform like that, and the Xbox divisions recent actions suggest exactly that mainly for the longer term.
I myself am extremely interested to see how it's handled by Microsoft. Phil talks a bit about it on the GiantBomb E3 stream, where he says he dislikes how he can't play games where he wants for arbitrary reasons (like on a laptop).
Hockeymac18
Member
I can see them releasing ports on PC to bolster their own app store. It makes no sense for them to release the new version of minecraft on Steam. Getting people to spend money in their own store is worth much more than selling even a million copies of Gears of War.
GhostTrick
Banned
The thing is: Will people be willing to spend money on their store, especially considering how bad it is as of right now ?
llAuburnll
Banned
No. The long term goal at Microsoft is to have both. The xbox is currently moving to windows already. There's no need to alienate one or separate them when you own the entire operating system. I'm saying the long term goal is you game on windows, whether that is your xbox(windows version of steam box) or your pc. Everyone gets caught up in this competition between the two when the end goal is for it to be unified.SonyToo!;175152414 said:
The "console" is just the delivery system for the software. Everyone is so caught up in the physical box. That's not what's at stake here.
Basically this.
Two years from now and the cycle will be complete.
Sell as much X1 as they can.
New Xbox announced.
One ecosystem.
One game cross buy.
Some sort of PC/Console Hardware.
Pay ones, play every where.
Yep.
"Looks really bad" vs "They didn't show anything, why should I be existed?"
Fun being a dev on forums I bet.
On topic, MS should develop PC only games. and then make Xbox Only games. Enrich both platforms.
Why do people care or get upset at certain Xbox exclusives not releasing on PC? They have to have exclusive games to their platform or people will stop buying their consoles. People underestimate the competition PC gaming will have on console gaming with the price of basic PCs with better performance almost rivalling console prices.
I do hope that we see some of these games on PC eventually but I understand why it's not likely.
I do hope that we see some of these games on PC eventually but I understand why it's not likely.
They have a feature that runs across all windows 10 laptops and surface pro tablets to stream your xbox one. Good on them for Killer Instinct, Fable, and the pirate thing but those are likely free to play games that makes sense on the PC platform. I don't think there's any evidence to suggest that MS is pivoting in regards to xbox.
rokkerkory
Member
Because folks are always salty when games don't come to their platform of choice.
Hope you have a comfy chair to wait.
Gabotron ES
Member
Yes, it's pre-alpha footage, how does it relate to this thread tho...?
hah! My exact thought.
I love P* games with a passion and Scalebound looks wonderful. I bought a Wii U for Bayo2, but I also got all of the Nintendo goodness with it. I have zero interest in buying a xbone for Scalebound because the other MS properties don't interest me.
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