Haha interesting choice of words considering Microsoft abandoned Movies Anywhere
I wasnât talking about a next-gen version. In the case of GTA 6, if Helix could simply play the Xbox Series X version while simultaneously being the only PC capable of playing GTA 6, THAT wouldâve been the cool thing. Obviously leadership canât commit another 2020 console shortage mistake and Xbox should anticipate demand (in this hypothetical situation) to have enough Helix consoles on the shelves, while simultaneously ending Series manufacturing to push the new console. Much like in the 2020 console shortage, GTA 6 will be guaranteed sales if you can have a console on the shelf.
Yeah, but just like 2020 thereâs wider issues. Actually that makes me wonder if Rockstar is taking to Microsoft and Sony behind closed doors about progress because with all thatâs going on even Sony will have to prepare console stock. With the anticipated demand a delay would probably affect hardware production schedule plans.
No? Microsoft abandoned their movies and TV store, but you can still use movies anywhere to watch your Microsoft movies & TV on connected platforms. I think new sign-ups donât work because the store is gone, but the program and connection itself does. Itâs how I still watch all the movies I bought on Xbox on YouTube on my phone. Which is actually really cool. Itâs not perfect (it should have more future proofing for if you accidently disconnect or something), but it does allow me to not only still keep my movies and TV purchases but also for them to not be locked to Xbox & Windows devices despite Microsoft having closed the storefront.
I guess I wasnât clear enough, if you havenât signed up you canât anymore but if you connects movies anywhere prior to a little bit after the Microsoft Movies and TV store shut down then it works as it always has.
I connected to movies anywhere eons ago (long before the store shutdown), and like I said I still use it and my library is fully there with all the features itâs always had. Again, it sucks and is just plain bad that new sign-ups arenât allowed, so if by some chance you missed the window then your movies are stuck. But yeah as someone who bought movies on Microsoftâs store it certainly feels better that in addition to their âpromiseâ to support purchases for the foreseeable future, I also can still access the movies I bought on any device through movies anywhere (I still hate that they shut down the store at all though). Seemingly the movies anywhere library is permanently available as well because I canât âdisconnectâ from Microsoft. I just double checked too and if I sign out and back in or sign in to a new device than the Microsoft Movies are all still there.
Edit: Looking up articles around the time, it looks to be a digital transfer of sorts. In theory it should be even more future proofed against if Microsoft stops supporting letting users watch movies and TV. Or at least itâs separate other digital platform my movies rest on so I have a backup for at least just the movies I bought.
Great discussion here the last few days. I was busy at work so couldnât keep up. But would like to chime in with you guys.
Xbox will never go back to exclusives. The short answer is b/c of the regulatory scrutiny they are constantly under. Exclusives are bad for consumers. This is so sensitive, MS mandates this down to all their divisions. If they donât play fair, they hinder MS from growth through future acquisitions (not just gaming).
Brad smith wrote this to help push the Activision Blizzard deal across the finish line. It isnât directly related to exclusives but it shows where their head is at. Play fair. If we play fair, then we expect everyone to play fair.
My second thought is what games would be in play for exclusivity? (I assume we are just talking xbox vs ps here and NOT pc). Letâs break down xboxâs game catalog into a couple categories.
Multiplayer - we all know best chance of success for these games is if they are available to as many people as possible. Take Halo as an example. Haloâs best chance at a resurgence, is if it is available to everyone. imo Infinite should have been multi platform. These games canât be exclusive. Risk of failure is too high.
Long running franchises - games that already had earlier releases on ps. you canât pull the plug on franchises like elder scrolls, fallout, and doom from playstation. This would be a total asshole move that would be looked down upon my regulators.
We are left with single player games that are new IP. How about starfield. that was exclusive. did it move the needle? I have no idea. But letâs say Todd Howard is thinking about developing a starfield series on netflix. would a netflix series have a better chance at success if 100M ps owners had exposure to it? yes.
Counter to everything I just said, I do have a feeling xbox is being a little funny about FH6. I think the delayed ps release is intentional. that move will sell some additional consoles. I think they could have had a simultaneous release on this one.
Good points by you and Sydle above. Iâm in the minority that thinks the this is an xbox campaign was effective. But it doesnât matter, that has run itâs course.
Xbox is trying to market the current landscape and the future at the same time. Not an easy task. We are slowing seeing helix getting revealed. We on this forum are slowly seeing what this future is. But marketing is for everyone and they are trying to promote the benefits of the xbox future without revealing the future of xbox. its like how do you do that?
Guess my point is, once helix is fully revealed it will give their marketing team the focus they need to property message xbox again. xbox marketing is just in a tough spot right now being in between gens.
I agree with you, xbox perception on the internet is poor. I just wanted to expand on they why and possible solutions.
xbox perception on the internet is formed by man children influencers that have large man children followings and do nothing but hate on xbox. I have few ideas how you change that. People can weaponize negativity b/c for some reason humans are built to love that stuff.
this exact xbox is doomed, xbox is terrible, xbox is dying messaging from toxic influencers is even impacting people here. We have to get out of the wars. If this is about boxes sold, we have little idea where xbox is at. Iâve seen the estimates flying around. Add up series consoles, xbone active users, cloud users, xbox pc users and what number do you get? Iâm not going to act like I know but I bet it is a great number. When I hear 360 glory days, I bet xbox has that era crushed by every metric you could think of.
Maybe the solve for the perception issue is xbox just needs to reveal their success. They announce MAUs now, but that number includes mobile and minecraft which is on everything. If they released a MAU number just for core gaming that included console (one and series)/xbox pc/cloud, that would tell people everything is not only fine but probably great. The online negativity canât be countered b/c the public has no idea of xboxâs success.
Great points. This one got me thinking how xbox could market dropping the online paywall. We all know a big reason consoles are subsidized is b/c most people will also purchase a sub service for the life of the console that adds up to hundreds of dollars which makes up for the subsidy.
Marketing this concept is so tricky it actually makes me think they wonât drop the online paywall b/c why give up all that sub cash when you canât clearly communicate the benefits of dropping the paywall.
Its like we know a $800 USD console with no online paywall is actually cheaper than a $600 console with paid online b/c of the required online multiplayer sub, but this concept is just too complicated to resolve on some billboard.
Thatâs how they keep people on the hook, those with smaller salaries that cannot afford that extra 200$ but can pay 10$ per month afterwards, but still end up paying a lot more over the course of the generation.
I think MS needs those Sega Blast processing type of commercials. Like, directly show a PS6 and an Xbox Helix next to each other and go like: Paid Online Gaming/Free Online Gaming, Paid Cloud Saves/Free Cloud Saves, PS5 Only/PC and Xbox in 1 Purchase, and so on. Like really compare and show the advantages of your ecosystem in a clear and obvious fashion so that people see the advantages. Or like a commercial with a kid going back home with the latest COD, and his buddy is on Xbox and playing and then asking his parents for PS+ to play online and getting turned down while his friend is playing online for free.
They need to make people understand that the openess of the Xbox ecosystem isnât just âThis is an Xboxâ, and I think it owuld be easy for Xbox to get the right people to advertise this, and decades of videogame commercials to look at.
Thereâs a risk like you said of this failing and then losing the revenue stream, but if it all goes PC honestly, they will also get a backlash from having an online paywall there. Theyâre effectively stuck between a rock and a hard place.
In no way, shape or form do I want Microsoft to go back to exclusivity. Two years ago, I was pissed off when they decided to start porting games to Sony/Nintendo consoles but after doing research during that time, within a few months, I was over it and realized that for Microsoft, exclusivity simply never worked.
Only one game sold 10m+ in their history which was Halo 3. So since 2001 launch through early 2024, exclusivity simply didnât work for Microsoft. No reason for them to go back to it. For Sony, it works for the major/big IPâs but the rest bomb/fail to meet expectations. Nintendo is truly the only one of the three hardware manufacturers that dominate with exclusivity but thereâs a reason for that, they barely get any major third party games day one. Itâs usually years later if that. So where Xbox and PlayStation are literally third party multi-platform gaming consoles/platforms, Nintendo is the exclusives gaming console and will most likely forever stay that way unless Nintendo equals the other two in tech when it comes to their hardware which I highly doubt they will ever do.
Not only that but if Microsoft were to bring back exclusivity, I believe that it would be an even bigger disaster than becoming what they are now because first, the messaging changing yet again for the billionth time is just going to turn off more people and second, they would want to sell the games which means they would eliminate them from being day one on Game Pass Ultimate and when they fail to reach the sales numbers that they want and they will, that will be when Microsoft shuts down more studios, cancels more games and possibly in time, even eliminate Game Pass completely. In no way, shape or form am I going to sacrifice all the studios, teams and games that im getting from Microsoft this generation and in the future just so I can brag about being able to play them while others who donât have an Xbox/PC canât.
I believe Microsoft will stay on course as they should but make the next generation consoles a bigger priority as theyâll be trying most of all to get younger people who would normally just go to PC to go with their Xbox/PC hybrid instead.
The BIG positive out of what will be many for the Xbox/PC hybrid will be in my opinion, the elimination of the online co-op/multi-player paywall which will do far more for Microsoft and Xbox than any single or combination of exclusives.
Great point. I never thought about it that way. This is a way better explanation than nintendo is the unicorn of âexclusivity worksâ.
I actually used to think the 360 was very successful with 3rd party devs b/c xbox didnât have a lot of studios for 3rd parties to compete with. Kinda the opposite with nintendo. 3rd parties prob donât like how nintendo puts their games front and center above 3rd parties.
Today is much different. sony now feels like the platform where sony doesnât develop a lot of 1st party games anymore and 3rd parties have a lot of room to breath on the ps. And xbox gets a little crowded with 1st party releases.
Thatâs the struggle for all of Xboxâs marketing as they advance their current strategy. Theyâre going against the grain and have to change how people even think about this stuff. And the current perception has been built up over decades.
You could also look at it with some additional nuance. Nintendo has a certain loyalty from its users that allows them to save money on development and hardware while charging as much or even more in some cases than the rest of the industry. Nintendo also gets 100% of the revenue from all first party. Their business model is very reliable on that sense. Playstation has become the default home console, but as a result the majority of their gamers just buy a Playstation solely for third party games, and we know most PS gamers send the majority of their time in the same handful of forever games. Playstation sees a lot of engament from a strong pool of monthly active users, but they are heavily reliant on third party content which they only get a 30% cut of their revenue. Xbox initially used Game Pass subscription revenue to offset being sorta in the same boat, but now first party just encompasses so much that theyâre in a mix of Nintendo and Sonyâs position. COD is still Xboxâs biggest seller every year, but now Xbox owns COD and gets 100% of that revenue on Xbox stores online.
The growth of Xbox first party, stability of Xbox Game Pass, and projected growth of cloud gaming might make it so that the benefits of a lower commission for third parties (like on PC Xbox) and free online is more of a financially viable option than ever before. Xbox first party encompasses a lot of the biggest games across all platforms now.
Iâm curious to see what the final price difference between the PS6 and Xbox âHelixâ (high end assuming thereâs two SKUs again) even ends up being. Because maybe weâre off base and there isnât much of one. Sony might be having as much or more troubles as they try to balance first and third party without diminishing the âprestigeâ of the platform that exclusives bring it.
Exclusives that are only on one piece of hardware are a no-show; Xbox and PC are far more sustainable than that by miles.
However, I would like to say only this in regard to ports to PlayStation or Nintendo, whatever, I can see much value for series going over, but everyone single one now and forever? Then i would disagree on that idea, I think Xbox is testing still with latitude, and I am thinking that they realise that even by porting certain niche ages and whatnot, that for how many games they make, there are a few of them that in all honesty will not get their moneyâs worth by ports to PlayStation or even Nintendo.
Why do I say this? Simple, honestly, black hole games. Games that are consuming more and more time of casual users and spending significantly less and less on any new game, including those of Xbox.
Now compare that with the likes of PC; itâs always more than just black hole games. There are far bigger communities there that keep on growing, while PlayStation and Nintendo, I suspect, will look smaller and smaller as those on PC grow bigger and bigger. So I say, why should Xbox port everything under the sun when itâs clear as day that some of their games arenât worth the port, simply because these types of games are flooding PlayStationâs market? The same thing will occur with Nintendo.
I mean, Iâm not trying to be annoying here am just saying that I just think the over-priority on PlayStation and Nintendo ports should always be the last thing on Xbox minds, as the priority should be around expanding themselves further on where the actual continuous growth lies, instead of the ones who will shrink more and more as the years go by.
Sorry for the opinion piece; itâs just my perspective on this. Itâs not even me wanting to be petty as hell(God, I wish that was the case, but no).
By putting all their games on rival platforms and these platforms not doing the same, Microsoft essentially tells consumers that they can simply buy other consoles and get a more complete experience.
First there is the where is xbox now and where will they be in a couple years once helix launches. Helix will play everything. Every xbox/pc/ps game. The only exclusive advantage on other hardware is nintendo. so there is an argument to just operate that way now. Launch on other platforms b/c helix will be able to play pc/ps games. there wonât be an advantage on other platforms.
Second is how the business is managed. It seems the xbox studios have a lot of freedom and they essentially manage themselves. Which means they have to prove their value for xbox to keep them around. South of Midnight is a good example. Great game but probably not going to be much of a system seller. Compulsion decides to port to ps/nintendo. I donât know, maybe they sell an additional 100k copies. Whatever the number is. that increases their value to xbox. xbox got the timed exclusivity, a great game pass game, and now revenue from ps/nintendo. Plus, the IP is getting more eyeballs. which means better chance for sequels and potential non video game expansion of the IP. Books/tv/movies. Who knows. Compulsion is a healthier business and can move onto their next game vs being on the chopping block b/c their value doesnât exceed their costs.
Right now, xbox users can play many ps published games. In a couple years xbox owners (on helix anyway) will be able to play the rest.
In a couple years with helix, who will have the most complete experience? xbox will be able to play xbox games plus back compat, pc games, ps games.
At any rate, people buy boxes for a lot of different reasons. I donât think game catalog moves the needle much when they all have thousands of games.
Good perspective, however i would like to say this;
To me, for the last two or so years, it just felt like Xbox put more emphasis on PlayStation and Nintendo with their port, while doing the bare minimum for Xbox as an ecosystem, even with the attention made for rog ally x handheld it just felt very barebones with the way it was markerted, which should have been priority number 1 instead of the last thing on their minds.
Also i think they should be a limit or ease with the ports themselves, they will suffer more long term damage if users start to feel les and less prioritized compared to other platforms, at least that is what i noticed with Avowed(Made a good game, however they did not add much for xbox users and then only added features when the ports for playstation were made, wonât lie kinda felt like xbox users were shafted at the end there and only good what they wanted once the port was made).
Also, I do think having something that truly feels like Xbox and could be a system or ecosystem seller should not be ported to other platforms like PlayStation or Nintendo, primarily because it could give them a bit more value for their hardware, but that is just me.
I donât follow ps super close. But it seems they have shifted to more gaas and less singleplayer. so to me it seems xbox is getting most of their games. could be wrong. I mean they just released a huge one last week with marathon.
I agree with you, ecosystem is important. imo xbox ecosystem is great now, and will be the best once next gen starts.
I canât prove this, I just listen to the podcast so will repeat what they say. this gen xbox rarely get skipped by developers. this excludes moneyhats. hard to control those.
Good points. play anywhere, quick resume, game pass, etc are differentiators but not as bold and marketable as some blockbuster exclusive.
Is there a middle ground they could go after?
1 vs 100 or similar type thing could be exclusive
Bring back connect for back compat games and maybe some dev has an idea for it. Or maybe dancing games take off again. this is assuming this could be sold much cheaper than it was.
VR - this is possible on helix. Not saying xbox makes their own, but the index and meta quest could work. I say this as a differentiator b/c I have a feeling ps will pull the plug on their headset considering the support they gave it the last two.
Bring back guitar hero - not sure why this would be exclusive. maybe it would have more features on pc or something.
xbox has had their hands full the last few years. integrating big acquisitions, co developing a handheld, working on proj helix. as these big projects get wrapped up it could free up resources for new ideas.
