Do you believe in Xbox Game Studios ability to sort out their first party?

[vivftp]

Inspired by this video:



I know it's just 1 persons opinion there, but looking at his video history he REALLY supported xbox hard over the years. I'm curious what the feelings are for the community here.

First party output is by far Microsoft's biggest issue and I'd like to see how confident you are that they can get things on track. With 3 out of 4 of their last major titles scoring in the 60's on metacritic, there certainly seems to be room for improvement at least at launch. They've got some potential good games with Gears 5, Battletoads and Ori coming later this year, so we'll have to see how that goes.

XGS is certainly trying with their studio acquisitions, but the question now is will they be able to properly manage and support all of these studios and produce quality games? There's some fear that Microsoft might push these studios to pump out games at a fast pace to feed into Game Pass and if not managed properly could lead to half baked games being released. One would hope they'll give each studio enough time to complete their project and even delay a game if need be.

Personally, I'm a PlayStation gamer looking in from the outside. I used to have a 360 before switching over to PS3 so I haven't played any of the MS titles in a long while. I do hope they can get things on track and produce amazing experiences primarily because them doing well can only be good for the industry as a whole. If the quality were there I might consider occasionally subscribing to xCloud to play a title or two but based on their current output I would not.

I've added a poll so let me know what you think.

 

[Lant_War]

I'm confident they'll start putting out some great stuff in a few years. They wouldn't invest all this much buying studios for nothing.

 

[Silky]

What defines a quality game

What is the metric for quality within the context of AAA gaming and is it different from everyone else

Maybe it's because I have low expectations for most publishers but tbh MS video games are in offensive at worst and like, that's alright I guess

 

[Starlatine]

Funny how all it takes for fanboys to have their opinions considered is to make a video shitting on xbox

Guess if timdog starts doing the same tomorrow we will have weekly timdog threads on era

 

[Deleted member 1413]

Seems like they've struggled a lot outside of funding indie devs.
I'll be interested to see if they can not only get their act together for their current studios, but also be able to properly manage like 3x as many studios

 

[CountAntonio]

Yes. A lot of things can and have changed from one gen to the next. I think Sea of Thieves is a fantastic game. They seem committed with good studios brought on.

 

[Loxley]

Considering the shear talent of the studios they've aquired, I've no doubt they'll be producing quality stuff in the coming years.

 

[julia crawford]

Ganbatte!

 

[Pixels]

No, it's Microsoft.

 

[R dott B]

They need to acquire a few more quality studios but they're heading in the right direction.

 

[funky]

I have belief the new teams will do great things. Lots of talent in the bought studios and the initiative has the right location and potential talent pool to rival some of the best.

On the other side I think the Halo and Gears IP are so mimed already I believe they need to take a backseat and those teams given the chance to do something fresh. I don't think MS has that in them though.

 

[gogojira]

I think so, but we'll know when all the new talent starts pushing out content. Next gen will be the proving ground for XGS.

 

[Ambient]

I don't doubt that things will improve next generation but I also don't think they are going to start producing, for lack of a better descriptor, GOTY quality games like Sony, Nintendo and some other third parties.

 

[OrdinaryPrime]

Funny how all it takes for fanboys to have their opinions considered is to make a video shitting on xbox

Guess if timdog starts doing the same tomorrow we will have weekly timdog threads on era

Click to shrink...

Paranoia is a disease.

 

[Silky]

Funny how all it takes for fanboys to have their opinions considered is to make a video shitting on xbox

Guess if timdog starts doing the same tomorrow we will have weekly timdog threads on era

Click to shrink...

You'll be alright lmfao

 

[DeoGame]

They play well to their fans already. Next Gen will be even better. They take risks and it sometimes doesn't work, but their pillar franchises + indie games are consistently good.

 

[Starlatine]

Paranoia is a disease.

Click to shrink...

MBG opinion was as worthless as a xbox fanboy as it is now
Thread could be actually productive without having a clown as the basis of the argument. Might as well put a Yongyea video too

 

[litebrite]

I believe so, but we won't really know until we start seeing the quality of games from their new studios.

 

[Kill3r7]

PG is a real gem and I would not be shocked if they go on to be one of the premier studios next gen. Also, I think TC with Gears 5 will surprise a lot of people this year. For all its "safe" game design Gears 4 was a well made game and their support of the game has been excellent.

Considering the shear talent of the studios they've aquired, I've no doubt they'll be producing quality stuff in the coming years.

Click to shrink...

.

 

[Fat4all]

i should start a graphic design company dedicated to making youtube thumbnails, i could make some good dosh

 

[Kyoufu]

I'm confident they'll start putting out some great stuff in a few years. They wouldn't invest all this much buying studios for nothing.

Click to shrink...

Companies make investments that go nowhere or don't work out as hoped all the time.

 

[JINX]

Outside of SoT that was lacking in content, their internal studios all make quality games. MSGP has had issues which I think can be put down to budget, time constraints and the developers they chose to work with, for example UL and Armature weren't big enough nor experienced enough as studios to make AAA games. It's also clear that they didn't have big budgets, of course UL is internal now so their lack of resources can be corrected. CD3 seems to be the only project that has had significant issues on the MSGP side, but if you look at all of MSGP's games this generation there is quite a few quality titles which clearly had the time and budget. MS seems very capable when it comes to building internal studios, if they apply those strengths to building up their newly acquired studios like they are doing then I think they will be fine. I don't think CD3 or SOD2 reflect anything on their internal studios, given that they are two different groups with different resources etc. I assume MSGP is now getting the same investment that internal studios is getting, so hopefully we see both sides hitting a consistent bar of quality next gen. Also the studios they have acquired (Ninja Theory, Playground's 2 studios and Obsidian) are very talented proven studios, they also have The Initiative which seems to be building a talent filled team and MS seems very capable at building internal teams. Of course there is studios that will have access to a lot more resources and potential growth but have to prove themselves still (Inxile, Undead Labs and Compulsion), those are the teams MS will have to nurture.

 

[TheSpaceBetween]

Yeah, but it's going to take years and years and years. Just buying up a bunch of studios isn't going to just magically put them on Sony/Nintendo tier. They waited far too long to start significantly expanding their first party.

 

[Knight613]

Eventually, yes. But honestly wouldn't be surprised if they never do.

 

[Deleted member 6235]

Yeah, i think they are far more comitted to their games recently (Sea of Thieves being a living proof of that, they dropped games that were more succesful than that)

Can't wait to see what they're cooking up.

 

[Slackerish]

It'll be bumping for a bit longer but yeah, I believe they are on the right path now.

 

[etta]

Eventually yea, Forza Horizon 4 is a top of the class game, and Gears 4 was competent.
It'll take at least 5 years to reach that PlayStation quality, though, but I think they're getting there.

 

[TheCrackedJack]

I think they will improve over the next few years, absolutely. However, I don't think they are capable of equaling the best output of Nintendo or Sony. The talent just isn't there yet for that to happen.

 

[YukiroCTX]

I'm mixed in this. I really want to be optimistic about it but their efforts not just the past year but generations isn't a very good outlook in general. On the other hand, they certainly have delivered a few quality titles at least in between. I really love Sunset Overdrive, Forza Horizon, Cuphead and Ori so who knows really.

 

[VeggieBurger]

I feel like they have the potential, especially with their string of acquisitions.
They need to find ways to keep their old stuff interesting, not just more of the same Halo and Gears
They should keep taking risks on things like Sea of Thieves cuz if they get a big service game that would be really big for them
Finally they should keep on focusing on game pass and that like "Netflix for games" kinda thing. It's all about creating a service that can have a wide appeal and a good value.

 

[Heckler456]

If nothing else, they'll have Obsidian.

 

[spam flakes]

It's going to take a while, but I believe that it'll happen.

 

[WaffleTaco]

As someone that bought an Xbox One Day One . . . nope, not really. They stumble from success to failure without ever realizing why. Their entire system has been luck and the backing of a multi-billion dollar company.

 

[Strike]

Under new leadership it seems like they've learned their lesson. These things take time. I'm looking forward to see what they're able to produce next gen.

 

[Lorul2]

MBG opinion was as worthless as a xbox fanboy as it is now
Thread could be actually productive without having a clown as the basis of the argument. Might as well put a Yongyea video too

Click to shrink...

THIS!

 

[Gamer @ Heart]

I'm just hopeful we get some quality mid tier games that don't take 4-5 years.

Sony tentpoles are great, but their typical announcement > 2 years until release minimum is a bit tiring.

 

[E.T.]

The videos from that OP are brutal.

 

[melodiousmowl]

I thought a few years ago MS as a whole would die off, then they did a 180 on almost everything and are hitting it out of the park in almost every field.

They could punt it still, but it's pretty clear they are going to finally spend the money to give it a good try.

 

[Seahawk64]

Yes.

I preferred their first party games to Sony's in the two previous generations. I believe they can put out quality games again with the new studio acquisitions.

 

[Prompto]

Obsidian will put out some great stuff. Ninja Theory and Playground as well. Who knows about the other studios

 

[Deleted member 50969]

I've noticed that every time a thread pops up on ResetERA talking about the Xbox output, its always from someone who doesn't have one or actively dislikes the brand.

My opinion is that they could do well if they buckle down and take it seriously just like any other company should. They could also fail just like any other company could.

 

[Yearsoflurking]

Yeah I believe they will improve, xbox is now receiving a higher gaming budget which will allow longer dev cycles and less reliability on the cornerstone franchises. Starting with Ori/NT/obsidian and forward I believe things will change

 

[SofNascimento]

I think it's possible but I wouldn't bet on it.

 

[HStallion]

Sadly we won't know for years but I'm pulling for the Xbox teams. More competition is always better and MS has been really pushing things in some interesting directions lately.

 

[LewieP]

They've made a lot of the right moves with the studios they've bought, but availablity of talent has never been their sole problem, it's been managing them.

They've pushed studios into designing games to push whatever their broader corporate objectives are (kinect, smartglass, GAAS, even just multiplayer), not to just do right by the games they're making.

They've turned studios into factories for a given IP, squandering their creativity.

They've shut down developers, and burned bridges.

Ultimately, they're just not surprising these days.

I hope they're going to shake things up next gen and going forward.

 

[Barsi]

Besides playground I don't think the studios they have has the pedigree to do games with quality of what Sony and Nintendo are delivering.

Maybe they will prove themselves but I will not bet on that because their history shows otherwise.

Buying studios doesn't mean a lot. Thq are buying studios and ips and I don't expect they delivering consistently top AAA games.

 

[HeisenbergWW62]

overall? no. but as a huge fan of Obsidian, i really hope that at least they are able to deliver under MS. it would be pretty devastating if they get turned into a GaaS studio and ruined under MS

im rooting for MS tho, theyve made some good acquisitions. sonys current direction of "everything is open world RPG-lite" is the exact opposite of exciting to me and nintendo, while they have many games i like, release them too sparingly. so id like to see MS start delivering. i dont have much faith that they will tho

 

[NippleViking]

If you'd asked me this question one year ago I'd have said I have little faith. However, I feel like the last 9 months has proved they're doing more than just lipservice - giving Halo Infinite 5 years dev time, curbing crunch culture, seeking out talented devs and building new teams all point to a major change in how they manage their creative forces.

 

[Dodgerfan74]

Companies make investments that go nowhere or don't work out as hoped all the time.

Click to shrink...

Basically. MS throwing around a bunch of cash and Phil Spencer wearing cool t-shirts doesn't suddenly make the last several years of 1st party mediocrity disappear. MS will have to, you know, make some good games first.

 

[Rizific]

I'm more or less fine with their main stuff now. Forza (both series), gears, and halo. If they kept only those 3 I wouldn't mind. Play anywhere makes sure that I don't need to invest in their console hardware next gen anyway, so yeah I'm fine with it.