In hindsight, what was the goal of the Xbox’s May showcase?

[Dust]

It was first real glimpse at XSX capability (aside Hellblade 2 non-gameplay snippet) and it was just whatever. Why did they pick a "whatever" showcase as their first longer XSX look?
They had, simply had, to know Sony would be demoing the UE5 reveal with PS5, why they did not show just a small trailer of next gen only title (they have to have at least one)?

And if it was just to show various games coming to Xbox, you should focus on that later, not when system is in initial reveal phase.

For a such powerful system, it was a weird move.

 

[SharpX68K]

Yeah it was bad. Microsoft and Ubisoft dropped the ball instead of dropping bombs. They showed games built for XBone, enhanced for XSX.

In sharp contrast to EPIC, who showed true next-gen potential with Unreal Engine V running on PS5.

 

[Issen]

Honestly, I have no idea. I'm still scratching my head.

 

[Raide]

Quickly get something out since all their plans changed because of Covid. They had stuff planned for E3 and everything got thrown about. The May showcase was probably never supposed to be a thing.

 

[ryzz]

Come on... it wasn't that bad. Once July comes around this will be forgotten about.

 

[Dan Thunder]

It was as described, a way for them to show the 3rd party support that they're getting and also that titles will be playable cross-gen. I don't think looking back changes that, it was what it was.

Yes the messaging leading up to it was confused but I think they did what they set out to do.

 

[Arthands]

Its just the starter meal and they dont want to unload every announcement yet? Relax and wait, plenty of times ahead for everyone

 

[Philippo]

Have people talk.

Like they did with specs breakdowns, or other articles like about what they have in store for the future.

Just this time it backfired.

But that happens all the time, it's no big deal and people will forget it by the time July comes.

 

[sir_crocodile]

Come on... it wasn't that bad. Once July comes around this will be forgotten about.

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On it's own it was fine, but the PR around it was the absolute dirt worst and just annoyed people

 

[Gundam]

I can think of 4 things

1. They just want to stay in the news cycle
2. This is what they might have shown alongside whatever we're getting next month at their pre-E3 console event before COVID-19 derailed everything.
3. They just REALLY got a ton to show in July (Which they probably do have a lot, but they could have cut the interviews and fit this stuff in TBH since they're not taking up any convention or theatre timeslots)
4. Maybe they just didn't want to show exclusives that were coming 2020/2021 that weren't going to be cross-gen in an effort to keep messaging clear and not confusing? (First party studios sound like their first year games for Series X will be cross-gen)

 

[Yuntu]

It was probably something that was originally part of E3 but then Covid happened and they kinda just threw it out there. Also I think its weird to say "Sony demoed" the UE5 reveal. There wasn't even someone from Sony there to talk about it.

Wish that graphical demo wouldn't get used for such thinking tbh. Its supposed to be for all platforms.

 

[EliR]

Come on... it wasn't that bad. Once July comes around this will be forgotten about.

Click to shrink...

That just means it was that bad. It was completely unneeded.

 

[PixelatedDonut]

I think it was to get out ahead of Sony, but fuck it seems like UE5 demo had a bigger splash for Sony than the Xbox event imo. It's weird I was actually more hyped for that but w/e can't wait to see more games.

It was probably something that was originally part of E3 but then Covid happened and they kinda just threw it out there. Also I think its weird to say "Sony demoed" the UE5 reveal. There wasn't even someone from Sony there to talk about it.

Wish that graphical demo wouldn't get used for such thinking tbh. Its supposed to be for all platforms.

Click to shrink...

Epic and Sony partnered to show it off and maker the PS5(Tim Sweeney himself did this), at the end of the day everyone knows UE5 will be on everything, but it was a demo of the PS5.

 

[Strings]

They wanted to capture the mindshare and have a presentation each month. Was definitely a mistake though imo, since it feels like it's going to be tough to put together even one good one in these conditions.

 

[Deleted member 8196]

They wanted to give a showcase for small titles? Maybe?

I dunno, their problem was the messaging, a lot of people were expecting AAA games and not indie or AA titles.

Or course COVID messed up with everything and something like the May showcase would never happen during normal times.

 

[Fliesen]

Stay in the news cycle, i guess?

And that's perfectly valid. They (but also Ubisoft) should have simply managed expectations accordingly.

 

[Kordelle]

the games were fine, timing and naming/hyping up of the show were bad.

 

[Deleted member 5028]

Perhaps to show that third party support is important, and letting them set a standard for next-gen (unimpressive as that was after the hype/expectations). There's nothing more fun than having your first party powerhouses show up on the same show and completely undercut the visuals, scale and scope of your third party indie game based purely on the resources available.

The first party output will pretty much always look better, but for now these ones stand alone.

 

[christocolus]

That was an appetizer and July is the main event according to shinobi602

 

[Izzard]

I think they just wanted to keep up the hype, weren't ready to show off any first party stuff, and worked together with some publishers to get some third party support. Felt a lil rushed imo, and if they'd taken the time to look at it all they'd have realised it didn't work so well.

 

[Sikamikanico]

They announced like, 6? Xbox exclusives at the event - in any other timeframe, it would have been a pretty good "Inside Xbox" episode. However, they really did 'over-hype' it, and naturally have admitted that. A minor stumble that come July, will be quickly forgotten.

 

[neptunez]

I'm guessing both MS and Epic were meant to show their respective demos at GDC?

I don't know of any other reason, you would think Microsoft would want to control their messaging and showcase their First Party stuff first.

Can't read too much into either strategy, this pandemic is not a normal circumstance.

 

[Kasey]

Have people talk.

Like they did with specs breakdowns, or other articles like about what they have in store for the future.

Just this time it backfired.

But that happens all the time, it's no big deal and people will forget it by the time July comes.

Click to shrink...

Pretty accurate I'd say.

Apparently this event was planned before the pandemic as a showcase for games that they didn't have time for with their e3 conference, but obviously it should have either been moved or just described differently to manage expectations better.

 

[Deleted member 8196]

I'm guessing both MS and Epic were meant to show their respective demos at GDC

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Not guessing, the UE5 demo was supposed to be playable at GDC.

 

[dstarMDA]

I don't know if we have that much hindsight, it was not even a week ago.

 

[Potterson]

It wasn't bad from hardcore gamers perspective, cause we know what's coming in the future.

But if some more casual people were watching this, they really could get the idea that these are the games coming to new Xbox on launch or something. It was weird.

 

[cartoon_soldier]

This was their E3 spillover as per Jeff Grub, Valhalla was added to probably attract more viewers.

 

[Kwigo]

They wanted to show that they have cross-gen support from third parties.

Which is really stupid since people mostly choose their new console based on next-gen graphics and exclusives.

 

[Dark Cloud]

To temper our expectations for next gen

 

[Deleted member 8784]

On its own as a smaller event much later on, I'm sure it would have been much better received, but as the heavily hyped 'this changes everything' -debut- for your console? Running on a machine that isn't actually the console?

I know this discussion has been had so many times already, but man. There's just no logical sense I can piece together.

 

[Executive Taxi]

It must be frustrating to be a hardware engineer at Microsoft doing all this great stuff with the XSX but your flop marketing team keeps making missteps...

 

[neptunez]

They wanted to show that they have cross-gen support from third parties.

Which is really stupid since people mostly choose their new console based on next-gen graphics and exclusives.

Click to shrink...

More like they wanted to showcase their "smart delivery" initiative.

 

[Alexandros]

They might have misinterpreted the message from core gamers. People said that they wanted to see actual next-gen games but what they actually meant was games that push technology forward and make the case for the next generation. It was certainly a miscalculation to think that people would be satisfied with games that looked like they could be running on an Xbox One X. It was a very strange decision to sell this event as the first footage of next-gen gameplay. It might have been technically true but it is not what people wanted.

 

[NippleViking]

It was meant to whet the palate of fans, to tide them over until July, possibly to beat Sony to the punch, and also to serve as overflow for their upcoming presser. But yeah - it does seem to have done more harm than good (not that the long term repercussions of this single event will matter in the slightest)

 

[Kwigo]

More like they wanted to showcase their "smart delivery" initiative.

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Which would have been a great sidenote for a next gen showcase.

 

[Darkstorne]

The concern I have is this is STILL their primary marketing decision for next gen: "It plays your current gen games, but better! All exclusives will also be playable on Xbox One X! No Xbox gamer left behind!"

And that will only sound exciting to the Xbox gamers who have no intention of buying a next gen console yet...

They might finally be realizing next gen exclusives that push tech forward, that current gen can't achieve, is what players want from a new console investment.

 

[DeadJoshWalking]

I think the fact so little/none of what they showed was catered to the idea of 'this is next gen' (it was all just announcement style trailers) points to them having thrown it together with what they could get hold of, but you'd think the Valhalla stuff was probably planned for a while, so my guess would be they were expecting to have a much bigger/higher profile lineup of 3rd party stuff, maybe some of which would have been presentation style things like Epic did for PS5 yesterday, but those fell through, they were obligated to keep the event because of Valhalla...and we got what we got.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

I have no idea at all. They fucked up real bad and gave away the mindshare advantage they had been trying to build since December.

They'll need their next showing to be pretty amazing to bring it back into some balance.

They could have been enjoying 50-page threads. Instead, they get threads like these. Just too bad.

 

[KORNdog]

I can only think that they thought what they were showing was more impressive an accomplishment than what the games actually looked like. Reality being they didn't look a whole lot better than what we have now. The fact they were claiming they were "optimised for series X" made the showing even worse imo. It kind of undermined the graphical capabilities of the system if anything.

 

[Sanka]

I'm guessing they didn't want to stay out of the news for that long and were really oblivious to the fact that people wanted to see AAA nextgen titles. But with how much they advertised the AC Valhalla teaser even during the stream, I think they did know what people wanted to see.

If Valhalla had actually been a 3 minute gameplay montage people would have not been upset.

 

[Murdock]

Epic showed a "tech demo" of an engine that is not even exclusive to Sony and that will run on even current machines.
Microsoft showed multiple exclusive next generation games.....

Isnt this what yall been whinning about when it comes to Series X? That it wont have any exclusive next gen stuff and that everything will be cross gen? Lol micorosoft announced a bunch exclusives and yall getting hyped over a wannabe, janky ass, corridor entering tomb raider demo that is completely doable on the series x. Next gen not even here yet but yall lame as fuck

 

[dist]

To show games?

 

[EekumBokum]

Who knows. They lost a lot of momentum though and Sony is now what everyone is talking about even though they haven't even done anything really. MS fucked up.

 

[Prine]

Appetizer for the main event. A mistake for sure but it won't matter once July hits.

 

[Arex]

lowering unrealistic expectation maybe, and then Epic just had to ruin that with tech demo lol

 

[Ukumio]

I feel like most/all the games were meant for the E3 stage, but since E3's cancelled they were put in Inside Xbox instead.

 

[P40L0]

It was first real glimpse at XSX capability (aside Hellblade 2 non-gameplay snippet) and it was just whatever. Why did they pick a "whatever" showcase as their first longer XSX look?
They had, simply had, to know Sony would be demoing the UE5 reveal with PS5, why they did not show just a small trailer of next gen only title (they have to have at least one)?

And if it was just to show various games coming to Xbox, you should focus on that later, not when system is in initial reveal phase.

For a such powerful system, it was a weird move.

Click to shrink...

It was just an appetizer with indies and third parties which will be released on XSX at launch or in a year max, leaving them away for the more important showcase they're preparing for July (First-Parties only for 1 hour).

 

[Deleted member 19924]

-

 

[Hilarious_Bearious]

I didn't think it was bad. I think they just needed to be more clear about what they were going to show. Hyping it as "next gen gameplay showcase" was the only mistake IMO.

 

[Darkstorne]

Epic showed a "tech demo" of an engine that is not even exclusive to Sony and that will run on even current machines.
Microsoft showed multiple exclusive next generation games.....

Isnt this what yall been whinning about when it comes to Series X? That it wont have any exclusive next gen stuff and that everything will be cross gen? Lol micorosoft announced a bunch exclusives and yall getting hyped over a wannabe, janky ass, corridor entering tomb raider demo that is completely doable on the series x. Next gen not even here yet but yall lame as fuck

Click to shrink...

That's a good example of just how much they dropped the ball. People wanted to see something truly next gen and real time. PS5 has delivered, Xbox hasn't. Third party and non exclusive is irrelevant. Most of what Microsoft showed was third party and non exclusive too. Only Epic has shown what next gen consoles are capable of so far, and Sony made sure it happened on their console.

It's not a big loss by any means. Same way Cerny's presentation was attacked for so long but in the end won't matter. But it does mean it's time for console manufacturers to learn that potential customers for next gen consoles want to see next gen games. Shocker.