1. I wouldn't describe the negative attitude towards MS as "hate" when it is almost entirely justified. They, and by "they" I mean the Xbox management team including Spencer, have been pushing a narrative of greater first party commitment for about 4 years now. The only real action we have seen came this year with buying some existing exclusive partners, a studio with a dubious track record, and Ninja Theory. Now they're rumored to be adding Obsidian.
Great, where were these moves 3 years ago when they could have gotten games out sooner?
I know, MS had a big reorg. and now Spencer has more power, blah blah blah. Great. But when Spencer himself is effectively regurgitating the same talking points he used when he apparently had no ability to deliver why should people immediately change opinions because they've announced a few acquisitions?
And this isn't fixing the software issue. If I break a big ass hole in my wall I have something to fix. Just because I went to the store and bought some drywall, mud, tape, etc. I can't then say I'm actively "fixing" the hole. That I can claim when I'm actually physically fixing it. No one has any obligation to believe my claim until they see me either A. fixing it or B. the wall fixed.
So until MS shows some production from these acquisitions they're just buying the materials to start fixing the gaping hole in their first party library. It is a good way to start, the only way to start, but it doesn't mean they deserve a pat on the back for recognizing them needing the basic tools to make the fix.
Personally I take issue with acquisitions or partnerships that limit the distribution/availability of already in existence/likely to exist products as a marketing tactic. That's the games industry acquisition test I run in my head. If the game was already going to exist (Rise of the Tomb Raider) and the deal did nothing to improve or expedite the product I see no value other than artificially constructing a consumer trap. That's bad business in this industry.
When instead that partnership/acquisition is a value add to the industry as a whole, which I'd argue superior funding, technical resources, and creative independence are for NT and Obsidian and I believe MS can offer them, then it's a net good and we should all be happy about it.
The reality is that by the time Obsidian and NT are putting out meaningful products under the MS banner there will likely be a pretty cost palatable option out there for people to get these games. Maybe its a dedicated digital distro gaming box or a streaming service,but with Game Pass and their streaming offering as well as PC support (despite being problematic in some ways). No matter what it is the one message MS has clearly delivered on is that they want to deliver games content to anyone, anywhere, and to remove a hardware purchase from the equation. The gated ecosystem? Yes, but sans-upfront buy-in.
1. Sony once bought a studio that had done nothing of note. Not once in their history had they put out a quality game. That studio was Guerrilla Games.
Microsoft once bought a studio that was thinking about making a Real Time Strategy game. They did not have a game wildly successful, a small studio by today's standards. The game was transformed into a first person shooter called Halo: Combat Evolved and the studio was became the creme de la creme of gaming. That studio was Bungie.
An unknown studio formed by developers in England approached Microsoft with an idea. Let us work on a project in your racing universe. That studio is today Playground Games: the premier racing game developer of our age who is partnering with Turn 10.
A studio struck an agreement with Sony to make a trilogy. The first game was not a critically acclaimed game and the partnership ended. That studio went from strength to strength doing games published by third party developers before publishing their own title and securing a buyout by Microsoft i.e. Ninja Theory.
Some of the best studios I know off have come of humble beginnings, and that includes Retro Games who were initially struggling with a game before they took over Metroid Prime. This is not to say that every studio Microsoft has bought will turn into a gem or that every game they publish will be great. No publisher, and no developer has a divine right to make quality games, but there is a push to try and populate their game catalogue.
This is what we have been asking for; it is happening. It makes zero sense to have complained that long only to now complain that they should have made those moves sooner.
2. Every company moves as the leadership takes them. Microsoft under Ballmer was an underperforming tech giant. Microsoft under Nadella is a different beast altogether. As someone said either in this thread or another, it is not that Nadella was not at the company, he always was, but he had to answer to someone. This is something that changes the moment you have the reins of power and have the ability to chart the direction of the company. First big decision he made when it came to gaming was restructure what was under Myerson and promote Spencer to an executive role. Xbox today is not the same Xbox division it was two years ago just as Sony is not where it was when Ken Kutaragi was pushing Cell and RSX.
3. Each company is about vision. For so long, Microsoft lacked that. In my opinion, Microsoft has the infrastructure in place to push gaming, its distribution and how we play across different devices in such a way that Sony has not yet envisioned or even began investing on. Things like Game Pass and Play Anywhere, Fast Start, AI, the investment in Azure and XCloud and the lessons they have learnt from the Xbox One X translate to their next console.
What we are now seeing is hate for the most part that is fueled by fear.
4. Tech has evolved. A friend pays $12 every month for Netflix and I foot my share of the cost to access that account. I am OK with how they distribute content in this age. There are people invested in Spotify. The age when we used to go to stores to buy books, games, consoles, music tapes/CD's, VCR tapes/Video CD's/DVD's is being overtaken by online shopping and digital distribution. Companies are simply adjusting to this.
