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[bohrdom]

MS is already better than Sony in all departments except first party offerings / exclusives, which are argueably the most important aspect of a console
So all they need to do is get their shit together and reach the level of Sony first party output and consistency. Good luck, MS.

Lol I don't know if Microsoft is capable of doing that . They're fundamentally a tech company with a focus on enterprise software. Sony has experience in telling stories/arts since they have Sony Pictures.

 

[mcjmetroid]

I strongly believe MS will do better next generation. I'm predicting it will be closer but to me here's what they need to do.

1: Push GamePass to the moon. Having tried it recently, it's a amazing service that needs to be advertised and pushed to the moon. When I was getting my Xbox one x I had to create a thread on this forum about how it works. Make a campaign and make it clear what it is.

2: Halo Infinite at launch will be a great move. Gotta keep the first party games flowing though as well. They are in a Nintendo Switch situation where during their launch they had a steady stream of games going for about 4 or 5 months. Unlike Switch though Series X will actually have third party games though so Halo Infinite might be enough.

3: Match Sony's price or even lower it and advertise that you're the most powerful console. Fuck that's easier to advertise than a fast SSD.

4: if they're brave then Bundle Halo Infinite with the console or make some sort of deal. That would be killer.

5: In advertising mention games games games not a whole lot else. You can see it's a multimedia device if you want but only focus on the games itself.

 

[mcjmetroid]

No. Xbox Series X / Series S will surpass the total console sales of Xbox 360 and most likely surpass the 100m mark.

I think the console will sell better than the Xbox one for sure and possibly match the 360 if things go well. But I wouldn't go that far.

 

[rofif]

Less indie crap, more good big games but I just don't see this happening

 

[Kagey K]

Less indie crap, more good big games but I just don't see this happening

Going off the Sony show, expect more indie “crap” then ever.

That’s not an MS thing.

 

[Coulomb_Barrier]

Putting all games on PC day 1, and also compatible with Xbox One for a year or two means there's no incentive for many gamers out there to get one. That's the reality and means selling 50m is a tough ask this gen.

But wider strategy of still trying to appeal to a shrinking Xbox hardcore that loves Halo,Gears, Forza and Fable with their main franchises is not going to cut it when Sony has TLOU, Horizon, Spiderman, God of War. There's no comparison critically or commercially between these franchises

 

[Raonak]

A consistent slate of exclusives.

 

[fran.fernandez]

Buy sony

 

[freefornow]

With potential "high" prices for both XSX and PS5, expect a big push on "Xbox All Access". This may get more XSX's in homes.

 

[Kagey K]

Putting all games on PC day 1, and also compatible with Xbox One for a year or two means there's no incentive for many gamers out there to get one. That's the reality and means selling 50m is a tough ask this gen.

But wider strategy of still trying to appeal to a shrinking Xbox hardcore that loves Halo,Gears, Forza and Fable with their main franchises is not going to cut it when Sony has TLOU, Horizon, Spiderman, God of War. There's no comparison critically or commercially between these franchises

Bullshit.

 

[kiphalfton]

Less indie crap, more good big games but I just don't see this happening

I always felt like the switch is what is holding back sony and microsoft consoles (no offense intended, merely from a hardware standpoint). However, I think the real culprit are these freaking indie devs. They put out this low-effort shovelware, other devs see it as acceptable, and before you know it the market is flooded with this crap. I mean for fucks sake, goodbye volcano high, bugsnax, and a number of other games in the PS5 unveiling event looked like PS3 games. I was really hoping this next gen we were finally going to get past the whole "low resolution grass and environments" garbage, but apparently not from what I've seen. Not even about being a graphics whore, so much as just wanting games that look clean.

 

[eastwood333]

Putting all games on PC day 1, and also compatible with Xbox One for a year or two means there's no incentive for many gamers out there to get one. That's the reality and means selling 50m is a tough ask this gen.

But wider strategy of still trying to appeal to a shrinking Xbox hardcore that loves Halo,Gears, Forza and Fable with their main franchises is not going to cut it when Sony has TLOU, Horizon, Spiderman, God of War. There's no comparison critically or commercially between these franchises

PC and consoles are two different markets. Putting games on PC helps XSX by funding more investment in games/studios in the future,which in the end helps XSX. I thinkg theres more positive then negative by putting XSX exclusives on PC. It also draws more buzz and attention to those games

 

[TheAssist]

I think they need to find their "niche". Nintendo have already found theirs and Sony caters to a wider audience with their focus on Japanese and European gamers as well. In the past MS only had Halo, Forza and Gears to differentiate themselves, which honestly isnt enough, because arguably two of these games cater to the exact same audience. They are simply lacking high quality exclusives if you ask me. Game pass is really cool, but there is nothing on it I want to play.

I mean if you dont like shooting aliens, then why buy an XBox from a games point of view? 3rd parties I can play on PC or Playstation as well. Plus all the exclusive games for these platforms.

MS is simply lacking their voice. We'll see what their new studios have to offer.

 

[TheAssist]

I always felt like the switch is what is holding back sony and microsoft consoles (no offense intended, merely from a hardware standpoint). However, I think the real culprit are these freaking indie devs. They put out this low-effort shovelware, other devs see it as acceptable, and before you know it the market is flooded with this crap. I mean for fucks sake, goodbye volcano high, bugsnax, and a number of other games in the PS5 unveiling event looked like PS3 games. I was really hoping this next gen we were finally going to get past the whole "low resolution grass and environments" garbage, but apparently not from what I've seen. Not even about being a graphics whore, so much as just wanting games that look clean.

Yeah fuck indy developers with their small teams and budget. How dare they not spend hundreds of man hours on better animated grass. Clearly this is what they should focus on instead of more interesting and varied gameplay and visual design.
Its a shame we dont have more games catering to the lowest common denominator. There should be much more games were we shoot faceless aliens. That will make everyone happy. Fuck people who have a different taste.

Of course there is a lot of copy paste stuff, just like in the AAA space and in any other industry, but calling all games by indy devs "low effort shovelware" is just.... yeah.

 

[triplestation]

Looking at the stats however, the SeX reveal has lower numbers, standing at 12M views after 6 months, but 330k likes to 30k dislikes (11:1 ratio), which is still very positive!

hehehe

 

[teezzy]

They're already doing what they need to do.

They went out and purchased studios, are leaning heavily into services, are offering the more powerful hardware, and are focusing more on Xbox as a platform than a console.

If you play Xbox on PC, you're still playing Xbox. This is one aspect where Sony should be the ones taking notes, tbh. Most people I know who plan on getting a PS5 are doing so because that's the ecosystem which they're familiar with. Explain the cost efficiency of GamePass though and they're suddenly more open to MS as a plaftorm.

TL;DR - Double down on price and services, as the hardware is already better, and the games will come naturally at this point.

PS5 looks stupid anyhow.

 

[rofif]

I always felt like the switch is what is holding back sony and microsoft consoles (no offense intended, merely from a hardware standpoint). However, I think the real culprit are these freaking indie devs. They put out this low-effort shovelware, other devs see it as acceptable, and before you know it the market is flooded with this crap. I mean for fucks sake, goodbye volcano high, bugsnax, and a number of other games in the PS5 unveiling event looked like PS3 games. I was really hoping this next gen we were finally going to get past the whole "low resolution grass and environments" garbage, but apparently not from what I've seen. Not even about being a graphics whore, so much as just wanting games that look clean.

Exactly. Normally you market a new console with games that show what it can do. Now You apparently do it with... Just many small cartoony games?

 

[Mister Wolf]

Pay developers to not put their games on the Playstation.

 

[massivekettle]

Putting all games on PC day 1, and also compatible with Xbox One for a year or two means there's no incentive for many gamers out there to get one. That's the reality and means selling 50m is a tough ask this gen.

But wider strategy of still trying to appeal to a shrinking Xbox hardcore that loves Halo,Gears, Forza and Fable with their main franchises is not going to cut it when Sony has TLOU, Horizon, Spiderman, God of War. There's no comparison critically or commercially between these franchises

You overestimate the amount of gamers who have PC who can run these modern games as well as a console can.

Re: first party, I think you’re wrong. Microsoft just needs to put out more and substantially better games. They’ve done that in the past, in the OG Xbox and 360 eras, so there’s precedent. Commercially is irrelevant to some extent as it of course depends on the size of the console’s user base. All things equal, a PS4 exclusive should sell better than a XOne exclusive given the 2-2.5x advantage in user base.

Where Microsoft is really lacking these days is on the third party front. They used to be quite good at moneyhatting exclusives and for some reason only Sony has been doing so recently. They need to be more aggressive on that front.

 

[Jon Neu]

Buy Nintendo.

 

[kiphalfton]

Yeah fuck indy developers with their small teams and budget. How dare they not spend hundreds of man hours on better animated grass. Clearly this is what they should focus on instead of more interesting and varied gameplay and visual design.
Its a shame we dont have more games catering to the lowest common denominator. There should be much more games were we shoot faceless aliens. That will make everyone happy. Fuck people who have a different taste.

Of course there is a lot of copy paste stuff, just like in the AAA space and in any other industry, but calling all games by indy devs "low effort shovelware" is just.... yeah.

It is low effort shovelware. Take it or leave it.

What was shown at the PS5 show was laughable. If you're going to rely on indie devs to pad out your show or library, show something more along the lines of Cuphead, Transistor, Bastion, etc. (i.e. sindie games that actually have good art style).

 

[Caio]

Lower Launch Price than PS5, so more people would be interested in purchasing a more powerful Hardware capable of better version of Multiplatform games, and even cheaper. This would be a win in NA.
New Great IPs, they cannot stay with Halo, Forza and Gears for 1000 years.
Some 3rd Party AAA Games exclusivity
Halo Infinite must be mindblowing on XSX, they need Hype and a very good start.
GamePass.

 

[Tulipanzo]

They're already doing what they need to do.

They went out and purchased studios, are leaning heavily into services, are offering the more powerful hardware, and are focusing more on Xbox as a platform than a console.

If you play Xbox on PC, you're still playing Xbox. This is one aspect where Sony should be the ones taking notes, tbh. Most people I know who plan on getting a PS5 are doing so because that's the ecosystem which they're familiar with. Explain the cost efficiency of GamePass though and they're suddenly more open to MS as a plaftorm.

TL;DR - Double down on price and services, as the hardware is already better, and the games will come naturally at this point.

PS5 looks stupid anyhow.

See, this looks good on paper, but a lot of their strategies around there are just plain dumb.

"They went out and purchased studios": yet are preventing those studios from working on next-gen for up to two years. They've also been really bad at marketing these new releases (Bleeding Edge currently has fewer players than Garfield Kart!).
Without quality output, how many studios you own is kind of moot.

"are leaning heavily into services": but you still need people to purchase your hardware to use your services. We don't have much insight into the profit margins of GP, but if it's anything like Netflix (and chances are costs are way higher) it will take years for it to turn a profit. GP is genuinely cool (!!), but is it sustainable*?
More established online subscriptions are still more profitable (NSO, PS+ and GwG), which MS isn't reporting on anymore.

"are offering the more powerful hardware": on a pure TF count, which is a weak strategy; most people don't know what TFs are, and the gap is far smaller than last gen. This wouldn't be a massive problem if they were marketing "power" properly, but they again they aren't making exclusives for it, which already lead to the X1X underperforming.
That, and if they are launching Lockhart they have to explain why 4TF is not shit if 12TF is so essential.

"focusing more on Xbox as a platform than a console": this sounds nice, but they are still bringing in far fewer people than either Sony or Nintendo. Those two are seeing years of peak consoles sales with gradual declines, while XBox has seen a consistent revenue decline throughout the whole gen, even after their new policies and acquisitions!
PC growth helps, but ultimately you have to sell XBoxes to grow XBox, or you're just a glorified 3rd party publisher.



*I'll do an aside on GP long-term later

 

[Tulipanzo]

On GP, I don't think the service will close or fail, but it might suffer what I call the "PS+ effect".

PS+ was an excellent service on PS3: you got multiple games, often AAA, and less than a year old! It was still optional, however.
On PS4, PS+ became a requirement, yet the quality of the service did not quite stack up: games became more often indies, and bigger titles were less frequent and much older. While quality is subjective, the reduction in prestige was evident.
So what happened? Now, capitalism want capital, but there's more here than just "Sony greedy" here.

At the end of PS3, publishers weren't seeing much returns: the digital marketplace was smaller, and the end of a gen very competitive with over 7 years of titles to compete for a player's attention.
The service being optional, it meant publishers could sacrifice a month's sales for potentially higher DLC sales and some exposure, without risking much long-term profit. This meant Sony could get better deals on bigger games.
The start of the PS4 gen proved much different: online profits kept growing, and fewer titles had to compete for a player's attention given fewer next-gen exclusives were available. A much bigger audience, due to PS+ being required for online now, meant publishers ultimately would ask for more money, and fewer bigger games became available.
This improved over the gen, but big games still take longer to get on PS+ than they used to, and there's fewer games per month overall.

Ultimately a bigger audience, less competition and higher digital adoption meant bigger games were harder to get.
Similarly, as GP grows, it becomes less profitable for publishers to put their games there, especially if players shift back from PS to XBox. DmC5 for example sold over 4 times as much on PS4, meaning MS could get a much better deal on it for GP than Sony could for PSNow, even discounting MS's much more aggressive spending.
Moving into next-gen, high-spending players migrating to next-gen will have fewer next-gen games competing for their attention, and MS might have to rely more heavily on their own first-party for GP, which could explain their unwillingness to release any next-gen exclusives.

 

[Steve.1981]

I guess that the thread title was changed to be less console war bait, because the first page replies don't make sense with the current title.

But anyway, to answer the question as it stands now; Xbox just needs to make a load of great first-party games.

That's it.

They already have excellent hardware & services. They have a new strategy in place to try & get their games into the hands of as many gamers as possible. They just need the games. I know it's usually not a good idea to just assume, but this time I'm going to take the risk & say that's the reason why they expanded Xbox first-party studios in such a big way. To make a bunch of games.

 

[shaddam]

Hmm. Maybe games?

 

[Coulomb_Barrier]

It is low effort shovelware. Take it or leave it.

What was shown at the PS5 show was laughable. If you're going to rely on indie devs to pad out your show or library, show something more along the lines of Cuphead, Transistor, Bastion, etc. (i.e. sindie games that actually have good art style).

Nothing was 'laughable', that's ridiculous. By your logic Cuphead and Transistpr look laughable too, as they don't have AAA graphics.

What was laughable was the Series X game reveal, I think everyone would agree with that.

 

[PropellerEar]

Greenberg needs to be more active on Twitter, he should start replying "WE HAVE THIS TOO" in capital letters to all Sony tweets.

 

[Mista]

But Xbox this gen didn't flop? Unless anyone not surpassing PS is a flop then thats something else...

Xbox needs high quality 1st party games. Yes having a powerful console is important as we all saw the X1X

But for better competition and success? High quality 1st party games. SP games are still the #1 priority to a lot

MS seems to me that they finally learned this and they got next-gen to prove it. As for services, they're at the top.

 

[cireza]

Sabotage the factories that produce the PS5 and the Switch.

 

[FranXico]

People want to pretend the big Sony reveal is the same as MS indie reveal in May.

Well, forgive people for being carried away by Microsoft's hype preceding that simple "indie reveal" that opened with an Assassin's Creed game.

 

[Yoboman]

Things aren't looking great for them right now, I hope they can turn it around

 

[Hobbygaming]

Things like gamepass and having slightly better looking multiplatform games won't be enough to catch Sony. They can only do it with better games

But Sony has the best games studios and they're a well oiled machine they already have sequels to the biggest games coming next generation and that'll be hard to match

 

[prinz_valium]

Release 2 to 3 months before Sony
Have a better price value proposition.
Continue to have better services.
Deliver great games.

IMHO it will be super easy for Microsoft to be competitive this gen.
At best Sony will outsell Microsoft by 10 million.
This will be Microsofts first 100m Series of consoles.

 

[JimiNutz]

Undercut PS5 at launch.

Keep a steady stream of exclusive games coming to Game Pass to keep people locked into the service and ecosystem.

Greenlight a couple of fan requested projects as a goodwill gesture - something like a full Bajo Kazooie remake (maybe by Platonic Games) or an exclusive KOTOR remake. They should have polls on the Dashboard for prospective projects that fans can vote on and promise to greenlight the one that wins.

Try to secure a huge non gaming IP as an exclusive for this gen. Sony have Spider-Man so something like Batman (aren't WB selling their games division anyway) or Harry Potter. Maybe Star Wars once the EA deal is up.

Continue adding value and innovating with their services. Make X Cloud something special.

 

[Arun1910]

Better first party games.

Being the most powerful console doesn't mean anything to me if your 1st party line up is mediocre.

 

[kraspkibble]

release first. lower price. hope and pray their new IPs are popular and maybe buy up exclusivity rights to a major game (sony has Spiderman) or have a popular studio make exclusive titles for them. i'm not saying it'll happen but i'm thinking of something on the level of GTA/Cyberpunk/Star Wars etc. There's no way in hell that'd happen but that's how high they need to aim. If they can't buy out an existing game they could have a studio like Rockstar, CD Projekt Red, etc (examples remember) make titles for Xbox just like how Sony got From Software to do Demons Souls/Bloodborne.

other than that they seem to be doing well. they have the more powerful console and their subscription services are far more attractive than ps+/ps now. their backwards compatability is outstanding with support for all xbox generations. the PS5 will just support PS4/PS5 not including any PS1/PS2 games that may have released for PS4.

this will be the first generation where i get xbox. i'll probably get a PS5 at some point but XSX will be my main console. i'll just get a PS5 when there are enough exclusives to justify me buying it. i've been with playstation since 1995.

 

[Major_Key]

I strongly believe MS will do better next generation. I'm predicting it will be closer but to me here's what they need to do.

1: Push GamePass to the moon. Having tried it recently, it's a amazing service that needs to be advertised and pushed to the moon. When I was getting my Xbox one x I had to create a thread on this forum about how it works. Make a campaign and make it clear what it is.

Yeah 100%

XGP is amazing services and I never see ads at TV etc... That shame. I instantly see ads in metro when GOW join PSNOW.

That why I said 3 major things :

Services
Games
BIG budget Marketing

 

[ZywyPL]

Nothing. They already figured out what brings them the most money, just because it doesn't suit fanboys wars on the internet doesn't mean it's not successful.

 

[DaleinCalgary]

3rd party games have to look better and play better.

The end.

Everyone says it’s about exclusives, but in reality exclusives make up 1 out of every 10 games sold (at best) having the 3rd party advantage is a huge deal that everyone wants to downplay.

The comment on 3rd party playing better is very valid when you look back to how they played 360 vs ps3 and is exactly why I got a 360 to go with my ps3 back then. But today it's different as they get more powerful the differences are minimal visually now and only nitpicking on DF.

And yes it's about the exclusives. Exclusives is what differs between the 2 consoles and where in house developers shine. The days of determining if you play Bioshock on a 360 or ps3 are over. Bioshock was shit on ps3.

And MS needs a good Halo that fans of the game deserve. Im not saying 343 failed because they are no bungie but they tried their best and it wasn't good enough. But it's not their fault.

 

[captainraincoat]

I think ms need to do a better job of embracing pc gamers....get the Xbox bc working on pc...let apps like steam run on series x as a streamer

The ultimate pass is really good but they really need to offer pc gamers a reason to own a series x

 

[Kumomeme]

as many people said over and over again

Exclusives...quality exclusives that also atleast need to be timing exclusives on the consoles itself before available on other platform.

they need to build their 'empire' of icon/mascot ..these games, characters will be faces of Xbox...when people mentioned nintendo or sony they will remember uncharted, mario, zelda, Kratos, yoshi etc be it what the era the console is...this is what ms need to target, this is kind of mindshare they need...so people will know xbox as not just solely about gamepass services and how the box look.

ofcourse, there high chances they cant suddenly goes toe to toe or dethroned sony in single generation..making a 'legacy' take time..sony been here for 5 generation and nintendo is longer while xbox need to 're-start' upcoming gen...so be they may win or lose next gen, it would be crucial phase for future generation. I hope those studio acquisition will bring fruition in longer term.

 

[Mypmarlo]

Lay off on any kinda censorship or wokeness.
That is it.

 

[Woodchipper]

They need exclusive games other than Forza to do well. They need to get someone like me, who currently have zero interest in Xbox exclusives, to go “Wow, that looks amazing! I’ll have to get an Xbox Series X!”

But then again, I’d probably invest in a good PC instead.

 

[TigerKnee]

I think Microsoft is doing fine. People laughed at Spencer when he said Xbox sales are not that important, but he is right. If they were that important, they wouldn't port every 1st party game to Pc and wouldn't offer Game Pass on Pc and xCloud on smartphones, tablets and so on. Sony will sell more consoles for sure, but i'm not sure if Sony makes more money with gaming than Microsoft within the next 10 years.

Bingo. People here are always yapping about "Who needs an XBox when I can get their games on PC LOL". Well you're still getting their game so you are spending money on them regardless. Having your games exclusive to one system is an archaic practice that needs to stop. There are masterpieces on all systems that ALL people need to play but are too loyal to their black box to even give it a second thought. And that's just sad.

 

[BlvckFox]

Not gonna beat a dead horse with the mention of exclusives but they have the studio.

Ninja Gaiden would print money

 

[BlitzerRadic]

Yeah, and I'm sure Sony won't become stagnant without competition They'll continue putting out heavy hitters and continue innovation. Friction creates fire. Competition creates innovation. You think MS would have invested so much in their platform and in studios if Sony wasn't killing it?? I thank Sony. But consumers will always need an option to go to if Sony starts stagnating. Microsoft leaving is bad for all gamers that want high-tech, super realistic games. Sony wouldn't push themselves as hard and may even make life harder for developers. You need Microsoft to do well to keep Sony on their toes and give you the precious games you love.

No way in hell would Sony get complacent. MS exiting the market creates an opportunity for google, apple, amazon or even samsung to try and take their place.

Sony, of all companies would know the history of falling from position of the dominant market leader (Trintron TVs) and how a newcomer can disrupt a market of established players (original Playstation).

 

[IKSTUGA]

Japanese games and interesting exclusives. It isn't rocket science.

 

[Vawn]

There is one thing. It stars with a G and ends with an s and everyone already knows what it is.

 

[VGEsoterica]

Better exclusives. That’s all. Sony always seems to have the edge with better exclusive games.