Yes, after 100 $ billions worth of acquisitions you get top selling game franchises to put your companys sticker on them. Infinite money with zero identity at play.
Since Xbox has made irreversible damage to the industry, it's amazing to see that this guy still has a job. Almost as amazing as people still rooting for the brand.
I'm really sorry for the developers impacted. MS once again reports record profits and still this is the outcome.
@TenakaF MS has spent 100 billion to catch major franchises that were made popular on multiple systems. Sure, MS will release most of them still on multiple systems, but it's still MS who you are giving your money to. The same company that has a monopoly in PC customer OS market and soon tightens the grip even more making Windows gaming same thing as Xbox gaming - whatever that even is in the end. There's literally nothing good about a major gaming market being dominated by a trillion dollar company.
In comparison, Sony has bought mainly studios that it has worked closely in the past (except for Bungie). The scale is nowhere near MS, because these companies are also nowhere near equal size. Sony doesn't have it's own dominating PC OS that people are bound to because of companies stuck on certain Office- and cloud products.
App or a PC is not an Xbox. It's just marketing people rephrasing something old to something new, just because MS can't sell those actual consoles.
So it's going to be a PC with locked specs that they call Xbox. Why would anyone buy this instead of a PC that you can upgrade freely and install the OS that you want? Of course this make sense from MS perspective, since they have practically a monopoly in customer PC OS market. They have bought publishers and popular franchises so it really doesn't matter where gamers buy those games.
Since nobody on Xbox actually buys games, this new approach just makes it possible to say that Xboxers buy games while MS tries to shove Game Pass down people's throats.
If this approach gains traction the next step is probably gobbling up more publishers and studios, possibly even Steam as the final step. People can say goodbye to every other option not involving MS in some way after that. I have enjoyed using Linux as my day to day OS, even for PC gaming and this raises concerns about Linux gaming support in the future.
I wonder what they think of "backwards compatibility" when it comes down to physical games....
At some point I was worried that MS would eventually publish a game that I was interested in and would be tempted to pause my boycott of their products. Fortunately they continue to shoot themselves in the foot with these stupid practices. Thank you for making this boycott really easy!
@SMJ You are partly correct. Yes, gamers have been making choices leading to this. But then again, what are those choices given to them? Digital/physical ratio is often a bit problematic, since more often than not there is not a choice to be made. There are a lot more digital releases than physical releases.
If you look at MS and what it has done to speed this process:
1) First digital only console from the big three (One S) 2) Bought the most popular franchises that masses play and put them on GP despite the cost. For now, they can get their money back from Playstation and PC, but wonder what happens after that is not the case anymore. Pushing GP is the same as pushing the death of physical 3) Look at the "physical" releases of MS published games. They are a joke. Usually just a installer file on a 50gb disc. Often they just skip the physical release.
Physical media is not just about "a pretty box on shelf". It's about owning things that you bought. And no, an installer on a disc is not owning.
@SMJ Because MS is such a large company, everything it does has consequences. It has a monopoly in consumer PC OS-segment, big role in cloud market and after one hundred billion dollars worth of acquisitions it is the largest publisher. It has the most popular franchises for the masses, bought up without contributing anything to this popularity.
In my opinion they are not removing any barriers, only creating other ones defined by them. Inside those barriers you will play MS owned franchises without the possibility to own physical media. I like console gaming and I don't want to see it become just another PC sidequest controlled by Microsoft. Keep PC and consoles separate things with all their strengths and weaknesses.
That is a damn shame but not really that unexpected. Days Gone is one of my Playstation favorites for sure, but chasing that golden goose has devastating consequences more often than not. Live service-lottery is one of the big problems in the industry right now.
That is so pathetic. When you can't sell your machines, you start calling everything your machine. Even your cat's litter box is now a Xbox.
Well this isn't really anything new or shocking, since they do everything to destroy console gaming as we know it. Ruin physical media, buy every major publisher/ip, pump up the individual release price to bait people into your subscription service. Going full publisher mode and calling everything Xbox suits this disgusting goal perfectly.
Comments 15
Re: Poll: Will You Be Buying Halo: Campaign Evolved on PS5?
Nope. Not buying anything that Microsoft or any entity it has engulfed publishes.
Re: Silent Hill 2 Movie Adaptation Return to Silent Hill Gets First Trailer
Not really getting any Silent Hill vibes from this particular trailer.
Re: Poll: Are You Playing Gears of War: Reloaded on PS5?
Nope, no reason to touch anything MS.
Re: Eye-Opening PS5 Sales Data Reveals Why Microsoft Is Porting Xbox Games
Yes, after 100 $ billions worth of acquisitions you get top selling game franchises to put your companys sticker on them. Infinite money with zero identity at play.
Re: PlayStation Is Bringing Helldivers 2 to Xbox, Out on 26th August
Does anyone even buy games on Xbox, or are they all conditioned to just pay monthly fees without owning anything?
Re: Xbox's Phil Spencer 'Not Retiring' After Dark Day of Cancellations and Job Cuts
Since Xbox has made irreversible damage to the industry, it's amazing to see that this guy still has a job. Almost as amazing as people still rooting for the brand.
I'm really sorry for the developers impacted. MS once again reports record profits and still this is the outcome.
Re: You Can Now Launch First-Party PlayStation Games Through the Xbox PC App
The cult of Xbox finding out in 2025 that PC operating systems have shortcuts for programs.
Re: Microsoft Rivals PSVR2 with Meta Quest 3S Xbox Headset
That magical sticker that had a Xbox-logo on it made the number of people interested in VR and Xbox go from 2 to 3.
Lmao @ Microsoft. This is really a new low at being clueless with too much money.
Re: The Next Xbox Is a PC, So What Does That Mean for PS6?
@TenakaF MS has spent 100 billion to catch major franchises that were made popular on multiple systems. Sure, MS will release most of them still on multiple systems, but it's still MS who you are giving your money to. The same company that has a monopoly in PC customer OS market and soon tightens the grip even more making Windows gaming same thing as Xbox gaming - whatever that even is in the end. There's literally nothing good about a major gaming market being dominated by a trillion dollar company.
In comparison, Sony has bought mainly studios that it has worked closely in the past (except for Bungie). The scale is nowhere near MS, because these companies are also nowhere near equal size. Sony doesn't have it's own dominating PC OS that people are bound to because of companies stuck on certain Office- and cloud products.
App or a PC is not an Xbox. It's just marketing people rephrasing something old to something new, just because MS can't sell those actual consoles.
Re: The Next Xbox Is a PC, So What Does That Mean for PS6?
So it's going to be a PC with locked specs that they call Xbox. Why would anyone buy this instead of a PC that you can upgrade freely and install the OS that you want? Of course this make sense from MS perspective, since they have practically a monopoly in customer PC OS market. They have bought publishers and popular franchises so it really doesn't matter where gamers buy those games.
Since nobody on Xbox actually buys games, this new approach just makes it possible to say that Xboxers buy games while MS tries to shove Game Pass down people's throats.
If this approach gains traction the next step is probably gobbling up more publishers and studios, possibly even Steam as the final step. People can say goodbye to every other option not involving MS in some way after that. I have enjoyed using Linux as my day to day OS, even for PC gaming and this raises concerns about Linux gaming support in the future.
I wonder what they think of "backwards compatibility" when it comes down to physical games....
Re: Xbox's Next Round of PS5 Games Are Available to Pre-Order Physically
At some point I was worried that MS would eventually publish a game that I was interested in and would be tempted to pause my boycott of their products. Fortunately they continue to shoot themselves in the foot with these stupid practices. Thank you for making this boycott really easy!
Re: Yep, PlayStation's PC Games Will Be Playable on Xbox's New Handheld System
@SMJ You are partly correct. Yes, gamers have been making choices leading to this. But then again, what are those choices given to them? Digital/physical ratio is often a bit problematic, since more often than not there is not a choice to be made. There are a lot more digital releases than physical releases.
If you look at MS and what it has done to speed this process:
1) First digital only console from the big three (One S)
2) Bought the most popular franchises that masses play and put them on GP despite the cost. For now, they can get their money back from Playstation and PC, but wonder what happens after that is not the case anymore. Pushing GP is the same as pushing the death of physical
3) Look at the "physical" releases of MS published games. They are a joke. Usually just a installer file on a 50gb disc. Often they just skip the physical release.
Physical media is not just about "a pretty box on shelf". It's about owning things that you bought. And no, an installer on a disc is not owning.
Re: Yep, PlayStation's PC Games Will Be Playable on Xbox's New Handheld System
@SMJ Because MS is such a large company, everything it does has consequences. It has a monopoly in consumer PC OS-segment, big role in cloud market and after one hundred billion dollars worth of acquisitions it is the largest publisher. It has the most popular franchises for the masses, bought up without contributing anything to this popularity.
In my opinion they are not removing any barriers, only creating other ones defined by them. Inside those barriers you will play MS owned franchises without the possibility to own physical media. I like console gaming and I don't want to see it become just another PC sidequest controlled by Microsoft. Keep PC and consoles separate things with all their strengths and weaknesses.
Re: Days Gone Dev Hit with Layoffs, Loses 30% of Staff
That is a damn shame but not really that unexpected. Days Gone is one of my Playstation favorites for sure, but chasing that golden goose has devastating consequences more often than not. Live service-lottery is one of the big problems in the industry right now.
Re: Yep, PlayStation's PC Games Will Be Playable on Xbox's New Handheld System
That is so pathetic. When you can't sell your machines, you start calling everything your machine. Even your cat's litter box is now a Xbox.
Well this isn't really anything new or shocking, since they do everything to destroy console gaming as we know it. Ruin physical media, buy every major publisher/ip, pump up the individual release price to bait people into your subscription service. Going full publisher mode and calling everything Xbox suits this disgusting goal perfectly.