Interesting, I did not know this. I've just been playing Blizzard games only and holding them as the gold standard. I recognize I'm missing out a lot on strategy (I haven't tried Civ yet) but I guess that's a bit different from RTS.
What MS, Sony, Nintendo should be or are doing next
- Thread starter Nesh
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There are a lot of high calibre developers in the strategy genre. Blizzard certainly do quality, Creative Assembly do quality and quantity and they are almost purebred strategy with the occasional off-genre masterpiece like Alien Isolation. Civ is not my thing but I can appreciate what others see in and why it's only of those terrible 'five more minutes' or 'one more go' at 3am games ;-)
I totally agree with you. As a Phil Spencer fan, I hope they have some amazing strategy behind this, either that or it is just business to have Windows 10 everywhere, but exclusivities are a must in the console world, because people should feel envy of you when you get something you can't -say Gran Turismo or Mario, F-Zero-.
Really I wonder why you are still trying
There is no secret strategy. MS is just significantly drawing back their investment in Xbox as a hardware platform. People should probably stop hoping for miracles and accept that reality.
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Surely the "amazing strategy" is that if you make desired games available to more people (Windows gamers) you can sell more copies and make more money? That is Microsoft's goal as a company run by executives who are accountable to the shareholders who own the company.
Which kind of raises the question why the don't put the games on Steam rather than Windows Store. I also think that having exclusives on your (console) platform really is key if you want people to buy it. I got a PS4 for BloodBorne which I haven't switched on since I finished it, but from Sonys point of view thats an extra sale 
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Which kind of raises the question why the don't put the games on Steam rather than Windows Store. I also think that having exclusives on your (console) platform really is key if you want people to buy it. I got a PS4 for BloodBorne which I haven't switched on since I finished it, but from Sonys point of view thats an extra sale
I think this is probably company politics at play. Microsoft, particularly the business unit (the Windows Division) which runs the store, wants the lucrative retailer cut on software sales that they see Steam taking for games and Apple taking for iOS and Mac App store. That scale of profit margin absolutely dwarfs the entire Xbox business.
I can imagine the larger business units are able to exert pressure on the Xbox Division to restrict games to Microsoft's own store - at least in the short term - as a leverage to get consumers into the store, which is generally the biggest hurdle any new store has. People are largely creatures of habit and shop where they are used too. What drives them to new places is lower prices (which the Windows Store doesn't have) or exclusives. Hell, the whole pivot of tacking on Windows support for Microsoft game exclusives may be driving this as well. Just because a business decision impacts Xbox doesn't mean it's necessarily about Xbox.
Adding to this, the Steam store takes approximately 30% margin off the title.
How do you reconcile this with them launching Scorpio?
MS still need to offer a solution for console gamers long enough to transition them over to being PC gamers, plus providing a solution for those who'll never game on PC.
I don't think this can happen and I don't believe MS think this is a possibility either.
yeah, thats why i wrote "looks like". I dont know wether it was a PS3 game or not, but it looks like was made since PS3 era and then got trapped into development hell.
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Nobody knows what Scorpio is. Scorpio could be as much an cheaper option PC running Windows as it is an Xbox console. For decades Microsoft's single largest revenue stream was Windows licensing but that's diminishing and Microsoft need something to replace it. Perhaps Scorpio will be the cheap PC option that Surface isn't.
Repeating what I said above, just because Microsoft's decisions impact Xbox doesn't mean it's about Xbox. Microsoft have a lot of things in the air right now and it's pretty much impossible to determine their end game but Nadella has worked in most business units within Microsoft and his strategic decisions to date suggest he's trying to introduce synergy in their products and services that wasn't there before - previously Microsoft division's effectively competed aggressively against each other.
While I don't know that Scorpio is not that, I am very comfortable operating under the assumption that Scorpio is not that. I believe Scorpio is to Xbox One as PS4 Pro is to PS4 and will continue to believe that until given a compelling reason to change that belief.
I have been hearing about MS's inevitable exit from the console business for going on 15 years now and that speculation has yet to be credible. I don't see why this time is any different.
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Scorpion and the frog. >:3
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It could be as simple as Scorpio being Pro's equivalent but I find it difficult to believe Microsoft are developing new hardware to be released at the end of this year that will, presumably, be supported for many years to come and yet ignore the moves that Microsoft have been making over the last few years such as developing platform APIs designed solely to unify the software and consumer experience. Scorpio would have had to be developed in a vacuum not be affected by Microsoft's larger strategies like UWP, the Windows Store and PlayAnywhere. Not mention that they want to enlarge the Windows 10 user base so making Scorpio a decent functional PC looks like an easy win, particularly with all the bad press that has surrounded Windows 10 like the shitty update strategies that Microsoft have used.
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Silent_Buddha
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Not just that but to avoid paying another retailer a percentage of sales from their software. It's also key to what I see as their bringing Xbox into the PC ecosystem as well as giving the PC ecosystem a more console/mobile style of convenience and streamlining. The key here is that they do so without prohibiting or hindering the traditional way of doing things on PC (that wouldn't end well for them if they attempted it anyway).
While technically that's what it would end up being, Microsoft are keen on making sure that the Xbox experience isn't a PC experience. While Xbox appears to be moving into the PC realm WRT gaming, I believe Microsoft are keen to maintain the console "experience." That means there's a lot of Windows cruft that is needed for a full blown operating system which isn't needed on a console, so the console can run leaner. That means a console interface which is much more simplistic and streamlined compared to a full OS. As well as presumably less fiddly issues with game launching. Although it appears that console games are becoming more PC like WRT to convenience (both good and bad) on both PS and Xbox.
So while Xbox gamers may eventually be transitioned to PC gaming, they won't know it has happened because they'll still have a console experience versus a PC experience.
Regards,
SB
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I'm not convinced Microsoft want to transition Xbox console gamers to PC gamers (yet*) but they certainly want to increase the appeal of their existing platforms while simultaneously making it easier for developers to release software on Xbox and Windows. Right now, if somebody decides to retire their Xbox and replace it with a Windows PC it is very likely they will install Steam and the existing retailer cut Microsoft receive from Xbox owners for buying through the Microsoft store and/or the licensing they get from third party developers when you buy their game on Xbox, they lose completely. Licensing fees don't exist on Windows and Steam will take the retailer cut.
* if Microsoft's Store ever rivals Steam as a place to buy software, things would be very different.
