Not a great look for Microsoft

  • HarkMahlberg@kbin.social
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    41
    ·
    1 year ago

    “This is really a disaster situation for us given all we’ve invested in content across studios at our GP [Game Pass] content fund,” … “We set a very high bar in 2021 on quality and pacing of content which was awesome to see,” he continued. “But to come off of that year with no big exclusives launching in 2022 is a portfolio planning miss that we can’t afford. If we need to delay launches (understanding there is a financial impact of that) to create more regular beats for us we need to do that. We have to all understand that the situation we are in now is a failure of our planning and production execution.”

    My corporate speak is a little rusty, but if I understand the gravity of this statement correctly, is Spencer implying that GamePass is a house of cards that is only supported by the regular timing of new exclusive releases? It seems like that’s a very risky business model then, and the consequences of GamePass folding would be consumers lose access to a truly massive number of games. This statement would basically make me lose a ton of confidence in the service, and I’d be looking to take my library (and money) elsewhere.

    • Sparking@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      18
      ·
      1 year ago

      The way I would perceive it is that mega-hjts in games are very profitable. A hit sells like 200k-300k at launch. But from time to time, a game hits the cultural zeitgeist and can 3x that. Those are you’re BOTWs and such.

      Platforms bank on having those because they are the big bang for their buck. In Microsoft case, an exclusive like that would move a lot of gp subs. I think that is the idea behind making starfield elusive, and then getting rid of the reduced price trial.

      So when people are busy playing BG3, and then ign gives starfield a 7, and people decide its not worth dropping everything to go and play, it can really mess up a company’s tire venue projections. Poor babies.

    • Klear@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      10
      ·
      1 year ago

      take my library

      You won’t be taking anything anywhere if it goes tits up. It’s their library.

    • schmidtster@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      7
      ·
      1 year ago

      It’s no secret that they are “hemorrhaging” money into gamepass just to be competitive. Would have a tough time finding the article, but there was something about them doing it JUST to keep some games out of the hands of other companies.