Microsoft is committed to growing first-party Xbox content and studios

[Duvi]

https://www.windowscentral.com/spencer-says-microsoft-looking-invest-more-first-party-studios

I am not a fan of exclusives, but seems to be making Sony the popular choice. From Spider-Man (because they own the rights to them) to DLC first on Call of Duty & Destiny 2 to new games/iP like Horizon: Zero Dawn, Uncharted series and soon... The Last Of Us II, Detroit: Become Human, Days Gone & God of War, it makes me wonder how much better the Xbox would sell if they had a similar catalog of games.

Also... do you think they should primarily work on creating new games/iP or buying existing studios / companies to make the games exclusive to the Xbox family? I'd like them to purchase Bluehole for PUBG and also Epic for FortNite as well as a possible return of Unreal Tournament. Heck, they could have two different studios working on Gears so maybe a release every year, being that Epic made Gears of War games.

I just sold my PS4 a couple days ago and may pick up a pro one day, but I enjoy the party system on Xbox and the UI a lot more than on PS. In fact, that's the main reason I decided to stop playing the PS4. Even the Nintendo Switch has a better interface.The UX feels clunky as well.

What are everyone's thoughts?

 

[Duvi]

180 views... not one thought?

 

[xandros9]

Well, I don’t really have one at this time but that’s just me

 

[Guest_aotf]

"do you think they should primarily work on creating new games/iP "
This. Everything else should be behind this. MS should focus MOSTLY on making new games and less on games as a service(MT, loot box...), hardware, ways of playing and renting old games...

I don't think they should buy existing studios. MS has a very bad history when it comes to buying studios. One of the recent examples is how MS introduced microtransactions in Minecraft...

My priority when it comes to gaming is games. I couldn't care less of brand loyalty, "power", or UI design or whatever. I move where the games are.It's as simple as that...

 

[sweatshopking]

Buying epic? why? Unlikely anyway, since Sweeney hates MS, and the entire value proposition of unreal engine is that it works everywhere. that would be unlikely to continue if MS owns it.
Unreal tournament is under production already on PC, and currently free to play, but a console release is unlikely given the play style and the issue of controllers. MS will likely continue to starve the XBOX and windows game wise as they continue to transition away from consumer products. The board doesn't currently see a future in them, and given the reality of technological advances coming from google, apple, etc. i don't disagree.

 

[Sean Jones6]

At this moment you got the most powerful console it time to win the console war. Open up new studio to make new games you got to go outside the box

 

[Vick Vickiss]

https://www.windowscentral.com/spencer-says-microsoft-looking-invest-more-first-party-studios

I am not a fan of exclusives, but seems to be making Sony the popular choice. From Spider-Man (because they own the rights to them) to DLC first on Call of Duty & Destiny 2 to new games/iP like Horizon: Zero Dawn, Uncharted series and soon... The Last Of Us II, Detroit: Become Human, Days Gone & God of War, it makes me wonder how much better the Xbox would sell if they had a similar catalog of games.

Also... do you think they should primarily work on creating new games/iP or buying existing studios / companies to make the games exclusive to the Xbox family? I'd like them to purchase Bluehole for PUBG and also Epic for FortNite as well as a possible return of Unreal Tournament. Heck, they could have two different studios working on Gears so maybe a release every year, being that Epic made Gears of War games.

I just sold my PS4 a couple days ago and may pick up a pro one day, but I enjoy the party system on Xbox and the UI a lot more than on PS. In fact, that's the main reason I decided to stop playing the PS4. Even the Nintendo Switch has a better interface.The UX feels clunky as well.

What are everyone's thoughts?

MS should double down on it's bread and butter. THere's nothing wrong with relying on shooters and action titles - but it should just be two. There should be almost ten and all very high quality.

Also, never again release an HD remake and then a sequel within a year - it wears out the brand.

 

[Hirox K]

> Sweeney hates MS
I thought he say he likes Win10, WinStore but only one concern that UWP might be shutting off PC as an open platform in the future?

Well... MS bought Havok, an industrial physics engine, the backbone of many AAA games. e.g. Uncharted, Assassin's Creed, Zelda, Halo, etc.

This was one of the topic I brought up when I was with the industry elders the other day in izakaya, game as service is why they can get Halo, GoW and Forza into e-sports business. Why don't we replicate that business model? I asked. Because... Oh... ok, not possible.

They can invest more into 1st party exclusives or they can invest indies, or choose outsourcing. All are viable options. All of'em gives you games anyway, makes no different. (You'd be surprised... how many Japanese studios are not making games in house... or how console departments are struggling to get fund to make new games... cause outsourcing is cheaper)
* MS gives a lotta freedom to devs but they are strict with milestones <- is what I heard.
Invest indie for single player is a better option, it's not really a good path for enterprises nowadays.
True story. One of our outsourcing project went sour months ago, we took it back, try to save it with our best programmers. I've just learned that... the whole team's now in low morale. Upper level's trying to find another outsourcing (try to postpone the lose to another quarter). Well, no studio will refuse our offer or tell us "No, we can't fix it" but we all know what's gonna happen years later...
* more than -$50m...
* not so uncommon... apparently.

Q: Mind someone tell me what most ps4 owner are playing right now? What 1st party exclusives did most ps4 owner bought in 2016, 2017?

 

[El Stevo]

I get the sense that Gears and Halo are just old news for everyone now. However much money they plough into these franchises, people will still instinctively think "Oh... another Gears of War". I wish they would put all that money and talent to work on an exciting new project/universe. I also really notice the gap left by Fable. In years past, the Halo/Gears, Fable and Forza titles meant that MS gave the impression of having a broad range of first party content - with guns, swords and cars it had all bases covered, kinda. Now it's just Guns 5 and Cars 7. I hope that Sea of Thieves addresses this somewhat, but I don't think it's going to have the same heft that a story-heavy game would. In short, I want new, not more.

 

[HeyCori]

Microsoft already has plenty of IPs. Like a ton of them. They should use them. Farm out that massive catalog to other talented studios.

 

[irrationaljay]

Although I agree that Microsoft needs to make a bigger investment in their first party studios. I think more than anything they need to figure out their direction. Sony has made it very clear that single player story driven games are their thing, and the PS fan base eats it up. I think the core audience for Xbox is more multiplayer driven. Thus, I see Microsoft making a bigger push into games as a service (PubG, Fortnite, etc.). Not to say that there won't be an investment in single player titles, I just think they are trying to figure out a new distribution model, this isn't unique to Microsoft this is something the industry as a whole is struggling with. Placing new single player titles (in episodic portions) on the Game Pass subscription may be Microsoft's plan forward...

With Phil Spencer now sitting on the leadership board at Microsoft, I think the company is looking at gaming in an entirely new light. I know this sounds odd but I think it's more than just "games". I think Microsoft wants the make a big investment in game development as well. I see them purchasing a engine and making a big push for multiplatform development. Acquiring "Unity" for instance would be a great idea for Microsoft. The company has already dabbled in middleware a bit in the past, for example they acquired Havok in 2015, and one could argue that Minecraft is as much a platform as it is a game.

Microsoft is going to take a holistic approach to gaming in the next couple of years, and this strategy is going to ultimately put them in a much better position than Sony. End to end solutions, from development, to middleware, distribution platforms & hardware. This will allow Microsoft to gain a foothold on the gaming industry as a whole even outside of Xbox, imagine a world where even Nintendo & Sony have to utilize Microsoft tools to build their games. That's the end goal. My ultimate buy for Microsoft (and I know this probably won't happen) would be Valve, and no not for HL3. But for Steam, Microsoft needs the distribution and mindshare that Steam offers on PC, the IP that would come along with a company like Valve is just icing on the cake. Wait, HL and DOTA are just icing!? Um, yeah Microsoft wants a big *** cake! (it's a lie btw)

 

[Bludluvr]

All I can say is, it's about f*****g time. I originally got an XONE because I TRUSTED the Xbox brand. The whole time I've had my One( & don't get me wrong-it's a phenomenal system-with all that I can do with it) I've felt like something was missing. Does anybody else relate to that? Where are the new IPs? Can't we get at least 1 new platformer from Rare? Why do all our games go to the PC?( which affects Xbox console sales which affects our( we the Xbox One consumer's )overall experience with our Ones. People with PCs are not going to purchase an XONE, which means fewer sales which means less money invested in anything Xbox.

These are questions that I have asked myself. I DO appreciate that we get most of the 3rd party games. I am very happy to have Forza Horizon 2 & 3, Gears of War Ult. Edition, Gears of War 4 & Cuphead. Cuphead was a huge score by MS. It blows me away. I guess I just..expected more from the Xbox brand. Why did it take so long for MS to become willing ready and/or able to start taking exclusives as something that was important to their customer? Why is it so hard to come out with varied, new & innovative ideas for 1st party games? I do want to say that I am grateful to have my One, it keeps me occupied many hours of the day-I just resent that Spencer tried for a long time to make no new IPs & next to no new exclusives(as well as no TRUE exclusives) acceptable. It's not. Thank you for reading my response. I appreciate what you DO do-believe it or not.

 

[gold-stars]

What Microsoft needs to do is buy existing studios or old IP and breathe life into them. New IP is dangerous and despite the calls from people to make it the actual customers do not turn out to buy.

Crytek is an ideal target to buy given it's poor financial status, it would also get microsoft the
* Timesplitters franchise a cult classic from golden age of consoles.
* Crysis which while not the best games still have huge brand awareness.
* Ryse if they wanted to do anything more with it.


Gears & Halo are just too worn out, it's not that they aren't bad but they need a break.

Xbox is a much leaner operation than Playstation the recent forcing out of Playstation boss Andrew House shows it's not easy to spend so much resources on first party content if shareholders get unhappy.

If Microsoft wants to take the PC side more seriously it needs to invest is more co-op games too, that is can sell as Xbox Play Anywhere titles, it also needs to up it's efforts which are very weak, look at GOG Galaxy app as a fantastic store front in comparison to MS Store + Xbox app, they are worlds apart and GOG Galaxy is what Xbox on PC should be. Xbox PC & console are not in competition they compliment each other and MS should be pushing Xbox PC for Arm PC's with their UWP support if it had any clue.

 

[greedo_greedy]

I believe Phil Spencer's priority now is ensuring that there will be first and second party studios that should supply the Xbox brand with games in the next five years.

I'm quite sure because they were able to solve the hardware issue with the Xbox One X. Now the focus is on exclusive games.

MS already has a wealth of games that they can revive.

Off the top of my head, they can start with a new Fable.

There are also other titles worth revisiting, Crimson Skies, Mech Assault among others.

Alan Wake 2 (Please make this happen) Also count on Sunset Overdrive 2 and Quantum Break.

Maybe they can find a way to make Jade Empire 2 happen.

Maybe get exclusivity deal for the next Splinter Cell.

 

[Guest_aotf]

the recent forcing out of Playstation boss Andrew House shows it's not easy to spend so much resources on first party content if shareholders get unhappy.

Forcing out Andrew House? Unhappy shareholders? Do you have information about this stuff or are you just speculating or making it up?
Please provide us the links from where you got that...

Anyway, like I said earlier I don't think MS should buy any more new studios. They have an horrible history with managing studios...
I rather see them invest and making new studios and create their own identities...

 

[Guest_aotf]

I believe Phil Spencer's priority now is ensuring that there will be first and second party studios that should supply the Xbox brand with games in the next five years.
...
Maybe get exclusivity deal for the next Splinter Cell.

My question is why wasn't this his priority in the first 3-4 years?

This has been something that Spencer have been talking for so long now.
-----------------------
2015
This is was he said in 2015.
"We should have new exclusive IP at E3. I'm trying to make this E3 more about 1st party than past E3s."

This was said little later by Spencer:
"So we're making a conscious decision to focus on our first-party games. It doesn't make it harder or easier, it's just a decision. I do think that building up first-party exclusives is creatively more difficult than signing a deal, just by the nature of what it is. But I'll point out too that Sony has some great first-party franchises."

-----------------------
2016
This was what was said at the start of 2016. (So 2016's new IP's were Quantum break/D4 (also on steam) and Recore?)
"Should be a very good. Shipping more new IP than we have in a long time. Good challenge to make new IP succeed."

-----------------------
2017
How can we even take Spencer seriously when he makes this type of comments at the start of the year:
"I feel very good about this year. Should have more 1P games than last year, great diversity + launching new IP. Good year."


This is what he said in march:
"[We're] very focused on 1P games. I'll be careful about when we announce things but I know strong 1P is critical," adding that having those first-party games ready for Scorpio's launch is also critical.

-----------------------
With all this said, it's actually amazing that their support towards making major FP games dropped so much.
He has said to many things that hasn't followed up and now for me it's all bs and communication until he proves it.
-----------------------

Nothing was stopping them from investing on new games in the last so many years. I was really expecting/hoping for A LOT more announcement in the last few E3/Gamescom. But for me they had shocking poor presentations when it comes to new AAA exclusives.

Yes, they have the money but it looks like their priority is to please investors a lot more than pleasing gamers. I really doubt they'll compete with Sony when it comes to making new and diverse exclusives even though they probably are much richer than Sony.

I hope I'm wrong and they surprise us with loads of new games, IPs, reviving old franchises... But I doubt it'll happen, it's been like this for 8-9 years now...

Oh and on another point. I don't mind companies investing to make a 3rd party game fully exclusive (like Sunset Overdrive). So a full Splinter cell exclusive. Please no stupid timed deals that is totally anti-gaming...

 

[greedo_greedy]

Remember before Phil Spencer, the face of Xbox was Don Mattrick where the focus was on the Kinect and many other unpopular moves which have done a lot of damage to the Xbox brand.

Phil Spencer has done a bang up job restoring the Xbox image.

 

[Hirox K]

Acquiring "Unity" for instance would be a great idea for Microsoft.

Many indie are using it. But...
The State Machine in the animation system has trouble switching state during blend.
The state machine for MonoBehavior is really not the best design... and there's no constructor.
There's still no nested prefab even though people have been asking for years (I created our's in 2 days and now gets shared across teams).
Memory leak & memory fragmentation will still happen if you are a careless programmer.
Physics engine implementation isn't good, the result's not reliable. A lotta modern industrial technique won't be able to implement.
It's a-ok for simple project.

Well, MS cannot cut support for other platforms. Quite frankly, I don't think buying Unity will help much.
You cannot force indie or mobile game developers join force with MsStore. What benifits can MS provide? Simple Azure / Xbox live integration? You can do it without buying the engine. And... take a look at Steam, you prob don't want to see self-publishing games flushing into xboxes.
Western AAA devs build their own engine.
Major Japanese developers gave up building their own engine. It's costly, inefficient and not versatile. Engine team becomes corporate cancer eventually. Bigger projects now choose Unreal, and mobile game project will use Unity.
* Unity or not, Unreal or not... most people will choose Visual Studio as their IDE. VS Community is free now. Private svn and project manager is also free for small teams.

If you are talking about general PC users and casual games... you just need to push more devices (e.g. win10arm) and provide statistics.

tbh, MS owns Havok and Havok has their own game engine. It's called Vision Engine.
Havok is robust and essential to many AAA titles (even bigN uses it), but it comes with a cost.
If they really wanna enter Game Engine market... promote Vision is 1 path. They will need to offer it as free-to-start-engine (like what Unreal did) and pour money into building the community tho.
* Individual gets to use Havok for free through Vision.

If I MUST buy a game engine to get it done quick, I'll choose Unreal. OOP everything and C++ is more efficient than C#.
* Efficiency is important in AAA space.



Buying Steam...

Xbox store:
Does exe run?

pc space:
Is exe MS's interest in the future?
Is PC gamer the majority pc user?
Is exe in majority's best interest? Facebook website, uwp app and exe, which one(s) would a FB user choose?
Can exe run on IOT, AR, MR, xbox, Win10S? How about future win10ARM & win10pc?
* Software deprecation: iOS & Android both had their "clean house" for "OS diet"... Windows iterates at a slower rate for a few reasons but nothing runs forever (driver, os version, api level, etc are the factor to consider + avoiding low level stuff and you might be fine for a long while).
As a indie or startup, will you go for exe? You'd have to build your own installer, uninstaller, updater, crack-proof, do your own advertisement. Should a consumer trust a no-name exe? Will you remove trash in the registry during uninstallation?

Why do all our games go to the PC?( which affects Xbox console sales which affects our( we the Xbox One consumer's )overall experience with our Ones

> which affects Xbox console sales
I'd suggest you go check with xbox sale chart before and after XPA announcement.

> affects our overall experience with our Ones
Affects in what way? Lesser games for you or games are disappearing? I'd love to see some statistic tho...

 

[Hirox K]

Nothing was stopping them from investing on new games in the last so many years

What make you think they stopped?
A lotta things are going on under water in this industry, plus, a game takes years to cook and a lotta under cooking project will fail too. It's kinda the natural of this industry.

Q: What's the most popular ps4 exclusives that majority ps4 owner do buy in 2016, 2017?

Q: What most ps4 owners are playing in 2016, 2017?

 

[Guest_aotf]

Remember before Phil Spencer, the face of Xbox was Don Mattrick where the focus was on the Kinect and many other unpopular moves which have done a lot of damage to the Xbox brand.

Phil Spencer has done a bang up job restoring the Xbox image.

Yet kinect was very popular during that time as MS/XB "fans" were hyping it like crazy. I can still remember them dancing on the streets singing "I'm the controller" or some thing like that.

I'm not saying Mattrick was great. Far from it. I think he was real bad but the argument can be has Spencer done anything amazing?
I really don't think. I think the number of exclusives has dropped. And while he brought BC and game pass, scorpio and multiple version of controllers, the number of new games dried up, studios were closing down, major games getting cancelled and delayed by years. And besides that MS under Spencer took games as a service a step up. Most of their major games are now filled with MT/loot boxes, n number of different versions, season/VIP pass where you don't get everything, "get the game late if you don't pay", sponsored DLCs,...

The focus was on ways to play old games and on hardware and that just overshadowed the news of new game annpuncements. And the few games that do come out are probably games as a service...

Sorry but for MS Spencer is the same if not worse than Mattrick.