Microsoft's Xbox Series X Exclusive Game Strategy May Play Into Sony and PS5 Hands

Oh MS. Wtf are you all thinking lol. So 'the most powerful" console will have its games designed around the 'least poweful' console this gen lol. Lots of early adopters there

But does this matter? There are many fewer XB1's in the wild, and many many many PS4's. It would be a ludicrous strategy for Sony, but for MS it might make sense. I know if those games are enticing I'd be looking them and thinking I don't have any MS machine at all. And if I have to buy a machine anyway, I have two options - I can get in quick and cheap with the old machine or pay extra and get the new one for better future-proofing. It's a little like Nintendo. 3DS has been the budget entry-point for a while, and now Switch Lite is taking over for it. All MS is doing is setting up that situation out of the gate. Which is probably fine considering that they're moving towards Game Pass as the future. The software will drive the real product in the end, and that's not the hardware for MS.

Hmmmm. Usually the first year of a consoles life doesn't have a ton of major exclusive support anyways from these companies, and multiplatform will be cross gen as usual. But this approach doesn't make people rush out and buy a system either, which seems counter productive to a console first year strategy. Build up sales so when there exclusives come, the player base is there to support. I guess we'll just wait and see.

At least they’ll be on PC. All the better for me and I don’t mind paying £4 a month for a whole bunch of great games.

Pretty sure Xbox series X and ps5 won't be in direct competition,more likely the second less powerful and cheaper Xbox will be ps5 direct competitor

Matt booty 😜😀😳😒😂😁.wtf.hahaha.ok ps5 is still going to win again.thats a fact black.word up son

That Thumbnail XD

I still have to buy one because halo is a true epic. The story and writing has been superb series wide

@ShogunRok it wont have any AFTER 12 months either because they also release all their exclusives on P.C

there is seriously ZERO reason to own a XBOX now a days, with a PS5, a Switch and a P.C you can still play everything released once the next gen starts

No surprise there, seeing as how Microsoft doesn't believe in platform exclusives anymore. It won't matter too much, though. How many years was it before PS4 got exclusives worthwhile enough to sell people on the platform?

XSeX will live or die, early on, based on marketing and pricing, unless PS5 launches out of the gate with some truly monumental exclusive.

Xbox is already Dead...deal with it 😝

wait till you see the quality of the games they think they can put on that games service every 4 or so months from the studios they got wow! I think we all know what kind of games MS will be making? they need a good 5 years to create a good game from scratch.

@Ralizah i'm sorry but i have to say this

XSeX is the follow up to the XBone

@Ralizah from the beginning of PlayStation it has been a selling point, not some new thing that the PS4 came up with.

Halo and gears of war are currently the only 2 games that sell an xbox, unless something radically changes which I doubt I bet 9 out of 10 people will buy a multiplatform game on playstation

I don't think it's a good strategy to limit your new console by still making games for old console for 1 year, especially since the competitor (sony) will have true new gen exclusives.

@get2sammyb Microsoft makes insane sums of money every day - with or without Xbox.

@BarefootBowser do you know how much money it costs to design make & build consoles & then get the places making components ready for a deadline? if what you said was halfway true they would not be making one.

This is fairly standard, no? There's usually a multi-platform period at launch. It did the Switch no harm to have BotW on Wii U as well (granted, Wii U didn't have the install base of Xbox).

I will buy an xbox before a Nintendo console tho, it's not my thing, I'm not into kids games

Wow, now that is dumb. The biggest strengths of next gen are the huge leap in CPU power and the SSD changing how games and data can be streamed, potentially creating vastly different games to what they're capable of now but instead they will design them to work on an Xbox One S 😂😂😂

Shake ya Booty.

Another own goal by Microsoft. Silly sausages.

@roe I don't really see how that prevents a Series S, that console would likely share the CPU and SSD with only a weaker GPU, so it wouldn't really affect game design to get Series X games to run

Why would you buy a mini fridge anyways and if they don't care about the consoles sales then why they don't go third party, nothing makes sense with Xsex or Xbone

Third party games will have their usual cross-gen stuff, but it's definitely an odd strategy to have first-party exclusives games release cross-gen.

I still remember opening and setting up my PS4 on launch and being blown away by Killzone Shadow Fall. Graphic wise anyways lol.

@roe I thought you said next year

Nintendo give games a bad name. They haven't moved with the times, too many child like games no epic narrative driven games just for kids. I pray they go out of business

@QualityGeezer

Is this satire?

@QualityGeezer quite a strong opinion. Even though I personally feel that that's not 100% true,even if it is so what? So they make a bunch of "kid" games is that a bad thing? My kids would be absolutely crushed if Nintendo somehow went out of business and honestly so would I.

In terms of the article, really feels like Xbox is playing a different game, no pun intended, than Sony. They just seem to be more concerned with the fact that you're playing their games no matter where, and subbing to game pass more than selling boxes.

@QualityGeezer and how is that a bad thing, it gives young players a safe place to start gaming at a level they can access and then move to a system like PlayStation as they get older

a "kids system" is just as important to the industry as a hardcore gaming system

@Nyne11Tyme

You do not design the games around the least powerful system. You design the game for the more powerful system and downgrade for the less powerful machine.

@Nyne11Tyme Don't forget that their games will also be on PC. So I guess if their games can scale to work on computers of various levels of performance, then the same can be done for their 3+ versions of the xbox. I'm sure this will make it much harder to tune the games for best performance.

Maybe they will introduce a buy-once strategy where a single purchase allows you to run the same game on previous and new-gen xboxes. Heck, why not throw in a download code for Windows version.

First party games have never been a selling point for me. What Microsoft is doing is good for gamers. Microsoft have been progressive towards the end of the console cycle. Introducing good features for players. Not everyone will be able to adopt the new consoles within the first year due to high costs and also limited games.

@hotukdeals Interesting idea. If they can't compete in the console space, find a way to disrupt it.

They all will be probably coming to PC anyway.

https://www.pcgamer.com/hellblade-ii-confirmed-for-both-pc-and-xbox-series-x/

Same way you can "pre-install" Ori: Will of the Wisps and Gears Tactics on PC Game Pass right now.

@Ralizah Whats the use of a new platform without something special?

@hotukdeals we will see how good those downgraded ports are. And that just is not 100% true. When cross gen titles are developed the largest user base gets the cake. Then its Ported with bells and whistles but still held back by the previous machines limitations. You might be able to find exceptions to that rule but that is not the norm

XBox: we won't have exclusive for at least a year on our next console.

@QualityGeezer: DaMn YoU fReAkInG nInTeNdO, yOu AnD yOuR kIdDy GaEmZ rUiNeD mY uBeR-mAtUrE hObBy, I hOpE yOu Go BaNkRuPt!!11!!!1! GrRrRrR!!1!1!!

Seriously though, it always makes me laugh how people criticize Nintendo for being "kiddy" when:
1) they probably haven't played a Ninty game;
2) they're (usually) simply colorful and non-violent. Apparently that equals kiddy, shake my head.
3) they consider "mature" games that try way too hard to have that tag grafted onto them by spewing F-bombs and showing gore every six seconds. You know who likes gratuitous gore and swearing? 12 year old kids, because only a 12 y.o. thinks blood and swearing make something mature.
4) they probably don't even understand what makes a game good, such as its underlying mechanics, how polished they are, and how they interact with each other in creating a cohesive experience.

The Last Of Us isn't mature because zombies, swearing and guns (to be honest Ellie swearing makes me cringe), it's mature because it approaches storytelling through its gameplay mechanics (and vice-versa) with a subtlety rarely seen in games.
DOOM, on the other hand, is probably the kiddiest power trip you could think of (I freaking love DOOM).

Rant over 🥳

Some people might find the most powerful console provide the best experience on multi platform games to be an enticing prospect even without exclusives.

It might be a slower start but I prefer that approach to also producing a console less powerful that the PS5 that might hold back the next generation.

@hotukdeals Its why i own a Playstation. The exclusive games.

I don't think thats a problem, remember BotW on WiiU/Switch.

@Flaming_Kaiser That's a nice Kaiser.
We need Ryu and Nina back, and not in that phone trash form.

Well it will still have exclusives that no doubt look and run better on the newer hardware as well as all the 3rd party games too. No doubt there will be Backwards Compatibility too but what maybe enticing is that those MS games 'could' (Note I say 'could') be forwards compatible too without needing to buy a 'Series X' version. With Game Pass too and their Streaming option, it could be a seamless transition which may help.

Of course Sony may do something similar with their Exclusives. It would be great to think that if you buy their upcoming exclusives, they would run on PS5 as 'PS5 versions' instead of having to buy the remaster. No doubt they will run on PS5 via BC but if the leaked information is correct, it looks like the PS5 will run like a PS4 (and Pro) - reduce the CU cores and/or clock speed to PS4/Pro specs.

Anyway, time will tell if the decisions end up being detrimental. I get the impression that MS and Sony have a different outlook on their next gen strategies. MS also look to have numerous devices to play Xbox on and that will make a difference for all those games with MP - having fuller lobbies instead of just the few that upgraded.

I am certain there are going to be plenty of PlayStation games that will simply be PS4 “enhanced for PS5”.

Many games won’t ever require the tech at a basic level, and studios like money. There are too many PS4s out there for them to ignore.

For Microsoft the strategy will be obvious: you own an Xbox? Xbox One X? You won’t be left behind.

You want the new games that can’t be played anywhere but Xbox platforms? Buy a new Xbox, most likely the fastest new one.

If Microsoft REALLY wanted to hurt Sony, all they need to do is discontinue Minecraft, release a Minecraft 2, and never release it on the PS4/5.

@playstation1995 bro why are you so immature? word up son

@BarefootBowser It just starts them at a disadvantage. Not giving your core audience a real reason to upgrade means they might go ahead and grab a PS5. It also means the games are less advanced and Sony will be innovating with the new power while MS won't be. Considering the hit their core audience took this gen, taking another hit will be bad. It also means the exclusives don't feel as new or whiz-bang so to speak. I don't like how MS is handling this next-gen. I don't want their sales to decrease, but go up. I'm gonna get a PS5 and buy any exclusives I'm interested in on PC, but console competition to Sony is good.
And as mentioned, they won't be getting that third-party money. Think of how much more money on stuff like GTAV and RDR2 alone Sony must have gotten from a larger install base.

Basically MS are retreating from the console market. Their devices are basically just Steam Boxes for you to play PC games on if you cant afford a gaming PC. This is just taking that even further.

New path, new way and one that may get prove profitable. Subs are what it is all about!

Again this isn't news and a lot of clickbaiting. It's been known for a while about their so called forward compatibility policy. It was a selling point for xb1s xb1x Scarlet (noone left behind, the end of generations, etc) . I always though that was weird and more of a Spencer tradition of telling people what they want to hear. The real news now is they admit that was a lie and after 1/2 years there WILL be 'exclusives" only playable on new gen.

Also this perspective (not new again) makes me wonder about Lockheart supposedly at launch. What's the point if the hardware isn't even meant to make a difference?

Sony already won 9th gen

@QualityGeezer Halo is trash now

Series X is a terrible name

@BarefootBowser After that year is over, and later when we start just making for the PS5 Gen, they will be at a plain disadvantage. The PS5 will have outsold it even more because of that. MS’s core audience also shrunk a fair bit after 360 moving onto X1 so assumed by that can’t shrink is a mistake.
And things have already been shown that wouldn’t work on old consoles. Ray Tracing involved more than lighting, the way stuff love dynamically with it can be used for destruction and other gameplay things. The way a world can load is much faster. A spider-man 2 could have Spider-Man moving faster through a denser world, neither of which could load on old consoles.
Assuming new games can run on old hardware with a bit of a graphical difference is a mistake most make at the start of a new gen. You also have cases like Shadow of Mordor, where the game was rather neutered on the old consoles, to the point of being of questionable worth at that point. It affected it deeply at a gameplay level at it’ll happen again. A lot of games are just already being designed for less power or their aren’t enough new consoles sold to justify making new games just for them yet.
And for third-party games, they’ll either be skipping the Xbox if they make it a policy or more likely Xbox has no control over what a third-party does. We already have a third-party next-gen exclusive with Godfall that isn’t coming to Xbox. And again, when they have a smaller install base when we really transition over to the next-gen, they will be getting less money from third-party titles.
The Xbox One will age out and it’s install base work mean much at a point.

@BarefootBowser the console is the base for it all it is the main thing the rest sprout from it.

Could be that it is cross gen with the One X only (which is pretty powerful compared to the Pro). May not be held back as far as some think.

So Gears 68, Forza 97 and Halo 104 are out 2021 basically? Because Ms don't have any other true exclusives

@BarefootBowser did you forget Days Gone, Spiderman, Until Dawn, Detroit, Order 1886, Death Stranding and the other many Sony exclusives?

Compared to MS which can be counted on one hand.

I think I read somewhere from Phil Spencer that Microsoft are not overly concerned with how many people buy an xbox series x , but more concerned with how many people can they get to join their game pass eco-system . its a different approach , but whether it will or succeed or not that remains to be seen .

Sony similarly offers PS Now on PC but the difference is its not the most viable way playing PlayStation games since you need a Internet connection.

Playstation brand is much stronger than Microsoft and Nintendo in the home market space , but its viable for Microsoft to try to get a foothold in the digital store space since Nintendo has the handheld marketplace on lock down .

as long as all 3 companies are healthy and still pumping out amazing content I am happy. Competition pushes quality games.

One word that depicts future Xbox consoles... "Segaaaa"

You know where Matt Booty can stick that idea?

Course you do!

Interested to see how this plays out. Nintendo has twice launched a system with a cross-gen Zelda game and it hasn't hurt although the successors to those two machines were unpopular and the new hardware launched at reasonable prices for the mass market. Xbox One hasn't sold great but it's not a Gamecube or Wii U disaster either and the next-gen will probably have an entry point of $500, not the most mass-market price tag. Things could go either way it depends on how MS plays this out and if Sony is able to continue avoiding the stupid pitfalls of the early PS3 days.

@makina I totally agree finding all dragons to get the last true form i loved it. Fishing, the story, characters, secrets brilliant.

@BarefootBowser shareholders would not be down for the money spent if the cloud could take on the load would mean millions have been wasted so the clouds profit would never be there. I get you are trying to be positive for them but not how I see it guess agree to disagree.

@BarefootBowser cloud gaming is not getting that positive message from gamers. the majority hate the idea of cloud gaming so I think MS will struggle.
Sonys has had cloud gaming for years & knows that it is not going to take the world by storm for a very long time. Google is finding that out now. I guess time will tell in the end.

@BarefootBowser never felt the games run poorly so not sure why you are saying that it ran them from PS3/PS4 Sony & Samsung TVs & PC now as well. you have a lot of faith in MS I think they will struggle even more nextgen but time will tell.

@BarefootBowser all I can see is the hope of what could be. It will be interesting to see how things are at the end of 2021.👍 my fiber has always ran it perfect

@BarefootBowser not lucky there are millions of subscribers so it must be working ok. well, when Rockstar Announce a game & Focus Interactive announce one there is still a massive difference. anyway will be cool to talk about it in 2021 then we can get a good gist on how it is going 👍