Xbox Business Update Podcast | Xbox Everywhere Direction Discussion
- Thread starter iroboto
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It smells like a Steam Deck with Windows. We'll have to see if it's more intuitive than the Steam Deck.
Here’s the Steam on Xbox evidence Microsoft didn’t want you to see
Microsoft posted and removed a new Xbox UI image with Steam games listed.www.theverge.com
Hmmm, interesting move by Xbox if they implement this.
Lmao yes they would be but fundamentally we’re seeing MS Gaming flirting with primarily becoming a third party publisher so they’re trying to reconcile that with the other competing platforms by allowing their game stores onto the Xbox PC hybrid. That way there’s less incentive for having a Steam OS device.
Johnny Awesome
Veteran
Not a 3rd party when they are still putting out hardware. More hardware than Sony even if reports are true.
Moving away from the closed systems like the Xbox 360
I think you’re using a lot of terms interchangeably here which is causing a lot of unnecessary counter posts on this thread. Being a third party publisher implies you are developing content for a platform you did not develop for.
I called this out to you several posts back that I said you were implying that they were becoming Sega. I said that it was absurd because Sega does not have a platform. They only develop content for other platforms. This didn't seem to connect. When you say they are becoming primarily a third party publisher the only way that they could happen is if they are putting out more content on third party platforms than they are on their own platform. In which your implication is that they would make more money producing content for other platforms than their own.
It should be clear that:
Xbox is a platform
Windows is a platfrom
Android is a platform
Netflix, Disney+ etc.
They all offer an underlying infrastructure (Xbox Servers, Users tools, store, development support, marketing etc), tools (PIX, DirectX, XCode, Visual Studio etc), store, development tools to support content and applications built ontop of their foundation.All of them are technically hardware agnostic and all of them who produce software produce more third party content than their own.
So this idea that they are producing more content for other platforms than their own is incorrect.
What you seem to be talking about is how one _accesses_ the platform. Xbox was traditionally only accessible via a console. Netflix was originally only accessible by mail. Netflix has left that old service to something else. Xbox is now making similiar movements but for a different reason.
If we take your words at face value, what you are suggesting is that they will give up the platform to just produce content only. Xbox is by far one of the largest gaming platforms there is today. The difficulty of creating such a successful platform is monumental. You only need to look over to Epic to see how hard it is to even get a successful store up (most played game, + handing out tons of free games each month), let alone the level of subscriptions and layered on services that Xbox provides. MS will never give up on the Xbox Platform. When you have such a massive foothold into an industry that has significant revenue available for decades on end. You're not going to give that up. Every business has to tear down and redefine itself over time. That's just reality of any business. Exiting, that's just plain foolish.
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Steam integration on Xbox could hide a very different motivation than expanding the library. Abandoning the ERA method for game development and betting on Win32 is a decision that indicates an intention to simplify the challenges of game development, but I wonder... what about already published games?Here’s the Steam on Xbox evidence Microsoft didn’t want you to see
Microsoft posted and removed a new Xbox UI image with Steam games listed.
Hmmm, interesting move by Xbox if they implement this.
Jez Corden assures that it is part of a larger plan, where Microsoft seeks to implement a significant change by opting for Win32 as the main platform for future generations.
This change involves the gradual elimination of the "ERA" environment, used until now on the Xbox One and Series X consoles, as well as in running PC games.
This has always raised questions about their ability to take full advantage of the hardware's performance -as you can see in the comparisosn between PS5 and XSX-, as well as a choice that somewhat isolated them from developing games on PC. And this could pose a problem in the future, considering all the years they've been using the "ERA" environment.
Is Xbox getting Steam integration?!
Microsoft just "leaked" an Xbox interface mock up which has Steam game integration.
www.windowscentral.com
I'm saying if the primary driver of growth remains their third party publishing business you can see a scenario where their own gaming platform gets less emphasis and atrophies away or becomes a shell of its current state.
1.) The current primary driver for MS Gaming's growth is third party games from its Activision acquistion
2.) With their titles available on competing platforms, MS Gaming is explicitly aiming for a larger install base and revenue stream larger than what Xbox hardware alone can provide.
3.) If the primary revenue and player growth depends on publishing for competing platforms(which already sell more hw) the Xbox hw as we know it will get less investment and mindshare from within.
4.)We can already see this with Forza and all Xbox titles in the works to come to Playstation which is selling quite well with its hw as well with the rumoured Xbox OEM hw partnership for a handheld.
5.) On PC, MS Gaming is opening its platform to rival storefronts like Steam and Epic and these platforms dwarf MS Gaming's current PC gaming store fronts which undercuts MS Gaming's own in-house PC gaming ecosystem.
6.) Sony and Nintendo are going to continue guarding their exclusive titles even if they provide timed exclusives, MS Gaming is making moves to become increasingly open about bringing its games to other platforms and supporting competing gaming store fronts.
7.) MS Gaming recognizes the value of Xbox as a brand so they wont outrightly abandon it however the simultaneous drive to expand as a 3rd party publisher means fewer exclusive benefits to being within their ecosystem.
My fundamental argument is third party publishing is already the primary growth engine for MS Gaming and the implications for that are listed above. One thing though is if they can make a nice handheld device likely similar to the Steam Deck or even possibly as closed as the Switch. That could be a nice pivot but from what we hear this is not the move they are making at the moment. Its an Xbox branded handheld PC running Windows produced by ASUS. What benefit does one get from staying in this ecosystem if they can get everything on Playstation or Steam or Nintendo?
Johnny Awesome
Veteran
Because they don't get GamePass, which is the ultimate console exclusive
I had Gamepass ultimate from the day I got my Series X in November 2020 until recently when they did the price update. I just went down to the cheapest Gamepass tier. Gamepass Ultimate was a much better deal when Playstation plus(which is a must have if you want to play online) didnt have as many available titles but today you get a ton of old games there. On top of all the playstation exclusives plus now you'll be able to get all Xbox titles on playstation as well. A lot of people will wait to see the reception a AAA Xbox first party title launching for free on Gamepass performs, and if its good they'll but it on playstation. I think this is what will happen with Fable or Blade or Contra, or Gears 6. Alternatively, buying a steam OS device or PC with Epic Games store front gives you a world of all the other games you cant get on Playstation or Nintendo. So you can see how a considerable people will prefer Playstation and or Nintendo + a PC.
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