I've had gamepass for damn near 4 years and have probably used it for 3 games

they said "they reached the limits of fps boost" which i have no clue what that means i bet it means they stopped funding it

"We are listening and we hear you."

He had to spend the One generation undoing the damage by Mattrick’s regime.

Xbox probably would’ve been completely dead by now if it weren’t for him.

Their aggressive push on Game Pass makes it Xbox’s USP, but a service is only as good as the content that’s available on it.

They’ve publicly stated twice that their goal is to release at least one major game every quarter of the year, but we still haven’t seen that materializing. They’ve rounded up all these studios and new games are still arriving at a snail’s pace.

2022 being a barren year for Xbox 1st-party games and then 2023 under-delivering with the big 3 (Redfall/Starfield/Forza) probably explains why they are where they’re at now.

P.S. It just goes to show that hardware sales do matter a great deal to Microsoft since they have to resort to these desperate moves to maintain relevance. (I’m saying this cus the “Microsoft doesn’t care about hardware sales; it’s all about Game Pass subs!” rhetoric has always been ill-founded to me.)

do you have any clue why they've been so bad about getting games out? and getting meaningful IPs? it seems like all they used to do was pump out classics and now they cant make a memorable game for s***.

do you think we're going to see more consoles in the future or is it completely dead?

They shut down all back compat work.. with the way it's looking they needa bring it back because thats damn near the only thing that could sell these series x's

Quality games, as is any art, are hella tricky to make. Nintendo and Sony have figured it out by properly cultivating and nurturing their development teams while Microsoft still had to play catch up. They can’t rely on their own studios alone so they had to gobble up existing ones.

As for why they haven’t produced classics in a while, the change in development studios for the Halo and Gears franchises probably explains why those games aren’t as revered anymore. The only Xbox 1st-party IP that has proven to be consistent is Forza Horizon, but even that’s kinda cheating cus that subseries’ structure is based on iteration by nature.

And yeah I’m aware that the current reality of modern game development has been profoundly impacted by the pandemic, the lessening of crunch, and the increased scope of games (gameplay, visuals, etc.). All of these factors compound on themselves and led to longer development cycles.

I’d like to speak more deeply on Bethesda, but Starfield was actually my very first time playing a game by Bethesda Game Studios. It seems to me that they’re extremely comfortable with repeating the same Fallout/Elder Scrolls formula all while not adding anything much to it in a significant way.

And oh god, don’t get me started on Redfall. Usually I can find some enjoyment out of mediocre games, but that one managed to exceed even my lowest of expectations. It was frankly embarrassing for a platform holder to put out that crap; Xbox became such a laughingstock during that game’s launch. Phil had to go face the public and basically apologize (as he’s done before).

The future of Xbox hardware looks bleak.. They’re probably still going to go all out with the next Xbox, but when the brand has been tarnished to this scale, do they even deserve your money at this point? There’s so much uncertainty with the future of the brand now because of this multiplatform strategy.
Just when they have started to pick up some steam (last summer’s Xbox Games Showcase was promising and nailing the Indiana Jones and Blade IPs + Hideo Kojima was a massive win for them), they pull off this s***..

People assume you’re a fanboy when you care about hardware sales, but nah I care cus I believe when sales are bad it gets worse for the consumers who invested money and time in a given platform/ecosystem.

P.S. Sorry for the wall of text, but I’m really just saying basic-ass s*** lmfaoo

Really well put, especially the part about the games, I agree I think Microsoft thinks buying up studios is the solution but that doesn’t make you make good games. I mean…what was the last great activision game?

I never even peeped Redfall. Starfield felt like a chore.

I’m worried they’re not going to go all out on another console. Especially if they’re already selling at such a large loss and are still in 3rd place. Just don’t see how it’s sustainable anymore.

Sucks cause I thought the mid-gen refresh of the Series X looked amazing. I’m really hoping they go through with that

Apparently the Call of Duty series has been kinda ass lately, so I’m not sure what was the last worthwhile Activision game..
Does Sekiro count?

If COD isn’t on Game Pass on day 1, you gotta start to wonder what are they hoping to achieve exactly with this acquisition for Xbox besides generating revenue from COD on PlayStation (and Nintendo) and mobile gaming.

Yeah the prospect of Sony completely dominating console gaming is worrisome. Xbox was at their A-game when they were aggressive against PlayStation during the 360 era. We need the two to keep butting heads like that so that we, as the consumer, get rewarded with better products in the end. (I’m using sleazy ‘consumption’ vocabulary, but gaming is a business after all lol)

Nintendo and Sony still have most if not all of their well respected developers from the PS3 generation(Insomniac, Naughty Dog) whereas most of the publishers that made great games for the Xbox 360 generation have moved on from Xbox(Bungie, Epic). Microsoft is still playing catchup, and they've handed most of their best IPs to studios that have had trouble grasping the source material(Gears 4 & 5 stink, and Infinite is a decent Halo at best). Not only that, Bethesda whiffed on their new IP in Starfall and the other Bethesda Games studios like Machine Games, iD Software, & Arkane have yet to put out anything yet since the acquisition(I don't count RedFall, it was a game that was supposed to be cancelled but put out just because).

Microsoft honestly needs to play the long game this generation, but it seems like they're not willing to eat some losses. They have all the tools right now to end this generation extremely strong and have a lot of momentum heading into the next one like Sony did with the PS3.

altchar.com/game-news/next-gen-xbox-is-on-track-for-2026-features-two-skus-including-a-switch-like-handheld-its-claimed-ayUnB9z6fJ6r

fps boost was so goated

imagine they did this for crash team racing

i’m sorry but i’m still remembering all the delulu discourse when the activision rumors first began, y’all really let brand loyalty make you that naive
it was obvious they would rather make money off the competition than actually try and beat them if you saw the revenue numbers playstation players alone generated

it’s over

Oh s***

nevermind it was a mistake on gamestop side and they named it that

What the f*** are they doing over there

man wtf :/

rip spyro 4

I swear they were finally working on some new spyro and now this man f***

I should have never been in favor of the activision deal. we didn't even get new gamepass stuff

LinkedIn and Twitter bios not changing

Hopefully it’s just part of the same layoffs just officially reported and a closing of a single office space and not the end of the studio