Indiana Jones
microsoft
in Latest NewsletterBloomberg’s Jason Schreier noted that Microsoft’s release strategy is so disjointed that there are three different types of releases happening simultaneously even within Bethesda. Starfield is Xbox-only and so far remains Xbox-only. Indiana Jones will launch first on Xbox and months later on PS5. DOOM: The Dark Ages will also launch on PS5 at the same time.
It’s a disaster, for lack of a better term.
At this point, Microsoft simply has to choose a path and a launch strategy, even if it’s not the one fans want to hear.
This situation cannot be undone now. Pandora’s box has been opened and Microsoft has shown that it is willing to share any game that was previously exclusive, even with its older competitors like PlayStation. The company simply will not back down from this decision, and in some cases, like Call of Duty, it will. It is not possible The same goes for Blizzard’s Overwatch and Diablo games, which of course won’t be removed from PlayStation.
Now, the strategy should be to rip off the band-aid. Turn to third-party developers. Everything launches on Xbox and PS5 at the same time, with one major caveat, of course, which is that Xbox players get all of these games on day one of Game Pass. PlayStation players should buy it. I think that’s the best you can get, given the current situation.
mito
estadio
There is no point in trying to catch up with Sony in hardware sales. According to analysts, the previous ratio of 2:1 in favour of Sony may now be closer to 5:1. Even Phil Spencer admits that there is no longer any competition on this front.
This doesn’t mean Microsoft should stop making devices. Sure, the PS5 plan will further erode hardware sales, but that’s a moot point now. If you want the most convenient and arguably best place to play Xbox Game Pass games, that’s still going to be Xbox, basically. Sure, many will buy a PS5, but right now Microsoft isn’t investing much in significantly increasing hardware sales, so that won’t matter.
Picking one strategy for all games would at least make this whole thing less confusing. Does this mean giving things up to Sony? Yes, but they’re already doing that, and even games you might have imagined would remain exclusives, like Fable and Elder Scrolls VI, are now unsure whether or not that will happen. As Spencer recently pointed out, Microsoft’s Xbox division is still very much a business, which is why these decisions are being made. The part not mentioned here is that hardware isn’t a fundamentally important factor, and Game Pass sales are starting to peak. So you’re selling physical copies of your games on other platforms as another revenue stream.
This devalues the Xbox brand, but what happened? This has already happened. The Xbox community has barely become a community lately in the wake of these confusing PlayStation announcements. What was once the idea of Xbox buying developers to revive the console and build a roster to compete with the first-party studios Sony had long teased is simply not happening anymore. Once again, there is no turning back.
Currently, Xbox is caught between three or four different strategies. Let’s simplify it:
- Launch Xbox Studio games on PS5 from day one at full price.
- Xbox Studio games are being released on day one of Game Pass for “free,” with no confusing new tiers.
- Count on the idea that the best place to play Game Pass games is on Xbox consoles, even if cloud streaming and (expensive) PCs make it possible to play Game Pass elsewhere.
- Admit to yourself that you’ve sacrificed what was once a loyal community in the name of “we want everyone to play Xbox games in as many places as possible,” which ultimately manifested itself in PlayStation releases. You won’t be able to get them back, it’s over.
Is this a great way forward? No, but I’d argue it’s better than whatever’s going on right now, which is a confusing, brand-damaging, player-annoying mess, and a system that tries to do both when that’s no longer possible.
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Collects my science fiction novels. Serie Hero Killer y The Earth Born Trilogy.