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[DeepEnigma]

Of course we can deny it. This is NeoGAF. We can deny anything.

You're not real. I deny your existence!

 

[Markio128]

Not the point my dude.

I guess not, but it has been a tough year for the green rats and I’m not one to kick a man while he’s down. There’s no denying that xbox owners, including myself, deserve better, when we’ve invested in a shiny new console.

 

[ReBurn]

You're not real. I deny your existence!

How can we be real if our eyes aren't real?

 

[MatrixReloaded101]

Phil has already said they are aware of the issues with the lack of AAA games. So helpfully they can get some games out next year.

 

[Pelta88]

The number of studios a publishers owns is irrelevant. How those studios are managed is absolutely crucial.

 

[solidus12]

This is not a news article. This is not journalism. This was not written by Forbes. This is one person's third-party opinion piece uploaded to the Forbes website. It's fluff, and should not be respected any more than your average tweet or forum post.

These are the same types of Forbes contributors that upload words just to brag about their kids.

 

[SlimySnake]

This is not a news article. This is not journalism. This was not written by Forbes. This is one person's third-party opinion piece uploaded to the Forbes website. It's fluff, and should not be respected any more than your average tweet or forum post.

These are the same types of Forbes contribitors that upload words just to brag about their kids.

Tassi has been writing for Forbes for almost a decade now. He's more of a journalist than the douches who review games handing out 10s and then join the same company.

 

[Markio128]

Tassi has been writing for Forbes for almost a decade now. He's more of a journalist than the douches who review games handing out 10s and then join the same company.

 

[ComputerBlue]

i know people are sick of waiting, and exclusives wise its been an abysmal first two years for the console.

good thing is this time there is actually light at end of tunnel, fingers crossed

The problem is that people have been saying and expecting the same thing since the release of Xbox One. Oh it’s just a couple years off, just a few years off, where the fuck are these games? Phil Spencer is the biggest snake oil salesman in the industry, dude has been selling the same lie for years.

 

[ReBurn]

The number of studios a publishers owns is irrelevant. How those studios are managed is absolutely crucial.

They should be managed in a way that ensures at least one excellent huge game per quarter or there is severe punishment.

 

[Gudji]

Phil has already said they are aware of the issues with the lack of AAA games. So helpfully they can get some games out next year.

The issue is that Phil is aware of this since he was head of XGS back in the X360 days.

 

[GHG]

They should be managed in a way that ensures at least one excellent huge game per quarter or there is severe punishment.

If the punishment is Phil getting the boot and them replacing him with Peter Moore then I'm down.

 

[ComputerBlue]

90% of journalism, is.

Fixed.

 

[Banjo64]

I have not faith in their leadership team to actually get a cohesive system in place that ensures quality. However. I believe they have some amazing self-motivated teams like Bethesda GS, id Software, Obsidian and Playground. So hopefully there will still be some good games to come. And you know what, I’ll even include Rare in their list of good studios, because they are good. Deal with it.

 

[Topher]

Plenty of PlayStation fans tell Phil and the entire Xbox team their thoughts regularly on Twitter.

I wonder who gets all that candy?

 

[Banjo64]

They should be managed in a way that ensures at least one excellent huge game per quarter or there is severe punishment.

Severe punishment?

 

[64gigabyteram]

The issue is that Phil is aware of this since he was head of XGS back in the X360 days.

except back in the x360 days they never had this problem

 

[ReBurn]

If the punishment is Phil getting the boot and them replacing him with Peter Moore then I'm down.

Phil should have rolled up his sleeve to show us a Halo Infinite tattoo. That's where the whole thing went sideways.

 

[GHG]

I have not faith in their leadership team to actually get a cohesive system in place that ensures quality. However. I believe they have some amazing self-motivated teams like Bethesda GS, id Software, Obsidian and Playground. So hopefully there will still be some good games to come. And you know what, I’ll even include Rare in their list of good studios, because they are good. Deal with it.

I'll only agree with you on Rare on the condition they make more games like Kameo, Viva Piñata and Banjo.

I just can't get behind sea of thieves and games like it. Maybe one day we will look back at this age of Twitch streaming dominance and see it was detrimental to this medium as an art form.

 

[Gudji]

except back in the x360 days they never had this problem

They did when they started pushing Kinect around 2011-2012.

 

[ReBurn]

except back in the x360 days they never had this problem

Not until Don Mattrick decided people wanted to watch TV more than play video games.

 

[DeepEnigma]

I wonder who gets all that candy?

 

[64gigabyteram]

They did when they started pushing Kinect around 2011-2012.

i like to pretend those days dont exist (there were some games then though like GOW3, Halo 4 Forza 4 and horizon as well as dust an elysian tale...but thats where the downfall started tbh)

 

[Eddie-Griffin]

Microsoft seems to keep breaking previous records and selling ahead of the other two consoles more and more with the largest percent gains in the history of the franchise despite not having any games supposedly.

So what are the people buying the Series X (and also Series S) playing where Microsoft can have 10000% increases in hardware sales, or best selling months in Xbox history?

Xbox Series and PS5 are not that far apart in even countries the Xbox One left a bad taste in their mouths after its first two years. Xbox Series and PS5 are within spitting distance in its strongest markets to the point where if 2022 wasn't barren it may have been ahead, in the NA it was ahead 3 months in a row earlier this year.

I'm not saying they don't need more releases, they do and this year has been bad, but I do feel there's a disconnect between people on forums like this complaining about the lack of games, and the people that are still buying Xbox Series consoles at record levels in the brands history. As the PS5 continues to fall behind the PS4, the XBS is gaining further from the 360/One.

If anything it means that even without games Microsoft managed to get normal buyers to still buy the XBS consoles more than any other Xbox, so if there aren't more delays, 2023 may be the best year in Xbox history by a large margin.

When you put rice on a lemon, it'll sting, but you get extra flavor in the end as long as you don't let the lemon dry out.

 

[SportsFan581]

Enjoy these low effort "articles" while you can, I guess? Or going for that maximum cringe quota?

 

[Portugeezer]

Yeah, we need more articles like this. Going an entire generation without any GOTY contenders is one thing, but to start off so poorly is simply unacceptable.

GOW came out in April 2018 when they went out and acquired Ninja Theory, Obsidian, Playground Games, and that State of Decay studio. They had also started initiative around that time. Sony managed to produce a GOTY caliber sequel in 4.5 years since while those Xbox studios are sitting there twiddling their thumbs. PG inexplicably made another Forza Horizon game in the meantime.

The NY Yankees just got swept like bitches in the ALCS. Their owner threw his full support behind the manager and GM almost immediately. Basically absolving them of any blame, and telling the fanbase they are not changing anything. Microsoft has done the same thing over the last 9 years keeping the same management that has consistently failed to deliver. Doing the same thing over and over again expecting things to change is the definition of insanity.

Hey, Halo was GAF's GOTY.

Doesn't get much bigger than that.

 

[Interfectum]

Phil has already said they are aware of the issues with the lack of AAA games. So helpfully they can get some games out next year.

How many years has he said this now?

 

[GhostOfTsu]

Whenever someone posts a Forbes article, instead of putting [Forbes] in the title, it should just say [Paul Tassi] because I’m pretty sure he writes every single gaming article for that publication.

No, there's another guy who also writes pro-MS articles like Paul at Forbes. All the media wants to see Sony fail this gen it's crazy. They really thought 2022 was the end of Playstation. Instead it's their best year

Xbox Is About To Leave PlayStation Behind In 2022

The Xbox platform is much more than just a console, and soon Microsoft will leave Sony behind as it changes how we think about console gaming forever.

www.forbes.com

Microsoft Is Leaving PlayStation And Nintendo Behind Even Without ‘Starfield’

I’ve written in the past that Xbox Game Pass is Microsoft’s ace-in-the-hole.

www.forbes.com

 

[analog_future]

Xbox Game Studios had the most highly rated games out of any studio just last year.

• Psychonauts 2
• Age of Empires IV
• Forza Horizon 5
• Microsoft Flight Simulator
• Halo Infinite
• Deathloop

Sure, this year was slow, but you'd be a fool to not see that the best has yet to come as well. Forza Motorsport, Avowed, Fable, Perfect Dark, Hellblade II, State of Decay 3, Outer Worlds 2, Kojima's game, etc.. etc.. all around the corner.

 

[64gigabyteram]

Microsoft seems to keep breaking previous records and selling ahead of the other two consoles more and more with the largest percent gains in the history of the franchise despite not having any games supposedly.

So what are the people buying the Series X (and also Series S) playing where Microsoft can have 10000% increases in hardware sales, or best selling months in Xbox history?

Xbox Series and PS5 are not that far apart in even countries the Xbox One left a bad taste in their mouths after its first two years. Xbox Series and PS5 are within spitting distance in its strongest markets to the point where if 2022 wasn't barren it may have been ahead, in the NA it was ahead 3 months in a row earlier this year.

I'm not saying they don't need more releases, they do and this year has been bad, but I do feel there's a disconnect between people on forums like this complaining about the lack of games, and the people that are still buying Xbox Series consoles at record levels in the brands history. As the PS5 continues to fall behind the PS4, the XBS is gaining further from the 360/One.

If anything it means that even without games Microsoft managed to get normal buyers to still buy the XBS consoles more than any other Xbox, so if there aren't more delays, 2023 may be the best year in Xbox history by a large margin.

When you put rice on a lemon, it'll sting, but you get extra flavor in the end as long as you don't let the lemon dry out.

there is a disconnect but heres the thing

I DONT GIVE A FUCK
I dont care if Xbox sells 20 million or 200 million i just want better games. Xbox has a giant great history of studios working there like ID, Mojang, Obsidian and Playground games as well as turn 10. I wanna see more games from those guys. I wanna see a fucking Quake reboot.

 

[DeepEnigma]

No, there's another guy who also writes pro-MS articles like Paul at Forbes. All the media wants to see Sony fail this gen it's crazy. They really thought 2022 was the end of Playstation. Instead it's their best year

Xbox Is About To Leave PlayStation Behind In 2022

The Xbox platform is much more than just a console, and soon Microsoft will leave Sony behind as it changes how we think about console gaming forever.

www.forbes.com

Microsoft Is Leaving PlayStation And Nintendo Behind Even Without ‘Starfield’

I’ve written in the past that Xbox Game Pass is Microsoft’s ace-in-the-hole.

www.forbes.com

That's Paul's pseudonym.

 

[vaibhavpisal]

Have you seen the software charts in Japan? They're breaking all time sales records.

Now some 3rd parties have definitely been marginalized but that's on them.
Git gud and create compelling games.

Content is king.

SE itself mentioned their home industry is not enough to generate a profit.

That's quite a damning statement they have made.

We cannot go by one or two hits on charts, we need to see whole industry.

We need general public interested in getting system for some game, after that other 3rd party Dev's can fill out the niche. This cannot happen in Japan cause console gaming itself has become a niche.

If they don't care about selling the most consoles then why should anyone care about this:



Would you look at that, they grew the console space so much with their "innovation", so much so that they now don't care about selling the most consoles.

The success was so much that they couldn't handle it.

They care about industry.

If you just fixate on selling most amount of consoles, you just miss the bigger picture.

 

[solidus12]

Xbox Game Studios had the most highly rated games out of any studio just last year.

• Psychonauts 2
• Age of Empires IV
• Forza Horizon 5
• Microsoft Flight Simulator
• Halo Infinite

Sure, this year was slow, but you'd be a fool to not see that the best has yet to come as well. Forza Motorsport, Avowed, Fable, Perfect Dark, Hellblade II, State of Decay 3, Outer Worlds 2, Kojima's game, etc.. etc.. all around the corner.

Psychonauts 2 has nothing to do with Xbox. They just bought them and the development was done.

 

[Banjo64]

Microsoft seems to keep breaking previous records and selling ahead of the other two consoles more and more with the largest percent gains in the history of the franchise despite not having any games supposedly.

So what are the people buying the Series X (and also Series S) playing where Microsoft can have 10000% increases in hardware sales, or best selling months in Xbox history?

Xbox Series and PS5 are not that far apart in even countries the Xbox One left a bad taste in their mouths after its first two years. Xbox Series and PS5 are within spitting distance in its strongest markets to the point where if 2022 wasn't barren it may have been ahead, in the NA it was ahead 3 months in a row earlier this year.

I'm not saying they don't need more releases, they do and this year has been bad, but I do feel there's a disconnect between people on forums like this complaining about the lack of games, and the people that are still buying Xbox Series consoles at record levels in the brands history. As the PS5 continues to fall behind the PS4, the XBS is gaining further from the 360/One.

If anything it means that even without games Microsoft managed to get normal buyers to still buy the XBS consoles more than any other Xbox, so if there aren't more delays, 2023 may be the best year in Xbox history by a large margin.

When you put rice on a lemon, it'll sting, but you get extra flavor in the end as long as you don't let the lemon dry out.

 

[ReBurn]

i like to pretend those days dont exist (there were some games then though like GOW3, Halo 4 Forza 4 and horizon as well as dust an elysian tale...but thats where the downfall started tbh)

Kinect wasn't even the problem. There were a handful of good Kinect games mixed in with the 99% crap Kinect games. All of the casuals wanted to wave their hands at their TV back then. It was that Microsoft became stupid and thought that people wanted to wave at and talk to their Xbox to record their their sportsball games more than they just wanted to play video games on it.

 

[AtomicStarving]

Well, Microsoft owns the best-selling video game of all time (Minecraft). Microsoft just wants more players playing co-op and MP shit.

 

[analog_future]

Psychonauts 2 has nothing to do with Xbox. They just bought them and the development was done.

What's your point? They own the studio and more games are going to come from Double Fine under the XGS umbrella. It's an XGS game.

 

[Aguero9320]

Not really possible to deny this year has been non-existent in terms of ‘big’ first party MS releases, and it’s not been good enough, but clearly that’s going to change (and no amount of snickering behind your hands about ‘next year’ will change that).

And it needs to change starting in 2023 or the criticism will be more justified.

Also didn’t they win some kind of publisher of the year thing last year? Sony’s 2021 was barren (as evidenced by trying to leverage Kena ) and that’s paid off for them with a busier schedule this year. But I haven’t seen much about what’s next from them? If it’s a bunch of remakes for $70 then they’ll switch positions in terms of ridicule pretty quickly.

Easy come, easy go.

Look forward to the day when both big hitters are swinging.

 

[Banjo64]

Forza Motorsport, Avowed, Fable, Perfect Dark, Hellblade II, State of Decay 3, Outer Worlds 2, Kojima's game, etc.. etc.. all around the corner.

Around the corner?

Yeah. If the corner is 300 miles away from you I suppose.

 

[SSfox]

 

[Eddie-Griffin]

“just wait until next year” could be their slogan.

MS started this acquisition spree in 2017 or 2018. How many of those studios from back then have been releasing stuff?

In 2018 Insomniac released Spider-Man and was acquired. Then released 3 DLCs, last one releasing in 2019.
In 2020 released Miles Morales and a PS5 remaster of the 2018 title.
In 2021 Ratchet is released.
Spider-Man 2 has a 2023 release date and Wolverine around 2024.

This is a single studio sony acquired in 2018.

Clearly MS has the money but the problems they had, they still can’t solve them.

Not sure if it’s lack of support studios or whatever but the fact they released their last huge AAA title a year ago…a live service game that’s dying as we speak and people will have to wait 6 more months at least for their next game…something doesn’t add up. As we speak and without Activision Xbox has mire studios than Sony…were all if them on a vacation before their acquisitions?

Almost all those games were in parallel development, or in development before the dates you listed.

Important context is missing here. Naughty Dog released TLOU in 2013, Tlou 2 came out in 2020 7 years later, and only one new game was released between those two, Uncharted 4, which was already in development as of tlou 1's release.

Why don't you ask Take Two why they can't release games at the rate of Insomniac with triple the staff and money? Insomniac is using a different development strategy than both companies.

Xbox needs games, but let's not pretend that it's been longer than usual for games to release from these studios, especially given that Microsoft buying some of these studios out may have changed expectations and budget, which may have disrupted or extended development with more ambitious goals. Starfield was likely going to be Fallout 76 level disaster before the buyout, and MS is forcing Bethesda to release a functioning game for all we know.

 

[analog_future]

Around the corner?

Yeah. If the corner is 300 miles away from you I suppose.

Forza is months away. Starfield as well. Hellblade is supposed to be due in 2023 too.

So yeah, around the corner.

 

[64gigabyteram]

Sure, this year was slow, but you'd be a fool to not see that the best has yet to come as well. Forza Motorsport, Avowed, Fable, Perfect Dark, Hellblade II, State of Decay 3, Outer Worlds 2, Kojima's game, etc.. etc.. all around the corner.

seems like the corner keeps moving and moving and moving away.

 

[Punished Miku]

Microsoft seems to keep breaking previous records and selling ahead of the other two consoles more and more with the largest percent gains in the history of the franchise despite not having any games supposedly.

So what are the people buying the Series X (and also Series S) playing where Microsoft can have 10000% increases in hardware sales, or best selling months in Xbox history?

Xbox Series and PS5 are not that far apart in even countries the Xbox One left a bad taste in their mouths after its first two years. Xbox Series and PS5 are within spitting distance in its strongest markets to the point where if 2022 wasn't barren it may have been ahead, in the NA it was ahead 3 months in a row earlier this year.

I'm not saying they don't need more releases, they do and this year has been bad, but I do feel there's a disconnect between people on forums like this complaining about the lack of games, and the people that are still buying Xbox Series consoles at record levels in the brands history. As the PS5 continues to fall behind the PS4, the XBS is gaining further from the 360/One.

If anything it means that even without games Microsoft managed to get normal buyers to still buy the XBS consoles more than any other Xbox, so if there aren't more delays, 2023 may be the best year in Xbox history by a large margin.

When you put rice on a lemon, it'll sting, but you get extra flavor in the end as long as you don't let the lemon dry out.

Been saying this for a while now. I get the critics, but this is still 100% true.

 

[Interfectum]

Forza is months away. Starfield as well. Hellblade is supposed to be due in 2023 too.

So yeah, around the corner.

Only one on that list that will make waves is Starfield. And that game better be pushing 9s and 10s when it comes out with the amount of hype behind it.

 

[Banjo64]

Forza is months away. Starfield as well. Hellblade is supposed to be due in 2023 too.

So yeah, around the corner.

Avowed, Fable, Perfect Dark, Hellblade II, State of Decay 3, Outer Worlds 2, Kojima's game, etc..

^ those are the games you listed. Not around the corner in the slightest. 2024 at best, 2025 and beyond at worst.

 

[NorbertK]

“just wait until next year” could be their slogan.

MS started this acquisition spree in 2017 or 2018. How many of those studios from back then have been releasing stuff?

In 2018 Insomniac released Spider-Man and was acquired. Then released 3 DLCs, last one releasing in 2019.
In 2020 released Miles Morales and a PS5 remaster of the 2018 title.
In 2021 Ratchet is released.
Spider-Man 2 has a 2023 release date and Wolverine around 2024.

This is a single studio sony acquired in 2018.

Clearly MS has the money but the problems they had, they still can’t solve them.

Not sure if it’s lack of support studios or whatever but the fact they released their last huge AAA title a year ago…a live service game that’s dying as we speak and people will have to wait 6 more months at least for their next game…something doesn’t add up. As we speak and without Activision Xbox has mire studios than Sony…were all if them on a vacation before their acquisitions?

Obsidian [2018]- The Outer Worlds 2019, Grounded 2022, Pentiment 2022
PG [2018] - FH5 2021
NT [2018] - Bleeding Edge 2020
inXile [2018] - Wasteland Remaster and Wasteland 3 [2020]
Double Fine [2019] - Psychonauts 2 [2021]
UL [2018] - SoD 2 [2018]

Xbox has no games

 

[Topher]

Kinect wasn't even the problem. There were a handful of good Kinect games mixed in with the 99% crap Kinect games. All of the casuals wanted to wave their hands at their TV back then. It was that Microsoft became stupid and thought that people wanted to wave at and talk to their Xbox to record their their sportsball games more than they just wanted to play video games on it.

Not to mention forcing it into the box and charging $100 more than the competition.

 

[64gigabyteram]

Why don't you ask Take Two why they can't release games at the rate of Insomniac with triple the staff and money? Insomniac is using a different development strategy than both companies.

microsoft needs to try and do some R&D to get their studios up to the speed of insomniac then. Take Two produces games so big in scope and so popular that they can afford to take long as they want (although the wait for GTAVI is excruciating.....) Microsoft does not.

 

[solidus12]

What's your point? They own the studio and more games are going to come from Double Fine under the XGS umbrella. It's an XGS game.

The studio worked on the game, and it was crowdfunded as well. Xbox doesn't get credit for the release of Psychonauts 2, for Double Fine's next game, sure, that will be an XGS game.
It's like saying, Doom 2016 was a great Xbox Game Studio game.