- cross-posted to:
- games@sh.itjust.works
- cross-posted to:
- games@sh.itjust.works
Not a great look for Microsoft
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They are just proving they don’t understand what makes games sell at all then. Anybody who had experienced the early access (they had like 3 years to do so) knew this was a special game. Anybody who tried the DOS series also knew and are probably here because of those anyway. The success of this game was obvious way before it came out. This is just another proof that the people running the business have no idea of what they are doing. They just cannot judge of stuff before they have numbers and it’s why we should get rid of these leeches. So again, the only surprised people are the idiots that don’t understand shit about modern games.
They’re not thinking about these things as games, generally, but specifically how they’ll be perceived by the Xbox audience. It looks to me like they discounted BG3, at least in part, because it couldn’t split-screen on series S. They’re thinking about games you play on the couch, in a group, maybe during a party - not games you play solo for hours or days on end.
That may end up being a self-fulfilling prophecy. BG3 isn’t out on Xbox (officially) yet. We don’t know what their advertising will look like, and it well turn out that everyone who wants to play it will already have gone the PC route.
They’re not thinking about these things as games, generally, but specifically how they’ll be perceived by the Xbox audience. It looks to me like they discounted BG3, at least in part, because it couldn’t split-screen on series S. They’re thinking about games you play on the couch, in a group, maybe during a party - not games you play solo for hours or days on end.
And that’s what I mean. They are wrong on all counts because they don’t understand what makes a game successful. They only consider the monetary success of their own. They also think “xbox” audience is somehow different and want something else than other platform users. Sure couch is cool but let’s not pretend that this is really how people are gaming nowadays. People like all games when they are well made, complete from the start and just fucking work. Throw a bit of good writing in there and you have a GOTY contender. BG3 is just far above that only and that’s why I’m saying if anyone an MS looked into BG3 and Larian and chose not to sign, they are incompetent idiots.
because it couldn’t split-screen on series S
Makes me wonder if they actually took the backlash on Halo Infinite to heart.
Even if they did, it’s after ignoring the same backlash about Halo 5.
They didn’t ignore they backlash, they promised to “always” have split screen going forward.. Only to not even make that promise last a single game. Infinite didn’t even have network coop at launch. At this point no one should trust anything 343 says. Their track record speaks for itself.
Fucking what? Why are they so concerned with couch co-op?
They are concerned with features missing compared to other platforms.
These documents are from 2019 dude, so it’s not like could have tried the early access.
I know, but DOS existed. Larian was already well known for their sprawling rpgs. BG3 isn’t an outlier here. Point is, it was foreseeable if you actually looked and knew what to look for.
“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.
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.
Guess the execs will have to cut back on the avocado toast.
take my library
You won’t be taking anything anywhere if it goes tits up. It’s their library.
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.
How does this guy still have a job? Xbox has just been failure after failure.
Archive.ph version in case you don’t want to accept all cookies or send a carrier pigeon to headquarters to be exempt in the future.
This just gives me endless recaptcha
Weird. I’ve been using archive.ph for years and never had that problem. You sure it’s not your browser or an extension?
Either way, here’s a 12 foot ladder version that might work better for you
For me it has something to do with ublock or pihole. If I disable both the captcha works again but I haven’t pinned down the real problem.
I use ublock origin on both my phone and desktop, so I think it’s probably pihole. Would also explain why lemmy, which has several times more users with piholes by volume than anywhere else I’ve ever been, is the only place I’ve ever come across anyone having trouble with the site.
Still anecdotal, I know, but sounds likely to me 🤷
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Even looking past the “unprecedented “ success of BG3, they were ridiculously underestimating it…
Goes to show how out of touch they are with what people want. They’re so focused on their known market that they completely ignore everyone else.
This article and a lot of people reading it seem to have interpreted second run as second rate. This is estimating they’ll need to offer $5m to get Baldurs Gate 3 on game pass after it leaves PC/Stadia exclusivity.
It looks like the list was created based on name recognition.
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I don’t think they were lowballing; I think they genuinely complete underestimated Baldur’s Gate 3. Their internal documents comparing games coming out classified it as a “second-run Stasis PC RPG.”
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I believe Second run in this context refers to getting the title on game pass after it leaves Stadia exclusivity. This document is pretty old, probably originally written while Stadia was still around.
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Why is this kind of sentiment the norm? Someone makes a miss, they should exit out of the market entirely? It makes no sense. If they mess up, they need to re-evaluate their strategies and come back stronger. The people who win in the end are the consumers.
The competition Vs Playstation alone is worth staying in the game. Forcing playstation to develop consoles and actually fight for sales each generation. sure, they’re winning handily, but it only requires a sleeper hit to turn the tides. Starfield is already selling a bunch of Xbox consoles and gamepass subs.
I can imagine in the future, TESVI, Oblivion remake etc will continue to push sales. If Microsoft did get exclusivity for Baldurs Gate, we’d be looking at a very successful period for Microsoft. Once the stars align, they’ll make a killing.
I’ll die on this hill every time: the Xbox One (the original pitch, with Kinect and steaming, voice commands etc) was over a decade ahead of its time. If they’d pitched the same pitch in 2023 it would have made sense. I don’t think PlayStation should sit too comfortably!
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Am I having a complete reading comprehension failure? “Microsoft would be winning if they got exclusive rights to Baldur’s Gate” isn’t in the comment you replied to at all.
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Oh right, I skimmed over that, but it seems like an aside to their main argument that there needs to be at least one major competitor to Sony in order to prevent a monopoly.
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Firstly, my entire argument does not hinge on that one point. I’m simply commenting on Microsoft misjudging that potential value of Baldurs Gate and not making it an exclusive. If they judged it better, they’d be in a much better position financially and competitively.
Second, Playstation absolutely relies on exclusivity in order to keep their console competitive. Whenever there’s discussion about making games exclusive to XBox, people throw a fit, but it somehow doesn’t apply to PlayStation?
Get your head out of your ass an pay attention to how Microsoft it fucking things up for everyone AND themselves.
Despite the fact that you’re a child and unable to converse without resorting to insults, I’ll bite. Microsoft is a business. They’re losing the console war every generation, and the reason is exclusive games. They’re doing something about it.
With titles like Bloodborne, Horizon, God of War, ratchet and clank, the last of us, Uncharted, shadow of the Colossus, Persona 5, Spiderman etc. Whether they’re timed exclusives or not, they are console sellers for PlayStation. I can’t think off the top of my head, any exclusives for Microsoft besides Gears of War back in the day that I cared about. They messed up Halo infinite, Forza is meh, and everything else is also old. They need exclusives to balance the board and to stay competitive.
Microsoft also offers all their ‘exclusives’ on PC and GamePass, so even though they’re exclusive, they’re still far more available than PlayStation games, which typically come out on PC a few days after, and sometimes as Terrible ports.
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Ubisoft’s Just Dance
Will it be assassins dancing? If so, I’ll consider it.
Shimmy shimmy, coco pop, shimmy shimmy, STAB!
