Long term console company strategies *spawn

[Silent_Buddha]

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.

The goal is to increase consumer presence in the Windows Store. Microsoft gets a percentage of sales in there the same as they do on console.

In fact, the Windows Store is basically the Xbox Live store and the Windows Store combined into one storefront. The ultimate goal being that you buy your application (game) once and use it across a variety of devices how you wish.

The reality at the moment, however, is that on Windows the Windows store isn't where people go to get their games. Steam, GOG, Origin, Blizzard, etc. are where they do with Steam generating the lion's share of game sales.

Hence, instead of trying to force people to use the Windows Store, they've moved to make it somewhat inclusive of Steam (Windows Store, Steam, and potentially Xbox crossplay), however crossbuy will still only be through the Windows Store.

This was necessary due to their rather rough and somewhat inept rollout of the Windows Store. I don't have a problem with it, but I know many people who still do not like to use it.

This approach is better. Offer it as an alternative rather than attempting to force people to use it. Have people naturally gravitate to it if they want (convenience of cross-buy, for example). If people want to buy an app once and use it on a variety of devices, then the Windows Store makes a lot of sense. If not, then keep using Steam/GOG/Origin/whatever.

Regards,
SB

 

[iroboto]

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.

Yup, this is correct in that per customer they generate more money off XBOx console players than their respective PC counterparts.

However, I suspect that, they are willing to concede these losses for usage of their store. There are significantly more windows 10 devices out there, and only multi million Xbox users. Short term I expect Xbox console players to stay ahead in terms of revenue. But I think MS is looking purely long term, 10-20 year time frame, when you have 1-2 billion windows 10 devices out there, any percentage of those users buying off the store equates to huge profits.

 

[iroboto]

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!

The biggest change I can see happening now that Phil is VP of gaming is:
More merging of PC and console
More merging of gaming elsewhere
Improved Store.
Probably a little more budget to buy/invest into studios. But I think this will largely be to invest in games/franchises that have 50/50 gender appeal.

 

[iroboto]

coming back to this topic after so long.
what I'm about to write can apply to sony nintendo or MS. But since it was an idea that started with Xbox One, I'd figure I'd just place it here.
If we all recall, Xbox One wanted to be this digital online licensing model, with the ability to play offline, and be able to buy, sell and trade your digital licenses.

I think with Ethereum platform and Microsoft's backing of Ethereum, in due time, we will see licensed software on Microsoft's own block chain. And it's possible that, the future that once was, can now be a possibility with the introduction of block chain onto the Xbox network.

Each game would have it's own ledger, and you could sell your own ownership rights on that ledger to another player for instance, in exchange for a certain about of XBCoin. And you can use XBcoin to buy services, more games or perhaps stuff in retail stores, or other MS products. To be able to play offline, you'd just have to link your hardware to your wallet and you no longer need to be online since the ledgers are immutable.

I think it's pretty interesting how far block chain has come, and I think the idea of moving the games onto block chain is the next logical step for evolution on the digital space.

 

[AzBat]

coming back to this topic after so long.
what I'm about to write can apply to sony nintendo or MS. But since it was an idea that started with Xbox One, I'd figure I'd just place it here.
If we all recall, Xbox One wanted to be this digital online licensing model, with the ability to play offline, and be able to buy, sell and trade your digital licenses.

I think with Ethereum platform and Microsoft's backing of Ethereum, in due time, we will see licensed software on Microsoft's own block chain. And it's possible that, the future that once was, can now be a possibility with the introduction of block chain onto the Xbox network.

Each game would have it's own ledger, and you could sell your own ownership rights on that ledger to another player for instance, in exchange for a certain about of XBCoin. And you can use XBcoin to buy services, more games or perhaps stuff in retail stores, or other MS products. To be able to play offline, you'd just have to link your hardware to your wallet and you no longer need to be online since the ledgers are immutable.

I think it's pretty interesting how far block chain has come, and I think the idea of moving the games onto block chain is the next logical step for evolution on the digital space.

Check this...

Tommy McClain

 

[iroboto]

Check this...

Tommy McClain

a lot of interesting ideas here I've never thought of. super interesting.

 

[iroboto]

The reason why it can be meaningful to not paint the XBoxOne in too bright a light is for predictive purposes rather than fighting a console war.
Microsofts original reason for the XBoxen was to fight for the living room. That fight has been lost. To mobile media consumption more than anything, but also Rokus, AppleTVs, the TVs gaining intelligence of their own.... It's over, Microsoft can never be more than a small niche player on the back of the XBox. Also, their phone gambit has been a disaster and is being put to rest. That means that a portable console, going up against iOS/Android and the Nintendo Switch has no phone strategy to help prop it up.

And yet their profits soar as high as ever. MS has been around for a long time and many other giants have come and passed. You have to understand, poor performance is not failure. Unable to acknowledge set backs and keep on the same course is failure.
MS hasn't been keeping the course since XBO launched. They have made a variety of corrective measures to right their console business. I don't think you've been following enough current Xbox news if so you'd know they're investing more into gaming now, not less.

I've been hearing this talk of Xbox's demise since 2013. I've only see more investment into this area for MS since.

I know what I would do if I were Microsoft, which would be dropping the XBox, shore up the PC for private use, and look for markets which have strong potential for growth and where Microsoft can leverage their deep pockets and software pedigree to gain market dominance. Looking at Microsofts console situation with rose tinted glasses makes that scenario invisible.

What Satya has done for MS since taking over in 2015 has monumentally turned the company into a positive light. I'm not sure your thoughts on how to make MS succeed would surpass Satya's leadership and success over the company for the past 2 years.

There are 1 of 3 players in the console market with MS shoring up 20-30% of the market with over 1 billion in annual subscriber revenue. It is an extremely hard market to get into with high barrier entry. It is one of their most positive brands they have in which many have associated with positive in the home space. It is also one of their strongest channels to experiment with new technologies and deploy them for the market to see. I'm not sure why you'd think it would make sense to exit.

Minecraft continues to sell 50K units per day...

 

[bunge]

And yet their profits soar as high as ever. MS has been around for a long time and many other giants have come and passed. You have to understand, poor performance is not failure. Unable to acknowledge set backs and keep on the same course is failure.
MS hasn't been keeping the course since XBO launched. They have made a variety of corrective measures to right their console business. I don't think you've been following enough current Xbox news if so you'd know they're investing more into gaming now, not less.

I've been hearing this talk of Xbox's demise since 2013. I've only see more investment into this area for MS since.


What Satya has done for MS since taking over in 2015 has monumentally turned the company into a positive light. I'm not sure your thoughts on how to make MS succeed would surpass Satya's leadership and success over the company for the past 2 years.

There are 1 of 3 players in the console market with MS shoring up 20-30% of the market with over 1 billion in annual subscriber revenue. It is an extremely hard market to get into with high barrier entry. It is one of their most positive brands they have in which many have associated with positive in the home space. It is also one of their strongest channels to experiment with new technologies and deploy them for the market to see. I'm not sure why you'd think it would make sense to exit.

Minecraft continues to sell 50K units per day...

People aren’t discussing if Sony or MS are failures. The discussion is if they failed to reach their goals. I don’t think you need to be so defensive about the topic.

EDIT: I said I was going to run the marathon in under 4 hours. It took me 4:30. I failed to reach the goal of a marathon in under four hours but damn, I ran a marathon!

 

[iroboto]

People aren’t discussing if Sony or MS are failures. The discussion is if they failed to reach their goals. I don’t think you need to be so defensive about the topic.

EDIT: I said I was going to run the marathon in under 4 hours. It took me 4:30. I failed to reach the goal of a marathon in under four hours but damn, I ran a marathon!

He suggested the Xbox fold and divest Iran funding elsewhere which has been a common recurring theme for a great deal of many years now. That was more my response to that.

I’m not so much defensive about the platform going under if it’s needs to, but this stance common comes from a place of misinformation (or selective) as opposed to a place where someone was looking at the business and MS at large. I am frustrated I’ll say at reading these types of commentary especially when it’s obvious the direction of MS is completely in the opposite direction.

 

[Entropy]

He suggested the Xbox fold and divest Iran funding elsewhere which has been a common recurring theme for a great deal of many years now. That was more my response to that.

I’m not so much defensive about the platform going under if it’s needs to, but this stance common comes from a place of misinformation (or selective) as opposed to a place where someone was looking at the business and MS at large. I am frustrated I’ll say at reading these types of commentary especially when it’s obvious the direction of MS is completely in the opposite direction.

Well, we’ll see about that, won’t we?
Yes, I always thought that Microsofts forage into gaming consoles was misguided. And now their justification for doing so is gone, and they aren’t terribly competitive. So... ?

Microsoft shareholders know that the company needs to invest its monopoly profits into new endeavours, and that inherently most of those will fail. However, hanging around in such a space after failure is a fact is pointless. Investors want growth. I’m sure they could create a profitable pizza brand as well. But does it make sense? They are not after modest steady state profits (and even that is questionable in console space). They are chasing the Next Big Thing, and consoles aren’t it.

 

[Globalisateur]

Well, we’ll see about that, won’t we?
Yes, I always thought that Microsofts forage into gaming consoles was misguided. And now their justification for doing so is gone, and they aren’t terribly competitive. So... ?

Microsoft shareholders know that the company needs to invest its monopoly profits into new endeavours, and that inherently most of those will fail. However, hanging around in such a space after failure is a fact is pointless. Investors want growth. I’m sure they could create a profitable pizza brand as well. But does it make sense? They are not after modest steady state profits (and even that is questionable in console space). They are chasing the Next Big Thing, and consoles aren’t it.

Well it really does. MS has always being a company selling software products. Videogames are mainly a software product. Global Videogame market keeps expanding year after year. it's really big now. It has surpassed movie market a long time ago.

So I do think they are right to continue their venture into videogames with their Xbox hardware like they were right to buy Minecraft when they could. Money is and will be even more made thanks to software (games & digital services) sales, not hardware. But they need their own dedicated hardware to sell more software (like Apple, Nintendo and Sony really).

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Microsoft shareholders know that the company needs to invest its monopoly profits into new endeavours, and that inherently most of those will fail. However, hanging around in such a space after failure is a fact is pointless. Investors want growth. I’m sure they could create a profitable pizza brand as well. But does it make sense? They are not after modest steady state profits (and even that is questionable in console space). They are chasing the Next Big Thing, and consoles aren’t it.

If they can secure the video game market on PC, that'd be significant. They can't do that without Xbox - it's a trojan horse.

If they could secure large chunks of the mobile space, that'd be significant. Unlikely, but they do have a USP through Windows Live and Continuum. They can compete with Switch on that level through the same game running on console and PC and tablet, and hooking your tablet up to the TV.

Plenty of filthy lucre out there made a little more possible with the existence of XBox. The console's not a bad idea. It's just that, like Sony, MS are fairly incompetent and keep letting all their golden opportunities pass them by because they can't execute even a moderately solid plan. I think that's almost the case with all businesses. The successes often seem to be more from luck than judgement. When they sit down to plan their future and move to own the world, they seem to get it all wrong.

 

[AlNom]

Maybe they should bring bitcoin mining to consoles.

 

[iroboto]

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/artic...rowing-our-gaming-business-beyond-the-console

By 2020, it is estimated that there will be two billion people playing video games.

And Microsoft wants to reach all of them.

That doesn't mean the firm expects to sell two billion Xbox One consoles over the next two years. It's just Microsoft's parameters of what defines an 'Xbox customer' is changing.

There are up to 144 million Minecraft owners in the world. Each one of them is an 'Xbox customer'. Even the ones who own it on PlayStation 4.

During a GDC pre-briefing about Microsoft ambitions when it comes to cloud gaming, the firm were at pains to talk about its cross platform capabilities. It repeatedly stated how its tools and platforms will work across almost all gaming devices - consoles, PCs, Macs and smartphones. The firm's integrated developer environment - Virtual Studio - is Unity's default IDE for us on Macintosh, for example. Microsoft is not abandoning operating systems or consoles, but it's business is not solely focused on them, either. In fact, it doesn't even need them.

It fits in with the wider trend that's happening on the consumer side of the Xbox business. It's why so many first party games are coming to PC as well as Xbox One. It's why Microsoft has embraced cross-play. If Rocket League players on Switch are competing with Rocket League players on Xbox One, well that's another group of gamers that Microsoft is indirectly reaching.

"What you're seeing here is the transition that Microsoft has been taking over a number of years," says Gammill. "If you think about [Microsoft] Office, for example, it is available on not just our own operating system, but it is also on iOS. We are broadening our wings when it comes to what we want to touch. You're seeing that company philosophy roll over into the game space.

"For us to really grow our business, we can't just play only on our devices, or our operating systems. We really want to touch everyone. If you think about the customer, and in this case the customer being the developer, and what the right thing for them is... it is really about looking at it from a device - or operating system - agnostic lens, and providing them a set of services that they will benefit from, regardless of the platform or device that they are running on."