@MrPeanutbutterz Last I checked, Microsoft hasn't locked Office, for example, behind a subscription service, and you can still buy a lifetime membership if you want. Most of the other features that MS offers via subcription service were never sold outright by the company. Selling video games individually, on the other hand, is still a lucrative business. It wouldn't make business sense to prevent people from buying their games, especially since Game Pass is never going to reach the heights of something like Netflix due to its platform limitations.
I'm not flaming, I've been responding to your points in a respectful manner, because I strongly disagree with most of what you've said.
@Ainu20 I appreciate your sentiment, but I respectfully disagree. Part of the reason why I signed up for a Push Square account is to converse with people and express my opinions. And sometimes, I'm not able to get my point across without getting into a debate.
For the record, I do like PlayStation games, but I don't own a PlayStation. I primarily play them on PC if I can.
@MrPeanutbutterz Xbox wouldn't have been able to sustain a compelling first-party exclusive lineup with just one or two studios, hence why they bought two publishers.
And, for the record, Microsoft would have never been able to make CoD exclusive to Xbox, even if they wanted to. The FTC didn't allow it, and now MS is legally obligated to keep CoD on PlayStation and Nintendo consoles for a minimum of 10 years.
It's also worth noting that Activision's non-CoD lineup is paltry, to say the least. Activision has released only 4 non-CoD games in the last five years. Blizzard, meanwhile, has released just two games in the same time frame. Losing these non-CoD games on PlayStation wouldn't be remotely catastrophic for the industry.
Making all Bethesda games exclusive to PlayStation, meanwhile, would put Xbox on equal footing with PlayStation and Nintendo. Xbox has long lacked compelling exclusive content, and something like ES6 being an Xbox exclusive (note: Morrowind and Oblivion were both Xbox exclusives at launch) would likely push Sony to innovate in the Western RPG space. In fact, it was Elder Scrolls Oblivion being an Xbox exclusive that incentivised Sony to fund Demon's Souls, which spawned the Dark Souls series. Demon's Souls probably wouldn't exist if Oblivion wasn't an Xbox exclusive.
Last but not least, there is zero indication that Microsoft will ever force people to subscribe to Game Pass to play their games. There isn't a single Game Pass game that you can't go out and buy on the Xbox store. Besides, it would make no business sense to prevent people from buying a game as massive as ES6.
@Ainu20 You do realise I'm talking to a person who said they can't wait for Microsoft to quite gaming, right? I'm not here to console war, I'm here to share my opinion. And I simply disagree with some people on this site.
If you prevent people from arguing and sharing their thoughts in a respectful manner, then this site will just turn into an echo chamber.
Xbox had, like, six studios in the Xbox One era. Definitely not enough to sustain a compelling exclusive lineup. That's why all Xbox released was Halo, Gears, and Forza back then.
"They're a trillion dollar corporation who fluctuate between being the most wealthy company on Earth and second wealthiest, of course they could've got some studios together."
Just because they're a trillion dollar company doesn't mean they can build studios to rival Naughty Dog, Sony Santa Monica, Nintendo, etc. out of thin air. It would've taken ages to build a sizable portfolio of Xbox first-party studios without any sizable acquisitions whatsoever.
I will also note that, although you do have a fair point with Rise of the Ronin, I never mentioned Helldivers 2. Helldivers is an IP that Sony owns, unlike Stellar Blade and Rise of the Ronin. And, in Stellar Blade's case, that game was originally planned to be on Xbox. I was just pointing out in my previous comment the amount of third-party games that Sony has locked away from Xbox players, without regarding if Sony published them or not.
@crackeastwood Spider-Man and X-Men games have been on Xbox and Nintendo consoles for ages; wasn't just referring to their Insomniac counterparts. The fact that Sony has secured exclusive rights to the Spider-Man and X-Men IPs for more than a decade and isn't letting anyone else make Spider-Man and X-Men games is wild.
Fable and Perfect Dark, on the other hand, have never been planned for PlayStation.
@crackeastwood Cool, now tell me how many of these games are major AAA exclusives. Oh right, almost none of them. The majority of these are indie titles and PS5 versions of games that are already available on PS4, and they've landed on PlayStation in just a year or two after their release on Xbox.
Stellar Blade, Nioh, X-Men, etc. are major AAA titles and they will never come to Xbox. Meanwhile FF7 Remake was a five-year exclusive.
And why did you include Fable and Perfect Dark in your list? These games were never planned to be on PlayStation in the first place.
@MrPeanutbutterz I never said platform holders signing third-party exclusivity deals is a bad thing, I said it isn't feasible for a third-place console manufacturer like Xbox.
Xbox would have to pay way more money compared to PlayStation to keep a compelling AAA game off PlayStation (to make up for the loss of PlayStation sales), so it's not a viable business model for them.
You complain about Xbox buying up publishers for exclusivity, but it's frankly the only way that Xbox could have secured compelling AAA exclusives in the first place. Xbox needed exclusives, that I think we can agree on. Since they couldn't sign tons of third-party exclusivity deals in the same way that Sony can, and they can't build tons of studios from the ground up, acquisitions were the quickest and only reasonable way to get exclusives.
By the way, Gears of War and Forza were more second-party games than third-party exclusivity deals, Microsoft still published them at the end of the day.
@crackeastwood Starfield, Hellblade 2, Hi-Fi Rush, Avowed, South of Midnight, Indiana Jones, etc will all be on PlayStation. No one on PlayStation is sad that they're missing out on Redfall.
The Xbox exclusivity for these first-party games is not much compared to the games that PlayStation has taken away from Xbox players:
Silent Hill 2 Remake
Final Fantasy 7 Remake (5 year exclusive)
Final Fantasy 16
Zenless Zone Zero
Honkai: Star Rail
Wuthering Waves
Nioh 1, 2, and 3
Rise of the Ronin
Infinity Nikki
Spider-Man (the first Spider-Man was technically a second-party exclusive since Insomniac wasn't owned by Sony at the time)
X-Men (according to the Insomniac leak, X-Men will be exclusive to PlayStation consoles for a mininum of 10 years)
Stellar Blade (was originally announced for Xbox)
Deathloop
Ghostwire Tokyo
Pacific Drive
Knights of the Old Republic Remake (might be multiplat now, but was planned to be an exclusive)
@MrPeanutbutterz It's so strange that you point out Microsoft buying up studios for exclusivity as if it's a bad thing, when it would've led to increased competition in the console space had MS not chickened out and kept their games permanently exclusive.
Even if Microsoft made all Bethesda and Xbox Game Studios titles exclusive, they would've had roughly the same amount of exclusive content that PlayStation and Nintendo currently have. Plus, building studios from the ground up or signing third-party exclusivity deals wouldn't have been feasible at this stage for a third-place console manufacturer like Xbox; it made sense to buy publishers up, it's pretty much the only way they'd be able to secure exclusive content from major tentpole IPs.
Sure, it would've been bad for PlayStation players in the sense that they'd lose access to Bethesda games, but it would've also been good for them in the long run as it would've encouraged Sony to double down on their first-party exclusive content.
@crackeastwood Sony is releasing so few first-party games that they sign exclusivity deals for third-party developed titles with the sole intent of keeping them off Xbox.
It doesn't matter if they don't acquire the studios outright, when it leads to the same exact outcome.
Nioh, Silent Hill, Final Fantasy, Street Fighter, etc. All franchises that were taken away from Xbox players.
@crackeastwood Microsoft is definitely not looking to spend Sony out of business anymore. Matt Booty made that statement a few years ago back when Microsoft had the balls to compete. Now, Microsoft is helping Sony maintain their dominance and is making them more money than ever with the money Sony makes off of Gears and Forza.
@Fiendish-Beaver 3rd party OEMs for home consoles have been attempted before, with both the Steam Machine (technically a PC, I know), and the 3DO. And, in both instances, they've failed miserably.
A third-party home Xbox console is a disaster waiting to happen. Xbox home consoles can and should only be made by Microsoft; otherwise, the drastically different specs between each Xbox SKU will mess everything up.
People say Nintendo and PC are competitors to PlayStation, but they clearly aren't as much of an enemy in Sony's eyes as Xbox is.
Sony actively tries to take games away from Xbox, by signing exclusivity deals. Meanwhile, they willingly put first-party titles on both PC and Nintendo consoles. The fact that Sony is even letting Everybody's Golf, Patapon, Lego Horizon, etc. come to Switch shows that they don't view Nintendo as a direct competitor in the same way that they do Microsoft.
Microsoft has all but given up on the console race; in fact, they are practically kissing Sony's feet. However, Sony isn't reciprocating the buddy-buddy sentiment. And why would they?
TLDR: If Xbox leaves the console space, Sony will have no competition in the high-end console market, and they'll be free to do what they want. Nintendo and PC are not direct competitors to PlayStation.
@Juanalf I like Halo, but tbh I was never really a big fan of Halo: Combat Evolved. It's just an okay game in my eyes. Didn't really do anything to blow me away. Half Life 2, on the other hand, was mind-blowing.
@ChrisDeku Nah, Master Chief Collection won't come to PlayStation. Microsoft would prefer to sell each Halo game for $40 a pop instead of selling them in a $60 bundle.
@RagnarLothbrok Because almost every Atlus game Microsoft has partnered with has been their fastest selling games ever. Increases sales of their games on Xbox and PC, too. If Sony had the marketing rights to the recent Persona games, then everyone would assume they're PS exclusives, like most Atlus games in the past. That, in turn, would harm their chances of growing their audience on non-PS platforms.
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Re: 'Competition Pushes Us to Innovate': Sony Weighs in on Xbox's Potential Exit from Console Business
@MrPeanutbutterz Last I checked, Microsoft hasn't locked Office, for example, behind a subscription service, and you can still buy a lifetime membership if you want. Most of the other features that MS offers via subcription service were never sold outright by the company. Selling video games individually, on the other hand, is still a lucrative business. It wouldn't make business sense to prevent people from buying their games, especially since Game Pass is never going to reach the heights of something like Netflix due to its platform limitations.
I'm not flaming, I've been responding to your points in a respectful manner, because I strongly disagree with most of what you've said.
Re: 'Competition Pushes Us to Innovate': Sony Weighs in on Xbox's Potential Exit from Console Business
@Ainu20 I appreciate your sentiment, but I respectfully disagree. Part of the reason why I signed up for a Push Square account is to converse with people and express my opinions. And sometimes, I'm not able to get my point across without getting into a debate.
For the record, I do like PlayStation games, but I don't own a PlayStation. I primarily play them on PC if I can.
Re: 'Competition Pushes Us to Innovate': Sony Weighs in on Xbox's Potential Exit from Console Business
@MrPeanutbutterz Xbox wouldn't have been able to sustain a compelling first-party exclusive lineup with just one or two studios, hence why they bought two publishers.
And, for the record, Microsoft would have never been able to make CoD exclusive to Xbox, even if they wanted to. The FTC didn't allow it, and now MS is legally obligated to keep CoD on PlayStation and Nintendo consoles for a minimum of 10 years.
It's also worth noting that Activision's non-CoD lineup is paltry, to say the least. Activision has released only 4 non-CoD games in the last five years. Blizzard, meanwhile, has released just two games in the same time frame. Losing these non-CoD games on PlayStation wouldn't be remotely catastrophic for the industry.
Making all Bethesda games exclusive to PlayStation, meanwhile, would put Xbox on equal footing with PlayStation and Nintendo. Xbox has long lacked compelling exclusive content, and something like ES6 being an Xbox exclusive (note: Morrowind and Oblivion were both Xbox exclusives at launch) would likely push Sony to innovate in the Western RPG space. In fact, it was Elder Scrolls Oblivion being an Xbox exclusive that incentivised Sony to fund Demon's Souls, which spawned the Dark Souls series. Demon's Souls probably wouldn't exist if Oblivion wasn't an Xbox exclusive.
Last but not least, there is zero indication that Microsoft will ever force people to subscribe to Game Pass to play their games. There isn't a single Game Pass game that you can't go out and buy on the Xbox store. Besides, it would make no business sense to prevent people from buying a game as massive as ES6.
Re: 'Competition Pushes Us to Innovate': Sony Weighs in on Xbox's Potential Exit from Console Business
@Ainu20 You do realise I'm talking to a person who said they can't wait for Microsoft to quite gaming, right? I'm not here to console war, I'm here to share my opinion. And I simply disagree with some people on this site.
If you prevent people from arguing and sharing their thoughts in a respectful manner, then this site will just turn into an echo chamber.
Re: 'Competition Pushes Us to Innovate': Sony Weighs in on Xbox's Potential Exit from Console Business
@crackeastwood I mean, I'm just sharing my opinion.
Re: 'Competition Pushes Us to Innovate': Sony Weighs in on Xbox's Potential Exit from Console Business
@crackeastwood Is what I'm saying about Spider-Man and X-Men vs Fable and Perfect Dark not true?
Re: 'Competition Pushes Us to Innovate': Sony Weighs in on Xbox's Potential Exit from Console Business
@MrPeanutbutterz
"I mean, they had plenty in the Xbox One era"
Xbox had, like, six studios in the Xbox One era. Definitely not enough to sustain a compelling exclusive lineup. That's why all Xbox released was Halo, Gears, and Forza back then.
"They're a trillion dollar corporation who fluctuate between being the most wealthy company on Earth and second wealthiest, of course they could've got some studios together."
Just because they're a trillion dollar company doesn't mean they can build studios to rival Naughty Dog, Sony Santa Monica, Nintendo, etc. out of thin air. It would've taken ages to build a sizable portfolio of Xbox first-party studios without any sizable acquisitions whatsoever.
I will also note that, although you do have a fair point with Rise of the Ronin, I never mentioned Helldivers 2. Helldivers is an IP that Sony owns, unlike Stellar Blade and Rise of the Ronin. And, in Stellar Blade's case, that game was originally planned to be on Xbox. I was just pointing out in my previous comment the amount of third-party games that Sony has locked away from Xbox players, without regarding if Sony published them or not.
Re: 'Competition Pushes Us to Innovate': Sony Weighs in on Xbox's Potential Exit from Console Business
@crackeastwood Spider-Man and X-Men games have been on Xbox and Nintendo consoles for ages; wasn't just referring to their Insomniac counterparts. The fact that Sony has secured exclusive rights to the Spider-Man and X-Men IPs for more than a decade and isn't letting anyone else make Spider-Man and X-Men games is wild.
Fable and Perfect Dark, on the other hand, have never been planned for PlayStation.
Re: 'Competition Pushes Us to Innovate': Sony Weighs in on Xbox's Potential Exit from Console Business
@crackeastwood Cool, now tell me how many of these games are major AAA exclusives. Oh right, almost none of them. The majority of these are indie titles and PS5 versions of games that are already available on PS4, and they've landed on PlayStation in just a year or two after their release on Xbox.
Stellar Blade, Nioh, X-Men, etc. are major AAA titles and they will never come to Xbox. Meanwhile FF7 Remake was a five-year exclusive.
And why did you include Fable and Perfect Dark in your list? These games were never planned to be on PlayStation in the first place.
Re: 'Competition Pushes Us to Innovate': Sony Weighs in on Xbox's Potential Exit from Console Business
@MrPeanutbutterz I never said platform holders signing third-party exclusivity deals is a bad thing, I said it isn't feasible for a third-place console manufacturer like Xbox.
Xbox would have to pay way more money compared to PlayStation to keep a compelling AAA game off PlayStation (to make up for the loss of PlayStation sales), so it's not a viable business model for them.
You complain about Xbox buying up publishers for exclusivity, but it's frankly the only way that Xbox could have secured compelling AAA exclusives in the first place. Xbox needed exclusives, that I think we can agree on. Since they couldn't sign tons of third-party exclusivity deals in the same way that Sony can, and they can't build tons of studios from the ground up, acquisitions were the quickest and only reasonable way to get exclusives.
By the way, Gears of War and Forza were more second-party games than third-party exclusivity deals, Microsoft still published them at the end of the day.
Re: 'Competition Pushes Us to Innovate': Sony Weighs in on Xbox's Potential Exit from Console Business
@crackeastwood Starfield, Hellblade 2, Hi-Fi Rush, Avowed, South of Midnight, Indiana Jones, etc will all be on PlayStation. No one on PlayStation is sad that they're missing out on Redfall.
The Xbox exclusivity for these first-party games is not much compared to the games that PlayStation has taken away from Xbox players:
Re: 'Competition Pushes Us to Innovate': Sony Weighs in on Xbox's Potential Exit from Console Business
@MrPeanutbutterz It's so strange that you point out Microsoft buying up studios for exclusivity as if it's a bad thing, when it would've led to increased competition in the console space had MS not chickened out and kept their games permanently exclusive.
Even if Microsoft made all Bethesda and Xbox Game Studios titles exclusive, they would've had roughly the same amount of exclusive content that PlayStation and Nintendo currently have. Plus, building studios from the ground up or signing third-party exclusivity deals wouldn't have been feasible at this stage for a third-place console manufacturer like Xbox; it made sense to buy publishers up, it's pretty much the only way they'd be able to secure exclusive content from major tentpole IPs.
Sure, it would've been bad for PlayStation players in the sense that they'd lose access to Bethesda games, but it would've also been good for them in the long run as it would've encouraged Sony to double down on their first-party exclusive content.
Re: 'Competition Pushes Us to Innovate': Sony Weighs in on Xbox's Potential Exit from Console Business
@crackeastwood Sony is releasing so few first-party games that they sign exclusivity deals for third-party developed titles with the sole intent of keeping them off Xbox.
It doesn't matter if they don't acquire the studios outright, when it leads to the same exact outcome.
Nioh, Silent Hill, Final Fantasy, Street Fighter, etc. All franchises that were taken away from Xbox players.
Re: 'Competition Pushes Us to Innovate': Sony Weighs in on Xbox's Potential Exit from Console Business
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Re: 'Competition Pushes Us to Innovate': Sony Weighs in on Xbox's Potential Exit from Console Business
@crackeastwood Microsoft is definitely not looking to spend Sony out of business anymore. Matt Booty made that statement a few years ago back when Microsoft had the balls to compete. Now, Microsoft is helping Sony maintain their dominance and is making them more money than ever with the money Sony makes off of Gears and Forza.
Re: 'Competition Pushes Us to Innovate': Sony Weighs in on Xbox's Potential Exit from Console Business
@Fiendish-Beaver 3rd party OEMs for home consoles have been attempted before, with both the Steam Machine (technically a PC, I know), and the 3DO. And, in both instances, they've failed miserably.
A third-party home Xbox console is a disaster waiting to happen. Xbox home consoles can and should only be made by Microsoft; otherwise, the drastically different specs between each Xbox SKU will mess everything up.
Re: 'Competition Pushes Us to Innovate': Sony Weighs in on Xbox's Potential Exit from Console Business
People say Nintendo and PC are competitors to PlayStation, but they clearly aren't as much of an enemy in Sony's eyes as Xbox is.
Sony actively tries to take games away from Xbox, by signing exclusivity deals. Meanwhile, they willingly put first-party titles on both PC and Nintendo consoles. The fact that Sony is even letting Everybody's Golf, Patapon, Lego Horizon, etc. come to Switch shows that they don't view Nintendo as a direct competitor in the same way that they do Microsoft.
Microsoft has all but given up on the console race; in fact, they are practically kissing Sony's feet. However, Sony isn't reciprocating the buddy-buddy sentiment. And why would they?
TLDR: If Xbox leaves the console space, Sony will have no competition in the high-end console market, and they'll be free to do what they want. Nintendo and PC are not direct competitors to PlayStation.
Re: Rumour: Data Miner Claims to Have Found Evidence of Halo on PS Store
@Oram77 Exactly my reasoning.
Re: Days Gone Dev Hit with Layoffs, Loses 30% of Staff
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Re: Days Gone Dev Hit with Layoffs, Loses 30% of Staff
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Re: Rumour: Data Miner Claims to Have Found Evidence of Halo on PS Store
@Juanalf I like Halo, but tbh I was never really a big fan of Halo: Combat Evolved. It's just an okay game in my eyes. Didn't really do anything to blow me away. Half Life 2, on the other hand, was mind-blowing.
Re: Rumour: Data Miner Claims to Have Found Evidence of Halo on PS Store
@ChrisDeku Nah, Master Chief Collection won't come to PlayStation. Microsoft would prefer to sell each Halo game for $40 a pop instead of selling them in a $60 bundle.
Re: Days Gone Dev Hit with Layoffs, Loses 30% of Staff
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Re: Days Gone Dev Hit with Layoffs, Loses 30% of Staff
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Re: Yakuza Dev's Project Century Now Called Stranger Than Heaven, Looks Nuts in New PS5 Reveal
I'm a fan of the Yakuza games, but this looks like RGG's most intriguing game yet, even more so than their other titles.
Honestly might like this even more than Yakuza, if it ends up sticking the landing. Cuz the premise seems so inventive.
Re: Gacha Game The Seven Deadly Sins: Origin Is a PS5 Console Exclusive
Not sure why Sony secures exclusivity for every mobile game
Re: New Report Pegs Rumoured Persona 4 Remake for Imminent Xbox Showcase
@UltimateOtaku91 lol that's a good one actually
Re: New Report Pegs Rumoured Persona 4 Remake for Imminent Xbox Showcase
@UltimateOtaku91 Atlus makes more money partnering with Xbox than they ever did with PlayStation
Re: New Report Pegs Rumoured Persona 4 Remake for Imminent Xbox Showcase
@RagnarLothbrok Because almost every Atlus game Microsoft has partnered with has been their fastest selling games ever. Increases sales of their games on Xbox and PC, too. If Sony had the marketing rights to the recent Persona games, then everyone would assume they're PS exclusives, like most Atlus games in the past. That, in turn, would harm their chances of growing their audience on non-PS platforms.