Ninja Theory dominates the Develop Awards

This entire conversation is about Microsoft's treatment of it's internal studios.

The advances made in "infrastructure, MP online, hardware, BC, and enhancements" is totally irrelevant.

Some people buy talk.
I buy action.

I do agree that they still have to prove it. But I think they realize that as well.
 
I do agree that they still have to prove it. But I think they realize that as well.
The problem is they have been "realising" it for at least 3 years. The problem I see, is a lot of 'feel good' talk, very little end result. The only thing they manage to "realised" is creative use of the word "exclusive"
 
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It's not just talk, though. They bought 5 studios. That's not talk. That's a lot of money being put on the line.
 
My point is that it's not "just talk." It's action. Talk may be cheap, but studios are expensive.

Anyhow, they're finally backing up their talk with real action, so I'm encouraged. If others want to remain skeptical, that doesn't surprise me.
 
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Maybe this will help explain better...




Fast forward to the 11:21 timestamp. Keep in mind... I'm not Jim Sterling.
 
So your viewpoint is that progress halted on Sea of Thieves prior to launch (based on what exactly?) and is now humming along decently post launch? How does that even work?

Sea of Thieves was a critically maligned game that saw its player base plummet mere days after launch. It's currently the 28th most played game on XBox Live. The sad thing is, unlike more traditional titles, Sea of Thieves had loads of potential that won't be seen due to it's bungled launch. If anything, it was the perfect title to delay. How long has Dreams been in development again?

You haven't seen anything recently that suggests MS is running their studios like EA or Ubisoft? (In my best Chandler Bing) Did you SEE the Microsoft press conference?!

They showed off the the 11th Halo game in 18 years.

They showed off 3 new Gears of War games which makes 8 titles in 12 years.

They showed off the 4th Forza Horizon game in 6 years.

They showed off a 3rd Crackdown.

This is like some bizarre Chappelle Show sketch where the slave owner is buying a new batch of slaves while preaching "All men are created equal and every man, regardless of the color of his skin, has a right to pursue liberty and happiness of his own accord!"

You can't be flogging your main studios and expect people to think you're going to treat the new aquisitions real nice.

I think some of you are naive to PR. We've had this issue come up prior, where people swallow PR speak hook line and sinker. Microsoft is keenly aware of it's position and how the public views them. Everyone there knows about the flak they recieve for succumbing to sequalitis. You don't think there's a few talking points these companies draw up after announcing their new relationship? Come on...use your head a little!

TLDR: I actually think it's possible MS starts correcting it's course here. I just think actions speak louder than words.
As Andy said a delay wouldn't have helped Sea if Thieves as it was a vison problem. That is actually one case where if MS had stepped in, it might have helped the game.

When I said an EA or a Ubisoft thing, I wasn't talking about multiple sequels. I was referring to launching games way too early and then just abandoning them. Ubisoft probably have been included because they have actually dont a good job of at least sticking with their games and improving them when they launched in horrible state. So that's my mistake.

I also fail to see how making sequels' for successful franchises means a studio that was hired won't have creative control. 343i was mad specifically to make Halo, the coalition was reformed to specifically make Gears. Ninja theory wasn't bought to make MS solitaire. However, to your point, if the next Ninja theory game is a mega hit, I'm sure MS will want them to make a sequel and at that point there might be some loss of creative control.

For now, I'll just take the Devs word for it
 
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As Andy said a delay wouldn't have helped Sea if Thieves as it was a vison problem. That is actually one case where if MS had stepped in, it might have helped the game.

When I said an EA or a Ubisoft thing, I wasn't talking about multiple sequels. I was referring to launching games way too early and then just abandoning them. Ubisoft probably have been included because they have actually dont a good job of at least sticking with their games and improving them when they launched in horrible state. So that's my mistake.

I also fail to see how making sequels' for successful franchises means a studio that was hired won't have creative control. 343i was mad specifically to make Halo, the coalition was reformed to specifically make Gears. Ninja theory wasn't bought to make MS solitaire. However, to your point, if the next Ninja theory game is a mega hit, I'm sure MS will want them to make a sequel and at that point there might be some loss of creative control.

For now, I'll just take the Devs word for it

I guess it all comes down to how much faith we're willing to give Microsoft. The current "administration" drove XBox to it's current point, and it's the worst year ever for XBox in terms of big exclusives. To me, that matters. I just care more about track record and evidence than most of you do here.

With that being said, I hope I'm wrong. I love the rest period that Microsoft is willing to give Halo and buying new studios certainly doesn't hurt their outlook but I've just never been impressed with how Microsoft handled their studios.

Time will tell, and again, I hope I'm wrong and you guys are right.

In terms of Sea of Thieves you're way off base. I know Andy isn't interested in multiplayer games at all so I can forgive his ignorance here. I'm not sure where your level of interest is regarding these types of games. If you read any of the reviews for Sea of Thieves you'll see that a lack of content was the single most common criticism of the game. The overwhelming impression people had of the game was "Great concept, but there's a major lack of content". If Rare had an additional year to work on Sea of Thieves, that criticism gets handled pretty soundly. I can't think of many games that would have benefitted more from a delay than Sea of Thieves. Microsoft should have handled it the way a Sony or Nintendo would have. That's the kind of thing Microsoft needs to do to turn things around.

Talk? Talk is cheap.
 
I guess it all comes down to how much faith we're willing to give Microsoft. The current "administration" drove XBox to it's current point, and it's the worst year ever for XBox in terms of big exclusives. To me, that matters. I just care more about track record and evidence than most of you do here.

With that being said, I hope I'm wrong. I love the rest period that Microsoft is willing to give Halo and buying new studios certainly doesn't hurt their outlook but I've just never been impressed with how Microsoft handled their studios.

Time will tell, and again, I hope I'm wrong and you guys are right.

In terms of Sea of Thieves you're way off base. I know Andy isn't interested in multiplayer games at all so I can forgive his ignorance here. I'm not sure where your level of interest is regarding these types of games. If you read any of the reviews for Sea of Thieves you'll see that a lack of content was the single most common criticism of the game. The overwhelming impression people had of the game was "Great concept, but there's a major lack of content". If Rare had an additional year to work on Sea of Thieves, that criticism gets handled pretty soundly. I can't think of many games that would have benefitted more from a delay than Sea of Thieves. Microsoft should have handled it the way a Sony or Nintendo would have. That's the kind of thing Microsoft needs to do to turn things around.

Talk? Talk is cheap.
I can understand your hesitance and get that point of view. I think it's hard to say what more MS could do at this point. It's turned in to a wait and see game.

Another year with Sea of Thieves would have led to more content, but it probably would have been just twice as many fetch quests. I've played a good amount of Sea of Thieves and I really after with Andy in that they just didn't have the right kind of vision for it. I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on that one.
 
Another year with Sea of Thieves would have led to more content, but it probably would have been just twice as many fetch quests.

Well, their 6 month roadmap, with most likely a stripped down development team, seems to be adding much more than "twice as many fetch quests". I wonder what a full year at full production would have yeilded.




Also, just a handful of quotes from Metacritic.

"An amazing world full of promise, but currently rather empty. More updates will be key." - Official XBox Magazine

"We have nothing but respect for Rare's vision with Sea of Thieves, but it is a game as likely to chew you up and spit you out, as it is to embrace you." - games(TM)

"Sea of Thieves has the foundation for a game that could be incredible. Unfortunately, it’s current state is more akin to something that should be a $20 Early Access title." - App Trigger

"A game brimming with potential. Incredible attention to detail and the potential to create your own stories is tempered somewhat by a lack of guided content to keep players motivated." -God is a Geek

Actually, I couldn't find any criticism based on the games "vision". Another year in development would have done wonders for Sea of Thieves. So color me skeptical when I hear typical MS PR.
 
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What MS can do is improve the process of Quality control of their games. Nintendo does not keep delivering great first party games by sheer luck or/and just Talent. They manage to do it because they have a process of Quality control, reviews, improvements & testing, you know like most products from top development house.

Games like most products are not modern art. You can know a product/games is good (whether it sell well or not is another thing) or not before the product ships. You don't need a game like sea of thieves to ship before knowing there is a lack of contents.