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[panda-zebra]

• Hardware innovation... is the priority.

Hardware itself is no longer a priority. No longer a necessity. Doing something different when the previous decade and a half's tactics failed seems reasonable.

• Revenue from other platforms supplements Xbox’s income, ensuring sustainable game development.
• He explained that the 70% revenue from other platforms helps fund "larger and more diverse game portfolios.

It used to be the line that a self-sufficient Game Pass would do this single-handedly. That obviously wasn't happening when xbox exec compensation had a line put through GP sub growth and instead focussed on revenue. Easiest path to larger revenue is sell software on every viable platform.
Execs:

• However, challenges remain, such as... slower Game Pass growth.

Nobody believes game Pass is growing, fast, slow or otherwise. Last figure we had was a year ago when Gold had been folded in was 34M. If the only stat they're willing to share a year later is that PC GP (the are with apparent massive growth potential in the shorter term, to lead subs to 100M+ by 2030) grew a pitiful 40%, then, given the trend over recent years and factoring in the usual churn and with new hardware sales falling off a cliff, overall growth is no doubt a red figure - has to be. It's not a positive number, it's a decline.

 

[odhiex]

an Interview now, another new announcements will follow soon?

 

[RetroGamingUK]

SEGA did not sell Visual Concepts when they went 3rd party that move was done when EA signed a deal with NFL and Sammy packed and looked to sell VC, because before that horrible deal with the NFL SEGA was really pushing its Sports range and going big guns on with VC. Shenmue was dropped simply because the sequel sold in such poor numbers and I doubt it would have sold any better on the PS2, it wasn't like SEGA's PS2 games sold that well either bar a couple
At guess I would have imagined Orta and Skies selling better on the PS2.

SEGA's big mistake was not putting the same game on multiple platforms looking back with hindsight that was a massive mistake.

Excellent post

Sega didn’t exactly find a blue ocean of gamers on other platforms who were willing to buy games in their millions from franchises they were unfamiliar with. A shame as Jet Set Radio Future, Panzer Dragoon Orta and Virtua Fighter 4 were all amazing.

And Microsoft shouldn’t expect their franchises to sell in high numbers on PS5 and Switch 2 either.

 

[Team Andromeda]

Excellent post

Sega didn’t exactly find a blue ocean of gamers on other platforms who were willing to buy games in their millions from franchises they were unfamiliar with. A shame as Jet Set Radio Future, Panzer Dragoon Orta and Virtua Fighter 4 were all amazing.

And Microsoft shouldn’t expect their franchises to sell in high numbers on PS5 and Switch 2 either.

When SEGA said they were bringing VF4 to the PS2 I was expecting it to sell millions in Japan alone give how popular the NA@MI 2 game was in japan, but it only sold ok and I thought JSRF being a early title and a lunch title for the UK would sell very well and it flopped. Orta sold ok by on-rail shooter standards but I the team were expecting it to be a million seller Looking back I think SEGA should have just had the XBox as the lead platform and then ported the games to all the consoles for the best sales


I doubt Xbox is expecting big sales numbers for its games it just extra revenue while the teams work hard on followups. Going forward the time a game is in development is going to have to be addressed. it's just unsustainable for Xbox SONY and Nintendo. The games are taking too long to make and as a result , costing a fortune

 

[RetroGamingUK]

When SEGA said they were bringing VF4 to the PS2 I was expecting it to sell millions in Japan alone give how popular the NA@MI 2 game was in japan, but it only sold ok and I thought JSRF being a early title and a lunch title for the UK would sell very well and it flopped. Orta sold ok by on-rail shooter standards but I the team were expecting it to be a million seller Looking back I think SEGA should have just had the XBox as the lead platform and then ported the games to all the consoles for the best sales


I doubt Xbox is expecting big sales numbers for its games it just extra revenue while the teams work hard on followups. Going forward the time a game is in development is going to have to be addressed. it's just unsustainable for Xbox SONY and Nintendo. The games are taking too long to make and as a result , costing a fortune

Sega relying on Xbox like that would have been a huge mistake, they’d have just gone from one low selling platform to another. If a publisher wanted to see financial success with a game in the early 00s, it simply couldn’t afford to not put it on PS2.

As for Microsoft, whatever their long term plan with these games on rival platforms is, it has irrevocably killed the Xbox brand, as we’ve already seen with collapsing Series console sales in 2024.

 

[TheThreadsThatBindUs]

https://www.neogaf.com/threads/no-xbox-fan-should-be-hurt-by-xbox-expanding-to-more-devices-only-the-trolls-warriors-will-be-hurt.1666849/

And balance has now been restored to the Force....

It's not a NeoGaf Xbox thread without onQ122 quoting himself.

 

[kaizenkko]

Just one year ago this guy was talking that there's no change in what he thinks about exclusivity and "are just four games". Now, the discourse in the total opposite.

The funny part is the some people not only will believe in him, but also praise it as a master chess strategy.

 

[gerth666]

https://www.neogaf.com/threads/no-xbox-fan-should-be-hurt-by-xbox-expanding-to-more-devices-only-the-trolls-warriors-will-be-hurt.1666849/

Nostradamus, or nostragaffus if you will

 

[BlackTron]

Xbox Consoles sells always drop off after a few years , Xbox 360 only got a boost at the end because of Kinect.

Maxed out cope and then maxed it out again on new game plus, creating an art form

 

[Synastry]

Looks like Microsoft is gonna start showing the PlayStation and Switch Logo's in there showcase.

On Seeing The PlayStation Logo during an Xbox show…

Phil: I think it’s just being honest and transparent about where the games are showing, and we actually even had this discussion last year for the June showcase, and by the time we kind of made our decision, we couldn’t get all of the assets done and it felt weird to have some of them in and some of them out.

But I just want to be transparent with people – for shipping on Nintendo Switch, we’re gonna put that. For shipping on PlayStation, on Steam…People should know the storefronts where they can get our games, but I want people to be able to experience our Xbox community in our games and everything we have to offer, on every screen we can.

 

[BlackTron]

Come on, surely no one was actually dumb enough to believe it was only 4 games. Even if you can find it quoted in old threads, I still can't buy there are real living and breathing people out there who really meant it without trolling or astroturfing.

 

[Mr Moose]

Also Phil Spencer...

Edit: Damn, someone beat me to it

Came to post this lol. Now they depend on that 70%.
Glad this Jon guy mentioned it.

 

[Horseganador]

The Xbox that paid to delay third-party announcements on other consoles (hello Atlus) now wants to be "honest" and put the PS5 and NS2 logos in its ads, the same one that refused to give Sony 30% because it would help destroy it now NEEDS to sell its games on PS5 to survive, "honest" Phil xDD every year he changes his mind to keep his job.

 

[daclynk]

this guy....

 

[Team Andromeda]

Sega relying on Xbox like that would have been a huge mistake, they’d have just gone from one low selling platform to another. If a publisher wanted to see financial success with a game in the early 00s, it simply couldn’t afford to not put it on PS2.

You missed what I meant. I meant SEGA to have led their game development on the XBox but to port the games over the other consoles too. XBox hardware was serious kickass hardware then and little wonder why SEGA went with that Hardware for their Arcade games too.

For me, XBox gave up on the console sales this gen to push through the ABK deal the door. But as long as Xbox brings in billions they seem happy. I'm happy to see they're committed to next-console hardware next-gen since other than the One.
Xbox make the best console hardware out there.

 

[Kumomeme]

super duper relatable uncle phil just say whatever these days for sake of has something sounds clever to say

 

[Humdinger]

What I don't get is people blaming Nadella... Like, he's been as generous to the Xbox community as he possibly could. They don't buy games, they've stayed on Xbox One. It's not like he's developing the games himself. It's not his fault they don't have killer apps. He's running a business and Xbox is only a part of that.

Do people blame Nadella? I haven't seen much of that myself. Phil always gets the blame, from what I see (which is fair, of course). I can imagine that some hardcore Xbox/Phil defenders would want to shift the blame to Nadella, but I haven't seen that happen myself. Big mean daddy Satya...

His actions are entirely understandable. Well, except for the one about bankrolling the acquisition. In retrospect, that seems like a poorly thrown Hail Mary.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

SEGA did not sell Visual Concepts when they went 3rd party that move was done when EA signed a deal with NFL and Sammy packed and looked to sell VC, because before that horrible deal with the NFL SEGA was really pushing its Sports range and going big guns on with VC. Shenmue was dropped simply because the sequel sold in such poor numbers and I doubt it would have sold any better on the PS2, it wasn't like SEGA's PS2 games sold that well either bar a couple
At guess I would have imagined Orta and Skies selling better on the PS2.

SEGA's big mistake was not putting the same game on multiple platforms looking back with hindsight that was a massive mistake.

My point wasn't that they went 3rd party and sold them the next day.

NFL 2K wasn't the only game they were making. A major 3rd party publisher would have said, okay EA is taking Madden exclusive? I'll put out NCAA and make it a better football game and I'll put out NBA exclusively.

And as we know NBA 2K became the predominant basketball game on the market. Again you're highlighting the difference between Sega and T2. T2 wanted to be a bigger 3rd party publisher and they saw Visual Concepts and the 2K brand as a way to do that.

As someone who was around at the time, yes Shenmue would have sold gangbusters on PS2, everyone knows that. What hit games did Sega put on the PS2? They put their best games on the two systems that were selling the worst... Sonic Adventure went to Gamecube and wouldn't come to PlayStation until PS3. They put Shenmue on Xbox. The smaller games they put on PS2 sold better than the bigger games they put on GameCube and xbox...

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Do people blame Nadella? I haven't seen much of that myself. Phil always gets the blame, from what I see (which is fair, of course). I can imagine that some hardcore Xbox/Phil defenders would want to shift the blame to Nadella, but I haven't seen that happen myself. Big mean daddy Satya...

His actions are entirely understandable. Well, except for the one about bankrolling the acquisition. In retrospect, that seems like a poorly thrown Hail Mary.

That's why half the board calls him Nutella? Yes, he's absolutely getting blame. People saying he is pulling the strings on this and not Phil, which is true, but misleading.

As for bankrolling the acquisitions, Microsoft was/is cash rich during the pandemic. They had to make purchases because they knew inflation would eat away at their cash value. Nadella figured worst case scenario, these assets had value before Xbox and they could have value after Xbox.

 

[Insanemaelstrom]

Considering the amount of announcements we got after the last interview, I wonder if we will see something similar this time as well. Maybe release dates for already announced games along with confirmation of few upcoming games

 

[Ogbert]

Phil Spencer is the worst video game boss in history.

Complete dork.

Lost every competition he’s been in

Shit console. Shit games. Shit sales.

 

[Woopah]

Kinect and Xbox One killed the brand. Followed by all their dumb decisions afterwards. They were actually doing really good with the Xbox 360 before they decided to focus on Kinect, because they wanted to follow a trend (Wii).

In the short term Kinect was a huge success for them. They just failed to translate it into long term success.

Negligible at this point, given their position.

I wouldn't say negligible, taking a slice of every single game/DLC/MTX sale on Xbox will still generate a lot of revenue.

We all know why they do it.

Follow up question:
Why is it that Nintendo can keep having true exclusives when nobody else can?

Is it about having lower fidelity visuals and no Hollywood actors for voice and mocap etc and therefore there is shorter dev times and smaller teams so no need to sell out to get enough money?

If so then what will happen as they go for higher fidelity?
Will we see Nintendo start struggling soon and games coming to other consoles or PC?

Dev times and costs will indeed increase for a Nintendo. But they have enough popular brands that they've built over decades and keep adding to that they can sell large quantities of software at high prices (they may increase the software price on Switch 2).

So they can remain profitable even with the higher costs, and use the profits from mainstream titles to fund their more niche titles.

 

[ByWatterson]

He saved Xbox in the same way Lenin saved Russia.

 

[Humdinger]

That's why half the board calls him Nutella? Yes, he's absolutely getting blame. People saying he is pulling the strings on this and not Phil, which is true, but misleading.

Well, using an occasional silly name for a CEO doesn't mean they are blaming him for what happened with Xbox. I think the vast majority put the blame on Phil. I've seen that for years, and it's only accelerated lately. Nadella is typically portrayed as the "daddy" who is holding wayward son Phil accountable - the guy who is forcing Phil to accept that his grand scheme did not work out. That's more or less a responsible role (responsible to the shareholders, anyhow), not a blameworthy one.

But if you see a lot of people blaming Nadella for Xbox's demise, okay. I just don't see much of that myself. I see a hundred threads dunking on Phil, none on how Nadella is to blame.

 

[Killer8]

Also Phil Spencer...

This makes less sense as time goes on. Why would Sony even care much any more about reducing Xbox's survival when Xbox are bringing all of their games to PlayStation, including COD, and Xbox hardware sales are hurtling towards irrelevancy? It would be actively harming what will soon be their biggest third party contributor.

 

[nowhat]

He saved Xbox in the same way Lenin saved Russia.

Ehh, for all its faults (and there were plenty) the Soviet Union still managed to stay afloat for decades, and be a somewhat relevant player in some fields (like the space race, and building nukes). I think Kin Il Sung and North Korea would be a more apt comparison.

 

[OGM_Madness]

I’m invested in my PlayStation eco-system but even I can tell that Sony and Nintendo are the least consumer friendly companies in the industry.

30% seems steep for what’s basically a “I’ll allow it.gif” moment. Hopefully Sony introduces new quality of life and consumer-first concepts to PlayStation to keep their lead, otherwise, they’ll have PC creeping in and taking over in 1-2 more generations. All they need is to take ideas from what Steam is doing.

I’ve seen too many indie games skipping PS5 because of what % Sony takes.

 

[kruis]

I’m invested in my PlayStation eco-system but even I can tell that Sony and Nintendo are the least consumer friendly companies in the industry.

30% seems steep for what’s basically a “I’ll allow it.gif” moment. Hopefully Sony introduces new quality of life and consumer-first concepts to PlayStation to keep their lead, otherwise, they’ll have PC creeping in and taking over in 1-2 more generations. All they need is to take ideas from what Steam is doing.

I’ve seen too many indie games skipping PS5 because of what % Sony takes.

That 30% is normal for digital stores. Apple and Steam take the same cut for sales on their stores. Epic and MS takes less, but they do it to attract more publishers to sell on their stores.

 

[LordCBH]

That depends on if their profitability collapses as a result of them going 3rd party. That shouldn't be the case here. MS was losing money hand over fist subsidizing Xbox. By going third party, their profitability should improve. They already own massive IP that's still very relevant, like CoD.

Sure, some games like Forza may go away, but that may be more due to quality issues than anything else, or the industry just can't support that many high budget racing sims.

Sega is better than they've been in a very long time right now. The number of games is kind of irrelevant, as many of their games were cheaper to make arcade games vs. what they make today, many of which are huge 100+ hour RPGs.

Persona, Like a Dragon, SMT, Sonic Racing, and they’re bringing back other old IP’s too.

I don’t know if it will happen, but if Microsoft can bring back some of their old IP’s and give them new life with this third party push then I’m super excited. Don’t even have to be massive titles.

 

[Topher]

Nostradamus, or nostragaffus if you will

Not sure what the point of the screengrab from O onQ123 was, but it wasn't prophetic. This was already being discussed widely based on sources from elsewhere.

Rumor - Xbox going OEM route for next-gen? 3rd party consoles in the making?

So, this has been circulating in a discord I'm a part of which necessarily hasn't been picked up by Xbox community. The person was on the money on Indiana Jones, and is further corroborating about Xbox multi-platform stuff but the most intriguing aspect was on the hardware bit where the poster...

www.neogaf.com

 

[gerth666]

Not sure what the point of the screengrab from O onQ123 was, but it wasn't prophetic. This was already being discussed widely based on sources from elsewhere.

Rumor - Xbox going OEM route for next-gen? 3rd party consoles in the making?

So, this has been circulating in a discord I'm a part of which necessarily hasn't been picked up by Xbox community. The person was on the money on Indiana Jones, and is further corroborating about Xbox multi-platform stuff but the most intriguing aspect was on the hardware bit where the poster...

www.neogaf.com

I know that mate, it was just a joke, shit joke that is.
We've known for ages that Xbox would be publishing games on other systems from that discord leak which was spot on. Plus that sneakers so fella

 

[Topher]

I know that mate, it was just a joke, shit joke that is.
We've known for ages that Xbox would be publishing games on other systems from that discord leak which was spot on. Plus that sneakers so fella

Ah....my bad then

 

[gerth666]

Ah....my bad then

On a serious note, the thing is any one who has a slight interest in the business side of things could predict all this.
You can't spend £70billion on publishers and expect to make all that back on such a low install base.

The operating costs of running the Xbox division must be astronomical, hence why you seen all the cuts they made, price increases etc...
At the end of the day they must start making profits, and expanding your games to potential hundreds of million users instead of 25 to 34 million users is a good place to start

 

[Lucifers Beard]

Not going to lie, I quite like the direction they're going in. Unless they make hardware that innovates or does something different to Sony then I'll likely not buy into that ecosystem again.

I agree that the additional 70% income through other platforms makes it easier for them to put this into bigger and better games, which is what the whole hobby is about.

 

[onQ123]

Not sure what the point of the screengrab from O onQ123 was, but it wasn't prophetic. This was already being discussed widely based on sources from elsewhere.

Rumor - Xbox going OEM route for next-gen? 3rd party consoles in the making?

So, this has been circulating in a discord I'm a part of which necessarily hasn't been picked up by Xbox community. The person was on the money on Indiana Jones, and is further corroborating about Xbox multi-platform stuff but the most intriguing aspect was on the hardware bit where the poster...

www.neogaf.com

The rabbit hole still deep I can take it further I promise

Post in thread '[Windows Central] Microsoft is exploring options around letting third-parties build Xbox-branded devices' https://www.neogaf.com/threads/wind...d-xbox-branded-devices.1678742/post-269932107

 

[HeWhoWalks]

Come on, surely no one was actually dumb enough to believe it was only 4 games. Even if you can find it quoted in old threads, I still can't buy there are real living and breathing people out there who really meant it without trolling or astroturfing.

Oh..... but there were...

That last one remains one of my favorite things to meme on this site.

 

[Topher]

The rabbit hole still deep I can take it further I promise

Post in thread '[Windows Central] Microsoft is exploring options around letting third-parties build Xbox-branded devices' https://www.neogaf.com/threads/wind...d-xbox-branded-devices.1678742/post-269932107

Ok? None of that has anything to do with Microsoft publishing games on PlayStation.

 

[onQ123]

Ok? None of that has anything to do with Microsoft publishing games on PlayStation.

PlayStation would be included in other

 

[kungfuian]

With hardware sales at such low levels they run the risk of no longer being a viable platform for third party. How long before the rest of the industry start yanking support from their dead hardware platform.

 

[saintjules]

Why are people calling Phil Spencer by his full name? I find that funny.

 

[Topher]

PlayStation would be included in other

That is discussing the possibility of OEMs like "Samsung Dell" building hardware for Xbox and PlayStation. Has nothing to do with Xbox publishing on PlayStation.

 

[kungfuian]

Why are people calling Phil Spencer by his full name? I find that funny.

Maybe he's in trouble with his mom, lol

 

[nowhat]

Maybe he's in trouble with his mom, lol

More like his dad. And Asian parents are no joke.

 

[Topher]

On a serious note, the thing is any one who has a slight interest in the business side of things could predict all this.
You can't spend £70billion on publishers and expect to make all that back on such a low install base.

The operating costs of running the Xbox division must be astronomical, hence why you seen all the cuts they made, price increases etc...
At the end of the day they must start making profits, and expanding your games to potential hundreds of million users instead of 25 to 34 million users is a good place to start

True. And there were already hints back in 2023 when Nadella and others were talking about expanding Xbox to other "screens". That's when the speculation about Xbox going third party really ramped up. And like you said, S SneakersSO was really the one that came out here and said this stuff was happening before anyone. HeisenbergFX4 had been talking about it as well.

 

[kungfuian]

More like his dad. And Asian parents are no joke.

Yeah but dads don't call you by your full name, that's 100% a mom thing. Maybe the author's way of embracing DEI?

 

[noob smokes]

What I don't get is people blaming Nadella... Like, he's been as generous to the Xbox community as he possibly could. They don't buy games, they've stayed on Xbox One. It's not like he's developing the games himself. It's not his fault they don't have killer apps. He's running a business and Xbox is only a part of that.

Theyll do anything but blame the guy whos lead xbox into this mess its fuckin ridiculous

 

[Moriarty1889]

Xbox as a console is on life support because of Mister Spencer. He now cowardly is forced to put their games on competing platforms just to try and stay alive. Sad what the Xbox brand has devolved to under his watch. All that money and they still managed to make the worst decisions possible and be where they are. Utterly pitiful.

 

[DeepEnigma]

True. And there were already hints back in 2023 when Nadella and others were talking about expanding Xbox to other "screens". That's when the speculation about Xbox going third party really ramped up. And like you said, S SneakersSO was really the one that came out here and said this stuff was happening before anyone. HeisenbergFX4 had been talking about it as well.

Was amusing watching the evangelicals narratives™ shift in real time with every slow-burn announcement leading up to today.

 

[Topher]

Was amusing watching the evangelicals narratives™ shift in real time with every slow-burn announcement leading up to today.

lol....yep. HeisenbergFX4 called the "marching orders" for folks to jump from Xbox to PC as well.

 

[Guardian Monkey]

xCloud was announced in 2018.