Thurrott.com: Microsoft is making significant investments / financial backing to go all-in on gaming

[Diarrhea Day-Lewis]

Well, let's wait and see. Sea of Thieves has impressed me on that front. So we'll see what happens

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I don't understand what there is to wait and see about. There's so much historical precedent for it.

Xbox 2 games working on XB1X and XB1 is only delaying the inevitable. They have to drop XB1 at some point might as well do it at the start of the gen. Unless you want to limit game development you have to cut off XB1 and 1X some time. Scale able games only go so far.

 

[Bold One]

Been a while since we seen the illustrious 'war chest' posts. Been waiting since November 15th, 2001 for them to open that sumbitch up.

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Thank god someone got that reference.

But I think MS have it in them - but they need to plan ahead. Right now they are the DCEU to Sony's MCU

 

[Diarrhea Day-Lewis]

I think people are mistaking forward compatibility as complete game support scaled down. There is nothing stopping a developer making a game that works on both generations. devs will make some cross gen games as is usually the case when a new generation begins but Microsoft and developers will not anchor next gen to last gen, that would be monumentality stupid and messy for consumers. We will get perhaps a token gesture like this gen, that season pass works on next gen too at no extra cost like the last hurrah COD on current consoles, maybe even the actual game next time instead of cross gen DLC. BC/Enhanced BC is the real ticket and you will probably get a lot more cross gen titles specifically indie titles and such but no doubt next only titles will be plentiful across the board.

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Then forwards compatibility is not the right term for it.

Just cross gen stuff we get every transition and Xbox 2 games are mostly designed exclusively for it, barring multi platform cross gen stuff like fifa, 2k, Madden, cod, etc for maybe 1-2 years

So you ship an Xbox One version and a Xbox Two version.

 

[BuBu Jenkins]

Sony is nowhere near as rich as MS, so I am interested to see how Sony responds when MS dips into its warchest

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OHHH the fabled and illusive magical war chest MS has stashed that will be the solution to all their problems....lol this is some 2001 fanboy shit where everyone proclaimed the death of Sony now that big bad american juggernaut software company MS entered the console market only to get steamrolled by the PS2, 360 falling behind PS3 at the end despite all the of Sony's fuck ups and 360 having year headstart and price advantage, and now this gen with Sony going back to damn near PS2 levels of domination crushing the xbone in sales....bu bu bu dat war chest will change things next gen surely! lol

 

[Bold One]

OHHH the fabled and illusive magical war chest MS has stashed that will be the solution to all their problems....lol this is some 2001 fanboy shit where everyone proclaimed the death of Sony now that big bad american juggernaut software company MS entered the console market only to get steamrolled by the PS2, 360 falling behind PS3 at the end despite all the of Sony's fuck ups and 360 having year headstart and price advantage, and now this gen with Sony going back to damn near PS2 levels of domination crushing the xbone in sales....bu bu bu dat war chest will change things next gen surely! lol

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You not of what you speak

 

[DaveLong]

Hah! I remember you! Good to see you around mate ;)

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Ha! You too. :)

I hope they figure it out. The Xbox cannot live on Halo alone, you know?

I just feel like they don't ever know how to do this stuff right. The 360 was successful because it brought PC-style games to consoles at a time when people were looking for more of that. Also, five-hundred ninety-nine US dollars and enemy crabs built Sony's early grave with PS3. Specifically though, with the first person shooters and sprawling open world style games, but also things that felt inherently PC-like, Microsoft brought something new. Since then they've stagnated because they decided to let the third parties be the drivers and that simply doesn't work well enough to put you on top. It just makes you an also ran.

 

[Animal Liberation Ⓥ]

You not of what you speak

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Is this a SoT reference. ;)

 

[SuikerBrood]

OHHH the fabled and illusive magical war chest MS has stashed that will be the solution to all their problems....lol this is some 2001 fanboy shit where everyone proclaimed the death of Sony now that big bad american juggernaut software company MS entered the console market only to get steamrolled by the PS2, 360 falling behind PS3 at the end despite all the of Sony's fuck ups and 360 having year headstart and price advantage, and now this gen with Sony going back to damn near PS2 levels of domination crushing the xbone in sales....bu bu bu dat war chest will change things next gen surely! lol

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It is true though, if MS really sees the benefit of gaming they could empty their pockets. They won't tho, I don't see any reason why they should. They just bought LinkedIn for 26 billion dollars a couple of years ago.

 

[SPDIF]

OHHH the fabled and illusive magical war chest MS has stashed that will be the solution to all their problems....lol this is some 2001 fanboy shit where everyone proclaimed the death of Sony now that big bad american juggernaut software company MS entered the console market only to get steamrolled by the PS2, 360 falling behind PS3 at the end despite all the of Sony's fuck ups and 360 having year headstart and price advantage, and now this gen with Sony going back to damn near PS2 levels of domination crushing the xbone in sales....bu bu bu dat war chest will change things next gen surely! lol

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Are you sure you're not a fanboy?

 

[Peek-a-boo!]

Yeah literally nothing changed in the Xbox division since 2013.

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I'm waiting for the games man, not all of those features, new hardware and services stuff, which you didn't have to compile a list for in the first place... seeing as we all know that they have done a good job of recently!

One console I own is delivering just that, the other is not (quite as well) in the past year or so.

 

[Mido]

Sounds good to me. I'm not buying any 3rd parties on PlayStation until they prove they can do bc correctly.

 

[Sheng Long]

Reading the quote about the traffic jam thing just makes me think that they have no idea what the f they are doing.

 

[Soony Xbone Uhh]

I'm waiting for the games man, not all of those features, new hardware and services stuff, which you didn't have to compile a list for in the first place... seeing as we all know that they have done a good job of recently!

One console I own is delivering just that, the other is not (quite as well) in the past year or so.

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Okay fine. But as the article is not about games, that is clearly not the fist that comes to my mind

 

[Wololo]

This article seems to confirm what many have speculated. They are putting all their bets on next gen.

 

[Cap G]

I read articles like this and hear that Microsoft investing in more games for my PC. Hope it works out for them.

 

[THEVOID]

I've been listening to This Week in Windows (Podcast hosted by Leo Laporte, Mary Jo Foley, Paul Thurrott) for I think a good 10 years now and this is the first time I've heard of someone saying Microsoft is on the side of Thurrott.

Hehe.

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No shit! Cracks me up people think that.

 

[Theorry]

Reading the quote about the traffic jam thing just makes me think that they have no idea what the f they are doing.

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You know that quote is from Sams himself right? Not MS.

 

[henhowc]

if i want to sit in a traffic jam i can just go outside ;)

be happy sam isn't part of the team(s) responsible for this lol

 

[SuikerBrood]

if i want to sit in a traffic jam i can just go outside ;)

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It was an example from Thurrott/Sams, not from Microsoft. ;)

Blowing up traffic jams in Crackdown 3 still seems fun to me tho.

 

[Deleted member 17491]

Anything but. Thurrot also talks so much shit about Microsoft that it's comical that he runs a Microsoft focused website.

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It's refreshing actually. A site focused on one thing that doesn't feel like it's run by the PR department.

 

[Fisty]

Sounds good to me. I'm not buying any 3rd parties on PlayStation until they prove they can do bc correctly.

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The whole reason they switched to x86 (besides ease of development) was games having longer lifespans these days and wanting to support those games in the long term. Cerny was saying exactly this in mid 2013, you can expect BC in future Sony hardware.

 

[Spanic]

Amazon has lumberyard engine, Epic recently purchased CloudGine most likely to help integrate cloud tech into their engine. MS can't be late to this party. They need to invest heavy (they probably are) on moving the next gen multiplayer/co op games into the next level. Business's have been moving to cloud services for a long time now and there is no sign of it stopping. Gaming and cloud is still young but it will be a major money maker in the future for the game and who ever is running the backend service.

An airplane simulator would be amazing with real time traffic and weather.

 

[Imitation Of Life]

Sony is nowhere near as rich as MS, so I am interested to see how Sony responds when MS dips into its warchest

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It will take them making a massive investment in games just to try to catch up to Sony, let alone surpass them. Also will they stay course if some of these projects don't succeed? That has been a major issue with them. They get skittish when games flop when that should be part of cost of doing business as a platform owner.

 

[SuikerBrood]

An airplane simulator would be amazing with real time traffic and weather.

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This is a really cool idea by the way.

 

[dead souls]

As long as they don't get all the Japanese games that Sony does I have no desire to ever purchase another Microsoft console--and I own 100+ 360 games. I've never even considered purchasing an XB1 and I don't see anything going forward that MS can do to entice me to buy their next box.

 

[VX1]

I'll say it again, This is the first generation where digital game library's matter (because of backwards compatibility going forward ) why would someone buy an xbox when their whole digital game collection is on ps4 ? By winning this gen by so much, sony have pretty much cemented their place as market leader going foward.

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Indeed.This is very important and a lot of people seem to forget.Since digital exploded this gen,It is very difficult switching ecosystems.It was easy in ps2,3 era but not anymore!

MS screwed up things at the beginning of digital generation with far reaching consequences!

 

[Bradbatross]

Great news! Hopefully we see some evidence of this at E3. Pretty exciting times for Xbox gamers.

 

[Jom]

As long as a good portion of this money goes toward catering to regions other than North America, I think MS will be in a great place. They really need to take care of Europe and Asia going forward.

 

[Remo Williams]

Indeed.This is very important and a lot of people seem to forget.Since digital exploded this gen,It is very difficult switching ecosystems.It was easy in ps2,3 era but not anymore!

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Welcome to Game Pas, an affordable, growing library of games that's going to make the transitional period far more bearable.

And if you're one of those people who don't care about playing old games on brand new hardware (the vast majority are like that, or so I've heard), you don't even have to worry about that.

 

[Kittenz]

Indeed.This is very important and a lot of people seem to forget.Since digital exploded this gen,It is very difficult switching ecosystems.It was easy in ps2,3 era but not anymore!

MS screwed up things at the beginning of digital generation with far reaching consequences!

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The irony. MS had the crappy launch partly because they bet that the digital library was coming and the internet mobs (who now never have their consoles unplugged ever) screamed about "always on" or uploaded checkins on accounts. Missed it by about two years, I think. A LOT of people screaming about wanting hard copies of games at the start are now wishing they didn't have to get up to change discs.

I'm with ya on PS4 having that advantage IF PS5 does indeed allow full BC with PS4. Do we know that's the plan? If MS would've launched with the current BC abilities/plans they might have held on to some of those 360 owners with sizable libraries who now are PS4 owners.

 

[Ushay]

This aligns with all the updates we've had since the beginning of the year.
Spencer's promotion to VP and his statements around 1st Party efforts. The new hire from Crystal Dynamics and new leadership in Matt Booty, it all speaks well of the direction they are taking and position they want to be in the future.

Can only hope we see something tangible at E3 this year. If they announced new studio announces and a roadmap of what the future holds I think that could inspire confidence in the brand.

 

[Papacheeks]

This aligns with all the updates we've had since the beginning of the year.
Spencer's promotion to VP and his statements around 1st Party efforts. The new hire from Crystal Dynamics and new leadership in Matt Booty, it all speaks well of the direction they are taking and position they want to be in the future.

Can only hope we see something tangible at E3 this year. If they announced new studio announces and a roadmap of what the future holds I think that could inspire confidence in the brand.

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They if they just formed a new studio and are replacing leads, I highly doubt E3 is the place they talk about it. Unless they announce an early in development project.

 

[SuikerBrood]

They if they just formed a new studio and are replacing leads, I highly doubt E3 is the place they talk about it. Unless they announce an early in development project.

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Booty and Gallagher did tease E3 tho, but meh. Don't get hyped I guess.

 

[Punished Goku]

Leave Microsoft alone! Leave em alone!

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Could this be a Seth Meyers joke?

 

[Vadara]

This doesn't sound exciting at all.

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It does for people interested in tech. Of course this forum doesn't realize it since the only thing y'all ever care about is single-player narratives.

 

[Papacheeks]

Booty and Gallagher did tease E3 tho, but meh. Don't get hyped I guess.

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I just don't think E3 is a place you make those kind of things, usually when they do Q&A at E3 panels is when those things get talked about. Unless MS makes it part of their presentation to show they are committed to changing their landscape for IP's.

 

[SuikerBrood]

I just don't think E3 is a place you make those kind of things, usually when they do Q&A at E3 panels is when those things get talked about. Unless MS makes it part of their presentation to show they are committed to changing their landscape for IP's.

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I have no idea what their E3 plan is. They also have an episode of Inside Xbox planned for the day after. But we'll probably see Booty/Gallagher interviews at E3 outside of the shows.

 

[Papacheeks]

I have no idea what their E3 plan is. They also have an episode of Inside Xbox planned for the day after. But we'll probably see Booty/Gallagher interviews at E3 outside of the shows.

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Yea those will be good to hear, I hope they talk about how they were approached and how going forward they are approaching first party.

 

[MosquitoSmasher]

Great news! Hopefully we see some evidence of this at E3. Pretty exciting times for Xbox gamers.

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Really doubt it. If this new focus, for lack of a better word has only just started we're not gonna see results anytime soon. I'll keep my expectations low but I'd love to be surprised.

If in three to four years from now we're on our new Xbox and have one or two games on the scale of a U4, TLOU, God of War, that would great. That's my biggest hope, not only a big focus on MP experiences but also lengthy and great SP stuff with eye destroying graphics, lol. We're gonna see.

 

[Wololo]

I feel like this story pops up every few months. Yes Microsoft are investing in 1P. Blah blah blah all talk and no show. Wait for e3 keep waiting the cycle continues.

 

[okelF]

/

 

[VX1]

Welcome to Game Pas, an affordable, growing library of games that's going to make the transitional period far more bearable.

And if you're one of those people who don't care about playing old games on brand new hardware (the vast majority are like that, or so I've heard), you don't even have to worry about that.

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Heh,in my country in Europe "playstation" is basically synonym for console since ps1 days.Some stores don't even sell xbox.Besides having almost 1.5 tb full hard drive and loving single player games,there is no way for somebody like me leaving Sony ecosystem.Looking forward to upgrade to ps5,i am sure it will have full BC.

Best hope for MS would be to get back some converts in US/UK but i think even that will not be easy.

 

[SuikerBrood]

Heh,in my country in Europe "playstation" is basically synonym for console since ps1 days.Some stores don't even sell xbox.Besides having almost 1.5 tb full hard drive and loving single player games,there is no way for somebody like me leaving Sony ecosystem.Looking forward to upgrade to ps5,i am sure it will have full BC.

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And nothing MS will do will make you buy their console. So you are not their key demographic.
That's fine.

 

[MosquitoSmasher]

I feel like this story pops up every few months. Yes Microsoft are investing in 1P. Blah blah blah all talk and no show. Wait for e3 keep waiting the cycle continues.

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Not really man. And if that was the case it was most of the time a tweet here and there. Now we have several people saying the exact same thing though, legit sources. There's a difference now.

 

[VX1]

The irony. MS had the crappy launch partly because they bet that the digital library was coming and the internet mobs (who now never have their consoles unplugged ever) screamed about "always on" or uploaded checkins on accounts. Missed it by about two years, I think. A LOT of people screaming about wanting hard copies of games at the start are now wishing they didn't have to get up to change discs.

I'm with ya on PS4 having that advantage IF PS5 does indeed allow full BC with PS4. Do we know that's the plan? If MS would've launched with the current BC abilities/plans they might have held on to some of those 360 owners with sizable libraries who now are PS4 owners.

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It will,most certainly.I can not imagine they will break ecosystem between x86 ps4 and ps5! ( ps3 cell was a different story)
If Sony launches ps5 late 2019/early 2020 as i think they will,with full BC,they will have huge advantage over next xbox right from the start.

 

[cyberninja]

They did so much talk in regards to first party studios and exclusives that it's hard to take anything serious until they deliver. I'll believe it when i see it MS, and until then:

"You got hell to pay but you already sold your soul."

 

[Kemono]

If this turns out to be true i'm there. I would be very happy for that to be true.

 

[SuikerBrood]

They did so much talk in regards to first party studios and exclusives that it's hard to take anything serious until they deliver. I'll believe it when i see it MS, and until then:

"You got hell to pay but you already sold your soul."

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They have already been investing in their studios. Now these studios need to make the games for next gen. Let's see what is going to happen.

 

[cyberninja]

They have already been investing in their studios. Now these studios need to make the games for next gen. Let's see what is going to happen.

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They said that they are going to invest, but we haven't seen anything yet. It's the same song and dance we've seen in recent years.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

And back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and...