Xbox Business Update Podcast | Xbox Everywhere Direction Discussion

[rntongo]

Under his tenure, he had to rebuild the entire brand up after Don Matrick closed out all their first party studios. Under Phil Spencer he's delivered FH2-5, Age of Empires 4, Gears 5, Flight Simulator, Hi-Fi Rush, Ori 1-2, Sea of Thieves, Grounded. These are universally acclaimed great games.

I didnt say he didnt have challenges and there havent been some great games. But it lacks system sellers, consistent delivery and lacks variety. I remember on the OG Xbox and Xbox 360 you could play almost any kind of game on the Xbox including some exclusives like Indiana Jones and Superman.

Hellblade 2 was never given a release date until recently. It has always been May of 2024 that I can see from my googlefu.

Ok maybe I remembered wrong, I remember it being delayed several times.

This is hyperbolic. Under his tenure games got backwards compatibility, enhanced BC, Xbox One X was well received, Series X was well received, Cross Platform multiplayer was pushed by him, Game Pass was under his tenure and now. Accessibility, co-pilot, pro level controllers, meeting home theatre audio and video standards. The current motion toward cloud and the purchasing of Bethesda and ABK and Minecraft are all under his tenure. These are moves that the CEO of Xbox should be focused on.

You're highlighting the positives which is good but the issue is the core which is the system sellers the games that make you feel like you want to stick to the platform. It doesnt help when he downplays them himself dont you think so?

And he's done a lot listed above. Great games are under a purview of others, yes it all rolls up to him, but his goal is to strategically position xbox to succeed. He's done his job in that regard. Microsoft is having an issue with being too hands on or too hands off. But he cannot control how every studio makes their games, that is certainly not his job. There is a whole chain of leadership and labour that needs to figure this out and that takes time and experience that Sony has had years to build without any major shakeups.

Okay we agree the acquisitions are a positive, the Series X is impressive hw, Gamepass has great value, but they have had some issues releasing a certain type of games. We agree there needs to be improvements.

These are contradictory statements. Are they total duds or are they great games. Both Starfield and Halo released to 80+ scores. Both still have a strong population of gamers playing them. I won't get into the hate cycle with Starfield, there is an avid group of haters out there for Bethesda RPGs.

As I said great games is subjective, but there are titles that are generally considered great regardless of subjective opinions. Xbox has some like Forza but it lacks in other areas.

It's an indication of bias. As many have said in the past, history is written by the victors. In this case, the dominant platform holder decides what are good games. I do agree that Xbox has not hit the mark. But the good will was squandered well before Phil took the helm.

That has nothing to do with great games. He made a choice to reduce the cost of next generation gaming for people who couldn't afford the higher price points.

Phil saying great games wont shift sales hasnt had any effect on morale at the company or amongst the community? C'mon it all matters. You're the one who said Xbox gets unnecessary hate or negative press, how does such signaling help? I think the problem is the idea that in order for Xbox to grow in the current business it needs to shift sales from Sony. It simply has to make great games first and release them regularly. The rest about the platforms and closed vs open can take place after that. There's been more of a focus on acquisitions and the overall ecosystem which are both good but the focus now needs to shift to delivering on the great games.

 

[iroboto]

Mod:
Perception vs Perspective.
2 people can read the same book or painting and have completely different interpretations of what happened. What they focus on, and what they find important.

Calling people naive and dumb for not being to see the obvious is insulting when you have many senior folks here that have been there through many layoffs or have had to lay people off.

People are welcome to provide their own perspectives and interpretations of what is happening.

 

[iroboto]

But it lacks system sellers, consistent delivery and lacks variety. I remember on the OG Xbox and Xbox 360 you could play almost any kind of game on the Xbox including some exclusives like Indiana Jones and Superman.

Phil saying great games wont shift sales hasnt had any effect on morale at the company or amongst the community? C'mon it all matters. You're the one who said Xbox gets unnecessary hate or negative press, how does such signaling help?

You’re not wrong in that regard. Though the idea of a system seller seems gone. I’ve not seen a system seller in forever. Engines becoming multiplatform has transformed the landscape; and their hardware at its core being the same, we are really seeing a lot of games being a derivative of existing titles.

Perhaps Phil is signalling that system sellers don’t exist anymore. It’s a shitty message, and feels like giving up. But other than a lot of FOMO messaging, I haven’t played a game (outside of BG3) where I would be willing to completely buy hardware for.

People have largely purchased the hardware first and are waiting for the titles to arrive this generation. And I think we can all agree that we are still waiting.

I agree with everything you said though, the messaging sucks for fans. It admits defeat in the traditional sense, but it marks a clear line that Xbox is making moves to transform and survive in other ways.

 

[eastmen]

I

Phil saying great games wont shift sales hasnt had any effect on morale at the company or amongst the community? C'mon it all matters. You're the one who said Xbox gets unnecessary hate or negative press, how does such signaling help? I think the problem is the idea that in order for Xbox to grow in the current business it needs to shift sales from Sony. It simply has to make great games first and release them regularly. The rest about the platforms and closed vs open can take place after that. There's been more of a focus on acquisitions and the overall ecosystem which are both good but the focus now needs to shift to delivering on the great games.

He isn't wrong in what he said. MS would not only have to match but surpass Sony's output in content and they would have to do it for a significant amount of time to start pulling people away from the Sony ecosystem. A single game like starfield isn't going to amount to much in the long run. last year was a banger year for xbox in terms of releases and this year is another big year for xbox in terms of releases. MS suddenly isn't going to suddenly catch up to Sony in consoles sold. Even MS having huge titles with the 360 and buying a lot of 3rd party support wasn't enough on its own to surpass sony. They needed Sony to royally fuck up.


Also to be perfectly honest I enjoy MS's output a lot more than I do from Sony. The diversity of game types from MS is something that Sony can't match or at least don't seem to want too. There are so many titles from MS that I look forward too that I don't know if sony has ever made. What's amazing to me also is I get to choose how I play them. Do I want to play them on my handheld on the go ? on my console in the living room or on my high end pc all on day one.

 

[Cyan]

EXCLUSIVE: Xbox President Sarah Bond has set up a new team dedicated to game preservation and forward compatibility

EXCLUSIVE: Xbox President Sarah Bond has set up a new team dedicated to game preservation and forward compatibility

The backward compatibility program will continue to future Xbox hardware.

www.windowscentral.com

imitating pc

 

[rntongo]

You’re not wrong in that regard. Though the idea of a system seller seems gone. I’ve not seen a system seller in forever. Engines becoming multiplatform has transformed the landscape; and their hardware at its core being the same, we are really seeing a lot of games being a derivative of existing titles.

Perhaps Phil is signalling that system sellers don’t exist anymore. It’s a shitty message, and feels like giving up. But other than a lot of FOMO messaging, I haven’t played a game (outside of BG3) where I would be willing to completely buy hardware for.

People have largely purchased the hardware first and are waiting for the titles to arrive this generation. And I think we can all agree that we are still waiting.

I agree with everything you said though, the messaging sucks for fans. It admits defeat in the traditional sense, but it marks a clear line that Xbox is making moves to transform and survive in other ways.

The problem we had this gen was the pandemic but Sony delivered consistently for the first two years, God of War Ragnarok, Spiderman Miles Morales, Returnal, Horizon FW, Ghost of Tsushima. These were actual system sellers, although your experience may be genuinely different its not a typifying example for the masses. A lot of kids are growing up nostalgic with these games as the system sellers that defined their generation and build good will, like we grew up with Halo. I also understand where you're coming from because you experienced gaming when there was much more novelty than there is today so to you these games are not really different from past experiences, but these are just headwinds in the overall gaming market, as the developers figure out how to provide newer experiences.

I remember playing the Gears hive Busters DLC when it launched and felt like I was getting enormous value for my money on the Series X, I felt like something great was coming with future titles. If Phil knew it would be tough to release a few full titles he should have had like 6 DLCs spread out in the first 2 years with all the incredible IP Xbox has: Gears(check), Quantum Break, Ryse(as a tech showcase partnership with Crytek), etc something short that showcased their system like HiveBusters did but he was really focused on the platform instead of the core gaming and it shows. I personally think there needs to be a change in leadership for positives to happen but thats not possible at the moment.

Perhaps Phil is signalling that system sellers don’t exist anymore. It’s a shitty message, and feels like giving up. But other than a lot of FOMO messaging, I haven’t played a game (outside of BG3) where I would be willing to completely buy hardware for.

To be very honest, I dont think Phil is a credible person when it comes to knowledge about what success is in this industry or what works. I say this with utmost respect and verity. He hasn't shown a great track record in delivering a great gaming experience considering Xbox is in 3rd place in most metrics. There's still the second half of the gen with titles like Fable, Contraband, Gears 6 so maybe he may get some credibility as the head of the company delivering these great experiences.

People have largely purchased the hardware first and are waiting for the titles to arrive this generation. And I think we can all agree that we are still waiting.

I agree with everything you said though, the messaging sucks for fans. It admits defeat in the traditional sense, but it marks a clear line that Xbox is making moves to transform and survive in other ways.

Yes I agree although its us on Xbox who have been doing real waiting, on Sony's system it seems like a recent phenomenon but they've been eating well for most part of this gen.

I agree with everything you said though, the messaging sucks for fans. It admits defeat in the traditional sense, but it marks a clear line that Xbox is making moves to transform and survive in other ways.

My plan was to get the newer smaller Series X when it comes out and then a PS5 pro for GTA 6 and all the games I've missed out on on the PS5. But with the recent business updates for Xbox I may well just build a small PC as a replacement for my current Series X and then buy a PS5 pro. I honestly dont understand whats the goal of having multiple game stores on Xbox. I think its a signal MSFT is aiming to become a 3rd party publisher. I think its going to push a lot of people to the PS5 pro and the nerds like me to the PS5 pro+PC combo.

 

[rntongo]

He isn't wrong in what he said. MS would not only have to match but surpass Sony's output in content and they would have to do it for a significant amount of time to start pulling people away from the Sony ecosystem. A single game like starfield isn't going to amount to much in the long run. last year was a banger year for xbox in terms of releases and this year is another big year for xbox in terms of releases. MS suddenly isn't going to suddenly catch up to Sony in consoles sold. Even MS having huge titles with the 360 and buying a lot of 3rd party support wasn't enough on its own to surpass sony. They needed Sony to royally fuck up.

I think my issue with this is thinking Xbox needs to take customers away from Sony. This zero sum thinking will eventually lead to anti-competitive behaviour. The issue with the 360 from the history I've read and heard was they started a pivot away from the console because of the success of the Kinect and eventually started focusing on transitioning to the "home entertainment" system, while Sony learnt their lesson and started focusing on simplifying game development, starting from the develope experience working backwards.

Also to be perfectly honest I enjoy MS's output a lot more than I do from Sony. The diversity of game types from MS is something that Sony can't match or at least don't seem to want too. There are so many titles from MS that I look forward too that I don't know if sony has ever made. What's amazing to me also is I get to choose how I play them. Do I want to play them on my handheld on the go ? on my console in the living room or on my high end pc all on day one.

Well you're the perfect customer for MS in their current state. The deals on gamepass have been good tbh.

 

[eastmen]

I think my issue with this is thinking Xbox needs to take customers away from Sony. This zero sum thinking will eventually lead to anti-competitive behaviour. The issue with the 360 from the history I've read and heard was they started a pivot away from the console because of the success of the Kinect and eventually started focusing on transitioning to the "home entertainment" system, while Sony learnt their lesson and started focusing on simplifying game development, starting from the develope experience working backwards.

The 360 didn't have any issue with games. The kinect was the end of its life thats like saying the issue with ps4 was psvr. The Xbox one had the issue of them wanting to replicate the success of the original kinect and added it into the box from launch and weren't priced competitively. They also went with ddr ram early on to hit 8gigs and sony got very lucky with higher capacity gddr ram modules being avalible as for awhile it was going to be a 4 gig machine.

MS makes plenty of great games. They are releasing games all the time. The perception however is that they don't . Sony on the other hand is very good at releasing a certain type of game that its base really loves and it has the perception of releasing these amazing games. However with sony when you look at the broad range of games its up to 3rd parties to fill that for sony.

Well you're the perfect customer for MS in their current state. The deals on gamepass have been good tbh.

MS has always made great games and they are games in the genres I love. What was the last W/CRPG that sony first party developers made? What was the last FPS game that they made ? What was the last Tactics/ x-com like game they made ? What about civ like games ? Flight simulators ?

See for me I love those types of games. I actually don't really care for games like Spider-man or Horizon or heck Hell blade. those aren't the types of games for me. But see when I was a young warthog I had a nes like all the other kids my age but also had a pc and would play pc games . I was playing x-com , fallout , ultima, moo , civ and all those types of games.

 

[rntongo]

important part where Microsoft/Xbox themselves are responsible for their own lack of growth, and hence Phil Spencer himself. They didn't need the entire market to grow massively, they simply have failed to compete well against Playstation in the last decade, and have suffered as a result. THAT is a big point Skill Up was making that I agree with completely. Phil is trying to deflect all responsibility from themselves after executing poorly for so long, all while still showing they have TENS of BILLIONS in the war chest that they COULD have been investing in themselves.

I think this is a sentiment shared by a lot of people including myself. I appreciate Skill Up for bringing this up because a lot of people have been afraid of telling Phil which has become a self fulfilling prophesy. On the bright side, there are some titles that could propel the brand forward in the second half, Perfect Dark, HellBlade 2, Fable, Contraband, these are the ones I have the most hope in. They deliver these, it may turn around things. Along with a smaller cheaper Series X, I think this would be a great turn around. I was disappointed Indiana Jones was not 3rd person but I'll be glad if it turns out great and successful because Machine Games makes some really amazing titles and meele combat in first person. Maybe they are also working on Wolfenstein 3. Its wild to imagine just how many IPs MS has that it could monetize by simply focusing on delivering these such games. Its a layup really. But when you read the history of the brand, there has always, always been some diversionary goal that the passionate people on the Xbox team have had to fight against to release these games.

 

[see colon]

He isn't wrong in what he said. MS would not only have to match but surpass Sony's output in content and they would have to do it for a significant amount of time to start pulling people away from the Sony ecosystem. A single game like starfield isn't going to amount to much in the long run. last year was a banger year for xbox in terms of releases and this year is another big year for xbox in terms of releases. MS suddenly isn't going to suddenly catch up to Sony in consoles sold.

It isn't just that last year was a a banger year for first party Xbox releases, Sony released 1 non-VR first party game last year. Just 1. And despite that, Playstation trounced Xbox in console sales. If anyone thinks Phil is delusional about his statement IRT first party game releases turning around console sales, he made that statement about a year ago, and that prophetic statement has played out not just to the letter, but almost in more exaggerated in reality. It isn't just that Xbox's steady release of quality titles in contrast to Playstation's single release didn't bolster console sales, they've appeared to crater, with PS5 pulling away from Xbox in 2023. Though they also didn't meet their sales forecast, again signaling that growth has evaporated in the console market.

 

[rntongo]

It isn't just that last year was a a banger year for first party Xbox releases, Sony released 1 non-VR first party game last year. Just 1. And despite that, Playstation trounced Xbox in console sales. If anyone thinks Phil is delusional about his statement IRT first party game releases turning around console sales, he made that statement about a year ago, and that prophetic statement has played out not just to the letter, but almost in more exaggerated in reality. It isn't just that Xbox's steady release of quality titles in contrast to Playstation's single release didn't bolster console sales, they've appeared to crater, with PS5 pulling away from Xbox in 2023. Though they also didn't meet their sales forecast, again signaling that growth has evaporated in the console market.

Credit to MS releasing more titles last year but Redfall really really let down the brand(It was exceptionally bad) and Starfield, although liked by some didn't help either. Sony had a bad year as well for their standards and that may explain part of the headwinds their facing in meeting growth goals, i.e a lack of consistent revenue generating titles, changing gaming market. Again it all goes back to great games. Sony in a bad year released 1 well executed timely released AAA title and it outsold Xbox who released Redfall and Starfield, two titles that were plagued with issues, more the former than the latter. The market didnt think it was a banger year for Xbox at all although this may not be true for some Xbox fans, the overall market voted with their wallets. Avowed is another title MS need to be careful with. It has potential but if not well executed could end up like another Redfall.

 

[eastmen]

Credit to MS releasing more titles last year but Redfall really really let down the brand(It was exceptionally bad) and Starfield, although liked by some didn't help either. Sony had a bad year as well for their standards and that may explain part of the headwinds their facing in meeting growth goals, i.e a lack of consistent revenue generating titles, changing gaming market. Again it all goes back to great games. Sony in a bad year released 1 well executed timely released AAA title and it outsold Xbox who released Redfall and Starfield, two titles that were plagued with issues, more the former than the latter. The market didnt think it was a banger year for Xbox at all although this may not be true for some Xbox fans, the overall market voted with their wallets. Avowed is another title MS need to be careful with. It has potential but if not well executed could end up like another Redfall.

Yea bout that

NEW EXCLUSIVE RELEASES

• Hi Fi Rush: 87 MC, 89 OC
• Redfall: 56 MC, 57 OC
• Starfield: 83 MC, 85 OC
• Forza Motorsport: 85 MC, 84 OC

NEW MULTIPLATFORM RELEASES

• Minecraft Legends: 71 MC, 70 OC'
• Quake II Enhanced Edition: 90 MC, 89 OC

PORTS

• Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition: 86 MC, 85 OC
• Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition: 83 MC, 83 OC

LIVE SERVICE EXPANSIONS:

• Forza Horizon 5: Rally Adventure: 77 MC, 78 OC
• Sea of Thieves: The Legend of Monkey Island
• Halo Infinite Season 5

MS has a bunch of great first party content. It was more than 3 games . MS released 3 titles above an 80 meta critic that were brand new . They released ports of two more games in the 80mc range and then a efw multiplatform games along with big expansions. They also released redfall.

MS had a great year with a variety of content



This proves Phil's point. You didn't even remember Forza release let alone all the other smaller titles.

 

[Charlietus]

Phil Spencer Is right that even three 10/10 a year wouldn't turn the tide. He is saying this right now, three years after the start of the gen. But what about three years ago?

If they had started this gen with:

A noticable advantage in power, not the almost invisible difference that we have now

Actual marketing campaigns across the world (especially Europe)

A game at launch that was actually exciting (they launched with the medium? Really Microsoft?)

They had they're last chance 3 years ago, but they blew it.

The backup plans (gamepass and cloud gaming) didn't perform anywhere near expectations, so I have no idea what they can actually do.

Even if they spend the big Microsoft money now, it's too late.

 

[eastmen]

Phil Spencer Is right that even three 10/10 a year wouldn't turn the tide. He is saying this right now, three years after the start of the gen. But what about three years ago?

If they had started this gen with:

A noticable advantage in power, not the almost invisible difference that we have now

Actual marketing campaigns across the world (especially Europe)

A game at launch that was actually exciting (they launched with the medium? Really Microsoft?)

They had they're last chance 3 years ago, but they blew it.

The backup plans (gamepass and cloud gaming) didn't perform anywhere near expectations, so I have no idea what they can actually do.

Even if they spend the big Microsoft money now, it's too late.

I disagree.

I think if they actually launch something new next year with zen5/rdna4 or 5 and more ram and couple that with multiple years of exclusive content (that stays exclusive) on the console they can certainly grow the xbox console base.

 

[Charlietus]

I disagree.

I think if they actually launch something new next year with zen5/rdna4 or 5 and more ram and couple that with multiple years of exclusive content (that stays exclusive) on the console they can certainly grow the xbox console base.

Developers aren't using next gen features that much (mesh shaders, ray tracing and ssd for gameplay mechanics), so what would a next gen Xbox in 2026 actually achieve? It would get minor res bumps, minor frame rate bumps, and no new features would get used.
It would be a PS5 pro+.

Games wouldn't be exclusive, Phil Spencer has been clear about that.

 

[see colon]

Games wouldn't be exclusive, Phil Spencer has been clear about that.

Isn't that the way the industry is moving, though? Games are so expensive to make now. That means expenses in the industry are growing. If the console market isn't growing (and it isn't), but costs are growing, the idea that you can make a successful AAA game with a AAA budget and exclude any portion of a stagnant console market and expect to make money doesn't seam to be a likely outcome. It's the reason Marathon is going to release on Xbox, and Sea of Thieves was released on Playstation. It's the reason Helldivers had a day 1 release on PC.

We know from the Insomniac leak how little some of their games have earned despite their acclaim and high sales. We also know how little it cost to port some of their games to PC, and the relative ROI those ports generated. Having games exclusive helps you sell hardware, that you don't make money on. And if you aren't making up those profits with your exclusives, then where are you going to make money? Perhaps by porting your game for a small fee and a larger ROI.

 

[Charlietus]

Isn't that the way the industry is moving, though? Games are so expensive to make now. That means expenses in the industry are growing. If the console market isn't growing (and it isn't), but costs are growing, the idea that you can make a successful AAA game with a AAA budget and exclude any portion of a stagnant console market and expect to make money doesn't seam to be a likely outcome. It's the reason Marathon is going to release on Xbox, and Sea of Thieves was released on Playstation. It's the reason Helldivers had a day 1 release on PC.

We know from the Insomniac leak how little some of their games have earned despite their acclaim and high sales. We also know how little it cost to port some of their games to PC, and the relative ROI those ports generated. Having games exclusive helps you sell hardware, that you don't make money on. And if you aren't making up those profits with your exclusives, then where are you going to make money? Perhaps by porting your game for a small fee and a larger ROI.

I agree, I was just responding to Eastman "multiple years of exclusive content"

 

[rntongo]

Isn't that the way the industry is moving, though? Games are so expensive to make now. That means expenses in the industry are growing. If the console market isn't growing (and it isn't), but costs are growing, the idea that you can make a successful AAA game with a AAA budget and exclude any portion of a stagnant console market and expect to make money doesn't seam to be a likely outcome. It's the reason Marathon is going to release on Xbox, and Sea of Thieves was released on Playstation. It's the reason Helldivers had a day 1 release on PC.

We know from the Insomniac leak how little some of their games have earned despite their acclaim and high sales. We also know how little it cost to port some of their games to PC, and the relative ROI those ports generated. Having games exclusive helps you sell hardware, that you don't make money on. And if you aren't making up those profits with your exclusives, then where are you going to make money? Perhaps by porting your game for a small fee and a larger ROI.

Wait till you see just how much Rockstar is going to make by keeping GTA 6 a timed exclusive to consoles first. They're doing it for both financial and technical reasons. So in as much as I agree with you, since what you're saying makes sense to me for the most part there is no set in stone model. For some titles it makes sense to launch on multiple platforms day and date for financial and or technical reasons. For others it makes sense to make them timed or fully exclusive for financial and or technical reasons. What Phil is trying to push is to swing the pendulum in one extreme position. But this black and white approach can be catastrophic as this gen has shown. As someone mentioned earlier, they launched the Series X with Medium!! I had forgotten just how shocked I was playing that game until someone reminded me here. They put it in a bad position by hyping it up as a next gen title as well. At the time I wondered if Phil actually plays these games. I honestly wonder how before every single issue with a reveal he comes out and says the game looks good or something along those lines. He said it with Halo Infinite before the reveal led to uproar, he said it with Redfall, Medium, Starfield before they had to delay it. I genuinely dont think he has a good eye for nice games. Xbox needs to hire whoever was actually behind the Xbox One line up to head the Microsoft Gaming division. Because Phil couldnt have been the brains behind that launch line up. It was actually good besides Don Mattrick telling gamers to eff off and buy a 360.

Developers aren't using next gen features that much (mesh shaders, ray tracing and ssd for gameplay mechanics), so what would a next gen Xbox in 2026 actually achieve? It would get minor res bumps, minor frame rate bumps, and no new features would get used.
It would be a PS5 pro+.

Games wouldn't be exclusive, Phil Spencer has been clear about that.

Completely agree with this. The messaging from Phil about the business can be a bit equivocal at times but on this he's been clear. And a next gen Xbox in 2026 would be another blunder imho.

 

[Cyan]

Game Pass Will Get to 200 Million Subs in 10 Years, Bets Michael Pachter; Exclusivity Model Is Wrong

Michael Pachter is betting Game Pass will get to 200 million subscribers in 10 years. He also explained why the exclusivity model is now wrong

wccftech.com

In the aforementioned Pachter Factor episode, the analyst also discussed the recent strategy change that saw Microsoft bringing games like Hi-Fi Rush, Pentiment, Grounded, and Sea of Thieves to rival consoles. According to Pachter, the exclusivity model is just wrong and doesn't work anymore.

Why are they bringing their exclusive titles on other platforms? The reason they're doing it is because the Nintendo model and the Sony model of proprietary titles on proprietary platforms is the wrong model. It's a broken model. Nintendo started this in 1985. It worked for 40 years. Sony emulated that in 1995 with PlayStation, Microsoft emulated that in 2001 with Xbox and for a long time it worked and then it didn't.
Supporting your content by managing the distribution on your platform is like a movie studio owning a chain of movie theaters and the only way you can watch their movie is in their theaters. Now, that'll work and they'll make money, but they won't make as much money as they do if they distribute their movies in six or seven different other ways.

 

[eastmen]

Developers aren't using next gen features that much (mesh shaders, ray tracing and ssd for gameplay mechanics), so what would a next gen Xbox in 2026 actually achieve? It would get minor res bumps, minor frame rate bumps, and no new features would get used.
It would be a PS5 pro+.

Games wouldn't be exclusive, Phil Spencer has been clear about that.

MS has enough of its own devs that their games can take advantage of the new hardware.


As for exclusives they just need to be exclusive for a few years and that is enough to have people who are willing to buy xbox for the titles when they come out. If MS is able to capatilize on the hardware for things like AI generated npc's and quests they can of course shift units.


The 360 was disruptive. It was hot off a quick generation for MS of just 4 years and it was a large enough leap with enough forward facing technology that they were able to gain a lot of market share.

A new xbox coming 4-5 years after the series with enough forward facing technology backed by MS's now gigantic development teams could sell a lot of units especially coming right after the ps5 pro that if the specs are true are simply an improved ps5.