Even if Xbox was going full third party you wouldn't announce it all in one go, likely you'd announce handful of ports next week with some kind of recommitment to hardware next generation, similar to the One X. If Xbox goes down the lower spec route a Switch-like could work.

For all the studios they've acquired, I do wonder what Microsoft is like to work with. They've got a history of games either being cancelled or coming out undercooked. How much of that is coincidence? How much of it is Microsoft meddling (or not meddling enough?)

I do think their aggressive Gamepass approach has clawed back some ground but not nearly enough to make a difference. Sony still come out with more PS Plus subscribers than Gamepass and XBLA Gold combined, at least on console.

They haven't had to heavily discount PS Plus. In fact, the price increase doesn't appear to have dented those numbers. And Sony haven't had subsidise companies to appear on their services nearly as much. I know Microsoft have some deep pockets but nobody likes losing money, even if it's for a larger end goal.

As for the consoles, part of their Gamepass numbers will be throttled by the amount of boxes they've got out there. I think they still need to be thinking of hardware because Gamepass is less appealing to a PC audience.

Anyway, feel free to shoot holes in this. Microsoft's strategy has always flummoxed me.

@shindig: Game Pass needs feeding constant content its much cheaper producing that content which tends to favour smaller games because there quicker, but those big games are the ones really driving a platforms growth and new subs, it must create enormous pressure thus causing them to release stuff undercooked.

Maybe switching multi-platform is a way to combat that pressure. They have all those studios and many will already have worked with Playstation ports. Keeps them busy (and employed) and gives the products a second market.

I predicted Microsoft would eventually go the way of Sega years ago. This announcement isn't a surprise. They simply don't have what it takes to survive in the console market, but can survive just selling their software products, like they have been doing from the beginning. They should be proud they lasted this long.

my take re: Microsoft has always been- it isn't a question of capital. they've stacked the paper. and it isn't even a matter of product or hardware- at various points they've delivered performant products (zune, surface line, 360 revisions and Series X) that clearly indicates they can design.

however (and maybe this is a function of the Xbox brand being attached to the business kraken that is MICROSOFT)- their willingness to burn/expend aforementioned capital waxes and wanes such that it never feels like their whole ass is in the traditional video games market. they took an enormous expense on the chin with the red ring debacle, but they came out of that gen with perceived North American dominance. they decided they needed to eat the L- but you could argue they were better for it (at least from THE GAMER'S perspective).

as for today's Xbox- they absolutely could poach leads, bankroll projects, and farm long term dev talent- but current leadership doesn't seem interested in that business or taking on that level of risk (which- from a pure business ROI perspective is pretty ironclad).

think about how many salaries and cash advances the ABK 69billy could finance (with most Sony Style AAAA games having a 300milly-ish price tag). of course that's a reductive calculus, but i just don't think MICROSOFT is interested in owning that space- and so they won't! otherwise they'd be more willing to open the wallet.

@mellotronrules:

think about how many salaries and cash advances the ABK 69billy could finance (with most Sony Style AAAA games having a 300milly-ish price tag). of course that's a reductive calculus, but i just don't think MICROSOFT is interested in owning that space- and so they won't! otherwise they'd be more willing to open the wallet.

Xbox has the same running costs everyone else does regardless of how big their games are, ABK cost $6b a year to run. Using rough napkin math Obsidian have 300 people with a 100k average salary that would be 30m a year to run, its been 5 years since their last major game that would be 150m at least, you'd need to sell 3m copies to break even just for the staff. Outer Worlds sold 5m the margins are often thinner lower down the scale.

Rocco from Mega64 with my absolute favorite response to the "outrage" and calls for protests against Microsoft over the possibility that Gears of War and Halo might be playable on PlayStation:

It's nuts how some of the brand cheerleaders have been acting like wait a week it could be a complete nothingburger.

Playstation & Nintendo have pretty much disappeared from the public eye, they do come across less personable but we don't get the current heads persona being latched onto the brand in some weird way. Spencer & Co are the opposite they routinely interact and prop up some the most toxic people in their own communities and constantly so the rounds with media, I can so easily do without the empty platitudes.

@thepanzini: Nintendo definitely still has a lot of visible fan boys. Nintendo has even had Youtuber programs to promote "Nintendo" Youtubers with official corporate approval. Sony has fanboys too.

Xbox fanboys are just more toxic than most, probably because Xbox "culture" was defined during the Xbox Live era with a bunch of aggressive games that appealed to rude and racist teens. Xbox Live has always been notoriously toxic even compared to other services and I think that segment of their population has a fan niche. There are also SOME less toxic fanboys out there.

I do think the "Xbox betrayed me" people are pretty funny/pathetic. First of all we don't even know what's going on. Secondly, it's a corporation. That's what they do. I'd be a lot less mad about Xbox messing with my digital library (if that happens) than some of the health insurance stuff I've seen, or when companies cut costs on safety features. And I wouldn't care at all if Xbox is just putting games on other platforms but otherwise continuing something like business as usual.

It's like these people consider Xbox a significant other who is cheating on them and as much of a gamer as I am I just don't have that kind of relationship with my consoles.

Well I don't know what anyone was expecting from today's Xbox podcast, but it sure seems like this whole kerfluffle was for nothing. They announced that 4 unnamed games will come to other platforms (but not Starfield or Indiana Jones), and everything else seemed like vague assurances you can still buy hardware. Honestly, I'm not sure what to make of any of this. It doesn't seem like anything of substance came out of this, but there sure was a lot of online panic. What isn't clear is whether Xbox is being oblivious to that panic, or if they just felt that it didn't reflect the majority of their audience. Certainly doesn't feel like anything was shared that's worth delaying a Nintendo Direct over.

I dunno, what do you all make of this? It didn't seem like it was substantial enough to be labeled a "business update" to me.

@allthedinos: There's always the possibility that plans changed after the backlash to the leak. There's also the possibility that the leak was intentional to judge the backlash before any formal announcement. This is not an uncommon tactic used by corporations. Leak something you think will be unpopular, see how unpopular it is, and then cancel/modify it if you have to, but that way you can't be accused of backpedaling or caving to pressure because there was never a formal announcement.

I'm not saying that's what happened here. Equally likely is a leak that just got out of hand and became overblown.

But the update was clearly to quell any panic and prevent people from spiraling too far out of control. Whether it was to announce what was previously decided or just to tell people not to worry and Indiana Jones wouldn't come to PS5, that was its purpose.

@bigsocrates: I'm not disputing any of that, but this was such a weird setup and delayed timing for the content of what they discussed. It also doesn't really change much, as people seem to have made up their minds about what Xbox is actually planning and will probably come away thinking anything that contradicts that in the podcast was a lie from Xbox leadership. This could have easily been a screenshot of a Notes app from Phil Spencer's phone like a week and a half ago.

I guess the funniest part is how they dropped the info that Diablo IV is coming to Game Pass in March. Thanks, I guess?

@allthedinos: I mean if there was no leak this format makes a lot more sense. So perhaps this WAS the plan, the update was planned as a softer way to make the announcement, and they went ahead with it after the leak for whatever reason.

The whole episode is very weird. Though the actual games rumored (Hi-Fi Rush, Pentiment, Sea of Thieves, Grounded) actually make a lot of sense, especially when you consider Microsoft's Minecraft business, and Activision business.

One thing that we haven't discussed enough is that Microsoft is already a major publisher for Nintendo and Sony. So in that context expanding that to include these specific games makes a lot of sense within the business model. I think if they'd explained it that way it might not have set off the firestorm, but maybe if this podcast had dropped instead of that leak things would have gone better too.

Regardless, I don't think they would lie about having new hardware cooking so it looks like at least for now they're just expanding their offerings on Sony and Nintendo platforms to include a few more titles.

The past week must have been their worst one yet in terms of hardware sales as they let speculation run wild, I agree with the previous poster that this could have basically been a Twitter update. Feels like another self-inflicted wound but in the end I'm glad that it's nothing more than this, I doubt that Xbox owners will complain too much about lesser titles getting a new lease on life.

Remember that those Xbox revisions got leaked in one of the trials, wonder if those are still in the plans, now would be a good time to reveal them to prove their commitment to the platform.

I think once again we're all guilty of blowing this thing way out of proportion but it's the Internet. Every leak has gotta lead to the greatest/worst news on Earth and we're not going to be satisfied otherwise.

Xbox didn't confirm or deny anything they just spent 20min talking about nothing, testing the waters with these four and not ruling out Starfield, kinda gives weight to more games will come.

@allthedinos: It was a stream where they were all "EVERYTHING'S OKAY" when its kinda obvious that everything isn't

I really doubt they always intended to announce this multi platform stuff on a random Xbox podcast like happened today. It felt so slapped together, like their hands were tied and they still couldn’t actually mention which 4 games it is because clearly there still are other arrangements in the works (in the hands of the individual devs, or Nintendo/Sony, or who knows) to announce each of the 4 games coming to new platforms.

It just felt like the whole segment was to quell fears and little else, since nothing much is actually changing.

It does make me wonder how they were originally going to roll this news out. Like was some Nintendo Direct just going to be like “guess what, somehow Sea of Thieves is being ported to the Switch 2!” Or was it going to be mentioned at a more formal Xbox presentation in the next 6 months? I don’t buy the intentional leak theory, since this was such a fumbled way to hear about the multiplat games, and today’s segment about it was basically 1 paragraph of text spun into an interminable roundtable discussion. It’s such a terrible way to present the info, but it’s probably the best opportunity they could put together on short notice to address the topic so gamers didn’t spend another month assuming Xbox was calling it quits on hardware.

Does anyone else remember when exactly this happened for Ori & the Blind Forest??

Like, on a Nintendo Direct in 2019, just announced an xbox exclusive coming to another console, being published by Microsoft, and the world not ending????

Ori And The Blind Forest, Former Xbox Exclusive, Is Coming To Switch - GameSpot

That's what i don't get with this past week's discourse, as it had happened already, and it didn't seem to dissolve XBOX into 3rd party only, like SEGA.

I guess people on the internet think this is a "hot take" but I am not surprised that Microsoft will continue to support the Xbox ecosystem AND that more people will get to enjoy fun and good video games on alternate platforms. In fact, I think it is good that more people will be able to enjoy fund and good video games.

Come at me, TimDog?

weird vibes all around on this one. feels a bit like Xbox was caught on back-foot with the leak hysteria, but then responded in a overly buttoned-up and stiff fashion (Phil is usually pretty good at projecting "I'm just a guy, bro." energy- not so much this go-around).

i fancy myself a pragmatist (i usually buy the box mid-gen when there's a released game i want to play)- and i'm sure it's mostly due to them building the plane in midflight- but as someone who was about to finally purchase a contemporary Xbox to play Hellblade 2, i can't say this 'business update' instilled a ton of reassurance. shouldn't i just wait to see if it goes multiplat in a year? or if that rumored bleeding-edge hardware is on the way? kinda feels similar to that subscription anxiety of 'why buy this $30 indie darling when i can wait for its inevitable long-tail release on GP/PS+.'

much to consider. however i'm stoked to give Hi-Fi and Pentiment a shot on PS5- those seem rad!

@zombiepie: I'm all for this take.

Also, Gerstmann with the best final take overall about all of this:

@zombiepie: While the tin foil hat stuff was extreme and premature there is a small grain of truth. How many boxes do they need to sell for Xbox to remain a viable platform? If the next Xbox install base shrinks enough for a few third parties and indies to cut support it could easily create a domino effect. MS were fully behind Mixer until they weren't.

@thepanzini: This is kind of true and was a big factor in my initial post. At the end of the day Microsoft is a company and unlike Nintendo, which weathered the Gamecube and the Wii U eras, not primarily a games company. Sega was forced out of the console business to stay afloat and that can't happen to Microsoft, but on the flip side Sega tried to stay in as long as it could because that WAS its business. Microsoft could get out of games tomorrow with no risk at all to its survival.

On the other hand they've just invested a huge amount of money in gaming, and they put out statements that they're staying in and working on the next generation. So it seems like the near to mid-term are secure. There's a chance that they manage to turn things around (PlayStation doesn't exactly seem to be moving in for the kill with its underperformance and statement of no big first party games this year) and even if they leave the console business they could still maintain the digital libraries on a streaming or PC platform.

In terms of the "indies and third parties abandoning ship" idea...I don't think it will happen. There are still millions of Xboxen in use, and porting between platforms is so much easier than it used to be. This is not Saturn/PlayStation where you practically had to develop the game from scratch for each platform. Newer development tools make porting between PS5 and Xbox much, much, easier, so even if you only get a relatively low percentage boost in sales it's for a tiny cost and probably worth it.

Long term who knows how long consoles with be a thing at all. Maybe Steamdeck and a similar PC platform finally eats everyone's lunch by making PC gaming effortless. Maybe streaming actually starts working. Maybe mobile gets so good that everyone just docks their iPhone and plays on that.

I think that you're right that long term there's a big question about whether Xbox is a viable platform, but I don't think that porting Pentiment to PS5 really changes that.

@bodger0ne: The big difference here is PS5 IMO. That's what made this news much bigger than the Ori ports. Switch isn't seen as a direct competitor to Xbox the way that PlayStation is.

I actually believe in the conspiracy theory. Just because they said during the live broadcast that only those four games were being released on the PlayStation and nothing else, doesn't mean it's true. If Microsoft were in the place they wanted to be in the overall console market, they wouldn't be doing this in the first place. And speaking of Gertsmann, I agree with him about how silly it all is when it comes to the Xbox fanboys. Microsoft's whole "play our games anywhere" approach was eventually going to include the PlayStation. They gave up on the so called console war a decade ago. So fanboys still holding out hope they will overtake Sony or Nintendo, like they were doing before this broadcast, is sad. Truth is, if not for the backlash, I believe they would've made a more committed announcement to doing this. But they had to back track and make a promise I don't believe they will keep years from now.

I'm glad Diablo 4 is coming to Game Pass. Turns out I did make the right decision when I got FFXVI instead, when both games were on sale during the holidays.

@bigsocrates: I don't think anything would happen short/med term likely well into the next generation, but if the hardware is pretty much Game Pass subs you'd have a modest audience that doesn't really buy games. It's not hard to imagine a scenario where Xbox patchy Japanese support dries up and fewer indies, obviously Xbox knows the risk their taking. They couldn't say but a sunsetting plan would be nice, like porting 360 legacy titles and purchases on the windows store etc.

@av_gamer: This is Microsoft. They just bought Activision. There's no way they have given up on trying to dominate the games market some day. They just don't seem to think the future is with consoles, and they're probably right. Will there be consoles in 10 years? Probably but I wouldn't be shocked if there aren't. In 20 years? Honestly I think it's 50/50 as to whether consoles still exist in 2044. I think there's a good chance that games are all app based at that point.

There are a lot of close analogues between Microsoft and Sega fanbases if you think about them. Part of that is because some of the Sega fanbase migrated over, but both companies put out 4 generations of consoles and only really competed for the market lead in the second gen, developing a passionate but also kind of toxic set of fans established during that gen. And both fanbases continued to see their company of choice as just a few lucky breaks away from re-establishing those glory days.

Microsoft announcement few days ago was pretty much boiler plate of what folks like Jeff Gerstmann were thinking.

It turned out that is was only going to be four games, and after teh main video they confirmed it was nothing that interesting. However, they said they didn't want to step on annaumcnet of teams by announcing what THE GAMES were.

Then we find out that the two games for Nintendo that were revealed on teh latest Nintendo directs were two nothing burgers - Pentiment and Grounded will on Nintendo Switch. And, honestly teh two that will come to PS5 and not Switch - Hi-Fi Rush and Sea of Thieves - are so crusty old as not to matter.

What Microsoft s doing is not bad...more games for more players...but it going to be like this where nothing of note will come quickly to PS5 and Switch until it is nearly dead. Again this is not bad from a high view, but it not really going to move a needle on the ground.

To be honest, I think they have to/should do more. To have it on their ecosystem and PC until it dead, but then putting it on other systems looeses any sales synergy. What good is it on PS5 and Switch without a marketing push to sell it? It woudl make sense that it will not sell to it potential in this half-measure way.

It is just my opinion, but I believe they WOULD see more games sold, if they used launch synergy & marketing to be on everything! Maybe that is what they will do, but I say, "shi_t, or get off the pot."

@monkeyking1969: If MS want to be more third party this how you would do it, like boiling a frog start with the smaller/niche stuff then gradually work your way up, shortening the gap between release and port over time. The rumour is Starfield will come after the expansion and Blade still doesn't have any platforms listed yet even Game Pass.

Sony's PC ports cost virtually nothing <$2m you'd only need tens of thousands to be profitable, Xbox cannot fail in this regard. A Nintendo Direct or a trailer on Playstation's YouTube channel would already be better marketing the Xbox ever did, given the potential audience.