Long term console company strategies *spawn

[Silent_Buddha]

Bits of this article are now being focused on by other websites, namely the Shadow of War folks talking about Xbox One X development.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...mes-that-unite-people-rather-than-divide-them

Matt Allen, director of Technical Art at Monolith (which is working on Middle-earth: Shadow of War), also talks up the impact of 4K gaming.
...
"So our engine has a pretty cool layer, where the content guys just go and make incredibly high res stuff. 8K face textures for the orcs, 16K body textures... millions of triangles on the models. And there's a layer that says: I'm going to do this so it works on a low-end PC, and I'm going to do this for PS4 and Xbox One'. So that means when a more powerful system comes out all we have to do is tweak that layer, because the content guys are making stuff we still can't show.

"From a content standpoint, it didn't take long to get it working. From an engineering standpoint, because it shares a lot of DNA with Windows 10 - and we are already running on Windows 10 - it took our engineering director about a day to get it running on the original Scorpio kits. It wasn't perfect; there were edge cases, so it involved a bit of tinkering, but it was not a lot of extra work.

If there are any people still doubting MS's plans...

There is some strategy around this way of thinking. For all the emphasis we're placing on X - on this being the grand relaunch of Xbox One - it's important not to forget the wider Xbox game plan. Microsoft's aim is to grow and sustain its Xbox Live users, not its hardware figures. It's notable that the biggest announcement it made at Gamescom was Age of Empires 4 - a PC game.

The hardware platform doesn't matter to them in the same way that it matters to Sony or Nintendo. It's the software platform (driven by Windows) that is important to them. Xbox is just an extension of that software (Windows) platform.

As long as Xbox remains a viable way of extending Windows to a wider audience, then Xbox will continue to exist as a console. Even if it was in dead last place, which it might end up being for this generation (if we include the Switch in this generation) as long as it extends the Windows platform to a non-negligible audience it'll have a place in MS's strategies.

Regards,
SB

 

[iroboto]

if MS is convoluted for people to understand today, when M/KB arrives (UWP Support only at first) and apps start to carry over, say, "office" things get whacky awesome confusing, traditional models are broken, makes it much harder to figure out what the console is bringing to MS.

Personally I like it. I'll take any form of disruption as long as it benefits consumers, luckily none of it is forced, so we are just being given options.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

If there are any people still doubting MS's plans..

Plans change. I don't doubt that Microsoft are committed to the plans they have today, I question whether their plans and priorities today will be the same in two years time or will they change like TV and Kinect. Ditto Sony, ditto Nintendo, ditto Apple, ditto Samsung. When your current strategy or USP isn't working, you move to a new one. When you are not the market leader, USPs can be seasonal.

 

[iroboto]

We all know the general strategy of MS though: everything to Windows 10. Anything that would get people onto that OS device is agnostic, as the OS is runs on a variety of hardware configurations.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Plans change.

Medium term, maybe, but XBox's long term goal has always been the same since inception from what I can see - use entertainment to drive people to MS's software ecosystem.

 

[Rockster]

Yeah, the shift to focus on monthly active users is something Phil Spencer specifically implemented soon after his promotion. The notion that this has always been the plan is simply not true. They've pivoted from being PC in the living room, to straight console model, to being more media centric, to now more service oriented. And as iroboto alluded to, the only certainty is that it will change again.

 

[AlNom]

So it's not even its final form.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

I remember it wasn't that long ago that Microsoft, Sony, Apple and Google were "fighting for the living room". I don't think anybody won. Companies strategy's twist and turn like a twisty-turny thing

 

[Shifty Geezer]

The living room being the content portal where the software ecosystems run. What no-one factored was the living room being populated by loads of private screens running services none of them controlled (Amazon, Netflix). Sony weakly tried to claw into that space with PlayStation Mobile. MS is still struggling to hack a way into that space through Windows 10 devices. Apple is trying to expand onto the big-screen TV as well through Apple TV etc. Google have various devices, and notably little Google hardware as they've been far more successful than MS at getting other companies to provide hardware for their software platform.

The war isn't won and the battles go on. The objective is still the same for all of them though. Ever since it was plainly apparent that the future of massive earnings was content delivery, that's what they've all been courting, which is why your games consoles have movies and junk sold on their stores alongside games. There's not a single company out there who wouldn't be happy to leave hardware if it meant their software would completely dominate the entire content market. Without that option, they have to compete with hardware too. I don't think there's many hardware companies that don't look jealously on either, which is why we get LG and Samsung providing content portals as well.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

which is why your games consoles have movies and junk sold on their stores alongside games.

Clearly you don't own a Switch!

 

[Rangers]

Well since Shifty went big OT

The living room became somewhat irrelevant or at least took a back seat to mobile screens.

It doesn't seem like the living room big screen is the most prized real estate, though I'm sure still valuable.

Interestingly and now drifting completely OT, I read an article how this has been a disastrous year for the box office, part of a long trend. Now with iPads, and the article said "Xbox", 50" Tv's with netflix, going to the movies is a lot less of a draw. Hell I'd throw stuff like Twitch and PUBG in there.

Medium term, maybe, but XBox's long term goal has always been the same since inception from what I can see - use entertainment to drive people to MS's software ecosystem.

Maybe being a bit charitable that MS actually had a plan LOL.

I dont know if it's the same on Playstation, but delving deep into my Xbox OS the other day it struck me how much of a social network they are turning it into, or trying. I didn't even realize a lot of that stuff existed that I dont really look at it, but you can "like" various pieces of content from your friends list, etc. They even have a "trending" section of stuff with the most likes globally, etc. And their OS level LFG, I didn't even realize but it seems for Destiny, Xboxers have largely abandoned website based LFG and just use Xbox LFG, which is extremely active at least for destiny. Heck it even makes a lot of Bungie's efforts at in-game LFG a bit redundant.

I think MS has an edge on Sony here because the internet is not as much in Japanese companies DNA (witness Nintendo). Of course Sony is a pretty cosmopolitan, westernized company compared to Nintendo. But I feel like the OS/UI/whatever on Xbox has a lot of POTENTIAL, but it's just kind of designed poorly to reach it currently, which is MS fault. If they ever figure it out though I think it'd be pretty dangerous to the other competitors. Since it's really kind of an "ecosystem" thing, and at least in theory kind of has the potential to transcend a specific piece of hardware or console. At least, if they constantly keep up in the power stakes with an iterative console model, since I think power trumps all in consoles. Xbox could have the best UI in the world and if PS5 is 3 times better (for playing the one-off games) gamers will still go to that if you haven't got a timely response. So you've got to keep up there.

Also I tend to argue the flip side, for hardware. The biggest company in the world is Apple, which at core is a hardware company, though nobody ever wants to admit hardware is important and everybody always harps on about software being everything.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Clearly you don't own a Switch!

Nintendo doesn't operate in the real world so doesn't count.

Well since Shifty went big OT

Moi?!

 

[dobwal]

https://www.geekwire.com/2017/micro...er-phil-spencer-joins-senior-leadership-team/

As part of a strategy to accelerate its gaming business across the company, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella today named Xbox leader Phil Spencer to its senior leadership team.

He’ll continue to oversee Xbox-related projects, but his new title is “executive vice president, Gaming at Microsoft.” Spencer will report directly to Nadella.

In a company-wide memo sent in June, Nadella outlined five core customer solution areas that he wants employees to prioritize. They include modern workplace; business applications; applications and infrastructure; data and AI; and gaming.

 

[function]

https://www.geekwire.com/2017/micro...er-phil-spencer-joins-senior-leadership-team/

As part of a strategy to accelerate its gaming business across the company, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella today named Xbox leader Phil Spencer to its senior leadership team.

He’ll continue to oversee Xbox-related projects, but his new title is “executive vice president, Gaming at Microsoft.” Spencer will report directly to Nadella.

In a company-wide memo sent in June, Nadella outlined five core customer solution areas that he wants employees to prioritize. They include modern workplace; business applications; applications and infrastructure; data and AI; and gaming.

Yet more proof that Scorpio is MS's way of getting out of consoles.

 

[iroboto]

I posted this in another thread, but I think really understanding Satya and where he wants to go, really points the ship for Xbox.
https://www.fastcompany.com/40457458/satya-nadella-rewrites-microsofts-code

Really good read, and explains some of the major decisions we saw over the last year.

 

[Scott_Arm]

Interesting. So gaming is now elevated to the highest level of the company. Curious to see how that will impact Xbox. Xbox One launch seemed like other business units trying to force their objectives down onto the Xbox platform.

 

[zed]

Interesting. So gaming is now elevated to the highest level of the company. Curious to see how that will impact Xbox. Xbox One launch seemed like other business units trying to force their objectives down onto the Xbox platform.

did you click on the link, he's one of 12 different "Executive Vice President's"
For a segment that brings in ~5% of the revenue, the only shocking thing is that he wasn't there already, as they obviously give out executive VP like candy I wonder if Trump will instigate something similar, i.e. add another 11 vice president's to join Pence. Its the business way right and trumps all about business

 

[iroboto]

did you click on the link, he's one of 12 different "Executive Vice President's"
For a segment that brings in ~5% of the revenue, the only shocking thing is that he wasn't there already, as they obviously give out executive VP like candy I wonder if Trump will instigate something similar, i.e. add another 11 vice president's to join Pence. Its the business way right and trumps all about business

12 EVPs is a lot for a company that brings in as much money as MS does?
I work for a telecom and we have 6-8. And our product offerings are simpler because we don't even do R&D.

 

[DrJay24]

I'm not sure how people are equating Win 10 to Xbox. MS may make that argument to look as if they have a strategy versus failing with their platform. I assure you they would rather sell an Xbox than people just play a game on a PC. They get per sale license money from publishers on the Xbox along with XBL subscription fees. They get neither of those on Windows. You could claim they get a Windows license sale, but we all know people own PCs regardless of gaming, so they always had that money.

 

[MrFox]

Head of xbox... to exec VP of gaming. Not sure if this represents something good or bad for console gamers. It's a bit of both.

For years everything was pointing to gaming as a service, the money for microsoft have often been in a middle service between hardware and content producers, a service that becomes too big to allow competition either because of critical mass (linkedin, minecraft) or control of standards (windows, office). Xbox live is right in line with this, which explains the "number of hours played" as a metric for success. Exclusive games become irrelevant, and hardware becomes irrelevant, but only if xbox live spreads wide enough that it becomes the facebook of gaming. It's very clever.

The usual embrace extend extinguish business plan, hook line and sinker for gamers.

Spoiler

I'm just kidding!