Xbox's Age of Empires 2 and Age of Mythology: Retold are coming to PlayStation 5

[Windows Central]

Another Xbox game has already been confirmed for a new platform, with Age of Empires coming to PlayStation 5.

Xbox's Age of Empires 2 and Age of Mythology: Retold are coming to PlayStation 5 : Read more

 

[fatpunkslim]

Another Xbox game has already been confirmed for a new platform, with Age of Empires coming to PlayStation 5.

Xbox's Age of Empires 2 and Age of Mythology: Retold are coming to PlayStation 5 : Read more

It confirms the lessons they learned from Sea of Thieves. The only game from 4 (SOT, grounded, pentiment, hifi rush) that really succeeded on PlayStation is old service games (GAAS), and forza horizon 5 follows the same logic, another old GAAS. It makes total sense for these games to be multiplatform.

I'm not saying this will be the only type of game, but it's clearly a profile of games that are more likely to be ported to other platforms.

It clarifies Xbox's multiplatform strategy, which is much more nuanced than some might think.

Afterward, I would avoid the usual extrapolations from media hungry for clickbait.... Case by case, we tell you, is it hard to understand?

"Many of the upcoming titles in the Xbox first-party lineup are coming to PlayStation 5 on day one, including id Software's DOOM: The Dark Ages."

Do you ever read the comments sometimes? Doom is already a multiplatform game. Among the new exclusive licenses, none are announced day one on PS5: Avowed, South of Midnight, for example. So no, we can't say "Many" in this case, or we should specify what we are talking about and also mention the exclusive games to stay fair in the discussion.

 

[fjtorres5591]

Talk about killing them with kindness: not only is XBOX sucking money out of PlayStation, it is looking to increase the already high percentage of engagement their gamers spend on live service games.

70% as of 2023. (That so delightful leak of numbers from the FTC trial.)

And it hasn't gone down since.

So, what other timesink games can MS send over?
World of Warcraft?
Starcraft?

Funny thing: if 70% of PS game time is spent on live service, that only leaves 30% for the single player games, particularly the first party and paid exclusives the old-timers claim sell consoles. (Not so much, judging by sales numbers of recent First party games there.)

MS: "What's mine is mine, what's yours is negotiable."
They are negotiating.

Need to be careful here, because XBOX isn't too different...
...but it is different in two ways:
First, a plurality (majority) of the live service time sinks on XBOX actually belong to Microsoft! So of the money sucked in by those games, 100% goes to MS vs the 30% that goes to Sony from live service games on PlayStation.

Second, a good portion of the single player engagement on XBOX is coming via GAME PASS. So that is more money to MS.

Shall we list all the revenue streams?
GAME PASS revenue.
Sales from the XBOX store; 100% from XBOX games, 70% from third party games.
100% from the dozen+ live service games on XBOX they own, 30%(?) from third party games.
Non-game sales from the XBOX store plus an unspecified percent from streaming service apps going through the XBOX network.

All that money is going to fund new games, the nextgen Xboxes (plural, possibly three, likely a dozen models), and any purchases.

Submitted for consideration: if AC SHADOWS...underperforms... UBISOFT will have to restructure and likely sell off assets. TENCENT has the inside track on what ever remains, but the firesale would be open to all comers. MS might want to buy back the ABK global streaming rights. And a couple IPs and studios. TOM CLANCY GAMES? Maybe not all. SPLINTER CELL for sure, it started out XBOX exclusive. THE DIVISON and RAINBOW SIX? possibly. They're live service games, after all.

One benefit of sucking money from all over is the ability to fish in troubled waters and given the state of the industry in the late 2020's there is no shortage of trouble in the water.

Instead of fretting over MS fishing in Sony's pond, why not worry about who else they might offer safe harbor to. CRYSTAL DYNAMICS? Whatever remains of BIOWARE?

MS is open for business. Always.