[Business Insider] "With the next Xbox, Microsoft has a 4-part strategy to end the console wars once and for all"

[OneBadMutha]

"Winning" is a lot of bullshit that gamers shouldn't care about. They should care about a healthy industry. They should care about healthy developers....both financially and physically because you don't want top talent burning out or unable to sustain creativity. Gamers should care about industry leaders driving things that benefits us as consumers and driving economic conditions that are good for the developers. The rest is tribal bullshit.

 

[Deleted member 5725]

The sooner 'console war' shit is over, the better. We don't need this dumb air of toxicity in the industry. I'm so happy MS is taking steps to kill it. I fully embrace this line of thinking and encourage Sony to do the same.

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It's just going to be an ecosystem war. Nothing changes sadly.

 

[tutomos]

Microsoft is wealthy enough that they could buy all of Sony if they wanted to. Sony could never win an arms races in streaming. Hell just recently they reached a business deal to use Microsoft's Azure servers for PlayStation streaming.

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Streaming is not about tech, it's about content. Nobody is asking what servers Disney or HBO is using for their streaming service.

 

[MykhellMikado]

Microsoft is wealthy enough that they could buy all of Sony if they wanted to. Sony could never win an arms races in streaming. Hell just recently they reached a business deal to use Microsoft's Azure servers for PlayStation streaming.

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Sony doesn't need servers to win the streaming wars. They said so in their investors meeting. Every console they sell came with the ability to stream all their games at launch.

 

[Aska]

Got see those new games. I still believe that content is key and, although MS has invested on new studios, it doesn't mean good games will come out of it. On the other hand, Sony's got that under its belt, imho.

 

[Atom Heart Mother]

It's just going to be an ecosystem war. Nothing changes sadly.

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Hope something changes. I've been done with this tribal corporate bullshit forever. The sooner that's done, the better.

"Winning" is a lot of bullshit that gamers shouldn't care about. They should care about a healthy industry. They should care about healthy developers....both financially and physically because you don't want top talent burning out or unable to sustain creativity. Gamers should care about industry leaders driving things that benefits us as consumers and driving economic conditions that are good for the developers. The rest is tribal bullshit.

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Caring about winning for your favorite platform itself is fucking weird. I never understood this.

 

[Prine]

The media is so sure about Xbox winning next gen already

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Sony's lack of communication.

 

[Diarrhea Day-Lewis]

How does #2 mean it isn't it's own ecosystem? BC in consoles has never meant that. And doesn't mean that with Windows BC for older programs either.

it absolutely is it's own ecosystem because it will, eventually, have games that only play on it.

 

[nelsonroyale]

Wouldn't be the beginning of a new gen without the hyperbole. I remember the same kind of thing at the beginning of last gen. Not that the past is analogous to the present, just some predictions that this is the end of console gens. This one won't be for sure, but I imagine they will all go this way at some point as hardware begins to plateau. Sony has the competitive advantage right now though in terms of penetration, content and brand. That can change obviously.

 

[McScroggz]

That's gonna be a yikes from me dawg.

 

[¡ B 0 0 P !]

Replace streaming with gaming, games.

Yet somehow Sony is still surviving, despite MS and all the money they have.

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Nowhere in my post did I imply Sony was doomed. Just stating that Sony could never out spend Microsoft on streaming right now. They don't have enough cash.

 

[Shpeshal Nick]

what is generation winning to people?

to gamers it will always be units sold

but to the organisations it will always be total revenue

sony will clean up with units sold

but microsofts strategy certainly puts them in a strong position for the revenue crown

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This is the thing.

I don't believe too many reasonable people expect Microsoft to sell more boxes than Sony, or Nintendo. But I'm willing to bet they can make almost as much money. Possibly even more if the chips fall right.

 

[DevilMayGuy]

Seems like a good plan to me

 

[MykhellMikado]

Streaming is not about tech, it's about content. Nobody is asking what servers Disney or HBO is using for their streaming service.

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exactly

 

[Deleted member 15973]

It's called Series X not Xbox

 

[Iron Eddie]

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As a AAA game developer, the more people play our games, the better.

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[Kyoufu]

As a AAA game developer, the more people play our games, the better.

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I'm sure you'd still make a lot of money without handicapping your creativity with Jaguar CPUs and 5400rpm HDDs.

 

[Anthony Hopkins]

As long as Microsoft and Sony want to control there walled gardens, they will always be competitors and therefore "platform wars"
I hope they remain competitors because competition makes better games, hardware and services.

 

[Deleted member 9584]

I'm sure you'd still make a lot of money without handicapping your creativity with Jaguar CPUs and 5400rpm HDDs.

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After the new consoles have been out for over a year, yea. But cross-gen games for one year is not a huge deal. Big graphical leaps and crazy new game design rarely comes the first year of a new consoles life.

Do you think 15 million people are going to rush out this holiday to buy Call of Duty 2020 exclusively on a next gen console? Not gonna happen.

 

[IMCaprica]

1. Microsoft doesn't mind if you don't buy its new Xbox console, as long as you buy the game.

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I get the overall point of the article, but it's clear someone forgot to pump the brakes, given that this is point #1. I think they do mind, because they spent a considerable amount of money on new hardware. And "as long as you buy the game" is a bigger ask than I think the writer is letting on.

I'd really enjoy a deeper dive on what this plan could mean outside of a vacuum. Because it seems to me articles like this really undersell the uphill battle Microsoft has with Sony. The PS5 needs some pretty big missteps in order for this plan to guarantee success.

 

[Eeyore]

As a AAA game developer, the more people play our games, the better.

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Maybe you should tell EA to support Switch then :P

 

[Ebtesam]

It's called Series X not Xbox

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https://www-polygon-com.cdn.ampproj...19/12/16/21025133/xbox-series-x-name-scarlett

https://www.extremetech.com/gaming/...on-xbox-series-x-is-actually-just-called-xbox

 

[Deleted member 9584]

I get the overall point of the article, but it's clear someone forgot to pump the brakes, given that this is point #1. I think they do mind, because they spent a considerable amount of money on new hardware. And "as long as you buy the game" is a bigger ask than I think the writer is letting on.

I'd really enjoy a deeper dive on what this plan could mean outside of a vacuum. Because it seems to me articles like this really undersell the uphill battle Microsoft has with Sony. The PS5 needs some pretty big missteps in order for this plan to guarantee success.

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I think a lot of people need to contextual what success is. Yeah Xbox One sold half of the PS4, but it wasn't a failure. PSP sold one half of the Nintendo DS and it wasn't a failure. 3DS sold half of the Nintendo DS and it wasn't a failure.

I don't think Microsoft plans to outsell PS5. They just want to make the most money they can possibly make and as long as they are profitable, they will remain the the game, aka successful.

 

[Deleted member 5725]

Hope something changes. I've been done with this tribal corporate bullshit forever. The sooner that's done, the better.

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I mean look at this thread. People are already arguing who has the most cash to make the best streaming service. It just never ends.

 

[1-D_FE]

I still don't see how they imagine this could possibly work out well for a gaming console... Sounds like something someone high up came up with "because Apple".

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Sounds more like a Windows PC to me.

I can play games from 20 years ago. All my games aren't trash, just because I bought a new GPU every couple years. And they play better in the future too. This isn't something Apple invented. It's just something console manufacturers opted out of for various reasons (that no longer make any sense).

 

[ItAintEasyBeinCheesy]

I get the overall point of the article, but it's clear someone forgot to pump the brakes, given that this is point #1. I think they do mind, because they spent a considerable amount of money on new hardware. And "as long as you buy the game" is a bigger ask than I think the writer is letting on.

I'd really enjoy a deeper dive on what this plan could mean outside of a vacuum. Because it seems to me articles like this really undersell the uphill battle Microsoft has with Sony. The PS5 needs some pretty big missteps in order for this plan to guarantee success.

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And if you don't buy the game but "stream" it instead?.

 

[Deleted member 2145]

I fail to see how this would "end the console wars".
Because Sony and Nintendo will just shrivel up and die when MS does something?

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it ends the console wars because it's effectively Microsoft saying fuck the console wars. it's not about winning or losing them in regards to competing with Sony and Nintendo it's about them essentially bowing out of that race altogether to pursue a more well rounded gaming business that delivers their products to consumers wherever they are, whether that's on Xbox or not.

 

[Stalwart]

It's called Series X not Xbox

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No, Microsoft said it's just Xbox.

 

[DSP]

good on them for tearing up artificial barriers and gate keeping bullshit gaming culture is so associated with.

 

[LanceX2]

Whos saying Xbox is selling more than PS next gen? ita clear it wont and they know it.

Tired of all the console wars here and hypocrits about timed ezclusive games

 

[TheOnlyJ]

It's kind of a weird strategy but it may work, although they need a better slate of first-party titles if that's the plan, which was their most obvious weakness this gen. Gamepass is a fair service which has led some to buying more games but me buying fewer-- I am also concerned about the quality in the future ( the Netflix problem), but it is too early to speculate.

I think they are making it hard to get excited about the Xbox going forward. I hope they clear up the messaging before the official announcement with specs and prices because right now it seems like a hybrid of pc and iphone that isnt particularly interesting to me.

 

[Deleted member 27315]

The media is so sure about Xbox winning next gen already

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From 2000

 

[MaulerX]

So do we know If Game Pass has more subscriber than Playstation Now?

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Phil Spencer himself in an interview said: "Millions AND millions"

 

[AmFreak]

The US media is so sure about Xbox winning next gen already

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Fixed.
Wonder why ...

 

[Yerffej]

The media is so sure about Xbox winning next gen already

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Pretty sure that's not what it means when they say "end console wars."

 

[Deleted member 2145]

pretty forward thinking stuff, even though at this point it seems like the obvious endgame they're just the first ones to really pounce on it

it's obviously working for them because they've been dipping their toe in for a little bit now (gamepass, day and date first party on gamepass, robust backwards compatibility with all their previous hardware, and first party on PC) and they wouldn't be going all in if it wasn't working for them

it's all good to me, we're getting closer and closer to the point where I can just have the devices I want and most everything I want to play will be on those devices whether it's native or streaming

 

[DarthBuzzard]

Netflix is going to spend 18 billion dollars on original content this year, if Microsoft ends up anywhere close to that, yeah I think we'd all be happy.

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That would basically be 50 GTA Vs worth of Microsoft content in one year.

I'm actually amazed at how Netflix can even spend that much in a year even though it's a different industry.

 

[jroc74]

pretty forward thinking stuff, even though at this point it seems like the obvious endgame they're just the first ones to really pounce on it

it's obviously working for them because they've been dipping their toe in for a little bit now (gamepass, day and date first party on gamepass, robust backwards compatibility with all their previous hardware, and first party on PC) and they wouldn't be going all in if it wasn't working for them

it's all good to me, we're getting closer and closer to the point where I can just have the devices I want and most everything I want to play will be on those devices whether it's native or streaming

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I agree, it's their end game. Ppl keep saying they don't care about how many consoles they sell so.....

 

[Champion]

If the XSX is successful and sells well out the gate, then I can see support for other hardware dropping off fast. Real fast.

 

[OutofMana]

I'm still not sure how sustainable game pass is for devs. At some point there has to be a price increase or something right? I built a new pc and got it but have only used it a few times. Not a lot of the games interest me. Which is what ended up happening with PS+. I most got it to play their first party titles. That and it was $1 for the first month.

 

[80s Old School]

I fail to see how this would "end the console wars".
Because Sony and Nintendo will just shrivel up and die when MS does something?

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If xbox is as successful as this article suggests, Sony and Nintendo would be forced to change in order to compete. I'm a fan of them all joining forces to fend off Google and Amazon, because that is where gaming will end up. If Sony can barely compete with Microsoft financially, it can hold a candle to the funds Google and Amazon have.

 

[nitewulf]

At the end of the day, I think Sony and MS should just combine and release a console called PlayBox. Why split the market when you can just combine it. Make revenue on licensing, OS, streaming services, accessories, Sony can design the audio chips and earn revenue on that, hell go nuts on brand specific limited edition devices (white, red, Final Fantasy, Halo blah blah). Just fucking combine the shit. It's the best for everyone.

 

[Prine]

I'm still not sure how sustainable game pass is for devs. At some point there has to be a price increase or something right? I built a new pc and got it but have only used it a few times. Not a lot of the games interest me. Which is what ended up happening with PS+. I most got it to play their first party titles. That and it was $1 for the first month.

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It opens the flood gates to new gamers, GP is growing strongly so obviously vast amount of gamers are finding alot of value. For MS that will mean $8/9 in the bank from millions of subscribers every month without having to release a game.

 

[Deleted member 12352]

Poised to dominate next gen.

 

[Jaxar]

I have a feeling once the PS5 in fully unveiled, we're going to see that Sony and MS both have very similar plans for next gen.

 

[Dragoon]

That would basically be 50 GTA Vs worth of Microsoft content in one year.

I'm actually amazed at how Netflix can even spend that much in a year even though it's a different industry.

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150 million subs.

 

[MaulerX]

https://youtu.be/7_wJSuClZf8?t=530

This was X019 where Phil said the "Millions AND milions" on Game Pass.
Not the first time he's made a similar statement but this was relatively recent.

 

[Sheng Long]

If xbox is as successful as this article suggests, Sony and Nintendo would be forced to change in order to compete. I'm a fan of them all joining forces to fend off Google and Amazon, because that is where gaming will end up. If Sony can barely compete with Microsoft financially, it can hold a candle to the funds Google and Amazon have.

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But that's the thing. They'd really have to be market leader worldwide for this to really become a thing.

 

[ZeldaGalaxy94]

It's a small branding change, but it clarifies Microsoft's position with its console line: You can expect your Xbox digital library to work on Xbox devices, similar to Apple's approach with the iPhone.

You might get an iPhone 11 Pro, or you might get an iPhone 8 — they all run the same stuff, albeit in varying degrees of fidelity. Such is the case with the Xbox brand going forward.

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That was and still is my biggest problem with Sony, that my PSN games from PS3 wouldn't work with PS4's PSN or at least be free downloads.

That the reason I waited for the Pro before buying a PS4, I had too many PS3 PSN games to play and I still even have some games left to buy that only on PS3's PSN or Steam.

Solve that problem or I won't unplug my PS3 yet and I will wait to buy the PS5

 

[Bunkles]

it ends the console wars because it's effectively Microsoft saying fuck the console wars. it's not about winning or losing them in regards to competing with Sony and Nintendo it's about them essentially bowing out of that race altogether to pursue a more well rounded gaming business that delivers their products to consumers wherever they are, whether that's on Xbox or not.

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So... they are becoming a third party developer that also has a console.