Sony and Microsoft first party strategy

[chris1515]

It seems Microsoft is taking a very different road than Sony with an orientation towards AA/indie budget (Cuphead...) and Games as a services out of Gears of war, Forza and Halo...

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

The number of first-party games from Microsoft appears to be on the decline. Over the last 9 months, it has launched just Halo Wars 2 (that's as many games as Nintendo has built for Wii U this year). Things look stronger for the next 9 months, but there's still a sense that Microsoft has altered its first-party strategy.

"Right now we are very focused on games that bring people together, who form communities and find ways to self express," Loftis explains. "What we've noticed during this generation is that it is less of a case of going out and spending a couple of hundred million and putting a blockbuster on a shelf, as it is a case of creating a small game that gamers latch onto because it is great to watch, or there are awesome screen clips that you can share with others. We are indexing on that quite a bit."

PlayerUnknown, Sea of Thieves, Crackdown 3 and State of Decay 2, the four main titles that will define Xbox over the next 9 months, certainly fit the bill of this sort of game. And Loftis isn't wrong when she observes that spending $100m on a blockbuster is no more likely to succeed than an inventive independent concept like Rocket League or Ark: Survival Evolve or Minecraft.

 

[bunge]

Is it truly very different or just part of instead of all of the path? I mean, Sony may make blockbusters but they certainly don't limit themselves to them.

Regardless, it's nice to see some clarification.

 

[chris1515]

Is it truly very different or just part of instead of all of the path? I mean, Sony may make blockbusters but they certainly don't limit themselves to them.

Regardless, it's nice to see some clarification.

I never said that Sony does not do some AA title but they invest in AAA title out of games as service games..

 

[AlNom]

Now gimme Halo Mega Bloks with the horde mode that looked like it had more interesting gameplay than anything 343i has done so far.

Gears 4 horde is fine, but what's the point in paying for loot boxes when you still have to play a fuckton of hours (that's a source for in-game currency anyway) just to be able to use more of the class cards simultaneously?

 

[RancidLunchmeat]

I wonder if Loftis has also noticed during this generation that a dearth of first party AAA titles has resulted in lackluster sales and provides little potential for future optimism that those sales trends will improve.

 

[DrJay24]

X1X shores up some of the customer base and revenue that MS have been bleeding (but by no means all our even most of it) and begins to reestablish some of MS's reputation as a provider for the core gamer. It also sets out MS's vision as a platform provider.

What it isn't helping with is the lack of first party games. The war over power ended in 2014, MS is fighting a battle of the past. People are buying $200 consoles and are looking for SW. There is a reason Switch is selling well, it isn't teraflops, its games.

 

[function]

What it isn't helping with is the lack of first party games. The war over power ended in 2014, MS is fighting a battle of the past. People are buying $200 consoles and are looking for SW. There is a reason Switch is selling well, it isn't teraflops, its games.

There are always going to be people looking for something better, there's nothing wrong with making a device to sell to them. There are 4K TVs now - there weren't in 2013.

The lack of first party games is something I see as a separate issue that MS have been sadly unwilling to address. I suspect the pressure to keep costs on content development down comes from above, and follows the farcical start to this generation when MS wanted to be a TV studio.

 

[iroboto]

There are always going to be people looking for something better, there's nothing wrong with making a device to sell to them. There are 4K TVs now - there weren't in 2013.

The lack of first party games is something I see as a separate issue that MS have been sadly unwilling to address. I suspect the pressure to keep costs on content development down comes from above, and follows the farcical start to this generation when MS wanted to be a TV studio.

what if PUBG goes to sell 8 million?

Doesn't that surpass the combined sales of multiple exclusives? Because I'm pretty sure that would put it up there for top 10 games. 1 or many? hmmm.

 

[BRiT]

MS could always do Sony's style of remakes of remakes that sucker gamers to spend another $60 - $120 for the same game they bought a decade ago.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

MS could always do Sony's style of remakes of remakes that sucker gamers to spend another $60 - $120 for the same game they bought a decade ago.

Sony can only keep doing this because they have loads of amazeballs first-party exclusive IP. MS have done that as much as they can with Halo but that's where their first party line-up ends.

 

[DrJay24]

MS could always do Sony's style of remakes of remakes that sucker gamers to spend another $60 - $120 for the same game they bought a decade ago.

i have the Halo collection and Gear remaster, seems like MS is that business too. Half of the Switch catalog is remasters at this point. Frankly I'd rather pay money for new versions of great games than BC versions for free. I would never, never play the PS2 version of Shadow of Colossus, its ugly and janky, The Ps4 version looks like a whole new game. The same is true for Halo 1, I just can't stomach old graphics. I can go one gen back at best.

Hell I want more remasters, I'm disappointed that I never got a PS4 collection for Infamous and Motorstorm. The best thing about remasters is you don't have to buy them. More games is always better than less.

 

[BRiT]

Sony can only keep doing this because they have loads of amazeballs first-party exclusive IP. MS have done that as much as they can with Halo but that's where their first party line-up ends.

Only for the Halo anniversaries, while Sony does it for their titles every Console Generation because they dont have BC. Just have a look at the PS4 game threads for all the remakes of remakes.

 

[BRiT]

@DrJay24 I think Nintendo is the largest offender of remaking their games, especially Mario titles where the levels have been identical from NES to SNES to Nintendo64 to GameCube to Wii to WiiU to Switch.

As to the more games is better, that's where BC is a huge benefit.

Do you really want to buy The Shadow of the Colossus remake of a remake when/if you cant play the PS4Pro version on the PS5?

 

[bunge]

Only for the Halo anniversaries....

Or Forza.

 

[iroboto]

Once again I thought the reason we don’t do list wars is because it’s a pointless exercise it only describing the games you are interested in.

It’s pretty clear XBO has more in the pipeline than that, but no one who is interested in the PS list is interested in the XBO list and vice versa.

 

[BRiT]

Or Forza.

Those are not remakes. Those are seasonal refreshes. I'm talking about remakes of remakes like Shadow of the Colossus or The Last Of Us or Mario. The ones that are genuine remakes.

 

[BRiT]

Once again I thought the reason we don’t do list wars is because it’s a pointless exercise it only describing the games you are interested in.

It’s pretty clear XBO has more in the pipeline than that, but no one who is interested in the PS list is interested in the XBO list and vice versa.

Yes, that's why I'm refraining from continuing further except to point out the following.

If people can make the statement of "MS has no games" then others can make the related statement of "Sony only has remakes". Now everyone should see how equally nuanced and wrong both statements are.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Once again I thought the reason we don’t do list wars is because it’s a pointless exercise it only describing the games you are interested in.

It’s pretty clear XBO has more in the pipeline than that, but no one who is interested in the PS list is interested in the XBO list and vice versa.

I got my list from a Google search from, I presume, a neutral site - the same site lists all the platforms. Though list wars are dumb, presenting statistical basis for arguments isn't. Faced with an allegation that Sony just make rehashes of remakes, or even those constitute a large part of Sony's first party library, I submit evidence to the contrary. In fact, without reference to statistical data, such arguments are pointless as no-one can prove if Company A is or isn't producing first party titles. However, listing 14 titles that aren't remakes is considered inappropriate list wars so the evidence is removed, leaving the allegation only challengable by posturing.

Maybe we should maintain our own officially sanctioned B3D lists if we won't trust other sources? Otherwise what other option is there but ban discussion about game libraries?!

 

[BRiT]

Maybe we should maintain our own officially sanctioned B3D lists if we won't trust other sources? Otherwise what other option is there but ban discussion about game libraries?!

How about doing the intelligent action of recognizing different people prefer different games for different reasons and stop feeding the fires when silly statements are made.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

How about doing the intelligent action of recognizing different people prefer different games for different reasons and stop feeding the fires when silly statements are made.

I replied to your silly, jokey statement with a silly, jokey statement and a smiley. You followed that with an actual argument suggesting Remakes really was a significant part of Sony's 1st party output. I followed that argument with genuine discussion.

If people are going to make claims like "MS has no/lots of first-party titles", and "Sony does/doesn't make anything but remakes", those claims should be substantiated with data. List wars pointing to off-site, inaccurate lists is generally rubbish, but so is making unsubstantiated claims, and both sides should really be presenting numbers if they're available. There'd be a caveat "we don't know what's unannounced" but at least a fair list of titles released and announced is a fair comparison? What's the objection?