Xbox Business Update Podcast | Xbox Everywhere Direction Discussion

What will Xbox do

  • Player owned digital libraries now on cloud

    Votes: 3 23.1%
  • Multiplatform all exclusives to all platforms

    Votes: 3 23.1%
  • Multiplatform only select exclusive titles

    Votes: 8 61.5%
  • Surface hardware strategy

    Votes: 2 15.4%
  • 3rd party hardware strategy

    Votes: 2 15.4%
  • Mobile hardware strategy

    Votes: 1 7.7%
  • Slim Revision hardware strategy

    Votes: 1 7.7%
  • This will be a nothing burger

    Votes: 4 30.8%
  • *new* Xbox Games for Mobile Strategy

    Votes: 2 15.4%
  • *new* Executive leadership changes (ie: named leaders moves/exits/retires)

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    13
  • Poll closed .
Black Myth Wukong was a real blockbuster tbh
Amongst graphics enthusiasts yes, I don't think I saw a single 'normal' person talk about it. It's a pretty niche title like Hellblade, I'm sure its a good game and it looks well made but not exactly blockbuster tier (think generation-defining titles like RDR, Halo 3, COD4 and whatnot).
 
None of these were blockbusters lol. Good games (at least I think some of them were, imo Palworld does not look very good but it has its fans), but nobody is going to remember Black Myth or a Warhammer 40k game 10-20 years from now. In fact outside of game review outlets and computer graphics enthusiasts (aka us, people into tech demos and graphical showcases) I don’t think I heard anyone mention Black Myth.

Last gen we had some crazy generation-defining hits (RDR2 comes to mind, TLOU2 although controversial for some will certainly be remembered for a long time along side its predecessor, Witcher 3, etc) but I can’t really think of anything this gen like that. Maybe GTA6 will be filling that gap, and I guess BG3 could be this in retrospect.
Your opinion is not a fact:

Infact your opinion seems false.
 
Your opinion is not a fact:

Infact your opinion seems false.
“Millions of copies” isn’t a blockbuster lol. In what way is this on par with say GTAV’s release?
 
“Millions of copies” isn’t a blockbuster lol. In what way is this on par with say GTAV’s release?
BM:W sold 20 million units in a month. It's up there with the Spider Mans and God of Wars and Uncharteds that everyone recognises as blockbusters.
 
Amongst graphics enthusiasts yes, I don't think I saw a single 'normal' person talk about it. It's a pretty niche title like Hellblade, I'm sure its a good game and it looks well made but not exactly blockbuster tier (think generation-defining titles like RDR, Halo 3, COD4 and whatnot).
what do you mean a normal person? Over 20 million copies sold and its not a blockbuster? C'mon be serious here.
 
“Millions of copies” isn’t a blockbuster lol. In what way is this on par with say GTAV’s release?
BMW has the record for most concurrent players on steam for a singe player game. By that metric alone, it is one of the most broken block single player games of time.
price has a lot to do with that. There is something good about these Free to Play games for younger people. The social part, the "co-op". I.e. Fortnite can be played even if you have no money, you can play with your aunt who has a PS4, your sister who has a PC, your nephew who has a Switch, you on say a Steam Deck, your best friend on a PS5....

You can team up and create a game with all of them even if you are on different systems.

The entry barrier is equal for everyone. It's so important for younger people who just want to socialize and play with their friends. They won't care much about expensive AAAs or exclusives. Maybe some of them don't have the money to buy those games as great as they are, so they don't care.
I do think there is something to this. Back when everyone had the same TV content, you would have the social element of talking about Lost, or X-Files, or whatever outside of just watching the show. And when we saw the start of steaming, and there was basically just Netflix they would dump a season of some original show and there was social pressure to watch it before Gary at the office casually spoiled the twist. I also think there's an opportunity for Gamepass and PS+ to have this sort of cultural impact. If nearly everyone has shared common library, you can play games with your group of friends without any additional investment.
A market where some are making all the money while all others struggle to break even is a dying market.
Is that where we are right now? Because I think there is a bunch of money being made, and more room in the market for more games. Just because the market is changing, doesn't mean that it's dying.
 
BM:W sold 20 million units in a month. It's up there with the Spider Mans and God of Wars and Uncharteds that everyone recognises as blockbusters.
I don't consider any of those except maybe a few of the Uncharteds as blockbusters...
what do you mean a normal person? Over 20 million copies sold and its not a blockbuster? C'mon be serious here.
BMW has the record for most concurrent players on steam for a singe player game. By that metric alone, it is one of the most broken block single player games of time.
Yup, done with fallacies
How many of those 20 million are in China btw? I should clarify and say I don't really care if its a blockbuster in China, mostly talking about the western market.

(for reference, when I say blockbuster I mean something like GTAV which has sold over 200 million copies or RDR2 which has sold 67 million)
 
I don't consider any of those except maybe a few of the Uncharteds as blockbusters...



How many of those 20 million are in China btw? I should clarify and say I don't really care if its a blockbuster in China, mostly talking about the western market.

(for reference, when I say blockbuster I mean something like GTAV which has sold over 200 million copies or RDR2 which has sold 67 million)
GTA V and RDR2 sold 200mn and 67mn copies each in their first 6 months of release? Your argument makes zero sense at the most.
 
Is that where we are right now? Because I think there is a bunch of money being made, and more room in the market for more games. Just because the market is changing, doesn't mean that it's dying.

"Overall, video game sales across Europe were relatively robust in 2024. But it was a brutal year for new releases. There were only three new games in the Top Ten, and two of them are part of annual franchises: FIFA, Call of Duty and Helldivers. Outside the Top 10, Space Marine 2 is at No.12 and Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero is at No.13."

Then you have two big successes majorly driven by china where you have pokemon at home and with wukong being pushed by the literal government and by Chinese people for nationalistic reasons (there is pretty much nothing else that's as big as journey to the west in china, those sales aren't going to be repeated any time soon).

And so you can see the market stagnating hard. 2025 will see GTA 6 and Switch 2 unclogging the pipes but the root of the problem will remain.
 
I don't think my comprehension of English is good enough yet so, are you saying that GTA 6 will be woke so it will fail or that it's a trap for people that criticize wokeness?
He might be refering to that some of founders of RockStar left at the same time as DEI courses became common at RockStar, casuing conserns amongst the fanbase.
 
GTA V and RDR2 sold 200mn and 67mn copies each in their first 6 months of release? Your argument makes zero sense at the most.
Do you think a AA game from China is on the same level as Grand Theft Auto in terms of cultural relevance and blockbuster-worthiness?
 
Do you think a AA game from China is on the same level as Grand Theft Auto in terms of cultural relevance and blockbuster-worthiness?
They both meet the threshold of blockbusters. You know what a threshold is right? And just because a game is from China doesnt disqualify it from being AAA. You calling it AA instead of AAA just because its from China doesnt help your argument really. Its a successful blockbuster AAA title from China thats sold over 20 million copies. Simple really.
 
We're not going to discuss what the definition of Blockbuster is! Ignore the word - Cappuccino has defined their terms of comparison. Now we can consider the wider argument at that level. Which other titles are 'blockbusters' and how do they compare to the argument?

AFAICS the argument is people are playing 'forever games' because there are no 'blockbusters'? Surely GTA is a 'forever game'? People have played that like a hobby, like golf. So what exactly if the consideration? What type of games are lacking and what have they sold and why aren't they being made? Ideally also define the terms and not leave people guessing.
 
We're not going to discuss what the definition of Blockbuster is! Ignore the word - Cappuccino has defined their terms of comparison. Now we can consider the wider argument at that level. Which other titles are 'blockbusters' and how do they compare to the argument?

AFAICS the argument is people are playing 'forever games' because there are no 'blockbusters'? Surely GTA is a 'forever game'? People have played that like a hobby, like golf. So what exactly if the consideration? What type of games are lacking and what have they sold and why aren't they being made? Ideally also define the terms and not leave people guessing.
Furthermore, and how does this topic fit into the Xbox Business Discussion forum...
 
I think the discussion is how software is impacting hardware sales. A lack of GTAV sized games means no reason for people to buy XBoxes. Hmm, I wonder if by 'blockbuster' Cappucino really means 'system seller'?
 
Hmm, I wonder if by 'blockbuster' Cappucino really means 'system seller'?
This is exactly what I meant and I thought it was clear from the examples I gave. GTAV 100% sold late Xbox 360s and later Xbox Ones, RDR2 100% sold Xbox Ones, etc. Black Myth will sell well and is a good game and all but its not generation defining and won't sell systems.

I think this is all very relevant to Xbox's struggles. Xbox's best generation had blockbuster after blockbuster (the fact that COD4 and Halo 3 both released in the same season is wild to me and I think drove the adoption of the Xbox 360 since it had superior online features at the time).
 
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